Whew, what a week! Monday 29th October. A sad day in my calendar, it marks the anniversary of the passing of my oldest friend. Billy Whiz. I have known Billy since were both 8 or 9. We shared the same birthday although he was born a year earlier. We both went to the same schools and both lived in the same vicinity. We both shared a love of motorbikes and for a while we both worked in the same place. Later on during the financial meltdown of the late 80’s and early 90’s we bought a house together with my girlfriend at the time as none of us could afford to buy one outright. It was while he lived there that he met his second wife, Little Miss Sunshine. He became ill during the late 90’s and sadly passed away in 2000. Since then LMS and me have got together on the anniversary of his passing and reminisced with a glass or two. I have many fond memories of BW and far too many to write down now but I am sure he will feature in some of my posts at a later date.
Oct 31st, All Souls Night. Over the past few years I have brought together a few people at my house for the event known as Halloween. Mainly for my mums peace of mind so she was not in the house alone when “trick or treaters” arrived but also as a good excuse to frighten the life out of the kids. As mum is no longer here I had thought to cancel this year’s event but as a few people pointed out, would I have gone ahead if mum was here? So I thought about it and said yes. A small bonfire was set up in the grounds of Château Ghastanbury and I grilled burgers and offered sweets and hot food to any one who ventured into the grounds. It was quite a success with over 40 people here at any one time, many in costume to get into the spirit of things. I suspect it will be the last one I have but we will wait and see what the New Year brings.
Friday 2nd November. I awoke to the tell tale signs of an impending cold. My muscles ached, I had a headache and I was shivering one minute and extremely hot the next. I ventured into work, came home and went to bed. After a few hours in bed I woke up and went to BC’s house. Saturday morning came and I could hardly move. I arose at about 12 ish and Bean counter and I went back to Château Ghastanbury. As Ted Magnum is leaving for South America in a few days time I had thought to combine a farewell party with some fireworks and a barbie at my house. After Tedstock, the management of the venue have decided they are not taking any more bookings for an extra long time. (His mum has said we are not buggering her garden up again) So I set the grill up, cleaned the patio area and during the course of the evening we set off some rockets and fireworks. It is something I have not done for a long long time and I had forgotten just how enjoyable it is to watch money go up in smoke. I guess all men are young boys at heart, I am no exception. I still get excited about train sets and motorbikes, bonfires and outdoor cooking.
It was quiet evening with around a dozen people or so in attendance and I am sure it was a good send off for him. It was during the course of the evening whilst we were talking to Ted and filling him with confidence about all the things that could go wrong and hoping he did not feature in any future episodes of “Banged up Abroad”, that I realised just how quickly time is flying by. Ted is counting the days until he sets off and for me over a month has passed since I made the decision to sell up and travel around the world. Work has started on the house although it has ground to a halt due to my feeling less than sparkling. I did not get up at all yesterday and last night I made the decision I was unfit to go to work. I am hoping I will improve over the next day or so. Not only do I want to go back to work but I want to start working on the house again. Before I know it, it will be March 2009 the date I set have set for putting my house on the market. Right now it feels like the final countdown.