Saying goodbye...

Today has been a lovely day, even though it was sad saying goodbye to my Uncle who is flying off to Cyprus tomorrow, to live there for good.

Mum and I intended to leave work at 9am but I knew that was never going to happen as we had a Pre-school group suddenly arrive and lots of other customers as well. If Dad had been on his own, as we'd planned, he would not have been very happy!

We had a great journey down to Kent until we reached the Dartford Bridge where the traffic all slowed down. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong lane to be in at the toll as the person at the head of the queue had fallen foul of the machine and the barrier was refusing to move! I changed lanes, we moved off and we were soon on the A2 heading towards Herne Bay where we'd arranged to meet my Uncle.

It was the most glorious of days - cloudless blue skies, a temperature of about 27c and a light breeze. The light at the coast is always gorgeous and while waiting for my Uncle to finish doing his business at the bank, we strolled down to the front and had a quick look at the sea. The pebbly beach was busy with people sunbathing and even a few swimmers were out in the water taking advantage of the warm weather.

After meeting my Uncle we drove to Canterbury where he said goodbye to his car at the Kia dealership and then we headed back to Herne Bay so he could deposit his cheque at the bank. We drove through some gorgeous villages and although I understood his reasons for moving abroad, I decided that I would find it almost impossible to leave our green and pleasant land.

We had lunch in Herne Bay and then I drove us all to my Uncle's home in Reculver. He's been living in a static caravan for the last few years and this had also been sold, so it was just a question of saying our goodbyes. He gave us some glasses to take home (a Peroni beer glass and some whisky tumblers), a half bottle of vodka for me and a full bottle of Grants Whisky for Mum, so we didn't do too badly! I also took advantage of a full bottle of Ouzo that he didn't want - I'm sure I can give it a good home!

We promised to keep in touch and I think Mum and Dad are hoping to visit him in September. I took a photo and then we said our goodbyes...

We had a very good journey home, apart from the usual stickiness at the Dartford tolls and Keith called me to say that he'd gone to the pub as he'd had a busy day and was dying for something long, cold and wet. I dropped Mum off at about 7pm and joined him in the pub for a glass of wine. Mikey also popped in as he was roaming about the village! It was a lovely end to a great day!