The hunt for a space!

I set my alarm today for 8am, but it does help if you turn it on! Consequently, I woke up at 9am to find Sophie had been trying to get hold of me and was a bit worried I hadn't responded to her texts! Finally, she called home and Keith, who was downstairs, answered and said I was still asleep! Not a great start to the day!

Mum had an appointment with her Parkinson's consultant at 11.30pm so I collected her at 10.30am and drove over to Northampton. It was a gorgeous day with clear blue skies and sunshine, but the temperature was a bit chilly. I think Spring is still a way off despite getting little hints the other week!

We arrived at Northampton General at 11am and drove to the far end of the grounds to a small car park. I'd been worried about parking, and predictably, this car park was full, with people waiting. I spotted a space but then realised it was for electric charging only, so we had to keep on looking. 

After about ten minutes we gave up and went to look for a space somewhere else. There was a smaller car park but that was full, and even the main car park was heaving with people trying to find somewhere! It was also a long way from where she was due to have her appointment, so we returned to the one nearest the department and waited again. 

Unfortunately, it was hopeless, so I suggested we try and park in an area of the car park that houses one of our leisure centres and try there, but even that was full! The only other car park was across the road. We found a space and I paid £2 but by now it was almost 11.30am and I was worried about Mum on the long walk back to the hospital. We gave up.

I don't know why Mum has to see this particular consultant anyway. Last year we were with him for about ten minutes and all he does is ask her a few questions and that's it. She gets far more support and help from the Parkinson's nurses she sees on a regular basis!

We decided to go and have lunch at Dobbie's garden centre at Wootton, and already the restaurant was full. The noise level was tremendous, both from the nattering going on around us and the music blaring out! I could barely hear Mum when she was speaking! We had a sandwich (me) and baked potato for lunch (Mum) with coffee, and before leaving, we had a look around. 

I drove Mum back and returned home to try and catch up with some jobs. There was no meal to prepare as Sophie was out tonight with Vikesh, so I pootled about, amazed at how quickly time was flying today!

I made our breakfasts and lunches for tomorrow and as soon as Sophie arrived home she flew upstairs to get ready. Keith and I had a naughty dinner of sausage, egg and chips and finished watching an episode of The Rise of the Nazis which had been recorded for ages. It was interesting to get the occasional glimpse of Berlin, ravaged and destroyed by the Allies and know now how great it was again!