The Flying Pencils Affair.

 Today I had some free time after I had moved some bales of straw round to the yard for Eric. So mum and I decided to take a trip to Harrogate which I was pleased about because it meant we got to spend some quality time together. I've become aware that of late, mainly because of my own situation and taking on learning new things, that we haven't been spending so much time together. I realise that life has to go on and I can't spend the rest of my life swanning around with mum or riding the tractor with dad, but I do miss a little those special times I used to have when I first came here. I must try to deflect those ruts.

I was amused when setting off because we only got as far as the stables and mum pulled up on the lane. I thought at first she was going in to see Lyn or something. I've been calling her Lynsey but I was informed the other day that she prefers Lyn. I made a few mistakes the other day it would seem. Anyway we just sat parked there on the lane.

I looked over at mum, “What's the matter?” I asked.

“I thought you'd be wanting to go and check on your boy friend!” said mum with a grin on her face.

This is the second time in a week that I've been reminded how predictable I've become. This amused me, it also made me feel like I'm no longer the stranger girl. I was going to ask on the way back but as she had stopped I decided I may as well go now.

I knocked on the door and stood well back and soon he opened it. He said he was still feeling unwell, and he certainly didn't look good.

“Are you keeping warm?” I asked.

“I have the house warm but I keep having the chills and then the sweats.” He said in reply.

I suggested that he needs to get in bed, not that I'm an expert or anything. I was basically just saying what I like to do when I'm like that. I asked if he needed us to get him anything while we were out but he said he was okay for everything so I left it at that and went back to the car.

When we got to Harrogate we had a little walk round the shops. The main reason for going though was that mum wanted me to have afternoon tea at Betty's. It's a super posh tearooms with a big reputation for excellence. They also have their own bakery so the cakes are supposed to be especially good. It's the sort of place where you have to wait to be seated. Thankfully there wasn't a queue, which apparently there can be at certain times.

There was no doubt the place is nice, the food I enjoyed, the staff were pleasant, I could even have overlooked the flying pencils but the sheer rudeness of the people in charge of the children who launched the flying pencils, over shadowed everything for me and mum.

We had just been served when these two snotty women and two equally snotty children were placed at the table next to us, which was fine, we don't own the place. I'm not sure where the children got them from as I wasn't really paying any attention to them, but from somewhere appeared some colouring books and a box of coloured pencils. However they didn't have the pencils for long because before you knew it we had them all. I had my back to them so the first I knew about it was when all these pencils came raining down on our table. It frightened me to death at first. Mum told me afterwards that the boy, who was sitting directly behind me, because of some dispute with one of the women had picked up the box  and flung the whole lot backwards over his head.

That wasn't the worse bit though. One of the women got up and without a word just started collecting all the pencils that were lying all over our table, some even on our food. Mum is always calm, and even when you make a mistake she tries to be nice about it, but she sat there giving the woman the death eye. I could see a 'Young Madam' moment quickly approaching. When she was finished the woman glanced at mum and it was then that she noticed the way mum was looking at her.

“What is the matter with you?” The woman said to mum in her stupid posh voice, all arrogant like.

What's the matter with me? Well young madam, an apology wouldn't go amiss to start with!” replied mum.

I just sat there like a stuffed dummy unsure whether I should unleash the Coventry girl or not. But then mum seemed to have the situation under control so I just watched as the woman shrugged her shoulders and said, “Children will be children.” That was it, she walked back to the table and sat down. 

I could see mum wasn't happy. We finished our sandwiches and then made a motion for the waiter who came over. “Can you pack the rest of our meal in to something as we're going to find somewhere more pleasant to enjoy it.”

He tried to find out what was wrong but mum just told him again that she wanted to take the rest of the meal with us. She then walked off to the toilets leaving me to face the music. She did apologise to me afterwards, she just needed to get away before she said something she might regret later. 

I explained to the waiter what happened and I didn't care if the women did hear me. If they did they must have known better than to get involved. The waiter went away and then next minute a woman came. She reminded me of Miss Oliver in her mannerisms. I think she was a manager or something because she was apologising and offering to move us to another table. I was sure mum wouldn't want that so I just told her no, and that we just wanted the food we paid for.

I just waited there until mum returned and then got up and went and waited for our food. It shortly appeared, delivered by the manager lady along with more apologies, this time directed at mum. Mum still wasn't happy and just took the box and walked out without a word. I thanked the manager woman because I was feeling a bit sorry for her as it wasn't her fault and she was trying to sort the situation out. Again she said she was sorry for the upset and added that she had put a few extras in our box for us. So I thought that was nice.

She had actually put a lot of extras in the box, so dad got to sample some of Betty's cakes as well. He got the best deal as he didn't even have to suffer the experience we did to get our cakes. When I saw what there was I asked if I could drop off a few for Rob as we passed. Mum just said I could give him the whole box full for all she cared, saying that she wasn't going to be touching any of them. She did though when I put them on a plate and placed them on the dinner table after dinner. I've saved Eric one which is called 'The Fat Rascal' to have with his lunch today. Not that I'm hinting at anything by doing so!!