Turn left at Scotch Corner
Apr. 9th, 2026 08:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baroque_mongooseThere are several ways to get from (approximately) Cambridge to Kendal; we went up the A1, turned left at Scotch Corner, and came down via Kirkby Stephen from the north. On the face of things that seems like a rather odd way to do it, but the M6 has a notorious tendency to get ram-jam, and my friend's satnav said the route we took was the quickest. We stopped en route at a service station for a loo break and a bag of crisps apiece, where we spotted an advertisement which read "Keep the wheels turning with a sausage roll", and my immediate reaction was to ask how that worked. I mean, yes, if you're cycling, but I don't think the advertisement was primarily aimed at cyclists!
Anyway, it was a decent journey. At one point we ran into what appeared to be a long tailback, and I got my knitting out; but it cleared surprisingly quickly. After that, there were a couple of warnings about queues but they didn't actually materialise.
Dressing for the trip turned out to be somewhat problematic. It was over 20 degrees when we left, but the maximum temperature forecast for here today is less than 10 (plus rain); so I put my boots on, reckoning I should be all right in the car with the air conditioning, and all my outerwear travelled in a separate bag. We arrived a little after half past six, to find that my sister has an absolutely stinking cold (because colds are inclined to have the worst possible timing); thankfully she's a bit better this morning, having slept well last night. However, this meant that my other sister decamped to a hotel because her husband is absolutely paranoid about getting the cold; he's not only still recovering from long COVID, but he has an operation coming up which has already been postponed a few times, and he really doesn't want it to be postponed yet again due to sniffles. So in the end the whole family stayed in the hotel, which meant there was room for me to stay here... which does mean shuffling up and down the stairs on my backside, but it also means my sister doesn't have to schlep me and my luggage around, so on balance it's much more convenient.
It turns out I've forgotten my codeine, which is a bit of a nuisance; I need it to help with Sibyl. (As I explained to my sister this morning, I am not addicted to it but Sibyl is! I haven't noticed anything different after missing it last night, and for now I've got away with it regarding Sibyl, but that is unlikely to continue.) So I have had to order a few pills via the NHS 111 website, to be picked up from the local pharmacy. The NHS may be creaking in a number of ways, but in many other ways it's still blindingly efficient. The pills will be ready in under half an hour.
And so it's the funeral this afternoon, and that is going to be weird. Because funerals always are.
Anyway, it was a decent journey. At one point we ran into what appeared to be a long tailback, and I got my knitting out; but it cleared surprisingly quickly. After that, there were a couple of warnings about queues but they didn't actually materialise.
Dressing for the trip turned out to be somewhat problematic. It was over 20 degrees when we left, but the maximum temperature forecast for here today is less than 10 (plus rain); so I put my boots on, reckoning I should be all right in the car with the air conditioning, and all my outerwear travelled in a separate bag. We arrived a little after half past six, to find that my sister has an absolutely stinking cold (because colds are inclined to have the worst possible timing); thankfully she's a bit better this morning, having slept well last night. However, this meant that my other sister decamped to a hotel because her husband is absolutely paranoid about getting the cold; he's not only still recovering from long COVID, but he has an operation coming up which has already been postponed a few times, and he really doesn't want it to be postponed yet again due to sniffles. So in the end the whole family stayed in the hotel, which meant there was room for me to stay here... which does mean shuffling up and down the stairs on my backside, but it also means my sister doesn't have to schlep me and my luggage around, so on balance it's much more convenient.
It turns out I've forgotten my codeine, which is a bit of a nuisance; I need it to help with Sibyl. (As I explained to my sister this morning, I am not addicted to it but Sibyl is! I haven't noticed anything different after missing it last night, and for now I've got away with it regarding Sibyl, but that is unlikely to continue.) So I have had to order a few pills via the NHS 111 website, to be picked up from the local pharmacy. The NHS may be creaking in a number of ways, but in many other ways it's still blindingly efficient. The pills will be ready in under half an hour.
And so it's the funeral this afternoon, and that is going to be weird. Because funerals always are.
