Day 13/54 - Tested at Tesco's!

Sunday morning - a glorious start. There we are eating cornflakes ( which seem to be more English than roast beef) when a brace of magnificent male pheasants in full plumage wonder out of the long grass and nonchalantly cross in front of the window. Isn't it strange that in nature the only female species which primps and parades and looks more ornate than the male is HUMAN! We hold our breath - willing the deer whose ears we can only just see, to follow, but it doesn't.


We say goodbye to John and Jenny with many hugs and look forward to another perfect day. But it's day 13 innit? I always thought it was my lucky number - but not today.


We make the drive from Beccles to Norwich ( which is pronounced "Narej") - stopping on the way for roast beef and Yorkshire puddin....only a child's portion and it's still enormous. Lashings of hot horseradish....yummy.


Outside Norwich we stop at Tesco's to pick up an offering for Tony's nephew and his wife - and that's when it happens.


Some great pillock (Isn't that a great word...it's even better than Dickhead....though not quite as self explanatory) has emptied one of the frozen food cabinets but hasn't mopped the floor. I feel my feet slide in what is almost a duckpond; I yell out; but there's no way I can stop myself. My feet go up....and I go down - cracking my head on the concrete floor. For a few seconds I lose consciousness but then I hear Tony's voice calling me and the world comes back into focus and there's a nurse telling me not to move, and my husband looking white and scared and Tesco staff calling for an ambulance.


Now there is no bloody way I am spending my holiday in a NHS hospital eating rotten food when France is beckoning! It takes about 40 minutes to get me off my back and onto my feet. Nothing is broken - but my back is hurt and me head took a pounding. Another half hour to fill out the accident report while they give me strong tea and check my blood sugars to make sure I am not in shock. I'm given a huge bunch of flowers and a forty pound gift card - the colour is coming back into Tony's face and my two good samaritans ( it appears that one is a lawyer) are muttering threats about suing and neglogence. They're right of course - but all I am focussed on is not being held up.


We arrive at Tony's nephew's and I meet yet more new relatives and give Sue the lovely bouquet courtesy of Tesco's. They have googled me on the net and somehow discovered I love smoked salmon and avocadoes. I do of course and there is a lovely summer lunch spread with both included and I don't have the heart to tell them about the roast beef!.


English strawberries taste like no others. Did I say that before? Well it's TRUE. Now if I could just find somewhere that serves Gooseberry pie! We watch the world cup with England horribly disgraced by a pathetic display of overpaid egotistical show ponies. And the pain of the game triples the pain of the fall. I need to collapse and just hope the headache doesn't get worse and I don't have concussion.


Up the narrow steep staircase which for some insane reason is carpeted - and the carpet is LOOSE. If I don't fall again it will be a miracle! But miracles do happen.

It's a small stuffy room with just a desk fan to disperse the 31c heat - and we're sleeping in twin beds again....but I crawl into bed and try to ignore the pains that are chasing each other through my body and focus on what a wonderful day yesterday was.