Norq From Ork

Miss Lashes sat her last ever Uni exam on Tuesday and I just don’t know where the time has gone.  It was only yesterday I was driving all her wordly goods (she doesn’t travel light) down to Edinburgh and leaving her in her new digs crying all the way back. She starts work on Monday in London so made a flying visit home yesterday to see us before she goes on to the next stage in her life.

I managed to get a day off so we could spend some time together and we ventured all over the island visiting various places.  Tech Support is learning to drive which is another ‘how old am I and where is my life disappearing to?’ milestone, so he drove.  Miss Lashes and I were consigned to the back seat because I can’t keep my mouth shut and the imaginary break doesn’t work in the front. Orkney Beef is incredibly patient and excellent with learner drivers so he sat in the front and told the back seat drivers to shut it and let go of the side handles.  Still, it’s a very strange experience being driven around by your son, when only five minutes ago you were listening to him read Biff, Chip and Kipper books though.

After tourist type sightseeing we stopped off for a visit at a little fossil centre and museum.  This was always Tech Support’s favourite place to visit when he was a little boy and we had a bite to eat while there.  In the tearoom we found an old game of Pick Up Sticks.  Orkney Beef and I are old enough to remember it so we explained the extensive rules of the game to the kids.

‘Pick up the sticks, don’t move other sticks when you pick up the sticks’

They don’t make games like that any more do they?  and to be quite honest I didn’t think for a second the (now adult) kids would be remotely interested in the fast paced and hard hitting game. They are more used to shooting zombies or toilet training their Sims babies. But they enjoyed it, and things became quite fierce and competitive.  Once again the ever patient negotiator Orkney Beef  reminded us we were all having a lovely family day out so just stop arguing, thus preventing a good old family punch up and blood on the walls.

After the game finished Orkney Beef wanted me to show you he was declared winner.  Miss Lashes however wanted  to demonstrate that she spent for years slaving away at university to be photographed pretending to look like she’s just poked a stick up her nose.

So all that investment in education and life skills has well and truly paid off.