Day 1,259
All you need is love
Our time in Northampton is slowly passing. We've helped Tom's mum Sue settle into her new home, with a support network on hand. The endless hours of emptying the house, finding new homes for just about everything are over. I have cleaned and Tom's painted, but no more. It's done. The house is sold to a couple who adore it, they know more about the architect than we did. They are going to love it just like Brian and Sue did, perfect.
We could return to the road now, but with Christmas looming and my mum's 90th birthday in February we've decided to stay around until then. Tom's busy planning the route, we are sorting our kit and bikes. It won't be long now but I cannot lie, the time in Northampton is passing slowly, and we are getting bored. We've not made any effort to settle as we've no plans to stay here and money is for saving not for spending at the moment. So we've walked endless miles. In the local park, we've loved seeing the leaves turn golden then fall and turn frosty as autumn turns to winter. Northampton is surrounded by miles of cycle paths and quiet country lanes and despite the chilly days we have been exploring them on our bikes.
Last night, as a treat, we took Sue to Delapre Abbey. It's been there since 1145, when the nuns set up home. Surrounded by sloping fields, now protected as a War of the Roses battlefield. A fight for power between the Lancastrians (red rose) and the Yorkists (white rose), and the rest as they say is history. Last night though it had been turned into a light-filled winter wonderland. Well wrapped up due to the bitter cold, we walked through the woods, guided by a beautiful light display. Sue and I may be OAPs now but we were as excited as little children by the beauty of it all.
In my pocket I carried with me my most recent anniversary present. We celebrate not when we married but when we started dating, New Year’s Eve 2009. Each year Tom creates a gift for me. Our sugar anniversary actually involved the War of the Roses - Tom made a cake, decorating it with sugar roses, and arranged a cycle trip along the Sustrans Route, The Way of the Roses. Last year was ivory and we were in Alausi in Ecuador, not known for its ivory, and we wouldn't want anything to do with elephant ivory anyway. But the fickle finger of fate came to Tom's aid. In that area a palm tree grows, that produces a nut so hard it's called, yes you guessed it, ivory. So that was my present, a nut! I have carried it with me since then. Finally Tom was able to access tools strong enough to cut it, and when I had a couple of days away with family, he spent them slowly transforming a rather boring nut into a work of art, my beautiful seed ivory heart. As my niece Gabby said all those years ago, ‘he's a keeper!’.
