Day 1 - Crowned on our Pearl Anniversary

No, we are not a Pearly King and Queen!

Today is our Pearl Anniversary - 30 years of marriage, which is quite a remarkable achievement for both of us.

To mark the occasion, I was crowned. Not with a nice shiny bejewelled headdress, but just an off white crown in my mouth at the dentist.

During the afternoon, our poor neighbour, Emma, was fully briefed on what needed watering in the garden and how much food to give the fish.

Our pearlescent red Toyota CH-R (Pearl) was packed and fully loaded up…….mainly by Jackie, who apparently didn’t trust me to do it.

Before leaving I purchased an E-Sim for my phone for use during the entirety of our intended stay in France. Jackie wasn’t satisfied when I told her that the E-Sim would only activate when we arrived in France, so she insisted on fiddling about with the settings on my phone.

At 8.20pm, we hit the road only to discover that my phone was not connecting with 4G, so I couldn’t connect to CarPlay and the SatNav. Apparently it had nothing to do with Jackie’s phone fiddling.

Luckily we managed to self navigate to Newhaven Ferry Port, where at check-in we were informed that our car with roof-box was higher than the vehicle height that we had paid for. I had literally measured the height with a tape measure and passed the dimensions to Jackie for when she booked the ferry. Obviously we blamed each other, but knowing Jackie well enough after 30 years I can guarantee that she thought she would just pay for the cheapest possible tickets and no-one would check. Luckily the kind lady at the check-in booth told us that she would amend our outward crossing at no extra charge as the ferry wasn’t full.

After watching tonight’s episode of BBC2’s Murder 24/7 in the car park, we boarded the DFDS ferry and bagged ourselves some free comfy recliner seats. As we left port, Jackie bought a pair of delicious Cornish pasties and a coffee for the bargain price of £5.20. The pasties were buy one and get a second one free. We know how to celebrate a landmark wedding anniversary!!

Song of the Day - Pearl’s a Singer by Elkie Brooks.Read more