Kiwis and Fairy Bread

27 – 30 June 2024

Note: I am officially a full week behind on this blog. How did we manage to do this everyday in New Zealand?

Family time. That’s what this leg of the trip was all about. And we really enjoyed it.

Sitting with Mike’s Dad watching England play in the Euro Cup. He told me stories of his past. I learned that he bowed to the Emperor of Japan and the Emperor of Japan bowed to him! He did a lot of traveling when he worked for General Electric.

Mum sat on her sofa and chatted with us as she sorted some of her jewelry. She very generously gave each of us pieces from her collection. She’s got excellent taste and I know we’ll all cherish them (in fact I am wearing a pair of her earrings right now).

Mike’s siblings Liz, John, Martin, Jan and her husband Brian are all very kind. They took Ben, Emi and David out for lunches, an evening at a pub (where we played Star Wars pinball!) and to Lyme (which served as Pemberly in the beloved 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini series). This gave Mike and I a little one on one time with his parents. He found the classic black and white film “The Old Dark House” and enjoyed watching it with his mum. We chatted with both his parents and drank tea.

I love the town of Glossop with its charity shops, butchers, green grocers and bakeries. Some of my favorite foods are here: Jacket Potatoes with Cheese, Bacon Butties, Vanilla Slices, Egg Custard Tarts. There are pubs and gift shops where people are friendly, speaking in their beautiful Derbyshire accents.

Surrounded by Peak District National Park, the Glossop hills are covered in green pastures, trees, heather and moorland. It is a refreshing and interesting place to walk. I never fail to imagine a heartbroken Jane Eyre wandering mindlessly, or Sherlock Holmes looking for a missing child. Mike and I had our own adventure on these moors the last time we were here, where we made new friends and got lost during a darkening January afternoon. With embellishment it would have been a great story I’d title Strangers on Snake Pass.

Ben was intrigued by our tale so early one morning we drove about ten minutes out of town to the head of the trail. It was said that at the end of it lay the remains of an American WWII bomber that crashed there in 1948. This time the weather was decent (well not pouring rain) and we had high hopes.

We were not disappointed. Parts of the trail are stone. It was clear that veering off of it would land you in the kind of squishy peat that lures villains to their well deserved deaths. Water runs in gullies with the soft sound of ripples and waterfalls. About a mile up the peak the trail is not so well marked. I am grateful there were so many people hill-walking that day, or we may have gotten lost once again.

I had been expecting to see a whole plane rusted out. But the wreck we came upon was in pieces strewn over a 100 meter area on the very top of the Peaks. Much of it is still shiny even after eighty years. Red poppies and crosses memorialize the 18 people who died on their way to Manchester. Not realizing their altitude, they didn’t know what hit them. Literally. It was sad and very moving.

In the mornings I wake at 4am, thinking I’ve left the bedroom lights on. Not so. It’s just dawn here in the north of England. The darkness of night lasts barely 4 hours.

But back to our Parker family. Over the course of our time here Mike’s sisters Liz and Jan cooked an excellent dinner for their parents 66th wedding anniversary (can you imagine being married so long?! I know at least one of my readers can!). Poached salmon, mashed potatoes , peas, salad, and then vanilla slices for dessert. Yum!

They did it again a few days later for Mum’s 90th birthday. Mike’s brother John’s colorful decorations gleamed over a table filled with tea sandwiches of cucumber, cream cheese and jelly, and salmon. Scones with clotted cream and jam. Chocolates flavored with mint and rose, Trifle and a Victoria Sponge cake. Presents followed and we all ooed and ahhed as Mum opened each one and read the cards (I must say we as a family have great taste in gifts. We take after her!).

England was playing in the Euro again so all eyes were on the tellie. Hopes were not high that the team would make it to the quarter finals. Our little crowd went wild in the last minutes of the match. They did it!

There were moments during these days that I just took it all in. Twelve members of three generations of the Parker family and one big dog. All somehow fitting into this not very big house. Together. Drinking tea and eating good British food. Enjoying each others company. Celebrating Betty and John, Mum and Dad , Grandma and Grandad.

Good times indeed.