Back to Branston, and a bit more about the National

7th September

After a peaceful night in Alrewas, we had a relaxed not to say a lazy start this morning since my appointment at the surgery for a blood test was not until twenty to twelve. So we had a morning of pottering about in the boat, which is gradually returning to some sort of order after the distractions of the National.

At eleven o' clock I ambled into the village via the Post Office, so as to despatch a parcel containing t-shirts for the grandkids. Outside the Post Office, I bumped into Jane Howarth and had a quick natter with her before calling at the newsagent and Co-op on the way to the surgery.

Meanwhile, Sheila had run a load of washing and refilled the water tank. On my return we had a quick lunch and then set off back to Branston. Sheila showed her usual expertise in winding Sanity and we then had a fairly slow run since there was a lot of traffic coming the other way. This included some of the blue shirts on their way back from Redhill, and that prompts me to continue with my tales of the Festival.

I'm sorry to say that our time there was rather blighted by an example of the problems of delivering such a substantial event with a volunteer workforce. As first drafted, this sentence was followed by a full account of Sheila's distress resulting from a misunderstanding about her role as a blue shirt.

After reading it through, I've decided that it's better not published as, after a discussion with Sandy Jones the Festival Administrator just before we left Redhill, I hope we have cleared the air. She was effusive in her apologies for the distress caused to Sheila and it is to be hoped we can put all this behind us. Next year, Sheila does not wish to continue working in Finance, but Sandy has suggested an alternative role for her which she is seriously considering.

All this hassle was one reason why I didn't blog at all whilst the Festival was going on. There was far too much risk of me expressing my anger in such intemperate terms that reconciliation would be difficult if not impossible, and I am a great believer in the importance of reconciliation in our dealings with each other.

Rather than publish it here, I'm going to send the full account to Clive Henderson as National Chairman and to Ian West as Chairman of the Festivals Committee, so that at least they are aware of the communication problem which nearly lost them our services permanently.

Having got all that off my chest, I hope I can get back to regular blogging again. See you in a couple of day's time.