A very busy day ahead, with an early start, as I have to drive an hour and a half from Arhus to Esbjerg to be there for nine to meet the customer, and I have a meeting with a colleague before that. So, at half five the alarm goes off, I lay in bed, working out if it is raining outside, it isn't, but the weather would have something in store for me soon enough.
I have a shower, pack, and head down to check out. I don't even have time for breakfast which begins at half six. Having paid my bill, I load the car, program the sat nav, and off we go. It seems cold, but the car says it is 2 degrees, but as I leave the city, there a frost so thick it looks like snow. Away to the west, the near-full moon is nearing the horizon, turning darker then to peach as it sets. Away to the east, the sky is already light, then the sun rises casting stunning clear light on the scene. As I head west to Esbjerg, the sun is in my ear view mirror, which I can move to avoid being dazzled, but the drivers heading into it have just to cope.
I stop for coffee at a service station: coffee and a Danish pastry, well, what else? I feel better, I have 45 minutes to go, and I am just on time.
I arrive, and the usual suspects are already there too. We shake hands, discuss issues. And then it is down to business.
Six hours later, I have to dash, as I now have issues not just here, but also at our place also in Esbjerg. I drive into Esbjerg, into the port where I have a meeting where I give updates on the project. Tis really is the calm before the storm. The first load out of turbines might be brought forward, we have three weeks to get everything ready. And at that point I will have another place to work at, Imujden in Holland, but that is for next month. Phew.
At five, it all all over. I bid my colleagues farewell, as it will be three weeks before I am back, due to work commitments. All there is to do is to drive to the airport. Jeez I am shattered, I just about manage to keep the car in a straight line on the road. At the Zleep I check in, dump my cases, and take the car back. On the way back I stop in the terminal once again for burger, fries and a beer. It is OK, but I wish there was more choice, but what the heck, I am heading home tomorrow.
Back in the room, I fire off some mails, then lay on the bed surfing channels looking for something to watch. In the end it seemed to be Jamie Oliver. I feel my eyes get heavy, so at ten I give up and go to bed, the sound of taxiing aircraft outside not enough to keep me awake.
Friday.
The alarm goes off at a quarter to six, I think I have over two and a half hours before my flight. Stupid me not having checked my ticket, BA have brought my flight forward by 40 minutes, but did I check? No.
I pack again, have breakfast and walk to the terminal. No queues, no worries so far.
In the departure lounge, I take a seat and notice the new take off time, so that is sorted. I check mails, and all is well. 25 minutes before flight time, I walk to the the gate, through immigration. I notice that the flight to Manchester now takes off at the same time. Whatever. There is no one checking tickets, so I just take a seat at the gate and wait. I hear repeated calls for my flight over the tannoy, I thought that is unusual. When the gate is opened, I see I was at the wrong gate, I was waiting for the flight to Manchester! I walk down the flight of steps to find it just closing, and I realise that the calls for the flight were for me!
Indeed, I am the last person on board, I make my appologies to the flight attendant, she is fine, the door is closed, pre-flight briefing done, and the engines start. We are heading home.
It is drizzling, grey and very overcast. I see the plane take off before us, vanish into the clouds before its wheels have been retracted. And when it is our turn, Denmark vanishes from view, even before we have reached the end of the runway. In a minute or so, we break clear of the clouds and into the bright sunshine of morning, with a blanket of cloud reaching to the horizon.
Breakfast is served, a bread roll with some tangy cheese spread, but the two cups of coffee are most welcome.
As we fly down the east coast, I spot the resort of Clacton, then the power station and the isolated church at Bradwell. How flat and featureless the Essex marshes look from up here. Clouds close in again, and as we drop lower, we get a hint of what is below: a town here, some oil storage tanks there. Over Thurrock we drop through the clouds, there seems to be traffic queuing everywhere. How grey it all looks. But it is Blighty!
We touch down, taxi to the usual gate, 10, the farthest from immigration, which means the route march back to have our passports checked and get our cases.
As I reach the platform, a train for Stratford arrives, the first time that has ever happened. I get on, taking my place amongst the workers starting late, and the schoolchildren and parents on a last minute dash for school. Everyone seems to be checking their phones, I close my eyes, contemplating the weekend, which will begin once I get home. At Stratford I have tome to get a coffee, but not just a coffee, a gingerbread latte with an extra shot, and with the usual sausage roll. Man, that hits the spot.
Down on the platform, it is chilly, but I feel fine. The train arrives, plenty of seats to choose from, which is why I like to travel in the morning. I close my eyes as we leave the station, heading into the long tunnel to Dagenham. When we emerge, the light is so bright, seems almost blinding. Through the business units and brownfields sites around the Ford plant, and then out onto the marshes to Thurrock; over the M25, into the tunnel under the river and into Kent. The final leg now.
We pull into Dover, we arrive at platform 1 which means i do not have to lug my cases over the footbridge, always a bonus. And the gates are even open, which means I don't have to fish my ticket out. But outside there is are no taxis waiting. So, I wait by the rank. Ten minutes pass. Another ten minutes, that stretches into half an hour.
One arrives, he breathes through his teeth when I say I want to go to St Maggies. But he says yes. Out into the lunchtime traffic we go, out onto Townwall Street, mixing it with the port traffic, and being a taxi driver he makes no signals, diving in and out of the other traffic. Up Jubilee Way, along the Deal road. And here we are: home.
It is one in the afternoon. I check my phone, no new mails, and I decide that is enough for this week. I switch it off, as I walk down the drive to the back door. No cats are there to welcome me. I fill the kettle up, make a cuppa, and sit on the sofa to watch Sunday's football. Now a little out of date, but hey, football. And I'm home.
I bake a cheesecake, made with two vanilla pods, and it smells wonderful even before I put it in the oven. It is done at three, so there is just enough time to go for a walk, stretch my tired legs and get some late winter sunshine.
I walk along the street, onto the track leading across the fields to the pig's copse. There still is no pigs there, so now no eager faces pressed to the fence looking for scraps, but on the other side of the lane, four cold looking horses trot over to check if I have any food for them. I don't, but I pick handfulls of fresh growth from beside the lane, the horses seem happy with that. The track down the dip is very muddy, I did think of turning for home, but instead walk inland and upto Windy Ridge.
It is still muddy, but just passable, I walk up to the wood, then double back through the wood, so when I come out the other side I can walk down the hill and be left with a simple walk home. I pass a family walking with their dog, they all have smiles on their faces, to be out in the sunshine. I know I am smiling too.
Back home I make another coffee and am on the sofa once again to watch Wednesday's MOTD. Outside, it begins to get dark, I can look on the new stone garden outside, it still looks great I have to say. As it gets dark, Jools comes back laden with fish and chips, wrapped in newspaper of course. It is wonderful.
Gosh, we are both so tired, after another coffee, time for showers, then we watch the return of The Don in Gardener's World. And we are done.
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