Wednesday August 31, 1983

 Linthorpe Hotel, Middlesbrough

Jan made a cock-up of breakfast and didn't realise we were eating and that Mum and Dad were here. However, we did eventually sit down and ate crammed in a corner looking at the chimney. We went out to the shops after and went on to Yarm, a nice town like Otley or Skipton, where we had coffee and buns in a tea shop. Dad seems obsessed by cream buns. They think Ally looks bigger and decide that the lump is not all at the front which usually means the baby is a boy. Honestly, we have no preference. From Yarm we went back through Stockton-on-Tees to the Linthorpe for lunch outside. Chicken curry and gin. Feeling wan. In basket chairs. They left at 2. It was sad to say goodbye. We'll be going for a holiday to Horton shortly - I hope. When their car disappeared we went to bed and slept heavily. This evening Roy & Marie went away to the Selby Fork Hotel (It's Roy's birthday tomorrow) and Ally and I are left at the helm. A quiet night with no upsets and the staff behaved excellently and didn't linger too long afterwards. Mags was good too, and faded into the background. The old Alsatian dog, Saxon is, according to the vet, depressed. Mags says she is not surprised because he is 11 and has never had his leg over.

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