Phew!

Well, we flew off to the Isle of Man on Thursday, that had to be the dodgiest landing I've ever known. I've been on some flights with stomach churning turbulence, but somehow the landings have always been fine. The flight was fine so we didn't realise how windy it had become. I think the pilot really struggled to get the plane in on Thursday evening; we were wobbling all over the place all through the decent and I was begining to think he'd never manage to control the actual touchdown - must admit to saying a very rude word at one point.........but eventually we were down and safe and once the doors were openied we knew why there had been such a problem as the wind nearly blew us back up the steps.

The weather all weekend was foul, cold, wet and really windy pretty much all the time. Friday morning wasn't too bad though and we managed a walk with MIL around the harbour at Peel, sorry no photos as I didn't take my camera and hubby hasn't uploaded his yet. We also went to Tynwald Mills which is a sort of shopping complex near the ancient parliament site of (surprise surprise) Tynwald, site of the old IOM parliament - they've now retreated indoors, but every July their National Day is celebrated here with processions, Manx dancing (MiL does this, that's her on the linked photo with the blue waistcoat on) etc
More info here

"Tynwald Fair Day, held annually on old midsummer's day in July is the Isle of Man's national day and is the occasion of the Tynwald Midsummer Court. The Members of Tynwald - the Manx parliament - meet at St John's village in the west of the Island for the ceremony, a legal requirement established by the Island's ninth century rulers."

We were on a mission to find a birthday present for my brother without going into the main town of Douglas which is always heaving because there's nowhere else to shop really. There are other towns, but none have the big choice of shops that Douglas has unfortunately - so parking is a nightmare and best avoided. We were lucky though and got a nice top for Mike so I'm happy that I don't need to go out this week to look for something. Dropped MIL off back at home and went out to meet a friend of Hubby's for lunch whom he hasn't seen since university - he'd contacted OH through Friends Reunited and as we were going over it seemed a good chance to them to catch up again.
On Saturday we met another friend for lunch and then we were out in the evening as it was MILs birthday, along with SIL, BIL their 3 kids and the boyfriend of Eldest Niece, then back to MILs house for more wine, coffee, cake and of course, candles.
On Sunday the weather was still horrible so we just went out for a drive - we sat watching the sea coming right over the breakwater down at Laxey, then drove up to Ramsey where it didn't look so bad, then followed a bit of the TT course over the mountain (Snaefell), where the clouds were very low and the rain was really bad back to Onchan where MIL lives. It seems all we did was eat, because we had a big proper Sunday lunch - two of hubby's aunts came to share it with us which was nice, then it was pack the suitcase and head back to the airport. Which was where it all went wrong........

Only about 3 planes had actually made it in to Ronaldsway because of the bad weather, and so there were none to fly out! Loads of people were stranded, including us, great eh?! And of course there was no-one there to help. We were flying with Aer Arann and have to say we are not impressed with their customer care - actually there was none to be impressed with - not a single person in sight to ask for help or advice. In the end Hubby asked what to do at a different desk and managed to get us booked on the next plane which wasn't till Monday evening. You'd think when it all goes to pot like this the airlines would get someone out onto the floor of the check ins just to answer questions and take the flak, we all know that these things happen and can't be helped but travellers do need information and this shower just hid out of sight. Useless.

So we then had to ring MIL and tell her we were on our way back, book another day's car hire, and another day's parking at this end and contact work to tell them OH wouldn't be in on Monday. This all cost a fortune as he doesn't get paid if he's not there. So our little weekend away has ended up being a lot more expensive than we thought it would be....

But we're back now and all seems ok - I was a bit worried about what we'd come back to, this is an old house - but all seems ok - apart form a few pots over in the garden.

Now I have a huge list of things to do, so I should stop waffling and try and get something done, shouldn't I?

Hope you are all safe and sound, that your roof, sheds and greenhouses are all still in their correct places and no trees landed on your houses. I'm sick of this windy nasty weather now, so please can it stop?