A visit from Lola II

Lola II enjoying a nice sensible cup of tea, April 2025

I was privileged to host an overnight visit from Lola II, despite the terrible state of her knees which are each suffering from a different complaint. We usually do a whole lot of walking when we are together, so this demanded a new, car-based approach for our usual pastimes of eating, talking, playing and mucking about.

It's not that she can't walk, but she can't walk far, and steps and stairs are quite a problem. So instead of walking together from the station into town I picked her up in the car. First stop was lunch at a beautiful riverside pub that used to have delicious food, but was sadly disappointing this time. Never mind, we went elsewhere for dessert after a stop at the Re-Useful Centre, my new treasure trove, where we found a perfect walking stick. She doesn't particularly need it for walking but it does help with the stairs, and it may get her a seat at busy times on the tube.

Dessert was cake at Temperance café, where they also keep a few board games for customers. I'd noticed one of the games I'd played with my U3A group that I thought was rather good (Splendor), so we had a go, and it went so well that we thought we might go to a games café next day - there are at least two in Leamington.

Evening entertainment was a National Theatre Live performance of Dr Strangelove, adapted for the stage by Armando Ianucci and starring Steve Coogan. I'm enjoying these NT Live shows, and there are a few more to come over the summer. Lola II managed to walk from Lola Towers all the way to the Royal Spa Centre where it was on, but went the long way round to avoid the steps up to the door.

Next morning I started on the task that Lola II had brought for me - shortening some new trousers (she did give me two large leeks and some carrots in payment). I only made one fairly serious mistake and broke two sewing machine needles - the twin sort for stretch material, which seem to break as soon as you look at them. My enthusiasm for stretch fabric is seriously waning, although this must be the first time I've got the sewing machine out for at least a year, and I came across the fabric we bought in 2016 when I was supposed to be making a dress for Lola II. I try not to think about it. I'll definitely get round to it one day but it just doesn't feel like a priority at the moment.

My ineptitude at sewing was interrupted for each of us to have a massage. I'd booked this when the venue was just a short walk into town, which might have been a problem for Lola II's knees except that they had moved to an out-of-town venue so we could drive. I try to make sure that there are activities in Leamington that can't be found in Lola's home area so that she has a reason to visit. Previously it had been the optician, but she's found one locally (how rude). Thankfully I think I have her hooked on the massage option now. She does the same for me - visiting their local international supermarket is my treat whenever I stay with Lola II and Mr M.

We had lunch at another place (Boston Tea Party) in Leamington which was half the price and twice as good as lunch the previous day at the fancy riverside gastropub. I shall visit BTP again. Then we did go to one of the games cafés where we repeated the game from the day before and tried another (One Key), which involved guessing which very strange picture had been chosen using various other very strange pictures, and it seemed absolutely impossible except somehow I managed to guess Lola II's very strange picture - an achievement that will never be repeated.

Before she left, I went through my box of art materials and persuaded Lola II to take as much GRUHI stuff as I could. So at the end of a lovely couple of days I delivered Hopalong Lola back to the train station with her new walking stick, and listed a few things that she didn't want on the trading platform Olio, and they were collected later that day. When it works, Olio is a marvel.

Lola I enjoying a ridiculously outrageous milkshake