Losing Each Other

 Sunday - The Viaduct view behind us while we eat our picnic lunch on a stone bench in the gardens of The National Trust's Cotehele House near Saltash in Cornwall....

And the view of the House ( dating from Tudor times) in front of us...  a flowering Aloe in the beautiful herbaceous  border surrounding the house.

Don 't know what this lovely specimen is....a bit like a foxglove.....love the protective cap shape of the flower heads....

and the deep cerise pink of this clematis.

The very good carrot cake we ate in the cafe after my husband returned - finally - from the car park....

After our  smoked salmon picnic, on a very hard cold stone bench looking up at the grey slate roofs of Cotehele House  I say to my husband, 

 Why don't you take the picnic bag back to the car and I'll meet you here in the gift shop.

Gives me a chance to browse without him being bored and restless at my shoulder.

After a while, and after the time I calculate he should be back - the car park isn't far - is in sight of the  entrance -  I go outside and start looking. I guess he might be back but in the loo. So I hang around the shop going to and fro between the two entrances, keeping an eye on the loo.

Then I spot him coming towards the shop looking hot and bothered.

I couldn't find the car, he says. I went the wrong way.

Until recently I could still  rely on his sense of direction which was always very good and much better than mine. Now he's losing that too. He could always reverse the way we came, re-trace his steps. Now I'm learning that I need to pay attention to where we are going....lay a trail of breadcrumbs in my mind..... scatter some landmarks in place for when we come back, so I can say,

 The car is parked under that tree by the stone wall......or No, turn left here then right.....

On the other hand he still knows if we are going north or south or east or west - which I never do.

After our restorative, calorie-laden slab of carrot cake he says,

Guess what, I need to go to the loo.

Me too, I say.

That way I can be sure we won't lose each other again....on this day at least.