Miss Teen Queen- Vote for Rebecca Waight PLEASE!

Some of you may remember that my daughter went for a photoshoot a couple of weeks back, well she is now through to Heat 4 of the Miss Teen Queen UK 2008 contest, she would love to get into the next stage and to do that she needs lots of votes.

http://www.teenqueenuk.com/ is the site

To vote you just need to text : Rebecca Waight to 84205
Each call costs 60p
or telephone : 0901 656 1515 42
42 is the number specific to Becky,
Sadly there is no internet voting.

Sophie was my blog name for her but she is happy for me to give her real name and thanks you for your support.
She already has 47 votes, but one girl has over 100!
So please vote for Becky!!

Treated like a criminal

On Saturday Sophie and I went up to London for the day, for Sophie to attend a photoshoot for the Miss Teen World 2008 comp, she is through to the 2nd heat.

We travelled by train,· We arrived at B station just before 10am, we parked the car and got the Pay and display ticket, then went to the Ticket Office, only to find it was closed. A notice was stuck to the door stating “ Due to unforeseen circumstances this ticket office is closed today……”
· We went over to the Automatic Ticket machine, there was a very long queue and people seemed to be struggling to get money to be accepted, by now the train was approaching, there were still 4 people in the queue in front of us so we went to the platform.
· I thought we could get a Permit to travel, there used to be a little machine for that purpose on the platform, but it was no longer there. The train was in by now so we jumped on the train.
· We looked for the conductor but could not find him during our time on this leg of the journey, it was a very long train. We had to get off at T B to change for L B. The train arrived at T B slightly delayed and we only had about 6 minutes to go under the platform and over to the next platform, there was no time to go to the ticket office at this stage as we would have missed our connection, I was getting panicky about not having got our tickets yet but thought we would be ok to buy them on the next train.We got on the 10.42 to L B and didn’t see the conductor immediately, but then he came , I got my purse out ready to hand him my credit card and explained we had not been able to purchase out tickets earlier, but he told us that was not acceptable and he had to issue us with penalty fares, I tried to explain that we hadn't had any opportunity to get the ticket but he was a total jobsworth and wouldn't listen. So we had to pay the fare of single ticket and the penalty is double that, then had to buy ticket to our next destination and buy singles to get home. I'm appealing , I feel I've been treated like a common criminal!! I'm livid!

The photoshoot went well and we 've got some great photos. Sophie will be on the website next month and I hope I can ask Purplecooers to have a look and vote for her to get her into the next round.

The room looking more like home again

Well, we're nearly there, I keep saying that, yet another week has gone by and I still cannot totally get the room back to normal, because the other tradesman has not come back to put the skirting on. He said he would come Saturday but then he forgot! So he has promised to be here monday at 8am............... I wait and see. X fingers.

If you look closely you will see Stan's chair, it is covered with a dark red throw. It's an old leather recliner and it has seen better days, the laether is all damaged and torn, but he won't let me get rid of it, but it really lets the room down! It will look even worse when I get my new leather corner unit, but he is adamanant it has to stay!! Pity me!

The sitting room is almost done!

Some of you may remember that we got caught in the floods of July, not as bad as the poor people in Gloucester and Hull, but all the same it was bad enough to warrant our insurance company assessor proposing that the walls of sitting room needed replastering and then redecorating as well as having the flooring replaced.

It has been a long drawn out process, of drying out and repairs. So it has been absolute chaos here, with all the furniture from sitting room having to be piled up in the dining room and in bedrooms and eventually had to put the sofas and dresser in the workshop to get the floor done. The only room downstairs that has kept functioning properly is the kitchen, and a very small space around my desk in the dining room so I can still work and get on the computer.

The replastering commenced on 9 October , but we got of to a bad start as when he removed one huge patch of plaster he discovered it was filled totally with gunk that absorbed water and the wall underneath was soaked, apparently a "cowboy" job had been done just to patch up that area. So we then had to let that all dry, Stan brought his diesel Space heater in and for 2 days we lived as in a sauna whilst the wall dried out! The plasterer came back and did all the plastering and he calculated he would be back to paint on the on the Monday, but when monday came the plaster wasn't dry enough, so away he went leaving me to ring him when it was dry.

Well, I thought it was pretty dry by the Thursday so rang him, but he couldn't make it till the Monday of the next week, and we were going away for half term break, so it was left again until we came back. On our return I phoned him and he agreed to come on Friday.

But Friday came and he didn't..............his child was ill and he was needed to look after her. So we agreed Monday29 Oct.

At LAST on Monday he came and did the painting, he was rather shocked at my choice of colour, I choose "Roasted Red" paint which is a stunning rich red and I so desperately wanted to make the room feel warmer and cosier. The girls all agreed with my choice, but Stan was horrified. But as I pointed out he had forgone his opportunity of an opinion as he had been very stupid, driving his lorry into the drive and broke the cesspit cover, sending the huge concrete block into the depths of the cesspit! He then proceeded to drop the tape measure down the cesspit too, when he was measuring up for a new lid! So I got my red paint. And actually i think it looks pretty good. What do you think?

Then comes the exciting bit the laying of our slate floor. Even before the flood Stan had got it into his head that he wanted a flagstone floor and I had been looking into costs and it seemed very expensive, but after the flood the insurance company agreed to give us the equivalent to the cost of a new carpet to get the flooring of our choice. The Insurance contractors quoted an exhortionate amount of money over £2000 above the cost of carpet, so we said no way and I went to my kind and friendly handy man in the village and asked him to quote, this turned out so much cheaper. I managed to buy the slate tiles on ebay for a very reasonable price and this last week HM & his mate have been here laying the flooring. Now HM is a gorgeous man and I can't help looking at him, he works in shorts and has lovely legs, tall, fit and trim with floppy blond hair . Yummy!!


He'll be back tomorrow to do the grouting and that will be the end of the job, but I am already preparing my list of little jobs that just need a handy man!!

Beth

Bewitched

Deer Hunting

I've been wanting to talk about this subject for some time but somehow I've stopped myself as I'm not totally sure how I feel about it, but maybe it will make a subject for discussion. I imagine you may have very strong views on the subject and I don't want to cause disharmony in the ranks.

I am surrounded by beautiful woodland and in the woods live many deer, I think they are Roe Deer, they are of average size and quite dark tan/red. I think they are beautiful and I feel a real pleasure seeing them as I walk through the meadow and wood with Beth each day. They do get in my garden and eat my plants, I caught sight of one in there yesterday morning, she quickly leaped over the fence and away into the wood again. What with rabbits and deer my poor plants suffer enornmously, but I love being surrounded by wild life.

The man who manages the wood, I'll call him Dick, is an avid hunter, I think he sees himself as a game keeper.
When we first moved in, he obviously didn't know us and we didn't know him and so he was cautious of letting me know of his activities.

One spring evening in the first year of living here, I heard a tremendously loud shot, not the ordinary rabbit shooting shots, but something deafening and eerrie. A short while after i was watching out of my bedroom window which looks down the road along the side of the wood, and I saw Dick in the hedge dragging something huge out of the wood into his truck, on closer inspection i could see it was a deer. I was shocked, I'd not seen this happen before.

Later that week I was walking through the wood and met Dick, he was very anxious to tell me that the deer he had shot was injured, it had been hit by a car , he told me. Reassured I told Stan this.

But as time went on and I got to know Dick well and realised that he did infact hunt the deer, no crime in it, he has permission from the wood owner and the deer are on his land.

But what I do find disconcerting, is his now blaze outlook on letting me see all that goes on. I walk through the wood regularly, there is a public footpath through it, and on many occasions Beth will start sniffing the air and gets excited, I will look and suddenly find a whole deer carcass hanging from a tree, drying I assume. First time I saw it I was horrified and couldn't get over it for ages, but the worst is the trophy heads. Dick hangs all the heads up in the wood.
This is most scarry and disconcerting, yesterday I walked into the wood and Beth immediately started sniffing the air, and looking up, I couldn't see anything to start with, but as I peered into the wood I saw this beautiful big deer head starring at me from a tree, it looked so proud and bright eyed but it was dead and just a head. How grotesque is that!

Whenever , I think about deers being hunted it always takes me back to being a little girl and watching "Bambi"for the first time and being so upset when Bambi's mother is shot.

I'm not totally anti hunting, I have a dog that catches and kills rabbits and pheasants, but it just upsets me to think about deer being hunted, because they are so beautiful. Incongruous I know.

What do you think??

A true ghost story

My Mother-in-law died in 1991 whilst on vacation in Australia, it was a terrible shock to us all as she was only 66 and had been in very good health.

My girls were 4 years old and 1 year old at the time of her death.

Grandma had abeen devoted to my eldest, Evie, and her and grandad used to look after the girls when i worked one day a week. It was the highlight of their week. Grandma was a tall, slim, elegant lady with short bobbed grey hair.

When grandad started planning the 3 month trip to Australia, Grandma wasn't keen to go. They had been out only 2 years earlier, but Grandad was on a mission. he had been born in Australia and wanted to know more of his early life. So they went, Grandma told me as she left that she still didn't want to go and leave us. That was the last time I saw her alive.

A few weeks later I was driving home from work and I suddenly felt very strange and this voice came into my head, the words I heard didn't make any sense. "It's alright, Don't be worried, I'll be with you".

I was confused, but put it to the back of my mind, till bed time, then I felt I must say something. Stan told me he had a sense of doom and gloom so I told him the starnge message I'd received in my head. He laughed of course.

But the next day the phone call came from Father -in -law in Australia saying that Grandma had been unwell, she'd gone to bed for a rest and when he went to see her, she had died in her sleep.

...................................................................................................................................................................

Fast forward to 1993

It's Christmas.

Grandad had spent the day with us, we had a had a lovely day. Evie and Sophie were now 6 & 3.

About 8.30pm Grandad left to go back to his home , the children got ready for bed.

Evie slept downstairs and Sophie was upstairs as we only had 2 bedrooms upstairs and Evie was determined she wouldn't share anymore with Sophie, so we had turned the dining room into a bedroom.

I settled Evie into her bed and went up to see how Sophie was getting on, Evie had barely been in her bed 5 minutes, when she screamed loudly and came rushing out of her room.

I stumbled down the stairs to see what the matter was, I thought spider, as she hates spiders, but when I asked her , she replied through tearful breathes, " There's a lady sitting on my bed!"

"Surely not "I said " What kind of lady?"

"A white lady " she said. I felt shivered go down my back.I hugged her and walked her into the bedroom, turning on the light and of course there was nothing there.

I asked her gently what the lady looked like-

"Sort of tall, with short white hair." Evie replied.

We all sat in the sitting room for a while, I was scared too, I really do think she had seen a ghost. She'd had no time to go to sleep, so it wasn't a dream.

Then I got it , It was Grandma, she had come to see Evie and wish her a Happy Christmas .

I told Evie it must have been grandma and she visibly relaxed, but she wouldn't sleep in the room that night, she came up with us.

The ghost lady never appeared again...................... But I'm sure it was Grandma, coming to check on us.

'Bout time too!

I thought it was about time I wrote something again, I've been so busy there has not been time, I've thought many thoughts and planned many blogs but none have reached the page.

But I'm here now, albeit briefly. What should i write about ? There are many strands that i could pick up but upper most in my mind is Camilla and the sadness that she has had to endure today by having her beloved Robbie put to sleep.

I do know exactly what she is going through as I'm sure many of us with pets do. I had to go through the very same process with my old dog Belle, gosh that must be 10 years ago now, but it is still very vivid in my mind.

Belle was our sable German Shepard, she was Stan's dog really, though over the years she realised who looked after her and who she could rely on to get a decent walk and be fed, not from Stan that's for sure!
She was quite a scarry dog, she wouldn't tolerate anyone new coming into her life after about the age of 3yrs, so we couldn't easily have new friends round unless we shut her away, but she loved all our old friends and seemed to have an astonishing memory for people, smells or sight I'm not sure, but she could not see someone for 3-4 yrs but the moment they walked through the dog she'd recognise them and get very excited.
But anyone new she would bark and bite which wasn't good.
She loved going to Norfolk, she loved going on the beaches and she knew when we were within 5 miles of my parents, she would stand up and start to get very excited , leaping about in the car.

We took her on the Broads as a pup, and she had never seen water before, she thought she could stand on it, she stepped off the boat and suddenly sank into the water!! here was alot of splashing whilst she struggled to find her feet, then she tried to swim and after a bit of splashing seemed to get the hang of it, but got herself caught on a branch at the side of the canal. It took all our strength to pull her back into the boat! We've still got the photos. The look on her face , so puzzled as to what had happened. But after that she loved swimming and would jump in at every opportunity.

She had a good life but became ill in her 11th year and it all went downhill after Lucy was born. My mum was staying to look after me and the children following the birth and one day the cat was in the conservatory and my mum closed the glass door, Belle didn't realise and charged across the room to chase the cat and knocked herself out on the glass door. She was never the same after that, she did something to her legs and kept falling over, she couldn't get up the stairs any more and she had constant bleeding from her lady parts. So we had to reach a decision with the vet to do the kindest thing for her, to have her put to sleep.

I'll never forget that day, the way she looked at me when I got the lead and lead her to the car, she went so calmly and easily, yet previous days she could barely walk out for a wee, it was like she knew it was for the best, she even got excited when we arrived at the vet's, no distress whatsoever. And when the time came, Stan and I sat with her on the floor of the vet's whilst he gave the injection and we just held her as she fell asleep. I cried buckets , just as Camilla has cried buckets today. Now I'm crying again...............Sorry ,

But now we have Beth, an even more beautiful dog and so much gentler and lovelier than belle, and some day in the future i'll have to go through this trauma again.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we fall in love with our pets so? I told myself i wouldn't do it again, but I have and this time it's even deeper than before, because Beth truly is my dog.

Lucy's Birthday

Lucy turned 11 on Thursday, and this year our new Head Teacher made a new school rule- a good one not a bad one!
Each child is allowed to wear their own clothes on their birthday, or if the birthday is at the weekend on the nearest school day.

So this caused much excitement for Lucy, but choosing what to wear was not so easy, she was up in her room for ages, picking clothes out of the wardrobe, trying on, discarding to the floor and trying again! In the end she went with a smock top and leggings and she looked lovely.

It's a nice rule as the Birthday Girl/Boy gets lots of positive attention throughout the day. When I went to collect lucy she was positively beaming, she had had such a fun day .

Her main present was a Karaoke Machine.....(getting it was a challenge, the first machine i brought home, which Lucy opened for her birthday was minus the CD , so i had to traipse back to Argos lugging the old one and get them to replace it and lugg it back again, not easy as quite big and heavy) .......HELP!! She hasn't stopped singing since she got it! She's in the bedroom just above me now and I can hear her warbling away! Actually she's not too bad! She aspires to be on X Factor in 4 years time I think!!

This evening Lucy is having a disco with her school friends to celebrate her birthday in style. So I've been frantically preparing food and getting organised. I 'm not really sure what to expect of a disco with 20 11 year olds, but the man running disco is ex police so he should be able to contain their excitement!!

I'll tell you how it goes next time I write.

Some of you will remember that we got flooded in the storms in July, well I was expecting the builders to come on Monday to start the replastering, but i received a call today saying they were running behind with the previous job and wouldn't be with us until Wednesday. Quite relieved really as it gives me longer to prepare the room, take the curtains down and move the furntiure etc. And I still haven't got the estimate for the floor tiling yet , but I'm assured it is being done . The room might be ready for Christmas!!

My First Award!

Thank you Casdok for this award! I wonder if it feels like this to receive an Oscar! I feel I should go into a long speech of thanks to all the people who have helped me reach thus far in my life!

Having received this accolade I assume that I must make an award to another blogger. I read so many brilliant blogs that it is so hard to pick out just 1 or 2 for an award.

But I have made my decision and the Award for Best "Blogger That hits the mark" goes to , drum roll please..................countrycraftangel, for telling her story so bravely over the past few months and having us gripped to the edge of our seats waiting for the next installment and another Award goes to.................... countrymousie , whose blogging has certainly hit the spot over recent months and who too has gone through a dreadful time this summer but so bravely seems to be getting on with her life: going for coffee with her straight hairdresser , is a great start to a new life!!

I'm sure many of you will concur with my choices, but I know I could have made awards to so many of you. Such a talented band of bloggers we have on this site, providing so much to entertain and challenge us.

The things I do for love!

Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, I still have not purchased a digital camera. My dad gave me money for my brthday to do just that but I haven't had opportunity yet to go out and buy one.



If I had I would be able to post a photo of me which would probably shock you as I'm currently sporting a very bruised fat lip.



I'm very conscious of the fact that people probably think I have been the victim of domestic violence. Everyone I meet looks at it and then looks away, but they politely do not mention it, so in the end I feel I should explain.



But the explanation is so unbelievable, you won't believe how I did it!



I will start at the very beginning, Stan has a very strange liking for Cat's eyes, as well as a huge love of all types of cars, vans and lorries.

Over the years he has collected a few old cat's eyes which stand proudly on the fireplace hearth, some of the eyes are red, some green, some white. It seems a harmless hobby.

However, I saw an old cat's eye on top of a bollard at the end of the road and my first thought was, "I must try to retrieve that for Stan". It wasn't possible then as the road was busy, but that evening after I had collected Lucy from her After school club i drove to the bottom of the road and it was still there, there were no cars behind or in front of me, so i said to lucy, " You just jump out and get the cat's eye" , would she do it? No she wouldn't, so i threw the car door open and made a dash for the bollard, I caught my chin and lip on the top of the car door, bang, I grabbed the cat's eye, felt my chin and the pain just flooded through me, blood was running down my chin. What a mess! I drove home with one hand holding a tissue to my face and the other holding the wheel and doing everything else.

When I looked in the mirror I was shocked, my lip had grown enormous and had gone very purple and there was a nasty gash in the skin and it wouldn't stop bleeding for ages.

Stan was delighted with the cat's eye and was highly amused by my actions.
Why do I do these things?!

After several doses of Arnica the bruising has gone down, I won't be quite so keen to rush off after cat's eyes in future!

End of a Spanish Dream

"They're coming home"
This is home.

The Spanish dream is all but at an end for my daughter Sophie and partner M. In less than 12 hours they will be making their way to the Airport in Malaga for the final time.





The last few days have been frantic and emotional for them and for me. There has been a lot of phone calls to and from Spain in order to make arrangements, deposit funds into Sophie's bank so they could buy extra cases, then more money to cover excess baggage at airport. Book flights, arrange car and so on...... I haven't slept at all well for the past few nights. I just want them home now. It was Ok when they were settled and happy but now it's all changed and I have that feeling of doom and gloom. I will only relax when the door opens at 2am and they walk in, the dog will of course go loopy and wake everyone else up...................but who cares, my baby is coming home!





M's boss still hasn't paid him his dues, he's worked solidly for that man for the last 4 months and has only been paid for 2 months, yet boss seemed surprised when M said he was leaving as he couldn't live without money! Boss gave him 100 euros, What a cheek! He owes him 2400 euros!





Sophie was terribly upset yesterday , they had to take the little dog that they'd been looking after to the Rehoming centre. They hadn't set out to have a dog, but some british friends who'd been in Spain for a long time hadn't taken this stray dog in and when they were returning to England 6 weeks ago they asked Sophie and m if they would take him. Sophie loves dogs and soon they became closest friends. He's only young, bit of a mongrel, but seemed to have some Red Setter in him,tall, thin with very long spindly legs, and red hair and floppy ears.


The other chap they shared with , didn't like the dog and would not take it on.


So yesterday, they made that long journey to the Vet's and re homing centre. Sophie was in floods of tears and felt she was betraying Lucky, but the vet said there was a very good chance of him being re homed as he is young and full of fun. I felt for Sophie, but I wasn't there to be able to give her a hug.





I'll be glad when she is safely back here , until the next adventure takes them off again!


They are talking of going to France, where M's Dad and Step Mum live, though i can't see that working. M and step mum do not see eye to eye, and M & his dad have a volatile relationship too..........but we'll see.





On a totally different front : Did anyone see the BBC news this morning? There was an item about fly fishing and breast cancer recovery in Sussex . I was fascinated by it, there appears to be strong correlation between fly fishing and getting a good recovery from breast cancer, as the fishing uses muscles that help to repair the arms where surgery has taken place and also the therapeutic side of just being at one with water and nature and thinking of nothing but trying to catch a fish. I've never been at all interested in fishing, but this got me thinking maybe I should!


Anyone know much about Fly fishing? I 'd love to hear about it and what you think of this news item.

My Spanish Holiday- Part 2

View from the apartment.


On arriving at Malaga airport, my daughter Sophie and her boyfriend M met us and drove us to their apartment. We travelled along the coast road that heads for Marbella and Cadiz, it's known as "Death Road". I must say I was shocked when I read the overhead gantry message


" 1824 killed on this road since January", it's a long road, but that is an awful lot of people to be killed! Surely there must be some mistake in the translation, should it read "casualties" rather than "killed", but Sophie informed me it was definitley fatalities............................by the time we returned to the airport less than a week later the sign had increased to 1848. That is some dangerous road, I was petrified to be on it.





Now of course I am worrying about Sophie & M as they travel on it quite regularly, drivers seem to be oblivious to all other car uses and take huge risks.





It was a relief on Saturday when we drove to visit Gibraltar that we were able to take the Toll roads, so much quieter and less dangerous, albeit expensive.


I was fascinated by Gibraltar, as I had heard so much about it, my mother's brother, Uncle Verdun was stationed on Gibraltar for part of the war, before he was taken Prisoner by the Germans and he had told my Mum and I such fascinating stories. My Mum managed to visit there a few years ago and was able to show my Uncle the photographs , it was one of the last times she saw him before he died. He was delighted that she had been there and was surprized how little had changed in 50 years.


So I was determined to see for myself, M kindly drove Sophie , Lucy and I there, we had read in the guide book that it is better to park in Spain and walk across and it is harder getting back through Passport control , but we found ourselves in the wrong lane and next we know the Security at the border are checking our passports and waving us into Gibraltar! Suddenly we could see English Policemen, and Red post boxes, Red Telephone Boxes, and "£" signs instead of Euros. It was surreal!


We parked the car at the first available car Park and then the only way into Gibraltar is to walk across the Airport Runway, yes, I do mean that, we walked across the "runway", if a plane is landing or taking off barriers come down and red lights flash like on level crossings!! Most bizarre!





Then we walked through the Landport Tunnel, originally the only entrance into the Town. Every where has a kind of shabbiness to it, it seems to be a bit stuck in time. Not at all like main Spain.


It was very weird finding all our favourite British Shops.....Marks and Spencer, British Home Stores, and much to Sophie's pleasure La Senza, she is fed up with Spanish stores not selling bras for anyone more then a "b" cup, she needs a much bigger size than that! so I had to treat her to a very pretty new bra! But at least now she knows where to come when she needs new underwear!

Leaving Gibraltar was harder than arriving, we found ourselved in a very long queue of cars all heading for passport control, the queue moved very slowly as cars were checked and items bought looked at. The Security seemed to check any car which appeared to have non Spanish or non Gibraltan registrations. Luckily we were ok as we were in a Spanish Hire car and after a brief check of our passports we were waved back through into Spain.





That's about all for the moment, things to do, places to go etc!

Homework: My Spanish Holiday.

I was so anxious as I waited at the airport departures that as soon as we had checked in , I took Lucy through to security to get it over with. Would I set the security alarm off? Would they think I was carrying some hidden weapon in my boob? (For those that do not know, I had a reconstruction of my breast following a mastectomy earlier in the year and this temporary boob has a magnet in it which was used for expanding me. It will be replaced with a permanent boob later in the year)As I approached the security gates I had butterflies in my stomach. I put my hand luggage in the tray and pushed it through the conveyor belt to be scanned and I stepped forward, the security woman beckoned me through. I walked forward, suddenly the machine starts buzzing, Oh No, this is it, I start blathering on about the magnet in my boob and the woman asked me to raise my arms , she searches me and then points to my shoes. "Take those off and try again" she says, I pass the shoes through the other check and walk back through again, this time there is only a slight beeb. The security woman smiles and says all is well, I can carry on and collect my things. I don't believe it, my shoes let me down, not the magnet, that barely registered!


I was hoping for my very own "Shirley Valentine" moment. The moment I saw him my heart lurched in my rib cage, he was tall, very tanned and had a perfect physique, he had the longest eye lashes I've ever seen on a man and he fluttered them as he spoke to me. He was mesmerising me as he spoke, his head tilted to one side and he laughed as he pushed his fingers through his neatly spiked , gelled hair. Then he looked down and became quite still and I could see tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke of his lost love. His lover had left him after 4 years to return to England and he was distraught but there was nothing I could do to help him, he had no interest in me, he had no interest in women. His love was for another beautiful young man, who wanted a different life,he wanted to return to England and pursue his studies but it meant leaving the love of his life behind in Spain.





This is the young man who shares an apartment with Sophie and her partner M, where Lucy and I stayed last week having the most amazing time. I will tell you some more later. No time now! The picture is of the Garden Stream and walkway to the pool at La Reserva.

Good News in duplicate!

Some of you asked to be informed how I got on at hospital and also how ,my Dad got on too getting his biopsy results for his lungs.Well, for me, all is going well, the Consultant is pleased with my progress and feels my temporary boob is now settled enough to put me forward for the exchange operation, however, there is a bit of a wait, he thinks it will be towards the end of the year, so November or Decemeber. There's no urgency. The Breast Care Nurse is so lovely and we had a good chat , I mentioned going to spain and wondered if my magnet in boob might upset the security at the airport but she said it should be fine! I do hope so, can you imagine the scene as I walk through the security gate and the bleeper goes off and I have to show them my boob!!And I've just had a phone call from my dad and his biopsy was clear , no cancer! Such a relief! I was convinced it would be bad news, so was he. He still has a very serious lung disorder from Asbestos, but while it keeps clear of cancer he should go on for a few more years. So wonderful to hear such good news. Thanks be to God.

Happy Weekend everyone!We've got a houseful, Our friends Tom and Mandy are coming to stay with their 4 children, so lots of beds to make! Better get on!

Monday : Been a busy but good weekend- and hasn't the weather been beautiful!

Saturday was Lucy's horse riding , at which we discovered that the Riding school is going to close down. No more saturday lessons after 20 October. What a pity! Lucy was just getting into it and I know we will struggle to get another riding school, it took 18 months on waiting list to get into this one. What's the answer? Buy a pony!! If only!

Saturday evening saw us at friend's for a wonderful evening of BBQ, wine and laughter.

Sunday one of Stan's mate's came over and we went to the local Steam Fair. It was a very good day and I was very good and didn't buy too much, just some Holly Hock plants , a Day Lily plant and some Sun glasses for Lucy! Ready for Spain.

I've done most of the packing, not taking much, just vest tops and shorts and a few skirts for evenings. I've got plenty of suntan cream, but must get some stuff for insect bites.

Spain here we come!

Hello my dear Purplecoo friends, I can't believe how long it's been since i last looked in at Skool.

The summer has just flown by, so much has been going on.. What a summer it has been! Yet they say it's been the driest August for some years???

It's been just one thing after another here, on that Friday in July when Gloucester flooded so did we, again! The Sitting Room was under water, but this time we did go through insurance and they have been very good. Man came with machine to dry us out and left dehumidifiers, so we're all dry now, but room is to be replastered in parts and then re painted, we are not putting a carpet back down but will get a solid flagstone floor put down.

At about same time I got promoted to Team Leader status, which pleased me greatly as I now feel I am working to my appropriate capacity and keeping me busier, so was very excited, but then next day had phone call from my dad to say Uncle G had died, he was Dad's brother,the one who'd been suffering pancreatic cancer, it spread to liver and then he had stroke. Sophie came home from Spain because she and M were having difficulties, so she and Lucy went with me up to Hull for the funeral.

Sophie then went back to Spain, all seems to have settled again, they have a flat mate now, chap that M works with, helps with rent.

Soon it will be me in the swimming pool in the photo above.......SUN , SEA, & SANGRIA!! CAN'T WAIT!!! Lucy and I are going out to visit Soph next week, I can't wait for chance to see the sun!! Stan is staying here, Tom will be down doing another HIPs course, so they can look after one another and feed and walk dog and animals!

We had a week visiting family in Norfolk, Evie and Stan came for weekend, it was the best week of the summer weather really good, so that made a huge difference, got to go out alot and on the beach. Found an amazing new Woodland Adventure Park called Bewilderwood nr Wroxham, it was great fun for the children.Got back to find electric in Evie room gone off affected light and TV aerails, so no TV had to wait till Brother in law could come over, he fixed it, simple fuse but not in main fuse box , a separate secret one!! I thought mice had chewed a wir!!

Then cooker broke, Timer good stuck on Auto so could not use Ovens or grill, so a week with no roasts, nightmare trying to manage with hobs and micro, but man fixed it cost me lot of money though.............

Evie is just about finishing wrk at Little Chef, she has work experience lined up at advertising agency in Southampton for next 2 weeks, then she's off to NY to see her friend L, who's out there for 6 months work expereince. Still not sure when next op will be, see Consultant on Thursday.Dad sees his Consultant on Friday for Lung biopsy results.

Apologies to all for not being around and not reading any blogs.........one day I hope to get back to normal blogging activity again!! Warmest wishes Muddie XX

5 things that pull me up out of the doldrums

I've been tagged by Snailbeach shepherdess to give 5 things that help to keep me positive and get me out of the doldrums,

So I've picked up the baton and here goes:

1) Take a long walk either on the beach or up a steep hill, get the wind blowing through my hair and take on child like quality and start running around , spin round round in circles and make like an aeroplane, you can't stay gloomy then , ok I look so daft it makes me laugh out loud and lifts my spirits. I did this on a beach in Ireland about 12 years ago when I was feeling really depressed post natally and I did feel better afterwards, even though it was pouring with rain and there was nothing really to be jolly about!

2) If I'm feeling down I love to play all my old records, I wallow in nostalgia and have a good cry ! Then I feel better. Yes, Here I go again...get that record of Bonnie Tyler out again SBS!

3) Another way is to watch an old film, one of the classics like Brief Encounter, just allow myself to enter another age and once again have a good cry and get all nostalgic. It works for me!

4) Phone a friend.......No not like being on "Who wants to be a Millionaire", but it helps so much to talk to someone. My special friend Helen is always there for me, she has her own burdens, living with MS, but when ever we chat even if one of us is really down we end up laughing hysterically. Laughter is a great cure for being down in the doldrums!

5) Sometimes if I'm feeling down it helps just to watch the birds feeding in the garden, I get so much pleasure from seeing them and all things nature gives us, Seeing a Rainbow brightens my day too.

That's my 5 so who should I pass the baton to now? Who's already done it?

Who'd like to do it?

I've passed the baton to : countrymousie

the country craft angel, (I now know she has already done the exercise)

cait o'connor

camilla

muddyboots

FunkyMunky

You've been tagged!!.

The surprise letter

Last Tuesday morning the postman came, as his car slows down the dog pricks up her ears, she knows that sound and she runs up stairs and looks out of the window, yes, it's the postie, she runs down and rushes to the front door. The postman hesitates as he puts the letters through the box, will the dog grab the letters? or will she just let them fall to the floor? This time she watches them drop to the floor, sometimes she grabs them, I think it depends which postie it is, one she likes the other she doesn't!

I pick up th letters, bill, bill, circular, circular, then one with an Australian Stamp. Whi is that from? My first thought is that it is from one of Stan's relatives as he has several in Australia, his dad was born there. It is a type written envelope. I open it and stare at it..........
What? Who?

It's a letter from one of my cousins. The black sheep of the family in some ways. There was a falling out with her parents, can't remember the cause, but she stopped speaking to them, she then stopped speaking to anyone in the family for fear that they may divulve her whereabouts to her parents. I was deeply saddened by her disappearance. This happened around 10 years ago....................Now suddenly I get a letter from her. I'm surprised but delighted!

At long last she has made contact with her parents. Her father is very ill and it's time to make up. Such joy at last, after all the distress they ahve had.

I immediately emailed her and on Friday I received a reply, she is pleased that we are back in touch, she is happy in her new life and did what she had to do for the best at the time.

Kill the fattened sheep,the prodigal returns.

Now where was I?

I have just a few minutes to spare so I thought I will try to write a quick blog.

I thought we were going out somewhere this afternoon, but Stan is out in the workshop spraying a car, I went out to see what time he'd be ready to go out and I couldn't catch my breath for the paint fumes, alright for him, he wears a mask! It may be sometime before he is ready........

So what to do whilst I wait? Just a moment I've been called to iron a Hama bead creation, back soon!

Right I'm back again.
I could read more of The Sunday Times, but I like to have some left to read this evening when there is absolutely nothing on the TV to watch and Stan usually hogs the remote and watches Car Programmes anyway!
I could read more of Sue Townsend's "Queen Camilla", which I started yesterday having at last finished the mammoth read of Jilly Cooper's Wicked, which was truly Wicked and a fantastic read, she has huge numbers of characters and to begin with I thought I'd never get to work out who was who but she writes so well that the characters all became real people to me, even down to "Elaine" Hengist's faithful dog! Fancy she even thought to name the dog after me! The book has been a big part of my life for weeks, now I've finished I have withdrawal symptoms!
But I'm getting into "Queen Camilla" now and that is so funny, but will not take long to read.

So what has been happening since I last wrote ?

• We had Tom staying again this week, doing the next part of his HIPs course and on top of that Evie 's friend was staying too. She has got a job with Evie at the Little Chef and so she will be staying for 2 nights each week as her own home is a bit far away to get infor the 6.30am early shifts. So extra laundry and extra cooking, but I don't mind, I like having people around. always Open House here, should start charging!!
• Sophie and M seem to have calmed down, she is not being sent home ! She was very happy Friday when I phoned and M was being exceptionally nice to her. Long may it last. Her friends are leaving tonight.
• Evie and her friends have been at Glastonbury all weekend since Wednesday. She just phoned to say she will be leaving there after THe Who play and thinks she'll be home at 3am. She took my gazebo and is threatening to leave it there as so muddy. She says it's been fantastic despite the storms! Rather her than me, I couldn't cope with being wet all the time and so yukky and muddy, yes I know I'm supposed to like mud! But Glastonbury is rather a step too far!
• Job: I have applied for the Team Leader post. I'm being interviewed on wednesday Morning so send those Positive Vibes along to me please. Not sure who else in team has applied, one was considering the other was not going to and the other I do not know.
• When I was last home in Norfolk I was admiring my Mum's garden, she has Green Fingers unlike me! She has some beautiful Hostas and unlike mine they were not in shreds! She has a Massive one which is called Francis Williams, I found one in our local garden centre, so I bought it and another interesting one called August Moon, I have now planted these out and hope for great things! Put Beer down for the slugs and snails they love it!
• A while back I mentioned redecorating Soph's bedroom as Lucy has now ensconced herself in there, I wanted to put up new curtains but the old rails had all collapsed and had to be replaced, I ordered some new silver poles with twisted spiral ends from Argos catalogue, but they were out of stock, and date for delivering was middle of June, so I waited and waited, middle of June came and went another letter from Atgos to say sorry about delay , the poles will arrive by 22 June and as luck would have it they arrived on 20 June, so I spent a busy couple of afternoons drilling holes and screwing up poles and hold backs, and then .............drum roll please......I was able to hang the curtains! I must say they look pretty good!
• Some of you may be interested to hear the next installment to the sage of the Field next door. Remember there had been men in the field and lots of activity erecting huge panel fences round the edge of the paddock. Well, I waited but nothing else appeared , but suddenly in the local paper on Friday in the Houses for sale adverts, there it is: Equestrian facilities For Sale, stables and outbuildings with 3.5 acreas of paddock.........price ,£179,000 what a lot of money for a small filed and stables!! So wonder who will buy it?

• Right Stan has come in now and is ready to go out, so I didn't manage to do any of the things I thought of except a short blog.

Warm wishes to all

Elaine X

Trouble in Paradise

I'm feeling exhausted and achey this morning following being kept awake half the night having been awoken by the telephone at midnight and finding my daughter, Sophie in Spain, at the end of the line in a dreadful state.

It's so hard to support her when she is so far away.

Through the tears I managed to glean that the boyfriend M was not being very nice. Two of her friends from England arrived that day, and M doesn't like J very much and so the old green eyed monster presented itself. Soph, J & E all went out for the evening and it sounds like j drank to much but soph had not been drinking. M kept ringing her asking when they were coming back and then got cross because she said they'd be back by 2am, he got so angry and said if they were going to stay out that late they shouldn't come back and he would double lock the door. He then threatened to pack her bags and make her come back to England with her friends.

It was at this point she rang me. She has some other contacts out tehre, M's brother and girlfriend are there nearby too, so after much talking I suggested she contact them. If worst came to worst she could stay at A's.

After half an hour I went back to bed. But I couldn't sleep. My poor baby was upset and i should have been able to be there but she's too far away.

About an hour later the phone went again, this time it was M. He wanted to give his side of the story, he said they had got back to the complex but wouldn't come in, they were all in the swimming pool, which is against the rules. He didn't know what to do with them. We talked things through I tried to get him to understand how important it was for Soph to be able to have some fun with her friends , she had missed them so much and it was the first night. After a while he he seemed to calm down. I suggested he go and calmly get them out of the pool and then get to bed.

Back to bed I went still couldn't sleep, but glad to have spoken to M as well as Soph.

I just lay there thinking things over and not knowing what to do, mind you there is nothing I can do.

I had just dropped off when there is a huge cafuffle in the hall, I hear a yeowl and the odg charges down the stairs. I suddenly remember I left the cat indoors, i thought he was shut in the study but I went down and found the door open and a very disgruntled cat sitting high up on the table to avoid the dog, so i let the cat outside and again went back to bed.

Still couldn't sleep, eventually dropped off just before the Teasmade went off and another day is beginning!

Not heard any more from M & Soph, hope things have calmed down. These types of upsets used to happen all the time when they lived here in Sussex but I worry now because they are so far away and I can't do anything except talk.

Photo is the swimming pool they were in last night in the dark!

My Bedroom Secret!

I have a confession to make! I'm a secret Teasmade user!

There has been much discussion in the media this week about Teasmade's making a come back. I gather John Lewis had stopped selling them but they get so many requests each day that they have decided to start stocking them again.

I gather that Norma Major was rather the death knoll of the Teasmade in the 1980's when she professed to having one and all of middle England went into shock and denial about their Teasmade's.

But I love my Teasmade, I was given it as a Wedding present by my sister. It was a much wanted present! Ever since I was a Toddler I have been woken up with a cup of tea in the morning.

In the early years my dad would be the first one up and he would go downstairs and made a Pot of tea and bring the cups up for my mum and I.

Then my mum bought a Teasmade, A Goblin. This transformed our waking up, dad no longer had to get out of bed. Mum would prepare the teasmade the night before, bringing up cups , milk and tea bags. She would fill the Teasmade kettle and at 6am every morning the Teasmade would hiss and bubble and pour boiling water into the pot and Mum would bring me a lovely cup of tea.

I knew I had to carry on this tradition, I cannot function without my first cup of tea, and if I didn't have it whilst still in bed and vaguely asleep I don't know when I would get around to having one. after all once you're up and about the daily chores of sorting out lunches, getting children dressed and ready for school, dogs walked and push a few mouthfuls of cereal down there is not time to sit and enjoy a cuppa.

When I first met stan , he was a coffee man and only ever drank tea if he was unwell or suffering a hangover! But slowly and surely I taught him the joys of a good cup of tea and he soon realised that a teasmade was an excellent idea. So I made sure Teasmade was at the top of my Wedding present list!

So my sister bought us one, A Swan Teasmade.

That was 21 years ago and it is still going strong even though it is used every single day of the year.

The only minor con is that in the heat of a hot summer the milk goes off, but I've worked out a way of keeping milk cold with a Ice Block from the freezer , which I put under the milk and keeps it cool on the hottest of nights.

I wouldn't be without my Teasmade! what about you? Will anyone else dare to confess they have one and use it!!

Do not be distracted!

Also Los! Let's go! I have come straight here today, I have not dallied in CCW or been distracted by any other blogs, I am determined that today I will catch up on my blog. This is well over a week late now, so how much I can remember of the past 8 days I'm not sure, it's all a bit of a blur!

I am feeling a tad uneasy today, something strange happened this morning. I turned on my work mobile and found I had a message from the Director's Secretary. She said that the Director wanted to see me in the Boardroom at 2.30pm tomorrow, she left no explanation. This is unpresidented. The Director never asks to see anyone at such short notice , we always plan meeting well in advance and have a agenda. I was feeling quite concerned as I phoned the secretary back. I asked if she knew the nature of the meeting, she said she couldn't tell me anything. Ohmigod! Is this going to be like The Apprentice, " Elaine , You're Fired!"?

Then the secretary said " You've done nothing wrong, please don't worry" But I am worrying and I will continue to worry until I see him tomorrow. I will let you know what happens.


Back to last week "The trip to Norfolk"

The journey did not get off to a good start. I had decided to drive Stan's Merc as it is automatic. First thing that morning Stan went out to get his newspaper and decided to give the Merc a warm up. It wouldn't start, the battery was flat, he hadn't driven it for over a week. So he jump started it and went off. All was well. Though I was a bit dubious, Stan said it would be fine. So I loaded up the car, Lucy, Beth & I set off. I needed to stop for petrol, which I did at our local Tesco's, that was ok, car started again, I moved across to the main car park and ran in to get some flowers to take to Mum, (Yes, I know I'm a cheapskate, but they do do some lovely bouquets and until M&S they were there ready to deliver!)
Back to the car, I turned the key, nothing, I tried again , nothing..................Battery was flat again! I rang Stan as it was only 5 miles from home. I told him to bring my car and the jump leads. Stan arrived. The car battery was dead, so he swapped it for another and then jumped it. It started ok, but I was too nervous now to take it all the way to Norfolk, so we swapped cars, got all our luggage and the dog and put them in my Peogeout and off we went. Stan took the Merc home, it was still playing up over next few days, now he thinks it might be the starter motor. I hadn't really wanted to drive 180 miles in my manual car as it hurts my arm a bit, but It was for the best.

Those of you who believe in Guardian Angels, I think mine was watching over me. I don't normally stop at Tesco's for flowers I usually get them near Ipswich, but something told me to stop again and go into Tesco's shop and get the flowers and that prevented me from breaking down miles away from home and having to get the AA and be worrying all week.

On another occasion my Guardian Angel got me to Norfolk for my Uncle 's funeral in a car with a broken gear box, All the way there it grated unless in 5th gear, couldn't get first or second but I got all the way home too, with it grating and grinding but it kept going, till I got into the drive. When Stan came home and started it he said the gear box was totally smashed and the car wouldn't move again, it had to be transported for repair! What do you think of that!

It was lovely to see my parents, they were so relieved to see me looking so good. They had not seen me since february before my operation. They'd had all that worry about me but were unable to do anything to help, except prayer but that did a lot of good.

Lucy had a great time playing with her cousins. Christy is exactley the same age, so they get on brilliantly, then there is Rory who is 12 and Ryan who is 15.

Last year my sister moved house in land from the sea. She now has a place in Smallburgh, next to Dilham where my parents live. It's about 5 miles from Wroxham. If anyone has been on holidays on the Broads you will have probably heard of Wroxham. There is one massive department store covering the whole village on differing site. It's called Roys of Wroxham! Anyone know it!?

My sister still has her bungalow by the sea at Walcott, she now lets it out for holidays and has been inundated all year. Perfect location, only 100 m from the sea front.

At her new house she has had a conservatory built, which is huge and looks lovely. My sister is a great gardener , she loves her plants and has cery green fingers, so she is making her new garden look splendid, though the recent rains had rather spoilt some areas, her Arum Lilies have collasped to the ground sadly and areas of grass were flooded.

When they moved in they inherited a pair of hens. The owners wants to get a new flock so Ali happily took over the 2 old birds. They 've been doing well, 1-2 eggs most days and just recently one hen became broody and Ali found a friend of hers had somne fertile eggs, so the hen sat on the 3 eggs and whilst we were there ythe first chick hatched, over the next couple of days the other 2 hatched as well. Lucy & christy were so excited!

I feel I must stop now as I know long blogs get difficult to read, so till next time Au revoir!

After over a week of absence from blogging I was all ready to come in sit down and get on with my blog, but then I went across to Cait's and read the tragic news of her son's friends sister dying so young and now I'm feeling dumbfounded, I don't know what to write or even if I want to.

I've missed all you purple cooers this week and then I discover you've all been having a fun time having a Coffee Morning round at Angel's and I missed it by 6 hours! Maybe another day!

I have lit a candle for Cait and as a reminder that The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness shall not overcome it.

Tomorrow I will have much more time to blog and will feel less sad and more motivated then.

A brief ramble

I didn't get around to blogging yesterday, it was such a beautiful day and I was working. If you can call it working! I LOVE my job! Yesterday one of my clients wanted to go out to the beach, so that's what we did, we bought Latte's and cakes and sat on the beach for over an hour, feet playing in the shingle whilst we talked , ate and drank. Therapeuitic for client and for me!!

It was such a beautifully hot day so when I got home I decided it was time I got my Day bed assembled. I'd put up the gazebo the day before , so I just had to get the bed frame out of the shed and re assemble it and get the matress and all the cushions on it, it didn't take me long and soon I was able to make myself a cup of tea , grab my "Wicked" Jilly cooper and stretch myself out on the bed and read for an hour. How decadent is that!!

Update on the field next door. They were there again yesterday, there was lots of sawing and hammering going on. I cannot go and ask them as it would involve walking right through the field, through several gates none of which are the official footpath so I must just bide my time.
But when I walked Beth this morning I could see a dramatic change , a huge panel fence has gone up at the top of the field , this must be to make a clear boundery with the farmer next door. So there must be new owners and they are wanting to protect their investment! I wonder what will happen next, I hope some more horses move in. I'll let you know.

I'm absolutely exhausted today, I spent most of last night sitting in Gatwick Airport!
Evie had been to visit Sophie in Malaga, she was due back at Midnight last night, but she rang to say the plane was delayed by about 2 hours, I thought I'd be able to keep track of the flight on the internet, but all it said was Estimated time of arrival 01.10am, so I made my way to Gatwick, about 40 minutes drive and arrived at 1.30am, The board still said estimated arrival 01.10, that time had been and gone! So I sat and sat, I walked up to WH Smiths and got my Times for Friday, I read it cover to cover, at 2.45am I got some Hot chocolate, and still the plane estimate didn't change, then at 3.00am the notice changed to Expected arrrival time 03.12am, eventually the plane landed, another half hour went by and at last I got a call from Evie, she was waiting for luggage . 3.55am Evie comes through to masin hall.........at last!
We drive home and dawn is breaking, it was a strange sensation watching it get lighter and lighter as we drove home, I got disorientated and kept confusing which road i should be on! Home by 4.50am. Sleep at last! But not for long.....................6.15am Teasmade alarm goes off and day starts all over again!

Mind you, once I'd walked Beth and got Lucy to school I went back to bed listening to Radio London's Joanne Good and then Vanessa until 11.30am, I vaguely dozed , It was so hard to get up but i had a visit to make so had to make the effort.

Evie had had a lovely time with Sophie. Both Martin and Sophie are really well settled in Spain, they love their new life, Soph loves having the swimming pool to use each day and they have work and have made friends. I'm very happy for them.

Early to bed for me tonight!!

Memories and smells

The field next door is totally quiet today. The men have not come back. The only sign that they had been are a few extra posts in the ground and one of the stable doors is wide open. I know nothing more, but will keep you posted!!

Today I was thinking about smells and memories that drift through the mind when you smell a certain smell. It can catch you unawares, suddenly you get a vague scent of something in time gone by, it's hard to place but it jolts the brain and suddenly you are transported back to a time long ago and the memories come flooding back.

My nan has been dead for 30 years but her perfume lingers on, she used to use that cologne with the numbers 4711,(Thanks to Toady for remembering!),I just know the smell. My Nan suffered from most severe arthritis and diabetes and I only ever knew her as an old very disabled woman. She lived in a council bungalow in Worstead, that of the Woollen fame and more recently for the wonderful 3 day festivals every summer.

My mum, my sister and I used to visit my nan every Thursday, that was the only day the bus ran in that direction as it was market day in North Walsham. The bus went in the other direction on a Tuesday for the Stalham Sale each week.

My nan's home had such a wonderful array of smells that hit you as you entered the hallway, foody sort of smells wafted from the tiny kitchen, my uncle tried to boil a lobster one day and it climbed out of the pan and chased him and nan round the living room, in the end they couldn't cook it and gave it to a neighbour!

The bathroom smelt of bath salts and talcum powder, do you remember the old Bath crystals? They had such a distinctive smell and talcum powder smelling of rose petals. The bath salts were kept in an old Quality Street tin, with the woman and men dressed in Victorian clothes, you remember?

But my favourite smells were in nan's bedroom, her dressing table was full of little perfume bottles, that loose face powder that you use with the big brush and the darkest, reddest lip sticks, I used to love playing with those lip sticks, but they stained so much, my lips stayed red all day! Nan had a big double bed with a flowery, patch work quilt that she had made and a rag rug on the floor also made by her. At the side of her bed were her arm and leg splints, these had a strange plasticy smell and were very pink ,I was quite scared of them as they looked like real arms and legs just sitting there. Nan also had a jam jar with sugar lumps beside her bed, this was to help her with her diabetes, to stop her blacking out. I got very frightened when she blacked out but it was normal for her.

My sister and I used to love lunch times, nan would always make blancmange in separate dishes for us and she'd put a cherry on top. I never realised until I was older why her blancmange always tasted different to everyone elses, it was because she made it with sacccarine instead of sugar, because of her diabetes. I liked it like that and found the sugar way strange! We'd sit at nan's dining table, it was one of the big square tables that had pull out ends, she'd always have it covered with a dark chenille cloth.

Nan's garden was a jungle, no one ever cut the grass and there was a huge hill in the middle where someone had left a pile of soil and grass had grown over it. My sister & I loved playing "I'm the king of the castle" and pushing each other down the hill. We'd also search for Dodamens, that's snails for those who don't know Norfolk! My sister collected them and looked after them, we'd take them home on the bus in a box!

Another hilight of visiting nan was when the Corona man came, we never had him at our house, but he came to nan's road every Thursday so we'd take an empty bottle back and get our 3d and buy a new bottle for 9d. We both loved Red Cherry Corona best.

At 3pm we'd walk back up the street to catch the bus home, we loved visiting our nan,

However, when she came to live with us, things were not so good and life changed , but that is another story.

Being Nosey!

If Stan were here I'd be able to tell him, but he's not so I'm telling you instead!

There are people with trucks in the paddock next door! "So What!" I hear you say, Well it's means something is happening.

Nothing has happened for months and months. The Meadow next door has been quietly growing away and no body has taken any interest . Now suddenly there are men moving posts and something is going to happen. Just me being nosey, but I want to know what??

I'll take you back to September. There used to be 3 horses living together in the meadow, 2 in one section and one in the other. The one on his own was a big brute , bit of a bully, used to chase Beth and I through the field, he didn't get on with the other 2 horses so was always separate. I vaguely knew the woman who owned the field, she had a little girl, they used to go past on a trike, mum riding and pulling the child in one of those carriages, we'd say "hello" in passing but that was it. They had erected children 's play equipment at the top end of the field so the girl could play whilst the woman cleaned stables and groomed etc.

One day I was walking through the field on the Footpath and I could see a Big Party going on at the top end, lots of people, BBQ lots of laughing and a good time was being enjoyed.

A few days later the horses were gone, at first i thought she had just taken them to graze elsewhere because the long hot summer had made the grass die and there was no grazing left. But as the weeks went by I realised the horses were not coming back. Where had they gone? Where was the woman and the child? I still don't know.
The play equipment was removed. Some additional posts went up in the field and suddenly in December a "For Sale" sign went up for 6 acres and stabling yard. It wasn't up for long, we went to Florida for a week and when we returned the Sale sign had gone. I don't know if the field sold or not. Nothing happened and still nothing. I'd got used to the field being empty, I let Beth run around in it.

But now today there are people and something is about to happen. And I want to know what?
Nosey aren't I??

The Land of beginning again

On Friday out of the blue Stan's friend PT arrived. He does this intermittently, arriving unannounced on his way to collect his adult daughter and grandson to take back to Wales for a visit. PT is always very welcome and we always find a bed for him. He is after all Stan's oldest best friend. It broke Stan's heart when PT and his family decided to move from Sussex to Wales 3 years ago. Stan and PT had been inseparable for the past 30 years, originally working together, then later sharing a workshop doing cars together every weekend.

The photo is of Stan's Vitesse that he has had for 33 years, PT has a red one which he has had for same length of time!

Every Wednesday and Sunday evening they would meet and go down the pub. It is through PT and his wife JT that Stan and I got together. I have eluded to that story a few months back when I told the story of match making Tom & Mandy.

I met Stan as I was JT's bridesmaid and Stan was PT's Best man, once they were married PT was determined that Stan should get married too, so on New Years Eve of that same year after thri wedding, we were all at a party celebrating the New Year, when suddenly PT leaned across to Stan and said " Have you asked her to marry you yet?" To which he replied "No, not yet" and PT said "well are you going to?" and Stan said "Er, yes, I s'ppose so", then PT learnt over to me and said "Stan 's got something to say......" to which Stan shifted slightly in his seat, he was rather drunk and leant over to me and said " Er Well Will you marry me?". I was to say the least dumbfounded, but rather stupidly , as I should have given it a lot of thought said "Yes".

PT jumps up and shouts to the bar man, "These 2 have just got engaged!!", The Bar man hurried over with a bottle of Champagne, Then they started playing some music and wanted us to dance, and join in with some game.Suddenly Stan was gone.........................................................

You would have thought he could stay to celebrate his own engagement but no, it was all too much, he drove off into the night and didn't come back for several hours.

I was beside myself with worry, he'd been drinking and could have had an accident. But he did eventually come back and I wondered if it had all been a dreadful mistake. He wasn't ready to propose, he only did it because of PT. But in the cold light of day we talked it through and agreed it was what we both wanted. We married 13 months later, tried for Valentines day but had to make do with 21 February! It was a very small wedding because Stan couldn't face a big do with lots of people looking at him, so closest family and PT & JT that was all.

PT & JT are making a good life for themselves in Wales. Just a little plug for them: They are Spiritualists and they run a Ghost Investigation Team, there is a website www.ghostinvestigationteam.com , but they also now they have a little shop selling spiritual things, figurines of angels, fairy things, Native American things. The shop is in the grounds of a Retreat in the middle of Wales. Any of you Welsh Purple cooers heard of it? www.hafanycoed.com

"The Land of beginning again" It is a Retreat and Residential Awareness centre , where courses are run, but you can just visit to go to the Cafe and shops.

So PT turning up on Friday was a surprise but a great joy, PT & Stan were able to go out to the pub together like old times. Saturdays without PT have not the same feel for Stan, he does his cars but without the old enthusiasm that was there when he and PT did them together.

A touch of weeding and a few more memories.......

Yesterday was a good day, I was "at work" in the morning but this turned out to be very enjoyable because my client needed to go to Marks & Spencer and so I was able to spend the whole morning wandering around the huge M&S Superstore at Shoreham, there is a therapeutic element to this but at the same enjoyable! I was able to sit on sofas, test out reclining chairs! I rather liked a big Corner group, though my client fell for a beautiful small 2 seater "Love Sofa" !

"Watch out Stan," there may be changes afoot!

In the afternoon I was back at the hospital, all is going well and I have now had further fluid put in to my rapidly expanding boob. It is beginning to look quite good now! The Consultant only put 75mls in this time and it didn't hurt so much so I did not have the horrible uncomfortable feeling that I had last time. I go back again in 2 weeks for further expansion.

Today I have been very busy in the garden, I thought I would get a head start on the weeding, It'll take more than one session at 4 pm today to clear the weeds out of my garden! But I made a start this morning and then planted some new Azaleas and an hydranger , then got on with doing my hanging baskets. I must say the garden is looking quite good now.

At 11.30am my mind was thinking of my dear cousin in Peterborough. It was the funeral of her husband today, I wished I could have been with her but it was too complicated and I felt I was better staying here.

My Cousin, D, is my favourite cousin . When we were growing up as children , we became great friends. Her parents lived in Hull, but had a holiday bungalow in our Norfolk village, so they could come down nearly every holiday and for long spells in the summer. My Uncle and Aunt were both teachers.

D was about 2 years older than me, so she always took the lead and used to get me in to trouble. She befriended my best friend and we'd all do things together. Sometimes we'd take the canoe out and paddle down the river , sometimes it was the sailing boat, It was always quite traumatic sailing with my uncle , he used to get so cross if we did the wrong thing, lots of shouting and gesticulating would go on, and I'd get confused and hit my head on the boom, or more likely knock someone else! I preferred it when D & I went canoeing, we'd go for miles along to river to the broad.

Other times we'd go up the playing field and meet other people, I remember one day when my older counsin B was there, one of the boys in the village fancied her, I remember him dragging her behind the pavillion and kissing her, I remember her shouting and pushing him off, I remember we all laughed. Looking back I think he attacked her quite badly, but as an 11 year old I didn't understand, that he was in the wrong, forcing kisses on her.

We had 2 shops in the village, a Spar and a Mace. The Spar was a long thin shop with shelves down each side and a centre unit too, it was easy to go into the shop and not be seen. My cousin and my friend thought it very funy to go in and see what little item they could steal, a rubber, a pensil shapner, some sweets , I was horrified and got very upset about them doing this, but being the youngest they took no notice of me. They tried to make me steal something too, I went into the shop, but i was too nervous and my conscience too strong, I couldn't do it. Of course they laughed and teased me for not doing it. They tried to force me to take the rubber they had nicked but i didn't want that either.

Other times we'd play cards indoors if the weather was bad. I remember some strange form of Strip Poker, where we had to take of an item of clothing if we lost, we used to put on all sorts of extras to start with like necklaces and bracelets and hair ribbons, in order not to lose too badly, though I do have this horrid memory of me at about 10 years old standing in front of them in only my pants!!

When I was a little older I used to go with D back to stay at her house in Hull for parts of the summer, she was so much more sophisticated than me and she had loads of boyfriends. Sometimes we'd go to one of their houses and sit in their bedrooms listening to music, this felt so very grown up, I must have been 13 when she was 15/16. That year there was a party and I remember Auntie helping me to dress up , I wore a long Black maxi skirt with black halter neck top, I felt so excited to be going to a party with D's friends. It was a great evening, I don't think they realised I was only 13 , and a boy I didn't know snogged me!! The Animals "House of the Rising sun" was playing a lot, and Marc Bolan and David Cassidy.

We drifted apart as we grew up, meeting up only occasionally. D became a solicitor, living in London. And so today at the age of 48 D finds herself a widow, I feel so sad for her and her young daughter.

I have just come in from pulling up weeds in memorial. I hope that Blossom felt the comfort from all our vibes. The weeds have been well and truly dealt with, in one patch anyway, back to do more tomorrow.

I thought I'd finish with the Celtic prayer that I've mentioned before:

Circle me Lord

Keep protection near

and danger far

Circle me Lord

Keep hope within

keep doubt without

circle me Lord

Keep Light near

and darkness far

Circle me Lord

Keep peace within

Keep evil out.

A few memories .............

Do you have items of furniture in your house that you would like to be rid of but can't?

And "No" before you ask I'm not collecting to start up a Junk Shop!

Today is the 6th anniversary of Stan's dad's death, in the end he was glad to die, he had been alone for 10 years since Stan's mum died. He had prostate cancer and then had several strokes.

The event of mother in law's death was a dreadful shock and very untimely. Mother was only 66 and appeared to be in good health, she was a wonderful person and so good to me and the children. Thinking about our discussions yesterday she helped enormously in enabling me to go back to work . Her and father used to have Evie one day a week, instead of using the child minder all the time. They loved having her and used to spoil her lots. Then Sophie came along and when I went back to work after 6 months, I had to use a new child minder for 2 days but Mother and father started having Evie & Sophie for one day again.

I went back to work in Jan 91, Sophie learnt to walk in the April, watched and recorded on father's video recorder, wonderful footage of Evie dragging Sophie around on the floor, no wonder she was so determined to learn to walk early!!

In June 91 Mother and father went on an extended holiday to Australia. That was the last I saw of my dear Mother-in-law, she died suddenly of a heart block whilst staying with their good friend Shirley. I'll never forgot that day, I was at home when the telephone rang, it was father calling from Australia, the time lag made it difficult to comprehend but he told me Mother had died, he was trying not to cry and I took several moments to comprehend what he was telling me. After putting ther phone down I knew I had to tell Stan, I couldn't get him on the mobile so I drove the 15 miles to his workshop , tears falling down my face, but strangely numb, that kind of feeling of being outside your body and not really part of what is going on. Telling Stan was awful, he just broke down crying and shouting, "No, No No," . We spent to next few days in a state of shock with Stan's brother and family just waiting for father to come home and bring mother with him.

I had a strange premonition the day before that dreaded phone call, I was driving home from work, listening to the radio, in a world of my own, as I travelled the well worn route , when suddenly this voice came into my head, it said " Don't worry, I'm alright, all will be well" It gave me a jolt, and I didn't understand what it meant or who the message was from. I even told Stan that night, and he said he had a feeling a "Doom & Gloom" around him...........then the next day we heard to news. Any connection, what do you think? I believe it was mother telling me what was to happen and not wanting me to worry.

Easier said than done, losing Mother triggered my grief and depression, I blame it partly on Post natal depression but losing her probably triggered it more because she had been my rock, my own parents & family were so far away in Norfolk, and I relied on her and father. Father continued to be a great source of support but I had to support him and Stan through their grief too as well as bringing up the children.

Father could be quite difficult and demanding and he and Stan used to have words at times, "chalk and cheese" you could say. But Father was very generous and loved to buy things for the girls, he would visit every week and he would always have a little surprise, "What hand is it in ?" He would always ask , and keep swapping from hand to hand to confuse them, they used to laugh so much! He would come with me and the girls swimming, it was the only way I could take both of them and he enjoyed it too, it got him out of the house.

Father never really approved of the way Stan made his living through cars and felt he should have had an office job! If I was in need of something, say the freezer broke down , Father would buy it. Stan never saw the need for new things and wouldn't ever buy new furniture, so I've had to make do with secondhand everything. Lots of furniture came from Stan's Great Aunt, it wasn't as if it was nice antiques just old tat really, but whoobetide if anyone tried to discard things. Since Father died we inherited some rather nice pieces, a lovely old Dresser , father's desk and chair and Pine Kitchen tables and chairs, these I am happy to keep!

But for the first 5 years of our marriage I had to sleep on his Aunts old bed for years, it was broken down one side and we had to wedge an old paint tin under it to hold it up, the matress was lumpy and just so old and disgusting, Stan couldn't see the problem, he loved the bed! Eventually I saved enough money to buy a new bed for us and what a fuss he made when it was delivered! I doubt I'll ever get another new bed !!

Then there is Stan's Chair, His Reclining Leather chair that he sits in to watch TV, he has had it since 1979 and it looked beautiful when I first saw it but now the leather is all tattered and frayed and it has to be covered with a throw, but will he let me throw it out and get him a new one. HE WILL NOT. Stan was 50 last year I thought I'll buy him a new chair, but in the end I daren't because he'd not use it and the old one would still be there. He hates anything new. Clothes have to be bought and left lying around for some weeks before he will wear them, the older the better....................Strange man, nothing like his Dad, who would look so smart and care about what people thought, not Stan!! But he's happy and who am I to say what he should and shouldn't do!! But I would like a new Sofa soon...................some hope!!