lifeinthemud

A Year has passed since I last wrote a post....

2012-02-16T01:55:00.005-08:00

This is the scary thing, a whole year has gone by in a blink of an eye and I haven't had time to write a blog. I used to really enjoy doing my blogs, but somehow, life, Face book and twitter have taken over and longer, more meaningful comments have not happened.
The friend I wrote the letter to last year is with us no more, she passed away in November after struggling a very long time with her alcohol addiction, she was a lovely person but the drink ruined her. It was a bitter sweet death, many of us so relieved that she would suffer no more but that still doesn't prevent us feeling the loss.
But many good things have happened too. I have a new grandson and he is beautiful, it's such a joy having the young family living with us, we get to share all the ups and downs of having young children again, without the full responsibility.
It's also nearly 5 years since I was diagnosed with Breast cancer and had my mastectomy, that day 5 years ago when I received that news seems like it happened to another person. I am one of the fortunate ones, I'm still here and God Willing the Consultant will give the the All Clear in May when I next see him, though how I will cope without my 6 monthly checkups I do not know. The reaasurance is good but also the build up to the check up not knowing what they may find and he will probably say to stop taking the Tamoxifen which has also been part of my life for 5 years, I'm quite nervous about stopping the medication, again it gives me reassurance.

Letter to a friend- 25 Wedding anniversary

2011-02-21T05:03:00.000-08:00

Dearest,

I got your phone message, so you’re still in hospital, I guessed as much. You must allow them to get you as well as possible before you go home again. Least in hospital you’re well looked after and they feed you and strengthen you up and it’s warm and you don’t have to pay for the heating!

It’s half term this week- yes, it’s come round again- so I am not working this week. I am off to Norfolk tomorrow to spend time with my sister and the family.

I had a busy sociable weekend. On Saturday I met my old school friend Petra for lunch. She lives in London but was staying in Surrey for the weekend to see her horsey friends. So we met in Cranleigh, which is just down the road from me and only 10mins from the horse place. We had loads of coffee, tea and panninis over the 2 hour lunch time, lovely to catch up. Petra is a wonderful person I have known her since I was 11, but you can hardly get a word in edgeways, she can talk for England, though always very fascinating stuff so I don’t mind a bit!

Then Saturday evening we had friends round for supper, all my family were there too, so there were 12 for the meal, so we had to use the 2 tables- kitchen and dining room. I did a big roast chicken, with toad in the hole, and loads of veg. We had a great laugh. Next morning woke up and suddenly realised I had forgotten to serve the dish of roast veg, we had all the roast potatoes and steamed veg, but I forgot I had left the other veggies roasting in pan after I got the chicken out. Doh!

Sunday was church in morning. Then home for quick lunch, then some more friends came round and dropped off a car, tea and cakes were taken, then our friend Nina, who had been over Sat night came back round. She brought us an anniversary present, A Silver Wedding Rose, they forgot it on Saturday.
Yes, it is my Silver anniversary today, 25 years! Hard to believe it. Where did the last 25 years go? And I think hubby has 25 cars in the drive at the moment, they certainly go up year by year too!

Stan did remember -I did get some flowers without having to prompt him, that is an achievment in it's self! Our treat to ourselves is to have a big Conservatory built, waiting for the planning to go through, but will be worth it, may not get the Holiday of a lifetime - had wanted to go to Canada but Stan not keen. The conservatory really does make up for the lack of travel. To sit in the warmth of the sun in winter will be so good, this cottage is so cold and so dark in winter. It will be such a joy. Can't wait!

Did I tell you my daughter and partner with baby are getting married on 8 March, only 2 weeks away now. Not allowed to go though, just them and their 2 witnesses and a photographer. But I hope we’ll have a big party in the summer to celebrate. We have bought an amazing dress off ebay, only £99 but it has been hand made and is stunning, fits her perfectly. Apparently the woman it was made for has put on weight and doesn't believe she will get down toan 8 again!

Hope you’re getting stronger by the day and I continue to pray for your recovery.

Lots of love and gentle hug ( don’t want to hurt you)

xxx

October Road Trip

2010-12-05T03:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it might never have happened! I spent all day Saturday packing the Camper, bedding, food, water, tea, coffee, toilet roll, clothes, torches, dog stuff, everything but the kitchen sink.

I was waiting for hubby to come home and say he was ready to go.

4pm He's ready for the off, goes out to start the camper. It won't start. We all go back indoors. Nige has to change into his work clothes again and jack up the van, it's the Starter motor apparently, something come undone. Wait half an hour and he comes back and says it's fixed.

All pile into the camper and off we go.

First stop is dinner, bed and breakfast with our good friends in Reading. Have a wonderful evening, drink too much, don't slepp too well, though we do have lovely room in their house, they have foxes running over the flat roof intermittently through the night, this keeps me awake but Nige sleeps through it all.Didn't help that A told us about a ghost that rolls a barrell across the upper floor. There house is over 400 years old, so entitled to a few ghosts, but K said this noise was the foxes!

Sunday morning, rather hung over weheaded for Lechlade, a lovely Cotwolds Village at the head of the Thames. Great for Antique shops and a delightful Christmas shop.
We had booked ahead for a camp site at rear of a pub in the village. We were the only ones there. That night was a sharp frost. We sepnt evening in the pub and made our way back to the camper. Made our beds, Georgie up high, Nige & I on the double bed and dogs on floor ( Well Molly on bed). No heater in the van, we were freezing. made hot water bottles and had thick duvets and sleeping bags but sticking nose out caught your breath. Woke to frost on inside and outside of windows and one very cold daughter. We agreed she shoudl sleep down with us rest of week to keep warmer.

Monday we were near Bath, frosty start to night but woke to rain and much milder, so easier to cope.

Tuesday:Driving in long queues to Bath kept over heating, had to keep stopping to top up water.

Arrived in Wales and found our friends shop in Ammanford.

To be continued

Camper trip Oct half term

2010-10-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

We're preparing to take the camper for another trip over half term.

It's going to be cold, apparently the heater isn't working! So will have to take loads of duvets , blankets and hot water bottles!

The plan is to leave Saturday afternoon and head to see our friends in Reading for the night. Then on to Lechlade, we love this place has lots of antique shops and an amazing Christmas shop. We'll camp at the pub there. Then on to Bath for the next night. Eventually arriving in S Wales on Tuesday to meet up with more friends. This time we'll stay in Travelodge, i'll be glad of a bath by then and cahnce to watch some TV. Another night we'll camp in the Gower and then head back home. Should be good fun -you think??

Camping in Norfolk

2010-09-08T13:01:00.001-07:00

Whilst staying with parents in Dilham, decided to have a couple of nights camping in North Norfolk. We went to a camp site at Weybourne, nr Holt. The photo by sea is at Sheringham, where we had a lovely Fish & Chip supper.
First night went smoothly, but second night baby was awake most of night in their tent (we had camper and children had tents), turned out baby was very poorly , developed Chicken Pox later that week.

Bluebells 2010

2010-05-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

Easter Walk

2010-04-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

The FSW Easter Walk went very well, we had a lovely day for it, the sun was out , it didn't rain though was a bit breezey especially at the top of hill. Over 125 people were walking and many dogs!

Stan, E, G & I got down to Alfriston, in East Sussex for 10am, signed in and got a map, met a group of walkers from my church as well as many people I know from FSW & the diocese.

The first 4 miles were hard going as slow but steady incline up the hill to the top where the Long man of Wilmington is sited.
It was very blustery up there! We stopped in Wilmington, where refreshments were available. Wilmington is a very old village, the church is beautiful and in the church yard is a Yew tree that is over 1600 yrs old apparently, it is huge and all chained and supported to stop it falling over!.

The last 3 miles were downhill and on the flat so it felt much easier. We got back to Alfriston just before 1pm, so that was pretty good going. The dogs did well, Molly kept going more than Beth! It was Beth who started to flag a bit on the final part.

Bit achey this morning, but not too bad.

Baby sitting

2010-03-08T08:34:00.001-08:00

I had the joy of baby sitting my little grandaughter yesterday, whilst the family went to see Alice in Wonderland.

Emilyn is over 5 months now, can't get my head round how quickly the time has gone. She is a proper little person now, takes an interest in everything. She is very active, shuffles across the floor on her back using her legs, and is beginning to crawl backwards.

She was really good for nana, so I'm looking forward to doing it again!

Miniture Iris

2010-03-06T04:58:00.000-08:00

Forgot I planted these, such lovely little flower.

Gung Hey Fat Choy!

2010-02-14T07:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year,

I've just found out I am an Ox- 1961
This is what it says about the Ox:
The Ox of Chinese Astrology is no bull in a china shop. Steadfast and solid, this powerful Sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. Oxen tend to be plodding and methodical; they approach projects in the step-by-step manner that serves them best, and they never lose sight of their goal. They are tireless workers who are detail-oriented and believe in doing things right the first time. The world may perceive Oxen as being far too serious or incapable of loosening up. This sturdy sort is less than social by nature and tends to become introverted in a crowd. To make things worse, they can't be bothered with what other people think and prefer to do what makes them feel best. Behind that calm facade, though, lives an Ox who can feel hurt, lonely and unable to connect with others. Friends and family are a great source of comfort to this beast, even if they don't always understand what makes the Ox tick. As a lover, friend, family member or housemate, the Ox makes a wonderfully strong, tender and affectionate companion who is protective and always reliable. Out in the world, though, Oxen tend to be stubborn, dogmatic, my-way-or-the-highway kind of people who have no concept of when to back down. Oxen don't care to be pushed, especially since they think they're the good guys of the Chinese Zodiac. There is some truth to that theory, since the Ox is smart, trustworthy, caring and honorable. If you need honest, steady and unbiased advice, call on the Ox. A good lesson for mighty Oxen is to strive to overcome a judgmental nature that keeps them from getting close to others. If they can learn to value their own good qualities, they'll have more room in their hearts to invite others in.

I do think I'm solid and dependable, not a great leader though, I enjoy being sociable with people I know, but I do not like crowds of people , I'm not a social party mixer, so that is right, always prefer to be in the kitchen,serving drinks and food, rather than trying to talk to others I don't know.I wouldn't call myself stubborn or dogmatic. I'm the least judgemental person and very open to others and caring- so some points match other do not.

Interesting though

Valentine's Joy & disappointment

2010-02-12T01:21:00.000-08:00

Valentine's as a child was always a fun event. Father Valentine wouldcome round after dark and knock on the door and leave little presents. Each time there was a knock at the door my sister and I would run to the door and open it, no one would be there, but we'd look down and there would be a little package one for each of us. This would go on for 6-7 times and each time there would be a small gift.

I don't know where this tradition started, I was brought up in Norfolk and many seem to do it there, but hardly any one I know down here in the South of England has ever heard of it.

I continued the tradition for my children and they loved it, now my daughter intends to carry it on with her daughter as she gets older.

As a teenager Valentine's was a dreaded date to avoid. I was a very romantic soul and used to day dream alot about romantic gestures that boys might make but never did. I never received any Valentine Cards, it was such a disappointment to get home from school and see that the post man had not delivered any cards, doubly so as my younger sister usually got some!

My hubby is not the most romantic either, he's the type that says I was going to get you some flowers today, but I didn't get chance to...........story of my life!

Wendy Cope sums it up well in her little poem

Some men never think of it
You did. You'd come along
And say you'd nearly brought me flowers
But something had gone wrong

The shop was closed. Or you had doubts -
The sort that minds like ours
Dream up incessantly. You thought
I might not want your flowers

It made me smile and hug you then.
Now I can only smile
But look, the flowers you nearly brought
Have lasted all this while.

I've given up on romance and go for the unconditional love I get from my dogs now!!

Look what I found hiding under the leaves!

2010-02-06T03:36:00.001-08:00

I went out into the garden to tidy up some of the plants after all the snow had flattened them. Started moving the leaves on one bed and found all these little Snow drops peeping through at me! Lots of other bulbs beginning to shoot up too, one brave little daffodil is even in bud!

I know we're due for another cold spell and possibly more snow, but the Spring is getting nearer and it lifts my heart with joy!

A glimmer of Spring is in the air

2010-02-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

My hyacinths are beginning to flower indoors.

My little luxury

2010-01-21T00:59:00.000-08:00

For 24 years I had my faithful old Teasmade my sister gave it to us for a wedding present and it was a Godsend. Every day without fail it would wake me up at 6.15am with a pot of hot tea, it doesn't get much better than that!

Then on Christmas Eve just gone, it made the tea but then there was a burning smell and a funny noise. I had to unplug it and admit that it had come to the end of it's life. I was quite distressed. How would I cope with mornings in the future?

My hubby, Stan, not wanting to be the one to get out of bed to make the tea told me to go out and buy a new one . Easier said than done! Argos don't do them, nor do Debenhams or any of the dept stores I went into.

So for a week I had to wake up without alarm and go down stairs in the freezing cold to make the tea. This was fine during the Christmas holidays, but once schools went back I needed to have an alarm again.

So on to ebay, and there I found a list of new and vintage Teasmades! Wonderful!
I ordered a new one, it arrived 2 days later.

Here it is-

It's is so cool! We had a few hiccups first few days trying to get it right, so once it didn't go off, another time I was woken with tea thinking that night went very quickly, only to realise it was only Midnight and I'd only been in bed asleep for 2 hours! We'd had a power cut and I'd put clock right but forgot to check the alarm setting!

But now all is well and we are back to having a morning tea at 6.15am without fail.

I love my new Teasmade!! It is my little luxury.
What's your luxury item?

Snowed in

2010-01-06T01:47:00.001-08:00

Graduation

2009-11-05T06:11:00.001-08:00

My eldest daughter Em graduated on Monday, lovely event and lots of cake afterwards!

I'm a very proud mum.
Em has returned to Uni to start her MPhil. Exciting times.

At last baby has arrived!

2009-09-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

At 3.17pm on 24-09-09 I officially became a Grandmother!

My daughter gave birth to a beautiful little baby girl and I am so proud of her.

Labour was long and drawn out over 18 hours, but the final stage came on quickly and she delivered baby without any complications.

We went to the hospital to see daughter and baby last night and took a couple of photos, you can tell which one is mum she looks exhausted, the other picture is of baby's Auntie Em, she doesn't look exhausted!!

Mother and baby are now safely home with us. All going well so far! Mic is most devoted dad ever!!

Still waiting................

2009-09-18T00:50:00.000-07:00

The baby is still insitu, much to BB's dismay, she is so uncomfortable now. She is suffering from SPD, (Supra Pubic Dyfunction)which is when the pelvic bones separate and it is excruciatingly painful.

It's my birthday today. 48 years ago today my mum had just given birth to me in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.Now I'm about to be a Gran and my mum is about to be a Great Grandma!

It would be amazing if BB was to give birth today too but somehow I don't think she will. She has been having Braxton Hicks contractions for ages now, sometimes they get very painful and close together but not gone into full labour yet.

I will let you know when I have any news.

Keys & Things

2009-09-01T01:27:00.000-07:00

Did you know that all Ford keys will lock any Ford car? No, nor did I and what a muddle I caused by this lack of knowledge!

Some of you will be aware that my Stan has a car habit, we have about 20 cars and about 5 of them are Fords.

Since the early summer when my elder daughter came home from Uni we have been very scrapped for space in the house and so have started to store things in the cars!

BB's room was getting so full of baby equipment, she decided to put her Moses Basket and her Quinney Buggy in a Ford Focus sitting on the drive. So far so good.

A couple of days go by and BB shouts down to me, "Mum, can you lock the Focus, coz my stuffs all in there and I don't want anyone to steal it" "Ok" says I.

I pick up the Ford key most noticeable on the side and go out to the Focus. I lock it, no problems.

2 weeks pass, BB suddenly says "Mum, I need to measure the Moses Basket to order a new mattress", "OK" says I again, " the key is here, come down and do what you need to do". I went out.

On my return, BB moans- " Mum, the key won't work, is there another one you used?" "No" I say " It's the key I locked it with , so should be the one......

Fast forward a few hours BB has rung Stan ( My Hubby, her dad)and told him about the Focus not opening...........duck now as we receive a barrage of bad language and huffing and puffing.....................The fact is we've locked the Focus with the wrong key, the actual key to to Focus is inside the Focus under the seat! Why? you may well ask, but Stan puts keys under seats as it saves him coming in and out to get keys when he is moving cars around. This is when he informs us that Ford nmake all their keys able to lock ANY Ford car but ONLY the correct key will unlock it. How stupid is that??Apparently it helps with the fleights of cars.

Now normally locking a key in a car would not be a problem, Stan is able to use wires and things through windows to pull up the lock.......BUT not in this case. The lock is hidden, there is nothing to pull up. So we are stuck. There seems to be only 2 choices- Break a window or get a new lock.

Stan makes us stew for over 2 weeks before he decides to have another go at getting the door open. He found out the key man would charge him £70 to break lock and fit new one and window would cost about the same. As it was my fault, I agreed to pay for key man to come.

Then one Sunday afternoon, Stan and a mate start playing with the lock again, lots of wires and wrenching goes on and eventually the door comes open, bit damaged but nothing untoward.

So the Moses basket is free and the matress is ordered and now sitting in the bedroom in readiness for the baby.

But would you believe it? Stan managed to lock himself out of his van up the yard the other day. He lost his key out of his pocket ( he has a hole in his jeans pocket) So had to get the key man to open the van up as impossible to get a key cut.........this cost him £30.

What is it with us and cars and Keys!!!

Not long now!

2009-08-31T02:13:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has just flown by and here we are end of August and my darling daughter BB is nearly 38 weeks into her pregancy. EDD 16 Sept. To be frank I will be glad when the baby arrives. BB is struggling now , in a lot of discomfort, finding it hard to walk , not sleeping very well and the baby is a very active one.

BB & M are all organised, cot,moses basket, pram and all the sundry items required are now piled up in BB's room. She has loads of clothes, thanks to very kind friends and family. Great granny to be has been busy with the knitting needles, so there are lots of lovely matinee jackets, dresses and bootees and hats.

BB & M went to look around the Delivery suite at hospital on Saturday, they are wondering about using the birthing pool, though there is only one and it is first come first served, so not likely to get it. Apparently there is going to be a boom of babies being born in Sept.

So watch this space for the announcement of the arrival of the baby.

Exciting news!

2009-05-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

I've not been very good at keeping up to date with my blog diary. I have to blame it all on work. I am just so busy now. Promotion is a marvellous thing but it does entail doing many more hours and currently I'm trying to do 3 jobs in 1 week. The number of staff I am supervising has trebled in last month and although I will be losing one of my work districts that will not happen until the last newly appointed worker is fully inducted. So I feel a bit like a juggler, trying to keep all the balls in the air at once, I never was any good at juggling!!
I keep saying to myself , it will get better, it will get better and yes I guess it will, but it'll be mid summer before it starts to settle I surmise and even then the pressure will still be on. Not that I am complaining, because i do like to keep busy.

In the meantime my daughter BB's pregancy is progressing nicely. She had her second scan on Wednesday. We were there for hours. The Ultra sound person took us in quickly and the baby was located and all was well, but it wouldn't let her do the measurements, it kept putting it's hands on it's head as if to say "Leave me alone- Go away!",BB also wanted to know what sex it was, so we were asked to go and wait a while, BB had to drink more water. She drank more water, we waited , she had to wee because couldn't stand it any longer, so she then had to drink more water, we waited again, eventually about an hour later we went back into scan. The woman still could get the measurements she wanted so had to ask a colleague, the new person came in, found it all quickly, did the head measurements and spine and then told us she was 90% sure it was a "pink"!!

Which is delightful, I'm more than happy, but I think there was ahope amongst some of the family that it might be a boy as both our family and M's family have large number of girls already!
At the end of the day the important thing is that she is healthy, nothing else really matters. So exciting to see how much she has grown since the last scan.

BB is very tired and has a lot of back pain. Probably the M.E doesn't help, but lucky thing id off for a week in the sun with partner M. He's finished his degree now and ready for a short break, so they have booked a last minute to a Greek Island.
I hope she'll be OK.

Bluebell Walk with friends

2009-04-19T04:44:00.001-07:00

We were very fortunate with the weather,though it was wet early on, the sun came out in the afternoon, so after a yummy lunch of homemade soup and lots of cakes and puddings we were ready for our walk! Though I think maybe with the exception of G, who is a practised walker , my friends will have woken this morning cursing me!! I took them on a walk that I had only partly done before and it went much further round before we could get back again. We saw lovely bluebells on the way, but must have walked 4-5 miles when we eventually reached a point I recognised and poor A was struggling, her wellies had rubbed blisters and so I rang BB and she came and picked up some of us, including the dogs, who were in need of a long drink. G & R did the whole walk. I woke this morning very stiff in the legs and back and think others will be suffering too. So that may be last of the Bluebell Walks, I think they may not want to come again. Though we did have such a good day and lots of laughs, especially when Molly (dog) jumped on the table and started eating the chocolate mousse that G had brought!

The Bluebells are out!

2009-04-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

The picture above is of the bluebells last year.

This Saturday my friends and I are getting together for lunch and another Bluebell walk. I do hope the sun will shine on us as it did last year.

Breast or bottle?

2009-03-17T01:49:00.000-07:00

When BB saw the Midwife the other day, I was most surprised that when BB said she wanted to Breast feed that the midwife sounded surprised as if it wasn't normal for young women to want to breast feed. She said nothing to encourage BB but just said "Oh, you want to breast feed then?" as if it was an alien suggestion.

Speaking to an American friend who is now living over here and is expecting her third child, she said that in the States she had no support whatsoever for breast feeding her first 2 children, it was just expected she'd bottle feed. But over here her Midwife is actively encouraging her to breast feed

I know not every one is able to breast feed but I do feel it gives the baby immunity if you are able to even for just a few weeks and of course it is very good for losing the post pregnancy weight gained.

BB has been closely following the media discussions about the damaging things Bisphenol A, or BPA that are in the plastic bottles, which can seep into the baby's milk & cause harm if you use a microwave or boiling water. She's even thinking of ordering glass bottles from USA ( they do lovely glass bottles covered with plastic safety coat in lots of colours) where they have already banned the plastic with the . Our govt is saying the levels are so low that not likely to cause harm, but how can they be sure. USA must know something we don't, if that's the case.

I breastfed my 3 girls, didn't do too well with eldest, but other 2 were on the breast for over 6 months until I had to return to work, but what a challenge it was to get them totake a bottle after having the breast so long, they weren't keen on the cups either, the poor child minder had a real struggle and sometimes I had to go round in my lunch hour to feed. But I also remember using bottles for the Progress milk and always heated them up in the microwave, without another thought. I hope I haven't left them with some long lasting damage.

What are your views ? Breast or Bottle? Toxic or Not?

Scan photos

2009-03-11T01:23:00.000-07:00

First glimpse!

2009-03-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

I feel so priviledged, it was so amazing.
There on the screen was this tiny baby, it's little head has a working brain, I could see it's heart beating, it moved it's arms and legs. It is all there, but so very tiny. From head to it's bottom is just 6.6mm. The head width was just 2.4mm. But perfectly formed.

Life is such a miracle. How can you not believe in God when you see such a miracle of nature?

It was very emotional. BB cried at the sheer joy and relief that it is there and growing.

There is only one baby! No twins! In fact the Radiographer said the baby is slightly on the small side, so the tum BB is getting must be due to food rather than baby!!The EDD is now 16 September, gettting nearer to my birthday on the 18th September!

The next scan is in May, hope to find out then if it is a granddaughter or a grandson. BB keen to know so she can buy clothes in the appropriate colours! Though I don't see any problem with babies wearing any colour really, my girls wore lots of blue. Em was often mistaken for a boy as she had no hair!

Tomorrow..................

2009-03-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I will be taking the morning off work to take BB & M to our local hospital.

Tomorrow, BB has her first scan and she wants me there too!

Tomorrow, I get to see my grandchild for the first time!

I'm very excited!

Considering she is only 12 weeks, BB is already showing and needing to wear loose fitting clothing. What does this mean? Could it be twins?? or does she have her dateswrong.
Tomorrow we find out.

I'll let you know when I get back from hospital.

I'm fuming!

2009-02-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

Those of you who have read my blog this week will know that my daughter BB is pregnant.

She had been unemployed for some time having left the airport restaurant where she was working because she couldn't cope with the 4.30am starts.

Last week she eventually managed to get a new job at a local bakery with small cafe.
She was advised by job centre not to tell them she was pregnant to begin with, so she didn't. She worked 3 days, then had weekend off and went to hospital on Monday. She decided she should inform her boss of her condition as she didn't feel it right to keep it from him.
He didn't take it very well and all the next day kept niggling her and made her do all the horrid jobs. Whenever, he could he'd be unpleasant to her and she came home in tears.
The next day she did her best to keep out of his way, out in public domain in cafe, she worked hard and had a good day.
Today , she was doing the same and all seemed to be well, then the area manager came in and called her into the office . He sacked her . He said he didn't feel she was suitable for the job and refused to give her a reason, saying if she wanted a reason she would need to write into head office. He said she was on a 4 week trial period, they never said that when she started.

It's got to be because she is pregnant. She didn't do anything wrong. No warnings nothing, she'd only worked 5 days.

Anyone know anything about employment law?
Can we do anything??

Diary of a Gran-to- be

2009-02-24T05:20:00.000-08:00

What do you do when your 18 year old daughter tells you she is pregnant?
You do what I did, after reeling from the shock you tell her everything will be Ok and you'll support her come what may.

I didn't have a clue anything was wrong. I spoke to BB first thing in the morning and made her some breakfast and went off to work as normal.
Just as I was arriving at work i received a text, this is what i said "mummy I love you and you love me too right? So what I'm going to tell you , you're not going to hate me are you? I've done a pregnancy test and its positive. I wanted to tell you face to face but would of just started to cry as I am writing this. I love you please don't hate me, I'm sorry I f****d up yet again! XX"

Why would she think I'd hate her , of course don't hate her. I love her but i did get that sinking feeling. Oh dear Lord, here we go again.

You see this isn't the first time, last time she was far too young and I thanked God that she lost it, but the loss devastated her and consumed her with deep depression. So hearing she was pregnant brought back fears for her mental health, what if she should lose another baby. how would she cope?, how would we support her?.

Of course I rang BB straight away and told her i loved her, told her i'd be there every step of the way and reassured her that it was OK. She isn't alone, she has a wonderful partner, M and he is really caring and supportive. That was all 6 weeks ago.

BB is 12 weeks now and has been feeling as sick as a dog and most mornings start with that awful sounds of retching , but hopefully that will ease soon.

Last weekend I plucked up courage to tell my parents, they were surprisingly OK about it to my face, though told my sister it was " devastating news". I made light of it and told Mum she needed to get her knitting needles out as she was going to become a Great Gran. She is a wonderful knitter and all my childrern had beautiful outfits knitted by her as babies.

To tell the truth, I'm excited,I really missed not having any young children to buy gifts for from The Early Learning Centre. i love that shop. So now I will have an excuse again.

Time permitting I hope to keep a regular diary of BB's progress until baby arrives in September. Now that is a good month to be born. My birthday is September, so is Stan's and my dad's and a niece and nephew,so now we await the arrival of the latest September delivery!

In need of a rest!

2009-02-08T09:41:00.001-08:00

What a day it's been, what a week!

Had eldest home from Uni all week ill in bed, she arrived feeling rough and got worse, not like her to stay in bed, but she did for 3 wholes days, just taking flu medicine and lots of fluids.

Youngest not feeling her best but has carried on all week.

Middle daughter was up all night being sick, not sure if cause was a dodgy chinese or a bug, either way, none of us got much sleep, had to clean carpet where she missed loo in middle of night.

Went downstairs in middle of night to find the dog had got lid of my bird food fat balls she'd eaten several, remains all over carpet. I put lid back on went back up stairs to clean up when I came down she'd got lid of again and was chewing on another!

At lunch time today dog was sick all over dining room floor thanks to fat balls, so had to clean that up too.

Then my toaster caught fire whilst heating up ciabatta, fire alarms going off all over the house. Had to get flames put out and empty crumb tray. House still smells of burnt toast!

Anyone like to swap my life for theirs, preferably one that is relaxing , with no kids or dogs???

My new Cloakroom

2008-10-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Lovely sociable day

2008-09-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

I woke this morning with no real plans for the day.
The early morning was thick with fog as I enjoyed my morning walk through the fields with the dogs. By breakfast time the sun was out and feeling quite warm, first time in ages.

So I went out into the garden and started a bit of tidying and weeding, but it was still too damp to tackle the grass.
I thought I better give the Courtesy car a good clean as it will be going back very soon, now we've been paid out for the total loss of Bex vehicle, mind you , you might think why bother cleaning the car as Bex has wrapped it round a post and we have to pay the huge excess anyway, but I don't want to be clobbered with an additional valeting fee as well. So I dutifully hoovered and polished it.
Some of you will be thinking why isn't Bex doing this herself? My thoughts exactly, problem is, she is off sunning herself in Turkey and I think they will collect car Monday.

After that Lucy and I popped into our local city for a quick shop. I had to drop bex hair extensions into the hairdressers, they keep it there for when she next wants them. feels slightly seedy carrying someone elses hair in a plastic bag, but the hair salon didn't blink and eyelid and happily took the hair from me to a place of safe keeping!

The joy of text communications! Lucy hears that her new friend from school is alos in city and they arrange to meet in WHSmiths. I'd never met this girl before nor her mum but they live in our village, but had attended a different primary school.
We meet up and go for a coffee and have a great chat and getting to know each other time. Meanwhile Lucy and her friend go off to buy me a birthday present. Yes, it'll be my special day very soon.

Back home, I cut the grass, it is still damp and the sun is shining and I do the best I can. then walk the dogs again.

On my return i hear voices in the drive and see my hubby talking to some good friends of ours. They've just popped by to bring a pressie for Bex, belated birthday gift from their daughter. Bex's oldest best friend. This is wonderful. We have a cup of tea and a good long chat. So nice seeing friends. I like it when people just pop by unannounced, but they take us as they find us, usual mess on kitchen table. Quickly pushed to one side to make way for cups and plates!

Nearly time to prepare dinner but will just tell you I found out one of probable origins of "Raining cats and dogs" ( see yesterday):
is the prosaic fact that, in the filthy streets of 17th/18th century England, heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals and other debris. The animals didn't fall from the sky, but the sight of dead cats and dogs floating by in storms could well have caused the coining of this colourful phrase. Jonathan Swift described such an event in his satirical poem 'A Description of a City Shower', first published in the 1710 collection of the Tatler magazine. The poem was a denunciation of contemporary London society and its meaning has been much debated. While the poem is metaphorical and doesn't describe a specific flood, it seems that, in describing water-borne animal corpses, Swift was referring to an occurrence that his readers would have been well familiar with:

Now in contiguous Drops the Flood comes down,
Threat'ning with Deluge this devoted Town.
...
Now from all Parts the swelling Kennels flow,
And bear their Trophies with them as they go:
Filth of all Hues and Odours seem to tell
What Street they sail'd from, by their Sight and Smell.
They, as each Torrent drives, with rapid Force,
From Smithfield or St. Pulchre's shape their Course,
And in huge Confluent join'd at Snow-Hill Ridge,
Fall from the Conduit, prone to Holbourn-Bridge.
Sweeping from Butchers Stalls, Dung, Guts, and Blood,
Drown'd Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench'd in Mud,
Dead Cats and Turnip-Tops come tumbling down the Flood.

So now you know!

Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening

2008-09-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

We've just had a massive thunder storm. It's been threatening it all day.
It started to rumble as I was out with the dogs, so I scurried along in order to get home before the rain started........Just made it, then the heavens opened and it was pelting down with rain. "Raining cats and dogs" I wonder where that term comes from. I must find out.

My cat was not impressed I had just let him out after sleeping indoors all day. He hates the dogs so has to be shut in one of the bedrooms. when my daughter came home from school she let him out, there's a terrible caffuffle as dogs realsie cat is on the move. I quickly took the dogs out and then Lucy let the cat out . Hence cat being out once thunder storm started. I could see him hiding under the garden table. None to impressed, but not keen to come back indoors!

It's eased off now and feels very chilly.
Won't be long before we'll need to light the log burner, can't afford to use the gas boiler, or so my hubby says ( I'll have it on when he's not here) Do you know he's made me turn the hot water off so I can't have a bath when i like, have to plan ahead or shower.Shower is fine in warm months but I love to bathe in the evening to warm up to go to bed. How will I cope? It's going to be a long cold winter with lots of hot water bottles I guess.........or maybe I should trade my old hubby in for a new model that is happier to be warm!!

The amazing black box widgit!

2008-09-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've not written on my blog for months, due to being busy with work, life and chaos. BUT today I discovered the joys of the black box and I couldn't resist joining in and now I'm addicted.
Fortunately, I've a quiet day tomorrow so I'll be able to visit lots of blogs by black box. It sounds a bit like time travel and very Dr Who, don't you think!!

For the uninitiated all you need to do is click on the word "decide" in the black box, it will give you a series of options and you chose one of them by clicking on your choice. After a few you will have the chance to add your own choices and your blog address. Your reward is a visit to a mystery blog of someone who's answers coincided with your own (I think). So many choices, so many blogs to visit. Have fun travelling round.

Fruit Picking time

2008-06-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

This time of the year always takes me back to my childhood and the long hot summers of child labour in the Strawberry picking fields of Norfolk.( They start working young there) I think I was about 8 the first time my best friend's mum took us fruit picking. I carried on doing it every summer till I was 16, then I could get a proper job! We did all kinds of picking, starting with strawberries, on to Goosberries and Raspberries and finished with Black currants, this would take us almost through the school holidays, usually finishing in time for family holiday at the end of August.

There were several big farms in the area and they all relied on casual labour to get their fruit picked. The biggest farm was an international employer, they had students from all over europe, they put them up in old converted chicken huts, fed and watered them and they would pick from dawn to dusk to make a few pounds to take back to their home countries. Very reminicent of the "Two Caravans" by Marina Lewycha, which I read recently. we only went to that farm when all the others were done.

We would make our sandwiches, I can still smell that awful sandwich spread stuff that looks like vomit, take a few biscuits and a bottle of pop and an old transistor radio. We'd jump on our bikes and ride off to the nearest picking field, could be up to 5 miles away. There was usually a group of women plus us few children.

On arrival at the Strawberry field we'd search out the boss man and ask if we could pick, usually this would be ok and we'd be found some rows to get started on. We'd take a handful of punnets , wrap plastic bags roundour knees and get down in the straw strewn rows. We'd pick and pick till we filled our punnets, usually the first day of the year we'd eat loads too, but to be honest after that the smell and thought of strawberries becomes repulsive so you don't need to eat anymore. If the strawberries were going for jam we'd have to tail them, but if they were going for sale to the public then the stalks are left on. It's harder to pick them taking stalk off as you end up squidging them!

The frustrating thing about being a child picker was they often put you on a row that had already been picked recently, so there are fewer strawberries and you are scuttling up the row on your knees. I'd get home and my knees would be red and sore! We'd always have a radio on and listen to Radio One as we picked, though one year at the International Place I left my tranny in the bush and went to get my fruit weighed when i came back someone had pinched it, I never got it back.

Money wasn't good, but when you were young any money was beter than no money. Some of the women were amazingly fast pickers and they'd earn a fortune. I'd make a £1 or £2 if I was lucky! In later years on a good day I could make about £5-£10 depending on crop. I kept all thr totals in a ledger, I still have it somewhere, I must get it out and have a look!

As a teenager Fashion was all important and impressing the boys a must! Mid 1970's halter necks were very in, so I remember going fruit picking in my old jeans, wearing a black halter neck top and a red and white spotted scarf, thinking I looked "the business"!

One year I had a huge crush on my friend's brother. He didn't usually come picking but this year he did and for whatever reason, I cannot remember my friend wasn't able to come so me and Paul went together. We biked there together, we shared a row together, we had our lunch together. I felt so sick with fancying him, I couldn't eat a thing! I nearly swooned when our hands touched through the black current bush!

The next day my friend was back and she could see there was "something going on" between the 2 of us and she was understandably annoyed. For a few days I was totally besotted with Paul, but then he stopped coming, slowly the sicky feeling subsided and I started eating again, I got over him and moved on!

Fruit picking fields and Love seemed to go hand in hand. I remember my other friend's eldest sister used to come , she never did much picking as her motorbike boyfriend used to come too and they just find a quiet place in the field to make out! Till the boss came along and shouted at them to get back to work!

The sun always shone every summer I'm sure of it. I guess if it was raining we just didn't go. But it did always seem to be hot and I'd burn myself specially wearing my halter neck tops!!

One summer '76, was extrememly hot, but then '77 was loads of thunderstorms, so we'd go picking but end up having to shelter as the rain pelted down. I must admit by '77 I was finding it all rather a bore and was desperate to get a proper job, so that year, we did skive off , just me and my friend Sally, we'd go off on our bikes and go to the beach or visit churches, we liked churches, we'd go round the grave yards reading the headstones. didn't earn much that summer. But I didn't have a great need either, two years earlier I'd worked really hard to save money to buy my pony a new saddle but on 31 December 76 he died and my life as I knew came to an end.

But as my uncle said at the time " You'll have more time for boys now" and of course he was right, but it didn't take the pain away.

My garden in June

2008-06-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos of plants flowering this month:

What kind of a proposal was that?

2008-06-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

How I met my other half Part 2 The Proposal.

So you've heard about how Stan and I met. When I moved to Surrey and became JK's bridesmaid and Stan was PT's Best man. Our first date was to a pub in Richmond and then the next day I was taken to meet his mother as it was her birthday. They seemed to like me. Soon Stan and I were seeing each other regularly, I'd spend time at his house in Reigate and he'd come to Richmond and stay with me. We'd both visit PT & JT every Sunday evening for a drink as Stan had always done. Because they were now married PT was determined that Stan should get married too, so on New Years Eve of that same year after their 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.

It wasn't all plain sailing as we had to endure one of Stan's ex's constant bombardment of telephone calls day and night, usually when she was drunk, begging Stan to go and see her. This went on for several years. Even when we moved house she found us, thanks to the lodgers in our old house telling her the new number.
Sometimes he'd talk to her , sometimes he'd not, I used to get so cross.

But I had my own issues still as I was still very attached to Sam, (See much earlier blogs) and couldn't get him out of my mind and really felt I had been wrong to get married so quickly. But Sam was 500 miles away in Scotland and my life was here. So I just had to get on with it.

After we'd been married 6 months I decided I wanted a baby. Stan didn't. However, I got pregnant and Emma was born on June 21 1987, so she is 21 this weekend. I endured Stan's annoyance throughout the pregnancy. He felt we'd never be able to go to the pub again and I was ruining his life. Turned out we were in the pub as I went into labour and we were back in the pub 5 dayslater with baby Emma. It took a while but Stan got to love having children, so much so that he wanted to go on to have number
4, I said no more after number 3. Couldn't face another stint of post natal depression.

So here we are 22 years married and about to celebrate our eldest's 21st and middle daughter's 18th on 21st and 22 June! How about that?

How I met my other half

2008-06-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

As seen in the forum of Purplecoo:
The quick and easy answer is “At a wedding” but that doesn’t explain how I happened to be at that particular wedding. To explain that I need to take you back to 1972.

Thelwell

In 1972 I was a pony mad 12 year old living in Norfolk. My whole life revolved around my friend’s stables, every weekend and straight after school I could be found cleaning tack, mucking out, grooming in order to get a ride of my favourite pony, Trigger. He eventually became mine but that is another story.

My other joy was writing letters and receiving letters so I had numerous penpals scattered all over the world. But I was keen to have a pen pal who shared my interest in horses. I regularly read a Pony Magazine which had a Penpal section each month. So I wrote to a girl in Surrey. She wrote back explaining that she had had lots of responses and her twin sister would like to write to me. Her sister was JK, she lived in Epsom Downs in Surrey.

For many happy years we communicated by post sharing our joy of horses ad other animals. Then when we were 16 , JK announced that she was in love with a man called PT, she left her home and went to live with him. Being rather innocent I was shocked and stopped writing to her.

Fast forward to 1984. I am just completing my Social Work training. I’m up in Leeds. I need to find work. My thought is to try and get back to Norfolk, but there are no vacancies in my chosen field of Learning Disability, so I have to look elsewhere in the country.

I spot an advert for a Community Care Post in Esher, Surrey. It sounds perfect. So I apply. I am offered an interview, my first ever proper interview, so my mum and I travel down to Surrey. The interview goes well, there were only 2 candidates, but I’m convinced they will offer it to the other young man. We all had lunch together and he was much more outgoing. However, later that night I receive a call from the Director offering ME the job. I was over the moon. My first interview gained me my first proper job!!

Then the panic set in, I knew nothing about surrey, I knew no one in Surrey. Why was I going to a place where I’d be totally alone? I should try for a job where I knew people. But then I thought of JK, it’d been several years since our last contact but I still had her parents address. I wrote to her. Within a week I had a reply from JK herself. She was still living in Epsom , in her own flat now, but still going out with PT and they were getting married in September. She was delighted to hear from me and told me to ring her as soon as I arrived in Surrey and we would meet up. I’d never met her before, but I’d had several photos over the years.

August 1984 My parents helped me move from Leeds down to Surrey. The Council provided me with a little old house in Ham near Richmond Park. Then I was on my own.
Ham House NT

I rang JK and she asked me to come over on Saturday for evening, which I did. We got on like a house on fire, then I met PT too and he was so lovely and funny, I could see why she loved him. I stayed over and the next day we went to Camber Sands, it was a hot, hot, day and I got sunburnt. Back in Epsom PT cooked us a Roast and then his friend Stan turned up to go for a drink with PT. I didn’t take much notice of him to start with, but I needed his assistance quite soon afterwards.

Stan did car repairs and shortly after arriving in Surrey I had a minor collision damaging my front bumper. PT told me that Stan could repair it for me. PT and Stan were best friends. Stan was to be PT’s Best Man at their wedding which was only a few weeks away.

JK and I were by now firm friends and she suddenly asked me if I’d be her bridesmaid, one of her so called friends had suddenly dropped out and she was stuck. So I agreed.
It was all a bit of a rush because I was being bridesmaid to another friend the week before in Norfolk. But I managed to get to the rehearsal taking my boyfriend from Leeds with me, who’d come down to see me to celebrate my birthday. I’d already decided there was no point in continuing the relationship. His life was in Leeds and that was another lifetime. After the rehearsal we all went for a drink I found myself chatting to Stan thinking what a witty, chatty person he was.

At the wedding itself I spent most f the day with Stan and another his friend’s AK, who I must admit was gorgeous, but out of my league. At the wedding I met Stan’s parents, his dad danced with me. Stan attempted to dance with me too, but was rather the worse for wear for drink, but as we were leaving he asked if he could take me out the following week. I agreed and gave him my number.

I think it was only Monday evening when the phone rang, it was Stan asking me out for a drink Saturday evening. Saturday evening arrived and Stan turned up in his old blue escort van and we went into Richmond. He spent to evening telling me all sorts of funny stories and I was smitten. There ensued the beginnings of our courtship. So that was how I met my other half.

I received the weirdest of proposals, if you could call it a proposal, but that is another story and I’ve already written far too much! So I’ll save that story for another day.

Though, isn’t Fate strange? A chance response to a Pen pal advert lead to the most important relationship in my life.

One of those special moments

2008-06-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

I have just come back from running one of my residential short breaks for families that I work with in Sussex. Lampworkbeader knows where I've been as it's close to her. It's the most amazing big old house with wonderful facilities for children and adults to relax and play safely. On this occasion the majority of children all had some form of Autistic Spectrum disorders,mostly on the high functioning end, Aspergers types. You might think this would be a recipe for disaster but it was amazing how well the boys interacted and seemed to understand one another and give space to each other when they were getting frustrated and upset.

The weather was perfect so the play leader was able to take the children on the boating pond and on the zip wire. One young lad had never been on a boat before and by the end of the afternoon he was paddling around in the kayake with great expertise!

It was quite hard work for my colleague and I because basically we had to produce three meals each day for 22 people and keep everything running smoothly, so not much time for sitting and relaxing for us. But we did have the help of a couple of very kind volunteers to help with the main meal each day.

Saturday evening we had a BBQ, we roped the men in to help with the cooking, it's funny isn't it how men love to BBQ but don't normally involve themselves in kitchen activities otherwise!

Now some of the boys had found the spot in the garden where camp fires could be lit and one boy was determined we should have a camp fire. So it was agreed that once it got darker we would light the fire, we sent the boys out to collect wood and twigs, which they did with great jubilation. Soon we had a huge pile of logs and twigs and got the fire lit. To start with it was just my colleagues and some of the boys enjoying the fire but as the evening drew on more adults came to join us and one Dad had his guitar, he sat next to me and started playing. He was very good, he could play by air many of my favourite songs from the 60's,70's and 80's as well as some we sing in church. So as he got into his playing I started singing quietly, neither of us were very good at remembering words, but we muddled through.I'd had afew glasses of wine so pretty relaxed and just enjoying reliving some of my youth through songs. He asked me to suggest something I knew , I suggested one of my favourites "Will you " by Hazel O'conner, he asked me to sing it, so there I am singing to him " You drink your coffeee and I sip my tea, and we're sitting here, playing so cool, thinking what will be will be......", but he doesn't know it,but wishes he does and suggests something else We start on Beatles songs and after a while I realised the others had stopped talking and were listening to us, so i encouraged them to join in, we had a good go at The Streets of London, Hey Jude, Yellow Submarine and a Snow Patrol one. It was one of those warm fuzzy moments when you just want the moment to go on forever. Those moments don't come very often these days, but it is one that I will treasure in my memory for ever.

There is something about that closeness, that connection, of being played to and singing with that really moved me. You could feel the electricity in the air.

It brought back a delightful memory of when I was 18 and going off to Switzerland to see my cousin and work for 2 months. I had to catch a train from Norwich at 11.30pm to Liverpool St Station and then cross London to get to Gatwick, all over night.My parents carefully put me in a carriage with another woman, but she got out at Ipswich and a young man got in. We got talking, he was going to Bournmouth to be a Life Guard on the beach for the summer, but he was also a singer in a local band and after a while he started to sing to me, all sorts of songs from the 60's mostly, he did know all the words! He sang so beautifully and it was so moving to be serenanded like that. When we reached London, he wouldn't leave me on my own and agreed to wait with me with me until the underground opened at 5.30am, so there we sat in Liverpool Street station with him singing quietly to me all these wonderful old songs. Once the Underground opened, we hugged and kissed Goodbye and went our separate ways, never to meet again.It was so romantic and a real warm fuzzy moment that I've never ever forgotten or been able to match until this weekend.
Just one moment in time.

Would anyone else like to share one of their own warm and fuzzy moments with us?

A memory of a house

2008-05-31T02:04:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in my parents house in Norfolk, the house of my childhood. I am feeling quite nostalgic. I think I must be very fortunate to still have both my parents and that they have never moved house. The house has been in my dad’s family for 3 generations. It started life as 2 small farm workers cottages. My great grandfather, Tom, the local postman lived in one side and his son George, my granddad, a farm worker, lived in the other side with his 2 son’s George, my late Uncle and John, my Dad. My grandmother died when my dad was 10. She had breast cancer. I never knew her, but was told she had auburn hair. I remember my granddad being very pleased when he could see my hair was showing a lot of red when I was in my early teens. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it came out of a bottle. But I have carried on dyeing my hair in various shades of red in her memory for the majority of my life. It is particularly red at present as I have resorted to henna as less abrasive.

When my great grandfather died he left his half of the house to my Dad, who was already engaged to my mum. So when they married in 1958 they moved straight in. They celebrated their Golden Wedding in March this year. We had a wonderful luncheon at a local hotel, presided over by Agatha Christie! Agatha had been a visitor to the hotel when it was a private house and now her portrait hangs in the dining hall. Luckily no murders took place whilst we were there!

Mum soon placed her mark on the property. She was a teacher of needlework and soon had her sewing machine out making curtains and covers. The original cottage was small, the front porch lead straight into the living room, to the left was a small kitchen with a walk in larder. At the corner of the living room was a small latched door, which lead to the crooked staircase. As a child I had many recurring dreams of falling down those stairs but never reaching the bottom, I’d wake with a bump though and be hot and sweating.
Upstairs there was my parents bedroom which you had to walk through to get to my bedroom, a tiny cosy room. We were fortunate my dad was a plumber so we had a bathroom in the other small room. My grandad’s cottage next door was almost identical, but he didn’t get a bathroom until 1970. He used the privy in the garden and had a tin bath. We had a privy at the bottom of our garden too, we kept it in use until about 1969 because my Nan on my Mum’s side was severely arthritic and couldn’t climb the stairs to use the bathroom when she came to stay. In 1969 my dad built a huge extension to the cottage, making 2 new bedrooms, a lounge, cloakroom and hallway. It felt very grand.

Shortly after this my nan came to live with us as she could no longer cope alone and needed to be cared for. She had to sleep in our dining room, because she couldn’t get upstairs. She smelt. Life was quite strained for mum and dad. Mum was having to look after nan in the house and granddad next door. As a child though I loved having my nan because she loved to read to me, dad would take her chair into the lounge and we’d help her walk with her frame through to sit in the lounge. We’d watch television together. She loved Songs of praise , but couldn’t understand my love of Top of the Pops. Every week she’d make the same comments about the singers with long hair. “That’s a girl!” “No Nan, that’s a man!” she never believed me!

Christmas was always special. The chimney was in the dining room and even before nan came to live permanently she would always stay at Christmas and we’d do the sprouts together and she’d promise to watch out for Father Christmas for me. On Christmas morning my sister and I would come down all excited and nan would confirm that she’d seen Father Christmas and told him we’d been good , so there’d be a huge pile of wonderful presents by the foot of the Christmas tree. It was so magical. We’d go to bed on Christmas Eve with a bare tree and come down Christmas morning to a sparkling tree full of lights and baubles. I though Father Christmas decorated the tree as well as bringing presents for many years!

My grandad’s house next door remained stuck in the 1930’s, he eventually conseded to allow dad to put a bathroom in but the rest of the house was like a museum. His kitchen was the most basic, just a Belfast sink and one electric ring. He didn’t have a fridge, just an old meat safe. Though he didn’t prepare much food , mum used to do food for him.
He spent his days on the allotment garden that he owned down the road, he grew the most wonderful vegetables. He couldn’t walk very fast as he’d been injured in a farm accident years back and had one leg shorter than the other.
Grandad had serious anemia, he was on tablets but every day he’d have a glass of Guiness. When I was young I’d go round to his after lunch and he’d have his radio on and we’d listen to “Listen with mother”, Grandad would pour out his Guiness and give a small glass to me. I felt very grown up. Didn’t like it very much but I’d drink it any way like medicine. It was certainly better han theCod liver oil my Mum gave me in the mornings!
Grandad had a piano. I was having piano lessons from the age of 9 and so I had to go into grandad’s to practise, I hated it. I wasn’t very good and granddad would make remarks. So I’d not want to go and practise , consequently I never got very good and gave up by the time I was 13.
One of my grandad’s favourite sayings was “Come in if your nose is clean!”, he’d shout this out whenever we knocked on the door to see him. Never really understood it, but he thought it was funny!
Grandad was a very generous man. Every Tuesday he’d go to Stalham Sale and every Thursday to North Walsham for the Market. We only had buses on those days. He would always buy us sweets. Trouble was he bought ¼ of boiled sweets and after a while we’d get bored of these and they’d stay in packet getting sticky and then another packet would come. In the school holidays he would take me with him, so I would chose the sweets and for a while I’d get the ones I liked. Sherbert Lemons or Bon Bons were my favourite, then he’d forget and we’d go back to boiled fruit sweets. At Christmas granddad always gave us huge numbers of presents , he would start buying little gifts on each trip to market from about august and he’d wrap them all up ready for Christmas Day. I was such a lucky child to get so many presents, it wasn’t until he died I realised how many presents he gave us. Christmas was never quite the same. I missed my Rupert annuals especially!

When Grandad died my dad inherited his cottage next door. Being a builder as well as a plumber he was able to knock through and modernise the old into the new and has created a wonderful warm and cosy house which I still call “home”.

My Garden in May

2008-05-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

Last month I posted some photos of what flowers were blooming in April, I've just gone round to see what is out now and taken a few more photos.
Mine is a Woodland Garden and so Rhododendrons and Azaleas flourish in the acidic soil. I had feared that the Wisteria had been frost damaged as it was very late getting any flowers but there are somethough not as many as some years.

Also a beautiful clump of Irises and poppies in abundance.

A few roses are coming out and clematises at differing stages. There is so much colour, such a joyful time in the garden. The bright yellow of the Laburnum tree is stunning.

I was very disappointed to see that my Bramley apple tree has died , it was only 4 years old, I think rabbits have damaged it, I thought I'd protected it but may have been too late. The other fruit trees are doing well though, the Gala Apple ,the Pear and Plum tree look strong and healthy.

I'm not a good gardener, plants have to take their chances......survive or not survive. But I still love to see the beauty of nature ...no thanks to me!

We went down to the woods today

2008-05-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hatchlands House

Surrey and Sussex purplecooers, Blossom, Faith and I met up at a National Trust Property in Surrey called Hatchlands.
It was a beautiful sunny, hot day.

I arrived a little early but it wasn't long before I spotted Faith's car drive into the car park.

Faith and I walked to the entrance and soon we saw someone with a pony tail getting out of her car, we thought that must be Blossom, she spotted us and came over. Brief introductions and soon we were all chatting away as if we'd been friends for a long time. Funny how the virtual world and real world merge and collide.

We set off across the park towards the Bluebell wood, the man at the entrance told us the Bluebells were past their best but still worth a visit.

Both Faith and Blossom have far superior cameras to me so i'm sure their photos will be much clearer.
But we found the Bluebells and they carpetted the woods in a glorious hue of blue, it is difficult to show the beauty in a photo but I'll try.

Through the bluebell wood we headed out on the Long Walk, I had the map, i thought that route took us back to the house quite quickly but after walking for half an hour Faith and Blossom met another couple who informed them we were still over half an hour away from house. Ekk! I had been reading the map the wrong way up! Hopeless or what. Sorry Head mistress but you won't be wanting me to lead the Orienteering group this year will you?? We were passed the point of no return, so had to carry on!
Mind you glad we did , we found an interesting fairy ring of mushrooms and some wood carvings of Toadstools , a Throne and an interesting tree trunk!

We eventually arrived back at the house with aching and hungry but fully energised from our enjoyable walk.
We shared a pleasant lunch in the restaurant court yard but service was rather slow which marred the occasion.

All in all a lovely day. Thanks to Faith and Blossom for coming and making it such a pleasure.

It's not the winning...............

2008-05-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

But the taking part!

Bex was not placed at The Final of Miss West Sussex, but she thoroughly enjoyed the experience and she met lots of lovely young women. But her very good friend Alex came second overall and we were highly delighted, she certainly deserved it!

We arrived at Fontwell Park racecourse at 1.30pm, it was a hive of activity. People running this way and that, sound checks on stage, "One , Two, One Two", the men looked up and shouted approval as Bex and Alex walked passed then to their marquee.

In the marquee girls were already sitting at tables discussing hair and make up.
We confirmed our arrival and the process began.
First discuss how they'd like hair and make up, what colour outfits were to be worn, did they have their own foundation, did they want false eye lashes and so on and so on.

I had to rush off to do the school run so left bex with her boyfriend, he loves the horse racing so was pleased to have a Premier pass to get into the grandstand, so he wandered off to have a look whilst the girls were preparing!

Collected Lucy, managed to get stan home early and then we all set off back for Fontwell, by now every thing was in full swing, horses every where, people flocking through the gates.

Then I spotted her.....Jilly Cooper...... she was just coming across the grass to take her place on the stage as one of the judges. I just adore her and have read all her books, have been a huge fan for years but now I could see her in real life and she looked fantastic. Later on I was standing beside her as we watched the races, she was with Honeysuckle Weeks, the actress from Foyles war, people were going up to Jilly asking for autographs and having their photo taken with her. I wanted to, but I held back, and didn't feel I could voist myself on her, it seemed an imposition, so i just stood near and watched.

The Racing began , the Beauty Pageant was interspersed between each race, so here was lots of tooing and frooing, from race course to Stage area to watch the Girls on stage.
The first Round was an eco friendly round, when the girls wore things that were recycled or second hand or Fair Traid

Becky wore an outfit that had been made by her sister some years ago. So second hand.

There were allsorts of interersting and unusual outfits!

The next round was "A Day at the Races". I managed to find a big formal hat on ebay, and Bex looked very much the part!

The final round was the Evening gowns, all gilrs were asked to change into their evening wear but whilst still in the marquee the Final Five were announced and those not in the final were taken for a photo with the compere and then were allowed to get changed again whilst the Final Five went on stage for the winners to be announced.

And there were winners and losers on the race course too, Bex current boyfriend made a profit of £120! and her old boyfriend lost £300!!

We all retired home exhausted but happy. It had been a long day but a lot of fun.

A walk in the Bluebells

2008-05-04T01:33:00.000-07:00

(I'm the one on the right)

The Saturday before last was the most glorious day. Probably the warmest day we'd had this year. This was just too good to be true because it was the day I had invited my old colleagues to over for lunch and to go for a Bluebell Walk. It rained right up to Friday and it rained again on Sunday and much of the rest of the week, but Saturday was fine. I couldn't beleive my luck.

I made lots of Parsnip and Carrot with Cumin soup, using orange carrots not purple ones!!! I also did a batch of Tomato and Harissa soup. My friends brought lots of yummy puddings and nibbles.

I had half expected to have to be sitting in doors huddled around the log fire, but No, we were able to sit out doors all afternoon, in Tee shirts and wearing sun glasses!!

The food all went down well and then we set off on our walk. Out through my Bluebell wood across the fields to another bigger Bluebell wood, where we were met with swathes of nodding Bluebells. It always gives me such a feeling of joy and peace to see these beautiful flowers.

The Bluebells were looking stunning, a beautiful carpet of blue hue spreadthrough the woods.

After the walk we returned for more Tea and lots of naughty cakes.
A wonderful afternoon spent with special friends.

Out with the old and in with the new, well almost!

2008-04-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was a momentous occasion. The delivery of my new leather sofas.
I'd been waiting for 3 months since i ordered them at the beginning of January. They warned me it would take 12 weeks and it was 12 weeks and 4 days until they arrived!

Some of you may remember that I had discussed wanting new sofas last summer after we were flooded. The old ones were not damaged in the flood but were getting on a bit, i think we'd had them since 1995, which may not seem like a long time to some people (certainly not to hubby Stan) , but it felt like a long time to me . They old sofas were never that comfortable , the cushions slipped off and you'd find yourself sitting in a hole.

I have had to endure constant ridicule from stan ever since i ordered the new sofas, he really doesn't see the point at all.

Let me show you his chair. His chair was new about 1981, it is a leather recliner. It used to look very smart now it is ripped and worn. BUT he will not let me replace it

I cover it with a throw to make it reasonably acceptable. Don't get me wrong it is a very comfortable chair, every one want to sit in it, BUT it looks dreadful.

Back in the old days when we lived in Reigate and had lodgers, there was always a fight to get to sit in THE CHAIR. It was Stan's chair and wobetide anyone else who sat in it, if they didn't get up as soon as he wanted to sit down. One lodger, our dear friedn K, who we still see and laugh over this with,used to dare to stay put and challenge Stan. Brave woman! But she did go to the pub with him so he put up with it!

Now the positioning of the chair is crucial. It has to be exactly opposite the television, not at an angle ,in a true straight line of vision to the Television. Wherever we have lived Stan's cahir and the TV have to be placed first and then other furniture placed around them! Which means my view of the TV is often marred as not in direct line!

In the run up to the delivery of my new sofas, I had to think about disposal of my old ones. I contacted our local Recycling centre and asked if they would like the sofas, i told them they were a bit worn, but fulfilled all the fire regs etc. They agreed that they would like the sofas and a day was set for collection.
They came a day early and i was in Somerset so Bex had to deal with them, the dogs had pulled the cushions off and so they looked floppy. The man told Bex that the sofas were too worn. MY SOFAS WERE TOO WORN TO GIVE TO ANYONE ELSE!! ANd Stan had told me they were fine and I didn't need new ones! I felt vindicated! Though a little miffed.

Luckily a friend with a van was able to take them to the local dump.

The day of the delivery arrived. I was very excited, but also quite nervous, supposing after 3 months they arrived and I didn't like them! Supposing they don't fit in the room. Panic set in.

The delivery arrived. The sofas, only 2 Two Seater and a pouffe , were huge compared to how they looked in the shop. But the men got them in, put the feet on and placed them where I asked. They looked beauitful. I was so pleased. Here they are:

They are so comfy and the cushions don't collapse when you sit on them.

Stan tried to ignore them, but rather difficult when they take up the whole room and grudgingly he admitted they were rather nice!

But he will keep his chair as long as he lives or until it collapses!!

Anyone else have a piece of furniture they are so attched to?

Garden bloggers bloom day

2008-04-15T09:06:00.001-07:00

Camellia

Having read Zoe's blog and seen her beautiful Gentians I thought I'd take a wander in my garden to see what is flowering and do May Dream's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Meme. The daffodils are beginning to go over, leaving the more interesting Narcissis, Some tulips are out , others just coming, The camellias are fading, but i managed to find one still blooming beautifully and the rhododendrons are still to come.The Hellebores are still going strong with plenty of flowers this year. The bluebells that fill my wood are just beginning to flower. My one and only Bleeding Heart caught the frost last weekend when it snowed and has, I fear, died for this year, having come out early.

I'm not too good on plant names, so I have not named everything. if you know what something is called do tell me!!

1)Primroses

2)Hellebore

3)Grape Hyacinth

4)Candy tuft( Iberis Sempervivium)

5189506946145461698" /> 5) Bluebells

6)Japonica

7)
Broome

8)Magnolia Stelatta

9)Narcissis

10)Tulips

11)Kerria Japonica

12)Stargazer?

13)Wallflower

Crab apple Blossom

Cherry tree blossom

I do love the Spring, and it does feel like it has been a long winter and things do seem later this year than last, but more as they should be , I guess. The Spring brings such joy to my heart to see the flowers bursting out in colour all over the garden.

Thought I would finish with Wordsworth's famous poem

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. -

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. -

The waves beside them danced, but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:-

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed- and gazed- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought: -

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude,

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils. - -

Where I live-Inthemud

2008-03-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

Halfway down the road
Is a road where I live:
There isn't any other road quite like it.
I'm not at the bottom,
I'm not at the top:
So this is the place where I always stop.

Halfway up the road
Isn't up, and isn't down.
It isn't in the village, it isn't in the town:
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head:
"It isn't really anywhere! It's somewhere else instead"

Apologies to AA Milne.....

That is rather how I feel about where we live.
We are a collection of houses scattered in a small hamlet on the surrey/Sussex border. Once many years ago this was a thriving village, with a petrol station garage, a Post office with shop, a Bakers ,a Blacksmith and a small school but none of these exist anymore , just a few clues the the past hertiage in the names of houses "The Old Post Office", "The Old Smithy". There is just one place left where the locals can meet The Pub, which is very old and very quaint, goes back to 1500's, and has kept many of it's original features, there is no proper bar, just a stable door , over which one orderes drinks! The pub is very popular with walkers as it is in the midst of a network of Footpaths.

The road we live on, is a country lane, it is set between two major roads, our cottage is about half way from either direction. It can be a busy road especially during the rush hour as people use it to cut through from one main road to the next instaed of going the long way round! Though just recently we did get our 40 mile an hour limit, after almost 10 years of fighting for it. Such a relief and it is slowing traffic down a bit, though not totally. There are no paths, no street lighting, so it can bit rather dangerous taking the dogs out that way.

But go out behind the cottage and immediately I am in fields and woodlands. I've mentioned before the Game keeper who loves to hunt and his strange habits with his trophy heads so I won't say anymore about that, just to say he still does it!
I can walk for ages and not see the road. This is why I love where I live, I love seeing the wildlife, the deer, foxes, rabbits, pheasants,the heron,ducks and moorhens in the pond in the corner of the field, my friendly barn owl, whom I often see first thing in the morning scanning the meadow for prey. I love the plant life too, this time of year there are clusters of primroses, soon there will be carpets of bluebells and wood anenomes.

The road gets very muddy, the paths through the wood and meadows get very muddy, which is why I gave myself the name "Inthemud", because on the first occasion that I joined "that" place and had to think of a user name, we'd just come back froma very muddy walk and Beth was covered in mud, so I thought of "Stuck in the mud" but the system wouldn't allow it all, so Inthemud is what I ended up with, though I answer to "Muddie"!

Our nearest shop is just over a mile away at the petrol station and our nearest village is about 2 miles away in the opposite direction, this is where the real community is, the Co Op with the Post office,the lovely farm shop selling local fresh fruit and vegetables as well as a range of delectable foods and chocolates, the Health centre and pharmacy, the primary school where Lucy attends and the Church which plays a big part in my life. There is also a big Village Hall and Social Club and Playing fields with Football pitches and Tennis Courts. Within this village are all manner of groups and societies , there's the "Wives", "The Friendly Club", The horticultural Society,WI, to name but a few, I'm not a member of any of these as I work full time and mostly meetings are in the day time.

If I need a big supermarket I only have to travel about 6-8 miles in any direction and I can find most of the major retailers.
Our nearest town is Horsham, which is one of the reasons we moved out this way, we would drive out to Horsham on a Sunday and so liked the area that we wanted to live close by. So we spent years searching for the right house , visiting Horsham nearly every month till at last we found our ideal home. We choose this particular cottage because it had a huge drive way for Stan's cars and no immediate neighbours.I won't mention Stan's car habit again as it is rather a sore point!

In the other direction is a village which fames itself on being England's Largest Village: Cranleigh, a very pretty place with all the advantages of a town but it is classed as a village!

I believe we have the best of both worlds where we live, we are surrounded by beautiful countryside, yet we're are only a short drive from all the amenities that we need, though the children would beg to differ, saying they wished we didn't live in the back and beyonds because they cannot get to see there friends without asking to be taken! So "Mum's Taxi" gets plenty of use!

Our home was a pair of old Woodcutters cottages, nestling in beside a 26 acre wood, parts of it date back to the mid 17th C, but due to numerous additions over the years it is not original enough to be listed, which is good really. The early inhabitants must have been very short in stature, as the beamed ceilings are very low. In room room I call my study which doubles as a Dining room and guest room the ceiling has been raised, but the door is still very short, so many visitors go home with bumped and bruised heads, even though I remind them continually "Mind your head!" The cottage is full of character and we have a woodburning stove, which creates layers of dust throughout, I'm afraid I cannot keep up with the dusting and only do it periodically, when I can no only see the TV screen! We too have an abundance of spiders and cobwebs, they cling to the beams and are so hard to get rid of, so we just agree to live in harmony together, they do keep the fly population down to a minimum. I much prefer spiders to flies!

Along side our family and animals residing in the cottage we also have visitations from spirits from previous times. An old lady is occasionally seen wandering the garden or standing in the Dining room, she scared Beth,the dog, one christmas , her hackles rose and she wouldn't go into the room for ages. Also my middle daughter has regular visits from a small girl, who comes and just sits in the chair in her bedroom and watches her, she can be mischievious and often hides things I need, I'll go to the place I know I last saw the item, it won't be there, I'll search high and low and not find it, then the next day I'll look again and there it will be exactely where it should have been before!! We all jog along together sharing the house past, present and future, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Easter Garden

2008-03-22T03:41:00.000-07:00

One of my lasting memories of Easter as a child was the making of the Easter Garden in our church in Norfolk on Easter Saturday. Whilst the adults were busy cleaning and decorating the church with beautiful flower displays, a few of my friends and I would be left to create the Easter Garden, we were able to use the floor at the back of the church around the font.The first part of the morning we would be out on our bikes collecting moss from the roots of trees in the nearby wood, picking up small twigs and picking primroses and daisies and other pretty little flowers. We'd also bring shells and stones that we'd collected on the beach the year before.
We'd have a big board on the floor that we would cover with sand and shingle and a little soil, we'd use old foil cake holders for water for the flowers. We'd make the tomb from large rocks, leaving a boulder just rolled away from the entrance, a white cloth representing the shoud would be lain in the tomb. We'd also build a mound and cover that in moss and place 3 crosses on it, this woulod be our Calvary.Moss would be strewn all over the rocks and floor, we'd make a little twisting stream using tin foil. All very Blue Peter!! Then we'd decorate with the flowers, shells, pebbles and twigs, until we could fit no more on it.

Once we'd finished we'd run round the grave yard looking at the different graves stones and playing till the adults had finished there decorating, then we'd go home to wait for Easter Sunday.

As an adult in my church in Surrey I used to take my children to help make the garden there too, this was a far superior garden with plants bought from the garden centre as well as contributions from the children!

Another delightful tradition is painting and decorating eggs, though the ones I used to do with the children never looked like these!

Good Friday

2008-03-21T04:35:00.000-07:00

Hot Cross Buns!
Hot Cross Buns!
If you have no daughters , give them to your sons!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns!

Good Friday should start with toasted Hot Cross Buns for breakfast. They are delicious from the grill or toaster with plenty of butter and with cups of tea or coffeee. From the beginning, today feels and tastes different from any other day in the year.

But alas in 21stC Britain, Good Friday is simply another Bank Holiday, a chance to lie in and relax about the house or go shopping. every year seems a bit more secularised.

But it is worth while finding out about some good Friday Traditions. Perhaps you have some in your area.
The old Anglo Saxon name for Good Friday was " Langfredag" or the Long Friday. In parts of Sussex it used to be known as " Long Rope Day" and in Brighton there was a tradition of taking skipping ropes down to the beach and skipping along the shoreline. This was also a tradition in Scarborough too, the fishermen would turn the ropes for the children to skip over.
Also an old custom of Blacksmiths would not hammer any nails into a horse's hoof on Good Friday, because of the actions of those who nailed Jesus to the Cross.Similarly people did not do house hold tasks that involved nails. Not the case today, Bank Holidays and DIY go hand in hand!!

There is a green hill far away,
Outside a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.

O dearly, dearly, has He loved,
And we must love Him, too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.

We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains He had to bear;
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiv’n,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to Heav’n,
Saved by His precious blood.

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in.

O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him, too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.

I have just returned from Church, where I experienced a very moving service. It was a Family All Age Worship, and around the church local artists had drawn pictures depicting the journey Jesus took which culminated in his crucifixation on the Cross, also known as "The Stations of the Cross". The service started with the wonderful hymn above, which I have loved since childhood, "There is a green hill far away". Then we were allowed 30minutes just to wander around the church stopping at the different stations, where we were able to read scripture, meditate and interact, there was a big board on the floor near each station and we could draw pictures, write prayers, cut out from magazines anything that seemed relevant, the children found this bit the most interesting. There was also opportunity for the children to dress up in clothes of that era and have their photographs taken and then they could stick them to the boards.

As we walked round there was a slide show of images and bibical verses, and music playing. It was a most moving experience, there was a sense of peace and calmness in amidst the hubbub of children's voices and a real sense of awe and wonder at what our dear Christ Jesus went through to just to save us, you and me, he suffered so that we might be forgiven, that is such a strong message.

At the crucifixation Jesus is fulfiling the prophesy as written in Psalm 22 :

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel. [a]

4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.

10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.

14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me [b] in the dust of death.

16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced [c] my hands and my feet.

17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save [d] me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.

I've just had my Hot Cross Bun and a cup of tea and now I'm ready to hit the shops!!

Happy Easter!

I've been tagged!!

2008-03-15T04:00:00.001-07:00

I have been tagged by Wooly Works to write and share with you 7 facts about myself.

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag up to 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I think we have played this game before and I have divulged so much about myself that it is hard to know what is left to share that is new!!

1) My hubby's Pet Name for me is "Fatty" which I'm not these days, though was quite plump when I first met him, but it's become a term of endearment! And for some reason I answer to it!!

2) I had a kitten for my first birthday, beautiful Black cat, my mum named him Licquorice because he had a brown sheen to his coat, but all i could say was "Diddy" and " daddy", being only one year old, I'd point at the cat and go Diddy, Diddy, so his name was changed to Diddy. He lived to be 18, suffered 2 road traffic accidents and survived, though the last one left him paralysed and inconrtinent which wasn't fun!

3)When I was 18 I spent the summer working in Switzerland, staying with my cousin and her family. They lent me a bike and I'd ride out for miles in the beautiful scenery around Interlaken. I went to a Bier Fest one night on my bike, I left very drunk at 4am and biked home, hit the wall and fell off, grazed my hands and knees!

4)My favourite cuddly toy as a child was my gollywog, he went every where with me. I had several over the years as they fell apart, I'd just be left carrying the head around, sniffing it under my nose, I'd love the smell!

5)I was an avid reader of Enid Blyton books, I'd read every book she wrote that i could get my hands on. Loved famous Five, Secret Seven, Adventure Books and so on.
Bit like my daughter now loves Jacqueline Wilson.

6)Favourite Sweets: Licquorice Allsorts.

7)Favourite Food: Anything with Mushrooms and garlic!

That's done then so who should I tag?

I know some people find this sort of thing annoying and I know that Elizabethd has tagged some of my good friends already.

So here goes:
Cait O'Connor
ChrisH
Pipany
Toady
Zoe
Faith
Crystal Jigsaw

You are duly tagged.
Please following the above instructions.
Look forward to reading your 7 Facts!
But fully understand if you do not wish to or do not have time to do this!

So who's home was it then?

2008-03-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well, as far as I can fathom the hole in the tree was home to a family of Great Spotted woodpeckers in the spring.
As I used to walk past the tree I'd hear the twiterings coming from the hole and see little heads poking out, as I approached they would hide inside, once I'd passed they
would pop out again. Occasionally I would see the parent Great Spotted Woodpecker fly out as I was near by.

The young birds fledged and left the nest empty.

A few months later there was no activity, new residents had arrived to live in the tree, this time it was bees!!
They would usually ignore me as i walked past but sometimes they would fly out and look at me menaceingly, so I'd walk faster and hurry Beth along.
As summer turned to Autumn the bees disappeared and the hole in the tree became vacant again.

So far I've not seen any activity, but i expect the Woodpeckers will be back soon.

Nobody guessed the bees but 2 of you guessed the Woodpeckers, Pipany and Zoe, So you both win the box of Roses Chocolates.

And the 2 inventive answers that amused me most were Elizabethd's "Hobbit House" and WesterWitch's "A very large and impatient bookworm", so you 2 can also take a box of Roses. Enjoy!!

Who lives in a house like this??

2008-03-10T03:17:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd give you a little Monday Morning Teaser.
I've been walking past this tree for over a year and I happen to know that there have been at least two sets of tenants living in this tree.

Have a guess and tell me who lives in a house like this? You can have 2 answers as
there will be a prize for the nearest accurate answers and a prize for the most inventive, if it makes me laugh you may well win!!

Pretty barrel

2008-03-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

Spot the noddy dog!

And the answer is..................

2008-03-06T00:11:00.000-08:00

Peterwf is the winner, he was the first to reply and the only one to specify 40, others said 30. So the bottle of bubbly goes to Peterfw. Well done!

But for sheer inventiveness I must give 2 more prizes, One to Westerwitch for her image of a "Witch with chain saws welcome" sign, who can argue with that!
And another to Chrish for her suggestion of " The Clangers have landed and built a chimney" I liked that! So all 3 come and collect your bottle button.

Yes, after nearly 10 long years of fighting, the Council have at last agreed to put up 40 mph speed limit. It was touch and go whether it would be agreed, we were all set for council approval last summer, then someone.......Grrrrrrrrr........made an objection. We don't know who, but they obviously don't live on the road or they wouldn't have objected. Probably one of the annoying fast commuters that use the road a as Rat run and don't want to be slowed down.

We've lived on this very fast unrestricted country lane for 6 years now and you take your life in your hands when you step out into the road to walk dogs or go to the post box. It is a country Lane, it has no pavements, but it is a short cut between 2 very busy "A" roads and the cars come thundering along. Rush hours in mornings and afternoons are terrible, then it goes quiet during the middle of the day.

Coming out of our drive is a dangerous feat, you have to edge out very slowly and wind windows down to hear for traffic.

In contrast I can step out of my back door and be in the woods and meadows with no cars and no noise except the birds.

When I saw the posts appearing along the road this week, I was delighted as I knew at last the battle for restrictions had been won. It won't slow everyone down I know that, but it'll help.

Guess What?

2008-03-05T00:37:00.001-08:00

The above post appeared on our road yesterday and I am thrilled.
Can anyone guess what the significance of this seemingly insignificant post is?

There's a virtual bottle of plonk for the nearest right answer.

I will give out the answer tomorrow morning.

Happy guessing!!

Mother's Day

2008-03-03T01:19:00.001-08:00

Mother's Day began with Breakfast in Bed. I knew something was up when Stan started quizzing me about what time I was going out with the dogs and when I said just after 7am, that seemed to confuse him, but I go out earlier now the mornings are lighter.

So I went out and when I got back Lucy was up, unheard of on a Sunday Morning! I did my usual after feeding animals, made more cups of tea and went back to join Stan in bed. Around 8am Lucy marches in with a tray full of breakfast things, a bowl of cereal, piece of toast and orange juice, how lovely is that!

So I sat in bed enjoying my breakfast, whilst Stan looked on longingly! I did give him a piece of toast!
Then I had to get up and make his breakfast,, rather defeats the object, but that is the Sunday routine, I cook scambled eggs and fried tomatoes for Stan and do a pot of fresh coffee. The I rush off to Church with Lucy.

Mother's Day at Church is always an enjoyable affair. All Women are given a Primula in a pot, I managed to get 2 which was nice.

Back home all my daughters are now up and they sit me down and then produce thier gifts and cards for me. I was so touched. They had put such a lot of thought into finding things they knew I 'd like.
If you look above you'll see the photo with all the pressies on it.
Lucy gave me the lovely cream jug, which matches the cream kitchen tins I have for Cakes, bread, tea, coffee , sugar etc.
Bex gave me 2 mugs, one which is for breast cancer charity and the other because she liked it and it says "from your little girl" she's not so little now at almost 18! There was a matching fridge magent too.
Em's present 2 beautiful planters from Past Times where she was working up until New year. That shop has since closed and she is now working elsewhere, but I gained a few delightful things from her time working there.

I feel very fortunate to have 3 beautiful daughters whom I love enornmously.
Yesterday was Mother's Day and it was such a joy to have all three here at the same time.
Unfortunately, poor Em is unwell, the GP thinks she has Mumps, which is not good, particularly worrying for her boyfriend. So Em came home on Friday and is still here now. Her poor face very swollen on one side. It was a lump on the side of her face that gave the clue to the GP that it was Mumps , as she said it was an inflammed saliva gland, but it takes a week for the saliva test to come back. One side has gone down but the other side is now swollen. She's had all her MMR jabs so hopefully this is just a mild dose, if that is what it is.

Lucy took this photo when we came back from our afternoon dog walk.

I hope other Mum's had an enjoyable day too.

Beautiful Barn Owls

2008-02-21T07:46:00.000-08:00

I have just come back from my afternoon dog walk. What a wonderful walk it was. First I saw the Buzzard, then as I came back through the meadow I spied the Barn Owl, flying low over the grass, as I watched he came nearer and then perched on a post. It's only 3.15pm, rather early for owls to be out. Then as I stood and watched another owl appeared and flew across the meadow. They seemed oblivious to me as they flew in tandem over the grass searching for prey. it was such a beautiful sight and such a lovely surprise. I've not seen 2 together ever before. Maybe it was an Anniversary Present from nature. Better than any flowers !

Ps No I didn't take the photos, but found 2 very similar to those I saw.

A day out to London

2008-02-19T03:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Lucy and I had a trip up to London. After my last unfortunate experience with trains I was very anxious to arrive early at the local station to secure our tickets to travel.
Fortunately for us, we were able to park easily and the ticket office was open.
It's actually very good value taking a child out for the day to London. I bought a One day Travel card for £14.20 and Lucy's ticket was just £1.

A couple of days earlier I'd been wondering what we should do in London, all very well saying lets have a day out but thinking of something that would might both mine and Lucy's approval is another thing.

If it had just been me, I'd have loved to have gone to the Royal Academy to see the Russian collection, the Matisse etc, but when I suggested that to Lucy, she gave me that look of horror, "no, not an art gallery, please!"

I was browsing the Saturday Timesand saw a section of what to do in Half term, it's mentioned an exhibition of Space age travel at the V & A 's Museum of Childhood.
I thought that sounded interesting and to be honest I'd always wanted to go to the Museum of Childhood, so looked on the website:
www.vam.ac.uk/moc

It looked good, so told Lucy and she seemed quite keen.

So we took a packed lunch and headed up to London Victoria and on the Underground to Bethnal Green. Found the Museum very easily, it is very close to the station, we had our sandwiches sitting in the park next door to museum. There were a couple of pigeons pottering about so I throw a piece of crust, and suddenly we were engulfed with pigeons, where had they all come from? How did they know a little piece of bread had been dropped? Lucy was in a panic as they came so close , flapping and fluttering at us. decided it was time to move on, gave rest of crusts and darted off towards the exit!

The Museum is FREE, that was a big bonus, to actaully go somewhere for nothing.
It was fascinating, full of old toys of all sorts and all ages.
My favourites were the Old Dolls Houses, some were massive, copies of real mansions, made for the children of the house.
Lots of Teddies,including Paddington Bear,

Other Dolls,cars and games, it was packed with interesting things to see and do. Lucy wasn't that bothered about the Space Age stuff, probably more for boys, but she still enjoyed all the other things.
We stayed for about 2 hours and then headed back to Oxford Street and hit the shops . I needed to find an outfit for Lucy to wear to her Grandparents Golden Wedding Lunch. Gosh, she is soooooooo fussy, won't wear pretty dresses, I found so many lovely dresses and tops but "no way!" was she going to even try them on! Which was a great disappointment to me. Eventually she settled for a checked skirt and top with a little matching waistcoat, very nice in it's own way, but not really dressy enough, I don't think. This is what comes of having Fashion conscious elder sisters. When they were her age they would still wear what I suggested, Just about anyway!!

We headed back to station and back home to sussex, it had been a good day , tiring and we both had head aches, ( What is it about going to London? Always end up with a headache!)but most enjoyable.

"Have a nice Trip, see you next fall".....................

2008-02-18T00:23:00.000-08:00

Once was careless, but twice was just humiliating!
What am I talking about? you ask, I'm talking about tripping up, falling over, slipping down.
As a child I was constantly grazing knees and elbows, falling off my bike, running on gravel and slipping over, the worst was when the tarmac was hot and I fell on the road, I'd get covered in tar and road chippings in my cut, the agony of having Dettol rubbed into the wound and Mum having to pick out the grit! As an adult it doesn't normally happen very often, but isn't it so humiliating and we have further to fall.
Twice in this last week I've taken a tumble. This is just ridiculous. I'm I just clumsy? Or is it something more serious? I think the former.

The first time was on Wednesday morning as I walked back through the garden with the dogs, we have a grassy slope, I usually take the lower path to avoid it, but today the dogs took me through the slope way, it was damp and very slippery, I lost my footing and slid down the bank, landing on my posterior, really jarred my hip . I looked up to see the dogs just standing over me, looking at me in that starnge way, "What are you doing down there" they seemed to say. I got up, shook myself down and wadddled in with very wet trousers, yuk! Had to change.
That was ok, no harm done, and no one except the dogs saw me.

Then on Saturday I'm in my local village , getting a few bits of shopping, going to the library and getting a DVD for Lucy from the rental shop.
We are just walking back to the car, I'm wearing a pair of boots with a small heel, I step off the curb, the next thing I realise is I'm falling, I cannot stop my self, my heel has caught in the paving and I can see myself in slow motion falling forward on to my knees and I put my hand out to break the fall, I land heavily. I'm shocked. I sit in this position for a few seconds, a woman comes over and kindly asks if I'm ok, I say I'll be fine. Lucy is with me and looks worried, but i really am fine, just feeling very silly, the woman stands by me and says she will stay until i've got up. She's sees my elephant keyring has fallen off my keys so she picks it up for me. I get up, I've grazed my hand and it's bleeding, my knee is throbbing, but i'm ok so I gingerly walk to the car, I thank the woman for her concern. I get into the car and feel quite sick and shook up.

Last time I wear those boots! I must be more careful!

Has anyone else fallen lately? Any stories to tell?

Valentine's Tradition

2008-02-14T06:53:00.000-08:00

Valentine's day was always something to look forward to as a child growing up in North Norfolk. I didn't think of it in terms of "Love" and Boyfriends or Girlfriends, no it was far more exciting than that.

It was the night that Valentine would call at the house and leave little gifts.
My sister & I couldn't wait for it to get dark, because Valentine wouldn't come if it was still day light as he didn't want to be seen.
We'd keep pearing out of the window, watching the sun set and the dusk coming down.
Then at last it'd be dark.
We'd wait.
We'd wait a bit more, then a "Knock, Knock" at the door, we'd stumble over each other to get to the door first.
Look down on the mat and see 2 small packages, one named "E" ,the other "A", we'd pick them up and excitedly take them into the living room. We'd quickly undo the packages, and find a colouring book and pencils.We'd rush to show Mum or dad who ever was in the kitchen.

A few minutes later there is another knock at the door, again we rush off, this time there was 3 packages, one for me, one for my siaster and one for Mum!
Dad had gone to the shed, so mum was in the kitchen and we took our packages to her.
Boxes of smarties for my sister and I, Box of Black Magic for Mum!

This knocking at the door and finding little parcels would happen 5-6 times and we'd end up with a delightful pile of little pressies.

Such a joy!
It was many yeasr before I realised who was "being" Valentine, it was so cleverly done, that i didn't miss the parent who was out side doing the knocking, and in fact sometimes my grandad would join in too, he lived next door, so Mum and dad would be with us and Valentine would still knock!!

I have carried this tradition on with my children and they love it.

I think it is a Norfolk thing, My mum says valentine came to her as a child, but many people have never ever heard of it. Have you?

A surprise Visitor!

2008-02-13T04:41:00.000-08:00

A Long Tailed Tit.
As some of you will know I am a keen bird watcher and get very excited to see certain species.

At my old house in Reigate I saw flocks of Long Tailed Tits on a regular basis, they were always such a delight to watch but we've lived in this house for over 6 years now and I'd never seen one at all. Seen lots of other beautiful birds, Nuthatches, Goldfinches, Chaffinches,Marsh tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits to name but a few.

Then 10 Minutes ago, just as i was sitting here at the computer, a bird flew across my window and landed on the BT box just on the window ledge, it was a Long tailed Tit!
What a lovely surprise! It looked at me. I looked at it. Just for a few seconds we were just inches apart and then it flew off.

That has made my day!!

Mwah! I've been awarded an "Mwah!" Award!!

2008-02-11T02:10:00.001-08:00

This is so exciting, DJKirkby has sent me an Air Kiss "Mwah"!
This is a good time of the year for awards. What with the BAFTAs, happening yesterday, Congratulations to Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard for their Best Actor/Actress and to the wonderful Anthony Hopkins for his Academy Fellowship Award.

Soon it will be the Brits, Live, again I believe!

So It is my understanding that I must now pass on this "Mwah" award to other wonderfully outstanding bloggers. I find this so very hard as you all have such talents and what came to my mind was that i would like to make the award to all of you who have contributed by posting your "Day in the life of..........." in the Purple coo forum, because they have been such a joy to read and it's so good to get to know more about our varied lives and of course the similarities we all share!
This award therefore goes to Grouse ( for having the idea in the first place)
and all those who have written so far:
Cait
Bodran
Blossom
Cowgirl
Camilla
Elizabethd
Casdok
@the Mill
Elizabethm
CountryCraft Angel
Crystal Jigsaw, (I think DjKirkby has already given you one)
Ivy
ChrisH
Bradan
Lampworkbeader
Kat
Fennie
Faith ( A Big Thank You for keeping the ball rolling by putting up the post of names)
Grouse
Himalayan Blue
Happy Snapper
Fern
Frances
& Last but not least The one and only Glamouros Kitty!!

Sounds like my old School Prize Givings, as we used to queue to collect our prizes for all subjects, it went on and on and on!! But it was worth it for the £5 book token.
I'm afraid you only get the "Mwah" But Congratulations to you all , well deserved for allowing us into your lives. Do collect it and take it to your blog site.

Muddie XX
PS If you've completed your "Day in the life of.. " after this list you are still entitled to collect your "Mwah", so in case I forget to tell you, just come and collect it!!

Book Meme Tag

2008-02-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

This one is a Book Meme, and I've been tagged by Mary at the Dear Little Red House! It sounds like fun, so here goes:
Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
Drum roll, please...

I've picked up : MAEVE BINCHY's SCARLET FEATHER

This is page 123
I found The fifth sentence which says:
" Absolutely not,I think we'll end it like this; we can't expect to think that you'd ask me to give up my whole life's work and dream anymore than I would ever expect you to. Was it something like that?"
The following 3 sentences:
"It needs a lot more though and discussion," he said
"You're right, " she said and they went to bed, where they slept so far from each other that not even a toe touched, and cathy pretended to be asleep when he left Waterview early next morning having totally ignored his promise to take the twins to school.

If you haven't read this book, you must , it is a joy to read. Full of love, heartbreak and laughter set in Ireland .

Now I have to tag 5 other people.
Just to change the rules slightly I will say that if you have arrived here at my blog you are duly tagged.
Well, that worked for three of you, but as we are into a new day now I am going to tag 2 others........wait for it .........
Lampworkbeader
CamillaIt's a fun one! Enjoy!

Morning Glory

2008-02-08T01:38:00.001-08:00

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

What a glorious morning it is out there today! West Sussex is sunny and bright and the birds are feeling excited , they are singing loud and clear.

As I stood by the back door I could see the sun shining through the trees and the sprectrum of light giving a specticle of rays, lighting up the dust and mistiness. I had hoped the above photo would be able to portray the beauty of what I could see, but it is no where near as impressive in the photo sadly.

Just as I stood there looking at the sky I could see an aeroplane going over and it's misty passage across the sky was shining bright against the blueness, another plane had left a trail going the other way. I can't remember when the sky was last so blue. Must be way back in October now.

I didn't feel at all well yesterday, I have no idea why. I woke with a bad head and then I felt nauseous for the whole day, which was very annoying, having been feeling so good since the operation. Somehow, I think maybe yesterday was nothing to do with the op, but was a viral thingy. So I lay very still for most of the day and dearest Lucy cooked dinner for the 2 of us. She did me Fish Fingers , Chips and beans, real nursey supper and it was lovely! Stan was away in his lorry and will not be home until tonight.

So I had the TV to myself and enjoyed the great plessure of watching "Waterloo Road " and the new "Ashes to Ashes" on my own with the log fire roaring away. Anyone else see Ashes to Ashes? What did you think? I'd been a great fan of "Life on Mars", felt it was a clever new concept, this new version is sadly lacking, they are trying to repeat what they had but this is quite weird. I will watch , I will enjoy it for what it is, but it's not John Simm.

I'm waiting for Waitrose to deliver my shopping. Not being able to drive this week, I thought I know I'll get Tesco's to deliver, I tend to be a Tesco Shopper, but could I get registered , no I could not, several times over 2 days i tried, and it kept coming up with "Sorry, Error, technical problems , cannot register your details, try again later".................. I did , to no avail.

So I went back to Waitrose, whom I've used before and they remembered me down to every last item I'd ordered way back in 2004, so I made my selections and it is all coming this morning. Just costs a wee bit more than Tescos, but I did manage to find a £15 off voucher on google!

Oh well, Back to watching "Homes under the hammer", they're in Norwich, so I must watch!

The Three Bears

2008-02-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there were 3 bears. Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear and Baby Bear. They lived in a cottage in the woods.

The three bears lived very happily together until one day at breakfast time mummy bear said " I've made the porridge but it's very hot, lets have a walk in the woods whilst it cools"

So off they went.

Whilst they were gone a little girl called Goldilocks came upon the cottage. She was lost, cold and tired and hungry. She knocked at the door , but there was no reply, but the door was ajar, she went in. She saw the porridge bowls on the table she was very hungry, so first she sat in Big chair and tried daddy bears porridge, "oh too hot!", then she sat in the middle sized chair and tried that porridge, " oh too cold!", the she sat in the small chair and tried the baby bears porridge "Yummy, not too hot or too cold! Just right " she said and ate it all up!

Goldilocks was very tired now , so she went upstairs to find a bed. First she found Daddy bear's bed, "Too hard"; then she tried Mummy Bear's bed, "Too soft"; Then she found baby bear's " Not too hard or too soft, Just right" so she lay down and went to sleep.

The bears returned from their walk. Daddy bear felt something was wrong as he walked through the door. "Who's been sitting in my chair? Who's been eating my porridge? He said.

Mummy Bear could see something was wrong too " who's been sitting in my chair ? and who's been eating my porridge? She said

Baby Bear looked at his place at table..." Oh no, Who's been sitting in my chair and look they 've eaten up all my porridge? He burst into tears. Mummy hugged him.

Daddy Bear said I'm going to look around, he went upstairs. Mummy followed with baby Bear.

"Who's been sleeping in my bed?" he said, "Who's been sleeping in my bed?" said Mummy Bear, the Baby Bear looked at his bed, "Look ! He shouted "who's been sleeping in my bed and she's still there!!"

The shouting woke Goldilocks. She junped up with fright and ran down the stairs and out of the door, and was never seen again!

Sorry I just couldn't resist, once I'd posted the photo of our family bears, the story just happened to come through my fingers and onto the keyboard! Forgive me!

The three bears are mine and Stan's from our childhood, they now sit as a family on a chair in our bedroom and are the first thing i notice as I sit up in bed in the morning.

This bear is one of mine. He's called Growley, which is a bit of a misnomer as he never did growl, even though he was supposed too. I had him on my first birthday , so that makes him 45 years old. As you can see he is well worn and well loved. But I think he was stuffed too tight with starw and so the growl mechnism was faulty. I used to get so frustrated. The idea was that you turned him upside down and as you raised him up , he was supposed to growl deep and low, but all I got out of him was a grunt!! Don't think it helped with me leaving him out in the garden in the rain!

That reminds me of the wonderful "Teddy Robinson" stories, anyone remember them? lovely stories, by Joan G Robinson..

Just for a short time, he started growling properly, don't know why but then it stopped again. Growley has travelled with me through life and now he's found a Partner in Stan's Bear.

Stan didn't tell me he had a bear for some years. It was when his mum and dad were moving house and they brought over a box of Stan's old things, which had been in their attic. In the box was Bear, this bear has no name. Boy's apparently don't name toys! So to me he is Stan Bear. As you can see he is older than my bear, much more worn out and weary looking, hardly any fur left on him and his head's a bit wobbly. Stan got him on his first birthday too, so that makes Stan Bear 50!

And so to Baby Bear, this little bear is mine . He is known as Baby Bear. I received him on my first Christmas from my very special Godmother, who lives in Switzerland. He is such a cute little bear but not cuddly, very hard stuffing, but I used to carry him around with me a lot. Now he had a squeaker and it did squeak very well, not so now though!

I didn't save many of my childhood toys, unlike my sister who kept all her Sindy's and Baby dolls and her pram, which my mum brought out for our children to play with, so it's really quite special that we have our bears.

What bears or toys have you kept?

Day in the Life -INTHEMUD

2008-02-04T02:56:00.001-08:00

Day in the life of INTHEMUD

High pitched barks wake me from my slumber, I glance at the clock , it 5.30am.
I wait to see if barking subsides, it doesn’t, so rather than have the whole household disturbed, I slide out of bed and trip over a dog bone on the carpet and I walk along the corridor to my daughter Bex’s room.
Beth, our big German Shepard /Leonburger, follows me.
I open Bex’s door, out rushes Molly, our Lhasso Apso puppy, she is so excited to see me, her whole body wags with her tail. Beth greets her and they rush around a bit.
I go back to bed but can’t sleep as they are playing chase in the passage way.
I snuggle in to Stan’s back and wait for the alarm to go off. He’s sleeping soundly, not at all disturbed by the caffuffle going on with the dogs around him!

6.10am the teasmade starts up , warming the water until it boils, then the gentle glugging noise as it boils and pours it self into the tea pot, a loud buzzer goes off to announce TEA IS MADE! I lean over and turn it off , turn on the radio to hear Joanne Good’s dulcet tones coming over the airwaves from BBC Radio London. Although we are in the heart of the Sussex countryside we can still pick up BBC London, which is a light hearted talk show in the morning, we’ve been enjoying this for many years, started back in the days when Danny Baker hosted the breakfast show. He now does the afternoon slot, which I never hear . Jo Good is an old actress who used to have a big role in the original Crossroads, very cynical about marriage and quite opinionated, which makes for a good show.

So I pour out the tea and we drink whilst listening, then lay back down till 7am, then have to think about getting up. I usually just pull on my old clothes for dog walking, trackie bottoms and a jumper. Peep out of the window……….

What’s weather like? Dark so can’t really tell, wait 10 mins and look again, it’s been raining, but there’s a slight frost now, so need to wrap up warm. I go down stairs followed closely by Beth and Molly, eager to go out. Thick coat, scarf, gloves, my faux fur hat, (Lucy hates it she is embarrassed when I collect her from school in it!) and welly boots. I wear old riding boots these days, so many problems with getting splits and tears in standard wellies, these riding boots I got from Ebay for 99p. Well worth it!

Before going out I take all my tablets, washed down with soluble Vitamin C & Zinc, I swear by it for warding of colds.

Into Utility, get the leads, the dogs are going frantic around my legs, leads on OFF WE GO ! Through the garden, through the edge of the wood over the stile and into the paddock next door. It is still empty, over 18 months now since the horses moved out, it’s been for sale but no one has taken it on. The foot path goes through it which is perfect for me as I try to control 2 dogs. Beth has to stay on her lead as there are sheep in the next section of fields, Molly just runs along behind!
If I’m lucky I may see the Barn owl, she flies low over the field searching for prey and then sits on a post, just watching and listening.
I love Barn Owls, something so beautiful about there whiteness and the silence as they fly in the dusky dawn. I stand and watch for a while, then on through the fields for about 20 minutes.

Back home. Stan has just gone off to his work. Wake Lucy. Feed dogs. Feed cat, get cat in doors away from dogs. Cat hates dogs. Cat was with us first. Cat’s nose out of joint. Cat chased puppy Beth and scratched her nose. Beth remembers. Beth chases cat. Molly would like to make friends with cat. Cat having none of it.
Feed rabbits, feed wild birds. I love watching the birds through the kitchen window, get so many different birds, will stand watching them for some time.

Must get on: Make Lucy’s lunch. Pack her school bag, make her breakfast.
Lucy comes downstairs moaning. Molly has weed on her floor. Molly still in very early stages of toilet training. Goes for walk comes in for toilet!

8.30am Take Lucy to school.

Come back to house and start work for the day.
I’m very fortunate these days to work for a Family Support Charity and I work from home. So I will start by turning on my mobile, listening to any messages, check emails.
Write up any contacts from yesterday not done. Then I will go out on my visits. I travel the length and breadth of West Sussex visiting parents, offering emotional and practical support. I may go to my head office in Brighton to supervise another worker. I aim to get back in time to collect Lucy from school .
Depending what shift Bex is on I may have to take her into work, sometimes she starts at 6.45am which is an early, sometimes 2.30pm whaich is a late and sometimes one in the middle. I try to be available to take her and pick her up, but if I can’t she has plenty of male friends willing to take her.

3.45pm Back home, walk dogs again, continue admin for work. Lucy has snack and watches TV.
I usually finish work at 5.30pm, just in time for Neighbours, yes , I admit it I’m a long standing fan of Neighbours, ever since I was off on maternity leave with my eldest in 1987. Now the BBC are stopping it, and it’s going to channel 5. BBC loss, 5’s gain!

Neighbours over. Time to prepare dinner. Always a challenge, as Lucy very fussy, so end up doing something separate for her and never sure if Bex eating with us or not. So concentrate on what Stan and I will have.

7pm Stan comes home, I make him a cup of tea, we talk about our days. He goes out to his workshop to do some fiddling on his cars, we have 20 + cars in drive!
I eat my dinner without waiting for Stan, as he will be ages sometimes. Help Lucy with any homework.
When he comes in , he takes up residence in “his” chair in the sitting room. I heat up his dinner and take it to him. He eats. I do his puddings, he eats, I make his coffee and my tea. We sit and watch TV. Stan usually wants to watch Car or truck programmes, so I go up to our bedroom and watch my favourite programmes.
9pm Lucy goes to bed.

9.30pm Take dogs out for final wee.
More cups of tea .
10pm Bath and bed for me. Stan usually comes up about half hour later, so I get to read for a while, though recently been too tired

If Bex is at home usually a string of friends start to arrive around 8pm, cars come and go, they go out they come back. Music blearing from her room. Try to get them to be quiet when I’m ready for bed. Sometimes comings and goings carry on past midnight, I get cross and march in to Bex room and send friends home. I’m a light sleeper any noise wakes me, so I do get annoyed if they won’t be quiet.

And so to sleep and it starts again tomorrow…………………

Not very exciting really, but that’s my life!

Nil by mouth

2008-02-02T03:30:00.000-08:00

The letter said " Do not eat after 3am and do not drink after 6am. Arrive at the hospital at 7.30am. Do not arrive before 7.20am as staff will be in the middle of change over."

I duly did as I was told , I ate my dinner at 7pm on Monday evening and had a biscuit at some point before going to bed. I had my bath and "prepared" myself for theatre, removing all make up, nail polish and jewellry. Actually I didn't; I totally forgot to remove my rings and cross necklace. So I had to declare them to the nurse when they admitted me.
I went to bed and slept reasonably well, a little anxious but not enough to prevent me from sleeping.
I awoke to the sound of the teasmade going off at 6.10am, but I thought " It's too late I can't have a cup, it's gone 6am". So I just made a cup for Stan and got up to see to the dogs and get my final things ready.
At 7am we set off on the 20 mile journey to the hospital, it was a damp , misty morning, so no frost the scrap, just jumped in the van, ( Yes, I had to travel in my Stan's van, as he was going straight on to work).
Arrived at the hospital at 7.40am, not too early and maybe a tad too late, but it didn't seem to matter. I kissed Stan "Goodbye", He said "Good Luck and call me later, Love you!" He drove off.
I walked into reception and was greeted by a kindly receptionist, who quickly told me which way to go and to report to the Nurses desk on the ward.

A young student nurse was asked to show me to my bed, it was in a room with 3 other beds. 2 for my consultant and 2 for another. One other woman was already at her bed, her husband was with us. We were asked to do a "sample", she nurse said they do a pregnancy test, just in case...
totally unnecessary as far as I was concerned I knew I couldn't be pregnant...............even so i was relieved when she came back and told me it was negative! So was the other woman as she had long gone through the menopause!

So we sat and waited, I sat and read, the other woman sat and talked quietly with her husband.
Time ticked on and at 10am, the group of doctors came by and did various tests and filled in bits of paper. First they spoke to the other woman, I overheard them say " It's a long list today and you won't go down until the afternoon", then they came over to me and I asked what time i'd be seen, he repeated "It's a long list today and you are last on the list!" "LAST on the list! Why , then was I asked to come in at 7.30am!" I exclaim " Can I have a drink then?"
"Maybe , we'll have to see" he replied.
"I was told that if I was on the morning list I'd be asked to come in at 7.30am , but if I was to be seen in the afternoon, it would mean coming in at 11.30am and being able to have some breakfast, why were we all told to come in early? " I ask
"I can't answer that, " He said, " I'll see if I can get you a drink"
They left, soon a nurse came in, I remembered her from last time, she recognised me too. I explained what had just been said. She agreed that the other woman and I could have a glass of water to drink up to 11am.

So we had our drops of water, we sat and read . The other woman's husband decided to leave, no point wasting a whole day.

At 11.30am 2 new patients arrived for the other consultant, by 12.30pm one had already gone for surgery. We sat and waited and read.
The 12.30pm patient came back, the other one went down at 2pm.
We sat and waited and read some more.
The anestheitist came to see us, cheked us over, no loose crowns etc.
2.30pm came and the other woman went down for her operation. She was gone a long time.
So I just sat and waited and read some more, it was a good book, so good to have plenty of time to read: James Frey's " A million little pieces" about drug and alcohol dependency and his rehabilitation. My client lent it to me, she is about to go to rehab, all thanks to this book.
4.45pm AT LAST they came for me.

The next thing i know I'm back on the ward, it's 6pm, sleep on and off till 8pm, then have a cup of tea, I'm sick............
11pm I'm so hungry, I try a sandwich, I sleep till 4am, I'm awoken by someones buzzer going off, and then can't get back to sleep.
5.45am Have another cup of tea, I'm sick again.
They give me an anti sickness tablet, I'm sick again.
I had anti sickness drugs whilst in theatre but I still get sick.
12 noon I'm not in much discomfort. My new boob is looking good!
I'm really staving now, I've not eaten for 36 hours
Lunch comes,Start with Melon and then a lovely dish of Mushroom Ragout and Rice, I eat it with relish and follow it with Ice cream . It stays down.
2pm I GO HOME. My daughter Emma collected me.

Bosom Buddies

2008-01-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Bosom Buddies Calendar :To quote one of the women: " In a world obsessed with cosmetic enhancement of the human form, in order to create perfection, mastectomy is the unthinkable operation. My fervent wish is that this calendar will dispel the fears of women facing the surgery and that it will demonstrate to them that they will retain the essence of themsleves as women. the reason we have participated in the creation of the calendar is because we feel good, good about ourselves; and we want to pass that message on in the hope that it will give strength and courage to those who need it"

Not long till my operation............

2008-01-17T06:09:00.000-08:00

It's just 10 days now till I go in to hospital for my boob exchange, I've not given it much thought really. It is supposed to be a simple operation, taking out the old implant that did the expanding work for me following my mastectomy last March and replacing it with a permanent silicone implant. I should only be in for one night and then home resting for 2 weeks.

I've got rather attached to my temporary boob, it will be strange to have a different one, the permanent one should be more rounded and hopefully slightly lower than this one, because I do look slightly lopsided. Mind you my consultant has warned me that I will my real breast will still be larger than the implant and may wish to consider having a reduction on that side....... I don't think I want to put my self through that. Though in some ways I have this vague feeling that my real breast is now the alien and that both should look the same as the implant and then I'd be balanced. There is no medical reason to have the good boob taken off, but it will always be in the back of my mind that the cancer could come again. Some women who have genetic breast cancer links do have both removed just in case. I'll keep it as long as I can, as I know a second breast lost would have an enormous impact on both my hubby and I, which doesn't bear thinking about at this stage.

I came across a great article about women who'd had mastectomies and were determined to not let it affect their lives, and wanted to prove they could still be glamourous and sexy, they have done very tasteful calendar. If you're interested go to http://www.bosombuddiestrust.org/

On a more humorous note, but still connected to breasts: My daughter's delightful puppy Molly is becoming a naughty little girl and she keeps stealing clothes . This morning as I lay in bed, contemplating having to get up but not wanting to, I could hear this ripping, crunching noise, going on beside my bed. I looked down and could see Molly was chewing something, I grabbed my glasses, without which I see nothing, and discover she has a white strap in her mouth. It's the strap from my bra, the bra itself lying abandoned on the rug, now ripped to pieces! I grabbed the strap and shouted "No" at Molly, but it's too far gone to repair.

Nothing for it, I'll have to venture out to Debenhams to buy a new bra. I only had 2 that fitted well, now just one! Good excuse to buy another, but it is a chore i do not enjoy. It is hard to find a bra to fit me well, with the implant on one side, let's hope they still have the same type in stock , that'll do me just fine!

I'll have to put yet another photo of Molly up, just because she is so sweet, albeit naughty!! This is a photo of my cousin with Molly & Beth , at my parents house in Norfolk over Christmas. It was the first time I'd seen my cousin for several years, it was so lovely to see her.

Molly, in her Santa Outfit!

2008-01-09T05:22:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas tree

This is Molly, our new Lhasso Apso pup, she wore her Santa outfit just briefly on Christmas day, but didn't like it so we soon removed it!

Miss Teen Queen- Vote for Rebecca Waight PLEASE!

2007-12-05T06:41:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-19T06:59:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-18T11:53:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-11-06T01:12:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-05T01:02:00.000-08:00

Bewitched

2007-11-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

Deer Hunting

2007-11-01T02:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-31T01:48:00.001-07:00

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!

2007-10-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-09-29T02:15:00.001-07:00

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!

2007-09-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-20T02:04:00.000-07:00

"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

2007-09-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-09-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-06-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-18T04:03:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-06-14T05:31:00.001-07:00

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!!

2007-06-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

2007-06-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Do not be distracted!

2007-06-05T05:07:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-06-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-05-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

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.