A true ghost story

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fast forward to 1993

It's Christmas.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I asked her gently what the lady looked like-

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

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

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

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

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

'Bout time too!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lucy's Birthday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My First Award!

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

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

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

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

The things I do for love!

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



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



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



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



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

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

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

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

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

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

End of a Spanish Dream

"They're coming home"
This is home.

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





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





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





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


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


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





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


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





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


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

My Spanish Holiday- Part 2

View from the apartment.


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


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





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





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


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


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


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





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


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

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





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