there and back again again

zipped quickly up to sheffield yesterday afternoon to collect fran

poor kezia had been quite ill in scotland so they decided to cut their hols short and arrived back in sheff on wednesday night

i stopped at donington park on the way up for a coffee-in-the-car and stupidly sent a text to f to tell her where i was - cue the request for me to 'nip' into m & s and collect some lunch!! - so we had soup and bread with blueberry muffins for pud - or 'caaaaake' as jago called it

fran, kezia and jago were all peering out of the window when i arrived - cheery little faces smiling at me - aaahh!! - k is heaps better and none of the others appear to affected so all seems well - stella blooming - baby is due in just over a fortnight though she says she was much bigger by this stage with both others - hope it isn't born 2 days before i go away on my hols like jago was!! - i am looking forward to seeing him/her!!

fran and i left before 8 and had a good journey back down - dropped f off at her home and was home here before 11

work today not too bad but looking forward to the weekend - and a flexi day off on monday - hoorah!!!

book aid international

at one of the aywl meetings last autumn, juliette was telling us that across the developing world there are still millions of children not receiving an education. Book Aid International is an organisation working in partnership with these countries to create learning opportunites for people of all ages to help reduce poverty.

our group is now organising a 'book swap'

we will be asking as many people as possible to bring a favourite book to church and to exchange it for a £1 ticket

the following week all the books will be on display and tickets can be swapped for someone else's good book

all monies raised from the tickets will be sent to Book Aid International and used to help disadvantaged people.

liz, katrina, cathy and i were at a meeting at juliette's home this evening to iron out all the practicalities - we shall be giving a little 'spiel' at all masses this sat/sunday - not sure how successful it will be but we all feel it's worth giving it a go - will report back later

p.s. valentine's day today! - and ne'ery a one!!!

there and back again

picked frankie up soon after 11 and with only a short stop for 'breakfast' at toddington we made good time, arriving in stella's road around 2.30

mistake!!!

the house is only minutes away from hillsborough stadium and the place was heaving - i have never seen quite so many foottie supporters in one place - all converging on the 'ground' - it was like some sort of pagan ritual . . . and indeed perhaps it is! - next week when i collect fran it will be even worse though as it will be a local derby - stella says to get there early when there should be space to park outside their house before the mayhem begins

seeing the pies was lovely!! they have a tiny ikea table and 2 chairs that stella painted in bright colours and which they have in the bay window of the sitting room so they can do their 'work' and watch the people going by - they look so cute!! - and fran sat there too to do her lesson preps - really must get to grips with this digital camera lark so i can get some photos on the blog!

i stayed for dinner and then drove home - stella made the most scrumptious pudd - chocolate sauce and cream for which she gave me the recipe so i can impress p and c and m and l when they come for dinner in march

today has been quiet - phoned o and g - poor g's gout has come back and he has vowed to drink no more wine or beer - disaster!!!

working hard . . .

good week on the whole!

i have been really busy at work with heaps to do this week - which is very satisfying - had wednesday off and still managed to work more than my standard hours!!

tuesday evening: governors' meeting - went straight from work and was famished by the time i arrived home - tully looked fairly hungry too!

wednesday evening: reading group at jenny's - fran phoned just before i went out and said she and alex were coming to visit so left group earlier than usual - nice to see them both!

thursday: fran phoned just as i was leaving work to say her car won't be mended by the weekend as promised, so bothered about getting up to sheffield from whence she, stella and the pies were travelling on to scotland for a 5 day break - connections to sheffield not good from here so i said i would drive her up - jolly excuse for me to see the pies - hoorah hoorah and thrice hoorah!!! (and the car will be mended next week)

today: called in on cat, david and chillun to drop imy's bday card - 12 on monday!! - crikey!! - and i won't see them as they are all going down to rosings with janey, eric and pete/lorna - and lizzie and andy joining them for the weekend - jealous?? me??? - stopped for coffee and chat - cat looking very well and i even felt the baby move!!

so . . . quiet night in for me with 'me knittin' and an early start for sheffield in the morning

scooter

ha!!

it does sound like me - always the one chivying the others to meetings - "punctuality is the politeness of princes"

i was wondering as i did the quiz who i would turn out to be and i had forgotten all about scooter - yup!! says it all really!!

po et familiares

***You Are Scooter***
Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick.You're always willing to lend a helping hand.In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going."15 seconds to showtime!"
The Muppet Personality Testhttp://www.blogthings.com/themuppetpersonalitytest/

grand parents!

one of the few tv progs which can make me laugh out loud is 'one foot in the grave'; mostly, i think, because i could see boogs heading that way but now i can see myself hurtling in the same direction!!

and what has annoyed me this time is a sort of 'ageist' view of grandparenthood!

chatting at the annual school reunion yesterday (in the pub! - nothing changes!!) the subject of grandchildren came up. now only 2 of us actually are grandmothers so far and i heard one woman ask another if she had grandchildren? she hasn't and said so but this was then followed by a sort of general shaking of heads and mutterings about not wanting to be a grandmother 'yet' due to the fact that they are all 'too young'!!!!!

I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!

but what really makes me laugh is the fact that of all the ones there, i am, in fact, the youngest by over 6 months!! and even i am well into my 50s!!

memory v well read . . . .

list-making: is the only way i can remember anything! i have lists of 'to do in the house' - and 'in the garden', lists of people to phone, lists of 'to do at work', lists of 'to read', lists of knitting projects, lists of 'to do this week', lists of 'to do this year', lists for when i shop, lists of things other people shoud do, lists of lists and even lists of lists of lists (well that one is a bit of exaggeration).

and today i had a list of things i had to do in my lunch break

and i suddenly remembered a book i had once read in which the maid servant (it was set in victorian times) was unable to read but managed to buy everything on the shopping list her 'mistress' gave her because she committed it to memory (fortunately the lady of the house always read it out to her before she went)

and i began to wonder if it was a little like when people are blind and they use their other senses more which then become more acute

and then i thought that perhaps having a poor memory is actually because i read so much and has nothing whatever to do with old age

so perhaps having a good memory is in inverse proportion to being well read - although of course it does make it difficult to remember the plot and the characters!!

so now what should i do? stop reading so much and improve the memory? or carry on reading and use that as my excuse?

. . . . and i will be back with a more sensible post another day . . . . if i remember

number plates

pootling along getting ready for work this morning, when the phone rang and it was fran - waiting for the police!

her car number plates had been stolen during the night and she was thus unable to drive and had to wait for the police to arrive so she could make a statement. i had been wondering all day why someone would bother to steal the plates - after all they would be pretty easy to spot!! - and thought perhaps it was just one of those things people stole these days - well i have to admit to 'nicking' the odd beer glass or striking tube poster in my youth! but then someone told me that the plates are stolen, put on a same-model, same-colour car, driven into the congestion charge part of london, filmed on cctv and then the unfortunate car-owner gets the bill! so it was just as well fran had phoned the police since at least she would be exonerated from any possible blame over mis-doings caught on camera - but it is still a darned nuisance for her having to sort out and pay for new plates - what a pain!!

sunday morning . . .

it's been a busy week!

monday and tuesday - spent most of both evenings on the phone but did manage to book our hols in austria in june - hoorah!!! - feel mildly euphoric as i managed to book the hotel in german - and they appeared to understand me!! - hope i haven't booked a week for 6 in july rather than 5 nights for 5 in june hahaha

wednesday - reading group at my house - had been reading 'the river' by tricia wastvedt for which everyone bar me gave very high scores - i had been annoyed by the loose ends and the way in which the story hopped around from past to present (well 1987/1990 at the end) although i did think it was very well written and certainly atmospheric. it was a good evening with 100% turn-out - a first for the group! wish my sitting room weren't so small!!

thursday - to london after work to see 'we will rock you' which i enjoyed so much - it was a great evening - lovely meal in good company at garfunkel's before the show and the show was tremendous. i had been expecting a queen tribute band so was surprized to find it was in fact a musical. it was hugely enjoyable - very funny - and the girl who played scaramouche (hannah jane fox) was outstanding! boogs would have loved it!!

friday - oh dear can't remember!

saturday - to o and g's for lunch - they are both in good spirits and looking forward to our hols (o phoned the hotel and - oh joy! - i had booked what we wanted!) - then eric and janey fetched up mid-afternoon and we sorted a few more details - then i had to leave as i was going to a quiz night at sacred heart, bushey. we won!!! - it was an excellent quiz (it would still have been good if we hadn't won!) with wonderful food and had a lot of fun and laughs on our table. we all won a bottle of wine (which was nice) but - even better - we won the catenian trophy to take back and keep until next year!!

p.s. dr.(!!)rich graduated this week!! i am very proud to have such a clever s-i-l! he looks wonderful in the photo on the family blog . . . . congratulations!!!

a fantastic week-end . . .

. . . started on friday at just after 8.00 p.m. when stella rich and the pies arrived - much earlier than i had been expecting them - hoorah!!! - it was lovely to see them again and the pies seemed so happy to be back. we had a little snackette with them, took them up to bed and then chatted for while before turning in ourselves

saturday . . . was brilliant!!

janey, eric and catherine arrived soon after breakfast - which meant more coffee, 'breakfast pastries' and general admiration of and cooing over the pies. then e,j c and i zoomed off to the junction, caught the train to london and met frances and steve for even more 'snacks' at the stage door coffee shop. the matthew bourne production of 'edward scissorhands' was superbe!!! - many of the others finding it even better than 'swan lake' which we had seen last year (i still prefer 'swan lake' however!). the dancing was exceptional, there was lots of humour - so much in fact that we all felt we had 'missed' a fair amount since there was always some little piece of 'business' somewhere on stage to raise a smile - and the overall quality of the production and staging was breath-taking. we met fran's friend aeron and her friends in the foyer afterwards and had a quick chat with them before heading off for 'the fish shop' on st john's street. wonderful fish and chips and great chats and laughs among the 6 of us, then we all set off home-ward. home soon after 9. rich and kezia had gone to the pantomime, jago was asleep so i had nice long chat with stella before r and k arrived home. they had had a terrific time at 'cinderella' with much shouting of 'he's behind you' in good old panto tradition. k had thoroughly enjoyed it - her first visit to 'the theatre' - but was exhausted and soon went off to bed.

sunday . . . was 'recovery' day - we were all shattered!!

s r and the pies packed up and went off to jackie's soon after 2 and i followed for the cwl 'afternoon tea' around 3. the cwl ladies are always so lovely - i don't know why i don't go to the events/meetings more often - too little time i suppose??

nothing good on tv this evening - as per usual!! - so i'm off to make a hot chocolate and continue with my book

quandary!

i am feeling really guilty today!
i did most of my christmas shopping in st albans this year - on a saturday, when the street market is also on. the market is 'buzzy' and fun and i even managed to find some presents there. one of the stalls sold various 'accessory' bits and i bought myself 4 differently coloured scarves for £10 - a bargain as i thought! i have had compliments every time i have worn one - which is nice. today, however, i noticed the label and realised that it was produced in a country where is it quite possible that the workers are poorly paid and being expolited. and now i could kick myself!! particularly as i had already turned down some remarkably cheap ear-rings on another stall since the stall-holder was unable to tell me where they were from and i feared that they had been produced in some far-eastern 'sweat shop'.
so how would i know if it would be better to buy and at least keep the workers in work, or boycott and possibly eliminate the exploitation? i am not sure if anyone reads this, but if you can help i would surely like to hear from you!!

trisha and company

had an enjoyable 'girly' supper at trisha's yesterday with danuta, jackie and ruth - it was lovely to chill out with them - ALL my friends are such fabulous cooks!!! had to leave early-ish as i was the only one having to go in to work today - boo hoo!!
work dragged! went out lunch-time though and collected my new specs - its been 2 years since my last presciption and i hadn't realised quite how much my eyes had deteriorated in that time - ah me!! tempus fugit!!

you say you wanna a res-o-o-lution . . .

2006 already and no time for resolution-making!
so here's mine - hastily decided upon as the clock struck 3 this morning: no more time wasting, no more procrastinating and as little worrying as i can reasonably get away with . . . and now it's public i suppose i had better at least start . . .
but before i do . . . just a quick update on yesterday and so-far today:
fabulous evening at jane and dave's: super meal, great company and plentiful laughs; a grand a-singing of auld lang syne as the clock struck 12 to welcome 2006; back to den and jon's where i stayed over along with janey and eric - lovely time and d and j so very hospitable; lunch at the clarendon and then home to find frankie and a cup of tea, a message from o and g and catch up with on frankie's news.
so now for my resolution: i'm off to read '365 ways to change the world'.
see ya! . . . .

to 2006 and beyond

another christmas . . . another new year . . .
looking back on 2005 , well it hasn't really been too bad
my extension is still not built, my garden is still a wilderness and i am still several stones overweight
on the plus side however . . . stella rich and the pies continue to thrive rather splendidly and pie no 3 is expected in the spring, fran finished her degree, started as an NQT and graduated with aplomb in November and i am finding life sans boogs is getting easier
christmas with kezia and jago in the house was certainly different from anything i have experienced before - it was the best and most relaxing yule i have spent in YEARS!!! i had some great times with them and laughed more than i have in ages - they are just so amusing at that age. Yes, it did get very (VERY!!) untidy but it was that sort of untidyness that takes about 5 mins to sort out after they went to bed so totally negligible. crikey! i miss them now they've gone back home!!
we managed to nip up to o and g and had a lovely time with them. they love to see the great-grandchildren especially as they are so very well behaved and charming
had dinner with danuta, john and nusia last evening (good to catch up on all their news) and just as i was leaving had a text message from rich to say they were safely back in sheffield - just as well as the weather is truly nasty today
today i am catching up on jobs and then having a cosy night in in front of the tv
all in all, i am actually looking forward to the new year!!!!! can't remember EVER having done that before - oh dear almost bound to be a 'counting your chickens' situation!!

good-bye

this all seems remarkably pointless now

boogs

everything that has happened since last time seems to be about boogs!! . . .
friday
looked at s's blog . . . boogs missing all this
saturday
t and r wedding reception - a barn dance!!
sunday
quiet
monday
anniversary - say no more - mass for boogs - kind message from e and j, card from trisha and co and long phone call from frances - very kind very much appreciated
tuesday and wed
not at work
friday
e and j arrive for week-end . . . did loads of jobs - lovely meal with p and c . . . no boogs!!!
hope next week is better

long time . . . no sea either!

such a long time since i wrote anything on here that i couldn't even remember my password!
far too much has happened to update in one post . . . so guess what? . . . yup! just have to start again . . . tomorrow (well it IS another day)
ok! . . . here's hoping i can remember how to publish . . .

sunbathing

sunday

this sunday was apparently the hottest june day on record so i am pleased to report that i had enough spare time to sit under the apple trees in the garden reading and also enough time to do a spot of sunbathing!

mass in the evening with edna.

it was so hot at night that i considered sleeping downstairs in the dining room with the french doors open but then couldnt be bothered to blow up the air-bed - i think i may invest in one of those full length chair things for the garden and could then use the cushions to sleep on at night - and it would be handy for sunbathing as the blanket did get very warm after a while!!!

monday

dreadful rains in north yorkshire where the rivers flooded their banks and many homes completely wrecked - stella and co had heavy storms but of course being so high up were not troubled by floods

walked along the colne valley walk and through the munden estate with jan, tassa and 'bob' - had a coke at the old fox and then back home - probably about 4/5 miles - i have a pedometer - must remember to take it next time.

frankie phoned to let me know she has passed her on-line english test - yay!! - now she is completely finished and ready to start teaching in september.

today

very hot again - cut the hedges when i came home this evening - frankie came to visit - but only to use the computer really - despite heavy flooding further north it is very dry here and i have put the sprinkler on the lawn tonight - before we get the inevitable 'hose-pipe ban' - i would not use the hose if i thought it would make any difference but truly believe the water company make the ban every year as a matter of course.

must try harder!

was what was always written on my school reports - along with 'erratic worker'!!
Years and year and YEARS later . . . and not much has changed!
I have been ignoring this blog to such an extent it becomes difficult to catch up - so once again!!! - I shall just concentrate on the last few days . . .
friday
Had a day's annual leave and managed to turf out a load of things from the garage, took it all to the dump along with the old mattress from Frankie's room - having just had a new single bed delivered with a great big drawer in the base
Went to the haircutters and left my car to be valetted in the Harlequin car park - fantastic job!! - will do that again - highly recommended!!
Stella and the pies and Frankie came over in the pm and we sat on the lawn and had tea while K♥ ran about gathering pine cones and J♣ crawled after her to join in the 'game'. They are lots of fun at this age. K♥ is very funny and makes us laugh - she is a little comedian!! and Jago is just the cutest cuddliest babe in the world. Rich had gone to the funeral of his Great Aunt Ivy - she of the blunt remarks!! Lovely lady who 'spoke her mind' - telling us that she thought J♣ was a strange name and and he 'should have been called Michael or Stephen or something sensible'. Then she compounded her out-spokeness by asking 'oh isn't he the one with the sister with a funny name'! Ha haha !
saturday
Very warm!
Drove up to Daventry in pm in order to stay the night and then take aged ones to bus station to catch their holiday coach to Germany. We went to mass and then gave lift home to one of the neighbours, Jean, who was very pleasant - she and I had very animated chat about books and reading. Quiet evening and early to bed. Couldn't sleep but fortunately Dad has blocked out the glass panel at the top of the bedroom door so at least I could read until I was tired enough for sleep. Last time I stayed, they told me I had to turn the light off as it was keeping them awake and I had to stand at the window and read by the street light!!!
today
Up early - breakfast - set off for Northampton bus station
I had to set them down in the taxi rank which was a shame as I had wanted to park and then wave them off - but I couldnt find a car park open nearby - so had to leave them trundling off in anticipation - hope they have a good time. They are going to the Rhine but also going on a couple of trips to towns which I stayed in when I went with the German class in 2000 and 2001.
Home just after 8 - sat and read paper in garden, cut grass - hope to do lots of 'jobs' today