Wonderful Wedding ~ 1

A lovely surprise yesterday when the post arrived.  A card and a cd of photos of Emma and Peter's wedding in August. And then . . . when I logged on to Facebook, the photos from Claire and Nick's wedding had been uploaded. 

So, since Claire and Nick's wedding was in June, I'll put those up first and do Emma and Peter's later. 

Lovely Claire and Nick

Cake made by Kathy, Mother of the Bride

Claire's parents ~ my friends Tony and Kathy

Claire arriving ~ it always rains in Shropshire!

Last minute adjustments!

She looked beautiful! and we all gasped!

Witnesses ~ with the Best Man and Claire's sister Anna

Favours made by Kathy ~ tasty local-recipe biscuits ~ mmmm

Nick's mum, Tony, Claire, Nick and Kathy

Still raining!  But how pretty!

Specially for all the children

And they had a wild time!

Tony during the speeches

Groom's Speech

Claire made this!

Vows!

The 'little' bridesmaids

Claire and her God-parents ~ Odilon, Claire, me and Brian

Claire with Kathy and Tony

The flowers were beautiful ~ and all the arrangements were home-made!

Fun in the grounds for the children ~ balloons in the Shropshire colours of blue and yellow

Claire's favours

Kathy during speeches

Ball games for the children

Letters made during the 'Hen' night

Nick's button hole ~ in the Shropshire colours!

Group Photo 

Back soon with photos of Emma and Peter's wedding ~ also fabulous!!

Po xx

Tuesday Chuckle

There is a name for these.  I can't remember what it is but I think 'Tom' is involved somewhere.  Also courtesy of the Dodo pad ~ which I just couldn't live without!

'I'm shrinking', said Violet.  

'This house has two lavatories', said Lulu.  

'Is that a horse I hear?' asked Winnie.  

Gunnhildr

Here is my new car . .  . . 

and it's not the convertible Fiat 500 in the Vintage Range (which looked like great fun) ~ because reviews asserted that once the hood is down you can't use the rear-view mirrors

and it's not the Suzuki Jimny (which also looked like fun as well as the driving seat being higher from the ground) ~ because it has only two seats in the back (no good for use with either the Pies or the Pips complete with Parent)

and it's not the VW Up! (which is tiny and had the added thrill of an exclamation mark  ) ~ because it also has only two seats in the back

and it's not the mini (which is an icon and a truly nice car) ~ because is is a) expensive and b) has changed just a little too much from the original mini such as we had back when I was young and c) it probably has only two seats but I never got that far in my research

and it's not the VW Polo (which I liked very much) ~ but oh! the sales team!  When I said I wanted more time to decide, the sales chappie brought his manager out to sit the other side of me in order that I could be harangued in a pincer movement.  And it just wasn't that good a deal. 

In fact it is a dear little i10 which I love as it is small, nippy, economical, easy to drive and has three seats in the back. Although, as C pointed out, the middle seat really is very small ~ you would need to be jolly skinny haha 

Back soon

Po xx

August . . .

More catching up . . . 

Well before the month was a few days old I broke my thumb and it had to stay in a splint for almost seven weeks.  A nuisance but better than an arm or a leg!  And at least I could still drive.  

Another wedding ~ this time my nephew, Peter, and his Emma in a beautiful village in the Cotswolds.    It was lovely ~ all my adult family were there and many friends as well. Emma looked wonderful and so did the three bridesmaids (am biased a little as Frankie was one of them!).  Peter made a great speech ~ full of humour but also emotionally charged. I took no photos as I was (again!!) too busy talking to take any and so far have not seen the official ones and don't have any at all of the wedding party. The following,  however, are ones that Lizzie took before her camera died.  

The village

Village 

Frankie 

I went with Stella and J and C and Frankie and the Pips to Winchelsea.  The residents claim that it is the smallest town in England but there seems to be some dispute with other towns!  It is very quaint, however, with the most charming houses imaginable and the nearby shingle beach is totally undeveloped so does not attract many holidaymakers and is consequently always quiet and peaceful ~ just how we like it!  Back in the 1990s when the daughters were teens and pre-teens we used to holiday there every Summer.  We found something different to do every year although Bodiam and Scotney castles were places we visited each holiday.  And every evening we would go to the beach and skim stones and watch the sun sinking into the sea and luxuriate in the peace.  It is a place particularly loved by our family and on this visit we scattered Boogy's ashes. A decision long in the making ~ but, finally, the right one.  

Back soon

Po x

ps collected car yesterday, drove it home but still driving my Familiar Feisty Fiesta ~ Lord! what a wimpy woman! Photo tomorrow!

More Lamb House garden . . .

The garden photos in the last post seem rather lacking in  flowers so here are a few more . . . . the garden was still floriferous considering it is already Autumn . . . . . .

Kitchen garden

I believe Shakespeare productions are held in the garden during the Summer months 

There was a little pet cemetery in one corner ~ I think this was the path leading there.

A day out in Sussex

Half-term for schools this week and Stella, the Pies and I went to Rye to visit Lamb House, scene of the home of Lucia in 'Mapp and Lucia' in the books by E F Benson and the TV series of the same name.  Visitors can see the ground floor as used in the series and also a couple of the costumes from the production.  They are great books ~ quite a number of years since I read them ~ and the production was very well done. 

Lamb House was also the home of Henry James and one can see various items and rooms set out as they were in his time as well as a series of drawings of his literary friends.  (I'm not quite so keen on Henry James!)

The garden, too, is open for visitors and as it was a beautiful warm Autumn day we spent quite a while out there.  A few snaps ~ taken by J mainly:

J in front of the house ~ Check it out in the series

Tapestry seat in the hallway

K, Stella, C and me

K

C

C

Rye is a beautiful little town ~ very pretty with lots of lovely old buildings ~ it was one of the Cinque ports

The streets are very steep though it doesn't show it here 

We then nipped off to Battle to wander round the site of the Battle of Hastings ~ although there has recently been some controversy alleging that in fact the battle took place elsewhere!   J has been learning about the battle at school so informed us on the shield wall, as used by the English soldiers, and various other tactics.  A quick scoot round the exhibition at the end ~ this was good!  We could try to lift models of both the English and Norman shields and weapons.  The soldiers must have been extremely strong ~ we could hardly lift them let alone go into battle with them.  

More Pics:

Entrance to Battle Abbey

J on the field of battle

C and J

Pies

The town from the steps of the Abbey

Great Day!

Picking up Car tomorrow!

Back soon

Po x 

Tuesday Chuckle

Does killing time damage eternity?

(Courtesy of the Dodo pad)

July . . .

. . . was good . . . mostly . . .

It started well with Eric and Janey coming to stay so that we could all go to J's birthday party on the Sunday afternoon. This was great and superbly organised ~ lunch / tea in J&J's garden out of cool-bags from Carluccio's to share with whoever you happened to be sitting next to.  A lovely relaxing long afternoon with friends in a peaceful and beautiful garden.  How nice is that?  Happy Birthday, J xx

The Lord Chamberlain's Men were performing Twelfth Night at Batsford Arboretum and G&H asked me to drive over and join them and Eric and Janey and share a picnic.  A very funny evening ~ great company and the play was wonderful ~ a really good production.  The Lord Chamberlain's Men are a company who perform at outside venues during the Summer months ~ and, just as in Shakespeare's day, are all men and take on many roles during the same play.  The one who played the maid, amongst other roles, reminded me of Lpip!  Exactly the same mannerisms hahaha.

Completed the sale on G's flat.  This had dragged on for so long and had worried poor G no end.  It's good that it has finally 'gone' but sad that he left us before he could share in the pleasure of the completion.

My birthday ~ which I rarely celebrate or do anything for. Stella and Frankie surprised me be coming round the evening before ~ crafty!!! ~ and bringing cards, presents and treats to enjoy.  

Another theatre trip ~ this time to Stratford where I met Cat and David to see 'The Merchant of Venice'.  This has not been one of my favourite plays but this production was out of this world.  I have never found the Merchant particularly amusing before but this one wrung every ounce of humour from the lines.  I saw it in 1987 with Anthony Sher playing Shylock ~ which was good ~ but preferred this production for the pathos which the actor brought to the part.  The RSC often produces a DVD of their productions ~ see it if you can!

Women's Group (and hubbies') Summer Supper at S&S's home.  We were lucky to have good weather so we could be outside.  S&S had organised a 'How well do you know Watford' Quiz which was fun and there was lots of time to chat and laugh with friends.

For the rest of the month I had lots of nice visitors ~ Pies and Pips for various lengths of time from over-night to four nights and Eric and Janey and various poppers-in.    

Not such good news is that a much-loved family member suffered a heart attack and spent a couple of nights in hospital.  Happily home and very very much better.  It was certainly an anxious time for us all but sensible regimens are being observed and otherwise all is back to normality.  It has given us all a shock, however, and has brought home to us that we must be grateful when we are in good health and ensure that we remain so.  

Back soon

Po xx

New car . . .

About two years ago I began to think about changing my car . . . and I burbled on about it . . . and saw cars I liked . . . and looked at t'internet . . . and thought some more . . . and wandered half-heartedly around car dealerships . . . and thought some more . . . and mentioned it to my mechanic . . . and even thought some more . . . 

You will have concluded by now that I am not 'big' in the decision-making process.

Well this week I have finally test driven a number of cars, come to a conclusion and today have ordered one!!  It's not the Fiat 500 from the vintage range, nor the Suzuki Jimny, nor the VW Up! nor even the mini ~ all of which I had on my list but had to reject after all for one reason or another.  

But it's a nice little soul and I will post a photo when he / she has arrived.

Back soon

Po xx

x

My Latent Thespian Tendencies . . . .

Year ago ~ before we had The Daughters ~ Boogy and I belonged to the local dramatic society.  I acted (not very well I have to admit) and Boogs did backstage / Stage Manager roles.  Boogy was great at constructing sets and calming nerves before 'curtain up' and was always in the wings with a cheery, consoling word if one of the cast had made a hash of it onstage.  Not that it really mattered ~ we lived in a small town where everyone knew each other and the audience came in order to have a good laugh and a pleasant evening ~ we only ever did comedies.  

In many ways I would have preferred to be backstage ~ it all seemed like much more fun and, after all, the sound and lighting effects were dead easy to do, weren't they?  

Or so I thought.  

On Tuesday this week I had the chance to test this theory by doing the sound effects for a Scouts' Ghost Walk.  All I had to do, apparently, was hide in the bushes and play stagecoach noises on a sort of i-pod thingy.  Simples!   

Well it wasn't that simple but it was a great deal more fun than even I had anticipated. 

One of the scouts' mums was with me and, basically, we had to play the noises as the scouts walked past.   As it turned out, neither of us were in the least bit techy ~ although we did get it right in the end.  But not before we had played sounds of bats, screams, groans and chains by mistake for the first couple of patrols to come through!

Fortunately it was a warm, dry night and we were in a little copse sitting on a groundsheet spread on soft fallen leaves.  It would not have been so good had it been cold and raining!  Especially as we had walk down a dark and unfrequented country lane and then scramble over a muddy bank just to access our hide.  We were there for a couple of hours and most of the time we just chatted, drank coffee and laughed ~ and being outside as well was a great way to spend the evening.  

It has to be said that the scouts were not very much scared by us ~ although they all entered into the spirit (no pun intended!) and were obviously enjoying themselves.

I enjoyed it too although I'm not sure I would be keen to do sound effects again ~ far too difficult!  I think I would much rather be the Grey Lady or the Nervous Nun ~ and indulge my latent thespian tendencies!

Back soon

Po x

June . . .

Poor neglected blog . . . .

I did think that once retired I might just manage to fit in a teensy bit more blogging.  But sadly . . . . not!!

Life is still very busy and many of the projects I had earmarked have not even been started! Although the computer is certainly less congested and a little more organised ~ wish I could say the same for the attic and cupboards and shelves!!  Little work in the garden attempted ~ I had anticipated that I would be doing a lot out there ~ maybe next year?

This is a quick catch-up of Highlights in June:

Cat and Imy came round for a viewing of Dr Zhivago ~ one of my all-time fave films.  We had a light snackette on lovely salady food that Cat had brought and some lovely cookies baked by Imy.  I must have provided something but for the life of me can't think what it was!  Really god evening!

Ruth's Fish ad Chip Supper at Yeoveney ~ a great night for a good cause.  (I can't now remember what the cause was!  But I must have thought it was a good one)

Canal Trip with Women's Group along the Grand Union from Ricky to just past Harefield and Cream Tea on the way back.  Yumm!

Claire and Nick's wedding at Church Stretton, Shropshire.   Claire is my  god-daughter, the daughter of very dear friends, and she is just lovely ~ Nick is a lucky man!   It was the perfect wedding ~ the ceremony was an absolute triumph with marvellous, apposite readings, the bride and groom looked fabulous, the bridesmaids pretty and the page boys sweet.   The reception was incredibly relaxed and informal, with a special tent for the children (of whom there were about 50!) for their own meal, games and entertainment.  We had a ceilidh, live music (including guests!) and wonderful food.   I think we all went to sleep that night tired but very happy.  

David's 50th Birthday party the following weekend was another Brilliant Bash!  It has to be said that Cat and David really know how to throw a party!  Another very relaxed and informal 'do' with amazing food (C&D are stunningly talented in catering), good great company and a wonderful atmosphere.  Eric and Janey came to stay for the weekend which was extra nice and there were lots of lovely folk to catch up with at the party.   

And then the following weekend back to C&D's again for tea and cake in the garden while we waited for the Vulcan fly-past.  This was the last time the Vulcan would be flying and we were very privileged see it go almost directly overhead.  Very loud!!

The rest of the month was busy too ~ with the usual things: Pies, Pips, book clubs, a retirement 'do' at the Town Hall, a play at school (Juniors), a couple of meetings and, now that I am retired, a number of very enjoyable lunches with friends.   And . . . . more time for reading!  Yay!

Back soon (I hope)

Po xx

Simple Faith

While Stella took Kpie to her music lesson I had Jpie and Cpie stay here with me.   

Jpie arrived with a big bag of 'stuff' and said he had brought equipment in order to conduct an experiment (that's the first part of 'simple faith'!)  My heart did sink a little as neither Science nor practicality have ever been exactly my 'bag'.  It was great fun, however, and involved plastic bottles, scissors, sandpaper, elastic bands and a glue gun. It was really entertaining and we made some very useful little containers for matches/pills/paperclips/other sundry goods.  Jpie had found the instructions on a rather useful You Tube video ~ we just had to follow it really.  

Stella and Kpie arrived, we had lunch and settled in for a viewing of 'Kind Hearts and Coronets'.  Stella, Jpie, Cpie and I had started to watch this last Winter but we had had to abandon it half way through and I had been promising to revisit it ever since.   This is a true 'classic' and if you have never seen it I urge you to do so tout suite!  At one point one of the characters says 'Kind hearts are more than coronets, and simple faith than Norman blood'.  This really is a very funny film with a great twist at the end.

Tomorrow it is Lunch with Lyndsey and, hopefully, a quiet weekend.  

Back soon

Po x

RAF Museum at Hendon

The RAF Museum is about 8 miles away from my home and today was the first time I have been.  I really shall have to go again as it is full of aircraft from 1903 onwards, information boards, displays, memorabilia and photographs all of which I didn't really have enough time to take in.  (Only problem is that it's 8 miles nearer the centre of London and I am such a wimp in traffic!).  

It was Dpip's sixth birthday today so Frankie took him and his friend A and invited me along too.  We had a great time.  The boys loved everything about it but especially the 'actual' cockpits that they could sit in, I liked  all the really old WW1 aircraft and reading the information boards and both Frankie and I enjoyed seeing them enjoying themselves!  

The boys, of course, liked the hands-on sections best!
Here they are in one of the aircraft.  






We went back to my house so the boys could have a late lunch and run around a bit and then Frankie took A back to his family.  

Late afternoon it was cake time ~ yay!  This was at Frankie and Alex's and we had pizza and lovely birthday cakes.  Stella Rich and the Pies came too and Lpip and Kpip (who had been having their own adventures) were back home by then.  

Home then to water the garden after a very warm day and before the hosepipe ban!

A lovely day!

Back soon

Po x 

Blood and the Sword

Gory and Grim, eh?   Well not really . . . .

Blood:
This morning I nipped along to give a donation at the mobile unit parked nearby.  Frankie needed transfusions of 13 pints in total when she had Dpip (4) and Kpip (9).  So now she can never give blood herself  and we are oh so grateful that some of her type was on hand when needed.  Fortunately Frankie, Stella and I all have the same type (not at all rare!); Stella decided to 'replace' the 13 pints and I have joined her.  I think Stella has now given 9 and I'm not even sure ~ could be 7, could be 8 although I had been donating before over the years.  This was a new station for me ~ and a pleasant 10 minute walk.  A Job Well Done!

Sword:

Here it is: Dpip's sword.  24" of well-honed wood and a dagger to match. When I took him and Lpip to the Chiltern Open Air Museum for the 'Enchanted Museum at Night' event a couple of weekends ago he was far more enchanted with the swords and the pilot training room and artifacts (well I liked that bit too!) than with the beautiful white unicorn that had Lpip totally mesmerised.  He was desperate to buy a sword (!!).  I went back to today to get one for his sixth birthday tomorrow. And then I saw the dagger and a little 'cup and ball' set so that at least not everything was war-like!

At some point I will have to write about the COAM as it is wonderful, truly wonderful!  In fact I bought a season ticket today so there is no excuse not to go as often as I like.  I will take pics too now that Jpie has shown me how to charge my camera ~ hoorah!

Back soon

Po x

SATs

I was delighted ~ and, indeed privileged ~ to be asked to sit in as an 'Observer' while the Year 6 children at a local school did their SATs tests.   

The children were lovely ~ well behaved, disciplined, polite, friendly and enthusiastic.  

Thinking that the tests (English and Maths) would be similar to the 11+ exams which 'processed' us in the 50s and 60s I was surprised at how much more difficult the tests were than those to which we had been subjected!   

I'm not really sure how the tests can profit the children as the results appear to be used more to grade the schools than the pupils but maybe they are used to stream the children at their senior schools?  Or maybe it's just good practice for all the exams they will have to sit in the years to come?  Anyway the children did actually seem to enjoy the tests and at the end of each one excitedly asked their chums how they thought they had 'got on'.  So maybe it is not a bad thing.  I liked the experience of being there!

One interesting thing . . . in the second English paper (Comprehension) the children were given two extracts from books and one of them was 'Moondust' which we had read in book club fairly recently.  This is a book about the 12 'Moonwalkers'.  I had been looking forward to reading this as the First Landing was about the most exciting thing to happen in the summer of '69.  It was the most tedious read we had had for quite a while ~ 'chaotic' would be a good way to describe it.  So I was surprised at it turning up for 10 and 11 year olds to look at although the chosen extract was not too bad.

Back soon

Po x

Retirement: the Reality

And the Reality is . . . . that it feels Right!  I love it!!

I finished on the last day of March and April was just like a lovely extended holiday.  I went away with Family and Friends to the Annual Ruda Fest, spent Easter At Home and did loads of reading.  I need to catch up!!  

And stitching, walking, seeing more of the grandchildren, socialising, even . . . . cooking! Though this was not a success!  You could have used my flapjacks as paving slabs . . . heigh ho . . . well I was never going to be Mary Berry!!  I joined another Book Club which I am really loving! 

I have lots more plans and my days seem to fill up with (mostly) good things.  

I hope to be Very Busy . . . . 

And I hope to be back soon . . . .

Po x

Love's Labours Won . . .

. . . or Much Ado about Nothing!

A great day!

Stella messaged me on Thursday to ask if I was busy on Sunday . . . and in a whirl she had booked us seats to see a live streaming from Stratford of Love's Labours Won at the Palace in Watford ~ today!.  Hoorah!

Nobody but nobody does Shakespeare like the RSC ~ and this production was no exception.   This production was designed as a 'follow-on' from Love's Labours Lost  (and how we wished we had seen that too!) and where 'Lost' was set at the beginning of World War I 'Won' was set at Christms 1918.   

We LOVED it!  Both side-splittingly funny and heart wrenchingly moving we had a wondeful wonderful afternoon.  

Stella checked her phone at the end to find that J was inviting me to come and have a piece of cake for Cpie's birthday tomorrow. Before I knew it we were sitting down to dinner and then caake with Ja, M,K and C, Ru, Im and R and the Pies ~ a Kitchen-full.  Lots of laughs and chat!

Certainly an excellent start to the week!

Note to self: Make more use of the Palace ~it's there on my doorstep, almost, and has some marvellous 'stuff'

Back soon

Po xx

Dinner Party Guests

I saw this on Kim's site and think its a great idea: invite ten fictional characters to dinner.  Here are mine (in no particular order!):

• Flora Poste from 'Cold Comfort Farm' (Stella doppelganger!)
• Atticus Finch from 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (my hero)
• Ross and Demelza Poldark from the Poldark series (to make the evening spark)
• Hippolyta from 'The Bull from the Sea' (for insights into an interesting and very different life)
• Jo March from 'Little Women' (Beth is my favourite but Jo would keep the party going!)
• Elizabeth Bennett from 'Pride and Prejudice' (intelligent and independent)
• Lockwood Haddo from 'Covenant with Death' (I'm a little bit in love with Locky ~ I think he is perfect!)
• Mr Charles Pooter from 'The Diary of a Nobody' (Heaven only knows what he would say and do ~ but he would have me in stitches)
• WIlliam Brown from the Just William series (I have always wondered what a 'grown up' William would be like)

A bit of a mixture but I'm sure it would be geat evening!
 

Of Grandchildren and other matters

I had three days annual leave to take before retirement ~ which equates to six half days looking after Kpip (yay!).  All the days are Fridays which is a good kind of end-of-the-week day to choose.  One time we collected Kpie from school which was even better as they had a great time together and Kpie shared some of the cous-cous snack she had made in Food Tech.  This photo was taken after we got back from a short walk to post some cards. 
The rest of the week has been busy at work plus meeting on Monday evening, 'small group' on Tuesday evening and trying to catch up with paperwork the other evenings. Oh yes . . . and the end of both the Broadchurch and the Wolf Hall series.  Whaaaaaa!
Lpip and Dpip are coming tomorrow evening to stay the night ~ always fun!  I always have to read a bedtime story from Lpip's favourite book at my house: 'My Naughty Litle Sister'.  This is a lovely book but really why they like it is because the picture of the little sister on the front is exactly like Cpie when she was little ~ although Cpie was never as grumpy looking as the poor child on the cover. 

Retirement!

Yup!
I gave my retirement letter in just before Christmas and I 'go' on the 31 March.  
26 working days to go . . . . and counting!
My life has changed a lot ~ the past six years particularly ~ and I can hardly recognise how it was before 2009!  Hope to get back on track from April onwards!