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

catching up

It has been so long since i have blogged that it is now quite difficult to catch up so i shall start with this holiday week-end and skip the last month

Friday

Well the best news is that Frankie got the job she applied for!! So starts as an NQT in September. Hoorah!! She has worked hard and deserves her success and we all wish her well.

Went to a concert at St. Michael's in the evening - a trio of horn, oboe and piano players who had come from our twin town in USA. I had heard of none of the composers (apart from one section where they played a medley of songs from Britain) which I found most refreshing. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience - the trio were excellent musicians who gave interesting insights into the music and composers, the church has quite wonderful accoustics and I met a couple of people whom I know, which was nice.

Saturday

Bought a bed for Frankie's old room in a sale - very much reduced and has a large and very useful drawer in the base.

Spent much of the rest of the day clearing out cupboards which is always satisfying if a little scary - so much stuff in the kitchen was well past its sell-by date!!!

Sunday

More clearing out cupboards and then Mass with Edna in the evening.

Celia was there selling the white armbands for 'make poverty history' and encouraging people to sign the white sashes which will be presented at the G8 conference in Edinburgh on 2 July.

Monday(today)

Was still awake when the birds began their dawn chorus this morning - if I'd had enough brain about me I would have gone out to see the sunsrise!! Cut the hedges and the grass which took ages but it always looks so good afterwards. Whilst I was cutting the hedge, my neighbour popped out to tell me she has her house on the market. I shall be very sorry to see her go as, quite apart from her being a super lady, it will be the end of an era. She and her family were the first people to move onto the estate (but in another, smaller house) and after the birth of her 2nd son, they moved into the house next door and she's been there ever since (52 years!!). Tempus Fugit indeed!!

And finally . . . . .

Oh dear! It's that time again . . . BB has returned. and well may I say oh dear! I had, in fact, forgotten all about it until I returned from the concert on Friday evening and then thought I would just turn the tv on so that at least I would know what everyone was talking about. It is, sadly, the programme I love to hate and as such find it addictive. It becomes more sleazy and sordid every year and the 'house mates' seemingly more degenerate year-on-year. But I expect I shall be turning on from time to time - it is my secret vice. Oh dear oh dear oh dear!!!

testing testing!

it has been so long since I "blogged", that I thought I might not be able to find myself, so to speak - so this is a test and if it works I shall be back tonight with some updates - ciao!

flash ari(ston)

i am now on my fourth washing machine - seem to need a new one every 10 years or so - although this one has lasted a little longer, largely due to the fact that i had been so tardy about shopping for a replacement long, long after i needed to!

anyway the new one has arrived and been plumbed in and it works!! and, lord!! what a flashy litle number it is!!! i am still coming to grips with it, having to consult the manual each time i use it. well in fact it's a washer/dryer and has all manner of flashing lights, 'personalisation'(!!) options, rapid functions, super washes, delay timers etc. etc. and when it starts up, honestly it looks like a space rocket with all lights blazing! still it is very quiet - even when it spins - so i expect we shall settle down together very well by-and-by.

pies pies!!

it has been wonderful having the pies and stella and rich around for the last few days - it has been a good week with many a laugh and i have been lucky to see them almost every day

k♥ is becoming a very kind and caring little girl - and very very funny!!- with an astonishing memory and j♣ is just a little dear!! - he always seems to be smiling and is the most cuddly baby one can imagine

stella lent me another home ed book - this one is heaps better than the last - which i am zippping through fairly rapidly and even agreeing with most of it - although i am still not convinced that school is really so bad - although i didn't like my primary schooling too much, my secondary school was pretty good. one of the points the home ed people seem to be at pains to demonstrate is that it is not such a good place to learn to socialise but actually that was the best bit about my secondary school - great girls, very supportive, friendly and heaps of fun - we still meet up every year and i value their friendship as much now as i did when i was a teenager

a good week

the high-lights:

saturday:

pauline and chas came round and we drove up to bozeat for dinner with mick and lynn - jane and eric drove down too - so that was a good evening

sunday:

cut the grass - always a satisfying sight once it is finished

monday:

met the 'knitting ladies' in the pennsylvanian - discovered i had been at school with one of them so had a fine time reminiscing! then popped round to see p and c and had a stir fry with them - yumm!

tuesday and wednesday:

eric came to stay so we went out to the southern cross on tuesday, resplendent in our gaudy caribbean shirts and had chinese take-away on wednesday whilst watching 'fargo' - hahaha!

thursday and friday :

were quiet - well i can't remember what i did so i suppose they must have been

today:

the long-awaited camp reunion at lees wood!! - the place is magic!! - no sooner had i arrived but the familiar sights and sounds brought back memories of all the happy, exhausting, fun-filled times we have had with our friends over the years - this year it will be the 20th parish camp!! - hard to believe boogs and i were only 36 when we first went, the girls were 6 and 4 and rich was 7 - now stella and rich will, hopefully, be bringing their own 2 little ones to join in the fun

have to admit to finding it a smidgionette more tiring these days - energy levels depleting somewhat now i have reached the dreaded 50s - but hopefully, since i will be sharing celia's trailer tent, we might just be able to get up to some decent 'mischief' - have to keep up with the old traditions!!

this year's theme is 'pirates' - hmmm??!!!!!?

Tall Ships Top Ten

Tall Ships Top Ten: (in no particular order)
1.Red Watch (of course)
2.Stars at night
3.Watching dolphins playing under the bowsprit
4.Barbecue Night
5.Kind and helpful people (that means everyone!)
6.The Last Evening's Outing in Antigua
7.Easing Team (YAY!!)
8.Anchor Watch
9.Gangplank Watch
10.Trip to Montserrat

Things I didn't like:
1.Not making it to the top of the mast
2.Cleaning under the bunks
3.Chain locker (phew!)
4.Only having 15 minutes in total at the helm
5.Feeling useless (I WAS useless!!)

The things I did like far outnumber the ones I didn't - and I still keep thinking of other good bits - like swimming off the side of the ship, mooring up at Antigua on the return trip, Bret's 'confession' Ha ha!!, mess man duty, Lizzie's track chart, all the laughs, rum punch and Carib, Iles des Saintes (wouldn't mind going back there), sitting on the fo'csle while Lizzie did her chart, people appearing from nowhere for a chat, smiles, zipping into shore at high speed in the rib and getting soaked, sailing and boating instruction in the ward room, getting to the upper topsail (well it was better than nothing!), eating huge quantities and not putting on any weight, red shirts, the return flight from Barbados and most special of all - Lizzie's company - what fun!!

x rated

well lizzie and i did manage to return from our tall ships adventure all in one piece - though bruised and drained!

it was jolly hard work, we met some lovely people and saw some amazing places - the trip round montserrat was one of the highlights of the voyage for me - but who on earth would want to go to st. maarten's???

on the whole it was exacting, exasperating, expensive (!!), exhausting, extraoardinary, excruciating but, ultimately, exhilerating

and i rate it x out of x

back home

hello!

i am home!

really i need to get my thoughts properly in order before i say too much - there is much to do before i can simply sit and relax

will be back with thoughts another day

pampered chefs

tonight i went to a pc party at carol's house (it's a bit like tupperware - but not plastic and the gadgets are to help with cooking rather than storing)

it was the first one i have been to - think it may well become quite 'big' over here (it's american!)

i thought it was very expensive - so you'd have to go to a lot of parties and buy things gradually - but the stuff did seem of excellent quality

stella has been to a few of them and likes the goods - which was handy as i was able to get her a belated birthday present that i know she will really like

sadly, i had to miss my reading group - this month's choice had been 'star of the sea' - joseph o'connor - this has been on the bestseller list for ages but when i looked at it briefly in borders i thought it looked a bit of a hard read - i couldn't have been more wrong! - fairly whipped through it - very well written, excellent 'story' and full of interesting detail of life in ireland, england and life on an emigration ship in the 1840s - it was the sort of book that could be reread a number of times and find something you hadn't considered before (i'm sure i've missed heaps of clever references!) - only sorry i wasn't at the meeting to find out what everyone else had to say

mothering sunday

had a really good day!
fran arrived soon after 9 with a lovely card and beautiful gifts (including a super pair of jim-jams from marks and sparks - just what i need for my hols!!) - and while i'm on the subject i must mention the beautiful card kpie made and the dodo travel log which stella sent yesterday - all these holiday requisites!! how lucky am i to have such super daughters!!
then fran and i collected cat and zoomed up to o and g's - eric jane and peter had already arrived - and we all went out for a special mothering sunday lunch for oma at the romer arms - splendid!!
we were a jolly crew - making more than enough noise for 80 let alone 8! - then quickly back to o and g's for a coffee and then home
fran had to go home to do preparation for tomorrow and i had minutes to type up so have been on the computer for the rest of the evening
but here's the funny thing . . . stella came on messenger and i was 'chatting' to her - and she was telling me about a forum she is part of in which the women tonight were complaining because their husbands - that's right their HUSBANDS!! - hadn't bought them anything for mothering sunday!!!! - if boogs had ever given me a present on mothering sunday i would have been INSULTED - i was his WIFE not his MOTHER for goodness sake!!!
no!! - it's an attitude i can't even bgin to understand!!

a bit about work

i have been in my 'new' job for a few months now - 3 and a half months mornings only and helping out in the 'old' office in the afternoons - but since tuesday it has been full time in the new place

it's very different but i am beginning to feel more 'at home' - the other staff are friendly and lively - and the old place is just round the corner so have popped in every day to see them - and help finish off the munchies from the 'close down' party on monday evening!!

the entire service is in a state of change - many offices are moving location - its a bit like musical chairs - well!! quite a good simile actually because each section seems to be convinced that if they don't grab a room somewhere - anywhere!! - they will find themselves camping in the corridor!! - am not too sure where our little team of 8 will end up but i hope we get it sorted soon - will keep you posted!

busy busy busy

this last week has been soooo busy that it has addled my brain!
some good things have happened - like trisha coming round for a chat last friday evening and staying till almost 12 - trish and i haven't done that for ages!
and aywl at liz and david's was interesting - lovely people!and certainly lots of thoughful insights!!
but having arrived home from l and d's at gone 10 i then had to help fran write her essay on maths (i think it was maths - like i say my brain addled now) and then last night it was help her write an assessment on science! - so some of my 'busyness' has not been a bundle of laughs!! - and anything else i can remember doing has been home or housework related - ah me!
it has been very cold too - snow every day but mostly not settling - i managed to cut the grass sunday afternoon though it was FREEZING - then just as i had finished and went back indoors it started to snow - what happened there? - not usually so fortunate!!!
i went to the bushey wool shop (having been inspired by some jolly good knitting blogs - though all in canada and the states - come on english women get yer needles out!!!) and was impressed by the really interesting new types of wool which is being produced nowadays - didn't buy anything as i had other business to conduct but i will be going back so watch this space
that's it for now - i'm sure other things have happened too but like i say my brain somewhat poorly at the moment!!!

well i'm cross!!

would you believe it!?

i went to look at those croci - and you know what? - they had done absolutley NOTHING!!

unco-operative little beggars!! - i had kindly placed them in a nice warm dark 'place' - filled their little vases up with water to the 'required amount' - wished them well and left them in peace

and when i go and look at them, what do i find?

the lazy ungrateful creatures were in EXACTLY the same state as that in which i had left them!!!

i suppose i shall have to go and 'talk' to them!

huh!! a stern lecture would be more to the point!!

the weather

given that i'm british (and proud of it!!) it's surprising that i have written so little about the weather - after all it is what british people are supposed to talk about all the time! - lol!!

british spring really does seen to have sprung this week - ie it has snowed, hailed and rained, we have had bitterly cold gale force winds, days of brilliant sunshine and days where it was simply 'grey'

Still - 'Better than nothing' !!

my garden is beginning to respond to the sunshine and the rain with numbers of daffodils starting to open and the crocus (or is it croci?) in the lawn are just about to open up - and the grass is growing far too rapidly for my liking!!

i gave pots of amaryllis to several people as presents last christmas and it has been lovely that some have reported back on how they were getting along - s and r's fought its way out of the wrapping before they even had a chance to get it out and put it on the window sill and apparently its now blooming beautifully, o and g's is not far behind and has started to open and now mine (a christmas indulgence to buy myself a present - umm!!) seems to grow an inch every time i turn my back

in the post-christmas sale at homebase i bought a set with 3 tiny vases and a crocus to grow in each one - i set them up in a box and shoved them at the back of the cupboard under the stairs and its only because i am writing this that i remembered about them - am going now to check them out and will report later

happiness is a warm cat

this has been another busy week - and exciting too what with ellen macarthur arriving back into falmouth after her record-breaking round the world trip - l managed to be there on a floating pontoon down by the docks with 'the best view in cornwall' and saw it all - and had her photo in the times the next day!!
its been a week of evening outings for me - aywl on monday at l and d's (i'm so pleased tk persuaded me to join!), a meeting at school on tuesday, reading group on wednesday and f visited last night
i always enjoy reading group but this one was particularly good - we had read 'haweswater' by sarah hall - we were all pretty much in agreement for a change and the voting ranged from 3 to 6 - and i for one won't bother to read anything else she has written!
but the main point of this post is in order that i can sing a hymn of praise for my lovely cat, catullus (tully for short)
when ever i arrive home he comes to greet me and runs up the first 6 steps of the stairs where he is in just the right position for me to stroke him as i hang up my coat and keys - when i went out on wednesday night i didnt bother to take my handbag and had left it on one of the bottom steps - as tully ran up to be stroked he poked his head through the handles of the bag and then, because he was hampered, couldnt get any further - he turned tail and tried to run back down but, poor thing, he just slipped and staggered about and was unable to free himself - he looked so funny - like a sort of substitute st bernard with a handbag instead of a barrel!! - i had to laugh - i just hope his dignity wasn't dented too badly
he is great company - he is very affectionate - is always there when i come home - and there's nothing like a warm cat on your lap when you're watching tv in the evenings - bless!!

first saturday in february

oops!

not sure what happened there!

anyway . . .

first sat in feb is always the day for the 'old girls' reunion at school - though we meet at the pub first (in character or what?) for lunch

this year 7 of us made it to lunch - ann(t)m, veronica(f), pauline(w)w, sue w, margaret w, myself and anne(r)s who had come all the way from vancouver! and whom we hadn't seen since feb 2000!! and frances(n)w and mary m came later to school only - it's always great to see people and catch up on the news - and some of us had news of other ogs who were unable to make this time

school celebrated its centenary last year but in typical fashion (!!!) has only managed to get itself organised for a decent 'bash' this coming summer - 101 years!!! - it will be in july when, hopefully, the weather will be kind to us and we can wander about in the grounds - it would be a goodly thing if as many of our year as poss could make it

met carlene d at school whose brother, n, had been in my class right through primary school - so was even able to catch up on a few hrs

popped round to anne and roland's after the reunion as they only live just round the corner and had cup of tea - they are both well and telling me it is likely that andrew will marry next year - at least that is what everyone else thinks is happening - but he hasn't actually asked benta yet!!!

tonight is the first session of 'at your word lord' at liz and david's house so sign off now and have some food before i go

good times

these last few days have been pretty good!

eric came to stay on tues night - sadly, i had an evening meeting i really couldn't get out of but frankie phoned before i went out to ask if she could come and visit - so she arrived soon after i had left and she and eric kept each other good company - very good company as it turned out! by the time i arrived home at 9.15 they had already polished off one bottle of vino (i had to struggle to keep up!!), had watched 'the cd rom' and eric had managed to persuade fran that here was the holiday she had always dreamed of - in fact eric and i are sponsoring her to the tune of £100 each!! spent what remained of the evening guzzling another bottle of wine, eating tasty morsels gleaned from the freezer and anticipating (or in eric's case reminising) on 'hols of a lifetime'

have paid for holiday and flight

have booked taxi to the airport

and yesterday our tickets arrived!!! yay!!! not long to go now!!!

old age is not an illness!

i visited o and g on saturday and found that they had been decorating the dining room - not bad for 85 and 84 respectively! avoiding, rather than refusing, help from a neighbour, g was determined to complete the job himself because 'other people always want to take over rather than help' - a truism if ever i heard one!

my parents have, without a doubt, been fortunate in their health but their continuing vigour owes much to the fact that they are determined not to let their age diminish their 'joie de vivre'

they are possessed of amazing vitality, their energy is a by-word amongst their family and friends and the word 'laziness' has never been a part of their vocabulary - they are indeed parents to be proud of!!