in which I attempt to catch up . . .

This is a blogging in which I attempted to 'catch up', dated 18 April! ~ it is in fact 22 June now!
I can't now remember what exactly mis-fired with the computer ~ but summat did and I gave up.
So this is just to let anyone who does still 'tune in' know: I am still alive, very busy and always hoping that I will be back some day.
I still read my fave blogs but feel so bad about not writing that I haven't even had the heart to comment.
Maybe I will be on the radar again soon . . . .
Po xx

O & G's Diamond Wedding Anniversary

This is the article about O and G which was in the Watford Observer a couple of weeks ago:

Diamond couple put marriage down to dominoes

A diamond couple have put their long and happy marriage down to a daily hand of cards and game of dominoes.

Fred Hawkins met his future bride Elly when the pair worked at the Oxhey Grange mansion.

Elly, who was born in Switzerland and raised in Austria, came to England in 1938 to learn English.

After being picked up at the train station in a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce, Elly was taken to the house, where she met a young son of a building labourer from Pretoria Road, who worked in the gardens.

Elly, now 89, said: “I came to learn English so I came to a family in Oxhey Grange and Fred worked there. I worked in the kitchen and around the house and he was a gardener.

“So that's where we met.”

In 1939, when World War 2 was declared, Elly found herself marooned from her family in Austria.

She said: “There were four girls who worked in the house, but the three other girls were Welsh so they went back to Wales.

“But in 1940 Oxhey was declared a restricted area for all foreigners so I got another job working for a family in Hempstead Road.”

At the age of 19, meanwhile, Fred signed up to the newly formed Local Defence Volunteers, who were more commonly known, later on, as the Home Guard.

After hearing about the newly formed LDV the night before, Fred and his pal made their way to King Street at 7am the next morning, where they signed up inside Meredith's Wood Yard.

Five months later Fred was conscripted into the army and found himself stationed near Dover, where he helped make guns.

In 1945, Elly returned to Switzerland and then Austria, having had no contact with her family and unaware if they were alive or dead.

Happily, Elly managed to find her family in Austria and shared letters with Fred until she returned to England in 1949.

Fred, also 89, added: “I went over once to see her and we talked things over through letters and we agreed to get married so she came back over.”

The pair were then married on August 1, 1949, in Holyrood Church, in Watford, and celebrated their marriage with a reception at the Windsor Club, in Loates Lane.

Sixty years on, Elly and Fred - who now have two children, five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren – will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary on Saturday with a family meal.

Asked what is the success to their marriage, the pair, who live in Bushey, say they share one hobby.

Elly said: “We play dominoes every morning after breakfast and then in the afternoon we play cards.

“We play for money.

“We play five games of dominoes for 5p a game. The money then goes in a jar and then when we want to go out for a meal the money comes out of there.

“We also play ten games of cards for a penny a game and every game goes to a mission in Africa.”

We had a truly lovely celebration on the Saturday of their anniversary ~ O and G enjoyed it tremendously!!

Firstly we went to mass at Holy Rood ~ the church in Watford where they married, where many of us were baptised, confirmed and made First Holy Communion . . . and in Stella and Richard's and Cat and David's and Frankie and Alex's case married too. That was beautiful and O and G also received a Papal Blessing which J had organised. Oh yes ~ and they had had a card from the Queen arrive the day before!

While we were waiting for mass: Jpie and Cpie:


Kpie ~ and of course Budin came too!



Then we zipped off up to Il Pappatore in Bushey ~ one of my most fave-of-all-time restaurants for a family meal.

In the restaurant: Em, Eric, O ~ and G just trying to get out of shot!








Lizzie and Janey








The children had their own table-for-four. When he had finished his first glass of orange, Jpie ordered another round for himself and 'the gels' ~ taking the 'man's' role already . . . and he's only five! here they are: Lpip, Jpie, Cpie (back of her head) and Kpie)


And then back to mine for tea and caake ~ and Kpie entertaining us with a tuneful medley on her violin.



Here they are about to cut the caake.












A lovely day ~ we were all so happy to see them enjoying themselves so much! they deserve it!





coming soon . . . . The Calke Abbey Concert Week-end . . . .

The journey home

Nice view of the Motorway? I think so . . . but just as well as I spent over an hour looking at it!
Started off at 9.00 a.m. after a, fortunately substantial, breakfast and hadn't gone more than a mile when my ABS light came on. Stopped to check the manual which said that it was ok to drive as the brakes would still work ~ which they did.

On my way down the A9 I stopped off at the House of Bruar ~ and spent far too long and far too much there! Really it's a day's shopping experience ~ E&J called in later in the day and reported a helicopter taking off with a group of shoppers ~ now that's style!!

Anyway I carried on but by the time I reached the outskirts of Glasgow I did wonder if the slight swaying in the steering had more to do with the car than the wind! So I stopped at Happenden Services and looked at the back ~ but it seemed ok. By the time I set off from there it was gone 4.30 p.m. and I was all set for a long drive home listening to music and quietly mulling over my hols. Pah!

Just onto the Motorway a dreadful rattling started and the car began to swing about alarmingly. Stopped at one of the phone boxes and called the AA.
It took over an hour for the first chappie to come, decide my stub axle had gone and that I should be relayed home. Still, it was good weather while I waited, I had a book and it wasn't raining! This is the view northwards.

In all it took 5 vehicles and just over 10 hours to get home from there. The drivers were jolly helpful and mostly a good laugh ~ but it was a l-o-n-g night and I was glad to have my little car off-loaded at home at 4.30 the following morning. I was dead-beat and longing for a bath!!
And as post-script: the car was mended the next day and now appears to be as right as rain.
Back soon with news of O&G's 60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration.

More Photos from Bonny Scotland

This is the view from one of the eight sides of the tower. None of us was sure who owned this bit of land . . . but it was certainly very productive!







Another view of Stella and Rich's room.






Budin having a quiet moment on Kpie's bed

I thought this was a cupboard under the eaves . . .



. . . but in fact it was the ensuite!




















The Drawing Room ~ comfy rather than posh . . . and all those books!!














Jpie, Cpie and Kpie at the gipsy caravan at Cawdor Castle






In the Wild Garden at Cawdor







Nature Trail at Cawdor


RP at Ja's Party!







F'ster!!

Bonny Scotland!

I'm back from Bonny Scotland after a wonderful holiday ~ only 5 days but truly memorable!
This was the furthest north I have ever been ~ and I'm wondering what took me so long!
Over 40 people were there to join Ja for his 18th birthday party ~ me, E and J in B&B, nearly 30 in a large house in Nigg and the rest in the wonderful wonderful wonderful Poyntzfield House.. Wow! This house was unbelieveable and impossible to adequately describe! Look it up on the web and the photos just don't do it justice ~ it's much much nicer than that ~ I urge everyone to go and see for themselves!!
Poyntzfield House ~ the main section with the wings form three sides of the courtyard. You can just see the top of the tower ~ accessible from the top floor ~ windows on all eight sides so you get a wonderful panorama of the surrounding countryside.

Close up of the tower












This is the little window in the middle of the top floor. It looks quite big here but is only just the size for a small child to crawl into ~ which of course they all liked to do! the photo shows how very thick the walls are.















Day One:
Arrived after a 13hour journey that passed all too quickly. Fr and Al had come by the evening before I left with my birthday present: a poppy mug and set of coasters (my fave flower) and lots of foodie bits for the journey up ~ which was really great as I didn't have to waste time going into service stations etc for sustenance. Fabulous scenery especially through the Lake District and along the shores of Lochs Lomond, Lochy and Ness and then over the Beauly Firth to the Black Isle. Quite staggeringly beautiful. Checked into my little B&B and then headed over to Poyntzfield where St, Ri and the Pies were staying along with Ki and her little brood of three. All the children were playing in the courtyard ~ it's a really fabulous and safe place for children ~ and then they all took me for an excited tour of the house. Settled with a long-awaited coffee and enjoying a chat when Jpie ran into something and split open the cut on his chin ~ so a quick trip to Inverness A&E for him, St and me! (He was ok and they just glued him up a bit!). Then a bit more chat and 'home' to the B&B and a long sleeeeep.


Kitchen at Poyntzfield with children snacking





Kitchen: desirable dresser and farmhouse table

Poyntzfield: trampolining in the garden: Th, Jpie, Ki, Cpie and Rich









and Jpie getting in on the act!






Dine in Style here!


The 'boys' lavatory




and the 'girls' lavatory



Stella and Rich's bedroom ~ wooden beams, wooden floor, double aspect and shutters!!!







Corner of the Main Staircase

Day Two
This was the day I went to Pitcaln House, which was where almost everyone else was staying. This is a very large house down a long and impressive drive-way between trees and bushes and with views over the Firth. Heaps and heaps of people were staying so one could never be at a loss for company ~ and David did ALL the cooking for them!! He made a super roastie lunch with all the trimmings and then pudding as well. Despite the fact that there were close to 40 people we were all able to sit down together in the dining room ~ so you can imagine how large it is!!


F'ster on the swing at Pitcaln













Day Three

My birthday!! St, Ri , the Pies and I went to Cawdor Castle which is a castle well worth seeing. We toured the garden first as it looked like rain ~ beautiful formal gardens, a wild garden and even a nature trail.

In the garden: Cpie, Stella, Jpie, Rich and Kpie
Kpie and Jpie
The castle was very interesting with lots of witty and whimsical commentary cards all over the place. Very cosy!! and almost, but not quite, as impressive as Poyntzfield!! We had a picnic in the grounds which was a treat ~ and a bit of a nostalgia trip for me as we often celebrated my birthday with a picnic when the girls were little. We went back to Poyntzfield for tea and lots of people from Pitcaln nipped in too. I was quite tired that night so didn't stay late ~ just long enough for a glass of wine and a general lol about in the drawing room. Arrived back at the B&B to find a half bottle of sparkling wine and a tiny birthday cake with one candle from the B&B people! How kind is that? (Quick plug: Newton Croft Bed and Breakfast at Conon Bridge on the Black Isle ~ lovely place!)

Day Four
Ja's 18th Birthday!! Brilliant Day! Ja looked very grown up indeed and was a lovely host.
Here he is with Stef:
The sun shone and we all had the most stupendous time. Even more people had turned up by this time: from Hertfordshire (mostly), Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Ireland, Warwickshire and Portugal. David did all the barbecueing ~ the man's a wonder!! ~ and everyone else just sort of chipped in when needed. We sat around eating, drinking, chatting and laughing mainly. All the young-ish people played a game of rounders and the children (and a fair proportion of adults) had goes on the tyre-swing. Ja's grandma, Ann, had her birthday that day too so a double celebration. It was a lovely 'family' affair and ages ranged from 2 months (RP) to 70 with absolutely every age in between. Marvellous!!

The Birthday Boy and his little sis!

Day Five
The journey home . . . was somewhat more eventful than the journey up!! But I'll leave that story for another time . . . .

a little bit of stitching . . .

I haven't put any of my stitching on this blog. That's mainly because none of it is anything to write home about! Or write on a blog about for that matter!
I don't generally do large projects and what with needing HUGE magnifiers as well as largest magnification 'reading' glasses, my finishing isn't all that great either! (But of course I am very modest ho ho!)
But I have decided I will put this one on because I am quite proud of it.
The last time Stella, Rich and all three Pies visited with O & G, Jpie wore his little magician's outfit. He looked really cute and the outfit included a top hat out of which he produced a rabbit! Not a real one I hasten to add!
So this is the card I sent him for his birthday last Tuesday. And I would just like to explain that although the stitching is really not that special, I made up the pattern myself. Aren't I the clever old stick?????

i went to the globe!

yay! I have been intending to go ever since it opened ~ the present one I mean! not the original!
Went into work Tuesday morning and then up to London by tube from Watford Met early afternoon. I got off at Westminster and wandered along by the Embankment in glorious sunshine. I love London!
I walked as far as the Millennium Bridge and then crossed to the Tate Modern where I spent a happy hour in the Poetry and Dreams section ~ superbly surreal! This is from the Tate side of the bridge looking back at St Paul's:















And this is the Tate Modern from the north side of the Thames ~ with a bit of the Millennium Bridge 'thrown in'.






I spotted this little old church wiith a mediaeval look to it while going over the bridge ~ I don't know what it is called ~ but I love the fact that it is just THERE surrounded by all those modern buildings













And how typically 'London' is this? A red bus passing in front of Tower Bridge!

The Globe 'evening' was WONDERFUL!! I had paid to go to the pre-show 'setting the scene' talk and that was good . . . because it did! The play was 'Troilus and Cressida' ~ very well played though I'm glad I had read a synopsis beforehand or I'm not sure I would have followed it! It wasn't a bundle of laughs to be honest but the whole experience was extremely enjoyable none the less. You really did get the flavour of how people in Shakespeare's time would have experienced going to a play. Though I'm happy that I had decided on an undercover seat ~ not one of the 700 'standing tickets' out in the rain which fell intermittently all evening!
In all it was a great afternoon and evening and I would recommend the whole experience most heartily! Here is a shot of the Globe seen through the trees from the Millennium bridge:

Answers:
Kim! Fortunately when I bought my coke the girl gave me a can and also a glass so I had both hands full and did't get my 'offering' out of my bag. Otherwise the story would have been worse (or funnier!) with me scrabbling about trying to retrieve the card and donation!
Friko! Well I'm glad someone is as daft as I am!! LOL

a funny thing happened at the party

(all the names have been changed to protect the innocent)
I had been invited to Peter's 60th Birthday Paty last Saturday at the W and F Club. Great! I loke parties and, as I told Sally, Peter's wife with whom I work, I had been there some years before to someone else's 50th.
I arrived at the venue at just after 8.15.
I did think it a little strange when I heard the music ~ Sally had told me that her son's Band would be playing and this was quite definitely disco music. Still, it was relatively early and maybe this was 'warm up' time.
I did thinkit was a little strange when I went in and found, instead of a signn for the G ... Room, as I had been directed, there was just a big sign which said 'Function Room'. Still, I supposed everyone must know that the G . . . Room is in fact the Function Room!
The bar was right there as I walked in and I did find it a little strange that no-one asked to see the ticket with which I had been issued with instructions to be sure I brought it or I wouldn't get in. Still I suppose I look quite a respectable middle aged law-abiding old soul ~ no threat there then!
I got myself a diet coke and wnet intot he main room past the table with a big sign saying 'Please put your cards and donation here'. Well that fitted! Peter had asked for no presents but donations to his favourite charity would be welcome. There were heaps of balloons and big '60' signs all over the place ~ so far so good!
I thought it a little strange that I didn't recognise a soul. But I don't really know Peter that well, don't know any of their friends and of their rather large family I had only so far met Sally's elderly parents. I did think that some of the work people would have arrived by then ~ but maybe they were all being 'fashionably late'.
I spotted a table where two nice ladies about my age were sitting and asked if I could join them as I didn't know anyone. then I asked them'Is this the W and F Club?'
'No' replied one fo them 'this is the V and Y Club' !!!
'Well whose birthday is it then?'
'Oh it's Wendy's' they rather helpfully informed me!
'Oh no! I'm supposed to be at Peter's'!!
'Well this isn't it' they said ~ although to be honest I had kind of worked that one out by myself by then!! LOL
At that moment a very nice, though possibly curious, lady approached the table wearing a big sash thing over her shoulder which announced '60th Birthday' ~ obviously Wendy! she was very nice and laughed and we had a little chat whilst I finished off my coke and then I said I had better go. To Wendy's credit she invited me to stay!! But I said I should go as I was sure I was expected else where.
When I did arrive at the V and F Club ~ after considerable problems actually finding it! ~ I had a great evening. Peter and Sally, and indeed everyone, enjoyed themselves tremendously: we ate, drank and were very merry indeed. Hoorah for birthdays ~ we should have them every year!

High Street Trail

G spotted an advert for the Trail in the local paper recently and since I have been meaning to go for ages, we went yesterday.
I have done a little family history research and was fascinated to discover that G's father's family have lived in Watford since at least 1685 when the town was really just one long street with farms and meadows surrounding it.
Sarah from the Museum was our guide and, despite having been born and lived in the area for most of our lives, both G and I learnt some very interesting new facts.
My photos are, sadly, never as good as I think they are going to be . . . but here is a selection of places of interest:


Having a 'clean' river running through it, Watford was until quite recently a brewing town ~ and had innumerable pubs. This is one of the two which claim to be the oldest. I love the look of this building ~ never been inside though!






The High street is a mile long and St Mary's. the parish church is just about in the middle ~ mediaeval but flint-faced more recently, it is one of the two Grade 1 listed buildings in the town.

The Free School, founded 1704 and the fore-runner of both Watford's Grammar Schools. I used to do my ballet exams here.











Part of the graveyard and the Almshouses ~ again very old and in a fairly quiet backwater near the Free School.











The 'Compasses' window. Apparently, Shakespeare passed through Watford on his way to London. I bet he stopped for a stoup of ale here!








This is Monmouth House built for Sir Robert Carey. He was the chappie who, on the death of Elizabeth I, rode to tell James VI of Scotland that he was now King James I of England as well. In thanks James gave him the title of Earl of Monmouth. It's a beautiful old building ~ shame about all the modern shop fronts!
There is a little sign which you have to look quite hard to see which is the fire-sign mark. This meant that in the event of a fire breaking out the fire service would come and put it out.





This is the sign.


We ended at the pond ~ a walk of about a mile, taking just on two hours ~ and excellent value!!

Book Club Night!

Second Wednesday of the month is always Book Club. I really look forward to these evenings!
Last night it was at Cat's and we had read 'How to Kill your Husband (and other handy household hints)' by Kathy Lette. Eight of us were there and Jo, who couldn't make it, had sent her comments. The title had made me smile and I had thought that it would be a humourous book ~ I couldn't have been more wrong! This book was the most awful drivel!! No-one liked it: badly written, poor 'jokes', feeble plot, unlikeable characters, vulgar, distasteful, totally unbelievable ~ these were some of the kinder comments! I would never read anything by this author again and I find it hard to believe that she is a 'best seller'.
The evening was most enjoyable, however. FI was still up when I arrived though just about to go to bed assisted by Im; and RP stayed downstairs where we could all admire him. Cat had made the most scrumptious carrot cake ~ and we were all staggered at the fact that she had time and energy to make it whilst looking after two children under 3!! Oh yes! and we had a jug of Pimms too. Cat really knows how to entertain!
Today was quiet at work so I finished at mid-day and came home ~ where I found G beavering away in 'his' ~ used to be 'Boogy's' ~ shed. He was just about to stop so we had a coffee and I drove him home. Came home and got the Camp Accounts right up to date and then went back up to O&G's for dinner.
My exciting news is that I have just reserved a place on a trip to Rome ~ wwhheeeeeeeee!! The company is sending me the booking form in the post and I won't believe I'm going until I'm actually on the plane! My trips have a habit of falling through: last autumn I was going to go to Paris and then fell and broke my wrist! Hope I have better luck this year . . . .

A Republican??

Ja is the Pies' other grand-mother and I was telling Kpie about Ja getting her MBE. I didn't think she would really understand so I told her it was like a rare badge with a red ribbon that you were given if you were really really special. And you had to go up to London to receive it. And someone very very important gave it to you. I asked her who she thought this really important person could be . . . .
'Gordon Brown . . . . ?' she asked.