Happily Plodding Or High Flying

 Scarlett was so full of her two days at school when she came yesterday. A few of her friends from nursery are starting with her so it has made her more confident. Typically of Scarlett she has entered into it all with such enthusiasm. "Hands up!" has become her favourite expression "Hand's up who wants tomatoes at lunch, hand's up who want's to go for a walk!" I had to join in of course and even Cassie was expected to hold up her paw before we went for a walk! Eldest daughter is so beautifully organised and has written out a date list of every day I will have to pick her up from school right through to next March, when her partner is being transferred to a new job so his shift patterns will change. I'm going to have a few dummy runs during the school holidays to get the timing just right. It has taken me back to when my children started school and even when I started school. It all seems so much more relaxed and easy going. I keep thinking how lucky Scarlett is but I can't help but have these nagging worries in the back of my mind. 

Even primary schools now have resident psychologists, I know a very nice family, who work so hard to give their children the best life yet both of the children are seeing a psychologist regularly for "low self esteem." The news loves to give us statistics all the time about how many percent of children now have mental health problems and how much up that is from previous years. If it all seems so much more happy and relaxed than in my days of starting school why has this happened? I was terribly shy at school, maybe today I would have been sent to a psychologist for having "low self esteem". Has the modern world really changed children so much or is it just experts are so quick to put labels on people now.

I have lots of old school photos in my collection, the top two are the 1950s to the two photos at the bottom from around 1910.

I look at all those little faces and wonder if life was really easier and less stressful or was it just a different kind of stress. We talk in our small group of old school friends all the time about it wondering why we all seemed so much happier as children than children today. In days before league tables, targets and constant testing. we just seemed to have fun, or are we just looking back at life in a rosy nostalgic way. I don't have the answers and probably I may be "overthinking" I'm sure an expert would tell me so. I've always been a bit of a happy plodder in life, never a high flyer and I think that was always my personality even in childhood. I'm just glad I was born in a time when that was acceptable to be. 

It's a lovely sunny day today and I am going with my sister to our caravan for the day and having a walk around the local area. We are only taking Cassie so at least she is nicely trimmed for our long walk and pub lunch. Have a lovely day everyone and I hope the sun shines for you. xx

Grooming Dogs And Special Friends

 I was busy all day yesterday, working, weeding and washing. Oh and walking, there is always a dog to walk! There seems to be so much to do all the time, I don't really mind as I do love to be busy but I can't help but miss that feeling at the caravan when we have nothing to do. I often set to cleaning it and polishing dogs nose marks off the windows but the hole van takes half an hour. There is a lot to be said for downsizing! In the afternoon I started a job I hadn't been looking forward to and if Cassie had an inkling of it she wouldn't have been looking forward to it either.

Last weekend when we were at the caravan I decided she must have another trim. It was so muddy when we were out walking and as she is so low to the ground she got covered. It was so hard to get the mud off her legs when we got back to the caravan with limited water and I had to brush the dried mud off later which she absolutely hated. Cassie always hated the groomers. I took her a few times and she did look lovely but the woman was very off with me and told me she had been very naughty, and wouldn't stand still. She developed a fear of my Mum's fan oven hating the noise as they used a hot air drying cage. I decided enough was enough, what was the point of scaring her like this. I bought some clippers and I trim her myself. She still doesn't like it much and she often looks a bit rough around the edges, but she is happy which is the most important thing.

It really reminded me of an incident that happened with my Mum in the 1970s. We had a lovely little Yorkshire Terrier, just like Cassie, called Dougal, who we got on my 11th birthday. In those days Yorkshire Terriers weren't really trimmed, they had long flowing hair and walked along like Dougal in the Magic Roundabout which is why we called him his name. We were watching an episode of The Generation Game and Bruce Forsyth brought his little Yorkie on at the end. It had had a short clip and looked lovely, My Mum was so taken with it she phoned the BBC to ask where he had got it clipped. A few hours later a man from the BBC phoned back and said "Mr Forsyth say's to tell you his Yorkie was trimmed at ..." and gave an address in London. Can you imagine that happening now! My Mum and Dad duly took him to be clipped and next to the groomers was a restaurant. They decided to have lunch there while he was being trimmed. After this every time they took Dougal they would go in for lunch. Years after Dougal was dead and gone they would still go to the restaurant all the time and built up a lifelong friendship with the head waiter and his family until his death a few years ago. He was such a special friend to them. Isn't life funny, I often think this, one chance phone call led to such a long friendship. I was going to post a photo of trimmed Cassie, but she is still sulking a bit and won't look at the camera so here is a photo of Dougal, one of the most special little dogs I have ever been lucky enough to have in my life.

Scarlett is here today so we will busy all day but have lots of nice things planned to do. Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

What Are We Allowed To Do?

 Tom had an early start yesterday and said the roads were really busy. Sutton was apparently packed with people, no one is social distancing at all anymore. Inside shops I suppose people are encouraged to do so, at least whilst queuing, but apart from wearing masks it seems to be drifting back to normal despite the coronavirus figures going up. I think everyone is just weary of it all now and to be frank I can't remember exactly what the rules are anymore. It is obviously different if there is "an experiment" going on but how many people are allowed inside shops, what distance are we meant to be at and what rule of what ever are we following now. Rule of 6, rule of 10 or rule of 20,000 in a "controlled situation"  I have no idea!  The only rule we all know for sure at the moment in the "social distancing guidelines" is you're not allowed to snog your work colleagues! You can really see how people got "war weary", the poor soldiers in the First World War were still sitting in trenches while everyone at home had lost that patriotic, song singing feeling months before. It must be how NHS staff feel, still slogging on and everyone has lost interest. No clapping for carers, rainbow flags and free meals just people moaning about red, amber and green list countries for holidays. You can really see how it happens. When this is all over we say to each other. I don't think it is going to be all over one day as we imagined, it's going to fizzle out until we gradually forget all about it and the bits still left we just live with without really thinking. It's not really that depressing, just life with the good bits and bad bits.

One event that is back today, in I suppose a "covid secure" way is the tennis at Wimbledon. I don't follow Wimbledon quite as much as I did when I was young but it's still a lovely summer event that I am always pleased to see arrive. I loved Wimbledon when I was a teenager, but the best year I ever remember was 1976. I had finished my 'O' levels in June and was off for the whole of the summer. The longest, hottest summer on record, it was perfect. My friends and I decided we would go to Wimbledon, it was so easy in those days. It was the second week of the tournament and Bjorn Borg and Guillermo Villas were playing on No 1 court, as a 15 year old I thought they were two of the most handsome men in the world! My friends and I got the train to Wimbledon and then the bus and queued outside from about 8am. "Would you like Centre court or No 1 court?" the woman in the kiosk asked us. Can you imagine that today, people camp out all week for the chance of a ticket. Most of the tickets are already allocated to corporate events, no chance for a happy bunch of 15 year olds to enjoy the day anymore. 

We chose No 1 court as that is where Borg and Villas were playing and got seats quite near the front, and apart from a rather annoying pole in the way, had a really good view. No 1 court was small in those days before being totally rebuilt and a roof added. You felt as if you were part of the game it was so exciting. Borg won in straight sets I remember, he didn't drop a set the whole tournament and went on to win the Championship for the first of his five consecutive times. We felt we had been part of it, and that wonderful day is one that is so firmly etched in my memory that even though the sun never seems to shine on Wimbledon as it did in 1976 or even in all those years of my teenage memories, and it is a totally different sort of competition for spectators now, I always look on it fondly. Here are a couple of the photos I took of the game that day.

In present day Wimbledon style the weather is dreadful. It poured and poured overnight and is still raining lightly this morning. Tom is off for the next few days after today and we are planning to go back to our favourite caravan site. The lovely Carol on the BBC says the weather is going to be "a tad unsettled" I have a feeling that may be an understatement but we will still go. It's whether we go when Tom finishes work today or tomorrow morning, we have to decide when we see the forecast. I'm off to do my Dad's shopping today and a roofer who we know locally is going over to look at his roof as it needs some tiles replacing. It's not really the weather for working up on a roof though. Oh well we'll have to see how it turns out. Have a lovely day everyone what ever your plans and what ever your weather. I'll be back tomorrow or soon depending on the weather! xx

I Love Scarborough!

 An old school friend of mine, who is in our WhatsApp group went to Scarborough yesterday for work. He used to be a top end chauffer but sadly his business hasn't survived the pandemic and as he has had to take a job as a delivery driver for him and his family to survive. He never moans and looks on the bright side of every day telling us all the places around the country he is visiting he has never been to before and posting photos of where he is today. He is a Londoner through and through, a pie and mash, jellied eels sort of guy, who is a bit suspicious of anywhere up North! I think yesterday was an eye opener for him "It's not half bad here!" he said, in fact he was full of it all day. I was so envious.

I absolutely used to love Scarborough! I'm almost too scared to go back as in my mind, I have such wonderful memories of being there, it has become a sort of paradise. There is a list of the 10 most Heavenly places on earth, well I think Scarborough should be added! So many of our childhood holidays were spent there. We would take our caravan and all I can remember is fun and sea and sand. Often when we lived up there we would just go for the day and I can quite clearly remember the main reason I loved it. The donkeys! I decided when this photo was taken, at three years old I want a donkey and all my life I have said I would get one.

I'm sure the beaches are much more crowded now than those wonderful days when we would picnic on them, I am so lucky to have these happy memories.

I can't tell you how ridiculously pleased I was yesterday that my friend liked Scarborough. I would have been so sad if he had been bad mouthing it and saying it was a dump. We won't be able to go this year but it's somewhere definitely on my top ten list of places to go. 

It's raining at the moment but I think it's just a small hiccup in what is set to be a nice spell. We are going to see my Dad today and do a few last minute checks on the caravan. I have a busy day ahead so better get on. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans. xx

Walking On The Sunny Side Of The Street

 It was so nice to have some sunshine yesterday again when Scarlett was here. We spent the afternoon in the garden planting out our little plants. I'm sure not all will survive but some will which I'm hoping will add add some nice summer colours. One little plant I put out, Scarlett and I had collected the seeds from when we were out walking last September. I had just written on the pot, "Little blue wildflowers collected by Scarlett" The plant has come up looking very healthy so I'm particularly looking forward to seeing if these flower and what they are. This autumn I'm hoping to collect more wildflower seeds while we are out walking and grow them as perennials in the garden. I have discovered that native wildflowers seem to be the plants that slugs and snails completely ignore. They also really add to the natural look I try to have in our garden. 

We went out for a walk in the morning and there was much discussion as to whether she should take her jacket. She was desperate to leave it behind as the sun was shining. I said to her "It will be cold when we walk in the shade." "We'll just walk in the sun then" she replied. I laughed as I remembered when my children were little we used to try and do that all the way to school and I would sing the old song "The Sunny Side Of The Street" while we walked. It's funny how you forget things, that suddenly pop back in your mind. I sang the beginning of the song to Scarlett and said "Alright that's what we'll do!" We sang it together as we walked along, even though we bumped into my next door neighbour who looked at us as if we had lost our minds! We managed to stay in the sun for the whole walk and it was lovely and warm. For anyone who doesn't know the song it is a wonderful old Frank Sinatra classic my Mum used to sing when we were little, but I remember the Doris Day version better, probably because my Mum loved Doris Day. 

I spoke to eldest son yesterday, who was still feeling quite miserable after catching coronavirus and has a really bad cough but he said he definitely feels a little better. I reminded him to drink lots of fluids and do deep breathing exercises every hour but he said it's very hard to eat and drink as he can't taste or smell anything. I reassured him it will get better but didn't like to say it can take months for that to come back. Youngest daughter is still suffering over a year after we all caught it. There are still  lots of things she can't eat as the taste has totally altered. It is a very strange virus.

Youngest daughter is off work today and we are going to the South Bank to have lunch. I haven't been into central London since before the pandemic and I'm really looking forward to the day. The sun is shining and we will definitely be walking of the "Sunny Side Of The Street" . I reminded myself yesterday to try and do that mentally no matter what worries there seem to be.  I hope everyone has a lovely day and enjoys some sunshine. xx

Back To the 70s And Family Sickness

 We actually had a day yesterday without rain! It looked as if it may rain a few times but the dark clouds passed by and the sun came out again, it was lovely. Not exactly a heat wave but so much better. Tom was off work and we went to my Dad's to work on the caravan again. All exciting stuff, waste pipes and pumps, I'd rather be sewing throws and curtains but it all has to be done. We really want to take our caravan to shows when coronavirus is all over and everything we buy, we try and make sure is an original 1970s item. I couldn't believe my luck this week when I was looking for a hair dryer to keep in the caravan. I managed to find the same hair dryer I had as a teenager. Still in it's original box and only £5!

It is very strange looking at this box I could be 16 again, drying my hair while listening to Diana Ross on my record player, before going out on a Saturday night. It's strange how I had so many LPs but my Diana Ross one was new in the summer of 1976 and I always listened to it before I was going out. I only have to hear some of those songs and I am taken back to that wonderful hot summer and the fun we all had. No matter how many good times there are it is hard to ever beat those summers when you are young and carefree. 

Sadly yesterday there was some news I sort of knew was coming. Eldest son has caught the Indian variant of coronavirus. He is at home feeling really unwell and worse all on his own. I wanted to go down to help but the trouble is I can't. He is self isolating and getting food delivered so he says there is no point in us dragging all the way down. I can't help but feel angry that these drivers have all caught it while working on a government contract and giving them tests twice a day is not good enough. They should have been vaccinated before they started but where not in the right age group so couldn't be. I would be interested to know how many of the security guards working on this contract taking people flying in from India to quarantine hotels, have caught it too. It seems to me a really bad mistake and now so many people are suffering because of it.

Scarlett is coming today and with this lovely sunshine we should be able to get out and about. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Photos, Letters And Pen Pals

 It was another day of rain yesterday but not a bad day at all, we definitely had a day of laughter and nostalgia. Tom's main mission in life at the moment is to try and get the loft clear. The trouble is he's up against youngest son and me, the hoarders of the family! We got down some boxes of old cards, letters and photos. The photos are the reject ones, the blurred, off centre, "I look fat in that" sort of photo that never made it into the photo album. Today they would be deleted without trace but back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s we obviously put them in the loft. We laughed so much, remembered rooms and houses long gone, people long gone and boyfriends who I am grateful are long gone! It was a mixture of sadness and laughter but even though they were rejects at the time, so many of them will be scanned today so they are safe. 

I sorted through old birthday cards, letters and wedding invitations. We found two letters I wrote to eldest daughter when she was on a school trip to The Isle Of Wight when she was 11. It's full of little bits of family information, youngest daughter had learned to say her name, youngest son had fallen at nursery and grazed his knees so I had bought him some Lego on the way home to cheer him up and there had been a big spider in my bedroom while Tom had been at work so I had slept in eldest daughter's empty room. (What a baby, I must have toughened up since then!) I couldn't remember any of these bits of information now. 

Another pile I found were letters from old pen pals. I was a real letter writer back in the 1970s I had several pen pals from different countries, most I met through the magazine Fab 208. Some of them I wrote to for a few years and have photos of these young teenage girls. I didn't have time to read all the letters but the couple I looked at where full of news about pop stars, places they had been and boys they liked. I wonder are my letters still out there anywhere, it's a rather worrying thought but I would love now to read what I wrote in those days.

One girl I wrote too for a long time from Lancashire has the same surname as a cousin's married name, I wonder if she was related to her husband! I had to share this wonderful photo of her. Look at her, a fifteen year old in a 1970s bedroom with her life all ahead of her. I really hope life has treated her well.

The coronavirus restrictions have relaxed more today so we can visit people in their houses which is such good news, I just hope everything goes according to plan. The weather doesn't look too good again today, I really hope I can get out in the garden for a short while though as sickly tomato plant has recovered so much it is taking over the kitchen window sill and I want to re pot it . Tom is off to the dump this morning and I managed to find an old printer and some computer keyboards that almost look like museum pieces for him to take with my Dad's old microwave so he is slightly happy. I have boxes of photos to scan now as well as curtains to finish off for the caravan, so whether it's sunny or rainy I'm sure I'm going to be busy. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are planning to do. xx

A Special Birthday And Helping Memory With Photos

 Scarlett had a lovely 4th birthday yesterday. Eldest daughter and her partner had taken her to Drusillas Park in East Sussex the day before which is a small zoo and park for young children which she loved. Yesterday we went to my Dads for a small get together in the garden but the weather was so miserable we had to sit in the conservatory with the doors open. Not that it bothered Scarlett though she was so excited and it was the first time she could remember going in the conservatory because of all the lockdown restrictions. Youngest daughter had to go with her to search out my Dad's cat Millie who she always talks about and she had to use Great Grandad's binoculars that he keeps by the window to watch the foxes to check everything out.

I was just so thrilled to be having some family time again. It was only a small group of us but it feels as if we are getting back to some sort of normality and so importantly making memories for Scarlett. Youngest daughter filmed a few lovely videos of her around the house including one of her watching the Grandfather clock chiming and her face is a picture. 

I thought how wonderful it would have been to have the same of my Grandparents houses. I can remember being inside them but have such sketchy memories of what their houses looked like. I was probably about Scarlett's age when I was last in my Mum's, parents house. A lovely terraced house overlooking a green in Netherton just outside Liverpool. I can remember standing in the kitchen watching my Nana cooking, wearing her apron, she looked so in control I can remember! I can also remember being in the garden with my Grandad, that beautiful garden with flowers and a greenhouse. My memories of my Grandparents are much clearer over the next few years, after they moved to my Auntie's house as they got older but I would love to have clearer memories of their own house. Imagine if I had photos or even videos of the inside, it would be such a wonderful thing. Scarlett is lucky to have these memory prompts for later in her life.

We have had a long conversation on Facebook recently about a day out we had when we were at school.  A large group of us, my sister and some of her friends and me and some of my friends went to see David Cassidy at White City in London together in 1974. It was such a special day that for lots of reasons I'll always remember, but for the life of us we can't remember all of the people who went. We have all remembered and forgotten different things. My sister has found some photo booth photos she and her friends took at Waterloo station on the way there and I can't believe I didn't do the same but have no recollection. It's worrying how we have all forgotten so much. Of course we just didn't take photos in those days, if it was now it would be all over Facebook to remind us who went and what we did for ever. Maybe we were lucky not to have reminders forever of our teenage years or will teenagers today never have problems with their memories in later life as it is all there to look back at. Only time will tell.

I do have one little reminder of when I went to see David Cassidy at Wembley in 1973. One little photo before we set off and it reminds me so much of the day. 

It's much brighter today and we're planning a nice long walk with the dogs, although I think we may be dodging showers. I hope everyone has a really lovely Sunday what ever you are doing. xx

Rockeries And Missing Gnomes

 I didn't really get a relaxing day yesterday in the end but spent most of the morning sorting things out to take to the charity salesroom. The items we are taking I pondered and pondered about. A few weeks before my lovely neighbour died she called me in as I as walking by and told me she had a really big collection of figurines she wanted to get rid of and she wanted to give them to me. She thought I may like some but any I didn't want just sell as she knew I was selling on ebay at the time. After she died her husband said would I still take them as she had wanted me to have them. It took half the morning to move them and they were piled practically to the ceiling in the dining room all still in their boxes. It was very awkward as none of them were really to my taste. I kept a couple that were quite nice so I had something to remember her with and then the pandemic started so we put them in the loft. We have decided it's no good we are going to have to be hard hearted and get rid of them. I can't help but feel guilty though. 

When I was looking through them I came across some bronze figures of old fashioned sportsmen. I thought they may be quite nice as garden ornaments, especially if they get a bit of an aged, antique look. After lunch I took the stones I have removed from the aviary and scrubbed them clean and hosed them down. Then I added them to my new rockery. I had intended to add three figures, the cricketer, the runner and the snooker player but the snooker player's cue was like a darning needle it was so sharp! I was worried one of the foxes would walk into it in the dark and do themselves an injury so that is going. I'm quite pleased with the finished area. 

Youngest daughter wasn't so sure as I was taking them out. "I'll have to see it" she said with a very disapproving look on her face. I had to smile, it all reminded me very much of something we were talking about at my Dad's house the other day. Years ago my Dad brought home a garden gnome, he called him Fred and proudly displayed him in the flower bed. Mum was horrified as she used to really dislike garden gnomes. but didn't want to hurt Dad's feelings so would just push him behind bushes every time she was in the garden, my Dad would bring him back out never knowing how he ended up behind a bush. This gnome moving went on for 35 years. I can picture my Mum tutting and saying look at Fred sitting by the lawn, as she dashed out to hide him. 

When we were in the garden the other day I said "Where is Fred?" There was a long silence as we looked around the garden. "He must have got broken and thrown out" said my Dad. "I'd remember that" I said thinking about the years of gnome moving. He has completely disappeared! None of us have any idea how. It is very strange. When I had finished the rockery youngest daughter came out to have a look. "They look quite nice" she said in the same grudging tone my Mum would use about Fred. If they start moving, or even worse disappear I'll want to know why!

I spent the rest of the afternoon weeding and tidying. I still haven't got any more compost so my planting has come to a halt. Everything is coming to life so much, I won't be happy until it is a mass of greenery but it is getting there. 

This morning we are taking all the boxed figurines to the charity showroom then going on to the garden centre. My Dad gave me a garden voucher for Christmas that I still haven't spent because of the lockdown so I have that to treat myself with. I'm really looking forward to finding something nice, but it definitely won't be a gnome! Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Too Good To Use

 Tom took the five boxes of cleared out items back down to the charity salesroom yesterday morning before he went to work so they are finally all gone. I resisted taking items out so everything went and I'm going to get a few more boxes from the loft this week and try and get some more ready for next week. Anything not useful enough to keep, good enough to take to the charity salesroom or to recycle into another use will  be taken to the dump. I'm hoping to keep the latter items down to the minimum. There is another category that I think everyone probably has which is "Too good to use!" You see them everyhere at car boot sales, charity shops and even jumble sales (remember them! sigh) . Those perfect little boxed items or pretty things that have quite clearly never been used. Pastry forks in little presentation boxes, cutlery sets, best linen table cloths and napkins or even sets of soaps and bath salts. Put away too good to use and in the end given away when the person dies to another person who thinks "too good to use". We talk about saving the worlds resources if everyone used everything they had put away for best we could probably avoid manufacturing another item for a year!

I have so many of these items and as I get older I keep thinking what on earth am I doing keeping these? I may as well use them. I have a beautiful little art deco sandwich plate wrapped in bubble wrap in a cupboard. I had thought to put it on a wall but have never really found a place for it. I decided I may as well give it to the charity salesroom next time but it seems silly to give it away becuase it is so perfect I don't want to chip it. I'm going to get it out and use it everyday for my lunch. It is so pretty I'm sure it will make me smile and isn't that what life is all about? If it gets chipped or broken too bad, at least it was used not kept in a cupboard. Several years ago I bought this pack of soaps at a jumble sale for 10p. I have no ides why I bought them just to put them away. Much as I would love one I haven't got a guest room with a guest en suite to put them in, so they just sit in a drawer with the box getting more and more damaged, the same as they have been for probably fifty years. I doubt Tom and youngest son would be grateful if suddenly dainty little lavender soaps appeared in the bathroom so I may as well just hang on to them for now, at least they make my dressing table drawer smell nice. William Morris, the well known 19th century British arts and crafts designer, famously said "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." Well why shouldn't it be both. I'm going to try and think like this more and more!

On the subject of using things, yesterday when I got to my Dad's, my lovely sister after reading yesterday's blog post bought this round for me.

I am so thrilled with it. I spent most of yesterday evening reading it. I have been reminded by a lot of people in the comments about some of the problems with fondues I had forgotten about, such as taking an age for the oil to warm up and being quite unsafe really, espcially in a caravan!  After reading this, I think chocolate fondue may be the way forward. If that doesn't win Tom over nothing will! There are lots of other 1970s recipes that I can't wait to try like Flaming Cherries marinated in rum. When the cherries come out on our tree later this year, I know what I'll be making!

It looks like a nice bright day today. I still have some seeds I want to get planted in the greenhouse so I think I will try and get out to do that. I'm going to give the aviary a bit of a sweep round too in preparation for the doves going in later in the week and see if I can set up a platform for them as doves seem to like that not perches. I hope everyone has a lovely day how ever you plan to spend it. xx

Fondues And Family Bonding

 It only snowed for about an hour yesterday morning and then graually cleared away. Tom came back from his hair cut very cheerfully and we packed our five boxes of items I have managed to clear out in the last three months into the back of the car. When we arrived at the charity salesroom we were told they had too much stock and could we come back tomrrow morning! Tom was all set to drive off but there was no way I was leaving without a quick look round! I managed to find a few items and Tom was very quick to point out that after all my clearing we were coming home with more items than we left with.

I found the most wonderful 1970s bathroom set. I have thought a lot that our little shower room, toilet at the caravan is very dark and drab and needs brightening up. I couldn't believe my luck when I found this set for £2. It certainly won't be drab now! They were still sealed in their original packaging from somewhere called Rodmill of Liverpool. All these years waiting for a daring person who loves colour!

Another item I couldn't resist was a 1970s Swiss (home of the fondue!) fondue set. It was all in it's original box and I wondered if it had come from the same home as the bathroom set. I was over the moon, Tom less so, this is how the conversation went. "Look at this wonderful 1970s fondue set!" "Very nice." I think we should get it" "What would we do with it?" We could have fondue evenings when we are sitting out in our caravan awning." Long silence. I kept trying "Didn't you have fondue evenings in the 1970s?" "In Brixton!" "I'll set it all up when we are away, I'm sure you will love them!" Another long silence. As you can see from the photo, I managed to get my own way and it was only £6 but I know I still have a lot of work to do to win Tom round. 

I remember so clearly the fondue craze in the 1970s. My Mum would set it all up, with methylated spirits in the little burner and we would sit around it at the dining room table with our fondue forks and little pieces of food to dip in and cook. It was a lot of fun for a while but like all crazes very quickly it passed and fondue sets all over the country were put away in boxes. I should imagine my Mum's one is away in a box somewhere. I can't wait to give it another go, just for the fun and the nostalgia. Tom I fear will need a lot of convincing!

By the afternoon the sun had come out and it made dog walking much better than I had imagined in the morning. The only other excitement of the day was enlisting youngest son's help for the family bonding session of us getting out the caravan awning in the dining room to measure the dimensions and the windows so I can order the poles and start making the curtains. It was the hardest of jobs and no matter how hard we tried we couldn't get it back in the bag the same way as it was before. We left it in the end, it's still in their hanging out of the bag, too much family bonding for one day is probably not a good thing! We're going to have to have another go today.

I'm going to see my Dad today and to do his shopping so I hope this bright start lasts all day. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you plan to do. I'm off to have a quick look on ebay before I go out to see if I can find a fondue cookery book! xx

Working At Aintree

 The Grand National holds a very special place in my heart. From a Liverpool family, when I was little we lived at Aintree, it wasn't just my link living close to the racecourse that makes it so special though. My Grandad worked on the racecourse for years. I grew up with so many tales of it and he loved it. Becuase of his work he would always stand at Becher's Brook during the race but alway said that jump was cruel. Horses always fell and even though it has been altered in modern times, still do. Many of these horses over the years died and in my Grandad's day Shire horses were then sent out to drag the dead horses away. These were the horses he worked with and loved. Among my most treasured possessions are some of the horse brasses my Grandad collected from these Shire horses at Aintree racecourse. As a little girl I would polish them at the table with newspapers all laid out. This was my job on a Saturday morning and when I polish them now with Scarlett I can't believe it has come right round in a big circle. Yesterday there was an enormous milestone in the history of the race, a woman jockey won! I doubt my Grandad would ever have believed such a thing would have happened, and all, because of the pandemic, with not a single spectator there, but what a breakthrough for women. This photo was taken of my Grandad working at the racecourse around 1930. He is on the far right of the photo looking very big and strong I always think. These are one of the sets of horse brasses from the Shire horses I have.

Coincidentally one of the items I saved from the boxes I brought down from the loft was another item it had been my job to polish on a Saturday morning. It was this brass planter. All through my teenage years I remember it in our house with a plant in it. My Mum had plants everywhere, all beautifully tended, she kept plants for years and they always did so well. We don't have window sills in our house now, so growing house plants is much harder but I love my plants too. I've polished up this planter and I may even keep it at the caravan during the summer so we have a bit of greenery there.It would mean I would be transporting plants back and forwards which I'm sure would make Tom despair of all the "paraphernalia" as he puts it I insist on taking, but I love it to look nice while we are there. He says everyone else on the caravan site is sitting sunbathing and I'm polishing!

Talking of polishing eldest son phoned yesterday evening and he is taking his old Routemaster bus out today and he has spent all week polishing it and getting it ready as it has not been used for months. He took it for a short drive round and everyone was waving to him as he drove past. He said it hasn't felt so normal for such a long time. I hardly dare to believe when so much of the world are still having such a terrible time that we may get back to some sort of normal life. I was telling him about the new wheel arch for the caravan I had ordered and he said he would get it resprayed for me the same colour as the caravan and then take off the old one and fit the new one. I'm ever so pleased as it looked like a very tricky job to me!

Tom is off today and we are going to a place near Heathrow to buy a white dove as a friend for Dottie. Then after a week or two, when they have got used to each other and if the weather has warmed up, we will put them out in the aviary together. Dottie is so adorably sweet I can't bear to think of her having a life on her own in a cage so I hope it all works out OK. I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday what ever your plans. xx

Royal Memories And A Nosy Cat

The main news in this country yesterday was the death of Prince Philip, the Queen's husband. I am not really a Royalist but I always admire the Queen and Prince Philip for the way they get on and almost without exception, nothing phases them. Talking to my old school friends in our Whats App group last  night we remembered a day we saw him around 1974. We were told in assembly that Prince Phillip would be driving along the by-pass near our school and if we wanted to, we could take flags the school had bought and we could line the road to see him and wave out flags. A typical bunch of surly teenagers we all said "We're not going!" Then we realised it coincided with a double maths lesson and we all suddenly became staunch royalists and off we all went flags in hand. We walked through the fields to the bypass, if we stood there today we would be bang in the middle of the M25, and waited. We all said it was so much more exciting than we expected and when his big black chauffeur driven car appeared with the royal standard on the front, it slowed right down and he wound down his window as it drove by. Of course no one took photos in those day we just waved our flags and cheered and he waved back. We all quite enjoyed the morning and I can remember us all walking back to school arguing about who he had been looking at as he waved. Much more fun than double maths! 

One man in our group who used to own a pub in the 1980s told us a tale that happenend there, He had just openend at 11am and the pub was still empty. In walked Prince Philip on his own an ordered a pint! My friend said "Would you like it in a glass or a jug sir?" to which Prince Philip replied "You can put it in a bucket for all I care!" He drank his pint, looked all around the pub at the photos on the wall, and then said goodbye and left. He said it was the only time his wife had ever seen him speechless! As my friend so typically said at the end of the tale, and I could hear his cockney accent as I read it, "God Bless him, may he Rest in Peace".

I spent quite a bit of time out in the garden yesterday and when the sun came out it was quite warm, so much more is coming up, and I was delighted to see many of the acorns I planted last year from my Dad's oak tree have started to sprout and are just poking above the surface. It's as if they are all in communication with each other all appearing on the same day. The blossom on our cherry tree at the end of the garden is looking very pretty and each year I try and get a photo of it at it's very best, it's not quite there yet.

I had to laugh at Cleo our cat as I was out working. Our next door neighbours were out in the garden too and she couldn't hide her nosiness in what is going on.

I went up into the loft yesterday evening and got a couple of boxes down as there is still a bit of room in the boxes we are going to take to the charity show room next week. So much will be opening up on Monday, it is going to seem strange. Tom say's as he is driving along in his bus every pub he passes, staff are out scrubbing down the fronts and busy setting up tables outside which of course is the only place people will be allowed to sit. He said it is lovely to see so much activity after all these months. 

I'm going to spend part of the day sorting through the boxes I brought down from the loft deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. I'm on a roll with my clearing out so can't wait until next week when the stuff can finally go. I hope everyone has a lovely Saturday what ever you are doing. xx

London Trips And Crochet Letter Boxes

 It was sunny and bright but ever so cold when I went to my Dad's house to get his shopping. Sitting in the shade at the station I was so cross I had forgotten my gloves. It was only 6C with a freezing wind. What a change from last week when it was 23C! Dad's tablets were sorted out and his shopping done. It will be so nice when the other shops in his village open up next week. It will give it much more of a feeling of normality. Although a talented person had made a real effort to brighten it up by the post office with this wonderful knitted decoration.

When I got home at 6.30 Tom had already got in from work. Youngest daughter had gone into central London to meet some freinds in St James's Park. It was her friends birthday and they had planned to get a takeaway and a few drinks and enjoy their meal in the open air. She had wrapped up really warmly but I did think what a shame it was the weather had turned so cold as she had been looking forward to it so much. I was thinking to myself at least it is dry then I got a text message from her saying it was snowing there! 

I often think how strange it is she spends so much time going to St James's Park. She loves it and says it is her favourite park, in normal times she and her friends spend so much of their time there in nice weather. When I was 16 and 17 I worked in London in the 1970s and I would spend most of my lunch breaks there. I worked in a bank in Piccadilly Circus and on nice days we would buy our sandwiches at a little sandwich bar at the corner of Jermyn Street and walk down Lower Regent Street ,cross The Mall and sit eating them overlooking Buckingham Palace. As an extra perk of the job the bank would give us a 15p luncheon voucher a day, which in those days took quite a large proportion off the cost of a sandwich. Shops and restaurants would display a sign in their window if they accepted these vouchers. We would be given them on pay day for the month and sometimes we would treat ourselves, and my friends and I would go to a Steak House for a meal and pay for it all in 15p luncheon vouchers. We must have been really popular! 

After our lunch in the park we would walk down to the palace and wave to the soldiers in their bearskins guarding in their sentry huts. We knew them all by sight and thought they were so good looking! Of course they weren't allowed to move but there was one who would always wave back at us by wriggling his fingers. What a rebel he must have been, I wonder where he is now!

I love talking to youngest daughter about all the things she has seen when she gets back but she was so tired and cold when she got in after not going out at all for months she went straight to bed. She said she had a wonderful time though so I'll be able to hear all about it later on today. It is sunny and bright but ever so cold here today. It was -2C when I got up. I don't intend to walk the dogs until it warms up a bit more and I think I will have a day inside today as there is a lot to catch up with after Easter. I hope everyone has a lovely day and if it is cold were you are you are lucky enough to be able to be just looking out at the brightness. xx

The Sun Always Shone

 I travelled on the train to go and do the shopping for my Dad  yesterday It was a really hot day and it reminded me that wearing masks out and about on a hot day isn't very pleasant. I really hope the rules are relaxed a bit by the time we have hot weather all the time. It was so nice though to see the sunshine and Dad's roses are going to look a picture this year as they are all coming to life. 

By the time I got home in the evening Tom was already in from work and had started cooking the evening meal which was nice to arrive home too and we all had our usual catch up while sitting eating. Youngest son and daughter will be finishing work for the Easter holidays in the next day or two so they are very cheerful at the thought. While we were sitting eating our meal it said on the news this was the hottest March day since 1968. Tom and I laughed and we said "Oh we rememember that hot day in March 1968 really well!" Of course we don't, but it did make me think how when I look back on childhood days I always remember sunshine. When  I am out on a sunny day and smell freshly cut grass I am transported back to school on a summers day. 

It is not just me, my school friends and I often talk about it. We had a big grass field next to our school playground and we would all lie on it listening to transistor radios on hot summer days. We all say we only have to hear a song from those days now or smell that cut grass smell and we think of it. The boys would be playing football and showing off and the girls reading Jackie magazine and making daisy chains. The sun always seemed to shine, it's all we remember. We often joke if we had any idea in those carefree days we would all be friends in our sixties discussing cures for arthritis we  would never have believed it! 

I can't remember where we went holiday in 1968, I must ask my sister if she remembers, but it would have been a caravan holiday in this country. I feel like searching through the old box I have of diaries I kept in those days to see if I kept one for that year. I was a sporadic diary keeper, January was always well documented then I lost steam but I often kept a holiday diary. One thing I am sure of though it would have been a holiday like this one and the sun would always have shone! Happy days!

It going to be another lovely day today I had thought of planting some of my little plants out from the greenhouse but the weather forecast is very cold over Easter so I may hang on a bit longer. I will definitely get some garden jobs done though as it looks as if it may be the last day for a while it is going to be so nice. I hope where ever you are in the world and what ever the weather is like you have a lovely day. xx

Back In The 1950s

 I worked for several hours yesterday. Even though it was dry with sunny moments, it was quite cold so I only ventured into the garden to feed the ducks and birds and have a quick tidy up. Many of the new photos I acquired were of the Isle of Wight so I joined an Isle of Wight history group on facebook and submitted some of the photos. Firstly I thought it would be nice for them to have access to them and secondly I wanted some help in identifying them. The clever people in this group managed to identify the places and decided they were taken in the mid 1950s. Photos from a different simpler time, post war so everyone had their own set of problems but better times where on the horizon. 

Coincidentally while I was scanning all these 1950s photos, youngest daughter was sitting in the room with me playing her "Fallout 4" video game on the television. It is full of 1950s music which she loves. For the last five years all I can hear is 1950s (or 1980s that is another love of hers) music coming from her room. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Doris Day are among the songs blaring out. It's wonderful. She was listening to a song by Nat King Cole and we decided he was so incredibly talented. It reminded me of a story my Dad had told me which I relayed to her. 

When Dad was a teenager around 1950 he loved Nat King Cole. He was lucky enough to see him in concert when he was home on leave from the Merchant Navy. Nat King Cole was wearing a white suit which my Dad thought was so cool, with nearly all his pay, he bought one similar in Liverpool before he signed up for another tour on a ship. The tour took him up The River Ganges in India where they docked. While ashore for an evening out with his friends, to Dad's dismay someone spilt a drink on his precious and very expensive white suit and stained it. He asked around the next day if there was any place locally he could get it cleaned. Dad paid a young Indian man who assured him he would take it away and carefully get the stain removed. Later on in the day Dad looked across the River Ganges from the ship, which was so filthy it had dead animals floating in it, and there was the young Indian man washing his precious suit between two rocks in the river.  I can never hear a Nat King Cole song without thinking of this story but I do love Nat King Cole and for anyone else who loves him too this is the song we were listening to. 

Tom and youngest son and daughter are all out at work today so I will have plenty of time to catch up with things that need doing but I think I will pop to Morrisons this morning and have a look at their plants. I haven't been in Morrisons for about a year so it feels a bit of an adventure!  I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans. xx

Changing Cars And Phones

 Scarlett loved the new dolls house furniture and by far her favourite item was the tiny little telephone on a telephone table. She couldn't get over the little dial on it and it led to a lot of discussion about what telephones used to be like.

 It did make me think how technology is changing. It doesn't seem five minutes since the days when if a friend wanted to talk to you they had to call you on a house phone like this. How many of us had to sit in a cold hall on a hall seat just like this having a chat to a school friend? Telephone calls were so expensive in those days too, so the conversations were never long, it would be a quick chat to arrange where we were going to meet and then finished. In those days though we would then be out on our bikes meeting in the park, or just sitting on a wall chatting. We may not have had technology but we had so much more freedom.

Tom was off yesterday and I did have to laugh he was so cross with himself for losing Layla's toy the day before in the park. He walked round there on his own and climbed the tree to rescue the toy stuck in the branches! Layla is so happy to have her new toy returned and Tom didn't fall and break a bone which was what I was worried about. He came with us on our walk around and about on the way to the bakers too and Scarlett proudly showed him all the things we comment about when we are out walking. I had to pre warn him to look suitably delighted or horrified at the right moments (Pretty flowers or graffiti!) . 

A couple of things kept us talking for a while though while we were out and they were the same but very different. I mentioned some weeks ago about a house near us that had been empty for nearly 40 years! If you want to see photos of the house you can see them here The History Of A House I mentioned that there was an old Morris Minor behind the gates. Someone has dragged the poor old car out into the front garden and now it is sitting there looking so sad.

I really wish I was able to restore something like this. I love restoring items back to their former glory but my limit is old toys! I hope so much that this poor car isn't just scrapped but some clever person rescues it. When we had walked up the hill to the baker's shop there was another car parked at the top that caught Tom's eye much more.

It is part of an advertising campaign for a newly extended restaurant who I suppose are planning ahead for when lockdown ends and Tom loved it. He spent ages looking through the windows and admiring it. It says something about me though that if I had the choice of the two, and the Morris Minor was restored, I would choose the Morris Minor! When elder daughter picked Scarlett up yesterday evening she dropped off my Mother's Day present as sadly, because of the current rules, she won't be able to come round on Sunday. It is a wrapped up present from all four of my children who have got together to get something for me they say they know I will like. How exciting and how clever they have been to coordinate a surprise during this lockdown!

 Tom is off again today and we have a busy day ahead. He has a spot booked at the dump to take the old duck run panels and then we are going to go shopping to Lidl which we haven't been to for months! I will go with him to the dump so we can go straight on to Lidl and it almost feels exciting going so far afield. Things are bad when I'm looking forward to an outing to the local refuse tip! Later on this afternoon he is having his first coronavirus vaccination at Epsom Downs Racecourse which feels like such a positive step forward. I hope everyone has a wonderful day what ever you are doing. xx

Old Friends

 We finally finished the duck run yesterday evening. It was not the best day as by the time lunch time came it poured and poured. We were soaked through and very cold. I spent an hour as it was going dark checking every corner and edge of the run. It was as safe as I thought we could possibly get it. It certainly looks a bit like Fort Knox rather than a garden duck run but I have plans for honeysuckle growing up the edges which will hopefully make it a bit more attractive. It's quite exciting to start planning planting in a new area. I'll take some photos this weekend, even though at the moment it simply resembles a mud filled farmyard!

I spent yesterday evening chatting with an old school friend of mine. A group of us from school have been talking about having a reunion in September this year to mark 50 years since we all started together at secondary school! Where did that time go to! We even have acquired a teacher in our group. Not just any teacher but one that would regularly throw black board rubbers or chalk at us (Depending on how bad the misdemeanour!) It was his first job as a young 23 year old newly qualified teacher and to be honest he was a bit of a bully. Now as a man only 12 years older than us, all of a sudden he is on our level, although it was a battle for all of us not to call him "Sir". I wonder some days whether he feels a bit embarrassed about the way he treated us, particularly the boys, who some days were put through hell. None of us hold grudges as we're not really that kind of people, not even the naughty boy of the group who was regularly beaten by him, they were different days, but I can't help but wonder how he feels. It has been a strange shift in balances.

The main topic of conversation between my friend and I though was that we think we have found an address for a very close friend of ours. Four of us went everywhere together, we were so close and then in the few years after we left school we drifted apart. How wonderful it would be if we were back together again. We chatted all evening about those happy days and how wonderful it would be. I'm going to write the letter this weekend. If this pandemic has taught me anything it's not to waste time, to spend time with special people is so important. 

No time for rest today, Scarlett will be here at 7.30 so a busy day ahead but much more fun than standing in the mud and rain battling with chicken wire! I hope everyone has a lovely day whatever your plans. xx

Little Pointless Facts

 The 1st of March is finally here. My Dad has taken, now the weather has improved, to walking up to the church at the end of the lane near where he lives each day. It is just a nice distance, once round the graveyard and then home. It has led to a regular evening conversation on the phone that goes something like this. "Do you remember so and so who used to live at the end of the lane years ago." "Yes I do, the family had a Labrador dog and a tabby cat." "I can't remember that but they had a Rover car." "Yes he grew vegetables and always had bonfire going in the garden." "That's the one, he had a little cheerful wife." "Yes I remember her now, how are they?" "Dead, I saw their grave in the graveyard." "Oh dear." I'm really not sure how uplifting these walks are turning out to be but at least it keeps him fit and he is enjoying admiring all the spring flowers coming to life. 

However these evening conversations have made me realise another thing. Our brains are full of snippets of information we have stored there over the years. Sometimes I think everything is there just waiting for something to remind us of them and they come to the surface. Except maybe how to solve maths problems. I think that may have gone forever! Little things we store away about people and things that happen throughout our life, put in a box in our brain marked "Save For Later" Whenever I look at flowers starting to bloom at this time of year and little shoots coming through I remember a poem we would recite at school about spring. 

A Spike Of Green

When I went out

The sun was hot

It shone upon 

my flower pot.

And there I saw 

A spike of green

That no one else 

Had ever seen.

On other days

The things I see

Are mostly old

Except for me.

But this green spike

So new and small

Has never yet

Been seen at all.

It's so strange when I look at green shoots appearing everywhere I can't get this poem out of my head. I could be eight and reciting it at school. We used to have hand writing cards with short poems on, that we had to copy in our best handwriting. It was on one of those handwriting cards and I wonder if because I wrote it down as well as reciting it, is why I learned it so well. How is it still there in my brain after all this time. Maybe it has stayed there because even after all these years I still find the sight of these little green shoots appearing everywhere so special. My favourite time of the year. Everything to look forward to and the darkest days behind us. Never have I felt it more than this year. Spring really does feel very precious. I hope everyone has a lovely 1st March what ever you are doing and Happy St David's Day. xx

The Reality of Caravan Holidays

 It was a lovely sunny day yesterday doing Dad's shopping and it gives a feeling of hope that better things are around the corner. Dad has been able to get out in the front garden which has brightened him. Last year he moved a garden bench to the front path so he could have a rest after he has mowed the lawn and before he started the next job. It has led to a procession of "old people" resting on their way through while he is gardening and has given them all a place to have a little chat out in the fresh air. It is a proper little social club he has built up on his bench. I am slightly concerned word may spread and he may start getting street drinkers in the evening but knowing my Dad as long as they were willing to chat about his beloved Liverpool he would welcome them too!

All this nice weather is starting to think make us think we may be able to book a bit of time away in our caravan. We  have managed to find an original 1970s awning to go with our 1970s caravan, the only problem is it's missing poles. We need to find some replacements but of course all the caravan dealerships are closed at the moment. 

When it is sorted out this is hopefully how it will look. It will almost double our space while we are away. I imagine us sitting having our evening meal in it when it is not quite nice enough to eat outside.

Our awning is an Isabella awning and I have contacted the company who are still in existence. They have been so helpful but sadly don't make the poles for these awnings anymore. I have been searching through old brochures from the company to get ideas for the inside and they have made me laugh

It's strange but my memories of caravanning holidays at the time are of us in wellington boots in the middle of a muddy field. I suppose this photograph sold more awnings than the reality!

I do remember this kind of family feel though and I will definitely be trying to make some wonderful retro curtains like this for ours. However I think this next photo is probably the furthest from a family caravan holiday reality though.

Although it did give me an idea for a bit of authentic 1970s when we are away. Candles in wine bottles, maybe a bit dangerous for in the awning, but outside on a summer evening, perfect! What 1970s meal would have been complete without them. These brochures have certainly given me lots to think about but the reality of our caravan holidays when my sister and I were children was this photo, and we loved every minute!

I have a day in today with the exception of some dog walking. I don't want to waste this lovely weather with inside jobs but there always seems a lot to catch up with on both. No matter how hard I try I never seem to get the same amount of enthusiasm for housework as I do for gardening. I think because of that reason the garden will probably win through if the weather stays nice. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx