George Mansions Hotel

I decided that, as The Queen has a Birthday Portrait done each year, I would have one also. 

 

          

This picture has been specially chosen, as it was taken in the week of my birthday and I found something to be taken alongside, which actually makes me look young and small! The tree is to be found in the churchyard at Much Marcle, Gloucestershire and is about 1500 years old.

 

What a thought that is! Imagine what periods of history it has lived through. It started life circa 500AD, which I think was classed as the Dark Ages when I was at school and it has already lived through 300 times my present life span. Amazing.

 

Sunday evening brought a phone call in the continuing saga of my accident-prone stepfamily. My mother, having married into it, obviously doesn’t want to be left out, as she has now started hurling herself to the ground in car parks and getting carted off to hospital. My stepfather has fallen downstairs twice since Christmas and my stepbrother almost died in a car accident the summer before last and is only just really getting over it.

 

This week it was the turn of my step niece, who competes in Show Jumping around the country. On Sunday her horse somersaulted, whilst taking a jump and landed on Emma 2 (Not to be confused with my niece Emma 1, who is in Australia at present) Emma 2 has ended up with a fractured pelvis, in no less than 5 places. I hope she makes a speedy recovery and is soon up and around.

 

Simon and Tori stayed with us until Tuesday and then they both went back to work. Tori to London and Simon, to Faslane.

 

Simon had to have a couple of days in the simulator, where they pretend things are going horribly wrong and he then has to put them right. He will be stopping off here tonight to say hello to his sister, before continuing on to Tori’s.

 

He has been told he is being drafted to another submarine that is having a refit, so will be based in Devon from June. That means he won’t have to go to sea again for at least 18 months.

 

Catherine and Flo arrived on Wednesday evening. They are both well but Catherine is looking quite different from the girl I saw get married in March, she’s put on a lot of weight, it’s a good job they decided not to wait for both of their brothers to return from overseas, or rather, in Simon’s case, underseas.

 

I have to keep typing this in snatched moments, it is now Saturday morning and I need to go shopping soon, as it’s 15 adults and a toddler for dinner tonight. The weather seems to be set fair, so I’m going to barbeque. Kebabs, burgers and sausages and a large bowl of Coronation Chicken, should please everyone. My sister has offered to do some salad, so that and a large bowl of buttered new potatoes means I can get some gardening done today and only an hour or two of food preparation.

 

I plan to take some photos of Catherine and will do an extra entry this week, as I want to record our last time together before she becomes a mother.

 

If all goes according to plan, the next time we will meet up is when I fly to Germany, the day before the baby is due to be delivered on the 14th June.

 

Catherine and I have just been discussing the oddities of my mother. She never washes her own hair, she goes to the hairdressers once a week and that’s it. She has straw hair. Catherine and I have smooth hair and if I don’t wash mine every day I wouldn’t dare go out. At 53 and going through the menopause, I still have greasy hair and the odd teenage spot!

 

Catherine can’t understand how my mother has never had to shave her legs in her life. Mum has dark hair, so you would expect it to be necessary. I, on the other hand, seem to have inherited my mother’s dark hair but my father’s hairy legs. How unfair is that!

I just said to Catherine I had legs like Godzilla, only I think I was in the wrong Monster Movie, I think I meant King Kong, although, I have to admit, they are looking a bit scaly this morning.

 

The new neighbours children are very sweet and keep talking to us when we are gardening. Lauren, aged 5, wanted to know from my husband, if two men got married, were they gay? Mike said, well they would probably be quite happy.

 

Must dash, Sainsbury's is calling.