Nearly Easter Hols!!!!

I’ve been getting very lax about updating this Journal. Life has been busy and I like to sit and write a complete entry and don’t often have an hour or so to spare.

First some moans about AOL. Since I had a recent connectivity update I keep losing my connection and the only way to sort it is to turn of my Wireless Router Thingummyjig for 30 seconds and start again, this has cost me hours, even on the PC in the office, so it’s obviously nothing to do with a Wireless connection. If this is the way forward………

It's been a horrible week Navywise. First those two poor sailors killed in an explosion on their submarine, whilst under the ice cap. The one lad was from  Halesowen, which is where I grew up and he went to my Dad's Grammar School. He was planning to leave the Royal Navy to get married, that is so sad. This of course worried me because of Simon's job.

As for the 15 held captive by the Iranians, well I won't say much but it's also very upsetting, although this is a scenario that is unlikely to happen to Simon but I do hope they are soon released. Men and woman alike.

Our lovely student teacher, Karina left on Friday, she has been with us for about two months. Talk about a baptism of fire! She’s had to teach my class, which everyone is agreed is the worst class in living memory. I’ve had to take her to one side at times and reassure her that not all children are like this. I bought her a gift and gave her a card and she bought me the most beautiful, soft , pink, leather make-up bag, with a note thanking me for my help.

On Saturday Mike and I had one of our trips out, where we go somewhere that we don’t know. We decided to head for the Staffordshire Moorlands, which we’d heard of but didn’t know where to find them. After finding some places in Staffordshire on the map that looked rural and had ‘Moor’ in the place name (always a good clue) we headed up the M6 and made our way to Cheadle. There was a sign when we got there telling us it was in the Staffordshire Moorlands so we felt we were off to a good start.

We had a very good lunch while we were there, which could have been even better. I ordered Staffordshire Oatcakes with Bacon & Cheddar Cheese. The Oatcakes are a type of soft pancake, which I’ve never had before. I still haven’t had them as they’d sold out!

There is an old church at Cheadle which was decorated by Pugin in the 19thC. Now Inormally like his work but strewth! What was he on when he did this place. There isn’t half an inch of stone work that hasn’t been intricately decorated. I normally love the feel of old churches but this one was so busy I couldn’t wait to get outside, it was giving me a headache!

After lunch we headed out into the Moorlands. The part we visited didn’t have too many Moors, more Hills and Vales but how pretty it was. Oakamoor is lovely and we were delighted to find it had the remains of a railway station , well, just a platform really, and the old line is now a public footpath. So many old stations have been converted into family homes, it’s a crying shame that this one was demolished.

And this is it today.

 

 You can walk along the line to Alton Village but we only walked part of the way and then returned to the car to continue driving along the Churnet Valley.

We stopped for tea and toasted teacakes at an old, converted lodge now know as the Ramblers Retreat and then continued our drive. Just a minute later we were amazed by the view in front of us, it was as if we had strayed into France or Germany with the sight before us. If you’ve ever been to Alton Towers, to the Amusement Park, well here is the other side of Alton Towers.

Monday was a lovely day and I returned from school with a sense of determination to sort out the garden, which has really got away from us over the last couple of years. There was this Pyracantha hedge which had got to ten feet tall and three feet deep. I spent 4 hours trying to cut it back and managed to reduce it’s depth by half and cut a lot of it back to a manageable 6 foot height. This resulted in a lot of scratches, asthey have the most evil thorns and I finally gave up when I managed to puncture a vein, which was a bit frightening when I had blood spurting everywhere and I was on my own at the time. I sorted that out but it meant I was finished for the day.

Tuesday Mike was at home and he had instructions to finish what I’d started, which he did. But, as usual he had managed to acquire a ‘life threatening’ injury. With Mike that’s a compulsory after effect of any hard work. (Sigh) Well, this time he thought he’d broken a finger. I was pretty sure he hadn’t, so gave him some pain-killers with the suggestion that if it got any worse he should go to hospital.

Yesterday morning it was worse and so off to A & E he went. I said I thought it was Gout and he needed to have his wedding ring cut off. He rang me later to say it was Gout and he’d had to have his wedding ring cut off….I think I’m in the wrong profession.

So does that mean I’m not married anymore?

I look like I’ve got Chickenpox as all my scratches have come up in Hives, as a reaction to my Pyracantha piercings, so I’ve had to buy some Anti- Histamine cream. Who says gardening is a pleasure?

Talking of gardening, this may mean nothing to some people but I got home yesterday to find a message on my answer phone from Chris Beardshaw, the TV Gardener, first really seen on TV for his Flying Gardener series. Well it’s not every day you get a TV Celeb on your answer phone is it?

Anyone want his mobile number? ......Of course, he didn’t want me, it was Mike he was after.

It was Mike’s Mum’s birthday today and he went to see her for lunch. After his 60th birthday present from her of a Flying Lesson, I thought maybe we could get her a Bungee Jump but Mike decided Gardening Vouchers were maybe a better option.

Spent three hours this afternoon making Chocolate, Rice Krispy Nests, each with three, different coloured, sugar coated eggs on top for the whole year group, that's 50 in total. Just let one of them say "I don't like those!"

Catherine, Flo and Isabella are in Tunisia for two weeks, I haven't heard from them so am assuming that no news is good news, although how Catherine will cope without talking to me for a fornight is something I can't imagine. LOL. 

Think that’s about it for now but before I go I want to wish the J Landers who are currently having some major health issues all the best and may all their test results be the best they could possibly be.

Linda. xx

PS I have some other pictures from Saturday and should be viewed larger. I was going to put them at the top but guess what....there's an error!

 

Nearly Summer

This silly entry was inspired by the photos sent to me by a friend. It's done as an open letter but Sue, you know it means YOU!

Dear Friend,

It'll soon be summer and I think it's time we came out of our winter caves, met up for lunches and walks again.

Time to get out and see the sights!

 

Talk about losing a few pounds, so we can slip back into those skimpy summer dresses

And just have a good gossip.

Love,

Linda x.

 

On A Roll!

Yes, I know I did an entry last night but while it seems to be working I'm posting the photos from my last German trip. Not many as I was mostly in bed, or lazing around in my PJ's.

Isabella was talking to me on the phone this morning, she said 'Ba Ba Ba, which means I I've just done a wee on my potty. Catherine is like me and doesn't agree with this modern rubbish of waiting for them to be ready for potty training. She is doing what I did, as soon as they can sit up, pop them on the potty whenever their nappy is changed and before and after baths. It is a fun time which Isabella enjoys as you can talk and do nursery rhymes etc. Sitting there actually encourages them 'to go' and there is no pressure to go at all, just praise if they do. Without realising it they become potty trained and both mine chose to be out of nappies when they were one year old.

I'm going to a Fund raising evening tonight for the Homeless Hostel. There is to be a 'Finger Buffet' I hate that! I find the fingernails get stuck in my teeth.

Just one more silly entry in a minute and then that's me done for the week.

Have a good weekend.

 

 

Finally I have Photos!

I don’t seem very inclined to make new entries on here lately, probably to do with this virus I’m still recovering from. My GP says, it wasn’t Flu! If that wasn’t Flu then I hope I never get the real thing, I don’t know how I can have been any more ill than that  without being hospitalised. He also said that everyone that has had it has taken a minimum of four weeks to recover, including himself. Don’t think that makes me feel any better.

 

I realised the other day, that while I was bedridden, Mike had to go to our local pub and collect our quarter share  of the beef that we buy every year. A quarter of a cow is quite a bit and this is excellent value as it’s organic beef and is hung properly, for a long time, so is always top quality.

 

Normally we put the spare freezer on in the garage, which is only used for this purpose, parties and Christmas. Prior to my collapse, I had emptied the freezer in the kitchen, as much as possible, just to see if I could get it all in there.

 

Well, on the night Mike collected it, I just let him get on with it, I didn’t even  go in the kitchen to have a look. My only inclination to leave my bed was to answer the occasional calls of nature.

 

Mike was very pleased that he’d managed to fit all the beef in to the kitchen freezer and although there was a faint warning bell in the back of my head, I wasn’t too worried.

 

Now I am back at the helm in the kitchen and the time came to try some of this beef.

 

Think about this. You have about a hundred pounds of beef, all nicely bagged up into different cuts. You FILL the freezer drawers with this, soft, pliable substance and switch to fast freeze. What happens? Well, of course, the beef freezes and becomes hard.

 

Now you want to open a drawer, which is very heavy and jammed to the top, so that you have to force it open. You need to find the  particular cut you want……roasting, steak , mince, or stewing. What you can’t do is have anything other than what’s on top because if you go any further down there is no way you are going to get it all back in exactly the same position and the result is, you wont be able to shut the drawer. So until we’ve managed to reduced the quantity slightly, it’s a case of having whatever is on top. Ah well, another valuable life lesson.

 

I’ve had an email from my Union, UNISON. They offered me a two day course aimed specifically at women, to teach them more about the workings of the Union and how to increase our assertiveness. It meant staying in the 4 Star, White Hotel in town with all accommodation and food paid for. I was quite tempted by this, as I could do with being more assertive but then I decided I couldn’t be bothered.

 

Last Saturday we  had another of our days out in Wales. The weather was beautiful, which was surprising, as it had rained none stop throughthe night, with the result  that the brook had covered the bottom hundred feet of our garden. We had discussed moving the chickens back down there the day before but I felt the ground was still too wet, well it certainly was on Saturday! We had lunch in Trecastle, at The Castle coaching Inn and then drove across the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons to see some of the stunning Welsh scenery. We saw some lovely, very healthy looking ponies on the mountain tops. We then carried on down to the coast

 

On the way home, we stopped at a supermarket, it was dark by then. As we left the car park ,the car in front of us began leaving a trail of bits of paper. The passenger, an adult male, was ripping up waste paper in the car and throwing it out of the window. As I had the camera, I thought I would take a photo of this, for no other reason than to frighten him to death when the flash went off from my camera as we were only a few feet behind. That seemed to have the desired effect. I bet he’s still waiting for a letter. lol

 

Tuesday we took the Year Group to a new, purpose built, Hindu Temple, at Tividale in The Black Country. It is the largest in Europe and isn’t finished yet, there are still some smaller buildings to complete and the landscaping is only partly done but it will be a wonderful sight to see in a couple of years.

 

The people there couldn’t have done more for us, providing us with a guide and Priests who performed blessings at different parts of the Temple. Afterwards they produced different rices and poppadoms to sample, or fruit for those less adventurous. All for no charge at all. It was a magical trip and some of the parents have been saying how much the children loved it. I’m so glad I suggested we went there and for me a real bonus was, my beloved Rowley Hills, which is where so many of my Ancestors came from, were there as a backdrop to the site. The twins thought we were really going to India for the day and after going, I think they still believe that’s where we went.

 

Driving back from school, there is one of those Shop-a-Check places, were you can cash a cheque for a fee when you run out of money until your next pay-day, or pawn your jewellery. It’s very bright and modern looking, with large posters of glamorous looking women in the windows. Isn’t it funny that none of their customers look like that? Wonder why that is?

 

The wedding venue has now been booked for October and last night I booked the photographer. The dress has been bought. Only another seven months to get through, is there any possibility those seven months can be plain sailing?……….. Hmmmm!

Getting This Thing To Work!

I’ve been trying to add this post for a couple of days but every time I try to add pictures it crashes me off the Internet. Maybe one day AOL will get their act together and I will post them then. So without pictures, here it is :-

 

 

After a few reminders from people, almost bordering on threats, I’m adding a new entry here.

When I last wrote I thought I was starting with a cold which was also giving me a thumping headache. It turned out to be ‘Flu and three days after it’s fairly gentle start, had me in the grips of pain and fever I haven’t known the like of before.

I know I had ‘Flu when I was fifteen and was in bed for a few days. That was a rarity in itself! My Mother modelled her maternal role on the Victorian Workhouse principals, if you had a pulse and could stand up, then you were well enough to work.

So I must have been quite ill to be allowed off school. I am the only person I know who was sent to school who Whooping Cough.

Anyway, I digress, I don’t remember the ’Flu I had back then being as awful as this was. I spent a whole week in bed and my GP insisted on coming out to see me on the day we had all that snow and for once Worcester had it worse than almost anywhere.

I was supposed to be flying to Germany for the half term week and if my daughter and grandaughter hadn’t been recovering from the same thing I wouldn’t even have considered it, as I wouldn’t want to pass it on to anyone else.

On the Saturday morning I said if I could manage to get to the Bank to get my Euros, then I would attempt going to the airport that evening. After all, all I had to do was sit and be transported. Catherine said I could go to bed when I got to hers and stay there until I felt well enough to get up.

So off I went and as it turned out I didn’t suffer too much but the next day I was very tired and slept a lot until the Wednesday, when I finally got dressed and we walked down to the town for the Market and then had Hot Chocolate with whipped cream, in a lovely café.  The waitress there is besotted with Isabella but then who wouldn’t be? No, I’m not biased.

Thursday we went out in the afternoon to a nearby small town called something that sounds like Bad Berlaberg. There is a castle there and the grounds are a public park. We had a walk round the lake and then went to the Tea Shop just outside the castle walls. It’s a lovely little place and is also an Antique Shop, full of old household and kitchen items, which are displayed all around you. They don’t open until the afternoon, we think this is because they make their own cakes in the morning and I have to say their Black Forest Gateau is nothing like the rubbish we get in this country! Their cakes are like something the Angels made.

Vera, Flo’s Mum, came with us and she told me a funny tale. Her husband had to have an operation to remove some pins in his foot, from a nasty break last year.

Vera decided she wanted to be in the theatre to watch the operation. I don’t know, it must be a German thing. Although having seen their telly programmes I can understand the need for some alternative entertainment. So there she was and she passed out and had to be taken out of the theatre. Not once but twice! You have to applaud her stamina for going back in.

Friday, we walked down to the town. By now Flo was ill in bed, he was suffering from the virus but in a strange way, as he had good and bad days. So we had to walk to the other side of town to get to the supermarket (Catherine won’t drive Flo’s car as she is used to an Auto). As it was a long walk we decided that Waffles, with hot cherries, ice cream and whipped cream with a large Cappuccino were necessary fuel on our walk, so we called into the Café with the nice waitress.

Can you see there is a bit of a theme going here? Cakes/ Teashops? At least this time I avoided The Sonner and their illegally fattening but gorgeous pork schnitzels, stuffed with cheese and mushrooms!

Thankfully, due to the ‘Flu I’d lost nine pounds in the week before I went and only put back on four while I was there.

Since I returned home I’ve had a week at school but I’ve needed to have a sleep in the afternoons, as I’m still not back up to strength.

Simon and Tori came up unexpectedly for the weekend. They were looking at wedding venues. As usual with them, one liked one and the other liked another. But it looks as if Tori is having the final say. I can see the next 8 months will be a nightmare of ‘discussions’ over the arrangements .

Saturday night we went to my sister’s for a family get together for my niece Emma, who has returned from her year around the world. She looked really well and is hopeful she might have got onto a Journalism course, something she has quite a skill for, shewrotesome very good features on her travels.

On Sunday Tori and I went to Birmingham, where she chose and bought her wedding dress. That was fun. Oh and I had Waffles with Maple Syrup!

Not much else to say, I’m still feeling a bit brain dead after being ill.

If this works, it’s a short clip of Isabella when she had just woken from her afternoon nap.

 

Willow Watching U- Tube.

This is for Stevie, I know some people that call in here also know him, so they may find it amusing. I was watching his short clip on U-Tube, on my laptop, with Willow sat beside me.

I wish I'd had the camera with me for the first time I played it, she was trying to get in the screen with him. But she does give the keyboard a cute little kiss. Stevie was over on the right of the screen, where she is looking.

 

Not a Proper Entry

It's been two weeks since my last confession. Sorry, I mean entry!

I have very little to write about. Nothing much seems to have happened, except today I've gone down with a cold, which is just typical as we are going out for dinner and the theatre tomorrow and a big family dinner party on Saturday.  I hurt everywhere and feel awful. Somehow, although I don't seem to have done much I haven't had any spare time. 

So, to save my aching head I'm going to do an ABC Meme this week (whatever that means) that I've been tagged with by several friends.  I'm feeling thoroughly wretched so if it's a bit 'warts and all' you'll have to excuse me.

 

A     Apple or PC?

PC, a constant source of, mine’s better than yours arguments, with my sister’s partner as they are Apples.

B     Banking... online or in person, and if in person, drive thru or inside the bank?

Don’t do banking online, as all my bills are paid by direct debit and if I want cash I get it from an ATM. Drive thru banking???? Over here we’d call that a Ram Raid!

C     Coffee and Chocolate!  The two most important 'C's  Favorites please.

Bit of a coffee Tart, I’ll try anything. Lindt is my favourite named brand but you can’t beat going to Belgium and trying all the handmade chocolates in the little shops there.

 

D     Dogs.  Do you have one?  If yes, what kind and it's name and why you named it that.  If no, then if you had one what kind would you choose?

No, not now. Ours died last month. He was called Harper because he had red/blonde hair, the same as many of my Harper family.

 

E     Elvis.  There was only one.  Favorite song, and if you ever or your parents ever, saw him live.

Living in England, no, I never saw him. Favourite songs…Suspicious Minds and Burning Love.

F     Flowers.  Do you have a favourite to receive and/or a favourite to give?

Tricky one this, I really like mixed bunches, like a slice of an old English country garden, with lots of scents. The sort of bunch you only get from expensive flowers shops.

G     Grandparents, do you have any left and if you are one, to how many?

One Grandfather died the year before I was born, which was sad, as he was desperate for a granddaughter but had six grandsons when he died. Both my grandmothers died in my early teens. My remaining grandfather died in the early 80’s. We went to visit his second wife after his death. I promise, I had told the children. When we got in the car to come home after the visit Catherine asked where Grandpa was. I said, I told you Catherine, he died. Three year old Simon piped up “He’s DEAD! Who shot him?”

I’m a Grandma. Two of Mike’s and one of my own.

H     Handy or call for help?

I’m fairly handy and will have a go at most things but that’s my tight Scottish blood coming out, I don’t like paying for things I can do myself.

I     IOU's any out there to a person, a friend or family?

I don’t owe anything but I am the Bank of Mum and if my kids ever pay me back I’m going on a cruise.

J     Jello.  Love it?  Hate it?  Favorite flavor?  With whipped cream or cool whip or neither?

I presume this means Jelly. If you Americans are going to use our language, I wish you would do it properly! LOL! And, for goodness sake learn how to say Aluminium properly. It’s not Alooominum.

Jelly? Only in a trifle with lots of Sherry soaked cake and custard. For that it must be Raspberry.

K     Kiss.  Do you remember your first real kiss?  Where, who?

I’m cross to discover I’ve forgotten his name but it was 39 years ago. It was at a local boy’s boarding school and I still remember the musky smell of him. I’m afraid that was the death of my, already terminally ill, interest in things academic. My brain didn’t surface above sexual urges for another 10 years.

L     Language.  Do you speak any others?  Fluently or a little?

I remember a little French from before sex got the better of me. I also have a Masters in Obscene and all the rude Anglo Saxon words.

M     Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck?

No, I can honestly say I never fancied either of them.

N     Neighbors.  Do you know their names?  Occupations?  Phone numbers?  Or not?

I know well the two houses, to the left and the right. They are all lovely and there is sharing of gardening chores and feeding each others cats when we go away. Over the the road is another matter. There we have Mr Nasty. So called for the night he was drunk and was hanging out of his bedroom watching my daughter park her Mini. He came running out, fell over and said if she touched his F...ing, he’d F…ing kill her. Oh yes, I’ve got his number alright!

O     Olympics.  Do you watch?  Which is your favourite winter or summer?

Not very keen on either but I have to say there is a certain amusement factor in what some of the male athletes have in their lycra body suits, especially in the slow motion replays. My only ever big interest was the beautiful, Welsh hurdler, Colin Jackson, one of the loveliest men on TV. When we lived in South Wales we used to see him at the Supermarket.

P    Pluto.  What is your take on the planet being downgraded? 

I thought that was a bit mean, was it hurting anyone?

Q   Quiche.  Have you ever had it?  Do you like it and what is your favorite?

I don’t eat pastry much, so not a big fan.

 

R   Refrigerator.  Name three things in your refrigerator that you think are unusual.

Nothing really, although I suppose I’m in the minority with eggs laid just outside the dining room window.

S     Safari.  Have you ever been to Africa on one?  A theme park version?

I’ve only been to North Africa, so no Safaris there. We have a Safari Park just a few miles from where I live which has White Tigers and once we went to a wedding reception in the Georgian Mansion there. As the manager was a friend he laid on some extras and I got to hold a lion cub. I can’t describe how wonderful that was.

T     Telescope.  Have you ever looked thru a telescope? 

Not a really big one.

U     Umbrella.  Do you have one and what is its design?

A black one, suitable for all occasions and folds up so tiny that it’s been in the bottom of my handbag for three weeks and I thought I’d lost it. I also have a cheap white and turquoise polka dot one that I bought in a storm in Germany. It's very good for lacerating fingers.

V     Vintage.  Do you have a favorite wine to share?  Or drink?

I usually like Chilean Merlots and for champagne I prefer Verve Clicquot (I drink it but not sure I can spell it) 

W     Willies.  What gives you the willies?  You know, that shudder you can't stop? 

 Nothing these day. 

X     X-ray.  Last one?  What body part and why?

Bone scan of hips and thighs, yes old age is catching me up!

Y     Yolk.  How do you like your eggs?

Laid by my own chickens.

Z     Zodiac.  What's your sign and does it fit your personality, in your opinion?

Born on April 20th means I am truly on the cusp of Aries and Taurus. I think it must be a dangerous combination. I share my birthday with Adolph Hitler.

Tag you're it!!!!