Well August has been eventful to say the least! Sleep has been a bit varied. I've not slept, overslept, slept on sofas, fallen asleep in chairs, slept with dogs, cats and hamsters. I've had tiny dogs staying also puppies, massive dogs, naughty dogs, funny dogs, laid back sleepy dogs, drawling dogs and very old dogs. I've had chickens with names staying laying eggs in secret places only to be found a few weeks later! I've had a variety of cats staying from poorly ones I had to nurse back to health to hyper ones, deaf ones, aged ones and lazy ones.
I've been stung a million times by stinging nettles and sliced my legs open several times on blackberry barbs. I've had 2 power cuts, water on and off several times got the front door stuck twice and fallen over cats 3 times.
The peahens had a fight and one came off worse losing most of her feathers. She cannot fly now and my daughter set up a scaffolding affair so it can jump into the tree at night! We think the storm set them off! We also lost a peahen over the back of the farm only to find it again a week later.
I've successfully completed the colon cancer test which have to say is definitely a challenge. All I can say is make sure you are not desperate to go before opening the packet. finding the paper strip to stick on the toilet seat and the cardboard strips and reading the instructions! Also I would advise you to double check you are not going to miss the paper when you sit down as I did the first time! Also make sure you don't leave the sample ready to send off available for the dog to chew. That said its a valuable test and after 3 days of precision pooing you can sent it off and hopefully all will be well.
We have also saved a bat, found in the barn with a deformed leg! My daughter took it in put it in a box and made a bar for it to hang on with a piece of wood!! It was then she realised it had a deformed foot so after a day of feeding and caring for it she found a suitable place to put it high up so the cats couldn't get it and we haven't seen it since. Fingers crossed it made it for a few more days.
We have had 9 chicks hatched all sweet and fluffy. The mother hen is doing a great job pecking us violently when we feed them, squawking at us when we give them water and puffing up when we inspect the chicks. Apart from being pecked on the forehead and being quacked at by the ducks the birds are doing well.
So all in all August on the funny farm has been busy but ok
Monday 12 August 2013
Tuesday 23 July 2013
Brown Cows and Bare Breasts
Today started off as usual. Dogs desperate to go out for leg cocking and ablutions, cats with empty stomachs, duck quacking loudly wanting the door open to their daytime paddling play area and me wanting my morning coffee.
My daughter rose with her usual unenthusiastic lethargy, walking around the house in a trance like state wearing nothing but a little denim skirt.
I made my coffee, took the washing out of the machine, fed the cats and headed outside with washing and dogs in tow. As I walked to the washing line my dogs ran down the drive and started barking madly at something I couldn't see. I called them several times, hoping it was no a visitor as I was sporting just a t-shirt and hadn't finished my coffee. As the dogs continues to bark in a scary manor, my daughter burst out of the door holding her breasts under one arm and waving the other arm in the air, she cried there are cows on the drive.
Turning around I walked up the drive only to be faced by two very large brown cows staring back at me. Dragging the dogs back into the house my daughter and I started the process of coaxing them back over the fields to where we thought they had come from. This being several fields away.
While slipping in cow poo we ran through the swaying corn, me in my t-shirt and my daughter with just her skirt and no top ran round to the left of the field after the cows, while I ran behind, as we tried to steer them in the right direction. It occurred to me that there may be a farmer in the adjacent fields looking for his cows. Trying to impart my worry to my daughter I shouted at her across the fields. She unaware of me shouting, just waved back and just kept on running naked across the fields. I lost sight of her as she jumped over a hedge separating the fields and disappeared into the next field. Unable to keep up I stopped and let her carry on steering the wayward cows. As I trudged back to the farm the thunder started and the sky grew dark. Being accompanied by only a panting tabby cat got back to the house.
It took my daughter 15 minutes to arrive back at the house without the cows or a top!
Just another day on the Funny Farm!
My daughter rose with her usual unenthusiastic lethargy, walking around the house in a trance like state wearing nothing but a little denim skirt.
I made my coffee, took the washing out of the machine, fed the cats and headed outside with washing and dogs in tow. As I walked to the washing line my dogs ran down the drive and started barking madly at something I couldn't see. I called them several times, hoping it was no a visitor as I was sporting just a t-shirt and hadn't finished my coffee. As the dogs continues to bark in a scary manor, my daughter burst out of the door holding her breasts under one arm and waving the other arm in the air, she cried there are cows on the drive.
Turning around I walked up the drive only to be faced by two very large brown cows staring back at me. Dragging the dogs back into the house my daughter and I started the process of coaxing them back over the fields to where we thought they had come from. This being several fields away.
While slipping in cow poo we ran through the swaying corn, me in my t-shirt and my daughter with just her skirt and no top ran round to the left of the field after the cows, while I ran behind, as we tried to steer them in the right direction. It occurred to me that there may be a farmer in the adjacent fields looking for his cows. Trying to impart my worry to my daughter I shouted at her across the fields. She unaware of me shouting, just waved back and just kept on running naked across the fields. I lost sight of her as she jumped over a hedge separating the fields and disappeared into the next field. Unable to keep up I stopped and let her carry on steering the wayward cows. As I trudged back to the farm the thunder started and the sky grew dark. Being accompanied by only a panting tabby cat got back to the house.
It took my daughter 15 minutes to arrive back at the house without the cows or a top!
Just another day on the Funny Farm!
Friday 17 May 2013
Mess Mayhem and Muddle
Well today I woke up with great expectations. I set my alarm early, as we have a little curly dog staying with us and to avoid a pee in the kitchen I try to take it out for the obligatory trot around the farm. This went off smoothly, the sun was shining, and the air was filled with the smell of flowering rapeseed. The little dog trotted along nose on the ground, while my big dog bounded around like a mad thing, smelling everything, peeing up every available blade of grass and generally enjoying himself as usual. Deep in thought I didn't notice that little curly dog did no more than a tiny pee at the onset of the walk. Still in an optimistic mood we arrived back at the house and I preceded to feed the meowing outside and inside cats, make tea for a sleeping son, pour my breakfast, hang the washing on the line, water the hanging baskets, collect the eggs, check on the peacocks, fill the dogs water bowls up and make myself a coffee. Walking back into the kitchen I stepped directly into the middle of a large puddle of pee. Curly dog has decided that the walk wasn't for doing your daily business but just for the fun of it and the best place to relieve oneself was in the comfort of the kitchen! This I have to say was where the day took a nose dive and never recovered. I cleaned it up only to have him do it again in another corner. He then decided to tip his water bowl up and then his food bowl. My washing that was Lenor fresh with bursts of flower scent releasing itself into the atmosphere for days was peed on by one of the outside Tom cats before I could get it on the line. One of the indoor cats decided their dinner didn't agree with them so projectile vomited it across the floor. I then had 10 minutes before having to take my son to work. This went smoothly and dropping him off my daughter then tells me she has a friend coming around and needs to go into town. I get home in desperate need of a coffee and ten minutes me time only to find the man over the back of us has come around and as I walk through the door I hear him saying tea no sugar please! So I put the kettle on making him a tea and my father, who has materialised, a coffee. Curly dog now decided to evacuate his bowls on the kitchen floor and walk it around. I then bleach the floor and put washing out on line for a second time. I then take the bin bags down the the bins. This is a walk which would have amounted to walking to the end of my street in the UK but here is just a walk carrying heavy bags to the bin on wheels. As I walk along my driveway I notice all the contents of the bag are falling out and leaving a trail of going off, rotting, sticky waste on the floor. When I look down one of the cats has torn a hole in the bag to investigate what was in it! I then rush my daughter and her friend into town to buy the very important essential hair dye! While waiting for them I decide to buy some fuel for the car. Usually this take approximately 4 minutes as the pumps are always empty and its a straight through affair. Not so today the whole world was out and sporting an empty tank. It took me over 20 minutes to fill up and a further 30 minutes to pay. I then sat in traffic trying to get out of the fuel station, a totally unheard of situation. I find out that this is due to a bank holiday on Monday!! I then get a call from my son to say, bring a box we have caught another peacock. My friend is passing on some of her peacocks and peahens to reduce her population. Rushing back home to get box we head over to collect son and peacock. After wrestling with peacock and being covered in peacock poo we duct tape box and set off for home. When we get home I find I've missed next client and new dog has arrived which father has greeted in with soup down his front and last weeks dinner down the left let of his trousers. He then tells me he can't have dinner as he has a very painful front tooth that's all woobly and he needs to have it seen to. Well no dentist is open at this time of the day and the only option would be to go to A&E at the local hospital. The thought of sitting in the hospital for hours was not very high on my 'can't wait to do' list but if need must. So I put the options to him and his reply was ' don't worry I don't mind suffering it will do me good not to eat'. So I did him a dinner of mash potato, egg and beans and keeping my fingers crossed the tooth comes out before tomorrow. Daughter bleached her hair which didn't work, then dyed it blonde which didn't work either so that was a bit of a disaster too. Anyway peacock settled in ok, curly dog has finished defecating in my kitchen, new dog has settled ok and I'm now in bed having my 10 minutes me time!
Wednesday 8 May 2013
Morning Madness
I wake up in the morning either with the hoot of the bread ladies van, the calling of the cockerel, the hoot of the peahens or the barking of the dog, I squint at the time, check my twitter & lay thinking about the day ahead trying to muster up the energy to face the day.
When I get up I have to face 14 hungry cats, 2 big dogs, 11 chickens, 2 peahens and any staying guests we have at the time.
I have to let the indoor cats out without letting the outdoor cats in and avoiding being whisked off my feet by one large dog eager to rush out for daily treats from my dad. Then there are the kittens who can't go out and some outdoor cats who can come in!
Its a military procedure, calling each cat by name in out or stay. This is after I've fed them. Feeding them is the same difficult procedure. There are the kittens who have baby food, the indoor cats who have dry food, the outdoor cats who have tinned food, there are the cats who try to eat the wrong dinner and the dogs who likes it all. Feeding the outdoor cats is a challenge trying not to tread on the crowding group of cats around my feet and successfully filling up bowls without dropping the food on heads that cover the bowls before you can fill them or having the cats jumping on you and knocking the food out of your hand before you even get to the bowls!
After the daily feeding routines is achieved there are the cat toilets, doggie walks and the chicken run. The chickens are just as mad and chase after you surrounding you until you are unable to walk before you can feed them they are jumping on the bowl. Collecting the eggs and dating them is a work of art before the chickens peck you for removing their eggs and before the big speckled one eats them.
After all is fed, watered, cleaned and walked its time for my coffee and sit down!
Life on the Funny Farm!
When I get up I have to face 14 hungry cats, 2 big dogs, 11 chickens, 2 peahens and any staying guests we have at the time.
I have to let the indoor cats out without letting the outdoor cats in and avoiding being whisked off my feet by one large dog eager to rush out for daily treats from my dad. Then there are the kittens who can't go out and some outdoor cats who can come in!
Its a military procedure, calling each cat by name in out or stay. This is after I've fed them. Feeding them is the same difficult procedure. There are the kittens who have baby food, the indoor cats who have dry food, the outdoor cats who have tinned food, there are the cats who try to eat the wrong dinner and the dogs who likes it all. Feeding the outdoor cats is a challenge trying not to tread on the crowding group of cats around my feet and successfully filling up bowls without dropping the food on heads that cover the bowls before you can fill them or having the cats jumping on you and knocking the food out of your hand before you even get to the bowls!
After the daily feeding routines is achieved there are the cat toilets, doggie walks and the chicken run. The chickens are just as mad and chase after you surrounding you until you are unable to walk before you can feed them they are jumping on the bowl. Collecting the eggs and dating them is a work of art before the chickens peck you for removing their eggs and before the big speckled one eats them.
After all is fed, watered, cleaned and walked its time for my coffee and sit down!
Life on the Funny Farm!
Friday 26 April 2013
To catch or not to catch a peacock
Well today has been the usual fun and games on the Funny Farm. We have a poorly kitten, a staying dog, a sick friend and a house in the middle of waves of rapeseed floating gracefully in the breeze, spreading their pollen straight up my nose! I've tried my hand at planting flowers in pots and trying to make an effort in a hopes to seem like everyone else. Being like everyone else is something I have never found very easy. I find all the immense effort people put in to things in general is beyond me. Still this year I decided that I would 'make the effort' just to say I tried!
Anyway back to my sick friend. Her family have come down with a gastro bug which has taken out her husband and baby leaving her with a large stable of horses to deal with so my children have been going over to lend a hand. She lives in a beautiful chateaux in a wonderful wooded area with stunning outbuildings converted into stables. She has horses, peacocks, dogs and cats and lots of land to take care of. Anyway we have been trying over the last few weeks to catch some of her peacocks and peahens as they have been multiplying at an alarming rate and she has so many now.
we have a few attempts, one being my daughter standing there with a horse coat over her head waiting for the 'go', while my friend coaxed the birds closer with pieces of bread. This was a disaster, if you can imagine we shouted 'go' she threw the coat the birds all squawked and flew madly up in the air scattering around in a mad panic, one landing on the large sun umbrella and sliding down onto the table screeching and flapping all the way. The others flew up into the tall trees screaming and moaning as they went!
The next attempt was a large dog crate. This had been left out with food in it and a long string attached to the open door. The plan was to pull the door shut when the bird was inside the crate. Well this seemed to be a much better idea and today a bird went in. Gently my daughter pulled the door shut and stood there while the bird went crazy screaming at all the others of the impending danger!
We stood there looking at one another all with the same thought 'what do we do now'. We tried to fit the dog crate into my car but it was too big to slide in. So plan B had to be put into action. As we didn't have a plan B we all stood quietly while the bird paced up and down in the crate. In the end my friend found a large box. We had a wonderful idea to put the box at the open door while we coaxed the bird into the box. Well this didn't work as the bird had no intentions of going in the box. We then covered the crate over so the bird didn't try to fly. My daughter then climbed into the crate with bird and much to its horror she gently man handled it into the box. Once in he box I retrieved my resident duct tape and scissors from the car and we sealed the top. Job done!
Once home my daughter spent the rest of the evening making its home and settling it into its new surroundings.
The great thing about this is we have to do the whole thing again tomorrow and possibly a third day! The positive thing about it is plan B is now plan A and is successful!
Nothing but fun and games on the FUNNY FARM!
Anyway back to my sick friend. Her family have come down with a gastro bug which has taken out her husband and baby leaving her with a large stable of horses to deal with so my children have been going over to lend a hand. She lives in a beautiful chateaux in a wonderful wooded area with stunning outbuildings converted into stables. She has horses, peacocks, dogs and cats and lots of land to take care of. Anyway we have been trying over the last few weeks to catch some of her peacocks and peahens as they have been multiplying at an alarming rate and she has so many now.
we have a few attempts, one being my daughter standing there with a horse coat over her head waiting for the 'go', while my friend coaxed the birds closer with pieces of bread. This was a disaster, if you can imagine we shouted 'go' she threw the coat the birds all squawked and flew madly up in the air scattering around in a mad panic, one landing on the large sun umbrella and sliding down onto the table screeching and flapping all the way. The others flew up into the tall trees screaming and moaning as they went!
The next attempt was a large dog crate. This had been left out with food in it and a long string attached to the open door. The plan was to pull the door shut when the bird was inside the crate. Well this seemed to be a much better idea and today a bird went in. Gently my daughter pulled the door shut and stood there while the bird went crazy screaming at all the others of the impending danger!
We stood there looking at one another all with the same thought 'what do we do now'. We tried to fit the dog crate into my car but it was too big to slide in. So plan B had to be put into action. As we didn't have a plan B we all stood quietly while the bird paced up and down in the crate. In the end my friend found a large box. We had a wonderful idea to put the box at the open door while we coaxed the bird into the box. Well this didn't work as the bird had no intentions of going in the box. We then covered the crate over so the bird didn't try to fly. My daughter then climbed into the crate with bird and much to its horror she gently man handled it into the box. Once in he box I retrieved my resident duct tape and scissors from the car and we sealed the top. Job done!
Once home my daughter spent the rest of the evening making its home and settling it into its new surroundings.
The great thing about this is we have to do the whole thing again tomorrow and possibly a third day! The positive thing about it is plan B is now plan A and is successful!
Nothing but fun and games on the FUNNY FARM!
Tuesday 16 April 2013
Making it through
My Children
Well I can officially say I made it through. You might ask me 'through what' and I would tell you 'The Teens'! My children are now 20 and 22 so I think I can safely say I made it through and still smiling. The secrets of getting through this turbulent time in you children's lives is to relax, stay calm and remain their friend. Easier said than done I hear you say. It can be a very volatile time with rushing hormones creating outburst you never thought you'd witness and lows so extreme you wouldn't be sure if your love could carry them through. That said my children have made it through and we are all still great friends.
I always told my children that no matter what they have done, how bad they think the situation is if they don't tell me I can't help. I also said that I would never abandon them even though I might be cross I would always help. Having given them my best lecture I have to say they didn't do anything that needed my hair to go grey and the hairs on my skin to stand on end! It did though make then very honest and telling me everything. I was told when my son tried his first cigarette, at 13, and found him crying asking if he was going to die of cancer now! We are a very open family talking about sex, problems and many different issues and by making everything 'ok' to talk has meant they are responsible for their own actions and having talked about it they make good choices and act in a responsible manner.
Having a few blips along the way and some much bigger issues we have got through it together. I have tried to always show love and when things break down they know you are always there and the security of having the family bond without judgement means they come through their ups and downs much quicker.
They had a strong bond with my parents and helped me care for my mum, their grandmother, before she died. This still hurts as they were really close to her but we now talk about her, laugh about things she did, keeping her in our lives and above all remembering her everyday.
The other thing I think helps is to laugh at everything. We always find the positive and funny side of things and have a smile or a laugh together which always lightens the day. My children have been through quite a lot in their short lives, but being able to pigeon hole things, making sense of situations, keeping humour and being able to talk openly about everything has been essential. All these things have created well rounded adults with a good grasp on life.
I am extremely proud of my children, they don't smoke, they don't really drink excessively, they rarely go to clubs, they are not materialistic, they have a caring nature and they are the loves of my life.
Friday 12 April 2013
Childhood Memories
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Me and my big sister
My earliest memory is of me sitting on a tall stall in the kitchen dipping my fingers in the gravy and licking it off while my mum did the washing up. I was lucky to have a stay at home mum and was secure in the knowledge that she was always there. I have memories of sitting on her lap feeling the soft fluffy dressing gown against my face. I remember my mother being the soft loving one, the one we laughed with, cried on and loved with every inch of our bodies. My father was the one who dished out the punishments and we had to be quiet around him and do as he said! Looking back on it, it made for a fine balance.
I had the tiny box room which just fitted in it a little bed, wardrobe and chest of draws with little room to walk around. I used to spend many hours lying on the bed looking up out the window at the sky and watching the clouds drift past pretending I was on a moving boat going to some faraway place.
We had a beautiful tabby cat called Tiger who I loved so much and cried myself to sleep for weeks after he died and to add to my mourning my father said we were not getting anymore pets! I craved a pet for many years afterwards and making up for it now!
I remember many incidents in my life like falling onto my face doing a leapfrog over my sister and breaking my bottom teeth. I remember being hit very hard on my forehead by the swing I'm sitting on in the picture above. I remember using the end of my cats tail to pretend to brush shaving soap onto my face just like my father did with his brush in the morning (the cat didn't mind!). I remember telling my mum that I could see the corners of her mouth turning up and she was about to smile when she was really cross with me! This always resulted in us laughing together.
I also remember the lovely row of 'corner shops' we had a few minutes away, all the shop owners knew us and were really friendly. If they didn't see mum for a while they would come around to see if she was ok and if she was ill they would deliver things they knew she had on a regular basis! Something you don't see very often now which is a shame.
I remember walking to school holding my mum's warm hand while I skipped along telling her everything. My mum was someone I told everything to all my life. We lived in a cul-de-sac and played outside in the road much of the time, expect Sundays when my father made us sit indoors and be quiet, the worst day of the week for me! We had to listen to classical music my parents hated pop music and I remember when I was about 12 listening to the top 20 with a tiny transistor radio under my pillow so they couldn't here. I also remember painting my eyelashes with the inside of a black felt tip because I was 'too young' for mascara! In the end mum relented and bought me a block mascara that you had to wet with water to apply!
I traumatically remember the first time I was fed liver, I hated it so much and I had trouble swallowing it, I cried all through my meal as we were never allowed to leave anything on our plates. That night when I was going to bed, through massive sobs, I made mum promise never to give me it again, she never did!
I remember going to choir practice with the 'Mossman Singers' later to be known 'The Orpington Junior Singers' travelling around the country and the world singing. Its only now I realise they were quite good and something to be proud of.
I remember Christmas and not having the Christmas tree lights on until Christmas day because they wasted electric - even so it was a magical time and I loved every second of it. We didn't have much but it was so much fun. I was always sad when it was all over. I have a vivid memory of one of my Birthdays, waking up to a sewing box at the end of my bed all wrapped up, inside it contained lots of bright coloured threads, needles and a pin cushion, wonderful present.
All in all I loved my childhood, these are just a few memories I have many more but these are the things that make you who you are. We didn't have much we weren't spoiled we didn't get loads of expensive gifts, food was basic but we were loved, cared for and secure, something all children deserve.
Friday 5 April 2013
Portrait of Mum
My latest drawing of my dear Mum. I did this as a present for my sister as funds were low and this was a more personal present. I wanted to draw one of her last photos before she left us. I have yet to send it to my sister but it will be flying across the water courtesy of La Poste any day now!
Have I 'made it'?
I question a lot of things these days and today it was the question 'could I say I've made it?'
A strange question but it is one I hear a lot and people boast about 'making it' it such a way you could feel quite envious!
Before you decide whether you have 'made it' or not you have to decide what you goals were to start with and what would constitute 'making it' for you.
When I look at my life while counting out 9 euros in coins so I can buy some dog food and milk and seeing if I have enough for bread, I wonder what my 'made it' is.
I listen on the news about people with low income and struggling and wonder if they had as little as us would they still moan about the benefits system. On every 48 euro I earn I have to pay 9 euros in tax and in March 48 euro was all I earned. So to keep everyone fed and watered is an art in itself and one I have mastered over the last few years.
So my question again is 'have I made it?'. I would say yes. I've made it away from David Hitchcock who conned my whole family out of every penny and all their inheritance. I made it away from the smog and crowded living. I made it away from a very stressful busy job. I made it away from the fast pace of living. I've also made it back to my family. I've made more time to be with them. I made my mothers last few months loving and comfortable. I've made my dear dads meals for the last few years. I've made ends meat for 4 years. I've rescued many animals who without me would now be dead. I've made a new business and started drawing and painting again. I've made loads of lovely new friends and clients. I might have no money but I am rich is so many other ways and the fact that I like to think positive and always see the good side of things means its easier to say 'I've made it'.
So do I think I've 'MADE IT'
YES I DO!!!
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A strange question but it is one I hear a lot and people boast about 'making it' it such a way you could feel quite envious!
Before you decide whether you have 'made it' or not you have to decide what you goals were to start with and what would constitute 'making it' for you.
When I look at my life while counting out 9 euros in coins so I can buy some dog food and milk and seeing if I have enough for bread, I wonder what my 'made it' is.
I listen on the news about people with low income and struggling and wonder if they had as little as us would they still moan about the benefits system. On every 48 euro I earn I have to pay 9 euros in tax and in March 48 euro was all I earned. So to keep everyone fed and watered is an art in itself and one I have mastered over the last few years.
So my question again is 'have I made it?'. I would say yes. I've made it away from David Hitchcock who conned my whole family out of every penny and all their inheritance. I made it away from the smog and crowded living. I made it away from a very stressful busy job. I made it away from the fast pace of living. I've also made it back to my family. I've made more time to be with them. I made my mothers last few months loving and comfortable. I've made my dear dads meals for the last few years. I've made ends meat for 4 years. I've rescued many animals who without me would now be dead. I've made a new business and started drawing and painting again. I've made loads of lovely new friends and clients. I might have no money but I am rich is so many other ways and the fact that I like to think positive and always see the good side of things means its easier to say 'I've made it'.
So do I think I've 'MADE IT'
YES I DO!!!
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Sunday 24 March 2013
Easter
I remember when I was young being told by my dear mother that Easter eggs were a waste of money because the chocolate was so thin and the price was so high that she would buy us a bar of something we liked instead as it was far better value for money!
When growing up I was allotted a sweet day which was Wednesday. This was because we had a really horrible dentist who said my teeth were rubbish and proceeded to fill nearly all of them, inflicting lots of pain and telling me not to eat sweets. I didn't actually eat very many sweets as we had little money when I was young. Since this barbaric dentist left the scene I have had little trouble with my teeth and have always been told how well I keep them. So there I was left with a sweet day and my father cleaning my teeth at night as if he was scouring a baked on pan. We found out afterwards that this man did it to loads of other people who also didn't need the work he carried out!
My first Easter egg was bought for me by my first boyfriend, Rick. It was massive with gold wrapping and a big red bow around it. I was overjoyed and didn't want it to end so ate it so slowly I still had some left in August. When I was little we also attended our little old church which was always a mystery to me and that was about it.
Easter had more meaning after I had the children. We also went to the little old church that I had gone to as a child but they now had a more open approach and the children took part in the Easter Egg Hunt around the grounds and helped to decorate the church and take part in the service. It was only then that I learnt the true meaning of Easter that Jesus died and rose again. I did buy my children the, bad value for money, Easter eggs and we also had a Easter Egg Hunt in the garden and around the house. I still keep the wonderful Easter cards the children made me while at primary school. The children and I used to make little Easter cakes and decorate them with all sorts of fun toppings.
Being in France there is no church to visit well not like the pretty 900 year old one we used to go to that held memories and meaning for me. Don't get me wrong there is a church in every village in France but they hold little attraction to me as they are obviously in French. For some Easter is a Holy time for some it will be a chocolate time and for all hopefully a family get together happy time.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter
When growing up I was allotted a sweet day which was Wednesday. This was because we had a really horrible dentist who said my teeth were rubbish and proceeded to fill nearly all of them, inflicting lots of pain and telling me not to eat sweets. I didn't actually eat very many sweets as we had little money when I was young. Since this barbaric dentist left the scene I have had little trouble with my teeth and have always been told how well I keep them. So there I was left with a sweet day and my father cleaning my teeth at night as if he was scouring a baked on pan. We found out afterwards that this man did it to loads of other people who also didn't need the work he carried out!
My first Easter egg was bought for me by my first boyfriend, Rick. It was massive with gold wrapping and a big red bow around it. I was overjoyed and didn't want it to end so ate it so slowly I still had some left in August. When I was little we also attended our little old church which was always a mystery to me and that was about it.
Easter had more meaning after I had the children. We also went to the little old church that I had gone to as a child but they now had a more open approach and the children took part in the Easter Egg Hunt around the grounds and helped to decorate the church and take part in the service. It was only then that I learnt the true meaning of Easter that Jesus died and rose again. I did buy my children the, bad value for money, Easter eggs and we also had a Easter Egg Hunt in the garden and around the house. I still keep the wonderful Easter cards the children made me while at primary school. The children and I used to make little Easter cakes and decorate them with all sorts of fun toppings.
Being in France there is no church to visit well not like the pretty 900 year old one we used to go to that held memories and meaning for me. Don't get me wrong there is a church in every village in France but they hold little attraction to me as they are obviously in French. For some Easter is a Holy time for some it will be a chocolate time and for all hopefully a family get together happy time.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter
Friday 8 March 2013
Did it really matter??
I worked for many years in the printing industry. Loved every minute of it, my whole life was print. I used to believe that every second of my working day and everything I did at work mattered. The proms programme being delivered on time, the Royal Opera House programme altered, edited, corrected, printed and delivered for the performance. All this mattered and the feeling of achievement when the deliveries hit the deadline and the clients were happy, it all mattered!
I worked my way up in the industry, starting as a telephonist, receptionist, clerk in a quaint old fashioned printing factory where they still used hot metal and everything was a craft and produced by experienced men by hand. It was a slow industry then and to print a letterhead had a lead time of 3 weeks! I ended up, after 28 years a manager, with a degree and an HNC in print and the ability to change a whole global companies identity printed and delivered worldwide in just a weekend.
There were unforgettable characters, like the little old man who looked 90 and ran the Heidelberg letterpress machine. He was always covered in ink, had no teeth and there was always a half eaten jam sandwich laying on the side with ink finger prints pressed into the bread.
The Directors were old brothers, they were chalk and cheese and had numerous arguments. One was very serious, punctual and fastidious. The other was vivacious cheeky and lived life on the edge. It was fun watching them follow each other into each others offices arguing and disagreeing. The statement I remember was when there was no agreement one would comment on the others choice of colour for his office and striding away would say puce and the other shouted out pink!
It was the best job ever and the minute I started it I couldn't wait to get in in the morning and didn't want to leave I couldn't do enough and it was a magical feeling I was hooked on print! I worked alongside a man who was just like the couple who wore the same clothes in Ever Decreasing Circles Howard. He was a man of routine and was so funny, the whole firm was a team we all worked well together and everyone was lovely.
In the end of my working career I was on call 24/7 and remember having a day off and being in the toilet in Ikea while my mother stood outside with my children, I got a call from my work and had a conversation with my boss while sitting on the loo!
I was totally immersed in my career and it really did matter. Looking back on it I wonder why it mattered. Did those deadlines we broke our necks to meet really have to be so tight? Did the added word or insignificant correction really have to be carried out so creating a reprint? Did all those out of hours put in really make a difference. All those times when I missed my children growing up while trying to juggle my work with family I can only feel now I did the wrong thing.
Working hard for lots of money and a career meant I missed a lot of my children's lives. I always wanted to be a housewife, bring my children up and be at home when they came back home from school, just like my mother was for me. Life does not always pan out the way you want it to and I had no choice but to work and leave my children with my mother.
Having moved to the outback of France and since lost everything, I realise that money isn't happiness and isn't needed in great quantities. Money causes great worries and we live very simply now. We don't have much but we have each other. Family is the most important thing ever we are making up for all the times I was not there.
So back to original question, did it really matter? In life we make choices and in the cold light of the day you might realise that the choice was not really the right one but at the time it mattered!
All I know is life is short, family is precious and money isn't everything
I worked my way up in the industry, starting as a telephonist, receptionist, clerk in a quaint old fashioned printing factory where they still used hot metal and everything was a craft and produced by experienced men by hand. It was a slow industry then and to print a letterhead had a lead time of 3 weeks! I ended up, after 28 years a manager, with a degree and an HNC in print and the ability to change a whole global companies identity printed and delivered worldwide in just a weekend.
There were unforgettable characters, like the little old man who looked 90 and ran the Heidelberg letterpress machine. He was always covered in ink, had no teeth and there was always a half eaten jam sandwich laying on the side with ink finger prints pressed into the bread.
The Directors were old brothers, they were chalk and cheese and had numerous arguments. One was very serious, punctual and fastidious. The other was vivacious cheeky and lived life on the edge. It was fun watching them follow each other into each others offices arguing and disagreeing. The statement I remember was when there was no agreement one would comment on the others choice of colour for his office and striding away would say puce and the other shouted out pink!
It was the best job ever and the minute I started it I couldn't wait to get in in the morning and didn't want to leave I couldn't do enough and it was a magical feeling I was hooked on print! I worked alongside a man who was just like the couple who wore the same clothes in Ever Decreasing Circles Howard. He was a man of routine and was so funny, the whole firm was a team we all worked well together and everyone was lovely.
In the end of my working career I was on call 24/7 and remember having a day off and being in the toilet in Ikea while my mother stood outside with my children, I got a call from my work and had a conversation with my boss while sitting on the loo!
I was totally immersed in my career and it really did matter. Looking back on it I wonder why it mattered. Did those deadlines we broke our necks to meet really have to be so tight? Did the added word or insignificant correction really have to be carried out so creating a reprint? Did all those out of hours put in really make a difference. All those times when I missed my children growing up while trying to juggle my work with family I can only feel now I did the wrong thing.
Working hard for lots of money and a career meant I missed a lot of my children's lives. I always wanted to be a housewife, bring my children up and be at home when they came back home from school, just like my mother was for me. Life does not always pan out the way you want it to and I had no choice but to work and leave my children with my mother.
Having moved to the outback of France and since lost everything, I realise that money isn't happiness and isn't needed in great quantities. Money causes great worries and we live very simply now. We don't have much but we have each other. Family is the most important thing ever we are making up for all the times I was not there.
So back to original question, did it really matter? In life we make choices and in the cold light of the day you might realise that the choice was not really the right one but at the time it mattered!
All I know is life is short, family is precious and money isn't everything
Friday 22 February 2013
The Incredible Hulk!
Well this is what I have been working on for the last few days. It is a present for my son for his Birthday. He is of course the Incredible Hulk who has anger management issues and turns green and enormous when angry.
Loved by many, emulated by loads, yearned to be like by lots, watched by the world, acted out by many a child and drawn by a few.
Sometimes I think it would be good to have the power to explode into a massive green creature when someone does something you don't like or tries to take you for a fool. It would have saved me from a lot of past grief. Still maybe we can be like The Hulk be the massive warrior inside, strong and full of courage. We just need the strength of our conviction, be true to ourselves and have belief. Who needs to be big and green just to stand up for yourself?
Loved by many, emulated by loads, yearned to be like by lots, watched by the world, acted out by many a child and drawn by a few.
Sometimes I think it would be good to have the power to explode into a massive green creature when someone does something you don't like or tries to take you for a fool. It would have saved me from a lot of past grief. Still maybe we can be like The Hulk be the massive warrior inside, strong and full of courage. We just need the strength of our conviction, be true to ourselves and have belief. Who needs to be big and green just to stand up for yourself?
First Job of the Year
So here I am away housesitting, my first job of the year! It's been eagerly awaited and finally here. I am looking after one dog, four cats and four chickens.
The dog is gorgeous even though she shakes the walls with her deep loud snoring! The four cats are beautiful a black one with no tail, a ginger tom, a calico and a long haired tabby. The chickens are just chickens enough said!
I've spent the week calling the ginger cat Ginger only to find out at the end of the week he is called Garfield! The four cats became five at several meal times, not sure where the fifth tabby came from but her acting was brilliant and no one would believe she didn't belong.
I am living in a massive long french style house with rooms going off rooms going off rooms. When at one end of the house you cannot here the phone ringing in the other end of it. I have had the luxury of central heating all the time I've been here which is something I don't have at home.
The dog has become my best friend and even sits with me in the toilet and the cats are all waiting for me for cuddles, strokes and food. I think I must be a cat person as no matter how scared they are of me to start with they are always wanting hugs and kisses by the end of my stay.
The dog walks have been a Siberian experience with thick frosts and arctic winds that freeze your brain and render your fingers useless.
I go home with a days pay for some people but a weeks work for me, but happy in the knowledge that I've made new furry friends, have a new client and its better to have a little than nothing at all.
The dog is gorgeous even though she shakes the walls with her deep loud snoring! The four cats are beautiful a black one with no tail, a ginger tom, a calico and a long haired tabby. The chickens are just chickens enough said!
I've spent the week calling the ginger cat Ginger only to find out at the end of the week he is called Garfield! The four cats became five at several meal times, not sure where the fifth tabby came from but her acting was brilliant and no one would believe she didn't belong.
I am living in a massive long french style house with rooms going off rooms going off rooms. When at one end of the house you cannot here the phone ringing in the other end of it. I have had the luxury of central heating all the time I've been here which is something I don't have at home.
The dog has become my best friend and even sits with me in the toilet and the cats are all waiting for me for cuddles, strokes and food. I think I must be a cat person as no matter how scared they are of me to start with they are always wanting hugs and kisses by the end of my stay.
The dog walks have been a Siberian experience with thick frosts and arctic winds that freeze your brain and render your fingers useless.
I go home with a days pay for some people but a weeks work for me, but happy in the knowledge that I've made new furry friends, have a new client and its better to have a little than nothing at all.
Thursday 14 February 2013
Valentines Day Poem
Will you still want me when I pluck my chin
When I can't touch my feet
And my sights growing dim
Will you still need me when I can't hear your voice
When your meals are all packaged
And you don't get a choice
Will you still love me when my body moves south
When my bladder won't hold
And my teeth pop out my mouth
Will you still hold me when my stomachs too large
When your arms won't go round
And I feel like a barge
Will you remind me when I'm old and grey
How you'll love me forever
On this Valentines Day ♥
Sunday 10 February 2013
Struggles pains forgiveness and peace
This week has been a very difficult week on every level. I felt like I had sunk to an all time low that I was not sure I could climb out of. Now being someone who always has a smile, puts all my trouble aside and strides out into the world as if I don't have a care in the world, this week made that very hard. When visiting a friend for coffee I was told 'you aren't yourself whats wrong' then she told her friend 'this is a girl who has been through so much trouble that anyone else would be in a mental home by now, but she just smiles and carries on'.
I had a back that hurt from my head to my toes, across to my fingers. Every part of my back hurt and it was a struggle to put one foot in front of the other. Now on a good day I would have gone to the Drs and got some pills but at the moment all my heathcare has been frozen. After many calls no one seems to know and the only suggestion is to start again. I now have dozens of forms to fill in and copies to send and their only piece of advice was 'don't get sick'!
January, as per usual, contained no work for me and the French government, due to an inconsistency over the last few years, are topping up my money with 16 euros! So this month has been a bit tight with me finding inventive ways to make little items in the cupboard go a very long way!
Despite the bad back Ive had to help with the chopping of the wood, walking of the dogs and general manual work which I think isn't the best for my back, as reading on the internet you should rest it! Living in rural France with no money means if you want to keep warm you have to chop your wood, light your fire, cook your food and boil your water on the wood burner.
When laying on the floor in agony reflecting on all the terrible things that have happened and all the issues we have had to deal with since the start of 2013 I found myself getting upset, stressed, annoyed and angry as most of these issues would not have happened if in 2005 we had not had the misfortune to meet the infamous David Hitchcock. All the things going wrong, debts and being stuck in France are all a direct result of meeting this man.
Feeling at an all time low and on the verge of giving up, throwing the towel in and telling everyone who thinks I'm strong and always smiling that I can't do it anymore I went on the internet to speak to my friend. Hoping they would be online and able to talk I clicked in and there they were. Pouring my heart out I told them all that had happened and how low and hopeless I felt at the moment with everything weighing me down and I just couldn't see a way out. I also went on to say it was all this mans fault and we wouldn't be in this position if we hadn't met him and how I wish we could go back to 2004!
When I had finished my friend said to me you know what you have to do - you have to forgive him for everything he did to you! Until you forgive him you will never have peace, you will continually go back over the past whenever something goes wrong. You will never have inner peace and be able to move on until you can forgive him totally. This is the hardest thing I think I have ever thought about doing. After giving it a lot of thought I realised that I had forgiven my ex husband for what he had done to us and I nearly lost my life by his hand but still I had forgiven him so why should it be that difficult to forgive David Hitchcock?
I think part of the reason is that it affected my whole family and more importantly it affected my parents leaving them broke and living in poverty. Also the fact that he knew what he had done but just walked away. I think the fact that my mother died living in one room, no heating, no running water and no money has something to do with why it is so difficult to forgive. That said forgiveness has to happen at some point, otherwise we will continue to resent living here and everything about our lives. If we can't forgive we will never move on and enjoy the rest of our lives thus we are wasting a lot of time due to this man. He on the other hand has moved on living his life without a thought or care in the world.
So we need to forgive, both him and ourselves for letting him do this to us. Make a point to stop connecting everything that goes wrong with him. Allow ourselves to heal, recover, move on, regain inner peace and above all start really enjoying life again.
I had a back that hurt from my head to my toes, across to my fingers. Every part of my back hurt and it was a struggle to put one foot in front of the other. Now on a good day I would have gone to the Drs and got some pills but at the moment all my heathcare has been frozen. After many calls no one seems to know and the only suggestion is to start again. I now have dozens of forms to fill in and copies to send and their only piece of advice was 'don't get sick'!
January, as per usual, contained no work for me and the French government, due to an inconsistency over the last few years, are topping up my money with 16 euros! So this month has been a bit tight with me finding inventive ways to make little items in the cupboard go a very long way!
Despite the bad back Ive had to help with the chopping of the wood, walking of the dogs and general manual work which I think isn't the best for my back, as reading on the internet you should rest it! Living in rural France with no money means if you want to keep warm you have to chop your wood, light your fire, cook your food and boil your water on the wood burner.
When laying on the floor in agony reflecting on all the terrible things that have happened and all the issues we have had to deal with since the start of 2013 I found myself getting upset, stressed, annoyed and angry as most of these issues would not have happened if in 2005 we had not had the misfortune to meet the infamous David Hitchcock. All the things going wrong, debts and being stuck in France are all a direct result of meeting this man.
Feeling at an all time low and on the verge of giving up, throwing the towel in and telling everyone who thinks I'm strong and always smiling that I can't do it anymore I went on the internet to speak to my friend. Hoping they would be online and able to talk I clicked in and there they were. Pouring my heart out I told them all that had happened and how low and hopeless I felt at the moment with everything weighing me down and I just couldn't see a way out. I also went on to say it was all this mans fault and we wouldn't be in this position if we hadn't met him and how I wish we could go back to 2004!
When I had finished my friend said to me you know what you have to do - you have to forgive him for everything he did to you! Until you forgive him you will never have peace, you will continually go back over the past whenever something goes wrong. You will never have inner peace and be able to move on until you can forgive him totally. This is the hardest thing I think I have ever thought about doing. After giving it a lot of thought I realised that I had forgiven my ex husband for what he had done to us and I nearly lost my life by his hand but still I had forgiven him so why should it be that difficult to forgive David Hitchcock?
I think part of the reason is that it affected my whole family and more importantly it affected my parents leaving them broke and living in poverty. Also the fact that he knew what he had done but just walked away. I think the fact that my mother died living in one room, no heating, no running water and no money has something to do with why it is so difficult to forgive. That said forgiveness has to happen at some point, otherwise we will continue to resent living here and everything about our lives. If we can't forgive we will never move on and enjoy the rest of our lives thus we are wasting a lot of time due to this man. He on the other hand has moved on living his life without a thought or care in the world.
So we need to forgive, both him and ourselves for letting him do this to us. Make a point to stop connecting everything that goes wrong with him. Allow ourselves to heal, recover, move on, regain inner peace and above all start really enjoying life again.
Wednesday 30 January 2013
"Fire Fire Fire"
Well there we were all snuggled up in our beds, fast asleep when the unimaginable happened!
I'd said to my children just a couple of weeks ago 'we are due for a proper fire you know'. This was due to the many near fires we had experienced and by the grace of God hadn't quite happened. Well I am well known for my predictions, saying things that happen soon after and my children had complained telling me not to say anything like that.
So picture this, middle of the night, pitch dark, not a sound on the horizon and out of the blue my father opens the door to my bedroom and in a breathless voice says 'we've got a fire'!! I sat up and said a fire??
My father being known for getting up in the middle of the night and making breakfast or getting dressed and thinking we are going out, to suddenly be told by him there is a fire you might have been tempted to just roll over and say go back to bed its the middle of the night! But on this occasion the panic in his voice and the speed in which he had charged into my room I just knew he wasn't joking.
I jumped out of bed rushed to get the phone, turned off the electric to my fathers side of the house, woke the children and heading into his part of the house, only to be greeted with thick acrid smoke and flames bellowing up around the kitchen.
My father had managed to get the fire extinguisher off the wall and was spraying the cooker hood and cooker with the foam. After a few minutes the fire seemed to be out and we then realised that we were breathing in the terrible smoke so I flung open the doors, windows and we all went outside to breath in the cold fresh air.
The smell was unimaginable, thick grey and smelling of burning plastic. We grabbed torches to try and examine the damage but it was too dark and too much smoke to really see. My son took the cooker hood off the wall and to our horror we found that the wiring to it had been put in the chimney. As he took the hood down a wall of water flooded out from the chimney all over us. The water had been leaking through the chimney and resting on the top of the cooker hood. On further examination we noticed the wiring had a join in it with tape around and was laying in the water!
I am just thankful that I do all the cooking for my father and he never ever used the cooker hood in his kitchen. Now you might be thinking that you read one of my previous blogs saying you must have a smoke alarm. Well we have got one and it has batteries in it and we check it and it works but on this occasion it didn't go off not even when we took it into the smoke to see if it would go off!!! So it looks like we need to get another one.
The only reason my father woke up was because the lid to the cooker hood opened and hit the wall otherwise I may not have been here to write this blog! Our Guardian Angel was with us on that night.
The next day we washed and cleaned and washed and cleaned but still the kitchen has loads of soot stains all over it. I think it will have to be re decorated. We have an electrician coming to sort out the wiring and a builder coming to take the chimney down and mend the roof so all is good.
Still we live to see another day and the smoke and fire damage will pass and it will be just another memory. Just don't forget to check your smoke alarms and maybe check they go off with a bit of smoke too!!
I'd said to my children just a couple of weeks ago 'we are due for a proper fire you know'. This was due to the many near fires we had experienced and by the grace of God hadn't quite happened. Well I am well known for my predictions, saying things that happen soon after and my children had complained telling me not to say anything like that.
So picture this, middle of the night, pitch dark, not a sound on the horizon and out of the blue my father opens the door to my bedroom and in a breathless voice says 'we've got a fire'!! I sat up and said a fire??
My father being known for getting up in the middle of the night and making breakfast or getting dressed and thinking we are going out, to suddenly be told by him there is a fire you might have been tempted to just roll over and say go back to bed its the middle of the night! But on this occasion the panic in his voice and the speed in which he had charged into my room I just knew he wasn't joking.
I jumped out of bed rushed to get the phone, turned off the electric to my fathers side of the house, woke the children and heading into his part of the house, only to be greeted with thick acrid smoke and flames bellowing up around the kitchen.
My father had managed to get the fire extinguisher off the wall and was spraying the cooker hood and cooker with the foam. After a few minutes the fire seemed to be out and we then realised that we were breathing in the terrible smoke so I flung open the doors, windows and we all went outside to breath in the cold fresh air.
The smell was unimaginable, thick grey and smelling of burning plastic. We grabbed torches to try and examine the damage but it was too dark and too much smoke to really see. My son took the cooker hood off the wall and to our horror we found that the wiring to it had been put in the chimney. As he took the hood down a wall of water flooded out from the chimney all over us. The water had been leaking through the chimney and resting on the top of the cooker hood. On further examination we noticed the wiring had a join in it with tape around and was laying in the water!
I am just thankful that I do all the cooking for my father and he never ever used the cooker hood in his kitchen. Now you might be thinking that you read one of my previous blogs saying you must have a smoke alarm. Well we have got one and it has batteries in it and we check it and it works but on this occasion it didn't go off not even when we took it into the smoke to see if it would go off!!! So it looks like we need to get another one.
The only reason my father woke up was because the lid to the cooker hood opened and hit the wall otherwise I may not have been here to write this blog! Our Guardian Angel was with us on that night.
The next day we washed and cleaned and washed and cleaned but still the kitchen has loads of soot stains all over it. I think it will have to be re decorated. We have an electrician coming to sort out the wiring and a builder coming to take the chimney down and mend the roof so all is good.
Still we live to see another day and the smoke and fire damage will pass and it will be just another memory. Just don't forget to check your smoke alarms and maybe check they go off with a bit of smoke too!!
Tuesday 15 January 2013
A Mother's Love
My earliest recollections of my mother are being surrounded with a love like no other. Sitting on her lap, snuggling into her fluffy dressing gown, sucking my thumb and feeling her arms wrapped around me the feeling of total security and warmth.
My mother was a complex lady, she was funny, loving, selfless but could lose her temper and strop for England. I remember when I was tiny hearing her shaking the back door and cursing the key that wouldn't turn, throwing the contents of her whole bag across the room because she thought she has lost her purse and getting angry with my dad who always refused to enter into any argument.
I remember falling about on her bedroom floor laughing with my sister until we had no breath while my mother tried on all these items my father had bought, mail order, from Russia. A massive thick army Arctic coat with a frozen dead mouse in the sleeve, a pair of pajamas that went round her three times and calico scratchy thick under wear which was like sand paper with long legs and buttons at the front!
She was a one off and never to be repeated. She would always be getting up to something silly and there was never a dull moment in our house. My father would come home from work to find the house turned upside down with a piano wedged solid in the doorway, her reasoning was she wanted a change but the stupid doorways were not big enough. She had spent all day heaving, pushing and pulling all the furniture around from room to room until she got to the piano which just wouldn't go through! Then with the instruction of my father we would spend the evening putting it all back.
I remember once my father bought a load of cheap beefburgers which my mother hated. She refused to cook them so one day she spent the day digging massive holes and burying the burgers in the garden. As they were frozen together in long tubes of 20 she had to dig very deep holes to bury them but her determination got her through and she completed the task before my father got home. The next morning when she came downstairs to make my fathers breakfast she noticed the foxes had had a field day in the garden and dug up all the burgers leaving loads of massive holes! Not wanting my father to see she stood by the back door until he had finished and left for work only to go back out and fill the holes up!
Although she did stupid things, like standing at the bottom of the stairs in a big department shop thinking they were escalators, walking around the shops with a loose pair of tights falling out the bottom of her trousers,, having a fit of the giggles in church, putting the dinner in the fridge and wondering why it didn't cook and getting lost coming out of a pub toilet and ending up in the staff quarters, she was the most amazing warm, caring person. If every you were ill, upset, confused or indecisive she was the one you would go to. Always there for a chat, advice, and a shoulder to cry on.
She was a wonderful pianist and played right up until she died. If she was cross she would bash the notes out and the ring of The Entertainer and The Butterfly would filter through the whole house. The piano, which we still have, was a family piano and survived the war with my grandfather carrying it on his back down the flights of stairs in a effort save it from the bombing. I remember learning on it and my sister playing her wonderful pieces on it too. It was my mother's pride and joy.
She was the one who said to me you must have children, I will look after them. This was because we didn't have enough money for me to give up work at the time. This was a wonderful decision because it meant I had two lovely children and they got to experience the unconditional love my mother gave. They loved her with every inch of their bodies she was their world.
When my mother was younger she would sleep walk and I remember her telling me through laughter and crying how she kicked her sister out the bed once while dreaming she was kicking a football into the goal! Her sister was not amused as she suffered a split lip from falling onto the electric fire.
I remember in later life her having a row with my father, a serious man who loved reading and never entertained into her frivolity and telling us afterwards she had pretended to died for an hour just to see if he would notice! Proudly telling us that she was right she could die and he would probably still bring her breakfast in bed, coffee and tea and not even notice. He just looked over the top of his glasses and tutted.
When they got older their bedtime ritual was crosswords and I remember listening to her shouting out to him the clue and letters to a word. My father being a bit deaf didn't always hear her. So it went like this - 8 letters and I've got S T Blank Blank B Blank, my father says what was that F T, NO shouts mum S T, that's what I said F T, and then she screams out NO S for shit, T for Tit, B for Bum !!!! My father calmly turned over and said I'm not playing if your'e going to be rude goodnight!! LOL
We had fun, there wasn't a day I didn't talk or see my mother, I made sure she was in the centre of our lives and we included her in everything. I cannot explain how much we miss her, that person who was always there on the end of the phone or in the next room. Her greeting to me when I walked through the door was Oh goodie come sit down tell me everything. I haven't got that person anymore but I am so lucky to have had her in my life for so long. She left many memories, she made me who I am and she was a lady who lives in our hearts forever
My mother was a complex lady, she was funny, loving, selfless but could lose her temper and strop for England. I remember when I was tiny hearing her shaking the back door and cursing the key that wouldn't turn, throwing the contents of her whole bag across the room because she thought she has lost her purse and getting angry with my dad who always refused to enter into any argument.
I remember falling about on her bedroom floor laughing with my sister until we had no breath while my mother tried on all these items my father had bought, mail order, from Russia. A massive thick army Arctic coat with a frozen dead mouse in the sleeve, a pair of pajamas that went round her three times and calico scratchy thick under wear which was like sand paper with long legs and buttons at the front!
She was a one off and never to be repeated. She would always be getting up to something silly and there was never a dull moment in our house. My father would come home from work to find the house turned upside down with a piano wedged solid in the doorway, her reasoning was she wanted a change but the stupid doorways were not big enough. She had spent all day heaving, pushing and pulling all the furniture around from room to room until she got to the piano which just wouldn't go through! Then with the instruction of my father we would spend the evening putting it all back.
I remember once my father bought a load of cheap beefburgers which my mother hated. She refused to cook them so one day she spent the day digging massive holes and burying the burgers in the garden. As they were frozen together in long tubes of 20 she had to dig very deep holes to bury them but her determination got her through and she completed the task before my father got home. The next morning when she came downstairs to make my fathers breakfast she noticed the foxes had had a field day in the garden and dug up all the burgers leaving loads of massive holes! Not wanting my father to see she stood by the back door until he had finished and left for work only to go back out and fill the holes up!
Although she did stupid things, like standing at the bottom of the stairs in a big department shop thinking they were escalators, walking around the shops with a loose pair of tights falling out the bottom of her trousers,, having a fit of the giggles in church, putting the dinner in the fridge and wondering why it didn't cook and getting lost coming out of a pub toilet and ending up in the staff quarters, she was the most amazing warm, caring person. If every you were ill, upset, confused or indecisive she was the one you would go to. Always there for a chat, advice, and a shoulder to cry on.
She was a wonderful pianist and played right up until she died. If she was cross she would bash the notes out and the ring of The Entertainer and The Butterfly would filter through the whole house. The piano, which we still have, was a family piano and survived the war with my grandfather carrying it on his back down the flights of stairs in a effort save it from the bombing. I remember learning on it and my sister playing her wonderful pieces on it too. It was my mother's pride and joy.
She was the one who said to me you must have children, I will look after them. This was because we didn't have enough money for me to give up work at the time. This was a wonderful decision because it meant I had two lovely children and they got to experience the unconditional love my mother gave. They loved her with every inch of their bodies she was their world.
When my mother was younger she would sleep walk and I remember her telling me through laughter and crying how she kicked her sister out the bed once while dreaming she was kicking a football into the goal! Her sister was not amused as she suffered a split lip from falling onto the electric fire.
I remember in later life her having a row with my father, a serious man who loved reading and never entertained into her frivolity and telling us afterwards she had pretended to died for an hour just to see if he would notice! Proudly telling us that she was right she could die and he would probably still bring her breakfast in bed, coffee and tea and not even notice. He just looked over the top of his glasses and tutted.
When they got older their bedtime ritual was crosswords and I remember listening to her shouting out to him the clue and letters to a word. My father being a bit deaf didn't always hear her. So it went like this - 8 letters and I've got S T Blank Blank B Blank, my father says what was that F T, NO shouts mum S T, that's what I said F T, and then she screams out NO S for shit, T for Tit, B for Bum !!!! My father calmly turned over and said I'm not playing if your'e going to be rude goodnight!! LOL
We had fun, there wasn't a day I didn't talk or see my mother, I made sure she was in the centre of our lives and we included her in everything. I cannot explain how much we miss her, that person who was always there on the end of the phone or in the next room. Her greeting to me when I walked through the door was Oh goodie come sit down tell me everything. I haven't got that person anymore but I am so lucky to have had her in my life for so long. She left many memories, she made me who I am and she was a lady who lives in our hearts forever
Sunday 6 January 2013
Childhood and churches
When I was tiny I remember my mother and father dragging me to the local church. A church that had been around for around 900 years and was very old, cold and dark. My father was very strict and demanded my sister and I were silent girls. We stood there in our best coats gloves and hats in silence. I always drifted off into a dream world of things far more exciting than listening to an old man in a long white dress saying things that made no sense.
The church was old and small and had lots of history, something I appreciated when I grew older. When I had my children I decided that they should experience the same as me so my mother and I took them both to the same church every Sunday. By the time my children were born the church had a 'family service' which was designed for the little ones. This meant I was able to understand it at last and it held a little more interest.
My ex husband never really came along to the church with the excuse that a bolt of lightening might come down and strike him!! Never really understanding that but being relieved that he stayed at home my mother and I made a point if bursting into the church, slightly late and usually forcing the last bit of breakfast into the children!
I remember vividly my daughters Christening. My son was about 2 and the Rector always insisted the children were allowed to run up and down the isle and play with the toys at the back of the church. Well there we were all circled around the font spouting the usual words on the card designed for Christenings when my son rushed up to the font and said whats in here mummy. Holding onto the edge of the font and pulling himself up to see what was inside. Now the top of the font was a loose bowl and as he heaved up the bowl tipped up and poured all the Holy water over the Rector and everyone else's feet!
At Christmas time the church has a massive tree at the front and of course the children wanted to inspect it, only my son wanted to see if it was fixed to the floor, was strong and if he could move it. Not realising that he was inside the tree, during the carol 'Come o ye faithful' we saw the tree swaying backwards and forwards and eventually starting to fall. Many people from the choir and pews all rushed forward to catch the toppling tree only to find my son crawl out from underneath saying 'mummy the tree isn't in the ground'.
Another time my son was playing with another little boy, at the back of the church, with the box of toys and during the quite pray time suddenly they came charging up the isle holding the flag poles as swords and pretending to fight!
All these things were very embarrassing and my mother and I were horrified but the Rector always told us not to stop the children as he liked them to have freedom in the church and feel like it was their home!
Looking back on these fun times we had many a laugh and the children have fond memories of it.
This is the website to my old church - St Martin's of Tours Chelsfield
http://www.stmartinchelsfield.org.uk/
The church was old and small and had lots of history, something I appreciated when I grew older. When I had my children I decided that they should experience the same as me so my mother and I took them both to the same church every Sunday. By the time my children were born the church had a 'family service' which was designed for the little ones. This meant I was able to understand it at last and it held a little more interest.
My ex husband never really came along to the church with the excuse that a bolt of lightening might come down and strike him!! Never really understanding that but being relieved that he stayed at home my mother and I made a point if bursting into the church, slightly late and usually forcing the last bit of breakfast into the children!
I remember vividly my daughters Christening. My son was about 2 and the Rector always insisted the children were allowed to run up and down the isle and play with the toys at the back of the church. Well there we were all circled around the font spouting the usual words on the card designed for Christenings when my son rushed up to the font and said whats in here mummy. Holding onto the edge of the font and pulling himself up to see what was inside. Now the top of the font was a loose bowl and as he heaved up the bowl tipped up and poured all the Holy water over the Rector and everyone else's feet!
At Christmas time the church has a massive tree at the front and of course the children wanted to inspect it, only my son wanted to see if it was fixed to the floor, was strong and if he could move it. Not realising that he was inside the tree, during the carol 'Come o ye faithful' we saw the tree swaying backwards and forwards and eventually starting to fall. Many people from the choir and pews all rushed forward to catch the toppling tree only to find my son crawl out from underneath saying 'mummy the tree isn't in the ground'.
Another time my son was playing with another little boy, at the back of the church, with the box of toys and during the quite pray time suddenly they came charging up the isle holding the flag poles as swords and pretending to fight!
All these things were very embarrassing and my mother and I were horrified but the Rector always told us not to stop the children as he liked them to have freedom in the church and feel like it was their home!
Looking back on these fun times we had many a laugh and the children have fond memories of it.
This is the website to my old church - St Martin's of Tours Chelsfield
http://www.stmartinchelsfield.org.uk/
Saturday 5 January 2013
Fire on the horizon?
Well its been a traumatic week. It started by me burning the rice dry and nearly setting lite to the hallway. You may ask why the hallway well my gas bottle cooker is in the hallway as I have no room for it in the Kitchen. You may ask why I haven't got a cooker in the kitchen, well I have but due to the bad installation by David, the man who conned us, I cannot use it. He apparently used the wrong wiring and it could catch fire at any point, hence why I am now using a gas cooker given to me by a friend. Anyway I now have to remember that I have something boiling away in the hall which is something I find difficult. The out of sight out of mind syndrome kicks in and I have burnt many things since using this cooker.
When I found the rice it was black and smoke was pouring out and along the hallway round the corner and up the passage to my dad's side of the house. The smell was disgusting a smell that lingers and still smells out there!
Secondly my father's wood burner nearly setting light to the roof and now we are unable to use it. After spending all today phoning around I have found someone to come on Monday to have a look at it, fingers crossed they sort it before the temperature drops to -4 as predicted on the weather charts!
Thirdly I fill the dishwasher up, my only luxury and most loved piece of equipment, turned it on and left it. I then went back to it to see if it had finished opened the door and everything was still dirty and a terrible smell of burning hit my nostrils. On further inspection I noticed no water was in the bottom and the heating elements were hot and burning! So I had to drag all the dirty pots, pans and plates back into the kitchen to hand wash them all.
So today I found a pack that I've had since October containing a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide alarm. After fitting the batteries, testing and locating a good place for them to go, finding the double sided tape I took great pleasure in slapping them up on the wall. Hopefully these will stir us if there happens to be another 'almost nearly' fire incident.
Let this be a lesson to everyone - you MUST have a smoke alarm and if you have any fires a Carbon Monoxide alarm. These could and do save lives and are essential.
When I found the rice it was black and smoke was pouring out and along the hallway round the corner and up the passage to my dad's side of the house. The smell was disgusting a smell that lingers and still smells out there!
Secondly my father's wood burner nearly setting light to the roof and now we are unable to use it. After spending all today phoning around I have found someone to come on Monday to have a look at it, fingers crossed they sort it before the temperature drops to -4 as predicted on the weather charts!
Thirdly I fill the dishwasher up, my only luxury and most loved piece of equipment, turned it on and left it. I then went back to it to see if it had finished opened the door and everything was still dirty and a terrible smell of burning hit my nostrils. On further inspection I noticed no water was in the bottom and the heating elements were hot and burning! So I had to drag all the dirty pots, pans and plates back into the kitchen to hand wash them all.
So today I found a pack that I've had since October containing a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide alarm. After fitting the batteries, testing and locating a good place for them to go, finding the double sided tape I took great pleasure in slapping them up on the wall. Hopefully these will stir us if there happens to be another 'almost nearly' fire incident.
Let this be a lesson to everyone - you MUST have a smoke alarm and if you have any fires a Carbon Monoxide alarm. These could and do save lives and are essential.
Friday 4 January 2013
Friends and Fires
Well today we had a sort of emergency. My son lit my father's wood burner and when he went outside to get more wood noticed no smoke was coming out of the chimney. Then going up into the loft saw the smoke was coming out of the wall and the beams in the roof were black!!!!
After phoning a friend who lives reasonably close to us, he came round and emptied the fire and sprayed the beams with water and said we must not use the wood burner again until it has been looked at and that it looked like it had not be installed properly.
The wood burner was installed by a so called builder who used to be a hairdresser in the UK. He has befriended himself to us when we were in need of many things mending and had no money but a shed full a tools and toys that any man would be jealous of.
David, who used to live with us, who was supposed to be renovating our house, after spending all our money conning us out of everything then disappearing had left us with a 300 ft shed full of new tools machinery and toys like quad bikes. So there I was left with all these things that I had to sell 'or swap' just to pay bills or get work done! This is how I came to agree to swapping lots of items to this local 'builder' who suggested taking lots of things in return for work.
Anyway our so called 'builder' said he would swap lots of items in our shed for work we needed doing in the house. We agreed and he took many items worth a lot of money and told me to do a list of things that needed doing.
Well my list was never started he did a few little things like a couple of wood and mesh gates, making the garage doors run smoothly, mending a water pipe and making a cupboard. The last thing he did was install my father wood burner. My father had the wood burner for a good few months before he finally came to install it when the weather turned to -21 and my father was left with not heating and a hole to the sky. He finally came to fit it, his mood was bad, the atmosphere was terrible and my father and I were really embarrassed and felt bad that he had come over to us to do it. He kept swearing and telling us he had other things to do and that he didn't have time to be here.
Well we find out that he didn't install it properly and it could have caused a major fire in the roof which we probably wouldn't have known until too late and we would't have been insured because he isn't registered to install wood burners.
The funny thing is he came around a few months ago and said he would be doing no more work for me for nothing as he didn't get any help from us and he could't afford the time and effort for no money! I think he was forgetting the 100s of Euros worth of machinery furniture and tools he took form the shed for nothing.
Moral of this story is - It doesn't matter how desperate you are never agree to anything that means someone owes you something. If you do make sure you write it all down (something I didn't) and make them sign the list of items taken and the value. The the list of jobs to be done for the value and cross it off when done. This all sounds easy but when you have hit the bottom all rationality goes out the window and you just trust everyone who comes along smiles and promises things.
After phoning a friend who lives reasonably close to us, he came round and emptied the fire and sprayed the beams with water and said we must not use the wood burner again until it has been looked at and that it looked like it had not be installed properly.
The wood burner was installed by a so called builder who used to be a hairdresser in the UK. He has befriended himself to us when we were in need of many things mending and had no money but a shed full a tools and toys that any man would be jealous of.
David, who used to live with us, who was supposed to be renovating our house, after spending all our money conning us out of everything then disappearing had left us with a 300 ft shed full of new tools machinery and toys like quad bikes. So there I was left with all these things that I had to sell 'or swap' just to pay bills or get work done! This is how I came to agree to swapping lots of items to this local 'builder' who suggested taking lots of things in return for work.
Anyway our so called 'builder' said he would swap lots of items in our shed for work we needed doing in the house. We agreed and he took many items worth a lot of money and told me to do a list of things that needed doing.
Well my list was never started he did a few little things like a couple of wood and mesh gates, making the garage doors run smoothly, mending a water pipe and making a cupboard. The last thing he did was install my father wood burner. My father had the wood burner for a good few months before he finally came to install it when the weather turned to -21 and my father was left with not heating and a hole to the sky. He finally came to fit it, his mood was bad, the atmosphere was terrible and my father and I were really embarrassed and felt bad that he had come over to us to do it. He kept swearing and telling us he had other things to do and that he didn't have time to be here.
Well we find out that he didn't install it properly and it could have caused a major fire in the roof which we probably wouldn't have known until too late and we would't have been insured because he isn't registered to install wood burners.
The funny thing is he came around a few months ago and said he would be doing no more work for me for nothing as he didn't get any help from us and he could't afford the time and effort for no money! I think he was forgetting the 100s of Euros worth of machinery furniture and tools he took form the shed for nothing.
Moral of this story is - It doesn't matter how desperate you are never agree to anything that means someone owes you something. If you do make sure you write it all down (something I didn't) and make them sign the list of items taken and the value. The the list of jobs to be done for the value and cross it off when done. This all sounds easy but when you have hit the bottom all rationality goes out the window and you just trust everyone who comes along smiles and promises things.
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