Summer has come!!!

Today has been HOT!!!!! It was time to clean down the old Barbie!!! Get out the patio stuff and behave like this is the weather that lasts all summer - but heh!!! this is England and showers are forecast for Tuesday! Never the less - I did put on my sun screen! most Brits only put on sun screen when they go on holiday - which is why skin cancer is a growing problem in this country, and we have the fastest growing incidence of skin cancer!
Jon and Clare (Jon is our youngest son) were home after a week in Spain - Clare's parents have a small house out there! Eddie (son no 1), his partner Carla and son Louie are off to Cyprus on Tuesday also came round! We are really praying that Ed, Carla and Louie make the flight this time! They were due to fly last September, but Louie was very ill so they had to cancel! At least the volcano in Iceland has stopped spewing ash and is just belching steam! So it is quite hopeful that they make this trip! Ed says he wont believe it until they are on the plane!
We also had Jenny, Richard and the girls around and Baz's Mum Florrie also came - so we had quite a gathering for our first summer Barbie!!!
Baz's mum is 96 years old! She is the last surviving parent and all her siblings have died! She gets quite lonely as she has few visitors - mainly her carers, who call four times a day! Florrie has severe osteoarthritis, she can barely hold anything in her hands; tinnitus, which is very troublesome and she is very wobbly on her legs - but her mind is acute as ever and she has a wicked sense of mischief! The children love her!
The garden is not looking too bad! I managed to get some tomato plants in pots and the broad beans are looking good! Unfortunately, the cold this winter has killed off some of the agapanthus ( African lilies!!) ; I had some unusual species that I had picked up at Hampton Court Flower show! Gardening is about winners and losers! this year, the alliums, with their purple pompom flower heads are looking great! I have some sweet corn to plant out and some celariac - so the next few days will be busy!!!! Gardening is my sanity!
At work - marking is coming in; so I am quite busy on that front! The next chapter of the adaptation of the Lemone and Burke textbook on medical and surgical nursing is due at the publishers by the 15th June - so I'm brushing up on orthopaedic nursing care in the hopes that I come up with an up to date chapter!

Heather Arton

I have been thinking about Heather a lot today! Do you remember her strange eating habits - especially at breakfast?? Heather and I were due to be born at the same time; John and Betty agreed to travel to Oicha with Mum and Dad, but on the way up, John lost control of the truck and they ended up in a ditch. The got to Boyulu and Chester Burke straightened out the axle so they could continue the journey! They arrived at Oicha and Mum went into labour almost immediately - so I arrived within 24 hours of getting there - under weight!!! (who would think it now!!!) So Mum and Dad sat and waited until Betty went into labour and Heather took another 3 and half weeks to emerge! Any way, I digress!
Heather and Breakfast! - Heather hated porridge - she would sit at the table with a tumbler (remember those metal coloured tumblers - I loved the colours, almost iridescent), anyway, she would have tumbler of water in one hand and spoon of porridge in the other. She take a spoon of porridge and a gulp of water, and instead of eating the porridge, she would gulp it down as if she were swallowing a tablet. She used to pray that the Lord would call her to heaven before she had to eat the whole plateful! She was very often still there when the bus came to take us to school and it was always a mad rush to get her to the bus!
I often wondered how she managed in captivity - it seemed very wrong that she had to bear that! She had always been such a weak child - health wise, small for her age! We weren't in the same year at school - because she had gone to Reithy, she didn't have the French, so I think she was in Vov's year at school but Vov doesn't remember that! I may be wrong of course- about which year she was in, I just know I was the only english speaking girl in my class, which iguess is why I was more fleunt in French in those days!
We were always going to be nurses - Heather and I - I made it and always felt that I nursed for two, she always knew more than me about nursing - I guess Betty influenced that! And I have enjoyed my nursing career - so thank you Heather!! We are still soul mates!

New parliament

We have a new parliament!!! All change- good I think! I remember reading Testament of Youth years ago! It was written by Vera Britten and was all about World War 1 and the sacrifices that the young people had to make. Vera Britten lost her brother and all his friends, including the one she became engaged to in that awful war. i only mention this because she was the mother of one of the politicians - Shirley Williams, who was one of the four people founding the Liberal democrat party. I heard Shirley speak and for a time was a party member! My brief flirtation with politics! So years later, we get Liberal Democrats in power because of a coalition. i have had some interesting discussions at work!! What times we live in!!!

The way we were

This picture was taken not long after we got back to the UK in 1960!!!! Mum looks so thin! She was incredible when I think about it! Congo wasn't the best place for her health wise, but undeterred, she worked on and what a fantastic job she did too! Not saying Dad didn't do a good job - he did, but he wasn't poorly like she was at times! We discovered that Mum and Dad were on the first boat to leave Southampton post war without a naval convoy when we were going through things after Dad died. How long did letters take back then? And just think of all the changes since then!

I was puzzling over in my mind what my favourite children's home was! I think it was the house by the bakery! The smell of fresh bread still turns me on! I think I was always lucky with bedrooms and room mates because a) I was a girl and b) not many girls my age- except for Heather Arton. Heather and I shared the room that led off from the lounge /diner at Km 8! Just behind the veranda! That was a neat room!!!

I was wondering who slept out in the barn! I can't believe we used that for habitation! In the UK Social Services would have been out in force!!! Cruelty to children no less! Hey - we all survived one way or another!

I think my favourite spot at Km 8 was the steps - those red ones leading to the front door; I used to sit on them and read books - mainly boys books! (that's all that was available i think). Did any of you boys ever read any of them - they were American, and I can't remember who the main character was, I think he was a sportsman - a team player and the stories were often about dilemmas that challenged his beliefs and tested his commitment to Christ! Can any one help me out with this?

I do remember Ione not letting me play on the swings in case I showed my knickers and corrupted any of the boys - she didn't use those words of course but that was the essence of it!

Life was a challenge for a girl - being female seemed a distinct disadvantage at times, especially when all my peers were boys! I did so want to join in - I remember Billy often aribtrating for me - and I was always grateful - may not have told you so at the time Billy and apologies for that! You were my hero on those occaissions! Perhaps we should prepare the three best bits of life in the childrens home and the three worst bits!!! One of my best bits would be the games on Saturday night and of course the films - David Livingstone!!!!

Wow - Ist May!!!

I have recovered from illness!!!! Back to work with a vengence- when I am off sick or on holiday, no one picks up - so its all to do when I get back! I have eventually found an external examiner - so my students scripts can now be moderated! I have rescheduled the day session I had to cancel - so getting back up to speed.

The Volcanic ash thing had me terrified! What if I couldn't fly to the states! I'm OK if I was stranded in the States - I figure some kind person will put me up - I do so want to getthere for the reunion!

My daughter in law - Carla - slipped whilst trying to paint the bathroom ceiling! Unfortunately, she was balancing precariously on a small step ladder that she had put in the tub and when she fell she dislocated her knee!!! The trauma had lots of consequences - she couldn't do much for Louie's birthday party but direct operations - fortunately, the family all rallied round! Iguess its the blessing of a large family! Anyway - alltraumas are forgotten and Carla is now recovered and back at work1 Since then - our little Katie had her first Birthday party! She is our youngest grand daughter - I haven't introduced this family yet! The picture is off Meg and David on their wedding day! Meg and David have two children - Ben aged 3 and katie aged 1. Meg is studying counselling at Uni and works at a childrens nursery part time. David has a fascinating job - he is a dog handler, and he works at a large airport - his dog finds money - counterfit!

Meg is younger than Jenny and older than Pete - and she is our middle child!!! Pivotal really!!!

Just two more boys to introduce to you and then that is our family complete!

I seem to be the only one blogging on here! Have I bored you all to death? Are you dreading meeting me now!!! Just wondering!