URGHHHHH!!! VIRGIN ATLANTIC and i wish i could spell!!!

we will be on our way in a few hours!!! The last few have been very stressful - trying to get seats so that Baz and I can sit together! Computers are so impersonal and I get easily frustrated I think!!!! ONE OF MY PROBLEMS IS NOT HAVING PATIENCE WHEN IT TAKES AGES TO LOAD UP! see - i accidentally touched Caps lock and now can't get it to lower case unless I start again!

No wonder I have high blood pressure problems!

School Christamsa show

Remember the school shows!!! Veronica centre stage!!!

Remeber the Carte Blanc and the Carte Rose!!! Not sure why after all these years I still have mine! I must have worked hard - or maybe all the Belgians were leaving ahead of independence and I got lucky!!! It obviously meant alot 'cos I brought it out of Africa with me!!! The things we keep and treasure!!!

Hector's inventions

Who remembers this mode of transport????

If I remeber rightly - someone got their finger trapped on the wheel - which is just out of shot!!!

and to get a ride, you had to drag the seat back up to the start!

We did have fun amongst all the ups and downs!

It was when we were living at this place that the money hadn't come through! I'm not sure how Hector and Ione managed it but we were down to our last branch of bananas - they were the little red ones - so the 'barrel' was nearly quite empty and then the post arrived with money and they could stock up with food again! I dont recall going hungry ever!

family round up

I thought when I started Blogging I would get all the family introduced - well that was the plan!!! With just days to go - here are the last two - Tom and Nunciatina. Nunci's parents came over to England from Italy when they were children nad settled in Bedford - about an hours drive north of where we live! Tom and Nunci met on holiday - who says holiday romances don't last! They have a little boy called William, who is 1 year old - just born a few weeks after Meg and David had Katie; which is quite nice to have cousins a similar age! Tom works in London - which makes him a commuter!

So just to summarise - I had three boys - Eddie, Adam and Peter, and Baz had Jenny, Meg and Tom! We met after our respective spouses sought pastures new and left us minding the children! Baz's divorce was very acrimonious - it was a difficult time and we started out by commiserating and supporting each other and all our children! That was 23 years ago - mutual help turned into friendship and then love! Jon came along to complete the picture.

Baz and I were married by Dad in 2000 and we celebrate 10 years of marriage whilst we are in the States!! We got married in the little chapel in Derbyshire that Mum and Dad reopened and where Mum is buried.

So we have a big family and they are all grown up and having children and we are getting even larger! Some clouds are lined with silver, my cloud has lots of children!!! So now I have told you all about me and next week when we meet- I can do alot of listening! Can't wait!

I've started sorting out clothes - its a girl thing and I'm sure most of you boys think we're weird! I have also been watering the garden in the hopes that everything will be so saturated it will survive without me! To be honest, Jon is good at keeping everything ticking over - however, he doesn't eat the veg so the courgettes will be marrows when we get back. The jasmine is out in flower - I can't convey the smell - i wish i could - it makes watering the garden relaxation rather than a chore!

Wimbledon

I love tennis! My love affair started inthe 1960's when I was supposed to be revising for exams; I loved Chris Drsydale asnd Marty Reissen, not becausethey were fantastic tennis players you understand! Then along came John Newcombe, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe was fun at times! I appreciate John McEnroe much more now he is a commentator - his observations are so acute! Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker were fun to watch, Pete Sampras became an acquired taste! By now of course the tennis is much more important that the other factors that drew me to the sport!

Today saw the end of an epic match - Isner (american) against Mahut (french)! Did it get television news country anywhere else inthe world besides here? We spent more time watching them than any of the top seeds or football!

I have been very disciplined today - I have been working at home tryingto finish a book chapter I am writing, and I worked solidly on the computer until 7pm despite the tennis being available! I can now bore for England on Rheumatoid Arthrits! Did you know - there are over 200 different types of arthrits! No!!!! Nor did I! I haven't written about all of them - needless to say!

The other day I discovered Charles V of Habsburg - back in the 1550's abdicated (I think he was an Emporer in Europe - well most of it) because he had a severe bout of gout!!!!

I don't think our Queen has ever had gout and she doesn't look like abdicating - thank goodness! Old though she may be, she is certainly more astute than her sons or grandsons!

The purpose of this ramble??? Well I'm not sure! Baz is in bed - snoring and i'm still awake! I guess you are now all convinced I'm nuts! Night Night XXXX Be seeing you all soon - how exciting!

World Cup Football Fever

Wow - time is flying by!!! I stared introducing various members of the family but seem to have gone off the boil for a while!!! I can't believe I last put anything up back in May!!!

Well its world cup season - which pleases our youngest son Jon!!! For those of you interested in football - his team is Liverpool and in the picture he is actually sitting in the players changing room
at Anfiled! Jon has been a fan since he was a tiny tot and has a collectin of football shirts going back years! When we were in Australia, Gordon sent Jon an Australian shirt - which thrilled him to bits!

In the other picture Jon is with his girlfriend Clare. They have been dating for a year now. Clare is a teacher! Jon and Clare have known each other since school days.

Back to football- aren't England playing badly!!! and fancy America being in the same group!

Not only is football taking up so much time on television but its competing with Wimbledon!!! I became a tennis fan back inthe 60's - never could play it - my eye to hand co-ordination was never good enough! But I love watching it! My money is on Federa again but who knows!!!