Grandma P's Ramblings Through Life

Another day and another playground.

For most of the year we hardly notice the playgrounds and suddenly we become aware of the best and most stimulating and realise that this country does well for its children by providing places to play.

This morning we stayed at home. Children's BBC was on.
We pottered aimlessly.

We didn't feel we should be quite so aimless for the entire day and thus we went to Ifield to say hello to Jenny and to play in the playground. That facility was not there when I was Ecky's age - but many an hour had been spent by me and my brothers on the village green/common. In fact 5 generations of the family have spent time there, watching or playing cricket and generally amusing ourselves.

Ashley and I sat on one of the seats and watched insects that looked rather like wasps darting into holes in the ground. They knew before we did that there would be a shower and were looking for their shelters. Late comers, those who dawdled aimlessly got back to find all the holes occupied; though one brave creature set to and dug out a new a hole.
We still have not yet discovered the names of these insects.

The shower didn't last very long.

We went back to Jenny's house ready to come to her assistance. The car she bought only a few weeks ago has run into a lot of trouble. We took her to the Toyota garage to collect the courtesy car she is having until hers can be sorted out.

We got back home for Ecky and others to watch the first Harry Potter film - Ashley had found the DVD in a charity shop during the morning. She has read the book 7 times already!

The heavy rain predicted has not yet arrived. We just hopes it does its worst before morning because we have planned a long day out at Godstone Farm.

Now for a few playground pictures.

We are exhausted grandparents!
And we have done just one day!
This morning Ashley took himself off to London for a long day. Assuming he catches the last train back to Crawley after the Prom Concert he should be home by about 1.00am.
We spent the morning playing and shopping.
Ecky and I walked and played on the field in front of the house.
Then we went to Asda to make sure we had things that she might want to eat.
We saw something that she said she really, really wanted - but we said she should wait - more on this later.
After lunch we went to Tilgate Park.
The people of Crawley and the surrounding area are so lucky to have this amenity. And today, a hot day during the school holidays, of course there were many (very many!) enjoying the facilities.
The nature centre is a children's farm zoo really and is free to visit, though donations are asked for.
We met Jo and her grand daughter, Florence and after initial shyness the 2 girls got along very well, sharing in the nature centre experiences.



Wooden animals like this are fun for children to play on - but their primary purpose is as donation collection boxes.

For most of the day I have been me, gently ambling through life.
For the last 4 hours I have been Grandma!

We picked Ashley and Ekatarina up at Three Bridges Station at quarter to five.
Ecky first needed to check out her room of course.
She is still an Angelina Ballerina fan and the box of clothes and Angelina Mouse doll are popular, as are all the magazines; all found at car boot sale of course - the magazines and accessories would have cost somebody a total of about £75 over a couple of years.

We had some dinner together - Ecky now devours Heinz spaghetti and she had some mini sausages.
We had sausage and mash.

After dinner we went for a short walk - we needed some milk from the local Tesco Express and went the long way round to take in a children's play area.

I have read Angelina Ballerina stories from the magazines. Perhaps I can persuade her to let me read something a bit more "meaty" - after all she reads proper books for herself, including Harry Potter.

I put some plaits in her hair to keep it all more tidy in bed - playing with a little girl's hair is a delight for me; not something I ever did as a mother.

Wow - it has got so dark so early this evening! We must be heading for a thunderstorm.

This morning I got busy with wrapping - 13 small books had bids for this afternoon.

Then we drove over to Dorking to check the shelves and collect any money from sales.
My first thought was that I had done much better than expected for there were quite a few items missing - but a second look at the new window display showed that this week the collectables window was showing off some of the new sorts of things to be found in the shop - my things.
We introduced ourselves to the people on duty today. There was Julie, a reasonably elderly woman from France and Monika.
We were there for longer than planned because Monika was glad to slip out for an hour to deal with family business and I was able to have a good long chat with Julie - comparing our health experiences and a little of our lives. She is lovely and I felt a good bond with her.
Obviously there was not much time to chat with Monika - and anyway she was suffering with quite severe laryngitis and had virtually no voice.
I was happy to put some of my recent purchases on the shelves and now I wonder where the window display person will put the items from the window when it is changed again.



You have already seen the black and yellow vase - but I did take a quick picture of it with the black and red one bought at Edenbridge on Saturday.
Do you see those ear rings? They are plastic with a sparkly "jewel" and they are magnetic! A magnet goes behind the ear lobe and the decoration obviously is placed on the front - and the magnet just about holds them in place, but don't do any wild dancing!

Don't worry - photos of my stock will stop now. There will be a period of people and places photos as we all enjoy a holiday atmosphere.

We stopped in Reigate on the way home for a bite to eat and to get in more supplies for the Ashley and Ekatarina holiday.

When we got home I was quickly into the routine of invoices to successful bidders and then dealing with payments. It is so good that most people pay within a few hours.
I might have a problem with one buyer - whose bid was successful on the 17th of July. After 5 days I sent a reminder (always very polite and understanding of course) and he did reply with apologies.... he is on benefits and run into financial bother and has just adopted a stray dog which is causing more expense and he said he would pay on Tuesday. Well Tuesday is tomorrow and I wonder if any payment will arrive. He also said that his group had made a CD and he would send me a copy - I am not sure if he thought I would accept that instead of money!

The storm I foretold has begun - raining hard with flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. It is really quite wild. And silly little Harry - our nervous little cat is out there somewhere. We have called him but no doubt he has decided that where he is might be be safer than making the dash for home. He hates thunder and often hides behind the sofa during a storm...................................
Bless him! With that thought, we just checked to see if he was in fact out of doors - and no, he was behind the sofa!

Tomorrow will be an at home day apart from posting parcels, taking a box to a charity shop and then picking up Ash and Ecky from the station.
It will be the last morning of a quiet cup of tea in bed. There will still be cups of tea of course, but Ecky will be with us playing and talking and story telling. She checked with me last week that we would still allow her to come into our room in the mornings - well, just don't trip over the night bag!

I am sure the storm will clear the air - it has felt humid. But I hope it doesn't clear away summer - I am just getting to feel really content with the warm sunshine.

Goodnight folks.

Working and dozing - that has been our day.

We went to 2 car boot sales this morning and this time it was Bill's turn to buy the most.
My best buy was a Midwinter jug - designed by Sir Peter Scott, the naturalist. His "Wild Geese" set was issued in the 1950s.

The jug was bought at Reigate - but there was not much to find.
So we decided to set off southwards to Poynings.
We met up with a couple of stall holders who we know - one of them was actually Graham who used to work with Bill at the college. Both Graham and the other one, Chris used to do a lot of the toy collector's fairs that we did and today were clearing stock.
Bill bought some model soldiers and animals from Graham and some model cars from Chris.
I didn't find much to sell on.
I bought a couple of "boho" tops - that's the fashion term, I gather, for retro smock type blouses.
And we bought a pretty pink check duvet cover and pillow case for Ekatarina's bed.

It has been hot today. "How hot?" Mam wanted to know. I think she was impressed that we had almost reached the Phuket levels.

This afternoon we slowly got all the purchases of the weekend written up.
Below is a picture of the glass we bought yesterday at Edenbridge. I particularly like the lustrous opalescent glass. That large piece with a sort of butterfly on is hollow, but still quite heavy.
The candle stick was bought in France at a sort of car boot sale/ flea market we found at a village fete in Normandy in 1994. That holiday meant a lot to me because it was our first holiday after all the health traumas of the previous 2 or 3 years. I was still quite weak, but during that holiday I found so many things that I wanted to do and I began to find some self confidence again.


The circular straw mat the glass is sitting on was one of the free items picked up at Edenbridge yesterday.

This evening we have, of course watched the final stage of The Tour de France. It was a race on the day and yet for the leaders it was more of a celebration of their achievements after 3, 500 Kilometres. The Spaniard in the yellow jersey had a glass of champagne whilst pedalling through the countryside into Paris!
Both of us actually had some difficulty staying awake after a tiring day in the sunshine.

Bill is now out watering the garden.

Tomorrow we shall go to Dorking to see what might have been sold - not much I am sure. We will take some fresh stock with us anyway.

And I have my last bits on EBay finishing until after Ashley and Ekatarina return home.

I will put the kettle on now so that we can have another drink before bedtime.
Goodnight.

We were up early on a sunny morning and went to Faygate car boot sale, which had many more stalls than last week.
I bought mostly items suitable to be listed on EBay at some point - but it will not be for a while, because I don't intend to do much during Ashley and Ekatarina's holiday.
During the morning I posted some parcels and then wrote up the Faygate purchases.
At about midday we were off out again; this time to the boot sale at Edenbridge. This sale was also much busier than last week.
Almost immediately we were standing before a stall filled with beautiful good quality paperweights and art glass - I wanted all of it! But we contented ourselves with just 4 pieces. One of them is now on the table in the lounge for us to enjoy for a while.
Bill carried the glass back to the car and then we were on our way again - up and down the aisles.
We turned one corner and I spied an item 30 or 40 yards away and told Bill that I had to have it! Of course I didn't know if it was damaged or not. It was perfect and is a match for the 1950's vase I bought (and photographed) at Ardingly antiques fair last Wednesday. This item has the same zebra pattern and is bright red on the interior.
Of course we don't just buy to make a profit, there are also many items for the home and garden that we can buy.
Bill bought a second cordless phone for us at home.
And I bought a dress - not just any old dress. If I did choose to buy clothes from a shop, then Monsoon might be the shop of choice. On the occasions that I have wandered in, I have wandered out fairly quickly because their clothes are quite expensive; indeed even on EBay second hand Monsoon clothes can be £20 or £30.
I bought a couple of books from Kate - ex of Rocking Horse. All of us who had been there have boxes of unwanted to stock to deal with.
We were almost back at the car when the fun began!
There was a woman house clearance dealer who began to put items down on one side of her tables and said that everything there was free - she just wanted her boxes emptied. Well, how could I resist? I filled bags with all sorts of items for home and garden - a cooking pot, a basket, candles, table mats, 2 nice walking sticks, railway magazines, a wooden box, music cassettes etc etc.
What fun!
But then we really did get on our way to go and visit Bill's cousin Ann and her husband Gordon.
We sat out in the garden with tea and cake - Bill had bought some lovely iced carrot cake at Faygate. I only had a sliver of this cake (honest) and contented myself with a meringue which is much more suitable for my body.
Ann and Gordon are good company and talk flows easily.
Gordon is now very fragile and finding life at 87 very hard.
It is hard also to realise that within a month, Ann will be 80. She says it cannot be true, because she is actually only 40!
We later sat indoors with some tea. I had taken a supply of rice cakes with me.
When we got home we sorted our things out a bit and then sat and enjoyed the penultimate stage of the Tour de France.
Today's stage was a time trial and it was assumed that the arrogant Aussie would claw back enough time on the pleasant Spaniard in the lead.
I yelled at Sastre, the Spaniard, to pedal like mad - and he did.
Therefore he, as leader, will be wearing the yellow jersey into Paris tomorrow. Convention has it that whoever is in yellow for the last day will be the final overall leader - so Sastre has won the Tour de France.
And now we must sort ourselves out for bed.
Yes, of course we will be up early for another hunting expedition in the morning.
Goodnight.

Today has been a home based day - no, we haven't been to Homebase! Not a favourite destination for me is Homebase!

It has been hot, I guess. What I noticed most was energy and a feeling of contentment which springs from sunshine and warmth.

We have been away from home a couple of times.
This morning I saw the dentist - all ready to patch me up yet again. Bill Clinton (the dentist) doesn't believe in removing teeth that can be saved for a while longer. He says that considering all my health history, my teeth are actually doing very well - the ones I have left. He means that they are not prone to decay - just crumbling and chipping.

I spent some of the rest of the morning writing up the rest of last weekend's purchases and also yesterday's.

This afternoon we went to Horley for a Lidls shopping trip. Already we are stocking up on Ashley and Ecky's needs.

We have talked with Jessica and John today - it was Jessica's 7th birthday today. She sounded very grown up as she chatted - but the thoughts of a child were there..... "Nannie, have you bought me a present?" The parcel should be arriving about now, though we have known them go missing before. I do hope this one arrives safely.
John sounds much more grown up too - it was almost bed time and we finished with a "Night night" and an "I love you Nannie" - this was unprompted and pleased me no end, because I am not much more than a memory and a face in a photograph.
Ekatarina and I talked for a long time later - she forgot to let her Dad know that I was on the phone! She is so looking forward to her summer holiday with us and full of ideas and plans.
Her excitement will have to carry me through the tired times!

The garden needs some water - it will have to wait until the morning. Here are some pictures in the front garden. Bill has taken some very striking pictures of the alliums - and a few more homely flowers.
I will have to take some in the back garden tomorrow.

We arrived at the showground at Ardingly just after 8 o'clock. It was still quite quiet and we began to browse the stalls to see what interested us and to learn things and just to have a good time.
We did enjoy ourselves - but it is exhausting, walking around the vast area. Our legs ache this evening.

I think the most valuable thing we learned was that generally we are pricing things about right.

We have good quality items at reasonable prices - you can't say that of all the things on view today.
I suppose we have seen everything from the sublime to the ridiculous.

If I had a plan in my head it was to seek out something very 1950s and also something juvenile. I also planned not to buy more art glass today, because I have a reasonable amount - but I could have been so tempted by wonderful 50s and 60s glass in a range of colours and shapes.

I love Ashdown Forest. For a few months, as a toddler, I actually lived there and ever since I have looked on that landscape as if it belonged to me.
And I love the sunshine, which we have enjoyed greatly today.
It was good to get out; we both needed it.
We walked and talked.
Bill was able to acknowledge that the low level depression that has been part of his life for many a long year has seemed much worse of late.
The state of mind has made it so difficult for him to feel enthusiasm for anything and explains why we have not been able to arrange a holiday of any sort yet.
Who knows why Bill, or anybody else, suffers from depression? He has had a lot to deal with - my health issues of the last couple of years and the car accident, which was perhaps the last straw.
I think we will wait a while to see how the rest of the summer goes and then, maybe, he should seek medical advice.
He is not so bad that nothing gets done - but sometimes it feels that way.
There is a medical name for the condition - disthymia.

We decided to start our time out with a walk in the village of Nutley, where we have never stopped before. We visited the church and then an antiques shop, which is quite delightful.
We talked with the lady on duty today about our lives and then wondered if Dorking does close by the end of the year whether a move to Nutley would be possible. They have no spaces at the moment - but we could go on a waiting list.

The church is not old, built in 1843. It is dedicated to St James the Less. There were 2 apostles named James and one had the Less added to his name to distinguish between the two.