Grandma P's Ramblings Through Life

It was 9 days ago now that we climbed Bangor Mountain and enjoyed the view on a wonderful, sunny autumn morning.

Orme Road......home to Ashley, Liz and Ekatarina.
It is also home for many students these days. When the houses were first built they were for the workers in the slate mines.
I have just been exploring the interweb and found tales of a fisherman ghost in Orme Road! I wonder if he still is in residence.
There is a Welsh name of course - but I forget it.

The Welsh Monkland home is at the lower end of the road, just a short distance from the shore of the Menai Strait, with Anglesey beyond.

Last Saturday we walked from Church Island to walk underneath the Menai Bridge, which is the old road bridge which joins the mainland of Wales with Anglesey.
I read that the building of the bridge cut the journey time from London to Holyhead from 36 hours to 27 - that would be actual travelling time for there would have needed to be overnight stops on the way. We can do it now in 6 hours.

Information below is taken from Wikipedia. I doubt that the links work - but then anybody can read Wikipedia or other sites without my help.

Oh yes they do!


The strait is bridged in two places - the main A5 road is carried over the strait by Thomas Telford's elegant iron suspension bridge, the first of its kind, opened in January 1826, and adjacent to this is Robert Stephenson's 1850 Britannia Tubular Bridge. Originally this carried rail traffic in two wrought-iron rectangular box spans, but after a disastrous fire in 1970, which left only the limestone pillars remaining, it was rebuilt as a steel box girder bridge.


First we have 2 pictures of Britannia Bridge, taken from Church island.






Then we got closer to the Menai Bridge.

Last Saturday we walked across the causeway to Ynys Tysilio - St. Tysilio's Island. St. T was a 6th century Welsh saint who lived as hermit on the island.
The present church was built in the 1400s.

For the next few days my evening rambling will be divided into two parts.
I shall be sharing some of the photos we took whilst in Wales last week and of course sharing a little of our days here at home.

On our way to Ashley's in Bangor, we stopped at the OK American diner.
This is just outside Chester on the A55.
It is a fast food joint, but it has some novelty value and provides good value eating.
Bill has a wrap filled with scrambled egg, bacon and mushrooms and some chips.
There are posters on the walls showing rock stars of the 1950's and also those connected with 1950's cars.

Tired! There - that's summed up my day.
Weather was not so good - lots of murky drizzle. But the washing did dry reasonably well out on the line. It has felt cold.
The boss of the kitchen company came this morning to do a complete measuring up before ordering the units we have chosen.
Frieda popped round before lunch - interrupting my Boggle game with Roger and Sue.
I worry a little that she she is not up to cat feeding duties. But we can't take the job away from her because she would be so hurt.
The biggest worry is that she has still not mastered locking our back door. It wasn't locked when we arrived home last night.
Its not difficult - lift the handle and then lock. I think she just lifted the handle.
This afternoon I have been wrapping and invoicing - and almost all buyers from today have paid.
Today's sales were of books that have been listed before - a bonus when those sell.
I am about to watch Who Do You Think You Are - but have a feeling I shall doze off before the end of the programme.
I had hoped to have some Welsh photos on the blog tonight, but they are not quite ready. Bill is dealing with all his and mine.
Bill is beginning to feel the presence of that gift from Ekatarina - a cold! Never mind, she is already feeling much better and so will Bill before long.
The trouble is we all know that a cold is very minor but it doesn't stop you feeling rotten for a couple of days.
So - please stay away from me cold bug. Some hope!
Goodnight.

Back home again.
We drove Ecky up to school again this morning.
Then went back to Ashley's to pack the car up.
We left at about half past ten.
I felt I had been more relaxed than sometimes; maybe Liz's choice to stay away for much of the time was somewhat helpful for both her and us.
But I always leave wondering if we should go and disrupt their routine with a visit. Maybe we should stay with Pete and Jean instead.
I love sharing experiences with Ekatarina and she certainly seems to be happy. The days of childhood are not long and one day she will not want a grandma around so much, so I am happy to give my attention for the few days in the year that we have.
I do think Ashley appreciates having us around - or why would he come to visit whenever he has a free week?
Sorry - just musing and rambling.
I guess I am feeling tired now.
Our journey home was interrupted by a lovely long lunch with John and Sheila, who have a farm in North Wales close to Wrexham. We met over 10 years ago alongside the lake in Slovenia and Sheila and I haven't stopped talking since - though it is hard to get a word in edge ways with Sheila!
Lovely people.
We got home about half past eight. We have unpacked the car and put everything away - much easier to get that done this evening, for it has to be done some time anyway.
We have a kitchen fitter coming in the morning to do a measure up. Though no work will actually be started till the middle of November.

Time has passed and we have had a good day, but I fear there is little energy to write much now for it is getting late.
This evening we have sat in the Chamber of the Flickering Flames.
This is the name Ecky and I gave to the living room bathed in candlelight for nearly 3 hours during a power cut.
There have been word games and amusing poems and songs from Ashley.
Ecky and I went off on a few adventures with our torches as the young girl and the old crone - only in the house of course. It has become quite chilly outdoors this evening.

The day though gave us enough warmth to sit outdoors for our lunch.
We went to a cafe - styled as a bistro (so therefore more expensive!) in a beautiful setting over looking the wide sandy bay under the cliffs at Llanbedrog.
We enjoyed a very pleasant time with Pete and Jean.
We even went mad and ordered 2 huge sundaes to share between the 4 of us. I kept clear of the whipped cream, but did use my long spoon to delve into the ice cream and apricots.

Right, I must drink the cup of tea that Bill has already made for me - so frustrating not to be able to put the kettle on and make a cuppa during the power cut.
It was obvious that many of the students who rent houses in these parts, abandoned home and went into town for the warmth and cheer of one of the pubs.

Tomorrow we head for home again - calling in on friends John and Sheila for lunch.

Goodnight.

21st Sept. Bangor Mountain.

What a beautiful morning! Sunshine and crisp air.

First thing this morning we went back to the boot sale on the outskirts of town. Ecky now has more Beanie Babies and I have a few more things to sell.It was pleasant to browse and chat to people.

Despite Ashley feeling a bit wretched with his cold and Ecky still feeling run down after hers, we decided that we would like a walk.We climbed up Bangor Mountain, which is not truly a mountain in fact.The town of Bangor is spread along a valley. The old university building and Roman Camp are on the west side and Bangor Mountain is the high ground on the east side.The road from the bottom of the town to to the top is quite a hill. Ashley and Ekatarina walk up and down to school each day.It was a steep climb up from the High Street through the wooded slopes. At the top there are open spaces with commanding views from rocky outcrops over the town.We could look down upon Orme Road and Ashley's house and across the Menai Strait to Anglesey and Puffin island.We could see the university and the cathedral, looking small down there tucked amongst the shops.From another point we could look across to the mountains of Snowdonia.We came down to a point much nearer the top of the High Street, which we strolled down and back to home.

After lunch Liz came back from her couple of days with her work friend, who has been colouring her hair.We must get a photo.Her curly hair is now deep blue, almost indigo - with a lighter streak at the front.

One of the bargain shops which are springing up in these parts has opened up at the old Kwik-Save at the top of the town.How do they do it? And if it is feasible to be so cheap, then why don't all stores do it?Bill and I walked round, gasping at all the things that were about half the price we can get things at home. Our trolley was filled quite rapidly with basic essentials and a few impulse buys. Basics like toothpaste, denture fixative, kitchen cleaning things, rice cakes etc etc. As these things were obviously due to be used we packed in enough perhaps to keep us going until our next visit..
Well, not rice cakes because I get through a lot of those.

One of the things Ashley bought was a pink net canopy for a young girl's bed. It has butterflies scattered over it. Ecky had always wanted one and it was just £3.99.Since then Bill has fitted it up and she has snuggled down into bed, cocooned in her pink butterfly world.I think Ashley and Liz both need early nights - so I am sure we will be in bed early too.Goodnight.

It was a crisp autumn morning.
Ecky pleaded to stay at home. She really wanted to play more with the Polly Pocket cruise ship. So, Bill stayed at home whilst Ashley and I went to see what the new car boot sale had to offer.
This is its second week and had attracted a fair number of stalls and I came home with books and a couple of 1950s items.
It is on again tomorrow morning.

Later we had to exert a lot of pressure on Ecky to get her out for a while. She has , of course, been feeling run down with a cold..... and there are toys which we brought with us yesterday.

But finally she agreed to a walk in the fresh air. Immediately we were in a world of where the fairies might be living and she was very happy.

Our destination was close to Bangor - the little old church on the island close to the Menai Bridge. This land becomes an island with a causeway across to it at high tide.
We had all been there once before several years ago - Ekatarina was not walking then and was pushed around in the push chair.




The bridge is impressive from any angle you might see it. It was constructed in 1826.

Our walk around the "island" took us to the war memorial and past many gravestones.
I found myself in deep conversation with Ecky about re-incarnation.
She told me that she felt sure we had many lives.

Later we left the church and walked until we passed underneath the sweeping high arches of the bridge.
Very impressive and as full of history and spiritually uplifting thoughts as the church.

On the way home we called in at Morrisons for some food.
Lunch was, of course, Chinese. We finished the tasty selections we had picked yesterday evening.

I was determined to try and be helpful and so during the afternoon I "attacked" Ecky's bedroom.
I guess bargain hunters like our family would realise how easy it is to fill the house with things for almost no money. Ecky's room is no exception. She has masses of toys and books - with shelves of books all along the landing as well as in her bedroom.
I went through her clothes and managed to reject some which must be too small by now. But still I ought to go through her socks - she has more than one pair of feet need and many are probably too small.
Ecky is very loathe to part with things - even toys she hasn't played with all year.
But somehow I did manage to get to a point where most of her bed was clear and also the floor.
The bed is covered with at least 30 cuddly toys, many of which have featured in our games in Crawley and been bought at the Sussex car boot sales.

We took a lot upstairs that was cluttering up the living room too.
The dining table is half cleared now!

Bill went out and fixed up the new washing line and after washing up the lunch things did a certain amount of general cleaning.

We are now exhausted. Ashley has a sore throat.
We might be taking home a souvenir of this trip that we definitely don't want!

Ashley, Bill and Ekatarina are now watching the first part of the new series on BBC about the boyhood of Merlin.

Soon it will be bedtime for a young girl - can't call her a "little" girl any more. She is tall and full of opinions and ideas. But she will still crave being read to once in bed.

Goodnight.

Friday evening in Bangor.

We left home at quarter past seven for what proved to be a very easy journey. We arrived in Orme Road just six and a quarter hours after leaving Crawley and that included a stop for some lunch - and a couple of loo stops.
The approach to Birmingham always gives us a subject to debate - whether to use the toll road or not.
Of course we would rather not, but there were just too many dire warnings from traffic reports about the state of the M5 as it joined the M6, with people stuck for well over half an hour, that we decided to treat ourselves to swooping round to the north of Birmingham in a completely hassle free zone.
We stopped for lunch at the OK Diner on the A55. It is based on an American type of 1950s diner, with posters relating to 1950s rock and roll and with such music playing gently in the background.
We had breakfast wraps, crammed full with scrambled egg, bacon and mushrooms and also treated ourselves to a plate of chips and some onion rings in beer batter.
Tasty and good value and a welcome relaxing break.
We arrived at Ashley's in plenty of time to drive to Ecky's school to pick her up - except that she didn't go to school today. She has snuffles and coughed all week and yesterday felt pretty wretched and it was probably sensible to have 2 days away from school.
We unloaded the car - full completely with boxes of things bought in the summer at the car boot sales.
Ecky was eager to get the Polly Pocket cruise ship out and soon it was on the floor, opened and ready for play.
I had a couple of the little dolls to dress and create characters for.
We invented a name for one of them after Ecky garbled the question "Who would you be?". My doll became Juby!
Later Ecky wanted to show me a computer game she is keen on called Escape from Paradise. At first I thought I would never understand - simple games for me! But once I got going I could move my characters around this island where they had been washed up. I was looking after each one's welfare and instructing them to build various items. Once the game has been completed you can decide for the characters if they stay on the Paradise Island or use their powers to escape back to the real world.
Food was simple this evening.
I was tired and didn't really fancy shopping.
So we had a huge Chinese take away which will last us 2 days at least.
Liz is not here at the moment. She is spending one night - or maybe 2 with a friend.
After food we had fun looking at a few You Tube bits - the scenes on the rooftops in Mary Poppins is a great favourite. Somebody has, for your enjoyment, got this backwards and it was very funny.
I took Ecky to bed, rather later than normal. I read the first chapter of a Jacqueline Wilson book that had been bought in the summer. It makes me realise that our Ecky is growing up fast. These books I would have said are aimed at children at least 4 years older than she is. They have very perceptive insights into family life - at least this first chapter did.
Right - same old ending whether at home or 300 miles from home - time for a cuppa and then get to bed.
We will be up early. A car boot sale has started on the outskirts of Bangor and we will be off to see if it has attracted many stalls thus far. At least the weather will be good enough.
Goodnight.

There will be a few photos of this trip on the blog once we get home.

I have been quite deeply asleep.I saw the beginning of the news on TV - and 45 minutes later realised I had seen almost nothing.
Never mind I normally pick up the news and comment from the radio and Radio 5, which I listen to in bed.
This morning, Andrew, the kitchen man came.
He got his computer out and showed us pictures of our kitchen from many angles with a couple of different ideas.
Generally I would have been happy with the cheaper option.
I felt no pressure from Andrew - it was Bill who clearly thought that we might as well have new cupboards throughout.
There will be a couple of months before it can be done - time for us to go through cupboards and drawers to work out what we can live without.

And now we look ahead to the next few days.
Bags are packed and we aim to be on the road to Bangor bright and early.
I shall write a little blog each evening as usual from Ashley's computer.

Goodnight.

Happily I have had some energy today and felt reasonably on top of things.
It has been busy.

First we attended the doctor's surgery. We both saw Dr Oliver, who has been through a really bad health time of his own. We compared notes and he and I were both grateful for superb care which has saved our lives - and of course it was he who started me onto the full diagnosis and solving of my problems.
My appointment was simple - just putting me on some different calcium and Vitamin D. Hopefully this brand will ease my digestive problems; and they certainly taste better - a bit like a lemon refresher, for those of you who know of these fizzy sherbety sweets.
Bill's appointment was more complicated and involved a personal examination.
The upshot of this is that he has an enlarged prostate - the old man's complaint! This afternoon he yet another blood test. It is most likely that the only treatment will be yet more tablets to take - finasteride. If the blood test shows any abnormalities there would be further tests.
I felt happy actually, that Bill had boldly gone to talk about the problem and that he was taken seriously and is being looked after.

Later we went to see Ruth and the new baby.
I don't know if he has a name yet. She and Dede were planning to register him this afternoon...... but did I detect some doubt about his name? Certainly they were still debating 2 choices.
When we arrived he had been fed and changed and for a short while had his eyes open and I enjoyed a cuddle and we had a time staring into each other's eyes. He is very beautiful.
But soon he nodded off in my arms and so we lay him down more comfortably.

It has been a normal enough sort of day, but this evening I feel not so well.
Its nothing disastrous of course, but I just want to curl up in my bed.
Please let this rotten feeling be gone in the morning.
There have been EBay doings and a little shopping in Asda.
I have recoloured my hair - it said mid brown, but I fear it looks too dark. Maybe I will get some more and do it again with something lighter.
OK - I will make a cup of tea and then go to bed.
I hope I am fit for all that is planned tomorrow.
Goodnight.

So, what have we been up to today?
There has been wrapping, invoicing, accounting and posting - but not too much of anything.
This morning we caught the bus into town to change my Sloggis.
I confess to a bit of naughtiness.
I wore one pair on Saturday, although they felt a bit tight. Indeed, I wondered if the tightness might have contributed to the bleaking ladder! Work it out!
That pair have been washed and fitted back into the pack with the other 3 unworn pairs and with the other, unopened box, all were returned to TJ Hughes and I now have larger sized Sloggis.

This afternoon Frieda came round and told us of her wonderful few days holiday in a converted mansion near Hereford.
She told us that the hotel and grounds were so big it took 40 minutes to walk from one end to the other.
Maybe!

Bill has had another of his regular blood tests.

This evening we got our first glimpse of the new baby - in photographic form only.
We are going to meet him on Wednesday.

It has been Sunday and it hasn't rained.
So of course we have been out hunting.
The ground was still very sticky after all that rain on Friday so I wore my wellington boots that I had bought in Lidls.
This morning at Pease Pottage I found a good supply of interesting books to sell.
I shall be particularly pleased to see what interest there is in 10 well produced year booklets for Mitcham Cricket Club from 1962 to 1972. They only cost me 10p for the lot.
Later we went to Edenbridge, which we much prefer - though today found a lot less there for selling.
But I had other things in mind - shoes.
I have bought for next to nothing 2 pairs of shoes. I think they might serve me very well.
I was looking for more trousers, but instead bought a deep purple blouse and long skirt which were brand new for £3.
Bill bought a blue check shirt and 2 M&S polo shirts (T shirts with collars).
We also came home with free range eggs, runner beans from the seller's allotment and some ridge cucumbers.
When I got back I finally undid a parcel that had arrived for me yesterday - another pair of shoes. These are red Nike trainers that I bought from an eBay seller.
It was a risk for me buying shoes without trying them on, but these are a complete success.
Bill dozed over the latest Grand Prix race.
I contacted the buyer of the 2 Carn Pottery vases that sold today.
Then I listed a whole bundle of things that had failed to sell during August. Better luck next time books!
It is now evening - I fell asleep as usual over The Antiques Roadshow.
Bill is about to check out the model locomotive that he bought this morning. Its a Southern 040 T. He has a length of track that he can put out along the length of the kitchen work tops....... ah here comes the engine along the rails. It works.
I am really tired.
I want to watch the first part of Tess of the D'Urbevilles - but feel sure I would nod off to sleep again, so I'll give it a miss. I was great Thomas Hardy fan in my youth and Tess is one of the best.
That will do for now - I'll get my nightdress on and have a cup of tea and then snuggle down for the night.
Goodnight.

This has been a day of chat and laughter.
We went to Libby's for lunch.
There were 4 of us "girls" together again almost exactly 46 years to the day since we met.
The other 6 either had other commitments or spread all around the world.
We reminisced, put the world of education to rights, knew for sure that we we could manage the country better than those that do and generally had a good time over a very fine Indian meal and for a lovely afternoon.
Libby was married to Shyamal, an Indian for far too short a time before becoming a widow - but she certainly learned good authentic Indian food.
The other three of us had our husbands with us.
It never ceases to amaze me how different were each of the members of our crowd and yet how well we gelled together with a strong feeling of loyalty to each other.
The latest news from one of our number, Kate - who was not able to be with us today is that her husband was knighted in the most recent birthday honours list. So now I can include Sir Andrew and Lady McMichael amongst my friends.

Professor Andrew McMichael, Professor of Molecular Medicine has been knighted. The Director of the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and Fellow of Corpus Christi College has been honoured for services to medical science.

Andrew has worked on T cell responses to HIV and influenza, and I know has advanced knowledge quite considerably.

Sandra and Barry were there - Barry has always been a big shot in the world of big business. I guess he might be one of the "fat cats". He was once chairman of the Welsh Development Agency and was the director of the Millennium Dome plans - until he got out, realising that the politicians would be unable to let things go ahead as he would have wanted.

Mavis and Richard now live most of the time in rural France. Richard was a chemical biologist (probably wrong title) but he understood well about too much potassium.

All of us girls had been teachers. Libby had been head of a small school in the West London suburbs.



And here we are - left to right, Mavis, Libby, Sandra and me.

We might have taken more pictures but we left it until late and people were ready to leave. And when I stood up I realised I had a problem.
Why, oh why did it have to be today that I get a leaking bag?
It has taught us something anyway. I have spare bags with me at all times, but because the leaks away from home are exceedingly rare (this was only the second time), the spare bags stay folded inside another bag for too long.
We knew that the sticky flange was damaged.
It failed immediately. The next attempt proved a little more long lasting and it got me home again, wrapped in towels and wondering all the time what was going on.
But as soon as I stood up to come indoors from the car I knew we had another failure.
So - bother bother bother!
These things make me feel so vulnerable and just a little less willing to make plans to be away from my nest.
But bags and problems have to be part of my life and - and "life" is the important word.
So, feeling a bit fragile, I think it is time to bid you a goodnight.

It has been a busy day.
But I will recount it briefly (ish).
This morning Andrew, the kitchen man came round and stayed an age. Of course conversation strayed far and beyond kitchens.
He will prepare 2 estimates - one for completely new cupboards throughout and the other just for new cupboards to be hung on the walls and new doors for elsewhere.
Assuming that Andrew produces what is needed at a price we think is reasonable enough, then he is our man.
Once he had finished his cup of coffee and left us, we hurried up to the bus stop to catch the bus into town. We did wonder if we might have missed it and so decided to walk.
It was as well we walked because there was a notice at the bus station saying that there would be no buses on our route - I wonder why.
There was good and bad about the trip to town.
The bad was my foolish idea to look at shoes. I checked out all the charity shops just to see if they might have something a bit more feminine that would feel comfortable. Better luck next time maybe.
We had to go into T J Hughes and so I decided to look at shoes in there. They had some called "Comfort Fit" - and comfortable they might have been if I could have got my foot into them!
I soon felt frustrated.
Yet I am glad we went in because I have seen just the curtains I would like in the kitchen.
I bought Sloggis whilst in there - posh knickers! Good price.
As we walked past the newly refurbished Sri Lankan restaurant we were greeted by a man with 2 plates of food to sample.
We had quite a long chat with the man and enjoyed the free samples.
We had eaten in this restaurant once before, with Ashley, when it was under the previous management.
They do cheap lunchtime menus and we will be back.
That was the best bit of being in town this morning.
We also bought a small travelling hair dryer in Argos for £4.95. It is not needed just for hair - I like to use a hair dryer to ensure that my skin is completely dry at bag changing time.
Then we caught a bus home - different route.
We had a quick lunch and then I was dealing with really good sales on Ebay.
I had 6 things finishing and all sold. These 6 books had cost me £5. They sold for £46.
The amazing one was a small booklet produced by Romary, the Tunbridge Wells biscuit company. It sold for £23. The buyer is "so pleased to have this elusive little book".
Then we were out again to get some food supplies in.
This evening we have been out again to the post card club. The speaker tonight was Tony Killick, one of our oldest friends, who gave us a miscellany of Charlwood childhood memories. His memory for details is good and he has hoarded a lot of ephemera and artefacts.
I think he got up to a great deal more than any of the Monks who were still there at that time. He was born in 1933, so Bill's Dad (and others) would still have been a Charlwood resident at the time.
It was great fun.
And yes we came home with a raffle prize! It is a box of fudge with a message "Thank you for looking after our cat". Maybe we can save it up until next weekend and give it to Frieda, who will be feeding George and Harry whilst we are in Wales.
Well, it is getting late.
I wish Roger and Sue well with all their entries at the Market Lavington flower show - there will be prizes a plenty I am sure.
Best wishes again to our new family member - nameless, as yet.
Goodnight - must get some sleep. We have a full day planned for tomorrow.

Welcome to the world baby!
Ruth and Dede's second son was born in the wee small hours, early this morning.
All is well.
We have not yet heard what this child will be named - I have heard some musings, but nothing definite as yet.
Hopefully we will go and visit over the weekend.

Like many I have thought today of what happened on what the Americans call 9/11.
The events were very awful and yet sort of seemed unreal to us as we watched in our Slovenian hotel room.
We were in paradise - and yet the events in the USA did affect us of course. We were affected not just in our thoughts and emotions but because one of our plans had to be changed.
We had been going to visit a palace used by the Slovenian Prime Minister as a summer retreat.
Suddenly he decided to retreat there that day - along with the Italian Prime Minister who was visiting.

Today we have been in Dorking. We thought the heavy rain would put customers off - but thankfully the rain stopped and we saw quite a lot of people in the shop.
I rearranged my things - more in optimistic hope than any real constructive purpose. Bill is still selling much better than I am.
I think I must change my stock a little to include many more collectable interesting bits, rather than all the china and glass.
Jo has also had been there planning rearrangements - made more interesting because she sold a chest of drawers today.

I popped out to the post office with a collection of parcels and to do a bit of shopping. It feels good to be in a bustling, interesting old town.

Right, I think I might curl up in front of the TV - except Bill has beaten me to it and might have chosen something I don't want to watch.
Goodnight.

Back to the kitchen!
Today we might have moved a little closer to sorting out our kitchen wants and needs in a more practical and economical way.
Bill went back to looking at replacing just the cupboard doors.
A site he once looked at have a branch which supplies these doors in Horsham, so we went to have a look.
The young man in the shop was most agreeable and helpful.
Turns out he was not as young as I thought - even kitchen salesman are now looking young to me!
You might wonder how we found out his age; well, we talked a lot and he obviously had lived near us in his youth and went to the same school as Jamie and Ashley. I wondered if he might be about their age and know of one of them.
Turns out Andrew is 46.
We also discovered that he is into diving and has been a member of the Ifield Diving Club. One wonders how an inland neighbourhood of Crawley needed a diving club - but of course they arranged groups to go down to the south coast and beyond for diving experience. Our Matthew (half brother) was a member for a short while in his teens.
In amongst all the chatter we also talked of kitchens of course. Andrew understood about budgets! In fact we could just tell him what we want to spend and would work out the best solutions for us.
He is coming to look at the kitchen on Friday morning.
I have already picked cupboard doors and a work top. I think we may well have some new cupboards too - but maybe not all of them.
I think Bill was thinking that doors would not be available for old cupboards which are old sizings - but Andrew assured us they can be made as we want them.
We might have to remove the tiles that we have - but in fact tiles are not really very expensive.
He is sure that the present sink would probably buckle when it is removed to fit other things and so we will have a new stainless steel sink and probably some new taps. I have even seen a tap that I really like - probably one of the more expensive ones.
This afternoon Bill went back onto the web site and has totted up what a good part of what we want would cost - without any labour for fitting it. He has reached just over £1,000.
So it looks as though we could go really quite mad and not get anywhere near Mrs Charlwood Kitchen's provisional quote.
I even start to look forward to it.
I think Bill is looking forward to doing some of the work - though he will need help with some of it.
The flooring part of this renovation will be looked at soon - but the cupboards need to be done before flooring is put down; I still like the idea of this classy vinyl sisal look alike matting.
I have been busy selling some things on Ebay this afternoon - I am doing just a few each day.
The sun eventually put in a token appearance today - rather weakly, but better than nothing. Tonight the sky is clear and there is a lovely bright half moon.
I phoned Ruth this afternoon - still patiently waiting for the baby. He's only 5 days late. She had been to the hospital this morning and had a sweep. I am sure we didn't have "sweeps" in my day! It is an internal probing which just might get things things started.
We have a box of things ready for Dorking tomorrow. It should be a good day - Jo will be on duty with us, having swapped with Jill.
It will soon be time for Who Do You Think You Are? I don't yet know whose family history they are delving into this week.
Goodnight.

It has been raining since about 2 o'clock.
Enough said about that!

This evening Bill is busy at the computer screen and back and forth into the kitchen with a steel ruler.
There just has to be another way of sprucing up the kitchen than the services of Mrs Charlwood Kitchens.
Bill had heard my doubts last week, but I was prepared to move forward and dealt with the kitchen lady with politeness and as if I was wholeheartedly looking forward to what was on offer.
Her optimism might have dropped as I kept mentioning things that might as well stay - to save money.
Before she went I asked her for some sort of general figure, so that we knew roughly what to expect.
I offered her "£5,000" to which she replied that it would be a bit more than that; "Ah then I guess it will reach £6,000"
But know she reckoned nearer £10,000!!!!!!
There is no way I would consider such a figure - for that does not include floor covering or curtains, which will be changed.
Nor does it include a new cooker, which doesn't need to be changed.
We await her written estimate before confirming that we can't go ahead with it.
In my opinion what we need is new flooring, new curtains and a new work surface.
I don't need to change the kitchen sink - it has been good enough for the last 25 years.
If Bill wants to buy and fix some fancy taps then it would be his choice.
And equally if he wants to pursue cupboard doors - or complete carcasses and doors then he can sort it out.
I am sure we could hire a handyman to help with the fitting.
I guess we would need somebody to help with fitting the new work surface. The material would be heavy.
So, that's it for now.
We might go and look at the flooring we found on the internet. There is a place at Nutfield which stocks it. This is a village near Redhill and Bletchingly (where the first Monks that we know of settled in the 1600s). The weather for tomorrow might be better so it would make an interesting trip out.
Or we might go to Horsham and look at another supplier of kitchen cupboards - some which Bill is checking out now.

What else today?
Not much really.

The interesting long socks that I ordered online arrived in the post this morning. Now, that's good service.

Parcels have been posted.

Fleetwood Pier burned down. We don't know Fleetwood well, but we have visited a few times when Ashley and Liz lived there. The pier was never a thing of beauty - but sad that it had to go like that.

The Prime Minister of Thailand has resigned/was pushed, after all.
The Constitution Court ruled in a unanimous verdict on Tuesday that the two TV cooking shows of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej violated the charter ban on outside employment and ordered him to leave office immediately.
This was in the Bangkok Post today.
So the protesters didn't get him but the letter of the law did.
But he could be back.

In Beijing attention to detail caused a mighty rumpus. A medal ceremony for the women's wheelchair 5,000 metres was due at a certain time and thus took place then, despite the fact that all sorts of protests were underway after a mighty crash on the penultimate lap.
So our girl got a medal and then afterwards was told to hand it back and to do the race again on Friday.
Lots of cycling golds though.

In Haitii and Cuba, Hurricane Ike has created havoc - they say it is now heading for Louisiana.

One thing that has not happened yet is the birth of the new baby. I am disappointed - but not as much as Ruth I guess. I woke this morning from a dream in which Dad (the baby's grandfather) was seen holding a new born baby. I was sure that was an omen.

My gut has needed some input from Immodium today. So, still headachy.

Time for more to drink and some rest.
Goodnight.

Monday - a day to gather strength after the exertions of the weekend.

That's how it has seemed for me now for many a long year, and very much so today.
Except that I don't recall the weekend being all that full of activity.

I woke in the night feeling nauseous and with a headache. It might have been better not to have blamed myself for some real or imagined indiscretion and perhaps should have recognised that this was a migraine. If I had taken pain relief at that point maybe it wouldn't have lingered for much of the day.
Fortunately it wasn't the completely debilitating sort and I have plodded through a number of tasks, but nothing too energetic.
I am afraid I left the hard work to Bill.
As I wrapped parcels, he was busy withe vacuum cleaner and changing the bed etc.
Later as I dealt with the successful bidders, he was out taking advantage of a rain free day and cutting the lawns.
I have finally looked through the brochures about new kitchen fitments and feel at least that it all might be possible.
I was able to look and know what I did and did not like.
And Bill has found a really great floor covering - an alternative to sisal matting, which I have always loved.
It would take us back to the beginning of our lives when we had squares of sisal matting sown together on many of our floors.
I am not exactly sure what this new floor covering is made of, but it can be washed with a mop and bucket and hoovered too to get out any crumbs and bits - and cat hairs!
Tomorrow we will discuss it all with the lady from Charlwood Kitchens.

Well, feeling weak and run down still, I shall call a halt today and make a cup of tea and think about sleep.
Goodnight.

One peep through the curtains at just gone 6 o'clock told us that it would not be worth going to Dorking for the car boot sale - yes, it was raining once again.
But it didn't rain all the day, thank goodness. It stayed dry for the athletics meeting this afternoon.


This morning we watched a little sport on TV from Beijing - cycling, with UK riders doing well.
I know that it might seem a bit patronising to feel especially moved as disabled athletes reach the pinnacle of success - but I did feel close to tears as we watched one cyclist collect his gold medal.
Whilst he was on his bike it was hard to see exactly what was wrong with him - man and bike seemed as one. On the rostrum his artificial limb and his stick were much more apparent and he walked with some difficulty and with fragile balance.


Later we were at the track for the highlight of more athletes' lives. This was the final of the Sussex Under 13s League. There were teams from 11 clubs across Sussex competing. At this level the support for each other is obvious and even the "superstars" are aware that each person's effort is of value. It was a lively meeting, with lots of happy children and parents.

I was the chief timekeeper. Having worked out the duties of the other timekeepers in advance I felt relaxed and worked hard to keep the meeting flowing and everybody happy.

At the end the young athletes paraded along the track and assembled at the finish line for the presentations.






The trophy was won this year by the Brighton club. Crawley came 3rd.
And yes, Sue is wearing a jacket from Beijing.
Sue and Keith (Mr and Mrs Sussex athletics almost) have made the trip to all of the recent Olympic Games.
Remember you can click on the photos to see more detail on a bigger image.

There is never time to take photos of the races or of all the timekeepers at work, but Bill took one of me, posing after the meeting was over.



I watched the first of the new series of The Antiques Roadshow this evening. The last interview was with a mother and daughter. Mother had only stood in the queue for so long with their little trinket to please the daughter - turned out it was worth £20,000!!!!!

Now perhaps I can return to The Cradle of Rome. I got bored with failing on Cradle of Persia and am now hooked on a similar game based on ancient Rome. Trouble is I can't get past being a peasant!

Goodnight.

"Nothing much"...... that was the answer our parents usually got when they asked what we had done at school that day.
I suppose life can be a bit like that - lots of "nothing much", punctuated by some out of the ordinary. Though actually I do feel blessed that our lives don't have a routine and all sorts of things crop up to enliven life.
But today, I regret, I haven't taken much trouble to to make this an interesting day.
The best news of the day came with the discovery that, at last, Lidls will soon open a branch in Crawley.
So, maybe this has been the last day that we have to go there to do the shopping.
We had lots of specific items to buy today in Lidls, but you never know what you might find on a shopping trip there. I suppose it reminds me a bit of a car boot sale!
The basic foodstuffs stay much the same.
But each week they get in different non foodstuffs and very often we find something that we feel we could make use of.
Today I bought some fleecy lined wellington boots for £9.99. Of course, with my feet being what they are I was much more comfortable in the men's pair. Indeed I couldn't get my high arches into a women's pair.
I am not exactly sure when I shall wear them - and in the past I haven't stayed comfortable in welly boots for very long. But these seemed to be good. I can wear them under trousers just to keep my feet warm perhaps.
How I wish I could wear something a bit more glamorous sometimes. I like to see high heeled shoes and once upon a time I could wear something a bit more elegant. Maybe I'll try once again to see if I just might find something that I could wear for a few hours. I have taken to wearing more skirts and dresses through the summer, which is fine when you don't need socks - because sandals (even my wide sensible ones) look OK.
Right then - tomorrow will be another day.
I shall soon make a cuppa and maybe find some interesting documentary type programme on TV.
Goodnight.