Grandma P's Ramblings Through Life

"I don't know how it is, Christopher Robin, but what
with all this snow and one thing and another, not to mention
icicles and such-like, it isn't so Hot in my field about three
o'clock in the morning as some people think it is. It isn't
Close, if you know what I mean--not so as to be uncomfortable.
It isn't Stuffy. In fact, Christopher Robin," he went on in a
loud whisper, "quite-between-ourselves-and- don't-tell-anybody,
it's Cold."

These words eased themselves into my head during the afternoon......not 3 o'clock in the morning, but 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
By mid afternoon I am not sure how coherent thoughts were found in my brain!
We had been sitting outdoors in the icy wind since 11 o'clock.
Not only was the meeting not cancelled (well, of course it never would have been), but it was the best attended for quite some while.
There were six of us....a couple more than I had dared to hope for. That was good, for it allowed the chance for people to wander off for a hot drink or maybe just go somewhere to get warm.
Of course we had dressed very appropriately for the weather.
Our son, cheerfully announces that there is no such thing as bad weather - only wrong clothes. It's all very well to say that from your home in tropical Thailand!



Here is Donna.
We worked together; despite the cold she stayed alert and was timekeeping at a high standard.

She was well covered with many layers.
I think I had more layers on my legs than she did.....long socks, walking socks, leggings, cord trousers and windproof trousers.
We both had blankets wrapped round us too.
I wish I had though of a scarf to protect the face.

Sunshine - yes, we saw some this morning.
We saw enough to make me feel optimistic......until the sky blackened and there were snowflakes.
We were in the shop for one of my Saturdays.
It was busy.......making a very pleasant change.
I sold well.
I popped up to Sainsbury's.....so cold out there; that biting wind whipped round a body.
I shivered and hurried back to the shop, not warm really - but at least out of the wind.
I shuddered at the thought of being outdoors for any length of time.....which of course we will do tomorrow.
We will spend some hours sitting perched up on the timekeepers steps, facing into the wind.
I suspect that my fingers will become too numb and painful to operate a watch or write!
It happened today. It happens frequently. Suddenly there is pain, but no feeling....how can that be possible?
Warmth helps a bit, but it takes ages to clear.
This is something I must see the doctor about after our holiday.
Bill enjoyed a pub lunch with Stephen and Philip.I hope it was warm and cosy in the pub.
Claudia and I manned the shop in their absence.
This afternoon we had toasted hot cross buns and tea......and a shop full of customers.
Customers were in until past closing time. Claudia was dealing with a woman looking at cranberry glass. The woman was finding it so difficult to make a decision.
She was driving Claudia mad!
Finally she made a decision.....and so as to get the best price, she said she would go to the ATM machine just along the road, so as to pay with cash, and be back.
Claudia got it wrapped ready for her.
Back she came...."I'm sorry, I have been talking to my husband and have now decided not to buy it" !!!!!
Always blame your spouse, if you know you are being a rat!
We drove home in almost a blizzard of sleat.
Shivers of expectation of what might be tomorrow!
Home to a warm house, hot dinner and Dr Who.....so surreal and demanding of suspension of reality. I am not really good at abandoning reality......and yet I love Dr Who. It has come a long way in fifty years.
Have a good Easter Day, those that choose to mark it; be it with church or chocolate or both.

I am getting confused about what day it is.
That's not like me.......but it has felt like a Sunday.
We went to Horsham this morning for the annual car boot sale held at Collyer's School. It made for a good reminder of why we prefer to go to Ford.
Of course the number of stalls was less than usual.
And not one stall had anything I was interested in buying for the shop.
I bought some rhubarb and a posh Lindt Easter egg and chocolate bunnies for Frieda.
We met up with people we know.
Then we had breakfast with Jo.
I spent much of the day just tidying.
And I am continuing to prepare things for when we sell at a car boot sale sometime in May or June.
It feels good to lessen the amount of stock I have...what is left is not wanted by me anymore.
I prepared the rhubarb and got the bowl in which to make the crumble.
I took out the flour container, opened it and, oh horror....it was full of little brown creepy crawly things.
So, our rhubarb crumble lacks the crumble.
I will finish with an Easter picture.
My great nephew and his friend at an Easter bonnet fund raising morning at his pre-school.

Now, if that doesn't make for a happy Easter, I don't know what will do it for you.

This is my blog number 2222.

It describes a day that felt just a tad warmer.......not sure how we can think that 8 degrees is warm!
And it was much less than that when we left home.

Ford was full of sellers.....mostly trying to dodge the prying lens of a BBC camera. They must have been filming the Great British Antiques Road Trip - the experts normally have to buy things at a car boot sale, during the trip, to make a profit.
Maybe I am an expert - I can buy things to make a profit every week.
And I bought a few more things today.

We went to Littlehampton for breakfast - can't stay away for long.
I opted for sweet chilli noodles......lower in fat than any of the breakfast items.

Very tasty.
It can be served with or without a chicken breast,













Then we went for a walk.
I began by looking out for boat bits along the river.



















The old green hut.....the reflection in the window always looks different.

Then I enjoyed looking at things on the beach.


I knew these were egg cases.
But I had never learned about them
They are whelk egg cases.

I moved nothing to take this picture; I liked the bit of shell, looking like a monster, on the end of a stick.

The high tide line was thick with whelk egg cases.






























Above the beach at this point, there are a few kiosks; here one can buy food, drink, ice creams, things to play with on the beach and seaside novelties to take home.
The kiosks were busy.
People were re-painting and cleaning.
One kiosk was open.
Littlehampton is waking up.......Easter starts the summer season, whether it feels like summer or not.

Wednesday - so often a fairly empty day in my life.
It does seem to be a day when I need a rest.
But the day began with some work. Just before bedtime I checked my emails yesterday evening......many came in.
I had completely forgotten that I had auctions ending on EBay. This was a set of items that had been listed before and I was eager to see the back of.
Pleased to sell seven items.
So, my day began with dealing with the sales and payments and parcels.
I did this before a late breakfast.
Frieda came round for a while as we finished eating. She had bought a box of chocolates and a card as an Easter gift. Bless her...I have never got my head round Easter cards and gifts.
We'll get her an Easter egg.
We posted parcels in Tilgate - one straight through a front door letter box.
Yes, the buyer lived about half a mile away.....silly of them not to notice that that, when they paid for postage and packing.
I refunded that of course.
This afternoon I phoned a good old friend. Lyn had been a timekeeper - a very good and enthusiastic one; but life changes.
She had not been able to travel to the funeral yesterday, so we had a long chat together about how our families had moved on.
Some members of our family had a surprise meeting today.
Jenny and Mike are in Newcastle - home of Ashley and Liz. They knew there was no time for a meeting; J and M had other committments and Jenny would only be there for a short while.
Nevertheless the four of them bumped into each other in the middle of that great city.
They travelled on The Metro together.
Still cold - very cold, but with a little sunshine it felt a bit more cheerful.

Funerals!
We are awkward about funerals in this country - maybe they are in other  countries too, but I think less so.
We no longer know exactly what to do.
In earlier times The Book of Common Prayer laid out the procedure for a funeral and it was followed. People felt secure, maybe, in the strict rules of death and funerals.
They knew what to do and when to do it.
Nowadays we, quite rightly, want a funeral to be  a personal affair, reflecting the life of  our loved one who has died and also the needs of their immediate grieving family.
If the family have no strong commitment to the church, they are left floundering as to the procedures they should follow.
They just know that they should end the day, feeling sure that they have done well for their loved one.
Mostly, all goes well.....and it did today.
I had been asked to do a reading at Dave O's funeral......to represent the timekeepers.
My name was on the service booklet.
But a week ago I was contacted and asked how long my talk would take. No! I could not deliver a talk. Not in this case. I have done it in the past for a member of my own family.
I persuaded the family that, where possible, these things are best done by the family and the celebrant.
Dave had no established religion and apart from favourite hymns, which we all know, there was little or know mention of God.
The celebrant told the story of Dave's life - as so often is the case there were surprises; things I didn't know about the man.
I think the celebrant (an elegant woman) picked up on Dave's activities and personality very well.
We finished with Chris Barber's jazz band - not there in person, of course!
They were playing The Teddy Bears' Picnic.
And then it was time to go out into the cold to greet everybody and chat......and, of course, it really was very cold.
And then......well, in this country we have no word for it; the time for family and friends to come together to share memories and companionship and food and  drink.
It contrasts with the grieving and allows some relaxation and laughter.
It's not a party, not a reception, not a wake (too Irish, I guess). It ends up being called "afterwards".
The pub opposite - The Heathy Farm - does very well out of the funeral trade, for it is so convenient.
There was quite a gathering of timekeepers and others from athletics clubs around Sussex.
There were seven timekeepers - 5 of whom appear on this photo.
It dates from 1990.


Look at us!
All properly dressed - we are all less concerned about that these days.
Four of the TKs died before Dave.
Dave is standing at the back.
When I commented on this to Phyllis, his widow, and wondered why. she retorted "He'd probably fallen out with everybody!"
She knew her man, the man she loved!
We loved him and were frustrated by him in equal measure.
The timekeepers are like an extended family.....if we don't learn to tolerate each others' foibles, then the whole set up would fall apart.
The problem is that there are far too few people wishing to join the extended family.
Look at that lot....only 3 are younger than me.
I think much the same would still apply today. We rarely work with a Sussex timekeeper under the age of 60.








The funeral combined Dave's 2 extended families - his own and the timekeepers.
I was glad to see all of his family - the grandaughter he was so proud of when she was a toddler has grown to an attractive 25 year old, who he adored; she read a poem for him today. We used to hear so much about her - now we have met her.
I wish them all well as they move on into the future.
Our future includes timekeeping - next Sunday. In this bitter cold weather I quite long for the words "The Easter Sunday meeting has been cancelled".
But athletics meetings are never cancelled. I doubt that the athletes and their parents appreciate how much the officials might suffer on their behalf!

There was snow on the Surrey hills.......made me feel glad for all the layers I had put on this morning.
I enjoyed the day at the shop with Bill; I was busy all day - didn't even have time to do a Sudoku puzzle.
The sales were reasonably good for a very chilly Monday. We had people in from Germany and America - disappointed with their Spring visit, I expect.
There was much chatting.
Emma, one of our dealers was in for a while and I spent some time with Monika in her shop.

I sorted out some of my new stock.....where to put the kitchen table?

I think it works well.


































Today I have brought home more than I took.
I have cleared a lot of items from the bottom shelves. I had hoped to start going through it all and alter price tickets to make them suitable for selling at a car boot sale.
I can do that during this week.
Maybe we can do one at the end of May.

It was cold in the shop - but the lowest it wen to was 6 degrees C; I have known it fractionally colder.
But work kept me warm; as did a brief walk to some shops in the afternoon.

It was cold!
Snow flakes were falling lightly as we left home this morning.
But that was OK, we thought, we were off to an indoor venue.
The South Downs were shrouded as we drove south - shrouded in mist, cloud or very light snow fall? I don't know; but they had an eerie beauty.
We arrived at Fontwell horse racing track at about half past nine. We were not intending to stand outdoors to watch horses gallop by - though one day I would like to.
We paid our money to enter....and what did we see?
Stalls outside! I was not dressed for stalls outside!
We had a quick trip round them - couldn't resist, and then headed to the inside room under the main grandstand.
It wasn't so very warm in there either.
We bought a toffee tin and a model car in there.
Back outdoors again to scurry to a room under another stand.
I knew one of the dealers in there - Carol had been a seller in the Ardingly Rocking Horse shop.
I didn't buy from her - but bought a lot from the stall next door.
I almost felt embarrassed to buy at their low prices......but that was their choice.
I bought 10 items for £32 - I didn't have the heart to haggle and knock them down to £30.


As you can see, I bought several items of barge art.
Not the best examples of the art form, I will agree.
But the items will prove to be decorative in the kitchens of some.
The woman selling told us that her father had done the work.
























Among the items were 3 shoe lasts of various sizes.
They are both decorative and useful....useful as door stops maybe.

Both Bill and I have connections with the shoe repairing trade.
His father learned the trade in the army during the second world war.
In fact when he was demobbed, the army were ready to set him up in a small business in Norfolk.
He declined.....wanting nothing more than the familiarity of his own Crawley/ Charlwood environment.
He continued to repair shoes for the large extended family.
My grandfather was also a cobbler.
Having taken refuge in Tunbridge Wells - to escape the bombardment of Sussex coastal towns during the war, he stayed on and set up a small business repairing shoes off Grosvenor Road.








































My Grandad, cobbling.

We paid for the purchases and left them with the stall holder and went to see what was for sale in the marquee.
That was the warmest place to be.
There were heaters.
But we didn't buy anything there.
The fair was a good one - and I look forward to going again. Dressed more appropriately for the weather.
That could mean cotton dress and sandals, next time.....what a dream!

It had been my plan to sit with a cup of tea in the grandstand, chatting with other buyers maybe.
But it felt cold and draughty.
I would have loved to look round the outside stalls again, but that icy wind made us feel very uncomfortable.
The cup of tea would have to be somewhere else.
We were not far from Aundel, so went to the cafe by Swanbourne Lake.
It felt good in there - popular with lots of people, eager to get in the warm.

I didn't fully warm up until I had a steaming hot shower later in the afternoon.

There it was a again.....we woke to a covering of snow and it continued o snow all the morning.
It was a very wet snow and not at all troublesome.
Having peered at the snow, we enjoyed a very leisurely cup of tea in bed, listening to The Sounds of the 60s on Radio 2.
Brian Matthew seems to have been on Saturday morning radio almost all my life. He was doing Saturday Club in the 1960s; there have been gaps, of course. He began Sounds of the 60s in 1990, taking over from Keith Fordyce.
His voice, his style and his knowledge are just part of my life. long may he continue - he is 84 now.
I felt very negative this morning.....how dare it be so cold still?
So, when we appraised our need for bread and a few bits, I suggested that we go to the local farm shop and have a pot of tea and share a toasted sandwich in that warm friendly atmosphere.
I took a risk with the toasted sandwich - bacon, cheese and red onion.
Yes, it was lovely, and it did the trick. I had more oomph on our return and, so far, my digestion has behaved.
I came home and played with some photos I took whilst we were out.
Then I made a cream sponge......the first cake I have made for years. It's not up to my old standards - but I discovered the only flour I had was gluten free wheat flour.
We have eaten sausages and mash - with loads of veg, mushrooms and onions. Plenty left for tomorrow.
And it has been Saturday night at the movies again.
It was Mona Lisa, starring Julia Roberts. Loved the fashions - college girls in 1954. Loved the film too - art criticism and the role of women in society.
Now for my little bit of fun with photos today.

The view from the tea shop.
What a gloomy day.
But almost all the snow had gone.

















First it was gloomy - so let's brighten things up.















Then I played with carrots.
































































And played with apples.























March of the Easter chicks.

Lots of Easter things about now.
Hard to believe, from seemingly the depths of winter that in a week's time Easter bonnets should be on parade.















Tomorrow we plan to go to Fontwell to a large antiques fair.

It was Bill's blood test this morning, followed by a bit of shopping.

This afternoon we have been out for tea - at cousin Ann's.
She is a dear - getting a bit fragile.
But at the moment she is stronger than her younger sister, Betty. Ann is 84 and Betty is 81.
Ann commented that Betty was always the strong one. Certainly Betty was always active with needlecrafts, circle dancing and cooking.
But Betty is ill right now - the liver is very much at risk, leading to problems with the pancreas. She is very jaundiced.
East Surrey had told her that she must be moved to Guildford because they can't deal with her problem.
This is, indeed, worrying.
In my eyes - being moved to Guildford can mean that a cancer is a problem.
That's how it was for me in 1991, and much much earlier for my mother.
At Betty's age any problem is worrying.
But once we had chewed over all our health problems, we could relax a while and chat and laugh.

Weather remains disappointing......but this time we have been spared the difficulties of blizzards or floods.
For the next 4 days we are promised more of the same - cold, not more than 3 degrees; and the icy wind making it feel 6 degrees colder than that.
I might look for an antiques fair to go to. Other than that, it looks like a weekend at home.

Fed up!
And so very tired.
I am physically tired and just plain tired of cold and/or wet weather.
It was bitterly cold at Ford.
There were lots of stalls, but I found it hard to concentrate, despite layers of clothes.
Within minutes I had bought a kitchen table from our "friend" Steve. It has a blue check top. I love it.
I hope that the customers will love it too.
I sold the last kitchen table I had.
I bought 2 books - interesting old books. I have the Big Book of Aeroplanes, dated 1931.
The other is a hard back book called The Army Pageant - description of the scenes of military history (from Battle of Hastings to Wellington) acted out at Fulham Palace from 20th June to 2nd July 1910. There are pictures.
I just looked it up - it's worth only about £10.
And that was it - my meagre purchases.
We were glad to abandon the boot sale and be in Littlehampton with eggs benedict on the table and cups of steaming tea.
When we came out that easterly icy wind took our breath away and we felt no inclination to go walking by the sea and river.
This afternoon, I looked back to photos of Littlehampton at this time last year. It was a beautiful day and the beach was busy, busy with people in shirtsleeves and bathing costumes.





















Yes, this time last year we were enjoying hot sunshine....and a hose pipe ban. Since then we have had the wettest English year ever and one of the coldest Marches.

But 4 weeks today we will have landed on Phuket and might have eaten at The Beach Bar to celebrate daughter in law's birthday!
Now there's a beautiful thought to take to bed.

Today has been a quiet sort of a day.

I have ordered new inks for my printer.Later I might buy a new printer that will happily take  non official inks.
I have ordered a new battery for my Canon camera.
For me, it would feel like a disaster if it is was left with no power. Although I have the little Lumix - and now my phone.
And I have made a new poster for the shop.
Sometimes its hard to see how passers by can get a complete picture of all that can be found in the shop.
I made one poster - buts its small and muddled.
This time it is a bit amateurish - but at least eye catching.








Potatoes are roasting in the oven - along with carrots, parsnips and sweet potato to be eaten with garlic chicken.

There was a budget today. Time was when we seemed to care about the budget.
People gathered round their radios to listen to the speech and waited for analysis by the experts.
I can't see that there are any points that will make a vast difference to my life of the life of the country.
Some people think that the measures taken will strengthen the country - and others (probably the majority) take the opposing view.
But what will be will be.
I can do nothing except make something of my own life.

Tomorrow, making something of my life will include a trip to Ford. It was a toss up if we should go Thursday or Saturday.
Thursday will be colder - but a little brighter.
Bill prefers Thursdays I think - he rarely actually expresses an opinion.
Though I do tend to find a bit more on Saturdays.

There are always things to buy before going on holiday.
I made a start today. There is a need for under things, lacy things, supportive things - pristine white things rather than aging things which make me cringe.
Such things are probably the only clothes I buy new.......and the price of new clothes worries me.
So much so that I decided that some would be ordered online.
But Marks and Spencers did take some of my money today.
We shopped in Horsham......should have planned a bus journey really; could have saved petrol money and the exhorbitant parking charges in the town. Do they want visitors?

The museum in Horsham is extra special. I have been several times - not sure about Bill; he couldn't remember much about it.
They are blessed with a superb building, with a sizable garden and outbuildings.
The building is a ramshackle old house with lots of little corridors and staircases and rooms.

http://www.horshammuseum.org/

There was an art exhibition too - fun.













































Not long now and seeing Buddhas will be commonplace.
























I'd like this sign!


I can remember the time when this hung outside Cramp's shop in West Street.










Lots of old bikes out in the barn.





















Horsham stone roof and blue sky.















New saddle needed.
See that sprung wheel underneath.

















saddle stones.















We enjoyed a snack - scrambled egg and toast in the Christian book shop.
You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy the environment there. It is manned (or womanned!) by volunteers and their profits are used for various church charities.



Time then for home - making sure we got back to the car park before another hour of parking began.

I will finish with a link to my son's blog - the one in Thailand.
Last week he and others made a trip around the island of Phuket in a speed boat.

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/2013/03/circumnavigating-phuket-island-by.html

I didn't have much to take to the shop today. But somehow it took a couple of hours to get it sorted.

More water.....more and more falling from those heavy grey clouds.
Lots more water laying on the ground again now.

This afternoon we went to see Bill's brother, Michael.
His wife and daughter were working - shame to miss them. But shops must open and nursing homes, of course, must be staffed.
Our nephew - Michael, the younger returned home before we left.
He has always been one for projects and the latest is one I much admire.
He is making guitars - using old guitars and other materials. Sometimes the body of the guitar can be transformed into a very trendy wall hanging and sometimes he makes a fully working trendy guitar.
I took some pictures.






























































Michael and a friend are hoping to develop things and find some outlets for their artistic and technical work.

There is such a variety of talents amongst all our nephews and nieces......and their offspring.
Heard today of a talent of one young nephew - 6 segments of orange peel in his mouth. Interesting the things a 6 year old will try. Lovely picture!
I had a count up and by the end of the year we will have between us 66 nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
It is wonderful to be in touch with so many and to know how their lives are blossoming.

It rained.
Rained hard all morning.
Let's do something good on such a day!
So we asked our nearly 92 year old next door neighbour if she would like to come out for tea and cake.
We went to the local farm shop.
She had never been anywhere like it before, she said. It was like being given a real treasure.
It is not hard to give Frieda a treat - but we certainly got it right today.
It had stopped raining and it was good to see the countryside.




She's very good for her age and always strives to look her best. She is getting fragile now and she gets confused......but then she always got confused by life; never felt really in control of her life.


Not sure if she had ever had a cappuccino coffee before.
She thought it was wonderful.





























Frieda shared a toasted ham and cheese sandwich with Bill.
Oh the new experiences we were able to giver her.

Then we had chocolate brownies.





Delicious - with soft squidgy chocolate.

Bill was playing with my little camera......guess what he took a photo of?


















It's a close up of the fabric my trainers are made of.
I had no idea that the brown part was such an interesting mesh pattern.

Friday - my day of rest.
This morning I was out briefly for my Vitamin B12 injection. Ouch!
This evening we were out briefly too.
It was meant to be an evening at the postcard club....well, at least, I thought so.
Just as well I hadn't spent a lot of time preparing an entry for the competition......every year I mean to do so.
You see, I miscalculated...the meeting was last Friday.
And that has been my day. There have been a few phone calls, catching up with folks.
The weather is not pleasant - and the weekend promises to give us more of the same.
I sit here looking at the calender I made......my March pictures, taken last March, show blue skies. We were being told to be worried about the drought.
And from that moment there has been more rain than we want or can cope with.











No coat, on this day last year.