Serendipity

13:12:05 o'clock BST
Feeling Jubilant

Very special hello today to you all, yes a red letter day for me, you see today Serendipity is THREE YEARS OLD today, I cant believe it is now three years since I plucked up courage and pressed save on my first entry and joined you all, so many dear friends I have met, so much of our lives we have shared, both good and bad.

Another  reason for today being special, I had a phone call from Stuart my Grandson this morning to tell me he had passed his driving test ,Well done Stuart now Vicki wont have to do all the driving ! He didn’t tell anyone he was having lessons so this has come as a complete but lovely surprise.

Well September the first has started well  lots of sunshine ,a cool breeze ,(the washing is blowing on the line )typical now the children return to school ,the weather has improved but for how long is anyone’s guess ,Iam not complaining though, because  my heart is aching for those poor people in the path of Gustav.And we in the UK are watching the news bulletins ,with horror.

I promised you I would show you the pictures of the lovely wedding I went to in July , Gary my nephew ,Godson ,and Jean and Pete’s son married his lovely Holly at a civil ceremony at The Marriot hotel  ,And as they both have a boy and a girl each ,it was a really lovely family wedding ,Un fortunately Maurice had to work ,(it was right in the middle of the holiday season ,so he couldn’t get cover .) I stayed at Jeans as did Pete’s sister Judy so as you can guesswe had a lovely girly time getting ready, and afterwards, talking into the night (poor Pete) I took a lovely video film .but Iam afraid I cant share it as it isn’t digital, but still lovely for them to keep ,They had a lovely honeymoon in Turkey .

And so before I close this entry ,with my love to you all as usual ,I want to say thank you to all of you who have  commented  supported me and allowed me into their lives too

Did you see my tag Debbie made for me ,that will go into my side bar along with the one she made for me last year Thanks Deb x,And just before I go Iwant to say congratulations to Sara ,who has been journaling now for four years

                  

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15:29:36 o'clock BST
Feeling Pensive

Hi every one, remember me? Don’t ask where I’ve been cos I’m not sure myself! Thank you to all of you who inquired about my absence, Iam fine really, I think I just needed a break from the computer, I have been busy doing other things though, Maurice, Kate and Martin and I spent a lovely weekend in Leicester to celebrate my niece Wendy and her husbands thirtieth wedding anniversary, We stayed at my lovely Niece Stella’s house, and her and Steve made us so welcome, lots of pictures to show you another time, then my nephew Gary(Jean and Pete’s son) got married to lovely Holly..Ditto the pictures! ,Charlotte my Granddaughter came to stay for a week so we had lots of super girly time together, she is growing up so quickly fourteen now! I made myself yet another cardigan, and a little summer jumper….finished the quillow!

 

 

Being on the editorial team, another resident’s news letter has been compiled and as I’m also on the Forum we are currently planning the tenant’s conference to be held in November.

One piece of exciting news to share ….my clever Grandson Matthew (Kate and Martin’s son) achieved excellent grades in his GCSE exams and is now looking forward to the sixth form.

Last Wednesday I joined residents from a court I used to do holiday and sick cover at, and where my friend Jackie lives, we went to Dudley, is that in Warwickshire? To the Black Country Museum, We stepped back in time to see what life was like living along side a canal, in a mining community, ,and Jackie and Ienjoyed faggots and mushy pes and chips for our lunch !so now Iam going to see if I can remember how to add pictures, so I will close as usual, with lots of

 

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11:20:00 o'clock BST
Feeling Inspired

Hello again everyone, remember me? I have been missing in action, due to a computer/writers block…. however I have been busy doing lots of other things ,I finished a cardigan ,that had been hanging around for a while ,

 

I have been working on the quillow , I have been to a couple of meetings for the residents forum ,and a lot of stuff has been happening in the garden ,until the rains came !It really is amazing how much you can do if you don’t sit at the computer for long periods of time ! Ah well, you couldn’t keep me away forever!! I left you with plans for the party in the park, and what an amazing success, over a hundred members of the R###e family came, my son Derek came up from Dorset,

 

his son Christopher (I didn’t see much of Chris as he was playing with all his cousins and second cousins) a niece came from County Durham with her family, another from Corby, another from Stamford, My late husband Mick’s sisters Connie and Dot from Leicester with all her family ,his brothers Peter and Dougie with their family’s my family including my sister Jean and her husband Pete ,although we had torrential rain over night ,and it was a bit windy ,but the sun shone and out of the wind it was quite warm ,because a few of the family caravanned and camped overnight some of us went for a meal on  the Saturday evening prior to the party .So yes we all had a fantastic day ,My daughter in law Chrissie went to collect Connie who at 83 ,came just for the afternoon ,she came with her picnic in her Harrods bag ,announcing she had a presentation to make ….many years ago ,in the early 1970’s a lady gave me a cup and saucer, Connie had admired the cup and said you must be careful with that ,don’t let your children break it ! So I gave it to her, to look after for me until my children had grown up! Well she gave it back to me, with a slip of paper inside that said ‘Staffordshire 1840’, she had checked up on it for me,

 

So there we are the first part of my catch up entrys,I will be back soon with more ...as ever love from

Thankyou to Donna for todays Graphicsxx

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12:14:00 o'clock BST
Feeling Cheerful
Hearing Maurice playing a selection of' Irish balads  'on his Guitar ,

Good morning everyone, though it could well be afternoon by the time I post this! 

Do you remember I told you a couple of months ago ,  another one of my late husbands brothers had died ,so we all went of to Warwick for his funeral ,and as ever when we all get together ,we said , we only ever get together for sad occasions ,  we should have a gathering when as many of us as possible can meet up .Well weather permitting ,it is going to happen ,On Sunday as many as can will meet up in a local parkland ,starting at 11 am ,and going on until whenever !Some are going to camp ,some are coming in caravans ,we will drive over for the day and many others will do the same ,

 

Here you can see a picture of my late husband’s family all together taken in the late 50’s , there were seven boys (yes we were seven brides for seven brothers )and three girls ,but sadly four of the brothers are no longer with us ,and Eileen and her Husband Gerald emigrated to Canada with their daughter Sheila  ,shortly after the picture was taken ,So those of us that are left are coming with our spouses ,children ,grandchildren and in some cases great grandchildren , casts of thousands ! Every one is bringing a picnic, and I must make sure my batteries are charged formy camera,

 

Here is a picture of our Kate and her Aunty Dot (my lovely sis in law )

You will guess lots of preparation has been going on via emails text messages and phone calls, with us all getting more and more excited ,My Daughter Kate and sister in law Dot’s daughter Julie ,have  been the main organisers ,Julie rang Kate one day saying” have you seen the advert for Waitrose “? There are lots of people picnicking, and they have a wonderful blanket for them all to sit on! “And so my Kate always up for a challenge promptly emails Waitrose, and asks if it could be bought or borrowed, and the following is the email, she received back from them! 

Dear Mrs R,

Thank you for your e-mail.

Following the filming of the ad in Durban, South Africa, the blanket was donated to the Waitrose Foundation, a project dedicated to improving the lives of South African Farm Workers who grow and pick fruit for the supermarket. Farm workers at Westfalia Farm, an avocado growing farm in the Limpopo Province, will turn the blanket into over 400 individual quilts with workers being paid for each quilt they make. The quilts will then be donated to crèches across Waitrose Foundation farms and distributed to the workers of the Foundation farms for use in their homes.




Regards,

Chris Zawadski

Waitrose Customer Service.

and if you care to click on the url below you can see the advert

 

http://www.waitrose.com/summer08/video.aspx

 

 As ever lots of love   

 

 

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11:13:10 o'clock BST
Feeling Blissful

Maurice starts work at six o clock in the morning so he leaves home early, and doesn’t usually wake me, but rings around nine am to say good morning, and check we are OK ,he asked what my plans were for today ? well I said hmm I might go shopping and spend lots of money ,or I might go back to bed with my book ,or I might do some washing cos I’ve run out of ironing ! Or I might do some sewing, I am making a patch work quillow as Marie Alice Joan once suggested and kindly sent me the instructions (a Quillow is a quilt which folds into a built in pocket to form a pillow) “Use me as a pillow, unless you get cold, then pull out my stuffing and gently unfold, I’m a lap quilt now with a place for your feet, and when your all done, fold me back nice and neat “,

 

I can’t take the dog out for a walk, as she is in an interesting condition, I will vacuum later, and I cleaned the cooker yesterday (as well as my halo!) I hate that job, who does? ….

         Mort, dear man awarded me with a caring friend award so I think while I am machining my patches together I will be thinking who among you, to pass on this award to, and that is hard because you are all so caring ,and so instead of just talking about it I had better get on ,So as usual to you all love from

 Thankyou to Win for my siggy today .

 

 

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12:19:19 o'clock BST
Feeling Cheerful

 Yet another wet day, here in East Anglia, and even a flood warning for the area, the people who were flooded last year must be living in dread of it happening again. We are lucky where I live I can only imagine it is because of the way the Fens are drained, and can be more  easily controlled by all the different drainage systems.

We finally went to the Garden centre in Huntingdon the other week, Freda, you told me about it very early on when discovered we lived quite near each other, (when Maurice was off) Maurice is planning to do some more things in the garden so the first time we went it was a reccy to see what was available, and prices etc, Well we were pleasantly surprised at the amount of things they stock, what a selection, I bought an African violet and a dog kennel! And the second visit resulted in, spending lots of money, and more still to be spent, I will of course show you the end product when it is done, but that wont be for a while yet!

And what a great craft section they have, well you can imagine I will want to back again and again …..

As I said we bought a kennel for Kizzie and though she helped to build it, she has no intention of using it, mind with the weather as it is at the moment I can’t say I blame her !

Iain is home again getting used to his land legs, I haven’t seen him yet but we have been speaking on the phone, And Sharon went down by train to watch his ship come in, what a thrill !I wish I had gone with her now ….

Hey! …. I think it has stopped raining so I am going to dash to the shops, so have a good day everyone with love

Thanks to Debbie for my siggy today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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16:52:00 o'clock BST
Feeling Happy
Hearing Heart of Oak

HMS Illustrious one of two aircraft carriers owned by the Royal Navy

Hello everyone on ,yes its me again ,Thank you for all your good wishes ,my back is so much better ,although I am still taking things easy! The curtains are still clean so as Paula says I’m just relaxing and admiring them, and I’m only lifting one book at a time now! 

I seem to be drowning in a sea of alerts, as fast as I deal with them, more arrive! So for now I will leave them and do an entry of my own,

I was fetching in some washing yesterday afternoon, the prop, slipped off the line and hit me on the head, so now not only do I have a bump on the head ,I seem to have developed amnesia, because I have totally forgotten the ironing I should be doing ,(how’s that for an excuse ? )

I had a lovely surprise last Sunday morning, Maurice was working, and it was raining, I was just about to make a strawberry trifle to cheer us up! The phone rang; it was Iain, my oldest Grandson, I have told you about him before he is the one who shares his Birthday with the Queen ,and was born on the day the £ coin came out ,so that is twenty five years now , ringing me from Gibraltar, GIBRALTER?  You might ask! Well Iain is on board HMS Illustrious, but will arrive back in Portsmouth on Friday, My Daughter Sharon, and his Mum, is going down to meet him .He told her she can carry his bags ,haahaa!no doubt bearing gifts  ie lots of dirty washing !

Up until the beginning of this year Iain was working in the N.A.A.F.I.in the shop, somewhere near London,(I forget quite where ,I told you about the amnesia !)However after taking some courses, and passing, He joined HMS Illustrious as a canteen assistant, helping to stock, sell etc the on board off license and sort of tuck shop. For the comfort of the Ships personnel. We have been keeping in touch via good old e mail, and by phone whenever he can get a signal,

I don’t know whether any of you in the UK, have been watching the series currently being shown on channel five on a Monday night at nine o clock ,entitled ‘Warship’ the third part will be on Monday next ,and guess which proud Granny is recording the series? The series shows Life on board ship, providing an insight into the often dangerous and stressful professional lives of the crew on one of only two aircraft carriers, in the Royal navy fleet, We saw  the ship taking on supplies, for the four month deployment, they are however plagued by problems for instance they had to be returned to shore when the freezers broke down ,poor Iain ,after getting all psyched  up for sea , well after the repairs and getting over his initial  sea sickness they were under way for, Spain ,then on to Malta where a ceremony was held on board ship to acknowledge damage  suffered in the war to surrounding towns on the Island as a result of the first Illustrious, being the  target ,they then went through the Suez canal ,to Shri Lanka, Iran ,Turkey, Istanbul and Gibraltar where  they had some shore time Iain said they were going for a drink, I told him to take it steady ,Gran I’m a matelot now  was his reply !! , and so they left Gibraltar last Sunday for home.

In July he is off to Norfolk in America, on the Ark Royal for two months, he is going as a trainee ships manager, which doesn’t mean he will be in charge of the whole ship hee hee, but will be assistant manager for one of their shops. Rather along entry thank you for your patience, but you know what us Grannies are like when talking about our Grandchildren, Now about that ironing? ......

 

As ever lots of love xxxx

 

 

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16:12:07 o'clock BST
Feeling Frustrated

I know I often go longer than a week ,between entry’s, but this time I have been unable to sit at the commuter for any length, because I hurt my back ,You remember I told you I washed the lounge curtains ,a week last Thursday, I stood on a sturdy low table,to put them back up again ,getting down ,the dog was just where I needed to land ,so I jumped out of her way ,ouch !Didn’t appear to be any ill effects so I made myself a cuppa and sat and admired my clean windows and curtains , Friday was fine ,I told you Kate and Chrissie came over we went up to town in the car an browsed the shops up there ,

Then Saturday,  When I did my last entry telling you I was going to take my trolley and, get some veggies and look for any books in the second hand book shop, whilst in there I picked up a box of books to see what goodies were hiding underneath BIG MISTAKE, during the 18 12 overture someone and.with a machete, no I’m exaggerating, my back went into spasm, how I managed to get home I don’t know, but I did,

Sunday morning still in pain I am walking round the furniture rang Chrissie to see if I could borrow her late Mums Walking stick ,she and Mark brought it over for me Sunday afternoon,Monday Maurice took me to the Editorial group meeting ,and I managed quite well in spite of having my leg pulled ,I wasn’t so good on Tuesday night in fact I went into a major spasm ,so I had to make the decision not to go on the mystery trip ,now you know how  much I wanted to go ,but Maurice took me to the Doctors instead , I was given pain killers and muscle relaxant ,The Doc told me to exercise  heehee ?,but the tablets are making me sleep a lot ,I shall be gong back to the Docs again on Wednesday ,as I am really no better ,Sorry for all the doom and gloom folks but I wanted you to know why I haven’t been able to sit to answer all your comments ,This entry has taken ages, because  I have been taking lots of breaks and now I feel just like one of these dear little ''Rag Dolls'',,with love

 

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11:48:30 o'clock BST
Feeling Happy

Yet another sunny day here in my little corner of the Fens, Can you read this? Is that better? In fact its been a glorious week ,On Thursday ,I cleaned all the windows outside and the inside of the patio ones also washed the patio window curtains ,they are big so do one at a time ,still have to clean the rest of the inside  windows ,but ,Ahh well another day …..Now where should I start ?where I left off I suppose !!!

Last Monday the plan was to go to Burghley House in Stamford Lincs, there was a craft show and a fishing exhibition, some thing for us both we thought situated in lovely grounds, near the house, we received a phone call from a friend of Maurice’s saying if you are coming you had better get a move on, the gates will close at 1 pm! We were just about to leave when we got another phone call from Ian again saying he wasn’t in to the show yet (had been queuing for two hours!), because of the traffic on the A1 the police were diverting traffic through Stamford, Well having no desire to spend the day queuing in traffic, we had a quick change of plan, we went to Houghton Mill, a lovely picturesque village near St Ives (Cambs)and not too far from home ,we didn’t actually go into the mill didn’t want to waste the sunshine ,but we will most certainly go back another time ,we spent ages watching the boats going through the lock ,then walked around the area ,before exploring the lovely village some quant buildings some beautiful old cottages and a lovely old  church ,and Maurice enjoyed looking at the garage that repaired and sold MGs

On Wednesday, I went to my over sixties club, where we were entertained by an opera singer, but that is worthy of an entry so will leave that for another time, Though I did print off the entry about the Pearly King and Queen for Ina, our President, and was delighted to learn she is with AOL, so she looked me up and left me a comment, what a lovely surprise!Ina told us at the meeting that their charity had welcomed our donation and invited us to their next open day .

Thursday I told you about, when I was on a roll and did all those chores ,Yesterday my Daughter in law Chrissie and Daughter Kate came over ,so we went up to the town ,and took more Lavender Blue pictures (yet another entry to come ) Monday I am going to the Residents  News Letter meeting ,to start preparations again for the next edition ,and then Wednesday we go on our mystery trip so ….watch this space

Now since it is Saturday ,the trolleys wheels are eager to whir ,so I will finish and go and see what bargains are to be had in Somerfield and get some veggies of the market ,and I might even go and browse the books in the charity shops Have a lovely day everyone ,with love

                              Jan xx

 

 

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11:17:29 o'clock BST
Feeling Happy

I know, I know it’s been ages since I did an entry! So here I am on a lovely Sunny Tuesday morning, and I can’t believe it’s a week since Aunty Kitty’s funeral, which was sad, but it was a lovely service, and of course meet up with family, why does it seem it’s only on these occasions, families get together? All busy with life of course.

 

On Friday I went to the resident’s forum committee meeting; now as you know I had resigned as secretary of the group, and was so surprised and delighted to be given the most beautiful bouquet from the chairman on behalf of the committee, I was so surprised it didn’t occur to me! I had been distracted I suppose because on the few days prior to the meeting I had been shopping around for a gift for our Tenant involvement manager Karen, who is leaving us to go over to take charge of Supported housing for a while,our loss is their gain and though a new Tenant participation manager is to be appointed Karen will be a hard act to follow ,I organised a bouquet  for her(from dear old Lavender Blue! ) and a very pretty necklace ,lots of green stones on a silver chain ,(Karen likes her bling! )Because the meeting finished earlier than anticipated, I was killing time waiting for my Taxi; I was pleasantly surprised by a lady who was to attend a function after ours, Janet? Is it? She says,….and there was dear Sue, a lady I have known on and off for over thirty years ,we swapped email addresses ,and what a joy she’s with AOL  I asked someone to take a picture of us, I am so pleased I did, I can share this lovely reunion with you all ,and Sue can forward this entry to her Daughter Helen in New  Zealand ,’’Hi Helen ‘’

 

Maurice’sdays off fell, Saturday, Sunday and Bank holiday Monday, so we have had a lovely weekend, On Saturday Mark my son and his wife Chrissie, came over to visit bringing with them, my daughter Kate ,after they'd gone, we tidied up the garden a bit though you could hardly see where we’d been ! I finished off some ironing ,I know boring!

On Sundays, I like to go to the market in a nearby town, there is an excellent second hand book stall (I can only go when Maurice is off work,) I bought a couple of books, then lots of lovely fresh fruit and vegetables, Yesterday we went to Houghton mill, near St Ives in Cambs, but I will save that for another entry, and tomorrow I am off to my club again, and we have another mystery coach trip coming up, so lots to share with you ,Have a lovely day everyone ,enjoy the sunshine ,as usual lots of love and

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