My Mum would have been 100 today but she died in 1999 a few months before her 73rd birthday..
She was the second oldest in a family of 6 children although her youngest brother died very young from leukemia . Her Dad worked in dusty conditions and smoked untipped cigarettes and was often ill. Their was no spare cash. I know Mum said that all three girls passed the 11 Plus to go to Grammar School and uniform was a struggle.
She was so beautiful - this photo has no date but she looks to be 14 ish?
She left school and went to work at ICI in Stowmarket.(They made paint and other chemicals) She worked as a chemist testing paints and colours. Met my dad there - he was a engineer machinist.
There's a date on the back of this one - June 12th 1949
1951
We never had one of those close Mum/Daughter relationships. I think she was forever changed by the death of my real Dad in 1954 just before I was born, when they had only been married for 3 years.
1955
She married his older brother in 1958. She said she knew he would look after us - I don't think they were ever incredibly happy. He worked 5½ days a week in his builder business and I think my Mum was bored. She didn't drive and didn't really have an outlet for her intelligence.
In the 1970's she developed Rheumatoid Arthritis in all her joints, back then there wasn't any good treatment and it gradually got worse. I think she gave up wanting to move as it was so painful and that meant her muscles all gave up too. By the time our eldest daughter was born in 1980 she already found it too difficult and painful to have a baby on her lap - a huge regret.
She also had breast cancer but after a mastectomy she wouldn't have any more treatment and hated any fuss being made. She never even mentioned she'd had cancer and always reckoned there were people worse off than she was.
After hip replacements and then frequent infections in the wounds, so they never healed, she eventually had both hip joints removed and of course was then stuck in a chair, using a hoist to move- she Hated being reliant on Dad to help her but carers were forever changing - and never knew how to operate the hoist so she was stuck being reliant.
It was years after she died and Dad was in hospital that they discovered he was a carrier of MRSA so had possibly been reinfecting Mum for years. So sad.
She would have hated anyone to see this photo - Sorry Mum. The only way the children remember her was sat in her chair in the living room. That's sad too. This photo from 1995 ish.
Thank goodness treatment for both Rheumatoid Arthritis and Breast Cancer have improved since then.
I grew up in a home where we weren't praised for anything. I don't remember anyone saying "Well done" when I passed the eleven -plus and O levels and found myself a job in a library and Mum often moaned about her sister and brother who liked to tell her how well their children were doing. "Always boasting" she would say. 'Showing off' in any way was also discouraged.
The problem with that upbringing is it then becomes hard to praise your own children.
So sorry about this showing off and boasting! but I'm putting that right..................
I'm so proud of my eldest daughter. After working as a Textile Print designer for Monsoon, Phase Eight and other fashion designers she had just become a freelance textile print designer so as to be at home with her small son when covid struck and that put an end to that but she decided to start her own business and it's doing rather well. Artful Kids UK is her children's party and workshop business based in Surrey and roundabout encouraging children to create and enjoy making and doing. And as well as doing that she's also working lots of hours a week for a friends garden and landscaping business, doing their publicity and organising all sorts of admin. A wonderful Mum to my eldest and youngest grandsons too.
I'm so proud of my Son. Lots of people do an Archaeology degree but not so many end up with a full time and permanent job in the sector. At one time every County had it's own Archaeology department but now almost all work is contracted out and son worked for a couple of companies, including moving round the country, before getting his job, based in Suffolk, at Oxford Cotswold Archaeology He doesn't dig anymore now he's in management. Such a good Dad to middle grandson and youngest granddaughter.
I'm so proud of my youngest daughter who decided not to follow her siblings to university and went out and got herself a job at age 17. Working at an Opticians as a receptionist and then optical assistant for many years until covid and a new owner downsized his staff and she found herself out of a permanent job with a 5 year old. She'd also fought through cancer before EGD was born and wasn't sure if she would be able to have children. She did several part time jobs before getting a job on short term contracts also working for Oxford Cotswold Archaeology in the site offices organising all the accommodation and logistics for the people working on the digs at Sizewell C power station sites. The end is in sight for those contracts but now she has a permanent admin job with them which is really good news. Coping so well and being the Best Mum on her own now to my eldest Granddaughter.
Three wonderful children - their Dad was and would have been proud too!
[This post came about because Aril at Eccentric Amblings and Ramblings blog mentioned the Tunsgate Centre in Guildford. ED had been running workshops there regularly but the new centre manager hadn't booked her for a while. ED thought they'd had a change of plan for family events there. I looked on her website to see if she'd been booked there for the summer hols, they hadn't but she is busy, busy elsewhere and that made me very proud!]
Eldest Daughter and the two Grandsons in Surrey were due on Tuesday for a three night stay. We were planning to get all the cousins together for a couple of trips out, to the seaside and RSPB Minsmere maybe.
She rang me Easter Sunday to say both boys had picked up tummy bugs. Oh Dear. The nearly 10 year old recovered in a day but the 4 year old wasn't so lucky. No chance of them travelling up on Tuesday after all.
Luckily YGS recovered and so they were able to come on Wednesday. We soon got the two Surrey boys meeting up with their three Suffolk cousins in my bungalow = chaos.
Just one trip out, meeting up at Aldeburgh for a picnic, sailing boats on the boating pond, loading the beach stones into toy dumper trucks for the two youngest while the three eldest zoomed up and down a slope on two - much too small balance bikes - belonging to the two youngest - weird, but it kept them amused for ages.
Ice creams for all! By chance they are sitting here in age order, Eldest Granddaughter is still taller than Eldest Grandson, but he's catching up.
After much too short a time they were off back to Surrey.
Now it will be a quiet weekend, car boot sales of course - weather permitting. Plus I must get the electric propagator onto the windowsill in the spare room and get some seeds started.
And reading..............
Several people said they'd enjoyed reading 'The Eights' by Joanna Miller when it was in my library book photo and I did too. I'd found details of it on a blog and a vlog and it had good reports.
It is the first book by this author and on a blog someone commented they hoped there was a sequel and it certainly sets itself up for more of the story.
Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1,000 year history, the world's most famous university has admitted female students.
This is the story of four women, all very different, who find themselves in adjoining rooms in their first weeks at university. It follows them through their first year, their secrets, fears and hopes for the future - just two years after the war which still casts a long shadow.
I don't share photos of the grandchildren very often. It doesn't seem like a good idea in the scary world we live in nowadays.
Just once or twice a year when they are all together. This is Christmas Eve when all three families descended on me to sort out what was happening on Christmas Day and who needed to take what to the holiday cottage where the Surrey family are staying.
Getting five to sit still, look at the camera and smile all at the same time is impossible!
What a lucky Nanna I am.
Thank you to everyone for Happy Christmas wishes yesterday.
I've mentioned before that I never knew my Dad, he was killed in a motorbike accident in 1954, a few months before I was born. I always knew that and there were photographs in the house but he was rarely talked about after Mum married his older brother when I was 3 years old.
Apart from photographs I only have a few bits belonging to him. He did his National Service after the war in the RAF and I believe was posted to the Isle of Man. He certainly went somewhere by boat as I have a berthing card.
The brass trivet was made when he was an engineering machinist at ICI. And somewhere around is his locker key for ICI (large paint manufacturer then based in Stowmarket, Mum worked in the testing lab there after leaving school which I suppose is how they met). I also have a set of parallel rulers of his that would have been used by a navigator in a plane.
I often wonder how different life might have been had he lived.
Today is the beginning of the two busy birthday months, (and there was DiL's at the end of last month too) some just birthday cards, others cards and presents. Eldest granddaughter is 9 today and a nephews birthday too - he must be around 41-ish. Then there is youngest grandson's 4th birthday on the 13th and son's on the 17th, poor old fella will be 44. Then more cards and a couple of presents in November, and at the same time Christmas presents need sorting as well - complicated on the buying presents front! Thank goodness for amazon - who can deliver straight to grandchildren.
The lovely colours on the vine against the blue sky early in the week. It's on a piece of trellis by the shed and I have to cut it back so many times through the summer that I often think it's a real nuisance.
But then the colours in autumn persuade me to keep it for a while longer.
I've had a quiet week reading and not going far after being a bit unwell last weekend, hopefully antibiotics are sorting me out, something I've not needed for many, many years. I'm going to have to watch out for foods that effect me even more than before.
One of the books I read was a re-read of Susan Hill's Book "Howard's End is on the Landing" which is her book about reading only her own books for a year. I'm sure I enjoyed it first time but second time not so much. Then I read two other old crime fiction that I'd bought cheap off abebooks a while ago as they are part of a series and too old for the library to still have. Need to decide which other of my own books to read before the mobile library is bringing me a bagful next week. Choosing which of my own to read is hard!
This is new - it popped up on the post compose page...............
Google Search links: Based on your blog content, Blogger will automatically identify key words and phrases in your post and insert search links in case your readers want to explore more. In Compose View, look for the pencil icon at the top-right of the page to get started.
I clicked on the pencil icon to see what happened and links appeared all over the place and I had to undo them all individually. aaaagh!
We've probably all got used to blogger throwing in changes with no warning but do readers want to "explore more". And I can put in my own links Thank You Very Much!
Did anyone watch the much publicised 'Celebrity Traitors' - oh my - I found it dreadful - half an episode was enough. One celeb on their own is OK, even 2, 3 or 4 is not too bad - as on Have I got News For You or Richard Osman's House of Games but all that lot at once NO, NO.
Another thing watched was episode one of Murder before Evensong - the TV adaptation of the Rev Richard Coles book - didn't think much of that either!
But for something completely different that I do love - Ed Sheeran's new release
and the latest from Lewis Capaldi too.
Back Monday - fine weather forecast here for the weekend - have a good one whatever your weather.
The extra Easter bits were added to the seasonal display on the bookshelves, just for the weekend. Nothing 'new' this year and there wouldn't be, because I'd only ever buy from a charity shop etc anyway!
The Surrey family didn't arrive until Saturday due to SiL's late flight back from the US on Friday. But were in plenty of time for getting to the big family meal - for my 70th birthday - at a local (to Son and family) Indian restaurant. 16 of us all together.
It was a very delicious meal, lots of choice with something for everyone to enjoy and DiL made me a gorgeous cake.
"Happy Birthday" was sung to me twice because the 7 sparkler 'candle' lit OK but the 0 wouldn't, so when Son eventually got it going they had to sing all over again!!
Sunday there was an Easter Egg hunt for all 5 Grandchildren in the small garden here and then they hid eggs for us grown ups to find which they thought was great fun so could become a family tradition when we are altogether again at a future Easter.
In the afternoon we had a good walk around a local country park - Thornham Estate - last time we all went was 2019 and there were only 3 grandchildren.
3 small Grandchildren in 2019
5 bigger Grandchildren in 2025
My children clubbed together to get me a pair of decent binoculars and I also had some other presents from everyone too.
A lovely Big birthday weekend. Thank you to all the family for making it so special.
31 days that seem to have whizzed by and everyone says the same and thank goodness the weather has been 100% better than this time last year and a bit of warmth too.
YD took me and EGD out for a meal yesterday for Mothers Day -what a treat. The hotel had a special Mothers Day dessert - trio of mini things - can't remember what they were called but super delicious. They were giving all Mums a little box of chocolates - another treat. It's small little extras like this that make a person feel happy to go back for another visit.
Library day this week - good news - as I'm reading from my shelves and worrying that I'll run out of books! which is totally ridiculous of course.
March wasn't too 'spendy', with the car service and MOT being the big expense at just under £300, which as Tom the boss said "isn't too bad for a whole year of use". With a diesel car it's oil and filters that need doing every year as well as checking everything else. What a fortune we saved over our 38 years of marriage with Col able to do anything that needed doing before an MOT.
A builders yard was a fun place to play, there was nowhere tidy, there were heaps of sand to dig tunnels into for toy cars and a heap of sawdust under the saw bench to make puddings! That big block of wood under the window was my "kitchen" - didn't need one of the special 'mud kitchens' that are available now. All I needed was sand, sawdust and water and a few old dishes and spoons.
On my trike and in a pedal car
I've brought in a few daffs from the front border, I can't see them from indoors so might as well cut them and bring in. They are so late compared to some on the edge of the graveyard up the road. Very short of colour and flowers in the garden here, almost everything I plant gets smaller rather than spreading. The rhubarb has disappeared again - the third crowns I've planted. Not trying again.
After my post about laundry and how many 'add ons' there are now - with fabric softeners, fragrance boosters, dryer sheets etc, I saw an ad for another new idea that someone has invented. This time for the dishwasher. Some dish washer tab ads make a great thing of not needing to pre-rinse or pre-soak or re-wash but the ad I saw was for a special spray to use on oven ware before it goes in the dishwasher. (I think it was a Fairy Liquid thing.) Which is the opposite of what they've been saying for years!............... I'll not be buying it.
I've done a couple of batch meal makes for the freezer this week, even though I really wanted to get it defrosted first, but I'd run out of choices for quick home made meals so rustled up some Bolognese sauce using a packet of quorn mince - that made 5 portions and then 7 portions of salmon, broccoli, pasta bake. The freezer looks much better but still needs defrosting sometime - a job I don't enjoy.
There was one nice note through the post this week with a letter from one of the building societies saying they'd taken over another bank and I'd be getting a £50 bonus paid in soon - that was good to hear - every little helps.
Plus lovely news about 7 year old youngest granddaughter who has won a national story writing competition. I know it was done through school but haven't heard more about it yet.
Then finally I went to the funeral for my Auntie. 100 years old - amazing, out living all her younger siblings and her daughter. I arrived a few minutes late after finding a road closed sign on the road where I wanted to drive down, turning round to go another way and then finding where the road was actually closed and had to turn round and go back again down the original road! Road Closed signs never actually say Where the road is closed which can be so annoying. Luckily they were singing the first hymn so I was able to slip in unseen! None of the other cousins there so I only knew my Aunties son - he's now the oldest in the family - just a few years older than me.
Have a good weekend. Fingers crossed for fine weather.
Thanks for the messages on Monday. Nothing was wrong but nothing much was happening this week apart from lots of tidying up and reading and I knew I wouldn't be able to conjure up ideas for blog posts.
I had a few days under the weather last week with no energy, but struggled on as the Surrey family were here for the weekend. They were away in Thailand for Christmas so hadn't had Christmas presents from every one.
I made Quorn korma curry plus Indian bits for 11 on Saturday evening. The Suffolk families were here too so cousins could spend as much time as possible together, and then we went out for a big family meal at a local pub on Sunday lunchtime before they headed off home.
I've never complained about a meal out before but as we were booking a table for 12 (BiL came too) son did a pre-order. Unfortunately they had forgotten we had pre-ordered and we ended up waiting well over an hour for our meal - you can imagine how 'hangry' the 5 grandchildren got! I wasn't impressed at all so negotiated a discount off our bill. The food wasn't the best anyway - cold plates make cold vegetables. We won't go there again! It's BiL's local and he said they never seem to have enough staff even on a normal evening.
So since Sunday I've been resting up and reading between stripping beds, cleaning the bathroom, doing washing, sorting toys back onto the shelves in the small bedroom and generally tidying up after having 4 extra people in the house. Nothing interesting. Nothing to blog about - Oh I see I just have!
Also this week I'm sure I aged as my 70+ driving licence renewal form came through the post, ready for April - it was easy to fill in so that's been done, and then, just to make me remember I'm almost 70 my knees started hurting even when not getting up from a chair!
.............................................isn't a holiday in most parts of the world............so Lucky Us!
Boxing Day became a "thing" around the 1830's and the name comes from the custom of giving "Christmas boxes" to servants and apprentices and the tradesmen who delivered to the house.
This below is from the book 'Cattern Cakes and Lace' by Julia Jones and Barbara Deer, and has a bit more explanation about the 26th and a gruesome story of the custom of 'Hunting the Wren'.
And then I came across this song
Boxing Day in Mid Suffolk is much less violent!
(much of this post is repeated from many years ago, so you might have seen it before!)
Many thanks for all the Happy Christmas wishes yesterday. It was lovely to have Youngest Daughter and Eldest Granddaughter here. They went home before dark as it turned very foggy. I then quickly popped over to see Son, DiL and the two grandchildren who have DiL's sister staying with her partner and gorgeous little fella Sunny who is coming up to one year old. He was asleep but still nice to say hello to the grown ups. I could have gone over to Sister in Laws but by then it was dark and very foggy. Fog in the country is different to fog in town! and I don't like driving in dark and fog, it's easy to lose the road edges.
So home to watch the Strictly Christmas Special and Doctor Who. I love the BBC feature of the green button which puts the programme back to beginning - it's so handy.
If you didn't get to see 'Doctor Who at the Proms' which was on TV on Christmas Eve, (and possibly on earlier in the year too) it's worth a watch, the music was fantastic.
Bought myself the Festive Puzzle Collection - for a change from reading - these Take a Break Puzzle magazines always come with a pen that falls to pieces after a month or so! The 150+ puzzles take me longer than the pen lasts.
Last year it was plans for Boxing Day that got cancelled due to everyone being ill. This year it's Christmas Day that has got altered for me. The YD and EGD had planned to go to a friend and that fell through so now they are coming here instead and my plans for going to the community lunch had to be cancelled - I guess it's what Mum's do! I don't mind at all as it will be a treat to have them here.
Hopefully this year there will be fewer winter illnesses in Son's family as DiL, YGD and MGS are all at the same school rather than 2 different schools and a pre-school. Last year the colds, sore throats etc just went round and round the three lots of small children - who love to share all germs!
I came across this blogger who has listed lots of vintage Christmas books Babs Beloved Blogs , and I've decided that 2025 Advent photos will be pages from my Christmas books. I did this a few years ago and they were well received.
Whoop Whoop new series of Strike (J.K. Rowling) starts tonight. I don't read the books - they are too big and wordy, but love the televised version, plus there's a Christmas special on Wednesday of The Good Ship Murder with the rather handsome Shayne Ward, who should have gone further in Strictly.
After reading several blogs with people moaning about or refusing to go shopping in the run up to Christmas I've decided I'm odd because I don't mind shopping in the days before Christmas at all. I like the hustle bustle and the decorations in the shops. Colin never took many days off at Christmas because his holidays were more useful in the summer for smallholding so I often got a lift into Ipswich with him when he went into the office a few times before Christmas - the town would be packed, Christmas music playing and lots of Christmas lights.
Apologies to people who had comments going into spam. If I check daily there are none there, if I forget for a few days there are dozens - including some that were published months ago. Also the follower button had vanished and is now back again - All Jolly Good Fun!
I need a recommendation for a starling proof bird feeder, if there is such a thing, the darn hooligans flock in and clear out the mealworms in just a few minutes. Very frustrating.
Some weeks I only get to chat to people at the Keep Moving Exercise group - it doesn't bother me, I'm happy at home alone anyway. But last week I had a visit from my Essex friends on Thursday and BiL called in on Friday on his way back from an eye test to pick up some cheese scones I'd made for him as a thank you for cleaning the patio. He stayed for a cuppa. A 'busy' talking week!
The Christmas Fairs I visited on Saturday were not very exciting. The first one had a beautiful dolls house as a Big Raffle prize so I bought some tickets but no phone call came and the only other thing I got there was this old book for 50p.
What's left of The Middy is at the museum across the field from where I was at Clay Cottage. The railway ran out of money and closed in the 50's way before Dr Beeching shut down so many other branch railways in the 1960's. I don't think I've seen this book before and I can donate it to the Middy Railway Shop after I've looked at it.
The second Fayre, in Stowmarket town centre was smaller than usual and I found nothing and got cross with myself for going as there's a road closed in town that means a detour 'round the houses' to get to the Asda carpark.
I'd taken the cold-box to get a nice frozen dessert for Sunday visitors and being at Asda means having to buy £5 worth of shopping to get car-park charges back, so I got some of the Chinese/Indian party food bits while I was there. These go, a few at a time, with my veggie curries and veggie stir fries.
In the afternoon I dithered about going out again but went anyway in the hope of visiting a church in the same village.....
This third Christmas Fayre of the day was a very 'posh' craft fair held at a Huge nursing home. Some of the items for sale were lovely but very expensive, however I did find another jigsaw and bought it as it was £2.50 which is much less than charity shop prices. I've now got three to do, one each for December, January and February and that is ENOUGH!
Despite the village Church website telling me it was open on Saturdays, I found it locked but called in at another that was open on my way home.
Once home again I caught up with the final of Taskmaster and of course Strictly was on later. Then I turned over to see the second semi final of the Champion of Champions Snooker which I'd been following on and off all week.
Yesterday Son, DiL and the grandchildren came over bringing most of the makings of a roast dinner for us all which is always lovely.
That was another week gone and much more talking than usual - this week it will probably be back to just the Keep Moving Group!
My eldest Granddaughter is 8 today and one of my nephews has a birthday too - I think he must 40 - the years just fly by - it's not the only day in the year with two family or friend's birthdays on the same day which seems odd but apparently it's not. You only need 23 people from the same family and friends in a room to find two have birthdays on the same day. You would think it would have to be 366 people so I've no idea why it's 23. It's called 'The Birthday Paradox' and is one of the few odd facts that I remember, which would be totally useless if I didn't have a blog to fill!
On this day in 1982 the Mary Rose saw the light of day again after 437 years. The flagship of the Tudor fleet had sailed from Portsmouth on July 18th 1545 watched by Henry VIII, to do battle yet again against the French. She had already been at sea many times but had been rebuilt in 1536. Sadly she sunk just a mile off Portsmouth taking up to 400 men to be their death in the Solent sands. Only 179 skeletons were found among the wreckage and only 35 men survived.
As well as the remains of the ship over 10,000 artefacts telling the story of Tudor sailors have been brought to the surface.
We visited the hull remains where they are on display in Portsmouth in about 1990, before the timbers had been stabilised and the museum properly established . I wish I could remember more about the visit but I do have a tea towel.
There's lots more about the ship on Wiki and on the Mary Rose Museum website.
Son organised a Family BBQ (and did all the slaving over the hot stove) for when the Surrey family were in Suffolk . Lovely to get everyone together. My 3 Children, SiL and DiL, the 5 cousins, BiL, Colin's sister and husband and their children and partners and their soon to arrive first Grandchild.
DiL knew how to set my camera to timer and son did the rushing from pressing the button to standing in the group and I've transferred the photos to a memory stick so I can print off several to send to everyone.
The weather cooperated, everyone brought some food and son had catered for about 50 so there was plenty to eat!
A good time was had by all and the grandchildren managed several hours playing together without disagreements.
Family occasions like this are always bitter sweet for me now - with someone missing.
I looked after the MG and YGD on Saturday so that Son and DiL could go and find a new-to-them car. Second-hand cars are crazy expensive nowadays - now that 'they' want everyone to buy electric which most people can't afford and will be impossible to charge for the majority who don't live in homes with driveways and room to park and plug -in.
Thankfully they found something suitable so my car is all mine again and if it had been fine on Sunday I would have gone to the Woolpit boot-sale ........but of course it rained YET AGAIN - All Day.
Stayed at home instead and decided to craft a few cards using up some more of my craft stash. After 3 Easter cards I remembered why I don't enjoy card making much anymore....rather be reading or writing.
The cookery section of the Bacton Fayre and Produce Show in August is organised by the WI and I've been helping for the last few years. So I spent some time searching through the WI Cakes and Biscuits cookery book for ideas ready to send off details to the Schedule editor. I seem to have volunteered to assist the judge on the day as I have done for the last couple of years. Not sure I'll enter much this year, it makes a very tiring couple of days, baking the day before then on the day having to pick fresh vegetables and get there early for putting entries in and then 3 or 4 hours helping and then looking round the Fayre and going back again to collect entries at the end of the day - I'll see nearer the time - I'm probably too competitive NOT to enter something!
Mother's Day pressie from Son and DiL made me smile - hanging here until I find a hook
and lovely flowers for this weeks Flowers On The Table
And more good news, my car had it's annual service and went through the MOT on Monday, so that's sorted.
Apologies for not replying to comments or commenting elsewhere much this week. I've been avoiding the the lap-top in the evenings and generally cutting down on screen time - except for the TV!.
Imagine having a really good idea for a book, writing it and it's about to be published when you find someone else has had much the same idea and their book, with a similar title, is coming out just a few months before yours. It would be quite annoying. Last weeks issue of the Radio Times had details of lots of TV dramas featuring women detectives including the one that came second in print.
The second book was The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (better known for writing the Death in Paradise TV series) and the one that beat him to the publishers was of course Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club.
But Robert got one over on Richard because The Marlow Murder Club has beat The Thursday Murder Club to the screen as The Thursday Murder Club film has been delayed. I watched the two episodes of Marlow on UKTV Play channel this week and thought them very good. Haven't read the books and probably won't. Some crime stories I find are better on TV than in a book - like Vera and JK Rowling's Strike series.
Son and DiL finally got news from their insurance company that their car has been written off - as they thought - pity that it took more than 2 weeks to decide - of course the money they are getting off the insurance is nowhere near enough for a new-to-them car so good thing I have no mortgage and have savings to lend! That's what Mum's are for I guess. If Colin was alive he probably would have repaired their car but I can't help in that way so help out in the only way I can. They are borrowing my car again this weekend to go and look at something to buy. Thankfully the cracked windscreen was replaced yesterday so is OK for them to drive and for the car's annual service and MOT next week.
I begun to prepare for seed sowing by checking that my little window-sill electric propagator was still working and after finding it was fine, I filled up the seed trays and brought them in to warm up. Today I'll put in seeds of two sorts of tomatoes, aubergines and red peppers. Cucumbers will be sown later.
Back to Six Nations Rugby on TV this weekend and I'm still watching my way through the umpteen episodes of Bones on the Channel 4 catch up.
I shall be back Monday after a hopefully mostly dry weekend - if it is it will be the first for ages.
As mentioned a while ago, Son and DiL are car-less after running their car into an unexpected flood so my car is doing double duty being in two places so DiL can get children to pre-school/school and herself to work at the school in my village (where I can fetch it to use between 9 and 3!) They are STILL waiting for the b***** insurance company to decide what's happening - two weeks on.
I had the car for WI and came out to drive home only to find a 10 inch crack in the windscreen. Of course the car needs to be in one place - not on the way between there and here! to have it repaired and it needed doing ASAP (insurance covers the majority of the cost thankfully). But they give a vague time - between 8 and 5 until they ring an hour before arrival on the actual day. Complicated for the family. A day later they phoned to say the new windscreen was delayed so all plans had to be changed again! Just hope they have the correct screen and are able to do it as the car is booked in for it's MOT on Monday...
These things are sent to try us!
At WI we had one of those speakers who is really interesting to listen to even after an hour! Patrick Barker is 4th generation farmer in one of the local villages and although he runs the 1,200 acre farm for profit his big interest is increasing biodiversity on their farms. He has got involved with many environmental organisations and all sorts of counting and recording - absolutely everything.......... Birds, insects, frogs, butterflies, moths etc etc. You name it and he knows exactly what's on their farms and what to do to increase numbers. He gives talks and visits other farms to get them involved in doing the same.
There's a 2023 BBC programme on iplayer 'Saving Our Wild Isles' narrated by David Attenborough that featured the farm and when he finished talking to us he was rushing home because BBC Countryfile programme were waiting there to film a piece for the programme......Probably on TV this Sundays or next.
I'd planned to go to an Antique Fair just for a look around on Sunday but when I looked out of the window at 8am and the water was running down the hill completely across the road I changed my mind. It had obviously been raining all night and sure to be flooded again here and in many places on the back roads between me and Woodbridge.
And sure enough when it stopped raining and I wandered down the road to look it was like this. AGAIN! Cars were going through very slowly and this is the shallowest part, it gets deeper further along where the water is running down off the main road as well as out of the river.
There was an hour or so dry and then at 2pm it started raining again. This is getting silly!
Hope I can get over to the coast to visit YD and EGD later in the week as it's half-term here so a chance to see them but it's a cross country journey and many spots that often flood.
Later in the day Son rang up to say they had gone out, through a deep unexpected flood that they couldn't see as they turned off the main road onto a small side road and their car had promptly stopped and will possibly be written off! Oh my goodness. And thank goodness for BiL and his 4WD truck who rescued them after a frantic phone call from son to his uncle when the RAC said they don't rescue people from floods!
There were several photos on the local facebook group pages of many villages and roads that were flooded in the area. Some are spots that have always flooded (often called Wash Lane!) but many are places that flood where new houses have been built making lots of extra run-off. Years ago all farmers would have had their men clearing the ditches each autumn, now most farmers don't have farm workers.
My first thought on Boxing Day (when Youngest Daughter texted to say she had woken up ill and I'd started sneezing on Christmas Eve and had gradually got worse through Christmas Day and Son texted to say Youngest granddaughter had an ear infection and DiL had tonsillitis) was to burst into tears!! ......I didn't!............ that would have been silly.
My second thought was OMG what to do with all the food that was ready for 5 adults and 3 children!
It was the meat things that were a problem as the vegetarian sausage wreath and Quorn loaf were still safely in the freezer. I cooked the pigs-in-blankets and suggested BiL popped over yesterday to pick up some of those and some of the cooked ham and the sausage rolls. (and I discovered when I tried to talk to him that I'd lost my voice!)
That worked well - he took away enough for 3 or 4 days. The rest of the ham was sliced and popped into the freezer.
I roasted lots of the carrots, parsnips and potatoes and divided into plated meals for three days and some into the freezer, the rest went back into the fridge for later in the week along with the broccoli head re-wrapped in cling film . The Brussels sprouts were pretty small anyway and, by eating lots, they only made a couple of meals for me. (Luckily they don't have THAT effect on me!)
I'd pre-made a bowl of bread sauce, mainly for Youngest Daughter who loves it, so that went into the freezer - hopefully will be OK when defrosted and re heated.
The Banoffee biscuit base went back into the freezer too and the Double cream.
A chocolate swiss roll had been iced with butter icing to make a Yule Log - That went into the freezer on its Holly and Ivy cake stand. The cheese straws, mince pies, Suffolk rusks and loaf of sliced bread were only out of the freezer for an hour so went back in again.
The cheeses all had good dates on them so they are OK.
Think that means nothing has been wasted
It's worked out OK after all....................phew.
