Memories are made of this...

I made the decision way before I had our kids, in fact in those early days it was actually 'if' not when we had kids, but that is a tale for another day. Our family life, will no be doubt rehashed, argued over, judged and dissected over the years, within the breadth of the kids' own families if and when they have them. I felt, and still do that I had a real responsibility to be the memory maker for them. I know of course that great memories cannot be forced or foisted upon people and that they are created by the by, in happenstance and just by our every day life which brings a myriad of 'memories' to be opened later.  My belief is that cherished memories are the lasting gifts we give to those we love almost unwittingly; to our children, our families and our friends. They are opened time and time again over the years and these keepsakes are little gifts to treasure. A small example was last week ... and I thank Suburbia for her post Small Sprog battles the credit crunch ... as it reminded me of one such memory, that I reopened and cherished again. A big warm feeling!

I was out walking with our dog last week and as the trees have already started to undress and the autumnal leaves were floating gently off the trees, I spied on the ground a cache of fallen horse chestnuts, most of them opened and empty

or crushed. But amongst them I found two that were still whole, uncracked and unopened. I put them in my jacket pocket, which excited Pippa as she thought I was rummaging for her dog biscuits! When I got home, I placed them on tissue on the mantelpiece. When my son and daughter arrived home much later from school and they had changed and snacked, I told the kids them I had a gift for them and it was on the mantelpiece. They looked very excited but when they looked I think they were trying to hide their disappointment from me, then came puzzlement, and then the realisation .... They both smiled and said, 'Aw Mum!! Conkers!?' Memory opened. 'Aw! you are such a softie!' They both gently cracked them open to find the 'gift' inside, and this is the where IF you are lucky enough to find a fallen horse chestnut that is unopened, you should wait and wait to open it, guessing what size, shape or quantity is inside, the insuing anticipation is weirdly unbearable, after all its only a bloody conker! My son found he had a substantial glossy warm brown nugget; my daughter was chuffed to find she had twins, two smaller ones, a matching pair! They both smiled, I think enriched by the memory and we all hugged. I know they think I'm soft, but it's these little things that I believe will stay with them and warm them in the years to come. Perhaps when least expected and I am long gone.

When the kids were younger and in their buggy/strollers, they both loved going by the 'conker park' screeching their joy and collecting the conkers, which they displayed on the their bedroom window ledges ... they would even take them to school  for a time to play conkers with their friends. That was until about 6 years or so ago, when the PC Police, made a fuss, the press got hold and schools banned them from the playground as they are now considered 'dangerous'. How bizarre in these days of our litigious society, the schools are frightened they will be sued!

For those of you that are puzzled by the term 'conkers' and some may be completely in the dark here, I will try and explain, but remember I'm a girlie so my description I'm sure will be lacking the testosterone charged version. One chooses a good sized and well shaped, (assorted shapes are preferred for certain tactics I recall) and a hole is made through the middle, or even off centre sometimes. I would use a metal cake skewer, but I'm sure there is varied means to drill through the middle of the conker. Then a piece of string, some wool, pink if a girl and the best of a shoe lace, the tapered end is good for threading a shoe lace strong and sturdy and male. Then we would wind the lace around the fisted fingers and flip the conker with some force against the opponents conker.  If you missed you lost your turn if you hit it firmly, you kept going until you missed or the opponents' conker was decimated.

Simple pleasures of the playground...

...remember hopscotch, jacks, french skipping?

 

A contender for post of the day at Authorblog, thanks again for the mention David!

Manic Mama!

I found this on the net and thought I would share it..

Recognise yourself? I sure do!

Ignorance is bliss...

... if this were 'my' story it would be my almost claim to fame but it isn't.  It is a family story, one of many very  interesting ones.   I'm sure Moannie will pop by later and put us right if my recollection of the event told and retold to me isn't accurate.

In the early 1950's my father JP, who is french and was living in Cannes,  was still in school and in his teens, he  delivered meat for a local  butcher. One day he delivered meat to a house and instead of the usual woman an old bald man answered the door, he took the delivery from  my father and told him to hang on a sec and he disappeared inside,  presumably to look out some coins as a tip. 

He soon returned with a scrap of paper which he wrote upon and mumbled,  'here you are' or something to that effect.

My father, balancing his bycycle walked away and looked at the scrap of paper.  It had on it a line drawing and a signature. My father thought, ' Miserable sod!' and scrumpled up the paper and threw it into the gutter.

The man was ............

Pablo Picasso...

dog by picasso

bull by picasso

Once upon a time...one for all us Mum's !

A far more accurate account of the events of that fateful morning... 

Baby bear

 goes downstairs, sits in his small chair at the table. 

He looks into his small bowl. It is empty. 

'Who's been eating my porridge?' he squeaks. 

Daddy Bear arrives at the big table and sits in his big chair. He looks into

his big bowl and it is also empty. 

'Who's been eating my porridge?!?' he roars. 

Mummy Bear puts her head through the serving hatch from the kitchen and yells,

 'For God's sake, how many times do I have to go through this with you idiots? 

It was Mummy Bear who got up first. It was Mummy Bear who woke everyone in the house. 

 It was Mummy Bear who made the coffee. 

It w

as Mummy Bear who unloaded the dishwasher from last night and put everything away.

 It was Mummy Bear who swept the floor in the kitchen.

 It was Mummy Bear who went out in the cold early morning air to fetch the newspaper and croissants. 

It was Mummy Bear who set the damn table. 

It was Mummy Bear who walked the bloody dog, cleaned the cat's litter tray,

gave them their food, and refilled their water. 

'And now that you've decided to drag your sorry bear-asses downstairs and

grace Mummy Bear with your grumpy presence,  now listen carefully, 

because I'm only going to say this once.... 

'I HAVEN'T MADE THE EFFiNG PORRIDGE YET!!!'

  

A contender for post of the day at Authorblog, thanks again for the mention David!

A fun meme..

Meme Time

BS5  has thrown down the gauntlet to complete this meme. His is much funnier though!
What are your initials? FFF!
What is your favourite thing to wear? My pj’s
Last thing you ate? Burger and salad no bun.
Name one thing that scares you: ill health
I say Shotgun, you say: James Clavell novel?
Who was the last person in your bed? The dog,
What were you doing at 7:00am? Struggling to get up!
Last person you hugged? My son last night
Does anyone you know want to date you? Uh? Doubt it.
When was your last encounter with the police? Indirectly ….last week, I got a speeding ticket from Southampton docks in August, my first ever ticket in 30 years! And they offered to ‘rehabilitate' me with a course in Soton'

Have you ever driven without a license? No
The last place you went out to dinner? Last  night pasta at Franco’s
Do you like your name? Yes.
What time of the day is it? 19.15
Who/What made you angry today?  No one….yet
Do you want anyone? To cut the grass? Take out the garbage? Let me at the remote? Yeah anyone will do!
Do you like birds? I’m partial to pheasant and partridge in a pie.
Favourite holiday? Sun  and several good books and a soupcon of culture.
Do you download music? Yes
Do you care if your socks are dirty? Yes!
Opinion of Chinese symbol tattoos? I like them, but haven’t had the courage as yet.
What are you doing tonight? This and then a shower… Little Britain USA...then bad with a book
Do you like to cuddle? Yes
Do you love anyone? Not just anyone.
Whose bed did you sleep in last night? My own
Have you ever bungee jumped? No way, I’m a scaredy cat!
Have you ever gone whitewater rafting? No, water is too frightening! As suburbia said!
Has anyone ten years older than you ever hit on you! No comment.
How many pets do you have?  1 dog, 1 rabbit, 2 teenagers
Have you met a real redneck?  yip
How is the weather right now? Starting to get dark, chilly but dry for the moment, lets not tempt fate here!
What are you listening to right now? The kids are watching Friends … Monica and Chandlers wedding…again...l can hear it.
What was the last movie you watched?  'The Women' last week
Do you wear contacts? Very occasionally these days
Where was the last place you went besides your house? Work at the museum today.
What are you wearing?  My work gear

What's one thing you've learned this year?  50 is okay actually!
What do you usually order from Starbucks?  Skinny latte grande with a lemon cinnamon twist
Ever had someone sing to you? Yes, Mariachi’s
Have you ever fired a gun: Without a bullet, does that ‘count’
Are you missing someone?  Often times
Favourite TV show? At the moment , Strictly Come Dancing…its fun and frivolous
What do you have an obsession with? I plead the fifth!

Has anyone ever said you looked like a celeb? .. decades a go when I had an afro perm.
Who would you like to see right now? My Mum.
Ever had a near death experience?  no…
Are you afraid of falling in love? Hardly
Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't supposed to? Yes
Has anyone you were really close to passed away recently? Yes
Our Lady Peace or Nickelback? Nickleback, I haven t heard of  the others.
What's something that really bugs you? Bad manners
Do you like Michael Jackson? Love his music, attended a Bad concert at WeM-berly
Taco Bell or Burger King? Taco bell, was great in 1984.  I’ve reported Burger King to the health people yuk
Next time you will kiss someone? The kids tonight
Favorite baseball team? Detroit Tigers, only team l’ve seen or know of.
Ever call a 1-900 phone number? No, is that a  ‘naughty’ number?
Nipple or Nose rings? Neither
What's the longest time you've gone without sleep? Have you ever had a newborn?! I’m with suburbia..
Last time you went bowling? 2 years ago.
Where is the weirdest place you have slept? The most uncomfortable was the mail carriage on the milk train back from Victoria station may bank holiday 1976, 4am from the Who concert at Charlton fc.
Who was your last phone call? To? My pal last night.
What does your last received text message say? Thanks leave it on my desk, l’ll deal with it on Tuesday.
What's the closest orange object to you? The Apocolypse now book by Paul Cowie, on the shelf behind me.
So there you have it. Feel free to try it!

All in a days work..

I was reading earlier Gone back down south's recent Role reversal post, a Post of the Day nomination at David McMahon's wonderful blog, and I couldn't help reflecting upon yesterday a day of crisis, work, education and retail therapy (of others not mine) , culminating in an almost confrontation of teenage and menopausal hormones.

I went to work as usual and my day there was divided between, the monitoring of the Art Gallery and its exclusive   Art Exhibition and then onto the museum shop for the afternoon. Enough to keep me busy and out of trouble, one would think. Although the day was expected to be relatively quiet, the morning was eventful nonetheless.  As I chatted art and the sublime new exhibits  with a couple of visitors, out of the corner of my eye I spied another visitor who had decided to sit down on a piece of sculpture!  

I  shouted out to her, 'Please don't sit on that!' as l saw her generous bottom begin its descent  upon the polyester resin sculpture with an accompanying   'CrUnCh'   OMG ... I was mortified!

Whatever your view on modern /contemporary art  surely,  even a philistine would have respect enough not to sit on a sculpture .... wouldn't you think? Nuff said that my heart nearly jumped out of my chest as I inspected the piece for evidence of damage, I called for the curator and cordoned off the exhibit ... sigh ... the visitor proffered no apologies, saying she thought it was for sitting and blamed the too subtle signage! When I left for my lunch break, my eyes pricked tears behind them I know not why, I guess I felt a tad overwhelmed.

The afternoon was less eventful, but busier as I was manning the Museum shop and even a shop full of giggling school children didn't phase me after the morning happening. Several  colleagues came and offered me sympathy, as it feels terrible if something happens on our watch!

After closing up at the end of our work day, I had a 15 minute window to get to evening class or get home first, so l phoned the kids to make sure the house wasn't burned down ( don't laugh, that is another story!). All was well seemingly, so off to college I drove and enjoyed two hours applying myself to the elements of Photoshop, which is great fun, though I'll not remember half of it unless l practice and I must figure out  how cloning a lizard and applying stones with have a valid or pratical application in my life or work. This is supposed to help me with the editing of images and creating graphics for my vintage clothing business, that  which is in need of my full attention... some day!

I  had left home 10+ hours earlier, so tired and hungry I drove home only  minutes away and I noted that the wheelie bin was still out in the street, even though my son had promised on the phone to bring it inside, one bad mark. 

Through the kitchen window, I noted the washing up was strewn all over the sink, cooker, counter, not in the dishwasher, how lucky are we?This is not unusual, a second bad mark.  

The back door was locked, but no one responded to my knocking, #4 bad mark, so l went in the front door... still no one noticed but the dog who greeted me, ever faithful unless someone else has a biscuit in their pocket within 10 yards! 

My son (14) was doing homework at his desk, he told me hi and he had made a pot of tea,  it was indeed brewing, with my hopes rising, I entered the living room to ... my daughter (16) frowning and mumbling swear words, not softly enough actually and was  watching some bloody football!  (see  What the F***?  ) 

Voicing my hope that this was indeed 'almost over!', she told me in no uncertain terms, it had just started, she had been looking forward to it all day, that it is on ITV4 and we don't get that or in fact any other channels in any other room of the house!  To tired to argue I left the room sighing and scowling. I admit that was weak of me but I  told myself I should shower and  change, bake a potato, then return to the living room refreshed, my thoughts regrouped and ready to  take on daughter and even to check out the new tv digital system installed this week  (which replaced, the over priced and underused and as yet uncancelled SKY System).

By the  time I had showered, cooked, eaten and cleaned up it was 9.55pm and the football was still on. I was in no mood to watch it but  to say anything would attract more grunts and groans and put ME in a mood! 

My daughter looked up and smiled (!) and said, 'I'm buzzing,  we won the match and I won a fiver', she passed me the remote, 'All yours ,' she said, ' l'm off to shower and bed, I've already done my homework. Night!' She gave me a kiss and was off! Ahhhh .... all bad marks erased, what a good girl! Am I soft or what!?

I collapsed on the couch and watched  saved episode's of Strictly - it takes two....

... all in a day's work!?

ABC WEDNESDAY - K is for ......

K is for KENT

My home county

the garden of England 

(although they took that title away recently and gave it to Yorkshire!)

It is where I spent some of my childhood

and much of my teen years.

I met my Scottish husband there 

We married and we had our children in Kent.

We left the southern county in 1996 and we now live

in the most northern county and city of north west England.

My parents  still live on the Kent coast

and I visit every few months to get my fix of Kent (and mum's cooking).

It's where I feel most comfortable in my skin,  (apart from anywhere with my kids) 

I kind of blend in, accent and all.

a hot summers afternoon view out over the east coastline  

taken from the front of my parents former thatched cottage home

a late summers evening sky out over the sea and the Eastern Promenade,

taken from the same position at the front of my parents former home

(about 400 yards from their present home)

For the home of ABC Wednesday, go to Mrs Nesbitt's Place.

http://wednesdayabc.blogspot.com/