Amber's Dragonfly

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

There was an announcement on our local radio yesterday, that it has been found through studying surveys, that people who live in Clevedon, have an average life span of 85 years. That is much more than many other places round here.

Well yesterday, my son took me to Clevedon (in Somerset) for the day.......... so heres hoping that it has added on a few hours of life to all of us!

I have started to feel quite well again after my virus and the shock of the cut finger and so far, antibiotics haven't had a detrimental affect on me....... well maybe my bowels, but we won't go into that.

So when Sam asked if I'd like to go with him and the girls to Clevedon which is small a sea side town not too far away, then I quickly made sandwiches and took clothing for any situation, which meant my bag was full of sun hats and cardigans and rain gear because the weather here could do anything.

As it happened, it turned out to be warm but not hot and a gentle sea breeze seemed to make us feel refreshed most of the time.

Being Friday, there were not too many people about as the school that my granddaughters go to had a non pupil day and broke up for half term a day early. That meant we had the beach to ourselves. It was a lovely change for me to go somewhere different.

The girls enjoyed collecting pebbles and using them for artwork. The top photo is Amber's dragonfly and Sam was trying to see how many stones could be successfully built one on top of the other. I think eight was the limit.

We eventually walked miles along the cliff top walk and we had a really lovely time. Today my daughter is coming for a few days with our grandsons, so I am going to be rather busy over the long weekend of the Bank Holiday.

Things seem to be getting back to normal and I feel very contented.

What will you be doing, I wonder?

Just Think Of The Baby Gazelles & How They Feel!

I was in a bit of a tizz the other day, when I had to visit the Bank to rectify something that I thought was a complete mistake they had made. Sam had gone with me. I'm not sure whether he thought I didn't understand about the mistake or whether he'd gone as a guard to stop me from hitting the Bank Manager! (Well actually we were going somewhere else afterwards.)

While we were waiting,  he said to me."Don't worry, just think of the baby gazelles and how they feel! "

Did I just hear that right?

He repeated the sentence. A puzzling thing to say in the middle of a bank! I suppose he meant that they had predators and didn't have an easy life compared to me.

I suddenly started to laugh at the absurdity of the sentence and how it didn't seem to fit in with the problem at the bank at all, but it did diffuse the situation, which was fixed more easily than I had anticipated.

That made me think of other strange things that people have said to me.

Children are always saying things that make me smile.

Three year old Millie, my granddaughter remarked when she saw her daddy kissing mummy goodbye, "Daddy, why are you kissing Mummy?" He replied, "Because I am going out and she is my wife."

Millie got quite annoyed and said, "No, you are MY wife and you shouldn't do that! You should kiss me!"

My other granddaughter, five year old Amber, went with the family to a pebble beach the other day and she found a tiny paint sampler that had been washed up with the tide.

 She then opened it and proceeded to paint some of the pebbles bright pink. When the children were told they were going back to the beach recently, Amber said, "Oh goody! We can paint more pebbles. Well she obviously thinks that it is perfectly normal to find tiny paint samplers washed up on the beach. Sadly though on another trip, a very large tin of gloss paint was washed up with the tide, but Sam steered the children safely away. No need to overdo the painting! Enough for a whole beach there.

I know someone who had a Cocker Spaniel which was taken out for a walk by a twelve year old. A neighbour said "What a lovely dog, is it a lady dog? (Being polite) "Oh no," was the reply, "Its a cocker!" Well it did cock its leg, I suppose!

So next time you are in a situation when you feel annoyed or upset and thinking of funny sayings doesn't seem to help, you can always try thinking of the baby gazelles and how they feel!