Secrets

Photo copyright: Maggie May

Officially, England is still in a drought, even though we've had weeks of continual, slashing rain with flooding in some areas. The longest day is almost upon us and we are still waiting for some warmth.

It was very warm in March, hot even but that seems ages ago now.

I am not so good with secrets......... secrets from Harry, that is. We have always shared everything and neither of us are used to having to watch our tongues in case we let the cat out of the bag.

Last week I knew that my daughter was thinking of coming for the weekend when Harry would be celebrating his 73rd Birthday. "Don't tell Dad", she said just in case the visit didn't materialise and then he'd have been disappointed.

I hadn't realised how difficult this was going to be. I had already promised to have the granddaughters to stay and also my newly acquired step grand child, making that three girls. They were coming for the night which meant I had to make up extra beds so that I could accommodate everybody.

This meant that I had to tell a few fibs about what I was doing and before I knew it, everything was getting very involved and I was becoming an accomplished liar. 

I wasn't too happy about this and as the day of the arrival approached, on Saturday, a very stormy day, things were getting quite difficult and I almost had to avoid Harry altogether in case something slipped out.

However, it was really worth it in the end, just to see Harry's face when Deb, Rick and Dean walked in to the room where he was watching TV. As they live nearly 200 miles away, Harry thought he was dreaming.

He was so happy.

We were later joined by Sam and Sandy and we opened some wine and brought in a Chinese takeaway.

The next day, we went to Clevedon, a seaside near by, for a favourite walk round the cliffs and this was only marred by rain and cold but we pressed on with it, getting quite wet by the end of the trip.

"This was my very best Birthday", Harry announced after they had all gone home and the house seemed very quiet again.

Are you any good at keeping secrets?

Blaise on a Wet Day.

Photos copyright: Maggie May

When I was just about getting over the worst effects of chemo 2, a very kind person from Church, who I have known for a very long time, asked me if I would like to go to Blaise for a walk at the end of the week. I had previously told J that this was the type of thing that I missed most...... being able to get out of the house for a walk in a lovely environment, like I used to do on my own in the days before cancer treatment.

At the time we talked on the phone, I was still suffering quite a bit from the chemo brain syndrome and I really couldn't visualise ever feeling well enough to be able to go for a long walk. This attitude unfortunately, comes as part of the chemo package, the thought that this time my energy would not come back. However J managed to get me to give a firm date for Friday.

Well of course, by Friday I was feeling quite fit but the weather turned out to be dreadful... pouring with rain from the moment I got up, to the time that J was due to pick me up.

When she arrived, we decided to go ahead with the arrangement anyway and found ourselves at Blaise, a beautiful spot in Bristol, with marvellous walks and scenery. I have posted about this place before and have often visited in the school holidays with the grandchildren, sometimes with all four of them.

Obviously on Friday morning, a normal school day, there were very few people about. The rainy day probably made even less people go there than usual, though a few stoical dog walkers with dripping wet canines in tow did brave the elements.

There is a small cafe near the car park, so it seemed best to start off having a coffee in a dry place. It was good to chat and catch up on our latest happenings because neither of us normally has the time or opportunity to do that.

The rain seemed set for the day, but we decided to go for our walk anyway. Armed with umbrellas we set off, not only soaking up the rain but also soaking in the beauty of the wet trees and grass that looked new and unspoilt.

We walked along to the Mansion and then towards the river walk, passing this stone dog on our way.

We are really fortunate in Bristol to have so many lovely green spaces to walk in.

Then it started to rain really heavily and we turned and walked back to the car.

Walking in the rain with our umbrellas brought me a good deal of pleasure and I was so grateful to J for taking me there. Thank you J if you are reading this.

I would like to bring to everyones attention that this weekend, a very important person is being Roasted by my brother, Eddie Bluelights. It is none other than our old friend, David Mcmahon, the Melbourne journalist, author of several best selling novels and professional photographer, who has helped and inspired so many of us in the past. Every ones chance to learn more about him.

Please go over and see Eddie's Sunday Roast.

After the Shower

Photos are copyright of Maggie May.

There is always plenty of rain in England and it is a common sight to see the plants in my garden covered in rain drops.

It is quite refreshing though and saves me having to water the pot plants too often.

The Agapanthus has now died back and the ornamental grass is looking rather tatty before it too, disappears.

I can't believe that it is Autumn already. Seems like we haven't had much of a summer at all.

Watery Wednesday is hosted by 2sweetnsaxy. For lovely photos, pop over for a visit.

The Inset Day

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

What can two small but energetic girls do when there is a non pupil day at school?

Well....... we can play with the dolls house and the barbies!

We can try our hand at painting! Not quite finished yet!

We can go to the park and look at the view. Isn't it lovely? 

 
We can get Granddad to help us feed the wild life.

We can try and stop the pigeons from getting the nuts that we brought for the squirrels.

We were lucky that it didn't rain in the park and we had a really good time.

We had to climb down some steep steps and Grannie said, 'Don't go so fast as Grannie and Granddad cannot keep up and we could break our legs if we slipped.'

One of us said, 'That would be awful because we wouldn't have a bus ticket to get home!'

They thought that was quite funny but we didn't get it! Grown ups laugh at the strangest things!

Just as we jumped off the bus, near home, the sky went black and the rain tumbled down. We had to run very fast, so as not to get too wet. Then we had to take off our trousers and jackets and dry them because we did not run fast enough!

A Last Minute Find!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Not long ago on a Saturday, Harry and I used our bus passes and went a long journey! We arrived at a suitable place to take photos. Well I wanted to take photos and Harry was happy to just be there and admire the scenery.

Well, I was happy as a sand boy snapping this, that and the other, when all of a sudden my camera jammed. The zoom wouldn't go in or out and that left the lens open, which I gather is not a good thing. I found a camera shop and explained what had happened. They examined it and took out the battery and the zoom snapped shut. I had got a flat battery. Feeling rather foolish, I thanked them and was a bit annoyed that there was so much to photograph and my camera was dead! Blast!

"Never mind," Harry said, "We can come again next weekend when the camera is all charged up." I thought that was a good idea and that was exactly what we did.

Only this time it was raining! Not possible to take all the lovely photos! Oh well might as well go into the shops and look through the second hand book stalls out of the rain. I bought a book and when we were on our way home we passed a stream and I felt something had moved on the edge of my vision. I went to investigate and saw baby ducklings. They seemed to be on their own. Then I looked closer and saw the mother with about six babies. She let me get quite close and I zoomed right in and took the photo. I felt that was worth waiting for. 

Harry and I will try another weekend and see what else we can snap when the weather is better.

We might even be able to take photos of the ducklings when they are bigger, if they are still there.

This is my true story and photo produced for Photostory Friday, hosted by Cicely and MamaGeek.

An Eventful Coach Journey!

It was beautiful weather when we booked the trip to Scarborough in Yorkshire. We thought it would be bracing to be by the North Sea and that it would cool us down a bit!

The morning of our departure arrived. The rain was pouring down over the whole of the south of England. So we set off in a storm of slashing rain and high winds and it was also decidedly chilly. What a way to start a coach trip!

We had to change coaches at a large coach station, where it was still pouring with rain.

The driver had locked our cases inside the luggage compartment at the side of the vehicle, which was  beneath the seating area. He told us to come back and collect them in half an hour, as our new coach had not come in yet.

We went for a cuppa and returned just before the coach was to be opened up and noticed a lady by herself looking very distressed. She was wanting to board that coach  and she badly needed the loo, but as she was disabled, she could not take her case with her on the long trek to the loos. I suggested that as we needed to take our cases off the coach that we would be able to put hers on at the same time. So off she trundled with her sticks. My good deed for the day!

However, jobs-worth driver had other ideas! "I'm not putting anything on," He said, "Just taking things off." I asked him if he would keep an eye out for the lady's case as we were going to be late for ours if we had to wait for lady to return. Very reluctantly he agreed.

By now we were soaking!

Our new driver was a Scottish man, named Jock, who told us optimistically that it would be lovely weather north of Birmingham,

As I looked at the passing scenery from the coach window, several posts started to take form in my head! I had a notebook so started to write down notes.

We pulled up at a large Service Station  somewhere around Birmingham. This is the territory of Swearing Mother and I wondered whether she was sitting next to me as I supped my tea in the restaurant. I would never know if she was, nor would she know me!

Suddenly, POW! The lights went off! We had suffered a power cut! Luckily we'd had our tea but others would not be so lucky as all machinery was dead. Tills were stuck!

We had to get to the toilets which were upstairs. The tiny emergency lights had started up as the generator kicked in and we were just able to see the way to the escalators that had stopped.

Upstairs the tiny lights led us to the toilet area but it was like going into a black hole. I had to check what kind of lock it was as once the door had shut I was practically blind. No way of seeing if conditions inside were clean. I was thinking of Expatmum  by now as she likes a good toilet yarn!  Armed with tissues, I decided not to risk the seat, but to squat and my poor thighs wobbled with the strain. No way to check if I'd left the seat clean, nor would the electronically powered flush work. I was pleased that there was hot water but the soap dispensers were not working for some reason, neither were the hand dryers. I fumbled my way out and wondered how Harry was faring in the gents. I hoped he would be able to aim straight in the dark and wished I'd packed more pairs of trousers, in case he hadn't. However, he came out laughing and his trousers looked OK, his hands were covered in soap as there was no water as there was only an electronically powered spray in the gents. 

We got back to the coach and the experience had really broken the ice! Everyone was joking about the blackout and the fact that there were still coaches arriving at the Service Station, passengers little realizing that they were not allowed in anymore and there were staff at the doors to prevent anyone going in. We wondered what the poor passengers would do with full bladders and growling stomachs. Best not to think of it.

We got really friendly with two other couples through that little fiasco!

As we arrived in Scarborough, the weather had dried out just as Jock had predicted.

Things looked promising.

The holiday had just begun!

The Waiting Game!

I have been sorting out the photos that I took during the half term, when Sam, Amber, Millie and I travelled a good way to the sea only to find when we got there it emptied down with rain.

Although Sam was the one who first got me started on putting one photo at a time on my post, it was Crazy Cath who wrote me a very good email explaining how to put multiple photos on one post. So this is my first attempt at multi photos. Thanks Sam and Crazy Cath.

What can you do with two young children cooped up in a car while a storm blows outside? Only one other car in the car park!

Well you could give Millie driving lessons! And look out of the window and gaze at the storm or start eating your sandwiches one hour early!

Whatever is Amber doing? Maybe she has dropped a sandwich! Getting a bit bored with the waiting now!

At last! A gap in the storm and ten minutes on the deserted beach before the next downpour that involved hail, thunder and lightening!

Ah well, it made a change from the city!