Saturday, September 22, 2007

We made it!

Yesterday evening with family and friends, we celebrated our Golden Wedding! Yes folks, fifty years of married life and we managed to survive!
The dinner was held at a hotel on the outskirts of the city, Tapton Hall, and was organized by our elder daughter, Jane.
It wasn’t a huge affair with just 20 family members and a few close friends but it was a very enjoyable evening. It was originally supposed to be a quiet dinner party but younger daughter Fran and her friend Mandy had other ideas! They turned up in fancy dress; Fran as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and Mandy as the Wicked Witch of the West! They livened the place up no end!
I made a short speech recalling life in the fifties when we were first married and I spoke of the day when I stood next to Barbara and put a ring on her finger. Fifty years to that day, I put another ring on her finger; this time, an Eternity Ring of diamonds and sapphires. B was over the moon!
During our marriage, like most couples, we’ve had our ups and downs. We have seen times of struggle bringing up a family and times of ease when our financial position took a lift-off! As Barbara said, “Now we’re getting on a bit, we seem to have more money than time to spend it!!!”
Nevertheless, we still have a good few years left yet and if I can’t take it with me, I’m not going!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Back to Amber

Our little kitten hasn’t been featured for some time now so in response to those asking how she is, she’s here!Amber is now 21 weeks old and growing up really fast! She eats like a pig and torments poor old Tiffi something terrible!They are, however, coming to terms with each other and it’s a case of ‘Armed neutrality’ between them.

Amber is now every inch a kitten-cat. Isn't she adorable?

Amber in playful mode... Cheeky little bugger!!!

Amber and Tiffi munching away happily!

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Simple pleasures

First of all, I must apologise for the huge delay in adding to my blog.
I have been indisposed for the last few weeks and have had no access to my PC. However, I reckon things are back to normal now.

SIMPLE PLEASURES......
All the time Iris and I were together, we were never bored. We didn’t have to be going out all the time to far-away places and expensive holidays. We found pleasure in all sorts of things and a lot of the pleasure on my part was to be able to tell Iris the history of various places and things on out travels.
Many were the times that she would ask about a building in town or a memorial she had seen. More often than not, I could tell her something about them. I’ve always possessed a brain choc-a-bloc with useless trivia and it became second nature to me. It wasn’t that Iris was thick; far from it. She’d had a reasonable education and even as a child, was quick to learn. It was just that in the past, she never had the opportunity to travel any distance. Her ignorance was merely due to the fact that she’d never been anywhere of note nor had she known anyone who could explain things to her.
However, she was an avid reader and could reel off information about things she had never seen but just read about.
Iris was no dummy when it came to work subjects. She was an expert shorthand typist and on the home front, she could use a sewing-machine like a qualified tailoress!
It became a standing joke among our friends when someone would ask about something and Iris would say, “Ok, Graeme, out with it!” As often as not, I could provide an answer.
If anyone had asked me to describe our lifestyle, I would have replied, “Idyllic.” That summed it up in just one word! We were as happy as pigs in muck!