Tag: family

Hey, it’s June

Meaning just where the hell have the last six months gone. Sit back and blink and that’s half the year already gone. It’s amazing that once the better weather kicks in just how quick it just all seems to cascade by, if only you could put the brakes on time and just enjoy it a little bit longer.

The garden has bulked up after the perfect mix of rain and sunlight, and is about to abruptly burst into colour, some of them are impatiently exploding already and it’s starting to look lovely. But it will all be over too soon and that barren, bleak lack of colour will soon be on us. Oh for year round colour, if only.

Butterfly in my garden

The house is warming up, and as we are in quite an old house it’s the one time of the year when the environment isn’t controlled by the heating system, allowing a welcome break from the claws of the energy production companies. We now have the windows open.

That’s another issue. Opening windows. If like us you currently live near the intersection of two major road arteries then you will know what I’m on about. Opening the windows means you let every speeding, inconsiderate motoring manifestation into your home, like it or not. And the dirt and dust produced by vehicles throttling past your door 24hrs a day means no matter how much you dust, there will be more for you in a few minutes to remove. Maybe time goes so fast as the amount of toxicity we must be inhaling is controlling just how long we have left? Who knows?

Digitalis in the garden

Well the windows can’t stay open forever as you’d never get a good nights sleep if you wanted to, because of the boy racers and bike demons who constantly insist on revving their two and four wheeled steeds as they race off into the distant night.

We have a lovely family getaway coming up this month when about 18 of us are heading off to the East coast for a few days. The nice thing is that there is a great mix of ages from about 21 right up to the late 70s and that is wonderful, it’s great to know the youngsters want to spend time with us old farts, to be honest it’s pretty much down to them that this holiday is being arranged, oh and the usual organisational craft work of my dear wife.

On this holiday all the old fellahs, take a boat to float on the boating lake at Gorleston on the east coast. On the day we travel up, it’s always been a quick stopover and a tradition for two of the older members to float their radio controlled boats they have spent a lot of time and patience on. I’ve always jokingly threatened them that one day I’d build a submarine or military boat that would blow theirs out of the water. This year that veiled threat has been achieved and I will hopefully be joining the ranks of the family boating fraternity when I let my torpedo destroyer loose on the good folk of Gorleston. I’ve been building this boat since it was brought as a present for me by a very good family friend on my last birthday. Its construction has already been touched on, through my blog : PT109 wooden torpedo boat kit – construction and I’m hoping the build and testing of the boat will be completed and published within the next few days. It was always my goal to have it ready for this break. Let’s see what happens.

Pt109 boat kit

About now, is probably my favourite part of the year as I have discussed on here before, May & June, that period when spring kicks in and is a precursor to the oncoming summer. But as I’ve said earlier it is all over too soon.

And what a perfect canvas is currently in place for the ongoing sale of this property, yes that is in full swing now and the footprints of strangers should start being witnessed around this property very shortly….but in a way I’m not really bothered if it sells or not. I love this place apart from the negatives I’ve stated above, and as you can see they are few.

No doubt the Christmas stock is already sailing the oceans of the world to be in all our supermarkets very shortly. As if summer is not already short enough.

Whatever the season is wherever you are on this little ball of rock floating around in space, enjoy it, have fun and always spare a friendly outlook to those looking in. It doesn’t last long, so enjoy it whilst you can.

Thanks for popping by.

The garden gathering

In a post I put up a few days ago I did mention that the wife had decided to invite some friends and family around for a gathering we usually have at the end of the football season, (Time goes so fast….) to either celebrate our success or to drown our sorrows. This year it was the latter as we were miserably incapable of putting on a decent show as a competitive team this season.

I stated that I had to put up the gazebo, due to the forecast saying there would be rain. I should have known better, as we are in a Bank holiday weekend it was bound to rain, I wasn’t wrong. Everyone had been invited around to help us celebrate/commiserate and to have a drink and something to eat, we also decided to incorporate a darts competition into the evening for a bit of fun.

Gazebo up and connected to the garden pub, bring on the rain!

The gazebo was suitably decorated with some football banners, food was in good supply in the house and a list of people who wanted to take part in the darts competition was drawn up.

The actual competition was a knockout format, and to add a little bit of extra fun I told everyone they had to have their photos taken in the pairs that they would be playing in, for this I had decided to use two of the “instant” Polaroid type cameras that I had recently repaired. My niece that I passed the first one I fixed on to, was more than happy to assist here.

The nights activity in miniature Polaroids

Pictures taken, lots of laughter and a lot of raised voices and joking about the competition began, 18 people took part and it was chaotic to say the least.

Games underway.

We eventually made it to the final with my nephew and cousin in the final, the younger talent shone through and young “J” won the competition.

Final pairing and the overall winner

I now have 38 fantastic little photos that really show the fun and spontaneity of the evening. We are going to get these into either an old style album or put them up on a board displayed somewhere around the house. Good old physical photos, on show just as they should be, not tucked away unseen on someone’s smartphone never to be seen by anyone else. At least people can look at these and say, “that group of people know how to enjoy themselves.”

I fallen in love again with this style of photo.

An interesting aside came from using these cameras. One other young family member loved these cameras so much she went onto a sale site and brought a broken one before approaching me and asking if i could fix it when it arrives. How could I turn that offer down so I had to agree. My brother in law who was there back in the day of the original Polaroid, wants me to get and fix an original one for him, it’s amazing just how young and old alike were totally impressed by this mode of photography, memories were rekindled, and memories were made….and I’ve got myself some work to do so I’m happy.

Another thing that made the wife and I extremely happy, is when one of the guests, our neighbours to be precise, brought us a gift for our pub which is totally Leicester city football club themed.

Our very generous gift from our neighbours

Last week i wrote of our captain and greatest player playing his last game for us : Jamie Vardy’s having his final party they brought us a shirt they had got signed by him and labelled up with the numbers he had achieved. I guess it helps that our neighbour actually works for the club, either way it was a superb gift that is very much appreciated.

So why are we looking at leaving this area, I don’t know 🤷‍♂️ our neighbours are just superb people. It’s going to be hard to match them anywhere else.

It’s been quiet in the vicinity today as I suspect there are a few sore heads as the last couple didn’t leave until about 3am this morning, we’ve spent most of the day cleaning up and had to get the gazebo and extra bits down and put away as they are coming to take the photos on Tuesday. I’m working late shifts so I’m not going to be around so I’ve got to do as much as I can to help prior to the full estate agent process kicking in.

Anyway, a great night was had by all, we have some super memories and meeting up with family and friends is always an enjoyable experience at gatherings such as this.

Have a superb weekend.

A little advice…

List the people you admire and look to for advice…

I guess we will all at some time look to a mixture of people for different kinds of advice.

Contentment

For emotional advice there is no one but my wife who I’d turn to in the first instance. I think for her, I’d fit that bill as well, heck, we’ve been together so long we sometimes know each other better than we know ourselves. She’s my confidante and I know anything we discuss stays totally between us. She’s just such an understanding and calm influence for me. I need that sometimes. Don’t misunderstand me, when she cracks she goes full loop de loop, and is known in the family as the Rottweiler, you just don’t cross her. And when this does rarely occur I’m the one that calms her. God, we were truly meant to be together to keep each other at peace. So far so good.

At work I’m in probably the best work team I have known in all my working days. We are always there for each other, there is always support for each other 24hrs a day, and when things get a bit too much, there is always a calming elder figure to talk to. I guess that is why it’s recognised in our organisation that our depot pretty much runs itself, with no issues and no need for guidance, we self manage and are a well oiled machine in all aspects. The guys I work with are just the most fantastic, supportive and caring bunch you could ever work with. And a combined fabulous sense of humour doesn’t go unnoticed.

Work

Outside of these two highlighted above, I look to some older and much wiser friends, elders of my life if you like for that additional advice, that advice that sometimes you just have to run past someone on the fringes of your group, to see if you are thinking it all out correctly, and addressing any issues logically.

I don’t really look to anyone else in my family group for advice, but saying that it is sometimes good to discuss approaches to issues with the younger members of the family to see their reactions and ways of dealing with similar issues. Sometimes they just seem to have a less tangled and somewhat easier approach to problem solving. Some times though they don’t.

So here I guess I am saying, that I can advise the younger generation from an experienced point of view, but at the same time I must be open to learning from them. It really is two way traffic.

Advice must be listened to and acted on, if we are to learn how to deal with a multitude of problems/ issues. Taking advice and not following through with it achieves noting and leaves you empty and confused. And that is where the “What ifs” arise. Good advice can definitely alleviate doubt.

Want some advice?

Be happy and have a great day – there you go 👍

Have a day off

I’ve woken up this morning, after finishing a fairly boring stretch of late shifts at work, to find an email from the National lottery telling me I had won a prize. I sometimes get these emails but I never rush to open them as it normally lets me know I’ve won a free entry for the next draw or a share of the latest £140 million pound euro millions jack pot of around £3:75GBP. Hardly life changing amounts i know.

My first cup of tea of the day beside me I’m now ready to open that email, Wow I’ve won £30:00GBP, that’s an improvement on the usual amount i win. I then proceed to inform the family of my good fortune, informing them to not send any begging letters. And asking them to form an orderly queue.

I’ve won…

That got me to thinking, just what would be the amount you would like to realistically win that would change your life?

For me, as I’m already considering retirement in the near future, it wouldn’t be millions that’s for sure. I’d probably want just enough to see me through, selling my current house, buying a new one and having just enough to get by. We have no Mortgage, we are not looking to increase the rooms in our home as there is only the two of us. I’d love a workshop or workspace though, and I’d love to be able to maybe just work part time doing something I love. Maybe working in the great outdoors somewhere, forest management that would be perfect. £50:000 would be enough for me to leave work this very minute and seek that small alternative employment job, £250:000 I believe would be sufficient for me to put my feet up for good, and there lies the problem. As anyone knows who “reads” my posts, I’m a constantly on the go person who has to be busy. That £250:000 would probably make me consider starting my own business to address that need to be constantly on the go, I’d have to do something that I enjoy, as I wouldn’t want to have a retirement where I’m tied to working shifts through a 24hr roster system as I am at the present.

I need time off. I really do.

I don’t need a mahoosive amount of money. Looking at the figures now, that £50:000 injection of money would probably be all I need to massively change my life, not for the better as I already have a blessed life, but to allow me to enjoy it even more, and spend valuable time with those I love.

And you can’t put a price on that.

Have a beautiful day.

Happy Easter

I’ve been very fortunate to have my entire family around me these last few days and it has been a truly fantastic time. We get together very rarely and it’s hard to predict a date when this many of us will be together again.

It’s pure luck that’s it’s fallen on Easter weekend, and that’s just added to its appeal for me.

We are not in anyway a religious abiding family, in all truth I’m probably the most active one in that sense as it’s just something that gives me comfort, although I’m by no means a practicing member of the religious community and my attendance at a place of worship is woeful to be honest, nether the less it’s something I hold onto, as I’ve said before, for a little peace and comfort.

Today we have another family gathering at a family members house for a house warming, soirée for want of a better word. This will be the gathering where we all say our goodbyes as we swan off to all parts of the country after first making brief plans for dates, where the wife can work her magic and get the next “Gathering of the clans” arranged.

Prior to that though, a group of us men in the family will move off to the city centre to watch today’s game of football. We are destined to be further pushed along the road to relegation from the premier league, but it’s nothing less than we deserve as we have been awful all season. Personally I’d rather not go, but that’s the point of being a supporter, you give support through both the good and bad times. It’s very much the latter at the moment for us.

We lost, but enjoyed the game

That said there will, I know, be plenty of laughter along the way.

It’s been a lovely weekend where the whole aspect of Easter has been observed. Togetherness, happiness, sadness, whilst reminiscing for those no longer with us and a time for giving gifts and compliments, and compassion for those who are going through difficult times, who couldn’t be with us this wonderful weekend.

It’s rare to have these weekends timed to such perfection but the wife has surpassed herself yet again with this weekend.

Later tonight when all the good byes have been said, the family messaging group will come alive with all the wonderful, fun and smile inducing pictures of this weekend. Memories have been made.

A happy Easter, or a happy weekend to you all, wherever you may be.

Stay safe. Be happy.

Tradional pub skittles

My wife is a fantastic organiser. The family owes an awful lot to her as she always arranges meals and get togethers keeping us all in touch. Without her doing this I very much believe we’d all lose contact quite rapidly. She keeps the family together. And she is brilliant at what she does.

Today is one of those days, Easter Saturday, she has hired the Skittle alley at our local pub and we are all meeting there for a meal prior to throwing our “Cheeses” at the skittles. No perfectly round balls here, these are good old solid wood, full of splinters and shaped more like tin cans to be honest. And they can go off in any direction, there is no way to control them. Just don’t get in their way!

We play it differently up here in the East Midlands as can be seen here:

In the East Midlands, people play Long Alley in which the projectiles are rough balls or small capsule shaped logs called “cheeses” and a score is only made if the cheeses bounce a single time just in front of the pins.

Wikipedia

It can be quite brutal. But that’s how we roll in the East Midlands 😂

Our local

It’s a beautiful old pub, and we kind of adopted it when we moved up here. A right old traditional pub. I think there is about 22 of us up there tonight from all different areas, so it should be a nice evening.

Tomorrow is a different story when we will all be off to watch our home football team get slaughtered at home to our visitors- Liverpool.

But let’s not get too depressed about that, here’s how today has gone instead.

Paul wins the skittles
Winner and his prize.

4 rounds of 3 cheeses each and we had sorted out the final four of the contest, cousin Paul wins outright and wins the first prize a Cadbury crème egg. Highest score of the evening went to niece Julie who managed to down eight skittles in one round.

Overall winner Paul, and high scorer Julie.

The remainder of the evening was just people talking and catching up. It was a lovely day and My wife has already sorted out the Christmas party dinner. She’s so damned organised.

The day started at our house earlier when everyone went down our garden pub to play darts, have a drink and kick the day off in a really fun and friendly fashion. It’s ended around 12 hours later when the tiredness sets in and people start to make their excuses and gradually filter off into the night.

In the bar, after.

Tomorrow we go again when we meet at my nieces home for her house warming party. It’ll be a little more subdued as some are back to work on Monday, however I’m really looking forward to meeting up with them all again.

Good times. Good company. Nothing beats it.

Are you busy?

This is the first prompt for days that I’ve been able to answer as I’d already answered those others previously. I’m going to make a slight change to this prompt and remove the word “Hate”. I never use this word as it’s such an awful one, and unfortunately it’s too prevalent in our world at present. I’m going to use the word “Dislike” as dislike can always be improved upon rather than the other word that is just so final. Once Hate is in place. There really is no turning back. So here we go.

What is one question you dislike being asked? Explain

Anyone that keeps an eye on this blog and reads the content will know I’m an individual who likes to keep himself busy. Just look at the projects and stuff I’ve posted recently, and the fact I still have 18 posts still in draft mode and you will see I’m a busy guy. On top of that I am a full time employed individual with a house to run a garden to look after and a wife who loves spending (Bless her x)

My time is quite well planned, so when that phone call comes in asking me, “Are you busy?” That’s when I have a sharp intake of breath. Normally it involves fulfilling tasks for friends and family, giving time that is precious to me and in many cases already accounted for. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not mind helping anyone, there is no greater pleasure in seeing someone’s face light up at the end of a well done project. The thing is I take so many on, that it normally means the same job at my own home is being neglected, it’s always more fun doing the job at someone else’s property for some unknown reason though.

The reason I dislike being asked is that I just can’t damn well say no. Saying no makes me feel guilty but that’s just the guy I am. I guess to me it’s just like that word “Hate” it’s just not in my vocabulary.

So that’s why I dislike being asked this question as I’m just not wired to say “No”.

One day I’ll learn to say it. But that’s not today. And probably even tomorrow.

Hey ho.

Happy days everyone.

Of love and appreciation

Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received.

My mother on her death bed bless her, turned to me and my wife whilst we were beside her and said, “You are a wonderful couple”

The last few words this beautiful soul ever spoke and they were to the both of us. It is the most precious memory I hold and the finest gift I have ever received. It was like a moment of full flowing love and appreciation, we were in her thoughts at the very last moment of her existence.

Some gifts do not come in a physical form, sometimes a gift is given in a form that just cannot be replicated, a real one time special offer, exclusive just for you. And this was ours.

Often talked of by us. Never to be repeated, but forever remembered and cherished.

The last words of a much cherished and kind hearted soul who made and shaped my world. My mother. ❤️

The gift of words, original and heart felt, and very much exclusive.

Peace to you all.

Stupid volcano

I know this sounds like a stupid title for a post, it is really, it’s one of those impatient child like statements that we, so called adults make from time to time.

We’re off to Iceland again this weekend and it’s always been one of my dreams to be able to witness an erupting volcano. However not a massive one, a small inconspicuous non invasive one would do just fine.

Picture courtesy of Perlan

At the moment the weather in Iceland is actually warmer and better than it is here in the East Midlands, and that always confuses me due to their proximity to the arctic circle. I lay money on it, what usually happens is we head on home and then the land blisters and there is a new eruption for a few months. But when we plan to return the land seals up like a small surface cut and then scabs over.

It’s quite frustrating

Icelands volcano cams

I constantly check in with the local news streams, as well as looking at the large amount of Volcano cams that are online and providing live coverage of the most susceptible areas.

That said we are really looking forward to our break in the land of ice and fire, however at the moment there doesn’t seem to be much of either.

Happy days.

1986

What were your parents doing at your age?

When my parents were at my current age it would have been 1986. They were probably doing their best to just get by, and they both had multiple jobs. I remember a few details from this period as there were some significant goings on around this time.

My mother would have been a shop worker in a local store as well as a cleaner at the company i worked for. I would have been in the photographic industry about four years at this time, i would have had a darkroom in the spare bedroom and would have probably been on my third computer at this point. I’d have ditched the Sinclair ZX81 and the Commodore Vic 20 and I’d probably be trying to master the Amstrad CPC464. I loved the start of the computer era, as did a lot of my friends at the time.

I had my first SLR camera around this time and that would have probably been a Praktika. I was saving as much as i could, to try and purchase my all time favourite camera at the time, and in fact it is still my favourite of all time to this very day. A jet black Canon A1.

I know that i was heavily into photography at This time, as i took one of the most iconic photos i have ever taken in my family history, of my father. I have it to this day. He was leaning on a coal bunker in the garden, it was a beautiful sunny day and i took it, and processed the film and enlarged the photos in my little darkroom in the spare bedroom, on a Gnome enlarger. It was a black and white photo and it represented a turning point in all of our lives.

He had just had a heart attack, and he suffered a deep immersive depression that he never really came out of. Please don’t misunderstand me he lived for another 21 years with no other medical issues, however he had changed and became highly abusive to my mum, my little sister and me. He was heavily into alcohol at this stage, and we were paying the price. I had to grow up quick as i became the protector of my Mother and sister, it was hard and i was not prepared. We were the only ones at home at the time as my two elder brothers and elder sister had all left at that point, and boy how we suffered big time. Our lives were changed the very day his heart attack occurred.

He was a very good electrician, he had been an aircraft electrician but was now working for a local building company, he was also a part time baker.

In the next few years my mother would lose all her brothers and sisters as time took its toll. Father would lose his mother and sister and the family began to dwindle in size.

But thats enough of the bad as its all in the past and though i never forget what happened, i have to move on with my own life for purposes of maintaining sanity.

I loved the 80”s as the world was opening up and starting to develop technologically, however i do believe the older generations did struggle. It’s strange really as it is a mirror image for us older generations today, with some of the things that are going on around us currently. Perhaps all generations have their own Groundhog Day periods.

Here are some points of interest that also occurred back in 1986

  • Plans were announced between the UK and France to build the channel tunnel
  • The space shuttle Challenger exploded just after its launch
  • Halley’s Comet makes a show
  • The Soviet Mir space station is launched
  • Microsoft goes on the stock market
  • The Chernobyl nuclear plant explodes
  • Argentina wins the World Cup
  • The M25 motorway – The UK’s biggest car park opens officially

A lot happened that year and these are just a small selection of them. However the dynamics of my family changed that year and what occurred from that point on will never be forgotten . WordPress really couldn’t have chosen a worse time line to talk about for me than this one I’m afraid, but then, it’s good to get it out there.

However, time moves on, wounds heal and we all learn. This is why it is important that we don’t erase our past, otherwise how will we ever learn to be better people and treat others with the mutual respect and belonging they all so rightly deserve.

Have a lovely day, everyone.