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May 2006 Archives
May 31, 2006
Nice cup of tea
It all started two nights ago when my daughter walked into the living room and said 'I am going to get Corrie a boyfriend' 'there you are' I said I don't think I bothered looking up from my cup of tea. Several hours later I was called into the middle room to check out her new site www.datemysister.co.uk I was flabbergasted, it was quirky funny and quite endearing.
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May 29, 2006
Homeward bound
Everyone has gone home the house is empty, I always get a little depressed when they go. Nicole settled in as if she had known us for ages. We play a lot of games and she took it all in her stride. We took her to Ogmore by Sea to have a game of Cub. This is a great game as it doesn't involve a lot of running around just skill at aiming a piece of wood at other pieces of wood, ending with knocking over the 'king pin' My nephew discovered it when he was travelling and got hooked, we bought it off the internet, the internet is a great way of buying unusual stuff like that, it is a very competitive game but lots of fun
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May 28, 2006
Football in the park
Don't they make a happy picture...oh, to be young and in love. Well, it is just as well I cooked a curry as when I came home from work, the house was empty as they had all got stuck in the Bank Holiday traffic for 5 hours! Gloomy faces all around, just half an hour to scoff the curry then off to the party in the park in Pontypridd.
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May 26, 2006
Ahhhh....Bisto!
Big weekend coming up my brother and his wife, his daughter and her boyfriend and his son and his new girlfriend and my neice are all coming down for the Bank Holiday. Nephew's new girlfriend must be nervous as if I know my lot they will have built Wales up enormously and exaggerated our characters to the point she will be expecting to meet witches and dragons.
Little does she know we are just as nervous about meeting her, I have given the house a good once over, cleaned the windows for goodness sake. She seems like a vivacious type of girl rumour has it she built her own house in New Zealand or Australia and sold it to travel the world. But you never know with my family they tend to pass information around and add it as and when they feel like it.
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May 25, 2006
Money makes the world go round
Youngest daughter rang to borrow the car for the weekend and to tell me that she had completed her exams for her final year in University. What a relief! Keeping her in University has been very costly and a struggle. Imagine my amazement when she dropped the startling news about 2 months ago that she had decided to work hard from then on to pass her degree as that would enable her to take out a graduate loan and travel the world.
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May 24, 2006
Green taxi make me see RED
As I said my Aunty and I talked about everything and anything but one thing she let slip during the afternoon was the fact that her legs were not as good as they used to be, for an 84 year old I didn't take that admission too seriously, but then she went on to say that she had to use taxi's sometimes when her shopping was too heavy. Apparently she asked the driver of one of the taxi 's, if it was possible for him to turn the car around to enable her to get out of the car more easily, stepping on to the pavement other than the road and he said 'no he couldn't'. It was bad enough that Aunty Hattie had to make the request as she has been very independent all her life, I know it would have hurt her pride, but his negative curt comment cut her to the quick. If he had been in the restaurant with us at that moment I would have cheerfully punched his lights out.
There are only two taxi firms that operate where she lives, it did occur to me to ring them up and mention that if an 84 year old makes a simple request to get out on the pavement side, I think she deserves a little respect and help. Would that make it even more awkward for her? Should I interfere?
On a lighter note, daughter number two, who came to the cinema last night with what looked like wet hair, has asked me to do a desperate favour for her today. Apparently, when I was down Aunty Hattie's she decided to dye her hair blonde and too her horror
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May 23, 2006
Birthday girl
It was my Aunty Hattie's 84th birthday today, when you get to that age it is really difficult to think of a birthday present as people my aunty's age usually have everything. For a long time now I have realised that spending time with people is a gift in itself. I told her to be ready by 1130 a.m. as we were going out to lunch.
I had no idea where we were going I said it would be an adventure. I suggested that we would go on a drive and see where we ended up. Well, after getting lost down the Gower we ended up in a petrol station asking the cashier if he knew of a good place to eat.
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May 22, 2006
Mamgu's Monday
Every Monday I take charge of my beautiful grand daughter Casey. She is delivered at 715 a.m. precisely at which time she looks me up and down and cries as she knows that her mother is about to disappear out of the door leaving her with me! Mind you the crying only last about 5 mins and then she happily sits there while I perform a silly dance or bung a plaything with plenty of lights in front of her to keep her amused.
I have had four children and you would have thought that would have made a difference to my coping but it doesn't, I am so nervous. I made a conscientous decision to spend time with my grand-daughter every Monday, I devote the whole day to her as I want her to grow up knowing me and hopefully create some sort of bond
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May 21, 2006
Blenheim Palace dream come true
Almost royalty!! Had an email off my first date to say that he had been invited to a wedding in Blenheim Palace!! I had sent him an email telling him the story about being locked out and climbing the ladder into the bathroom and he replied saying what an exciting life I lead compared to his and then he said he had been invited to a wedding at Blenheim Palace! How exciting is that. He also said that he didn't know if he would be going. I would have loved him to have said the invite is for two are you available.
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May 20, 2006
Gowerbury Festival
I received an email from my nephew Daniel today asking me what the arrangements were for the 2006 Gowerbury Festival. You may have heard of the Glastonbury Festival, well, we attend that every year our family, but every four years they don't have one. We hate that year usually so this year we have decided to organise our very own one in Wales.
Daniel was worried that his Aunty would get a site that would complain about the noise, he always underestimates me. My daughter and I went to the Gower to find the ideal place. We found one close to the beach so if everyone gets a bit rowdy we can relocate with a couple of flares and beers away from the ordinary campers.
The idea has really taken off. We are all going to design our own Gowerbury tee shirts, we are to have a comedy tent, everyone is to do a spot of 5 mins. We are trying to find someone willing to come and 'headline' for a couple of beers.
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May 19, 2006
Buried at speed
Visited my brother-in-law in hospital last night he has just undergone successful surgery for bowel cancer. He was looking pretty chirpy in his blue pyjamas. He announced unexpectedly that he had started going to church on a Sunday morning with his wife. I was flabergasted, this beer swilling no nonsense type of man had found God surely not! 'You go to church, never!' I exclaimed.
'I really enjoy it ' he continued warming to his subject, I was trying to get a word in edgeways to remind him that his brother would have died laughing, if he wasn't already dead. After about 10 mins he admitted the real reason for his new found religion. Apparently if he dies before his wife he is not allowed to be buried in the grave yard in which she wants to be buried, her family are all in the same place, so he has to attend the church to qualify. He gets up on a Sunday morning and sings along to the guitar with the rest of the congregation. He didn't know the answer to the question how 'how long have you got to attend before they accept you?' He didn't seem particularly bothered as he was enjoying his new found lease of life.
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May 18, 2006
Upside down in the bathroom
I dashed downstairs at 230 a.m. this morning to answer the phone. Two thirty!! It was mam, she couldn't sleep because she thought all her wordly goods were going to be stolen. After 10 mins of trying to reason with her I ended up shouting, totally unforgiveable, 'I didn't raise you to shout at me' she said hurt, nothing I could say or do would convince her that the BT call was not phoney.
Eight a.m. this morning I called BT again to absolutely confirm without doubt that I had in fact been speaking to one of their people and the woman told me not to worry there would be a letter in the post to mam. Packed my bag and went out to Spanish stopping on the way to say 'goodbye' to my French lodger who is on his way back to France forever. Shouted to my daughter that I would not be taking a key and not to lock me out.
Spanish was really difficult and I was paired off with my teacher, even worse, she takes no prisoners in the nicest possible way. I didn't want her to realise how dull I was, but it is hard to cover up when it is one on one. Didn't get away with it and feel incredibly guilty because she is such a good teacher it is me not putting in the work.
Glad to get home and what happened next?
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May 17, 2006
Shopping for trouble
Went up mams today as she looks forward to going shopping it is the highlight of her week. Well, everything went well, we struggled to the car both huddled under one umbrella in an absolute downpour I sleep in the car when she toddles around Tesco, she gets annoyed about me sleeping, she likes me to run up and down the aisle searching for the small tins ...'the big ones hold too much'
On our return the phone rang I answered it and spoke to an Asian male who wanted mam to pay her telephone bill by direct debit and would reward her by knocking off £3 everytime she used the direct debit. Mam can't go to the post office to pay her bills my brother who lives next door always sorts that out for her so I thought what a good idea. He wanted to know all the details her address and her sort code and her bank account number and guess what 'silly sod' did I gave it to him!
My mam was upset and said 'what if he was a fraudster' and then my brother popped in and told me off and I panicked. I mean he had quoted what mam had paid on her last 3 bills to the last penny but the doubt raged in my head. I dialled 150 with trepidation, feeling like a naughty eight year old, the woman who answered said 'oh, dear your mam should never give out information like that' then she took the details again and too my relief she said that she had a record of the phone call and mams details had indeed been changed to paying by direct debit and the letter would be in the post within the next two days. She said that she was 100 per cent sure that the call was genuine.
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May 16, 2006
In for a penny in for a 'dollar'
To buy or not to buy, the dollar is looking a good bet, as I am off to America in July I am thinking seriously about investing in some, especially as yesterday the rate was 1.80. Greed encouraged me to wait as there was a rumour that it would go up again but woe is me today the rate is 1.79! Oh, well, hopefully, by the end of the week it will improve.
I set off again to meet my date, this time with mobile phone switched on, proud of myself I was, until halfway there I realised that I had left his mobile number in the house. Was I in for another wasted journey? We had agreed to meet mobile phones in hand at the smallest car park in the area so as not to miss each other again. Ogmore Castle.
I am always early so I sat on the wall of the castle again looking for his yellow car. To my surprise and relief a yellow car turned into the car park and a man smiled and ackowledged me from behind the steering wheel.
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May 15, 2006
Cold blooded murder.
The whole family is involved with the drama unfolding in my Aunty's house. I had this email from my brother, it did make me laugh....
PS Poor old Aunty Pam. Mam was telling me on the phone that the mutt
was about to join the howlers in the sky. I think I said something
unsympathetic to the tune of, "I don't know why she spent so much money
on him in the first place after he developed diabetes". But AP and Mam
treat their animals as humans, so I might as well have said, "I don't
know why they bother keeping Uncle Keith alive, seeing he has type II
diabetes!" In Mam's eyes what I said about a beloved pet would be
tantamount to cold blooded murder!!
Continue reading "Cold blooded murder." »
May 13, 2006
Throw away society.
I was reading that the older generation were having problems with the thow away attiude of youngsters today and their inability to control their credit card spending habits. I am still getting used to the fact that my grand-daughter has sterile throw away bottles and napkins, it does break my heart but at the same time what have our youngsters today got to look forward to in this mad world.
The ice caps are supposidly melting, the ozone layer is getting bigger and we have people who are willing to strap bombs to themselves and kill innocent victims for their religious beliefs. In my day it was the atomic bomb threat someone was going to blow us up at any moment, finger on the button. It was frowned upon to get into debt but these days there is no shame in quoting the amount of debt you have accumulated and who can blame them?
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May 12, 2006
Stood up!
I slapped the lipstick and mascara on jumped into the van full of expectation and excitement and headed for the agreed rendez-vous. My little dog tucked under my arm I arrived 5 mins early so we sat on a rock and scanned the horizon for a yellow car. I have no idea about makes of car so I just kept my eyes peeled for a yellow car.
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May 11, 2006
Hola que tal?
You reach a certain age and you decide you wasted your precious time in school, well, I did anyway. My father was always ashamed that he could not speak Welsh even though his father and mother had been fluent in the language. It was for that reason that I decided to learn my mother tongue.
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May 10, 2006
Beauty Queen
Took my 83 year old possibly 84 year old mam to the hairdressers today. When I picked her up she looked absolutely dreadful, my daughter who was with me expressed her concern that her nan was looking very frail and fragile. We waved goodbye and left her in the capable hands of the hairdresser and went to pick up our new second hand caravan from the local farm. The hour passed quite quickly I hopped out to pick up the little old lady and found a lovely shiney happy beauty queen. Pleased as punch she was I am sure she could go on the 'pull' and easily find herself a smart younger man.
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May 9, 2006
Wedding cake horror.
I said 'hello' this morning to the woman who made my brother's wedding cake, I have a little giggle everytime I see her and wonder how her cake business is doing. It was my brother's second marriage he was marrying a beautiful Chinese lady. A wedding gift was a problem because they would have to carry it over seas where they intended to set up home.
After a lot of thought I came up with the brilliant idea of a wedding cake, not an ordinary wedding cake but one depicting Wales. I found a lady who seemed very professional, she listened carefully to my wishes and asked for five photographs of the soon to be bride and groom. It took me ages to get the photographs. I had asked for the Welsh Flag, some sheep, some rugby, the hills of Brecon.
The day before the wedding I called to pick up the cake with, thankfully, my daughter and a friend. She welcomed us at the front door and swept open the middle room door with a flourish obviously proud of her work. Me I was gobsmacked, I just couldn't put a word together, luckily my daughter showed enthusiasm and the friend smiled broadly and happily.
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May 8, 2006
Beloved pets
Well, my mother was very upset today because her sister had called to tell her that she had taken her faithful pooch to the vets and he had told her that his vital organs were closing down and he had about 3 more days to live. My mother and her sister have had lots of pets over the years and are good at letting them eek out their last days screaming in agony.
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May 7, 2006
Death warmed up
'Can he stay, he wants to find a job and make a new start, he is depressed you see....please mam' My door is always open, food on the table, tea in the pot, so why not? I will tell you why not. I drove him to job interviews, cooked him dinner only to find he had been stealing from me the entire time he was living with us.
I had been saving for Christmas when I couldn't find the money my children said I had probably put it somewhere secure and had forgotten where I had put it. I searched the house thoroughly and thought I was going batty. I bought a safe so I would have somewhere burgler proof and blow me down money went missing from the safe. I was accused of going around the twist as it was an electronic safe with a code 'no-one can break into that' I was told by everyone.
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May 7, 2006
The Love Of My Life
At the moment here is the love of my life... Samuii.
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May 6, 2006
Recycled teenager looking for special someone.
I realised today that I have joined the ranks of women who detest being referred to as the older woman, I may be over 50 but I still feel young at heart, in fact I would describe myself as a re-cycled teenager. I heard that expression from a fiesty lady on Radio 4 and thought 'good for her'
Continue reading "Recycled teenager looking for special someone." »
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About Me
Mamgu's melting pot
Moving onwards and upwards in a big, wide world
"One proud Gua (Grand dad). Clare is going to be Mu..."
"I have just come back from the hospital and I can ..."
"I might have known that beer would be involved! ..."
"That is one smashing photo... I really like Beer C..."
"Where's the snaps? Georgia has taken all my camer..."
"The one on the right - that's the chiuahua and the..."