Mamgu's melting pot

Glastonbury Breakdown

2008-07-01T20:23:38Z

I heard the screech of my gears crunching and I knew I was in trouble. I had tried to tell everyone that my car and caravan were overloaded but still the slabs of beer were thrown into every available space.

]]> Luckily I broke down near a garage. The mechanic called Gary told me the news gently that it would cost £270 for a new clutch to be fitted and £30 for me to be towed onto the Glastonbury site which was still 30 mins down the road from where I had broken down.
He left me in my usual spot overlooking the festival just up from gate "C" on the hill. I opened my box of wine and sat contemplating the terrible couple of hours before reaching my destination and soon found myself unwinding and taking in the view of the Glastonbury Tor at sunset.
I put my pink ballgown on to cheer myself up and it did the trick...

Martha dancing to the "Happy Song" we would congregate down the field to listen to "The Herbie Treehouse Disaster Band" every morning at 11 a.m. Once we had heard the "Happy Song" we were set for the day....

Spent hours down the field trying on different whacky stuff...

Dancing in front of the pyramid stage......

Glastonbury or Bust!

2008-06-22T22:02:14Z

Just two years ago I would have had a van full of kids going to Glastonbury but tomorrow it is just me white knuckled at the steering wheel, how times have changed. I absolutely hate towing the caravan on my own.

]]> I go early to get a good pitch for the others. One year we had to park so far on the outskirts of the festival it would take us 40 minutes just to get to the gate! Everyone has been checking the weather forecast it is not looking too good but surely it can't be as bad as last year!
Red wine, check, wind up radio, check, vodka, check wellingtons, check, ball gown....check. yes, really I am taking my pink off the shoulder ball gown, well, I read that there is a new fad going around of bride's trashing their wedding dresses after their wedding. Some have jumped into rivers, others have rolled around in the hay on their farms...I am just going to tramp around Glastonbury.

Glastonbury Preparations

2008-06-18T09:18:13Z

Who would have thought that Glastonbury would have trouble selling their tickets? They sell out within hours usually, it might have something to do with the fact

]]> that the weather was the worse I have experienced in 15 years last year. I can remember standing in a field directing people to the buses at the end of the festival feeling very sorry for myself but feeling even worse for the poor bedraggled, sodden individuals clomping through the mud on their homeward journey.
Every year the festival loses a bit of its charm. When I went to my first Glastonbury I thought I was the only one who had bothered to pay for my ticket. A common sight in those days was a man carrying a ladder and charging a fiver to climb the fence, lots of people hobbling around because they had strained their ankles jumping over obstacles to get in were also common.
The rules and regulations have grown and grown and are stifling the "joy" of the festival. As a family we are seriously thinking of trying a smaller festival next year we want to recapture the essence of the old Glastonbury.
I am knee deep in last years mud cleaning off the wellingtons at the moment...

Sunny Day in the Back Garden

2008-06-16T19:28:31Z

Paint, water, little tent and a couple of dogs....oh, and an Aunty who is not feeling up to scratch ...makes for a wonderful sunny day in the back garden..

]]> Cheer up Aunty Martha there is plenty more paint where this came from....

Can I fit into this bowl????

The best Mamgu Monday ever...

I decorated my tipee that Aunty Georgia built me out of an old white sheet!

The squirty Park in Porthcawl

2008-06-13T09:27:14Z

The best fun I have had in years was to be had in the Porthcawl squirty park with my grand-daughter Casey. We nicknamed it the "squirty park" as water spurts out everywhere much to the delight of the children.

]]> Under my umbrella......ella.....ella....

Completely free to use and so much fun.

Beautiful Caswell Bay

2008-06-11T11:07:44Z

The sun shone, the conversation flowed and the food was tasty in the "Surfside" cafe in Caswell Bay yesterday. We thought we had been transported to the South of France!

]]> There were a gang of youths sitting below us, they managed to smash a glass beer bottle onto the rocks. I was tempted to say something to them but I was with my Aunty Hattie and I didn't want to be the subject of their abusive reply in front of her.
Half an hour later a council workmen arrived at their side and gave them a black bin liner to clear up their mess. He had been making an appearance on the beach quite regularly while we were there passing out bin liners to the public and picking up rubbish.

Sunny Birthday Party

2008-06-09T11:27:04Z

It is true the parties that you find yourself invited to at the very last minute are always the best. I had a call at 10 p.m. from my brother-in-law asking me if I wanted to go to his barbeque birthday party the next day. I explained that I had a puppet show and wouldn't be able to make it very early but I promised that depending on how I felt I would make the effort.

]]> The next day after my show I was sitting recovering in the garden when down the path came Martha and Scott "are you going to the party?" they asked. How on earth they knew about it I couldn't figure out...but that was the push that I needed off we trotted armed with wine and beer.

I didn't even change out of my working gear I wasn't planning on staying very long. I ended up finishing off a bottle of red wine singing into a broken microphone at the top of my voice. Well, I was certain I had the X factor at the time...

We were treated to a display of gymnastics by Daniel, Paul's grandson. Talk about Britains got Talent we are trying to persuade him to have dancing lessons as we think he could be the next Billy Elliot.

The birthday boy with his daughter Lucy. Thank goodness I am not working today, my head is still thumping.

Hitting the road very soon...

2008-06-07T09:40:48Z

Took my caravan to the caravan hospital to make sure it was roadworthy ready for the Glastonbury Festival.

]]> I was horrified when I returned home after parting with over £300 to find the righthand indicator didn't work, especially as it was working when I left it there! I was on the phone in a jiffy and fair play they said to take it back on the way to Glastonbury and they would repair it for me. Hopefully, it is just bad luck and the bulb just happened to go ...
I had a new suite delivered the other day, discovered the back had collapsed when I moved it, rang the firm as it is bought on tick, they sent someone out to look at it. He poked it put his finger in the hole and made it worse to my thinking. He went away and sent in a report saying I was to blame for the damage.
Had a sniffy letter saying that I would have to get a qualified upholsterer to look at it to prove I hadn't broken it. I managed to get a young man who had done upholstery in college, he took the back material off and discovered a knot in the wood. Apparently, that weakens the chair. Now I have to go to the trouble of printing off photographs and writing letters, knowing in my heart that they will quibble and argue as the person I had look at the chair hasn't got the qualification they demanded.
Whatever happened to customer satisfaction and the saying "The customer is always right!"

Sex and the City

2008-06-05T16:54:27Z

I bottled out of wearing my designer blue yeti coat to the cinema, just as well as only two of us went the whole hog dressing up.....I felt sorry for the handful of men who were dragged along as the seats were full of women.

]]> No-one took a blind bit of notice of the advertisements the place resounded to chatting and giggling whilst friends caught up with gossip. We laughed with the main characters as they faced lifes tribulations and cried when they became unstuck in love.....

Esther and I were the only two out of the gang to dress up in our finest gear....

I couldn't resist adding this photograph to the blog as it made me laugh.....sorry Martha and Esther....

Funny though no-one gave us a second look even though we had our best togs on I think it was because the film was full of beautiful clothes.....I should have worn my outstanding designer blue coat.

Startling realisation

2008-06-04T11:51:46Z

I was walking to the new local 'Asda" today for the second morning on the trot when it dawned on me that I was "that little old woman" or becoming her rapidly...

]]> I can remember years ago my grandmother kept a little shop in her front room in Vere Street, Gilfach, Bargoed. The ladies who shopped there every day had nicknames Mrs. Dai whisper and Mrs. Dai chops ...the highlight of their day would be their visit to the shop for one or two items. I asked my gran why they didn't just buy everything they required at once instead of spreading it out over the week.
My gran explained that it was the only time they got to have a natter and a change of scenery at their age, the gossip that went on in that shop was the talk of the town, "who was living over the brush" "whose washing didn't have the grain" My gran would operate "on tick" they would run up a bill and pay it when their husband's wages were received at the end of the week.
Obviously "Asda" doesn't offer a friendly chat but you can run up a bill on the store card and pay at the end of the month and I am finding myself on the daily excursion to buy enough food to cook for one meal.....oh heck.

Moving Experience

2008-06-01T10:43:51Z

I arrived at my son's house armed with a bottle of "Jiff" okay they call it "Ciff" now but it will always be "Jiff" to me......what I hate about moving is the fact that you have a deadline, on this occasion it was midday.

]]> The three piece suite was still in the lounge at 1145 a.m. and we realised that we needed a Corgi registered man to disconnect the cooker at about 10 a.m....luckily the cooker wasn't required in the new house and the new occupiers agreed that it could stay.
At precisely 1159 a.m. we were pulling away from Highfields in Brackla, I had mixed emotions as Brackla is just 10 mins from my home, I was able to see my grandchildren at the drop of a hat. Blaengarw is at least a 45 min drive away....but I mustn't be greedy as I realise that some grandmothers have oceans to cross to see their loved ones.
The new house is huge, it is three storeys. Casey will have her own bedroom en suite, plenty of room for a Mamgu to stay overnight!

The pimp and the biker bitch....

2008-05-26T09:08:13Z

"What have you got suitable for a fancy dress party?" queried my lodger Chris. He was amazed when I dumped a nun's costume, spider costume and other assorted bits at his feet...but he caught sight of my designer coat and as he oggled it he remarked "that would make a great pimp's coat"

]]> "Pimps coat" I exploded, I saved up and bought that it is a one off designer coat. A look at my face told him that I wasn't joking. Then I saw the funny side, I suppose it is a bit out there ....

Everyone in the family has been waiting for me to wear the special coat...to think in its first outing it is going to be perceived as the choice of a pimp! Never mind..."Sex in the City" Wednesday night...I will parade in it at the cinema in Bridgend and feel like a million dollars!

Sex in the...

2008-05-23T08:37:54Z

I wish they would stop referring to Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City star) as an ageing siren! How absolutely rude! She has an amazing character and makes Samantha real and funny. I for one am certainly looking forward to the film being released at the end of May, so much so that.....

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I have decided to organise a "Sex and the City" night for the girls. We will all dress up as characters from the film and trot along to the cinema for a laugh! Lots of bling and trashy dresses, well, as high fashion as we can get on a budget.
I wonder whether the cinema will allow us in?

The Trifid in the front garden

2008-05-19T17:37:35Z

Martha and Scott gave up on the root of an tough old plant, it has been getting on my nerves under the front room window for ages. I called out an expert. He had to take an electric saw to it.

]]> I felt a tinge guilty when I saw him pull it out, even though I had declared war on it, the roots were as thick as a small tree trunk. The plant obviously had hoped to stay for years and years....

Down and Dirty.

2008-05-16T13:16:13Z

Martha and Scott have discovered a whole new way of living in Thailand. They don't like hanging around anymore they like to get down and dirty. Martha cleaned my windows and the two of them attacked the front garden with the type of energy I lost 5 years ago.....