Bank Holiday Weekend

Good Morning Beautiful People...hope u are all enjoying your bank holiday

Its fair to say that most of us look forward to a bank holiday weekend...( especially when its the last one before Christmas 🙈)

for various reasons...

• an opportunity to have a lay in/or just do nothing
• time off work
• spend more time with family/frends
• visit old frends
• visit one of the many events on 
• eat out/barbeque
• DIY
• catch up on housework/jobs
• go to the sales

And I could go on....

so when I got invited to a barbeque/birthday party, I accepted

Lots of lovly food, few glasses of wine, and an opportunity to minglw with people that I dont know very well

And it was enjoyable

But how strange I felt... a lot like a fish out of water...

Over the last 30 years or so I have put loads of get  togethers on...birthdays, christmas, baptisms, family meals etc.... and I have always been the Hostess

So it was very strange for me to sit back and, not just relax ( I'm not really very good at that ) but to watch how other people do it ( not in a critical way!!! 😉)

But an opportunity to people watch ( I love that..)

I can relate to the stress in the kitchen!  from the ladies mainly..buzzing round trying to keep everyone happy...to keep everything moving along smoothly..food/drink/cups/glasses etc ( oh yes remember that only too well)

you can observe the small groups that people congregate in...ladies seem to stay in the same groups..heads together hushed talks....

men tend to mingle and seem more relaxed from my observation.... talking loudly and openly

children running about laughing eating drinking...doing what children do best..enjoying themselves

Yes it was very nice but not something I would like to do every weekend...probably because I dont know the group well..and yes I am used to being in groups of people i know very well...

after saying that it is good to go out of our comfort zone sometimes and it was lovely not having the usual stress that goes with hosting an event... ( and it was very kind of people to invite us..)

but it kind of reminds me that I have always been a bit of a control freak ( ok ..my family would say a lot of a control freak 😉) and loved all the control that came with me organising everything...

But, may be its age or wisdom or both 😉 but I am quite happy to let others take the lead now and the STRESS....SOMETIMES

Be happy

x

Total Eclipse Splendour

Good Morning on this historic day when The USA got a wonderful show of A Total Eclipse

They saw the moon blot out the sun, cause a drop in temperature and turn daylight into twilight. It is expected to be the most observed and most photographed eclipse in history.

for some people a once in a life time opportunity.....

Day turned to night for two minutes during the eclipse, visible in a 70-mile-wide (113-km-wide), 2,500-mile-long (4,000-km-long) zone in the US, drawing one of the largest audiences in human history.

The last time such a spectacle unfolded from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast was in 1918. The last total eclipse seen anywhere in the United States took place in 1979.

The Canadian Space Agency described the initial glimpses of the eclipse as "Beautiful!" as Americans watched in wonder through telescopes, cameras and protective glasses.  ( as reported in the telegraph )

This brings back memories of when I saw the eclipse in the Uk.... my memories are vivid and it feels like it was only yesterday... it was infact 11th august 1999 😮  and we were in woolacombe...

It was very eerie.. it dropped cold...darkness descended on us and there seemed to be a stillness with everyone observing this fascinating sight... the birds could be heard singing..as they would at the break of day..very odd sensation 

I  was blessed with  4 children then and no granchildren and I am now blessed with 5 and 8 granchildren..( thank the Lord for them )

So I cant wait to see how much my family has grown when the next eclipse shows itself ( which is 2024..God spares us 🙏)

Have a fab day😘

letting go

So we have just celebrated several birthdays in one week!!!
BIG FAMILY!!! 😉
yes to say I'm exhausted is an understatement.....physically and emotionally
not just due to running round organising...
shop runs for food etc....
selecting cards ( which always presents.. (pardon the pun )   me with a massive headache )..😓
keeping the peace!!!
so its fair to say an emotional roller coaster
which is always worse when you remember the people that are no longer able to celebrate the birthdays with you 💔
the sad thing ( may be sad isnt the right word ) is when the family get together its painfully obvious that its no longer just my family...
its my family with their ' husbands and wives ' my extended family
all with different personalities....even my own childrens personalities have changed
and the painful truth is I as a mother, who in the past has been very much in control, am no longer in control...
I cant say 
'go and sit down and stop being difficult '
( well I cud..but they might not take kindly to it 😉especially the outlaws..oops I mean the Inlaws)

the moral to this story??????

And just accept the fact that I need to Let Go......

miracles do happen...just never give up hope

According to news reports eleven people have been found alive in the rubble of an Italian hotel today, two days after an avalanche tore through the mountain resort near Farindola, Italian firefighters say. 

4 of who are children....

Miracles do happen ...( rescuers believed at first that the chance of survivors were very slim )

Thank the Lord and those brave rescuers....

Never give up hope....

he's 20 !!!!

so in the madness that is the xmas season....one of my hansome boys was 20...yes thats what i questioned ????
Cant believe its been 20 years...how time flies
my li'l boy has grown up to be a 6ft hansome young man who I'm very proud to call MINE
i look at him, and just like the 1st time i saw him, i melt cuz hes mine
Because as mothers we are all so proud of our children
Now dont misunderstand me hes not good ALL the time!!! (well, not quite) 
he can be untidy...annoying...tormentive...arrogant....selfish....he makes me worry....
yep all those traits are from his father    

but he is loving... caring...gives big hugs.... hard working....hansome as the devil ( yes I know I've already said that !!)  and most importantly he wouldnt do you a bad turn if he couldnt do you a good one...yes and as you've already guessed... those traits are from me...obviously

And I can hear all you parents saying the same things about all yours....  Count your blessings  x

I thank The Lord every day for mine 

Remember these....

Chances are if you are over 40 you will probably remember some, if not all of these....

In the days of these pictures....kids didnt have laptops, ipads, computers, ps3, moble phones etc. and the list goes on and on.......

Cus to b fare, kids didnt have the amount of money spent on them, that they do today...so that meant we had to make our own games.....a few 'marlies'' or  several feet of 'washin line'  and a ample helping of @imagination'..... well the world was your oyster

 

Many hours were spent skipping....and singing these types of rhymes over n over again...we didnt seem to get bored half as quick then......we loved it
'Marlies' now if u were good at this u could get a real good collection of these valuable little glass balls...u might even be lucky enough to get the rare ones...and if u did then u could swap these or even sell em for a ha'penny  and then it wud b straight to the ' suk shap ' ( sweet shop ) lol

Now if we were lucky enough to live by a proper park !!!  well we were in for a treat....these bars would give hours of fun and you know what...didnt  cost a penny or even a farthing ....and the roundabout...wow   round n round til u coudnt stop on cus u were that dizzy.....Great stuff          

For me these was the best days of my life. (  beween the ages of about 5 and 10 )....i didnt have anything material to speak of....some days, i didnt av enough food in my belly.but i cant eva remember that bothering me too much...cuz i was your typical 'latch key ' kid....go out in the morning, usually with my younger siblings in tow....play all day...pop bak for what eva was in the pantry..(.door left on the latch ) and back out til it was dark.....Happy dayz..

.there wasnt many over weight kidz then either.kids were alot more active...kids were in my opinion healthier than nowadays...

( to be honest we werent always as safe as we should of been,  playing by canals, on open cast mining sites, and all without adult supervision, BUT HEY,  somebody was sure watching over us...a lot of times we survived by the skin of our teeh!!!!    .GARDIAN ANGELS i call em...