when should you tell your mum that you are very unwell indeed??

A week ago, my darling granddaughter got married to the man of her dreams. In going away for honeymoon, the couple had to arrange for a babysitter for their eight month old son, and of course my daughter, the bride's mother was co opted  into doing the service. Of course she was very happy to be able to indulge in time just with her grandson and aided and abetted by the other members of the family, baby was looked after well, whilst mum and dad went off on their dream honeymoon.


All was well, until Wednesday this last week, when, out for a walk with Johnathan David, in his pushchair, Rebecca his granny, became unwell. She had pains down her arm and felt very odd indeed, so much so, that she quickly got them home as fast as she could. She told her younger son to look after baby whilst she went for an emergency visit to the Doctor's surgery. The doctor seeing her and doing the examination, sent her to hospital immediately for tests, and she was sent their by ambulance, having first told her son at home what was happening. She was kept in overnight and so baby was taken to her other son's house where he was looked after by Nicholas's partner Clara, until Rebecca could get back home and take charge again. However, this did not happen as she was in the hospital until early this morning, which is Wednesday until today, Saturday. Meanwhile on their honeymoon in Cape Verde, baby's mum and dad were enjoying their times together and of course rang home to see how their son was doing. When Ben told her that mum was at the Doctors, and then the hospital, you can imagine how Charlotte and Jason felt hearing this news... Who was going to look after their baby and keep the routines going so he would not be upset. Charlotte managed to get to speak with her mum who assured her that she was undergoing tests, but all would be fine as Nick and Clara would be responsible until she got home later... Not knowing that she would be kept in the hospital until this morning!!!

Nick and Clara stepped up to the plate and took everything over, and looked after baby Johnathan David extremely well, considering that neither had children, or experience of looking after them!!

Away in Cape Verde, it must have felt a very long way away not being able to see their baby boy and worrying about mum.... The honeymoon ends on Tuesday when they return, and Rebecca is feeling so much better now having done all the tests and been told that the 'episode ' she had on Wednesday had not caused any damage, that everything seemed to be fine, and just to take asprin and another drug every day for the rest of her life to safeguard against it happening again..

We are all very very relieved that Rebecca is ok again, but I am a bit lost how I feel about not knowing until it was all over.* Like she said, I could not do anything but worry, and she didnt want me getting upset and stressing over it.. I know that this is probably how I would have dealt with the situation if I had been at the heart of it, leaving it until it was over to tell my mother, but I am sure that I would have liked to know as well whilst going on... what do you think?

deep into early summer

for the past few days, we have been sweltering here in the UK under a hot sun, that is bowed down with heavy heavy humidity. It makes me melt, the water running down my forehead into my eyes, but I don't care, at least we are seeing the sunshine at last. Too many summers are over before we know it, and we have to wait until the following year to see if we are going to have a real summer after all! Living in England has been my lifestyle since born,but my father came here with his siblings at the start of the real war in 1940 from the south of France. Having a British passport as the family originated from India,they were easily assimilated into society in the UK. All his siblings went on to have professionally qualified jobs and therefore when the children came along, we all were enjoying a very middle class life style. I went to a convent for my education until I was 16 when I went to college for retakes of the G CE and to possibly get A levels. I didn't sit for the A levels, but my education up to then was sufficient to earn me a place as a trainee in a Bank. I worked in Banking until I left the country to accompany my parents to the South of France where my father had secured a position as Teacher. We returned to his own town where he had grown up and which he had described so many times to us over the years. We fitted in straight away and met all the children of his own friends and life was on a roll. Living in such a wonderful town as Aix en Provence was love itself. The town is so busy, cosmopolitan and a university town. When we first arrived, my brother and I attended the university as students. Even after all these years being long gone from the Area, when I return, immediately I feel back at home, more than in any other place on earth. This could be because my brother and I were bought up on tales about this town so that we felt we knew it, long before we arrived in person, or just the light and sunshine and smells awakened other awareness of previous generations.

Despite having moved to England, my dad never lost his contact with France. He learned to be a teacher of the french language, and in the early days of his career just after WW2 ended, he would organise visits with his school children to experience the feel and sounds of France. We didn't go South for this, but to Normandy and Brittany which were much easier to reach . We would stay at a place called Pareme, not far from the beach. The hotel was owned by a well connected lady who was earning her living by letting out parts of her own home after her husband had died. We went to this hotel year after year, and she became part of our family almost. She was pretty old then, and a bit rheumaticky, but looking back maybe she would have been in her early sixties... to my brother and I of course she appeared very very old**


when you are very young, and not so old, the summers seem to take forever to get to you, and then they last quite a long time too before it is time to think about returning to school and getting ready the uniform and shoes satchel, pencils and pencil cases and rubbers all we needed to attend school. I remember how excited I would feel as the day approached to return. The idea that friends would be seen again and stories shared of what we had all be up to doing during our summer holidays.

Mine would usually mean at least a fortnight away in France with my parents and a troup of young boys that attended my dad's school where he was the french teacher. With just himself and my mother, and maybe a family friend, it was quite an effort to take ten or twelve young boys away with the family.

We would usually stay in Parame near St Malo as I said before. but the year I was 14 we went to Paris!! Summer in Paris is like no other. We went in August and stayed at a school that was rented out in the holidays to other students and families staying in Paris. It was a hive of young people going in and out all day. Of course my parents had organised visits to all the major places in Paris, and we were very occupied, but not so occupied as to be unaware of the young men all around us** I had a girl friend from school accompanying me, and she was called Jennifer and was older than me by a year. It was her first time in Paris also and she was as star struck as I was by the town. I fell in love with Paris immediately and would love to climb the stairs to the very top of the building and look out over the streets and house tops right to the Eiffel  Tower in the far distance. Sitting up there with a small breeze playing with my hair, absorbing all the sights and sounds and the smells of Paris was a favourite place of mine to be. During the visit I actually frightened my parents as I became close to a young german student called Hans Joachim Berg. He came from Silvershiem in Germany and he was the first person to ever kiss me romantically. My mother was very worried as she thought I was too young at 14 to be with a man of 18*** and she was correct of course, because of my innocence I had no idea what couples could get up to, so when I was invited to his room late at night, I went and kissed and kissed and kissed until my mouth felt bruised, having absolutely no idea of the possible danger I could have been inviting... however, he always was a gentleman and let me go after all the kissing, back to my room, where I lay and day dreamed away the night...

 I was so anxious to be with him all the time, that one day  I feigned illness and stayed behind whilst my family went to visit my aunt. So Hans came to my room and we snuggled up and kisses reigned , until a pupil gave the alert that my parents were on the way up to my room and what a kerfuffle happened then* there was no time to let him out, he had to go under the bed and stay there for the entire visit, and I pretended to be still unwell, aided and abetted by my friend Jennifer... after an hour or so they left me, and we got poor Hans out from under the bed*** my friend was shaking with the whole effort of keeping calm despite my brother joking that he was sure there was a german under the bed!! Thank the Lord he never looked!!!

 My romance continued afterwards by letter writing, but then we gradually grew apart and |I never got to see or meet him again. My first love was certainly quite an adventure, although I was so innocent and I think that saved me!!

Paris and Aix en Provence, will always be my very heart filled places to be. I love them equally and often daydream about returning and spending time on my own there again... I could make it come true, but I am an old lady now, and the young in me although still inside, knows that my outside does not reflect the inside, and no more will young men chase me and kiss me as they did when we all were young... better to leave our dreams where they are, happily just to be remembered..

another sunday almost over, next week being Easter**

I know that they say as you get older, the time seems to go faster, but how do you explain that already it is almost Easter this year, and I have barely blinked my eyes open!!

 Of course being ill with a coughing virus the first 6 weeks, that then cleared up and  I went to Australia for a great two weeks to celebrate my eldest child's birthday... 50 years old, and not showing it... we had a large beach party with a barbeque and loads of his friends turned up and I was there with my first husband and Dan's siblings all excepting Gaby in canada...

but what a holiday we had, the best ever, and then back to grey old England, where I promptly caught the same virus that John still had...

 Now after another four weeks I am clear of it, but John is still struggling along!! and so we are almost at Easter.

Easter is such a special part of the Christian year , and the preceding Sunday,[which is today, ]is Palm Sunday.. A holy day and special, but in Egypt, the Coptic Church was violated by more suicide bombers and two churches were blown up and many people killed.

These actions come after other horrific events in the last weeks,, like the mowing down of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London and the same action by another idiot who mowed down others in the centre of Sweden..

What a horrible world this is, at the moment,with so much hurt and hate all round.

Plus, we have Donald Trump bombing the Syrians who set off poison to kill their own citizens who disagreed with the government and the man leading the country..

 and all the time the sun shone, showing us how futile all this hatred and wars are.

after Christmas, now 2017!!

Now its almost exactly half way through January, and I cannot believe how fast these days are flying by. I am still using food that I bought for christmas and have not made any major food purchases since that time... I am amazed how I can conjure up meals for my husband, using all sorts of bits and pieces and which he thinks are tasty and amazingly good ha ha... good for him... it really feels nice that he appreciates all the meals he tastes here.  We had a lovely quiet christmas day lunch and then in the late afternoon, both my daughter and youngest son arrived to stay over. We played quiz games all evenings, sorting ourselves into teams. ~As Rebecca had also bought along her youngest who is over 6 ft and 18 years old, we were able to divide into two teams, and for the first time ever I was on the winning side!  Rebecca took it hard as she almost always wins, and the very first thing she said to Charlotte her daughter who arrived early on Boxing day with her fiance and baby son... was that she had actually lost in the quizes,.so she must have been quite shocked.. ha ha... theres still life in the old dog yet!

Tomorrow I attend my third visit to the slimming club I have joined in order to shift some over weight. the first week which was last week I lost two and half pounds... this week I wanted to lose 4 but we shall see..  Their scales are half a stone heavier than mine, so I cannot rely on my one to be accurate... as long as I lose, I shall not mind... In Oxford, Rebecca and Charlotte and Jason are also joined to a club in order to lose in time for their wedding in June and as Mother of the Bride, my rebecca is also certainly hoping to be quite sylph like by the time the wedding comes around!

The weather here has been very cold recently, but thats winter for you... we saw snow for about five minutes, and then had rain and sleet since.  I shall end now as I have a lot to do yet....

Here we go again**

Well, its all over for another year, the Christmas has come and gone and so has the first day of the New Year. Outside it is bitterly cold and the ground is hard with a hoare frost each morning. However, I do like this month, as the month offers so much in the future.. Already the buds are appearing tiny though they are, the grass is looking lumpy and ready almost for a cutting, and the little bulbs are starting to just show a little a promise of the many flowers that will come into the garden in the Spring time. Everyone I know seems to have had quite a nice Christmas, not very stressed, and very enjoyable, so all in all a good positive way to start the year of 2017*

The long days to Christmas begin**

I guess that no one has stumbled across this blog of mine, and yet the last one had many followers for which I was very grateful.. stupidly I thought they might have followed me over, but no one  seemingly has, or if they had, they are not interested in seeing what I have to post.... ah well, I am going to carry on anyway...

It is now galloping towards the Xmas time when all is merry and bright... but for so many it will not be any pleasure for them. Like those poor Syrian people being bombed out of existence whilst I write this post. I cannot for the life of me, imagine how it must be, sitting in the ruins of your house and waiting for the next air strike whilst you try and rescue your family from the debris. It has been going on for too long. It is utter slaughter, just to find the insurgents that are lost in the search for Isis. This terror group of course lives amongst the other normal citizens and now they must be slaughtered because they were amongst them.. then you have the faction who are trying to over throw the government of Syria, who also are insurgents, but according to the west, are the good guys but the actual government think are also terrorists.. the Kurds. Yes they do want to establish their own homeland and government, but only after they have settled the question of the Isis terrorists... what a huge mess that is, with Russia siding with the government and the west, with the kurds*** I feel for them, and know it doesn't feel like Xmas there at all. nor will it ever be..

I have recently become a great grandmother which gives me great joy, although the parents do not marry until June next, they are very happy and he is healthy, so all good. I would have preferred the marriage first, but this seems to be the way of the world.... so far..


In Canada, times are getting better and more relationships being mended, which also is good news... and everyone else seems to be in a good place also. This Xmas I spend the lunch on my own with my husband and then my daughter and youngest come over to spend the rest of the day with us, staying over night... the next day my granddaughter and her fiance and baby arrive to spend the day with us and then they all return to Oxford where they live.  I might be seeing my other boys too, the two of them live away, one in London one in Oxford.. so they might turn up too... we shall certainly make face time to speak and see our daughter in Canada and her family and then talk our son in Australia and catch up with him and his family on facetime too... marvellous this technology!!!

so now begins the countdown to the days of Xmas, and I for one cannot wait for them all to be here sharing with us the joy of the special days of Xmas..

New Birth and Old Age

Hallo again, well its far from daily my ramblings, but since no one seems to be reading, maybe no one has noticed yet**

It is now October 13th and we are awaiting the birth of our first great grandchild, a little boy due on the 25th of this month.If my granddaughter Charlotte, is anything like I was, he will arrive later rather than sooner... It is very strange to think I shall soon be a great grandmother.. that would be like seeing my own one who had lived in the 19th century and was long dead before I arrived. With health issues and all, every generation seems to live a little longer, which is great one way and not so good as over crowding on this planet seems to be getting to be quite an issue. Of course we say we cannot feed all the millions already here, but when another little body is coming to join your own family, it is a source of joy and happiness that you are aware of, not doom at the human race overpopulating this earth!

 I had my daughter when I was just 23 and she had her daughter at 20, so we are fairly young mothers in the family,but Charlotte is all of 27 so much older than her mother was at starting a family.  I trust that the little one will enjoy good health all his life and be happy and make his own way without too many trials and hardships.. but the earth that we are gifting to them has a lot of problems that will be a lot worse when he gets to adulthood. I would love to think that I will be around to know him as a young man, but that is highly unlikely as I am now past my seventh decade,only by one year, but always it was said 'to live two score years and ten' which I now have. If I was lucky to survive until he reached thirty I would be over 100!!!!

Apart from quite a few health issues, I do manage to keep a positive spin on most things and I have been so blessed with having five wonderful children who love me as much as I have loved all of them and it is so magical to see them interact with their own children... It is difficult to really believe that they are all grown up and now their own children are all into or approaching adulthood!!