A New Month, Fresh Goals And 40 Years Of Marriage

 WOW, August already! This year is just whizzing by. The years keep whizzing by too.

This Sunday, the 3rd, marks 40 years of being married, and it's a def "who'd a thunk it?" as those who were around us in the beginning know. We went through so much, nobody honestly expected us to make it. I don't even think we thought we would, life was so tugh on us back then. But here we are. 40 years after Mark spluttered his way through his vows and took me to be his "AWFUL wedded wife" much to the amusement of everyone who was there. Later those same words showed up in "Five Weddings And A Funeral" but he did it first, LOL.

We're heading to one of my favourite places, the Best Western Riverside, in Dillsboro NC. Our room has a balcony overlooking the Tuckaseegee River. We sleep with the balcony door open, listening to the water rushing below and (nice!) it's high enough that the mosquitoes aren't up there! Last time we were there, I took my exercise bike and pedalled on the balcony but this time I'm giving Mark a break from trying to lug it around for me.

I paid for him to have an online photography course so today we went and got him a new laptop, as his old one was slow and wouldn't have been conducive to him being able to do a lot of what the course modules require.  I also blew money on a programme for me that does children's flip books (so I can sell them to folks whose little ones can access them on a tablet or computer), and does videos from books etc so I'm going to be spending a lot of time learning how to do that.

Today has been a "getting ready" day before heading out tomorrow, cleaning the vehicles, packing clothes and sundries, making sure we have everything covered that needs to go with us. It's been hectic.

Just praying that my body doesn't give me gyp on this trip, I don't want to spoil it like I did my birthday one.

Enjoy your Friday!

It's Been All Go

 We've been busy, busy, busy now for a few weeks. Hubby had been working on the hallway bathroom since we found we could not get the walk-in tub in there.  Even with the door off and the jambs taken down, we were still about an inch short of being able to finagle it. We did a re-think, and decided to put a shower in instead, rather than stress ourselves out bemoaning that which would only be accomplished were we to remove part of a wall to do so. Nope, we already have more on our plate than we need, so ... a shower was the way to go.

Then we found out my grandson was coming to stay, from England. Somehow I couldn't see a 21 year old wanting to sneak through his grandparents' bedroom in the middle of the night, if he needed the loo, so getting the shower fitted (and then the toilet put back in) became a matter of urgency, not an "as we get to it".

Hubby did a smashing job, the shower and loo were in just in time for Jacob's arrival. Nothing special, but functional.

J had a jam-packed time with his sisters, they went hiking, they went to the movies, they went to an outdoor concert, the pool, I think he needed to go home to get some rest! Added to which he helped Mark with some projects while he was here, and he had fun shooting with Mark, his sisters and his cousin. Not something he can do like that, back in England.

We tried to take him to different places to eat to try stuff he can't usually get back home. Volcano Korean BBQ, Ginza Buffet, Milano's and more. If nothing else, that boy was well-fed! All the way from the top of his head down to his tootsies more than 6 feet away!

It may have been his first solo international journey but it seasoned him for future ones - the train broke down halfway to the airport, in England, on his way here. His first flight back was cancelled and he stayed with us another day, then there were delays ... and then he arrived back in England but his luggage didn't! Plenty of glitches.

Mark's been working some more on the bathroom since J left, we have a lot to do but - for now - it's fine as it is. The shelf behind the toilet has to come down to accommodate the around-the-loo shelf stand. That's currently where the sink unit will be eventually, but we've lain a board across the floor and popped it on that since we have to pull that floor up and replace it due to wet rot .

Having got the hallway bathroom functional, we've stopped using the one in our bedroom, which also has the wet rot (the bathrooms back on to each other -and to the kitchen sink area - and it's one continuously damaged piece of flooring) so that it can begin to dry out somewhat. It will be a major project when we get to it.

This heatwave has been horrible and some of my plants have fought a losing battle, despite watering. I have more seeds to plant again soon ready for Autumn but I want to see the worst of this heat over with first.

The bees are flourishing, We've stopped giving them the sugar water (it was fermenting in the heat!) so they are just getting water until the seasons change and we go back to sugar water. Right now they have plenty of pollen and nectar around, so they are happy bees.

Maybelline, our big hen, died recently leaving just Henrietta in that pen and the other chicken, that we were given years ago, in the other, so we have now combined them. That gives us a total of 3 pens that they can be moved between, meaning that the 2 not in use can start to overgrow a little and then we can pop them in there and let them scrabble around in the greenery.

We're going away to Dillsboro (and poss Cherokee) for our 40th wedding anniversary next month, and so we've been taking Brunel and Lightning to doggy day care one day a week for the past few weeks, to get them ready for a 3 day/2 overnight stay at the doggie hotel. Lightning still doesn't have time with the other dogs but has got much better with people and goes in quite happily, and they say he's such a good boy, so snuggly. That's good as for too long he was terrified of people and other dogs and snarly with all! At least now he's ok with people.

Meanwhile, I had a long chat on the phone, with my illustrator for Mister McAfferty's Cat, and we ironed out so many issues. She sent me a pdf of all the sketches for the illustrations, and is now starting the colouring process on them, so hopefully this project will soon be complete. 

Methinks that is all of my update, although I may have forgotten some things (my mind becomes more like a sieve, day by day!).

Major Decluttering And Other News!

My new stand-up recliner is in boxes in the living room, and hubby's new adjustable bed arrives tomorrow, so today is the "sort out the bedroom" day before tomorrow morning, when it becomes the "move-out-the-king-size-bed" and "move in the new stuff" major effort. Today is clearing shelving units and organizing in chests of drawers (yes, we're still pack rats but our messes will be hidden from view and -for awhile - organized.

I definitely do not need AVON papers from 10-15 years ago, LOL.I had a drawer full, all packed neatly in large envelopes. AVON memorabilia, that I'll be dropping off on team members the next time I go to Fountain Inn.

I reorganized my "reliving my childhood" into a plastic drawer-type tub, Bunty annual at the bottom, yarn, knitting needles, pins and darning needles oon that, and topped by my 2 Sindy dolls, some Sindy clothes and accessories.

Hubby found blueprints from a class he took when he was working construction in Florida in the 90s!

Damp-cloth wiping down everything and will lemon polish surfaces later.

The dogs aren't sure what's going on with all this hustle and bustle. We're hearing some whimpering, as they are not in here with us, and want to be. There's no room. Ha! Decluttering actually means there's a lot more clutter for a bit - I have piles of stuff on the bed to be put away in a new place. 

Hubby is about to take some stuff to donate to Miracle Hill, and pick up the dresser that he bought from there, yesterday.It has a (separate) thick glass top that our grandson, Dylan, will be coming over tomorrow to help him get off the truck. The drawers part should be ok for him to slide off by himself. That'll be replacing the shelves we currently have the tv on. Dylan coming over also makes a good excuse for him and Lily to have brunch somewhere with us. Good family time.

In other news, I've started on a new book. "That's God!" It's in its early stages yet but I'm hoping it'll come together nicely over the next few weeks. "Mister McAfferty's Cat" is proving a nightmare to have illustrated. I'm doing so many revisions, and getting bombarded by originals being re-sent, without the revisions or my notes being taken into account. Very frustrating. It's pushed my blood pressure up a few times as I've struggled to go back through old emails and pictures to see what I've said and done before, only to find that none of it seems to have been taken note of. UGH!

I was frustrated earlier in the week by the idiots who've been building a home behind us. They seem to like upsetting our bees. First time they parked a huge truck by them, left the engine running and proceeded to unload materials, where they could have parked infront of the house instead of alongside our fenceline. They were there a couple of hours. Poor bees were well stressed. Then, had another machine, maybe a mower or something, and blew sand all over the hive where he could have driven it the other way and blown it away from them. Again, stressed them out.I drove down to complain but he stayed on the far side of the house so as not to deal with me. 

My granddaughter and 2 great grands are on their way back from their vacation to and from Niagara Falls, with all the interesting museum and fun things along the way. From the photos she's been posting, they've had a blast!

Also, found out my grandson, Jacob, is coming to stay in a couple of weeks, all the way from England! Haven't seen him in over a decade, and he just turned 21! Excited, and so looking forward to it!

Catching Up On The Last Couple Of Days

It's been a good couple of days.

On Sunday, Angelica and Samantha put up some more of the fake ivy screen along the fence, which is blocking some of what makes the dogs go crazy. If it's not something loud, like a nosiy truck or school bus, and just maybe somebody on a pushbike or jogging, then it doesn't seem to bother them as much. Very thankful for their help, and they've done a good job.

Hubby and I were down the field. His bees already know him and he goes over and talks to them. It's neat watching their behaviour. 

We haven't mowed near the hive as there's a plentiful supply of dandelions to keep them happy until the wildflower mats flourish. 

Mark put up 2 posts and cable, and then planted 2 of the grapevines, as well as some other flowering plants.

The dogs got to come down there with us and after an initial sniffing sround the hive, they decided to leave the bees alone. We were a bit worried about Brunel, as he's an eejit sometimes and likes to catch flies and things that hover near him. Thankfully, he seems to have decided that's not a great idea with the bees.

Unfortunately, the promised rains didn't come, so I was out last night watering all the plants in the front yard, and we had to take a hose down the field so's Mark could water everything down there.

Mark had his appointment with his cancer doc yesterday and he is stable for now, white cells still high but red cells coming up, immune cells coming up and no kidney issues. YAY. His next apointment is in 6 weeks.

Tonight, we attended our great-granddaughter, Lily's, preschool graduation and it was lovely. The whole class sang, and performed to, 3 patriotic songs and did so awesomely well. All the families were very proud, and deservedly so.

 

Our Bees Are Home!

It's been another smashing day, and we've finally brought our bees home. 2 got out of the box, even as Mark was carrying them out of The Carolina Honey Bee Company. One landed on his arm as he walked across the road and he brushed it off and it followed him to the car, along with the other one. He put the box of bees in the back, and those 2 just kept crawling up my back window. I kept watch on them as we drove home. They did check back to the box (where the Queen was with the rest of her crew) but then played back up the window. All the way home.

They all seemed very happy with their new home. Some were a little slower at finding their way in but even those buzzing around weren't bothering Mark as he was doing stuff with them, and he wasn't wearing any protective gear at all.

I stayed in the car, as our ground is too uneven for me to walk on down there. 

The box they came in, with some bees still in it and others going into the hive through the entrance. Just off the right, level with the far end of it, is the berm that my hubby and grandkids shoot at. Unfortunately, you can see the house being built along our back fence line. Why would you build a house that close?

Close up of some of our new babies finding their way in. They are neat to watch. 

So now we just want to give them some space and let them settle in. 

Tomorrow, we'll be down there to plant some more vines and trees. We intended doing it earlier but hubby went to dig and the post hole digger handle snapped, so he has to geta  new one tomorrow in order to accomplish that.

Felt Like A Florida Summer's Day

Yes, it did! I got out of the shower this morning and had to close the window and put the AC on - I couldn't get dry fast enough. I was sweating while trying to get dry! The air was already getting warm and humid. Thankfully, the AC kicked in pretty quickly and I was soon ready to face the world.

We took my 3 newest books to the library for the local authors shelf. I'm hoping that local people will check them out for their children, and maybe buy them as gifts for them, their grands and great-grands. I'd love to have feedback on them from more than my family.

Lunch was a pita from Cava. I always do the "build your own" and have had some excellent compilations. Today's was a Honey Harissa Chicken with red pepper hummus, tomatoes, onions and cucumber. Hubby and I shared it, their portions are very good.

This evening, earlier, we planted 3 wildflower mats down by where the beehive is, so that - when they grow - the bees will have a nice wildflower patch to hang out in, close by. They'll also have all the other trees and plants we've been putting down there.

Then, I planted out the miniatures that we got from Lidl, in 4 window boxes. 2 were pink rose, yellow kalanchoe, pink rose, and 2 were yellow kalanchoe, pink rose, yellow kalanchoe. They should look really pretty once they are all established together.

Tomorrow is our big day, when we go to get our bees. I'm excited. Hubby's been refreshing his knowledge (his dad had bees, and then Mark had taken a beekeeping course a couple of years ago when we first decided we were going to get bees) by reading up on the subject.  We just want to be good bee parents!

Spring Plantings Are In Full Swing, And Other News

Spring has sprung, as we all know, and we've been busy planting. Hubby has been working on a flower bed in the front yard by the fence, I planted the mini roses in the window box, and today I planted the 6 lily bulbs that I bought on the weekend, and some of the cress seeds that came in the mail from a fundraiser for Upstate Animal Rescue Foundation of SC. I also have 3 seed mats from them, one for "honey bees"

and 2 wildflowers but because it's been raining for the past couple of days, I've not been able to get down to the field to lay the out near the beehive. 

Hubby has a couple of new rose bushes to plant down there as well. I want a lush retreat of scented flowers and shrubs down there so that I can enjoy the fragrance along with the running water sounds of the stream and pond hubby is building for me.

I'd bought 4 nice wooden planter tables and hubby put one of them together tdoay. I'm putting the window boxes in them with the miniature roses in, I decided they'd last longer that way. They are quite sturdy but take a bit of time to put together. I'm patient, and thankful my hubby does stuff like this for me.

They'll also be going down the field, to go in a V from the corner of the field, down the 2 fences, behind the beehive area. Just to have everything down there, neat and tidy, looking nice.

Hubby went back to work on Wednesday and oh! that 5am alarm was just sooo unwelcome! Since he only does part-time, and it's only 2 days a week, I must not complain. Bleary eyed I shall be on those 2 days!

We ran out of time with the dumpster due to the rain, so it went back today and I'll rent another in a few weeks so that the rest of the demolition of the old building can be completed, ready to concrete a base and get prepped ready for the new one.

On a different note, Mister McAfferty's Cat ... it seems my project is harder than I expected. So many revisions of illustrations, I got so fried, and have had to request them do them in order and we get them right before going to the next. I'm glad they are patient with me, I must be one of their most awful nitpicky authors.

That's about it for this time. It's still raining, and looks like it will be for much of the next week. 

Another glorious day!

Today's project, or rather, the main one, was to go get our bees but it didn't happen, as we didn't know we had to order them ahead of time. No worries, 17th May we will become bee daddy and mama. Meanwhile, their home is all ready and waiting for them. A VERY nice home!

On our way out to Traveler's Rest to the Carolina Bee Company we stopped by Greenville County Animal Care on Furman Hall Rd, to drop off 2bags of dog food and 1 of cat food. They desperately need donations, and - over the years - we've adopted a few furbabies from them. They do so many free services to try to support the community so it's our way of trying to help just a bit. Our 4 leggeds don't realise how lucky they are (or how pampered!).

Our second project, which became the only completed one, was potting some Walmart rescues (miniature roses) in window boxes. They were only $5 each on clearance, so we snagged 4 pink and 2 red, and got them all cozy together. Don't they look pretty?

I'm now thinking of trying to take honeysuckle cuttings in the next couple of days to get some started for down the field. I love the scent, and I know between those, the gardenias and the roses, our bees will be very happy.

 

Another Beautiful And Productive Day

Today's been absolutely gorgeous, overcast at first so that it didn't get over hot, and then the sunshine came out later this afternoon but with a gentle breeze to still keep us comfortable.

Hubby took 2 of our 4 leggeds to do a trash/recycle run this morning. Rover, the great-grand-dog, stayed with me and spooned with me for a while to get some special time snuggles with nanny. He doesn't travel well, he gets so excited and screams all the while (apparently a lot of pitties do this) so he gets nanny-time while Brunel and Lightning go with daddy in the truck.

Then, all 3 found a snake down the field.

It was a good snake, just curled up and looked at them like "go away, leave me alone". They were barking and hubby had to bring them back up to the house. When he went back down, the snake had slithered away. Mark said it was probably 6-7 feet long, and looked well-fed. This time of year the mice are in abundance so he's probably been enjoying them.

My author copies of my books came in, so I took 5 each of "Daisy May Explores The Heavens"

and "Rose's Rhymes For Children" to The Outlet & Boutique of Fountain Inn. I have a display there with copies of some of my other titles, including "In The Forest", In The Ocean", and a poetry/colouring book.

We also picked up a neat little miniature rose bush, and some planters, to continue our gardening ventures. Yesterday, it was a lemon tree and a kumquat tree, both "patio" versions that we got some nice big square pots for, so that they can be outside for the nicer months, and brought indoors once the weather turns cold.

Hubby has been busy planting grapevines, raspberries, blackberries, gardenias and roses, ready for our bees to enjoy ... and we set the hive up the other day and go to get them tomorrow!

Earlier he was under the house working on the plumbing for the hallway bathroom and the new shower going in there. Hopefully, we shall be able to use it next week.

So, that's life here in our little bit of heaven.

Beautiful Day

 It's absolutely gorgeous outside, and we took a trip to Taylors earlier and bought a lot of fruit bushes and vines from a family that had advertised on Facebook locally. I am now the proud owner of 4 blueberry bushes (to go with our other 2), 4 grapevines, 4 blackberry, and 4 raspberry.  The blueberries are up in the front yard near the fence, the rest will be going down in the field around the fence, in different places. Mark is going to string some wire between posts for the grapevines to twine around.

It's nice to get a nice start off to Spring.

My peas are already coming up,and I have peppers, melon, tomatoes and wildflowers planted.

And - surprise, surprise - down the field is abloom with tiny blue wildflowers. I saw them when we took the new plants down there.

Frazzled

There's just so much going on, and my brain is frazzled trying to keep up. Hubby's appointments, my appointments, and just so much paperwork - this lot needs this, that one needs that, we've been dropping forms off at the cancer center like nobody's business. It's emotionally tiring just trying to remember everything we need to do. Then there are the callbacks ... a message that they need some other paper or record, or whatever. UGH!

In himself, hubby is maybe 50% ok. His body aches, his heads aches, the meds make him dizzy and nauseated, it affects his responses and his attitude is shot, especially when dealing with people on the phone. I just wish I could wave a magic wand and make it all go away.

We both had medical appointments today. Hubby's white count is up again but not by as much as we might have expected, which means his treatment is working. His oncologisthas changed the dosage to try to help lessen the side effects.He'll see her again in amonth, to see how the next few weeks go.

I, having admitted to emotionally overeating since his treatment started, stood on the scale (expecting maybe a 5lbs gain) to be pleasantly surprised. I was 220lbs and had lost .8lb since my last visit. I said "thank you Lord" and stepped off much happier than I'd stepped on.

I'm just thankful that we both had fairly decent visits!

Spring starts tomorrow!

 I am soooo ready! This Winter has been colder than usual, more days than usual. Today, thankfully, the sun is out and we're in the 70s.

Yesterday, hubby set my planters up against trellis by the car port, so I planted peas and kiwi grapes in them. We already have some tomatoes planted down in the field, and I've got canteloupes and peppers starting in biodegradeable pots, so my "planting season" is underway.

Hubby picked up a plum tree at Tractor Supply, so that's now also down in the field, near the vitex cannibifolia (the butterfly/bee attracting tree). We have more potted gardenias to plant out , and hubby has sprinkled wildflower seeds down there as well. We hope to get our bees soon. For his birthday, I got him an assortment of beekeeping equipment, so we are almost ready. Meantime, we're trying to create a bee haven around the stream/pond area that he's been working on for awhile now.

We spent much of Summer gleaning rocks and stones from local building sites, as land was being cleared. They were only too happy to let us help ourselves, as they have to pay when they take them to landfills.

I'm hoping Spring will bring us more chances to get on and do everything. My great-grands love to mow, so that's a help. Now that they are older, they get into other things as well, so I can commandeer them sometimes.

I'm thankful for the warmer weather, most definitely!

So many appointments

 It seems that life has turned into a mad rush all of a sudden. Mark's had endless forms to fill out and phone calls to make, and then numerous appointments. His leukaemia getting worse has changed things and made this a whole new ball game. Frustrations too, as the medicine he has to take for a few days before starting the cancer one STILL hasn't arrived, and is coming locally, where the cancer one arrived last week and came from farther away. Pretty incompetent from my viewpoint, but who am I, anyway? I just worry about my hubby. He needs to get started on this so that when he goes back to his haemologist at the end of the month, she can see how he is doing with it, and she said the first few weeks may be quite rough ... so we really need him to get into it as soon as possible so that she has enough to evaluate him on. 

Yesterday we went out for lunch, and tried a newly opened restaurant over on Haywood Road, Wok & Spice. We loved it. Wonderful staff (I'm so picky, and they accommodated all my wishes with a smile and not even a raised eyebrow). The food? Excellent! We both had the Mongolian Combination lunch special ... and brought some home!

Definitely another new "favourite place". Apparently, at the end of the month they have another restaurant opening on Woodruff Road, Hocco, which will be Indian cuisine. We've already decided we'll be giving it a try.

This morning, I received the first illustration sketch for my book, "Mister McAfferty's Cat", and I'm so excited to be finally moving forward with it. I suggested a couple of very minor revisions. I wanted the cat to be fluffier as theirs was smooth-coated, and I wanted Mister McAfferty to look less stern.

Today looks like being a nice day so we may go out somewhere to enjoy the sunshine while we can. We haven't been to Paris Mountain in a while so that's something we're considering. We shall see.

Busy, Busy, Busy

 It has been a whirlwind since last Friday, that's for sure. So many things happening and just been one thing after another.

Saturday, my granddaughter helped hubby move the RV so that it's now alongside the carport. Makes the yard look less cluttered.Def seems like we have more room for vehicles to turn around on the drive and gravel.

Hubby has been using his tractor to clean up fallen tree limbs, old fencing from down the field, dead grapevines (horrible grapes, yukky ones, and the vines are very invasive, almost like a weed) and taking down old guttering. The truck is loaded up and tomorrow he and the boy (the four-legged #1 son Brunel) will be taking it all to the dump.

We've another load of things to take to Miracle Hill, and that will be the second trip tomorrow, along with returning library books.

Sadly, my illustrating "Mister McAfferty's Cat" has come to another halt. The lass who was going to be doing the illustrating has health issues, and fears the job is too big and that she won't be able to fulfil it. I've told her that's ok, and we've discussed her woking on a simpler project for me, illustrating a poem that's kind of cutesy and has less detailed illustrations.

Today we tried a new eatery - Cava - on Woodruff Rd, it's a Mediterranean and we had pitas ... oh wow, def a place we will return to BUT next time, I'll have to bring it home, cut it in half, and refrigerate half for the following day. The calorie and sodium content were way over my daily limit.

We also stopped by a car dealer to check out whether I could get in and out of a Kia Soul since I cannot get into my Ford Explorer very easily any more. I've down-sized over the recent decade as my height has shrunk. I had my Land Rover until I started having issues getting up and into him. The Explorer was lowe, so I've had a few years with that but now I'm having problems with that so need something lower and easy to sit in without needing to climb up to get into. So, we are going to start looking seriously for one in a month or two.

Tonight, Jel came over and she and Mark basically cleared a lot of what used to be the old AVON room, so's we can pop a mattress in there for when she and the kids want to spend the night. 2 bags of trash, one load for Miracle Hill and some more AVON supplies for one of my old AVON team-mates.I must admit, I honestly haven't missed selling since I gave up at the end of last year. It's been one less thing for me to stress over.

But that's how it's been. We've marched into March!

UGH Not good!

 Last night, one of my friend's daughters (who I'd known since the 90s) let me know that the edition of "Daisy May Explores The Heavens" arrived with some major printing errors. I was about to go to bed, so promised to deal with it this morning. What a palaver! 

I tried Amazon Customer Care, they were helpful but on seeing the images, said they couldn't do anything and gave me a phone number to call (my idea - being that I'd get further talking to a live person than messaging one). 

I called the number - recorded messages only. UGH! So I did as the recording said and filled out a form explaining what had happened, and again, attaching the images. 

Lo and behold, I just received an email from them stating they are unable to help and for me to contact Amazon Customer Care. 

I've emailed back and re-sent the pictures and said that I need it escalated to a supervisor who has access to the print section, and I explained my friend's daughter has put in a return and for a replacement, and I want the replacement to be correct, not another mix up like this.

These are definitely unlike anything in my manuscript. There is a flipbook of that here.

As you can see, this was not my error, by any means. I'm disappointed to be getting the runaround.

I take pleasing my readers/fans/customers very seriously, and I don't want them to have to deal with issues like this. It kind of mars the joy.

And mine.

I'll have to see how this progresses. I'm still waiting for a response.

The Things That I Remember

 Sometimes my mind just meanders off into the past, and I picture things from my yesterdays. It's amazing how something pops up, that I'd totally forgotten about, and that leads to others.

I grew up in London, until my early teens. In many ways, it has defined me. Obviously with my accent - and oddly, when I get mad and the cockney comes out. Sometimes words I haven't used in fifty or sixty years. Or viualizing something and realising, wow, I don't do that any more/see people doing that any more, and wondering, how did I lose that? When did it stop?

When I was born, England was 10 years post-war, but only 1 year post-rationing. There were still streets that had been bombed out during the Blitz, demolishing and rebuilding a city took time. Going from Leytonstone to Hackney on the bus, 1960-1966, we'd go past rows of Nissan huts and prefabs, temporary homes for those bombed out in it.

People were still frugal, very frugal. One of my favourite foods back then was bread and dripping, a staple in the East End. I loved it. The mere thought of it now turns my stomach. Dripping is the meat juices and fat left in the pan after cooking meat.

My nan didn't have a fridge. She'd make a big pot of rabbit stew, and I'd have that with bread (it's still a fave when I can get rabbit). The pot sat on the stove overnight and was boiled up the next day. There was no such thing as leftovers. Potatoes and cabbage were fried up in bacon grease as bubble and squeak, and many "teas" were jam sandwiches, baked beans on toast, egg on toast, or paste sandwiches. Amazing how one little pot of Shippam's could make sandwiches for 3 or 4 of us.

My other nan used to slice bread by holding the bread up against her chest, over her pinny, and cutting with the knife blade going towards her. I think my mum did that sometimes as well. I tried to do it the other day and just couldn't get the hang of it.

I loved school. I was at George Tomlinson from 1960-1966, infants and juniors. The headmistress in the infants was Mrs Edwards,

and she was a darling. All the kids wanted to hold her hand, and walk with her, during playtime. She was a smiling grandmotherly figure and much loved. In the Juniors, we had Mr Bradbury,

who was austere and caned the boys when they misbehaved. Miss Lynes, in the above pic, was my best teacher in the Juniors, I had her for 2 years. She was touted as very strict but was actually pretty awesome.

I used to go to the Methodist Church on the High Road on Sundays,

with a lady named Barbara Vann. Her parents owned a health food shop on Kirkdale Rd, and I met her at their home at 33 Lytton Rd, when I went there to take piano lessons.I was 7 or 8 at the time. At the church, Reverend Johnson was the vicar, and they had a Girl's Life Brigade (and Boy's Brigade) group there so I joined that. We used to march through the town, on parade as we called it back then, the first Sunday of every month. The Boy's Brigade Band would play and we'd be joined by other groups like the WI and veterans and such. The church also had us collecting money for the JMA (Juvenile Missionary Association) and I had a book and collected 1d or 2d after church, every Sunday, off willing donors.

This is where my thoughts meandered when I woke up in the middle of the night, and I thought, yeah, I need to write all that down.

Yesterday was a fun day

We accomplished a lot yesterday.  Hubby and my granddaughter, Jel, took our chicken pens apart and moved them to the other side of the yard, while I hosed the chicken huts with bleach water and washed out their waterers. It was very satisfying. My great-granddaughter, Samantha, had fun too. She rode in the bucket of the tractor a couple of times, and when it wasn't in use, she put the bucket up high and then clambered up to sit in it, up in the air.

My other granddaughter, Nicolette, swung by and she and I chatted and laughed for a while. It was all good.

Delving into new things ... and pursuing old ones too

This year is racing along in leaps and bounds. So much has been happening, re-evaluations, new goals and plans, making new friends, and even worrying about others. Hubby and I plod along. We may not be fast but we are getting things done.

He's been registered with the VA a couple of years now, and they are taking care of much of his healthcare bills and prescriptions, which is a godsend. That alone is one less thing to worry about as we head towards his retirement. He's been working part-time since May and that gave him chance to schedule his medical appointments on his off days, and not have to rush to try to schedule everything on one day off each week. On his "off" days, he's been catching up doing yard work and stuff around the house,

I've been continuing to declutter (albeit slowly) and last week Miracle Hill got another box of clothes and things I no longer use/need. We got another closet for me and popped a mini chest of drawers in one side, so now my overflowing assortment of clothes is neatly divided between the 2 cabinets.

I met up with a lovely young lady and now have a collaborator on "Mister McAfferty's Cat", as she has a talent for drawing. I'm excited to be able to see how this turns out. My previous attempt to get an illustrator had me working with a company, but they weren't able to put my vision into what I was looking for, so we parted company. I'm hoping Jocy and I will have an awesome relationship.

I decided to try to make my own fondant creams since the flavours that I like - rose, lilac and lavender - aren't easily available at confectioners here. I melted Dairy Milk and Ghirardelli chips for the coating. I have a lot of honing to do, that's for sure. They taste pretty good, the rose ones especially, but my coating them is pretty messy. Like I said, a lot of honing to do.

I finally published both the paperback, and hardback, versions of "In The Ocean". The hardback was more difficult. I had to make endless revisions of the cover, I wasn't even sure what I was doing wrong. One of my girlfriends also tried, using the template they provided for it, and that was rejected as well. She does hers all the time, so even she wasn't sure what was going on, but finally it all came together and is now on Amazon, with all the rest of my books.

I'm still working on "Phoenix" and "Rose's Rhymes For Children", and waiting to hear from Poetry magazine about my submission "The Boy And His Horse". It'd be lovely to get published in a magazine here, like I used to regularly in England, many years ago.

All in all, I'm quite satisfied with where I'm at right now.