Month: August 2018

We walked the dogs and then I went into Ramsgate. Mal had a couple of his students to sort out. I found a really nice purple dress in the British Heart charity shop. It still had the label on. I also found a purple top in a sale. It is usually difficult to find anything purple (for the Red Hatters), so whenever I see anything I buy it. It is not this years colour!

Today the two bay trees arrived. So we have two bays and two palms! Now it’s finding places to put them.  When the delivery men come I have to remember to put Roddie in the living room as, as little as he is, he is a very good house dog and wouldn’t let just anyone come in. He would fly at them given half the chance.

Mal went to the allotment. He is making space for my strawberry plants that I had in the garden that are no longer fruiting.

Thought for the Day – “The older I get the more I value loyalty. You can fool me with kindness, but loyalty speaks for itself.” ~ Kristen Butler

Sol had been in touch asking if he could come and see us last week but I didn’t get his message so we arranged for him and Millie to come round for a BBQ today. Tariq has also just come home for his summer leave and so we asked him and Megan as well. It forecast rain for 4 o’clock so we told them to come at 12.

We had a good time with the boys reminiscing about their stays with us in Cyprus over the years and reminded us that Grandad set them all challenges at the beginning of the holidays. They always completed them (they were also rewarded in lira). We had such good summers with them, it’s nice that they remember so much.

The boys ate a LOT, just as well as Mal cooked loads on the BBQ as the girls ate very little. Millie had bought a dress a size too small was aiming to fit into it!! Tariq took home the rest of the trifle and lemon cheesecake!

Thought for the day – “Grandchildren are loving reminders of what we’re really here for.” ~ Janet Lanese

We took The two dogs and Violet to the park. Ellie enjoyed chasing Violet on the zip wire. Of course this was followed by ice cream!

Violet and Tris left after lunch.

I ordered two small bay trees from Amazon as I do like my own herbs and they would also look nice. They were supposed to have arrived the previous day but they did arrive today! I opened the box and discovered they were the funniest bay trees I have ever seen……..they were Canarian palms! After a long chat with Amazon online, they said they would be sending the bay trees and as we weren’t prepared to pay the return postage (!) , they told us we can keep them. I can’t believe the way companies are now, so many errors.

Rhys rang late in the evening. Sometimes it is nice for us to check up on each other, we understand what each of us is going through.

Thought for the Day – “Where a beautiful soul has travelled, beautiful memories remain forever.”

I was up early and had to catch a coach from Minster with some of the Red Hatters. We were going to Teapot Island. We hadn’t a clue what it would be like but it was a day out!!

In fact once we arrived it was quite quick to view the 8,500 teapots! So we had a coffee and then went to the Boathouse for our lunch. We still had quite a bit of time left before the coach arrived so we went to the village for a walk. We had a lot of car drivers laughing at us and hooting us, walking single file down the country lanes in our purple and red hats! Crazy ladies. A few of our number were missing because of holidays and our Queen was moving house.

Back home and I quickly knocked up a vegetarian meal just before Tris and Violet arrived. Tris was going to a late night gig at Broadstairs Folk week and so Violet stayed the night with us.

Thought for the Day – “One day you’ll look back and realise that you worried too much about things that don’t really matter.”

Demelza day. I drive to Wingham and then catch the bus from there. The bus journey takes 20 minutes. Today it was over an hour. As we came towards Canterbury St Martin’s Hill was closed, just a notice saying the road was closed. So, the driver pulled the bus to a stop, got out and made a phone call. He obviously hadn’t a clue where to go!  It transpires that there was a water main burst and because of all the dry weather, this turned into a sink hole. We had to do a massive detour.

Jack had the day off as it was his birthday. Lauren, our manager was in, in his place. She is having a baby in November so Jack will be taking over as Manager. We are all pleased about that as all of us Monday staff would have left if he hadn’t been appointed!

Thought for the Day – “You are not here to make others understand you. You are here to understand yourself.” ~ Kristen Butler

We took the dogs for a nice walk and then in the afternoon we went to Broadstairs Folk Week and met up with Tris and Violet.

It hasn’t been a good week one way and another.

Thought for the Day – “Don’t wait for things to get better. Life will always be complicated. Learn to be happy right now, otherwise you will run out of time.”

We walked the dogs. Today Ellie managed to roll in some fox poo. What a charming dog. At least I made sure she didn’t get into the river and all the algae but we had to hose her when we arrived home.

I popped round to the town later as they have a small market on Saturdays. We then watched the Spurs game….a good start to their season.

Thought for the Day – “Ageing is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” ~ David Bowie