The Royal Wedding

The day of the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is about to take place. It is a  real life fairy story of a commoner marrying a prince

Everyone is caught up in the fever pitch about the Royal Wedding. Well perhaps not everyone, but most people will be interested in what is happening, what the bride is wearing and who is who at Westminster Abbey. We Brits certainly excel at celebrating Royal Occasions and know how to put on a good show of Pomp and Circumstance, ceremony and pageantry! 

I hope it will be a good day for the young couple and that they will enjoy their special day.

Although I personally do not like all the hype, the wedding trophies and kitch, I suppose it does bring in some much needed money  and it is good for the tourist trade..  On the other hand I do like the street parties when neighbours actually get to know one another and good humour and a friendly atmosphere reins all around.

Many people will recall their own wedding. when every bride is indeed a princess for the day, with her own handsome prince at her side and they recall their hopes and plans for a successful future. We will all spare a thought for the Royal Couple as they make their vows and hope that all their dreams will be fulfilled.


My own wedding was no great affair as I had to take a bus to the registry office to meet the love of my life. Neither of our parents wanted to know much about the wedding. We even thought of getting married in Paris but as I was not pregnant or living there, that dream came to naught. So we just got married with a couple of friends in attendance and at the last moment, my future mother-in-law decided to make an appearance and monopolised the car as well as the day. How ever nothing could mar my happiness,my love or the joy as I married my wonderful man and my husband and I stayed together for fourty years. I was devastated when he left me for a younger model as I still love him. 


Thinking about weddings, my thoughts stray to the weddings of my children. My eldest son married his beautiful bride, whom he met at St Andrew's in an old temple in Ireland, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. My second son chose the lovely tree cathedral outside Dunstable for his wedding, while my beloved daughter got married in the historic St Enodoc church in Cornwall and had her reception in the Old School House in the romantic village of Port Isaac.  I was and am so very proud of them all.


 I wish every couple, where ever they may be, all the happiness in the world and hope that they will live 'happily ever after'.


Like any young girl, I still dream about my prince and who knows what the future will bring. But for now, I will enjoy watching this Royal Wedding, as I watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana, when I slept on the pavement near St Paul's Church.


Oh I am just an old emotional, sentimental and romantic woman.


Please let cupid aim his arrows straight and true and let love prevail throughout the world.

Good Luck William and Kate.

       
                                                                  

See as thou was want to see

- well that is a quotation from Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream. Very apt for us older people whose vision becomes impaired with age. Suddenly we do not see as well as before and need glasses or have to have cataracts removed or worse still develop glaucoma. Modern medicin is fantastic and makes little of these optical ailments.

I developed cataracts, first in one eye and then the other and needed to have eye operations to clear my vision. I found this very daunting as I hate anyone fiddling with my eyes.Still it had to be done as the cataract became very dense and clouded my vision and badly impaired my sight .                                                                                                                                                                       The day of the operation dawned and I was given a lift to the hospital at 7.30am. I arrived, quaking in my shoes and after being formally admitted was told to change into a hospital gown and be ready as I was the first person to be taken up into the operating theatre. The surgeon came and introduced himself and was very re-assuring. Next appeared the anaesthetist , who was a lovely lady and put me completely at my ease. The nurse put several drops in my eye and before I had time to worry, a porter came and wheeled me up into the operating theatre where the surgeon and his team were waiting for me, Everyone in turn introduced himself and we all chatted and joked as I was prepared for my 'ordeal'. A charming theatre sister asked whether I wanted here to hold my hand to which I readily agreed and tried not to hold on too tight. This was so very comforting and re-assuring. I never felt any of the injections in my eye or indeed any of the proceedure at all. The surgeon explained everything he was doing and praised me for being an excellent patient. He told me how an ultra sound wave melts the centre of the defected lense so that it can then be pulled out. The eye is then 'polished' and an acrylic lense is fitted into place. All this without any discomfort. Suddenly he exclaimed that all was completed  and perfectly satisfactory. I thanked everyone before being taken back to the ward to rest and enjoy a comforting cup of tea.

The other patients who were waiting were as frightened and worried as I had been, so I explained the proceedure to them and assured them of how lovely all the staff were and sang the praises of the excellent and patient surgeon.

The ward sister came and gave me a bag with eye drops, letters of instructions and a note to my GP. I was told how to treat my eye and when I had to come back for a check up.

Once more dressed for home, my daughter came to collect me and we went shopping before driving me back to my house.

I had to keep an eye shield on that day and night and when I removed it the following day to my delight, I could see perfectly well and clearly.  It was like a miracle. I had no after effects or problems at all- just perfect vision.

If any of my readers need such an eye operation,please do not feel afraid, but go for it!!  There really is  feel afraid but go for it!!  There really is nothing to worry about and the medical staff are so good
and competent, so that this is indeed a miracle that is performed and the words' see as thou was want
to see' really become true.

                                                                          
                                                                        

                Happy  Easter

Excitement is all around as people are planning their Easter Festivities. Age old customs come into play and the children can hardly await the coming of the Easter bunny who brings all those delicious and varied eggs.

The custom of having Easter eggs goes right back to pagan times,  when people wanted to celebrate the end of the long, harsh winter, when the earth lay 'dead' and people and animals waited for Spring. The hare was the messenger and heralded the awakening from the long 'sleep'. Thus the Easter bunny came into being. The egg itself was the symbol of new life. The two combined into the Easter legend and the hare or Easter bunny would hide the eggs in the grass or bushes, for children and adults to find.
There are coloured and decorated eggs as well as chocolate eggs to be found and no=one is ever too old to enter into the spirit of the egg hunt or even egg rolling. What fun!


The church too began to celebrate the fact that Jesus arose from the dead at Easter. During Lent the church was decked in somber colours but burst into a bright  array of glorious colours and beautiful flowers to celebrate life.


The Jewish religion celebrate the Exodus from Egypt and slavery to a new life in the promised land. The stories about this event is celebrated every Spring and children ask questions about the origin and the meaning of this special celebration


The Eastern religions too choose this time to celebrate in various ways.


What ever the occasion, everyone celebrates by feasting, wearing special apparel or Easter bonnets in a parade giving presents and generally making merry.


I hope the Easter Bunny is kind to you and that you will have a really good, fun festival.

Happy Easter to You All

New Breed of Glam- grans!

A picture and article printed in the newspaper about Lulu- the glam-gran. I think many of us could also come under that heading, as grandmothers  nowadays,  are not what they used to be.

                                                      

Well anything Lulu can do, we can do as well…. ( only without  make up or a professional photo)   So how about some of these snap shots.  

                                                                            

 

        Come on grans- let us show them what            

                                                                                 WE  CAN  DO

      Just enjoy yourselves!

Spring come laughing o’er the hills, crowned with wreathes of daffoldils…

The Spring Fairy has been working her magic and it seems that over night, Spring has come. A most welcome sight after the long, hard winter, when nights were long and days so very short.

During the dark days, we found it hard to get up in the morning, for darkness still reigned. By five in the evening, one wanted to get back to bed and snuggle down with a good book, or laze in front of an open fire with a glass of wine and like a couched potato, stare at the television and nibble ‘naughty’ food.

Suddenly, the dainty snowdrop rings in the warmer days and where ever one looks, daffodils spring from their bed in abundance. Proudly they stand in the grass or garden and blow their trumpets to herald the arrival of Spring. Primroses, tulips and hyacinths are awakened by their calls and bring a hue of bright colours for us to enjoy.

Over night the trees and bushes burst into life and green shoots appear while the flowers of the magnolia  trees stand erect and proud in their trees and the fragile, pink  cherry blossoms sway on their branches, sometimes showering us like confettee eat a wedding.

New life is seen everywhere and we enjoy the antics of the baby lambs, leaping around the fields.

At this time a young man’s fancy turns to …… while the sap rises in old men, who thought they were past it.  Ladies beware or make the most of it.

Most importantly         ENJOY THE TIME!

  If Music Be the Food Of Love- Play on.....

The morning dawned dull and grey. I looked out of my bedroom window and saw thick mist rolling down from the downs. It gave me a creepy feeling- just as if I was caught up in one of these horror films, when suddenly evil would appeared out of the thick fog. I sat up in bed and watched this phenomenon as within minutes the countryside disappeared and the mist rolled on relentlessly towards my bedroom window. Nothing could be seen.

I felt very lonely.

As I continued watching some twenty minutes or so, I suddenly saw the mist rolling back again and bright sunshine taking its place. Bright blue sky appeared, birds began to sing and everything was bathed in glorious sunshine. It was just like a miracle and I was filled with joy and happiness, just to be alive. However still sad to be on my own.

Spring had arrived and everywhere I looked, new life was beginning. The trees had sprouted new, vibrant green shoots or were crowned with delicate blossoms and looked so fresh and vibrant. Birds were pairing and building their nests, and everywhere I looked birds, beasts and young lovers were enjoying the rites of Spring. Oh I too wanted to be passionately in love again.

A voice in my head said, ‘ Hold on my girl. What exactly do you mean by love?’ I thought about it and came to the conclusion that love is a great and many  splendid thing and is found on many levels – as friends,, colleagues, parents, lovers. Or is it just a chemical reaction and physical attraction?  Are men from Mars and women from Venus? Do men just want sex while women yearn for love?

 Children give love unconditionally and some animals and birds mate for life. Why are some humans unfaithful?  What causes us , when entering a crowded room,to feel drawn to some people, more than other?

When I feel lonely, I desperately wish for a prince or sheik, on a white charger to come and carry me off to to a moon-lit desert, where a myriad of stars are twinkling above, or I would just like to be able to cuddle close to another soul and take comfort.

Love makes me want to sing and shout from the roof tops and I fervently want to share my happiness with everyone I meet. Oh they can see me coming, with stars in my eyes, being full of excitement and joy.

How often do people say-‘ I do love you’ but then mean something quite different such as seeking re-assurance, praise, comfort, romance and a promise of something more yet to be explored or just wanting sex.

I can truly say I love people- where ever they come from. People are unique and wonderful, kind and helpful and often full of surprises.

Sometimes , at first glance, I misjudge someone and think I do not like them- How wrong can I be.

My motto is to seek out the best in all people.

 

   

Food, glorious food

What is it with the powers that be that they all want to dictate to us what our children should or should not eat.

First Jamie Oliver re-organises school meals and expects everyone to eat everything.  More power to his elbow, but children will not change their dietary needs just like that. Now the government wants to set up inspection of packed lunches. Why can parents not decide what they want their children to eat?

I always insisted that my children ate or at least tried  eating a little of everything.  They were not happy but did try various foods.  My daughter always said, and still says that I spoilt her Christmas dinners as I always insisted on the one token sprout. 

What is it about sprouts? One can sauté them with onion and garlic, shred and fry them or boil them and then add a little peanut butter- delicious.

My grand children started by eating everything and enjoying curries, olives, and all sorts of foreign meals but suddenly look at their plate and refuse to eat anything coloured like tomatoes, salad, greens and other vegetables. We leave them be and suddenly their taste buds awaken again and they will try a little of things they are wary of.

When I was teaching, we encouraged children to eat everything but parents often complained that we made them eat things they did not want , so we had to allow them their own choice. Better they had something to eat that was healthy than nothing at all.  We did however discourage chocolate, biscuits and crisps in lunch boxes. If parents allow them to be fussy at home and just eat junk food, we have no right to insist on dictating to them. It is the parents we have to educate and perhaps we should do more in teaching food value, healthy living and go back to having cookery lessons for all in the senior schools.  We should also teach good parenting as part of the National Syllabus.

Now that we are in such a serious recession and money is short, parents want their children to eat something rather than waste their money on something they will not eat.  Perhaps I am old fashioned, but parents must have the right to bring up their children as best they can.


 We do not want Big Brother watching every move we make.

SEX

Yes please, or no thanks, we are British! Seriously though, we all enjoy good, wholesome and honest sex, whatever age we are. People seem to think that old folks should not have sexual urges and that they are past it. How wrong they are.

Make love, not war has been they cry for centuries past, but still we fight on and new wars break out in different parts of the world.

Even as far back as 2,500 years ago the Greeks had the same problem. Greek playwright Aristophanes wrote a play called Lysistrata in which he tackled this age-old problem. He had the idea that if all the women of Greece got together and withheld their favours from their men folk, war would cease. In the play that indeed is the outcome. Should we therefore do the same and ask all women, all over the world to unite and cease all sexual favours, but tempt the men by wearing diaphanous garments, put on alluring make-up, sexy hair styles and generally become a woman that they would desire. Could we stop war in the same way?  Indeed, food for thought, anyone got any better ideas?

Much is written, explored on television and pictured in magazines – sex in every possible way, leaving very little to the imagination. The result is that sex just isn’t sexy any more. Being bombarded with films and images has perhaps somewhat de-sensitised us. Nothing seems to shock us. So where do we go from here?

It is said that men want sex, whereas women want love. To a certain degree that is true. I for one do not appreciate a quick ‘wham, bang and not even a thank you mam’. I need to be wooed and seduced by gentle, loving words or gestures and caresses – even if the sentiment may not be truthful. Please let romance thrive.

Far from wanting everyone to be prudish, I think that there are moral guidelines, which would bring back some sort of sense of intrigue and excitement.

However old I may be, I still would like to be a ‘femme fatale’.

Mother's Day Card

There are so many great cards around but I thought this one fun and wanted to share it with you. ( keep it for next year!!)

A Great Mum is like a good Bra....
hard to find, supportive,comfortable, always lifts you up, never lets you down or leaves you hanging  and is always close to your heart!
Happy Mother's DAY

Elizabeth Taylor – What a beautiful, gifted woman! I am so sad that she died, especially as she fought so hard to overcome all her illnesses and operations so bravely. She had been ill for so long and faced all her ordeals with courage, determined to recover each time she had to undergo more setbacks.

What a brave lady. An example to us all.

I hope that we shall see some her films now and thus re-live her glorious time on earth.

My grand children said she can now be happy with Richard Burton and her special friend Michael Jackson.  I do hope so.

Goodbye lovely lady!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL  MOTHERS!!!

Once again Mother’s Day is upon us and we all try to celebrate our mothers by bringing gifts or taking them out for a special dinner.

All this started a long time ago when people in service wanted to visit their parents but were needed to work – especially at Christmas and Easter. Thus it came about that a day was set aside for them to go home, between the two festivals, visit their parents and bring gifts of food and delicacies from their employers.

This special day is still celebrated as a day to honour the mothers, although sadly it has become very commercial. Why do we no longer make home made gifts or plan special picnics (weather permitting) rather than buy in things that may not be needed or go to restaurants, because the day demands it?

If there is no one to celebrate with you, then just spoil, pamper and treat yourself. 


Love, honour and celebrations should be individual for each person.  What new ideas can YOU bring to this SPECIAL DAY?