Today its been the first really cold day, we woke up to a frost and although it didn't get much warmer all day, it was a bright sunshiny day.
The evening spent at the sailing club on Saturday went really well. An enjoyable time with friends, a surprisingly delicious meal and then the prize giving. As predicted Steve picked up half a dozen prizes, which he was pleased with.
Sunday was a quiet day as Steve went to Dorset with a friend who was buying a boat. I had a very lazy time at home, reading, doing things on the computer and not much else.
Today I have been to meet two old school friends for coffee in Fareham. I went to primary school with Teresa and Lorraine, we are all nearing fifty, I hope like them I'm wearing as well as they both are.
Matt has finally been in touch, if he hears something he doesn't like, he freezes me out for a while, I suppose with maturity this may change. Ian keeps in contact from Australia, he e mails and I read his blog on facebook.
Tomorrow I have my appraisal at work. I have done the paperwork and am ready for it. I don't feel worried about it, so should I be worried that I'm not worried!

I have just been having fun perusing the 'mothercare' website. it is our newest nieces first birthday later this month. I have checked with her mum that its OK and I'm buying her a baby doll. Having had two sons I missed out on the girlie things, so now I can buy these things for Maisie. I have no doubt that this little girl will probably end up being an all action kind of girl as is her Mother, but for now I can indulge the feminine side of this little girl.

Steve and I went shopping today and while he packed the shopping in the boot of the car I took the trolley back to retrieve my £1.00 deposit. I had managed to get the coin out of the little slot and I was making my way back to the car, I fell over. It is so embarrassing as people came from everywhere to see if I was OK. A grazed knee and a cut hand and a big dent in my pride.
Were out tonight at the prize giving dinner at the sailing club. Steve will be bringing some prizes home, I'm sure. Jan & Stu will be staying over.

Ian is in Perth in Australia and has spent the week at a conference, he's a little bit disappointed that his evenings have been as he puts it 'socially dry'. Ian is meeting with a friend from primary school tomorrow and has an invitation to go sailing with another friend next week, so it sounds like things are getting better.
Another week has gone whizzing by, an enjoyable one at work, with this morning spent doing assessment reviews on gorgeous little two year olds. All are having temper tantrums, asserting their Independence and all the Mother's finding it hard to cope with. Its amazing when its not your own child how you can view it so differently!
The weekend ahead will be busy with the prize giving dinner at the sailing club, Steve is at present polishing his silver trophies that he has to give back. I'm hoping that he might win one in particular back. Last year it made a really nice Christmas decoration with tinsel and lights!
Well its into the kitchen to prepare dinner, crepes with bacon and eggs!

I'm in my second favourite place, stretched out on the sofa. I have been getting some of the family photos into order. Steve has been scanning them into the computer and I have found a scrapblogging site. Maggie is a scrapbooker, but if I'm honest I can't be bothered to spend hours with glue and scissors, I would find it so tedious . Putting them into an album on the computer is much easier. I will be able to to pass the link onto friends and family. Here's one for now Janis!

All around were being reminded that in not too many weeks it will be Christmas. At the salon where I have my hair cut I was advised this morning by Leanne that I needed to book an appointment if I wanted my hair cut before Christmas. In the supermarket the decorations were festooned everywhere and Christmas goodies had been crammed in everywhere! I came home feeling a bit panicky as I haven't yet started my preparations! Then I put things into perspective. I have never had a Christmas where I haven't been ready. This year it will be a relatively quiet one, Ian will be home from Australia, but Matt will be celebrating with Samantha and her family. My Mother is going to Las Vegas for a holiday at her friend Val's home, which is wonderful for her. She only booked it on Monday and by yesterday she had got her dollars! Well they are at a terrific rate for the Brit going to the USA, so who could blame her.

Second instalment today. I have just returned from taking Matt to the railway station. It was great to have him home, but it didn't end well. I'm expected not to have any opinions about his lack of ambition. I'm unable to keep my mouth shut but I couldn't and ended up telling him what I think! My language was not polite!

Matthew's visit home has been terrific, a busy few days which I have enjoyed immensely. Yesterday Matt met his Aunt and cousin for the first time. I collected Annie from Fareham station and brought her back here at about 4. Phil came over with Christo at 7. Matt and Annie talked and talked and talked together, I hardly got a word in edge ways:). Christo and Matt became acquainted over dinner and there was even more talk, lots of laughter. Matt talked about their Grandfather and Christo spoke of his one meeting with him as a small child. After dinner we walked across the road to watch the firework display on the beach. It was an amazing spectacle organised by local businesses in Lee.
Back home, over coffee and fuelled by a 'little' wine Matt and Christo debated and put the world to rights! Oh how their Grandfather would have enjoyed this.
Ironically their Aunt is visiting this weekend and staying at my Mother's flat along the seafront. Denise had travelled south to attend a party last night. I would have invited her to call in before she went out, if I could have been certain that she wouldn't have spoilt a wonderful evening, but actually I know she wouldn't have come even if she had been invited.

Its only 6.00pm and I have been up for half an hour and awake for so much longer. When I did sleep, it was fretful and I had very disturbed dreams. I have been sleeping really well of late and think perhaps that having Matt at home has unsettled me. I'm delighted that he is here, but I am anxious about him!
Well its going to be a long day ahead, even with sleep there is a lot to fit in. Shopping for Fridays supper with Annie, Christo and Phil. I'm not brilliant at entertaining, I just don't do 'fancy' stuff. i have opted for a Shepherd's pie, it sounds really boring, but this one is made with using meat from a slow roasted leg of lamb, marinated in honey, sweet sherry and Worcestershire sauce, the mash has butter and creme fraishe, so a bit indulgent. I like to do things ahead of time, so this will be followed by baked peaches with amaretto cream! I will be off to Waitrose for opening time at 8.30 and back before the prodigal is even awake.
The rest of the days itinerary is to take Matt and his Grandmother out for lunch, God knows what she will say about the piercing!! I have a dental appointment at 3, rainbows at 4.30, Home for 6. Matt has requested his favorite stew and dumplings for dinner and I like to please my kids, but I'm not sure when I'm going to fit this in! it will be back to work tomorrow for a rest.

Matt is home for a few days, hooray. He is looking really well, despite having had a piercing in an eyebrow, ouch! I have to try and keep my opinions to myself, not just on the metal but also about his future plans or lack of them. If I do so much as mention a career path, I will be accussed of nagging! How I wish that this bright intelligent son of mine had focus. It is only because I love him that i want him to reach his potential!!

Six days on the Costa Brava. We had a great time staying in a wonderful villa in Sierra Brava. Elaine and Brian had invited us to join them along with Stuart and Jan. All are new friends, made when we joined the sailing club in 2004, who would have thought that the decision to move south would have given us the opportunity to make new friends who have in a short time enriched our lives! Our days were spent visiting pretty little towns, Cathedrals, beaches and markets. The evenings were spent, some eating in restaurants and the rest in the villa. We cooked together, drank plenty and laughed more than I can remember laughing in a very long time! Each evening we played cards or 'articulate', each evening the competition became fiercer, the guys just didn't like to be beaten and they were, spectacularly!
Its back to work tomorrow and in the evening Matt is arriving home for a few days and I'm feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve.

Were off to Sunny Spain.......la lala Espana!

Second instalment today? I have just spent a very lazy afternoon watching television for nearly 4 hours. TCM show some really old films and today it was 'Gone With The Wind'. I had never seen this epic before. What an amazing novel written by Margaret Mitchell in 1929 and made into the film in 1939, I enjoyed every minute of it and no apologies for not doing something more industrious with my time. "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn".

Another week has just flown by and although the shops are telling me Christmas is on its way, I find it hard to believe. Yes! its getting colder, but the autumn sunshine is warm. The shops are full of Christmas stuff, but I'm packing for a holiday in the late Spanish sunshine. Yes another holiday, for many reasons I feel guilty at taking a second holiday in a month. I'm not sure why and friends and family say there is no need. I think feeling guilty is a deep rooted thing in my personality
On Friday I went over to see Annie and we sat in her little conservatory with the sun streaming in. It was an enjoyable couple of hours spent chatting, talking about issues that affect us both and wider ones. I called in on my Mother on the way home and once again I am made to feel guilty. Mum cannot understand Annie's need to know her family or why I am building a relationship with my sister. I firmly believe that had Dad had been alive he would have been pleased. There has been an issue with Denise, who does not want anything to do with Annie, but then she doesn't do anything to maintain a relationship with her twin sister. Denise had said she didn't want her children to know of this other strand to their family! Annie felt really strongly that they should have the information and after a lot of thought we decided that the best way to approach this was to ask Ian to help. Ian agreed readily that at sometime he would speak to Jonathan. Ian would undoubtedly deliver such news with sensitivity
Ian had spoken to his Grandmother and he said that she was unhappy with his view on the family situation, but he said that it wouldn't stop him talking to Jonathan at sometime. Well when I saw my Mother she informed me that she herself had initiated a conversation with Johnathan last week, but he'd said he had already known for a long time!!!!
It was a busy week at work, my appraisal should have happened on Thursday but my line manager went off sick, so it will now wait until after my holiday.
Last night was the AGM at the sailing club. This was another political minefield which exploded nicely after the vote. If you have ever been involved in a committee you will know how difficult it is to get people to volunteer. Well last night the club was in an enviable position of having ten people put them selves forward, when the Constitution states that the management committee should be made up of the officers of the club plus eight others. Oh dear, so we had to have a vote. A ballot was held and when all the papers counted the successful members names were read out! Two people were disappointed, one of them a very elderly lady who had been a committee member for years and the second a lady who's husband had been elected to serve a second term on the sailing committee. Well the latter's not so better half took umbrage that his wife had been thwarted and duly resigned from the sailing committee. Personally, I think any club is better off without people like this, though I did vote her.

Another weekend over and unusually mine isn't extended as I have to work tomorrow and attend an 'away day'. It's a day away from our usual base, no phones to answer and clients to see. Instead we will be busy working on policies and team matters, sounds exciting!
Tomorrow I would certainly benefit from a day off. Yesterday it was the day of the 'Rainbow 'Sleepover'! Along with the other adult helpers I arrived at midday to get the scout hut ready for the onslaught of the very excited 5-7 year old girls. We decorated for the theme of 'under the sea', put together little camp beds and made the hall home from home!
My responsibility was that of first aider, so I checked the first aid box out, made up the sick bed, perused my St John's manual and prayed that there wouldn't be any more than a scratched knee to tend too. Yes, I have a first aid certificate, but suddenly my skills may be called on at any time during the next 24 hours and I doubt my ability.
The girls arrived at 2.00pm and right away into a frenzied timetabled craft activities which Sunflower and Primrose had arranged between them. A few little girls who for various reasons had chosen not to 'sleep', arrived at 3.00pm for activities and tea. It was an extremely busy afternoon with girls moving on from one themed activity to another. We had visitors who arrived and watched, some joining in, one staying for tea. They were trainers, and testers and county presidents. All very important people who we had to impress for Bluebell who was under scrutiny. Karen aka Bluebell passed her tests with flying colours and is now qualified to take members of the Guiding movement on more sleepovers or pack holidays.
Our cooks were two very experienced Guiders: Bizzie Lizzie who I had only met twice before and on both occasions she'd frightened me to death!!! Her cooking went down well and I was very impressed how the girls tucked into her pasta, chicken and salad. At bedtime BL's other talent came to light, that of a wonderful story teller. I think undoubtedly she missed her vocation and should be in pantomime!
The Rainbows were very excited at the prospect of going to bed and couldn't wait to don their pj's and climb into their assortment of multi coloured sleeping bags. At 8.30 the lights were lowered and then the fun began, excited chatter could be heard from the attached room, torch lights shone and little girls giggled. It was 11.30 before the last little girl had fallen asleep, most of them making endless trips to the loo. Us adults had sat playing cards and taking turns to check the children. We eventually donned our own bed wear and climbed into bed. I inserted my ear plugs and despite my bed being closest to the door I didn't hear a thing until 7.30 when the rainbows began to waken. It wasn't so quiet a night for two of my colleagues who had been woken twice in the early hours by a Rainbow who'd had a little accident!!!!

Today it has been a glorious autumn day, a little chilly to start, but blossoming into a day of beautiful sunshine. As I attended a course on Monday today I had a day off. I started by changing the bed and getting the washing out on the line. Jane picked me up a little after 10.00am and we headed to one of the many garden centres. We wandered around and shopped a bit, before having coffee outside on terrace. Jane bought three fish for her outside pond, taking pity on a large (sort of) gold fish who was deformed with a large ulcer on its head!
After returning home I decided to go into Gosport to see if I could get Steve's sailing trophies engraved, a bit late really as its only a week until they go back. Well no luck as everywhere I tried gave me the same negative answer, because of the size and shape. Steve is a bit disappointed but I have one more place to try in Fareham.

Gosh what a busy day. After doing a few chores around the house and returning home after a walk to the High Street I returned home to tackle some 'work' stuff. What is it? It's the preparation for my appraisal next week. Its supposed to take a couple of hours to complete! Hmm! the three hours spent on the computer today, added to a couple of hours the other evening and I'm still not finished. Is it that I am so slow or is it a very complicated system. Well, I had to spend time trawling through a large tome, matching the job I do with level indicators and then giving evidence to back up the level that I say I'm working too. It doesn't matter that I am working for somethings at a higher level than my job is matched too. It won't make any difference, I won't get a pay rise for working hard! I think its a very complicated system , but then I do work for the NHS.

It was rainbows tonight and as I have missed three meetings, I really wanted to be there. This Saturday will be the 'sleep over', that I know is a complete fallacy as I know these fifteen little girls won't be sleeping much. I am not looking forward to it, but I know the Rainbows are really exited.

This evening Steve has been down loading photos from my Mother's photo album. I have sent Annie a couple of photo's of Dad, but as he was usually behind the camera there aren't many of him in isolation. I have also sent an e mail to My sister Denise asking if she would like to receive them via e- mail or CD

Yesterday turned into a very pleasant autumn day, although we didn't do much with it. Steve did tidy the garage in order to fit the car back in before the winter sets in. Ian had man flu, so he and I spent the afternoong playing scrabble, he thrashed me in both games, but never mind, there will always be another match!
Ian's grandmother came for dinner and we all enjoyed roast pork and apple sauce followed by rhubarb custard.

Its Sunday morning heading for 10.00am, I have been up for a couple of hours, Steve and Ian are both in bed. I have been listening to radio 2 as I prepared the veg for dinner this evening. As Ian is home I'm planning a roast and have invited my Mother to join us. I'm not sure what we will do today, its just nice to have a son at home and however he wants to spend his day is fine.
Yesterday evening I received my RYA level 1 certificate at the prize giving. Steve received an esteemed trophy for his efforts as an instructor and it was truly deserved, although i had to collect it on his behalf as he had popped out to pick Ian up from the Gosport Ferry.

Ian home on a flying visit and he has just shown me how to publish a picture, so here it is from our Greek holiday.

I have had two days back at work with a day off in between and would you believe that I'm absolutely shattered, really strange since I have just had a two week holiday:). Its been nice getting back into the swing of things at work, in fact its hard to believe that I have ever been away. It doesn't take very long at all before one is back into routine.
Late yesterday afternoon Steve and I eventually got to take our balloon flight. It was the 8th attempt and it was well worth the wait. We began our flight at West Meon and finished in a field on the outskirts of a village north of Petersfield. There were fifteen passengers and the pilot aboard. The pilot was very skillful and he handled the balloon with expertise, taking us higher or lower as was needed. At times it was very noisy with the burners lit and very peaceful when they were turned off and we travelled along silently through the air. As landing approached we all took up our landing positions and waited with trepidation for the bump. It was a little bumpy and yes the basket did tip over, but we were all safely down. We all helped to pack the balloon away and finished with a glass of Champagne!

Its the 1st October, its raining and the leaves are beginning to turn into their autumnal shades and leave the trees. I am up early and am in the midst of the mountain of washing which came back from Greece with us. Steve is up and getting ready for work, which I don't have until tomorrow.
Our holiday was an enjoyable experience, sailing the boat was fun, though tremendously hard physical work. I have humongous bruises which were probably gained when moving about the boat, getting fenders in and out and mooring ropes ready as we we came into port. It took a few days for Steve and I to get the hang of things, he expected me to be able to do things at a drop of a hat. I'm not a 'natural' sailor and Steve found this hard, but after a few altercations we worked things out and I was given plenty of clear instructions, with plenty of time to carry out the task!
There were twelve boats in our flotilla and a lead crew boat. Our skipper was a 26 year old New Zealander named 'Clarkie'. This guy worked his socks off, was calm and encouraging, he was there to help us into the bay at the end of the evening, he checked lines and anchors and on the odd stormy night he would be out of bed making sure all our boats were secure. Clarkie is returning at the end of the season to work on his family sheep farm having spent a few years working for sailing holidays. I'm sure Mr & Mrs Clarke are aware of there sons immense talents and I'm sure are very proud of him and they jolly well should be. Dan the young engineer was always cheerful, also worked very hard and even harder if the "All Blacks" were playing and he wanted to get to a bar and watch the match, another thoroughly nice young New Zealander. The third member of the crew was also from New Zealand. Jules, was the hostie, a very energetic young lady whose job it was to keep us happy, inform of us of the amenities or lack of them at each port! It wasn't the girls fault when the sanitation was primitive or the only super market had closed its doors early for the season . Poor Jules took the stick when Olga the proprietress of the tavern with showers in our last bay threw a 'hissy fit' and wouldn't allow us to use her showers! Well, we had showers on the back of our boats, so out came the shower gel and we showered alfresco. A few of our fellow sailors were disappointed that there wasn't enough social events organised, speaking for myself the three group meals that were organised were very nice indeed. I didn't want anymore activities as I didn't want a holiday camp culture!
We'd gone on the holiday with Sandy and Paul. They had one boat and we had another. Paul being a qualified yacht master was a real asset, his expertise helped us along the way. We went free sailing with them and his knowledge, confidence and patience was really appreciated. Most days we anchored in quiet little bays, had lunch and swam off the boat. I discovered at nearly fifty that I can swim more than the 25yards that a certificate gained at the age of 11 says I can. For the first time ever I swam in deep water, jumped in from the boat and attempted to snorkel. I suddenly gained confidence in water which I'd never had before! There were other firsts including swimming naked, which felt very liberating.
We got along well with everyone in the flotilla, especially Mary and Chris a lovely Irish couple who live in Oxford. We spent most evenings eating in Taverna's, Chris and Mary's great company really enriched our holiday. I do hope that we get to see them again sometime.

Today we have returned from our holiday, there is so much to tell about our Greek adventure that I shall wait until tomorrow.
Today I want to speak about Ian. Ian had his second paper published last week and today Steve and I listened to a recording of an interview on the world service science programme in which Ian was interviewed. Wow, aren't we proud parents. Today Ian tells me he has been to London to join in a protest against the government in Burma! Wow,Wow, doubly proud.

The day has come, well nearly, were going up to the airport today and flying out to Preveza in Greece early tomorrow morning. Today I was awake at 7.ooam , its now heading to 11.00. I have hoovered out the car and taken it to the car wash, Steve would be quite happy for us to travel in a dirty car, but as Sandy and Paul are coming with us I thought otherwise!! I have filled up the petrol tank and finally I visited my Mother as she will have her 77th birthday when we are away, she was very pleased with the flowers that I took her. Jonathan my nephew will visit his Grandmother on her birthday.
Cheerio for a couple of weeks.

Yesterday was my last working day for a couple of weeks. This holiday has been a long time coming, but then that's our choice as we really like to take our break at the end of the summer.
Last night as I was packing some more things into my new holdall when I noticed a split in the bag. It was a new bag and although not costly it was really annoying to find that its not fit for purpose. Today Steve is going to dash out to return the bag and get another one to replace it. Meanwhile all of the things I am taking away are spread across the floor of our small bedroom, so I'm not as ready as I would like to be.
Our holiday euros have just arrived by 'special delivery'! they were supposed to be delivered by by 1.00pm, but were in fact delivered just before 2.00pm! The special delivery turned out to be the usual post delivery by postman on his bike, I though at least it would be someone in a van like 'Pats'. I had an appointment with Charlotte for a pedicure this morning at 11, so Steve had to come home from work to sit in and wait for that delivery. I'm really pleased with my pink toenails, I'm sure they will look even nicer with a tan.
Tonight we are going to eat at the sailing club, as usual were not very impressed with menu,but have decided to go as its really nice to meet up with our friends and nice not to have to cook.
Well I must telephone Ian and Matt and have a chat before we go.

Water, water every where, in fact flowing out of the kitchen cupboard and all over the floor. the pipe to the outlet for the washing machine had worked its way off and the rinse water was emptying into the cupboard. It was a real pain as I had so much planned and I had to spend a lot of time clearing the food out of the cupboard, baling out and washing the kitchen floor. Oh well best made plans. It was then a trip to have my eyebrows etc waxed, so I'm now nearly ready for my holiday. One more day at work for me.

Today is the 11th September and the 50th birthday of a very special friend. Happy Birthday Janis. I hope you enjoy your celebrations. I have known Jan since we were 4 year olds. We started primary school together and when Janis and her family moved to Pirbright our friendship continued. Its seems inconceivable that Janis has reached her half century and I won't be far behind!

Its been another glorious day today, a work one for me, a couple of visits and a busy clinic. An enjoyable day, but I am counting the work days until our holiday. I'm beginning to get excited about sailing in the Ionian islands. Will I enjoy sailing for a whole fortnight. Will the Captain and his First Mate fall out if too many orders are given? I had been looking in the local book shop for a copy of 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin with no luck. Our local library is closed, so I thought I'd have to wait until i came back. But when i went into the staff room there was a copy on the shelf!

Thankfully today I was feeling a lot better than I did yesterday. However I had a slow start and headed over to Annie's for 10.00am. Our plan for the day was to go to Botley road cemetery to look at the Bailey's grave's. Our paternal grandmother was a Bailey and we have traced her family to Middlebridge Street in Romsey.There are many Bailey's to be found and with a plan from the council we orientated our way round. We found the grave of Marcianna, who we know came to Romsey from Gibraltar to marry a Sea Captain. Its unlikely that she is a relative, I think perhaps the unmarked graves of Bailey's that we found are far more likely to be our descendants. As I suppose would be expected, it was a quiet and peaceful place.
Having eaten very frugally yesterday, by lunchtime I was famished. We went at Christo's recommendation to the 'Casa Bodega' a Mediterranean restaurant in what had formally been a public house. We had a delicious lunch in the garden with the River Test running through it. The lunch menu was varied and it was so hard to choose which of the dishes to try. For the main course Annie and I both chose the fishcakes which were scrumptious.
Our day together ended with a quick trip to Waitrose.
As planned on the way home, I called in at M&S and Sainsbury's to pick up the last few things I need for my holiday at the end of the week.

Last night we had a very nice evening with Maggie and Cameron, we ate very tasty Indian food that they had prepared for us. I drove home as I hadn't had any alcohol. Unfortunately I spent most of the night in the bathroom. In no way do I blame our hosts. Today I had planned to be preparing for our holiday, last minute shopping and more packing. Instead I have spent the day between sofa and bed. Steve has been very busy throughout the day, has shopped and carried out some jobs in the house and garden. He did find some excuse to go over to the boathouse, but also he found time to call on my Mother as she needed her photo taken for her bus pass. Tomorrow I'm going over to Romsey to spend the day with Annie, we are going to the cemetery to find some of our ancestors!

This morning I took part in my last sailing lesson this year. For others they will continue until the end of September, but I will miss out as I will be on holiday from next Saturday.
This morning I was sailing with Paul and Brian who are both novices like me. We were being instructed by Stuart in his boat, known 'locally' as the QE2. This is because it is a very large dinghy and as Stuart had told us on many occaisions very hard to capsize. This morning's lesson we were practising jybing and tacking and the culmination was to be for us to sail a trianular course without our instructor present. The sailing was going very well indeed, Stu is a very calm patient teacher. we were all very happy in our boat, telling jokes and hearing of Paul's reason for growing his beard: he is playing the inn keeper in Tosaca's 'Fiddler On The Roof'. Brian and I had taken the helm and it was Paul's turn, he was doing well, but unfortunatly made a tactical error and in slow motion the boat capsized and we all ended up bobbing about in the water!

A beautiful day, I was busy this morning, washing, ironing and house cleaning. Steve and I should have been on our balloon ride, but true to form it was cancelled and yes again for the weather. At 10.30pm yesterday a message was on the company's answerphone telling us that the flight would be cancelled as it was due to be 'misty' in the Meon Valley! I'm just begining to wonder if this company are bona fide and have any flights taken pace this year!

I spent an hour this afternon sitting on the beach reading a book before going to the hairdressers. it was glorious in the sunshine.

Today's news that Kate McCann has been declared a suspect in the dissapearance of her daughter is very hard to comprehend. I don't believe that she or her husband had anything to do with Madeleine's kidnap. Lets hope that this nightmare for the family is soon ended.

How privileged I am to do a job that I love. Today I met the parents of an adorable eighteen month old. This little boy was bight, active, had a large vocabulary and having temper tantrums! 9o% of the time he was the most adorable little fellow! When I left it was good to feel that his parents were reassured that they have a 'normal' little boy. How I wished that somebody had been there to do the same for me. This little guy reminded me so much of Ian at that age and yes there were tears along the way, but I'm certain this family will be as proud of their son as I am of mine.
I'm waiting to find out if tomorrow morning were to get up at 5.00am to have the long awaited balloon flight. Its over a year since we won the trip and hopefully it will be lucky 7th time.
This weekend we need to be getting ourselves sorted for going on holiday, already I can feel the time evaporating. We have had invitations out for meals for the next three evenings, I'm not complaining, life is full.
On Monday I'm going with Annie to the cemetery to look for the graves of some Bailey ancestors, I'm not sure what or whom we will find, its quite a common name, how will we know if they are our Grandmothers family. Now I'm watching Natasha Kaplinsky as she traces her ancestors in 'Who do you think you are, then it will be an early night in perpetration for tomorrows adventure.

Gosh, this is becoming a habit, though shortly there will be a gap of more than two weeks in my blog. I have had a very "bitty" day. I agreed to work a half day to cover a clinic in Gosport, though in order to attend rainbows, my half day started at 11.30. This morning I had a dental appointment which proved to be painless, I don't need any treatment but it has been advised I see the hygienist for a polish. I have made the appointment, though its not until early October. I have entered it into my calender. It doesn't seem very long ago that I was able to operate without a diary, now I have to make a note of absolutely everything that I have to do!
It was the first rainbow meeting of the term and all the little girls were very excited to be back, telling of their holidays and their new teachers at school. Next month a 'sleepover' has been arranged. I'm sure that the name is a euphemism as I can't imagine the rainbows getting much sleep. As the holder of a first aid certificate I have been asked to help out. Why am I doing it: because Adrianne asked me and because I had a wonderful time being a Brownie. The highlight of the year was pack holiday, a whole week away sleeping on a a camp bed at Colbury memorial hall. My six was the 'Pixie's' and Mrs Snook was Brown Owl of the 3rd Drayton pack. The only negative thing i can remember was that I was a very clumsy child and never mastered walking across the church hall on flowerpots, which meant I was unable to 'fly' up to Guide and had to walk instead.
This evening I'm going to telephone both sons and finish reading my book.

Its 6.00pm after a day at work. A very busy clinic, enjoyable though, dispensing advice and making a fuss of lots of little ones. A last visit in the afternoon was close to the surgery so I was able to walk there in the sunshine and after I made my way back along the seafront and stopped at the Bluebird Cafe and bought myself an ice cream. Tonight I have no plans, Steve has had to go back to work, so dinner has been put on hold, well not really because I haven't even started it yet and I'm only planning easy pasta. If its good for Nigella, then its good enough for me.
Tomorrow I am working a half day which is unusual for a Wednesday. It will start with a trip to the dentist and finish with the first Rainbow meeting of the school year.

September has arrived all too soon, it signals the end of summer. Most people will say it was a terrible one, due to the weather. Well it did rain excessively, but there were some very nice days. For me it was a lovely summer. Work continued well, part time as it is, allowing me time for other things. Meetings with friends and family.
In August a year past since I first met my sister Annie. Its been an incredible year, with lots of time spent getting to know each other. As in most families that have been separated there have been many issues to work through. I am very happy to have a sister in my life with whom I can have a relationship. I know that our father, had he been alive would have been very pleased as well. Its not all Rosie, as sadly not everyone feels the same way.
This is the summer that I eventually faced my fear of the water and learned to sail. I hear Janis say "but you were a sea ranger". That is true and as a teenager most Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons I could be found at Whale Island rowing a boat or in a canoe. Occasionally we sailed, but even then I found it quite terrifying. I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and recognise that I have a lot left to learn, so next summer I will enrol on the next course.
Summer is not quite over and in less than two weeks, along with our friends, Sandy and Paul we will be heading out to Greece for a sailing holiday. This time it will be big boat sailing and Steve and I will have our own boat to sail and live on. Fortunately Steve has experience of sailing bigger boats and I have every faith in him. I'm looking forward to a relaxing time as we sail the Ionian islands, a different port each night, evenings spent in different tavernas.
The men from Virgin media, have just left having repaired and hopefully mended the cable which keeps us in communication. We have intermittently been without there three services since the Gardener who was turning our front garden into an 'easy maintenance' one, cut through the cable!
As they have gone, I'm now free to do other things, I think it will be a walk along the beach.

Can it really be more than three weeks since I made an entry here. I'm not like Janis or Annie who write reguarly, with me its far more sporadic.

We have just had a wonderful bank holiday weekend. The weather was glorious, not too hot, just very pleasant. Our friends Elaine and Brian came for dinner on Saturday evening, we cooked on the raclette, we drank Champagne and had a very enjoyable evening. Since knowing Elaine and Brian we seemed to have adopted their habit of drinking Champagne at every opportunity:).

On Saturday afternoon the culmination of my sailing course was the 'Ladies Race'. I was at the helm and Steve was my crew, I don't think letting me 'drive' his boat was an easy thing for Steve to do. However we finished the race, boat in tack, unscathed and unplaced! After weeks of sailing lessons, I couldn't have taken the helm with out Steve's presence, advising, guiding and telling me what do! Were even talking about doing it again next year, but will need much more practise.

We finished off the weekend with a barbecue on the beach, friends, good food and more Champagne. Jane had cooked and prepared so much food, while the rest of us just brought along what had been agreed. The evening finished with coffee at our house as we are the closest to the beach.

It's early on Saturday evening, I'm laying on the settee with my laptop and Steve is in the kitchen cooking dinner. Steve usually cooks on a Saturday evening and although its not 'Cordon Bleu' its always nice to not have to do it myself. Tonight its a very quick pasta dish which I'm sure will be delicious. Its been another glorious day. This morning it was sailing, the last of the lessons until September. Although there was very little wind, it was a great morning to be on the sea. I have gained in confidence and wasn't even phased when I jumped off the boat a little too early into deep water. I'm a poor swimmer, but wearing my 'girlie pink' buoyancy aid gives me such a confidence and the sea was so warm! This afternoon I have been on 'tea duty'. The sailing club is in some respect stuck in the dark ages, it is only the woman who do the tea duty and while some refuse as a principle not to take on the task, I take my turn and have to admit its very grudgingly!

The news today tells of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, its a hundred days since the little girl went missing. The Portuguese Police have today said that they believe she may have been murdered. How her parent manage to carry on with life day to day is remarkable. Sadly it hard to believe that their darling daughter will ever be returned to them.

Wow, what a beautiful day yesterday, the hottest since April! Having arrived back from holiday the day before I had a ton of washing to dry and it was just the day. As if I didn't have enough to do, I stripped off the bed and laundered the sheets etc. I even put the same ones back on the bed last night and one of my small pleasures is that lovely smell of sheets that have been dried on the line! (how sad). It was lovely to have a day at home, I didn't do much else, spent some time sitting in the garden with a book, made some garlic bread as we had invited Paul and Sandy to join us for a barbecue. Our pleasant evening ended quite early as Steve and our guests had to be up for work on Monday:). I however could have had a lay in this morning, but I was up with the lark. I have done more washing, I tend to leave guest beds until I know that friends who have only slept in the sheets for one day aren't coming back, thus saving myself extra work. This morning and as the sun is shining again I decided to take advantage of a good drying day. I have spent quite a bit of time ironing and cleaning , my Tesco delivery arrived, I can't quite understand how I managed to order just one mushroom. I'm not going anywhere to day until I go across the road for my aqua aerobics class. Sometimes I just like being here all by myself.

It's back home after a week in beautiful Abersoch in North Wales. The scenery was truly breathtaking and we were blessed with lovely weather, warm enough to spend sometime on the beach and to swim in the sea. The reason for the trip to Wales was so that Steve and his crew Tim could take part in the Laser 2000 national sailing championships. At the same time of the 2000 nationals the Laser 4000 nationals were taking place. Sadly one of the boats in this group was involved in a tragic accident and one of the crew drowned! This obviously had a depressing effect on the rest of the competitors, but the event did continue. I'm sure that it was the right thing to do and that the sailor would have wanted the races to go ahead. The dead man was 48, the same age as Steve and I'm sure just as keen on his sport as Steve. My thoughts are with his family at this time.
Steve and Tim went on to win second prize in the Silver fleet, well done to them both.
We stayed in a very small cottage with Jane and Tim, it was well equipped and situated in the middle of town, backing onto a small picturesque harbour. The only drawback was that there was a pub right opposite and so it was a mite noisy, though I invested in my first pair of ear plugs and slept very soundly after the first night.
I tried to walk most mornings along the beautiful coastline, the beach was empty apart from the occasional dog walker, the miles of sand were such a contrast to the rough broken cobbles of Lee On Solent.
Jane and I ventured out during the week, we visited little towns such as Pwelli and Cricieith where we climbed up to the top of the castle to see the spectacular views of the LIyn peninsular.
Wednesday was day off from sailing and the four of us went out for the day. We visited Port Merrion, the village built by Clough Williams Ellis close to Port Madoc. We ended the day back in Abersoch for a meal at the 'Sandpipers' restaurant to have an early celebration for Jane's birthday on the Friday.
Today we left early and made a stop in Wigan to see Matt, just for an hour, but the icing on the cake of a great weeks holiday.

Well, Its 14 months since I last wrote an entry, but I thought I'd pick it up again, so here goes. It has been an eventful year. Where do I start? Last year I went through a very stressful period at work, It was a job that I had really enjoyed and worked hard at, but it became difficult as one member of the team didn't have the same work ethic and things came to a head! At the end of the year I took up a post locally and have settled into my new job. I have great colleagues and no travelling to work, which makes a hell of a difference.
Last November as a family we were blessed with a new member, Maisie, our niece and daughter of Rebecca and Simon made her entrance, she is a delightful little girl. Maisie will be gaining a sibling in January 08.
Last year I met for the first time my older sister. Annie is my father's daughter from his first marriage. I have known for many years about her and although our Dad met Annie some years ago, we were not to meet until the 14th August 2006. It's been an a amazing year getting to know each other, I feel sadness that Dad isn't here to share in our joy, but know without doubt that he would take pleasure in two of his daughters building a relationship. Annie had started researching her family tree and I have joined her in that quest. We have already journeyed to our father's birthplace and we have seen the grave of our grandparents, how much further will our journey take us?
We don't get to see our son's Ian and Matt as often as I'd like, they both live 'up north' and live very busy lives. Matt is very happy, he enjoys his job at the bowling alley, has good friends and a nice girlfriend. I am told by friends that I shouldn't worry about Matt's lack of direction and that 'he will be alright'! In my heart I know this to be true, but it doesn't stop me being 'Mum'!
Ian is in Finland at the moment, a short visit as part of his studies, he too is enjoying life, has a new girlfriend and looking forward to a trip to Australia at the end of the year.

Steve is as usual enjoying his sailing, he is now an instructor and teaches each Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon is the time he races and much of the rest of his spare time is taken up with the admin work he does for the club.
This year I decided that I was going to join the adult training group, I wouldn't say that I have the bug, but I'm certainly much more confident when out on the water. The lessons have been disrupted by the weather but I'm hoping I will have managed enought to get the certificate!
Were off to Wales tomorow. Steve and his crew Tim, will be sailing in the Lazer 2000 nationals. We are staying in a small cottage in Abersoch, Jane and I are hoping that the weather will improve and that we may enjoy some walking, maybe some horse riding and if it gets hot enough even some time on the beach. I have a couple of books to take and I'm looking forward to some relaxation.
Well I have nearly packed and sorted out what we are taking for the week. I will be offline for a week or so. Fingers crossed for sunshine.

Another weekend nearly over, just Dr Who to watch, a glass of wine and an early night in preparation for the week ahead! As usual the weekend has whizzed past. It started on Friday with a demonstration of baby massage at LOTS Bumps and Babes group. It went well and one of the Mums offered her baby up to be the model, much nicer for me than the usual doll that I use. Abigail was a star and enjoyed her pampering, though this wasn't her first massage as her Mother massages her nightly. I haven't seen Maggie for a while so in the afternoon I accompanied her to Andover where she had to collect Hercule. It gave us a chance to catch up, we came back a very scenic route stopping at Stockbridge a very pretty Market town near Romsey where we had refreshments :) afternoon tea, very English! Hercule who is a tortoise, not your common Greek Cypriot tortoise but a rare breed "yellow hinged" had been very poorly and spent nearly a month in "hospital", now recovered and discharged from the specialist vet where he had the very best of treatment at the pricely cost of £400! Maggie and Hercule were both delighted to be reunited! He is quite sweet when he pops out his head, but ever since Carolyn Watt's tortoise poohed all over me when I was about 9 years old, I knew that this shelled creature would never be my pet of choice!
Were pretty boring in our habits as most Friday nights you can find us in the sailing club. There we can have a nice meal, a few drinks and be home in a couple of minutes. This Friday night was as usual spent in good company. We have made some nice friends in the two years that we have been here and it was nice to celebrate with Jan. Jan has a new job with the arts council, after thirty years as a teacher, she is leaving her post as a deputy head of a Southampton secondary school. I know she has had a really tough couple of years and I wish her well in her new venture!
Ian rang today, he is intent on arranging a party for Matt's 21st, he has sorted a date, will send out the invites and all I have to do is provide the venue (our home, the food and drink). Bless him!!!
Tomorrow is Ian's 25th birthday. I can't believe that it is a quarter of a century since I gave birth to our first son. Its been a long journey from babyhood to adulthood, gosh there were tears and tantrums along the way, but we must have done something right as he is a son to be proud of:) I will miss being with Ian on his birthday, but I'm sure he will celebrate it well, long gone are the ceremonies of present opening, party games and birthday cake. Happy Birthday Ian and Happy Birthday Maggie.

Well has much happened in the three weeks since I last wrote? Personally life carries on pretty quietly, easily and enjoyably! Family life with just the two of us is good! I don't think I will ever get used to the boys not being around, sometimes I miss them terribly and can't wait for them to be in touch. Matt seems to live life at great speed and communication with parents seems to get in the way of the rest of his life. I leave messages, on phones, by text, messenger and e mail and why is it when the time he calls and I'm just on my way out to an appointment do I feel guilty! Ian on the other hand communicates well, as I speak we are on MSN, he wants to organise a party for his brothers 21st, looks like it will have to be in July as Matt has summer commitments with the RN and Ian has a trip to fit into in the Gambia! Ian seems happy with his work and next week he has to go to London to speak at a conference. Ian isn't so happy with his house mates as he hates the way they all leave the kitchen in a disgusting state. I bet in Matts house it is he who never does any washing up!
Extended family seem all to be doing there thing. My sister is making plans to move, it seem like it will eventually happen for her in June/July, I hope it works out well for her. I know my Mother is quite worried about her and how sh will fare in far off Leeds!. Steve's s sis is keeping well, although as an older mother she had to go have a 'nuchal fold' scan, which can determine if it is necessary to have a amniocentesis, All seems well and she doesn't have to put the baby at risk of the invasive test, though she has to have a further scan in a couple of weeks as the heartbeat is a little fast!

Last weekend a friend Linda, from Bedford came to stay and we did some of the touristy things: We spent Saturday in the Dockyard and I especially enjoyed the Mary Rose Museum, I'm always fascinated by the artefact's that are so like the things we used to day. It's amazing how they lay preserved in the ship wreck for nearly five hundred years!
On Sunday we ventured further afield and travelled in land to a small Hampshire village called Chawton, to the home of Jane Austen. It was actually only her home for the last eight years of her life, but she did a lot of her writing there. I found out that JA and I share our birthday:).

Work is pretty hectic and on Friday I went to a conference in Birmingham. It was a very interesting day, though it had been a bit stressful leading up to the day! My colleague who I was going with, had arranged for us to stay in a hotel overnight! This was OK until I realised that we would have to share a room!!!!! This very nice lady has a condition known as sleep apnea and has to be connected to a machine to keep her breathing throughout the night! I made my excuses and said that I was unable to share a room with anyone but Steve:) This then left me to offer to drive there and back in one day! As the time got nearer and nearer I realised that the drive would be too difficult in one day. I persuaded my reluctant boss to relinquish some of her budget to pay for our train fare, she agreed and the cost of the ticket was a wapping £90 each for a two hour train ride from Southampton airport! At this point I have to praise the man at BR in Winchester who went out of his way to find us a cheaper alternative and sold us a chap day return from Southampton Airport to Banbury and another cheap day return from banbury to Birmingham International, well done to the ticket clerk, he saved us or rather the NHS £48.00 for each ticket! I need now to trawl through all the stuff I carrried all the way back and probably throw half of it in the bin, oh dear all those trees, just so companies can advertise their wares to people who aren't allowed to inform their clients of the things they have seen exhibited! The speakers at the conference were pretty good and the subjects interesting, so back to work later on in the week to pass on the info to my colleagues! Not a husy working week as I have until Wednesday at home!

Wow what a wonderful exciting couple of days. Rebecca and Simon her partner arrived yesterday afternoon in time for Rebecca to crew for Steve in the Saturday afternoon racing. It was nice to have Simon here, he is a really nice guy and I knew that him being here would make it easier for me! For some reason I always feel left out when Rebecca is in our home as she becomes the little sister who monopolises her big brother and I hate it! While Rebecca and Steve sailed, Simon and I chatted and he revealed his plans to rent his house and move into Rebecca's in the summer after he has got his place ready for tenants. I felt really pleased as they have only been together since September, they live a mile away from each other and met on the internet! Both in their early forties, I think its great they they have met. I have another friend who at my age, her grown up daughters having just flown the nest is feeling very lonely. She has many friends and a busy life, but feels desperate at the thought of not having 'a special person' in her life. A few weeks a go I suggested that she might make new friends on the internet and her daughters have now persuaded her to have a go!
Because our kitchen is still lacking a sink and a hob, catering for guests wasn't easy, but we had decided to use the 'raclette' as its always a success with friends. I'd prepared the food earlier and so as we busied ourselves in the kitchen, Rebecca picked her moment to announce that she is "eleven weeks pregnant"! We were both delighted, Steve I think really surprised. We luckily had a half bottle of Champagne in the fridge, so we popped the cork and celebrated. Both Rebecca and Simon seem absolutely delighted at the prospect of becoming parents. The talk for the rest of the evening was naturally about babies. I'm really happy at becoming an Auntie again and for the first time I feel a real connection with Rebecca!
This morning as I laid the table for breakfast, with spring flowers and little Easter eggs, it seemed really relevant a sign of "new life"!

My entries are getting fewer and fewer and I think that's because most people's blogs are deep and profound. My writings are more about day to day life and in general that runs smoothly and without too much of a hitch.
Since I last wrote not much has happened and in particular not much has happened with the kitchen. Steve has got as far as he can without getting 'a pro' in. We have the man in mind and he had hoped to have finished his part of the work by now, but alas the work tops arrived damaged. In fact they firstly arrived late because the delivery van had been in an accident, so that tells you how the damage probably occurred. Anyway ten days later and a new delivery has arrived so it's a case of pinning that man down to a time. Jim the carpenter is an acquaintance we have come to know quite well through the sailing club and is probably now more a friend. Because he is a busy man, his reputation keeps him working very hard, although he can be found most Saturday's at the sailing club as he has the unenviable position as 'rear commodore' which means he is in charge of all the sailing events.
During the last year I have spent a great deal of my weekends making bacon butties and and serving tea and cakes to the crews before and after their races. So on Saturday afternoon I went armed with my carrot to entice Jim to give us a date to begin our work. I had remembered that he had told me he would do anything for a piece of carrot cake, so when I served my homemade variety we quickly made a date and the man arrives tonight! At this moment I have another cake baking, isn't it funny how you can entice a man with food. I hope he doesn't blame me for his future diabetes or clogged arteries!
I said that last year I spent a great deal of time making refreshments for the sailors, this year I am rebelling a bit as I have decided I am not going to do more than my share as by the end of the sailing season I was feeling very disgruntled as always being on duty. I think its because I find it hard to say no, but I have been practising and this year and why oh why is it generally the women who are in the kitchen!!!
Easter is approaching. This good Friday Steve and I will celebrate 27 years of marriage. We have been discussing how we would like to spend the day. We could go out for the day or for a meal in the evening but the only thing I'd like to do is walk along the beach and have a bacon buttie at the shack, while sitting on plastic chairs watching the sea, I'm easily pleased!
We won't see our children over the holiday. Ian will return from the Caribbean before Easter, but will stay in Sheffield as he has a lot of work on and Matt is on manoeuvres with the navy and will spend his Easter off the west coast of Scotland. Steve's sister and her boyfriend (what do you call a 40+ man?) are coming on Saturday and staying over. It's nice to have Simon here as he's a nice guy and it will make it easier having him around!!
I have just had an unexpected, but very pleasant few hours with my Mother. I popped in and asked her if she wanted to come to the daffodil barn where you can buy tons for a few quid, at this time of year I love to have them about the house and smell the fragrance when I come down each morning. It's lovely because they are grown in the adjacent fields and they cost a third of the coat of the ones in Marks and Sparks which come from Holland! In the summer the same farmer sells strawberries and along with the flowers i bought today I bought some rhubarb to make a crumble with for Sunday when we have family here. After we had made our purchases we drove down to Warsash and to the river Hamble and took the little pink ferry across to Hamble where we meandered, stopping to have refreshments in a quaint little coffee shop. On the way back to the ferry we passed the Bugle Inn, Mum told me that the last time she had been there was in 1958, she had been there with my Dad for Scampi and Chips. When they returned home they were met by a very distressed babysitter who had received the telegraph telling of my maternal grandmothers death!!! This sad reminder didn't in anyway spoil our outing, in fact its nice to have the opportunity to hear about the way things happened in the past. I'm sure we will have lots more trips out and chances to talk.

My entries are getting fewer and fewer and I think that's because most people's blogs are deep and profound. My writings are more about day to day life and in general that runs smoothly and without too much of a hitch.
Since I last wrote not much has happened and in particular not much has happened with the kitchen. Steve has got as far as he can without getting 'a pro' in. We have the man in mind and he had hoped to have finished his part of the work by now, but alas the work tops arrived damaged. In fact they firstly arrived late because the delivery van had been in an accident, so that tells you how the damage probably occurred. Anyway ten days later and a new delivery has arrived so it's a case of pinning that man down to a time. Jim the carpenter is an acquaintance we have come to know quite well through the sailing club and is probably now more a friend. Because he is a busy man, his reputation keeps him working very hard, although he can be found most Saturday's at the sailing club as he has the unenviable position as 'rear commodore' which means he is in charge of all the sailing events.
During the last year I have spent a great deal of my weekends making bacon butties and and serving tea and cakes to the crews before and after their races. So on Saturday afternoon I went armed with my carrot to entice Jim to give us a date to begin our work. I had remembered that he had told me he would do anything for a piece of carrot cake, so when I served my homemade variety we quickly made a date and the man arrives tonight! At this moment I have another cake baking, isn't it funny how you can entice a man with food. I hope he doesn't blame me for his future diabetes or clogged arteries!
I said that last year I spent a great deal of time making refreshments for the sailors, this year I am rebelling a bit as I have decided I am not going to do more than my share as by the end of the sailing season I was feeling very disgruntled as always being on duty. I think its because I find it hard to say no, but I have been practising and this year and why oh why is it generally the women who are in the kitchen!!!
Easter is approaching. This good Friday Steve and I will celebrate 27 years of marriage. We have been discussing how we would like to spend the day. We could go out for the day or for a meal in the evening but the only thing I'd like to do is walk along the beach and have a bacon buttie at the shack, while sitting on plastic chairs watching the sea, I'm easily pleased!
We won't see our children over the holiday. Ian will return from the Caribbean before Easter, but will stay in Sheffield as he has a lot of work on and Matt is on manoeuvres with the navy and will spend his Easter off the west coast of Scotland. Steve's sister and her boyfriend (what do you call a 40+ man?) are coming on Saturday and staying over. It's nice to have Simon here as he's a nice guy and it will make it easier having him around!!
I have just had an unexpected, but very pleasant few hours with my Mother. I popped in and asked her if she wanted to come to the daffodil barn where you can buy tons for a few quid, at this time of year I love to have them about the house and smell the fragrance when I come down each morning. It's lovely because they are grown in the adjacent fields and they cost a third of the coat of the ones in Marks and Sparks which come from Holland! In the summer the same farmer sells strawberries and along with the flowers i bought today I bought some rhubarb to make a crumble with for Sunday when we have family here. After we had made our purchases we drove down to Warsash and to the river Hamble and took the little pink ferry across to Hamble where we meandered, stopping to have refreshments in a quaint little coffee shop. On the way back to the ferry we passed the Bugle Inn, Mum told me that the last time she had been there was in 1958, she had been there with my Dad for Scampi and Chips. When they returned home they were met by a very distressed babysitter who had received the telegraph telling of my maternal grandmothers death!!! This sad reminder didn't in anyway spoil our outing, in fact its nice to have the opportunity to hear about the way things happened in the past. I'm sure we will have lots more trips out and chances to talk.

I returned last night from a weekend in Bedfordshire. Although Hampshire is the county where I was born and I now happily live, I will always feel a strong attachment to Bedfordshire. We moved into the village of Clophill when our children were two and six years old and I think because it is the place where we raised our family it will always remain special. Clophill is situated on the A6 part way between Bedford and Luton, the small market towns of Ampthill and Shefford a few miles on each side of the village and the places you had to go to see a Dr and do a bigger shop. In the seventies the population of Clophill was 2,000 but had steadily raised with the building of new properties, no big housing estates, mostly infill. The village consisted mainly of the high street stretching a mile from the main road with an assortment of properties, at one end the village green, which as Village greens go was rather small and insignificant. We were very lucky to have an exceptional village school, It's head a very small demure woman who headed a very small dedicated team who nurtured and encouraged their pupils. My two sons were probably not their easiest of students, but their strengths were recognised and valued in this small community. This was a church school, so the whole school were crocodiled down to the church for each holy festival. (While in the village yesterday I spotted small children in the very familiar uniform heading off to the Mothering day service).
When we arrived in the village there were three shops, a large general store and post office, a butcher and a bicycle repair shop! By the time we left in 2004, only the shop and PO survived and that was under threat of closure.
On our first full day in the village I wandered up to the top of the village to find the 'playgroup' with Matthew to put his name down. As he wasn't yet three he was able to attend if I stayed with him, so a couple of mornings a week we would drop Ian at school and wander up the lanes to join in the fun. For the next few years our lives were instringently tied up with the communities of the school and playgroup. Each summer a large fete and carnival procession was held along with an air show! yes an air show, it was such a unique occurrence for a small village that people would come from a very long distance to see it! It had come about because of a villager's involvement with the RAF, an arrangement was made and for many years the sale of the 'fete programmes were donated to the RAF benevolent fund and the fete was fixed on the day of large air shows and the planes were diverted to fly over our small village. I remember the children maypole dancing while a hurricane flew low over the show ground and the times we watched at the end of the day as the red arrows flew down the High street! Friends were made, mainly parents of other children, we joined in social events, summer BBQ's, quiz nights, barn dances and many more events.
The children had to go out to Shefford, Ampthill, or Flitwick for Cubs, Scouts, swimming lessons etc. We were surrounded by farms, country lanes and woods so we were able to walk in the surrounding countryside. Maulden Wood was our favourite place to walk and the annual Christmas eve walk to wear the children out became a ritual! The boys at nine had to travel further a field for school, making friends in other villages and we became a' taxi' service' transporting to parties, school events etc. In senior school years, school was ten miles away in Bedford and the boys soon learnt to use the bus services with parental back up when the limited bus service wasn't in operation!
We were sixteen years in Clophill and it was quite a difficult decision for me to leave, though Steve was very keen. I still have the memories of happy family life, the friends who we are still in touch with and the ones who have left. The new village shop is now situated on the Green, in a bungalow which has been built up and which had belonged to a very special and perhaps unlikely friend, Margaret. I knew Margaret for a few years, her husband had died shortly after she had come down from the Lake District and I would spend time with her, she was nearly blind, had fascinating stories to tell and baked scrumptious cakes! I'd help by taking this wonderful lady to the Dr's or shopping and in return my life was enriched. Margaret died a year before we left the village and this weekend I went into her 'home' the new shop, I thought I would feel sad, but realised that she would have been delighted that the 'village shop' continued to be the centre of village life!
I stayed with friends Jane and Barry and had a really nice time, we went to Jean's for a meal and went for a lovely walk on Sunday morning.
Reading back through what I have just written, it seems too 'Rosie' life wasn't always perfect, I wouldn't want to go back and live, but its nice to have visit and to remember.

This evening we are having friends around for supper! We will all be cooking our own meal and I made it very clear that its more like an indoor BBQ and not 'cordon bleu'. We were given the raclette by our German friends, having enjoyed meals cooked on theirs when we had visited them in Germany. So far it has always been a success! I enjoy the informality and the pressure that is lifted when I don't have to plan an exotic menu, spend hours in the kitchen or worry about how the food will turn out! After all spending time in good company is the important aspect of the evening. Jane and Tim are new friends that we have made since moving to LOS nearly two years ago, Jane is an excellent cook and for the past year she has managed the catering at the sailing club. Tim is a very quiet man, who has a gentle humour, he is a keen sailor and gets on very well with Steve.
Last night we were again at the sailing club. We enjoying a delicious meal(more food) with an Irish theme prepared by Jane. Were getting to know ppl at the club quite well and were thinking of joining another couple on a sailing holiday in Croatia! 'Thinking' long and hard about it at the moment, as anyone who knows me will know that 'sailing' isn't my thing. I know it won't be at all like dinghy sailing and I'm being persuaded that I would really enjoy pottering around little islands, stopping for swimming in little bays and relaxing, social evenings in tavernas and bars! Phil and Sandy have said we can share their boat, but as we don't know them too well, we will probably go with the option of a smaller boat each, that is, if I'm talked into going. I think we will all need our own space and I wouldn't consider sharing accommodation that small with anyone, other than my nearest and dearest or oldest and best friends: the ones who already know all my little .idiosyncrasy's:).
It's now the day after the night before as they say and a really enjoyable night it was. Thankfully our guests enjoyed the novelty of cooking their own food. We didn't go to bed until after midnight and it was 9.30am before I awoke, it really is becoming rather an enjoyable habit and something I could get used too.
Its a glorious sunny day, we have been shopping in Southampton to buy a new cooker at John Lewis, it will be delivered in five days time. We stopped on the way back at the car park at the far end of Lee beach, 'The Shack' has just started opening at weekends again and as it was now 3.00pm it seemed opportunist to sit and have some refreshment sitting on the beach. What a beautiful site, there were a lot of large sailing boats in the distance, the IOW was looked like you could reach out and touch it, the gliders were out from Daedalus and were gliding gracefully above, while below the ski jetters were showing off their fast machines. After our appetites were satiated, I abandoned Steve to walk home, he was happy to take the car home as he wanted to get on with preparing his boat ready for the sailing season which begins on 1st April. I called in on my Mum on the way home to give her a list of the shipping which is due to sail down the Solent in the next year. Steve had picked it up at The shack and knew that she would like it, perusing the list, it contained so many of the ships that she and my father had sailed on so often. Mum was sat in her little sun lounge, trousers rolled up, door open enjoying the rays. I wandered home with a box of fudge that Mum had made.

Its five days since I last made an entry to my blog, so thought I'd better start and put something down, though its been a very ordinary time so not sure what to write or more importantly what would be interesting to read! Three very busy days at work passed in a flash, one thing about working shorter hours means that every minute is filled and the days at work go so quickly. In fact, I'm finding there is not really enough time to do all I need to do at work and I'm finding each day I'm working over my hours. Not sure how to remedy this, as I don't want to go back to four days.
It's been really cold all week and although we have had only snow flurries, the chilling wind has been biting. There have been some sunny moments and in the garden the daffodils and crocus are coming into bud, I need to get out and do some tidying, but I'm finding it too cold to be out there! Had ane mail from Friederike, she said they are really fed up with the snow, because it hasn't yet melted from when we were with them. Had an e mail from Theresa, I went to primary and secondary school and we met up at a school reunion a few years ago. Made contact with her again after we moved south and had a nice evening out about a year ago. Going to meet up with Theresa and another couple of girls from school at the end of the month.
Today has been a pretty ordinary day, went to the beauty salon! Up to a year ago I had never stepped into one, but decided to take the plunge and have some treatments. I happen to be one of those females who have a problem with excess hair, although Helen my therapist assures me that there are many woman with this problem, I don't think I know any of them. I'm becoming pretty used to the pain of the electrolysis and the waxing and in a funny way I enjoy my time on the couch. Helen always has relaxing music playing and we chat. I used to feel guilty about spending money on myself, but have got to the stage in life when I feel comfortable with it.
I Visited My Mother afterwards and she made me lunch and we chatted. Mum talked about her parents and there families, I hadn't realised that my Grandfather was one of seven children. I hadn't heard of George or Alfie or Jean or Mary or any of the others. Two sisters apparently emigrated to either the USA or Canada! One of Mum's uncle's had been a POW in Changi and lived for a few years on his return. I'd always thought that I had a very small family, but out there somewhere must be lots of second and third cousins! I must try and find out some more about them from Mum.
It's Friday night, St Patrick's night, so were off to the sailing Guinness and Irish Stew and tomorrow were going to a fondue night, all our social life seems to centre around food and my waist line is beginning to suffer! Tomorrow were off to choose a new cooker and most of the weekend will be spent on the kitchen refurbishment.....

Its the last day of two weeks leave and tomorrow I am back to work! This morning I checked my diary for the work I have ahead this week. Development checks, baby massage sessions, support for parents finding toddler behaviour difficult, post natal groups and clinics. A good variety to look forward too. Back to the last day of my leave, I didn't wake up until 8.30am, how on earth am I going to get back into the routine of getting up at 6.00am and out the door for 7.00am. After a slow start and a few mundane chores, some washing, at least the glorious, sunny, windy day allowed me to peg out the wash. I always enjoy getting all my laundry out on the line to have a good blow. The laundry always smells so nice when dried in the open air and I feel virtuous that I haven't used the decreasing worlds resources, though I rarely use the Tumble dryer and prefer to use a clothes horse!
Chores done, I headed out (oh dear in the car) to meet Maggie at the garden centre. As usual I arrived before Maggie and spent fifteen minutes wondering around looking at the array of goods on sale. I wondered around the book department, kitchen department and deli, infact all departments except the 'garden shop'. I was in a dream when I bumped into Maggie, we made our way to the coffee shop where we sat and chatted for more than an hour, the time slipped by as we talked about lots of things, including concerns about both our younger children! We parted and Maggie went of to her part time job and I popped to the local shops in LOS as I had the desire to cook a roast for dinner. Rang my Mother and invited her to come and join Steve and I. Collected Mum at 4.00pm as I know she doesn't like driving home in the dark, forfeited my glass of wine with dinner, but small concession to make and I know Mum enjoyed the meal of roast pork and apple sauce, some early evening television before I took her home at 8.00pm. I'm now back and enjoying that glass of wine and about to watch a docudrama about Kenneth Williams. Early to bed tonight as it won't seem ong before the alarm is waking me from my slumber!

I have just returned home from a memorable day in London. I left home early to drive to Southampton airport, no I wasn't flying to London but catching the train from the station. I'm always early for everything and was glad that as usual I had allowed oodles of time to catch my train. The station car park was completely full, so I had to park in the airport car park.(ouch! the £14.00 to park encroached on the cheap day retutn!). I enjoyed the train journey as I sat back and enjoyed reading my novel to pass the time. I had arranged to meet Claudia at the Tate Modern at 11.00am, so I had plenty of time to meander along the South Bank. I prefer to find my way over ground than use the underground, so I enjoyed the walk along the river, looking at the familiar sights along the route, even though it was drizziling with rain. After I had met up with Claudia we wandered around the exhibits and chatted as we went catching up on news. I don't know a lot about art, though I know that I don't understand a lot of this 'modern stuff', if I like a picture its usually because 'I just like it'. Claudia was very interested and tried to explain her interpretation of some of the pieces we saw! If I'm completely honest, some of the works I saw could have been created by some of the five year olds that I have worked with.'
We left the gallery and wandered back along the South Bank and over Westminster Bridge to 'The Houses of Parliment', Claudia is a 'spouse in the house' in other words she is married to Patrick who is a Labour MP. Claudia has a pass into the the parliment buildings and although any member of the public can queue and visit the palaces of Westminster, we were soon admitted into the great buildings. It was surrreal to be being given a guided tour of the seat of government by an Italian lady, but Claudia arranges tours for her husbands constituents and certainly had done her homework. We had lunch in the restaurant and then we went into the public gallery to listen to a debate on the chidcare bill. It was really interesting as an honourable lady member from Dorset was proposing a change of one word in the bill about an early years curriculeumn for 0-2 year olds! The word was 'taught', and the debate centred around the need for children of a young age to learn through experiences rather than be 'taught'. I personally believe that introducing a curriculemn for 0-2 year olds is preposterous. It was interesting listening to the dabate,though we didn't stay long enough for the vote, though a little later we were in the 'Portcullis building' the glass building which houses the offices for MP's, when bells rang calling MP's to vote. We didn't see a mad rush of members, but we did see Claire Short (hows that for name dropping)!
I left Claudia and made my way back to Waterloo, I boarded a train immediately and thankfully boarded a train and bagged a seat. The train was full to bursting, apparantly a lightening strike had knocked out some signal stations, causing mayhem, trains cancelled and delayed. My train crawled to Woking before it got up speed and carried me back to the airport, where I collected the car and now I'm home again, sitting watching Eastenders and drinking hot chocolate!

Wishes do sometimes come true: I had wanted snow for our Munich trip and boy did we have snow. Snow fall was recorded as the most abundant for twenty four years. By Sunday morning there was about two foot of snow and that is without exaggeration. Our hosts were amazed and Friederike had never experienced anything like it.
We arrived last Tuesday evening, delayed by a couple of hours, due to weather conditions in Geneva. It was lovely to see Vic, Friederike and Thersa and as usual they had arranged some great things for us to do. Because childen are so unpredictsble and Theresa was a little unwell we wern't all able to do everything planned. Despite mother and daughter being unable to join us the most memorable of days was the one we spent in Salzberg, Vic Steve and I went by train and it was well worth the three hour train journey. It was bitterly cold, but it was such a beautifull city. As it was Mozarts anniversary everything Mozart prevailed. We visited Mozart's birth place and early childhood home. Later in the afternoon we travelled the venichula railway up to the fortress. Six hours wasn't enough time to see all that Salzberg had to offer, I hope that we may return for another visit,
perhaps during a spring or summer time. I'd like to do the 'sound of music' tour, see the Eidelweiss on the mountains where Julie Andrews taught the 'Von Trapp children to sing Doh ray me, the fountains, the abbey from where the family escaped over the mountains into Switzerland from the Nazis.(sorry reader if you are cringing)!
Away from the memories of a 1964 movie, the rest of the holiday was equally enjoyable. Time spent with our friends, plenty of hot chocolate and cake, playing in the snow with an excited child,a trip to Ikea. A chinese meal out was quite an experience, lovely food, thank goodness for our hosts linguistic skills, ordering the food in German a difficult enough task and doubly so because I had left my glasses behind!
Holiday over and back home, Steve has to set the alarm and return back to the office tomorrow, I'm lucky enough to have another weeks holiday, so I'm looking forward to a lie in tomorrow....
We arrived back home this afternoon,relaxed