Looking Ahead

2010 was a funny old year, if I'd known what it held in store I wouldn't have believed that we could get through it, but here we are looking ahead to 2011 stronger, wiser and perhaps a little braver. Sometimes it takes difficult or painful events to make you take a good look at your life and to appreciate the people and things that really matter. Just as importantly, such events teach us not to stress so much about the things that we can not change. I don't make new year resolutions but this coming year I intend to enjoy life, to be a little braver and more adventurous and to appreciate all the special people in my life.

Theyre Back!

The Story So Far

Late last nigh when the house was quiet and Robbie and I were relaxing in the lounge, the missing Lego men reappeared. Robbie spotted them on the bookcase in the hall but they certainly hadn't been there earlier in the day, it is a mystery. The surfer and the karate champion have now been joined by a weightlifter. Robbie was so pleased to get them back, after a brief appearance in on the mantelpiece where they made a rather a rather odd addition to the crib they were taken to the safety of our bedroom, so hopefully their travels are over!

Forgetful?

I was rather confused this morning when Robbie told me how much he enjoyed last night in bed. I didn't recall anything deep or meaningful, I admit that I have become a bit forgetful since my bump on the head last week, but surely I wouldn't forget something like that? I wasn't sure what to say so I just cuddled up to Robbie and left him to do the talking. It soon became clear that his enjoyment didn't involve me at all. His pleasurable time involved sitting up in bed eating chocolate finger biscuits and reading his new book about Scammell lorries!!

A Winter Walk

Our family have many odd traditions, but one of my favourites is that we all gather at my mum's house for stake and chips on Christmas Eve. It is one of the few times in the year when all the family are together, it is a lovely relaxed atmosphere and as the photo of Robbie shows the food is rather good too (he is not usually allowed to eat that much!). Christmas Day and Boxing Day are rather more hectic, but they are still very special family times and despite our good intentions we always eat too much. So when all the festivities were over Robbie and I decided to kill two birds with one stone, we took a long walk to get some much needed exercise and to indulge Robbie's passion for all things railway by walking to our favourite preserved railway(The Northampton and Lamport Railway). It was a lovely walk in the snow and Robbie enjoyed taking photos, but by the time we got back to the car I was so cold that it was painful. Here are some of Robbies photos

Taken Hostage

Robbie is a man of many passions, as well as his obsession with all things railway related, buses, die-cast models, music and vinyl records, he loves Lego and he has started to collect the little Lego men that are sold in individual packs. He already had the surfer and the karate champion and I bought him some more for Christmas, but his two originals went missing on Christmas Day. They were found on boxing day morning hidden on the bookcase with Wii games, so when we set the table for lunch Robbie put them on the mantelpiece to keep them safe. They made an odd addition to the crib, we now had 3 kings, a shepherd, a surfer and a karate champion visiting baby Jesus!

When we sat down to lunch Robbie noticed that his men were missing again, he was not a happy chap. In fact judging by the fuss he caused, I thought he had been abducted by aliens and replaced with an 8 year old! In the end he was pacified when I promised that I would find the Lego Men, but unfortunately that has proved more difficult than I expected. The prank seemed to have Sam's signature on it, but after close interrogation I am satisfied that he didn't do it. With a slight smile he said that he wished he had thought of it, because it was funny but he couldn't take the credit for this one! I questioned the girls too and I am not convinced that they know anything about it either. Having searched high and low I am wondering if they were accidentally thrown out with the debris from the crackers. Robbie on the other hand is convinced that they have been taken hostage and he is expecting a ransom note in the post any day now - or perhaps we will receive a series of postcards from well travelled Lego Men!!

A Turkey of Giant Proportions

I have written about our cat with two names many times. His Sunday best name is George but the children called him Dave, they think it is a cool name for a cat, he is named after Grandad because neither has any teeth but both cope admirably without them! I love that cat, so on Christmas morning I decided to cook the giblets from the turkey for him. At one point my son wandered into the kitchen and asked what was in the saucepan. I was busy and I replied absent mindedly "it's the bits from the turkey". Sam then lifted the lid of the pan and slammed it down again horrified, he had mistaken the neck for a completely different part! Sam must imagine that there are turkeys running around endowed with 'bits' that a horse would be proud of!!

The Joys of a White Christmas

The snow that plagued us all before Christmas may have looked pretty, but it made everything that much harder - and when I was rushing around sorting out all the last minute arrangements I really don't need the extra aggravation. On the Wednesday before Christmas we woke up to a deep carpet of snow, I begged Robbie not to go to work because I was afraid of him falling over but he wouldn't hear of it. There were no buses running and there was no hope of a taxi so we took 20 minutes to dig the car out and I set out to get Robbie as close to the station as possible. It was a scary journey and I left him to walk down the station because I didn't want to risk it in the car. On my way back I skidded when stopping at traffic lights but I stopped just in time to avoid colliding with the traffic on the main road, it was so scary.

Robbie made it safely down the hill but when he was close to the station he slipped and had a close encounter with the ground. He must have hit the ground with a lot of force because the side of his knee and his thigh was badly swollen. He was in agony and struggling to walk, but he still got to work!

I had lots of errands to do but most important of all was a trip to the model shop to buy the Merseyside Express (prototype Deltic). As I walked back to the car I complemented myself on getting the last one in stock for a very good price when suddenly my feet started misbehaving and the next thing I knew the side of my head thudded against the low metal car park fencing and I was sprawled in the snow. I had to lay there until the ground stopped spinning, but eventually I got back to the car and safely home. My daughter later commented on the irony, I am teetotal, but I managed to fall down outside a pub, complain of blurred vision and struggle to stand up without a drop of alcohol passing my lips!

I rang Robbie to tell him what had happened but he was busy so it was just a brief call, then my daughter Emily rang and seemed concerned that I was not making much sense. I thought I was just a bit dazed but it seems I probably had concussion and Emily organised a succession of 'minders' until Robbie got home to keep an eye on me. Apparently I was talking rubbish and being very difficult about seeing a doctor, but I don't remember much about it now. I do remember noticing later that evening that Robbie could hardly walk and couldn't cope with the stairs at all - he was walking like Spotty Dog from the Woodentops and I about as coherent as a Flowerpot Man, what a pair!!

Did Coca Cola Create Santa Claus?

Ask people to describe Father Christmas most and will speak of a jolly old man with a white beard, a red suit, and black boots. Most people would claim that this is a tradition that has its roots far back in history, but it was not until the 1930s that the familiar image of Santa in his red suit became popular.In the 1822 poem now known as'The Night Before Christmas, Clement Clarke Moore described Santa as a jolly old elf, who looked a bit like a peddler.

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his sack.

The identity of Santa Claus or Father Christmas has roots in various traditions. The story of St Nicholas a Bishop in the early church who was noted for helping the poor and secretly leaving coins in peoples shoes was the inspiration for the legend of Santa Claus and early pictures of Santa show him wearing a bishops robes.

To find out how Coca Cola changed the image of Santa Claus follow this link

http://socyberty.com/holidays/did-coca-cola-create-santa-claus/

The Voice of my Childhood

I was so pleased last week when I heard that Brian Cant had received a special award at the Children's Baftas. The name Brian Cant will be instantly recognised by almost everyone who grew up in the 1960's and 1970's. To Robbie he is the voice of Play Away on Saturday afternoons, to my brother he is synonymous with Play School, but to me he is the voice of Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley. Far too many years later I can still recall the Play Away song and the start of "Here's a house, here's a door. Windows: 1 2 3 4, ready to knock? Turn the lock - It's Play School."

Camberwick Green began with the words "Here is a box, a musical box, wound up and ready to play. But this box can hide a secret inside. Can you guess what is in it today?" Then the box would open and a character would emerge from inside the musical box to begin the story. I always hoped it would be Windy Miller of Colley's Mill, he was my favourite character and I loved the sound of the sails of the windmill going round.

The start of Trumpton was also memorable "Here is the clock, the Trumpton clock. Telling the time steadily, sensibly, never too quickly, never too slowly. Telling the time for Trumpton." Then the picture would pan away from the clock to the activity in the town street below and the story would begin. Trumpton always ended with a band concert but my favourite part came in the middle when the fire brigade were called to attend to a problem (never a fire, as far as I can remember). Surely a whole generation can still recite the names of the Trumpton fire brigade Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb".

I have to admit that by the time Chigley came along I was too old to watch it, but my brother is 6 years younger than me, so he always wanted to watch it. I don't recall much about Chigley except Lord Belborough who travelled everywhere on Bessie the engine. There were so many memorable Trumptonshire songs, all sung by Brian Cant, but my favourite is

"Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate there and back again

Under bridges over bridges to our destination

Puffing through the countryside there's so much to be seen.

Passengers waving as we steam through a station.

Stoke up fireman for the signal is at green.

Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate there and back again

In the cutting, through the tunnel,

Rushing clanking on the track.

Wheezing pistons, smoking funnels,

Turning wheels go clickety clack.

Time flies by when I'm the driver of a train

And I ride on the footplate there and back again."

For me the voice of Brian Cant transports me back to childhood and to the kinder gentler world of Trumptonshire. I wouldn't swap places with the young children of today, they have more choice but in those far of days there was a special kind of magic that was lost as programs became more sophisticated.