If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older -Tom Stoppard

I'm struggling to get to grips with the whole business of Christmas shopping this year. It seems that time has gone on fast forward since our holiday in Norfolk August and suddenly it's mid November. I have managed to do a little bit of Christmas Shopping because we went to see my brother in law and his family in Plymouth at the end of October and I took the opportunity to deliver the presents for my niece and nephew. I love going to see them, but we don't manage to get there as often as I would like, it's a long way to drive for a weekend and it's expensive to travel by train. We planned this trip to fit into Robbie's schedule, he is very busy with work at the moment and most weekends seem to be booked up in advance with an assortment of commitments. Robbie was very kind to me, he booked our tickets and reserved our seats making sure that we were booked to travel on a Voyager rather than an HST for both journeys. I can see the attraction of HSTs but in terms of comfort I prefer Voyagers because I'm not very tall and I find the seats more comfortable. I know the vestibules are a bit smelly but we usually get a good journey on a voyager and recent experience with Cross Country suggest that we get better service on a Voyager than on an HST. 

My favourite part of the journey is stretch Just south Exeter which follows the River Exe to Starcross and onward to Dawlish Warren and the sea. It then skirts the coast to Dawlish and on towards Teignmouth where it turns inland again and snakes along the edge of the River Teign towards Newton Abbott. It's a beautiful route and I always stop what I'm doing to look out of the window and soak up the view. In the winter it can be a bit alarming when the waves pelt the train along the sea wall at Dawlish. This area of track was badly damaged in the storms last winter, it is in use again now but there must be a question about it's long term viability.

My favourite part of the visit to Plymouth, apart from the obvious pleasure of spending time with family, was our Sunday morning walk to the Barbican. What could possibly be better than breakfast at Cap'n Jaspers on a sunny autumn morning. No trip to Plymouth is complete without a visit to Cap'n Jaspers. 

Early morning in Plymouth

My son came home from uni for a few days last week, it was nice to have him back but I didn't see much of him because he had things to do and he wanted to catch up with his friends. I took on my old familiar role of his 'taxi' driver - I had forgotten how many extra journeys one nineteen year old could create! When I picked him up from his friends house on the other side of town he was chatting to me about his friend's odd perception of age. Apparently they had been discussing a local news story and his friend described a 38 year old man as elderly. I was briefly reassured when Will told me that he'd explained to his friend that thirty eight is not elderly, but then he went on to say that it is probably more accurate to describe it as late middle age!! I wondered out loud how on earth someone so bright could have such an odd perception of reality! He looked at me with a grin on his face and informed me that as he's nearly 20 he is due for his 'quarter life crisis' so that he can get some practice in before his mid life crisis. I love his sense of humour, but he makes me feel very old.

Last Monday I drove Will back to Cheltenham. There are two possible routes but I prefer the one through the Cotswolds, it takes about the same amount of time as the other route but it is a much more interesting drive with beautiful views of the countryside. Will disapproves of my iTunes playlist, he is not a fan of Woman's Hour and I can't tolerate the overspill noise from his headphones so we had to resort to that quaint old fashioned pastime - conversation. Chatting with Will is fraught with difficulty, if I seem too interested he claims that I'm interrogating him, if I say too little I'm variously accused of disinterest or disapproval. So I take my lead from him, sometimes he is very chatty, but often when we travel together he is less talkative and we lapse into comfortable silence. It was like that on Monday, he had chatted happily about his university course for the first few minutes of our journey but by the time we reached Banbury we were both lost in our own thoughts. 

As we drove through the town I pointed out a rather ornate monument ahead of us and said "I wonder if that is Banbury Cross?". Will looked at me as if I was speaking in a foreign language and I explained that I was referring to the nursery rhyme Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross. To my surprise he told me that he had never heard the rhyme before and I couldn't convince him otherwise. It seems that I neglected  my duty as a parent to pass on the rich assortment of nursery rhymes which have been passed down the generations, so rather belatedly I recited the nursery rhyme to him. With a look of horror he begged me to stop, he knows me too well and  he was afraid that if I got started I would progress from nursery rhymes to poems and we would still be ploughing through the Pied Piper of Hamelin when we reached Cheltenham. My maternal grandmother could recite the entire poem from memory and thanks to her frequent renditions I can still manage to recite most of the poem without prompting. Will hastily changed the subject to the more pressing matter of lunch and we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Wetherspoons when we got to Chetenham.

After lunch Will took me to see his flat, I hadn't been inside since the day he moved in. To my surprise his room and his adjoining bathroom are neat and tidy. I sat on his bed I glanced around at the unaccustomed sense of order and I noticed a row of bottles of alcohol arranged in height order along the top of his bookcase. As my eye travelled along the line of bottles I noticed with some concern that all were less than half full, then I noticed the smallest bottle at the end of the row, it was Gaviscon! I couldn't help laughing. 

Will and I walked into the centre of Cheltenham to have a look at the Shops. He showed me his favourite book shop and we had a look at a slightly quirky clothes shop. He pointed out various garments on his wish list, but having already bought him a lava lamp I didn't grant any further wishes that day. His birthday and Christmas are almost upon us so I expect some of his wishes will come true in the near future. We visited Tiger, one of my favourite shops, we don't have one locally so I enjoyed browsing and by the time I reached the tills I had a full basket and I had ticked off a few more items on my Christmas shopping list. Then it was time for me to head home, alone with my thoughts and leave Will to his new found independence.

Easter Eggs and Summer Holidays

This morning I found myself asking the cat what the world is coming to. He didn't answer, he was probably lost for words. I have to admit that every year I become a little bit more like my grandmother. As far as I know she didn't talk to cats, but she often told me that the world was going mad - I wonder what she would make of the way things are now. 

The reasons for my frustration were Easter Eggs and summer holidays. Our local co-op had Easter eggs on display on 27th December and I think the media began bombarding us with adverts for summer holidays at about the same time. Surely they could have waited until we had taken the Christmas decorations down! After all the hard work and expense of Christmas all I want is a bit of normality, with some peace and quiet. I don't even want to think about Easter or summer holidays for a while.

On the subject of Christmas decorations, we will be taking them down tomorrow and guess what everyone is too busy to help! After several weeks of decorations it is nice to see the room looking less cluttered, but I always have mixed emotions about packing away the decorations. Christmas is behind us,  another year has begun and I can't help wondering what sort of challenges the months ahead have in store for us. 

We have a large collection of Christmas decorations, some date back to my childhood and the children have their own decorations, I have bought them one every year since they were born and marked it with the year and a few words about milestones for that year. They make up a very special store of memories. Every year before the tree goes up there is a lot of debate about whose angel will go on top of the tree. My angel hasn't been anywhere near a Christmas Tree for years, but she still looks good despite her advancing age. When I was a little girl my mum used to help me to make a new dress and new wings for the angel every year. We made it from crepe paper, scraps of tinsel and foil and she looked just as good as the expensive shop bought angels that have taken her place. It is little things like that which make Christmas special, it doesn't have to cost a fortune to create happy memories.

Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store - Dr Seuss

Well Christmas came and went and if I'd blinked I think I would have missed it. It seems as if it passed in a blur of activity, I was so busy at work prior to Christmas and Robbie was away a lot because he also had a very busy period work wise; it was busy at home too because I had lots to do to get ready for my son's 18th birthday on 20th December so it was a challenge to get ready for Christmas at the same time. It all worked out well in the end, somehow everything got done in time, my son had a lovely birthday and we enjoyed spending time with our family over Christmas. I would have been happier if I didn't have to work on Christmas Eve and on Boxing Day, but that's the way it works out sometimes.

Robbie had lots of nice presents including a couple of new additions to his weird and wacky collection of cufflinks, boxed sets of the first three series of Ice Road Truckers, an assortment of railway books (including a very nice book of then and now railway maps) and several items to add to his Lego collection including a Lego train set with a Lego station. Unfortunately he wasn't very well on Christmas Day so his inner child was more subdued than usual - but he made up for it in the next few days!

I had lots of lovely presents too. I had perfume, a David Attenborough dvd (he is one of my all time heroes) and a dvd set that I have wanted for years, The Victorian Kitchen, Victorian Kitchen Garden and Victorian Flower Garden (one of my all time television favourites). I also had a five year question and answer  journal, it poses a question every day but the answer may differ from year to year. Robbie bought me a very thoughtful and generous present, and I was very pleased with it, but I had ethical objections to the brand. I really didn't want to tell him, but he worked it out and he was very understanding about it. After Christmas he took it back so that I could buy from a different (better) company. He wasn't brave enough to tell the Apple Store why he was returning it, but I guess if it is that important I can write and tell them why they lost the sale. I haven't quite decided what I am going to buy yet, I don't want to make my mind up too quickly because I am really enjoying 'window shopping'.

Stopping to Look Both Ways

We have had a lovely Christmas this year, nice food to eat, nice presents, but most important of all we were able to enjoy time with the people we love. We always have good intentions but life can be so busy that far too long can slip by without us spending quality time with family and friends. So the Christmas break has been especially important to us, we have enjoyed special moments with our wider family. It is rare that we are all together at the same time so that makes it extra special. After all the activity and chaos of Christmas, Robbie and I appreciated a few days of quiet with nothing much to do and all day to do it. Usually our days start very early, so not being ruled by the alarm clock has been fantastic and I think it has done us both good to have time to unwind. Despite all the pre Christmas stress, I have really enjoyed this Christmas break and I will be sorry to see Robbie return to work tomorrow.


I am not a fan of new year celebrations. It always seems rather sad to be closing the door on the old year and I look ahead to the new year with a certain amount of trepidation, wondering what new worries and challenges it has in store. It is odd really as I am not a pessimist and I tend to take most of the ups and downs of life in my stride, I think mostly it is just fear of the unknown. Every year the world changes a little bit, situations change, new people come into our lives and some become very important, and sadly other people are lost from our lives. As the year draws to a close we remember the familiar faces no longer with us who have brightened our lives in various ways. We may not know them personally but we are touched by their loss and we will miss them. Perhaps I am just getting old but it seems to me that we have said too many goodbyes in the last year. Among those that I will miss most are George Baker who brought Inspector Wexford to life, Jimmy Saville because there was no one quite like him, Peter Falk because I loved Colombo, David Croft who wrote Dads Army as well as other great comedy shows and brought so much pleasure, Billie Jo Spears because I loved her voice, and Edward Hardwicke who I will always think of as Dr Watson.

Finding the Magic of Christmas

I often think that we have got it all wrong when it comes to Christmas we get so tied up with buying presents and   Christmas food becomes an ordeal from start to finish - shopping for it, to storing it, cooking it and digesting it! Despite all my good intentions Christmas crept up on me and I was as disorganised as ever. I had been stashing presents away for months, just little things for Robbie, he is a big kid when it comes to Christmas and it makes me so happy to watch him opening his presents. I had been reasonably organised about presents for other family members, our children provide lists now, so that's easy and buying for my young niece and nephews is a pleasure. Finding the money is a bit more of a challenge, but that is the same for everyone. 


The bits of Christmas that I find challenging include getting the Christmas tree and decorations out of the loft, putting the tree up - and tidying up the mess afterwards! Arguing about where best to put the tree and acting as referee in the annual argument about whose turn it is to have their angel on top of the tree this year. The food shopping is probably the biggest headache, affording it, making sure that we have enough food while trying not to buy so much that it will be wasted. It is just such an effort tackling the supermarket, unloading the shopping and packing it into the fridge and freezer. Then I have to cope with Robbie huffing and puffing because the fridge is not packed correctly and things are in the wrong place in the freezer. Last but not least is wrapping, I quite like wrapping up presents but suddenly everything has to be wrapped at once and however well prepared I think I am, I find that someone has 'borrowed' the scissors, or the sellotape - or both!


This year was like every other year,  by Christmas morning I was exhausted and it was a real struggle to get up and join in the fun of present opening, but the excitement of gift giving works it's magic and memories of other Christmas mornings fill my mind, distant memories of my own childhood when Santa always left shiny new coins at the bottom of my stocking. Then there are the special Christmas memories of my own children when they were little. One daughter asked Santa to bring her a sheep - that was one Christmas wish that didn't come true. There was the time when I was filming both daughters singing Christmas carols for their grandma and the little one (age 4) kept stopping to tell her older sister off for singing her part, it was so funny. My favourite memory of my son at Christmas was when he was a shepherd in the nativity play, he was 3 or 4 at the time and he walked up to Mary and Joseph swinging his knitted lamb around by by it's tail!


Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance - each beautiful, unique and too soon gone. ~Deborah Whipp

In the end the food and the presents don't matter so much, it is being together that counts, family time taking pleasure in the special people around us. Christmas may be hard work but this year just as every other year, sharing the day with all the people I love made it all worthwhile.

All I Want for Christmas Is ................

Now that shopping and all the preparations for Christmas are in full swing I find myself thinking longingly of the days when I the children were little and shopping was so much easier. Back then money was still tight but almost everything wanted could be bought in one visit to Toys r Us, and when they woke up on Christmas morning their stockings were bulging. Now if their wish lists involve more effort in terms of shopping, have a bigger price tag and when the presents are wrapped and tucked under the tree they don't look very impressive, they certainly wouldn't fill a stocking! 

I still have younger children to buy for, three nephews and a niece and I have to admit that shopping for them has been the most enjoyable part of Christmas for me. My niece is 10, very grown up and very interested in fashion, so the main part of her present had a fashion design theme. She also loves reading, so I decided to buy her two books that I loved when I was young. It was hard to choose just two books, but it was very enjoyable to remember so many of the books that I enjoyed as a child. In the end I chose Charlotte Sometimes and Tom's Midnight Garden, both books had a similar theme, the connection between the past and the present. I hope she will enjoy them as much as I did.


My three year old nephew will be getting books as part of his present too. I bought him a set of Richard Scarry books and when Robbie saw them I thought he was going to burst with excitement. Apparently 'Cars, Trucks and Things That Go' was Robbie's favourite book when he was little, so I am sure he will enjoy reading the books with Oliver. The other part of his present also caused Robbie to reminisce, I bought him a Tonka truck. According to Robbie they were much better in the old days, but when he thought I wasn't looking I caught him admiring the new truck which makes realistic engine noises and has a special tool to change the tyres. 


I also caught my son looking longingly at my 5 year old nephew's present. I had chosen Transformers for him because he is car mad and I remembered how much my son liked Transformers. My son commented that it made him feel like adding a transformer toy to his own Christmas list - I wish he would, it would be a lot cheaper and less complicated than some of the things he wants!


It seems to me that part of the pleasure of Christmas comes from remembering the things and the people that made past Christmases special. I wonder what we will remember when we look back on this Christmas?

Stir up Sunday

Last Sunday was Stir-up Sunday the traditional time to make Christmas pudding. I was exhausted after our busy day and eventful evening on Saturday and the idea of making all that mess in the kitchen and boiling a Christmas pudding for hours on end made me pull the covers over my head and forget about getting up for just a little longer. There are times when having Robbie around can be challenging and cooking anything out of the ordinary fits that category. He looms silently radiating disapproval until he finds the courage to speak. At first it will be criticism of the utensils I have chosen to use and he will busy himself by putting away items that I am still using! Then as his confidence grows he will offer advice on how to do it better even if it is something he has never done before! That is when it starts getting dangerous, because I can only tolerate so much before I snap. It ether ends in a full scale row with Robbie stomping off to lick his wounds or I storm off and tell him to get on with it if he knows so much about it! On balance it is a lot safer to buy our Christmas puddings from the supermarket.


The name Stir-up Sunday  has its roots in the Anglican church, the collect of the day (from the Book of Common Prayer) which begins with the words 'stir up'. 


Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Traditionally the pudding was made of 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his twelve disciples. As the pudding was being mixed each member of the family would take a turn to stir the pudding, moving the spoon from east to west to remember the journey of the three kings. When the pudding was cooked on Christmas Day it was garnished with a sprig of holly, this represented the crown of thorns worn by Jesus on the cross and just before the pudding was cut a little brandy was tipped on it and set alight, a reminder of the fire if the Holy Spirit.

I remember helping my grandma to make the Christmas Puddings when I was little. I doubt she made it on Stir-up Sunday, she was a Methodist and she had a very long list of things that should not be done on Sundays! All the family would have a turn to stir the pudding and make a wish. Oddly I don't remember my grandma ever telling me the story about the Christmas pudding and if she had been aware of it she certainly would have done. She shared a birthday with Jesus and she seemed to think that it gave her a special connection to God. According to her He disapproved of all the things that she disapproved of - especially women wearing trousers! She certainly wouldn't have approved of me buying a Christmas pudding from Tesco, but that is what I plan to do. The only person in our family who really likes Christmas pudding is Robbie and by the time we get to the pudding even Robbie (who never refuses food) struggles to clear his plate.


I don't feel too much regret about this particular tradition having died out in our family, we have our own traditions. My mum's mince pies are the highlight of my Christmas, she makes the best pastry in the world - but I have to watch Robbie otherwise he would empty the whole tin! 

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

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/

A New Toy

Robbie managed to get it right this year, I was delighted with my present from him (apparently the girls kept him on the right track). He bought me a usb thingy to scan photo negatives on to my computer and I have spent the last couple of evenings revisiting old photos and remembering old times. I now have photographic proof that Robbie is not the only member of the family with an obsession with trains!

I hope this photo doesn't give Robbie any ideas, I couldn't cope with him dressing like a deltic! I am guessing that the photo was taken about 12 years ago but I am not allowed to identify the person in the picture because at 15 he is too cool to admit to being a Thomas fan when he was younger. I think the photo below was taken at Peterborough, but after all this time my memory is a bit dodgy and it could be Pitsford. I do remember a very excited three year old running up to a somewhat rotund member of staff and asking if he was the Fat Controller!

A Family Christmas

We have had such a busy few days that we are both exhausted. We spent the day before Christmas Eve with my mum, stepfather, and my brother and his family, it was such a lovely day. My nephew is 20 months old now and he is so much fun, he was the centre of attention and he enjoyed making everyone laugh. We spent Christmas Eve at my mum's house, it is a family tradition to have steak and chips on Christmas Eve and it was wonderful. When I saw how much Robbie managed to put away I thought he would never walk again, but like the bumble bee he defies the laws of nature!

The evening of Christmas Eve was a mad rush of getting the house ready and the last leg of the wrapping up marathon. I seem to have been wrapping presents for weeks, why does it take so long to wrap everything up and such a short time to unwrap! On Christmas morning I think Sam broke the record for the fastest ever present opening and the girls were not far behind. Sam had a coat (the type he wanted), a graphics tablet, very expensive photography books (from his wish list), various DVD sets and a whole ocean of smellies - we will need breathing apparatus for months! The girls had GHDs, DVDs, books perfume and countless other things.

My mum and stepfather spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day with us, the cooking was hard work but we all had a lovely time. Robbie behaved himself except for the little interlude on Boxing Day afternoon when he has a tantrum about somthing so trivial that I can't even remember it. He sat on the kitchen floor with his arms folded an his lip sticking out, he looked just like a toddler with an attack of the 'terrible twos'. We just closed the door on him and enjoyed a cup of tea while he regained control of his inner child. I have just remembered what caused the strop, it was because we wanted to make a cup of tea before we did the washing up and it messed up his routine!!

I have to make a bit of a confession, I bought Robbie two railway books because I wanted to read them! I knew that he wiould like them too. I scoured the town to find his favourite aftershave for him and I also bought him some other things, but I think he will write about that later.

Getting There

We woke this morning to find the world covered in snow, in fact it was still snowing very hard and it was very slippy under foot. Robbie was determined to get to work because it was their Christmas meal today and there was no way that a few inches of snow were going to get between him and his food! The likelihood of a bus turning up on time was almost non existent so I was pressed into action. While Robbie was trotting around the house in his underwear deciding what to wear, I was outside thawing the car out! Most of the roads had not been gritted so it was a very slow crawl and skid towards the station. In fact Robbie had to bale out before we got there because he thought it would be better if I didn't have to drive down the steep hill to the station. He got to work OK (there wasn't any snow there) and I haven't heard from him for ages so he must be having fun. We have had more snow during the day and it is snowing again now so I am not sure if he will manage to get home again!

I Hate Mondays!

Whoever started that saying 'one step forward and two steps back' must have been thinking of me! Yesterday turned into a disaster, Sam had problems at school, so he arrived home angry and upset. Then when he had settled down I headed off to work and as I was driving along a main road some fool in a great big car pulled out of a parking space right into the side of my car! He just pulled out without looking, I swerved but he kept on coming at me and hit the rear passenger door and the part behind that door. I think he was on the phone. It left me really shaken up, and cross because it really didn't need to happen. I have spent most of this morning sorting out the insurance and the repair. I really could do without this aggravation at the moment. At this rate I don't think I have any chance of having everything ready in time for Christmas.

Grounds for Divorce!

I'm finally starting to feel better after the swine flu jab, it made me feel really rough, but I expect it is a lot better to have the jab than to risk getting swine flu. I really need to get organised now, I still have so much to do before Christmas and it seems as if the days are just rushing past. I have Sam's birthday to think about too, poor Sam, it is no fun having your birthday and Christmas in the same week. I asked him for ideas about what presents he would like and he presented me with a neatly typed page of A4 paper with his wish list neatly divided into categories - if only he put that much effort into his homework! So now I know what he wants, but I will need a second mortgage to afford it all! Robbie's wish list is truly scary among other things he wants some Dr Marten boots with union jack toe caps - no way! I put up with him wearing bright colours and lurid patterns but the union jack toe caps are a step to far, it would be grounds for divorce! He will have to settle for something a little more sober, after all he is not far off 40, it's time he grew up!

A Sweet Tooth!

We have a gang of thieves targeting our house, an unlikely gang of trouble makers, one rather dim but determined dog and two clever cats. Dave is the mastermind, he is very agile for an old chap, so he can balance precariously while seeking out treasures from inaccessible places, and he uses his larger than average nose to sniff out stuff worth stealing. His nose also comes in handy to open tins and break into boxes. Oreo is not as subtle, he knows that he can open tins and containers by knocking them off a surface onto the floor, but he is skilled at opening cupboard doors by putting his paw under the door. Meg the dog is just an opportunist, she tags along with the daring duo in order to clear up the leftovers. On Monday they managed to open a tin of Roses chocolates and knock it onto the floor, so Meg had eaten a large quantity of chocolates (and wrappers) for breakfast. She had a severe telling off and spent the rest of the morning walking around with her tail under her chin, but the cats showed no remorse at all as they continued their usual morning routine of eating, sleeping and bird watching. Meg had obviously developed a taste for chocolate because when I went out to the supermarket she broke into Sam's bedroom and tucked into his stash of Christmas sweets, another telling off followed and she spent the rest of the day pretending to be invisible. The biggest mystery is why she wasn't sick!

Snap!

Sam had a very posh camera for Christmas, he has already taken some lovely photos with it including these of Meg the dog, Oreo the black and white cat and Dave the ginger cat. The picture of Sam is very rare – he hasn't got that silly hat on!

Trouser Trouble

It is a strange life, when Robbie is at home I want to send him back to work and when he is going back to work I want to keep him at home. He has been challenging at times over Christmas, but I wish he had a bit longer at home. On Christmas Day he was still trotting around in his PJ's when my mum, stepfather and brother arrived at lunchtime, a fairly alarming sight especially when you are not expecting it. He eventually got dressed in his cords and his 'Ho, Ho, Homer' T shirt (that slogan proved too tempting for the kids!) but more shocks were in store – his trousers fell down when he was doing the washing up! I thought that was the end of the trouser trouble, but I nearly crashed the car on Tuesday when we were taking my Mum and step father shopping and out of the silence he suddenly announced that he was not wearing underwear! I sincerely hoped he was joking because he was wearing the same pair of cords that had fallen down on Christmas Day, and it was 'geriatric' day at Morrisons - he could have caused mass hysteria! I really don't know what triggers him to speak his thoughts sometimes, but I really wish he wouldn't, I have far too many grey hairs already!

Something Close to Normal

Robbie is back in 'normal' mode – well, not normal exactly, Robbie doesn't do normal but he manages a fairly close approximation. He has been trying to make up for being a pain in the rear on Christmas morning, I have forgiven him, but he is still cross with himself. He invited me to have an early night last night, but I realised that it was just his one track mind getting the better of him when he said “just you and me and the new train DVD”. I like watching the DVD's with him, but sometimes I think trains are taking over the bedroom. The top of the wardrobes are packed with his model trains, he has piles of railway magazines on his side of the bed and his collection train DVD's is growing like a triffid. Most of his books have taken up residence in the lounge, but there are still plenty upstairs and some of them even find their way into the bed! I have to ask him not to read his books out loud when I am trying to sleep!! People told me that having a 'toy boy' would be exhausting, but I don't think this is quite what they had in mind, sometimes it would be nice to be just a bit more normal.
On the subject of 'normal' Robbie was in a fragile mood on Christmas Eve, not yet in a full blown strop, but working on it. All the family were at my mum's, just enjoying a nice family day together, but Robbie sat there reading The Grocer! What am I going to do with him?

This evening he is watching a scary film on his laptop, it is called The Strangers. It is comical to watch him, he's there with his headphones on looking terrified and making occasional terrified gasps and whimpers. At least it has given me a bit of peace for a little while.

Christmas Day - by Robbie

Well it was Xmas Day, and yet again I was being the usual mardy-arse (nothing new there I here you all say..........), so Christine got up and went down to see the children open all there presents. In hindsight I should have been there for this and felt EXTREMELY guilty afterwards, as I do not see my own children much these days, let alone be part of such an important essential Xmas activity!

As I had been such a bar humbug I had to wait until the evening to see if I had even got any presents, and to my total surprise, a stocking appeared...

Gosh Santa has been good to me yet again.........I have been commenting (more like moaning.....lol..) to Christine for a while now that I would really love a digital camera, something that is small enough to take anywhere, even to work, so what a surprise to get a rather nice Fuji 8.2 mega pixel camera....its GREAT!! Small, fast, brilliant pictures, just perfect............but this was just the start of my presents!!

As you may know from previous postings, I have collecting the 'British Transport Film Collections' since they have been released, and for Xmas I had Volume Eight 'Points and Aspects' & Volume Nine 'Just the Ticket'. They are a great collection of various films all produced by the in-house production unit of the British Transport Commission that was originally set-up in 1949. Even if you are not that mad on trains, some of them can be really enjoyable to quite a wide audience.....

The rest of my Xmas stocking contained a number of GREAT DVD's, Spooks Series 1 box set, Shameless Series 3, Branchlines of Britain (a box set of three DVD's covering all branchlines of the UK, although I have not had chance to watch this yet, this does look GREAT!!), and also a very interesting BBC DVD called 'A Picture of Britain' presented by David Dimbleby, based on the TV series. Oh and I could NOT forget the 2009 edition of Who's Who in The Archers, as I have been dropping Christine hints for a couple of years now, and finally I have a copy, although I bet I know who will be reading it more than I will............lol...........:)