Everyone is the age of their heart ~ Guatemalan Proverb

Most people say that my mum and I are not alike at all. She loves to shop but I don't, she loves clothes and fashion but I am not interested in clothes at all, she likes bright colours while I prefer blues and greys, she loves to go out but I prefer to stay in. People who know us better know that if you ignore the superficial differences we are very similar. We both have a steely determination, family comes first for both of us, neither of us suffer fools gladly and we both have a bit of a reputation for 'telling it as it is', in fact we can both be a but scary when the need arises! 

My mum is 82 years young and she still likes to shop until she drops, or to be more accurate until I drop! My daughter (who is 21) has taken her shopping a few times recently and after an afternoon shopping with Grandma she has arrived home absolutely exhausted. The last time they went clothes shopping together Grandma arrived home with lots of new clothes including two pairs of skinny jeans, one red and one deep pink!

My mum and Robbie are allies when it comes to clothes and shoes. They don't have the same tastes but they both love bright colours and they both like to be a bit different, they don't slavishly follow fashion but they love clothes and they share a passion for shoes. The other day Robbie wore his new waxed canvas Dr Marten boots when we went to see mum and she said that she would like to have a look at the Doc Shop. I was rather surprised, but Robbie jumped at the chance of another visit to the Doc Shop and a shopping trip was arranged.

So this morning we picked my mum up and took the scenic route past Castle Ashby and on through Grendon to Wollaston and the Doc Shop. I didn't think that my mum would like anything but it wouldn't have been a wasted journey because I needed to exchange a pair of shoes that I bought last weekend. My prediction was wrong, my mum loved the Doc Shop, she bought two pairs of shoes and a pair of boots! In fact it took me all my time to persuade her not to buy a pair of bright yellow 1461s - I am not a fan of yellow! She bought a pair of high mauve wedges, a pair of deep pink loafers and a pair of suede boots knee length boots. I think I will have two people nagging me to take them to the Doc Shop from now on!

When we finished at the Doc Shop we drove to Philadelphus Jeyes at Earls Barton. Mum loved having a look around at all the different departments, but most of all she enjoyed a welcome cup of tea and a snack at the Apothocoffee Shop. She bought a couple of new jigsaws, a recipe book, and a few other bits and bobs. I think she enjoyed her shopping trip.

Be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur ~Muriel Spark

The Way to a Man's Heart - Rice Pudding!

It will not surprise you that when not talking about trains one of Robbie's favourite topics if conversation is food. He often talks about his Grandma and the food she used to cook for him, and one day we got onto the subject of rice pudding and how much Robbie loved it. It wasn't one of my childhood favourites, I liked bread and butter pudding, but apple snow was my absolute favourite. They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so I decided to make him a rice pudding. I was really surprised that my children had never come across rice pudding and they had no idea what it was. Laura was unimpressed by the sight of it and decided not to try it, but Sam (who is very picky about his food) absolutely loved it. As expected Robbie enjoyed it too and asked me to make it more often. Emily was out, so she missed the 'experience' and she and Sam have been pestering me to make it again. I still find it hard to believe that the world has changed so much since my childhood that today's young people have never encountered something as ordinary as rice pudding!

A Tight Fit! 07.06.07

Robbie had one of his 'moments' in the supermarket last night. I can't exactly call it a tantrum because he didn't 'dance' in the way he did when I wanted to buy a lager bottle of tomato ketchup and he was adamant that I couldn't because it wouldn't fit (in the fridge). I was severely tempted to fit it elsewhere at the time, but now the memory just makes me laugh. This little episode was caused by me choosing a different size pack of tea bags because they were on offer. I had done the maths and they worked out cheaper than the larger pack and more importantly they fitted the cupboard better, but 'you know who' couldn't cope with such a major change in his routine. He started to become 'animated' and demanded that we go off and do the maths again, but he was drawing a crowd so I hurried him towards the checkout, still complaining loudly and trying to dodge back to the tea bags. If his behaviour wasn't bad enough, he risked his own physical well-being by suggesting very loudly that I was autistic - look in the mirror Robbie!!

We got home, had our meal and tidied up, but he was still rambling on about tea bags. I really must stop him reading the Grocer if it has this sort of effect on him! I would understand it if he drank tea, but he doesn't he always has coffee, I am the tea drinker. As if he hadn't already said enough he pronounced that I was so much like his Grandma because she used to buy food in packs to fit the cupboards too! Thanks for that Robbie, I really needed cheering up! I can manage to feel far too old old without any help from my family!

With a little help from Sam, I feel that I have had my revenge. On Monday I asked Robbie to buy Sam some new pants and he went to H&M to get them. Unfortunately he bought briefs and Sam was horrified, he likes boxers. Robbie was duly despatched to H&M to exchange them, this time the style was OK, but the colours were so wrong, I am sure they were designed to go with the technicolor dreamcoat! So Robbie has to go back yet again to change them. He was really ranting about it because the assistants will think he is some sort of pervert. Poor old Robbie!

Victory at Last 10.05.07

This should be a day that goes down in history, finally the wilful determination of the British people to think in English has forced the EU to back down! It was announced today that we will not be forced to weigh loose goods in 'foreign nonsense' and we can continue to display prices in Imperial measurements as well as metric.
I began my education at a time of change. I remember the change to decimal currency and the confusion it created for many adults. I learned to manage money in both imperial and decimal with no problems at all, but even at my tender age I recognised that the change of currency was a license to inflate prices!
Length and weight simply has to be measured the English in order to make sense. Just as my grandma used to convert all the prices back to old money in her head, I have to perform mental gymnastics to work out what a metre or a litre is in 'old money'. I can visualise a pint or a foot, I have some idea how heavy an ounce or a pound is but I can't cope with the new weights and measures as it means nothing to me. Imagine popping to the pub for a quick 'half litre', its nonsense! The only possible use I have found for kilograms is when I have to be weighed - it prevents me dying from shock because I have no idea what it means!!
I have no problem with what other countries choose to do in the privacy of their own borders, but when they start telling us how to think it brings our my stubborn side and it seems I'm not the only one! Nobody, not even a Brussels bureaucrat can overcome the determination of the British people.