Day 4

Day 4

Starting to flag. I have discovered that, when it comes to groups of new people, I am a two-day person. Day 3 was Christmas and it went well. The management left a stocking on each person’s doorknob with a tangerine and some chocolates. I’ve eaten the chocolates. The tangerine will have to wait for a moment of conscience. I walked up to Hyde Park in the morning before lunch and flopped on my bed after lunch – too much champagne, wine and food.

We had a bus tour of London this morning. It wasn’t very good partly because you can’t see anything from a regular bus. The tour guide was about a C+. Then on to St Paul’s Cathedral. I did not climb to the whispering gallery but I enjoyed being in such a wonderful building. We came back at 4:30, just in time for a nap. Tonight is the disco.

Home tomorrow.

Day 2

Day 2

I sat beside a nice chap on the coach to Somerset House and; when we arrived, he said, “Let’s walk up to Covent Garden and have coffee.” Sounded like a plan to me so off we went. By the time we got there, had coffee and walked back, it was time for lunch so I missed seeing pictures at the Courtauld. Oh well, it’s not as though I can’t get to London easily so I will put it on my list of upcoming cultural events. The new me in the New Year! Then it was off to the Royal Albert Hall for carols. It was a lovely concert which involved the audience standing up and singing the well known carols. I was sitting beside the coffee chap and when he started to sing, I thought, whoa, what’s going on here. Turns out he sings with the Bach choir in London. I kept my mouth shut after that. Back to the hotel, quick nap, dinner and an early night. I wasn’t sorry to find out that there wouldn’t be any games and quizzes until tomorrow.

Day 1

Friday, December 23, 2011 6:26 PM

Day 1

I confess to being very anxious this morning while packing the bags and locking the doors. The bus arrived within a minute of my getting to the bus stop – good omen. The front seat was empty and waiting for me – good omen. It was a quick easy ride to London and I taxied from the bus stop to the hotel. Check in over, I went to my room. It’s a bog standard Marriott hotel room which suits me fine. There is a big bed, a big telly, a mini bar and a perfectly usable bathroom en suite. The first bad omen reared its head when I tried to connect to the Internet. This is doable but they charge a small fortune for the connection; i.e. £6 per hour or £15 for the day. Maybe this isn’t steep but it’s the first time I have stayed somewhere where the connection isn’t free. That usually means you have to go to their Internet room but I wouldn’t mind that. Anyway, if I want to be in touch with all of you, I have to pay for the privilege.

After I checked in, I realized I was starving so I went for a quickie lunch in the bar. A lady of senior years (my age it turned out) invited me to sit with her and I thought it would be churlish to refuse. She is another virgin Just You member so we had one of those getting to know you conversations. She was widowed last March so, sad but not rejected. I was getting a tad bored when another virgin turned up. There are 96 people in the group, not all virgins. We all met later for a drink and a run down of the exciting activities to come. The meals will be buffet style which I’m pleased about because I can stuff myself with the better items. I met another virgin at the get together meeting but this one was male so I guess virgin is the wrong word. We talked about our divorces. I suppose when you get 96 people together who range in age from 50 to 80, they are bound to have past relationships that need airing. Oh well, tomorrow we are off to Somerset House (Courtauld Institute) and carols at the Royal Albert Hall. Games and quizzes in the evening and then it will be Christmas day.

On the mend

This fluey, rubbishy illness thing has gone on long enough. It has been a month now that I have been too pooped to pop so I finally went to the GP on Tuesday. Nothing 'on my chest' except two enormous overweight tits so I haven't got pneumonia. She sent me for a lung function test and it reflected my many years of smoking. Thank god I gave up 7.5 years ago. Then yesterday I had a session with the acupuncture lady. She stuck a few needles in me and, hey presto, I feel very much better today. So is it the codeine cough syrup or the unblocked chakras that are perking me up. Whatever, it feels good to feel good for a change. We are all going down to Brighton for Harry's birthday party tomorrow. The little soldier is 4 yrs old. We Skyped the other day. Brilliant.

Living in a civilised non violent country

A father had his finger bitten off by another parent as a brawl erupted at a school nativity play in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. “One bit the finger off the other and spat the blood out like an animal.”

Can't wait for my citizenship to come through!

Changes

Here I go again with a ten day lapse. I have been 'under the weather' and cosseting myself; ergo, no blog. Also not much to report. The excitement I have been experiencing includes a leaky toilet and a TV aerial connection problem. The leaky toilet was easily fixed (I won't bother with a photo) and the TV connection has also been dealt with. I moved the furniture in my front room to the back room and vice versa. This means tables up front and sofa and telly in the back. The house used to be that way when I bought it and was so for many years until I did a switch about four years ago. Now I'm back to plan A and I like it. The Gees and John T came by for Sunday lunch on the condition that they shift the furniture for me. Once shifted, we ate so we have dined up front and I think it will be good - closer to the kitchen. Then today a lady came from John Lewis to measure up the back room for curtains. I had switched to blinds a few years ago and they have not been a success so everything is going back to plan A. The curtains wont be ready until the end of January but when they are up, I will do a photo. Bye for now.

The boys

I decided to bring Harry a very intellectual present this time. Ergo, drinking glasses.




Tom is too young for drinking glasses. He likes his bevvies in a bottle.

Weekend in Brighton

We have a good system for my visits to Brighton. I drive down on Friday afternoon stopping at M&S food shop on the way. I pick up food for dinner - not exactly ready meals but definitely easy prep. The boys go to bed at 6 and 7. We eat at 8, half an hour of Corrie and we are in bed by 9. This is not only desirable, it is essential because Boy 1 is up at 6AM and doesn't understand the concept of a lie-in or even a slow start. He needs his cereal and he needs it NOW. I have to get it just right - the correct bowl, and the amount of cereal to put in it. He seems able to judge it by the flake. When we have cereal in bowl, I pour on the milk and it has to be blue milk (full fat). Then it is time for spoon choice. He has various coloured plastic spoons all of which have to be got out and lined up. Is this a pink spoon morning? green? yellow? Only Harry knows and only Harry chooses. I then slouch around with a cup of coffee while he wolfs down the cereal. We take a break then to build train tracks before coming back for toast. By then, Tom is awake and having his first pint of the day. All this early activity is nice for me because I then so appreciate my own schedule when I'm back at home.

20 Days

That's how many days I haven't written my blog and I know you regulars are missing it! I haven't even finished the two watercolours I started on my last trip to Earnley. They are sitting in the shed/studio waiting for me to find the time to work on them. Ha Ha. That should read waiting for me to stop wasting time wool gathering and ruminating. My TV watching is all up to date it's just the writing and painting that suffer. Of course now I have the short day excuse. Don't ask me how that excuse works because I do have electricity. Anyway, I thought it was time to update this blog.

My back garden is covered in fallen leaves. The colour is a good red/orange/brown but they need to be removed and it is a big job. I could ruminate while I rake but luckily it's raining today. Also I have a couple of people coming for part of a lunch. This is a friend I met at BK and she and I and Kathleen are having lunch today - main course at Kathleen's followed by pudding at mine. Kathleen and I live next door to each other so we don't have to take a bus to get from fish pie to apple crumble.

I'm having dinner tonight with one of my local councillors. She has become a good friend. On Friday I go to Brighton for a weekend with the boys. Apparently Tom is mobile now so they have put him in a cage (a playpen) but Harry delights in announcing that it's time for Tom Tom to go in the cage. Harry will be four in about three weeks so he needs a birthday present. I suggested to his mother that I would buy him an electric car, the kind you ride in, but she vetoed this without a second thought. I'm disappointed because I always wanted one of those when I was a kid. Oh well.

Earnley again

I had another excellent watercolour course at Earnley today. I had to go because the place is closing next month and I needed a final shot of bed, food and first rate course. The drawback was driving home this evening in the rain, the dark, the rush hour traffic and only a hazy sense of direction. Actually, I followed the route perfectly and arrived home at 7PM. Of course I was exhausted so I meandered down to the Dong Dong for a glass of wine and a plate of noodles. I love that place - cheap and friendly. Thank god it's not closing. I still resisted doing pictures of fairies and dragons and concentrated on the techniques. I'm working on two pictures, one of Rosie sitting on a lion and one of Harry jumping. I shall post them when they are finished.

A further update

I have been very good about giving up wheat and gluten for the past two weeks and unfortunately, it works. I feel much better and much perkier. I shall keep it up as best I can. Chloe and Charles are staying with me this week while the rest of the family go to Cornwall for the mid term break.

An update

14 day detox - my energy level is chronically low so I decided to do something about my diet. I don't mean "dieting" although that would not go amiss. What I am doing for two weeks is not having wheat & gluten, no alcohol and no obvious sugar. I miss my bread. Gluten free bread is too awful and certainly doesn't lend itself to a nice ham sandwich. I have been doing it for five days and I think I feel better. I take a 30 min walk each day.

Courses - I have been going to a writing course on Tuesday evenings and I have given it up. It was so-o-o not working for me. I would come home exhausted and fed up so I withdrew yesterday. Just so I don't get lazy, I began a Photoshop course last night and it is great. Anything with a computer is the thing for me and I know I will be more than happy to do homework.
I'm wondering if courses are a bit like shopping for me; i.e. if I take a course, I can sit and listen to someone else talking about whatever it is instead of doing it myself. The shopping involves buying stuff for whatever new project takes my fancy instead of getting on with it!

Immigration - The forms are completed and with the solicitor who is handling the process. I decided to hire someone to do it with me so that it would be done right. I had an email from her yesterday asking me if I want to change my name before the application goes in or wait until it is done and change names in time for the new passport. I would like to change my name today but I don't want anything to hold up the citizenship process.

1970's tie dye dinner party

In order to cope with a very large (wide) dining table, I made a tie dye tablecloth from a sheet. Such a flashback to the 70's when that particular craft form was everywhere. I invited eight friends, three from my art group, three outliers and Rachel and Charlie. Alison and Sian decreed that I must have a 1970's menu so here it is:

Before- cheese and pineapple hedgehog
crisps and dip
Starter - prawn cocktail with MarieRose sauce
Main - chicken Kiev
chips
a selection of frozen veg
Pudding - Black Forest Gateau
apple crumble

To ease the blandness of the menu, I had good wine.


The tablecloth


The guests


After all this wonderfulness, can a macrame plant holder be far behind?

The boys, The park, The engine

Yes indeed, I had my weekend at the seaside with the family Williams.


It's a long way down. Did you mean for me to be here?




Child No.1 - I'm cool. I drink and swing
Child No.2 - This is the greatest thing since breast milk




I will always be faithful to Thomas, the engine, that is. The brother is a given.

Off to Brighton

I am going down to Brighton today to spend a couple of days with the boys and, of course, their Mummies. I will have my camera and will post pictures when I get back.

Another course

I decided it was time to get serious about doing some writing. It's all very well to say you do writing but the truth is that I never seem to get around to it. So, I started a writing course last evening and we've got the old phantasy thing going again. I told you about the art course. Well, I turn up at this place last night and realize that everyone else in the group is considerably younger than I and everything seems to revolve around Sci Fi. But, like the art group, I am going to stick with it to see what happens. Perhaps I can write a story in one course and illustrate it from the other!

My Monday evenings at BK continue. The meditation suits me and the discussion group is useful. I try to carry things I hear into daily life and sometimes I succeed.

I have been going along great with Flylady. My Zone this week is the kitchen.

Adam

We are in the middle of an Adam style sleepover. We started off yesterday afternoon with a trip to the cinema to see the new Planet of the Apes film. The first half was pretty good (not great) but it then turned scary so we left. I told Adam he could choose our dining venue and, god love him, he picked KFC. It's my favourite fast food so we made the five mile drive down to the A40 service area and indulged ourselves. We got Krispy Kreme doughnuts (only one each) to bring home and treated ourselves while watching Madagascar which was way better than PofA. We were in bed by 9:30 and now we are up waiting for Starbucks to open so we can indulge in a little more self indulgence.

A True Brit

Good news. I spoke to an immigration lawyer today and she tells me that my background, assets, family, and general and specific wonderfulness mean that I can apply to become naturalized and there should be no problem having it come through. I can get a British passport and, equally important, I can change my name. For those of you who don't already know, I will be Anne Richards when this happy day arrives.

Earnley

I spent the weekend at Earnley Concourse. I was doing a course called Fantasy Art in Watercolour This was chosen on the basis of time - I wanted to be away this particular weekend and the word 'watercolour'. What I didn't take into account was the word 'fantasy'. I was thinking about daydreams and making stuff up. This is what it is but the emphasis was/is on faeries and dragons. Great wings and tails everywhere and sexy girls with long wispy curly hair twining around their scantily clad bodies. "Oh dear", I thought but I didn't give up. There were only two of us in the class plus the teacher. She was terrific and I learned a lot about watercolour techniques. The other student was an older man who had taken up painting when he retired ten years ago. The first task was to choose a picture from the many books that Sharon (teacher) had brought. Barry quickly found himself a dragon and this lady and got to work.




I was searching frantically for something that didn't have fire coming out of its mouth or big doe eyes and I came across THE RABBIT. I knew immediately that this was my picture.



I used Rabbit to learn about tracedown paper, masking fluid, salt technique and, most importantly, blending and blurring and outlining. It was a terrific weekend. I also bought some decent supplies. I used to assume that it was pretentious crap to go on about sable brushes. Not so. They are wonderful so I now have a set.

This is a partially finished picture by the tutor. She was using it to demonstrate various techniques.




By the way, we were told that we should always give our pictures names. Mine is called 'Redundancy'.

Rosie's Birthday Party

The Jungle Cake



Today Rosie is four and I went to her house a for birthday tea party. Her mother made and decorated the cake. The woman is amazing and this is only round one. She will have her friends for a party on Sunday and mother will be mixing, baking and decorating yet again.

Flylady

I have discovered a new 'get things done' guru. It is called Flylady and Alison told me about it. This is a follow-on in my feeble attempts to get organized and to get my life going smoothly. She, Alison, started me with 'Eat that Frog' which concentrates on defining the worst job you have on your list (I live with lists) and doing it first. I then moved on to 'Pomodoro' which is a 25 minute timer that you use when you have a long drawn out job; i.e. sorting the bookshelves or wardrobe. You set the timer and when it goes off, you can take a break for 5 or 10 minutes and then reset it and get back to work. The latest 'improve yourself' effort is called Flylady. You start off with a 28 day program of gradually getting things in order and keeping them that way. Day 1 was easy. It was called 'shine your sink'. The idea is that if you always have a clean shiny kitchen sink, you will feel good about yourself. Before I went to bed last night, I cleaned and polished my sink and I have to say that when I got up this morning, I did feel good not having to face dirty dishes. Day 2 (today) was to start the day by getting dressed. My usual routine is to sit at the computer in my nightwear drinking coffee and wasting time. Well, not today. I'm still wasting time but at least I'm showered and dressed whilst doing it. The Book Club is meeting at my house tonight so I have to be both tidy and intelligent. We are reading "Mother's Milk" by Edward St. Aubyn. I won't say here what I thought of it because I must save my opinions for the group.

My children and their spouses

This was taken at my birthday party. They are my Super 8.

Where Am I?

I seem to be checking Facebook these days. I don't write on it and I have been ignoring my blog. I am fed up with my laziness so here I am. Now, what to say? Summer is almost over. That was interesting and original. I'm cleaning my house and sorting my life and making room for the new me to express herself. I have taken up pottery. Sabina is teaching me. I will be sure to let you know how I am doing because I know you will be eagerly awaiting an update. I may even take a picture of one of my efforts.

I went to two films last week with the grandchildren - Super 8 with Adam & Chloe and Smurfs 3D with Rosie. I liked Smurfs better. Adam and I agreed that the alien in Super 8 was miscast and we thought there were weaknesses in the plot! Just so you don't think I have completely reverted to second childhood, I went to the Coffee Concert on Sunday and heard a super rendition of a Mozart clarinet quintet.

Coming down to earth

Daniel, Michelle and Olivia left today at noon. I told her that I was going to miss her and she said, "It will be nice for you Grandma Anne because the house won't be so loud!" She is right about that but it is also very empty.

The party was nine days ago. I have pictures but I haven't sorted them yet. They will follow in next blog. It was a superb party. There was a bit of rain at the start but not for long and I had hired a marquee (that's English for tent) and we were protected as needed. We also had a bouncy castle for the children and two more gazebos; one for the bar and one for conversation. A lot of people came including all my children and their spouses and nine grandchildren. I even hired a photographer so I have excellent pictures and I could be in front of the camera. As the party wore on, the weak ones went home but the stalwarts stayed to dance. I had made a music ipod from the 60's and 70's. So good. I did do some clearing up on Sat & Sun but mostly I have been on lounge duty. Daniel was fantastic at helping me prepare the garden for the onslaught and Judith (my gardener) worked non stop on the flower beds until ten minutes before the first guests arrived. Darcy and Joe and Craig put up the gazebos. The caterer, bar tenders and wait staff turned up at 4 and started making the most wonderful hors d'oeuvres and preparing the glasses and the drinks. This was not a budget party but it was worth every penny because I didn't have to do anything except enjoy myself. I am very grateful to my family and friends for such a brilliant celebration.

Revving up for round two

We came back from Ireland on Sunday evening. It was a great week and such a treat to travel with my little sister. I slouched around yesterday enjoying that 'back home' feeling. I have been good today getting things ready for the onslaught tomorrow. Eight family members are arriving on five different flights. Fortunately they are of an age to come up from Heathrow on the coach. It drops them off on the corner of my street and a three minute walk from my front door. Can't wait.

Seven Oh Oh

I'm sitting up in bed this morning having my slow start with computer and coffee. One of the problems with travelling is that you are expected to get up and dressed and go down for breakfast and that is so not me. MJL (sister Jane) is going down for breakfast but I'm never hungry first thing so I decided to indulge myself as a birthday treat. She promises to bring back a banana and a croissant to keep me going till lunch. Of course it is unreal that I could be as old as I am. I'm considering making a few resolutions. You know 'first day of the rest of your life nonsense' but I will probably continue in my slothful way at least until the party and the visits are over. We are in Killkenny and will go to Kilarney today. Up to Galway on Friday and home on Sunday. I grab my chances to eavesdrop on the locals because I love the accent. We had a wonderful bus driver, tour guide in Dublin who had us laughing outloud. He should be a standup comedian and I told him so. The weather has been excellent so far - no rain.

Ireland

Arrived safely last evening. Jane was already here so we had a few bevvies and a meal and lots of catching up and then off to bed. We went to the Guiness brewery today but passed up the free pint. We are out this evening to a singing thing then off to Kilkenny tomorrow.

Party

Plans are well underway for the big party on the 8th. First I will be going to Ireland for a week with my sister to have a look at our roots, etc.

Alison and Harry were here last weekend and it was super to have the little man in residence. He continues to be wonderful. He and I slept in the same room so that I could get up in the morning with him and give Mummie Ali a bit of a lie in. 5 AM!! This in spite of the fact that the bedroom was in blackout like WW2. Of course there is always the possibility that I woke him up with my snoring.

Kindle

I am very much enjoying reading on the Kindle. It was a good buy. I am reading The Memory of Love for the book club in July and the Kindle lets me make notes and highlights that I can refer back to (to which I can refer back)! It bothers me to put a preposition at the end of a sentence but it sounds so phony and ridiculous to switch the sentence around.

Early Birthday present

I succumbed to the power of the electronic written word and bought myself a Kindle. It arrived yesterday and today I will get to know it and download my first book. I've been going back and forth about this and had the chance to use Sian's a couple of weeks ago. It doesn't mean I won't carry on collecting the real thing because they are so inexpensive at Amazon. Okay, I know I should be patronizing my local bookshops but I'm a techno-girl hence it is easy to click a mouse and a man turns up at the door a few days later with the book. I am trying out a few books at the moment to choose one for my turn at the book club in August. Any suggestions?

We have had a nice lot of rain overnight. This is good for the parched garden but not good for the clothes I left on the line.

Hiatus

I have been sick with a bad cold, cough, sore chest, etc for a week and not felt like writing. Improved now. The snoopers have worked out very well. I can watch telly without sub titles and I found the book club more hearable last week. The big test will be at the next Headington Action meeting as I try to take the minutes. I had forgotten how loud birds can be.

The big party gets ever nearer and I don't seem to be in a panic yet. I have been writing and sending invitations this week. All I can say is that if everyone comes, it will be a large event. There will be a marquee, caterer, bouncy castle and lots of bevvies so what can possibly go wrong?? Of course I am hoping for nice weather but I can't count on it so I'm not worrying about it.

Snoopers

I took the plunge last week and went for a hearing test. Needless to say I am faulty in the upper register like most older people. This can be helped by having hearing aids and I have decided to accept the inevitable. I probably wouldn't have bothered except for my job as minute secretary for Headington Action. Sitting in the middle of a fairly large room trying to make out what people are saying at a meeting has become difficult and I am embarrassed to ask people to repeat themselves all the time. Except for this activity I probably wouldn't have bothered because, living alone means there is no one on hand to irritate and I can use sub titles when I am watching the telly. Interestingly my three daughters response to this news has been entirely positive unlike their brother who was horrified. Alison says his reaction is because he can't stand the idea of having an 'old' mother but Jane thinks it is because I have been much more in the physical presence of the girls over the past few years so they are well aware of my dysfunction. Whatever the reason, I get the little thingies tomorrow and start the process of getting used to them. Unfortunately, the monthly meeting of HA is tonight so I won't have them for that. Are you wondering about the title line of this blog? No? Well I will tell you anyway. I realized that whereas there are two words for the item you place on your upper face when your sight is bad; i.e. glasses or spectacles, there is no similar word for hearing aids. I am working on a word to fill this gap. I have come up with three so far - snoopers- auricles – ear shots. I'm tending toward snoopers. I like auricle but it sounds like oracle and I'm not that. Any suggestions?

POModoro

I have been using the pomodora technique since 10AM and have done two on studio clearing and two on paperwork. God, I am so pleased with myself. I'm going to have lunch now and then do a couple more, at least. I'm hot today.

7th Anniversary

I looked at the calendar this morning and realized that seven years ago today, I smoked my last cigarette. I had tried a few times before to quit but always went back to it. There was nothing momentous about that date. I was in a hotel in New York and I couldn't be bothered going outside for a puff and I never went outside for a puff again (or inside either). I didn't smoke a whole lot but I was so addicted to the few I had each day that I don't think it occurred to me that it would last but it has.

RAIN BEAUTIFUL RAIN

I awoke to the sound of rain on the roof. Bliss. We've had none for about 6 weeks and the gardens are looking parched and sad. It is forecast to continue all day and more tomorrow.

Last Weekend

The Brighton family came for the weekend. A wonderful time was had by me. I hope they did as well.

Thomas John Williams - this is Harry's little brother. He is three months old and a splendid chap.


Grandma has a turn feeding the baby. I don't get chances like this very often so I made the most of it.


I rescued a large stuffed lion from the tip and Rosie made good use of him. The flowers in her hair were woven together by Chloe from my garden. It's nice to have both a lion and a big sister.

EASTER

Harry - Hat - Train


Jumping from a higher bed to a lower bed - the best game


The hunt is on


Who cares what the baskets look like as long as they have eggs in them


I can show you how to blow bubbles, Harry, cuz I'm really good at it

Charles V and the garden shed/studio

The paint on my garden room was wearing thin so I hired young Charles to paint it during the Easter break. He did a wonderful job. He is wearing one of his dad's old overalls and there is no mistaking his 'Gee-ness'. This has got me moving in the direction of clearing and sorting all my artsy stuff and before you know it, I will be producing masterpieces. Well, maybe not masterpieces but I will enjoy splashing paint around. Stay tuned.

More Garden

My garden is at its absolute best right now. The bluebells are glorious and many other plants are coming into bloom. The magnolia is finished but you saw that last time. We have had the driest April on record but I am holding off on the watering because I don't want to become a slave to the hosepipe and I don't want the garden to become artificially water dependent. Surely that has to be one of the advantages of living in England rather than southern California.

My garden

I took these pictures this morning. It's a beautiful day. Spring has sprung.

Adam

My little friend came over last evening to spend the night. I love having him here. He is good company even though he spends a good deal of the time on YouTube. He talks to the computer! We started the visit by going to KFC for supper. I haven't been there since the weight loss challenge started at the beginning of the year. I think I can excuse a quarterly visit.

Today is Mothering Sunday - Mother's Day in England. I'm going to the farm for tea. Ian and Judith are visiting at the moment so I'm having them here for lunch. I want them to see and admire my garden.

I feel the need to post some pictures but I need to take them first. Today is a good day to do that. Stay tuned.

The Best Volunteer Job

I spent Wed and Thu lying in bed in a good cause. Brookes nursing school has volunteers come in for the day to act as patients so the students can be tested on their skills. I have had my blood pressure taken about 50 times. It actually got down to 116/62 by the end of Wednesday. It usually runs high normal so this was good. I have a natural slow respiration rate so when one of the students seemed concerned I told her I do meditation and can easily go into a trance and hardly breathe at all so she mustn't worry but she said she would report it to her mentor. They gave us coffee and tea breaks and lunch. Lots of nice people too.

Be sure to check Jane's blog for a picture of the Marathon Man.

Three weeks is too long

I know, I have been very remiss with my blogging. It is partly due to not feeling very well and partly because I seem to go first to the WLC blog that I'm doing with my largish friends and relations. Anyway, here I am and I will start with a copy of the email I had this morning from Daniel. He ran the LA marathon on Sunday in pouring rain, gales and cold weather. What happened to LA? They should have come to Oxford. We had a beautiful day.


Hi Mum,
Thanks for the phone call yesterday. What a day! A rainstorm of Biblical proportions. I have never been so wet, so tired, and so cold as after I finished. But I feel pretty good today. There was a great moment when this Latino family was cheering at the road side. I think between Silver Lake and Hollywood. I had just run up two horrible hills downtown and was feeling pretty sorry for myself with 15 miles still to go. I had my name on my bib so I hear the Dad yelling, "Go Daniel, You Can Do It!" What an LA multicultural moment. Brought a tear to my eye and new resolve to my effort. The male cheerleaders and go-go dancers in West Hollywood didn't hurt either. Over 6,000 people didn't even finish so I am feeling pretty proud of my accomplishment, finishing a respectable 12,048. Not bad for a 46 year old geezer.
Talk to you soon.
Love,
Daniel

CONGRATULATIONS, WONDER BOY.

Illness strikes

I seem to have a cold with heavy viral influence. I'm going to have a home day today except for one trip to the Acupuncturist. I have been visiting her every three weeks and she has done a power of good with my arthritic knee joint. She also made diet and exercise suggestions - the usual less fat and more walk. Went to the book club last night but I wasn't well enough to enjoy it.

The Ballerina

Chloe danced in her ballet school production. I went with camera. I took pictures - small sample below. It was a wonderful show and she was excellent. I hadn't seen her for some time in full flower and up en pointe. What a beauty. She and her friends are off to Paris today for a three day holiday sans parents!

Brighton

I went down to Brighton on Friday to see the baby who is now almost three weeks old and to do some family bonding. I picked Harry up from his nursery school and we went home together to see the little brother. Harry is doing very well with the interloper. See picture below for a big brother kiss. After tea, we put the boys to bed and had a delicious supper and a bottle of wine. We topped off the fun with a double bill of Corrie. I did my Grandma bit this morning and got up at six to spend quality time with Harry.

Thomas John at his best


I'm 19 Days old and they expect me to read the back of brochures

The Boys

The Williams' Brothers

Family Bonding

Thomas and Eastbourne Grandma
(sorry to be late with this one)


Thomas and Oxford Grandma



Mummy Sian and Harry



Alison and the boys



Thomas John Williams

Thomas John Williams

The baby arrived this morning by C-section. Mother and son doing well. He weighed 7 lbs. I've been with Harry today so have not yet seen the new prince. I'll go tomorrow with camera and re-post. Alison has taken two pictures with her iphone and posted them on Facebook - Alison Williams

January

We are almost finished with January. It has been a good month for me. My self improvement projects include
-continuing with meditation course
-acupuncture
-talk therapy - finished for the time being
-regular walking
-food intake reduction otherwise known as diet
-gardening
-SAD lamp

I decided I was fed up with being depressed so I would pull out all the stops for self help. Of course it is not a controlled trial but I'm not a scientist. So far my mix 'em up method is working and that's all that matters.

The ongoing WLC

WLC stands for weight loss challenge. There are five of us in this group; all family and international. We have each logged a starting weight and we weigh in once a week on Friday mornings. We started on Jan 1 and plan to continue until the end of June. After two weeks, everyone is doing well but it is early days. I think the companionship will be a great help. We each have little tricks that we can share. Mine is to have a dinner party on Friday or Saturday evenings (after the weigh in) and throw caution to the wind then spend the rest of the week making up for the party and trying for a pound or two down.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELISABETH

Although we were three weeks late, we celebrated Elisabeth's 96th birthday yesterday. We couldn't do it on the day because of the snow. Elisabeth is fantastic. She still works and maintains a busy schedule. She teaches Alexander Technique and was originally trained by Mr. Alexander himself. She is slim and energetic and puts me to shame. It is a privilege to have her as a friend.

Christmas

I missed out on Christmas and New Year but let me report that they were great, especially Christmas. We went to John and Pat in Eastbourne and they provided a wonderful Christmas day. I came home on the 27th. There had been a lot of snow in the couple of weeks before Christmas so I went to Brighton on the bus. It works quite well - coach from the corner of my street down to Gatwick and then a second coach from there to Brighton. The only drawback was not being able to take Harry's present and the case of wine for John and Pat. I will have to make a second trip to Eastbourne with the wine although I used some of it a couple of evenings ago for an excellent dinner party. The dinner was a great success although it threw me way off track for the weight loss challenge. I had decided that January would be a dry month but faced with the coq au vin and other yummy food plus having spent the day getting everything ready, I succumbed to the call of the grape. It was worth it. It is hard to beat Chateauneuf du Pape. I'm back on the wagon and the food deprivation thing again although I had Rosie round today and she begged for a trip to MacDonald's so I ended up eating chicken McNuggets. Whoops. I'll have to starve for the rest of the week. We do our weigh in on Friday morning so I have five days. I won the first week and I would like to keep up the good work.

Roger

My friend Roger died today. I am very sad. I went to his house each week to read to him. I will miss him.