General Chat

Yes it is great when someone gives you info that you weren't expecting, we all hope for that. No you don't sound mean Bridget about the weddings ...pity they weren't all in the same area !!!!

Windy again today but sunny, go in to hosp for my pre-op assessment on Tuesday, it will be a long day starting with an ECG then all the rest, I just love sitting about in a hospital !!!

Then I should a big should go into hosp on 6th June for a hip replacement...I hope I do not get cancelled, I am tired of being in pain, tired of not being able to walk far, tired of putting on weight because I can't exercise..............Just TIRED. So keep everything crossed for me !!!!!!!!!!

Wonderful news Bridget, that you now know about your fathers roots. Well done to the person who does not wish to be named, for giving you the information. I wish that there were more people like them around.

I know what you mean about telling your father during your quiet time.
when my mum died (unexpectedly) I watched Coronation Street for a couple of weeks, so that she would know what was happening. I don't watch it myself, but just felt that she would know what was in my mind.

Yes, it was sad and cruel when women in Ireland had children out of wedlock, or they left their husbands. Men seemed to have the power, and the horrible ones could use it to hurt people, and often did so.

A cousin of my mums was taken in by men more than once, made pregnant by them and then abandoned. Unhappily her children were taken away from her when they were babies, she was never told what happened to them.
Eventually she meet a lovely man, they married and had many happy years together (but unfrotunately no children) I met this lovely old couple more than once, and a nicer, more lovong pair you could not meet..

Today I have done a little weeding in the back garden i.e. dug up the weeds that were growing between the pavung slabs by the house. Then had a bout of extream tiredness, so have has a (long) nap late this afternoon.

The Boards on GR are still being rather moody on my computer. I hope that it is "all better" by tomorrow

Enjoy the meeting with "the grandchild" I am sure that she will love to get any info re her grandmother that you have. Taking a lot of tissues sounds like a good idea.
Enjoy the wedding too.

Hello everyone, and so glad to see a number of messages.

I understand what you say about my travelling. I think it is because I came home in February as some of you will recall and we went to Amsterdame first for a few days the drove through parts of France, and eventually arrived home.
More recently we drove back for my son's blessing of his Marriage and just a few weeks before my sister who lives in
bath told me that her son was getting married next Friday so of course we have to be there. We need to go to Bristol Airport and the only flight from Valencia was on this coming Monday and we will arrive in Bristol at midnight!!! My niece has said she will pick us up from the airport.
The o ly flight back is on the 7th of June and as it is this sister who was my birthday present when she was born we thought we would celebrate my 65th birthday together.
I am not anticipating going back to the UK again this year, it does work out quite expensive especially as we put Jet and Joe in kennels, this time my eldest son is coming to dog sit for us.

This last few weeks have been amazing re my family tree. I have a wonderful Aunt by marriage on my tree who had a very sad life at times. My mother tried to find her family but never got very far although she did find three of her children. Well last month a new person started a tree on GR and I had a match, I simply coul not believe what happened next, but suffice to say I now have a truly beautiful letter written by my mother to a granddaughter who at the time was not allowed to reply...
Enough to say that we are thrilled as a family to have found these people,in fact we have learnt so much, the children were placed in a Dr barnardoes Home and stayed there until they were old enough to leave, they were not given the correspondence sent to them unless it was a birthday card etc and never given any from their mother.her first husband was a very cruel man,and this is conformist by remaining family. Now for something strange.. One of her grandchildren lives just 10 miles from my sister in Bath....yes I am going to meet her...I think I will need some tissues with me..

Has any one else had such an experience??

Do surprises come in threes?yesterday late evening I had a message from someone who does not wish to be named and was told that my father came from Wexford, and he was given to foster parents because the parents were already expecting him when they married. He was given away when he was 1 day old! He was born in 1912 in Dublin....I can know tell him in my quiet moments that his history has been found.

As you can all guess these have been emotional times.
well thanks for reading my saga I will be back later today or tomorrow.

Enjoy your day everyone

14.40 hrs Spain

Goodmorning,

Seems as if to-day will be another cool day - right up my alley:) I love the cooler weather.

He's fine thanks Ann, he only has reading glasses so I think it was just "one of those things" missed his footing somehow.

It's craft market day again to-day so that's where I will be and then to do a bit of shopping for my friends before visiting them.

Had good news this week from my friend who had a bowel resection last year, she had her check-up and a scan and got the all clear, I am so pleased for her.

Am expecting another friend of long standing next week, she will be spending about 10 days with us while her husband is away playing in a bowls tournament., am looking forward to that.

I had to look up bocadilla as I had no idea what it is, sounds like what we call a submarine sandwich.

You are quite the jet-setter Bridget, when are you off to the UK?

Well ladies have a wonderful day and enjoy whatever you are up to to-day.


Val.

8.34 a.m.

Well we are home from our holiday in Dorset, don't holiday weeks go quickly, so much faster than those at home. We had a lovely time.

Val I am sorry to read about your husband's fall and pleased that he has no bad lasting effects. Does he wear varifocal glasses? If so he may have not been looking through the right 'part' of the lense going up the steps.

Bridget, I have lost track, when do you return to UK for the wedding?

Good evening every one. Today the has been mixed re the weather, bright and sunny this morning until around 15.00hrs when it became over caste. No rain yet though. We went out today to play boules with a group of friends which was good fun, however we also had lunch at the cafe attached to the site and we were not impressed .. Will just have a bocadilla next time.. The food was greasy and not very appetising. The wine tasted like vinegar although one of the men drank it.
Tomorrow I shall start packing for our trip back to the UK for the wedding.. Must say I hope there isn't a third wedding this year! It is.costly with out fits, flights etc and then the gifts. Hope that does not sound mean.
my son who lives in Barcelona will stay here so I know that he will keep jet and joe as company and take them for walk, and he knows how to keep the house clean.

I will be having my haircut in the UK and I think I will have it cut quite short so I can look after it easily.
Not a lot happening at the moment so will say bye bye for now and wish you all a pleasant evening or day,depending where you are of course.

I will be working on my tree on Genes later,isn't it strange how one can have a few people who one cannot find anything about and in less than four weeks all three families who are not connected to each other and then have had so much info about these people I cannot keep up with the info. Hope this makes sense

17.31hrs Spain
:-)

Hello everyone,

No rain to-day, the sun keeps peeping through and then disappearing.

Thanks Berona and Tess for your concern.. OH is feeling fine , just needs his fingers dressed still has the grazes on his forehead and nose but that is not a problem. he only uses glasses for reading, I think he missed his footing somehow. He popped in to the undertakers this morning with some chocolates for the lady who had helped him, she was pleased to see that he was OK.

Tess you are quite daring having coloured streaks in your hair! I had my hair cut yesterday, quite short so just hope it will be manageable.

Bought a collar with a bell on for the cat as I don't want her catching the birds now that they are using the feeder.
Take care.

Val. 13.40

Hi all

Been baking this morning, lost of cheese scones and also fruit ones, ready for our churches fete next month. Also have done a recipe from the Hairy Bikers Cookbook, Anglesey Eggs for supper tonight so will post on Culinary Delights if its any good.

Very overcast today, and that wind still chilly.

Got another message from an old school colleague,we were in the school play together, everyone had a crush on him, and I got the part, and was envied by them all.....you have no idea how hard it is to walk around in a crinoline !!! Glad we don't have them now !!!!!!!!!

11.15am Norfolk UK

What a lot has happened since I last looked at this thread. I look away ffor a couple of days and bham1 evryone seems to have posted a lot of interesting news.
Bridget, well done to your grandson, thank goodness his mum changed his schools, it has enable the true young man to emerge.

So pleased too eith all your news re hot matches and the new contacts you have made, very exciting isn't it.

Mary, did you have to go to a lot of trouble to be able to vote in elections? As Bridget said, I hope that you got the result you wanted.
I wonder if this will encourage Bridget and her O.H to register, especially now that she is retired and will be living in Spain for most of the time.

Val, so sorry to hear about your OH's fall. I hope that he soon feels better. Did anyone come to his aid? Perhaps he needs new glasses.

Berona, my (one and only) son wanted to join the RAF but only if he could be air crew. He was told as a young teenager that he couldn't realise his dream because he has asthma. He was very disappointed, especially as there was nothing he could do to change the situation.

Well, I went to the college on Monday and had my hair "done".
My mainly white hair (with a little bit of black at the back) now has bright pink, blue and lilac streaks.
People now smile when they see me in the street! I also had it trimmed so that it doesn't look an untidy mess at the moment.
The colours will slowly wash out. So I will have to try to show my fave out of doors a few times before that happens.

I am having my eyes tested in a couple of weeks time. I will need new frames not just new lenses, as I managed to stand on my glasses a few weeks ago. Luckily the lenses didn't break but the frames got rather bent.

It is raining here at the moment, so can't put the washing on the line to dry. I have however managed to plant a windmill in the garden. Yes one of those plastic things that spin in the wind. It adds a little colour anyway, and survives whatever the weather.

Tess
10.15 UK

Berona, congratulations for being the first person on page 69, who would have ever guessed that we would be heading towards page 70,one day. I am quietly proud that we have been so successful at learning about each other, writing about so many topics, sharing laughter and tears etc. I wonder if we will reach 100 pages one day??

It seems from your message that your son has been very successful in his own right and you must be very proud of him. It is the continuation of having young men go into the Army and the Navy that makes me feel so proud...in the UK there are always stories about young people who are not achieving, or lazing around etc but in fact there are plenty who do amazing work and apart from the occasional prize which somehow is usually organised by an old celebrity they seem to be ignored unless serving in very dangerous places as at the moment. Well enough about that from me!

Also thanks for your comment about returning to work....that is why I stopped my all important Registered Nurse status.

About home. Well this morning is somewhat chilly and the sky is of three shades this morning, a rather dark blue at the horizon, then a sludgy yellow pink and finally a pale wishy washy blue. I can still see the quarter moon and I am confused as to whiter or not it is going to be a hot day...will just have to wait and see. The fishing trawliers can still be heard in the distance, and there are some birds who are twittering but not as many as yesterday.

The peace however is still present and adds to my favourite time of day.

Yesterday we went out to lunch with about 30 of us in total. We had great fun, and I have been asked and agreed to help with the fundraising for la local charity and also for anyone in the group who may suddenly need or know of someone who needs a little help.

We go to a different venue each time, and occasionally to a persons house if their garden can accommodate us all.

The raffle raised 100.00 euros yesterday which i thought was a reasonable amount. This is held by the treasury and at the next meeting he will let us know how much we have in total.

Well that's about all for now, so wishing you all a happy and healthy day

07.12 hrs Spain




:-) :-)

Good morning from Sydney. Some intermittent sunshine but temperature dropping in readiness for our winter, which starts next week.

Bridget - that's great about your grandson. I hope he continues to progress and goes on to do what he wants. My eldest son wanted to join the air force - not so much to fly, but to work on the aircraft engines - but was not accepted because he was 'red/green confused'. A big disappointment to him, he settled for an apprenticeship as a toolmaker and later did further study to become an engineer. Now has his own business making woodworking machinery. I don't think he ever got over the disappointment, though.

You said what I said many years ago. When I gave up work to start my family, I soon said 'how did I find time to go to work?' - then years later, when I returned to the work force, it wasn't long before I said 'what did I do with myself all those years at home?. Once we talk like that, it means that we have settled into our new way of life. I'm sure you won't regret it.

Val - I think that falling 'up' steps brings more shock with it than if you fall 'down' them. Hope your OH recovers soon.

It is quite chilly here and at the moment it is raining nicely although I don't think it will last as the sky is quite light.

Having the newspaper so early yesterday to-day it hasn't been delivered yet!

My husband had rather a nasty fall yesterday, came home looking like the walking wounded, he had tripped going up a couple of steps, his forehead and nose are grazed and two fingers badly grazed.. It's where he fell - right in front of the Undertakers! At our age a fall like that gives one quite a shock. He is fine this morning.

I am off later this morning to have a hair cut, can't wait. I always feel so untidy when my hair needs cutting.

Nothing else to ay to-day I'm afraid so will say goodbye for now.



Val.

9.17a.m

Morning everyone

Its a vey blowy day here in Norfolk, tho the sun is shining !!

Taken up the idea with the carrots, and will hope for good results, planted out cucumbers today and some lettuces. The courgettes are romping must have at least 8 appearing on one of the plants already.

OH has deserted me got called in for a meeting that no one had toldd him about !! Only to do with voluntary work, but he dashed off.

I had just made him a coffee ............oh well

9.55 am Norfolk

Goodmorning all,

Cloudy and windy again to-day. hopefully the washing will dry quickly.
The newspaper was delivered at 5.15 a.m this mornig, and it was stil pitich dark outside, quite unusual as it normally comes round about 6.30 a.m.so as I was awake I got up and had some coffee and read the paper

Congratulations to your grandson Bridget.

My contact in Southampton has sent me some information from parish records relating to my gggrandmother's family which is good to have.

I have been trying to buy a mans jersey and would you believenone of the shops have any in stock, we were in Port Elizabeth yesterday and I looked at a few shops there but also no luck. Seems as if I will have to get busy knitting but goodness knows when I will finish a big jersey :-). One of the shops I visited yesterday had clothes up to size 9XL, I didn't realise clothes were available in such large sizes.



Val.

9.19. a.m.

Good morning all. It is 07.05 here and it was the sound of the fixing boats going out for the days catch that woke me this morning. So now I am sitting on the patio, fresh coffee being sipped slowly and listening to the birds singing. I am sure that there are many different birds this year, there is so many different places for them to sing from that I cannot see them, perhaps I should get my binoculars out, but they do sing with such gusto.

It is always amazing to me that I can see the moon, which is a half moon today, whilst the sun is shining. The for caste is very good so keeping my fingers crossed that we have another good weather day.
Mary we never registered to vote but well done to you to have done so. Where the results in your area what you hoped for?

Isn't life strange sometimes. My grandfather was one of many children and with a surname of Ford it has been well nigh impossible to find his siblings marriages etc. One in particular interested me and suddenly a hot much turned up. I followed it through and lo and behold the person on who's tree he was confirmed the connection and kindly sent my full details of his marriage, children etc on the day he was going on holiday. Last month a sudden hot match came up for a name which included an unusual forenames. Now this name has been on my tree since day one as she was my favourite au tbh marriage. She and my uncle did not have any children. Now she has parents, a former husband ,many children and grandchildren and I have a comp,ete but very sad history. Her serving children are over the moon with having found her, her grandchildren are the same and they hsve sent me so much info I can hardly keep up. I know I have posted something about this a short while ago but new info is coming out almost every day.
Yesterday two more happy events!! A cousin who is in touch with me very very infrequently sent me a very long and moving email and would like to come and visit during the school holidays, and an old school friend who I found on one of the sister sites is going to be in Spain this summer and will only be a couple of hours away and she also wants to visit.

Looks as if I am going to be kept busy.

Yesterday we had to go and buy a new umbrella for our table near the swimming pool. We were very fortunate, we went to the new Brico Deco and bought a lovely big green umbrella which also has tiny lights on the inside which do not use electricity but are solar controlled.....it was 59 euros which we thought was a very good buy. We do need some new garden furniture but we may wait until the season is over this yopear and then buy ready for next year. Wooden furniture dries out here and needs a lot of attention, with oh and I ,both away for a year the furniture was not cared for so has completely dried out and is distorted.....oh well it was seven years old last December so not too bad.

Well that is about all my news, so will pop back later today to see what is happening, meanwhile I hope you all enjoy your day.

07.38 Spain

Yes congrats to your grandson.

Hi all
Well the weather as Bridget said is beautiful. Yesterday we went to the beach and had our second dip of the year. Oh boy it was still cold but non the less very refreshing. After our swim we have breakfast as I take a flask of coffee and a couple of cereal bars with us. All very pleasant and relaxing. Came back for lunch and to watch Grand Prix - and I promptly fell asleep !!
The afternoon found Paul on computer booking up our trip to UK - this time we are motoring up to France and over on the ferry from Rosscoff to Plymouth - so I am going on a cruise - ha ha !! We hope to break our journey and stay at friends in France first - then our plan is to go to the Midlands and see family and friends - I have yet to tell the grandchildren we are coming - do so hope they will not to away on holiday as we are going mid August. The last few days in UK will be spent in Cornwall with my mom and sister then back on the ferry to France.
Last night we had a bbq and sat outside until bedtime as it was so warm.
Glad to hear the blessing went well Bridget and congratulations to your grandson - you must be so proud.
My mom sees a specialist on June 2nd - the scan showed a partial collapsed lung and gall stones - so we will wait and see what can be done for her. Our youngest son also sees a specialist on June 29th - do hope he and mom will be ok.
Went and voted yesterday in the Spanish elections - so very different from England. All the different parties had leaflets on a table - you pick the one you want to vote for and put in an envelope - no standing in a little cubicle with a pen. Then take it to a table with passport in hand and there must have been 4 different lists for them to check you live in Oliva - one lady could not find my n ame at first so I told her I was therre somewhere !!!
Hope you all have a good day I am off now to do some cleaning.
Love Mary xx

Good morning to you all from sunny Peniscola, Spain. It is a glorious day here, and I sat out on the veranda this morning and watched the sun rise, the sky turning into daylight and the silvery top of the sea slowly disappear as the blue sky developed into a beautiful shade of blue. As most of you know this used to be my regular routine and something I used to write about most mornings. It was this atmosphere which made me start my thread.
Valerie, we have always been involved in the local community in one-way or another, wherever we lived.
I used to be a staunch member of a political party in the UK, was on the school boards when my children were young, I feel very strongly in the Jesuit saying, " give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man".
I lead a campaign for preventing a road being built very close to where I lived
In London /Essex boarder and after a year and much hard work the local authority took over and then the new road was built underground leaving the beautiful park, and green areas to be used by future children and there parents,.
However my outings now are purely for pleasure and fun. I agreed to try the outings described but if I find it too much I will know to say "I am not ready yet". I am quite content with my own company however it is delightful when people visit. Hope this makes sense.

Greenfingers how nice it must have been to find your old school friend, .

Tess, well done in sorting out your garden, it can be so relaxing an frustrating as well. Think of the exercise you will get and the pleasure, I am looking forward to hearing more about it.

My cumquats stayed very small, were incredibly sharp and have fallen of the tree...I must have been doing something wrong. All other fruit doing very well, thinking now about a cherry tree but unsure how to care for them or what variety to buy.
Any help or advice will be welcome.

Well time to have breakfast so bye bye for now

08.31hrs Spain

Congratulations to your Grandson, I am sure he will do well Bridget

I have just had some wonderful news and I simply had o share it...
My eldest Grandson will be 16 soon and on Saturday he received a letter from Oxley College hot far from where jhe lives that he definetly has a place at the College from Septembber. He will be doing a course which is recognised by the armed forces as suitable for entry to the Army Navy or Airforce. He is so excited as he has had quite severe Dyslexia, and at times was bullied by other children, We all persevered about the positive things in his life and then when he changed schools two uears agoo as hi mum was in her words " Feed up with him being bullied" she sent him to another school where within a few weeks he had made great progress. One of the teachers explained that all he needed was a special comp for people with this condition so we gathered enough money and the result is a charming happy polite young man who is now being given the opportunity he deserves. So the next generation looks as if it is going to keep up the family tradition...Sorry if this is a bit twee but I am bowled over just as much as I was when my youngest twin was accepted at Sandhurst.. he and his twin also have dyslexia...

Good night to all of you, I am now going to have a glass of wine to celebrate the good news.

20.34 hrs Spain