General Chat

Aunteeee,

That naice Mr Brian (De-reme) Cox is stargazing. We are to get our special specs out for Fridays occurrence. Its the partial eclipse, best viewing is the Midlands or Wales. Now where is Pat rish aaaa? She needs to get the tuk tuk at the ready
;-)

Goodness Aunty, you have been fed very well except I know not what the grub is that you have eaten except the paella :-S :-S :-S

Pat rish aaaa has done very well.

I watched part of the devils football, not all on account of the back. The celebrations were low key for some fool has put Mothers day on one side of my birthday and St Patricks day on the other side. Is that enough of a hint ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)

I watched many hours of a musical this afternoon. The one where Mr Crowe and co sing and sing and sing :-0
The reason for this is thst the ladies who lunch and I are hithering orf to the metropolis to see a production of the said film. I was adviced to get the gist of it so to speak. I am looking forward to it, a tenner may be required if the film length is anything to go by!!!!

Im tootling orf now to get a niace cuppa

Happy Mothers day to all

<3

Happy Mothers Day, dear Ladies, or more correctly, Happy Mothering Sunday.

I do hope your nearest and dearest have treated you all well.

As you know dears, I lost my dear daughter a long time ago, but Pat-trish-aaaah is my grand-daughter, and a substitute daughter, so I have been spoiled today.

Well.............I say spoiled...................it was an usual day to say the least.

Little did I know that she had given Mrs Berry the weekend orft to spend with her own family.

Pat-trish-aaaaah had beaten me to it, as it was my intention too.

So I was treated to a Spanish Mothering Sunday, with dear Pat-trish-aaaah and her new husband Juan, doing the cooking.

Well, the sunshine streamed through the windows at an ungodly hour this morning, as the curtain were dragged back, and a tray with breakfast was thrust in front of me.

Have you ever had paella for breakfast dears? No? Neither had I. But being the game old bird that I am, I managed to force down the chicken and prawns before even washing my face.

I escaped to church, as is my wont, but was told to return by 1pm with both Octavia and Georgianna and their gentleman walkers for luncheon.

A groaning table was waiting for us when we arrived home. Fully laden with Zarangollo, Chireta, Gazpacho, Pinchitos, Mollete, Cocide and Pisto.

We ploughed through all of these, and then dessert was served............Churro, Panellets and Totell.

I have to say dears, I feel fully stuffed and more than a little sleepy.............I shall doze now, and fill you in further with the Cruise at a later date.

I hope you are all well dears.

Toodle
Auntie Petunia

Good upside down morning Ladies,

I have indeed been held ransom by the little tyke next door. Ladies, she crawls :-D, at six and a half months... Now trying to pull herself upright..... One has need of eyes in the back of ones head....
The days seem to be flying by of late, good gracious me, we are nearly to mid March.
My OH had a birthday last week. Two days later we got a real fright. OH's nephew was a rear seat passenger in a nasty car crash, how he walked away from it, we will never know. The front seat passenger sadly lost his life... Very sad indeed.

We only want good news for a bit.

Your travels sound delightful Petunia. :-). I cannot get my OH the slightest bit interested in a cruise :-(. How were the ship meals dear.?. I have seen a programme on tv about the copious amounts of food some passengers heap upon their plates, only to leave most of it to waste....... ***visions of little piggies are before my eyes***. Actually, I think they are rather large piggies..... :-P.

Tunisia sounds rather interesting.. I am never likely to get there. Do tell all. :-D.

Sorry to hear you have been poorly Petunia. I trust you are well and truly on the mend. Teresa too, have you seen your 'man' yet?.
~~~~ to Lesley, hope all is well with you and yours.

It is a tad chilly here this morning so I will presume you will be getting our sunshine days very soon. :-). Nothing like a sunny day to lift the spirits.

Time to get myself moving and ready for work. I can tell you, I am sick of battling with pesky little flies. I am sure they are immune to fly spray :-|. Hopefully they will soon buzz off to hibernate...

Have a pleasant evening.

Toodle, :-)

Poor Octavia, im sure you could have done a deal and traded her for six camels :-D,

Some folk I know not a stones throw from here like a good haggle, tis not ladylike at all :-0

Orf now to look for the dear departed on fmp

Teresa

:-D

Good morning Ladies, I trust we are all well.

Teresa, have you seen your man yet, to suggest treatment? I do hope he can fix you very soon. You must be in pain, such is the end of years of lifting and shifting and administering good works. I wish you well very soon dear.

I fear our Upsidedown Susan is being held to ransom by a little cutie, and it is just as it should be. How luck the little cutie is having a great-grandma, she is blessed.

Now..............dipping dears. That is a dancing term, generally in the tango, when the gentleman lets the lady drop a little backwards, and catches her before he hits the deck, as it were, especially on Ship. Not being dunked headfirst into a pot of paint!!!! Tutty tut.

So.......................we then cruised for a day or so, I must say it was very slow, probably a row-boat could have gawn faster, but we did drop anchor a couple of time...............we reach the Med. Such pretty sights, hillsides adorned with whitewashed houses. Just like a picture postcard, did you get the cards by the by gels?

Well....................when we espied Tunisia. What a wonderful country. We docked at Tunis, and headed for the town, and decided to visit the markets. We do like to ferret around, haggling and smelling the smells.

Oh dear the most strange thing happened...............Octavia was looking on a fruit stall, when a strange gentleman approached her. He murmured something in her ear. To which she snorted and walked away.

Was he propsitioning her? Sadly not dears, he needed a skivvy and thought she would be ideal. Octavia? She has never done a hard days work in her life!

Onto the next stall dears which I will tell you about next time..........

Toodle
Auntie Petunia

Aunnty dear, whats dipping :-S :-S :-S

Ah the colussuium, I do hop you didnt need the facilities while you were there. I did and ended up in the gents due to the very long queue in the ladies. The gents was empty so orf I totted swiftly followed by other ladies :-D :-D :-D

You have the "post cruise blues" you need to book another quick, and of course if you go with the same company you may get a discount or even more on board credit ;-)

Im still indisposed but am seeing a man very soon to see what can be done.

Seeyalater

Teresa :-D

Good morning dear Teresa, I trust you are a little better?

No dear, as you know alcohol does not touch my lips, neither does it go straight down the gullet! Tutty tut!

Venice was glorious, but Roma was wonderful. We visited the Wedding Cake, and the Colusseum, the Forum and the Catacombs. I must say Octavia took a nasty turn down the Catacombs and it was a toss up who looked the worse, she or the corpses.

Miss Andrews dear? No, not she. But this marvellous dancer and his partner.

As you know they perform in the evenings, and take lessons during the day. I must say when he held me in his arms, he could have pushed me backwards anywhere. Georgianna took a shine to him too, and paid for extra lessons. Nothing our Georgie likes better than being dipped.

The sun was wonderful while we were cruising, how unlike we are now back home. It is very grey here dears, and more than a little chilly.

I shall regale you with the next leg of our journey as and when.

Toodle
Auntie Petunia

Hallo Aunty ah Venice such a wonderful city, beautiful sights, I do hope you had enough wonger to pay for the coffee in the square. I know they charge an arm and leg and a bit more. On a visit there we felt we should take out another mortgage to pay the ripping orf ************* ops the spirit of the Docker made a quick visit there for a moment :-S :-S :-S

A shawl is very useful, mainly when one needs a quick cover up in the historic buildings and heat of the day. Also dear it is useful to fan oneself when seeing small gals in red coats. I fear the shock of the coffee in the square is clouding your vision and making you see things which are not there. Tutty tut tut. either that or too much vino ;-)

Dear me has Miss Andrews been reduced to performing on cruise ships :-D :-D :-D, It must be an upmarket ship.We had a naice tribute act of the fab 4 beat combo and the son of Paul Daniels when we embarked. Mind you they were very good.

Tootling orf to attend the grub.

Teresa


~~~~~~~to Susan and Lesley

Good morning dear ladies, how are we?

Happy Birthday to dear Upsidedown Susan's Mama. What a nice lady!

Well dears, I have been a little poorly of late, thank you for asking, I have had a humdinger of a cold. That flu jab did its work, but did not save me completely.

However, more tales of derring do!

As you know, I left you in Spain.................then onto Italy.

We did visit Venice, aaaah, what a lovely city. Once again, like the Grand Tour, we visited St Marks Square, and sat and drank coffee in a small cafe and watched the world go by. We then visited a glass factory, and bough copious amounts of goblets, I shall send each of you a set down the cyber hatch. I am sending you gifts from the country I tell you about gels, I do not want to bombard you with too much, too soon. #smiles smugly#

Well, Georgianna suddenly remembered a dear little shop that sold shawls, and wanted to take us there. It was well of the beaten track, and we crossed I dont know how many bridges to get there. Do you know gels, I swear there was a little girl in a red coat running in front of us most of the way. I dont know that she should have been out of her own, but she seems to know the way...........

Eventually we go to said shop, and what a colourful array of shawls there were for our perusal. I chose one each in white, black and a colbalt blue, and so did Georgianna and Octavia. See, they realise what good taste I have, and decided to copy. My only stipulation was that we do not all wear the same colour at the same time! Tutty tut!!!!

Our visit was over too soon, and we returned to the Ship, and it was then that I first clapped eyes on Victor, the professional dancer and his partner Victoria. They had joined the ship in Venice, and was to travel with us to Cyprus, where he had an engagement at a hotel.

My dears, he was absolutely wonderful. No, dears, not in that way.........he was a wonderful dancers. The talented duo put on a show that night, and I could imagine myself dancing with him, a tango. Johnny Fontaine and Baby would have nothing on us.

I shall leave you panting for more gels!

Time for my next inhalant of balsalm!

Pip Pip
Auntie Petunia

Hallo Susan, wish your Mama belated birthday greatings and hugs :-D <3

Two fat ladies? My goodnesss you would never think, one and a half fat Ladies more like :-D


Aunty dear, are you about dear. I have been watching a recording of a beat combo who I have'd liked since i was but a twinkle, playing in your neck of the woods last summer. It was very good. The beat combo had a combined age of many many years, nearly 300 I think. Mind you they have more movement than I do at the moment. :-|

The Devils football is now on, tutty tut tut


Teresa

~~~~~~~~ to all,

I am off to see my Mama today. Tis her birthday - think two fat ladies ;-)...

Toodle pip :-)

Hallo Susan, can you send a little sun to us, its dank, dark and raining. Im home alone and got cabin fever.................

Aunty dear, did you pick up a rack on your travels, you know the type, good King Enery the 8th was very fond of them. I feel just a little tweek may help my back, either that or a good chiropractor :-( :-( :-( :-(

Glad that Patrishaaaaaaa is settled and happy. Who drives the tuk tuk now Aunty dear? How is Mrs Berry and Holly :-D

I look foward to hearing about your adventures on the high seas, I wonder did you run into any of FTEs ship mates when you were there ;-)


Teresa

:-),

Sounds lovely Petunia. I am sure my Papa had some castanets or were they maracas ?. :-(, I can't remember.

I shall look forward to your next instalment with baited breath.

Tis Saturday morning here, that means I play at being a skivvy for the day :-|. At least the sun is shining and the day looks to be a stunner.
psst, there is a movie being shot in the forest not too far from here. Rumour has it the Mr Bobby Blueford is 'here' :-)....

Have a lovely weekend,

Toodle pip

Ah ladies, you have returned to the fold. No doubt your festivities with your families over the Christmas period was wonderful. How lucky you are to have family to share it with.

I have been troubled with a cold over the past week or so, and took to my bed, but I am much better now, thank you very much.

Now I have told you briefly about Francais, now let me enlighted you about Spain. Can you hear my castinets clacking?

As you know I have 'history' with Spain, and I thought the time was right to face my demons and go back there. Also it was a good opportunity to meet the in-laws.

I must say that Pat-trish-aaaaah and Juan were most encouraging for me to meet the family, and I can now see why.

The ship docked at Barcelona, to the other tourists to have a day excursion. I did explain to the dear Captain, that we would be spending three days in Spain, and that we would rejoin the ship further down the coast.

All the passengers trundled off the ship and made their way down the gangway. They were all of aflutter, with the prospect of spending time with the locals. No doubt there were numerous fans, castinets, teatowels, and all manner of local ware being transported back to their cabins.

I have arranged ahead to have a cab to meet us at the port, and we quickly sped away into the countryside. I must say, the country lanes have changed somewhat since I was last there. But I need not say the circumstances of my last visit, as we are all women of the world, but it was not a happy time for me then.

Juan [the father] was waiting for us on the veranda when we arrived. He and his wife Dolores [a most handsome woman] made us most welcome. All three of us ladies had to share a room, but that was not different to us sharing our Suite on the ship. It was freshly painted white, with little wooden beds. I must say it was very pretty, there were handmade spreads on the beds, someone has nimble fingers!

Our visit was over in a flash, we met all the family, and Conchita who Pat-trish-aaaah became very friendly with, has two little girls of her own Lucia and Marcela. Both with a shock of black hair, and olive skin. They were the prettiest little girls I have seen in many a year. I shall hemail you the photos in due course.

We were taken around the town, and introduced to everyone, we ate with extended family, toured the local vineyards, visited churches and was made to feel so welcome, it was a real wrench to leave. But leave we did. After distributing our gifts and receiving presents back. I dare say our presents were more authentic than those at the portside, but we are not ones to gloat or show off. We just wore our hand crafted shawls the next time we went to dinner!

I must say it is years since I cruised, and I felt just like Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember, standing by the rail looking out over the sea, with the moon playing on the waves.

Well, I do not wish to impart all my news in one go, keep them wanting more is the order of the day.

Pip Pip
Auntie Petunia

Hello Petunia,

How lovely to have you back at the helm. I trust we will be entertained a plenty by tales of your escapades.

Many thanks for the Madam Coco :-), I shall give myself a healthy spray before I leave the house this morning, no doubt I shall leave a very fragrant trail where ever I pass today. :-D. I shall have to hide Madam from my fruit as it is one of her favourite fragrances.

We have had a wonderfully hot summer, in fact our farmers are complaining it has been too hot and dry :-(. We are on the downward slide to Autumn now, as ever, the seasons continue to change.

Have a pleasant evening. I look forward to hearing more of your adventure.

~~~~~~~ to all,

Toodle

Ah Ha me matey,

Back from your jaunt at last Auntie :-) :-) :-)

Just a quick Haloooooo and I will be back for tea tomorrow

Teresa

Good evening dear Ladies. I AM HOME!!

Well dears what an adventure I have had! As you know I went with Octavia and Lavinia on a World Cruise. How jolly is that?

We set off from Southampton dears, on a beautiful white Cruise Liner, we waved and cheered, and slowly, very slowly, we set off on our Great Adventure!

The first night was very jolly, we set sail in the afternoon, and we had all our clothes unpacked for us, no roughing it for us! The First Night, we had a soiree, and met the Captain. A rather chic Cocktail Party I will have you know.

We eyed up the competition, and they us!

The very next day we were cruising down the coast of France. We had an afternoon excurison in the South of France, and showed everyone what we were made of. We toured the harbour, and had afternoon tea on a very nice yatch. We met a pleasant man called George. He was honeymooning with his new wife, and he said Octavia reminded him of his dear Mama, and asked us onboard. Well it would have been insulting not to accept his invitation, so we said yes. He made a great show of using a coffee machine, and dropped it into the conversation. Coffee in the afternoon! How common!

Back on the Ship, we changed for dinner and went to see the Show. As we were in France, we were treated to Can Can Girls. Pretty gels with frilly drawers, and then we danced the night away. I must say there were plenty of very respectable men to escort us onto the dancefloor, and we had a very jolly time.

Overnight we travelled down towards Spain, and we had a day at sea.

Needless to say there will be souvenirs for you all gels. Duck down while the perfume from Madame Coco comes down the cyber hatch.

That is enough excitement for one night dears, more tales of derring do to follow.

Toodle
Auntie Petunia

Hello Ladies,

Thanks for the dvd Petunia. I love a good wedding, such a joy to see the 'love'....

oooh, a cruise, how delicious. I look forward to hearing all about your adventures on your return.

If you find yourself sailing down under, please do give me a shout.

Until we regroup on your return, may I wish you a very Merry Christmas and an extra Happy New Year. :-)

Have fun !!

Auntie, the dvdvd was, um, interesting, your make up arteest has worked wonders on Pat rish aaaaa, I hardly recognised her :-S :-S :-S