Crosswords

My friend from Tokyo and I never have a cross word though we have recently been discussing our interest in cryptic crosswords.  She is much more computer literate than I am and  is getting on like a house on fire.  I rely on my ancient Collins Pocket Thesaurus when I need to clarify some of the more incomprehensible words.  I was taught that every single word in the clue plays a significant part in the answer.
I started doing the Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword when I was sixteen or seventeen.  During 1939/40, in what we called the "phoney war" before the bombs started falling on us, we spent a lot of time in Civil Defence waiting for something to happen.  The members of staff were a mixed lot of civil servants, Local Government people, ex-service men (known as old sweats) and volunteers.  A chap who had previously been an architect at the London County Council got me started on the crossword  and I have been attempting to do it  almost every day since.  I say attempting to do it as I don't always manage to complete it.  Some days are easier than others depending on the compiler ( a brainbox if ever there was one).  Sometimes I am ploughing away for two or three days.
I feel my day is not complete without tackling my crossword.  We made the headlines in the local paper when we went on honey moon to the south of France in 1947.  Foreign travel was a novelty then.  I couldn't go for a fortnight without my crossword.  You should have heard the shrieks of hilarity from my office colleagues  when I said I was taking a crossword book on my honeymoon!

Pong 2

Sorry !  Almost Fatal Error.  I  meant, of course, to say "Not harmful".

Pong!

A bit of excitement a couple of days ago.  We woke to the smell of gas.  After ascertaining that in was not indoors but that the street outside smelt vilely of rotten eggs we closed all doors and windows and waited indoors for the big bang.  After finding out the gas was not harmless (so said by the cause of all this bother) we found out to our astonishment that the smell emanated from a factory in Rouen, France.  There had been a leak of an additive that is added to natural gas as a safety precaution (natural gas having no smell, so you wouldn't know if there was a leak).  The wind had carried it along the French coast and then northwards across the Channel to Kent and Sussex.  .  Thankfully the snow turned to heavy rain and the gas was washed away.  So I am still here to tell the tale.

Duvets

There has been a lot of correspondence in the Telegraph respecting the issue of duvets  v  sheets and blankets.  I first encountered a duvet when I was in Vienna in 1950.  It was not a happy experience.  If I pulled it up to my neck it left my feet exposed and if I wanted to cover my feet it was decidedly chilly on my upper half.  I blamed the Russians !  We had just spent a hazardous journey driving over the Semmering Pass from Klagenfurt through the occupied Russian Zone of Austria wondering each time we were stopped at checkpoints if we were going to end up in the salt mines of Siberia.  Everything was in short supply so perhaps that went for duvets.
Over the years I have been well stocked with sheets and blankets and couldn't see any reason to change until about three years ago.  Now I huddle happily under my duvet(double  size) snug and warm.  But I still think they are an invention of the devil when it comes to changing the cover especially as mine contrived malevolently to trip me up last October and I ended up with two black eyes !

Snow

I dragged myself out of  my nice warm bed very reluctantly this morning.  Had it not been for the fact that I was in need of a hot cup of tea I might still be there.  I may have said before that I no longer like the winter. I can't move around fast enough to keep warm so I am in hibernation.   The only bright spot on the horizon is that the days are drawing out and it does not get dark so early.
When I spent some weeks in the Far East  I realised that eternal sunshine was not really such a good idea either.  Don's mantra was "moderation in all things"  and he lived by it.  I wish I did. I have just read that you grow in sense as you grow older in years.  I sometimes doubt the truth of that - or perhaps I am not yet old enough!                        

Passage to India

I have just been reading in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography about the Badaranaika family in Sri Lanka.  In 1981 we went to stay at a hotel in Mahabalipuram near Madras in India. A charming hotel near the sea where just previously the English Test Cricket team had been relaxing between matches.
One of the waiters became very friendly with me and took me to see the room where Prince Charles had slept, also Mrs. Bandaranaika, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka although he hastened to assure me not at the same time.  So I can claim that I once sat on Prince Charles' bed.
The next year on another memorable trip to Sri Lanka, Goa India and the Maldives we stayed at the Summer Palace of the Maharajah of Mysore now turned into a very swish hotel.   To our astonishment we were welcomed as old friends by our waiter from Mahabalipuram.    This time he took me upstairs to see the splendour of the Maharajah's bedroom.  A large ornate colourful room with beautiful hangings and gilded furniture.   He said "This is the King's room".  He then took me next door to a slightly smaller but no less ornate room.  He said "And this is Mrs. King's room".

We were once staying at a small cheap hotel in France not far from La Rochelle.  For a few days in the middle of the week we were the only guests.  Next to where I sat in the dining room was a cupboard containing various cold dishes.  I wondered how long they has been there and hoped that the patron had prepared them all that day. We were a bit doubtful about choosing the sweets, yoghourt etc. especially as we had caught the three year old daughter of Monsieur opening the cupboard and sampling the goodies within!  I am not sure then that we had heard of salmonella.  My fridge is occasionally sorted out by the Food Inspector from upstairs who makes sure I don't get food poisoning by throwing out any thing that is past its sell by date.  I hope I haven't passed mine!!  I'm not quite ready to be consigned to the bin.

Talking of which what are the "cookies"  on my computer?  And what about Tablets?  I have read that you can get a Honeycomb Tablet. Make a change from indigestion  tablets.And what are Add-ons and how do you get rid of them?  My laptop did not come with a book of rules so I stumble on from one discovery to the next.  Oh well!  It keeps the little grey cells working.  Must stop rambling on and make a life enhancing cup of tea.

Ancient Artefacts

Some time in the 1970s I was sitting in the dining room of avery old pub in Wiltshire enjoying my meal.  Hanging on the wall opposite me was a number of brass and iron objects from bygone days.  Two of these looked vaguely familiar.  They looked like black iron coat hangers but I couldn't think where I had previously seen them.  When I reached home I went into the kitchen to put the kettle on and there hanging from the ceiling were my two "coat hangers".   They held the rails of my clothes drier which hung from the ceiling and were raised up and down by means of a pulley.  No wonder I thought they looked familiar!  In the days before tumble driers they were in valuable and during the 1950s were usually festooned with towelling nappies (before the invention of pampers). I must confess to being a bit put out to find my useful  drier being classed as ancient artefacts.  In my friend's house their ceiling drier hung over the Aga and she and her sister would make a mad rush into their kitchen to rescue their undies  before the fumes of frying bacon rose upward.  Those were the days!!.

Morton's Fork

I watched a most interesting programme presented by the retiring Archbishop of Canterbury  about Canterbury Cathedral.  A subject very familiar to our family as we all lived in Canterbury .  Amanda actually worked at the Cathedral in the precincts as did her two sisters-in-law. Don was confirmed in Canterbury  and spent days after retirement in the Cathedral Library  researching his family.  Mike, Amanda and I were thrilled to be shown these familiar places and Mike actually saw his cousin on the film.

The Archbishop mentioned John Morton.  He was Chancellor to Henry VII and became Archbishop of Canterbury.   His remedy for raising money for the Government was to say if a man lived frugally it meant he had saved money and could afford to give generously to the Government.  If a man lived and spent lavishly he must have a lot of money and he, too, could afford to give.  This was known as "Morton's Fork".  I recommend this to Mr. Obama.

A 1920s Christmas

 I have seen a good many Christmases. One I particularly remember was when I was about six. Life was hard for our family between the wars and money very short.
Two or three days before Christmas there was a knock at the door. I heard my mother say "Come in out of the cold" and into the room came a Girl Guide Captain, who we came to know later as Miss Christina Fleming . She came in with her sister, Robin, and six Girl Guides each one bearing a gift. They had brought tins of fruit, chocolate, biscuits, corned beef, tea, sugar and a Christmas pudding. Such largesse!
Some kind person had given our name to these two ladies who were the daughters of the Reverend Archibald Fleming. He was the minister of a fashionable Church in Pont St, Knightsbridge. The Guide Company was distributing gifts to the less well off. I reckon we qualified!!
What a lovely surprise! How kind they were and what a wonderful Christmas we had!

2013

A Happy New Year to you all if you are still there.
It has been on the whole a happy year for me.  The weather was often disappointing and then it would suddenly cheer up and remember it was supposed to be summer.  It was, actually, a wonderful summer as regards pageantry  and colour with the Jubilee and the Olympics.

The highlight of my year was the marriage of my granddaughter, Holly, to Jason. A lovely Spring day in a beautiful setting...It was great having all the members of the family together.  My grandsons, all four of them were there so I was able to have a picture of all my grandchildren together.
During the year I had some lovely days out including a visit to friends  in Bath which meant I saw my dear friend from Tokyo.  My family came over from France  and the little boys are growing up so nicely !  There were regular happy visits to my friends in Seaford and regular not so happy visits to the Eye Hospital.
My year culminated in joining a family party of 28 people on Boxing Day!
What a lot of things to be thankful for not least the continuing care and attention I receive from Amanda and Mike.