Winter

I realised winter had finally arrived when Mike had to scrape the frost off the car windscreen this morning.  We have been spoilt by the sunny , long, mild autumn.  To add to our discomfiture the central heating gave up the ghost for a couple of days.  Thankfully the man came amd fixed it this afternoon.

I have been back to my Knit & Natter group.  Not a lot of knitting but plenty of nattering!  This is [receded by an excellent lunch beautifully cooked and served by delightful volunteers.   Mike takes me annd brings me back.  I am a bit tottery and can't manage on my own.

Must start making preparations for Christmas.  Have made a start on my cards with help from above ,  Above stairs I mean in case you think I have a direct line to heaven.

I hope there aren't too many mistakes.  The computer is very faint

Courage

People have said I am brave to have 16 eye injections but it is easy to be brave when there is no alternative.  There have recently been what I call real instances of courage.  The first on Remembrance Sunday when the Queen laid her wreath.  She stood alone in front of the cenotaph with her head bent despite talk of an attempt on her life determined to do her duty.  As she lead the Royal family back through the door of the Home Office (a door which I went through hundreds of times during the war) there was a spontaneous round of applause from the waiting crowd.

The second instance was the male nurse who was flown back from Africa to recover from Ebola.  Having recovered he has returned to Africa although he does not know if he has immunity against the disease or. if so, for how long.  That takes courage.

Health Report

I have been laid low with a nasty cough for three weeks but am better now.  I bought a bottle of cough mixture to take at bedtime  It proved to be not only childproof but Grandmaproof as well.  I gave up and went to bed.  I woke next mornng feeling much better so what does that prove?
I have just had an eye injection.  Only my third in over a year!.  This new Eylia is certainly an improvement.   My sight is no better but the injections don't come round so often.

I have been looking at the suffix "able."  Quite use ful.  We have  marriageable, unthinkable, unwatchable, unteachable  But  unpackable ?  I have only just come to terms with  doable.  Yesterday I heard on the radio"But we have not sorted it out".  To which the reply was  "It will be sortable outable in time".  !!!

Proninciation

I heard a discussion on how to pronounce the letter "H".  Some favoured  "haitch" and some "aitch".  I always wince when I hear anyone say haitch.  To my ears it sounds completely wrong.
I remember learning  the following when very small

Harry went to Hampstead
Harry lost his hat.
Harry's mother said to Harry
Harry where's your hat?"
He said "It's hanging on the hatstand in the hall".

One man who had difficulty was the secretary of the Home Office Sports Club.  He announced that "The  'Ome  Office 'Ockey  team travelled from  'Arwich to the  'Ook of  'Olland".

Some people have trouble with the letter  R
I heard one small  boy say
"The wed wubber wing went wolling down the woad"
Ooh!  What a lot of double yous1

Jack the Lad

Meet my great grandson Jack aged two months.  I do not think even the grumpiest  of persons could resist returning his good morning smile.  I am, of course, prejudiced
but I am delighted with this new addition to our family - my first great grandchild.

As the generations multiply there comes the question of what one should be called.  There seem already to be a plethora of grandparents so I have decided on "Grandma Jess".  I am already Grandma to five,  Auntie Jessie to several more and Auntie May to all my late brother's family. My parents are responsible for all this confusion.  They liked dishing out names and both my brother and I have three Christian names.   Very difficult for filling in forms and fitting into all those boxes.  But not so bad as the poor chap who was named after all eleven members of his father's favourite football team!

Voices from the Past

I listened recently to a radio programme about the beginings of commercial broadcasting.  Sir John Reith, head of the BBC, was a staunch Presbyterian and decreed that only religious programmes should be broadcast on Sundays.  This left a gap in the schedules which a certain Captain Plugge decided to fill by broadcasting dance music intersperced with advertisements from France which he called Radio Normandy.  We heard Sir John Reith's voice declaring this was unacceptable and another voice that was raised against it, that of the Reverend Archibald Fleming, the Minister of St. Columba's Scottish Presbyterian Church, Pont Street, London.   This latter was the gentleman whose two daughters had been very kind to us at Christmas coming with their Girl Guides  bringing us gifts of food at a time when our finances were low.  We were invited to tea  at their kensington house and met Dr. Fleming.  It was strange to hear his distinctive voice again after over eighty years.

Holiday Time

My French family have gone home after spending ten days in Hove and a further week in Folkestone.  All excitement as we celebrated two birthdays and the arrival of baby Jack.  It feels a little strange to have a son who is a grandfather  and even stranger to find two of Jack's uncles are aged eleven and eight.

Various members of the family came from fae and near when they realised we had been invaded by the French.   The two boys enjoyed several days at a children's Activity Centre n Hove.  We ended the holiday with a lunch for about ten of us in the beautiful restaurant at the Grand Hotel on the Leas at Folkestone.  Another lovely day to remember.

Blackfriars

Looking through some photos for a picture of Miss Annie Smith I found a postcard sent to my mother in the 1930s signed A Westley.  This was mother's friend I called Auntie Alice.  We children were never allowed to call grown-ups by their Christian names as is the custom now.  That would have been considered extremely impolite.

Auntie Alice was completely blind as was her husband, Uncle Bert.  He earned his living as a piano tuner.  He was a small, slight man with a surprisingly strong bass baritone voice.   His singing of popular ballads like  "Asleep in the Deep" , "Because" and  "The Lost Chord"  were well received at the monthly concerts which the local Blind Club held at the Surrey Chapel in Blackfriars Road in Southwark, London  next door to the world famous boxing arena called The Ring.  I think both of these buildings were destroyed in WW2.

I went often with my mother to meetings there.  Sometimes we had a solicitor called Mr. Dettmer who would read aloud short stories from Dickens or some such.  I remember him because if someone had the temerity to cough he would stop reading, extract a tin from his pocket and ask a boy to take the offender a cough sweet.

Enter Baby Jack

Last Friday my first great grandchild was born.  Holly sent a picture of  Jack.  He is a beautiful little boy and why would he be otherwuse with two such good-looking parents. I look forward to meeting him.  The  birth of one little human being into a happy family  never ceases to be the most  wonderful, the most delightful and the most miraculous of events.

This was the highlight of a week of ups and downs that all ended happily. I seem to spend a lot of my time these days searching for things.  Perhaps it is because I can't see at once where I put things or more likely I am just careless.   After shopping for some shoes I could not find my debit.card. It was not in my purse I felt convinced it must be in the pocket of my blue jacket..  After fruitless searching' involving A & M,  I remembered I was wearing my pink jacket and there it was in the pocket!    An even more mysterious affair was the disappearance of my hearing aid.    I t vanished from the bedside table.    I was in anguish and set the whole house by its ears once again involving A & M who turned the bedroom upside down, moving all the furniture but to no avail.  Finally, last night as I opened an almost empty  small jar of skin cream  which was on my bedside table I heard something  rattle and lo and behold there was my hearing aid.  It had fallen into the jar.  You are never too old to learn.  I shall keep this vital aid to living in its box in future!

At the Doctors

There has been much talk about doctors prescribing too many antibiotics.  Taken too often they may stop being effective.  I was being given a short course after every eye in jection.  This is no longer the case.  Apparently some patients were demanding antibiotics for sore throats and colds.  They are not a cure for these conditions.

In the days before the National Health when one had to pay good money to see a doctor my mother said people felt cheated if they came away without a bottle of "physic".  She said the doctor had three cures.  White mixture for the stomach, brown cough mixture for the chest and green liniment for the back.  I once heard a little old man ask the chemist for a box of them head back and stomach pills.  That pretty well took care of everything.

Middleton

Re yesterday's blog -  out of the dim recesses of my ancient mind I dredged up the name  Middleton Home for the Blind.  I think it might have been more tan just one house and I think it might have been 42 Wantz Road.  I don't know who Middleton was or whether it is still there.   I know it was a jolly nice holiday.      

Maldon

I was feeling a bit sorry for myself when I remembered a lovely lady in her 70s who was totally blind and extremely  deaf. She could talk very well but to have a conversation with her one had to hold her hand and use the deaf and dumb alphabet.  She was Miss Annie Smith and lived in a residential home foe blind and partially blind people in Maldon, Essex.

I first met Miss Smith when I was 12 or 13.  My mother and I went to stay at the home for a fortnight's holiday.  The house was a small villa with a fairly large garden.  On either side of the paths round the garden was a railing at waist height so that a blind person could walk independently round  between the flower and vegetable beds. But the most exciting thing for me was the sight of three railway carriages in the garden.  Two of these were fitted up as bedrooms with twin beds while the third was a sitting room with easy chairs and a table on which were packs of Braille-marked playing cards and a box of large black dominoes with raised brass spots.  We were to sleep in one of the carriages and take our meals in the house.
Miss Smith and I had many conversations.  She had a great sense of humour.  It was Carnival Week and I told her about the floats and described the costumes.  She said no-one had told her about the Carnival.  When we left she gave me a present of a little gold cross and chain.

Now for one of my coincidences.  I was thinking about writing this blog and trying to remember the address.  I turned on the radio  and a man was talking  on "Word of Mouth  abot people who put messages in bottles and throw them into the sea.  In one bottle was found a message saying   "Send this message to my wife at 66 Wantz Road, Maldon, Essex".  It was as though a light had been switched on in my head!  I thought "That's it.  We stayed at 22 Wantz Road.  Well I'll be blowed!".

Thunder

After some very hot days I have been woken at night by great claps of thunder.  When I was small my mother would say "It is only the Angels having their coal delivered"  I imagined our coalman with his horse and cart up there sonewhere emptying the coal sacks.  It was my job to count the empty sacks as he threw them on to the cart when he brought our coal.
When we lived by the Thames we would watch strings of barges carrying coal going up the river to Nine Elms where at the plant of the Gas Light and Coke Company the gas would be extracted and the resulting coke  piled up.  This latter would be collected by boys as valuable fuel  for free.   They would fill old prams and soap boxes on wheels.  This all stopped when we started to use natural gas from the North Sea.

The Manor House

The  Manor House  stood opposite our house on the hill running down to the sea.  It somewhat belied its grand name as it had changed hands a few times and a part of its grounds had been sold off for housing.  At one time it was used by a London borough as a holiday home for Tower Hamlets residents.In the late sixties I remember it was full of young Italian students.  The Italian football team won a cup.  I don't think it was the World Cup.  It was, I think, the European Cup.  The youngsters came out in the garden shouting and cheering.  Somebody provided some music and they sang and danced for hours.  They were so excited.  At about this time we had acquired a rubber dingy.  Our children and their friends had great fun with it.   They were all strong swimmers but did not take the boat far from the beach.  My son and his friend would walk down the hill, single file, one behind the other balancing the boat upside down on their heads.  Once at the beach they would proceed to demonstrate their aquatic skills to a gaggle of admiring young Italian ladies.

Tea

Watching Mary Berry on TV making her delicious calorie-laden cakes for tea I was interested to see she went to Cornwall to the Tregothnan Estate where the first English tea is grown.  My tea expert friend from Tokyo sent me a present of this tea some time ago.  It was pleasantly aromatic, not unlike the best Ceylon tea grown in the Hill Country of Sri Lanka.

When Don and I visited Sri Lanka in the 1980s we stayed with Reginald and Prima on the coast in Galle.  It was extremely hot.  We all decided to go to Nurawa Eilya  (pronounced Nuralia( in the hills where the best tea is grown.  Before we set out by car Prima's son whispered to me that his mother had on a new sari.  It was beautiful, all pale blue and silver which we duly admired.    It was a beautiful drive.  We passed many large waterfalls under one of which a whole family was having a shower.  The Sri Lankans are very clean people and can be seen all along the roads washing themselves and their children and their clothes in a river.  (Though perhaps by now they have all got washing machines)

We stayed at a very luxurious hotel in Nuwara Eilya.  The first thing Prima did was to head off to the shops to buy herself a cardigan!  After the heat of Galle it was like an English March so we all dressed up to go to the Golf Club for dinner.

A Rhyme

I have just finished a book by Ruth Rendell.  I chose it because its title reminded me of my brother.  It is called "Adam and Eve and Pinchme".  Frank was always playing tricks on me.  He recited this rhyme.

Adam and Eve and Pinchme
went down the river to bathe
Adam and Eve got drownded
Who do you think got saved?

Pleased for once that I knew the answer to one of his riddles I said triumphantly  "Pinchme".
And he did!

In Touch

Highlight of the week.   An interview with Lee from the programme for visually impaired people on BBC Radio 4.  My family thought it went well but they are prejudiced, aren't they?
I must confess to feeling nervous waiting for the programme to start.  I didn't want to sound like a dotty old lady rambling on.  Oh ye of little faith!  I should have known that it would be accomplished successfully with Lee in charge.

I don't know why I felt nervous.  Over the years I have spoken to many gatherings of people and organisations wearing many different hats.    I was twice interviewed on Danish TV.  But this was Auntie BBC.  Something special.  But as my friend, Captain in the Girl Guides used to say  "What fun!"

If you missed it, click here 

Calibre

"You've always got your nose stuck in a book"  That was my mother from the kitchen where I was supposed to be drying the dishes.  From the age of five I had loved reading so it was very depressing to find about three years ago that I was losing my sight aged 88.
A blind friend introduced me to Calibre Audio Library, a national charity which lends audio books to anyone who is unable to read print.  The service is free.  It is supported by fund raising and voluntary contributions.  It does not receive a government grant.
My books come on memory sticks.  These are about the size of a small latch key and are sent post free in a small zipped up bag which will go through a letter box.  I have a small box called a Boombox Plus which cost me about £30.  The memory sticks slot into  the top of this box which is powered by either a mains lead or a battery .  The box also incorporates a VHF radio.  It is very simple to use and is portable so with the addition of a pair of plug in earphones you can listen in the garden!  I do have a computer but it is not needed with the Boombox Plus.
The library has over 8,000 books.There are wide categories including biographies, diaries, thrillers, detective stories, family sagas, history and many of the classics.  A lot of the books are read by actors which I enjoy as they can do all the different voices!  There is also a very important children's section.  I read on average two books a week.  I love Calibre.

I ws listening to "In Touch a BBC radio 4 programme for visually impaired people when I heard a request from a man who wanted help for his 90 year old father who could no longer read.  I sent an e mail to In Touch to tell them about Calibre.  As a result I yesterday had a most exciting visit from Lee Kumutat, a delightful,friendly lady who is an interviewer on the programme.  Lee, who cannot see, came on the train from London to Hove accompanied by her guide dog, Josh, a beautiful golden retriever.
If something more exciting doesn't turn up there will be a very brief interview with me on Tuesday at 8.40 p.m.

Passports

A has been reading some letters to me from people who had mislaid their passports.  One passed Immigration using his O.A.P. bus pass.  Another his National Trust membership card and a schoolboy was allowed to join his party on showing the name tape his mum had sewn into the waistband of his trousers.

Going on honeymoon to France in 1947 I did not have a passport.  My name and photograph was included on my husband's passport.  And so it was for several years.  We were on the train leaving Paris to go to the south of France.  When we stopped temporarily D spotted a notice on the opposite platform saying "l'eau potable".  He said "I'll just nip over and fill our water bottle" and vanished.  Suddenly with a jerk the train started.  I didn't know whether D had gotm back on the train.  He was in possession of our passport, our tickets, our money and the address of the hotel we were goingto..  I sat there getting more amore panicky.  How to explain matters in my schoolgirl French?   After half an hour the door opened and D came in wreathed in smiles.  I have been sitting in the observation car talking to the guard and having lovely views of Paris" he said.  When I told my friend she said  "Did divorce cross your mind?  "No, never" I replied  "Strangulation perhaps".

My Book Choice

A few weeks ago I was looking at the online catalogue of my Audio Book Library .  Each entry gives you a synopsis so you have an inkling of what the book is about.  A book by Robert Ryan caught my eye.  I had long ago given up reading books about WW2.  In the years immediately following the war I had read every book I could find about the Maquis, the Partisans, the S.O.E. etc.  Tastes change, however, and I haven't read a war book for ages.  But this book I felt I must read.

"After Midnight" tells the story of an Australian girl's search for the fate of her father, an airman reported missing in Italy in 1944.  This reminded me vividly of my Australian friend, Anne,  whose father's plane had been delivering supplies to the partisans in Italy when it disappeared.

I emailed Anne to ask if she knew of this book.  Her reply was a surprise.  The author had contacted her ten or so years ago to ask permission to make her story the basis for a novel he proposed to write.  She saw the book before publication and after the author agreed to tone down one or two sex scenes the book was published.  The Audio Library has over 8 ,000 books so it was another of those coincidences that I hit on this one.

Anne is still pursuing her search.  Over the years she has travelled many times to Italy meeting people who were involved with the partisans.  She has been following up leads in Poland and South Africa where she has made friends with people who are still interested in what happened in the war. By her efforts relatives of the crews of planes which were lost in the war have been put in touch with one another.  As one can imagine this has been the source of great comfort and interest.

For more about Anne's father and her search, click here.

Handwriting

There was an item on the radio this morning about how much handwriting had deteriorated.  Hardly surprising as everybody seems to communicate by text.
My writing has gone progressively downhill in the last three years.  My joined up writing goes all over the shop.  I still have friends who do not have e mail so I have to attempt to write to them.  Must practise.

I am reminded of the boy's school report which said  "Stephen's writing has improved considerably this term.  I can now read what he has written.  Unfortunately, it has also made obvious that he has no idea how to spell".

Don Giovanni

Last evening I settled down in front of the TV prepared to enjoy an operatic feast, Easter Egg to hand saved up for just such a treat.  The singers were good, the acting was good, the music superb.  The production, however, was too gimicky for my taste.  
The action took place on or in front of what appeared to be a revolving cube.   It reminded me of a Rubik Cube and like that cube was a puzzle.  There was a ground floor and a first floor, the upper floor reached by ladders or a staircase.   The Director didn't seem to me to be able to make up his mind where exactly the drama should unfold.  The actors were running up and down stairs before each aria.  I'm sure they must have been as confused as I was.
I know my eyesight is bad and I have to sit close to the TV to peer at the screen but did I see graffiti all over the cube at times?  What was that for?  I think the Don could have taken lessons from Bryn Terfel and the Korean Soprano, Hei-Kyung Hong, in the seduction scene. ( This is one of my favourite pieces on YouTube.)   All in all not a  very successful evening.  The Easter Egg was nice.

A Kentish Farewell

This month is going by so fast.  Easter has come and gone.  On Maundy Thursday we went to a funeral in the depths of the Kentish countryside.  Tom's other grandmother had recently died after a long illness. The little village church was full of her extended family and many friends.  She was a much-loved lady. This was the church she had attended for many years before she moved to Hythe.

After the committal, the strains of bagpipes were heard, played by her son-in-law who is a world-class piper of Scottish descent. He played Lady MacRobert's Lament.  This tune was composed to commemorate the loss of Lady MacRobert's three sons - one of whom was killed in a flying accident, and the other two were killed while serving with the RAF in World War II.  They were all in their early twenties.  She promptly gave funds for a new bomber, called MacRobert's Reply. What an amazing woman.

Birthday

My 91st birthday on Saturday was a lovely day.  After last year's grand celebration I was told I had to wait till I was a hundred for the next big do.  However I managed pretty well with many nice cards and e mails, chocolates, two lovely CDs of operatic favourites and lots of beautiful spring flowers.Amanda cooked a splendid meal and Tom, Lan and Martin came .  With such good company time flew and it was nearly midnight before we finally said goodnight.  I count my blessings as my mother taught me.

Signs of Spring

I noticed on my return from Seaford this morning that within the last couple of days the trees are showing signs of green.  Such a welcome sight.  In my conservatory the winter jasmine which is normally a fairly small shrub has exploded into a veritable sea of white sweet smelling blossom.   I have never seen it like this before.  It is like a great white fountain.  I am told it is the result of the mild winter.  We have not had any really cold weather this year.  The daffodils  in the big pot that was a birthday present from John and Ian have just finished blooming for the second year.

It is great to have the extra hours of daylight and not to have to draw the curtains so early   I can remember protesting loudly when I was small that it couldn't possibly be bedtime because it wasn't dark.  How do mothers get on in the northern lands where it hardly gets dark at all in summer?

Letter from Hove

Someone has just found some old recordings of Alistair Cooke's "Letter from America".  I listened to him for years and always wondered how he managed to find something interesting to say each week.  I was engrossed with whatever the subject was even when it was his beloved golf.  He had a great way with words , almost like painting a picture.   It has been said that radio is better than TV because the pictures are better.  That was certainly so with his letters.

Now to the trivia of ny week.  On Tuesday Mike took me to my friends at Seaford for coffee, home made cake and lots of chat.  My nice girl came on Thursday to hoover and smarten me up.  A little more smartening up on Friday when my hairdresser came so I was all ready for the weekend.  I had a nice long letter from my daughter-in-law and Tom and Lan came on Saturday full of plans for their move into a house.

Today is Mothering Sunday.  My dear daughter has just brought me a lovely bunch of daffodils which makes a splendid splash of colour on my kitchen table.  I think fondly of my own mother and how she loved Mothering Sunday and how she enjoyed any sort of celebration.She loved receiving presents but she delighted even more in giving them.  Considering how little she had for most of her life I think she was the most generous of persons.

I look forward this Tuesday to the visit of my nephew who is coming over from Belfast.  I last saw him in Denmark last September so we shall have lots to talk about.
I have an appointment at the Eye Hospital on Friday for a scan.  I had my last injection in October, my 15th,  When the doctor said he was giving me a new stronger drug.  It seems to have worked as I haven't so far needed another injection.  Fingers crossed!!  

Since Christmas many people of my acquaintance have had a cold followed by a persistent cough.  I conclude that although we have had an extremely wet winter in the south we have not had the intense cold which would kill off all our germs.  My mother would say "You've been sleeping in a field with the gate open".
Talking of coughs I was walking home late one night in the war in the blackout when ,as I was passing a large school playing field, I heard what I thought was a poor old man loudly coughing.  I leaned over the wall to see what was happening and found myself staring into the white face of a sheep1  It appeared to have a bad attack of bronchitis.  At that time we were all being exhorted to produce more food hence a flock of sheep on the luscious grass of the school playing field.

Vienna 1952

We left checkpoint and drove along the British Corridor but soon came across a deviation sign.  We followed the arrows for a few miles until we were suddenly confronted by two soldiers bristling with guns who signalled us to pull in to the side of the road.  they told Arthur to get out.  After a while he returned to the car and we turned round and started back the way we came.  Apparently we had missed the sign directing us back on to the main road.  The soldiers seemed satisfied with Arthur's explanation thank goodness.  The week before some British soldiers returning from a football match in Vienna had been detained overnight.
We arrived in Vienna and parted from our friends.  We would meet again the next day.   We had a rather frugal meal and walked down to the river.  Vienna  too, was divided into four zones.  We saw a jeep with four uniformed soldiers, one British, one French, one American and one Russian. The Red Army Bridge was the limit of the Russian Zone and had an enormous red star hanging over it.  The Danube was not blue but a murky greyish green!

The next morning, a Sunday, we visited St. Stephen's Cathedral with its roof of molti-coloured tiles.  We admired some very fine buildings in the Ringstrasse.  The Opera House looked in ruins.  There were some very fine but expensive shops.  We went to the Prata, a large Park.  There we saw the Big Wheel which featured prominently in the film The Third Man.  In the Prata were many family groups taking photos.  It was Whitsun and children had taken their first communion.  They looked so pretty, girls in white dresses and boys self conscious in their smart suits.

We met our friends in the early afternoon.  We had an uneventful journey home.  We negotiated the checkpoints successfully and were thankful to leave behind the Russian soldiers and their enormous portraits of Josef Stalin.

My Encounter with the Russian Military

All this talk of the Russians in Crimea reminds me of the time when I spent a night behind the Iron Curtain.  Don's school friend who was an auditor at the War Office was put into uniform and sent as an officer to Austria.  At that time the Allies were still in charge of Austrian affairs.  Austria was divided into Zones.  There was the British Zone, the French Zone, the American Zone and the Russian Zone.  Each one was in charge of administration in their area.

Our friend, Arthur, and his wife and family were to be in Austria for at least three years.  We gladly accepted when they invited us to stay for ten days.  We spent a night in Paris and prepared to travel overnight to Klagenfert  in South Austria. We changed trains at Basel and had supper at the station buffet.  We had some bread and two fried eggs.  I remember thinking how sensible it was to be given a spoon and a fork to eat them with.  The next train had wooden slatted seats but finding a carriage to ourselves we stretched out on either side and were soon fast asleep.  Our repose was rudely awakened when two girls got on at Salzburg and we spent the rest of the night sitting up.  It was very beautiful but very cold in the mountains.

Arthur was at the station to meet us.  After a foul tasting cup of coffee made from acorns we set off for Arthur's house which was very nice and spacious. The weather was hot and sunny  We spent the next few days sightseeing and swimming in the lake.  We visited Hochostewitz Castle on top of a mountain which was reputed to be the model for the castle in the film  Snow White.  All along the roadsides were little shrines.  The scenery was so beautiful with the mountains and lakes and wild flower everywhere.

At the weekend Arthur and his wife were invited to a Regimental dinner in Vienna.  As the Russian Zone lay between Klagenfert and Vienna this involved getting a special green pass.  Arthur managed to get passes for us too so that we could see Vienna.  They were to stay in splendour at the Schonnbrun Palace where the dinner was.  Our hotel was very much more humble.  the maid was going to look after the two very small boyswhile we were away.
We set off  early in the morning and almost met with disaster as a train rushed across the road just in front of us at an ungated level crossing.  Phew!  We went three times round a square in one town trying to find a way out watched with great interest by a traffic policeman.  Eventually we were on our way up the mountain to the Semmering Pass and the beginning of the Russian Zone.  We passed the British checkpoint and came to the Russians.  Two very young soldiers looked hard at us. scrutinised our passports and passes and disappeared with them into the hut. Great relief when he came out and returned them to us.  We set off along the road known as the British Corridor from which we must not deviate.

To be continued....

Ovaltine

Another badge I found among my souvenirs looks very similar to the 2LO BBC badge I mentioned earlier.  This one says LO and is the badge of the Ovaltinies.  When Radio Luxembourg started broadcasting in the 1930s its programmes were the first time we had heard of commercial radio, I remember them as being very enjoyable.  I probably pestered my mother to let me join the Ovaltinies and get a badge.  I can still remember the song.

We are the Ovaltinies, little girls and boys.
Make your request, we'll not refuse you
We are here just to amuse you.
Would you like a song or story?
Will you share our joys?
At games and sports we're more than keen,
No merrier children could be seen,
Because we all drink Ovaltine
We're happy girls and boys.

what did he say?

I have to confess to being rather Mutt & Jeff.  C ockney rhyming slang for "deaf".  Mutt & Jeff were two cartoon characters one very tall and one short.  (At this point I must tell you that in my office worked a very tall thin girl called Mary Jeffries and her much smaller best friend Muriel.  They were known to us all as Mutt & Jeff)
To get back to my hearing problem.  I was listening  to the radio to someone talking about weddings when I heard this chap say "You have to decide on peanuts".  Peanuts? Peanuts?  I know you have to decide on Champagne or sparkling wine according to who is paying for the drinks  but surely not prawn cocktail crisps or peanuts. There he has said it again "You must talk it over to decide on the peanuts" Then illumination dawned.   He was talking about prenuptial arrangements.  This somewhat cold hearted division of the spoils struck me as a bit premature.  What has happened to romance?  Do people really go into marriage thinking it probably won't last past the honeymoon?  I remember  promising for richer , for poorer etc.  In other words to cling together through thick or thin  (in my case through fat or thin) till death us do part.

The Children's Hour

In a rather nice trinket box I inherited from a cousin I have a collection of badges, each of which tells a story.    I think the oldest one is a badge which says 2LO.  This dates back to the earliest days of radio broadcasting from the Savoy Hill studio - 2LO, some ten or more years before Broadcasting House was built.  Our family were avid listeners to this new medium.  We had a set with valves (very fragile), a huge battery and an accumulator filled, I think - with acid which had to be taken to Mr. Doubell's (prounced Do-Bells) shop in Lambeth Walk, to be renewed frequently.

Children's Hour was my favourite programme.  It started in 1923 the year I was born.    I think it went out at 5 p.m.  To become a member of the Radio Circle you had to pay, I think a shilling and in return you received a certificate and a badge,  The certificate has long gone  but I still have the badge.

For some years you could request to have your name called out on your birthday.   How thrilling to hear Uncle Mac read out "Maisie Ellis".  If there were twins Uncle Mac would say in a deep voice  "Hallo twins"

I loved the names of the writers and presenters.  Rosemary Sutcliffe who wrote about the Roman Legions in Britain,  S.G. Hulme Beaman who wrote about Toytown  with naughty animals with funny voices.  We all loved Larry the Lamb and Dennis the Dacshound with a German accent.    L. du Garde Peach  Wilfred Pickles, Romany who took two children on nature walks, the Zoo man and Steven King-Hall, who always finished his improving talks with  "Now be good but not so good that some grown up says "Now what have you been up to?"

The aunts and uncles were as familiar as our own aunts and uncles.  My very favourite programme was Toytown.  Somewhere I have a Toytown book which I remember reading to my young grandson when he woke in the night with some ailment. My love of reading and story telling must have been enhanced by Children's Hour.

Fun with Words

My daughter-in-law and two little grandsons are in Folkestone  for half term so my granddaughter brought them to stay which was lovely.  How do you explain to a French 10 year old who speaks and reads excellent English the vagaries of "ough".  He was reading an English story and wanted to know how to pronounce "though".  We then went on to---bough, cough, rough, enough, bought, thought, sought, plough, sough, fought until I couldn't think of any more. What fun to find someone else who likes the sound of words!

Floods

Further to my blog about the 1928 Thames flood clink on link belo


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26153241

Grandma goes shopping

Decided to go shopping not having been out all these rainy days.  Mike kindly dropped me off at the shops.  Not a great success but not a disaster.  I wanted some birthday cards my stock having run out.  I did get some but found I could not read the words or even make out the pictures so I shall go back to ordering the cards from my Calibre Audio Library.  Their selection is limited but they are very nice cards.   Then the chemist had not got my pills and I walked round to the Co-op and got some groceries but gave up after a bit as it is so tiring not being able to see .  However it was nice to be out.

We are very fortunate not to be adversely affected by the floods our only casualty being our eucalyptus tree.  The trains have been upset  and the winds have been horrendous.  The balcony fence blew down and is now reposing outside my bedroom window.

I was listening to a prpgramme about suggested flood defences and one man who was interviewed was an official from the water division of the National Trust with the very appropriate name of Mr. Phil Dyke!

Floods

In 1928 when I was 5 years old the River Thames burst its banks.  At the time we were living in a street just one street away from The Embankment close to the south side of Lambeth Bridge.fortunately for us we were living on the first floor of a small block of flats.  The river came over the top of the low embankment wall and flooded our street.    The row of little one storey cottages below us were inundated.   Our neighbours came running out of their houses carrying what they could rescue.  They sought shelter upstairs in our our block of flats and the neighbouring one.  People opened their doors to take them in. Furniture and possessions from the cottages floated along the road.  One man said he had been pursued by his  bed and chamber pot. In the morning the neighbours had left to try to salvage what they could,  A day or so later  my mother was changing her dress and opened a drawer to get a belt and a rat jumped out and bit her.  She nearly died of fright.  She was terrified of mice so this was an even worse nightmare.  Our dog, Flossie, jumped on the rat and killed it.  That evening while mother and I  were out my brother and a friend and Flossie emptied the chest of drawers and found three baby rats.  Mother was never to forget her ordeal and got rid of the chest of drawers.  She couldn't bear to open it.
Soon afterwards the embankment wall was built to its [present height and we had no further trouble.

The Monarchy

At Christmas I was given a DVD of the BBC series of Edward and Mrs. Simpson.   I don't know how true to life it was but it was worth watching again.    I think Mrs. Simpson was an ambitious and clever woman and despite her protests really fancied herself as consort if not as Queen!  I remember at the time of the abdication  children singing "Hark the Herald angels sing,  Mrs. Simpson's pinched our King."  How different our history might have been had the marriage not been opposed!

My friend in Tokyo has shamed me into taking up my pen (metaphorically).  She is always so bright and cheerful despite her many difficulties.  I had my monthly trip to the hospital which was satisfactory and a 6 monthly M.O.T. visit to the Nurse whichwas also O.K. so why am I feeling so lackadaisical?  I picked up a cold at Christmas which has left me with a chesty cough so perhaps that is it.  Having got that off my chest so to speak to turn to other things.  Today has been bright and sunny.  .we have got so far through the winter without any very cold weather though more than enough rain.  A friend in Australia is watching forest fires with some trepidation.  He says they have a car ready packed with their possessions in case they have to flee at a moment's notice.  A pity we can't send them some of our rain.

Malapropisms

I not only get a bit confused when I am trying to read but i don't always hear very well.  This does result in some Malapropisms.  As our Cockney taxi driver said - here is a for instance.  I thought I heard on the radio  "Due to the risk of flooding many houses had to be evaporated".  On another occasion -  "When the bombing started  I thought we should all be blown to maternity".  There is a road in Folkestone called Turketel Road Known to our family as Turkey Tail Road because That is what Nanny called it.  I believe this nishearing of words is called "mondegreen"  from a mishearing of " they laid him on the green".  What with Malapropisms, Mondegreen and Spoonerisms  our language is endlessly fascinating.  My father-in-law was full of stories.  One was a messenger boy's excuse for being late.  "I was just coming to work when I met a dog following me.   He wouldn't go home so I chained him up with a piece of rope and when I went back, there he was .  Gorn!".

Christmas Recycled

Just before Christmas I sat looking at my shelves of books that I can no longer read.  Don and I spent many happy hours wandering round second hand bookshops looking for something to add to our collection.  We used to say if we lost one another while in a strange town we must head for the nearest bookshop where we were sure to meet again.  We found many gems in unexpected places.  I once found a book of old photos of our home town Folkestone in Totnes in Devon and Don bought a book on Ootacamond, a remote hill station he had visited while in India in WW2,  in a shop in Pickering in Yorkshire.  During the 1970s he was commuting from Folkestone to London each day.  This was at the time of the IRA bombings and also frequent disruptions of train services by strikes. Consequently, he was often delayed and , indeed did not know if he would get home.  He took pyjamas and a change of clothes to the office in case he had to sleep there.  In fact, he managed to get home each night though he was often very much delayed, a one hour 20 minute journey taking several hours.  He grew to know Waterloo and Cannon Street stations very well and on the book shelves are many beautiful books bought at the "Remainder" counter of Smiths station bookstalls.
I digress.  Back to Christmas.  I decided to give my nearest and dearest a book each from collection, each according to his or her interest.  This may sound a bit mean but I truly love my books and have always found it hard to part with them.  And I am doing my bit for recycling.