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.