Wordless Wednesday...

Not As We Had Planned ....

Here we are again then dear bloggies. Most of you know that I am now in France with daughter and son-in-law number one, and the delightful Eleanor. 

Emma has had pain in her back for a long, long time now and has been going to the Doctor having various tests of one form or another. 

They say she has Spondylitis Arthritis, which is quite worrying, as she is only in her early forties. Emma has been taking meds every four hours, but they are not touching the pain 😔 and she is not sleeping at night. Also, there is another problem with her back that will need an operation. My mum suffered terribly with her back, and I have had two operations, so it would seem that it is an hereditary thing. 

She is hardly able to walk these days, certainly not very far at all. This morning was a particularly bad time, as she couldn't move at all and was in agony. She was literally shaking with the pain. 

Anyway, we called for the doctor, and an ambulance came and took her into Hospital at 1 pm this afternoon. Emma didn't want the doctor to be called, but as her mum, I just thought enough was enough, and we had to try to get it sorted. She is still in dreadful pain, but they have just given her some morphine, thank goodness. 

At least she is in the right place now. Thankfully, Eleanor is on half term holiday, so she is with her mum. I am home alone looking after Alfred!

See you again soon. 

Vintage Halloween Cards

Most of you know that I love vintage 

cards, so I thought I would find some Halloween ones for you today. 

(All the images are courtesy of Pinterest and as they were not copyrighted in any way, I have chosen to include them. )

I am in France with my family at the moment, as I travelled back with them

yesterday, after an 11 hour journey. Unfortunately, we were stationary for two hours, as there had been two accidents on the same stretch of the motorway, so the police had to close both sides. 

One person was killed, which is always terrible, and we were thankful to arrive safely. 

Hope you all enjoy your weekend, and I'll

see you again soon. Especially for Mr Shady, here is a photo of Alfred gazing up at me adoringly!

Wordless Wednesday - a new hairstyle!

Tis Autumn ....

Happy Sunday dear bloggy friends. 

I've always loved that line from the John Keats' famous poem, 'Ode to Autumn' where he describes it as 'the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness'. The poem, apparently, was inspired when Keates went for a walk through the gorgeous water meadows beside the River Itchen, which is just a stroll away from the magnificent Cathedral at Winchester, here in England. 

The following photo of the Cathedral is taken from the October issue of the UK edition of Good Housekeeping magazine, as is the stunning photo of Autumn woodland in the New Forest, which is in the County of Hampshire here In England. 

 

I'm afraid I'm getting a little paranoid about inserting photos that are not my own, since the episode of the rice pudding this past week!

When I was younger, I always thought that Spring was my favourite time of the year, with the hope of a glorious Summer in front of us, everything bursting with new life, and the vibrant freshness of the new leaves on the trees. 

Perhaps it is because I, myself, am now in the Autumn of my years, that I find this season so wonderful, with all the magnificent array of stunning colours on the trees all around us. 

The warm smell of wood smoke as people light up their bonfires, collecting conkers that have dropped from the Chestnut trees, and the childlike feeling of skipping through dry crispy leaves.   

The evenings start to pull in, and we light the lamps to make our home warm and cosy inside. This year, of course, we have our new woodburner as well, so we will be as snug as a little bug in a rug! Take care my friends and I will see you again soon 

Wordless Wednesday ....

Feeling Quite Sick This Morning ....

Good morning my friends.  I was going to say, let's hope that it's going to be a good week, but, from my family's point of view, we have Kelly's funeral on Wednesday morning, so that will obviously be a very sad day.  Emma and family will be arriving here tomorrow and she will go back to Paris on the 24th.  I will drive back with them and stay for a week.

The title of my post today?  No, I am not feeling physically sick(well, almost), but an incident occurred which has left rather a bad taste in my mouth.

We did have this problem quite a while back, with the question of photographs.  People have said to me that, once you put a photo on your blog or on facebook, it is out there on the Web for everyone and anyone to see, and use it, unless it is quite clearly copyrighted.

We might not like it, but that's the way it is.  Back when I first started blogging, I was a bit naive in some ways, and I know that I took photos from Pinterest and inserted them into my blog.  Very soon after that, and with reading other peoples' blogs, I realised that they were stating where their images came from.

From then on, I have always done the same, stating that images are "courtesy of Pinterest" and providing a link to their site.  Even if I see a quote or verse on another blog, out of courtesy, I always ask if it would be alright for me to use that image (even though they have just got it from the Web).

Anyway, to cut a long story short (sorry to be going on, but I am trying to paint the picture for you), I had an e-mail from someone saying that I had used one of her images.  She also left comments on my blog, and was clearly in quite a state about it.

I e-mailed her right back, explaining what I had said above and sending her best wishes.  But she wasn't having none of it and came back with another tirade.  I have now gone back THREE YEARS and deleted the offending photograph. (of a rice pudding, would you believe?).  She has informed me that I am now on her Wall of Shame.

It really has left me shaking.  I have never experienced anything like this before and have met such lovely, friendly, generous and supporting friends through blogging.  After I deleted the photo, I was just going to let it drop, but i'm afraid that I left another comment, saying that my daughter's best friend had recently died, leaving behind a three year old daughter, and I felt that THAT really was something to get into a state about.

I'm sure she will be getting back to me.  Sorry about this dear friends.  I usually try to keep my posts uplifting, but it has really upset me.  I just thought she could have said, "I accept what you have said, but please make sure that you never do it again."  

Oh dear!  See you again soon.

Blessings And Being Grateful ....

First of all, thank you all for your  comments about children being mean. The general consensus was that little girls are the meanest. What happened to sugar and spice and all things nice?!

Several of you told childhood stories of various things that happened to you. Things that still affect you now. It was lovely to hear from you and, in fact, that post received one of the highest 'hits' my blog has ever received. 

One of my friends sent this to me in an e-mail yesterday. I enjoyed reading it, and I hope you do too. 

"I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don 't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it). 

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And, I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years, my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break, when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody 's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But, broken hearts are what give us strength, and understanding, and compassion. A heart never broken, is pristine, and sterile, and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. 

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world, too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. 

Whose business is it, if I choose to read, or play, on the computer, until 4 AM, or sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50, 60 &70 's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love, I will.

I will walk the beach, in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves, with abandon, if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old."

I hope you enjoyed this one my friends. It is for all of us 'of a certain age'. 

May your week ahead be full of many blessings. See you again soon. 

Sad When Little Children Can Be Cruel ....

It's always been known that children can be cruel, but every instance that I come across, still affects me.  It did with my girls when they were young, and it does now with my grandchildren!

I can still remember when Eli was three and I took him to the local park.  He went up the steps of the small slide, and three little girls were there.  They said to him, in quite a nasty way, "you're not going down the slide."  I tried to keep my voice friendly, when I asked them to please let the little boy go down the slide!

It's strange, but, in my experience, it is usually little girls that cause the problem, and not little boys.  Ruby told me last week that a little girl at pre-school was being nasty to her, and saying horrible things.  Then a couple of days ago, just before she was going to bed, Ruby asked her mummy and daddy if her legs were fat.  Apparently, this same little girl had told her that she had fat legs!  I ask you, they are only three years old.

Last Saturday, Ruby was due to go to her very first little birthday party, and my daughter said that she was SO excited.  Obviously, she has seen Eli go off to lots of birthday parties.  Now it was her turn!  She was so thrilled with her little party dress.

Anyway, when she was at the party, this same horrible little brat little girl pushed Ruby over three times.  My daughter said that her mum was there and didn't say a word.  I ask you!  I asked Alison if she had cried, and she said "no, but her little lip trembled!"

We all know that children have to get used to this, but it does seem very young, at three years old,  to have to learn this sort of lesson.  My daughter said that she never had this problem with Eli, so perhaps it does only happens with little girls!!

We always tell them to be kind to everyone, but it's very difficult when certain little ones can be downright nasty.

Bye for now my friends.

China Around the House ....

Today I thought I would show you some of the pieces of china that I have in the home.

For many years, once the children were grown up, hubby and I used to enjoy going to all the Antique Fairs at the weekends and picking up bits and pieces.  We don't do that any more, as I now try to get a few more modern pieces to have around.  In fact, I rather like the shabby chic look these days, and have several pieces dotted around.  The mix seems to work very well together.

The above two pieces used to belong to hubby's mum.

The following two items belonged to my mum, with the rest of the pieces being collected over the years.

Well, it's Friday once again.  Time passes too quickly.  I just want to hold it in my hand and hang on to it for a while.  To savour all the good times for just a little while longer.

I believe the clocks go back this weekend in America (although I could be wrong here!).  In England, they will go back on the 27th October and then Autumn really will be upon us.

Several of you mentioned my new header photo last time.  It is the old apple orchard at the bottom of our garden.

Sending blessings to you all my friends.  I hope you have a good weekend.

Good Words of Advice ....

Hallo little bloggies.  I trust all is well with you and yours.  

For some time now, I have been following a blog called Advanced Style, which features the most wonderful photos of, how shall I put this, older but still very elegant ladies.  Ladies with a lot of style.  Ladies who should give inspiration to us all. The blog was started with the intention of showing a positive and uplifting side to getting older.

I was taken with the words in the latest post - words said by Artist, Ilona Royce Smithkin.  

These are the words spoken by Ilona, and how she copes  with the pain that she has to deal with.  I feel we can all learn something from what she had to say.

"Everyday something unexpected happens to our bodies. I fight everyday to get up and out of bed. When I feel a pain somewhere I tell my body, "I'm so nice to you, what do you want from me?" And I tell myself a little story or joke and remind myself of the times when I was in worse pain, and how lucky I am today, and the pain begins to go away.

 I tell myself that this isn't the first time, or the last time that I will feel pain and begin to occupy my mind with other things. You must get involved in things outside of the pain, things that give you interest. All these things are a part of life. We all feel pain and unpleasantness.

 As long as I can seduce myself to enjoy all kinds of things, like in the morning enjoying the first cup of coffee, or piece of chocolate the pain begins to diminish. I give myself nice things to look forward to, throughout the day. The moment you give in and let yourself get dragged down by misery you are closer to death."

So often these days, the elderly (and I must admit that I don't really like that word) are dismissed as being of no importance.  People see them as they are now, and forget about the people they were.  This is just so sad, because they really still have so much to give.  

My prayers go out to all those who live with pain on a daily basis, and for those who are not feeling quite so bright at the moment.

Take care and I'll see you again soon.  Hugs from

Funny Fridays

You looking at me?! And I see you're still on that flipping computer!!  Have a good weekend everyone and I thank

ALL of you who sent me such lovely comments on my last post. 

Goodbye and God Bless ....

I know that a lot of my bloggy friends have been praying for Kelly and I write this with a heavy heart, for I know just how upset my daughter is at the moment. 

Kelly passed away peacefully in her sleep at 4.30 am this morning, having fought courageously to the very end. 

My prayers and thoughts are with her husband, three year old daughter, mum and dad, and all her family and friends who supported her so lovingly every step of the way. 

Thankfully, Kelly is now out of pain. It is her time to rest and be at peace, although she was taken far too young. I pray that light eternal will shine upon her. 

Emma flew home last Thursday and we went straight to the Hospice. She also spent Friday with her dear friend , and Eleanor's godmother. I am so glad about that, because we had interaction with her and she even managed to say a few funny things, and she was aware of things. I was so afraid she wouldn't know Emma. 

On the Saturday, she was asleep most of the time, so Emma's time with her was precious indeed. 

Make the most of every moment my friends.