Thursday, June 26, 2008

Back from my visits

I've had a wonderful five days visiting family and friends. It went like this:

Saturday evening ~ went to a friend's 60th birthday barbecue in Worcester.

Sunday ~ spent the day with one of my sons and his three children in Malvern.

Monday ~ spent the morning shopping in Malvern, and visited an old family friend in the afternoon.

Tuesday ~ went to a bring-your-own sandwiches lunch party with the local group of Growing Old Disgracefully, then more shopping, then supper with my son and granddaughter.

Wednesday ~ home again, tired but content.


High spot ~

Engaging fully with my 6-year-old grandson for the first time, and eventually receiving his seal of approval, when he suddenly flung himself onto the sofa, leaned up against me, and laid his head (none too gently) on my bosom! And what brought about this happy conclusion? Well, first he and I took turns to do sums in his work book, and to award each other gold stars which we stuck in the book. Then we tried to play an impossibly complex game called Tantrix, which I gave him several years ago, without realising how difficult it was. Then we worked through a horrendously violent comic book, reading just the exclamatory bits, such as: WHOOOOOSH!, CRRAAACK!, SQUEEELCHH!, EEEEK! etc. That is to say that I was doing the reading, giving it all the breath, vigour and harshness of consonants that seemed to be called for. Finally, we compared scars, as we have both of us been through major heart surgery.


Conversation with his brother and sister was a little difficult to fit in to this bonding session, but I did manage to catch up with his brother's plans for A levels and possibly having his tongue pierced, and his sister's make-up preferences, along with her reassurances that she was wearing transfers and not tattoos on her stomach. I did not hesitate to express my distaste for both piercings and tattoos.

Passing pleasures ~

  • Finding an old fashioned chain pull in a cafe loo.
  • Tables in the same cafe made out of old plank doors, still showing the marks of where the latches and latchplates had been.
  • Finding lots of places dealing in Free Trade goods
  • My granddaughter choosing to keep me company when I left the food bar while the others were ordering, only to find I was going to the public loo, and not to the Post Office as she thought.
  • An old Victorian letter box.
  • A pigeon with a difference.











Momentary miseries ~

  • No grab rail or non-slip mat in the bath-cum-shower - very necessary for stiff, unsteady oldies.
  • Two waiters in a posh restaurant with metal tips on their shoes, who went clack, clack, clack across the wood laminate floors every time they moved, disturbing the relaxation and concentration that should go with good (and expensive) food.
Time and effort well spent.

8 comments:

Maggie May said...

Glad you had such a lovely time away with your son, grandchildren and friends. Lovely to read about the bonding with grandson.

Helen said...

I really enjoyed reading about your visits, Judith. I hope your grandchildren appreciate the person you are and make the most of having you as a grandmother. I believe in grandparents - they are so important for so many reasons. I have very warm memories of mine.

And I loved reading your observations too.

laura said...

Oh, Judith! How lovely that you're back, and with such fond memories and lovely stories to share. I have missed reading your posts these past several days. I'm glad you're back, safe and sound, and sharing your heart with us once again. My deepest thanks.

And I agree with Helen about how important grandparents are. Am so delighted to hear that you spent such lovely time with your grandchildren. I miss my Nana, Pappap, and Grammee so much, as they've been gone for quite some time. I'm now 30 years old and in need of their wisdom and love now more than ever.

Sending you LOTS of love from Pittsburgh...

Lucy said...

Tongue piercing yuk! How can anyone do that?

I am really delighted to hear about the chain pull on the lav, I had often wondered if there were any left! And about your bonding session with smaller grandson too, of course...

Anonymous said...

Well it sounds like a lovely time. So what is your opinion on tattoos?

Judith said...

Well, Rose, it always seems to me to be a ridiculous risk to take, to mark one's body permanently in such a way. Who can tell whether you will continue to like the design, or even want it there at all?

I suppose body piercing is more invasive - (though probably not much!) - but ear-piercing and navel-piercing can at least be ignored, if you don't actually put anything in the holes. That's not to say that I have ever contemplated body-piercing myself, not even ears,as I just don't fancy it. Unfortunately this means I can rarely buy new earrings now, as the clip earring seems to be a thing of the past.

herhimnbryn said...

Hallo J,
R
U
OK?

Pam said...

Oh, I think piercings and tattoos are indeed completely yuk. I teach in further education and a lot of our students have both, so I'm somewhat inured to them. But I wouldn't like my offspring to have them.

Have just been reading both your blogs and greatly enjoying them. I do like your attitude. I too want to leave my footprint. One can leave behind a whole lot of stuff, but I think words are the most important. So my family's going to end up with lots and lots of mine!