A Bit of Blether

Aside

We have just had the Sussex branch of the family for their last visit before leaving for Australia but hooray they are coming again in August. Mum and daughter have just popped over to Oz for a quick recce but they know it well having lived there for ten years.

Our grand-daughter – having finished GCSEs, had a combined celebration and farewell party at the Ritz with her girl friends. One of them thought she had spotted the Queen Mother but grand- daughter broke the news of the Q.M’s demise and realised it was Margaret Thatcher. I think she was jolly clever to recognise her. Maggie asked them what the occasion was and volunteered that it was very expensive and was generally sweet to them.

Being polite girls they asked the waiter if they could have doggy bags (as opposed to having them already in their handbags, as Grandma would have done) and were politely refused. However GD managed to sneak a scone for her Dad.

My Kent grandson celebrated his end of whatever they have at 18 by having six days in Paris with his girl friend. As he has risen at crack of dawn for years to do a paper round I expect he paid for it himself -. which pleases me greatly.

My D in L made the most scrumptious Coq au Vin whilst here – I haven’t done one since the seventies. I asked her about the recipe but all she would say was it said half a bottle of red wine so she put a whole one in and had made sure it was a happy chicken. MTL and I enjoyed the leftovers after they left. And by the way Gordon Brown, check out girls et al; please don’t lecture me about thrift – or anyone who lived through WW2. We know more about thrift by practising it for years and then never growing out of it. So there!

And as for tightening our belts – we’ve been doing that, on and off, since Harold Wilson. Over the week-end we had a discussion about leaving our plates clean which Grandma expects and we were told that in some countries in the east, if you leave a clean plate they assume you want more and continue doling out noodles. However this is the West.

I had an e-mail forwarded from my old school from an old boy. I eventually remembered him – he was senior to me and in my sister’s form. He said he remembered me sitting on his knee at one of Geoff Hurst’s kissing parties. Of this I have no recollection but we did have lots of end of year celebrations. He said he was 81 but still alive and kicking. Bless him!