Living Between the Lines
A wry look at family life
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I Meant to Say
There are some things I wish I had said but didn’t, some things I did say but wish I hadn’t. I don’t suppose any of us get it right all the time. Indeed, what would we do if given a second chance to say what we had wanted to say all along? Would we take it? Would it change things for the better? I dare not guess but, just to set the record straight, here are a few of the things I would like to say if I had my time again… As a school girl: To my Irish, English teacher, *Sister Marguerite, who came across to where I…
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Are you being served?
Self service is not always what it is cracked up to be. Take yesterday morning for instance. On the way to visit my new grandson and his parents, Zoe and I stopped at ‘Marks and Spencer’ to pick up a few supplies for lunch. Being just off the motorway, M&S would be a quick and easy place to stop we reasoned. We gathered what we needed in record time. We loaded the goods into our basket and headed for the check-out. “We may as well go through self-serve,” Zoe observed. I was, it has to be said, dubious. My experience of these ‘self-serve’ checkouts has never been good. I normally pick…
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He is here!
Eleven days late but perfect in every way, our new little grandson has finally arrived.
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In the blink of an eye…
I was thinking the other day, how fast time goes. Now, when my mind moves in this particular direction, it normally flies ahead showing me how little time we have left. I then take a backward look and pull myself up sharply telling myself to ‘stop right there, enjoy today’, there would be no point to life if we did not stop to experience it. The far wiser me, knows that we truly do arrive everywhere in a blink of an eye. When my first daughter was born, I remember gazing at her tiny form and wondering at the fact that one day she would be eighteen, I would be…
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Gas-tri-onics
(Written April 1st) Now I know it is April Fool’s Day but really – can this be right? It is definitely NOT ‘A Gas’. You may recall that we had a lot of trouble with our central heating boiler last December and again after Christmas but you may not know that the problems dragged on well into January when British Gas decided to flush the entire system. This didn’t happen immediately of course because they cancelled the appointment twice. February dawned before an engineer finally arrived to do the job. After being without heating for so many weeks we were ecstatic when the boiler burst into life even if it had taken an…
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The Final Countdown
The final instalment from memories of my lone trip to California in 1997 Standing on The Golden Gate Bridge, we must present an odd sight by anyone’s standards. I am trying not to look like a typical tourist but am failing miserably as I point the camera and exclaim at the views. My friend clutches the straw hat to her head in an act of desperation, lest the wind snatch it from her and send it flying across the bay. Her skirts have given up and billow in the wind. Annie is wearing full make-up and high heels, making her tower head and shoulders above me. I feel very under…
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Making Assumptions
Jumping to conclusions, making assumptions – all can be embarrassing. We all do it to some extent I am sure. The other morning I was in a well-known Chemist’s in town with a colleague who is also a good friend. Paying for a small number of items I then waited for my friend to pay for hers. This particular well-known store has a points card system. My friend had lost hers and suggested she put the points on mine. (I was happy to oblige). The young sales girl smiled and took my card, saying to my friend, “You are going to put it on your mum’s card yeah?” My response was…
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The Final Countdown
The final instalment of my Californian Memories will be published next week. Apologies if anyone has received advanced notification – a slight technical hitch occurred with the scheduling.
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Prying Eyes
We have a small barn in our front garden that for several years, has served as an external office. It is pretty and quaint and its top floor provides a delightful guest bedroom and en-suite. The upstairs East facing window overlooks farmland and distant forests. However, downstairs has always seemed a little dark. The only source of natural light comes from the large glass double doors that face north-east. We have recently obtained planning permission to add a window to the downstairs wall that faces the road and East. This has just been unveiled and has yet to have curtains hung or shutters attached. That one window has made a…
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San Francisco Bay Area – just another day
More memories from my lone Californian trip of 1997 – This morning, a blue sky opened above me, clouds rolling away to reveal a shiny new sun. Just another day on this crazy holiday I have chosen to take. I am sitting here, alone in the back garden ostensibly reading but really, just sitting and thinking. I woke this morning with a real urge to pack my bag and head for home. It isn’t that I am not having fun. It isn’t that I am not constantly amazed by what is going on around me. It isn’t even that the woman I am travelling with happens to be a bi-sexual,…
