Living Between the Lines
A wry look at family life
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A Mission, A Storm, A Delivery and A Sofa …
The Mission For the past several months, my mother, now 94 and a half years old, (“I’m nearly 95, Debbie!”) has complained that her sofa has been falling to bits. On our last visit, we had to agree. The cushion covers had torn and were exposing the seat pads which were, themselves, worse for wear. The sofa itself was not in good shape and though the jury is out on exactly how old it was, the general consensus is that it must have been about 25-30 years old. We were staying in the gorgeous, Shire Stables, an absolute gem of a place only a mile or two from my mother…
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Growing Golden Gracefully
It begins when I try to jump into the boot of the Boss man’s car. “Ooh, she won’t make it, she’s getting old!” they chorus as I place front paws on the boot floor and try in vain to haul my back-end upward. However much I scrabble, I cannot make it. Well, I don’t know about getting old, I think the boot is just too high. “She used to get in with ease,” they say, sadly, as I sink to the ground, out of breath from effort and not inclined to repeat the undignified performance. Charlie Brown has leapt up and out again several times at this point. “Easy, see?”…
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The Ghost Girl at Angel Cottage
I just love the cover of my revamped novel, The Ghost Girl at Angel Cottage, created by my talented daughter, Zoe, of ZoeBarkerDesign. As Christmas approaches, I just wanted to showcase it here. It is available on Amazon as a paperback and ebook. The Ghost Girl at Angel Cottage is a time slip novel set in 1943, 1963 and 2012. I have tried to be as truthful to the times as I can and researched references to real events before including them. I am, first and foremost, a story-teller and I hope I can entertain you with this multi-layered tale. (Previously published as Once Upon a Christmas Eve.) All that…
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Let the Games begin…
It is that time of year again…Christmas hovers on the horizon and the schools have their Christmas Fairs planned. Once again, I have been ‘volunteered’ to help out. My dependable friend, Lisa, has also been drafted in. Lisa has no children and I am a grandmother, maybe we seem easy prey! I jest, my eldest daughter is working hard on the activities and games room for the event just as she did last year and has turned to us for support. We give it gladly of course. No strong-armed stuff needed. Last year, we were not certain what to expect. My days of helping at school events when my own…
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Is it me or is it you?
The phone rang at an unusual hour considering it was my mother at the other end. Our phone calls tend to take place late afternoon unless there is something wrong. So, it was with some trepidation that I picked up the phone this morning saying, “Hello?” “Oh, who am I speaking to? Is that Debbie?” “Yes, are you ok?” “Oh, yes I am fine thank you, not too bad at all but I have two parcels for you…I don’t know what they are of course…” “Oh, that’s odd, I haven’t ordered anything…” (thinks, oh no, not again!) “What sort of parcels?” “I’ll look, just a minute, just got to go…
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GroundDog Day
July 4th -15th 2019 – (thanks to the wonders of CCTV) GroundDog Day The Boss has gone away! 10am Flossie: Well, I don’t know what’s going on but she’s gone, she’s definitely gone. I mean, normally, she comes back quite quickly. “Just going to the shop, won’t be long,” she trills as she grabs the jangly things that she uses to lock the door and start the metal monster. This time I don’t think she said she wouldn’t be long. Maybe she did. No, she definitely didn’t…but maybe she did… Hey, Charlie, did she say she wouldn’t be long? Charlie: Don’t ask me, I’ve been sitting on this toy box…
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Happy Birthday John!
Here is another Photograph I found recently, which includes our dog, Sherry: Today 29th June, is John’s birthday. He would have been 58 today. Here is a post I first published in 2011 for World AIDS Day. The photograph I refer to in the text is one I have lodged in my memory but sadly, I do not have a copy, I believe it resides in my mother’s archives. June 1966: The boy in the photograph wears a cowboy hat and carries a toy gun. Feet planted firmly apart, he stands at the opening to a brand new, white tent. The latter is a birthday present. Today he is five-years-old.…
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From bad to worse and back again…
I can only blame myself and yet… It began like this. Charlie Brown was limping on Saturday. On Sunday he seemed better…then he began licking his paw and limping again. Nothing for it, a trip to the vet was in order. Monday morning… My 93-year-old (“I’m almost 94,”) mother is staying with us. Lovely to have her here but tiring as her memory is going and the day begins with question – answer, same question – same answers etc.. There was the incident in the Black Dog where she asked what “WIFFI” was when reading it on a card on the windowsill. We explained that it was wi-fi. There followed…
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Wine Country revisited
I watched the Netflix film, ‘Wine Country’ recently and seeing the women heading through Napa Valley, really brought back memories of my own trip to California, made back in 1997 and chronicled on this blog, under California Memories. Pasted below is the post about my trip with my eccentric companion, through Napa Valley. I thought it worth republishing (Was it really 22 years ago?) Wow! “One minute I was just a normal wife and mother of five, the next I was flying 5000 miles across the world to meet someone I knew only by virtue of an online writer’s club.” Did I really do that? Yes I did! The Silverado…
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Charlie Brown – My side of the story
Hi everyone – Charlie Brown speaking. Yes, I must say, it is a rare privilege to be allowed on here. Flossie normally guards her domain jealously. Today, I thought it about time I redressed the balance between good dog and bad dog. I managed to persuade the Boss to give me some air time. It seems to me, I get a raw deal when it comes to the ‘kiss and tell’ stories that Flossie goes in for. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Floss to bits, she is, after all, my mum. (What do you mean we look nothing alike?) Truth to tell, this fact has not escaped my…
