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A Mother’s Guilt
The car stopped, the child who had been sitting patiently on the back seat, strapped in and apparently oblivious to our bright chatter as we drove into the school car park, undid his seat belt, opened the car door and leapt out in one fluid movement, before we could turn around. By the time we had jumped out onto the tarmac, he had legged it.
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Another Embarrassing Moment
I thought I was Queen of the embarrassing moment. Let’s face it, I have had more than a few. There was the unforgettable time I needed to renew my passport photo for instance. It was busy in Boots the Chemist’s. The queues for the checkout were long but I ignored them and went straight to the photo booth that was strategically placed opposite the longest queue of all. The black curtain that would shield me from prying eyes was fastened to one side. I tweaked it and it swished to behind me, so that only my legs would be visible. I settled myself down on the little stool and pushed…
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Flossie – Growing Pains
Goodness, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror the other day and who is this large, fluffy dog standing staring at me? Surely I cannot have grown this much? Parks, fields, woods and now the beach. I have been to them all. This rather fetching photograph of me was taken on a recent walk to a local beach and, though I say so myself, I do think it makes me look cute. The windswept look is so very ‘now’. I have also expanded my group of four legged friends since last we spoke. To date I have met a grand old lady called Daffodil, a border collie, who…
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New Header for Summer
This small corner of our large, partly unruly, garden, just encapsulates my love of colour and contrast so here it is on my blog. My life is one of organised chaos. Had my husband not piled those garden chairs up and placed them just so, they would surely have been scattered about the place, possibly upturned, legs pointing to the skies, like a series of struggling beetles. Even with his ‘tidy minded’ help, I love the fact that everything appears to be jostling for space and that the gate you see dividing the back garden from the front is not really a gate but a hastily erected contraption of wire…
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No More Ribbons
Something from the archives of my hard disk – a nostalgic snapshot of childhood (Tidbits) January 1962: I’m five years old and eager to begin the first day, of the first term, of the rest of my school life. Frost white pavements stretch for miles. My shoes tap out an excited rhythm on their blank pages. A warm gloved hand in mine – mother’s hand. Nearly there, nearly over the bridge that crosses the railway tracks where today, I do not stand to watch the last of the old steam trains chug through on their way to nowhere. Today I fly past, wings on my heels. My breath bursts forth…
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Works of Art, Tooth Fairies and Fluffy Ducks
The Boss has been talking about me all week. It seems I possess hidden talents. Well, if that is what the Boss thinks, who am I to argue? It started with a new game I have made up. The idea is to rush up the stairs to my favourite bedroom, belonging to the young human they call ‘Zoe’, and find something interesting. I manage this with ease most mornings though am always a little put out when Zoe spots me before I can make my getaway as she almost always removes my find and sends me packing. Assuming my mission has been successful and I have found something interesting, I…
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We all recognise eccentricity in others but rarely in ourselves…
“I’ll be going out shortly and leaving the chef on his own for an hour but don’t worry, he can manage,” she promises and with a flurry of brightly coloured skirts, and hair that seems to have grown even bigger as she speaks, flies back to the kitchen.
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Over the Fence and Far Away
“Flossie, sit,” the boss ordered calmly, gathering the lead close to her and straddling me with both legs. Sit? I was already slithering back towards the ditch, all sense of propriety gone.
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The Builder on the Balcony
“Are you sure he’s not still inside?” All five of us stopped and looked at one another in shocked horror which quickly turned to mirth. Of course, it wouldn’t be funny if we really had locked the poor builder on the balcony and gone off for the day, would it? Yet, still, rather cruelly, we found the situation amusing.
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“Oh, Flossie”
“I think it was a sock…” so says the Boss as she retrieves a soggy wet lump of grey material from the grass beneath the whirligig thing holding their clothes. Now, far be it from me to offer an opinion but seems to me, if these humans leave their socks lying around then they must expect to lose one or two. “Oh, Flossie – you rascal – naughty girl…” Now, wait a minute, that sock was won fair and square. Pegged loosely onto the line it dangled enticingly before my eyes. I kept watch on it for well over an hour in between sporadic attempts to reach it by…
