Sunday 4 November 2012

MY BLOGGING LIFE HAS COME FULL CIRCLE

I started off my blogging career by reading the excellent  Judith O'Reiley's blog www.wifeinthenorth.com. She hooked me into a fascinating way of life and a great circle of friends.  Judith is the author of two books (Wife in the North and A Year of Doing Good) and was the first blog I "followed".  Now she is "following" me.  Welcome to my humble abode Judith. 

Hopefully my writing "mojo" will return because I have, of late, been very remiss with my postings.  Don't you just hate it when that happens?  How can you describe the guilt you feel?

But why did I stop writing? That's quite difficult to anaylise.  My nearest and dearest seem to think that I lost my general joie de vivre when my daughter and son-in-law took two of my grandchildren to live abroad without leaving a forwarding address. This is not something that I care to elaborate on right now, but suffice to say I miss my grandchildren very much. Family has always been my first priority in life.

I don't necessarily agree with this hypothesis.  I believe that the simple explanation is that I'm just too goddamn lazy and most days can't be arsed to do much. 

So...my life over the last 2 months?  I guess one of the most significant things to happen is that one of my beloved grandsons went off to Sheffield University to study History and French. He seems to have settled in very well and says his course work is not giving him too many sleepless nights, he gets on well with his flatmates and now has a new circle of NBF's to add to his already long list of BF's!  He is a very sociable and amiable boy and I love him dearly. Good luck Ali, you deserve the best.

Continuing on the educational theme, my greatgranddaughter Elise and grandson Taylor have both started Senior School.  This is a huge change for both of them, having moved from from a small village school they are now swimming with sharks!  They are coping OK, but I'm terrified.  Such big changes in their young hormonal lives.  Are they able to deal with these new challenges?  Luckily they both have amazing parents who give them understanding, love and support.  Good luck to you both, you also deserve the best.

Vinnie, another of my beloveds, came over from Austrralia for a few weeks and we manage to get a few hours together.  We even meet up with his elusive brother Frazer at a family get together to celebrate Davy's birthday.  Davy hated going out to eat.  He always said "why drink wine when you can have champagne at home?"  He said that about other (nameless) things too! BUT he did like family celebrations and, apart from home, his favourite place to eat was The George at Stamford. After he died it became something of a ritual to meet up there every year on his birthday. 

My big news is that friends I made on the South Pacific cruise invited me to their Australian beach house for the post-christmas period.  Was I tempted or what?  You bet I was!!!  My mind went into overdrive.  If I'm going all that way it would be a pity not to see Western Australia. Travel up to Darwin via Perth and Ayres Rock arriving back in Sydney by 25th February in time to catch the 61 day cruise back to Southampton via the Panama Canal. 

Wooohhhh! Hold on to your horses Ann.  What about the Oz-Bus reunion at my house in January? What about the house build that seems close to being resolved with the Planning Department? Stop!  I calmed down, arranged to take a rain check until next year and booked myself onto a 12 day cruise to Madeira instead.  A good compomise solution!

Anything else?  Apart putting in an Official Complaint against the wretched Planning Office?  Oh yes, last night I went to see Andy Fairweather Low in concert.  That's a blast from the past!  My two young reluctant companions (who had never heard of him) actually enjoyed themselves.  Maybe it gave them an added dimension into how life used to be, proving that there was life before binge drinking and facebook.  Only kidding girls.


 

21 comments:

laurie said...

i'm glad you visited my blog because i had lost the link to yours--doglover sent me your travel blog link and i followed it with great interest until somehow it disappeared. nice to be in touch again! go to australia!

ADDY said...

Ahhhh, The George st Stamford... a great place - Greg had a student summer job there many decades ago as a waiter and we often used to go back there to indulge when we were in that part of the world.

Anonymous said...

Good to see you back to writing. I've missed it. We are in DHS enjoying the heat and warmth. Love you. Flagmaker

Jay at The Depp Effect said...

Wow .. Andy Fairweather-Low. He was one of my first pop 'crushes'! I still like a few songs of his and would probably have loved the concert, too!

The George is a great place to eat, isn't it? I'm glad you have made it an occasion to do something nice in memory of Davy. I think we need to do things like that.

I'm sorry to hear about losing touch with your family, but glad that you're blogging again!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Good to be back in touch again Laurie. Don't you just hate it when blogs disappear. I even lose my own blogs at time! That's age for you!!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

I remember you said Greg had once worked there Addy. I'm actually going again this lunchtime. My friend, Jean, is celebrating a Big0birthday. I'll be thinking of you.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Hi Flagmaker. It's feezing here. I'd much rather be in Desert Hot Springs with you. Love you too, Ann xxx

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Andy is looking a tad aged now Jay, (I can relate to that!) but he's still "got it"!

Sueann said...

Ha!!! Binge drinking huh?? Good one!
A cruise!!! How divine!!
Broke my heart about your two grandchildren. It would have crushed me!!
Hugging you
SueAnn

Maggie May said...

I think you & I started blogging around the same time.
I'm really sorry about your family doing that. It seems unforgivable. Family cruelty never ceases to amaze me.
Glad you are back.
I used to post3 times a week but now am lucky to get one out.
Your life is quite exciting compared to mine though so keep blogging about it.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Anonymous said...

Like Maggie May and Addy, I think we all started blogging around the same time and it's so lovely to keep visiting each other's blogs to keep up - it's been over 5 years now and that's quite an achievement for online communication! Judith has definitely been the rock for us all because she was the one who got me into blogging also. We live quite close to each other and share coffee round kitchen tables; I love her dearly.

CJ x

Beryl Ament said...

I am glad I came across your post via Maggie May's blog. We are facing a horrendous family situation right now—not quite as close as yours—and the only way to deal with it is to have a clear conscience and know we are not being petty or vindictive. We will invite everyone to the upcoming family wedding, and if they chose not to come, then we have proffered the olive branch and life will go on.

SandyCarlson said...

Your blog is great. I am so glad you're here.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Yes, SueAnn, it has been a very difficult time for me since Davy died 3 years ago. But on the up side I have a wonderful family and I count myself as being very blessed.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Maggie, I am always amazed that people think I have a exciting life. Most days are quite mundane, until I get down and dirty and decide to stir things up a bit!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Five years! Where have those years gone to CJ.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Welcome Beryl. You hit on a hot topic. Unfortunately weddings and deaths sometimes can be the most contentious times can't they? You would think this is when families would come together.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Hi Sandy, glad you are here too! It's been a long time.

Unknown said...

It's a sad reality that the whole family only see each other when there is a wedding or the sad truth during funerals. Isn't it alarming and disappointing? Family should always keep in touch everyday, during occasions or just a normal day.
Student management system training

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Thank you for visiting Jean. Our family is actually very good at keeping in touch. That is why it hurts so much that a part of the family has now seen fit to split away due to inheritance issues. Madness. But the real losers are my 2 grandchildren who have been taken away from the bosom of the family.

PS I tried to read you blog and several others recently but I have been messaged that I am haven't been invited. This is a realively new phanomina and I don't know how to get by it. Any ideas?

rosecreekcottage-carol.blogspot.com said...

It was so nice to see your comment on my blog!! I had lost touch with some of the original bloggers, too....five years is a long time. Reading some of your posts....I can see you haven't let anything at all slow you down!! You GO girl!! xoxox