A small town in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire has a reputation for being very flat but I live on the Lincolnshire Wolds.  People have liked living here since the Romans set up their camp many hundreds of years ago but the heart of the present town is Georgian.  There are lots of lovely elegant Georgian and Victorian houses here. 

The Church of  St Peter and St Paul, Caistor

But before George 1 came to the throne or Victoria was even thought about, two public buildings were erected in Caistor which remain to this day. 

The first was the parish church which has an Anglo Saxon tower so it’s no Johnny-come-lately.  It’s not always snowy in Caistor but my cousin took this lovely photo.  Soon the church will be surrounded by lovely daffodils.

Just across the close from the church is the Grammar School  which dates from 1631.  Most of the buildings are rather more modern than this!  One of the school’s claims to fame is that Jordan Duckitt, one of the youth ambassadors who lit the Olympic flame in 2012 was a pupil here at the time.

And even more important – my mum was a pupil there long before that!

A promise of loveliness to come

Today is glorious.  The forecast for the next few days isn’t glorious.  So, despite the stack of things waiting to be done, I went to Normanby Park.

I think the world and his wife was there.  Grandparents with excited children, photographers doing photo shoots, health walkers, dog walkers and me.  And everyone had a smile.  There is a real feeling that splendid things are around the corner.

Daffodils

Primroses

Hellebores

Pulmonaria

Daffodils and primroses, hellebores and pulmomaria are all showing their beauty.

Currants and gooseberries will soon be in leaf and the peach case is full of blossom.

Gooseberries

Currants

Peach case

Peach blossom

And even this splendid fellow seemed to be screeching at the top of his voice

SPRING IS ON ITS WAY!

Auntie Hettie

Throughout my childhood Auntie Hettie was always around.  She was my mother’s younger sister and she was always such fun to be with.  She was an infant school teacher and she just loved children.  She would take us to the seaside and she would take us to see Father Christmas.  Whatever was going on which was fun, Auntie Hettie was right there in it.

She didn’t marry until she was in her mid-thirties and then she had two children, Carrie and Garry.  Sadly she was widowed in her fifties and she missed her husband dreadfully.  However, she is a feisty lady so once again she built a new life for herself.  A few years ago  Carrie moved back in with her so Auntie Hettie has been able to stay in her own home.

And next month Auntie Hettie will be ninety.  What a day that will be!  She doesn’t read my blog so I can let you in on a small secret – there will be a party!  Carrie, Garry and I have seen to that.

And I now have the best excuse out to search though all my old photos and memorabilia to find everything I can about the life and times of Auntie Hettie.  What fun!

Trefoil Guild

I loved being a Brownie!  I was a keen Girl Guide and became a Queen’s Guide.  After that it was Rangers and finally I became a Guider (Guide Leader).  And I found it all wonderful.  

That's me on the left!

I enjoyed the games, the badges, the fun.  I relished the idea of being part of something.  When I became a leader I had a clear sense of giving something back.

But then I moved house, went to a new Guide county and although I tried to carry on, it just wasn’t the same and I gave the whole thing up.  That was thirty years ago.  (The picture was over fifty years ago!)

But now I’ve made contact with Guiding again, this time with the Trefoil Guild and I’m hoping that again I will delight in this aspect of my life.  Today I was at a small meeting at which we made some tote bags, next month a member will share some Thai cooking.  It feels good.

Croxton

Today I went to Croxton.  That makes me very unusual!  Not many people go to Croxton.  Even fewer live there.  In 2011 (the last census) 36 people lived there.

Croxton Church from the south

People do pass through Croxton but they don't realise it because it's a blink-and-you've-missed-it sort of place.  It's a couple of miles from Humberside International Airport and I'll bet you didn't realise that Humberside had an international airport!

Croxton Church from the north

Anyway, I digress.  Croxton has one of those lovely little churches which hide in most English villages.  And no-one from Croxton goes to it!  However, a lot of people from other places do go there as Croxton still has the old traditional service, so I'm not on my own.  

I feel immensely privileged that even in retirement I can lead the worship of God.

Yes, the wobbly picture is the one taken by me

Kindness

As I have said on this blog before I am a bit short on close family as I have just one nephew and he lives in Belgium.  He and his wife are great but there is the North Sea between us.   There is no-one from whom I have any right to expect anything but being “mobility challenged” I have need of a lot.

And I receive so much kindness.  I have dear cousins, all who lead busy lives, and yet they come as soon as I call.  They’ve shovelled snow, fetched parcels from the post office, erected my Christmas tree and got me off the ground when I have fallen over.

I have wonderful friends who take me to places I couldn’t otherwise go to, change lightbulbs (I’m not safe on ladders), get stuff down from the loft, and are ready to do so much more if I will let them but I like to do as much as possible for myself.

The wonderful Jack (my gardener and friend) cleans both my car and the windows, has taken me for hospital appointments, fetched garden supplies and made my life easier.

And this week I have received extra kindness while I was away.  I went to a Days Inn (a budget hotel chain for those who don’t know) but the staff couldn’t have been more helpful.  I even managed to set off the disability alarm in my room by mistake but they were great.  Bags were carried, doors open, assistance given with my mobility scooter.  A letter to the manager is on its way!

Tennessee Williams in “A Streetcar Named Desire” gives Blanche the line, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers".  I depend on the kindness of all around me and almost always find it.  How about you?

Treated to lunch by a Teddy Bear

I’m really sorry that I haven’t been posting this week.  It’s not that I haven’t done things – quite the opposite.

Bobo The Magnificent

On Monday I took Bobo home and was rewarded by a joyful reunion between him and Alice, his human.  They had been apart for getting on for a year and they had a lot of news to catch up on.  Alice has become a granny whilst he was away!  After a while Bobo suggested very politely that he’d like a little time to himself to get used to being back home so he suggested that Alice and I should go out for lunch – his treat – so we went out and continued talking well into the afternoon.

On Tuesday I went to visit a cousin who is moving to France in the next few weeks.  I would find it both difficult and expensive to visit her once she has moved so this visit was very important to both of us.  Isn’t it amazing – the muscles in our tongues never seem to get tired no matter how much we talk!

Wednesday was Leicester.  I lived there for several years so have quite a few friends there but I was visiting one old friend who sadly has Parkinson’s disease and is finding life trying.  I stayed for an hour but didn’t want to overwhelm her.  I took a small album of photos of my home which I had made for her.  She’s never been here and is now unlikely to do so, so this seemed to go down well.  After that a visit to Leicester market, always a treat.  It’s the best market I know of and I bought some lovely fabric.

And then home.  It had been a delightful short break but home is wonderful!  I was shattered but yesterday I conducted a funeral and I’m catching up with everything.

Not the most exciting post I’ve ever written but I need to get blogging again!

Bobo is going home

Long time readers of this blog may remember Bobo the Bear.  He usually lives with my friend Alice but for nearly a year he has been staying with me.

Bobo before

I first introduced him to you back in July.     He was in a very sorry state.  The trouble was that he had been loved too much and as a result his face had been loved flat and his eyes, mouth and most of his nose had disappeared.  One arm was falling off, one foot had disappeared and the other was in a precarious state.  The loving had been a little inconsistent as at some time someone had chopped off his head and it had been very crudely reattached using blue thread.

Bobo now

Over the last few months I have, with great difficulty, made him clothes (click on the Bobo label on the side bar and your will find the complications involved) and have given him a prosthetic foot.

Tomorrow I am visiting Alice and will be taking Bobo back home.