CATS!!! I have several.
It has been said that this is excessive, but I prefer to think of it as 'comprehensive'! There are six permanent residents...more when I have kittens (not me personally!!)... and they should be referred to as a 'Glaring' of cats, as they are a matriarchal society. (A patriarchal one would be a 'clowder', apparently). Billie is the MOTHERLOAD!...and she has a unibrow, making a 'glaring' very appropriate! She's nothing special, in terms of snob value...but she has attitude. Everyone down our street knows Billie! She struts about, with her skinny little legs, looking just like one teetering off to a nightclub in ill-fitting stillettos!
And so moody. She comes over for a cuddle, and then it's a question of risk-assessment! Usually, she appreciates it, and I am rewarded with head-banging and friendly chirruping. However, it's quite likely that, the moment I touch her, she'll start hissing and growling before aiming a cautionary swipe at me...before walking off with her tail thrashing as if deeply affronted that I deigned to look in her direction. Long live cats with character!!! Some of my other cats are her descendants. She has had nine litters, several admirers, and only one true love...a lovely big bengal tabby called Jack. Billie and Jack spent all their garden-time together...even when she wasn't in season. When she was, which was three times a year, she was the most appalling tease...strutting around on her stillettos, head held high, and extolling her own virtues at the top of her voice! (Honestly, I have often considered installing a red light over the cat-flap, with ''Welcome to Billie's'' next to it!!)
She had lots of admirers (GOODNESS knows what they saw in her), who were all cruelly rebuffed in favour of Jack!!
Those days are gone now. When she was six, and had 'done her bit', she was neutered. This resulted in her figure becoming somewhat spherical...earning her the nick-name '8-Ball! Nowadays, Billie spends her time on top of my kitchen cupboards, glowering at us poor mortals like a gargoyle. When she does descend, she again dons her stillettos, and marches around the house and garden, daring anyone to cross her path....and, perhaps, yearning for her glory-days!
(.....we hadn't seen Jack for some time, when we learned that he had been hit in the road outside our house. There is a new 'Jack' on the block, now. Needless to say, the relationship is purely platonic!)

'Glowering like a Gargoyle!!'

my Russell

I've been missing Russell a lot, lately. He has lived in Canada for almost a year, now, and is married to a lovely girl called Callie. He first told me about her a few years ago, when he said he had met someone on the internet..(what you can't get on e-bay these days...!!)..and that he was going to marry her, Well!..That completely floored me! The interesting little nugget concerning his move to Canada, he saved for the following year...and floored me again! It took two more years before all his paperwork was sorted, and during that time we built happy memories. I suppose part of me didn't believe it was happening, and the rest of me hoped it wouldn't! I know there are some parents who long for the day...but I'm not one of them!! Anyway, he seems to have settled well, and is happy...and I am glad for that. I havn't been over there yet, but one day....  . It's funny, isn't it, the sort of memories that flood back and ambush you. I was pottering about the garden today (between rain-showers!), and was taken unawares by a memory of Russell, and his friend Sarah, having a screaming contest at Amberly Chalk Pits museum,when they were no more than 5. Such giggley fun, in a great big echo-y building!!..In fact, we grown-ups were also laughing so much, we were powerless to stop them...and why would we, anyway! The time we spend with our children is so fleeting. If we don't enjoy the fun of it all, we miss it...and it doesn't come back.

the big day, Canada 2009

seems like only yesterday!

CAKE-MAKING..!!!..Why do I let myself be dragged into stuff!! My dearest friend is having a "surprise" birthday party.....except she decided to have it, and , as far as I can make out, has laid down several guidelines for everyone involved! One of these, she informed me, is that I was to make her cake. She didn't want to know how I was going to decorate it, but, if it didn't have animals on it, she would NOT be happy!!! So here I am, 'roped' in again...Ho Hum! Measuring, beating,and clouds of flour later, and it's ready for the tin...which I have forgotten to line!! Quickly do that,(which isn't quick at all, and is a real pain!), and it's ready for the oven...which I have forgotten to pre-heat. It'll be fine!!! Then I survey the kitchen. It seems to be totally shrouded in a fine coating of sugar, flour and cocoa powder ( "...has to be chocolate..."). Clean up (half-heartedly), and set about making the decorations. A dog and three cats, which are supposed to bear a passing resemblance to hers...but don't really, on account of the fact that the icing keeps drooping and splaying out due to the heat, Not only that, but the cats seem to be getting bigger as I mould them, and are falling over in a sort of drunken manner. Finally get them right(ish), only to discover that I have to re-make the dog, as it is now way too small!! Then I paint them...(acrylic for the eyes, as I have run out of yellow food colouring...hope it's not poisonous!!!). At last, after battling, and muttering like one deranged, for eleven hours, I assemble it...and I think it looks ok (Dinner very late tonight!!!).

                                             

the 'one-sie'

the ninja

I love having my boys around! Andrew still lives at home, and now Timmy is back for the summer. The house feels right again! Among the mountain of clothes he brought for my washing machine, was a giant 'baby-gro'...I couldn't stop laughing when I saw it. Aparently, this is essential student equipment, and should be referred to as a 'one-sie'...Well, whatever it's called, it's very cute and VERY funny!! He put it on a couple of weeks ago.."because it's comfy"...and within 1/2 an hour, he had gone an interesting shade of crimson, and was sitting in the living room , with the fan full on, still insisting that it was "comfy"! Not too many minutes later, he dissappeard upstairs, and returned wearing shorts and a vest-top. (Nothing was said). Actually, seeing him like that reminded me of the fancy dress party a couple of years ago. Being a bit self-concious about that sort of thing, Timmy decided to dress as a Ninja...for maximum anonimity. He needed 2 pairs of black socks(1 for his hands!), a black polo-neck and joggers, something for a sash (something of mine fitted the bill), and a black scarf..which he wrapped round and round his head until only his eyes were showing! Anyway, after some time in front of the mirror, waving his arms about and making oriental grunting noises, he declared himself ready. I offered to take him, but.."no. 's ok, I'll use the train" (!!) And off he crept stealthily into the night. At 2:00am, he crept NOT so stealthily back into the house!

• me:-"have a good time, Tim?"
• him,(VERY muffled):-"good, thanks"
• :-"everybody dress up?"
• :-"no.....Mum?"
• :-"hmmm?"
• (still very muffled):-"I.m really hungry..."

Still makes me laugh!

Timmy was always a little shy!!

So, here I am...in the 21st century, having been nagged to 'get a blog' by my sons.(Do they think I have nothing to

 do all day!!)...Funny how I made it happily through my whole childhood completely unaided by technology!       (Where did that gap in the text come from?)...Childhood,.... when Summers were always sunny, and went on for ever..only interuppted by Birthdays. And Christmasses, which were always white! I grew up in Barnes, on the edge of London, with my parents, who were both successful actors, and my brother and sister.Very happy memories, filled with seaside holidays, trips to London, and long days playing with friends on Barnes common-not getting home 'til tea-time! Of course, it was safer in those days, and as far as I know, Mum didn't worry about us disappearing for the day. (If she was going quietly frantic, she never let on...) I'm sure it wasn't REALLY always like that, but I'm glad that's how I see it. Mind you, it does mean that all efforts to re-create it for my own children felt a bit ''short of the mark''! I think, prehaps, I should provide them all with rose-tinted spectacles, before they reach the 'looking back' stage!! PHOTOS:--me and my brother,Andy, with mum on the Isle of Wight.... and off to feed the ducks at Barnes Pond, with dad...Precious times.