A glorious February Day

I normally just blog craft stuff, but couldn't resist sharing these photos from a little jaunt with half of the family last Sunday.   Perfect setting for a sunday lunch.

We walked along the coastal path -it was high tide but fortunately it was passable.   We had booked for lunch, but had never been to the pub before.  Parking was impossible near to the pub, so we parked a little further away and walked along the sea wall to get to it.  Imagine our surprise to be greeted by this view.   A beautiful old disused tide mill.

The tide was going out as we returned.

 

Proud of my Superheroes

Something a bit different for my blog today and non craft.

Today was the last of "firsts" that the family have had to deal with following the sudden death of my husband a year ago today.   My daughter decided she would mark the day by abseiling 100 ft down the wall of a hotel in Crawley, together with my eldest grandaughter, raising money at the same time for the local hospice.

My son, my other three granddaughters and I went along to watch.   After the event we all went out for lunch, and a family meal is planned tonight.  A Chinese meal as that was my husband's favourite and what he had planned to celebrate our wedding anniversary last year, but never made it.

A lovely family day to remember the man I miss so much.

My daughter on the left, and eldest granddaughter on the right

and finally my daughter's favourite photo of her Dad, being his usual funny self wearing his version of "bifocals" !

Cyberspace is a wonderful thing!

My husband who is not an FB addict like me, had got a bit jealous of me, I think, showing him photos of the flooding around the area, decided he would have a little trawl of our local news pages and in the process came across a reunion page of a coffee house that used to exist in town.   He came across a couple of names that he thought seemed familiar the first being a possible sister of his best man at our wedding, and said she was friends with another lady who he thought might be our best man's wife.  (our best man died in 1980). Well a little investigation by me on my genealogy site and I confirmed that yes the first person was a sister, and b) second person was his wife, who had since remarried!

Well I took the bull by the horns so to speak, and posted a message!   Resulting in us chatting and sharing some photos yesterday evening, and me finding our wedding photos and scanning them all this morning.  This was a bit of a feat.  I thought we had a proper album somewhere, but couldn't find it although I did find my mum's album.

We had all the proof photos - which as they are over 40 years old had gone a rather faded sepia colour as they weren't "fixed".   We had a brilliant photographer that day - who by the time we had the evening reception had printed all the photos he had taken that afternoon in proof format and displayed them all for us. So I have been busy today scanning them all and attempting to rejuvenate them!

So here are a couple of my photos:  

Best man and my hubby (on right)
(retouched from proof photo)

group photo (I made bridesmaids dresses and my wedding dress)

and this is the photo his sister shared
absolutely love this photo

So all in all an exciting weekend.

A Good Start to 2014

Many moons ago a family moved from London to Crawley.  The parents joined the local village society and became friends with a couple who had lived in the centre of the village.   Both families had children who went to the local schools, and they too became friends.

One family was mine and another was the family of a girl called Paula.   Some years later, having lost touch (my parents moving north when I got married, and I moved away - Paula was already married and at Uni), through the power of the internet the two met up again, and became friends on facebook, and although they don't see each other regularly today was a day when they did, as Paula and her husband came across for a cuppa and a promised piece of Christmas Cake!

So here we are, me and my pal Paula - 59 years on since we were first friends, and looking just as mischievous as we were all those years ago.  We haven't changed a bit (she said tongue in cheek) and we shall both be celebrating a big "0" this year!

So we have done a bit of reminiscing - I think it was Paula that taught me how to climb trees!  I was remembering a holiday spent camping with her family on the South Downs, and she recalled a trip to London, when we went to stay with my Nanna.  (I am sure we were very good and didn't get up to too much mischief there!)

Not only were our parents friends, but also my brother and one of Paula's brothers were best buddies too. Unfortunately we both lost these two brothers early in life -  mine in 1981 and Paula's in 1980.

I have Paula's dad to thank for teaching me a lot of the history of Sussex, as he used to lecture for the WEA, and my parents attended a lot of his lectures, and then "dragged" me with them on outings to view historic sights around the County - but what I learned has stuck with me all these years.

We have made a promised that we will meet up more regularly in 2014 - as we only live about 6 miles apart!