Monday, 5 April 2021

Daddy Needs Looking After


 From Facebook Archives

5 April 2017 at 08:41 ·

"We're going to Treegrass School tomorrow."

"No Ferretfingers, I'm going to Treegrass School to help at the Easter Fair."

"I'm staying home and looking after Daddy."

And my doesn't Daddy need looking after ....

On Friday I'm off to be a support driver for Northern Cross pilgrimage, the leg from Carlisle to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne; this will be the longest I've left the boys ever.

So last night "Can you leave your phone number somewhere I can get it easily?"

"It's on your phone."

"No somewhere I can just grab it, so if someone rings I can say 'she's not here' and give them your number."

Which begs a number of questions.

How hard is it to get his phone out and find the number?

Who is going to phone that he can't handle?

Why can't he just tell them to phone back in a fortnight?

How the heck am I supposed to deal with something whilst driving around the wilds of Wannie?

Why can't he write my number down off his own phone and put it somewhere prominent for himself?!

MrsPH  Cos you're his Mum and he's worried about you being out of reach so he's fussing. <B

Bentonbag  No - the phone number request was from Fester!
MrsPH  Aaahhhh!
Mr Monkshood  MrsPH was right Ben.  You're his Mum.
Mrs Leftfoot  Maybe we should ALL ring while you're away, and with challenging questions for him to deal with!
Mrs Poet  I am assembling a few- using Wittgenstein and Schopenhauer as sources.
 
Northern Cross, 2017, on the road from Chillingham to Belford, with Cheviot and Hegehope Hills.

 

 

Sunday, 4 April 2021

First Dance

From Facebook Archives

4 April 2016 at 19:04

So we're sat here listening to Sounds of The Seventies (or half listening in my case) where someone wrote in about their wedding dance.

"Thank God we didn't have to go through that rigmarole" says Fester.

"What rigmarole?"

"Chosing a first dance for the wedding."

"Phil and I did the Gay Gordons, possibly because it was the only one he knew how to do."

"What about the Dashing White Sergeant?"

"You need three people for that and we weren't in a menage-a-trois."

"Set up for a Royton!"

Mrs Leftfoot Romance is clearly alive and well in the B/F household!
And conversation too!

Mrs Quilt You do realise that only a proportion of us know that you're not entirely bonkers!
Bentonbag That many!
Mrs Quilt I've been musing, Royton would only work if you were a matching pair of left and right
Bentonbag You'd be very limited on figures ...
Mrs Quilt Another solution might have been a Tommy and Betty performance with/without a Rapper Set - you could spend quality time together choreographing it.....
Mrs Telyn What - you mean she isn't bonkers? Our friendship has been built on a tissue of lies. I only accept bonkers people...

It was twenty years between Fester and me getting together and getting married.
 
As my father said in opening his speech at my wedding to Phil, after we’d been living together for four years, “Ben has not married in haste.”

The day after our first wedding anniversary Phil went into hospital to have a tumour removed; he died 11 days short of our second.

One of my reasons for not remarrying (apart from not being asked) was that I didn’t think I’d be able to say those words again.

But in 2012 Fester’s Littlebrother died suddenly and unexpectedly.  

Fester was his, and their parents, only heir and started spending the inheritance on improving this house, which belongs to me.   
It seeemed unfair to me that his family money should go into a house he had no right to.  
So I instigated talks about marriage; he’s been married before so not against it in principle.
“You organise it and I’ll come.”
So I chose the date we first ‘got together’ and phoned the Registry Office.

Then I started thinking about guests.

The guests at my first wedding had been so happy and so well-wishing for us, and look what had happened.  Not even the most loving good wishes in the world had stopped the worst thing I could then imagine happening.  It would be hard enough, emotionally, to say the words without my sisters (and probably others) sitting there thinking 
“Well I hope this one lasts/doesn’t die on her.”

So one night, in bed, I asked 

“Would you mind if it was just you, me, the boys and two witnesses?”
He replied, with a huge sigh of relief, “Good grief no, I’d prefer it, I hate fuss.”

So it was.

No one was told beforehand, except the witnesses and someone I consulted about my dress (and she was sworn to secrecy).  There was no bouquet, no cake, we went in a taxi, had lunch afterward in the Wooden Doll pub and came home on the Metro.

I took along my MP3 player, put it on the Registrar’s desk, recorded the ceremony and attached the mpg to an email which I sent to family and friends.   
The next day I sent a card with the news to all the people on our Christmas card list.

Mrs Leftfoot has still not forgiven me for not asking her to be a bridesmaid.

 

 

Saturday, 3 April 2021

Rabbits

From Facebook archives


3 April 2015 at 16:31 ·
Just noticed a posting about adopting unwanted rabbits and mentioned it to himself with 
"I'm not sure about keeping rabbits, you don't get eggs from rabbits."
Him "At least they don't stand on your f**king keyboard."

Felix surpassed himself the other night by coming in the office, getting behind the curtain with as much fuss and disruption as possible then kicking the side of Fester's laptop with his back legs out from underneath the curtain.

 

Friday, 2 April 2021

April Fool?


From Facebook archives

2 April 2015 at 10:36 ·

Yesterday himself says to me by way of conversation 

"Dec's on BBCRadio3 all this week."

I expressed surprise and disbelief "What's he doing?"

"I haven't heard it: it's on at 10am every morning this week."

"Is Ant not doing it?"

"No, just Declan Donnelly."

"You sure?"

"Well there aren't that many Declan Donellys around."

"Yes, but if the surname's Donnelly there's good chance of the first name being Declan: they sort of go together."

Intrigued I went and checked the BBCRadio3 listings.

It's Essential Classics with Declan Donnellan


And he says there's nothing wrong with his hearing ....

Thursday, 1 April 2021

Let Them Eat Cake

Lisa Thunderthighs Felix June 2008

I joined Facebook on 13th March 2009.

1 April 2009 at 08:50 ·

The kittens, Lisa and Felix, are one today. Thunderthighs thinks we should have a cake.

1 April 2009 at 15:03 ·

Have just got back from a trip to Asda with Fester.   
We bought 2 bags of cat litter, 2 boxes of cat biscuits and a chocolate birthday cake.    
Who's a soft get then?  
 
1 April 2009 at 16:21 
Have had to get Fester to rescue a pigeon that had come down the kitchen chimney. Lisacat thought it was her birthday. 
The pigeon is now flying free - minus a few feathers. 

Here is the blog the pigeon post inspired