Anniversary treat

Fifty five years wed and we at last ventured out to a restaurant for a meal. We made it lunch instead of dinner and chose somewhere we had never been before.

We used to go to a Ghurka restaurant but it burned down. We often eat Chinese for birthdays and anniversaries but decided to try Greek instead. The place I found was large and almost empty and we realised why after a short while when the nearby roadworks started up! That must have been why they had their music turned up so loud.

Still, another customer told us the food was good as we walked in – so we stayed. We ordered a mysterious collection of chickpeas, humous, rice, salad and fries and it really was delicious. We had ginger beer with it – which came from Northumberland and got up our noses. It made for a fun time.

Then we got stopped in the street and given a token for M and S so we got 20% off some undies for hubby, and he let me choose a new mug in Clintons as he had dropped the one I use for my morning cup of tea. So we ended up with a present each!

We had sandwiches and cake in the evening as he had made a cake and I had iced it. Considering the year we have just had we were very lucky but also exhausted and slept better that night than we have for ages.

I have decided the “Penny Tales” are probably the last books I will self publish as I never sell all the copies I order and I don’t want to do Print-on-Demand. I’ll still write – but short stories and poems. When the Christmas fairs return I’ll try to sell some of the books I have left.

Hopefully I can include a picture of our meal.

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Wildlife in my garden.(verse)

Their house fell down, but near the gate, we have a feeding station

set up purely for the birds – a breakfast-time creation.

A ground feeder atop a bush, with many different sections

holds seeds and porridge, bread and nuts. Oh, what a great selection!

Alas. it’s not just feathered friends, woodpigeons, sparrows, gulls

who come to feed on all the treats, but such a bounty pulls

in Cyril Squirrel, eager eyed, who chases them away

and feasts on nuts, or buries them to find another day.

Cyril

Nursery Rhyme

Isn’t it a pity that Jack and Jill had to go up to the top of the hill?

If there’d been a lake or a river nearby, that would be somewhere better to try.

But a pump that stands high on the top of a mound is even more bother than a well in the ground

For that clumsy boy fell down on his noddle and tipped out the water – so Jill ( this is twaddle)

Used paper and vinegar to cure his sore head. She should have gone back for the water instead.

Starting a verse

I had a thought yesterday about starting a rhyme. I was going to play with it myself but I wondered if anyone else would like to join in.

” You can’t put a nappy on a budgerigar

But a bird in a cage cannot fly very far ”

I’ll try to carry on but, meanwhile, anyone else want to add some lines?

Family get-together

We didn’t quite get everyone in the Christmas pictures but, to give you a flavour of the day this was the after dinner playtime when we had all had a meal at a local restaurant and had finished opening all our presents. As it is usually muggins who takes the photos this is quite a rarity.

I know it is early but it is becoming a tradition for the younger members to descend on Worthing and we all go out for lunch, then hubby and I have a quiet Christmas day with no hassle and they get a chance to meet up with the other in-laws.

I didn’t realise I was getting het up about the visit until this morning when I suddenly felt more relaxed and eager to start on my next project. I don’t really care if the magazine doesn’t want my pocket novel. That’s the trouble with sending things off. I won’t do it again. I’ll self publish the next book. Sticky is also writing another book. “Scooterboys, the lost Tribe” was his only fiction, the rest are all manuals –  but you can’t keep a keen scooterist down! The picture is of him, his son and our granddaughter from the other family, the dramatic side!

Reminder (verse)

Today I saved it just in time. A pan of fruit was stewing fine

But I’d neglected to ensure the kitchen timer’s on once more.

Another day a saucepan burned. I had forgotten all I’d learned

About the way that memory fails as age one’s energy curtails,

For every item on a list has to be noted, or be missed

And each appointment in the town must promptly all be written down

With dates and times and prices, too, or I’ll forget what I must do.

And, most of all, each time I cook I’ll take my nose out of a book

And set the buzzer’s loud alarm before our meals all come to harm.

How many saucepans must I buy because potatoes have boiled dry?