Happy Baby.

 

The latest Great Niece.

I have so many!

The other day, my nephew, he of startling intellect, his spelling is less than that of a 'Sun' writer, informed me he was coming on Sunday.  Now, Sunday I was taking off as I intended to go to Muswell Hill for a funeral.  However, as I have not seen him for five years, and he was bringing his baby I had to say yes!

So for two days I swept, scrubbed, dusted, moved things, and improved the look of the place.  I then attempted to buy things that may suit them.  Money flowed, and I was tired!  

Anyway, he came on Saturday night to the hotel round the corner, but I was not sure if he was there or elsewhere.  Anyway, I was knackered so ignored him.  Come Sunday I realise where he is and go get him.

There followed a day of delight with a cheerful 7 month old baby, a less cheerful mum, whom I have not met, and who looked bored all day.  There was little to connect us, and I did not meet her expectations I think.  Oh well, most people find this.  

However, I was tired, and walking towards the park, down the slope, I found carrying the babe, which I was determined to do, just too much for my old age.  My wizened fat body cannot deal with things like it used to.   Eventually they left, I scrubbed the pawmarks off the phone, the laptop, the everything else, returned the place to the usual mess, and sat eating all the fancy cakes I bought and they rejected.  

While it was not the happy time I hoped for it got one family visit for mum out of the way.  It enabled me to get my hands on a baby that looked cheerful and full of life and indeed was such.  She was determined to stand, refused to crawl, and is into everything.  In a few months time she will be uncontrollable!  Good job they live in Burnley.  He only came this way as he was dropping her brother off, in Kings Lynn!  Driving is no problem for him, he is used to it, and he thought this would be the only time I might see Nina as a babe, he is right, I could not get to Burnley at the moment.  Good on him!  

I loved having her around, took some poor pictures, fed her, bounced her around, stopped her flinging everything of the desk, and had a great time.  Next time I see her she will be at least a toddler of not more.  

So, that's four Nieces, all good looking and highly intelligent.  Two grown up Great Nieces, beautiful and intelligent, and one new highly active Great Niece.   One Nephew, one grown up Great Nephew, and one Toddler Great Nephew.  I think, there may be one or two more somewhere I missed.  Now I have met the youngest I am happy.  I have dandled them all, spent money on them, and now can die happy - but not yet, not yet!

I ought to have been in Muswell Hill today for the funeral of a long time friend.  This was to be an awkward journey.  I eventually worked out how to do this, Liverpool St to Kings Cross, Northern Line to East Finchley, or train to Alexander Palace, then a bus 134?, onwards.  Already you see I have made it more complicated.  All this to be there by 2:30 pm.

As I searched this out, spending a lot of cash on an 'Oyster Card,' not yet working out if my 'Pay as you go card' will allow me to cover as far as Zone 3, something at the back of my mind grew all the time that I would not be there.  It was a constant thought as I prepared, especially as this was one of my three closest friends.  

Then on the Friday my nephew's call made me realise why this was bouncing around my head.  The Good Lord knew this was going to happen, and after the exertions of the weekend I am glad to sit around at home, rather than struggle there and back for a 30 minute service.  However, I feel so guilty at letting her down.  This was a close friend, a real one.  I am not there, just sitting here acknowledging how I failed her, and I did that often.  I am glad however that her God has been looking after her, is at this moment listening to her only musical outlet, Bob Dylan, and seeking how to meet her demands for chocolate!  Her going might save me around a hundred pounds a year on that alone I say!  But my guilt remains, though if I had forced myself there I may as well have gone on to the crematorium, family only or not, and waited there anyway.  

There are less rude emails about now...

At Prayer (no details)

Laundering Blankets and Baby.

 

Lock Down fever has hit me!  I returned to Spring Cleaning!  Yesterday I washed the bed cover, a large object that filled the machine.  It turns out it is actually white!  For years I thought it was a kind of magnolia colour.   Impressed with this, knowing the neighbours are all out, today I washed the big blanket.  This remains mostly black but some colour now shows in various regions.  Hopefull all are out tomorow and I will do the orange coloured one, I think that is orange...

The thing is I have to ensure folks are out or the whole building shakes, depending on which spin speed is used.  Luckily the large objects were done on 'Duvet,' though I have not the courage to wash my duvet itself, much easier to buy a new one possibly.  How many years should they last...?

The thing is large objects only get washed rarely, in this house years have passed by since the last time and the covers have done their work well, so why bother say I?  Fussy people may grumble about the smell and the somewhat tinged covers but these people I refer to as just 'woke.'  

After this I must clean out the cupboard I began Spring cleaning, oh about two years ago.  Then there is 'under the bed,' which may produce many lost items as well as a wee bit of dust.  I am in no hurry to look under there.  Worse may be the trays on my desk.  The last time I cleared the paperwork I had stuff going back four years, it creaks a bit now so there may be a similar outcome this time.  Time!  Where is a lazy person like me going to get the time to do all this, or indeed the energy?  Oh, I begin to feel weak at the thought...

 

 

I had not heard from my favourite, intelligent, beautiful and talented niece for a while and was under the impression her work was keeping her busy.  l ought to have known better!  ln fact she was not keeping a social distance between herself and her husband and while forcing him to do all the cooking, even choosing the ingredients, and they have been working on child production.  So now I have my favourite, talented, good looking, highly intelligent great neice/nephew to look forward to spending money on.

Her intelligence has ensured the birth will arrive in September, thus ensuring several gifts and avoiding them paying for same while Christmas approaches.  Then the family will pile more on the spoiled genius to be.  

Still, I suppose they had not much else to do in Lock Down...

 

 

Royal Baby Free Zone!

After considerable effort I found the only decent escape from that baby, radio!  TV News only had one subject, the 'Daily Mail' as expected has billions of badly spelt lines concerning the benefit takers baby, and the rest of the multi layer choice is pap!  So radio it is.  Radio 3 at lunchtime offered me Krzysztof Klabon as part of the Prom season.  I love this, you will hate it! Now I am listening to Hancock's half Hour once again.  Now this is comedy!  OK 'TalkSport' this morning is not everyone's cup of tea, not usually mine either, but in between adverts there is an occasional glimpse of quali....well let's not go to far.  Admittedly Radio 4 is too much middle aged, middle class women stuff but by using the schedule it is possible to dig around for some good items.

Another alternative to the goggle box infatuation can be found here on E-Bay.  Here I obtained two books on the cheap, including postage, which are bargain second hand tomes.  There are many complaints re E-bay but it is indeed worth a look.  Now I have found a couple of bookshops that send me books at charity shop prices I will be making use of them more, when I can afford it.

Aaaaaand when the sun shines what do you do in the afternoon to avoid the baby news?  This!

.

Baby

That excellent man Mike has posted a short rant opinion on those folks who insist on placing stickers like the one above in their car windows. The idea is that you will drive carefully because there is a child in the car. This means that a single person, usually a male, is a target I suppose? This is so typical of parents today. In days of yore a child was born, raised, and life continued. In the last thirty years the feminist lie has made women see themselves as the only person in the world, as if they needed encouragement to do this? Women who are boasting to their friends that they are a 'proper woman' now they have had a child impress no-one, but annoy plenty. Also the 'New Man' phenomena, in which a 'man' behaves like his wife, although he probably doesn't marry her because that is a mere 'bit of paper,' this type of 'man' ensures he changes nappies, irons his shirts and even cooks the dinner. It makes you wonder why he bothered buying her in the first place doesn't it? He walks down the street pram pushing and showing of his kid to the world.


Let me tell these parents a secret, the world doesn't care!


The world has also pushed prams, but did not ensure the 'right people' noticed. The world has also shown consideration to children, but in an appropriate manner, the world has also changed nappies and does not wish to do so again, and the world finds this obsession with children a pain in the potty! It is important that car drivers show consideration to all the other idiots on the road, not just 'yummy mummies' with their bairns. It is important that men show care for their child, but not just because it is a passing fashion she has read about in a magazine! It is time folks considered that others were as important as their offspring, and encouraged the 'fruit of their loins' to do likewise. That way the world would be a better place.

Paul McIlroy

Following on from the excellent disused rail stations of yesterday, which only a woman could object to, I came across this picture on 'Geograph,' this evening. As you can tell, this is Dunfermline Town Station! This station of course used to be known as 'Dunfermline Lower' because of the other station called, cleverly, 'Dunfermline Upper,' They knew how to name things in the old days! Being deprived by a lack of money our holidays in the days of steam trains often took us to relatives in Fife, either Cowdenbeath or Dunfermline, and I have fond memories of the excellent people found there. On the whole good times, although I was often bored in Dunfermline and found myself wandering along to the railway to gaze at passing steam engines that thundered along this busy line. Pacific's headed from London to Aberdeen, sometimes the 'Mallard' type streamlined Pacific's' would pass, heavy goods trains, innumerable coal trains with fifty or more wagons trundling along from Fifes many pits, and all the local traffic you could wish for. I cannot ever mind of observing any of the diesel, 'Deltic' type, engines in use, but the imperialist English never allowed the Scots the latest traction, we only got the older stuff pushed up north out of their way! 

The station now looks forlorn, the buildings on the left hand side of the picture no more than shabby blocks which replace the intricate Victorian waiting rooms, with their intricate designs, and excellent cover, that once stood there. Now this station, once the main line for thousands passing by, which shook to the cries of the porters,passengers, and hissing engines, now finds one train an hour headed in either direction, mostly commuters aiming for work in Edinburgh. I suspect the photograph is taken from the old bridge where I used to hang over the side as trains passed beneath, enjoying the experience of being covered in steam from the engine. I found it hard to understand my mothers complaints about my 'black face' as the steam was always white! Women, they have no understanding or heart for things of value, have they?