We've been to London by boat

Alan and I have been to London in Chalice over the half term - I've posted an account on the Chalice Blog - click on the link on the right.

Birthday Cake

Ann e-mailed me a photo of her birthday cake.



Ann's birthday cake, from Esther.











Nice one, Esther!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

It's Ann's birthday. Happy Birthday!!!

Away for the weekend

Alan and Cath have been away for the weekend - to exotic Aylesbury. I've updated Chalice's cruise blog with our adventures. You can find it on the list of blogs - or here:

http://chalicecruises.blogspot.com/

Taking son back to uni

A busy day today - we took D back to uni. He was up early, because he didn't sleep at all last night. He's apprehensive, having dropped out during his first year due to viral illnesses and family problems, and is now re-doing some of the first year. Not all of it, he did well in the first set of exams - so until Christmas should be fairly relaxed for him. Because of his ASD he was told that he could arrive a day early.

The motorway was extremely busy, it took us a long time to get there, and we found that many other people were arriving early too, contributing to the parking problems near the accommodation. He's back in the same room as he had last year - right at the top of a quiet block well away from the town and the student's union (he often suffers from insomnia - either unable to get to sleep at all, or waking at 4 am and then not sleeping again).

The uni is on a very attractively planted campus, with shrubs and hedges between interesting mature trees. There are the first signs of autumn showing in the trees, but it's still very green.

On the sports field the marquee was ready for Freshers' Week.

We dumped his stuff in his room, then headed for town and lunch - finding ourselves a Pizza Express with a helpful eastern european waitress. Afterwards we wandered around the shops, buying far too many things.

Back at D's room we left our shopping and headed for the supermarket to stock his cupboards and the freezer. The supermarket looked like lots of other students had been there before, with several common items sold out. Afterwards we dumped his stuff, grabbed our shopping and headed for home, at nearly 8 pm - leaving him to unpack his boxes. We probably had the fastest journey back we've ever had.

As D had forgotten something I walked down the road to see S, who is going to the same uni, to start the same course tomorrow - not surprisingly he's quite excited by this new adventure.

Reposted from comments - first post from Ann

Ok, the hard ones,,,,,,,,, what a family I have, always stretching my competence, I just about think I have got something sorted and there you go again... 'Just starting a communal blog'.... great...! But how to use it? First time to actually get to read it, then sort out how to access it, then what to say??? Anyway, I hope I have actually now writ something wot you can access.What am I doing, (apart from getting up in the middle of the night with sicky dogs)? Well, thanks to Myles, (another interfering relative) I sorted out lots of writing stuff I did, for years past in some cases. Then I thought, well some of it is not so purile as some things I have read from the library. Perhaps I can 'turn it into MONEY'? After all, it is doing no one any good sitting in a file. So editing, re-reading. Writers and Artists Year book. Then into this slot the art class which I promised a neighbour I would support at which I excelled in being totally incompetent, but then I realise my 'skill' will encourage the other members. No one will be able to touch me. (I admit I am encouraged by the recent realisation that I can write reasonable English). Apart from that, I have been talking to people. There is something about me, I clearly have a flag on top of my head reading, you can talk to this person. So, in the last week one man I know slightly from dog walking has bent my ear about one problem, another I had never met previously ended up telling me about the depression he had been coping with, and yesterday someone who has had severe depression and not left her house for two years, yes, you guessed it, she talked to me. Well, I may sound negative about it, but I recognise the total isolation which so many people suffer from. Once they could, especially men, go down the pub and see a friend, or go to the W.I. maybe or church. Now with fracturing societies, and people locked into their computers or tv watching, isolation is rife. Not a problem I have, particularly as the monsters greet everyone with a smile and a wag and suddenly we are all friends. So, I am grateful that quite a bit of my time is spent actually not saying much just listening. And yes I do realise I have the reputation of talking the proverbial....Incidentally of course, I don't recognise all the names which came up earlier and which I have now lost contact with, but which will no doubt surface some time in the future....... there was me and can't remember.........might be a good idea to know who it is.......Apologies it took so long to reply,,,,,,, but there you go, I never attempted to be (totally) perfect!!!
11 September 2008 12:26

Welcome to 38 Grove Road

OK, so none of us have lived at 38 Grove Road for a quarter of a century, but it was the focus of our family and all our friends. This is the group blog of our family, keeping touch, sharing news. A welcome to all visitors too.

This blog is open to all viewers, but a restricted number of people are able to post family news, and comment on it. More authors will be invited when I have a full set of 'family' e-mail addresses.