Wednesday August 16th 2023

Lots of things to do today, all connected with going away - AGAIN [Trump-style capitals]! 

Don't misunderstand - Lois and I are very happy to be travelling the 122 miles to stay again with our daughter Alison and family in Hampshire.

Alison is kindly going to be hosting our "official" Golden Wedding, which is very sweet of her, and I'm sure it'll be an occasion to remember - it's mainly the business of packing to go etc, that we don't look forward to, plus all the other preparations, like filling the car up with petrol. 

I don't like to go on a journey of any length without a full tank of petrol to get me started: call me crazy if you like, but it gives me such a warm feeling to know I won't have to think about petrol and how much is left in the tank until this 5 day break is over, which is a big PLUS [more Trump-style capitals] in my view!

[That's ENOUGH Trump-style capitals! - Ed]

the petrol station at Warners Supermarket, Upton-on-Severn,

where we most often fill up

And Lois and I suddenly realise today that Ali and Ed's silver wedding will be coming up in almost exactly a year's time - in August 2024. Well, there's no disguising the fact that Lois and I must really be a pair of incredibly old codgers if we've got a daughter who's celebrating her silver wedding - my goodness! 

Ali and Ed joined Lois and me, and also our younger daughter Sarah, on our own silver wedding back in 1997, and it seems like only yesterday - my  goodness (again) !!!! Ali and Ed were studying at Cardiff University at the time, so our 25th anniversary celebrations were local for them. 

For our silver wedding, in 1997, Lois and I spent a few days in South Wales with our 2 daughters Alison (22) and Sarah (20) and Alison's fiancé Ed, visiting the haunts of my mother Hannah's childhood in the Bridgend area.

We saw the stepping stones over the River Ogmore that in the 1920's my mother crossed twice a day to go to and from school. 

location of the village of Ogmore in South Wales, close to the town of Bridgend,

where my mother and her 8 siblings grew up in the 1920's

flashback to August 1997: we visit the stepping stones across

the River Ogmore, the stones my mother and her siblings used to cross

the river twice a day, going to and from their school on the other side.

(left to right) Ed and Ali (22), Sarah (20) and Lois (51)

at the stepping stones over the River Ogmore

flashback to the early 1930's: the Stepping Stones, Ogmore,

showcased by my mother's elder sister Ruth

my mother Hannah with her parents and her 8 formidable siblings

- yikes !!!!! Ruth, and Hannah (face half-hidden) are in the middle row

We get most of the packing done this morning, so that's nice.

12:00 By chance I turn on the TV just as the women's World Cup soccer semi-final is about to finish, and I see England (the "Lionesses") beat Australia (the "Matildas") by 3 goals to one. 

The England captain is Millie Bright, and later Alison puts a charming picture onto social media of her daughters Josie and Rosalind meeting Millie in person at a club match a couple of years ago.

Millie Bright, today's England women soccer team captain

meeting Rosalind (left) and Josie in 2022

The family will almost certainly be watching the final - England vs. Spain - on Sunday morning now, during our stay at the house this weekend, that's for sure.

14:30 Well now, Lois and I have worked hard this morning to prepare for our trip, and we're looking forward to a hot shower followed by a nice long afternoon in bed, but it's not to be: Lois's great-niece Molly has rearranged her weekly Chair Yoga class on zoom to 5 pm, and in any case our neighbour Matt rings our door-bell at 3:30 pm because the postman left a couple of his packages with us, and left a card with him to let him know we've got them. 

And Matt knows we're both in, because he saw us through the bedroom window, so I have no choice other than to stumble downstairs and hand him over his stuff - damn !!!

19:30 Lois disappears into the kitchen to take part in her church's monthly Business Meeting on zoom, and she tells me later that there's a vigorous debate about timings and handling of the church's 2 Sunday Morning Meetings. 

There are all sorts of problems stemming from the fact that around half the church's members are now Iranian Christian refugees, who have to take a train from Gloucester to attend the services, held in a village hall just outside Tewkesbury. This means that punctuality in starting meetings and closing them is difficult, due to vagaries in train arrival times etc. Oh dear!

There are also cultural differences between the Brits and the Iranians - the Iranians have a more laid-back approach: they tend to wander in and out of the hall more casually than the Brits, and make comments to their neighbours during talks etc, which to them is normal - oh dear (again) !!!!

21:00 Lois emerges from her zoom session and we wind down with another episode of Michael Portillo's series "Great American Railroad Journeys".

The blurb above talks about "the famous Harvey Girls" of La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, but Lois and I have never heard of them - oh dear (again) ! It was Fred Harvey, originally from Lancashire, England, whose ambition it was in the late 19th century s to bring good food onto the trains and railroad hotels of the era, where until his arrival something called "western slop" was the order of the day.

They weren't allowed to fraternise with the guests. So a bit like the famous "Bunny Girls" perhaps? But without the suggestive costumes, judging by the photos, and possibly without make-up, I'm guessing. 

And "sophisticated European food" was on the menu, apparently.

This is all very well, but it leaves Lois and me wondering exactly what "western slop" was - and this woman doesn't say, which is a pity. It doesn't sound particularly appetising, admittedly, but we think that at least we should be told! It might be worth trying if it's a quick meal for when we're in a hurry.

But what a crazy world they lived in those far off days!!!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!