Monday August 26th 2024 "Why dinosaurs became extinct - the truth is out"

"End of an era" - it's a phrase that's almost become a bit of a cliché, hasn't it, with - like - billions of "eras" ending every day, almost. And when eras stop coming to an end, that will CERTAINLY [my capitals - [whose else would they be, Colin? - Ed] ], yes CERTAINLY, be the end of an era to end all eras, won't it. My goodness yes!

And there's nothing new about this, if that's what you're thinking. Eras have been ending for a long time - like - literally billions of years, and this one below was one of those very early ones: quite a "doozy", isn't it.

It's a bit of a wake-up call for humanity too, don't you think? If the mighty dinosaurs could be wiped out by letting some thing or, more likely, some-body get too close to them, it could happen to the human race too, which is a bit mind-boggling, to put it mildly.

And out of the - like - billions of eras ending just today, according to Onion News's 1000-page print edition - this is "Colin's pick of the bunch":

And the phrase "end of an era" is very much in the minds of my medium-to-long-suffering wife Lois and me, as we drive over to nearby Alcester and spend most of the day, and probably for the last time ever, "pre-teen-sitting" our 11-year-old twin granddaughters Lily and Jessica at their rental home in the town. We cook them a lunch and take them to the park, teaching them how to pick blackberries, and some other basic skills they haven't learnt in school, due, no doubt, to further so-called cuts (!) in the County Education Department's so-called "budget" (!).

[That's enough sarcastic exclamation marks in brackets (!) - Ed]

my medium-to-long-suffering wife Lois and I prepare

a tasty lunch for our twin granddaughters Lily (left) and Jessica

probably for the last time ever, we supervise the twins' 

playing on the local park's "state-of-the-art" (!) play equipment

we teach them how to pick blackberries in the park's bushes -

a skill no longer deemed "essential" by the County Education

Department's "pen-pushers" and "jobsworths": 

a scandal, surely, if every there was one (!)

"Why is it the last time ever that you and Lois will be 'pre-teen-sitting' your twin granddaughters, Colin?", I hear you cry. [Not me, I've already given up on editing this blog - I'm on to my next - like - "billion" blogs for today (!) - Ed]

Well, seeing as how you're asking (!), our beloved twin granddaughters will, in less than 10 days' time, be winging their way to a new life in Australia with their parents: our daughter Sarah (47) and her husband Francis. 

It's the family's "second try" at starting a new life 'down under'. They originally moved from the UK to Perth, Western Australia in 2015, then moved back to the UK in May 2023, and now, 15 months later, they've decided to move back to Perth (as you do (!)). And when Lois and I arrive at the family's house this morning, we find that it's already been stripped of most of their belongings, and, today, our job will be to "pre-teen-sit" the twins while their parents go off to a car-boot sale to sell off as much as possible of what belongings the family still has.

Lois and I arrive at the house around 9:30 am this morning and I immediately spot the "to let" sign outside the family's house, and when we step inside, we can't help noticing that most of the family's stuff, including the TV, has disappeared already, either bound for trans-oceanic shipment, the car-boot sale, or for the rubbish dump - oh dear!

On our arrival, I quickly spot the "To Let" 

sign outside our daughter's house

Lois and our daughter Sarah (47) can't help smiling at the sight

of their kitchen, now mostly empty apart from some basic

furniture and large plastic boxes containing most of their tableware

Lois and our daughter Sarah in the even emptier living-room.

Yikes !!!!

Today, mine and Lois's job is to "pre-teen-sit" the twins so that they won't realise that even more of their beloved toys and ornaments etc are going to be "heartlessly" (!) sold off by their parents at the car-boot sale at Southam, Gloucestershire this morning. 

Poor twins !!!!! 

It's the end of an (admittedly) short 15-month era back in the UK for Sarah, Francis and the twins, now that they're going back to Australia for their second try at settling down under for good.

But it's also the end of an era for Lois and me. Almost every weekend since the family returned to the UK in May 2023, Sarah has brought the twins to our new-build home in Malvern, staying over one or both nights, in our 2 tiny guest bedrooms. 

And because Lois and I are old codgers with "seemingly" (!) not a lot to do, , we've spent a lot of the weekdays each week, planning for these weekends stays, ordering the food the twins like, plus the special extra treats - chocolate bars, ice creams etc; as well as planning activities for them to make it less unexciting for them to stay with old Granny and Poppa (!). Not to mention the weekly making up of their beds and the stocking up on other essentials - extra loo paper, extra toothpaste, bars of soap, boxes of Kleenex, shampoo, shower gel, Cheerios etc, you name it - all the things that 11-year-old girls get through a ton of every day haha!

And now it's all over. These visits will never happen again - they've sold Francis's car already and the car that Sarah uses will be going back to her accountancy firm in Evesham when she works her last day there on Friday. And in less than 10 days' time they'll all be 9000 miles away. Awwwwww!!!!!

Flashback to this last weekend - and the last ever visit here by Sarah and the twins:

flashback to Saturday: our last meal together in this house...

...our last evening together relaxing in the living-room..

...and for the last time ever, they leave this house to go back to their

rental home in nearby Alcester, taking time to say goodbye

to their favourite local cat - name unknown (ringed) - and

continue preparations for their big journey to Australia

Awwwww!!!!!

Luckily Lois and I have got a few things to remember the twins by, including beloved stuffed toys Buckles the Unicorn and Rover, the Dog-faced Pony. They were accidentally forgotten about when Sarah and Francis were packing the containers dropped off by shipping company Seven Seas last week. And these two beloved toys have proved too large to fit conveniently into the family's hand luggage, so they've been left with Lois and me: official reason - "so that Granny and Poppa won't get lonely without us"  - awwwwwww (again) !!!!!

Buckles the Unicorn...

... and Rover, the Dog-faced Pony, both featured with me (right)

And like third-world charities do with "sponsored" children, rescued beasts of burden, and endangered species etc, Lois and I have promised to send the twins regular newsletters chronicling Buckles and Rover's activities with us, attaching photos, and possibly, if we can manage it, also "letters" from the two beloved toys themselves, Buckles and Rover, written in their special "childish" handwriting.

We'll also be "wheeling the little rascals out" to take part in any zoom or Skype sessions we have with the twins when they're in Australia. It should be easy to impersonate Buckles and Rover's little voices as long as we ourselves stay out of shot, so the twins won't see our lips move, we've concluded. But what do YOU think?

Just as a "heads up", we're planning a video of the two young rascals doing their own "cover" version of Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" smash, with specially adapted lyrics:

"It's a cruel cruel summer,

Leaving us here with Granny and Poppa,

It's a cruel cruel summer,

Now you're gone"

The clip will go live on our YouTube channel soon, under the duo's new name "Buckles Fizz" and hopefully will quickly "go viral", earning Lois and me a ton of money from the potential advertising bonanza.

I wonder..... !

But your ideas welcome too haha! On postcards only of course!

[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]

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