Yes it's the middle of August, and, although it seems hard to believe, a lot of people will have had their summer holidays already, and will be starting at work again on Monday - yikes, how time flies! And only today my medium-to-long-suffering wife and I bump into returning local accounts manager Kylie Emerson at Clive's Fruit Farm, and we can hear her talking about her holiday at the next table, which is nice! Did you see her story this morning in the local Onion News West Worcestershire headlines, I wonder?
The Indian Ocean is certainly the place to go if you want to
really get away from it all, isn't it. Lois and I have twice flown over the Indian Ocean and back
(without stopping fortunately, or falling out of the aircraft (!) ) on our way to see our daughter Sarah and family when they were living in Perth, Western Australia during their years of residence down under from 2015 to 2023, and we could even see the so-called "back end" of the Indian Ocean from the house where the family was living at the time.
flashback to 2016: Lois and me at the waterfront: Kings Park, Perth WA
2018: me on the beach at Ocean Reef, waiting for the sunset
Lois with our granddaughter Jessie (4)
Lois and our daughter Sarah, with the twins, Lily and Jessie flying little kites
Awww!!! Sunset over the Indian Ocean! And Sarah and husband Francis told us that when they used to take their 4-year-old twins Lily and Jessie to see the sunset, they used to tell them that "the sun's going round the bottom of the world to see Granny and Poppa over in England!". Awwwww (again) !!!!
Whether Perth counts as "tropical" is debateable - it's all very civilised there, and they even drive on the "right" side of the road, which is nice (!).
However, our other daughter, Alison, has just returned with her family (husband Ed and their son and 2 daughters) from 10 days in Mauritius, which is real tropics at the same time as being a place where they drive on the 'right' side (!) - it's even in the Commonwealth (!) I think(!).
And today our "little" Ali is celebrating her 49th birthday, bless her. And as we always say - you know you're getting old when your children become middle-aged, to put it mildly (!).
[That's enough exclamation marks in brackets (!) - Ed]
Our dear daughter Alison, who turns 49 today,
pictured here last week at the hotel the family were staying at
on Mauritius: also pictured - Ali and Ed's son Isaac (14)
flashback to 1975: the first picture of us, aged 29, with our
new-born daughter Alison (0). Awwwwwww !!!!!
Awwww!!! Those precious memories! Ali, our first baby, born in the former St Paul's Maternity Hospital in Cheltenham, back in August 1975. I had to wait in another room while she was being born, because it turned out to be "a forceps job", but the nurse gave Ali to me to hold when she was about 20 minutes old. I remember looking at the whiteboard outside with the exact time of birth: 1414 (BST) - poor Lois had been in labour for about 8 hours - yikes!
In those days they used to keep the mums and their babies in hospital after the birth, often for 2 weeks if there was any sign of so-called "jaundice", but after those 2 weeks I was allowed to drive Lois and Ali home in our old Morris Minor - and I remember thinking the phrase "my precious cargo" over and over: Lois in the passenger seat, and little Baby Ali in a carry-cot on the back seat, and I've never forgotten that.
Awwww!!!
[What an old softie you are, Colin! - Ed]
us (78) at Clive's Fruit Farm this afternoon, with me
sporting my "Your Margaret River Region" 'hoodie'...
... and enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake at Clive's café
It's just the kind of weather we like, sunny but not too warm, with a nice breeze, and Lois tempts me, when we're at Clive's Fruit Farm to (a little cautiously at first perhaps (!)) risk taking off my 'hoodie' and 'enjoying myself for once' which is exhilarating!
It's a high of 75F today (24C). What could be better?!
the current weather forecast for the Worcester area of the UK
In other places, not a million miles from here, it's considerably hotter, however, and yesterday I got an email from Tünde, my Hungarian penfriend, with another story, from rtl.hu, about the continuing scandal of Hungary's "hot hospitals", where the air conditioning doesn't work, and it's 39C in the wards, which is 102F - yikes !!!!! And it was still 34C (93F) even at 6.30pm in the evening, the report says. And when asked for comment by the website, the Government "refused to comment further". No surprise there!
Imagine, for example, trying to feed a new-born baby in temperatures over 100F. It doesn't bear thinking about, does it.
the current weather forecast for the Budapest area of Hungary
What a crazy planet we live on !!!!
And I wonder what the temperature is currently in Tünde's flat in Budapest? Although I believe she has an air-conditioning unit of some kind, which is something.
flashback to 2002: Lois (56) with Tünde, my Hungarian penfriend,
during our visit to her flat in Budapest
the wonderful cake that Tünde baked in honour of our visit
Phew what a scorcher over there - it's even hotter than blue blazes, which is saying something! (Hungarian: Fú, micsoda perzselő!)
21:00 Lois and I go to bed on an old episode of 1970's sitcom "Are You Being Served?", based round the staff of the womenswear and menswear departments of an old-fashioned London department store, Grace Brothers.
In this episode we see Mrs Slocombe serving a lady customer with 20 pairs of "heavy duty" tights.
Mrs Slocombe: "If it's not rude to ask, why do you want 20 pairs of 'heavy duty', thick tights, all at one go?
Customer: "Well my girlfriend and I are going to Italy for a holiday and everywhere you go there, the men grab at you."
Mrs Slocombe: "Oh I've never heard of that before [looks thoughtful]. What part of Italy?"
Customer: "Rome. It's hardly safe to go in a restaurant, never mind the street. You just have to swat them like flies with your handbag and run for it. I've even been pinched in the Via Veneto."
Mrs Slocombe: "No wonder you need such thick tights! Here's your receipt. Have a nice holiday!'
And a few minutes later we see Mrs Slocombe chatting to her womenswear assistant, Miss Brahms.
Miss Brahms: "Have you thought where you're going for your holidays this year, Mrs S?"Mrs Slocombe: Well, I had thought of going to the Isle of Wight with [close friend] Mrs Axelby, but on second thoughts I might try and get a peep at the Pope.
Miss Brahms: "But he's in Rome, and that's where the men grab you and ladder your tights."
Mrs Slocombe: "The pilgrim's path is never easy!"
the cast of "Are You Being Served?", showcasing the
womenswear department's flagship "No Parking" Knickers
My goodness, they don't write scripts like that any more, do they! [That's something to be grateful for, at least! - Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzz!!!!
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