The wonderful Aunty 'D' is 85years young!

Any excuse for a gathering these days, but last weekend was a real event for the maternal side of the family. My truly wonderful Aunty 'D' reached the grand age of 85years old! As my mother Joyce's younger sister she is the last one standing from her generation...The Matriach of a very large family. My sister Sharon and I travelled down to Bexhill-on Sea for the celebrations. My cousin Ro's children were there (well most of them) with their families and the 'do' was arranged by cousin Janice at The Mermaid on the seafront. Bubbly, balloons, disco, karaoke, buffet and cake   what more could you ask for. The kids had a great time and we all got to meet the latest arrivals to the ever growing family circle, 13week old Max born to Julia and Anthony and 3 week old Joshua, born to Jason and Vicky. Joshua is Janice's first Grandchild and of course she is besotted! We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Gemma's first baby who will be the first KIWI in the family.

The wonderful Birthday Girl

Sharon and Janice

The wonderful Will Sullivan did a turn for us on Karoake after much poking and torment by Sharon and myself (not to mention some throat lubrication from the bar) He did an admirable rendition of Tom Jones's SEX BOMB complete with hip wiggling gesticulations. He got screams of delight and applause but sadly no underwear for his efforts. Good thing too as most of the undies worn that day were support wear and would have caused serious injury if thrown!!! His two daughters Sophie and Megan watched in open mouthed amazement at their superstar Daddy....what a great thing to do, they will remember that forever.

Will...Sex Bomb ! Video to follow soon..

We sang Happy Birthday and Janice lit the candles on the cake...they were erupting jets of sparkling flame and went on for quite a while. No hope of blowing them out and it smelt like bonfire night for a little bit but what a fabulous effect.

The DJ was an interesting chap, stage name Dan The Man he was complete with fake tan, dyed hair and bright green jacket. He was a bit scary really and loved the sound of his own, often discordant voice. I know it's cruel but Sharon and I couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle...especially when he grabbed Janice to dance!! Sharon decided to torment poor Anthony and made him dance with her, his discomfort was obvious and gave me great delight to watch and I was not alone in this. The Williams girls have all been blessed with the wicked Woodhouse genes for tormenting and they all enjoyed the menfolks squirming. They are a credit to their Mum Ro and Dad John who would have been so proud of them all. They all seem to have stuck together after the dreadful loss of their parents and such courage and fortitude in the face of adversity is a rare thing nowadays. Aunty 'D' had a bit of a bop and made a very touching thank you speech, reinforcing how special the bonds of family and friends are.
We headed off to our hotel for a late supper with Ro's kids and their families and stayed up till late in the bar having a whale of a time reminiscing and laughing.
Up next morning and got together for breakfast before a few sad goodbyes to the kids and off to meet Janice for coffee. Had a look around her lovely flat in Bexhill and went to the Italian downstairs for a super latte.
We had a little time to spare so on the spur of the moment popped up to say Bye bye to Aunty D who was delighted to see us. She was looking really well surrounded by loads of cards,gifts and flowers and we sat and had a lovely chat for half an hour. She is fantastic in every way, always with a smile and never a hint of self pity, refreshing in an elderly person. She attributes her longevity to her bad habits which these days are mainly Gin and Cigarettes!!
She was telling us that when she was a teenager she envied our Mum Joyce (her elder sister) because she had auburn hair and dimples....she especially wanted dimples and would go to sleep with her fingers deeply pressed into her cheeks to try to get some! It wasn't until she started her first job when someone said how beautiful her hair was that she realised she was a real flaxen blonde...without the bottle. I always envied my cousins for their bubbly, warm and loving Mum and it's lovely to still have my special aunty around. I reminded her that she incurred my mum's displeasure when she bought me my first Bra, knickers and suspender belt (no tights invented then) I remember them well, white cotton with little pink rosebuds on and I thought I was so grown up. It's a real milestone for a girl and I have my Aunty 'D' to thank for that and for so much more throughout my life.
Hopefully we will all get together next year for her 86th birthday and the way things are looking we'll do it for many more than that, I truly hope so.To spend time with my wonderful sister is one of my life's real treasures, we are so in tune it is spooky, I don't have to explain my jokes or witty remarks and we often say the same thing at the same time! We bounce off each other and become a real double act when in company and it is just wonderful. I love her like I love no-one else, she is my beautiful, sparkling, sister and I know she loves me right back!
These are special gifts that no amount of money could buy and oh my,  I am so grateful to be so blessed.

A wedding in a seafront castle....

Wow what a weekend we have had...we sadly had to miss Sandy Lane Fete as we were invited to a family wedding. Andy's brother Gareth married his long time love, the beautiful Fran on Saturday. We drove down on Friday night and all met up for a meal and a chin wag.We unloaded the van at the best man's house as we had all the band gear and then spent a relaxing night in a very nice hotel in portsmouth. Next morning we set up the band in the marquee inside the keep of Southsea Castle. Had a bite to eat and then donned our finery for the wedding. It was truly lovely and Fran looked stunning in her white dress with black detailing...the whole theme was black and white and it looked chic and elegant.

 In the evening we danced our socks off to Joe Schmo veven 80years old Betty,Andy's Mum got up for a bit of a bop!! Gareth sang Sweet Home Alabama with his brother and fulfilled a lifelong dream! They were great together too.We had a late night and after a nice sleep we packed up next morning and headed home to Wales. Back to work on Monday for everyone(except of course the honeymooners). Great times and with every birth or union our family grows and that is indeed a blessing.

Scrumping apples!

This may be hard to believe but little Tink just loves fruit,but she especially loves apples. Recently if left to her own devices we come home to find bits of fruit, apples, peaches, banana, plums, pears etc all over the living room because she just can't resist them. We have to put them well out of her reach to stop her. She will beg and drool if I eat an apple in front of her and gets most upset if I don't share.We have a curving low branched apple tree in the garden over the steps that is laden with cooking apples....well it was! she Up until nowhasn't really eaten loads of fruit but over the last three days we have found the cooking apples all over the garden in various stages of consumption, Tink has also had a very upset tummy (not funny with a little fluffy bottom)....mmm I wonder why? After a few emergency trips to the shower, I watched her carefully yesterday from the bedroom window and to my astonishment she was taking a flying leap off the bank at the overhanging branch and snapping at the closest apples!!! She got three and was just carrying off the last prized one by the stalk in her mouth so it looked like a big green dummy, when I intervened and nicked them back. She yipped and yapped at me so much you'd have thought I had stolen her dinner. No more fruit for her...I harvested all the lowest apples and moved the fruit indoors even further out of reach. I gave her a very plain dinner,breakfast and supper tonight and I think we have solved the problem of the little scrumping Tinkerbell!!