A little bit of Sunshine ...

Today is the 12^th December and Christmas once again approached, bearing gifts and goodwill, like a benevolent M&S Fairy trailing sparkles and fairy dust.

December will always be bitter-sweet … we lost my Dad in December three years ago.  Every year we celebrate his life with my Mum, sometimes with an early Family Christmas meal (complete with turkeys, silly hats and party games) but this year, having just moved into the new apartment, we went low-key and took my Mum to see the movie Paddington.

For all of you who are children at heart, this is a movie for you.  His little bear face, innocence and love of marmalade will set your heart strings humming and you cannot fail to simply `feel good’.  My Mum was SO excited and she was completely caught-up in the wonder-world of `the bear from darkest Peru’ for almost two hours.  

If I was of a mind, I might be tempted to think the old man was manipulating us and making sure Mum wasn’t too sad.  He of all people knew how she loves such child-like fantasies.

Anyway, today is also my last day with the current contract - with Thames Water, the largest water utility company in the UK.  Hooray … time for a break and away from the politics.  Don’t know how anything gets done sometimes with all the posturing, manipulation, backstabbing and nonsense ….  but I’ll be sad to say goodbye to some of the team who are really lovely people and deserve so much better!

 It does allow me to focus on the new apartment though!

As readers will know, this has been a long time coming. We started planning to `downsize’ in February 2014.  We sold our house in Windsor in April/May, but a combination of legal issues (the actual house boundaries did not align with the registered Land Registry plan) and lazy/tardy lawyers (not ours!) meant that the process was drawn-out so that we ended-up only moving into the new apartment on December 2^nd 2014.  A ten-month process, but it was worth every minute of that…!

Our new home is a penthouse apartment in Ascot, about four minutes’ drive from the famous racecourse, with its own roof garden (not much use at the moment, aside from providing a snow patch in which to keep wine chilled..! But will come into its own in Spring, with a lovely BBQ/Braai, outdoor dinner table and separate chill-out seating area).  

The main room (Lounge, kitchen, Dining room) is a large, open- plan area and the installation of the new speakers (that I bought myself as a present earlier this year) provide a sumptuous, relaxing area.  

I just pour myself into the couch, turn on some good music and chill.  Lovely - one of life’s great pleasures!

Mum & the children are suitably impressed and wander around with amazed looks on their faces. For a girl of humble beginnings (from her family’s little terraced house in Luton), my Mum sometimes marvels at the journey she and her family have taken over the past 80 years. 

She really loves the new apartment and couldn’t be happier for us.

So, on to Christmas, once the decorator has finished painting & some of the `statement’ wallpaper has been put up …. the big pile of presents under the Christmas tree will be reduced as children visit us ahead of the actual Christmas (one set going off to a country Manor House in the Cotswolds, the other couple off to SA for a bit of sunshine) and Mum, Julia and I will be left to celebrate a quiet Christmas by ourselves. Low-key, very relaxed, lots of telly and nibble-food (no great big roast). No need to dress up, travel, or obligations to do/talk/listen/perform…!

I shall be enjoying the sound system though, even if it is Michael Bublé singing Christmas songs…!

Even More Family Matters

Well, it has been a few weeks since I put finger to keyboard, so to speak.  It has been an eventful time - I joined my wife for a quick trip back to South Africa and spent a very pleasant few days (Spring was definitely in the air there..!) visiting friends and family in both Johannesburg and Cape Town.

I caught up with ex-schoolfriend and fellow Blogger Janet and it was a fabulous few hours.  Amazing how the years just melt away when you meet someone who you knew so many years ago.

Both of us have lives, bursting full of news, stories, laughter tears and wonderful friends & family - those two hours were never enough to catch up.   More please ... when you visit Ascot ...!

And the visit to my Aunt Joan and cousin Brenda and family proved wonderful, as always ... and is partially responsible for the radio silence since then (well, that and the fact that I have been whisked back to work by a client who urgently need me to go back in and help them...!  Just as I was enjoying the break too...!

Anyway, the family time allowed me to catch up with Mum's sister and her daughter & family ... and as we were discussing this Blog and the various family connections I have been making, Joan mentioned that she too had been preparing a book, documenting her life.

I offered to transfer that to a Digital format ... and so, here we are a few weeks later and I am now able to release her story.  Joan's Memoirs.

I recommend it in particular to the Luen families, the Stevenson families, the Downes family and the Klonowski's ... and anyone who is interested.  It is a fascinating story.

I will include the link here (Joan's Memoirs) and wish you a pleasant read.

My Mum (who acted as a consultant on the Memoirs) and I will return soon with more of our own stories & pictures.