Grannymar

Good morning from a sunny Dublin.  I am actually weraring a summer top because it is so warm.  Summer has arrived in ernest.

So who wants to know how I am

To be truthful I am feeling rather confused…

I am a Mammy and I have a daughter.  I got that right didn’t I?  Somehow the roles have changed when I wasn’t thinking or looking or listening.  It is all very confusing and upsetting really and for a ‘lady’ of my mature years, not good at all.

Yesterday when I arrived I was dispatched to the shops for a message and then when I got back I had to sit still and be QUIET because she was working.  Needless to say I kept my mouth shut tight but danced up and down like unelegant elephant just to get my own back.

Today I thought that peace would reign since she was going into the office.  Alas, as I was sitting enjoying the lovely coffee that George made for me (not a bad lad that fella!) when along comes little miss with a pen and paper.  Yes I did say PEN & PAPER!  When that happens you know things are serious.  ”I taught that girl well!” I said to myself…. make a list of all that you need to do and that way you won’t forget them.

It was when she started talking and writing like an oldfashioned school ma’am that I began to get worried.

The paper was for a list of chores; to be done…..   BY ME!

You should see the list it is as long as your arm.  One item has 2pm after it!  Talk about time and motion.  At this rate I’ll have no energy for Toyboys tomorrow!

I would eat the list but for the fact I don’t like the taste of paper.  I can’t throw it up on top of a wardrobe ’cause they all go to the ceiling.  There is no fireplace to burn it, so I need your help!

How can I get rid of the list and what should I do to get my own back?

Over the years I have received many a gift. There were pens, gloves, scarves, and of course books. More recently perhaps due to my age the gifts have become smelly. There are candles, lotions and potions, perfumes and pickles, all accepted gracefully and used or passed on to someone in greater need.

I have always preferred the gift that was thoughtfully selected to cater for my interests and hobbies, rather than the latest fashionable ‘must have’ at exorbitant cost.

This wooden spoon was carried from York, England at the end of Elly’s first school trip and week away without her parents. She was all of nine years old. The harvest mouse and my name in poker work on the bowl of the spoon have long been worn to a shadow. The spoon has served me well over the years mixing cakes, stirring jam or many a large pot of soup. Each time I take the spoon in my hand I think of that little girl who excitedly handed me the gift as she recalled the fact she nearly missed the bus back to the hotel while queuing to have my name engraved on the spoon.

There were the twin machine sewing needles to give a double row of stitching that she brought back from London the following year and the measuring tape bought the first time she went shopping in Dublin without me.

These are items I have used many a time and often. Little did she or I think that that the measuring tape bought in Dublin all those years ago would be used in the measuring and making of her wedding outfit many years later!

At the weekend I received another gift, it was rather different and something we would all find hard to refuse.

It was a Money Tree! The gift came from Steph.

A money tree would be very useful these days with all the talk of recession. My mind began to wander… If it was real money what would I buy?

My needs are simple. Since the tree came from Steph I would buy a celebration gift for her and her hubby on this special day. Tonight I will raise a glass to you both and to another 30 years together.

I would give Elly & George a gift. Fill the Oil tank. Pay my bills for the year. Carry out running repairs on the bungalow. Pay someone to do the garden, perhaps update the car.

Now if you had a money tree how would you spend your windfall?

Grannymar is older than the flood!

Nooooooooooo! I’m not older than that flood; the one I am talking about was on Saturday, in Dublin.

According to the bible in Genesis Chapter 6 we are told that ‘Man’s sin was the cause of the flood’. So what caused the flood on Saturday? I was a good girl!

I was down in Dublin for an innocent girly lunch. Look this is the evidence:

Now what could be any more innocent than that, I ask you? A group of bloggers, dishing the dirt gossiping stuffing our faces sharing some tasty food and a bottle of wine or three while chatting about the blog world. No sin there you would think.

Of course I did gatecrash a party on Friday night. A Toyboy Birthday Party and I brought my Manager. She was supposed to keep an eye on me… instead of chatting up all MY toyboys. Every time I was busy hugging one of them she was chatting up another. We had a ball, didn’t we missus?

So back from the tangent once more…..,

I was at a girly lunch. Now rumours abound that I left with a Toyboy….. I’m saying nuttin! Them ’uns down in Dubland are a jealous bunch You could do nothing!

However I did end up in a Taxi going nowhere for two and a half hours. It cost €60 to travel 12.5 klms! The Toyboy came to the rescue and brought me home to his house.

Darragh and Niamh, thank you both for providing a bed, food, and an evening of fun. There is no way I would have managed without you.

Elly who was in Cork for the day on Saturday, had a similar journey from the airport driving through two feet of water on the M50. She and George collected me on Sunday and rescued my car from where I abandoned it the day before.

Now for further developments you will have to wait…..

We all know the phrase ‘Walking off into the sunset’. Mostly it brings to mind the idea of walking off into the never, never land of eternity, or as I like to think of it, walking into a new life, a new beginning. I was reminded of it last night while watching the sun set.

The sky at night on several occasions this month reminded me of another new beginning thirty years ago. Elly arrived in our lives in the early days of May and with her the beginning of a glorious summer. She was outdoors from 7.30am until it was time to bed her down for the night. The good weather lasted until October that year. Many a night Jack and I sat until well after the sun went down, I can still hear his remark ‘I suppose we better go in!’

May was a beginning for Elly and now it is also a time of endings. Last year it saw the official end of her single status as she prepared to marry her true love, George. This year May marks the ending of the time they spent is their temporary home and the new beginning of the move to their first step on the property ladder. Making a move like that is not easy nowadays. The current climate in the financial world has not made it any easier. They are to be admired for sticking in there and seeing it through.

I wish them well in their new home and look forward to sharing many visits. I hear ‘Mammy’s bed’ is on order so it won’t be very long before I have an excuse to travel south more often.

I only hope my visits are not like this:

Happy Birthday to my Baby.

The 6^th of May is for me a time of reflection. With each passing year there are more memories to ponder over. I think about all the things that Elly has accomplished over the years. From an early age she showed great promise and talent.

She became a sculptor

She learned to dance to:

She learned to cook

She became a bookworm

Became expert at Car maintenance

Carried out surveys

Became accomplished as a needle woman

With this wealth of talent George must have a very easy life

(pity we forgot to teach her to wash dishes;) )

Jefferson Davis is a naughty boy ‘cause he tagged me.

This time his idea for the meme came from a book. “The Three Bears“, by Derec Jones.

“Bring to your consciousness those memories of the things you’ve seen and the places you’ve been over the last twenty-four hours. Now select a one-minute sequence of events and try to replay it over and over again in your mind.”

Here’s one minute in the life of Grannymar

Brrring, Brrring! Brrring, Brrring!

Off come the rubber gloves as I reach for the phone. It is twenty past one in the afternoon and my face is bursting into life as a smile stretches from ear to ear even before I say hello.

“Hi mum! The flight was on time and we have just landed at Heathrow.”

“Elly! It is wonderful to hear you and know you are back this side of the world” I say. “Did you have a good week?”

Elly goes on to give me details about her week in Arizona, in 30 seconds flat. I hear about work, her colleagues, friends and the good people I refer to as her American Family. She passes on their good wishes and tells me their news. She needs to change terminals so I let her go as she promises to call me later when she reaches home.

Elly is as effervescent as she always was, and I hope she never changes.

It is no different now to those far off days at the school gate, when my five year old little bundle of energy put her hot little hand into my frozen one, and told me at breakneck speed, all the stories and secrets of the day as she skipped along by my side on our journey home from school.

So thanks to Jeff I have had double pleasure, re-living the phone call and the sound of Elly’s voice, while remembering that hot little hand encased in mine and the close bond we have between us.

My Elly’s post yesterday was short and sweet. For anyone with an eye to Fundraising it is worth a glance.

Elly, as you all know was married last June. Unlike most brides she did not want the usual Bridal Photo Album. She produced her own wedding book on Blurb.com and had copies printed for family members and those playing a special part in the day. It contained photos, readings, vows, menus, table settings and a flavour of the party atmosphere later in the day. Since then she compiled a Honeymoon Book for George and I am aware of a third book that is still under wraps, so I am unable to give details at the moment. The fact that she has gone back more than once, is enough of a recommendation for me.

*+*+*+*

We have a new Asda Supermarket in our Town and yesterday I went looking for Treacle & Golden Syrup. I had to ask for help to find them, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it, pun intended! The young man asked if there was anything else I needed help with, I thanked him and said “No thank you!”

“Well if you think of anything, just grab some of the staff and ask” he said.

“Literally” I asked with a twinkle in my eyes…

“Well yes, if you really want to!” He said.

Somehow I don’t think he heard of Grannymar and her reputation….

They have put me on the list when I thought I would be missed - with apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan.

I am suffering from a touch of ‘déja vu’ right now. I want to say ‘You Could Knock Me Down With a Feather’, but I said that last year at this time for a very different reason!

Now in 2008, I am once more on the list of finalists’ for the Irish Blog Awards in the categories of Best Personal Blog and Best Blog. How did that happen? What did I do to deserve it? I just come out to play each day fluttering about like a butterfly, pausing for the moment with whatever takes my fancy. It might be serious or it might be fun. Blogging has taken me through some very dark and frustrating days. When I am unable to get out among real people, the blogs bring them IN to me. You are my teachers; I read your blogs and learn from your writing. You comment on what I have to say, correct me when I am wrong, support me if you think I am right and thank me endlessly if I share some little known fact with you.

In short you are MY FRIENDS!

Elly, you are my flesh and blood and I am very proud of you. Being related to me means you suffer a little of my madness. I really believed you were certifiable on the September day in 2006 when you first suggested that I should learn to Blog and Podcast. If I have not told you already, I am telling you now, it was the best suggestion you ever had for me! Thank you for the introduction to the sport and for opening the gates to a whole new world.

I wish to pay tribute to Damien Mulley, who with such enthusiasm and energy, working endlessly in the background over several months, has organised this event for the second year running.

To those unknown generous people who thought enough to nominate me in the first place, and to the team of judges who willingly gave of their time to read, mark and inwardly digest all the 788 nominations, trimming them down to 281 blogs or posts for the short-lists and again wading through them to produce the list of finalists that we have today. The competition is still very stiff. May the best people win!

Finally, I wish to thank all the Sponsors for their generous support, without you, Damien’s vision would fall on stony ground and the event not happen. Your sponsorship gives encouragement to a great variety of talented people from many walks and ages of life.

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera

So goes the song, and it is fast becoming my daily mantra.

On Friday I was looking forward to some great big hugs! Elly & George were coming North to do an enormous number a few calls and ‘the mammy’ was about fourth on the list. It was to be a short well timed visit. Leave some stuff for me to deal with, sort something for my computer (well there is no point in having two experts in the family if you cannot make use of them!), have something to eat and collect a bag full of items waiting here for them. I will have the opportunity to pester see them in a couple of weeks time when I go south for the Irish Blog Awards.

I like to be prepared when they come, so I spent Thursday hiding the evidence of Toyboys deleting any incriminating evidence from my files tidying up the place. Now tell me can you overwork the internet? I ask because my Internet connection died! Zilch! No Firefox, no Internet Explorer, no emails, No RSS!!! What was I going to do? How would I keep tabs on my Toyboys?

Feeling a little cross about this I closed down and went to bed.

Bright and early on Friday I opened up the computer and the Internet was still on holidays, so I phoned BT my provider. I had to phone as there was no way of reporting it on-line without the internet! Now I looked at the last bill and it gave only one number for reporting faults. I phoned and you know the procedure, 57 varieties of options and finally what I was looking for: If you are reporting a fault with Broadband please phone 0845 XXX XX XXX! WHY, oh why, was that number not printed on the bill? It makes sense surely.

I spoke to a very nice young man who asked about 7000 questions, but forgot to ask what I had for breakfast! Do you think they have deleted that one? I did ask him to suggest to his manager to arrange putting the phone number for Broadband faults on the bill. It might mean his callers being a little less frustrated!

So I had to unplug this, and plug in that, etc, you know the form. Not very successful, he would have to pass it on to the Diagnostic team. “Did I have another number so they could contact me?” the young man asked casually. “Do you mean have I a mobile number?” I said. “Why do you need a mobile number? Please don’t tell me you are going to cut off my land-line! I need it to be able to contact the Toyboys ‘Nee Naws’ Emergency services!

The young man promised they would not cut the phone line but that it might be 12-24 hours before the internet was up and running. Now that was serious! I was out of control! Well there were Steph, Hails and K8 all with the perfect chance to steal MY Toyboys! I needed the spray and I needed distraction.

I went to the kitchen and set about making soup and a dinner for my travellers. I had my soup for lunch and cleared up all the dishes. I returned to the living room about an hour later and the modem was flashing away to itself. I had email! I had Firefox! We were back in action. Ten minutes later the nice young man phoned to tell all was working again. Their was a fault their end - yes he said that! So I thanked him and let him go to the next person in distress.

Now why did I use that word (distress)? I sat down to rest and check on the toyboys read the blogs. Suddenly my body went into shock and I was frozen, it felt like someone had put me in a walk-in freezer! Having no pain I was not worried. I put on the electric blanket and went to bed for an hour or so. I warmed up and the feeling passed. The dinner was sitting in the oven ready to be switched on and Elly could serve it up. No worries, I was fine!

They came, we hugged, we talked and they did the swapping about and we eat. It was wonderful to have them here even for a short visit. Everything was cleared away before they left and I had a call to let me know they were home safely.

So Que Sera, Sera, the moral of the story is live for the moment and let the hours take care of themselves

Toyboys, I’m back, but we will take it slowly.

Last night I spoke to my one and only offspring. Did you know I had an offspring? Elly is not a bad little girl really. The fact that she is now taller than me is by the way. I suppose I am now on the way down.

Well we had a good mother/ daughter chat. Sorry I am not going to tell you what we bitched talked about. We have our secrets!

She did tell me she got a letter yesterday. Now getting the odd letter is not unusual for me. My Elly however, lives in the modern world. The world of ether – no I don’t mean a funny substance, I mean the world of the airwaves, I mean the internet thingy stuff! Letters are a little ‘olde-worldly’ to her! The bills come in letters, but cute egg that she is; they all come addressed to George! I wonder at times how he got mixed up with her.

Well back to the letter. It came from the wee North. Yes, this part of the world where I live. It had a Royal Mail post mark (that’s twice in two days they got a mention here, but I am still better value)! The letter was addressed to herself and George.

St James’s Street tonight! Will you pick me up off the floor! It was a wedding invitation acceptance. “What is going on here”? You might ask. No wonder they have not come to see me so far this year. Is there something I am missing here? I thought that they were already well and truly married. I made the outfit. I gave her away. I made the speech. They must be married!

It was a wedding acceptance for the wedding that happened on 23 June 2007. Now I would like to know where the letter was all this time. Did it arrive in your post box? Did you have it sitting behind the clock on the mantelpiece?

Will we have to hold the wedding all over again?

Will I need a new hat?

Help!