Grannymar

David Maybury wrote a short piece on Tuesday, about the Beano celebrating 70 years since it first appeared in print.

The image is from The Book Cave

I was not born when it first appeared but the mention brought back memories for me. The Beano made many appearances in our household during my childhood. It did not matter who bought it, we all managed to devour the stories in our own time. We did not have a regular order for this comic-cut as we called it, but bought back numbers for one or two old brown pennies.

Two strong memories come to mind. The first was while staying with my Grandmother during the summer school holidays, my brother and I bought a copy of the Beano. We had hardly finished looking at it when my uncle who was unmarried at the time and still living with his mother, asked to read it. He went off to his room with it and we never saw the comic again that night.

Next morning we told granny what happened. Once my uncle had gone to work she sent us up to his room to look for it. As we reached the top of the stairs her voice rang out “Don’t be looking at those dirty books!” This remark was always followed by a hearty laugh. My uncle had several stacks of ‘Men Only’ and a few copies lay open on his desk. Naturally we had a peek…. even if we didn’t understand the half of it.

The other memory was from a time away from home when I was about eight years old. I was now staying with an aunt and uncle. Again I had bought a copy of the Beano. My aunt asked where I got that rubbish. She confiscated it and handed me a soft leather bound gilt edged book and told me to read that instead. It was a copy of David Copperfield. The pages were as fine as tissue and I found it difficult to separate them. The language was way beyond my comprehension.

One of these days I might give David (Copperfield) a second chance….

I should have known.

It was becoming an obsession…..

all this reading of blogs and surfing the net…

I opened yet another email and look what I found…

Whoever produced this document was very clever, so I took the advice and went in search of Toyboys

I found Two

A man, a boy, a dog and an open book on the ground. The sculpture has a central place at Junction One Outlet shopping Centre, between Antrim and Ballymena, Co Antrim. At first glance it seems very ordinary. To appreciate it fully you need to read the message in the open book on the ground.

The message in the book is as follows:

Brian Alabaster of Suffolk made this

sculpture in 2003. His son Sam, a 15 year old boy with Downs Syndrome sits reading with his Grandpa, Dickie, who is 82, Sam’s dog Billy, age 10, is at his feet.

This Podcast tells the story of the power of love between a child and his or her favourite toy.

The Velveteen Rabbit

Sleeping Elly and Sammy

Sammy in his bag today

Over the past few months I have been naughty! Not really naughty, just a teeny-weeny, little bit.

I Grannymar am a Kleptomaniac!

You see I have developed a liking for reading other folks Blogs. They cover a wide spectrum and are not all listed in my Blogroll. Perhaps one of these days I might find the time to sort it out. So how can that be naughty?

I steal phrases or sentences I like. My collection is growing.

Today for fun I wondered if I used all of them what kind of post it would turn out to be. So here goes, and (((((HUGS))))))))) to everyone I stole from. See if you recognise a few words that belong to you:

#~#~#~#

I find myself in a strange space today as Mother Winter breathes crisp air into our my lungs, but my bathroom smells like a bucketful of barnacles that have been rotting for a week in the belly of a whale. There was no excuse for this, so I had to get down to some serious cleaning.

As I scrubbed I sang a little ditty to myself. At this stage I must confess that the only place I dare sing is in the bathroom. I didn’t ‘do’ music at school. Since I couldn’t carry a tune in my head, there was little point of me carrying a violin. As I sang croaked, my mind wandered to “Mushroom Meg”. In the town where I was born, bred and buttered, you were nobody unless you had a nickname! Mushroom Meg was at school with me, in fact we shared a desk. She called me “frost frogs”. Her granny who was German told her “This is the way people in Germany are called when they easily get cold!”

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things. Today I remembered something important! It was Mushroom Meg‘s Happy Mummmbledy-somethingth Brithday!

As we grew up she had all the signs of too much junk food and lack of exercise. She never realised that a tube of lipstick or the latest handbag and shoes can never make-up up for dry skin, dull hair lack-lustre eyes and a tired overweight body!

It is quite a few months since the last time we met for lunch; she had poor health for a year or two. I was afraid to hug her too hard because she seemed so very tiny and fragile. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. So I phoned Mushroom Meg with my usual birthday greeting: Yay for annual continuation days! (Birthdays) We talked of things we “coulda-woulda-shoulda” done, and she told me about her sister “Lucy Leek”

I can no longer hear the name Lucy Leek without becoming incandescent with rage about something or other. Lucy Leek has very strange ideas. She seems to think when you pay cash into a bank it goes in their safe wrapped up in rubber bands with your name on until you need to withdraw it again. Her attitude could use a little adjustment, when our dear Lucy Leek gets something into her mind hell and high water won’t stop her trying to force her ideas on her audience. I certainly could use a bit more patience with her.

So things are going stingingly in Funnymoon-land. Elly called to tell me she had an emergency trip to doctor as an insect bite has flared up badly. Thanks to the EU health card that we should all carry, the visit was free.

All the travelling reminded me of something I have discovered about a sense of place. It is that you can travel the country, seeing, touching, tasting, talking to people, participating in their community events and come to know something about each one.

The most important discovery of all, however, is that place truly resides within your heart and soul and memories.

As When the sun sets on this day, remember that God, in his infinite low sodium wisdom, loves you! And for what it’s worth- I do too!

One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap.

Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and reads her book. Along comes a Game Warden in his boat.

He pulls up alongside the woman and says, “Good morning, Ma’am.

What are you doing?”

“Reading a book,” she replies, (thinking, Isn’t that obvious?)

“You’re in a Restricted Fishing Area,” he informs her.

“I’m sorry, officer, but I’m not fishing. I’m reading.”

“Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. “I’ll have to take you in and write you up.”

“If you do that, I’ll have to charge you with sexual assault,” says the woman.

“But I haven’t even touched you,” says the game warden.

“That’s true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment.”

“Have a nice day ma’am,” and he left.

MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It’s likely she can also think.

Can you read this?

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

I have trouble reading when the letters are in the correct order, yet I was able to read this first time