Grandad 18/07/1931 - 05/02/2013

My Grandad loved to make things and he was very clever with his hands.  He had so much patience he could sit for hours and make beautiful models out of matchsticks.  My brother and I were lucky enough to own our own sweet shop.  We had a proper counter with a parasol shade over the top. There were scales to weigh the sweets, a till and an old fashioned telephone.  Not forgetting the sweet jars and even some Golden Virginia tobacco. The sweet shop was made by my grandad and he was one of our regular customers.  I think the tobacco may have been his idea too.

At Christmas we always spent lots of time with Nanny and Grandad.  When we were little Grandad made us a big snowman, a huge cardboard tube covered in cotton wool, so we could dig our hands in and pull out surprises like a lucky dip.  I can still remember the excitement of seeing the snowman by the tree.  Robert and I used to get up early and open our stockings, we knew we could go downstairs when we heard Grandad chopping the tea, so we would tiptoe down and show him what we had got before everyone woke up.  Then he would make his famous fry up, before falling asleep in the chair with his paper hat falling over his eyes.  Later we would all watch Only Fools and Horses or James Bond.

Grandad could always find ways to entertain us, making paper aeroplanes, playing I Spy and cards.  Playing Trumps was just an excuse to make rude noises and everyone always wanted to be the dealer in pontoon.  52 card pick up was Grandad’s favourite so he could have a rest while we ran around picking up all the cards that had flown around the garden.

 

When Nanny and Grandad moved to Worthing it was always exciting to come and stay at the seaside.  Grandad would take us to the pier and the lido to go on the fruit machines with a big bag of pennies; we’d eat ice cream sandwiches and if we were lucky find some treasure on the beach.  In the summer holidays my cousin Jenny and I would go and stay for a week, and Grandad would take us out all day, swimming, bowling and paddling in the sea.  Then we would come back exhausted to find nanny cooking something tasty.

He was very mischievous and always getting in trouble with Nanny, pulling funny faces, burning holes in his new shirts while smoking his tobacco.  He could always make me smile.

Everyone I know who has met my Grandad has commented on what a magnificent man he was.  Such a genuine loving family man and I could not have wished for a better Grandad.  I have so many precious memories that I will never forget.  I will forever remember him in my heart.

Cuddly Friends

They all had names and characters.  Sometimes they even wore my clothes, although some were a bit big for them and others a little snug.  They were good friends of mine and they'd often sit in a row or in a circle talking amongst themselves.  At night they went back on their shelves around the bed to keep watch over me while I slept.  There were so many of them that not all of them could come down during the day, but those didn't were glad of the extra sleep.

Book Club - 30/01/13

I love book club! I always feel slightly hyperactive when I get home... Ok, so 'The Old Man And The Sea'.  Well to start off with a fight almost broke out between Kevin and Kelly as Kevin exclaimed he wished the old man would just die! (I hasten to add this was to invoke a reaction which Kelly provided)  It clearly wasn't Kevin's favourite book however the general consensus was positive and most people enjoyed reading it, thinking Kevin's review a little harsh! :)

It was nice to read a short story after the last one had been quite lengthy and personally I really liked it.  The language is quite simple and straight forward, not particularly descriptive but I was still able to build up a really good image in my mind of the characters and the story.  I sympathised with the old man and thought the relationship between him and the young boy who cared for him was really touching.  The old man seemed to be unlucky, for forty days he went out everyday and caught no fish.  He barely had enough food to live and slept on newspapers with his trousers for a pillow.  But his character was extraordinary.  He loved life, he was grateful for all he had and kept going out day after day with the hope of catching fish.  

He then encounters an enormous Marlin and so follows his adventure of capturing it.  I love the respect he has for the fish, for the sea, for everything around him.  There is an element of sadness but there is also hope throughout!  I like something Bill said tonight about how a lot of the story is unsaid.  It is short but there is enough to make you connect with it and it makes you think about the back story that could be behind it all.    

One of the main critiques was about whether he was a good fisherman.  He didn't have the right tools out with him, things he needed to survive, he talked to himself alot, was he mad? But to me I could see this old man had barely eaten or drunk in days, and he was a lonely man at sea, who wouldn't talk to themselves? He talked to fish and he talked to the fish! Maybe he was not prepared for a 5 day sea voyage but then why would he be? I think he certainly came back with his pride intact!

Great turn out tonight, it was lovely to see friends who haven't been for a while we missed you!! This time we thought we'd pick a book of a different genre that we haven't read before so we went for Science Fiction.  There were two on the list which we voted on but it came down to a tie so we flipped a coin and the result was:

'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins

'Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...'

I put this one on the list last year at the very first book club so I am excited to read it! 

Because of the many weird drunk people who decided to join us at book club tonight (people who weren't invited by the way) we have decided to change venue for next time and go to 'Matthews Yard' off of Surrey street!

Next Book Club Meet:
Date: 27th February 2013
Time: 7.30pm
Location: Matthews Yard

http://www.matthewsyard.com/

Hide & Seek

Robert loved to play hide and seek.  Well, it was really hide without the seek and without me actually knowing we were playing.  Basically he used to hide and jump out at me to scare the hell out of me! His favourite hiding place was behind the bathroom door.  He knew I would go in there soon to brush my teeth before bed so he would stand and wait silently.  In I would go unsuspectingly, only to jump ten foot in the air when he roared 'Boo!' in my face as I went to close the door.  His second favourite was under the bed where the monsters live, just to make sure I didn't forget they were there.

I seem to remember when we were a lot older, my friend Colette and I were watching a horror film called 'Thirteen Ghosts' (yes she did MAKE me watch this).  We were both sitting there clutching cushions in front of our faces and peeping over the top of them, as you do.  There was a very tense moment where everything went silent.  Rob had meanwhile snuck up outside the front room and was watching us through the crack in the door.  He let out a blood curdling scream to which both Colette and I replied with a scream of similar pitch and then several expletives.  Some things never change.

A Couple of Spies

I would hide at the top of the stairs, nanny at the bottom around the corner.  I peek out.  I hear a voice from downstairs, I can see her curly hair.  'It is I' the voice says 'Eclair'.  I'd giggle, she would laugh.  We would both come out from hiding and laugh together.  We were spies from  Allo Allo.

The Bus Home

If I let my mouth relax, the vibrations from the bus make my teeth chatter.  
Constant rhythms pulse through my chest like a heavy bass line.  
A deep and low drone and the rattle of the old windows in their frames, where the draft seeps in the cracks on the cruel breeze.
As the bus swings left and right so do I.  Flung forward as it rolls to a stop with a sudden jerk.  The bell sounds, short and impatient.
Snakes of red tail lights out in front leading the way home.

Book Club - 03/01/13

First book club of the new year, and an interesting one it was too! We met to talk about 'The Slap' by Christos Tsiolkas.  I have to be honest this is the first book that I have really struggled to read within the month and this is mainly due to the fact that I just wasn't enjoying it.  I pretty much forced myself to finish it, if it hadn't been for book club I would have abandoned this by chapter 2.  But even though it wasn't overly popular, it sparked a lengthy discussion longer than many of the others we have talked about.  As always there was a mixed reaction to the book I'd say we were split down the middle with some sharing similar views to myself and others having a completely different stance on it which made for an interesting discussion!

From my perspective the main turn off for me was that I could not engage with any of the characters, in fact I disliked them, particularly in the first half of the book.  I felt the language and sex scenes were ugly and harsh, alot of it just seemed unnecessary to me.  I wouldn't consider myself a prude and certainly not averse to swearing but the coarseness only helped in disengaging me.  Others completely disagreed with me on this one but it was just not my cup of tea.

Each chapter was from a different person's point of view, their thoughts not just on what happened at the incident where the child was slapped but about their own lives and history.  I had expected the book to be written as each persons view of what happened at the same point in time however instead you heard from a different person as the story progressed through to court case and after its conclusion.  This was interesting because in certain chapters you formed strong opinions which you later began to question when characters are seen from another persons point of view.

Although the underlying story centres around a child being slapped at a family barbecue  by delving into the different peoples lives it becomes just as much about suburban Australia and society than it does about the event and its consequences.  I was surprised by not only the language and sexual content but by the open use of drugs (seemingly all characters of varying ages) and also race issues throughout the book but others were not surprised by this.  I think each person draws their own opinions based on their knowledge and life experiences.  As someone else stated 'I think I need to read some more history books' and I agree there's certainly alot to learn about the world! Perhaps my eyes need opening.

So there you have it a somewhat jumbled account of The Slap, but I never like to dissuade others from reading something because everyone has a different take.  Some will love, some will hate some will be undecided :) that's what book club is all about!

We added a few more titles today, here is our current compiled list of future reads:

Childhoods End (Arthur.C.Clarke) Science Fiction

The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) Young Adult Science Fiction

Me Before You (Jojo Moyes) Modern Romance

Of Human Bondage (Somerset Maugham) Autobiographical

Tess of the Durbervilles (Thomas Hardy) Classic

Bleak House (Charles Dickens) Mystery

The Woman in Black (Susan Hill) Horror

White Teeth (Zadie Smith) Literary Fiction

Tiny Sunbirds Fly Away (Christie Watson) African Literary Fiction

The Plague (Albert Camus) Philosophical

Life of Pi (Yann martel) Fantasy Adventure

The Great Gatsby (F.Scott.Fitzgerald) Modernist, Jazz Age Novel

The Colour Purple (Alice Walker) Epistolary Novel

The Book chosen for this month is...

'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemingway

'The Old Man and the Sea was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centres upon Santiago, an ageing fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream'

I have never read a Hemingway book so I am looking forward to this one and again something completely different.  I shall be running out to buy my copy tomorrow :)

Next Book Club Meet

Date: Wednesday 30th January 2013

Time: 7.30pm

Location: The Dog & Bull Pub Croydon