A Sunny Sunday by the Sea.

Sunday (16th) dawned damp and dull and a daytrip to Cleveleys had been planned.  The weather was no problem for us though.  Picnics were still made and with positive thoughts for a good day beside the sea three car loads of my family set off individually to meet up at 11 a.m. at the Anchorsholme end of Cleveleys beach.  There should’ve been four car loads but Victoria, Gary and the boys stayed home. Unfortunately Gary was on call from work and it being Father’s Day Victoria hadn’t wanted to leave him home alone.  Such a shame the timing was wrong for them, they missed a fun day out.

I had been very organised and checked the tide times.  I wanted us to be there for low tide making play on the beach a definite for the kids.  Planning ahead paid off and play on the beach was fun for all.

My Australian nephew, Bernard, watches Charlie play while my niece, Lindsey, her daughter Bethany and my daughter, Caroline, chat by the water’s edge.

 Maureen, Jerry, Bethany, William, Caroline, Amelia, Luke, Lindsey (just visible), Trev, Charlie, Jordan and Melissa.Trev and Harley.

Charlie was in his element surrounded by his big cousins, Jordan, Luke and Melissa.

Picnic in full flow.  I’d had visions of us sitting on blankets and chairs on the sand - that didn’t happen the sand was too wet.  The prom was the next best thing. 

Jerry, Maureen, Bethany and Charlie.

With picnic consumed fun on the beach resumed.

Charlie gets a donkey ride from his American cousin, Luke.  His cousins Amelia, Jordan and Melissa are in the background.  Jordan and Melissa did not have swimming cossies with them but they went in the water anyway.  I think they may have tried to stay dry??  Then again maybe not!  Needless to say they ended up wet through!

Luke, Maureen, Bethany, Jordan, Amelia, Melissa.

Luke, on the far left, rescued Jordan’s abandoned clothes before the incoming tide swallowed them. 

The two littlest cousins Amelia and Charlie played together on the sand.  Imaginary visions of kings and queens, castles and moats kept them happy.

Luke, Charlie and Bethany.  William and Maureen in the background.

The obligatory walk down the promenade with the promise of an ice cream at the far end of the walk.  Lindsey, Jordan’s mum, had to take a detour via the shops to buy Jordan and Melissa a pair of shorts each and also a t-shirt for Jordan for the journey home!  Otherwise they would’ve been miserable in their wet clobber.

And finally Trev gives Harley a shower before the walk back down the promenade and the outing drew to a close.

From the dull and damp start the day turned into a scorcher.  So much so that poor, fair skinned, Jordan got a touch of sunstroke and was unable to go to school the day after.  That aside I think it was a day to remember and a good time was had by all.

As I type this the American visitors are up in the clouds somewhere over the Atlantic, goodbyes having been said last night.  It’s amazing how quickly two weeks can go by isn’t it?  Memories have been made, good times have been had and now we look forward to the next time.

My American Sister and Australian Nephew

My American sister, as in married to an American and has become a US citizen herself, her husband and grandson arrived here in England a week ago today for a fortnight’s holiday.  Not only that my Australian nephew is here too.  He is also English born but emigrated to Australia with his family in the late 60s when he was about 14 years old and this is only his second visit home in all that time!   It’s so good to have them here.

Here’s a bit of what they/we’ve all been up to.

Friday a trip into Manchester was planned.  In brilliant sunshine we traipsed around the city centre taking in as many sights as we could fit into one afternoon.  Above is China Town.

Saturday William and I took the Americans up to Bay View.  My Australian nephew, Bernard, was visiting with his mother’s side of the family so didn’t join us on this trip.

Archer’s was a must go to for a walk and some good food.  By sheer coincidence William and Jerry had chosen the same colour tops to wear.  They were easy to spot together in a crowd.

Maureen and Jerry had seen photographs and heard glowing reports from me about Kirkby Lonsdale so it was only natural that we should show them the quaint market town for real.

Here they are taking in that view.

Ruskin’s View of course.  No less of a pleasure to behold no matter how many times we feast our eyes on it.

Walking back toward the town centre, admiring the view along the way.

Deciding to walk down to Devil’s Bridge from the town centre we asked the two ladies above for directions. Fortunately they were locals and happily obliged.  Maureen (on the right) got caught up in conversation with them.   It was a looong conversation.  But we weren’t in a rush and the weather was so lovely it just didn’t matter how long we waited really.

We spent a long, happy day together taking in the beauty of our English countryside and enjoying each other’s company.  And what’s more the sun shone all day so they saw it at its very best too!

Yesterday was a day of…

…markets and charity shops.

My sister in law, Audrey, is home on a rare visit from Australia.  She and her family emigrated in 1969 and one of the things she misses about England is a good old-fashioned market.  So yesterday I was more than happy to take her to a couple of the markets here in my neck of the woods. 

We spent a good, long afternoon trawling through all the charity shops and wandering up and down the rows of stalls.  Audrey was in her element and said several times how happy she was and how she loved the little towns that I took her to.  She found a few treasures to take back home for family and friends.  Among her finds were two Royal Doulton Willow Pattern tea plates, a Wedgewood Jasperware trinket box and a rather sinister looking brass toasting fork.  All bargains too.  I never thought to take pictures of them, we were too busy nattering all the while.

Audrey and I are separated by 20 years.  I’m the youngest child of eight and she married my oldest brother.  Audrey is an interesting person with a keen memory and it was so interesting to listen to her reminisce about the old days.  She told me about her childhood -she’s a Lancashire lass from Oldham - about how she met my brother and how he proposed, all sorts of family stuff that I didn’t know about before.  I can’t say how much I enjoyed our day together and wish that we could do it again soon but come Saturday, Audrey, will be off on the second half of her trip and will be on the train down to London to spend some time with her granddaughter and grandson who are both in London just now.

So, that was my extra special simple pleasure this week.  Now I’m going over to A Collection of This and That where Dayle and her friends will be sharing their Simple Pleasures too.

Kathleen.

Thursday was a good day.

I had arranged to take our  Australian family visitors out for the day and fortunately the sun shone and the skies were blue.  I went and got them from my sister’s house where they are staying and brought them up here to my neck of the woods.

First stop along the way was Hollingworth Lake where we got out for a breath of air and to take in the view.  Then we drove on out through Todmorden to Towneley Park.

Autumn is beginning to show her colours.  The Hall looked beautiful drenched in sunshine. 

Towneley Park is beautiful, we love it, and I think our visitors liked it too.  We sat outside the cafe with a drink and chatted away.  The cafe, which is housed in the former stables building,  is just visible at the far side of the pond in the picture above.  That’s Danny up there taking a picture.

For ages now I’ve been wanting to take the tour round the Hall and today we did just that.  I have to say the staff in there are all really very friendly and the Hall is definitely worth taking the time to go round.  What’s more the ticket is valid for 12 months so I can go and have another look round it as often I feel the need.

On the way back we stopped at a quaint old pub, The Ram Inn, at Cliviger.  The lads had a nice cold pint.  I think it must’ve been the best they’d had since they arrived here, I know they really enjoyed it!

It was late afternoon by this time and we were all getting hungry.  So to finish the day off it was back to our house.   My girls and their families joined us for something to eat and a couple of drinks.  Conversation flowed easily and I think everybody enjoyed themselves, I know I did!,

Kathleen

It was 1969…

… the last time I saw this man.

Because that was the last time he set foot in England - until last Thursday that is.  Danny emigrated to Adelaide, Australia along with his mother, father, five brothers and one sister.  It was at the time when Australia was crying out for people to populate its shores and were offering the right candidates a passage for £10 a person.  There were around one and a half million Britons who took up that offer and became known as the Ten Pound Poms.

Danny is my nephew,  (even though I’m only four years older than him)  and he and his mother, his son and niece have all come to England for a holiday.  In the picture above Danny and I are standing outside the church we attended as kids and was taken on Saturday morning when we set off on a walk around the neighbourhood of our childhood.

An awful lot has changed since 1968.  There’s a lot of catching up to be done wouldn’t you say!

TTFN.