Almost over --

2007, that is. I won't be sorry to see the end of this year. I've changed from being a family matriarch to a single woman. My attitude is, "Let's see what I can do with it." Darcy and Joe came for Christmas and that was wonderful. They arrived on the 23rd and I took them to the Black Boy for dinner. Joe thought it was a racist pub so I had to explain that the name refers back to chimney sweeps. Very quaint. It used to be an extremely rough pub, lots of fights and uproar. About a year ago it was taken over by new people who have turned it into an excellent venue for meeting friends and neighbours. On Christmas Eve we went into town with the Gee children to have lunch. Adam, as usual, needed his McDonald's fix but Charles and Chloe preferred something a little more upscale. We broke into two groups of three. Darcy took the snooty ones to Pizza Express and Adam and I remained adamantly in favour of McDonalds. We asked Joe which group he wished to join and he said, "I'll go with the CHAV's which meant McDonalds. For anyone who doesn't know, CHAV stands for Council Housed and Vicious. Or in other words, trailer trash. On Christmas Eve I had a few friends and family around for a drink and snacks. I always like Joe and Darcy to meet my English friends. Christmas day found us down at the farm. Joe and I were in charge of vegetable cookery so we took ourselves to Shay's kitchen to get out of Rachel's way at the Aga. There were 13 of us at dinner which mean't eating in Shay's lounge, the biggest room. We sat down at 2pm after champagne and 'whore's ovaries' (that was my mother's pronunciation of hors d'oeuvres.) The dinner was a triumph - a beautifully cooked turkey with stuffing, Charlie's roast potatoes, bread sauce, pigs in blankets and my vegetables. For pudding we had a choice of traditional Christmas pudding, chocolate cake or trifle. The Gee's sitting room was awash with presents and wrappings. Adam was more interested in his Christmas toys than dinner. Darcy and Joe and I came home and collapsed in the peace and quiet of Old High Street. We were up and off to Eastbourne on Boxing Day morning. Unfortunately, not as early as we might have been so the traffic was bad on the M25. It seemed as though everyone in the Home Counties was going to visit someone. Because Boxing Day is a holiday, there were no lorries on the road, just wall to wall family cars. We didn't get to Eastbourne until about 3 so it was too late to go down to the pier. This didn't matter to me as I was thrilled to see the little copper top, namely, Harry Williams. He is just too cute for words and doing very well with feeding (most of the time) and sleeping (some of the time). Alison and Sian are wonderful parents. Alison is shining with happiness and just as funny as she has always been. The next morning, I drove the boys to Heathrow to catch their flight back to LA. For anyone who has stuck with this blog entry until now, I'm finished. You can go back to real life, as will I.

My Christmas Letter

Christmas Letter 2007

I started the year in Los Angeles. It was the beginning of coming to terms with the loss of Malcolm and the end of my marriage. During January we put our house on the market and saw a mediator who drew up the divorce papers for us. I’ve spent most of this past year trying to get used to living on my own. I’m now living permanently in Oxford in the little house I bought many years ago. I can’t say how it’s going. It’s just going. We were divorced in September. My friends and my children and grandchildren have been absolutely wonderful and that brings me to the very positive side of the past year.

I have three new grandchildren and I have to go on a bit about how wonderful they and their parents are. Daniel and Michelle had Olivia on the 4th of June. I visited them at the end of that month to admire my newest little granddaughter. She’s a honey and apparently progressing beautifully. It’s unfortunate that she is so far away. I have to rely on her parents for news and fortunately, their reports are always positive. They are obviously enjoying Mommy and Daddyhood. I will see them next summer when they come to Oxford.

At the end of August, the 31st to be exact, Rosie Gee was born to Rachel and Charlie. She was three weeks early but weighed seven pounds so was obviously ready to put in an appearance. She is a beautiful little thing and a boon to me. She is my exercise machine. I go to the farm most days to take her for a walk in her pram. We have many interesting routes that involve farmyards, meadows, riverside and town. Adam is coping with her reasonably well and he and I still have our lunch dates at McDonald’s where Rosie can’t come. I don't let on to Adam that I love her to pieces.

Finally, baby #3 turns up on December 13th. That would be Harry Malcolm Williams of Eastbourne, UK. Alison had a very straightforward labour and produced an 8lb. 13oz. little boy with bright red hair. He is so cute I could hug him to death. I saw him the day after he was born when he was still all curled up and shrivelly looking but then I saw him again yesterday. Two weeks have made a big difference. He still has red hair but he looks a lot more human. I will be going up and down to Eastbourne quite a bit during the next few months while Alison is on maternity leave.

So there we are for now. Pictures to follow. I know I've said that before but I mean it this time.

Number 10

Baby Harry was born this afternoon at 3:30. He has weighed in at 8lbs 13oz and according to Sian, he has red hair. Pat and I are waiting for the call to go to the hospital to see for ourselves. I will take some pictures and reblog when I get back.

Last breakfast in bed

My baby is having a baby. She stops being my baby today and becomes someone's mother - the most profound change. She goes into hospital tonight to start the induction. Baby most likely won't be born before tomorrow or maybe even Friday. We have the champagne in the fridge and I will let everyone know as soon as he arrives.

Just a Thought

Equipment

Here are a couple of pictures of Alison's baby gear. The plastic bucket is for bathing said baby and the other one is Sian practicing with the baby carrier. Upon removing Teddy, she nearly ripped his leg off so practice will be needed. Also, Teddy doesn't cry or spit up.

It's baby time

Here I am in Eastbourne. I came down yesterday to spend the final few days of Alison't pregnancy. She got the good word today that she will be induced on Wed. evening. This most likely means that the baby will be born on Thursday. We are very excited. She has collected a huge amount of baby gear and she is more than ready. Obviously I'll be blogging the result as soon as he arrives.

A lovely day

Alison and I did an hour's housework this morning before we 'hit the shops'. I bought a jacket, face products and a birthday present for one of my grndchildren. Then we went to the movies. We saw "American Ganster" which was great. It was showing in an old cinema which suited us and was just the thing for two ladies on a Friday afternoon. There were no drink holders and a lingering smell of mould and old popcorn. The seats were red plush and installed before the obesity epidemic. It was quite violent but that doesn't bother us. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe were great. I'm going home tomorrow - back to the grind of garden and home improvement. By the way, don't comment on my mispelling of Eastbourne. I've been leaving out the 'u'.

Eastborne

There is something about being in Eastborne that promotes blogging. I've been letting this slip because I have been busy writing for my class and doing minutes for the Neighbourhood Watch along with my many other duties and pastimes. I love being down here with Alison and Sian. Alison is three weeks away from motherhood and feeling very large and tired. We went shopping today and it just about finished her. She is not sleeping well at night due to size and internal activity. I'm thinking that Harry can make an appearance just about any time now. I go back to Ox on Sat and won't see them again until early Dec unless, of course, she pops before that. Last Monday I went to London and met Vanessa and her mother for dinner. They were telling me to come for a visit to South Africa and I'm thinking I might do that next year. Zoe and I are threatening to visit out allotment this weekend. I will take some pictures so that you can see how wonderful it is. I am quite enthusiastic about it even though I never go there and do nothing to clear or plant it. Fortunately the cold weather has come so we don't have to dig for several months. We can count the weeds (sorry Leo, I mean wildflowers). Diana promises to come to advise us but other than bringing a flame thrower, I don't think we need advice, we need muscle. I'll probably take the easy way out and hire someone.

Weekend in Eastbourne

Charles and I left at 8:30 on Saturday morning and had an uneventful drive to Eastbourne. After catching our breath, we all headed for the pier. It's a lovely old fashioned place with a working camera obscura at the end. Unfortunately it was closed for the winter. As it was a warm sunny day, we were disappointed. But there was plenty to do in the arcade building. Charles won about 60p. Everyone else lost. I forgot to take my camera but if you check out Alison's blog, you will see some excellent shots taken by Sian with a digital SLR camera. It's the way of the future. Sian took Charles to Beachy Head which is the suicide center of the world. Eastbourne is full of old people who live in defiance of this landmark. In the evening we watched XFactor and then went to dinner at a Chinese Resaurant. Charles is adept with chopsticks and loves sweet and sour. Next day we went to Pevensy Castle ruins and tried to pretend that William the Conqueror was conquering. It was a popular spot for the invading Normans. Then on to lunch at Pat and John's (Sian's parents). We picked up Eileen on the way and had an excellent Sunday lunch. Charles and I had to eat and run because of the fairly long drive back to Oxford. My car is fine for around town but not terribly comfortable for the long haul. I was very happy to come home and climb into bed. A lovely weekend.