dietdevil: How much????? Oh and smelly dogs. Oh and a heart w...

dietdevil: How much????? Oh and smelly dogs. Oh and a heart w...: So I visited 'that' pub last night. I togged myself up, I waited for Paul and Colette, I listened to the roar of fire engines headi...

How much????? Oh and smelly dogs. Oh and a heart warming bit.

So I visited 'that' pub last night. I togged myself up, I waited for Paul and Colette, I listened to the roar of fire engines heading off to a big fire on the harbour and when I walked in I got a little round of applause. I had nice boots on and I didn't go in my cherry picker. I mingled with the locals and I sat with Debbie's pool team who were all really lovely.

 

I have to say that I was somewhat surprised at the cost of drinks in there............£2.50 for a double vodka with diet coke. I thought the barmaid had got it wrong and even questioned her but was assured that was the right price. This made me happy. I only spent about £9 last night and came away with a definite sway in my stride. Even the boots couldn't steady me.

 

The price also explained why a lot of the people that go in there get very drunk. I am off to one of the bars on the harbour tomorrow evening before H's birthday meal and I can guarantee that the price of a drink will be at least double that.

 

Am I willing to pay that much more  for a nicer glass, a twizzle stick , a chunk of lime and a sea view? - Call me shallow, but yes, I am!

 

But I still enjoyed myself and the regulars there made me feel very welcome. I may even return.

 

I also have to mention the stinking staffy that seemed to be ownerless and made a bee line for myself and Colette. It honest to god whiffed to high heaven and it also had gigantic nipples. Not only did it sniff me, it also kept climbing on me and it scratched my right thigh.

Being the owner of 3 springer spaniels I am no stranger to the stench of a hound but this was something else. I felt quite unclean but thankfully the owner of it came and tied it up and took it away, with, if I'm not mistaken a length of tape that you would use to cordon off a crime scene.

 

All very bizarre but a fun night.

 

H is on the train as I type. She is 21 tomorrow. She is actually 21 at 12.34 pm tomorrow afternoon. I can remember the day and the night before as though it was yesterday. I am not going to well up.

 

I had gone to my mother in laws or lunch on Sunday October 4th. It was a roast pork dinner and I think I also drank wine. I was due on October 7th and as it was my first child I didn't really know what to expect. Mother in law plated me up a second dinner to take home for later and I ate it at around 8pm whilst watching 'Birds of a Feather'.

 

Now I'm not sure if it was the reheated pork or the sight of Lesley Joseph being the tarty neighbour but I got a very bad tummy ache, then my waters broke and then after rolling around in agony for about 6 hours the midwife came and told me ...

 

IT'S TIME.............

 

I specifically remember that one of the songs on the radio en route to treliske was a jazzed up version of 'Baker Street' and I know when I got there and announced I was practically fit to drop the midwife told me to calm the hell down as I wasn't even half a cm dilated.

 

The rest was a blur. I had every drug available, I had an epidural and can still feel the crunch of that needle into my spine, I don't think I screamed too much and when H finally decided to make an appearance I couldn't quite believe I was a mother.

 

 I still felt like a child myself!

 

I still do sometimes.

 

And 21 years later?

 

Well I have to say she is a wonderful human being. She is beautiful and clever and kind and funny and has accomplished everything I could have ever hoped for. I am very lucky to have been blessed with her...............as she is with me. 

 

I need to go and compose myself.

 

We have a whole weekend of celebrations. I lived in Leeds when I was 21 and was going out with a lad called Tony. He wasn't there on my birthday but I went out with my friends and drank 21 drinks. I survived to tell the tale although I think I may have taken a day off from Leeds Poly back in the day.

 

Memories - it's good to have them and it's good to create them.

 

Just going to get a tissue.

 

xxxxx

dietdevil: I didnt have a pasty and goodbye to an old friend....

dietdevil: I didnt have a pasty and goodbye to an old friend....: So last night's book group has been and gone for another month. It was a great night, as usual and the Cornish buffet was tucked into b...

I didnt have a pasty and goodbye to an old friend.

So last night's book group has been and gone for another month. It was a great night, as usual and the Cornish buffet was tucked into by all...............apart from me!

 I had a sausage roll, some cheese and crackers, 4 crisps and lots of grapes and cherry tomatoes. Most of the stuff there was either cakes or pastry and I managed to resist. I didn't even have a pasty. My halo is glowing. I just hope that it doesn't slip.

And choke me.

 

There was mixed reviews for Patrick Gale and his 'Rough Music'. I felt that I should have enjoyed it much more than I did due to the fact that he is a local author and I am for all things Cornish but my feelings on  the book  were that he took a terrible long time in writing a story that wasn't particularly interesting. The twist wasn't that twisty and there was a bit near the beginning that made me thing ''oh purleeeease'' as it was quite far fetched and unbelievable.

 

It was however, redeemed in places by some beautiful episodes of writing but for me, it just didn't make up for the less interesting bits in what was a story that could have been cut down to a half of its' length without losing any of 'the plot'.

 

And despite the fact I didn't enjoy it, it did provoke a good and lively discussion which is undoubtedly what we want from a book group and in all fairness I have read some absolutely brilliant books in the past which I would be loathe to choose to discuss as there isn't that much you can say about them.

 

Now I am out again tonight at the pub around the corner. It is what you would call a 'spit and sawdust' pub and whilst I am far from posh, well it's not really my scene. It is apparently very cheap though so the drinks will be flowing and I am being joined by some very funny ( not quite as funny as myself ) people so I am sure there will be laughs a plenty.

 

I have hopped on the dreaded scales today and am up a pound. I attribute that to the fact that I ate late last night as I don't think a sausage roll and some cheese would make me gain  a pound. I am out again on Saturday for H's birthday meal and have chosen ridiculously healthy options from the menu. I want another shiny sticker next week and need a pound and a half to get one so I am one determined lady.

 

My dress also fits for Saturday and my new shoes arrived too. I cant walk in them but will hobble slowly down to the restaurant and try to avoid any slipping.

 

And finally we say goodbye today to Sylvia , H's little Ford KA. She was pronounced dead by Chris our friendly mechanic yesterday and is shortly going to that big scrap yard in the sky. It's a sad day. It's also hard to believe that she made it to Cardiff and back twice  in the space of just over a week and her engine and electrics are fine, it was the rusty bodywork wot dunnit.

 

Goodbye Sylvia - may your thoughts of trips up and down the M5, around the winding lanes of Cornwall, the sleeping place for many a young farmer and their friends and your ferrying of dogs and horse type equipment up and down to the fields stay with you.

 

You were a true lady right to the end.

dietdevil: Shiny stickers, petrol trauma, lost in Redruth and...

dietdevil: Shiny stickers, petrol trauma, lost in Redruth and...: So I lost another 2! This made me whoop very loudly. The Redruth ladies in all their finery whooped with me. They are very nice and it just...

dietdevil: Shiny stickers, petrol trauma, lost in Redruth and...

dietdevil: Shiny stickers, petrol trauma, lost in Redruth and...: So I lost another 2! This made me whoop very loudly. The Redruth ladies in all their finery whooped with me. They are very nice and it just...

Shiny stickers, petrol trauma, lost in Redruth and me being a potential masochist.

So I lost another 2! This made me whoop very loudly. The Redruth ladies in all their finery whooped with me. They are very nice and it just goes to show that you shouldn't judge a local by their town.

 

I did my usual petrol risk and thought that I would have enough to get me there and back but the arrow was dangerously near that EMPTY mark so I asked the Redruth ladies and a man outside where the nearest petrol station was......... *

 

''Ere my lover, you go straight across the road and you can't miss it. It's right by Tescos''

 

Hmm - not the best directions ever as ''straight across the road'' is not really an option. There is a junction and many winding lanes. I obviously took the wrong one as not only could I not see a Tescos after a few minutes, I couldn't see any forms of civilisation either. I luckily happened upon a roadside garage with one solitary pump outside. I asked if they sold petrol and young Denzil or Jethro even filled the car up for me. I felt like a right patronising bitch asking if they took cards and Denzil/ Jethro nodded at me eagerly. I drove away quickly and then got lost. I am not going to lie, I was afraid...........very afraid.

 

Returning home 2 hours after leaving the house I had a much needed coffee and calmed myself. I had remembered to pick up the book group pasties on the way home and drop them to Leanne along with cake and I have to say they were smelling ansum. I am going to have one pasty tonight and not drink much. I got a shiny sticker for my fat club book today and that means more to me than a cream tea..........

 

Anyway, as though it's not emotionally traumatising enough having a nearly 21 year old as one of my offspring, I then had the idea of texting Lovely Lovely Nick ( LLN ) H's driving instructor saying ''Hi Nick, H's lovely little sis is 17 in 3 months - can I book some lessons'' and LLN has left me a voicemail saying he would ring me later and get her booked in. I am a wreck.

 

WHY THE HELL DID I DO IT?

 

AM I A MASOCHIST?

 

SHE IS TOO SMALL AND YOUNG TO SIT IN A DRIVER'S SEAT!

 

The mad thing is that on H's first driving lesson I joked to LLN that I would soon be ringing him for M. That was 4 years ago and the 4 years is now up!

 

I am going to be brave.

 

I am going to eat some fruit and drink water. If I lose a pound and a half next week I will get yet another shiny sticker and shiny stickers are always good, So are graphs. I am making one for my fridge. I am very determined. I haven't tried on 'that' dress and my breasts from where I am sitting don't look any smaller , but where there's a will there's a way.

 

Onwards and downwards...............