I have a new great grand called Rowan,  (the beautiful tree and also the ex archbishop if Canterbury) and his second name is Kit which is lovely too. Can`t wait to see him. 
B.Wiggins has been behaving in an exemplary fashion, now that I keep him on a short lead and march him smartly past any tall men in fluorescent jackets, carrying sacks or wearing shorts.
I saw two brilliant films last week: a German film called Barbara set in East Germany in the eighties, which reminded me of how awful the cold war years were., Also  Philomena with the wonderful Judy Dench. That was at Films for Friends which is such a great way of seeing films with comfy sofas, nibbles and drinks,yet another wonderful thing in Ditchling of which there are many.
Grandson R was eighteen last Saturday and there was a sort of brunch at his home in Brighton which was an ideal way to celebrate a birthday.  It went on for a few hours with delicious cooked breakfasts, Bucks Fizz, birthday cake and people dropping in.  .Daughter J had made a birthday card with Eighteen Rules for Life, which included things like: : Look after your teeth, Fill in forms straight away and send them off, Eat five a day, Change your sheets,, Don`t ever start smoking, Be kind,, Mean what you say and say what you mean, If in doubt have a bath.    I have been trying to think of a list for eighty five year olds, such as , Walk every day even if you don`t feel like it, Listen with soft eyes,   Do not put it off,,do it Now!   I am going to think of some more but I am just going off to meet son T at Petworth for his 55th birthday.

In the Doghouse

B.Wiggins and I are in disgrace again after being told off by the Headmaster (the warden of my Old Folks place)   He has been intimidating the postmen,window cleaners, repair men by barking ferociously and jumping, and this may frighten the O.F`s . The problem is that I had one of those stretchy leads but I must now always have him on a short lead and Never Let Him Off.   Many of the O F`s seem to like him and bring him round bones and remains of their Sunday roasts. But I feel mortified.  I have slipped back into the Naughtiest Girl in the School mode which I find  all too easyto do.

On a happier note, I had a lovely weekend in Winchester (leaving BW behind with daughter J for some behaviour therapy) and went to a christening of the youngest baby of my dear Russian/Cornish friends .  The Russian Orthodox priest from Oxford officiated and it was a beautiful ceremony though the sturdy toddler being baptised did not take too kindly to being totally mmersed three times in a large copper pot. She quickly cheered up afterwards and promptly went to sleep in her Korean grandfathers arms while the rest of us enjoyed a splendid christening feast. There were other Meeting House ex residents there and we all had a great reminisce about our happy past times together.

I came home yesterday in time to look after grand daughter T and we did some cooking.   We made strawberry tartlets as on Great British Bake Off on TV. We decided we had made a better job of it than Joanna Lumley,Dame Edna Everage, Jennifer Saunders and Lulu. They looked and tasted really nice. 

Today the sun is shining after days of grey gloom. and there were baby lambs in the field leading up to the Downs on my walk this morning and drifts of snowdrops along the roadside. Such a cheery sight.

Having a grumble..

I am an optimistic and cheerful person on the whole but there are several things that are annoying me at present and I want to get them off my chest:
1,Scottish Power who have almost doubled my direct debit monthly payments without warning and I am totally unable to get through to them on the phone. Disembodied voices tell me to press buttons and then I am left with appalling music for hours. I wouldn`t mind so much if it was Mozart.
2.TV  Every time I settle down to a cosy evenings viewing,  I either see women enduring excruciating labour pains before giving birth,  GPs discussing embarrassing ailments, or people haggling with shady looking antique dealers. There are rarely any plays and few good films, just sleazy sitcoms and soaps.
3.Weather forecasters on TV who are irritatingly cheerful and only tell us about the weather in the north of Scotland and Ireland and not a word about Brighton (or Ditchling).  
4.Shoe shops. I need some comfortable boots for my dodgy ankles and they say   `Oh no we are stocking up for summer now, we have none left in your size`.
5. Mud, on my shoes,carpets, sofa and dog. 

But there are some things that are good, such as snowdrops, a few primroses and even an odd daffodil springing up. Also I have just joined the Green Party so i have an instant answer when I am canvassed or phoned by local Tories.      Also we were doing sewing at the Infants yesterday. This is for the Guy Fawkes puppets.   It was very enjoyable. Next week we will be doing the glueing.which is even better.  And today I am starting another writing course at the Brighton museum where a small group of us are turned loose to find objects to spark us off to do a bit of writing.
I shouldn`t moan at all as the only important things for me are that my family keep well  and that we are all looking out for each other which we do.
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