It Ain't 'Arf 'Ot Mum!

Phew! What a scorcher of a week! It's during weeks like this that I'm so glad I work from home. Admittedly I'm sitting in my un-air conditioned 9' x 6' back bedroom with two PCs most of the day but at least I have the opportunity to take a little wander round the garden with a lollipop in my hand or, better still, a nice cold beer or glass of white wine!

I have to say that most of my working week was spent on one or two really lengthy surveyors' reports - one on the condition of various warehouses on an industrial estate which wasn't the most inspiring piece of work, hence the need for numerous jaunts round the garden to keep me awake! But it keeps the wolf from the door and it's enabled me to be able to afford to replenish the wine/beer cellar!!

Monday night was a bit hairy! Not in the 'horror' sense but in a 'catty' sense. Cleo, as you'll know from my profile picture, is a long-haired tabby and white cat. During the summer months she loves to sit for hours in a wild area at the bottom of our garden waiting for some poor unsuspecting little vole or shrew to poke his nose out before pouncing, elephant like upon it (she's not exactly a super model; more of a Dawn French!), and more often than not, proudly presenting it to us in half eaten form in the middle of the night (bless!). Unfortunately she likes to hide in the undergrowth and comes in covered in nettles, twigs and goose grass. She then nibbles her fur to get the lumps out and then, worst of all, she brings up a hair ball which her 'Mum' has to clean up. So, every year, we give her a make-over. Mum holds her down while Dad gets the electric shaver out. Jolly good fun! Cleo has a nice new hair-do and Mum and Dad end up looking like Gizmo from Gremlins, only maybe not quite so cute!!

But you'll be pleased to hear that all that fur doesn't go to waste - it's recycled; we store it up and then put it out for the birds in early Spring so they can use it for nesting; not so much feathering their nests, but furring it!! This trip to the beauty salon does have a side-effect though. When Cleo washes over the next couple of days she naturally picks up loose fur which means she brings up hair balls regularly.

On Tuesday I was actually quite pleased to find it was blisteringly hot and sunny. Cleo, whether by accident or by design to vent her annoyance at being stripped of her long wavy locks, brought up two hair balls on the bed. So, there was I flapping around, working myself up into a sweat stripping the bed right down to the under blanket. I then had a tussle with the duvet trying to get it downstairs and force it, kicking and screaming almost (the duvet, not me!), into the washing machine; while Adam was struggling to get the dripping item over the 'whirly gig' linen line out in the garden I battled with the blanket which was marginally easier to get into the machine. Last load of the day - two sheets and a duvet cover.

Typically, despite the hot sunny day, the duvet and blanket were still damp when we got them off the linen line so we had to 'make do' - I got my sofa snug off the sofa and used it as a sleeping bag but without a zip at the side but as we only have the one, Adam got a double blanket out of the airing cupboard and a double sheet. He decided to lay the blanket out and put the sheet on top. He then laid on one half of the man-made sleeping 'bag' and pulled the other half over the top of him. The result? I had a blissful sleep; Adam, on the other hand, hardly slept a wink. He found himself totally cocooned and, as the night was particularly sweltering, it wasn't necessarily the best thing! And as for Cleo, she didn't bat an eye - she curled up by my feet blissfully unaware of the havoc she'd caused.

The rest of the week seemed to bumble along quite well, despite the heat, and I even managed to get to look at the basics for my next article yesterday afternoon, probably because all my surveyors and estate agents 'received last minute instructions to undertake inspections of property' - in other words, 'slipped off in the car for the afternoon to listen to the tennis on the radio'!! I'm going for another history one - a Tudor murder which involved a landmark Court case that ended in murder. I'm probably going to call it The Church, The Crown and The Christening Robe!!! Hopefully that's enough info to get you intrigued!

Despite a thunder storm yesterday afternoon, today seems just as hot as ever, so Adam and I were up bright and early, took a trip to the village of Coltishall to visit the post office and found that the holidaymakers are now starting to gather. There were several boats moored along Coltishall Common (as a matter of interest you may like to know it's owned by King's College, Cambridge and has been for centuries!). It's easy to tell the holidaymakers from the locals - the male holidaymakers can be seen wearing captains hats; the locals can be seen wearing straw hats or white 'cricket' hats!

There then followed a slight diversion to the Co-op in Spixworth to get ice cream and loads of salad stuff so we can expect the next Ice Age to descend any time now!! I've just indulged in a lovely ham salad and discovered that melon seems to mix well with smoky ham, iceberg lettuce, cucumber and pineapple.

I've watered the garden so think I'm going to sit here quietly now for the rest of the day and do a bit of delving into my next 'labour of love' article! And for those of you who very kindly take the trouble to read my blog, whilst looking into the latest article I came across a really interesting website so, For Your Eyes Only Commander Bond!, here's a link - http://www.exclassics.com. It also gives links to other similar websites. There are all sorts of interesting documents there and all are in the public domain!!!

Speak to you next week.

Another Week

Here's my weekly update just for your amusement George!


On the whole the week went well. I was pleased to get my article about Cley Next the Sea published and, in the research, finding out that one of my fave singers James Blunt has his roots there! I'm now trying to decide where to go next - history behind another local village, biography of local gal or bor (Norfolk for boy!), or maybe something a little more gruesome?!! I shall probably ponder the point at length while I'm doing my housework later on today. I have quite an interesting Tudor murder lined up so might have a stab at that - no it wasn't by stabbing but rather an unusual method. I'll leave you hanging on that one - no it wasn't hanging either!!! I also want to try and get down some amusing notes about my childhood which I hope will turn out to be more of a 'short story' - and then perhaps, George, I can feel confident enough to get to grips with your novel idea.


The week was pretty hectic so far as work was concerned but I took Wednesday off to visit my mother who can be a trifle difficult to deal with these days. As I mentioned last weekend, my days with Mother can be quite eventful and last Wednesday was no exception. I had my itinerary set - catch the No 10 bus at 9.15 to get me from Spixworth to Norwich; arrival 9.45; go to the Bank and pay in some cheques I'd had hanging around for a bit; get the No 210 bus at 10.10 to take me from Norwich to North Walsham, where my mother lives; ETA 11.20. I'd then arranged to meet my mother in the market place, go into QD, Boots and the local greengrocer, go back to hers for lunch and then catch the 210 back to Spixworth at 4.20.


The day started well - for once the bus turned up on time and it was a nice new one rather than the usual old banger that we have at 9.15 which has something wrong with brakes - every time the bus stops it sounds as if the Queen Mary is coming into port!! We got about halfway into Norwich and suddenly the bus driver pulled into the side of the road, leaped out and ran back from whence we came. He returned with something in his hand - he announced that his front indicator which should have been on the front left hand corner of the bus had dropped off. He then announced that the next bus would be along in about 10 minutes. More than his job was worth to travel without that indicator as it was against health and safety regulations.


That wouldn't have allowed me enough time to catch my bus out to North Walsham so I then had to hike back a mile in order to catch the 210 bus. I'd been having a 'turf out' in the garden the previous weekend and had managed to dig up some day lilies, gladioli and perennial lobelias which I'd shoved in pots to take over to my mum's as she was complaining that her garden looked bare. I'd found that one of the houses I passed on my jolly jaunt back to the bus stop was obviously inhabited by either a non-gardener or a 'natural' one as there were all sorts of things growing over the path. I duly arrived back at the bus stop with my jungle still intact and waited for the bus to arrive. It was then I noticed that I was covered in greenfly. I knew it wasn't from my plants so it must have come from the jardin au naturel!!

The bus arrived and I sat down for the leisurely (although somewhat itchy - due to my infestation) ride through all the little villages via the back roads to North Walsham. The countryside is absolutely stunning this time of year and I just wished I could have asked the driver to stop the bus so I could take some photos, but no worries, I'll just drag poor old Adam out over the next couple of weeks so I can return with my digital camera!

I arrived in North Walsham on time but Phase 1 of the plan to pay in the cheques had had to be relegated to the bottom drawer. I alighted still with mini jungle intact despite the twisty bends of the back roads and Mum was waiting for me. Now to have a good old gander round QD, Boots, etc, etc. As soon as I got off the bus I could see that Mum had two full bags of something. Having said hello to each other she announced that she'd been to Sainsbury's, the Post Office and the greengrocer so we could head straight home. She said that her shoulder was now beginning to ache and she was feeling tired due to the humid weather so we should head straight back to hers. So, Phase 2 out of the window!!!

We got back to Mum's and I told her I'd remembered what she'd said about wanting some perennial plants to fill up the gaps in her garden and proudly presented my cuttings (now with the added bonus of greenfly!). As I said previously, she's getting a bit tetchy in her old age and doesn't believe in beating about the bush. I handed her the day lily and she immediately said, "oh no, not another one of those! You gave me one of those a couple of years ago and it's a damned nuisance. I keep meaning to ask Robin (her 'gardening man') to get rid of the one I've got out there now as it's too big". I bit my tongue and resisted the urge to tell her that she'd told me she didn't have enough plants to fill the garden so I just, very meekly, said, "well, you'll have to see if you can find a neighbour that'd like it". She, rather ungratefully, said I could 'shove them outside'. I suspect that they'll end up in the compost bin. So much for my good turn!

Despite this setback though, we had quite a good day and Mum, as she so often does these days, regaled me with stories of her childhood in Coltishall and some of Dad's tales of his war years. I duly recorded all the salient points in my limited memory so I can write them up later!!

And so it came to the journey home - bus late, but at least it turned up. All in all not too stressful but could have been better. I'd give it 8 out 10. (Can anyone remember what the TV programme was called back in the 1960s with that lovely lady who used to 'give it foive'?) Was it Pick of the Pops or something like that?

The rest of the week went relatively well - I got a bargain from Suttons Seeds online. 20 garden ready perennial plants for £25. I'm now an avid 'shop online' girl and Adam's amazed at the speed I can find comparable prices - everything from flowers to electrical goods! And I've got some wonderful websites that give me cashback if I connect through them. I've even signed up to a charity cashback site - every time I go through them to purchase something online, the PAWS centre (the local RSPCA shelter where Cleo came from) they get a percentage of what I paid.

I checked out the Woolies website on Friday and ordered Adam's brother-in-law a bag of pick-n-mix which I've had sent to him down in Essex. He was forced to retire early from the company he'd worked for for 47 years so thought we'd send him a little bag of treats to help him celebrate, although it sounds as if he's already getting into the swing of things. Adam's sister phoned us during the week (she's recently given up her job as a child welfare worker with the local council), and announced that she and Ray were sitting in the garden with their dog enjoying a Chelsea bun and a cup of coffee!

This morning we were up again fairly early, had a cuppa and took our little weekly jaunt to the local Co-op and couldn't believe our eyes! At the checkout next door were a couple, Stephen and Laura, who'd been neighbours of ours when we lived in Norwich. They'd both been teachers in Ethiopia and had bought a house in Norwich so that they and their two young sons could come home during the summer hols to catch up with old friends and relatives. When Adam and I had moved out to Spixworth we'd somehow lost touch with them but apparently they were now living in Spixworth themselves! Their youngest son, Tim, was with them - home from University for the weekend. He'd been 9 when we left Norwich and, as you can imagine, was unrecognisable from the little Timmy who enjoyed poking around our perennials looking for ladybirds! His older brother, Jonathan, must now be about 21 or 22 and apparently he was at University too. Stephen's now a lecturer in Norwich and Laura decided to give up teaching and is now doing a course at the University of East Anglia. Strange old world - full of coincidences!!!

Now, what to do today? Looks like a thunderstorm's a-brewin' so I might just indulge in a cup of tea and a piece of fruit cake (Mum gave me one when I was over at hers on Wednesday and it'd be a shame if we left it to go stale - well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). As it's so humid neither Adam nor I really fancy eating much so I'll probably stick some chicken portions in the oven to cook during the afternoon and then we can have chicken salad tonight or, if the weather turns cooler, we can take the chicken off the bone and use it in a stir fry. In the meantime, I'll probably catch up on a bit of CSI or Corrie or maybe do a bit more research into another article.

Before I end though, a message for George. You asked about the footpath in Coltishall. The footpath itself is still there but its just not as 'prettily presented' as it was when I lived in the village. You no longer have access to the whole of the meadow as it's been fenced off and the crooked wooden five bar gate has been replaced with a metal one. I suspect it's because the people who use the footpath no longer respect the 'laws of the countryside' and probably demolish wooden gates and chase the cattle that graze on the meadow. I can well remember taking walks through there with Mum, Dad, my older sister and our cat and the cattle used to love coming up to us and being stroked but these days they're liable to be set upon by yobs!!! Such is life, as they say!!!!

Speak to you next week.

Now That Summer's Here (or Not!)

I thought, at the beginning of the week, we were in for a nice long, hot, spell of weather but what began on a high, definitely sank throughout the week. Typically, on the lovely hot, summery days I was working long hours in my poky little office, so couldn't take full advantage, but yesterday (Saturday) when I was by the sea there were near gale force winds a-blowin' and today when I want to plant up some foxgloves and marigolds, it's not only cold and a bit on the blustery side, but, as a country girl, I can sense rain in the air!

On Monday afternoon I had my sister, brother-in-law and 10 year old nephew on the doorstep at 4.00. They'd been unable to visit on my birthday so brought over my pressies - a large pot of marigolds, a bottle of white wine (which was very gratefully received as I'm going through an extremely hectic time with my work and in need of a good chill out potion at the end of the day!), and an interesting 'herb starter kit'. The box stated that it contained three herb pots, three packs of seeds (parsley, chives and basil), a wood stand and compost. I opened up the pack and couldn't find any compost and instantly thought 'just my luck. I end up with the duff package!', but then I realised that what I thought was a little cork-like disc of plant food in the bottom of each pot was actually the compost. Having read the instructions, it said that the discs needed to be put into a bowl with a measure of cold water and allowed to expand. There'd then be enough compost to fill the pots. Haven't actually tried it yet but I'll be amazed if it works! But enough of my herby tardis tale.

My nephew, who's extremely irritating and not the best behaved child, was handed a DVD and booklet sent as a 'free sample' from some publisher or other, in the hope that we'd sign up for a thousand future editions at a bargain price of £15 a week or some such. He seemed happy enough reading the book (which was about tigers) until he discovered that the DVD, if twizzled around in the case, made a high pitched squeaking noise and that, of course, far exceeded the entertainment value of the booklet. Funny how he gains pleasure from 'winding up Auntie Jackie and Uncle Adam'!!!

The week continued rather mundanely, except for my evening hosing session. No, not some form of colonic irrigation or wet T-shirt competition - for those people who have met me, they'd know that most definitely wouldn't be a pretty sight but more the stuff nightmares are made of! - but in an effort to keep my annual seedlings and my wilting perennials and veg alive.

My efforts seemed to be bearing fruit (or at least leaves and flowers!) until Friday arrived. True to its origins (named after the goddess Frigg), it was frigging cold and windy which instantly knocked back the courgettes and cucumbers so I'm now left with some poor bedraggled little things that I'm hoping above hope will pick up if the weather perks up again.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny ... but typically it was cold and windy too. Just perfect for a day by the sea (not!!!). We'd planned to join Adam's sister, brother-in-law and mother at Southwold in Suffolk. Gaby, Adam's sister, telephoned to say that his mother didn't feel up to the journey but that she and Ray and Jake (their gorgeous little dog) would meet us on the sea front.

We arrived early at the allotted car park which we discovered was a pay/display so I leant into the hurricane force wind and pushed my way up to the meter to pay (being the law abiding citizen that I am) only to find that there were four different periods for payment - up to one hour, one to two hours, two to three hours, three to four hours and more than four hours. I wasn't sure which to choose so decided to phone Gaby on her mobile but discovered that my mobile had died completely - fully powered but unable to use as it said my SIM was unregistered, despite the fact that I'd been using it for the last couple of years or more!

I decided to go for the four hour option which would let us stay there until 4.00. Typically, the option I wanted would cost £3.05. Two pound coin inserted in slot - success; one pound coin inserted - dropped out; tried one pound coin again - success; five pence piece - couldn't even get it into the slot; tried second five pence piece - still couldn't get it into the slot; tried third five pence coin - still couldn't get it into the slot; timed out - two pound and one pound coins dropped through. Decided to opt for three hours which didn't require a five pence coin and then top up later if necessary.

By this time, Gaby, Ray (and Jake) had arrived. Ray said that the best fish and chips were at the other end of Southwold so we should follow him. We told him that we'd paid for the car park so he suggested we may as well make use of that time and we should travel in his car. So we spent five windswept minutes loading up our 'little extras' into the boot of Ray's car - camera, binoculars, coats and extra grub (we'd stopped off at our local Co-op on the way there and picked up a couple of bottles of drink and noticed they had an offer on at their in-shop bakery counter. Buy a pack of mini-muffins and mini-chocolate browniers, usually £1.75 each, for £3 - just the sort of healthy dessert one would need after eating fish and chips).

The fish and chips went down a treat. Poor Gaby then asked if we'd like a cup of tea as we only had cold drinks and she thought we might like something a little warmer. She'd brought two flasks of hot water with her but unfortunately, on opening the first flask she found it had broken somewhere on the journey between Essex and Suffolk.

We then took the dog for a brisk walk along the beach. As anyone who's walked along a soft sandy beach knows, it takes quite a bit of effort on a normal day, but add to that a 30 mph head wind and I'm certain we walked off not only the fish and chips, brownies and muffins but also honey nut cornflakes we'd eaten at breakfast and part of the chicken kiev, new potatoes, carrots, sweetcorn and peas from the previous night!!

We returned home windswept, well-gritted like the M25 in a cold spell (or maybe not!) from the sand and completely shattered! So, following a light snack and a glass of white wine (thanks to my sister!) I retired to my boudoir and spent a quiet hour or two with Tony Robinson on Classic FM, a good crime novel and a cuddle with the cat.

Well, it's now 1.45 on Sunday and we're having a nice, steady downpour so think I'll stop for a cuppa and a chocolate brownie/muffin and settle down to an afternoon of article writing - but which to do first? A little known battle story along the lines of my Beachy Head one; a gruesome tale of a Victorian poisoning, or a short one about my father's tale of the D Day landing? My heart tells me it should be the D Day landing one but my head tells me that I should be making progress on the former!!

The D Day article reminds me - during the week I spoke to my mother on the phone. She told me that one of her neighbours, Roy, who's 95 has just got his first passport as he's decided to travel back to Normandy for the first time in 65 years. The trip is, in part, being funded by the National Lottery to enable suitably qualified companions to travel with the veterans. Roy, having now obtained this passport has decided life is passing him by and he's booked himself on a cruise later in the year. My mum was questioning the wisdom of this solo trip and said that she wouldn't do it at the age of 95 in case she died on the ship. Always up for a laugh, I told her that it wouldn't be a problem - they could either bury him at sea or do as they used to do on on the old sailing ships; pickle him a barrel of rum until they returned to Blighty!!

Things Ain't What They Used To Be ... Or Are They?

While sitting here waiting for some work to arrive this morning, thought I'd take a quick flick through the Telegraph online and was instantly drawn to this - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5210489/Identity-of--jigsaw-body-parts-murder-victim-solved.html.

While researching a recent local history article I came across a murder that took place in Victorian Norwich which immediately grabbed my attention, so much so that I actually put aside the article I was researching and decided to look into the murder case instead. Having worked in the Cathedral Close in Norwich for over 20 years I found it amazing that I'd regularly walked the very street where this gruesome event took place and hadn't been aware of it. (http://www.authspot.com/Short-Stories/Trouble-in-Tabernacle-Street.336079).

So often we crave the 'good old days', but were they really that great? The murder and mutilation of Jeffery Howe recently was shocking and horrific, but it certainly bears similarities to a lesser publicised murder which took place in Norwich around 150 years ago.

The Good, The Bad and (Possibly) The Ugly

I got up this morning feeling decidedly depressed.

Having worked out hard on Wii Sports and WiiFit last weekend and pulling a muscle, I'd decided to give it a rest for a few days but to try and maintain a healthy and balanced diet until I was able to bend and stretch again. I was extremely good during the day yesterday but then things went a little awry. I finished work at around 5.15 and my partner reminded me we had some post that needed sending. As our post box is in the centre of the village, we took the lazy man's route - got in the car rather than take a 40 minute walk. Unfortunately the local fish & chip shop is immediately opposite the post box and essence of hot fat tickled our taste buds and we found ourselves strangely drawn over the threshold!!

So, I woke up this morning feeling very down at heel. I then settled myself at my PC ready for a deluge of work but nothing seemed to filter through so not only had we spent £9 on a very unhealthy meal last night to undo all the hard work we'd done on the Wii over the weekend, I hardly earned enough to replenish the piggy bank during the morning.

Then things took a turn for the better! First of all I got a whole load of work in after lunch from one of my favourite clients, and then I received an email from a newly formed independent TV company that makes historical crime docu-dramas - Archive TV - who are interested in promoting some of my recently published articles.

I already have visions of Martin Shaw, Stephen Fry and Amanda Holden being cast as characters in TV productions of my local history articles as all three have bases in Norfolk, but knowing my luck I'll end up with Russell Brand, Ronnie Corbett and Vanessa Feltz!!

Maybe there is some being out there in the wide blue yonder watching us - the boost I got this afternoon far outweighed the gloom that started off my day.

All in a day's work

Thanks to the downturn in the property market I've now been sucked into this blogging lark! I'm normally sitting here at home busily typing up surveyors' reports or estate agents' particulars but as there's less work out there at the moment, I've taken up writing articles just to pass the time and that's somehow led me to start up a blog.

I love writing articles for publishing on Triond - http://www.triond.com/users/jackie118 and my real passion is history, in particular the more gory side of it; true crime/murder tales and true ghost stories are right up my alley.

At the grand old age of 49 I suspect I'm not going to get a huge 'following' of fellow bloggers but hopefully those of you who do find me will enjoy reading some of my articles and get a laugh out of some of my daily incidents.

I'm currently researching for my next article (my most gory one yet!) but, in order to take a break from my keyboard, I've been WiiFitting!! My partner, Adam, and I invested in a Nintendo Wii a couple of weeks ago and it duly arrived the middle of last week. Adam set it up and we spent a couple of evenings completely engrossed in Wii Sports. In fact, it instantly became an addiction. Adam was supposed to cook dinner but, come 8.00, we still hadn't eaten so we quickly switched on the oven and threw a pizza in for 20 minutes. Two rounds of golf later, which took us about 40 minutes, we remembered to take the pizza out - not quite burnt to a cinder but pretty close! We hurriedly slung that down our necks and did a bit of ten pin bowling and suddenly, lo and behold, it had gone midnight!

Over the weekend we WiiFit up and running. We both set up our fitness regime. Adam's fitness age was calculated at 49 years - bit of a bummer as he's 51! Mine came out at a very disappointing age of 52 which was a bit demoralising as I'm only 48!!! But following a good workout - yoga, followed by aerobics, followed by numerous games of tennis I finally ended up with a fitness age of 49. Not exactly what I wanted as I was hoping to drop at least another year off that to at least bring me into line with my true age, but then again, as I'd pulled a muscle in my bum and my back due to all the running around I suppose it wasn't too bad. Needless to say I'm taking it a little easier for a couple of days before I go for it again.