To reminise

Another lovely day today, very blue clear skies and quite warm at 24C

I mentioned in my last post about the Pyrford youth club that I started going to in 1971.  There were three main halls, one dedicated to table tennis, the large main one, where other activities happened, such as the trampoline, badminton etc  and the coffee lounge, a nice place to sit and chill with friends. Outside was a small pitch, ideal for 5 a side.

On Mondays evenings it was weight training for the girls, this was synchronised movements but using a bar with weights. There was one boy doing normal weights, he wanted to be a fireman but his physic was not up to their standard, but by the time Fred had finished with him he sailed through and got his dream job.  We are all still friends today

My bar had 1.5 lbs each end plus the bar, not very heavy you may think, however when all the routines were put to music and the bars were swinging you certainly didn´t want to get in the way. Also if you missed a week, boy did your muscles tell you about it a day later.

We had routines to various songs of the day, Delilah, push bike song, where did your love go, plus others.  We would be booked for events like the local parish days and would appear in our uniforms to perform.  Sometimes the boys would sneer and make comments about the weights, so we always encouraged them to try for themselves, one they didn´t have a clue or rhythm, two, they would get only half way through and give up because...it was too heavy!

In 1973 I became the Captain of the team, and would be standing in the centre leading

 With our coach Fred Moran

Look at those long white socks!

We had our moment of fame when we were invited to go up to London to the BBC studios and do a routine for Blue Peter. A great day but John Knoaks kept forgetting his lines and we had various takes but all went well in the end.

As we were leaving we bumped into Dick Emery who immediately played the fool wielding our bars around and getting into the character of Mr Lampwick.

We had to leave for the journey back to Surrey as we wanted to watch ourselves on the TV  program that afternoon, no video recorders then!

I still have my Blue Peter badge for this, along side another one sent years before when I sent up a photo of our guinea pig, Pru, with her 8 babies asking if it was a record, they kindly wrote back saying they couldn´t be sure but enclosed a badge.

I still have my bars, must confess to being a bit rusty on the routines now, mind you even a broom stick would suffice to begin with and I cannot hear any of the songs without being transported straight back to those days.

An added bonus was that Chris lived nearby and would come up to the club too.

Maybe I should get the bar out of moth balls for some gentle exercise

take care

xcx

The way it was

Really sorry but ´hubby´ gave me the wrong link! hopefully this will work:

Our Wedding Photo Book Online

We met in 1971 at the local youth club, shall I divulge the ages, oh yes ok then,
 I was 14, very shy, and interested in the weight training team events, but did notice this boy who kept walking from the table tennis room through the main hall,
  Chris was 16 , we clicked as they say, he would leave his 6th form school and walk to meet me from school, shedding the blazer, due to the competition between the two schools and walking me home, oh the bliss of youth

A few hic ups along the way but Chris proposed in 1975, New years eve  and we were on our way, Chris was doing an engineering apprentiship (which he hated) and really wanted to be a  musical   entertainer, we ended up being a duo, touring in our local area to fit in with work, even gigs in Wandsworth prison officers mess, (that was an experience all on its own), but things got in the way, parental concerns over a musical career and fathers intervention meant a huge tear and we were torn apart.

Life has its way of dealing the cards, I married and had my two beautiful wonderful children, Chris ended up in New Zealand due to his musical contracts, our two families kept in touch, we were finally reunited in 2002 with the realisation that it was others not ourselves that drove the split.

Chris came back to the UK for a school reunion, his Mum said to contact me and that as they say was it.  However lives built abroad needed to be addressed and so it wasnt until 2003 we were reunited with a rainbow. In NZ, Chris had this storm followed by a wonderful rainbow, he said it was a sign, then a couple of hours later he received a phone call saying his Dad had passed.  He came back for the funeral and never returned. Hence the rainbow connection
so before you all nod off, this was to be the theme of our wedding, great excuse to include so much colour!!

 the table decorations, made from mason jars with lace and sprinkles

 our butterfly mobiles with rainbow colours

Tiny Suffolk puffs around foam spheres, ruched organza puffs, wooden hearts, cut, painted and decorated, lots of balloons, two bird cages filled with statice and gyp, sprinkles and crystals

I also made the pew ends from statice, sage, rosemary and gyp

On the table in front of the altar sat a remembrance candle which I stood in a glass bowl surrounded by amethyst crystals we were asked to light this and take a few moments to reflect on those unable to be present.

I had had the fore thought to put little royal blue organza bags with tissues in on the pews, just in case!

We decided to sing one of the songs we sang back in 1975,

I´ll never find another you by The Seekers

We collected the vibrant bougainvillea flowers and dried them along with some roses and lavender, made some cones from doilles and filled them for confetti, worked brilliantly

I also made spheres from different coloured yarns for decorations

On our return from Gibraltar we had another vibrant rainbow, another sign?

I found the two bird cages in a Chinese bazaar for 14e and just filled them up

I made the cakes, both sponge, one chocolate, the other lemon, there was very little left

Enough for now!?

Sorry about the layout and spaces, but the program will not let me change them around and as our connection is getting slower, I don´t want to push my luck

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter break

take care

xcx

 

Sharing our news

Hello everyone, rather a long break, for all sorts of reasons, perhaps most of all, just because!  Wow one whole year just seems to have zipped past and disappeared.

I´m sure I shall flip back to some events, but I thought you may like to share in our news,

We have been very busy these last three months, planning and crafting, organising

Chris and I have just got married

First we went to Gibraltar in February, getting married in Spain was proving very difficult, every document had to be translated and stamped, the time was taking an age and it was getting stressful, so we opted for Gibraltar for the legalities.  It was very easy, and even though there were no frills, we still enjoyed the ceremony, with Rebecca walking me in to the room and giving us the rings.

So with Chris´s brother, best friend, Rebecca and Antoni we had a picnic on the balcony then a photo shoot down on the beach.

We were going to visit the monkeys etc on the rock but the cable car was being refurbished, best thing as it turns out as we organised a private tour with an excellent guide and had a lovely time.

We also visited St Michael´s caves, which were outstandingly beautiful.  I really do not do tunnels or caves etc but was determined to go in, it was wonderful, they hold concerts there and the lighting systems made it magical.  When I touched the rocks I was surprised to feel it was very warm, there was a polished stalactite and the energy was amazing.

We only took video so will have to take off some stills.

We also visited the tunnels, hacked out by the soldiers, the history was very interesting but I did not enjoy these as much, in contrast the stone was so cold to touch and quite hostile.

So moving into March

On Monday we had a blessing in our little chapel in the Ermita, with family and friends, it was so beautiful, very emotional and we consider this to be our ´wedding´, 

Rebecca, Antoni, Daniel, Shine and Leocia, lovely flower girl, Chris´s Mum and sister

Well perhaps I should call a halt here before you all get bored

So after 41 years 1 month and 5 days since Chris first proposed, through parental intervention, life and circumstances we finally tied the knot

Here is the link to our albelli photo book if you are interested

http://www.albelli.co.uk/view-online-photo-book/ebbe716f-329c-4413-a34e-b1b1e68b37a3?utm_campaign=SFB_widget

so where ever you are take care

xcx