Tribute to an unknown Uncle

After years of good intentions we at last managed to visit the grave of my husband's uncle in St Brieuc on the north coast of Brittany. He was lost at sea on HMS Charybdis in 1943 during WW2. His wife knew he was missing for several years before knowing for sure that he was lost. She never wanted to visit his grave and no other member of the family did so either. We always felt sorry about this and decided that as this year would have been his 100th birthday it would be a fitting tribute.



Always eager for a little adventure the four of us (husband Paul, his brother Colin and partner Christine) booked cabins on the overnight Plymouth to Roscoff ferry.Our cabins were surprisingly comfy and we all slept well, an early start though as we arrived Roscoff 6am, giving us a good long day to drive to the cemetery and then to explore the countryside. It was a national holiday for Ascension Day so many shops were closed, fortunately some food, coffee and cake shops were open in the morning so we didn't go hungry. There were lots of folkloric events happening in various villages..local food, crafts and lots of dancing which was brilliant. Although visiting Uncle Don's grave was moving it wasn't as emotional as we'd all expected and we were so pleased we'd gone.


The war graves were just a very small part of an amazing cemetery, every grave was a big marble affair covered with flowers and plaques from various family members. After another brew up and picnic outside the cemetery gates (wondered if boiling a kettle was a bit disrespectful but after a local wished us 'bon appetit' we decided it was ok!) After that we found a couple of beaches and had a lovely afternoon with Moules et Frites for lunch. Before going back to the ferry we found a wine shop near the port (bet that never closes!) and stocked up with some very cheap plonk. After another good night...me on the top bunk which was fun, we found ourselves in Plymouth again at 6.30am. Too early to find anywhere open for breakfast so we drove across Dartmoor for a couple of hours then stopped at a lovely Hotel for a rather posh breakfast and a lounge around with their newspapers. Then managed to pull in a visit to Castle Drogo near Exeter before finally heading home. We crammed so much into two days and with having the two overnight crossings the whole jaunt cost about £250 for all four of us!

I don't like 24!

There I've actually said it and Jack Bauer hasn't come after me...yet! Surely I can't be the only person to dislike this series, all my family are obsessed and talk about plots and characters as if they're known to them personally. It must be in the rules of the series that it can't be watched alone, take the other night....son Tom and his wife Laura who are living with us at the moment have a far superior flat screen telly in their room but had to come down and watch with my husband Paul. Do they all hold hands incase it's scary I wonder? Thank goodness for our V+ box that's all I can say!


Last month I was really impressed with a flower arrangement at daughter Lucy's and wondered why it looked so good. It was all to do with a twiggy sort of ring which fitted into the vase and held the flowers. Lucy had salvaged it from an arrangement she'd had for her birthday. I searched the internet for something similar but couldn't come up with anything, not knowing what it was called didn't help. I was delighted to find that Lucy had managed to track one down as part of my Christmas present...clever girl had thought to try Interflora where the original gift came from. So here is my sisal collar in action, by adding some random garden foliage to some beautiful flowers we were given by friends we ended up with a really stunning arrangement

For the last few years my very best non-knitting friend Elaine has been helping to care for her husband's Aunty Vera. This lady was well known to us all at the Library where we worked as she would often pop into town on the bus to see Elaine. Sadly, as she was overtaken by dementia her trips into town and further afield became a cause for concern, on several occasions she was taken home by the police. When she died a few months ago Elaine asked if I would like all Vera's knitting and sewing bits and pieces. How could I refuse...knowing she had been a keen seamstress, knitter and beader I guessed I would be in for a treat. What a treat it was too...fabric, containers of knitting needles and all the usual sewing equipment. So many fascinating old boxes and tins just full of buttons. There are several buttons that I really love and I'm determined to use them on some project or other in the future.

It would seem that for or a knitter your whole life ends up in your knitting bag, I know that I often pop things in mine knowing I'll soon find them again because I'm always rummaging in it. Vera must have done the same as we found all sorts of personal bits...lipsticks, Carter's Little Liver Pills, receipts, notes, numerous suspender buttons and most poignantly her turquoise eye shadow. She was well over 90 but up until the last couple of years she always put on her make up to come into town...especially her trademark eye shadow!