Flu

Christmas was lovely New Year saw through a hazy. Managed to stay up to wish the New Year in but what a struggle as we both came down with flu and the dreaded cough. I put on my Facebook site that I was dying and the coughing was keeping me awake at night. I was flooded with one cure from everyone. How they all knew and I had never heard of it I do not know but here it is and it works. Everyone said it did and it does. Put Vick on the soles on your feet. Yes that is right> Put on a pair of socks and you will have a cough free night guaranteed. You will cough the next day but not at night which is worth it to get some sleep. We think we might live now and stop going round saying Oh God. Went out for a walk today and it was lovely. Shaky legs but felt better by the end of the walk. Sad news is that Ken Newby died last week. Funeral is on Monday 20th, St Robert's 10.30am. He was a grand person was Ken. He was very ill towards the end but before that and for a few years when he was passing in the summer he used to come in and sit in our summer house and have a chat. I remember him saying to Bas once when we first got the wheely bins for garden rubbish do you do this Bas I get a ladder and stand on the weeds and you get more in that way. So I shall always have a picture of Ken doing just that.

Christmas and all that

Christmas Eve everyone here. Always do a big dinner roast ham sprouts etc followed by clootie dumpling. We all have our traditions and heaven help me if I miss one out. Had a lovely evening in front of the fire fortified with the Christmas spirit from a bottle. Bas had his usual Christmas Eve cold. I am getting suspicious as it has been thus for many many years. Grandchildren hung up their stockings, sent their letters up the chimney (always a nerve racking experience for me) put out the sherry, mince pie and carrot and off to bed to lie and listen for the sleigh bells which they always hear. As Bas was poorly I did the honours only to be told the dishwasher was on and no one could hear them. Three times in all I went out in the cold. Not a delicate tinkle more like Big Ben when I had finished. The spirit of Christmas was wearing thin, It was cold out there. All the adults went to bed including Bah humbug with his cold leaving me to do Santa's work. I was so engrossed I never heard Big Fairy Bas come back into the room, God knows why, to switch off the dining room Christmas lights.(We have a large lit tree in the hall and four on the window sills in the lounge and one in the dining room) Anyway I heard the thump looked round to see Bas on reaching for the plug had fallen in the corner behind a large pouffe and got jammed between that and the welsh dresser. He could not get up and to be honest I nearly left him there. Anyway between smothering my laughter in case Scrooge saw it I got him up and off he went to bed for the second time. I meantime had to switch off the other lights and on reaching behind the tv and over the table with Santa's sherry and mince pie and Rudolph's carrot I overbalanced and there I was stuck behind the tv. I had to get myself out. squashed the pie, broke the sherry glass and had sherry all down my front. Where the carrot went I will leave it to your imagination. Eventually got to bed and got up at 7.30am (not bad) to find that Santa had been and in his hurry to get back up the chimney dropped and broke the sherry glass and had stood on the mince pie. What a tale Alex made of it all and who was it who had frightened Santa? Incidentally I have now got the cold accompanied by a cough. Shall be a quiet New Year for us I think. Certainly stay up to see 2014 hopefully not from behind the welsh dresser or tv.  I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Our funny cat

Forgot to tell you this. Our cat Marble is a fan of Strictly Come Dancing. She sits in front of the tv watching it avidly. Don't know what she is going to do when it finishes next week. Bad enough when Downton and The Paradise finished. Although she is not a fan of Last Tango in Halifax. Finds it a bit rude in places so does not watch it anymore. Tigs watches nothing. Not even wildlife programmes. Prefers to spend her time chasing things in the Quarry. Two strange cats we have. Tigs prefers Bas and just tolerates me and Marble sits on my knee (when not telly watching) and stares into my eyes and does not go near Bas. Incidentally they do not like each other. Nowt so funny as cats.

Pannal News

Our lights put up. All trees in the windows and large one in the hall and lights outside. We managed it without too much swearing. ie lights not working or Bas going round the wrong side of the tree with a string of lights. It was him never me.
Our cats have a visitor a ginger cat who comes in and eats their food. We all put up with that. It is a bit wild and runs when approached but it has committed a big sin as it was asleep in their bed and they wont go near their bed now. Have taken all covers and washed them but no they are lying on the floor. Can see two Christmas presents coming up.
Sad news is that Diane Cattley from All Saints Court has died. She had Motor Neutron disease and put up a brave fight.  Diane was a great laugh and we used to have great fun as she worked at Pannal Grange Old People's Home and used to pass here a couple of times a day and I always seemed to be gardening when she passed.  Doug Baker whose funeral was yesterday was also a lovely person. Used to see him when we walked round Plumpton as he used to live there before him and Christine moved to Knaresborough. They belonged to Pannal Methodist Church and did so much in Malawi to help the children.
Will not be long until Christmas is upon us. Doesn't seem like Christmas this year probably because the weather is not too bad. I have been able to golf and chuffed to say have been first for three weeks on the trot. Soon it will be here and soon it will be gone. Our family coming up. 48 years have had the family for Christmas in Pannal. In this house. Good job I like baking and cooking. 4 grandchildren now. Alex who is 10. Bethany one and a half and twins Jake and Leonie age 3. Carols round the tree on Pannal Green hope to see a number of villagers. The ones I don't see I wish you a very Happy Christmas and a Good New Year. Lang may your lum reek as they say.

Party Time in Pannal

Before I get on to the party. Let me just say sorry I have not seen the comments to my blogs as I lost my gmail account. Don't ask me why computers very often do this to me. They do not like me. Can't say I am in love with them either but back it has come and I apologise to all who have commented. I have read you now and thank you.
Ross and Linda from Brookside Nurseries held a retirement party as they have sold their business but will be around for awhile to complete the handover. I sincerely hope new owners keep it as a garden centre as we need it. Party was great. Many many people came and there was wine and eats. I knew so many people there it was like having my own party. Some villagers I see on an almost daily basis and others once in a blue moon so it was lovely to catch up and find out all the village gossip, Unfortunately some news was about burglaries in Pannal and Burn Bridge. Also did you see The Antique Centre (used to be the other nursery) on BBC2 Celebrity antique thing. They did show a lot of it and lo and behold it was burgled and £10,000 of antique jewellery was stolen. I did say to Bas at the time of the showing that I hoped thieves were not watching as it was  a bit isolated. Honestly burglary nothing to do with me.
We have now been signed off from doctors re Bas leg and that, I hope, will be the last time he does a man thing and pulls out a little table to stand on instead of getting the steps.
We have two cats. First one Marble belonged to Sarah the Osteopath at Pannal surgery as she was moving into a flat and the landlord would not let her have a pet. So as I knew Marble having featured her in my column when she was lost Sarah asked me to have her. I said it is Bas birthday at the weekend. Put her in a box and say Happy Birthday Bas which she duly did. So one cat arrived. I featured her in my column (she got quite a following) and one young man saw the article and rang me up to say he had just come out of hospital, his girlfriend had left him and he could not look after the kitten they had bought together (girlfriend moved out but left the kitten) could I please have it. I said (this was three month after Marble) put her in a box give her to Bas and say Happy Anniversary. Story of how we acquired Marble and Tigs (names they had when they came to live here) 

Pannal bits and pieces

Hopefully stopped our surgery visits re Bas leg. Nurse or Sister Smith doing the dressings. I say Sister as Jim (unfortunately long deceased) our lovely next door neighbour used to come to me if he cut himself or got thorns in his fingers through gardening and I heard him saying to someone that I was a nursing sister. I'm not Jim I am a journalist. Oh right he said and carried on introducing me as a nursing sister. I never got to be Matron. Have been golfing now surgery visits (twice a week) are over and it was so cold yesterday. The golf was rubbish but the walk was nice. Have just heard that Jenny Hird is having a hip operation today and we wish her well. Poor Jenny had a debilitating stroke last year and has been in pain and the hospital have just discovered that she has broken her hip. They are having more than their fair share of troubles. Still proceeding with right of way over the fields through Sandy Bank Quarry. Have served notice of my intentions to HBC who own the land but as they do not make rights of way, that is NYCC, I have filled in yellow, green, pink and white forms sent maps, photos of the lovely wild flower meadow that was destroyed etc. What fun. Probably take years to come to a conclusion as there are any number of farmers ploughing up footpaths etc and NYCC are inundated with angry people. Our local councillors have been quite helpful with the exception of Sharon Bentley who has been worse than useless as she has "retired" and is not standing at the next local elections. Do miss Fred Willis. I have heard that the next local conservative to stand for the Pannal ward lives in Knaresborough.  Surely not true!! 

Pannal and green fields

We still have the roadworks in Main Street. Hopefully this is the end as the highways department are now painting the white lines.  I an saddened by the farmer/person who has taken over the "management" of the farm lands between Church Lane (entrance through Sandy Bank Quarry) and Almsford Bank on the A61 Leeds Road. We have lived here nearly 50 years and during that time and for twenty years before the area was green fields with a profusion of buttercups and wild flowers. One walked through to the accompaniment of bird song. Alas no longer. No flowers, no grass and no birds. Green space is at a premium in Pannal. Since the 1960s there have been more and more houses built and this will continue using up every space we have. It is very difficult to try and protect Pannal as we have only two councillors and one of them is worse than useless. The other councillors on HBC do not like Pannal and try to put as much housing and industry here as they possibly can. This is a fact and has always been so. When I was Chairman of the Harrogate Civic Society and also Chairman of Friends of the Valley Gardens I attended all council meeting for a number of years and it was staggering the vitriol that Pannal attracted. One Director of Technical Services said to me if it is the last thing I do I shall make Pannal the same as Bilton. Fortunately he went years ago but his legacy lives on. I am making myself miserable as I cannot see any solution. On to family matters Basil "did a man thing" instead of going and getting steps/ladders he stood on a little table, it tipped and scrapped all down his shin. Result a big loss of blood, a severe infection, visits to the surgery twice a week. Still going on. This will I hope teach him to use steps/ladders. We would would we not ladies. Big family reunion this weekend which will be lovely as our children live in The Peak District, The Lake District, Bristol and Cheltenham so we do not see as much of them as we would like. We have relatives in Scotland and Wales and all their families live around them. No one has ever moved. All have houses near their parents. This was how it used to be as I grew up with grandma, grandpa and cousins all round me. Now of course children go to Universities away from home (I did not I just got the bus).