Grateful for two people at a care home for people with Hearing Impairment & Deafness* who came to the aid of my daughters who had been chased and attacked by dogs. Shut the gates to keep the dogs out, gave my daughters hot sweet tea to help with the shock, and called a taxi to take them to A&E (US = ER).
(*Ironically, they may have been the only two who heard the commotion.)
Also grateful for the care and compassion with which staff at minor injuries unit treated my daughter who had been bitten, and for the NHS which means we’re not facing a huge bill. (One of my daughter’s housemates who is American was very struck by the fact that there was no bill to pay.)
That the lad next door spotted that I had left my purse on the ar on the drive. Sadly after I had cancelled a couple of the cards which will now be after the weekend to be replaced, but it tells you what an honest place I live in! I had put it down without thinking after the electrician said he would invoice on line, and while he kindly revealed that I had not in fact destroyed the £40 solar panel I once left plugged in when switching the car on. Which is another thing to thank for.
P&T for the early, but safe, arrival of my newest great-nephew, Alexander (after my dad - his great-grandfather), who joined Planet Earth at about three o'clock this morning; mummy and baby doing well.
Congratulations to Alexander and his family. As I'm sure I've said before I expect to be a great-aunt to the offspring of one of my seven nieces way before I'm ever a grandmother to my son's children.
The silver lining in the cloud of having to move back to Scotland after David's death is being within easy reach of all the littlies. With any luck I might get to meet Alex next weekend.
Congratulations, Piglet and family.
(One of the eccentricities of my large family is that I was a great-aunt in my late 20s, well before I had children of my own)
Congratulations, Piglet and family.
(One of the eccentricities of my large family is that I was a great-aunt in my late 20s, well before I had children of my own)
I was one of these by marriage at age 22. In a culture where they call you "Grandma!"
I had one of those golden days yesterday when the sun shone and my girls and their families got together chez nous with my sister, her husband, one of her daughters along with her daughter, for the first time since December 2019. Lots of water under the bridge since then.
Congratulations! And what an excellent choice of name!
From the conversations on the family Whats App group, it looks like he's going to be known as Alex. That's how my dad signed himself (and how he was known to some of his colleagues), although to his family he was known as Alistair: apparently one of his aunts said Alexander was too long a name for a baby, and suggested Alistair as an alternative.
(Alexander was his grandfather's name - I don't know what diminutive he was known by, although I vaguely remember a gentleman on that side of the family, probably a cousin a generation older than my dad, who was known as Santa, which I suppose may have been a diminutive of Alexander).
Xander is also sometimes used as a diminutive of Alexander. My grandfather’s given first name was Alexander, but he was always known by his second name, Hugh. It was useful for weeding out telephone cold callers, that and the fact that they didn’t know he was a doctor.
Congratulations to @Piglet and family and welcome to Alex which, if my Scottish friend is anything to go by, will be pronounced "Alec" rather than the English "Aleks". Is that so?
*Adds a squeak of wistful, sympathetic solidarity to those of us who are still awaiting any sign of the first grandchild*
Congratulations to @Piglet and family and welcome to Alex which, if my Scottish friend is anything to go by, will be pronounced "Alec" rather than the English "Aleks". Is that so?
That is the traditional pronunciation in these parts, though it seems to be disappearing. Men around my age or older I know from my corner of the world with the name “Alex” all pronounce it “Alec”—and pronounce the A as “eh” (similar to the a in any), so that the name rhymes (more or less) with angelic. Those who go by Alec also pronounce it that way.
Younger men or boys pronounce “Alex” with with a as in cat and an x sound, and similarly pronounce “Alec” with an a as in cat.
I have heard the “old” pronunciation referred to as “the old Southern” pronunciation, and have heard it described as deriving from the Scottish pronunciation. The former seems to be true, at least in my part of the American South, but I’ve wondered how accurate the latter is.
Our son Alexander was called Alex by us, Xander by his grandparents, Aly by his school friends and Lex by his wife. To add more complications at uni there were numbers of lads called Ali, one of whom was (eventually) his Best Man - so what we had thought was a fairly 'ordinary' name has been morphing ever since we chose it!
Our Alexander is Alex with an "x", we already had an Alex pronounced Alec in the family. We had intended to call him the full Alexander but that didn't last. I do like the full name, though, and use it occasionally.
Professionally he can't use Alexander because of similarity to someone else, so he uses Alex.
I rather like that! I hadn't come across that poem before, despite being (unsurprisingly) a fan of A.A. Milne.
Melanie did a charming song version of this, back in the day.
Not so charming when the student in the room next door at college had it on endless repeat.
More charming, I'll warrant, than the song beloved of the guitarist in the refectory when I was at college, expressing the desire for improper relations with a canine companion.
P& T that I was able to visit my sister in her care home today, for the first time in over two years, and she was very well.
We have managed to have little contact, for various reasons, and my attempts to visit have been thwarted by Ye Plague even up to last week when there was a recurrence of cases in the home. Yesterday was her birthday, and her son visited, so Today was next best thing.
Mr Bee is home and is so much better that he was chewing my ear off (not literally!) while I was trying to watch the Party at the Palace. So I’ve sent him to bed. Seriously, it’s good to have him well and home.
I've just realised that it's ten years ago that I came aboard the Ship. I was in Nairobi at the time with my husband doing language study just after we had started work as mission partners with the Anglican Church in Kenya.
I have learned so much here and had so much fun too.
I am very thankful I found you all, Shipmates!
I've just realised that it's ten years ago that I came aboard the Ship. I was in Nairobi at the time with my husband doing language study just after we had started work as mission partners with the Anglican Church in Kenya.
I have learned so much here and had so much fun too.
I am very thankful I found you all, Shipmates!
Madame and I have enjoyed your posts. I can remember your being in Kenya. IIRC you were the only shipmate in Kenya and there's been none since you left.
I've just realised that it's ten years ago that I came aboard the Ship. I was in Nairobi at the time with my husband doing language study just after we had started work as mission partners with the Anglican Church in Kenya.
I have learned so much here and had so much fun too.
I am very thankful I found you all, Shipmates!
Madame and I have enjoyed your posts. I can remember your being in Kenya. IIRC you were the only shipmate in Kenya and there's been none since you left.
Thank you. I am very much hoping that within the next two to three years I'll be able to make another return visit to the diocese where our Kenyan colleagues continue faithfully to serve their community.
Giving thanks today for news from our son, Nenlet2, who had an interview this week for a job he really wanted and which he has been offered! It's been a long road for him (and us) and we're so grateful to have this outcome.
The guy from AA who arrived timely to start my car after the battery mysteriously died in SE London, and who exceeded his brief by testing my tyres. The car was sure all four were down, but only one needs pumping up. I always get these signals along the same stretch of road, the Sidcup bypass. This was the third. Couldn't use my pump because the battery waas down, could I? I have a foot one.
We just got a call from the hospital that a colleague of my doctor's from The Big Hospital had dropped by and could we come up straight away with the actual disc of my scan and my doctor would give it to This Other Doctor to enter it into their System.
So things are moving to get my biopsy to see if my cancer has mutated in the way my doctor is thinking.
And if so, there is a pill for that too!!
I am so grateful because it has been a bureaucratic nightmare till now; with people telling us "We don't do that test here" and "I don't know where you can get that done" for the last two weeks
We just got a call from the hospital that a colleague of my doctor's from The Big Hospital had dropped by and could we come up straight away with the actual disc of my scan and my doctor would give it to This Other Doctor to enter it into their System.
So things are moving to get my biopsy to see if my cancer has mutated in the way my doctor is thinking.
And if so, there is a pill for that too!!
I am so grateful because it has been a bureaucratic nightmare till now; with people telling us "We don't do that test here" and "I don't know where you can get that done" for the last two weeks
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(*Ironically, they may have been the only two who heard the commotion.)
Also grateful for the care and compassion with which staff at minor injuries unit treated my daughter who had been bitten, and for the NHS which means we’re not facing a huge bill. (One of my daughter’s housemates who is American was very struck by the fact that there was no bill to pay.)
I’m grateful that a worrying lump has been determined to be harmless but has been blasted with freezing spray so it will be gone!
I'm imagining a character played by Terry Thomas emptying your bank account ...
We be happy with 1 or 2, but Dlet shows no signs of obliging. Best wishes to Alexander and his family.
(One of the eccentricities of my large family is that I was a great-aunt in my late 20s, well before I had children of my own)
I was one of these by marriage at age 22. In a culture where they call you "Grandma!"
I had one of those golden days yesterday when the sun shone and my girls and their families got together chez nous with my sister, her husband, one of her daughters along with her daughter, for the first time since December 2019. Lots of water under the bridge since then.
From the conversations on the family Whats App group, it looks like he's going to be known as Alex. That's how my dad signed himself (and how he was known to some of his colleagues), although to his family he was known as Alistair: apparently one of his aunts said Alexander was too long a name for a baby, and suggested Alistair as an alternative.
(Alexander was his grandfather's name - I don't know what diminutive he was known by, although I vaguely remember a gentleman on that side of the family, probably a cousin a generation older than my dad, who was known as Santa, which I suppose may have been a diminutive of Alexander).
*Adds a squeak of wistful, sympathetic solidarity to those of us who are still awaiting any sign of the first grandchild*
Younger men or boys pronounce “Alex” with with a as in cat and an x sound, and similarly pronounce “Alec” with an a as in cat.
I have heard the “old” pronunciation referred to as “the old Southern” pronunciation, and have heard it described as deriving from the Scottish pronunciation. The former seems to be true, at least in my part of the American South, but I’ve wondered how accurate the latter is.
Professionally he can't use Alexander because of similarity to someone else, so he uses Alex.
I found a little beetle, so that Beetle was his name,
And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
"Beetle" could be a nickname for your great-nephew, @Piglet . I'm sure your whole family will thank me for that idea.
Not so charming when the student in the room next door at college had it on endless repeat.
More charming, I'll warrant, than the song beloved of the guitarist in the refectory when I was at college, expressing the desire for improper relations with a canine companion.
We have managed to have little contact, for various reasons, and my attempts to visit have been thwarted by Ye Plague even up to last week when there was a recurrence of cases in the home. Yesterday was her birthday, and her son visited, so Today was next best thing.
I have learned so much here and had so much fun too.
I am very thankful I found you all, Shipmates!
Madame and I have enjoyed your posts. I can remember your being in Kenya. IIRC you were the only shipmate in Kenya and there's been none since you left.
Thank you. I am very much hoping that within the next two to three years I'll be able to make another return visit to the diocese where our Kenyan colleagues continue faithfully to serve their community.
Thank you @Piglet- I don't post that often but I visit most days and very much appreciate the interaction with you all.
So things are moving to get my biopsy to see if my cancer has mutated in the way my doctor is thinking.
And if so, there is a pill for that too!!
I am so grateful because it has been a bureaucratic nightmare till now; with people telling us "We don't do that test here" and "I don't know where you can get that done" for the last two weeks
This is really good news! I'm so pleased for you.