HAPPY
MOTHER'S DAY,
AND HAPPY VE
Day, 60 YEARS!!!
Today is not only Mother's Day in the US (England celebrated theirs
months ago!), but it happens to coincide with VE
Day, 60 years ago. Today there were celebrations all over the
country, and all over Europe, for that matter. Dame
Vera Lynn, the Services' Sweetheart, appeared at a large concert
in Trafalgar
Square in London, which was broadcast all over the country. Quite
a stirring event!
This week was quite nice, as it was a SHORT week! We'd had Monday
off, and I'd spent that day just puttering about. I did get some things
done around the flat, another joiner came round to see about doing
up the kitchen, and after getting to the shops, etc., I just had a
relaxing day.
The week went very well, and on Thursday was the election. Not quite
like ours back in the States, but very interesting nevertheless. We
were all waiting to hear how our friend, Gareth Dadd, had done in
his bid to unseat the Labour council member for North
Yorkshire County Council, Hambleside. The election returns would
not be counted until Friday, as Thursday would consist of the counts
for the House
of Commons seat. Tony Blair and Labour
were returned, but with a much smaller majority. Almost immediately,
there were calls from members of his own party for him NOT to serve
out the complete term, but to resign. Many of them feel that he has
become a liability. According to the television and the papers, Iraq
has dominated the campaigning, and even though he became the first
Labour Prime Minister in history to have won 3 elections in succession,
the slim majority has been seen by his own party members as a call
for him to step down. We shall see what will happen!
On Friday a bit before noon, Peter Gibson emailed a number of us to
let us know that Gareth, a Conservative,
had defeated and unseated the Labour candidate and had won by 849
votes. Well, we were all excited for him. Later in the day, an email
came round saying that Gareth would be pleased for those of us who
had helped to join him at Wetherspoons
for a celebratory round(s) of drinks. So, a number of us trudged there
after work, including James Roberts, Karen Whiteley, Peter, Tim Tudor,
Mike Campbell and I. Gareth's feet had still not touched the ground.
He could not believe his good fortune, nor could he believe that his
majority had been so high. He thanked those of us who had helped so
much, and I pointed out that I am sure this elderly gentleman of credence
with a cane (ME!) who was handing out leaflets and pushing them through
mail slots had been the deciding factor! A big laugh from everyone!
Anyway, when he and Peter left, he was still on cloud nine, and why
not? Good on him!!
Saturday was a lovely day, and I headed to Dean's
Garden Centre to buy a passion flower plant for
my friends, Jason and Karen Sinnott. After delivering it to them,
I headed into town to do some shopping, and then it was back home.
Of course, I'd forgotten to pick up train tickets for Teri Rhodes
and I. We were headed to Leicester
the next day. So, I trudged back to my car, and to the station I headed.
Well, it got colder, and then started raining, and then hailing! Yes,
in May! It pelted down, and in seconds the roads were covered in it!
I kept expecting a tornado to follow (being from Texas, that's natural!),
but thank goodness, one did not appear. I got the tickets, the sky
had cleared, and it was warm again.
Sunday we met at the station and boarded Virgin
Trains for Doncaster,
where we changed to Midline trains. We had no problem arriving
in Leicester, and her friend, Nasim, meet us. Off we went to watch
a parade for VE Day, as well as the laying of a wreath. Then we just
wandered around the city and had a delicious late Mexican lunch. We
had a good time, and then Nasim had us back to the train station for
our 5pm train back to York. Well, the train was totally full, and
we were in the aisle. Finally, we got seats, and met a couple of sisters
from Sudan.
One now lives in Tunisia
and works in a research lab there, and the other is doing graduate
work at Durham University.
We all were off again at Chesterfield,
for our connection to York, only to find that the train was delayed
by over 30 minutes. No problem. The pub was open, we had a pint, visited
with the sisters, etc., and then off we headed back to York.
Now, I am home, dinner is ready, and I hope you all have had a wonderful
week as well, and that all my friends who are mothers, and all my
friends' mothers, have had a wonderful MOTHER'S DAY!!
Love,
