On The Ocean

In going through 50 years of photographs for a slide show to show at our Golden wedding I came across many that would be fun to post over time. Here I begin with photographs of my first year of married life, at sea with my husband, sailing up and down the Eastern Seaboard of Canada, America and Mexico, sailing to many ports on the way. Just a random few and quality not too great as they have been scanned from old transparencies.

The full ecstasies and agonies of this trip are told in a chapter of 'My Story', found by clicking on same in the right hand sidebar under 'labels'.


Yes I am steering the ship - but not for long!

Sailing past The Bahamas

The Mexican Gulf

Lifeboats were good for sunbathing!

On the beach in Mexico

Dolphins love to dive ahead of the ship

Taking a noon time sight of the sun - for navigation

The Queen Mary passing us on it's way into New York Harbour

The tranquility of Nova Scotia

These are the aunt and uncle of the second mate on the ship who lived in White Plains, New York State. When they heard that there was a lady on the ship they invited us to stay with them every time we docked in New York. No sweat shirts and fleeces in those days - suits and suits only!

Linda on the right was the daughter of the ship's agent and her friend on the left. They travelled from Halifax to spend some time with me.

We swam regularly in a disused quarry in Nova Scotia

Mississippi river boat

Yours truly with the second mate and his aunt

Seaplane gas station on the Mississippi

So much time spent gazing ahead (until the camera showed up!) Beleive me the sea was not always this calm, especially when there were hurricanes around!

Beautiful Fall in Nova Scotia but unfortunately faded in the ancient photo

The husband, Alan who was Chief Engineer on the ship. Alan had always been on large oil tankers but when I met him he was again at college studying for 9 months. In order to earn some money when we got married he took a posting on a small cargo ship.

The ship high and dry in the Bay of Fundi where the tide goes out for 3 miles.

This is a very small cargo ship and it would be hard to describe what it was like being 'hoved to' in the middle of the Atlantic in the worst weather Alan had ever experienced in 9 years. It took us 3 weeks to cross the Atlantic from the East of England, then around the Northern tip of Scotland to Nova Scotia.

Whatever Next?

Late Sunday afternoon just after dark the doorbell rang and I could see through the glass that it was a policeman. I knew the children were OK as I had just talked to them on the phone.The things that go through ones mind in those few seconds.

As I opened the door he was halfway down my hall before he had finished asking if he could search my back garden. Apparently a neighbour had reported seeing 2 guys jumping fences between gardens. The Police were taking this seriously as apparently there has been a lot of burglary's in my area (first I had heard)and they were entering properties from the back gardens just after dark and looking for all those extras in houses due to Christmas, particularly jewellery. We will be keeping the back door locked as soon as it gets dark from now on.

Interestingly we had a similar situation some years ago when someone had been stabbed in a fight and the back gardens were used as an escape route. My next door neighbour opened her back door to be confronted by a man covered in blood.We are normally a pretty quiet neighbourhood where the most annoying things are car and house alarms and sometimes late night/early morning parties!

And now I have a confession to make - I have joined Facebook. Always said I would not but not wanting to miss the videos posted by a particular friend in the US I took the plunge. Apart from being amazed at the number of people I know, and may not have seen for decades, there are all my nephews and neices from Australia whom I have never seen, and their children plus other distant relatives. However much this interests me I really do not want my blog to suffer as a result.

So what else is new this December? Saturday 19th we are celebrating our Golden Wedding. When I think of it I have to say that it sounds silly, Golden Wedding - that's 50 years! And yes it is, but where did all those years go. Those years have been very full and interesting, exciting and traumatic and everything in between but looking back they seem to have flown by.

The wonderful part about our celebration is that all we have to do is attend, my daughter Janie is planning it all and both she and our son Peter are paying for it.How fantastic is that!

Audley End House and Gardens

Looking back to September which seems ages ago now you are welcome to accompany me on a trip to Audley End House in Essex and just an hours drive from home.


These first two photographs of the Hall and Drawing Room are from the website as it is not possible to take photographs inside the house.

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Audley End takes its name from Sir Thomas Audley, Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor who, after 1538, adapted the extensive buildings of suppressed Walden Abbey as his mansion. His grandson Thomas Howard, first Earl of Suffolk, rebuilt the house on a massive scale between 1603 and 1614. Known as 'the Palace of Audley End', this Jacobean 'prodigy house' was three times its present size, and one of the largest mansions in England. But in 1618 Suffolk fell from favour and into massive debt, and his great house went into decline.



Charles II bought Audley End in 1668 as a base for attending Newmarket races: his Queen Catherine of Braganza held court here that Autumn.



Repairs were carried out by Sir Christopher Wren, but their cost proved ruinous, and in 1701 William III returned Audley End to the Suffolk family.



The witty and accomplished Henrietta Howard lived here, before leaving her 'obstinate, drunken and brutal' husband, the 9th Earl, for a royal lover and her new Thames-side mansion, Marble Hill House.



When the Suffolk line died out in 1745, Audley was bought by the Countess of Portsmouth for her nephew and heir, Sir John Griffin Griffin, later the first Baron Braybrooke. He made extensive changes to the house, adding a suite of neo-Classical rooms designed by Robert Adam and a Gothic chapel. His refurbishments included a rare set of English Soho tapestries, now conserved and displayed in the Tapestry Room: this has also been redecorated to depict the room as it would have appeared when the tapestries were first installed there in 1767. Meanwhile, 'Capability' Brown was employed to remodel the grounds.



Today the house's interior largely represents the taste of the third Baron Braybrooke, who during the 1820s redecorated many of its rooms in the Jacobean style.

Doors and windows

Tea House Bridge

Entrance to the extensive organic kitchen gardens

This is how it would once have been

Audley End is a mansion with a difference and we can tour the newly restored service wing where one can get a 'peep' at a "parallel world" where armies of servants laboured to ensure the smooth running of this great mansion.

I bet the men did not do the washing up in those days!

The Creamery

The Laundry

And finally The Housekeepers office

Hope you enjoyed your visit

The Secret Scripture and More

This is a novel that I think worth mentioning. I know that everybody's tastes are different but this book really impacted me. I normally only read novels in bed so it takes me quite some weeks to get through one.During the day my reading is more things like biographies, travel, spiritual, informative etc., etc. However I could not put this book down and read it in less than a week. Alan read it in 3 days and when it comes to reading he is hard to please.

Although a novel it felt real while reading and I got so emotionally involved with Roseanne, and the author's ability to have one see into the mind of an isolated 100 year old that I could feel it physically. She brings out a simlicity of life that is unimaginable these days. Although painful reading at times, it was also a testimony to the power of the human spirit and very uplifting and I did not want it to end. Added to that the story is based in the history of Southern Ireland which makes it all so much more real. The following is the cover promotion.

"The mental hospital where psychiatrist Dr. Greene works is about to shut down, and he sets about investigating the history of his patient Roseanne. She was committed there as a young woman and now - her records long lost - is nearing her hundredth birthday. At the same time, Roseanne is looking back on the tragedies and passions of her life through a secret journal: her turbulent childhood in rural 1930's Ireland, and the subsequent marriage which she believed would finally bring her hapiness. When Dr Greene finally uncovers the circumstances of her arrival at the hospital, it leads to a secret that will shock them both"

Now for a little update on life here. We have for the last week or so been experiencing some severe rain storms with gales and even higher wind gusts. Yesterday afternoon looking out of the window was like sitting in a car wash! Overnight the wind gusts are forecast for 70 m.p.h. Not so pleasant as the dark days necessitate having the lights on indoors all day. However compared with the weather in Cumbria (Lake District), we are very fortunate and have nothing to complain about.

The flooding there is causing great distress among the population whose homes and businesses are wrecked. Ten feet of flood water at its worst and bridges collapsed making everyday travel difficult. Our prayers go out to these people.

For something entirely different exciting things are happening here. Well not exciting in the general scheme of things but I am pleased. During Alan's working life as an Engineer Surveyor he was based at home and used what was originally a small 5th bedroom as an office. About 30 years ago we decided to turn this room into another bathroom and Alan moved his 'office' into our integral garage which had only ever been a store room and 'house overflow'.

At the time he placed a large formica counter on top of a filing cabinet and storage draws to use as a desk with plans to fit it properly and turn it into a long desk the length of the wall.

Did it ever happen? Well yes, a week ago and almost 30 years later! Of course having been retired now for 16 years it has made a nice working and extra storage area. So much easier to clean under too. I wonder if this is a record or do other bloggers have similar stories?

For some reason blogger is not allowing paragraphs here!