Christmas is coming and l athough it aggravates the life out of me that they are actually advertising it already on TV I have to be early with Christmas because of the postal system out to Afghanistan. It is expected that over 20,000 parcels will be sent out to serving soldiers during December this year so I need to be ready early to make sure mine get delivered.

We have been having some really good results of late though. I posted some parcels out on Monday 12th October and they arrived in Camp Bastion on Sunday 18th which is pretty good going. I also had an ebluey (electronic forces letter) which was only written at 10.23 yesterday and arrived on my doorstep this morning. The BFPO are doing a grand job!

If anyone has any completed shoeboxes or parcel items to donate here are the drop-off points in the area:

1910 Cafe, Palace Arcade, Bryn Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield
YMCA, Hilton Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield
Abram Community Library, Vicarage Road Abram
Platt Bridge Community Zone, 81 Ribble Road Platt Bridge
Ince Community Centre, Manchester Road Ince
The Computer Store, Ormskirk Road Pemberton
Singers Outdoors, Market Street, Wigan
Saturn Nails and Beauty Salon, Unit B, Cross Street, Standish

Northwood.com Estae Agents on Market Street are also collecting parcels and are very kindly running a 'Design a Christmas Card ' Competition for local school children. All cards entered into the competition will be sent to serving soldiers, sailors and airmen in Afghanistan and as well as the winning child getting a prize Northwood are also kindly donating £150 to the winning entrant's school.

Drop-off Points for 2009 Christmas Parcel appeal Wigan area.

1910 Cafe, Palace Arcade, Bryn Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield
YMCA, Hilton Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield
Abram Community Library, Vicarage Road Abram
Platt Bridge Community Zone, 81 Ribble Road Platt Bridge
Ince Community Centre, Manchester Road Ince
The Computer Store, Ormskirk Road Pemberton
Singers Outdoors, Market Street, Wigan
Saturn Nails and Beauty Salon, Unit B, Cross Street, Standish

Last date for acceptance of items is November 29th

Acceptable tems as follows:

TOILETRIES

Toothpaste

Toothbrushes

Hand Sanitiser

Shampoo

Shower Gel

Roll on Deodorant

Razors

Shaving Gel (not aerosol)

Talc

Foot Powder/Cream

Cotton Buds

Wet Wipes

Lip Salve

Sanitary Protection

SAVOURY SNACKS

Pringles (preferably small tubs)

Nuts

Savoury Rice

Noodles

Oatcakes

Crackers

Stock Cubes (all flavours)

Packet Soups

Curry Powder

Chilli Powder/Sauce

Tea Bags

Coffee Sachets

SWEET SNACKS

Fruit/Cereal Bars

Fruit Flakes

Dried Fruit (small packets)

Shortbread

Small Cakes

Biscuits

Small Tins Fruit

Packets Custard

Evaporated Milk

Condensed Milk

CONFECTIONERY

Travel Sweets

Toffee

Fudge

Mars bars etc.

Chocolate raisins

Chocolate Peanuts

Energy Sweets

Love Hearts etc.

Fruit Pastilles etc.

Lollipops

Mints

Chewing Gum

CLOTHING

 Thermal Gloves

Socks/Undies

T Shirts

RECREATION

Magazines

Puzzle Books

Playing Cards

Travel Games

Pens Pencils

Notebooks

Artists Paints

Sketch Books

Batteries

PHARMACY

Imodium

Antacid tablets

Paracetamol

Plaster

Insect repellent

Sunscreen

MISC

Boot Laces

Blank Greetings Cards

Message of Support

Dan and Alex came to visit this weekend. Due to the fact that Dan was in America when Paul’s dad passed away a month ago it was the first time we had seen him since, although Alex did make it up here for the funeral. Paul and his sister Carole have had a very stressful few weeks so we decided that we would all have a night out to de-stress. We started our night in Taybarns at Goose Green because we hadn’t booked anywhere and we thought the all-you-can-eat buffet would be a good idea because as well as Dan we had Carole’s boys with us and they all have good appetites. I must say I was very impressed with the food, all fresh, hot and well cooked, and plenty of it which was good for the lads. We then went up to the Miner’s Lamp on Orrell Road at Pemberton for the Karaoke night. The Miner’s is a cracking pub, run by landlords Steve and Joe, it has a proper ‘old’ pub atmosphere and we were all amazed to realize that although we had only intended to stay for an hour or so, it was 1.00am before we realized it!

Dan and Carole’s lads, Marc John and James got up and did a version of Sweet Child of Mine and then Dan did a very good rendition of UB40’s Homely Girl. As usual with Karaoke nights there were some quite good singers but some really made us cringe…still, it was good to see Paul and Carole really laughing for the first time in ages.

I love Karaoke, even the really bad singers. I think fair play to them for getting up and having a go, because I have never bee brave enough to do it!

On Sunday Paul and I went down to Argos at Robin Park to get a couple of things we needed for the new computer.They didn’t have the things we wanted in stock but an assistant checked availability and told us that The Galleries store had them in stock. So off we trotted into Wigan, parked on The Galleries car park and went off to Argos. It was almost empty in the store and so we didn’t have to wait long.By the time we got back to the car we had been just half an hour. Imagine my shock when I found it it would still cost £1.50 to get off the car park! During the week it is £1.30 for up to 3 hours but on Sunday they have changed it to an ‘all-day’ rate of £1.50. What a rip off! There are so few shops open in the town that I don’t believe for a second that anybody would actually spend three hours there. It’s no wonder Wigan town centre is going downhill so fast. They really need to get a grip on these exhorbitant car parking charges. Had I gone to St Helens or Southport instead, I would have paid less than half this, if I had been charged anything at all. Well done Wigan Council, spend all that money on the new Grand Arcade and then put people off from visiting the town by ripping them off!

A few months ago I tried to get in contact with a cousin of mine, as I had not spoken to him for years. About twenty years ago, he had a ‘falling out’ with his family and he  had not spoken to his parents in all that time. I did manage to find him but he wasn’t home when I called at his house so I left my phone number with his wife. He phoned me the following day and told me that he didn’t want anything to do with any family members. He said that he was perfectly happy with his life the way it is and didn’t want old wounds and grievances opening up. He was very nice about it and whilst I fully understood that I had to honour his wishes, I still felt very sad. Yesterday, I realized that I shouldn’t have felt sad at all, but should have been glad that he is so happy with his life now.

About six months ago a close family member and myself fell out over something. Things were said that cannot ever be taken back, no matter how apologetic the other party may or may not be. And I realized that I am happier with this person out of my life than I am with him in it. This didn’t go down too well but I cannot help how I feel.

Why is it that people assume that because someone is ‘family’ they can get away with things that outsiders would never be forgiven for? I know that people say ‘blood is thicker than water’ but this doesn’t excuse outrageous behavior. Had someone from outside the family said the things this person did then no one would have thought anything at all of me cutting them out of my life. I think it is a fact anyway that these days families are not as close as they were in years gone by.

So I am taking a leaf out of my cousin’s book and getting on with life and the people that do really matter to me.

We travelled down to Shrivenham on Friday to see Dan and Alex in their latest home. As usual horrendous snarl-ups on the M6 meant that the journey which took only two hours and forty minutes on the way home took a little over four hours. There were no accidents, just sheer volume of traffic so bad that it took us an hour to get from Orrell to the Thelwall Viaduct which is just about eleven miles.

On Saturday Dan had planned a trip to Bath as it was only forty minutes from where they live and it is a city I have always wanted to visit. I wasn’t disappointed, it was a beautiful, hot and sunny day and I loved the place, the architecture, the views and the lovely chilled out atmosphere. There was plenty going on around the streets but I mostly enjoyed the walk up to The Royal Crescent which I have always yearned to see in real life. It is even more stunning than any pictures I have ever seen. Right in the centre is the Royal Crescent Hotel, which is not allowed any signs outside, just a couple of plant pots by the door with the hotel name on them. It looked very impressive and we discovered later that if we had wanted to stay there on the Saturday night it would have cost us £320 for the cheapest double room and that was just bed and breakfast!

I was also very impressed with the weir at Pulteney Bridge with Bath rugby ground right beside it. I think it must be a lovely spot to go and watch a match. When we had finished our sightseeing we called in to see Alex’s grandparents, who live just outside the city, for tea and cake. Alex’s sister Verity turned up while we were there and she came back to Dan and Alex’s house with us and we had a barbecue and sat outside until one in the morning. Much alcohol was consumed and we all had a very pleasant evening.

Sunday, as if Dan hadn’t walked my legs off enough on the Saturday, we went to see the White Horse at Uffington. This was quite impressive, although it can only be seen properly from the air. We walked up to the top to the actual horse and the views were breathtaking.

There are pictures of both Bath and the White Horse in my blog albums.

I haven’t written anything for my blog for a while, mostly because I haven’t really had anything I wanted to say.

I was just looking at the ‘photo-a-day’ section on Wigan World and saw the picture of Gidlow Lane and all the cars parked there and I thought “It won’t be long before the council has resident’s parking in that area too”

I worked as a parking enforcement officer before some woman tried to run me over after I gave her a ticket (that’s another story though) and I was working in Wigan when the permit parking was first introduced in the Swinley area, so I can appreciate the plus and minuses of this system. Those streets which before had been a nightmare for residents trying to get near their houses after going shopping or some small errand became quite dead during the day with hardly any cars parked in the streets at all, most people being at work then. People working in town were left with the choice of unreliable public transport to get to work, or paying exorbitant  parking charges in the town centre. Each household was allowed two permits and some of them sold the second permit to market traders and other people working in Wigan. This would have worked fine had the permits stated which street the car was to be parked in but you would get a situation where someone from Earl Street at the top had sold a permit and the new owner of this would park down in Dicconson Street so he or she wouldn’t have as far to walk. This meant there were still lots of empty streets at the top of Swinley but the bottom end was clogged up and residents down there still had problems getting to their homes. It was a nightmare and I hope the council have now got this sorted out.

Paul and I are off down to Swindon tomorrow. I haven’t seen Dan since he was home at New Year and am really looking forward to seeing him and giving him a big hug!

Dan and Alex have moved house again. Dan’s job means they have quite a nomadic lifestyle and this is their fourth address since they got married two years ago. The good thing though, is that Paul and I get to visit and become familiar with parts of the country that we wouldn’t have thought of visiting in the normal course of events. And, as they tend to live in quite rural areas we are seeing some stunning British countryside. Take where they have just moved from for example, they were just outside a very quaint little town called Woodbridge which is near Ipswich. It was a very long trek down there and took about five hours. We became very familiar with the long drag down the A14 with some very pleasant countryside and the huge looming Sugar Factory which warned us we were nearing our destination. We used to come off the A14 well before Ipswich and took a route through some idyllic little villages, we will really miss that part of the journey. I still can't understand why so many people in Suffolk paint their houses pink though.

Before that they had lived near Cambridge for just a few months and we didn’t get down to that house. They had lived in Bordon in Hampshire before that and although the town has the tag “Boring Bordon “  amongst the squaddie population, Dan and Alex’s house was delightful. Right at the back fence was a huge wood and in the mornings the back lawn was covered in cute little bunny rabbits foraging for food. They also had a hedgehog family living under a huge bush in the back garden. I would have liked to live in that house myself.

They have now moved to near Swindon in Wiltshire and Paul and I were delighted to see on the map that they are not far from the Cotswolds. When Dan was in army college in Reading we used to come off the motorway and drive through the Cotswolds, particularly a village called Moreton-in-Marsh which we just totally fell in love with. There are pictures of the town in my ‘Miscellany’ album. I am certainly now looking forward to driving down to see him in a fortnight’s time because we will stop in Moreton for lunch on the way.

I have been feeling pretty rough over the last few days. I am crippled with back pain at the moment. It comes and goes and I am quite used to it normally but the old walking stick has had to come out again today. One thing or another affects all of us as we get older I suppose.

I had a sweet moment on Friday morning. I had dropped Paul off at work at 5.30am and was driving up Chapel Street on Pemberton because Ormskirk Road is closed off at the top when I spotted an animal in the middle of the road. I slowed down as I approached and saw that it was a young male fox. He just stood there in the road watching me for a while, I had slowed right down so as to get a good look at him, and then when I got really close he just twitched his tail and jumped over the fence. He was really cute, I have always liked foxes, but I remember one time on this same stretch of road when I saw a fox jump over the fence with someone’s cat in its mouth. Poor cat, but I suppose if the fox had young to feed they would take anything rather than go home to hungry cubs with nothing. I often wondered whose cat it was though.

While I have been slightly disabled this weekend and the weather has been too bad to do anything else I have been digging into my Family History research once again. I am researching my own family, Paul’s family and Kev and Dan’s father’s side of the family for Kalyn and Emma. I have also been doing some of my daughter-in-law Karen’s side for Kalyn and Em’s tree. As any of you genealogists know it is very easy to get really carried away and spend hours on this stuff. I am waiting for copies of a couple of marriage certificates and birth certificates to help me in my search now. I can’t wait until they arrive.