A time in my life

Dear all,
It is now 0500 on Monday morning after a lovely weekend. I have been up for half an hour and made myself a cup of tea, but my mind was so full of my lovely weekend that I had to get up and put some of my two days down on my Apple Mac. This promises to be a long letter.
Saturday, I have been looking forward to for months now as I was to get a visit from two of our baby-sitters of over 50 years ago, Barbara and Gill, who were coming to baby-sit me.
Got up and had a shower, spent too much time in my bathroom, to make myself presentable for my honoured guests. My English way of spelling some Anglo words has a red line underneath, but I won't bother to correct them. Time came for Barbara to drive up and I had just finished taking some beautiful photos of my peony tree with its dozen massive cream blooms like so many boxing gloves,( to use a boxing phrase after Amir Khan's defence of his worlld boxing title) They were not as big as footballs but very nearly, and were in front of my 'yellow bird' rose bush with its myriad of yellow blooms. Also under the trees were pale pink tulips. Anyway to get back to Barbara who was looking lovely as I remembered her although 50 years older. We had a welcome hug and she told me that Gill was on her way from Princes Risborough by train and was due in about 15 minutes into our village train station. Although she did not know Kings Sutton, she soon found her way to our Station and was back in no time with a radiant Gill who had just returned from USA where she and Mick had witnessed the marriage of their son David to his lady love, in Washington DC, both of whom were on the staff of The Times. A long cuddle and we were exchanging our news. Both girls, looked no older than I remember them and had been friends since their early days at the Treasurer's office of Bucks C.C. That is the wonderful thing about girls who meet in their teens. They keep their friends forever.
I had made a special effort to prepare a table fit for the occasion as I had used my best china plates and white wine glasses, as I knew that ladies prefer white wine, although Margaret was a keen supporter of Red Cote de Rhone villages, where we had tried so many enjoyable degustations.
As I had tried to describe to Barbara via Email what my ancient walled garden looked like, she was keen to see what it really looked like, and after a quick look to see that it was as described, the two ladies were full of praise for my efforts, including my new decking which I had spoken so much about, We sat and chatted about our recent happenings, in particular their kind remembrances of my dear Margaret, as I had last seen Gill at the Oxford Crem. They both loved my patient, loving wife and were so sorry that they had arrived too late after many times hoping to visit us, in their busy lives.
Having promised that we would have a picnic-type meal we were happy to sit and enjoy a cool drop of wine, on a sunny day. and set to, to enjoy our meal.
Many memories were discussed, much of which concerned Barbara's 100 year old mother's scheduled visit to her daughter's house in Puglia, Italy and Gill's American visit, which went on despite the volcanic worries about flights across the Atlantic. She was glad to be back among her own English speaking friends as American women have a language of their own, which was strange to Gill.
We also spent some time enjoying Julian's many paintings, on the large screen of my computer, which our son Nic had bought for me.
All too quickly it came round to the time when Gill had to catch her train and Barbara had to return to her mother in Olney, Bucks., to get her ready for her holiday. She was, at 100 still learning the Italian language and already was able to say "I am 100 years old" in Italian. Another of her accomplishments was to say "nice to see you" in Italian, The English aide memoire for which is something like. (I forget, but that is old age)
What a day it was for me. Barbara promised to Email me when she arrived back in her flat in Basildon. I, meanwhile was able to clear away the plates etc., despite pleas from my guests to help. Time was far too short for that and I had loved seeing my friends. I don't know how I would have managed to endure the past three months without friends like mine to help me. My friend Anna, who lives round the corner often pops in for a chat, and a cuddle as she, at the same age as my dear daughter, Cathy, lost her own mother in October and I remind her of her father.
Next day was Sunday and after a visit to our village Church of St's Peter and Paul, I got myself ready for a chicken casserole, using a packet of frozen chicken breast fillets,which I was afraid I had left too long in my freezer. As the packet weighed 1kg, I was in for a big meal, as I was hoping for a visit from Steve, who often shared my Sunday lunch with me. I had also bought a couple of packets of Jersey Royal potatoes and I used one of those.
Lunch time arrived and no visitors so I had a large meal, leaving the rest to eat on the morrrow.
The weather was changeable and there were threats of rain so I stayed indoors after my lunch, to watch a recording I had made of the ballet interpretation of Mendelssohn's 'Midsummer night's dream' which was beautifully done and looked lovely on my Sky+HD (pause for a Commercial). I particularly liked the use of a juvenile Corps de Ballet, aged about 12-14, in the final scene of the beautiful Wedding March. The rest of the ballet to dear Felix's lovely music was very enjoyable.
To continue my use of my lovely TV, I also watched the last three finalists of BBC's Young Musician of the Year Final, after watching the last five on Saturday evening. This time the young musicians played before a full orchestra. The final three were Emma, aged 17, playing her flute beautifully, Callum, aged 14 also playing Mendelssohn's violin Concerto, beautifully on his lovely violin and the final winner, a 16 year old pianist named Lara playing Saint-Saens' beautiful piano concerto. I particularly liked the violin and the piano pieces as they were music pieces I knew, though not so well as the amazing young musicians. The very appreciative audience clapped and cheered all three finalists, but it was obvious to me when the pianist was playing, who was to be the ultimate winner, as indeed she was the final choice, as she had such a presence. Only about 4'10" tall, she was dwarfed by the panel of judges, but she played with such flair and confidence, that despite the amazing flute and violin pieces, she was my (mine and Howard's ) favourite.
For me, the evening's music programme was not yet over as I indulged myself and watched the semi-finals of the 'Dorothy' programme. My - was I indulged. The whole series has held me entranced as the original 20 teen-age girls, with an amazing verve and flair for the 'Over the Rainbow' style music, entertained us all with their confidence and ability.
The girls, who obviously were all great friends, had to watch as each week, one of their number was eliminated until the best four were left for Andrew Lloyd Webber (via a public vote) to select the final three for next week's final. To say that I was amazed at the professional attitude of these young hopefuls, may sound trite, but they provided the BBC with a series of very good value programmes for the last few weeks, probably at a very reasonable cost to us, the viewers, and useful propaganda for Lord ALW's shows..
I had had a very enjoyable evening, just watching my super TV set. Well worth my time, as I was not lonely!
Now it is 7.21 and I have spent a great time with my weekend indulgences. I hope my musings have not been a bore, but I just had to put it down on paper. (sorry about my memory lapses).
Love to all my readers? from a very happy Hugh