valeriesbookofme

This week was the 75th anniversary of D-Day. As I read the reminiscences of some of the remaining WW2 vets, all over 90 years old now, I wondered what my parents would have said about their own memories. Growing up, I heard a lot about both WW1 and WW2 in a general way, a little about the Boer War (my grandfather fought in that one.) But as neither of my parents left any kind of a memoir, I don't really know what their observations about the wars were. My father was born in 1911, my mother in 1912. So they were toddlers when WW1 erupted. One of my Campbell grandfather's brothers, Duncan, died at the end of WW1, probably of Spanish flu. Below are the first page of the letter that the nursing sister on the French front wrote about Duncan's death and a photo of Duncan, second from left, in front of the butcher shop he worked at in Dundee. My dad never saw either of those items. The photo was sent to me by a nephew of Duncan's wife as was a copy of the letter. Neither ...

This was our fourth TransAtlantic crossing on the QM2. The first time we crossed in October, the next in December. We then planned to take the 28th April crossing, remaining in Europe for three weeks and the return crossing on May 17th. We thought the weather would be nice enough to sit on deck. Hah! On the first crossing, the 28th April one, we had two days of high winds and rain, and the rest of the time it was just cold and grey. Several people complained of seasickness but we had a midships cabin on the 8th deck and only felt gentle rocking. No problems moving about during the day. But the crossing on May 17th was worse. We had I think 3 days of Force 7-10 winds and the promenade deck was actually closed. I did go out on deck but was about blown away. Again I met several people who were downing seasick pills like candy. The entertainment on both ships--lectures, fitness classes--was very good although I preferred the May 17th crossing because they had the RADA actors on board an...

Yesterday it stormed all day long. They actually closed the decks—not that I would have wanted to be out there anyway, it was difficult enough walking the deck on Tuesday, the wind almost knocked me off my feet. I did get 4 miles of “walking” in through going to Zumba and walking up and down the ship through the day.  I feel so sorry for the people on the upper decks. Every one of them says it has been awful at night. Makes our “obstructed” balcony better and better. I have thoroughly enjoyed this crossing and would do it again. Richard not so much but he doesn’t want me to comment on that in my blog ;) I have still participated in loads of activities, the RADA acting workshop, morning Yoga, Zumba (except for Tuesday when I was just too tired.)  I actually did go to the screening of Chocolat. Joanne Harris did a very poignant presentation, explaining the ups and downs of having one’s book made into a film (imagine if it HAD been filmed in the US with Whoopi Goldberg playing Vi...

We have had very high winds, yes, force 10, for the past day & night. Our cabin is toward the back of the ship but not at the very back. And we are on deck 8. The ship has cabins up to deck 12. So although we noticed the rolling of course and when I woke up to go the bathroom in the night I felt the roll, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. However I was speaking to a fellow this morning—we are still getting up at 5:00 in the morning—who said he and his partner didn’t get any sleep as they are at the front of the ship and it was going UP and DOWN all night with a great whack every time it went down. The captain said yesterday at his noon announcement that there is a storm out in the Atlantic that they are trying to skirt around. It rained off and on yesterday so I guess that was the storm. No thunder or lightning though.  As I am writing this, the sky is turning blue with great puffy clouds: I was very tired yesterday. Actually fell asleep in the lecture on the Middle East and was ...

I actually went to a Catholic Mass this morning. There were two other services, Christian Fellowship and Interdenominational, but I felt drawn to the Catholic Mass. And I did feel spiritually fed and that I was somehow keeping the Sabbath, thanking God for all the many blessings we have had on this trip. Before that, I did start the day with the Yoga Stretch class. I have to find a good set of morning stretch exercises when I get home. I have felt so much better, my hip/sciatic nerve pain is almost completely gone. At 10:00 R and I went to a lecture on the original New York skyscrapers that was very good. Learned about how there had to be so many other events/innovations, invention of steel, of elevators, step pattern in buildings to allow light to hit the ground. Although in traditional post and lintel construction—like our childhood building blocks—the walls and lintels are key for holding the structure together, in skyscrapers it is the internal girding that is key. Who knew archite...

I didn’t grow up feeling pretty. In the era of Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton, I was too short, liked food too much. I wasn’t “obese” but I was chubby enough that boys skimmed their eyes over me but fastened them upon my taller, willowy, friends who also were more confident. Who knew how to act around boys. But that’s the past. I came to accept I was who I was, that I would never be taller, never have an Audrey Hepburn body. Especially as I entered my 60s, and R isn’t into glamorous parties or dances, I adopted a style of dressing neatly, comfortably, occasionally colorfully (have never forgotten what my seasonal colors are.) Which leads me to this picture. R took this photo last night. I saw this dress on a mannequin in Southampton last week. Loved it. I tried it on and, unlike so many dresses I tried on at R’s urging (he had this idea of my being more “classical”), it fit me really well. Concealed my lumps and bumps and it is so comfortable. And, yes, I feel pretty in it. He also insisted...

Sheila drove us to the train station yesterday at 10:15 a.m. We have had a wonderful time visiting her and I will be posting separately about our day trips whilst there. In many ways it was just the same as it always is when visiting her, her house hasn’t changed, Eddie the cat is still around, as is Dixie the dog. Actually Dixie is much friendlier and sweeter than the last time we stayed. Her antics made us miss Mitzi very much.  And Burnham is still the same. A slightly rundown coastal town, full of charity shops. Drivers that go way too fast on the narrow roads. But as I walked down the streets this time, I remembered ten years ago and my summer in England. How full of energy I was and how close we all were—Sheila, Dave, Sandy—how much fun we had. And my times of exploring the UK too. We are all a little more tired now, a little more conscious of aging and all that. The stairs in Sheila’s house get more difficult to negotiate at the end of a long day, the creaks and groans of th...