Steam Train passes through Leagrave Station

Last week we went to our local railway station for an important event. Dylan and his dad came too. We were going to watch a steam train come through and it did, on time and at speed! Here it is:

 

 

At the end you can see Larry ducking to get out of the picture.

Dylan had never seen a steam train live before.  He wasn’t sure what he was going to see. He asked his dad if it was going to be like Thomas (the tank engine). Isn’t that so sweet? At the event, he was frightened, which is not surprising, after all he has only just turned four. He is used to seeing the electric trains go through but this was something different and it did go very fast.

It was a first for Larry too. He had never seen a real steam engine in action either and he found it very exhilarating.

The last steam engine to pull a passenger train in England was in 1968. It was the Oliver Cromwell and it went from Liverpool to Carlisle.  Is it really that long ago?

Do you have any memories of travelling on a steam train?

Oma

 

Dylan update – September 2014.

My little grandson Dylan is on holiday this week, in Wales. He’s having a great time judging by this picture.

Holidays are so necessary in our busy lives but it is hard for some of us to afford them these days. Larry and I have been having days out this summer rather than weeks away and I’ve enjoyed it very much. After buying the new car in May, it made sense to be careful for a little while and although holidays can be fun, they can also be a lot of work, what with the packing, planning, navigating etc.

I’m not sure if the wetsuits were really necessary! but I’ll leave you with some more pics of the happy family enjoying their summer break:

Dylan update – July 2014 and a flash back to the past.

It seems that Dylan’s transformation into Spiderman is complete!

Dylan is now nearly four years old.  His birthday is in October, like mine and so the big 4 is just around the corner. He is a very active little boy who enjoys dressing up and posing for photographs. Whenever I see pictures of him or observe his behaviour when he comes to visit, I can’t help thinking back to my own three little boys when they were the same age. It doesn’t seem so long ago to me, you see; although in reality it is 36 years since my eldest son, Robert, was four years old.

This is Robert, aged 4 and his brother Edward aged 1. David wasn’t born yet. The year is 1977.

 

The photo was taken by a professional photographer. I know that at the time we could hardly afford it, but I so wanted a nice picture to keep so we stretched ourselves. The days when my children were little were the happiest of my life. It is hard to compare those days with these days when I am almost a different person. I look back and I think, did this really happen? Why did it go so quickly? Looking at the picture above, it would not be long before Robert started school proper and then it would be ‘teacher said this or teacher said that.’ and I would no longer be that most important person in his life. For now he was mine, all mine and we shared everything together. We lived in a happy bubble, not having much money, but having plenty of time.

My grandson, Dylan, has just had his first professional photograph taken at the Nursery where he goes twice a week. I think it turned out very well, don’t you?

Have a lovely Sunday all of you. Just want to say a big thank you for following my blog and sharing my life and my memories.

Oma

 

Dylan update – Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday 2014

I thought you might like to enjoy my grandson’s Easter Egg Hunt yesterday…

My grandson Dylan, update

My grandson Dylan is into super heroes, especially Spiderman. Here he is in his spiderman sunglasses. Looks the part doesn’t he!

We haven’t seen him too much lately because he’s been going to Nursery. Don’t they grow up quickly!

ChildhoodChildhood, sweet and sunny childhood, With its careless, thoughtless air, Like the verdant, tangled wildwood, Wants the training hand of care.See it springing all around us — Glad to know, and quick to learn; Asking questions that confound us; Teaching lessons in its turn. Who loves not its joyous revel, Leaping lightly on the lawn, Up the knoll, along the level, Free and graceful as a fawn? Let it revel; it is nature Giving to the little dears Strength of limb, and healthful features, For the toil of coming years. He who checks a child with terror, Stops its play, and stills its song, Not alone commits an error, But a great and moral wrong. Give it play, and never fear it — Active life is no defect; Never, never break its spirit — Curb it only to direct. Would you dam the flowing river, Thinking it would cease to flow? Onward it must go forever — Better teach it where to go. Childhood is a fountain welling, Trace its channel in the sand, And its currents, spreading, swelling, Will revive the withered land. Childhood is the vernal season; Trim and train the tender shoot; Love is to the coming reason, As the blossom to the fruit. Tender twigs are bent and folded — Art to nature beauty lends; Childhood easily is moulded; Manhood breaks, but seldom bends. David Bates

I hope this Wednesday brings you joy 🙂

 

Oma

Dylan update – Dylan has a new house!

This is my little grandson, Dylan. He has some big news. A week before Christmas he moved into a new house! Here at the cottage, it was very exciting news because the move had been on/off, on/off, on/off, all through December. There was a small snag concerning the Land Registry and that held everything up. (Isn’t there always a small snag!!!). Anyway, in the end all was well and they moved in on a fairly nice day without too much wind and cold.

It took till lunchtime to get the van loaded at the old house and then til tea-time to get into the new one. By then everyone was tired. Dylan came to the cottage for the day while everything was going on and Larry was ‘on loan’ to help with the move. My son and his wife coped admirably and even seemed to enjoy it.

The next day the priority became putting up the Christmas decorations. The other grandparents did a lot of that, so that by the end of day 1, the house looked like Christmas had arrived and the family were very happily ensconced in their new abode. I don’t have pictures yet, but suffice to say it is bigger than the last house and Dylan has a very nice, new bedroom to put all his new toys in.

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Christmas is now over, in the main; although because I love it so much, I refuse to stop celebrating in my own quiet way. This afternoon I intend to sit down and watch ‘Holiday Inn’ because I really enjoy that film. I have a new, digitally coloured version, which is excellent.

When I woke up this morning, there was a hard frost all over the ground. Larry had never seen such a thick frost before. It looked like snow to him. No doubt he will mention it in his next missive, which I must encourage him to write.

So now I must get back to the kitchen. We have roast lamb for dinner today. It is already smelling wonderful…

The reluctant elf.

My grandson Dylan was a reluctant elf last week at his Nursery School’s Christmas pageant. There he is at the back, sitting on his teacher’s knee, not wishing to participate very much. Bless his heart, he is only three years old and it was all a bit much. He wasn’t the only reluctant elf either. There were several.

The play itself was lovely. One of the Nursery teachers told the story while the children played their parts. There were lots of parents there and a few grandparents who squeezed in at the back! With so many parents at work, I couldn’t help but notice what a good turnout it was and how delighted the parents must have been to see their children looking so cute.

Of course it was a different story when Dylan got home. Back in his own environment he was happy to pose for a picture in his elf costume.

When my children were little there weren’t any ready-made costumes to buy. Now there is a very good selection in Sainsburys (my local supermarket) with everything from a costume for Mary to a big gold star. Amazing! Again, we live in changing times and with so many mums out to work and many of them the breadwinner, they don’t have time to make costumes for their children themselves.

Christmas is a time when it is really the little things in life that matter so why don’t we try each day to make someone else’s life a little happier? A smile to a stranger or an unexpected wave of greeting to a neighbour may brighten someone’s day.

Hamley’s Toy Shop – a child’s delight!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

My grandson, Dylan, has been to the famous toyshop in London, called Hamley’s, to make his Christmas choices. At three year’s old, there is no end to his list of wants, but who would spoil the magic? Not me, for sure…

Here at the cottage, the shopping is almost done. I still have the food to buy. I don’t have enough room to store very much and soon every corner will be filled.

The decorations will go up at the weekend. I must check that the lights for the tree still work!

The cake is made and sits in a tin awaiting the marzipan and the icing decorations.

How are you getting on with your preparations?

Oma

So much to be thankful for!

This picture is the very first one taken where I am with both my grandsons and their daddies. Needless to say I am very proud of it. Dylan, on the left, wasn’t feeling well that day so he looks miserable and Sam was tired because it was near his bedtime; so neither of them were very happy, but I was because it marks a moment in history for me. I am a very lucky Oma indeed. Shown are two of my three sons. The eldest one was not present and doesn’t have any children but I felt he was worthy of a mention!

‘Deep streams usually run smoothly and quietly. They have the same rocks and obstacles to overcome as their noisy, shallow counterparts, but they are so full that they can rise above those difficulties so a casual observer would never know they were there.

Whether our lives are turbulent and noisy, or smooth and graceful doesn’t depend on how many or how few problems they contain. It depends on how full they are.’

From The Friendship Book – 2013

Family life does not always run smoothly. I have experience of that like everybody else, but it is how we handle these turbulent times that matters isn’t it.

I have much to be thankful for. I really do. At this time of year as we pass through Thanksgiving and look forward to Christmas, I am more aware of it than usual.

I wish you all, my blogging pals, a peaceful week as you prepare for your Christmas festivities.

With love from the cottage and Oma x

Dylan update – Dylan is three today!

It doesn’t seem possible, but my little grandson, Dylan, is three today! Congratulations to him from all of us at the cottage.

Apparently he ruined his birthday cake by putting too many sprinkles on top of it, but I bet it tasted delicious anyway.

Grandad and I will be fetching him from Nursery this afternoon. He comes to us for an hour while he waits for his Daddy to get back on the train from London. We have one or two little surprises for him when he gets here.

The dreadful storm, which passed over yesterday in the very early morning, has now moved on to Europe and we are left with some devastation. Luckily it didn’t affect the cottage or my precious garden, but the winds were high and the trees were bending. It’s not unusual to have storms at this time of the year, but one of that ferocity doesn’t come too often, luckily.

Oma