h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hey H & J (sounds a bit surgical, that)

Apologies for this being a bit of a round robin but now that I am old I can't type as fast as I could so I have answered in one reply both Helen and Jen's postings to me.

Aitch - It WAS a bit of a mad dash to get the house in order. I couldn't bring myself to put Ella's toys away in the loft - the place looked like Toys R' Us. I had kept the place tidy and did my own cooking but it needed to be woman clean rather than man clean.

When we moved to Pembrokeshire from Cardiff we bought a large house so that my dear old mum could come and live with us. There is a bit of difference between house prices and you get a lot for your money here and we bought a large house that splits into two living areas - she is known as The Mad Woman Who Lives In The West Wing (but not to her face). She did the little touches that made the difference.

Val is tired but was not as low as I thought she would be - she is enjoying just sitting there doing nothing (the first time since January).

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I wanted a good digital camera and the family had a whip around and I bought one a few weeks back so I could take pics of Ella. It's fab!

We are a bit Billy-no-mates - we keep moving away from friends and family so there was no party and I had a low key one (my choice). Val, me mam and I went out for a meal a couple of miles away in Saundersfoot and it was fantastic. The town is a bit like stepping back 30 years - it is an unspoilt seaside resort.

The weather on Friday was a bit dreary - mist and drizzle. Pembrokeshire is very mild but we do get a fair bit of rain so we went for a drive to Solva - a lovely fishing village about 30 miles up the coast towards St Davids. There is a place there where you can buy fresh (cooked) lobster and crab and bought some for a BBQ on Saturday.

The place where we bought the shellfish sells it from their back room. He goes out and catches ‘em and she cooks and dresses ‘em. They are cooked in an outhouse (all spotless) but I wouldn’t like to be a neighbour. When we walked into her house she lunges at me and gives me a big kiss and says Happy Birthday. I was well confused until I realized that she had read the ‘Birthday Boy’ badge that Val insisted I had to wear. Apparently it was her birthday as well (55) and she knocked a pound off. Without wishing to be unkind she was the ugliest female I have ever met and she smelt of fish – my kind of woman!

Saturday came and we opened up the bags from the Fisher Woman and found that the lobbies were monsters. We decided that there was no way we could eat anything else so we had a BBQ Surprise i.e. no BBQ and got drunk.

Sunday came and we had the BBQ we should have had Saturday and got drunk.

I had decided at the beginning of the year that I had to go on a diet and was going to go on a diet and that meant cutting out the drink. I think the third week in January was when I started not drinking during the week and being moderate on the weekend.

This lasted until the 29th January when Val went way for a couple of months and I drank to forget (add your punch line). Then it was my birthday. There’s no point in not drinking this week because on Thursday we are going to stay with some old friends after a wine tasting bash that evening in Cardiff.

On Friday my brother, sister in law, nephew and girl friend are coming down from Sheffield for a week and then it’s Val birthday on the 10th of May. What hope have I in losing weight. Hmmm? Hmmmm?

As you can see from the above we are very food and drink focused in this house. Might be down to Taureans marrying each other.

Jen - It was interesting about the farm/zoo you talked about - we have one about five miles away called Folly Farm and sounds very similar to the one you take the grand children to. Damn, ended on preposition. Sorry PG. It's nice you get to see the kids regularly - they keep you young I bet. As to the jokes - they made me laugh. I'm a sucker for a fart gag. As to the drunken email that made me laugh as well.

Sorry to hear Buffy has now been stung twice.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Crinkly yours

Neil

Correne gatecrashing again (renowned for it, you know)

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday, dear Neil,
Happy birthday to you.

Belated, but the thought is there.

God bless,
love Correne