Trousering...

Just recently, Scrobs was running out of 'parking money', which consists of a sort of leather wallet, kept in the car for such purposes. It also doubles as a cash payment for when Senora O'Blene demands a punnet of cherries or a bag of apples just as we are passing a road-side farm stall at 50mph!

I then realised when I bought some pound coins at our post office (not the bank, there aren't any around now), that it is ages since I carried coins in my trouser pocket! I nearly always tap with the card, and have forgotten my pin on several occasions (once, when buying a car for goodness sake), and cash in the form of plastic notes is so bent in my wallet, that I can't even straighten it out now!

Years ago, I remember my Uncle Jack, always a generous man, asking me if I would like an ice cream or similar, and delving into an enormous trouser pocket and bringing out a big handfull of change, (he had huge hands), made up of several half-crowns, florins, old pennies, etc., and taking a shilling or a sixpence from the huge collection for me to dash off to the local shop! All that money must have weighed a ton, and no wonder there was always a thriving business in having one's trouser pockets re-lined!

I still have a little tin of early 1970s change, which I found in a writing desk which was left as a legacy for me some years ago, by another lovely Uncle and Aunt. I just can't bear to cash it, (it's worth around £2.50), as the tin also has some receipts for the milkman, and a local W.I. subscription, but I suppose it'll go one day...

 

Let's hear it for real Sussex people...

 

Sussex...

My folks moved here in the 1940s

Dad worked here for ages

So did my uncles

I was born there

Lived there for ages

Went to school there

Played rugby, cricket and hockey there

Learned to drink beer there

Spent several weeks in various hospitals there

Met my wife there

Got married there

Had our wedding reception here (above)

Raised our children there

Worked for many years there

And all this without the need to have a fake duke and duchess hanging around!

Blog list - or 'Required reading'...

Does any esteemed reader here have any issues with editing some of the layouts in Blogger?

I want to put some new names up, since I've been elevated to the peerage of Martin Scriblerus, but the screen just freezes, and reverts to the original!

Blogger 'help' just doesn't, and they've closed the only post I can find!

If it continues, it may have to be a foray into Wordpress, but I don't want to bugger up fourteen years of posts and fabulous comments from so many good friends here!

Thanks to the KSS Air Ambulance...

Just recently, Scrobs has been very aware of what emergency services do, and as it's the time of year. the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance people are sending out tickets for their Christmas raffle.

The KSS are our preferred - in fact our only charity, and while we don't give a lot of money, we like to support them whenever they have some sort of promotion, so we usually dip in, as we often hear their helicopters around, sometimes landing near us on an open field, which is an exciting experience, except the circumstances aren't very pleasant!

We've just bought some raffle tickets, and popped in another tenner for a small donation, but were amazed that a few days later, we received a card with a handwritten note inside, thanking us!

The card was actually drawn by ten-year-old Louis Parvin, who fractured his skull a few years ago, and it really gladdens my heart to know that just about all their donations are channelled into their fabulous service, and to think that someone there has picked up a pen to thank us, is admirable!

These good people don't pay themselves huge amounts, most of them are volunteers, and the paramedics are NHS, so know their stuff!

Thank you KSS, you've made Scrobs feel so much better!

(Apols for the quality of the pics, the scanner's playing up)!