Friday, June 24, 2016

A FRIDAY CHAT ( about this & that )

Good wonderful Friday morning all !


Don't just stand there - come in !!!

There's tea in the kitchen - and coffee - and water of course
( tea and coffee and water - tea and coffee and water - tea and coffee and water )

I'm repeating it because because that's what I've started doing.
When I need something like oh I don't know - lets say scissors
By the time I walk into the kitchen to get them I've completely forgotten what I've gone into the kitchen for.
I stand there wracking my brains for a bit - shrug and walk away and it's only when I've left the room that I remember I needed scissors.

So now I say it repeatedly.
Scissors - scissors - scissors.
Sometimes I'll say it repeatedly and then notice something else as I'm walking by and be totally thrown off - but usually it works.
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So lets see
Last week I left you off where my Mother used to cut our hair and someone mentioned that they used to get perms.
And that reminded me of something dreadful.
We were staying at my grandmothers one weekend and one of my grandmothers ( Nana Estelle - you can read about my 2 grandmothers HERE ) decided to take me to the hairdressers to get me a perm.

Our Father  ( who art in Heaven )

I was 5 years old when I walked in
And I was 85 years old when I walked out.

I looked like a miniature little old lady.
It was horrid.
Very very short and very very tight little curls.
Like Little Orphan Annie.

AND THEN SHE TOOK ME TO A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAHER
( so there would be proof forever more )
I tried to find the photo but on my way to look for it I noticed fluff on the floor and got the vacuum out instead )
I'll try to find it though, I promise because I could never write in words anything as funny as that picture.
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One last story about hair and then I'm done with that subject.

I'm a natural blonde ( or was a natural blonde I suppose ) but in my late teens I decided I wanted jet black hair.

A quick visit to the pharmacy took care of that and off I went on a night out on the town with a group of friends - my long flowing raven hair blowing in the wind.

I personally thought I looked very exotic...........Italian or Spanish - until someone pointed out that I still had blonde eyebrows.

I had never considered that.
Which left me realizing you can take the blonde out of a dumb blonde but you can't take the ...............
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Another memory hit me last weekend.
I can remember the family ( and when I say family I mean extended as well ) all piling into 2 cars.
Probably 20 of us - like a clown car.
Back in the 60's we didn't wear seat belts - and I can vividly recall adults sitting on the actual seats and us kids piled down on the floor at their feet.
OMG - how dangerous.
OMG - how exciting !
You could fit 3 - possibly 4 adults in the front ( one large seat - no " bucket seats " then )
and 5 or 6 in the back - babies sat on laps with a hand draped across them - and then you stuffed kids into all the spare spaces
You know, the way you pack a suitcase when going on a trip - we would have been the socks so to speak.
All the adults would be smoking and hacking up a lung so it was probably the safest place to be down there.
Our destination would be the country side - where water was to be precise and as soon as we hit the country roads the kids would pile out and clamber up onto the roof of the cars.
Trees and branches would be ducked under and we'd sit up there like Kings of the Road.
Breathing the clean air.
Yelling like Tarzan.  Giggling until we nearly fell off.
Upon reaching the beach area all the adults would tumble out - and coolers and folding chairs would be taken out of the trunks.
We'd spend the entire day there.
Koolaid and p & j sandwiches would flow.  Or koolaid and chopped egg salad.  Or koolaid and cheese slice sandwiches.
With ripple chips.
RIPPLE - not ruffle.
It was ( and is ) one of my fondest childhood memories.

How we survived I have no idea - but survive we did.
Actually we thrived.
When I look at how careful we all are now I look back wistfully and think of those summer days.
Dangerous ?
Yeah - our childhoods were pretty dangerous looking back.....
But crowded spaces make for close families.
The state of the world today - in 2016 is a far more frightening thing to reflect on.
So much division and fear that all I want to do is crawl into the back of a chevy - curl up on the floor at my grandmother's feet and stay there for an entire summer coming up only when the coast is clear and the scariest thing is a tree branch whacking me in the head.
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BREXIT.............
When you're raised in an era of tearing down walls - watching them being built back up is heartbreaking.
Whether it's necessary or not is beside the question for now.  Just the very act of it fills me with an emotion that I'm not quite sure how to articulate.
But it's heavy.
The feeling is heavy.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend everyone !
Maybe I'll talk John into going to the country - and I'll sit on the roof as soon as the city roads are behind us !
I need some Old Fashioned fun this weekend.



Love - always love
Me













15 comments:

  1. Same childhood, different country. Only it was baloney and tomato sandwiches with mayonnaise and we (four teenage kids) rode on the tailgate of our station wagon, swinging our feet above the pavement, while it was going 60 MPH down the highway. What were we thinking??? And, I think you were lucky to get the short perm cuz my hair was like Shirley Temple only with lots of frizz for my school pictures. Thanks for the memories!

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  2. OMG I almost forgot abbout the bloody perms!!! My mother and eldest sister wld plot out the perms together. It stunk, it burned and they'd be yelling at me to sit still, keep my eyes closed all while I held a facecloth against my eyes fiercly screaming. I need a drink just recalling the horror. Yup the family piling into cars for the beach, only the little kids wld be sitting on the bigger ones laps in the backseat. Somehow we survived didn't we? Love the Friday chats, time for wine, have a great weekend! 💕 Patty

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  3. Gee thanks Suzan, that song is going to be in my head all weekend. You mean I'm not the only one who walks around the house repeating myself over and over over again! I feel much better because I was thinking it might be time for a prescription for Aricept! Oh how I remember piling into a smoke filled car growing up too. Mom, Dad, myself, and my six siblings piled into a sedan stacked two deep until we got a station wagon and then the fan began. Facing backwards where Mom & Dad couldn't see us making faces at the cars behind us. Of course like you, no seat belts. Heading out to the country to breath sounds sooooooo good! If I lived in Montreal I'd join you on the roof of that car and to be kick ass rebels we'd be taking swigs out of a bottle of wine!

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  4. You had a post a while back that had a Bee Gee video in it. I think it was Massachusetts. I can't find it and was wondering if you could tell me where it is?

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  5. Hey, blondie ~

    I had the same perm experience; my was pushed by my mom. I am now, I am proud to say, perm-free since '12.

    LOL @ the raven hair with blond eyebrows ~

    Hugs ~

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  6. Hi there, my heart is very heavy and it is good to hear that you appreciate what the result of the referendum really means. Sadly 52% of my fellow Britons apparently did not... I have always passionately believed in tearing down the barriers to understanding, co-operation and tolerance and we have shown the world that in England and Wales the way forward is to build walls and hide behind them. The worst case scenario is that we not only destroy the British Union but also the European one, what a legacy for our generation to leave our children (almost 70% of whom voted to remain). One of my daughters is seriously considering NOT returning to the UK permanently after finishing her travels and the other is looking at the possibility of relocating to Barcelona as her partner's company has offices there. I am facing the prospect of living in a divided nation that does not reflect my core beliefs and values and the economic repercussions (that so many people chose to ignore) not to mention the retractions of the claims made by the leave campaign leaders are coming thick and fast. In the meantime I am being told to 'get over it and stop moaning'! :( Which at the very least is belittling the genuine distress that I feel that has nothing to do with being a 'poor loser'. In fairness the campaign was horribly mismanaged, on both sides, and fear, distrust and misinformation won the day, compounded by a very real dissatisfaction with the current status quo which most of us share, but in my opinion the majority were blaming the wrong culprits :0
    Phew! Well it was good to get that off my chest so thank you, any chance I can come to Canada or is already full of people escaping that crazy orange guy? :D

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  7. Well, crap. I typed out a long, REALLY AWESOME comment for you, and then.... for some strange reason, I clicked on "sign out" just below the comment box on the righthand side. I never even noticed it before! What the heck is THAT for ??? Anyway, my comment disappeared when I went to some other odd page. Geez.

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  8. Those were the good old days and I miss them as well! I don't completely understand the whole Brexit thing, of course, I don't watch much news anymore. Too depressing. I would LOVE to see the perm photo. I had a visual going LOL. Have a wonderful week Suzan!

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  9. Hey, Suzan. Sorry, just getting around to reading your post. And this one, as usual, is hilarious. I got a bad perm once. Lord have mercy! I looked like an adult Little Orphaned Annie. Never again! Lol!! I loved your memory of everyone piling in the car headed for the country. There were 6 kids in my family and any time we traveled as a family...all the kids had to poke in the backseat and my parents in the front. I remember many times sitting in the floorboard too. Lol!!

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  10. surprised to see no comments on this old post as I know I left one. Hoping you're well. Miss your wit.

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  11. I woke up thinking- I have to look Suzan up today and see what she is doing!- So, here I am and there you are. Loved this Friday chat. We were 'dangerous', too, in our own way. Cutting through fields that we were warned not to go into because of the 'mean' bull....figuring we could outrun him if we could. We stopped when a neighboring farmer got gored by a bull and he barely survived.

    We were so innocent back then, weren't we? Even as teenagers we were pretty innocent-at least I was and you probably were, too. I think the innocence has left most of this world-seeing the horror yesterday of a man shooting CHILDREN in the face in McDonald's takes all my doubt away as to the depths of the inhumanity we are experiencing. Where/how/when will it ever end?

    I hope you are looking forward to your trip to France this fall. I know I would be so excited. Instead- I am working on getting this big ole' house ready to put on the market. Where are we going? Dunno. We hope to have it on the market by the first of August. I MAY be able to reach that goal-but have not started on the outside yet.

    I will catch up with you later. Love to you--my sweet, nostalgic friend. xo Diana

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  12. Suzan-Where For Art Thou? Are you ok?

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  13. That rrrocks, missy, and you do, too, if you'd follow our 22ish blogs. God bless you, dear.

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  14. Hi there Suzan!!! Happy Holidays/Christmas/etc. I miss your smiling font in my inbox. :) I hope/trust/pray all is well with you. Know you are in my heart and send you tons of Holiday love and hugs for all the years. :) xoxo Christina in FL

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Due to a large amount of spam ( that I'm tired of going back to posts and deleting ) I'll be using comment moderation from now on !!!
Can I beat these spammers at their own game? Probably not - but I'm going
to try my damnedest !!!
xoxo