Saturday, March 03, 2007

60 today Happy birthday to my brother


This is about the earliest photo I could find, he's about two and a half and he's wearing a little swimsuit knitted by my granny that I remember being brown and yellow. This photo was taken outside my other granny's house where a few years later he had quite a serious accident, you may remember I mentioned it on one of the earlier Fun Monday posts.

So one of my earliest memories is the time when my brother was born. Of course no one prepared children or believed in telling them anything but I remember staying with my granny. 1947 was the year that we had some of the worst snow storms ever here in the UK. Snow drifted up to 5m and it was particularly difficult for farmers to get to their animals I tried to find a photo but was not very successful however this will give you an idea of what it was like. I realise that in many parts of the world these conditions are an annual event and you probably wonder why all the fuss.
I can clearly visualise walking down a path cut through the snow from my granny's back door to the street. At three it was my first experience of snow and clearly it left a lasting impression. It was like walking through a tunnel with no roof and the snow was way above me and my granny's fence and you couldn't see anything in her back yard but snow . The hospital was right opposite my granny's house and she told me to wave to a window where I could just see a glimpse of a face I'm not sure I even realised it was my mother at the time.

If you feel like seeing what he looks like now you will find a picture in this post.

My sister-in-law has organised a surprise party for him and so we're (my mother and I) off to visit at 5pm. Hubby is in bed nursing his sore throat and chesty cold. I think he's enjoying being waited on, his appetite never leaves him even when he's sick. I offered him lunch and then a friend phone and we were catching up for 45 mins and I heard strains of 'food glorious food' coming from the sick bed, hmm can't be much wrong if he has the energy for that I thought (always full of sympathy that's me!!). I'm off to bake an apple and cinnamon cake to take to the party so I'd better get my skates on.

If I remember to take any photos at the party I will add them later or do another post tomorrow.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

PS. Have just brought my mother home, leaving the party in full swing and the birthday boy enjoying himself. He was kept out of the house all day, so it really was a surprise I took him a bottle of his favourite summer tipple from the look on his face I think he was pleased, and a few other people had the same idea so he's well stocked now. Oh and the cake was well received and I have emailed the recipe to both my nieces. There was a slight hiccup when the lights fused but it was soon sorted and the candlelight was rather nice so having no lights for a few minutes was not a problem.

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13 Comments:

At 3/3/07 15:41, Blogger Beccy said...

Enjoy the party.

Hope Dad feels better soon.

 
At 3/3/07 15:55, Blogger ChrisB said...

thanks beccy I'll try and take some pics. The cake smells delicious. I'm off to get ready now. Dad has just come downstairs to watch TV- hope he keeps his germs to himself.

 
At 3/3/07 16:19, Blogger FH said...

Wonderful age!! Happy Birthday to your brother and wish him many more:))

 
At 3/3/07 17:42, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have a fun time at the surprise party - and wish him the BEST from all the blogosphere!!!!!!

 
At 3/3/07 21:23, Blogger Sam said...

Happy Birthday to my favourite scoundrel of an uncle!

 
At 3/3/07 21:58, Blogger ChrisB said...

Asha and Karmyn Thank you. I think he quite likes his 15 mins of fame.

Sam I couldn't even have a drink as I was driving Oh you will be interested Tracey told me that Asda has Guiness Marmite so I'm going up there tomorrow, granny was too tired to call in on the way home. They stay open 24hrs apparently but once I was home I didn't feel like going back. So I'll let you know how I get on.

 
At 4/3/07 01:55, Blogger Unknown said...

He still has the same smile!

 
At 4/3/07 05:35, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday.

Having grown up only a couple of miles from the Villawood Immigration Centre (sadly it's now called the Villawood Detention Centre), which was the first accommodation for many of the assisted immigrants, I am very familiar with woolen swimming trunks.

Of all the things that were different about the British immigrants, this was the one we found the funniest.

And just to be clear, I have a great fondness for the ten pound Poms.

 
At 4/3/07 08:04, Blogger Pamela said...

I was going to post a limerick in celebration of his birthday
but I couldn't come up with a ryhme
for Bacardi.

 
At 4/3/07 09:03, Blogger Beccy said...

Looks like Uncle David enjoyed himself!

 
At 4/3/07 09:18, Blogger Barbara said...

That looks like a huge bottle of rum.

 
At 4/3/07 09:23, Blogger ChrisB said...

mimi my brother does have a great sense of humour and is always joking and full of smiles.

willowtree given the state of this country I think they were the sensible ones. I think most of us were pretty poor after the war so knitting was our only option we laugh about it and my brother said I hope you haven't posted that photo of me in the knitted swimsuit. He doesn't have a computer but his daughters will have a look I'm sure.

pamela its the thought that counts I'm pretty hopeless at anything like that so it would have been no good for me to try.

beccy he was in fine form as you can imagine.

 
At 4/3/07 09:26, Blogger ChrisB said...

barbara it's a 1.7 litre bottle so good size to keep him going.

 

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