72 YEARS YOUNG TODAY!
Amazing!
Anyone who read my autobiography can tell you that I crammed a lot into my 26,280 days! I honestly never expected to live this long! I was sure that I would burn myself out by about 45 years of age - but I didn’t. Nobody was more surprised than me to see more years and more adventures go rolling by….. with all their ups and downs!
My Autobiography
Some subscribers have messaged me asking what happened to my series, usually published every Sunday morning under the title SUNDAY IN MEMORY LANE. I decided that it was as complete as I wanted it to be for the present. The most recent decade, covering my life since I retired, is tremendously busy and complex. Most of it has been conducted online and comp…
It is still a beautiful world as long as there are a thousand shades of green!
I have been very busy lately.
I joined a local gym/swim/spa club which was running a very cheap promotion for annual membership. I had been there before, a decade ago and loved it, but it had shut down and did not re-open until after the Covid nonsense was over and done with.
I have been going to the club every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon since I joined. I intend to restore my health, as far as possible, after a series of minor strokes.
I have been very lucky!
My left leg is just a bit uncooperative and two fingers of my left hand go a bit numb sometimes, if I over-stress myself. Otherwise I am a bit breathless and a lot overweight.
Don’t ask. It is embarrassing!
So I bought a new swimsuit and have been working hard at re-learning how to swim. This has been harder than I expected, but yesterday I managed two lengths of the pool doing back stroke. I am rolling slightly to the right because of weakness in my left leg but I am doing lots of exercises like bunny hops, running on the spot and high leg kicks in the water with a view to bringing back essential physical co-ordination.
In the afternoons the other members are mostly like me. Older folks who are working on a fitness regime. They are a lovely crowd and yesterday we had a pow-wow in the sauna. One member told us to expect an influx of new members from Wimborne, the nearest market town to our village. Apparently, their gym has closed down because the council cannot afford the upkeep.
We also discussed gel nails (most of the guys did not know what gel nails are!) but one of our lovely ladies has just had her fingernails and toenails beautifully improved and decorated with a golden glittery polish. They look wonderful! So now the men know about gel nails! I am sure they were THRILLED to learn all about such a vital piece of girlie grooming! 😂
We talked about how we have all lost some height as we have aged. One man said he got ‘new knees’ and regained about half an inch! I confessed that I have shrunk an inch in height, but gained about a mile in girth! Everyone laughed about that!
Some Monty Python banter ensued, as we imagined Mr Creosote trying to swim at our club! If you younguns don’t know Mr Creosote, here is his most famous scene plus one rare clip which was never shown, for some reason!
Sorry! I just had to see that explosion again! 🤣😂
Anyway, here is a new photo of me, wearing my new bespoke EMF Protection Monk’s Habit and riding Spiffy McZoom, my trusty steed. Behind me you can see my kitchen window and to the left of the photo, you can just make out the new full length mirror through the open front door. I have been avoiding looking in mirrors for many years, so putting it there is supposed to inspire me to stick to my diet and exercise plan!
Spiffy lives in a copious cupboard called The Tardis. We named it that because it is the biggest cupboard we have ever seen and provides space enough for all the stuff we simply HAVE to have, but rarely use! It is also a cloakroom (don’t-cha-know!)… Yeah, I am THAT posh! 🤣😂
Do you name your things? Or are we just eccentric?
At midnight last night, Dan presented me with a birthday gift. It is a new landline phone which has big numbers (for blind old bats) and pre-programmed quick phone numbers for the regular calls I make. It has a speaker phone so that I can chat without having to hold a handset at my ears! I love it!
We also had a frothy Galaxy hot chocolate drink with a shot of Soberano to celebrate my birthday before going to bed. Soberano always reminds me of Spain…. it is like brandy but a little sweeter because Spain is like France but a little warmer!
I hope to have a lovely day today, phoning all my friends on my new phone and entering their numbers into the speed dial facility.
Happy Birthday Frances!
What a fantastic gift your son gave you. What color is it? Red, like Spiffy? Thank you for all you do. You have educated and inspired me. I binged read your autobiography! You make this Earth a better place. In honor of your birthday, here’s a very corny joke 😆
A woman told her friend, “I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor’s permission to join a fitness club and start exercising.”
She said, “So I decided to take an aerobic class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But by the time I got my leotard on, the class was already over.”
Happy birthday to you!
((Psst…today is my birthday too!))
Cheers, birthday twin!!
🍻