October seems to have come and gone within the blink of an eye and with nothing much in the diary out-of-the-ordinary. This time of year is not my favourite and tends to be variously sunny and unseasonably warm or damp, chilly and dreary. It’s the latter that doesn’t ‘float my boat’ and with a second Lockdown in the offing I’ve tried hard to seek out the positive snippets. Diggerland with Family The month kicked off with a positive story – the arrival of our London family. Their visit coincided with grim weather but did that stop us booking into Diggerland? Of course it didn’t. Followin ..read more

During September we experienced a very welcome late summer heatwave which coincided with our visit to the caravan. I wrote… The sun is relentless and as usual, when walking the south coast path in such conditions, sweat drips down my face and into my eyes. I’ve tried all manner of solutions but to no avail. It’s uncomfortable (and unattractive) but something I’m resigned to live with. Visiting Lyme Regis We weren’t the only ones making the most of the wonderful weather. We drove around the long stay car park twice before bagging a space and walking down the 114 steps to Church Cliff walkway ..read more

So here we are in early September. Grandchildren are back at school and college and the leaves on the birch trees which surround our house are changing colour. Thankfully we’re no longer fighting off the birch seed invasion but instead are girding our loins for the autumnal leaf fall. Still, it’s a small price to pay for our green outlook. Dulwich Library to Oxford Circus via Elephant and Castle I’ve just finished reading Sandi Toksvig’s new memoir Between the Stops, the view of my life from the top of a No.12 bus. My best friend and oft-times recommender of reading material said she tho ..read more

I do believe this diary snippets idea is the way forward. At last I feel motivated to put virtual ‘pen to paper’. Wells of Somerset: features on our map I’m referring to holy wells. I mention them because on recent walks we’ve come across a couple. There are a number in our neck of the woods and most have associated legends – often more folksy than holy. After unsuccessfully scrambling through undergrowth at 85% humidity, (legs scratched, arms stung and dripping sweat – you get the picture) with Eric refusing to join me in my quest (can’t imagine why) we discovered St David’s Well in Seven We ..read more

Perhaps you’ve noticed how Ginger Grandma hasn’t been updated as often as it once was. There are a number of reasons amongst which is tedium. I’ve been writing blog posts since 2007 and quite honestly I’ve lost the original drive. Also, since May 2019 I’ve been keeping a more detailed and personal diary. The one would appear to make the other redundant. I’ve no intention to publish the diary online. Not that it would reveal secrets or cause offence or harm. It’s more about good old British reserve. Sharing ones woes over social media may be therapeutic for some but it isn’t for me. Some time a ..read more

Incredibly we’ve reached that Golden milestone in our married life. I can’t do justice to all fifty years in one post and sadly it’s only in recent years that I’ve kept any sort of diary but it would be criminal to let the occasion go by without recording it on Ginger Grandma. Suffice it to say we married in Hertfordshire at 12 noon on 4 July 1970. It was a nondescript day weatherise with a little fine drizzle in the morning. The sun did come out briefly in the afternoon for our black and white photographs (see below). I remember clearly the photographer telling us that colour photography was ..read more

We’ve marked a number of occasions in a variety of ways during Lockdown, some with more pomp than others. A Birthday My birthday at the height of the pandemic was, at my request, supposed to slip by unnoticed. I didn’t mind staying the same age for twenty four months. Who does at my age. And, somehow it didn’t seem appropriate, on the date the UK suffered the largest number of Coronavirus deaths, to celebrate. Family and friends had other ideas. There were flowers for the house, others for the garden, cup cakes baked by James followed by video birthday greeting calls. 75th anniversary of VE D ..read more

Baking in lockdown has become the new religion for some. As a consequence a number of ingredients have been very hard to come by, especially flour and yeast. I have a theory. Whilst some folk will catch the baking bug, others will begin enthusiastically then move on to other lockdown activities ignoring stocks of flour, yeast and other ingredients languishing in cupboards until weevils move in and yeast looses its potency. Depending on one’s preferences, baking, and cooking in general, might be considered therapeutic. There’s something elemental about providing home cooked food for family. Th ..read more

,Verb: shield (ʃiːld) – to protect from a danger, risk, or unpleasant experience On possibly the hottest day of the year, I’ve been indoors shielding, not because of Coronavirus but because our south facing garden is too hot too bear and I’m avoiding the weekend exercisers. Boris is doing a big reveal tomorrow evening. I wonder what his road map will look like. Will we be able to travel further afield to take exercise? Will our PM advise that small family groups may meet if they’re not in the vulnerable category and aren’t suffering symptoms? There’s talk of garden centres and recycling c ..read more

In our weird and wonderful world where Coronavirus dominates, it’s remarkable how we’re adapting. Not to trivialise life in lockdown. I can only imagine how awful it is for those who are concerned with family and/or friends suffering from or coping with the virus itself; people struggling to afford food and provide home schooling for their children; others who are suffering from associated mental health issues. Life in Lockdown I’m talking in general. People who study such things say levels of traffic on our roads are at 1955 levels; pollution in our cities and industrial areas has plummeted t ..read more