Saturday 16 July 2011

St Swithin's Day


Was it really St Swithin's Day yesterday. Facebook said it was so I suppose it must be true. It remained dry here all day, with just a teeny tiny amount of drizzle late afternoon so we thought we would be safe for the next 40 days and nights...but around 11 p.m. last evening down came the rains! But, you know what they say, the gardens and the farmers need it so all is not lost!

You may have noticed I have not been around for a while, that is because of the little one in the picture!

This is my gorgeous little grandaughter, Lucy, at MY HOME when she, her equally gorgeous big sister, Alice, and my daughter, the giver of said gorgeous children, came to from Sydney to visit us for the whole glorious month of June. Lucy looks as if she has been on a Pitman Typing Course! Having them all here for so long was fabulous, exhausting and amazing and such a treat to be a real Granny instead of a virtual one. I think I was a good granny but you will have to ask my daughter that!

Pitman Shorthand and Typing courses will not mean anything to my younger readers. I am of an age when girls like me had only a few obvious choices of career. Nursing, Teaching, working in a shop or working in an office... No point being ambitious because you would meet a man, and very soon after leave work and have children. This was the general attitude in the circles I moved it during the early 60's. I took a course at Secretarial Course at Salisbury College when I was 17 and passed with good grades. I loved shorthand but was not that keen on the typing, which was a shame as there was not much call for a Shorthand Secretary!

So many things have changed in my time and not all for the better. I do feel sorry for girls who feel they have to go back to work to continue on their career path when they would much prefer to stay at home as full time Mums. Not all of us are destined to be Leaders of Men! There I go again showing my age....

That is one of my little soap boxes aired and as I have not had my first cup of coffee yet I think I will love you and leave you to enjoy the weekend.