A special...

...day was Friday.  It was our wedding anniversary, and to say it celebrated a few years would be an understatement.  Not as many as some, but a fair few.  The day was saddened though by the passing of an old family friend.  The day he should've been celebrating his 90th birthday he passed away.  A grand age, but a sad day...

The skies above us have been quiet.  We have some noise from the odd passing fighter jet, but these with commercial airlines have been stopped from flying here...so, if this affects you and your holiday, you have my sympathy...if like my youngest son you live near an airport, you can make the most of these few days of respite.  Commercially damaging I know, but for those who live near them...just a few days of peace.

I'm not sure how many balls I have in the air at present.  Juggling maybe an art, and in reality it's not something I have ever been able to do, but with projects...I can cope.  The kitchen is nearly complete, the taps are on their way and the worktops should be measured this week.  A new (old) cupboard entered our lives on Saturday, when we visited Steptoes in Dereham and fell in love with an old oak four door cupboard, perfect for crockery and linens.  Skirtings went on over the weekend, plumbing in place, so now all I need are three strong men here at the same time and the larder can go upright, rather than laying forlornly on it's side...waiting.  We're getting there.

A downside to the weekend, my team lost...they should've won if the pictures were anything to go by, but the opposing goalkeeper had one of those matches, where everything he touched(and he touched a lot) went away...I knew he'd be our downfall this match, but I guess it makes the locals around here happy...so everyone should be going around with a smile on their face.  Maybe Delia will make a celebratory cake.  An annoying thing about it...those teams around us all dropped points too, so we could've climbed.  Hey ho!!

And now...

...the end has come, and the final curtain has been pulled across the death throes of a season.

Black...gallows humour abounded at the Valley on Sunday, when the whole stadium stood and chanted "Stand up, if you're going down"...by this time Charlton were three goals to the good against Norwich, and Barnsley were drawing at Home Park, Plymouth. For Norwich to be safe they needed two things to happen, they needed Barnsley to lose to Plymouth and Norwich needed to play over their nerves, which they couldn't. How many times have we seen those nerves jangling, and exposed with the Charlton players this season...that must win game...those got to have points. Let's hope next season we give ourselves a good start and a base to build on, then we shouldn't see those nerves.

Where I sit/sat, I had some nice gentleman behind me already booing Hudson when the team was announced...it makes you wonder! Last game he was explaining to him how he should be going back to his last club...

Whatever happens during the close season, players out(eleven out of contract), players in...changes in the management or boardroom, it's going to make an interesting first game in August, but a more interesting few months between now and then.

Congratulations to Cambridge United for reaching the Conference play off final...they beat Stevenage after being down 2-0 in the away leg. They now meet Torquay United, who beat Histon in the second semi-final, which was a shame, it would've been great seeing two local rivals meeting in such a game. For those who don't know Cambridgeshire geography, Histon is a large village just north of Cambridge city, literally on the edge, with just the A14 between them.

In a low scoring game, Kent beat Middlesex on Sunday at Southgate, with Tredwell having bowling figures of 27-6 from 10 overs including 3 maidens, and then went on to beat Scotland yesterday, both Trophy games. Tomorrow sees the start of the Test Series against the West Indies...the first match is at Lord's, starting at 11:00am.

Here endeth the sports bulletin...please see the next episode for the rest of the news...

I note...

...that the final game of the season has had it's kick off time changed by the Football League. But, hey...what's forty five minutes between friends. I also see it's being touted as a potentially crucial clash, it being against current fellow strugglers Norwich.

In our dreams it is! I know we have two games in hand on them, but...don't hold your breath for six points...they're still nine away.

And as a sideline, we are told their sponsors Norwich Union are now Aviva...you can hear it, can't you?

"A viva el Norwich!"

Sorry, it's been one of those kind of days...with a joy filled evening to come!

Now there's...

...a thing!

As predicted, tomorrow came...and another draw ensued. This means that our run of not winning extends to seventeen, we have a replay to get through...but, it also means we ARE in the hat today. Let's hope game nineteen and the number thirteen are lucky for us! Nineteen because we play Notts Forest (who beat Man City yesterday), this coming Saturday (game eighteen), and how they'll be rejuvenated by that win and their new manager...and thirteen, because we replay against Norwich on Tuesday the 13th, and we're ball number thirteen in the draw today. I'm hoping that eighteen will be lucky, I have reservations there though!

Yesterday was different, seeing the game from a different vantage point, still having the same kind of supporters around us, but at least these were a little more positive towards the team. I am concerned about whether the board have the want to keep Jonjo Shelvey, he's just so good and a brightness in the gloom covering the Valley. For those who don't know, he's our sixteen year old midfielder, and little used this season, but already you can see his understanding of the game. His influence yesterday was beyond his years, and he scored a cracker of a goal. I just hope they remember that being under seventeen he's not worth as much as after seventeen...and any monetary difficulties we're in could influence that decision. Maybe by then they'll like us again, or have sold us on...I mean, Ashbey has taken Newcastle off the market, West Ham have more problems then it might be worth new owners looking at! Like a £30m debt to Sheffield United, plus other financial decisions to make. Back to the team, it was good seeing Yassin Moutaouakil playing again, and a surprise to see Matt Holland as a central defender, but you couldn't ask for more industry and savvy from an older midfielder! There were positives, but we are letting ourselves down each time.

We are "promised" four signings in this transfer window. I wonder? Who and how? More loans?

Anyway, in the short term...do I go shopping in Norwich next week? Decisions, decisions!

I also promise some new items being listed in my shop, and I'm thinking about separating my items out, maybe having one shop for the beads, and another for the jewellery...we'll see.

Tomorrow...

...never comes. Or that's how the saying goes. I know as sure as eggs is eggs tomorrow will come, and by this time tomorrow we'll know the outcome of the cup game. I'll know when the final whistle goes, as I've got the tickets tucked in my bag, for the game. As a cup game I had to buy them...even as a season ticket holder, but we've decided to try a different perspective of the game and view it from the upper north stand. We also thought there might be more people up there...I doubt if many of those who sit around us in the lower stand will have bothered. And then after tomorrow we have the joys of a week of waiting until the league comes back into swing, and can we beat a newly invigourated Notts Forest with their new manager...who knows. We've already lost three loanees, with Primus and Cranie going back to Portsmouth at the end of their loan period, and Gillespie being recalled by his club Sheffield United, the day before we played them. None of which gives us any money...and the general feeling is we have to sell before we buy...now there's a thought! Didn't we do that one or was it just my imagination? Didn't we sell a guy named D Bent, amongst others?

And back to the normal turn of life...Mum returns home tomorrow, being delivered on our way to the game. Life here returns to structured days...and thoughts of designs...well, for a month anyway!

Ancestry...

...and all that!

I've been tracing mine and my husband's family trees over the last few months, and I've established true lines going back to 1750ish...with hints going back a further three hundred years, but that all needs to be verified.

Today I made a discovery which was quite a coincidence. We've been hoping to move to Norfolk, and though we've nearly decided to stay put for the time, we did find a house in Alby, near Aylsham (sold now), and looked at ones in Beetley...and near Fakenham. In the family tree, I knew my great-grandfather came from Norwich, Norfolk and was a carpenter...today, I found his father and sisters...and between them they were born in Beetley, Stibbard, near Fakenham, and Alby. That seems spooky to me! Part of my husband's mother's family we've discovered came from Norwich too, of which she had no knowledge!

Seems the draw of "home" was calling for both of us!