Wonderful Wimbledon

It's my favourite time of the year again!

Such a joy and a privilege to actually be able to GO to Wimbledon.

Not that I am  greedy about it...no indeed!

I do not camp out overnight and queue for hours  for the limited tickets for courts 1 , 2 and 3 at discount prices.

£58 ( first days) £ 130 ( last days) 

 

I go  around lunch time, queue for an enjoyable hour or so, and pay £17 .

This gets me into the grounds , and  any match (space allowing) on courts 4 to 18.

It's enough for me! 

I will never be able to afford to pay the thousands and thousands of £'s for finals tickets.

£28 000 for this years men's finals I think.

At 5 pm, there are the resale tickets, £5, which goes to charity, that's how I got to see Federer in the quarter finals on centre court . Worth queuing for. Of course, not too many people put the final days tickets up for resale! Not impossible though, emergency for a doctor, death in the family, house burning down...it happens...

This year, I saw Martina Navratilova on court 18.

She was playing doubles with Pam Shriver in the women's invitation.

If I never get to go to Wimbledon again, I will die happy. 

Tennis wise, seeing Martina  is all I have ever wanted. I love her.

Not in a mad stalker way. Just in if she ever asked, I would leave The Hubby for her way.

Of course, the other 38 000 people in the grounds were on Henman  Hill watching Murray.

I don't like Murray. I think he is petulant. 

The Hubby laughs at me, because Murray can do nothing right in my eyes. And admittedly, I do go on about him a bit. Ok, quite a lot. At home. 

Boy oh boy...never say this to The Great Pom Public.

All I said ( in the corner shop) was that I thought he would have a hard time beating Novak Djokovic.

I didn't even start the conversation. 

It was like a pack of hyenas turning on me.

For a brief moment, I contemplated saying that I thought he was a sissy whiny crybaby.

Sanity prevailed and I left while the going was good. 

I don't not like him because he is a Pom.

I was happy ( for Britain, not him) when he won at the Olympics.

I didn't like Boris because he always spat on court.

I didn't like Wayne Ferreira because he, like Murray , was always a bridesmaid .

I didn't like anyone who beat Martina. 

Nothing to do with nationality.

I actually have a very vague idea of where Serbia  is, but I like Novak because he is a good player with a good attitude.

I think it is fantastic the way the Poms get behind their players. 

Good for them.

I just don't think Murray will win. 

If he does, I will post an apology on twitter, how's that? 

Wimbledon is a very personal experience for me. 

Best I keep enjoying it by myself! 

I don't even play tennis.

I once lived in Welkom

Indeed I did once live in Welkom. 

For those of my blog readers not in the know, it is a gold mining town right in the middle of South Africa.

Set up and laid out by Ernest Oppenheimer who said at the time, that the gold would last 50 years.

And that's exactly what happened.

50 years is over now.

We lived in Welkom  for 12  years, it was a wonderful experience for us.

Good schools, good lifestyle, nice people.

Amazingly cosmopolitan.

It's sad that Welkom is now in a decline, but there was always a sell by date. 

It was  an interesting time indeed.

We survived a tornado, earthquakes, floods, droughts and fires.

Dust storms and hailstorms, escaped rhinos, it was an interesting life! 

For The Famous Brother, who started his career in Welkom, couldn't have been better! 

There is a Facebook page called , indeed, "I Once Lived in Welkom. "

A very nice member of the group takes the time to post the weather report.

 I know, and indeed knew when I lived there, that it gets very cold and very hot.

But now that I live in the UK...

From 1 degree to 22 degrees is OUR  ENTIRE year's weather! 

Not just all in one day! 

Bloody hell.

The only thing that consoles me is that we now have central heating and double glazing.

We did not have this in Welkom when it was -5 and we got dressed in our beds with the electric blanket switched on.....

Many friends from Welkom are in the UK now.

If  I think back,  I think our time in Welkom was amazing.

Sonic the Hedgehog

This is Dear  Sonic . He has taken to visiting the garden every evening around 6.

Of course, I have been feeding him, he is too cute for words. 

He creeps under the back gate, ambles up the path, climbs up onto the deck and eats his dinner.

The Hubby and I are quite charmed by him.

However, The Hubby is at the shops at the minute.

Sonic arrived, and against the express wishes of The Hubby , I thought I might just try and pick Sonic up.

I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea. 

This is what I have learnt today.

Those prickles are really really sharp.

Multi purpose vinyl household gloves are no good, although I did only use them for hygienic purposes.

Luckily, because , yes, hedgehogs are covered in fleas. 

This hedgehog weighs about the same as a brick. 

So now I have three bleeding fingertips, a flea that ran up my arm and a cross hedgehog.

All those sites I googled that said they were lovely and made good pets and could be trained to use a litterbox and would SIT ON YOUR KNEE....they have not seen Sonic. 

He is HUGE.

In future I shall just watch him.

Give me a squirrel any day.

Summer!

And,suddenly summer!

See? It's not good to  complain about the weather.

Just wait long enough......

Today was good.

I decided not to be such a sissy baby and actually went to the dry cleaners and just pretended I had not made a terrible faux pas and was embarrassed.

The dry cleaners in turn pretended that I was not mad.

So, all good. I can go back again.

The car stalled and flashed terrible red warning lights, but when I came home (carefully) and phoned Merc, they said not to worry , was probably just a glitch.

So , good there too.

Couldn't ask The Hubby as he is still on Jury Duty and totally uncontactable.

Jury Duty means that I can actually clean his Bat Cave. (AKA The Study) 

Good there too.

What a day! 

Yay! 

Now I can go  and iron and watch The Jeremy Kyle Show without The Hubby Tut tutting at me.

Stupid show , I know, but gives me great insight into Pom Culture and requires not too much attention, which is good, as my iron makes loud steamy swooshing noises.

Happy Tuesday Everyone! 

Summer?

It is cold. It is cloudy. It is windy. In short, it is not summer.

Not even close.

So, in view of this crap weather, we are watching the ENTIRE series of Vikings on love film.

Love film is not great, but to be honest, it's not all that bad.

We have a special deal, 3 months trial for £4.99

This allows us , if nothing else to watch Dexter, Vikings and other movies and (older) boxed sets.

The Hubby has gone out to buy popcorn, water and something for supper.

Am considering getting the TV blanket back down from the loft.

Ha ha ha

Heinz means beanz

I love these.

Not that I particularly like baked beans, but The Hubby does.

So, small enough portion, pop in the microwave for 1 min, no mess no fuss,no waste, no can opener...

£2

Priceless

Please note, Dr Lauren, reduced sugar and salt.

Although I do cover them with pepper.