A very satisfying day .....

Today I received my first blog award from the lovely Caroline over at What's Happening at My House and I am chuffed to bits.

Now comes the tricky bit .... I have to list ten happy memories and when you get to my age it's hard to whittle them all down and sometimes remember everything ! Nevertheless I will have a go.

1. This wonderful couple were my paternal grandparents Norman and Lizzie Ellen Scowen ...... when I was a child they used to bundle us grandkids up and take us off most summer weekends to go camping on the east coast, usually Jaywick, Clacton or Lowestoft. These times are the most vivid memories from my childhood ..... carefree days of fishing, cockling, kite flying and building sandcastles on the beach. Grandma was a bit of a hard woman probably because she had to be during the war years when she was left on her own with six children. Grandad was a gem .... he was funny and I don't ever remember seeing him down in the dumps ..... he would be 100 years old now and they were married for 66 years when they both passed in 1996.
2. Beach Belle .... aged 4 ..... look at the lovely beach huts in the background.

3. Has to be during my High School days ..... my friend Karen and I went on a youth hostelling trip to Somerset ..... we told our parents porkies that it was an equal mix of boys and girls but it wasn't we were the only girls!! We had a great time and I only spilled the beans to my mum a couple of years ago. No photos of this sadly as it would have blown our cover.

4. Bridesmaid to my work friend Vicky when I was 18 .... of for the days BC (before children) .... note the 70s favourite velvet jacket worn by my then fiance and now husband

..... do you like my Purdey haircut .... cost me a fortune in Vidal Sassoon.

5. Another wedding ..... this time ours on 3rd November 1979

6. This has to be the births of my four lovelies in 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1988

7. Family holidays in Dorset when I was slim (sigh)

8. When my dad retired in 1998 he took us all to Portugal on holiday .... sixteen in total ..... my brother and sister and their families and all six of us ..... it was the first time we had all been away together and we still talk about it now. On our last family holiday together last year the empire had expanded to 24 of us .... this was to celebrate my 50th birthday and we rented a lovely old manor house in Charmouth, Dorset.

9. The births of my grandchildren in 2004, 2007 and 2009.

10. Last but not least my very latest memory ...... my son's wedding last weekend (see previous post)

Now I have to pass this on to a fellow blogger .... I have thought long and hard and have finally decided to give this award to Cathy at Menopausal Musing .... her blog is always a joy to read, it is a riot of colour, clever and oh so funny ...... she brightens my day with every post.