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Sound the Trumpets - A New Blog for the Older Brigade has Arrived!

Tis The Season of Goodwill!

The season of goodwill is upon us!  The shops online and in the High Streets are buzzing with Christmas fare.  There are 3 for 2 and 50% off, etc, enticing us to spend our hard-earned cash.  But I have become more savvy over the years.  I now make a list and stick to it with self-inflicted discipline to keep myself from going overboard.  I learned my lesson the hard way years ago, and now I am one step ahead of the crafty retailers’ advertising. Seriously, write a list. I do mine around the beginning of August (yes, as early as that).  And, bit by bit, I find out what the grandkids have their little hearts set on, except George, who is 7 and will chop and change from one week to the next and start putting money aside when I price things up.  The older grandkids all want money, so that is easy, and I begin to put money away for them from the beginning of the year; believe me, you don't notice it so much. Around October, I look at my Christmas decoration...
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That Unpredictable British Weather!


I don’t know about you, but lately the weeks have been zooming by faster than Formula 1 cars at the Grand Prix! One moment it's Monday, and the next I’m blinking into Friday like, "Wait, where did Monday to Thursday go!"

And don’t even get me started on the weather — it’s got more plot twists than a soap opera! Just yesterday I was grumbling about the heat (because of course I was), basking in glorious sunshine. But today? Today the skies decided to open up like I’d offended them an invitation.

There I was, happily on my way to see my grandsons when the clouds declared war. Drizzle turned into a downpour faster than you can say “umbrella!” I could feel the rain sneaking into the back of my trainers like tiny mischievous gremlins. I thought to myself, “Should’ve worn wellies!"

Ah, British weather — as reliable as a chocolate teapot. My journey back home is a solid 1.5-mile trek. At first, it was just a gentle drizzle, but a few minutes in, I had to deploy the brolly. Then came the real rain — buckets of it!  If there had been even a slight breeze, my umbrella would've flipped inside out, and I’d have looked like I'd done fifty laps at the local swimming pool!

But hey, that’s the charm, right? British weather: unpredictable, moody, but oh-so-authentically ours.

And now, as I sit here writing this, it’s 5:03 PM...guess what? The sun's back out like nothing ever happened. Typical! 

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