Thursday 30 April 2009

30th April 1980



really were did it go....??

Today is my 2nd anniversary of blogging as 70steen ... I am glad to say my typos have improved slightly but not that much .. I have met some wonderful folk and have belly laughed oh so many times at the posts I have read and the comments that have been left on here. You are all fabby.

Thank you to every one who have wandered aimlessly in here since my first post back in 2007.

It is also Olga's 2nd Anniversary too .... that means we must be related ... surely if not through blogging then through our Irish ancestry lol

So cheers everyone help yourself to a drop of bubbly and try not to knock it over DP.... you may have to get one from the top as you can't bend just now!!!




p.s. if any one wishes to drink champers from my shoe just let me know & I will give it a rinse under the tap first ;-)

Tuesday 28 April 2009

28th April 1980

Monday 28
Sam's grand dad's funeral
Held at Thornton
Very upsetting (mmm of course it was, it was a funeral???)
Eats afterwards (well that made it better!)
Got home at 5.00
Miss Sam
Fi came round at 9.30
Phoned Sam
********************
Well that is the last full entry in my 1980 diary
There are dates surrounding when I took my A' levels in June and some later in the year but nothing outstanding I don't think... so I must think what to write here??

Have I mentioned I have a new mobile phone? Well I have. It is an LG Cookie which my daughter said was 'poo' until she saw it came with a Wii & Wii Fit... suddenly it was the best phone on the planet .. strange that??


Yes of course I got a pink one !!

Must say I looooove the Wii particularly as it gave my age as 13 years younger than I really am.
Needless to say I am rubbish at most of the sports bar the tennis... the down hill slalom ....oh come on knocking down the flags is so much fun .... & the jogging just had me in fits of laughter as I wasn't wearing the right bra (I will leave that comment to the imagination!!)

Anyway back to the phone. I have actually discovered that you can make phone calls on it (it took a while) and I tried out the camera this weekend ... mmm I am way impressed!!







pup did not like this statue with his yellow painted on undies despite Teens attempts to say 'there there it is a lovely statue'! Pup never even noticed the other ones we passed.. how strange?

So where were we???

Monday 27 April 2009

27th April 1980

Sunday 27
Went to Sam's grandma's for dinner (must have been a bit tense after her husband had just died!)
Left there at 3.30
Went to the Snooty Fox with Sam & Mike
Spoke to MH from Paris 9 (ooo Paris 9 were a local band whose members went to school with Sam .. MH was the most gorgeous man I have ever seen wearing eyeliner... hey it was the 80s !)

Watched 'Clockwork Orange' til 1.30
********************************
Funnily enough this weekend I popped into my bro house as he was getting rid of DVD as he now has 'Blue Ray' what ever that is ?? so Teen and I came home with around 20 DVDs one of which was 'Clockwork Orange'.

I have had a pretty S**tty week last week and weekend .. my cat was sick, I had to put her to sleep, then I got the Mother of all tooth abscesses which caused my face to look like Joseph Merrick, then my other cat started peeing blood ... so off to the vets again today (thankfully it is cat cystitis which is caused through stress... so a couple of quick jabs and a course of antibiotics and all will be well), with all this I forgot to pay my cc bill so got hammered with interest and late payment ... so with vet bills of £200 plus my dental care I now pronounce myself seriously without any shopping funds !!

As it is still Monday I feel I need to to 'Mellow Yellow'
This image is from a card I picked up from a dumper basket for 10p


Loving Bananas in Pyjamas




Back at work tomorrow so all will be back to normal:-)

Sunday 26 April 2009

24th, 25th & 26th April 1980

Thursday 24 ~ blank
Friday 25 ~blank

Saturday 26
Worked 9 - 6
Got a 70p pay rise (lets not get excited that wasn't per hour it was per day)
Quite busy all day
Sam was at Donnington Park watching 'Pro Cars'
Baby say 9pm - 3am (I bet I only got a couple of quid for it too)
Sam arrived at 11.00

*******************
Had a lovely day out yesterday I and my friend H went to a craft fair thingy at Aintree Racecourse. Tickets kindly sourced and delivered by Annie Mouse.
Got there just after 9.45 am and it busy already. Spent a fortune on craft stuff... ribbons, papers, beads indeed all sorts of interesting stuff ... not to mention bits and bobs for Teens GCSE Textiles practical exam tomorrow and Tuesday ..... She is making a corset ..... Nurse Myra will be so pleased.

Oh and did I mention ... two small paper cupped Cappuchinos were £5.... 5 QUID!!!!

However, the more I go to these things the more I am convincing myse
lf I need to pack up work and do art stuff .... now where did I put that rich sugardaddy ?????

Oh talking of 'daddy's'
DP you would have loved this display .... a knitted picnic ... superb...
The detail is so cool
I got a bit carried away when visiting the knitting bit ... I said I would send them my knitting patterns that I liberated from a charity shop e.g these 80s classics......

mmm I am not sure if I can part with them ?????

[reminder to self .... sort out rock competition!!! ]

Wednesday 22 April 2009

21st, 22nd &23rd April 1980

Monday 21
Got home from Northampton at 5.50

Tuesday 22
......'blank'.......

Wednesday 23
St.George's Day
Mar & her boyfriends birthdays

Bought Mar a cardy
& her boyfriend a tool box
Went to Manchester for the day
Bought a purple tube dress for £8.99 from Miss Selfridges
(ahh a 'tube dress' yes it is what it says on the tin.. a tube of material that touched every lump and bump... I was way skinnier in them days )
this is not me but this is
Today I would probably look like this is a purple tube dress


Sam's Grandad died. (He was such a lovely kind & gentle man)
*********************
Wishing my Mum a very Happy 78th Birthday on St. Georges Day :-)

Well I have done the dreaded decision thing......took poorly Wallis to the vets last night and he diagnosed kidney problems and recommended we could do this or that ... put her on a drip ... do tests ... she may last another few months with treatment ... or she may be too sick to recover etc etc !

She was horribly dehydrated despite the huge amounts of water she was drinking.

He injected loads of fluids in her and I brought her home.
She didn't perk up and I gave her milk which she drank with a passion ... this morning she threw it all up with some awful looking bile... I took her tonight at 6.10 back to the vets... held her and said goodbye...... she is now at peace and no longer in that awful distressed place ...she even looked happy. I know we made the right decision as she was not going to get better.

Her sister misses her and is looking for her around the house.... before I took her the pup was barking at her to play as they did play but she couldn't get up ..... Ok no more pets for me (but you know I lie!!)

Monday 20 April 2009

19th & 20th April 1980

Saturday 19
Went into town (Northampton)
Disco in th p.m

Sunday 20
Marlborough Daily Express International Aurora Championship at Silverstone =
freezing cold & quite boring
(ahh how racing has changed when cigarettes monopolised the sponsorship of motor racing now it it is 'high caffeine blow your socks off bouncing off the walls drink'(non -alcoholic of course) )

***************
Just watched Ashes to Ashes ... superb . Based in 1982. An Audi Quattro. Bad Fashion. And so un PC but verging on getting PC. Plus everyone smoked every where........

By 1982 I had ceased to be a teen and was back to 'learning' after 18 months of being the lowest of the low in civil servant terms (I was a casual administrative assistant who just did stacks of filing all day .. it was indescribably boring.. despite me having my transistor radio with an ear piece so I could listen to Radio One all day (oh you could say I was listening to my 'tranny today' back then without fear of upsetting someone!!)... ipods eat your heart out lol)
I announced to my Mum I wanted to go to Uni/Poly and was met with ... 'neither of your brothers did that, sp what do you want to do that for?'
That was the biggest spur I needed and in 1982 I signed up for a Business and Finance course with Marketing. I actually wanted to do European Studies with a language but I think I was the only person that signed up for it and the course didn't run (How un-forward thinking were we then??)

On a sad note today I think that one of my cats is dying. Dear Wallis. She has gone from being very active to losing weight in a week and not eating today although she has been eating ok up to now. She is 13.
I found her on the bathroom floor earlier flat out and dribbling. I picked her up and she purred for me, I have brought her down stairs and have made her comfortable.
Wally is really Teen's cat and her sister Jess is mine. She has wanted a lot to do with me as she is a one person (so I was happy she purred earlier when I gently lifted her up and cuddled her) but adores Teen as she does her.
When I got the 2 cats it was when ex & I were parting and we still had an old cat Rocky at home.
Wally adored him as he did her and she would follow him everywhere, when he died she was distraught ... unlike Jess who loved human company& didn't notice Rocky's demise at all.
Dark days ahead I feel .... many tears from Teen & I.....


Taken this weekend (pets chilling in the sunshine)
I have made a really comfy bed for her in the kitchen tonight ...

Saturday 18 April 2009

18th April 1980

Friday 18
Went to Northampton with Sam = great

(and that was it!!!!???)

****************************
I can't believe how quickly my 10 days off work have gone.
But I have done a lot.
Spent time with my Mum in Southport, had my niece and children to stay and had a fabulous day out yesterday in Liverpool with Annie Mouse & my cuz CKX. (not to mention the painting of the hall and half the dining room)
We shopped, had a tour of the Conservation Museum by my cuz (it is fabulous... I so wish I had become a conservator!), we sat in the new gardens at Liverpool One in the sunshine drinking coffee and had a most excellent meal in La Tasca.

This lady is the Pride of Liverpool. She sat on top of the Walker Art Gallery from 1877 to 1993. But as you can see she has worn a little up there and now lives safely in the Conservation Museum.
Loving her reflection on the wall
looking across the Mersey. I am wanting some B&W prints of my photos to transfer onto small canvasses to hang in my newly painted hall.... this may be an contender.
Liverpool One
us 3

After dropping my teen off with her dad, taking the pup on an epic walk, cutting down next doors tree..... I decided to build an IKEA buy that I got in bargain corner for 15 quid.

I undid the packaging and poured the contents onto the dining room floor... found the instructions and ......these were they

check have the tools, check have only me, check have a rug & a phone.... but that was it... the last picture shows how to attach the unit to another piece of furniture.... the building instructions were missing !!! damn

I checked all the pieces and sat figuring it all out (50 odd screwy bits and numerous pieces of wood!!)
Then set to work. I now know why it was reduced from £50 to £15... the guy who had the dowel drill had too big a drill bit and the other guys that did the rest of it had a too small a drill bit ... it must have been a Friday afternoon lot!!
Anyway after an hour I DID IT .. feeling very smug :-)



oh I do have to fess to this blonde moment .... always align the drawer grooves before screwing the draw tight oh and put the drawer bottom in before attaching all 4 sides of the drawer Doh!!!

Thursday 16 April 2009

16th & 17th April 1980

Wednesday 16 & Tuesday 17 ... both blank I'm afraid !!

Looking at the number one hits in the UK at this time we had had a change ... on the 12th April the Jam were knocked off their top slot with 'Going Underground' by a classic dance track.

The Detroit Spinners ... 'Working My Way Back to You'

Oh how I have danced my way through this track over the past 29 years. It appears at every disco, nightclub, wedding, 21st, 18th, 40th etc I have been to


I have already featured a piece about the Detroit Spinners here in May 1979 do take a peek ... superb tracks to get your toes tapping.


Well all of day today I have been up and down a ladder finishing painting my hall (yep more paint on me than the walls!)... I just need a plumber now to fix on the new radiator, then I can fix on new skirting and get the carpet fitters in. The hall is looking great .. my house is 100 years old and to have freshly plastered walls that are straight is a luxury.

As I had some paint left I thought I would carry on through to the dining room but alas I ran out ... but I am looking at a plain white wall in the dining room with nothing on the walls & I am loving that look.......B&Q is beckoning on Saturday

Tomorrow I am having a chilling day with my mate Annie Mouse (whose blog has mysteriously disappeared??) and my cuz CKX in my home town of Liverpool can't wait to catch up with them both

Blogger doesn't seem to want to load any photos today .. hey ho !!

Wednesday 15 April 2009

14th & 15th April 1980

Monday 14
Sad Cafe Concert
Got home from Stafford a 1.30
Sad Cafe concert = excellent
Paul Young is so sexy !!
Phoned Sam at 11.15

Tuesday 15
'blank'
*******************
This was the 2nd time I had been to see Sad Cafe. I originally saw them on 2nd May 1978.
They were brilliant then and excellent the 2nd time around.
Sad Cafe were a North West band from Manchester and later Paul Young joined up with Mike Rutherford & Paul Carrack to form Mike and the Mechanics.

Sadly Paul died suddenly from a heart attack in 2000 aged 53


It has been an eventful Easter break for my family.
Firstly my Teen was in Rome when the earthquake struck 50 odd miles away.... then there was my brother who is in Bangkok whilst the riots went on and last night my other brother was stranded dockside at Calais when the French fishermen barricaded the ports ... (I spent a lot of last evening trying to find alternative routes home for him I dread to think what my mobile phone bill will like??)thankfully he was one of the 3000 people that managed to get home during an avenue of grace last night and got back to Kent around midnight.
mmmmm a handy hint if you are travelling anywhere just check with me to see if any of my family are going to the same place!!!

As you can see I have had another image change due to a secret message from GitWizard... he didn't like the 'non colour' in the last template... it was a bit grown up I must admit!!

Dear Frac has made a sterling suggestion for the competition to win sticks of Southport rock... a knitting compo. I think it is a great idea but I think I need to refine the rules .... 'watch this space' as they say ...

Meanwhile, I have been working on the photo album for my mum and did another page earlier

My mother is on the front row aged 14 (the one with the elastic leg lol)
This is a working page where all her grand & gt grandchildren will post a post card

I am waiting another 4 before I can complete

& finally my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones at Hillsborough in 1989.
It is like people asking 'where were you when John Lennon was killed' or 'JFK' or 'Princess Di' .. where were you when Hillsborough happened?

I remember the day so well. My husband & I were gardening on a warm April day listening to the Liverpool match on the radio. We both stopped still listening to what was going on and ended up in the lounge in deep silent disbelief and grief at what we were seeing on the TV.

Huge hugz and warm love to all of those who lost loved ones that day and those that had loved ones who have sufffered terribly since, because of that awful day .. I know for me as Liverpool supporter (more strongly then than now) ... it was a most awful place to be in history .. to take your kids/loved ones to an innocent football game and to return home a widow[er] and /or childless I can only feel a nano second of their eternity of grief.

God bless x

Sunday 12 April 2009

11th, 12th & 13th April 1980

Friday 11
Stayed in all day
Went up to a party in Bingley
It was crap
We all went back to Sam's for drink
Loads stayed over

Saturday 12
At Woolpack all 'avo
Took Afghan for a long walk
Went to the Wagon & Horses for drink
We all dossed around the village green and had chips

Sunday 13
'blank'

*****************
well I am back home after a couple of days spent with my Mum on the glorious NW coast of England. I love going home and smelling the sea air albeit it does zonk me out. It is so true what they say about a change of air .. believe me! (mm must get it together and look at how much a property will cost me there ??)

On Saturday we went to the sea front at Southport. It was a beautiful clear day and you could see Blackpool .. beautiful sky

Today we went to Liverpool, visited the new landing stages on the Mersey, Sefton Park where we went as small kids, and Crosby beach to see Gormleys sculptures (the tide was in so we only saw a head)


Yesterday morning I walked the pup around the village where I grew up. Passing houses were my best friends used to lived .. 'J' would be mortified at number 25 the current owners have left it go to rack and ruin...Number 43 'L's' house, number 67 were Mrs C lived has new PVC windows and looks really posh...number 71 with its own private drive where we were threatened if we kicked the stones up the drive (hey we were kids and we kicked).

Number 85 was my home from the age of 3.. it has new PVC windows that my brother put in after he bought it from my mother 25 years ago.. it still looks how I remember it.. Across the road the 'new houses' that were built in the 70s (there were trees and railway sidings there before the houses.. I know coz we used to play in the train carriages and trees) they look so established now 30 years on.. my either side next door neighbours were Mrs G & Mr & Mrs B (I only know Mr & Mrs first names (as we would call them Aunty M & Uncle B) ... I still don't know Mrs G's name!! My next doors kids called me 'aunty' and still do even though the youngest are 19)
The village has changed a lot .. the 'Outer Limits' shop is now a laundrette, Tesco is a restaurant but the chocolate Box' is still a newsagents that sells kiddy sweets and cheap toys ... superb I wil be adding more photos of my Easter break on Flickr later ... so you can click on the Flickr image in my side bar to view or if you are too lazy click here.... it certainly isn't 'grim up North' ;-)

thinking of running a competition as I have bars of Southport Rock to give away ... haven't decided on the game yet??