Patsy and I (Warts and All).
- Thread starter colpatben
- Start date
As we move into 2005 I had managed to win a contract for a job in Milan during January and February, not a lot of difference to London except there was a lot more snow but much the same temperature. Patsy visited a couple of weekends and I came back to her on others.
By the end of my stint away she had decided to find a little job, so went of to work in Canary Wharf.
I have no idea how I took this picture but I have included it for its uniqueness.
We enjoyed more time in London together during the summer of 2005.
By September we were ready for a break, so off we went to the Amalfi coast.
You have to take the boat ride to Capri
A quiet 2005 for us!
Always in Love.
Colin.
By the end of my stint away she had decided to find a little job, so went of to work in Canary Wharf.
I have no idea how I took this picture but I have included it for its uniqueness.
We enjoyed more time in London together during the summer of 2005.
By September we were ready for a break, so off we went to the Amalfi coast.
You have to take the boat ride to Capri
A quiet 2005 for us!
Always in Love.
Colin.
Attachments
2006 turned out to be eventful and busy year for us both.
On January 20th this story was all over the news https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/20/houseofcommons.thameswhale
Living within a stones throw of Tower bridge we were there gawking like everybody else:
On 15th February 2006 My Decree Absolute came through,
In Early May there was a spectacular piece of Street theatre:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sultan's_Elephant
Again we were there with the camera at the ready:
August took us across the channel to visit Patsy’s ex sister-in-law who have a house in the Somme Valley Northern France.
A Visit to the City of Albert and The Somme Trench Museum:
We also visited the Thiepval Memorial
My Grandfather was in Sergeant in The Royal Artillery and was in those very same fields. He was a good horseman and told some stories of how he rode the last pair of horses next to the gun Limber.
Many lost and forgotten stories, that when younger we never thought to record.
Always in Love.
Colin.
Part 2 shortly.
On January 20th this story was all over the news https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/20/houseofcommons.thameswhale
Living within a stones throw of Tower bridge we were there gawking like everybody else:
On 15th February 2006 My Decree Absolute came through,
In Early May there was a spectacular piece of Street theatre:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sultan's_Elephant
Again we were there with the camera at the ready:
August took us across the channel to visit Patsy’s ex sister-in-law who have a house in the Somme Valley Northern France.
A Visit to the City of Albert and The Somme Trench Museum:
We also visited the Thiepval Memorial
My Grandfather was in Sergeant in The Royal Artillery and was in those very same fields. He was a good horseman and told some stories of how he rode the last pair of horses next to the gun Limber.
Many lost and forgotten stories, that when younger we never thought to record.
Always in Love.
Colin.
Part 2 shortly.
2006 Part 2.
In October Patsy was thinking we should find a new home together, she had ived in Reigate for some time in the 80s so Redhill seemed like a good staring point, we moved to a house not far from the Station so as to maintain easy access to London and her friends.
September takes us into Scotland for my 60th Birthday staying at Drimsynie Estate hotel at Loch Goil.
No matter where we travel, Pasqual and Geraldine are always close by!
We also made a trip to Stirling to see this fine fellow:
William Wallace.
Sadly my Mum died on 7th Nov 2006.
To top off a busy year, a return to St Kitts for Christmas:
I have to say that the island had totally changed after the opening of the cruise terminal Port Zante. The island was now so full of tourists that it would not have been a pleasure if we had decided to settle there;
To finish off here is a comparison photo of Patsy under the same palm 3 years apart.
Bigger palm, shorter hair.
Always in Love.
👩❤️💋👨
Colin.
In October Patsy was thinking we should find a new home together, she had ived in Reigate for some time in the 80s so Redhill seemed like a good staring point, we moved to a house not far from the Station so as to maintain easy access to London and her friends.
September takes us into Scotland for my 60th Birthday staying at Drimsynie Estate hotel at Loch Goil.
No matter where we travel, Pasqual and Geraldine are always close by!
We also made a trip to Stirling to see this fine fellow:
William Wallace.
Sadly my Mum died on 7th Nov 2006.
To top off a busy year, a return to St Kitts for Christmas:
I have to say that the island had totally changed after the opening of the cruise terminal Port Zante. The island was now so full of tourists that it would not have been a pleasure if we had decided to settle there;
To finish off here is a comparison photo of Patsy under the same palm 3 years apart.
Bigger palm, shorter hair.
Always in Love.
👩❤️💋👨
Colin.
Attachments
2007: Part one, from a busy year ahead.
In March off to Cornwall to see my dear old Dad and visit a Cousin of Patsy’s who was living in Penzance with a lovely lady Artist.
View from back of Dads house: this photo dated 3rd March 2007 so they must have been near perfect for picking as Mothers Day that year was on Sunday 18th March.
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth comes to mind.
View from the front of the house. View over The Helford River (sorry a little out of focus)
Patsy & Her cousin.
And his Artist Girlfriend: Mary Stork. She didn’t like to be photographed. Sadly passed later in the same year.
Whilst there she gave us one of her works which she called ‘The Lovers’. Signed it and added our names.
Part two later.
Always in Love
Colin.
In March off to Cornwall to see my dear old Dad and visit a Cousin of Patsy’s who was living in Penzance with a lovely lady Artist.
View from back of Dads house: this photo dated 3rd March 2007 so they must have been near perfect for picking as Mothers Day that year was on Sunday 18th March.
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth comes to mind.
View from the front of the house. View over The Helford River (sorry a little out of focus)
Patsy & Her cousin.
And his Artist Girlfriend: Mary Stork. She didn’t like to be photographed. Sadly passed later in the same year.
Whilst there she gave us one of her works which she called ‘The Lovers’. Signed it and added our names.
Part two later.
Always in Love
Colin.
2007: Part two, A Special day.
We had only rented the property in Redhill as we had intended to travel a little more before settling down. But what a sudden change!
Patsy as ever the surprising one said ‘We should be together forever. Lets get Married’. Well knock me down with a feather.
First and foremost a wedding dress, first time round she wore a two piece
So where did the discerning bride go for one? Easy, M&S still had a Wedding Dress shop in Oxford Street, perfect, but she agonised over shoes for days.
We were married on 11th April at the Registry Office in Leatherhead.
Last minutes of freedom, fag in one hand and a drink in the other.
Then we are one:
Even Pasqual and Geraldine were there.
The ‘Reception’ was at the Nutfield Priory near Redhill.
We had four Guests, one more than Patsy had at her first wedding.
The shoes turned out perfect in the end.
When we returned home our neighbours had decorated the house and baked a cake.
Part three later.
Always in Love.
Colin.
We had only rented the property in Redhill as we had intended to travel a little more before settling down. But what a sudden change!
Patsy as ever the surprising one said ‘We should be together forever. Lets get Married’. Well knock me down with a feather.
First and foremost a wedding dress, first time round she wore a two piece
So where did the discerning bride go for one? Easy, M&S still had a Wedding Dress shop in Oxford Street, perfect, but she agonised over shoes for days.
We were married on 11th April at the Registry Office in Leatherhead.
Last minutes of freedom, fag in one hand and a drink in the other.
Then we are one:
Even Pasqual and Geraldine were there.
The ‘Reception’ was at the Nutfield Priory near Redhill.
We had four Guests, one more than Patsy had at her first wedding.
The shoes turned out perfect in the end.
When we returned home our neighbours had decorated the house and baked a cake.
Part three later.
Always in Love.
Colin.
Attachments
2007 continued
Here we were married, and honeymoon not yet sorted.
Went to US in early May, to Montana. This is a great time to tour.
Chow time:
Grab your steaks and put them on a pitchfork.
Thrust into a cauldron of hot oil.
And there you have it. Chow time:
Great falls dam on the Missouri river
You find these man made platforms cross the State, this one occupied by a Bald Eagle.
Then on to Phoenix at the end of May to visit a couple who Patsy worked with in London and had retired to a Golf complex.
Chow time again.
Elvis was in the room.
Returned to the UK in Early June.
Always in Love
Colin.
Here we were married, and honeymoon not yet sorted.
Went to US in early May, to Montana. This is a great time to tour.
Chow time:
Grab your steaks and put them on a pitchfork.
Thrust into a cauldron of hot oil.
And there you have it. Chow time:
Great falls dam on the Missouri river
You find these man made platforms cross the State, this one occupied by a Bald Eagle.
Then on to Phoenix at the end of May to visit a couple who Patsy worked with in London and had retired to a Golf complex.
Chow time again.
Elvis was in the room.
Returned to the UK in Early June.
Always in Love
Colin.
Attachments
I was hoping that I could bring you all up to date before I posted on current goings on, but I will need to postpone that as I didn't expect to have reached this point so early on in the year.
Don't worry, no major disasters but a timely reminder on forward planning.
We had shortlisted and visited a couple of local care homes had interviews and chosen on that could cope with Patsy's needs of both dementia and COPD.
Last week the opertunity arose for me to undergo some much needed surgery but it did entail an 8 day stay to be infused some pre op medication.
A quick call to the care home 'Can you accommodate My Patsy for a fortnight starting the 18th,? 'Yes' was the reply. So I agreed to the Surgery.
Poor Patsy, no matter how often I told her she would be away from home for 14 days two minutes later it would be 'Are we doing anything this week'? Bless her
We packed her bag and headed off for respite and even on the journey 'Where are we going'?
Anyhow soon settled in with a GnT of course.
Today I am also settled and attached to a syringe driver.
I now have several days to bore you all as there is very little else to do whilst confined to a hospital ward.
Don't worry, no major disasters but a timely reminder on forward planning.
We had shortlisted and visited a couple of local care homes had interviews and chosen on that could cope with Patsy's needs of both dementia and COPD.
Last week the opertunity arose for me to undergo some much needed surgery but it did entail an 8 day stay to be infused some pre op medication.
A quick call to the care home 'Can you accommodate My Patsy for a fortnight starting the 18th,? 'Yes' was the reply. So I agreed to the Surgery.
Poor Patsy, no matter how often I told her she would be away from home for 14 days two minutes later it would be 'Are we doing anything this week'? Bless her
We packed her bag and headed off for respite and even on the journey 'Where are we going'?
Anyhow soon settled in with a GnT of course.
Today I am also settled and attached to a syringe driver.
I now have several days to bore you all as there is very little else to do whilst confined to a hospital ward.
Hope your surgery goes well, and you don't get too bored in the meantime. Glad Patsy has settled in well. My mum's first care home seemed to run on sherry and prosecco.
Funny way to get a carers break but I feel quite serene I will expand on all this as the days unfold.
Always in Love.
Colin
@Neveradullday! Looking out of the hospital ward window I think the local crew have decided it was a good place for this lady to set up her nest so her and the other fine fellows could watch over me.
Then I got told off for taking photos! So I can't show you what I had tor dinner last night...........
Colin
Haha! 😀 Colin, Golden ter ear from yer, me old china!
First fings first, guvnor, please get French soon. As one of the members o this luvvly jubbly forum us kleptos wish yer Coco. 😌
Nar - that gull kleptoparasite is Loose Lil - she, along wiv a couple of uvver chinas is there ter keep a mince on yer. Anyone gives yer grief, they'll sort em art. 😉
As yer ave already ad grief regardin takin photers, I will send instructions that all staff motors in the vicinity of yer ward will ave 'messages' left on em! 😏
Loose Lil fer one is an expert at this - ence er moniker.
She can scoff a Ruby an wivin a few mins can drop it on a target. 😁
You are in good wings, Colin, good wings.
BTW - no need ter donate ospital grub, as it is so mingin. 🤮. Ar posse will get sustenance from punters exitin a nearby establishment. 😉
Get well soon Colin!
Sammy an the crew.
First fings first, guvnor, please get French soon. As one of the members o this luvvly jubbly forum us kleptos wish yer Coco. 😌
Nar - that gull kleptoparasite is Loose Lil - she, along wiv a couple of uvver chinas is there ter keep a mince on yer. Anyone gives yer grief, they'll sort em art. 😉
As yer ave already ad grief regardin takin photers, I will send instructions that all staff motors in the vicinity of yer ward will ave 'messages' left on em! 😏
Loose Lil fer one is an expert at this - ence er moniker.
She can scoff a Ruby an wivin a few mins can drop it on a target. 😁
You are in good wings, Colin, good wings.
BTW - no need ter donate ospital grub, as it is so mingin. 🤮. Ar posse will get sustenance from punters exitin a nearby establishment. 😉
Get well soon Colin!
Sammy an the crew.
Not a name as such (you are welcome to suggest one), but It is my dance partner a we are quite mobile. I have even been shown how to turn of the repeat alarm, we have been allowed to go and get our own tea and then I tell everyone we are off to the Palais or Odeon (there was always a dance hall above and even Burton had one!
Surprising how many memories that stirs in people you chat to. As you may have guessed I am quite gregarious. Bring a 😊 to faces.