Marlingford and My Dad

My lovely dad is 86 today, but I won't see him, so I decided to blip him instead. I know he won't mind, and I don't have any news about my day.

Dad was born in Barnet, in 1929. He is the youngest 86 year old I know, and of course my favourite!

Much of his childhood was spent in Norfolk. This photo was taken in Marlingford in 1934, so I shouldn't strictly use it as my blip, but I'm throwing caution to the wind today! Dad is half Norfolkian as his mum was born in Guernsey Road, Norwich, and she grew up in surrounding villages. Her parents, my dad's grandparents, Frederick and Elizabeth Ketteringham ended up running a small shop in Marlingford, and dad and his sister spent many happy holidays there. This photo was taken in the garden of the house at Marlingford; the garden ran down to the river.

I spoke to dad this morning. They were going to my sister's for dinner tonight. I hope they had an enjoyable time. Of course we had been invited, but after last weekend spent in Cambridge I needed some time at home.

Here in Norfolk, tomorrow we go our separate ways again, for a full week. Jon has work in Cambridge and also St Albans. He plans to camp over, in the small woodland he is doing some work in. It does however mean Henry and I are on dog duty all week. Groan. Not my favourite job. I suppose it also means I get to watch whatever I want to watch on tv!

Still reading the book about the lady who moved her house! I can see a scary similarity in this lady with myself - although her hoarding extended to pretty much everything she had ever bought. Sweet wrappers made into notebooks, and cardboard cereal boxes transformed into folders (to hold all the hoarded labels!)

It is a very different book to anything I've read before, but once I've finished it, I think I will have to go and find the re-built house in Wells-next-the-Sea. 

Off to bed now, to get ready for my week of early mornings!