And Suddenly, It Was 1975 .....

It was an astoundingly stormy day today. I woke up at the usual time (what 'extra' hour in bed?) and looked out to see carnage on the patio.

Deck chairs (which should have been put away weeks ago) and sun umbrellas (ditto) had collided with the Wendy House and there was a weird mash-up of potted herbs with Buddha heads.

I changed bed linen, and curtains, put loads of washing in the machine, walked the dog, and went off to do the weekly shop. Stopped in at Mum's to try and fix her dodgy phone, and while I was there I had to silence the smoke detector which went mad when she opened the oven door.

Home again, and I started on making some tea, listening to the Paul O'Grady show on Radio 2 as I put the chicken in the oven. Scrubbing potatoes for baking, and preparing sweetcorn, I became aware that he was playing as his Three in a Row - The Muppets!

Suddenly it was 1975! I had bought a tinned steamed Syrup Sponge and packet Birds Custard for pudding (leave me alone food purists, that's what we ate then, and it's still what I like on a dark and windy night) and The Muppets made me remember being Mummy in the 70's.

If Mrs Family Dog is reading this, I wonder if she remembers too: wee Robin Frog singing 'Halfway Up The Stairs'. Typical Sunday tea: fried egg and chips followed by steamed syrup sponge and custard. Then bathtime, and bed to a refrain of 'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean'.

I hate it when the clocks change - it signals the death of Summer to me, and I wait with trepidation for frost and snow to blight out lives until lovely Spring comes round again. However, tonight eating roast chicken, broccoli and baked potato, followed by tinned syrup sponge and packet custard, I am for a little while cocooned in the past where I am a Mummy feeding my wee girl and tucking her up cosily in her bed to await a new day.