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“Ooh Betty!”
My brother-in-law was a character indeed. When he left this world in November 2007, it became a poorer place without him. A devout born again Christian, he preached the gospel and prayed every day. Even in his darkest moments, when death beckoned, he believed he would be saved. I sincerely hope he was. His faith was strong but so was his sense of humour. He had learnt to laugh at himself because there really was no other way. Anyone who is familiar with Frank Crawford’s Frank Spencer from, “Some mothers do ‘ave em,” can easily imagine what Stuart looked like. He was the image of a young Michael Crawford in…
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Sausages, Santa and Royal Connections
We have had a variety of invitations over the Christmas and New Year period. There were the usual pre-Christmas parties to start of course, plus the annual get together of the Barker family in Essex and the birthday celebrations of eldest daughter, just a few days before Christmas—because it took the birth of two children in the month of December to happen before her parents realized things could and should be planned a little better. A workplace Secret Santa was postponed until the New Year, hence we managed to extend our festivities until twelfth night. Meantime, we had a wedding to go to, the New Year to see in and…
