Those were the Days…

Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay 

Those Were the Days

I read a post the other day where they were talking about the wonderful sense of freedom to be found behind the wheel of a car.

Immediately, I was transported back to my independent, working woman days when I owned a car.

Learning to drive was a nightmare for me, as it took me a while to learn anything new, but once mastered, the world became my oyster. Not only did I drive myself to work every day, my family found newfound freedom with that car as we visited so many interesting places.

Becoming an experienced driver opened a very different world for me, a world where I finally felt competent and capable, something I had never felt before.

It wasn’t all roses, though; there were a few hair-raising experiences along the way.

Someone dropped something from a bridge just as I drove underneath. The windscreen splintered, leaving me in a state of shock and unable to see anything in front of the car. 

I had been travelling at about 65 mph, and for a few seconds, I froze. I had no memory of anyone behind me, but my instinct was to slam on the brakes in an emergency stop. The silence after the car stopped was deafening, and I sat there stunned and with my eyes shut.

I became aware of someone shouting, and when I opened my eyes, a furious man was standing beside the car, demanding to know what the hell I thought I was doing.

I couldn’t answer him. I was still in shock and confused, but I remember thinking, what the hell did he think I was doing?

More to the point, I wonder what he would have done in the same situation?

He stomped back to his car and drove off. At that point, I wanted to go home too, so somehow, I punched a hole in the splintered glass and drove away.

Another time, we were just leaving the garage in our car, feeling rather pleased that it had miraculously passed its MOT. It was a lovely sunny morning, and our spirits were high. We were looking forward to a visit to the coast that afternoon.

We were waiting at the top of a narrow exit ramp when we saw a rather large laundry van at the bottom of the ramp.

We wondered what the van was doing. Surely, he wasn’t going to reverse up the ramp?

Oh yes, he was, and he obviously hadn’t seen us waiting at the top. He continued to reverse, we expected him to stop at any minute, and when he showed no sign of slowing down, we started thumping the horn like a pair of crazy people.

Because the ramp was narrow, we couldn’t get out of the car. We were being forced to watch the disaster unfolding.

Our car needed a new bonnet and radiator after that, but our nerves took a while to mend!

To this day, every time we see a Sunlight Laundry van, we still want to scream!

I was a driver for more than 25 years before my hip put a stop to my fun, but all those years sitting in the driving seat were some of the best years of my life…

The Lucky Duckling… #True Story

Image by Melanie from Pixabay

Lucy, the Lucky Duckling…

I was watching Britain’s Got Talent last night when a duck waddled onto the stage. Another one of those animal acts that occasionally are brilliant, I thought, but usually amusing when the animals decide to have fun instead.

This duck had no intention of performing, so the act didn’t last long.

For one magical moment, I remembered a duck I once knew. Her name was Lucy, and I was very fond of her way back in my childhood.

We lived in the countryside on a small farm, and every Spring, the farmer would send for 12 newborn chicks. They would arrive in a cardboard box that had holes in the lid. It was a magical moment when that lid was raised, and we could see the tiny chicks. They never seemed any the worse for their deliverance and were soon installed in the barn in a special pen complete with a heat lamp.

In one particular year, 12 ducklings were also ordered, and we awaited their arrival with a mixture of excitement and curiosity. When they arrived, there were 13 in the box, something we would later be grateful for.

After a few weeks, they were transferred into an outdoor run, always our first point of call after school. Only we couldn’t see any of the ducklings in the pen.

Nobody would say where they had gone, just that they must have escaped somehow.

Later, I found out that they had indeed escaped onto the main road and been run over by the passing cars. This information was kept from the younger children, and it was a hard secret for me to keep. The next day, a neighbour turned up with a cardboard box that also had holes in the lid.

I was given the box and told to open it. Inside was what I liked to think was the thirteenth duckling, Lucy.

We often had a chicken for dinner, but Lucy lived to a grand old age, waddling around the garden…

©JayeMarie2023

Image by Birgit from Pixabay 

Help around the Office?

Milo, choosing a pen. I hope it isn’t a red one!

Yesterday was Milo’s first trip to the vet.

We couldn’t have chosen the worst day for it as the outside temperature was – 4. The car looked as though it had been frosted, very pretty, but the doors were all frozen shut!

When we drove into the vet’s car park, we suddenly remembered the last time we had been there. I wanted to turn around and go home, but the memories flooded my mind and cancelled out all coherent thoughts.

Remember Merlin?

When our 18-year-old black and white fur baby took ill early last year, we brought him to this vet, hoping for the best. Sadly, this wasn’t to be, and we lost him that day.

The pain tried to come flooding back as we relived that terrible moment all over again, but we held on to our emotions, parked the car and walked into the surgery, aware that our tiny new arrival relied on us to do our best for him.

Yesterday was the perfect reminder of why we haven’t looked for another fur baby before, but in a way, we didn’t choose Milo. We think he chose us…

#Silent Sunday… A Time of Melting…

Image by experimentMR from Pixabay 

I am feeling much like this poor rose.
The relentless frost has wilted me too
I am having trouble keeping warm
I have watched the flowers and plants
in my garden end up like this
melting, like ice cream
on a summer's day

©JayeMarie2022

Mindlovemisery Menagerie #299 ~ #Challenge #Poetry

Feeling under pressure to adopt
Temporarily, a family from Ukraine
To offer warmth, heartfelt cuddles
To appreciate the pain and loss they are going through
To be thoughtful, when speaking about their homeland
I became a defender of the blue and yellow flag
A symbol of freedom
The right to live on the land their forefathers trod
I filled my house with rosemary, for remembrance...


©AnitaDawes2022



Image by jhenning from Pixabay 

The Queen… #AcrosticPoetry

Queen Elizabeth II

Quick and light, she walked through our lives
Under dark skies she became our beacon of hope
Every ready to do what must be done
Ever a smile, a word of wisdom when needed
Never judging her subjects
Elizabeth, our queen, ready to do her duty worldwide
Little did she ask in return
Inside each petalled flower, love smiles back
Zephyr, a soft spirit wind that will blow 
             through our memories forever
After a while, we will greet our new king
Best monarch for over seventy years
Elizabeth, our queen has died, long live the King
Together, with his mother's hand at his back, he will rule
Holding all her values, all her thoughts in mind…


©AnitaDawes2022

June BlogBattle: Scar ~ #Poetry

June 2022 Blog Battle

Ocean Deep


The scar I carry is not visible
so many years later it hurts
like carrying a suitcase full of rocks
It started with name calling
Then my chair pulled away as I sat
They threw things at me, homework got torn
Things got worse, the older we grew
too many things
I try not to remember,
The rocks on my back are enough
Over the years, 
some of the rocks have fallen away
Memory plays its part
Yet the scar is deep, like the ocean dark
I heard someone say, we adopt memories
If that’s the case, I wish I could give them back
To swim in a clear ocean
It took too many years hiding
Not until the day I met him, did I learn to smile
Some of the rocks fell away from my back
When children came along, 
the suitcase grew a great deal lighter
I keep one rock on the kitchen window sill
To remember every scar is not visible
I pray that my children grow up scar free
If not, I hope they learn 
to carry their wounds better than I did
I look in the mirror at years past
I see the rock that holds me to family
Life is good…

©AnitaDawes2022