Monday 24th April

As we wait, with some trepidation for all those plants in the cold frames, for that cold blue line to sweep down Britain this week, yesterday was beautiful.  So as my daughter and granddaughter were here we all went for a walk into the woods.  The main road were full of caravans, motor-homes, cyclists and motor cyclists, streaming by in long lines, the tourists have definitely arrived.  But in the woods all was peace, Lucy in her element walked through every puddle she could find, her plump matronly figure chasing after a stick.  Poor Teddy who is a whippet is not allowed off the lead, just in case he takes off, was sporting a very fashionable knitted coat.  The two dogs get on fine though Lucy does not like other dogs.

We walked through the trees to an open spot, the turf eaten down by rabbits, a perfect picnic spot, I had seen along the way, primroses, cowslips, two types of violets, wood anemones, yellow rattle and purple orchids all in flower and many more, unfortunately did not take my camera to record.

Whenever they come I have to do the sewing of badges on to uniforms, Guide gear, karate, etc, my daughter has never bothered to learn how to sew, she even brought me a book to make things for her house.

Teddy's coat garnered a  lot of attention on the train down, Karen my daughter was selling them in the shop, and had only just found out that the person who knitted them was an old lady, now ill sadly. The man who had brought them in wore a Nazi badge on his arm, which infuriated her, this is the Hebden Bridge shop, the town according to her, hosts many strange people, but clothes can often be good expensive stuff, some people though give away designer clothes never having dry-cleaned them.

One else thing we did though was explore Ancestry, something K had signed up to, mostly to find out about her paternal grandfather and his illegitimate birth from a lady-in-waiting, and King George, probably the 4th.  All very romantic, a story that has hung round the Opper family for a long time. Well this time my family came up under scrutiny.  I have a very complicated background, written it down a couple of times for the family but people can never follow the ins and outs.  I am also illegimate, born just after the Second World war, I was adopted by my paternal grandfather, the offspring of his eldest son, but given a very different story or two during my childhood.  My first stepmother was Elizabeth Catherine, who died when I was about two.  She was Belgium, as was my grandfather, a fact I never knew until yesterday.  My next stepmother was someone called Barbara, who was never really part of my life and the final stepmother Vivian who I detested!  Meandering round the names the people become alive again, so I can understand Jennie's (Codlin and Cream) fascination with past history.  Even my own first name was different, Janet Colclough, two months later I embarked on a totally different life, my mother Betsey Loiusa went on to marry and have quite a few children, but I never wanted to get in touch. So as I have the password to the 'family tree' I shall explore further.