Friday 13th eh?

Friday 13th eh?

Hi there

Thanks for popping in. Friday 13th. Mmm. Unlucky for some? For better or for worse – I was born on Friday 13th! So she’s 61 years young today. How did that happen?!?! One minute she’s 14 years old, walking up and down Darland Avenue because she’s besotted with Alan Garrett who lives at No. 150, and the next she’s married to lovely Dave, lives in East Sussex and runs a craft company! Funny old life, innit. Alan Garrett? Who’s Alan Garrett for Pete’s sake?! And who’s Pete for that matter ?!?!?

Friday’s blog a private peek, right? Ready for a little ramble with me? And off we go….

Alan Garrett went to the local Boy’s Grammar school when I was at the local Girl’s Grammar school. On the weekends, he used to work at the petrol station at the top of Barnsole Road, too. Let me tell you a funny thing. My Mum was learning to drive at the time. Don’t ask me how many sets of L-Plates I made her buy, just so we could go in the garage! Did he notice me? Did he even ping me a glance? Nope. We could have opened an L-Plate shop up the road, and still he was oblivious to me. Or maybe he thought i was a stalker, and just chose to avoid my stares! And let me tell you: 150 Darland Avenue was miles from our house! Helluva detour just to walk past his mum n dads house! I bet we’ve all got an Alan Garrett in the closet….

Enough rambling for today! Back to today!

What a transformation in the new place! Teamwork makes the dream work again! We’ll all be in the new place by the end of next week, I reckon. Big job. Mammoth task. Wanted to send you pics today, but left my phone at work, with all the photos I took on it! So that’s a tomorrow blog.
It’s been a nice day actually. Lots of action, loads of crashing and bashing, drilling, singing happy birthday ( twice, while we washed our hands).
Of course I am very anxious about keeping the business going through this storm, which hasn’t even properly kicked in yet. Of course we are taking every possible precaution to protect staff, families, friends, customers. Of course I am not in denial; are you kidding?! But I learned a long time ago that fretting about what hasn’t happened yet is a completely fruitless exercise. We just have to keep going, have a care for others, wash our hands every 20 seconds for 20 seconds – and we’ll be fine.

And then, after a long day, I came home to a wonderful Birthday Surprise: beautiful flowers and cards from dear people, all of whom I love dearly. And Dave, who is the best, and who totally shares the load with me. We always say, as long as we’re doing it together, we don’t care what we do. Whether we’re tear arsing around the country in a white van, or watching the Gogglebox – it’s ok when we do it together.



Love and hugs

Barb xx



40 thoughts on “Friday 13th eh?

  1. Happy birthday Barbara, I hope you enjoyed your day. Now, relax and enjoy the rest of it with your lovely Dave.
    xx Carole Noble

  2. That’s just lovely that you are surrounded by flowers. I have lovely flowers in my house, too, this week. My mum would have been 99 today and as I can’t wish her a happy birthday, it’s really nice to be able to wish you one. Just enjoy the moment and what is to come will come but as someone I once knew said, all will be well and if all is not well, all will be well. Quite a good outlook on life, eh? have a lovely evening and try to take some time for yourselves this weekend. You won’t have another birthday for a whole year! I spy Dave hiding in the corner oblivious to the camera! Tell him to smile the next time! Lol. You make a good team. You’re right and you’re on an amazing journey together, wherever the road leads. Lots of love, Hxx

  3. Happy Birthday Barbara, hope you are having a brilliant day! You bring a lots of happiness to loads of us…many thanks! Love & best wishes Anne x

  4. Many happy returns of the day Barb. My what beautiful flowers you have been given. And wowzers, someone really loves you, enough to give you a WHOLE packet of Dettol antiseptic wipes! xx

  5. Hi Barb,
    I bet your kitchen smells wonderful with all of those flowers. I hope Dave doesn’t get hay fever sitting there! Anyway, I hope you’ve had a good day and a good evening with lovely Dave. Wishing you a very happy birthday and lots more to come. Love and hugs,Alison xxxx

  6. Happy birthday, Barbara, from every one of your loyal customers. I had notification yesterday that the stamps I ordered on Wednesday had been dispatched – that is truly fab service. If a massive move doesn’t slow Clarity down then corona virus doesn’t stand a chance. Keep calm and enjoy the rest of your birthday.
    Best wishes
    Zara

  7. It’s lovely that you’ve had a special birthday and I’m sure your loved ones across the pond were in touch with loving wishes too. Loved Grace’s blog about your celebrations last year in Hawaii -great photos too!! We are looking forward to making a trip across the county once you are up and running and the virus is under control. Isn’t Kent a BIG county!! Enjoy your birthday evening.

  8. Happy Birthday, Barbara. Hope you had a lovely day to match the lovely flowers waiting for you on your return from Clarity Towers! Good to hear the move is going well, which is understandable with Team Clarity on the job! The Dream Team indeed!

    1. So pleased you had a lovely birthday, my husband and I always say ” as long as we’re together the rest will fall in place ” works for us, also one of my daughter’s birthdays today so had a lovely evening with. Pleased the move going well, love & hugs xx

  9. Happy Birthday Barbara. I love your stories about you and Dave, makes me smile and reminds me of me and my Ted. x x

  10. Happy Birthday Barbara and All The Very Best. Think you’re right, we all have a Alan Garret in our closet. 😁 Mine was called Andreas. I was 5 and he was 6. Ooh, I did like him a lot. We were both in Kindergarten but later that year he moved on to primary school. A few years ago I found an old photo from my kindergarte days and would you believe, in the background was Andreas. 😉
    Anyway, enjoy your evening with Dave. Hugs und Alles Liebe xxx

  11. HI Barb
    Happy Birthday
    Everything is always better when you share it with someone ,sharing is caring , so thank you for sharing with us every day.
    XX

  12. So pleased that your move is going well. Happy Birthday Barb hope it’s been a lovely day for you. I had an Andrew at junior school and guess what on the class photo I had Love written across his chest, its rubbed out but is still visible. Funny how life is, Pete actually worked with him about 7 years after we married. Have a wonderful weekend and try to slow down. Love and hugs xxx

  13. Happy Birthday. Hope you have had a lovely evening with Dave. Your flowers are gorgeous, tulips are one of my favourites. My daughter-in-law’s Birthday today as well so we have been over to see her this evening. XX

  14. Happy birthday 🥳 hope you day has been good sounds like it’s been fruitful lots done hope you enjoyed your evening lots love 💕 Joy Katie x

  15. Happy birthday Barbara! Glad to hear you have had a good day as you have Dave by your side!
    As you say, we hall have that street we walked along, so we could see the one we crushed on, but would never say anything to! Happy memories, but glad not that age again. Just glad to have hubbie by my side, and though the plan is not going how we thought, 30 years on we are still strong!

  16. It is so late now that it is tomorrow, but I hope you had an enjoyable birthday Barbara, even with everything going on and hopefully there will be more good things over the weekend. I had to look twice at the photo to see it was actually your kitchen but looking like a florist’s shop..lol. x

  17. Belated happy birthday wishes Barbara. I hope you get to enjoy some time relaxing amidst the business move. X

  18. Hi Barb, thanks for sharing that lovely picture of you kitchen. It is beautiful, and what lovely gifts. Is Dapper Dave having a snooze in the corner? hope you had a fab day. Yes I am sure we all have an Alan in our past. And yes, doing it together is what it is all about, the ups and downs, stresses and strains, would be lost without my hubby. Take care all. Bx

  19. Aww…happy belated birthday – are you a pisces star sign..if you are….and Dave’s a scorpio, you are a match made in heaven.
    Typing in between losing the internet.
    Love
    Maggie (Bendy Yorkite)

  20. Looks like you had a great birthday! Hope you manage to get a bit of a break from the onslaught this weekend

  21. Happy Birthday Barbara for yesterday. Don’t know how I forgot as it’s also my father-in-law’s birthday. He was 94.
    I also had and Alan but when the right one comes along you know that was never love.
    Good luck for next week.

  22. Hoping your birthday was lovely. Must say that I just love peeking into someone else’s house like this. It just makes people more “real” to me to see a bit of their unscripted life all about.

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