Sunday's Short Story.

I know it's Monday...but we left the house on the Bay...Sunday evening, and scudded down the old M6 to catch The Durrell's on the box...so no time to post as we cope very nicely without WiFi in the Bay house.

(...an aside...
...the bay sunset, which is renowned anyway, was especially beautiful on Saturday because of the stormy weather....I just had to run out and catch the end of it before the sun went down.)

Prompt

The prompt from Pat F.on Thursday at The Writer's Workshop was a challenge. Not that it isn't always a challenge for me...but this one stumped me for a while. But the only thing to do in that situation is to go with the first idea that comes .. and run with it. We only have a bit over an hour to write before we read the results to each other....so here it is...

Albert was not yet ready to share his age with Ivy. She had been told that his birthday was coming up, But as his secretary she needed to be careful about broadcasting it around the office. After all Albert was the boss.The company had been good to her. Life was difficult enough since Syd died. She was still coming to terms with an empty house every evening.Ivy felt angry about it all although she knew that his family had a history of heart attacks. Nevertheless, being who she was, one who copes, it was just a few weeks after Syd's funeral that she determined to get herself a job, and get back into a daily routine.To have Albert as her boss was more that she had dared to hope for.She did have a lot of experience noted down on her c.v. But with so many people applying for so few positions, she realised that in this she had fallen on her feet.....or to be more precise...on the office chair!

Her office wall abutted Albert's office wall. And regularly she would either be in his room taking notes or receiving lists of jobs to be achieved, Or Albert would breeze into her office. No knock of course, just striding in and sitting on the edge of her desk with a file or USB to peruse But recently often it had often been with a mug of coffee at the start of the business day. That was quite a thing! In her last job she had always been expected to be both office worker and tea girl for the whole  floor. 

He was no Adonis, Albert P. Shingle. Sometimes when she thought about it she had a giggle over the name...Shingle! Was it an illness or a beach? She preferred to think it was a beach.And what did the P stand for if anything? Some people put a middle letter into their signature to make it more memorable. Of course it might just be Peter or Paul or maybe Phillip. But she liked to think it was exotic...maybe Peregrine to counteract the blandness of Albert.! Oh dear as the months had gone by that she was thinking more and more about his life outside of the office, And today she knew that he would celebrate his fiftieth. Surely it couldn't pass by unmentioned?

Someone elsewhere in the company must be planning a surprise. No word of this forthcoming...at least none that she had heard of. Her job was precious. She loved the work. She was good at it she discovered. Better than she ever imagined she would be She would let the day pass by.

Every day Ivy made sure that all she did and even what she wore was as professional and efficient as she could make it. She was taking much more thought over her appearance than she had done for many years. Was that her being professional, or did she feel at forty three she still had a lot of living ahead of her? With no children from her marriage to care for life was starting anew .So there would be no way she was going to throw a spanner in the works and step forward now to plan something for Albert's birthday.

But there were little things she could do without making an issue of it. She put a bunch of spring flowers in a pretty jug on the side of the desk - not too ostentatious just enough to sweeten the often stale office air. She bought a packet of triple chocolate biscuits to offer when he arrived  with her coffee. She wore a new blouse she had bought at the weekend. Still a crisp white cotton but with a little pie crust collar on it. And in these small ways she hoped her boss would know that she recognized both the day and also the position she held in the company.

At nine fifteen as usual Albert stepped into her office. Coffee in hand, he smiled. She offered him a cookie. He took one and hesitated. 

"It's my birthday Ivy. I was wondering if you would join me this evening for dinner? I've taken a chance that you might say yes and booked a table at a local restaurant...what do you say?"

The flowers bloomed and shared their perfume in the room, out through the door and into the rest of the building!

Oh dear...cheesy end...but what to do when Pat says.."Five more minutes and then we shall read!"

Well you bring it all to conclusion...and who doesn't love a happy ending anyway!!

By the way you could see more of my pics on my Instagram site...if you were of such a mind!!

geraldinesnape...documenting the mundane

Wax wings at the Bay.

We took a trip up to the Bay this week. We were just about to leave the house when a twittering caught my attention. Looking up into the lovely lime tree outside the house ...were four pretty little buff coloured birds with slightly forked tails and a bit of colour on the head.
So back  down the motorway and into the summer house, I looked up my bird list by the knowledgeable Simon Barnes and there it was ....Wax Wings.....Excited.
This is the tree last autumn...

.....A giving tree whatever the season.

Obviously lots of goodies in the tree for these little fellows.

(This pic from the Daily Mail)

Kitaj Exhibition in Kendal

I'm inspired. I always am after seeing an exhibition.

This one was at the Abbott Hall Gallery in Kendal.

                          

Showing the work of Kitaj.

So after the show we made our way back down the road to the Bay

and stopped off at The Midland for a drink.

The sky was heavy with purple/blue clouds and the water was stunning.

So I got inspired and made a quicky sketch and wet it with a spot of my Guinness!

Cheers!

Sweet Memories

I had such a good weekend up in the house in Morecambe.

The bay was at it's most glamorous......

.......that's Morecambe Bay for anyone new to my ramblings.

I said to the potter, that it was a watercolour day.

The lake district mountains in the distance looked as if the painter had turned them upside down and let the wash of colour settle in the top of the hills and the valleys were lost in a sweet mist.

Eric was his usual smiling self.

I never go past him but he is surrounded by happy people raising their left leg!

We sat outside at the Midland Hotel one evening.

The day was still warm,

and we drank our Guinness and watched the sun go down.

Old friends from Co. Down came by

so we sat in the lounge at the house and drank tea

and put the world gently to rights.

The fire was lit in the big hearth

and being old friends

we all but fell asleep.

Sheep graze on the salt marshes around the Bay.

Red Bank Farm have opened a little eaterie there.

 And they sell their home grown and home cooked Lamb Henry

with heaps of fluffy mash and petit pois and yummy gravy.

And then all that is left to do is have a walk along the salt marshes,

while happy dogs romp

 and kites are flown.

And travel back down the M6 for another week's work.