What Do You Want?

Buzzards circled overhead this morning, causing a certain amount of consternation among the other birds.

During the morning I did my best to ignore yesterday’s Dr Who on BBC iPlayer and Eastenders, as everyone enjoyed an after the excitement low-key morning.

Matthew has bought Tess a cage and various other accoutrements for Guinea Pigs.  It now remains for the little furry animals to be purchased.  This involved on-line research and several phone calls resulting in leaving messages, which took me back to another post Christmas search in Newark in about 1990.  The night before, one of Sam and Louisa’s pet rats had fled its cage and disappeared upstairs.  The poor creature was hunted down and located behind a chest of drawers in Jessica and my daughter’s bedroom.  A frantic shoving around of the furniture resulted in a fatal crushing.

I took on the task of seeking out a replacement during the holiday period.  Off I drove with the children in the car.  A pet shop in, I think, Mansfield was found open and with a supply of the required rodents.  We chose a white one alleged to be two months old.  It looked a little large to me, but we were assured it was just a baby.

Back home the new pet was pampered and cosseted.  A few days later it was New Year’s Eve.  Jessica and I were invited to spend the evening with friends.  We did this and engaged our usual baby-sitter.  Just after Auld Lang Syne we received a phone call from the teenager we had left in charge at Lindum House.  ‘You know your new rat?’, she enquired, ‘Yes’, I replied.  ‘Well, it’s just had seven babies’, she announced.

Jackie produced another magnificent meal this evening.  This was delicious roast lamb followed by Christmas pudding.  Red and white wines were imbibed, as was Pepsi Max.

As he helped his mother clear up in the kitchen after the meal, Matthew began treating us to his rendering of Adam Faith’s masterpiece.  Both Mat and his sister knew by heart the words of ‘What Do You Want?’.  Neither had ever heard the recording artist who was to become an actor and a successful investor and financial advisor, but they knew just how he sang because they had often ridden in a car driven by me in which they were subjected to my rendering of this and ‘Poor Me’.  Mat had given me a copy of his CD for my 70th birthday.  I just had to put it on the record player for everyone to have a good laugh over.  Hearing the original for the first time Matthew and Becky both realised they could sing just like Adam Faith who sang just like their Dad.  I don’t think it was the recording artist who was the source of amusement.  I rather think it was me.

Later, we opened the tree presents.  Becky had put one on for Jackie.  It was Daisy Ashford’s ‘The Young Visiters’.  We then laughed with tears rolling down our faces as Jackie read extracts.