TRICK OR TREAT?

Who's this little chap coming to stay with his Grandpa?

Why it's baby Peter, who's come to play trick or treat . . . 

Actually he doesn't know any tricks yet but give him time !! 

"Guess what I am wearing, Grandpa!"

"I am a Happy Little Pumpkin, and my Mummy dressed me up in my brand new outfit !

. . . . . read me a story from my book, please Grandpa!"

"Here, take a closer look at my Pumpkin outfit!"

Well Peter was indeed a very happy little pumpkin all morning until his Mummy picked him up.  This afternoon he is meeting some other babies and apparently he is quite a little charmer.  He waves to other babies and talks to them . . . .  he is quite the little socialiser. 

Back to this morning, he played and pulled himself onto his feet and practised soft landings before he finally takes the plunge and starts walking.  Currently he propels himself around shuffle-bottoming although I expect it won't be long before he walks.  I doubt whether he will bother with crawling.  He is one year old, plus one week.

"Hold on Grandpa, I'm coming to stand up!"

"Heave! . . . just a bit further!"

"There . . . easy peasy!! 
Now I'll shuffle across to my high chair . . and pull myself up  again there."

"Now Grandpa show me that silly banana outfit you wear sometimes!"

"OK if you promise you won't eat me . .   I know you like bananas."

"Oh you are such a card, Grandpa!  No wonder you get such funny comments . . . "

My fears of being eaten might have been justified because for lunch he ate cheese on toast, a whole banana, a whole satsuma and half an apple . . . and he drank a beaker full of milk.

. . . and then he was most interested in sound and echo technology and experimented for a while making noises into this bottle . . . he thought it was so funny . . . and it was.

"Listen to this, Grandpa!"

"Listen to this tune . . . you hum it and I'll play it . . . . ok!"

Just look at those big blue eyes!
How can anyone refuse him anything?

As usual it was delightful day and  it was such a treat to have him, and he was so happy and well behaved . . . . good boy!

________________

I've just remembered there is a rather peculiar nursery rhyme:

Peter, Peter,  pumpkin-eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her.
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

Very strange how these nursery rhymes originate.

EDDIE'S FULL LENGTH BANANA OUTFIT

Well - I have been dreading this all week!!!  

 My natural shyness would normally prohibit me from adhering to your most persistent and insistent badgering, which I have been receiving all week, since my last post!!

Eventually I caved in !!!

I just knew this would happen!!!

So I took a deep breath and got into my banana skin once more . . . . just for you!!
The things I for for my fellow bloggers.

You really ARE an inquisitive lot!

Your natural curiosity can be categorised into five distinct sections:

1.  Q. How do you manage to walk without falling over?
A. On my feet, they are on the end of my legs, you silly people!

2. Q.  How can we tell whether you are right way up or upside down?
A.  Stand on your heads and if I don't look right do a 180 degree flip!

3.  Q. Will you break if you sit down?
A. Some hopes sitting down in this lot besides I would not risk it!

4.  Q. Has anyone ever said, "I want to eat you!"
A.  I shall refrain from answering this question!!

5. Q.  What do people say to you when you meet them in the street?
A.  Oh! a whole range of things like:

Are you going to live to a RIPE old age?
How do you bend down to untie your shoe laces?
Can you stand on your head?
Can you run faster than a monkey?
Do you hang out with a BUNCH of guys?
When you enter a grocery store do the ladies try to buy you first?
Can I unzip you?
Do you ever go green with envy?
Have you ever had a fight with a cucumber?
Would you feel like a cannibal if you ate a banana?
Have you ever forgotten to do up your zipper?
Has your zip ever broken?
Has anyone ever confused you with a satsuma?
Have you ever been booked for acting like a suspicious character?

 . . . oh and many others!


The remaining comments are quite unprintable!

(A more sensible post next time - I promise)

SILLY SATURDAY MORNING AT THE AMBULANCE STATION

I thought I had better post something new in case you might have thought I'd 'kicked the bucket'. 

Well, here I am, very much alive and well.

I expect most of you will remember I used to be an Ambulance Man, working for a private company in Bristol.  These were some of the happiest days of my life and I thoroughly enjoyed everything about the work I was privileged to do for 5 years - patient care, getting to know and love the patients, the driving, the buzz of driving vehicles like this Land Rover, working with all my colleagues, working with nurses and doctors, enjoying all the admiring glances of the public in general, waving to the ladies. I still miss the work but I do reminisce from time to time. Mostly, I drove patients to and from Kidney Dialysis Units for renal dialysis.  To keep alive patients needed this for 4 hours three times a week.

I drove this blue ambulance regularly. We called it The Sunshine Bus and here it is shown overlooking a beautiful reservoir which I called The Lake.  I used to walk round it during my lunch break and it inspired me to write poetry and stories while I was there. The scenery round there is stunning and on a summer's evening it was wonderful driving around watching the sunsets over the lake and the sea, nearby.

I worked also on other ambulances as a team with my friend Richard. This often involved stretcher work and carry chair lifting.  I enjoyed all the work immensely.

I first posted "Silly Saturday at the Ambulance Station" in April 2009 and thought I would re-post it to highlight the fun we used to have at the station - particularly one Saturday morning when our sometimes over developed sense of humour plus a surplus of testosterone almost caused things to go out of control.

This photograph shows all is quiet at the Ambulance Station - some vehicles have returned - but most are still out, some on their missions ferrying renal patients to and from hospital and renal units for dialysis, and some for longer hospital to hospital transfer of patients.

All appears perfectly normal, yet a few hours before one particular Saturday morning things were so different, for on that day we all went absolutely bananas:

 It was wonderful!

An ambulance was parked very badly blocking the exit of the station - someone wanted to get out. Five crews were ready to go - all vehicle checks were completed satisfactorily and we were free to 'go mobile' as the phrase says.

I was in a sixth vehicle driving the blue sunshine bus, without blue lights or sirens, and another colleague was driving just an ambulance car, acceptable for some jobs. We all were blocked in.

The driver in the offending vehicle suddenly became the recipient of a loud horn blast from a large ambulance behind, followed by several other horn blasts and shouting, "Come on, mate, get your finger out, we can't get out!"

When the chap in front gave us a rude hand gesture (in fun I hasten to add) the horn noises escalated significantly and short siren bursts emitted from the vehicle behind, followed by a chorus of similar blasts from the other ambulances. By this time everyone was in fits of laughter and all were making rude signs to each other with clenched fists shaking at one another.

Then someone switched on the main siren with blue lights flashing wildly. Of course this was followed by all five ambulances, making a dickens of a din.

Unfortunately all I could do to join in the party was to switch on my hazard warning lights and blast my horn whilst shouting and shaking my fists - quite feeble really.

Then someone turned on a microphone in a vehicle. A loud message boomed across the station, "Get out of the way, you silly old fart!" which elicited a sharp response from the offending vehicle, "Who the 'ell are you calling me a silly old fart! . . . .  you just come over here and say that and I'll floor you!"  "What do you mean? how dare you!".  Everyone went mad!

More loudspeakers were turned on in chorus uttering obscenities which are best left unsaid, as you may well imagine. The noise was deafening! Male adrenalin levels headed ever skyward! Inland Seagulls on the roofs around scarpered for safety! The women drivers and attendants joined in with their shrieks and they were in uncontrolable hysterics, generally siding with the chaps they liked best!

We were all falling about laughing by this time. To me it looked so comical to see all these ambulances with expressionless faces arguing and fighting with each other - with sirens and microphones at full belt and my little horn feebly attempting to join in.

Above this glorious chaos, with ever rising crescendo, a loud PA speaker sprang into action from the control desk, "What the b_ _ _ _ _ 'ell is going on out there? You! get that b _ _ _ _ _  ambulance out of the way so you can all get out . . . . and all of you b _ _ _ _ _ off and get to work! Now!"

Richard seized his opportunity to score a point shouted through his microphone,  the loudest, "I've got a bigger one than you!" I got out of my vehicle and rushed over to him in mock battle, shaking my fists and everyone joined in. We all ended up in the middle all falling about laughing.

Then as suddenly as it started  all was quiet and we resumed with the business of the day. Normality had returned.