"By way of introduction....." ranger49's Profile

Profile
Activity
Travel Pages (264)
Photos (3,388)
Videos (3)
Badges (18)
Stats

Early Morning on the lake, Luzern April 2012.*

Manchester born, Welsh by adoption ...

I came to Wales as a student at Cardiff University, stayed on to work, to marry and have children, to work again - and am still here, retired and a grandmother to eight.
We live in an ancient Welsh market town surrounded by hills and beautiful scenery and just up the road is England

Travels further afield

Walnut Canyon, Arizona

Having close relatives who move to live overseas brings opportinities to travel to places one might otherwise never have visited. I made two short visits to Toronto and also to Montreal in the 1990s and loved travelling in Canada. US destinations that we have visited to see close relatives (mine and my husbands) are Vermont, New Hampshire, Boston, Philadelphia, Princetown NJ, Washington DC, and Virginia and lots of places in between because we liked to make a road trip between visits. In 2000 my sister left the East Coast for California opening up some of the west to us .Thanks to Icelandic ash in April 2010 we had a seven week stay so were able to see some of the great sites of Arizona including Grand Canyon.
Nearer home relatives and friends in France, Spain and Germany continue to give us a good excuse to visit Europe. My first real trip "abroad" was to Brittany in 1966 and France remains a great favourite.

Gardening

Spring Garden

I love our garden and since we moved to this house - then new 20 years ago - we have had enormous pleasure creating a garden from scratch.
A lovely hobby that brings many rewards particularly through the changing seasons.
It is an outdoor living space, a place where our eight growing granchildren have all enjoyed to play.
It is a vegetable provider and apple orchard plus an extra dining area on BBQ days. And a place - sometimes - to relax and read.

Cooking

Salade Roulade

I love to cook - all types of dishes - traditional British as my mother taught me, of course. But also French, Mediterranean, Middle East - just getting in to vegetarian Levantine dishes. In fact I like to try all things new.

When the garden produce comes in and it is preserve making time seeing the larder shelves stocked up for a the year ahead is a good time.

Books, music - mainly classical & opera & drama.

Some of my books

These are amongst my interests.

I belong to, and am secretary of a reading group which was established 12 years ago with a small group of friends.

Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, 40 minutes away, provides a broad and diverse choice of entertainment from rock and jazz to Welsh National Opera - and everything in between!

Travel and Family History

A corner of my computer room

When my husband suggested that we should get a computer "to keep up with our grandchildren" I was totally against the idea. We had not long retired , computers were only then being introduced to my office so they spelled "Work".
He is a quietly persuasive man and so we had a computer.

It was not long before we had one each and I have my own tiny computer room. Here I do my online family history research, plan our trips - we usually travel independently - and spend far too much time on VT!

Family

Family -The way we were 1941 - I

I was born in Manchester, 2nd eldest in a family of four. I arrived two years before the outbreak of WW2. The youngest was born during one of the worst bombing raids on Manchester.
We were frequently sent out of the city to stay with relatives in places more removed from danger - Cheshire, Derbyshire and our farming family links in Wiltshire.
In spite of the horrors that were going on around us childhood was a happy time .
I loved school - not at first - but from the age of 8 or so. I still return to Manchester every year for a reunion with the "old ladies" who were once all 11 year olds at the same the grammar school.

Getting on - and Passing on

As we turned out - -60 years on.

We remained a very close family.

My sister, the baby of the family, has lived abroad for over 40 years but not a year has gone by that we have not seen each other and enjoyed many family holidays together in the UK, France and Spain and America.

My eldest brother died in 2003 - six days short of his 75th birthday.
The picture here was taken on the day of his 50th wedding anniversary.

My younger brother, on the left of the picture, died suddenly on 11th December 2011 aged just 72.
We were very close throughout our lives and shared many travels together with his wife and family.

Intro Updated Apr 25, 2012
Report Abuse

Personal Pages (21)

1 - 4 of 21

Comments (339)

Barbara_Maria 7 hours ago Report Abuse

Hello Barbara, thanks for Your comment, I have just found this website by accident and I am glad. I had a cursory look at Your profile and it is great
gwendar 18 hours ago Report Abuse

hi how are doing ive just had 3 weeks in greece hope you out there traveling to all the best places take care peter
Gillybob May 23, 2012 at 7:58 AM Report Abuse

Great minds think alike!! Gillybob greetings
pattypoo May 16, 2012 at 6:28 AM Report Abuse

Thanks for visiting my home page Barbara..Yes Ellie is four today 16th May and still a clever clogs..how's the foot and of course yourself and hubby. Will take a trip to Abergavenny in near future and we can meet for a coffee..xx
anilpradhanshillong May 15, 2012 at 10:20 PM Report Abuse

ranger49! The course was not in the town but about 1.5 to 2 kms before you reached town on the left-hand side of the road (from London towards Abergavenny). We stayed in a hostel-like large house with plenty of rooms and class rooms within the large compound. It was really fun time as the hills and dales of Wales (and of Scotland) are very similar to those of Shillong. Actually, Shillong is known as 'The Scotland of the East'!
gwened May 14, 2012 at 3:10 AM Report Abuse

How is Wales, nice sunny weather in Bretagne for a change lol! Four day weekend coming up to Versailles ,and then business in South Africa for a week. cheers
bluecondor May 11, 2012 at 3:31 AM Report Abuse

Hi Ranger, I forgot to say that the Hotel in Savenay offer a Dinner, B&B deal which is more economical than paying seperate. Though in fairness they did give me the deal retrospectively.
canuck68 May 10, 2012 at 3:21 PM Report Abuse

Hi Barbara
Like you we are waiting for summer. It is predicted to be in the 20's this weekend. I went for a walk yesterday and nearly perished in the wind! I hope your family is keeping well. We are all good here. The boys turn 4yrs.on the 17th of this month. That is hard to believe. Take care, Diane.
ettiewyn May 9, 2012 at 9:32 AM Report Abuse

I see you have added a travelogue with pictures of my visit - how wonderful!
I just started teacher training and have much to do, therefore not much time for VT at the moment... Especially now good memories like these are a treasure. :-) I hope all is well with you!
wise23girl May 8, 2012 at 4:39 PM Report Abuse

Thanks for your support....
Maybe you could add your voice to that forum as well...G takes it a bit lightly....it is a nuisance to have to check profiles all the timeand it is good to know a comment is authentic info.