I was chatting with someone the other day about life and success etc. and it seemed like they were implying that I did not have to really work to get where I am, like I had some sort of an advantage in regards to family wealth. I may have descended from nobility but I was not given a big trust fund or anything. That is a pi$$ take as Norm only found this out last week. It is why it was so easy to track my history, if my ancestor was John the Candlestick Maker from Cornwall I might not have found out anything!
Both Norman and I had left our marriages with nothing and he and I both were very low on the financial ladder when we met as we were starting over. We have both worked really hard, saved everything we could and slowly built our way up to where we are now but we have had plenty of challenges along the way.
This week we were watching the UK show where bailiffs are sent out to recover debts and have court authorisation to recover goods if the payment is not made. For some of the commercial clients the bailiffs change the locks and close their business. For the individual debtors they may be paid cash or a credit card is used, they may take property or a car, or the debtor may agree to a payment arrangement. If they then miss a payment they get the bailiffs back out again.
I remembered when Norm and I had first moved to England. Norm had a new job in Birmingham and we were renting a tiny apartment until we found a house to buy. We were basically living with 2 fold up canvas director’s chairs, a bed and a telly in this tiny flat. The flat was in an incredibly posh neighbourhood (one of our neighbours was in UB40). It was a beautiful little brand new cottage made to look olde worlde and was covered in trellises of climbing roses and was charmingly called Laurel Bank Mews.
One day Norm was out at work and I was sitting at home in my director’s chair watching some rubbish daytime telly when someone knocked the door. It was the bailiffs. Norm and I had bought a beautiful old piece of furniture the weekend before at a car boot sale and had paid by cheque. The cheque bounced.
The furniture was too big to fit in our flat so it was in the garage until we found a house. When I opened the door they looked in and saw the bare room and probably thought, aha schemers! I phoned Norm and he came home with cash and paid them. It was very embarrassing but it was a legitimate mistake because we had just changed banks from Belfast to Birmingham.
It is funny to think that was about 25 years ago! Now we have far too much room in our home since the kids have moved out but I like having the space. Norm can easily work upstairs and I can work downstairs and we can avoid disturbing each other. But now that our family is growing so large with granddaughter number 2 coming in October, it is useful to have the space when needed.
Norm has continued his investigations and he has now tracked my mother’s family to the ancestors who first came to the USA. William Phillips Sr was born on 18th May, 1722 in Westminster, London, and married Susanna Maskel on the 18 January 1748 in Beckington, Somerset, England. Sometime between 1748 and 1750 they journeyed to the New World. Their first son William Phillips Jr was born in Amherst, Virginia on the 6th May 1750. William Phillips Sr died in 1759 in Chatham, North Carolina, United States. It is so cool how this puzzle is all coming together.
I assume you have seen the social media furor about ‘Man vs Bear’? I saw this meme which really made me pause to think.
I googled the name of the woman at the bottom of the image, but did not find the meme. I did however find these statistics on the World Health Organizations website.
More facts on a different link
I have written so many times about domestic violence and I have been a bit ill so just do not have it in me to write it again, it is soul destroying. Some women say that they have lived a life free from any misogyny or abuse, but I think a lot of women have been so conditioned to tolerate inappropriate comments or gestures that they do not even realise the toxicity that is often all around us. Conversely, as a survivor of domestic violence I am hyper-aware. I have a hair trigger reaction to any sort of misogyny and jump to any woman’s defense.
That is one of the reasons I stopped a friendship, I saw him slowly chipping away at her and could not watch it. I tried to tell her what was happening as she did not seem to see it herself, but she was so desperate for attention she would not listen.
I know I am so blessed with Norman as my husband. We are complete opposites but we have the same ideals, we share the same political views and morality. Neither of us could do any harm, we are both very tolerant of anyone else, regardless of financial standings, their gender, sexuality, race, colour, etc., etc. Bigotry is my trigger. Love is Love. A person is a person. An arse is an arse.
On Monday I woke up feeling nauseous with a very bad tummy and terrible cramps and a very sore head. I had to cancel my follow up appointment with Loren on Wednesday as I felt even worse. I assume I lost weight as I could keep nothing in. I was not actually sick just very nauseous. On Wednesday and Thursday I phoned in sick to work as I was up all night and felt very ill.
Many of you have been following the saga of the iPhone I handed over for resale to Phonetradr? I finally got fed up and sent them an email saying that I had
Lily, Josh and Millie are coming for the weekend, this is why I am publishing early. This week I booked flights for Caitlin and I to fly down to George for Amelia Ray’s first birthday in July. Norm has also booked for us to go on safari later in the year when his family come to visit. Not to mention a new grandbaby In Sept/October! I love having things to look forward to.
I hope you all have a great weekend. Happy Mother’s Day to my SA and US readers and any other place which also celebrates it this weekend.
Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxox
Kitten in the City 