I love the Seaside- Amanda Ward

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside.

Knickerbocker glories, ice cream cornets, fish and chips, scrambling for the umbrella as the rain starts.  Fond memories for me as a child during the 1970s.  We went to Brighton for 3 weeks every year to stay with my great-aunt, and also had a week in the Isle of Wight or Camber Sands in Kent.  These were the days when it was easier to take your child out of school for a week in June.  The aroma of bacon and tomatoes frying in the pan. Egg sandwiches, crisps and blackcurrant and lemonade served with a curly straw.  They were wonderful holidays.  Something weird and silly used to happen during those weeks, and we talked about it for years after. 

Fast forward thirty years, and now I’m the mum. It’s me making the bacon and tomtoes for breakfast, the sandwiches for lunch, and making sure we pack everything (including the kitchen sink). Listening to the dulcet tones of “I’m bored, I’m hungry, I need the toilet and are we there yet?” this is all before we’ve managed to drive out of our road.  During the past ten years, I have had possibly the best holidays since my childhood, and for some reason something odd has happened during it.  We always have fish and chips though on the last day, either at the beach, or beside a lake.  It’s our family ‘thing’.

Take for instance last year.  We spent two weeks in a tiny village in Scotland.  Fantastic cottage, stunning scenery, and a beast of a road to drive down to get to.  Anyway, as always during our holidays, our wedding anniversary and my birthday fall within the time we are away, so the outings on those days are extra special.  We went to a village on Loch Ness called Drumnadrochit, and I fell into a boat.  Thought I had twisted my ankle, so strapped it up and carried on for the rest of the two weeks.  Hubby was kind enough to buy me a walking stick for my 42^nd birthday.  It was only when I got back, that an x-ray showed I had broken my ankle, and was then laid up for several weeks.

This year, we are venturing not quite as far.  We are staying in a village called Haworth in Yorkshire.  This is where the Bronte sisters lived. I wonder what fun and games are awaiting us.  So, what is your holiday memory? What sticks out in your mind?

Have a super summer

Amanda

Amanda Ward is the author of The MisAdventures of Pann Haggerty available from Sweet Cravings Publishing.

Summer Soundtrack- Morgan Wyatt

Summer Soundtrack

Ever wonder why there are so many movies, book and song titles that use the word, summer?  Those of us in the Snowbelt often fantasize about summer while stuck knee high in snowdrifts. Teen movies often feature random hot nights, beautiful girls in convertibles, and impulsive decisions that lead to combustible, tire squealing conclusions. 

If the Baby New Year arrives on the stroke of midnight of the New Year, then summer must be the muscular adult version of the Baby New Year. All grown up and ready to hit the road, stroll the beaches, and fall in love. Summer allows us to do things we wouldn’t in the dark days of winter. 

We laugh more, stay up later, and often fall in love all over again. There's always a music sound track to accompany our warm holiday memories. It could range from steel band music to country ballads. There are hundreds of songs with summer in the title or mention summer in the lyrics.

Here’s a list of my favorite summer songs.

1.       Summer in the City-Loving Spoonful

2        Summer of 69-Bryan Adams

         (This capture the possibilities that only exists with summer.)

3.       All Summer Long-Kid Rock

         (Imagery describes a Midwest summer perfectly.)

4.       Summer Girl-LFO

        (Maybe not actually my favorite, but because my middle son sang it endlessly it

        is tattooed on my memory.)

5.     My all-time favorite is the searing vocal rendition of Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald that exemplifies both

         the longing and promise that summer creates.

Tell me your summer favorite and why.

Five Fast Facts- Michel Prince

Michel Prince

 
LATEST TITLE: The Guardian's Heart
1) GENRE: Contemporary Erotic Romance
2) CITY & STATE WHERE YOU LIVE:  North St. Paul, MN
3) FAVORITE COLOR: Lilac
4) DREAM VACATION: Bali Bali in a hut over the ocean.
5) ONE THING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU:  I can still sing the whole McDonald's song from the late 80's that had the whole menu on it... "I want a big mac, mcblt, quarter pounder with some cheese, filet of fish, a hamburger...all the way to the end."