MY DAD

As its Fathers Day I decided to make a collage of a few photos I have of my Dad.

He was called Ernest - but known as Ernie. He was born in Gateshead in 1923. He had a bad accident when he was about 7 or 8 - he was riding his bike and was run over by a hearse ( of all things ) . He spent a whole year of his childhood in hospital recovering and needed a lot of skin grafts. He was taught to knit and sew and do woodwork to help with the boredom and as therapy.

His Dad- my Grandad ( also called Ernest ) was made deaf by the noise in the factory where he worked. He got compensation which was enough for him and my Grandma to buy a little corner shop. My Dad was still a child at the time and had to learn sign language to communicate with his Dad.

Towards the end of the war my Dad joined the Royal Artillery.  After training he was posted to Malta where he was on the " Ack Ack " guns.  He was also Batman for the Colonel.   He spent most of his working life in a factory which made mining machinery - he was a mechanical engineer/horizontal borer. He was a hard working Geordie who enjoyed spending time in the local Working Mens Club.  Still missed by his family. 

Ive spent a quiet day at home by myself - well Tino and Lily were around of course.  Tino was his usual noisy and inquisitive self.  Getting into everything and being very vocal. Lily has slept most of the day on the bedroom windowsill in the sunshine.  She is usually more active in the evenings. Ive done lots of little household chores that I needed to get out of the way.  The weather has been lovely - warm and sunny so I did a few garden chores too. 

Neil has reported back that his legs - especially his ankles - are sore today and he has blisters on his feet.  Hardly surprising after an run/walk of 70 miles. He's just taking things slowly.

Steps today - 5,037