grandad kit

Thank you for reading my blog. If you have difficulty seeing your grandchildren, or have any views about my situation, I would welcome your messages by e-mail through this blog site. If you wish, just use a first name or a nickname and your identity will be protected, like mine – “Grandad Kit.”

Dear “Tom”

A magic shop

I am you other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure. I am writing this daily "blog" to you to make up for the fact that I can't speak to you right now. I hope that one day you will be able to read this.

Today grandad went to a magic shop - not a shop that sels magic, but one that is like magic to go inside. I've told you about this shop before. Hanging from the ceiling are all kinds of cloth, silks and satins; there are curtains and pillow cases and lace. You would easily get lost amongst all the hangings!

Grandad went ofr a run tonight. I am training a bit more regularly now and a bit harder. In our last athletics meeting I was beaten by two other men - the same age as me, as all the old one race together - and I was very annoyed about it. Next time I'm determined to run faster and try and beat them! Last year I finished top of my age group at the end of the seaosn, but I am only third or fourth right now. Of course it doesn't really matter if I don't win, but everybody likes tro win if they can. As long as you do your best, that's the main thing.

Love from

Grandada Kit and Nana Ann

Thank you for reading my blog. If you have difficulty seeing your grandchildren, or have any views about my situation, I would welcome your messages by e-mail through this blog site. If you wish, just use a first name or a nickname and your identity will be protected, like mine – “Grandad Kit.”

Dear “Tom”

Another book to write

I am you other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure. I am writing this daily "blog" to you to make up for the fact that I can't speak to you right now. I hope that one day you will be able to read this.

Grandad got soe good news today from a publisher who wants me to write a book. It won't be out until next year, but I have to start straight away to get it done in time. It'll mean a lot of travelling around the country, but you know Grandad likes to go on his travels. If only I could come and see you when I'm in London, as I often am.

This book will have lots of pictures in it, so I'll need to take a lot of photographs as well as getting lots more photographs from other people. It'll be a realy nice book that I will show you one day.

I went t see an old friend today who used to work all the year round, like grandad. Now he's given up part of his work to leave time free, so he and his wife arew going off on a long holiday. He's had to get someone else to take over his work. That's quite a tricky thing, as you want to get soemone who will do the job as well as you did and not someone who will make a mess of it.

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Thank you for reading my blog. If you have difficulty seeing your grandchildren, or have any views about my situation, I would welcome your messages by e-mail through this blog site. If you wish, just use a first name or a nickname and your identity will be protected, like mine – “Grandad Kit.”

Dear “Tom”

Last of the rugby

I am you other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure. I am writing this daily "blog" to you to make up for the fact that I can't speak to you right now. I hope that one day you will be able to read this.

The final of the rugby sevens was on telly today. I bet your Dad was watching, but what is he going to watch now? Maybe the cricket, although even local games last a long time - and big games at the biog grounds last for days! My grandad used to take me to watch the cricket. I used to get amongst the old blokes and listen to their chat - they always seemed to be experts at the game!

Not a lot to report today, old son, just work and not too much of that. There was some athletics on the television - that's something I always like to watch. Have you been in any races at school? If you ever get the chance, make sure you take part, and run as hard and as fast as you can!

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Thank you for reading my blog. If you have difficulty seeing your grandchildren, or have any views about my situation, I would welcome your messages by e-mail through this blog site. If you wish, just use a first name or a nickname and your identity will be protected, like mine – “Grandad Kit.”

Dear “Tom”

Walthamstow market

I am you other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure. I am writing this daily "blog" to you to make up for the fact that I can't speak to you right now. I hope that one day you will be able to read this.

Today Nana An took me to one of her favourite places to go - Walthamstow market. It's not very far from where you live, and your Mam and Dad might well have taken you there already. There's always lots to see at any market, at at Walthamstow there are roundabouts you would love to go on. Nana Ann wanted to get a case on wheels for her to travel with, just like the one she got for Grandad last year, but the stall she got mine from didn't have another one exactly like it, so Nana Ann will have to look somewhere else. She was very disappointed, but we always enjoy going to markets and it was a nice day.

Then Grandad got on the train to go back to where I had left the car. I could have drivent he car into London, but there is so much traffic and you have to pay to drive through the middle of London, so it wasn't worth it. Then it was back in the car and the long drive up the A1 road to our home here in the North of England.

The thing about going away is, whenh you come back, there are always lots and lots of letters and newspapers lying on the mat. Sometimes there are so many, it's hard to open the door! I have to puch really hard to get back into the house! But it wasn't so bacd this time.

Next week is going to be a bit of a dull week - Grandad hasn't got any trips planned atall. So I'll just have to stay at home and do lots of work.

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Thank you for reading my blog. If you have difficulty seeing your grandchildren, or have any views about my situation, I would welcome your messages by e-mail through this blog site. If you wish, just use a first name or a nickname and your identity will be protected, like mine – “Grandad Kit.”

Dear “Tom”

Baby goslings growing up

I am you other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure. I am writing this daily "blog" to you to make up for the fact that I can't speak to you right now. I hope that one day you will be able to read this.

After seeing the man again today, the one I cane down to see, I went to London to stay with Nana Ann who went back to her work on the train early in the morning. Nana Ann is very excited because she has just seen the five baby goslings for the first time in a week or more. Remember last year when the mummy and daddy geese had five babies, but the crows killed four of them and there was only one left to grow up? This year the geese - who had nested on the island in the pond just outside Nana Ann's house, the first ever geese to do this - again had five babies. But this time they kept the babies hidden away in the long grass on the pond, to keep them safe from the crows, and only brought them out for a short while to teach them how to swim.

But when Nana Ann saw them again this week, the five baby goslings had grown up so much, they were too big for the crows to attack them. Even so, the mummy and daddy geese kept them very close by and made sure they were looked after every minute of the day. Grandad saw them this evenig nand took photographs of them. The five babies are quite big now. One of them is a bit bolder than the rest and he (for I bet it's a he) likes to sit a little distance away, as if he is practising for when he is a grown-up daddy goose and has to protect his own babies.

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Thank you for reading my blog. If you have difficulty seeing your grandchildren, or have any views about my situation, I would welcome your messages by e-mail through this blog site. If you wish, just use a first name or a nickname and your identity will be protected, like mine – “Grandad Kit.”

Dear “Tom”

Deaf old lady

I am you other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure. I am writing this daily "blog" to you to make up for the fact that I can't speak to you right now. I hope that one day you will be able to read this.

This evening Nana Ann came up from London on the train and we went to see her nephew who is I suppose related to you in some way. Anyway, this young man is married and he has two children, one a boy who is two years old and one new baby girl who is just a few weeks old. Now when my young relativers get to two or three years old, I like to give them a special chair or a stool that's just the right size for them to use and no-one else.

When we got to the house, I didn't show the chair to your little cousin (the one two years old) but I secretly put it down in the corner of the room without him noticing. After a while he saw it and of course he went over to see what it was. Straight away, he found the secret box under the chair where he can keep his special toys and keep them away from his baby sister! Of course we told him "this chair is for you, and only you can sit on it," and he was very pleased.

The chair has a wooden back and two arms at the side. In fact, Nana Ann said it looked like a throne, the kind of special chair for kings and queens to sit on! So the lad's mummy straight away found him a crown which he put on his head and sat on the chair lust like a king on his throne!

If ever I get to see you before you get much older, you can be sure I will get you a special chair just for you to sit on.

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann

Thank you for reading my blog. If you have difficulty seeing your grandchildren, or have any views about my situation, I would welcome your messages by e-mail through this blog site. If you wish, just use a first name or a nickname and your identity will be protected, like mine – “Grandad Kit.”

Dear “Tom”

Thatched roofs

I am you other grandfather, the one you have never met. You are three years old, and although I have never met you, I love you dearly and always will. You are my flesh and blood, and always will be. We will meet one day, I am sure. I am writing this daily "blog" to you to make up for the fact that I can't speak to you right now. I hope that one day you will be able to read this.

We filmed some more people this morning, but this ws the last of this particular job and I don't know when we'll be fiming again. But you would have been interested in watching. Part of the making the film is to get people to walk past the camera. Then the cameraman says "it wasn't quite right, do it again." So the people had to go back and walk apst the camera again. Or a noisy lorry goes past or a plane flies overhead, and we because of the noise we have to do that part of the film again!

Then Grandad got ito his car to drive a long way down the A1 road, almost as far as London. Tomorrow I'm going to see a man who lives down near you. After getting to my hotel I had a spare hour or so and it was a lovelu evening, so I went for a walk into a little village. The houses in this village are very old, and some of them have thatched roofs - that is, instead of havign slates or tiles on the roof, they have thatch - which is made out of reeds. The thatch is very thick, it keeps out the rain and it makes the house warm. The people who put the thatch on the roofs, or mend them, are very clever. They're called "Thatchers" because they thatch roofs. That's where the name Thatcher comes. from. There would be a man called Jack who was a thatcher by trade, and so they would call him "Jack the Thatcher." After a while they would shorten it to "Jack Thatcher." And if he had a son William who was also a thatcher by trade - and it was very common in those days for a son to follow the same trade as his father and learn from him - they would call him William Thatcher and so on.

There was an old pub in the village so Grandad had a drink in the garden, listening to the birds singing and the wind blowing in the trees - very peaceful! There was a little play area there where you could have played while Grandad watched you and ejoyed his glass of wine.

Tomorrow Nana Ann is coming up and we're going to visit her nephew and his new baby, after we've both done our work of course.

Love from

Grandad Kit and Nana Ann