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”

More seaside places

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.

These last few days I've been to lots of seaside places. You would have liked them all, but especially the ones with nice sandy beaches. It was so late when I got back to the hotel, that it was all locked up. Fortunately there was a night porter on duty, and he let me in. Tomorrow I'm heading back home, but only after I've had a business meeting - about a book of course.

I forgot to tell you something I did yesterday. That was to walk right round the walls of the city where I was staying. These are the ancient walls that were built hundreds of years ago, right round the town with only four gates to let people in and out. At night, all the gates would be closed and locked, so all the people inside were safe from bandits and wild animals (there used to be wolves roaming the coutryside then!).

It's very interesting going round the walls, looking at the towers and so on, even the old lavatories! There was one story I liked. The merchants of the town traded in wine. Every time they received a load of wine from a ship in the harbour, they had to give so many barrels to the King. That was like a tax. The King had the wine stored in his own special wine cellar and no-one was allowed to drink it except the King and his friends.

The merchants of the town started to sell their wine and other things from their houses which were right next to the river where the ships came in and out. So these merchants opened up shops to sell the wine etc and they got very rich. When the King came, he was very concerned. These merchants had made windows in the walls so they could sell things more easily, so in effect these were holes in the city wall. Anyone could get in! So the King told the merchants to block up their windows, and he went off on a Crusade or something.

Anyway, the merchants got together and decided they didn't want to vlock up their windows because that would make it much more difficult to sell things. Besides, there hadn't been any attacks on the town for ages and ages. So they ignored the King's command and left the windows open. Guess what? Some French pirates came and attacked the town. Although all four of the town gates were shut and locked, they got in through the open windows? These pirates stole all the merchants goods and took them away on their ships. But they also broke into the King's wine cellar and stole all the King's wine!

When this story reached the King, he was very annoyed but he said it was the merchants' own fault for not blocking up their windows as he had ordered them to do. So he had a laugh. Silly Merchants! he said. But then the King was told that his wine cellar had been broken into and all his wine stolen. Then the King stopped laughing and he was very angry indeed. He wasn't boathered about the merchants losing their stuff, but it was a different matter him losing his wine. So the King sent his own stonemason to the town to block up all the merchants windows whether they liked it or not.

And you can still see some of those blocked-up windows to this very day.

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”

At a seaside near you

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 had to get up early this morning so i could put Nana Ann on the train back to London, so she could get to work on time. Then I drove over to another seaside town, very close to where you have been on holiday. I guess you and your mam are still there - possible your Dad has gone back to work this morning, just like Nana Ann. Anyway I thought of you as I drove past. It's been bright and sunny today for the most part, but every so often there's been a shower of rain. What do you and your mam do when the rain comes on? Do you run for cover, or do you laugh and say "I don't care if I get wet!"

I've been taking lots of photographs as I travel round the country. The best of them will go in one of my books, not the next one, but the next but two or three. When you write books, you can't wait to finish one before you start another. Or at least I don't. The raeson is that you never know when a book is going to be published, or if it'll be published atall. So you have to have three or four or five on the go at the same time.

Nana Ann thinks I ought to write a children's book, so i guess I will one day. The best idea would be for me to write a book for you. If you liked it, maybe other children would like it and then their mams and dads would buy it and get Grandad a bit money.

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”

You are four today

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.

Aren't birthdays great? You get cards and presents. As you are away with your mam and dad on a little holiday at the seaside, I sppose you might have had a brithday party for your frinds alreay, perhaps at the playgroup or in a restuarant or ven the cinema. I hope you did have a proper bithday party with games. Grandad used to do magic tricks at birthday parties, but I'm not so sure I could do the now. Children are so clever, they would probably see right through them!

Anyway, you have a card and a little present from me and Nana Ann.

Happy fourth Birthday Tom. With any luck, we'll be at your fifth birthday party!

Love from

Grandad kit and Nana Ann

People on holiday

Grandad got up early this morning to catch the train to London. Then I hired a car and went to pick up Nana Ann. She had told me that one of the five goslings - who have all grown up to be nearly as big as their mother and father geese already - has a wing sticking out at an angle. The wing could have been broken, or it could have been like that since he or she was born. But it looks as though this particular young goose may not be able to fly away with the rest of the family when winter comes. but we'll see. The goose family still sticks together akll the time with the mummy and daddy goose still looking after their young babies and protecting them even though they are practically all grown up.

Then we went off to the seaside, not for a holiday but for Grandad to do some work. But when I finished my work, we were able to spend some time together. We do like to see families with young children out enjoying themselves. One young boy in particular - he couldn't have been more than two years old - was flyign along on a scooter at a great pace, balancing himself superbly. Not all children can do that. Grandad can't do it even now, I've always had terrible balance. But we're all good at some things if not so good at others.

The weathe has been great today, sunshine all day. We were very pleased for you, thinking of you enjoying yourself at the seaside not very far from us.

We saw some castles today. Castles are always very interesting. Although they are not used liem they used to be - to attack and defend in wars - it's very intretesting seeing how castles were built, usually on a hill and often surrounded by a moat (that's a big ditch full of water) t mae it difficult to attack. Sometimes people were shut up in their castles for weeks an months, with their enemies all around. Although the people in the castle couldn'e get out, neither could the attackers on the outside get in. Sometimes they did, but only if they could climb over the walls (very difficult) or make a hole in the walls with their cannons.

Grandad might write a book about castles on day, who knows?

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”

Talking to a boxer

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 is writing a book about a famous boxer, who was a world champion. I wnet to see him again today at his boxing gym - he helps to train young boxers now - and he is a very nice man and easy to talk to. I have a tape recorder and I record everything he says. Then I get my secretary to type out his words by playing the tape on a clever machine. Then I chanmge the words around to make them easy to read. Then we pout the words in a book. Sounds easy, doesm't it? But in fact it's quite a difficult job.

I'm trying to get everythig ready to catch the early train to London tomorrow morning. Then I'm going to hire a car and take Nana Ann with me for Saturday and Sunday. Of course, she has to go back to work on Monday. I'll then carry on past the place where you'll be on holiday. Perhaps your ears will be burning. That's what happens when soemone is talking about you.

Must go now, as Nana Ann is going to ring me very soon. I know ehat she'll say: have you got everything ready? And I'll say no, and she'll say you're bound to forget something. The she'll remind me of everything I need to bring with me, and a whole lot of other things that I don't think I'll need but she does "just in case."

Have a great holiday

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”

I know where you're going

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 knows where you ate going on holiday with your Mam and Dad this weekend - for your fourth birthday. I've looked it up on the internet, and lo and behold there is sand, lovely sand for you to play in and not a load of pebbles. I hope the sun shines for you, but you can still enjoy yourself even if it's rainging.

The funny thing is, I'll be driving past there! This is not deliberate, but I have to go to another place very close by on business. I'm really, really tempted to go down to the beach and look for you and your Mam and da, but I'm not going to. The reason is that it could make your Mam very cross, and I don't want to do that. But I';ll be thinking of you as I drive past, not very far away. It'll be a funny feeling. Perhaps your Mam will send us a postcard - I have sent her one or two recently from the places where I have been.

I'm going down to London on Saturday, and I had hoped to watch the Tour de France. That's a cycle race, the most famous cycle race in the world. It's a very, very long race, very hard indeed, and only the very best riders in the world get to take part. No chance of Grandad ever doing it. The race lasts three weeks - now that's a very long time - with the riders racing every day, abot a hundred miles a day, with a couple of days off to rest. Normally they race all around France - that's why it's called the Tour de France, but thsi year the first two days are going to be in London. On Saturday the cyclists will do a time trial around the centre of LOndon, and on Sunday they will race the first stage from London to Canterbury.

Unfortunately, I have so much to do, I won't get to see the race after all. Another time perhaps, and why not with you? I can tell you that little boys and girls as young as six can go racing on their bikes, so if you would like to do that, you won't have to wait too long. When I was even young than you, I used to race other little boys on my tricycle!

I know I've been working hard all day, but soemhow I don't seem to have got anything done. We all have days like that.

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”

Talking to my computer

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.

In recent years I've seen somethign that I think is really great - people being able to talk to their computers, and have the words come up on the screen. This saves having to type out the words, and it's much quicker - if you can think of what to say! But getting this system up and running is more bother than enough. I've had to have the man round twice to get it fixed. So we'll se how it goes.

I was up early this morning to put laeflets out in a by-election that's going on near here. You are quite big enough to help put leaflets out, your uncle and aunties did it when they were small. It's quite interesting, going round all the different houses. Of course you would ahve to stick with me and not go off on your own. And there would be letter boxes that are too difficult for you to open. Some of these letter boxes snap shut so fiercely, they can take your finger off - and I'm not joking.

I've been arranging places to stay this weekend - Nana Ann is coming with me for a couple of days, beacuse we'll not be too far from London. But I'm not taking my car all the way down. I'm going to travel down by train and hire a car in London - but I won't be driving in London itself. That's far too hair-raising - and you've got to pay the congestion charge if you want to go into the centre of London.

Not long before your fourth birthday now. I bet you've got lots of cards already.

Love from

Ganadad Kit and Nana Ann