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Cindy Read profile »
Okay, about me (age 54), married for the 2nd time in Jan. 2003 to a lovely British gentleman who wasn't ready to retire so I sold everything, left my adult children and young grandchildren and
moved from sunny Florida to be with him. Our blended family now consists of a total of four children and two grandchildren on two continents.
Since I've not worked outside of the home since our marriage, I've had very little opportunity to make friends. I've got acquaintances, don't get me wrong but deep lasting friendships are what
females really need and I am lacking here in the UK. This lack of friendships is what got me interested in the Red Hat Society, I thought it would be a great way to meet folks.
Adjusting to life in England after 49 years in the USA was a challenge I didn't expect but I have loved most every minute of it.
Hubby retired last summer and we've emigrated to Florida. Hope to continue blogging here for the Times.
Posted at 1:00pm Sunday 16th December 2007
Another week closer to Christmas!
Not far from Christmas now and the unseasonably warm weather continues here in Florida. Good for tourism that’s for sure. . .all those folks that thought they’d spend Christmas at the theme parks in Orlando must be cheering their socks off.
Posted at 8:39pm Wednesday 28th November 2007
Florida Greetings!! I'm baaacckkkk!
Hello from Florida. It’s been awhile since I blogged because in the move from the house we were renting to our own home I lost my password. I was going to give up on blogging here because I felt that being 3,000 miles away no one would really be interested in what I had to say. . .what the heck, I didn’t think anyone was interested in what I had to say when I was there in Hereford but Liz from the Times said she didn’t mind if I continued so here I am.
Posted at 2:25pm Wednesday 10th October 2007
Hello, Hello, Hello From Sunny Florida!!
So, here we are at long last in our home in Florida. When I last wrote we were just about to move from Belmont to complete hubby’s emigration to the states. It feels like an eternity when in reality it’s only been about 6 weeks.
Posted at 10:54pm Tuesday 21st August 2007
Moving on. . .
Time moves on rather quickly when you are getting ready to move. The months and months of waiting for the American Embassy to get their finger out and issue a visa to permit my husband to emigrate to the states seemed to take forever and ever but now that we have official dates and times to move as well as fly, the time is really passing faster then I would normally want it to.
Posted at 1:04pm Tuesday 24th July 2007
Be glad for what you've got!
Watching the flooding over the last few weeks has brought to mind the hurricanes I've seen hit Florida and up into Louisiana. Devastation, lack of electricity and drinking water. Lost homes, lost transportation, lost lives.
Posted at 9:36am Tuesday 17th July 2007
Moving forward!
It’s all go. . .or at least it would be if we could get rid of the furniture and things the kids don’t want to take. Isn’t it funny how things change from generation to generation? When I was married at 19 what furniture we had was what you could call ‘early poverty’. We had been married 10 years before we had anything that hadn’t belonged to 2 or 3 owners before us. These days with hire purchase so readily available the kids have beautifully furnished homes very early in their relationships (and a boatload of debt as well sometimes). Of course our tastes in furnishings are different from theirs so is it any wonder that there are things they don’t want.
Posted at 7:47am Saturday 14th July 2007
Red tape and other chaos.
Hello out there. . .sorry for not blogging for awhile, it’s been a bit chaotic around our house. I told you that we are moving to the states last time I wrote and all that has been moving forward. It seemed at a snail’s pace for a very long time because back in January we sent my husband’s application in to the American Embassy in London for an immigration visa. I say application when what I mean is we sent in pretty much close to half the rain forest in paper. They wanted copies of his passport, my passport, his late wife’s death certificate, my divorce documents, proof of income, a police report, both birth certificates and what we eat for breakfast every morning. Okay the last is an exaggeration but holy cow, what a load of . . .hmm. . .never mind, don’t want the censors to get me. I neglected to say that they wanted $180.00 as well with the application.
Posted at 4:12pm Monday 2nd July 2007
Stress & Its Most Amazing Abilities
Who would think that letting yourself get stressed could affect your health so much? Not me.
Posted at 10:02am Saturday 16th June 2007
Patriotism and other stuff!!
Patriotism. It’s something different to everyone. Americans are very patriotic and are into big gestures and over the top emotions. (Something I expect gives cause most Brits to think we are all totally barking mad.) But then Americans don’t understand the ‘stiff upper lip’ that the Brits are so proud of, so I guess that makes us even.
Posted at 9:16am Thursday 31st May 2007
Busy Times
There are changes happening in my life, things that I will share with you when I next blog. They are big changes requiring a lot of attention to detail. That's all I will say for the moment, or perhaps I should say 'watch this space'.
Posted at 5:24pm Monday 14th May 2007
Back to reality. . .
We’ve been away for awhile. We spent three weeks in Florida visiting family. I stocked up on my grandbaby hugs hoping to store them up until the next time we can go and visit. While you were having lovely weather here in Hereford, we were having a few nice walks on the beach and enjoying a lazy afternoon or two by the pool. Sadly holidays don’t last nearly long enough and it was soon time to come back home.
Posted at 4:30pm Tuesday 10th April 2007
Travelling!!
Hello out there!! Is anyone still blogging? I was away for a week and came back to see no new blogs posted and since I talk too much anyway, I thought I’d put my 2 cents in or rather 2 pence.
Posted at 1:08pm Wednesday 21st March 2007
Nothing in particular. . .
There are times when I still feel like such an outsider here in England. I still miss some of the foods I can't get here unless I order from an American website that charges silly money for products I paid much less for in the states. Sometimes my accent seems to stand out to me, other times it seems all the rest of the world has an accent. There are times as well when I feel that I am too loud and too 'out there' for the majority of the British population, that my ideas are a bit on the outrageous side when back at home I'd be thought of as cautious.
Posted at 1:09pm Wednesday 7th March 2007
Posted at 3:59pm Tuesday 6th March 2007
It's that time again. . .
I expect to those that take the time to read these blogs think 'my gosh that woman DOES go on and on about the Red Hat Society'. And I suppose I do. When I started the Hereford Chapter of the RHS, I did it because I didn't have any friends. What I discovered in the process was that there were loads of women out there just like me who enjoyed having female friends and some time out with them. We continue to grow but in doing so we have a bit of a dilemma. Many of our ladies still work, therefore most of our activities take place in the evening. We've got a skittle night planned Monday night for something different, if you want to come along and check us out, just let me know. Meanwhile, I've had one lady in particular who would like daytime activities and I am wondering if there are others like her who would prefer not going out at night. If there are, please let me know and we can start a 2nd chapter for our daytimers. I should mention too that you don't have to be over 50 to be an associate pink hat member.
Posted at 3:47pm Monday 19th February 2007
Common Sense
Funny that just when I thought I would blog on something that concerns me I got the little 'obituary' shown below. In the last couple of years I've watched some of the youth in Hereford in certain places become more and more disrespectful of authority and at times even violent and distructive.
Posted at 8:13am Monday 12th February 2007
Monday, Monday. . .
Hi from soggy Belmont way. My goodness that snow was a surprise! Especially that 2nd lot that we weren't expecting at all. Seemed to have even caught the weatherman off guard. It was pretty when it first settled though.
Posted at 1:30pm Thursday 8th February 2007
Red Hat Ladies Make the News
I wrote last week about our meeting at The Green Dragon and how the BBC came along and interviewed us for their local internet program. It's not been put on yet but the moment I have a link for it, I will post it here. Wednesday (yesterday) five of us braved the cold to appear on Katie Johnson's program on BBC Hereford Worcester radio. She was very kind to us and allowed us to get the word out to other like-minded ladies about our little group. I say 'little' but we continue to grow with still 2 more members this week.
Posted at 8:52am Wednesday 31st January 2007
Red Hat Society Report
Good morning everyone. . . we had our Red Hat Society meeting and dinner at The Green Dragon Hotel in Broad Street last night with one very welcomed surprise visitor. I had a phone call in the afternoon from Nicola from the BBC who had read about our group of ladies on this very blog. . .hurray, someone is reading these things!!! She wanted to know more about our group and wanted to come along and meet some of us for a possible story for the news. I certainly wouldn’t say no to more publicity especially since I’d love to help get some other chapters started in outlying villages. I’ve had some interest from a few ladies in Leominster but have not found someone willing to take on the leadership.
Posted at 5:57pm Thursday 25th January 2007
Keeping busy. . .
With hubby working all sorts of hours at his temporary job sorting the accounts out of a solicitor's office in Cardiff, I find myself with time on my hands. My scrap books are caught up through the end of last year, I can't start on 2007 because I am out of supplies so will have to wait for a trip to the states to get affordable replacements.
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