Farty's Fortunes

Wednesday 12 March 2008

Happy Anniversary, Baby

Yep, 26 years married to Mrs Farty. Most of them happily, yay! We got to see lots of her relatives, too, but that was largely circumstantial.

Old Uncle Charlie passed away last week, and the funeral was held today down south Up North, in the borders. One of the advantages of having a new bungee manager every few months is that you can bury six grandfathers in five years and nobody bats an eyelid, so I had no trouble getting time off.

We caught the train down last night, even though it meant that I went through blog withdrawl and slept only fitfully, waking abruptly from a nightmare about the Internet being switched off. Brrr!

Anyway, woke up this morning to the sound of sizzling bacon, had some porridge and honey, then T and I went for a walk while the ladies got on with the important business of yakking.

Cheviots today It was largely overcast, with a strong wind blowing off the Cheviot Hills, but nothing unusual there. The fresh air cleared my head while T and I chatted about how, even out here in the country, technology is gradually encroaching, what with GPS-guided tractors and that. T recalled the first time he visited the Big City (Morpeth, I think) when he had seen traffic being stopped and started by magical beams of coloured light1.

When we got back, some more relatives had arrived to pay their condolences, then in the afternoon we made our way to Chatton for the service. This was my first Catholic funeral, and I can see now why there is such friction between the Protestants and the Catholics - they missed at least a dozen words off the end of the Lord's Prayer!!! Heathens. And the incense made my eyes water. There was a bit of levity - when the minister priest was putting up the numbers of the hymns on the board, Uncle B shouted "House!" If looks could kill...

A familiar dirty laugh from behind made me turn around - yup, Favourite Niece had sneaked in late with Aunty B. That pair will be late for their own funerals, with any luck.

Charlie must have been a good Catholic, what with him being Italian I suppose, since the priest not only knew his proper name but his entire history from his youthful first trip to Northumberland during the War (just a flying visit) to his return after falling in love with the place and his eventual settling down to raise a family. (No, neither of his children had provided him with these details. We checked.)

A brief stop at the cemetery for the burial, then into the local eatery for a very nice hot buffet. We would have stayed longer, but we had a train to catch - or so we thought. When we arrived at the station, we found that British Rail (or whatever the fuck it's called these days) had imposed a 50mph speed limit due to the wrong type of wind and all trains were delayed by up to 2 hours. As luck would have it, the train which we would have missed if it had been on time was also late, so we caught that one and were only an hour late home.

1 Ok, I stole that from Lillian Beckwith.

13 comments:

United Studies said...

Happy Anniversary! Man, you got married when I was only 4 years old. Doesn't that make you feel old?

And sorry to hear about Old Uncle Charlie. But isn't it funny how funerals turn out to be good family reunions?

Z said...

If it makes you feel better, I'd been married for 4 years when Jacki was born.

Happy anniversary, Mr & Mrs F.

Misssy M said...

I have been to a catholic wedding and a funeral. I didn't know what i was supposed to be doing at any point in either. And this is the thing...protestants ceremonies just require you to sit there and sing a bit (or mime). No effort required...and you you can go years without speaking to anyone or even feeling remotely spiritual about anything.


Catholic jobs you're up,down, up, down...drinking some nasty stuff...but not if you're not and they'll know so don't be tempted. Then there's the offer of a wee wafer, but not if you're not, so don't be tempted, cos they'll look at you.

And then there's the gesturing and the odd chant or two. It's bewildering and exhausting!

Happy Anniversary...26 years, not be to sneezed at.

Sewmouse said...

Congratulations
Happy Anniversary
Many more!
Condolances on Uncle Charlie

And who would have thought that a 2 hour delayed train would end up being a GOOD thing?

Mr Farty said...

Aw, fanx peeps!

Jacki - Rub it in, why don't you? Grrr!

But yes, it was a good chance to catch up and that.

Z - Ah, that's better! Gosh, you're really old!

Misssy - We did the short version, so there was no scran during the service. But what is it with the flicking water and that?

Sew - Good old British weather and good old British Rail!

Misssy M said...

Farty, your post today got me thinking about that wedding I went to ...and (after getting permission from Meeester) I have now blogged it. Thanks for the inspiration.

#Debi said...

Mr. F, if it makes you feel better, I've been divorced for nearly 22 years. I like your stats better...

Happy anniversary, and condolences on Uncle C...

Mr Farty said...

Misssy - Very nice post.

Debi - Awww. You win some, you lose some :-7

Memarie Lane said...

My hometown got its first traffic light when I was 18. I hear tell they have the internets there now too.

#Debi said...

Mr. F: Trust me--if you knew the ex, you'd know that I won some... ;)

Mr Farty said...

Marie - I was kidding about the traffic lights. Sort of. I lifted a quote from a book about the Scottish Highlands. Pretty sure the source was true though.

Debi - Ok, you win some, you win some. Well done!

Unknown said...

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Farty!!

Mr Farty said...

Aw, fanx John!