Re: Vickis' grandpa

[Guest guest]

He was! Though also very cantankerous and difficult to live with. He was

married twice and lived with a woman who'd been a year or so above my mother

at school for the last ?20 years of his life - it caused great scandal when

he ran away with her! She's called - known (affectionately, I hasten

to add) as the strumpet to distinguish her from wife no. 1 who is also a

(Mother ), my grandmother. Although the woman I used to call

granny was wife no. 2 - Helen, who actually brought my Dad up.

Grumpy was a doctor, and did a lot of work around vaccination programmes and

TB in East Africa - my Dad was born and brought up in Kenya and the family

only came home when Dad was late teens/early 20s, though Grumpy continued to

travel out to Kenya for work until he retired. He was a very scowly old

chap, though usually good-natured beneath it. Bald as a coot with a rim of

white, curly hair and long curly sideburns for as long as I can remember.

He had (what's it called? adult version of chicken pox) when I was about 15

and forever after maintained that wearing trousers aggravated it, so

preferred to dress in a kikoy (African equivalent to sarong), whatever the

weather - though in the last years of his life he was persuaded back into

baggy old corduroys.

the strumpet comes from a farming family and one year was talked into

handrasing a lamb which was born with a twisted neck so its head was turned

permanently over its back. They got another, healthy lamb to keep her

company and the two were great favourites of Grumpy's. Sheepy could only

walk in circles, but was a very pampered pet. Boyo, however, was perfectly

healthy and had to be exercised regularly - Grumpy used to take him for long

walks on the end of a lead! He sheared them both one year and decided to

knit himself a jumper, so doggedly spun the wool and set to. Eventually, he

produced an arranish sweater of uneven tension and thickness which paired

beautifully with his kikoy. It was permanently covered in bits of twig and

leaf and was family lore that he didn't wash the fleeces before he spun the

wool - entirely possible! He also rode an old moped whose starter motor was

unreliable so could often be seen running down the hill with it, kikoy

flying, and leaping aboard at the last minute. Last time I saw Boyo, he was

an elderly sheep, proudly sporting a full set of home-made leather bootees

which Grumpy had made him to stop the foot rot setting in!!

Grumpy used to take great delight in pretending to be deafer than he was (he

pretended extremely, but his hearing was actually very sharp), and would

collapse in fits of giggles if he actually got to be cross with him

after two or three goes of " What do you want for dinner, Potty? " " Half past

three! " " No, I said what do you want for dinner?? " " Oh, is it raining? "

etc.. He had a family Christmas party every year, to which only adults were

invited. It was a measure of the esteem in which he held you, how old you

were when you got your first invitation. I got one at 18, my sister was in

her 20s and we have cousins who were never invited. You turned up, and were

roundly berated for disturbing his peace! (He used to keep the phone in the

cupboard under the stairs so he couldn't hear it ringing).

He was alone amongst my father's relatives in being totally supportive when

I was pg with DD1 - though he did ring me and advise me to try and arrange

to have a litter of kittens instead, as it would be very much easier )

Then, when Dad told him DD1 had been born, he's reported to have said " Oh

god, not another f***ing woman! " But was delighted with her - it helps that

she's a pretty little blondie, and silenced a whole pub when she was about 5

by commenting in a loud voice " Haven't you got a pretty little bottom " as

she was climbing over him to get out from the table!

He was a lovely man - very kind hearted. I do miss him, but he left so many

rich memories that it's hard to really think of him as gone.

Vicki Portman

http://www.plushpants.co.uk

----- Original Message -----

> Vicki

> Your grandpa sound like he was an absolute hoot and great fun

>

> Caroline

> Jersey