Perfick!

 Perfick!

I was reminded the other day of this fabulous series on a Sunday night. The one that put Catherine Zeta Jones on the map. Before she was brilliant in The Mask of Zorro and Chicago, where she should have won the Oscar. But that's another blog I think!

I was reminded of Pop Larkin, played by the brilliant actor David Jason, also lovingly known as Del Boy and Inspector Jack Frost. His well known saying, 'Perfick!' always made me smile. For him and his wife, played by the lovely Pam Ferris, also known as Mrs Trunchbull or Laura Thyme in Rosemary and Thyme, theirs was a perfect life. It didn't have trips abroad, gifts galore and fancy cars. There were no designer gear or diamonds. But they were content and happy. 

They had their family and friends around them and they helped each other. They would all gather around the table for tea time, inside and outside. It was a noisy, happy gathering! I love the make shift chairs with the bench. The furniture may not be the most expensive and perfectly matching, but the occasion is perfect!

I used to love seeing Ma and Pop Larkin laughing and joking with each other. Such a fab on screen couple.

I still need to read the series, written by H E Bates, set in the 1950s. These book covers look so lovely. He began writing them in 1958 and wrote five books in the series.  

The covers remind me of spring and summer in the beautiful countryside. Of lovely sunny days, enjoying picnics and cricket matches. They make me think of Pimms and apple pie and custard, of walking through orchards, sipping a cheeky cider. All the flowers in full bloom.

I mean, who doesn't love a picnic? Eating in the great outdoors, sipping on Pimms or Lilt, wafting away the dratted wasps and needing the loo miles away from a toilet? I love them actually and feel I need to get picnicking again! Next summer of course!

There is something so lulling and calming about sitting on a picnic blanket, the summer breeze wafting past you, the sound of birdsong in the trees and the trickle of the stream. 

I do agree with this next quote very much. Yes, I do frequent fast food places and drive throughs. Not as often as I did. I prefer to eat in cafes and tearooms with comfier chairs and a more ambient atmosphere. Plus, my car, in lockdown when we had loads of drive throughs was disgusting! So yes, we all need more polka dots and picnics! I am actually, through the influence of a lovely friend, really back into leopard print so we will have more of that too!

I have very fond memories of family picnics at Cawthorne park. Minus the duck poo, and the erratic geese, these were sunny days, where we would stuff ourselves with vol au vents then play a fab game of rounders. We would go home so happy and filled with much glucose and fizzy pop, a lovely treat from Ben Shaws. I did feel my cousins and I were like the Famous Five, with Tizer instead of Ginger beer. Oh, and instead of Timmy the dog we had Billy the budgie and many rabbits! Love this illustration from The Guardian on pinterest.

Enid Blyton knew the importance of picnics too, in this pinterest quote!

Back to the darling buds, they make me think of late spring and on researching, the title is from Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, 'Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?'

I love to see a rose bud next to a rose in full bloom. A promise of what is to come. The older rose helping the younger rose who looks up to it. Just like in life. I took these two lovely photos on my local walks.

The young and old compliment each other. The older giving advice and the younger adding a refreshing outlook. Again, just like in life.

People, too bloom as they grow older. Age is to be embraced and celebrated.

We all bloom in our own time and in our own way. A garden is full of so many different flowers, all blooming when it is their time. 

Even when we are facing difficulties or made to feel less than worthy. When our confidence is hit, like the rose in a storm, we try to get back up and keep blooming! Sometimes, this may be hard but the people around us are there to help and remind us, that even though we are delicate, like the rose with its petals, we are also strong. We hold our head high to the sun and keep growing and blooming.

I am very nostalgic for the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s shows, back when little villages all looked out for each other. I love this well known quote from pinterest.

Community spirit was alive back then! It still is now but it seemed more so back then. People rooting for each other. Everyone knew who was going for a new job, who was having a baby and who was having a tooth out! They would cheer each other on! Or, hope the dentist took the wrong tooth out! This reminds me of the nostalgic 'Cider with Rosie' by Laurie Lee where the grannies in the wainscot who lived one above, the other below. They moaned about each other but couldn't live without the other! Such a lovely book about village spirit and comaraderie. 

Another book this reminds me of is the series 'Miss Read Village school'. I loved reading these, each one telling the story of the inhabitants of the village in the 1950s. It wasn't just the simpler way of school life but the whole way of life being more simple that appealed to me as a reader.

But then I had enjoyed the lovely stories of 'Milly Molly Mandy' with her doggy and her friends Little friend Susan and Billy Blunt. I had these book editions and loved them so much. I loved how there was a map of the village at the start of each book!

Back in these times, folk didn't have much materialistically but they had friendship, love and laughter. Many people had a sense of belonging within their communities.

Neighbours looked out for each other. People left their doors unlocked. Love this quote!

Back to The Larkins, there was hardship after the second world war, but there was a feeling of togetherness. You were all 'in it together'. Love this quote I found on pinterest. We are all connected with the people we spend our lives with.

Every episode ended on a high, as I remember with Pop Larkin smiling broadly at his brood. Everyone had helped each other overcome the adversity and everything was rounded off nicely until next Sunday. As a reader and a Virgo, I do like stories and dramas to be rounded off. I crave closure. We don't always achieve that in real life so it is nice to get it in books and on the television! 

Back in this time, people really enjoyed the little things in life. But then maybe things were appreciated that bit more. I love listening to stories from my mum, and my gran told lovely stories too. About saving up for things and to do things, like a weekend at Blackpool, dancing in Blackpool Tower. Stories about receiving birthday and Christmas prezzies that you had longed for. Love this quote from Laura Ingills Wilder, author of 'Little House on the Prairie'.

It was a more 'make do and mend' society, after the war and people who remembered rationing were very grateful for the chocolate cake or bottle of wine at the weekend. We are more of a throwaway society now. I remember my lovely dad would make his shoes last for ages, sending them to the cobblers to be re heeled. My mum would turn his shirt collars over and re sew them. He took great pride in his suit jackets and brogues and polished all our shoes weekly, to within an inch of his life! Love this Vivienne Westwood quote from pinterest!

Even as I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, there was still a sense of community and neighbourhood. I loved the street party our terraced houses held on the backings for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Everybody bringing plates of food for the buffet. Everybody up dancing and singing, the bunting flying high in the July sun. We had a street party on our new street for the Jubilee. We were the newbies and everyone welcomed us into the fold. 

I remember feeling that everyone knew each other. Neighbours were either one of your friend's parents or grandparents, dinner ladies or Sunday school teachers! Not that everyone was always friendly though! We had a few scrapes with some of the older neighbours when we played our two balls and the pop sock ball against the wall of their houses or kept, accidentally kicking the football over their fences! But all in all, it was lovely knowing people knew each other and were there for you when needed. There were true friendships born of living so close to each other. We grew up in a terraced house with backings and in very close proximity of each other. The parents were great friends and the kids were too. I have brilliant memories of growing up here.

I loved growing up in the time I did. Before technology took over. We got to see and feel the excitement of the computer age beginning. We got to watch Weird Science and Electric Dreams. Little did we know how far science and technology would go! We were the generation who got to play on a class computer that was wheeled outside the classroom. But we also got to play out before mobile phones and gaming took over the 'real' playing. 

We got to go out with our friends, in the 1990s, relying on a slim camera to catch the action, whilst still living it, not worrying what our eyebrows were doing. We chatted about nights out on the phone, whilst babysitting. Or when we next met our friends in a cafe. We didn't realise at the time just how free we were.

We were sat comfortably between the more simpler days and witnessing many new, modern technologies. The main thing though. We were the last generation to have their childhood and teenagedom untouched by social media. What would Pop Larkin have thought to Twitter? He would have said it is the sound a bird makes. And instagram? He didn't do instant. He did relaxing and chilled. Like his pint of cider. And he would have told Zoom to zoom right off! Love this for Snap chat! Those peas my grandad grew were so sweet!

Love this! No X box, just a box! And very happy too! We used our imagination more. We had simpler toys and games. I would love playing cards, dominoes and draughts with my family. We mainly played outside with our friends. A 10p mix up was exciting for us! We made many of our games ourselves with cardboard boxes and stuff from the pantry. 

Things were more ordinary. We were bored at times and weren't constantly stimulated by a screen. I loved going on walks with my dad and going conkering in the local park. I love seeing kids doing this now with their parents! We did find joy in the everyday things of life. 

I love this quote. We do remember the tv shows we watched. My bro, sis in law and I were reminiscing yesterday about shows such as Moonlighting and Roseanne and trying to remember the character's names. We watched these as a family and telly was great in the 80s and 90s. I do remember my playing out with friends, day trips, holidays and family parties more though!

The long, halcyon days of The Darling Buds of May can still be lived. We can press the pause button every now and then. We can have a week in the countryside in a barn or glamping in a field. I love that some older musicians are saying they don't want their audience to be videoing (is that word still in use?) them whilst they perform but to be appreciating it 'in the moment'. Perhaps, we could have trips out to The Darling Buds farmhouse (which is for sale) and have a phone free hour, lazing on a vintage deckchair, listening to the wireless and sipping chilled lemonade? I'd be up for that! 

I do go on social media but not as much as I did. It can be very helpful and positive. We need technology in our lives, for the good. I just feel we need to have pauses from it. As this next quote says, it is totally ok to put your phone down!

We can still do things without our phones! I must admit, when I first joined facebook, I was obsessed with posting stuff and updates. I realised I was spending my time at meals with friends and family  posting it all that I was not enjoying it as genuinely as I should have been doing. I then started to yake photos then post them after the occasion. Much better way of being involved in a group and being present with everyone. 

This is very true. Get out there in the fresh air, join clubs and take up hobbies. My biggies for this are reading and dog walking. 

I have had down time from social media before too. It can become overwhelming and take over your time. I have had a break then returned when I have given my head some space. It is all about balance really and trying to make sure we still have our 'real life' connections as well as our 'virtual' connections.

I cannot end this blog without mentioning The Waltons' tv programme, from the 1970s, showing the Great depression years in America. When we were growing up and had sleep overs with friends, we'd jokingly say 'Goodnight John boy' 'Goodnight Mary Ellen'. What a lovely family they were. 

This quote from John Boy is really good. We are not only rich in money but other things too. Friends and family for a start.

So, when we strive for perfect, or perfick, it doesn't have to look like perfection. There will be flaws, it might be messy but it will also be wholesome and genuine. It will involve living side by side each other, helping each other. It will be laughter and tears but you will be sharing all these emotions with others. 

We may have entered the 21st century where technology has taken over, we may now be more 'time poor' and more stressed with jobs and the economy. We may now live on streets where not everyone knows our name. We may prefer to watch tv whilst we eat our meals, but we can still take some everyday pointers from the Larkins and the Waltons, and many more tv families from before. The feeling of 'perfick' is more of a contentment, being where we are and who we are with, not the fact we are perfect. 

It is about being genuine and real and not pretending. Like, this is who I am. I am not pretending. It has taken me a long time to realise that! 

I do love Mary Poppins and love her positivity. I love her 'practically perfect in every way'. The practically part is the give away. Nobody is perfect! Everyone at some time or other has needed help and guidance. 

Life is about who we choose to live it with. It is about who, not what we collect. Find your tribe and look after each other.

Every so often, have a meal at the table, go on a family picnic, play that game of cards with the grandparents, write that Christmas card to the neighbour living on her own and make that telephone call to your old friend you haven'tseen in ages. These little things all add up to building connectons. And to re-connecting. These connections and bonds help to lift us up in life. Sometimes, we make plans but they fall through. Just try again. The spontaneous plans can be the best ones. Just keep being there for one another. People matter. Relationships matter. Some relationships do genuinely fall away but the ones worth having stay.

We can be happy when we have saved up for that designer dress or pair of shoes or received a gorgeous piece of jewellery for a birthday. We deserve these things! They show thought from those who have treated us. The things worth looking after though, and appreciating in life, aren't things!

I think Pop and Ma Larkin would agree with this next quote, as they looked back on their life in the countryside. They don't have to be big, expensive moments either. They don't have be showy and spectacular moments, just little moments made from love and friendship.

I do love this next quote. Obviously, don't be a pushover but do think about what you say and how say things to people.

At the end of the day, it is about helping each other, being kind and sharing experiences with one another. It does matter how we make other people feel. And how they treat us back. I have worked in lovely communities where we have helped each other. I have experienced unkind words, as I am sure everyone has. How much nicer though, when folk are supportive? Life is blooming hard enough! Get complimenting. Yes you! Go!