The grand man of 99 - Father

He is George to most, Granddad to others and Mr Lupton when he gets his "Sunday best" name. To me, he is my Dad who I have been known to call him Georgie Porgie. On September 25th 2021 was his 99th birthday entering his 100th year.. We had a few days of getting out and about. He had just been over into the Dales to buy 100 plus sheep and then on the Wednesday we were off to Filey for a 99 icecream - well you just have to do it. Often he has been too busy in the garden to go to the seaside but with glorious weather and chnace of a spin out in Jacks vehicle we sent off in style. Those disability badges are good things as we parked up on the sea front to enjoy the icecream and look out to sea.then I popped in to the seafood cabin on the Cobble landing to get a sandwich to take home- 2 prawns and 2 crab for his tea. We called in to see his old friend,Frank Turner, who is a butcher in Rillington as he wanted some pickled tongues to cook. Frank was out and there were no tongues in the shop so slight disppointment. All in all he had a good day. Friday brought two friends from the village who brought him some biscuits. One day in the week he had been with Robin to pick some field peas and then shelled them for his dinner. I had gone to the house and he wasnt in and thought he must be down the garden. next thing he zooms into the yard on th emule. Another day someone arrived with homemade pickle. He got 20 cards and was busy be ringing everyone up to say his thank yous. He couldnt believe it when a surprise package arrived from Betty's and all he kept saying was what have I done to deserve this. His request for his Sunday dinner was to have some beef from one of the heifers that Nicholas had taken to have cut up to be then sold in the Wass Farm Shop. It was very good and like any true Yorkshire man on his plate was Yorkshire puddings too.

Birthday in Lockdown

Maybe it is a good job Jack is as old as he is as if it had happened twenty years ago I don't know how he would have coped with the lockdown and not being able to go to the pub. Coronavirus, he would have said bring it on and I will show it what a fight is, but that was when he was younger. I dont think it would have existed long in all the dirt his landrovers accumulated over the years in those days.

With his birthday today falling on a Sunday today the 3rd May. He was born 68 years ago in Westow Croft  near Malton at 3.20pm .  I had planned a party as I plan a party most year ...any excuse but I would have done a proper Roast beef dinner with hundreds of Yorkshire puddings... dont worry we will have a belated one when we can.
And a big birthday cake,  well really they are just as easy to make as a small one the same sort of mess in the quantity of bowls just bigger bowls and more eggs. I usually use 24 eggs and cook it in my tin I use for cooking the turkey in at Christmas.
My Dad likes a party too and his friend who is well in his 90s too has rung him and mentioned quite a few times since lockdown that he hopes it is lifted by the time it is September in time for my Dads birthday so they can eat on the long table again in the garden. ...And they say parties are for the young ones. Better a party than a funeral tea.
A nice number is 25-28 people to sit round the table. After that it gets a bit harder to seat everyone and then my pans would have to be replaced with jam pans to cook the amount of food in and so like to  keep it simple.
Today Jack had a very quiet birthday and I didn't cook a big cake, but I made him some chocolate biscuity stuff instead.When I was small they called it Scotch Treat due to using Scotbloc baking chocolate I think . This photo is the recipe I wrote down when I guess I would have been about 7 years old. so you can see how as other people say declutter I say re-hoard . It was made once a year for my birthday, as in those days we didn't have treats like children have today. Chocolate was one piece from a bar and that was only when my Granny would treat us to a bar occasionally or if one of her sisters came form Barnard Castle .

To give it a bit more of a luxury 2020 birthday feel I added glace cherries and sultanas to the mixture before I put the top coat of chocolate on . So until the time comes when we can sit round the long table we count our blessings we are safe and well ....

and the extra time did give me chance to get another rows and a half of onions planted 

Things are looking up with the Malton Gazette.... Beating Coronavirus

For those of you who do not live in our area you may not have heard of our local weekly paper.
Wednesdays is the best day of the week as the Malton Gazette comes out. It supplies us with all the weekly news of the area and for people like ourselves it is the highlight of our week.
It brings us news of birthday and sadly deaths ,photos of local functions and dramas and in recent years we have been featured in it from good times to sad times. It used to have engagements and wedding announcements they seem to have gone .As I went to school at Malton Grammar many years ago it was a way of seeing who was getting spliced and then hatching. It contains cattle market prices and sports news .
One year I was in it 3 weeks on the trot ... and didn't I get some rib for that too when I went to the pub. Often as I fundraise  or for winning something to do with my Bed Breakfast business and then for some of the wacky ideas I have had for again raising money for charity. As most of you will know my brain never stops .. One day it will and I suppose then my last announcement will be in the Malton Gazette . But until then I will continue to buy it .
I must admit while we are having scary times in lockdown I have maybe not got it on the Wednesday and one week it wasn't till the following Monday but we still had it and now to keep up amused they have put us pages of quizzes and crossroads to do . Very useful in the print too they have put the shops and businesses  that are open and ready to deliver
So Karen Darley, the lady who I know from the paper , you are another of those people who I salute as tonight but better than that we got this following  and I will certainly be ringing up in the morning to order ours and hope you will too as they are finding another way we need not go out and helping to beat the Coronavirus spreading . SO why dont you order yours. And as I type I think now here is a present to give whether it be for a birthday or Christmas when the person you know has most things and it makes for something for the whole year or for as long as the money you want to spend runs out. .And here is a photo which appeared in the Malton Gazette of my dad and me over 40 years ago .

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