Forgot this from the Echo:

Armed police hunt for knife man - at the Bittern pub on Thornhill Park Road. After a knifeman held up the local Laly's store at the corner, near Blockbuster and the fish and chip shop - know where I am?

but this is the bit I liked:

'He threatened ownder Balvinder Laly with the weapon as well as two customers who were inside the store at the time.'

Now, could that be interpreted as the knifeman using the two customers to threaten Mrs Laly, or is it just me? I like that they describe the store as being in Bitterne, when it is in Thornhill Park, but it makes Bitterne sound like a den of thieves doesn't it?

Where we lived in Sheffield, knife and gun hold ups at the corners shops were fairly frequent events, we knew of 3 in the two years we were there. But don't tell my dad! Well, you can now.

I didn't tell you about my other Granma, Ivy. She lived in Oxshott, which is the village next to Claygate if you go across the woods and the A3. She was the youngest or second youngest of about 12, born and christened Ivy Christabel in 1911 I think, I could be wrong on that, my dad will correct me. I don't know much about her life, apart from that she lived in the house my dad still lives in from 1945 until about 1978, when she moved to a council sheltered housing flat in Claygate, in the same complex that Granny Alice lived in, which made visiting grannies very handy. One famous anecdote is that when my dad was a baby, her mum, his granny, took him for a walk in the woods and left him on the path next to Oxshott railway station, and Granma Ivy had to go and find him, luckily still there. So when I was born, until I was 5, my granma lived with us, and it was hard work for all. We had the front room and she had the back, we had to share the kitchen and bathroom She used a mangle in the back garden and I think it was very trying for my mum to have 2 small children and a mother in law constantly around. She was very opinionated and had lots to say on all subjects, rode a bike and did like a laugh. We never felt as at home with her babysitting as with Granny Alice, but she was not a bad granma, very generous with pocket money and delicious home made cakes, and shop bought ones too. Both my grandmothers died in the same nursing home, so be warned! Its not got a good track record! It's called the Home of Compassion, a name I like and might use to rename my own home if we find that 'Hinkler House' is a bit OTT. Home of Compassion, sounds classy, does it not? No?