Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter Monday, 13th April, 2009. Why BT??

For those of you who don't know, I thought you might be interested to know what the BT is and stands for.

I used to live, at one time, in Thetford, Norfolk. Sadly my marriage broke up and I had to move rather hurriedly to stay with my brother in Derbyshire. The bank obligingly moved me to a large branch of NatWest in Sheffield while they tried to find me a more permanent post in a country branch. One came up - in Bakewell. Well, everyone who doesn't know about Bakewell's culinary delights thinks of Mr Kipling's cakes, the little 'Bakewell Tarts'. My friends in Thetford heard of the move and immediately, I became the Bakewell Tart. In fact, if we're being honest and you live in Bakewell, the well known Bakewell delight is actually called a Bakewell Pudding and is nothing like the Bakewell Tart Mr Kipling makes! But I couldn't be called Bakewell Pudding, now, could I?

So it doesn't stand for Betty Throughgood or Blooming Terrible or even British Telecom, but Bakewell Tart. Ever since, when I have needed an on line name for a forum, it's been Bakewell Tart, often shortened to BT by commenters. Jim, my husband's on line name was Coaster, as he was walking the South coast at one time. Would you like to know how we met?

We both belonged to an on line Forum Group called IDF50 (for I don't Feel 50). It was a lively group and when we both joined there was a great group of people and quite a few of us became friends and met up occasionally. The first meeting was in Birmingham, but Coaster didn't go to that. Jim's wife had died of cancer some time previously and then my partner of 6 years 'dumped' me for another woman. Jim was very helpful and emailed me with suggestions on how to cope on your own. Then disaster struck and IDF50 closed down. I was bereft, it was my lifeline. Luckily, a month later it re-opened and Coaster emailed me to let me know. E-mails popped back and forth between us.

It so happened that Jim's printers are in Derbyshire and he 'had' to make the journey up to see them. I suggested he might call in. By this time we had begun phone calls, which, to my amazement, lasted about an hour or so each. I couldn't imagine talking on the phone for that long to anyone since I was a teenager. I must say, we felt we already knew each other by the time we met. I had seen Jim on his web cam and he had seen me on my daughter's. So no nasty surprises.

So the day came, September 18th, 2002. I lived in a top flat and looked out of the window for the arrival of this strange man and I was pretty nervous, I can tell you. I saw the car pull up and went down to meet him. When he got out of the car, we just hugged for about five minutes. It was lovely. Shall I go on? Jim was going to stay at a bed and breakfast but didn't quite make that. Well, I had 2 bedrooms. We chatted for hours, as you can imagine, grinned inanely at each other, did lots of kissing and when I eventually walked into my bedroom, there was a man in my bed! Enough said. Suffice it to say, a year to the day later, September 18th 2003, we were married.

We hired the old Art Deco cinema in Worthing, on the sea front (Jim lived in Worthing and we still have the house there) and were married there. After some drinks, we all walked over to the beach and had photos! It was a wonderful day and many people though it was the most fun, relaxed wedding they had ever been to. We had arranged it in 6 weeks! We had quite a few things in common. My parents had semi retired to the South Coast, to Lancing, the village next to Worthing along the coast, so I knew the area well. My father was a professional musician, percussion and timpani, and took the post with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra. Jim and Sally used to go and see their concerts.

There was a wonderful children's park in Worthing called Brooklands. It had a large lake and a fabulous area of shallow water trails. My first husband and I used to take the children there for the day and they loved it. So did we. So did Jim!! It really is a small world. Most of the photos of the wedding are not digital so not on line, but I do have some. I didn't really intend to go into all this, but it just sort of flowed.




Rough seas in Worthing. The 'dome' you can see is the top of The Dome Cinema, where we were married.














Jim on the pier the same day. This was in December 2003











The Wedding



Coaster married








Bakewell Tart




We made the coasters ourselves and the place names were pebbles, which I varnished, having painted the names on them. When we visit people, they often still have the pebbles on display!






The box office inside the Dome cinema

















Table of films showing!
















The Wedding Ceremony













Signing the Register. Jim, Gina (me), Russell, Jim's son and Jason, my eldest son. I thought this area, with that beautiful mirror, looked like something from the Titanic!









Kirsty and Lina, my 2 Granddaughters were bridesmaids.
















After the ceremony, in the wedding car

















Photos on the beach. It was a bit windy!














Mr and Mrs Deen


















Someone suggested we should go for a paddle!
This photo became quite famous as we sent it to everyone in their Christmas Cards.















Look at Jim's legs!!











So there you have it. The romantic tale of two old lovers! Now it's 2009 and we've been together for 6 years.

I hope you've enjoyed this little diversion.

25 comments:

HelenMWalters said...

Aah - what a lovely romantic story. You've really cheered me up on this grey morning!

BT said...

Oh that's good Helen. I needed to cheer myself up!!

Sue Guiney said...

What a wonderful story about you! Yes, it is grey and miserable here (as Helen said) and this has cheered me up enormously as well. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

BT said...

SueG, thanks for dropping in. I'm glad you enjoyed this rather impromtu post. It's stopped raining here, that's a start!

Rachel Green said...

Fabulous! I remember it well.

Heh! I also remember how dismissive you were of meeting people on the internet!

DK said...

oh how absolutely wonderful!! ~grins~ Such lovely memories, thanks for sharing. :-) xxx

Bea said...

What a wonderful story to read on this cold gray Wisconsin morning. I laughed, enjoyed the beautiful pictures and drank my coffee. Thank you so much for sharing, what a lovely couple you two are. :)Bea
//dog-in-the-hole-studio.blogspot.com//

Heather said...

A real romance and a lovely story. Great pics too. My parents lived in Worthing for several years, and our son was stationed in Thetford while he was in the Army. Love the sunset photos and the bee ATC on your previous post.

BT said...

Ha ha Rachel!! It was a good day.

Thanks DK, glad you enjoyed.

Bea, what a fantastic comment. I'm glad I cheered you up. It's sunny here now, I've chased the rain away

BT said...

Heather, it is a small world. Having worked in a bank, I met lots of servicemen in Thetford. I might have known your son!! Glad you enjoyed our little story. Fancy your parents living in Worthing too.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lovely story BT - I was enthralled - I too am on my second marriage having been widowed in 1991 - isn't it good when two people meet and know that they are just right for each other. I like the idea that BT stands for Bakewell tart (dare I say I like Mr kiplings better than the original Bakewell pudding). Keep blogging and keep gardening!!

aims said...

Oh Gina! You two have made me smile this morning!

The people who say true love can't be found on the internet haven't typed in the right words.

Love your dress and Jim's legs...well....words can't define them can they?

Sam said...

OOOh I still remember the wind on that beach! It was a lovely wedding, and the wedding cake was wondeful - you will have to post pictures of that! How time flies ha? XXX

soulbrush said...

aaaaw what a cute story. I have been married three times, twice to the same man...work that one out! you bakewell tart you, very yummy indeed. i hope you will remain as happy as you looked in those photos. i am sending you soem atc's tomorrow. lotsa hugs from london.

Bella Sinclair said...

Bakewell Tart! Oh, that's a fantastic name! Having now met some incredible people through blogs and feeling a great connection, I can definitely understand how true love can bloom. Thank you for sharing that wonderful and romantic story. It's nice to get those young love feelings again. :)

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Oh what a lovely romantic story. Thanks for sharing it. I am glad to finally know what BT stands for too. :)) I guess sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs to get to the Prince. :))Nice you found him.
I was lucky, I only needed to kiss one. We are celebrating our 42nd wedding anniversary this Wednesday the 15th.

BT said...

Weaver, so glad you enjoyed our story too and that you found happiness 2nd time round. Lucky, aren't we? I much prefer Bakewell Puddings, warm with cream, in Bakewell if possible!! Lovely.

aims, I'm so happy to have cheered you up too. Jim's legs are funny, aren't they? He looks like he's lost his horse!! As for my dress, one of the charity shops in Worthing that supports St Barnabus Hospice (where Sally died) has a whole upstairs wedding section and it came from there. And the shoes. I bought the veil 'new'. It was a bargain wedding. You don't need to spend thousands to have fun and look good.

BT said...

Sam, it was a good do, wasn't it? The cake, oh yes, the cake!! I only have a photo in the album. I'll have to get it scanned.

soulbrush, glad I made you smile, it's a good story, isn't it? I have your ATCs ready to post tomorrow too! I have another friend who married the same man twice!! I can quite understand it. Hope you're happy now.

It is a good name, isn't it, Bella? Glad you enjoyed our story, we felt like 20 year olds again, it was lovely.

Oh Cris, you are lucky to have been happily married for 42 years. I have a bit of a bad track record. Jim is my 3rd husband, but hopefully the last. I hope you are feeling well again Cris. xxx

Fifi Flowers said...

LOVE the photos... looks like FUN!

marianne said...

Gina!
What a lovely romantic story!
ahhhhhhhhh (sigh)
What a way to start my day!
I really enjoyed reading it
You are a beautiful couple together!!!
Bakewell Tart......
Nice to know all these facts!

Have a nice day!

Here Spring has finally arrived

Son1 said...

I kinda like Bakewell pudding, as a handle and as a food!

I came across this entry a while ago. Uncanny. Have a look (below) :-).

I read back to your first blog. You should have advertised you had a blog. I didnt know for ages and then had to ask as I wasnt sure it was open to your children. I couldnt believe you put the effort in and so few comments!

x

http://bt-thecraftygardener.blogspot.com/2008/09/tuesday-23-september-naughty-buster.html

xx

EB said...

What a beautiful and interesting story - a modern fairlytale!

BT said...

Hello Fifi, good to meet you. It was a fun day indeed.

Marianne, thanks for visiting. I'm so pleased you liked our story and the story of my name, Bakewell Tart!! At last, your Spring has arrived, that's good news.

Hi J, sorry, I didn't think anyone would be interested I suppose!! I'm glad I have lots of readers now though, it's fun!

EB, it was a bit of a fairy tale, wasn't it? Thanks for calling in.

BT said...

Jason, don't tell anyone I've done all this before!! I had forgotten and so had they, thankfully!

DK said...

~chuckles~ I was reading it the first time around ...but I wasn't going to blab!! heh it's always worth telling the story again when it's a lovely one, anyway x