I have made it to 66 and now I'm on Route 66, heading to heaven via 67. Yes folks, 66 years ago today a beautiful baby boy was born in a school house bedroom in a village in the heart of The East Riding of Yorkshire. Dr Baker, the village G.P., was in attendance - but as I was my mother's third son, it was all a bit like shelling peas.
It is said that she completed a newspaper crossword during the delivery. I weighed in at 10 pounds and 10 ounces and my arrival screams could be heard in Brandesburton. When my father first saw me he said, "Christ! That's a big un!" He may have been referring to my general size.
My parents wondered what to call me and several silly names were suggested - including John, Bob, Steve, Tasker, Graham and Keith. However, not wishing to saddle me with a moniker that would burden me for life, they settled on an unusual yet rather sweet name - Yorkshire Pudding - partly because Dr Baker said I looked like one as I bust his weighing scales.
We have a Route 66 in England too. It is the A66 and it heads over The Pennine Hills - linking Scotch Corner in Yorkshire with the Cumbrian market town of Penrith. So as I travel down the road from 66 to 67, I shall sing:-
It winds from Scotch Corner to Penrith
More than fifty miles forthwith
Get your kicks on the A66
Now you go through Bowes,
Appleby, Westmorland
And old Brough Town won’t make you frown
You’ll see Greta Bridge
Temple Sowerby
Brougham Castle
Don’t forget Warcop
Crackenthorpe, Spital, North Stainmore
Get your kicks on the A66
Happy Birthday, and have a safe trip on Route 66!
ReplyDeleteI just hope I make it to the next stepping stone in good health. Thank you Meike.
DeleteA very happy birthday to you. I see you share it with another very popular social media personality: Willytube. There must be some truth in this astrology business.
ReplyDelete"Willytube" sounds anatomical.
DeleteAnd I bet he was screaming his lungs out, too...and he hasn't stopped squawking since! (Just kidding, Yorkie)! :)
ReplyDeleteA very Happy Birthday, Mr. Pud, from my two furry mates and me. I hope you enjoy it to your utmost and beyond! You're still a young fella...just keep the noise down a bit!
And, size does matter...don't let anyone tell you otherwise!
Typically naughty comments from a naughty lady! Thank you.
DeleteHappy birthday Mr P. I don't envy your mum delivering a baby that size. I hope you made it up to her. I hope you are going to have a suitably large birthday cake?
ReplyDeleteNo birthday cake but so far I am having a nice day. Tonight we are going to great Italian restaurant for the first time. By the way, my mother should have apologised to me! Squeezing out of there was no mean feat!
DeleteHappy Happy Birthday dear Neil! And many more!
ReplyDeleteWell a few more...I hope! Thank you Jennifer.
DeleteHappy Birthday, Mr Pudding!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary.
DeleteHappy, happy day.
ReplyDeleteI’ve yet to get to either. The first, time will take care of. The second is right out my back door. I should get to it.
You are so young Linda. To me you are like a teenager. Thank you.
DeleteHmmm...
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a woman who has had four children and attended many births, I can say with certainty that I never experienced or witnessed a one that was in any way "like shelling peas." Not saying it's not possible, just saying it would be remarkable. Especially when the infant weighed over ten and a half pounds.
Still- here you are and congratulations on being older than me! (If not by much.) May you continue to travel down the highway of life with eyes wide open, heart wide open, throttle as open as you want it.
Happy birthday, Mr. P!
Thank you young lassie!
DeleteP.S. If my mother was still alive she would surely protest about the pea shelling reference and say that it was more like squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle.
Happy Birthday young man. My daughter weighed in at 9 1/2 lb, that was big enough.
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
9 1/2 pounds! So petite compared with me!
DeleteHappy Birthday Mr. Pudding. My last baby, my third, weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces and hurt like hell. I remember screaming, "Get it out of me". So, no shelling of peas or crossword puzzles. Your mother was made of sterner stuff:)
ReplyDeleteA baby bigger than me! My bubble has burst. You must be built like the entrance to San Francisco Bay Lily!
DeleteVery happy birthday sir. I read your blog most everyday and really enjoy your walks. I will brag? Or just relate that I weighed in at 12 lbs even, when I was born. My mom won the diaper derby that month for the heaviest child. She and dad were treated to a fine dinner at the Firehouse restaurant a local eaterie in the small desolate eastern Oregon community where I was born. That would be a bit more than 70 years ago.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day...
Tom
Bloody hell! Twelve pounds Tom! You were the size of a whale calf. Thanks for your birthday greetings. Where do you live now?
DeleteWishing you a very merry birthday Mr Pudding.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue!
DeleteHappy Birthday YP., and many more to come.
ReplyDeleteI hope so CG. So much left to do and say. So much more to experience.
DeleteHappy Birthday YP. You still have another three years to catch me up. Oh wait, I'll still be three years older! I can't agree your mum was shelling peas pushing a ten-pounder out. Ouch ouch ouch. Hope you're celebrating the day royally.
ReplyDeleteYorkshire mothers are made of tougher stuff than you southern softies ADDY! Ten minutes after I was born she was ironing my dad's shirts and preparing stew and dumplings for tea.
DeleteHappy Birthday! You've only just begun young man!
ReplyDeleteThank you Auntie Bonnie!
DeleteHappy birthday, owd lad. Tha is only a nipper.
ReplyDeleteMy birthday number currently begins with a 5 but not for long.........
Whoo-hoo! I hope that Mr Christina is planning to give you a special birthday treat - like some new clogs for t'mill.
DeleteThe A66 sounds like it might be a fun blogging road trip for your 66th year! Happy birthday, Mr. P. Be sure to tell us how you celebrate.
ReplyDeleteI have travelled that bleak road several times Steve!
DeleteHappy Birthday, YP - I hope your 67th year is a good one :)
ReplyDelete10lb 10oz - you were a hefty baby!
I was indeed hefty and good at fighting other babies! Thank you Jenny!
DeleteVery Happy Birthday to you and may you have many more
ReplyDeleteAt this point in my life every birthday is a bonus. Who knows how many years I have left?
DeleteHappy Birthday Mr Pudding from the Shaky Isles deep in the South Pacific. I have had so many laughs since finding your blog a few months back when I too clocked up 66. So many that today I am moved to make a comment. As a very recent retiree and reading your older posts, I see I have so much to catch up on compared to your wonderful exploits over the last 10 years!! Christchurch, Aotearoa NZ is so far away from the UK but the wonderful world of blogging brings your world to my living room, giving me itchy feet to make a trip North and see for myself the County that gave us James Cook, All Creatures Great and Small, Heartbeat, Michael Parkinson and now Yorkshire Pudding !!
ReplyDelete10 & 11 lbs plus was a standard birth weight for several of my 7 siblings back in the fifties and sixties, however I weighed in at a considerate 7 (a good child always with her nose in a book my Mother would say and it's still true).
Long may you continue to amuse us all over the world and inspire us to get out and do while we can.
Kia Kaha, stay strong!
Adele
This is one of the most uplifting comments I have ever received Adele and a splendid, unexpected birthday gift. Thank you for coming out of the shadows and revealing yourself as well as for leaving such a lovely comment.
DeleteHappy birthday! That's pretty young. Now Keith would have been a great name. Too bad they didn't choose it.
ReplyDeleteI found this via Google:-
DeleteKeith is the kind of guy who is extremely goofy and rarely serious. He can be a complete asshole, but you can't help but love him. He also complains a lot about the most random things and can make others feel uncomfortable because he's a very bold opinionated person. He's socially awkward around people he's not used to seeing, but once you get to know him, you'll see how crazy he really is.
Well some of this is dead on for being a shot in the dark!
Delete