‘You are as old as you feel’ It is meant to be some sort of comfort…If they knew how old you actually feel, they would keep their smart ‘comforting’ remarks to themselves. You want to be down with the kids, but the kids don’t want to be down with you. The kids think you look ridiculous in skin tight pink T-shirts with sparkly bits on by Rocha John Rocha. The earring has to go, as if it should ever have been there in the first place. That’s a man thing obviously. If you are a woman with one earring, you have lost one. Probably last night in that taxi. If you don’t remember the taxi, then the earring is the least of your worries. You see men!?..Women wear one earring by accident!! They wouldn’t buy one earring as they clearly have two ears. And before you think it..That’s a whole new lifestyle choice..and what you do in your own time….40 years ago, the only time you saw a man with an earring was collecting your old scrap iron mangle.

‘Puppy Love’ spoke to us on an emotional level in 1972. We knew where he was coming from…man. Someone, help me, help me, help me please! No teenage bedroom was complete without a large fold out poster of either Donny Osmond or David Cassidy. There was a definite loyalty towards one heartthrob teen idol or the other and it could get quite bitchy at times. Donny was seen as more clean cut boy next door whilst David was a little bit older and maybe a little racier. David’s hair is what swung it for me. I wanted hair like that. So shiny and obviously washed every day!!  In 1972 we were only one evolutionary step on from being washed in the sink, so the idea that you could, or should, wash this greasy dandruff ridden mop on your bonce every day was a bit of a luxury…as was a daily bath as it happens. So I spent many hours dreaming of that hair and how it could change my fortunes in teenage love if my hair was like that. So much as I loved to sing along with ‘Puppy Love’, it was David who made it on to my wall…..I have no idea what girls thought of him.

In 1972 we thought we would all be zooming about in flying cars by now. No one would have imagined riding the same smelly train as they did then. This wasn’t science fiction, this was ‘Tomorrow’s World’. Raymond Baxter promised us certain things and we believed everything Raymond said. Everything he told us in that programme was supposed to happen within ten years. We didn’t tune in for fairy tales, Ray we had Dr Who for that. This was factual TV. Raymond was the 1972’s Brain Cox. Imagine, in 40 years time, discovering that Brian is making it this up!!

You can teach a 40 year old dog new tricks. Obviously not an actual 40 year old dog. If you have one of those, ring Norris McWhirter. We have actually learned many new tricks in 40 years of business. I, for one, was fascinated by how much technology suddenly sped up everything we were doing. One minute we were writing letters to clients and popping them in the post or actually going to see people, and the next…communication was so instant that everyone wanted everything now! I mean how did we ever get by without…..the FAX MACHINE?

40 years..just like that. Where does the time go? Some of it goes on KitKats. A second on the lips..a lifetime on the hips. I timed it. It actually can take 4 minutes to eat a standard KitKat, if you bite all the chocolate off the edges first. So, not sure if I have wasted more time eating KitKats or working out how long it takes to eat them. Either way, time does fly. Further research is required for the KitKat Chunky, but as that is clearly an unacceptable mutation of a perfectly good piece of confectionery, they don’t really count.

Pancake Day 1972. Picture the scene…It’s like every other day only now we aren’t allowed pancakes either. Times were hard then. We still hadn’t quite got to the point where we ate..for fun! We ate when we had to eat. pancakes were a frivolous luxury. Nowadays you can buy a pancake mix..A pancake mix!!? Honestly it’s the cheapest and easiest food to create in the world beyond peeling a banana. Kids today make them unsupervised by their usually over zealous modern day mothers. Anyway Pancake Day sort of came and went in 1972 much like it did most years, with the talk expertly deflected to the following day – Ash Wednesday. A much more significant day for our Mother as it meant she could make us feel some religious guilt and at the same time, not have to make us pancakes. To be fair to her you couldn’t buy a packet mix back then, you had to actually ‘make’ a pancake, which in Scotland is a proper thick pancake, not one of your flimsy French jobs. Scotch pancakes are like doormats and, when on the odd occasion mother did step up to the pancake plate, tasted not unlike doormats.

For the record I have no idea what is in a pancake. Some kind of flour, water, egg, milk, onion, carrot, mince and potato mix, I think…I’ll go buy a packet of pancake mix and surprise the wife tonight.

‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’ by Slade. A 1972 classic! And we criticise the youth of today for txt spelling. The difference is..we KNEW that it wasn’t actually correct. Not sure Noddy Holder did! I remember vividly buying the single and not being able to wait to get it home to put it on. Yes that’s right kids in those days, we had to wait to put it on. It wasn’t downloaded in seconds and discarded just as quickly. We savoured it. I still remember the colour and design of the middle bit of the record. I really think we got the same tingle of excitement buying every 50p single as kids today get when they upgrade their I-Phone. The thrill seemed to last longer…Well as long as it took for your mum to shout.. ‘Turn that racket down!!’ Mums were no more down with kids then, as they are now. The thrill is still there though.

Well what an exciting day!! Our special guest has confirmed to attend our planned open day, henceforth known as THE DAY! 20th July is THE DAY!! Get yourself on our guest list if you would like to be there…Simply email joe@windrushgroup.co.uk and ask to be placed on our guest list. If you’re not on the list you’re not getting in!!….Okay it is an open day so probably you ARE getting in, but if you get yourself on our guest list, you may have the opportunity to meet our special guest as we may have to limit numbers. See? Exciting isn’t it?….The special guest?..Special…Can’t say…But special.

Be there on THE DAY!!  20th July from 11am till 4.00pm and join our celebrations. THE EXCITEMENT BUILDS!