When Jilly Went

This section is a follow on from the When Jilly Met section.  I can't possibly go into every single person that I've met from online, even although they are all special to me, but having been at various meet ups I can include as many as possible within this section.

When Jilly went to Chester

On July 7th 2006, Lemon and I set off down the road for the Chester Meet, picking Dan up on route in Birkenhead.  We stayed overnight at Lemon's dads house before finding our hotel on the Saturday morning.  After dropping our things off in the hotel and meeting up with Babs and her daughter, we got a taxi to where the meet was being held.  There were lots of people already there as we were a wee bit late in arriving.  It was great to see Jupee again and to meet Kaz and Howie for the first time.  We'd had a bit of a joke online about me having really long slender legs - my longerererer slenderererer legs - and Kaz and Catherine said I wasn't Kate Moss!  I shot her such a look!!!  She says she's still scared of "that look"!!  We had a great day at the pub by the river and then a crowd of us headed off into Chester to find somewhere to eat and a karaoke pub.  We ended up in Burger King for some food and must have looked a right motley crew!  In fact, we had quite a laugh about resembling "The Broons" and Kaz and I decided we were the twins of the family!

We managed to find our karaoke pub!  Crammed into this wee place, we eventually braved the microphone!  What a laugh!  Babs thought anyone and everyone who sang was fantastic, and asked us to sing one of her favourite songs - Leader of the Pack.  So Lemon, Kaz and I got up to sing it and totally murdered it!!  Afterwards we headed back to our hotel and it ended up there were four of us in the one room - Kaz, Dan, Lemon and myself.  Dan kept putting on stupid voices and I don't know who was going to smother him first, me or Lemon!!  Kaz dozed off virtually mid sentence and started snoring - though she still denies it!  In the morning, Lemon ran along to the reception in her pyjamas to get some extra tea and biscuits!!  Once we were all dressed we headed over the Little Chef attached to the hotel for some breakfast before heading off for home.  The service was absolutely appalling and we were all seriously cheesed off about it.  One by one, everyone left the table to go outside and Lemon and I were left with all the money to pay for the meal.  Eventually we gave up and walked out having not paid!!  When we got to the car we rushed saying our goodbyes before someone ran out and cornered us for payment!!!

On route going home we were supposed to drop Dan back off in Birkenhead, however he never quite got there!  We made a comment about how good it would be for him to head home with us for a laugh, and that's exactly what he did!  We were like Thelma and Louise heading off on a road trip!  Heading up the road, we passed the turn off for Blackpool and I commented that I'd never been there - so off we went to Blackpool!!  We had a bite to eat there before setting off again.  Then, as we were already in Thelma and Louise mode, we took another detour heading East and after a few texts back and forth to some of the gang from online, we ended up with an invite to go and see Mommy Longlegs in Tynemouth!  So we headed off to meet her and she made us a wee picnic which we ate on the beach!

I finally dropped Lemon and Dan off at home around midnight!!


When Jilly went to the Boro

November 2006, I set off with Lemon and her husband down to Middlesbrough for an online meet up in Babs' neck of the woods.  Babs came to meet us at our hotel where we were going to be staying for 2 nights.  The first night I was sharing in with Lemon and her hubby and the second night I was going to be sharing with Our Em.  In our hotel room there was a fold down bed which I was going to sleep on and a double bed for the other two. I had a good look around the room and the toilet etc - as you do in a hotel room - and here was this door in the middle of the wall.  I thought it might be a cupboard so I opened the door to be met with another door!  On leaning upon it, it burst open into the room next door!!  It was an adjoining door between the two rooms!!  Thankfully no one was in the other room, so whilst laughing hysterically, we managed to close both doors and lock ours from our side and then vacated the room pretty damn quick!!!

On the Saturday we met up in the pub next to the hotel for our meet!  Lemon and her husband were there, Babs, Woody and her husband, Our Em, Chewy, Linda and Barbara.  I had made some bombs and snowballs to take down with me - in other words chocolate truffles, one set with vermicelli and the other set with coconut on.  The trouble was that I'd got the mixture ever so slightly wrong so although I'd rolled them into round balls, they had kind of sagged a bit.  Our Em and Chewy thought this was hysterical of course!!  And though they did try them out, and near choked on the coconut, they took the absolute rip out of them all day, calling them McTurds and McTurds in a snowstorm!  Well, I'll not be baking for them again!!!

We spotted a picture on the wall in the pub of Les Dawson, doing his infamous pout.  There was an uncanny resemblance between him and Babs!! 

In the early evening we were all heading along to Babs' house to carry on with the meet and the drinking and laughing!  Back at her house she got her neighbour's daughter to set up a karaoke for us - well me really!  The more I drank, the more I sang, except I tended to sing the same song over and over again and used both microphones to do so!  Jilly Two Mics!! I became rather friendly with the floor and also with Chewy's knees!!  Heading back to the hotel again, all piling into one taxi - poor driver - I was quite happy to head up in the lift for a cuppa and a cigarette in either Lemon or Chewy's room, as they had both booked a smoking room.  In the foyer/breakfast area of the hotel, I grabbed a cup and some tea, coffee and sugar to take up in the lift with me.  When we got to the floor that Em and I were sleeping on, we were shoved out the lift!  Having a wee hissy fit to myself because I wasn't getting to go up for another ciggie, I flung the coffee, tea and sugar into the lift at Lemon and Chewy!  I almost threw the cup in too but somehow thought better of it!!  The next morning we met up for breakfast before all heading out on various journeys back to our homes.


When Jilly went to Matlock

The weekend of my radiotherapy finishing there was a meet down in Matlock.  Sue and I left straight from the hospital and set off down the road.  I was wearing wigs and had taken my newest one with me to wear at the actual meet up and was wearing the brown bob! When we got settled into our hotel room we went to see who else had arrived.  Rosi and Chewy were there and Rosi took a liking to the bobbed wig!!!  We went to a local pub for a few drinks on the Friday night and got a lift along the road from the Hotel to the pub.  Oh My God!!  That was a sign of things to come.  Rosi is completely bonkers!! She lives on Planet Glow!!  In the car she was telling us about London, where she lives, and how every one has to watch out for themselves.  She was rummaging around in her bag and we were teasing her that she carried a machete. 

On the Saturday we got ready to head along to Madison's, where the meet was being held.  It had been arranged for Mandy to be one of the drivers and she came to pick us up at the hotel.  Chewy, Rosi and I squeezed into her mini and we were on our way.  When we got to Madison's we met everyone else as they filtered through the doors and started getting to know each other!  I took hula hoops with me and we tried to hula!  I finally met up with my "Maw" - Mags!  We had spoken online for quite a while and she used to help me with the Daily Express crossword clues!  I ended up calling her Maw Mags cos she has rather a dishy looking son and we joked about marrying me off to him. (He since married someone else and emigrated and I was distraught!!!!).  Everyone kept asking Mandy which Mandy she was, as there are a few online with that name.  She kept saying "I'm just Mandy" and the name has since stuck - she's now Just Mandy!  Rosi shared with us her pearls of wisdom - she doesn't have msn but she has PMT instead!!  Later in the evening there was a band on who played very loudly!!  I got up to do some headbanging -wearing my wig!!  Joanie almost had heart failure at the thought of my wig flying across the room whist Chewy near fell over with laughter!! She still wants to know the secret of how it didn't come flying off -  but I guess I was just pretty damned lucky!!!  I'd have been mortified and died of embarrassment if it had of done!!

The following morning we all got together for some breakfast before setting off for home.  Sheila ended up coming along in the car with Sue and me and we dropped her home first before returning to Fife.  It was a totally brilliant meet up and the biggest one I've been at so far!!


When Jilly went to Nottingham

In July 2008 the McMadettes and I embarked on our summer McMad Tour!  We set off in the pouring rain down the A1 towards Nottingham, stopping in at Lynn's in Sheffield on the way, for a wee cuppa.  Reaching Kaz at around 7pm, I was given a lovely glass of chilled white wine and was able to relax after a long journey.  After dinner as we sat and had a good catch up blether, there was a banging on her door.  Her friends arrived to see us and copious amounts of alcohol were consumed!!  On the Sunday we had arranged to go to Sherwood Pine Forest with all the kids for a cycle round.  I really don't do bikes at the best of times but cycling with a stinking hangover is seriously not a good idea!!  However, I managed it - just!  Kaz sorted out a wee picnic which we had before setting off on our bikes.  The boys went one way and us girls went another.  Oh my god!!  My bum was so sore going over the stones and bumps on the cycle path and while Kaz and my girls went flying down hills, I was the wuss at the back pulling on the brakes and screaming "ouch ouch ouch"!!  When one of the girls shouted "mummy are you okay?"  I replied "oh yes I'm fine so long as I don't pedal!".  How Kaz and I actually managed to cycle anywhere with laughing so much is quite beyond me!  Once we'd finished our ride and got off our bikes, we resembled John Wayne bandy legs!! That night we went round to Kaz's friends for a barbeque and boy do they put on a barbecue!!  I was offered a drink but declined as I was still suffering from the night before and also from the bike ride!!

On the Monday we headed into Nottingham town centre on the tram to go ten pin bowling.  The boys took one lane and the girls took another.  There was something decidedly dodgy about our lane as the girls kept managing to get extra turns and Kaz and I didn't!  On the very final turn, Kaz won with 2 strikes in a row!!  Definitely a dodgy lane!!   Off to McDonald's for some lunch, before sitting outside by the fountains in the sunshine.  The kids had asked if they could go in the fountains and we told them that was fine so long as they didn't get soaking wet!  Just to have a wee paddle around with their socks and shoes off.  Yeah right!!  Famous last words!  Before we knew it, my three had run through the fountains and were soaked through, as was Kaz's youngest boy.  They were absolutely drenched!!  It looked such fun too and I wished I was 14 again so that I could join them.  Of course, when I said this to Kaz she said "dare you"!  Off came my socks and shoes and I went for a paddle.  Her two older boys were mortified - not only that the kids were soaked, but that I was heading that way too.  Well a dare's a dare!!  One, two, three and off I went through the fountains like a big kid - well I was on holiday too!!!  What a laugh!!!!  We had to get on the tram back to Kaz's house and me and the four kids were dripping water all over the tram so much that the guard had to come and mop up all the water while we were standing there, and Kaz and her other 2 lads were looking in any direction desperately trying to ignore us and pretend they didn't know us!!

After a couple of glasses of wine and a relaxed evening it was time to pack up and get ready to move on to the next stop on our Tour the following day.  Kaz will recover from our visit soon enough and I'm sure we'll have a repeat performance sometime next year!!

When Jilly went to Bristol

Our next stop of the McMad Tour was down in Bristol at Jan and Rick's house for a few days.  Arriving late afternoon on the Tuesday we managed to get a wee bit lost!  Phoned Jan from outside some school somewhere and asked here where to go next!  Well she's as useless as I am!!  She didn't know!!  We managed to find her eventually and piled into her house!  The kids argued about who was having what bed and Jan and Rick were duly introduced to the world of the McMad's!  Rick cooked on the barbecue for us and we sat outside in the garden in the evening having a few drinks - well a fair few actually!!

On the Wednesday, Vivienne and Trish came up to visit from Somerset.  I was nursing yet another stonker of a hangover!  I'll learn one of these days!!  It was a beautiful day so we sat outside and got a wee Bristol tan!  McLaddo made a special friend in Jan and Rick's pussy cat.  Everywhere McLaddo went, Saffy followed him!!  Was a wee match made in heaven!  The girls gave their song renditions - all week!!  Jan showed me how to make potato salad - which I now include in my culinary delights! 

We just had a chill out day on the Thursday, chatting and laughing, watching Big Brother on the tele.  McProper came in and commented on Lisa on Big Brother and asked if she'd had Blotox!!!  Jan and I totally cracked up at that comment!

Having gotten soaked when we were in Nottingham, the kids were desperate to have a water fight!  McTart and McProper helped Rick to water the plants in the garden - one had the hose and one had the watering can.  Needless to say, water started getting splashed and squirted about and poor Rick didn't know what to do!!  Jan and I left him to it as he had started it!!!

On Friday we waiting on Julie and her two children to come and visit us from London.  I'd met Julie before at Matlock but this was the first time our children had met.  They got a wee bit lost too which I was quite pleased about as it meant I wasn't the only stupid one!!  We had a brilliant afternoon with them, blethering and catching up on all the latest gossip and the kids all got on a treat!   McTart and Julie's daughter gave us gymnastic displays out in the garden, and all the kids played on the Wii Fit which Julie had brought with them.  In the evening, Maw Mags and Phil appeared to see us and have a drink or few and another barbecue, courtesy of Rick!  Julie and the kids stayed to see them before heading off back to London.  During the evening we discovered it would be Phil's 60th birthday at the turn of midnight!  They kept that quiet!!!  Ever ready Jan took the kids off into the house to sort out some party things - there's no end of supplies at Jan's house!!!  She managed to find a cake and candles, some party hats and some party poppers!  Once they were all ready, Jan brought the kids out with the cake, singing "Happy Birthday" to Phil!  It was brilliant!!!  We had a wee impromptu party there for him, totally unexpected!

During the week we stayed with them, McTart tried to climb out the windows, referred to Rick as her new Daddy, helped Jan in the kitchen making things and generally endeared herself to them - which is great because that means they liked her and we can visit again!!!! 

On the Saturday morning it was time to move on again - after the girls had had their nails painted!!  Time was ticking away and our tour was almost over.  We said goodbye to Jan and Rick and left them to recover and sleep for a week!! 

Until the next time.....

When Jilly went to Derby

We arrived without much problem at Just Mandy's late afternoon on the Saturday.  McTart discovered that Mandy's front room had lots of musical instruments in it and proceeded to tell Mandy that she could play the violin!  She can't!  But she gave it a damn good try while we held on to our poor ears!!  She also tinkled around on the piano, before finding Mandy's gorgeous dolls house!  That kept her quiet for a wee while!  All the kids had a great time exploring Mandy's house and playing the piano.  Making herself quite at home, McTart plonked herself in between Mandy and me sitting on the couch.  McLaddo came to sit with us too and McTart sat chatting away to Mandy, asking her lots of questions.  She happened to feel Mandy's leg and commenting on how soft and smooth it felt, she grabbed McLaddo's hand to feel it too!!  I don't know which one of them jumped the highest!!!  Mandy didn't know where to put herself and was laughing hysterically, while poor McLaddo was really embarrassed at McTart wanting him to feel Mandy's leg!! It was so funny!!!

A lazy day in the house on the Sunday and a lot to drink on Sunday night!!  On Monday we headed along to Matlock Bath - which is this lovely wee seaside looking town except its by a river and not a seaside!   We stopped to have some fish and chips sitting outside in the sun before taking a walk along the street checking out the shops.  Then Mandy took us to the park so the kids could have a play and a run around, before heading back for the car to head for Matlock to surprise Elaine at her pub!  When we got to the pub, Elaine was outside sorting out one of her signs and as we pulled into the car park we shouted to her.  She didn't have a clue who we were!!  Until we walked up to her and she clicked!  She couldn't beleive it!  We went in for a quick diet coke with her and McTart took a turn behind the bar (the pub was shut) and the other two had a game of pool.  On the Monday night, Mandy had to go to a meeting so we stayed in the house and packed up our things and had a tidy round for her. 

Time was up and our McMad tour was over.  We set off for home on the Tuesday around lunchtime and got home just in time to join in the quiz online that night!!

We all had a fantastic time on our travels and hope to do something similar again next year!