" A very Happy Easter from West Yorkshire, England, especially to all our friends and family across the pond in dear old Australia. What a wonderful country England is with its totally unexpected weather pattern changes from drought to floods to excessive snow etc. What a difference in weather this Easter from that of a sunnier Easter one year ago. We want you Aussies to understand that it is such weather changes that make us tougher than you. We don't whinge whenever our partner asks us to fetch a loaf of bread from the village store just because of a bit of snow covering the ground and disguising the location of the shops. Even our bus drivers aren't given their heavy goods driving licences until they can demonstrate that they can pass each other in opposite directions along one of our normal roads during snowy conditions. When our youngsters speak out of turn, we make them eat their own words and teach them a few manners. And when we have arranged to have a barbecue and have bought the steaks and it decides to snow, we don't cancel the event. Instead we just bring it on and have fun. Happy Easter all x" William Forde: March 31st, 2013.
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My Books
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- Strictly for Adults Novels >
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Tales from Portlaw
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- No Need to Look for Love
- 'The Love Quartet' >
-
The Priest's Calling Card
>
- Chapter One - The Irish Custom
- Chapter Two - Patrick Duffy's Family Background
- Chapter Three - Patrick Duffy Junior's Vocation to Priesthood
- Chapter Four - The first years of the priesthood
- Chapter Five - Father Patrick Duffy in Seattle
- Chapter Six - Father Patrick Duffy, Portlaw Priest
- Chapter Seven - Patrick Duffy Priest Power
- Chapter Eight - Patrick Duffy Groundless Gossip
- Chapter Nine - Monsignor Duffy of Portlaw
- Chapter Ten - The Portlaw Inheritance of Patrick Duffy
- Bigger and Better >
- The Oldest Woman in the World >
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Sean and Sarah
>
- Chapter 1 - 'Return of the Prodigal Son'
- Chapter 2 - 'The early years of sweet innocence in Portlaw'
- Chapter 3 - 'The Separation'
- Chapter 4 - 'Separation and Betrayal'
- Chapter 5 - 'Portlaw to Manchester'
- Chapter 6 - 'Salford Choices'
- Chapter 7 - 'Life inside Prison'
- Chapter 8 - 'The Aylesbury Pilgrimage'
- Chapter 9 - Sean's interest in stone masonary'
- Chapter 10 - 'Sean's and Tony's Partnership'
- Chapter 11 - 'Return of the Prodigal Son'
- The Alternative Christmas Party >
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The Life of Liam Lafferty
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- Chapter One: ' Liam Lafferty is born'
- Chapter Two : 'The Baptism of Liam Lafferty'
- Chapter Three: 'The early years of Liam Lafferty'
- Chapter Four : Early Manhood
- Chapter Five : Ned's Secret Past
- Chapter Six : Courtship and Marriage
- Chapter Seven : Liam and Trish marry
- Chapter Eight : Farley meets Ned
- Chapter Nine : 'Ned comes clean to Farley'
- Chapter Ten : Tragedy hits the family
- Chapter Eleven : The future is brighter
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The life and times of Joe Walsh
>
- Chapter One : 'The marriage of Margaret Mawd and Thomas Walsh’
- Chapter Two 'The birth of Joe Walsh'
- Chapter Three 'Marriage breakup and betrayal'
- Chapter Four: ' The Walsh family breakup'
- Chapter Five : ' Liverpool Lodgings'
- Chapter Six: ' Settled times are established and tested'
- Chapter Seven : 'Haworth is heaven is a place on earth'
- Chapter Eight: 'Coming out'
- Chapter Nine: Portlaw revenge
- Chapter Ten: ' The murder trial of Paddy Groggy'
- Chapter Eleven: 'New beginnings'
-
The Woman Who Hated Christmas
>
- Chapter One: 'The Christmas Enigma'
- Chapter Two: ' The Breakup of Beth's Family''
- Chapter Three: From Teenager to Adulthood.'
- Chapter Four: 'The Mills of West Yorkshire.'
- Chapter Five: 'Harrison Garner Showdown.'
- Chapter Six : 'The Christmas Dance'
- Chapter Seven : 'The ballot for Shop Steward.'
- Chapter Eight: ' Leaving the Mill'
- Chapter Ten: ' Beth buries her Ghosts'
- Chapter Eleven: Beth and Dermot start off married life in Galway.
- Chapter Twelve: The Twin Tragedy of Christmas, 1992.'
- Chapter Thirteen: 'The Christmas star returns'
- Chapter Fourteen: ' Beth's future in Portlaw'
-
The Last Dance
>
- Chapter One - ‘Nancy Swales becomes the Widow Swales’
- Chapter Two ‘The secret night life of Widow Swales’
- Chapter Three ‘Meeting Richard again’
- Chapter Four ‘Clancy’s Ballroom: March 1961’
- Chapter Five ‘The All Ireland Dancing Rounds’
- Chapter Six ‘James Mountford’
- Chapter Seven ‘The All Ireland Ballroom Latin American Dance Final.’
- Chapter Eight ‘The Final Arrives’
- Chapter Nine: 'Beth in Manchester.'
- 'Two Sisters' >
- Fourteen Days >
-
‘The Postman Always Knocks Twice’
>
- Author's Foreword
- Contents
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
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Celebrity Contacts
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Thoughts and Musings
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Bill's Personal Development
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- What I'd like to be remembered for
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- 'Early life at my Grandparents'
- Family Holidays
- 'Mother /Child Bond'
- Childhood Pain
- The Death of Lady
- 'Soldiering On'
- 'Romantic Holidays'
- 'On the roof'
- Always wear clean shoes
- 'Family Tree'
- The importance of poise
- 'Growing up with grandparents'
- Love & Romance >
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Thought for today:
" A very Happy Easter from West Yorkshire, England, especially to all our friends and family across the pond in dear old Australia. What a wonderful country England is with its totally unexpected weather pattern changes from drought to floods to excessive snow etc. What a difference in weather this Easter from that of a sunnier Easter one year ago. We want you Aussies to understand that it is such weather changes that make us tougher than you. We don't whinge whenever our partner asks us to fetch a loaf of bread from the village store just because of a bit of snow covering the ground and disguising the location of the shops. Even our bus drivers aren't given their heavy goods driving licences until they can demonstrate that they can pass each other in opposite directions along one of our normal roads during snowy conditions. When our youngsters speak out of turn, we make them eat their own words and teach them a few manners. And when we have arranged to have a barbecue and have bought the steaks and it decides to snow, we don't cancel the event. Instead we just bring it on and have fun. Happy Easter all x" William Forde: March 31st, 2013.
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Thought for today: "We let things go usually when they become too heavy to hold on to. Therefore; let go of your repressed anger, guilt, envy, irrational fears, self-doubt, lack of confidence, feelings of injustice and sense of victimisation and you will find that a great weight has been lifted from your shoulders; allowing your true beauty of self to shine through. So, if you really don't desire to carry all the worries of the world on the back of your little old lonesome, let go and 'lighten up.' You will look much better as well as feeling better!"William Forde: March 30th, 2013. Thought for today: " Precocious children may be a pain in the backside when they are young and are finding their way in the world. Look on the bossy child with patience and in the certainty that you are looking at one of the next business mogals, pioneers of industry and political leaders.They remind me very much of my children William and Becky when they were at pre-school age. At the age of 6 years, my son William visited his Headteacher's office one lunch break and refused to read any more baby books; already having read all the Roald Dahl books before his 7th birthday. My daughter Becky was the cleverest in her class until the age of 15 years and was an extensive reader and budding author. Then, in their teenage years, they both stopped reading and it was as though they had decided to live their youth instead of reading and writing about it. Today, they seem to have come back on the track of responsible adulthood and are shaping up to become ball breakers once more. They'll always be world leaders in my eyes! " William Forde: March 29th, 2013. Thought for today: " To keep your partner happy always give them three things of tremendous importance; attention, affection and appreciation. This is the very first page in your alphabet of lasting love. Keep constant in this aim and your love will endure as you each grow closer and closer, until that day finally arises when your love re-unites and continues in another place for the remainder of eternity. " William Forde: March 28th, 2013. Thought for today: "So many of us continue to harbour ill feelings, bitterness and hatred towards others many years after these feelings should have emotionally resolved themselves. At worse, such feelings can emotionally disturb one and even at best, while such feelings remain in one's body, that person will never be able to move on with their life and to get the most out of new experiences. We can all learn from the wisdom of Nelson Mandela who remarked in his writings upon his years of imprisonment, 'As I walked out the door toward my freedom, I knew that if I did not leave all the anger, hatred and bitterness behind that I would still be in prison.' Here is one of the most respected and wisest of all humans still alive, who transformed his life of violent participation through the path of peace and forgiveness." William Forde: March 27th, 2013. Thought for today: "As I grow older I always guessed that I would would need more wees along with less sleep and food and greater expectation to be waited on. I never would have believed however that I needed more hugs. I have often wondered why an intelligent and highly rational person might 'hug a tree'. I have, over the years crossed paths with a great many tree huggers; some of whom have had an abundance of wealth, intelligence, title and social status supporting their names. Each time I have tried to establish some sort of unified reasoning for the purpose of this activity, all I've been able to ascertain is that while all tree huggers claim that placing their arms around a tree is better than felling one, none would go so far as to assert that there is any proof that the tree actually benefits from their touch. However, all tree huggers are quick to point out that they most certainly feel better for having given the tree a hug. I feel like that when I hug a person. Perhaps a quick switch from hugging trees to hugging people would bring untold benefits to mankind?" William Forde: March 26th, 2013. Thought for today: " It has been said that man first climbed a tree three million years ago. I can still recall the very first time I climbed up a tree. I was aged 8 years and only managed to get half way up the chestnut before the branch upon which I stood decided to snap and end for me, what would otherwise have been a glorious day. There have been a few occasions in life when other things I was depending on 'snapped' and left me up the creek. The most embarrassing was a clasp holding up my belt-less trousers when I was a teenager in Blackpool at the age of 18 years and had just met an attractive lass who wanted to go dancing. Most of my embarrassments however, occurred between the ages of 17 and 22 years of age when, like a bear with a sore head, my temper would snap frequently and lead me into numerous fights with other hot heads. I stopped climbing trees after 12 years of age when a traffic accident left me unable to walk for three years. When I stopped climbing trees, my younger brother Peter started and, at the age of 61-years, he still climbs one particular tree on some land he owns and perches in the top branches where he reads for hours on end. He gets his hip replaced soon so it looks like he will soon have to retire from his tree climbing. Then his lovely wife Linda will have to find a new 'naughty mat' for him to spend some 'time out' on whenever he has one of his tantrums!" William Forde: March 25th, 2013. Thought for today: "When I was a child and eager to do well, my mother frequently told me, 'Billy, do good son, and you'll catch the devil napping.' Following on from that train of thought, I would truly like to get one over on old Lucifer when I pop my clogs and catch the 'God Coach' before he realises I've gone. Isn't it such a sweet thought to think that I might be half an hour in heaven before the devil knew that I was dead? I've climbed The Devil's Tree, walked The Devil's Road and have danced with The Tasmanian Devil, but I don't fancy supping with him for the rest of eternity." William Forde: March 24th, 2013. Thought for today: "Would you rather have a friend who will side with you when all others won't; the type of friend that will side with you, even when you're in the wrong? Or would you prefer a friend who is confident enough in their relationship with you to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth: a friend who is confident enough to tell you if it's your new dress that's too small for you or it's you who's too big for the dress! Being a friend sometimes means being truthful enough to hurt your friend's feelings as well as being wise enough to massage them. whenever bruised." William Forde: March 23rd, 2013. Thought for today: "Different animal lovers will hold different views upon which creature pet is the most intelligent; cat or dog? Do owners teach their dogs to 'fetch' the sticks they throw or do dogs teach owners how to throw the sticks? I have always preferred dogs to cats and I actually grew up disliking cats. It was only when I researched cats for over five years whilst writing my 'Kilkenny Cat Trilogy' (where all the book characters are cats), that I truly came to understand cats. Having learned how 'independent' and 'superior' in guile and intellect they are to all other creatures apart from the monkeys, I came to respect them greatly. By the end of my five-year's book research, I actually came to like cats. I grew to appreciate that whilst dogs can read their owner's instructions, not only would a cat refuse to carry out anyone else's commands, but they are undoubtedly able to read their owner's minds. They are also probably able to read their owner's books! The shift I'd experienced in changing my former dislike of cats to one of deep admiration I hold for them today merely shows, that often, humans tend to profess an instant dislike for all manner of things, customs, cultures, religions, creatures and other humans that 'they don't understand.' So, despite still liking dogs better than cats, I have not the slightest of doubt that in the 'intelligence stakes' cats win hands down over dogs (and humans) every time!" William Forde: March 22nd, 2013. Thought for today: "Today is the anniversary of my father's birthday who died in 1991, aged 75 years. Of all the things that I could say to his credit, including the fact that he played international soccer for Ireland, none come to mind more readily than the fact that he was a good man of humble mannerisms, Christian beliefs and simple ways; always a man who did whatever he did in his life to the best of his capabilities. No more can one expect of any man. The day that dad was born, he brought with him spring. I love you Dad. God Bless you. xxx" William Forde: March 21st, 2013. Thought for today: "'As Time goes by' is a song that was written by Herman Hupfield in 1931. It achieved international popularity when it was sung by the character Sam( Dooly Wilson) in the movie 'Casablanca.' The song was voted Number two as the best film song in a hundred years. In its composition are the words, 'A kiss is just a kiss, a smile is just a smile, a sigh is still a sigh. The fundamental things apply as time goes by.' One of the most beautiful songs ever written, yet questionable in part its message by inclusion of the word 'just' as there simply nothing 'mere' about a kiss, smile or sigh. Such expressions speak much more than words can ever betterhttp://youtu.be/d22CiKMPpaY." William Forde:March 19th, 2013. Thought for today: " I love to see a plant that I have cared for flourish and thrive upon the window sill and the flowers of spring burst into bloom in all their splendour. I marvel every May at the magnificence of the cherry tree blossom as it sheds its fallen flower like confetti on the ground. As other flowers open and reveal their floral beauty, the sight of each red rose reminds me instantly of my dear mother who loved that flower over all other species of growth. Of all things marvellous though which can be found in the garden of one's life and experience, none can compare with the shared love between a couple that has travelled with them from first to last. One can only admire their combined love that held them close in each other's affections as they raised their family through the trials and tribulations of life. For they possess a love which cannot be bettered; from that of first kiss to final breath and which has strengthened, grown wiser, become more tolerant and understanding, whilst remaining forever faithful and true. Such love is one that we all live for, greatly respect and would gladly die with." William Forde: March 18th, 2013. Thought for today: " Today is Saint Patrick's Day and being born an Irish man I wish all of you English, Scots and Welsh, 'The top of the morning.' I realise that if I want to remain happy myself, I must resign myself to seeing others happy also, even if they weren't born on the Emerald Isle. So let me make you all a bit happier by revealing a secret in order that you shall at least better understand something which all Irish men are constantly being asked. The Guinness that is exported to England and other foreign places is not the same quality of Guinness that a customer buys in Ireland. The Irish have always saved the best for themselves. Since Guinness was first exported for sale on May 19th, 1769 by its founder, Arthur Guinness (1725-1803), all Irish landlords of British pubs and throughout the world have held a deep secret. Whereas as all non-Irish publican landlords receive 'the English Guiness' only, those Irish landlords who run pubs outside the Emerald Isle, are secretly supplied with two types of Guinness; with one type being of far lesser strength and inferior quality than the other. When an customer with an obvious Irish brogue orders a pint of Guinness from a pub in England that has an Irish landlord, his pint of draught is pulled from the left hand side of the serving landlord's feet, whereas an English customer placing the same order has his pint pulled from a different pump on the right hand side of the serving landlord's feet. Originally, it was common in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the north-west of England, for Roman Catholics to be called 'left-footers' as a slur. It is based on the supposed tradition whereby Protestant farm-labourers dug with the right foot on the spade, whilst Catholic ones did so with the left! To get their own back on the Protestant English, the Irish (who never forget), turned the slur on its head unbeknown to all non-Irish drinkers of Guinness; or so my mother used to tell me, and she was never caught telling a lie! Happy Saint Patrick's Day." William Forde: March 17th, 2013. Thought for today: "Peace can be neither bought nor won. It cannot be found or enjoyed without reciprocal expectation. You may win your peace by resisting evil or buy an uneasy peace by compromising with evil, but true peace cannot be imposed upon an unwilling other or be kept by force. It can only be achieved through understanding and mutual agreement between the parties. Similarly, peace within oneself requires congruence, balance, agreement and understanding between one's thoughts, feelings and actions before a harmonious mind and body truly exists. Obliging another to do and see things your way by using any manner of duress, mental, psychological, physical, political, cultural or religious will never represent lasting conversion or amount to anything more than mere coersion!" William Forde: March 16th, 2013. Thought for today: "Some of the most beautiful words that still remain on my list of 'all-time favourites' were voiced by the English Quaker, William Penn who lived between the 17th and 18th centuries and who was the founder of Pennsylvania, USA: 'I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing that I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.' As the new Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis the First, takes over the spiritual guidance of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics today and bestows his kindness on all his pastoral charges, let us wish him well on his passage through this life on earth and pray for him." William Forde: March 14th, 2013. Thought for today: " Thirty years of research and work practice into dealing with the causes of emotional disturbance has taught me the following. We all exaggerate the true extent of our feelings from time to time with a whole range of irrational messages that we initially tell our body and then which we go on to believe as Gospel when they are in fact inaccurate. For instance: 'I can't stand it' is a phrase we often hear ourselves say when we are obviously standing it. We may not like it, desire it or wish it was otherwise, but the one thing we can't deny is that we can stand it! We can stand anything, however horrible, painful etc while there is still breath in one's body. The only time it is accurate to say we can't stand it is when we are dead; and then we could say that we aren't standing it, but our corpse! The real importance in not exaggerating our feelings and believing untruths is that our body invariably responds to what we believe and the precise nature of our self talk. So, believing 'you can't stand it' is a sure way of your mind instructing your body 'not to stand it' and for you to 'feel' that 'you can't stand it', despite the fact that 'you are standing it.' Just think twice about how you want your body to 'feel' before you tell yourself in future that you feel pissed off!" William Forde: March 13th, 2013. Thought for today: " Birds of the air unite against the man-made pollution of the world. Carry the message to all of the countries in the eastern hemisphere that cutting down the forests, increasing the levels of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere, using non-bio-gradeable products and driving our motor cars instead of walking is slowly killing off our planet and can in no way ever truly represent 'progress,' Faster, bigger and more is not the recipe to having a safer world to live in." William Forde: March 12th, 2013. Thought for today: " Have you ever felt like saying, 'Stop the world. I want to get off.' As a stress management consultant of over 40 years experience, I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that it is 'doing too much in too short a space of time' that is the greatest common culprit in this area. The reason is simple: doing too much eventually leads to you losing control over what you do and how you do it. When your body has finally had enough, it will either force you to 'stop' or take the decision out of your hands by stopping for you, in the form of depression, breakdown or death! So before your world spins off its axis, please take a rest and recover by stopping yourself from doing any more. Learn to relax. It could save your life. It will certainly improve it!" William Forde: March 11th, 2013. Thought for today: " It is fitting that on today of all days, we give praise to all the mothers in the world. At the top of all our lists will most likely sit our own dear mother whom we will honour either in person or fond memory. However, when it comes to the title, 'Mother of all Mothers', there are two previous mothers who stand head and shoulders above the rest; Valentina from Russia and Dusty from Texas. Valentina gave birth to more children than any other woman has ever conceived and in the process, she never once had 'a single' child. Indeed, she had 69 children in total ; four sets of quadruplets, seven sets of triplets and sixteen sets of twins, and no loners! She was the wife of Feodore Vassilyev ; a peasant from Shua, Russia and her large family was conceived over 27 confinements. When it comes to offspring however, the most ever born to any single mother was to a Texas tabby moggy called Dusty who gave birth to 420 kittens during her many travels before this 'puss in boots' settled down to a life of simple domesticity. Valentina or Dusty: both richly deserves their cat naps, don't you think? They've certainly earned it." William Forde: March 10th, 2013. Thought for today: " My friend's firm recently took on a new office girl. They try to act in a democratic way whenever introducing someone else to their small firm, but rarely agree. This time however, from the three candidates who were interviewed for the clerical position, their decision was unanimously in favour of Rachael; the clear winner!" William Forde: March 9th, 2013. Thought for today: " All you ladies love a good reliable plumber who won't take the shirt off your back when your pipes have sprung a leak and there's no other chap around to clean up your mess. But beware of the cowboy plumbers out there who are not all that they're cracked up to be!" William Forde: March 7th, 2013. |
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