Rules of the road

A question that went round my mind today after I`d been out for a drive today was - Who first decided that we should drive on the left? Did it just naturally happen or evolve or when did someone, and if so who, first decide that it should be done? Was it in the days of pony and traps, stage coaches, bicycles or did it not come about until the motor car? And, where did the rules of the highway code originate from?

Yes, I know I come up with some strange thoughts at times! But these questions suddenly pop into my mind. Wonder what that says about me?!!

And, if you want to have a go at a driving test try these.
Glad to say I passed on the one I tried.

If I weren`t me what would I be?

What would I be if I weren`t a human? That`s a questions posed by someone on their Blog today, and it set me thinking. What would I like to be?

Not an insect – they get trodden on and despised by many people, although I could quite fancy being a pretty butterfly flitting about, but then, they don`t live very long do they.

Not a fish – I can`t swim! Nor a crab or lobster – beautiful as the underwater world is shown to be, I want to be on dry land.

So maybe I should be an animal? – I could be a elegant giraffe nice and tall and able to see all around, but - having just had a bad throat, think of the long sore throat one would get! Or should I be a polar bear, I quite fancy that nice warm furry coat- but do I fancy living somewhere so cold? No, they`re not for me.

I think that I too would like to be a bird – but what sort?
I think I would like to be a canary in a cage – feeling safe and secure in my own home, being given food and water and titbits every day, being given a bath to splash about in when I wanted, having people to clean my home and talk to me and I`d chirp back and sing to them, and then just be able to curl up into a ball when I wanted to be left alone.
Yes, I think that would be for me.

An enjoyable day

Nothing very interesting or exciting to write about comes to mind tonight. I`ve just spent a day doing some of the things I enjoy doing when I get time to do them. Like making a lemon cake, some chocolate buns and a lemon steamed pudding before cooking a roast lamb lunch. Then a lazy afternoon and evening sitting doing some cross-stitch work.

A Cracking Mystery

A cracking mystery – have I been watching too many of Agatha Christie`s detective Poirot programmes in recent afternoons you may ask by that title of today`s blog?

It`s true I`ve been doing the unaccustomed activity (or non activity depending how you look at it) of watching afternoon television during the last couple of weeks while I`ve not felt well.

But, no, this isn`t one of them. My mystery is, that my car has been sitting quietly in my drive outside the front of the house for the last couple of weeks, not going anywhere (well, apart from a few yards to the doctors and back twice). But on getting in it this afternoon I looked at the windscreen, then looked again, must be the way the light is catching it I thought as it was a beautiful sunny afternoon, but no, on getting out to look closer and to feel it with my hand, I find a crack in the glass, about 6 inches long and curving upwards.

Now, the question is – how did it get there, what caused it?

Bird Feeding

We had an unusual visitor to the garden yesterday. We`d put out the remains of the chicken we`d had at the weekend, and it was as usual quickly surrounded by a flock of starlings. (Wonder if they ever realise that they`re eating almost one of their own kind!!). Anyway, we were then aware of a larger bird sitting on the building at the end of the garden watching. It`s not one that we find in the garden as a rule. I think the cold weather had maybe made it hungry and brought it in. Gradually this bird came nearer, hopping along the grass in its peculiar gait, then it came to the snow that hadn`t yet melted and almost as if he (or she) didn`t like the feel of the snow under its feet the way it put its feet down and quickly lifted it up again. (Wonder if birds do feel temperature in the way we do?) Eventually it got to the chicken carcass, the other birds by this time had flown off at its approach, so it got stuck in and had a good feed. I just had to get my camera out and take this photo of it from the window. Yes, it was a magpie.

Does anyone know – is it unusual for one to come and feed like that?

March the First

Snow to start March with. Another month starts today, and there`s a sprinkling of snow outside, quite unusual for here. This is a view of some rooftops nearby with a covering of snow, I always think the snow makes them look so pretty but I`m really glad though that I`m off work and didn`t have to walk on those icy pavements this morning!

Still as the saying goes -

If March comes in like a lion it goes out like a lamb. –

Let`s hope that proves true

Pancakes

It`s Pancake Day. Yummy!! Yes, I made and cooked some for dinner today, with the usual sugar and lemon on them, and they were delicious. Not, that I only have them on Shrove Tuesday, I like them on other days as a pudding too.

I came across some unusual facts about pancakes on here. Did you know that there`s an old Lent custom for children to throw old crockery at neighbours doors and ask them to throw pancakes back? Wonder what would happen if we brought that back to do, bit like trick or treat isn`t it?!

I`ve also discovered several more customs and some old rhymes children are said to have recited on Shrove Tuesday. And, that the ingredients all are said to have four crucial points of significance at this time of year:
Eggs ~ Creation
Flour ~ The staff of life
Salt ~ Wholesomeness
Milk ~ Purity

Bulb trouble

Having written the other day about my dislike of these energy saving bulbs, the one in my room here has now decided to save even more energy for the electricity board. It`s gone out completely. I thought that these bulbs were supposed to last a lot, lot, lot longer than ordinary bulbs? This one certainly hasn`t. Maybe it heard be grumbling about it, so decided to pack up!!

But, the question now is – what shall I replace it with?
Shall I `be good` and get another of the same energy efficient ones, and put up with a poor dull light, or, now that it`s packed up shall I go for a good old-fashioned proper bulb that gives good light?

Decisions, decisions!!

Stuck!

I`m stuck for what to write again today. I`ve not been doing anything interesting, not heard anything lighthearted to write about here, not come across any interesting sites. So, it will have to be post a picture again. Hope you enjoy looking at another spring flower!

Pretty in pink

Nature at work

Looking out of the window during this week, several signs of spring approaching seem apparent. Several of the shrubs are now beginning to show small buds of green, the pots of bulbs now have yellow crocus almost visible, the daffodils have flower spikes appearing. And on top of all that, I`ve seen two blackbirds gathering and flying off with beakfuls of nesting material which they`ve foraged for in the borders. It`s amazing to see the strength with which they tug and pull at the old dead stems and the way they fold the long pieces to fit them in their beaks which never look as if they`re going to hold all the pieces they`re trying to carry. They are such clever creatures.

Appointment Wanted

Why is it so difficult to get an appointment with a doctor?

I really do wonder at times why life seems to get more and more difficult to even do the simplest things. Surely it should be one of the easiest and most accessible things to do, to be able to visit ones doctor when in need? I can remember in my childhood and youth (and its not that long ago – well, not really), you just went to the surgery on the day you felt unwell and wanted to see him, were given a number and waited until your turn came. Simple. Easy. Then it changed so that you rang up and made an appointment for the day you wanted – again fairly trouble free.

Why, in the so called days of progress is it no longer simple?

I rang our surgery yesterday afternoon to make an appointment for today. Straightforward enough request I thought. But, oh no. `No sorry, we can`t prebook any appointments, you`ll have to ring early in the morning`. (wonder how they manage to have patients to see at opening time if you can`t pre-book!!!) So, I rang first thing in the morning “I`d like to make an appointment to see a doctor today please” I said. (that sounded plain English to me!) “You could see the Practice Nurse, she deals with minor things and can prescribe antibiotics”, I was told. “No, I`d like to see the doctor please”, again I was told that P.Nurse was available. And again I insisted I wanted to see a doctor. In the end I got an appointment.

But, should it really be so difficult?

Under the Weather

I`m feeling under the weather today. Now why do we use that expression I wonder?
Is that that the state of the weather has an effect on us? I know that a bright or sunny day usually makes me feel cheerful and more confident to do things, whereas if I have to tackle something I`m not sure about on a grey dull day it seems so much harder to do the same thing.
But does the weather really have any effect on our actual health?
So why say ‘under the weather’ for not feeling well? I`ve just looked up the definition of that expression and come across that it`s said to originate from the fact that an inexperienced sailor who feels seasick shelters from the wind by crouching down beside the bulwarks – “under” their protection – on the “weather” side of the ship.

Hugs

I heard an interesting item on the radio the other morning, that hugs are good for you, and I`ve just come across this. How true it is.
But, on the other hand it`s only good if you have someone to hug you. For those with no-one, its no help at all to be told that what you feel you most need, is what you can`t have anyway because there`s no-one to give it.

Brain dead

Well, I think this cold has dulled my brain, I can`t get inspired to write anything today. So, sorry to anyone who reads this regularly, that`s all I`m going to write today. Will try and do better tomorrow

In the fashion

Yes, I`m in the fashion.
No, I`ve not got the latest fashion clothing, nor the latest hair do. I`ve got a cold. Now, where did I get that from? Can`t have been where I was on Friday because that would be too soon for it to come out yesterday, so it must have been the one someone I was working near on Wednesday at my place of work had.

Wonder why it is that we say “We`re in the fashion” when we`ve got a cold? Anyone any ideas on that.

Chips with everything

Do you know what week this is?
I`ve just discovered that this is National Chip Week. Now, how could I miss that with my liking for chips?! And there`s even a site all about chips ! I`m a great potato lover and don`t think you can have a meal without them. I`d eat them at every meal if I had a chance. Not for me rice and pasta – give me good old potatoes. Roasted, Baked, Fried, Boiled new, Fried mashed, and especially Chips! Whether they`re home cooked chips (the best kind) or chip shop chips I enjoy them all, but oven chips – no, not to my taste they`re nothing like real potato chips.

Solutions

If you didn`t manage to solve my question of yesterday, have a look at this. I found it the other day and was impressed with the way it had been done. I wonder how long it took whoever did it, to do it? Many hours I`ll guess. Being a person who enjoys creating quizzes myself I can appreciate the work that went into it.

I know people say to me, how do you do it (make quizzes), it must be very difficult, you must be very clever? No, I`m not very clever! I find it far easier to make them than to solve them. One has the answer already so just work backwards!

What a pity life`s questions and problems can`t be solved by knowing the answers first!

Strange Stations

How well travelled are you?! I found some strange stations the other day. So, I`ll pose the question today - Where can you find the stations called Thorn Lot; Rodent Channel; Koa Wood; Watery Towage; Con Took Pond; and Taprock Avenue?

A walk by the sea

I`ve been walking by the sea again this afternoon. The sun was out and for the time of year it was a pleasantly mild day. The tide was then coming in, washing over the sand just wave after wave rippling that little bit further up the beach, almost as if the waves were trying to see which one of them could be the first to touch the stones. It was quiet, it was peaceful, it was the wonder of nature.

Energy Efficiency

I`ve just found an interesting Energy efficiency test, which I`ve just done. Only got half the questions right though, but there were some interesting and surprising answers to some of it.

I know that we should be using energy efficient light bulbs as they use far less electricity, but although we do, I don`t like them for the amount of light they give. Even ones that are said to be equivalent to 100 watts, don`t seem to me to give as much light as a normal bulb of that wattage. Is it just me or do others find the same?

What sort of a day is it?

Following on from what I wrote yesterday, I came across this piece which I`d read some time ago and kept….

`Isn`t it an awful day?` said the customer in the bakery. It wasn`t, it was a `soft` sort of a day, fine drizzle and a breeze. Far from awful!

Why do we criticise the weather so much? It`s awful when there is two feet of snow and we can`t get out! Or, as happened recently somewhere a devastating flood, ruining homes and businesses and preventing people getting to work.

Whatever the weather, snow, cold, rain, gales or sunshine, there is something in it to be enjoyed. On a cold day it is pleasant to sit round a fire with a good book or a favourite television programme. On fine days it`s a pleasure to work in the garden or walk somewhere. Imagine the pleasure of a lot of people, especially children, if we were to revert to snowbound Christmasses, just like the Christmas cards!

Every day is a gift from God: every day should hold something to take pleasure in. Search it out, and even the `awful` days will seem good if you let them.

A miserable day?

“What a miserable day”. No, not my comments, but the remarks of many people I came into contact with today. Why miserable? Yes, it was raining. But why complain about rain, surely it`s an essential to life. What, I wondered, would they do if it never rained?

If it never rained we would have no water – nothing to drink, nothing to wash in, nothing to water their plants and gardens with, and consequently probably no life.

So yes, although the rain may be unpleasant to walk out far in, I still think that we should feel and be thankful for it.

Lost for Inspiration!

What can I write about today? I wonder how others get their inspiration for what to write. It`s now late in the evening and I still haven`t thought of what to write today, so I`ll just post a picture instead.



Anyone any ideas of a caption for this photo??

A Day to Myself

I`ve had a day to myself – well, most of the day. I went up to the “big city” – and had a lovely time on my own. I`ve not had (as I said the other day) the house to myself lately, so to get away and have time to myself really did me good.

I spent quite a long time at the Cathedral looking at the Quaker Tapestry which they`ve got on display. I saw it when I was on holiday last year at its home in Kendall, and was fascinated by it, so to have the opportunity to see some of it again on its visit to Norfolk was something I just couldn`t miss! The stitch work and detail in it is so well done, and to think that people all around the world and of all ages have done part of it makes it even more special.

From there I had a good wander and browse around the shops. Not everyone`s idea of a good activity, I know, but its something I enjoy doing from time to time. But, I ended up spending more that I intended!

All in all, it was a really good day, and a good break from routine.

How old?

How old are you? What`s your age? Common questions that we get asked at times. And we always give the answer as from our birth date – our Birthday`s count our age.

Yet, since seeing that photo that I wrote about yesterday, it`s made me realise that we are alive long before our birth and its set me thinking.

Surely we are really nine months older than we say we are? We`ve been alive and living since we were conceived so when we are born we are already nine months old, so when we are three months old we are actually a year old.

So in that case can I retire nine months before I thought I could, because I`ll have been alive the required amount of time by then?!

Amazing Life

I saw yesterday a most amazing photo. Well to me it was, although I guess its common place to a lot of people. It was the first photo of a baby forming in the womb. (it was about three months). This was the first time I`d ever seen such a photo and I found it so amazing and marvellous that one could see so clearly the shape of the head, the nose, the arms and legs of such a tiny being. The miracle of seeing new life forming in that way really was very moving.

Looking for something to do and inspiration of something to Blog about I came across the ink blot test. If you`ve not tried it, its worth having a go at for something different.

And this is the result it came up with for me!

Your unconscious mind is most driven by Curiosity.

You are full of questions about life, people, and your own potential. You spend more time than others imagining the possibilities for your life – and you're open to things others are too afraid to consider. You have an almost physical need to know and do more. It's only through new experiences that you feel a greater understanding of yourself and the world. You also have a rebellious streak that shows up when you feel unable to truly influence the world or circumstances around you. Your appetite for novel experiences also shows an openness others don't have, but wish they did. Your psyche is very rich; the more you learn about it, the more you will understand who you really are.

Well, I guess some of it is true, especially `being full of questions` - I seem to write a lot of them here in my blog. As for the rest of it, I`ll leave you to imagine if its a right description of me or not!!

Health Warnings

I had to listen twice to know that I was hearing correctly what the news reporter on the radio was saying the other morning, but yes, he did say it…. Firms are going to be putting health warnings on chocolate ! What health risk is there to that? – I`m sure I`ve actually read that eating plain chocolate is good for one. Ok, I can understand there`s a weight problem if one over eats it, but that applies to many other foods too.

And, whatever next I wondered? Then came up with a few suggestions –
a warning on sheets of paper, that the edge of a sheet can give you a nasty cut if you happen to catch it wrong.
a warning on a iron – that it can get hot and burn you
a warning that the radio too loud – could affect your hearing
a warning on a tin of food – open with care, you could cut your finger

Would we really ever do anything? Where will all these silly warnings stop, and give people some credit for having some common sense. Or, has common sense disappeared??

Favourite Sound

I wonder what others would class as their favourite sound?
I think mine would have to be the sound of waves. Whether they be breaking over rocks or gently lapping on the sand. There`s something very rhythmic and soothing about them to me. Maybe that`s why I find a walk by the sea always seems to help calm me and help me think when I have problems on my mind. I don`t always find the answers to my problems there, but I come back feeling better for being close to nature. For being made aware of getting things into perspective. To have a deserted beach to walk along at this time of year, and just be alone is one thing I appreciate so much.

Frustration and relaxation

Why do I write this Blog. One reason is because it’s the place where I can really write/say in the open what I`m feeling; what`s bothering me; what`s worrying me; what`s affecting me; and hopefully help myself by doing so.

At the moment I`m feeling very frustrated, very in need of relaxation. I don`t mean that I`ve too much to do, but these last couple of weeks I`ve not had the house to myself for a single minute. I`ve become used over past months to having at least a couple of afternoons and evenings to myself. Evenings when I can sit in the lounge for an hour or so, maybe watch television, read or just sit and do nothing but be quiet. Now, I can`t even do that, because every evening my mother is there and has her man friend there too. I feel “gooseberry” in my own home. So I stay here at my computer. Even to sit and watch one of my favourite tv programmes just with her after he`s gone isn`t the same, because she`ll keep making comments as it goes along instead of how I like to sit quietly and listen to it all. It`s so frustrating and I feel so in need of time to relax by myself.

The observant one!

Having written here about having new glasses (no not drinking glasses, I mean the sort you wear), I`ve had my new ones for a couple of weeks now, and so far only one person has noticed or said to me – are they new glasses. And that was a lad at work – someone you wouldn`t expect to be very observant. He doesn`t appear to be the brightest of people yet he noticed. It just goes to show that you shouldn`t judge people by appearances doesn`t it?

Vanishing time

I`ve just come across this in something I was reading, and I thought how true….

For disappearing act`s, its hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left for us after eight hours sleep and eight hour work.!

Thoughts

Fourteen years ago today (by the date) this was the worst moment of my life. I walked into my parents bedroom, as normal before going to work, and she said to me ‘did you hear the phone in the night?`, it was to say that my Dad had died. I`d know he was very ill and was incurable. I`d been to see him in the hospital the previous evening, it was heartbreaking to see him. When I got home I prayed “Please Lord take him, don`t let him suffer any longer”.

My first feelings were a mixture of great sadness yet thankful for the answer to prayer and that he wasn`t suffering. Since then, though, I`ve felt so guilty that I did pray that, that maybe if I hadn`t……. Yet, realistically I know that he wouldn`t still be here. But I can`t help wondering.

I do take a little comfort from knowing that the last person my Dad saw (apart from the nurses) would have been me. But the deep question still burns, did he know how much I loved him.

How many years?

I just came across a site that asked `How long will you survive on earth?` so I thought, that will be interesting to find out. If you want to try it, you`ll find it here. So, for curiosity`s sake, (not that I believe in these things) I just had to have a go at it.
The result was that my life expectancy,if I believe it, will be 84.
Keep reading my blogs and if they stop appearing in the year 2037 you`ll know this test was correct!

Resolution Review

It`s now a month since I made my new year resolutions, so it`s time I reviewed where I`ve got to with them after a month.

Some I`ve failed badly at – like writing my Blog earlier in the day; finding more time to sit and read; talking more; doing my needle work picture; making more time for myself.

Some I`ve succeeded at – like having more exercise, I do make myself walk more; making more time to read my bible and pray; keeping things tidier; having more patience with my parent – but that has been a real struggle!

Others I`ve neither succeeded nor failed at (although having just typed that, I wonder if I haven`t succeeded can I say haven`t failed?) I suppose what I mean is I`ve not got any better or any worse at them: being organised; overcoming nerves;

Those I`ve failed at in the first month, I`ll try to do better with before I review this again at 3 months. Maybe by keeping reviewing it (even if I bore anyone reading this!) it may help me to make the effort to do at least some of the things better by the end of the year

The first ones

I`ve seen them today.
The first ones.
We were out for a drive this afternoon, and came across them in a church yard. There they were, very small and delicate against the strength of the stone. What a contrast of two natural items. The stone so grey and weathered and heavy and them so white and fresh and fragile.
What am I talking about?
Snowdrops.
One of my favourite flowers.

Sign of Spring

Enjoy this picture of a sign of spring.

Inspiration wanted!

I`m lost for inspiration on what I should be doing. Maybe it`s because Easter seems so far off, yet I have to start thinking about it now, to do some work for it. I`ve been looking at lots of sites of clip art to find suitable graphics. Can I find what I want in all the hundreds of images? No. There are enough lambs to make a huge flock; enough Easter eggs of a multitude of colours, patterns, sizes and shapes; bunnies sitting, hopping, shopping, grinning; crosses with flowers suitable for funerals.
But, where or where are plain printable pictures and line drawings to depict the true meaning of Easter?

A remedy for sleeplessness!

Need something to send you to sleep? I`ve found the answer!
Try sitting in a nice warm room with the gentle sound of a photocopier rhythmically humming and whirling as it sends out sheets of papers.
I was doing just that this afternoon and found that the combination of the two had a very relaxing, somnolent effect and I felt my eyelids start to get heavy and want to close. I had to keep forcing myself to remember that I wasn`t at home, and to stay awake. (I don`t normally fall asleep sitting up, but maybe it was because of the worrying week I`ve had, and that it was good to just get away for a while)

It`s my space

I`ve had it all to myself this last week. It`s been lovely. What am I talking about? The kitchen!
With my parents incapacity to stand or walk this week, the kitchen has been my domain, I`ve enjoyed deciding what to have, preparing the food, cooking and serving it and even the washing up afterwards, although I must admit I`m not so keep on the drying up! They say `two women in a kitchen don`t get on` and how true a saying that is! I can get things done so much quicker on my own and be more organised, and not have to fear knocking someone over when I turn round or step backwards.

Calculators - good or bad?

Are calculators and computers such a good idea in primary school learning? Do they really teach children and young people the way to count, reckon up and subtract figures? I`m not talking about complicated mathematics for complex uses, but just ordinary everyday maths which we use everyday for tasks like shopping.

At least two incidents recently really made me wonder about this. First in a store, the young lady on a till had to count out change for a purchase from a £10 note, could she do it? No. She had to turn to the older cashier on the next till and ask her to come and do it. Second time, I observed a customer count out the cost of her shopping in small change, give the handful of the change to the young cashier. The cashier looked at the pennies and silver and had three or four goes to count it to see if it was correct, in the end she turned to the older person on the next till and said I can`t do this, can you count it !

So, isn`t it time we taught children how to count without having mechanical devices to just give them the answer?

Daisy

Looking through some of the photos I`d taken during last summer, I came across this single daisy, so as I`ve nothing interesting to write today, enjoy the picture.

Alone with thoughts

How I wish I had a brother or sister to share things with, especially at the moment when I feel so much responsibility for a parent. I feel so alone. I know there are some people who will help with some practical issues, for which I`m grateful. But there is so much is going round in my mind – what to do for the best; where to put my priorities – parent or work; what if this…; what if that….; what`s best to do?….etc...etc.... Oh, why haven`t I got a brother or sister to share it with, to talk all these things over with.

Scenic photo

As I can`t get any inspiration on what to write today, here`s a photo of a favourite duck feeding spot.

And, talking of birds, hope you like the little pet who`s joined my site. (on the right hand side bar. click the word `more` and see what happens)

Unusual travel

I had the unusual experience of having to catch a train today – and found forgotten pleasure in a train ride, even though it was only for a short distance, there was something quite relaxing about the sound of the wheels on the track and just watching the countryside go by, looking into peoples back gardens. Something I used to do quite regularly – no, not look into gardens!, but use the train. And that today followed the very unusual experience of having a ride in an ambulance – not, I hasten to add, thankfully as the patient.

Sitting doing a word puzzle in a book as I waited for the train today, I uncovered a quotation that seemed so apt to me at present: “Anxiety is simply part of the condition of being human”. Only snag is, it didn`t give any ideas on how to cope with being anxious and worried.

Crash, bang, wallop!

Its 3.30 a.m. and I can`t sleep I`m worried, so I`m going to share that worry on here.

About an hour ago I was woken from a sound sleep by a noise – a lumping bumping noise. I jumped out of bed, opened my bedroom door and there found my parent had fallen on her way to the bathroom, and was lying full length on the floor near the top of the stairs.

But, how to get her up, that was the problem. She can`t get herself up. She`s no light weight and has a leg which won`t bend. At that time of the morning I couldn`t ring anyone or get a neighbour and I`m alone in the house with her. Eventually after a lot of struggling between us I managed to get her up.

But now I worry – what if it happens again and I can`t lift her, if I can`t get her up what do I do. The weight of responsibility feels to be so heavy on me, and I`m scared and worried.

Red Sky

Red sky at night
Shepherds delight
Red sky in the morning
Sailors warning.

That old proverb/saying came to me as I saw this sky last night. It looked so beautiful and such unbelievable colours. If anyone had painted a picture with the sky that colour, I`d have though it wasn`t life-like. But this really was the colour of the sky here yesterday evening.

Stocktaking

Fancy a bit of stocktaking?
I know it`s quite customary for shops, warehouses, factories, depots and other places to have annual or regular stocktakes, where they count everything they have. But, I heard of something the other day that caused me to stop and `take stock`……

A zoo was going to do a stock take, and count all their creatures but as well as just counting them, they were going to list how many male and how many female of each species they`d got. Now, I can understand how they could count a cage of sleeping lions or tigers, or an enclosure of penguins – so long as they stood still!, but how, I wondered, does one count birds in an aviary that are constantly flying too and fro, and what about the stick insects and tiny insects no doubt hiding amongst foliage in their tanks, how does one count them, let alone decide if they are male or female!

And, further to that, what happens if the count of giraffes doesn`t match the quantity they think they should have? Or if they are a tarantula short…. do they put out an alert and go looking for it?

It puts a whole new meaning on the word Stock taking doesn`t it?

Lifetimes

I heard this on the radio this morning, and it made me smile, so thought I`d share it….

On the first day, God created Dog and said, “you`re to sit at the door of the house and bark at everyone who comes in or out of the house or goes past. I`ll give you a life span of 20 years”. “Twenty years!” said Dog, “that`s too long to sit and bark, I`ll give you 10 years back”. “Alright” said God.

On the second day, God created a Monkey and said, “you`re to perform monkey tricks to entertain people, I`ll give you a life span of 20 years”. “Twenty years! That’s far too long to perform tricks” said Monkey, “I`ll give you 10 years back”. “Alright” said God.

On the third day, God created Cow and said, “you`re to graze the pasture, produce calves, produce milk and work for farmer, I`ll give you a life span of 60 years”. “That’s far too long” said Cow, “I`ll give you 40 years back”. “Alright” said God.

On the next day God created Man and said, ”you`re to eat, sleep and have fun, I`ll give you a life span of 20 years”. “That`s not long enough” said Man, “let me have the 10 years Dog gave back, the 10 years Monkey gave back and the 40 years Cow gave back”. “Alright” said God, “that will make 80 years. For the first 20 years you`ll eat, sleep and enjoy life, for the next 40 years you`ll work hard and produce a family, for the next 10 you`ll perform monkey tricks for your grandchildren and for the last 10 you`ll sit and the door and bark at all who pass” !

A Beautiful growth

For the last few weeks, we have been watching something that looked at first to have no life, gradually grow and flourish. First there was a tiny green tip, then gradually leaves grew up tall before the flower spike appeared. I always love to see the spring flowers emerge from their bulbs and open to full beauty.



This is a photo of one of the hyacinths which we now have out in full bloom.
It`s just a pity that there isn`t a way (yet!) to include scent on blog postings! The perfume from this hyacinth is beautiful.

Longer days

The nights are pulling out now, and I was able to walk home from work in almost daylight tonight. Much better! Each year there somehow seems, to me, to be less and less really long dark evenings. Years ago they seemed to go on for ever and be a really long winter. Is it just my imagination or are they getting less.

Thinking of that expression I`ve just used, which is commonly heard when the days begin to get longer, set me wondering why do we say that the nights are pulling out, who first coined that phrase - or that one, come to think of it! Gosh, that`s three phrases in a short sentence. Where do they all come from?

But, getting back to the first one, it set me picturing a little old man or elf like figure somewhere literally pulling hard on a string to make the day light last longer. Strange how expressions can bring farcical pictures to mind isn`t it.

A Winter Walk

Keeping to my new year resolutions I went for a walk this afternoon. Taking my car, I went to the coast and parked near the promenade. The sun was out, the wind cold but bracing. It was a joy to be outside, to be able to appreciate the beauty of a bright winter`s day. The tide was out and there was a long golden stretch of sand and in the distance one could see the sea gently lapping on the sand. It was so peaceful and quiet. And for a bonus, I had it all to myself, on the whole of the promenade I only passed a couple of people out walking their dogs.
Walking along I came across this seagull sitting on a lamp-post and couldn`t resist taking this photo of him (or her). I also saw a small group of Turnstones pecking about, I was able to get quite close to them and stood watching them for a while. There is just so much beauty in nature.

Eye Test

It made my day!
I`ve been told that I`ve got the healthy eyes of a twenty year old!
I went and had my eyes tested today as it`s a while since I had them done. One of the things they did was to take a photo of the back of my eye – amazing, that in an instant there it was on the screen on the computer beside the machine that flashed a light at me and took it. And from looking at that, I was told how healthy my eyes were. It really is wonderful the technology now for tests like that, and we have such a lot of unknown people to thank for their work in researching and evolving such devices.
I still need glasses for seeing distance but I can read any tiny print easily without them. So then it came to selecting new frames, and what a choice there was, eventually I decided on a pair and now wait ten to fourteen days to get them.
Wonder if anyone will notice they`re different when I get them.

Best Prescription

I wonder what the best prescription you ever had. For me, it must be what my doctor prescribed about 12 years ago. Nothing medical !
I`d been going to see him on a few occasions during bereavement (without my parent knowing), and he kept saying that to boost my confidence the best thing I should do would be to learn to drive. It would give me independence, freedom and confidence. Eventually I followed his prescription, and have to agree, it was the best thing I ever did. Eleven years today I passed my driving test, and I felt “on top of the world”.
How I wish now though, that I`d learnt to drive years ago, and so that my Dad could have had enjoyment from it too.

No problem.....ughh!

"No problem" - did I ask if there was a problem?
No.
I just asked a work colleague if they could do something. It wasn`t a problem to start with, it was just a normal job that needed doing.
Why, I wonder, is it so fashionalble to answer everything with "no problem", instead of just a yes, ok, alright or similar expession. It really irritates me to hear that reply to everything, and more and more people are doing it.
Where does it come from? Is it another Americanism got into this country? We can do without it if so. We have a good English language without needing to resort to using such senseless expressions.

Number plate

Wouldn`t it be good if you could design number plates for you own car.
Well here`s mine.



Here`s where to make a number plate for yours

Ten Favourites

Thought I`d share today some of my top ten favourites:

Looking at a beautiful sunset,
Walking along a deserted beach,
Sitting on my own with a book,
Listening to the sounds of a bird singing,
Walking along a cliff top,
Seeing the beauty of flowers,
Having the house to myself,
Listening to a good sermon,
A drive in my car,
Blogging

And my favourite 10 foods:

Fish & chips,
Ginger treacle steamed pudding,
Roast chicken,
Chocolate orange trifle,
Goose dripping on toast,
Omelette and chips,
Toad-in-the-hole,
Roast beef & Yorkshire puddings,
Orange flan,
Apple pie & icecream.

(not exactly a `healthy` diet is it?! but it suits me!)

Wonder what others would list as their 10 favourites.

A week on....

It`s a week ago since I wrote my new year resolutions and posted them on here.

There`s one that I`ve failed to keep so far, and that is to write this blog earlier in the day. I really must aim to do better next week with that one. Just so long as I get the inspiration on what to write, that`s all I need!

The others I`m not doing too badly on at the moment. I`ve been walking to work instead of taking the car, so I class that as having more exercise! My workroom here has been tidied and papers filed and I aim to keep it that way. Some of the others I need to do more work on, but at least I`ve not broken them.....yet!

Next review in about a month.

Words

Blogging is good for me. Having kept a blog daily for just over a year now, I realise how good it is for me.
Not only does it allow me a place where I can say what`s on my mind, sometimes thoughts and feelings that I wouldn`t necessarily want to talk about to people, but which I feel the need to share. But more so because I`ve realised that it`s actually helping my use of words.

That thought came to me yesterday after I`d posted yesterdays entry. A few month ago I would have just used the words bits & pieces or odds and ends, instead I found that I`d used the word paraphernalia. Alright, I must admit, I doubt I`d use that in conversation with others for fear of being thought `above them`, but writing on here has made me stop and think and try to find more accurate words for what I want to say. Although probably my grammar, English and punctuation aren`t too good, I hopefully make it more interesting reading too. I know I certainly now enjoy trying to find the right descriptive words instead of the common ones. So, I suppose you could call blogging an educational exercise?

Bareness

Well, everywhere now looks very bare. I`ve just taken down the Christmas tree, window lights, cards and all the other paraphernalia of Christmas decorations, and how bare everywhere looks. Strange isn`t it, that although these things are only in place for two or three weeks, they become so part of the house that one misses them so much when they are removed.

Yet, on the other hand, for the start of a new year, it seems right to have everything put away, clean and tidy for a new start, a clean start. Well, apart from the cobwebs that now show up now that the ornaments have come down. Must get the feather duster out tomorrow!

Sayings (4)

Having written a while ago about sayings, and not being able to think of anything else to write today here`s one that seems appropriate at the moment.

"Days lengthen, cold strengthen".

It does seem, that since we passed the shortest day, and therefore the days and evenings should be getting that bit lighter, that the weather turns cold and snow falls.
Is there really a link between the length of days and the temperatures? Or is that saying just an old wives tale?!

Cold Feet?

“My feet are cold”….
... It looked to me as if this duck could be saying that in the photo that I took of some ducks on the local village duck pond that we`d been feeding yesterday. There was a large sheet of ice still on the pond despite the fact that the sun was shining brightly. And after being fed we noticed several of the ducks swim out and stand on the ice, most were busy preening their feathers, but this one kept lifting his (or her) feet up!

It made me wonder too what they thought about suddenly being able to walk on water!

Verse for the New Year

As we start a new year, here is a verse – well I suppose a verse, don`t know what else to call it – that I`m going to concentrate more on. I don`t know where it comes from, but it`s something that I have found sometimes comes into my mind and goes round and round, at times when perhaps I`m feeling uncertain, or driving to somewhere strange, or just “in need”. So it`s become quite an important one to me, it`s comforting and strengthening..

The Lord is here
The Lord is there
The Lord is with me everywhere

New Year Resolutions

New Year Resolutions.

To have more patience with my parent

To make more time for myself

To make more time to pray and read my bible

To complete a needlework picture I started a few years ago

To be more organised

To keep things tidier

To have more exercise

To try and talk more to people, to try and make friends

To overcome the nerves I get at times about going anywhere

To find time and space to sit and read

To write my Blog earlier in the day

Having started writing this list of new year resolutions, (and it`s several years since I did make any resolutions) it came to me that maybe they`re not really all resolutions but some are ways in which I know and feel that I badly need to change. But yet, what really is a resolution? I looked it up in the dictionary and found – firm intention; great determination; - so maybe these are resolutions then.

Can I keep them though! Readers will have to keep nudging me on them!

I Wish a Happy New Year and good health to everyone who reads this.

Looking back

It`s the last day of the year, so I`ve been doing a bit of looking back, with a mixture of feelings and emotions.
I`m still single and 99.9% happy to be so, but yet sometimes I wish I`d got a partner, someone to care about me.
I`m still living in the same house as I`ve lived all my life, which in which we had the kitchen and bathroom completely refurbished this year, it was a major upheaval, but well worth it.
I`m still working at the same place, but have cut down my hours so only now do 33 hours a week. It`s lovely and has made a big difference to me.
I`ve come to accept a bit better my mothers` relationship with her man friend than I did at the start of the year, yet at times I still feel a lot of resentment, both for her putting him in my Dad`s place and for the way she always considers him in doing and arranging things, before she considers me and my feelings on them. Yet, in another way it`s a good thing as at least it gives me a few hours to myself each week.
My Church work is still a lifeline to me, having no family of my own this means a lot to me and gives me a purpose and sense of belonging. But I feel that my faith needs to grow more.
My main worry during the year ( and which will continue, I know) is the way my parent is getting older, slower and less able to do things, and I worry that I won`t be able to cope in time to come with that on my own. And having no brothers or sisters to help, it does frighten me at times.

But overall, it`s not been a bad year, just a very ordinary one.

Wonder what 2006 will bring

Snow

What beauty there is in the way such tiny specks of white frozen water can form together and delicately cover everything.

On this day in 1969

36 years ago today by the date, I did something for the first time.

Yes, it`s the day I started working where I still work. Isn`t that boring?! During that time I`ve seen 7 managers come and go and am now on the 8<sup>th</sup>. one and that`s not counting all the short term relief ones we`ve had. The firm has changed hands at least 4 or 5 times, if not more I`ve got lost on that count. But then, does one ever really know who one works for now-a-days? There`ve been happy times, more so in past years than recently, (and that`s not looking at it through rose coloured spectacles), it’s a fact that several of us agree on. “Things aren`t what they used to be”. It used to be a good `family` atmosphere and everyone helped one another, now its all money, money, money orientated.

I never thought when I walked in there thirty six years ago that I`d still be there all these years later. But yet, where have those years gone to, it doesn`t seem that long in one way, although looking back it feels a life-time and I don`t feel I`ve accomplished very much with my life.
Roll on retirement!

Why is it....

I`ve not got much time to write anything tonight, so just an observation, or a question, call it what you like!

Why is it that when you`ve plenty of time, everything goes right and jobs get completed before time. Yet, when you`ve not got time everything goes wrong, and hinders you and it’s a struggle to get it done in time.

Shepherds

Back to work today. Is Christmas Day really only 2 days ago? In some ways it seems much longer, how quickly we get back into everyday routine.
It set me wondering – about the Shepherds after they`d been to visit the baby Jesus, what did they do, in the following days, weeks, months and years. Did they tell everyone they met – but being out in the fields would they really meet that many people to tell? Did they quickly get back into the routine of looking after their sheep? Did the events of that night seem like a dream to them? As time went on did they wonder if it had really happened or whether they imagined it? Did it change their lives?

Boxing Day

I think my brain must be having a Christmas holiday too. I can`t think of much to write about today. I`ve taken my Mum out for a ride this morning, as it`s a nice sunny but cold day. Would have liked a walk, but she`s not able to walk anwhere now. So, I think it`s now a case of go and sit round the fire and read a book I had as one of my presents yesterday. Had some nice presents this year - no hankies, calendars or smellies!

I`ve just realised, it`s exactly a year since I wrote my first blog. I`ve just looked back at it. If you weren`t reading my blog then, you might like to look back at that too.

It`s Christmas!

A HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO
EVERYONE READING THIS TODAY

You may like this link for Christmas

The Night before Christmas

It`s the night before Christmas, the cards are all posted, parcels all delivered, the decorations are up, the goose is cooked. In fact everything now all seems rather “flat”, after all the weeks of preparation there`s nothing else to do. It makes me wonder, is it at times the planning and preparation for special events and times, the thinking of ways to surprise people, or anticipation of something, that gives more “lift” to us than the actual event?
Maybe I`ll feel different tomorrow when it is actually Christmas Day.

(00.40 a.m.) I`m now going to add a post-script to my earlier post (above). Having just attended a inspiring midnight communion service, the feeling of flatness has completely gone, and the real meaning of Christmas has returned. The service gave me a tremedous feeling of peace.

Greed or service?

Forgive me, but I`m going to have a moan today!
In this day and age is there really anyone who desperately can`t manage without shops being open for just two consecutive days? With the advantages of today`s living with all the freezers, fridges and long life foods around, the mountainous trolleys of goodies that everyone buys for Christmas “just incase” and then continues eating for weeks afterwards, Why do shops need to open on Boxing Day?
Is it really just to provide a service, surely the real reason is the greed of the bosses. Those bosses of course not working themselves on Boxing Day, they no doubt have the 2 or 3 or even more days off to celebrate the holiday. It seems to me that things are going backward instead of progress. It seems to be going back to the days of Scrooge, where no consideration is given to the workers.

Snow for Christmas?

Looking at Christmas cards set me wondering…. Did they really have white snowy Christmases years ago? It just seems that a lot of Christmas cards always have old fashioned scenes of people out enjoying skating, sledging, shopping, in the snow. Robins sit on post-boxes, or gate posts or branches of trees all covered in snow. No, not the robins covered in snow! I mean the things they`re sitting on.
Do they really portray how life was or is it all just a dream world?

Angels

We sing quite a lot about angels, especially at this time of year and I`ve been trying to find a picture of an angel for something I`m doing, but somehow despite looking through lots of clip-art images of angels I can`t find anything that seems suitable. Some seem too much like cartoons, others in un-angel like situations, nothing seems right. But then, what do I really expect one to look like – I`ve never seen one!
I know there`s several references to angels in the Bible, but was that the imagery of the time it was written, did it have another meaning, or were/are there real angels? The whole concept of angels is something I find very difficult to picture or imagine. I know we sometimes use expressions like “she`s a little angel” of a little girl that`s exceptionally good, or “you`re an angel” of a friend who`s done us a good turn. But are angels real or are they just imaginary?

Early shoppers

Why, I wonder, is it the men who shop early?! No, I`m not talking about doing Christmas shopping long before Christmas, but looking at the people who shop in the town early in the mornings, I`ve discovered that the vast majority of them are men. Some I realise are on their way to work, but many of them are retired or don`t work, so it sets me wondering, why, when they`ve got all day ahead of them do they go into shops as soon as they open? Is it that they don`t like to be seen to be shopping by the ladies? Maybe it`s that they`re not as organised as ladies and have to come out to get something for their breakfast!

It reminds me of when the post-office used to be opposite to where I worked, and on pension days you would literally see the same nine or ten old men all jostling for position to be the first in the queue for when they opened the door – did they think the post office would run out of money if they weren`t first in?!

Christmas card verses

I don`t know why, but this year I seem to keep remembering things from Christmas`s past. Like for example, whilst writing my Christmas cards, I found two verses from cards kept coming back into my mind.

“From the four corners of the earth
the wise men came to pray,
and I too pray that love and joy
and peace may come your way”

“May the star that led the Eastern Kings,
to the humble manger bed
shine out for you and guide you too,
through all the years ahead”

The verses were from years and years ago, when I was maybe in my early teens. My parents and I would sit round the table, all the cards spread out in neat lines, and they would pick look at a name from the list then pick up various cards from the table, read aloud the verses until they were satisfied as to which one to send that person. And, so I suppose that was how from one year these couple of verses stuck in my mind. I`d not thought of them for ages, yet this year they came back to me. Odd isn`t it how the mind works. Does anyone else remember verses like that I wonder.

Differing Attitudes

I`ve attended two different Christmas style services today. They were both good and gave food for thought.
At the second one, children were participating in miming the story of Mary & Joseph, the Shepherds, Angels and Wise Men, to narration and with various songs. My attention was caught though by two of the men in the congregation, probably both were fathers or relatives of some of the children. One had a small boy in his arms and he stood throughout the whole of the time, showing the child what was going on and taking part in it. The other had a digital camera and was repeatedly taking photos of all that was going on seeming more interested in that, than what was actually being said or sung.
It made me wonder, which of the two men would actually remember most about the service afterwards? Would it be the one with the photos to show for it, or the father with the child. Or, maybe, even that child itself would remember what he`d seen from his dad`s arms.
(I found that seeing the father with the child and his caring attitude very touching)

Christmas character

I came across this on a blog I was reading, so thought I`d try it and see what Christmas character it made me

Ah, you are such a beautiful person! You are the
peaceful snow on a winter day. You would be
considered a calm person that does not let much
bother you. You find joy in tranquility and
beauty. You are probably one of those people
who take in deep breaths before anger hits you.
You have great traits about you, and you get
along with people well. Merry Christmas =)

A lot of it I would hesitate to say was `me`, but I do find joy in tranquillity and beauty of nature so at least a bit of it is true.
Still, I always find it`s fun to do some of these light-hearted quizzes.

Getting ahead of myself

Having woken up this morning with a splitting headache which lasted most of the morning, and not feeling too good, typical on a day off I thought. I didn`t think I was going to be able to get done all I`d hoped to do today. But in the end I actually got a lot of jobs done this afternoon, I`ve marzipaned and iced the cake, wrapped my presents, put cards on strings and hung them up, plus a few other tasks, and can actually say that I think I`m ready for Christmas and there`s still a week to go yet – what a change from previous years when I`ve still be icing the cake on Christmas Eve!

Now, all I need to do is get a few early nights sleep because maybe that`s what the headache was telling me this morning, that I need a bit more rest. Still, I have spent a nice quiet hour this evening sitting watching tv with just the lights of the Christmas tree twinkling away.

Tree Decorating

One of the things that really says to me that Christmas is coming is putting up and decorating the Tree. I`ve just spent a pleasant evening doing just that. Its a job that I enjoy doing every year, and its one of the seasonal jobs that`s never a chore to do.
Not for us a `designer` tree with everything in blue and silver, or red and gold, or any other stylish combination. There is, to me, a lot of memories in the decorations which go on the tree as our ornaments have come down through the years, with usually the addition of one new piece each year. The oldest, and my favourite has to be this one.



She`s only about 3 inches tall, and although now getting rather worse for wear, is very precious, because it was given to my Dad one Christmas by a family that he knew when he was in Belgium during the war. We even still have the original box in which it was given to him. I often wonder, as I handle it and hang it on the tree, if the family that gave it to him are still alive and if they think of that at Christmas too.

Have you got a license to do that??

I head a rather ridiculous item on last night`s television news.
Apparently it`s illegal to go carol singing in the streets, or at an old folks home or any venue at all unless you`ve bought a license to do so!
What is this country coming to, when the simple pleasure of a group of people carol singing could be breaking the law. Alright, I can understand if they say they`re collecting for charity, there should be some way to ensure that the money is for the charity, if that`s what behind this, but it didn`t sound as if that was the reason. Even if a group go to entertain at a hospital or similar place they (so the tv said) need a license to do it.
What happened to the Christmas spirit of good will? Why should people who are willing to give their time to give pleasure to others be expected to pay out for a license to do so. To me it seems ridiculous.
What ever next? Will we soon need a license to walk along the sea front, or even down our own streets?

Christmas Lights (2)

Everywhere one goes at this time of year after the sun goes down, lights shine out – from windows, on walls, on roofs. Not just in towns but even out in the countryside one will suddenly come across a blaze of colourful lights. Every year there seem to be more and more people decorating the outsides of their homes with Christmas lights, there`s Santa`s and sleighs, snowmen and trees, reindeer and bells, holly and stars. It struck me, how generous all those people are – not just in the fact that they have to pay for all the electricity they use!, but because all of it is not for their own benefit because sitting inside their homes they cannot see the outside, so they must be doing it for the enjoyment of all who pass by.
It seems to me, that they are, in their way bringing light into darkness. They may not see it in the same way we think about the Light coming into the darkness but they are giving joy to those who pass by. It`s given me the reminder of a line of either a rhyme or a song that I`ve heard at sometime, but I can`t remember where I first heard it, but it seems quite appropriate. “Now light one thousand Christmas lights in this dark world tonight….” But I can`t remember or find the rest of it.

Christmas Lights (1)

Here`s some Christmas lights I saw recently. Will write more about that tomorrow.

Preserving Houses

Writing yesterday about that House that I visited the other evening set me thinking - all the Stately Homes and Houses that one visits are all from many centuries past. We enjoy looking at the items they used to use and the way they used to live. What a hard life those working “below stairs” would have had, it makes me appreciate the life style I`ve got today. (No, I`m not a rich person with servants!!) In particular I like looking at the kitchens, seeing all the gleaming copper pots and moulds on shelves, and the utensils they used, and the dining rooms seeing all the tables laid out with beautiful crockery, glassware and cutlery. It all tells of a completely different way of life.

But, what will people in the future look back at? –
will there be Houses and homes of the 1940`s, 50`s, 60`s…. and so on, complete and set out in how they were when they were lived in, for people to walk round in the way we do in these, or will all of that be lost? Surely it`s part of our history and heritage that there should be some preserved in that way, so that people in the future can look back and see the lifestyle of their ancestors and compare them to the items and home they have, and see the progress. That`s ofcourse assuming things continue to progress. What will the homes of 50 or 100 years time be like, what will they have in the way of gadgets and furnishings???

An Evening Out

I made the decision on my dilemma of earlier this week, and went and met my friend this evening. I went through a few foggy patches on the road there, and thought to myself `it`s a good job my parent doesn`t know it`s like this!`

S and I met as arranged and we had a very enjoyable evening. She had been doing a lot of flower arranging in one of the National Trust properties for a special Christmas event they had on, and this is what I had gone to see. In the grounds of the place were marquees of craft stalls, which we also enjoyed browsing round, not buying!, just browsing. But what a lot of talented people there are about. We then went across the courtyard in which a band was playing Christmas music and entered the large House where we were met by the sight and sound of handbell ringers playing carols on the beautiful old wooden staircase in the centre of the entrance hall, then we progressed round the various rooms which had been decorated especially for the evening.

In one of them the very long highly polished table was set out for a meal with attractive crockery, cutlery and beautiful table arrangement flowers. A large garland of greenery adorned the old wooden mantle-piece and a tree of sweets stood on the sideboard. On entering another room a group of gentlemen in evening dress were entertaining with barber shop singing alongside a tall decorated Christmas Tree. In these two rooms in particular I really felt transported back to Christmases of years gone by and could imagine that that was how it was celebrated. Coming out into the cold frosty air, there was a stand selling hot chestnuts and more Christmas music being played creating a lovely atmosphere.

I am so glad that I resolved my dilemma and went.

Writing Cards

I really must get down to writing my Christmas cards. I found this the other day, so thought I`d share it with readers on here.

I have a list of folks I know – all written in a book
And every year when Christmas comes I go and take a look.
And that is when I realise that these names are a part
Not of the book they`re written in, for they are in my heart.
Now each name stands for Someone,
Who has crossed my path sometime,
And in the meeting they`ve become the rhythm in each rhyme.
And while that stands fantastic for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I`m composed of each remembered name.
And whilst you may not be aware of any special link,
Just meeting you has changed my life a lot more than you think!
For then I met somebody the years cannot erase –
The memory of a pleasant word, a helpful deed or just a friendly face.

So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine,
Of name`s upon a Christmas list – forgotten inbetween.
For when I send a Christmas Card, that is addressed to YOU,
It`s because you are on the list of folks that I`m indebted to.
I really am the total of many folks I`ve met,
And you are just one of those I prefer not to forget.
Whether I have known you for many years, or even just a few,
In some small way you have had a part in shaping things I do!

Every year when Christmas comes I realise anew,
One of the best gifts that life can offer is knowing folks like you.

So may the peace of Christmastide, that thankfully endures,
Leave it`s richest blessings in the heart of you and yours.

Eyes

I`ve just discovered on doing some reading of a wildlife site that there`s a creature that has 8 eyes! Do you know what it is?!

Watching spiders

It must be my week for spiders. I`ve just been fascinated by watching a programme on television about them. They really are very clever creatures, in the different ways they spin their webs, and the uses they have for them, the different types of silk each spider can spin from their bodies for various purposes. What a marvel of nature those webs are, so fine and thin, so delicate and so intricately shaped. To see the spiders so close to under the magnifying lenses of the cameras and to see their features and faces, to observe how carefully one of them prepared the place to lay her eggs and then the care she took to ensure they were protected and looked after, was quite something. Nature really is so wonderful if only we took time to stop and look, isn`t it.
But whether that will make me feel differently about them when I next encounter one, I`m very doubtful !

Spiders again

I`ve written before about my dislike of spiders, but this incident which happened to me this afternoon may give you a smile, it didn`t me at the time.
My parent was out, so I was having a turn round of furniture in a room, don`t know what she`ll say when she come back about that, but that`s getting sidetracked from the point of what I started to write. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something black drop down inside a desk cupboard I was emptying prior to moving it, I looked again and couldn`t see anything, so it must be a shadow I thought. A little while later, there sitting on the edge of a board I saw it – yes a black medium sized spider. Aggghh what shall I do, I was alone in the house with it, I couldn`t leave it there because I`d always be wondering where it was whenever I went in the room. I`ve got to be brave I thought and get rid of it somehow, then I remembered the upright vacuum cleaner standing near me that I`d just been using, so I put the longest fitting pipe attachment on to the hose of it, switched it on aimed the nozzle to the spider and at the instant I got near the spider something touched me on the shoulder – did I jump!!
Eventually, common sense said it couldn`t be that spider.
I discovered that as I`d stretched the hose to get the spider so I`d pulled the cleaner and its handle had toppled towards me and touched me!
Sorry to any spider lovers, but yes, it did end up in the cleaner.
But, maybe it had it`s revenge in the way I almost jumped out of my skin!

To go or not to go

I`m in a dilemma. I`ve been asked by a friend several weeks ago, to go to an event with her on Friday evening, its about 20 miles from where I live, and I`ve said yes, because I want to go to it with her. But I still haven`t managed to pluck up the courage to tell my parent that I`m going. There`s nothing wrong with the event, and nothing wrong with the friend, but I know my parent will object because of me driving on my own late at night because she`ll worry herself sick about it. It`s beginning to play my nerves up and make me feel unwell. Or, am I feeling a bit like this because in the back of my mind her worry about my driving late at the weekend is also a worry to me? Do I tell my friend I can`t go and make excuses, although she`s probably got the tickets now? Do I go and worry my parent for the evening? I`m torn between the two.

Christmas Trees

As a change from flower festivals, I went to a Christmas Tree Festival this afternoon. I`d heard of them in previous years but not seen one before. I was very impressed. At first glance the church was filled with a mass of twinkling coloured and white lights. Then as I walked round looking at the trees they were all totally different, one was decorated with spectacles, another with tiny dolls in national costumes, another with cassette tapes, a very tall one had all kinds of sweets and knitted liquorice allsorts on its branches. There were teddies on one, hearts on another, newspaper cuttings on another, some had hand-made decorations by children and play groups, these caused a lot of appreciative comments from the visitors….and so it went on. Over 55 of them. I found it a very moving experience to realise that all of them were in support of a different charity or organisation, and to realise too that there were so many “good causes” all in need in the locality and that people had spent so much time in arranging and decorating the trees to support their cause. Their work being recognised and acknowledged by the coins the crowds of adults and children kept dropping into the various collecting tins and boxes.

The most emotional moment to me was the way at the gentle sound of two hand-bells gently rung a couple of times and a lady`s voice, all went completely quiet even though the church was packed with people, as everyone stopped and stood where they were to share in a short time of prayer. I somehow found that a very emotional moment, to think that all of us, strangers to one another stood in prayer together for the work of the church and the various organisations being represented there.

Three weeks today

Three weeks today will be Christmas Eve. By this time of day all the shops will be closed and what we haven`t bought by then, we`ll have to go without! But with the amount everyone seems to buy I can`t see any of them going without. Every year people seem to buy more and more and more, it seems almost a phobia that one will not have enough, so everyone buys far too much “just incase”….
Wonder if there is a word for it?
Maybe it`s called Consumeitallitis !

Santa

With the police having a good crack-down on drink driving this month, it seems a coincidence that my cousin in Texas has emailed this to me this morning. Here`s what could happen to Santa if he started drinking. (use the arrow keys to move Santa and mind the railway track!) Have fun with it.

It began with two darning needles

I`m always interesed looking through old pages of newspapers or magazines that I come across, not so much at main the news articles, but at the adverts and other bits and pieces. In the magazine I wrote about yesterday with the recipe in, I came across this article

Incase you can`t read it, this is what it says:
"Telegraphic communication became possible in 1837, but at first messages could be sent only by Morse Code. A Welshman, David Edward Hughes, a Professor of Music living in the United States, sought to invent an electrical apparatus that would transmit typed messages. One evening in 1855 he borrowed two darning needles from an old lady and began to use them as vibrators.... Thus was born the telegraphic type-printer - the forerunner of the modern teleprinter.
The inventive spirit of Hughes is still alive in Britain today. The electricity industry, for instance, is continually developing new appliances which increase the output of our factories and farms and make life easier in the home. On the electricity supply side, too, marvels are being done to overcome the post-war power shortage. Already electricity may be used freely at all times except at peak hours. Soon the nation will be able to enjoy even greater benefits from the new electrical age."

How far we have come in those intervening years, when something we type on here can be seen all around the world the next second to being posted!
What will the future hold?