So Be It

I said it automatically and I`ll guess others around me did too, but then something made me stop and think about the word I`d just said. What was it`s real meaning, how many who say it really know what it means? It was an old word, but a translation of it I have heard. The thought that came to me after attending a service the other day, was why do we still use the old familiar word and not occasionally change it to use it`s meaning. The word I`m referring to is “Amen”.

I found that by substituting in my mind the meaning I`d heard of it as “so be it” made the prayer which preceded it so much more relevant.

Rainbow

I saw this beautiful double rainbow last Sunday afternoon, so thought I`d share it with you today. It was a perfect arc with both ends going into the sea, unfortunately I couldn`t get far enough back to capture it all. The colours in it though were really stunning.

Natural healing

In my blog a fortnight ago today I wrote about my poor finger that I`d stupidly burnt. Well for about ten days I`ve been going about with it wrapped up in a white hanky taped down, to keep it clean and so that I didn`t burst the big blister that had formed. (not one hanky the whole time, I hasten to add). How difficult it has been to keep it dry, and to do things with a bandaged index finger. And with my parent being unwell, it didn`t even get me out of doing the washing up!

I`ve left it uncoved these last few days and I can now see new skin forming as pieces of the dried scab come away.

Isn`t nature wonderful, I did nothing to it to make new skin grow, but it`s done it all on its own. What a wonderful thing the body is when you really stop and think about it.

Seasons of Colour

Thinking about all the beautiful spring flowers that there are, starting with the snowdrops, aconites, daffodils, primroses, I realised that the vast majority of flowering bulbs and plants at this time of year are either white or yellow. In the summer there are poppies, roses, and others that are red and pink.

It seems to me that there are seasons of colour, and that set me wondering why? For instance, why aren`t there pink flowers in spring?

Another sign of Spring

I saw some primroses the other day, another of the beautiful spring flowers. They were not in the easiest of places to take photo`s of as they were on the side of a deep ditch in a country lane, and not wanting to fall headfirst into the ditch, not get muddy, I reluctantly didn`t manage to take any photographs of them.

But then saw this similar although slightly paler plant growing in the border of my garden. So, out came the camera to capture it with the raindrops still sitting on its petals, and here it is.

Resolution Update

I said that I`d review my new year resolutions in three months, so I guess I`d better do that – but I know I`m failing on many of them, and we`re only a quarter of the way through the year. So to remind myself and try to stir myself up here they are – with the way I`m doing so far:

To have more patience with my parent – better some days than others, so neither success or complete failure

To make more time for myself – not very successful

To make more time to pray and read my bible – regretfully not very successful

To complete a needlework picture I started a few years ago – failed – but maybe in the summer I`ll get this done

To be more organised – partly successful

To keep things tidier - trying, but not too successful

To have more exercise – still trying

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

To overcome the nerves I get at times about going anywhere – haven`t had to tackle this one yet this year

To find time and space to sit and read - failed

To write my Blog earlier in the day - failed

Wonder if I`ll do better by the half year stage – look out for the next report in another three months.

Can you see it?

I like experiment putting photo`s in my blog, and discovered the other day this way of doing a string of moving pictures, which I`ve experimented and put beside my Blog title. But I`d love to know if it appears when others read this blog. (that`s ofcourse assuming it is read by others? I don`t seem to get many comments, so maybe no one bothers to read it?)
But, to satisfy my curiosity on the picture strip, please just say yes or no that you can/can`t see it.

Pedestrian Pavement Code

Here`s my idea of a pavement code for pedestrians...

THE PEDESTRIAN PAVEMENT CODE

1. ALWAYS walk on the Left.

2. Look where you are going.

3. DO NOT stop suddenly (e.g. to look at a shop window).

4. Pedestrians are NOT PERMITTED to stand in the middle of the pavement to chat or for any reason, you MUST stand to one side.

5. DO NOT stand so you obstruct doorways.

6. If walking with others, pedestrians MUST NOT fill the width of the pavement, a path MUST be left clear for others to overtake.

7. Children MUST be supervised at all times, and NOT ALLOWED to wander aimlessly.

8. Pedestrians walking dogs, MUST have them close to them, not on a lead at arms length causing a tripping hazard to others.

9. It is PROHIBITED to walk along holding a mobile phone conversation.

10. GIVE WAY to wheelchair pushers and mobility scooters

11. DO NOT step off the pavement into the road, without stopping to look around and for traffic.

12. When needing to cross pedestrians going in the opposite direction, you MUST give way to them and not barge across.

Now, I wonder - how can I get that brought into force?!!

They`re back!

The grockles are back!

Yes, they`re wandering all over the place in our town today. Stopping dead in front of you without stopping to think that there just might me someone walking behind them. Spreading out across the pavements but not leaving enough room to get through and, if you are so brave as to think of passing and overtaking them they somehow meander across the same way, try to get round the other side and they aimless veer that way too!

Maybe pavements should be made like roads – keep left! and how about a pedestrian HighWay Code?

Annoying change

It irritates me and I wonder if it does anyone else too, the way that when out shopping the cashiers now-a-days just shove the change into your hand in a heap. Why can`t they take that extra second and count it back to us the way it used to be done? - Guess I know the answer to that – they couldn`t do it ! If the till didn`t tell them how much change to give they couldn`t work it out for themselves, so we can`t expect them to count it to us, but why don`t they count out what they`re actually giving us and do it that way? How many of us actually stop to check and count what they give us, to make sure they`ve given us the right amount?. They could give us anything! It just seems to be a case and feeling of `right, I`ve had your money, now I want to get rid of you`.

Why too, do they insist on putting the notes in your hand first then dumping the change on top, so that it all slides off?

No common sense there at all, is there?

Who`s Living in the 21st. Century?

Are you living in the 21^st. Century?
I came across this check list ……
YOU KNOW YOU'RE LIVING IN THE 21st CENTURY WHEN...

Your reason for not staying in touch with family and friends is because they do not have an email address!

Every commercial on television has a web site address at the bottom of the screen.

You buy a computer and 3 months later it`s out of date and now sells for half the price you paid.

Leaving the house without your mobile phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you rush back to get it.

Using real money, instead of credit or debit cards, to make a purchase would be a hassle and take planning.

You just tried to enter your pin number on the microwave.

Your dining room table is now your flat filing cabinet.

Your idea of being organized is multiple-coloured Post-it notes.

You get an extra phone line so you can get phone calls.

You disconnect from the Internet and get this awful feeling, as if you just might be missing something important.

You get up in the morning and go online before getting your breakfast.

You're reading this.

Is it all true? Are there other things we could add to the list?

Important Fingers

A bit more about hands…. Writing about the difficulty doing things without one finger, brought back to mind a story told to us as children in church, so it was many, many years ago.

I`ll retell it here:

The fingers on the hand were having an argument as to which was the most important.
“I`m the most important said the first finger, because I can point to things and show people the way, and I usually press the buttons to start things working”.

“No, you`re not the most important”, said the middle finger, “I`m bigger than you and stronger then you, and taller than you, so I`m the most important”

“You`re both wrong”, said the next finger “I`m more important than both of you because I show people`s love, they put their important rings on me”

The little finger was very quiet for a while, and then said “You`re all wrong, I`m the most important, because when we pray, I`m the one nearest to God”.

The Thumb then spoke up “You`re all important he said, because you all have a purpose and use, and none of you could work without the others or without me, so we all belong together and are all equally important as we work together.”

Obviously the preacher that morning certainly must have had a way of telling it which makes me remember after all these years this story that she told. Wonder what children will remember of stories in church in years to come.

Index finger

How much do you do with one finger?
I didn`t realise quite how much I used the index finger on my right hand until I had to bandage it up this week (to save a blister from my burn breaking - see Friday`s posting) and keep it dry. How can you wash your hands and not get it wet?
I`ve found it difficult to use a pair of scissors as that`s a finger you put through the hole; I can`t sew because that`s the one to hold the needle with; my writing isn`t as neat as I have to hold the pen differently, alright, I admit my writing`s not always neat, especially when I`m in a hurry but this is worse than that; and to type thiks I keep hjitting two keys at once!
So I`ll not write any more tonight.
I might write more about a hand tomorrow.

The Wise Owl

Driving through some country lanes yesterday, I suddenly caught the glimpse of the silent flight of an owl swooping low over a field to my right. It`s a sight that always thrills me. So rarely do I spot an owl. Until about three years ago I`d never seen an owl in the wild before, in its natural habitat. I remember clearly the first one I saw, it was sitting on a branch of a tree which reached out across the narrow country lane I was driving along. It just sat there watching. So beautiful a sight.

I don`t know what the fascination for them is, maybe it goes back to this childhood rhyme about an owl:

A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

And what a lot of good sense there is in that!

Rose Sunday

Today can be known as Rose Sunday. No, it`s not the day for planting roses, nor for pruning them.
I`ve just discovered that Mothering Sunday, can also be known as Rose Sunday. I rather like the sound of that title, because for those of us who are not mothers, the events that take place today in some worship can leave one feeling rather left out. This alternative title in fact comes from the fact that in some churches the purple robes of Lent are replaced by rose coloured ones and also refers to the tradition of posies of flowers being collected and distributed to all ladies in the service.

Another name for today is Refreshment Sunday or Simnel Sunday from the practice of baking Simnel cakes to celebrate the reuniting of families during the austerity of Lent. That makes me wonder – why do we not see Simnel cakes on sale in shops? Is it one thing that manufacturers actually haven`t thought of?

So, Mothering Sunday, Rose Sunday, Refreshment Sunday, Simnel Sunday are all vastly different from the commercial Mother`s Day, (which originated in America) which most people seem to know today as - a time when the shops try to persuade us to buy everything under the sun as a present for our mothers.

Garden question answer

I guess it`s time I gave the answer to my garden question that no one has guessed or knew. There was another type of clue yesterday.
The Answer is pencils and crooks are stages of the daffodil.
Pencil when the buds stand up straight, and crooks when they bend over before opening.
Simple really isn`t it?!

Calamaties!

Well, after a good morning, it turned out to be "not my day", calamaties have occured.

First I was reversing into a space on a carpark in the town and someone backed out of the space opposite me, and despite me hitting my horn he backed straight into the front of my car. When he got out he turned out to be someone from the same church as me! He admitted he hadn`t looked where he was going. Consequently I then spent time this afternoon how I hadn`t planned, in taking my car to the garage to get an estimate for the cost of the work. Thankfully the damage was not too serious.

Now, after making a cake and cooking my tea, I`ve burnt my finger and may have damaged one of the hot plates on the cooker. I set a tray on the work top while I took the cake out of the oven, went to move the tray and ouch! I got hold of hot melted plastic, or some such substance. The plate was still on slightly and had melted the underneath of the tray on to it. I stuck my hand straight in cold water. But, being the coward and squeamish as I am, especially with hands and fingers I`m now sitting here trying to type with one finger wrapped in a piece of kitchen paper because I daren`t look to see what damage I`ve done or if there`s a blister forming, (of course it had to be the index finger on my right hand, didn`t it, the one I use most),

Anyway, to cheer us up after reading that, here`s a photo of some daffodils that I took in the garden this afternoon.

So, it`s been a "funny old day" as they say.

It started with a typewriter

About twenty years ago, I was asked to type out something on a duplicating skin (the way to do copies before photocopiers became an everyday machine), and to do this I needed a different typewrite to the little one I had. There was a spare one at the church, which I could borrow, but it weighed a ton weight to carry, we had no car, so someone was asked to deliver it here for me. I naturally invited him in when he came with it, and that was the start of a friendship between him and his wife and my parents and myself.

Over the years they became very good friends, the sort who would do anything for you – and did.

I`m so grateful to them, especially for during the time my Dad was ill they used to take him to his hospital appointments and help in any way they could. Ivy would come and keep my mother company, would go with her to various appointments she had. She kept an eye on my mother for me whilst I had my first ever holiday away on my own, and on subsequent holidays. Nothing was too much trouble for her. When I was organising a sale or event at the church she was always willing to help, and did so so cheerfully too.

She didn`t treat me just as my parents daughter, but as a person in my own right. And that meant a lot.

We visited them a few months ago, and she took me to see a conservatory they`d had built and the chairs they`d bought for it, and as the two of us sat in there, she said to me, “we thought we`d have it built, so that we can make the most of what we have”. At the time I sensed there was something behind her words by the way she said it. I wonder now whether she knew then that she was ill.

Now, today I`ve attended her memorial service. I usually shy away from attending funerals and that type of service, but I wanted to be there today. It was a very moving time, and I found tears rolling from my eyes several times during the service. But, I am thankful for having known her.

And it was all through one typewriter!

Windscreen update

It didn`t rain yesterday after all!, so I finally got my windscreen replaced.
I quite miss looking at the crack now, it seems to have been there so long. But, I don`t want another one, its too expensive for that to keep happening. Especially when I hadn`t done anything, it just appeared overnight so to speak.

It`s Spring

It`s the first day of spring today, and I saw a big patch of primroses the first I`ve seen this year, so that must be a good sign of warmer weather coming, mustn`t it?! I also saw crocuses in purples, white, yellow and gold these early flowers really seem to brighten and cheer me after winter.

If you still haven`t worked out the answer to my question of Sunday, I`ll give another clue, the pencils and crooks are all stages of the same flower – but which one?

Store stacks

What am I going to write about today?.... I don`t really know. It`s been a pretty ordinary day. I suppose I could tell you about the “smashing” time I had on Saturday.

Why is it that now-a-days all shops and supermarkets try to cram as many stands and stacks of goods in all the aisles, so that one just can`t help but knock into them or trip over them? Is it in the hopes that something will fall into ones basket as you walk past them, and then you pay for it at the till and don`t notice it until you get home?
No, that`s not what happened to me, but its a thought.

As I was walking down the stores aisle carrying items in my arms, I turned the corner to the right to get to where I had to be when my arm just brushed lightly against something, and the next second, myself and a lady coming the other way just stood transfixed as we watched a pack of 10 bottles of beer crash to the floor and smash! As it hit the ground we both managed to jump back so no glass hit us, but for the rest of the day there was an unsavoury smell of drink coming from where it had splashed on my skirt and shoes! As I don`t drink alcohol, what anyone who didn`t know me and came across me that day thought, I daren`t think!

Yes, there had been an unstable stack of them on that corner, in a ridiculous place for bottles to be. But I noted today that the message must have got through, because they`re not on the corner now!

Garden question

Looking out of the window into the garden this morning, I said to my parent, “I see we`ve got some pencils and crooks out there”. She didn`t know what I was talking about, do you?

Food Handling

During the last few weeks, I`ve been watching on television a programme called Masterchef, in which people have been competing to achieve that title. During this last couple of weeks those heading towards the final have been cooking in various places and situations; for the army in the arctic; on the QE2; at top restaurants; for a film crew and actors; as well as producing test dishes in the studio.

One thing that I`ve notices in all these programmes, and which really appals me is the way that so much of the food handling is done with their hands. Not just the competitors, but those instructing them in the top establishments too, were teaching them to arrange the food on the plate using their fingers. Fair enough, we all handle uncooked food like vegetable which are going to be cooked, with our hands, but I was always taught, both at home and in domestic science lessons at school, that you just DID NOT touch with your hands food that other people were going to eat.

So how is it, in these days of strict hygiene regulations in food shops and outlets, that in restaurants the food put onto the plate for people to eat, is allowed to be done with bare hands?

What`s in a Name?

What`s in a name? House names always fascinate me, and when out walking I find myself looking at the name plates on people`s houses, bungalows and cottages. On some I can see why it has the name it has because of physical features, like Lilac Cottage which has a large lilac tree in the garden, Sea spray on a house a short distance from the beach, or Tides Reach - don`t think I fancy living there! Those type of names aren`t particularly out of the ordinary, neither are those like Dunroaming, or The Retreat, but the ones that I like are those that are out of the ordinary and that make me stop and wonder why they`ve called it by that particular name, and those that have a sense of humour about them. There used to be a house in our town called Idunno and on their garage they had Nordoi – that I thought was clever. One I saw today, at the end of a cul-de-sac also particularly struck me as witty it was called Outter Way.

I would be interested to hear too of other out of the ordinary names of dwellings readers of this have come across.

(Now whether you need a Norfolk accent to make sense of those, I don`t know – but if so, leave a comment and I`ll translate)

Rain stops play!

Want to know why its been a damp rainy day where I live today? I guess it`s my fault!

After more phone calls all was arranged for the man to come and replace my windscreen today, all week every day has been dry, cold, but dry and sunny – what happens today when he comes? Yes, it rains, so yet again he couldn`t do it, because its got to be done outside. He can`t do it in the garage I use because its not wide enough in there to open both the car doors at the same time. So, we wait again.

Want to know when the next wet day will be?.... guess it could be next Tuesday, that`s when he`s due to come back again!

A Dog Hotel

If you`re looking for somewhere to go on holiday, I`ve found just the place to stay, a dog hotel !

Now by the sound of it you`ll no doubt think I`m going to some kennels, or else talking about putting a canine friend in kennels while I have a much needed holiday and break away. (I have on my travels seen a kennels called The Dogotel, but this isn`t it). This is a place for humans to stay, but would you fancy it?.... I`m not sure if I would.

And, no, I`m not on commission or involved in it, I just came across it.

Country chickens

Out driving in the countryside on a sunny day at the weekend, I came across this lovely group of chickens and cockerels just on a grassy bank. I wonder where they are now, whether they lived on the patch of grass or whether they belonged to a house or farm nearby. They seemed to be totally on their own when I saw them, and didn`t seem bothered when I stopped the car beside them and got out to take their photo`s.

Whenever we go for a drive round the country lanes we always seem to come across something different to see. It really is a beautiful world in this part of the country.

Back to routine

What am I going to write about today? Not a lot really. I went back to work today after having three weeks off. Surprising really isn`t it how quickly one adapts to changes like that.

Yesterday I was feeling and thinking I don`t want to go back, I like my life at home. I like not having to be watching the clock all the time.
Yet, today I enjoyed being back at work. Back amongst other people, catching up on their news and events, settling down into the routine of the jobs I had to do. Yet, a part of me still wanted to be “free”, to be able to not be tied to a set pattern or routine for each day. I could do with a job with flexible hours!

Voices

What a difference a voice makes. I don`t mean between having a voice or not being able to speak. What I`m talking (or should I say writing?) about is the tone and volume of voices.

I`ve attended two services today, but I have to admit that the manner and voice of this mornings preacher simply made me unable to concentrate. My mind just wandered the whole while and I took in nothing of what he was saying. Yet, this evenings preacher I found so easy to concentrate and take in what was being said.

Why the difference? They were both male voices, both quite loud voices (I do normally prefer quiet spoken people and voices as I find those the best to listen to). This mornings voice was very excitable, erratic, seeming to rush through everything he read and said without a pause to draw breath, whereas this evenings one spoke calmly and smoothly without rushing. Another difference seemed to be that the first one seemed to just be talking `at` me, whereas in contrast the second seemed to be talking `to` me.

I find the same thing in conversations too, some people are much easier to listen to than others.
That makes me stop and think – how do I sound to others?

Missing manners

Where have good manners gone to now-a-days?

I was brought up that if people were talking and you wanted to speak to one of them you waited until they had finished their conversation. You didn`t go up to them and butt in. Neither do you walk through the middle of two or a group of people talking, you walk round them, or behind them. And, it`s not just the young people who do this. I was talking to someone yesterday morning, and starting to say about something that`s worrying me when someone barges through the middle of us, thus ending what I`d just had the opening and opportunity to say and to ask.
It was so frustrating and annoying.

Windscreen update

Having written last week about the mysterious crack appearing in my car windscreen, I expected by tonight to have got rid of the crack. I rang up all the relevant insurance people straight away last week, and had a phone call back from their windscreen replacement firm with the earliest they could come and replace it, being this afternoon between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.

So, I duly waited in.
Now, I know that if it had turned out to be raining they obviously couldn`t do it, but in the middle of the afternoon I got a phone call from the repair chap that he was on his way, but that it was pouring with rain, and asking if it was raining here. No, I replied its dry here. So, about 15 minutes later he arrived. The sky was a bit cloudy but it was dry. He got out of his van, looked at the sky then at my car, said, yes I`ve got the right windscreen with me to replace it, and the glue to fix it. Then he looked again at the sky and at the windscreen, went and got his invoice and looked at that. Although he`d got the replacement screen and glue, they hadn`t listed and he hadn`t got the black sealing strip to go all round the windscreen!
So, he couldn`t do the job.

Now, wouldn`t you have thought he`d have known he needed that too before he set out?
So, I`ve still got to drive round with a crack and wait for another phone call to know when he can come with all the parts and replace it. And ofcourse to hope that it doesn`t rain on the day they decide on.

Who would have thought it could be so complicated to get that job completed.
Why is life so complicated.

Difficult spending

I had two gift vouchers given to me as a gift last Christmas. I greatly appreciated them and the thought behind them. But – I find it so difficult to spend them. Is it only me, or do others have the same dilemma?

It`s not that I can`t find the shop or place they`re to be spent at. In fact I`ve been wandering round one of them this afternoon. I`ve looked at this, and that, and the other, but yet – what to get with them, is another question altogether! I`ve come back without getting anything.

I can happily go shopping and look round and see and buy (finances allowing!) something that I want or takes my fancy, using cash or cheques etc. Yet, when it comes to spending a gift voucher it seems so difficult to know what to get with it. Is it, I wonder, because I want it to be `something special` or something worthwhile as the person has been kind enough to send me the vouchers. I don`t want to waste them by not getting the `right` thing with them. But to keep the vouchers and not spend them isn`t doing justice to them either, nor to the person who sent them for me to get myself something with. It somehow seems different spending my money to spending someone elses.

New Life

For months this has been sitting on our window sill, completely dead looking. It was on the point of being put out. Then, about a week ago I looked closer and thought is that a tiny bit of green I can see deep in the centre, so we left it on the window sill. Now, just 7 days later what beautiful fresh green life there is. Three leaves appear to be growing, or dare we hope that they some of them may be flower stalks?

To me, its a wonderful sign of life after death.
So inspiring.

Beautiful creatures

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.