Reflections

Sitting reflecting back over the past year, as we come to the end of it, I think I have to say it`s been a pretty ordinary year . No outstanding events. Nothing really to write about. So this may be the most boring post you`ve ever read!

Looking back at the Resolutions I made for 2007, I haven`t been too successful on them. I failed on the first and third one, but have had partial success on the other four. Shall I make any new ones for 2008? I`m not sure.

Yet, there have been some good times during this year.

• I met a fellow blogger for the first time, and we got on so well
• I had two enjoyable holidays on my own staying with friends
• A new person at work is becoming a good friend

A surprise gift today, really made my day - a thimble from another blogger in Finland. It`s all the little things in life like that, that really mean so much, the thoughtful and kind gestures, that make such a difference to life.

Just looking back over what I`ve written, and it seems that the most outstanding thing about 2007 has been Friends. Friends made both over the world of blogging, and in day to day life. Thank God for friends.

Five Days ago

Is it really only 5 days since it was Christmas Day?..
When someone said to me this morning "Did you have a nice Christmas?", I automatically said yes, and thought to myself that was ages ago, I`ve seen you since then. But then I stopped and thought, no it isn`t , it was earlier this week.

Isn`t is strange how quickly getting back into the routine of everyday work and chores makes you forget that Christmas was only a few days, not even a week, ago. Especially with all the weeks of preparation and thinking about it coming, and now here it is, come, gone and almost forgotten about.

Oh, dear, am I getting old and forgetful already - or do others find the same I wonder?

On this day......

The twenty eighth of December ninteen sixty nine is a date that will always stick in my memory. It`s the day that I first walked as an employee into the establishment where I still work. Looking back, what changes I`ve seen in those 38 years, how many different staff have come and gone during those years, yet I still remain there almost as part of the fittings and fixtures.

Yet, it doesn`t seem like 38 years, it feels more like nine or ten they have gone so quickly.

But it`s also a frightening thought. Thirty eight years of my life have gone too. And where have they gone? Life seems to be passing me by. Those 38 years gone mean that I`m only about ten years away from retirement (unless the government change the goal posts again!). Do I want to retire? In a lot of ways Yes, to have a life. But then that will mean I`m getting old, rushing on towards the end of it, -- a scary thought.

Not a hankie in sight!

Not a hankie in sight.... lots of nice presents again this year, my favourites being a wooden carving of two dolphins playing. I love the sight and feel of well carved wooden items, as well as being a joy to sit and look at, they make me want to touch and feel them whenever I walk pass them. There`s just something so calming about stroking wood.

My other favourite was a book by Alan Titchmarsh entitled Nobbut a Lad. I`ve not started reading it yet, I`m saving that pleasure for after the Christmas holidays for the long days of January.

Other presents included, an electronic Suduko game (don`t think I`ll do that for long - not that I can`t solve the puzzles, but I can`t see how people can be so hooked on those puzzles - give me logic puzzle books anyday, now those I can spend hours enjoying!), chocolates, toiletries, and other bits and pieces. But it struck me, how there was not a box of handkerchiefs in sight.... yet as a child one Christmas I opened parcel after parcel and found hankies after hankies after hankies! Infact I`ve still got many of them in my drawers - there were far too many to use - and thinking about it, what a present to give a young child - I wonder what todays children would say if they were given lots of hankies!!

The Golden Goose

This also says CHRISTMAS to me!...

Before.....

and After...

Delicious!!!!

Now it`s Christmas

Now it is Christmas.... I`ve just come back from a midnight Communion service - and yes, it does feel like Christmas.

There is something so special about the atmosphere at that service, that makes it mark the real start of Christmas to me.

Something that struck me so strongly during the service this year, (I know I`ve heard it many times before, but tonight it came to me so much), that Christ was born for ME. Not just for those sitting around me or people in general, but individually for ME too. What a great Christmas present.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Christmas Eve

So this is Christmas Eve.

Yet, it doesn`t feel like Christmas Eve.

But why not?....

...Is it because it`s a Monday, and a normal start to a working week for me - off to work 7.30 to 5.00.

...Is it because everything has been Christmas orientated for weeks, on tv, in shops etc... so that there`s no excitement over it.

...It it because I`ve got everything done! the tree and decorations were ofcourse up a week or so ago, the puddings made and waiting to be put in the steamer to heat, all the parcels are delivered, all the cards posted or hand delivered. The large serving dish has been unearthed out of the back of the cupboard waiting for the goose to be delivered.

.....And....for the first time ever... the Chritmas cake is decorated before Christmas Eve!

.....But..... have I forgotten anything, it seems too good to be true that everything seems to be prepared before today!?

A Letter to Father Christmas

"Dear Father Christmas

Help!!..... I urgently need a new radio alarm clock. I know I should have put it on my long list of things I`d like for Christmas which I sent you at the beginning of December, and which I`m sure you`ll have been busy preparing for me, but until this morning my clock was working fine. Now it`s given up the ghost. It was flashing away at me when I woke this morning, but now won`t set to the correct time no matter what buttons I presss. Without it I shan`t be up in time to go to work each day.

I`ll put plenty of carrots out for Rudolph and the other reindeer if you can do this for me. I am sorry it is such short notice

Ivy"

More than ice-cubes

What can you do with ice?
....put it in a drink, use it to put on sprains, use it to cool food to freeze and use in other household ways, yes, but what about doing something artistic with it?

Some skilled people have made wonderful artwork of it. I was amazed to come across this event on a blog when I was browsing earlier this evening, and more so because the event was only about 25 miles from where I lived and I`d not heard or seen anything about it being on. I`d love to have seen it. Doesn`t it look wonderful.

Why presents?

Why do we give presents?

I don`t mean what`s the history behind giving presents, what I mean is why do we give presents to who we give presents to.

The answer to that, for me, has to be that I give presents, especially at Christmas, to relatives and friends for one of two (or often both) of these reasons -to show my love for them, and/or to thank them for help and support they`ve given me during the year.

These last two or three years I`m becoming infuriated. Why?...... because of the way charities for overseas work are trying to cash in on the idea of giving presents, by advertising that instead of giving gifts to our families and friends we give them the money to buy tools, livestock, seeds, even toilets for people overseas and just give our friends and relations a card saying that that is their present.

I`m not going to mince my words (and I apologise if I offend any readers) but I HATE this scheme and think it so greedy on the charity`s part trying to make people feel guilty about giving to their loved ones here, that they should be giving to them instead. It really puts my back up, and gets me so mad. And I certainly won`t be supporting them in any way.

Yes, I know that charities need the money, but surely once a year its good and better to acknowledge our friends and relations and show them how much they are appreciated by giving them a gift, however small, but a "real" item, not a bit of paper. (unless of course its a £20 note!!)

My suggestion to the charity`s is that they suggest that on our list of people to buy presents for that they suggest we add them (or give details of names of people and items needed), to the bottom of our Christmas Present buying list. Surely that would be a better advertising way?

The Camera never Lies.....

They say "the camera never lies" when one looks at photos of oneself and thinks that doesn`t look like me. But, I`m now asking "does the microphone lie?"

I recently took part in an event in which I had a part to read. Listening to a tape recording of it afterwards, if anyone had asked me whose voice that was, I certainly wouldn`t have said mine! It didn`t sound a bit how I sound, or should I say - how I think I sound? I know that, having had a cold a few days previously (and being uncertain at one stage whether I would be able to do it, which I`d have been very disappointed about if I hadn`t), may have made me use my voice a bit differently pitched to normal, but even so, surely I should recognise it myself. Even my parent who was also listening to it asked me, "who was that?" as she too didn`t recognise it as me!

I wasn`t aware until listening to it either that a few of the words I used came out more with a local dialect accent than I realised I used.

So do the microphone and tape recorder lie, or do we not sound how we think we sound? Do our voices all sound different to ouselves to how they sound to others?


It was certainly interesting listening to that tape!

Christmas Tree

One of my favourite parts to the Christmas preparations is decorating the Christmas Tree. Opening the box of ornaments, unwrapping the tissue paper from them, and deciding where to put them on the tree this year. Not, for me the modern way of colour co-ordinating the tree, but ornaments of all shapes, colours, sizes, sorts - many of them from over 45 years ago and others bought more recently. How I`d love to know if anyone else has some of the unusual old ones like we have - the twisted plastic icicles and angels which hang on sort of coathanger fixings and then on the tree. Not expensive, I guess but probably all there were available in those years.
Wonder if anyone has done the history of Christmas Tree ornaments??

Chrisstmas Shopping

Only 10 (or 12 if you count Sunday`s, I don`t!) shopping days to Christmas. I wonder how many of us come back as loaded as this! Yes, my parent is under that pile of bags and parcels.


And this wasn`t actually when we were Christmas shopping, but just out on a shopping trip. so you can imagine what Christmas shopping trips are like!!

Success...!!!!

Success today...

They got it in! yes, by taking the whole of the window out and then replacing it.


So, I`m not going to write any more today,

I`m going to sit on my new comfy sofa!

"Twas on a Tuesday morning....."

"Twas on a Tuesday morning"..... well a Tuesday afternoon to be precise, but the events put me in mind of this Flanders and Swann song.

(You need to read yesterdays post if you haven`t already before reading on here!).
The van arrived with our new settee and chair this afternoon. They must be used to moving furniture we thought, so we asked them if they could first take the old settee out before they brought the new one in. Certainly, they said confidently. We got out of the way and said that we`d be in the other room if they needed us.

It wasn`t long before one of the two men called through, "we`re sorry, but we can`t get it out. How did you get it in?"
" Through the same front door, by your delivery men as it also came from your store" we replied.
He returned to his mate, and they had some more tries at manoevering it through the door, with no success.
"It might be possible if we could take the door off", he said,
He went and looked closely at the hinges "but the way the doors been put in I can`t guarantee that I could get it back on again"
"Is there any other way to solve it?" we asked
"Well, if its not going to be used you could have the arm taken off the settee"
We were only giving it away to a local charity, so thought that if that was the only way out, maybe we`d have to just let it go to the dump armless instead.

"Ah", I said, "can you try and see if the new one will come in the door first" I could picture us with neither settee.
"Oh, that`s a big one too" they said on looking at their paperwork.

So, off they went to the van to unload the new one, I retired to the kitchen.

It wasn`t long before a voice called "That one won`t go through the door either!"
On going to look, it was about an inch and a half too big for the door, and no amount of pushing and shoving made any difference.

So, there we were, an old settee in the hall waiting to go out, and a new settee on the drive waiting to come in.

We all stood looking at the problem

"I think the only way" said one of the men "is to get a glazier to take your front window pane out and we could easily then get this one in and the other out".
"We`ll take this back to the warehouse and if you arrange a glazier and let us know the time we`ll then arrange to redeliver it".

A glazier has been rung, and should come tomorrow......... ........watch this space!!!!

What goes in.......

What goes in, must come out - or so I thought. But, it seems it`s not as easy as that!

Having bought a new settee and chair, obviously the old ones had to be removed from the house, so along came a couple of chaps this afternoon with a van. Out went the chairs easily enough, then they came to the settee. They turned it this way and that way, got it from the room into the hallway, but then twisted and turned and pulled and tugged, but couldn`t get it out through the same front door as it had come in by a few years ago. Items in the hall were moved to make more space, but still they couldn`t shift it. We`ve got a man who`s better at doing this than us, but he`s off sick till next week, they said, we`ll come back next Monday.

When I heard about this it put into my mind the old song of "Right said Fred" which Bernard Cribbins sung some time back. to quote a little of it:

"Right," said Fred, "Both of us together
One on each end and steady as we go."
Tried to shift it, couldn't even lift it
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and

"Right," said Fred, "Give a shout for Charlie."
Up comes Charlie from the floor below.
After strainin', heavin' and complainin'
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea...... 

"Right," said Fred, "Have to take the door off
Need more space to shift the so-and-so."
Had bad twinges taking off the hinges
And it got us nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and

"Right," said Fred, " Have to take the wall down,
That there wall is gonna have to go."
Took the wall down, even with it all down
We was getting nowhere......

.....to read the whole song have a look here, its very entertaining. I just hope that isn`t the end result of getting our furniture out!!

And.....the new furniture comes tomorrow!

How many chickens?...

No, I`m not counting chickens. They say you shouldn`t count your chickens till they`re hatched, but I`m hoping against hope that mine will hatch out.

I`ve just done something, I`ve never done before!..... filled out an application form for a job.

Yes, I know I`ve been working for almost 38 years in the same place, but when I started there was no such formality as filling in loads of forms. You just went along saw the manager and hey presto if you were ok the job was yours. That was the benefit I suppose of living in a place all my life and my parent being well known as a respectable gentleman, that if I was his daughter that was it. Infact, thinking about it, I never even went for an interview. My Dad just went and saw the manager and said I was looking for a job, he said ok, start on Monday. What a different place the world is now!!

Digitabulist

If you haven`t guessed what a digitabulist is (which I referred to in my post on Tuesday), its a person who collects thimbles.

My hobby of collecting thimbles started, I would guess, about 20 years ago, when I was given for a Christmas present one thimble and a small wooden house shape case with 12 compartments in. I soon filled this with other thimbles - as one looked so lonely in it!, and things just took off from there. I now have 625 in thirteen various cases and stands. Some I have bought myself, others have been given to me by friends and relatives.

Besides the many china ones, from various places in this county and abroad - not that I`ve ever been abroad, but these have kindly been brought back for me by people travelling to other lands - I`ve some wooden ones, a glass one, a corn-dolly type one, enamelled ones, pewter, and a few cloisonne ones, like the one above, which is my latest one which was given to me on my birthday. This one is from Barcelona, Spain and has a type of lizard or creature going all round it.

I keep details of all my thimbles listed in a book, including the name of the person who has brought it for me. So my collection of thimbles is more than just a collection of items, its also a collection of friends, as when I look at them I think of the people who have given them to me.

A Wonderful sight

I must share with you today a wonderful sight I came across this afternoon. It really lifted my spirits to come across such a marvellous thing purely by chance. I was out for a drive, trying out my new "toy", and the sun was just beginning to go down. As I drove down a country lane I stopped to admire the setting sun, and then in the distance I saw this.


At first they were just dots in the distance, but as they got closer, it became a real spectacle.


There were hundreds and hundreds of birds - geese I think - and the sound of them was tremendous, all honking away as they flew. Skein after skein of them filled the sky, pattern after pattern they formed above me as they flew onwards to the setting sun.


And the sky turned more and more orange as the sun set.



It was totally awe inspiring.


(If you click on the pictures, you`ll see the birds a bit clearer)

New Word

I`ve found a new word to describe myself!.....

I`m a digitabulist.

What do I do?....

I`ll tell you more later!

Enjoy the sight of these young ducks which were round our feet as we were feeding them yesterday, and hear their little squeaking cries, not yet able to properly quack. As you can see they still had a lot of their soft downy feathers and their "proper" feathers were beginning to form. They were so cute.

Birthday images

Thought I`d share with you today a view of the 18 cards I received yesterday and some of the presents I received. I`ve still got my Mum`s present of a Tom tom to come, as the shop had run out of the one she wanted to get me.

And, below, a picture of my birthday cake. I had to make it myself this year, which is in a way sad, to think that my mum can no longer stand for long enough to make a cake. I didn`t decorate it, as I couldn`t very well write "Happy Birthday to Me" on it, could I?



If anyone`s interested, it`s an Orange Chocolate Chip Cake, and is what we`ve traditionally made for birthdays over many, many years. [I can oblige with the recipe if anyone wants it.]

On this day......

What happened on this day in 1953?.... I was born. I`ve been looking on the net to see what other exciting things happened on that day, but it seems to have been a day lacking in events or births of famous people. So nothing noteworthy at all there.

Late!

I`m all behind. No, I don`t mean the shape of me - well, I hope not!
I overslept this morning, I didn`t have to go to work, so hadn`t set my alarm clock. I was awaken by a parent shouting "Are you awake?" - "No", I replied.
Thinking about it, that wasn`t true, because if I wasn`t awake I wouldn`t have answered her would I? I don`t think I talk in my sleep.

I wasn`t actually very late, it was about 8 minutes past the time that I normally go in to see if she`s up and about. But, somehow that put me all out. Jobs that would usually have taken me a minute or two to do, suddenly seemed to take three times as long, nothing went right first time. I felt rushed, edgy, hustled and irritable.

Then, managing to make it on time, although a few jobs were left undone, I went to a Service. What a difference that made. Just stopping to be quiet and calm for half an hour. Everything fell back into perspective. And, more importantly, I think I learned a lesson from that, that however rushed I feel, I should stop and make time to be with God, if only for a few minutes.

Holiday treat!

I`ve just spent at least 5 hours today looking at someone`s holiday photos!... I enjoy seeing holiday photos, but this was too excess even for me. They`d been on three holidays during the last months and had taken what seemed like hundreds of photo`s. One set of rocks and mountains from Peru got to look much like another to me by the end of it.

So, for your treat today you can see a few more of my photos

"What do you want...."

It`s my birthday in twelve days time, and my parent is now asking "What do you want for your birthday?"
My answer: "I don`t know". And, I really don`t know, there`s nothing I`m really wanting. I`m expected to come up with a list for her tonight, but what to put on it...???....
So what do I ask for? .... I quite fancy getting a new car, or upgrading my laptop computer, but I can`t ask for them!

A Box of Crayons

I came across this the other day, so thought I`d share it.....


We could learn a lot from a box of crayons.....
some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colours
but they all have to live in the same box.

Global Warming??

Everything that affects the weather and our lifestyle now-a-days all seem to be blamed on Global Warming. We keep being told to consider our carbon footprint..... but several things puzzle me on this.

Take today for instance, because of wind direction, and the seasonal excessive high tides places along the East coast were warned of danger of flooding. Fortunately this didn`t turn out as bad for most places as was expected. On the news on tv they were reporting the fact that it hadn`t been as bad as the floods of 1953. So, how come that floods 50 years ago, when there was no thought of global warming, were worse than today when there is global warming?

And the thing that annoys me most about the Carbon Footprint issue, is..... how is it that countries are allowed to send rockets up into space, through the atmosphere, no doubt polluting it, as well as puncturing the atmosphere around the earth..... surely this must be a lot to blame for what is supposedly happening to the earth now-a-days? And what good are they doing?... What a lot of money they are wasting that could be put to much better use down here on earth for the starving peoples and research into diseases. It makes me mad!

I`d better get off my soapbox now I`ve had my say on it!

Autumn Sunset

I`d just spent a pleasant couple of hours on my own in peace and quiet, sitting in my car with a good book - Bill Bryson`s Notes from a Small Island, this afternoon, at this picturesque place when I looked up and saw this wonderful sunset reflected in the water.
I love the beauty of sunsets, so couldn`t resist taking a picture of it.

Remembering

Today would have been my Dad`s birthday.
He would have been 85 today.
As I knelt at his grave earlier this afternoon putting flowers into the vase I found myself wondering what he would have been like now if he`d still been alive. Would his hair have receded, or gone white? would he still walk as briskly? would he.......???
He never seemed to look any older all my life, but what would another fifteen years have done to him if he had lived till today.
He never looked old,
he never seemed old,
he wasn`t old.
He was the world to me.

All Saint`s Day he was born on. So how appropriate it is to me especially that our church holds a service on that day to remember all our loved ones who have died. It is such a poignant one to attend and made more so for me because it`s Dad`s birthday. But it also is so good to have the time and space and quietness in which to remember and to give thanks for having had such a good Dad.

I treasure the memories I have of him, and I still miss him dreadfully.

True to life?

Always one to enjoy having a go at these fun quizzes one comes across on here, I had a go at one I saw on Dave`s blog to see if it worked for me. Here`s the result

Ivy took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Intense, vital, and animated, taking a delight in ..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

It`s almost uncanny how accurate this has turned out to be. (although there`s one line which doesn`t apply..... but I`m not saying which!!)

Going Back

In the space of a few hours I`ve travelled

...from Freedom to Chains
...from Independence to Tied
...from Adult to "Child"
...from Individual to Doormat
...from Happy to Frustrated
...from Relaxed to On Edge
...from Contented to Discontented

I want a better life for myself than this,
I want a life of my own before I`m too old and decrepit to live it,
I want to be something I can`t be
ME.

The Bright Lights

Ships that pass in the night!

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside!

The sun shone again all day yesterday, so a walk by the seaside was called for. It was a typical sea-side scene with even donkeys on the sand, something I`ve not see for years. But then further along we can across something that was more unusual to see on the sand..... this.....



..... a helocopter taking people for rides, and No, I didn`t go in it!

By the Estuary

It was a perfect day, the sun shone, there were autumn colours on the leaves as we drove through pretty lanes to the estuary. Once there, having stopped and bought delicious pork pies in a local butchers which we ate picnic style in the car, my friend and I (leaving her husband sitting in the car), went for a walk right along the shoreline of the estuary. It was quiet, peaceful and beautiful.



It was really good to have someone to go for a walk with, not that we talked a lot as we walked, but just to have the companionship. It`s something I miss at home, where if I go for a walk I have to go on my own, and so don`t venture as far as I`d like and feel conspicious walking alone. So yesterday`s walk was so perfect.

Still Here

Just incase anyone thinks because I`ve not put a post on for almost a week, that the Spiders got me in the end, I must put you right and say, No they didn`t, I`m away on holiday.

If you`re lucky I might give you a photo tomorrow.

Fighting Spiders

I sure I`ve written here before of my dislike of spiders. Well, it`s that time of year when they seem to be everywhere. I know their webs look so beautiful stretched between bushes and shrubs sometimes glistening with raindrop or dew, or shining as the sun catches them. And I admire the cleverness of the way the creatures make them. But what I dislike is seeing the spider sitting in the middle of it, suspended in mid air.

I`m looking after a friends house this week, so went as normal to collect the mail in. Opened the garden gate (which I`m sure used to open the opposite side!), walked up the path towards the door I use, then, got stopped in my tracks. Either side of the path there are bushes and shrubs, but going across the path..... yes, you`ve guessed it.... there were big spider webs complete with spiders in the middle of them. And, not one, but three at least all spaced out, and all blocking my access to the door. There was no other way round it, or into the house for me. Aggghh... I stood there for several minutes, pondering what to do. I could no way brush the webs down with my hand because of the spider, I couldn`t walk through them because I`d get the spiders on me.

Then inspiration struck, I needed a stick or something to knock them down with, I`d nothing like it in the car, so I searched round a bit of garden, where there were no webs, and found a piece of twig about a foot long laying on the ground. Picking it up, I then went brandishing it at the spiders in the webs, knocking them to the sides of the path and back into the bushes, being very watchful that they didn`t cling to the stick, and demolishing the webs, and so I cleared my way to the door.
What anyone would have thought, if they had seen me, I daren`t think!

Have you got it in 5?

If you haven`t guessed where I changed from 5 to 38, here`s what happened.

I went into our local branch of Stead and Simpson to buy a pair of shoes yesterday. Should be an easy enough thing to do, to get a pair of ordinary, comforatble shoes for work. But as I looked along the shelves there were high heels, clumpy manly looking shoes, toeless ones all totally unsuitable for everyday wear, and then in a corner towards the back of the store I found what I was looking for.... but no size 5.

Instead there were 36, 37, 38 ,39.... I hadn`t a clue as to how these traslated into English sizes. Must be a chart somewhere I thought, but a glance round the walls didn`t reveal any such item. Have all shoe shops in the UK gone into these sizings, or is it just this firm? Why can`t we keep our old sizes or at least have dual sizing in footwear? Do they just like making life difficult for us.

And, yes, I did get a pair of shoes in the end. I picked up one, of the style I wanted to try and said "Have you got this in a size 5". The assistant went and found them and came back with a 38 and it fitted!

Have you got it in 5?

If you haven`t guessed where I changed from 5 to 38, here`s what happened.

I went into our local branch of Stead and Simpson to buy a pair of shoes yesterday. Should be an easy enough thing to do, to get a pair of ordinary, comforatble shoes for work. But as I looked along the shelves there were high heels, clumpy manly looking shoes, toeless ones all totally unsuitable for everyday wear, and then in a corner towards the back of the store I found what I was looking for.... but no size 5.

Instead there were 36, 37, 38 ,39.... I hadn`t a clue as to how these traslated into English sizes. Must be a chart somewhere I thought, but a glance round the walls didn`t reveal any such item. Have all shoe shops in the UK gone into these sizings, or is it just this firm? Why can`t we keep our old sizes or at least have dual sizing in footwear? Do they just like making life difficult for us.

And, yes, I did get a pair of shoes in the end. I picked up one, of the style I wanted to try and said "Have you got this in a size 5". The assistant went and found them and came back with a 38.

Increased?

I`m confused.
Ok, I know it doesn`t take a lot to do that!

But, I was a 5, now I`m 38. At least I think I`m 38

What`s happened?

"I can`t work"

"I can`t work...." I`d be rich if I had a £1 for everytime a member of staff where I work has said that recently.

Where, oh where have manners and courtesy gone to?

One of my jobs at work is preparing the staff schedules, an enjoyable job in its way. And in years gone by a fairly easy one, as people requiring time off would ASK, in advance, please can I have such and such a day, date, holiday off. Now suddenly in these last couple of years of so, it not "please can I have", it`s "I can`t work", or even "I`ve booked my holiday it`s ... so I need that week, (or however long) off". No thought is given to how many other people may be already on holiday or off or if the time is available. There`s just no consideration for anyone else these days, its all just self, self, self.

Where, oh where have manners and courtesy gone to? They need bringing back urgently!!

Daring the Waves

I had a good walk the other afternoon, and spotted these small birds, they seemed to be playing the same game as children often do - dodging the waves. As I stood and watched them, they would stand near the edge of the groyne until they saw a wave coming then they`d run back to try and avoid getting splashed, as soon as it had splashed up back they ran to the edge! It was quite amusing watching them.

I`ve really appreciated this week being able to come and go as I please, to do things on the spur of the moment, without a lot of preparation, just doing as the mood takes. But that will all end today.

Toad in the Hole

Here it is...


And, ready to eat!

An Autumn Day

Its a beautiful autumn day here today, and I`ve had a good day.

The sun was shining when I woke, earlier than I normally do when I`m not working, probably because I`d slept well having the house to myself. Having had a leisurely breakfast, I did a few chores before going out.

After attending nice quiet thoughtful service, I decided to break with routine, and not go back to the house for lunch, but to go off out. So, into the car and off I went. Got a snack lunch of a sausage roll and a chocolate topped muffin, and had a wander round a garden centre and craft centre. Driving back I enjoyed the beauty of the way the leaves on some of the trees are now beginning to turn to autumn colours.

Now, I`m going to totally break with routine and make myself a toad-in-the-hole for tea! Anyone fancy some??!

Free

I feel FREE !!!!

My parent`s away this week and I`ve got the house to myself, and it`s great!
I feel so light;
I`ve more time;
The house keeps tidier;
I can come and go as I like without questions or delays,;
Do things at my speed;
Sleep well at nights.

I feel calm, relaxed, at ease with everything.

This is how life should be. Isn`t it?

Noah`s Ark?

Seen on my walk earlier this week. Could it be Noah`s ark?!

Beauty in the Ordinary

Another picture from my walk at the weekend.

I don`t know why it is, but I alway find the pattern and way the clay soil forms such shapes and patterns when it`s dried out and cracks like this such a thing of beauty. I find myself almost mesmerised to just stand and look at it, oblivious to time and everything else around me.

Whilst looking, and thinking, about the way the pieces were all different yet all belonging to one another, I spotted this brave plant which had pushed its way up through one of the cracks and was growing so fresh and green on the greyness of the rubbery springy feeling surface.

Inspiration of life surviving in a dry and difficult place.

Peace and Quiet

I found peace and quietness here yesterday, as I stood gazing at the large open space before me and all around me. Although it was only a relatively few yards from the car park where there were lots of people, dogs, children and noise, no one had ventured to walk this far and I had it totally to myself. The only sound being that of the gulls overhead and the call of other birds.
As I stood there, the tide turned and began to slowly flow up the creek in front of me meandering its way around filling the dried out bed with refreshing water.

In a way, there was nothing there, yet there was Everything there, bringing a feeling of calm and contentment and peace.

Flames

One of my favourite times in the church year has been celebrated today, and that is Harvest Festival. It`s so good to see the church full of the products of nature - the vegetables, fruit, salt, water, coal etc.. and to make time to remember to say Thanks to God for all that he provides us with.

Today, we had an unexpected added element to the event. I`ve heard of the Holy Spirit being described as flames, (e.g. at Pentecost) but today in one illustration that the preacher was using, things didn`t go quite according to plan and we had flames where we shouldn`t have had flames! I must hasten to add, that no, we didn`t burn the church down, and nothing got burnt, but for a few minutes I think more eyes were concentrating on what might happen than on the hymn they were singing.

I think though, that through that it will be a Harvest service that people remember, and will remember the theme of, so maybe the Spirit was at work, after all as the hymn says - God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform !

Namely....

I`m stuck for inspiration again today, so I`ve cribbed something from someone else`s page! I`ve not been tagged to do it, but thought I might as well as I`ve nothing better to write about. It says.... "players - you must list one fact, word or titbit which is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your name

When you are tagged you can write your own blog-post containing your name facts etc; at the end of your blog-post you can choose the amount of people that your name has to tag (i.e.- 6 letters, 6 people to tag)."

So, here goes on my name.... not a lot to write as its a short name!

I = Ice-cream. I love ice-cream - well, not in a romantic type of love, but in an enjoy eating way. My favourite I think has to be vanilla with a chocolate flake crumbled on top. Or one of these. There`s just something about ice-cream and chocolate that go so great together.

V = Vehicle - well Car really, but there`s no C in Ivy! Learning to drive was the best thing I ever did (I just wish I`d done it years before I did). Just to get in the car and drive off is still a thrilling feeling - no not in the sense of racing along, but in the way of freedom. It`s a "place" of my own.

Y = Youthful. Well, people never think I`m as old as I am, so I suppose that must mean that I look young. I certainly don`t feel as old as I am, and I`ve plenty of energy and enthusiasm for doing things and learning new things, especially new "gadgets" like computers!

"Watch the moths come out"

"Watch the moths come out"... that phrase seems to often be said when people who are a bit tight with money open their purse or wallet. Yet, I`ve never seen any acutally come out.

I was working as normal with money today and put my hand into a cloth money bag to withdraw its contents from the previous day to count. I put the notes and various cheques and bits of paper from it on the desk, then I got a shock, along with all the items I`d taken out there was a large (about an inch long) brown moth sitting on the desk too. I must have got hold of it with the notes ughhhhhhhh ! How it got in there I don`t know, but panic.....what do I do?

I couldn`t bear the thought of leaving it to its own devices in the office, neither could I squash it - it was too big for that. I looked at it, hoping against hope that it wouldn`t start to fly round. I looked for what seemed ages but was probably only seconds, racking my brains of the best thing to do. If I moved would it disturb it and make it flutter? I hoped not as I gingerly got up from my seat and made for the door, not wanting to take my eyes off it incase it disappeared.

Managing to call one of the lads to come to my rescue, he came and got a cloth to get it with, but as he neared it, it then flew off the desk and towards me fluttered round me, I twirled round to avoid it and lost sight of it. Luckily the lad spotted that it had settled on my back. aghhhhh! Keep still, it won`t hurt you, he said, then he then managed to swat it to the floor, when he manfully put his foot on it, and finished it off.

Why do such small creatures have such an effect on us. We`re a hundred times their size, but yet they have this effect.

(Apologies to all butterfly and moth fans, but it was the only thing to do)

Atishoo! Atishoo!

Atishoo! Atishoo! I wonder (Atishoo!) if anyone else has the (Atishoo!) same problem as (Atishoo!) me?

As I sit here to (Atishoo!) write this post, all I keep (Atishoo!) doing is sneezing! No, there`s no need to (Atishoo!) run away, I`ve not got a cold, nor the flu, nor (Atishoo!) any other disease, nor is it hayfever - there`s no hay in sight!, nor has the grass (Atishoo!) just been mown. I`ve just been (Atishoo!) doing a normal household chore - changing the sheets and duvets on the beds. (Atishoo! Atishoo!) and it always has this effect on me.

Other than not changing the sheets (anyone got a peg instead!!?) I can`t find a way to stop it. But if any reader has a solution.....?

A miracle of life

I apologise that this picture isn`t too clear, but I`ve tried to enlarge a portion of the "What is it" picture which I posted on Sunday.

In the tank, as you may now be able to recognise were baby seahorses. It was such a wonderful privilege and sight to see such tiny life forms, they were no bigger than 1 cm and many were smaller than that, this was about the biggest one in there. (yes, I know I usually use imperial measurements, but they weren`t as big as half an inch long).

It was so fascinating to watch them actually swimming about, and to think that as small as they were they had hearts beating - whatever size must they have been?, and eyes so minute as would be all their body parts, yet they had the distinctive shape and features even at so small and young a stage.

It really is a miracle of nature. I could have stood and watched them for hours, I was so transfixed by the sight of them.


And, here`s a fully grown one, aren`t they beautiful creatures.

Know your food?

Do you enjoy your food? I must confess that I enjoy just plain English fare, no foreign stuff for me! But how much do you know about food? For anyone who enjoys these type of quizzes, you may like to see how much you know by going to this quiz.

There are some quite interesting facts to discover on the way through the questions as I discovered.

A Wonder of Nature

Can you identify what these are?

Holiday Images 7

A Last look at the Sea for this holiday

Holiday Images 6

A Sweet Delight - (not eaten by me, I hasten to add)

Exotic Flowers by the sea

Fishing Time

Holiday Images 5

An Underwater adventure today - spot the fish!

Holiday Images 4

Beside the sea!

Holiday Images 3

Beautiful Lake and parkland

Holiday Images 2

View from the Window seat

Holiday Images 1

A French Market Stall - anyone for garlic?!

Precious possessions?

I recently had to evacuate, along with many others, the building where I was working because it filled with smoke.

As we stood outside in the cold, (at least it wasn`t raining!) with no coats and no possessions, I suddenly started thinking, my handbag`s still in there. What will I do if I don`t get it back? And all the things that are in it started to go through my mind - my house and car keys, a friends house key, my credit cards, my purse, my cheque book, my mobile phone, etc...etc.. - all essential items. It was an alarming thought.

And, I thought how wise men are who have all their items in their pockets and not in bags, when things like this happen they have their essentials with them.

Fortunately, nothing burnt down and I was able to retrieve my bag after about an hour.

Singleness

I recently had to fill in a questionnaire, and amongst the questions on it was about what type of person I would like, or think, should be the successor to the current one.
Should they be male; female; single; married; married no family; married with family; etc....
(ok, I know in these days of discrimination that such a question shouldn`t be asked or take place in any decisions, but it was there, and I answered it) .

And, after answering it, as male and single (having worked with females, I find males easier to work with, and a single person probably gives more time to the job). I realised how my answer, - as a single woman - could be interpreted!
That it was that I was looking for a "man"! - And, before anyone one wonders, No I`m not...... although if Mr. Right did come along and didn`t mind the burden of an elderly parent...who knows?!

I wonder though, how many other single people like myself find it as difficult as I do to make friends with people of the opposite sex for fear of being thought that more than friendship is being sought?

The Tates

Have you met the "Tate Family"? No? Well, let me tell you about them.

Firstly, there is the old man Dic-Tate, who is rather bossy and wants to organise everything himself. Then there is his cousin, Ro-Tate, who delights in changing everything round. Mrs. Agi-Tate is well known for stirring up trouble, along with her short tempered husband, Mr. Irri-Tate. Whenever new ideas are suggested Mr. Hesi-Tate, and his wife Vege-Tate, always propose that the plans be deferred until next year. Mr. Imi-Tate wants everything to be like it was in his previous Company. Then there is Mr. Devas-Tate who has a gloomy, negative outlook that seems to cast a shadow on every situtation.

However, I do want to tell you about Mrs. Facili-Tate, who is most helpful and hard working. When it comes to thinking things over, and coming to prayerful and thoughtful decisions, you can rely on Mr. Cogi-Tate and Miss Medi-tate to offer sound advice.

Well, that just about completes the family - except I forgot to mention Mrs. Ampu-Tate, but she has recently cut herself off completely!

I wonder how many of these Tates we know, and which one/s we are?!!

From Seeds to.......

Do you remember these pictures? ......



Well, here is the final result........

A mini sunflower!

English language (2)

A few more oddities from our use of language (sent to me by the same friend).

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England or
French fries in France.

Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads,
which aren't sweet, are meat.

Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?

One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese?

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all


No doubt there are lots of other examples, but I`ve bored you enough by now, so I`ll change the subject for tomorrow!

English language

Talking about the use of words in the English language a friend has sent me this:

20 Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.




More on this theme tomorrow!

"Did you enjoy your trip?"

"Did you enjoy your trip?" That question was asked of me the other day, and it set me thinking and wondering why do we use the same word to mean different things. I`m not just talking about the word 'trip', but so many words in our language can have two or three completely different meanings.

You`ll probably assume by the question that I`d either been out for the day to somewhere, or been on a boat, or plane, or for a holiday, but the fact is it was none of those.

I was working in our church with a friend one day last week, and had gone out to get something. On coming back in through the door I stepped over an electical cable wire which was on the floor across the doorway from a hoover that someone else was using around the far side of the church, but having put one foot across it and about to put the second one over suddenly the cable wasn`t on the floor it was about 18 inches off the ground so caught my second foot, unable to save myself although I tried, I ended up going flat out full length in the centre aisle, with a good old wallop!
Fortunately, apart from two huge bruises on my knees and a slight graze on my arm, I didn`t do any serious damage.

But, my trip wasn`t a good one!

[If you`re wondering how the cable got to that height off the floor, the person vacuuming had pulled it to try and get a bit futher and hadn`t looked round before doing so]

Who is it?

Well, I said a few weeks ago that I`d share with you the picture of how I got dressed up as a nursery rhyme character the other week..... here it is. Any guesses who I`m meant to be representing??

Best Wine last?

I attended a wedding today, not of a young couple, but of an elderly couple. Both had been married before, and their partners had died, one fairly recently.
The Bible reading they had at the service was about Jesus`s first miracle of changing water into wine at the Wedding at Cana. At first I thought how appropriate to have a reading about a Wedding at a wedding, until I heard the line "Everyone else serves the best wine first and after the guests have had plenty to drink he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best till now!"

Now, whether anyone else would think the same as me on hearing that, I don`t know, (probably not, because I come up with odd thoughts at times!) but I felt that it could sound very hurtful and upsetting to the children of the first marriage/s, if they took the wine to refer to the first and second wife/husband. No doubt it was their choice of reading, but it just seemed a little strange to me at that point.

Maybe I`m just going on personal feelings of how I felt (and still feel at times), over my parent seeming to be putting someone else in my Dad`s place after he had died and she found another man friend. Maybe others don`t have the same problem with it.

Magic Wand

Wanted.... a magic wand!

I`m working on a project with a colleague, but I think he thinks I`ve got a magic wand to do things with. The item we`re working on needs to be ready for the weekend, we`ve been working on it for weeks, but he keeps putting off everything till the last minute. I`d eventually got everything set out nicely on some A5 size pages, produced a master copy of a front page and given it to him, as he wanted to get the covers printed himself. Ok, I thought, that will save me a little time.

What happens?... he proudly brings one of the covers up to show me yesterday - not even done to my design which I`d spent quite a time doing (grrrrrr!), but..... it`s the wrong size! It`s at least an inch and a half smaller in length and an inch smaller in width.

"You can reduce the pages to fit, can`t you" he said! Does he really, seriously think I can wave a magic wand and make everything reduce itself on about 40 pages of print and pictures, and still be readable, and all in time still to print, fold and staple by Saturday, as well as go to work, look after the house, and parent, and do other routine tasks? Not usually one to refuse to do something if I possibly can, I had to say a straight "No, I can`t" to him "You`ll have to redo the covers to fit". (And how quick he`ll be getting them is another question altogether)

So, if anyone`s got a spare magic wand... send it this way.

Stained Glass

I love stained glass windows, and I came across this beautiful one in a village church recently. The sun was shining through it really illuminating the colours to their full beauty. I don`t know what it is about stained glass windows but I can stand and look at them for ages. I am really captivated by them. It is somehow, to me, a very relaxing thing to do, yet inspiring at the same time. Perhaps because it actually make me Stop, and be still for a while.

(Do click on it to bring it larger and take in all the details)

Time and Tide

Time and tide wait for no man - so the saying goes, and how true that is for me this week.

I`ve not even had time to write anything on my blog here. What with having to find a costume to dress up in (as I wrote about one day last week), and maybe one day I`ll share a picture of how I looked dressed up in a big hat, flowers and a long skirt - if you want to hazard a guess at what nursery rhyme character I decided to be from that description feel free.

But, besides that, all my spare time has been taken up trying to beat a deadline to get words and pictures compiled together into a publication for which the deadline is this weekend to get it printed for next weekend.... and I`m not winning with it. The colleague that I`m doing it with is so dithery and wants to keep adding unnecessary bits to it.

And, that`s all beside the proper job, housework, demanding parent etc..etc... so it really does feel that time and tide are winning here at the moment. Why does everything happen at once. Another week I`ll have nothing to do!

The Envelope

The postman delivered an envelope for me today.
Not that it`s unusual for him to do that (and to deliver me other peoples mail when he either doesn`t stop to read the addresses or can`t be bothered to walk up another path to another door, so he sticks them all through mine!), but this envelope I`d been waiting for but hadn`t expected for another week. Did that mean that it was bad news because it had come earlier than expected.

So there it laid on the table for me at dinnertime. I looked at it, I wanted to open it, but yet I didn`t want to open it. I was anxious about what it might say. So, I made myself eat my dinner first and kept putting off opening it, although I needed to know what it said, I was afraid of what it might say.

In the end, I opened it, slowly, carefully and withdrew the single sheet of headed paper... and thankfully it was good news, the Scan I`d had the other week had shown up no problems. What a relief.

Signs by the Sea

Walking along the sea front this evening, something I`ve not done for ages and ages, but somehow I felt drawn to tonight as it was a such a beautiful evening, the tide was full up and sea was gently lapping around the boulders, very peaceful.

As I walked I found myself idly looking at the names of the beach huts along there - what imagination some people have in the way they name them, there was Sunny Days, Green Lagoon and The Red Tardis, along with others.

But the sign that gave me the most laugh was outside a cafe, at the bottom of the list of what it had on offer the usual tea, coffee, ices, etc.. the bottom line read "Toilet - seating inside" !! Now, my pictual mind came up with all sorts of views on that, as to what toilets would be outside and not have seating!!

Who Shall I be?

I`ve got to dress up as either a nursery rhyme character or a fairy tale character next week....anyone got any ideas on who they think I should be? Who am I most like?!... no maybe that`s not a good idea, maybe I need to be someone different to who I`m like just to surprize everyone.

And then to find the costume....ahhhhh

Shock! Horror!

Shock, horror, disbelief!.... I`ve just got on the bathroom scales, something I haven`t done for many, many, many months. The numbers (it`s a digital one) kept going up and up and up. No, I`m not going to tell you what to, suffice to say that I`m now 4 stone 4 pounds (Yes, I still work in imperial measurements), heavier than I was 10 years ago.
Yet, I don`t feel that much heavier, alright, I know I`ve gone up a dress size but I just put that down to "middle age spread".

What made me get on the scales I don`t know, I wish I hadn`t!
Shall I diet? Shall I start a rigid fitness regime? No, I don`t think so, it`s not 'me'. I feel ok - well most of the time, and everyone gets days of feeling under the weather don`t they.

Perhaps I should get a new pair of bathroom scales!

Communion

Going up to our church`s Communion Table to receive the bread and wine I recently became aware of something I`d never noticed or thought of before, and I`ve have noticed it on each occasion since when our Minister is presiding.

When the bread is placed in my (and I guess everyone`s) hand, it seems to be placed firmly not on my fingers but pressed into the palm of my hand, and what struck me about it, is that that would have been the spot where nails were pierced though Jesus`s hands when he was nailed to the cross. It gives a real extra significance to the words of "the body of Christ, broken for you", and made receiving it a very moving experience.

I wonder if he does purposely place the bread there for that reason?

Soothing Chores

Standing cutting potatoes into slices and then strips to make chips a short while ago, I suddenly realised (and I remember now noticing before), what a soothing effect doing that job was having on me! I felt completely contented, not in a rush, just allowing my mind to either wander or do nothing whilst my hands did the work. Whether it was the systematic, methodic way of just slicing potato after potato to about the same size chip, that had almost a hypnotic effect on me, I don`t know.

Then I got to thinking about another cooking task that has a similiar effect, and that`s standing stirring a saucepan of gravy, or custard or anything that one has to keep stirring round, and round, and round. I never seem to be short of patience to do that either, maybe there`s a deeper level to it, that as one stirs and watches the swirling of the liquid in the centre it`s possible to imagine worries and troubles dropping down into the centre of the vortex and disappearing.

I wonder if anyone else finds similiar experiences in cooking? Or in other mundane tasks?

All Out?

I couldn`t resist taking a picture of this baby duckling, who succeeded after many attempts to climb up onto the log of wood in the lake, and looked so pleased with himself (or herself!) that they`s succeeded.

Walking round the beautiful millennium garden and wildfowl place at Pensthorpe yesterday, I started wondering.... how do they know that everyone is out when they close in the evening? There are, after all, acres of ground and paths, as well as hides to watch the birds from. Do they just rely on people watching the time and leaving, or is there someone who goes all the way round to check. But yet, if someone goes down one path to check, a visitor could be going the other way and so not been found, as there`s not a one-way system in the place.

It`s a scary thought in a way, that you could be locked in there for the night !