Oooo errrrrrr.......Blogger you fulker!

Everything is different! I feel invaded....assailed with technology....and I don't do change very well!

p.s. just in case you wondered...

The passport was not here. It was in Liverpool...sigh of relief.

Will think of loads of others later.........

Pam at http://postcardpam.blogspot.com/ has posted something she nicked from another blog (Kate takes five?) about 'your top five male singers' and I have been thinking about it for a little while. Or it might be top five albums or cd's.......anyhoo....not bands, just male singers. Which is harder than it sounds y'know.....I mean I love lots of bands, many of whom have great vocalists, and yet if you don't include bands and just concentrate on independent vocalists the field is narrowed down somewhat. Anyway I am not going to limit myself to five ('cos yes...I am the Queen of everything and you are not the boss of me....) and I am going to add to this list as I think of people, but in order to make a start I begin with .....

Tom Waits - Blue Valentine, which is a wonderful wonderful album that my daughter now loves just as much as I do. I drove all the way to London and back just to see him in concert many years ago, which for me was a big deal. Worth it though.....
Next up is Rufus Wainwright - Rufus does Judy. Good old 'belting them out' voice.
Add to the mix any Frank Sinatra/Brook Benton/Nat King Cole.
Possible some Barry White. Jackson Brown. Peter Gabriel.
John Martyn - Solid Air.......the most amazingly atmospheric voice/music.
Crikey this is going to be harder than I first thought. I will return.


This is me returning later. My mister has just given me a cd he bought for me as a blast from the past that I used to love years ago.....aaaaaahhhh ....some funk people...........I give you Johnny Guitar Watson!

The usual places?

So I still can't find the bloody passport. Which in itself makes me cross, but which also makes me curse all burglars, because it is a result of having been burgled twice that I 'hide' things in 'safe places' before I leave the house, and then (yes you've guessed it) find that I cannot remember where I have hidden them.
How wonderful it would be to have the cavalier positive attitude that my mister has, evidenced by him leaving doors open/unlocked, important papers spread around, and his computer switched on and left on his personal details/bank page. His cry of 'oh for heavens sake, I'm only going around the corner, and who would be interested in our ------- insert dates of birth or bank passwords or personal info---------anyway?' makes me twitchy. Admittedly I am overly cautious about everything. All through my life I have been the good girl, the bowing to authority girl, the do it the right way girl and quite frankly at this late stage in the game I wish I could change...but no hope there. I always lock the back door, even when I am in the house all day..it is a habit now and one that drives the mister mad. In one of my favourite films, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, there is a scene where Molly (Debbie Reynolds) has a stash of money that she needs to hide from robbers, so she goes around her little shack trying to think like a robber before she stashes the cash away. Yet I don't have a stash of cash to hide from some lowlife robber, usually just a little bit of dosh or a sentimental piece of jewellery or a passport!
Once hidden away I used to step back and think 'aha...they won't find that' but now neither can I.  Having exhausted the usual places, no joy at all there, I  am beginning to think I am going mad and will have to take each room apart bit by bit looking for a passport that she swears is not in her room back at Uni.,....what d'ya reckon?.
 Please tell me I am not the only person who checks windows and doors and doesn't leave post lying around? Who switches things off? Not the only person who wears a handbag across my body and holds it in a vice like grip, for fear of it being snatched, when I am out. Who never uses cashpoints for fear of them being tampered with? who doesn't buy online, who is horrified that my ma (who is blind) just signs a withdrawal form and asks 'the nice cashier at the bank' to fill in the amount for her?.
Having reflected on how I am never barefoot (always need to consider being outside and needing to run) and how I take my hand bag to bed with me every night, and how I constantly check my pockets for the holy trinity of 'keys/phone/loose change' including checking that there is a hankie up my sleeve, and the fact that I keep all paperwork (payslips from 1979 anybody?) I do acknowledge that I have an anxiety /ocd issue (or I am just bloody crackers according to my mister) and so I know I should lighten up and trust a bit more. I know I should, and I wish I could,  truly I do. I will make a start on that once I have found this darn passport......................

Things I need to do...

Not be envious.
See the good and not the bad in a person/situation.
Clean this house.
Give lots of things to the charity shop.
Appreciate a little more all the blessings that I have.
Fur-minate the cats......we are replacing the carpet in our bedroom with solid wood flooring, so that we can brush the floor, as the carpet in there never seems to be free of dust and hair and I hate hoovering something that never looks any better afterwards.
Have a practice run at self tanning my legs and arms.
Book a GP appointment.
Locate my daughters passport.
Try to be a little more patient and understanding when my Ma and Pa ring me 3 times in one evening.
Stop swearing so much at work.
Crochet a little blanket for a friends daughter who is having her first baby.
Worry less.
Make time to make time for my friends, friendship needs feeding in order to grow, and I have been a bad neglectful friend.
Encourage my mister to have his blood pressure checked.
Book a holiday.
Plan something for our 30th wedding anniversary in the summer.
DO the things I have written down here......

Can you see what it is?

This is for http://stickyfingers1.blogspot.com/ where Tara has suggested 'close up'.
Initially I thought of this

But then over at Grandma's we had a lovely cup of tea. At the table, which had a cloth on it.
Can you see the little smiley face? Just like Grandma.......

The red wine helped....

Saturday night, St Patricks night, saw us at the Dubliners concert in town.
Just like last year.
Just as fabulous.
Of course now that I hardly ever drink, and there being no guinness on sale (imagine!) I was forced into having a glass or two of red wine.
Which made my feet tap, my hands clap and me join in with many of the songs......but that is ok because I wasn't alone.
Being at a Dubliners concert makes me smile, feel mellow and most of all happy. Not bad for a night out. Not bad at all.

A little colour in our lives?

No, not photos of daffodils or tulips or the tiny buds that remind us that Spring is waiting in the wings to emerge. Spray tanning. That's what I mean. Disappointed? sorry.............but keep reading...please..as I am after advice. You, dear reader, are a glamorous woman of the world who is just the right side of casual, with lovely hair and barely there make up and no cellulite. I need you. I want to step into your world for a day.
I am going to a wedding in a month and although I have my outfit and shoes (see above.....I cannot wear heels anymore and these are just the right height), the outfit needs me to expose bits of myself that have been covered up all winter, (nothing disturbing you understand, just feet, legs and arms) so I am planning to treat my DiL and my daughter to join me in having a full body spray tan in the few days before the wedding. Now we three are not the manicure/pedicure/tanning/makeup girly types. In fact yet again I cut my own fringe again the other day and now have to hold my head to one side in an attempt to disguise the fact. I have had the sense to book a hair appointment for the special day though. I would prefer to be 'sprayed' at home, although I am finding it nigh on impossible to find a mobile tanner and I have no idea which type (St Tropez? Sienna x? fake bake?) is the one to go for. I don't want to look spray tanned, if you know what I mean. I would just like my white hairy legs to be hair free and look as if I have been on holiday somewhere warm.
As the wedding is on a Friday should we be tanned on the previous Tuesday, Wednesday or day before? and what can we do if we all look orange? Or should I just shelve the outfit (pale coral shift dress with jacket) and wear thick black tights with something else? No, I will go with the tan and hope for the best. Any guidance laydeeeeeeeez? Have you? Do you? would you recommend it?

Mis-quote I know, but never mind.....

Watched two interesting documentaries over the last few days. One about Ayrton Senna the formula one driver, and one about Bill Withers the musician. Ayrton was sexy and gorgeous and died doing what he had a passion for, which was driving. Bill Withers is, as far as I know,  still alive, and had a very enchanting, laid back, wise way about him. Two fascinating men. In fact, it was a comment Bill (see, first name terms now...) made that has stayed with me, making me think that although I do witter on about me and my life being ordinary, I am blessed that it is so. He said that although you might set out to go to wonderful, along the way you will pass through alright, and what you should do is take time to look around alright  because you might not get any further on and you will realise that alright really is fine....does that make sense? It does to me. How about you?

A quick hello....

Last Saturday I was in Whitstable.
Lovely Moannie from http://theviewfromthisend.blogspot.com/ lives fairly close to Whitstable.
For any blogger who reads her, you will know why I  really felt the pull towards her smashing home, why I wanted, with her permission, to call by, hug and say hello again to Moannie, JP and Milou.
In my experience, it is an unusual event if  you get to meet someone via the magic that is t'interweb,  (hello Auntigwen  http://auntiegwensdiary.blogspot.com/........), although as I have only met two so far, I could be very wide of the mark. Time will tell, as I do hope to meet   Katy http://katyboo1.wordpress.com/   sometime this year, and perhaps even at some point Jody http://aboutlastweekend.blogspot.com/. Also Macy and Nana (see I got fed up of fighting with the technology and taking ages to put links in there.....sorry) also Trish, K and Mrs W........oh and the rest of you.......you know who you are. Or perhaps none of you would ever want to meet, maybe t'interweb witterings are sufficient, which is fine. But being so very very close geographically to Moannie, I really had to grasp the opportunity.
 My sister, who was the reason for the visit to Whitstable (hello sis) is not a blogger. She is a good sister though and agreed to drive with me to visit Moannie. I am so glad we did.
Now Moannie has not been well of late, but she looked beautiful,  JP was charming and Milou would have been kidnapped had my daughter been with us! We had a lovely visit which was longer than last time but brief enough (I hope) not to tire Moannie. She already has the glam nail varnish, and is looking forward to the planned Spring party. The sun will shine, the hammock will be up, the food and drink will be delicious, but best of all the hostess will be fabulous.

First child.

Happy Birthday Vice Pope.
What a splendid age you are. What a splendid man you are.
Still young and robust but now with a grown up head on your shoulders.
In the best years really.
I am sorry that I found that awful bow tie for your graduation.
I am sorry that I cut and coloured your hair.......trying to be frugal is not always the way to go.
I am truly truly sorry that I lost my temper with you that one time and hit you because I had the vapours over the pre entrance exam.
I think of it now and again and am ashamed and regretful.
I am sorry that in your early teenage years me and pa gave you cause for concern over alcohol consumption......ours not yours.
I am sorry that I would decide to 'do your bedroom' without really asking you and then have you spend hours helping me move furniture or paint or re-organise your stuff.
I am grateful that you were a young man who didn't really rebel and tell us both to eff off when we must have gotten on your last  nerve so many times.
I am grateful that you are a big brother who loves his little sister and will always look out for her.
I am grateful that you are patient and kind, bright and considerate, with a quick wit and the ability to explain things slowly and carefully to your daft ma, and will always be available for heavy lifting and electrical.
I am grateful that you have the love of your life to share your future with. That you will marry your wonderful girl and have children and be the best Dad ever. The best Son ever tends to do that I suspect.

Have a great birthday son
love you
xx