Birds, bunnies and braces

As I sit here, near the window, just ready to share a few thoughts and happenings with you I am distracted.  I know there is a blackbird nest in bushes just out the front.  I know this because mum blackbird frightened the life out of me the other night when I was watering the shrubs and wot-nots.  She swooped out from nowhere skimming my ear.  I haven’t been too close but there is (was)  activity in there.  There seems to be a lot of grocery shopping being done so I presume there are babies.  However, I’m not the only one who knows.  I’ve just had to do my impression of a human scarecrow, which is surprisingly easy at 7 o’ clock in the morning! I frighten myself with my ‘just got out of bed’ look. Oh that reminds me, when I arrived at work yesterday after my usual ritual of sprucing and washing and applying my ‘oil of ugly’ I still had sleep tracks running down my face! I must have really squashed my head into the pillow… or did I? ;o)

Anyway, sorry, I digress… Scarecrow! Yes… The Magpies have discovered the nest too! The thing is, I’m not too sure if I am too late so I’m hanging about the window for some confirmation that all is still well.  I’ll keep you posted.

We have a new batch of bunnies! I’ve only spotted two so far but they are running that burrow like its a track event! I haven’t seen them venture into the garden yet but it won’t too long.  I know I complain about the plant devastation they cause but I do miss them when they are not about.  With the weather picking up, (I bet I just cursed the weather there!) we tend to use the garden more so of course the rabbit activity is less. 

It’s been a busy week, my life was actually interfering with my work! My daughter had a hospital appointment on Tuesday. She has six monthly check-ups as she has hypothyroidism .  She met her new doctor who specialises in the condition and he was really good.  For the first time in 5 years, someone actually took the time to fully explain her condition to her.  He had the appearance of an ageing hippy which made me chuckle.  He was chilled, laid back man… but very articulate.

Wednesday was the day my daughter has dreaded… she had her appointment with the orthodontist to fit her wire,plate and blocks.  This is a brace, but not one that will straighten her teeth.  That one will follow this treatment, once the jaw is aligned and the extractions have been determined. Unfortunately because my daughter suffers from ‘over-crowding’ her jaw is no longer aligned correctly so this contraption is to help straighten the jaw, to align it so her ‘bite’ meets correctly. 

She is coping well but feels very self conscious when speaking and I suppose my biggest worry is that her confidence takes a knock.  After she was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism I saw a beautiful butterfly emerge in front of my eyes.  Her confidence that had long since left her returned and brought friends! I’d hate to see her lose that. 

We focus on the greater good… the long term benefits and the threat of violence towards anyone who dares to give her lip! (Words of my son, not me.. ;o)

Ooooh! There she goes with a beak full of gloop! Seems the Magpies have not won this one… not yet.  I may have to start up Scarecrow rotas and add on to the kids daily chores. :o)

I’m just warming up to tackle the washing  and ironing.  It’s never ending.  Having said that, I’ve been up since 5am and I’ve polished and scrubbed.  The living room smells like a spring meadow. No! Not all dewy and wet dog-like! It’s more floral and fresh.  My glass tables are shining at the moment, however, when the sun shines through the window my glass tables tend to look as if they were cleaned with a dead cat.  Scarmy, not a good look.

 

I should blog properly but…

I’m too tired! I’m sorry to all my friends who I thought I would whizz around to visit this afternoon.  The blog I was going to do was a tag but it looks too difficult for me to get my head around today.  I saw the words graphics and programme and I panicked! So Later in the week Chris, I will do my tag!

So what’s new?

My iron blew up yesterday and I got very excited as I thought it was a sign from God that my ironing days were over! Sadly that was not the case and it seems it was just my irons time to go…  I got myself a sporty looking one with green go-faster stripes so it looks as though my slow-iron days are over!

My daughter and I have been shopping for holiday clothes today.  She got loads I got very little.  A lot of parents will relate to this, but I seem to struggle to spend money on myself.  I have bought my daughter all of her clothes, my son a couple of t-shirts and I even got my husband a couple of books and a pair of shorts… Me? Nothing! It’s as if I see it as a waste as soon as I turn my attention to myself.  My mum was the same.  It was if she could always ‘make-do’ as long as everyone else was sorted and I am exactly the same.  It’s not as if I don’t like new things… I really do.  I’ll try again in a week or two. 

Two Lovely Awards.

 This one is from my dear friend Flighty.  It’s a very fitting award as he does call me a ‘Charming Chatterbox’.  I joke with him and use other words instead of ‘charming’ and ‘chatterbox’ but he won’t have me changing it! :o)

I’d like to award it to Dawn, to Louise, and to Mylozmom.  Three like-minded ladies I love to chat with.

This lovely award is from Chrisb.  I think Chris and I have a similar sense of humour and I’m certain that if we were closer we would certainly be arranging more than one coffee morning together! :o)

I would like to award this to Flighty, Christy and Glo.  Three people who more than make my day! :o)

It’s time to test drive my iron… then I think I will test drive the sofa… :o)

oh! my daughter bought Watership Down today, so if you hear sobbing and see a lot of disgarded soggy hankies lying about, don’t worry! We’ll be fine.

 

Gone Fishin’

It’s Another lovely sunny evening here in the North East! Let’s hope it carries on through until tomorrow when my daughter is going fishing for the first time. 

Her enthusiasm is bubbling over. 

She has counted her reels and her floats, she’s planned her packed lunch and made me buy her a pot noodle.  Her clothes are all laid out next to her rod and her foldy-up-chair. 

I’ve banished the worms to the shed…

She made her dad buy a magic tent that assembles in 10 seconds when you throw it in the air. (Apparently gadgety gimmicks will help them catch fish…)

Her fishing licence (what is it with my kids and licences? ) is folded neatly next to her dads in his ‘fishing wallet’.    Don’t laugh… everything they need for the day is hyphenated with the word ‘fishing’.

Fishing-coat, fishing-bag, fishing-shoes… you get the idea. Oh and the fishing-cooler box!

Lets hope the fish bite,

Pray it doesn’t hail.

Let’s hope it’s alright,

I bet she gets a whale!

 

Grrrrrrr

It’s official! I am becoming a grouch… as I approach my 39th year on this earth my tolerance has plummeted to an all time low!  People are bugging me… certain individuals are really getting under my skin and that is so not like me.  I’m normally so placid, so patient, so annoyingly understanding…

Maybe it’s this weather of ours! It’s wet and warm and it just really puts me on edge.  Yesterday was beautiful and today has been one torrential downpour after another.  Someone! Sort out the weather please…

Maybe I need vitamins to help me to regain my quiet, tolerant disposition. (You are all laughing ‘cos I said quiet, aren’t you?)

I refuse to sit here and moan, it’s not fair on anyone. 

Well, maybe just one little grump?

£50.00!! £50.00!! Gone just like that.  I have just sent a cheque off for £50.00 so my son can learn how drive.  Who thinks of these ridiculous amounts of money?  How many 17 year old kids can afford to pay £50.00 for a provisional licence? Then you are talking somewhere in the region of £20.00 a lesson and then the cost for the test, oh and before that you have to pay for and take the Theory Test… Look! £30.00 for the theory and £56.50 for a weekday test…. *shakes head* *rolls eye* * rolls other eye* *shakes fist*

*deep breath* I feel better now… but the thing is the same boy that I have just forked out £50.00 has just walked into the kitchen, walked over to my tea plate and ate my cheese & ham sandwiches!

Other than that I have nothing to report. :o)

I think I will lighten the mood and leave you a picture of devotion.  Yes, they are my legs, being lovingly laid upon my dads dogs head. :o)

 Oh and that is my dads dodgy rug. :o)

 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It’s no secret that my fingers are not green.  My gardening skills are pretty much limited to moving the clothes prop from one side of the tree to the other.  I think it’s the thought of having soil down my finger nails… However, I do like to see it growing.  I like to see the beginnings, the Springtime blooming period, the intense colours….

I thought you might like a little tour of my garden(s), and there are a couple of things I may need help with such as technical names.  I suppose, green leaf and yellow flower are not really descriptive enough.

This is my front garden.  It’s just had it’s first haircut of the year and already the daisies are peeping out again!  The wishing well houses ivy and the tree just near to it houses the Wood Pigeons. :o) So close to a busy road with no protection is quite a worry.

 My lone tulip.  I’m not sure of how it got there but I blame the birds. 

This is where I need an expert opinion.  The colour isn’t very clear here but it is almost a marigold.  It’s a bush flower from the well established edge.  All the trees and plants there have been in since before we moved here.  We just keep them trimmed.

Mystery plant no 2 is my centre piece in the picture below.  I think this is so delicate.  If you look in the picture of the whole garden above you will see where it is positioned.

The next mystery plant is another bushy type planty thing.  It grows next to the marigoldy planty thing.  Here, look at the beautiful colours in it…

In the back garden now, as you can see below it is quite a big garden with not enough use made of the space.  The cherry tree takes all of your attention at the moment.  It’s so beautiful when it is in bloom.  What a shame it’s only in bloom for such a short period of time.

The picture probably doesn’t do it justice but it is huge.  My husband wants to chop it down and turn it into a picnic table…. *rolls eyes*

 We usually have snowdrops around the bottom of the tree but they didn’t come last year. Instead we got Austrian Bluebells.  I think that is what will come this year too.  They bloom quite late though.  (I sounded like a proper gardener then didn’t I?)

Close up of the blossom….

 Good angle huh?

I’ve another mystery plant for you to have a look at.  My photograph, once again does not do the colour justice.  This is a vibrant green/yellow bush, very bright, especially in the rain.  My husband tells me it has a lovely flower but I’ve never seen it.  What do you think it is?

The rabbits are not about as much at the moment.  There are three or four out now but they just seem to graze on the lawn.  Having said that it might be because there is very little else for them to graze now!

See these tulips here…

They don’t look too bad do they?  Look at this then….

 Barely enough leaf left for them to survive!

Lastly, this is my little bit of heaven.  My dad bought me the stand and the pots and my husband filled them with a few pretty bedding plants and the rabbits don’t come anywhere near it!

 It’s quite pretty isn’t it?  I know there are some violas in there and some pink ones and some purple things. :o)

A bit of unspoiled beauty thanks to the rabbit proof plant pot stand!

That’s really all there is to show you.  Not bad for a novice gardener!

 

 

Testing….

I think I have just successfully uploaded (properly) my first photograph!

It’s my daughter at Lokrum nr Croatia and bares no relevance to anything … it’s just me showing off!

Yay! This is so easy! I don’t understand why I didn’t do this before.  Oh and just before it uploads it says it’s ‘crunching’ which amuses me greatly! :o)

This is just as the blossom is starting to come out… I’ll show you it again in a week. :o)

 

 

 

Relax

You are all singing the Frankie goes to Hollywood song now aren’t you?

It’s been a turbulent week.  I have had my share of ups and down but here comes the weekend.

This weekend I will mainly be….

 

Not in this machine though because it’s not mine….

and I’ll also be doing……

 this, but I doubt I can stretch to that outfit…. of course after all of that I shall have to do a bit of….

 this!

and I can assure you my hair won’t look like that! *points*  I can’t promise to smile either!

Having said that I’m sure I will get time for this…

This is an actual photograph of me. :o).

Maybe a little time could be spent doing this…

 Or perhaps I should stick as close to reality as possible…. therefore I will be doing some of this…

I just don’t know where I will get a blue dog from! :o)

Have a good weekend!

*Important notice.  Sunday is the big one! THIS is happening!

We, (the collective ‘we’, as in, all of you….) are supporting the ‘Tyne‘ part.

 

 

 

 

 

Night Terrors

The only thing I would change about my marriage, if I had a magic wand would be the sleeping arrangements.  I know, it sounds drastic but I’ve been sleeping in the same bed as my man since April 1989 and since April 1989 until perhaps April 1999 things were fine. 

As the years roll by and comfortable living catches up with you it’s not unusual to add a few pounds to your once lythe frame.  It’s not unusual to feel a little more relaxed with the pace of life and so a bottle of wine or a few beers may be consumed.  This has adverse side effects.

What can I be talking about?  Snoring!

For the love of all that is wonderful can someone please invent something for me to use on my husband.  How about an on/off switch.

At the moment I am enrolling the help of a fantastic new cease snoring method called…. The ‘accidental’ back heel.  When using this method, as long as you remember the very important intructions it should work.  The instruction? Oh, right, well once you have administered the treatment firmly, you should always fein sleepiness and say ’sorry.’  This throws the snorer into confusion and so as they wake, they look around, hear the apology and TURNOVER to go back to sleep.

The method is still in it’s early stages of development and is only known to have short term success.

Another solution is the Bed Shake.  Now this has had a high rate of success but only for short periods of time.  When snoring begins, shake your own body for a period of 20-30 seconds.  In this time the snorer is usually made aware of the gentle rocking and will cease ear offence…. for about 5 minutes.  The biggest problem with this is that it is habit forming.  You will find your self Body Shaking for any noise you wish to stop.  Also worth noting that when the snoring offender is in a seperate bed to you…(on holiday perhaps) the Bed Shake method WILL NOT work.

Removing his bed clothes did look promising at first but with far too much effort required from the victim I would suggest only using this method when all of the other methods have failed.

My last tip is the one administered most frequently.  It does give some positive results, however the side effect for this are usually atmospheric. What you do is you sit bolt upright in bed and poke the snorer somewhere tender with your index finger.  You then shout, at the top of your voice, (I find that this is the best way to achieve positive results)

“ENOUGH ALREADY! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP WITH YOU SNORING LIKE A PEN PIG AT 3000 DECIBELS PER MINUTE.  NOW WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT THE   UP!!!!!!!”

What do I mean by atmospheric? Well basically when you awake the following morning the atmosphere can be cut with a knife!

Perhaps that retirement bungalow in the not so distant future should have two bedrooms…..

 It is interesting that today I hear that scientists have discovered that women need more sleep than men…. This is very interesting too. Another article I found does clearly state here that snoring can have a diverse affect on relationships…. You don’t say?

Thank goodness I have the patience of a saint and immense tolerance!

 

Memories of Rhubarb

Will it be a long post or a short post? I just don’t know at the moment, let’s get started and see where it goes to….

Bob has bestowed upon me a wonderful award which I do love! It tickles my fancy!

It really made my day.

Five recipients? Easy…. Firstly, my three girlfriends from across the pond.  Why? Because they really do Rock!!!

Curlywurlygurly - she is very funny and writes on such a range of subjects. Nearly as funny as the wonderful Christy, who is just so kind hearted. Then there is the lady who makes me think about my life! Persistent Illusion

Now for two boys…. I’m going for Thomas as I think he is very cool. I’m not sure that if this were a true award ceremony that he would turn up to collect his accolade but he would probably send a very good speech! (via satellite link of course!)  Then, last but never least, Nick.  Nick is just a wonderful human being who wants to make you laugh and make you feel good about yourself and every Monday (especially) he does just that!

Rabbit Update

We have five bunnies, not the original four that I counted.  The fifth one that has just appeared is quite a bit smaller than the other guys so I guess he wasn’t quite cooked.  Of course his siblings now know he is cooked as he is tailing their every move.  As I watched on Saturday night I saw the four babies running under the shed and like a bolt of lightening the fifth bunny sped off to the burrow.  I did laugh… I had this little picture in my mind of the bunny running in, shouting, “Mam! Dad! Those four are going under the shed!!” My naughty side heard the Dad shouting back… ” For goodness sake don’t open the door, your mam and I are busy…”  :o)

The (big) rabbits only ever ate the grass which is fine but these five are working their way through every plant and even the occasional weed that we have.  The gooseberry bush, the gladioli, the tulips and the “I wonder what they are” plants are getting chewed the most!

*EDIT Six bunnies! Six bunnies… I repeat, six bunnies! Again, this one is another smaller one.  I think that we may be being over-run by the cast of Bright Eyes! (You know I mean Watership Down don’t you?)

 What was that other thing I was going to tell you? Rhubarb! Flighty and I were chattering about rhubarb and I remembered a lovely time.

When I  was a young girl we lived in a small mining community and the housing then was line after line of colliery rows.  They were old terraces; small houses, no garden, just a back yard that housed a coal house and a toilet. We used to leave the house on the morning and be gone for most of the day without a phone, a key or a chaperone.  Was it safer then?  I’m not sure if that was the case but I do think there was a comfortable innocence coupled with a very strong community spirit. 

I used to go to the park which was near to the allotments.  We would have to jump the beck to get across to the park, more often than not I would land in the beck.  It was only a wet foot, wet from rat infested filth but like I said, there was an innocence about then. ;o)   When the park had played out its magic and we couldn’t fit any more daisy chains around our necks we would go to the allotments.  We’d listen to the men shout for the pigeons as they shook the food tins.  

I remember that anyone who lived in your street who happened to be older than you suddenly became an Aunt or an Uncle.  It was out of respect.  You couldn’t call them by their first names as you weren’t old enough to do that and they didn’t like the tag of Mr or Mrs so it was Aunty and Uncle.  Within this community of made up relatives there was a code.  Any child that happened upon your allotment became your responsibility for the time you were there.  I would arrive wet footed at my Uncle Jacks allotment.  Aladdins cave had nothing on this place.  There were birds in the big shed, budgies and canaries, all colours.  It was my given task to fill the feeders.  The rabbits ran around the straw filled floor of another shed.  I’d fill the water bottles and cuddle the small ones.  After my work was done Uncle Jack would take a piece of newspaper and place it on the palm of one hand. In one swift move the hand would close and a little clearing would be made with his index finger.  This is where the sugar would go.  I would wait in the shed with my sugar filled newspaper while Uncle Jack would go to the corner of the garden where it looked like he was growing reeds.  He would hack away with his penknife until one was free, strip the outer casing off, blow on it and stick it into my newspaper. 

Dinner had been served, the rest of the day would be spent chewing on the rhubarb after coating it in sugar, grimacing when the sugar was all gone and the bitterness was no longer hidden.

I would go home with tummy ache and a smelly brown sock and I’d have black tide marks all over my face, neck and arms where any water had mixed in with the days dirt but it had been the best day. 

The bath was filled by my mam who would make me leave my socks and shoes outside.  I would be instructed to put my dirty clothes in the laundry basket and get a bath. 

Those WERE the days!

So! Another long one it is then!

 

Recycling Rabbits and Online Shopping.

Yes, yes, I know I should have put a comma between the recycling and the rabbits but where is the fun in that?

It’s been ages.. Five long days… and look at the changes! Each and every one of them useless! haha

So now it looks as though we may have a few days (or weeks or months) of glitches and buggered gadgetry to get used to.  Oh and if you have a problem I hope you have better luck than I did when going to the Technical Help Forum! Thankfully Nikkipolani helped me.

Thank goodness for my ’spare’ blog at blogspot should the very worst be unbearable!

Recycling.

The new ‘big green bag’ arrived for paper, cardboard and plastic.  Seemingly every single item we use can and should be recycled.  The big wheelie bin is in danger of becoming obsolete.  I think that is the plan. So now I wash my plates and cups and cutlery, I wash my pots and pans and then I wash the milk cartons, juice bottles, vegetable and meat containers, trifle & yoghurt pots and condiments bottles.  The size of the bag is utterly ridiculous.  The bag I have is to be collected every second Monday and I had practically filled mine by (the first) Tuesday.  That gives me 12 days worth of household recycling to have hanging about my property in odd bags and boxes.  For goodness sake can someone with half an ounce of common sense please get with the programme!

I am all for recycling, I’m very happy and pleased to do so but surely there has to be at least something we can use to collect our recycling and hold it for 14 days without risking an outbreak of something horrible, or having your house looking like Hanratty’s Scrap Yard!! 

Does the local government have any idea how much a family of four can get through in a fortnight period…. and all the while my kitchen fills with (washed, I admit) refuse and my wheelie bin stands there empty and idle!

Rabbits - Three become Seven

With the garden being on the verge of a wood we are lucky to see so much wildlife.  I see the birds, mainly the regulars, the blackbirds, the crows, the robin, the Jacky Blue Caps and the like but occasionally you get an unusual visitor.  Same with wingless visitors, hedgehogs, uninvited and unwanted rats have been known to make the odd appearance! I get squirrels, field mice and the rabbit. It is the rabbit that gives me the most entertaining times.  Three rabbits have been ‘living’ on the edge of my garden for a few months now.  Two male and one female (in rabbit talk that is two bucks and a doe!) and I know this because I have been observing them and their behaviour and unless one of the crowd is a little confused I am going to stick with my sexing decision.   Anyway  to continue with the story, I would see all three early morning and on the evenings more often than not I would only see the two of them.  I had a thought that she was off making dinner or busy on the online bingo but it seems she was probably resting.

Yesterday morning I took up my usual position, legs curled around my bottom, (I have long legs) coffee in hand.  The two hardy munchers’ are first to appear, moving a little farther up the garden than usual.  One of them seems to like the birds’ peanuts that have been scattered on the floor.  Minutes later, the lady of the burrow makes an appearance, she always looks anxious but more so on this particular morning.  I watch her munch but she seems unsettled and makes quite a few journeys back to the fence at the garden edge.  At first I see one little fluff ball do a messy hop towards mum, then a second and a third! I can’t believe how small they are, bounding the bank side, chasing and scurrying.  Then I see another fluff ball, was it one of the other just moved quicker than the speed of light or do we have four?  We have four!!  As if I didn’t have enough to worry about I now have four new babies to worry about! I sat for over 45 minutes last night waiting to catch sight of all four so that I could finally relax! Motherhood! It’s not easy.

As a side note, we have had a terrible time trying to grow anything of beauty in our garden since the rabbits took up residence.  We have finally buckled and my husband has made a plan for a section of the garden to be turned over to the rabbits.  We’ll plant specifically with their dietary needs in mind and hope that they stay off my bloody pansies!

Online Shopping

The rising cost of living has never been more noticeable.  With fuel, mortgage deals, council tax and food to name but a few of the necessities that are rapidly increasing way beyond any acceptable level.  The past few weeks I have watched as my weekly shopping bill steadily increases.  I have given it some thought and I think the main thing that I was noticing was how much waste there was.  So much of the food I was purchasing was being bought on impulse and being left to go past its shelf life leaving it looking very sad and occasionally smelly in my fridge.

Internet Shopping! Why not give it try.  I logged on and was given a shopper number and a pin code; I truly felt part of the gang.  I sat in front of the screen with a hot cup of coffee and a plate of biscuits and cheese.  In the background I had Dire Straits playing.  This was a pleasurable experience, browsing the virtual isles without a dad and his trolley rage habit to contend with.  No bad tempered shoppers to deal with; hell-bent on getting the same loaf you have in your hand.  No temptations for a pretty box or a brightly decorated tin.  No hunger pains enticing you to buy food that would never normally make it into your trolley. (too expensive, too fattening, too nice….)

On top of all of that good news I had slashed my weekly shopping bill by £28.00!

The proof will be in taking reciept of the delivery and seeing what I really get… not what I virtually get, or perhaps it will be a case of what I virtually get!