70's Faith Healer

Back in the 70's this is one of the songs I was annoying the neighbours with - poor neighbours! hehe



Faith Healer by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

New Chicks!!

Blessthischick have updated the options for creating little chicks!

Here's one I made earlier:

Slow And Painful Start

Today has not gone as well as it should have.

Last night I woke up around 3am, very hot and panicky, everything I could possibly imagine going wrong in my world was going wrong! I was unable to get back to sleep until around 5am. All too soon it was morning and get up and go time and all I wanted to do was sleep. I had a headache and have not felt particularly well all day.

My partner took all the old shelving and carpet out of the flat, down to the rubbish area. He was gone for ages and when he did come back he was limping badly. He had fallen down the steps which lead down to the dump and badly twisted his ankle and hurt his hand.

So all in all not a good start, however we did manage to do the undercoat of the walls. It has been very hard going for both of us but it is a start.

We are worried now that the ankle is going to be too sore to bare weight tomorrow as it seems to have swollen as the day has worn on.

I guess we'll have to wait and see, just as long as everything is completed before he has to return to work.

Space And Stuff

The paint has been bought, new flooring and shelving units have been ordered.

Almost everything from the living area has been moved downstairs to the bedroom area, so now we have an amazing amount of space up here and an amazing amount of junk down there!!

It's difficult to believe how much stuff, and how many books we have here and I now hope we can perhaps sort through it a bit before we put it back.

Tomorrow we have to wash down the walls, rip out the oldy mouldy carpet and perhaps if there is time begin the painting.

It's going to take up to 2 weeks before we are completed so I have to be patient, which is not easy for me as I don't like upheaval and not quite knowing where anything is..

Ah well, it should be nice when it's all done, maybe, just maybe I will post a pic.

At least I still have my computer and internet for the evenings :)

Busy Weekend Ahead

It's the end of the week which is great.

It's almost a full week since my daughters left for uni which is weird as it's gone so quickly.

It's also the start of the dreaded decorating. Although I still have to work for 3 days next week we are starting to tear out a lot of the rubbish tomorrow and then my partner will make a start with the painting either Sunday or Monday. He now has 2 full weeks off work.

Sometime this weekend I really really must get my hair cut. I may have mentioned before how I hate having it done as I very rarely like the way it ends up, but it's too long and raggy now so I have to take the plunge.

Feeling to worn out now to write any more.. Off to bed to be ready for the busy weekend ahead!

(I will find time for a bit o'blogging though - hehehe)

Not Ere For The Money

I was never sure whether to have adverts on my blog or not. I decided that, for a few months, I would have just a small, fairly inconspicuous row of ads and see what happens.

Well maybe they were too inconspicuous, because I have not made 1 penny from them, so I decided they may as well go.

It has never been my intention or desire to make money from blogging so I'm not at all bothered. I have a busy full time job already and this really is a little pastime.

That's not saying I would not be interested in an easy no catches, no pressure way of making money, but for now, it's all for fun!

The Five F's

Whilst browsing through a medical book at work today this caught my interest, so I thought I would share it...

The main reasons for abdominal distension are:

The 5 "F"s

Fat

Fluid

Faeces

Fetus or

Flatus

and in the case of malabsorption Food

Makes sense really!

Decorating Holiday

Now my home is slightly less cluttered due to it being recently emptied of young people, we have decided my partner and I, to decorate and replace some of the furniture which has definitely seen better days

Now I HATE HATE HATE anything to do with decorating... I have no desire in the least to do anything with a paintbrush but I do want it to be magically transformed - somehow!

So we have spent most of this evening looking at furniture and flooring online, trying to decide what exactly we need, work out sizes and the quantities we need. It's all starting to get rather expensive and I'm starting to get rather irritated by it all. It all seems so much bother, why can't it be easier! We have thankfully decided the colour scheme of the paintwork, just need a magic wand to make it appear on the walls now.

I would prefer to go away for a week and have it all done by the time I get back, but as I'm not super rich it's not going to happen that way.

So, we are both taking some days off work in early October to get this all sorted and it's one "holiday" I'm not looking forward to.

Bicycle Ballet

Whilst at the cycling event this afternoon I was particularly impressed with these 3 young people who put on a display of what I can only call "Bicycle Ballet". Amazing balance, strength and control!

It may well have a proper name, if you know, please let me know.

To see all the photos, click the pic!

Hovis London Freewheel Event

After I had settled myself a bit I went out (which was the best thing to do to get my mind onto something else) and (with my partner) went to the Hovis London Freewheel.

This was an event organised by the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, to encourage more cycling in the capital, which can only be a good thing not only for the environment but our health and fitness as well!

The weather was beautiful, warm, dry and mostly sunny and the crowds of all ages appeared to have a great time cycling in areas which normally are more than a bit overpopulated with cars, lorries and buses.

I took a few photos, and if you would like to see more, please click the pic!

Now, A Completely Empty Nest

Well here we are, my partner and I settling down for an evening on our own. No blaring music, no bickering, giggling, no mobiles ringing every few moments, it's oh so quiet. It's nice but it's not.

My youngest daughter went back to Brighton today for her 2nd year of uni, her dad took her down...

I had plans for this afternoon, to go the London bike ride (which I will describe in a later post) but first I was unable to hold back the tears. I had a good cry as I came back into the house from waving her off. This wasn't the first time I cried, last night as I went to bed it all got too much for me and I cried (maybe a bit too much) feeling I would never be able to stop, but sleep took over and I awoke this morning feeling a lot better.

So now, got to get on with things as an individual rather then a mother of 3, which is what I have been for over 26 years!!

I know I'll always be their mother and they'll be back for holidays and weekends before I know it, but it's a major change and will take some getting used to...

The (almost) Empty Nest

It's Saturday evening although it doesn't feel like any particular day to me right now.

This is the big weekend where both my daughters leave for uni.

One went this morning to Leicester, she went by coach with her boyfriend (her choice) and we have spoken twice by phone so I know she's safely arrived. Due to a few problems here she was unable to get driven up there (I don't drive) so was unable to take the majority of her big stuff, such as TV and stereo.. So she will probably be back within the next 2 weeks, when her Dad is available to drive it all up for her.

Tomorrow my youngest daughter will return back to Brighton for her second year. She's just about packed and is now spending the evening downloading just about every film she can get her hands on! She will have internet when she gets there but I think it's a tad faster here!

So, I'm feeling very odd... a total mix of emotions. Happy they are both doing something good with their lives, that they have what it takes to have gotten this far, that they are both beautiful, wonderful young women and also perhaps if I'm honest, a little happy the home will become a bit quieter and tidier...

Then I'm sad as I am going to miss them so much, miss their funny personalities, miss knowing each night they are safely in bed, sad I won't be such an integral part of their lives ever ever again - is that selfish? I'm not sure..

My son left home for uni back in 2000 and since then only came back to live at home for about 6 months, he's now in Dubai...

So, what to do in this empty nest now...

Me, With Camera And Banana

Dancing Queen At 2

A few weeks ago I was at a party and this wonderful little girl stole the show! She is my niece and just turned 2 years old. She danced like this for over 2 hours until she dropped, falling asleep in Mums arms...

To watch the video please click here

I disabled embedding for obvious reasons.

An Inappropriate Kiss

Yesterday I was getting on with my job, just as any other day.

I spent a good 45 minutes with one patient who was desperately wanting to give up smoking. He has a lot of other problems in his life, and although I'm no therapist he was, I think, getting quite a bit of relief talking to me.

Eventually our consultation was over and he seemed rather slow to get up and leave the room. I made all the right gestures and booked him in for a review in 2 weeks time, still he didn't move, other than to fiddle about with his jumper which he still had not yet put back on from me doing his blood pressure.

Then suddenly he leaped up, patted me on the arm (I thought, at last, he's going!) then he leaned towards me giving me a kiss, thankfully on the cheek. He then happily left the room leaving me feeling rather shocked and surprised. It's the first time this has happened to me and not really what I would ever expect in such a situation.

I felt obliged to report it to my manager, just in case anything else should happen in future with this guy. I did not put in any official report as I did not feel in danger or threatened at any point. Just hope he will be a little more restrained in 2 weeks time!

Not Great..

Not feeling the greatest this evening.. Feels like I maybe getting something, although I hope not. A lot of people at work are suffering with horrible colds so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise.

I'm also starting to feel quite a mounting level of stress, as this coming weekend I really do become the "empty nester". Both of my daughters are off to uni, one going south, the other going north and I know there are going to be quite a few tears.

This maybe what's causing my "odd" feelings...

Whats Your Scrabble Score?

Pholph's Scrabble Generator My Scrabble© Score is: 16. What is your score? Get it here.

Joined Yet Another Bloggy Thingy

Just joined BlogRush.

Mainly because I had an email inviting me to do so but also because it looks like another interesting idea of getting new people to visit my blog and the chance of finding even more wonderful blogs (not that I have time to read anymore!!)

Anyway, have added the widget toward the bottom of the left hand sidebar and I'll wait and see what happens, if anything..lol

Testing Email To Blog

I have had a very busy weekend. Stayed over at the in-laws last night and I found it very difficult to get any quality sleep, so now I'm home I feel quite paralysed and unable to do anything but skulk around online!

Just noticed in the blog settings the facility to post to blog from email. OK, I bet it's always been there and I just never noticed, but it's just what I may well find very useful!

Sometimes when at work I may (very occasionally) have a spare 10 minutes or so in which I could do a quickie post. Now I dare not log in to the blog but how easy to send off an email! No one is going to bat an eyelid if they walk in see me typing an email.

So the purpose of this email - post is to see if it actually works and how it looks if it does!

Religion On Facebook

Sometimes a quick visit online turns into a very long visit, well most times if I'm honest. Facebook-ing is no exception. I look at my contacts, look at their friends and often a few catch my eye so I have a little nosey around if it's an publicly viewable profile! Yep, I must be a voyeur!

But anyway, I happened upon a young man who had a very interesting answer to the religion question, and I thought I'd share it here..

"Religion, it gives people hope in a world torn apart by religion"

I have no idea if this is his saying or he took it from elsewhere, and you may think it's a bit lame, I don't know... But I think it's such a sad but true statement..


(He doesn't know I've been looking at his profile and I doubt he'd ever know about this blog so I'm not going to add names or links.)

Bags Of Bags

I feel a lot better today for some reason, maybe because work wasn't as crazy as it has been for the past few days or even weeks. So when I got home (earlier than usual because I cycled) I still had some energy to get done a few chores that needed doing instead of flopping down in a heap with only enough go in me to just about make dinner.

My bedroom has recently become rather clogged up with bags, which is one of the jobs I was trying to do, put them away somewhere..

I have:

1.A small rucksack for cycling
2 A large rucksack for cycling to work (as I need a change of clothes),
3 A daily bag for when I walk to work,
4 A very small bag for when I pop out and need just keys, money and phone, and
5 A going out bag which is a nice leather bag...

Plus several other bags which don't get used very often and are away inside another big bag in a wardrobe!

Now I'm sure this is no way excessive for any woman but what I find difficult is making sure I have all I need in the one I am going to use. It's so annoying to get somewhere and realise what you need is actually still in one of the other bags.

Maybe I should write lists of things I need for every (almost) situation - but then that's a bit of a weird obsessive thing to do is it not?

Are you constantly changing bags? If so how do you manage not to leave that very important thing behind?

It's All Too Much Right Now

I'm realising I really am spending far too much time online at this point in my life. I enjoy reading all the blogs and sites on a daily basis but there are now so many it's taking up my entire evening. I work all day, get home on average 6pm, cook dinner, do a few chores then it's goodbye evening as I begin the blogs.

I have no time left for anything else and it's not good. There are lots of things going on at home that I need to pay attention to, for example my 2 daughters imminent departure to university.

So I have decided for now I will read all these wonderful blogs maybe only once or twice a week and hopefully try to post something worth reading maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

Still it's all subject to change, it's just the stressed out, overworked feeling I have right now!

I Got 10/10!

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

Thanks to The Far Corner for this one.

Megabytes And Milligrams

Maybe I spent too long on the computer over the weekend as today at work I got kind of confused!

I (as some may know) as part of my job am a Smoking Cessation Advisor, which means I prescribe nicotine replacement.

This afternoon I was discussing with a patient using the chewing gum, which comes in 2 strengths, 2mg and 4mg (milligrams) but during this discussion the milligrams somehow in my head became megabytes and for a few moments I was completely unable to think of the word milligram!

I, luckily, did not say it out loud to the patient but it made me smile to myself..

Feedburner FeedFlare Thingys

This evening I have been investigating Feedburner FeedFlare! I really don't understand it all but I think I have the gist of it just a teeny bit.

I have added some text into my blog template which will enable some to links show up at the bottom of each post whether read on the site or in a feed reader. These links then enable readers (yes, like you!) to add the current post to other places, such as StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Technorati, etc

I don't really know how useful these links are or will be but it's all good fun playing around and experimenting.

So if you have a Stumble page or any of the others linked I would be grateful if you'd give them a click and see if they work for you and then please let me know if they are OK and what you think.


EDIT: I'm not even sure if these links show at the bottom of this post - as soon as I first posted it they were not there but after reading a bit on the Feedburner forum seems they sometimes take a few minutes to appear .. so still testing and I appreciate your feedback!

Am I An Attention Whore?

You Don't Need Extra Attention

You're perfectly happy with who you are, and you don't need attention to feel good about yourself. You prefer to let your actions and accomplishments speak for themselves. Working hard to get people to like you is your idea of a nightmare. You've got a lot going on, and anyone with half a brain will notice that on their own! You come across as: Confident and serious People may wrongly think you're: Stuck up and shy

Are You An Attention Whore?

Dust If You Must

I have no idea who wrote this poem, but they are pretty much on the same wave length as me.

I used to spend lots of time cleaning when the kids were young but recently I realise there is lots more to life than having a spotless home!


Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture or write a letter,
Bake a cake or plant a seed.
Ponder the difference between want and need.

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb,
Music to hear and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain.
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go and go you must,
You, yourself, will make more dust.

Remember, a house becomes a home when you can write "I love you"
on the furniture....

I Have Been Awarded Blogging Star!

Anna from Beth & Cory's Mom gave me this award! I am very surprised and very pleased!

Thank you Anna :)



This award originated from Skittles' Place and it has a special meaning.

This award is for bloggers who shine their light throughout the Blogosphere. Some do it with humour, others with creativity, and others with their kind and thoughtful natures. We all know more than a few of them so why not give them some recognition?

Now I should pass this award onto 5 other bloggers:

Jaya @ Cat On My Head

Beth @ Beth Allen II

Bill @ Bill's Stuff

Christine and FAZ @ Faz the Cat

Laura @ That Grrrl

I hope you all pass this award onto more deserving bloggers!

Don't forget to mention who you got the award from, where it originated and what it means.

Hoof Boots Anyone ?

Someone should make boots like this - I'm sure some silly fashion victim would buy them!!!!

I StumbledUpon this and just had to post it here as well.. Having very funny mental pictures of young ladies tottering around in them!! LOL

Dancing (almost) Down Disco Memory Lane

I was, a few (OK, many!) years ago a bit of a disco queen.

When I first moved to London in my late teens I was amazed and very excited at the vast quantity of wonderful glitzy night clubs that were here to be discovered. (Or Discos as we called them back then)

I loved the music, I loved the clothes (OMG!!) and I loved, loved, loved the dancing!!

Right now I'm taking a trip down the memory lane of music. I'm listening to tracks tagged "disco" on LastFM. It's brilliant and brightens up a dull Saturday afternoon.

If only I had the energy to get up and dance....

Firefox Still The Tops

I love using the Firefox browser with all it's add-ons and Greasemonkey stuff. Today I read this article on RobNeville.net suggesting people may be turning back to using IE. This info was collected from his web stats.

This gave me the idea of looking at mine and what a different story - my visitors most definitely are predominantly using Firefox:

A Cat, A Moth And Yucky

Today was quite unremarkable apart from the fact I have not felt great. I still went to work but felt, well, yucky, that's the only word that fits. I hate it when I'm not myself at the weekend, seems such a waste.. Anyway just have to hope a good nights sleep will do the job..

Just had a bit of a scare, my neighbours cat (the one who had the collar trouble a couple of weeks ago) just burst into the house with something brown in her mouth! My instant reaction was that it was a small mouse, which I obviously did not want indoors!

However on closer inspection, after she had dropped it (although closely guarding it) I realised it was a HUGE HUGE moth! She patted it around for a while but when it was no longer a fluttering challenge she soon lost interest. So I put it outside before one of my daughters came into the room and freaked out!

Hiccups Hiccups Hiccups

A nothing special day, just work, work, work.. oh and the Hiccups.

Why is it when I (maybe you to) first get the hiccups it inevitably means I am going to get them on and off all day. It's really annoying when nothing I do stops it. Holding my breath, drinking water, having someone shock me and it's still there for maybe 30 minutes or so at a time.

Well it's gone for now and it's time I was asleep, hope they don't wake me up!

Almost My Bananas

Whilst browsing this vast internet I came across Diana's Bananas.. Someone with my name who's as crazy about bananas as me!! Amazing!

Chocolate dipped frozen bananas - sounds delicious to me, just one problem, not available in UK.

Has anyone tried them?

Old Boots

old boots, originally uploaded by LadyBanana.

I love taking photos and sometimes I don't really see anything interesting in the course of a working day to snap. So this evening I was sitting on the balcony looking at these old discarded boots...

This is the result... There is something I kinda like about this photo!

Trying To Keep Out The Spam

Regrettably I have just had to turn on the word verification for comments as I am getting all kinds of spam appearing.

I hate having to copy those letters when I comment on others blogs, and I'm sure you do too, but I don't want to have to keep deleting spam all the time, so for now, sorry it's - copy the letters.

Hope this will keep them out..

But not you!!

Back To Work :(

I only had a short day at work today, which was long enough after my week off.

All my work had piled up, no one had touched it.. makes me wonder what's going to happen when I'm away for more than a week, which I will be in October.

Anyway, I'm trying hard not to care, I will catch up when I catch up. But me being the conscientious little worker I am, I don't suppose it will be long.

In my daily workday I meet many members of the public, lazy members of the public who do not work, in fact have never worked and it annoys me so much. Some of these people are perfectly able bodied and minded but just do not want to make the effort. I seriously resent most of these people.

Anyway, I'm tired and fed up with the start of this routine again... As are many others no doubt.

Well enough moaning, I think I'll have an early night...

Would You Eat Cat?

Firstly my answer is NO WAY!!

But I just read this article on the BBC about eating feral cats in Australia!

I have seen in the past a shocking TV programme about this horrible practice but I didn't expect to see it happening in Australia. I'm sure there must be other ways of dealing with the over population of these poor cats.

I'm Past The Partying

It's about 6pm and I don't feel I've woken properly all day. Last night we went to a family party which led me to getting to bed around 1.30 am and it's really messed me up even though I didn't get up until 10.30am!

I used to be able to handle late nights easily, one after the other, I was quite a night owl. But not nowadays, I really need to be in bed between 10pm and 11pm at the latest.

So now I feel drowsy, irritable and, well I dunno, just not right. I wanted to go out today, had various things in mind but none have happened.. oh well just have to accept it I'm getting too old and decrepit for partying!

Plus the fact its back to work tomorrow after 9 wonderful work free days, I feel a little down about that. Not looking forward to how much works awaits...

Anyway time now to catch up on the blogs and sites I've not read for a few days.. and to check out the likely 100's of photos recently uploaded by my Flickr contacts!

25 Miles Along The Coast

My poor knees! Yesterday my partner and I cycled 25 miles along the coast and today I certainly am feeling the strain!

We took the bikes on the train to Brighton, rode down to the sea front and turned right, rode along to Hove (which was not particularly exciting) so we turned round and cycled back through Brighton, past the Marina and on along the cliff path for as far as we could. At one point the path ended so we had to come up to road level, and that was a very hard, steep uphill climb, cycle along to the next access point to the next cliff path.

It was beautiful, wonderful views, quiet and in many places quite deserted. A world away from the hustle and bustle of the Brighton town centre that I am more familiar with.

The weather was rather dull and cloudy all day but at least it didn't rain and wasn't too cold.

Then we had to cycle all the way back....

Needless to say by the time we were back on the train we were just about ready to drop!

I (as always) took loads of photos and if you would to have a peek just click the pic below!