Photo Hunt: Red

Delicious strawberries, got eaten pretty quickly after this photo was taken!

A Few Things That Irritate Me

Been tagged by Pawhealer from A Spiritual Dog Blog to do the 7 things about me meme, but with a difference - 7 things that irritate me!


1. People walking so slow, in a group, taking up the entire pavement, as I move right or left to get past so do they seem to so I'm stuck.. and I'm usually in a hurry to get to work.

2. Groups of people waiting at bus stops, never in an orderly queue, but in a crowd, a blind crowd that cannot see me approaching, and therefore does not budge an inch to let me pass...

3. Why do non English speakers have to shout all the time, be it in the street or supermarket, on the phone, just about anywhere, they seem to have to shout.

4. My neighbour deciding to have a karaoke session about 11pm on a work night - she's doesn't work so I think she's almost nocturnal.

5. Rain as I'm going to work, that means I end up sitting around for hours in wet socks and trousers. It's not so bad if I'm on the way home as I can change!

6. My heating and hot water going berserk and having to sort out engineers to come and sort out time off work.

7. Terrible to say, but my kids irritate me, when I come home to washing up, dirty clothes, plates and cups all over the place, and loud music booming out so I can't even think straight... I know I shouldn't really moan as they are not home all the time now, but when they are I certainly know it!

Now I know I should pass this on, but recently I've passed so much on to so many I want people to have a choice.. If you would like to reveal a few things that irritate you then please do, then let me know and I can add you name in this post..

Tired Of All This Dyeing

Since being in my early 30's I began seeing silver strands of hair amongst my natural chestnut locks.

I used to tear them out, and forget until a few weeks later there was another and another, until I could no longer tear them out for fear of being bald... Well actually that's a bit of exaggeration, but sometime in my late 30's I decided to start dyeing my hair.

I had used temporary colours in the past for fun, and experimentation. At 16 I was a blonde for about 24 hours - I hated it, it did not suit me in the least and was promptly dyed back to as near to my normal colour as possible. I didn't mess with it for a long time after that.

But as my 30's turned into 40's I realised that to keep the silvery streak that was developing in my parting every 3/4 weeks at bay, I had to keep dyeing with permanent dyes.

Now as the half century looms I'm feeling really tired of this 3 weekly ritual.

I have always done it myself, never had it done at the hairdressers as it's just too expensive. If it was a one off then fair enough but as it's necessary to do it so frequently it would be financially crippling.

So here I am stuck in this rut of dye, dye, dye..

My partner says I should leave it, let it grow it's natural colour, but I'm not convinced he'd be happy with me all grey just yet.

And I know I'm certainly not ready for life as grey bombshell...

So as tired as I am, I will continue to dye...

The Be The Blog Award

Not one but two awards today... this one is from my friend Pawhealer at A Spiritual Dog Blog

I am very pleased to accept this award, thank you :)

As I have already received and passed on an award today I need a little time to decide who to pass this one on to... I'll keep you posted!

Blogging Buddies Award

Today I've received the Blog Buddies Award from Tammy at MomKnowsEverything... Thank you Tammy, this year has been great for making new blogging buddies and I'm glad you're one of them!

Now I'd like to pass it on, as usual this it's very difficult to choose!

Boatwoman

Lone Chatelaine

Beth

Anna

Pawhealer

Decorate Yourself A Cottage

I know this is aimed at kids, but I'm still a kid at heart!


Decorate your own gingerbread cottage here

I'm sure you can do better than me - I'm tired..

A Bear Named Muhammed

A British primary school teacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of blasphemy for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was arrested yesterday at her home inside Unity high school, a British international school, after a number of parents made a complaint to Sudan's education ministry.

The school's director, Robert Boulos, said Gibbons had since been charged with blasphemy, an offence he said was punishable with up to three months in prison and a fine.

Gibbons's colleagues told Reuters they feared for her safety after receiving reports that young men had already started gathering outside the Khartoum police station where she was being held.

Boulos said Gibbons was following a national curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and their habitats. This year's animal was the bear.

Gibbons, who joined Unity in August, asked the class of mostly seven-year-olds to name the toy.

"They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad. Then she explained what it meant to vote and asked them to choose the name." Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad.

Each child was allowed to take the bear home at weekends and was told to write a diary about what he or she did with the toy. The entries were collected in a book with a picture of the bear on the cover, next to the message "My name is Muhammad," said Boulos.

Boulos said the first he knew about the course was last week when he received a phone call from the ministry of education, saying a number of Muslim parents had made formal complaints.

A spokesman for the British embassy in Khartoum said it was still unclear whether Gibbons had been formally charged. "We are following it up with the authorities and trying to meet her in person," he said.

Boulos said he had decided to close down the school until January for fear of reprisals in Sudan's predominantly Muslim capital. "This is a very sensitive issue," he said.

"We are very worried about her safety," he added. "This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."

Unity, an independent school founded in 1902, is governed by a board representing the main Christian denominations in Sudan but teaches both Christians and Muslims aged four to 18.

Story from Guardian.co.uk

I find it quite amazing that this poor woman is being subjected to such harsh treatment for something that to most is a minor misdemeanor, if that.

I appreciate the Muslim view that this is, to them, blasphemy. But surely they can see this bear was not named to purposefully offend anyone. They should just have had a quiet word with this innocent teacher to advise her that this is not the done thing in the Muslim world, not to imprison her and for the entire world to be talking about it as if it's really really important - I mean has anyone been hurt here?

A "Mind Power" Major Award

I have received today this unusual award, the 'Mind Power' Major Award from Siani - thanks Siani ..



As always, it's difficult deciding who to pass this on to...

Darlene

Gina

Karen

Diana

Can You Read This?

The following was sent to me on Facebook, just thought I'd share it as it's quite amazing.. Plays havoc with my spellchecker!


fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Definr - Incredibly Fast Dictionary

I frequently need a dictionary these days. My poor old brain fails me on spellings (although I have a spellchecker) or meanings of words. I often think of a word I'm sure fits my needs but just feel I should check it's appropriateness.

Now I've come across Definr - and incredibly fast dictionary. It starts to guess the word you are entering which can be useful and it has a Firefox search extension, so it's always quick and easy to do a check!

The Cutest Kitty Video Ever

Adorable!

Found at Siani's Pot Pourri

Then I came across this - translation of the above, very funny!

New Flickr Uploader - Yay!

New Flickr Uploader - very nice, so far, so good :)

Links below for downloading..

For Windows

For Mac

Help Forum if you happen to run into any problems.

Thanks to Amit at Labnol for this info!

Please Don't Give Up On My SLOW Loading Blog

I had plans for today, take back some shoes for my daughter and various other bits and pieces, but things didn't quite work out that way as I woke up with the headache from hell.

After some paracetamol and several strong cups of tea I was pleased and surprised it lifted so easily, so often I get headaches which last for days no matter what I take.

However by this time I had decided not to go out at all, but to stay home in the warm with my baby (my laptop).

Spent lots of time reading blogs, listening to music, and making a few changes on my blog, some of which I'm sure you would have noticed by now.

Today I found my blog has been taking FOREVER to load, far longer than normal. I know some people have said it's because I have too many widgets, but I don't think I have an inordinate amount - do I?

Because of the slow loading I have removed a few of the lesser useful widgets and also pared down the existing ones, such as having less visitors showing in them. All in an effort to improve loading time, but to me is hasn't made too much difference which is rather annoying as I don't want readers to be put off.. and they will be, because if I visit a blog which is taking too long to load I might presume it to be broken and leave.

Let me know how it loads for you please, and if by any chance you have ideas to speed it up they would be most gratefully received!

Seven Things About Me

Not too long ago I was tagged to write 8 things about me - here

I have now been tagged by Tammy at Mom Knows Everything to do Seven Things About Me.

I thought, shall I cheat and use the same things as before, or shall I find new things?

Well I decided there MUST be another 7 things I can think of about me, so here they are the all new 7...

1. I love beetroot - much to the dismay of everyone else in my family.

2. I fell backwards down 6 steps breaking my left foot when I was talking to my sons teacher, right in front of the entire school - very embarrassing!

3. I used to do yoga and was extremely flexible - not so much now.

4. I totally love music, I currently have 9107 in my iTunes and love playing on random.

5. I don't watch much TV, probably because I'm online too much. I prefer to be a bit more interactive then TV allows.

6. I drink lots and lots and lots of water. I am always thirsty, I have been tested for diabetes and all is well.

7. I'm not a great fan of Christmas. I dislike the way it has become over commercialized. I could cope with it when the kids were young, but now it all seems too over the top. I think it should be a pleasant happy family time not a competition to buy, buy, buy the biggest and best gifts.

And I'm tagging:

Pawhealer
Boatwoman
Beth
Anna
Shelly
Darlene
Lone Chatelaine


Now for the rulez:
*Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
*Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
*Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
*Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I've Seen My Post On Blogrush!

After almost giving up on Blogrush, after thinking that none of my posts have ever been shown on anyones widget, I came across this!

Spotted whilst visiting the blog of my friend Lone Chatelaine!

So maybe I will give Blogrush a reprieve for a bit longer.

Photo Hunt: Hot

As the weather is now barely above freezing and the days are so dark and short I thought it would be nice to post this photo of a very HOT day on holiday. It was summer 2006 on the beautiful island of Skiathos Greece..Ahhh such sweet memories..

My Personality According To Facebook

I just did the picture personality quiz on Facebook. You have to click your choice of picture in various categories and it then it produces a personality profile.. Yeah right! I know it's only for amusement.

Mine is below and typically there are bits that are spot on and bits that are way off the mark. Also I think paragraph 1 and 3 completely contradict each other. Maybe it's a sign of my constantly changeable moodiness.. But if I'm honest I have and never will be anything like paragraph 1, I'm one the worlds worrypots..

1.Temperament
Flexible
Nothing seems to bother you - you sail through life crisis free. It's not that your life doesn't have its ups and downs, it's just that you handle everything without unnecessary drama and antics. You approach each day fresh, not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. You are confident that you can handle anything that comes your way and experience has shown that you are absolutely right about this.

2.Interests
Simple
You are continually pursuing a simpler and less complicated life - you don't allow yourself to fall victim to all of the "should do's" that society continually bombards you with. You are thoughtful about your life choices and think in terms of yourself, others and the world in which we live. You have a great sense that we are part of something much bigger and we must be good to others, if we want others and the world to be good to us.

3.Amusement
Thoughtful
You are easily stressed out and overwhelmed - you need to take care of yourself first and foremost. Because you tend to be self reflective, you know your limits quite well and must remember to not exceed those limits. When you overwhelm your life with obligations and responsibilities, you tend to shut down and go into yourself even further. Take some time to find your serenity and kick back your feet.

4.Passion
Romantic
You dream of the perfect companion, lover and partner. Your passions can go from 1 to 100 in mere seconds - when you fall in love, you fall quickly. But you tend to fall out of love quickly too which can leave you feeling empty, disillusioned and unhappy. You don't have to leave your passions behind, but the next time that you fall in love try to move a little bit more cautiously than you usually do. You'll be happier and safer this way.

Two Awards, One Day

Lovely Anna from Beth & Cory's Mum has given me these 2 awards - it's always nice to be thought of, thank you Anna!

I'd like to pass them on to a couple of my blogging friends but it's so difficult to choose, so, for now, I'm thinking about it..

London Transport Museum Re-Opens

Today, November 22nd, the London Transport Museum re-opened after a 2 year refurbishment.

Several years ago I visited this museum and was completely fascinated by the old buses, trains and the history of London Transport itself.

I loved the shop where I spent ages browsing all the nick nacks and beautiful posters that are for sale..

I'm really looking forward to making another visit to see the all new re-designed museum. Probably won't have time before Christmas, but it's something to look forward to for next year.

A New Ornament

Don't want too many ornaments, they only need dusting... But this furry one is kinda cute!

Not even my cat, but she certainly makes herself at home here!

A New Ornament

Don't want too many ornaments, they only need dusting... But this furry one is kinda cute!

Not even my cat, but she certainly makes herself at home here!

Feeling Hot - Again!

What a terrible evening, it's bucketing down, just glad I'm not out there!

In fact, here indoors I'm a bit too hot, we have communal heating which means we cannot control it and right now it seems to have gone a bit crazy! Right now I'm sitting in 30c, about 90f... I have to stay home Friday morning for an engineer to visit and hopefully turn it down a bit!

Just noticed the new page element of a slideshow in the sidebar. Its rather nice I think, you can get the photos for it from Flickr, Picassa, Photobucket or any other site that has a feed. You can specify which photos are shown, either by username or a tag. At the moment I have my own photos showing but I think it might be nice to have a show of kitties or beaches.. who knows the list is endless...

Well got to go try to catch up on a bit of blog reading now!

Need To Read Books Not Blogs Tonight

Right now I'm at work, shouldn't really be doing this but it is lunchtime - well kinda.

 

Just decided to email in a blog post today as I don't really want to do it this evening. I feel like I need an evening off.

 

I have a pile of unread books calling me, and I know if I get on the blogs this evening I will once again not read at all and I so want to get lost in a good book, it's been too long.

 

So unless something exciting happens in the meantime then I won't be blogging tonight.

 

Or unless my addiction gets the better of me that is...

 

 

Moany Monday And A Little Photoshopping

Well I'm not going to moan all that much as I'm too tired.

It's been another wet miserable day today, but then it is November so can't really complain.

After getting soaked on the way home from work this evening I cooked and ate dinner then got engrossed in playing with Photoshop.

If only that was my job, I doubt I'd ever moan about work again. To me it's endless fun, I so love the magical creativity of it. The way an everyday boring photo can be made to look so interesting.. And I'm not even any good at it. If I had my time again I'd learn how to use it like an expert...

I took one photo of myself and made many different looks, here are a couple of them..

How Many Can You Recognise And Name?

Click image for large size!

The Man Who Grew Roots

This is shockingly not fake... as some suggest on YouTube.

An Indonesian fisherman who feared that he would be killed by tree-like growths covering his body has been given hope of recovery by an American doctor - and Vitamin A.



You can read more about it here at Telegraph.co.uk

Up To My Waist In Water!

As I was taking my photos in the pouring rain today I fell in a puddle!!



Nahh I'm only joking, not ventured out at all today.. Just been playing on Fotline

I notice the water doesn't ripple on the blog, well not for me anyway, to see the pic at it's best click it and it will load and ripple in a new page!

No Sun Sunday

Not up to much today. It's very grey and cold out with a nasty chilly wind so not wanting to get out really.

So (surprise, surprise) I've been mostly on the computer, looking for new stuff to fiddle around with and listening to music.

Sometimes I get bored with my own music so I go to LastFM, type in any artist or keyword and it plays me a random selection based on my choice. It's a really nice way of discovering music I'd never otherwise come across. If it comes up with something I don't like just the click of a button quickly moves it on, with the choice to never ever hear that track again.

Time for a nice cuppa strong tea now - maybe back later...

Photo Hunt: I Love .......

I had a difficult time with this one surprisingly as I love so many things. The best loved of all I couldn't add a photo of as it's my children and my partner, I don't think they would like to have recognisable photos used here at the moment.

I also love chocolate, a good curry, comfortable boots, my bicycle, special pieces of jewellery, a nice strong cup of Earl Gray tea, my camera, my computer, the list could go on and on...

So I decided to add a slideshow of my photos, as I love all of them, the good, the bad, and the inbetweens... I know it's not really the thing to do, but hey.. rules - what's rules!

Wake Up! I Want Feeding..

I found this little video very funny, I'm sure some can relate to this..

Blog Of The Month Award

Anna from Beth And Cory's Mum has given me the Blog Of The Month award!

I'm so pleased that she thought of me for this award..

I read so many wonderful blogs that I'd love to pass this on to just about all of them, but that would take tooo long...

So right now, I choose,

Siani at Siani's Pot-Pourri

Jo at A Boatwomans Diary

Diana at 134u.com

Beth at Beth Allen II

Sweet Sweet Kittens

There's a new pet shop in my local high street. It's been there for a few weeks and I've often glanced in as I've passed.

Today was different, outside the shop was a sign that caught my eye - KITTENS..

I just had to go in and take a peek.

What I saw in there totally entranced and shocked me at the same time.

There were 2 cages, in one were 2 little black kittens and in the other 3 ginger kittens. All mewing, crying to come out, to be taken home. I felt a mixture of delight at the sight of those beautiful creatures and horror that there they were stuck in these cages!

I knelt there talking and admiring them for quite some time. The guy in the shop informed me they were £150 each..

I felt like taking them all there and then. It was difficult to leave the shop, closing the door on those plaintive little mews..

As regular readers will know, I don't have my own cat but I have my frequent visitor from next door. I have for a long time been thinking about getting my own kitty, but it seems the time is never right.

Having never had a kitten before I guess it takes some time to get them settled in, so it would have to be at a time when I have say, maybe a couple of weeks off work?

I know a lot of my visitors have cats, so I would be grateful for any help or advice you may have on how easy/difficult it is when you first have a kitten in the house, especially if you go out to work..

I know I could just buy a book or find out online but it's always best I think to hear real life experiences.

Discontentment

Today seemed a very long dull boring day at work. No longer than any other in reality but it just seemed so.

I'm at the point that I get to every so often of feeling I desperately want to do something else with my life. That this cannot be it for me.

I walk to work, about 20 mins each way, so by that you can tell I live very near to my place of work. So that's the sum total of my weekdays, and I'm so totally utterly fed up with it.

I so want something to change, but what, I ask myself. Getting a different job is not that easy. I know my current job inside out, been doing it for 8 years now, and before that I hadn't worked for a good number of years as I was a stay at home Mummy, so I wonder what else I can do. What else I dare to try?

I'm sure it's just another of those phases I'm going through, maybe I'm missing the sunshine and the light evenings. I'm sure it will pass, I hope it will pass as I don't want to feel so discontented for much longer.

Does Your Cat Eat Anything Unusual?

Regular readers may remember I don't have a cat of my own but I do have a frequent visitor from next door.

She regularly pops in for a nap or some nibbles...

Last night she popped in just as I was finishing a delicious banana and custard yogurt. I put the empty carton down on the table and in no time she was licking the edge of the pot, it's quite a wide pot and she had no trouble getting deep into the bottom to retrieve every last drop of yogurt. If only I had my camera all set and ready to go it would have made a wonderful picture.

I was surprised that she enjoyed this so much, it is very sweet and not the sort of thing I thought a cat would enjoy.

So, just wondering all you cats and owners reading this, what's the strangest thing your cat eats?

8 Things About Me

I have been tagged by Siani to do the 8 things about me meme...

Now I don't consider myself a very interesting person so it's not easy to come up much, but I've been racking my brain all evening and came up with these 8..


1.I had my appendix removed when I was 16

2. I am very scared of heights.

3. But I love being in an aeroplane!

4. I live very close to the Abbey Road that was made famous by the Beatles

5. I used to be a Girl Guide

6. I'm hopelessly addicted to blogging, but then you probably realised that already.

7. I love dancing, but recently only when no one is looking!

8. I won the class prize for story writing when I was 11

Now I know I should tag others now but I would like to leave this one open for anyone to do.

If you would like to do it please leave your details in a comment and I will add you!

I Forgot How Much I Love These Songs..

Listening to some music on my ipod earlier, these tracks randomly played. I'd not heard them for a long time and had forgotten how much I enjoyed them, so I thought I'd share them with you...

My Saturday In Leicester

Had a lovely day yesterday in Leicester with my eldest daughter.

We had lunch together, wandered around the shops and then she took me to see her student accommodation and meet her flat mates.

I got the last coach home, which was a stupidly early 7pm and was home just before 10pm.

I hated saying goodbye to her, it was a very odd feeling, leaving her behind there. I tried not to cry but wasn't very successful, so I was lucky I had a seat to myself and it was nice and dark on the coach as I had a silent weep.

Took a few photos, it was mostly a rather dull and grey day so not the best of conditions. If you would like to see them, just click the pic below..

Out For The Day

Just a quick posting this morning as I eat my cereal.

I'm off to catch a coach to Leicester today to visit my daughter. It's only a short visit but it will be nice to see her, her accommodation and maybe meet her new friends.

It's at times like this I wish I could drive - oh well never mind. National Express, here I come!

Photo Hunt: Flexible

This photo of my daughter has been on Flickr for some time with the title flexible.

As a keen dancer she truly is very flexible!

(Early posting this weekend as I won't have much time tomorrow)

An Excellent Blog Award

I have been awarded this Excellent Blog Award by Anna at Beth and Cory's Mum

Thank you Anna, much appreciated!