Monday 31 August 2009

Bank Holidays

As I don't normally work on a Monday the Bank Holidays tend to pass me by. However, hubby feeling a bit crook today so I sat in the garden and read (Colin Thubron's Shadow of the Silk Road) after I'd hung the washing out. Brilliant blue sky and my usually too shady border was just right. Also had a little wander round Paris on Google Maps Street View, which is just what an armchair traveller like me needs. I tried to find the places I stayed when I was a lot younger. I was lucky enough to have a couple of holidays in Paris crashing out on various people's floors - ah those were the days.

Sunday 30 August 2009

My e-book

Hardly dare let on but I'm posting my novel as an e-book! Chapter one
http://www.webook.com/project/Trophies-of-Innocence

Sunday Stealing 30/08

This meme has slightly scuppered my intention to only have sweetness and joy on my blog but I've done it anyway. By the way, if you copy and paste the questions into Word and then when you have typed your answers you save it as a plain text file, then open it again and copy it you can paste straight into your post and it saves a lot of typing.

what are your most common nicknames?
Not aware of any that other people have given me apart from Fred when I was little and jaydubblah which I gave myself

what is today's weather?
Sunny but autumnal

where did go on vacation this year?
Haven't been away for at least 15 years

what did you do there?
See above

where did you stay?
See above

what job do you do?
Half way between book keeper and accounts manager

describe where you live.
Just outside a large town but I can see trees

what do you usually do on weekends?
Housework Saturday, church Sunday, read, walk.

what food hits your 'bliss spot'?
Sorry, can't really think of anything for this. I like all sorts of food (and drink) but couldn't say there's anything I couldn't do without

what drink really does it for you?
see above

describe the first friend that comes to your head.
Tall, blonde, left handed

what was the last restaurant you went to?
I don't get out much - oh yes, I just remembered lunch at a place called Arlington's

where would you like to live if you had unlimited moneys and nothing stopping your dreams?
India

what is the likeliness of you achieving this dream home?
Zero

what do you like to do in your spare time?
Read, walk, crafting, play games on Facebook

what's your favorite genre for TV programs?
Travel

what's your favorite genre for music?
Depends on my mood. Could be Alice Cooper, could be Vivaldi

what's your favorite song that's sad?
Voir un ami pleurer by Jacques Brel

what's your favorite soppy film?
Don't like soppy films

how about your favorite chick flick?
Don't think I've ever seen one

what are you looking forward to at the moment?
Finishing this meme

what are you dreading at the moment?
Nothing

how would you describe your personality?
My modesty is my best quality

if you had a personality eraser, what part of yours might you erase?
Getting in a tiz

you are given $5000 to spend in 1 day, what do you do with it? remember, no limitations!
Do up my mum's flat for her

what is your biggest fear?
Being old and lonely.

Saturday 29 August 2009

Last of the Sweet Peas


Although it isn't even September yet(well not quite) things in my garden seem to be packing up shop and going home already. I know these sweet peas are probably quite late and they put on a great show for me this year but I wish they would last a little longer. Do you associate a particular flower with a particular person. The sweet peas are my mother's sister, her husband grew them for competition and he often gave her some to put in the house. Anenomes are my nan and freesias are a good friend's mum. My mum is forget-me-nots.Not sure what I am, I'll let you know!

Friday 28 August 2009

Sleepy head

Being tired is OK if you earned it. Feel like I've worked hard today but not sure what I did. Never mind. Missed Saturday Sketch this week but maybe next week. Glad the weather has cooled down a bit, it's been hot and humid here but the tomatoes have loved it and I still have sweet peas flowering. Maybe do a photo tomorrow. Sweet dreams all

Thursday 27 August 2009

Friends and relatives


Someone said once that God gives you your relatives but you choose your friends. I feel blessed that I would have chosen all my relatives so I thank God for giving them to me. A relative visited today. I went and collected my mum so she could join in, and went for a walk along the sea shore after I had taken her home. Then I thought I'd share the view from my study window. If you have been, thanks for listening

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Always carry a camera

I have a very small and very good digital camera which was a present from my husband. I often regret not having it with me. Today I went to a garden that is also an art gallery. The paintings were almost a shock in the setting of old brick and late summer flowers but it worked somehow. I shall go back next week and see if I can do it justice and share it. Yes, OK it happens to be part of the place where I work and I know I should have looked sooner but now I have I will welcome a little oasis amidst the stress and trauma

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Time to stand and stare

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare. Years ago I remember this being written up on one of those big hoardings they put round building sites, next to a letter box shaped hole at convenient height. What a nice thought. I tend to waylay myself when I am watering my tomatoes now as there are lots of those garden spiders that hang there in the evening sunshine waiting for a meal. You know, the ones whose webs do all that magical stuff in the morning when the dew is on them. My dad showed me, when I was little, how to flick a little bit of leaf into the web and then watch the spider carefully cut it out and lean away from the web so that the leaf didn't catch again when the spider dropped it. I still do it but it does mean the watering takes rather longer than it should

Monday 24 August 2009

A walk in the woods


I went for an early walk this morning. Although there is something slightly autumnal about the quality of the light the air is still warm and before long the sun became almost too hot. Trees look parched and are changing colour already in some places but not golden, just brown. Three blue tits came to my birdfeeder which was good as I don't see many birds in the garden here. Where I used to live we had lots, maybe 30 sparrows at a time, little hooligans but fun to watch, chaff-, gold- and green- finches, blue-, great-, long tailed-, coal- and marsh- tits, robins and blackbirds of course and the occasional pheasant plus the idiot black cockerel from across the road (called Gary?!) Here it's mostly magpies starlings and crows plus pompous pigeons but we have had some others, just not very often.
This place has it's compensations though. I can walk through pretty woods less than 100 yards from my front door and along cycle tracks away from the traffic and which follow old farm tracks so there are wonderful old hedgerows along the way. I'll be blackberrying soon and hunting for the sloes I saw earlier in the year.
Of course, as it's Monday I will be doing the laundry and shopping and house work type things but we can forget all that for now.

Sunday 23 August 2009

Sunday Stealing part 2

Aha - saved it as a Plain Text File and it worked. Not so thick after all!

The artist is Bryan Ferry with or without Roxy Music

-Are you a male or female? -Just one look

-Describe yourself - Beauty Queen

-How do you feel right now? -Time on my hands

-If you could go anywhere, where would you go? -India

-Your favorite form of transportation -Running Wild

-Describe Your Morning Routine -Whirlwind (I wish!)

-Your best friend is - My only love

-What's the weather like -Rain Rain Rain

-Pet Peeve? -Kiss and Tell

-If your life was a TV show, what would it be called - Same Old Scene

-Your relationship -The Right Stuff

-Your Fear- Eight Miles HIGH



-What is the best advice you have to give?- More Than This

-If you could change your name, you would change it to -Sentimental Fool

-What do you say when you are frustrated? -Cry Cry Cry

-Thought for the day- Psalm

-How you would like to die -Don't want to know

-Your soul's present condition - Would You Believe

-Your motto -Stronger thrtough the Years

Sunday Stealing

This is fun. Today we are asked to answer the questions using song titles from one artist only. My choice is Bryan Ferry (with or without Roxy Music) At least it was but I don't seem to be able to paste into this box

I'm here!

Well, after a bit of misunderstanding I finally found my way to the right web site and am now officially blogging. Not sure how often I shall blog, or how philosophical I shall get but hope a few people will join me for the adventures yet to come