Saturday smiles. Day four.

Well now. The sun has got his proverbial hat on and it's Saturday. What's not to like eh?

I think people seem so much happier when the sun is shining. During our regular foray into town this morning, fellow shoppers seemed so much more relaxed and smiley, dressed to suit the weather in bright summer colours. 

In the church hall, the monthly vintage fayre was in full swing.  We usually sit out in the courtyard anyway for a breather and watch the world go by for a while between shops so were in the vicinity. I proclaimed that I wasn't going to go in this week as I just get depressed at the acres of gorgeous vintage clothes. It appears these garments were all made for twiglet sized people which leave people of a more Rubenesque design (oh. That would be Me then!) gazing sadly at the rails of eclectic finery, stroking an astrakhan coat and dreaming of being able to wear a Dolly Rockers frock!  

Man rolled his eyes at me however and told me to stop being daft and get in there cos he knew I wanted to really.  Okay, said I. But I'm not buying anything.  I'll just have a look.  Man raised his eyebrow knowingly and tucked twenty quid into my hand. Tee hee. 

It was as busy as ever.  The ever glamorous Vicki from amazeballs blog Vintage Vixen was there with her Kinky Melon emporium, together with lots of other tables of gorgeousness to drool over.  On the first stall I looked at, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. I picked it up, examined it and put it down again.  Then the woman next to me did exactly the same. The very second she picked it up I knew that I needed it in my life! Suddenly my heart started pounding and my mouth went dry.  The Woman turned it over in her hand and held it to the light in a superior "I know about these things" manner. Nooo!  She couldn't buy it!  It was mine!  It had spoken to me!!  

Step. Away. From. My. Precious.   

The woman sniffed in disdain and set the item back down on the table.  

With more speed than was strictly necessary and a dramatic sigh of relief I thrust my purchase at the stall holder who laughed at me and told me she had seen the veiled look of panic come over me when I thought I'd lost it. 

Honestly.  I'm annoyingly transparent.   

Thing is. There was a "sign" on the tag that underlined the fact that it should be mine. A simple little sign but to me it was karmic. It simply said "Go Ask Alice".  A phrase from one of my very favourite songs in the world by Jefferson Airplane. 

I guess you'd like to see my little frivolous purchase wouldn't you?  You're not going to see the attraction I know but hey, each to their own.  Tis but an insane hare brooch made from resin but I loves him!

Enjoy this wonderful weekend and ...  

"Remember what the dormouse said. Keep your head" ;)

Love and light xx

Happy Post Day Three

Dinner with workmates.  

Raucous laughter. Check

Scurrilous gossip. Check

Lots of filth. Check

Yummy food. Check. 

Naan breads as big as duvet covers. 

Check!!

Thanks for your comments about my rash ridden son yesterday. It's come up again this evening at exactly the same time. I don't think it has been as bad.  Bad enough though. Such a horrible thing to deal with. He's not happy at all. :( 

Happy Friday all. Xxx

Day two - itches and rashes and silly selfies!

Hello there.  Sorry I'm a tad late and we are into Friday already. I've spent a very long few hours dodging between walk in centres and a&e departments with my son who had a raging bout of urticaria. Poor lad. Looked like he'd been scalded all over.

It appears to be some sort of allergic reaction and has been given steroids, antihistamines and anti itch cream. Of course seeking a chemist at half past eleven at night wasn't much fun - particularly without a car. Thank 

goodness for patient taxi drivers.  The chemist had only got half of the prescription and so I have to call in a favour fromy bro tomorrow to retrieve the balance. Gah!  Then we got home to find that the instructions on the tablets were unclear. Take six each day. Hmm. In one go?  Spaced out?  Who knows!  So I've spent the last half an hour on the phone to the 111 service who were very good and clarified things for me. Phew. 

Right. Time for a well earned smile methinks. I saw this pic on the web last week and thought it was hilarious.  

If dogs took selfies!  Tee hee!!

Day One of One Hundred.

Hello. Is there anyone there?  I've been a bit distracted recently with goings on far too boring to blog about. 

I've missed blogging. On the other hand I've not really had anything remotely interesting to blog about so therefore my dear readers have been spared the tedious details of hospital appointments, doctors consultations, work politics, teenage angst and a black dog chomping on my arse. 

Tis now time to pull myself up by my boot straps and get bloody well on with it. 

I'm taking a leaf out of a good friend's book and embracing the little things each day that raise a smile. It may be a photo. It may be a just a comment. This is just a challenge to myself and if you would like to hitch a ride then please feel free. 

Here goes then. When I leave work at five my walk through the myriad of car parks and buildings sometimes reveals a tiny glimpse of a more natural world. It may be birdsong. It may be blossom. It may be evidence of the changing of the seasons. 

Tonight it was this little fella. Blithely munching his supper just yards from the concrete jungle on the verge of a car park. I watched him for ages whilst waiting for my cab;  he was totally unaware of my existence.  Bless!

With love from Peapods. Xx

I Heart Saturday

Hello my lovelies!

How is your Saturday shaping up?

As the man works permanent night shifts plus overtime most mornings it is rare that we see each other until I get home from work and that is literally just for an hour before he has to go off to bed to sleep prior to his next shift starting. Our Saturdays, therefore, are very precious to us as you can imagine.  Our day usually starts with a cuddle and a coffee and a catch up in bed and then we take ourselves off for breakfast in town before doing the weekly shop.

Today we tried a recently opened coffee shop called Vines. We were drawn in by the board outside advertising a full English breakfast for £2.95.  The man opted for the full English with toast and coffee. I chose the Panini with bacon, egg and mushrooms plus a cappuccino. The whole bill came to 5 pounds and 40p for both of us. We were extremely impressed with the food which was freshly cooked and I can honestly say the Panini I had was probably one of the best I have ever had! 

Not too shabby eh?

People might think it odd, but we actually love shopping. We never see it as a chore and always find something to giggle about (mostly other couples who are arguing between themselves or ranting at small children!). 

When we eventually get home (which is always a lot later than we anticipated) (and Charl is on his arse through sleep deprivation!) we unpack the shopping (unless I can palm it off onto the kids because this is a job I hate!) and then he retires to bed and I have a couple of hours to myself to completely chill out for the rest of the afternoon. I may cook something nice for dinner and then again I may have something that I can just chuck into the oven and escape to my shed for that time I would have spent cooking! Now don't look at me like that! I will have you know that today I have stuffed a mushroom! How is that for domestic goddessness?!

Here are some quick photos of some things around the house which are making me smile this freezing cold but very sunny Saturday.

The hellebore in the owl pot was a gift and should be outside really but for fear of hooligan trampling it I've kept it safe inside.  Please note the inventive use of an unused cafetiere for a tulip vase!

I love having fresh flowers around the house. The daffies were just one whole English pound for three bunches and the tulips 99p a bunch. 

Whilst I was sitting typing up this post I was visited by this lil fella. Actually not so little! He was a biggun!  

He appreciated my vases of flowers too! 

 Build it and they will come so the saying goes. Well. My new birdie table has been built and installed. I havent seen any visitors yet though. How rude!!

Steak and mushrooms for dinner then. I'd better put on my pinny and fluffy mules darlings!!

Hope your Saturday is a pleasant one!

Sky-watching

Look it!!!  Mad skies over Wollescote!

Altocumulus I do believe!!

I found this on the Met Office website

"Altocumulus clouds

Height of base: 2,000 - 18,000 ft

Latin: altum - height; cumulus - heap

Altocumulus are small mid-level layers or patches of clouds - called cloudlets - in the shape of rounded clumps. These are white or grey, and the sides away from the Sun are shaded. Mostly found in settled weather, altocumulus are usually composed of droplets, but may also contain ice crystals.

The presence of shading can help tell the difference between altocumulus and cirrocumulus. Cirrocumulus are white but altocumulus can be white or grey, and the sides will be shaded."

S'fab innit?!

I've been a right little sky watcher these last few days - I have a crick in my neck from constantly looking skywards!

A Warm Weekend

 

Just some photographs from the weekend.

Scene at the rear of the house..........

Whilst out front this was happening .....

It was my first Samaritans' training today.  Whilst I enjoyed it, I was a little sad to be indoors all day on such a glorious Spring day. 

When I emerged late this afternoon, blinking like a mole coming out of a hill,  I admired the signs in their pretty little garden which herald the fact that the Wheel of the Year will be turning once again very soon...

Camellia in full bloom. 

.

Fat buds on the magnolia tree 

Delicate blossom in the palest pink. 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend blossoms@

Foggy Friday

Hello!

A warm welcome to The Vintage Kitten and to Vada Wetzel, my new followers.  Lovely to see you here! *waves madly*

I woke up to a very eerie looking field this morning.  I was transfixed for a good few minutes when I should really have been getting ready for work, watching the fog roll in and out, the landscape changing constantly.

Have a look - Mists of Avalon spring to mind.  There is no tint on these photographs - just nature painting the scenery in monochrome. Sorry there's lots of photos - I couldn't stop snapping as it was changing so quickly.   Click on the photos if you want to enlarge them.

Happy weekend to you all my darlings!

This week ...

I shall mostly be:-

Lunching with work colleagues - Tomorrow is a 'Costa Coffee and Cake Catch-up', Thursday is 'Someone's leaving to have a baby, any excuse for pizza buffet luncheon' and last but not least there's a  'F*** it, it's Friday' gossip session in the pub.    Sounds good to me!

Having tea with Mum, whereupon I shall be spoilt rotten and leave two hours later needing an elastic band to hold the button on my skirt.

Meeting my bestie for Mexican Night at a local hostelry.  See above. One Tequila. Two Tequila. Three Tequila. Floor.  Actually that's a lie - I've never touched the stuff and don't intend to start now!  The same cannot be said for some pretty awesome quesadillas however!

Trying to pluck up courage after 28 years to take some refresher lessons in order to start driving again.  I passed my test first time when I was 18 - I've not driven since.  Massive driving fail on my part methinks. Gawd I'm nervous.  Terrified in fact.  But I MUST do this.  I owe it to myself.

Packaging stuff up to post to my E of Bayness auction winners.  I've found out that it's extremely easy to use the app on my iPhone to list things so whilst I was tidying up my craft shed last week, I listed some stuff that was just sitting around taking up space.  To my amazement people have placed bids on most of it!  This is good news for my almost defunct Paypal account!

Trying to plan a 50th birthday for him indoors.  Its not until August and I had intended on it being a surprise one - until he announced that he wanted a big party for his 50th and asked his daughter to look into finding a venue for it. No more surprises then!  Doh!

 Attending my first Samaritans training day.  I was very happy to find out that I'd been selected last week and am very much looking forward to beginning my training journey.

Phew that's a busy old week!  I think I need a lie down!

Hope your week is packed full of good things too! xx

Lunchtime Wander

Hello darlings

A HUGE welcome to two new followers The Silver Bunny and  Algodaotaodoce - Thank you so much for visiting me here in my little corner of blogland and for following my randomness.

Well today was such a beautiful blue day that I decided to take myself off on a little walk at lunch time.  I'm lucky that my office is about ten minutes walk away from the canal, so off I went, trip-trapping over the ricketty-racketty bridge, watching out for trolls as I went.  Luckily she'd stayed back at the office (tee hee) so I was safe!  I purchased a sandwich, then trip-trapped back over the ricketty-racketty bridge to sit in the sunshine and watch the world go by.

These were just two of about ten Canada Geese who were all posturing and wing flapping and 

sounding off their authority of the waterways!  

I shared my lunch with this shy little freckly headed gull!

Our department is moving to one of the buildings you can see opposite.  Methinks there will be lots of

canalside lunches in the summer!

The silver birch trunks were so white they seemed to have been bleached. 

Whilst the sunshine lit up the leaves on the dog roses.

There were lots of barges moored today.  

As I watched, this handsome fella was let out of his bargey-house and sauntered off on an adventure of his own.  

I was only there for 30 minutes or so, clearing my head, watching the world go by.  But it was lovely.

I think I'd like to live on a barge.  

And sell freshly made onion bhajis. 

From my Bhaji Barge.

Oh yes I would :)

The Simple Woman's Daybook - February Edition

I enjoy taking part in the Daybook posts.  My religious views are completely different to most of the participants (for which I make no apology - each to their own), but I do enjoy the simple, homely and wholesome blog-prompting element of it.  Particularly for the times that I have brain fog and want to blog but have no clue as to what to post! 

To see other participants' entries, go HERE  

So, "FOR TODAY"

Outside my window... It's dark now at just a little after 8pm here in the UK.  It's getting cold too and I think I need to seek out my fleecy blanket to cuddle up in.  I'm 92 yer know! 

I am thinking... that a cup of hot choccie may be in order very shortly.

I am thankful... that for the most part, I am at last pain free.  Its only taken six months!  

In the kitchen... well its finished!  The skirting board is up.  A new blind and light fittings have been purchased and I'm still revelling in the extra space we have.  I still have to sell our fridge freezer though which is sitting in the corner of the room taking up space.  We've bought a new, smaller one which now fits in the cleared out pantry with the plan that without the fridge freezer in the kitchen, it will free up space so that we can have a table and chairs in there.  I need to start advertising!

I am wearing... A purple (get me!) top, black skirt, black tights and my favourite comfy black knee boots.

I am creating... Not much at the moment and that is driving me mad!  My craft shed is full of clutter and things set aside for charity shops and I can't bliddy well get in there! 

I am going... to have a giant declutter over the course of the next few days!

I am reading... right now - nothing, having just finished The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul.  This is the first book I've actually finished in months and months.  Am proud!!   It was a light, undemanding read which is the only sort of book my simple scarecrow brain can cope with!

I am looking forward to... catching up with friends I haven't seen in a while this weekend.

I am learning... that if you don't ask, then you don't get.  Remember me ranting about work and how unfair and divisive 'they who (allegedly) must be obeyed' were?  Well, over Christmas I did some hard thinking whilst I was recovering from my op.  Things had happened in my old department which I was furious about and the more I thought about them the more I got wound up.  Life is too damned short to be feeling like that about somewhere you have to spend the majority of your life.  I asked for a department transfer back to my lovely old department where I had worked for about 13 years, prior to moving three years ago.  To my delight it was accepted and I didn't have to go back to the dark and gloomy department when I returned to work.  The work I'm doing now in the clinical negligence department is so much more interesting (although harrowing at times) and, as a bonus, I don't feel like I'm a bottle of fizzy pop about to explode all the time!  I know that if I'd have returned, then the situation would have escalated, I'd have run my gob off at the powers that be and would have lost my job.  Thank goodness that I 'asked' eh?!   

Around the house... Aw its cosy cosy!  The lamps are on.  Red curtains and cushions bring more warmth to the room.  The candles are lit.  A furry hearthrug is making short work of a huge chewy whilst keeping an eye on the football on the tv.   Man is asleep before his nightshift begins at 11.  KTT is upstairs learning the theme tune to Friends on his guitar!  Its just ours and I love it.  

One of my favorite things... coming home from work.  As much as I enjoy my job now (blimey listen to me - that feeling has been a loooong time returning!) I just adore stepping through the front door into our sanctuary, being greeted by an over-enthusiastic ball of fur who obviously hasn't seen me for WEEKS, welcome home cuddles from the man, a barrage of chatter from the Diva about her escapades during the day, and (eventually when he deems it necessary to emerge from his bedroom) being grunted at by Kevin the Teenager.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  drinks with a work colleague tomorrow evening, shopping on Saturday morning, catching up with my bestie on Saturday afternoon, a training session at Samaritans on Sunday, MAJOR sorting out of the shed on Monday (no work for two days - yay!), and hairdressers and meeting up with a friend for coffee on Tuesday.  Phew! 

A peek into my day... he's been watching the football like this now for the last 20 minutes!! Barmy animal!