Fab, Feisty and Sixty (ish)

an O-rdinary day http://wednesdayabc.blogspot.com/ I am not working today and the kids are with their father who is working in Manchester for a few days and its half term, so it is just Pippa and I. After our ordinary breakfast Pippa and I went for our ordinary walk. So I am thinking there won't be much to photograph as I'm home all day, but for a trim and blow and the hair salon later in the day. Our usual route is the pathway or road if too muddy by the river Eden. Today I followed the road by our home and then checked out the path for the evening walk, if either of us are up for it. Pippa is elderly now, though her mind and heart are willing sometimes she just sleeps on through! Last week there was much rain and wind and these neighbouring trees seemingly took the brunt. One of the mansion houses along the road, our house was built on its back yard!! All the land here was/is freehold of landlords Duke of Marlbourough,  Devonshire & Cornwall hence all the Avenue names....

Ok, I confess I am an obsessive listmaker! My family physically and mentally flinch when they see me with a pen and paper in hand. 'OMG Mum's gonna make a list' one of them shouts as if by warning, and they all fall about laughing. I sometimes join in, but mostly I'm on a mission to write down the things on my mind, lest I forget so I'm a tad furtive getting it down. Because if I don't write it down actually, its a cert I will forget completely and it will be utterly gone from my mind! This list making phenomena started when I was at school. I went to a Catholic convent school and, ok ! ok! get all the laughing, the banter and the gym slip jokes out of the way now... ! All but two of our teachers were nuns, most were Irish and all were catholic. Not of the worldly wise educator and nurture persuasion either and in a high school of only girls so a rather dull, mind numbing experience for a late 60's early 70's teeanager with boys on her mind. David Ca...

This book quiz/meme, was an earlier post from Random jottings of a Book and Opera Lover,  I thought I would give it a go... Name a book you have read more than once Of course, J ane Austens '  P&P ; When we were very young  &  Now we are six -AA Milne; Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess; The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath,; Repossessing Ernestine by Marsha Hunt  -an underrated writer whom I believe who has 'it'... I know what I mean! Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it? yes! A Little Princess which first my mother read to me, then I read it over and over, of which I have several prints and copies. At a very young age it taught me however tough  things get, however bleak there is always someone worse than you and there is ALWAYS hope. The same with Maya Angelous early autobiographies . How do you choose a book? eg - by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews?  Mostly by recommendations, mother, frien...

Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek I'm really late with this one, but hope you enjoy it. Today has been kept clear as an Attic day This means that all housework is pretty much up to date (?) dog walked, kids at school, just me at home on a day off from my day job. Since 2002 my passion for vintage fashion became official when I opened my vintage clothing website. Its been a blast to indulge this passion, making the leap from  a hobby into a small business. I don't invest as much time as I would like, wearing so many hats and since moving home from large rural farmhouse, to urban bungalow bill city dweller. So space and time is at a premium. Most of the stock has been packed up and I haven't done the site justice this year at all. With the glitzy party season twinkling its bright lights on our doorsteps, I have been buying new stock over the summer  and secreting it in all places around the house. Today was the day I could bring these treasures  out and I have taken pics of so...

... when you grow up?  I read an article recently which asked this question of children and   teenagers from different backgrounds, countries and cultures. It was very interesting and revealing, as the children had either very little or were privileged by way of circumstance or example. It was enriching to hear they all had aspirations and dreams, way beyond their existing horizons. But the question kept resounding with me and I kept asking myself … 'What do I want to be when I grow up?' Yes! I know I am grown up already, in age and definitely in experience and   perhaps in some wisdom too!I have been single. I have lived alone in dreary and lonely bedsit land. I have spent Christmas alone twice and new years eve too often to count. I have been lucky enough to travel and live in different countries in three continents, experiencing different cultures. I have had several careers. I am a qualified hairdresser - 1970s; I am an experienced fashion  buyer, Manager and Area Ma...

Over the last week or so I've been a little concerned - not just about losing things-  as my vision has been a little blurred by the middle of the afternoon.  I've been thinking that perhaps it was adjusting to my new varifocals .  I've had new frames and they are deeper than the current narrow specs in vogue, so my vision should be more balanced, but  for the sudden blurriness they have been very comfortable. Both today and yesterday Ive also noticed that my eyes have taken on the Panda effect. My kohl eyeliner has  seeped to the under part of my eyes, making my saggy bags look much more prominent looking like I've just had a good cry! Not the look I was going for at all. I have taken a little more care applying some smack in the mornings ( oops by that I mean SLAP! LOL - the only things I'm addicted to is chocolate and my kids!)  As the new specs have a non-reflective coating, the benefit is that I have not had any  trouble with the glare from the 47 halogen type...

I haven't read many references to the current financial global crisis in blog land. Methinks  perhaps this isn't the place, its where we feel safe, away from harms way, our nest of comfort, where we are taken on vicarious adventures through ( authorblog - Yukon ) and ( the view from this End - Mexico & Canada )  and we find like minded pals to chat with away from from our real lives and worlds. But  I admitto being  a bit worried and not just a bit afraid, not to mention confused and utterly out of my depth. I find myself switching on the news and delving into the money pages, because I DO want to understand something,  anything about this. We wittingly put our trust in banks and to a certain extent our governments and we simple everyday folk are endanger of getting seriously burned. I'm seriously considering taking out my little stash of cash from my ISA and burying it in the garden,  l ike  what  my Dad always told me was the sensible and Napoleonic thing to do! LOL ....

... my debit card and lost my sunglasses, my itrip, my mobile phone, and one new shoe! All this is typical of one week in my mad, sad world! In my last post I mentioned that I had left my debit card in the payment machine of TK Maxx after buying some bargain shoes, but that wasn't the whole story, not even a bit of it! When I got home from town, long before I remembered that I had forgotten my card, I noticed that I had only one shoe from the pair I had just bought, TK Maxx discourages the use of carrier  bags so I dropped them into my handbag. My bags are always large enough to carry around extra items like a pair of shoes, ironing board and the kitchen sink. I checked the car, the driveway and I mentally retraced my steps but was at a loss to recall where the shoe might be. This is a pattern that I have to admit is being repeated not just occasionally but repeatedly with different items, several times a week. In the last week I have misplaced my mobile, which I had to report to p...

Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek A few months ago my husband surprised me by agreeing to accompany me  to my first Classical concert at The Sage, Gateshead An evening of music including Elgar's Enigma variations  and my very favourite classical piece  Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No1.  Performed by St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, reputedly the best!? The tickets have sat on the mantelpiece since they arrived.  I rearranged my working week and then on Monday  my husband contracted a nasty virus and he couldn't take me. Surprisingly however my 16 yr old daughter offered to go with me,  she seemed very genuine in her offer.  I prevaricated a while considering the weather,  the roadworks,  the drive (again as we were there Friday see post). With excitement gathering for both of us, we got ready,  filled the car with petrol,  at which inopportune time I realised I had left my debit card in Tk maxx 's machine, undaunted I paid cash and we were on our way. We made great ...

The brown parcel has arrived from DHL and I knew immediately it was the course books for my next Open University course An Introduction to Shakespeare. As I seemingly appear to have broken the backs of Philosophy, Haiku poetry and the History of Art, I thought it was time I got my head around the Bard. Usually my heart soars when I receive the long awaited delivery, this time I admit it sank. I had already tried to postpone the start of this until the new year, but the OU were having none of it, as I had partially paid for this course with Tesco - gawdbless 'em- clubcard vouchers. It's a great offer, when Tesco send the statement with £vouchers, the OU quadruples their face value. Its very much appreciated and I thank them for returning a qui - tri - zillionth of their profits back to me, I really do. But If I had changed the date of the course the OU couldn't honour the vouchers. Sod that I wasn't gonna lose out. So my question, to myself really is why ...

My son is a growing lad he's just 14 and is 5ft 10"  so far... but his room is small at only 9ft x 9ft and he is still growing. In our former rambling farmhouse home his room was much larger and he could get up and move around a bit when prodded, to avoid bone calcification or rigamortis,  following several hours a day sitting playing his guitars or  the Internet! In our new home, a much smaller 3 bed bungalow, we have four tall people vying for room and space. We are overflowing into greenhouses and  garage  and may have miscalculated our needs. It isn't ideal but hey that's life.   We do feel bad for our son though and I sat down to see what I could do for him to maximise his  space. Out came ruler, pencil, tape measure and graph paper. I then measured his room, bed,  desk, drawers etc and rearranged them in several drafts. Then I got out the various catalogues to see if I could put to best use any new mix of furniture. I found the ideal items and ran the idea variou...