Fab, Feisty and Sixty (ish)

Last year I bought myself a new camera online from Tesco. One of those emails arrived in my inbox with a 'deal of the day'  and for me the camera was the dog bollocks, in as much as it had a large 8 mega pixel whatsit .... and a large LCD, and yes I do like things big.. say no more! Oh and it is red! which is almost as good as purple but not quite, like size colour of inanimate objects does matter. It was a great price and the bonus was that it came with a, yes you guessed it, large  memory card. Total cost £74. It arrived quickly but not with the promised memory card, so I contacted Tesco and they apologised, told me they'd run out and would credit me for the cost of the memory card. I found to my surprise a credit of £36.99 in my bank account, so the camera was only £37! I bought the same memory card from Amazon for a few pounds only, so a  result, thank you Tesco! A few weeks ago my girlfriend's washing machine broke down in its last month before the 12 month warrant...

Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek For other participants in  Dot’s  concept, go to  Sky Watch HQ . North, South, East, West standing out on the rotunda balcony at work, yes again, and I noticed that the sky to my left and right were so different so I took one photogrpah to illustrate the differing skies at the four main Cardinal points approx 3.30pm Facing North- The Castle in sunlight, the sky heavy Facing East - Brooding heavy sky Facing South - Rooftops & clouds Facing west  - The Millenium Bridge & a clear sky& sunshine Photostory Friday Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek SkyWatch For other participants in  Dot’s  concept, go to  Sky Watch HQ .

I was sent this yesterday and I thought I would share it... Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, 'Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?' He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a turd. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tyres. So my wife called him a shit-head. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote. Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus. We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired. It's important at our age.

My mother is English, English like a rose or Yorkshire pudding, (sorry about the comparison) so English that if you cut her in half she would, like a stick of rock have GB written all the way through her!  My father is French - as french as garlic Maurice Chevalier or vin ordinaire although there is nothing ordinary about  mon  pere. By his parentage he is actually French/Italian. During my childhood and teenage years, we lived in England, briefly in France and Spain and we emigrated to Canada and then Mexico. When I left school at 16 in England I went to the States to school in upstate New York for about a year, staying with family friends. I have lived in southern England, but more recently in the North 8 miles from the Scottish border. My parents, after several more adventures and sojourns in France, Cornwall and Mexico have settled comfortably in Kent, which I guess if you twisted my arm I would call 'home'. But the truth is, I never have felt that I belong anywhere. I...

BS5 and Suburbia have completed this quiz with answers of one word ONLY... not that easy.. 1. Where is your cell phone? table 2. Your significant other? couch 3. Your hair? brunette 4. Your mother? classy 5. Your father? napoleonic 6. Your favorite thing? family 7. Your dream last night? Gerry 8. Your favorite drink? Gin 9. Your dream/goal? Shop 10. The room you're in? bedroom 11. Your fear? Drowning 12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? healthy 13. Where were you last night? home 14. What you're not? svelte 15. Muffins? raspberry 16. One of your wish list items? Contentment 17. Where you grew up? various 18. The last thing you did? shower 19. What are you wearing? duvet 20. Your TV? shared 21. Your pet? labrador! 22. Your computer? friendly 23. Your life? hormonal 24. Your mood? mellow 25. Missing someone? always 26. Your car? berlingo 27. Something you're not wearing? bra 28. Favorite Store? bookshop 29. Your summer? mixed 30. Your favorite color? purple 31. When is th...

Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek I have once again been inspired to consider and write about a topic discussed on t his blog . The post asked the question, 'is there beauty in decay?' and I was thinking about this and why l like old things, the vintage clothes,  authentically distressed furniture, beautiful tea cups and saucers, old vanity items, the bold colours & prints of vintage silk scarves, to name but a few of my favourite things. My mother is a lover of antique and junk shops and having followed her on endless outings I firmly caught the 'bug' at an early age. In fact my parents ran an antique shop for a time and I was their first customer as I recall I bought a cut glass perfume bottle, which I still have on my dresser. I like nothing better than walking into a shop, a market or a charity shop, wondering what treasure I will find and pondering on what I will be leaving with in my bag. l love tactile old fabrics in jewel colours, velvet, devore, taffet...

For other participants in  Dot’s  concept, go to  Sky Watch HQ . 'A Roman Cumbrian Sky' this is a piece of sky  the sky above Hadrians Wall but ... are you  thinking  that something  is not quite right? Well you would be right ... This is a painted sky  which hangs over  the Hadrians wall exhibit  in the Museum where I work! For other participants in  Dot’s  concept, go to  Sky Watch HQ .

1953 aged 42 My Nana (grandmother) Iris Eleanor Young, June to her friends, was to me a marvellous woman, a glamorous woman and a brave woman. My earliest memory of her was when I was about five or six , I guess she would babysit me as I was often round her home and probably like most little girls, I' d to love looking through her jewellery box and her cupboards 'n' drawers. For some reason I remember I used to play with her box of rubber bands she kept in a drawer, of which there were many - I suppose she would save them or buy them so I always had them to play with. When I got to school age I used them to make french skipping bands. Her makeup and jewellery was a stash of glamour and I felt a sense of naughtiness playing with them I know not why! This memory has a touch of irony as it was many years later I would powder her face and pencil in her eyebrows, after she could no longer do this simple task for herself. Something I recall daily as I pencil mine in. Like Na...

 I don't often have a post in mind to write and then I read other bloggers' posts and I'm inspired by my comment and train of thought, to elaborate on the theme, I just love that! It's like magic! For instance a couple of days ago,  David - authorblog McMahon wrote about things old and worn out (?!)  and asked if there was beauty in decay!  HERE So I have a couple of posts in draft waiting for suitable images. I wonder if anyone else finds inspiration in the same or similar way?

Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek I was fiddling with my mobile phone and exploring the options I didn't know I had,  when I noticed a panorama mode,  so I played some more... the first  was of the extended view of the Castle opposite my work.  I have posted a view of the Castle from the museum before,  but never quite like this... ... and this is the view from behind the picture above. On driving home, well l know it appears lazy and unecofriendly but it was pouring today!! Anyway this is the skyline view in panorama mode! from left The Cathedral then the Castle and then Dixons Chimney  (which is l believe the tallest mill chimney still standing in Europe, can that be right?) this is normal mode and you can just make out the green of the cricket ground through the trees, Not bad for a mobile phone eh? Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek btw. my pho ne is   Sony Ericsson K770i

I read a blog earlier where someone had recently raised a few £K for charity, great stuff, but it left me feeling the cringe factor big time, as the blogger was then praised to high heaven in comments and I dithered about as I wondered if should I write something too. The post was interesting and warm but I felt cold as the emphasis shifted. But all I wanted to ask was what her motivation was in the telling ... and is it about giving or receiving? She obviously wanted to help the charity concerned and to raise awareness during the event itself. But to then 'boast' (my term) about her laudable behaviour and gaining much praise, seems to negate the generous act - in my opinion. I've always considered that one who gives to or enables fundraising for charity- and one can do so in so many different ways be it charity/thrift stores, direct debit, volunteer work etc, do so for enjoyment, self-fulfillment and spiritual enhancement, but surely not for  reward or  even  praise .   ...

... Queen & Quebec http://wednesdayabc.blogspot.com/ RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH Cunard In October 1968, I was ten years of age and the adventure which had begun two years earlier was coming to an end. In October 1966 we emigrated to Canada to start a new life. We left Southampton docks on the Cunard ship Arcadia and five of us shared a small cabin class room, two sets of bunk beds and a cot for my 6 month old sister. We settled in Pointe Claire , Montreal, Quebec. The following year we moved to Mexico City following the death of Papacito, my grandfather. My grandfather was French but longtime Mexican resident. He moved to Mexico as a young man and was latterly the General Manager of the very swish department store Paris, Londres. We left Mexico and flew to New York, where we stayed for a few days in the now long gone Hotel Manhattan, in downtown Manhattan, New York. A few days later we embarked the Cunard ship RMS Queen Elizabeth, a much grander ship I had never seen. First class Verand...

The Wilkins family, 1974, From Reading. I have been following the recent series, 'The Family' on  C4 wednesdays, although rather haphazardly and in the wrong order on the online  C4 player. It sparked my interest because I can recall the first series upon which this one is seemingly based. Way back in 1974 it introduced  us to the Wilkins family and it was considered  groundbreaking at the time. It was probably the first fly on the wall documentary as it was refered to then or now as a reality programme. I was also interested as the family in this series live in Canterbury, my old home town before we upped sticks and moved north in 1996. Both are hardworking and families in the traditional sense, with a mix of teenage and young adult children.  What amazed me is that even though we have moved through nearly three and half decades, the behaviours,attitudes,  arguments and family dynamics were so strikingly similar! I was also amazed to find myself saying  and admittedly so out l...