Stephen's New Blog

I'm delighted to report that Stephen has reconsidered his previous decision and started a new blog.
I know, he could have reactivated the old one, but he wanted a fresh start. He's done some work on it today, which is great.
I hope he carries on with his reading, but this blog gives him an outlet for his photographs and for his feelings and will surely do him a great deal of good.

Saturday PhotoHunt - Important

Sorry this post is so late. I forgot all about it last night, and I've been busy this morning. Still, better late than never as they say, so here it is.

This weeks theme for the PhotoHunt is Important. The most important thing in the world to me is my family. These photos were taken back in 1995, and I have to admit that they were not taken by me.

This first one was taken by Tony Weaver for an article published in the "Sunday Express" on 9th July 1995. The article, written by Amanda Doherty, was a look at the way residents lived without piped water, electricity, or a ferry. This particular photo was never actually published.


Amanda was fascinated by the way we lived, and she came back to write about us for "Best" magazine. The above photo was taken by Trevor McBride to accompany that article.
Now I just want to remind you all that I have two daughters and three sons - and leave you to guess which are which!

If you fancy joining the PhotoHunt fun, just click here, or on the blue PhotoHunters image at the top of this post. Happy hunting.

Crazy Eights!

Siani tagged me with this a while ago, and it's taken me ages to complete it. It's not easy, as I'm not used to telling people how I feel. Still, for what it's worth, here I go . . . . .

1. Eight things I'm passionate about:
1. My family
2. My animals
3. My friends
4. Plants and trees
5. Wildlife
6. Open air
7. Singing
8. Life!
   


2. Eight things I say often:
1. The thing about that is . . .
2. But I told you!
3. I'm tired!
4. I'm hungry!
5. Coffee!!!
6. What do you want for dinner? (3 people, usually 3 meals!)
7. This place is a mess.
8. Good dog.


3. Eight books I've read recently:
1. Temeraire : Naomi Novik
2. Knife of Dreams : Robert Jordan
3. The Innocent Mage : Karen Miller
4. Watchman : Ian Rankin
5. Thud! : Terry Pratchett
6. Forest Mage : Robin Hobb
7. Time to Depart : Lindsey Davis
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows : J. K. Rowling


4. Eight things to do before I die:
1. Hold my grandchild
2. See all my children settled
3. Become an Irish citizen
4. Meet some of my on-line friends
5. Visit some of the fascinating places I read about
6. Learn (and speak) some other languages
7. Sing in Beethoven's Choral Symphony
8. Just SING!


5. Eight songs I could listen to over and over again: (How on earth do I choose just 8?)
1. The House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
2. A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
3. Tears of the Dragon - Bruce Dickinson
4. Send in the Clowns - Judy Collins
5. Space Oddity - David Bowie
6. Beethoven's Ode to Joy
7. What is Life to me Without Thee? - Kathleen Ferrier
8. Handel's Messiah (OK, that's cheating - it's many more than one song!)


6. Eight things that attract me to my friends:
1. An ability to make me laugh
2. An ability to talk intelligently about anything
3. A good sense of the ridiculous
4. Understanding
5. Gentle tact
6. Truthfulness
7. Trustworthiness
8. An ability to put up with me!


7. Eight things I learned in the last year:
1. The world is full of caring people
2. I have a wonderful family (I learn this anew frequently!)
3. I can lose weight, but keeping it off is hard
4. I prefer to shop on my own, but I must write a complete shopping list first
5. I like window shopping (with coffee breaks!) but it's more fun with a friend
6. Now I've lost weight I love buying clothes, particularly in sales
7. I've developed a certain amount of vanity
8. Blogging is easy - except when tagged with difficult memes!


8. Eight people I appreciate enough to tag:
   Searching my soul for the answers to these questions has been difficult to me. I know I could have answered off the top of my head, and I did think of that, but I wanted to be as honest with you all as possible.
   I don't want to pressure anyone, so I'm chickening out of this part. If you feel you'd like to do this one yourself, please feel free to consider yourself tagged!

Stephen's Blog

Well, it's happened again.
Stephen's deleted his blog.
Again.
I admit the latest version wasn't the best, but still . . .
All right, he has a valid point. He feels that blogging is distracting him from doing other things, like using his expensive software to read the books he's always wanted to read. That's going to take up a lot of time. And it's going to require a great deal of concentration.
This is his decision, and I must respect that.

Nice Matters

A bit back, Siani tagged me with the "Crazy 8s" meme, and I've been working at finishing it but finding it hard. I was in need of a break. And then Siani gave me this pretty little award.

Aaah, isn't it sweet?

I must say, it's made my day. Maybe I'll finally be able to finish that meme.

Now I must pass this on. These ladies all have interesting blogs that I love reading, so the Nice Matters Award goes to:

A of A Changing Life

Barbara of Home in France
Liz of Finding Life Hard?

Welshcakes Limoncello of Sicily Scene

Thank you the enjoyment ladies.

Facebook

I've had it with Facebook!
I've de-activated my account (seems there's no way to delete, how creepy is that?)
I'm sorry to any friends I've met there, but we can keep in touch here.
All my family is on Facebook, but they'll just have to contact me by what I think of as more "normal" methods - I have a mobile, I have an e-mail address, what more do they want?
Goodbye Facebook!

Saturday PhotoHunt - Skinny

I have to admit I've been struggling with this week's PhotoHunt! The theme is 'skinny', and I couldn't get my head around it. It slowly came to me that I was seeing skinny things all around me. Winter trees! So here's a group of alders just down our road - even the few catkins waiting for spring look skinny.

And here's a summer picture, from last year - a small and skinny willow tree in our front garden.
That was such a warm and pleasant day - lovely to look back on in this cold weather.

To join the Hunt, click on the link above or on the Photo Hunters symbol. Happy Hunting!

Stephen

Yesterday was busy. Stephen had to take his new scooter for its 500km service, a ride of 34 miles (can't think in kilometers yet!) The scooter is only 125cc, but fortunately it's a quite powerful machine for its size.
Stephen was very worried beforehand (I wasn't, of course - LOL!) as he finds anticipation of any kind almost unbearable. I'm so proud of the way he coped. He set off early while I walked the dog, and we followed on in the car.

I should maybe explain that those 34 miles run through hilly country, and it is winter. He coped with rain (nothing unusual there!) and nasty hail showers. One such shower hit him on a hilltop and left him driving slowly over icy marbles. Once through it he looked back in his mirror and saw the road behind hidden by a white wall of hail.
When he arrived at the shop, he found that the workshop was across the town. He had to follow the mechanic through busy streets and around three fairly large roundabouts. Not an easy trip for him, but he did really well.
I'm so proud of him.

While on the subject of Stephen, let me show you what he gave me for Christmas.

You know I love ear-rings, and these are quite something!

Here's a photo (not the best ever - who is that old woman?) of me wearing the 'gunmetal' pair. He also gave me the necklace.
Nice presents!

Treasure

Way back in another lifetime - well, before Christmas anyway! - I promised to pass on my latest award. So here goes!

First, to Damama, whose treasure of a blog can always make me feel better.

Next to Jane, who gives me lovely things to look at and think about.

And lastly (but far from least!) Pam, whose courage and determination are way out of sight.

Thanks again to Siani for passing it on to me.

PhotoHunt - Delicious

This weeks theme is "Delicious". To me, that always means FOOD! As I'm currently trying to get rid of the results of my seasonal excesses, I thought it wiser to avoid anything too tempting, so I've returned to the past.

When we lived on our island, it was necessary for me to make my own bread. We were a family of seven - and the youngsters all had good appetites. I made three large loaves every day or two - more often if we had visitors!

I used to leave the loaves to cool in our one main room. In warm weather the doors and windows were open, and the smell of fresh hot bread spread far. There were donkeys who could be seen hurrying up the track as the breeze took the scent to them. When they arrived at the door it meant more bread-making soon!

The picture below is NOT of a donkey. This was Declan, our male goat. He was young, and rather pushy, and he liked bread. One day he walked into the kitchen, with his eyes on the fresh bread, which smelled delicious to him!

We were lucky this time. Although he brought two of his children with him (to distract us, I think!) he did not eat our tea.

We were less lucky on another occasion. Somehow we were all briefly out of the house, and the door had been left open by accident. We returned to find him in the kitchen. He'd eaten half of one loaf, and taken chunks out of the two others. He was NOT popular!