Busy, busy, busy!

Well it's been a busy few days! Development Circle on Friday evening went well, despite 4 last minute call-offs, but there may be an additional meeting this coming Friday. Continuing on the psychic stuff ... I had been asked to help out at a psychic evening yesterday evening, with the funds going to charity. We were a bit concerned when we pitched up to find that they were also holding a Pampered Chef party! This meant that the ladies wanting a card reading had all been drinking. First rule of psychic work ... NEVER mix your spirits. It was a bit of a shambolic evening as they hadn't set out an area for us to work in. The event was taking place in a childrens nursery and the tables and chairs we were expected to use were for pre-schoolers! Now I was the youngster in our group and I struggled with the titchy chairs, so I hate to think about how Mo and Ina coped! I guess you could say it was an interesting evening! So after two very late nights, today I'll be taking it easy. Doing some washing, a little light reading and / or a good movie on the tv. Just wish I had some chocolate though that would give me an energy boost!

It's been pretty stormy out today and I think summer is a long time coming! That said, I do believe that the weather's to improve towards the end of the week. Maybe with June just around the corner the weather will start to pick up. Fingers crossed. I'm just hoping we get reasonable weather whilst we're on our holidays!

Well better get back to doing some housework.

Thanks for reading this!

Things that make me happy

I like these words from You are my Sunshine:
So let the sun shine in
Face it with a grin
Smilers never loose
And Frowners never win
So let the sun shine in
Face it with a grin
Open up your heart and let the sun shine in

There are lots of other things that make me feel happy. Things like walking Lucy through the park on a nice warm and sunny day. I also like being down at Cramond. It's a lovely walk and it's nice to see the water. It's especially nice on the days that we buy a coffee.

I love pizza, especially pepperoni. There's no better food on the planet. Pizza and a nice large glass of wine, Chablis, if I've got a bit of extra cash.

I like sitting at the van on a quiet day, just watching the world go by. It's particularly nice if there are lots of birds singing. Sitting at the van in the early morning sipping my first cuppa of the day.

If I'm in need of a little quiet time I like to watch Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail and Hope Floats. They're all nice easy watching films and make me feel good inside. Again, the experience is enhanced greatly by the addition of a glass of wine.

I love reading and really like the Robert Goddard novels and the Lee Child novels. I love reading magazines and I adore cookery books.

I like looking at my bank statements, but only on months when I have money at the end of my month rather than months when I have month left at the end of my money.

I like reading those little books with lots of little sayings and words of wisdom.

But most of all I like spending time with my loved ones. If anyone's ever stuck for a gift for me, just give me the gift of your time (of course the experience is greatly enhanced by the addition of milk chocolate and wine).

Oh good stuff ... it's working again!

Well, haven't posted anything for quite a few days now cos I couldn't get this to load properly, but this morning it looks like business as usual!

Just sitting listening to Neil Diamond chatting to Chris Evans. Did you know that Neil Diamond's middle name is Leslie? Well, I didn't know until I googled him.

Have had a busy few days and met up with friends for dinner yesterday evening at The Original Hotel in Roslin. Have to say, food was pretty good and there was an excellent choice. Today we're off to Frankie and Benny's for lunch and I shall have my favourite pepperoni pizza ... roll on lunchtime!

Before that need to walk our Lucy Lu. Not sure if I should go to Bankton Mains or to head down to Cramond. Hmm decisions, decisions!

I also need to start getting organised for the Circle meeting on Friday and I'd also better send text messages to remind everyone. Looking forward to seeing Valerie and hope she enjoys the meeting!

Hope you're all still enjoying my ramblings... have a super day all!

Beautiful Sunday ... beautiful photo ... purple hat day

I came across this photo quite a while ago and thought it was beautiful. It's also purple which is one of my favourite colours. Purple is a very interesting colour. My very favourite colour is blue, and purple is like a shade of blue. There's something very soothing and calming about purple. It tends to make me feel quite, umm, thoughtful and maybe a bit pensive. I guess what I mean is that it makes me think about things. It also makes me feel thankful for what I have in my life, and by that I mean the people in my life (yes, all you guys and gals reading this amazing, life affirming blog). It's funny how some people only come into your life for a short while, but others are always there. And, it's really nice when you have this type of friendship:

The best friend you can have is one you can sit on the porch with and not say a word,

then get up and feel like that was the best conversation you've ever had.

 

Of course, even although it says friends, it also means my family ... you are my friends, my circle, my buddies. 

When I wear purple, I always feel good about myself. It also makes me feel very positive about life and what I would like to do with my time. I've always liked purple. When I was about 16 I had a purple skirt and a lilac ribbed top, it was sleeveless but had a roll neck (actually, I think the top might have been Fiona's!). I always loved wearing them together. For some reason it seemed very daring! Mind you, that might have been because I usually wore my school uniform and so anything other than that would seem daring ... anyway, I digress. Wearing that outfit used to make me feel quite grown up, sadly I didn't realise that 40 years later there would be a Purple Hat poem circling the world and that purple would then symbolise women of mature years, with poor dress sense, but with a fantastic sense of humour! Well, I reckon that about sums me up. My dress sense is, at best, questionable ... BUT ... I did buy a jacket last week and the nice lady in the shop said to me ... "you do know that's the jacket Twiggy wears in the advert, don't you?"  So, I may not have dressed like (or looked like) Twiggy way back when, but now in my purple hat years, clearly I do. She may be a little taller, a little less well rounded but clearly she has good dress sense. As for my sense of humour ... well only you guys and gals know the answer to that one!

Anyway, all this rambling about purple is not only because of the picture, but also because tomorrow I should take delivery of my fantastic purple handbag! When it arrives, I shall dress up in my bright pink Horse and Hound Hoodie (thank you Valerie), with my purple bag (with my little Highland Pony, Hamish attached ... again thank you Valerie), with my new holiday shoes and my grey hair ... hmm, all that's missing is the purple hat (but I do have some beautiful purple ribbon) ... but clearly as I don't have a purple hat, I'm now officially not old and grey (just a little grey). Of course, I hope you all realise that this will be the outfit I wear as I board the Continental Airlines flight, entering the business class area with dignity, grace and elegance (and ask immediately where the toilet is) looking just like Jackie O (yes, I'll remember my sunglasses [I hope]). I'll arrive in the US looking every inch the supermodel. People will think that I've spent my whole life travelling business class ... little will they know that I hate flying and will have endured a 7 or 8 hour white knuckle ride from Glasgow.

Well, enough rambling for now, I really need to get back to my parapsychology studying. But before I finish ... to all you Purple Hat Gals out there ... have a Beautiful Sunday!  

PS : I've just remembered ... I used to wear some fantastic little love beads with my lilac top ... now, there's a blast from the past!!!!!!

Busy ... busy ... busy

It has been a busy few days and today I've been doing a bit of catch up. I'm just over a week behind with my parapsychology course, so this weekend will be spent trying to catch up.

We were down at Cramond with Lucy this morning and it was beautiful. Wee bit of a chilly breeze, but it was beautiful and sunny until we got to the car when we got a little bit of rain.
On a good note, I'm having chicken curry for dinner tonight, washed down with a little glass of vino. It's Friday and I deserve a nice wee glass of wine.

Also, series 8 of NCIS is on FX so I'm going to watch that.  I should really use my treadmill tonight, but I've finished all of my 24 dvds and don't have anything else to watch that will keep me focused. I'll probably just start watching 24 from Series 1 again, and watch all the special features, extended scenes and suchlike.  I may even be lucky enough to find out what's in Jack's bag. I still reckon it's his piece (sandwich) and a toilet roll (nearly every male I worked with in RBS who carried a briefcase seemed to have a toilet roll in the case, so I reckon there's one in Jack's bag).

Well, I'd better stop rambling for now, but before I do, here are a couple of words that I just learned today and had to look up the meanings:

• veridical : meanimg coinciding with reality
• temporal contiguity : meaning 2 experiences happen very close together in time resulting in an association betwen the 2 experiences being formed

See ya'll soon!

Travelling and Learning : Isobel's life quotes

The other day I was talking about things that I like. Well, today I'm going to talk about short phrases that I like.

I read a book once (well I've read lots of books) by Anne Tyler. Actually I've read a few of her books. They're quite interesting books. But this one in particular had the words "Travelling and Learning". For some reason these words stuck in my mind. I think that it refers to the journey through life. At least, I like to think that's what it means. I try to look at life that way.

I also like the phrase "Moon over Water". It sounds nice. Very calm and relaxing. It's how I view meditation. Moon over water is symbolic in meditation. It represents the calmness of the mind and seeking clarity.

Life is uncertain, eat pudding first ... I aspire to this every day! Jelly, jelly and more jelly!

Don't whistle with custard in your mouth : common sense really, but it's just such a brilliant saying!

Never stand up in a canoe : again common sense and not something I'm ever going to try!

Sit down your rockin' the boat. Nicely Nicely sang this in Guys & Dolls. It's just such a chirpy song. Now that was a super musical and I'd like to see it again sometime.

Tight shoes show in the face : hmm one of those 'been there, done that' comments!

And let's finish with this amazing little gem :
"There's no problem that can't be ignored if we really put our minds to it." King Ralph. 

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I've been having a lazy afternoon. I've watched 3 films that I Sky+'d. The first one was absolute rubbish so I watched about 20 minutes then deleted it. It was called something like 'Babe its you'. Had a very young Rosanna Arquette in it. The next one had Sandra Bullock and River Phoenix in it and was about budding country music kids. It was also pretty rubbishy. Then I watched Circle of Ei8ht and was all set to be scared out of my wits, but it was rubbish as well. So I'm now going to use the treadmill (1 hour = 3 miles) and then have a shower, do my hair and give my little tootsies a pampering session. Which reminds me, I wonder if Eileen will be making any more of that nice body / hand / foot scrub she gave me for Christmas.

I'll also get some more washing on and I'm going to change the bed. Then, I might just have an early night, file my nails and watch Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Oh and I'll have that last glass of wine! Sadly I won't be having any chocolate.

And I'll check in on Fiona's blog!

Photo of Lucy at Cramond

Well, I'm mightily impressed with my technical skills here (and thanks, of course, to Jennifer who provided me with an idiot's guide to adding photos to my blog ... credit where credit is due!). 

And, I've also managed to work on the page from my laptop, so that's progress!

Once I've got some more photos on the laptop, I'll see about uploading some more. The photo today was taken just last week when we were down at Cramond for a stroll. It was a beautiful day, but mighty chilly!

So ... for now ... watch this space!

Things I like

I like the number 4. It's my favourite number.
But, I also like words. I like words that sound nice, sound unusual and unique. So, the word I've been thinking of today is bijoux. I think it sounds really nice and has a sort of bohemian ring to it. It also has a nice meaning.
Bijoux : a small and delicately worked piece.

There are other words that I like too. Serendipity. It has a really nice meaning.
Serendipity : making fortunate discoveries by accident.

I like the colour blue. It's my favourite colour. It's the colour of healing and also the colour of communication. I also like purple and I love yellow. Yellow. It's such a happy colour, don't you think? I love yellow flowers.

I love daffodils, those big daisies (such happy flowers!), yellow fresias and yellow roses.

There are lots of other things I like but I'll save that for another blog.

Uh oh!

I suppose as one gets older bits start to fall off! Fortunately for me it's just a little bit of tooth, and hopefully nice Mr Dentist man will sort that on Tuesday. Fingers crossed!

This is turning out to be a bit of a rubbish day. Lucy's Ring Zinger launcher broke (DIY fix by moi), Lucy then lost the Ring, I then lost the Zinger Launching Glove (ie my left hand glove). Fortunately I found the glove but a passing dog walker gave me a strange look.

Moving swiftly on, I have my very first development circle meeting this evening. I'm sort of organised for it, but have a couple of things to print off first. With the way today has been going, I reckon the printer will run out of ink. Now if any of you would like to come along to the circle, you'll be made very welcome. Fingers crossed that it all goes ok. If it's warm enough I'm hoping to use the summerhouse, if not then we'll just use the livingroom. Just giving a quick tidy round (to dust or not to dust, that is the question), then I'll pop dinner in the oven (lasagne and garlic bread, sadly not homemade but yummy anyway). Clearly I can't have a glass of wine with dinner, but I can have one later. Fingers crossed that the circle goes ok and that everyone who says they're coming actually turns up. Will let you know how it goes. See y'all soon.

Forever in my mind, always in my heart.

Private William H. Goldie
12894
Unit: D Coy. 11th Bn. Royal Scots.
Cemetery: Duisans British Cemetery Etrun, Pas De Calais, France

Details:
Military Medal
Injured on 3 May 1917
Died of wounds 5th May 1917  
Age 27. 
Son of Mrs C. D. H. Goldie of Louisville Drumchapel, Glasgow, and the late Andrew Goldie. 

William was wounded sometime between 3.35am and 5am on the morning of 3rd May 1917 during the Battle of Arras. Sadly he died of his wounds on the 5th of May 1917.

For our yesterday, today and tomorrow we thank you.

If anyone would like to see Williams details go on to the CWGC website and do a search for William H Goldie and you'll find him listed. You'll also be able to view a photo if his headstone.

On the bottom of William's headstone the family had the following words inscribed:

"GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS"

Photo

Hmm I think technology may be getting the better of me cos I can't quite get the hang of this uploading photo thing! Oh but I can tell that this blogging thing is going to be tougher than I anticipated, but I'm up for the challenge (I'll send Jennifer an email asking for an idiot's guide).

On a positive note, whilst out with Lucy for our daily constitutional I stood admiring the beautiful blue sky and watching the vapour trails from the aeroplanes flying high overhead. Soon that'll be me heading off to Chicago!

Now, back to the problem of how to upload a photo ... watch this space!

Day 1 blog

Cousin Valerie suggested that I start a retirement blog, so here it is. Shootin' the Breeze is my personal journey through early retirement. It'll include my ramblings, photos and various words of wisdom. Basically it'll cover:

Forget regret or life is yours to miss, no other road, no other way, no day but today. 

Shootin' the Breeze 
A mildly intelligent conversation about anything ... or nothing. 

Shootin' the Breeze : my personal journey through retirement (from paid employment, not life!). 

Please enjoy my journey ... travelling and learning.

Isobel.