Some more ramblings

Well been a wee while since I updated my blog.  I had hoped to upload some photos, but for some obscure and unknown reason the photos are uploading upside down, wrong way round etc so I may only manage to add one photo the right way round.

Well a couple of weeks ago Fiona and I met up with our cousin Eileen in the Willow Tea Rooms in Buchanan Street in Glasgow. It was fun to meet up with a member of our extended family that I don't think I've ever met before.  It didn't seem strange, as I thought it would, it seemed as though we'd known each other for years!  One of the nice waitresses even took our photo for us:

 From left to right : Eileen, Moi, and Fiona.  

After a bite of lunch and a cuppa, we went strolling around Glasgow looking to see if we could spot Brad Pitt who was hanging around Glasgow shooting a movie, sadly I can't remember the name of the movie though. But, I did take this photo of a SWAT van ... all rather exciting stuff for a little countly bumpkin like me ...

It was all rather exciting stuff and seeing the SWAT van made up for not seeing Brad Pitt ... at least for me anyway, perhaps Fiona and Eileen would disagree.

So, what else has been happening round here? Well, my birthday BBQ was good fun, even if it was a bit chilly and damp. A little vino was enjoyed by some of us, in particular me.  Not that I had much to drink, but what I did have I enjoyed.  We had lots of yummy birthday cake and I had hoped to upload some photos, but they're all turned every which way but the right way. So, apologies if you have to look sideways:

Lucy and Zinger birthday cake courtesy of Sarah:  

Ooh ... there's a surprise, it came out the right way round! Yay for me!!!!! 

Yummy GIGANTIC cupcake birthday cake courtesy of Valerie:

Clearly I'm getting the hang of this uploading photos the right way round thing ... smart eh?!?!?

Last week we had Ken down to stay for a couple of nights cos he had a hospital appointment in Edinburgh.  On the night he arrived I made a most excellent shepherds pie and it went down a storm.  Lucy had a little bowl of mince that evening for her dinner and the following evening she had the leftover sheppie pie for her dinner.  It was nice to have a couple of days with Ken, even if it was overshadowed a bit by the stress of his hospital appointment.  That said, on the Friday morning before he went home he came along with me when I took Lucy for her daily constitutional ... Ken's comment during the walk was "cor, look how fast she is!"  Clearly he was very impressed with Lucy's Zinger chasing and catching skills and Lucy was in her element showing her speed and expertise. So, a good time was had by all! 

Anyway, now that I'm on a roll with this uploading photos thing, here are some photos of our Lucy modelling her new handmade Willow's Wisps Doggie Scarf :

Oh what a beautiful wee lass she is!

Now ... doesn't she look smart! She got this yesterday at the Dogs Trust Open Day when she came along for the last hour or so. First stop was to say hello to Auntie Fiona and cousins Eileen and Jennifer as they manned (or should that we womanned?) the Willow's Wisps table. Then she made her way along to see Siobhan at the DG table and then on to me at the tarot table.  No doubt as Mike walked around with her she would have got some very admiring looks.  I'm hoping the she'll now appear on the Willow's Wisps web page.  Of course if anyone would like her pawprint, well then, that could be arranged. 

So, yesterday was a pretty cold day, and I spent three hours in the afternoon sitting outside in the cold giving tarot cards readings to help raise funds for the West Calder Dogs Trust (where we got Lucy).  I'm quite pleased that I raised about £80 for the Trust.  But I did get a nice bunch of flowers and a DG baseball cap so that more than made up for it. I also got a lovely little thank you note from the Dogs Trust doggies and that's been put on on the fridge so that I can read it as and when I want to.  It's just a bit of a pity that the first year Willow's Wisps had a table there, it was probably the coldest it's been.  Last year was so warm that I eventually had to unzip my fleece!

After I got home yesterday afternoon from the open day, I was pretty well chilled to the bone. My little tootsies were like blocks of ice ... pretty bad for a summer's day, don't you think?  So, I got all snuggled up with my fleecy slanket and had a nice cup of hot chocolate and a little cake and watched the most excellent of all musicals GREASE.  The greatest ever musical.  Graeme, Eileen, Jennifer and Sarah will all tell you what a fantastic film it is ... mind you, they may not have watched it since the last time I babysat them all!

Here are a couple of other nice photos, which I think you'll all like.  The first one I took yesterday evening from the back door.  It was a beautiful sunset (after a cold, wet and miserable day) and although it's a good photo, it doesn't do the actual view justice.  But here it is:

 

And finally, here's a picture of a little fridge magnet I got whilst I was in America:

And I think that about says it all!

So, in true Forrest Gump style, and until next time  ... that's all I've got to say about that!

Abstract ramblings for a Saturday Afternoon

Man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes. 

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. (George Bernard Shaw).

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself. (RWE)

It's impossible to speak highly enough of the virtues, the dangers and the power of shared laughter. (Francoise Sagan) 

  What a delight it is 

      When, of a morning, 

  I get up and go out 

     To find in full bloom a flower 

  That yesterday was not there

(Tachibana Akemi)

Well, it started off a beautiful morning.  Lucy and I went our for our daily constitutional. I strolled around Bankton Mains and Lucy raced about stretching her little leggies and showing off that she's truly earned her middle name of 'Born to Run'. She raced about the field, running and hiding in the trees, losing her beloved Zinger and retrieving it again from its' hiding place.  She's a smart wee cookie at finding her Zinger (usually, we'll ignore for now the incident at Luce Bay where there's a Zinger Ring riding along on the crest of a wave).  We got back home safely before the rain came on. 

We had another Circle meeting yesterday and I think it went very well.  Next month it's going to be a week early (on the 26th) and we're going to do some psychometry. At least that's the plan, so long as everyone remembers to bring something along with them.  Julie and I enjoyed a bottle of wine afterwards, and Siobhan had a nice cup of tea.  Unfortunately, Fiona had to leave sharpish (mind you we ended up finishing later than we should have!). It was a good evening and many of the things picked up were quite relevant.  Siobhan has kindly offered to take over leading the meditation etc, to allow me to sit in Circle.  I'm quite happy with this idea cos it gives me a chance to take part in the actual Circle itself. Meanwhile, Sarah seems to have noticed some perfume in her flat ... hmm, interesting. Could be a useful training session for the Circle, or maybe we need our 'Ghostbusters' team of experienced mature ladies! 

There is a saying:;

There are two kinds of people: 

Those who say, "I will believe it when I see it."

And those who say, "To see it, I know I must believe it."

While I'm on the topic of mature ladies, I quite like this t-shirt and matching bag (I suppose that this would be the modern version of twinset and pearls!). I wonder if anyone will buy me them for my birthday?

What do you think? Pretty nifty stuff! And they're yellow. I like yellow, its a happy little colour, don't you think? 

I was clearing out some of the boxes of stuff we brought home with us from when we cleared out Mike's mum's house.  There are lots and lots of good sheets which I can use in the motorvan. There are some pyrex plates and things that I can use, and I've also unpacked some of the ornaments.  I came across a westclox clock, still in it's box and in working order. Sadly, we're no longer used to listening to the tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, of a wind up clock, so I wound it up once and now it's just sitting on the sideboard looking retro-chic and pretty.  But, I also came across this interesting little gem:  

It's clearly been well used, and I wondered if perhaps I should use it for the basis of a Julie & Julia type blog. Only problem is that I'm slightly fussy about my food. I don't really fancy (in fact I won't be) trying things like: 

bloater paste; bloater toast; dried haddock(???) in milk; fried smelts; digestible (EH???) fried sausage; bone soup; Delhi broth (gotta be kiddin' me man!); marrow soup; prune puree; hamgoree; dog fish pie (yeah right!); and butter beans with fried suet pudding. Delhi broth??? Delhi broth??? Are they kiddin' me??? A sure fire way to end up with Delhi belly I think! YUK! YUK! AND DOUBLE YUK!    I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!!!!! And, there's other stuff in there that I wouldn't even type the names of ... clearly designed to put you off food for life! Hmm ... maybe the J&J blog isn't such a great idea after all. I think if I lived way back in 1935, I'd be very, very slim and also very, very hungry. That said I'd fit into all those fabby retro 1930's and 1940's dresses which I think looked absolutely super-fabby!

I'm hoping to go through to the market thingy in Glasgow that Fiona's going to be selling her bags at.  I'm hoping to talk Mike into running me through there. He's got a better sense of direction than I have and it's been years since I was driving around the Glasgow area. The streets are all changed into one-way, no-way, pedestrian and stuff and not only would I probably get lost, but I'd probably run out of petrol as well.  Yes, as it's almost my birthday, I reckon that Mike should run me though there.

I think I'm being taken out for my birthday lunch on Tuesday. Not sure where, but so long as I'm able to have a small glass of wine and a pudding, then I'll be happy! Happy, happy, happy!

Well, I think that's probably about all for now folks ... feel free to comment on my blog (lets me know that someone's actually reading it!) ... happy reading!

Oh ... Almost there ... ... ... 

Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more CAKE!

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest!

I believe in loyalty. When a woman reaches an age she likes, she should stick with it. (Eva Gabor)

The older I get, the better I was.

A grandparent is old on the outside but young on the inside.

If you don't learn to laugh when you're young, you won't have anything to laugh about when you're old!

Retirement can be a great joy ... if you can figure out how to spend time without spending money.

The simplest toy, one which even the youngest child can operate ... is called a grandparent. (Sam Levenson)

And finally ... my personal favourites:

Grandmothers are just antique little girls. Yes ... Old Gals Rule!

   ***   Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.   ***

That's all folks ... see ya next time!

Or, as Forrest Gump would say ... that's all I've got to say about that!

Been a while ..........

Well, it's been a wee while since I updated my blog so I thought tonight I'd get that sorted. It's been a fairly busy couple of weeks. Last week we took the van to the caravan site at New England Bay down Stranraer way. We had fairly good weather. Sunny most days but fairly breezy pretty much all of the time. We really just bummed about the van and took Lucy for walks along the beach. Lucy had a super time, playing with The Zinger and chasing the waves as the tide was coming in and going out. Now Lucy found this chasing waves game really, really, really good fun, catching the wave and swallowing as much as possible. Even better was to chase the waves with The Zinger in her mouth, and catch the wave without losing The Zinger. She had a whale of a time. Unfortunately while playing the chasing the waves game, she put The Zinger down in the water and it's now floating around Luce Bay! Oh well, I guess some other we doggie has got a new toy and is enjoying playing with Lucy's Zinger!

I read three books while we were away. Charles Street by Danielle Steele (it was ok, not one of her best efforts), Untied which is Meredith Baxter's autobiography (interesting) and the Stephen King book of short stories (it was ok but I've read better). So, basically we had pretty much of a chillin' in the breeze sort of week. I did enjoy the occasional glass of wine.

I'm working on the planning and organising for my birthday BBQ on the 13th. I just hope it's not too windy and that it doesn't rain! Sarah's making my birthday cake and I'm really excited about that and can't wait to see what she comes up with. Mike is being ever so organised about my pressie this year. He's already been out and bought me TWO pressies. AND I didn't have to order them online myself. I know what both pressies are and I'm really, really pleased with them both. We were through at Costco the other day to check prices of burgers and stuff and I've bought lots of paper plates and plastic tumblers and stuff. I'm really looking forward to the BBQ and I just hope we remember to check out that it works ok. So it's starting to become organised.

It's been a busy week this week. Today a I met up with one of my friends from Lloyds (Lesley, who does my annual Christmas cards and jewellery party) at Frankie & Benny's in South Queensferry for some lunch. I was really good and DIDN'T order pepperoni pizza and I DIDN'T have a sweet. Mind you, I did have a LARGE glass of wine. We had a nice lunch and a nice catch-up chat. It was good to see her.

On Friday I'm meeting up with Irene, who's home from Spain for a few weeks. We're going to catch-up over a morning of coffee and retail therapy. Should be a pleasant few hours. I may even buy myself a new pair of shoes and a new handbag. It'll be nice to see Irene again cos I haven't seen her for a while.

Well guys, it's half 10 so I'm heading off to bed. So g'night all!