L O L :o)

Hello again. I was thinking about the laughs we had yesterday, we were all in a jovial mood and we bounced jokes off one another. Whatever topics we chatted about one of us always twisted it around to create another chuckle, or in some cases a real humdinger of a belly laugh. I like people like that, those you feel comfortable with, those who you can be yourself with and not have to put on a show. It makes life a lot more relaxed and easy going if you can say, here is me, take me or leave me, it's up to you. 

Today I am showing you this awful picture of myself. Years ago when I was a teenager, I would not have dreamt of letting anyone see me in this state. Before I stepped out of the door I had to put on a show for the world, where I looked presentable, fashionable, and as attractive as I could make myself with a bottle of  foundation cream and a paint box. 

Look at me now, the older I get the braver I get.  

I am now able to show the real me to the world, someone who is able to laugh at myself, and not take life too seriously. I don't worry about what other people think of me, because I like me as I am, and before you like anyone else, you have to like yourself first. Yes that might seem self centred and smug, but I would rather be happy, than be a miserable old grouch.

My message is simple, look for the fun in your life, laugh at your mistakes, laugh when you make an almighty cock up, and don't be afraid of making yourself look silly. Now go and look in the mirror, and bluddy well laugh.

Have a fun day. Toodle pip.

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A walk with friends

Hi de hi, the walking has started. Today I went a walk with my two buddies, Paul and Paul. We went over the Humber Bridge and parked at South Cave. Paul was the leader, the one on the left, he got the route off the internet. I took my map anyway, because I like to plot out where I am going. I had done some of it before, and you may remember the picture of the two bendy wooden benches, at Little Wold Plantation. 

The weather wasn't very good when we started off, heavy clouds which rained down on us a few times. Misty and damp, glad I had the brolly. The ground underfoot was muddy and slippery.

We walked alongside a dismantled railway line for a while, then there was a long climb through Low Hunsley Plantation. Boy was I sweating when I got to the top, I think I had too many layers on. At the top there was a vast expanse of wide open farmland, and the wind was whipping across, it was freezing cold, I was glad that I hadn't taken any layers off.

Then on to Drewton Manor, we found a sheltered spot in a barn to eat our lunch. 

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We meandered down the lane of the large estate and spotted Drewton Manor, half hidden through the trees. There are holiday cottages to let.

We crossed over the A1034 and headed for North Cave. Coming into the village the chickens were enjoying their foraging. The weather had changed and the sun came out. 

The church stands splendid on the corner. I like the way the shadow of the tree is thrown across it.

Out of North Cave down a long straight road, over the dismantled railway, and on to Everthorpe. I think this picture is elsewhere on the blog because I have been here before. The grey skies have all gone and now it's a beautiful shade of blue.

Across some very muddy fields out of Everthorpe, we then skirted round the edge of a golf course. Chance to scrape a bit of mud off our boots. Here are the boys standing outside the gatehouse of the Castle Hotel, at West End on the way back to South Cave.

Back to the car by 3.30pm, and home by 4 o clock. I've checked the miles on bikehike.co.uk, it came out at ten exactly. Ignore the pink line, that's from a previous walk.

I've had a brilliant day, lots of fun, and a good laugh. I've got such great friends here in the village. Now, where to next  ;o))

Ooooh, I've just noticed, I've gone past the six years of blogging, 'twas the 2nd January 2009 when I started. Happy Anniversary my little blog, and thank you to my bloggerettes who have stuck with it.

Toodle pip.

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Monday's musings

Hello, Not a lot done today, been bimbling around and socializing. Monday is a village day, starting with the Craft Club. We almost had a full house this morning and it was catchup time with everyone chattering at once, and not much crafting getting done. Then a dog walk, then lunch, then the mobile library van and a natter with Stan the man. My fave mag arrived through the letter box, oooh, excitement, couldn't wait to get my sticky fingers into this, so an hour was spent drooling with a mug of coffee. I can be a real lazy slob when I put my mind to it, ha ha.

It's that time of year when I am thinking of walking. Itching to go off on a trek again. As soon as we get some longer days I will be off. I got a free book today, there are bookshelves in the Village Hall, people leave their unwanted books for anyone to take. You can keep them, or read them and take them back, or add some of your own if you have any to get rid of. I found this one all about The Living Countryside. Exploring the land in different parts of the country, looking at the animal and plant life. Some smashing pictures of places I have been to, and some that I hope to visit. Reading these kind of travel books makes me want to put my boots on and go now.

My Anglian Water bill arrived the other day, I get two a year for the water I use, plus it includes  the cost of taking the grey water away. Total for 12 months is �70.55. Out of that, only �15.55 is the cost of the actual clean water which comes into the house. The rest is made up of the standing charge and the taking away of the waste water. There's not a lot more I can do to bring the cost down there. I also get two bills from Severn Trent every year, for the surface water drainage from my property. This is charged at �61.10 per year, I am on a measured drainage band 2 tariff. So my total water charges are �131.65 a year. I will still be frugal with my water usage, even though it wouldn't make much difference if I used a bit more than my normal 10 cubic metres. It makes me feel better to flush the toilets with bath and rain water.

Utility bills due soon, wonder what they will be. Anyway. I'll cut you loose. I'll get back to my magazine, bought with my Tesco Vouchers I may add, in case any of you think I have been splashing the cash  ;o)

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Colour me happy

Hello. I've just found a fab little vid on yoootooob. I was singing Petula Clark's song to myself today, Colour my world, and thought I'd find it. This version is so vibrant. Take a look, it's fun, it's happy, and full of energy. Brilliant.

Has that got you in a happy mood, it certainly did it for me. My colour photo for today is.......

..... my washing. We've had a lovely sunny day, although it has been quite cold. No grey skies, but frosty on the ground. I wasn't sure if it would dry, but it has. 30 minutes at 30 degrees, same as I do all my washing, I never change the dials.

If you can read upside down you might be able to make out the logo on the front of the red and yellow teeshirts, this gives away the age of them. I started the Lady Truckers Club in 1986, we couldn't afford teeshirts at first so a company sponsored us and provided them. Once we had enough money in the kitty a couple of years later, we were able to afford our own, without company advertising on them. So these teeshirts are about 25 years old. That's good going isn't it, they have hardly faded at all. I wear them all the time, usually two or three layers in the winter, and singly in the summer. I wear teeshirts every day because I find them so comfortable, and best of all, I don't have to iron them. Ironing is banned in this house.

I had more of the pasta for lunch, but still had some left, so I made up half a mug of veg gravy in the microwave, cut up four nutty patties into small pieces, put it all in a pyrex dish, grated some cheese over it and microwaved the lot. My dinner for tonight. Eee by 'eck it were greet.

Are we all back to normal now? All decs put away for another year. I was going to get mine out but in the end I couldn't be bothered. All done and dusted, yeah, great. Now lets get on with this new year we have ahead of us. I'm off for a barf. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.

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Nuts about nuts

Hello. I'm getting lost with the days, what with having the holidays mid week, I thought it was Sunday today. Not a very nice start, it was very dull, and raining. 

I know some of you like to know what I eat, sorry I'm not good with the recipes, I just make it up. If you read my blog regularly you will see lots of photo's of vegetables, because that's what I like best. I don't care if it doesn't look like a meal from a posh restaurant, I know it's going to taste delicious, well most of the time, ha ha. You can't really go wrong with steamed veg, all you need to do is prick them with a fork while cooking, and removed them from the heat pretty sharpish before they turn to mush. I don't usually have any anything else with them so as soon as they are ready they are eaten. A sprinkle of grated cheese is lovely. Occasionally I might make half a mug of veggie gravy in the microwave, if I can be bothered. Or as a treat I might buy some dips, or mayo. The taste of slightly crunchy sprouts is divine, oh, and broccoli is just scrumptious. My dinner from two days ago. 

A while ago I bought a box of Caffe Latte, I fancied something a bit different to plain Nescafe. I used some of the single sachet's, but the taste didn't excite me, not enough coffee in them.These three have been in the cupboard for ages. What to do with them. Empty them into the jar, and mix ordinary coffee in with them. Nothing wasted in this house.

I fancied some pasta yesterday. I never buy sauce in jars, always make my own, it's simple enough. I chopped a large onion into a medium size pan and added a portion of frozen home grown runner beans. Cook them in a slug of oil until they start to soften. Add whatever spices you have. I used garlic powder and turmeric, and a shake of this and that, ha ha. Chuck it all in. Then I added a tin of chopped tomatoes, and simmered a little while longer. When ready I zapped it with the stick blender. It was lovely. I made three portions of pasta and two portions of sauce. I ate one last night, one tonight, and the rest of the pasta I will eat with cheese and mayo tomorrow,

I had some packets of chopped nuts which needed using up, I eat a lot of nuts, so I thought I would see if they would turn into nut butter if I pulverized them in the food processor. I also have some linseeds so I put them in as well. It was a fairly stiff consistency so I added a slug of olive oil. Then I tasted it, yuk, not great. What to do next. 

I had to divide the mix in half because there was too much for the mixer to cope with. I opened a tin of chick peas and added that, plus some spices, and a squirt of tomato ketchup. Much better consistency now. 

Next I fashioned it into small patties. The mixture was sticking to my disposable gloves, I prefer to use them rather than use my bare hands. Under the grill they went. I got 18 out of it. They taste quite nice, an improvement would be more curry powder, a bit more spicy would be better. They are fine hot or cold, and would be a great addition to add to a snack box.

I wanted to top up the pet food so I went off to a small retail park this afternoon, not very far away. A few years ago most of the shops closed as they went out of business, but new companies have moved in to take their place. It's a nice place to shop now. Not too busy, and plenty of parking. Yes it's out of town, but it's an old established park, not like the brand spanking new ones that are springing up everywhere. It's got shops where I can actually afford to buy things. Poundstretcher, Home Bargains, Dunelm, Pound Shop, Iceland, and Matalan. If anyone needs sugar, it's still 49p in Poundstretcher. I got some Quorn burgers, sausages, and roast from the freezer in Iceland, all half price at �1 each.

Today's colour is.......blue. I didn't have far to go to take this. The daffodils are coming up in my back garden, near to the back door, and I keep stepping on them. A plastic ball on a stick does the trick to remind me to walk round them.

Hey, it's Saturday night, chill time. Thanks for looking in. Have a nice Sunday. I think it's going to rain again ;o(( Toodle pip.

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Choose your word

Hello. Thank you all for joining in the 'Word for the year', some excellent ideas there. Inspiration for me to write this blog post, so here are a few comments on what comes to mind when I read them.  They are all good ones, all chosen because they mean something special to you.

Hope. A great one to start off with. We all need hope, that things are going to turn out right, and that we don't encounter too many problems throughout the year. Hope brings us something to look forward to.

Positive. Keeping a positive state of mind does not come easily to everyone, there are ups and downs. Sometimes the negatives are overwhelming. I find it helps if I remember that time moves on, and every day is not the same. I have had negative thoughts in the past, everyone does at some point, but as I often say, you can't change what has already happened and a new day is always a fresh new start. I tell myself I will not let the negatives swallow me up, and I look for positives to replace them. When something goes wrong, I  think it could have been much worse.

Calm. A good one. How to stay calm when all around you is madness? No one can say how they are going to react to a certain situation, you don't know until it happens. You can practice being calm by putting some distance between you and the madness. Walk away, find a quiet place, and breath deeply. Give yourself  time to work things through.

Fragrant. Aaah, yes, smells, these can bring a sense of calm. I love freshly cut grass, the perfume from the lime tree at the end of the road, freshly percolated coffee, walking past a chippy, to name a few.

Kind. Yes, another good one, it doesn't take much effort to be kind. Thank you for suggesting Luke Cameron's Good Deed Diary. He is a very kind man and did a good deed every day of the year.

One reader chose a phrase, 'Have some more fun'. Well I totally agree with this one, you can never have too much fun. It's easy to find and needn't cost too much, there are lots of fun things to do which are free. I like to revert back to childhood and have silly fun. I let my ideas run free. Every time I come across friends with kids in the street, I always talk to the kids. I love to see babies smile and kids chuckle. They must think I am a little bit bonkers. Make life fun for others and you will have fun yourself.

Streamline. The reader suggests declutter, simplify, and lose weight. Three good ways to streamline your life. Other related words I can think of are, pruning, trimming, dumping, and ignoring.

Mortgage. Yep, you could have a year of attacking it with every spare penny you have. Knock it down and destroy it.

Natural. The reader is thinking of fibres, wood, stone, and authenticity. These all bring a sense of calm and bring you closer to nature.

Cheerful. I'm all for this. Nobody likes a misery guts, be brave, show the world you are a smiley person.

Light. The more light we can get on our bodies the better. I like to get outdoors as much as I can. I like natural lights in the sky from the stars, the sun and moon. I like to see someone's face light up with a big smile. I like the flickering lights from candles.

Listen. Even the howling wind is good to listen to, it's loud today. Don't you just love to hear sheep calling to each other, and the eerie sound of an owl. I like the whirring of a helicopter, and the chuff chuff of a steam train.

Peace. The reader talks of inner peace, calming down thoughts. Sometimes it is hard to switch off, I sometimes have difficulty. I try distraction, to keep busy, do something else. I sometimes find I have to make a conscious effort to block things from my mind. It usually works and I can move on.

Positive. Having something to look forward to is good for positive thoughts. The reader has some changes on the horizon and is excited. Good for you. I will keep positive for you. Positives are empowering, negatives are detrimental.

Cozy. as in a nice place to live, home, happy, warm, sanctuary. Can't argue with that.

Reduce reuse recycle. Yep, good for the planet, use up what you already have. Buy second hand, gratefully accept hand me downs, keep your purse closed.

Gratitude. One of my favourite words. Every day I am grateful that I am still here. Life is an amazing gift.

Smile. Yes, let's all smile. What's that song, Smile when heart is breaking, my goodness I've had lots of those. My heart has been smashed into smithereens, but here I am, fully recovered, and smiling.

Determination. Love that one. If someone tells me I can't do something, my response is, I'll show you who can't. Come back later when I've done it. If you really want to do something you will do it.

What a great selection of words, thank you all for sharing. If anyone hasn't yet chosen one, why not pick one off the list.

And my colour for today is ...........

There are tons of berries still up there.

Dog poo bin. All these trees will be pollarded.

That's all for now, going to do a bit of sewing while I watch catch up. Have a nice weekend.
Toodle pip

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Colour my world

Hello and welcome to the first day of a brand spanking new year. Nice of you to call in. I'll try again with an answer to this question. 

Terra28 December 2014 at 03:55

Some years I choose a word for the year, do you ever do that?

Thanks Terra. I haven't thought about doing this, but now you come to mention it, yes, I will. The first word that came to mind as I was out for a morning walk was COLOUR, so that is my chosen word. I will open my eyes and look for colour every day. Even if the world looks grey and gloomy I will search for colour where I least expect it. I will try and find colour where there is none. It isn't hard when you walk around a pretty village, there are little pockets of colour everywhere. 

I pass these beautiful purple berries on my way to the church. They seem to last ages, but look closely, some of them are beginning to shrivel a bit and lose their colour. 

 A few red berries left for the birds, against a background of yellow and green variegated leaves.

I wonder what has caused the green mould to form such a perfect pattern on the wooden fence?

As I enter the churchyard I see colour. Trevor is trimming the branches from the trees. His red overall stands out against the dark trunk.

It's a hard job he has, there are three avenue's of trees to cut back, it will take him a while. If he does one a day it will probably take him to the end of the month. 

They look pretty ugly when they have been butchered, but they will come back.

Oh look, red has been joined by yellow. Graham, the previous church gardener, is out for a morning walk with Lady dog.

Oh my, more colour has arrived, people pass through here on the way to the shop. Now we have orange and purple. Little girl is eating my favourite ice cream, she has a Magnum.

So what colour is your world? Do you see things in fifty shades of grey, are you locked in your own little world and don't see the colour beyond it? It's there, you just have to find it. I am going to look for colour every day because it makes me cheerful, and it lifts my spirits.

Colour blindness must be quite difficult to cope with, I'm sorry if you have this problem. I have worked as a fundraiser for the RNIB so have a little understanding of visual impairment. If you are in this category, and you can't see very well, please join in and let us know what other senses you use to bring a little colour into your life. I would be very interested to know.

Have you chosen a word for the year, share it with us, please.

Thank you for all your comments and emails over the last few days. Enjoy the rest of today.
Toodle pip.

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