Patricia

These are the Chinese symbols for mother and daughter, I am thinking of having tattooed.





There is an amazing woman in my life, who is the single most important woman in my World.

Her name is Patricia, she is 5ft 5in, takes size 8 clothes (UK sizes), has short mahogany hair,(well that's the colour this week) in a really young and funky style. She has the biggest most expressive brown eyes you will ever see, she's very pale skinned and proud of it, has the tiniest feet, which she hates, but are so cute. She dresses modestly, but is very much a trendsetter. Never showing too much flesh.

Patricia is feisty, kind, loyal, a complete pain in that rear at times. Has a temper that is scary at times, but she can hold her own with the best of them. She is self motivated, works hard, even if her job is not the one she dreamed of having.

Patricia is so utterly funny at times and cracks me up. She has a strong morale code, lives by her principals and beliefs, never failing to remember who she is and where is comes from.

Patricia is a rare mixture of a modern young woman, with old fashioned morality.
A woman who is cape able of baking the lightest of Victorian sponges and while waiting for that to cook, can change her own car wheels. She is a tomboy who is also very feminine

The poem above sums up my feeling for this wonderful and beautiful creature, who while at times drives me mental and stresses me and at other times amazes and makes my heart burst with joy and pride.

Who is she...my daughter

The Alhambra.

I adore The Alhambra in Granada Andalusia.

I first discovered it through the works of Washington Irving. In case you don't know who he is, he wrote Rip Van Winkle and The Legend Of Sleepy Hollows.

What started out as a joke my Papa (Grandad) made about one of my brothers being a Rip Van Winkle, lead to a lifelong love affair with the Alhambra.

There I was in a library (you do remember libraries I hope, those big buildings with books in...oh and I don't want to hear that you don't read) when I came across the book Rip Van Winkle. I loved his writing and went on to devour his whole works, finally reading Tales of the Alhambra.

By 14yrs old, I had gone on and on so much that Papa took me to Granada to see the Alhambra.

The Alhambra, just jumped off the pages at me and thanks to Washington Irving wonderful writing, I felt that I had come home.

I took my partner there a few years back and as I had gone on so much about the place, he too felt like he knew it as well.

It is a wonder of Spain, a true beauty.

I can't wait to go back again but at the moment can only dream.

I Is Computer Cat

Introducing Misty......

When my youngest was aged 4 to 5, he use to play out with his older brother and sister. Now it's not as bad as it sounds, as the street we live on is set way back from the ones surrounding it and in fact when new people enter the street they believe they are turning into an alleyway, it's like a little secret hidden in London....I love it.

Anyway he came running in shouting at the top of his little voice, "mam, mam, look what I got, oh innit lovely...can I, can I keep it, aww go on mam, can I, it's lovely"

As I turned to look at what it was he had brought home *this* time. Indeed, Callum had at this stage of his little life brought home a small zoo full of animals, a mouse, a frog with one of it's back legs missing, next doors dog, 'cos it looked starved...it was a greyhound, a collection of baby birds, some ants that needed sugar (oh don't ask), a grass hopper and a mangy stray dog...that bit everyone in the family save him and he had even tried to bring home a police horse called Tony, not that the mounted police officer would have let him, but he did cause a huge scene, I thought at the time he would go into the record books as the youngest person ever to be arrested by the met police force.

I was confronted by the most appalling sight, apart from the fact that it was hissing and spitting and in a desperate hurry to get away, the poor little thing was dirty, matted and running alive with fleas. I didn't want it anywhere near my child, but he stamped his little foot, ran off a whole heap of reasons why he should be allowed to keep this animal and even pointed out that we already had a cat flap.

That was over 12 years ago now and as you can see, she is still with us. Very much a friend of the family, but mostly Callum's little mate. While she is getting old now, she tends to sleep most of the day away, she always wants to lie next to him and in fact her favorite place is lying next to him in the sun, while he is on the P.C.

I always know when he is due home, as she wants out the front door to wait for him, she's even been known to walk him to the bus stop and collect him with me from primary school when he was little, she'll curl up on the end of his bed when he is ill.
Misty is devoted to my #2 son and he adores her as well.
He stands 6ft 4in now and is 17, but he always has time for the little cat he brought home from the streets.

Tidy Up A Bit.

I have been busy this week, but during the quiet moments, I have reintroduced myself to poetry. You and I can both thank the BBC for this, as I have found the whole poetry season a complete joy. So here is one of my favorites, I hope you like it, as for me this sort of sums up my outlook on life. There are some things in life we should throw away,the pain, the anger, the misery, the bad words, the hurtful people, but there are so many many blessings and treasures that we should hold on to, grip them tightly with both hands and protect them keeping them safe, the first time you hold your child, the love of parents, siblings, lifelong friends, truth, trust, honesty, the love of a great partner, the companionship of a pet, the laughter, the kindness.

Most of all though we should hold on to our strength of spirit and soul.

CLEANING DAY

( By Rosy Beltrão )

I was in need of a self cleaning ...

To dispose of some unwanted thoughts, washing some treasures that were kind of rusty...

So I removed from the bottom of the drawers memories that I don't use and no longer want !

Threw away some dreams , some illusions ...

Gift wraps I never used, smiles I never gave; threw away the anger and the rancor of dry flowers that were inside a book I never read.

I looked at my future smiles and my aspired happiness...and I placed them on a corner, neatly.

I lost my patience!

Removed everything from inside the closet and started throwing them on the floor : hidden passions, suppressed desires, horrible words that I wish I had never said, grudge against a friend, memories of a sad day...

But there were other things in there too ... beautiful things !!!!

A bird singing at my window sill ... that silver moon , the sunset ...

I started to rejoice and to enjoy , looking at each one of those memories.

I sat on the floor to be able to make my choices.

I threw right on a garbage bag the remains of a love the hurt me. Took the words of anger and pain that were on the top shelf, because I rarely use them and put right in the same bag.

Some other things that still hurt me I put on the side to see what I am going to do with them. If I forget them right there or if I send them to the dumpster.

Then , I went to that corner ; to that drawer we keep everything that matters: the love , the happiness, the smiles , a little bit of faith for the moments we need the most.

How wonderful it was to remember all that !!!!

I gather LOVE with care , folded WISHES neatly, sprayed HOPE with some perfume , dusted the shelf that holds my goals and left them exposed in order not to loose sight of them.

Placed on the bottom shelves some childhood memories , on the top drawer the ones from my teenage years and hanging right in front of me I placed my ability to love ...

And most of all , my ability to START ALL OVER ...