tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5878604363424086802024-02-20T10:24:40.758+00:00Life with LiaThe Mad Rambling of a Hot Hormonal Forty Something.
Please feel free to leave a comment, as I love to connect with people around the World.Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-66213564788733809332011-09-27T20:21:00.007+01:002011-09-27T23:24:41.379+01:00Let Them Know You Loved Them.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gjsentinel.com/blogs/images/picture_of_blue_hearts_with_wings-35435.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 338px;" src="http://www.gjsentinel.com/blogs/images/picture_of_blue_hearts_with_wings-35435.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hello My Lovelies,<br /><br />I expect your wondering where I have been!<br /><br />Unfortunately, I had to unpalatable joy of staring into the abyss of Hell!!!<br />And; have only just started to make my way back from there.<br /><br />As you know I have a daughter who we call Kitten here. We are very close, but like a lot of Mother/Daughter relationships it was rocky for a while during the teen age years.<br />However Kitten as grown into a wonderful young woman and I am immensely proud of her.<br />She is my sun, my moon, my north, my south.<br /><br />OK Kitten hasn't changed the World or solved world poverty, but while her accomplishments in life have not been world changing, she has never-the-less grown into the kind of woman that I always wanted her to be. She's kind, feisty, funny, loyal and a wonderful to spend time with or have on your side. She's just lovely.<br /><br />Just when I thought I could take my eye off the ball, her world came tumbling around her.<br />Crashing down and levelling her.<br /><br />You see Kitten had been seeing a young man called Graham. They'd been together for 4yrs and while I admit that they had, had their ups and downs they were making good head way.<br />I adored him and being me told him how it was when he needed it. We were good friends.<br />I found him inspiring, courageous, hard working, well just great really.<br /><br />Last year Graham started planning a trip to Indian. The kids had split up for a while and Graham felt that he had lost his way a bit. So to try and sort himself out he had decided to travel.<br />The kids got back together and decided that he would go along with his plans to travel.<br /><br />February rolled round.<br />Passport done.<br />Ticket booked.<br />Visa's obtained.<br />Injections had.<br />The time ticked by, the kids fought, they were on, they were off, back on again. It became impossible to keep track of them.<br /><br />We saw little of Graham. Kitten doesn't live at home, so most of their shenanigans were kept away from us and at their own flat. I spoke to Graham from time to time and kept in contact with him via Facebook and phone.<br /><br />Then the day he was to leave arrived. He came to see us all at the new family house and we were delighted to see him.<br />So full of energy and vitality. Graham hugged you like your life depended on it and it was so very good to see him.<br />He was so excited and chatted on and on non stop. He filled the house with life as only he could and in his own way. Graham had lived with us all in the past, at our old house. Before he and Kitten moved to their own place. You always knew when he was in the house. There was a vibration of energy all the way through it.<br /><br />He and I had a private chat and he said he would be coming home to my Kitten and that he wanted to settle down and stop "dicking around" as he put it; get married and have babies.<br />I'd always known there was a deep love between them. They had been through a lot together and grown with each other. The last split had shown them that and I really believed they were meant for each other and would make it. They were back together and planning for the future. It was obvious to all that they were serious now and that a shift had occurred between them.<br /><br />Graham went away a few days later and all went well. He and his friend Luke got to Mumbai safely. Made a few friends and had a great time.<br />They decided to go to Goa for a few days.<br /><br />On March 3rd, I got a call from Kitten, she was screaming and screaming and screaming!!!<br />I couldn't calm her down, couldn't get her to hear me.<br />I couldn't get her to stop screaming.<br />Then she went silent. It was the most eerie of silences.<br /><br />"Kitten, it's mum. Talk to me baby!" Silence.....<br />"Please talk to me baby?" Silence.....<br />"Tell mummy what's wrong baby girl, I'm here".....<br /><br />Silence total and utter silence. I have never felt more hopeless, helpless and useless in my whole life. Then I heard gentle sobs. I waited.....<br /><br />"Mum, he's dead.....he's dead Mum"<br />"Whose dead baby?"<br /><br />Silence.........then a small tiny whisper of a voice, barely recognisable as my daughter's.<br /><br />"Graham mum, Graham's dead!!!!"<br /><br />Every thing after that was a blur, a dizzying, terrifying blur.<br />I remembering phoning Edward, Graham's brother as I knew him and had his number.<br />Oh God! No! it was true, He filled me in on the details. We chatted a bit about what was going to happen next and I said how sorry I was, that I would get there as soon as and that I had to get to Kitten.<br />I phoned Francis (still with an i). They were friends and it shocked him to his core. He said he was on his way home, would meet me at Kitten's.<br />I phoned Frankie, my long term foster daughter and Kitten's best friend, she was in shock, would leave now and meet me at Kitten's.<br />Next came the boy's. How would they take it.<br />Callum just couldn't take it in, it was impossible, I was lying to him.<br />Ashley, poor Ashley, he'd not had a good relationship with Graham. They'd had a bad row about Kitten. Guilt hit him bad.<br />I don't remember getting dressed.<br />I don't remember the drive to Kitten's.<br />I do however remember the frail. tiny, pale, trembling little girl who open the door of my daughter's flat.<br />Was this really my little hell-cat who stood there before me.<br /><br />Time stood still for so very long......<br />Days I have forgotten and time I have lost, but worse than Graham's death at 23yrs is the loss of my daughter. For she is lost.<br /><br />We all lost Graham that day and a light went out forever that will never be replaced. He was a unique and wonderful human being. You don't meet many like him in your life time. I am proud to say, that for awhile he shone brightly in our lives and we are all the better for knowing him.<br /><br />When the day of his funeral came around it fell on 25th March. It was a glorious day.<br />Bright, beautiful warm sun greeted us all that morning. Very unseasonal weather for England.<br />It felt as if the sun had come out to welcome Graham home. He adored the sunshine.<br /><br />No one, especially a Mother should ever have to dress her daughter for a funeral. Kitten was just numb, now deeply lost and distressed. But so very, very silent. Even when she did talk she was so quiet, it was barely a whisper.<br /><br />The funeral was beautiful, if you can say that about a 23yr old man's funeral. So many people turned out for him. It was so heartening to see.<br />Afterwards we went to a hotel where his family had invited everyone and we all cried, talked about Graham and laugh at some of his mad antics.<br /><br />As you know it doesn't end with the funeral and the days that followed were some of the worst of my life. I honestly don't know what kept my girl upright and what got her through those early days.<br /><br />Everybody lost Graham that day, but I lost him and my Kitten.<br />Kitten's not the same any more and although it is 6months since he passed there has been a marked change in her. The devastation of his loss has been all the more harder for her because she feels they wasted so much time. Dicking around as Graham would say.<br />I can't lie to her and tell her that time is a healer and that things will get better.<br />Instead I told her the truth, (as I see it)....time doesn't heal you, it just teaches you how to live with the pain and loss.<br />That eventually she will feel able to cope with her life again and to take her time.<br /><br />It is devastating to watch some one you love so very much, struggling to come to terms with some thing you have no power to change and can barely understand yourself, it's so wrong to have to young people die. It's like a crime against nature and time.<br />There is a long way to go yet and no end in sight.<br />There are now however small glimmers of hope.<br /><br />Kitten knows I'll be there. I already have been. And; I'm going nowhere fast.<br /><br />It's changed me, made me think deeper. My own Mother use to say "Life isn't a dress rehearsal."<br />I have never been afraid of dying, only of leaving those behind I love the most.<br />Just when they need you the most, you can't be there.<br />Now I am terrified of death and my own demise....I have seen the pain and destruction it leaves those you love the most in.<br />However, I have realised that the time you have now is it, so you better dang well make the most of it, work out your priorities and make sure those you love...KNOW YOU LOVED THEM.<br /><br />Much Love<br />Lia<br />xXx<br /><br /><br />(sorry if this is a bit sad and gloomy. But that's the way things have been. There have been a few other things that happened, happy things, but that's for another day)<br /><br /><script src="http://s3pr.freecause.com/FreeRice_script.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_utils_js.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_lm_js.js"></script><script> var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_0e84a352f4b54673b81de17d00994243(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } FCTB_Init_0e84a352f4b54673b81de17d00994243(document['FCTB_Init_792a273737284c668f9db06493d8b4d2']); delete document['FCTB_Init_792a273737284c668f9db06493d8b4d2']</script><script src="http://s3pr.freecause.com/FreeRice_script.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_utils_js.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_lm_js.js"></script><script> var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_229d6aa0a1184c878ad48848243149ea(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } FCTB_Init_229d6aa0a1184c878ad48848243149ea(document['FCTB_Init_3b98a1fd23474a2f811e2ef5882182d4']); delete document['FCTB_Init_3b98a1fd23474a2f811e2ef5882182d4']</script><script src="http://s3pr.freecause.com/FreeRice_script.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_utils_js.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_lm_js.js"></script><script> var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_979e8a5a6b1644c7b7932dbfbe0be99f(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } FCTB_Init_979e8a5a6b1644c7b7932dbfbe0be99f(document['FCTB_Init_4fe20235bd7c4cf9baa4e02fe70ad312']); delete document['FCTB_Init_4fe20235bd7c4cf9baa4e02fe70ad312']</script>Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-20061720720232487912011-09-22T18:07:00.001+01:002011-10-16T12:47:30.390+01:00LIFE.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lifeologia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/437559_kyN3Rwak_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://www.lifeologia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/437559_kyN3Rwak_c.jpg" border="0" height="320" width="252" /></a></div><br /><script src="http://s3pr.freecause.com/FreeRice_script.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_utils_js.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_lm_js.js"></script><script> var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_ea93ad454b5f4591af6758c7b9cff143(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } FCTB_Init_ea93ad454b5f4591af6758c7b9cff143(document['FCTB_Init_3f88cfb13627457fadb85fbd593d616a']); delete document['FCTB_Init_3f88cfb13627457fadb85fbd593d616a']</script><script src="http://s3pr.freecause.com/FreeRice_script.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_utils_js.js"></script><script src="http://s3toolbar.freecause.com/0RewardsMarker/bro_lm_js.js"></script><script> var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_2eaa8a4e745444d7983968e849fff01e(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } FCTB_Init_2eaa8a4e745444d7983968e849fff01e(document['FCTB_Init_91830d2da25540879365cb72329662b4']); delete document['FCTB_Init_91830d2da25540879365cb72329662b4']</script>Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-37628204814127591642011-02-08T15:06:00.006+00:002011-02-08T18:43:52.092+00:00Everyone Needs A Helping Hand Sometimes.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://d2eosjbgw49cu5.cloudfront.net/dating-weblog.com/imgname--finding_love_after_80---50226711--images--senior_dating_find_love_later_in_life_dating_relationship_meeting_someone_when_youre_older_2a64cefa9dc7abf464ee842986ff8373.JPEG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 480px;" src="http://d2eosjbgw49cu5.cloudfront.net/dating-weblog.com/imgname--finding_love_after_80---50226711--images--senior_dating_find_love_later_in_life_dating_relationship_meeting_someone_when_youre_older_2a64cefa9dc7abf464ee842986ff8373.JPEG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hello My Lovelies,<br /><br />How have you all been, well I hope. I will come and visit you all soon I promise.<br />I've been a little busy, as you know we moved house and after having such hateful neighbours it has been a joy to move somewhere where there is still a community that want to be nice, get to know you and help each other.<br /><br />Two doors down from us, is an elderly couple called Jean and David. Jean is 76 and David is 84, now I know it isn't polite to discuss people's age and I would normally refrain from doing so, especially where a lady is concerned, but I do have my reasons for this so please bear with my tardiness over this.<br /><br />They are a wonderful couple and have in fact been together longer than I have been on the Planet. Just to balance things I am 48. They have lived two doors down from us for 34yrs and are well known in the area.<br /><br />I first met Jean when we moved in and although it was September, it was still rather warm. Now I'm not sure if I have told you this, but we actually live above the shops in the High Street. This means that we have a little patio out the front of the flat like a roof garden (which is a two story flat, go figure) and in order to get to our flats we have to climb a lot of stairs and go along a walk-way. This means that we are very sheltered and it's a bit of a sun trap and we met Jean one day on the walk-way.<br /><br />To me it was obvious that she was either suffering from alzheimer's or dementia but then I had come across it before, as I use to do voluntary work in an old folks home, where they specialised in alzheimer patients. Anyway we as a family went on to make friends with them both and it turns out that while Jean normally likes nobody she has taken a liking to me that David and Jean's sister say they have never seen before.<br /><br />I have to say that I adore Jean, she is lost in her own bubble and you only get the occasional glimpse of the woman she must have been. It's sad really , as up until she was 71 Jean worked and ran a very, very busy estate agents. In fact the very people we rent off of. Small world or what.<br />Once she retired; Jean just seemed to have slipped away as David once put it.<br /><br />I think Jean sees me as a kindred spirit and although she is locked away from the real world it doesn't make her silly. I make her laugh and when she is babbling away about nothing on this Earth I act as if she is telling me the most interesting or funny story. My love of History, especially social history is coming in very handy.<br /><br />David himself is a remarkable man and it amazes me how he gets on with it all. Cooking , cleaning although David will tell you that he's not that good at the cleaning side of it all.. Basically he does everything for Jean and I do mean everything. There must be times when he is down or when it all gets too much for him, but you never see it.<br /><br />Since Jean is very happy with me on Thursday evenings I look after Jean so that David can go out to a club where there are other people who have partners with alzheimer's, it's only for 3hours, but David gets a lot out of it and I enjoy my time with Jean.<br /><br />Last week however David hurt himself rather badly and as a result had to go into hospital for surgery and myself and "E" (my sister) decided with David that instead of Jean going into a care home for the week that we would take care of Jean. Jean has been into care before and came out in a terrible state, so he was reluctant to put her back into care for such a short period.<br /><br />Oh my gosh!!! We knew it would be hard but this has to be one of the hardest things I have ever done before. I have never shied away from hard work before, but this was something else.<br />I have no idea how David copes 24/7 with Jean. There was 2 of us and we are half his age. Jean lead us on a merry dance the likes of which I have never been on before.<br /><br />I have to say that it has to be pure love and devotion that must get him through the week. There was times when we were climbing the walls. I have to take my hat off to David and to anyone who takes care of a loved one with this condition.<br /><br />For her part Jean is very happy. Locked away in her own little world. She dances and sings, sometimes she cries. But mostly she is just repeating things or saying things over and over and over. She's a lovely lady and I think the world of her, but I hope that I never have to look after her for that amount of time again.<br /><br />As for David, well he is doing really well, but then he was in excellent health, so it is to be expected that he would recover quickly. And of course we continue to help as much as we can.<br /><br /><br />On another note I would like to ask all of you to take a look at the plight of this woman. <a href="http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Ohio_Mom/?fs=fb">HERE</a><br /><br />Now I'm not saying that she did the right thing; however I do believe that the punishment should match the crime. Really what was her crime, the fact that she wanted to do better and have better for her children...oh me! oh my! if that were the case, the prisons around the World would be full to bursting. How many of you could say that you might not actually be in one? lol.<br /><br />I would if I could sign it, however you can only do it if you have ZIP CODE, which is like the British postcode for America and I so obviously don't have one of them.<br />If you have American followers on your blog would you be so kind as to just do as I have done and pass it on. In fact I actually got this from one of my American friends.<br /><br />Like I said, I don't think what she did was right, but there is nothing I wouldn't have done or would not do for the futures of my children. And I really get why she did it. I just really feel that this is too harsh, considering she just wanted the best for her children.<br /><br />I guess I should confess that when we moved house there was the possibility of Ashley having to move schools. As he was in his last couple of years there we kept quiet about it. Lucky we knew the people who had moved into our old house (I'm not talking about the house we just sold but the one before that) and they kept our secret. Now fast forward to Callum going to secondary school (high school) and the choices in our area were bad. Callum is a bright boy and deserves the best, by then we were firm friends with the people in our old house and when the latter came to say did I want him to go to his brothers old school or a different one, I didn't hesitate and the people in our old house backed me up. We got him into the school waited a until he was at exam stage and then said we were moving to our last house and that we were worried about his education and moving him at that stage...the school let him stay as they have to have 5% of kids out of the catchment area. As you know Callum did well and yes I did wrong. But seriously I'd set myself on fire if I thought it would be good for his future.<br />The only way for kids from poor families to improve thier lives is through education and Callum is now headed for University, so I while I was wrong, I know I did the best for my boy.<br /><br /><br /><br />Much Love<br />Lia<br />xXxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-55998391600465427022011-01-29T13:45:00.003+00:002011-01-29T15:23:16.351+00:00Shhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://twobluelines.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/shhh.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 263px;" src="http://twobluelines.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/shhh.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello Lovelies,<br />I hope you are all well. xXx<br />Still got horrid "boy-germs", family are loving it as I am either asleep or when awake my throat is so sore that I can't talk. So I am reduced to writing notes. The boys are taking the mickey out of me royally, but pay back is gonna be hard on them Mwhahahahaha!!!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.victoriahousebandb.co.uk/images/vic4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 425px; height: 264px;" src="http://www.victoriahousebandb.co.uk/images/vic4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />See the picture above, well keep it to yourselves as this is very hush hush and your the only people I can tell...don't trust real friends not to drop me in it lol.<br />Well on the 19th of May 2011, Francis ( you know him with the i) and I will have been together for 10 years. I thought it would be really nice to mark this event in our lives together so have booked us into <a href="http://www.victoriahousebandb.co.uk/index.htm">THIS</a> lovely place and booked the beach house for 5days.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.victoriahousebandb.co.uk/images/beach%20house%202%20014.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 410px; height: 307px;" src="http://www.victoriahousebandb.co.uk/images/beach%20house%202%20014.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I found it while looking for places in England to hunt for sea-glass and at the time thought how lovely it would be to go there. However I am a greedy girl and didn't want to stay for one or two nights and then the idea struck me that it would be a lovely place to spend a few days for our 10th anniversary.<br /><br />So today I booked it, but we are not to tell him with an i. I have even managed to get him to take the day off work. That proved a little harder to do, as our day is on a Thursday. But I whined like a big baby and said that I would have thought that having the day off to mark 10 yrs would have been as important to him and that was that, got my own way haha. I am pure evil at times, that or I just know how to work him......I am a puppet master!!!!!!!<br /><br />Of course what else he doesn't know is that, I phoned our contractor and told him about it all and that I wanted to book him off for 6days. Lucky for me that the guy is a sucker for the Ladies and an old romantic...that and he knows me very well and is aware of the fact that I can if I want make his life a misery.....but I prefer that he is an old romantic, but then I would wouldn't I..<br /><br />So Him with an i, will be treated to a nice breakfast in bed and then I am going to tell him that I am taking him somewhere nice for lunch. I do of course realise that once we leave the confines of the M25..you know that car-park that surrounds London, that the transport department like to call a motorway. He will become aware that all is not as it should be.<br /><br />By then it will be too late and he will have been snared in my oh so clever and devilishly cunning plan, that and I'm going to lock the doors and drive at break-neck speed until London is so far away that it is a dot on the horizon. It only 4hrs and 50 minutes, he should stop screaming after about 2hrs.<br /><br />I now have months of teasing him to look forward to. I have told him that he is not to plan anything at all for our 10th as it is my turn anyway. We try to take turns at organising something and it so happens that it's my turn.<br /><br />So we have to keep very quiet about this and not tell Him with an i.<br /><br />Much Love<br />Lia<br />xXxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-57746211980419736742011-01-27T18:37:00.005+00:002011-01-27T19:59:42.232+00:00Nelson Mandela.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.studiogeneva.com/images/Portfolio/Large%20Images/Nelson_Mandela.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 475px; height: 672px;" src="http://www.studiogeneva.com/images/Portfolio/Large%20Images/Nelson_Mandela.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sa-venues.com/images/nelson-mandela.jpg"><br /></a><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />I hope you are all well. Been a bit busy this last week. Although to be honest I can't quite remember everything I got up to. Just normal humdrum boring everyday life stuff. All except for the "boy germs" that Callum feels the need to share with me. So I am a little under the weather and sleeping a lot. My mum use to say that there would be plenty of time to sleep when she was dead. Would appear that I might live for a very long time, if I'm sleeping like the dead while I am still alive.<br /><br />I am holding my breath right now for one of my favourite icons. Mr Nelson Mandela.<br />I expect you have heard that he is in hospital ill. The news is that he has a collapsed lung.<br />So while I couldn't exactly say that I am a girl driven to prays, I am in my own way praying that he will get better.<br /><br />At 92 you could say that he has had a good innings and yes I guess to a certain extend he has.<br />That is until you remember that he spent 27yrs in jail. I'm not going to get into some sort of political row about Mr Mandela, after all some one once said that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. The line between the two is very thin at times. A lot has been said about his past, but well that's just it, it's the past.<br /><br />If you have never read his books I strongly suggest that you do. They are brilliant, illuminating and inspirational.<br /><br />Anyway, I am wishing him well and sending out my own little prayers for him to what ever God wants to listen.<br /><br />Much love<br />Lia<br />xXx<br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/julia/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" />Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-20020340049901057762011-01-20T22:55:00.012+00:002011-01-21T12:27:04.391+00:00Shaddy.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT1XlMgzLVH5W8cUalaf434iuq1D73lwdGtbK9c0PoG6SCscUmB&t=1"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 275px;" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT1XlMgzLVH5W8cUalaf434iuq1D73lwdGtbK9c0PoG6SCscUmB&t=1" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />SURPRISE......HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHADDY.<br /><br />Today's post is just for you. For being such a lovely Lady, my friend and just because you are you. And; I am still flatly refusing to believe you are the age you admit to. No one as vibrant as you should be defined by numbers, it's simply rude!!!!!!<br /><br /><a href="http://funfm.ro/sitefiles/image/200906/gerard_butler_10_large.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 471px; height: 600px;" src="http://funfm.ro/sitefiles/image/200906/gerard_butler_10_large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://handson.provocateuse.com/images/photos/gerard_butler_10.jpg"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.totallygifts.co.uk/uploads/product/tattingar-rose-champagne-l.jpg"><br /></a>I do hope that the Butler is looking after you. Yeah I know that he is Gerard Butler, but he owed me a couple of favours and I called them in. I mean after all what girl wants one of those stuffy old fashion types of butlers, when you could have Gerard for a few hours!!!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nzflower.co.nz/images/flower_bouquet_gerbera_med.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 238px;" src="http://www.nzflower.co.nz/images/flower_bouquet_gerbera_med.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I do hope you like the flowers, but come on girl get your glad rags on.<br /><br /><a href="http://newsblaze.com/pix/2008/1003/pix/Yacht_Club_Lobby.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 410px; height: 273px;" src="http://newsblaze.com/pix/2008/1003/pix/Yacht_Club_Lobby.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Knowing how much you enjoy a sweeping staircase I ordered this one in especially for you. Only you are allowed to sweep up and down it all night long if you want. But do be careful if you decide to slide down the rail. Oh it's okay to do it as Gerard will catch you at the bottom. Promise. Now that's going to be irresistible now isn't it...........go on I dare you!!!!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.veranda.com/cm/veranda/images/Luxury-&-Lifestyle--Wedding-1-lg.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 375px; height: 500px;" src="http://www.veranda.com/cm/veranda/images/Luxury-&-Lifestyle--Wedding-1-lg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>As you are such a popular girl I had an enormous table laid out for you on the beach, (I know you love to be outdoors) so that every body you know can join you on this your special day.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wacs2000.org/images/news/Chefs-Team-%28IND%29.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://www.wacs2000.org/images/news/Chefs-Team-%28IND%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>These guys will cook anything your little heart desires. You name it and they can make it for you. Oh the joys of the blogsphere where all your dreams can come true.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.totallygifts.co.uk/uploads/product/tattingar-rose-champagne-l.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 452px; height: 532px;" src="http://www.totallygifts.co.uk/uploads/product/tattingar-rose-champagne-l.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In the meantime Gerard will be happy to open your champagne, only the best pink champagne for you my darling and while you sip away on it, you can also read The Times with the headlines for the day you were born.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com/images/wedding-cake-accessories.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 387px;" src="http://www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com/images/wedding-cake-accessories.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.the-wedding-information-site.com/images/yellowandpinkdaisycake.jpg"><br /></a>I baked you a cake, well because it simply wouldn't be a birthday without a cake don't you know.<br />And; as I am still not believing your age I decided to put roses on it instead of candles.<br />I do seem to remember Shakespeare saying "A rose by any other name is still a candle".......lol<br /><br /><a href="http://lifeoflyssie.com/users/lifeoflyssie.com/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cream-bedroom-11-495x372-custom.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 495px; height: 372px;" src="http://lifeoflyssie.com/users/lifeoflyssie.com/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cream-bedroom-11-495x372-custom.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>When the party is over I hope you will enjoy sleeping in this lovely room with it's wonderful French feel to it and I hope you have the sweetest dreams<br /><br /><a href="http://www.southpoint.com/states/tx/houston/hotelicon/IMAG0189.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.southpoint.com/states/tx/houston/hotelicon/IMAG0189.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>To help you relax I have told Gerard that he must draw you a bath, in order for you to completely relax.......because......<br /><br /><a href="http://imganuncios.mitula.net/magnificent_lakefront_retreat_92452905920948606.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 380px;" src="http://imganuncios.mitula.net/magnificent_lakefront_retreat_92452905920948606.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Tomorrow you are off to this delightful retreat by a lake with a boat as I know you like to go out on lakes and fish lol. Well if nothing else it might help the juices to flow so that you can carry on with your creative writings.<br /><br /><br />Have a wonderful day Shaddy and you know that if I could really do this for you I would.<br /><br />Much Love<br />La<br />xXx<br /><br />visit Shaddy at<a href="http://papercutscreams.blogspot.com/"> Paper Cut Screams</a> she's lovely, adorable and I'm proud to say my friend.Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-44449986323019479002011-01-19T22:16:00.007+00:002011-01-20T00:20:04.549+00:00Looking For Unicorn Teeth.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/6300000/Healing-Unicorn-unicorns-6313191-501-700.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 495px;" src="http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/6300000/Healing-Unicorn-unicorns-6313191-501-700.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello Lovelies,<br />Hope your all well today.<br />It's been a good day here in my mad hormonal life.<br /><br />Kitten (Patricia) as I said before (I think) has been out of work for a few months now and has been fairly fed-up with it all. She started a course on Monday set up by the job-centre and something to do with the Government.<br />By yesterday at at2:30 I received a text saying "Woohoo I've got a JOB! X" (she always puts a kiss at the end of a text). It's such good news for her.<br /><br />Okay, so it's not a great job and under normal circumstances she wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. But as she put it, it's better have a job and work, then look for a job while she has a job.<br />Kitten will be working in a warehouse distributing luxury fashion goods. In many ways it's up her street as she is young and funky and has expensive tastes. It will be starting at the bottom but the chances to rise in the company are good.<br /><br />We had a small nightmare today mind you, as Kitten has to have safety boots with steel toe caps. However as I have said before, she is tiny and that includes her feet. Despite the fact that women do work in industries that require safety boots it's like trying to find Unicorn teeth. She was meant to start on Monday, but having spoken to the woman running her course and being so upbeat about the job, the woman phoned the company this morning and then got a reply saying that they would like Kitten to start tomorrow (Thursday) at 7am. Not a problem........much.<br /><br />I spent ages on the computer and the phone trying to find these boots. We got them, however they were on the other side of London. Any one whose ever tried to get to the other side will tell you what a nightmare it is. Even using public transport it can take two hours. We didn't have 2hrs. The shops we needed to go to close at 4pm, they keep construction industry hours. They tend to open at 6:30/7am and close at 4pm.<br /><br />The nearest person was Francis(with an i), he was 13miles from the store, took him 2 and half hours to get there. Luckily I had phoned ahead and sorted most of it out and left my phone number. They were kind enough to phone me at closing time to find out if Francis (with an i) was just about to walk through the door, they knew they were important to us.<br />As it was I had just spoken to him and knew he was struggling. I explained where he was and they said he was so near someone would wait at the shop for him. He got there at 5pm and they were true to their word.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tTc5H6td9yQdBObJLyVHswImFOSTjzIitLFiC9vuOryYuhLdMv4Qy4h_YpLIMl6gEMnYjbk0cK6XeQIHAbxZUthsWqCZ_ABsXKGh_X1v_Q7HKdc0DmG8GVtz91kj7opRd9UuW66zFkO-/s220/girl.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 370px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tTc5H6td9yQdBObJLyVHswImFOSTjzIitLFiC9vuOryYuhLdMv4Qy4h_YpLIMl6gEMnYjbk0cK6XeQIHAbxZUthsWqCZ_ABsXKGh_X1v_Q7HKdc0DmG8GVtz91kj7opRd9UuW66zFkO-/s220/girl.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Next came the trip home....nightmare for him. as he never got back until 7:45pm. He had ,had to head out to the most famous car park in the whole Universe or to give it it's real name the M25, the motorway that circles London. I managed with traffic updates to get him home another way.<br />Luckily Kitten rather likes her boots and his favourite football team won tonight, but I don't think he liked the 6hrs driving around and through London.<br /><br />Lets hope her job goes well!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />Also today I cooked a big pan of Carrot and butternut soup for my freezer and a massive pan of of spaghetti bolognese. After feeding the boys the spag bol, Kitten took off with 4boxes of spag bol and 4 tubs of soup.<br />Now I'm going to have to cook it all over again, still at lest she will eat well, so that's one less thing to worry about. Now all I got to do is get her up at 5:30 am for her new job as she is worried she won't get up. I have also just noticed that it is now Thursday lol..<br /><br />Beginning to think that the hunt for Unicorn teeth might be a tad easier.<br /><br />Much Love<br />Lia<br />xXxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-84679167228521239822011-01-18T12:11:00.006+00:002011-01-20T11:53:32.878+00:00The Three C's....carrot, camera, common sense.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc68ZxFpp-8aYH1jPxY44ds1bKfQtnlbSFHPgm6-4Bm7N9dzdxdUOkxUv_7_Is2eRnsa9mFdw9pTeRynOnEzvriGIr9e3i-HI_T8iL97rP61PvuP_xbAqOnMJLQpxLdLYT86JHvEAikhPb/s1600/SDC10186.JPG"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKDJByedAdfjFzmgnZ7GPDSK6MP_jOLYwo7LpvAh0VQ3Q8wjqyB8m-rPpEVdkX7ssq0Oq-jJiwYQpkd8xxmVtwNRy7xoFyIrsu-hXOhgKj8MUcdwUYiR9hW6Ct17ph5ziIAPlcDUK-POs/s1600/SDC10185.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKDJByedAdfjFzmgnZ7GPDSK6MP_jOLYwo7LpvAh0VQ3Q8wjqyB8m-rPpEVdkX7ssq0Oq-jJiwYQpkd8xxmVtwNRy7xoFyIrsu-hXOhgKj8MUcdwUYiR9hW6Ct17ph5ziIAPlcDUK-POs/s320/SDC10185.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563497994396156130" border="0" /></a><br />Hello My Lovelies,<br /><br />Just a quick one today as you know from my last post that I headed off down The Thames River today to go sea-glass and sea-Pottery collecting, got some lovely stuff but you'll have to hold on until tomorrow to see it as it needs a scrub, in order to look it's best for you all. Now don't go getting impatient even the worlds top models like to look their best for their photo's.<br /><br />Instead and because I had to get up so early, so as to get where I needed to be for low tide I thought I would share with you my own recipe for Carrot and butternut Squash Soup.<br /><br />This is a wonderful warming soup, just what you need after a morning on a freezing cold Thames River. Was really mad at myself this morning as I forgot my camera and the mist was beautiful; along with the wading birds and the river it's self, it was really magic there today.<br /><br />INGREDIENTS:-<br /><br />Olive oil.<br /><br />1 large onion.<br /><br />1 1/2 lb of carrots sliced............. I don't peel carrots I just wash them.<br /><br />1 butternut squash..... peeled, reseeded and chopped. (my one weighted about 3lb)<br /><br />2 to 3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed.<br /><br />1 1/2 pints of stock, Chicken or vegetable. (I use knorr chicken stock cubes because they don't have chemicals in them that effect my fibro, so they are very good.)<br /><br />Nutmeg, sage and thyme, to your taste. Alternatives are chillies, curry powder, cumin and coriander.<br /><br />Salt and black pepper to taste. (I always use sea salt for health)<br /><br />METHOD:-<br /><br />Using a large pan , as this makes heaps. Heat a little oil in the pan, over a medium heat. Add the onion and gently fry them until they are soft and translucent.<br />Add the sliced carrot and mix well. Once mixed with the onions and half of the stock. Bring up to a gentle boil and let it boil for about 5minutes. After 5mins add the butternut squash and the remaining stock.<br />Add the garlic, adding the garlic at this stage will give it a nice gentle garlic flavour.<br />Add the nutmeg, sage and thyme. I think this is better if I leave you to work the amount out for your own tastes, as we all differ. Also because you may be using different herbs and spices to me.<br />I try to use fresh herbs wherever I can. But dried will do the job.<br />Add the salt and pepper to your requirements.<br />Bring back up to a gentle boil, then turn it down in order to simmer the soup and slam the lid on, leave it for about 20 to 30 minutes.<br />To see if it is ready.....push the point of a knife into a slice of carrot and squash to see if they are cooked through.<br /><br />Using a stick hand blender, blend the soup until completely smooth with no big lumps.<br />Now is the time to adjust any seasoning, spices or herbs that you have used.<br />Also check that it is of the consistency you like, if not either add more stock or water.<br />Bring the heat back up and serve.<br /><br />You can serve it with a dollop of crème fraiche, natural greek yoghurt, or be naughty and use cream.<br />I often serve it with home made cheese scones or some nice crusty grannery bread.<br /><br />ENJOY<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc68ZxFpp-8aYH1jPxY44ds1bKfQtnlbSFHPgm6-4Bm7N9dzdxdUOkxUv_7_Is2eRnsa9mFdw9pTeRynOnEzvriGIr9e3i-HI_T8iL97rP61PvuP_xbAqOnMJLQpxLdLYT86JHvEAikhPb/s1600/SDC10186.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc68ZxFpp-8aYH1jPxY44ds1bKfQtnlbSFHPgm6-4Bm7N9dzdxdUOkxUv_7_Is2eRnsa9mFdw9pTeRynOnEzvriGIr9e3i-HI_T8iL97rP61PvuP_xbAqOnMJLQpxLdLYT86JHvEAikhPb/s320/SDC10186.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563498000739899554" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is a great soup for any of you who are on a diet or health concious as it is low in fats, but high in vitamins and fibre.<br /><br />Why the title of this post<br />1 Carrots... this started as a carrot soup years ago and one day I threw in a squash that needed using and the rest is history, but the kids still call it carrot soup.<br />2 Camera...note to self..TRY TAKING OUT THE HOUSE SOMETIMES D'UH<br />3 Common sense, remember camera and Wellington boots. The Thames River is very muddy and my hiking boots are now a total mess.<br /><br />Much Love<br />Lia<br />xXxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-8942930663504533672011-01-17T18:55:00.007+00:002011-01-17T20:41:01.663+00:00Direction........ Lost<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1124.snc4/148685_470565544580_293868044580_5457624_3832727_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 458px; height: 343px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1124.snc4/148685_470565544580_293868044580_5457624_3832727_n.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />As some of you know I'm a little bit obsessed with sea-glass and recently discovered that there is a growing market for sea-pottery, as sea-glass is running out. Mind you that does greatly depend on who you are talking to, as I have no worries finding it and I think it's a case of word of mouth.<br />I'm going to go off to Cornwall camping this Spring, as I have found out about a couple of really good beaches where you can find good quality sea-glass. I would tell you about them but I am sworn to hold the secret till my death or old age which ever comes first. Mind you there's no guarantee that I won't get dementia and blurt it out. <br /><br />I meet a really nice man digging a big hole down by the tide lines of a beach who was doing what they call "bottling". It's a bit of an odd thing to do, but you can dig up bottles and all sorts of ceramics dating back to the 16Th century. There are places along the Thames River were there are heaps and heaps of this stuff just buried a few feet down ready for the taking.<br /><br />Basically what happened was that for hundreds of years London's rubbish was taken down the Thames and dumped along the shores further down. Now people go along and dig it up and I have also found some great bits that have simply washed up on the shore.<br />I go mostly for the sea-glass as you can imagine not all bottles, glass and ceramics survived intact and often after a storm or a big dig you get a lot washed up. Which is good for me as I can add to the collection. The banks of the Thames River are very muddy and I don't do mud, unless I am camping in Wales lol.<br /><br />Back to the man in the hole...anyway he told me about a really quite and remote beach a long way down the Thames River that is very remote and quiet. So following his advice I went in search of it, after that is swearing in blood to never tell publicly where it is or how I found it.<br />I did indeed find it, wasn't easy but I eventually did, Aided and abetted by my sister "E" who seems to be totally dyslexic when it comes to reading a map or directions. At one point she had it upside down...no wonder I went around in circles for 2hrs.<br /><br />We got lost....a lot,..... a hell of a lot. However some times getting lost isn't actually getting lost, it's just life redirecting you to a place you would never have thought of going to. As was the case when in December 2010, we set out to find this secret beach.<br />Instead we found a place that is so utterly charming and beautiful.<br /><br />We took these photos while there and I will tell you more about it in another post soon.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1139.snc4/148195_470565109580_293868044580_5457621_6701944_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 550px; height: 412px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1139.snc4/148195_470565109580_293868044580_5457621_6701944_n.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We did eventually find the beach and I am off down there tomorrow, as we have had some storms of late and there will be a fair amount washed up on the beach if I am lucky.<br /><br />Much love<br />Lia<br />xXxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-64628774382669725892011-01-13T21:31:00.013+00:002011-01-14T03:05:40.926+00:00Hello, it's me.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bristolculture.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/there-and-back-again-lane1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 262px;" src="http://bristolculture.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/there-and-back-again-lane1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />I know, I know, it's been a long time and you properly have forgotten me or felt abandoned by me. What can I say, sorry just won't cover it and filling you in on ALL the details will only send you to sleep. Obviously if you are having trouble sleeping just drop me an e-mail and I will give you the full unabashed edition.<br /><br />I want to tell you what has happened, however the family are finally getting back to normal and I have no real desire to rock a leaky boat having spent a lot of time and energy plugging the bloody holes.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Urco7PF1w4U/TOoL7O2fL_I/AAAAAAAAC7I/1Ukv5k4NKFY/s1600/DSC_1056+Leaky+boat+web.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 345px; height: 255px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Urco7PF1w4U/TOoL7O2fL_I/AAAAAAAAC7I/1Ukv5k4NKFY/s1600/DSC_1056+Leaky+boat+web.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So in order to protect the innocent and some of the not so innocent I will give you the shortened and some what sanitised version of events.<br /><br />In the true award ceremony style and IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER the awards go to......<br /><br /><a href="http://www.contactmusic.com/pics/la/news_universal_studios_010708/best_picture_oscar_statuette_for_the_1973_movie_%27the_sting%27_5158632.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 527px;" src="http://www.contactmusic.com/pics/la/news_universal_studios_010708/best_picture_oscar_statuette_for_the_1973_movie_%27the_sting%27_5158632.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My eldest son ASHLEY, for finally getting off weed.<br /><br />Yes! I know you didn't know he was even on it, but hey it's not really something you shout about, OK well at lest I don't.<br />Ashley was never really badly behaved on it or gave me any trouble. He just had a flipping chimney placed in his head and buried himself in his room and forgot about life, friends, family, everything.<br />Did I try to get him off it before? YES! Did I talk to him seriously about it? YES I did!<br />I could have thrown him out the house, but felt that would make things worse for him and could lead to other more serious stuff. I keep him close and kept trying to help him off of it. But like all addicts you can't help them until they are ready and my son wasn't ready. I played the long wait game. I think I won!!!<br />I always felt we'd get there in the end; when he and I had a huge fight, something that really never happens between us and he got very nasty with me it scared the life out of him.<br />Ashley gave up over night, literally overnight. He asked me to take all of it away.<br />He's had a huge up hill struggle, but he's getting there now and has even taken up jogging and weights to help him. Slowly he is coming back to normal.<br /><br />I am immensely proud of him and admire him greatly for how he has achieve this huge turn around in his life. It great to have him back, he's just wonderful and a shining star.<br /><br />Next award to the hated neighbours. For being total.....i can't type the word it's to rude, but it starts with a c...!<br />Who made life so utterly and unbearably difficult. They upped the nightmare. I didn't think they could get any worse, but was clearly just deluding myself. I can't go into details for legal reasons...never thought I would hear myself say that!!!<br />Suffice as to say when I can talk you will know. PROMISE.<br /><br />The next award goes to PATRICIA, the beautiful daughter, who left home last year....<br /><br />Strange award I know. You see she has left and come back before, however Patricia got her own flat from the council and that means she won't ever be coming home to live again.<br />This sent me into a funny little spiral. Stupidly I felt abandoned, finished with, not needed, useless, worthless and completely bereft. Silly really because I still have the boys at home.<br />But for some reason her leaving meant all of the above and more.<br /><br />However she sensed this..bless her and she has made lots of effort to include me in her life and the plans for her flat and future. We have been designing her flat and saving money and are about to start decorating it in the next couple of weeks, photo's to follow.<br /><br />Patricia and I are in fact closer than ever and she is still the constant joy in my life.<br /><br /><br />The next award goes to CALLUM, for being so completely amazing.<br /><br />He's come along way, has done very well at college despite the chaos around him.<br />He is now applying to 5 universities and is expected to get into 3 of them.<br />Callum has done all of this with very little financial support from me or the state recently I found out that he could have got a grant for college and would have been getting it from 16, but he decided that he wanted to do it for himself and by himself. He's amazing.<br />He has also made a few short films and was chosen to make some video's for an up and coming band.<br />He has shown a lot of love and affection for his siblings and been very understanding of Ashley's struggle.<br /><br />For doing well at college in all the chaos, doing it by himself, and for just being amazing he deserves my uttermost respect, (some kids would use that as an excuse to not get up and on with it all).<br /><br />The next award goes jointly to FIBROMYALGIA, DEPRESSION, HOSPITAL & WEIGHT GAIN.<br /><br />Fibromyalgia..for just being a pain all over, for getting the better of me, just when I was doing so well. For forcing me to be bed bound for weeks on end.<br />Depression..for setting in along with the fibro' and taking over my life by becoming close best friends with the fibro' making everything worse; just when I truly didn't need it to. Took me a very long time to work out what had gone wrong and blamed myself for it all. Turns out they are evil twins who like to tag team....buy I know who they are now and how they operate. I will win.<br />Hospital....for while eventually taking care of me and the nurses were great. However they didn't listen and this made it worse.<br />Weight Gain..for making me put on weight due to fibro', depression & hospital...a nightmare.<br />I went from 12st 5lbs to 13st 7lbs, really annoyed and it didn't help that the hospital gave me meds that meant I was bound to put on weight, which depressed me more and made fibro' worse.<br /><br />The next award goes to MOVING HOUSE & CHRISTMAS.<br /><br />For Moving house....now your all thinking that must have been stressful, funnily enough it turned out to be a relief. I have no idea why I resisted it for so long.<br />Did we sell the house, no we simply gave it back to the mortgage company. Is that a collective in take of breath I hear!!!!<br />I know you think I am mad, but as many of you know I don't do anything that involves the family without due care and consideration. After a long drawn out battle with myself it made sense. You see we were lease holders and as such had no say in what was going on around us. When the council wanted to do improvements to the area they sent those of us who had been smart enough to buy, (so we thought) a huge massive bill for the works. My bill would have ruined us, with no way ever of getting out of that house and away from the hated neighbours, who had not brought.<br />This meant that for the rest of my life I would be paying for them to be made snug and comfortable, so they weren't going to leave. It put me in a position I didn't want.<br />I came to an agreement with the mortgage company and moved on. We did well and have since heard from the good neighbours that their bill has now doubled.....I have no regrets.<br />The new flat is great and rented, the maintenance is the landlords headache and I like that. If I don't like the neighbours I can move.....<br />Also it is helping me to get better again, which I would put above owning my own house any day.<br /><br />For Christmas...just because while we were in some ways not able to celebrate it the way we had in the past; it reminded us of who we all were and what we had all been thorough and how we had stuck it out together. Patricia stay here at the new place, it was quiet and just us and I think we really needed that. New Year was just as good.<br /><br /><br />The final award goes to FRANCIS..(with an i)... for being my hero.<br /><br />When I was faced with some real life changing decisions Francis (with an i) was calm and clear.<br />When I argued with myself about the house and my failure to get things right he stood steadfast by my side and listen to me go over and over and over it all. Finally telling me that I hadn't been a failure that in fact I had managed single handily to hold a family together, go to work, run a home and keep it. That what was happening was beyond my remit, but that my response to it was and that he had every faith I would do what was right for us all.<br /><br />For reassuring me, being there, having the wisdom to know I am a nut job with a heart and loving me anyway, he has my undying adoration and love.<br /><br /><br /><br />Well I think that covers it all as briefly as I can and I feel like I have blown away the cobwebs, time to let the butterflies out now........<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://storage.canalblog.com/03/83/75231/43564526.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 370px; height: 281px;" src="http://storage.canalblog.com/03/83/75231/43564526.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Oh yeah and one for ALL of you....... just for putting up with me....I have missed you all.<br /><br />Much Love<br />Lia<br />xXxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-50856157676626288052010-06-20T15:32:00.004+01:002010-06-20T18:06:13.302+01:00Boo!!!!! Tiggers Back.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://yoshi2me.com/sexual-health/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/tigger.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 341px; height: 362px;" src="http://yoshi2me.com/sexual-health/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/tigger.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />Bet you all thought that I had dropped of the face of the Earth.<br />Ok! Ok! I'll give you the fact that I did for a while there and I guess I really do owe you all an explanation for my long absence.<br /><br />I did decide to take a bit of time away from blogging, as I felt that I was going a bit stale and was in danger of boring you all to sleep or worse. I had some articles that I was going to write up for you all and then take a month off. In the hope that I would come back all bright and sparkly again. Got a bit more than I bargained for.<br /><br />I woke up one morning swollen and puffed up and with symptoms of a serious hang over...which is all well and good if you drink, but I don't. I was also a grey colour and felt very very weak. I had been feeling a little unwell for a few days, but nothing like before, so had put it down to maybe over doing it in the gym.<br />Then I got sick for a week or so and then I got really ill, which made me depressed a bit and all I really wanted to do was pull the covers up over my head and lie down for a very very long time.<br /><br />Having done so well to get better and to find my life back in my hands again, it came as a total shock to find that I couldn't even get my head off the pillow and that I was now having to add chronic fatigue to the list of things fibromyalgia has given me to deal with.<br /><br />Now I will admit that I was bloody totally miserable and felt that I had worked so hard to get better that this was undeserved and so I definitely wallowed in self pity, not that I really knew that I was doing so at the time. That took me a little longer to work out...gosh I am silly at times.<br /><br />I did learn that wallowing around in self pity wasn't actually going to make me one tiny bit better and that in fact I had helped myself into misery faster than the fibromyalgia was going to let me out of it. They say that misery likes company, I would like to add that misery very much enjoys the company of fibromyalgia and in fact they actually became very good friends, went on holiday together and have now moved into a flat, set up home and brought a dog.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously that's how well they got along.<br /><br />Sooner or later I had to come back to my senses and stop being a baby about it all. As you know by now I don't really want to let this stupid fibromyalgia beat me and in general like to give it a run for it's money. I think I got complacent with it. I had done really well and really did think this was going to be as easy as the England football team in the World cup to beat, but it appears that fibromyalgia is a World cup champ at this game and it cheats as the lines men and referee seem to be on it's side.<br /><br />I have been up and about now for about ten days now and can honestly say that I am almost back to normal, unsure what normal is any more, but I am more myself than I have been. So I would say I am as normal as I can expect to be.<br /><br />My fighting spirit has been restored and I now realise that taking my eye off the ball and not keeping my head in the game is not something I have any desire to repeat. I have an action plan now, basically I am going to take a big bat and beat the hell out of this illness at every possible turn. I have worked out that keeping a diary of events and foods and rest is going to be a good idea.<br /><br />I'm not now, never have been and most certainly will never be a girl who has a routine, which is by all accounts exactly what I am suppose to have in order to stay on top of it.<br />I'd go mad if I had to do the same thing every day for the rest of my life, it's so not me.<br />I'm a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl.<br /><br />Anyway I'm back and fighting on. Misery and fibromyalgia can carry-on living happily together, but threes a crowd and I have no intention of moving in with them again.<br /><br />I have missed you and thought about you all and thank you for the e-mails which I found a few days ago, along with all your concerned comments on my last post.<br />I'm truly sorry to have worried you all and to be honest I really should have been more considerate of you all and your feelings towards me. I have no excuse as I said I was busy wallowing in self pity, not a pretty thing to do and certainly not a considerate thing to do.<br />I can only apologise and promise to not do it again.<br /><br />Much love to you all and I look forward to catching up with you all<br /><br />Lia<br />xxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-89732492080516023082010-04-27T18:28:00.004+01:002010-04-28T04:25:45.247+01:00Please! Ladies, A Bit Of Decorum<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://aliansary.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/mindthegap.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 251px;" src="http://aliansary.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/mindthegap.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />Sorry I have been A.W.O.L. for a while, but to be honest it is this silly illness again. Some times it makes me really tired and I need to sleep lots and then when I am awake I am trying to look after my family, who bless them take it all in their stride and are very good humoured and kind about it all.<br />I picked up a tummy bug from Francis and it sort of floored me. But am ok now.<br /><br />I have just finished watching one of the single most stupid programmes I have ever had the misfortune to sit through. At first I sat through it because I couldn't find the remote control to throw at the telly and then after a few minutes it was a case of, I really couldn't believe how dump, stupid and desperate some women really are.<br /><br />This show was about older women and younger men. For obvious reasons this always intrigues me, which ever way round it is. As you know there is an age gap between me and Francis. Although you would be hard pressed at times to work out who is the youngest in this relationship, as I am such a big child at times and he can be a real grumpy old man.<br />Well maybe that's not totally true. The bit about me being a child is, I'm so immature at times it scares me and Francis is so mature it scares everyone else at times. He really is a man beyond his years and people are always surprised by him, me included.<br /><br />This show was about women who go to Turkey to find themselves a younger husband.<br />I never can understand why people go in search of this type of relationship. I certainly didn't go on the hunt for it, and neither did Francis. We meet and fell in love and have been inseparable ever since.<br /><br />The attraction was not that I was older than him or that he was younger than me.<br />Sometimes you just click with a person and if your lucky you find them at the start of your life and travel through life together. That wasn't the way it was for me and Francis is my 3rd long term relationship.<br /><br />However he is certainly the best one and it's not because I get to play boss and be in charge of our relationship. No-one wears the trousers in our relationship. Sometimes I take the lead in things and sometimes it is Francis who takes the lead. We play to each others strengths and supports each other through our weaknesses, but hey isn't that what being in a partnership is all about.<br /><br />The best advice I can ever give anyone in a relationship is that you have to work as a team.<br />If you have a team of horses pulling your wagon and one goes to the left and the other pulls to the right, your going nowhere, but if they both move forward at the same pace together, going in the same direction a smooth journey will be had by all.<br />The best marriages I ever saw were like this and they lasted the longest.<br /><br />These women go out on holiday and expect to find a lasting relationship within two weeks. Good luck with that one!!!! How mental is that!!!<br /><br />One woman went on a date and was over an hour late. When the man asked her why she was late she berated him about who the hell did he think he was, a young boy telling her, a feminist what time she should or shouldn't turn up!!<br />Well correct me if I am wrong but if I am to meet with someone the least I can do is turn up on time, it's called manners love!<br />What the hell did it have to do with being a feminism? It's rude to be late for any one, plain and simple.<br />If the other person is putting themselves out there and going to the trouble of turning up on time for you, is it too hard to accord them the same respect. Whatever their age!<br />But that's not really what got me about that little scene, for me it was the fact that she knew full well she was going to meet a man much younger then her, he was in fact about 27 and she was about 53. What got me was that she called him a BOY. Again correct me if I'm wrong, but at 27 that makes him a man. So already she is diminishing him to the level of a child and asserting her dominance.<br /><br />Yes! yes! I know men never really grow up and there is a Peter Pan quality to men, but that's just one of the things about men that make them such wonderful creatures to spend your life with and be around, what ever their age. There is a sense of fun in men that is irresistible, to me any way. I have men in my life who are in their 50s and I just adore the Peter-Pan in all of them.<br /><br />I was once told that if I wanted my sons to grow into men that it was a good idea to treat them like men and not to mummy them, this I would say holds true for men of any age. Too often I have seen women mummifying their partners and taking charge or asserting their dominance and then saying that their partners are useless or not man enough.<br /><br />Desperation is no foundation for a relationship. Neither is thinking that you can go into any relationship with the upper hand just because you are the older party. There is a lot to be said about treating people as you wish to be treated.<br /><br />One woman had been in a relationship with her younger husband for 8yrs and went on and on about how wonderful it was and how it was all so perfect. But under the surface it wasn't all that and a bag of chips. Her husband often went missing for several days and came back exhausted and slept. He also seemed to enjoy spending her money and the life style it afforded him. She on the other hand seemed to be drunk most of the time and acted like an irresponsible teenager, as if she was having her second childhood.<br /><br />Hardly a great advert for an age gap relationship.<br />It really angers me when I see stuff like this. Not because I think my relationship with Francis is the perfect example, but rather because I strongly feel that this type of display is why we have faced so much prejudiced.<br />People like to judge and yes! yes! I see the irony, I know that this is what I am doing to these people, but please bare with me when I say that there is good and bad in all things, I'm just sick to death of seeing only the bad.<br /><br />There are plenty of woman sharing their lives very successfully and happily with younger men.<br />No one bats an eyelid at younger women taking up with older men. You don't see a whole stream of shows about the downside of those relationships and I bet there are plenty.<br /><br />I really don't care about who you are in a relationship with or even for that matter your sexual preference. I just wish that when people get into relationships that are shall we say, beyond the normal, they don't bring others in the same type of relationship down to the level of side show freaks for others to pick holes in and ridicule. A bit of decorum, dignity and respect wouldn't go a miss. I mean would it kill them!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />If you want me, I'll be banging my head off the wall in the corner again.<br />Much love<br />Lia<br />xxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-84652530983879585112010-04-21T10:46:00.005+01:002010-04-21T12:31:18.106+01:00Advice Please Ladies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EsncdkzxM6iaPFVffDaTSJrBFU_NxqwN0T3IHi6J_4hYoTpTV69LKz5ve5B_f4VSpYyI8BKQ-VGDXHpz4eO3RwV5ho2wFMyWPiEv6KA2tiHl5v3m9jNXsHo4K4_wC1tEb7flx6BE6LUt/s1600/SDC10274.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_EsncdkzxM6iaPFVffDaTSJrBFU_NxqwN0T3IHi6J_4hYoTpTV69LKz5ve5B_f4VSpYyI8BKQ-VGDXHpz4eO3RwV5ho2wFMyWPiEv6KA2tiHl5v3m9jNXsHo4K4_wC1tEb7flx6BE6LUt/s320/SDC10274.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462551297166970610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfK7TkMxQhw5h4jszCTQns5IupMMdewRuIiCBFQZIzMDT33EnbFEXSqh7kAJKmleSVO06U_pgqK217gXIvAlre81HXr_nLSbK8tzcoNCcXwacb6sellmqOvhSy1VkFCL-SOyymZlbiRNv/s1600/SDC10273.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfK7TkMxQhw5h4jszCTQns5IupMMdewRuIiCBFQZIzMDT33EnbFEXSqh7kAJKmleSVO06U_pgqK217gXIvAlre81HXr_nLSbK8tzcoNCcXwacb6sellmqOvhSy1VkFCL-SOyymZlbiRNv/s320/SDC10273.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462549793415357570" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />Thanks for all your comments on the last post. The planes are back in the sky over London. But there are very few of them and it is still strangely quiet.. You see we live right on top of city airport and there has been nothing in or out of there for days.<br />I have noticed the bird song much more which is enjoyable.<br /><br />I found the camera cable and am sorting out a few things to show you, so watch this space.<br /><br />Ladies I need some advice. I have always had rather nice natural nails. They have never been overly long, but I have always despite my job kept them nice and during holidays I have even managed to grow them longer.<br /><br />Problem is that since I got in the pool they have gone to pot, completely.<br />So much so that even Francis has commented on how dreadful they look.<br />They look like I have been gnawing on them, something I have not done since early childhood.<br />They keep splitting down the nail, not across as is normal but down it which is so painful.<br /><br />Do any of you have any advice as to how I can stop this or do you know of any really good products I can use to strengthen the nails.<br /><br />The photo's above show you how bad they have got and I really don't like them looking like this, so if you do know of any products that can help with this please let me know.<br /><br />Off swimming<br />much love<br />Lia<br />xxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-6778643716544225572010-04-19T14:32:00.014+01:002010-04-19T21:09:01.654+01:00Media Volcanos.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYKICqPmMRoX5Wkzye7cjKrkvnQ8nLgu384gdu9AVWfNIkrgsml4P-rHKNdXqebnv699YA51vN_txIGNogRnkJhGG-LGvLeMVCztdQxWlqdOZvon7MIBxDEPnSlBvxXBog6HSjGElTktG/s1600/frushkabarl01.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 404px; height: 590px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYKICqPmMRoX5Wkzye7cjKrkvnQ8nLgu384gdu9AVWfNIkrgsml4P-rHKNdXqebnv699YA51vN_txIGNogRnkJhGG-LGvLeMVCztdQxWlqdOZvon7MIBxDEPnSlBvxXBog6HSjGElTktG/s320/frushkabarl01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461825996766727890" border="0" /></a><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />Had a great weekend and will tell you more about it as soon as I find the cable to the camera and can up load the photos. Look it's here in this house somewhere, but it's a very naughty cable and is hiding somewhere. Really it's not me who has misplaced it, what sort of slovenly housewife do you take me for!!!!!!!!! Answers on a postcard please.<br /><br />Am sick to death of listening to people moaning about the unpronounceable volcano and the nightmare it is causing. If you listen to the news it's all the Governments fault and certainly Gordon Browns fault.<br />Yeah right, Gordon Brown set off the volcano and is now mucking it all up.<br /><br />Fact -it's a natural disaster, nothing anyone could do.<br />Fact- people are stranded, but the Government didn't ground the planes, The European Organisation For The Safety Of Air Navigation, also known as Eurocontrol are the guys that closed the skies.<br />Now if you don't know who these guys are let me put it to you this way, they have more powers that any government when it comes to the safety of our planes flying over Europe and when they say they are closed they mean it. That means that even our military can fly, unless the Government over rule them, due to a state of emergency, which frankly this isn't. There is also talk that we will run out of food on our news. God the media people are driving me nuts.<br /><br />If your reading this in a country outside of the European Union and think it doesn't effect you, try flying into London, Paris, or Rome today and see how far you get. Our Prime Minister couldn't take off today and Mr Obama himself couldn't land here if he wanted to.<br />The media are fixating on the Government and it's involvement, they have to do what they are told and right now it's grounding the planes and waiting.<br /><br />In the meantime they Government are to send out 3 Navy ships to rescue the Brits stranded abroad and that in itself is an adventure, normally you can't get anywhere near these ships.<br />The ships HMS Ark Royal, HMS Ocean and HMS Albion are heading for Spain and unspecified Channel ports. I'm not sure that I would be happy about being stuck abroad, but I wouldn't say no to a trip home aboard one of these. (Dances round house singing, All the nice girls love a sailor)!!!!<br /><br />As usual in this country, or so it would appear in ever increasing volumes, the media is going mad over all this. They have reported that the last plane to fall out of the sky because of volcanic ash was in the 1980's, well frankly my dear I don't give a damn. You see I don't want one single plane to fall out of the sky, not even a teeny tiny little one and certainly not one loaded with adults and children. A friend of mine has one of her kids stranded abroad right now and while it's not ideal at least that child is safe. My friend said that she doesn't care how long it takes to get her child home so long as they arrive here safely.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47665000/jpg/_47665624_iceland_europe_sat.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 404px; height: 464px;" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47665000/jpg/_47665624_iceland_europe_sat.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Above is a photo of the ash cloud taken on April 17th, top left of the photo is Iceland and you can just see it, the rest of the white cloud is a volcanic ash cloud.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47670000/gif/_47670063__47668465_04_19.04_1800_466-1.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 466px; height: 266px;" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47670000/gif/_47670063__47668465_04_19.04_1800_466-1.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a> Above is where the cloud is now and where they expect it to be tomorrow, scary when you see it like this. Looks like a case of the UK being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but short of moving the country I guess we are just stuck under it for now.<br /><br />Thing is it's not just a job of keep the skies safe, what about those of us on the ground. Not sure I would have enough tea-bags in the house for 400passengers who just happen to drop in.<br /><br />Can you imagine the headlines around the world if one single plane comes down because the media are running the show right now. I swear to God I always thought that the reason for Govenerments was to sort this type of thing out. Not the sodding Newspapers or programme editors.<br /><br />The World has seen the devastation of what can happen when planes are brought down over major cities. The thought of another 9/11 should be enough of all of us to stop moaning, the media to stop over dramatising this and for us all to find a way to help anyone stuck any where in the world right now.<br /><br />Lets bring loved ones home safely, if not on time, it's the right thing to do. Life is far too short and precious to be messed around with, just because the media think they know what's best for us all or that they know better than the powers that be doesn't make them right and who are they exactly to try and run the show. The media can sit around all day pontificating and frankly that does seem to be what's on the agenda, but the safety of us all, both in the air and on the ground must be the first priority of any government.<br /><br />Oh well am off swimming now. By the way it is eerily quiet in the skies over London, normally from where we live we can see them and here them stacking up over London waiting to come in.<br />Very reminiscence of 200, but thankfully not for the same reason.<br /><br />I hope everyone gets home safely and soon.<br />much love<br />Lia<br />xx<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sacs.aeronomie.be/pages/imgs/pina-plane.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 404px; height: 274px;" src="http://sacs.aeronomie.be/pages/imgs/pina-plane.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://geology.com/volcanoes/volcanic-hazards/volcanic-ash-weight-lg.jpg"><br /></a>This photo is just what can happen when planes were sitting on the tarmac after the volcano<br />Mount Pinatubo, erupted in the Philippines.<br />View of World Airways DC-10 aeroplane sitting on its tail because of weight of ash on June 15, 1991.<br />Cubi Point Naval Air Station. USN photo by R. L. Rieger. June 17, 1991.Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-89911044033978750662010-04-14T20:51:00.004+01:002010-04-14T23:22:41.189+01:00Your Guess Is As Good As Mine!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://melindaschwakhofer.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/sizezero.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 403px; height: 392px;" src="http://melindaschwakhofer.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/sizezero.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/tbr/lowres/tbrn61l.jpg"><br /></a><br />Hello My Darlings,<br />Thanks for all your e-mails and messages on your blogs, trying to let me know what was wrong. Thing was I didn't put comment moderation on and the settings were saying it wasn't on.<br />Oh well just another mad day or 12 in the happy world of blogger.<br /><br />Thanks for not abandoning me. Your the best followers in the world.<br /><br />Okay so here's a quiz for you all, well more of a conundrum really.<br /><br />As you all know I'm well into my health campaign now, having declared war on my fibromyalgia and I am most definitely winning the battle of the Bulge. Last weigh-in which was yesterday said I am now 12st 9lbs. Have also gone up to 40 laps in the pool a day.<br /><br />Only 3lbs since my last weigh-in, however we have had 2 birthdays and Easter and another birthday to come at the end of the month...this is what I call silly chocolate season, as in our house a birthday is not a bithday unless I make them double triple chocolate cake and huge ones at that. It's hard to resist chocolate. Even on a health kick, but I think I did well not to gain any weight.<br /><br />Back to the conundrum.<br />On Saturday we went out for the day (but that's another post) and I wanted to look good, so I raided a wardrobe I haven't been near for over a year and found some clothes that fitted now. <br />A quick look in it and I realised that there was a whole load of clothes that looked promising and some lovely stuff I had sort of chosen to forget about...to fat to get in them basically!<br /><br />All day I thought about the wardrobe and what treasures it might be hiding. For the life of me I could not really remember what was in it. As soon as we got back, dinner cooked, kitchen tidied and cleaned, my sister packed off home and all the boys happy doing whatever it is they do in the computer world, I made a beeline for my wardrobe of secrets.<br /><br />I should be ashamed to say this but I'm way to excited to be embarrassed I actually found £400 worth of unworn and still tagged clothes:-<br /><br />4 white blouses, all different.<br />1 black jacket.<br />3 tops all the same but different colours.<br />1 top that is exquisite and has beading on it, that in fact I spent an age sewing on.<br />1 top.<br />1 pair shorts white.<br />1 pair cropped jeans, white.<br />1 pair of black trousers for evening wear.<br />2 dresses.<br />1 jumper dark red.<br />1 wrap dress purple and black.<br />1 kimono style top with butterflies on it in blue.<br />1 beach top pink more like a dress than a top.<br />1 beach top light blue.<br />2 tee shirts the same but different colours.<br />3 pairs of pjs cotton for summer. pink, yellow, and blue<br /><br />Almost a whole new wardrobe ready and waiting for summer. Oh I should hang my head in shame........................... however whooooopeeeee for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />So I spent Saturday evening trying on clothes, my bedroom looked like a bomb site and I had to keep running up and down the stairs to look in the big mirror downstairs. Nearly everything in that wardrobe fits, there are a few snug fits, but another month or so and it'll be better.<br /><br />Now I have about 3 different sizes in the wardrobe ranging from a UK 14 to a UK 18.<br />There are 5 pairs of trousers all different, lots of skirts and dresses and tops in all shapes sizes and colours.<br />So why do some 14s fit nicely, while some 16s won't do up. Some 16s that fit nice and 18 that are too snug or won't do up. Then there are the 16s and 18s that are hanging off me and need to be taken in???????<br /><br />Sorry to shout but<br />WHAT BLOOMING SIZE AM I?<br /><br />Seriously it's mad how can a 14 do up, yet an 18 be snug. I don't shop cheap, in general I don't spent a lot on myself....yes, yes I am aware of the £400 worth of tagged unworn clothes but I'm not being fashion driven and tend to buy in good shops when they have a sale on, but only if I really like something, some of those clothes have been in there awhile. Patricia said that some of them are from when we went shopping for her trip to Crete which was 2yrs ago in June. She remembers making me buy myself some clothes then and helping to pick them.<br /><br />Any way I digress again ha ha!!!!! If talking was an Olympic event I'd be a gold medallist or is that mentalist.... oh that was so nearly funny.<br /><br />Francis says he doesn't care what size I am so long as I wear the blooming clothes and am happy within my skin and that it's far more important than worrying about the blooming label size.<br />Ok so he has a point and is properly right....but if you tell him I will cry and scream and stamp my feet!!!!<br /><br />Am I the only woman with a mad range of sizes in her wardrobe that has a weird way of fitting you when the size is supposedly small and not doing up when it's supposedly big? I actually got stuck in a size 18 dress and Francis had to come and help me out of it, while laughing his head off. Thank the Gods it wasn't the first thing I tried on or I might have broken into the nearest chocolate factory and eaten my way through the contents! I mean, well that sort of thing couls seriously demoralise a girl.<br /><br />We can put a man on the moon, but we can't get correct dress sizes.<br />Oh well why am I moaning I have a whole load of new clothes to wear and have reacquainted myself with a whole load I had forgotten I liked so much.<br /><br />I guess size really doesn't matter after all.<br /><br />much love<br />Lia<br />xxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-34524644563792785962010-04-13T11:43:00.003+01:002010-04-13T13:48:01.713+01:00Hide and Seek<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/hidenseek1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 404px; height: 295px;" src="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/hidenseek1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />Don't you all you beautiful today. I found you all.<br /><br />For some reason known only to blogger your comments were not coming up on my page and I thought you had all abandoned me on mass.<br /><br />Which I know sounds daft as a brush (why are brushes daft, not that I have ever met a really clever one or it would have a far better job than sweeping up dirt.....,I have the oddest of feelings that I might just have answered my own question......oh well I digress!).<br /><br />But not having seen any of you all for days 12 to be precise I was beginning to think that I had broken some unknown to me golden rule of blogging and as a result you had all been so mortified and offend that you were all showing your disapproval of my behaviour by not indulging me with your company.<br /><br />I really did think that I was on some sort of blogging Mary Celeste.<br /><br />But come the morning and cometh the comments you have all left me, there they all were. You have left me 31 comments over the past 12 days and I only got one of them, how very odd.<br />Do you think it was the powers that be at blogger blocking them all because I threatened to take my blog elsewhere or just the Spring fairies being a little naughty.<br /><br />What ever it was I am so terribly pleased to see you all still love me, yippee!!!!!!<br /><br />I have loads to blog about, wait till you hear what happened when some stupid ignorant woman called me a cougar!!!!!! Or exactly what I think of Mersea Island in Essex.<br />And don't get me started on David Cameron quoting J F Kennedy "Ask not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country" speech at me this lunch time!!!!!!!<br />Can I please go live on the Moon until the election is over, it's driving me nuts already, never before have I been so confused by politics.<br />It would appear to me right now that they are all the same out for them selves party, just with different colours!!!!! They seems to be very little differences between them all.<br /><br />Well I am very pleased to find you all again and am off now to swim for a while.<br />Oh and I so want to tell you about Nordic Walking that I recently found out about and my new volunteering thingy that I am doing this year.<br /><br />Love ya all and so missed you, should have known better that you wouldn't just abandon me.<br />Much love<br />Lia<br />xxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-21030744634314182872010-04-12T16:38:00.003+01:002010-04-12T17:06:01.554+01:00Was It Something I Said?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://api.ning.com/files/pM31NcbNK9u6dKIXdF7dGUh8qEZnys*hXD3ddfVlGSDEo*4EDyao1y3xG3Mp2qc4JErb93s0GgjO3g02kF40vwLvoZIhH85B/CloudMark.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 404px; height: 302px;" src="http://api.ning.com/files/pM31NcbNK9u6dKIXdF7dGUh8qEZnys*hXD3ddfVlGSDEo*4EDyao1y3xG3Mp2qc4JErb93s0GgjO3g02kF40vwLvoZIhH85B/CloudMark.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://rlv.zcache.com/what_did_i_do_wrong_card-p137412315844154901qiae_400.jpg"><br /></a><br />Hello Darlings,<br /><br />Did I say something to upset each and every one of you?<br />Only according to my post edits no-one has been near me since the 4th of April which is 12 days ago!!!!!<br /><br />You are still all out there, I know you all are as I have been leaving you comments, but for some reason you lot have sent me to Coventry.<br /><br />Now I'm more than sure that Coventry is a nice place to visit but I wasn't planning on moving there any time soon.<br /><br />So what is it?<br /><br />Do I look fat in this blog?<br />Am I just boring ?<br />OR worse than boring have I upset you all, was it something I said????????????????Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-24141328929785671412010-04-04T23:33:00.006+01:002010-04-08T13:14:42.174+01:00Dancing Man<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.a-1video.com/L&H%20animated%20dancing.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 177px;" src="http://www.a-1video.com/L&H%20animated%20dancing.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hello Darlings,<br /><br />In an attempt to cheer myself up. (I'm feeling pretty down at the moment) I thought I would share this with you.<br /><br />I can't watch this video without laughing and crying all at once.<br /><br />There is something very magical about this video.<br /><br />I hope you enjoy it.<br /><br /><object height="225" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1211060&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1211060&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="225" width="400"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/1211060">Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user484313">Matthew Harding</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p>Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-19422244880703642522010-04-04T14:55:00.007+01:002010-04-04T18:57:24.781+01:00Easter In A Straight Jacket!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.photoshoppix.com/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10004/somedays.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 404px; height: 506px;" src="http://www.photoshoppix.com/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/10004/somedays.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pinkslipsarethenewblack.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/insane-insanity-plea-straight-jacket-crazy-nuts-copy1.jpg"><br /></a><br /><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />I do hope you are all having a good time.<br />My Easter is rather flat. No family, no friends, no get together. All plans fallen by the road side and to be honest I am really fed-up.<br /><br />For starters Francis (with an i) kicked off on Friday about how he didn't need breakfast in bed, was a big man who was capable of getting his own breakfast. (Pity he didn't remember that today) So I left him to get on with it.<br />Then when I asked him to come to the gym with me he replied "Why would I want to go, you know I hate swimming. All that up and down rubbish, you must be mad" I tried to explain that I had him booked in to which he replied "well you should have asked me".<br /><br />I decided that he was perhaps over tried and just wanted to sit around and not have to do anything or be anywhere and that he does work really hard to keep me, so if he wanted to just be at home that that would be fine. After all this is his Easter holiday as well. No point in being angry and upset with him. Why row for the sake of it, I was annoyed I won't deny it, but like I said I can't see the point in forcing the issue or even making the whole thing into an issue.<br /><br />So I went alone and had a good time . I met a South African women who is one of the most gracful swimmers I have ever seen. We were sharing a lane and at one point I was just watching her and admiring her easy grace and flow with the water. We got talking and it turns out that she has been a swimmmer all her life, having grown up with an outdoor and indoor pool, lucky girl!<br />She described herself as half fish. I told her that I had only just come back to swimming and was still trying to get myself to breath and swim correctly and get the right lines.<br /><br />Swimming isn't just about getting in the water and thrashing about. Most people swim badly and as a result get too tired or suffer injuries that frankly are avoidable. The basic rule is the more splashing and waves you make, the less efficiently you are swimming. The idea is to glide through the water and not battle with it. She very kindly said that she would put me through my paces and it turned out to be a very good training session. With lots of very good pointers that I had forgotten. She also said that I am a natural and that it wouldn't be long before I was half fish myself. So I am very smug with myself over that. She's going to meet me there next week and train with me again. Such a lovely lady. Silly me didn't get her name, how rude of me to be so remiss. Lucky my mother doesn't know!!!!!<br /><br />On Saturday I always see my sister E, but this week she wasn't up to it. Which was a shame as I was going to take her to a nearby farm as they had an open day and it is lambing season.<br />I know she would have completely enjoyed it all and I was looking forward to it. So yesterday was flat. I did housework instead, not my favourite pass time.<br /><br />Today was meant to be a family Easter Sunday lunch, but Patricia couldn't make it as she has to work. But Mr Francis (with an i) has gone out with his family, gets a phone call and takes off as if his arse is on fire. I didn't get invited, I never get invited out with his family. Nine years nearly we have been together. I always invite them, they don't come, but they get an invite.<br />I'm really mad about this and am sitting here stewing over whether or not I want to make an issue of this and I think I do!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />It's not that I want to go, it's that I'd like to be invited and after nearly 9yrs, I am wondering when his family will get beyond the age-gap shite!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />I'm also annoyed that Francis (with an i) allows this to go on. I wouldn't let any of my family do this to him. In fact I have told mine that if they can't get on board with this relationship that I will not see them. We are a package, a team, a couple and have been together long enough now to have proved that we can make this work and that we are indeed a serious couple.<br /><br />It is to his shame that he allows this state of affairs to continue. It's not as though he didn't know what he was getting into when we started this. He pursued me. I was the one with doubts, who had far more to loose than him. I have in fact always taken full responsibility for our relationship when people have said things.<br />But he knew he was getting into a relationship with an older woman, he's aware of that and was in fact the one that said we had to be sure of what we were doing, as he didn't ever want to hear the "we knew it wouldn't last/work" and that there were too many people who would get hurt by us or point fingers at us for being different. For daring to fall in love and cock a snoot at the normal conventions of society. About time he grew a pair and lived up to his words.<br />God, I'm so annoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />Tomorrow is Monday and I can't wait to get back in the pool. Anything to take my mind of this seriously flat, dull and boring Easter.<br /><br />Anyone fancy a house guest for next Easter.<br /><br />And don't get me started on my youngest again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />On March 31st, Callum was 18.<br />Did we have a party....NO<br />Did he want a party.....NO<br /><br />He didn't want anything, no cards, no presents, no party, no trip to the pub, no friends over.<br />He wanted nothing, nada, zilch, zero................<br /><br />One day I will do that to the lot of them. Next time they say they want nothing, that's exactly what they will get a big fat nothing from me.<br />While I head for the airport, passport and credit card in hand, now that sounds like a plan.<br /><br />If you want me I'll be the lunatic in the corner banging her head off the wall in a straight jacket.<br /><br />much love<br />Lia<br />xx<br /><br />Ps. The beautiful Patricia just phoned and is hoping to make it here later afternoon tomorrow, all being well at work....light on the horizon.Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-65124558988693502542010-04-01T23:02:00.006+01:002010-04-01T23:49:04.160+01:00Nutty As A Chocolate Cake.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4Qwswo7gMMBy18YslAip7wpT5WKcV7TnKBSbHXTCB_1fZyUTDVDdCdwIL6jfO6TEdr2qZS3ndQlc3Xpt8k3uoHRLHVaY7XWB1BaJpU8QICf04jZ_i0cANO18fNKPGXr04ZnYdnyqgtbk/s1600/GetAttachment.aspx.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4Qwswo7gMMBy18YslAip7wpT5WKcV7TnKBSbHXTCB_1fZyUTDVDdCdwIL6jfO6TEdr2qZS3ndQlc3Xpt8k3uoHRLHVaY7XWB1BaJpU8QICf04jZ_i0cANO18fNKPGXr04ZnYdnyqgtbk/s320/GetAttachment.aspx.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455293597957716194" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello Again My Lovelies,<br /><br />It would appear that blogger has heard my moaning and sorted itself out.<br />I'm going to catch up with you all over the Easter weekend as we have nothing planned.<br />Thankfully Francis has the whole 4 days off. I say thankfully as he has been working really hard and has been doing 6days a week since Christmas. It's 23:10 and he is flaked out next to me fast asleep. He needs this time off. Tomorrow I am taking him to my gym in order to use the spa, he doesn't know and I am cooking him breakfast in bed, so long as he stays in bed that is.<br />We don't normally roll our blind down and shut the curtains but I have tonight as I don't want him waking up at first light.<br /><br />See the cake at the top of the post. Nutty made it and send me the photo stating that was meant to be for Sunday lunch but that she doubted it would make that long. I think she is trying to tease me with it. If she's not careful I will drive the 2 hours up the motorway just to have a slice.<br />If your reading this Nutty remeber that I can get past your dogs Mwhahaha!!!!!!!<br /><br />Speaking of recipes, I think I might have perfected the bacon egg cheese cupcake things.<br />I made them again and they went down very well, so I will put them up tomorrow with photos for you all to enjoy.<br />As for the polenta pizza crust I haven't done that yet, but the boys have asked for it this weekend so I will get that one to you as well. But I just want to try it one more time before I give you that one.<br /><br />I have been swimming this week and increased my laps to 30 now. It's going better than I thought and I am noticing a difference in my shape. For a start it's not such a struggle to actually get into my swim costume. It was a wee-bit tight, well ok it was a lot tight, but as it is the biggest one I own (I have 3) and didn't require a shoe-horn and a tub of butter it get into it's the one I am using. No way was I going to buy another even bigger one!!! Anyway this week I have noticed that it is going on easier. I'm not one for mirrors, haven't been for years (the having no hair thing is just to hard to look at.) But I did get some photos of me at the start and I compare them this week in the mirror and thigs definately look better.<br /><br />I found a new pair of trousers that I brought in September and when I got home they were to tight, so I shoved them away. I got them out this week and found that they are now too big for me and keep falling down, so I will need to take them in. Had to buy some new undies as well as they keep falling down. So while my weight hasn't changed much I have gone down a dress size.<br />I hope to drop another one before summer really kicks in as I have some great dresses that I would love to get into again.<br /><br />One last thing, the boiler blew up!!!!!<br />No heating and no hot water for at least two weeks. Plumbers are like looking for rocking horse poo and about as useless. The house is freezing downstairs as it is mostly open plan, not a good idea when you have no heating. We have electric back up radiators for upstairs, so we are all mostly upstairs at the moment. We are having to go to friends and family for showers and baths. I'm ok as I go to the gym, but it's annoying the hell out of the boys. Washing up is a nightmare ( I refuse to have a dish washer, long boring story).<br />Suddenly when you can't just turn the taps on you become very aware of how much water you really do use. I feel a little guilty to be honest, suddenly it seems really selfish to have the luxury of just turning a tap, when so many in the world have to struggle.<br /><br />Will catch up with you all soon, I have missed you all.<br />Much love<br />Lia<br />xx<br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/julia/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" />Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-29883902868775492010-03-29T20:40:00.005+01:002010-03-29T22:47:47.950+01:00No Wonder Others Are Moving!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bankonhold.com/images/ohw/fishbowl.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 320px;" src="http://www.bankonhold.com/images/ohw/fishbowl.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hello Lovelies,<br /><br />I am fed up with blogger, it's driving me nuts and it would appear that I am not the only one. A few log buddies have move their blogs to other sites for similar reasons and I don't think at this rate I will be far behind them.<br /><br />You see the reason that I haven't put a post up for a few days is that I have been unable to, due to some stupid glitch. Not content with that, but I am having trouble even seeing some of your posts and when I do get into them most of the photos are missing.<br /><br />I don't even have any idea if this post will get out to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />Haven't done much at all this weekend.<br />I did do some messing about with recipes, but as I am perfecting them it is pointless to go into to many details as yet.<br /><br />First recipe is a polenta pizza, (or cornmeal to my American friends) I have made the base for the pizza's 3 different ways now. The first two goes were ok but not quiet what I was looking for and this led to me taking the best bits of the two recipes and working with them to perfect the crust. Still a little more work to do till it is right and I can boost about it to you all.<br /><br />Also been making a baked egg, cheese and bacon dish that you bake in cupcake tins, had a go at two of those, but can't decide which is the best recipe to share. The boys love them (Francis, Ashley and Callum), but the jury is out on which are the best ones. Also as it was a bit of an adhoc recipe, a little of this, a bit of that and was adapted from a recipe that I considered too expensive, it too could also need a bit of a tweak.<br /><br />I am going to make both of the recipes again this week and get the boys to compare. Plus I could do with getting the right quantities written down before I share. Don't want you to be disappointed with the result should you want to try them. Got some great photos that blogger won't let me load. So not a lot of point trying to put up either recipe at this time.<br /><br />I am beginning to understand why people keep leaving blogger to set up elsewhere.<br />I have tried to load this a few times now...oh this is nuts will try one more time.<br /><br />Much love to you all, hope you get to see this.<br />Lia<br />xxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-43571307376762785272010-03-25T19:29:00.005+00:002010-03-25T21:14:11.416+00:00Bad Moody Me!!!!!!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://shrink4men.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/mood-swings.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 262px;" src="http://shrink4men.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/mood-swings.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello You Lovelies,<br /><br />I am in a bad mood, I have no idea why I am in a bad mood. Just that I am in one.<br />It's gone on for days now and has now reached a point of annoying me, which is making it worse.<br /><br />One of my older friends has told me that it's rather normal for women of my age to be pissed off for no discernible reason and that she suspects hormone levels.<br /><br />I, on the other hand think that I am just being a moody cow for no real reason. Well no reason I can put a finger on.<br /><br />EXCEPT!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />That is of course if you discount that despite swimming 5 days a week and managing to do a quarter of a mile each time and only losing 1lb in two weeks. People keep saying that it's because I am building muscles and they weigh more ....whatever, it's not easing my mood.<br /><br />I hate veg, fish, chicken, fruit and any thing that is even vaguely healthy. Don't get me started on natural yoghurt and herbal teas!!!!!!!!<br /><br />I want to eat chocolate and drink pepsi or coffee and biscuits. I want chips and white bread and butter or scones and jam, anything but the bloody healthy rubbish I HAVE to throw down my throat.<br /><br />3 months now!!!! 3 long bloody months of healthy tosh and I am truly fed-up with the whole thing.<br /><br />I know, I know, I know that I am doing the right thing, but just this week I am sick and tired of this whole thing.<br />Sod Fibromyalgia, bloody, bloody, bloody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />Oh well that's that off my chest some what!!!!!!!<br />But if you hear distant screaming you'll know it's me.<br />Mind you if you also hear that a woman in her 40's from London has drowned in a big vat of chocolate you'll also know that I broke my diet..............it's not a diet it's a healthy new way to live without pain, so why does it feel like diet torture hell right now!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />NORMAL SERVICE WILL BE RESTORED, ONCE MISS THING HERE COMES DOWN OF THE MOOD SWING.<br /><br />much love<br />Lia<br />xx<br />EDIT :- forgot to say that I am now 12st 10lbs.........uck!!!Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-76919596875975392482010-03-21T10:53:00.004+00:002010-03-21T16:55:50.549+00:00Is It Time To Draw A Line Under The Holocaust?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqymzkD9uy2keti6KYisEBe31wEvPMAxzBaIdBvzLKNGDC9GPBOVhs3FMf0_gmLzjszWnjNdLmcmdP4e93nGpmm4eHgH1_NiLIvn5EdsaJcjucMXJSwkvkNIsL5mXU7zc0G9R1o2tBMuuR/s320/gagged.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqymzkD9uy2keti6KYisEBe31wEvPMAxzBaIdBvzLKNGDC9GPBOVhs3FMf0_gmLzjszWnjNdLmcmdP4e93nGpmm4eHgH1_NiLIvn5EdsaJcjucMXJSwkvkNIsL5mXU7zc0G9R1o2tBMuuR/s320/gagged.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello Darlings,<br /><br />Thanks for your wonderful responses to my last post. I don't want to be a meanie, really I don't. I just want to be able spend time with people who take time out of their busy lives to spend time with me.<br /><br />I don't really have many friends in my life. Although I do have some really great friends, they tend to be scattered around the Globe. So having other friends around the Globe is almost perfectly natural to me. As you all know I speak to Nutty on a daily basis, but she is 150 miles up the motorway and a 2 1/2 hour drive. If we lived nearer we would see each other all the time. Friendships can easily be formed regardless of time and distance and the inter-net is fantastic for that, but I don't think we should ever lose sight of the basic rules of friendship and one of those is about putting in the effort, which you all do in abundance and have made an impact on my life. I am very grateful and thankful for that and have become fond of you all.<br /><br />On Sundays I often watch a show call "The Big Questions" it's on BBC 1, one of todays questions was "Is it time to draw a line under the holocaust?". For obvious reasons I do have an interest in a question about the holocaust. Not just because I am Jewish, but also just on a very human level. I am aware that there are people out there who either totally disbelieve that the holocaust took place or who believe that it is over exaggerated, but that's not what the question was about and I don't want to get too bogged down in the details of that. People are entitled in my humble opinion to believe in what they wish to believe in. Life as I always say is about choices and I am no-one to remove choice or freedom of speech. I may not believe in what you or they believe in, however I would defend your right to believe as you wish, so long as you are not about to murder innocent peoples or oppress them and make them bend to your will. None of us are Gods, to play so mercilessly with peoples lives.<br /><br />The premiss of the question was that now that the perpetrators of the atrocities are in their dotage years, being around about 80 to 90 yrs old should we still be trying to track them down and bring them to justice. Many seemed to think that enough time has passed that it is time for us to stop looking for them and bringing them to justice. That in fact no-one wants to see someone that age in the dock.<br /><br />I disagree and had to ask myself why!!<br />Is it because I am Jewish?<br />Would I feel the same way if it was a Catholic or a Muslim?<br />Is it because I have a vengeful nature?<br />Is it my natural instinct and sense of justice?<br />Or indeed all of the above!!!!!!!!<br /><br />Having worked it through my brain I have come to the conclusion that it is right to bring these people to justice. They committed crimes against humanity and if we do not bring them all to justice by tracking them down, what ever their age, we ourselves are guilty of crimes against humanity.<br /><br />It is indeed a crime against humanity, to not do anything. When we sit on our collective hands and do nothing we send a message that says, go out and commit the worst atrocities you can think of, it's okay, lay low, disappear, we won't trouble you. Get married raise a family, become respectable, a pillar of your community. Even enjoy your old age and dotage. Play with the children you have, the grandchildren they give you and even the great grandchildren What ever it is you wish to do, even grow old, all the joys of life you denied others with your crimes.<br /><br />Since time began there have been many many crimes against humanity and in the last century<br />Bosnia and Rwanda were but two of them. Then there are the crimes that the likes of Saddam Hussain committed. I could go on for hours naming them all, but that's not my point.<br />I seriously believe that we must bring all perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice. We owe it to the victims, to their families and to ourselves. You never know when you will be next on some crazy lunatics list.<br /><br /><br /><i>"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."</i><p>-- by Martin Niemöller, prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor, best known as the author of the poem First they came....<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Oh and please don't think that I am against ordinary service personnel, far from it. They do an amazing job protecting us against the mad men , a job I wouldn't want to do. I am talking about the heavy weights in all this.</p><p>To let the serious perpetrators of some of the most serious crimes against humanity, to forgive the likes of Hitler is to shame all of humanity.<br /></p>Liahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-53110046966347695282010-03-19T14:05:00.005+00:002010-03-19T14:42:26.674+00:00Being A Little Meanie!!!!!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://wf360.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83452408569e201156f675b52970c-400wi"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://wf360.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83452408569e201156f675b52970c-400wi" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello Darlings,<br /><br />Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post, you are so very encouraging and I am almost up to date with you all now. I have decided to be a little mean, in that I have stopped following some blogs due to the fact that they have never ever been to visit me once.<br />I have realised over the last few months just how important some other bloggers have become to me and I like to think that in my own little way I have become important right back at them.<br /><br />This being said it has slowly dawned on me that these are indeed friendships, now maybe they are not conventional, in that we may never meet, but I had a pen-friend for years who was important to me, so in a sense we are all pen-friends able to communicate at a much faster speed. Doesn't mean that we know each other any less.<br /><br />But the thing is that friendships, how ever you have them are two way. Both of us have to put in effort in order for us to have any form of a relationship. I am just not willing to be the one who puts in all the effort at the cost of neglecting friends who are prepared to put in the same effort for me.<br /><br />So while I will keep some blogs on my dashboard, just because I rather like them from time to time, in a sort of magazine flicking kind of way. I am only going to have those who are regular visiting friends in my sidebar, that way I will be able to keep up with the important blog buddies. I know this might sound a bit mean, but honestly what is the point in wasting your time on people who never put the effort back into you.<br />I seriously wouldn't keep going over a friends house and doing what she/he wanted and encouraging her/him in my real life so why bother in my blog life.<br /><br />I am hoping to finish catching you all up in the next day. Either that or I am going to ban you all from blogging until I do catch you up.<br /><br />Right I am off for my now daily swim and I have to see the doctor tonight, can you believe that I could only get an appointment at 7pm. I mean 7pm on a Friday night "Oy Vey"<br /><br />Much love Darlings have a great weekend, in fact take the weekend off, especially from blogging!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />Lia<br />xxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587860436342408680.post-2867900766178406252010-03-16T17:18:00.006+00:002010-03-16T18:14:41.726+00:00Trying.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Aqua_Aerobics.JPG"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cZBfKbXkfiSCQ111FLeuiyxMeKVLvFf2JKuFlvsjEhX4i0T_zGjrTGzS2E_y79SKQRGwDOvuGQmv0EtGvqhG1qia4AGXb2mN_yu__0l6WVO-RalhgxVjvrSIxXRP_MopktKdROPeTobl/s1600-h/2006May11-TakingAChance(NoBikiniAtoll)-1962.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cZBfKbXkfiSCQ111FLeuiyxMeKVLvFf2JKuFlvsjEhX4i0T_zGjrTGzS2E_y79SKQRGwDOvuGQmv0EtGvqhG1qia4AGXb2mN_yu__0l6WVO-RalhgxVjvrSIxXRP_MopktKdROPeTobl/s320/2006May11-TakingAChance(NoBikiniAtoll)-1962.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449296480753532322" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hello My Darlings,<br /><br />I have a confession and that is that I am having a bit of trouble keeping up with all your blogs.<br />So please forgive me if I am a little behind in being there for you. I think I might have told you all before that I am dyslexic and never actually learnt to read and write till I was 8 when my older brother Terry realised that I was in trouble and so taught me the patterns and rhythm in reading and writing. Over the years I have developed tricks to help me along and in general it works well for me.<br /><br />However if I don't read and write for a day or two it can throw my World into chaos and often means that I have to go back to square one and start again. This in turns means that I slow down to an almost stop. Sometimes I am really stupid and don't read or write, even though I know I should be doing so, what can I say it's the rebel in me..she's so very naughty at times.<br />I will catch up with you all and soon, but in the meantime please know that I am trying very hard to catch up with you all.<br /><br />The gym is killing me, very very slowly. I am enjoying it and today I did my swim and then did aqua aerobics. My gosh that's a lot harder than I thought it would be. Everyone was saying it was good and I should do it as it is easier than normal aerobics and I did watch it yesterday, thought to myself that looks good and it didn't seem hard. At least the ladies who were doing it made it look easy. So today I had a go. I can't tell you how many times I actually fell over during class, I seem to lack co-ordination and balance. They went left I went right, they went up, I went down.<br /><br />I couldn't help but laugh at myself and how stupid I must have looked. One lady got annoyed at me and made an unkind remark. To which I replied that it was my first time ever and she should try to be more pleasant and that I didn't expect a lady of her age and abilities to be quite so rude to a new member; and that after all I was looking to ladies like her to be more inspirational towards me and others like me.<br />She moved away from me, I was relived. Afterwards another lady told me that she is always rude to people and that it was about time someone told her off.<br /><br />I have never seen the need to be outwardly rude to people, but if someone brings it to me, I don't shy away from it. I prefer to treat everyone in a decent and friendly manner, as this is the way I would like to be treated. It's not hard and it's not rocket science to be nice. In fact it often returns to you ten fold. Life is hard enough and you never know what a person is dealing with on a daily basis. So I try not to make peoples day harder by being horrid.<br />Oh well tomorrow is another day and another class. But I shall keep well clear of that lady.<br /><br />Right I am off to try and catch up with you all.<br />much love<br />Lia<br />xxLiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14561789091996849444noreply@blogger.com13