Expect the unexpected...

That's my philosophy in life. Never take anything for granted and if life throws you a photo opportunity, seize it with both hands. That's why I was sitting in a coffee bar taking a photograph of a tiger waving through the window. Nothing surprises me any more and seeing a tiger walking along the street just seems so normal. It's best to wave though, just in case. Her name was Lolly. She had just escaped from the circus and was looking for lodgings - sadly, I have no rooms left for tigers because I have a very wild & ginger cat coming to scrap this week!

My new best friend.. KW...

It's the best fun I've had in ages and it's quickly becoming my new best friend. Affectionately known to me as KW and not to be confused in any way, shape or form with the cute & adorable KN. I take my new best friend with me everywhere because as they say, knowledge is power. In my case, that is a fact. Take my hot water - night is day and day is night. Two switches that look the same but are marked up wrong - Doh. I'm not one to watch the clock but I admit to being glued to 'my owl' as the numbers roll back and forth. Those big bad storage heaters are greedy KiloWatt eaters - whilst my trendy Christmas lights (yes, I know it's almost April but they're pretty!) are just a tiny blip on the screen. In an age when everyone wants to get a badge for being the best eco-warrier. Where the new black is green and a carrier bag is more precious than a gucci bag, energy saving is the only way forward. Hence the reason for my close encounter with my new best friend. It's time for bed KW but only if you know the right buttons to press! ;-) x

A new phenomenon... ?

In my fabulous rose-tinted, fantasy world where hamsters run in wheels to generate electricity and big fat spiders patrol the skirting boards to keep guard, a new phenomenon has occurred. With my owl in hand I watch, listen and wait to see what effect switching on my dishwasher has on my new electric meter. None, zero, nought, nothing! 5 minutes pass. My most favourite appliance is whirring and a-swishing with nothing registering on my meter. I am struck by a blinding light - no, I haven't stepped on a live wire! I come to the conclusion that my dishwasher is being powered by the zillions of gallons of water that hurtle down the slip-way which means.... it's FREE@! My precious, sparkly, diamond clean cups and plates are being cleaned by the very water those dirty ducks have swam in, Ugh! Then the blinding light goes out and I'm left pondering in the dark. It would be good to have at least one appliance in my home that didn't feel the need to absorb all the kilowatts the national grid generated. If only trees could photo-whatsername and create electricity, instead of just standing there looking as dense as a chunk of wood. If clouds could rain down hot water instead of that freezing cold stuff then we could collect it in buckets and wash for free. As I rub the eyes, I wipe the mist from my rose-tinted spectacles and I can see that my meter has rocketed and my new phenomenon is just a hot water pipe dream! Makes a mad March story tho.. x

What does British Summer time mean to you?

It always seems easy to stay up an hour later but not so easy getting up an hour earlier! The good bits are that it's light when I drive home from work. I'm not a natural summer freak because I love all the seasons. I enjoy being cosy in winter as much as I enjoy sunshine days. Living in an apartment means I won't be rushing into the garden with my deckchair and glass of Pimms at 6 o'clock! I will just have to be happy with a light stroll down the lane to the local pub and sit in their garden with a bottle of fizz! x

Snap, crackle, pop and POW!

Hey who is POW, I hear you say... ? Truth is that in 1933, Illustrator Vernon Grant drew three elves and named them Snap, Crackle, and Pop. He took the characters to Kellogg's, who bought them on the spot to use with their rice crispies ads. Here's an ad taken from a 1933 Parents magazine! The story goes that there was a fourth elf character who was named Pow and who was supposed to represent the explosive nutritional value of Rice Krispies but as we all know, two's company, three's a crowd and four is positively OTT so POW went POOFH ;-) x they are still as yummy as I remember x

How many blonde moments can you fit into one day?

Just occasionally, I find myself lost and wonder why. And I am talking about directions this time. I had looked at the map, absorbed all the directions and still drove the wrong way out of Exeter! Sometimes I recognise a road and think I should be driving along it! Something inside my head tells me to ignore my plans and trust my instincts! Thankfully, the same instincts also tell me when I have taken the wrong route so today, although I wasted about 25 minutes, I did manage to get myself back to where I started so I could start all over again. Bluetooth is a wonderful thing. Today I could see the seconds ticking over on the phone but wondered why I couldn't hear anything. Doh.. it helps if you activate bluetooth on the phone before making a call! To top if off.. this evening I got glasses out of the cupboard, a bottle of wine out of the fridge, only to find it was a bottle of red - doh! So we've had a very nice bottle of white wine... with ice in!

A masterpiece..

I have lilac socks and a lilac face and here I am with my cat! I did ask what the big black thing was because I thought it might be a spider but 'no' of course, it's the sun!

We are family... !

That's me, Jess, Nathan, Humph, Hubert, a Sumo Wrestler and the Karate Princess!... not forgetting Luscious Lucy and the Adorable Andy without whom this family wouldn't exist! I'm in Devon and the reason I know that because as you drive down the M5, there's a big sign to say "Welcome to Devon". I always get lost in Exeter and true to form, I did exactly that yesterday trying to find Lucy. I managed to get here in time though to walk to pick her little people up from school - that takes me back a long, long way! We had tea and biscuits and watched 'Boomerang' children's tv - fantastic! I was so well looked after. The little people put a book beside my bed for me to read, a plastic cup in case I needed a drink in the night and I was joined in bed by Humph the purple elephant! "Mummy put a hot water bottle in bed for you" said Jess, who is 7. She also said "Mummy always does nice things for visitors. She doesn't do nice things for us. Well, she does in the winter!" Anyway, we've done our spellings, I've been read to and I've also been taught a magic card trick! I like family life.. x

A roller coaster of a day...

Just when you think life is pretty settled and calm, you find you have to swerve to avoid an obstacle! You have no idea what I'm talking about, but let's just say I am describing the highs and lows of a single day. I love my life and the fact that you have some control but can't control it all of the time just makes it exciting. After all, life would be terribly dull if we had complete control. On odd occasions, life throws you a curved ball. It's the kind of day when I wish I could duck and become invisible, just like I was last night. Sadly, I can't and if I'm honest, facing up to life's challenges is all part of the journey. It's what makes us who we are and it's always the hard, chewy bits that count for more when the chips are down. Coming face to face with an old flame today that had thankfully been well and truly extinguished a long time ago was weird to say the least. Having to sit in meeting and then at lunch was positively cruel. But learning to deal with ones demons is an important lesson and one which I'm actually particularly good at. Okay, I did have a Bridget Jones moment in the kitchen which must have been amusing for the guy on the 8th floor who came in whilst I was gazing into space pulling a face! The devil in me wanted to shout rude things and behave badly but there's always an angel in my case who was heard to say in a very quiet voice.. 'Hey, look what he could have won!'. I'm also good at 'doing the right thing' and as E is my middle name then I was efficient, exceptionally polite and as always.. extraordinary!
After the day I'd had, it was great to get home this evening and discover two parcels. A little bird told me about the one and inside the other was a little bird. My owl had arrived to help me tot up the cost of my 'usage'!! More on that another time. The other was just what I needed to stop me feeling grumpy and put that smile back on my face. I couldn't help but smile as soon as I opened the enormous box, what bonkers packaging. It wasn't a bonkers gift though but a lovely set of drawers from lovely Liz for my Mother's Day gift. And my son Rich called me today, which was fab. So in the end, the supergood outweighed the superbad and if you know anyone who'd like a ride on that roller coaster, they can have my ticket because I just got oFF! x

Life is one BIG rollercoaster!

Life has so many twists and turns that keeping up is like being on a roller coaster! When it's chugging up the hill you get time to take a breath and prepare yourself for what's ahead. When you're looping the loop, the unexpected can happen and catch you unawares. Today I came face to face with the unexpected. I walked into a meeting expecting a friendly face and encountered uncertainty and a chilly blast from my past. I certainly caught my breath and held onto it for the next three hours until my heart had stopped pounding and the moment had passed!!

Of course..!

I had such a lovely evening last night. I had planned to stay over at Lisa's, though she wasn't there but no matter, I have my own key now.. woo hoo! I was making up for the fact that I missed Shrove Tuesday this year and had a wonderful, tasty pancake followed by delicious crumble in BBlanc with KN. He makes me smile because he's great company and pretty easy on the eye! We chatted about anything and everything, shared some Rioja and made up for the six weeks since we last saw each other. As far as the waiter was concerned, I might well have been invisible! When K for Klumbsy, spilt his water across the table, our waiter was there within seconds mopping up and grinning inanely. Me thinks he was hovering just willing the glass to topple over. The fact that the water went all over my foot and my new shoe seemed to have completely escaped his notice. He was too busy stroKing shoulders and me.. well, I just wasn't very important. Attentive is one thing, pinching our salad before we'd had a chance to find the Katerpillar under our 'leaves' is another thing! And I'm only joking about the Katerpillar, it wasn't in the bottom of the bowl so I can only assume we must have eaten it!! x

Happy Mother's Day

It's a day to celebrate motherhood so I went and bought myself a big bunch of daffodils and a bottle of Chambord, a black raspberry liqueur! I had a big sort out this morning and filled a bag with clothes to go to the jumble. I've had a very lazy day and watched more tv than I care to admit to including an old favourite, Sabrina and this evening I've watched Persuasion, which was wonderful. I blame the fact that I've eaten half a christmas reindeer on that darned rice crispie cake advert that keeps popping up every five minutes!! And, now I'm going for the hat trick and watching Shirley Valentine! x

Revisiting old haunts...

To some this is just a street. To me, this is where I used to work. I really like Bath for lots of different reasons. The city has is a real mix of style, culture and people making it an interesting place for a mini adventure. More up-market than Cheltenham, more painful to park! More tourists and less stickiness really and by that I mean it's not got the continuous appeal that Cheltenham has for me. The buildings are lovely and there are lots of tiny shops to mooch about in on a warm Spring day.
I went to see Richard first in the gallery. Nothing on the walls, everything on the floor waiting to be displayed again following his trip to London. I went to visit Kerry for a cup of tea before going to have some yummy soup in the cheese shop. I remember the cheese shop from when I used to work in Walcot street. It made the most delicious cheese and pickle sandwiches and from what I saw today, it still does! One of my favourite shops had everything that a cook could ever want or need. From cheese graters to lemon zesters, there was even a gadget to hold the cheese so you didn't grate your fingers at the same time! I managed to resist temptation in all forms and came home with a piece of tuna from Fishworks! x

A new week... new hair...hURrah!

I love new experiences. Out with the old ones and in with the new. The lovely Laura came round with her magic mobile hair bag and hey presto, I have fab, new hair! She is a little dynamo and did such a great job. Best bits were being able to have it done after work without ever leaving the house. Mind you, when am I going to read a magazine again if I don't go out to the hairdressers?! Everyone at work loves it and it goes so well with my sun-kissed tan. First week back at work has also been a dream. I've zapped my laptop so it goes quicker. I've cleared my desk so I can focus on what's important and the sun has shined all week long... fabulous! It's not like being on holiday but it's 'my life' and as the sun streams through the window this morning as I sit looking out at the lake, it ain't that bad! x

Look away... all you spiddy screamers!

Look who is on the outside looking in?! Yesterday he was there... today, he has gone... yikes! As I sit with my feet up on the chair opposite, I'm left wondering.. where did I leave my slippers?! I've looked everywhere for him this morning and sadly, mr spiddy has left the building! He had the biggest tummy I'd ever seen, much bigger than mine ;-) very short legs too so I don't think he'd run very fast though I don't want to test the theory. Maybe he's gone to rescue the whopper I found last night in my bedroom who had legs as long as mine and ran exceedingly quickly down the stairs when he spotted i was onto him. I would never harm a spider and I really do I hope he can fly or has springs on those long legs of his as I do admit that I mercilessly tossed him out of the upstairs window. In my defence, his feet did touch the sides of the glass that I caught him in.. urgh. See... I knew you'd agree! There's just no room for monster spiddys in my apartment and certainly not in my bed!

WOW.. what a fantastic day!

Here's the calm and quiet street before the start of the Bath half marathon! I drove down and abandoned my car somewhere high up a hill. Most of Bath is hilly and permit parking and with the volume of traffic I just found a space and decided to walk. I forget how beautiful Bath really is. The buildings are very elegant and 'very me'.. being built in curves and circles. It was lovely to walk into town and although I had to stand for over an hour before the first runner appeared, it was really great to watch the streets fill up with lots of excited spectators.
Here is one serious runner - the very first!
And here he is lapping the tail end of the runners who had only just started ;-) ouch.. 13.1 miles... double-ouch!
If you're going to run and let's face it, most of the runners run to raise money for charity, then why not dress up?! They certainly got the most cheers! There were furry animals, fairies, cartoon characters and here's the dynamic duo, Batman & Robin going through their paces.

Cenote Ikil near Chichen Itza, Mexico

The Yucatan Peninsular in Mexico has no rivers but has numerous sinkholes likes this one which is located approx 10 minutes drive from Chichen Itza. You can swim in the water if you don't mind the cold and the fact that there's about 120 feet of water beneath you! It was very beautiful and the swimmers didn't seem to deter the many fish that were also swimming in the sinkhole. I have to admit, I passed on the swimming. The water really was cold and as this was the first stop of the day, it would have meant wet hair for the rest of the day. Excuses, I know!!

The paper tree...

You know when you take a photograph for a particular reason then can't quite remember all the facts? Here's one such photograph! I wish I'd been concentrating more at the time ;-) the local Mayan community use the bark from the roots of this tree to make paper on which to print the Mayan calendars.... I think!
I couldn't resist a photo opportunity with these beautiful flowers in the hot sunshine.

Chichen Itza

Recently voted one of the new 7 wonders of the world, Chichen Itza is a truely magnificient ancient Mayan city. Hot too, under a cloudless sky! The Pyramid of Kukalkan is immense, 24m high and has been partly restored so visitors can see how it looked before restoration commenced. Kukalkan has 365 steps, one for every day of the year. Dating back to 700AD, the ancient buildings take your breath away. Try to imagine how they were constructed all those centuries ago. Most of the structures are actually completely solid, made up of stones covered with cut blocks. I found an iguana too, slouching across the rocks in the midday sunshine. There's only one word for my traveling companion, Lisa, it's luscious! She's one of the kindest people I am fortunate enough to know. She has a heart of gold and is a true sun worshipper!

A Cancun adventure...

I'm back! Oh what a chilled holiday and as you can see, I'm not talking about the weather! My tan just goes to prove that you don't have to sit out in the sun - too hot for me so most of the time I was languishing under a palm watching the world go by. Nice... apart from when I was taking a dip in the ocean - fabulous water and so clear and turquoise in colour. An interesting experience.. ;-) x

My fellow pisceans...

We're a creative bunch! Looking back over the past 1000 years, many artists, painters, poets and sculptors were born on March 1st. Interestingly, more scientists, physicians and politicians were born on June 1st! Notable dates... Frederic Chopin was born on this day in 1810, the Hoover Dam was completed in 1936, the Battle of Bismarck Sea began in 1943, the castle bravo, a megaton hydrogen bomb was detonated in Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean resulting in the biggest explosion ever made by man in 1954! Colour television transmissions begin for the first time in Australia in 1975, Britain decided to go decimal.. blimey.. and Botticelli was born way back in 1445. Famous for his frescos on the walls of the Sistine Chapel and paintings such as Primavera and the Birth of Venus. Impressive or what... !

Twinkle, twinkle...

Birthday girl.. x I've had a lovely day after an unusual week. I have flowers, cards, fizzy stuff, make up and lots of best wishes to make me smile. My mum's first text of the morning to tell me that this was the very same minute when I was born. How cool is that?! x