It's past eleven o' clock at night. I should go to bed. But I don't _want_ to go to bed. Bed's the last place I want to be right now. Tomorrow morning I'll be tired and regret staying up. This morning at 6.30 _all_ I wanted to do was to stay in bed (and that was not an option - it never is). But right now: I do _not_ want to go to bed.
I
Am an owl
And not
A lark.
I went to my first ever bible study group this evening. It scored 10/10 for being interesting: "I could've talked all night" (now there's a new take on an old song!)
Anyhow, with regards to absolutely nothing, I heard a saying I've never heard before at this bible study group. It came from a wonderful pragmatist of a grandmother - she dealt it out as she might deal advice on how to best bake bread, or when to plant your carrots:
"don't be so heavenly as to be of no earthly use" (she even has the lovely west-country lilt to go with it)!
"Doen't bee so evunllee az to bee of no urrthlee yooss"
Don't read this and think I'm aiming it at you or anyone else - I can't actually see that it applies to anyone I've ever known, real or in blog-world. It may be the best advice ever given; it may the worst; it may figure elsewhere on the scale of good / bad advice. But I just loved the way she said it, and the ensuing silence, as we all wondered.....?
??
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Friday, September 22, 2006
Suffering in Silence Here
My blog may be silent for a while as now I have gone down with the stomach bug that has afflicted everyone else in the house over the past fortnight, and I feel DREADFUL.....
Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. I shall celebrate tonight with a glass of 'settlers tums' or something!!
And now, back to bed.
Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. I shall celebrate tonight with a glass of 'settlers tums' or something!!
And now, back to bed.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Road Accidents
Just heard the news that one of the presenters of the TV programme "Top gear" is seriously ill in hospital with head injuries followng a high speed car crash yesterday (he was attempting to break the land-speed record, they think, and it was being filmed for TV. His wife is at his bedside - my heart goes out to her, and him. It's always shocking to hear sad news like this.
I don't watch "Top Gear" - its audience comprises so called "petrol heads" and fans of the energetic and controversial lead-presenter, Jeremy Clarkson. I have seen snippets of it and know that it regularly features celebrities driving cars at high speed round a race track.
If you enjoy seeing cars driving at terrifying high speeds, come to my neck of the woods. I can guarantee that after driving for about five minutes around these avenues in the residential outskirts of London you will be rewarded by the sight of some young lunatic risking his own and your life by accelerating towards his own, imagined 'finish post' somewhere along Acacia Avenue.
I am 38 (I may need to update my profile with that sad news). I have lost count, LOST COUNT, of the number of people I have known who have been killed, KILLED, in road accidents. One was a talented musician, aged 21. One was a peer at university who had become a reporter for 'The Times' newspaper, 26. Two were still at school when they were killed on the roads. Only a fortnight ago, a friend's son, in his early 30s, was killed in a car crash. I have known people who have died of heart attacks, strokes, cancer and murder. But the number of people I have known who have died as a result of car crashes probably exceeds all of the above put together. It baffles me when people think Diana 'couldn't possibly have been killed merely as a result of a car crash and that it must have been a conspiracy' - the suggestion seems be that to die in a car crash is to die in some kind of freak accident. It's common. IT'S COMMON. IT HAPPENS MANY TIMES EVERY DAY. SLOW DOWN.
"Top Gear" highlights the thrills of driving at speed. I DO hope that it is in the habit of warning its viewer of the dangers of dangerous driving too.
I don't watch "Top Gear" - its audience comprises so called "petrol heads" and fans of the energetic and controversial lead-presenter, Jeremy Clarkson. I have seen snippets of it and know that it regularly features celebrities driving cars at high speed round a race track.
If you enjoy seeing cars driving at terrifying high speeds, come to my neck of the woods. I can guarantee that after driving for about five minutes around these avenues in the residential outskirts of London you will be rewarded by the sight of some young lunatic risking his own and your life by accelerating towards his own, imagined 'finish post' somewhere along Acacia Avenue.
I am 38 (I may need to update my profile with that sad news). I have lost count, LOST COUNT, of the number of people I have known who have been killed, KILLED, in road accidents. One was a talented musician, aged 21. One was a peer at university who had become a reporter for 'The Times' newspaper, 26. Two were still at school when they were killed on the roads. Only a fortnight ago, a friend's son, in his early 30s, was killed in a car crash. I have known people who have died of heart attacks, strokes, cancer and murder. But the number of people I have known who have died as a result of car crashes probably exceeds all of the above put together. It baffles me when people think Diana 'couldn't possibly have been killed merely as a result of a car crash and that it must have been a conspiracy' - the suggestion seems be that to die in a car crash is to die in some kind of freak accident. It's common. IT'S COMMON. IT HAPPENS MANY TIMES EVERY DAY. SLOW DOWN.
"Top Gear" highlights the thrills of driving at speed. I DO hope that it is in the habit of warning its viewer of the dangers of dangerous driving too.
Friday, September 15, 2006
I love France, but....
Just returned from a week on the coast near Boulogne (photos will be posted when I have gone the stone-age route and had them developed!!!)
The weather was fantastic, the house we rented was lovely, the beach was perfect for the children and we had a couple of wonderful trips to local places of interest (if Boulogne is within reach for you, do visit its Aquarium - it's worth the ferry crossing).
But...
is it just me, or are holidays hard work with small children??? OK, so mine were either recovering from a sickness bug or going down with one (as we were to discover at 1.00am on Wednesday morning). So, when I wasn't cleaning up, I was worrying: worrying that they were going to damage themselves, the house, or the garden; worrying that they were barely eating a thing (other than shed-loads of baguette); worrying that my French might not be up to conversing with the local doctor if they became any iller....
I'm exhausted, and in a few minutes, I shall be retiring to the living room to do something that I have not done at all for the last 7 days: relax!
I DO love France though - and I can't wait to show you my photos.
The weather was fantastic, the house we rented was lovely, the beach was perfect for the children and we had a couple of wonderful trips to local places of interest (if Boulogne is within reach for you, do visit its Aquarium - it's worth the ferry crossing).
But...
is it just me, or are holidays hard work with small children??? OK, so mine were either recovering from a sickness bug or going down with one (as we were to discover at 1.00am on Wednesday morning). So, when I wasn't cleaning up, I was worrying: worrying that they were going to damage themselves, the house, or the garden; worrying that they were barely eating a thing (other than shed-loads of baguette); worrying that my French might not be up to conversing with the local doctor if they became any iller....
I'm exhausted, and in a few minutes, I shall be retiring to the living room to do something that I have not done at all for the last 7 days: relax!
I DO love France though - and I can't wait to show you my photos.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
One book…
Thanks for tagging me John. I'm gonna enjoy this!
1. One book that changed your life:
'Making History' by Stephen Fry - it made me read lots more books about the Second World War and holocaust, and I then I took myself off to Eastern Europe to see places that had featured in what I'd read. Then it all got too distressing and I stopped reading and visiting.
2. One book you’ve read more than once:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (it was my A' level text, but that's not the only reason for re-reading it - I mean I've read it many times since)
3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
OK, this will seem odd. It's more of a pamphlet than a book. It was produced for the memorial service of a family friend called Hugh Bishop - it contained a few of his sermons and some of his writings. Lots of wisdom. A great, charismatic and joyful person. Enough to turn you to religion! I turn to it often, when in a crisis. Actually, I don't turn to it any more. I lent it to a curate and haven't had it back - but I believe he has used bits of it in his sermons and I'm delighted about that. (Mum has a copy though)
4. A book that made you laugh:
Second From Last in the Sack Race - David Nobbs - and I was in labour when I read it. Anything that can make you laugh when in labour HAS to be funny!
5. A book that made you cry:
Flambards by ??? (sorry, should know that, c'mon Ruth, I can almost see it on the book cover..... doh). I was quite young.
6. A book I wish I’d written:
All of the Harry Potters....... $$$$$$
7. A book I wish had never been written:
The Harry Potters - then I could have done so (like, as if). Actually there are lots that I think are roooobish. I once wrote to M&S to complain about the grammar in one of their children's books (and, I mean, mine's not good but this....)
8. A book I am currently reading:
Loads: Here's one: Elizabeth the Queen by Alison Weir. I'm making hard work of this one. I'm sure it's brilliant - her other books are, but ....somehow.....it's not exactly light, bedtime reading
9. A book I’ve been meaning to read:
Man on a Donkey, by Hilda Prescott
10. A book I wish had been written:
Something that covers what life was life for women in England in 1500s and 1600s (including child-birth and child-rearing, and living with the knowledge that child-birth would probably kill you , if something else didn't first). I want to know about the minds of those women. Isn't it funny that we're all older now than we would have been when we died, if we'd lived 500 years ago. If you have come across such a book, please let me know. I THINK it's something that's not been written about. And I've searched high and low.
And
Six Wierd Things About Me (come one Anne, you've not done these, but I think John wanted us to do both!!)
Well, actually, there are no wierd things about me. I am the Man on the Clapham Omnibus. I think that my lack of ability to make polite, trivial conversation means that lots of people might THINK that I'm wierd. But I'm not. I just don't do "the price of bread" conversations. (If you don't want to know about my haemarrhoids, then why did you ask me how I was?)! - and I am not spell-checking that.
So here are 6 wierd things about my husband:
(1) he married me, for heaven's sake.
(2) he is an electriciany type person (hang on, I've not finished yet). He is an electriciany, engineery, phone-mendingy type person and yet: nothing blumin works in this 'ouse. Our phone - now that's wierd. We have 4. I pick one up (if ANY are in the mood for ringing, and the other three continue to blinkin' ring. So I'm on the blower, and I can't hear myself think because I've three phones ringing in the background. And it's not just the phone. The telly's on the blink, the bath only runs hot if you've the skills of a safe-cracker with the hot tap, the computer takes for ever and a day to boot up (cos he's installed that many anti virus things) and, ooooooooh, REALLY
(3) his second toe is a lot longer than the rest - but he tells me that's normal (mine graduate from longest to shortest, the big toe being the longest. He says THAT'S wierd!!!!!!)
(4) he laughs at random, for no apparent reason. And when I ask him what's funny, he says 'nothing'
(5) If you were to ask him to remove the wallpaper from a really massive room, and then re-decorate it, he'd do it. No problem. He wouldn't get bored after 45 seconds. Nope. He'd do the lot. Day in. Day out. Till the job was completed. Then he'd move to the spare room, er, I mean the next room, and do that one too.
(6) He takes the same packed lunch to work EVERY DAY. I kid you not. It doesn't vary one iota. And he'd love for us to have a weekly rota of evening meals...
Gawd, he is one adorable wierdo!!!!!!
(And he never reads my blog)
!
1. One book that changed your life:
'Making History' by Stephen Fry - it made me read lots more books about the Second World War and holocaust, and I then I took myself off to Eastern Europe to see places that had featured in what I'd read. Then it all got too distressing and I stopped reading and visiting.
2. One book you’ve read more than once:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (it was my A' level text, but that's not the only reason for re-reading it - I mean I've read it many times since)
3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
OK, this will seem odd. It's more of a pamphlet than a book. It was produced for the memorial service of a family friend called Hugh Bishop - it contained a few of his sermons and some of his writings. Lots of wisdom. A great, charismatic and joyful person. Enough to turn you to religion! I turn to it often, when in a crisis. Actually, I don't turn to it any more. I lent it to a curate and haven't had it back - but I believe he has used bits of it in his sermons and I'm delighted about that. (Mum has a copy though)
4. A book that made you laugh:
Second From Last in the Sack Race - David Nobbs - and I was in labour when I read it. Anything that can make you laugh when in labour HAS to be funny!
5. A book that made you cry:
Flambards by ??? (sorry, should know that, c'mon Ruth, I can almost see it on the book cover..... doh). I was quite young.
6. A book I wish I’d written:
All of the Harry Potters....... $$$$$$
7. A book I wish had never been written:
The Harry Potters - then I could have done so (like, as if). Actually there are lots that I think are roooobish. I once wrote to M&S to complain about the grammar in one of their children's books (and, I mean, mine's not good but this....)
8. A book I am currently reading:
Loads: Here's one: Elizabeth the Queen by Alison Weir. I'm making hard work of this one. I'm sure it's brilliant - her other books are, but ....somehow.....it's not exactly light, bedtime reading
9. A book I’ve been meaning to read:
Man on a Donkey, by Hilda Prescott
10. A book I wish had been written:
Something that covers what life was life for women in England in 1500s and 1600s (including child-birth and child-rearing, and living with the knowledge that child-birth would probably kill you , if something else didn't first). I want to know about the minds of those women. Isn't it funny that we're all older now than we would have been when we died, if we'd lived 500 years ago. If you have come across such a book, please let me know. I THINK it's something that's not been written about. And I've searched high and low.
And
Six Wierd Things About Me (come one Anne, you've not done these, but I think John wanted us to do both!!)
Well, actually, there are no wierd things about me. I am the Man on the Clapham Omnibus. I think that my lack of ability to make polite, trivial conversation means that lots of people might THINK that I'm wierd. But I'm not. I just don't do "the price of bread" conversations. (If you don't want to know about my haemarrhoids, then why did you ask me how I was?)! - and I am not spell-checking that.
So here are 6 wierd things about my husband:
(1) he married me, for heaven's sake.
(2) he is an electriciany type person (hang on, I've not finished yet). He is an electriciany, engineery, phone-mendingy type person and yet: nothing blumin works in this 'ouse. Our phone - now that's wierd. We have 4. I pick one up (if ANY are in the mood for ringing, and the other three continue to blinkin' ring. So I'm on the blower, and I can't hear myself think because I've three phones ringing in the background. And it's not just the phone. The telly's on the blink, the bath only runs hot if you've the skills of a safe-cracker with the hot tap, the computer takes for ever and a day to boot up (cos he's installed that many anti virus things) and, ooooooooh, REALLY
(3) his second toe is a lot longer than the rest - but he tells me that's normal (mine graduate from longest to shortest, the big toe being the longest. He says THAT'S wierd!!!!!!)
(4) he laughs at random, for no apparent reason. And when I ask him what's funny, he says 'nothing'
(5) If you were to ask him to remove the wallpaper from a really massive room, and then re-decorate it, he'd do it. No problem. He wouldn't get bored after 45 seconds. Nope. He'd do the lot. Day in. Day out. Till the job was completed. Then he'd move to the spare room, er, I mean the next room, and do that one too.
(6) He takes the same packed lunch to work EVERY DAY. I kid you not. It doesn't vary one iota. And he'd love for us to have a weekly rota of evening meals...
Gawd, he is one adorable wierdo!!!!!!
(And he never reads my blog)
!
Oh GREAT. Absolutely BLOOMIN' BRILLIANT!
8.00am, and Mikey's still not out of bed (unusual, mind you he did seem restless during the night)
"Come on now, Mikey" I call. "We've a fun day at the fair today - AND you'll be getting a tractor ride" (I've been looking forward to today for ages - friend and I plus children all off to a farm-type theme park).
I hear a cough from Michael's room. But it's not an "I've got a cold" type cough. Oh no. It's that other sort of a cough. That "I'm about to throw up everywhere type cough"
Before I know where I am, I have him in my clutches, standing before the loo. I'm thinking "OK, that's the next week written off now - first him, then her - she'll inevitably catch whatever it is; I'm thinking: minimum 4 days of vomitting". (I also felt tremendous sympathy for my little boy, really I did. It's THE most unpleasant thing, isn't it).
Back to bed he went, with lots of lovely cuddles, plenty of towels and a bucket ("No, not that one Mario, that's full of bits of plaster and DIY gunge - isn't there a clean one....?" (Husband's working from home this morning and was looking forward to a bit of peace whilst we were out!!!!))
"I hope I'm better by Friday" said Michael.
"Why?" I replied.
"Because we're going on holiday on Friday," he reminded me.
Oh yes.
We're meant to be going on holiday in 48 hours time.
Update: he's asleep on the sofa.
"Come on now, Mikey" I call. "We've a fun day at the fair today - AND you'll be getting a tractor ride" (I've been looking forward to today for ages - friend and I plus children all off to a farm-type theme park).
I hear a cough from Michael's room. But it's not an "I've got a cold" type cough. Oh no. It's that other sort of a cough. That "I'm about to throw up everywhere type cough"
Before I know where I am, I have him in my clutches, standing before the loo. I'm thinking "OK, that's the next week written off now - first him, then her - she'll inevitably catch whatever it is; I'm thinking: minimum 4 days of vomitting". (I also felt tremendous sympathy for my little boy, really I did. It's THE most unpleasant thing, isn't it).
Back to bed he went, with lots of lovely cuddles, plenty of towels and a bucket ("No, not that one Mario, that's full of bits of plaster and DIY gunge - isn't there a clean one....?" (Husband's working from home this morning and was looking forward to a bit of peace whilst we were out!!!!))
"I hope I'm better by Friday" said Michael.
"Why?" I replied.
"Because we're going on holiday on Friday," he reminded me.
Oh yes.
We're meant to be going on holiday in 48 hours time.
Update: he's asleep on the sofa.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
We Understand
My little daughter is at that wonderful age when only I, my husband and her brother understand what she is saying. So, if I ask her whether she wants to play outside and she shouts "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", we know that she actually means "YES". And if we're indoors and she wants to play outside, she'll say (or shout, because that's what she does): "HIDE", with a wonderful, throaty, 'cat spewing up a fur-ball' type sound just before the "H". And we know exactly what she means. She's got "apple" down to a fine art, though. She says "apple" clear as a bell. The only problem is that every fruit that is not an orange or banana is an apple. Even grapes are apples....
I do love this stage. In fact, the "terrible twos" are when I really begin to enjoy my children!
I do love this stage. In fact, the "terrible twos" are when I really begin to enjoy my children!
Friday, September 01, 2006
Summer 2006, and haven't they grown...
My children have grown...
(don't ask!)
My husband's tomatoes have grown....
My collection of 'works of art' has grown....
Michael's sunflower has grown....
And so has his fertile imagination: this is a house of books...
and this is a playground (can you see the slides?)...
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