Woodpigeon and an Award

I think I've become a bit obsessed with trying to get a decent bird photo. This morning, when I was making my breakfast, I saw this Woodpigeon in our yard it stayed a round for a long time and took up this position on the seat. I opened the kitchen door but thought I would frighten it away if I tried to get closer. It looks like it is inspecting my car!My friend Kitten gave me this delightful little award that she made herself.
It is so bright and cheerful and that's what blog friends do- brighten up your day. Thank you so much, Kitten, I will be adding this to my special gallery. I won't presume, but I pass this on to anyone who feels I brighten their day.

Archives:
2008: Witty Wednesday-43
2007: Fun Monday-11 What's in your wardrobe!

Award

This cute little award was given to me by Virginia over at Small Reflections.

She must have known I like the old fashioned cloudy lemonade just right when you are watching tennis (like me she's a fan).

I was disappointed for Laura Robson (15 yr old British girl) who lost in the junior girls event of Australian Open. Laura seemed to cope well with her disappointment and I'm sure she will bounce back and do well in the future.

Oh, nearly forgot I pass the award on to any lemonade lover who happens to drop in; and a big thank you to Virginia :)

Archives:
2008: Thankful Thursday + Meeting Michael Jeneid
2007: Where have I been today

Meme = 5 Projects (+1) and an award

When Rantz came up with an idea for a new meme I did not volunteer to be tagged. I thought, smugly, that I would just sit back and enjoy reading what others were doing. Little did I realise that, Wendy who volunteered and immediately set about the task, would be tagging me!

This is setting yourself 5 Projects (+1) defining those projects and then tagging 5 people to do the same. (+1 being regular updates).

I know there are numerous things I should be doing but actually putting it in writing means I have to get them done, because the catch for this Meme is I will have to admit it in the updates and Rantz will be playing *big brother* by tracking. Now as far as I'm aware there is no set time for updating-phew!

I have been pondering my priorities for a few days and this is what I have decided:

1 Purchase the G.I. Diet Express- will try Amazon for this-then try and change my *bad* eating habits.

2 Start taking a daily walk again- haven't done this since I retired. Prior to this I walked just a mile around the block at 6am every morning before work. Now I have no intention of getting up that early but I do intend to walk daily. I suppose this one is really related to the first one.

3 Clear out and reorganise our large cellar room- I have already got Embee to agree that we start this task over the Easter holiday. He's even planning to take an extra couple of days off work.

4 Knit bed socks before next winter-don't laugh I haven't done any knitting for years but I do still have all my needles.

5 Put the family history into some format that can be passed on to my children and grand children-I think this might take me longer than I anticipate, but we'll see.

+1 Provide regular updates- this will be as and when!!

Now I have to tag five friends:

Little Wanderer who will be going on holiday to the sun in 5 weeks-she can contemplate her projects while she is away!

Steffi who is a brilliant dressmaker and always has lots of sewing projects up her sleeve!

Daffy who I feel sure will be able to come up with a few ideas to follow through, she sees some interesting birds in her garden and reads a lot of good books some of which get passed on to lucky me!

Marmite Toasty because she writes such funny posts and I'm sure, if she accepts the tag, she would think up some hilarious projects.

Little Miss Moi who now has Little Miss Sproglet, now there must be lots of projects she wants to do while getting through winter in Kiev/Kyiv!

A couple of days after getting the meme Wendy created this little award for me-now I wonder if she will still think my blog is interesting after she sees my project list!
I love having my own personal award so thanks a million Wendy x

I'd better log into Amazon now and see if I can order the BOOK!!!!!!!!

Archives:
2008: 500 Posts Later
2007: Fun Monday-Pictorial View growing up after the war

Happy Thanksgiving

I would like to wish my daughter, Sam and her partner, Fred, together with all my friends in American a very happy and peaceful Thanksgiving.


Kitten gave a lot of her friends this lovely little button and I'm so delighted to be one of the lucky recipients and it's perfect for today.


ENJOY YOUR DAY


Archives:
2007: PPostcard from San Francisco 6

Memes and an Award

I've been tagged by two of my plurk pals and because I have done both of these memes in the recent past I have decided to cheat and just put in a link to the post I did earlier this month.

So Jim and Rantz if you want to find out a bit more about me you will find lots of links to previous meme's here.

I was given this lovely award, a couple of days ago, by storyteller over at Small Reflections and I now have the Tina Turner song running through my brain. I will be adding this to my gallery.

I think it should be passed on to all the Fun Monday devotees because in my books they too 'are simply the best' for keeping this running for so long. It will be two years come 22nd January. This may not be a record but a wonderful group of bloggers have hosted and participated in the weekly challenge during this time.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend.

Archives:
2007: Postcard from San Fran 1 + Postcard from San Fran 2
2006: Just one Dalmation

Meme-6 things about moi and Awards

I've been very remiss because I have been really slow in responding to being tagged back at the end of September (hides head in shame and I know you hate tardiness) over at Wakeupandsmellthecoffee. Now one of the reasons I've been a bit on the slow side is because I'm supposed to write six random things about myself and then tag six people. The problem is it's difficult to think of things I haven't told you before as you can see from the links below.

1 I am a frustrated photographer and I love looking at all the photos everyone publishes, in the hope I will pick up a few tips. I was given my first box brownie camera by an aunt back in the 1950's. It was a treasured possession and I still have the photos I took using it. I have only ever owned point and shoot cameras and I'm now on my second digital camera which does have quite a few settings that I haven't quite mastered yet! (I think I may even have mentioned this before)

2 This is really by way of a confession...when I retired I intended to try my hand at painting and my work colleagues bought me art material that I haven't even attempted to use yet. How long have I been retired I hear you ask...just over 2 years!

3 I have a travel bucket list and one of the places I have always wanted to visit is China and wait for it.......I am booked to go there on a trip next April!!

4 Retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be (did I just say that because when I was working I longed for more time to stop and smell the flowers). The first few weeks were wonderful I still got up early I spring cleaned the house and did lots of things which I never had time to do, like enjoy my coffee break and actually read the morning paper, going shopping when it was quiet instead of rushing round the supermarket either at the end of a busy day or on a Saturday and going swimming.
After a while the novelty wore off and I realised that people view you very differently once you have lost your professional status. It's very difficult to arrange times to meet up with colleagues, who were also friends, as they are still on the treadmill. It happens occasionally and when it does it's great catching up.

Now two years on I feel my life has no direction and everyday is the same. I know I'm pathetic and I could get involved in some charity work, and now my mother is a lot more frail I am available to care for her so that is a plus. Of course I have plenty of time to blog and plurk so maybe things aren't too bad after all! All this comes from someone who only ever wanted to be a homemaker and stay at home with her children.

5 So why did I venture back into the work place-it's simple really I got well and truly dumped by my first husband back in 1973 when my girls were very young, so I had no choice because we were left without any funds when he cleared the bank account. We managed and my girls were brilliant, they helped out, developing independence from an early age and I'm very proud of them. If I had my time over I might do a few things differently because I made mistakes but we have a very close relationship and I'm only sorry I don't get to see more of them.

6 The final random thing about me is that I hate smoking (my ex was a smoker and so was my father- my father died at 50 heart attack and my ex has been treated for bowel cancer) need I say more! When I met Embee he was also a smoker but he gave up pretty quickly!

I'm breaking the rules by not specifically tagging anyone, but if you fancy telling us more about yourself then you are tagged!

June 08
Jan 08
June 07
Jan. 07

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AWARD

“This blog invests and believes in ‘proximity’ [meaning that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy].”

This award depicts such a lovely sentiment and I have been given it by two of my blogging buddies Karisma and Alison. Thank you both so much I will be adding it to my gallery.
The rules are that I pass it on the 8 people and I know many of my friends have already been chosen to receive this award.

The first person I'm giving this to is a very special person who is constantly in my thoughts as she is having a very tough time at the moment. So this is for you Barbara with love.
Julie who is is currently organising a massive Christmas Ornament swap. Over 60 bloggers are taking part.
Sally
Pamela
Angela
Molly
Karmyn
Elena Jane

Archives:
2007: Fungi Forage
2006: Echo Lake

Awards come in twos!

Isn't this the sweetest little button...
.....that has just been given to me by Karisma after it was bestowed on her by Robin. Karisma is an amazing person and I always look forward to reading her posts. Not only does she home school, she writes brilliant poetry and takes interesting photos. Karisma knows me well and she has reminded me I can only give love to 7 friends and you know how difficult that is for me.

So I'm going to pass this on to:

Kitten over at Kitten's Homeschool as she needs a little love at the moment.

Pamela whose dust is always waiting The Dust will wait and I find this very comforting as I much prefer blogging to dusting!

Karmyn over at Dreaming What ifs who has not long added a beautiful little Caboose to her lovely family. We all had so much fun following her pregnancy and his late arrival. He's now a beautiful smiling 3 month old.

Jettie over at We start and End with Family I enjoy hearing about her lovely family (they will soon have an addition) and seeing her photos. She is running a competition to give a title to one of her photo so you might want to check it out).

Angela at the The Lurchers because she loves her animals and often fosters abandoned Lurchers until they can be re-homed. She also lives in a beautiful spot and I enjoy seeing all her photos. Angela has a new camera so I'm eagerly awaiting her next photos.

Daffy over at Approaching 40 as we often seem to be on the same wave length and share the same sense of humour.

Terri over at My Four Kids who had now been in Alaska a year. It must be the grandmother in me because I love to see how her children are getting on in their new life. She also lives in beautiful place so I get to enjoy some spectacular photos.

So how did I do Karisma.... see I can obey the rules sometimes!!!!


Now for the second award.......

Alix at Marmite and tea has just been having a wonderful touring holiday and she ended up visiting San Francisco which is a place I love because it's where my eldest daughter, Sam, lives. She has still found time to bestow this lovely award on some of her blogging pals and I'm lucky enough to be one of them.

Now I don't think I have any restrictions on how many people I pass this one on to so in addition to my two daughters, Beccy and Sam, who are most definitely my dearest friends; I give this to all my blog buddies who I trust because they are very caring and have provided me with kindness, through their encouraging but honest comments.

I will be putting these awards into my gallery and I thank Karisma and Alix for nominating me ~ I feel like I'm at the Oscars isn't it great!


Archives:
2007: Today is blog day

I should be so lucky...

as the song goes because I have some lovely blogbuddies like Alison who has made her own award and nominated me for this pretty little prize. Now where is my acceptance speech....don't worry I won't gush, blush and thank the world....but just say a big thank you to Alison for including me in her list.

Remember this post from last year well that's where I'm off today...wish me luck I'm driving.....and embee tells me there are road works which might slow us down...what's new...there are always road works everywhere in the UK especially as the holiday season begins!


Archives:
2007: Briam

Who's a lucky girl..........

memememe.... I rarely get nice surprises in the post, its usually junk mail or bills so when this arrived yesterday I knew just what it was.... A while back Karisma offered a little prize for writing a poem. I entered tongue in cheek because poetry is not one of my strong points. So imagine my surprise when I was chosen by her family as the runner up! I now know how to speak Aussie!!!!
Thank you Karisma, this is a lot of fun and will be added to my collection :)

Now the other thing I got this week is this.....
from my buddy Alison..... who is very good at sharing the love with me as I have been lucky enough to get five awards from her. This makes me feel very special and I do hope we get to meet up one day so that I can thank her in person! This has already gone into my gallery.

Now I'm passing it on to:

Karisma who made my day yesterday :)

Asha who has been a constant friend from the time I started blogging.

Tiggerlambgirl whom I met recently and whose company I hope to enjoy again :)

Marmite Toasty to make you smile :)

Daffy because I see a (younger) kindred spirit!

Misslionheart who has just completed the Flora Marathon.

John who groans at my jokes and says he is going to find me some good ones!!!

Beccy who also completed the Flora Marathon on Monday.

Sam this is really for Friday xx

Archives:
2007: Low Fat Moist Carrot Cake

'Message in a Bottle' and an Award

Rose tagged me for this message in a bottle and I have been sitting on it for a week so sorry Rose for being so tardy.

Here are the rules: You are about to send a virtual Message In a Bottle across the Blog Ocean. Leave a message in the sand or on the bottle. Write anything you wish. Be a pirate or a poet. Serious or silly. Anonymous or not.
What message would you like to send out to the universe?

My message is simple:

This little meme was the brain child of a blogger called Mimi and if you use this link you will be able to get a blank picture for your message, see the rules and add your link to her list.
I tag the following people (however, please do not feel obliged to do it)
Daffy
Jackie
Angela
Eve
Jettie

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Alison gave me this lovely award for helping to make her day isn't that sweet of her. Thank you Alison that will be, proudly, displayed in my gallery. In turn I will pass it on to the five great bloggers that I have tagged above.

Archives:
2007: Sunset