A Great Day!

 

Hello everyone,

It`s a really nice day today, the sun is out and the sky is blue and, despite it being freezing cold I feel GREAT!  I took my faulty electrical goods back to the stores where they were bought and I had the very best customer service that anyone could wish for.  I went into Boots to return the straighteners and found a very helpful assistant, she not only told me to pick a new pair but came along and helped me find the best ones for the money.  I ended up with the same make but a much newer and more expensive model that was selling for half price, a really good deal and they are really good too.  Then it was back to Tesco where I went to customer services and was directed the their electrical department where a polite young man dealt with my complaint. I walked out in just under five minutes with my new iron and then went straight home, the whole trip lasting no more than forty five mintutes.  I am very impressed!

Now I have a story about the famous Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.  It is claimed to be haunted by several ghosts.  Enjoy.......................

 

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Known in the business as "The Lane", this is the oldest theatre in London. As if designed to confuse tourists, the Theatre Royal's entrance is not actually sited on Drury Lane (which runs past the back of the building) but on the less well-recognised (but far more attractive) Catherine Street.

The Theatre Royal was established by the granting of a Royal Charter by King Charles II, and this charter, the pride of the theatre, used to be displayed on the cover of every Drury Lane programme, until modern marketing and design did away with it. An understandable change, but an unfortunate loss.

After Charles' father, Charles I, had been beheaded by Oliver Cromwell's regime in 1649, the monarchy had been abolished and with it went the theatre, which was seen as an ungodly and licentious entertainment. When the monarchy was restored with Charles II's return from exile in 1660 (hence the Restoration period of history, usually applied to the years up to his death in 1685), the theatre was restored too.

Despite the King's love of the stage, permission to perform was strictly prohibited, except by licence, given that plays could easily be used for anti-govemment propaganda. After all, it was following a performance of Shakespeare's Richard II, a play about the deposition of a King, that the Earl of Essex led his ill-fated rebellion against the ageing Queen Elizabeth. The granting of the King's licence was, therefore, vital to respectability and official approval. For many years only two theatres enjoyed this - the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the Theatre Royal, Haymarket (see the chapter on West End theatres) hence their names.

The Theatre Royal saw many visits from King Charles, though he was attracted not so much by the plays as by the female players - another change that he had brought about, for earlier in the century, during his father and grandfather's reigns, female parts had been played by teenage boys.

Charles had many mistresses but the most famous, and certainly the most popular, was Nell Gwynn, an actress at Drury Lane. She had started her theatre career as an orange seller, which was something of a cross between an usherette and a prostitute. Graduating to the stage, she demonstrated a talent as a light comedienne, and caught the King's eye, and later his heart.

One could write a book on Nell Gwynn alone, but we must move on, leaving her to her place in history, along with all the other ghosts of past performers. Many theatres have a resident ghost, and Drury Lane has a mysterious figure in eighteenth century clothes. Workmen digging away at a wall as part of a refurbishment project found the skeleton of a man, dating from this period, with a dagger in his ribs, so perhaps the ghost story is well founded! The ghost is only seen inside the theatre in daylight, often while the actors are rehearsing.  It is said that seeing the ghost before a performance will bring the cast good luck, ensuring the play would have a good run.

 

Monday Meanderings

 

Hello everyone,

I hope you`ve all had a great day even though it`s Monday.  I`ve been up since 6am this morning as I had a hospital appointment at 9 and the hospital is in another town.  Despite leaving at 8.15 we barely made it on time, so heavy was the work and school traffic.  Consequently I`m really tired and I hope to get an early night.  Tomorrow I`m going in to town to change the iron and my straighteners, which means another early start but not quite THAT early.

Today has been a little less cold than yesterday, not warm by any means but it seems a few degrees warmer.  It was pleasant enough to take Jake on a much longer walk this afternoon taking in the village and surrounding lanes.  It was nice to just amble along listening to birdsong and look at the country gardens as they show signs of burgeoning new life.  Sounds poetic doesn`t it?!

Kerry`s car needs repairing again.  It turns out that is wasn`t just the faulty spark plug, if only.  It seems that it may need a new head gasket and she`s none to happy about it either. Our mechanic S told her that he could do it for her but he knows a another chap who can do it cheaper so he has given her his number.  Apparently this chap has a very good reputation and often takes some of the bigger jobs off his hands.  I really feel for Kerry and Slava because they have had so much car trouble and it has cost them a fortune, something they really could do without.  Unfortunately they both need their cars for work or they could share one car.  Anyway, I lent her my car for work and will carry on like this for as long as necessary, my little Clio used to belong to Kerry and won`t mind her driving her if she`s careful...lol!

Jim and I did some shopping in ASDA today, we haven`t been in there for years but we were quite impressed by it.  We bought a couple of tops for Roman and a really nice fleecy hooded jacket and it all came to just under £9, very reasonable indeed.  I might even go there for my weekly shopping to see if I can save some money but on the other hand I`m so used to Tesco I`m not sure I`ll like it.  Hmm.....I`ll have to give it some thought.

Anyway, I`ve not done much today so I`ve not got a lot to say. I hope you all have a nice evening, take care and Bye Bye for now.

 

 

 

 

A Slow, Slow Sunday

 

 

Hello everyone,

Welcome to a very boring Sunday afternoon, and I really mean it.  I`ve nothing to do and have nobody that I can visit, Jim`s working and Kerry is out all afternoon before going to work herself.  It`s my own fault, I should have made arrangements with a friend before the weekend if I`d realised I`d be at a loose end. Enough about me though.

Last night Roman slept right through the night and didn`t make a sound until nearly 7am when we could hear him making happy little noises in his cot.  Kerry turned up at 7.30 and gave him his breakfast.  Because he`s not used to an audience first thing in the morning he took ages to eat his weetabix ,and thought it would be funny to blow bubbles while his mouth was full.  Jim and I just laughed while Kerry attempted to put on a stern face but he carried on regardless, quite happy to be the centre of attention.  Kerry said Slava came home from his night out in the early hours of the morning and she assumed that he`d had a good time but didn`t know because he wasn`t awake just yet.  Roman`s skin, by the way has really improved since the other day.  It`s the best it`s been for a long time though we daren`t dare hope that it is clearing up for good.

Later that morning I decided to get on with the huge pile of ironing that had accumulated over the last week.  I`d just managed to iron one pair of jeans when the iron died on me, I`ve only had it a couple of months too!  First the kettle, then the answerphone, then my straighteners and now the iron...what`s going on???  As luck would have it I managed to borrow Kerry`s but now it means that I have two things to return to the shop. I`ll take the iron and the staighteners back on Tuesday, I`m just grateful that I didn`t buy them from the same store or there would be some raised eyebrows from the customers services department there...honestly, I not doing it deliberately! ;o)

There`s still a chilly wind blowing here and dark clouds are gathering overhead and I think it will rain, or snow very soon.  When I took Jake out I had one eye on the road ahead and the other on the black cloud hovering in the distance, dog walking isn`t as enjoyable in this weather though it still has to be done or Jake would never forgive me, though I wouldn`t mind betting if he could talk he`d ask to borrow a scarf to tie over his head to stop his ears blowing in the wind...lol!

Anyway, I`ll leave you now and hope you all have a lovely day.  Take care and Bye Bye for now.

 

 

 

Happy the Man

Happy the man and happy he alone,

He who can call today his own:

He who, secure within, can say,

Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.

Be fair or foul or rain or shine

The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.

Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,

But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.

John Dryden

 

 

 

 

Windy Weather and Washing

Hello everyone,

It`s been a good productive day today.  Slava came over at 9.30am to help Jim line up the handrail in the hallway. Between the three of us we marked out the screw holes so that Jim could fix it to the wall.  I must admit to being pleased that the rail is up just in case one of us slips on the stairs, namely me as I`m the one who is always falling up and down the stairs.  It`s been at least a month since the last time so I`m due another one soon!

It`s been really chilly again today with the wind blowing it`s heart out.  The fence panels at the bottom of the garden look as though they`re about to keel over, let`s hope not, Jim has enough work to do inside...lol!  The upside of the wind was that it is fantastic drying weather, so apart from the usual everyday laundry I washed the towels and lastly Jake`s bedding.  Because the weather was dreadful last weekend I didn`t get to wash it and as all dog owners know, if  Fido`s  bedding isn`t washed regularly it can get a bit on the smelly side. Jake is very clean as dogs go, but he doesn`t shower every day or use deoderant so despite my loving him to bits, his hygiene leaves a little to be desired.

Later on I decided to sort out our CD collection.  I`m fed up with not being able to find what I`m looking for so drastic measures have been taken.  Now Jim is a bit of a collector where CD`s and DVD`s are concerned but I couldn`t believe just how many  we have.  I didn`t bother to count them but there are several hundred at a conservative estimate.  Anyway, I was saying, drastic measures and all that.  I sorted them out into piles, female solo artists, male solo artists, bands and classical.  Then I put the female artists in alphabetical order, then the male etc. It took me a couple of hours to get it right but the section that took the longest was Jim`s collection of heavy metal bands...he has loads of them, my modest collection of CD`s is tiny in comparrison.  Now all I have to do is ensure that Jim puts everything back in order.  He`d better!

I took this photo this evening of the daffs I bought yesterday from a flower stall in the High St.  They have opened up over night and they really brighten up the room, I really love Spring flowers and they`re always cheap to buy.

I`ve been getting quite a few `cold` calls with the usual suspects trying to get me to buy double glazing, mobile phones etc.  Today I remembered an email that has done the rounds.  It tells you how to annoy these people, one of the things was to wait until they asked you your name and then you tell them to wait one moment.... then you leave the phone on the table and walk away, leaving them to pay for the call.  Instead of walking away I put me ear to the phone and I could hear, "hello, hello...Mrs Francis...??"    I was really pleased with myself for doing that and I`ll do it again too.

There was a knock on the door this afternoon, as is usual Jake barked at the door.  I opened to find a woman running away making little oh oh oh noises....!  It was the lady who had come to collect the Avon book.  Apparently she is terrified of dogs...not as scared as Jake was of her, the silly so and so ran back inside straight to his bed...lol!  I then had to explain to the woman that not only wouldn`t he hurt her, but that she`d scared the life out of HIM!

I`ve got Roman for the night as Slava has a night out with Danny and some friends and Kerry is working late.  I didn`t mind baby-sitting as Little man is as good as gold and went to bed at 6pm as usual and went out like a light.  I took this photo of him just before he had his bedtime bottle.

I must go now as my neck and shoulders are really hurting this evening.  It must be sorting out all those CD`s!  Anyway, have a really nice evening, take care and Bye Bye for now.

 

 

 

A Really Bad Hair Day

 

Hello everyone,

Welcome to a freezing cold Friday.  Brrrr.....how much colder is it going to get, I wonder?  There is an East wind blowing that could cut you in half, I just wish it would warm up just a few degrees, that`s not asking for much.  I think there`ll be a frost tonight as the sky is really clear so there`s not much hope of an early Spring just yet!

This morning we took our new kettle back to Argos.  The lady at the Customer Service desk said she thought it was a crack and she sent up for a replacement.  When she opened the box it was the same as the first one so she sent for yet another, and guess what?  You got it.....they were ALL like that so it must be part of the design.  Jim suggested we get a refund but I decided I wanted that wanted that particular model so I took the second kettle home with us.  There was another one that I`d have bought but I decided I didn`t like it when I saw the price, I mean to say.  Even the best looking, most expensive kettle only boils water just the same as any other.  We met up with Kerry and Roman in Marks and Spencers and she treated us to coffee.  Roman sat in a high chair and played with his toys....very noisily.  He lost interest in them when he spotted a small cardboard advertising box which he grabbed and shoved straight in his mouth.  What is it with children and cardboard and paper? Roman just loves to play with a piece of kitchen roll, I think it must be the feel of it.  This child is going to be really cheap to buy for...lol!

This afternoon after walking Jake, (which incidentally I did very quickly so as to keep warm) I washed my hair, dried it and put my straighteners on to heat up.  The thing about my hair is that without the straighteners it`s mass of kinks and frizz and a bit of a sight.  So last year I invested in a really good quality pair ( I`ll resist the term `heavy duty`! ) and I`ve been very pleased with them too.  That is until today......when I returned to said straighteners it was to find that they were barely warm, let alone hot....sigh.  I went and had a look in my bedside drawer snd found the reciept, the guarantee doesn`t run out until 10th March, so by rights I should be given a new set. Phew...panic over, no need to worry about paying for new ones but it left me with the problem of a VERY bad hair day. Then it hit me, Kerry has a pair of them, I know because they were mine.  I drove over to her place, regardless of it being only a two minute walk.  I  didn`t want to be seen looking like a crazy person with the mad hair!  Thankfully she was home and I ran in and said hello then disappeared home and corrected the damage.  Well no, I didn`t...I popped into the bedroom where Roman was lying in his cot, he was awake but he didn`t smile when he saw me, he looked worried...and then he screamed.  I was mortified and quickly picked him up, gave him a cuddle and he was fine, I hadn`t realised I was THAT scary...lol! My lovely daughter, who found the whole situation hilarious, said that I could keep them until I get my new ones....hmmphh, how VERY kind of her...!!!

It`s really get late so I`d better go now.  I hope you all have a great, relaxing weekend.  Take care and Night Night.

 

 

A Busy, Wet and Freezing day!

 

Hello everyone,

Another late entry for me today.  If you`re reading this I presume you were able to access my journal today.  I`ve had quite a few emails from my British friends because AOL just wouldn`t let them in.  None of my American friends seeom to have the same problem.  I emailed Joe the Journals editor and he`s passed it on to the Investigation team to decide just why this has been happening.  I`ll let you know if I ever find out myself!

The leak in the road outside is fixed at last.  The men worked most of Tuesday night and in the morning the hole in the road had been filled in as though they`d never been there.  Let`s hope it stays fixed.  Jim`s fishing trip wasn`t as good as he`d hoped it would be, both Jim and Steve finished at 3.30 without catching a thing, apart from the chance of a cold as they were both freezing when they got home, not that it`s stopping them going again next week.  Talk about being devils for punishment...lol!

Jim and Kerry both had dental appointments this morning.  Jim to have his filling and kerry to have her impacted wisdom teeth checked.  Jim`s filling went ok but Kerry may have to have surgery to remove one of her teeth.  At the moment the dentist will leave things as they are but if a problem arises it will be hospital again for her. She had an operation several years ago to remove a back tooth that was in a really awkward position, but they don`t want to operate again unless they are forced to because of the problems she may face.

On Tuesday Jim`s Mum had a bad fall in the nursing home.  They took her to hospital where she had a few stitches in top of her head.  It could have been much worse but it was still bad enough for a person of her advanced years.  Thankfully there have been no side effects but Jim and his sisters are all really upset about it, as you would expect.  Jim saw her today and he said she`s fine but very quiet. It makes you wonder how she managed to fall from her wheelchair because she hasn`t been able to walk for the last two years since she broke her hip...hmm.

This afternoon after we had lunch, Kerry and I went into Windsor just to pass to time and to give Roman some fresh air and to walk along the river. We hadn`t bargained on just how cold it was though, Roman was well wrapped up in his buggy, with  his `cosy toes` to keep him warm and raincover, but we were absolutely freezing.  We`ve had sleet and snow all day and with the wind umbrellas were useless.  We spent most of the afternoon walking around expensive department stores looking at goods we can`t afford, just to keep warm.  So much for taking Roman out for some fresh air!  Eventually we gave up walking around and headed for a coffee shop where we stayed for nearly an hour and then headed for home, where I have been ever since.  Jake even had to forego his afternoon walk, mind you I don`t think he seemed particularly bothered, he doesn`t exactly like the rain either.

I`m going now so I hope you all have a lovely evening.  Take care and bye Bye for now. :o)

 

 

The Photos from France

Hello everyone,

Welcome to a wet and miserable Wednesday morning.   As promised I`ve posted the photos from our friends three day break in Annecy, France.  The weather wasn`t as good as they`d hoped but they still had a really nice time there and the photos are really good.  I`m really grateful to Steve and Bernice for thinking of me and my journal.  It was their suggestion that I use them and I think that`s really nice of them.

Jim is fishing today with Steve, just how they can sit there in this awful weather is something only another fisher-person can understand, because it`s a mystery to me.  I don`t mind Jim having his day away because he`s slowly but surely making progress with the decorating.  As he said to me yesterday, he`d rather take his time and make a really good job of it than hurry it on and make a mess of it.  Yesterday he got rid of the upstairs hall carpet and replaced a squeaky floorboard and then cut the new handrail down to size and put the brackets on ready to screw it too the wall.  The next job will be the re-varnishing of the woodwork in the much lighter beech.  Then it will be the hanging of the new doors.  If anyone wants to borrow Jim for any decorating work, please email me and we can come to some financial arrangement. Of course, he knows nothing about this but I`m sure once he`s finished decorating our house he love to do everyone elses.  So please book now for the year 2012....lolol! :o)

That`s it for now.  I`m going to make some lunch and go and watch a programme I taped last night.  I`ll be back in a couple of hours to read your journal entries but for the time being, have a great day.

 

 

Just a Quickie!

Hello everyone,

 

I`m very late posting tonight as you see.  I was going to leave it until tomorrow but I have a little time while Jim watches the football.

The Water Board are back at this very moment, warning lights flashing away while they work into the night, what a shame....if they`d done it properly the first time they wouldn`t have had to dig it up again would they?!!  In the end I didn`t have to call them as I saw a couple of their surveyors across the road this morning, obviously I wasn`t the only local to be concerned about the leak.  Apart from the waste of water it could have become dangerous had it frozen over turning the road into an ice rink and it`s just outside a primary school too.  Let`s hope they do it right this time, though I wouldn`t like to bet good money on it!

Kerry had her car fixed this morning and there was no charge.  It turned out to be a dodgy spark plug that was causing the car to overheat, the mechanic just popped a new one in and the car was fine after that. Kerry was relived that it wasn`t something that was going to cost her a fortune.  She told me today that Roman`s infection that seemed to be clearing up is back and several more exema patches are breaking up and look really angry.  Happily Roman doesn`t seem to be bothered as much as we are and is still as smiley as ever.  The only time he really doesn`t like it is when he has to have the cream on his face, but he totally ignored me creaming his back where it is much worse.  I think little ones seem to cope so well with these things because they just live day to day without any worries about what tomorrow might bring.

My new kettle has a `crack` in the outer casing. Jim says it`s the join and it`s meant to be there.  I say it wasn`t there in the beginning and it should go back on Friday when we go to town.  If it`s the join I wonder why it`s not straight and runs in a curved shape instead.  No, we`ll take it back to Argos and change it.  If that one has a `crack` in it I`ll know for sure it`s meant to be there, and if not.....I was right all along...lol!

Oh yes, before I go, our friends have sent some photos of there holiday in France and Switzerland so I`ll be posting them tomorrow.  They are good photos so I hope you`ll come and have a look at them.  I hope you`ve all had a nice day, take care and bye bye for now.

 

 

A Blustery Monday

 

Hello everyone,

I hope everything is ok with you. I`ve had a nice easy day today.  Firstly I overslept and didn`t get up until 8.45, very late for me, so I just took my time and didn`t rush around and I seemed to get things done quicker that way.

It`s been really windy all day and pretty cold too.  The wind is blowing from the East, making an average day much colder than it actually is.  When I walked Jake this morning all sorts of things were blowing about, leaves, litter and I noticed that some roofs had tiles missing.  Our fence panels are taking a beating too, with a couple of them looking as though they will blow over before too long.  Kerry still has her car problem as the mechanic forgot to call on her this morning.  I saw him this afternoon when he asked me for Kerry`s phone number so he could apologise and tell her he`ll be there first thing tomorrow, it`s not like him to forget, we`ve known him for years and he`s really good and has never let us down.  I told her myself and I let her use my car for work, so everybody is happy.

When Jim got home form work he called me downstairs telling me he had a present for me, well of course I ran down straight away to see what he`d bought me.  He made me close my eyes and hold out my hands.......................and there it was.

 

A brand new, state of the art kettle, and it matches the kitchen perfectly.  He told me that there were so many different ones he wasn`t sure if  I`d like it but I certainly do.  Isn`t that clever of him?  If you look closely you can see the blue light that comes on when it boils.  I thanked him for the `birthday present`, even thought it`s not my birthday yet and he said "that`s ok".  Hmmm.........the joke is going too far, if it is a joke!  Now I have my new kettle I can ask for a new telephone.  This morning before I left the house I switched on the answerphone as usual and was greeted by a loud static-like noise.  I turned it off and it made the same noise again.  I decided to leave it off as I don`t want to deafen any callers.  Perhaps Jim`ll buy me a new one for an early Christmas pressie...lol!

I`ve read all the journals this afternoon. Read and answered all my emails, I can`t believe how good I`ve been and now I find myself with nothing to do all evening.  I suppose I`ll be playing Bookworm and trying to get a decent score.  While playing this afternoon the highest scoring word I had was `winkle` for which I got 2780 points.  I really need to improve on the words I find, Winkle...indeed!

The medicine Roman is taking has almost cleared all the infection already, it turned out that the doctor gave him oral antibiotics and luckily he likes the taste.  He was having problems with his teeth yesterday but today he was back to his cheery little self and didn`t stop smiling all evening.

The workman from the water board haven`t turned up to fix the leak so I`ll give them a call in the morning to see what they`re going to do about it. They are always complaining about consumers wasting water which they`ve no right to do when they don`t mend leaks properly.  That won`t stop them putting up the water rates this April though....bah!

Anyway, I hope you`ve all had a good day, have a very nice evening and take care. Bye bye for now.

 

 

Sunday Snippets

 

Hello everyone,

I`ve made it!  Better late than never.

I`m no longer red, my face has returned to it`s normal pasty beige colour that is usual for the time of year.  The red WAS rather alarming and I`m glad it`s gone though I might try the face pack just one more time to see if it was a one off.  I don`t usually suffer from allergies so it`s worth a try. More good news is that the tumble dryer is working again.  I cleaned the condenser unit out and left it to dry out thoroughly before trying it out, and lo and behold it worked.  Jim had changed the fuse in the plug but thought that wouldn`t have made much difference.  I didn`t want to call out the engineer until I was sure that there was definitely something worng.  If I`d called him out and he`d said it needed a good clean I would have had to pay for it.  I found it written in the small print on the warranty certificate yesterday so it was a good job I did.

Now the dryer is working now is as good a time as any for another appliance to go wrong, which it did first thing this morning.  I plugged it in and switched it on but the kettle wouldn`t heat up, I flicked the switch several times and it did come on but I know we`ll have to get a new one.  When I told Jim about it he said it can be my birthday present....WHAT???   I said "Okay then, good idea",  he didn`t say another word about it so he must be joking, at least I think he is...in fact he`d better be....lol!

This morning while tidying the living room I discovered a mark on the coffee table.  I was not pleased as it is my pride and joy and I`ve just had to do some work to remove a ring mark from it`s beautiful walnut surface.  Of course, nobody is responsible for any mark that that I find there, no we must have a table-marking ghost!  I have asked nicely, I have asked in a slightly firmer voice and then I have threatened anybody who is silly enough to risk my fury by damaging `my` table. I bought it a few years ago from a posh little shop that sold hand-made furniture, all of which at full price I could never afford. I had seen the table in the shop window and I thought it was lovely but out of my price range. Then one day I was walking past and the lady who owned the shop was putting a few items outside with sale labels on them.  It was then that I saw the table with a substantial reduction , and the rest is history folks!

We didn`t go to the cinema yesterday as the film we wanted to watch wasn`t on. We were going to see "Walk the Line" with Joaquin Pheonix and Reece Witherspoon and it should still be showing, but it wasn`t so we stayed in and watched "Finding NeverLand" with the divine Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, it was really good too.  Jim had seen it before but was keen to watch it again.  Thank goodness for all the DVD`s he buys, it`s a bit like having our own cinema indoors AND he bought a couple of small tubs of Ben and Jerry`s cookie dough ice cream too!

I`m going to read the journals that I haven`t got round to yet, I hope you`ve all had a lovely weekend, take care and bye bye for now.

 

 

FOOD FACTS

A honey bee must tap two million flowers to make one pound of honey

An etiquette writer of the 1840's advised, "Ladies may wipe their lips on the tablecloth, but not blow their noses on it."

Caffeine: there are 100 to 150 milligrams of caffeine in an eight-ounce cup of brewed coffee, 10 milligrams in a six-ounce cup of cocoa, 5 to 10 milligrams in one ounce of bittersweet chocolate, and 5 milligrams in one ounce of milk chocolate.

Capsaicin, which makes hot peppers "hot" to the human mouth, is best neutralized by casein, the main protein found in milk.

China's Beijing Duck Restaurant can seat 9,000 people at one time

Goulash, a beef soup, originated in Hungary in the 9th century AD.

Haggis, the national dish of Scotland: take the heart, liver, lungs, and small intestine of a calf or sheep, boil them in the stomach of the animal, season with salt, pepper and onions, add suet and oatmeal.

Large doses of coffee can be lethal. Ten grams, or 100 cups over 4 hours, can kill the average human.

Mayonnaise is said to be the invention of the French chef of the Duke de Richelieu in 1756. While the Duke was defeating the British at Port Mahon, his chef was creating a victory feast that included a sauce made of cream and eggs. When the chef realized that there was no cream in the kitchen, he improvised, substituting olive oil for the cream. A new culinary masterpiece was born, and the chef named it "Mahonnaise" in honor of the Duke's victory.

McDonald's "Big Mac" slogan, introduced in 1975, is: "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun."

McDonalds and Burger King sugar-coat their fries so they will turn golden-brown.

Mushrooms have no chlorophyll so they don't need sunshine to grow and thrive. Some of the earliest commercial mushroom farms were set up in caves in France during the reign of King Louis XIV (1638-1715).

Per capita, the Irish eat more chocolate than Americans, Swedes, Danes, French, and Italians.

Persians first began using colored eggs to celebrate spring in 3,000 B.C. 13th century Macedonians were the first Christians on record to use colored eggs in Easter celebrations. Crusaders returning from the Middle East spread the custom of coloring eggs, and Europeans began to use them to celebrate Easter and other warm weather holidays.

Pine, spruce, or other evergreen wood should never be used in barbecues. These woods, when burning or smoking, can add harmful tar and resins to the food. Only hardwoods should be used for smoking and grilling, such as oak, pecan, hickory, maple, cherry, alder, apple, or mesquite,depending on the type of meat being cooked.

Refried beans aren't really what they seem. Although their name seems like a reasonable translation of Spanish frijoles refritos, the fact is that these beans aren't fried twice. In Spanish, refritos literally means "well-fried," not "re-fried."

Rice is the staple food of more than one-half of the world's population.

Saffron, made from the dried stamens of cultivated crocus flowers, is the most expensive cooking spice.

The dye used to stamp the grade on meat is edible. It's made from grape skins.

The English word "soup" comes from the Middle Ages word "sop," which means a slice of bread over which roast drippings were poured. The first archaeological evidence of soup being consumed dates back to 6000 B.C., with the main ingredient being Hippopotamus bones!

 

Saturday`s Shenanegans

Hello everyone,

Welcome to a beautiful sunny day here in South East England. The day is bright and all is well with the world, well on the surface it is at any rate.  Dig deeper and who knows what you may find in the big wide world. There are so many awful things happening all around us that I tend to avoid reading the articles of doom and gloom in the papers.  There may be avian flu in France....I`d prefer not to think about it for the time being, thanks!

Yesterday evening I turned on the tumble dryer and BANG! the lights went and the dryer is now kaput, it hasn`t been working as well as it should lately but I didn`t expect that to happen.  We tried it again about 30mins later but the same thing happened I`ve cleaned it out and dried the condenser unit and will call out the engineer on Monday, luckily I took out an extended warranty on it so it won`t cost me anything for the repairs.

I see from a couple of comments left that some of you spotted by deliberate mistake "Jim took ROMAN and not Jake to the park"  Well of course it was deliberate, you really don`t think I make mistakes,...or do you?  Ok Ok, you got me this time, but I`ll bet it will be Roman who goes to the park with Jim in the future, though I do hope he doesn`t roll in the muddy puddles...lol!

This morning I was really feeling great when I woke up and as Saturday is my serious house-cleaning day I got into it with some relish.  I had the radio on as I normally do and the song Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf came on, well I couldn`t resist it, I started singing along and before I knew it I was dancing around the kitchen with a bottle of CIF kitchen cleaner in one hand and a sponge scourer in the other.  The look on Jake`s face said it all, he must have thought I`d gone completely mad. When the music finished I went back to cleaning the work surfaces a little more sedately after throughly enjoying my impromptu work-out!

 

Once the cleaning was finished without any further interuptions, I went up for a shower. Beforehand I decided to try a new mud pack that kerry bought for me on her last cruise.  It is real Dead sea mud, very good for deep cleansing it says on the label.  At least I think so, it`s actually in Arabic but I`m sure it would mean that. I put the stuff all over my face until I looked pretty scary then hopped into the shower. Thinking no more about it I looked in the mirror later and had a bit of a shock, my face had turned bright red except for around my eyes where I didn`t apply the mud. All I can think is that either I`ve had an allergic reaction or that it was from the RED sea and not the Dead sea...lol!  Even now, hours later my face is still red and a bit sore too, no more mud packs for me thanks very much!

Right, time for me to go, I hope you all have a really nice weekend, bye bye for now.

 

 

A Pinch of Salt

A father was reading his som the story of Lot in the Bible. He explained that Lot was told to take his wife and flee from the city, but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt  The little boy looked aghast. "What happened to the flea?" he asked.

 

Proverbial Wisdom

A hair in the head is worth two in the brush.

 

HEHEHE!

A man rushed into a doctor`s surgery and shouted, "Doctor! I think I`m shrinking!"

The doctor replied; "Now settle down, you`ll just have to be a little patient."

 

Still Leaking!

Hello everyone,

What a lovely sunny day it is.  It is very bright still after a day of sunshine, how lovely for February, it really cheers me up!

I was up really early to go shopping with Kerry.  She had to drive Slava`s car as she is having some problems with hers and she didn`t want to break down while we were out. If I had a baby car seat I would have driven so I must get one soon, it`s not fair that Kerry always drives when we go out anywhere.  The shops were pretty busy today being half term holidays, with all the mums hoping to get their shopping over and done with quickly before the kids spend all their money for them...lol! I mostly had to buy household stuff from Wilkinsons though I decided to treat myself to a book as I`ve given up on the one I was reading.  The new one is called "Swallowing Grandma" and is by a writer called Kate Long, I`ve read a book of hers before and I enjoyed it immensely, it was very poignant and funny, just the thing to keep me turning the pages.  The one I`ve discarded is called "The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets" by Eva Rice.  It just wasn`t for me I`m afraid, sorry Eva!  I`ll let you know how I get on with the new book, I`m almost certain that I`ll like it though.

A very proud Grandad with sleepyhead Roman just before bedtime!

I took this a couple of days ago, Jim loves to give Roman his last feed before he goes to bed.  In this photo he had to be woken up for his bottle, it seems a shame to do that but he would probably wake in the night without it.  Kerry is going to a get together lunch with some friends of hers from work, Roman being the only male guest.  They all adore him so I suppose he will be spoiled rotten as usual by all those young ladies,  the lucky boy!

The water board have filled in the hole in the road left from where they had repaired the leak.  It was so nice to see them go yesterday after all the noise and mess they`d made in the process....sorry, did I say they`d mended the leak?  Well, we thought they had and I`ll bet they did too, but it`s still leaking and that will mean the new tarmac will have to be dug out and the work will have to start all over again.  Surely they shouldn`t have filled in the hole without waiting to see if they`d done the job properly.  So much for good workmanship!

This afternoon Jim took Jake for a run in the back field, it was nearly time to come home and Jim called him back to be put on his lead.  Just then he ( Jake, not Jim!) decided to rool in the deepest, muddiest puddle he could find.  Poor Jim had to walk all the way home trying to make sure a soggy Jake didn`t shake all over him...lol!

One seriously dirty dog!

He`s clean now, thanks to a good rub with a towel and a thorough brushing.  The once blue and yellow towel is now a delightful shade of mud brown, so into the washing machine it will go after the last load of washing is done. Well, I hope you all have a really nice weekend and that the weather stays fine for you. Take care and Bye Bye for now.

 

 

 

   More Ghost Stories for you

 

The Ghost of Charlotte Dymond
The ancient manor house at Duporth was said to have been haunted by the ghost of a nun known affectionately as "Flo". A century ago she could be heard striking matches in adjoining rooms and at the same time almost every night someone - or something? - would click open the lock on the cabinet in the drawing rooms. The manor has now been demolished and the sight has become Duporth Holiday Village, but according to a night security guard "Flo" hasn't gone away. Many strange happenings have been witnessed in recent years. The roundabout in the children's playground has been seen to turn by itself,first one way then the next without a breath of wind in the air. A kettle boiled itself in a locked and unattended room and a sewing machine which whirred into life without human assistance abruptly stopped when a member of staff said "no thanks Flo - I don't need you today". People claim to be aware of an invisible presence near the old farmhouse. An elderly lady staying at the village with her 5 year old granddaughter heard the child talking to someone on the landing one afternoon. On investigating the grandmother could see no one, and when questioned the child said she had been chatting to a nice old lady in a black dress!

The Legend of Blackways Cove

Blackways Cove is an isolated inlet just along the coast from the golden North Cornwall beach of Trebarwith Strand. It is said to be haunted, but no one really knows by whom. Could it be the ghosts of shipwrecked sailors drowned when their vessels were torn apart on the treacherous rocks nearby? Or it could be the restless spirit of a local man doomed to haunt the scene of his crime - a crime with a curious twist in the tale? Many years ago a man with two sons farmed in the vicinity, and on his death left his entire estate to his eldest son, cutting out the younger one without a penny. The younger son went away wracked with jealousy that fomented over time to be an obsession until, convinced that he had been cheated of his birthright he set out to wreak revenge on his elder brother. One night he crept onto the farm and set fire to the buildings. The blaze took hold and the entire property was razed to the ground. The ruins of this once prosperous farm may still be seen near Backways - a few stones from the farmhouse and outbuildings were all that remained. Only in the morning did he discover that his brother had died the day before - and left the entire estate to him.

 

 

 

Hello everyone,

I won`t say it I promise....okay I will......it`s Thursday again!  Well it is isn`t it?  I haven`t got my days mixed up for a while!  I`ve been quite busy on the internet this afternoon.  After reading all the journal alerts earlier, yes ALL.... !  I`ve been looking through some of my ghosts, myths and legends file and I`ve come up with a short tale.  I`ve also been looking into other ideas that I have for entries at a later date,  and hopefully some of these will come to fruition.

I`d like to tell those of you that don`t now about the JOURNAL TOURNAMENT that is being organised by Kellen.  It comprises of several tasks, mainly in the form of very interesting general knowledge quizzes.  You can use the Internet or textbooks or ask anyone for help apart from other entrants.  I found the whole thing great fun and the questions were a great brain work-out.  If you want to take part, pop over to register in the comments section of Kellen`s journal, you`ll be very welcome.

Kerry had to take Roman back to the doctor today, his exema has become infected and is starting to cause him irritation. He has been prescribed an antibiotic cream as well as his usual moisturising cream, steroid cream and bath oil.  She has now been told that it may not just be baby exema but it could be hereditary, she is very upset and so is Slava.  Jim and I feel dreadful about it because it`s hereditary on our side of the family as it is in Slava`s too. One of the worst affected places is on his back where his nappy goes, we have a special lint that I tuck into the waist of his nappy to make sure his skin doesn`t stick to his sleepsuit.  Each night I wash Roman and then cover him from head to toe in the moisturiser, he doesn`t really like itbeing applied but it has to be done. The unaffected parts of his skin are so soft from the cream that I hope one day that the rest of his body will follow suit, I`d do anything rather than see him so uncomfortable, bless him.  On the plus side, Danny grew out of his bad exema and about 18 mths and a nephew who exema was REALLY bad grew out of it at about 4yrs.  I just hope Roman will too.

Now I have something different for you, it`s a story of a haunting in Kentucky, USA. I hope you all have a lovely evening, Take care and Bye Bye for now.

 

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                     Harrodsburg Spring park,

                                   Kentucky

On an unspecified date in the late 1800's, a young woman checked into the Harrodsburg Springs Hotel in this small Kentucky town. She used a false name, and while no one knew her true identity, they recalled that she was quite beautiful. That night, as music played in the ballroom, the girl came downstairs and began dancing with various partners. The young men of the town eagerly lined up for their turn to dance with the beautiful young girl.

The girl danced passionately and at the end of the night, her final partner realized, that to his horror, the young girl had literally died in his arms. The shocked staff and guests held a funeral for this mysterious girl and she was buried on the hotel's property. The hotel is gone now.It burned down more than fifty years ago, although the grave remains in what is now a public park. There is a metal marker over her resting places that reads... "UNKNOWN - Hallowed and Hushed be the place of the dead. Step Softly. Bow Head."

As time has passed, local residents claim that this mysterious girl still returns to the site of the hotel. She has been seen lingering in the moonlight, slowly dancing and twirling to music that only she can hear.... still recalling that tragic night so long ago.

 

Rambling On and On..................

 

Hello everyone,

I can`t believe it`s Wednesday already, well of course it is, but it seems to come around even quicker than last year....sigh, it`s the same old chestnut "where does the time go?"  We all ask the question but never hear the answer.  Hmmm...I`m rambling again,  but it`s true the time does fly past and I for one seem to be wasting most of it.  I seem to spend my days rushing around but doing nothing.  I can honestly say that not much is happening at the moment.  I mean I walk Jake, the weather`s mild and wet for the time of year, Roman comes here each evening and is nearly always as good as gold, bless him, and that is the sum of my day. 

Now what can I add to that I wonder, Oh yes, on Thursdays I go food shopping and I`m starting to look forward to it, now THAT is worrying.  I`m so bored, the job-hunting is getting harder because a lot of companies are not hiring until the end of the financial year in April. Fridays I go into town with Kerry and stop of for coffee in Marks and Spencer.  Saturday is a bit different this week because we`re going to the cinema and Sunday, after doing the ironing and walking Jake I`ll be on the PC or doing nothing...again!  Even the book I`m reading isn`t as good as I hoped.  I will keep trying but I`m on page 125 and I doubt it will become more interesting now, another 10 pages and if it hasn`t picked up it`s history...lol!

If I sound a bit sorry for myself you`d be right, I even thought about giving up this journal today because I`ve not had any good ideas for ages and I`ve even started to bore myself!  I thought better of it in the end and I think I`ll just take a couple of days off from writing and concentrate on reading your journals instead.  While walking Jake I actually thought of a couple of ideas that I can work on and hopefully make things more interesting.  The only thing that did happen was last night when we had a big storm.  The wind was howling and it did a bit of damage too, not to us but across the road where the water board have been working, all their barriers and safety cones were blown away leaving a deep hole on the edge of the road, luckily there were no accidents.  While I was was out walking I saw several birds nests that had been blown out of the trees, I can`t remember seeing that before. Apparently the weather front is what is left of the weather that hit the East coast of America but it has brought very mild temperatures resulting in the heavy rain and not snow.

I`m off now to finish reading the last few journals that I have left.  Have a nice evening and take care.  Night Night.

 

 

A Dog`s Dictionary (from his perspective!)

LEASH:
A strap which attaches to your collar, enabling you to lead your person where you want him/her to go.

DOG BED:
Any soft, clean surface, such as the white bedspread in the guest room or the newly upholstered couch in the living room.

DROOL:
Is what you do when your persons have food and you don't.  To do this properly you must sit as close as you can and look sad and let the drool fall to the floor, or better yet, on their laps.

SNIFF:
A social custom to use when you greet other dogs.  Place your nose as close as you can to the other dog's rear end and inhale deeply, repeat several times, or until your person makes you stop.

GARBAGE CAN:
A container which your neighbors put out once a week to test your ingenuity. You must stand on your hind legs and try to push the lid off with your nose. If you do it right you are rewarded with margarine wrappers to shred, beef bones to consume and moldy crusts of bread.

BICYCLES:
Two-wheeled exercise machines, invented for dogs to control body fat.  To get maximum aerobic benefit, you must hide behind a bush and dash out, bark loudly and run alongside for a few yards; the person then swerves and falls into the bushes, and you prance away.

DEAFNESS:
This is a malady which affects dogs when their person want them in and they want to stay out.  Symptoms include staring blankly at the person, then running in the opposite direction, or lying down.

THUNDER:
This is a signal that the world is coming to an end.  Humans remain amazingly calm during thunderstorms, so it is necessary to warn them of the danger by trembling uncontrollably, panting, rolling your eyes wildly, and following at their heels.

WASTEBASKET:
This is a dog toy filled with paper, envelopes, and old candy wrapper.  When you get bored, turn over the basket and strew the papers all over the house until your owner comes home.

SOFAS:
Are to dogs like napkins are to people.  After eating it is polite to run up and down the front of the sofa and wipe your whiskers clean.

BATH:
This is a process by which the humans drench the floor, walls and themselves.  You can help by shaking vigorously and frequently.

LEAN:
Every good dog’s response to the command "sit!", especially if your person is dressed for an evening out.  Incredibly effective before black-tie events.

BUMP:
The best way to get your human's attention when they are drinking a fresh cup of coffee or tea.

 

 

Thank to Lori from the TAG Lounge for this smashing sig tag.

Happy Valentine`s Day!

 

Hello everyone,

A very Happy Valentine`s Day to you all,  what`s left of it because as usual I`m late with my entry.  Everyone seems to have made an effort with their graphics on this most romantic of days.  Jim gave me a really lovely card with some beautiful words on it, bless him.  He really does look very carefully to find the nicest card he can find the dear man that he is!

               

                                                        

The decorating is coming on with Jim painting the ceilings today and sanding down where he has had to fill in some cracks.  It is really bright in the hallway now, we`ll have to walk around wearing sunglasses now the lightshades have been taken down...lol!  Jim has already started to talk about getting out in the garden and doing some tidying up.......finish the hall first matey!!!  He goes back to work tomorrow so it`ll be quiet in the morning and I think I`ll miss him, but I won`t tell him that, oh no, that would never do.  I want him to think he lives here to do the decorating not because I want him to...lol!

                                                                   

 

One of the taggers on from my graphics group has made me some lovely sig tags from a photo of Jake.  As this is a St Valentine`s day edition of Scribbles I won`t use them today but I will tomorrow.  She has done a brilliant job and I can`t wait to show you.  It`s given me ideas of what I would like tagged.  I was thinking, what do you think of this one...............................

 

                                                  

Thanks very much to Lori of The Tag Lounge for this and all the other tags that she has made for me today and in the past.  There are still more to come of Roman and I`m looking forward to seeing them.  Roman was as good as gold again today, I keep wondering if he will always be this good at bedtime...let`s hope so eh?

 

                             

I really must to read all my email tonight, I start of with good intentions and then I get distracted with one thing or another.  I will go and get started right after this entry and I WILL comment on all journals...promise!  I hope you all have a lovely evening wherever you are.  Take care and Night Night.

 

Some Valentine`s Day Facts for You

 

73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men, while only 27 percent are women.

About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year. That's the largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, next to Christmas.

About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets.

Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, an "Improvement in Telegraphy", on Valentine's Day, 1876.

Cupid, another symbol of Valentines Day, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards holding a bow and arrows because he is believed to use magical arrows to inspire feelings of love.

During the late 1800s, postage rates around the world dropped, and the obscene St. Valentine's Day card became popular, despite the Victorian era being otherwise very prudish. As the numbers of racy valentines grew, several countries banned the practice of exchanging Valentine's Days cards. During this period, Chicago's post office rejected more than 25,000 cards on the grounds that they were so indecent, they were not fit to be carried through the U.S. mail.

February 14, 270 A.D. : Roman Emperor Claudius II, dubbed "Claudius the Cruel," beheaded a priest named Valentine for performing marriage ceremonies. Claudius II had outlawed marriages when Roman men began refusing to go to war in order to stay with their wives.

Hallmark has over 1330 different cards specifically for Valentine's Day.

Humorous valentines of the 19th century were called "Vinegar Valentines" or "Penny Dreadfuls." Vinegar Valentines were introduced in 1858 by John McLaughin, a Scotsman with a New York City Publishing Business. Penny Dreadfuls with comic designs drawn in 1870 by American cartoonists Charles Howard became known as Penny Dreadfuls.

In 1929 in Chicago, gunmen in the suspected employment of organized-crime boss Al Capone murder seven members of the George "Bugs" Moran North Siders gang in a garage on North Clark Street. The so-called St. Valentine's Day Massacre stirred a media storm centered on Capone and his illegal Prohibition-era activities and motivated federal authorities to redouble their efforts to find evidence incriminating enough to take him off the streets.

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

In Victorian times it was considered bad luck to sign a Valentine's Day card.

In Wales, wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favorite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"

It wasn't until 1537 that St. Valentine's Day was declared an official holiday. England's King Henry VIII declared February 14th a holiday.

One single perfect red rose framed with baby's breath is referred to by some florists as a "signature rose," and is the preferred choice for many for giving on Valentine's Day, anniversary, or birthday.

Only the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Australia and the U.K. celebrate Valentine's Day.

Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.

Teachers will receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then, sweethearts. Children ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine's cards with teachers, classmates, and family members.

The 17th century a hopeful maiden ate a hard-boiled egg and pinned five bay leaves to her pillow before going to sleep on Valentine's eve. It was believed this would make her dream of her future husband.

The first American publisher of valentines was printerand artist Esther Howland. During the 1870s, her elaborate lace cards were purchased by the wealthy, as they cost a minimum of 5 dollars - some sold for as much as 35 dollars. Mass production eventually brought prices down, and the affordable "penny valentine" became popular with the lower classes.

The heart is the most common symbol of romantic love. Ancient cultures believed the human soul lived in the heart. Others thought it to be the source of emotion and intelligence. Some believed the heart embodied a man's truth, strength and nobility. The heart may be associated with love because the ancient Greeks believed it was the target of Eros, known as Cupid to the Romans. Anyone shot in the heart by one of Cupid's arrows would fall hopelessly in love. Because the heart is so closely linked to love, it's red colour is thought to be the most romantic.

The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.

The most fantastic gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife, who died in childbirth. Work on the Taj began in 1634 and continued for almost 22 years. required the labor of 20,000 workers from all over India and Central Asia.

The oldest known Valentines were sent in 1415 A.D. by the Duke of Orleans to his French wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. It is still on display in a museum in England.

The rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Red stands for strong feelings which is why a red rose is a flower of love.

Wearing a wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left hand dates back to ancient Egypt, where it was believed that the vein of love ran from this finger directly to the heart.

A ring has been included in wedding ceremonies since the 12th century. Pope Innocent the Third ordained that marriages had to take place in church and that a wedding ring should be exchanged during the service.

In England, the Romans, who had taken over the country, had introduced a pagan fertility festival held every February 14. After the Romans left England, nearly a century later, the pagan ritual was abolished by Pope Gelsius who established St. Valentine's Day as a celebration of love in 496 A.D.