Wednesday Woes

Hello everyone,

Phew...what a day, where do I start?  This morning started with Jim waking up with a really bad toothache, he went to the dentist early and was told he has an abcess and prescribed antibiotics.  A couple of hours later he was ill in bed with flu-like symptoms and has been there up until about an hour ago.  This afternoon after walking Jake, I let him outside and then came up here and went online.  Later I went downstairs to find him hobbling around with a very bad limp.  I couldn`t tell which leg was troubling him at first but it turned out to be his front left.  He doesn`t have anything in his paw but it`s obviously very sore, in fact Jim told me later that he heard him bark and a yelp but as he was half asleep at the time he didn`t pay much attention.  I`ve been wracking my tiny brain to think what might have caused it, did the rat bite him? Did someone throw something at him?  and then it came to me in a flash.  When the wind blew one of our panels down, Jim dug out the old post that supported it, leaving a deep hole by the old fence that is behind the panels.  Jake must have seen a cat through the fence and while barking his head off his foot must have slipped down the hole.  I suppose he has the equivilant of a twisted ankle...poor love.  I`ll keep an eye on himover the next couple of days, restrict his exercise and hopefully he won`t need to see a vet.  She`d only prescribe rest and Rimadyl, a strong anti-imflamatory medicine that Hannah used to have and I`d prefer it if he can manage without it.

           

Jim`s fishing went well yesterday, though not as well as last time.  He did catch a 10 lb carp but you`ve seen the pics before so I won`t be posting it.  He took my nephew Adam who is 15 and a keen young fisherman himself.  Jim and Adam get on really well and have a good time together although Jim has to laugh at some of things that Adam says.  He wants to go to veternary school and he already knows the anatomies, in Englishand in Latin of various species including fish. He was telling Jim the Latin for the lungs, brain and stomach of the fish and I`m sure given half the chance he would have dissected one there and then...lol! 

I went with Kerry to the Baby clinic this afternoon to get Roman weighed.  He has only put on just over 1lb since March but the Health visitor said this was normal and not to worry because he was quite overweight before and he is balancing out nicely now, plus he had that nasty virus which wouldn`t go away and he`s moving around now.  However, she wants to weigh him again in three weeks when Kerry gets home from Russia just to see if he`s gained any more weight by then.  For reasons best known the the NHS, the baby clinic has been moved from our Dr`s surgery to a community hall nearly a mile away.  There`s plenty of room at our surgery so I can`t see why and even the HV isn`t too sure either..sigh.

                    

Anyway I`m off to check on my ailing hubby to see if there`s anything he needs.  He`s not eating or drinking anything stronger than water so I doubt I`ll be gone long.  For now though, have a nice evening, take care and Bye Bye. :o)))

DOGS LIVE HERE

If you don't want to be greeted with paws and swinging tails don't come inside because dogs live here.
If you don't like the feel of a cold nose or a wet tongue, don't come inside because dogs live here.
If you don't want to step over many scattered toys, don't come inside because dogs live here.
If you think that a home ought to smell of perfume, don't come inside because dogs live here.
If you don't mind all of this, you will be instantly loved when you come inside, because dogs live here.

Author Unknown

 

On The Sonning Scarecrow Trail

Hello everyone,

Welcome to a fine and sunny  Tuesday afternoon.  Well it is now at 4.30 in the afternoon, better late than never, shame it`s flippin` cold though!  Enough about today, apart from Jim being out fishing and me being on my own all day....sigh!  I`m going to tell you all about our lovely day out yesterday.

We left the house at 11am and headed out to Reading in search of the River Lodden and St.Patrick`s stream where Jim was told the fishing is really good.  We took a very picturesque route which took us through many pretty Berkshire villages, including Sonning, a lovely place by the River Thames.  We saw a sign that said Scarecrow Trail, Bank Holiday Monday and then the first scarecrow sitting in a garden.  The we saw another, and then another so we found a free car park and went to investigate.  It seems that the whole village had participated and had a scarecrow or scarecrows in their gardens and each of them had numbers on them.  People were walking round with maps trying to find all the scarecrows.  Some were hidden in the church and others were in peoples drives or gardens, and let me tell you that the majority of these gardens were very large indeed and the owners of these beautiful homes must be very understanding people to allow complete strangers to wander around their properties.

Jim and I didn`t follow the trail but we did try to find as many scarecrows as we could so I could photograph them.  It looked as though a lot of work had gone into them and the villagers have to be commennded for that.  There were refreshments available in the church hall and the home-prepared food looked wonderful, with Ploughman`s lunches, home made pate and freshly baked cakes...it made my mouth water just looking at them  We decided to eat there but there tables were full up and there were others waiting so we decided to go to our usual garden centre cafe on the way home.

The country church of St.Andrew was full of scarecrows and while in there I took some photos of the beautiful decor.  I`ve always loved churches and this one waslovely with all the brass fittings highly polished and adorned with tea roses and lillies, the scent hung in the air like an expensive perfume, I could have sat in there all day.

We walked along the side of the river to see if we were close to the part that Jim was looking for.  It wasn`t but it didn`t matter because we`d found this place quite by chance and we both decided that it had turned out for the best.  A scarecrow trail is hardly something we`d do everyday but we were glad that we`d  stopped the car. In the past we`ve been driving through some place and there`s been something going on, but we`ve never bothered to stop.  I think we will in future because we never know what we might find.  By the end of the day we still hadn`t found Jim`s fishing stream, but he really didn`t mind, we had a really nice day out and that`s what mattered. Bye Bye for now. :o)

 

 

 

Sunday Surmising

 

Hello everyone,

I hope you`ve all been having a good day.  It`s been really nice here and I`m hoping for more of the same tomorrow.  I like to stay positive despite the unsettled forecast.  This morning I did the ironing, all two hours worth of it...Oh joy, my least favourite job, and then this afternoon Kerry and I went for a nice long walk , and up til now not very much has happened.  I did do a bit more gardening, hurting my back along the way, par for the course for me I`m afraid, and I`ve planted three more pots of flowers and put them on the patio where nature can take care of them.  I`m hoping that they`ll do really well with the morning sun warming them up for the day.

                           

I thought I`d do a cat themed entry today, for no other reason than I think cats are very interesting animals, though they aren`t my first choice of pet after our last cat Paddie and our love/hate relationship.  I think cats were human beings in another life and have returned to live a life of luxury and being waited on hand and foot...lol!  Talking of cats, we`ve been visited by quite a few since the arrival of that flippin` rat.  They are all showing a healthier than usual interest in our garden shed where the rat thing has made it`s home but none of them has done anything about it`s eviction.  We really thought it had left home after we put the trap down and blocked the tunnels but all he did was dig another one, and would you believe it, the earth from his digging set off the trap!  So now we`re back to square one and it will have to be primed again.  Jim says he`s going to buy another one and we`ll try cake this time as was suggested by Jeannette (Jottings).  He certainly didn`t like the chocolate we put down...fancy not liking chocolate!

                  

After I`d done my bit of gardening I sat on the garden bench and had a coffee.  There was an Afro-Carribean wedding reception going on in a garden up the road and the music was a delight to listen too, they played lots of gospel, soul, ska , reggae and calypso.  I could have stayed out there all afternoon but I had journals to read and time waits for no man or woman...!  Kerry brought Roman over at 5pm and he still seems under the weather, he`s been up one moment and down the next.  It has to be that virus hanging on, maybe when he gets to Russia the good weather will get rid of it once and for all, he`s had it for weeks now and it`s not helped by him teething.

                    

Tomorrow Jim and I are going to see the place where he wants to start fishing on the River Lodden nr. Reading.  We`ll leave at about 11am and we`ll take Jake as I`m sure he`ll enjoy the walk.  I`ll take the camera because it`s supposed to be very pretty and there should be some wildlife about too.  For the time being I hope you all have a nice evening.  Goodbye for now and take care. :o)

 

Short Cat Jokes

Q: What happened when the cat ate a ball of wool?
A: She had mittens!

Q: What do you get if you cross a cat with a parrot?
A: A carrot!

Q: What is a French cat's favourite pudding?
A: Chocolate mousse!

Q: What do cat actors say on stage?
Tabby or not tabby!

 

Sandra`s Saturday Scribblings

Hello everyone,

I hope you`re all having a really nice weekend so far. I didn`t post an entry yesterday as I was out for most of the day with Kerry.  We went shopping in Uxbridge to buy some of the things needed for their trip to Russia in just over a weeks time.  She bought a lovely outfit for Roman to wear to his Aunt Julia`s wedding in St. Petersburg, and she needed a rucksack for the flight itself.  Kerry has got so much to carry onboard the plane, most of it being for Roman.  She has to take his milk formula and food, nappies, wet wipes, tissues etc. and even some toys for him to play with, plus she will have to carry Roman and his buggy on to the plane, so she isn`t looking forward to the journey at all.  Mind you, it`s not so much this end but St.Petersburg that worries her the most.  At least over here she can ask for help and as a seasoned traveller she knows what to expect, but in Russia it`s very different and she`ll be left to her own devices and will even have to carry everything down the esculator which wouldn`t be necessary here.  I`m sure she`ll cope as she`s so organised it won`t be for lack of trying on her part.

                        

On Thursday night I was up at 5am loading the washing machine as Roman was very sick in the night.  We can only think that something didn`t agree with him because he was fine the evening before.  The poor little chap was really upset as he must have had a very sore tummy but after a while he drifted off to sleep again and didn`t wake until 8am when you wouldn`t have known he had been ill at all.  He ate his breakfast with relish and was all smiles and giggles.  It`s unbelievable how quickly babies recover, if only we could do the same.

Today is wet and horrible again, despite having a lovely, warm day yesterday it now feeling quite cool again.  Anyway, Jim and I went to the garden centre cafe where we hadour usual cappuchino and a light lunch.  I decided to buy a few more flowers for the patio so I bought some cape daisies that I liked the look of, and some more compost to plant them in of course.  Jim wants to get another trough to put under the back downstairs window that that will mean more flowers. Now all we need is the good weather to get the best out of them.

This Clematis flowered only yesterday and as it was a bargain buy with no tag on it  I had no idea what the flower would look like. I planted it originally to grow up a small Magnolia but it`s outgrown it`s host already and will have to be moved along to a trellis just behind it.  I think once it`s a year or two old it will look lovely with the saucer-sized blooms growing up the fence.

Well, I must go now as I have to put a casserole in the oven.  Have a great day wherever you are and I hope the weather is being kind to you.  Bye Bye for now. :o)

 

 

The Way Things Were

Anon.

A computer was something on TV
From a science fiction show of note
Windows were something you hated to clean
And ram was the cousin of a goat.

Meg was the name of my girlfriend
And gig was a job for the nights
Now they all mean different things
And that really mega bites.

An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A curser used profanity
A keyboard was a piano.

Memory was something you lost with age
A CD was a bank account
And if you had a three-inch floppy
You hoped nobody found out.

Compress was something you did to the garbage
Not something you did to a file.
And if you unzipped in a public place
You'd get locked up for awhile.

Log on was adding wood to the fire
Hard drive was a trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a rodent lived
And a back up happened to your commode.

Cut you did with a pocket knife.
Paste you did with glue
A web was a spider's residence
And a virus was the flu.

I guess I'll stick to paper and pen
And the memory I have in my head
N obody gets killed in a computer crash
But when it happens, they'll wish they were dead.

 

A "Good Things" Day

 

Hello everyone,  At last the sun is shining...Hurrah,Whoopee and Hallelujah!  At last Summer may really be heading our way....or perhaps not, we`ll see.  That`s one good thing to happen today.

I was up at 6am this morning and out of the house by 8am.  I was in Tesco by 8.15 and whizzing around the shelves buying only what was on my list, give or take the odd item or two,  and I was home again at 9.20 all without a hitch, no traffic hold ups, nothing.  I couldn`t quite believe it myself as I usually get caught in traffic whatever time I shop.  That`s another good thing.

            

Jim keeps reminding me to ring our local council to register for a green wheelie bin for our garden waste.  I rang the number on the side of our recycling box and registered for it.  The woman who took my call told me she was new to her job and didn`t seem to know very much about it all.  After taking my name and address she insisted on calling me Sandra, I hate that when you don`t know someone.  She went on to tell me that I will have to wait until September for the bin but that I can pick up some special bags to put the grass etc. in until it has been delivered, and went on to explain where I they can be obtained from, then she told me to ring another number to find out the collection date.  I rang the number and the woman who answered said she didn`t know where I got my info from but it was completely wrong.  She told me that the bags are not being used anymore since the introduction of the green bins and could I tell her the number of the dept. that gave me the original info and that she`d ring back in a moment.  When she called back she told me that they denied any knowledge of my call and that everyone in the dept. knows what they`re doing...ok right!  Anyway to cut an already long story short, we have to late until sometime in the late Summer for our wheelie bin.  Another good thing to happen, even if it took ages to sort out...lol!

           

Going back to Tuesday when I had my hair cut.  Jim noticed it straight away, even if it was only to say, and I quote:  "There`s something different about your hair, it looks alright."  A compliment indeed, especially as I heard him say to Kerry after I heard her say, " Mum`s hair looks nice doesn`t it?"   Jim:  " Yeh, I was telling her it really looks smashing."   Oh no you didn`t, hubby of mine! I suppose that was another good thing...I think!

I bought these Oriental Lilies last Thursday and they haven`t completely opened up yet.  I really do like lilies and I think these are so pretty.  Because they have kept so well I didn`t buy any flowers this morning as is usual for me.  I love having fresh flowers in the house and Tesco have such a good range at low prices so that I`m often spoiled for choice.  Kerry took Roman to the doctor to check a few things before taking him to Russia.  Things are very different there including the water which nobody drinks straight from the tap, not even adults.  It`s best to be safe than sorry and Kerry needed to be sure that he didn`t need any extra injections or health tips before leaving a week next Tuesday.  Also Little Man is shedding his skin where the eczema has cleared from his tummy and arms so that needed to be checked too.  All in all he`s doing really well and his skin is continuing to improve slowly but surely.  And yes,  it was another really good thing!

           

What wasn`t good and is still making me cross was another job rejection letter this morning, again without even giving me an interview.  Well, thankyou, very famous British turf accountants beginning with the letter L, thanks so much for being the cause of the only bad thing to happen to me so far today.  I didn`t really want to work there because I don`t smoke and  bookies shops are full of smoke, but I wanted an interview because I need the practise! :o) :o)

Ok, well I`m off to catch up with reading journals.  Have a lovely day won`t you, take it easy and Bye Bye for now. :o)

 

Just a Giggle

 

What`s the difference between dogs and cats?

Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

 

A man with two left feet goes into a shop and says,

" Have you got any flip-flips?"

 

A man walked into a bar with a lump of asphalt under his arm.  "What will it be?" asked the barman.  " A whisky and soda," said the man, "and one for the road."

 

 

 

 

Wednesday`s Photo Entry

Hello everyone,

No long entry from me today.  I could ramble on all day about the weather but I`ll not bore you with the gory details, suffice it to say that it`s flippin` horrible and has been most of the day!

This morning I managed to plant the Petunias in between showers and I still have quite a few left so I think I`ll fill a few more pots and put them out on our little patio.  I moved a clematis from one place to another as it wasn`t getting enough sun, and there`s still another one to move but that can wait until after it flowers.

I`ve taken quite a few pics of Roman (again) and Jim has been filming him with the camcorder.  Now he`s started crawling/shuffling, albeit very slowly, we thought it would be a good idea to get some footage to look back on.  As you`ll see in the photos Little Man is teething again but this time without any signs of pain.  I found out for myself just how sharp his little teeth are when he decided to see what my finger tasted like!

Hmm....does this taste nice I wonder?

Yeh..I`ll give it a try!

Nearly there.

Not bad, but it`s a bit tough for my liking!

 

Sunshine? ...yes really!

 

Hello everyone,

It`s sunny today, just in case you didn`t hear me  IT`S SUNNY TODAY!  Mind you, it is a bit chilly still and this afternoon there`s been a few spots of rain, but still, mustn`t grumble.

This morning I had my hair done and I`ve undergone a change of hairstyle.  I`ve had the back cut and a fringe put in and it looks so much better.  I wonder if Jim will notice when he gets home, most likely not in the past is anything to go by.  If I were to ask him if there is anything different about my hair he`ll most likely say it`s a different colour or something, anything but the style.  I`ll time him and see how long it takes him to notice, if not I won`t tell him and I`ll let Kerry notice for him when she brings Roman over...Men!

                             

I decided to plant out my flowers this afternoon, takinking full advantage of the weather while I could.  I managed to put the trough liners in and fresh compost when down came a shower of rain, not heavy but I wasn`t taking any chances.  Afterwards I put the compost in the posts and cleared away the mess I`d made in the process.  I`m probably plant the flowers later, weather permitting and apart from covering them at night in case of frost, I can more or less forget about them until the drier weather, IF we get any that is.

                          

A CD that I ordered the other day arrived this morning from CD-Wow.com.  It`s  a new one from Bruce Springsteen called, We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions.  I`ve been a fan of his for years now and this is a smashing album with as the title suggests, songs that were recorded by Pete Seeger.  Jim and I buy most of our CD`s and DVD`s from CD-Wow or Play.com, they are postage free and very much cheaper than in the shops, also they are delivered within days or ordering.  I highly recommend both sites.

                                  

Yesterday I scanned the situations vacant sites to see if I can find any paid work but to no avail, it`s reaching the point where I could paper a wall with the rejection letters I`ve recieved, and as for those that didn`t bother replying to my letter of application,  I shall say no more!  I It`s getting to the point where I think I`ll have to take in washing...lol!  I`ve really tried everywhere and if I do see an opening, so do at least thirty others, either younger and/or more qualified.  Last week while speaking to a would-be employer over the phone, all was going well until he asked my age.  He paused slightly and I asked him was that a problem.  He of course denied that it was but I knew that he wouldn`t even interview me.  He called back yesterday to say the vacancy had been filled, but I didn`t believe him because he told me last week he wouldn`t start interviewing until the end of this week...Oh well, I`ll just have to keep plugging away at it...sigh.

    

The pretty pink flower is an Aqualiega.  It was nearly dead when I bought it in a garden centre sale last year.  One of my better bargain buys I think!                

Well that`s it for today.  I`m going to prep the dinner and perhaps get those flowers in, mind you the sky is now a threatening bluish black so I doubt I`ll have the time before it rains....again.  Oh well, the sun was nice while it lasted.  So, enjoy your day, take care and Bye Bye for now. :o)

 

 

Just a Giggle

Two lorries loaded with thousands of copies of Roget`s Thesaurus crashed as they left a London publisher`s warehouse last Wednesday.  According to news reports, witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, amazed, stupefied......

 

Raining Cats and Fat Dogs!

 

Hello everyone,

Welcome again to a cold and wet Monday....`nuff said, swiftly moving on.  Erm...erm, what to talk about if not the weather?

Yesterday evening just after I`d put Roman to bed, there was a huge explosion outside and did I jump!  It burned out to be no more than thunder but I can`t say I`ve ever heard it quite as loud before.  What was strange about it apart from the racket it made was the fact that we only heard it once.  Even Jim jumped up thinking it was a bomb or something, my poor nerves were shot to pieces!

                                       

We had lots of fun playing with Roman last night.  His new trick is standing on his head as me moves himself across the floor, not for him the traditional crawling, he just has to be different and he`s hilarious to watch.  The thing is that he moves backwards, hands on the floor with his little BT in the air, pushes himself back into a sitting position and the whole process starts again.  Hopefully he start to realise that there`s a much easier way of doing it but for the meantime he seems very pleased with himself.  This morning I was watching Kerry trying to dress him but Little Man had other ideas and kept moving away from her, she pulled him back and he moved away again, and so it went on.  She says it takes twice as long to dress him than it used to and I thought to myself, "Aha, now you know what it`s like...lol!"  It`s nice to be able to watch than have to struggle with what seems like an octopus, been there, done it and bought the T-shirt....lol!

                    

This morning I was lucky enough to get out with Jake while there was a break in the weather.  I didn`t take any chances though and was dressed for rain, I`m sure if I hadn`t bothered it would have poured down while I was out and I`d have got soaked through, that would be what usually happens to me.  Talking of Jake, I forgot to mention (I think) that he is on a diet.  When we were at the vet`s for his annual booster she told me his needs to lose about 5-6 lbs which left me a little suprised at the time.  I hadn`t noticed he was getting porky at all.  I think what had happened was because he was so thin when we got him I concentrated on building him up but never overfed him or gave him many treats.  He did weigh only 24 kilos and I was advised to raise this to between 30-32.  He know weighs just over 37!!!  How could this be?  He was neutured a year ago and his metabolism changed slowly but surely and the pounds have crept on, rather like me after the menopause....lol!  Now, despite having a walk once a day and a run in the park also, his food has to be cut down to half the recommended amount.  I do feel sorry for him because when I`m eating he comes and sits opposite and looks at me with those big soulful brown eyes that seem to say "Feed me....pleeeeassse  I`m a good boy!"  I daren`t look at him as I feel really guilty that he`s feeling hungry.  I know I said that I don`t overfeed him but I suppose those odd bits of cheese don`t help, or the fat of of the ham...oh dear, I could go on......lol!

Right,  I`m done now.  I hope the weather is better where you are and that you`re enjoying some sunshine, (that`s me being positive)   Enjoy the rest of your day anyway, take care and Bye Bye for now. :o)

 

 

Just a Giggle

A man escaped from prison yesterday.  The man in question is an ex-fortune teller, described by the authorities as being very short. The public are advised to be on the look our for a small medium at large.