Spring has sprung!

Bleeding Heart.




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The real opportunities in life

Life isn't too simple in gemmak's-ville right now, it's one of those times when you kind of assume you're living through this bit just so you can appreciate the good bits, well that's the best theory I can come up with but maybe for the first time in my life rather than merely moan and winge about my troubles I am realising that these 'less than ideal' times in life are an opportunity to learn and to maybe grow a little. An opportunity to see inside, to try and understand better what motivates and shapes us and to understand better, life from the point of view of others.

We go through life just 'living' for the main, we are so absorbed with our day to day lives, the routine, the myriad things we have to do and to fit into our busy days we barely have time to step back and really see what counts, what matters....and what matters isn't the big house, the impressive shiny car on the drive, the salary to die for....ok, so those things are nice but they come at a high cost to other aspects of ourselves and our lives and for me the cost isn't worth the gain.

What matters are the apparently smaller but in reality much larger things, the things that touch our soul, not our egos, kindness, caring and understanding, taking time to really listen to someone else, really hear what they say, taking time to notice the sunshine, to feel the rain to reach out and not remain locked in our own little sphere of reality, oblivious to what is outside of it, too busy to really see.

And friends, in difficult times the old adage 'you know who your friends are' becomes patently clear, those that are fair weather friends have rapidly 'done the off' in the less than perfect times of our lives but these are the moments when we have the opportunity to discover those people around us that are truly our friends, those that will be there no matter what. Friends that will let us ramble on about our troubles regardless of the fact they would sometimes prefer to beat us over the head for our stupidities, those that take the time to ask if we are 'OK' and to listen or see beyond the polite 'yes thank you' response we trot out as a matter of habit and course.....those that accept us for the person we really are, not the public veneer others see....those that care without judging but are strong enough to kick ass if we need it.

So things might not be utterly hunky dory in gemmak's-ville these last few weeks but in a contrary way I am richer for it, for I am lucky I have those friends, some of them people I never expected to be such an important part of my life but who have hung in there with me despite everything, they know who they are and I hope they know just how much I appreciate that they tolerate having me in their lives.

I thank you.

A little respite for you all.....

....from my inane ramblings for today. I am suffering another of those where you will be spared, courtesy of my oft times dysfunctional mind that cannot for the life of me think of anything to blog! I am up to my eyes (that's not a complaint incidentally, quite the reverse) in design stuff and I have one or two other distractions dragging me from any vestige of sensible thought....so that's it, expect nothing more from me but this, for today!

Sorry and all that. ;o)

*EDIT:

For Karen B. because she asked.....

'Afternoon nap' by Tilly!

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

I heard this on the radio driving home from work yesterday evening. it was written by a young terminally ill girl in New york and is featured here, it's message needs no explaination from me but that we could heed her words more often bears thought.

With attitude!

Saturday silliness

Muppet!

Because I always follow instructions! not

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Eeeekkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!

That's it, I remember why I love winter so much, it's not the snow, it's not the beautiful frosty mornings....it's because of the lack of spiders!

So here I am, just gone midnight, minding my own business, chilled and thinking of pottering off to bed when I see 'something' on the wall about two foot from my face. I'm seeing things I think to myself, I'm getting tired...I do a double take...I am not seeing things...there, just feet from my face is the biggest, most horrible spider I have seen in years, eeekkkkkkk...that's it, in an instant I'm gone shrieking into the hallway shouting to PG to 'attend to it', and most certainly not lose it....for should such a gargantuan specimen get 'lost' in the house I would most definitely not be going to sleep tonight! Ok....so still eeekkkk'ed out it's unlikely I will anyways but at least now it's safely 'dispatched' I'm in with a change...once of course I have checked the bed for further infiltrators.

F**k! I hate spiders, I mean really hate them, no I mean really, really, really hate them, more than anything ...I'll never get a grip of it...it's only damn well May and the first was a monster....can I have winter back now please?

Eeeeekkkkkkkkk!

Free summer idea for chavs

As every chav knows it's time to get ready for that all important cooking technique of the summer......outdoor grilling! I have found several stores where you can get a FREE Bar-B-Q Grill! This is not a joke. You can get a free BBQ grill from any of the following stores:

Morrisons, Lidl, Asda, Netto, Woolworths and Iceland.

I especially like the higher shelf which can be used for keeping things warm!

An interview at last!

PG has an interview for a job today, his first, jobs here are about as rare as hen's teeth so this is quite a feat in itself.....though talking of hens, chickens are not being counted by any means.

The not working situation is really beginning to get him down now, a week or two off work was a novelty but now it's becoming significantly less than funny...along with the rather hefty financial implications which are beginning to bite.

As ever though nothing is simple, the position is fifty miles away and permanent night shifts, he doesn't mind the shifts but I'm not entirely sure I relish five nights a week stuck away here in my field on my jack....but hey, if he gets it a jobs a job! :o)

Respect!

Yesterday afternoon meandering my way home from work in the sunshine on the first really warm day of the year my day was brightened further by a visit to a petrol station. This may sound an odd way to gain pleasure of any description and as the norm I would have to admit that filling up is not my favorite task, but fuel was becoming dangerously close to the desperate situation and tyres required checking so in I went.

Whilst stood there gazing at the pump dials endeavoring to hit a round figure (don't you just hate it when you go one penny over, you just have to go on to the next round ten pounds, if it fits!) I was jarred from my reverie by a thunderous sound, a sound I know well from my past, as onto the forecourt rolled with aplomb an Aprila RSV


Now for those of you uninspired by vehicles with only two wheels let me tell you this is a piece of engineering to die for, and probably on but I won't go there, there is little like it, it is an absolute shining star among many stars, perhaps the 'must have if can ever afford it' for many petrol heads.

So onto the forecourt rolled this stunning machine and from it dismounted it's rider and pillion. Well actually the rider didn't, in true 'man rider' style he stayed seated whilst poking nozzle into tank (yes there is good reason for this aside from laziness) and she trundled off in the heat and her leathers to pay.

Now as ever in these situations I felt obliged to strike up conversation with this couple (it's a biker thing) and revel for just a minute or two in their experiences with aforementioned beautiful machine....which unusually for a Mille was 'sporting' throw over panniers....a sight almost unbearable on such a piece of machinery but necessary on occasion.

What earned my utter respect was this. The couple in question were on a holiday touring Scotland, that in itself may seem like no big deal but believe me, having ridden pillion on one of this beauties I can promise you it is! This is most definitely not a thing of comfort, it is a thing of beauty, of outrageous speed, of cornering on rails, of scratching and racing, it is not a thing designed for comfort in any respect whatsoever. Riding pillion on this requires one to be almost acrobatic in the ability to curl ones body into odd shapes, it requires that not only the rider but the passenger deal with the full force of wind and high speed turbulence, it requires one's knees to be almost under one's chin and legs and back bent into uncanny positions for hours on end. Oh....and then there's the suspension to deal with! I promise you, as someone who has spent an enormous amount of time in such a position and who can on most pillion seats fall fast asleep, this is not one of those 'comfortable touring' experiences!

Add to that the lady in question was no spring chicken and was on the 'larger lady' side the fact that she could even consider touring for a week on this marvel earned my utter respect....and envy, an envy that was only heightened almost intolerably as they screamed past me at a break-neck rate of acceleration a few minutes later!

Pretty in pink!

'Madam' showing off her new collar. Well actually she's had it for a while, both she and Ditto have one, gifts from over the pond (thank you Joanna) some time back but Tilly only just grew into hers!....and yes, it's PINK! :o)

Just for a day

I'm not usually a 'lying on the beach, running away kinda gal', I'd be way too bored within half an hour but just right here and right now I wanna be at this place!


Just for a day or two maybe, just to do nothing,think about nothing, just to listen to the water gently lapping at the shores edge, feel the sun on my face, feel it warm my soul, to take a deep breath and let all that is on my mind melt away. Just for a day a welcome distraction from the things that are my reality in gemmak's-ville right now.

Never believe all you read!

Life in gemmak's-ville has been a little disenchanting of late as you know and yesterday my colleagues and my own feelings of skepticism with life were given a rather sad and somewhat annoying helping hand!

The local rag last week reported on it's front page the terrible story of an elderly lady, and octogenarian of the locality who whilst browsing in a charity shop had her purse stolen. It contained just a few pounds but that small sum was all the money she had in the world to support herself and her beloved cat until she next collected her pension. It was not a great deal of money but when it's all you have it might as well be thousands.

Enraged and horrified by this story of some thugs heinous disregard for an elderly and harmless lady the situation became a much discussed point over the weekend and one of our number quickly decided to collect donations for this unfortunate woman and to make up for her a small hamper of food and to give her a little cash....and over the weekend that's exactly what we did. It was to be an anonymous gift that we hoped would at least help the victim of such a crime over the initial difficulties.

And so, collection raised and food hamper (including cat food I might add) made up the colleague who had made the arrangements went to the charity shop involved ( the lady concerned is involved in this charity and it was our only point of contact) to pass on our small offering....but what happened next came as a rather unpleasant surprise to all of us.

It would seem that whilst it doesn't detract for one moment from the hideousness of the initial crime or of those like it, our 'elderly and destitute' beneficiary is far from all it seems. Elderly she may be but destitute she most certainly isn't! The charity concerned were full of apology, they had no idea this lady would go to the press but know her well and know that not only did she lose much less money in the theft but also, rather than herself and her 'beloved cat' being likely to struggle over the next few days just for food to eat, she could in fact likely feed the whole town for she is and extremely wealthy (and I mean millionaire kind of wealthy) local eccentric who is well known to some!

Slightly floored by this information and not a little upset my colleague left the cash as a donation to the charity itself and returned to work with the food still in her possession. Ditto and Tilly have subsequently benefited there but the whole issue is kind of sad in so much as not only did we feel duped but more so because in future I think it has had the effect of making some of us more skeptical should we ever consider such a story again.

Realistically we know that such reports of crimes of this nature, are all too true and are devastating to the victim but it can't help but leave something of a lingering 'bad taste' and make us all just a little tiny bit less likely to consider such actions again....that in itself is the saddest aspect of the whole sorry tale.

And the moral of the story, never believe all you read in the press!!!