a poem by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre
The End.
Saturday, 6 December 2008
A winter poem
I found this beautiful winter poem and thought it might be a comfort to you. It was to me, and it's very well written.
'WINTER'
a poem by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre
'SHIT, It's Cold!'
The End.
a poem by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre
The End.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Fire!
This building Fletch and I live in is an old converted paper mill parked squarely on the edge of a river. It has been utilised by various organisations since the long forgotten when days it actually milled paper, it was Clive Sinclair's company headquarters in the heady days of the ZX Spectrum and the infamous C5 and then later became the local police HQ until some property developer saw fit to 'develop' it and it became what it is today.
The building houses approx. 36 flats all inhabited by either retired people looking for a bijoux little spot on the river to see out their days or yuppy types who are rarely ever here....and then there is us who fall into neither category and in my case who is always here! And thereby hangs the tale.
There is of course a fire alarm system but quite why, other than to fulfill building regs. I have no idea because it sounds with such regular monotony everyone bar me it seems, has tuned it out in the firm belief that it is just another old duffer burning their breakfast toast! Which of course it is, but one day it just might not be...and do they care? Nope, seemingly not!
I have lost count of the times I have scrabbled into some clothes in a hurry, gathered up life's essentials (handbag, phone, lappy, Hammy....she fits nicely in my handbag for safe-keeping)) equally rapidly and bowled out onto the landing to find maybe, at the very most, only two or three velour and gold-lame slippered residents wandering about aimlessly asking me if they 'really need to go downstairs'! Ack!
The whole issue seems ridiculous, I don't know what current fire safety law requires and my days married to a fireman are so long gone I don't recall now exacely what they used to be, but here is a building with a high number of elderly and in many cases very infirm residents and we don't qualify, it would seem, for an 'automatic turn out' from the local fire station. Add to that, the regularly of the alarms means very few people take a blind bit of notice and even if they did, in a fire the lifts shouldn't be used and most of them aren't able to exit via the stairs!
No-one seems to know how to turn the alarm off, no-one but me understands the fire panel as far as I can tell, no-one has a key to turn it off anyways and despite my attempts at trying to get some information and assuming some responsibility for the situation, I have had no success. Add to that, whilst the alarm is tested weekly there has never been a drill in the time we have been here and in the event of an alarm or a fire we, the residents (that would likely be me then I suppose) are supposed to call the janitor guy....who lives five miles away and only has a push bike for transport! How freaking helpful, not!
One day, mark my words, something nasty is going to happen in this building and maybe then someone will start asking a question or two!
The building houses approx. 36 flats all inhabited by either retired people looking for a bijoux little spot on the river to see out their days or yuppy types who are rarely ever here....and then there is us who fall into neither category and in my case who is always here! And thereby hangs the tale.
There is of course a fire alarm system but quite why, other than to fulfill building regs. I have no idea because it sounds with such regular monotony everyone bar me it seems, has tuned it out in the firm belief that it is just another old duffer burning their breakfast toast! Which of course it is, but one day it just might not be...and do they care? Nope, seemingly not!
I have lost count of the times I have scrabbled into some clothes in a hurry, gathered up life's essentials (handbag, phone, lappy, Hammy....she fits nicely in my handbag for safe-keeping)) equally rapidly and bowled out onto the landing to find maybe, at the very most, only two or three velour and gold-lame slippered residents wandering about aimlessly asking me if they 'really need to go downstairs'! Ack!
The whole issue seems ridiculous, I don't know what current fire safety law requires and my days married to a fireman are so long gone I don't recall now exacely what they used to be, but here is a building with a high number of elderly and in many cases very infirm residents and we don't qualify, it would seem, for an 'automatic turn out' from the local fire station. Add to that, the regularly of the alarms means very few people take a blind bit of notice and even if they did, in a fire the lifts shouldn't be used and most of them aren't able to exit via the stairs!
No-one seems to know how to turn the alarm off, no-one but me understands the fire panel as far as I can tell, no-one has a key to turn it off anyways and despite my attempts at trying to get some information and assuming some responsibility for the situation, I have had no success. Add to that, whilst the alarm is tested weekly there has never been a drill in the time we have been here and in the event of an alarm or a fire we, the residents (that would likely be me then I suppose) are supposed to call the janitor guy....who lives five miles away and only has a push bike for transport! How freaking helpful, not!
One day, mark my words, something nasty is going to happen in this building and maybe then someone will start asking a question or two!
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Too soon was the cry!
Christmas that is! How is it that the Christmas's of recent years have developed this nasty habit of stealth? They seem to creep up on me silently and then suddenly pounce, taking me by surprise and causing a state of last minute panic. I used to be organised, I used to have every last detail planned with military precision.... but no longer it seems. There is only twenty one days left now until the zero hour and I am apparently completely incapable of getting my mind into any semblance of Christmas order whatsoever. It's just coming way too soon and I'm not ready for it, at all!
Not so much as a card has been purchased let alone written, our brief endeavour at getting a tree fell into disarray within minutes when we both lost patience with the pushing and shoving hordes of a Sunday afternoon's retail delight and try as I might, I am utterly clueless and without inspiration as to what might be provided as gifts for one and all. Despite hours surfing the interweb for ideas and scanning pages of glossy catalogues that promise to solve all my present problems I have achieved nothing, nada, zip!
I suspect, this year, as last, the situation will only be resolved by a week or two more of blind panic, of trying to shoe-horn myself into the Christmas spirit and then finally, with only a day or two left, making a mad and protracted dash around Milton Keynes shopping mall and spending way too much money because nothing suitable in the gift line is ever within pre-defined budgets! That of course will then be followed by mad dash number two, the one to get all the wrapping and bow tying done and the cards delivered by hand, because of course, I will also have missed the final posting dates!
A final bout of festive panic and mayhem will then doubtless ensue when the sudden realisation hits me that I have forgotten a gift for someone or am missing another item of utmost importance for the (tongue firmly in cheek) 'perfect Christmas experience'..... at a point only hours from having to look cool, collected, serene and full of Christmas cheer and joy!
Panic, panic, panic.
Bah bloody humbug!
Not so much as a card has been purchased let alone written, our brief endeavour at getting a tree fell into disarray within minutes when we both lost patience with the pushing and shoving hordes of a Sunday afternoon's retail delight and try as I might, I am utterly clueless and without inspiration as to what might be provided as gifts for one and all. Despite hours surfing the interweb for ideas and scanning pages of glossy catalogues that promise to solve all my present problems I have achieved nothing, nada, zip!
I suspect, this year, as last, the situation will only be resolved by a week or two more of blind panic, of trying to shoe-horn myself into the Christmas spirit and then finally, with only a day or two left, making a mad and protracted dash around Milton Keynes shopping mall and spending way too much money because nothing suitable in the gift line is ever within pre-defined budgets! That of course will then be followed by mad dash number two, the one to get all the wrapping and bow tying done and the cards delivered by hand, because of course, I will also have missed the final posting dates!
A final bout of festive panic and mayhem will then doubtless ensue when the sudden realisation hits me that I have forgotten a gift for someone or am missing another item of utmost importance for the (tongue firmly in cheek) 'perfect Christmas experience'..... at a point only hours from having to look cool, collected, serene and full of Christmas cheer and joy!
Panic, panic, panic.
Bah bloody humbug!
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Afghanistan - The ultimate price
The politics of war are complicated, doubtless if they weren't the conflicts would not be conflicts in the first place and no matter which war or where, whether the reasons are valid in our opinion or whether we agree or disagree with the principles of an individual situation, one thing doesn't ever change..... and that is simply that the guys and gals out there at the sharp end, and their families back home, show immense courage and fortitude, regardless of their own political views.These are the people we depend on to face the dangers and hardships when we agree with the reasons for a given conflict and as such they deserve our support just the same when we don't. We live in a democracy and whilst I'm not naive about how much of a democracy it actually is, it is the one we have and it beats many other options.
Those serving in war zones have no more choice in where they serve and why they find themselves in a particular place than the rest of us do and as such, regardless of the politics we should be proud of their efforts and of their bravery, maybe even more so for just that reason, they have no choice in where they serve but they serve nonetheless with the same courage and skill regardless of their personal feelings.
Situations such as have occurred in the UK recently, where service personnel, far from being able to show pride, have been advised not to wear uniform in public because of the risk of assault in showing publicly that they are members of the armed forces, I find utterly repulsive and appalling! Yes, they make the choice to serve but not the choice as to where they serve. and we should be proud of our service men and women and those of our allies because it is they, not you or I or the politicians in their ivory towers, that face the true horrors of war and it is they, not us who pay the ultimate price.
Rest in peace CPT Rob Yllescas.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
How do you make a hormone?
Don't pay her! Ha!
Sorry, very poor joke but I couldn't resist and there has to be a lighter side to the whole middle years thing than my current state of hormonal madness!
Hormones, who'd have 'em!? The damn things are the bane of my recent life. When we are teenagers and our hormones first start kicking ass and are out of kilter we are told merely that 'it will soon pass', it's 'growing up'. What anyone fails to enlighten us on is that once we hit that 'woman of a certain age' phase in life, things are only going to get a whole lot worse.
Now then you guys, I know it's not all fun and rosy for you being on the receiving end of all this nonsense, you take your fair share of the flak, let's face it, we women can be something of a confusion when we are in, shall we say, a more stable state of hormonal balance so we must be almost impossible to fathom when we lose the chemical balance plot, hell, I can't understand myself let alone expect someone else too much of the time but that said, a little more understanding and a little less derogatory comment and hilarity would be good! ;o)
For me these recent months have suddenly become pretty 'hormonally challenged', gone are the times of a few days mental and physical uproar prior to a period and then happy relief, instead they have been replaced with weeks of the damn carry on and if I'm lucky I might manage a few days break before the whole emotional and physical malarkey begins again. Gone too is any semblance of order or regularity, replaced instead with a completely haphazard timetable of symptoms that mostly just don't have the good grace to bugger off for long at all.
So, next time you guys scathingly make reference to hormones or laugh at our stupidity, you might like to consider trying to live your daily life with a permanent bad skin and hair day, pains in your joints, your abdomen and your thighs, adhoc bruises about your person where a sudden bout of hormonal clumsiness caused you to lose all sense of spatial awareness and bump into things like Mr Blobby on acid, feeling too cold one minute and too damn hot the next, the headache from hell for weeks at a time, feeling like your are about to get a bout of the flu, permanently, retention of enough water to make an adventure trek across the Sahara a distinct possibility and worst of all, fluctuating from feeling angry to weepy at a seconds notice and then back again, for absolutely no reason at all!
Ok, ok I know it sounds pretty funny and weird but the women among you will know where I'm coming from only too well and I'm sure I'm not the only one frustrated by feeling so dysfunctional and out of control. In real terms it is pretty life altering at times, there are things I really could not consider trying to do in this condition because I know I wouldn't be safe, driving for instance, with no spatial awareness takes some degree of courage or stupidity and has to be considered carefully before being undertaken!
So, this is not a 'you don't understand us' whinge, more a little plea for some understanding or sympathy when we apparently behave like we lost all sense of cognitive thought and an acceptance that the phrases along the lines of 'oh, it must be that time of the month again' or 'it's just your hormones' aren't very helpful! Oh, and our ability to think is not affected....just our reaction to that thinking....and yes, I know, what a reaction it is sometimes!
I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of it that's for sure, but I would prefer it, I suspect, to being on the end I am! All this and for what? I didn't even get to make any use of my damnable reproductive system!
And don't please, anyone suggest HRT...I'm not allowed, my family medical history makes it not an option.
Me? Bad tempered? Perish the thought. Chocolate! where's the freakin chocolate!
Sorry, very poor joke but I couldn't resist and there has to be a lighter side to the whole middle years thing than my current state of hormonal madness!
Hormones, who'd have 'em!? The damn things are the bane of my recent life. When we are teenagers and our hormones first start kicking ass and are out of kilter we are told merely that 'it will soon pass', it's 'growing up'. What anyone fails to enlighten us on is that once we hit that 'woman of a certain age' phase in life, things are only going to get a whole lot worse.
Now then you guys, I know it's not all fun and rosy for you being on the receiving end of all this nonsense, you take your fair share of the flak, let's face it, we women can be something of a confusion when we are in, shall we say, a more stable state of hormonal balance so we must be almost impossible to fathom when we lose the chemical balance plot, hell, I can't understand myself let alone expect someone else too much of the time but that said, a little more understanding and a little less derogatory comment and hilarity would be good! ;o)For me these recent months have suddenly become pretty 'hormonally challenged', gone are the times of a few days mental and physical uproar prior to a period and then happy relief, instead they have been replaced with weeks of the damn carry on and if I'm lucky I might manage a few days break before the whole emotional and physical malarkey begins again. Gone too is any semblance of order or regularity, replaced instead with a completely haphazard timetable of symptoms that mostly just don't have the good grace to bugger off for long at all.
So, next time you guys scathingly make reference to hormones or laugh at our stupidity, you might like to consider trying to live your daily life with a permanent bad skin and hair day, pains in your joints, your abdomen and your thighs, adhoc bruises about your person where a sudden bout of hormonal clumsiness caused you to lose all sense of spatial awareness and bump into things like Mr Blobby on acid, feeling too cold one minute and too damn hot the next, the headache from hell for weeks at a time, feeling like your are about to get a bout of the flu, permanently, retention of enough water to make an adventure trek across the Sahara a distinct possibility and worst of all, fluctuating from feeling angry to weepy at a seconds notice and then back again, for absolutely no reason at all!
Ok, ok I know it sounds pretty funny and weird but the women among you will know where I'm coming from only too well and I'm sure I'm not the only one frustrated by feeling so dysfunctional and out of control. In real terms it is pretty life altering at times, there are things I really could not consider trying to do in this condition because I know I wouldn't be safe, driving for instance, with no spatial awareness takes some degree of courage or stupidity and has to be considered carefully before being undertaken!
So, this is not a 'you don't understand us' whinge, more a little plea for some understanding or sympathy when we apparently behave like we lost all sense of cognitive thought and an acceptance that the phrases along the lines of 'oh, it must be that time of the month again' or 'it's just your hormones' aren't very helpful! Oh, and our ability to think is not affected....just our reaction to that thinking....and yes, I know, what a reaction it is sometimes!
I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of it that's for sure, but I would prefer it, I suspect, to being on the end I am! All this and for what? I didn't even get to make any use of my damnable reproductive system!
And don't please, anyone suggest HRT...I'm not allowed, my family medical history makes it not an option.
Me? Bad tempered? Perish the thought. Chocolate! where's the freakin chocolate!
Monday, 1 December 2008
Christmas is coming....
.....and the goose is getting fat, or not, you are completely uninspired where gift buying is concerned, your cards remain in a dark corner somewhere in a still unwritten heap, your tree hasn't yet ventured from the loft where you put it on twelfth night last time around..... and your blog desperately needs it's Christmas look, if only you had the time!
So, gemmak designs to the rescue, no faff no fiddle, I will take care of the whole blog thing for you. Just choose from one of the 'ready to wear' Christmas designs or order a bespoke Christmas look, and like magic it shall be done, all from a starting price of just £12 or $18 at current rates.
How easy could it be? I'll even host the images and return you to normal after the festive season is over all in the price.... and if you are looking for an inspired gift for a blogging friend, what more could they ask than a gemmak designs gift certificate?!
So, gemmak designs to the rescue, no faff no fiddle, I will take care of the whole blog thing for you. Just choose from one of the 'ready to wear' Christmas designs or order a bespoke Christmas look, and like magic it shall be done, all from a starting price of just £12 or $18 at current rates.
How easy could it be? I'll even host the images and return you to normal after the festive season is over all in the price.... and if you are looking for an inspired gift for a blogging friend, what more could they ask than a gemmak designs gift certificate?!
Saturday, 29 November 2008
An un- perfect end to an un- perfect week!
So, when you have had a tough week in the board room working all the hours God sends with incompetent project managers excelling in their display of incompetence, when your dev. guys lose sight of the phrase 'keep it simple stupid' and when all you really want to do is get home on a Friday night, what is the very best thing that can happen next?
Well the one thing it's not is to have some dozy fool t-bone your car at speed on the dark, wet journey to home to weekend escape!
Welcome to Fletch's world this last week!
Thankfully it was only vehicles that suffered damage, no bones broken or any of that, in part I suspect because himself managed, in the momentary window of opportunity, presented, to still have enough wit after his long week to react quickly and take some evasive action, thereby warding off a much more serious level of impact.
No harm done, save for a the other driver being very shaken and requiring some considerable 'calming talk' and cigarettes, all supplied in the rain and dark on the side of the road by Fletch who didn't have the heart to be angry with him given his obvious state of distress.
There will of course be some pretty hefty repair bills but it could be worse, it's a company car so we don't have to take care of that, it's just aggravation we could do without but that's life and what matters is no one was injured.
....and when he finally arrived home looking a bit dishevelled and the worse for wear, he was carrying not one but five glorious stems of orchids which are now doing their beautiful thing in a vase, having also survived the impact! :o)
Well the one thing it's not is to have some dozy fool t-bone your car at speed on the dark, wet journey to home to weekend escape!
Welcome to Fletch's world this last week!
Thankfully it was only vehicles that suffered damage, no bones broken or any of that, in part I suspect because himself managed, in the momentary window of opportunity, presented, to still have enough wit after his long week to react quickly and take some evasive action, thereby warding off a much more serious level of impact.
No harm done, save for a the other driver being very shaken and requiring some considerable 'calming talk' and cigarettes, all supplied in the rain and dark on the side of the road by Fletch who didn't have the heart to be angry with him given his obvious state of distress.
There will of course be some pretty hefty repair bills but it could be worse, it's a company car so we don't have to take care of that, it's just aggravation we could do without but that's life and what matters is no one was injured.
....and when he finally arrived home looking a bit dishevelled and the worse for wear, he was carrying not one but five glorious stems of orchids which are now doing their beautiful thing in a vase, having also survived the impact! :o)
Friday, 28 November 2008
1/10 for observation!
With age seems to come a certain degree of stupidity where my ability to concentrate and pay attention to detail is concerned!I have long since accepted my forte for throwing scissors or cutlery in the bin when in fact of course, it's the rubbish in the other hand that should have been destined for the landfill, I am used to my ability to walk the few meters to another room and then stand there like a lemon trying to remember what exactly it was I went there for in the first place and I have learned to tolerate my penchant for insisting I don't need a list for just four items when out shopping.....and coming back with only two of them because of course I forgot what the other two were!
Now I have excelled myself in the stupidity stakes!
Late last night, or to be more specific early this morning, whilst going through the usual insomnia routine I decided to make my self a cup of cocoa. This is not unusual and in my defence
Along the way I had a vague notion that something wasn't quite right with my drink but I took no notice, I carried on, sip, surf, sip, surf, sip, surf...all the time almost registering somewhere in the depths of my mind that something was not right but somehow unable to actually formulate a whole conscious thought on the matter.
Almost at the end of the cup my mind finally realised something really wasn't right and investigated the dregs remaining....to find the milk was well and truly off and what I was drinking had much more in common with yogurt or junket than cocoa! Yuk, nasty.
Hey...I am the woman that managed a year ago, to drink a cup of coffee made with water containing a high proportion of descaler and still only slightly register any oddity, so I suppose last nights 'observation failure' should really not come as any great surprise to me!
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Lifegem - Diamonds are a girl's best friend!
Are you struggling for that special gift idea for a loved one this Christmas or perhaps trying to think of that oh so meaningful gift your uninspired significant other isn't going to come up with, and for which you need to begin dropping some subtle hints?
Well they say don't they, that diamonds are a girls best friend, so how about a diamond, but not just any old diamond, forget clarity colour and carats, forget Tiffany & Co. or Garrard instead there is a new diamond available and a coloured one at that. Fancy coloured diamonds have long been more valuable than the run of the mill offerings and now there is a very special one available should you have thousands of dollars at your disposal!
It's called 'Lifegem' and it has all the same characteristics both in appearance and carbon tech.spec. as the more traditional version, the only difference?....it's made from carbon extracted from the cremated remains of your loved one!!
How lovely! Not! Who the hell thought up that delightful little, ersorry gem, of a money making idea?
What? You mean it's not at the top of your Christmas wish list? I am astounded! I can't imagine why!
As it happens I still have Poppy tucked away in her little box after all these years, this wasn't by design, it was more that in all the upheaval of my life around the time of her departure I never quite got to deciding what I would do with her ashes, I packed her when I left Scotland, bought her with me and somehow never got to a final decision and she is still packed away in her little box....maybe I have the answer as to what to finally do with her now?
.....or maybe NOT! Whatever next!
There is however this more traditional option you could perhaps make suggestions of to your significant other, should you strangely not fancy the Lifegem for your Christmas treat. I don't think 34k is too much to ask for something so stunningly, perfectly, amazingly beautiful do you?
Tiffany daaahling, is there anywhere else?
Well they say don't they, that diamonds are a girls best friend, so how about a diamond, but not just any old diamond, forget clarity colour and carats, forget Tiffany & Co. or Garrard instead there is a new diamond available and a coloured one at that. Fancy coloured diamonds have long been more valuable than the run of the mill offerings and now there is a very special one available should you have thousands of dollars at your disposal!
It's called 'Lifegem' and it has all the same characteristics both in appearance and carbon tech.spec. as the more traditional version, the only difference?....it's made from carbon extracted from the cremated remains of your loved one!!
How lovely! Not! Who the hell thought up that delightful little, er
What? You mean it's not at the top of your Christmas wish list? I am astounded! I can't imagine why!
As it happens I still have Poppy tucked away in her little box after all these years, this wasn't by design, it was more that in all the upheaval of my life around the time of her departure I never quite got to deciding what I would do with her ashes, I packed her when I left Scotland, bought her with me and somehow never got to a final decision and she is still packed away in her little box....maybe I have the answer as to what to finally do with her now?
.....or maybe NOT! Whatever next!
There is however this more traditional option you could perhaps make suggestions of to your significant other, should you strangely not fancy the Lifegem for your Christmas treat. I don't think 34k is too much to ask for something so stunningly, perfectly, amazingly beautiful do you? Tiffany daaahling, is there anywhere else?
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Hair happiness!
My utter dislike of the necessary and regular trips to a hairdresser has been well documented here, including on this, this and this occasion, I just don't like it!
I don't of course have a problem with having a tidy barnet, hey, I'm a woman but I just can't be doing with all the inane chat and faffing, I want my hair cut, nothing less and certainly nothing more, if I wanted any other service I would ask for it, I don't need to be asked repeatedly if I want a colour/highlights/lowlights/treatments/manicure/pedicure/wax or any other of the myriad procedures on offer, I just want my bloody hair cut! I don't want pampering, I don't want treating like a faux princess and I don't want to waste any more time in there than is absolutely necessary! Please, in peace and quiet and without the unending, brain numbing blether regarding the booking status of my next summer holiday!
Hell, I have made a polite effort, I have even tried answering that one from time to time but the dumb blond wielding the scissors (ok, before someone takes me to the politically correct hair stylist police I know not all hairdressers fit the stereotype, just most that I have the misfortune to be tortured by) has on more than one occasion drifted off into a confused state when I tried to explain the joys of motorcycle touring as opposed to two weeks in Benidorm trying to contract a significant melanoma!
But, things have changed, success at last! I had a plan and a bit of luck and things on the salon visiting front are looking much improved....even to a point that I actually enjoyed yesterday's visit.
The plan; to grow my hair, thus necessitating a few less salon visits per annum.
The luck; The discovery of a hairdresser called 'Sammy'.....a stunning looking twenty something with a brain and a sense of humour, who talks about motorbikes, computers and travelling, who has a sense of reality about her profession, doesn't attempt to sell me 'product', has hamsters and kittens and makes a half decent, gratis, cup of coffee!
This girl is a star, we were reduced to something akin to raucous schoolgirls laughing and giggling for an hour and to add to my delight, as the result of a booking mix up I won't bore you with the details of, she gave me the full works, including the only 'add-on' I enjoy, an Indian (I don't know what defines it as 'Indian' but I don't care, it's good) head massage, for the price of just a cut!
I am impressed, very impressed, my first enjoyable 'hair salon event' has happened with none of the incumbent inanity, none of the usual disasters I seem to have encountered in these establishments over the years and not a single mention of the Benidorm word!
I don't of course have a problem with having a tidy barnet, hey, I'm a woman but I just can't be doing with all the inane chat and faffing, I want my hair cut, nothing less and certainly nothing more, if I wanted any other service I would ask for it, I don't need to be asked repeatedly if I want a colour/highlights/lowlights/treatments/manicure/pedicure/wax or any other of the myriad procedures on offer, I just want my bloody hair cut! I don't want pampering, I don't want treating like a faux princess and I don't want to waste any more time in there than is absolutely necessary! Please, in peace and quiet and without the unending, brain numbing blether regarding the booking status of my next summer holiday!
Hell, I have made a polite effort, I have even tried answering that one from time to time but the dumb blond wielding the scissors (ok, before someone takes me to the politically correct hair stylist police I know not all hairdressers fit the stereotype, just most that I have the misfortune to be tortured by) has on more than one occasion drifted off into a confused state when I tried to explain the joys of motorcycle touring as opposed to two weeks in Benidorm trying to contract a significant melanoma!
But, things have changed, success at last! I had a plan and a bit of luck and things on the salon visiting front are looking much improved....even to a point that I actually enjoyed yesterday's visit.
The plan; to grow my hair, thus necessitating a few less salon visits per annum.
The luck; The discovery of a hairdresser called 'Sammy'.....a stunning looking twenty something with a brain and a sense of humour, who talks about motorbikes, computers and travelling, who has a sense of reality about her profession, doesn't attempt to sell me 'product', has hamsters and kittens and makes a half decent, gratis, cup of coffee!
This girl is a star, we were reduced to something akin to raucous schoolgirls laughing and giggling for an hour and to add to my delight, as the result of a booking mix up I won't bore you with the details of, she gave me the full works, including the only 'add-on' I enjoy, an Indian (I don't know what defines it as 'Indian' but I don't care, it's good) head massage, for the price of just a cut!
I am impressed, very impressed, my first enjoyable 'hair salon event' has happened with none of the incumbent inanity, none of the usual disasters I seem to have encountered in these establishments over the years and not a single mention of the Benidorm word!
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
'Ready to wear' @ gemmak designs
complete 'ready to wear' designs starting at only £12!
The new 'ready to wear' collection of blog designs is just that, ready made complete blog designs that are sold as seen and 'ready to wear' immediately, allowing them to be half the price of those made to specific order. They are however still 'one offs' and once one has been sold it will not be repeated, guaranteeing your blog a personal look.
The design of your choice will be customised with you blog title on order and where space allows, a line of text can also be placed in the header.
There are currently five regular designs to choose from and four Christmas/seasonal designs and I will be adding more shortly.
The low price includes installation to your blog and where the design is a Christmas one it also includes hosting of the images and re-installation of your usual design once the festive season is over.
The cost for the seasonal designs is only £12 and for the regular designs just £15 .....and if you would like to purchase one as a gift for someone I can send you or your friend a gift certificate.
All you have to do is choose the one you want and mail me to let me know, it couldn't be easier!
You can of course still order a design specifically tailor made for you, at the normal starting price of £30 (see terms and conditions for pricing details) or a tailor made Christmas look starting at just £25.
Click the images for a larger size preview and if you wish to see a design 'working' please email me and I will give you a link to view.
Please feel free to email me any questions.
*N.B. Payment can be made in GBP or USD at current rates
CHRISTMAS DESIGNS
(Available with or without coloured sidebar and any colour background)
All Wrapped Up
(available with or without stars and any colour background)
Christmas Kitty
(Available with or without coloured sidebar and any colour background)
Contemporary Tree
REGULAR DESIGNS
(Available with any colour background)
Relax
Notepad
(Available with or without pencil graphic)
Ladybug
(Available with any colour background)
Black Heart
Sunday, 23 November 2008
The sum total...
...of the snow I saw was this meagre offering (sorry, appalling photo taken on my phone through the van's window)
and to make matters worse, having lain awake from midnight until 4am barely daring to move for fear of waking the other camper inhabitants with my loudly 'rustling' rip stop sleeping bag, I fell asleep for two hours between 5 and 7 and missed a more significant fall which had melted by the time I woke up! No-one woke me! Can you believe it??!!
Ok, so this camper van malarkey, what can I say save for 'give me back my tent please'. All of the inconvenience of camping with none of the fun or the feeling of communing with nature, too hot, too stuffy and it felt like being in a car park...though I accept there are much nicer sites and this one was chosen for it's convenience alone on this occasion.
All that said, we had a lovely evening with the outlaws, all the usual eating, drinking and hilarity and the company of a noisy owl and I think the entire countries population of Moorhens....but really, it's just not camping!
and to make matters worse, having lain awake from midnight until 4am barely daring to move for fear of waking the other camper inhabitants with my loudly 'rustling' rip stop sleeping bag, I fell asleep for two hours between 5 and 7 and missed a more significant fall which had melted by the time I woke up! No-one woke me! Can you believe it??!!Ok, so this camper van malarkey, what can I say save for 'give me back my tent please'. All of the inconvenience of camping with none of the fun or the feeling of communing with nature, too hot, too stuffy and it felt like being in a car park...though I accept there are much nicer sites and this one was chosen for it's convenience alone on this occasion.
All that said, we had a lovely evening with the outlaws, all the usual eating, drinking and hilarity and the company of a noisy owl and I think the entire countries population of Moorhens....but really, it's just not camping!
Saturday, 22 November 2008
Posh camping!
Contrary to our usual camping carrying-ons which involves a four seasons tent that restricts even sitting up, cooking on one burner and nil sanitary provision, this weekend we are off to do a little camping the posh way!
Fletch's parents own a camper van, well it seems a little inappropriate to call it just that, this monster vehicle is all shiny, almost new and boasts just about every domestic necessity and luxury known to mankind...it is also barely smaller than our flat!
So, we are off to a place called Grafham Water to spend the weekend with the outlaws in this mobile palace and whilst it's not really our style of camping, I'm not even sure it qualifies as 'camping', it should be fun and it does have it's benefits on a night when the temperatures are set to go well below zero and snow is forecast....heating and apparently efficient heating to boot are of course part of this home from home-mobile. No need for our minus 20 sleeping bags there then!
We have even been promised the sleeping quarters with the skylight so that if the miracle occurs and the snow falls overnight I can lay there and watch it....assuming of course that as is my norm, I don't sleep.
So that's our weekend, two days of camping the posh way, I'll be taking my camera in case of magnificent snowfall but don't expect me to be taking part in any of the water sporting activities on offer, I have my book, t'internet via my phone and good company, I intend to stay huddled inside making the most of the luxury, unless of course a foot of snow materialises, in which case I might just be prised outside to make the very most of it!
Fletch's parents own a camper van, well it seems a little inappropriate to call it just that, this monster vehicle is all shiny, almost new and boasts just about every domestic necessity and luxury known to mankind...it is also barely smaller than our flat!
So, we are off to a place called Grafham Water to spend the weekend with the outlaws in this mobile palace and whilst it's not really our style of camping, I'm not even sure it qualifies as 'camping', it should be fun and it does have it's benefits on a night when the temperatures are set to go well below zero and snow is forecast....heating and apparently efficient heating to boot are of course part of this home from home-mobile. No need for our minus 20 sleeping bags there then!
We have even been promised the sleeping quarters with the skylight so that if the miracle occurs and the snow falls overnight I can lay there and watch it....assuming of course that as is my norm, I don't sleep.
So that's our weekend, two days of camping the posh way, I'll be taking my camera in case of magnificent snowfall but don't expect me to be taking part in any of the water sporting activities on offer, I have my book, t'internet via my phone and good company, I intend to stay huddled inside making the most of the luxury, unless of course a foot of snow materialises, in which case I might just be prised outside to make the very most of it!
Friday, 21 November 2008
Meow!
Sorry...I just couldn't resist!!
Turn your sound on and move your cursor over him, around him, beside him, above, below...you get the picture! If he's a little quiet you might need to click on his tummy or his head! :o)
Turn your sound on and move your cursor over him, around him, beside him, above, below...you get the picture! If he's a little quiet you might need to click on his tummy or his head! :o)
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