wind in my willows....

Yesterday in Manchester was the windiest day I have ever encountered. Not only was it blowing a gale but the rain was horizontal at times and so cold.
The streets of Manchester were littered with discarded umbrellas, I have never seen so many in my walk to work. It was like there had been an invasion of broken umbrellas from outer space, bins were full of different coloured ones and one pesky handbag sized spotty designed invader flew up and hit me on the shin, it had been left on the ground to perish .
What amuses me is who actually thought that their brollie would with stand 70 mile an hour gusts???

I relied on my jaunty hat to keep my hair in some state of normality but I was soaked by the time arrived in the office.

Yesterday also gave me one of the most bizarre sights which beautifully summed up British madness!
There was a bloke doing this!!

Three times he blew leaves out of a corner only for the power of nature to place them back again.
I think I would have just gone home and had a cup of tea as there was no way he was going to win

i am hooked...

It is a terrible place to be being hooked. Whether it be Class A, nicotine, booze, exercise, veg, fruit, blogging or fast food.
Anything in excess is bad for you .. moderation in all things seems to be the key to a healthy life.

Imagine my horror when I have realised I am a junkie? Surely not me? Sensible, reliable, can be depended on aeib (aka random) .
Well yes it has happened.
So how did it happen? How did this state of dependency creep up on me?
That surely is the question I am asking myself?

In May 2007 something changed in my life. Luckily the dependency wasn't immediate then.
That happened over the last few months.

The month of May was when I got a puppy. No that isn't the dependency to which I refer more she is dependent on me. When I leave for work this little ball of fluff goes mental at the thought of her pack leader leaving, I have the daily 'catch the dog' exercise trying to get her out of the lounge, which is her favourite place because she can see out of the window and bark all day at people passing by.
I used to switch on the radio as I was leaving and she has learned that is a signal I am leaving (along with brushing my teeth, touching my keys and handbag & wow betide should I put a cardi or coat on!!)
So to combat the alert I have been putting the radio earlier than when I leave..... and that is when I became hooked.
I tried a few tactics, Radio 4 (no too stayed).. local radio (now Terry Christian is a wow with me on my way home but I reckon pup has not sussed that yet)
After listening to the Top 20 on Radio One one Sunday night I clicked the switch one Monday morning and came across this guy

Yes this is who is responsible

If you don't recognise him (coz I wouldn't in a month of Sunday's) this is Chris Moyles. (I thought he was actually called Andy Moyles??)
I have to listen to him on my way to work. His show is addictive. It's like being in an office with your most favourite sarcastic colleagues.. a world I have moved from last year and miss a lot!

I like it so much that I am darned well driving into City centre Manchester, sitting in nose to tail traffic just so I can hear out the show.... I don't have an ipod/mp3 so can't do the train bit & listen (my fellow train passengers would be delighted, as I know I can't be trusted with headphones and music or laughter... cos I know I will join in.... yes this has been proven )
Although I did venture on to the cattle cart today as Man U were playing Lyon so knew the roads would be gridlocked this evening .. how right I was !! but missed the show though!

I hasten to add it is car tomorrow just to hook up with Chris (or Andy) and his team!
Just want to add that Monday had me rocking with Brown Sugar & the seamless link ..... full volume on Deansgate ... fabulous

Whizzy garden birds

I have a studio at the end of my long elongated garden.
One wall is nearly an entirely window. Instead of working, I often use the studio as a bird watching sanctuary, especially at this time of the year. How lucky I am to watch at really close range little garden birds, right outside my window, where I am undetected. And not only is watching them truly an inspiration, but their birds songs are beauty itself.

Birds are Messengers from the gods, I wish I was in tune, literally with them, to understand their stories.
I should join a Twitchers group, but I could be the annoying one who keeps fidgetting in the hide (now that sounds a condition I need to see a doctor about).

Thanks to my chum AEIB who suggests the scent of flowers as a pick-me-up. Totally in agreement, my house is full of the smell of sweet narcissus, something my cat seems to enjoy too.

highway robbery .............

Dick Turpin met his maker almost 370 years ago. He was a highway robber but actually was convicted and hanged for horse rustling (a crime punishable by death in those days)
Oh how times have changed, it would seem today that highway robbery is now legal.
Dick & his horse Black Bess have been replaced by 2 blokes in a battered old ford fiesta type van who, no different to Dick, demand your cash.

Yes I was clamped tonight and £90 poorer!!!



Thank goodness for the kind people in this world. A lovely lady over in Canada (Fracas) has bestowed on Sunny & I the gift of smell the flowers. And as it says, quite rightly 'one journey, many discoveries'

We often forget, in our busy lives, to take stock, slow down and indeed smell the flowers.

Sunny has been very much under the weather recently and chatting to her last night I am so pleased that she is feeling a lot better.

Sunny, Fracas sent you a message through me ~ 'I hope she knows I’m thinking about her. You too, but smelling flowers is good for the soul. I wish her flowers.'

times they are a changing

I had a great excuse to visit my birthplace today paid for by the company.
My birthplace is The European City of Culture 2008.... yes Liverpool. Of which I am very proud.

But what has happened? The skyline was just full of cranes, the streets were dug up with my well trodden short cuts blocked off with hoardings and men in hi vis jackets.
So much construction, disarray and dust.
The new arena is finished on the dock side but that is surrounded by a complete mess.

The glorious 3 Graces are shadowed by what is going on.
I didn't recognise my beautiful city anymore.
Maybe I should leave it a while before I return again when all the cranes have left.

new music

This what my teen is listening tonight live at the Academy .......... her next door neighbour who I have known since he was 2 years old :-)

shelves of curious stuff

As you know I love books. Can't bear to throw them away particularly the ones that I know have soul. A while ago I posted about my South American Handbook 1928 and Lear's Book of Bosh.
This weekend I had a swap around of furniture in the dining room which meant a complete empty of the book case in order to move it.
Well you can imagine it took 5 times longer than it should as I 'ummed' & 'arrred' over the gems in there.

Tucked at the back behind the big meaty books (Times Atlas of the World, Secret Britain, Whale Nation etc) I found a couple of small old slim books. I must tell you my mother gave me them some time ago, she found them whilst clearing out things when her partner died. Her words were ' You may find these amusing?'

The first one is 'mastery of speech Lesson6' - How to speak in private life and in public places.
It is not dated but gives advice on how to talk in the home, to servants, policemen, labourers, foreigners, public officials and so on. It does mention a lot about being frank ... I don't want to me Frank!!
In talking to a foreigner it gives you the scenario that 'you are in a social gathering, or you are travelling and get into a conversation with a foreigner. What topics would be of most use?
1. Present events in the foreigners land (all well and good if you have your Blackberry with you)
2. Great men in the foreigner's land (bit stuck if he is Belgian... sorry!)
3. Great achievements of the foreigners nation at any time (Blackberry time again)
4. The past or present relations of your country and his (tricky on many fronts being British)
Along these lines I have the most interesting conversations with foreigners of all sorts from peasants on the mountain side to bankers'

The second one is the 'woman the home maker; or how to care for your wife'. Published originally in 1905 but the copy I have is the 3rd edition released upon the world in 1914.

It is a corker of a book which swings from a mans chauvinistic view point to how to keep a woman well. It is of particular interest to me as it was published in my home town but I have been unable to track anything down about the Rev. Melville C. Keith , M.D. to date

.

I will be keeping these two books at the front of the book case for future reference and will post genuine snippets of madness in the future

btw the lady at the top of the post was tucked in side 'woman the home maker' - knit yourself a long vest pattern!!!