Moving on....Fun with Blogger and Friday Fill-In's

Blogger has eaten my pictures. Not literally, of course, but you'll get the point. Tired of staring at a blank screen, I've posted today's Friday Fill-In, and recounted a bit of a saga (thanks to you, Blogger) on my Wordpress blog.

Yes, always one to keep a suitcase packed, I've gone and moved again! I'd better keep this home open though.....just in case.

See you there!

Friday Fill-In's

Here are my Friday Fill-In's....

1. Snow flakes come in many varieties- each one is unique but all are beautiful; I should know as The Daughter danced as one tonight in The Nutcracker ballet_.

2. I'm looking forward to _seeing her dance every night for the next two weeks_.

3. Waking up at 4am and then realizing I don't have to get up for work_ is the best _way to start my day_ ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is _Bewitched_.

5. I'm done with _Retail. Working, that is; not shopping_.

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is _feeling the festive spirit creeping up on me- it's highly contagious_.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _downloading the pictures I took of the ballet_, tomorrow my plans include _getting The Daughter to rehearsals and then the performance and working with The Husband as_Stage Crew_ and Sunday, I want to _enjoy her last performance in the Junior Company before she starts rehearsals with the Senior Company for their performances next weekend in The Nutcracker. Phew!

You can view other Friday Fill-In's here....

It's only December the 1st!

What I See......



Today's Ruby Tuesday picture: A Row of Red Telephone Boxes taken on my very last day in London. I'm quite fond of this picture, it reminds me of all the comfortingly, old-fashioned British things that I love and really hope won't change.

To see other pictures with a 'dash of red' in, hop on over to Ruby Tuesday!


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When I got up this morning I thought I must have skipped a week or three, or you know, been in a deep sleep since early November; but no, it turned out I was right, it was only December the 1st today.

Which means, of course, that the 'Christmas Season' has begun in earnest. To be more accurate, it's now in full flow and don't start wondering when the medium or low flow happened, it never did.

I mean, why do things in half measure, or start off gradually when one can just jump right in there, full force?

Like this neighbour of mine, who had this...this......surprise waiting for me tonight....




I was lost for words when he asked me what I thought of it, but he took me photographing it as a huge compliment and offered to get me the same for my garden- Elmo and all- at a discount. His decorations from last year, no doubt.


I feel deeply for Daryl who arrived at work to find a huge pink Christmas tree glaring at her, but she managed to get it moved. I doubt I'll have quite the same luck.



I love Christmas. But it's going to be a long month.

followed by my Friday Fill-In's...

(Oh, I'd do like being ahead.... and I so rarely manage it! I must be doing something right....)



My Fill-In's for this Friday are......

1. My stomach _tells me when I'm hungry. I should listen to it more_.
2. _Roast potatoes_ is what I ate the most of on Thursday.
3. 'The Yard' _is what I know Scotland Yard as.
4. _Getting a Mocha_ is where I'd rather be at any given time.
5. The smell of _a lavender field_ reminds me of _my grandmothers_bedroom. Her cupboard was always filled with the lavender bags that she taught me to make as a little girl_.
6. _To feel content and not want for anything is what I need right now!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _sleeping_, tomorrow my plans include _working as a costume mother for The Nutcracker ballet that The Daughter's dancing in_ and Sunday, I want to _buy electric blankets for all the beds_!

To read other Friday Fill-In's, click here.... Better yet, join in!

Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday

I love the repetition of the folds in the clouds,
and the dark grey against the white lines finished by the brilliant blue.
A plane, just visible, seems of little consequence
when up against the clouds rumbling through this sky.

You can view other Skywatch Fridays by going to the Skywatch site!


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Thursday Thirteen # 18

This week, it's The 13 Things that I Miss about England...

(No, I'm not going to make this about the family and friends that I miss; it would have to be 31 people instead of 13 things, and once I start, I'd never stop. Besides, that would be too easy a T13, don't you think?!)

1. Marmite.



You either love it or hate it, but this thick tar-like, black substance (or yeast-extract to be exact) is one of my most favourite food of all. Admittedly, it's probably because of it's high salt content, but whether thickly spread on toast, dropped in dollops on Ritz crackers or eaten straight from the jar, it makes me feel great! It would be the one food I'd have to take to a desert island.

2. Pears Soap.




What can be so special about a bar of soap, I hear you ask?
I actually have no idea, except to say that this glycerine bar with it's gorgeous cedarwood fragrance has been in my bathroom since yonder-year, and I love it. First made in 1789 in London, I now hear that it's hard to get in England and is only made in India. I should have bought more than the 10 bars with me.


3. A Face Flannel.



Previously known by me as a flannel, then a face flannel, and now in an attempt to be understood in my local CVS, a wash cloth; these squares of flannel material have also been a part of my life since I can remember. It washes my face, it's a great exfoliater, it gets chucked in the washing machine, I can cut it to the size I want, it takes up no room in a suitcase....what more could I want?

Well, to find them here...that's what I want! When I ask for them in CVS or Pathmark I'm met with a blank look. A $49 sea sponge seems to be the closest I can get.....but they fall apart on me. Besides, it's not a flannel.



4. A Really Good Sunday Pub Lunch.



I can't tell you how much we miss this. Tradition in our family dictates that Sunday lunchtime would entail a long, brisk walk across the local common with the dog and kids in toe, followed by a hearty Sunday lunch at our local. Whether it was with the kids or without, on a Sunday lunchtime or a Friday evening, at our local or one just discovered en route somewhere; this was an event we savoured. Okay, we had a few hit and misses with the odd pub that looked promising but turned out to have mice under the table and to be serving last months' beef, but we clocked that down to experience. This was a place we could just hang out.


5. A half-pint of Cider.




Not the US one which I've now discovered is actually non-alcholic apple juice, but rather the alcholic drink made from fermented apples- no, this is the Real McCoy! In other words, a Strongbow or a Woodpecker...or my mother's favourite variation; half-cider, half-shandy.



6. The Last Night of the Proms.


An eight week series during the summer of nightly classical music concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London, this tradition goes back to 1895. The highlight of it for me was always The Last Night which featured some of our more patriotic songs such as Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem. Those without tickets would gather to watch it on a screen in Hyde Park and little Union Jacks would be waved in time to the music both inside and out. The music was beautiful, the enthusiasm infectious.


7. Tea.



It's the good old English cuppa that I miss, although for The Son and The Daughter it's 'tea time' that they can't do without. 4.o'clock in our house has traditionally meant a pot of Earl Grey, Darjeeling or English Breakfast on the table, with a plate of English Muffins oozing with melting butter and strawberry jam. Oh, and with a bit of chit chat about school and Blue Peter on in the background....this would set us up for the evening ahead.

Going back to the tea though, I've tried tea bags and tea leaves here and they just don't taste the same. I grew up near the tea gardens in India. If only I'd been old enough to appreciate them then!


8. Ribena.



A good old blackcurrant drink that's drunk diluted with water, we love it cold or hot. The downside? It stains like hell and is higher in sugar than I'd like, but a hot ribena soothes a sore throat in my family like no ones' business.


9. The BBC.



That's BBC TV as well as BBC Radio 2 and 4, although the list really is endless. But if I had to pick a few....Today and Women's Hour on Radio 4 and Jeremy Vine on Radio 2. I always felt informed for the day after listening to John Humphries and Jeremy Vine.... I inherited my mother's old portable wireless... a shabby little black thing that she'd carry around from room to room, as she moved from cooking to sewing to ironing. I found myself doing exactly the same. I still have the radio, but not the programmes to listen to.


10. Thatched Roof Cottages

Yes, these....



My parents had a thatched roof cottage in Dorset for some years, and there was something very old-fashioned and lovely about it. My father occasionally grumbled about the cost of re-thatching it and the fire risk, but deep down he loved it. Thatching, along with blacksmithing, seems to me to be one of the few real crafts left.


11. John Lewis.



This department store was my fall-back for anything and everything that I needed. It had a great sewing and needlework department; any time I needed a needle and some thread I'd just pop in and there it would be. Now, can I find a small sewing kit here? I'm sure it exists, yes, really; but I haven't found one anywhere yet.


12. British Newspapers.





The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Evening Standard....I don't read anything here but the local paper and I miss them all. Or maybe it's just that I miss reading about British news. I do feel quite cut-off from the rest of the world here.

13. Hmmmmnnn......

I actually can't think of a thirteenth thing that I miss about England. Of course, the minute I post this, I'll think of something...but on the whole, I think that only coming up with 12 is a good sign. What don't I miss?.....The weather and the price of petrol.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

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What I See

I'm trying a new Meme today- Ruby Tuesday- with the challenge to find something red that I've photographed.

So here it is, my first red picture...



...appropriately enough, it was taken on Bear Mountain. That's the bemused bear and bike owner watching in the background. I've seen bears in all colours, sizes, materials before, but never a red one.

To view other Ruby Tuesday's, click on the link above.

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...I caught this in my headlights this morning...




There it was, just standing on the grass beside my driveway. Luckily, I glanced over that way as I reversed out of the garage, or I might not have seen it. It may be one of the three that we see so often in or around our garden now...a mother with her two young ones.

I love the way the picture came out...those eyes as wide as saucers. At first, I assumed they showed fear, but as these deer seem to let us get quite close up, perhaps it wasn't.

That must be a house light in the background. At 5.00 in the morning, I don't find many of those on.

That's what I really love about leaving for work so early, the peacefulness. The roads are deserted, the houses in darkness. Everything is quiet except for the odd animal rustling in the bushes and the gentle whoosh of an occasional car passing the other way. It's just me and possibly a deer or two for company. I find a stillness in the air that calms me. The day begins subdued and gentle, but brings promise with it. I try to hold on to the moment, knowing it will soon be forgotten as the day gets underway.

Then, I passed this....





...and thought that the reflections on the water were so beautiful that I had to stop and reverse back just to be sure I'd really seen it correctly.

I called The Husband quickly to ask him to come out with the camera....my little phone camera just wasn't going to do it. When I saw it, of course, it was darker; but perhaps it's captured better with the light beginning to break across the lake.

How I love driving past that water each day. It looks different every time.

What do you see when you leave your house, first thing in the morning?

An Afterthought.

Minutes later, I stopped for a Mocha to take in to work; and on it, saw this...

The way I see it

Isn't necessarily

The way you see it

Or the way it is

Or ought to be

What's more important

Is that we're all

Looking for it

And a way to see it.


- - Desi Di Nardo, author and poet.

It's true, so true. How ironic that I should be given that cup. For a moment I wished that The MinL and SinL could see it too, but even with the cup in their hand, they'd miss see it.

Sometimes people only see what they want to see.

And so I wonder. Can you be sure that what you've seen today is the same as what someone else would have seen? For me, I know of course that the answer would be no.

But perhaps I need to spend less time thinking about how The InLaws can so rarely see what we see, and just now and again, try to see what they see.

It wouldn't make any difference to them, but it just might to me.