If your head comes away from your body-It's Over!

'IF YOUR HEAD COMES AWAY FROM YOUR BODY THEN IT'S OVER' stated with a straight face by Sean Connery in Highlander-Question..........If Sean Connery is Spanish how come he has a sexy scottish accent? I'm sure this has been asked and answered before but I'm new around here!
IS HE GORGEOUS OR WHAT?
I watched Highlander again last night(it seems to be on daily repeat at the moment), I never cease to be amazed at how gorgeous Christopher Lambert is. I think it is the eyes that do it for me-a bit like George Clooney...........it's all in the eyes! Thankfully he has a lovely voice too because I hate it when their voices let them down. I always thought that Gary Barlow from Take That was cute ..........until he spoke, and the same for David Beckham but I have to say that either David's voice has matured a lot recently or he has had elocution lessons.
Am I shallow?
Heck who cares..........film stars that have a nice pair of eyes that make me a film fan smile are ok.












My mother loved films and she went to see a film a few days before I was born, I never thought to ask her what film. As long as it made her smile and brightened her drab little life then it was good. I would like to think that the film she saw was something classy like The Misfits that was released on the 1st February 1961 but that was probably the US release date and it probably didn't get to the UK unti much later. As I have said before, I feel pseudo-intellectuals who say 'oh I have never wasted my time watching a soap' waste their lives and never just relax and enjoy the moment. If it makes you happy go watch a film, watch a soap or chill by just doing nothing then go for it. In some peoples eyes you may not'achieve' much but by chilling and relaxing you could possibly achieve a peaceful and less stressed heart and that has to be good.

A big thankyou to TWO-GOALS-TONI from the Italian football team for scoring(obviously) two goals in yesterdays match against the Ukraine in the world cup knockouts. Italy won 3-0, now we have to watch Italy v Germany on tuesday 4th July at 8 pm! Anastasia who will be home will be supporting Germany due to her complicated but undisclosed European links and Running man(born within the sound of Bow Bells and the most typical sounding and acting Cockney/Londoner you could meet but whose father was born in Italy) will be supporting Italy. However ultimately he wants England to win.
During the match on tuesday we will be eating pizza and apple strudel and Running man will be drinking German beer, just to celebrate our families multi-national links.
I am sure Beauty will enjoy the match on tuesday as she seemed to enjoy the Italy v Ukraine match as she spent the whole time drinking(juice), lining up her soldiers and saying,'It's a goal.....badda bing....badda bing.......' and every so often running around and kissing everyone-sounds like a footballer!
Fional was more interested in the internet and Sno White watched Big Brother turn bad..........What was Ashlyne not wearing? It left nothing to the imagination. So in Big Brother we now have a house next- door-and 5 new housemates-with so many new housemates this year Big Brother is never going to end! I know I like Big Brother but pleeeeeeeeeease.
Hwyl
for now
Mother of Many x

POMEGRANITES AND POVERTY

I'M IN LOVE - WITH POMEGRANITES!

They have been out there forever and I have seen them in the fruit aisle wherever I go but I have never bought any. The other day I saw some Pomegranite juice and thought- oh that sounds nice and so I bought some and it was the most beautiful juice. I gave Fiona a drink but she only took the smallest of sips and she said it tasted flat- well duh....it's flat because it's fruit juice.

I LOVES BLINKING, I DO
Today whilst standing in a queue waiting to pay for a t shirt, a little girl in front of me started to blink at me, I blinked back and she started to laugh. She must have been less than 2 but she was well able to converse using just blinks. She was in a double buggy with a baby boy next to her, she introduced me to the boy(who as asleep) and we were blinking away quite happily. The little girl was with an older lady who was totally unaware of the fact that we were communicating. It was the universal language that Paul Coelho talks about in the Alchemist.
It made me think about Beauty and how she is able to communicate with me without words and lives in BeautyWorld, where no one can hurt her and she is innocently happy. I think she is a blessed child who is not able to understand the horrors in the world that surround her.
In the same way that we can only retain a certain amount of memory at one point or our brains would go into meltdown, I think that we HAVE to try not to ponder too much on the awful things going on in the world or we would breakdown. I do as much as I can but I know it is never enough so I have to try and put the full horror to the back of my mind.I believe that Beauty will never be truly aware and that makes me happy.
When Bob Geldof brought the issues of Poverty to the fore it wasn't Bob Geldof who I put my trust in but the world leaders who made promises, promises to do things that I can not do.
I do my best and any charity who sends me a request for money in the post gets £5 , not a lot but I don't have a lot. I also put all my change into charity boxes everytime I go shopping. I give old clothes and bric-a-brac to charity shops. I regularly give money to World Vision and I raise money for The Hollies Special School in Cardiff but it will never be enough. World leaders have to do what we little people cannot do, they make the global decisions that are most important. They are the ones who can put an end to wars-if there were no wars there would be no problem feeding the people of the world.
Have you heard the one about the lost handbag? This is a story that I swear on my life was told at a church meeting. On the way back from holiday a couple flew into an airport and the wife put her hanbag on the luggage trolley and left it there. A few miles down the motorway they realised that it had been left behind so they turned around to retrieve it. Racing along the motorway they prayed fervently to their God to let the bag still be there and lo and behold it was. They stated in that church meeting that they believed that God had answered their prayers. None of the priesthood in that meeting stood up at anytime and said they were wrong. So it must be mormon church doctrine that a members handbag is worth more than the life of s starving child. I have heard it stated that God cannot intervene to save these children because it would be against Gods laws and these children are suffering because of the sins of mankind. Mankind caused their poverty so it is not for God to intervene. I have also heard it said that it is other people who learn from the suffering of these children. Well I don't want any child to suffer for me, I would rather go to hell than have to 'learn' something from their suffering.
If there is a God and this is his doctrine then God is bad not good.
I don't do anything that I do because I want a reward now or in heaven, I don't believe there is anybody who is truly altuistic, the reason that I do what I do is because I cannot bear the thought of the suffering of other people. I want the awful sense of knowing that people out there are suffering to go away, a feeling that has been with me since primary school when we collected clothes for Biafra(yep, I'm that old). The only way that we can ever feel better is by making world leaders play their part and do the things we can not do, write to the leaders of your country and tell them how you feel. You pay taxes so you are their boss, tell them what you want.......TODAY.

Recognise any of these men?
They were at the G8 last year-tell them what you think needs to be done........before more children starve to death.

BELLE HAS A 2:2 CONGRATULATIONS

CONGRATULATIONS BELLE ON YOUR DEGREE.
THE GIRL DONE GOOD.


















IS IT A DESMOND?










NO,IT'S A TUTU(2:2)














GOOD LUCK FOR THE FUTURE
lOVE MUM, ANASTASIA,
SNO WHITE, ARIEL,
FIONA AND BEAUTY XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'ANOTHER FINE MESS YOU'VE GOT ME IN TO'

SPIDERS LIKE TO LIVE IN THE DRY-
MESSY, UNTIDY BEDROOMS ARE GOOD.
RATS LIKE TO LIVE THERE TOO-IMAGINE FINDING A RAT ASLEEP ON YOUR BED FIRST THING IN THE MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!















AM I BOTHERED?



















DON'T MESS WITH MY BEDROOM
Stan laurel of Laurel and Hardey always used to say,'that's another fine mess you've got me in to'
My theory is if someone comes to your house and it is a mess, do not apologise, merely say,'I don't know who could have done it, we have no enemies!' and feign surprise.
The downstairs of my house is fine, when I have just cleaned even Anthea Turner would be proud of my Dyson and my basket collection. The upstairs however is a different country-the border of that country is the top step of the stairs and the people who live there are people I do not know or understand. They are a strange race of people who never wash, never pick up their clothes(or wash them), their dirty clothes are mixed with their clean clothes and each day I ask for dirty clothes and I am told there are none. And then-one day they show up in my kitchen with enough washing for approximately six loads of washing after telling me the day before they had no washing. They have nowhere to walk in their rooms as the floor is completely covered with mess-when asked to throw it away I am told it is their 'things'. I call their floor their 'midden' but they tell me it is normal for rooms to look like this. Boll---s, the rooms smell as if a skunk has died in there. I personally think that their collections of dead food and dirty dishes are the perfect breeding ground for rodents and insects and spiders.
Be afraid 20 year old of the less-than-tidy-kind, you may not sleep in any other bed in the house and your room has to be tidied. When Anastasia was in school she loved to come home and find her room spring cleaned, she didn't care what rubbish I had thrown away. Sno White is different and will not let me in her room so I have decided if the room is not spring cleaned then I will do it myself when she is in work-I will go through her room like a whirling dervish, ha!
Am I bothered? Hell no!
On to other subjects- Beauty has found her beige trilby that was 'lost' boo hoo!
Barney lives and is playing on the new video player-boo hoo hoo!
Belle's degree results should be through any day, congratulations in anticipation-hurrah!
I am poorly tired all the time but Beauty is so delighted to have Barney and Popetown back that she is giving me a bit of a break-hurrah!
Anastasia will be home for a visit next week-hurrah! but only for a few days- boo hoo hoo hoo!
Fiona smiled today so all is well in Zion! hurrah!
I love watching Big Love on tv, it is so funny- it may not be meant to be about the church but it soooo is. I also enjoy watching CSI, dyslexic CSI and I watch Big Brother a couple of times a week.
I am also busy preparing for Ariel's Trailer Park Princess party, I have bought lots of paper plates and tacky party decorations and an amazingly tacky pass the parcel present.
It's all good clean fun
speak to you soon
Mother of Many x

PARTY AT THE PALACE

PARTY AT THE PALACE or in the words of John McEnroe,'You can not be serious'
Beauty is autistic-fact, I however am not but I do have a very literal mind which has caused some very funny incidents in my life-as I have said before however that it is possible that a lot of people come somewhere on the autistic spectrum.
I watched Party at the Palace with Beauty and she sat down and watched every minute of it, she loved it. Even with my literal mind I never for one second thought that the 'fake news story' was anything other than fake. I also had a daughter caught up in the london bombings, she was on a train that was heading for London when the bombs went off but any terrorist connection to a stolen handbag just never crossed my mind. I guess I lack imagination!
I am still exhausted from my little trip into England which proves that I am not fit enough to go on holiday-my idea of a holiday would be to sit in my garden all day snoozing with someone to do all my housework.
Any offers? Mmmm thought not!
Speak to you soon
Hwyl
Mother of Many x

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

HOME AT LAST
The funeral was in Chatham but we stayed near relatives in Hastings, we stayed in the Seaspray in Hastings. The Seaspay is a really nice bed and breakfast and the people who own it are brilliant.
We stayed wednesday night and thursday night and now I am totally exhausted. These are pictures of the Seaspray, the front of the B&B and the room that we stayed in. The room was very clean and very comfortable, Beauty was fascinated with the fans on the ceiling above the beds, she liked to lie on the bed and watch the fans spinning.













Here are some pictures that we took of Hastings on our last visit, we went up in the cliff lift and these were the views from the top.


Obviously the funeral was a sad affair but the 'wake' afterwards was very civilised and I felt was an appropriate way to celebrate the life of Running Man's sister. The 'wake' was in a motel and we spent the time sitting in a large function room or out in the gardens. It lasted from approximately 4pm until 12 midnight, there was an open bar and everybody was well behaved and it was a sad but pleasent gathering. In the garden behind the function room was a squirrel who kept tapping on the window, he was so tame he was 'chattering' away to Running Man's sister's grandson and it really seemed as if they were talking to each other. The guests were told off for feeding the squirrel! It was nice to visit with all the family.
We left about 8.30pm and when we got back to the Seaspray thankfully Beauty slept BUT only until 6 am-I love children's tv.
On the way back we stopped at Runningman's brother's family business- they have an upholstery/furniture restoration/curtain making business which they run from buildings on a working hop farm. The person who wrote 'The Darling Buds of May' lived only a couple of miles away. The family have also have taken over the cafe on the site and one of their boys cooks and runs the cafe.
The farm is quite a little community as there are other businesses on the site and there is also a large fish pond. The main buildings on the farm are used as a furniture auction house so there is quite a bit of business passing through.
Beauty and I played for a long time on a grassy area with her toy animals, she loved it but then she started throwing her lizards into the fishpond-well I guess they looked like they belonged! Beauty also had her first ant bite and was REALLY concerned and could not understand why I could not make the stinging stop. I also spent sometime taking pictures of Beauty and the farm, whilst we were sitting on the grass I was just lining up to take a picture of a daisy and I was looking through the camera when I realised that the daisy had disappeared! I looked up and there was Beauty chewing on a daisy-don't you just love kids?
The whole journey was very tiring but this morning Beauty was still up with the dawn. It must be a combination of arthritis, fibromyalgia and Dercums because my body is moving very slowly and painfully today and my jaw is hardly working at all(don't worry I can still speak!).
Almost forgot, last night I took Beauty and Runningman to the Village Inn for a drink and a meal. We sat in the garden and Beauty played her favourite game of terrorising the other children so I had to go back to the house to get Beauty's ball so she would leave the other children and their balls alone. She had a great time eating all the tomato sauce and some Wotsits that I brought with us.
I feel sorry for the other children as they just didn't know how to deal with Beauty as very rarely do children with Beauty's problems stay in mainstream schools so they not really sure how to deal with the situation.
Hywl
For now
Mother of Many x

TO THOSE WITH EARS TO HEAR...................

TO THOSE WITH EARS TO HEAR.....,
LIBRARIES ARE VERY NOISY
PLACES. ON THEIR SHELVES WE
HEAR THE CAPTURED VOICES
OF THE CENTURIES OLD
CONVERSATION THAT MAKES
UP OUR CIVILISATION
TIMOTHY HEALY

Sorry no entry yesterday as I have an ear
infection and I feel dreadful, today I am
going to a funeral in England so I shall
be gone for a few days.
Be good!
Speak to you soon
Hwyl
Mother of Many X

BITE ME!

I once watched a film about the life and death of Hitler and it was mostly about how poor his health was. It talked about his IBS and how his doctor kept him on a high vegtable diet(big mistake), whenever I think of this I think of this picture of him-wind filled stomach.
I have IBS so trying to lose weight has to be very slow as too many vegtables can be way too uncomfortable. Being a vegatarian anyway doesn't help because when you have IBS regulating your diet until you have the perfect balance is a normal part of your daily life. Then add to that trying to lose weight!
I increased my vegtable intake slightly yesterday with no real problem but I had that unstable feeling I had when I ate mussels in Bruge. Today I had some crumpets for lunch, they are low in fat and calories and they settled my stomach.
I blame the media for my pre-occupation with food.
Brilliant article in one of the gossip magazines this week, it was about Charlotte Church and Jade Goody and it showed pictures of their vuluptuous figures and it said that curves were back. If the magazine is being genuine, great but if they were taking the pi-- them I'm not impressed.
I have a 'mother's apron' of tummy skin(after giving birth 7 times what can you expect!) which
I will never get rid of. I could pay for a tummy tuck tomorrow but why should I? I have had MRSA once and MRSA once in a life time is enough. Also look what happened to Olivia Goldsmith the author of First Wives Club, little bit of liposuction and she died,
well no thank you.
How about a, 'I love my 'mother's apron' day'?
Bet you wished you had wierd thoughts like me!
Hwyl
for now
Mother of Many x

WE'RE BORN ALONE, ............, WE DIE ALONE

ORSON WELLS SAID,' WE'RE BORN ALONE, WE LIVE ALONE, WE DIE ALONE. ONLY THROUGH OUR LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP CAN WE CREATE THE ILLUSION FOR THE MOMENT THAT WE'RE NOT ALONE.
My blog has been decimated due to censorship.
My blog has been up-dated to protect the innocent.
Do not refer to me in your blogs so a link cannot be made to the innocent.
I live alone and have a 5 year old, 15 year old, a 16 year old, a 2o year old, a 22 year old and a 24 year old
The 5 year old has lots of friends who are boys but no boyfriends, the same for the rest of my children. None of my children have boyfriends-they are all alone. I buy 'own' brands from Asda and Tesco & organic brands and no other brands. My eldest daughter lives in an undisclosed location in Europe where she lives alone.
This blog entry will self destruct in 2 days-to protect the innocent.

WHITE TRASH WITH CLASS

A practice run for the party.

Ariel has decided that she would like
a house party for her birthday in August so we are throwing around ideas at the moment.
According to Russell Goodway
( ex-head of the council who grew up about 8 doors away from me) we grew up on a council estate, 3 roads with less than 40 houses. But now however we do live on a real council estate though not a lot of the houses still belong to the council. Does this make us the UK version of trailer park people? If so wouldn't a Trailer Park Princess Party be a good idea-so what do you girls think?
Imagine it, lots of 'Daisy Dukes', skin tight jeans, blouses knotted under the chest, leggings, spandex, mini skirts so all in all just think Spears.
And food - all the spam you can eat! Plus a belching competition-now I wonder who would win that?
Any ides appreciated.
All is well on the home front.
Beauty went out for the afternoon with her child minder to a farm and she had a lovely time. So did I,
I napped!
Hwyl
for now
Mother of Many x

VIEWS FROM AN OXYMORON

--------------------------THE GREEN ARMY MEN HAVE LANDED---------------------------


The green army men have arrived in our home and like the OOOD from Doctor Who they live only to serve. Their mission is to protect my window sill from the tribulation that lives outside the window and day after day, hour after hour and minute after minute they are lined up and re-lined up and re-lined up by Beauty to keep us safe whilst she sings OH THE GRAND OLD DUKE OF YORK. Beauty has not yet grasped that my radiator cover only needs protecting from her- and she has tried repeatedly to line the army men up on the radiator cover and succeeded in kicking the fret work panel in, she is my destroying angel.
Considering the anti-war feeling that is in our family it is surprising what a military family we really are. Grandad was in the army (until he allegedly shot himself in the foot in the 2nd world war), my sister was in the army, I was in the air cadets, my brother has been in the army cadets for years and Ariel is in the army cadets and possibly wants to join one of the services and of course Piano man was a trained killer(well bandsman really) in the tank regiment and they have an uncle who was a helicopter pilot. But perhaps it is the families with most connections to the military that really know that fighting is not the best answer( although at times it can seem the only one) as they have the most to lose.
I am against war and fighting but I am not against self-defense.
Is that an oxymoron?
if you are going to have an army to defend yourself then the best army is a professional army not a reluctant one. I read a recent news report which said over a thousand military personnel have gone AWOL since recent hostilities began. Scarey or what!
Remember Toy Story 1 where Andy's mom steps on the soldier in the hall? Well I swear it was an accident! What were they doing hiding under the sofa? I was cleaning this morning and I moved the sofa and there were 5 soldiers hiding(why I don't know) anyway, I didn't see #6 and I am afraid he became unatached from his base. And last night believe it or not Piano man Beauty brought me 2 soldiers who I at first thought were broken but no they were somehow linked and I had to disentangle them. They were in a very compromising position!
I went upstairs this morning to get a strappy t shirt as it was really hot and I was confronted with a mess of nightmarish proportions, remember I don't go upstairs very often as I sleep downstairs with Beauty, I found a huge heap of dirty clothes and towels in Fiona's room and a huge heap of dirty clothes and towels in my bedroom. Remember 'TOWELGATE' where Belle said I couldn't have found 12 dirty bath towels in her room as I didn't own 12 bath towels, well bad news Belle you have lost your crown of the princess with the most dirty towels in your room. I found 13 dirty bath towels and Fiona said they all belonged to Ariel, this is the Fiona who comes out of the bathroom with a towel around her waist, a towel around her top and a towel on her head(all bath towels!) and me with almost shoulder length hair I am able to manage with 1 hand towel.
I am sure however that Ariel will say they were nothing to do with her, it will be a bit like the 'I found it on the stairs' excuse. If one of my girls is found wearing clothes that belong to one of their siblings they will say,'I found it on the stairs' and the answer will always be,' and that makes it ok?' if nothing they are predictable, they would make lousy serial killers as they always stick to the same format.
Remember to pass on the message I gave you to Belle from me Ariel, thanks.
Remember Belle,'We are the world'.
Brilliant news, it seems the baby my niece is expecting is a girl so my girls are busy, busy, busy crocheting and knitting baby girl things and it seems that she wants to call the baby Ruby so that also helps with colour choices as knitting with white and yellow can be a little tedious. I have been knitting a pink with multi coloured flecks blanket for a while now so it is good to know who it will go to. My girls are so excited about the baby, we all think it is wonderful and my sister and her husband and my two nieces must be thrilled.
I watched Big Brother this evening and I am so shocked that people act like that, some of the residents remind me of Imran Khan. Once Imran Khan was asked about something and he lied and it was really silly to lie because there was video evidence of what he was denying, the residents seem to forget that the camera is watching them 24/7. I really like Pete, Glyn, Ashlyne and Richard. I think that whilst Nicky can get on your nerves a bit she is still very silly and very funny. Imogen, Lisa& Mikey make me really angry at times and I don't like feeling like that.
Hwyl
for now
Mother of Many x

REGENERATION.........OF THE DR WHO KIND

A MORPHED DYSON











BEST BEAUTY PICTURES-YOU DECIDE!


















































REGENERATION OF THE DR WHO KIND(NOT STAR TREK)

THE DYSON HAS MORPHED!!!!!!!!!
Piano man now has the other dyson and I have bought this singing, all dancing state of the art version.
As my house is now almost all hardwood floors and stone this type of cleaner is so much better for me whilst Piano man's house is all carpets and the other Dyson is better for him. So everybody is happy, happy, happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love my Dyson.
So am I really a technophobe? You decide.

THE SCALES OF INJUSTICE

Don't you just love Beauty? She eats what she likes and is happy. Oh for the halcyon days of our youth, may they shine long and eternal.. Beauty eating Wotsits in Turkey
Beauty eating ice cream in Roath Park
Beauty eating Daisies
However the halcyon days of youth are getting shorter and shorter.You end up being told you have to be something and for me it is the cult of the yummy-mummy - may the cult of the yummy-mummy soon meet it's natural conclusion because trying to be slim and the perfect mother and homemaker is way too tiring.


Whilst I was doing nurses training I met a community nurse who told me about people who had certain eating problems that probably came from their social/cultural situation and she called it famine and feast. Usually(though nothing is hard and fast in life), children from less well off parts of the community grew up not having enough to eat because there wasn't enough money to buy food or enough education in the family to provide a well balanced diet-though I'm sure the reasons are a lot more in-depth than that. However, when these children grew older they learned that if they were hungry they could just get food themselves and as adults just buy it for themselves. These children went from under-nourished, under-fed children to under-nourished, over-fed adults and so their weight gained as they grew older. As an adult I have thought that perhaps my weight gain has been linked to this, perhaps it has but now I'm not so completely sure. I grew up in a family with very little money for the basics such as food-sometimes lack of food would bother me but most of the time I was fine and my lack of appetite was not a problem for me. I'm sure that when I was growing up that people thought I was anorexic but I can swear I never was. I remember wearing size 8 clothes and not appreciating it(I only wish that were now!). After doing nurses training and being more aware of my personal health I think a lot of my health problems have been linked to Hypothyroidism.
As an adult, because of varying symptoms, I have had bloods taken and tested and a number of times the reults have come back that I have a significant thyroid hormone deficiency.
Thyroid deficicency can cause fatigue, weakness, weight gain or difficulty losing weight, coarse dry hair, cold intolerance, muscle cramps and muscle aches, constipation, depression, irritability, memory loss, carpal tunnel syndrome, heavy periods, poor appetite - to name but a few but significant problems that I have. I am one of those rare few who can say that their weight problems are caused by a hormone problem-does that make it any better? Like hell it does, it makes it 100 times worse.
I think that what makes my problem more difficult is that sometimes my thyroid levels are ok and sometimes they are not. I have had courses of treatment but never constant tretment and I think that might be the problem. I can actually feel my appetite decrease and then increase again after approximately 2 weeks. I find having a decrease in appetite can actually make you put on weight, I don't feel hungry during the day so I eat less and then all of a sudden my sugar levels plummet and I need to eat quickly to make myself feel better, result-weight gain.
I eat a good, healthy diet but I know there are times that I eat too much of the healthy food.
I want there to be a day, an hour, a moment when I don't think about every mouthful that I eat.
Do skinny models help? not a problem for me-I just look at them and think,'you silly friesians'. Now what does get me is the 'yummy mummy' image, the media needs to just stop it. I bet they think about big bums, saggy boobs and their weight-admit it, they are real too. When I was 18 the definition for eating disorders only included young people, now it's everywhere-from pre 10 year olds to people 80+.
Should I be bothered about my roly-poly tummy fat? Beauty loves it-she likes to prod my tummy rolls but then this is the kid who likes to sniff feet-ugh!
I think Beauty thinks that I am a yummy mummy.
How about a national holiday to 'celebrate me day'?
How about 'Love your tummy roll day'?
Or 'Quality Cellulite Day'?
Or 'I have some weight on my face so I don't look ill day'?
'Forget the scales day'
'Food has no calories day'
Or 'watch the tv for a day without asking''am I as fat as that'' day'
'Cover the mirrors in the house day'
'Ban celeb gossip magazines from the house day'
'Eat potatoes and bread day'
'Eat like Beauty day-whatever you like'
'What diet? day'
'Put a diet book in the recycling day'
'I never ever wanted to wear a bikini anyway day'-honest I never did.
ANY SUGGESTIONS ANASTASIA, BELLE, SNO WHITE, ARIEL, FIONA? cos I'm on a roll here!
All is quiet on the western front-neighbours of the not-so-quiet-kind (they usually scream and fight until at least 3am)appear to have gone on holiday, they usually go caravaning for a week. Neighbours of the-not-so-quiet-kinds #1 son is singing cheerily and appears to be spring cleaning or building something in the kitchen. These neighbours are very vocal and like to fight and shout constantly, their arguments are on a need-to-know basis(which means I don't want to know & I don't need to know). The problem for me is that if they are not shouting then the dogs are barking or even worse there is fighting and barking. Thankfully I sleep on the opposite side of the house and the neighbours-of-the-spotless- kind are usually quiet.
Fiona started her first mornings work at Piano man's house and she did very well, we cleaned the lounge, the hall, the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom. We also swept the front garden and took bags of recycling to the council local receiving centre for rubbish and recycling. I also helped Piano man realise that his study could be cleaned before he had sorted out his paperwork. We cleaned and dusted every surface in his study and we filled a black bag with rubbish and a black bag with recycling, we took the curtains down and washed them and Fiona took the Dyson to the carpet. I am way impressed, I shall take photos. Tomorrow Piano man and his mother go to the hospital for physio so we will have the house to ourselves-to clean(or dump!) at will.
Beauty is happily playing with her soldiers, they are all methodically placed along the window sill- it may not be the memorising of phone numbers but it is better than foot sniffing.
We call them her strippling warriors-her soldiers of God(yes I admit it, we are truly mad).
They are even stored in a tub like the ones on toy story.
I almost forgot to mention, Beauty had her bloods done in school today and the minute that I got there she stared me straight in the eye and kept my gaze and I knew she was trying to communicate with me even though she couldn't say the words. I asked her what was wrong and she put her arm around my neck and wouldn't let me go. Her teacher then told me about the bloods. I wonder if she understands that they are not doing it to hurt her? Beauty does not forget quickly and it will be along time before they get her into the nurses room again-the other day when the doctor came to visit Beauty was not too keen on coming into the nurses room and I think it was because she remembered the last time that bloods were taken. But for now she is home and happily playing with her soldiers.
For Running man's birthday I have bought him 2 polo shirts from Peacocks- they were £4 each and perfect for running-each with ITALIA on them of course and a running backpack that is really a water pouch. And for fathers day-a polo shirt from Asda(Coryton) with guess what? ITALIA on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well I figured that not all the Welsh like England that much so I didn't want him upsetting anyone so I thought he might like the ITALIA shirts-he may be a cockney but his dad was born in Italy and he does have an italian surname. Anyway what do you buy the man who has everything? He is like me, if I really want something I will buy it myself.
I don't know if it is the heat on the road today but I have seen a number of accidents, the last one was a motorbike on the roundabout outside Pengam Green Tesco.
Our house is lovely and cool but outside is very hot- we have to have the lounge window open so everyone is keeping an extra eye on Beauty so she doen't try to leg it throught the window-again. I hope the weather in with you Anastasia is better.
Yesterday I forgot to mention that one of the blocks of flats has been finished-the top floors are cream and the bottom is pebbledash-it looks so much better.
Keep me posted princesses on what is happening in thw world.
Mother of Many x

SUMMER IN THE CITY

DAISIES AT THE DOME
ITALIAN GIRL
LISVANE
THE SUN IN MY GARDEN

AM I BOTHERED?........HELL YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As from tonight, when I go to bed, the computer is locked.
Why? well other people have Brownies that inhabit and clean their houses at night, me.....I have computer fairies that use the computer all night. Computer fairy number1 is not too bad, however computer fairy number 2 has a'let's pound the computer until it dies' problem. I was waking all through the night to furious tapping. Who needs to be on the computer through the night?Maybe ambulance control, police control, fire service control, Samaritans, Pizza delivery-none of the above?Then go to your beds.
Beauty just awoke, toddling out of her bedroom she came to have a peek at the computer to see if she could find the CBEEBIES already up on the screen, sorry Beauty, just my boring blog. I asked her what she would like for breakfast, toast or an 'East is East' breakfast of biscuits-the little sweet heart belched in my face-I know, a mark of appreciation of food-yes, if you lived in the times of Henty VIII. Beauty is not alone in her need to show her appreciation in this way, Anastasia and Belle however are the only lady- like children in the family who are not quite so obvious with their need to show appreciation. Sno white however would make a good nurse, whenever her marks of appreciation are criticized she makes the fair comment that it smells much better coming from her mouth and of course less painful for her(nurses are a very well grounded breed of people)-such sweet children.
Beauty has decided that Wotsits are to be her breakfast of choice whilst watching Bill and Ben the flower pot men. I remember watching Bill and Ben when I was Beauty's age(different cartoons of course) but Beauty also sometimes watches Scooby Doo and they are the cartoons from when I was her age, that would make them approximately 40 years old. Still the same story line, Ghost tries to scare people to get them to leave and the ghost is really the baddie dressed up as a ghost and Scooby Doo and Shaggy who are very afraid, save the day.....again, and again and again. The Teletubbies are just a new take on that theme - you know- again, again, again-repeat, repeat, repeat. Less work for the program makers and the children love it- a win-win situation.
Sad showbiz gossip Anastasia-Big Brother's Helen and Paul have split-they seemed so sweet together, well I hope everything goes well for them and they will be happy in the future.
Forgot to tell you Anastasia, Pavaas has finished his garage/loft extention and it looks pretty good, he has also cleaned out his pond and the fountain is up and working again. The house three doors down from Pavaas is also almost finished-renovations look almost
complete , it looks like a new house. You can tell it is summer, all the building firms and gardening firms are out with a vengence on Cyncoed road, the 'study' house extention is also coming along well, it is an extention like the one Pavaas has but is is the size of Pavaas' house-massive! The water tower conversion looks brilliant but still not finished and the retirement flats on the SCOPE land are huge and making an awful mess of the road. One of the new flats next to the synagogue is up for re-sale, the first I think. Watched Tracey Beaker this afternoon and played recognise all the places, one of the scenes was on the cliff tops at Barry. You know when you park in Porthkerry Car Park well you walk to the front and on the left is the Golden Staircase, well you walk up the steps and up the top is Barry, it is a huge field with houses on the left and the cliff top on the right and the path carries on into Barry. I'm sure you and your mate from Barry went up their many times Vienna as it is near her house.
Beauty went to Margam park to day with her school, she seems to have had a nice time , I went with Ty Gwyn years ago when I was doing nurse training. I washed her very dirty beige trilby especially. Good news(or is it bad?)- trilby came back-Bad news-hat dirty again(Wotsit stains I think!). Beauty also came back with a t-shirt, her name on the front and the school name and phone number on the back- must have worked because Beauty is safely home watching CBEEBIES.
Beauty was given a gift of a bag of soldiers today from Running man, she loves them.They are now lined up on the window sill, they are the small green soldiers from Toy Story. Beauty's uncle used to play with them all the time when he was small then he grew up to join the army cadets and he is still there as an officer-perhaps Beauty will be a general one day!
Looks like rain so for the first time for ages I am tumble drying, sorry earth.
Must be a decrease in the prozac in the drinking water as Fiona is less than happy today, probably lack of sleep(reason enough to lock computer at night). Ariel is usually the one that suffers from sleep deprivation but she is in work though I am sure it will still be service with a smile.
It seems that Running man's sister had a pulmonary embolism-my thoughts are with her family and loved ones.
Hwyl
Mother of Many x

PAIN IS NEVER PERMANENT-St Teresa of Avila

TO ALL THE CLEVER PEOPLE OUT THERE
PLEASE INVENT A PAIN KILLER THAT WORKS

Here we are in the 21st century and the pain from arthritis cannot always be adequately dealt with. If the pain could be reduced to a dull ache then perhaps I could get a little more done.
Earlier on this evening I drove Running man to a race at Redwick and I took Beauty with me so she could play in the pub playground. I wanted to park in the pub car park next to the pub playground-but I was told no that I had to park in the runners carpark by a snot nose girl who talked to me as if I was stupid. I told her that I was parking here because my daughter was disabled and I had a disability buggy. She then asked if could I please unload and then park in the runners carpark as they did not want to upset the pub landlord and I told her no as I needed the car to change Beauty and any way I was going to be using the pub. I also told her that if the pub had a problem with a customer who bought drinks using their car park then they could come and tell me. The runners car park by the way is a field, with cow pats, stinging nettles and pot holes. The issue was not with the the pub but the running club - not very disability aware I'm afraid. They didn't tell the wheelchair entrant to use the field or perhaps they did,I hope he told her to sod off(get it?).
And why was I so stroppy? painkillers not working well at the moment I'm afraid, usually I take the abuse. Sometimes not-One day an old dear in the street told me that I shouldn't be parking in a disability bay so I asked her if she wanted me to give my daughter back because she wasn't perfect, her husband couldn't drag her away quick enough, I can't remember what it was that day-lack of sleep probably.
Anyway, Beauty thoroughly enjoyed her time in the park, most of the time was spent dousing her self in wood chippings or swinging on the baby swing. Anyway she also loved the sea-saw but of course she fell off. Today in school Beauty would not move from in front of the tv so one of the boys tied to move her and they fell in a heap together and Beauty hit her face as she went down - she now has a lovely big mark on the side of her face. And we were only saying yesterday that at the moment she was remarkably bruise free-well that'll teach me.
Fiona has accepted the offer of a summer job from Piano man to clean his mother's house for an hour a day, hourly rate plus a bus pass-sounds good to me. At her age I would have been thrilled with the opportunity.
No news yet on Running man's sister but will keep you all updated.
Short entry today as it is late and I'm beat
Hwyl - for now
Mother of Many x

BE THE BALL!

ANGOLA V PORTUGAL

Last night Running man and myself watched the Angola v Portugal football match( let me knit or crochet and I can cope with most tv-unless of course it is a speech by Bush or Blair). At the start of the match there was a round sign/poster of some kind on the middle of the pitch which said something about fighting racism, great I'm all for that. However, a few minutes later the commentator goes into a spiel about the history of the animosity between the countries because of Portugal ruling Angola for so long. A few minutes later the commentator starts shouting about the Angolans beating their lords and masters. Well I was Gobsmacked, I'm sure the commentator wasn't being racist but he just shouldn't have said it. I looked at Running man (who is not usually into noticing deep and meaningful)who doesn't have a racist bone in his body and he looked at me and we were both shocked at what had been said. I felt like shouting at the commentator,' engage brain before speaking'.
Angola lost but I think Portugal were just lucky and should watch their backs.
Funny old weather today, it started off grey then sunny then rainy then sunny again- hey I'm sounding like the weatherman-true brit huh? Talking of neighbours not of the spotless kind, major hoo-haa as I was bringing Beauty home from school. Mother, father, son1 and son3 all involved in the street so I rushed into the house and hid-mother legged it off up the street!!!!!!!!
I don't like confrontation.
Watched Big Love, I will e-mail you.
No real gossip-my compost too wet so it smells( see how interesting my life is)-Ariel went out with her mates-Beauty starting to repeat words as you say them(be careful Sno-White)-I bought lots of wool in different colours to crochet granny squares-after months of waiting council finally sorted out my council tax- oh I love my life.
Beauty foot smelling again-why can't she just memorise phone numbers?
Piano man's cousin stayed over the weekend, she washed her own dishes once and messed in the garden and commented on how clean everywhere was but that was it. Hey woman I need a bit of help here.
Hwyl
Mother Of Many x

A TECHNOPHOBE AND HER DYSON

As an adult I have barely watched a handful of football matches, why? because I cannot cope with the constant emotion of Will they? Won't they? I have to have the result straight away and I don't want the team I am supporting to lose-I cannot cope with the rollercoaster of emotions.
As an adult I watched the Maradona 'hand-of-God' game and the England penalty's games AND IT WAS WAY TOO MUCH FOR ME.
However, as a child I watched Grandstand every saturday with my father and my brother and watched Match of the Day in the evening-I was able to explain the off-side rule to my girls! But I have to admit I was a proper girl and I enjoyed watching wrestling rather than the football though WWE today just doesn't do it for me-I would rather the boring TAG wrestling matches of the 70's.
I am very much a product of the 60's and the 70's, something I discussed with Sno white yesterday. She had read about someone who had said they were a child of the 60's and they felt they were born 10 years too late and she thought of me. I think that too, I was born 10 years too late on the wrong continent- I should have been a young adult in 60's USA. Sno white said she could not have coped without all the technology we have today but I could cope without it.
My blog is technology I use daily but I had lots of penpals in the 70's using snail mail and hey this in it's own way is my journal. I long for one of those mobile phones they have made in Japan for the elderly, it is light weight but the size of a brick with large number buttons and all you can do is send and receive phone calls. I'm not a Luddite when it comes to technology but I know I could cope without it because I know I am not too clever at coping with it-never was technically minded though I am ok at changing a plug and I do love my dyson.
LATE UPDATE
Some bad news I'm afraid family-Running man's sister died yesterday, She was the one who used to visit on her own from England. She had just turned 60 and as yet we do not know the cause, she always seemed so fit and healthy. Running man of course is devastated as she was the eldest and closest to him but I think that he would be the same with any of his family.
Anastasia and Belle could you please e-mail me a card or words of some sort that I could print out and give to him, he would appreciate that a lot.
I bet you she was up there yesterday having a right old ding dong with who ever was on gate duty telling them they were making a mistake and they had to send her back, I think I would have been pissed off too. I would be thinking I just wanted to be with my girls and I'm sure she was thinking she just wanted to be with her boys. Running man's aunt and uncle are both 90 ish and they are fit and healthy, they do for them selves and seem to have a good quality of life and that's how I saw Running man's sister seeing out her days-she was like myself, an independent soul who would see out her days wearing purple and her home would be the hub of her family.
As I shed a tear Running man's sister the tear is for your loss, the loss of you old age and seeing your family flower. Having lost a mother, a father, a husband and a baby I know the pain of loss is bitter for the ones left behind but my sorrow is for what should have been. Thankyou for the life you had and the memories you left with us,
Remember Dead Poet's Society - Carpe Diem- Sieze the day
Hwyl
Mother of many x

THE ANTS GO MARCHING...................

Evidence that I do not have the capabilities to be a Buddhist - came downstairs this morning to find an infestation of ants around the back door so I googled,'How to kill ants'. Sorry Z!
Please do not tell Beauty because her brain is like a magic box(what's it called-oh yes A COMPUTER) one day, someday in the future she will be watching the film Ants and she will turn to me and say,'you killed Z'. Like Fiona tells Piano man,'you ate Thumper'.
Beauty likes to eat daisies and I am afraid if she comes close enough to an ant she may add that to her list of wierd things that she likes to eat. So far she hasn't put a button up her nose Belle. When I was in primary school one of the girls in my glass put a pencil in her ear, one of the ones with a little pink eraser on the end-that's right, you've guessed-the eraser came off and she had to go to casualty to have it removed. The first entry in my hospital records is of a visit to casualty when I was a pre-schooler- after having a fork in my eye! As my oldest sibling will confirm-it was not an accident!
Last night my sleep appears to have been dream free, I hear you saying,' brilliant-we do not have to listen to anymore stupid dreams'. However, not that easy I'm afraid-I didn't dream because I didn't sleep. My right hip, knee and ankle were killing me. I don't like to take meds at night because I think it will stop me sleeping-well duh..........I didn't sleep because of pain. Surely lying awake in bed with a slight pain killer buzz is better than lying awake in agony. Pain is usually not a problem at night and bad night pain only happens very rarely........so taking pain killers at night only rarely shouldn't be a problem. I am fully aware of what painkillers I can take in a 24 hour period so as long as I stick to that I should be ok. I have taken my early morning meds so very soon I should be all singing, all dancing(I Wish!)
PM
This afternoon whilst the England v Paraguay game was on I had the most brilliant idea - lets go shopping. The roads were clear, the parks were almost empty and the shops.......................almost punter free, it was a delight. I made an effort today to use my IKEA bags instead of carriers, I put everything straight back into the trolley and receipt very visable in my hand I was out of the shop in half the time. I packed the food into 2 blue IKEA bags and the 4 packs of pepsi max were carried by their own handles. Not only did I not pollute the environment with more carrier bags but it was so much easy to carry 2 well packed large bags than lots of little ones.
I now use the biodegradable food bags for nappies so I have no need for carrier bags at all.
I also went to City Road to by quilt wadding for a quilt that I am making for Beauty's school summer fayre raffle. So little traffic and so easy to park, an unheard luxury on City Road on a saturday afternoon. I shall be anticipating the next England match when I can again hit the shops-I love football!
Fiona is still in her bed - I have to admit though she did get up earlier this morning - to present me with an armful of washing and then she went straight back to bed! Don't you just love teenagers?????????????????????????
It is hot, hot, hot here , late this afternoon it has been quite cloudy but it is still quite muggy.
I'm off to watch the dyslexic CSI
Hwyl
Mother of many X

WHERE IS THE PARAGUAYAN EMBASSY?

There is a tarantula in my soup! - just one of those crazy sentences that urban legend would have us believe were the main content of all foreign language courses years ago. This morning
I awoke to Beauty turning on the tv and I heard someone say,' where is the Paraguayan embassy?' so loudly that anyone at the garage must have heard, what a wake up call! However, just one second earlier Dierdre from Corrie had suddenly appeared in my dream - smiling inanely , being not a morning person smiling people first thing in the morning test the limits of my ability to cope so waking up was perhaps a good thing. Don't get me wrong , I quite like Dierdre, I think I know as much about Dierdre as I do any of my family
( except of course my father, man of mystery Howell James), having grown up watching Corrie like any other self respecting Brit. Getting back to my father however, I wouldn't say he was a liar - I would say he was a man with a vivid imagination and reality and imagination with regards to his past are a little difficult to unravel.
Beauty wore one of her pretty new dresses to school and of course she looked like a princess-WEARING A SAND COLOURED TRILBY VIENNA!
At least it is a summer hat, one of the little boys who is a year older than Beauty had a thing about wearing his woollen bobble hat, scarf and gloves during the summer and to bed.
If I don't take my tablets at 6 am then my joints really are a lot slower at getting started, unfortunately this morning it was gone 7 before I got to the tablets so I'll be shuffling until after my 2nd lot of meds. Thankyou Pollyanna for the thought that just popped into my head( no I'm not hearing voices and no church it was not,'that still small voice'), some people would love to shuffle, I know.......... I'm glad - give me a couple of hours and I might even be able to smile glad.
To help keep my car seats clean I recently crocheted seat covers and they have been on approximately two weeks, there is a seat cover under Beauty's toddler seat and it looks quite clean but my seat cover compared to Beauty's is very dirty, you can see it is dirty. I wear clean clothes at least once a day, maybe twice so where does the dirt come from? Is it street dust? Are there naughty car dirt fairies that sprinkle dust into my car every night? Naughty fairies beware! These covers have left me feeling quite OCD, you'll all be calling me Anthea soon. If I were interviewing for a cleaner and they told me their name was Anthea, they would get the job- Anthea you are my inspiration!
This afternoon I went over to Piano man's house and not much progress I'm afraid, I think we are going to have to get a cleaner in for an hour a day,5 days a week as Piano man is just does not well enough for the job. 15 minutes each for the 2 bathrooms, the lounge and the kitchen will be enough to keep them going. They will also need a dyson as their cleaner is just not up to the job. Help the aged are coming to assess Piano man's mother and the house on monday at 11am. I am working hard at de-cluttering the place- regular trips to Wedal road and the charity shops.
28 degrees this afternoon and it is way too hot for me, I have burnt my right arm in the car so I shall have to be slapping on the factor 50 (sun great for washing though).
Break a leg to Belle though-hope all goes well with the job interview.
The 3 storey house on the corner( the place where children run into your car) had a 'barbie' last night, when I went to pick up Beauty the remains of the party was still in the garden-it must have been a really good party..........lucky people. Dawn is so early they were probably still partying when the sun came up.
Beauty had a bit of an incident in school today- a poor little boy in the year above Beauty thought it would be good to take his shoes and socks off. School or Beauty not happy, Beauty was a girl on a mission and made him put his shoes and socks back on, she followed him around the playground with his shoes and socks and compelled him to put them back on again(or else).
Neighbours of the spotless kind are having a party in the garden , it's a birthday party but I'm not sure for whom. Their house is for sale with Peter Allen and they now have photos on the web site, the house is lovely inside-have a peek Vienna. Read burbomats links- Russel M. Nelson is a celestial Polygamist and has signed the petition against gay marriage saying one man should marry one wife-he is a widower who has married in the temple for the 2nd time so he is now sealed to two women.
Feel the love
Hywl
Mother of Many x

RUBY SLIPPER SHUFFLE

How autism can change your life.

I so used to be a morning person, now it takes me at least 2 hours to wake up properly. Late nights and interrupted sleep have left me doing the soft ruby slipper shuffle(I have a comfortable pair of ruby slippers that I wear all the time) until about mid- day. My joints sieze up overnight and it takes a while for my tablets to kick in in the morning.
This morning I was awoken to a little voice singing the calypso YELLOW BIRD. She may be a pain in the butt when she wakes me at 4am but YELLOW BIRD at 7am is quite sweet, thankfully she seems to have taken no interest in rock anthems. She so loves singing along to cd's and dvd's, I am convinced she will soon know all the words th Donovan's ,'Universal Soldier' as she has heard it so often in the car. Fancy that, in school Beauty will start singing, 'and he is fighting with missiles and with spears' instead of
the usual Baa Baa Black Sheep. See, I am a product of the 60's. I so should have grown up on a commune in California or somewher like Findhorn, wearing hotpants and wearing flowers in my hair- except where did I grow up? A council house(not on a council estate Russell!) in a South Wales village. I never even had a poncho but boy did I want one.
Regrets of the sixties?
Not remembering seeing the first 'landing on the moon''( I love conspiracy theories-not that their true of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) or going to see the Tutankamen exhibition in London( or was that the early 70's) and being able to say that I remember a lot of the 60's.
For the first time in months I went shopping in town, I got into town about 10 am so the temperature was still not too high and not too many punters around. I parked in front of the museum and walked through Gorsedd gardens where they were preparing the flower beds, I love it when the flowers and plants arrive fully grown and the gardens are suddenly ablaze with fresh bright colours. I started at a slow walk and ended up a very, very slow shuffle. It looked like I was moon walking forwards. I bought myself a skirt and blouse in Primark where I also bought Beauty a couple of summer dresses and in Debenhams I bought one of the fancy girdles that Trinny and Susannah rave about, to cover the part of my body that can only be cured by plastic surgery. I now have a flat looking stomach.Yippee!
Continuing my healthy diet with only a few minor slips.
Remember in Grease the film where John Travolta is singing Stranded at the drive in and behind him on a screen is a walking, dancing hotdog-well I almost (almost) see dancing chocolate doughnuts everywhere, I would love just one but I know I can't because one would lead to another and another and another- the chocolate covered doughnut is my nemesis.
The nice weather is wonderful but why is it that people say their arthritis is worse when it is wet? My arthritis is worse in the summer when my joints seem to swell with all the heat, Oh well-just to be different I guess.
Well I hope that all is well in the world,
Love to the off spring of mine
Peace Man
Mother of Many x

BUDDHA OF MY BACKYARD

I think I must be a tree hugger. I am of course a
product of the 60's but in the last few days I have been thinking about how alienated some people have become to nature, including myself.
We walk on pavements and go lots of places in a car and spend less and less time on natural surfaces such as earth and grass. I must be having my mid-life crisis- trying to make sense of my own mortality(wow- that sounded good)or perhaps I just have too much time on my hands. I am definitely thinking too much. Next you'll find me writing letters to save woodland and in support of wind farms - oops too late-Done That!
Do you like my Buddha? he lives in my garden and is a symbol of my religious unbelief-he symbolises my spirituality minus organised religion. Whilst I would defintely not call myself a buddhist, the wisdom of the buddhist philosophy has given me more than my organised religion of choice ever did.
How many Zen buddhists does it take to change a light bulb?
None- they are the light bulb
you've just gotta love it.
How many of my children does it take to change a lightbulb?
None- they didn't break it so why should they change it(true or what little lovelies)
A PARABLE ( my view on life)
Growing up I read the book and saw the tv series Pollyanna- I am sure you had guessed due to my previous quotes and in a very sad way it comforted a sad little girl. I am first to put my hand up and say I hate miserable childhood books, there are too many out there and they should stay where they came from- in the individuals past. My childhood was not good, in fact it was pretty sad most of the time- well that's my miserable childhood story over and dealt with. I liked the Pollyanna story because, yes as a child I was a geeky sap and the Glad game made me feel better(well some of the time anyway).
But.......... I also liked the film The Singing Ringing Tree because that made me feel better(glad?) too. And I am sure you are asking ,'why did that make you feel better?'.
Well here is the answer.
The film is about a beautiful,talented princess whose parents loved her very much and they did all they could to make her happy, she had everything but there was still a coldness in her heart that meant she could not be truly happy. To make the princess realise how lucky she is and how much her parents loved her she loses her beauty and has to live in the forest as a servant to a bear(who of course is a handsome prince!). Bit by bit she changes and slowly regains her beauty as she realises everything that she has. The result is a beautiful person on the inside and the outside.
And I am sure that your next question is. 'how were you comforted by that story?.
Well of course the answer is very sappy sad. The princess had everything and it did not make her happy- I had nothing and I knew that getting money would not make me happy ( it would go a long way to make me feel more comfortable though). Because we had no money when I was growing up all I knew was the comfort enough money to allow me to have the necessities would bring. Then what? If you won the lottery what would you do then?
Buy a house?
Then?
Buy some clothes?
Then?
Go on holidays?
Then?
Back to living your life of course!
Even at a young age I knew that even with everything we owned at the end of the day that all that was left was yourself. And you were the only one who could bring yourself comfort and make yourself happy. So through those sad times I carried on with my small life, using the little things to keep me going.
And what is the message to my parable?
Of course it is live the one life you have well?
Do things you will not regret.
Be happy.
Make others happy?
Recycle( just kidding-but do it just to make me happy anyway)
Live a life you will not regret.
Forgive even when others are wrong- don't let others control your life.
Say sorry even when you ar right- it can't hurt.
Wash more often than once a week(oops sorry that was the mother in me)
Liberate yourself from the bondage of too many possessions- someone somewhere in the word will gain much joy from the possessions you only store in a cupboard and never look at or use.
Love your family- when all else passes away they will still be there for you no matter what a pain they can be.
Remember,'other men's failures can never save you'(Sorry-that was way too good not to use)
In conclusion-
So say the ramblings of a miserable old southern women- well 'ouiser from Steel Msgnolias doesn't have the monopoly on that one. I am getting older, like everyone I can be miserable and I live in the south.
And I already wear purple!!!!!
Hwyl
Mother of Many x