A TALE OF THE STRANGE KIND

SLEEP OF THE JUST(ON A BED OF TOYS)


My scales have been lying to me consistently and so they must go, they will be terminated, binned, die a quick and painless death and will be put in the wheely bin pronto! Why? Like I said because they have been lying to me and I am thrilled..............Yes thrilled because I have so much more weight I can lose and the potential to get so much thinner.HURRAH. They told me I was a lot lighter than I actually was and so now I can carry on losing weight and exercise to my hearts content. So far I have lost a lot of weight and I have pictures that show me getting thinner so I feel delighted that I can carry on with my endorphine buzz. And will you ever get to see those photos? No because then I would have to kill you!
Thankyou Weight Watchers.

I'M LOVING IT!

Finding holes in West Bank barrier
By Lipika Pelham
Jerusalem

"Palestinians climb West Bank barrier
Some Palestinians go over, through or under the massive barrier
Six days a week Hani, a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Ramallah, comes to work in a shop in East Jerusalem.He works from 0800 until midnight, sorting vegetables in a cold, damp back room.He has no permit to work in the Israeli-occupied eastern part of Jerusalem, but like hundreds of others from the West Bank, Hani finds ways to travel through the barrier that zigzags through the West Bank. Israel says the defensive system of concrete walls and wire fence is needed to stop suicide bombers. Palestinians say it is part of an Israeli land grab of West Bank territory. Although many Palestinian workers get caught in the process of crossing illegally into Israel or East Jerusalem, a huge number of them manage to get through.
If caught, without papers or proper identity cards they risk being sent to prison for up to two years.
Here we have the brilliant Banksy























It has been a while since anything has made me cry, the last time I cried it was with laughing when I watched(again) The Two Pints of Lager episode where Johnny convinces his father-in-law-to-be to allow the wedding to go ahead, it is the episode with all the Brookside references.Hysterical.
Today I was not crying tears of laughter, I cried for Babar Ahmad who has had his appeal denied
FROM THE BBC NEWS WEBSITE
UK pair lose US extradition fight
Haroon Rashid Aswat
Mr Aswat is accused of setting up a terror training camp
Two UK men held on Afghanistan-related terror charges have lost their legal fight to avoid extradition to the US. Babar Ahmad, 32, from Tooting, south-west London is accused of running websites inciting murder, urging holy war and raising money for the Taleban.
Haroon Aswat, from Yorkshire, is accused of plotting to set up a terror camp to train fighters for Afghanistan.The men said they risked mistreatment by the US, but High Court judges said these claims were not proven.
I just cannot believe what is happening. If the US or any other country want to question these men then do it here. This could happen to anyone.
I have always believed in justice, I also accept the legal system and the laws of the land completely even if I do not agree with them and sometimes I think they are silly. Pianoman and I have had many discussions about law, the government and justice and we have not always seen eye to eye. His view in many cases is old testament whilst mine is more new testament. I also feel strongly that if you do not agree with something then do something about it.Write, campaign and vote, just don't sit in your armchairs and bitch and do nothing about it.
The evidence in this case is very debatable and the treatment of Babar Ahmad by the police was not good.
My thoughts are with the families of these
men.


















The possibility of sending a British citizen to Guantanemo is just not acceptable.




On a lighter note, yesterday whilst the laminate flooring was being done,Beauty quiety sat un-noticed long enough to open Christmas presents left by Anastasia, Oops! The house was a bit chaotic yesterday so Beauty took advantage of the situation. RAT!

A SPOT OF BOTHER

(COULD BE THE TITLE TO MY LIFE)
I know that my dress sense can be a little off the wall at times but at the moment I am walking around with a very bright, multi-coloured leg warmer on my arm as it is holding my elbow dressing in place. Very attractive(not!). Well have you ever tried to keep a dressing on your elbow? Near impossible.
Do you remember the book The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon?
Well he has a new book out called A spot of bother, I haven't read the book yet but you have to check out his website as it is brilliant.



















BIPPITY BOPPITY BOO!














WHAT A LITTLE BEAUTY

WHY I HATE CARPETS!

When Beauty ripped(yes ripped) the 5 foot radiator off the living room wall and the carpet was flooded and had to be thrown out, I was shocked at the amount of dirt in the carpet even with a Dyson. So I don't like carpets because of dirt, I think it has something to do with my 'little' brush with MRSA.
And the 2nd reason why I don't like carpets.............At the moment in my house we have a carpet in the dining room but I have laminate flooring waiting to go down and carpet on the stairs and anyone who has lived in my house will know ALL about my stairs. Everyone has fallen down them and that is what happened this morning, I did a very ungraceful free fall toboganing impression that seemed to go on forever. I bumped and cut my right toes, I bumped and bruised my left upper back , I bumped and bruised my left elbow(YES that one) and I lost a nail, I'm probably more upset about my nice new nail! The left elbow just had to be the worst though, I have a bump about 5 inches long by 1 inches wide and boy is it sore and starting to seize up, just my luck. So yes I HATE carpets.
And Beauty went to sleep at 11:30pm last night and woke up at 2:30am with all the noise from the heavy rain, she then went back to sleep as we walked through the school doors! So a quiet morning so far really! Oh and the freezer defrosted with all the food so the insurance has to be sorted on that, just another quiet day in paradise.

LET TRUTH PREVAIL

Russian mystery ignites message boards
Have you read this article on the BBC website?
But such speculation has raised the ire of Russian contributors to Have Your Say.
The following is an extract.........


"Russia is no longer a wild country and we don't need to kill anyone, especially the 'enemies' of this country," says Nora from
St. Petersburg.

I was really puzzled at the way the British media covered this and at how people have reacted. Larissa Sazolonova
Many see an anti-Russian agenda in the reporting of the affair and ignorance on the part of message board posters from around the world. So they have flocked to the forums to launch their corrective.

Ivan Obzherin in Russia is eager to point out what he sees as a cruel irony of the situation.

" People accusing someone else without proof, trusting in everything that is written in newspapers - isn't that from Russian history, from the times of Stalin? Oh, no! That now happens in modern Western countries. I was very surprised to see that..."

When we went to Russia when Beauty was about 2 we discussed the fall of the Rommanovs with our tour guide in St Petersburg, the university educated tour guide had a very different view to what had happened to what I had learned in history and I felt it polite to agree and not argue the situation. When I got home I checked what I had learned and it appeared to be accepted by the rest of the world but Russia.
One of the above writers said that Russia was not a 'wild country' but in many ways it is a very scarey place still. It is all to do with levels, it may not appear to be as bad as it was but the silent fears and threats are still there but in different forms.
Did anyone else see the film CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER where the President of the USA clearly words his request for action against the drug cartels, a request that he clearly makes without saying the incriminating words so he is left protectected if it all goes down the crapper?
WHAT IF SOMEBODY SAID
'Alexander Litvinenko is really causing a problem , I wish he would just shut up' and now he has.
The same with Anna Politkovskaya!

Mr Litvinenko was a fierce critic of Mr Putin. He alleged that the Russian authorities were responsible for bombings in Moscow seven years ago that killed 200 civilians. The attacks were blamed on Chechen rebels and led to the second Chechen war.
He had also recently been investigating the murder of another Putin critic, outspoken Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

LET US PRAY THAT THIS TIME TRUTH WILL PREVAIL.

TRUNCHBULL

THE HEALTHY EATING IS GOING BRILLIANTLY
Due to the absolutely fantastic SideStepper machine that I have and the hour that I exercise on it a day complete with my Weight Watchers diet, the pounds are just dropping off me. I have a BMI of 21 and soon I will have reached my Weight Watchers target lowest possible weight. I am so looking forward to reaching my target weight because if I continue to exercise then I will carry on losing weight unless I eat more than I am at present. I will be able to eat the odd treat as well as extra healthy food-Mmmm I can't wait.
However..... my figure has changed since I was last this weight(1985) and since having children my hips and shoulders have widened and I am not sure that I will manage the size 12 because of my bone structure. Beyonce has a big butt but not an ounce of fat on it, that is just the way she is built and I never even thought about that when I started losing weight. I am never going to be like Victoria Beckham as I have a bit of a Female Russian Shot Putter build as I take after my father in colouring and build. Unless I were to have cosmetic surgery I will always have a jelly-belly.When I reach my target weight there will be a new photograph.
Beauty is tall like me and she is also going to be a big girl. But hopefully she will be a fit girl, she is able to bounce on her trampoline constantly(and watch tv).

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY
HAVE YOU EVER
EVER FELT LIKE THIS
WHERE STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN
ARE YOU GOING ROUND THE TWIST!



Anastasia flies back to Vienna this morning and the house seems quiet without her..............not really,Ariel is here with her explosive tapping on the computer until 2am. I am so going to password this new computer!
We drove Anastasia to the bus station last night and town is such a pain to get around at night with St Mary Street completely shut off and Wood Street partly closed, after a certain time on Friday and Saturday there are Match Day Restrictions due to a young man being killed at the crossing on the corner of Wood Street/St Mary Street(outsideWetherspoons/Prince of Wales). I used to park in the train station car park at the back but they don't always like to let you through the train station to the bus station. My thoughts are with the poor boy's family.






To celebrate her birthday SnoWhite has let IKEA cope without her today.....I'm sure they will manage.









IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING AND I WISH I WERE STILL SNORING...........
But Beauty was quite restless last night so I woke up quite early but now I feel a nap coming on(at 6:53 am!), when you have autistic children my most important piece of advice would be -If they sleep.........you sleep. Sleep and naps through the day makes my life possible.



RAINING AGAIN IN CARDIFF

























BUT I TOOK THIS PHOTO LAST WEEK BEFORE IT STARTED TO RAIN FOR 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS(I KNOW IT HAS STOPPED RAINING FOR A FEW MINUTES BUT IT SO FEELS CONSTANT)

PROOF THAT THE SUN DOES SHINE IN WALES

PRETTY IN PINK

Being a true Brit(Welsh), I feel the necesity to comment on the weather whenever possible unlike my neighbor who ONLY talks about the weather. It is raining AGAIN and I feel empathy for Mrs Noah, think what her life must have been like.......cooped up whilst it constantly rained with a bunch of animals who were only interested in pooping and eating!Hmmmm! As well as being called Beauty the 6 year old also has the nickname Mouse or when she really is being a pain she can get called Rat. Random question, after a lifetime of religious education the following question has just popped into my head, did Noah take rats and mice on his lovely ark on purpose? What purpose do they have? Are they sent to try us like carbs? Could we live without rats? No wonder I don't go to church anymore as my thoughts are so random!
Question - can a man wear a pink tie for a church choir and still be manly? I may not still go to church but some of the family do so things filter through(though not the things women love to hear like new babies and their names). One of the American brothers feels it would not be right for the choir to wear pink ties, personally I think the pink tie thing is not an issue in itself however my opinion is 'come on guys it's Christmas, how about red or green or naked elves'(yes the elves was a joke)
The question shouldn't be is it ok to wear pink but why wouldn't they want to? Is it too girlie
for them? Dick Chenney doesn't seem to have a problem.











And Clinton.......















And Jay Z........

And what about a pink shirt!











And last but most importantly, a Beauty in pink-yes at present Barbie Rapunzel is a defining influence!



























WHAT A SAD END TO A LIFE









Ok the Russians say it wasn't them but why are they not saying the other things they should be saying if it wasn't them like WHO WAS IT and WE WILL FIND THEM.
My heart goes out to his family.

Deadly toll of botched abortions
Unsafe abortions in the developing world kill 68,000 women a year, research suggests.ead researcher Dr Susheela Singh said: "The evidence shows that the health burden of unsafe abortion is large.
"The most effective way of eliminating this highly preventable cause of maternal illness and death, would be to make safe and legal abortion services available and accessible.
"A second, more immediately achievable, goal is to prevent unintended pregnancies in the first place through improved contraception use."
HOWEVER.........
Paul Tully, general secretary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said Dr Singh's findings were guesses based on estimates.
"The burden of the study is clearly to promote the killing of more unborn babies in poorer countries, regardless of the fact that women do not want abortions," he said.
He also took issue with the notion liberalisation of abortion laws led to a cut in death and disability among pregnant women.
I feel that better health care for these women would negate the need for abortions, perhaps Paul Tully is right that these women do not want abortions but perhaps they do not want to be pregnant in the first place and they should be allowed to make the choice for themselves.
Why can't these people have the same choices as me, why do they have to have the choice made for them by someone else?

21 TODAY ...............SNOWHITE IS NOW 21!
And to celebrate we went to see her 'friend' referee wrestling!
The last time I went to see wrestling(real wrestling) was in 1978 and I swore,'NEVER AGAIN'.

A 'Why am I here look' from Anastasia to Fiona!



















NO!
I DON'T WANT TO WATCH HIM GETTING HURT!













THE MAN OF THE MATCH












DOING HIS 'REFING' THING















WOW DOES SNOWHITE'S FRIEND LOOK SO GOOD?(AND THE BABY IS ONLY 4 MONTHS OLD!)
I DON'T LOOK THIS THIN AFTER 6 YEARS BUT I AM TRYING.
SHE LOOKS STUNNING














SNOWHITE'S FRIENDS BOYFRIEND. NOW HE LOOKED LIKE A WRESTLER!

IT'S HAILING, IT'S POURING,I DON'T WANT TO GET UP IN THE MORNING

Beauty is off to school......Hurrah! I am exhausted, I think a nap will be in order today as well as housework.As I have said before, AUTISM IS A TIRING THING. Beauty took her quilt this morning and went to sleep for a few hours under the dining room table. Let me see, a choice of a bed or a floor to sleep on......the bed everytime for me.
Last night I used my side stepper again whilst Beauty watched videos on the computer, she loved it and I lost weight. I can exercise and watch her at the same time, Beauty also thought it was great as to her it seemed like I was dancing along with her. When I first used the side stepper burning off 100 calories nearly killed me but last night I managed to burn off approximately 500 calories and it was manageable and yes I was perspiring like a pig and I drank a litre of water). The best time seems to be just as Beauty comes home from school, she has computer time then tv and exercise time(she bounces on her trampoline whilst she watches tv). I would like to lose weight before Christmas so I can buy a nice party dress.



















At the moment we are having a hail storm, I am glad that it missed the school run. The weather has gone so cold in the last few days, Dimitri said it was colder here than in Austria,OUCH! I am so looking forward to Fuerteventura in January.

TRY AND EXPLAIN THIS!
I love to chew my nails, I do enjoy it and I know all about cross-infection and how infections live on your skin BUT I can't stop myself.............BUT that is only for six months of the year! Then one day I notice a bit of decent growth on my nails and I think,'Oh I can't chew that' and I don't and then for about six months my nails are really nice. AND then I chew them again(Ariel seems to be the same).
AND the same with food, I am trying constantly to eat healthily and lose weight but usually I just manage to maintain BUT then one day something happens and I go into full blown healthy eating, weight loss mode and the trigger this time? My exercise! I have built up my exercise on the side stepper and now I can burn up approximately 500 calories in my exercise routine and afterwards I think ,'I'm not going to waste all that effort by eating junk(my beloved carbs)'.
Beauty is now 6 and when she was born I weighed just over 18 stone and I have been trying to eat healthily since, I have had periods of maintaining and losing weight and now my weight is down to 11 stone 10 lbs and I have two stone to go and I thank WEIGHT WATCHERS. I have not attended Weight Watchers all that time but they taught me the healthy eating that means that I can maintain or lose weight. When it comes to eating I need volume to curb my hunger and so I eat huge amounts of vegetables with my meal and that is the answer. As life with Beauty is very tiring and busy I find it more convenient to eat the vegetarian option in the Weight Watchers frozen ready meals, I eat other things but sometimes my joints hurt so much I cannot do anything more that boil vegetables and put a meal in the microwave.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO BELLE AND BEAU



Enjoy the turkey!

ELDORADO

It seems that Beauty was a bit of a madam in school today, she made it clear she wasn't going to co-operate.Oops! Two of the teachers are off sick so I think that is why she is playing up, she's not too keen on the change. I feel sorry for the teachers. I know that Beauty can be a pain in the butt but in so many other ways she is so loving and sweet, more than your average 6 year old. In some ways she is an absolute delight. The Road To Eldorado is back on the video, on repeat, over and over..............in reverse! After the 20th viewing time seems to slow down and to reduce the increasing pressure in the brain you have this desire to hit your head repeatedly against a rock. Never mind, only 8 hours before she goes to bed!A Pollyanna moment-at least the video on reverse makes no noise.JOY!

'BEAUTIFUL BABY JUST LIVING ON LOVE'

Yesterday was Dimitri's birthday so Anastasia and Dimitri went to Castell Coch for a little culture. Whilst it was entertaining it was damp, smelly and in need of restoration as everything was peeling, they had more fun shopping in WALMART!. They also went to see Casino Royale in the Bay which was better and both seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. They also went for lunch in Old Orleans.



Oh Yes..............I am biased, this is the most beautiful baby in the whole world. This is the girls new cousin(second cousin actually!).Dot is so very pretty, even her toes are pretty. She is a very well behaved sweet little girl.
We gave Dotty a basket of baby things, a baby box and a travel cot/playpen. We had a travel cot for Beauty, first it was a downstairs bed, then a playpen and then a toy box! It was worth its weight in gold.We gave Edeline the receipt so if she does not like it she can get the money back and buy something else.

IT'S CHRISTMAS!

WELL IN OUR HOUSE ANYWAY!


BEAUTY ENJOYING THE CHRISTMAS FISH!

'EAT , DRINK AND BE SCAREY'











ARIEL 'MYSPACING' IT!













HELLO WORLD!




















I LOVE MY TOYS!




















As Anastasia and Dimitri will be in Italy skiing at Christmas, Christmas came early to Cardiff.
We had a choice of fish, veggie, turkey and chicken plus EVERYTHING else.WOW!

HARAJUKU GIRLS

WE ARE ALL THRILLED WITH THE ARRIVAL OF DOTTY,
MY NIECE EDELINE'S BABY

The girls are all excited and can't wait to see Edeline and the baby and Belle and Beau in Florida send their love too. Anastasia and Dimitri from Austria are visiting Cardiff(they say it is colder here than Vienna!) and are so looking forward to seeing Dotty.We have lots and lots of presents for Edeline and the baby, she is going to be one well dressed baby.










It is Sunday and it is 7:56am and so what is the best dressed 6 year old wearing? Wellies of course! I blame the 15 year old.............you know, the 15 year old Hello Kitty, Fruits fan! She was the one who dressed her



















So now we know how Fiona will dress her children!

IT'S A GIRL

DOTTY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED

MY NIECE HAS HAD HER BABY.
CONGRATULATIONS
TO EDELINE
AND ALL THE FAMILY

MOVE AND YOU'LL REGRET IT

FOR GOODNESS SAKE WILL YOU JUST STOP IT ! Is the favorite Beauty-ism in school to make the teachers laugh-however soon there will be a new one.
I was playing CBEEBIES on the computer with Beauty, whilst she was eating fromage frais, I turned around for a second and she was covered from head to toe in fromage frais! Whilst trying to clean her up she wouldn't stop wriggling so I said, MOVE AND YOU'LL REGRET IT-and she said REGRET IT. Oh I can see it now, Beauty telling a teacher off by telling them they will regret it if they move! I am so glad that I can control(mostly) swearing in front of Beauty, however SOMETIMES stupid drivers really push me to the limit.
Last night I explained to Beauty that Anastasia and Dimitri were coming to visit her for a few days and I am sorry Anastasia but it was Dimitri's name that she said very clearly, I couldn't convince her to say your name but she was very focused at that time on a bag of chocolate gold coins that she had just found in the fridge. Beauty is like me it seems , not really interested in real gold-that must be why I have huge amounts of silver jewelry(I keep PAST TIMES in business!).
AND to those of you out there who are still asking what to buy me for Christmas, look no further, Fiona just received a Cath Kidston catalogue in the post and anything from there would make my life complete. However, the radio and phone are silly money and anyone who bought those would get a slap! The flowered tins are just fine.
Talking about Christmas presents..............Pianoman is buying this truck for Beauty

It comes complete with straps!
Is it cute or what?
Perfect for the park.













And for once Runningman has spoken on the subject of Christmas presents and said he would like a tool box (though I think a foot wide paintbrush would be more useful!).................and last night at ASDA he bought Fiona a chocolate bar!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think that has happened since Fiona was in primary school. We have pictures of Fiona when she was small dancing around the living room in this house dressed as a fairy, she was so tiny and sweet, it is hard to believe that Fiona was only 5 when we moved to this house, it is also hard to remember when she wasn't 6 foot-she takes after me and I take after my DAD who was a tall guy.
I read about a research project being done in Plymouth and it is meant to show that children get their height from their dads and their weight from their mums, well as far as my girls are concerned that is not true. I get my height and build and head shape from my dad and I have passed on the height to Fiona and the head shape to Ariel. As my brother once said, as far as hats are concerned the label says ONE SIZE FITS ALL apart from his and the same goes for myself and Ariel, we have the large head circumference passed on to us by my dad. And that is one painful thing to give birth to I can promise you, I am so glad that Ariel took approximately 2 hours from start to finish to be born as ay longer would have been too much. And any predisposition to weight in my girls seems to have come through their dad's family, their grandmother on their dad's side has a classical British pear shaped figure and I have the figure of a man with no hips and no butt.
Thank you Fiona for another Photoshop creation

A CLUTCH OF CLOONEYS!

THANK YOU FIONA...............ALL THAT TIME ON PHOTOSHOP CERTAINLY PAID OFF!

THERE IS GOOD NEWS AND THERE IS BAD NEWS!
By ignoring my elbow(whateva!) it is so much better, the pain isn't nearly so bad and for the bad news..........the pain in my neck is back with a vengeance-it's probably God testing me for not believing in him and living a life of sin OR maybe it's my arthritis playing up because of the wet weather! We shall see. Unfortunately this means no more hod carrying for me in the next week, or my flying trapeeze act or weight training. Just the less arduous task of chasing after an autistic 6 year old who had me awake at 2:30am this morning and she was really upset when I took the lounge lightbulb out and switched the plugs off at the mains so all she could do was go back to sleep. HAH! I may be old but I'm not stupid, within half an hour she went back to sleep-HURRAH!
I love children .........especially when they are asleep.

DON'T MENTION THE ELBOW...............THE PAIN MIGHT GO AWAY IF I IGNORE IT!

Anyone who knows my scales know that they LIE, well they are lying to me again and they say I have lost a lot of weight but I am sure they are lying and I will only believe them when they lie to me consistently. They say I am just over 11 stone. I am so tired with Beauty that the extent of my cooking is a weight watchers meal and lots of vegetables so perhaps that is helping with the weight loss. I like ocean pie and vegetable chili best.

I have been invited to a Christmas dinner and the meals options are quite entertaining. The vegetarian option is a tartlet with lots of cooked cheese so that is out for my unpredictable stomach but the vegan option sounds good.It is a TIAN OF ROASTED MEDITERRANEAN VEGETABLES ON NEW POTATOES WITH ESSENCE OF RED PEPPER let me save you the time of hitting the dictionary for Tian, from recipes and pictures I have looked at it means a PILE of vegetables in this case and as for ESSENCE, after many years of doing waitressing I couldn't even begin to imagine what ESSENCE stands for. It seems that menus have moved on considerably since I last worked as a waitress, when I last worked there was a backlash against poncy minimalist food and there were things such as bread and butter pudding on the menu and the punters loved it. Last year the Christmas meal was at the Millennium stadium and the food was fantastic, the Sushi starter was stunning and the vegetarian option actually had some taste to it. The year before was a meal at the CIA and I kid you not but the salmon tasted like it had been standing waiting to be served for two days and the green mush was meant to be vegetables BUT it didn't affect my diet in the slightest as my sensitive stomach barely got home before it protested violently! I would NEVER eat at the Park Hotel as I have too many memories of a foul, stinking kitchen and staff who didn't care. The Angel was good but I have never seen the kitchen and the Hilton Christmas meal was plated with 3 roast potatoes, 4 sprouts, 5 carrots, a 'coin' of stuffing, a dot of cranberry sauce and pressed(yes pressed) turkey with a spoonful of gravey and all for £25 and this was in 2000- I hope it has improved since!

Thankyou Trent
Look and drool..............Look and drool!

A PAIN IN THE ELBOW!

It's too early, I have a sore throat and it's bl**dy raining! Oh well whinge over and back to being GLAD.Pollyanna would be proud of me.
First major Christmas shopping expedition last night to Matalan and the Range, this year I have decided to make my Christmas baskets individual and with a theme and last night I was able to buy quite a lot. However, I still feel as if I am only in the foothills of Everest as far as my Christmas shopping is concerned.I want the baskets to be individual and show we thought about the person we are giving them to and no there will be no khaki in Ariel's gifts this year, promise!
Anastasia and Dimitri will be here at the weekend and they are so looking forward to visiting my niece Edeline and her baby Dotty(when she shows, get a move on baby!). My girls love the name Dot-Dotty, they think it is so cute and they all want it for their babies(sorry girls!).
Anastasia is looking forward to Sunday lunch with Yorkshire pudding(though Dimitri doesn't like Yorkshire pudding,foolish lad), a Full British Breakfast and shopping in Primark.










Cuisine fit for a king.















I shall also have to introduce them to 'WHAT' the new shop on Newport Road, like Hypervalue but tons better.
I forgot to tell you Anastasia, you know the house 2 doors down from Pavvas on HollyBush Road that they did a huge amount of work on? Well it's up for sale already. I am surprised as they are a large Asian family and I thought they would be there a while, it didn't strike me as an investment property. The 'study' house on Cyncoed Road seems to be finished and the extension is massive, the extension is as big as Pavvas' house. As well the conversion of the water tower next to the new Synagogue seems to be almost finished and the new sheltered housing on Cyncoed Road is coming along really fast and it looks really well done, it really fits in well though I still haven't forgiven SCOPE for closing the sheltered housing and selling the land.
I know it has been Autumn and you expect to see leaves on the ground but this year there seems to be huge amounts everywhere, I also haven't seen a street cleaner on our estate in a long time and I wonder if Cardiff Council is trying to save money by not sending out the street cleaners. I think that would not be a wise decision, remember the switch off of the lights on the Bay Link Road? Russel Goodway, then head of the council thought that he was saving money by keeping the lights turned off.......until somebody died! I know piles of leaves doesn't sound that bad but think blocked drains and slippy pavements, think of the people who could fall and break bones! How to deal with the problem? Remember I said that Unemployment Benefits should be for a set period only, and should include seasrch for work time and voluntry work? Cleaning leaves sounds good to me.

School leaving age may be raised
England's education secretary is said to be exploring ways to raise the school leaving age to 18.Alan Johnson told political journalists that "staying on" rates must improve.
There's nothing wrong with the idea of making children stay on in some form of education until they are 18 but I have also heard in the media about Alan Johnson not wanting them stuck in dead end jobs but what is a dead end job? Can everyone be a brain surgeon? People need to be made to feel proud of working what ever they do. I have worked as a cleaner, as a carer, as a shop assistant, as a waitress and my view is that all work is important and valid and that is what needs to be promoted. Anyway who does Alan Johnson want to do the 'dead end' jobs? Someone has to do the work.

Can you think of anything more stupid than being incapacitated because of a pain in the elbow?
When I have neck pain that sounds normal, back pain sounds normal but elbow pain that it stops you doing anything sounds stupid. But my elbow is just as bad as my neck was last week and no I'm not just being a wimp, remember 'pain is what the patient says it is'-well it's bl**dy' awful. LIFE SURELY CAN BE A LEMON AT TIMES! THANKYOU MEATLOAF.