I'M IN HIPPIE HEAVEN

A Brighter Sunny Day

Roath Park
by
Mike Harrison

Re-reading yesterdays entry makes me sound as if I had a miserable day when it fact I did the thing I love the best.......catch up on sleep! Beauty awoke at 3:30am and was insistent on watching Monsters Inc on video and playing Dora the Explorer on the computer. Yesterday I was VERY exhausted. Even with a nap or two my body never really woke up and at about 11pm I went to sleep for the night with joints that were extremely confused , they were behaving as jet-lagged as if I had flown the Atlantic and back.
Being tired however did not prevent the washing machine, tumble dryer, 6 year old and the weekie boys(the guinea piggies) wanting to be constantly fed. In the afternoon I even managed to dry a line full of washing. I look back with envy at the large double washing line that my mother had in her huge garden when we were growing up..........she even owned and used an ancient mangle, something that I would love to have.Seriously.
What an energy saver.

1950's Mangle

BETTY SUE AKA MOUTH

LILY ROSE AKA CHUNK

I bought this ankle length dress in Asda(Walmart), when I wear it I feel as if I have been transported back to the 60's. Definitely a hippie dress.

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

SUMMER'S COLOR

ANITA



And then for the rest of the day the sun shone.

RAIN
BY

Nguyen Nguyen

Well yesterday the forecast said rain so I suppose it is an improvement on what I expected.
I feel like it is a rainy day anyway! Beauty was awake early and so she decided to watch Monsters Inc on the TV/Video and I caught up with the computer. I came across the shocking news of the death of an artist who worked at the Llanover Hall where I did my GCSE, this wonderful artist was called Tony Goble. We weren't friends(hey he was a brilliant artist and I was a GCSE student) but it was always nice to chat to him when I went to my art classes and I cannot believe he has gone. I will miss him.

Byzantine Birds" by Tony Goble More about Tony

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

My back is so painful at night that I usually have to take some tablets about 1 am to cope with the pain but the side effect is that I then fall asleep and sleep solidly until approximately 8 am which is not so good as I have to leave the house at 8:45am to get Beauty to school! I always thought that strong pain killers had the effect of making you feel bright and awake-well I must be the exception.

Look what I ordered on line last night.
Some Pink Crocs


And some Sage Green Crocs


I truly think that my Gold Crocs need a rest as I received them as a Christmas present (thank you Fiona)and I have worn them ever since and they are still in brilliant condition.



All That Glitters is Gold

Stairway To Heaven

Theres a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and shes buying a stairway to heaven.

Theres a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook
Theres a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

Theres a feeling I get
When I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And its whispered that soon
If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If theres a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now,
Its just a spring clean for the may queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
Theres still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it wont go
In case you don't know,
The pipers calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How evrything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And shes buying a stairway to heaven

And as for Mr Blair!
Well I think I shall say no more and remember the old adage- THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING.

Talking of puddings, did you know that rhubarb is poisonous to guinea pigs? One of those useless pieces of information you pick up and think REALLY.
I think the weekie boys maybe a little happier, they are bouncing around their new hutch more and generally weeking more. They are making so much mess that anyone would think they were having a rave whilst everyone else is asleep.

I PITY THE FOOL-IN THE WORDS OF THE GREAT MR T

There is nothing to say.

Blair becomes Middle East envoy

Tony Blair is to become a Middle East envoy working on behalf of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU.

The announcement comes just hours after he stood down as UK prime minister and shortly before he is expected to quit as a Member of Parliament.

Earlier, Mr Blair said a "solution" to problems in the Middle East was possible but that this would require "huge intensity and work".

Russia was thought to have opposed his appointment but has since agreed to it.

VOTE RESULTS

Would Tony Blair make a good Middle East envoy?

Yes

34.18%

No

57.84%

Not sure

7.98%

8307 Votes Cast

Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion

CUP CAKES

I love the little piggies but they are still such timid creatures. Their new hutch is in the back of the kitchen opposite the computers and so they have company a lot of the day but every time some one moves they move faster than Linford Christie and are back in their cwtch.I feel a bit like Dolly Parton in the film Nine to Five, I do the best I can with the piggies-I feed them, clean then, water them, give them treats, cuddle them and put them out in the run to play and still they go into panic mode when I move the slightest. I just don't understand why they don't seem to like me-oh well perhaps time will make them less shy and nervous.

No piggies to be seen,still hiding.

Lilly Rose eating hers and Betty Sue's treat.

Last night when the piggies were in the run in the lounge playing whilst I watched TV Beauty came in and started to play with the piggies. I was so impressed! Since the piggies came home she has not really paid them much attention but she came in, sat beside the piggies and put her hands into the run and the piggies came up and softly rubbed against her fingers. It was as if the piggies realised that Beauty was really just a little one like them really. We had a similar situation when Beauty was still small. When Fiona and Ariel came up to her and held her or played with her she reacted differently to when SnoWhite, Belle and Anastasia came up to her,even though Ariel and Fiona were the size of adults it was if she sensed they weren't really and she seemed to instantly trust her older sisters more.

What do you think of the cup cakes that Fiona made?

I took some to school for Beauty's teachers.

Did any body see the US version of Wife Swap that was on TV last night?

The first couple were white and lived in upstate New York and in their manual stated they used the F word and the N word a lot! How someone could admit to using the N word on national TV is beyond understanding. The mother stayed in bed until mid-day and then went to work as a phone operator in a taxi company and at midnight went to the casinos and got home to bed at about 6am. She spent very little time with her children and her husband did all the house work(and she was not exactly slim-this is significant!) and there was no discipline at all in the house.
The second family were black and the father is an ex-marine. The mother kept the house spotless and also did child minding whilst the sons did lots of sports and helped with the house work. The father also white glove checked the boys room for dust and the mother often phoned the boys to find out where they were but she did admit at the start that this was obsessive. But all in all they were a nice family.
Well I 'm sorry but at the table at the end of the swap the first thing the upstate New York wife did was to ridicule the other wife and call her fat(pot-kettle-black).........the other wife then called the New York wife white trash and tried to slap the other wife. If it had been me I would have given the upstate New York wife a Glaswegian handshake(or Kiss) and I would have been so fast across the table( bad back or not), nobody would have been able to stop me.
I don't know about any one else but if I had 2 teenage boys who were black, and these seemed especially well behaved and nice boys ,I would worry about them all the time. We have had a number of cases in the UK where really nice boys ,well behaved and NEVER in trouble have been killed by other youths. It is almost as if because they are good they are picked on. I once worked with another nurse whose daughter and grandson came to visit them from London, the son wanted to buy his grandmother a present and so asked his mum for some money and ran to the shops to buy some. On the way back , he was running so as not to miss the train, he was stopped by police,who assumed because he was running with the chocolates and he was black that he must have stolen the chocolates. The police said they had heard about children stealing in the area and the lad fitted the description-what that he was black? I have heard that excuse before, we were stopped by police once going to the train station to catch the first train to London for a job interview. The person giving me a lift was driving a typical lad though he was in his 40's and definitely not a lad and the police were very obviously embarrassed when they realsised their mistake. Their excuse ' Oh the car matched a description we had'- I felt like asking'What description, the one of a white car with four wheels?

LITTLE PIG, LITTLE PIG LET ME COME IN

Blair 'to quit as MP to be envoy'

The Labour Party has been put on standby that Tony Blair may announce he is stepping down as the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield.

Officials said Mr Blair is expected to attend a meeting of his local party hours after quitting as prime minister.

He is thought likely to quit if he is confirmed as a Middle East envoy on Wednesday by the Mid-East quartet of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU.

All I can say is NO

On the BBC Have Your Say was the following opinion

Added: Tuesday, 26 June, 2007, 14:30 GMT 15:30 UK

If I murdered your family and smashed up your house, I don't think you'd be too pleased to see me if I popped round with a few helpful hints on how you should re-decorate!

Tom D, London

Recommended by 92 people

Mr Blair is too involved to be an envoy.

I know he has to have some kind of job but why can't he be content with something closer to home like cleaning NHS toilets or fixing pot holes in the road or picking up litter or volunteering down his local day centre!

So Paris Hilton has been released early from jail for good behaviour, all I can say on that is perhaps the world media will give us a little peace now and report on REAL news.
Suggestions for Paris anyone........... mine are cleaning hospital toilets or fixing pot holes in the road or picking up litter or volunteering down her local day centre!(Without any publicity please).

I have spent the day putting up an outdoor guinea pig hutch. It went together beautifully BUT then the doors fell off! I had put the doors on upside down and had to start again......oh well practice makes perfect. The piggies are still not sure of their new house but they will get used to it.Beauty loves the new piggy house and has tried to get into it a number of times-poor piggies.
Beauty is trying to sign along to a Tikkabilla song with Justin but it is a bit difficult as she is bouncing constantly. I am tired just watching her!

THE PARTY'S OVER

I feel like Mrs Noah this morning! The rain is pouring down and making a LOT of noise on my kitchen sky lights, I am stocked up with food(party left overs) and I have Guinea pigs in the house.So the rain , the food and the animals BUT unlike Mrs Noah I still have to go out to take Beauty to school.
My back is communicating with me, not talking but screaming! I spent a lot of time baking yesterday standing up and my back is in absolute agony. I have a wheelchair but that brings no relief as my damage is half way up my back and so sitting in a chair is as painful( or pain creating) as standing up. Usually I spend my day between lying down and feeding the washing machine and dishwasher, the more I stand the more my back seems to rub and become more inflamed and painful. I don't go out in the day if I can help it because of bad drivers(!) and the escalation in pain.The sun shone for a little while at the party but it is Glastonbury weekend so we have to expect some rain! Fiona and SnoWhite and I have decided that we will will go to Glastonbury one year but not until I have bought the camper van that I intend to buy.

I have always wanted a VW Bus .I am way too old for camping with my back and Fiona and SnoWhite refuse to camp again after the wash-out that was the last church camp.

We are having PROBLEMS with the guinea pigs.They may have girls names but they are in fact two boys, allegedly! One appears to be mounting the other frequently, and according to a Google search this is actual not a se-ual( I am not being a prude,I am just wary of spam) thing but a male dominance thing, alpha male-let's decide who is boss kind of thing(but how they know this is a mystery to me-perhaps a guinea pig told his shrink one day). Due to the possibility of excess bullying the sites I visited suggested another cage for some time out,it's like have 2 more children in the house to referee-if Fiona and SnoWhite weren't bad enough. Beauty is as good as gold, she maybe autistic but she is a sweetheart compared to the guinea pigs and her ever fighting siblings!
I think that it is time to rename the guinea pigs, I suggested Sammy and Dean(AKA The Winchester Brothers from Supernatural and Fiona and SnoWhite like the idea of Chunk and Mouth from The Goonies.
Anybody else have any good ideas but remember this is a family show

PARTY TIME

CAKE 1(LAST WEEKS CAKE)

CAKE 2(THIS WEEKS PARTY CAKE)

IT SEEMS THAT ALCOHOL IS A POPULAR PRESENT FOR A 60 YEAR OLD!

THE PARTY MAY BE OVER BUT BEAUTY WILL PLAY WITH THE BALLOONS FOR DAYS

PIZZA COOKED ON MILK ROLLS DOUGH

ONION,CHEESE, TOMATO AND PEPPER QUICHE( OR FLAN..........WHAT DO THEY CALL IT AT THE MOMENT?)
FIONA THOUGHT IT LOOKED LIKE A YORKSHIRE PUDDING MEAL!

COURGETTES , CHEESE AND ONION FLAN

BASMATI RICE SALAD

ENOUGH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES LEFT OVER TO FEED US FOR A WEEK

IS MODERN ART RUBBISH?

PARTY LIKE IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY.

Well last night was not much fun! To talk in local speak,' Beauty wasn avin any ov i'.
Beauty went to bed, went to sleep, woke up, got up and the routine started all over again. I am now thoroughly exhausted even after a few hours sleep,I shall start cooking for this party when the morning medication and bread starts to kick in and my joints start to work.I was reading the following article this morning.

How to be ex-Prime Minister

Blair could make a lot of money as an ex-PM

By Michael Cockerell
Political documentary maker

When Tony Blair leaves Number 10 on Wednesday he will be much better off than Winston Churchill was when he became an ex-prime minister in 1945 - after winning the war and losing the general election.
"My grandfather was effectively bankrupt by the end of the war," says the great man's grandson - also called Winston Churchill.
Churchill was forced to put his home, Chartwell in Kent, on the market.
"Lord Camrose, the then proprietor of the Daily Telegraph was outraged," says young Winston.
"And he corralled 10 wealthy well-wishers and they each ponied up the princely sum of £5,000.
"So for £55,000 - which was a lot of money in those days - they bought Chartwell on the understanding that my grandparents would live there until the end of their days and then it would be presented to the nation."

The biggest question of all is how to fill the suddenly empty days.The former Tory cabinet minister, Ken Clarke, who as an MP since 1970 has watched five prime ministers come and go says: "Like a departing captain of industry, Tony will want the next big job in the career."In his case I think it will be trying to govern the world and advise all the other political leaders how to run things. And he'll find that difficult, because you are very ex as an ex-prime minister."

Blair's meeting with the Pope on Saturday is one key to what he plans to do.
According to one of Blair's closest advisers: "Tony is obsessed with the idea of becoming a roving envoy who would seek to reconcile the Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam."
Blair sought Papal endorsement for his plans to set up an inter-faith foundation - headed by himself.
It may take you a very long time to adjust fully to no longer being the most powerful person in the land.
For the one thing all members of the ex-prime ministers' club have in common is that they have lost the most exciting job that they will ever have.
Ken Clarke sums it up: "I think almost all of them, if you said that, by some amazing miracle, you could go back tomorrow and you could be prime minister again and take on all that hassle, and all that strain, and all that criticism, and all those crises, they'd all have jumped at it and gone straight back straight away."

I could NEVER be famous or prime minister, it was bad enough talking on camera for the Wales
60 initiative. Even the party this afternoon has me worried! I admire people who can do this kind of thing. And Ken Clarke made the point that if they were offered the chance to do it again they would. I couldn't do it once , let alone twice. I admire the movers and shakers of the world who can stand up and be counted but I am afraid that any thing that I do will have to be in private. When I was a Christian I held the same view
Matthew 7:16 -By their fruits ye shall know them.
I was always one of these people who felt actions were more important. I really find missionary work, evangelism(especially TV ) and public displays of religion as unacceptable. It must be the Britishness in me coming out-well my mother was English.
However, I do need to clarify missionary work. I am quite happy for religious people to go into inner cities and help in needy situations, to go to places and build wells, teach hygiene and healthy eating and provide medical services . All these things are worthy but not if these people constantly attach religion to what they are doing. Remember -By their fruits ye shall know them.

So could I party like Tony Blair?
The thought fills me with horror.

PARTY TIME

What can I say?
It is Saturday and Beauty is awake and happily singing along to the Joseph video, however so is Ariel and as anyone who knows Ariel knows, Ariel is no way as quiet as Beauty! The guinea pigs are also squabbling, well what can you expect when they are named after Ariel and Fiona. Thankfully Fiona is still sleeping
Today I have to get the house (and food ) ready for a party tomorrow. I have agreed to do a party here for Runningman's 60th Birthday party and I am not really a party person. Save me please!
I intend to cook all vegetarian party food PLUS I intend to cook a chicken and bacon for the non-vegetarians to eat with their meal if they want to. I am going to make vegetarian tartlets, quiche and pizza and with that I shall make different salads. As yet I haven't thought about desserts...........something to think about in my spare time!

KEITH ALLEN

I love Keith Allen, he is one of the funniest men on TV. Last night I watched him in Keith Allen Will Burn In Hell

Keith Allen discovers an unnerving mixture of hatred, fanaticism and fun when he investigates one of the USA's most extreme fundamentalist churches

The members of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, which preaches that every word in the Bible is literally true, are some of America's most fanatical Christian fundamentalists. Bearing ‘God Hates Fags’ and ‘God Hates America’ placards, they cheerfully picket the funerals of US soldiers killed in Iraq, and delight in provoking outrage among both liberals and patriots.

Programme-makers in America and Britain have repeatedly tried to expose their beliefs as anti-Christian, but these attempts have failed. In Channel 4’s investigation, Keith Allen takes a smarter, more streetwise approach. During three extraordinary days at Westboro, Keith reveals more about the church than other television programmes have unearthed in three months.

In interviews that are hilarious, infuriating and compelling, he forensically exposes the curious mixture of hatred and jollity that underpins their faith. Using all his journalistic skills and instincts, he scavenges for information in local bars and discovers a secret about the church's chief spokesperson, Shirley Phelps-Roper. Shirley confesses her ‘sin’ on camera, making a memorable climax to a programme that exposes the hypocrisy of this bizarre, fundamentalist sect.

He was equally as funny in Little Lady Fauntleroy

When I watched Keith Allen Will Burn In Hell I found it to be jaw droppingly funny. Many religious people have impressed me. I have met many Muslims through teaching English, SnoWhite had a Jewish friend through school(who I am ashamed to say I once accidentally fed hot dogs to) I have met every other type of religious you can imagine and almost all have really impressed me. But Shirley Phelps-Roper only made me laugh.

Ever wondered what to do with your old KIMONO?

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

Yesterday I went to the doctors surgery to pick up a prescription for anti-inflammatory medication( arthritis and all that!) and as I walked over to the chemist to fill the prescription I passed a mother taking her little one home from nursery school. The little boy was in the middle of a conversation and I heard him say, 'you know, the girl with the brown face on her' and the mother immediately looked embarrassed and start shouting that he shouldn't be saying that. No explanation just a lot of shouting. I did feel sorry for the little boy because he had meant no offense at all and the mother could easily have said something like' Oh that's not nice, the little girl might be upset by what you said'. I actually thought his personal observation was fine and showed no meanness but it was just a description. I sometimes think we are too PC and cause more problems by pushing PC views onto little children. I personally feel that racism is very wrong and taught my children this from a very young age . Belle and Anastasia both had best friends when they were little who were the children of African Americans serving at Greenham Common airbase in the 80's and I know for sure that Snowhite was totally unaware that her friends skin colour was different to her own or a problem.
I remember being shocked in the early 80's that people started to use the term BLACK (to describe skin colour)in the UK , I was shocked because I didn't want these people to be upset by the reference. How times change!
As I have said before, I remember how as a nation we were shocked by John McEnroe's Mother.............. in the 1970's and now look at us(or listen to us)! I show my age when I use the terms plonker and wally, I know I use them because I don't want to hurt peoples feelings when I insult their bad driving-silly moo.

When I went into the chemist my desire to shout HE GETS it(from Two Pints of Lager) almost seriously got me into trouble. A grandmother with her daughter and grandson were waiting for a prescription and were looking at the things in the shop. The grandson was about 18 months and toddling around looking at things, well every time the grandson went near something(not touching) the grand mother would yell NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO .........................DON'T DON'T DON'T DON'T DON'T DON'T .
I felt a huge desire to yell at the grand mother NO what? and Don't what repeatedly.
She repeated her NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO .........................DON'T DON'T DON'T DON'T DON'T DON'T so much that on leaving the chemist my nerves were so frayed that I felt in desperate need of drugs.
I don't take Beauty to the chemist any more as on the last 2 occasions that we visited together she fell asleep on the floor in the shop by the till and getting her back to the car was a mammoth task. I am also not too keen on her being there when punters have their daily dose of methadone as a number of them have been a little worse for wear from their other drug of choice-alcohol. As a nurse who trained initially as a mental health nurse I am all for treatments like methadone, I just think that giving it out so visibly in a chemist is an issue not just for me but for the punters. A little bit of discretion would go a long way in this kind of situation.

RAINDROPS ON ROSES AND WHISKERS ON KITTENS

Memories are the strangest things! I have a really bad memory but occasionally it seems to go in to overload and I can't stop being reminded of things. they say that all the senses can be responsible for prompting memories but I have to say that today's plethora of memories were all produced by plain old sight.
Whilst washing and dressing Beauty this morning I brushed her hair and tied it into one long plait down her back. Her hair was a very short bob when she started school but now it is almost down to her butt. Whilst I was plaiting it I was reminded of a girl who sat across from me in the grammar school when I was 11 years old, this girl had the thickest,shiniest, blackest hair you could imagine and it was absolutely beautiful and I was envious of it. This girl was part of the ELITE(The Mean Girls) in my class but she wasn't mean at all, she was a lovely girl. The actual Mean Girls were MEAN all the time and made you feel like poo. Everybody used to wish that they could be friends with them but looking back I realise they had nothing that I would now want. The girl with the black hair and I were never personal friends but I always liked her and she was always friendly to me. She became a nurse and died of cervical cancer in her 30's and when I heard I was really saddened.

I was deciding what to wear this morning and decided on knee length shorts, a shirt and my CROCS. Nothing unusual about shorts as it is June..........however it seems to have been raining for the last week and shorts and CROCS wouldn't normally be the first choice on a rainy day. Not so. When I was 16(is that really 30 years ago?) I did a pre-nursing course in the Rhondda Valley in Llwynypia and I remember in the winter term it rained a lot and on the days it rained we would never wear trousers, we always wore skirts as the trousers would have got soaked. 30 years......wow I feel old. So I chose the shorts today because it may be raining but it is still quite warm, when I got home I was very slightly wet but that was all. The thought of wet jeans-yuk!

And for the final memory........I was putting on make-up ready to go out and I had a vivid memory of my mother in the1960's always putting on her red lip stick before she went out. In the 60's lip stick was the single most important item of makeup, today for me I would say it was mascara(I have white eyelashes!) . I have very pale skin and due to lack of smoking, drinking and lots of sun screen it seems to have faired quite well and I have had no real need to wear any make up daily apart from mascara. However in the last year I have found that by using a little pressed powder my skin looks 200% better and I only use the transparent shade. I have Rosacea which seems to be the 'curse of the Celts',

It begins as erythema (flushing and redness) on the central face and across the cheeks, nose, or forehead
Rosacea affects both sexes, but is almost three times more common in women, and has a peak age of onset between 30 and 60.

Which basically means that I am getting old!
It seems that certain antibiotics can help but if I can live without them I will. It's not too bad and a light dusting of make up seems to cover most of it.
I had quite pink cheeks the day of my profile picture but at least they are not hideously red.

Amazingly Beauty slept for 9 hours last night! when I finally persuaded her to get into bed at 11pm she fell asleep and was happily snoring in less that a minute and then she didn't want to get up this morning and I had to drag her out of bed at 8 am. Sounds like a typical child to me!
Beauty loved the rain this morning and tried to catch the raindrops with her tongue and her fingers.

PORTION CONTROL

Brilliant news on the healthy eating front(well for me anyway).
I have pretty much eaten a Weight Watchers diet for the last 5 years and I have lost about 4 stone but I have always had a problem with portion control, which in plain English means that I eat too much. So I have tried to adopt the Buddhist ideal of eating until satisfied but not until I feel stuffed. I take my medication first thing with toast and juice and then I eat three medium bowl sized meals a day, an amount I once saw a Buddhist nun describe as adequate and it is. I also snacked twice yesterday on raw carrots and mushrooms.Snacking is also my downfall but I do love carrots and mushrooms and tomatoes.Anastasia bought me new scales as a present and they have accurately(my last scales were rubbish) told me that I have lost 2 1/2 pounds. I am thrilled, thank you Anastasia.


GETTING YOUR KNICKERS IN A TWIST

LET THEM EAT CAKE(AND LOTS OF BREAD!)

Many things have happened in the world in the last few days that have made me re-assess the ethics and beliefs of individuals and groups of people and also re-assess the things they do. And I always seem to come back to WHY and not come to a logical answer which my brain can comprehend. I was searching the internet and came across this quote on a website that discusses all thing BUDDHIST

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
~ Steven Weinberg

It is now 5:20 am and Beauty is WIDE awake and watching Winnie the Pooh videos on YouTube and she is bouncing around as happily as Tigger........AND singing Christmas Carols! Please sing some disney songs and record them on YouTube Belle , Beauty and I would love it. A friend in Beauty's class also has sleep problems and the other night was awake at 1am, stayed awake until school time and stayed awake all through school! All I can say is that I hope his poor mum caught up on her sleep when he was in school. Lack of sleep makes me physically want to be sick, sleep deprivation is not a nice thing.

Here are some of Beauty's friends.

Well according to the following report my love of bread and all carbs means that I am less at risk of bowel cancer.

Low-carb diet 'cancer risk' claim

Low carbohydrate dieters can eat larger amounts of meat

Low-carbohydrate diets may increase the risk of people suffering bowel cancer, scientists have claimed.

Researchers from Aberdeen's Rowett Research Institute believe there is a link between eating less carbohydrate and reducing cancer-fighting bacteria.

The Rowett study saw 19 overweight men given three diets containing different levels of carbohydrate.

Low-carbohydrate diets, such as Atkins, have their critics, however supporters say studies have shown effectiveness.

In the long run, it is possible that such diets could contribute to colorectal cancer Prof Harry Flint Rowett Research Institute

The researchers said they had discovered a link between consuming carbohydrate and the production of a fatty acid in the gut that protects against colorectal cancer.

The acid, called butyrate, is produced by bacteria and helps kill off cancerous cells.

The researchers said they found low-carbohydrate regimes could cause a four-fold reduction in the cancer-fighting bacteria.

BUT

A high carb diet puts me at risk of the following

A high-carbohydrate diet increases the risk of heart disease.

* THE STUDY AND RESULTS

Harvard University researchers surveyed 75,521 women between the ages of 38 to 63 participating in a larger Nurses' Health Study. The women did not have any history of diabetes or heart disease. Using dietary information the women provided, the researchers calculated a value they called the glycemic load for each woman, based on the carbohydrate content of the foods consumed and calculations of how that food would increase blood sugar. The calculations also controlled for the amount of fat the women ate. Ten years later, 761 women had developed heart disease, 208 of whom had died from the disease.

AND

A High-Carbohydrate Diet With Added Sugars Doubles Your Risk of Breast Cancer, Says New Research

AND

High carbohydrate diet implicated in pancreatic cancer

Just GOOGLE The Risks of a High CarbDiet and be impressed at all the research that has been done in this area.

JUST REMEMBER

Research proves that research can prove just about anything

A new book pays tribute to winners of the Ig Nobel Prize, writes Mark Egan in New York.
Why do teenagers pick their noses? Why does toast usually fall buttered side down? Frivolous questions perhaps, but to Marc Abrahams, this is serious work.
Abrahams is the founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes. Like the Nobel prizes, which laud the world's brightest minds for writing top-notch literature or making the world a better place through scientific achievement, the Ig Nobels are awarded once a year.
Since 1991, Abrahams has been handing out prizes to people whose achievements "cannot or should not be reproduced".
One of the first winners was the former US vice-president Dan Quayle, who took the education award for "demonstrating, better than anyone else, the need for science education". Among the gaffes that won Quayle his Ig were: "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
Now Abrahams has compiled a book, The Ig Nobel Prizes: The Annals of Improbable Research, which offers insight into some of the most bizarre research ever presented with a straight face.
Among the classic research recalled is a scientific paper penned by three Scottish doctors entitled "The Collapse of Toilets in Glasgow". After three patients in six months showed up in their emergency room with injuries sustained while sitting on lavatories, the intrepid doctors decided to investigate.
"Excessive age of the toilets was implicated as a causative factor. As many toilets get older episodes of collapse may become more common, resulting in further injuries," the doctors wrote in their groundbreaking 1993 paper.
"An obvious way of using a toilet without fear of collapse is . . . not to sit down, but to adopt a hovering stance," the paper offered by way of a solution.
For Abrahams, the key to winning an Ig is to have produced something where "the only reaction that is at all reasonable is that it makes you laugh and you think about it afterwards."

And there was me looking forward to eating copious amounts of bread again.

WHAT A STAR!

I was truly shocked at this story that I received as an email today. How can anyone possibly behave in this way? The photos are truly shocking.
Baghdad Orphanage Horror

When trying to get Beauty to bed this evening we had her new routine DRINK-CRISPS-ICE CWEAM-definitely getting to be a lot cheekier than her sisters.
Beauty is such a little star, we love her very much.

WHAT YEAR DO YOU BELONG IN QUIZ

You Belong in 1954

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

FROM INSIDE THE CROCKERY CUPBOARD!

Beauty went to sleep late and awoke early and when she got up she immediately wanted to watch Joseph on video! I am definitely going to have to sort out some new videos for her to watch, we have hundreds and we seem to be stuck on this one. I do like the Joseph video but I don't want to start feeling about Joseph the way that I feel about Barney. I remember as a child that children's TV was on for about half an hour or maybe even an hour in the morning and then from approximately 3:30pm in the afternoon until 6pm(I am talking about the early 60's!), too much TV may be a problem but not having it when you need it is also a problem. Beauty is very good at regulating herself and watches TV, plays on the computer, plays with her books and toys and plays in the garden. It must be a nightmare years ago when children would constantly ask 'WHAT SHALL I DO NOW'? I remember asking it myself. I am so grateful that Beauty can do all the things that she does because I know children with autism who cannot spontaneously play with toys or books or watch TV and their lives must be so limited. I remember working at Ely hospital in the late 70's and the lives of people with learning disabilities was so much more limited then. We have definitely made advancements for the better.
Yesterday evening(after watching Dr Who of course!) I took the girls to their father's house to drop off presents for father's day and whilst they were inside I took Beauty to get a McFlurry . I explained where we were going and what we were going to buy and she was so excited, bouncing and flapping and smiling and laughing that I am totally convinced that she knew where we were going.
It was Runningman's birthday on Saturday, he was 60 and we bought him a Jig Saw, a Sonic Screw Driver(well a battery operated one-if only sonic screw drivers really existed) and a trowel set for the garden. Remember he has retired once already( from the health authority) and now is working AGAIN(he loves work!) he intends to retire at 65 from the bank though I am sure he will work until 70 if the bank will let him!

Cleaning in the kitchen last night I realised that everything tells a story, even my dishes! Believe it or not.
My reflecting started when I was drying and putting away this plastic plate after Beauty had used it and I realised that it is the one that Anastasia mentioned a little while ago, the girls ate all their meals off plastic plates when they were younger because I had only one set of dishes and I couldn't afford to replace them if they got broken. I remember her saying how she remembered eating off plastic plates at 15!



This is a bowl from that BEST SET.



This is a mixing bowl that the girls bought me as a present. They bought it because I said that it reminded me of the bowls that we used in cooking lessons in the grammar school in the early 70's.



This mixing bowl I bought in the 80's, everything in my kitchen at the time was red(what was I thinking?), it is still used daily!



This Portmeirion pot I bought when I was first married to husband number 2, he has been dead almost 10 years.



A selection of mugs in my china cupboard, most came with Easter eggs inside.At Easter I used to buy the girls eggs and something they could keep, over the years I have bought T shirts, jewellery, soft toys and mugs



A dish from marriage number 3.



Latest acquisition, a brilliant bowl for cooking as you have a handle to hold onto whilst you are cooking.Bought in Dunhelms , my most favourite shop at the moment.



Beauty's Blue Cow plate.She loves Blue Cow.


Beauty's Tweenies plate. Beauty loves Jake



And of course an IKEA children's plate, we buy lots of thing in IKEA- the discount helps!



I know what you are all thinking, first the basket collection, now the dishes..........what next?
Did I ever tell you about the duvet cover collection? My airing cupboard is full of them, from Man United to Tweenies, from Dolphins to Noah's ark we have it, they mostly came as birthday or Christmas presents. I am looking forward to grand children so I can pass them on..........perhaps one day I shall make you all suffer seeing those. We shall see.