RECOVERING FROM CHRISTMAS

HI EVERYONE,
it is amazing the difference a good nights sleep can make.
Whatever bug we have had this time has been quite debilitating but I feel that at last I may have turned the corner. Although Beauty has been ill she has not been too bad as she has managed to play as much as ever AND make lots of noise! Especially with her beloved cartoons.

Because Beauty was unwell on Christmas Eve we were unable to visit the family grave but we managed it yesterday and for my sister and my girls who couldn't get there as they live so far away, here is a slide show of pictures that we took on the visit. Whilst the Day of the Dead Celebrations see graves decorated on the 1st and 2nd of November, traditionally in Wales we decorate graves at Christmas and on Palm Sunday which in welsh is called Sul A Blodau which roughly translates as Flower Sunday.

Due to illness,Christmas Day was spent opening presents, cooking ,eating,watching television and SLEEPING....as the following photographs prove!

See.....it's the men who can't take the pace!


Ariel's young man and Anastasia's friend.

CHRISTMAS IS AS FAR AWAY AS IT EVER WILL BE.....My father's Boxing Day message-every year.

WHY WE WATCH SOAPS ON TV AT CHRISTMAS.....
because they make your own family life look like LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE!

Though for entertainment value , the best thing on TV was the Dr Who Christmas Special(filmed in Cardiff). Most entertaining moment was Kylie describing the area around St John's Church/Burger King as ' beautiful'..... and the Queen running out of the palace complete with curlers and corgis.


We also love Clive Rowe previously of Tracy Beaker and Magic Card playing mate Of SnoWhite's friend, he is so funny and such a good actor and really added to this years Dr Who Christmas Special.


Beauty managed to open three presents before losing interest and returning to Noggin!
Her favourite present appears to be a fairy rabbit in a tutu!

Santa brought her a Doodle Pro

She absolutely loves Doodlers and has previously had 2 Fimbles Doodlers and the brilliant thing is they go everywhere with her and they keep her really entertained. I think I should buy one just to keep in the car.
And from PianoMan she had a Silver Cross pram


Beauty is still not brilliant at pretend play and so we thought that a pram might help, a very STRONG but DURABLE pram due to Beauty's ability to destroy anything.Also due to the fact that I have 3 daughters in their 20's, it will also be something my grandchildren can use!That is one of the problems with my house, it just isn't big enough because my girls will not let me throw anything away as they love ALL of Beauty's things so much that they want them for their own children. I have a basket of things that I have collected that came from my niece, toys , baby clothes and baby bedding that are still in perfect condition that we are going to give her as a present as she is pregnant with her first baby,She must be 30 now.

Runningman bought Beauty Shrek the Third,she hasn't opened it yet but perhaps that is a good thing because if she had it would be on constantly and I mean CONSTANTLY.



Whilst Anastasia had, amongst other things


A Welsh T Shirt



Belle had a Welsh Rugby Shirt
Whilst SnoWhite had GHD's!
Ariel had a Star Cath Kidston Dressing Gown
and Fiona had a lot of FRUIT stuff!

And I had an electric pencil sharpener.......!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY

Now I know why I threw away all my really old and tatty bedroom carpets and painted the floorboards white.....I spent all last night awake with Vomiting Veronica. I have the feeling that illness I have had for 2 days wasn't a migraine but some sort of bug as Beauty has spent the night being sick.....everywhere!My washing machine is humming along nicely with it's 2nd load of the day as I try to wash all the bedding and clothes used during the night. Beauty ended up wearing a sparkley green t-shirt of mine whilst I finished up in a summer dress that I haven't worn in many years. I can tell that she is unwell because even though we are downstairs she has taken to the sofa and looking very sorry for herself but still giggling and chatting about the Disney Channel!I am feeling a little better today and any headache or sickness I might still be feeling is probably down to lack of sleep.I know I said I enjoyed being a night nurse BUT that was when I got to sleep in the day and I can't see much of that happening today.
However, I think that tomorrow I shall call upon the skills of my little IKEA restaurant workers(SnoWhite & Ariel) and my little Baker(Fiona) to help me prepare lunch .

I AM AN IDIOT!

I went to pick Runningman up from his social club last night, I pick him up each Saturday night and drop him off at his flat so he doesn't have to catch the bus(which are not reliable). I usually stop at a local shop to pick up a few groceries etc and last night was no different EXCEPT for the fact that I got my finger stuck in a charity box! I put my change into a Red Cross Collecting Box next to the till but the coins would not go down so I pushed them quite forcefully and got my finger stuck in the opening of the box. Imagine it ...I am stood at the till with a collecting box hanging from my finger!IDIOT!

Thankfully I knew the staff in the shop or they may have thought I was trying to steal the box or as SnoWhite so eloquently put it, they may have thought I was ON THE ROB!

SnoWhite and Ariel will finish work today for Christmas as IKEA is a Swedish company and their main celebration day over Christmas is Christmas Eve so the store will be closed tomorrow. We will be going to visit my parents grave tomorrow to decorate it and then taking the presents to the in-laws.So Anastasia and Belle if you want me to put a note or a photo or something on the grave then email it to me and we will put it with the rest of the things. I could photocopy your card Belle so if you want to send a personal message on it ,then email it to me.
Just to let you know THE PHONE IS FIXED - Brilliant news.
Have fun.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

I am busily cleaning the house for Christmas even if it is not as fast as usual,my joints seem to have slowed down due to the constant cold but I am slowly getting there.Last night I took Fiona and SnoWhite shopping in Tesco Extra on Western Avenue and it is a BIG shop, well it was so large that after finding the biscuits that I needed to finish a Christmas Hamper I had to go and sit on the seats behind the tills as I just couldn't walk anymore. I left Fiona and SnoWhite to happily wander and buy their Christmas presents.Tesco did not seem as bad as usual due to the fact that all the tills were open and things seemed to be moving pretty quickly , I think that when I go shopping next I will definitely have to use a shopping scooter.

Recently , after not having watched the show in a long time, I have taken to watching Eastenders again!(SORRY). I tend to do my artwork whilst sat at a small folding table in the living room, so I tend to have the TV on plus I am needing to take more rests between activity so overall I am sitting down more - well that's my excuse and I am sticking to it.
I know it's only a story but the whole homelessness issue with Billy and Honey and the children is making me angry. They have been evicted from their flat because Phil Mitchel sold the house and the new landlord wanted double the rent and Billy couldn't afford it and they were thrown out on the streets without the landlord going through the courts.
Billy and Honey
First of all I would like to punch Phil Mitchel in the head(who wouldn't?) for selling the house and being so unsympathetic but most of all I am angry that situations like this can still happen in the 4th richest nation in the world. Billy may not be the sharpest tool in the box but he works as hard as he can but he always seems to get the bum deal. As with Special Needs Education, I think many areas of the social care system benefit those who SHOUT THE LOUDEST.
I watched a program the other night on TV Called Growing Up Skint

Growing Up Skint follows the lives of young people in three cities around the country. However different their family lives and ethnic backgrounds may be, they all have one thing in common: a chronic lack of cash.
Yet despite missing out on what many families take for granted - school trips, books, birthday treats and holidays - we'll see how they try and defy the odds to succeed and survive.

I really feel that the system does not help and encourage those who really want to work hard and provide for their families.

When I grew up in the 60's my family were very poor due to my father's ill health and times were really hard but after watching Growing Up Skint I can honestly say that for many today the situation is no better and I would say for many a lot worse.

IT'S COLD OUTSIDE.

I think it must be to do with my advancing age but I think that my memory is playing tricks on me.The temperature at the moment appears to be hovering around the freezing mark and goes down to as much as 6 below at night and has definitely not been this cold at this time of year for quite a few years or is it just me getting confused?

Wales in Winter

This picture of Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff was taken by Mike Roberts while walking through Hailey Park.

Fiona has a new room.....a study to be exact,Fiona's room is the smallest in the house so she has now taken the other tiny bedroom as a study. I awoke last night at about 4am to what sounded like an explosion-the door to Fiona's study would not open and she was kicking the poop out of it to try and open it! The door is a bi-folding door because SnoWhite used to sleep in the room and the room was so small that an ordinary door was just not suitable and so we put in the folding door to allow more space in the room.The door it seems would not travel properly on the rails on which it is mounted.
Beauty slept through it all!

I TRULY LOVE GOK WAN.

Now this is why I will NEVER go on a BIG WHEEL!

Children's big wheel 'nightmare'

Primary school children were stuck on a big wheel for 45 minutes when a winter treat turned into a "nightmare".

The Wheel of Wales at Cardiff's Winter Wonderland attraction, stopped during the evening while checks were carried out on the doors of all the gondolas.

A choir from Ysgol Gymraeg Coed-y-Gof were among those stranded as the passengers were slowly taken off. One parent described it as a "nightmare".

Cardiff Council, which runs the city centre attraction, apologised.


I LOVE GOK WAN!
Gok Wan is one of the nicest guy's on TV.
On his show How To Look Good Naked a girl who hated her butt was asked to look at the butts of 5 women and to guess where she thought in size she would come in the line up. She put herself as a lot bigger than he actually was and so did I!
I put myself at about half way and it turned out that I was a full 5 inches smaller on the butt than the smallest of the girls in the line-up. Now that is better than any Christmas present that money can buy!

Gok Wan

My feet are so cold this winter that I have bought myself a pair of UGG boots to wear as slippers from where else but Peacocks,one of my favourite shops.And why do I like Peacocks? Because I can park right outside the shop.
Not the branded Ugg boots(though I think they look so amazing-sad or what?)but the cheap synthetic version, I just couldn't wear dead sheep on my feet!I always wear shoes that are synthetic because of being a vegetarian but I do have a leather belt that I bought a while ago and I feel bad about having it in my wardrobe but what do you do with it? I keep it because(sorry if this sounds a bit naff)some animal died to make it and throwing it away seems worse than wearing it!Yes I hear you all saying WHAT A WALLY!

Now what do you think of this amazing card?
You so have to check out the Santoro London website.
Beauty received this card from Anastasia's in-laws in Switzerland and it is so beautiful.The card is a tri-fold and The London Eye and the Helicopter blades rotate and the helicopter is suspended, I think it is stunning. Thank you so much.
Beauty plays constantly with some boxes of blocks that came from Geneva, they are German made and they were Dimitri's when he was little(he is now 26) and his little brother gave them to Beauty when as a teenager his mum said he was too old for them.Beauty loves to stack them and line them up but Fiona has been known to build with them too(she once built a convent for a wind-up nun that belonged to SnoWhite!).

TIS THE SEASON TO BE FREEZIN

I am so not a technically minded person yet NTL are driving me to distraction, my house phone has not worked for 3 days (Internet fine!)and neither have many of my neighbours but NTL insist there is nothing wrong and they will send out an engineer .....on Christmas Eve! They are forcing me to get my mobile phone working and I can barely turn the thing on and off I am so useless.I have the sincerest desire to throw my mobile at the first passing Virgin/NTL van.

It is pretty cold here at the moment, obviously not as cold as the parts of the USA and Canada that are experiencing pretty extreme weather but the wind is making it pretty nippy and whilst the temperature is hovering around freezing, the wind is making it feel a lot colder.
In the winter I wear large square shaped scarves, folded into a triangle and worn a bit like an hijab with a fringe but instead of leaving the ends at the front I pass them round the back and tie them in a double knot.


Hijab
link
This is how I look(well not quite as pretty but you know what I mean).













I do this so the scarf is more like an 80's 'snood' and when I go into a building I can push the scarf back and it looks just like a scarf around my neck.
Snood
link










However ,I am totally aware that it does look a little like an hijab and complete with my fitted black coat and jeans I do look like a westernised muslim women.
Yesterday I felt like Harrison Ford in the film Witness,
due to problems with the car I had to walk Beauty to and from school and I passed a number of local women walking to the school.Due to the biting wind I was holding my scarf tightly to my head and my scarf really must have look an hijab and I was also wearing sunglasses due to the strong sun.
Well, both women stared at me all the time until they passed me and even when I went to cross the road and turned to check the traffic, one was still looking. I really wanted to ask them if there was a problem and I know I could have been over sensitive but it really felt an uncomfortable situation.
I really do feel like I am from a different age, I wear a head scarf because I hate my head getting cold.The women I passed were wearing skinny jeans with pumps/ballet shoe type footwear with no socks, little thin bomber jackets with no hats, scarves or gloves and they looked really, really cold.
I am sorry but when I get cold fashion has nothing to do with it.
I am sure girls you will be pleased to hear that unlike Harrison Ford in Witness I did not punch anybody!

After reading yesterdays post by Mother of Shrek I came to the conclusion that I am so missing out by not reading so many books lately.I used to read all the current releases but I haven't read a new book in ages.Let's hope that I receive a book for Christmas to get me going.
I think that it must be to do with thinking about books that I have read that last night I dreamed about the book The Time Traveler's Wife and I dreamed that Beauty suddenly gained the ability to time travel And be invisible!
Imagine giving those abilities to a profoundly autistic 7 year old.....now that would be interesting!

TO BULLY ON NOT TO BULLY, THAT IS THE QUESTION

I have heard it said a number of times that 'the bullied become bullies' but I do not believe that this has to happen Looking back over my life I can remember a number of incidents which I was involved in which were probably bullying.When I was about 6 I 'accidentally' bumped into a girl in the playground,' on another occasion I made a comment about a boys weight(I think I was about 8), on another occasion something happened which was a misunderstanding and the other person got upset and I think that I was more upset than they were and finally I made fun of a girl in school when I was about 14 but it was only the once. I am so getting old because I can clearly remember the incidents in my life that might be considered as bullying but I cannot remember sometimes that happened a week ago!
In primary school, secondary school, nursing and even church I was bullied. In school I was bullied so badly that life did not seem worth living and I even left my initial nurses training because I was bullied by a fellow student.In the secondary school I was bullied by 2 girls who were huge, they were so big they made Pat Butcher look positively waif like. Looking back with the experience of adulthood I would deal with the situation differently but looking back, when I was 14 the threats of violence from 2 amazonian type girls was very frightening..
Now I can hear the cogs in your brains whirring and thinking NOW WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?
Well I'm back again to Cyber Bullying.
What is wrong with people?
Are their meds not working?
Did they just get out of bed on the wrong side?
Or are they just plain mean?
Stereotypically we think of bullies as thick and ignorant people but on the Internet the biggest bullies seem to be quite intelligent people.
I have just witnessed some cyber bullying, I will not name the person as it will only give them the attention they obviously crave but anyone who usually reads my blog will not find it difficult to find out what I am talking about.
Life is way to short to get your jollies by being mean to other people.
OK you may have been bullied as a child or even as an adult, your life may have been poop but does it really make you feel better by treading on the feelings of others?

LAST NIGHT I HAD THE STRANGEST DREAM.....

Dawkins: I'm a cultural Christian

Prof Dawkins said atheists were not a threat to Christian traditions

Scientist Richard Dawkins, an atheist known worldwide for arguing against the existence of God, has described himself as a "cultural Christian".

He told the BBC's Have Your Say that he did not want to "purge" the UK of its Christian heritage.

The comments came after Tory MP Mark Pritchard accused "politically correct" people of undermining Christmas.

Professor Dawkins, author of the God Delusion, added that he liked "singing Carols along with everybody else".

The article concludes with

He added: "I fully recognise the full historical and cultural significance [of Christianity] in our country.

"We should all be aware of that and celebrate that."

And the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, said schools were wrong if they thought celebrating Christmas excluded children who were not Christian.

He said: "Christmas and the celebration of Christmas in this country, though it is a religious festival, is one in which people who are of no religion - or other religions - can share."

I also feel this way.
Because I do not believe in God does not mean that I want to take religion away from people, I think that religion is a huge power for good. The religious festivals are also a large part of our cultural heritage and as such should be remembered and celebrated.I have read many instances in the UK of how Christmas and other religious festivals are being marginalised so as not to cause offense to the peoples of other religions in the UK. I think this is totally wrong and we are meant to celebrate our diversity.

When I went to Turkey, being awoken by a CALL TO PRAYER was what happened in that country and any suggestions of stopping it to prevent causing offense to non-Muslims would have made me angry.When I go to Spain I love to see all the shops with Nativity scenes in their windows, I was pleased to see quite a few shops with Nativity scenes in Cardiff's shopping centre when I visited last.
At Beauty's Nativity play Whoops a Daisy Angel the audience consisted of many Muslim parents who all seemed to enjoy the play very much and if they had not wanted their child to participate then they had the chance to opt out.

At the school play I talked to Beauty's best friends mother, they are African Muslims who have lived here for a number of years due to to the fact that there is war in their country and they cannot go back. Beauty's best friend is high functioning autism and so he is extremely bright and questioning and this year he asked if they would be decorating the house for Christmas.

I explained to his Mum that in the UK we have celebrated at this time of year(any historian who wants to correct me-not a problem)back to pre-Christian times, the winter solstice and the fact that the longest day of the year is over and the days are getting shorter. I also suggested decorating the house for Eid-al-Adha-The festival of Sacrifice, the festival that marks the end of Hajj. She thought that this was a brilliant idea and she will be decorating her house with snow and other non-religious items.Beauty's friend thought this was great and when he asked his mum if they were going to decorate she said 'Of course, Christmas is for everyone'.

Again, as Richard Dawkins said

He said: "Christmas and the celebration of Christmas in this country, though it is a religious festival, is one in which people who are of no religion - or other religions - can share."
Christmas is a time to share and for families to be together, and I as a humanist will be celebrating it within the cultural traditions of my country or any other traditions that bring us all closer together.

Oh as a by the way, Anastasia bought me a copy of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins as a Christmas present one year and it was very good,
Thank you Anastasia.

Last night I had another of my crazy dreams!
Due to the fact that I do not sleep very well, I do not get a lot of deep sleep so any dreams that I have i seem to remember quite vividly.
I dreamed that Anastasia had been doing missionary work for the church she belongs to and had been gone for 18 months doing this work-not a chance!I do not think that I or Dimitri would be too pleased with that idea.
Now if I had dreamed that she had done a VSO year abroad that would have been totally different. I have never been too enthusiastic about people who go away JUST to SPREAD THE GOSPEL but if they were to go to Africa to help build wells etc AND talk about their religion, that sounds good.I have also thought that Health Educating in needy areas sounded good or working in a homeless hostel in Cardiff but going away just to preach doesn't do it for me.
I have also found the thought of Enclosed Orders a bit worrying but if it floats your boat then who am I to criticise.
However, the one most likely to get itchy feet is SnowWhite, she is presently considering working in Special Needs Summer Camps-who can tell where she will be next year? She has friends she went to school with who are currently living in Israel(one is doing is national service) so she could end up working on a Kibbutz!

BEAUTY WAS AN ANGEL.

Yesterday was the school Nativity Play and Beauty played one of the many of the little angels. She is the only little girl in her class so she looked really sweet dancing around with all the little boys.I bought her a new dress to wear, it is the princess dress from Enchanted and she looked an absolute picture. Due to the rules about not taking pictures of the other children in the school I do not have a photo yet but I will post one as soon as possible.
We all want to go and see Enchanted and so we might go as a family,Beauty has never been to the cinema before so that will be something to look forward to but as she absolutely loves the dark I am hoping we will not have too many problems.I have seen clips from Enchanted on the Disney Channel for a long time now and it looks very funny.
I was also thinking about taking Beauty to see the pantomime Snow White in the New Theatre, Gwen's boyfriend from Torchwood is in it which means that the older girl's would love to see it too.
One thing we will not be doing this year though is going on the Big Wheel at the Winter Wonderland. This year it is not just a Big Wheel but a BIG WHEEL, obviously not as big as the London Eye but big enough to scare me and all the girls into saying IT JUST ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

I shall stick to the carousel with Beauty!

I WAS TAGGED

I have been tagged by Steve from Bloggertropolis.

"When people say 'Christmas' you immediately think..."

Post Christmas dieting-sad but true.
I also remember the total belief I held as a child that Jesus was born that night all those years ago and I would love more than anything to return to that child like belief.Presents were never really that significant as I was growing up but the spiritual aspect of Christmas for me was definitely the most important thing.

"Favourite Christmas memory..."

As a child, going with my mother to the local woods to find a small log to make a Yule Log.


"Favourite Christmas song/carol..."

Now this is not so easy to answer.
My favourite carol is IN THE BLEAK MID WINTER-I find it hauntingly beautiful but I also like the children's Christmas song LITTLE JESUS SWEETLY SLEEP.
My favourite Christmas song is FAIRY TALE OF NEW YORK closely followed by the David Essex rendition of WINTER'S TALE.

"Favourite Christmas movie..."

I love the film Scrooged as it is so funny.

"Favourite Christmas character..."
Sadly, due to financial implications, as a child I never believed in Santa but I really loved the Christmas story and I think I liked the donkey best. As an adult, I do love the European Christmas traditions .
In Austria where Anastasia lives, December 6th is the day Saint Nicholas, the giver of gifts, makes his rounds accompanied by his devilish assistant, Knecht Rupnecht, he can occasionally be seen roaming the streets giving sweets and apples to good children while his companion playfully beckons "little sinners" to feel the string of his golden rod.
Spooky or what!

"Favourite Christmas ornament/object..."
Christmas baubles.
I buy the girls a Christmas tree ornament every Christmas, so with 6 girls we have LOTS of tree ornaments.This years theme is stars.

"Plans for this Christmas..."
To do as little as possible.
I love giving presents and I love to see people open them so I am looking forward to that.
I also like to decorate the family graves, whilst South America may decorate theirs on The Day of the Dead,here the graves look very festive at Christmas.I once saw a man pouring a can of beer into a grave!

"Is Christmas your favourite holiday?"
Most definitely.
I like the general overall atmosphere that lasts from November through to New Years Day.
I would hate the thought of it being 'Christmas every day' but it would be so nice for some of that feeling to last all year.
I have tagged the following
Marla,
Elissa,
Laa,
Casdok,
Dave

EVENTS OF THE AWESOME KIND!

Anastasia, Belle and SnoWhite.....there is no need to phone home to check as all is well BUT yesterday Fiona asked me to give her hug!I was flabbergasted.
She also told me that in college she and her friends had been talking about their parents and she realised how good we were to her.Well you could have knocked me down with a feather.....and it was not the outcome of drinking Red Bull or eating lots of sweets and having a sugar rush. I am still concerned that she maybe hiding something like a tattoo or a piercing or a 38 year old boyfriend or she is going to run away and join the circus/Foreign Legion/Peace Corp.

Now I know why I never go into town shopping!
Beauty is an angel in the school play tomorrow and I thought that one of Fiona or Ariel's bridesmaids dresses would be OK but when I took it out of the wardrobe I was shocked to see how cream it really is.So I went into town to the Disney shop to buy an Enchanted dress for her to wear and the dress is beautiful but walking to the shop from the car is such a long way. No wonder I only go to town maybe twice a year, as I was in town I also bought a few Christmas presents. If I can't get their presents from stores with car parks then their sisters will have to do the shopping for me. Whilst I was in the St David's centre I read a sign that said that when all the building work was completed the new St David's centre would be the size of 30(that's right,30) football pitches.That sounds to me like a nightmare.

'WELL THINGS JUST GOT A LITTLE FROSTY'

A very cold night last night- well for Cardiff anyway, I so would not want to be living further north at this time of year.Outside is very frosty and glittery, thankfully sunshine is forecast for all day.
Yesterday I couldn't understand why the car wouldn't work properly and was slow to pull away from stationary.Somehow the Snow Button on the car had been pushed and so the car had generally slowed down for snowy conditions.(which shows how much I know about cars-well apart from watching Top Gear and seeing middle aged men destroy cars!)I did use the snow button once last year when we had a blizzard and the snow didn't melt even under the heavy use of Cardiff traffic but Cardiff is more likely to have rain than snow.I think it is something to do with living on the Bristol Channel.When we stayed in New Orleans it seemed to rain every day but the rain lasted 5 minutes and it dried up straightaway and was gone, a pity Cardiff can't be a bit more like that.

Due to the weather my house is like a laundry,Beauty wipes her hands into her clothes when her hands are dirty-constantly! Yesterday she came home from school covered from top-to-toe in red paint, and then she had to be changed again after eating her tea. Her bedding has to be changed regularly as she still wears nappies to bed and Fiona still baths using 3 large bath towels and changes her clothes every hour! We also have throws over all of the furniture because the furniture is getting a bit tatty PLUS Beauty also gets the sofa filthy. I have seen the most beautiful sofa that I would like but it seems pointless to buy it with Beauty still in destruction mode.I wash the clothes and dry them overnight on a clothes horse/dryer and then finish them off in a tumble dryer, for financial reasons as well as environmental ones.Todays sunshine looks like we good have a good bit of drying weather so I think it is time to wash throws.
On some streets in Cardiff we have a number of pod-type super loos that self-clean after use, the whole of the inside is washed down and dried .I wish my house were like that PLUS I wish that children could also go through the same process.

I had the final mark yesterday for my art project for my AS Level ART and I got an A which I am really pleased with.
For the final piece I did a tree and the marker felt that I could have done more detail into the tree but that was how I wanted the tree to look. I told the lecturer that I would have been happy to have done another painting because I didn't want to add to the painting that I had done but they said not to bother as I had an A and there was no real point.
At present we are doing a portraiture project and as well as my large presentation folder I am also filling a small A5 sketchbook with portraits and the more I do the better I really seem to get. I really do not have much natural talent when it comes to portraiture but I have learnt the techniques and the more that I draw the better I rally seem to get at creating likenesses of people.I am not sure what I should do as a final piece for this project, I have been considering a water colour of my mother but my lecturer thinks a picture of one of my girls might be a good idea.
We shall see.

WILMENTING

I have been unwell for the last few days with flu symptoms after having a flu jab and all I could think was WHAT IDIOT GETS FLU SYMPTOMS FROM A FLU JAB? However, after surfing the web, I have read that it is possible. I have all the symptoms except I can still walk around so it can't be that bad.I had the jab because Beauty has been sick since September with different viruses, she now has a runny nose type cold-well that's something to look forward to as we still have the remains of the last virus that she gave us-an upper respiratory infection that we all still have.Luckily Beauty is rarely very ill will her infections and will take herself to bed if she really feels poorly. She can't be too bad as she broke another 6 eggs last night!~I am going to buy a tub to hide them in so she can not find them so easily in the fridge-or a fridge lock!
I am not sure how you spell the word but there is a word that I have only heard used in Wales- WILMENTING- it means to be into everything and it aptly describes Beauty's behaviour of late. She is into absolutely everything all the time. She cannot be left for a second.
Eggs are definitely her favourite but yesterday she also destroyed a box of SMARTIES Christmas tree decorations. She didn't want to eat them, she just broke the chocolate and broke it into small pieces.AND the pieces were strewn everywhere.
She also loves to scatter the hay everywhere, empty the salt, line up videos and count vegetables(I FOUND A POTATO WITH PINS STUCK IN IT!). She is also constantly turning up the thermostat in the fridge, the piggy boys were not impressed with carrots for supper on Saturday because she had frozen the cucumber.

On to other more important things-TV!
Letitia Dean is out of Strictly Come Dancing and Nicky is out of X Factor,
I really liked Letita Deans dancing and I thought she was good enough to win and whilst Same Difference are a highly entertaining duet-for a stage show or Disney , Nicki deserved to still be in as she is a very talented singer.
AND I watched Robin Hood, Keith Allen is brilliant as the Sheriff of Nottingham-he is so funny. I also feel that Charlie Brooks(Janine from Eastenders) was brilliant as the mother , Robin told her she needed to improve her parenting skills -well she was prepared to cut her children's arms off to make them look like convincing beggars!

Life was so much simpler at Christmas when my girls were younger!
SnoWhite was sure she wanted GHD's for Christmas and Ariel wanted a suit to wear at dressy army events BUT now they are both on the verge of changing their minds.
Fiona has a list as long as your arm so no problem there, Anastasia's and Belle's presents are posted and they will get money and Beauty has a pram and a pile of activity toys all bought and ready.
I have a monetary limit on what I spend on the girls(allegedly) and it usually works quite well.However a nursing sister that I worked with a few years ago would spend £1000 on each of her 2 children every Christmas and I remember thinking at the time that £1000 each was a criminal amount to be spending.With the money I spend on my girls, presents for friends and relatives and food for the holiday period, the total I spend does not come to £1000.
My girls usually choose things that they really need for Christmas and hate too many surprise presents as they do not want to waste their money on unwanted gifts, they are all good girls really.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COMPUTER, A 16 YEAR OLD AND 2 GUINEA PIGS?

Not a lot as far as I can see as they are as emotional as each other!
The 16 year old-well the least said there the better,!
The computer however is driving me totally nuts, it is behaving so emotional recently(a bit like the 16 year old) that I am convinced that a visit to a counselor would definitely help. Again , the computer has gone into it's I WANT TO BE ALONE mode and I spent 15 minutes swapping keyboards and mice(Beauty is still breaking them faster than I can replace them).
AND as for the piggy boys, you walk past them and they go into hysteria mode and scurrying around as if I intended to eat them!
I'M A VEGETARIAN does not seem to convince them!
We are also having ISSUES with Beauty.
Not content with destroying computers(is that an Olympic sport?), she has also taken to destroying eggs.Her teacher thinks it is something to do with a shape sorter game that they have in school where eggs crack in half and there are smaller eggs inside, a bit Matrioska-ish.
Fiona and Beauty have also taken to squabbling together like a pair of 4 year olds, for Beauty that is good news, that she is acting like a 4 year old but as for the 16 year old.....well I did expect her to act at least like a teenager!

We also had a serious incident with Beauty and the rabbit! The other night I couldn't find her but eventually I did, she was in with the rabbit .....playing with the straw in his hutch!
I was convinced I was going to find him dead BUT he and Beauty were fine. They were sat together as happily as an old married couple. Looking back I shouldn't have been worried, If Beauty had tried to hurt the rabbit he would definitely have bitten her and she would have been out of there like a shot.
If she had tried to get in with the piggy boys their hysterical squeaking would have been heard by Belle in Florida and Anastasia in Austria!
Yep, I think Bunny Boy can definitely handle himself, if he were human he would definitely be one of those large but gentle security guards that you respect , a bit like my brother in-law-6ft 4in's, as we say in Wales built like a brick built ****(poop) house but an absolute sweetheart.

Today is post 600-WOW.....who would have thought I would find the time to write so much.

I HAVE LOST MY TREE.

I would love to say that I have been on holiday BUT I haven't(mores the pity).
I also have not been really ill(if you do not count the irritating cough that I have had for over a month now!).
I would like to say that I won the lottery and was busy spending the money but that is also not true.
For the last few days my computer has been 'confused' and would not load(after Beauty messed with it!) and so I left it turned off for the day and when I turned it back on ..... VOILA ! So now I am able to use the computer again. It is is only sitting here thinking about it that I realise that I can go on line with my laptop .....DUH!Oh well!

I have lost my Christmas Tree!
Last Twelfth Night I put it somewhere really obvious so I would know where it was this Christmas and now I can't find it.What a twit!
After watching the film ELF last night, Fiona and I made white paper chains and cut snowflakes and the living room looks really good. I was so impressed with that film, I have never seen the film before or heard anyone talk about it but to me Buddy the Elf was autistic and it was about his family coming to terms with his condition. It was a brilliant film.