BAD BACK.....NOT RAIN.....STOPS PLAY!

I may only be the decorators mate( I help out whilst SnoWhite,Ariel and Fiona do the hard graft) BUT today I am exhausted and early morning meds are not working so I have decided we are having a day off.
PLUS the sun is shining and tomorrow it will be raining!
AND Beauty has gone out with the childminder.


Roath Park

STILL PAINTING!

We are halfway through room number 2.
We had to paper the walls before we could paint but thankfully room 3 only needs painting.
What a wonderful summer.
Decorating!

Today was quite pleasant at 26 degrees but tomorrow will be cooler at about 21 with maybe some showers in the evening-sounds good to me.

This evening we went dandelion picking in the fields behind the ambulance station on North Road just behind the castle, an abundance of leaves and the bunnies and the piggies loved them. There were cricket games and BBQ's and Beauty loved the walk.




We bought Beauty's new school uniform today for September.
A navy pinafore, a grey pinafore, white blouses and a red cardigan and a blue cardigan.
She is going to look so sweet.

DUE TO EXHAUSTION..........

MY BLOG IS CURRENTLY A 'PICTURE BLOG'.
NORMAL SERVICES WILL RESUME WHEN ENERGY RETURNS!




MY CURRENT READ.

NOT A RUDE GESTURE!
BEAUTY'S HANDS AFTER DRAWING AROUND HER HAND AS SIGNATURES ON HER
'HAPPY SUMMER HOLIDAY 'CARDS TO THE BOYS IN HER CLASS AND HER (6) TEACHERS.

THE CURRENT SUMMER 'MUST HAVE'.
CATH KIDSON BAGS FROM TESCOS.
THE TEACHER'S PRESENTS.
PRESENTS FOR THE BOYS.
ARIEL,FIONA AND MYSELF MADE THE CARDS.
ALTO LUSSO , JOHN BARROWMAN STANDS ON THE TOP OF THIS BUILDING IN THE OPENING CREDITS OF 'TORCHWOOD'.
NOT TOO CLEAR,BUT THIS ADVERTISING HORDING IS DISPLAYING AN ADVERT FOR 'CHEAP CIDER', A COUPLE OF MINUTES WALK FROM A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE WHERE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER HAVE ALCOHOL RELATED PROBLEMS.
AND DIDN'T THE GOVERNMENT WANT TO GET RID OF CHEAP ALCOHOL?
NOT VERY SENSIBLE ADVERTISING.
PENARTH PIER, IT STOPPED RAINING ON SUNDAY LONG ENOUGH TO GO FOR A WALK.
BEAUTY IN SOPHIA GARDENS AT A RACE MEETING.

WORK IN PROGRESS..........

PIANOMAN'S HOUSE

I AM ALL PAINTED OUT!

I have spent the last 2 days,with the aid of SoWhite,Ariel and Fiona, cleaning and painting Pianoman's mother's house.
I am exhausted and all I can smell is paint!
I so could never be a painter and decorator.

PUDDLE JUMPING!

Yesterday evening I took Beauty PUDDLE JUMPING in the Bay and there were plenty of puddles!
The Bay was set up for the Weekend Food Festival so there was plenty for Beauty to see when she had finished with her puddles.

AND I am pleased to say that her boots were well and truly waterproof.
Which is more than can be said for my CROCS!


It was nice that the rain had stopped and that the sun had come out.


The grass around the Helter Skelter was absolutely sodden so this weekend I predict a MUD BATH!

The Norwegian Church.
Beauty thoroughly enjoyed puddle jumping.


This puddle was so deep that it came up to my ankles!
I had to run into the puddle to stop Beauty sitting in the water!


As I said yesterday, it may not seem like it but the sun does occasionally shine in Cardiff.
The proof.


Beauty had a lovely time.



As well as these photographic memories, I also caught a BLOODY cold!
Our next excursion will definitely be somewhere dryer.

Fiona is totally convinced that adults are strange creatures(well her mother anyway!).
I belong to Cardiff Freecycle
it is a site where people give things away for free rather than put them into landfill or allow further energy to be used recycling them.
Recently I managed to get an old Singer sewing machine and a portable TV.
As well I respond to peoples requests for items.
This week I gave away some of my jam jar collection to someone who wants to make jam(I left them in a basket by my back gate as I had to go out) and I am also giving away a beginners Guitar book( awaiting collection in the empty but clean rabbit hutch).
Fiona being a product of a disposable age,cannot get her head around just not going to a shop and buying something. I think the leaving things in a rabbit hutch also throws her a bit!
However,in defense of the rabbit hutch, Amazon also uses it to put my parcels in when I am out so I am not the only crazy one.

WORDS,WORDS,WORDS.

I am writing to explain where Beauty found her NEW 9 letter word.....on COUNTDOWN!
The person who uploaded the clip to YouTube described it as a DIRTY WORD but they were wrong,however,it is important to explain where she discovered this interesting new word.....especially to her teachers!
And the word is COPULATED.






Beauty's vocabulary is very impressive, much better than mine was at that age.


At the moment, this is my favourite piece of music to listen to.


Unfortunately for Fiona, I seem to be playing it constantly.
Oh well,payback time for the years that I had to put up with BRIT POP, COLDPLAY,WESTLIFE,BOYZONE,BUSTED AND MCFLY!(actually they were all OK to listen to really!)
Least said about the JAZZ the better!
The rain has stopped but as yet no sun, the weather forecast predicts that the weather will pick up by the end of July. It feels more like late winter than summer.

JUST TO PROVE THAT CARDIFF CAN DO SUNSHINE.

DOING A DINGLE!

I seem to be spending my summer doing Dingle impersonations!



SEE!
A PARKA SHOULD NOT BE A SUMMER ACCESSORY.
The rain is so depressing, every day it seems to rain.
Last night was lovely for the Rose Inn Race and here we are less than 24 hours later.....FISHING IT DOWN.
However, Beauty LOVES THE RAIN, I seem to spend my time avoiding her puddle jumping!

REDWICK CHURCH

THE ROSE INN

BEAUTY

RUNNINGMAN

THE PACK

I am so envious, I wish I could run.

IF I'M AWAKE.....

THEN YOU ALL SHOULD BE!

I remember the late nights and early mornings being in the contract when they were little BUT I'm sorry kid but you are 7!
Please let me sleep a little longer.
I envisage not getting a lot done today and it is the Rose Inn Race tonight.
Perhaps I could regenerate a spare me to get everything done, a new me without mushy joints and damaged bones. I don't want anything fancy, just a back that doesn't feel like it is going to explode with pain after 2 minutes standing or sitting.



Pianoman has a scooter for me,he says his mother won't use it.
I could go shopping in town again and please no Davros comments!

IT IS RAINING.....

AGAIN.
(Sorry I can't stop talking about the weather!)

And it is morning AGAIN.....too early in the morning!
But thankfully Beauty is still asleep.

It is sad BUT YES I do love this song
I know we all have weaknesses and mine is Lifehouse.

David Tennant

Of course we watched Doctor Who over the weekend and SnoWhite was seriously upset that Donna had to lose her memory.
My first reaction on seeing The New Doctor was OH CAN I HAVE THE SPARE DOCTOR and yes I know GET IN LINE. But the thought of 2 David Tenants is very NICE.
Next series is allegedly 2010 which I feel is a long time to wait but we will have Torchwood and David Tenant is also filming other stuff for the BBC so it is not all bad news.
And contrary to popular belief, TV is not my whole life!

SUNGLASSES.....

AND THEIR USES!

Obviously for stopping the sun's glare and avoiding the paparazzi but for me the main reason has to be for coping with mornings better!
My morning is spent doing washing and cleaning and tidying which means a lot of time spent in the garden so I can get away with wearing the glasses as I am in and out of the house so much BUT wearing sun glasses definitely helps to dull the shock of mornings when you have been up since 3am!

I have still not recovered from SnoWhite's moving day and now she wants to go to all the local boot sales to get rid of her surplus stuff(junk!) or as Ziva from NCIS described the contents of a garage sale CRAP IS CRAP!
Yesterday we spent all morning at Splott Market and Saturday we will be going to Bessemer Road Market and Sunday will be Sully Market.

Splott Market is definitely an experience.....Life on the edge!
Remember the episode of ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES where Rodney meets his 'POSH BIRD'
selling paintings in the market opposite his stall?
She described how she was shocked when she saw a woman spit!
Similar but Splott is so much more real.

I AM STILL RECOVERING.....

FROM MOVING DAY!
Well yesterday I simply passed out from the exhaustion of SnoWhites moving day.
My only question is.....where are the seven dwarfs when you need them?
HOWEVER, many many thanks to SnoWhites neighbours who carried all of her boxes up to her first floor flat.

BE GOOD TO YOUR KNEES as you do not want to get to my age and have the agility of a 100 plus year old!


OR YOU WILL END UP WITH ONE OF THESE!





THINGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN- pains in my hips that make me limp at 9 years old IS NOT NORMAL!
Things have so changed since I was a child, if I felt that Doctors were not listening when I told them about Beauty's problems then I would pay to see a private consultant.

FROM WIKIPEDIA
Cyberchondria is a colloquial term for hypochondria in individuals who have researched medical conditions on the Internet. The media and the Internet often contribute to hypochondria, as articles, TV shows and advertisements regarding serious illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis (some of the common diseases hypochondriacs think they have) often portray these diseases as being random, obscure and somewhat inevitable. Inaccurate portrayal of risk and the identification of non-specific symptoms as signs of serious illness contribute to exacerbating the hypochondriac’s fear that they actually have that illness.

I personally think this is not true.
I have learned so much from the internet which has helped with Beauty and as for me, I Google the symptoms and when I get the answers I think BRILLIANT I do not have to go to the Doctor. Which is good because an appointment can take up to 3 weeks.

SIX HOURS IS A LONG TIME.....

EVEN WHEN MULTI-TASKING!
Today Beauty awoke at 3am and the 6 hours until she is in school and I am home again and able to nap is a long time.
When she gets up early I manage to do dishes, washing and tidying up BUT eventually I can manage no more and sit on the settee in a semi-comatose state. However, I now multi-task even in my semi-conscious state.I have always suffered with dry skin, especially on my feet but no more. I now soak my feet for about an hour whilst Beauty sings and dances to the CBeebies music.
I could watch something educational like the news on TV whilst I soak my feet but I am afraid that at that time of the morning my brain is only able to cope with the demands of children's TV!


I sometimes think Beauty and I were given the wrong princess names.
She should have been called Cinderella as she is on the go all the time and I should have been called Sleeping Beauty as all I ever want to do is sleep!


SnoWhite's moving to her new flat is still a work in progress.
Thankfully she has the week off work to sort it all out as any more than that will drive me scatty.
One good thing, I can not reach my ironing board as it is under all her things SO NO IRONING!
Oh well, it isn't all bad!

AGAIN.....

my home is like a laundry!

Yesterday SnoWhite moved out of her flat and today she moves into her new one and so I am washing all her dirty clothes and there is a lot of it.
I did all the driving yesterday so I am exhausted.
This morning I awoke at 8.20am and I was convinced it was Sunday but I then heard the builders at our neighbours house and builders do not work on Sundays. I got Beauty to school in record time and we were only 2 minutes late.


Dining Room
Study




Two of my downstairs rooms are full of her stuff plus the garden is also full.
I can not wait until she moves into her new flat which is ALLEGEDLY today!


Garden


BUT I have managed to keep my lounge clean and SnoWhite free!



SnoWhite's first radish!