Banned

I am browsing at a stall selling all sorts of plants and flowers at our local farmers' market when a customer behind me greets the stall owner with a cheery, “Hullo Deb, nice to see you branching out.”

Bloggie friends – it really does pay to be as nosey as me but not as loud. Yes, I burst out laughing so loudly I think I am now banned from within a metre of the stall.

Charlie says: You are pulling my leg.


Nearly the weekend, bloggie friends!

Jilted

Oh Danny Boy – you promised me
To be mine for all eternity!
So were joking?
Were they all lies?
Cos now you’ve gone and married
Rachel Weisz?

[a riposte to the headline “Bond Star Craig, marries Oscar Winning actress Rachel Weisz")

Charlie says: I am shaken but not stirred.


Last week in June, bloggie friends!!!! Enjoy!!

The Loo Syndrome

Bloggie friends!!

I was absent yesterday as I had a plumbing emergency!

But not to worry – I found what I needed to do via some amazing video clips on the internet, showing me how to tackle the “non-flushing loo syndrome” Ahem!

Ya know – living alone (with Charlie of course!) and being a gazillion miles away from family and friends, the internet has been such a godsend helping me keep my sanity and allowing me to live as independently as possible.

I mean of course nothing beats human one on one contact, but I really don’t think I’d have survived these past 3 and a half years alone without the resource and community that is in virtual land and blogworld!

Charlie says: Please be so kind as to open the door so I may greet the sun.



Enjoy your day, bloggie friends!

Inspirations on the Longest Day

Bloggie friends!

I always say that one of the best writerly inspirations a writer may have is a furry friend.

Charlie teaches me to be optimistic and to seek opportunities in the here and now while simultaneously giving me frequent heart failures.

Here he is staring up at the bird feeder. What you can’t hear are my screams in the background for him to leave the birds alone.


Charlie says: Ooops there goes my snack.



Happy Summer Solstice everyone! Today is the longest day of the year - “when the sun is at its maximum elevation”. (source).

So while I’m all for the sun being around for today for as long as possible, let’s hope the 9-5 work hours don’t drag longer than they should! Ahem!

A Deuce of a Riddle - a (bad) poem by Old Kitty

I wonder if you can guess – what all these explain?

Wet pawprints on the bed

A bedraggled furry head (Poor Charlie!)

A lawn grown green overnight

Not a blue sky in sight!

The answer is simply this

Wimbledon starts today – and so does some serious rain!

(Tis traditional!)
:-)

All pics taken on the Saturday just gone!

The best things in life!

Bloggie friends!

The best thing about attending a conference for work?

The freebies!

Here you will find a Mr Piggy, a crazy pen with fabulous hair - a cube –thingy, a round pen holder that glows - no idea why – a calculator – erm.. a couple of fold up bag thingies… lots and lots of really useful stuff!!

Just don't ask me what the conference was all about! LOL!

Charlie says: I am not impressed with my small shadow.

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! See you all soon!

For those about to ROCK!

Bloggie friends!

In the time I’ve been blogging – lots of writerly bloggers ask each other what music they listen to when penning their best-sellers.

I thought I’d tackle this from a different angle by filching something I saw in the Guardian newspaper yesterday:

The paper asks:

“What music do your pets like?” (article here)

This follows on from reports that some sharks respond to AC/DC (Angus! Angus! Ahem! Of course you all know the legendary Angus of AC/DC?!?!?!).

You can leave comments under the article nominating what kind of music your pet likes!

The cats with taste like Barbara Streisand and Abba (yay!). LOL!

I’m yet to discover what Charlie likes!

Charlie says: I’m a little bit country, I’m a little bit rock n roll.


Oh it’s the middle of the week and yes this is a very silly post, hoorah! I hope you all discover your furry friends' musical tastes!

A Youthful Dark Tale

Bloggie friends!

Did you know this week is National Crime Writing Week?!!? Oh yes it is! In the UK anyway!

Here is a link to 16 year old Claudia Hynde’s winning short story in the Young Crime Writer’s Competition! It’s suitably dark and a really good story too! Yay for her!

I only mention this because she’s young, she’s obviously creative and talented and she uses her local library – she had to, to know of the competition! So double yay for her!

I am using her triumph as my response to the current hullabaloo whipped up by a certain article about how kids can’t handle dark stuff in books. Theresa Milstein has a great post about it and all the links too.

Speaking of naughtiness!! My little bar of Thornton’s Dark Chocolate has the words “Unwrap me, eat me, love me” across the packet. I say, amen!

Charlie says: I bask in the light.



Peace and love to all!

Witty Repartee

My manager: Where’s your report, it’s late.

Me: Eh?

Manager: The deadline was 1st May.

Me: Oh - you meant this year?

:-)

Not to worry bloggie friends, I handed said report and all is well.

It's just that I laughed so much at my witty riposte and she didn’t so I thought I’d share this here instead.

And it is Monday after all!

Charlie says: I listen for the sound of my treat box shaking and food pouch opening.


We hope you are all having a great start to the week!

Patience

Patience is truly a virtue bloggie friends!

I ordered something online and clicked the "send" button - when everything stalled. So I did what I always do when this happens. I clicked on the "send" button several times.

Worried that nothing went through I emailed their customer services who very nicely replied quickly with the following:

***********************
Hi Jennifer,
thanks for your order. Yes, the form is filled out just fine, although it did arrive five times...!
***********************

LOL!!

Charlie says: The cursing and the fish woke me up.



Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

A Critiquer, the Yeti and Shameless

Bloggie friends!!

What’s up with the weather? I’m back wearing my clown jumper and my yeti boots cos I'm cold!



Anyway! :-)

I finally got my little story returned from my fabulous critique-r and lo and behold – he’s only marked one thing in red. Usually my stories are returned covered in red pen marks and suggestions in red ink and lots of phrases crossed out in red, but this time, there was just one tiny edited word.

So I guess it’s good to go to find a home! Wish me luck bloggie friends! Yay!

Charlie says: I still have no shame.


It's so nearly the weekend!!

Habitual habits

Bloggie friends!

One of the most annoying habits I did as a child was to eat the topping off cupcakes then leave the rest of the cake. I also used to just eat all the creamy filling of say, an oreo biscuit, but not the biscuits themselves.

I’d like to think that I’ve grown out of doing such bad things but yesterday, I did exactly one of these.

I bit off the creamy topping off a chocolate cupcake and left the rest of the cake in the packet. I completely forgot that I was at work and only remembered when a scream of “Who the bloody hell left a half eaten cupcake in the pack?” emanated from the tea room half an hour later.

I just hope work people don’t read this blog!

Charlie says: I have no shame either.


Roll on the weekend!

Two Left Feet to the Right

Bloggie friends!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Would you believe it’s already Monday?!?

A little trivia I discovered about myself:

I like my Favourites column to the left of my screen and not to the right. I discovered this fact as I foolishly upgraded to Explorer 9 who decided to move my Favourites column to the right.

My brain could not cope with the move and went into meltdown. Explorer 9 was swiftly uninstalled to protect my sanity!

Do you think it’s because the left side of the brain supposedly likes order and logic while the right is for art and aesthetics?

Either that or I’m an old fogey, stick-in-the-mud and likes things just so!

Charlie says: No mud here, just dirt.


I’m offline on Tuesday, bloggie friends! See y’all on Wednesday and beyond!

Heartsease

Bloggie friends!

Of course we all know what a little extra effort and a lot of tender loving care can do to the most unpromising of situations!

Take these heartsease - all of these were "rescued" from the same hardware shop where I got my hanging basket flowers. They started off as 6 plug plants all wilting and in dry compost. With a pot each and fresh compost and daily watering, they've blossomed.


Never lose hope, bloggie friends! With love and support, you can do it!!

Charlie says: Someone's bed needs tidying.


Have a great weekend!

A Terrible Truth

Bloggie friends!

I’m a terrible person!

I’m all “Whaddya mean you’ve not read my masterpiece 912 worded story yet, Mr Volunteer Critique-er?!? Why haven’t you dropped everything and done so?! Where are your priorities, man?! So what if you have a wife and child to feed?!”

LOL!!

Oh I’m kidding bloggie friends!!! Of course I never said those things, but by golly, I’m biting the skin off my nails and thinking near enough those things! Terrible, just terrible!

Charlie says: Life is good with the fish at the end of my string.


Friday beckons close by!! Yay!

Rude Cacti

Bloggie friends!

Thank you all so much for your input to my conundrum! You are all shining beautiful stars!

I shall be very brave and stick to my little story - it feels complete. Yay! Now off it goes to my reliable critique-ers! Yikes.

Yesterday, I said goodbye to my 12 year old “rude cactus” when I came home to find this:


I called the cactus rude because it grew into what looked like two fingers making a V shape. Ahem.

Charlie says: I am innocent of all cacti massacre and show you my back of disrespect.


It’s the 1st of June! Wow!