Monday, 31 May 2010

The Cinderella Complex

I have the dress:


I have the pair of sandals :

I have the bag:

And all week I have battled a cold, a virus and backache

(if my comments last week were crazy, that’s why!).

I am ready to go for my Afternoon Tea at the Ritz today booked months in advance, costing tons.

But what’s this? What appears yonder on my chin?!?!?

Woe bloggie friends. It’s a ZIT, a PIMPLE, a SPOT!

I am 40 years old and I have a great big adolescent spot on my chin the day of my putting on the Ritz.

Cinderella never had to put with such a thing, why me?!?!!?

Charlie says: I’ll be your puss in pots!

Have a spotless Monday everyone!

Sunday, 30 May 2010

Broods

To ease everyone into Sunday I thought I'd share this pic I saw in yesterday's Guardian newspaper:


It's a parent longtailed tit with ELEVEN of her brood to feed! Now isn't that just lovely for a Sunday? The full story is here.

Charlie says: I like the pic but for reasons best kept to myself!


Now who watched the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest last night?!?!

And if really interested, Germany won (with a very catchy ditty - if you follow the link above you can see the video of said ditty!). UK came last with a godawful song, sang awfully! Oh how I laughed.

Have a sing-a-long Sunday everyone!

Saturday, 29 May 2010

Cows that purr and moths that bask

Yes they exist.

Beautiful bloggie friends, meet a cow-kitty!


A heartfelt thanks to the talented and hilarious Sammy and Andy (and their mama bug!) for this beautiful badge.

And thank you TK and Squashies of Furrever Home for pursuading Charlie to take part! He could be very shy at times but once confident, he's quite a showcat!

Charlie says: "Purr-mooo"

And here is a lovely moth - or is it a butterfly? It was brown and hairy anyway! And it was sunning itself on the wall by my front door just above my lavender pot plant.


I also tried to be artistic and get a photo of bees feeding on my geranium flowers but the little buggers refused to cooperate and buzzed off!

Have a nature filled Saturday everyone!

Friday, 28 May 2010

The Bronte Sisters Rocked!

Dear bloggie friends - we all know that in order to be published the Bronte Sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne) had to use male pseudonyms: Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell to be precise.

But did we also know that they doubled up as the Brontesaurus and er.. well kicked proverbial outdated Victorian attitudes' derriere?

We do now!


Charlie says: No need for violence. I take the zen approach. Any moment now and the door will open to many wondrous possibilities. Any. Moment. Now.

Have a world is your oyster Friday everyone!

Thursday, 27 May 2010

Trying to look hard like Gary Cooper - super duper

Next week Monday, my sister is taking me to have Tea at the Ritz.

For an extortionate amount of money, we have exactly 1 hour and 20 minutes to pretend we are posh and that we do this every day.

Which sort of got me thinking about tea.

Why don’t I drink tea more often? Why do I crave coffee more than a good cup of earl grey or Yorkshire tea? I used to love tea as a child – there were so many ways to make that perfect cup of tea.

My mum’s way was to let the tea brew first then add milk.

Her boyfriend at that time nearly had a heart attack when he saw me do this and said that it was milk first in the cup, then tea bag, then hot water. Needless to say that relationship didn’t last although he was a really nice bloke!

A friend of mine (whom I lost contact with regrettably) was from a Muslim household and she would boil the milk and tea bag together and serve it quite sweet.

Another friend drank only Earl Grey and she had a precise measurement of how much milk to add – too much and it’s spoilt, too little and she’ll send it back.

These days if I do choose tea, it'll be herb tea with honey.

If I ever decide to revert to drinking proper english tea over coffee - at least I could have teapots like these:




Now my next task is to pursuade my sister NOT to wear trainers under her long skirt on the day.

Charlie says: You have tea at the Ritz, I lick the dirt off the concrete. Just as good.

Have a spiffing good Thursday everyone!

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Cut, cut, cut!

You do this with your essays, stories, novels and nails when they ramble, outgrow and waffle.

Oh you do this with plants too.

Today I had to make the unfortunate decision to cut down to two stumps my 16 year old ficus tree.

It was a sad and hard decision to make but unfortunately these horrid pests invaded it:



Bountiful bloggie friends, these are Scales.

I researched how to get rid of these nasty beasts organically, chemically and manually (every day I’d run a wet paper towel on each leaf, each branch squishing these nasty beasties) but these incredible insects just multiplied and went forth!

The annoying thing they do is secrete a honey-like substance not just on the leaves and bark but on the flooring too, killing the leaves and making the flooring sticky.

So out came the secateurs and snip, snip! I feel sad because this plant was 6 inches tall when I bought it for 10p and it grew to over 5 ft.

It came with me to every house move and stayed with me through many relationship break-ups and family trauma. It grew lush and tall while I remained stunted emotionally and physically! LOL!

I’m hoping that in time and with a lot of tlc, it’ll revive soon enough!

Charlie says: About time - my footsy pads were all icky after walking near that plant!

Have a pest free Wednesday everyone!

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

A tail of two halves


There is only one reason why I placed the cheap synthetic pink/cerise/magenta duvet cover over my 100% cotton Laura Ashley bedlinen.

It's a reason Charlie has not quite grasped.

He took one sniff and decided which half was more suited to him. And it wasn't the half I'd hoped for.

Anyway!

I'm trying to take a pronk and get my act together to try and enter the Guide to Literary Agents Dear Lucky Agent contest: Sci Fi and Fantasy. I think I have to mention this contest twice. :-)

Now all I have to do is submit something! LOL! Anyone else entering this? Thanks to Theresa Milstein for highlighting this competition.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!