Saturday 28 November 2009

Pppffff!

I had 500 plus photos on my camera. They were up on the Mac, too. I kept them on the camera as backup just incase anything happened to the Mac. Mac is still pooped.

A pc friendly friend showed my how to copy these photos from camera onto the laptop that a certain someone lent me. It was dead easy. Couple of clicks and they were on. We viewed them. All I had to do was label them...better for patience in the long run, especially when trying to upload a few on to the blog!! Organisation and all that:o)

Well, piccies have disappeared. Gone...Ppfffffff!! Sigh..........

They've also gone from the camera!! Eeeeek

Ho Hum

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Look after what you have:o))

Junior has expressed an interest in reading Harry Potter and then watching the appropriate dvd.

Oh,......if life were so simple!!

Reading is not the problem......bloody crap dvd is!!!

Need to go to and buy dvd cleaning kit!!!! ARGHHHHH!!

Junior is mega Arghhh!! lol

That'll teach her to look after her stuff!! lol

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Stilll Here

We are a tad wet!!

Garden room (posh say for lean-to greenhouse) leaks rainwater when it precipitates!! Still, we are better off than the poor folk up in floodland in Cumbria. I hope it all gets better. What can I say? xxxx

I've tons of piccies to upload but bloody temperamental microsoft laptop is making my life....arghhhhhh!!!!!!! I have tried to get photos up, but me and laptop...not compatible. Just at the wrong time, too. Daughter is into taking piccies, when we are 'unawares'. Those are the best piccies.

Ah well, as soon as I have a spare £60 I will high tail it down to local mac shop to get my baby 'sorted'!! lol It has, apparently, gone into panic mode. Can't even get past the admin log in. Says it's unavailable!! All disks are ejected...a la Harry Potter style!!...pfffffffffffffffff!

Sooooooo, we've been busy. We still have lemon'tinged mogs around the place, meaning that the decorating is still ongoing. Jimbob, Mother's mog, has made friends with next door's mog:o)))) He comes in smelling of nice fabric conditioner!!...and purrs...a lot!

Daughter is beating the pc at Solitaire. I've only done it twice, but she does it on a daily basis.

It's now Autumn....and we are just happy to be at home:o)...making lots of meals, baking and jam making, believe it or not!! With it blowing a gale outside, it just seems 'ok' to be doing this....says she...with a certain Junior...in full view...clipping her toenails, flanked by favourite mogs!!!!

Still can't get her into history of politics. She wants to steer clear of slime balls at this moment in time.

Maybe that 's why I can't get motivated. to blog. All this Balls and Badman crap...and it is crap. Totally. You never know who is watching you..do you????!!

Sunday 15 November 2009

Nosh and Expect the Expenses

Am sinking under a humungous pile of laundry!

How come, when there's only the two of us, that I end up with so much? Washing machine is on at least three times a day....I have stuff on coathangers drying all over the place. Aahhhh...those were the days when ex used to iron anything in sight. There was no stopping him! Give him an ironing board, pile of clothes, can of lager and Match of the Day and he was off!!! Sadly...or not...I do not enjoy this activity..hence lots of washing all over the shop1 lol Ironing board comes in handy, though, as a feline snoozing pad.

We made the Sweet Potato Gnocchi and it is very nice.

I forgot to put the cinnamon in the dough, plus ran out of plain flour and had to stick stome self raising in. Dumplings sort of SWELLED when cooked! lol

I forgot to put the veg bouillon and white white vinegar in, too. (internet conked so couldn't look up the exact recipe details as we were cooking..can't blame it on senility now, can we? lol) But, with a dash of tomato ketchup/sweet chili dipping sauce and some sea salt, it was yummy. We made loads...or rather..Junior made loads. She was responsible for rolling and chopping. I am a slave driver!! We put about two thirds of the amount we ended up with in the freezer for a later date. We made lots of 'sauce' with the chard bit....more like a dumpling soup meal. We used spring cabbage instead of chard and didn't overdook it..just crunchy enough. Only thing I find with gnocchi, is that it can cool too quickly if you don't consume it with a tomato sauce..or fast enough, so warm your eating bowls up:o) Had big bro been here, he would have put a dollop of Vitalite/butter on the gnocchi, which would be nice tastewise.

When we were kids, Mother used to cook loads of pasta (we called in macaron!). Of course, we sometimes ended up with too much. The pasta was usually used up next day/meal...fried up until goldeny crisp...and it is LOVELY like that. Aaah, the good old days:o)

Tomorrow, we start the history of politics. Wonder how long it'll take her to identify a slime ball?...or if she'll pick up the habit of not answering a question directly? Maybe I'll start getting claims for expenses! lol

Saturday 14 November 2009

AHWTFS

Did a AHWTFS blog.

It's blowing a gale here. Lots of rain.

Might see you....bobbing down the road...on my sofa!! lol

Thursday 12 November 2009

Eat

We're a strange lot.

It's funny how people have little quirks when it comes to food, eating strange combinations of the stuff.

When I was little I used to love salad cream sandwiches. The bread had to be the square, polystyrene white type,...this being a novelty in our house because bread was usually of the rye type and unsliced.

Big bro, when he was first married, used to rave about beef dripping spread on a wedge of crusty, white bread, topped with a little sprinkling of salt! Eeew!

Junior has her funnies, too. She doesn't eat the skin off tomatoes or grapes!!

So, this week she has a cold. You'd think a nice soup would be ordered by my little darling...but..no. She wants onion sandwiches. This is something that my mother is responsible for.

Mother, being a widow, now has the freedom to eat what she wants. One of her little inventions is the onion sarni. My boys love them, too!!..as does their sister. Funny little snack.

All it is is thinly sliced white onions...put in a bowl. Then add a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper and.....a little freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. It is better with red grapefruit, not the normal type. Lemon juice doesn't work as well. Mix it all up, cover with cling film and leave to marinade for a couple of hours then slap some in between two slices of bread for you to nosh:o) Mother swears it's good for your blood, hence there always being some of this in her fridge:o) It is nice, have to say, as long as you marinade it for long enough, to get rid of the raw onion taste.

We did take photos, but then the camera batteries passed over into another world, again, but I suppose it doesn't take much imagination to figure out what this dish looks like! lol

We made falafels..or rather, Junior did. (reminds me of a Friends episode..the falafel bit) Were lovely, wedged in a warm pitta bread, with Mother's onion invention...and a dollop of plain yoghurt. Yummy.

Next week on the home ed front and bearing in mind all this Badman crap that we're having to deal with, we are foraying into the world of the history of politics.

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Cold

Junior has a cold.

She is well and truly snotty. Have MOUNDS of tissues...at the ready.

Some of the mogs are sneezing, especially Jimbob. So....central heating is on to keep everyone warm. The mogs don't want cat biccies...they want MEAT and snuggly places to sleep!!!!

Ack.....£30 per week is the cost of this.....the central heating bit, I mean.

So, with J not feeling well, she is knitting. Lots of casting on and pulling out....but she's persevering and is making a face cloth and a foray into making hairbands:o) We might even make marmalade. Nigella Lawson stuff. Homey stuff.

I've told mother to keep away. Cold at her age is a no no. But. she's oblivious to all this...it can't get her...sort of thing. Arghhhh!

Sunday 8 November 2009

The Painters and Decorators are in!

A wise old woman once said, in the not too distant past,..."When painting your bedroom or anywhere else, concentrate on the job in hand.....and keep the cats out!"

Was her advice heeded?

Ack....Nah! No chance.

We now have some exotically multi coloured mogs.

LooLoo is now the possessor of blue-tipped whiskers, Popeye has a lavender coloured back end, Honey Pot has just sashayed down the hall with the latest in lavender moustaches and Tinkerbelle? Ah...could only happen to Tinks. Now sporting a lemon tail:o) Doesn't quite match her brindle colouring. If I'd been her, I would have chosen the Burnt Paprika!! Interior design is not for her:o)

So, must now pretend to stroke and pet my little darlings....one by one, so I can relieve them of thier Dulux emulsions:o)

Next time, lock puddy tats AWAY...far, far away from any decorating! Ignore any looks of "We only want to help".

Lesson learned. Sigh......

So , yes...we have been decorating.

Junior is a vision in lavender and sky blue:o)..as is her newly painted bedroom. She got well and truly "stuck in". Bless...and is and should be, proud of her efforts:o) She painted along to her one and only tape that was in the bedroom and knows all the Bryan Adams tunes pretty well:o) lol She's now in the throes of making a huge collage on canvas for her newly painted walls.

I have de-tangoed the upper hallway from the vile orange that was to a more serene cornmeal yellow. Normally, painting has a relaxing effect for me but this Badman crap has just annoyed me so much. Arghhh! He just strikes me as one sad plonker. Go to Grit's blog for details. She rages about it far more thoroughly and eloquently, or Gill's at Sometimes it's Peaceful. There's also a link to Blogdial on Grit's post. Some of the Select Committee submissions make juicy reading, proving what a farce this all is. Read Tech's.

I have to go and catch a cat or two:o)

Thursday 5 November 2009

This is going to hurt!

If you hear a scream, it'll be me!

I can't put it off anymore.

Today is the day!! It's taken me ages to pluck up the courage. It always does.

I am the not so proud owner of ingrowing toe nails...which, generally, behave and allow me to wear non peep-toed footwear now and again. However, they're giving me jip at the moment (toe nails) and resemble pork scratchings - honest.....not a nice look!!!

Soooo........I'm geeing myself up again..to find courage to trim!! This is not for the faint hearted. I've located and oiled up my industrial strength toe clippers, got the foot spa ready, a rolled rag to bite on ..to stifle any screams of pain and barred all children and animals from the proximity so there is no danger of them being blinded by pinging, exocet type bits of nail.

My life is so exciting!!!!

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Remembering

Another year on.

Today would have been my friend's birthday:o)

He's up there somewhere, floating on a cloud and probably listening to Steeley Dan and beating whoever at some board game:o)

It's sad that he felt he had to leave this 'world' early. He left many broken hearts behind.

I hope he's found peace:o)

Happy Birthday, SJ. xx

PS. I'm still rubbish at chess!!

Tuesday 3 November 2009

We are feeling the cold here. The central heating is on and most of the radiators have a cat nearby, snuggling up, to keep warm:o)

Typically, Junior does not fancy anything hot for tea, like soup....she prefers salad!! lol

Anyway, with the house being so cold, think we are in for a sewing session to make a few draught excluders...and a new kitchen blind to replace the manky net curtains that we have. Nets are such a horrible necessity....stopping people from looking in. Wish I could have black out windows...the same as you get in some cars, so people can't look in but we can look out and still get the light...and have an undetected nosy at things:o) Somebody get inventing!!! lol

I had a little lesson on how to get piccies up on this laptop. So, I gets photos at the ready...then find that camera batteries have conked out!!

Monday 2 November 2009

Yay

Today is a home ed meetup day. Yay!!

It's sunny and breezy....just right for drying washing. I have LOTS to dry. Yay!...as in...won't have to use the tumble dryer.

Home ed meeting is run by very nice persons who know LOTS about non Imac laptops! Yay!

Maybe I can get a little idiots guide lesson on how to get the best out of this laptop and actually get some piccies up on the blog? Yay!

Spent half the night crocheting some long-sleeved, fingerless wrist warmers to keep rickety joints warm. (see Posy Gets Cosy or Attic 24) Nearly done:o) Mine are a little different but, hey, I got inspired!!

Might have lost my cooking mojo, but the crafting one is back! Yay!

Sunday 1 November 2009

Meat and Veg

Went up to the local little supermarket yesterday, armed with ten quid.

The aim was to get,amongst other things, something for tea yesterday and dinner today. We need stuff like washing powder, tea bags, etc, too. Ten quid does not go far, let me tell you. Everything is SO expensive! but you all know that.

Well...I'm a bloody vegetarian so why was I looking at the raw meat counter? Shelves filled up with trays of cut up bodies, some complete with blood! Yuk. I think that, sadly, a few of these 'bodies' would have been walking and living in some of our local fields last week!! You can hear them during the day, the livestock, especially the sheep. And then there's the very local chooks, clucking and cockadoodling away:o)

Junior is not veggie, so that is probably why I found myself there, in meat hell. I look at this 'stuff' and cannot bring myself to buy any. It's the smell of it all, too. The labels all had a 'slaughter' number on!!!!

Anyway, turns out J didn't want meat and had a veggie roast dinner. Me? I have to figure out some tasty veggie dishes for us both. Now the winter heating bills are coming in, I have the vast amount of £25 a week to feed us both on! To cap it all, I have lost my cooking mojo. It's upped and buggered off somewhere!! sigh....

Halloween

We had no trick or treaters tonight. Is this a sign of the times?

Junior spent some of the evening playing solitaire on the laptop and then watched a few Charmed dvds. She's not into the trick or treating stuff...probably because her brother used to scare her when she was younger. Not funny at the time, I know...she'll get him back!! lol...but nowadays she just thinks it's daft...commercial and twisted from the real meaning, etc.

She knows about Santa ...and the tooth fairy....and worries about breaking the news to her brothers. lol

We never 'celebrated' such a thing when I was younger...the Halloween thing, I mean. I suppose Mum and Dad, quite sensibly, thought it was an unecessary evil....scaring your pants off with all that stuff. Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee films were enough for me!! Mum's told me a few tales from her childhood...up in the Carpathian mountains, near the land of Vlad....about children going missing...being found kaput, minus a few litres of blood. Eeeew!

Most people pick romantic dates, like Valentines, etc to get hitched on...and I pick Halloween. What a twit! lol Not surprised it didn't last.

Well, here I am. 3 am...... Junior's in the land of nod. The cats won't settle, neither will the dog.

Eeeeek!!!!!