10 little ducks went swimming one day

We were having difficulties getting down the road as a family of ducks were having an afternoon stroll.

I got out of the car and started to try to drive them back to the water.  If I can herd cats brownies then I can definitely herd ducks. 

They weren't having any of  it.  The smallest one was really struggling, it could only walk about 2 yards and had to sit down.

 

I wrapped it in a jumper and carried the poor wee thing.  Mum kept quacking at me and him, but we got there.

Only to discover the water has gone.  All this green is usually under water.

I'll show you in my next post. 

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Isn't the sky big?!

Isn't the sky big?! I know it seems like an obvious statement, but the evening sky seems even bigger than usual.

Big things happen at this time of year.

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Squatters

This week's Gallery is Home.

I deliberated this topic for a long time.  It would be easy to do a twee photo, I stood in the kitchen and pondered.  And spotted this squatter eating lunch dead (see what I did there!) centre of the window.

I wondered about how many homes are in our homes that we don't even think about.  Spiders, maybe mice, there is definitely a rat working it's way through my marrows at the minute, hedgehogs, house martins, bats.  They all share our home. 

My poor camera couldn't capture the web at all. Time to bring in the big guns 

Fly pie nom nom

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Intravenous Gin

COG was festering in front of Disney XD again.

"Honey, being as you have no homework you should do some of those Maths Boosters, it will save you cramming before the exam"
"Good idea, I will do one"
....
"that would probably involve turning the TV off"
"yes, I am"
.....
"that would mean actually turning the TV off"
"yes, I'm doing it"
......
"Will you be turning the TV off soon, like now"
"yes, absolutely"
......
"turn the TV off"
"yes, I will"

I went for a walk, TV still flickering Disney drivel.  I did, however, come home to too many questions about fractions so win:lose.  Marginally better than lose:lose.

Intravenous Gin is surely the only way to serenity whilst teen-raising.

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It's not me, it's you...

...well actually it's probably me but it makes me feel better to not believe it.

I'm struggling at work with a number of things I need to understand but don't and my breakfast table reading load is getting a little heavy.

Problem is I like reading your blogs more than I like reading Rman Recipes. Will you all just stop being so funny/interesting/good at writing.

So, for a while at least, I've trimmed my blog reading list and my followship and I'm going to try to bury my head in books.

You are allowed to miss me!

In other news:

I spent a wonderful 5 minutes watching a woman trying to park this car in less than 4 bays, she gave up!

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\m/ ABBA?!

HWMBO was in usual weekend position reading Metal Hammer.  The glass changes colour depending on the time of day, but other than that it's pretty static. 

"This week's Gallery is Guilty Pleasure" I said

"What, like liking ABBA" was his too quick response.

Caught you .

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Who speaks for the trees

Whilst out walking I was thinking about the beauty of nature and how lucky I am to be here, that it was as yet unspoilt by developers. As if by magic in the distance I saw a Truffula tree.

The tree dead centre reminded me of a Truffula tree.

If you haven't read to your children the tale of the lifted Lorax, you really should.  Actually, first you should read it yourself.

"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."


It's been a strange old time just recently, so many things I feel have slipped away and that happiness will never be attainable again. It's so easy to feel sad when something is lost.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
— Dr. Seuss

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Who could say no to a man like that...

With this description Ambassador, you are really tempting us....

Saturday night's lonely hearts 'Men seeking Women' surprised me this week.  I always read them, I like to box people into one liners like "awwww", "nice", "shallow" and "desperate" but even as a regular reader this one surprised me.

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RUOK - Depression and Suicide

Did you ever meet Lori?

Lori  blogged before, throughout and after losing her husband.  He took his own life.




Today is R U OK?Day, an Australian initiative:

A national day of action that aims to prevent suicide by encouraging Australians to connect with someone they care about and help stop little problems turning into big ones.

On that day we want everyone across the country, from all backgrounds and walks of life, to ask family, friends and colleagues: "Are you OK?".
Staying connected with others is crucial to our general health and wellbeing. Feeling isolated or hopeless can contribute to depression and other mental illnesses, which can ultimately result in suicide. Regular, meaningful conversations can protect those we know and love.
It's so simple but in the time it takes to have a coffee, you can start a conversation that could change a life.

Sometimes small actions, the smallest effort, make such a difference. Sometimes I get a tweet or a comment from one of you saying 'how are you?' or 'chin up' and it makes a world of difference to think that someone cared enough to ask.    Please take the time today to say RU OK?

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A BHS Breakfast

This week's Gallery is 'A Happy Memory'

My father worked permanent nights, my mother worked days.  This meant there was always a parent at home.  In the school holidays, every Friday Pop and I would drive mum to work then he would take me to British Home Stores for a cooked breakfast.

I loved the 'one sausage or two question'.  I don't know why!  I just did.  After we came home, he would sleep and I would read mainly.  It's what we did on a Friday.

Of course I don't have a photograph of it.  Who would think to take one of something so mundane and regular.  But I have spent a whole weekend pondering a happy memory and whilst thinking it should be one of my weddings (!) or at least the birth of my daughter, even the euphoria of those days doesn't quite touch the happy, warm, familiar, closeness of those breakfasts. Just me and him and a sausage or maybe two.

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The Golden Rule

I absolutely adore this time of year. There is something special to me about the light, the chill in the evening air, the smell of fires, the changing colours in nature. I sat the other day looking at a view of our beautiful countryside and musing over how very lucky I was to be here and how this was the most special time of year.

 HWMBO disagreed, in his opinion nothing beats summer. It seemed so strange that he couldn’t see that Autumn was clearly the most special time. This led me down the path of pondering other peoples needs and priorities and how different we all are. I found some interesting reading about respecting differences which in turn naturally turned to morals and values and “The Golden Rule".

The “Golden Rule” could be seen as the highest rule of life, and plays an important part of most religions. It is expressed in slightly different ways, but the general wording: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" seems to sum it up.

Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."

Judaism: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

Islam: "No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."

Confucianism: "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others."

Buddhism: "Hurt not others with that which pains yourself."

Hinduism: "Good people proceed while considering that what is best for others is best for themselves."

Humanists: "Every person has dignity and worth, and, therefore, should command the respect of every other person."

But my particular favourite is the Indian saying: "Don't judge others until you have walked in their moccasins."

I agree that becoming moral requires enough emotional development to feel guilty when we do wrong, enough social development to accept our responsibility for behaving in agreed upon ways towards our group, and enough cognitive development to be able to place ourselves in another person's shoes.

So I slipped on HWMBO's moccasins to see if the view feels any different …No I thought not…still, if just once a day I can consider why someone does or thinks something that may not fit my own subjective standards or more importantly how what I am doing may affect someone else there will be a benefit.

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Herb Give Away (with a huge Spider thrown in)

The bulk of my vege patch this year turned into a herb patch. They are (almost) indestructible, zero maintenance and yet you can still say things like "oh yes, I keep a plot for growing my own" or "it tastes so much better coming straight from the ground" at dinner parties and your nose not hit the person over the other side of the table.  (Although they may hit your nose for saying it!).

I've got a Grown your Own Herb Garden Kit from Wish to give away on my review blog.  Just pop over and leave your name and email in the comments.

Oh, for the thrown in Spider, how big is this? 

Very is the correct answer.  I served it an eviction notice yesterday.    It refused, so I arrested it, unintentionally breaking two of it's legs.  I expect to be hearing from it's lawyers or the court of spidery rights shortly.  PS it's either a girl or a friend of Boy George, it was so big I could see it's eye makeup quite clearly.

Now go enter the competition, I suspect it'll be my last !

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Small Stone, Huge Ripple

Kindness is good for the soul.

It was a hard start with an early school bus (which can be as stressful as a late one!)  and a difficult commute (including being chased for 3 miles by an angry driver because I had made a genuine mistake on a roundabout).

I carried this rocky start for the whole day, dutifully passed this general grumpy feeling onto hubby, as is my way, and I guessed I would be going to bed feeling pretty miser-a-bubble too.

I opened my blog reading list and saw this and my mood was altered.  Blogging can create such extraordinary connections.  People you would never otherwise have had the opportunity to bump into, are within reach and so many people out there are so very nice.

Dust Bunny did something (again) that made me feel happy, but I know her well enough (I think) to know that she felt good before I even opened that page.  She knows and feels the joy that comes from giving.  Not necessarily material, just loving your neighbour as yourself.

You can give immeasurable joy without even knowing it. When you smile at the person in the street, you might have been the first of the day. When you hold the door open for someone you might make them feel good or when you let someone into the traffic queue because they really need a break that morning.

But today I feel as special as a special thing because someone valued a comment enough to remember it and it caused a ripple a year later that came right back 4200 miles.

Our Walnut Tree

How could that not leave me smiling.

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Shoes, Happy and Sad

This week's Gallery is 'Shoes'

I like shoes.   Buying them makes me happy.  Wearing nice ones makes me feel good.  Which is ironic because I rarely wear my nice ones, I live and die in comfy faceless trainers or slip-ons.

But a mountain of shoes conjures up a different image too.  Not one of mine, but one to remind us never to forget.

A while back I shared Benjamin Zander with you .  This is a story of his:

"It really makes a difference what we say,… the words that come out of our mouth. I learned this from a woman that survived Auschwitz, one of the rare survivors, she went to Auschwitz when she was just fifteen years old. And her brother was eight. And the parents were lost. And she told me this, she said

"We were in the train going to Auschwitz and I looked down and saw my brother’s shoes were missing. And I said why are you so stupid, why can’t you keep your things together for goodness sake." The way an elder sister would speak to a younger brother.

Unfortunately it was the last thing she ever said to him because she never saw him again. He did not survive. And so when she came out of Auschwitz she made a vow. She told me this, she said

"I walked out of Auschwitz into life and I made a vow and the vow was:

 I will never say anything that couldn’t stand as the last thing I ever say."

I so wish I could remember that every time HWMBO and I part, no matter how many wet towels I have gathered up!

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Things I learnt at Centre Parcs

If you did guess, you were probably right, we went to the Centre Parcs just up the road from us for a couple of days.  It was close enough that I managed the car journey and I did precisely nothing whilst I was there except build up my right arm muscles from constantly unzipping my purse.

I learnt a number of things whilst I was doing nothing:

Little kids can't ride bikes in straight lines, trying to second guess what angle they are about to dart off at is very hard and you look an idiot trying.

A hair bobble tied to a handle bar saves a lot of time searching.

Pancakes aren't always as good as they should be.

You don't have to pay for something that is cold and inedible after waiting 30 minutes for it to arrive.

You can spend a small large fortune on Lattes in a short amount of time.

You can spend a long time reading the calorie counter nutritional data at Starbucks if your book is a long walk away.

A teenager with a ripped off nail and broken toe is not able to swim no matter how many waterproof plasters you put on it. 

Not being able to swim at Centre Parcs means ker-ching.

I am either invisible, command no respect or am young enough to warrant unknown teenagers discussing intimate details in front of me whilst using the f-word as verbs, adjectives, interjections....

You can make a complete idiot of yourself in many different ways and not give a flying ....

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A word that rhymes with orange...

Orange is my favourite colour, I only found that out a few years ago.  I was very happy, I'd never had a favourite colour before.  Once I realised it was orange a lot of things started to fall into place.  One of which is it makes a lot of sense that this is my favourite time of the year.

It was a beautiful evening, I went out for a hobble after work.  The fields around are all a glorious orange!

The sun seemed to forget it should be in the sky at one point and decided to have a lie down on the grass. 

 I spoke to it sternly and it agreed to go back up and set the way it is supposed to!

The beauty alongside the tagged post seemed worthy of a picture.

And the sun got on with doing what it does so very well.

oh yes, there isn't a word that rhymes with orange*






*sporange doesn't count smart arse, shoo, go on, shoo

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