After realising I really like Typepad for my writing blog and as I can have up to three blogs for one set price I thought I may as well move this one over there... I've been wanting to change the focus - make it more positive - for a while now so the change feels good...
You can still post comments etc - no need to register or anything - so I hope to see you over there. I'm still working on the look of it but please come visit me over at the new Dream of Living
Monday 9 April 2007
Sunday 8 April 2007
New blog - new project - new dream
I decided to take the plunge and "just do it" ad have set up a new blog - Anyone Can Write
Please pop on over and see what you think. Comments are always welcome. I'm on my trial period with typepad this month to see how it goes. This is a project I feel passionate about so I hope it succeeds - but if not it's always another experience for learning and growing!
Please pop on over and see what you think. Comments are always welcome. I'm on my trial period with typepad this month to see how it goes. This is a project I feel passionate about so I hope it succeeds - but if not it's always another experience for learning and growing!
Family
Anna (whose picture I posted earlier this week) originally comes from Sweden. She was my uncle's partner for 10 years and when they split up I was 18 and just about to start University. I came to stay with her for a couple of weeks and we became firm friends and she is now one of my closest and dearest friends!
Her mum and sister-in-law have come over to spend Easter with her. Her mum is in her 80s and none of us (her included) expect her to be around for much longer - so she wanted to come and visit Anna this last time.
I went round to see them last night and she (Anna's mum) was so excited to see me. Her English is, according to her, not very good - but compared to my Swedish (non-existent) it is BRILLIANT! She was telling me she remembers meeting me in Lincoln when I was about 9 or 10 and asking if I remembered her -yes I do! I also remember that at that time Anna had a distinct orange tinge to her skin from eating too many carrots - I kid you not!!
It was such a lovely day and reminded me just how much I love being around people I love! I have become somewhat of a recluse recently - because I am usually so exhausted I just want to be left alone. I also find spending time with lots of people I don't know very well far too tiring! But even though I had never met Anna's sister-in-law before and her mum could only speak little bits of English I had a great time. I felt like a part of the family and a part of me sighed with the pleasant feeling of being "home".
We sat in the garden for a bit, in the glorious sunshine, and then we sat around the table eating salad and just chatting away (in English and Swedish). I loved just sitting there and listening to them speak Swedish - it is such a fascinating language! And most of the time I would pick up one of two words which sounded like the English or German equivalents of the Swedish words so I knew what they were talking about - even if I didn't understand the whole thing! That's what spending 4 years studying languages at uni does - you train your ears to pick out the one or two words you recognise and make the rest up LOL
We ended the day by going next door (Anna and I) to put "the girls" away. The girls are the neighbours' chickens Louise and Henrietta. Their friends Hetty, Betty and Chico are also staying over this weekend so we had fun trying to get 5 chickens into the coop all at once. I stood in the coop trying not to let the 4 we'd already got in out again whilst Anna ran round the garden with a towel trying to get Hetty (or maybe Betty - we couldn't remember) into it! It was hilarious!!
Her mum and sister-in-law have come over to spend Easter with her. Her mum is in her 80s and none of us (her included) expect her to be around for much longer - so she wanted to come and visit Anna this last time.
I went round to see them last night and she (Anna's mum) was so excited to see me. Her English is, according to her, not very good - but compared to my Swedish (non-existent) it is BRILLIANT! She was telling me she remembers meeting me in Lincoln when I was about 9 or 10 and asking if I remembered her -yes I do! I also remember that at that time Anna had a distinct orange tinge to her skin from eating too many carrots - I kid you not!!
It was such a lovely day and reminded me just how much I love being around people I love! I have become somewhat of a recluse recently - because I am usually so exhausted I just want to be left alone. I also find spending time with lots of people I don't know very well far too tiring! But even though I had never met Anna's sister-in-law before and her mum could only speak little bits of English I had a great time. I felt like a part of the family and a part of me sighed with the pleasant feeling of being "home".
We sat in the garden for a bit, in the glorious sunshine, and then we sat around the table eating salad and just chatting away (in English and Swedish). I loved just sitting there and listening to them speak Swedish - it is such a fascinating language! And most of the time I would pick up one of two words which sounded like the English or German equivalents of the Swedish words so I knew what they were talking about - even if I didn't understand the whole thing! That's what spending 4 years studying languages at uni does - you train your ears to pick out the one or two words you recognise and make the rest up LOL
We ended the day by going next door (Anna and I) to put "the girls" away. The girls are the neighbours' chickens Louise and Henrietta. Their friends Hetty, Betty and Chico are also staying over this weekend so we had fun trying to get 5 chickens into the coop all at once. I stood in the coop trying not to let the 4 we'd already got in out again whilst Anna ran round the garden with a towel trying to get Hetty (or maybe Betty - we couldn't remember) into it! It was hilarious!!
Friday 6 April 2007
Holidays
I have to say - working in a nursery when the holidays come has its distinct advantages - most namely CHOCOLATE!!
Ok, ok, so I should be remembering the real reasons we celebrate Christmas and Easter - but when the parents walk in with masses of chocolate for us can a girl help but get distracted slightly?!
One of the parents brought in loads of Cadbury Creme Eggs - I used to hate them as a child but I grew to appreciate them occasionally. So, being random, I decided to have a look at their website and a couple of things written on it just cracked me up:
"Cadbury Creme Egg is still unique in the confectionery market place as the only product which closely resembles a real egg - a chocolate shell containing white fondant and a yellow fondant centre."
Ummmmm - since when do real eggs have chocolate shells and fondant centres? Are you really trying to tell me those things that the chickens lay are *shock, gasp, horror* fakes?!
"Why has the size of the egg changed? - It hasn't - you've just grown up!"
Classic!!!
I'm slightly too distracted by the chocolate sitting on my table waiting for me to eat it on Sunday to write anything more coherent right now (although I have to let you in on a little secret - I couldn't wait til Sunday so I ate one of my Creme Eggs this morning - shhhhhh don't anyone!!!)
Ok, ok, so I should be remembering the real reasons we celebrate Christmas and Easter - but when the parents walk in with masses of chocolate for us can a girl help but get distracted slightly?!
One of the parents brought in loads of Cadbury Creme Eggs - I used to hate them as a child but I grew to appreciate them occasionally. So, being random, I decided to have a look at their website and a couple of things written on it just cracked me up:
"Cadbury Creme Egg is still unique in the confectionery market place as the only product which closely resembles a real egg - a chocolate shell containing white fondant and a yellow fondant centre."
Ummmmm - since when do real eggs have chocolate shells and fondant centres? Are you really trying to tell me those things that the chickens lay are *shock, gasp, horror* fakes?!
"Why has the size of the egg changed? - It hasn't - you've just grown up!"
Classic!!!
I'm slightly too distracted by the chocolate sitting on my table waiting for me to eat it on Sunday to write anything more coherent right now (although I have to let you in on a little secret - I couldn't wait til Sunday so I ate one of my Creme Eggs this morning - shhhhhh don't anyone!!!)
Thursday 5 April 2007
Before you were mine
Before you were mine
I'm ten years away from the corner you laugh on
with your pals, Maggie McGeeney and Jean Duff.
The three of you bend from the waist, holding
each other, or your knees, and shriek at the pavement.
Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn.
with your pals, Maggie McGeeney and Jean Duff.
The three of you bend from the waist, holding
each other, or your knees, and shriek at the pavement.
Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn.
I'm not here yet. The thought of me doesn't occur
in the ballrooms with the thousand eyes, the fizzy, movie tomorrows
the right walk home could bring. I knew you would dance
like that. Before you were mine, your Ma stands at the close
with a hiding for the late one. You reckon it's worth it.
The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?
I remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics,
and now your ghost clatters towards me over George Square
Till I see you, clear as scent, under the tree,
with its lights, and whose small bites on your neck, sweetheart?
Cha cha cha! You'd teach me the steps on the way home from Mass,
stamping stars from the wrong pavement. Even then
I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello, somewhere
in Scotland, before I was born. That glamorous love lasts
where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine.
stamping stars from the wrong pavement. Even then
I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello, somewhere
in Scotland, before I was born. That glamorous love lasts
where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine.
by Carol Ann Duffy
This is a poem I had to read for my GCSE English lit. Actually we had to compare this with another poem in an essay and my teacher thought it so good she read it out to the entire class! Imagine my embarrassment when she started reading my comments on the sexuality of the other poem in front of a group of 15 year olds!!! They all knew I had written it just by looking at my face LOL
Anyway, when I first read it I was still unappreciative of non-rhyming poems and I really didn't "get it". But as I studied it I began to develop an understanding of it and in time that has turned into appreciation and now it stands as a love of the poem. I LOVE this poem, the feeling and the meaning behind those words.
For me it symbolises the love of a mother for her child - the way of life she gave up and the way of life she gained. It is about a child looking at her mother through new eyes - discovering a new way of loving her. It is about understanding, acceptance and shared memories. And it is so much more than that...
Perhaps it will mean nothing to you - but for me this is very special and very important to me right now.
Wednesday 4 April 2007
Poor babies
Our babies are sick yet again...
One girl was off with chicken pox - yes it's still going around! Then another boy got an infection (down there) which looked SO painful. On Monday one of our babies had a temp of almost 40 (over 103 to you guys!) and she was so limp and floppy it was horrible to watch, the poor darling. And then yesterday another one had a temp of over 38 - about 101.5 and he was really sleepy and wanted cuddles all the time and he never does that!
They're not sick as in they're not throwing up and pooing all the time - but there is something going around and it's started to reach the staff too! Two of the new girls were sent home this week because they were feeling so rough - which shows me that even though I'm feeling ill I am still able to function whereas when I was still the new girl I'd stay at work but be no use to anybody when I caught something! Improvement, at last!!
Anyway - I have one of those headaches you only get when you're ill with a slightly raised temp, you know the ones? Not nice - and I even dreamt I was being sick - ewwww. And I'm hoping I don't have a repeat of yesterday when I had to make a mad rush to the toilet a couple of times! But I've only got 2 more days 'til the long Easter weekend and as it's already the school holidays quite a few of our babies are off anyway - meaning we are having some fairly quiet days - quiet as in not many babies to feed and change - not quiet as in they do't make as much noise as they possibly can to make up for the lack of other babies in the room LOL
Bless - you gotta love 'em and I surely do :o)
One girl was off with chicken pox - yes it's still going around! Then another boy got an infection (down there) which looked SO painful. On Monday one of our babies had a temp of almost 40 (over 103 to you guys!) and she was so limp and floppy it was horrible to watch, the poor darling. And then yesterday another one had a temp of over 38 - about 101.5 and he was really sleepy and wanted cuddles all the time and he never does that!
They're not sick as in they're not throwing up and pooing all the time - but there is something going around and it's started to reach the staff too! Two of the new girls were sent home this week because they were feeling so rough - which shows me that even though I'm feeling ill I am still able to function whereas when I was still the new girl I'd stay at work but be no use to anybody when I caught something! Improvement, at last!!
Anyway - I have one of those headaches you only get when you're ill with a slightly raised temp, you know the ones? Not nice - and I even dreamt I was being sick - ewwww. And I'm hoping I don't have a repeat of yesterday when I had to make a mad rush to the toilet a couple of times! But I've only got 2 more days 'til the long Easter weekend and as it's already the school holidays quite a few of our babies are off anyway - meaning we are having some fairly quiet days - quiet as in not many babies to feed and change - not quiet as in they do't make as much noise as they possibly can to make up for the lack of other babies in the room LOL
Bless - you gotta love 'em and I surely do :o)
Tuesday 3 April 2007
Your opinions please...
As I am making changes in all areas of my life right now I thought my blog could do with an overhaul - so...
What do you think of my blog? Do you like the look, style, theme? What don't you particularly like about it? Is it too negative? Is it "real" enough? What would you like to see here?
Any thoughts on this would be very kindly appreciated :o)
What do you think of my blog? Do you like the look, style, theme? What don't you particularly like about it? Is it too negative? Is it "real" enough? What would you like to see here?
Any thoughts on this would be very kindly appreciated :o)
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