So What's Been Going On Then?

Well hello there!

First of all, my apologies for ignoring the blog and you lovely bloggy people for so long but life has been getting in the way and… well, to be honest, I haven’t really had much I’ve felt like writing about. It’s not that there hasn’t been anything to write about, I just haven’t felt like writing it.

I’m starting to feel as though I’m getting on top of things again now though and life is getting back to some kind of normality. Well, MY normality, anyway. But then I guess everybody’s normality is different.

Now that spring’s here I’ve a host of jobs to do around the house. The garden looks the pits and will definitely need sorting out. I’ve written before that I’d ideally like somebody to come in and give it a complete overhaul that would make it easy maintenance but the funeral associated outgoings sucked up a huge chunk of my savings and then a few others things have needed paying for so that idea is a long way off in the future again. Even my new kitchen, which I finally thought I was going to get this summer after 3 years of saving has had to be put on hold. The money just isn’t there anymore. Oh well… back to the drawing board. Worse things have happened at sea, as they say. The least I can do is tidy the bloody garden though, so it looks….hmmm…. I was going to say presentable but it’ll never be quite that - I can get it looking as if somebody care a bit about it though. At the moment it’s full of broken pots, old barbeques, bits of tree net and other odd bits of rubbish. The table and chairs are covered in a rather unattractive green mould and the plants are all overgrown. As for the weeds… I know no matter what I do I’m never going to keep them down; the garden chock-a-block with them.

Then there’s the bedrooms. Paul will be moving back this summer but before that can happen I need to do a bedroom reshuffle. I’m moving into LM’s old bedroom (she moved out while I was in London… yes, it was all happening at once), Paul is going in mine and the little room will become a guest room. The thing is, they all desperately need decorating first. LM’s old room is black and cream and as nice as it looked when she did it, I’m not sleeping in a black room. The room that’ll be Paul’s hasn’t been decorated in yonks and has a carpet that I’m utterly ashamed of, and the little room….well, I actually think that can stay as it is at a push but I’d like to have it painted before I make it into a guest room. All this costs money and as I can’t do the work myself, I have to pay somebody to come in and do it. It has to be done though, like it or not.

I’ll keep you updated on the progress (and maybe even post some before and after photos, assuming I remember to take them) but until my daughter actually gets the rest of her ‘crap’ out of her old bedroom, I can’t do a darned thing.

In the meantime I’ll enjoy the sunshine we’re having and hope that it lasts.

Sharon J xx

I Just Couldn't Keep Away

Right. Well… here I am again. I just couldn’t keep away.

The thing is, I love writing and as something of a jaw-me-dead, I have lots to say so blogging kills two birds. Then there’s the fact that I missed this place, sharing my thoughts with people who clearly appreciate them and when several of you sent me messages on Facebook or through emails, asking whether I planned to start blogging again and telling me how much it was missed, well I just knew I had to come back.

I even stopped reading blogs regularly for a while because I found so much inspiration in what my favourite bloggers were writing about that it was becoming a bit frustrating. It didn’t help though, because life in itself does exactly the same thing. Inspiration is everywhere around us, every day of our lives.

Since deciding to lay the blog to rest, a good few of you have added me as a friend on Facebook but it isn’t the same. Not even close. Facebook has its place but it’ll never take the place of blogging. Thanks for adding me though, it was really nice to know that so many of you wanted to stay in touch.

Anyway, I can’t promise that I’ll be posting every day at the moment but as I said, I’m a jaw-me-dead so no doubt I’ll be posting regularly. There’s just so much to say, only this time I won’t be sticking to subjects that are related to simple living, although I'm sure simple living with still feature heavily. I’ll be ‘chatting’ about anything that happens to interest me at the time. And you’ll probably discover sides of me that I haven’t written about before so watch out for a few surprises - this is me, warts and all. And what’s more, it doesn’t matter anymore that ‘somebody’ could be reading this because by stopping doing something I enjoy, I’m letting somebody else control what I do, even though they’re not actually trying to. How daft is that?

I’ll be back tomorrow with a proper post.

Take care, everybody. And happy Valentine's Day.

Sharon J xx

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Home Again

Well I'm home but I have a terrible cold so really don't feel like blogging.

I'm tucked up under my duvet and that's where I shall stay until I'm feeling better. I can't complain though, it was worse for LM as she caught this while we were away and spent most of the holiday feeling miserable.

Malta was lovely though and I'll definitely got back again one day, although I'd probably choose to stay on Gozo. More about that another day though.

Thanks to my guests who took the trouble to write a post each while I was away. Your efforts were truly appreciated.

See you all soon,

Sharon J xx

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Six Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Me

I’ve been tagged again. This time by two of my favourite bloggers, FT over at Notes From The Frugal Trenches (pop over and take a look at the awesome photos she’s put up on her tag post - they‘re truly beautiful) and A Piece of Wood.

This time the idea is to list six things that most people probably don’t know about me.

1. I have very large feet. They’re a size 9 now but that’s because I’ve lost a lot of weight. They used to be a size 10. I’m tall so that helps them look at least a bit in proportion but it’s been a bugger getting shoes over the years. Evans wasn’t always there and although I’m not in the least bit bothered by them now, when I was a teenager they used to cause me endless embarrassment (and we all know how mean and immature teens can be so they were forever being made fun of).
   
   
2. I know a lot about dogs and their psychology. I’ve always had a dog and have always trained them well. Unfortunately, the dog I have now is the dimmest I’ve ever come across - I swear she has learning difficulties (well if people can have them, why not dogs?)
   
   
3. I’m really difficult to live with. I like things to be done my way and am really not too clever at sharing my space. Even my mum says she’d never want to live with me. Hell, even I find it difficult to live with me!
   
   
4. I have a Max Bygraves CD. There are memories attached to it so I keep it. In fact, I have quite a bit of naff music simply because the songs mean something to me when I hear them.
   
   
5. I once caused such a ruckus over a bloke who was a convicted paedophile (9 times he’d been inside for it) after I found out his wife was allowed to be a child minder that it hit the front pages of the national newspapers.
   
   
6. I don’t like flying. I’m not afraid that the plane’s gonna fall out of the sky or anything, it’s just the thought of having to spend hours inside a capsule with no possibility of saying “bugger this, I’ve changed my mind so I'm getting off”. Once you’re in there, that’s it, your fate is out of your hands. Still, at least I won't be adding to the carbon problem too much by flying off to far away places, my trips are all short haul and even they're few and far between (although I do have one coming up in a few days).

I’ll drive people nuts if I keep tagging them so I’m not going to choose anybody this time. Instead, if you want to do this one, just consider yourself tagged.

Sharon J

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Image Credit: Ombrelle

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A Few Words About Comments

We’ve recently had some interesting debate happening in the comments of various posts here and that’s a good thing. An exchange of opinions is never a bad thing UNLESS it’s done in a way that screams “my opinion is the only right one and you’re a moron for thinking otherwise”, which unfortunately some of the comments have done. Just a few - most have been well thought through opinions that haven’t had a pointing finger attached to them, but we all know how a few can ruin things for the majority.

Please, please continue commenting - a healthy exchange of opinion helps us evolve, and while most of us generally choose to spend time with people whose opinions are intrinsically close to our own, when we’re out in the world we’ll always come across other thoughts and ideas that can and often do help us form our own views. Blogging is part of being ‘out in the world’. But just as I doubt very many would fly up and screech their opinions at all and sundry in real life, so it should be here.

Please remember that, unlike the guy in the image above, those who read your comments are real people with real feelings, regardless of whether they choose to be open about who they are or prefer to anonymity that the Web offers. You never know who may be reading or how you may be hurting them.

Bear in mind that if you're diplomatic in the way you put your view across, others will be far more likely to listen and respond.

Let’s remain open minded towards others views and treat each other with the respect that everybody, regardless of their view, deserves. Please.

Sharon J

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Image Credit: Philipp Daun

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Anonymous Comments

Just a quickie.

Would those of you who post under “anonymous” please use a name instead? It doesn’t necessarily have to be your real name but by being consistent in your choice of name it will give me and other regular readers a better chance of differentiating between you. Some anonymous comments are easily recognisable through their writing style and method of putting their opinions across whereas others are more diffuse but it would be nice to know for sure who’s saying what as I believe it builds a better blog community. After all, if we were all having a discussion in the ‘real world’, we wouldn’t be hiding behind a curtain having our say, would we?

I’ve considered turning off the option that allows anonymous comments but that also disallows those who are happy to use a name but aren’t members or either Blogger (Google) or one of the OpenID sites, and I don’t like that either as I don’t believe in forcing anybody to join anything.

So, would you think about it please, anonymous posters?

Thanks.

Sharon J

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What Tree Are You?

I found a web page yesterday that lists what your tree is according to your birthday. As I love trees I found it quite interesting. Apparently, my tree is a pine tree.

My characteristics, according to the chart are:

Loves agreeable company, very robust, knows how to make life comfortable, very active, natural, good companion but seldom friendly, falls easily in love but passion burns out quickly, gives up easily, everything disappoints until it finds its ideal, trustworthy, practical.

Hmmm… I’ll have to leave that up to others to decide whether or not that’s me. I can definitely see some similarities there though.

Could being connected with pine trees be the reason I was drawn to Norway?

Sharon J

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Image Source: 1967geezer

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What We Do & Don't Have

We have bigger houses but smaller families
We have more degrees but less sense
More knowledge but less judgements
More experts but more problems
More medicines, but less healthiness
We've been all the way to the moon and back yet we have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we have less communication
We have become long on quantity but short on quality
These are times of fast foods, but slow digestion
Tall man, but short character
Steep profits, but shallow relationships
It is a time when there is much in the window but nothing in the room

~The Dalai Lama

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Just A Thought

"Too many people spend money they don’t have, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like."
~ Will Rogers


How true that is.

Sharon J

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Off To London Again, Sadly

Today I’m off to London again. As some of you already know, I absolutely loathe the part of London that my family are from but there are times when I have to go down, like it or not. Tomorrow is one such time.

A good friend lost her mother to lung cancer last week - one of the most god awful diseases anybody could suffer - and as I’ve known the family for about 35 years, attending the funeral is one of those things that I feel I have to do. For my sake and for that of my friend, especially.

LM is coming with me. She’s never been to a funeral and as her grandad (my dad) is very ill at the moment and could ‘go’ at any time, she felt she’d like (if that’s the right word) to experience a funeral before his time comes, so that she’s prepared for what’s likely to happen. She also knows my friend well and would obviously like to pay her respects too.

We’ll just be staying for the one night. A quick shimmy down the motorways, a night in a hotel, the funeral and then home again. No doubt I’ll be knackered after the journey and everything but sometimes you just have to do things you’d rather not do and I'm sure the family are suffering far more than I will be. My love and thoughts go out to them.

Sharon J

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Fuzzled Brain

I have a friend staying with me for the weekend and after a heavy night out at another friend’s house last night and not crawling into bed until about 4am my brain’s now way too fuzzled for blogging. I had a brilliant time, though. But then whenever I take the trip up to Manchester, I always know it's gonna be good :)

Speak to you tomorrow, folks.

Sharon J

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Nothing

Today I’m writing nothing. I’m tired, I have no inspiration and all I really want to do is knit and read.

Maybe tomorrow….

Sharon J xx

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Help Wanted, Please

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Thanks to Jennifer at HomeMattersMost, I’ve learned that Internet Explorer won’t open my blog. It just comes up with some warning box thingy and then the page disappears. Arghhh!

I’ve no idea why this is. Jen suggested that it could be something to do with the Black Sheep Ale photo on yesterday’s post but I’ve removed that and it’s still happening. Try as I might, I just can’t figure out what the problem could be.

Does anybody have any idea? It’s working fine in Firefox but IE just won’t have it.

Sharon J

UPDATE: 15:30 - Problem solved. After all that faffing about, it must have been a Blogger thing.

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Selfish Parking - Disabled Spaces Are For The DISABLED

Image: Alexio's Pics

I have a blue badge in my car. For those that are unfamiliar with the scheme, it’s a badge available for those who experience extreme discomfort when walking more than 100 yards or have other specific reasons for needing to be close to their car, giving us the right to park in specially allocated spaces and on yellow lines.

When I first received my badge I was really thrilled. At last I’d be able to park closer to the shops in town, enabling me to get about easier. Unfortunately it didn’t take long before I realised that it doesn’t always work that way.

The first thing I noticed was that there never appeared to be enough disabled parking spaces available. I’d often have to drive around town several times, spewing unnecessary carbon into the air, before I eventually either found one or gave up and went home. I couldn’t help wondering why so many taken. it’s the council’s job to issue the badges so it would stand to reason that they’d have a general idea of how many spaces would be needed. The answer, my friends, lies in the selfishness of the fit and healthy.

Time and time again I’ve been unable to use the disabled parking areas because of spaces being occupied by cars that weren’t displaying a blue badge. I’ve even seen perfectly fit people leap from cars that they’ve parked in disabled spaces and practically run into a shop, using the space as convenient parking rather than taking the trouble to walk a few hundred yards extra.

Not only are those people stopping those of us who can’t walk far from shopping comfortably, disabled spaces are generally wider than the average parking bay, making entering and exiting a vehicle far easier. I wonder whether they’ve ever tried getting out of car and into a wheelchair when there’s about a 12 inch (or less) gap between cars! Even getting crutches sorted out is pretty close to impossible without risking a scratch on the neighbouring car.

What’s more, there never seems to be a traffic warden around when the spaces are taken by non-badge holders. No, they’re always too busy at the main car-parks, looking for those who have parked for a few minutes longer than they’ve paid for!

Why oh why are there so many selfish drivers around? Are people really so lazy that they’d rather stop the disabled from going about their business in order to go about their own in as few steps as possible?

Sharon J

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Book Prize

No, I haven’t written a book for which I’ve won a prize - I’ve won a prize which is a book. And what a useful book it is too.

Jennifer of HomeMattersMost ran a competition a while ago where anybody who wanted to enter had to write about why their home matters most to them. I wrote mine but didn’t really expect to win; I’m one of those people who rarely wins anything. But low and behold, I won, and now I’m the proud owner of The Reader’s Digest Household Manual from 1978! And believe me, having already spent several hours pouring through it, this is one very useful book.

A lot may have changed since the book was printed but things are changing back and the knowledge in this book is valuable. There’s information on everything from decorating, installing kitchen units (I’m sure this will be useful when I’ve finally saved enough for my new kitchen) and laying a carpet to sewing, housework hints & tips and cooking. There’s information on how to use just about every vegetable common to the UK, freezing instructions, info about cuts of meat and how to use them and much, much more. The book also focuses on repairing or improving what you already have rather than buying new. What a treasure!

Thank you, Jennifer. And thank you too for the way you wrapped the book, complete with a pretty little sachet of lavender. Receiving it really made my day.

Sharon J

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Arrogance, Aggression and Accusation

Image: Zohar Manor-Abel

My recent visit to East London has left me astounded and appalled by the lack of tolerance amongst so many of the locals. Never in my life have I encountered so many arrogant, aggressive and accusatory people before.

Now I consider myself to be reasonably tolerant of others and will generally try to excuse a certain degree of bad behaviour - maybe the person was having a really bad day; perhaps they’ve just received bad news; it’s possible they don’t feel too well; or maybe… well… y’know… there could be all sorts of reasons why somebody ‘bites’ for no reason. East London, though, seemed to be teeming with people who were deliberately looking for an argument, and that’s something I really can’t excuse.

Now this particular area of London, for those who don’t know it, is a melting pot of cultures so it’s very easy to blame ‘the immigrants’ for the problems. I’ve mentioned it to a few friends who have blamed it on ‘the Asians’ or ‘the Muslims’ and as soon as I’ve said that a large percentage of the people my daughter and I had problems with were white they’ve jumped in with “ah yes, the Eastern Europeans”. But no, I’m talking about LONDONERS here.

Those we encountered that clearly had an attitude problem were, for the most part, either white females in their late twenties/early thirties with a clear East London accent or black women of Caribbean decent, the latter belonging to an immigrant group that have been in the area for a long time and who I’m sure would consider themselves Londoners.

We had women screaming from their car windows at us because LM, being a stranger to the area, wasn’t changing lanes quick enough, one of which started to follow us whilst making lewd hand signals, women snatching clothes from rails right in front of us and pretty much pushing me out of the way in shops, a veterinary nurse who gave me the filthiest look because my Dad’s dog had never been to a vet before (even though I’d explained that he’s NOT my dog and that I disagreed with the way Dad had treated him), a woman with a pushchair and half a dozen kids asking in a sarcastic tone whether I was some kind of cripple because I obviously wasn’t walking quick enough for her, and a woman who rolled down her car window at the petrol garage and suggested to her children that they all clap at “the clever lady’s parking skills” because she had difficulty getting her ruddy great 4x4 past LM’s tiny Vauxhall Corsa, even though she couldn’t have got much closer to the petrol pump.

What on earth is wrong with people?

I can only put it down to having to live in a fast area of the city where traffic jams are abundant, there’s no escape from noise, and queues in shops so long that you need a whole morning just to buy in your groceries. Needing everything done NOW and QUICKLY must become so engrained in them that anything that holds them up in the slightest is likely to tip them over.

Living simply must be incredibly difficult there.

I’d rather spend my life watching a spot develop on my knee than live in East London again.

Sharon J

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48

Image: robokow

Today is my birthday. I’m 48. That’s just a number though, a number that says nothing more about me than how many years have passed since I arrived in this world. Most of the time I don’t think about how old I am.

To be honest, apart from the fact that my body doesn’t function as well anymore, I don’t feel much different now than I did twenty or even thirty years ago. Obviously, I have more life experience but the essence of who I am is still the same. I don’t even feel that ‘grown up’; there are people younger than me who I look at think “wow… they’re so mature”. Perhaps they feel the same way about me - maybe we just don’t see ourselves in the same way others see us.

How about you? Do you feel you’ve changed during the past ten years or so? Twenty years? I guess the answer largely depends on how old you are now. Certainly, the older I’ve become, the less I feel I've changed. I suppose I must have, though.

I’m not sure what I’ll do today. Probably nothing. There’s luxury in nothingness :)

Sharon J xx

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I'm Back But Off Again

Well LM and I are back from our quick trip to London but unfortunately things didn’t go quite to plan (do they ever?). I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with Mum and Paul as I’d hoped and I ended up injuring myself but we’re still alive and that’s always a good thing :)

I’m in a hurry right now as I need to do a few things before I leave for Llangollen later. Richard and I are going to the balloon festival, y’see. Once it’s dark they’re going to send up illuminated hot-air balloons and then have a firework display so I’m really looking forward to that. Normally, when I’m knackered (which I am) wild horses wouldn’t get me out of the house but I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a while and I’m blowed if I’m gonna miss it!

I’m staying over at his tonight so no post tomorrow morning but I’ll be writing a few posts over the coming days letting you know what went on in London and some of my thoughts about why things are the way they are, from the aggression of so many East Londoners and why my dad should never have had a dog, to our not quite successful visit to the theatre and the fact that East Londoners seem to be perfectly happy to wade around in filth! To be honest, I really don’t feel like visiting the place ever again.

Am off to order some flowers for Mum’s next door neighbour now. If she weren’t there looking out for her, I’d worry about Mum a whole lot more.

Sharon J

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Update Re Theft

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I’m sure those of you who found the time to offer support to LM and myself through the comments and emails will be glad to know that last night a very nice (polite and empathetic as well as tall, dark and handsome) policeman returned her handbag.

Apparently it’d been found in some bushes about 500 yards from where she works and handed in, albeit minus her driver’s license, bank card, student discount cards - although she’s no longer officially a student but no doubt the thieves will be picking up ’their’ discounts - and other bits and bobs. Amazingly, the keys were still in it though!

HURRAH!!!!!

And whoever took it had left one card in her purse (removed absolutely everything else) with her name on it. Maybe they thought they’d leave it so that there would be a chance of it being returned to her? Why otherwise leave just that one?

We’re both VERY relieved that the keys are back home, safe and sound. We can breath out and wave bye-bye to the hassle of getting a new car, getting a quote for the locks, switching the insurance, transferring the tax and so forth. I’m amazed though, that whoever took it didn’t put two and two together and realise that they car key must fit the only car that was parked ‘out back’ that day though. They could so easily have had that away!

She doesn't want to pursue the matter with her company any more; she just wants to get on with her work, save and go to Norway. Fair enough, although I still think a proper apology from the manager for leaving the back door open would be in order. She has, however, emailed head office and reported it.

The least they could do now is reinstall the lockers. They had them until a couple of months ago when they were removed because 'they were taking up too much room'!

Oddly enough, yesterday morning she mentioned that about half an hour before she discovered her bag had gone, she’d been thinking “I’m lucky to never have had anything stolen” and wondered whether she may have been thinking that at the very time the thief was half-inching her stuff. I suggested that maybe her guardian angel was sending her a message, as I believe they often do, but that she wasn’t picking it up clearly. She then asked her angel to bring the key safely back to her. Coincidence? Maybe. The work of her angel? Maybe. There’s more to life than we can pick up with our five accepted senses…. or so I believe.

Sharon J

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And The Award Goes To…

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I’ve been given two awards recently by people who enjoy this blog.

I’m not usually into the “hey, look what I won” culture but I do think it’s kind of cool to know that the work I’ve been putting into keeping up with my daily posts and sharing what I’m learning and have learned is being appreciated so a huge thank you goes to Chris at “My Peggy Peg” and to Dom at “Shabby Shac”.

First up was Chris’s award.



This was actually given to me a while back but I never got around to sorting it out. There always seemed to be something else I had to be getting on with. Sorry, Chris. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate it.

The second to be presented was Dom’s.


I was given this one just a few days ago so I’ve actually been quite efficient this time. It came with a note saying that it should be passed on to x number of other bloggers who have inspired me but I can’t remember how many and I’m too damned lazy to go back and find out.
I’ll just pass it on to the following:

“Notes From The Frugal Trenches” - a relatively young woman’s journey (that's relative to a middle-aged, worn out old wellington boot like me) towards a more frugal lifestyle that will give her a more sustainable future. Many a beautifully written, inspirational post.

Gavin at “The Greening of Gavin” - an Australian blogger who shares why he chose to live a more sustainable lifestyle and how he does it. I love his friendly, casual style, even though his posts are often about subjects that are far from casual.

Jack at “Adventure in Voluntary Simplicity” - a guy who’s been living the ‘high life’ but has discovered that there’s a better road happiness and satisfaction. His style is refreshingly honest and for that alone the man deserves respect.

Sara at “On Simplicity” - one of the most beautifully written blogs I visit. This lady knows what she’s talking about and says it most eloquently.

Debi at “Debi Alper” - a writer and wonderfully honest person who often writes short but thought provoking posts.

Catz at “Catz Corner” - the everyday goings on of one woman’s journey towards a more environmentally friendly and frugal lifestyle (and she’s a great car-boot bargain hunter!)

I’m sorry if I’ve missed you out, but y’know how it is… there are loads of brilliant blogs and making a choice isn’t easy. I may be into de-cluttering, but de-cluttering my blogroll isn’t going to happen. Not yet, anyhow.

If you’ve been nominated, apparently you can either just accept the award and then go away and forget all about it, or you can display it on your blog and pass it along to some others.

Thanks again, Chris and Dom.

Sharon J xx

UPDATE: Today, 30th July, I was nominated for the Brilliante Weblog award for the second time, this time by 'Home Matters Most'.

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