Crunch in the Leaves!

An extra for this month is to crunch in the leaves - walking over them doesn't count. To get this one you've got to really, really crunch through them kicking them up as you go along.

Fortunately the majority of my walk to work is absolutely strewn with leaves of all colours but, in an attempt to preserve some dignity (too late you say?), I wait until I get to the long ginnel/snicket/whatever you want to call it until I start jumping around like a big kid kicking through them but I still can't resist a little dignified shuffle (as I try to to restrain the grin) through the piles of leaves on the main route.

When you do get to the 'off the beaten track' bit though it's a little like 'Heidi and her amazing technicolour carpet'! Because the paths are never swept and there's been a fair amount of strong breezes (to put it mildly) over recent days the path is literally covered in a thick carpet of myriad colours in well defined stripes.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before my mad capering about (and attempting to remain alert for fear of witnesses) results in an encounter between the getting-slightly-slippy path and my nether regions!

Love your slippers, they are your friends!

I decided to indulge in a little slipper loving at work this time - a great idea as long as you remember to swap them for normal shoes before leaving the safety of your office!

I think it must be something to do with the angle of the photo (honest)...but my legs (and my slippers) just look a little, um, wrong!

Here's the full slipper collection :-)

 

 

And while I'm here it's also occurred to me that, despite talking about it, I didn't share the jewellery I made for Meller's birthday - so, here are some photos.

 

 



There's been a murder...

David 'Ditch' Digger, owner of the Summerlot Resort in the Lake District, has been killed!

Whodunnit?
 

Was it his gold-digging wife, the hunky lifeguard, the randy aerobics instructor, the oddball groundskeeper, the wacky driver or the intense head chef?

 

On Saturday 13th October (I know, I'm behind with posting about it!) I held my first Murder Mystery evening!  I was supposed to be doing this at some point during the first three months of the year (while it was still dark) but never actually got round to it so then had to wait until October when it was dark again.  You just don't get the same atmosphere when it's light outside!

It was set in the 60's so we had plenty of 60's music playing and started the evening with Brandy and Babycham (and glace cherries) - classy!  I even managed to unearth my 4 proper Babycham glasses (and then somehow managed to take a photo of one of the other glasses - d'oh)!

 

Anyway...here's me as the host!

 

Goldie Digger - the gold digging ex-wife...

 

 

Juan Hunkyguy - the hunky lifeguard

 

 

Paula Muscle - the randy aerobics instructor

 

 

Moe Lawns - the oddball groundskeeper

 

 

Carlo Ongas - the wacky driver (there was a last minute withdrawal so I was playing this role too!)

 

 

and Eve Coli - the intense head chef

 

 

Group Photo

 

 

And another 

 

There was a talent contest halfway through (the winner recieved an extra clue).

 

Eve Coli - amazed with her slightly stomach churning display of incredible dexterity and flexibility

Juan Hunkyguy - impressed with his ability to recall, in order, all reigning monarchs since 1485

Carlo Ongas - thrilled the audience with a successful balloon animal making attempt

Moe Lawns - entertained with his array of amusing impressions

Paula Muscle - wowed with her hand eye co-ordination and a set of juggling balls

Gildie Digger - rose to the challenge of putting an entire creme egg in her mouth and disposing of it in 60 seconds

 

...and the winner was...Jaun Hunkyguy!

 

We had a 60's inspired buffet complete with my first attempt at deviled eggs (a success!) and Bernie's psycho cheese/pineapple/pickled onion hedgehog followed by a favourite childhood dessert - digestive biscuits topped with a pineapple ring, filled with squirty cream and finished off with a glace cherry.  Trust me, for some reason it really works - and I don't even do biscuits and can't usually stand pineapple!

 

 

 

After many clues and much good natured bitchiness (even the characters who were supposed to have crushes on each other didn't seem to like each other much!) would you believe that not one of us successfully guessed the identity of the murderer - despite it being glaringly obvious when we thought about it and recalled that the very first clue they provided pretty much gave it away!

 

No, I'm not telling you who it was!

Piff the Magic Dragon!

Piff was appearing as part of the Harrogate Comedy Festival and was recommeded by Meller so I thought it'd be rude not to pop along and have a look!

I took Bernie along with me and we had a great night - made even better by the fact that Bernie got to participate (I knew I should have sat in that seat!)!

She was one of several audience members given a playing card during one of the tricks, the lucky recipients had to stand up and wait for their card to be called at which point they had to shout "Piff, I want to have your babies".  She did a great job and managed to get her card signed (and stroke Mr Piffles (don't panic - it's his magic dragon dog!) by Piff himself at the end of the night!

Here's a taste of the experience...




And here's his website!

Nearly there...

Today was The Best Day Ever!

Well, ok, maybe not (I still live in hope that the best is yet to come) but it sure felt up there with some of the best.

Today I made the final payment on the 5 year loan I was left holding the bag with 2 years and 10 months ago - yep, that's right I paid it off 2 years and 2 months early.

I feel very, very proud of myself.  It's been quite a journey over the last 34 months, I've scrimped, saved, done without, starved myself, half frozen to death, conserved water in the most ridiculous ways imaginable, cried, spent many terrified sleepless nights and, at times, lived (and I use the word in its most basic terms) like a hermit.

Having said that...as proud as I am of myself I'm also incredibly grateful to the friends and family who've sympathised and supported (and subsidised) me throughout.  In all seriousness I couldn't have done it without you.

So, I'm going to tie in 'Nearly There...' with 'Tell Your Friends How Wonderful They Are Day'...

Pops and Olive - for the other loan, the quiche (some things stick in your memory forever), the winter duvet and for driving me between mine and yours because you know I'd struggle with the train fare.
Bernie and John - for ferrying me about when I've needed it, taking me out (again when I've needed it!), feeding me countless times and for looking after me, my cats and my home when I was in hospital and poorly for so long afterwards.
Kevin and Ray - for always including me in the invites (when many would be put off by the frequent declines), for the civilised (and not so civillised!) evenings, feeding me on inumerable occassions and for the food packages which I've learnt, finally, to gracefully accept in the spirit in which they are given.
Helen and Bill - for the many lovely evenings I've shared at Chez Slimmon, again for feeding me (there seems to be a theme developing here), for understanding that I've not been able to see you as often as I'd like, for letting me cry on your shoulder and for Picnic in the Park Day ;-)
Nadine - for my beautiful 'believe' ring, for the many times you've insisted on taking me out (apart from when I'm wearing my panda hat), for the shared money saving tips and for the lift to uncle Tom's and back again (in half the time!).
Debbie and Elaine - for the many glasses of wine, daily support and willingness to try whatever 'cheap' entertainment I can come up with!
Webby - for indulging my KFC craving, the lifts to the cemetery and Morrisions, vodka, soap operas and whinging on the sofa!
Charlie and Simon - for the beer, the music and the abuse!

I know I've missed people out and I also know those that I have mentioned haven't been credited nearly enough for all they've done but hopefully you get my drift.

There's still the credit card which got me through the last 2 Christmas's, family members and the overdraft to pay off but the relief at getting this one out of the way is immense - not only because of the financial shadow it's cast over me but also because of the emotional baggage that came with it.

This time next year (Rodney), in fact this time in April (Rodney) we'll be...

IN THE BLACK!!

Don't Panic - I'm Still Here!

Ooops, so it never occurred to me that disappearing for weeks on end after a post largely related to my funeral arrangements may have been just a tad unwise.

I apologise for any distress caused, rest assured that rumours of my demise have been somewhat exaggerated!

I have no idea what happened, all of a sudden I woke up one morning and just couldn't do it anymore, in fact it was a feeling very similar to that of my increasing distaste for making jewellery once I was trying to do it for a living.  I strongly suspect that my recent foray into the world of jewellery creation for Meller's birthday (and the fact that the world didn't crumble as a result - in fact I rather liked it!) may be responsible for this current putting pen to paper, so to speak.

So, what have I missed?

Eye candy spotting day, climb a tree day, wild abandon day, absolutely phenomenal Friday, push the boat out day, chewing gum wall, strange make up day, lie on the grass day, fiesty Friday, be at one day, odd shoes day, drink champagne just because, get on tv day, most awesome wednesday, bounce a ball day, snoozy saturday, stupendous sunday,  wear a dress day - to name but a few (no doubt some of these will appear at some, as yet unknown, future date).

And what have you missed?

Visit to a strip club (Boss's reaction has to be the best..."How much did you earn?")
Vintage fair
Picnic in the park
Breaking my 'no man 2012' vow

And that was just one weekend!

Today I've realised that I've already got September off to a good start, one of the extra activities for this month is 'wear a hat' (you may remember last year) and, in a totally unplanned wardrobe malfunction, I actually ended up wearing a straw cowboy hat all night on Saturday 1st September at Charlie's Place during the live music - result!

Apparently, according to one chap, it really suited me and I look good in hats - funny though, I don't recall my cleavage wearing one.

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now, other than that the moon is red tonight!  I'll be back again but not at the break neck daily pace of before - I like to keep you guessing!

Don't Worry About Anything Day!

I spent the day re-writing my will, funeral arrangements and care instructions for Rosie and Jim - cheery!  I even went so far as to make a cd of the music I'd like playing including these...






But, as a consequence of doing it, I now don't have to worry about any of that in the event of that big red bus catching up with me so I spent the latter half of the day not worrying about anything while I went for a wander round the Pine Woods and Valley Gardens with Debbie!

You Can Pick Your Friends...

Despite the fact that I seem to have some sort of invisible sign on my forehead welcoming all freaks, morons and creeps I have to say that I've been very fortunate when it comes to those I'm lucky enough to call friend.

I've  not done too bad with my family either - there's always room for those exceptions though isn't there ;-)

Broadie made me laugh on Tuesday when we were chatting about assorted friend and family issues.

"You can pick your friends but you can't pick your family, unfortunately you also can't pick them off with a shotgun"

This may not have been the exact words she used but it was along these lines.

Speaking of friends, I had a very strange dream on Tuesday night, Nadine was in it and when I woke up I thought to myself 'I must contact Nads and see if she's sorted her laptop (so we can video call each other)'.  I got up and when I checked my phone Nadine had sent me a text about getting together - spooky.

I'm hoping this is a sign of some sort of premonition or something - I also dreamt I'd won £1,110,200 on the lottery!

WI Day!

Seems like only days since the last one but here we are again!

This was the one we'd all been waiting for but as it was open to members only Bernie and I had to go without Debbie and Meller.

We went to Lush for a private event where we created our own bath bombs, I kind of wish I'd put more glitter in mine but at least less glitter means less to clean out of the bath!

I also had an arm and hand, yes, just one, massaged by a nice young man with a solid massage bar, I was tempted by the neck and shoulder massage but not sure it's a good idea with my weird neck thing.

It was all very enjoyable and prompted me to investigate having a go at home, I found a great website for the ingredients but unfortunately they don't provide a nice young man to assist with application.

Serendipity!

I'm in love.

With a house.

Still, probably less expensive on the strings of heart and purse.

Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it. The word has been voted one of the ten English words hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company. However, due to its sociological use, the word has been exported into many other languages. Julius H. Comroe once described serendipity as : to look for a needle in a haystack and get out of it with the farmer's daughter.

In 2002, Nicholas Sparks published the book Nights in Rodanthe that was later adapted into a movie. George C. Wolfe directed this film adaptation, which was partially filmed in the town of Rodanthe and entirely filmed in eastern North Carolina – including Cape Hatteras, Southport and Wilmington. The movie was released on September 26, 2008. Several Rodanthe landmarks such as the Rodanthe Pier were used during filming. During film production, one of the rental houses, Serendipity, the north-easternmost house in Rodanthe, was transformed into the fictional Inn at Rodanthe. This house was damaged and condemned after a Nor'easter storm in November 2009. The house was saved from demolition by a private business man from Newton, N.C. and moved less than one mile south.

I've tried to find a clip from the film of the first glimpse of the inn (Serendipity), when I first saw it I looked on in horror as I thought 'what on earth is it, it looks dreadful, why would anyone pay to go there?'.  Then I found myself smiling more and more as the camera panned around the whole building and that was it. I fell in love.  The location, the exterior and the interior all just did it for me, what can I say, my taste has always been questionable!

The only footage I can find is someones holiday footage of the area, it doesn't do it any justice and it looks very different to how it looked in the film (I've managed to find a photo from the film) but it'll have to do.

Photo of Serendipity from the film

Bleurgh!

Ow :-(

Well apparently it looks a lot worse than it did on Wednesday, the pain's not getting worse than it was on Thursday but it's also not getting any better so whether or not the antibiotics are doing any good who knows.

Back to the docs on Monday if no improvement by then, I'm sure my diet of ice cream and wotsits (not at the same time) isn't sustainable for much longer either!

And I'm tired, fed up and grumpy (this is not a seven dwarfs line up).

Finish the Ice Cream!

Well, it looks like we're in the same situation with extras this month as we were last month - rained off!

I'm pleased to report, however, that, due to a current nasty bout of tonsillitis in my tonsil beds, I have achieved one of the extras this month...

Finish the ice cream! 

This was the ice cream left over from Canada Day, I seem to have developed a new addiction for maple syrup and ice cream.  It's proper maple syrup and it's delicious with soft scoop ice cream - especially when your throat's on fire!

Not only did I finish it but I also bought more and finished that too!

Retro Biscuit Day!

I'm still very disappointed that Iced Shorties are no longer available :-(

However, Smiley Faces, Nice, Party Rings and Jam and Cream Rings are and Debbie brought Pink Wafers and Jammie Dodgers!

It's funny but it never occured to me to get the more chocolatey biscuits (clubs, breakaways etc), not even a token Bourbon made the cut!

The addition of Sara's Tunnock chocolate wafers completed the selection though and ensured that at least there was some chocolate!

Sing Me a Rainbow!

I was keeping a very close eye on the weather last week in anticipation of the Midnight Walk for St Michael's Hospice on Saturday - to fancy dress or not to fancy dress was very much dependent on whether the rain would finally quit!  Soggy clown is not a good look!

The forecast for Saturday was rain, thunder and lightening until 10pm then dry and fairly warm until 10am on Sunday, I was dubious but felt better after seeing the amazingly bright double rainbow at the back of my house :-)

I wanted to include a song as well, I didn't go for the obvious but instead went for one of my favourite Dr Hook songs :-)

Canada Day!

As Ken's canadian it would have been rude not to participate in Canada Day!

A few decorations...

...and msic by canadian artists including Paul Anka, Celine Dion, Michael Buble and Sarah McLachlan, quotes from various people including  Al Capone (I don't even know which street Canada is on) and Pierre Berton (A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe), a famous Canadians 'Who Am I' quiz (ok, there's no way I expected Ray to guess William Shatner simply from "I'm an actor born in 1931") and a quiz for Ken which led to the surprise rendition of Skiny-ma-rinky-dinky-doo (more about that later) made for an interesting event.

There was also a small sampling of Poutine (chips, cheese curds (I used mozarrella) and spicy chicken gravy) and Canadian butter tarts (not at all pleasant I have to say but apparently not at all bad for my first attempt!) followed by ice cream and maple syrup (which was very nice!)!

Now, I apologize in advance - you may find this song in your head for some time after listening to it...

Apparently it's made the list for the next Eurovision, and know we have the actions I suppose there's no excuse not to learn it!

Heaven help us.

And I've just realised that I forgot part of my Canadian Trivia on Sunday...

In addition to the worthy Canadian inventions of the Bone Marrow Compatibility Test,  Insulin (as a diabetes treatment), the cardiac pacemaker, the paint roller, alkaline batteries, sonar and the walkie talkie they can also claim responsibility for  the invention of Superman, Trivial Pursuits, the wonderbra, the handles on cardboard beer cases, egg cartons and the garbage bag.

Walking on Sunshine Day!

I've kind of forgotten what sunshine actually looks like, not to worry, I went with Walking on Moonlight instead!

It seems to have come round awfully quick but it was time once again to go for a 6.5 mile wander around Harrogate for the St Michael's Hospice Midnight Walk - this time as a clown!

Stangely (!) many people felt that Anna and I were suited to our costumes (I'm the one in pink and yellow with red hair) and I have to admit that I was particularly attached to the wig and hat.

(Photos by Pippa 'Talented' Croft!)

It appears we also found fame on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/tholroyd/status/219231125837586432

We managed the walk in 2 hours and put the time to good use by planning what to dress up as next year - pirates seem to be the way forward!

A huge thank you to everybody who sponsored me for this incredibly worthwhile cause - it's not too late if haven't sponsored me and would like to - donations will continue to be accepted for some months yet here!

NYPD Blue - A Tribute

12 series and 261 episodes later I'm still too emotional ;-) to say much so will just post this brief tribute which doesn't even begin to cover it.

I often ask myself, in tricky situations, what would Andy Sipowicz do?

Just in case...

you were thinking of ironing or laminating your bus ticket.

I thought I was seeing things when I went on to the Transdev Harrogate webpage to check the number 6 timetable.

Latest tweet... 

"Our new ticket machines print on thermal paper. Please don't try and iron or laminate your tickets because the heat turns them black."

So on Friday night Lyn and I were having a conversation about under what possible circumstances you would possibly want to do either of these things.  At a push you could maybe find yourself in a situation where you might inadvertantly iron a bus ticket you require for further use - I have to admit that when I unscrewed my ticket to take a photo for the blog my first thought was 'hmm, that could do with a good iron.' - but laminate?  Seriously?!

A memento maybe of the momentous journey from one end of town to the other?

Al Fresco With a Twist!

It was a last minute idea that kind of caught fire in my tiny mind but it turned out to be quite a success!

Kevin was escaping the football with a visit to Chez L'Orange on Tuesday evening and mentioned al fresco, pate, cheese, bread and wine in his email to confirm arrangements.

I got home from work, downloaded a cd of 'French Cafe Music', dragged every plant I own into the lounge (literally in some cases - one of them is at least a foot taller than me!) and arranged them around the mantlepiece, opened the window to create a slight breeze, lit a candle with a fresh cut grass scent, put up the little table and chairs and laid some nibbles out - Kevin was suitably impressed when he arrived with said pate, cheese, bread and wine.

 

Fortunately he also brought the sunshine with him :-) it was actually very much like being sat outside in the sun enjoying a glass of wine (or several) and at least this time I didn't have to worry about random co-op shopping expeditions, which I can't remember, on the way home!