Thursday 22 December 2011

Will you be having a merry Xmas?

Will you be having a Merry Xmas? There are families and friends planning excitedly for the perfect Xmas all over the world. Xmas dinner being organised like a military operation. The turkey's been ordered, the table decorations made and the drinks cabinet filled. No expense spared, a traditional Xmas is what people want so a traditional Xmas is what people will get!
Not in my house though I'm afraid. Hubs and son are working Xmas eve from six thirty in the evening until six thirty Xmas morning. They'll arrive home at about seven a.m, we'll open the presents we've bought for each other, hubs will then go straight to bed exhausted and son (age 20) will play with his toys (!) before he can't fight the tiredness any longer so just sleeps wherever he lands! In the meantime, I'll call my parents too wish them a happy Xmas and thank them for the Xmas jumper they've bought me (I love cats but a red jumper with white cats all over it , hmmm, I don't think so). As I'd of prepared the vegetables etc the day before there's not much else to do but sit and watch the telly (with a glass of sherry in hand), making sure that dinner will be ready for four pm when hubs and son should be awake.  We'll all sit happily tucking into a leg of lamb, (we're not keen on turkey) I say happily, hubs will be a bit miserable, not his fault but because he's still tired and son will be quiet as he's shovelling the lamb and his favourite mashed potatoes into his mouth as though he'd not eaten in days (and I can assure you that he's eaten, oh boy, has he eaten)! The next two and a half hours pass so quickly and off they go to work again and I'm on my own. Such fun, not! I'm not complaining though as I'm lucky compared to a lot of others.  •Those that live in poverty who have no money for a slap up Xmas dinner and presents for their loved ones.  •The homeless that rely on centres to open with unpaid good samaritans giving up their own time to help those worse off. •The men and women away fighting a war, there loved ones miles away trying to make the best of it.  •Widows and widowers alone. Even if they spend the day with family or friends they'll still feel alone.  •Those who've lost a child.  •Nurses, doctors, ambulance men/women, firefighters, security guards and all those that have to work on Xmas day.
There are many people that will spend Xmas day alone for whatever reason. I know from personal experience that Xmas can be the most magical time but also the most loneliest.  Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, I'd like to wish you the best time that you can possibly have and remember there's alway someone worse off than ourselves.  If you're lucky enough to be with your loved ones at Xmas then enjoy every minute, eat, drink and be merry (or very drunk). 🎄Merry Christmas Everyone🎄

Thursday 15 December 2011

What's your guilty pleasure?

What's your guilty pleasure? Would you admit what it was, or is it naughtier to keep it a secret? If it gives us pleasure then why must we feel guilty? Is it because it's bad for us, is it embarrassing or do we enjoy it more because we keep it a secret?
Well readers, I'm going to tell you my guilty pleasures (and it's not watching the X Factor, I can promise you that) and then it'll be our secret and will bond us forever! 
Are you ready? Are you sure? Then here goes,
(1) I buy the yummiest of chocolate doughnuts that money can buy (that's in my local supermarket anyway) I don't share them, I freeze them and when hubs is on a nightshift, I take one out of the freezer and wait patiently for it to defrost. When it's defrosted I slowly nibble around the edge until I get to the gooey bit in the middle, then comes the best bit. I turn down the volume on my TV, pop it in my mouth, letting my taste buds do there thing then I  chew then swallow it. 
Heaven!

(2) I like putting brown (HP) sauce on my crisps (USA -chips). Pouring a dollop in the bag, giving it a good shake, and tucking in. The first time hubs witnessed me doing this he looked at me with such horror on his face and shrieked "urgh minging". I was surprised by his reaction, to say the least, as I thought everyone did it!  He never got over what I did and horror of horrors it got worse. My best friend came round one evening, we were just chatting and watching the soaps, when I asked if she was peckish she said she was so I brought three bags of ready salted crisps through from the kitchen. 
"Oh lovely" (I bet you know what's coming next) Emma said " have you got any brown sauce"?
I squealed and punched the air, hubs was lost for words, and that doesn't happen very often I can assure you!

(3) If there's ever any gravy left after a roast dinner, and in the privacy of my own kitchen, I drink it straight out of the jug! Well, I hate wasting food (that's my excuse and I'm going to stick to it)!

(4) I love ice lollies, (especially the orange flavour ones shaped like a pyramid that you buy not frozen called Jubleys). When I reach the checkouts, I say to hubs in a loud voice for all to hear,
"I've got some lollies for the kids" 
Hubs just looks at me and slowly shakes his head as if I've totally lost the plot!

(5) When I was a child and I used to help(probably hinder) my mum when she was baking. I'd stir the mixture pretending I was a tv chef. I still do!

Well, there you go, that's some of my guilty pleasures (not surprisingly all food related).
 Were you expecting naughty (over eighteen style) ones. Be honest, you were weren't you, you saucy lot!

Now you know some of mine, it begs the question, 
What's your guilty pleasure?

Saturday 10 December 2011

"Who are you"?

Who are you? I often wonder who reads my blog, who you are and what sort of life do you lead?  I'm a deep thinker and I think about YOU! Where are you now? At home on your laptop or on your mobile/cell phone? What country are you in? What's your story?

I'm a people watcher, I could be anywhere and I bring people to life by giving them a story. 
Sitting in a cafe there's an eclectic mix, an elderly couple resting there legs, two girls having a gossip, a student reading a book and a mother trying to amuse her daughter. 

Firstly the retired couple, I decide that they've been married for over fifty years, he was a teacher and she worked in their village post office and have one daughter who lives in a different city. They live in a bungalow, that's always spotlessly clean, the well dressed lady enjoys baking and making jams and chutneys which she sells for charity. The gent loves being outdoors, tending to his garden and has a bird table that he keeps full of mealworm, seeds and hangs fat balls of the side then sits in his conservatory reading his newspaper and watching the birds and squirrels. 
The two girls, the story i give them is, they're at college and still live at home with mum and dad  I've named them dumb and dumber, and they was talking loud enough for me to hear them. Dumb was talking about a boy she was going on a blind date with saying, "I don't know what he looks like apart from he's six foot tall, blonde hair and resembles Brad Pitt" 
Dumber says, quite innocently, "he might be Brad Pitt, you never know"
They both to clap, you know, that little clap that only excited females do, Dumb replies "I don't think so, he's with Angelina Jobie, isn't he?
"It's Jolie", Dumber (the cleverer one) says in a serious tone. 
"Who's Jolly"
"Her name is Angelina JOLIE"
They look at each other and giggle. 
Oh dear, I hope the Brad Pitt lookalike doesn't go for the intelligent type!
My attention turns to the student, a good looking boy, maybe aged about twenty,fair hair but a stylish dresser, I'm guessing mummy and daddy are well off and live in a house with eight bedrooms, they dress for dinner and father and son often wear dicky bows. The student looked at me looking at him so I quickly divert my eyes!
The youngster was sat with a colouring book and crayons that her mum had taken out her bag, choosing the red crayon she was lost in her own little world, just her and her imagination. 
Meanwhile, the woman with her, who I assumed to be her mum, pulled her phone out, that had been in her jeans pocket, and unlocked the screen. She had a look of distress on her face, rubbing her forehead and putting a lock of hair behind her ear. I watched her dial a number and couldn't help but overhear parts of the conversation. 
"Hi Michael it's me" she paused for a second, "no, I'm not ok, it's the funeral tomorrow, at two o'clock" a tear rolled down her troubled face, she carried on "I'm in the coffee shop, I thought I'd bring Hannah just to get us out the house for an hour, the detective came round this morning to tell me he'd be at the funeral too, thats lovely of him isn't it? I wish you could be there but for obvious reasons you're not" she chuckled a little. 
So I decided that she was talking to her lover on the phone, her husband had been murdered and the police suspect her, that's why they're going to the funeral not just to be 'lovely'!
I glance over at the student, he's looking intently at the (widow) woman chatting on her phone, he was people watching too! I wonder what life he gave me?

Have you ever thought who I am?
Have you given me a 'story'?
So, my dear readers, I'll still wondering, who are you?

Sunday 4 December 2011

Who will you upset this Xmas?

Who will you upset this Xmas?  Hubs and I always stress at Xmas. Doesn't everybody? It's all about making decisions. This year stuff the turkey, no seriously, stuff the turkey we're going to have a leg of lamb instead!
Deciding on what gifts to buy who, trying to remember who gave you what as a present last year, well you can't give them it back this year can you, can you? No? Oh ok then, I suppose I like magnolia bath cubes anyway. 
When you've decided on what you want to buy, you've then got to go out and buy it. I don't think there is a Poundland online is there? So I better fight the crowds.
I am not miserable about Xmas, off course I'm not but this year I don't have the energy, the motivation or the money. I've spent all our money on wine and raspberry vodka and honey rum and spiced rum and whiskey , oh and a sneaky bottle of port, three different shot style drinks (to warm your cockles on a cold day) and not forgetting four bottles of mulled wine! It's not all for hubs and I off course, heavens no, it's to offer to any guests that may call in over the holiday period. Yes it is, not that we get that many visitors but it's nice to offer them a choice, though most of our friends just drink beer. 
Note to self-must buy lots of beer.
This year we made it clear that we wanted a quiet Xmas on our own, in our own home, maybe we came across a bit mean when we told the relatives that this year we had ordered a leg of lamb that serves just three people, (myself, hubs and son) the butcher couldn't get a bigger one, honestly, hmmmm!
I'd like to put my Xmas tree up in the next few days but hubs hasn't been in the loft to get the box out yet, I look forward to just seeing the box, every year when we pack the decorations away we write a message each on it and we spend a few minutes looking back at ten years of messages. It's funny and romantic!
So far I haven't upset too many people, only about seven, and it won't be my fault that everybody doesn't want socks and that my mother in law is a smaller size than I realised, I thought the cardigan looked small for its size. Seven's not bad to upset (so far) my record is seventeen but that's another story!

So, who will you upset this Xmas?