I took a selfie today! 8/11/15

 I took a selfie today.  Well actually it was a twosie.  Or a pairsie or whatever it is when the picture is of yourself and someone else.  In this case it was hubby.  It's not actually the first selfie I've taken.  I took some when we were on a boat trip last year.  I actually took a lot!  That's what happens when you use the burst function without realising what you're doing.

I wouldn't normally take a selfie but this one was a bit of a protest.  My daughter keeps bugging me for photos of her cat.  Clearly she and her partner are concerned about their cat.  The cat who is staying with me at present and who is fine!  

Lady

 

The cat, Lady, is still upset at the move to my house, as she is still not eating loads but she is eating and comes to me for attention.  She will sit next to me on the sofa and is happy to sleep at the end of my bed.  It could be a lot worse.  She occasionally speaks to me in cat talk too.  I'm not worried about her and they are over half way through their honeymoon now so I'm counting down.

Anyway the girls are keeping in touch via Whatsapp but each time the request comes in for a photo of the cat.  Today I did a short video clip but I also attached the selfie of hubby and me in case they might be missing us!

I think they are having too much fun to be missing anyone but clearly they have guilty feelings about subjecting the cat to the disruption of moving home albeit temporarily.  We did offer to move into their flat but it seems that was too stressful for them.  The tidying, cleaning etc that would have had to be done before the wedding was beyond them.  As if I expected to be moving into a spotless palace when they had been preparing for a wedding and a honeymoon.

Well tomorrow I will see just how messy it is as I have to go over there for a delivery.  I just hope they emptied the bins!

Friday Five News 6/10/15

This week has been dominated by the INTERNATIONAL  news of the Russian plane crash in Sinai.  The loss of life is awful and the repercussions are scary, particularly now when there is speculation that the plane was brought down by a bomb planted by an IS affiliated group.  The situation in the Middle East just seems to get worse. 

It’s difficult to know how this situation can be resolved when dealing with extremists.  In the meantime so many innocent people are suffering.  And we claim to live in a civilised world.

Well this LOCAL  news item about the protest march in London yesterday also highlights how we are not always so civilised.  The march was supposed to be a peaceful event demonstrating against the current Government’s austerity measures.  It seems its success partly led to its downfall as there were so many people taking part that not everyone kept to the planned routes/areas leading to problems.  But again a number of extremists caused incidents that led to people being injured.  I’m glad I wasn’t in Central London last night.

Moving on to SPORT: Jose Mourinho the Chelsea manager seems to be unravelling.  He’s just been fined for his behaviour and his team “have made the worst start to a season by any team defending a Premier League title, having won only three of their 11 matches, and are  15th in the table.”
There are rumours of a players revolt and there is also a legal case pending over his treatment of his former first team Doctor.

Football is a fickle sport.  Managers are only great while the team is winning.  If things go wrong they often are not given long to turn things around.  We all go through bad patches and we weather the storms.  Football managers don’t always have that luxury.  However in Mourinho’s case this seems to revolve as much around his ego as it does his players' capabilities.  Will he still be in charge by Christmas?  Methinks not!

I struggled to find a suitable story in ENTERTAINMENT this week.  I was pleased to see there will be a new series of The Bridge on our TV screens soon.  I don’t usually like subtitled programmes but some of the Scandinavian dramas are so good I just have to give them my full attention.  

After the premiere of the latest James Bond film Spectre, there have been comments as to  whether Daniel Craig will continue for his final contracted Bond film or call it a day.  I hope he doesn’t.  I think he’s made a great James Bond and have enjoyed the latest films.

One thing that causes much speculation around this time of year is what the big stores will do for their Christmas adverts.  The John Lewis ad was released today and has already drawn a lot of comments.  Some positive, others not.  Personally I think it’s too long.  I’m not going to get into any further debate about it.  It’s just reminding me Christmas is getting a bit too close for comfort and surely there are better things to debate than the pros and cons of Christmas ads?

You can make up your own mind by watching if you wish:

And finally MISCELLANEOUS: Collins English Dictionary has chosen binge-watch as its 2015 Word of the Year.

Meaning "to watch a large number of television programmes (especially all the shows from one series) in succession", it reflects a marked change in viewing habits, due to subscription services like Netflix.

Lexicographers noticed that its usage was up 200% on 2014.

How do they work that out?  Presumably from scanning lots of written texts and clocking the amount of mentions.  This in the week when our Government wants to try and introduce a bill making internet providers keep records of our online browsing for 12 months.  Big Brother seems to be turning into Giant Brother.

Here’s the list of the Collins' Words of the Year, plus definitions and my comments:

• binge-watch (verb): to watch a large number of television programmes (especially all the shows from one series) in succession Not guilty – don’t have Netflix.
• clean eating (noun): following a diet that contains only natural foods, and is low in sugar, salt, and fat  This one won’t be creeping in to my vocabularly
• contactless (adjective): referring to payments, smart cards, etc that utilize RFID (radio-frequency identity) technology and do not require a PIN or signature from the customer  Guilty of this one
• Corbynomics (noun): the economic policies advocated by the UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn  Ignoring this one
• dadbod (noun): an untoned and slightly plump male physique, especially one considered attractive  hmm not sure hubby’s body fully fits that description
• ghosting (noun): ending a relationship by ignoring all communication from the other person  Won’t need that one
• manspreading (noun): the act or an instance of a male passenger in a bus or train splaying his legs in a way that denies space to the passenger sitting next to him  Seen that in action so doesn’t that make it a verb???
• shaming (noun): attempting to embarrass a person or group by drawing attention to their perceived offence, especially on social media  Fortunately not been subject to this but again shouldn’t it be a verb??
• swipe (verb): to move a finger across a touchscreen on a mobile phone in order to approve (swipe right) or dismiss (swipe left) an image  Do this a lot.  Hubby is getting better at it now that he has a Blackberry
• transgender (adjective): of or relating to a person whose gender identity does not fully correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth  With some of the high profile stories that have been in the news about this subject it’s not surprising this made the list.

All links are courtesy of the BBC website. Opinions are my own.

Back to normality 4/11/15

Well I'm sure everyone is bored with hearing about my daughter's wedding last week.  I can't believe it's over a week since the happy day.  Thank you to all those who checked out my posts and left lovely comments.

Last week I was very tired and I think suffering from the anti-climax of the event.  I didn't get much done at all.  It was not a great week.  Not helped by the clocks having gone back and the nights drawing in.  I don't like the short days and long nights but I did have the company of this lovely cat:

Meet Lady.  My daughter's cat who we are looking after while the girls are on their honeymoon.  I can bore you about that instead of the wedding.  They flew to Las Vegas and spent 3 nights there managing to take in an Elton John concert during their stay.  They are currently in California.  Driving down from San Franciso to Santa Barbara before heading on to Hawaii.  They were supposed to be hiring a Mustang convertible but ended up with a rather sensible looking estate car that looks a bit like a tank.  Personally I'm glad the convertible wasn't available!

The poor cat must be wondering what's going on but she seems to be doing ok.  She's stopped hiding in the downstairs bathroom and seems happy to sit with me on the sofa and sleep at the bottom of my bed.  She'd not eating a great deal but she is eating and drinking so I think she's settling.

She hasn't done many poos, but given the little she is eating that's not worrying me and she has done everything inside her litter tray.  In the past when she's been stressed there have been accidents but so far so good.

This week I've gone back to decluttering.  This is even more crucial now as our son and his wife have asked to move back in when their tenancy expires next April so that they can save money for a deposit for a house.  Of course we have said yes but it does mean I need to get on with sorting out the house!

Fortunately I have found a home for my leftover jumble - my cousin is involved with her local dog shelter and they are about to open a charity shop and need stock.  I've been meaning to visit my cousin for ages but with the wedding and helping out with my sister-in-law it hasn't happened.  Now I have a real incentive to go so hopefully I'll be going up to her the week after next with a carload of stuff.  

I've also discovered that portable TVs count as bulky waste items as far as our council are concerned.  We have 3 of those in the house plus a couple of old DVD players so I'm going to get them together and book a collection.  

Baby steps.

Hodgepodge 4/11/15

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at 

 From this side of the pond

Pop over there to see other posts and if you want to join in add the link to your Hodgepodge blog post to the Linky List at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list.

Have fun!

1. Besides Thanksgiving, something you're looking forward to on your November calendar?

Several things including hearing all about THE honeymoon and attending my niece’s baby shower.

2.  If I gave you a thank you card right now who would you send it to and why?
To friends who organised a get together for one of my colleagues and me last week.
3. Of the breads listed, which one's your favourite...bagel, cinnamon, sourdough, garlic, banana, biscuit, pita, Naan, or plain old fashioned white bread?

I love garlic bread but as we usually have wholemeal bread it’s a real treat to have fresh white bread, preferably with lots of butter.
4. What's something you have in abundance? Is that a good thing?

Family love which is a very good thing.
5. November 5th is National Love Your Red Hair Day. Are there any redheads in your family? Who's your favourite redhead?

No carrot tops but we do have a niece who is a strawberry blonde.  Strangely enough some of my husband’s family were not very positive about the idea of any of us having red headed babies but they seem to have mellowed over time. 
6.  The travel website Busbud recently calculated the most Instagrammed spot in every state. Go here to see what made the list where you live. Are you happy with your state's #1? If not what do you think should be the most photographed spot in your state? Have you snapped a photo there? If you live outside the USA answer as it relates to your state, city or province.

Well no surprise to find that London is the most instagrammed capital city (yes I used the power of google to find the information) but the locations quoted were mainly outdoor spaces such as Battersea Park (#3) and Hyde Park (#1).  I’m sad to say I haven’t actually visited many of them.  I’ll have to add them to my places to see list!  I assumed that it would be monuments such as Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London but I guess it’s natives posting these photos rather than tourists.
7. I'm going to try to have something related to gratitude in this spot each week during the month of November. Here's this week's question-
What's something you've learned about yourself this year that you're grateful for?
That I have more inner strength than I credited myself with.
8. Insert your own random thought here.

Maybe I’ll get some red highlights put in next time!