The sun is out, the tent is ready and i've got money in my pocket...What more does a gal want (or need) !?
See you in a day or three

One learns something new everyday...
Yesterday, by reading new blogs, I learnt that the people of Thailand are notorious for walking slow ...if this subject interests you then read this informative post by Dunkyk at www.thaiways.blog.co.uk

Today I learnt that my tent that Bella's friend borrowed last year to use at Glastonbury festival has a massive hole in it... Silly me for not checking it when it was first returned.

What will I learn tomorrow? can't wait, something equally rivetting no doubt

Yesterday was a good day, although it was overcast all day,it didn't rain i'm pleased to say so there was no need for us to don the free plastic macs that O2 were gracious enough to hand out. They are good quality too, far superior to the bin liners we had in reserve, so they will be put away ready for when Bella goes to the V festival in August.
'The Who' lived up to expectations and weaved their magic playing a fair mix of old and new songs. predictibly the old favourites were the best received, with Substitute, Won't get fooled again and songs from "Tommy" getting rapturous applause. They didn't play "MY Generation" though so I was a tad disappointed but I can't blame them, 'twould be a bit daft for a group of "oldies" to sing about Dying before they get old.

The support bands ,The Zutons' went down a storm and American band The Flaming Lips, were extremely entertaining with a huge cast of performers on stage with them including Aliens, Father Xmas's, giant Robots etc. The lead singer Wayne's charm won the die hard Who fans over as he conducted giant singalongs with great aplomb!
The Flaming Lips opened their slot with Wayne climbing into a custom made "Bubble" and being passed around the crowd as he struggled to remain upright inside...hilarious.
This was the first time I had seen the Flaming Lips and i'd definitely go to see them again

UK weather alert:

Warm and sunny over most of the UK EXCEPT!!
Between Leeds and York where it will be overcast with the chance of a shower or two, notably around Harewood House

Oh well, the forecasts have been known to be wrong before and when faced with adversity a couple of black bin liners will suffice.
The sun is shining as I look out the window so you never know it may follow me over to Harewood house The Picnic is made, i've dug out one of my old Hippie coats (just in case) and i'm ready to go.

C'mon "The Who", let's show those young 'uns there's life in the old dogs yet

p.s

I hope you all enjoy the England/Ecuador game, i'm sure some rock star or another will keep us informed of the score.

Ta ta

Today, my dance class has "broken up" until September and this afternoon we had the best laugh ever, not about anything in particular but just because we could
About half the class are relatively young as is the teacher who is the same age as my eldest daughter who is thirty five.
The others are around my age so in between practising our 'camels' and 'figures of eight' the older ones amongst us kept reminiscing about when we were teenagers, the things we did, the people we met, the music we liked and the clothes we wore.
We giggled like teenagers and felt a kindredship which was pleasing 'cos when I was younger I was never into the "group thing" and didn't really have many close female friends.
As it is though, now in my dotage, I take pleasure from being in the sole company of women this one afternoon a week.
The younger girls looked on bemusingly and became eager to resume dancing so the teacher clapped her hands for order and said
"Come along now girls, get a grip and let's all do a shiver."
We collapsed into fits of giggles once more at the irony of her words, after all what is more hilarious than a bunch of middle-aged women in full length skirts and jingly scarves giving all our wobbly bits a treat in a five minute shiver, lol
--------
This is for all the women in my dance class and especially my two lovely sisters(who aren't in my dance class)

THIS SAYS IT ALL

Time passes
Life happens
Distance separates
Children grow up
Jobs come and go
Love waxes and wanes
Men don't call when they say they will
Hearts break
Parents die
Colleagues forget favours
Careers end.

BUT.....
Girlfriends are there
no matter how much time
and how many miles are between you

A girlfriend is never farther away than needing her can reach.

I haven't been to work now for two weeks and although my poor aching hip and leg is much improved from not standing on it for long periods I am feeling quite tired overall. Do I go back to work next week or do I ask the doctor for another week's sick note The doc did imply that if I needed another week off then he would oblige, i've got until tomorrow to decide!

Summer is the time when I usually come to life and although I have been to a few social events, my diary is not as full or organised as I would like it, I usually have short breaks and such like lined up but except for my little jaunt on Sunday to see "The Who" at Harewood house with Bella, I don't have anything else prebooked.

So today, after my friend phoned me to say it's time we were due a theatre visit, we went to see the matinee performance of a new show
"Bad girls-the musical" at The West yorkshire Playhouse.
We bought two stand-by tickets for £5 each, a bargain as we were in row E with great vision of the performance.

The show is based on the television show with the plots and characters taken from the early series.
The cast of 17 was very strong with well established actors and actresses each displaying fabulous character acting. Like the tv series, the the musical is set in the fictitional prison of Larkhall which is full of unfortunate inmates who tell of the crimes that brought them there.
Like any good musical, it is an all singing and all-dancing performance with the scenes switching between serious and fantasy. There is lots of drama amd emotion incorporating a rape, a suicide and a heart rendering phone conversation between prostitute Julie and her privately educated son.
Many of the cast members stood out for special praise but one of the most notable was Prison Bully 'Shell' (NIcole Faraday - who played the same character in the tv series) she is hilarious with her one liners and common-as-muck attitude.
I would think this show is destined for a West End run and if you get the chance to see it ...do.

That's it for now, I think i'll have another early night tonight two in a week, still i'm not as young as I was and i've got to be fit for the weekend

I find it amazing that in this modern world almost everyone has connections with someone living abroad.
Yesterday I had three phone calls all from female friends.
The first was a lady who I used to work with, now retired but with whom I occasionally still meet to go to the theatre. We were making plans to go see a new show called “Bad girls, the musical” based on the popular TV series of the same name, the reviews are very good I understand...but I digress...
Her connection with abroad is her brother who moved to San Francisco nearly thirty years ago. She visits him frequently and only last week she had met up with him and his family ‘though not in America but on a Mediterranean cruise.

The second phone call was from a lady who gives me a weekly lift to my U3A Spanish language class (did I ever mention that I am the baby of the group) she was phoning to say that she wouldn’t be picking me up this week as she wouldn’t be attending due to the fact that her brother and his wife were visiting them from their chateau in France. They sold their UK home about six months ago to move to France permanently so now my friend needs to brush up on her French speaking skills in order to enrich the inevitable future holidays she'll be taking in France.

Oddly enough the third phone call was from another lapsed member of the Spanish group, a lady who along with her husband has been staying at her daughter’s residence near Barcelona for the last three months.
Her daughter married a Catalan about eight years ago and has just given birth to twin girls to compliment the two toddler boys she already has. Grandma and grandpa have been staying there to give mum some much needed support as dad is very busy working and being involved in local politics. The twins are six weeks old now so my friends have returned home.
Very conveniently for me I might add as I now have a replacement offer of a lift to the class (I don’t drive) this week.

Then there are the friends of my daughter who I met at the exhibition last week, one student spent last year on a placement living and working in Florence and a second friend has been back packing around Australia.

When I was young, in the days before package holidays and low cost flights were invented, the most distant connection I had was my maternal aunts and uncles who lived near Glasgow, my mother met my father during the war and moved down from Scotland to Yorkshire when they married.
When I was about ten years old I used to have a pen friend from Finland,how I looked forward to the infrequent postcards and letters I received from her; she sent me a postcard of a snowy forest scene which I still have tucked away somewhere.
It's a far cry from the instant communications via the internet that one can have with persons from all over the world today! "Hiya all"
Around the same time a young German boy called Heinz visited our school for a couple of weeks,it’s amazing that I still remember his name but all the girls in my class made a fuss of him what with his accent, blond hair and Germanic good looks and also I was in awe of foreigners back then.

Times have certainly changed.

"T'old man" is 64 years old and soon he will be 65, he recently received a letter from the pensions benefit office in Newcastle reminding him that in September he will be eligible to draw his state pension (as if he needed reminding). So...we duly phoned the office number supplied and ordered the claims pack which he has to fill in and return if he wants his pension to be paid on time. The nice young lady who took all his details informed us that the claims pack would be posted forthwith.
Two weeks has passed and nothing has arrived only to be told (on phoning up again) by another nice young lady that there is nothing on record about any claim forms been despatched or indeed any request for one.
Great... human error at work again, so after being reassured that it was not too late to make a claim in time to be paid on his birthday she would send one straight away that very day... watch this space... how complicated can it be...you pay your insurance stamp for nearly fifty years then you get your pension

Other notable "nearly pensioners" are Mohammed Ali, Ringo starr, Harrison Ford, Barbara Streisand and probably the most well known of all Paul McCartney.

When Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, the average life expectancy of a British infant boy was 63 years old. Paul turns 64 tomorrow Sunday 18th June, Father's Day.
He was a teenager when he wrote the tune for "When i'm Sixty-Four," and only 24 when the Beatles recorded it in 1967 for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." To the youth of the 1960's the lyrics were an enduring if satirical definition of what their golden age might have be like "many years from now."
Today, many of those who embraced that quaint vision of enduring love, caring, knitting and pottering in retirement — "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" — couldn't have been more wrong.
Judging by his personal life, Paul has missed the mark, too. The song's promise of retirement with a long term partner has proved bittersweet for him after announcing his separation from his second wife, Heather Mills, who is only 38.
"Will you still need me, Heather?" I think not!

If his first wife, Linda had survived it would have been a different story as they had been married for 29 years. "The bliss of being with a lifelong partner, as expressed in 'When I'm Sixty-Four,' was shattered by Linda's tragic death, "The little things expressed in the song, such as working in the garden and going for a Sunday morning drive, were part of his life with Linda."

Happy birthday anyway Paul and don't forget to apply early if you want your pension paying on time next year! lol lol

I wonder how Isadora piglet and Dawna the calf are getting on, I bet they are getting big now.

I make no apologies for being an obsessive and proud mum, she is the first person in my family to get a degree (although her sister is a senior RMN).
I passed my 11 plus then dropped out of Grammar school aged 15 before I took any exams and her dad also left school aged 15 to begin an apprenticeship as a skilled tradesman.

I wasn't going to blog again today but I have just had a phone call so I just had to let any friends or family who look in here know.

Bella has got a 2.1 so her official title is BSc(hons) Textile Design for Fashion and Interiors!

CONGRATULATIONS

TO BELLA

As you probably know she recently started a new job in 'interiors' so we are well chuffed

I'm going across to Huddersfield later with my eldest daughter Lulu for the final day of the exhibition so no doubt the champagne corks will be popping!!!!

Fizzy pop for me though as I don't drink alcohol, leaves more for Bella though

I've got a sick note for two weeks due to the irrational nature of a mildly arthritic hip!
The G.P. I saw at the surgery is only working there for 6 months and he's a lovely young man of Indian nationality. He sympathised with me a lot as his mother who is only 54 suffers from a similar complaint
I'm going to have a hard job explaining to my managers that i'm really not interested in football...but it's true.

In the space of two weeks my Bella has started a new job, official title (assistant designer), completed her her final year work and had it marked (this time next week she'll have a degree), last night we all went to the opening of the university's final year work exhibition and really enjoyed it with all the students buzzing around with excitement at showing the culmination of their university toil.

Today she came home to take receipt of her very first car. She didn't get a little Clio after all 'cos when we went "window shopping" she spotted a 2 year old flame red Nissan Micra and fell in love with it instantly.

She was so nervous when the salesman handed her the keys as she hasn't driven since passing her test last November and had been so worried about collecting the car on a busy Saturday afternoon, but fate was kind as the roads were relatively quiet thanks to "some" football match which was being televised at the same time

In three weeks time she will be leaving her university lodgings and will be setting up home in a new town and "real life" begins.
She physically resembles me so much from when I was 22 (as those who have seen my 1972 photo will acknowledge) but her life is so much different. At her age, I too was living in a city far from home but with no career prospects,a wayward husband, new baby and not a bean to my name.
It is hard for me to let go of my youngest child but at least I know that she has reached womanhood with a fair chance and that despite all the pitfalls of my youth I ended up reasonably "sound"
She will be fine

The sun is out and i'm gonna pull a sickie
at my time of life i'm past caring.
and no I don't follow football.

ps. I have got a bad leg and standing on it for long periods in the heat isn't doing it any good

then there's the G string.

global warming came to a halt for me in the 1950's....or maybe the 1970's lol,lol

Traditionally the supermarket employs Porters from both ends of the age spectrum, there's the over 50's who are just hanging in waiting 'til they can get their old age pension , then there's the college students who are portering to earn a bit of pocket money to subsidise themselves while they are at college.
Lately we have a good set of kids doing portering duties and we always have a chat and a laugh especially as they know my daughter Bella from when she worked on the tills.
Yesterday one such 18 year old lad came in out of uniform,looking quite different in his day clothes (A bit Goth looking) with dyed black hair, earrings galore and could be perceived as a bit scary looking at first glance.
He was in an upbeat mood and we exchanged pleasanteries. "Are you enjoying the fine weather"? I asked
"Yes", he said "and i'm looking forward to an even better few days as I won't be at work this weekend".
"Are you not"? I asked "Are you doing anything special"?
On hearing this question he produced a short article from his pocket

'SPIN' WIN BON JOVI SUPPORT COMPETION!

Yorkshire band 'Spin' have won the Virgin radio Bon Jovi competition with a cover version of "In These Arms".
Consequently they will be supporting Bon Jovi at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 10th and 11th!

"MY best friend is in this band" the young porter said, "i've known him since I was four years old and he's asked me to come along to Milton Keynes and help them with their gear".
I could sense the excitement in his voice but he, being a cool dude was trying to keep the lid on it and I smiled.
He followed on to tell me how he had asked around for someone to do a shift swop with him but no one was willing so he asked management if he could take Saturday off as holiday or unpaid leave but was refused because it was short notice.
""I don't care what management say" he said "i'm going anyway, they have told me that if I go I will get a disciplinary but this is only a temporary part-time job to me so they can do what they like as this is an opportunity not to missed".

Normally, I would not condone such a 'couldn't care less attitude' but then I remembered how I was when I was his age and how I still am (re: my excitement at seeing 'The Who' in two weeks time) and thought that yes, he had a point, our manager could have made allowances seeing as it was a one off occurence and after all they won't sack him as he hasn't had a disciplinary before.

So I thought "GO for it Lad, then maybe, like me, when you're old and grey you'll have some happy memories to recall rather than the ones of factories or Supermarket carparks!!!

It will soon be a year since I registered here, this being my first and only blog. I have never participated in chat rooms or forums either so I had little or no idea of the concept of blogs etc.(unlike some of you younger and more seasoned veterans of all things virtual).

During the course of the last year I have come to realise that the "Virtual community" is very transient and have witnessed quite a few blog "friends" come and go and find it curious just how people depart in different ways.
Many bloggers write a farewell note which may or may not explain their reasons for quitting, this maybe because of boredom, writers block, work committments or more often than not personal or family reasons. This is quite understandable and although other bloggers may be sad they are usually understanding and a "last post" brings a reassuring sort of "Closure" to a blog.
Others simply delete their blog out of the blue with no prior indications or warning as is their perogative and within their rights, the "blog friendships" aren't really real after all, are they? although this method does leave their regular visitors wondering "Why"?
Then there is another type, the "Will they won't they go"? types who are more ambiguous and tease by giving out hints and vague one-liners and leave one wondering if they have really gone or not.

I realise there are no obligations in blogland and that most things should be taken with a pinch of salt as every one can choose to come and go as they please but I think that when my turn comes (if ever), even if only for the people who had bothered to read and comment on my blog (both of you) I would at least say "Thanks for the communications, bye and take care".

"Each to their own",as they say...well used cliche.

The Finnish heavy metal band 'Lordi' have released their CD today (Hard Rock Hallelujah) and it's on sale down at the supermarket on the date 06/06/06.
Apparently they are coming to the UK for a short tour in October but unfortunately I will be otherwise engaged on those dates in October so won't be going

Just in case Lordi manage to reach the dizzy heights at the top of the charts I should mention that Nicole's 'A Little Peace' from 1982 is the last eurovision-winning song to become a UK no.1.

Ah, memories, much more my cup of tea

A little lovin', a little givin'
To build a dream for the world we live in
A little patience and understandin'
For our tomorrow, a little peace
A little sunshine, a sea of gladness
To wash away all the tears of sadness
A little hopin', a little prayin,
For our tomorrow, a little peace

We are feathers on the breeze
Sing with me my song of peace
We are feathers on the breeze
Sing with me my song of peace.

Today is June 6, 2006, also known, if you drop the zeroes, as 6/6/6. It's a number that is either curious or meaningless, given that 666 is referred to as the "number of the beast," or Antichrist, in the Book of Revelation, commercial outlets have taken advantage of the curiosity or fear linked to the date.
IN many countries "The Omen," a remake of the 1976 horror film that begins with the birth of the Antichrist, opens today nationwide.
Whatever today's 666 may bring, one dance club, the Mocca Lounge in Lower Manhattan, promises a party that will "either get the demons out or invoke them." the owner of the club, said that to him, 666 signifies "no borders, no boundaries where everything is possible."
As for the birth of the Antichrist, this probably won't happen today, more likely the Antichrist "is already in the world today, just waiting in the wings."

Nevertheless the intrigue of 666 and 'whether the world will end' has seen more than 700 online gamblers wagering on just that at 'BetUS.com', an american sports gambling site.
The wager of the day on the site is: "Will the World End on 6-6-06?" By 6 p.m. yesterday, 216 of the 700 gamblers had bet an average of just more than $2 that yes, the world would end. The odds stood at 100,000 to 1.
And how will they collect if their bet was right on?
Mike Forman, a spokesman for the site, said the company was committed to paying up. "Come rain, sleet, snow or apocalypse, our clients will receive their winnings," he said.
HOW'S HE GONNA MANAGE THAT!?

Information obtained from the NY Times.

Last week felt like winter, this week summer's here, spring got lost along the way.
Nevertheless today is a lovely day to spend in the garden away from the madding crowd.
So that's what i've been doing.

Oh to be young and in love on a summer's day when we would sit lazily in the grass making daisy chain necklaces and intimately holding buttercups under each others chin to determine if we liked butter.

Must get back outside now while there is still a few hours of daylight left...quick...before the sunshine disappears

Albino Lizard

Albino squirrel

Albino deer
Albino Joeys

To be recited in a broad Lancashire accent.

My Aunty kath would always maintain
As long as she was alive
You never really learn how to swear
Until you learn how to drive
----------

Down at the new car showroom
The salesman was caught on the hop
He said "Why not get a new car for the wife?"
I said "Thanks - that's a bloody good swop"
----------

You may think yourself a good gambler
A card sharp or a bit of a joker
But never, ever, do card tricks
For the people with whom you play poker
----------

"Alcoholics anonymous is great"
Was Paddy's claim
"I still go out boozing
But under a different name"
---------

Taken from 'Shorts for all occasions', a book of one verse poems by Bernard Wrigley

Bolton, Bolton;
What do I know about Bolton... well it's in Lancashire and the locals have a wicked accent.
In 1968 I worked at a hotel in Great Yarmouth with two girls who hailed from Bolton. Pat and Margaret were their names, it was my first time away from home and We shared a chalet in the hotel grounds. I became good friends with them and would visit them in Bolton after the summer season ended. Pat became pregnant with a local Yarmouth boy who returned to Bolton with her to get married hence I would stay with Margaret and we would tour the pubs on an evening.
I remember the pubs when pubs really were pubs, especially Yate's wine lodge when there was sawdust on the floor. I remember the spontaneous singarounds in the snug and the delicious hot cornish pasties we would eat at the end of a session (none of these foreign takeaways then)

Then there's Bernard Wrigley, the performer from Bolton, I saw him last month at Wath folk festival, what a fabulous storyteller that man is, his trademark accent and humour are legendary.
www.bernardwrigley.com

Oh yeah, and my Bella has just got her first post degree *JOB* at an interior design company based near Bolton, and she doesn't get her final degree results for another two weeks yet!!!!
she starts on Monday so it looks like she will be living over Manchester way after all and WON'T be coming back to the "checkouts" to work this summer.