Since Monday morning I have felt pretty rammy, it started out as a heavy cold and rapidly progressed to a chest infection.  I have ben dosing myself up with hot ginger and lemon drinks, taking paracetomal and rubbing this special chinese remedy that you rub on your chest and smells much more potent than Camphorated oil!
Little by little, day by day i have felt a little better so today I decided that I would keep a longstanding fixture in my 'events' calendar(all of four events in there and two have taken place)
So shortly I will be on my way to a restaurant in Bradford where a Leed's based dancer 'Bev' is holding her belly dance themed xmas celebration.  I couldn't not go really, it was going to be the highlight of the month and besides 'Golden Hips' is coming up from London to  perform for us ..I had to be better!

"You do know" said t'old man, out of curiosity "that if you're fit enough to go out for pleasure then you should be fit enough to go to work tomorrow? (8.a.m start)

"Of course I do"!!, I retorted " It was one of the main things I learnt as a child and it was one of the rules I adhered to with my own kids...no school/work =no play..

Who the flamin' nora invented that rule anyhow

You know how we in blog, have a lot of respect for 'HUGS', we like to give them virtually
we also like to give them when we meet in person

We admire a treehugger

and say fair play to the new breed of street huggers who like to give free Hugs in the street(anyone not had free street hugs)?

Well, i've just come across the "mother" of all huggers

I came across Mata Amritanandamayi as I was reading about Melanie Safka's life, Melanie is a recent devotee of this lady.

Mata Amritanandamayi is known to the world media as 'the hugging saint'. She offers a hug to everyone who approaches her and in India she has been known to individually hug over 50,000 people in a day, sitting sometimes for over 20 hours.
Worldwide, Mata Amritanandamayi is said to have hugged at least 30 million people in the past 30 years.
"Darshan – The Embrace," a film on the life of Mata Amritanandamayi, was officially selected for showcasing at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

Now that's what I really call taking the art of hugging to another level, RESPECT is due...so read all about this amazing lady HERE

The company are doling out the xmas spirit in good measure this week, we've had the free xmas party, we've received our £20 xmas gift card to spend on whatever we want and today is "double discount day
Colleagues get a whopping 20 per cent discount – double their normal 10 per cent saving off a whole host of products as part of the seasonal ‘thank you’.
When it was first introduced we could get double discount on anything sold in-store but over the years restrictions were brought in excluding general groceries and anything with a plug on it..i.e..all electrical goods.
It is still a bonus for colleagues with families though as still included in the "double discount" savings are traditional top-sellers such as beer, wine and spirits, gifts, toys, jewellery, fragrances and clothing.

The roast hog meat was served sliced in a bap with stuffing,crackling and obligitary apple sauce, side plate was buttered new potatoes and a beany salad...It tasted very nice

Honest it is!

I wasn't going to go, I swore blind that i'd never go to another one, and so I haven't for the last four years
 but seeing as the supermarket are holding the annual  xmas do (isn't it early) just a stone's throw from where I live..and it's free, I decided to pop in for an hour even if only for the novelty of taking some photos of inebriated colleagues "supposedly" having a good time, there's usually a lot of flirting going on and a scuffle or two has been known to break out in the past.
I may be back earlier than I planned if the vibes are not conducive to my well being but hopefully i'll manage to sample the Hog's roast before all hell lets loose.

Ho Ho Ho ...  away I go to get ready...  the party should be nicely underway by 8.30 I think.

I was on my out yesterday about six o' clock, I was going to Leeds city centre once again.

Considering I wasn't going to post today, blogland has intervened and it has all been about MEMEmEmememe..

7. I'm following my plan to grow old disgracefully

I tag...Marikasunseeker, Dennypoos, Zsussana, Safriz, Austin-Lance , workandbooks, adamantixx and anyone else who wants to do it.

If I have nominated you and you don't want to do it, no worries....just don't do it

Since installing the 'Live traffic feed' thingie on my blog I am intrigued to see how many people access my blog via a google search.

They come from far and wide with a variety of search words which bring up my blog.

It seems that one of the most popular searches so far seems to be "hannibal hoodies" which leads them to this blog  HERE
....... and another popular choice of word search is  "Builder's bum"   leading to this post HERE
maybe not quite what they expected after  following the link

I have only had two commenters who have been personally involved in my posts.

The first was quite a long time ago when I wrote about a wedding I had attended.  One of the guests was an ex-professional rugby player and I stupidly mentioned him by name.  Ordinarily this wouldn't have mattered but I happened to make some unflattering comments about his partner (who I didn't mention by name)
She found me by googling his name and threatened to take legal action if I didn't remove the remark I had made...needless to say I did what she asked as I wasn't out to offend anyone but it just goes to show though, you've got to be careful what you write even if you think there's no chance of being found out.

The second comment I received was only a couple of days ago, It was from a young girl who I had photographed at Leeds carnival three months ago whose name I did not know.
I had posted her and another girl's photo on the photography web-site  HERE .
She had also found the post through a google search 'Leeds carnival' but fortunately she was pleased with it and I have had an email exchange with her and will be looking out for her to photograph next year

Now i've just finished a post shamelessly promoting my little blog, I'll finish by saying

"I'nt  internet grand"!

Most folk who know me know that i'm a middle of the road sort of person, I trundle along in my own sweet way, reaching a middle level in most things I do.
I am happy enough with being in the chorus line with the dance troupe, I don't mind if I don't get fluent in the spanish language so long as I can communicate at a reasonable level when I visit Spain and likewise with photography, I am happy with my little digi camera taking point and shoot snapshots where-ever I go.

That's not to say that I don't marvel at anyone who is bi-lingual, I absolutely love watching the amazing belly dancers that I come across at the various events I attend and I really admire and wonder at some of the marvellous photos that appear frequently here, some which are published by fellow bloggers, LaSpice, Usky and Seasideman to name but a few.

Now having said all that, my lack of expertise in all these fields doesn't stop me having fun with my hobbies, I have had many a chat with an old spaniard in a spanish town square, I will be watching some fab dancers at an event on Friday and I enjoy the pleasure of downloading my photos to find one or two that are OK.

Let me tell you about the competion I entered a short while ago.

This was not a competion which needed any special equipment or technical knowledge it was a snapshot competion  set by Alpharooms (a hotel booking website)  where you had to take a cuddly toy , their logo Alfie with you on your holiday and take a photo of him in front of a tourist sight or landmark.

My little Alfie arrived in the post in late springtime and  in my suitcase he went, to Andalucia and Seville.  I quite enjoyed taking his photo and although they were my usual 'point and shoot' digi camera pics I submitted a few to the competion  nevertheless.
I didn't give it another thought really until this week when I was notified that one of my pics has been chosen to be included in the Alpharooms 2009 Calendar and I received £50's worth of Amazon vouchers. 

T'old man remarked "you'd think that you had won the pools or been awarded a major photography prize" by the way I was beaming....but that's me, small things please me.

There were one or two pics I really liked that will be included in the Calendar particularly the one on the left side of mine  HERE

This is my photo taken at the The Alcazar, the royal palace  in Seville.

Saf wants to see some pics of the Leeds blogmeet so here is one
taken at the Shabab Indian restaurant in Leeds.

Your turn now Saf

We talked, we laughed we wined and dined in Leeds last night. 
I have met eleven bloggers in total now and can truly say that it has been a pleasure to meet every single one of them .

What did I learn at yesterday's blog meet?

Well, I learnt that the barman at the Hilton hotel in Leeds is extremely slow but he makes up for it by his charming manner as he apologises profusely  for making you wait ;

I also learnt that the waiter in the indian restaurant thinks that Meno's accent is irish and it wasn't 'til she gave them lots of clues that they got the right answer   I think she charmed them though as they presented all the ladies with a rose after the meal.

I learnt that Austin Lance is one of the friendliest chaps you could meet and is destined for show-biz glory one day

I learnt  that  Drunken Yorkshire men like to squeeze GilraenH's bottom
She was mortified so it was up to me to sort the cheeky blighters out

I learnt that Mira is a wonderful lady who must have been taking lessons in hugging from Meno as hers are magnanimous too.

...and finally I learnt that having the runner-up in the Writer's short story competion as a sister isn't too bad a thing either when she can accompany one to a blog meet!

I decided to pop into the supermarket this afternoon to pick up a few odds and ends and arrived just in time for the 'Children in Need' appeal initiative.

I hope nobody from works comes across this or I could be in a spot of bovver

The other day, t'old man arrived home three hours after attending another appointment at the dentist
"Where have you been? your dinner's gone cold" I retorted
"Sorry love" he replied "I simply had to go t'pub for a pint to recover from the shock of the cost of this new bridge they're gonna make me"

This dancing malarky is wearing me out! I have been going to a Tuesday evening class for the last two weeks as well as my Wednesday afternoon one and my legs are certainly feeling the effect
I'll never be what is called a 'brilliant dancer' and age is certainly not on my side but I keep on going regardless as i'd miss the comraderie of the other women if I stopped....and besides where else can I get away with dressing up in jingly jangly sparkly clothes at my age

I've been as busy as a contented little bee this morning,

 a little bit of housework here
 a little bit of ironing there.

I walked to the supermarket to buy some ink for my printer as I have been nominated to set the lesson this week for our OAP self-help spanish language class tomorrow morning,   I usually manage to duck out of it I can, but I was collared last week as it had been noticed

The group really needs a teacher as we aren't progressing with the language but it is as it is so I will prepare something basic then we will all get full marks and think we are clever

I have starting cooking dinner now but I really must get out of the habit of simmering or baking food then sneaking upstairs for a crafty blog...more than once I have become engrossed
and forgotten about the pans on the stove , ending up with burnt food and burnt pans.

What I need is an egg-timer to place by the computer and set it for how-ever long the pans are safe to be left simmering, or better still I wonder if there is such a thing as an 'on-line alarm' one can set on the computer?

The answer is easy according to t'old man.  "don't blog when you are preparing dinner"
it's easy for him to say , he's not addicted
In my defence I do have to say that I am less addicted than I used to be.

I can smell the aroma of the pork steak and sausage casserole wafting up the stairs, i'd better go and see to it

I didn't used to work on Sundays so I have never been stood in the supermarket foyer before at 11 am  on Remembrance Sunday when the two minutes silence is held. 
It was quite a moving experience for me for no other reason than the fact that everyman, woman and child (there must have been sixty persons in my sightline alone) in the store respected the moment and stopped shopping and stood exactly where they were, be that at the door entrance, looking at DVD's, standing in the restaurant waiting to be served late breakfast etc.  It was quite eerie in that vast space with all those shoppers paying their respects and hardly a sound to be heard.
  I was expecting to  hear noises of sufferance from the children or a stray misfit showing disregard but no, not a murmer, they must have been briefed in advance.
For as long as I can remember in the run up to Remembrance Sunday there has always been collections for the British legion and the sale of poppies in the supermarket foyer....until the last few years that is ...when suddenly they stopped coming. 
Customers would ask why there were no poppies for sale and all we could offer as a way of explanation was that there was a shortage of volunteers to spread around all the collection sites.
This year I am pleased to report that the collecters were back in force with collection tables set up every day last week..their collection boxes must have been swelled. People are volunteering again.

The irony of it is though that the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought back the horrors of war to the forefront.  It is such a shame that it has taken the loss of life of young men and women today for the Royal British Legion to enjoy a resurgence.

Bizarre or what??
I am just getting ready to depart for my once a fortnightly shift as a store greeter(yes, I really do have a contract which states that I work one shift a week; alternating one week greeting, one week bakery).

catch you later

Looking through my blogs of the last three and a half years I came across this fun post I blogged back in November 2006

I was asked why t'old man had been throwing leaves about...the answer is quite simply that he was clearing leaves which had fallen from the trees situated in the garden next door.

Right that's enough procrastinating for today, i'm going to enter the realms of escapism now by researching how i'm going to obtain my next year's February winter sun!
..catch you later

"What are you looking at" I asked t'old man as I spotted him looking over the fence down at the deep drop on the other side.
"I'm looking at those fallen leaves there" he pointed
"Err, why?"
"I was scooping up some leaves and tossed them over the fence when I realised I also had the garage side door key in my hand and i've tossed it over there with them too

Anyone who read my blog a couple of years ago may remember that there is a fairly high fence around the bottom of the neighbour's garden,which is adjacent to our front which contains many  protected trees ....Oh and hens

"I'll have to get my ladders and drop over the fence" he decided, but before he managed to do this someone had arrived to have a nosey around!

before long another one had toddled over to see what was going on.

"Be careful, as you jump down" I said to t'old man "you don't want to scare them"

We were lucky the  magpies didn't get there first,  we'd have never got the key back"

I haven't felt like blogging this week which is a strange occurence for me
The headache may be the consequence of a number of things.

Enjoy bonfire night everyone, I'm going to take my usual new year's eve and bonfire night position in the back bedroom where I have a great view of the skyline and watch the "real" fireworks exploding as opposed to the one's exploding inside my head!..catch you later