I have been enjoying myself recently looking through my old holiday snaps and posting them on my Isasfotos blog and the Photography blog

On this blog I post my holiday photos soon after I have returned, usually people pics, so it has been a change for me to unearth some of the others.

Whilst browsing my photos I came upon this one which I took in Valencia.
It's not very exciting and the red colour of the flower and the green foliage were very dark so I tried to lighten it, then I spotted something on the photo that I hadn't noticed before....can you guess what it is?

Post script

T'old man seemed to laugh his way through the operation, cracking jokes with the nurses(especially the one who thought he was my dad )
he jested with the female anaesthesist, "byesy bye" were the last words she said as he went under, then he exchanged jokes with the consultant this morning who regaled that they had managed to do a good job getting rid of his 'hernia bulge' but the 'beer belly' that remained is his own responsibility
He's not laughing now though poor love, he's home and in bed but he's in some pain and discomfort...hopefully it won't be for long .

P.P.S.

The enlargement shows two heads behind the flower hedge which were not visible when the photo was darker

Click to make bigger

THE NOROVIRUS
The hospital outbreak resulted as a consequence of the community-based epidemic.
It went rampant around the wards infecting anyone who got in its way!
precautions were put into place and now it's on it way out!!

Latest update from the hospital

Non-essential visiting is being restricted on:

Ward 6

All other restrictions are now lifted.

and NO...he won't be going anywhere near ward 6

So hopefully there will be a lot of this going on

meanwhile i'll be here still battling this deadly affliction

The winter vomiting bug has led to a visiting ban at the hospital where t'old man is due to have his 'long awaited for' hernia operation on Thursday , they say tight restrictions are needed to control the spread of the virus so non-essential visiting is being restricted on all wards except the children's ward and intensive care.
Visitors with symptoms in the last 48 hours must stay away from all areas.

He couldn't be unlucky again, could he?...after having to cancel his previous appointment in December due to a chest infection.

I hope the precautions that have been put in place have been successful in keeping the virus away from the wards and hopefully the surgeon and staff have already had the infamous 48 hour bug and things go according to plan this time......It really is time this was out of the way now then maybe we can get on with the serious business of escaping the winter blues

I wish i'd had my camera with me today! .
I was waiting for a bus in the busy high street when t'old man said to me "What has she got on her head"?
It took me a while to see who he was talking about, then I spied a female on the other side of the busy road huddled on the steps in front of the door of a hairdresser/beauty parlour.
She had a gown and towel around her shoulders, her hair was covered in silver foil sheets and the goose pimples were showing through her fake tanned face.
What was she doing??
Having a cigarette of course ...poor lamb couldn't wait

ELLIEGANT has just asked if anyone has developed an exit strategy from BCUK....well, here's mine!

I was tired of serving up burnt food too so I bought myself a cheap kitchen timer in the shape of a garlic bulb...I could have had a tomato shaped one but thought the garlic would colour co-ordinate better.

Now everytime I come upstairs to browse on the computer when i'm cooking it gets turned to the appropriate cooking time required.
I realise that there is probably a timer on my phone or the computer that I could use but I thought that having this there in front of me would make me jump out of my chair faster!

Go get one Ellie.....or better still we really should refrain from blogging when there are pans on the cooker or pies in the oven

You'll probably guess straight away where my camera was pointed.
The lights are still on, the security CTV is still rolling but there's no-one there.

To confirm your suspicions click here for my ISASFOTOS post

Not even at a bargain price!!

Do any of you remember me mentioning that I came runner up in a travel website's photo competition? I received and promptly spent the £50 Amazon voucher which was my prize....thankyou very much

The calendar where the photo was printed ended up not being the large glossy wall calendar that I had imagined but just a low quality card in a CD case ...but no worries, that's OK

I received this email the other day

Message Received: Jan 08 2009, 11:41 AM
From: "Amy W****"
To: emailCc:
Subject: Photography Competition

Hi Isadora,
Congratulations you have been selected as a runner up in travelsite 'Far F** A**' photography competition. I have sent out a letter which you should receive shortly to confirm your prize.
We would like to promote the competition in your local media and as such would like to arrange a photo-shoot of you at home.
This will entail an hour of your time and we will take care of all the arrangements.
Please can you give me a call to discuss the photography on ****8700 at your earliest convenience. Alternatively, drop me an email with your contact details on and I will call you.
Many thanks, Amy W****
account executive **** PR Company
registered number: 256**8

Ha!! I laughed when I received this email ...What do you think of me posing with a soft toy in the local rag purely to promote a commercial company!
Now I might consider it if there was suitable renumeration but the letter arrived today and all it mentioned were the £50 vouchers i've already spent.

15 minutes of local fame...NO thankyou

Have you ever woken up feeling like this?

I did this morning...feeling rather tired now when I really shouldn't be!

oops, just remembered ......
on my new year's "positive" note ...... 
"tomorrow is another day and I will be bright and cheerful, my back won't hurt and my bones won't ache".

There, i've something to look forward to tomorrow now  

I suppose that there are many folk who have done a job that is kind of embarassing, but have resignedly done it because needs be.
Let’s face it, even though you may have set out to do something you really love, circumstances may create a different path for you.
Many jobs, no matter how embarrassing they were at the time, down the road they become kind of a badge of honour ... ... and believe me the Asda Greeter badge is the largest worker's badge I have ever seen, a 4”across yellow circle that said “Isadora —Happy to Help”!!
Today, after five years, I took off my blue coat, threw away my cravat and yelled "Eureka" for today I worked my last shift as a Store Greeter.

Three and a half years ago I started this blog as way of trying to create some incentive to carry on with the job which I was decidedly unsatisfied with....The title of the blog was "The Ramblings of a Store Greeter" which a couple of years later changed to "Greetings from a Greeter".
Tonight the title of this blog disappears forever, I will be greeting no more, I have stopped rambling.

Will I miss using the mobile mike to tannoy in-store announcements, mainly that week’s special offers?...no not really, although I did enjoy myself today announcing selection boxes reduced to 50p, the customers were buying them by the armful and were tripping up over each other to get to them
The rule is that I should greet 70% of customers entering the store (I didn't), I had to assist customers wherever possible (I did).
The managers also expected the greeters to do this ‘with flair’ but let me tell you that standing and smiling at unresponsive customers is impossible to do in a six-hour shift, it becomes tedious!
Until you’ve done this sort of job, you have no idea what it’s like.

I will miss the "events days" when staff dress in crazy costumes (one xmas eve I worked dressed as a belly dancer), I've enjoyed listening to the carol singers at the foyer entrance, I've had my photo taken with visiting Rugby stars, held the FA cup, had fun with the charity events etc.....I will miss my regular customers, the ones who have a ready smile, have a chat, the old folk who love to give me a sweetie and the cute kiddies who grin at me when passing and shout out my name(it's on that flamin' name badge).
However, I did not like the job when people treated me like I was invisible (especially the business men in suits), and the people with huge chips on their shoulders who demanded I get them a trolley or had a tantrum when there weren’t any baskets and the ignorant parents who let their children run riot in the foyer, climbing all over the mobility scooters and standing up in the shopping trolleys (which is very dangerous and I have had to call for an ambulance before now when a kiddy toppled over and banged his head on the hard supermarket floor).

Anyway enough of my pontifications,
so...on this...on what was my last day as a Store greeter, I plea to everyone, from the heart of someone that has done this menial job for five years ,
"PLEASE be nice to people like Greeters".
The job is a lot more difficult than just standing around all day !

Yippee I don't have to be nice to you horrible lot any more!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY

The new year is here and for the first time in a long time I haven't made any resolutions.  Sula just wrote a post and mentioned being positive in 2009 which seems like a good stance to take,  so I 'll endeavour to be that in lieu of making any firm resolutions
Last year, I feel, was a good year for me
It started in

JANUARY.....when I worked my last shift at the supermarket for a while and took myself off to Spain for six weeks leaving t'old man to hold the fort at home.  I spent a month by the sea in Nerja and a couple of weeks at the house of my friend near Antequera (the purchase was completed while we were already over there)
Daughter Bella started her new job in Hull which meant she would visit most Sundays seeing as she would be commuting from Hull to Manchester most weekends.

FEBRUARY....  I enjoyed, Paella, the Carnival, and the Caves in Nerja...I got to know the local spaniards in a small town in rural Andalucia...I learnt that six weeks was quite long enough to be away from home when the person you were away with was getting stressed out over building work in her new house.
Arrived home, pleased to see t'old man had survived quite well without me.
At the end of the month I was informed that the Greeters role at the supermarket was being scaled down with reduced hours available so I requested a one day a week Sunday only contract which ended up with me working once a fortnight greeting and the alternate week in the bakery.

MARCH.... joined up again with my friends from the dance class and spanish class.
I went to valencia for ten days with t'old man in time for the Fallas celebrations...I love the 'sculptures'  they build and then burn, so I had a good time taking lots of photos of them.
Easter was early and it was snowy according to my post at the time:

APRIL...back into a routine again, my one day a week rolling rota starts at the supermarket, I do a bit of house work,  I go to a fabulous belly dancing event in Saltaire, attend some Thai Chi classes and enjoy the spring flowers.
Lonemum burns her blog ...I have a chest infestion, been experiencing some bad dreams and consider giving up blogging myself :roll: 

 

MAY......I went to a little folk festival in Shepley West Yorkshire.....
me and t'old man spent six days in Nimes, South of France (fiesta time again)
T'old man's nation-wide bus pass still hasn't arrived and the late bank holiday was another total wash-out... we acknowledged it by finally eating the Chrismas pudding which had been lingering in the back of the pantry.

 

JUNE......I spent time going for walks and enjoying the countryside, our garden is springing to life once more and looks quite nice:)
I leave t'old man again but this time for only a week as my friend wanted company in her spanish house ..and me being a good friend and all, simply had to oblige. 
We visited Seville and watched an egg cook on the paving stone (yes, that hot)!!

 

JULY.......Time to get my camping gear out :)  I stewarded at two festivals this year, Cleckheaton, a quite small affair and Warwick which is much larger.  Had a fab time, i've got my name down for stewarding again in 2009.The other notable event this month was the 'shiner' I  sported on my eye.....the result of an argument with an old wardrobe door I was trying to dismantle.

AUGUST......the saga of the building of next doors extension begins, our peaceful lane is invaded with JCB's and builder's bums! 
I'm still working one day a week,  I went to see Evita at Leeds grand theatre and took lots of lovely photos at the annual Leeds West Indian carnival.

SEPTEMBER......Me and t'old man spent  another  week abroad, this time in Valladolid, northern Spain...and Yes!..fiesta time again
We had a fab time except when t'old man's teeth (bridge) came out while he crunching on a baguette.
  The builders are creating havoc  and t'old man is still on the waiting list for a hernia operation.

OCTOBER......was dominated by the fact that I would become a real life bona-fida OAP this month... the pension had been applied for, the free bus pass had duly arrived and my two daughters gave me a day i'll always remember :yes:
On the down-side, two ba** scammed an elderly neighbour of some money and bella was a victim of the credit crunch and was made redundant from her "perfect" job. She moved back to Manchester and thankfully has found another job in textiles :)

 

 NOVEMBER...the highlight was the blog meet in Leeds..it was my second meet and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting meno again and all the lovely bloggers who were new to me, oh and the indian meal was good too!
Many bloggers put up profile pics up of themselves for the day, it was interesting to see how people compared to the imagines vision I had of them :) 
I won a £50 Amazon voucher for a holiday snap photo I took in Seville.
I enjoyed a hog roast at the works Xmas do in November!!

 

DECEMBER....both t'old man and myself had a bad dose of the dreaded chest infection bug..it was so bad that t'old man had to cancel his hernia operation.
His dental treatment(or non-treatment)  is still on going...and here we today

 

 

 

  Let's see what 2009 brings eh.....