A pinch 'n a punch

for the First of the month!!!

My oh my, it's MARCH!!!!

This year is simply zipping by.

My first sign of spring arrived yesterday

when I received two lovely boxes of bulbs from my work.

It was my birthday and leaving presents.

My colleagues had surprised me with a lunch "High Tea-style"

with English tea to boot!!

My carrot cake recipe is in demand.

The meringue kisses were delicious.

The brownies were just gone in a flash.

The rocky road was a surprise!!!!

It was touching, and memorable and very, very kind.

Thank you everyone.

Then I had so many red roses!!

And wine and supper prepared for me.

And a very special person doing it for me.

It was perfect.xxxx

Sue xx

Forced

to buy a new pair of shoes today!!!

Reason being my current pair have worn out.

There are holes in the soles.

The laces have barely enough left in them to stay in one length.

They are no longer waterproof and I cannot wear them on wet days.

They are falling apart..literally.

I found myself with time to spare this afternoon so I went a-wandering.

I snook into a shoe shop where I never go.

I tried the patience of the lovely shop lady.

She did her utmost to suit my difficult right foot.

I hated the ECCO ones..not a good look for me.

I hated the mock croc ones she showed me even more!!

I wanted flat...absolutely flat ones.

Shoes for every single day that don't hurt.

We finally  found a pair I liked that were comfortable too.

But the laces were too short.

Nice shop lady ran off to the shoemakers and returned with

longer laces.

I decided I ought to now buy them.

So I did, thanks to some perfectly timed birthday money that

came in the post yesterday!!!

I might wear them tomorrow.

No, I have to wear them tomorrow because they are all I have!

Sue xx

Final week of February

and the second month of the year is almost done!

Everyone is talking about Spring and how much they want it to arrive.

We had a very slight hint of snow yesterday but it didn't come to anything.

I lay on the settee most of the day with a bad headache and feeling very, very tired.

It was a lovely evening on Saturday.

My 'Three Tulips" pub meal went down a treat!

The Chicken Pie recipe from Michel Roux was delicious

even though it was a lot of faff making it. I think next time I will take some 

short cuts . . . 

James Martin's recipe for the Sticky Toffee Pudding was good too,

but it was my very Favourite all-time pudding - 

Apple & Blackberry Crumble with Creme Anglaise

that stole my heart. I do so love a good crumble!

I suppose the long and the short of it is that I enjoyed preparing all 

the food and am glad it all got eaten too!

This week it is all about baking - or running off to the Hema and taking

the easy option . . . .and much cheaper too I suppose.

I will probably end up doing both as time constraints will dictate

how much I can do myself, as well as what is already in the store cupboard.

The jury is still out on this one!!

Sue xx

Fancy that!

Somehow the week has unobtrusively slid along from Monday to Friday without me paying too much attention.

 Apparently.

It was unintentional really, I promise.

I was just otherwise occupied and knee-deep in paperwork for a case coming up soon.

Luckily I have managed to keep on top of my own administration which is amazing actually..

and there was only the boys to sort out. Some way to go there!!!

And today it was work in the morning followed by a shopping spree at the supermarket!!!

As a definite dyslexic person I write lists.

A lot of lists.

I take a lot of time researching my cookery books.

I make numerous menus and find it hard to decide which ones I fancy the most.

I like things to be visual.

I like to have a theme.

I like to make it fun.

I like to invite everyone I know - but right now I cannot afford to do that.

I will miss the usual suspects whom I love to see on my birthday.

I will be happy to see those from close by who are able to come.

I am off to bed to get a much better nights sleep than I had last night so that I can be up with the 

lark and working through my planned schedule based on anti-stress and with lots of rests!!!

6pm ladies; see you then!!!

Sue xx

A good idea while it lasted!

I had such high hopes.

I was going to do so well.

I was thinking I could try being an a-typical Pisces

and make decisions..

but that was yesterday.

I find myself buffeted and bashed and rather crushed

and not in a good place this morning.

so..

my F today is FLATTERY.

I could use some!!!

I could definitely do with hearing fine things about myself

today and every day up to my birthday.

Make February the month for some Fine Flattering!!!

Be my Fanclub; make me First in line;

Bring me Flowers, lots of 'em!!!

Feed me with Fancy Food.

Take me to see that Film!!

Stop the Fear in me from taking hold.

Find the time........

Sue xx

A new day dawns

...still in Les Mis mode!!!

The weather is warmer, the bulbs are popping up and every now and then we get a hard frost which sends them bending back down into the earth again.
Are you watching the Penguins on BBC 1? The Emperors are so sweet with their little chicks between their feet!!! And what about those Rock Hoppers - cute or what?!!

Shall we move onto G or is there still life in F?
I am not sure.
I am undecided.
I am in two minds.
I am conflicted.
I am between a rock and a hard place.
I am between the devil and the deep blue sea.
I cannot make up my mind.
I am dithering.
I am indecisive.

I am all of the above which all say exactly the same thing and I still don't know!!!

Start your week off with more decisiveness.
Sue xx

Food

My birthday is on the last day of February.
I am leaving a job on 7th March.
It's traditional to take cakes to work for both of these occasions.
I have a lot of cakes to bake!
But which to choose? . . . . .
I am definitely an English baker and not into too many Dutch Slagroom Taarts. Tim says they are
easy to make and rolls the recipe straight off his tongue!
Mary Berry does not do Slagroom Taarts.
I'm testing a Brownie recipe today.
It's more my thing really.
Toying with Carrot Cake; Chocolate Fudge Cake; Cupcakes which are essentially Fairy Cakes in disguise don't you agree?

Have invited my girlfriends to dine with me on 23rd February in 'pub style.'
Got to make a menu next, starters and finishers no bother but the middles?????
Not trusting minced beef right now, to be perfectly honest with you.
Horse = Black Beauty.
Rabbit = Thumper.
Duck = Jemima.
Lamb = Larry or Mary's Little one.
Venison = Bambi.
All perfectly good reasons why I am semi-vegetarian and why English people have problems with eating these meats!!
I've tried explaining the rationality to this view of mine but to no avail.
It all boils down to Chickens really.

So call me Faddy.
Call me Fussy.
Call me anything F that is polite and we will get along just FINE.

Enjoy the weekend.
Sue xx

A new day

must begin.
A line from a song I think.....
or was it a dawn?

Anyway, Grandma Moses, you are absolutely right!! Life is what we make of it and the spin we can put on our negative tendencies to view the world in a poor light - and instead let that light shine through.

I am sitting here making small gifts for some of my colleagues with whom I have shared something this past year. Good or bad!! Thanking them and leaving a small thought with them as a reminder of their having had this English lassie in their midst. I Fear I may be too subtle for some; too honest to others.
For me it is important to give thanks. Whatever we undertake in our lives, we can always learn something about ourselves and others from it. I am wiser, I am more assertive, I am more concerned, I am more knowledgeable. I am certainly grateful.

Brene Brown can be shared with some and not with others.
The future is in safe hands then.
I guess so.

For the rest I am thinking some Quality Street maybe . . . . . . . .
Sue xx

Film

ah yes,
you will have understood that I have seen Lincoln!!!
It is a film that you don't particular enjoy but at the same time you do become Fascinated by the story.

Daniel Day Lewis is Fantastic as Lincoln.

I was listening to the comments of the people sitting next to me and realised that they felt the same way; we were there for the historical content of the film, tolerating the complexity of the seriousness of the political debate and screenplay out of our curiosity and thirst for knowledge and insight into those events from American History. And that sentence is an easy one by comparison to some of the lines in the film!!!!

I've seen it now.
I think today I will move onto Anna Karenina since it is snowy outside and I am going nowhere. Plenty to occupy me here then.....

FILMS.
Do you have favorites?
I know I do!!
They tend to be mostly based on true stories as I like that.
They are usually tinged with some form of romance and historical fact.
They will probably have the capacity to make me cry.
They must not have any animals in them!! Especially not race horses or dogs  or whales. Especially not seals!!!
So I guess I will feel pretty safe with AK?.....
Sue xx

Funny thing

....y'know someone well, and yet they still have the capacity to shock and surprise you and make you re-think every single thing you ever thought you knew about them!!

Remaining true to yourself under such pressure is one of the hardest things I have ever had to try to do. (I was going for the 'to do' but realised that it is the trying part that matters).

I can give no guarantees.
I cannot promise I will be able to stay focused and unbiased.
I cannot unequivacally state that I will not want to be mean and cruel back.
I cannot say that I will not want to raise issues simply because it is the fight back way to go.
I cannot pretend that I am ok.

I can only do what I always set out to do in these unpleasant situations and that is to be myself.
I have never had time for bitterness and loathing.
I have never understood why anyone would want to overindulge in warring and unrest for the sake of it.
I do not know why once persons have gone their separate ways anyone would be determined to ruin them just because of spite.

I just don't get it.

So, in the midst of all my anguish and fear and my sadness and pain, I am desperately trying to understand why I find myself in this situation and what the outcome may be. For it is the outcome that interests me and nothing more.
I will represent my case fairly and openly, and put my blind faith in justice and the law.
I will allow myself to accept what I cannot change, and place my trust firmly in the hands of others who  have the deciding vote. I will be the better man in the end because my integrity will remain intact. I will become stronger for it. I will not think in terms of the victor and the victim. I will be kind because at the end of the day, when there is nothing left, one can always choose to be kind. Everyone can do that. It just takes courage.
Sue xx

Friday

and I am considering moving onto F in its honor.
And because its time for a change.
And just because I Fancy it!!

Frost and more Frost - that is this week's theme. And Frozen brakes to add to my woes!!
It was Frightening driving on Wednesday, I can tell you! I was able to drive on my gears along
the back roads to give me additional stopping power, but they were totally iced up and it was scary.
Especially since I had both cats on board . . . mind you, they were fine. Will is magnificent according
to our vet, and Finka is holding her own. Just more teeth and gum trouble but I think she just has this, and we have to manage it as best we can. Will has a luvverly set of choppers apparently!! Since he will
eat absolutely everything and anything, this is just as well. Never actually seen a full set before, in any of our cats.

Finding it hard to start the goodbye process at work. Telling people is not my Forte really. And I am so not into leaving do's. When I left my first job way back in 1982 I was surprised by the whole hospital!
I worked in a very old and large rambling Psychiatric Hospital in a day hospital within the grounds. I was 22 . . . and moving away to start a new job elsewhere. We held a party in the day hospital and everybody was there. All was going well until they asked me to move into the other room and have a drink. Suddenly I heard an announcement over the hospital radio, for me, to say goodbye by playing my all-time favourite song: "Without You" by Harry Nilsson. I was done for!!! So I tremble at the thought of yet another goodbye do. I worry about keeping my emotions under wraps ( never gonna happen) and I have the inclination to just run . . . .always an option, right?
But for today, and the coming few weeks I will just go about my business unobtrusively and stay under the radar for as long as possible.
Sue xx

FROST!

So, back in the cold again are we?! It looks frosty and white outside this morning which is pretty as a picture but COLD!!! The temp is rising apparently according to my early morning weatherman, who is currently enjoying even earlier starts this week, so I am hoping it will be gone by noon.

I had a spooky Experience yesterday!! During the night I was awake listening to the thunderstorm raging, and I could most clearly smell incense in the bedroom. It was a strong smell and it filled the air for several hours - yes, I stayed awake that long! Anyway, it didn't trouble me really, and later on at work I mentioned it to a colleague when we were chatting about psychics etc. I told her about the smell.
Then later on again, I went to see someone  . . . .who had got the same incense burning in her living room. . . I was quite taken aback when I walked in and smelt it! Coincidence or what?

I get it quite often I must admit, and listen to my intuition more and more. I used to try to ignore it, and not dwell on what I was Experiencing or feeling, but as I get older and more things become apparent, I do open myself up to the possibilities more.

Right now I am getting ready to take the cats to the vets! February is free dental and mouth check-up and they go each year. This is Will's first go . . .and we have to corner them first! Wake up son, time to play catch the cat!!!
Sue xx

Monday

instead of Sunday for my weekly review!
Except that there is not much to review really.

It was a quiet week apart from my work news . . .but I am coming to terms with that now, and all my other plans have not progressed an iota!!
Things were nice on Saturday because the boy cooked dinner for us! I bought him the 15mins book from Jamie Oliver since he has some interest in learning to cook for himself - as well as his girlfriend thinking this is a good idea too. He choose a nice chicken recipe and it was tasty! Took far longer than 15 minutes but hey, it was his first proper solo attempt and the end result was edible. He even did the washing up!! What more can I wish for . . .hmm, where to start?!

Cats are off this week for their annual oral hygiene check up. I know now that it is going to be Extremely difficult getting them both into their carrier. Last time Will absconded and hid where I could not reach him so he stayed home. He has to come this time so that our lovely vet can weigh him. And give advice about his eating habits!! He is an Endearing little chappie but he cannot resist food - his own and everybody else's! It is a real problem and we do worry about it. He is sitting on his cushion next to the computer right now, as is his wont when I am working from home, and being very, very sweet. But he has broken the  closure on the bin in the kitchen because obviously they did not test the number of times it needs to open with a Will in the test seat!! It is now sealed with Sellotape until I can take it back to the shop under guarantee. Nothing is safe both indoors as outdoors so the summer is going to be a trial for both Will and us.

I need to confess to an addiction: POINTLESS. We are such fans!! We eat dinner glued to the TV watching as contestants try to find pointless answers to a wide variety of obscure questions. I like it because it tests my knowledge and is a challenge. I enjoy the batter between the presenters. We want to put Becci and Ric up for a show. It is relevant for all ages and all interests and it is such a nice show!!
So, BBC 1 at 18.15 here in The Netherlands. Recommended!
Sue xx

Sunshine

after the rain!
Well, for the moment at least! It has been an Exhausting week hence little attention to my blog Entries til now. Excuse me for that please. So much happening and so little time to think about it really, that is the problem. The good thing is my Daily Journal is still flourishing and I do write in it at some point each day. Not all the parts of it are great. I seek out the ones relevant to me and fill them in and leave the rest alone. It needs adapting for the second run.

Today I am keeping myself on track with chores and rest periods as I find this works best for me. I need a break in the day if I am not to get too tired, now I am apparently ' in my dotage ' according to some!!
I feel Exceptionally fortunate inasmuch as  I generally don't have any aches and pains in my body and I am reasonably healthy - as far as I know. Trying to vary my diet more towards a vegetarian/fruit based one since that is recommended for my blood group. It was interesting discovering that we digest foods more easily if we are aware which ones suit our digestive systems the best, alongside recognising that those I have always disliked were also the ones I need to avoid! I have never gone for the yellow and orange colours in any part of my life including fruits, and hey ho, my partiality for the red and black and purples and pinks and blues tie in with this diet too. Bring on those blackberries!! I am not a meat fan and can live without it quite well I think though chicken is a favourite still, so reducing that in my diet is not a problem. Fish I do like but am hopeless at preparing. Need to work on that then. In case you are wondering I am blood group B. The agrarian diet. The veg and fruit person. yay!!
See whether it also does the necessary/desired weight loss thing the book claims will occur without me even trying! . . .
Sue xx