Remembrance Sunday

Today at 11am, and on Wednesday morning we will stand silently and think of the sacrifices that the men (and women) in the British armed forces, both today and in the past, have lost their lives so we may enjoy our freedom.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;
and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing,
fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.
Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved,
and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. —

Liet.-Col. John McCrae

Saturday Satire - Smart Answers

6th Place
It was mealtime during a flight on a British Airways plane:
'Would you like dinner?' the flight attendant asked the man seated in the front row.
'What are my choices?' the man asked.
'Yes or no,' she replied.

5th Place
A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check tickets.
As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket and he opened his trench coat and flashed her.
Without blinking an eyelid she said,
'Sir, I need to see your ticket not your stub.'

4th Place
A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at a branch of Sainsbury's but she couldn't find one big enough for her family.

She asked a passing assistant, 'Do these turkeys get any bigger?'

The assistant replied, ' I'm afraid not, they're dead.'

3rd Place
The policeman got out of his car and approached the boy racer he stopped for speeding.
'I've been waiting for you all day,' the bobby said.
The kid replied, 'Yes, well I got here as fast as I could.'
When the policeman finally stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket.

2nd Place
A lorry driver was driving along on a country road.
A sign came up that read ' Low Bridge Ahead.'
Before he realised it, the bridge was directly ahead and he got stuck under it.
Cars are backed up for miles.
Finally, a police car comes up.
The policeman got out of his car and walked to the lorry's cab
And said to the driver,
'Got stuck, eh?'
The lorry driver said, 'No, I was delivering this bridge and ran out of petrol!'


ANSWER OF THE YEAR 2009
A teacher at a polytechnic college reminded her pupils of tomorrow's final exam.
'Now listen to me, I won't tolerate any excuses for you not being here tomorrow.
I might consider a nuclear attack or a serious personal injury, illness, or a death in your immediate family, but that's it, no other excuses whatsoever!'

A smart-arsed guy at the back of the room raised his hand and asked, 'What would happen if I came in tomorrow suffering from complete and utter sexual exhaustion?'

The entire class was reduced to laughter and sniggering.

When silence was restored, the teacher smiled knowingly at the student, shook her head and sweetly said, 'Well, I suppose you'd have to write with your other hand'.

Thoughts of Remembrance

I don't mention much in the way of personal details on here, or at least I hope I don't mention too much.

This weekend is Remembrance Sunday, a time to pay our respects to those who have served and those who are still serving in Her Majesty's Armed Forces.

My toll is : My Great Uncle C, who lost his life during the first World War. At this moment in time I have no more detail than that as I haven't yet managed to track him down successfully and due to the family disposing of records we don't have any details of even which regiment he served in.

My Grandfather J, served in the Second World War along with my maternal Grandfather I; both thankfully came home to their families afterwards though I got a mention in Dispatches for Gallant Action he would not talk about his experiences save to mention he drove a lorry.

My Father E, who served in the Army for 24 years, served in Libya and had to be evacuated twice the second time was for good. My Mum also served with him her first posting abroad as an army wife and came back with Zeltus.

and now it is the turn of my Nephew, also a J. He is doing his first deployment in Afghanistan, he has done two deployments previously to Iraq, and one to Bosnia. He isn't one to talk about what he has seen or done but he grew up fast after his first trip to Iraq.

I have to admit to listening with trepidation to the news from Afghanistan, hoping that he will escape unscathed, unwounded in mind and body.

They will all be in my thoughts on Sunday while I listen to the last post.

My Favourite Copper

PC Tony Stamp is leaving the Bill tonight, the last of the regular original cast from the beginning poor Tone has been unlucky in love, the butt of some jokes and the instigator of others.

Cheerful, larger than life, caring about his patch at Sun Hill is being moved on by the writers who feel he isn't quite the right material for the darker episodes being written. Poor Tone is being moved to being an Advanced Driving Instructor at Hendon, the police college at least this leaves the way open to his return or guest starring episodes.

I have to admit in not watching The Bill in recent years, feeling that somehow, rather like London's Burning it had lost its way, too many times the station had been blown up, held hostage, burnt down and too many good characters such as June Ackland, Sgt Bob Cryer; who could forget Jim Carver and my other favourite Reg Hollis which also was a sad dismissal.

They say that actors form a family, and I guess today the audience is the final part of that family as we say goodbye to Tone... and Graham Cole who portrayed him since 1987 so he served 22 years. A fan site has been set up to appreciate the character the link is here.

Love Story

I will seek and find you.



I shall take you to bed and have my way with you.




I will make you ache, shake & sweat until you moan & groan.




I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop.




I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I'm finished with you.




And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.




All my love,



The Flu


Sorry I couldn't resist this especially with the advent of the main winter flu season.

Maybe, Just Maybe...

Thanks to the Hermit for his kind permission in recreating this here, I did ask first. The words mean a lot, as do all my visitors so this is for you guys.

1. Maybe . . . We were supposed to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that, when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

2. Maybe . . . when the door of happiness closes, another opens; but, often times, we look so long at the closed door that we don't even see the new one which has been opened for us.

3. Maybe . . it is true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives.

4. Maybe . . . the happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

5. Maybe . . . the brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; after all, you can't go on successfully in life until you let go of your past mistakes, failures and heartaches.

6. Maybe . . . You should dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go, be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you dream of, and want to do.

7. Maybe . . . there are moments in life when you miss someone -- a parent, a spouse, a friend, a child -- so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real, so that once they are around you appreciate them more.

8. Maybe . . . The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

9. Maybe . . You should always try to put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that something could hurt you, it probably will hurt the other person, too.

10. Maybe . . You should do something nice for someone every single day, even if it is simply to leave them alone. Profound!

11. Maybe . . Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but, if it doesn't, be content that it grew in yours.

12. Maybe . . . happiness waits for all those who cry, all those who hurt, all those who have searched, and all those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of all the people who have touched their lives.

13. Maybe . . . you shouldn't go for looks; they can deceive; don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

14. Maybe . . . you should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy

15. Maybe . . . you should try to live your life to the fullest because when you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling but when you die, you can be the one who is smiling and everyone around you crying.

Maybe ...I could send this message to those people who mean something to me, to those who have touched my life, to those who can and do make me smile when I really need it, to those who make me see the brighter side of things when I am really down, and to all those whom I want to know that I appreciate them.

That, my friends, is why I'm sharing this with you! Maybe...it will be able to say just how special all of my readers are to me! Thank you just for being here!

NaNoWriMo

Yesterday was the start of the project NaNoWriMo, the idea is just to write 50,000 words (ideally making a work of fiction) shorter than a novel, but longer than a story. I got the idea from Tom over at Random Acts of Reality and someone who I have admired for a long time with two novels to his name already, but I also know a couple of others and if that doesn't tickle your fancy then In the Gutter is doing the NaNoBloMo which simply involves writing a blog post once a day for each day in November; easier said than done as I know I did it last year.

So a challenge is there, and I have decided to write. Why not, I have often said I have a book in me, and I used to write with a group of friends in an online RPG game, so now was my opportunity.

The minimum suggested word level is 1,666 per day for 30 days straight (though you can do more), and yesterday I reached 1715 without too much difficulty. NaNoWriMo do suggest that you don't go back and edit something but just continue as normal even if you do spot a glaring error that might cause a problem later.

My posts for the RPG group used to be in the region of 2-3000 but that was every couple of days, though I did do a solo excursion while I was recuperating for an operation and I think the total score on that was over 100,00 words but it was over 5-6 weeks.

So I am optimistic, excited even and plot lines keep whirling through my head something that hasn't happened in quite a while...

If anyone wants to have a peek, you need to drop me an email to get access to the site as I don't want to have it open wide for casual drop in's you never know this might be the book of my dreams or just the dreams of my book.

Saturday Satire - The Wisdom of Doctors

A man goes to see his doctor feeling very unwell and is immediately rushed to the hospital to undergo a barrage of extensive tests.

He wakes up after the tests in a private room at the hospital. Then the phone by his bed rings, he answers it.

"This is your doctor. We've had the results back from your tests and we've found you have an extremely nasty virus, which is extremely contagious!"

"Oh my God," cries the man."What are you going to do doctor?"

"Well, for now we are going to put you on a diet of pizzas, pancakes and pita bread."

"So that will cure then, doctor?" asked the man hopefully.

The doctor replied,"Well no...... but its the only food we can get under the door."

Wastage this weekend

For those of you who will buy pumpkins just for the ability to carve them and put candles in them on Saturday, please consider using the flesh rather than wasting it..

I don't celebrate Halloween though if the neighbours children want to tuck into some sweets that's fine by me though I don't like the idea of playing tricks as these can get out of hand with eggs being thrown and as a result being banned from sale at this time.. I know bit of a killjoy really...lol

Instead I see 31st October as Samhain (pronounced so wain) as Summers End, a time when we formally suspend the sun and warmth of Summer together with their harvests and head into the chills of wintertime brrrh.

I have been busy trying to come up with some useful ways of utilising the flesh and seeds..

Seeds, you can bake them in the oven for a tasty snack, try sprinkling on some spices to pep them up a bit. To see how to do this go to this site and prepare for some ooey-gooeyness from Ginny Larsen

Steam the flesh of the pumpkin and blitz in a food processor along with some stock (either vegetable or chicken) and then serve with crispy bread rolls - you can spice it up with chilli or with curry spice to give more depth.

Or you could do an Asian Chicken recipe or my personal favourite and one to try is these gorgeously moist Chocolate Brownies

YoTs - Updated with new information

What makes a YoT 'Youf of Today' believe that it was cool to stamp on a puppy's head and kill it?

April had only put Sandy down for a minute and curiosity made the pup run over to the group of teenage boys who stamped on her with such force that her tiny skull was fractured. I can't think of a more callous act against a helpless creature, or the pain it would have inflicted on her young owner.

I hope that the local police catch up with them, but nothing will erase that memory from April's mind though I hope she takes solace with her family and get a new pup soon to fill the aching gap of Sandy's death.

Update :

An inquiry into the "kicking to death" of a 10-week-old puppy has ended after police found the animal had died from a virus and showed no sign of injury.

The Jack Russell was being walked by its owner, a 15-year-old girl, in Priory Park, St Neots, on Monday, when the RSPCA said it was attacked.

An RSPCA spokeswoman had called the attack "shocking and sickening".

But Cambridgeshire Police have now ended their investigation after veterinary tests.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said the charity had been informed of the ending of the investigation.

She said the first vet consulted had told the RSPCA that the dog's condition was consistent with the account given by the puppy's owners of the attack.

She said anyone with more information or any witnesses should contact the RSPCA.

I can remember thinking that a 10 week old puppy really shouldn't be walked in the park, before its innoculations had been done, but I would hope that they didn't make up the story of the attack to cover their actions.

Happy Birthday

To a special person... there for me when I have needed you most... thanks xx



Have a great day, and most of all enjoy it

Sugar

The hidden truth... I watched (loose description of my tv viewing last night) the Channel 4 programme about the amount of sugar and salt in cereals and my flabber was well and truly ghasted..

They got a group of adults to place well known brands of breakfast cereals on a grid which went from low salt, low sugar to high salt, high sugar and every variety inbetween. Needless to say, two well known brands of corn flakes and rice crispies were placed in the low salt low sugar range and actually fell into one of the highest brackets. Now I love my cornflakes, and while I don't tend to now buy the premium well known brands (preferring the supermarket own) I was horrified to think that these were adding sugar and salt to my diet that I hadn't considered.

I don't add extra sugar to my cereals, finding them palatable enough, but even so I might have to reconsider what breakfast cereal to buy, and just to confuse you more, the little nutrition boxes on the sides of the cereal boxes can be really confusing. I prefer the traffic light system that Sainsbug uses on the majority of goods as that is really helpful.

One experiment they did do with a family was to remove all the high sugar cereals from one family with children, and replace it with porridge, fresh fruit and eggs.. in a week they went down from having 300g of sugar from breakfast alone to just 30g under the new diet.

Going back to have another look in my cupboard tonight... guess my shopping list in future is going to be up for discussion..