Rhyme and No Reason!

Blogger, author and rhymester who likes to find the humour in life.

Is Your Blog Under Attack? — September 6, 2015

Is Your Blog Under Attack?

Some more very good advice from the wonderful Hugh.

Episode 483: Seven Signs That Summer is Almost Over — September 5, 2015

Episode 483: Seven Signs That Summer is Almost Over

  1. The last little rose has poked  its head out of the now mass of leaves, (some of which are turning brown) and it won’t be long before they are cut back for next year.
  2. The blankets are out! Yes, the weather is turning chillier, and we all have our little blankets that we like to snuggle under in our house. Roxy nicked my place on the settee and Mr Grump fussed around setting her down so she is warm and snug
  3. The nights are drawing in very rapidly; it is now getting dark so much earlier in the evening and, unfortunately, the early mornings are also getting darker making it harder to get up.
  4. The dressing gowns are coming out of hibernation as well now, It won’t be long before the fleecy pyjamas get an airing either!
  5. Only the true stalwarts are still cutting about in shorts! I know the English like to get them on as soon as it is either officially ‘summer’ regardless of weather, or we get a bit of decent sunshine regardless of the season!
  6. The colds and flu have started already! Yes, as some of you know, Mr Grump has already got ‘man flu’ and no doubt the rest of us will end up succumbing to it!
  7. All the Christmas stuff has started making its way into the shops! Gah!

Roxy Snuggling

Episode 482: A Little Bit of Housekeeping —

Episode 482: A Little Bit of Housekeeping

It seems that several of us at the moment are having a bit of a clear out, doing some re-organising and tidying up of our blogs.

I have sorted out the overload of emails situation and then decided that I should ‘pretty up’ the look of my blog a bit. (You can tell I have got a bit of time off)! What started out as me trying to sort out the pictures and photos  (I failed), ended up with me spending hours on creating a lovely front page for my blog (Thank you Don Charisma for the tutorial that was so clear, it even worked for a dunce like me)!

I spent a further few hours this morning trying to create menus like ‘Tidbit Tuesday’ where I can put all the relevant posts. As some of you might have noticed, I failed at that as well as it all got a bit messy and complicated. This then led to some profuse swearing and ended up with a savage jabbing at the ‘delete’ button.

Anyway, I hope you like my new-look blog.

His last days – Cancer awareness — September 4, 2015

His last days – Cancer awareness

This is such a beautiful and touching song by a very special young man.

#Free-For-All Friday #27 —

#Free-For-All Friday #27

It’s Friday already and have I got some treats lined up for you this week! There is some very good blogging advice, brilliant short stories, tips for writers, as well as a heart-wrenching post that I hope will make you think.

All of these bloggers are extremely talented and have lots more on their blogs to offer, so please go for a visit and have a poke around, I am sure they won’t mind!

Yadadarcyyada I like the take on blogging here. Some very good tips and advice written in a very light-hearted and entertaining style.

SachaBlack Poor old Sacha is just itching to get her hands on her manuscript! Find out why she can’t yet, and what she is doing to distract herself.

How the Cookie Crumbles. Tess is back, and not only that she has written another one of her brilliant short stories. She has been missed.

Silver Threading Colleen has been doing a bit of housekeeping, and she passes on some advice here. I am thrilled to see that she has mentioned two other blogs which I also read, that also gave wonderful advice.

Belinda Crane I have not been following this blog for very long, but I am so glad I found her (Thanks Hugh). This is a great story with an unexpected twist.

A Mommas View If you have not read this post yet, please do. That is all I want to say about this for now.

So I have a veritable feast for you this week which should keep you going for a while. Enjoy!

Happy Friday!

Episode 481: Invasion of the Man ‘Flu! — September 3, 2015

Episode 481: Invasion of the Man ‘Flu!

Poor old Mr Grump has got the flu and I am the one suffering for it! He came home from work yesterday sneezing his head off, complained of aching all over and was generally whining and moaning! Luckily I packed him off to bed early with a cup of tea and Lemsip, and told him to get a good rest, whilst I had a bit of peace and quiet downstairs.

When I went up to bed he was still awake, sneezing, and snotty. The dog was snoring her head off , and just as I thought, no-one got a good sleep (well Roxy did actually)! This morning’s wake-up call was Roxy doing her usual licking Mr Grump’s bald head as it was 6.30 and time for her walk.

I was sleepy but took one look at Mr Grump’s bright red nose, and swollen eyes huffily got dressed and took Roxy for her walk. Once I got back and fed the dog it was then the ordeal of waking Miss Hap up for school (they went back yesterday).Mr Grump appeared in his dressing gown looking pale and weary having phoned in sick at work.

I finally got Miss Hap off and thought I would have a really lazy day today sorting out my blog and doing other bits as I had planned but oh no, Mr Grump plonks himself down on his chair.

I told him to go to bed, but no, he wanted someone to witness his suffering and I was the unlucky one! I was catching up with some blogs when out of nowhere  came

“ATISHHHHHHHOOOOO!” It made me jump out of my skin and I was none to happy when this was repeated at regular intervals ruining my concentration!  He still wouldn’t go to bed, but did stuff a tissue up each nostril to stop the dripping and hopefully sneezing,

By now I was to do a bit of knitting so sat down to watch the TV whilst I did so. I was mad as the channel had seemed to have morphed from Crime & Investigation (which I love), to one which was showing NCIS (although I do like this, I was in the mood for a bit of ‘how to bump your husband off’ type crime)!

I ended up having a nap. Then I had to cook dinner (3 separate meals as well)! This is supposed to be my week off. He always does this when I get a bit of time to myself, so I told him he had better hurry up and get better!

Are you sympathetic to man ‘flu?

Episode 480: Getting Organised for Autumn: 5 Goals for September —

Episode 480: Getting Organised for Autumn: 5 Goals for September

Reading Simply Marquessa’s blog about September being a month for renewal, It has inspired me to set myself a few goals for this month.  It is certainly a time of change for me, and I believe that having clear and manageable targets set out, will help me to achieve them.

  1. To continue with this new ‘lifestyle’ change. I am actually doing pretty well, having lost a further 2lbs bringing the total to 5lb. One more pound and I will be ‘overweight’ rather than ‘obese!’ (How funny that for once in my life, I am looking forward to being overweight)!  The exercise is going well too, as I seem to have found a bit of motivation and energy so am making the most of it!
  2. I also quite fancy having a go at Writing 101: Finding Everyday Inspiration. As you know, I am not a writer, but I might try to learn a few skills, and stretch myself more.
  3. I am going to have a bit of a clean out of my blog, trying to use mostly the Reader. Being confronted with loads of emails makes me stressed that I have so much catching up to do, and I put off writing posts due to spending hours catching up (the long way), flicking between email and Reader!
  4. Take more photos for my blog. I always admire those bloggers that take loads of beautiful photos that they use in their posts. I need to take more notice of my surroundings  – and take photos of it!
  5. Prepare myself for my new job. I have not given in my notice yet as apparently some of the paperwork and checks take ages to go through. I already spent a good hour yesterday printing and scanning, and completing assessments and questionnaires. I have to work out how to use a SatNav as well, and that will not be easy given that I am a dunce with technology!

I am hoping that this month, ‘I will be able to expand my mind and shrink my body!’

MEDS COCKTAIL PARTY SEPTEMBER 10th World Suicide Prevention Day —

MEDS COCKTAIL PARTY SEPTEMBER 10th World Suicide Prevention Day

We are all invited to a very special party,

New Season’s Colours — September 2, 2015
Wacky Word Wednesday #17 —

Wacky Word Wednesday #17

Welcome to another Wacky Word Wednesday. It is time for yet another weird, wonderful or wacky word to get an airing this week. This is another word that had origins that I was not aware of; now that I am, it makes it all the more appealing to me! So, let me present to you….

Mollycoddle. I thought you might be interested to know that in the 19th Century a ‘Molly’ or ‘Moll’ was a girl or prostitute. ‘Coddle’ of course is to over-indulge someone. Now, for a filthy-minded person like me, this conjures up all sorts of wicked thoughts!

Back to ‘mollycoddle,’ it is pampering and pandering, spoiling and spoon-feeding; treating like a baby, cosseting and cajoling. This is a child that is wrapped in cotton wool, it’s every whim catered to, waited on hand and foot, smothered with love and almost killed with kindness!

Very often a mollycoddled person is a wimp and a weakling, a bit of a namby-pamby, big girl’s blouse type. Someone who is scared of their own shadow, and clings to their mummy’s skirts.

It certainly does not do anyone any favours in life!

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