Category: Life
Sue and Ani have very kindly shared Roxy’s letter to Santa this year which is to help Ani out of a predicament, (Namely to stop Sue form dressing her up for Christmas).
I am sorry that I am so late sharing it here on my blog, I am so far behind, but please comment on the original over at Sue’s place. Thanks 🙂
It’s funny how we incorporate these little sayings into our lives (many that our own parents have said to us in the past) that don’t seem to make any sense. Here are a few of my favourites…
- “If you don’t eat your dinner, you won’t get any pudding.” This was said to us as kids if we had left our meal in order to get to the rather nicer looking dessert. This is a bit silly really as, if we ate all our dinner we might not have room for any pudding, let alone enjoy it!
- “If the wind changes you will stay like that.” We have all poked our tongue out at someone or made a face behind their back. This threat was supposed to deter us from doing this, but I really don’t think anyone ever believed it.
- “Do you want a smack?” This really makes me laugh. As if anyone is going to say, “Oh yes please, the harder the better” (On second thoughts with all this 50 Shades stuff being popular at the moment…)Anyway, as kids when you are being naughty and your mum threatens you with this, you do tend to behave yourself pretty quick! In the same vein what about,
- ” Stop crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about!” For a start, if you are in a state about something, it is not always easy ( especially as a child) to just instantly stop crying, but if you don’t you are in for a clout. A bit of a no-win one this is!
- ” Go and wash behind your ears, you could grow spuds there” Even if it were possible, why would anyone want to grow potatoes on their head! Well, perhaps if they came out as crisps or chips it might be appealing.
- “Who’s she, the cat’s mother? I can’t even begin to think where this originated from, but it was one of my mum’s favourites when I was young.
- “Shut the bloody door, were you born in a barn?” This was another saying that was well-used in our house when I was growing up.
Those are some of my favourite sayings. Do you have any?
I have been tagged by my lovely blog sister Ritu to take part in the Anything but Books Tag. If you are not familiar already with Ritu’s blog then do check it out, as there is everything on there from recipes and healthy living advice, to anecdotes about family and so much more.
Q1. Name a cartoon that you love.
I enjoyed lots of cartoons as a child but one of my favourites is Wacky Races. I love Dick Dastardly and his failed attempts at sabotaging the other racers. A colleague recently told me that I laugh like Muttley too, and she is right!
Q2. What is your favourite song right now
This is going to be tricky as I do not follow anything that is in the charts at the moment, but one that I listen to a lot that isn’t too ancient is ‘Chandelier.’ Sia has such a powerful voice and puts o much passion into the song. I love it.
Q3. What could you do for hours that isn’t reading
I think that would probably be sewing. It can take quite a while just cutting out the patterns before I even get started on putting everything together. It is time that I enjoy and productive too.
Q4. What is something that you love to do that your followers would be surprised by
I love to play games like ‘The Sims’ or Farmville but get a little obsessed. I always have to tend my farm, every morning before work or Uni or anything else!
Q5. What is your favourite, unnecessarily specific thing to learn about
I have always loved learning new things, and of course being at uni at the moment I am learning in much more detail things that I only had a basic knowledge of before. I am really getting into anatomy and physiology, and the more I learn from it, the more I want to learn.
Q6. What is something unusual you know how to do
Bull boots, wire a plug? Are they unusual? I am not sure. I don’t really have any hidden talents.
Q7. Name something that you’ve made in the last year
I have made several things but the most recent is some Christmas pyjamas that I wrote about here
Q8. What is your most recent personal project
For me, it has to be going back to University to study for my Nursing Degree. I really wanted to gain a qualification as a Registered Nurse rather than the Associate Practitioner (Nursing) that I had before. To get this degree will be an ambition fulfilled.
Q9. Tell us something that you think of often
I am always worrying about losing weight and become healthier. It seems to be a struggle for me at the moment, as the slightest sign of stress sends me into ‘comfort eating’ mode.
Q10. Tell us something that’s your favourite, but make it oddly specific
It is my nails which are pretty at the moment. As we have no practical work for a while I can get away with wearing some nail polish and growing my nails a little and. I am making the most of it.
I would like to nominate the following to have a go, if they want to, of course.
It is time for another foray into the world of Flash Fiction. This week, Charli from the Carrot Ranch has given us this image and five a day to use, and here are the rules:
November 23, 2017, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about Five a Day. It does not have to be five servings of fruits and vegetables. What is needed five times a day? Have fun with what pops to mind for the prompt.
Respond by November 28, 2017, to be included in the compilation (published November 29). Rules are here. All writers are welcome!
“Eat your vegetables you two. Connie, you’ve hardly touched those sprouts.”
“But Mum, you know I hate them, anyway, they make you blow off!”
To reiterate her point, Mark her brother let out a loud PARP, and both children giggled.
“MARK!” That is enough of that, leave the table at once!”
“Pooh, that stinks, Mum I can’t eat any more now, Mark has put me off.”
Jenny sighed, the pungent aroma wafted over her; some Christmas dinner this was turning out to be.
Pouring herself a fifth glass of wine, she braced herself for the rest of the day.
I don’t know why my mind went in this direction!
Now I am quite an old-fashioned, traditional woman as some of you might have noticed. I am also partial to using some out-dated words or phrases as we have such a rich and beautiful language. It is a shame to let them disappear into the mists of time, shrivelling up with lack of use.
I have noticed something disturbing over the years, however, that has become more prevalent as technology advances and the world becomes smaller. The fact that I have a young daughter who likes to keep up with the latest fads and trends also brings this home to me, and I don’t like it one bit.
I may not be the best at writing, I understand that my grammar leaves a lot to be desired at times, and I am careless and shoddy with my proofreading (I know, being the Typo Queen is not something to be proud of). However, I do try to make sure that I at least make some use of the language that I was brought up with. I become very annoyed that my mother-tongue is being messed about with, chopped up and put in a blender, then coming out with chunks in it that I am unfamiliar with!
Now, I do not wish to offend anyone at all, this is my opinion, and being a bit of an old ‘stick in the mud’ I like the language just the way it is, thank you very much.
To illustrate my point, here are a few examples
Text Talk WTF??? (See, I can do some of the trendy abbreviations). You will probably not be surprised to know that when I text someone, I write the whole lot out in full, complete with punctuation. I know, I am extremely uncool, (but I do love a smiley face). I hate all of this cul8tr stuff. I mean, what the hell is that? The first time I saw it I tried to read it as a word, thinking it was ‘culture’ and that someone has pressed the 8 by mistake and did it in a hurry, (Something I am always guilty of).
All these abbreviations are fine,(if you can understand them), but I do worry that our kids are losing the art of writing. I remember when I was at school we had to learn how to write all the different types of letters, like formal, business and personal using the appropriate greeting, and signing off correctly, which I am not sure they still teach despite the fact that letters do still need to be written on occasion.
The other thing I get annoyed about is nicking words from other languages when we have perfectly good ones of our own! Miss Hap does it all the time (she knows it annoys me).
“Mum, have you got any Bobby pins?”
“What? Oh, you mean hair grips”!
Grrrrr.
You get the idea. Or this habit of calling each other ‘bruv!’ I am not your bloody bruv, nor am I your ‘mate!’
I know I am getting to be a moany Old Codger but I can’t help it. Is it just me or do you despair at the way language is evolving?
It is time for another foray into the world of Flash Fiction. This week, Charli from the Carrot Ranch has given us this image and mesh to use and here are the rules:
November 16, 2017 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) use the word mesh in a story. Mesh is both an object and a verb, which you can freely explore. You can play with its sound, too. Go where the prompt leads.
Respond by November 21, 2017 to be included in the compilation (published November 22). Rules are here. All writers are welcome!
The metallic clanking appeared to be coming from the kitchen. “PETE, what are you doing?”
Silence, then more clanking with additional thudding. Irritated, Sarah got out of bed, went to the bathroom then headed downstairs for some water to moisten her dry mouth.
“I’LL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOO.” Dear God, not the singing! Opening the kitchen door Sarah’s stomach growled at the aroma of frying bacon, her eyes then drawn to the discarded egg shells, and crumbs from a semi hacked loaf.
“Fanshy a shnack?” Sensing disapproval Pete apologised. “Shorry, I sheem to have made a bit of a mesh!”
As you can see, I decided to play around with the sound of the word this time.
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