Rhyme and No Reason!

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

Sugar and Spice, Being a Woman is Nice! — November 1, 2017

Sugar and Spice, Being a Woman is Nice!

There seems to be an expectation that a woman should look nice all the time. Yes, that is all well and good, but for me, even if I start off looking nice it doesn’t last long. My hair will get knotty and become more and more kinked as the day goes on; if I am wearing makeup, I will inevitably forget and rub my eye or something, thereby smudging mascara halfway down my face, and end up looking like something out of a horror show.

If I wear heels, it is a disaster waiting to happen. However, it does not stop me as they are so elegant – only not when you go over on the side of the shoe, or get the heel caught in a grate, carry on walking to find you a bit lop-sided and minus a shoe. Worse still, there never seems to be any grip on a pair of heels, and if there is a slippery surface, God help me! The very least I will do is skate and skid for a bit, but more often than not,  end up in a heap on the floor, dazed, legs akimbo, and knickers on show to all and sundry!

All that is when I do make an effort. There are many times when I do not wear make-up. I must frighten people (especially the patients when I am at work) with my pale, pasty skin, and dark circles under my eyes. I also have a ‘determined’ kind of a walk. I can’t help it, but I have shoulders like an American Football player, and someone once referred to me as ‘stocky’! How bloody rude, stocky! Anyway, although I  am short, I probably look a dreadful fright if I were approaching someone from the opposite direction, barging my way forward, ghostly pale, with my Medusa-style hair flying about!

At least we can wear high heels though if we want to, They can make us look taller, our legs look longer and slimmer, and give us a sexy ‘wiggle’ in our walk (well for some women they can). Poor old men dip out a bit here. Especially as some men still feel a bit uncomfortable if they are shorter than their female partner. Now, unless they have got the flair to pull off a high-heeled boot like Prince used to, or Simon Cowell still does, or wear ‘lifts’ in their shoes like Tom Cruise, then they are just going to have to lump it, or stand on a box when being photographed!

Likewise corsets body shapers, Spanx etc.  A woman can try to hide a few inches or look a bit slimmer by cramming our flesh into instruments of torture, or rather, specially made underwear that is designed to flatter the figure, (even if cutting off the circulation).We also have the uplift bras, and chicken fillet things that ‘enhance’ our boobs, while men don’t have that luxury; the best a man can hope to do is shove a shock down his underpants or something. A word of warning here though, there is no point is wearing all this stuff if you are out on the pull because there is going to be a lot of disappointment later on when you unleash the flab and reveal the fried eggs and – well, you get the picture!

However, being a woman does have some advantages… I have, on more than one occasion (more so when younger) acted ‘The Dumb Blonde’ in order to get some help. My friend used to have this really old banger of a car, which broke down more often than it actually went. Many is the time I have had to get out and try to bump start it, or we would open the bonnet and look helplessly inside (none of us knew what we were looking for). I have not refused help if some kindly gentleman has seen us and offered to help push or see if he could work out what the problem is, Thinking about it, I didn’t have to act the dumb blonde, I was one! (As far as cars are concerned at least).

I do love being a woman!

The Last Two Halloween Limericks, A Skeleton and The Grim Reaper — October 31, 2017

The Last Two Halloween Limericks, A Skeleton and The Grim Reaper

I know I said I wouldn’t write any more but these have gone down so well, I just had to write another two, especially as it is Halloween today! These are about a skeleton and the Grim Reaper. You can check out the others, here, here and here if you missed them!

 

Kelly the Skelly was depressed

She’d lost some of the ribs in her chest

She moaned and she groaned

a stray dog stole her bones

And now she wasn’t looking her best.

 

The Grim Reaper’s scythe once so trusty

Had suddenly become very rusty

He couldn’t reap many souls

With a blade full of holes

And the edges all jagged and crusty!

#FundayMonday Oh, How I Wish I Was Graceful — October 30, 2017

#FundayMonday Oh, How I Wish I Was Graceful

Today’s video poem is all about my clumsiness and ineptitude. I wish I were one of those women that always appears elegant and smart. No chance!

https://youtu.be/uup7n7HQlx4 

 

If you enjoyed those poems, and have time for a cuppa then you might like to check out my book Rhymes of the Times. It has many more poems like this and is perfect for dipping in and out of when you fancy a little pick-me-up.

 

 

Rhymes of the Times

 

Click here to be taken to my author page where you can purchase the book.

 

Halloween Shells #SillySaturday — October 28, 2017

Halloween Shells #SillySaturday

I have teamed up again with the talented Sandra (or Daffy as I like to call her), from Wild Daffodil  to bring you another bit of silliness this Saturday.  Sandra is incredibly artistic and creative, and I just love the images she has created out of shells, stones and flowers.

One of the nicest things about Sandra’s blog is that you never know what she is going to get up to next, from beach art to knitted wigs, and mandalas to making spirals in her garden.

Here is our little story for this week. The Shells are going to a Halloween Disco! Check out last week’s story here

 

 

On the scariest night of the year

Halloween Shells #Sillysaturday
Image courtesy of Sandra Dorey

The Halloween Disco was here

The Shelleys were so cool

Dressed as ghosties and ghouls,

Looking rather scary and weird

 

Thriller got them up on the floor

Monster Mash had them begging for more,

Bewitched went down well

As did Bat out of Hell

They danced as they’d never done before

Growing Old Disgracefully. — October 22, 2017

Growing Old Disgracefully.

I have been pretty negative about the process of aging recently, as you can see here and how I am starting to feel (not to mention look) old. I have decided that there must be some positives to being older, and here are a few things that I have noticed….

You can say what you ‘bloody well like’, in the words of my 85-year-old mother! Yes, once you reach a ripe old age you have earned the right to say what you like about anything; regardless of whether or not it causes offence or hurts anyone’s feelings. I have been in the supermarket with Mum when she has told the assistant on the deli counter that she ‘doesn’t want that plastic ham’ or she’s ‘not paying that much for a bit of cheese’ etc. They can’t decide whether or not she is joking but soon get the message when she turns on her heel and just stomps (well hobbles nowadays unfortunately) off! I. or my sisters (whoever has the pleasure of being with her)  are left cringing in her wake, rolling our eyes at the bewildered assistant.

She likes to say what she thinks about members of the family too. Either directly, once she told me that a trouser suit I had bought would look better on my sister as ‘she has got the figure for it’. Very true, but I was gutted, and never wore it again! Or indirectly, as in when someone has left the room and before they are even out of earshot she will remark about how much weight they have ‘piled on’ or how awful their outfit is!

Another advantage is selective hearing. This can come in very handy when you don’t want to do something. For example, my Mum hates putting her heating on, and would rather sit there shivering under a blanket than be nice and cosy in a warm room. So when any of us walk in to her little icebox, the conversation goes something like this.

“Why haven’t you got your heating on?”

“What?”

” I SAID, WHY HAVEN’T YOU GOT YOUR HEATING ON?”

“I cant’ hear a bloody word you are saying!”

Leaning over and bellowing in her ear,

“WHY IS THE HEATING NOT ON?!”

” Can you put my hearing aid in, it’s over there?”

By now, I have lost the will to go on, but will dutifully get the hearing aid which is whistling and shrieking, and put it in for her, and then just go and turn the heating on myself. It’s easier.

However, if I had whispered to my sister a bit of gossip about someone, she would have heard that and put her two penn’orth in!

When you are older, and supposedly wiser, you are an asset to any quiz team! There are always questions about the old days. Games like Trivial Pursuit and other question based games normally require a good range of general knowledge, and of historical events.It stands to reason that n older person on the team is a bonus (providing they have their hearing aids in, of course)!

You can dress with abandon, wearing whatever you like in whatever colour combinations you choose when you are older. Who cares about being colour co-ordinated any more. Many elderly people I have encountered (which amounts to quite a few), are very  uninhibited in their dress sense. Why shouldn’t you wear reds, green and blues ALL at the same time! Who gives a toss about what others think?!!

You can nod off at the drop of a hat. Think Grandpa Simpson here, and his amazing ability to fall asleep, even mid-sentence! Yes, when you are older,nobody thinks it odd if you fall asleep at inappropriate times. How great is that? If you have a social function that you are obligated to go to but are not keen, it doesn’t matter! You can just have a snooze whenever you want and no-one will think you are rude. Far from it, they will probably think you are very sweet and endearing!

Those are just a few of the benefits I have come up with to being older…. are there any I have missed?

A Very Special Package — October 21, 2017

A Very Special Package

I received a very special package today from an equally special person! This is what I found inside.

 

Can you guess what is in that precious little bundle? Well, here is a clue. can you see the little shell legs poking out at the bottom there?

 

 

 

 

As some of you may know, I have teamed up again with the talented Sandra (or Daffy as I like to call her), from Wild Daffodil and we are collaborating on some on some fabulous art that  Sandra created. She is incredibly artistic and creative, and I just love the images she has created out of shells, stones and flowers. So much so that I thought that they deserved little stories attached to them. I express myself better in verse so I wrote some little rhymes which Sandra kindly agreed to put with her characters.

We have created a few together now, and I can tell you, it is such fun working with Sandra. I love seeing what she is going to make her characters do next, we have had a pole dancer and aliens doing yoga so far!

The exciting thing was that Sandra got some of these made up into greetings cards, some with and some without the poem, plus she has also made some beautiful mandalas made with flowers, one of which is on the cards. I was extremely excited to get some in my package today!

A Very Special Package

The quality of these cards is lovely and they really are unique! If you would like to get your hands on some then please visit Sandra’s  Contact me page here.  

You won’t be disappointed!

Ugly Shell Show #SillySaturday —

Ugly Shell Show #SillySaturday

I have teamed up again with the talented Sandra (or Daffy as I like to call her), from Wild Daffodil  to bring you another bit of silliness this Saturday.  Sandra is incredibly artistic and creative, and I just love the images she has created out of shells, stones and flowers.

One of the nicest things about Sandra’s blog is that you never know what she is going to get up to next, from beach art, to knitted wigs, and mandalas to making spirals in her garden.

Here is our little story for this week. Meet Grandpa and Granny out for a walk, when they bump into some rather scary characters! Check out last week’s story here.

 

The Ugly Shell Show
Image courtesy of Sandra Dorey

Walking to the seaside one day

Grandpa and Granny met friends on the way

They had quite a fright

Realising something wasn’t right

At a loss to know what to say.

 

There was an Ugly Shell Show

And the friends had decided to go

They transformed their features

Into hideous creatures

That, Grandpa and Granny didn’t know.

 

Granny had got such a scare

What had happened to poor Wilbur’s hair?

And Micky’s disguise

With massive bug eyes

And those lips…Wow, what a huge pair!

 

Even their little Sonny joined in

With the sockets of his eyes coloured in

Jill’s face was so flat

Like she’d been hit by a bat

Now who you YOU think will win?

I have a message from Sandra again this week

I expect you know by now how much I love to join forces with other creative minds. If any of the characters that appear on our Silly Saturdays spark an idea for a story or a poem, please get in touch. Judy and I are tentatively thinking of putting a little book together and we would both love it if it could be a group effort from our wonderful blogging community. All very much in the early stages and we welcome thoughts and ideas. I’m wondering about an ebook with sales going to charity … but all those details are up for discussion. Here’s a reminder of the characters so far.

 

A bit of British Humour — October 18, 2017

A bit of British Humour

I read a post a short time ago by the wonderful Debby where she used a writing prompt from a journal she bought. This inspired me to buy my own but on a totally different subject (mine is all about cultivating joy and well-being).

The prompt for yesterday was to write a joke. Hmmm, I am not good at jokes, unless they are very rude or very silly. I love the ‘knock knock’ jokes, and the ‘what do you call?’ ones. As in:

‘What do you call a man with a shovel on his head?’ Answer: Doug!

‘What do you call a man without a shovel on his head?’ Answer: Douglas!! (it’s all in the pronunciation)!

I won’t bore you with any others as they are really old jokes and not that funny unless you are me, who finds them hilarious!

Anyway, I decided that as I couldn’t tell any jokes I would talk a little about British humour instead.

The first thing that springs to mind is the fact that we love innuendo, double entendre, and a good pun (or even a bad pun, anything goes)! The ‘Carry On Films’ are a veritable feast if you like that kind of thing, with their silly storylines, and crazy character names such as a surgeon named Dr Carver, and a young doctor called Dr Nookey ( a British euphemism for sex). I’m thinking this must have had an early subconscious influence on my choice of career! They always had such fun in the hospitals in these films.

The Sun Newspaper loves puns and innuendoes too, and they have had some famous (or infamous) headlines over the years. For example, when Elton John and David Furnish married, their headline was ‘Elton Takes David Up The Aisle’ and ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Korea’ which needs no explanation!

Sarcasm features pretty heavily in our humour armoury too and it is always appreciated whenever we hear it. Comments like’ I’m returning your nose, dear, I found it in my business’ and one (of many) from Winston Churchill ‘ I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly!’ Another favourite is when parents say things like, ‘I think you have forgotten to put a skirt on’ or ‘can you plaster on any more makeup?’ to their teenaged daughters when they are going out!

This can get a bit confusing though as sometimes we say something straight-faced but mean the exact opposite, such as ‘Oh, lovely’ it’s raining again, I can’t wait to go out in it!’ or even worse. ‘Yes, green is definitely your colour’ when it is obvious that it looks hideous!Mind you, it could be worse if they went the whole hog and said that ‘green is definitely your colour, it matches your complexion!’

One of my favourite types of humour is the observational kind. We have several comedians who are brilliant at this, Michael McIntyre and Peter Kaye are so good at turning the ordinary situations into massive belly laughs!

We have a fixation about class too, and that often comes out in our humour. There was a famous Monty Python Sketch that they showed us at Uni about the British Class system which you can see here.

I suppose our most common type of humour is the self-deprecating type, of the hapless idiot always messing things up. We do love to put ourselves down, then have a major complex if anyone agrees with us. What a mixed-up lot we are!

I hope I have managed to give you some laughs despite the rubbish jokes at the beginning!

#FundayMonday Tittle-Tattle — October 16, 2017

#FundayMonday Tittle-Tattle

Today’s video poem is all about a good old gossip, or tittle-tattle if you prefer.   Whether it be over the garden fence with a neighbour, or by the photocopier in the office, many of us have indulged in it at some time or another.

 

If you enjoyed those poems, and have time for a cuppa then you might like to check out my book  Rhymes of the Times. It has many more poems like this and is perfect for dipping in and out of when you fancy a little pick-me-up.

 

Rhymes of the Times

 

 

Click here to be taken to my author page where you can purchase the book.

 

Pebble Pete #SillySaturday — October 14, 2017

Pebble Pete #SillySaturday

I have teamed up again with the talented Sandra (or Daffy as I like to call her), from Wild Daffodil  to bring you another bit of silliness this Saturday.  Sandra is incredibly artistic and creative, and I just love the images she has created out of shells, stones and flowers.

One of the nicest things about Sandra’s blog is that you never know what she is going to get up to next, from beach art, to knitted wigs, and mandalas to making spirals in her garden.

Here is our little story for this week. Meet a new character, Pebble Pete, who wants to introduce himself..and maybe his friends at a later date!

 

Hi Everybody, I’m Pebble Pete

The cheeriest chap you could hope to meet

Image Courtesy of Sandra Dorey

The beach is where I spend my days

With my crew I like to play

 

We often meet up on the shore

For fun and games, never getting bored

Riding on the waves in the clear blue sea

You’ll find the Stone and the Shell family

 

I will introduce you to everyone

So you can join in with our fun

Whether in the sea or on the sand

I want to welcome you to Seaside Land!

[social_warfare]

Marsha Ingrao Always Write

Having fun blogging with friends

Rachael's Thoughts

Lifestyle blog featuring the fabulous North East and beyond

My Window

Sharing my thoughts, poems, travel & art

WordPress.com Apps

Apps for any screen

Learning to write

Just your average PhD student using the internet to enhance their CV

Jemverse

Life in words

Stuff and what if...

Exploring writing and the creative randomness of life. Snapshots of moments.

Aakashsoyanthone

Aakashsoyanthone

Gin & Lemonade

...with a twist.

Peacock Poetry

by Sam Allen

Tallis Steelyard

The jumbled musings of Tallis Steelyard

Diary of a Dublin Housewife

Diary of a Dublin Housewife

Carolina Russo Art

Capturing Essence: Intuitive Watercolors, Fine Art, Illustrations, and Reiki-Infused Creations

Two on a Rant

Rants, humor, sarcasm, and a haiku-like substance? It's hard to know what's going to come out of our minds next.

We Are Holistic

Promoting a Healthy Mind, Body and Spirit

Cindy Knoke

Photography, Birds and Travel

pensitivity101

An onion has many layers. So have I!

Fatty McCupcakes

Rants, Ramblings, and Regrets

From Michigan to Germany

A family from Michigan living abroad in Germany.