A post from me!

Hi everyone, I thought it was about time I wrote something here! Spring seems to have finally arrived so I'm hoping to thaw out soon! We deserve medals for surviving the long cold winter! We don't usually get snow down here in the south, if we do it normally melts rapidly but this year we were negotiating pack ice on pavements for weeks!

As I said, spring has sprung and the world is definitely a brighter place with sunshine and blue skies, blossom out on trees. Do you notice that people seem far happier when the sun shines?

Can you believe that 'little' Nina was four years old last month?! It doesn't seem long ago that I brought her home. She's certainly got big now and still enjoys a cuddle with Katinka.

I hope you all enjoyed Easter. I had to work on Good Friday but had Monday off. It was nice to be able to walk around town that day without freezing. I started off in the Kath Kidston shop where I bought this gorgeous bag. I love vintage rose stuff and I'll soon be decorating my bedroom in vintage fabrics. The above photo of the ottoman is one of the projects I've completed. I found the fabric in a flea market and managed to salvage enough of the unworn part of the curtains to cover the ottoman and old mahogany headboard, which I painted white. I thought it looked brighter and stood out against the fabric better than dark wood.

This next photo is of a busker in Brighton. It's none other than Don Partridge. Remember 'Rosie' back in 1968? That was him who sung it. He didn't like stardom with all the trappings it entailed so he turned his back on it after making Rosie and another hit single called Blue Eyes. They both reached #4 in the charts. Since then he's returned to busking full time and still sounds good. He lives nearby now so we've gained a great busker in the streets of Brighton! Back in the '60's he organised a great concert for showcasing busking at the Royal Albert Hall

These next guys were playing the drums and didgeridoo close by my flat.

And where else but Brighton could you find a tightrope walking violinist??!!

On the way home I walked through the Pavilion gardens, seems like forever since I was down there.

These next three photos are of an ancient elm tree which is the worse for wear and has been patched up. You can see from the third photo that it's hollow and has been patched up with a brace which has now become part of the tree. It's known as the Brace Tree and was planted in 1776.

So what else have I been doing, apart from shivering?! Well, we've booked up three holidays for this year. Nowhere exotic, I think Andy may have been feeling rather tired after our trips to the Caribbean and Australia last year. We decided to go to the Lake District in July and Scotland in September. The Scottish trip goes to the Isle of Skye, I've always wanted to go there, it looks so beautiful. In December we're doing a Turkey and Tinsel trip to Bournemouth which I've heard is good fun from others who have done these sort of holidays. We're also going to Wales at the end of May to visit my old school friend who I've only met once in the past forty years. We're staying in her old stone holiday cottage near Cardigan Bay so we're hoping for good weather! It'll be nice to look around our own islands for once, no hanging around in airports, no foreign currency to contend with either!

I'll finish here and say goodbye. I hope you're all well and enjoying the warmer weather. Take care....

Spring cleaning!

I've spent most of today in the bedroom having a spring clean. I know it's not spring yet but I can wish! I couldn't get over to see Andy today as the buses aren't running properly yet due to the snow so I took the opportunity to make a start on cleaning. I've been off work this week with a sinus infection and I'm praying the buses will be able to run on Monday, it'll be a nightmare having to walk two miles to work on this compacted ice. It's been snowing on and off since before midday, almost twelve hours. It was funny when I was working nights; one of the day staff phoned and said in all seriousness "Could you tell me if it'll be snowing in the morning because if it is I won't be able to get to work." I had to bite my lip to stop laughing, how the hell would I know!!
I've only ventured out once this week to go to the chemist to get some tablets for my sinuses. It's only a four minute walk away but it took me twenty five minutes on Thursday! So many people were falling on the pavements and cars on the road were just sliding back down the hill. It's almost impossible to walk on now, quite scary too! Katinka, Nina and I have been tucked away indoors with the heating on, thank God for central heating!
I looked on Amazon for a book I wanted. I've spent twenty or more years looking in bookshops for it! It's called 'First Do No Harm' by J Kenyon Rainer, his autobiography on his years of training to be a brain surgeon. I read an extract of it in Reader's Digest many years ago and always wanted to read it all. I've finally found it on Amazon and it's been shipped out to me, it should be here sometime next week. I also downloaded one of my favourite soundtracks, La Cage Aux Folles from itunes. I've seen the stage show and loved the music but for some reason never bought the CD! It's so easy to find stuff, however obscure on the internet; what did we do before it arrived?! It's ideal for me, I detest shopping, all those crowds and queues!
I still haven't booked a holiday yet, I can't decide where to go and as it's my sixtieth birthday this year I wanted somewhere really special to look forward to. In early June I'm going to Wales, I don't think I told you about my friend did I? She found me on Friends Reunited, we'd been best friends at school since we were five years old until we left grammar school in 1967. We saw each other a few times up until 1970 then she moved and I suppose with us both having young families we lost touch. Well, a year ago she got in contact through Friends Reunited, we've been emailing each other then in August she wrote and asked if I wanted to meet up with her, her daughter lives near Brighton and she was visiting her for a week. I phoned her and invited her here for dinner. She came up, armed to the teeth with flowers, and it was like we'd never been apart! We had a lovely day trying to catch up on forty years worth of news, time just flew past! She lives in an old stone cottage in the middle of nowhere in Wales and has another cottage also in the middle of nowhere which she rents out as a holiday home. She said Andy and I were very welcome to use it in the summer and as we don't drive she'll come down to Brighton and pick us up and drive us there. Each day she'll pick us up from the cottage, take us wherever we want to go and collect us in the evening. Friends like this are rare! Wales is so beautiful, she lives close to Cardigan Bay and I know I'll just love it there. I've been to Wales once, we went camping in the Brecon Beacons which is very wild and beautiful.
We're also planning a trip to Scotland and the Isle of Skye sometime in the summer. I've always wanted to go to the Isle of Skye after learning The Skye Boat Song at school! Lol! The tour goes to Skye, Loch Lomond, Fort William, Inverness and Edinburgh.
The wind's howling outside now, it sounds so cold. I hope Andy got to work OK tonight, he should just be there by now. I always worry about him having to go out in the cold especially after coming back from a hot country like Australia.
I'm off now, I've waffled long enough! Have a good weekend and if you don't have to go out then stay home in the warm!

More snow!

Hi everybody, welcome to another freezing day in Brighton! We have snow forecast for the next week, ugh! I saw enough snow before Christmas to last me a lifetime! Us southern softies aren't used to it! If it snows hard and the buses stop I'm not going to try to walk in it like I did a couple of weeks back, I fell twice and it's just not worth the risk. I'd rather stay home even though I won't get paid.

So what's new here? Well, I finally told my boss that I wasn't going to do any more night shifts. Although the extra money's good it's affecting my health, my BP was up to 200/120, so I told her I'd do last weekend but as from tomorrow I'll go back to my normal shift of Monday to Friday. That means they'll have to find somebody else to do it which will be hard as they pay the same rate for night shift as they do for day shift at the weekend so I don't see that hoards will be clamouring for it! It'll just be good not to have to change my sleep patterns every few days. Since my holiday I've done Wednesday to Friday on days, nights at the weekend and had Monday and Tuesday off. I was still expected to do five days of audits and paperwork even though I was only on my own shift for three days. I was supposed to work today but I said no, I'll have my two days off and start back tomorrow~ that's when the heavy snow's forecast for so whether I'll be going in depends on the weather!

I needed today off as Kayleigh, my grand daughter was coming up to dinner with her dad. I don't see her often enough so didn't want to cancel our get together. We had a lovely afternoon but they had to leave early as they have to get a train back to Worthing and we didn't know if the snow forecast for this evening would arrive.
Katinka made friends with Kayleigh and sat on her lap, she was OK while I was there but directly I moved so did Katinka! She's a real mummy's girl and needs the reassurance that I'm there all the time!

Phew, that was lucky! My computer suddenly decided to switch off but this entry was saved in draft so I was able to retrieve it!

Last Tuesday I went over Andy's, he'd already bought me a telescope for my birthday and Christmas present but decided to buy me something else. He wouldn't tell me what it was but said I'd love it. Off I went to collect it on Tuesday afternoon and there it sat in all it's glory.... A soft serve ice cream maker!! Lil ol' me, an ice creamoholic with my own ice cream factory right here in my kitchen!! I haven't tried it out yet but I've just made the vanilla custard mixture and put it in the fridge overnight to get cold. Tomorrow I can add the cream and put it all in the ice cream machine and have my own home made ice cream cones!

I've just looked out of the window, it's snowing hard now and it's forecast to snow all night. It started off as rain so it's going to be really slippery out there in the morning. It's lucky that Kayleigh and Shaun went home when they did, Kayleigh has the same opinion of snow as me! Can't we just fast forward to summer, I've had enough of this winter, if this is global warming they can keep it!
I'll end here as I have to iron my blouses for work, I always leave it till the last minute thinking that the ironing fairies may stop by and do it, no luck so far! So from me it's a very good night to you all and stay warm!

I'm back!

Just a quick post to show a few photos I took when I got home from Australia.

Does Nina look as if she's happy that I'm back?! Fernando, who did a brilliant job of looking after them said that each time he came in Nina would look at him very accusingly as if to say 'What have you done with my mummy!' She seems content enough now! Katinka looks happy that we're back together too!

It's been freezing here ever since we came home, I'm dreading going back to work tomorrow ~it means I have to go out in the cold every day. I would have loved to have stayed in Australia, it was so hot and sunny there, the air was clear and the people seemed so happy and friendly. It was nice to go to a country where they spoke the same language too, language barriers can be a problem at times.

While I was over there I bought a new digital camera, just a small compact one, sometimes I like to take a camera out with me but it wasn't possible with my SLR camera as it meant taking the camera bag and all the accessories. I got a small Samsung ES17, it's 12.2 mega pixels and is easy to use. Best part was that it was only $100 (£58) at Perth airport in the duty free. My friends son has just bought the same one here in the UK and it cost twice that amount!

It was my birthday on Wednesday, the day we came home, Andy bought me a beautiful telescope. I'm just waiting for some warmer weather before I use it. He also got me an amethyst ring and a garnet ring. It took me two hours yesterday to set the telescope up, I had one ages ago and they're really complex to put together! Here's a couple of photos of it, it's so big I'll have a hard job trying to find somewhere to keep it!

I hope that I'll get a little more time now to update, I think I need a new computer. This one is nearly five years old now and is so sluggish and keeps kicking me offline. I'd better get off before it does it again so I won't add a signature tag. I'll just say, bye for now and keep warm in this freezing weather!

Jeannette xx

Happy Guy Fawkes Day from Nina and Katinka!

Another catch up!

Hi everybody. I thought it was time I did another update here while I'm off work.
Today was a very sad day in the wake of the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. I'd seen Michaels' death coming over the internet just before I switched off last night so I stayed up to see what was going on as at first nobody would confirm he was dead. It made sense, his family would have to be told first. It just seems so unbelievable to me that he was gone, it didn't really hit home till I saw it on the newspaper headlines when I was out today. He was such a talented performer. I hated the way the press had built him up and put him on a pedestal only to tear him down again. Let's remember that he was cleared of all charges in the court case against him. I always felt sorry for him as a kid, he'd performed since he was five years old so lost his entire childhood. He had never known what it was like to play out in the streets with friends, go to the park or do the million other things kids do. I imagine that being followed around by cameramen all your life and having everything you do reported in the papers would turn anybody slightly loopy, it would me! When he was older he had Neverland built, perhaps as a way to catch up on his lost childhood.
I hope now that he's dead the press will treat him better than they did in his short life. Rest in peace Michael and Farrah.
So what am I up to? Well, I went back to the doctors today. I've been off work for a week with plantar fasciitis and it's gradually getting worse. The doctor said he'd sign me off for another two weeks and if there's no improvement I can either have an injection or physiotherapy. He said the injections are very painful and don't always work, I've spoken to a couple of people at work who said it was excruciatingly painful and didn't reccommend it, so I shall probably have the physio if things don't improve. Call me a coward, I don't care, I've already got enough pain without adding to it! He also gave me Zapain to control the pain and ibuprofen for the inflammation in the ligament. My boss at work was very nice about it saying my ailment sounded like some kind of plant from the Chelsea Flower Show! Lol! Working in a hospital you never get much sympathy!
The weather has turned beautiful, very hot and just right for walking in. I'm not happy that I can't get out and walk yet, maybe in a week or so before I go back to work I'll get a chance to wander over the South Downs again!
Remember the seagull trapped on the roof and I got the fire brigade out to rescue him? A few days later I saw another one trapped by one leg in the netting, I had the RSPCA and fire brigade out to him too! Last week I got a text from Andy asking me to call him urgently. I was worried that it was his sickle cell again.... no it wasn't! It was a tiny fluffy seagull chick who'd fallen out of the nest and was in his garden at risk of being eaten by next doors cat. I gave him the number of the RSPCA and they came out and rescued him but not before the cat from next door had tried to catch it and was attacked by the chicks very angry mother!! She almost pecked the cats eyes out, the poor cat slunk back indoors and was too frightened to go outside for three days! Lol! Served him right!
A few days ago I was looking out of my window and saw a seagull nest opposite my block of flats. I looked through my binoculars and saw the prettiest chicks I've ever seen. I took some photos with my zoom lens but it's quite a way away and they aren't too clear. I've watched them for a few days and find it amazing that the parents look after them so well. There's always one parent with them all the time. When one comes back the other takes off to find food. Whn dusk comes they're both there with them all night. It's so nice to see. When I think of the young children who have been in the news recently who have been beaten, neglected and starved to death it makes me think that maybe the parents should be made to watch animals tending their young to see how it should be done. They put us to shame.
The first photo is Nina, very upset that seagull chicks weren't on the menu for dinner that night!

I love the little one here testing his rather stumpy little wings out!



So cute, they've certainly got the 'aahh' factor!

This is the poor soul who was trapped in the net, they did managed to get him out and set him free. You can see he left his calling card on the roof! I just wish they'd take the net down, it's barbaric, I can't bear to see animals trapped. I don't care if my friends call me The Crazy Seagull Lady, I shall carry on helping them! I've even got Andy doing it now! Lol!


I've bought some wallpaper and paint for my front room. I saw an article in a magazine and loved the way they'd done a room in it. The wallpaper was black with shimmering leaves on it when it caught the light, the rest of the walls were done in sage green and graphite. I bought a similar wallpaper and sage green paint but instead of the graphite paint which looks too dark and heavy for my flat I'll use one I already have, it's a chalky white colour. So, once my foot starts healing I can get on with it.
I sat all week doing hardly anything. Yesterday I sorted out all my paper work and shredded a bin liner full. Where does all this paper come from?! It seems to appear in my cupboards and drawers. I'm trying to get rid of as much as I can to make space in cupboards.... for what I don't know ~ more paper probably!! It creeps in there on it's own when I'm not looking!
I threw out lots of holiday brochures. I don't need them this year as we're already booked to go to Australia. Next year I want to go on a Panama Canal cruise for my sixtieth birthday which will be in December next year. I can't believe I'm almost sixty, admittedly I feel it right now as I hobble around with this painful foot, but it doesn't seem that long ago that I was a teenager and planning my life.
I suppose I'd better finish off here and feed Katink and Nina, they've been loving sitting on the balcony in the sun this week.
Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sun!

Michael Jackson August 29th 1958- 25th June 2009

Rest in peace Michael