Ichabod's Day

OK, still off from work - but there is an end in sight - I shall be going in for "the op" at the end of January all being well. I get to go back to work after Xmas for a few weeks and then I shall be off again for about 6 - 8 weeks, be careful what you wish for - being a lady of leisure is not all it's cracked up to be! Having exhausted the magazines (now donated to local GP surgery) and daytime TV - found a good channel showing Xmas films all day - unfortunately it was the same 5 films so eventually I could recite the script and they all started to meld into one long film where snow, visting angels and happy endings played a huu-uuge part, I am now onto jigsaws, shopping channels and facebook. Bruno has not been idle in this period. We thought it would be a good idea whilst I was at home to have his "spuds" off. Hasn't slowed him down yet - but we've been told could be 6 months before we realise there's a difference! He currently has a bandage on hi

I am currently in the unfortunate/fortunate position of having to take enforced rest. Those of you that know me will be aware of some ongoing medical problems - those who don't suffice to say "women's troubles" and spare you the gory details. Having spent a week feeling poorly and trying desperately to avoid hospital admission I am now feeling slightly more human and can actually enjoy my time off work for the next week (I hope). Anyway, what to do with this time? I have become very organised for Xmas (in case I needed to be in hospital) and used online shopping to great advantage - and then wrapped things as they are delivered. I have got parcels ready for USA and Oz ready for the Xmas posting dates, complete with letters and cards. I have tried my best to watch day time TV - how dire is that? We pay a fortune for god knows how many channels and all you get are reality talk shows, naff quizz shows and thriller/murder/sci-fi shows with old has-beens taking a cameo rol

I have just received a very special parcel today. Now some of you may think this is a strange and rather macabre thing - but I happen to think it is a unique and special tribute. What is it? Well, those of you who follow my musings will know that I lost my beloved pet earlier in the year. I found this a devastating experience, and I would say that I lost not only a pet, but a part of myself with her. She was very special (as I'm sure most of you think of your own pets). Somehow, trawling through the internet I came across someone who makes teddy bears from pet hair/fur. As it happens I had kept an amount of her fur, when I'd groom her I'd put some of her fur out for the birds to use for nesting and I kept quite a bit of the rest. Don't ask me why, I don't really know - other to say that I am a great sentimentalist and love to keep mementoes and keepsakes of all sorts of things. Anyway, I contacted this lady to ask what she would need - a really lovely and talented

October is here - and a mixed bag of weather from torrential rain to mild and sunny days. The last 2 sundays have been perfect weather for walking in the late autumn sunshine. Last week, after guests staying over for the weekend, we took Bruno for a late sunday afternoon stroll to Pennington Flash , a local site favourite with wildlife enthusiasts and walkers alike. Now, those who know me know very well that I am not a walker - but I must say that I am really enjoying these latest communing with nature exploits. I am taking some good photos and then have something worth sharing on my blog - and Bruno gets some good, healthy exercise also!! Then this weekend we we lucky to be invited by an old friend to go visit. She lives with her family in the grounds of Newstead Abbey in nottinghamshire. I have never been there before but it turns out that my Dad, as a youth, used to cycle there from Grantham on a sunday with the YMCA - a fitter man than me that's for sure! The Abbey's

I witnessed my first road rage incident yesterday and I am still haunted by the sight of a large man in his 30s trying to drag a man in his late 60s (or older) through a car window whilst punching him in the face! All because the older man dared to beep his horn at the car the younger man was a passenger in that had stopped in traffic and blocked the exit. This was bad enough, but what perhaps was worse was that we were in rush hour traffic with cars and vans backing up on both sides of the road and no-one, NO-ONE, got out to help the old man. I eventually leant on my horn to at least draw some attention to what was going on and then a few followed suit until we were all so loud and insistent that the younger man got back in as the traffic moved and the car drove away. As the older guy drove away - obviously shaken - he nearly caused an accident as the lights had changed and cars were just driving round him. Now, by this time I too am slightly shaken and extremely indignant. As I pul

Had my second tap dancing lesson last night. Here is what I have learned so far: a) I am far too unfit b) dancing in front of wall to wall, full length mirrors has to be the least flattering angle c) I have lost any rhythm I thought I had d) I have no control over my feet e) I have no style f) I am far too unfit Apart from that it really is enjoyable, the 45 minutes of the lesson fly by and afterwards I may look completely exhausted but I do feel energised. A quick trip to the pub across the road from the dance centre to replenish lost liquid and then home until next week. Shuffle, hop, step ball change ....................

This weekend we took a quick trip to Norfolk. We figured it was probably the last sunny weekend we might get this year - so a four and a half hour drive was worth it to spend a day and a bit on the beach! We were finally able to let Bruno run, something he wasn't able to do in the summer due to his accident and he had such a great time - so did we come to that -peaceful, sunny and relaxing. Such a shame we had to come home. Anyway, while we were there Sheringham was holding a 40s weekend at the Poppy Line steam railway station. People dressed up, 40s music was playing - we just spent a while people watching and enjoying the atmosphere. It's amazing what you can see if you just stop your normal daily routine. A great weekend was had by all - back to normality now unfortunately, ah well......

You may have read in my post entitled "my favourite beach" that our dog was in an accident a few weeks ago. He slipped his collar and got hit by a car. Well, we have now enrolled him in Dog School - first session on wednesday so I intend to keep you upto date with his progress. He knows nothing of this at the moment and is blissfully unaware of the hard work to come!! In fact as I write he is in his favourite position in his chair - as per photo (bet dog school don't allow personal items of furniture!!). Watch this space also for my own foray into classes - I've decided to have a go at tap dancing - and at 46 years old this is not to be taken lightly. If I make it through the first session I'll let you know how I get on (but I promise - no photos)- here's to a fitter and better behaved family!!!!

Just taken this quiz The Connected Academic , my results: You are the future! You've taken openness, connectedness and 2.0ness to heart. You are an asset to your organisation. I would be happy to be your Facebook friend. Hah, must be doing something right!!

Just had to share a rather bizarre experience that happened this weekend - decided to visit Botany Bay for a bit or browsing- and guess what - on August Bank Holiday Saturday it was their first day of Christmas!! We were greeted by a small choir of carol singers dressed in Mrs Santa costumes and bedecked with bells and collection buckets. Then, whilst waiting at one of the tills to pay for purchases the PA system came to life with a customer announcement - "Santa will be abseiling down the front of the building in 5 minutes - anyoine wishing to watch santa abseil down the building should go outside now" - too surreal!!! Anyway - too good an opportunity to miss - so went outside - to fake snow billowing from the top of the building, more carol singing and of course santa abseiling. Ah well, another Bank Holiday weekend in Britain!!!

image: mundesley beach Managed to fit in a few days in Norfolk last week and between the rainy days we got a good few hours on my favourite beach - Mundesley. We should have spent the week there but our best boy decided to slip his collar and have an argument with a car 2 days before we were due to go. At the time was very distressing and we thought we were going to lose him - but he has made a miraculous recovery and was up and about the following day as if nothing had happened- although a bit wobbly and sore. Anyway - the vet said we could go away for a few days so went from Tuesday to Saturday. Drove down in torrential rain - lovely british summer weather. On our second day we had to find a vets again as best boy decided to eat a wasp!! Tongue started to swell so needed steriods and antihistamine injections - what a plonker!!! Mundesley beach just as secluded, soft and peaceful as always. Am still in holiday mode at moment but returning to work after the bank holiday so will get bac

What a week I'm having - in a good way I might add! Currently on leave from work I have taken this opportunity to catch up with friends and having a great time. Monday was cocktails in the Manchester Hilton - complete with fantastic view over Manchester city centre. Great company, great atmosphere and then onto Dimitris for greek tapas - yum yum. And the best bit was that I managed to drive into manchester and park (with a little help from my trusty sat nav!). Tuesday was ribs and carbonara in Lymm- an old favourite where I don't even need to look at the menu - I very predictably go for the same thing - boring I know but delicious. Again a great evening and then back to my friend's house to try out the Wii fit board - what fun. I love the hula hoop, the steps and the jogging - have been trying to get one for ages but all sold out - let me know if you hear of any. Definitely felt like a workout! Today I went into Liverpool to meet an old friend visiting oop north for the wee

"Here I go again.. my,my, how can I resist you" !!! Have just seen the film at the Odeon in Leicester Square. What a great film!! My glory days (well hopefully I still have a few more of those to come- but you know what I mean...) were backed by Abba - I was the Dancing Queen, and had my heart dented more than once to the strains of "Winner Takes it all" ( played over and over again on my old stereogram in my bedroom .. much to the chagrin of my parents). Anyway - back to the film- a real feel good film that manages to integrate the songs to a well played out story - without being cliched. I was sad, uplifted and amused all at the same time and left the cinema wanting to dance and skip whilst trailing a scarf behind me - in the sunshine and with a beautiful backdrop of course. Pity it was raining when we left the cinema. I'm definitely going to see it again..

I just wanted to share with you my new love affair - now some of you will be thinking the wrong thing here. I have recently returned from a cruising holiday around the Meditteranean. One of the excursions from the ship was to Pompeii - somewhere I have always wanted to visit (Egypt and the pyramids, is the other place I would like to see before I die.). I wasn't disappointed - absolutely fantastic, fascinating, awesome and inspirational. However my new love affair is with Mt Vesuvius itself. It's presence over the landscape is magical - you can feel it - it fills the horizon as a brooding parent, menacing yet strangely hypnotic. Like the anti-hero in an old black and white film that you know you shouldn't be drawn to but you can't help yourself. I wanted to stay and just be in its shadow for longer - but I had to get back on the bus. A holiday romance I'll never forget.....

Well not so much a secret as a guilty pleasure. of course I'm talking about my model railway. Definitely a work in progress - and maybe it will never be finished - but I am hoping to spend more time with it than I have over the last two years. I always remember that one of my favourite things as a child was a Hornby engine and a small square hardboard with a circular track. I don't remember what happened to it - I think it burned out - but I loved it. A couple of xmases ago my husband surprised me with a Hornby model of the Flying Scotsman - only problem was we had nowhere to put it - so we had the attic converted (bit drastic I know!) and it lives up there. If we ever move it can't come out as the board that holds the track was put up before the stairs went in!! We have gradually put in the track and some buildings - and plan to do so much more- and eventually it will reflect a small taste of Norfolk in the '50's and '60's with a Broad and wherry, a church

Thought I'd share with you a project of mine that I finished a while ago - but found cathartic and a very relaxing and comforting experience. When my Mum died a couple of years ago now, I found it hard to think about all her clothes going to charity shops etc and that someone else might wear them. I know that this probably seems a rather irrational view - and I can't really defend it, but Mum was always so into her wardrobe - she had a flair for co-ordinating clothes into an outfit and had a certain style all of her own - she always looked good. So whilst we were clearing her things I found myself ferreting outfits and items of clothing away that were so "Mum". Then I decided that maybe I could make a quilt with them. In the end I made 3 quilts and gave one to my sister and brother and kept one for myself for the first Xmas without Mum. I then made another in the following year for my niece as a wedding present. I'd never quilted before - apart from a small englis

image: Blackrod workshop 2008 What a fantastic Sunday I had!!! I was persuaded months ago to sign up for a women's singing workshop that was held last sunday. Now I have sung in the past - mainly as a school girl in school and church choirs and in the local music festivals. I ahve even been known to sing a few bars at the end of semester xmas revue, but it's a long time since I have sung just for the hell of it. I was a bit apprehensive, but decided "what the heck" and went along with some friends from work. It was soooo good. The workshop called Rejoice the Voice was run perfectly by Chris While, Julie Matthews and Helen Watson and was advertised thus: Do you feel you have a voice and nowhere to sing? - this is for you . Do you think you have no voice and need to sing? - This is for you. Have you been told you can't sing but really want to?- This is for you Chris, Julie and Helen have been hosting these workshops for years now, all

Meet our new boy. The dog shaped hole left by my beloved girl was too vast to live with so we decided to go to the local dog rescue home and find another one to lavish love and affection onto. We will never replace her, but we have too much to offer not to give another dog the care and attention it needs - so off we went. There he was in his cage - all around him barking, pirouetting "pick me, pick me!!" whilst he sat perfectly still at the door, watching and waiting. We couldn't resist him - in addition to the fact that he had been there for 4 months, it is hard to believe that such a loving, affectionate and handsome dog could be overlooked. Could be partly to do with the fact that he is a staffy cross (we think with whippet) - and boy he's fast!!! We're still training him - but he's settling in fast and picking up what we need from him quickly. He's good with children and other dogs (not tried him with cats yet though!). I'm sure there will be many

Just thought I'd share a rather bizarre experience that happened to me the other day. I was in the Trafford Centre and decided to buy a pair of shoes in a well known store. I went to the counter to be served by a young girl (surprisingly most seem to be young to me these days!). This is the conversation that took place: Shopgirl : Can you hear me when I talk? Me: Yes very well. Shopgirl: Oh good, I think people can't hear me when I speak. Me: (Thinking - is she asking me to diagnose her? Does she have a problem and for some reason I'm exuding professional mode) No, I can assure you that I can hear you Shopgirl: good, it's just that I was out last night and we had a lock-in at the pub and I think I'm still drunk ........ She then went on to give me detail of what she'd been drinking etc etc. Did I really need to know that as a stranger - and certainly not as a customer. I wonder what her boss thought!!!

I found myself with tears today for someone I didn't know and never met. I was in the middle of a small cafe (having eaten much too much as usual!). My Dad - who is a funeral director - started telling me about a customer, an elderly lady, who had to bury her husband. He had died on the way to hospital and therefore there had to be an enquiry which had delayed things a bit. Eventually my Dad got a call from a social worker on behalf of this lady asking if he would arrange and conduct the funeral as this lady was very specific about the firm she wanted to use and there was no branch in her home town. She had not realised that she needed to make the arrangements and had thought the hospital would do all that for her - so the funeral had been delayed even longer than was necessary. Dad agreed, the funeral was conducted and afterwards the social worker, who attended, asked Dad and the hearse driver to go back to the house as the lady had organised some sandwiches. What really got to m

Well, the annual event is almost upon us once again - 24th May 2008. The Eurovision Song contest is one of the highlights of my year. Call me "sad" if you must, but I don't believe I have missed a contest since I was a small child when my parents would put myself, my brother and sister to bed early in the evening (6 pm-ish) in order for us to have a nap before being woken up to watch the whole of the contest. It seemed so exciting to be up so late and watching a spectacle - as it seemed to me at the time. And we used to win sometimes in the good old days ! In latter years I have held Eurovision parties of my own where guests are expected to vote and play drinking games and shout at the voting of the partisan countries who always vote for their neighbours etc. It seems that there are few friends of the UK left. It will soon be time to get out the international buffet menu , dust down the flags and get ready to have an evening of song, sequins and sycophancy!! Good luc

I went to the ballet last night for the first time (having managed 40 odd years without ever going before). I was with some good friends, in a box in a theatre with a good reputation. We went for tea before the performance and a foreward thinking member of the group even brought along cinder toffee and jelly babies to keep us going. The ballet was Swan Lake - I knew the music well having worn out my parents LP of the same as a young girl - often offering my version of the choreography as I attempted my aspirational career as a prima -ballerina. All was in place for a thoroughly good time........ but I HATED it!!! I am so disappointed with myself - I expected to be transposed to a magical land full of high emotion and ethereal whatnots. Instead all I could think was that there was too much dancing!! This by no means is a slight on the costumes and sets - absolutely stunning, the skill and expertise of each of the dancers - their mixture of strength and grace a marvel, or indeed the comp

It's a strange thing that happens when you try to expand and develop your horizons. From the seed of a good idea you strive to learn more about it (whatever "it" is) and begin to apply your learning to given situations/new developments etc. You gain a level of confidence with this new thing - and then you jump into a larger pool (I guess your horizon expands!) and you realise how little you actually know about it - and it starts all over again. I know this is not particularly earth shattering news to anyone - but it perhaps mirrors my current state of mind. What I'd like to know is: A)Where do you find the energy from to carry horizon scanning on and b) how do you get over the feeling that one day you'll get caught out and someone will find out what little substance lies behind the facade?? Just a thought for today!

Hello, having been part of a group blog for about a year now - I have decided to create an arm of my own and see how it feels to be less constrained by responsibility to a corporate brand. I understand what our group blog is about - sharing professional ideas and reflections and networking across like - minded institutions, but I begin with a question here. Who are personal blogs for? Are they for the writer or the reader? Should I be creating a personal diary that can be seen by anyone (bit scary!) or should I be trying to showcase something of myself? In discussions with others the main thing that seems to arise is to be genuine. What would anyone reading this want to know - that I am also able and prepared to share? I would welcome any direction and advice that other bloggers could offer.

Our clever, beautiful, loving girl died on St Valentine’s Day 2008 at 3am at the age of 15 years. She was the cleverest, brightest dog stuffed full of personality. She could sing and dance- summer holiday in summer, singing in the rain in winter and jingle bells at Christmas. I’d sing, she’d dance lying down with her front paws moving across the floor and at ends of phrases I’d point at her and she’d bark (sing!). She loved Xmas and couldn’t wait to open presents, she’d often find her present under the tree and start to open it before you knew she was doing it. She loved to open presents and if she’d finished hers if you weren’t quick enough she’d start on yours too! I used to tell her she smelled like a teddy bear – like sunshine on a warm carpet, with soft and silky fur. She occasionally would have a bath and whilst she wasn’t keen she tolerated it – you just had to catch her before she shook herself all over the house. She liked the hairdryer though and would lie down and be pamper