Well What A Relief

Perhaps this makes up for my being only 2 thirds real:

People Definitely Like You

You are very well liked, and many people admire you. You are friendly, well mannered, and fun to be around. Of course, you're not perfect... but that's okay. Your friends are usually willing to accept you for who you are! What People Like About You: People like that you give them support and strength. Friends know that they can count on you to be there for them. People like that you're interesting and intriguing. You always have something interesting to say. People like that you truly take and interest in them. Everyone likes to be liked!

Do People Like You?

Personality Testing

You Should Be a Romance Novelist

You see the world as it should be, and this goes double for all matters of the heart.
You can find the romance in any situation, and you would make a talented romance story writer...
And while you may be a traditional romantic, you're just as likely to be drawn to quirky or dark love stories.
As long as it deals with infatuation, heartbreak, and soulmates - you could write it.

And also:




You Are 67% Real

You know who you are, and you're pretty darn comfortable with yourself.

Like everyone, you struggle with the parts of yourself that aren't so great...

But you're good at accepting who you are and not dwelling on your faults.

As a result, you're confident, optimistic, and very real.

How Real Are You?

A Few Household Tips

Well now Teeni, from over the water, sent this Good Household Tips meme my way. The idea is generally to pass along some household management tips .

1. Keep a small bottle of pure Lavender essentail oil in your kithcen. If you burn yourself ( e.g. on the oven shelf in that little gap where the oven gloves don't reach) just grab that little brown bottle and a drop of neat lavender oil on the burn will immediatley remove the sting. It will heal super fast without leaving a scar. Read up on using oils safely as it is not usual to use them neat. Lavender should be used sparingly if you have high blood pressure.I can thoroughly recommend a book for learning about how to use essentail oils for all kinds of household uses from the laundry room, for health and first aid, to pest control and to make your own air freshener.
2. A few drops of lavender oil in water will also take the sting out of sun burn - if you ever get caught out without sunscreen. Just lightly wring out a face cloth and pat on the burnt area.
3. A wee drop of washing-up liquid spread over a bathroom mirror and vigorously polished off will stop that mirror from steaming up for weeks - maybe months - bit of hard work and elbow grease but worth the effort.
4. For pet owners out there - to kill fleas that have been vacuumed up or to stop flea eggs sprouting (whatever the expression should be) place a cat flea collar in the dust collecting bag/bin of your vacuum cleaner. Renew the collar every 6 months.
5. Finally this tip is a famous quote from Quentin Crisp. I've never been able to hold my nerve long enough to check out if it is in fact correct! "Dust doesn't get any thicker after 4 years"

Handing the baton on now to : Mopsa, Flowerpot, Mark Wadsworth and the Winchester Whisperer. I've included Mark as I don't see why this should just be a woman's thing.

Instructions for this meme:
Write your tip(s) with a link to who sent the meme to you, along with the instructions. They are better if they are your own discovery, or not widely known. Still, tips that make a difference to you are all good. After your tips, you may want to tag some fellow bloggers.

Is It Art?

Is it Art? - an unmade bed, a pile of bricks or a wall of recycled rubbish? I am usually of the opinion that this is not art. Regardless of any prize awarded.

However, Carl Warner's 'Foodscapes' are amazing. Every part of this sunset idyllic scene is made up of food. The sky is made from salmon (I've heard of a mackerel sky before) the sea also is salmon. If you look carefully the 'boat' is a pea pod. The rocks and pebbles are made from bread or potatoes, the sand is sugar. It is well worth going over to the photographer's web site to explore further images. If you want to see more of his FoodScapes then you will need to visit his website. Once you have entered his website follow the links by clicking on the Orange coloured box then choose the 2nd folder for his Foodscapes. They are all fascinating. His other portfolios are of interest as well. Go and explore. Enjoy. This is Art.

Noisy Neighbours

Apart from the Rookery at the top of our garden we have quiet neighbours. But Rooks do make rather noisy neighbours. There is a small copse at the top of our rear garden. It contains a fair sized Rookery. It increases in numbers yearly. I've lived with Rooks for nearly 27 years - from Gloucestershire to Devon. I rarely notice their chatter. Visitors find them noisy and distracting. Especially when we are having a garden tea party. I love having them around. They are far less of a distraction than a passing plane or an air sea rescue helicopter clattering overhead. I'm glad to say there are not as many as was shown recently on a BBC television programme.

I can see the rookery from my kitchen window so am aware of thier daily goings on. I don't know what it is but something makes them suddenly swirl up in the air with a clamour of calls, wheel about for a while then settle back on the perches. I usually notice the movement first then I hear the sound. On reading this article I see it may predict weather patterns; I'll have to try and see if it does fit with this observation during this year.

The raucous calls, the arguments, disputes and gossiping chatter. No wonder the collective nouns for rooks are Parliament, Building or Clamour. The make fascinating neighbours. Always industrious they are invariably repairing or rebuilding their nests. Sometimes their chatter continues intermittently throughout the night. Less so in the cold depths of midwinter nights.

Now behind the copse of trees at the top of our garden there are many arable fields. These fields are always full of feeding rooks during the day. But not from 'our' rookery. No our rooks fly off each morning in a north easterly direction. They cross paths with rooks flying in from a north westerly direction to feed in the fields behind us. Rooks commute. Single rooks also have an odd way of flying. As we live almost at the top of a hill we get to see many individual birds flying towards us at eye level. Rooks have a strange sideways flight. They rarely seem to fly from A to B in a direct manner. They seem to flap their wings, looking left and right as they fly and travel at a drifting angle. It's very hard to predict exactly where they intend to go. In spring when they are carrying large twigs back to the nest they often drop them just short and our garden rapidly becomes littered with very large twigs.

Infamous/Famous Blogs

I'm not quite sure whether I agree with people who write blogs where they dish the dirt on people they've fallen out with. It's fine when it's anonymous. It can be cathartic to whinge when we feel someone has hurt us in some way. But then to allow the real person to be outed is very cruel. I think the whole idea is very distasteful.

Did you see in the media at the weekend that someone who claims to be a well known domestic actress ( lower levels) by the name of Jane Slavin has written a blog about her ex lover? If Lucia is in fact Slavin I find it most illuminating that she has listed her own book as her favourite read on her profile page.

I'm inclined to think that picking holes in some one's personality is not on. But she increases my irritation by being very unkind about his physical features. I think the fact she didn't have the 'courage' to address these issues to his face tells rather a lot about her too. Slavin was apparently unavailable for comments. I also find it interesting that there is no option to leave a comment on her blog either. Not surprising - this sounds as if she is one cowardly lady.

I also read that she is hoping for a publishing offer to come out of this blog. I do hope no publisher will take this writer on. Writers shouldn't be allowed to make financial gain from being unkind to others. I don't know what your views are but I think this is one sad story .....

Perhaps she thought that she would be the next Belle de Jour?

How Old?

Now for some of you bloggers out there this is a very interesting site where you can place your blog for increased exposure. Older bloggers in particular may be interested in the ageless project.