Reader, writer, music lover, library nerd, mother and wife. I have big dreams with little time and no funds to pull them off. Join me as I try to dream my way through adulthood.
'Get busy living or get busy dying' Stephen King
Over the last couple of days Larissa at Pappa is a Preacher and Katie over at Nested have alerted me to the fact that Google is changing. It is ditching the Google Reader page, basically the bit that keeps me from forgetting what blogs I follow etc...
For me this couldn't come at a worse time, my memory is fickle enough at the best of times, recently it has been a nightmare. I swear I am going to end up poisoning myself with all the pen I plaster on my hands at the moment, and there just isn't room for all the blogs I follow too!
Thank heaven for Larissa and Katie, without them I would never have found Bloglovin. Tanks you guys!! So rest assured that I may not read every word of every post, I may even have skipped a few altogether of late, I will never forget about you completely. And when I am all better and headache free (yes I still have it...3rd month and counting) I will be able to find you all easily.
Last week I mentioned two awards that had been bestowed upon me and my little blog. As yet I have not paid them the attention they deserve. So here goes!
Now it has no rules so I am just going to basque in the glow of such a lovely award from one of the few blogs that I read with a truly authentic voice, thank the lovely Katie and then bestow the award on the blogs I will mention in a minute.
My second award came winging it's way from my favourite photographer and friend Lee Johnson. This is a guy with impeccable taste and an eye for what works, so the fact he has passed this award on to me makes me smile...a lot! Thank you Mr Johnson!
And to the rules...always with the rules, sheesh.
Thank the blogger who nominated you and include a link to their site. (Check!)
Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post. (Check!)
Nominate 7 fellow bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly and include a link to their site. (Ooooo, I will think about this one...stay tuned!)
Let them know you have nominated them. (Yeah, yeah. Let me decide already!)
Share 7 random facts about you. (Well 7 is my lucky number but I think y'all know everything there is to know about me by now. Apologies if I bore you!).
7 Random Facts About Me - Because I'm not random at all ;-)
1. I love panda's. To the point I have a tattoo of one!
2. I have way too many unfulfilled ambitions which includes learning to play the bass guitar.
3. I name my cars...generally strong male names (and I need ideas for a new addition to our family - the Other Half has brought home a beautiful new play thing but it has no name. Ideas on a postcard please)
4. I love the Ocean; it's sound, it's rhythm. Especially sailing on it, however I don't like swimming in it!
5. I close my eyes if I want to experience something more deeply.
6. I read faster on my Kobo but prefer the feel and smell of a book in my hands.
7. When I was younger I bleached my hair to get rid of the red highlights that ran through it. Now I actively colour my hair varying shades of copper and red.
The Magic 7 Blogs
Getting not one but two shiny awards for utter greatness:
These are all fabulous blogs and apologies to these wonderful writers that I have not been as dedicated to my reading of blogs as I should lately....forgive me? (fluttering eyelashes and everything!) What I am trying to say is nip over, take a look and leave them some love!
Finally I will leave you with this tune that seems perfectly appropriate to me at the moment.
We're home, exhausted but home, packed full of memories of our adventures. Memories of smiles and discoveries, of objects seen to go with lessons learnt and stories heard. Of famous artists found for the first time and explosions in a lab. Of hotels and beds squashed together, of train travel over ground and underground. Such beautiful sweet memories I will hold forever, some of them captured and shared.
Our trip begins! Why are train stations always so cold?
And a two hour journey needs some entertainment!
When I visit London I can't stop looking around and noticing things that make me smile!
I love travelling on the tube. I also discovered that I love the look of wonder on my girls faces and the inquisitory discussions we had about trains travelling underground.
However we didn't go to London for the transport links. First stop...The British Museum.
The look of wonder and amazement and voracity with which Munchkin 1 went from one exhibit to the next. Devouring every Egyptian artifact and explaining their significance to me. Canopic jars are seriously disgusting might I add!
The next stop....for Mummy!
A flying visit, yes. But still I stood in awe at the Kings Library. This picture does not do the sheer scale and number of books justice!!
Day 2 - Open top bus tour!
I can't believe how much the girls enjoyed this. Even ice cold toes and noses didn't deter them for quite some time!
Tower Bridge
Big Ben, with the London Eye in the background
Reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
St Paul's Cathedral
A whistle stop tour of the Poetry and Dreams exhibition in the Tate Modern. Introducing Munchkin 1 to the likes of Picasso (who's work is ugly, by the way - her words not mine!)
Then on to Trafalgar Square and a visit to the National Gallery. We got involved in a feather and wing art installation. Listened to a story teller use the art work in the gallery to tell a story (really great) and then introduced Munchkin 1 to the likes of Monet (who she loved - that's mi girl!) Cezanne and Van Gough.
Day Three - Time to go home, nearly!
A trip to the Science Museum - Daddy's day ;-)
A demonstration of how to make a rocket fly into space and a quick experiment to see if the Munchkins could power electrical equipment with pedal power. I won't disconnect from the grid just yet though!
That left just enough time for a quick stop at Harrods....Oh how the other half lives!!
However I did discover some gorgeous lifts!
Oh and some cute friends too!
That was a packed couple of days, time to go home.....we're beat!
What special memories have you made this week?
I will leave you with this, Within Temptation. Nothing at all to do with London or the sweet memories made. It is however totally beautiful and the final gorgeous discovery of this break. Back to work tomorrow!
PS - In the last few days I have been bestowed 2 blog awards. One from the fabulously talented and witty blogess Katie at Nested and the other from my dear friend; the obnoxiously talented photographer and blogger Lee Johnson. I promise I will graciously accept these awards and compose appropriately lengthy speeches to said acceptances in due course! Today I think I have overloaded you lovely readers enough.....Stay tuned ;-)
The blank screen...... I haven't ever been really stuck for something to write before. But sitting here with the blank screen in front of me I find myself with no real news to fill you in on, nothing to complain about and nothing even particularly random to report......
Ah ha, light bulb moment, I am going to have a bit of a linky post....why didn't that occur to me before??
Katie at Nested has made me laugh out loud this week through just sheer honesty.
Loki at The Modfather posted a comic this week which was not only amazing it inspired a little sketching of my own. I had an image in my head and it actually turned out the way I wanted it too, which is odd for me I tend to doodle and if it turns out ok then so be it.
A friend has recently started a new blog, check it out it's ace! Blogs and Boulders come on the name is great, no?!?
Finally I had a fabulous walk yesterday. It was amazing in many ways that I cannot hope to explain here, but one thing that made me smile so much was getting out into the unbroken snow. I tried to take a photo to convey this but as usual me and my iphone did a pathetic job. Photography might be on my bucket list, but I don't think this lifetime would be enough time to scrape together even a few decent shots. It is for this reason that I will link to my favourite photographer to illustrate my point with much more finesse. Head over to Lee Johnson Photography he posted some gorgeous photos yesterday that capture the gorgeousness of the winter landscape so much better than I could ever hope to do.
As requested by Kate at Nested here is her pick of the seasonal tunes.
And here is a Brucie Bonus just because the dude playing the cello looks like he is enjoying the tune as much as Kate likes it ;-)
As for me the Christmas panic has set in there is so much I have left to do....but after listening to this I am feeling a little more chilled, thanks Kate.
Phew, I made it to the end of the month. Not just in terms of posting daily but just sheer making it through everything that it has thrown at me! But guess what, I have signed up for December NaBloPoMo.....Yes I am certifiably insane, and I'm loving it ;-) I will be in really great company with The Modfather and Nested already signed up to the challenge. Now, now, don't run screaming for the hills, another month of me everyday isn't all that bad!!
This fairy tale Friday I have been thinking a little about happy endings. Fairy tales have become synonymous with two phrases 'Once upon a time...' and 'Happily ever after'
Happily ever after, is this even possible in life? Or have we been fooled into expecting that life should be a Disney movie?
Fairy tales weren't always like this, earlier versions were more gruesome and happy endings were harder to come by.
But then, even the Disney versions aren't all candy floss and chocolate, I mean within the first twenty minutes of most there is some kind of tragedy; Bambi's mother is shot, Simba's father is murdered, Cinderella's father dies.
I wonder if we do have our happily ever after but life is the messy stuff before we get to it??
Looks like I am just tying myself up in knots here!! What do you think?
Today I am grateful that I have lived through my tragedy and am living my happily ever after. I know of some families that aren't so lucky at the moment, I just hope that their happily ever after is just around the corner!
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