November...Not for the Fainthearted!

Well we are now into the second week of November and it hasn't failed to disappoint - wet, windy, gloomy days that throw in the towel about 4.30 and give way to...yes, you've guessed it...wet, windy, dark nights!
As my FB friends will know....I absolutely loathe the winter...yes..before all you winter fans protest...I know it can be nice being snug, safe and warm, stuffing our faces with comfort foods while the rain batters off the windows and the wind brings the joyous sound of your whirly-gig being snapped in half...but, for me, it is a very limited pleasure.

I hate the fact that every day from November through to March is just going to be a slight variation on this theme....looking from the optimistic angle....if I don't get completely soaked thru to the skin every time I go out I might dodge double pneumonia for another year...looking from the pessimistic angle....I do get double pneumonia but recover in time to 'celebrate' that Christian Capitalist Conspiracy at the end of December!

Hmmm..I'll leave the 'C' word for the time being(never fear followers, I will return to it)because I refuse to contemplate it until we enter the 12th month...and return to the joy that is November! Apart from shite weather, the enforced confinement and heating bills starting to soar...November means bonfires and fireworks....oh yes! 

Now, I'm not a complete killjoy...I save that persona for you-know-when.. and I actually quite like watching fireworks and have attended organised public displays before at Glasgow Green and here on Skye. Alas, what gets on my mammaries are the f*ckwits who seem to have a problem with the old adage 'Remember, remember the 5th of November' Yes..the 5th of November...NOT I repeat NOT the frigging 5th, 6th and 7th of November...if you want to let fireworks off of on any other date than the 5th I suggest you stick them up your arse and do us all a bloody favour. This time of year is a nightmare for pets and their owners...and as the proud owner of 2 felines..I can tell you...that whilst one couldn't have given a flying fandango..the other one hasn't been so traumatised since his 'de-bollocking' visit to vet!

However...to end on a positive note...I became a Mummy for the first time in November...November 15th, 1983 and whilst giving birth is not so much a joy but more a melon > polomint experience...the end result....Natalie...was, and still is, brilliant :-)

Right...time to blogoff..and venture out and brave the elements..our super-duper bio-mass wood chip fuel central heating system needs a large cash injection and I'm meeting a friend for a slightly boozy lunch...that is what I love about Chardonnay....not just for November...but for any time of the year ;-)

A Brief Reflection On My Approaching Birthday

Well tomorrow I reach the ripe.. perhaps some would say over ripe... age of 47. Now, going by my experience of reaching 44, 45 & 46, I doubt being 47 will have any significant impact on my life and, more importantly, how I feel about my life. I still feel I'm 19 despite my daughters' ages, my body, my responsibilities and my lifestyle strongly being at odds with  that statement! Well phooey to all those because I live in my brain...how anyone can live anywhere else I'll never know...and my brain is a lissome, lithe, bubbly, active, optimistic and effervescent 19!

Despite the slings and arrows, and there has been a veritable torrent of those in the last few years, I still hope, if not totally believe, that there are adventures still to be had and good times to be enjoyed. A visit from Julie, a friend I've known for the best part of 40years, fanned those flames and her positive take on life...it's trials and tribulations..not only mirrored my own but enhanced them :-)

My life is pretty much the bog standard life of a middle aged woman but the people in my life are far from bog-standard! I have my lovely 3 daughters, Natalie, Candace & Yasmin who are simply the best and I have my Dad who, along with my  darling Mum who died in June, reminds and reinforces for me what a truly good human being should be :-) Beyond this, I am lucky to have other family and friends (online friends included!)who are supportive, interesting, funny, bloody minded, provocative, controversial, unique and kind...all qualities necessary to ensure a rich circle of companionship.

Approximately two years ago,  I was in Raigmore Hospital after suffering what was termed as a 'significant,brain injury'....basically I had Cerebritis...a brain inflammation caused by an unknown pathogen/toxin which resulted in me losing the power of speech, having visual disturbances and acute confusion. Actually, considering at first the medics thought I'd had a brain haemorrhage/stroke, this was the lesser of 3 evils! Two weeks in hospital, IV antibiotics and more MRIs and CTscans than I care to remember...(well actually than I CAN remember as memory, or rather its loss, is the one of the two lasting deficiencies I've been left with) I was discharged with speech, vision and mental state back to normal...well as normal as it ever was....I hear you Julie! ;-)
Apart from a small impairment in my memory and the inability to concentrate on anything for too long, I've made a full recovery and, when I think what could've been, I'm obviously very grateful :-)

So tomorrow I will have my birthday...and enjoy it...and not moan about my age and wish I was younger or that my presents/celebrations were bigger, better, whatever....I will be glad of the people who will be around tomorrow and think fondly of those who are not and wish all my FB/Blogger friends a happy, sunny, peaceful Wednesday :-)

Just a little follow on to 'We are all in this together'

Read this on a Facebook friend's page just now and I felt it was worth sharing.....The Tories...the Party that puts the 'n' in cuts.......

'We are all in this together'

I intended not to blog again until next week but if I hear the phrase 'we are all in this together' from one more Tory twat or LibDem apologist I think I will lob the TV through the window! I hate this pseudo inclusive 'a debt shared is a debt halved' pish that has been the mantra of the ConDems since May. The truth is that some of us are going to be far more in it than others...the predicted cuts in public spending are not going to impact on Mr Cameron and his ilk in the way they are going to impact on someone like myself whose income consists of Income Support & Carers allowance or someone in employment on a moderate income.So let's cut the crap and say it like it is...the poorer and most vulnerable should prepare to be shafted...aint it always the way...and the Eton Trifles and their cohorts should prepare for... their next skiing trip!

The Beginning...A Very Good Place to Start!

Well, I really don't know what has taken me so long to enter the world of blogging. Blogging certainly ticks a lot of my 'like' boxes...the excuse to spend unreasonable amounts of time at the PC, a forum to vent my spleen and give forth  my opinion on everything from the mundane to the controversial, the fact that I love language and  have always enjoyed putting pen to paper/fingers to keyboard and last but not least...I find that writing down what I'm thinking/feeling helpful not only in a reflective/ therapeutic way but also in organising and planning on what course of action, if any, I'm going to take.


Whether anyone will want to read my ramblings remains to be seen..but... certain friends who have 'encouraged' nay.. cajoled me into doing this had better at least be seen as followers...if only to check I've written nothing libellous about them in my weekly outpourings! ;-)


So there you have it....I've begun...and to quote my favourite neanderthal..I'll be back.....