Remember when cereal bran was only used for animal fodder, basically a by-product when producing foodstuffs for us delicate humans? Ever since the eat-more-fibre-and-be healthier movement it has got really expensive. Any cereal with bran in is twice as expensive as the sugary, chocolatey muck, and a bag of oat bran costs me £1.20 when the porridge I put it in is only 53p!

And another moan: selfish parking! Why don't people park considerately? There is space for 3 cars outside my house, but one family usually parks their two cars across all three spaces.

O.K. Rant over.

Too ambitious!

Well, I sort of finished it. I gave up on the guitar, (it is only meant to be a "side on " slice). I realise that in the pic there appears to be no definition between body and sleeve, which just makes him look pregnant. Still not happy with the face, although I liked the texture I got for his hair by mixing wholemeal flour (plain was too smooth!) with the paint and I ended up threading a scarf through the actual canvas for a belt. The canvas curled up at the edges and none of the text I put on shows up in the photos. (Song lyrics). I guess that the fact that no-one commented on any of it on here means they haven't anything complimentary to say! (Constructive criticism gladly received, sniggering not!) Apparently it's good enough to get a certificate equivalent to a low G.C.S.E., which is a bit humiliating when I already have A level Art!

Oh well.

P.S. Why doesn't my post ever look the same as it does in the preview?!

Orb

Grown ups.

Cheating packaging

Wordy-wise

I have just spent 5 timewasting minutes refreshing a page so I could snigger at some of the verification words and imagine what they might mean... e.g. "humena" (female human?) , "cluchcer" (hold a mongrel very tightly?), "menesses" (transvestites?), "beapsi" (adjective describing small noisy car?) ... and my favourite "behli" - it's got to be an upset stomach caused by Indian food!

Hendrix

Progress (or not) on the painting... Any comments? (Yeah I know the face is still wrong and I haven't even started on the guitar yet!)

Can't wait for the new Hendrix album to come out in March! Apparently containing some never-heard-before tracks. Well, I might wait a little while as it's my birthday at the beginning of April...

My lovely son got me a great Hendrix double CD for Christmas, I was really chuffed.

P.S.I wish someone could show me how to move stuff around on here so it ends up where I actually want it!

Reference to earlier post (um, Dec 18th last year!) - can anyone yet enlighten me on the Jeffries Farm Unbeatable Car ad jingle?

Does anyone else out there (well, reading my blog anyway) have teenage boys?

Mine's lovely but is living in a world of his own as far as sending birthday/Christmas cards, thank you letters etc. He's nearly 18, I shouldn't have to be nagging him now, surely. Oh, hang on a minute, didn't I have to do the same for every partner I've ever had?!

"One tip of a flat belly"

Is anyone else as pissed off as I am at this ad (or "one tip of a tiny belly") appearing EVERYWHERE?! I want to scream every time I see it!

Snowmen ... and animals

I saw these snowmen while walking from Ore to St.Leonards on Saturday afternoon.

This chap was outside Azur and the animals in St.Leonards Gardens ("the Blind Park")

I just wish I knew how to put photos where I want them or move them around. They always seem to end up in the wrong place and then I accidentally delete them trying to close the gaps!

... "snow ...again..."

This is annoying; I wanted the second pic first ("yesterday and today") but I can't be bothered to redo it. My son did two paper rounds in half the time it usually takes to do one today - only the Sun and the Times were in. My guess is that a lot of people will switch to reading papers on line during this weather and never return to hard copy.

It must be love!

My teenage son insisted on visiting his girlfriend in Camber come what may yesterday. When he thought there were no buses from Rye to Camber instead of coming home he insisted on walking there in the snow. I was relieved to get a call saying he had arrived safely but then was panicking at the thought of him doing the same thing in the dark coming home - and, typical teenager, (i.e. think they're invincible) he was wearing trainers and no coat, just two t-shirts and a hoodie. Even more relieved to get a text saying he was on the bus coming home!

The summer before last he insisted on walking from Hastings to Rye on the hottest day of the year.

I suppose I would rather he did these sort of things to prove his manhood, so to speak, than get into fights, mug old ladies, burgle houses, smoke or drink himself silly. When I look at the problems some families are encountering I know how lucky I am. But I'm a mum ... and worrying comes with the territory!

I am envious of his ability to ignore the cold. I am wearing three pairs of socks and my feet are still cold. I haven't been able to get over to Bexhill to finish the job I started on Tuesday so am stuck at home burning gas. I have just stuck bubblewrap on one window to try and keep the heat in. I don't care how silly it looks!

Happy New Year

What a great start to the new year: apart from the glorious sunshine and blue sky that makes you feel that it's good to be alive, I've got work lined up for the next couple of weeks - I actually got a phone call on New Years day asking for an estimate!

Now I just need the weather to stay like this so I can actually get to the sites and have some light to work in ... and it would be handy if I could get a parking space near the house for when I load up my ladders and equipment, but maybe I just have to do the double yellow lines, like all the people who use the cash machine. The difference is, I am bound to get a parking ticket and they never do - even when they park on the bus stop!

O.k. rant over...

God, my feet are cold! I have two pairs of thermal socks on under my slippers but the draught through this double glazed (ha ha) window is still making them (and my hands) cold. The frames are the wrong shape for that temporary secondary glazing you can get:-( so I guess I'll just have to buy bigger slippers and more socks!

I originally put this blog up to moan on, but doing so has actually made me realise life is O.K.! I am not feeling that grumpy right now ... of course could be something to do with the wonderful man in my life returning to this country at last... and generally counting my blessings when I see so much unhappiness and injustice around me.

I would like to have warm feet though...