Embarrassing things I have done Part 1

Before I begin my story let me remind you of that famous phrase "when in Rome (do as the Roman's do)"  made famous by the film of the same name, but originally inspired by St. Ambrose who said it (or something like it) after a trip to Rome in 387 A.D.  It means that when you are in a place you should try to do as they do so as not to stick out like a tourist.  Remember this phrase as it is intrinsic to the calamity the concludes my first embarrassing story.


I have just watched the lovely film Letters To Juliet, which if filmed in the beautiful country of Italy, it brought back happy memories from my honeymoon back in July 2009, the best and happiest holiday of my life where my new husband and I travelled round Italy from Venice, through Florence and the surrounding cities through to Rome.  On arrival in Rome we travelled to our self catering apartment and were let in by the owner, after handing over our money my husband shook hands with the man, and I, for some peculiar reason which I can only attribute to being overcome by the heat and wanting to feel a bit European, went in for a kiss, and said proudly "When in Spain!".


What a tool!  It wasn't till after he had left that I turned to my new husband and said to him "did I say When in Spain? I meant to say When in Rome!"

Woodland walk

Hubby and I are members of the Wildlife Trust, and as such we receive information about nature reserves in our area.  We hadn't been to any yet so decided to give one a go.  We went for Moor Copse towards Pangbourne. We did a lovely mile and a half walk through fields, woodland and along part of the river Pang which is apparently where the author of Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame got his ideas.  At this time of year Moor Copse is famed for it's Catkins, so we enjoyed looking at them, amongst other things:

We will hopefully visit some more of the Wildlife Trust's nature reserves because, apart from the motorway noise, this one was lovely.  There was a quote from Wind in the Willows on one of the information boards, it is so poetic, it read:

"Never in his life had he seen a river before - this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again.  All was a-shake and a-shiver - glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble."

ABC's of meeeee!

Hi everyone, hope you have had good weekend.

I got this from twisted tree, I thought it looked like fun!!
Here are the ABC's of ME!

A-Age: 26,

B-Bed Size: Double, (we only have a small house!)

C-Chore you hate: Filling the car with petrol,

D-Dog's Name: Poppy,

E-Essential start to your day: I have to have cereal, at the moment its oats and rasins with rice milk,

F-Favorite colors: bright blue, pink, light green, any spring colours really, (favorite colours change regularly,

G-Gold, Silver or Platinum: Platinum (but only if ethically sourced)

H-Height: 5'8

I-Instruments you play: Clarinet, piano and drums,

J-Jewelry you wear everyday: Wedding ring and engagement ring,

K-Kids: none yet!

L-Living arrangements: I live with my husband in a 1980's two bed semi,

M-Mom's name: Sheila

N-Nicknames: Hels,

O-Overnight Hospital Stay, other than birth: no, never been in hospital (thankyou God)

P-Pet Peeves: Rudeness, loud chewing!

Q-Quote:"How high does the sycamor grow, if you cut it down, you'll never know" (Pocahontas)

R-Right or Left Handed: Right

S-Siblings: Two younger sisters and a brother,

T-Time you wake up: 6.20 on weekdays, as late as possible on weekends!

U-Underwear: comfey!

V-Vegetable you dislike: Brussel Sprouts

W-Ways you run late: waking up late, choosing clothes, bad organisation generally,

X-X-Rays: Chest, teeth,

Y-Yummy food you make: fairy cakes,

Z-Zoo Favorite: monkeys.

Today's writers workshop

Today's writers workshop over at Mama's losin it is:

Why didn’t they ask you? Write a list of 5 or 10 sentences that begin with the words ‘No one ever asked me’; then, write about one of them in detail, or use them all in a poem, or use several in a personal description of yourself.



No one ever asked me if I wanted to be an artist,
No one ever asked me if I wanted to be a Christian,
No one ever asked me if I wanted to be white,
No one ever asked me if I wanted to be British,
No one ever asked me if I wanted two sisters and a brother,
No one ever asked me if I wanted to be half Welsh,
No one ever asked me if I wanted to be a writer,
No one ever asked me if I wanted to go to school,
No one ever asked me if I wanted to care about the environment,
No one ever asked me if I wanted to grow veg.

No one ever asked me if I wanted to go to school,

I was taken there at the tendee age of four and left alone
without my mother with a strange woman that I didn't know. 
I couldn't find my name above a peg for my bag,
I cried and wanted to go home.

No one ever asked me if I wanted to go to school,

One day the fire bell went,
We all had to line up on the playground,
I was afraid, I didn't know it wasn't a real fire,
I cried and wanted to go home.

No one ever asked me if I wanted to go to school,

I forgot my tuck for break time,
I didn't have anything to eat and it made me sad,
A boy gave me half his mint yoyo,
But I still cried and wanted to go home.

No one ever asked me if I wanted to go to school,

My mum put my lunch in an empty ice cream box,
One day I picked up the wrong box,
I had brought the leftovers of my birthday cake to school,
I cried and wanted to go home,

No one ever asked me if I wanted to go to school,

Now I am a teacher,
But I don't have a choice about going to school,
I still don't like very much,
and I cry and want to go home.

Is there anything is your life where you think why didn't they ever ask you?

I welcome comments and followers

Hello you!!


You look so fab today. Really.

I just wanted to tell you all that it is now super easy to follow my blog, simply click on Google follow button, and can I just tell you how happy it would make me if you did decide to follow my blog....It would make me very happy indeed!
I also want to tell you lovely lovely people that I really do welcome comments and I love to hear from you. It makes me smile to see a beautiful number next to that little comments button (a number other than 0 obviously.)
So to get the ball rolling...I teach a class called XC (stands for Cross Curricular, I will let you decide what that means) I did a task on identity a couple of weeks ago where I got my pupils to write one word to describe themselves for each letter of the alphabet. I did one for myself too, I won't give you the whole list but my favourite was E, for *enigmatic*.
What one word would you use to describe yourself?

feeling bad

Well I am feeling pretty fed up right now, I am lying in bed feeling rather hot and puffy and stuffy and tired. I have got big swollen glands in my neck and I don't know why. It's not a happy day. I have been wanting to blog for ages but feeling like I shouldn't blog unless I have a photo to put up. Well hey ho, no photo and I am still blogging, because I needed to so sorry about that.
I have spending a little bit of time looking at other people’s blogs and came across this one: http://www.mamakatslosinit.com/. I like the people out there who are not afraid to admit they are losing the plot. In fact I have to say, I think it's the folks who think that they are normal who have something to worry about. Any hoo, she set a challenge in her blog to write about something and gave a series of prompts to choose from. My choice is to write about someone who is an underdog (she says this could be you). Well being from the UK "underdog" is not a word I use very often so I looked it up for a definition. The result was than an underdog is someone in a competition who is expected to lose. This got me thinking about the competition of life; who wins and who loses...



I know a family that had two sons; they were both brought up in exactly the same way in a loving home. As they grew up they both developed in different ways. The older of the two was creative and whimsical, he did what felt right and what felt good, he lived in a shack in a forest and dreamed of building a house there. He had many wives and children and spent his life trying to find out what it all means. He did not have a lot of money but spent his time helping others.

The other of the sons was logical and hardworking; he got a good job, progressed through the ranks and ended up in a very high position with a good pension. He was well respected and a considered successful. He had a wife and two sons of his own and they all lived in a large house in the country. His parents were very pleased with him and his choices.

The successful son looked at his brother and felt sorry for him, he thought that he must be unhappy and feel like he was a failure. The parents felt they have failed their older son and wondered what had gone wrong in the way they brought them both up.

But in truth both the sons were successful in different ways. Both had lived their lives the way they wanted to, both had made the right choices for them. The older son did not fit in to society's view of "success" but he was just as happy and kind and caring as his brother. Why then feel sorry for him? Just because someone is doing things differently, does not mean they are doing things wrong.