May Happiness

Five things which have made me smile this month...


1. Successfully completing Rosalilium's 'blog every day in May challenge".
A full list of all the challenge blog posts can be found here if you fancy a read.




2. Booking tickets to see the awesome Russell Kane on his new tour for January next year.
Amazingly he's playing a small theatre in the next town and we've got 5 (very brave) seats in Row C!

Image courtesy of RussellKane.co.uk



3. A lovely night out with friends for a meal and a book launch - blogged about for Day 14 of the challenge.




4. Several pieces of vintage-looking china picked up at a car boot sale for 20p each.




5. Wading through the long list of shows I'd like to see at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
So far my list contains 49 ideas - we're only there for 5 days!

What little things have made you happy this month?

 

Day 31 - One Whole Month

Day 31 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

One Whole Month

(Hoorah! Well done, you have made it through the month. How was it for you? Did you learn anything? What did you enjoy? What did you dislike? Sum it all up!)



Woohoo! We made it! One whole month of blog posts!

Random picture of celebratory fireworks...


After a bit of a dodgy start (I wasn't exactly expecting my father to have a stroke after Day 1), here we are, Day 31 of rosalilium's 'blog every day in May' challenge.

I've really enjoyed the month, it's certainly been a challenge taking the time to put together each blog post and thinking about which angle to take for each day's topic. I've discovered some great new blogs to follow and have been really inspired by the variety of different ways everyone has interpreted each day.

I've learnt a lot about planning and scheduling my posts; managed to tweak bits of my blog; add some social icons and have been thinking a lot more thoroughly about how, when and where to take photographs.


Some of my favourite posts to research and write were these...

Day 14 - Food Glorious Food - This post coincided brilliantly with a visit to ASK Italian and a book launch event for the Clandestine Cake Club.

Day 15 - Life's A Lesson - I'd forgotten how good Baz Luhrman's Sunscreen song was; strange listening to it 15 years on and realising that it's all true...

Day 21 - Dream Job - After tweeting about my dream job, Professor Vanessa Toulmin retweeted me and invited me to her archive!

 Day 28 - Bad Advice - A very personal blog post with some good advice for others!



I hope some of what I've written over the past month has been interesting, amusing or even just okay, and no-one has been too bored.

Just have to figure out what on earth we're all going to write about now!

Day 30 - Who Inspires You?

Day 30 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Who Inspires You?

(Who inspires you? Are they close to you? Somebody famous? Or even somebody infamous?)


I found this particular topic really difficult - there's lots of people I admire but is that the same as inspiring?

Two teachers (Mr McMahon, English and Ms Lewis, drama) and the school librarian at secondary school certainly helped develop me into the person I am today.

I really admire Rowena Cade, the woman who almost single-handedly built Cornwall's Minack Theatre and created such a magical atmosphere in a spectacular place.

And as soft as it sounds, Andrew helps encourage me to try new things, take on new challenges and gives me strength and confidence when it's needed.

 

Day 29 - Morning Ritual

Day 29 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Morning Ritual

(Tell us about what you do every morning to help you get ready for the day ahead.)


My morning ritual starts about 7.15am when I reach a sleepy hand out of bed to hit the snooze button on my clock radio.

Then after 10 minutes or so of snoozing, at 7.25am it's time to actually get out of bed and start getting ready for the day ahead.

Between 7.30am and 7.45am it's time to freshen up, shower, clean and do all the usual bathroom-related ablutions. Don't look too closely at the clock - on this day I was running a bit late!

At 7.50am I head over to my wardrobe to pull out whichever outfit I've decided on for that day.

Then it's back to my dressing table to pack up my handbag and slap on a small amount of warpaint. By the way I don't have an unhealthy obsession with Avon products, it's just that I am also a (ding dong) Avon lady so have a lot of spare products to use!

 

 

By 8.05am I'm heading downstairs where hopefully, Andrew has ready a piece of toast, some cereal or taken out my pre-prepared fruit smoothie from the fridge.

Picking up our travel cups of tea and coffee, at 8.10am we're heading out the door and onto our journey to work!
(blogged about on Day 17)

 

 

Day 28 - Bad Advice

Day 28 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Bad Advice

(What is the worst advice you have ever received?)


Unfortunately me and Andrew have been receiving bad advice quite regularly over the last 18 months.

After being married for 5 years and settled with a house and mortgage, back in December 2011 we decided to try and make a duckling baby.  A year and a half on we now know there's several medical reasons why we still haven't managed to start our family yet but thankfully we're under the care of our local fertility clinic and on a journey that will most likely end in IVF.

 Source: 'Making Babies on the NHS'

 

But when you're having "problems" as other people so delighfully refer to it, there's plenty of assvice (as infertiles like to call it) that society is happy to dish out.


So here you go... 10 things never to say to a couple having trouble conceiving!

1. I understand exactly how you feel! It took us a whole 3 months to get pregnant!
(yes, of course, you understand EXACTLY)

2. You're soooo lucky not to have kids.
(really? shall we swap your life for mine?)

3. Trying to get pregnant is the fun part!
(obviously you've never tried to get pregnant)

4. Well, my sister/aunt/neighbour never had children and she had a wonderful life.
(well, good for her)

5. Just have lots of sex!
(of course! why didn't I think of that?)

6. Well you can always adopt.
(yes, that's true...but it's not exactly the same)

7. You must have such a fab life - being able to go out all the time!
(see answer to number 2)

8. Just stop trying and it'll happen.
(clearly you have no idea about science or medicine)

9. You'll be a great mum/parent!
(you think we don't know that? thanks for rubbing it in)

10. (and the worst of all)  You just need to relax!
(words fail me...)



Just to make it clear for everyone (so I don't sound all bitter and twisted!), I am fine about it - our situation has been going on for so long and with so many problems, we can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all!

Image via Pinterest
If you know the original owner, please let me know and I'll credit it properly.

Day 27 - Secret Talent

Day 27 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Secret Talent

(What are you good at that nobody knows about? Tell us all about it.)


This isn't so much "something I'm good at nobody knows about" more something I've been told I have a talent for and would (sort of) like to develop.

On Day 1 of the' blog every day in May' challenge, one of my five lines was that I have driven lorries, old and new.

The 'new' was a Ladies Driving Challenge event I took part in a couple of years ago, raising money for a great cause - Marie Curie Cancer Care. The challenge was that females were let loose on an old Second World War airfield and tasked with driving 'typically-male' vehicles such as fire engines (yes, we did get to drive with real firefighters!), artic lorries, coaches, doing a fast Police car chase and reversing an artic lorry into a parking space.

I was told that I had a talent for driving the artic lorry and should even think about taking my HGV test!


The 'old' is the talent I'd like to develop and it'll be going on my own '32 before 32' list (more info to follow shortly...) - that is, to practice driving Andrew's 1952 lorry.

I started this weekend at Selwood Steam Rally, driving it in and out of the show arena.

I'm not sure I'll ever have the confidence to drive it along a main road, but if I can help a bit at each steam rally, then that's something.

Day 26 - Fantasy Dinner Party

Day 26 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Fantasy Dinner Party

(Dinner Party Time - Who would you invite? What music is playing? What are you eating? Is there entertainment? Let your imagination go wild!)


Wow - let your imagination go wild - that's a very big topic, there's a lot of choice!

I'm going to assume the dinner party has 8 guests and hopefully I'm allowed to bring back a few people from the dead...

Me and Andrew also had a heated argument discussion about who to invite so we've decided to both have our own dinner parties.


First up...my dinner party!
(and I apologise, it is a very random selection)

Tim Minchin - Deborah Devonshire - Rowena Cade
Mike Shepherd - My friend M
Lorraine Pascale - Roger Deakin - Ed Byrne
(links to original sources above)

So I have Tim Minchin for his views, his music and just himself; Deborah Devonshire (the last Mitford sister) as I bet she could tell some tales about debutantes and her sisters; Rowena Cade (reincarnated), the amazing woman who built Cornwall's Minack Theatre in the 1920's; Mike Shepherd, founder of Cornwall's Kneehigh Theatre Company for his theatrical stories from the last 30+ years; My lovely friend M, for fabulous company; Lorraine Pascale for the catering; Roger Deakin (reincarnated) for his stories of living in the countryside and swimming Britain's rivers; and Ed Byrne for comedy and laughs.

Hopefully Tim would provide some music, Ed would make some jokes and Lorraine would bring her Glam Mac and Cheese.

Not sure how everyone would get on, but hey ho, it's my party!



And here is Andrew's - looks a bit different to mine!

Leonard Cheshire - Victoria Coren - Henry Royce
Ian Hislop - Agatha Christie
Tony Benn - Robert Stepenson - Nigella Lawson
(links to original sources above)


Methinks Andrew's dinner party is a tad more intellectual than mine!


Who would you choose for a fantasy dinner party?

Day 25 - Music Love

Day 25 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Music Love

(What are your top 5 favourite albums and why?)


I have way too many albums I love to choose just 5 - some of my favourite CD's are soundtracks and I love singing along to them on my own.

I'd never dream of singing out loud in public however, I'd be worried my voice would crack windows!

Andrew on the other hand, comes from a musical family and can sing, properly sing and makes the time fly by on long car journeys by singing along to 1950's pop classics.

His musical family includes...
His sister who plays the violin, saxophone and piano.
His paternal grandmother and grandfather who both played the piano.
His maternal grandfather who played the piano, xylophone, piano accordian and church organ.
And his auntie who played the piano and piano accordian.

His maternal grandfather was the founder and bandmaster of a local accordian band, started in 1937 and still in existence today.

Source: MSN Accordian Band

Andrew's grandfather is the conductor on the right hand side!

 

His grandfather modestly decided to decorate his initials on the front of each music stand!

Just in case anyone in our town forgot who he was...

 

 

Source: MSN Accordian Band

Grandfather is in the middle of the front row, slouching...

 

All the songs for the band were arranged by Andrew's grandfather - it has been claimed that he was capable of hearing a song on the wireless and then capturing all the different sections of music needed for all the players.

 

 

 

I'm pretty certain this is where Andrew gets his musical vocal talent from!

 

 

Day 24 - What's In Your Fridge?

Day 24 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

What's In Your Fridge?

(Describe and/or photograph what is in your fridge right now. Be honest!)


Our fridge is looking a bit sparse at the moment as we're going away to Selwood Steam Rally for the bank holiday weekend.

But this is what it contains...

 

Top shelf

Half a tray of eggs (I've made 3 cakes in the last week!) and a random leek

 

Middle shelf

On the left, 6 jars - sweet pickle, mayonnaise, onion chutney and hidden behind the front row, raspberry jam, beetroot and cranberry sauce (leftover from last Christmas); on the right, a jar of homemade mincemeat (again from last Christmas) and half an onion inside a Lakeland Onion Pod

 

Bottom shelf

 The last bit of the chocolate cake I baked for Andrew's birthday on Sunday, some Stork margerine and a selection of half-opened butter and unsalted butter

Left hand drawer
Empty except for one garlic bulb, some garlic cloves and a sweet potato

Right hand drawer
Several onions, a couple of red onions, some shallots, a green pepper, a tomato and some spring onions

 

 Top shelf

Tomato puree, garlic puree and a few eggs

 

Middle shelf

Cheese! Lots of it! Extra Mature Cheddar, Grana Padano parmesan, some cheese slice, Laughing Cow Cheese Triangles, a bag of mozzarella, and some Cornish mustard, Colman's mustard and hot horseradish

 

Bottom shelf

Fairly self explanatory - some orange juice and some semi-skimmed milk!

 

 

So there you have it, the contents of our not-particularly-inspiring fridge!

 

 

Day 23 - Compliments

Day 23 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Compliments

(Tell us about the best compliment you have ever received.)



Is it just me or are these topics getting increasingly harder as we head towards the end of the month?


This is going to be really soppy now but probably the best compliment I've ever received was...

Will you marry me?

The fact that someone liked me enough to want to spend the rest of their life with me is a pretty huge compliment!

And I think, over the next however many years, that'll take some beating...

 

Day 22 - 13 Year Old You

Day 22 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

13 Year Old You

(If you could talk to your 13 year old self, what would you say?)


Short and sweet...

 

Day 21 - Dream Job

Day 21 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Dream Job

(If you could do anything in the world to make a living what would it be?)


My dream career of choice unfortunately isn't very exciting and is something I'm already working towards (with my degree) and I've also blogged about here on Day 8 - that is, some form of librarian.

If I had to narrow it down even further though, then I think it would be working for Professor Vanessa Toulmin on her archive at the University of Sheffield.

Screenshot from The National Fairground Archive


Research, collections, history, archiving, nostalgia, fairground, carnivals, circus and members of the public who are actually interested in the same things as me!

What more could a (probably strange) girl ask for?

I know I haven't finished my degree yet and I'm a galaxy away from being an actual chartered librarian, but hey, Professor Toulmin, if you're reading this and fancy offering me a job in a few years time - I'm open to offers! :-)

Day 20 - Newsflash

Day 20 of rosalilium’s 'blog every day in May' challenge

Newsflash

(Talk about something that is in the news today.)


I'm not sure this really counts as news but The Metro newspaper this evening published this article about the growing trend in 'staycations' and I'd just like to put my hand up in full support!

Me and Andrew haven't owned Passports for the last four years so we've staycated (is that a word?) quite a lot around the UK.

We've visited destinations old and new, taken each other back to childhood haunts and completed major road trips with only each other for company.

Our list from the last few years includes...
Saundersfoot and Tenby, Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Anglesey, most of the North Wales coastline, Chester, the Wirral, Manchester, Southport, Manchester, Preston, Blackpool, the Peak District, a fortnights road trip around Scotland (up the west coast, across to Skye, Harris and Lewis, over the top and down the east coast), Edinburgh, Whitby, Scarborough and the Yorkshire coastline, York, Coventry, Ironbridge, Great Yarmouth, London, Brighton, Portsmouth, the New Forest, Bournemouth and Poole, Weymouth and the Jurassic coast, Plymouth, Dartmoor, Paignton, Brixham and Torquay, most of Cornwall (both inland and coastal), Bude, the North Devon coastline, Minehead, Lynton and Lynmouth, the Cotswolds, and most of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire!

I think it's often amazing what you can find right on your doorstep - far too many people jet away to distant climes without ever really exploring this lush and green land we actually live in.


Here's a small picture quiz for you - guess where!
(and obviously they were all taken in good ol' blighty...)