November Happiness

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

 

 

1. Spotting these little birdies in Homebase the other day. They were just begging chirping to be taken home but Andrew put his foot down and said no more birds and ducks in the house. I think I'm going to wait til Janurary though and see if they're reduced in the sale!

 

 

 

 

 

2. A fabulous first night performance of Bristol Old Vic's 2013 Christmas show, The Little Mermaid.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Taking Omnibear to see the Carnival floats and the fireworks. I think he had a good time!

 

 

 

 

4. Completing Rosalilium's 'blog every day in November' challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Sharing my lunch break at work one day with this little fellow!

 

 

 

 

 

What little things have made you happy this month?

Day 30 - The End

Day 30 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

The End

(Blog Every Day in November is over! *sad face* How was it for you? Best bits? Any final words? Anything you've been dying to write about but didn't fit it in? Today is a free for all to go out with a bang!)

 This is called going out with a bang...


So yay...blog every day in November is over (I mean yay that we've all completed it, not of course, yay that it's all finished)

This is going to sound a bit like the last post of 'blog every day in May' but once again, I've discovered some lovely new blogs to follow, enjoyed reading some of my old favourites every day and also quite liked the challenge of thinking up something different (and hopefully interesting) for each prompt.

I was planning to go back to blogging three or four times a week but looking at my calendar for December it seems that I might just be posting something every day in December as well!

I'm planning to take part on Instagram with Share Advent (more to come on that tomorrow) and then I'll do a round up post every few days plus Bonjour Blogger have another (Christmassy) Comments Challenge which I'm going to try and do but I'm not sure I'll have time to post a round up each day.

The main reason being, although I love doing blogging challenges, the one thing that gets a bit neglected is the coursework for my degree - and I need to have written a review and an essay by mid January.
Anyone fancy researching folksonomies and user-based tagging for me?

Day 29 - All I Want For Christmas

Day 29 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

All I Want For Christmas

(What do you want for Christmas this year? Go on, get us in the mood!)


Am I able to ask for more hours in the day?
No?

Well then, I'll just have to settle on exciting things like a cheese grater, a magazine subscription and a camera bag. Yes, I don't know about anyone else but I've found that the older you get, the more boring your Christmas list becomes. You end up 'saving' things you want so that you don't have to spend the money and you can ask someone else to buy them for you for Christmas.

I toyed with the idea of writing about a fantasy Christmas wishlist but the truth is that even if I had lots and lots of money, the sort of things I want aren't tremendously expensive.

Tickets for a swim at the Clifton Lido in Bristol - I love the architecture and history of the place, plus it's an outdoor swimming pool!

Some kind of digital camcorder - I bought my first camcorder when I was 16 (it took me 2 and half years of saving my pennies) but it's quite old now and I haven't used it for several years, so a digital camcorder would be lovely.

Tickets for Matilda the Musical in London - I saw the show last year for my 30th birthday; it's an absolutely amazing show and I would dearly love to see it again.



What would you like for Christmas?

Day 28 - The Great Outdoors

Day 28 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

The Great Outdoors

(Get outside and share it with us!)


So another belated #BEDN post, this time because yesterday morning I was struck down with the dreaded lurgy - full of stinking cold and a throbbing headache. It probably sounds sad but I hate taking days off work; yesterday though Andrew put his foot down and said I was in no fit state to go in and left me at home! Probably for the best though as I took some Neurofen and went back to bed waking up at lunchtime feeling not 100% but certainly much better than earlier that morning.

So as it happens, I didn't 'get outside and share it' as the prompt says (and I'm guessing a few pictures of a duvet, tablets and a hot water bottle won't really cut it...) but I do have a couple of pretty photos, a few links to posts I've written about the outdoors and a book recommendation if that'd do?

 Bristol Harbourside at night

 Clifton Gorge, Bristol


There's a few posts I've written about our travels around the great outdoors...

Day 22 - Leaving on a Jet Plane (our two week camping roadtrip round Scotland)
Autumnal Pleasure at Sydney Gardens (beautiful autumn colours in Bath)
How Does Your Garden Grow (garden flowers)
Beside the Seaside, Beside the Sea... (a trip to Weymouth Beach)
A Paddle in the Sea at West Bay (a trip to West Bay, Dorset)
A Picnic at Ebbor Gorge Viewpoint (our favourite local place for a picnic)
The Camel Trail - Padstow to Wadebridge (a walk along Cornwall's Camel Trail)
Across the Cliffs in Cornwall - Wheal Coates Mine to Chapel Porth (a walk along the cliffs)
Steaming Along the Two Tunnels Project (a new cyclepath in Bath)



And a fab book to read?



I've had Daniel Start's Wild Swimming book for several years now and back in the summer he published a new book - 'Wild Guide' - as the tagline says, all about hidden places and great adventures in South West England. It's really well organised and arranged split into the four counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset with sections featuring top tips for things like secret coves, night walks and wild camping.

We went to a talk back in July by the author at Toppings Bookshop in Bath and it was fab to hear that quite a few places we knew about are included in the book - we felt very smug!

 

So that's my recommended book - great for finding wild and secret places in South West England's great outdoors.

 

 

Is there anywhere else in the UK you'd recommend for getting out into the 'great outdoors'?

 

The Midweek Hop - Yes! (Day 27 - Yes Moments)

Day 27 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

Yes Moments

(Yes moments are those tiny moments when life has complete clarity, meaning or certainty. Yes moments can be life-changing or life-affirming. Yes moments are about celebrating the little daily victories. Yes moments are about recognising just how far you've come. Tell us what Yes moments mean to you.)

The other half's guest post - three music videos on a theme...

(inspired by Desmond Carrington's 'The Music Goes Round')

 

 

 'Wurlitzer 1500' 1952 Jukebox

 

 

This weeks theme is...Yes!

Inspired by today's #BEDN prompt all about Yes moments.



1. Yeh Yeh by Georgie Fame


Try saying Yeh to something today and who knows where it may take you! 
'Yeh Yeh' entered the chart on 17th December 1964 reaching Number 1.


2. Yes Tonight Josephine by Johnnie Ray


Napoleon might have said No, but Johnnie Ray had no hesitation in saying yes...
'Yes Tonight Josephine' entered the chart on 10th May 1957 reaching Number 1.


3. Yep by Duane Eddy and the Rebels

Just say Yep to the guitar man...

'Yep' entered the chart on 24th July 1959 reaching Number 17.

 

 

 

Happy listening!
 

Day 26 - Home Sweet Home

Day 26 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

Home Sweet Home

(Share a tour of your home? Or maybe you have some decorating and DIY plans? What is your favourite room? How do you make a home feel homey?)


We're almost at the end of redecorating one of the bedrooms in our house at the moment. The majority of the messy work has been done - demolishing, rebuilding, sanding, plastering, wallpapering and fitting skirting boards and coving. We're just left now with painting the walls, finding some carpet, cleaning the room and then furnishing and putting it back together.

We've gone for a blue, green and cream theme and the plan is that one day (maybe) it might just become a nursery so we're going to store some books and children's toys in there on bookshelves and chests.

We had hoped to get the room completely finished by the time today's #BEDN's Home Sweet Home prompt rolled around and then I could have done a really good post about the refurb from start to finish. Instead you're going to get a half a story and then I'll do a proper room tour when it's all looking lovely.
(I *might* even venture into a bit of vlogging...).

Apologies for the terrible light in the pics though - the wallpaper looks yellow in places and it really isn't!

The old boiler cupboard being demolished, replastered and then wallpapered nicely.

New boiler cupboard!

First bit of wallpaper going up...

 

Underneath the birdie wallpaper we've written our names and dates on the wall for future generations to ponder over :-)

The textured wallpaper we've chosen for the rest of the room - we've nicknamed it the Rapunzel Room!

 

The chinmey breast before and after - from dull purple to colorful feathered friends!

Day 25 - Til Xmas

Day 25 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

Til Xmas

(Only 1 month until Christmas. Favourite Christmas traditions? Or favourite Christmas presents? Favourite Christmas songs? The best bit of Christmas is? What are you planning this year?)



I mentioned in my post on Day 14 all about where I work that we're kind of a bit obsessed with Christmas in our office. Well, I say "we", but really my friend M is a complete Christmas-a-holic, my boss acts like Scrooge to wind her up (but secretly loves it all) and everyone else enjoys playing along with all the festivites.

In my role as Official Office Cake Baker, it also seems to encompass arranging the Official Office Christmas Fun and Games.

 

 

So we have (drum roll please)...


Secret Santa
My friend M has organised the Secret Santa with Santa arriving early on the 9th December to empty his sack. It always ends up not being much of a secret though - as fast as the names are being picked out of the hat, me and M have a spreadsheet set up to deduce who everyone has by the big day.
We're not doing too well this year though, there's 13 participants and we've only worked out 5!


The Grand Office Christmas Quiz
After the Secret Santa we all decided we'd have an office quiz so I've donned the role of quizmaster and put together a general knowledge quiz with 100 questions. It's going to be a team effort and I've made sure there's at least one question for everyone's specialist subject (including obscure things such as 'the cities of Eastern European countries'). There'll be a big prize for the winning team, a wooden spoon prize for the losing team and a booby prize for the team with the silliest answer.


Charity Christmas Jumper Day
This year we're taking part in Save the Children's Charity Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 13th December (also my birthday!). It's the last day of teaching for our students so everyone will be in a merry mood; we're all going to wear silly Christmas outfits and try and flog some festive cakes to the kiddiwinks before they all go home.


Festive Pass The Parcel
My friend M's idea; we have one week where the students have left but we're still at work so we're going to fill one morning with Pass the Parcel. There'll be 37 layers to unwrap (all with sweets) - 12 jokes, 12 fun facts, 12 forfeits and 1 final big prize. All the layers and notes will be Christmas themed (and not, as one lecturer asked us - "will that be naughty pass the parcel?")


Christmas Coin Hunt
Again, my friend M's idea; I'm going to hide all sorts of chocolate goodies around the office one evening, then email everyone and the next morning, watch the riot erupt!
We had an Easter Egg Hunt earlier this year and apparently at 8.30am in the morning when people started to arrive at work, it was mayhem with a couple of staff running round screaming "I found one, I found one!"
I don't think anyone did any work that morning!
The Christmas Coin Hunt may well end up the same way...



How do you celebrate Christmas in your workplace?

Day 24 - Motivations

Day 24 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

Motivations

(What drives you? What gets you up in the morning? Or share your top tips for getting motivated? Or maybe you've found some great tools to stay motivated?)



This is a hard one - the truth is I don't actually know the answers to any of the questions in the prompt.

(although to be completely literal, what drives me is a Citroen C3 (or to be even more precise, Andrew) and what gets me up in the morning is an ancient alarm clock radio set on Radio 2)

I've never felt as if I've lacked or even actually had motivation - I do a lot of things and I like keeping busy so I suppose that keeps me motivated (although I don't think of it like that).

What I'm trying to say (in a very rambly way) is it's just life that keeps me motivated.
Visiting new places, learning new skills, meeting different people, planning things, creating and making, writing and studying, travelling - they all keep me interested in just being alive.

Day 23 - Date Night

Day 23 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

Date Night

(If you could take your favorite person on the perfect date where would it be? What would you do? What would you eat? What would you wear? How do you like to romance? Is romance even a thing for you?)


Me and Andrew have been married for coming up to 7 years next April and we've known each other 9 years so it seems a bit strange thinking about a 'date night'.

When we first met each other we had lots of meals out, went to the cinema occasionally and did quite a few day trips. We don't do things like that quite so often any more but the one thing we do quite regularly is go and watch a stand up comedian. It's a hobby we both share and luckily we both like the same styles of comedy.

The last comedian we went to see - he was fab (and read out my tweet on stage!)


I tried to put together a list of all the comedians we've seen but I didn't quite realise until I started, how many this would actually total up to! (and even then I'm sure I haven't remembered them all).

In the past we've seen...
Seann Walsh, Josh Widdicombe, Marcus Brigstocke, Andrew Maxwell, Lucy Porter, Shappi Khorsandi, Rich Hall, The Boy With Tape On His Face, Imran Yusaf, Russell Howard, Russell Kane, Eddie Izzard, Michael McIntyre, Dara O'Briain, Andy Parsons, Adam Hills, Chris Ramsey, Susan Calman, Danny Bhoy, Tom Stade, Ed Byrne, Mark Watson, Jon Richardson, Alex Horne, Josie Long, Holly Walsh, Miles Jupp, Robin Ince, Tim Minchin, Mark Thomas, Andrew Lawrence, Frisky and Mannish, Chris Addison, Micky Flanagan, Greg Davies, Wil Hodgson, Rob Beckett, Howard Read, Pappy's, Jarred Christmas and Phill Jupitus.

We always try and see comedians in smaller venues if possible and we've throughly enjoyed every person listed above (with the exception of two, who I'm not going to name, I'll leave you guessing...)

So our perfect date would be sharing a bag of fish and chips, seeing some comedy, laughing a lot and giggling all the way home!

Day 22 - Leaving On A Jet Plane

Day 22 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

Leaving On A Jet Plane

(Tell us your favourite travel story. Or what is on your travel wishlist? Or what do you think about travelling?)


Whoops, another belated BEDN post - and no excuse really this time, we just got caught up doing other things like wallpapering and cooking.


So...travel.
I like travelling (as do lots of people I'm sure); I adore Iceland and we went there for our honeymoon, but at the moment neither of us own current passports so we try and explore the UK as much as possible instead.
We have a few places we go to each year - Anglesey at Easter, Edinburgh in August and the Great Dorset Steam Fair in August - and we try and fit in another holiday or weekend somewhere else in the UK as well.
We've visited most of the south west and over the last few years had weeks or long weekends in Torbay, Tenby, Aberystwyth, Chester, North East Wales, Bridlington and Scarborough, Great Yarmouth, London, the New Forest and this year we had a week in Blackpool in April.

One of the best holidays we've ever had though was a two week road trip around Scotland - up the west coast, across to the Isles of Skye, Harris and Lewis, across the top and down the east coast. I know Scotland fairly well; I was born there and my parents spent every summer holiday touring round in a motorcaravan. Consequently name a town up there and I could probably tell you where to pitch your tent, get a pint of milk and sample the best fish and chips.

When I met Andrew, he revealed he'd never gone any further north than Carlisle and the Scottish border so I thought we'd better rectify that pretty sharpish. In May 2009 we packed up the tent, cooking stuff, an airbed and duvet and some clothes and set off up north. We camped in a different place almost every night, took hundreds of photos, ate lots of chips and met quite a few different people (including stopping off at an old friend of ours who lived on the Isle of Harris).


So now I'm going to become a boring cliche and show off my holiday snaps...
(feel free to fall asleep)

A viewpoint imaginatively called 'Rest and Be Thankful' in Argyll Forest Park

Glen Nevis Holiday Park at the foot of Ben Nevis

 

 

Glendale Toy Musuem of the Isle of Skye (sadly no longer open) - an amazing place filled to the brim with old childhood toys and a lovely owner who said to pick up and play with whatever you like!

 

 

Top - Portree harbour on the Isle of Skye

Bottom - the Quiraing (an impressive rock formation) on the Isle of Skye

 

 

Left - in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye is the largely unknown 'Giant Angus MacAskill Musuem'

Apparently an 7ft 8in giant once lived on the island!

Right - Kilt Rock waterfall on the Isle of Skye

 

 

Top - the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye docking at Tarbet on the Isle of Harris

Bottom - Dun Carloway Broch (an ancient type of house) on the Isle of Lewis.

Andrew is actually in that picture somewhere!

 

 

Luskentyre Beach on the Isle of Harris - an incredibly blue sea and golden sand, much like the Mediterranean, only without the hot temperature.

 

 

Top left - on the Isle of Harris. How often do you see a 'C' road in the UK?

Top right - me testing the waters at Luskentyre

Bottom left - the chef cooking breakfast

Bottom right - the sheep on the Isle of Harris were very very tame! 

 

Sunset near the Isle of Scalpay

 

 

Top left - Callanish Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis, just as old and impressive as Stonehenge but without the commercialisation.

Bottom left - Isle of Lewis Blackhouse Village

Right - Bragar Whalebone Arch on the Isle of Lewis

 

Back to the mainland at Ullapool in the north west Highlands

 

 Right up to the top of mainland UK, Dunnet Head, the most north you can get without taking a ferry.

 One of the best campsites we stayed at - the Lazy Duck Campsite near Aviemore!

 Only 4 tents allowed, swings, a cooking shelter, chimenea, bush showers, a wood-fired hot tub and plenty of ducks - what more could you want? :-)

 

 

Any recommendations which areas of the UK we should visit next?

 

 

Day 21 - World Television Day

Day 21 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

World Television Day

(The invention of television certainly changed the world. Think about communication on a mass scale. You can talk about what telly means to you. Or your favourite TV shows. Make some recommendations, maybe?)


Andrew's dad has had a long history with televisions. When he left school in 1955 at the age of 15, his first job was as a Radio and TV Apprentice Engineer.

There was a local company a few miles away which rented TV's, fixed them and then later sold them to people and Andrew's dad decided he'd rather follow that as a career than go and work down a mine. He did that for about 10 years and then set up his own TV rental business which he still ran in the early 80's. Andrew can remember many evenings sat in his dad's car while they had to go and collect rental money from the customers. By the mid 80's it was pretty much a dying business as every man and his dog owned their own TV rather than rented but both Andrew and his dad are still interested in all things mechanical and electrical. We don't own any old TV's but Andrew's dad still has a 1950's Bush TV22 in his house proudly sat on display.

 

We don't tend to watch a huge amount of TV in our house; we don't follow any soaps or watch any kind of reality TV - we just never seem to have the time to watch anything!

I think our glory days of TV watching were when we were children - weren't all the best programmes on when you were a kid?


Andrew's favourites were:
Jamie and The Magic Torch (boy stays up late, goes down a hole into a magical world with weird creatures, oh and has a Old English Sheepdog which talks in a Somerset accent)
and Ivor the Engine (Welsh steam engine who communicates with his whistle saving the villagers from all sorts of calamities)

 

My faves were:
Fingermouse (a little paper finger mouse puppet who could make music),
The Family Ness (scary looking Loch Ness Monsters get up to mischief with two very Scottish stereotyped young children),
Bertha (a machine that could make practially anything set in a manufacturing factory)
The Raggy Dolls (toys and dolls from a factory reject bin make their own fun),
and Fraggle Rock (a selection of muppet 'fraggles' live underground with lots of dancing and singing)


I do wonder what the producers of these programmes were on when they dreamt up their ideas!
("Oooh, I know what'll work as a TV series; a machine that makes stuff in a factory, surely every 5 year old wants to see that!")


What were your favourite kids TV programmes?

The Midweek Hop - It's Only Fashion Baby (Day 20)

Day 20 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

It's Only Fashion, Baby

(Write about fashion. It could be an outfit post, or a wishlist, or even your thoughts on fashion.)

The other half's guest post - three music videos on a theme...

(inspired by Desmond Carrington's 'The Music Goes Round')
 

'Ami E 120' 1953 Jukebox

 

 

This weeks theme is...It's Only Fashion Baby

 

Inspired by today's #BEDN prompt all about fashion.

1. Fashion by David Bowie


This song was released at the start of a well...umm...interesting decade of fashion history...
'Fashion' entered the chart on 1st November 1980 reaching Number 5.


2. Dedicated Follower of Fashion by The Kinks


Don't feel as if you have to follow 'fashion', just wear the bits of it you like whenever you like!
'Dedicated Follower of Fashion' entered the chart on 3rd March 1966 reaching Number 4.


3. She Wears Red Feathers by Guy Mitchell

Always wear whatever you want - being unique is sure to get you noticed!

'She Wears Red Feathers' entered the chart on 13th February 1953 reaching Number 1.

 

 

Happy listening!
 

Day 19 - Newsflash

Day 19 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

Newsflash

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



National News

I spotted this article on the BBC website about the UK's Mass Observation Project. The charity headquarters have just been moved to a lovely shiny new home and the article details '10 Things We Learned From Mass Observation'.

Source: University of Sussex

 

 

I stumbled across the project while at Uni back in 2001 when I found a journal article all about it and then I searched out the most famous of all mass observers, Nella Last and her wartime diaries.
The project was founded in 1937 by three young lads who aimed to create an 'anthropology of oursleves' and the basic idea is that thousands of ordinary people write about their ordinary lives, creating an invaluable and absolutely fascinating record of everyday life. The organisation has changed a few times over the years but the idea is still the same, with lots of people across the UK scribbling down their activities, thoughts and lives.

I wonder if bloggers will be considered as Mass Observers in the future? A lot of us do document our lives, complete with thoughts, ideas and photographs and that's exactly the sort of thing the project records.

Anything written by a Mass Observer is a really interesting read, but I'd definitely recommend starting with Nella Last's books about the Second World War. She goes into so much detail, most of it she thinks is mundane but it isn't, it really isn't. The BBC made a drama adaptation of the books in 2006 (featuring Victoria Wood as Nella) - it's called 'Housewife, 49' and is a wonderful movie whether you're interested in history, the war, everyday life or even just the way a community copes day to day. Basically it's fab - just watch it!



And in personal news...

We have an appointment with the chief IVF consultant on 18th December! This probably sounds like something really insignificant but in the IVF world, it's what's known as A Big Thing.
It's one step closer and hopefully after that appointment, I'll know what sort of drugs I'll have to take and inject - happy times! :-)

Day 18 - Anti Bullying Week

Day 18 of Rosalilium's blog every day in November challenge

Anti Bullying Week

(Let's stand up to bullies. Share your experience. Or list ways to promote anti-bullying.)


A rather belated post about Anti Bullying Week...
We went to Ikea after work yesterday and I mean to write and post #BEDN Day 18 when we got home but testing out sofas and opening wardrobe doors took longer than planned!



So anyway...on to Anti Bullying Week.
It goes without saying that all bullying is pretty despicable and no-one should be made to feel worthless or insecure by anyone or at any age.

Source: Anti Bullying Week Website

 

I do feel fairly fortunate in that I never actually got bullied at school, which is suprising considering the range of hobbies and interests I have. I also grew up in a time before the internet, social media and even mobile phones so there wasn't the constant pressure to have the latest gadget or the abuse/trolling you might get nowdays. Despite not having the internet though, Andrew did get bullied at school - the schoolchildren of the late 80s and early 90s weren't very forgiving to a young lad interested in vintage vehicles, traction engines and steam railways.

There's no excuse for it, everyone's ideas, thoughts, looks, mannerisms, clothing, interests or hobbies are all equally valid - the most important thing anyone can do is tell someone, there are people out there to help and both Childline and the NHS have some great advice and contacts.

Above all, always remember to stick to what you believe - you are not the one with the problem.
It's the bullies who have the real problem; people who have so little self-belief or worth that they have to pick on others to make themselves feel better.

And you are so much better than that.