billyarse

Not Good .....

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:50:20 GMT

Yesterday started well but then became so disasterous that I don't even want to tell you what I ate. My usual comfort eating problem kicked in big time after a visit to a Financial Adviser with my father!

bitesize shredded wheat with milk, banana

beef, baked beans and two onion bhajis (left overs before next shopping delivered)

two grilled sausages, mash and mixed green veg, strawberries, blueberries and yogurt.

Those were my meals and if I had stuck to them alone I would have felt quite pleased with myself, but I also are:

crisps
cake
chocolare mousse

... off the rails in a big way - today WILL be better,although I know I will eat at least half a cream cake today as we bought them yesterday for Dad's visitors today, but I will be extra good otherwise.

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 09:03:31 GMT

I realised something really bizarre this morning, I can't eat if I am wearing glasses. I don't wear glasses and whilst I know that in really bright and sunny weather it is sensible to wear sun glasses, I seldom do, even to drive, as I believe I can't drive properly if I am wearing glasses either. Slowly but surely, my friends seem to be acquiring glasses, mainly just for reading, but it is inevitable that at some time in the not too distant future I shall need them. On the plus side it would appear that I would lose the weight I have been trying to shift for years, but on the minus side, I would no longer be able to function as a normal person.

At present I seem to be blessed with exceptionally good eyesight, I am often the only one who can read the menu on a far wall across a crowded pub and can also still read things close up. I have recently inherited a pair of 'Trayner Pinhole Glasses - for improved natural eyesight' basically they are lenses of black plastic with tiny holes cut into them, which if worn for 15 minutes per day supposedly give your eye muscles a work out and re-educate them to focus. So whilst they look totally gimpy - not least because they are fixed into thick 50's style frames - I thought I would give them a go and wear them every morning whilst I read my emails, catch up with lj and look at ebay which incidentally is also when I eat my breakfast, and that is how I came to realise I can't eat if I am wearing glasses!

Fri, 16 Sep 2005 07:15:07 GMT

I decided to give myself a treat and have an oven cleaning firm come and clean my oven today, I have so much else to do at the moment and it is a big range style cooker. I have done a lot of entertaining over the last few months and I noticed how grubby it was last week-end when Davis's sister (spick and span) and her boyfriend were staying, I found myself trying to get food out of the oven without fully opening the door for fear that it may be noticed. Anyway, I feel so guilty about it that it is almost not worth it. Davis is playing golf today and I am concerned that it will be rained off and he will come home early - I have not told him. I can't really fathom why I feel this way, guilty about spending money we haven't really got on something I should be able to do I guess. Mind you, I bet his round of golf will cost at least half the price of my oven man and he is bound to have lunch there too!

Well, that is my guilty secret - pathetic isn't it.

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 20:22:42 GMT

I have for a few years been trying to look into my paternal family tree, this lead nowhere as both my grandparents appear to be illegitimate according to their birth certificates. However, my grandfather has a father with the same name as him by the time he gets married, I guess his father may have already been married or something. Anyway, I spent some more time trying to trace family members via the 1901 census today, still no real results just a few possibles.

I decided to trace our house instead (our house would have been just five years old in 1901)luckily the house name has remained the same and I found it easily. There were just two occupants, Mary S Glubb, the head of the household, who was single, 75 years old (not a bad age in 1901), was born in Dartmouth, Devon and was "living on own money". The other occupant was her general domestic servant Sarah Millie or Willie who was 60 and widowed. She was born just a couple of miles up the road in Shermanbury. I was also surprised how few houses there were in our road at that time, there must have been quite a building boom in the few years following. Also, the then Vicar of Cowfold (who was born in Birmingham)lived next door so presumably the huge Victorian looking vicarage up the hill had not yet been built. Do have a look if you live in an old house, it is fascinating, you have to pay 75p to view and print a census sheet once you have found it - brilliant fun!

List of Interests

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 20:45:33 GMT

alternative medicine/healing
I think that there are many traditional remedies which are just as effective as modern drugs - and have to be better for you. I regularly use aromatherapy oils for myself and family, L has only ever had antibiotics once in her life for an ear infection, C has never had them, considering they are now 14 and 12 I think this quite an achievement. My mother brought me up with the 'old fashioned' methods, bread poultices, vinegar, etc., and I try to stick to them as much as possible.

cows
I love cows, they are just so slow and lumbery and very nosey. One of my hobbies is to study the patterning on fresians, so far I have spotted, a map of Africa, my husbands profile also that of Jimmy Hill, a heart, a kettle, a rabbit, lots of black clouds obviously and an erect penis complete with gonads. I should photograph them, it would make a great book.

John Sergeant
I think he is an interesting looking man with an lovely voice. I have his book (Give me ten seconds) and went to An Evening with John Sergeant at the Dome in Brighton, he was very entertaining and has seen a lot of events first hand, he was an actor long before he worked for news teams and then as chief political correspondent for the BBC - although I saw him in a show on t.v. recently which was so awful I couldn't bear to watch it.

Native Americans.
I collect anything to do with native americans, have loads of books about the history, lifestyle, various tribes etc., and think their faces are amazing.

The word arse
What can I say - it's a brilliant word which I try to slip into converstion as much as possible (in a respectable way or course).

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 19:20:42 GMT

We have just returned from a few days in Liverpool. We took Davis's father up to see his elder brother(93) who has been put in a nursing home and is not expected to live long. I don't think he had a clue who we were, and doesn't even really know his own daughters now which is v. sad. His girlfriend Dolly (93 next week) on the other hand is amazing, she is really agile, she kept zooming off to get things, moved very quickly indeed and mentally is extremely sharp, she is very distressed that Vic had to go into the home and explained that she was simply unable to lift him any more! She goes by bus every day to see him - I hope I am like that at 93 - if I get that far! We came back through Leeds and visited an old army friend of Davis's father who has just had a heart operation, it all made Davis's father (86) look positively fit and healthy in comparison. We took him to visit Armley where he grew up, first in a tiny Victorian terraced back to back house with communal toilets about 100 yards up the road (the remains of which are still there), and secondly in an end terrace house about twice the size a few streets away where he lived a few doors away from the young Alan Bennett (Halliday Place), and also to see his old Grammar School which is now split into flats. I think the girls were quite shocked to hear about and see the conditions their Granded suffered as a child, the film Angela's Ashes sprung to mind on seeing his first house although they seemed to have had a happy childhood and were never so poor that they could not eat. The rougher parts of Liverpool were quite an eyeopener for them too, with so much evidence of valdalism, arson attacks, etc. I hope it has made them realise how lucky they are and that there are so many people worse off than them - in this country today.

Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:49:13 GMT

I have never been a hairy person, I don't even need to shave/wax my legs, my arms also hardly have any hair on them at all. But over the last couple of months I have noticed I have started to sprout hair in odd places. I guess this sort of thing has to be expected once you are the other side of forty. I have about four hairs on the outside of each wrist and on the second joint of my middle fingers. I have to scan the outer reaches of my forehead for stray eyebrows and my chin for odd stray hairs. It is very cruel that men lose their hair as they get older and we get more. A good friend of mine has such hairy legs that she often blocks the toilet trying to flush it after having shaved her legs over the bowl. Also, I now have dry skin on the soles of my feet, my brother-in-law has suffered with this for years and confided that he doesn't bother with pummice stones and the like any more, he sits in the garage with his feet on a box and my sister-in-law gets rid of it with the electric orbital sander (you must only use fine grade sand paper apparently).

Tue, 19 Jul 2005 12:27:37 GMT

Hi hopefully if this works these are photos of some of the sand sculptures at Brighton.

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 21:38:32 GMT

Well that was a v. busy week-end, we are now free of all visitors - just, have moved all beds/sofas back to their rightful places and started the mountain of washing.

Our housewarming barbecue went very well - weather was perfect - everybody turned up and got on very well together. Davis's father fell in the pond and was unable to get out (he is 86) and had to be rescued, but otherwise was fine, later on my friend's son also fell in the pond, he was not hurt but very embarrassed. The teenagers went for a late night swim which they thought was quite exciting.

Yesterday we all went to see the sand sculptures at Brighton, it was quite fascinating, whilst they do resemble stone at present, I will be amazed if they last until September - some were crumbling a little already with the heat yesterday and I just can't believe they really can withstand a downpour. The detail was quite amazing, facial expressions, etc. I will attempt to put some pictures on but am not having much luck at present - they are always to big.

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:52:07 GMT

Well at last I have finished DECORATING THE SCULLERY!! - It looks clean and light and lovely, Davis painted the last coat on the ceiling before work, and I have fitted the new vinyl flooring this afternoon, (I shall put a photo on when the digital camera returns home!) The only problem I had was because I decided to shift some furniture around and particularly wanted the dresser in the scullery, it was an inch too tall to go under the shelves, so I am attempting to take the feet off, but may have to admit defeat.

I have been up since 5.15am as Chloe is on a school trip to Boulogne today, she will be returning home at about 8.30pm and will be v. tired and probably grumpy by then. Even though I haven't cleaned the rest of the house yet, I feel I am on track to be ready for our BBQ tomorrow afternoon. I am fairly confident that the weather will remain fine for us and am quite looking forward to it.

My sunroof broke on my car on Wednesday evening, and whilst tempted to force it shut I decided to do the sensible thing and take it to the garage, where they forced it shut and told me it needs new runners on each side £80 each plus VAT, I think I shall just forget I ever had a sunroof instead!

I have to do something outside now as Lettie has just returned home and announced that she and her friends are going to form a band so are playing the drums and every guitar we have all at the same time. Bye.

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 11:22:56 GMT

Well here we are over a week later and I finally have the first full coat of paint on the scullery walls, I have a bit of pressure on now as Davis's brother, Sticky, and father are coming on Friday for the week-end (first visit since we have been here) I also have a school friend from London staying on Saturday as we are having a housewarming/BBQ, just for neighbours and close friends, but still I would like the scullery to look less plop for that. Also the small spare bedroom that I plan to put my friend in is still half filled with boxes at present, so I must put all of those into the loft. Davis's father and brother will have to share the larger spare room, although Sticky is used to camping, etc., and would probably be perfectly happy if I told him we had planned for him to sleep in the shed! He works a lot on his own, often in remote places and is slowly turning feral. He is a fascinating and lovely person, the girls really enjoy his visits, to see how long his dreadlocks have grown and if he has any new odd scars (he has a chunk missing from behind his knee where a seal bit him whilst he was working for the British Antarctic Survey on Bird Island, Antarctica, and a large scar on his head where an exotic bird pecked him).

As well as my part time secretarial job for Davis's surveying firm, I also look after my fathers affairs as he is now virtually blind. He has had an ongoing dispute with a neighbour over a right of way. This is now going to adjudication so we have his case to prepare before the following week-end, which is also when we are going away to Spain for 10 days. So it is a busy time, I had wanted to do a few nice things for me before the girls break up on 22nd.

My closest schoolfriend and her family have just been given their visas and are emigrating to Australia, I am really happy for them and it is great, it seems to have been a long time coming for them, but I will miss her dreadfully, we meet up twice a month every month for lunch and have done so, well for ever really!! We will certainly go and stay with them, and now with email there is absolutely no reason why we can't be in touch every few days - but it just won't be the same!

My elder daughter Lettie nearly killed us all on Friday evening. I went to bed really late on Friday as I was sorting through boxes from the scullery, and as I passed her bedroom door I could smell burning. On closer inspection I found that she had left her hair straighteners on (she had gone to a friends house for a sleepover) and they had begun to scorch her window sill. I shuddered thinking about what could have happened, if I had gone to bed earlier before they began to smell. Hopefully, now she will realise the importance of checking things are switched off and forgive me for constantly reminding her!

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 15:52:15 GMT

My younger daughter Chloe Rae has just returned from school all excited as they didn't have 'real work' today but had to do a series of 3 minute presentations for each other on a subject of their choice. One of her class mates did a presentation about her dog and actually bought him into school for the occasion which was obviously very exciting - "what breed of dog is he" I asked, "a hatchback" came the reply!

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 07:38:53 GMT

We had torrential rain and thunderstorms yesterday, which is great because we certainly needed the rain - but - it was also the day that we were having the lintel replaced above our bedroom window. Unluckily the builder had removed all the brickwork above the window and removed the sill which also needed replacing, it was at this point that the heavens opened, he tried in vain to put plastic against the remaining wall but the rain poured into the cavity down two floors and into my larder! I spent the afternoon mopping but no real damage was done. This morning, it is not yet 9am and he has rebuilt the wall, put the lintel in and is now repointing the brickwork all the way down, I know it is sad but it looks so nice that I will post a picture when it is done - although you will not really be impressed as you don't know how dreadful it was before!

Fri, 01 Jul 2005 11:13:36 GMT

I have reached an odd stage in my life, I have slowly realised over the last few weeks that I am now 'the sensible person' - the one that deals with everyone else's problems. Over the last few years my parents have become ill, are no longer confident to drive and generally need to be 'kept an eye on', our roles have totally reversed and I almost perceive them in the same way as I do my teenage daughters, it is like having four children, although I can at least tell my girls if I think they are doing something foolish and they will listen to my advice but not necessarily act upon it. Parents are somewhat trickier and have to be treated with care. On the whole my parents behaviour is far worse than that of my teenage daughters; if I could I would ground them indefinitely!

My time is split between driving my girls to after school activities, parties, into town, etc.,and driving my parents to hospital/dental/doctor appointments and shopping. My mother will still drive locally, but worryingly seems to need a drink before she goes to give her courage and will not do right turns any more, she will drive miles out of her way to avoid a right turn. A trip to her local shop which is three quarters of a mile away becomes a five mile round trip. My mother has emphysema and really struggles to breathe at times, but continues to smoke. It is a source of amusement to my girls that mum can often be seen alternating between puffing on her inhaler - and a cigarette!

Social events are always a little worrying - not because of my daughters who are generally polite and well behaved but because of my parents - not least because my mother has taken to drinking rather too much in her twilight years. At my uncle's funeral, my mother had obviously had a bit to drink before it had got under way, she had forgotten to put her hair up and so used a paper napkin to make a bow and fixed it with clips. It looked okay - until it rained and the bow drooped and stuck to her head. After the service at the reception (if that is what you call it, wake maybe, eating bit anyway) my mother fell down the stairs as "she didn't see them" and then being quite taken aback that there was no alcohol soon decided that she would have a cigarette even though smoking was not permitted, because of this she tried to hide it under the table hoping no-one would notice, sadly they did as the table covers were made of paper and inevitably she set fire to the one on our table and we had to throw our tea on it to put it out. The only person who didn't seem to notice was my father who is virtually blind with his diabetes.

My father - now his behaviour - believe it or not - is far worse!

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 18:09:08 GMT

If you look through the window in the kitchen you can see the scullery walls as they are now -terracotta and how dark it makes the room.

Kitchen - how scullery will look when finished - I hope!

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 18:04:04 GMT

Painting

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 10:54:18 GMT

I am supposed to be painting the scullery - or the random room as my elder daughter calls it. It is the tattiest and most unpleasant room in the house, at present it is painted one coat of terracotta with white showing through and the sink unit is grubby white with 80's style stencilled blue flowers on it. I am going to paint the sink unit green with black and white tiles(same as kitchen) and the walls sand white (same as kitchen), which should make it brighter and much cleaner looking. I have already painted one coat of the sink unit which looks better already and have tried getting the old tiles off, but huge sections of wall are coming away with them. I have spent the morning filling numerous cracks and holes around the walls and brushing them ready for painting, but I am quickly losing interest, I love painting but hate all the preparation, so am sitting at my computer looking at anything rather than getting on with it - it is amazing how much time you can waste when trying to put off doing something!

Nearly time for lunch ....

Nothing in particular

Sun, 26 Jun 2005 16:16:08 GMT

Hello!
It has been some considerable time since I have posted a livejournal entry - I was prompted by nogbad the bad to do so, and welcome her to livejournal.
I have the luxury of a Sunday afternoon on my own as elder daughter is out with friends and younger daughter and husband have gone to see the new Batman film. So am being extremely lazy and reading friends livejournal entries.

Yesterday was my cousin's wedding, it was at Herstmonceux Castle which was a beautiful setting, sadly the castle had been struck by lightning the night before so there was no power, a battery operated cd player had to be borrowed from a guest so that they could have the music they wanted during the ceremony but apart from that it was lovely - the toilets are obviously fed by moat water during power cuts for some odd reason, which was a little startling.

We have recently moved to a larger and very tatty Victorian house, every room needs major decoration, we have had the roof fixed etc., but so far have only managed to totally finish the kitchen, half the dining room is decorated and that is about it. I was going to post a picture of the kitchen but it was too large to be accepted. I may ask Bisonwife to put it on on my behalf as I sent it to her via email and I am sure that Bisonfish being of much superior intelligence to me will know exactly what to do to make it conform.

Having read a few of Bisonwife's recent livejournals it seems that there is quite a thriving friendly community merging (unless you all knew each other before and I just don't know who you are from your usernames!) it is rather lovely - although as I am sure Bisonwife will be the first to agree I would be useless as I am so shy I usually end up making a total arse of myself in company!

Anyway, the dog has just been sick so I must go, but I shall endeavour to start posting entries on a more regular basis.

Zongo

Mon, 06 Oct 2003 15:19:54 GMT

I'm having a 'not feeling nice' day today, or Zongo as it is known in our household. I am not ill, not unhappy, but just at odds with the world generally. However, the Summer of Extreme Expense continues, now we have been asked to contribute towards the Freehold of Davis's father's house, which is a good move in the long run, but has probably put paid to our plans to spend Christmas with friends in NY - bugger.

I shall cheer myself by looking at pictures of Lavender Orpington hens (I am hoping for a few for Christmas), although Davis says the rabbits must die first!

We are off to friends for a meal now, although I would rather be cosy at home and stare out of the window with my tongue lolling out, I must buck up and be interesting, entertaining and witty which is a tall order at the best of times but on a Zongo day ....

Pube Maintenance

Wed, 17 Sep 2003 17:27:52 GMT

I was reminded just now of a conversation I had with Mr Bisonwife at Christmas a few years ago. I had read an informative article in a magazine about how to either make yourself feel sexier or how to make yourself more sexually appealing to others, I can't remember which now, anyway, one of the tips was to condition your pubic hair when you are in the shower. We mulled over this and Mr B pointed out that this assumes that you shampoo this area separately as well, I was left feeling that perhaps I had, all these years, been rather lax in the pube maintenance department.

I was speaking to a friend just now who is a few years older than me who confided that she had her first grey pubic hair and what a terrible shock it was. I can imagine her horror as I think it would make you feel old, worse than head hair turning grey, besides you can always dye that - and then I thought - do the people who shampoo and condition their pubes dye it when it turns grey? I have visions of people around the country standing in the shower for half an hour whilst the colour takes. How can they be sure to get a colour match - does it even matter?

What do you think?

Bastardarse Week

Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:37:14 GMT

Warning: The following journal entry WILL contain strong language, if you feel this may offend you or are of a nervous disposition, please look away now.

Tues: Splodge - the poorly rabbit referred to in my last journal entry is cured -no more chicken bottom, infact hair now growing back nicely, BUT got bill from vet £137!! I have renamed her Bastardarse.

Weds: Booked in an appointment for an Indian Head Massage - have not been for about 3 months, was really looking forward to it, it is a lovely relaxing treat thing. As I pulled into Indian Head Bev's driveway my windscreen became so steamed up I could not see through it, when I got out my car was hissing away with liquid of some description pissing out underneath. Did have head massage, but interspersed with calls from Land Rover Assistance and not at all relaxing. It was the cylinder head gasket. I was nervous for two days anticipating the cost of this on top of Bastardarse, and a very expensive service only a couple of months ago. the Service Manager greeted me happily telling me how it was all mended and lovely and how they had washed and cleaned my car for me - and by the way was I aware that I had a rancid marrow under the passenger seat - all the while I was thinking I couldn't give a hairy shite, just tell me how much it will be - and then an amazing thing happened, he said of course it is all covered under the Assistance Policy - I couldn't believe it, after years of having policies for this and that I no longer bother, as no matter what goes wrong you are always told "well I'm afraid this particular problem isn't actually covered by the policy". I was so happy at having 'saved' some money that my friend and I headed straight out for lunch.

Friday: Friend's birthday. We had arranged to go out. It has been arranged for weeks. Davis has known for weeks, I also reminded him on the morning. I go out alone (well not alone, that would just be sad, with friends) about 6 times a year in the evening, so you would think he would manage to get home on time - but no! I got a text message from him at lunch time to say he was going for a drink after work, tried not to panic, thought it will be fine, he will be back in time - but no. To make matters worse I was the designated driver for the evening and so my passengers began to turn up. I managed to get hold of him at the time we were supposed to be with my friend, he was just leaving Brighton!?* Bollocks.

Sunday: Went to Medievil Festival at Michelham Priory, girls loved it as it is supposedly haunted and full of goth type people. I however, was approached by a man who informed me that I would make a 'lovely buxom wench' and that he was in a position to offer me a costume should I wish to take up his offer!! Diet starts today.

Defrosting the Freezer

Mon, 08 Sep 2003 12:19:53 GMT

I wanted to have done something really exciting to write about for my first journal entry - but here we are, defrosting the freezer. This is the sort of job that everybody pretends they do at least twice a year, but in reality it only happens when you can no longer close the door because of the build up of ice, or can no longer pass food through the ice without having first removed all unnecessary packaging. It should be simple enough, turn it off and leave it alone, but no! like a spot it draws you to it poking here and there to help it along, until there you are, on your hands and knees scraping away with the fish slice.

I should know better having already destroyed one perfectly good fridge in similar circumstances. It was whilst sharing a house in Godalming, Surrey with five other people, one of them being my now husband Davis. We decided - on returning from the pub one Friday night - to defrost the fridge. Soon we were both scraping away, me with my slightly more sensible fish slice, and Davis with a vegetable knife. Sure enough he eventually punctured a crucial part of the fridge and a loud hissing ensued. We quickly turned the radio on - really loud - much to the annoyance of everyone, to hide the sound and managed to look astounded the following morning when the fridge didn't work.

Davis breaks everything, we got through 18 teapots in our first three years of marriage - I now make tea with bags in mugs. Years ago (when bisonwife and I worked in an office together) I used to produce a weekly viz style cartoon about him entitled 'clumsy bastard', it was very well received and very easy to produce, as sadly, I didn't need to use my imagination at all.

Anyway - must go and bathe the rabbit's bottom - she got fly strike during the v. hot weather and is recovering well, but still has a bottom resembling an oven ready chicken.