Friday 29 April 2011

What a fine pair!

I am of course talking about Catherine Middleton and Prince William.

I must admit i am not an avid supporter of the royal family and was determined not to be sucked into all the "hoo ha" of the wedding but alas that failed slightly this morning when my youngest requested that we turn on the tv so she could see the wedding dress and watch some of the royal wedding. Luckily they were already seated in the church by this time and i plonked myself down next to my daughter to "casually" watch the event of the year.

What first struck me was how in love they both seemed and how they shared private giggles and chats together. Something normal people would do. Something that showed them to be human. Catherine looked radiant and her dress wasn't what i expected. I expected something way over the top and to be fair a bit old fashioned but instead she looked elegant in a gorgeous dress that showed off her lovely figure.

They both looked like they should do on their wedding day. Happy.

I just hope that everyone will stop comparing the poor girl to William's mother and that the stress that must exist with becoming a member of the royal family doesn't become too much for Catherine and that this union of the pair will have a "happy ever after" ending.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

End of the day.

Tonight i am child free, very unusual for that to happen but Nanny has taken my three devils off my hands for two nights. I must admit i still ring fairly often just to check they are behaving and that they are ok. It's not that i don't trust wonderful Nanny with the kids, it's just that it's a very rare occasion when i don't have them and everything seems so quiet and empty.

Now i'm not saying my kids scream the house down as they don't, and i'm not saying they always argue with each other. Though they do quite often but it's more of a case of "no that's mine, get your own" little tiffs
My children bring with them laughter and chaos that i really miss when it's not there.

Anyway today i have had a beautiful sunny day out at a local castle, seems many people had the same idea as i have never seen it so busy. I took my usual 100+ photographs but the sky was a bit drab today and i wasn't really impressed with any i took. Probably more to do with my lack of enthusiam rather than the sky but i thought i would blame it on something that was out of my control.

Anyway aside from that i have just scoffed some gorgeous Kshocolat chilli almonds


which are very hot but so very nice at the same time and now i think i will go and collapse into bed and get stuck in to my psychology books so i have a head start when my course starts in October.

Monday 25 April 2011

Finding Keith

I saw this mentioned on Loquax and thought i would highlight it here.

http://www.findingkeith.com/index.html

I'm sure the Moors Murders is in most peoples memory as will be the evil duo Ian Brady and Myra Hindley who commited the crimes.

If so please spare a thought for Winnie Johnson whose son was never found. Ian Brady will never give up the location of this poor childs body but the above website has been set up as a new search is about to start to locate him body and hopefully allow his mother to give him a funeral and get some sort of peace that she so deserves after all these years. They need to fund this search so welcome donations from those who would like to do their bit to help.

What makes this even sadder than it already is, is that poor Winnie has cancer.

I really hope that we will hear in the not so distant future that Keith has been found and as for the still living Ian Brady..well i hope he rots in hell for the suffering he caused Keith, the others and their loved ones.

Friday 22 April 2011

Booking a Summer Holiday

This year i can't take my son out of school on term time as he has mock exams and i don't fancy being brought in front of the head and feeling like a naughty schoolgirl (oh i remember those days so well!)

So i booked a holiday in North Wales in the Summer holidays. I have to love the inflation of a few hundred pounds just because you have to go at a conveniant time of the year for children who have exams coming up. We went away for four days last year and i felt like my children were paying the price for it on their reports "You should try and obtain better attendance" They have between 94-96% but no in this day and age obviously that's just not good enough. They must of had the 5 days off for our holiday (one day was travelling home) and 1-2 days off sick. It's silly really. I feel quite sorry for the teachers who have no choice but to go in term time.

No doubt we will all have a wonderful time and i will enjoy not having to cook and it will all be worth it in the end but until then i will moan about the price charged for those of us who have no option but to go on holiday at peak time or just forget having a holiday at all..which is what it will come to if petrol prices keep increasing.

Whinge over..well for now at least.

P.S. Don't forget to enter the competiton / giveaway on my blog http://pickingoranges.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-first-giveaway.html You stand a very good chance of winning seeing as this is the 1st giveaway.

My first giveaway!

Everyone likes a good giveaway and i wanted one which would also increase my followers base. Well lets face it i need to get something out of it! :)


So what i am offering is 1st Prize is £10 credit to spend at http://www.funkimunkibadges.co.uk/
When i draw the winner on the 17th of May. I will pay FunkiMunki £10 so you can then place an order and she will send the prize direct to the winner.

If there is enough entrants i might stretch to a £5 credit for a runner up too! The more followers, the better the prizes! I might even stretch to 3 months supply of coffee next!

TO ENTER:- Just go to the website and come back here and tell me what is your favourite badge?
Remember to follow my blog too! and if you also follow http://funkimunkibadges.blogspot.com/ you will get another entry into the draw


Competition - Giveaway Terms and Conditions
Open to entrants worldwide
Closing date 17th May 2011
Prize is £10 credit to use on Funkimunkibadges
A runner up prize of £5 credit if there are more than 25 entrants

Beautiful Badges

I have to give a mention to a friend i have made on the wonderful world of twitter. She makes amazing button badges and i recently purchased with her and to be truthful i wasn't expecting much (after all they are just badges..they are all the same aren't they?!) but on arrival i had this lovely package which included some great quality business cards and the badges were all wrapped up carefully in lovely thin paper.The first thing i noticed was what great quality they were along with the fast delivery. I gave out the business cards to friends whose children started demanding some after they had seen my oldest daughter's which are covering her school bag.




My girls had some JLS ones made and although she didn't advertise these on her website at the time she sent me some for my girls as an added extra! How nice is that.

Next on my list to buy is some gamer ones for my son and some others for the girls as they have chosen to collect them after seeing how nice they are.

I urge you to check out her website. Badges are only 79p and you won't be disappointed. You can even ask her on twitter or her website for custom orders! Ideal for birthdays,party bags,hen/stag nights,brightening up a bag,jacket or just for a bit of fun!
http://www.funkimunkibadges.co.uk/ Twitter account - @funkimunkibadge

Monday 11 April 2011

Jeremy Bamber Killer or Innocent?

I hadn't heard of this man till this evening when i watched an episode of Crimes that shook Britain.

In a bizarre way i find these kind of programmes quite interesting and usually without hesitation i can say "oh yes he/she did it"  but in this episode i struggled to see enough evidence to sway me.

Nowadays the news seems to be full of murdering scum who are without a doubt guilty with mountains of strong evidence to back that up but they are let out within 10/15 years and yet with weak flawed evidence Jeremy Bamber was sentenced to five life terms with a minimum of 25 years before he could apply for parole, and although he has served that it appears that he may never get out because in 1994 the Home Secretary ruled he must spend the rest of his life in jail

If like me you were unaware of who he is. Jeremy Bamber is a man who was convicted in England in 1986 of having murdered five members of his adoptive family. Though at first it appeared as if his mentally ill sister had commited the crimes.The evidence in the documentary and on what sent him to jail seemed so weak and very flawed. The police don't seem to have done a good job with collecting,noting or preserving the evidence they have/had.

I would hate to think that an innocent man could of been locked up for all of these years. Lost such a big chunk of his life and not only lost his family in such a horrific way but also be labelled and locked away as their killer.

I suppose part of me would love to see a new fair trial for this case, one where all the evidence is presented. For both the prosecution and the defence. One where nothing is withheld from either side and perhaps one where we can be 100% sure that the correct person is being punished for his crimes and that nobody is out there now getting away with murder.

Saturday 9 April 2011

You Need Me, I Don't Need You

Had to post to rave about another talented singer...his name? Ed Sheeran.

I'm not one who keeps up with the music scene and i usually find out what's new by my daughters playing it or singing away to it in the shower. This time though i heard about the fantastic Ed Sheeran by hearing him sing with Leddra Chapman. Being a curious person i had to go and google this talented bloke and just love his songs.
You need me, i don't need you is a brilliant song and is a song perhaps in the past i would of avoided but this talented red head makes it work. Have to say i think it has great meaning, and there are plenty of times i have wanted to say to people..hey hang on..you need me but i don't actually need you. Well kind of..i'm the kind of person who is needed when someone wants something anyway i digress. Ed Sheeran has many great songs and as with Leddra i'm shocked i haven't come across him before but better late than never huh?

Another song i have fallen in love with by him singing is Wayfaring Stranger, Johnny Cash did a brilliant cover of this song but Ed brings some youth to the song and sings it so very well. It's totally different to You Need Me and yet i really like both of these songs. Have a listen and give it a chance, i'm sure you won't be disappointed.

100 things to do before i'm 50 - Number 2

100 things to do before i'm 50. That gives me 18 years. If i haven't done them in 18 years then chances are i won't be doing them... ever.

Ok well this is a follow on from one of my previous posts. Number 1 being a Hot Air ballooon ride.

I have had to carefully think about what would come next and i think i have it, though really it should of been my number 1 choice but i suppose it doesn't matter what order they are listed in.

Wing Walking is something i have always fancied and i would love to give it a go. I looked it up and apparently you can't do it for charity which is a shame as i would of loved to have done it and raised money for the MND charity or the Alzheimer's Society.

Anyway i will be back with number 3 when i have given it enough thought.

High Cholesterol

The last few weeks i have had people commenting on two white patches i have under one eye and it got me quite curious as to what it was. I needed to see the doctor yesterday and brought it up. I was surprised to hear that it is a sign of high cholesterol as i have always thought i have a fairly decent low fat diet. Anyway she took some bloods and i just need to wait to hear back. I am in my early 30's and for some reason only associated it before with slightly older people. I hope it's not going to be drastically high and i really want the white patches to go away...oh and the big black panda eyes. It's also made me feel old. I hate that. I'm still 14-16 in my head and just sometimes i wish (like most of us) that i could rewind back to the days of no responsibilty and the time when most days were a bundle of laughs and loads of fun. Back then though all i wanted to do was grow up and have everyone treat me as an adult. How i wish i could of enjoyed my youth and not wished it all away.