Snippet - Oh We do like to be...

On July the 22nd we all took a trip to the east coast, Whitby. It is an old fashioned port town with narrow cobbled streets and a Fish & Chip shop in every third shop on the main street. The day started with a VERY heavy down pour but then it brightened up and I was able to take this photograph...

Beautiful.

There is something about the coast of Great Britain that has a timeless quality, Piers still decorated like the 1950s and oceans that have blasted shores for an eternity long before us and no doubt for a long time after we have gone.

It's humbling... and the chips weren't bad either. :) xx

Musings - Not so dainty after all...

Because Katharine has dainty features and is still lacking in the chubby arms and legs department I look at her and wonder if she is growing. I know she is but I think because I see her all the time her weight is creeping on unnoticed. Yesterday I found a photo which I took when she was only a couple of weeks old, it made me go ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Then I thought, hey, lets get a little perspective... so I took another photo to see the size difference...

Photo from April...

Photo from July.

Yup... my little girl isn't so little after all. :) xx

Photo - Don't ask...

Okay... I guess you better ask... :) xx

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Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (28th July 2011)

I don't like to say it but I'm going to... This week I was really disappointed with the writing prompts. Usually there are at least two that catch my eye and there is always one that I can rule out immediately. This week I didn't want to write any of them, which is really sad because... Well I have grown to love waiting for the prompts, completing one, reading others and having others reading mine. I was stuck...

So after two days of contemplating I have conceded and come down off my high horse. The prompts are not just for me after all, there are probably hundreds of people out there who could be inspired by all five. In the end I chose...

A moment you realised your child was growing up.

Katharine hit a milestone this week. For the past three weeks she has be a pain in the neck at meal times, refusing the bottle and screaming until she is looks like her head is going to explode. So in an act of desperation we bought some baby rice. We didn't have high hopes that our stubborn little madam would like it but she loved it! Not only did she love it but now, after only a couple of days, she is back to drinking full bottles. We figure she was bored and needed something a little tastier than the white stuff, milk that is. As usual we documented the momentus occasion with a photo. :)

While not exactly grown up this week has shown me that my daughter is growning, she had another moment in the journey of Katharine Lorelai and, while it is going too fast for me, I love her for it.

This week the prompts also started a little debate in our house and the husband got in on  the writing prompt action. This is our combined rant about prompt number two...

Amy Winehouse died. Another name amidst a growing list of talented celebrities lost to addiction. Your reaction.

Why do we need to have a reaction to this? Another addict overdosed...

While heartbreaking for those who knew her we really don't think the world should once again think someone and something like is a tragedy. If we have to have a reaction to anything why could the prompt not have asked about the horrendous acts in Oslo which happened in the same week but came a second in newsworthiness to an average singer who was more notorious for lack of control and respect than for anything useful to anyone. It is our duty to our daughter to make sure she understands that life is precious and not to be thrown away.

:) xx

Snippet - Know me by letter (M to R)...

Here we are again... who is this woman? Oh yeah... me. :)

KNOW ME BY LETTER.

MALTESERS: I have inherited the love of Maltesers from my Mother. Growing up we had a game where we would see how many we could fit into our mouths at the same time. I will not own to my number... lets just say I could neither breathe nor swallow. :)

NIGHT BLINDNESS: It's my left eye, it's lazy. Stick me in the dark and I will have a bit of trouble. While the average eye takes about 15 minutes to fully adjust to the grey scale of night my left eye just doesn't or on the rare occasion that it does I am going to sleep anyway. Tut.

ORDINARY: There is nothing about me that is particularly spectacular or special. What you see is what you get. It's not that I don't have the dream to do or be something extraordinary because I do... I'm just still working on it.

PHOTOS: I take photos of everything, you might have guessed if you have visited this blog before. I love documenting life. While the Chinese believe that a photo steals a bit of your soul I think it duplicates so that even in death you can never die.

QUOTES: I can quote Shakespeare like the back of my hand, Hamlet and the Sonnets especially. Today I downloaded an APP for my phone which gives me more quotes than old Will's, I am branching out. No doubt the blog will get filled with them.

ROHAN: Our little bundle of fur and enthusiasm. Rohan the Border Terrier, who is quite famous in this blog, will be three in December. I still remember the day we brought her home, it was snowing and I had such a tiny bundle wrapped in my blue cardigan. Bless her.

Feel like you know me yet?... Watch out for the last installment of letters.

Question: 23

At thirty, am I too old to learn how to swim? x

Musings - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I met my best friend when we shared our halls of residence at university back in 1999.

Oh how the years have flown!

Today Jo is having a special birthday so I wanted to honour her with this post.

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY!!!

It has been a pleasure to be your friend,

I'm sure our craziness will never end,

As Auntie Noisy I can't wait to view,

As my little girl gets to know you too.

xx

Hipp Hipp, Hoorah!!!!!

Photo - Me? Yup still me...

This morning I woke up and remembered that I was me...

And I thought 'Hey, that's not so bad'.

:) xx

Burped - Is it cheating?...

So this week when I was fiddling with the backstage portion of my blog I found a setting that would enable me to blog by sending an email to myself at Blogger. Sounds simple right?

Well as I no longer trust the Blogger app on my phone, it lost a big important post, I figured I would give this email thing a try.

This is me trying early on a Saturday morning... Did it work?

:) xx

Sent from my iPhone

Musings - Already?...

Do you ever wonder what your children are thinking?

I know for example that when Katharine smiles she is happy and amused, when she frowns it is usually because she is concentrating and contemplating and when her face is all scrunched up that means screaming is more than likely forth coming.

But the expression on the left???

She is telling me I am a fool, isn't she?

Already!

:) xx

Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (21st July 2011)

Sex education! How old were you when you learnt about the birds and the bees? Who taught you? Describe that experience.

The thing I remember most about sex education in my high school was the cartoon penis but I am jumping ahead in my story, I tend to do that so try and keep up...

I think I first knew that sex existed from watching it in the movies. You are probably thinking that my parents were appalling to let a young child watch the famous get it on but I am talking about films such as Top Gun and Dirty Dancing where sex was in silhouette and the most you saw were naked shoulders or the profile of floppy hair. For years I thought sex involved kissing a boy who had to be sweaty and / or covered in grease... oh such simple times.

Then I saw the likes of Pretty Woman and Cocktail (I am sensing Tom Cruise was very loose in the 80s) and my naive and simple illusions were shattered. But hey, I was a resilient kid, I decided to ignore it, it looked gross anyway and if I was watching a film with my parents it was better to play oblivious and avoid embarrassment.

So... sex education came when I was in high school hence the cartoon penis remark above. I remember that the woman who came to talk to us about how you do what with what was also the same woman who the year before had been checking our slightly shorter versions for head lice. Surreal? Inappropriate? While the experience is now vague and patchy I think of it with amusement, I think of...

• The whiteboard at the front with all the slang words for reproductive organs, some of which still make me twitch today.
• At thirteen finding that not all my class mates were virgins, what the hell!? I still hadn't had the nerve to let my Barbie and Ken have sex.
• The boys groans and giggles when the topic of periods came up.
• The girls giggles in retaliation when the boys were faced publicly with wet dreams.
• Condoms. And in the break watching some chap blow one up on the top of his head.
• Our parents still did it... erreugh.
• At some point we would WANT to do it.

And of course...

• Watching the video cartoon of a naked man and woman sat in a bubble bath with a plastic yellow duck. The nice gentleman on the voice over would ask each of them to stand in turn, and while the duck oglged, he described all manner of bits and pieces. 

It was all a bit odd which I guess sex is really. I mean if you think about it... there are so many design flaws its amazing anything gets 'done' ha ha. And that was it until I got to experience it myself which is a whole other post and one I will not be writing, I'm a prude Brit after all.

P.s. Writing this post has made me think about how I will discuss the birds and the bees with Katharine and after some thought and coming up with nothing I have decided to let Mr Cruise and the nit nurse clue her in instead.

Chicken? Me? Too right!

:) xx

Photo - Getting in on the action...

As you know from previous photographing escapades I am not very good at the one handed self portrait. I fail almost every time. The other day I took this one...

and I didnt really like so I decided to give it another go.

 And look who jumped in on the action!? :) xx

Photo - Couldn't keep still

I know she is too little

but recently we yummy mummies took our offspring to Play Palace.

The photo is a little fuzzy as Katharine just would not keep still.

Too excited ha ha. :) xx

Snippet - Know me by letter (G to L)...

The next installment of me... alphabet style...

KNOW ME BY LETTER...

 GABRIEL: I am still not sure if I believe in God. It's odd, I have faith but I dont know what in. I do, however, believe in the Angel Gabriel. I know he got me my daughter and I know that while I grew her body he made the spark of her soul.

 HALIFAX: Born and raised. And that's the Yorkshire 'Fax and not the Nova one. It's a bizarre little place with even more bizarre villages surrounding it. But I love it. It is my home, my daughter was conceived here, born here.  :)

 INCHES: When I was twelve I stopped growing in height. Don't worry though I was a child giant, 5ft 4inches by the time I was ten. Between the age of thirteen and thirty I have only grown half an inch. Half! But hey, I'll take it.

 JAMES: This is the name of the first boy I ever loved. It sparked, I fear, an interest in James'... Marsden. Marsters, Franco, Bond (kidding), McAvoy, Purefoy, Van Der Beek, Morrison, Spader... the list goes on and on and on.

 KIERAN & KATHARINE: My kin... whoa go Stacy on the alliteration! The two great loves of my life. They make getting up worth it. Jeez I sound like a Hallmark card. Erm... he is a grumpy old sod and she does nowt but scream! Ha ha.

LEFT-HANDED: I am left handed. Apparently that means that I use more of my brain and am more likely to have an above average intelligence. Ha ha. Famous lefties include... Bill Clinton, Julius Caesar, Michaelangelo, Mark Twain, Keanu Reeves, Jimi Hendrix, Eminem, Robert DeNiro...

Cool Huh!?

Watch out for the next batch of letters... xx

Question: 22

Everyone has raved about Mad Men...
I have watched five episodes so far and don't really like it..
Should I keep going? x

Photo - Old (giggle) and new...

Learning to read with her Grandpops. :) xx

Lyrics - Gavin's gonna get me every time

I love Gavin Degraw. Well I havent actually met him but I love his music. I lately bought his album 'Free', and the title track is amazing. From it these are the lyric that 'get me'...

And I wanna be free, wind in my hair
Salt on my skin, sun in the air
I have to feel love holding on me
I'll give you everything that you would ever need.

And every once in a while I wanna sit back and enjoy the view
But woman my life has been surrounded by fences
But I found some that I could see through... I could see through.

What do you think? Amazing right?

:)
x

Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (14th July 2011)

On a piece of paper write down something that makes you happy…take a photo of your paper and wa la…there’s your post.

There are lots of things that make me happy, I am that sort of gal I guess, I'm easily pleased. Previous blog posts have more often than not hinted at what it is that warms my toes and teases a smile. My daughter, my husband (sometimes ha ha), my family, my Rohan, my books, my writing, my new jade keyring, my Angel collection, my poppy garden, my... (oh shut up already!) and so on and so forth.

I decided for this Mama Kat's workshop to think a little differently and not be quite so predictable...

By Seasons Change I mean several things...

• Since having my daughter I feel like I am growing as a person, I am changing, becoming a better and fuller person from knowing her.
• Each year on our anniversary I am always amazed that me and my husband are getting old together at the same pace. Not age but in sync rather than drifting apart.
• Television wise the shows that we follow seem to be getting better and better season after season. Supernatural, for example, has blown us away once again with its depth and humour.
• And of course while I love the Spring and tolerate the Summer I long for the changes of Autumn.

So what makes you happy at the moment?
If I am honest... it was a toss up between this and a chocolate bar. :)

Oh what the heck... I am going to tell you a joke too, this one always makes me chortle.

What did the Green grape say to the Purple grape?

BREATHE!!!!!!

Get it? :) xx

Photo - Bits of us...

We have been looking at how much our lass looks

like us and we have found she has...

My hands....

and His feet. :) xx

Snippet - Know me by letter (A to F)...

I love it when the blogs and people that I follow from around the world inspire me. I get that warm feeling that tells me I have connected. Today's post is about me, an A to Z of Stacy (broken into manageable pieces).

And today's post was inspired by Square Peg in a Round Hole...

KNOW ME BY LETTER...

AMUSED: I think, in the most part, I am always amused because of how I was raised. My parents encouraged silliness and it kinda stuck. I can easily laugh at myself and what ever I find funny without the fear of being embarrassed by it.

BOOKS: I own over 1000 books and, at the moment, I can't get through the week without buying another. I love all genres, the smell of the pages, the weight of a book in my hand, the author's notes and i CURSE the Kindle!

COLLECTOR: It's not just books... I collect everything. I have hundreds of postcards, pencils, DVDs, CDs. Whole bunches of necklaces, photo frames, notebooks, cats, coasters, key rings, wooden boxes... I need help, me thinks.

DAUGHTER: I think I appreciate my Mother more now I know what it is like to have a daughter. Being the daughter I think I took a lot for granted, having the daughter I understand what it is to have that bond for another generation.

ETHAN HAWKE: My first real celebrity crush was on Ethan Hawke in White Fang. I have mentioned this many times before but I think it is important. He paved the way for my taste in men, he also made my expectations too high! :)

FANTASY: I daydream far too much. It's how I fall asleep, dream, get through journeys. It's how I write, read and plan my life. I love my fantasy world and how bit by bit I am making it real...

but mostly I love my fantasy world because I get Donnie Walhberg. Ha Ha :)

(Watch out for the next alphabetical segment...)

Musings - 'I'm of Ireland..' (Far and Away)...

Sunday the 3rd of July saw us once again in The Piece Hall for a festival.  For those of you that dont know, The Piece Hall is a 230 year old monument / building that was originally built for local trades people to bring thier 'Pieces' to sell.

This particular Sunday it was the annual Irish Festival reaching its 20th installment.

There were stalls, music, dancing, food and an overall day of entertainment...

 Katharine was fast asleep until the Bands began playing... startled much!

Beautiful building, blue sky, rides, stage and a Gunniess tent.

Katharine even ended up with a little friend to bring home. :) xx

Photo - Catching some Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs

Katharine fast asleep with her little friend who we affectionately call.

Bear, Teddy Bear. :) xx

Photo - Such a lady...

So very posh in her matching hat and dress. :) xx

Musings - What's in a name...

Today I want to tell you about my daughter's name. I never thought, while I was pregnant, that the pressure of choosing another person's name would be so ridiculous. There was so much to consider... she would be having it for life / would she be picked on at school / would her initials spell anything horrid / would she hate us for it?

In the end we chose two names that we loved, two names that we could tell her exactly why we chose them. So here I am telling you...

KATHARINE LORELAI

Katharine was inspired by a couple of exceptional ladies.



Katharine Hepburn

http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com/

A feisty redhead who has had an exceptional career as well as an interesting, if somewhat eccentric, personal life. As we knew that there was a chance that our Katharine would turn out to be a coppery beauty we thought it would be very fitting.

Katharine Kerr

http://www.deverry.com/

I love the novels of Katharine Kerr. There is just something wonderful about the worlds that she creates and the ability she has to help you disappear in and amongst the characters. I want my daughter to read them and love them too.

Lorelai was always a contender if we had a girl, though we were never brave enough to chose it as her first name. Sometimes I wish we had but then I remember that children can be cruel regarding unusual names.

Lorelai Gilmore

We loved Lorelai from our favourite television show... Gilmore Girls. It is a funny and fantastic show that is no longer running. It is about a mother and daughter, both called Lorelai, and the amazing relationship that they have together. It is very inspirational, moving, hilarious, mind boggling and I can't wait to play our DVD collection to our little Kaylai when the time comes.

So there you have it. The origin of a name.

So you tell me... what are your children called and why?

:) xx 

Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (7th July 2011)

A list of 10 old TV shows you’d like to make a comeback.

This week when I saw this writing option over at Mama Kat's Workshop I got rather excited. There are SO many TV shows that should warrant a comeback, those from my childhood and more recent ones alike. I started listing them off the top of my head and came up with a lot more than ten, I can tell you! So to write this post I took that list and decided firstly to cross off the ones that were there because I knew people would instantly think of them... such as 'Buffy', 'The Waltons', 'My So Called Life', 'Alias', 'Friends' and several others.

Then I started to eliminate shows which, with a bit of research, I found were actually still running just on some random obscure channel and then I sobbed over the ones that could and should never been done again... Peter Falk (aka Columbo) may you rest in peace.

I was left with a list of TV shows that I could pin point with exact memories from growing up, shows I watched to avoid studying and revision and other shows which I started to get into once I had cable TV only to find that they were old reruns of shows that were no more in production.

So my list, here goes... (ooh I have also listed a cast member you might know)...

1. Sons and Daughters (1982-1987)
An Australian show centering around the Hamilton family and the trials and tribulations not to mention twins separated at birth. Big 80s hair, big personalities, bitchy women, hot young men in high waisted jeans... Aussie soap at its best!.
(Peter Phelps - went on to star in Baywatch)

2. Murder She Wrote (1984-1996)
Writer Jessica Fletcher constantly finds herself caught up in mysterious crimes, Miss Marple style, taking an episode to solve the problem with keen insight and Angela Lansbury's infectious smile.
(Jerry Orbach - of Law and Order fame)

3. Quantum Leap (1989-1993)
A scientist transports himself through history into the bodies of unsuspecting people. Dr. Sam Beckett moves from body to body solving his host's problems before he can move on to the next time in history hoping that he will one day transport back into his own body. We still don't know if he did...
(Scott Bakula - Enterprise and Chuck)

4. Stay Lucky (1989-1993)
Most of you will have no idea what this TV show is. It wasn't particularly great but it was filmed in my village! I would often watch the filming and I have got quite a few autographs from the main cast members. All I really remember is that an ex-con holes up on a barge with the added intrigue of a will they won't they love story.
(Dougray Scott - Mission Impossible 2)

5. Burke's Law (1994-1995)
A tried and failed revival of the 1960s cop show. Peter Barton plays the young Burke in his tight jeans and fetching leather jacket. (Deserves a revival just for Barton's hair)
(Gene Barry - Burke's Law) ha ha

6. The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994-1998)
 What was not to love?
A young girl, after some accident or other, finds she has the ability to dissolve herself into a radioactive glowing puddle. Fun and daft antics follow.
(Larisa Oleynik - went on to star in 10 Things I Hate About You)

7. Heartbreak High (1994-1999)
 Another Aussie show that was great because of its Australian-ness. Set in a high school, we followed the life of some odd ball students as they tried to 'deal' with being a teenager, student and love interest of someone usually highly inappropriate.
(Simon Baker - The Mentalist)

8. Sunset Beach (1997-1999)
One of the most tragically overacted and overplayed yet addictive USA soap operas. Meg moves from her small town to the glitz of the beach to track a man she has fall for over the Internet. When she gets there she meets a whole range of characters not shy about scheming to get what they want.
(Eddie Cibrian - CSI: Miami)

9. Judging Amy (1999-2005)
The life and career of judge Amy Gray through divorce, raising a daughter, working in her juevenille courtroom and coping with a fiesty Mother who has a will and heart as strong as her daughters.
(Tyne Daly - of Cagney and Lacy fame)

10. American Dreams (2002-2005)
Set in the 60s when Band Stand was all the rage, the Vietnam War was claiming sons, JFK was shot and colour segrigation was errupting as a modern world demanded equality. Fantastic cast, story lines and of course amazing music. Talking of the music... watch out for a variety of stars cameoing as various music icons.
(Gail O'Grady - currently starring in MTVs Hellcats)

And of course I have to mention....

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

BRING
BACK
GILMORE
GIRLS!!!!!