By Loreena McKennit and its called the "Mummer Dance!"

Certain memories just pop into my head like bubbles in my bubble bath, of an evening...and this one "popped" while I was on the bus yesterday going into town to meet Mum for shopping!...it made me shivver.......

It had been a very sunny Wednesday morning back in 1988 when I was awoken by a stange sound...
A tinge of fear had ran up my spine as my newly woken brain reminded me that I was alone as Adrian (my first marriage) was off on a Meterology course in Bracknell, and this sound, was acutually someone trying to break into my house!!!!
18 months before we had bought the terrace stone cottage in New Mills in Derbyshire and money wise things had gone from bad to worse, where over a period of time most of the utillities got cut off and we had to use a card meter for the electric. Needless to say I soon came to realise that Adrian was absolutly hopelss with money, preffering to spend it on his beloved computers (Commoder 64 & Spectrum ZX) and the games that went with them. It dident take me long to realise I had married a 21 year old child!
Gathering my witts and rubbing my eyes I sat up with heart pounding at this noise of someone trying to break into my house. I quietly got dressed and sat on the bed for a moment feeling scared and confused....the scratching tapping noise was coming from both the back and front doors, as I could make out so I decided my best course of action was to look out of the bedroom window to see what was going on! I stood on the window sill and opened the top window only to see two middle aged men who had my front door wide open...........
"Excuse me!!!! whats going on?!!" I had shouted from the window.
"are you Mrs Goulding or Miss Short?" came a reply from the shorter man...the other chap appeared to be removing my front door lock!!
"Errr Mrs Goulding" I replied, now genuinly scared....this looked very official....
"Could you come down and open the back door?" the short chap shouted up, shading his eyes from the sunlight with his hand...I needed no further communication and quickly hurried down stairs where I saw sillouettes of 3 men standing at my back door!
I was alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tentivly I turned the key with a shaking hand and opened the door, where all 3 men promptly barged past me into the kitchen. The short man held a clip board, and proceeded to evict me from my home!!!!!!!!!
The faces of these men began to dissolve into hideous images as tears filled my eyes, as I was told Adrian had fallen too far behind with morgage payments and letters had been sent which I had never seen, so I figured Adrian must have hidden them!
"But I have pets!!!!" I wailed "a dog and a Budgie!"
"Not our problam love, we are here to get you off these premises imiediatly"
I was given enough time to stuff some belongings into a plastic carrier bag and collect my dog, Sam, and my birdcage, and before I knew it I was standing helplessly on my own concreate drive as these guys changed all my locks and locked and secured what had been my home!!! I had stopped crying, I was just stunned, stairing blankly at what had been my back door.
"I can drop you somewhere near by if you like!" the short Baliff had asked
" I work at a local pub! you could take me there!" I had muttered...and the next thing I knew I was being driven to work, a pub in the town that had been called the Bees Knees but during the drive the Baliff actually sounded very remorseful as he realised I had no idea about the morgage arrears and said something about being sorry, and he was only doing his job! It dident help me much though as he dropped me at the back door of the pub where I settled the bircage on a table and tied Sam to a chair leg so he dident run off, and I hurried to the bar to order a trebble Scotch from a bemused collegue who asked what was wrong.
" I just got evicted and I had no idea about it...can you give me change for the phone please?"
I downed my Scotch which calmed my splintered nerves a little, and ordered another before making my way to the payphone.
There was a crumpled piece of paper in my purse with a phone number on it. It was the number for Adrians Bracknell training collage, and I got through to him almost immiediatly. It turned out the he KNEW we were going to be evicted and he had even ARRANGED to be away on this course becuase (as he put it) he dident want to upset me!!!!!! He admitted to hiding the letters from the Bradford and Bingley, again because he dident want to upset me!!!! but while I was listening to these admissions my insides were boiling like a volcano...and I was ready to explode!
"Our marriage is OVER!!" I told him quietly but realy I wanted to scream down the phone at what a total f*****g bastard he was! Goodness knows how my resolve held but I think the Scotch helped!....I carefully replaced the phone on the reciever and quietly retreated to the back of the pub with my pets, and my drink, and my brain running like some manic machine, about what to do next.
The days that followed were a blurr!!
I had to beg for beds in the houses of regulars at my pub!! I begged my boss but he said a flat no!!...and spent my days in between pub shifts sat on the ground in the carpark of the local leisure centre. The carpark gave me small solace, and made me feel hidden because the carpark was quiet on weekdays so I was just an annoymous little person sitting in the sunshine with her back to the swimming pool looking out at the grey carpark!...at least the weather had been kind to me during those lowest of the low days! But there came an evening where I realy did have nowhere to sleep and knocked on the door of one of my regulars to beg yet again for a bed.
"Not tonight! I have friends staying!" the woman had said......
I was alone.......
So taking the last of my cash I took a taxi and booked into the Jodrell Arms in near by Whaley Bridge where I stayed for the next few days with my Dad picking up the rest of the bill, and at least I had a good breakfast every morning...Dad had also kindly taken my dog to my old friend, Jeans house where she had agreed to look after him, and a colleague at the pub agreed to take my budgie! Well at least my pets had new home, but I was still homeless......
It had been one of my lunchtime shifts when a regular called Aiden offered me a room in his house for £25 a week!!! and for a small moment I thought my luck had changed so I moved into this small room and arranged with the bank a date where I could collect the rest of my things from my house like my tv and hifi and over a space of a few days I settled in but things were far from perfect. My landlord, Aiden lived with his girlfriend, Rosezena and they had terrible and violant rows which I had to listen to most nights...so most nights I spent drunk to drown out both my own pain and their noise! Now at the pub I had befriended a short blond girl called Liz who looked a little bit like a midget version of Cyndi Lauper, but she was a punk, and wore weird and outrageus clothes and make up, but she took me to may parties (some of them wild) and showed me a kind of life that I dident like! However I also befriended a young blind guy called Graham who was much nicer and kept me company!! By this time Adrian was home and staying with me at the bedsit (which I reluctantly allowed) and dispite everything with the eviction I slowly came round to giving our marriage another try...Untill one evening my life fell to pieces once more...
Me, Liz and her husband Dave and my friend Graham decided to spend an evening at a pub in nearby Hayfield, and we stayed for a lock in (Graham knew the land lord very well) Now at about 1.30am David had vanished and me and Graham were chatting and drinking in the lounge...Suddenly Graham had gone very quiet and I asked why?
"Something is wrong!" he said, quietly "Very wrong....go and find your Adrian!" ...Blind Graham realy did have an extra sense!!!
Shrugging my shoulders I slid off my seat and went to where I had last seen him, in the pool room...as I turned the corner I was greeted with the sight of Liz sat on Adrians knee and they were deeply trying to evict each others tonsils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I snapped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TWANG!!!!!!!!!!
Saying nothing I just picked up Adrians full pint and tipped it over their two heads...Adrian remined calm but Liz lept back and began shouting obsenities at me like a deranged fish-wife!! She challenged me to a fight!
"Awwww sit down you silly bitch!!" I told her and pushed her back onto a chair!
"What are you going to do about it!! you midget!! you know I would f*****g kill you!!!" I growled at her, and at the time I realy meant it!!!! I stormed outside, tears starting and made my way to the phone box and phoned my Mum who was staying with my dad at the time...in between tears I explained to a very sleepy mother what had happened, and then she said those immortal words.
"For Gods sake Vicky, come home love!"
I agreed, and the next day my dad arrived in his beige Allegro, and we loaded the car and did an "afternoon" Moonlight flit from my scummy bedsit in New Mills...there was nothing left for me there now!
From here on the rest of the story gets better but I wont drone on. I filed for divorce a month later and celebrated with Mum when my decree finale came through!! and spent the next 4 years working full time at the Postern Gate in Warrington........

With all this running through my head I finally got of the bus yesterday, at our scruffy bus station, where Mum was waiting with her shopping tolly.....
"Been waiting long?" I asked her brightly...she had no idea what demonic memories had just been ressurected........

Its was just not my day today!!!...and I have had my first, and I hasten to add my LAST go at online Bingo!
Stupidly, and in a moment of bordem, I joined "Bingo Playground.com!" as they were offering £15 worth of free games if you signed up, so I signed up and played my free games (10p per card but you can have up to 48 cards!) so I quickly used up my free play money...now taking a huge risk I decided to top up my plays with £21 and only won about a £1!! What a rip off!!! Also the same people seemed to be winning over and over again! I was so annoyed I signed up with a different email addy (I have several) and got another free £15 worth, just for spite! but I still won nothing...Lesson? Dont play online bingo at Bingo Playground.com!!! Crikey I must have been bored!!!
Secondly my latest Troika vase still hasen't arived!!
In the listing the seller promised next day special delivery for £5.95, which I have paid for! Now I got the vase on the 23rd so technically it should have been posted friday for me to recieve on Saturday...Well I lost patience today when it still haden't arrived and banged off a "straight to the point" email to the seller reminding them that I have paid for this next day delivery service! AND low and behold I have heard nothing back from them so it looks like I have been ripped off, and the sodding thing cost £100!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next..........I tripped over Sirius water bowl, sending about 2 pints of water flying all over my new packaging and ruining it!!!
and.......at tea time Derek took me shopping only to find a veritable snow storm going off outside when I had finished!!! I was absolutly freezing!!!! and the forcast is about -4 tonight so Derek has broke out the extra quilt and I am going to fill my hot water bottle!!
OMG!!!!!!!!!! What a moaning cow I am!!! LOL!!
Well I have just had a bath (a very hot one) and I have a lovely supper planned of Dr Oatker Jambon crusty baguetts and I have a bottle of Calem white port on chill to take away the miseries of the day!
Nighty, night lovely folks!

x

After heaps of hard work and messing about fitting new carpets and what not, Mum finally moved into her new flat last night!!! She came here as I had cooked dinner, and left after Coronation street...We had a right ding dong trying to catch the cats, and then put them in thier carry case for their journey to the new flat! I caught Whisky, who is by far the more lively of the two, and Derek wrestled with Sooty who is the more reserved, but certainly showed his mettle when faced with the carry case, and scarpered!! Poor cats!! they dont realy know whats going on at the moment, but I hope they will settle quickly and forget thier moving ordeal! Sirius was whinning like an overgown puppy when Derek left to drive mum home...he was bounding between the couch under my front window, and upstairs to his office, while pausing to sniff around Mum's bedroom for the cats! I had to calm him down with his milk and biccies, before Derek came home about 25 minuits later! What a harried time this has been for us humans and the animals! But I am half expecting Mum to phone this morning to say she wants to go to town for lunch and a spot of shopping!! Yesterday afternoon I had made up a "Hamper" for Mum from Morrisons, including milk, bread, butter, cheese, bacon, ham, tea bags and eggs, as well as some goodies that I know she likes, like, Breakaway biscuits, lemon fancies, tinned Salmon, and some ready meals which will be handy untill she gets sorted with her unpacking. She had been well pleased with the hamper and I even bought her some "pots Mum's" as a moving in gift!...Mum is odd though...she "claims" to have diabeties but while she has been here I have seen her tucking into all manner of sugery things, so I am starting to have my doughts, and am thinking this may be another of her hypercondriac fancies! In all truth my mum is fitter than me!!!!!!! She has kept fit with years of walking her dogs!!! and I have already decided what her epitaph will read... "I told you I was ill!"
In other news, I have listed some more Dr Who stuff on ebay including a Tom Baker autographed 1980 annual, which at the moment is bidding for the princely sum of 99p!!!!!!! But I have 22 "watchers" on a gothic basque top I have listed for Halloween!! so I shall have to see what that will go for!...AND today is the anniversary of Derek and I meeting at the Melbourn pub in Duston on the 23rd of October 1993 so we have been together for 15 years today..........Crikey!!! murders get less time!! LOL!!!!!!!!

BACK SOON X

...has arrived!

Derek left our house this morning at about 6am to get to St Helens for 9-ish to help with the move and bring mum here with her two cats!
I spoke to her on the phone last night before supper, and she sounded absolutly exhausted, which isent surprizing as at age 75 she is realy at the wrong age for moving home! Derek has just phoned to say he has been there about half and hour now, and the removel van has been held up on its way from Preston. Sirius is moaning, grumbling and growling under my chair becuase he missed his walk this morning and I am not dressed yet, so he will have to wait...also the weather here is absolutly dreadfull at the moment....Yesterday we went to visit Auntie Joan (Derek's Dads sister) who said she was surprized that Mum's moving had happened so quickly...well the story behind that is during a phone call between Mum and our council about 3 months ago, Mum was told all kinds of rubbish about not being intitled to move here, and it realy upset her...soooooo.....Mouth-Almighty here (me) gets on the phone to my council and read them the riot act, good and proper. I also banged off a real "home truth" email to the chief housing officer. Anyway several emails later I found myself having a rather decent conversation with the head housing officer, who was realy helpful, and the next thing...Hey Presto!!! my Mum was offered a flat!!!!!! So I guess having a daughter with a huge mouth and witt to match, is not such a bad thing, afterall!! LOL!!! The flat is quite delightful and a bit larger than the one she has at the moment, with a bigger kitchen, which she loved. There is a large bright and airy living room, a large oblong bedroom, bathroom and a utillity room. But the real bonus here is this flat is under "sheltered accomodation" which means there is always someone on call to help Mum is anything happens. So no more sneaking off to hospital, without telling anyone for Mum!!! She has a habbit of doing this...Once she went missing for 4 days!!! and eventaully Derek called the Police round to call at her flat becuase we honsetly thought she had fallen or somthing, but no...she had been taken to hospital with suspected gall stones (which she dident have afterall) and this isent the only time this has happened either!!! She is a subborn old bean, and thinks she is still 20!!! At the start of this housing thing she had refused point blank to go into sheltered accomodation saying "I am not that passed it yet!!" and dispite terrible back and leg pains, she refuses to use a walking stick, which I would think would help her a lot! I always use a walking stick when I am hiking and its like having a third leg!! But it does help because of some trekking injuries I sustained in Nepal that I still suffer from today!
Ok...in other news!
I was as pleased as punch yesterday evening whe I got £15, for a Berghaus day bag (backpack) so a wee bit more money for the Troika fund! I have some more things listed this week, and two parcells to pack today...as well as helping with the move!
Ho Hummm............

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! ITS RANT TIME!!!

My brain still wasen't quite awake when I switched on the news this morning, but I hear that a young couple had recieved jail sentances of three months each, for having sex on a beach in Dubai!!!
Please copy and past to read the full story!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7673046.stm

When will people realise when you travel to another country you are subject to thier laws!!! and thier customs, and behave appropriatly!!! It realy p***es me off!!!!!!! A tiny little reserch on the part of the traveler is all it will take to make sure they do not cause offence to the "different" culture they are visiting, but people dont bother and to quote one of my clients (who I refused to book btw) "When I am on holiday I just do what I like!!!" But on Holiday and any kind of travel to a different culture the traveler must respect that certain lines are not crossed and remember they are a GUEST of the country they are visiting!!! In my opinion, people who dont follow these rules, should have their passports confiscated!!! Because lets face it!!! Just a few Britians behaving terribly in different countires gives the impressions to the locals that ALL UK national behave this way!...What makes this case worse is that the woman worked in Dubai and should have known better...afterall you would not have sex in full view of people on Blackpool beach would you?
In nearly all middle east and far east countries it is even wrong for couples of different sexes to even hold hands in public even if they are married!!! Let alone have sex!! Topless bathing is even illeagal in some places (I dont know why certain woman have to do this anyway as I just think its excibitionist and not everyone wants to see their tits anyway!!)....There is always uproar and indeed fear with holiday makers when they read in the paper that yet another poor young woman has been raped in Goa, India!!! It dosent surprize me!!! I have seen first hand westen women topless bathing, walking about in skimpy swimwear and genrally bearing every bit of flesh possible, even while eating in restruants! Now think about this for a second...In India, women are very modest, and would never dream of bearing thier bodies in this way! So the men in India are simply not used to seeing this ammount of female flesh, and they go onto sexual overload! BTW I just picked India as an example but this applies to all middle east and far east countries!....Even ME!!!! modest, descreat little old me!!! While on holiday in Kerala in southen India, Derek and I were sunbathing benith a large parasol on a deserted beach. I was wearing a FULL bathing costume and a Sarong which I was using to cover myself when I sat up...but....when I turned on my tummy and glaced up into the rocks behind the beach I caught sight of a man watching me, while fiddling, suspiciously with his Lungi!!!! (a Lungi is a cloth worn my men in southen India a bit like a tucked up short Sarong, for those who dont know)...I nudged Derek and hissed....
"There is a chap, hiding in the rocks, watching us and it looks like he is....." I couldent bring myself to say it....Derek got up and began to march to the place where the guy was hiding, where he promptly ran off...Derek came back to me and we settled down again thinking he had gone, but no, seconds later he was back!!!!!!!!! Eventually it got so bad we had to pack up and make our way back to the hotel!!!!
So the message here is "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"...and I ended up with a collection of Sari's and choli tops only to get told off by an old man at an elephant festival for smoking..."You look like beautiful Kerala lady!!! but smoking makes you look ugly!!"...Now in Nepal its perfectly acceptable for a woman to smoke (usually a pipe) and drink too!!! So I really felt at home there!! LOL!
Also this applies in reverse!
Why when people from other cultures choose to make their home in the UK, do they not adopt British culture? Such as basic things like learning our language! and I am talking about immergration here, not holidays...Here in Norhtampton, just walking about in the town its very rare to here English spoken, and I kid you not!!!!!! Your more likely to hear easten European language!!...If I choose to live in a different country, I would adopt all aspects of their culture including the language, and indeed because of my many visits to Indoniesia, I have learnt a lot of Bhasa Indoniesian (although I am in no way fluent) While on a travel agaent educational visit with collegues to Bali, as soon as I got there I began talking to the locals in Bahasa much to the amazement of my fellow travel agents, who, once they heard me, wanted to speek it themselves and asked me to teach them basics!!
Ok...back to these daft gits in Dubai...
In my opinion they should have recieved at least a year in prison, and be forced to take lessons in do's and dont's in the Emmerates!!! This is just my opinion so don't judge me too harshly on it!
Behaviour like theirs a: reflects badly on the British people...and b: makes themselves look hopelessly ignorant toward culture!!
They are to be deported back to the UK when their sentances are up...and when they are back here they should loose their privlidge of holding a UK passport for life! Afterall a passport is the most important document you are ever likely to posess...and holding a passport is a PRIVLEDGE, that gives you the chance to see the world!
Such silly buggers like these two make me sick...and indeed embarraced to be English!

Sorry *climbs off soap box* rant over............

Huge appoloiges folks!! I know my latest entries have got boring because its been all Troika - ebay sales BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!

So I must explain how this all came about recently, and some of it is a tad bit embarracing! But before the embarracing bits here is how my love of Troika started and it was all but forgotton untill about a month or so ago!
My Grandma Milly Short was a delightful old lady (I loved her much more than me other Nanna) She had a wicked sense of humor, and loved to read me the horror type stories of The Brothers Grimm! so she was always there for baby sitting duties! She would let me stay up late and watch her favorite Coronation Street and tell me silly stories about my dad as a baby, which always made me giggle! In her youth she had been a brilliant tailoress, amature Opera singer and a genius whith her treasured Mandolin!!...and if she was babysitting me at her flat she always let me watch Dr Who!! (black and white telly though) and indeed enjoyed Dr Who herself, bless her.....
...and she had this Troika coffin vase on her sideboard!
As a child I had been totally fasinated by it!! Its odd shape, and the colours seemed to change in different light and every time I looked at the paterns always looked different to me! As a 5 year old I found it very beautiful...she never let me touch it though, saying my Grandad had payed a fortune for it in the 60's and it was an anniversary present. Sadly my Grandad Short died about a month after I was born in 1967 so I never knew him. But there was this beautiful vase always holding my attention every time I visited her for a game of Domino's or cards! As I grew up I wanted some of this gorgeous pottery for myself but it was only then that I realised just how expensive it was, and it was only ever sold at the Heals shop in London, so it was a bit out of my reach...sadly...I had forgot all about the vase untill....Then on Vicky's 41st birthday she got totally p***ed!!!!!!!!!! and I mean REALY drunk (I think I had 3 bottles of vodka on my birthday alone!!) *hangs head in shame* but I am not used to drinking this much and when I finally decided to sober up, I had the hangover from HELL!!!! apart from the dry vomiting, it felt like I had a million elephants bouncing round my head, and even Sirius was discusted with me! He trotted into the bedroom probabally to see if I was still alive, and when I tapped the bed for him to jump up, he just threw his head around in discust and walked off!!! I couldent blame him, I was a total mess.....Anyway, Derek got me some rehydration powders and gradually I began to come round, but I stayed in bed, because I dident trust my legs to carry me anywhere, but staying in bed meant I had to watch unbelivabley boring daytime TV and just read to try and take my mind of feeling like s**t!....I think it was the programm "Flog It!" and I had been watching it "sort of" but at the end of the show the presenter said....
"and one little gem to look out for at the moment is Troika pottery!"
and sure enough he was holding a Troika coffin vase not unlike the one my Gran had, had!!
My head pulled up like I was a puppet on a sting!!! and the memories came flooding back...so I decided there and then that as soon as I was better I was going to check the prices for Troika on ebay!!
My recovery was a slow one!
But eventually I was better, but only to find myself with a terrible cold! I went to see my Doctor who diagnosed Tonsilitus (or somthing liek that) and said my drunken escapade had lowered my imunity, and gave me a slap on the wrist....
The next thing I was sat with my laptop and I brought up Troika on ebay, and was pleasently surprized by the prices, so basicaly that is what kicked me off on my Troika binge!....about 10 years ago I got very drunk and during that recovery I was watching daytime TV and picked up an amazing recipie for chicken breast stuffed with Dolchelata cheese and wrapped in Palma ham, baked, with spring onion mash, and steamed Asparagus!!!...so the moral to this tale??? Hangover, daytime TV watching does have its uses!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because I feel like it.....

Oh efffing, s****y, Bug**y, Bol*****g DARN AND DRAT!!!!!!!!

Derek came home early yesterday so taking advantage of this I asked him to take me to the post office in the village so I could post my heap of parcels from ebay sales!!
"Should I take my purse or are you paying?" I asked as he put Sirius' coller and lead on.
"No! I have got my wallet!" He exclaimed. So I just shrugged and we left the house and got into the car...On our way there Derek said he dident want to come in the post office with me as he was embarraced at how many parcels I was posting!!! SNOB!!!!!!!!!! but he would wait out side with Sirius and I should call him in when it came to pay. Well I was thinking what a stupid idea, but I wanted to get on with it, and dident think this daft arrangement was worth arguing about it so in I went and began off-loading my parcels onto the post office scales...seconds later Derek pushed open the door of the post office with our excited dog pulling and panting.........
"I have left my wallet in the car!!!"
Well at this point I was about half way through doing the parcels, and Derek had left before I could say anything....Now Derek is the daftest git on the planet, and its hard to belive he has an MA from Sheffield in Economics and various other degrees!!...I was fuming....anyway down to my last two parcells to post and Derek still had not retuned so I pushed the door and looked outside to where he had parked the car, and to my horror of horrors his car had GONE!!! "Daft t**t has left his wallet at HOME!!!" my brain was screaming!...On to the last parcel and I had to explain to the Post Master what was happening and immiediatly he started tutting, shaking his head, and muttering to himself! After 5 minuits there was still no sign of Derek and by now the Post Master had began to read me the riot act!!!!!! "This is not acceptable" and "you would not do this in Tescos!" he was growling! All I could do was helplessly appologies and wait for Derek, making several trips to the door in the process. Eventually I saw him crossing the road and rushing to the post office red faced "I left it at home" he wailed. When he got to the counter to pay I had lost all my patience altogether and shouted at the Post Master!!!
"Now can you please tell him what you have just been telling me!!!!!!!!!!!!"
But my language to Derek outside, following this was very less than lady-like, so I wont post it here!!

BUT.............the story dosen't end there...
My latest Troika vase was due to arrive this morning.
Now our Saturday parcel post comes amazingly early, so last night I asked Derek if he would wake me at about 7am (I am usually up by 7:30 anyway) so I could wait for the post! as I knew Derek would not hear the door bell from his office and he is going slightly deaf (too many years listening to Led Zepllin) ...but he dident wake me and I was sleeping like a baby untill 8am!! But the post had already been and there was a post note on the door mat with a postage arival time of 7:30am!!!!!!!! (MORE HORRID EXPLEATIVES) but Derek went to the post office for me at just after 9am and picked up my amazingly well packaged Troika vase!!







I absolutly adore this beautiful work of art!!
My research on the artist of this beautiful vase was not difficult! It is signed H.C which is Honor Curtis who worked for Troika between 1968 and 1972 so her work is rare!! This piece is circa 1969 and these double base vase's go for an absolute fortune at auction! I have carefully been checking Bonhams and other auction house websites, where I have almost fell off my seat at the prices Troika is going for!
Ah yes!!! I have done my homework Sir!!
So I am guessing all this hassle is worth it realy....guessing!
Ok, now I have to get back to ebay, to see if I have anymore things I have to parcell up!
It never ends!!
LOL!!!!!!!! x

Just thought I would mention the Dr Who items I WONT be parting with...and there is quite a lot!!

First and formost is my Dalek collection! I have Daleks from all era's and I am quite proud of them, including "Red Nose" the Dalek, who was a special gift from Richard, and is still proudly displayed in my living room!...Also my Sly McCoy "?" knitted jumper, my Pertwee signed T shirt, "I am the Doctor" book which was a treasured gift from Colin, my Dapol figures (I was never a fan of Dapol but I am very attached to these) my perfect condition Tom Baker figure, and lots of other bits and pieces that are special to me for various reasons...The only thing that would tempt me into buying WHO would be if I found the Giant Robot in good condition and at a good price! I had this item as a child but like everything that got into my mischievous childhood hands it got took to bits and eventually lost! But I have been chasing the Giant Robot for years on ebay but have never got one! Oh and the Weetabix cards (I have some of these already) Which I also had a set as a child but goodness knows what happened to them! I am also doing WHO market research on ebay to see what is selling and what is not...I was going to part with my "Monsters on Earth" CD collection but wont now as this delightful box set is only selling for peanuts! Also the Battles in time stuff is going slowly too so I am not going to list my collection in my Tardis box...To suppliment my WHO selling (and my Troika Pottery Fund) I am selling anything that iether dosent fit me any more, some other pottery, and my huge collection of megga high heeled boots and shoes, which I can't walk in!
In other news, Mum has changed her moving date to Monday the 20th, and Derek has kindly taken the week off work to help with her moving...and I am souring ebay (AGAIN) for some good priced carpet as her new flat is totally uncarpeted, but the decorating is in very good condition! I heard from the chap selling my new Troika vase, and he said he is posting it today on special delivery, which is kind of him! Its a beautiful piece and I will post piccies when it arrives!...Oh and my big fishes have started....errrr.....romantic passions again! I am leaving them to it this time as it takes so much time and effort to bring up the babies, but saying that its a total delight to watch them grow, and my babies are growing very fast indeed!
Well I will hop off and parcell up a Carter's Ship shaped tea pot I have just sold for £10!! Good eh??? ;-))

....and I got the vase.......only just!!! for ...a VERY princely sum!!

But here seemed to be a problam with auction sniper though...they bid for me at 9 seconds and not 7 seconds, and then a message from them popped up and said I had not won the auction...??? Confused?? I certainly was...and now my paypal transaction seems to be taking an age to go through!! There is always hassle, isent there?
Anyway I am listing more Dr Who stuff today including a paperback book signed by Colin Baker, a hard back Omnibus book and a more recent Dr Who filo-fax featuring the 9th Doctor!! Things I am considering are one of my Tardis money box's and some DVD sets. I would like to sell all of my Target books but unfortunatly I have had them since I was a child and most have some form of scribbling in them or my name and address! So I wont get anything for them...condition is not good either! Also I have heaps of annuals left, mostly from the 80's. I will list these but I dont expect much for them though!
In other news I have taken advantage of the good weather today and got a jolly heap of washing done and on the line to dry! I have given up using my tumble dryer to save on electricity costs and so I dry my washing on a clothes horse by the fire, and Dereks shirts go on the line so they don't smell of smoke!! I am a very considerate smoker you know! LOL!! Bad news from yesterday though...my antique microwave died!! *mourns old microwave*...I was defrosting a small lasagne for lunch and when I belived it had finished I opened the microwave only to find my lunch still in a solid block and the microwave not working! My microwave realy belongs in a Microwave Museum!! Its almost 20 years old, so its had a good life!
Just fed my ever hungry baby gold fish, and then I will do some more listing!!
Mum phoned me this morning with her definate moving date!! 19th September!! Oh good grief...that will be a date long remembered!!

"Tentahooks"
Not spelled right and sounds like I'm on some weird drug or somthing! LOL!!!

In other words I am nervous today as that gorgeous Troika vase finishes at about 8pm tonight and the bidding is almost up to the maximum I can afford!! I will cry for a month if I don't get it!!!!!!
Also I am getting paranoid about this credit crisis as I have a jolly good ammount stuffed in paypal at the moment (for the vase! if I get it) and I keep thinking paypal will go bust or somthing and I will loose my cash!!! Someone, please reassure me this won't happen!! I could put the money into my proper bank account but paypal charge for bank transferes and at the moment I need all the money for the vase!
Bloomin' heck!!! I am cracking up!!!
Yesterday it was persisting it down when I packed my sales into a water proof back pack and got the bus into town! But an amusing little account of two blokes in the post office realy made me smile!...one guy was infront of me and his mate walked in about 4 people back from me. They began talking loudly because there was a lot of space between them and they were talking about work so I assumed they were collleuges...
"Done Colin still work there?" chap number one asked
"He left, but I do know he has a baby girl now" chap number 2 replied
"And you! your married yet?" chap numder one!
" Naw!!! its not for me!! I can't be doing with that...I just slip in and out, quietly!!!"
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The thing is, I dont think the guy had any idea of what he had just said!! But people in the que were blushing and sniggering quietly!!! By the time I got to the counter I could not stop giggling myself! Anyway after this it was about 1pm so I decided to do a rare thing and have a burger in Burger King.......Crikey!!! it was like a meeting of "over eaters anonymus!" ...Now I am certainly no waif at a UK size 14 but the women in front of me had an arse the size of Coventry!! I kid you not...and as I took my seat to tuck into my moderatly sized burger (no fries) I looked about me and could hardly belive the ammount of huge people, stuffing their faces like the 3 minuite warning had just gone! Now I am not "fattist" but can't overweight people see that eating like this is slowly killing them! There is no exuse for getting so big. I eat a fair bit too (when I am not ill) but I pole dance and walk my dog for excersize! Oh well, it will be a long time before I go into Burger King again, so I should stop moaning! But I could not belive the cost either!! "its cheeper to have fries" the nice lady told me with a strong Spanish accent! "I dont want fries as I am just recovering from an illness and have had no appitite!" I explained. Then she promptly charged me £4.55 for a small diet coke and a whopper Burger!! I nearly fell of my perch in shock!!!!!!!! Next time I go in there I will make sure I am desperatly hungry and have the fires!
After all this excitment (not) I took a walk back up Abington street and into the pound shop for Sirius' treats, and got the bus back home where I was pounced all over by a very excited, potty dog and got my face licked into oblivian! He knew I had got his treats because he began sniffing, then rummaging in my bag, for his chews and cheesy bacon twirls which he loves!
Right...I had better be off now and get back to checking my auction....
I could use some valium at the moment to calm my nerves! But I will stick to my coffee!! *giggles*

Huge appoligies again for not staying in touch and on top of things, but I feel like I am drowing in a mass of bubble wrap and brown warpping paper at the moment!!!!!
Yesterday evening I packaged up 9 books and other bits for my ebay customers, and I thought I was going to have nightmares about being attacked by tons of packaging!! Instead I had a nightmare about being chased across country by an ugly fat guy in a Helicopter!! In my dream I was helped by some kids and a Priest and I had to hide in peoples houses!...I have a weird (or is it wired?) brain!!
Anyway I have made just about enough money for my next Troika vase that I have set my heart on! I have also set "auction sniper" on it to bid at 7 seconds but I am going to have to change my top bid before it finishes tomorrow as the bidding has been a bit manic on this vase as its a rare piece from the 60's! So now today (after I am awake) I have to make another trek into town to post a ton of books! Sirius wont be happy as I am having to put him in the kitchen again when I go out because of all this megga expensive pottery I now have in my living room...but I leave the radio on for him, and he has his comfy doggie bed, water, chews, treats and toys to keep him occupied while I am gone! Yesterday when I came home he almost ate me with a manicly wagging tail, joyfull wimpers, and knocked me onto the couch to give me the biggest doggie wash ever!!! (doggie kisses) but because I was busy yesterday sorting Mums new flat I had not gone to the pound shop to buy him his usual treats which I always do when I am out!
...Good grief!!! Mum has just been on the phone to say she has spent nearly all night packing her things up!!!
I suspect I am in for a very busy couple of weeks.....

*needs more coffee*

Crikey she travels more than I did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For some time now my mum has been trying to get a council flat swap here in Northampton and 3 days ago she called me simply bursting with excitment saying she has been offered a flat (ground floor) just 2 miles from my house!!! Yesterday she drove me bonkers with constant phone calls with questions like "where is the nearest Doctors, bus route, shops" etc and the phone kept ringing and ringing...at one point I was cleaning the fish out and had to ansewer a call from her with soaking we hands for yet another question she had...later that day Derek and I took the short drive to the flat to have a look at it, and it looks something like she is living in at the moment only the area appears quieter. We dident have any keys so we could only view it from the outside but it looks ok!! So Mum has booked her National Express ticket for tomorrow and Monday we are going into town to sign the papers for it and to view the flat properly!!!!!!!
Now because of my recent activities with ebay my house resembles Steptoes Yard, as I have been sorting things from all rooms of my home to sell on ebay, and this includes my guest bedroom, which Mum uses!!! At the moment you can't see the bed for clothes, shoes, boots and hand bags so later today I am going to have to shift my jumble sale back into the wardrobe!!! Arrrggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I explained all this to mum but she just said it dosent matter, but that dosent alter the fact I am basically quite house proud, and hate my home to look like a tip!!!...Anyway she is set to arrive tomorrow at about 5pm where Derek will pick her up from the bus station!! She is going home tuesday!!
In ebay news things are awfull at the moment and so far I have only made about £40 with ebay taking my listing fees of £30 out of my paypal account today!!! Things are going from bad to worse!!! I have parcelled up the things that have been paid for so far and will send them out on Monday when Mum and I are in town sorting out the flat! Heck I got so desperate today I even listed some old Merlin Dr Who stickers!!! and other bits and pieces! But its getting very difficult to know what will sell, and what wont!! My Peggy Nisbet doll dident sell, for instance!!
Oh well I am going to have a small coffee and a ciggie before I set to work on Mums bedroom, and raid the freezer for some idea's about tomorrows lunch!!
Looking forward to bath, Port and Troika admiring tonight!!! LOL!!

X X

Apart from the rocks (Agate slice and Ameythist) from left to right, items are......

Sun candle holder to remind me of summer during the cold winter nights. Bought in Aldeburgh!

Troika Chimney vase by Alison Leach circa 1971

Troika coffin vase by Penny (Rowland) Black circa 1975

Carn unsigned vase but the art work is very like John Beausman...I just love the shape of this vase!!!!!!!!!

Small Carn-like bubble pot I picked up in Aldeburgh for the princely sum of £2!!! Unsigned of course!!

Small pale blue round trinket box possibly very eary Troika which is etched with a trident and a T on the bottom!

Large lump of Quartz clear crystal, on top of my Angel reading cards!!

....Oh and the painted "stained candle lamp in the middle I painted myself!

Looks a little crowded so I will have to make some more room!!! *grinns*

love Vix

Yawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry for the boring ebay posts folks!! I realy should get a life!! LOL!!!!

Yesterday evening I found a very sneaky, but superb tool for winning ebay auctions!! Its called Auction Sniper.com and when you sign up, you simply put the item number of the thing you want in a box with you maximum bid and they bid for you with just seconds to go so you win the auction!!! YAY!!! and it works too as I won my Troika chimney vase this morning for £179.90!!....sounds a lot I hear you say?....well let me explain The seller of this item had no idea who the artists signature was on the bottom of the vase, so with a little patience I checked it and compared the writing on line only to discover the siggy belongs to an artist who worked for Troika in the late 60's named Alison Leach, and her work is much sought after...a vase of hers (not much unlike mine) was on the Bonhams website with a "sold" price of £450!!!!!!!!!!!!!....so perhaps I have bagged a bargin! I hope so!
My auctions are still going slow but today I listed one of my Product Enterprise talking Cybermen, so I am hoping to get some interest with him!! I have a few others and if he sells well I shall list them too! Later today I am listing my blue 12 inch clockwork man! His box is a bit battered but at least he is in a box! Also I have had a bid on the pocket watch, but most of the current interest is on my annuals!
Bad news about the Troika coffin vase from France!!
The seller posted it with a service called Coliposte, and today I was reading reviews about this French postal service and they were terrible!!! People who had parcels posted with this service were having to wait months for their things to be delivered, so alarm bells started ringing....when I took Sirius for his walk I bumped into my friendly post lady and asked her about it, and she said she had never heard of them, so I have emailed the seller in France for some more information! Either that or I want a refund as I cannot aford to loose £129 which is...............
OPPPPPSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ParcelForce just delivered it this very minuite!!!
Its gorgeous!!! and I think I owe French Bob a big apologie!! not that my email was a horrid one!! I just asked some questions,very politly!
Heck!! It was a darn good job I wasen't still out walking Sirius! Phewww!!! that was lucky!
Cor Blimey!!! I can now relax with a nice late lunch!! and an icey cold can of diet coke!

love Vix

I must get my eyes tested as everytime I list stuff on ebay it gives me a dreadfull headach!!

Anyway, I put some more stuff on there again today, and there is a lot more to come!!! (Dr Who collection that is) and at least I will make some space in my over crowded garage and make enough money to bid on the Troika chimney vase I have got my beady eye on!! It finishes tomorrow at about 10am!! I still have not recieved the coffin vase from France which I am a bit miffed about but I guess I must just be patient!
Now I have been seriously considering listing my WHO video collection but I am afraid that no one collects the videos anymore. But all my action figures will go eventually and probabally even the playset too!!! PAH!!!! 41 year old woman playing with action figures in a Tardis playset???? How daft is that??? LOL!! But I am not getting rid of any of my treasured, vintage stuff, and that includes my Dapol, Denys Fisher and Mego stuff, and anything that has been hand signed!!
The thing is, I collect things like a Magpie....Peggy Nisbet dolls, ceramic lighthouses, rocks....oh and Goldfish!! and I am finding there is less and less room in my house for the stuff! Now with a few carefully chosen, invested pieces of Troika would be nice to display and not take up half as much room, but I will have to re-sort the contence insurance!
Opps....another job for me to do!!

Back soon! x

Not too sure how many of you know that one of my hobbies is glass-painting (staining) which I have been doing ever since I got a glass painting kit for Christmas back in 1977 and I have been hooked ever since! Now if I am honest here my house is over run with the stuff so yes...you've guessed it...I have listed a painted jar of mine on ebay!!!
I felt myself cringing while I was listing it as I get very embarraced about my ...errr...."art"...and it is one of my basic pieces with abstract painted shapes as opposed to the celtic art that I usually do on glasses and jugs. The Celtic art takes an absolutle age to do and realy makes my eyes ache so I am very reluctant to part with it so I just listed the basic jar....its wont sell....its rather silly realy...I even said it would look good on a sunny shelf filled with dried flowers!! LOL!!! but if it does sell even just for pennies, I will be very impressed. Infact I will be impressed if it is viewed at all!!!!!!!!! Its biggest selling point I suppose is that its unique and there is not another like it in the world, so I hope just that fact alone will interest some folks! So if you would like a look at it and perhaps a laugh please log onto my ebay page:

roundtheworldgal

I am listing some more stuff today, and my ebay fees are getting higher and higher which is a bit of a pain....My Troika Penny Black coffin vase still hasent arived from France which I am miffed about too...the guy who I bought it from sent me tracking details but the site is all in French, and my very basic school girl French isent good enough to inderstand it!!! UGH!!! and I still have my close eye on a chimney vase for £159 without any bids yet...emmmm....we shall see how it goes!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My Dr Who "new Doctor" magazine has had a bid of 50p!!! Yippeeeeeeee!!!

From about 8am this morning I have been listing a heap of Dr Who books, annuals magazines and all kinds of stuff and I now have achey fingers and a slight head ache, so I have given up for now and have taken a couple of Neurofen with a cup of tea!
My love affair with Doctor Who might actually be at an end, as I have been listing things I would not have drempt of a few years ago! I think from now on my love of Doctor Who will just be relegated to a pleasent childhood memory...and its about time I grew up! LOL!! Also its not just my Doctor Who collection that has had a bit of a bashing of late. I have even listed one of my treasured Peggy Nisbet Royal Dolls!! Horror of horrors! I listed Kathrine of Aragon the older (I have kept the younger version as its worth more) and she has a couple of "watchers!" but no bids as yet! and if I still had the boxes for them some of my Harbour Lights lighthouses would probabally go too!!
Why all this selling? I hear you ask!...is she realy that skint??
Well my passion for Troika pottery has been fired "again" with a relitivly cheep peice I got from ebay recently...My Nan had a Troika coffin vase when I was a child and I was absolutly fascinated by it!!! The odd shape and the texture as well as the earthly colours!! But as I grew older I found it difficult to collect as its just soooooooooooo expensive! To date I only have 3 Troika pots (small ones) but while I was ill in bed I was watching one of those daft auction programmes you find on dreadfull daytime telly and my old pal popped up!!...Troika!! So I decided then and there that I was going to see what the going rates are for the stuff on ebay, and I must say I was pleasently surprized! Perhaps the credit crunch has its uses afterall as I was viewing pages of lovely troika art from less that £100!!!! and my fingers started itching!!....so thats what all the selling is about....Its now my intension to invest in some of this gorgeous art, and belive me its a very good invenstment!! My favorite Troika artist is Penny Black (yes its a lady and not a stamp LOL) and her work can sell for up to £1,000...now I can't afford that but I can certainly look for the smaller peices like wheel and coffin vases!
...for now, I shall need all the luck in the world with my selling....and keep dreaming!!

love Vix x

Yes!!!
the time has come folks!!
But I thought I had better mention it here incase anyone wants to see my stuff on ebay!!! My ebay name is:

roundtheworldgal

I am not getting rid of anything deeply treasured....just things that I have two's and three's of and I am even considering getting rid of my full battles in time collection as now it is compleate (without super rose) its just stuck in my kitchen cabinate...and if I am honest here I have quite lost interest in collecting the new stuff anyway!!! I am tired of making excuses in Woolworths of "Oh my son collects this stuff" when its realy for me...some of my auctions may even include annuals that I have doubles of, but I certainly wont be parting with any of my vintage who things, apart from a pair of gloves from 1984, that are just collecting dust!!!
Also I dont realy have the space anymore...and more and more of my collection is being relegated to my garage!

So if anyone is looking for anything spacific, please let me know and I will see if I have got it, before I list it!

I hope to help out!

love Vix X

Its a heck of a drive from here, but as Derek decided to take the week off to look after me, he suggested it the day before yesterday, and I heartily agreed!!!
So at a little after 9am yesterday morning we packed a few bits and bobs, including Sirius's travel water bowl and 2 litres of water for him, and a can of Irn Bru fresh from the fridge for me!! Now in the old sports car a trip to Aldeburgh would have only taken about 2 hours, but our new "little" car took about an hour longer, but it was a pleasent day so it was a nice drive! Sirius is as good as gold in the car, but I have now bought him his very own car harness so he is safe with his own seat belt...but about 5 miles out from the town he started to wimper for a wee, so we had to stop in a grassy layby so he could do his buisness and have a drink of water.
Aldeburgh is a delightful place!! Its tiny, but boasts the finest fish and chips in Britian (well in my opinion!) and as I had not eaten properly in over a week, the prospect of some Aldeburgh fish and chips seemed like a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow to me!! Oddly enough though I had forgotton how much my tummy has shrunk with not eating properly so I only just managed some lovely Cod and mushy peas!! YUMMY!!! I am feeling almost human again! Anyway Derek took Sirius for a walk along the beach and I opted for a short walk into the town where they have some interesting curio shops and antique shops as well as second hand book shops which I love! But oppps....when I got out of the car I felt about 90 years old as the muscles in my body still ached dreadfully and I had to stretch to get them working...its realy odd how having a cold or somthing realy makes your muscles ache..??
Well when all said and done we had a lovely day out, and I realy do think the sea air has done me good, becuase I feel much better this morning, so I have been ebay listing again!!!
I just hope I can make enough money for my next Troika wheel vase!!! LOL!!!!
Hope everyone is well and enjoying the early Autmn sunshine!!!

love Vix xx

Some up dates for you as some things have gone from bad to worse, as last friday saw me back at the Doctors where I discovered I have Laringitius (not sure how to spell it, but its the one that effects the larynx in the throte) so basically I fell like somthing brown and smelly and I have compleatly lost my voice....also I am on some weird medication which makes me feel very tired...saying all this though, I point blank refuse to stay in bed so I have been catching up with some much needed Tudor drama, and drinking gallons of squash, when I am not yawning my head off....and squeeking like a derraged mouse!!!
I consoled myself last night in the form of a little treat from ebay....
A Carn pottery vase in the style of "Trokia" which I love!!!
I hopped in and dropped a last second bid with just 4 seconds to go!!!! Naughty me! its gorgeous though, and will post a piccy when I get it!

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible folks! x x

But I nearly wasen't.........
My Birthday bash with Mum got a little out of hand!!
I got absolutly PLASTERED!!!!!..........and I spent an absolute fortune in Beatties (House of Fraser) which included some majorly expensive bags, and a pair of impossibly high heels from Faith! They are a bit too high to wear but I like them just the same, so I will probabally just look at them! Well I am silly like that! LOL!!!!
BACK SOON FOLKS!! x x

Now with our shopping baskets getting more expensive by the second, I thought it would be a good idea to ressurect some of my old cooking skills in an effort to save some pennies! I learned to make pastry at school from a lovely teacher called Mrs Cartwright (the only school teacher I ever liked) and pastry making, which sounds daunting to some, is indeed very easy if you follow some simple basic rules like keep your hands cool, only use iced water, and let your pastry "rest" in the fridge for 15 mins after making it!!!....and belive me when I say pastry made by yourself tastes a lot nicer than the pre-made pastry you get in the shops...AND once you know how to make pastry you can do all kinds of dishes like steak and mushroom pie, chicken encroute and just about anything realy...so firstly a very basic recipie for short crust pastry!

You will need a mixing bowl, rolling pin, small glass of iced water, a drop of milk, and a pastry brush, kitchen scales!
The is a rule to the ammounts of things added like your butter and lard should be one half to the ammount of flour used
Example:

8oz Palin flour
2 oz butter
2 oz lard (and a pinch of salt)

And this is the ammounts I have used for this recipie!

Before you begin fill a small glass (about 6oz) with water, and sit it in the freezer! (small coffee cup size)

Sift the 8 oz of flour into a mixing bowl with a sifter. Next take out the measured ammounts of lard and butter and slice it into the flour into small pieces as this makes the "rubbing in" easier! and add a small pinch of salt...Before rubbing in (which takes about 5 minuits) make sure your hands are cold by running your wrists under a cold water tap! Then take your bowl with the mixture and go and sit down infront of your favorite Dr Who story! heheheheh...but this works, because if your relaxed, your pastry will taste better!...gentley but firmly rub the butter and lard pieces into your flour, with you cool finger tips, and as you rub, lift your hands high over the bowl, to get as much air into the mixture as possible. This makes your pastry lighter...after about five mins when all the butter and lard pieces have vanished, the mixture will have a "loose" texture, so you are now ready to add your iced water!!! Make a hole in your mixture, like a kind of well, and take your iced water from the freezer and pour it into the mixture!! Your dont need much to start with! Just pour in a little and fold the mixture into the water. If its too dry, just add more iced water and if you make it too wet you will need to add some extra flour...but its best to go slowly with the water so you can build up the right consistancy yourself!!! Finally you should have a ball of pastry and if you have made it well the bowl will be dry of mixture!!!! So give yourself a jolly good slap on the back and put the ball of pastry in your fridge for 15 mins to "rest"...and go and watch some more Dr Who!
So thats your pastry sorted!
Pastry will keep for up to 12 days in the fridge, or you can freeze it for use later, but before you use it make sure your pastry is at "room temp" before you set to work pie making!

FILLING!!!! Apple and blackberry!!

1 large Bramley apple (or two med size)
small punnet of blackberries............HOLD IT!!! This is the season for blackberries so why not go out and pick your own, because blackberries cost a small fortune in the supermarkets! My garden is full of them at the moment, and this is what set me off on this recipie realy!!
Ok, about 4 ounces of blackberries! (rinsed)
a mug of water
level tablespoon of suger!

Now here your aim is to make a kind of "fruit stew"
Fill a medium sized pan with your cup of water, and set it to boil, add suger. Peel and core the apples and slice them thinly into the pan! Wash your blackberries and rinse them and add these to the pan also...Just before the water boils, turn the heat down to a simmer and add a lid to the pan...DO NOT boil the fruit! the trick here is to simmer, gently for about 20 mins. After this time is up set the pan of stewed fruit to cool...
PIE MAKING!!!
You will need a medium sized oven proof dish! I find that a pyrex lid from a cassarole dish to be good for me! "Grease" the inside of the dish carefully with butter. This is so your pie wont fall to pieces or stick to the sides! Your ball of pastry needs to be rested at room temp for about 20 mins before using! Now roll it into a ball shape and cut through it, 1/3 will form the lid of the pie 2/3 will form the base!! Obviously you need more pastry for the base!!! Roll out the base piece first! To begin with dust your work surface with flour and place your "base" half of the pastry in the middle...flour your rolling pin too, before you begin to roll...and roll out the pastry untill it is about 1/3 bigger than the dish! When it is large enough fimply fold the pastry in half and place it in the dish! Open the fold and gently push the pastry into the dish with you fingertips. Next pour your, cooled fruit stew into your pastry dish...then as you rolled out the base pastry, do the same for the lid!! Once you have rolled out the lid (and before adding to the pie) pour some milk into a saucer (your cat may get jealous here) and take a pastry bush and paste the milk around the top of the pie where the lid will join the base! This helps to seal your pie!! and finally add your lid!! YOUR ALMOST THERE!!!! cut off eny excess pastry from around the pie with a sharp knife, slicing away from you, and then "pinch" the pastry top together with fingers and thumbs all around the top edge of your pie. Also take some scissors and cut 3 or 4 snips into the pie middle as this helps the pie to "breath" while being cooked, lastly brush some milk over the pie top, to brown it............Pre heat your oven to gas 6 or 205 electric and cook your pie for 40 to 45 minuits!
Take out your friut pie and allow it to cool before serving...a little warning here!! NEVER serve fruit pie straight from the oven, and the fruit will literally burn your tongue off!!!
Fruit pie is best served slightly warm with a dusting of suger and a huge dollop of Devonshire clotted cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...or any kind of cream realy, or if you prefere, custard!! Hot or cold!!
Your pie will keep for about 10 days in the fridge (I can gaurentee it will be eaten long before this) or you can even freeze it!!! if you want to use it later!
Baking is such great fun!! and both me and Sirius alway end up covered in flour!! we love it!
Good luck!! x x x x x

Yesterday I felt absolutly terrible!!
I was sick, had a severe headache and a fever too as sweat was pouring off me but the living room was a normal 22 degrees!
Also I remembered what had happened when I had the infected ant bite in Thailand, and I had exactly the same symptoms! You see, if you get an infection your body goes into fever mode because its trying to rid itself of the germs...and yesterday I was convinced the huge gash in my lower lip that I sustained from my argument with my stairs (the stairs won!!!) had become infected because I am syphoning water with my mouth to clean out the baby fish box!!...So yesterday evening while cleaning my fish box and watching Coronation Street I decided to try some Bongella! Remember, the stuff thats for mouth ulcers! so I went to the bathroom and got said tube, pilled down my lower lips and filled the hole with the stuff!!! WOWWW...OWWwwww!!!!! Crikey!!!! it realy stung!!! It brought tears to my eyes and several uninteligable noises from me! But half and hour later it felt miles better, so I put some more in the lower lip hole before bedtime!! and I feel much beter this morning!
Mum is coming for the week at the weekend.........so I must make sure my oven is spotless!!!!
Mum has a thing about my oven!!! UGH!!! And last time she came I had scrubbed it so clean it was gleaming....just one day later I caught her in the kitchen in my pinny and sporting yellow Marrygold rubbergloves, cleaning my oven!!!
"Mum!!! its clean!!!" I had exclaimed! "go and sit down and have a cup of tea!"
"It gives me somthing to do!" she had said "I can't just sit about!! I get bored!"
But why my oven, I have no idea!!! I clean it once a week myself anyway!
I just wish she would pick on my garden instead!! I realy do need to do some gardening!! LOL!!!
The only difference this time is that she is bringing her two Persian Cats, Whisky and Sooty!!
Now a while back when we went to Souter Lighthouse, Mum had left her cats in the care of her neighbour! Mum had even paid this neightbour to look after them but she dident, and when Mum got back the poor cats were in a heck of a mess!!! Her neighbour had been feeding them but that was all!! She had not emptied the cat litter box in a week, and the smell left me gagging!!! Also mums flat was a compleate tip!! So since then my Mum has sworn never to leave her cats with her neighbour again, so that why this time she is bringing the cats!! Oh crikey this is going to be fun!! 74 fantail baby goldfish, two cats and my loopy dog!!!
*hides*
Anyway Derek is going to pick her up with said moggies on Sunday morning, so at least I have some time to get my home in order....AND clean the oven, as well as planning things to do (she loves shopping and Harry Ramsdens fish and chips) which shoulden't be to difficult...but I shall be realy looking forward to getting out on my own for a change!! I can hear TK Maxx calling me in my dreams!!!
LOL!!

Last week I had a wee bit of an acident that has made me look as if I have gone two rounds with Mike Tyson!!!

The thing is I am rather clumsey and on Friday morning I was up stairs sorting out and tidying up Mums room because she is coming to stay next Sunday....I also was expecting a delivery (my Daleks still haven't arrived from Forbidden Planet)...it was about 10am and I heard the doorbell ring so in a fit of excitment I dashed down stairs only to slip on one of Sirius torn up slippers, and ended up crashing to the bottom in a heap!!! I was very lucky I dident break my neck!!! I did have bad concussion for the rest of the day though, and there was blood everywhere as I had split the inside of my lip very badly and I couldent stop it bleeding...needless to say I dident answer the door, and my post lady pushed a parcel collection card under the door. Derek picked up the parcel on Saturday but it was something for him and not me!!! Now back to my injuries. My clumseyness (and impatience) has cost me a huge split lip. Its slit horizontaly on the inside, but I think I have cut a nerve because my chin is still numb, and I am lisping! I have a large scrape on the left of my forhead and a bashed up left knee, with a bruise that all the coulers of the rainbow!! and smaller gashes and bruises elsewhere!
Now why couldn't I have done this while drunk? as it woulden't have been so bloody painfull?
And I am still in pain with my chin this morning!!
So basically I have had to have a break from my blog to recover!! Sorry folks
My baby fish are still struggling along and I have had a couple of fatalitites! One of the dead fish had a weidly curly tail, and the other was very underdeveloped!!! Also I have been "hand filtering" the water in the tupperware box...I take my vacume gravel cleaner which is basically like a long clear plastic tube. Suff the wider gravel end (the end that goes into the water) with aquarium filter wool, and then syphon the water through the filtre wool by sucking the other end of the tube myself to cause a vacume. Water then flows freely into a plastic jug below the height of the tupperware box and hay presto!!! Filtered water, which I then pour back into the box!!! I have been doing this at several hours a day untill they are large enough to be used with my smallest filtre!!!
Pheeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!

In other news, I have decided to take up baking and cookery again!
So yesterday I took a trip to home base and bought lots of essencial cookery things like a large sive, mixing bowls, and a pasty brush to start with...and todays first pastry will be a chicken and sweetcorn shortcrust pastry pie!!! I have decided to make my own bread too...I just can't justifie paying over £1 for a loaf of bread, when I can make it myself for next to nothing!
I will post some of the recipies I am trying later on!!

see you soon! x

My living room looks like a tip!!!
And indeed my whole house could feature in "life of grime" at the moment!!
Its these bloomin' baby fish, you see! Taking up all my time with constant water changes, feeding and general care! Usually I am pretty s**t hot at tidying up and cleaning, but since I have had these babies they realy are taking up a lot of my time. So this morning saw me hoovering up at 8:30am and I am determined to get things done today. The polishing will have to wait though as I can't go spraying polish all over the living room with my babies in a tupperware box on my coffee table as that would kill them...Also my main tank is due for a water change today, and I will have to clean the huge filtre at the weekend...its never ends!!! tich tich...I like to polish my living room Daleks as they realy do look horrid all covered in dust but that will have to wait too! I have considered polishing them outside but its raining today so thats totally out! Also my washing has piled up, and Derek has moaned that he is running out of socks! its realy is just one thing after another at the moment so I am greatly looking forward to a relaxing bubble bath tonight followed by a jolly good film, port and supper when I put the babies to bed. Last night when I put them to bed I had a very close look at them with a torch and could just make out their tiny swim bladders forming! My fry are certainly more interesting to watch than the rubbish thats on TV at the moment!!
Some of you may know that I am involved in a lot of fandom communities over at Live Journal, namely Harry Potter and Good Omens. For those of you who have never heard of Good Omens its a book by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman which is a funny take on the "Omen" stories...Now I have been involved in an RPG (role playing game) as the character of Aziraphale, and quite soon I am going to be doing a "Character" photo of me dressed as up as the former "Angel of the Easten Gate of Edan, and now keeper of rare books"...I have already done one piccy and its over at Deiviant Art, but this time I am going the whole hog, so to speak, with a blonde wig and Tartan waistcoat! (Aziraphale has a thing for tartan in the book) so when I have done this and I am happy with the results, I will post the piccy here. So basically, dont be surprized if the next piccy you see me in, I am dress as a " Boring, bookish, puffy male Angel" with a thing for rare first additions!! Its all jolly good fun and I just love the RPG! and I have been involved with these for sometime now, in Harry Potter fandom also!
Ok, I am going to get on now and continue brandishing my Dyson about! LOL!!

x x

all written in capitols becuase my dads eyesite was going and he had complained he could not read my messy, joined up writing!!
Also some postcards I sent to him, and the front page of my travel diary!!







Hope you enjoyed, as much as I enjoy reminissing!!! x

Sorry entries have been a little slow lately, but I am so caught up with being a mum to 50 fantial goldfish at the moment!!
Does anyone want a faintail goldfish??
This past weekend saw me back at the aquatics centre looking for a suitable "air stone" for the tupperware box with the babies in, and came out with said airsone, tubing, non return valve, and pump as well as baby fish food at a total cost of over 20 pounds!!! EeeeK!!!! Its realy weird that your fish cost next to nothing to buy, but the set up can cost an absolute fortune!! So far for 8 fish and a clam my set up must be nearing £1,000! and I am not kidding here! Gone are the days (thankfully) when baby goldfish were won at the fair and placed into tiny bowls with no filtration, aireation and nothing much else and when after just a few weeks the goldfish would die, due to its terrible conditions! Fortunatly people are a bit more clued up these days! Goldfish can grow up to 15 inches long, and live for 20 years or more...anyway, I am sure you have heard enough about gold fish....so onto something else...
Took some time out yesterday to go walking at Stowe Gardens!
This delightful landscaped garden is Georgain, with stone Georgian styled temples, monoliths and statues in Greek style...and way back on a chilly November afternoon in 1993, it had been where Derek and I, had our very first date!!! On this very day I was to learn of Dereks mad passion for walking, as we must have covered several miles in the park and I had been absolutly exhausted. In 1993 I worked about 50 hours a week at my first "live in" pub job and because of my very selfish friend who I shared the pub with, I ended up doing absolutly everything because he was never around...I was manager, bar person, catering staff, cleaner, security, cellar lady, stock person, and book keeper and my only day off of the week was Sunday!!!! So our first date was on a Sunday and it was Stowe Gardens...prior to this my Sundays were spent relaxing on a kind of "bus mans holiday" drinking cool pints of cider as another pub near mine. I would buy a newspaper and walk up to this pub, The Melbourne Arms in Duston, for my lunchtime drink...get back to my pub at about 3pm, have lunch and flop into bed for a few hours! Going for long walks on a Sunday was an absolutly terrible thought after spending 6 days a week working my bum off!!!! Still, this was with Derek, the first guy in almost a year to show me any interest at all, so I was willing to go! While there, oddly I had begun to enjoy the fresh, crisp November air, but he had tired me out, and after a cream tea at the National Trust cafe we walked back to the car with my feet tingling as I had not done so much walking in years...little did I know at the time, this was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, as we were later to do hiking trips with walks of between 10 and 20 miles a day, and ultimatly the Everest Trek in Nepal!!!...I honestly thought at the time that Derek was trying to kill me!! LOL!!! So lets just say that after 15 years, I am used to it! This was also Sirius very first time to Stowe and he absolutly loved every second!!! and at one point had me giggling because he got hot and decided to flop himself into a muddy puddle! (Derek had to bath him last night) and his long fur got absolutly filthy!! After a mere 3 miles we went back to the cafe where me and Sirius devoured copius ammounts of cool water, but there were wasps everywhere so I just made my way back to the car!...

Some piccies to amuse!! from 1993-94!!

This is my first pub in 93! The Rifle Butt on Harlestone road, Northampton. On the doorstep of Princess Diana's childhood home!



and this is Peter McKenna who I ran it with...well, I ran the pub, he buggered off every day between 8am and 11pm!! Officially I was his Assistant Manager but Peter spitefully refered to me as his "live in barmaid"...he was very selfish and indeed evil, who got me to Northampton because he recognised my bar skills at the Postern Gate in Warrington, and he desperatly needed help with this, his first pub!! He "courted" me, pretending to be my best friend (he is gay) which was all a ruse and a lie, he just wanted to USE me to manage his pub for him!!! Alarm bells rang the first two months I was there when I dident even get a day off for six whole weeks, untill I locked myself in my bedroom and refused point blank to come out while Peter was trying to bang the door down! It got very embarracing too when the area manager showed up to see Peter and he too got to realise he was never there, saying to me on occasion "your doing all this by yourself arn't you?" Peter announced he was leaving in September '93 but personally I think he was sacked!!!



This is me behind the bar, looking oddly very at home!!



This is my handwritten extract from my diary at the time of Peter leaving and my meeting DelBoy!! written on a restraunt recipt!!



and this is my food bar at the Rifle Butt!! My chef, and old lady called Ivy, taught me many usefull recipies!



Me at Stowe Gardens October '94 exactly a year after I met Derek and 3 months before our backpacking trip!



This is the first ever piccy of me and Derek here he was 36 and I was 26...on the bridge on the road up to Stowe gardens!



Mum Dad and me about a month before my backpacking trip!



and Mum and Dad with Derek December '94



and finally Derek with his Mum, Roseabella *Rose for short"...she hated me because I am not a Catholic! and even worse because I was a divorcee!! She died aged 75 while we were in India in 2000...

Must have happened about lunchtime today!!!

I had to spend part of the morning in town as I had two ebay parcels to post, but first thing, I checked on my eggs and they were no where to be seen, so I just crossed my fingers that they had not demised! This morning I also realised that somehow the plant had moved so I could no longer see the place where the active eggs had been! Just about half an hour ago I moved the plant ever so gently and 3 minute, tiny arrow like babies shot out and swam about energetically! They shot out so quickly I almost jumped out of my skin!!! They are sooooo tiny! Dashing into the kitchen in my expectant father mode I hurridly put on some eggs to boil as I have been told crushed hard boiled egg is good for them, but I have also been told not to feed them for the first day because they are still digesting their yolk sack from their egg! Ohhh I am so excited I could just pop! and I promptly rang Mum to tell her she is now a Grandmother!! LOL!!! ...Now the real work starts, as when the fry start to feed they have to be feed 4 times a day so this will mean a trip to Harlestone heath garden centre tomorrow as they have an aquatics centre where I should find some specialist baby fish food like daphnia lave!
Anyway thats tomorrow....I just hope my tiny charges survive this dangerous time!
Found a bargin in House of Fraser today in the form of a pair of black satin finish, Ted Baker knee high boots, that are absolutly beautiful!!! They should have cost £90, but these boots had been reduced right down to £20, so I just have to have them! Well you know how it is!! and the Autumn is on its way!!
Oh and I am now a fully paid up member of the Goldfish Society of Great Britian!!
Good eh?? *grins*
I shall be celebrating with much pink port this evening me thinks!! ;-))

I am so very sorry for not getting back with emails and faceBook stuff but I am simply overwhelmed with fishy goings on at the moment, and I think some of the eggs are just about ready for hatching as there are little back thingys in them, moving about!! Also I am going to have to hard boil some eggs as apparently hard boiled egg yolk crumbled up, is very good to feed to growing fishes!
Also Friday had become my ebay sales day to help my finances with the credit squash! I made £30 today simply by selling some trainers and some boots, neither of which I was going to wear anymore as they were totally the wrong size for me! Goodness knows why I bought them in the first place!! So this morning saw me rummaging and listing some new stuff I hope to sell including some pretty expensive Miss Sixty stuff and a village people t shirt that is hardly worn and now too small for me! Fortunatly both my sales today had payments coming in very quickly so I can get off to town tomorrow morning and post the things on! I just hope my buyers are happy as I would hate to have my 100% feedback ruined, as it was so nearly ruined last time I sold on ebay! Anyway I have lots of stuff to put on there and its about time I had a jolly good sort out too! I am a bit of a shop-o-holic realy and can't resist the designer lable bargins that TK Maxx occasionaly throws up! so basically I have a wardrobe full of stuff that I never wear, and about 70 pairs of designer shoes I never wear including some vintage Gucci dance shoes, but I shall be slapping a reserve on those!
Anyway! I better go and check on my hatchlings
Sorry for being a "fish bore" at the moment, but I am just so excited as nothing like this has happened to me before!

see you soon! x

He just sent me this and gave me the right giggles!!! LOL!!

These are genuine clips from council complaint letters:

1. My bush is really overgrown round the front and my back passage has fungus growing in it.

2 He's got this huge tool that vibrates the whole house and I just can’t take it anymore.

3. It's the dog mess that I find hard to swallow.

4. The man next door has a large erection in the back garden, which is unsightly and dangerous.

5. I want some repairs done to my cooker as it had backfired and burnt my knob off.

6. And their 16 yr old son is continually banging his balls against my fence.

7. I wish to report that tiles are missing from the outside toilet roof. I think it was bad wind the other night that blew them off.

8. My lavatory seat is cracked, where do I stand?

9. Please send a man with the right tool to finish the job to satisfy my wife.

10. Will you please send someone to mend the garden path? My wife tripped and fell on it yesterday and now she is pregnant.

11. I request permission to remove my drawers in the kitchen.

12. Our kitchen floor is damp. We have 2 children and would like a third, so please send someone round to do something about it.

13. I am still having problems with smoke in my new drawers.

14. The toilet is blocked and we cannot bath the children until it is cleared.

15. Will you please send a man to look at my water; it is a funny colour and not fit to drink.

16. I am writing on behalf of my sink, which is coming away from the wall.

17. I want to complain about the farmer across the road, every morning at 6 a.m. His cock wakes me up and its now getting too much for me.

18. I wish to complain that my father hurt his ankle very badly, then he put his foot in the hole in his back passage.

19. 50% of the walls are damp, 50% have crumbling plaster and 50% are plain filthy.

20. I am a single woman living in a downstairs flat and would you please do something about the noise made by the man on top of me every night.

21. Our lavatory seat is broken in half and is now in three pieces.

22. I have had the clerk of works down on the floor 6 times but I still have no satisfaction.

23. This is to let you know that our lavatory seat is broke and we can’t get BBC2.

Wandering around a disused warehouse filled with huge fish tanks, in turn filled with millions of baby fish, jumping out of said tanks and onto the dirty floor...and no matter how hard I tried I could not save them!!
This was my nightmare last night and I even woke up in a bad sweat with tears running down my cheeks!!

Yes, I am starting to think this fish thing is getting on top of me, slightly!

Yesterday I was mad busy with water changes, gravel vacuming and setting up my nursery tank for the babies, if they hatch! My living room was a nightmare in itself, filled with hose pipe, plastic buckets, and all kinds of other aquatic paraphinaillia!! My new water test kit finally arived from ebay and I was happy with the results for the main tank with a pH 7.0 and 10 ppm for Nitrate, which is quite good...my nursery tank is no where near ready yet! I am going to try to get the levels right by using some water from the main tank today!

My main tank this morning!



I realy need to watch some classic Doctor Who today...and chill out!