I am at a bit of a loss as to what book to take with me on our boating holiday...

emm....??? *thinks*

I have a couple of re-reads in mind, that being "The ghost of flight 401" and "Six wives of Henry VIII" by Antionia Fraser, but I would dearly like to try something new. Recently I have been fascinated by new of the London show "Wicked" and as this is a book I have never read, I would really like to give it a try! Otherwise I fear it will be a re-read as I really have not got the time to mooch around our Waterstones looking for somthing!
Our fitted bedroom was finished yesterday, so today I have a ton of washing to do, and load the new wardrobes with clothes. This in-between my Masonic study, walking Sirius and mentally preparing tomorrows lunch, I expect to be quite busy today. But the thing with which book is still bugging me. At the moment I would dearly love to just sit down and chill with a good book, but time is a wee bit narrow just now. Also I have to take my Masonic black suit into the dry cleaners at Morrisons! Good grief the more I think of it, the more I have to do!
Right must crack on......
If anyone has any suggestion about a book, please let me know! Keeping in mind my love of all things Horror and Tudor history! But I also like fantastical tales that I can really bury myself in! *grinns*

Doctors call for ban on passive exposure to ’second hand children’
By Dungeekin Doctors call for ban on passive exposure to ’second hand children’ thumbnail

Citing the significant health risks, doctors have called for a complete ban on young people in all cars, as well as laws making it illegal for children to be taken to places where members of the public congregate.

The Royal College of Physicians has called for the measures as part of a full review into the health impacts of passive exposure to secondary children on the population at large.

The impacts include noise pollution, increased accident and illness rates, and the increased incidence of frustration, depression and bankruptcy.

An RCP report says that every year unnecessary exposure to children is responsible for over 20,000 minor injuries and some 22,000 cases of hypertension, as well as 200 fiscal heart-attacks and at least 20 cases of rage-related aneurysms.

It claims child-related illnesses in adults account for more than 300,000 visits per year to GPs, and costs the NHS billions of pounds.

Research

Dr Isay Banitall, of the RCP, said, “It is high time that a full, in-depth research project was carried out into the health implications of children in cars and other public places.”

“For example, our initial figures indicate that the presence of two arguing children in the back of your car is a greater threat to concentration and awareness than being twice the legal drink-drive limit and even more distracting than using a mobile phone.”

“The presence of children in a vehicle make the likelihood of serious injury some 43.7% higher than when the occupants of the car are all non-squabbling adults.”

“It is also difficult to quantify the secondary effects of children in other areas - for example, there is some evidence to indicate that the presence of screaming, uncontrolled brats in pub restaurants is directly linked to almost a million cases of hearing loss and indigestion.”

“We would therefore recommend the imposition of a ‘child area’, outside the building and well clear of the entrances, where those who wish to have children can congregate.”

A Department of Health spokesman welcomed the RCP report, and pointed out that the recent Budget went a long way in applying tax increases with the long-term goal of making children completely unacceptable in public.

However, he acknowledged that a blanket ban on children, however desirable, would be neither practically, politically nor fiscally possible.

So what next?
Well I am well on my soap box this morning, after seeing the BBC news, which horrified me more than Wes Craven can......There is now going to be a ban on smoking in cars!!!!

Errrr.....but isen't that a personal space?

Apparently not....The Royal Collage of Doctors has proposed this ban in cars, because of childrens health....I would have thought it better to let the parents decided what is good for their children. Does the government think none of us has a brain anymore? I for one (if I had kids) would never smoke in front of mine or anyone elses kids for that matter, and that would include the car. But apparently this nonsensiecal law is now going to be reinforced in a so called free country. A so called free country with a government who gives £1,000,000 of tax payers money to guard a vile child murderer in prison (Huntley, following his attack)...a government that happily allows a non ending tide of immigrents to overflow this already over populated island. And a government that blindly continues to wage a non-ending war on smokers!!...I would suggest that everybody in the country pack up smoking at once and see if the government likes loosing its tax revenue on fags. Oh and dont get me on the impending budget!!!!!!
What would I do?
For a start I would hang that vile, diseased blob of pus, Huntley! I would pull the rope myself. I would stop all immigration! and I would think its right and proper to let parents decided what is good or bad for their children! and while I am at it I would ban barbeques, as they produce dangerous levels of C02 (much more than ciggie smoke) and promote food poisoning in undercooked meat...Ok so I would make a crap Prime Minister! But I would make a hell of a better job of it than Brown and his cronies! A bunch of looney, liberal lefties who introduce stupid and indeed, un-policable laws, while ignoring the electorate and the rights of the decent people of this country! Its not the Labour party any more. Its the Looney Liberal Lefties party. And the Conservatives are no better either! I am not just having a damn good old moan because I am a smoker and I firmly belive in smokers rights, as my Derek does and he has never touched a ciggie in his life. I am having a jolly good moan because I am sick and tired of stupid laws being passed. Laws which will waste police time and cost money! What about passing some sensible laws? What about our impoverised pensioners? Ladies and gentleman who won a war against evil, to protect our country...why not pass some laws to ensure that pensioners have the right to proper care and live in dignity? There is somthing compleatly bonkers about this government!!
During my travels in China and India and south east Asia, I saw places where old people are treated with proper respect and are revered in their communities, passing on their wealth of knowledge about life to youngsters, which is how it should be. Here in Britian we seems to treat old people with contempt! Why? Because our crackpot government appears to be hell bent on passing silly laws while blatently ignoring the needy folks of Britian! I am not a an MP, but I think I have a fair degree of commen sense and eyes to see whats going on arround me...and if I am honest here, I dont like it!!
*climbs off soap box*
Tea? anyone?

Getting old is a git, isent it!!

Last night I woke at about 2am and felt like someone was sticking a red hot poker in my upper jaw!!!! I was in agony, but fortunatly we live near a 24 hour Tesco and Derek, bless him, dashed out for some pain killers for me!! ........Its my cannine on my right upper jaw, that has suddenly decided to give me gip. Its not broken or decayed or anything but it is turning a horrid shade of grey so I have concluded these must be somthing inside the tooth that is making it die off!
To date I have had 4 teeth removed, and two of those were wisdom teeth, one of which I kept as a momento as the roots of the tooth came through "deformed" and twisted like some weird alien! Then I had a nasty huge molar root canal, and some cosmetic work done, but recently one of my oldest fillings fell out, and then this thing started with the tooth in my upper jaw. The thing is.......I am actually terrified of dentists, and have to go private, which is expensive, so I don't really have any incentive to visit him, except for agonising pain! When I was 5, I had the terrible expierence that left me with this life long fear of dentists. I was due to have a couple of stubborn baby teeth removed, but when I got in the chair and the dentist put this black mask over my face, I began to panic!! I can still see it now, that black mask moving twards my face like the face-hugger Alien. I squeeked and tried to wriggle free, and then the dentist hit me!!!! Not hard, however, but hit me none-the -less, while shouting "BE STILL CHILD!!!"...in the end he took 5 baby teeth out and I swallowed so much blood under the gas that I was spewing blood, for what seemed like weeks after!....needless to say I have been terrified of dentists ever since! At the moment I am taking Nurofen migraine pain tablets which are quite strong but the tend to make me feel sick if I take too many, so I am being carefull....
In other news, the house is almost sorted, and Hammonds are coming to fit our bedroom suite on Thursday. Today I am baking for the first time since being back, and I am set to give Sirius his first bath at home, today. Well, I put him in the shower realy, and I need to give him a realy good brush before hand. He is not too keen on being brushed so I have to give him a treat to bribe him!

Back soon x

My Ills. Brother just reminded me that our next meeting is tomorrow and I am totally upside down with moving and sorting stuff out, I have had to decline my atendence tomorrow. Goodness knows!! I don't even know where my black suite is!!! Also he told me that my email wasent working properly as he had sent me an email earlier in the week which I dident recieve! Everything is all over the place at the moment, but I am going have to get cracking on my Obligation as my Lodge has request that I ask for my "higher wagers" very soon which will mean my being passed into my second degree, which is that of Fellow Craft. My mentor and very Ills.Bro. wants me to pass to my third degree of Master Mason sometime at the end of the year, and this is realy exciting for me and a further step twards seeking the Light!
I know this wont mean much to "normal" folks but please remember your reading the blog of someone who is "not normal!" I have always had an eseotoric side to my character, and a very questioning mind. Also meeting like minded people at my Lodge is delightful!! We even have a lady airline pilot who I get on with realy well as we share a love of flying AND the esoteric side of life. Its absolutly fascinating!
Right I must try and find time to get my head down and learn from my little book so my brain will be in a fit and proper working order ready for my second degree!

In other news, my home spa/hot tub has been delivered but wont be installed for a month or so yet...still, the weather might be warmer then. Also it turns out that Rainbows International (our moving storage people) has forgot to pack certain things that should have been returned to us! Namely my Ameythest crystal geode which cost abut £300!!!!!!!! Derek is sending them an email to remind them but I think someone has taken a fancy to my huge crystal cave and it magically grew legs!!!!!!! I want this replaced as I study "Crystal healing" and Ameythist is to calm and relax.......How can I relax now the bleedin' thing has been nicked????? Grrrrrrr!!! I have made an offer on a Citrine geode on ebay, but I am not sure it will be excepted!
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Derek and I have a skip on our drive for the week, so we can throw out old clutter and rubbish we no longer need and the result has been an almost clear garage which I was quite impressed with. However, last night at about 9pm I was surprized to hear Derek shouting loudly and angrily from his new office! At first I thought he was shouting at Sirius, but no....he rushed down stairs and said some old bloke had been rummaging in our skip!!!!!!!!!!! Cheeky b*****d!!!! The chap ran off, but only to return 10 minuits later to continue his rummage. This time Derek raced off in the car and gave chase!!!!! But our skip rummaging guest got away with our unused deep fat fryer!!!!!! I hope it blows up on him!!!.......but seriously, its not a nice thought, to have some strange bloke lurking around your house just as your getting ready for bed!
*shivvers*
Needless to say my Port went down well last night!
love Vix x

...and now for somthing compleatly different!!

Gone are the days off flying to far off shores or treking in the mountains!

But, belive me, this one sounds just as good because Derek and I have never been boating before!! And just this morning Derek booked our boat with Hoeseasons (at my recomendation) and we are going to spend a week sailing around the Norfolk broards!!

Our boat for the week!!



This boat is totally delightful, and even includes a 4 poster bed belive it or not!! It looks very romantic too with a sun deck at the back, and patio! As soon as Derek booked this than I was fiddling around in ebay to buy things like deck shoes and even a doggie life jacket for Sirius! It sounds strange but the choice of proper ladies deck shoes is quite limited, but eventually I found a nice pair of Rockports and bought them! Derek asked me what the heck we need deck shoes for as we dont expect 10 foot waves on the Broards? I said they were for if it rains and the deck gets slippy, which is what deck shoes are for! ...We have been on loads of boats before but not on our own. My favorite was a speed boat ride to Kho Samui in Thailand!! After months of terrible hard work, trekking I finally got to see the glittering cost of this paradise island set in a turquoise jewel sea! I had been listenig to M People "sight for sore eyes" and I can tell you it was very appropriate at that moment!! Well the Norfolk broards may not be that exotic, but at least we will be having a holiday that is both relaxing and something compleatly new to us!!!....My mum, the cheeky mare!!! said I would be just like Mrs Bucket on her boat!!
Now on a totaly different note I am pleased to announce the imminent arrival of a "Home Spa hot tub!" at the Harrison household!! Derek and I decided to take the plunge (if you pardon the pun) on Saturday after doing a ton of internet research on the best makes available. Also I got a large hexagonal gazebo to house it in for privacy. The gazebo arrived today but the spa wont arrive untill tomorrow. Well its a present to ourselves realy, now we have moved back home. I will take lots of piccies when it is fully installed and up and running. Hopefully the weather will be warmer then too! .........However the hard work of moving is far from finished yet. Derek has hired a skip for a few days so we can sort out all the junk we have accumulated in the garage over 10 years, and I am having a clear out of an absolute ton of clothes, the best of which I will sell on ebay but the rest will be skipped. I am ashamed to say that I have had clothes in my wardrobes for years and they still have the label attached!! These will be the ebay-ed ones, and some are designer and cost a fortune, like a Versace cocktail dress I have never worn! I have also junked some of my more crappy ended Dr Who collection, broken stuff and the such-like, which I simply have no room for any more!
Out with the old and in with the new!! ;)

What a bleedin' tip!!

My home has been through some kind of reversed polarity time warp and has been invaded by the card board boxes of Doom!!!! I am fighting them as we speek!! and they appear to be breeding!!

Who ever said moving home gave the same stress levels as greiving was not wrong. Derek and I have had more rows in 2 days than we have had in 10 years!! and its usually about petty things like which box is this or that in! Derek....bless his wolley Brasher socks! Has managed to set up his office perfectly, in all this chaos! Surprize surprize!! It appears that our packing and storage firm has damaged or broken quite a lot of items, including the wooden base of my Japanese futon, so it looks like we will be claiming for rather a lot of damages. Also because the new bedroom has not yet been fitted we had a total nightmare the first night we moved back. The only usable bad we have at the moment is the Queen-size guest bed...picture the scene! Derek, me and Sirius packed like 3 rather bewildered Sardines in a bed that is built for one!!!!!!! I had about 2 hours sleep that night, waking several times with a huge furry animal on my head or his bottom stuck up my nose, and I am not talking about Derek hear! Our next night Derek gallentley gave me the Queen-size and he is sleeping on the double futon mattres in his new office. Sirius can now choose who he sleeps with! and chops and changes, accordingly. Sirius appear to be totally oblivious to all this madness, and is cuft to his huge furry paws to be back over the park playing with his mates, Olly the Huskie, Bristol the bonkers, gay Chocolate Labrador and Maisie a loopy heinz 57!
We have finally decided on the bathroom!!
Work will begin at the end of April, and we will be knocking Dereks old office into the current bathroom to make a huge spa!! We have budgeted to about £15,000 but it should add £20K or so to our home value. If by some slight chance we are under budget, we have decided to go for a conservertory onto out exisiting patio! But I highly dought there will be much cash left...the jacuzzi alone is over £2,000...The design we have chosen is quite Asian with Zen Buddist influence, partly inspired by our travels. The most beautiful bathroom I have ever seen was in Ubud, Bali at a 5* hotel. The en-suit bathroom was actually in an outdoor garden compleate with palmtrees!!! Totaly private ofcouse! But it was absolutly awesome! On that trip I think I spent more time in the bath than I did touring! Well at least I smelled nice! I am sure we have a picture of it some where which I should dig out and post. This hotel was amazing and its pool was a huge affair set into a forest of all things, with wonderful views of the volcano,s! ...well I can't get a forest into my new bathroom but be sure there will be lots of plants like fernes which do well in a humid enviroment!

A picture of our hotel in Ubud! Its called the Chedi but has now changed its name to the Alilla!



Must bugger off now and get to work again!
At least today I get to cook my first meal, as we have been eating fast food for 3 days while we moved and was unable to use the kitchen...I cleared it yesterday! So lunch will be a lovely exotic, sausage mash and beans!!...its all I can be bothered with at the moment!

Last Sunday at our temporary home, and its here!!

Will all the hassles of the past months be worth it when we eventually get sorted?

Well, goodness knows....I have a feeling its only just started. At the begining of this venture (home being refurbished) I firmly believed that everything was going to be done together in the space of a couple of months, but this hasen't proved the case. However, all the main work is finished, so I suppose I should be greatfull for that. Our new bedroom wont be compleated for several weeks, and the TV bed is on order! I was hoping the bedroom would be finished before it arrived, but I dont think this will happen now, so when the bed arrives we will have to store it untill the bedroom is fitted, along with the carpet...The bathroom hasent even been started as Derek and I had a difference of opinion over which way to go about it. I think Derek has finally come around to my thinking about knocking out our smallest bedroom to make a huge bathroom, instead of extending it over the garage. My idea was more practical really!! The deciding factor for me was the weight of the jaccuzi spa, which is going to be more than twice the weight of our standard bath. If we extended over the roof of the garage we would have to have the roof reinforced to take the weight, and this would only add to the cost! Lets face it! I dont want to be relaxing in my spa and suddenly fall through the roof!!!!! I have decided on the look I want for the new bathroom and I am aiming for a Balinese style spa. As you know I have spent rather a lot of time on Bali, and their traditional spa's are very beautiful indeed!! This reminds me that I should draw a plan and post it here! I also plan to grow jasmine in small pots set onto the walls...well we shall see.......Derek was worried about loosing the forth bedroom, which he was using as his office. But its realy too small to be used as a bedroom and I feel it would be better to have a huge impressive bathroom instead of a tiny * box* room!!
For the past few days I have been packing up our belongings to make ready for our move on either tuesday or wednesday and its been bloody hard work. We also have to clean our rented home from top to bottom, which included windows so we can get our deposit back. The only thing the landlord has insisted on is a fumegation of all the carpet because we have a dog!!! What a cheek!!! Sirius is the cleanest dog ever!! He also has a weekly bath, and a daily brush!! But we have to do this as its in the contract. Derek has already arranged it for thursday so I hope everything will be ok.
No Sunday roast for today. Derek and I will be too busy!!! There is still lots of things to be shifted back home so lunch will be a very lo-key affair! Anyway, an early night tonight, and also I might not be able to update my blog for a while with the move going on!!
Fun, fun, fun.............NOT!!!!!!

My English is rubbish....my spelling and grammer, worse!!!!!!!

...but I have decided to take up French again as several fellow Brothers at my Lodge are native, French! Indeed, my Order "Le Droit Humain" is French, and was stated there over 100 years ago, so I think its only right I dip my toes back into this delightful language, so I can convers with my brothers, and in the hope of the odd trip to France!
I seem to pick up languages fairly easy, but I dont speak anything "fluent"...at school I picked up French ok but I was not considered good enough to go onto German! Ironically, while on a trip to Germany aged 14, I was almost fluent after a week!!!! Well, bit of an exageration there but I was going into bars with my dad and ordering beer and food in good German. My dad was very impressed!! I would have certainly liked to have go onto learn German properly at school and collage, but I was held back by my old school policy of not being taught German unless your French was proficient!! Silly realy!!
During my time backpacking, I picked several usefull phrases of about 7 different languges. Namely, Nepalese, Tibetian, Thai, Mandarin Chinese, Urdu, Hindi, and my favorite Bhasa Indoniesian!! I say this is my favorite as it is a very easy language to learn!! and I spoke it on several subsequent trips to Bali and Java! The Neplaese came in very handy on the Everest trek too, as did Tibetian as Everest is in the Solu Khumbu region which is inhabited by Tibetan Sherpa's!
"Raksi Laygyo!!"
Was my favotire...it means "I am DRUNK!!" in Tibetan
It's great learning a few basics of a language though, when your traveling! Even if its just pleasentries and hello and goodbye. Interacting with the locals is much better too!
So French it is! well for now, anyway!
It will certainly take my mind off the impending move back to our own house in a few days. On that note the decoration is just about compleate and we had the survayers in today from our fitted bedroom company, Hammonds. The house is starting too look excellent and not like a builders atomic explosion!! Thank goodness!!
ta ta!! x

Opps.......forgot to charge my ipod for tonight........*buggers off to charge ipod*

What a week it has been!!! Phewwwwww!!!!

We have both been as busy as a one arm juggler with crabs!!

But to top it all I got a call from Mum yesterday morning to say she had found a sick seagull in her garden and asked me to look after it. So basically, Derek and I had to drop everything and dart around there to retrieve the seagull. It had started to snow heavily at this point, and I am sure if we had left her there, she would have died, either frozen to death or at the mercy of some cat or Sparrow hawk. I could not let this happen!!! I got her wrapped in a towel and brought her back home and gave her the run of the bathroom, as well as giving her some bread and tuna and water. Later yesterday afternoon I began to phone around various animal charities, and eventually found the Seagull rescue in Eastbourne and called them and spoke to a realy nice chap called Tim. He asked me to nurse her and keep her warm so I wrapped her back in her towell and brought her downstairs (much to Sirius amusement!) After an hour of this and too my horror I saw what looked like flea's crawling through her feathers!!! Terrified that Sirius would pick them up I rushed her back up stairs and did an internet search for bird flea's without much success! By this morning they were all over her head....and thankfully dead!!! So just to make sure I gave her a salty water bath which she loved and then called a nice lady called Margeret at an animal hospital in Milton Keynes. She readilly agreed to take my feathered charge and we took her round there at lunchtime today. Later this afternoon I phoned Margeret to ask how she was settling in and she said great!! She confirmed the bird was indeed an adult female, but terribly thin and this may have been caused by the so called flea infestation which actually turned out to be mites! Margeret said she would give her great care and rehabilitation and expected to be with her for 2 months, she also said I did well to rescue the poor Gull........and she has called the Seagull, Vicky, after me!! Awwwwwwwwww!!!!
Well at least I did somthing right for a change!!
Now for the house updates!!
We move back into our home in the first few days of March, but it is far from compleate, although everything has been arranged to some extent or another. The bedroom's bathroom's, dining room and livingroom have now been redecorated but we cannot get the fitted bedroom in for another couple of weeks as it has been specially ordered from Italy! After which we can have our ordered carpets fitted. The bathroom, which is next on our to do list will have to be done while we are living there as Derek and me have not decided what to do with it yet.......Derek wants to extend it over the roof of the garage, but I have suggested knocking the smaller bedroom (which was Dereks office) into the bathroom to make it bigger. Or house is 4 bedroom, but I think 3 bedroom and a huge bathroom would be enough, and Derek could use my old front office as his office ( I have offically retired now) I think Dereks "over the garage" idea is a bit ambitious and could run into tens of thousands, but either way it has to be done by summer....so long as I get my planned Jaccuzi bath and home spa, I don't realy mind which way we do it!!
Just to finish on a lighter note, Derek and I were around our house today while the decorators were there and one of them asked me what the steel attachment to the ceiling was? He commented on that it looked like a fire sprinkler but wasen't.....I felt myself blushing as I admitted it was the attachment for my pole dance pole!!
As we were leaving he grinned at me and said "Why can't I get the image of your pole dancing out of my head!?"
hehehehehehe

...Just slightly.......

I had to meet mum in town this morning as she had some business at the bank. But for some wildlly weird reason I definatly had my shopping head on today and went on a weeny bit of a spree!!
First off was a visit to HMV to pick up the DVD I had ordered a couple of weeks ago. They called me yesterday to say it was ready. Then off to Beatties which is our House of Fraiser and got some delightful clobber, as well as treating mum too. Next was Faith where I got some sandals with the hope of a nice summer and they joy of getting out of my boots...very optimistic here, I think. Then mum and I had a pleasent lunch. On the house refurb front we had the beginings of our new living room cieling fitted today. It looks really odd with all our natural oak beams down and stacked up the wall, but things seem to be moving at a respectable pace now. I have also bought Derek and extra special Valentines day present, and am planning a romantic dinner on Sunday!! Hope that goes well.
Tomorrow I have my Lodge, and our new RWGM will be installed, which I am looking forward too! The evenings festive board will turn into a party methinks. and Derek has just said to call him when I am ready to come home. It could be a late evening!!! I hope that my Ills Bro. Terry mentions my taking my second Degree as I am so dreadfully behind on my Masonic learning! In a year or so when I take my 3rd degree, this will confirm me as a Master Mason, and I will be able to fullfill, fully my duties within my Lodge. After this I would like to work towards the 18th degree in the Scottish rite, which is the Rosy Cross, but that is a long way off and I have so much to learn.
Bit like life really!! ;)
Back soon x

Ok, I like doing lists!! and this is no exception!!
I decided to do my all time favorite books EVER!!!........so its a horror overload, but some surprizes too!!!

1. Something Wicked this way comes by Ray Bradbury!!

2. Misery by Stephen King!

3. The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory!

4. The Magic Cottage by James Herbert!

5. Pet Cemetary by Stephen King!

6. Watership Down by Richard Adams

7. 1984 by George Orwell

8. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

9. The Ghost of flight 401 by John G. Fuller!

10. Funhouse by Dean Koontz

11. Dark Feasts by Ramsey Campbell

12. Himalaya by Nicholas Luard

13. The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory!

14. Lord of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien

15. At the mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft

16. Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Frasier

17. Tictock by Dean Koontz

18. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

19. Anne Boleyn by Eric Evyes

20. The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory!

Jus ploughing through some old photos (in some cases very old) from my files!!

Some of Derek as a youngster, and graduating with his degree from University. And a couple of me on a trip to Bali several years ago, and a few of my pud, pud, Sirius!!! Taken last years!!

During my nightly call to mum last night she mentioned she wanted to go into town sometime this week, and this morning when it was frosty, but sunny, I thought, well, at least its not raining. I called her, and shortly after 10am we were in town looking at DVD's in HMV! I got Ladryinth and Moon on blu-ray, and mum got Morcombe and Wise. I also ordered "Mary Queen of Scots" which is a very rare dvd of the 1972 film starring Vanessa Redgrave. I have checked it before on ebay but the prices are so very high for it, because its rare, that I decided to ask how much it would be to order, and it was a reasonable £16!! But I wont get it for 2 weeks, oh well.....Next we had a wander down to home-bargins and TK Maxx, and I must have had my shopping head on as I spent rather much more than I had bargined for!! Now mum has on-going problams with her feet and back so she is always on the lookout for super comfortable shoes. Me on the other hand was delighted to find some "Croc's" walking shoes, for taking Sirius out. I have been looking for these for ages, and prices seemed a bit high on ebay so I was delighted fo find them for a steal at £15. Mum was sat resting on a seat in the shoe section and I came back and plonked my Croc's in the basket.
"Crikey! Those look comfortable!! and they are so light weight! have they got my size?" she asked.
I scoured the shelves for mum's size 6 (I am a 4) and after several minuits I found a pair, which she tried on and was delighted with. So I treated her!! Not content with just treating Mum to some Croc's I began looking for a size 10!! Dereks size!! Now I am very carefull when buying shoes for Derek because he is an awkward size 9 and a half! So I ususally look for a ten. I found some and bought them for him. Fortunatly they fitted perfectly, and he was very pleased. So that joke of the day was, me, mum and Derek are all OLD CROC'S!!
Later on at about 1pm, mum and I had lunch at her favorite cafe!
When Derek picked us up from the market square, we went on to Morrisons, where Derek found "Rogers and Hammerstien" musicals collection and decided to treat mum to it......At this point I wondered if he was feeling quite well??? When mum got out of the car back at her home she joked. "A new pair of shoes and a dvd box set....I am coming out with you again!!"

70 Things Not to say to a man with a small Penis........


1. I've smoked fatter joints than that.
2. Ahh, it's cute.
3. I'm sorry.
4. Never mind, why bother.
5. Who circumcised you?
6. Why don't we just cuddle?
7. You know they have surgery to fix that.
8. It's more fun to look at.
9. Make it dance.
10. You know, there's a tower in Italy like that.
11. Can I paint a smiley face on that?
12. It looks like a nightcrawler.
13. Wow, and your feet are so big.
14. My last boyfriend was 4" bigger.
15. It's OK, we'll work around it.
16. Is this a mild or a spicy Slim Jim?
17. Eww, there's an inch worm on your thigh.
18. Will it squeak if I squeeze it?
19. Oh no, a flash headache.
20. (giggle and point)
21. Can I be honest with you?
22. My 8-year-old brother has one like that.
23. Let me go get my tweezers.
24. How sweet, you brought incense.
25. This explains your car.
26. You must be a growing boy.
27. Maybe if we water it, it'll grow.
28. Thanks, I needed a toothpick.
29. Are you one of those pygmies?
30. Have you ever thought of working in a sideshow?
31. Ever hear of Clearasil?
32. All right, a treasure hunt!
33. I didn't know they came that small.
34. Why is God punishing you?
35. At least this won't take long.
36. Let's just stick with your hand.
37. Do you need a splint to prop that up.
38. How interesting.
39. I never saw one like that before.
40. What do you call this?
41. But it still works right?
42. Damn I hate baby-sitting.
43. It looks so unused.
44. Do you take steroids?
45. I hear excessive masturbation shrinks your dick.
46. Maybe it looks better in natural light.
47. I think there's a dildo around here somewhere.
48. Why don't we skip right to the cigarettes?
49. Let me know when you're done.
50. Oh, I didn't know you were in an accident.
51. Did you date Lorena Bobbitt?
52. Aww, it's hiding.
53. Are you cold?
54. If you get me real drunk first.
55. Is that an optical illusion?
56. What is that?
57. Does this run in your family?
58. I'll go get the ketchup for your French fry.
59. Were you neutered?
60. It's a good thing you have so many other talents.
61. Does it come with an air pump?
62. So this is why you're supposed to judge people on personality.
63. Where are the puppet strings?
64. Look, it all fits in my mouth at once.
65. Deep throat???
66. Your big gun is more like a BB gun.
67. Can you get this pencil out of me now?
68. Do I hang my hat on it?
69. Look, it fits my Barbie clothes!
70. Don't hold back.

This made me laugh, as I think there is some truth in it!!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/sex/four-signs-hes-got-a-small-penis-507040/

You will have to copy and paste the blog article, as I still haven't got the link thing figured out...but this got me thinking...??

When all the guuurly giggling had finished, I started thinking that there is some truth in this! Men who project a fantastically sucessful life will often have no life in reality! Speaking as a lady with "some" knowledge of such things...chaps who have a huge car, an ego the size of Manhatten!, and give elaborate public displays of affection to assert their "maleness" will more often than not, have a small one! In some ways they are trying thier best to make up for their inadequacies in that department by telling all they know, how wonderful they are!! Its a shame realy that these chaps feel the need to do this because, when your relay in love, size dose not matter to a woman, as long as the man knows how to use what little he has, succesfully!
Good grief I have just realised this is the only blog of a sexual nature I have ever done!!
Years ago now, I dated such a man for a very "short" while! I kind of fell for him because he was funny and made me laugh...but that was all. He had a top job in a bank, a Porsch 911, and was constantly bragging about how much money he could make in one day! Alarm bells should have started ringing realy. But I was totally taken in by his gleaming, lazer white smile...without realising he had false teeth!!! HAHAHAHahahha!!!! However, alarm bells did begin ringing when he started being very secretive about his home life!! About 2 months into our realationship we went to his bank at night and he wanted to "get on with it" there and then, which I was none too keen about because the place was riddled with CCtv! He got all passionate, opened his hugely expensive, designer trouser and...you've guessed it....a PRAWN fell out!! Needless to say I ran a mile!!!! Later that week I finished with him, and even later on I found out the truth about this person I had had a narrow brush with!! Not only was he married with children, he had been sacked for embezzelment, ended up with a job as a car salesman, had flase teeth, a toupee AND a string of girlfriends. In short (if you will pardon the pun!) he was narrow, selfish, loved himself possible more than he could ever love anyone, and a creepy, ugly little man who's inner insecurities led him to have no life what so ever!
I felt quite sorry for him in the end! Poor chap!But I had, had a very narrow brush with a man who was so shallow, he made my dogs bowl look deep!!
On the other side of the coin I dated a man with a very small willy he was quite lovely....however he had 6 kids by the age of 28!! He was a manager for McDonalds in Warrington and he had no illusions and no ego!! It was a well known fact he had a small willy and one night his assistant manager cruelly reminded him of this in front of me...as quick as a flash, Bill shot back "It might be small, but its filled 6 prams!!"

...Although I am at an age now where such matters get further from my mind, I do like the saying at the bottom of the article I posted at the top of this blog......

"Its not the size of the boat its the motion of the Ocean...but I would rather ride a speed boat than a rowing boat!!" ROFLMAO!!
Sorry if I have offened anyone with this..but its just a fact of life realy!

Having had a full weekend to try out our new blu ray system, I can honestly say that its the best thing I have ever seen via a TV....Except perhaps for the moon landing in 1969, when I was two! I can vividly remember sitting on a rug in front of the TV looking up at these strange fellows in weird suits, convinced they were actually behind the telly!! hehehehe.....Ok, back to the blu ray thingy...
Derek was the first to try it out on Friday evening with "Yellow stone" the story of Yellow stone park in the states. I simply let him get on with it as I was in the middle of watching "Planet of the Daleks" with Jon Pertwee. I am watching an episode each night at about 9pm after my bath. When it had finished I gave mum my usual nightly phone call, and just then Derek came upstairs and said "You realy have to see this!!"....while still on the phone, I came down stairs and WOW!!!!!!! it was just like watching 3D! minus the silly glasses and the head-ache!!! The picture was so crystal clear, I felt lik e I could reach into it and grab somthing!! On the phone I could hardly speak as mum asked me what it was like, but I did promise her that Saturday (her birthday) she was to come around and have lunch and see it for herself. Previously I had bought "The red shoes" Moira Shearer film, one of mine and mums favorites and I put that on for her. It was rather funny as she and Sirius were sat on the couch, both of them *glued* to the TV. Needless to say it got a huge seal of approval from mum!!!!!! Next up was the full series of Planet Earth, which both Derek and I have been glued to, and on Saturday night we watched one of my all time favorite films "Poltergiest!" and although I must have seen this film well over 100 times, and could practically recite all the script (much to Dereks annoyance) there were certain parts of the film I had never even noticed before!!! In blue ray EVERYTHING is so very clear...I had never even realised the number of the house in Poltergiest before!!! Weirdly its 4267!!! My current age and year of birth!! and some bits of the film actually made me jump!!! But that was a combination of the blu ray and the explosive home cinema sound!!
Opps.......must dash!!
Derek has just reminded me we are going out for lunch, and then for a drive in the country, to take Sirius walking!
Hope to see ya soon!!
x

I must have been thinking about Richard Hammond when these were taken!! *coughs*









*cringes*

Andrew your a genius!!!!!!!!!

I only just spotted this and its AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its been a wee bit busy here!!
But on Sunday my hands were firmly tied by Virgin broadband as the provider went down for over 22 hours, which was realy annoying!
Grrrrrrr!!!
Well Derek and I have finally gone hi tech and entered the 21st century this week! For our new home, Derek has ordered a Blu-ray home cinema system from Amazon, and I have got my first ever Ipod!! hehehehehe....Now with the ipod I was a bit befuddled realy as I have never used one before, and as I got it from ebay there was no instructions with it, although it is a new Nano, so I had to download the instructions from the internet...and WOW!! what a new world I entered! Untill I got this perky little device I had somehow convinced myself that they were just for teenagers and only stored an inordinate ammount of music. But oh how wrong I was! At first I was quite dissapointed as I had to register with Itunes to use my new nano, and I had imagined this to be quite restrictive as I know itunes charges for downloads. So I put my brain into gear, learnet how to use my pod and figured out the navigation of itunes and its absolutly brilliant! No sooner had I hooked up the pod to my laptop, than it started downloading some 500 songs from my hard drive and it only took seconds! The I explored other oppertunites and test downloaded an episode of Harry Enfield for the princely sum of £1 from itunes. At this point I was thinking a full TV episode would take hours to down load but I am happy to say I was wrong! It took seconds!! and I am going to follow it today by downloading some of my favorite Fauwlty Towers episodes! Oh how chuffed to buggery I am!!!!!!!! and I havent even began to explore the movies and video recording capabillities of my new found electronic friend. I showed it to mum on Sunday and she could hardly belive her eyes!! I asked her what Dad would have though of it? She laughed and said "Joyce! Vicky has left her ciggie lighter here again!!"...So now I am looking forward to entering the world of blu-ray ome cinema!! I have been checking out the blu-ray titles on line and at local stores and I must say I have been quite dissapointed with the choice as it seems very limeted to new release cinema! However I have found a little gem on ebay! "The best of Ray Harryhousen" on blu-ray which is a three disc set of this genius of stop start animation!! I would love it if I could find the best of "Stan Winston!" the monster making genius behind Alien, Predator, and the Kathogo from "The Relic"!! But sadly (for me at least) The selection of "Hammer" films on blu-ray is almost non-existant! Booo Hoooo!!!! I can't exisit without my Hammer films!! But I am sure in time they may well be released!
As for our house!! Well I have not been brave enough to go round there this week! Derek has told me the ceiling from the main bedroom has compleatly gone!!! Goodness know what a mess its in!! and they have started work on the livingroom cieling. The actually refurbishment starts in the first week of February! I can't wait!! So in the meantime I have comforted myself with going on a very retro, Pertwee kick as well as watching the full set of "Key to time" (Oh God I need to get a life!!) while sitting comfortably on my brand new Dr Who dovet cover on the bed!! I couldent resist it!!! £20 for the full Dr Who, double douvet set from ebay...the only probalm is now Derek and I argue over who gets what, Tardis, Cybermen, Dalek pillowcases we get each night so I have to keep swapping them! LOL!!! (we both need to get a life!!!) Derek has bought me a docking system for my ipod so I am going to try that out today! I wish I had my pole around here so I could start pole dancing again, as recently I have been sitting around far too much and am feeling very unfit! Crikey!! I have just had a thought that I hope they don't take the living room ceiling down as my pole attachment is in the ceiling, bolted to a joist in the bedroom floor! It took Derek ages to drill and install that for me. The attachemnt without the pole looks almost like a water sprinkler so its not intrusive on my living room decore when the pole is down and put away...still, that should be the least of my concernes at the moment!
As for today, well, Derek and I are taking some time out to go and feed the ducks and Swans at Sywell res, and perhaps have an icecream! Oh and Sirius has a slight hangover as he decided it would be nice to polish off a full can of John Smiths in one go last night!!!!!! Heck if he was human he could happily drink me under the table!!
Off to play with my ipod and docking system now!! hehehehehe....should be fun!
Bye x

Now everything has started moving with our home and our days at our temporary address seem to be numbered, I thought I would treat myself to some long over-due Dr Who DVD box sets and what a delightful surprize I just got!!!
The Key to time 7 DVD box set is selling on Amazon for £145 and I have just got it off ebay for £30 and its the limited edition too!!! My other purcheses are "Benith the surface" box set and "Dalek War!" box set all for superb prices off ebay!! I have even bought a small DVD rack that I am going to mount on the wall on my side of the bed so I can keep my favoite stories in....Boy oh boy will I have some WHO marathons when we get back home, after all the work is finished!
I have nearly all Dr who stories on video but over the years the video is getting pooer and poorer quality, and although I have stopped collecting, I am steadily replacing all the titles I can on DVD format! I am quite ashamed to admit it but I have only a few of the new series discs although I have the compleat 1st, 2nd and 3rd series...I kind of gave up after that! But the classic Who will alway have my heart! There is bugger all on telly tonight and as Derek wants to watch "Survivers" I will have an early bath and indulge in "the Grenn Death" with my all time favorite Dr Who, Jon Pertwee! some port and a supper of Irish cabbage and bacon! If you haven't tried it please do so as its realy yummy and with a small side of galic bread is a perfect supper or a delightful way to serve cabbage on your Sunday roast. It does exactly what it says on the tin....
Get a large "sweetheart" cabbage or two if they are small. Chop and boil for 8 minuits in seasoned water (salt and pepper) take a packet of streaky, unsmoked bacon and chop and fry in olive oil. Fry untill just truning crip. Drain cooked cabbage add some more pepper to taste, and chop further with a knife. Combine the cabbage and bacon in a lidded cassrole dish and add a large nob of real butter to the top!! Hey presto!! Irish cabbage n' Bacon!! can be heated up in the microwave in seconds, and will keep for about a week. It actually tastes better after 24 hours in the fridge as the flavors get a change to combine. This was a recipie I got of Dereks auntie when we made a trip to Donegal some years ago where I learned to make soda bread too! Irish cooking is fantastic and I have learned several traditional recipies.
Ok...am off to fry the bacon now! byeee! x

As I mentioned slightly before Chirstmas, we our having our house compleatly refurbished and finnaly the work starts to commence tomorrow!! Yipppppppeeeee!!! and its about bloody time too!!
We have had huge hold ups and delays because we are having some structual work doing, and following tests done on existing plaster and artex work it was reavealed we have a dangerous level of aspestos in our property, which makes me worry because we have aleady been living there for 15 years!! So that all had to be removed, and what a bomb site it looks!! I will take some pictures as the work progresses, but the builder has just called for the keys so they can start tomorrow. Derek and me were warned to wear hard hats and boots when we go around to our house, but as we dont have hard hats we will just have to be carefull. I have my turquoise Doc Martins though which should be ok! Anyway apart from taking photo's we only need to go around there to feed the fish realy, or pick up anything we need in our substitute home!...the aspestos thing was a bit of a shock though...When I was about 8 and in school our school had to be closed while aspestos was removed during refurbishment. These days its compleatly banned in all new property but back in 1986 when our house was built aspestos was still being used widely in building work, as we had this explained to us...Anyway there have been the fun bit of choosing new furnature, colour schems (sky blue and white) carpets ect. In fact only yesteday we went to carpet wright and both of us totally fell in love with a royal blue deep soft pile, chizzelled carpet. Now almost everything has been chosen between us (right down to the swartzki crystal handles on the bedroom suite) the best is yet to come. We have decided to go all hi tech for the bed and have chosen on the the latest "pop up TV beds"

below!!



The ultimate in TOTAL SLOBBERY!!!!!!!!!! *giggles*
This is a standard double be we have chosen the same in king size, which is slightly smaller than out old bed as that was super-dooper king size. 6ft by 7ft or so...it was nice having a bed that big, but a pain in the arse to buy bed linnen for unless it was off ebay, and and even bigger pain in the arse to hoover (Dyson) around. So although we have our flashy BED TV it will be a slightly smaller bed...but hey!!! COSEY!!!
Hope everyone is keeping warm and cosey in the freezing weather!
love Vix

For those of you who dont know, beautifulpeople.com is a very elitist website, geared spacifically twards those few individuals who have a pleasing physical appearence! and just before Christmas there was a big who-har over the net beacuse 5,000 of its members were banned for being too fat!!!!! Its an interesting story if you google it! Now to get on there you must upload a picture of yourself and you have 48 hours for people to "vote" on how attractive they find your picture. If they vote and your accepted, hey presto! your admitted to this "club"...if not your sent a curt email to say you have not had enough votes and your application was rejected!!
So I tried a little experiment!
I uploaded a couple of photo's including two of me on the Everest trek, because in these I am wearing no make up and they are fully body shots and at the ripe old age of 42, I thought that I would automaticaly get rejected, but to my surprize...NO!! my photos actually got votes!!! and I recieved an overall rating of 8.75 out of 10! I am still getting over the shock!!!!!!!!! Included in this was an absolutly drop dead gorgeous 20 year old blonde Canadian man, begging for me to "skype" with him!! I did have skype many moons ago buy never used it so I uninstalled it...but I find it realy odd that such handsome young men would want to chat to an aged old crock like me!! LOL!!!!! This also happened on Outpost gallifrey where a dishy young man of (then) 17 kept mithering me to chat with him, and began flooding me with online compliments!! Very flattering, but ultimatly a no!! I am married and certianly not into cradle robbing!! LOL!! But what is it with younger men and older women? Do they see us as having much more expierance or what? I find it odd that this Canadian chap had not already got a girlfriend as he was absolutly gorgeous, if they were indeed his photos!! Anyway it was fun and flattering to get into this *good looks only club* but I dont think I will be using it as its just full of shallow people with overly inflated ego's, which I absolutly detest!! it was simply an interest experiment on my part!

Some of you may have noticed that I have started using a map at the top of the page to see who visits my blog and again I was very surprized to find a string of views from the United states. I just thought it would be interesting to see where my visiters come from and try to encourage them to post as I would love to get to know my readers better, like what is it they like about my blog, and suggestions on how I could make it more interesting! I think that would be wonderful!!! So to those of you who actually enjoy it here, please give me some input or feedback on what you would like to see or simply comment on any post!! I would dearly love to hear from you!! Also I have a fan in very central London who constantly hits my blog from the Westminster area (I do hope its not Gordon Brown!!) who are you and why are you my top reader with about 12 hits per week!! I would love to know as your my number one fan and as I don't belive I know anyone from this area of the world, please drop me a note or comment! That would be terrific!!! But thanks for the interest anyway!
So much fun!!!!!!!!............so much fun!!!!........ ;) tracking those IP's ;)

my Skype name is: aziraphale42
if you have Skype, look me up! ;)

Laughing at the sillyness of Dereks story of the time he got arrested in China, I never belived it would ever happen to me!!

But it did.........

Several years before Derek met me he was in China doing a cycle tour...did I mention he also cycled across Canada in an epic journey lasting 5 months!! Wish I had been on the scene then and we could have gone tandem! Well following this he flew to Hong Kong and prepared for another epic trip which included cycling the great Wall. Whilst in Kanding Derek had inadvertently swore at a Police officer, and quickly found himself arrested and having to answer for himself in a rather grubby little police station...at least this is what he told me! Somehow this police officer had pissed Derek off and Derek learned to swear in fluent Mandarin, just to annoy him. Now there is a lot of police corruption in China and its not realy a very good idea to swear at a policeman, but non the less he did Derek had told him....
"Ne zha dabien!!! Ne zha zazhong!!"
Which loosly traslated means "you are a shit and a bastard!!".....emmm not a good idea Derek, so he was arrested but later that day was realesed without charge! Needless to say I always found this story very ammusing, when he told it to me one evening while playing Mah Jhong in the kitchen of the private live in, upstairs bit of the Wheatsheaf pub!
On our trip, and after a spiet of bad luck which included a bas crash on a mountain side, a guest house fire, my suffering aomebic Dysentry I dident realy think things could get much worse untill my passport was stolen on the Thai island Kho Samui. It was daft realy...Derek and had gone out for the day and I had foolishly left my money belt containing my passport under the pillow in our beach chalet. We had locked it with our own padlocks so I belived it would be safe!!! NOT!!!...The night before I was sat on our veranda getting mildly drunk when I had noticed a man creeping around other chalets trying the doors. It look creepy so I went in and told Derek who was lay splayed out on the bed reading! We both crept outside to watch this bloke, only for him to notice us and then he vanished. In the morning Derek and I dident even consider that this chap might come back to rob us, but he did. We returned from our day out to find my passport gone, along with the whole of my money belt!! Fortunatly I had, had no cash or travelers cheques in there as Derek was carrying it for me, it had just contained some loose change of various currencies, but on the black market my passport would have been like finding a bar of gold!!
To cut a long story short we had to catch the overnight, sleeper train back to Bangkok to get a replacement, which we did and stayed in Bangkok for another 3 nights while it was being processed. Chuffed to bits when I got my new passport from the British embassy I just happily stuffed it into my new money belt and off we went to book a train for the next stage of our journey which was crossing the border into Malaysia! It had been a stuffy, airless hot morning as the train we were on trundeld toward the border with what seemed endless carriages and about 2,000 passengers. At the border we pulled to a halt as customs people boarded our train to check everyones passports and travel documents. Derek had warned me that this could take some time...what he dident tell me was I would end up holding up a train with 2,000 very angry passengers!!
A very smartly uniformed Malaysian customs officer took my passport and studied it carefully and suddenly glared at me, while two of his colleagues hauled me up, roughly from my seat and practially dragged me off the train, reading me my rights in Malaysian!! Derek ran after me and started shouting "what the hells going on?? Thats my WIFE!!" I was taken to a tiny office on the platform where thankfully there was an interpreter lady but by this time I was just dumb struck into silence untill she curtly informed me, in broken English that I was arrested for overstaying my visa!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!! I was screaching in my head, and began to cry!! I was even threatened with handcuffs untill Derek demanded to see my passport and said to me in a panic "They stamped the wrong date in it!!" He calmly explained this to two customs officers, the whole story of my stolen and replacement passport and that someone in the British embassy had put the 6th in instead of the 26th!! It had all been a massive mistake!! It dident alter the fact I was still in floods of tears and getting frustraited at Dereks apparent calmness. My only comfort was the two beautiful spaniel sniffer dogs that took an emmence like to me! I wanted a ciggie and handed them around as in Asia this is seen as a welcome gift. Dereks calmness was down to travel ettiquette. When in Asia NEVER loose your temper, and always try to be polite whatever the situation is. So between this and me handing out cigarettes to all, it softened the customs officers attitude to me and they started smiling and began to make a sting of phone calls, presumabally to the British Embassy in Bangkok!! Eventually the head officer changed the visa date and made a note in Malaysian in my passport, and with a huge smile escorted us back to the waiting train and 2,000 or so not so happy fellow passengers!! I had been so exhausted by all this that I could hardly climb the 3 steps back up to the carriage and my backpack suddenly felt twice as heavy. Derek had to haul me on the last step up!
I was shacking like a leaf....but the ordeal was ended!
.....But!........you should have seen some of the killer dirty looks I was given, when we boarded again...nasty..
As we trundeled off down the track I chain-smoked out of the window to calm my nerves...AND kept a very low profile!

Back in 2005 when this was released, I dident go to see it because it had been hyped so much in the media, and I will never go to see a movie that is "huyped up" except for Harry Potter and this that I have no choice as Derek practially drags me to the cinema when there is a new potter film. Anyway several days ago I got this award winning movie from Morrisons for the princley sum of £3!! What a bargin.....But what I haden't bargined for who a hauntingly, beautifull love story, exquisitly scripted and set over 30 years!!! Now I am not a huge fan of romance movies, straight or gay, I am just not that into romance, being much more of a horror, sci-fi fan! But at the end of this movie I was squeeking into my handkey like a silly guuuurrrl!!! A romantic movie that actually made me cry!! Not since "Somewher in Time" with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymore have I cried at the end of a movie!!
It was the best £3 I ever spent!!!
Anyway...here goes

Brokeback Mountain

"I ain't no queer" - Ennis Del Mar
Brokeback Mountain starts in 1963. We meet two teenage ranch hands out to make some money over a summer by herding a flock of sheep up on Brokeback Mountain. Strangers when they meet, they must work together to tend to a camp and watch the sheep for predators.
These two meet for the first time on the day they were hired, but before they come down from Brokeback they have formed a bond that neither one of them had expected. There are no words to explain what they feel, there is no vocabulary and no support system for men in the 1960's who happen to find that once in a lifetime connection..... with another man!!!
"Me neither" - Jack Twist
Ennis is quiet and reserved. Heath Ledger brings this character to life with his first appearance on the screen. It is such a deep character study, so rich with passion and pain. He is a marvel to watch on the screen and it's almost impossible to take your eyes off him when he is in a scene.
Jack Twist is rowdy and romantic. Jake Gyllenhaal lights up Jack's eyes with all of the hope and desire needed to transport the audience to that place where love takes hold of you, ready or not! Jack is the risk taker and the dreamer. He has a ranch in his mind where he and Ennis could share their love all the time, and not just in stolen moments.
So they painfully part ways after that summer. Never knowing if they will ever see each other again. Each one takes a wife and tries to lead the life society expects them to lead.
But how do you forget the deepest love you have ever felt? How do you not let that have an effect on you for the rest of your life? And what do you do when it all comes back to you later in life? You may be different, but true love remains the same!!!
This story is so universal. When posed with choices as difficult as responsibility to your wife and children compared to a life with the one that you love....well there are no easy answers....
Experiencing a love that takes your breath away, that makes you want to work and compromise anything and everything to keep it....it is both wonderful and frightening. It can make you question everything you have done in your life to that point and everything you will do in the future.
"If you can't change it, you gotta stand it" - Ennis Del Mar
But one true thing about that kind of love , it's anything but "queer".....

This movie is absolutly awesome and a must see for anyone!!!
out of 10 I would give it a 20!!!!!!!

*applauds loudly*

....we were about to take off in our Singapore airlines jumbo, bound for India, for the first time...and, embarracingly, I was in floods of tears! You see I had never, up untill then, gone further than a weeks break to Tenerfie before this, and as we boarded, a moment of compleate terror filled me, thinking I must be absolutly bonkers to go it south east Asia for 2 years!!!...needless to say I soon calmed down!
Well we aint flying anywhere this morning, and my biggest dilemma at the moment is what to cook for dinner!! Mum is coming, but my enthusiasm for a full roast dinner, has vanished, as we have eaten far too much over the festive season! So mum and I are having lasagne and Derek is having his chicken in white wine that he made a couple of days ago, so all I need to get from Morrisons this morning is galic bread and a lighter!! Annoyingly I ran out of lighter fuel a few days ago, and have been lighting cigges of a tea candle on the coffe table. My fault as I simply forgot, silly mare!
So just a bit of slight news to report!
I am off Facebook folks (apart from blog updates) as I have some serious security issues over there so I wont be posting anymore pics ect. I only realised these issues after posting all my Asia piccies over there at the start of the season, but another friend kindly pointed out to me, that unless they are copywrited Facebook actually "ownes" any matieral posted there, and as I have plans for a pictorial travel book, this prospect is absolutly horrifing!! So I have removed everything and partly closed my account! I still play happy aquarium on there, and will continue to read friends updates, but the only postings I will be making will be blog updates! ...However, I will continue to !"Tweet" as I realy like twitter and its far less intrusive than Facebook or Myspace! My tweets have got a bit daft of late, as I have been tweeting silly bumper sticker sayings, but hey!!!! Life shouldent be that serious anyway!!!
Finally Dr Who "end of time".....emmmm....where the heck was the story??????
I simply "dident get it" although I did like some aspects like "the glove of Rassilon" (methinks the underpants of Rassilon will come next) and the CGI which was nicely done, but the story was non existant!! Aslo I thought the first bit with the Doctor tied to the chair was cringlingly kinky and was a bit too close to a gay bondage video to my tastes!...*coughs*...Perhaps Russle T just wanted to see Tennant all gagged, tied up and helpless. Excuse me, but the Doctor is NEVER helpless!! And the ending?? That had to be the longest, most drawn out, emotionally innate ending of any Dr Who! At this point I thought I would be crying my eyes out, but no...I was making a cup of tea, having compleatly given up on having any kind of story in the first 20 minuits!! Sorry, but I realy was non too keen on this, but I am very sad to see Tennant go. He was a superb Dr Who and Matt Smith has got a very hard act to follow. I wish him the best of luck!!
Ok, I am off for now, but just before I go I must mention what I was doing last night!!
I was reading hysterically funny "scam the scammers" stories on 419 Baiter...its the best fun you can have on the internet if your bored. These stories involves Nigierian advance fee scammers, and how certain people have turned the tables on these evil criminals by scamming them right back, and having a jolly good laugh in the process. If you find yourself at an internet loss, please take a look at 419baiter.com and go too "the game" which is where the stories are, and they even incude amusing phone audio of the scammers!! Its bloody brilliant!!

Gotta go shopping! Bye for now Vix x

Exactly what it says on the tin!!!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=717306617

you will have to copy and paste the above link and "friend" me to view! Pictures from: India, China, Nepal, Indoniesia and Malaysia!

enjoy folks!! x

My wedding photos!!!!

My gown was a full, medieval, dark blue, heavy velvet "Vampirerss" gown by DARK ANGEL!!





























..........and finally we set off for our honeymoon tour of west Africa!!!!!!!!!

As Santa makes ready his sleigh and all is quietening down in the Harrison houshold!
Everything is done!!
This morning was a very early one, and we were up for 4:30am to make ready for our big food shop at 7am! It was cold first thing and I coulden't wake myself up, but two cups of coffee and toast and I was human again! I finished off my arm's length shopping list with some added extras from Derek in case I had forgotton anything, and so armed with list, several re-useable supermarket shopping bags and a healthy does of "surely it can't be busy this time in the morning?" we took off in the car a little after half 6am. Lo and behold it was busy though! I should have expected it realy...what I dident expect was the tannoy announcement....."Due to lisencing laws, we are unable to serve alcohol untill 8am!" What rubbish I thought. The shop could have applied for an early liscence, or told us on the board which advertised the early 7am opening! No, it was just a crafty sales tac tic to get you to spend more money as in: "Oh well we will just have to hang around for 50 minuites while filling our trolly's with unnessary and useless or wastefull items!" Well, Derek and I had a quick conference and he said he would come back later for the booze. To which I debated to hang about and wait for 8am, so we sould not have to make a return journey. I won! So we just hung about glowering at the checkout staff...hehehe We diden't get much booze anyway, just port for me, beer for Derek and Cherry B for mum, as well as wine and Schloer white grape, pop, juice and cordial.



On coming back I began to make the house clean and tidy and make some preparations for tomorrows lunch. I tend to make nearly all my Christmas dinner preparations the night before as I hate messing about peeling veg on Christmas morning. I like to plan everyhting carefully so that everything runs smoothly and we have a tasty lunch. This year though we have a change...in stead of Christmas pudding we are having homemade Gooseberry pie!! Mum is baking it as we speak, and I must say my mums pastry just melts in your mouth!! Much nicer than having a gritty, Christmas pud! I am not too keen on fruit cake anyway! Away from the food subject at the moment, Derek has me totally baffled with Christmas presents this year and I not sure what its all about? At the moment there are enough presents under the tree you would belive a family of 7 lives with us!!!! So yesterday me and mum decided to go back to town and buy Derek somthing extra...When I asked him about the mountain of gifts, he simply said he felt like it and some were only very small anyway! Not from where I am looking!!! Yesterday I inadvertently (honest!) picked up one small one adressed to me as it looked to be in the shape of a pork pie!! What the heck is he doing wrapping pork pies for Christmas?? But its not as it was solid, and before I could read the lable, he snatched it out of my hand and put it back under the tree!! I say I wanted to read the lable properly as Derek always writes a small, cryptic clue on iit, as to what the present is, and I have to guess before opening it!!! It sounds dull but its realy rather fun!!....Anyway, for the time being we are just putting our feet up and resting on our laurels knowing that everything is done! Currently Derek is watching "Banquet" one of his favorite Chinese films, which he loves. He has a large collection of Chinese cinema films! Personally I think its the pretty ladies that he loves!! LOL!!...as for me, well I am just about to have an early bath (as Sirius is getting his bath later) and smother myslef in jasmine bubbles! Then and only then will I truley relax!
Have a wonderful Christmas where ever you are!! and lots of love and Christmas wishes from Vicky, Derek and Sirius! x x x x x



p.s
I am going offline now untill the 3rd of Jan 10 so have a brilliant new year too!! ((((((((hugz))))))) x

Sorry, but this is a moaning one folks......
TV adverts are totally p***ing me off at the moment, simply because of the time of the year...and yes..I know some of my facebook friends will be compleatly horrified by the fact I have joined a group called "I hate charity adverts!" but I have quite simply ad enough of 'em (if you pardon the pun!!)

I would never consider myself heartless, although it may seem heartless to say I hate charity ads, but I actively support animal charities including PETA and IFAW, and indeed always donate to local causes at my Masonic Lodge, and indeed all Masonic activity is based in charity as its part of the Masonic code to "help those in need" and incase anyone missed it I AM A FREEMASON!...and even my dog, Sirius with whom I could not live without, came from the "Dog's Trust" charity!!! But I am heartily fed up with adverts depicting truley shocking images of sick and abused children, abused animals, and homeless people at the moment, simply being bombarded with them because its Christmas!!! My point is:
Should we only care about these poor creatures at Christmastime?????
Surely poor children, animals, and indeed adults need our care and charity all year round! Or at least thats how it should be!!
.........and its not just the charity ad's that are getting to me but its the "ordinary" ones too! Like constant perfect hero/heroine, designer perfume/aftershave ads...and then when you have stuffed your face silly on Christmas day, you have the "Gaviscon: what a feeling" adverts reminding you just how bad your indegstions is, but all the shops are shut anyway so you can't buy the stuff, unless you have previously stocked some in. I heartily wish "Go Compare" would go F**K OFF!!!! And even Coronation Street sponsered by "Harveys" is making me jittery too. I even bought all my dining room furnature at Harveys back in 2000, which included a full mohogany dinding suite and Jali (Indian) sideboard, 4 foot mirror and massive candlesticks, with absolutly no change from a £Grand!! Another bug-bare is the "had a personal injury" ads!!! Chap drilling and falling off his ladder. Lady walking through reception, slipping and damaging her knee, and the Irish lady who trips on plastic strapping!! Arggghhhhhhhh!! where does it end??

My top 20 annoying adverts!!! (sorry but I like making lists!!)

1: Go compare!!!....never before have I wanted to smash an opera singer in the chops!!

2: DFS!! when will that bleedin' sale end?

3: Foxy Bingo (or any Bingo advert)

4: Asda is cheaper on pricechecker

5: Save the children! (sorry folks but this actually makes me cry and anymore of it and I may commit suicide!)

6: Boots "here comes the girls" .......Im singing this in my sleep!!

7: Cash4Gold!!! .........nuff said

8: personal injury claims!

9: Perfect hero/ heroin perfum adverts...the guy one look very camp to me...??

10: Red driving school

11: Direct car insurance!

12: Scared- stops smoking with NHS using kids begging their parent to stop smoking or they will die...not since 1945 has there been such propaganda!!

13: Who is that whining singer who sounds drunk singing Gun'S and Roses on the M&S ADVERT??

14: iPhone

15: XBox 360!!! Arrrggghhhhhh!!!

16: I want to do a poo at Pauls (sounds a wee bit creepy/pervie.)

17: Iceland..........even more annoyng without Kerry!

18: Gaviscon..........cartoon firemen with large hoses *coughs*

19: Weird Guiness ad's.......whats the point??

20: Grouse Whisky....that dripping noise is soooooo annoying!!

.........maybe more to come later!

Awwwwwww!!!

Sirius has just dumped his soggy wet, snow covered bead in my lap following his evening walk with Derek!! Oh my goodness he looks sooo cute covered in snow (Sirius not Derek! LOL) ...I was going to get Sirius a doggie coat but Derek objected because of his breed which is a bearded collie/Briard mix, but I think he is more Briard becuase of his size (big). Briards come from France and are herding dogs, but like beardies they have a double layered thick coat specialy designed to keep them warm herding cattle in cold conditions! Derek recons a doggie coat would make him too hot!!! However, Sirius adores the snow and when he first saw it last week, he rolled around in it and ended up absolutly covered in snow!! His paws were a mass of snowballs!!

This is Sirius after his walk...aka "Pud, Pud!"



a little fuzzy but he was having a jolly good shake!!...and this is a snowcovered Derek!



The snow is coming down in bucketfulls here at the moment and its set to continue, but it does make it feel so Christmassy!!! Well everything is done....cards sent, presents wrapped, decorations and tree up, the only thing that is left to do is sorting the Christmas dinner! for which preparations wont start untill Christmas eve. But its so cosey snugged up in front ot the TV, all warm and fuzzy feeling while its blowing a veritable blizzard outside! I realy apprieciate my hot nightly bubble baths when its like this...But I wouldent be caught stuggling to the pub in that blizzard for all the tea in China! Absolutly nothing beats a lovely, homely Christmas! Even if this home is just for the next month or so...
I am realy looking forward to an early night, cuddled warm beneth my super tog duvet with a warming bowl of stew for supper, some Port and feeding Sirius, my "Pud, pud" his nightly special treats! :)