Seamless Meanderings, Looking forward to a Wedding, and Fifteen Awards!

I have been completely discombobulated over the past 24 hours as, according to one who knows (i.e. the Other Half, GJ - Technical Glitterati Geek!), we had lost the DSL connection for our internet link... A green light was winking weakly at me, and nothing we could do - Switching it swiftly off and on again, moving the box to loftier positions in the house, sighing deeply, turning on the laptop 'just in case', helped or changed the situation...



We live in a very rural area, so it is not unusual, as I have mentioned previously, to have power outages, water cuts, and so on...



We do not have as speedy an Internet connection as my friends nearer to the city, and sometimes I can imagine wires being pulled slowly together by a pair of particularly tardy snails...





So that's me, over there, the one with a paper bag over my head, as I am hyperventilating, mes chums, because I wasn't able to get around as many of you as I normally would have yesterday, to leave my little whispers and wishes, so please accept my apologies and most genuine and humble excuses...

I have made a little Voodoo Doll of the Internet Service Provider... Please help yourself to a pin from that blue glass dish over there, if you fancy a stab?!

So, today's post is a hodge-podge/hotchpotch of trivia, an award, a couple of shout-outs, and a Meme - In fact, little change from normal, really! You won't even see the seams, I pwomise...

And if you're wondering what with all the bridal and wedding images - Simples! - My friend, whom I had mentioned way back when, who I had helped to see the light in his long term relationship, when he was about to leave, for fear of getting too hurt himself, is getting married this Saturday... GJ and I have been invited to the wedding.

A cause for some celebration these days, methinks, and we are proud to have been asked to attend their ceremony, which I have always felt is the most important part of a wedding... Getting invited to the party afterwards is never quite the same, in my humble opinion. So this week shall no doubt pass in a blur of me trying to find something half-decent to wear, including shoes (I think the last wedding I attended was my cousin's, about twelve years ago!), getting GJ's suit dry-cleaned, ensuring I do not break the beautifully wrapped parcel containing a pair of crystal wine glasses I managed to procure for them on Saturday in a local family-run department store, and generally panicking about the state of my hair, since I haven't been to a hair salon since August!



A kind of Meme (apparently pronounced 'meem', but I can't say I'm keen on that one... (What's wrong with Mee Mee? After all, you are spilling the beans on you-you?!)...... has been doing the rounds, not sure where it originated, but you input your name to Google, with the words, "Fhina (your name) needs...?"

Of course, Fhina being my nom de plume, and appropriated from a vague, (but highly original source, je vous assure!) Google responded with, "Do you mean China needs...?"

No, I did not mean that! What would I have to do with China, as wondrous as that multifaceted country is? So, I used my real monicker, given to me by loving parents, a name which dates me firmly (I think...) as a child born in the fifties or sixties, and no later mind. It has dated very badly, in the circumstances!

Get on with it, Fhina! The result, you ask?

1. Fhina Needs Assessment - What kind of assessment? Mental health?! Too late, came the cry!

2. Fhina Needs our help - I need all the help I can get, me lovies...

3. Fhina Needs to change - Why, what have you heard?! Change in what way exactly? Could you be more specific?

4. Fhina Needs another at the process of remembering - The rumours of my early onset Alzheimer's have been vastly exaggerated, I can assure you... Who did you say you were again?!

5. Fhina Needs more busts - Ahem, I don't think so... Do you mean plaster busts? Like this one? I don't think I've got the room in my cottage, really, although it is very nice of you to offer...

6. Fhina Needs to learn POP3 - Fhina has always leant more towards folk and rock - Pop, you say?! You'll never get me disco dancing, je vous assure!

7. Fhina Needs to get back to study - I think that is a cheeky remark - I need to get back to my Stained Glass Class - Does that count as study...

8. Fhina Needs to go - I'll just get me coat!

9. Fhina needs a 1995 a retired Tony Carter teapot of a chaise lounge with the gramaphone on a small table-hmmm. Mmmmmm... Sounds very interesting! ... Note the spelling of gramophone - Not that I am in any way a pedant!

10. Fhina needs a muck-over - I beg your pardon - That sounds like something you would do to a horse, and not to a Fhina!

11. Fhina Needs a forever family - It is true, there are children and babes who need loving, caring forever families, and certainly in the UK there is a shortage of people willing to become Foster Parents, which is such a shame... However, Fhina was fortunate enough to have great, if a bit mad, parents, and does have a loving, albeit occasionally disfunctional, family of her own now...

12. Fhina Needs you - This much is true, my bloggeros and bloggeristas! See yesterday for evidence.

13. Fhina Needs your prayers - Whatever works, loves! I won't turn them down... Although there are far more worthy causes, as we know.

14. Fhina Does not need that money any more than most in there... Now, hang on there, if you please, can I just check your pockets for any loose change before you leave the portal of Crawford Mansions? We've been losing a lot of the silver lately, you 'know!

15. Fhina Needs new knees... Please Goddess Wiki, no. I have only just started on me back repairs, me knees can't go yet!


Finalement, my head is swelling of late, and not only from consumption of dust. I was mentioned in despatches in David McMahon's wonderful Post Of The Day blogspot the other day - This is always incredible and flattering!

And, I have received this award from the delightful and delovely, Carma, there it is, on the right sidebar, at the top, for which I shall be eternally grateful, bless you, dahlink!


This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.

The rules to follow are:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to another 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I would like to pass on this award to:

Aleksandra, at New Times Arrived, for being quirky and wonderful, and arty and working very hard at everything she does to bring art and music into the world;

Bee at Bee Drunken for her insight, intelligence, store of memories and photography;

Jaywalker at Belgian Waffling, for her European chic, her sharp blogging style and for ladybird and parrot-cake-making extraordinaire;

Brit' Gal in the USA for her sterling efforts in improving Brit/USA relations and for her all round life adventurousness;

Carolina at Brinkbeestinenglish for her blogging style in English and in Dutch, and her beautiful pigs;

C. Beth Blog for her love, creativity, parenting, strength and faith in humanity;

Chairman Bill - I know he probably doesn't 'do' awards, but he deserves one for blogging intelligently for a number of years in the wilderness of experience;

Comedy Goddess, for being a comedy genius!

Cynthia for her beautiful life, as well as her great review of the film of Sue Monk Kidd's book, The Secret Life of Bees;

Dumdad at The Other Side of Paris for his love of music, raising of wonderfully bright children, and being blogging fantastic! Oh, that and his future in wine importing!


La Belette Rouge who has more awards than Hollywood, but deserves this one for her tenacity towards life, the universe and writing, and her love of her fair dog-aughter, Lily;


Leatherdykeuk for her quirky and intelligent art, wicked photography and cunning creativity!

Suburbia at Moments from Suburbia for always hitting the mark with her writing in some very challenging times;

Ruby Isabella Jones for her dogged determination, and beautiful blog;

The Irascible Fairy for his writing on Chairman Bill's blogs - Always entertaining, considerate and thought-provoking;

~Quoting Carma, "I thoroughly enjoy reading your blogs. I've been enlightened and entertained, met so many inspirational people and shared lots of laughs!"


Merci beaucoup, mes amis!

It Ain't Over Until The Fat Lady Blogs...

Feeling a little more tickety-boo today, (I haven't even taken any painkillers yet, which must be a good thing, non?), I thought I would once again reflect the glamour of the red carpet season, and scatter a few awards, and some more Oscar-isms that I love, to titillate your very senses, mes petits choux! See if you can spot the scattered bons mots of dear Oscar, and tell the difference from mine (Hah!).


I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.

I love the Oscars - the glamour, the dresses and bling, the pomp and ceremony.

Of course, living on the other side of the world, I am snoring busily in bed when the champagne glasses are first dusted off and then clinked together in celebration, sadly...

One of these days, I would like to be a spectator there on the red carpet, to dress up for the occasion, and just watch people arriving, waving serenely, and negotiating their way towards the awards...

I was very lucky the other day to receive this wonderful award from a new friend, from the world of creative stitchery and blogging, Jan ...



I was staggered, and delighted once again to be amongst such fabulous contemporaries upon whom Jan also bestowed her friends' award. Please go and visit Jan, and then on to these other miscreants I am about to shout out to, please friends? Pretty please, with sugar on?!

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers.

When you pass the award along please include these guidelines.

I am to choose eight friends to share this with." 8 friends, phew! No man is rich enough to buy back his past

Scriptor Senex with his wonderful daily Rambles From My Chair - He may be knee deep in wallpaper and paint just now, and this Oscar will set off his paint spatters wonderfully!

Derrick at Melrose Musings, for his educational glimpses into the history of Melrose and its surrounds, plus wherever else he's been on his travels - He is Blogland's answer to Jerry Hall, the man is so well-travelled and clever!

It is through art, and through art only, that we can realise our perfection.

Lakeviewer - I know she hasn't any awards displayed, but I hope she can still accept this one for its charm and wit? She has a terrific writing style and oodles of life experience and wisdom to amaze and astound.

Suburbia to encourage and support her steps daily.

Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

Artist Unplugged just for being wonderful!

Adlibby for her beauty and generosity of spirit...

Anne at blognut for her nutty blogginess and rambling wit!



No woman should ever be quite accurate about her age. It looks so calculating.

Joanne at Reasons To Be Cheerful, 1, 2, 3... She hasn't been in the best of circumstances recently following difficult bereavements, and yet has continued to blog like a trooper!



And moving on to our next category. After being a follower and reader of Adlibby, she was generous enough to offer her Fabulous award to all of us - provided that we list our 5 Addictions, then pass the award on to 5 bloggeristas!

Do I know you enough to share those?!


1. Any kind of Lip Salve - Yes, I am addicted, and can go nowhere, nowhere (not even to bed) without a liberal smearing of some kind of perfumed unguent on my pucker!


2. Sleep. I love sleep and naps, and I love my pit of a bed! Snuggling down under the comforting duvet, encased in Egyptian Cotton (if I'm lucky!), down into the arms of dear old Morpheus!


3. Filing my nails! A bit weird, non? I file them probably once a day - I have terrible nails, not beautifully shaped or long, but if there is a jagged edge, I am on edge until it has been smoothed, and sometimes when I am at work, I drift from desk to desk until I find a stray emery board in someone's pen pot that I can sequester. Occasionally, I wear nail polish, probably not as often as I could; I wish that I had lovely hands, rather than the workmanlike spades I have inherited from my dad, including a very peculiar, slightly bent middle finger on my right hand (his was on his left!). Genetics is a very strange science!

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.


4. I fail to function well in society without the aid of my make-up bag. I have a lovely fuchsia pink leather Osprey number I found at the wonderful TK Maxx - Being at home for several months, I have grown more accustomed to going sans make-up, and have probably saved a fortune, (and scared a few postmen into the bargain!), however, once I am back in polite society again (present company excepted!), I will need to return to my daily, Eleanor Rigby-style, mask!

The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.




5. This is harder than I thought - What else am I addicted to - Hopefully not the Codeine! There is chocolate, of course, and ice cream, but I can go without when I am forced to... If someone passes me into a strait jacket, that is!

Scratches head... I shall say, I am addicted to good quality Costume Dramas, for I cannot let one go unwatched, and have a copious selection of DVDs and even some bookmarked to buy on Amazon in time, and so on... There, you have it, I am addicted to (usually dear old Auntie Beeb) BBC Costume Dramas...


The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.



There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

And so, the fabulous beauties, worthy of wearing the yellow yoke and ever dark and chic sunglasses are:

Working Mum On the Verge

Saz - She is an awards magnet, but she hasn't this one, and she is fabulous, that goes without saying, so...


Crystal Jigsaw ... Soon it's lambing season, and she'll be wearing anything but chic shoes and shades - So she deserves this!

Dusty Spider for she is a little blogging treasure, with enchanting photos of her family and spotlessly clean environment..

Why was I born with such contemporaries?

I can't even add up to 5, so here I am editing once again, to add in the last, but not least:

The recently returned Hadriana's Treasures! with always something new and interesting to say!



We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

6 Things that make me happy...

After yesterday's marathon, I shall be happy if there's anyone still out there reading this - I promise to be swift! I typed marathong there - Wonder what that would look like?!


Today, I am tagging myself with a short Meme, I spotted, um...somewhere...


6 Things That Make Me Happy...


1.

Music:- I don't listen as much as I would wish, and don't know why. Music can lift my soul.

I sing appallingly, caterwaulingly, in the car, in the house, to favourite songs on the radio. Singing is good for my heart and my mood, and especially if it's live music. I've made a New Year's pact with GJ to go to more live gigs this year - I don't care if we are the oldest liggers in the audience, or the mosh pit - I'm going! Er, once me back's fixed...


2.

Reading: I love to spend time luxuriating with a good book, sometimes one of my comfort books. Reading has taught me much about life and the lives of people.

A lecturer of mine, Kelsey Thornton, (he wore capes and floppy hats to lectures apparently - Before my time though, sadly... it would have been fabulous!)



...once told a hushed auditorium: "Literature is the quintessential essence of life..."



I think it is, and I'll fight you if you tell me it's not!


3.

I could not live without Human Contact, or should I say, positive human contact...


"’Tis the human touch
in this world that counts,
The touch of your hand and mine,
Which means far more
to the fainting heart
Than shelter and bread and wine.
For shelter is gone
when the night is o’er,
And bread lasts only a day.
But the touch of the hand
And the sound of the voice
Sing on in the soul always".

by Spencer Michael Free


4. I am happiest when I am with and amongst animals - See my about me -

Alpacas,



Goats and Sheep can make me squeak with delight. I love dogs, but have not owned a dog since leaving home for College - I would really love to be adopted by a dog or dogs. If I ever had the time and space, and would like a German Shepherd, a Bedlington Terrier, and two Dachshunds

, but he/they might fight with this one my cat:

I will settle for the two dachsies in time, and more cats, and a goat!

I also love wildlife and birds, but not to keep, as such - Although I keep getting GJ to stop the car in a nearby village where someone keeps emus!




5. The art of creating things makes me happy - Whether in my beloved Stained Glass Art class, writing stuff, as in blogging, is fun; Making new friends here has given me a huge boost in confidence and contentment... Thank you, bless you!


6. My family and good, good friends - Nuff said!



They are my rocks and my comforters...

I'm not going to tag anyone, this is just for fun - If you want to pick it up yourself for a quieter day, please feel free to do so?

The usual rules…

Link to the person who gave you the award. If you want.

Post the rules on your blog.

List six things that make you happy.

Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. If you want...

Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

Let the person who awarded you know when your entry is up.

The moving finger writes; And, having writ, Moves on: Nor all thy Piety nor Wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, Nor all thy Tears...

I offer no apologies about today's quietly contemplative blog. The title coming from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.


Stinking Billy also spoke of this yesterday. And Scriptor Senex has also recently lost a loved friend at a too early age...


A well-known, well loved and well respected blogger, Emma Bearfoot, AKA Mad Asthmatic, passed at the age of 32 earlier this week. Her dear friend, Carma, let all of us know who had the pleasure (albeit brief, in my case), of knowing Emma. This was very kind of her.



Emma's last writing dealt with what may have been a personal philosophy on life, and this is a page in her book from which we all could take a leaf.

If I may just continue by quoting Emma's blog almost verbatim for you, and thinking of those valued lives we all might have lost while lighting a few candles for them:




"The certainty of life is death, but the passage of time between birth and death is ours and ours alone.

Try to make sure when the time comes that you have few regrets about the life you have spent...



Call a spade a spade and you won't go far wrong. If you give out harsh words be ready to receive them back. If you can not take what you yourself hand out then keep silent.

Friends will come and go. If they are meant to be true then they will remain, and those who are just passing ships will pass through your life at times", (dictated by fate and Karma, in my opinion).

"Remember each friendship with affection but do not mourn its demise, for another friend is around the corner.



Follow the road that you wish to follow for your life, do not follow the crowd


unless it is what you truly want.

If you make a mistake, then have the courage to rectify it; If you wish to take a different path to those around you do not apologise.

For we have only one life and, in order not to regret those missed opportunities, we must be prepared to walk against the crowd at some points in our lives.


Do not stay silent if there is someone you love, do not regret words unsaid, do not assume they know how you feel. Red faces can be got over but unsaid words will remain just that.



Make it your mission to brighten one person's life each day with a smile and a hello. Politeness and pleasantness costs nothing, and yet can make such an impact.

Do not ask "How are you today?", if you don't want to know.

Have the courage to be yourself and not care what others think.


Make having no regrets your mission for life".


Emma's is a philosophy that I often try to encourage others to adopt in life - a mantra. Hey, I know it isn't easy; Don't shoot the messenger...




As the little sparrow, Edith Piaf sang throughout her own troubled life, Je Ne Regrette Rien...

Have no regrets about what you have done, what you have had to do, and about what you might have to do in your life - Try to lead a good and worthy life...

~ Be yourself, be comfortable in your own skin, plough your own furrow, be good to yourself every day, treat others as you would wish to be treated - with kindness and with civility;

"Spread your rubber loving and it'll come on back to you" (as Macy Gray sings).

Above all - Leave nothing left unsaid, leave nothing left unsaid friends...