Escape

After the first scan picture - where the baby didn't let on which variety it was, a second scan on Monday revealed it's a girl !

How lovely.  As for names, Grace is a strong possibility at the moment. This also happened to be the name of my late paternal grandmother, although the baby's mum is not aware of this.

My partner and l have already been on a few 'baby-shopping' trips, looking at little clothes and booties and toys and portable cots. He wants to have his grandaughter to have a sleep-over here as soon as possible.

One of his more unusual purchases for her has been, of all things, a crab fishing line. l think it will be a few years before she's ready to try that particular hobby !

This is the first ultrasound photo of my partner's new Grandchild !

This was unexpected !  My partner's daughter has just found out she is expecting a baby in October - and she did'nt even realise she was pregnant !  And she had been using the contraceptive pill, so it was even more of a surprise. 

After the initial shock, and also having some worries about how she would cope with a new baby, my partner is gradually coming around to the idea of becoming a Grandad and is looking forward to it. A photo of the babies' ultra-sound scan is sitting in pride of place in the lounge. The variety is still unknown as yet, as they weren't able to see if it was a girl or boy due to the position of the legs, so when it does put in an appearance it will be a nice surprise.

My niece is expecting her second baby, also in October so we are excited about that too.

As a bonus, we choose four correct numbers on the lottery and won £64 !!

l'm spending a lazy day in after a hectic weekend.

Last Saturday we decided we had to clean out our small (but lovely) garden pond as it had become very dark and dingy rather than crystal clear and healthy. The pond sanils were to blame as they had been eating alot of our plants and oxygenating weed, so sadly we had to remove everything, clean it out and not replace our snail friends. l had quite enjoyed watching them swimming around and pairing up with other snails in that twisting, graceful dance they perform.

On Sunday we walked a mile or so to the cliff top and spent the afternoon at the annual Gala Festival. We enjoyed a Thai Buffet style lunch (l love Thai food, it's so light and delicious and fragrant ) from one of the many portable food outlets and listened to some live music ,  then browsed around the stalls - l bought an armful of books for £1 - and looked at the fairground rides complete with screaming customers. Rather them than me !

lt was enjoyable, and even more so as the sun was shining the whole time which always makes things better ! 

l like opera, and most of us at one time or another has listened to an 'aria' - a popular and usually well-known song from a production - and derived enjoyment from it, whether it be 'Nessun dorma' from Turandot or 'O mio babbino caro'  from Gianni Schicchi.

So l am looking forward to a trip to the theatre in a few weeks time to see 'La Boheme'. lt will be something new and different, and of course a chance to dress up! Always a novel experience since l spend alot of my working day in sensible and unglamourous clothes.

 To familiarise myself with the songs and storyline l've been listening to a cd of it, so when l'm watching the show l can understand what's happening, and also wait with anticipation for my favourite songs. Joining in won't be an option as l don't think the audience would appreciate my enthusiastic warblings, and it's being sung in Italian anyway, but l may be tempted to hum along under my breath !

Quote: 'lt was the best of times, it was the worst of times.'

                        Charles Dickens

Well that was an unexpectedly long break - apologies to my readers who have been waiting for the latest blog post.

lt's been a strange beginning to the year, after l thought l'd escaped the winter blues, l suddenly sunk into a kind of apathy, and nothing seemed to be happening that was worth blogging about.

The arrival of a few fine days (apart from some unseasonably vicious snow storms over the Easter break), and shorter nights have lifted my spirits.

l have also discovered a product which has proved useful for those suffering from disturbed sleep, or not being able to drop off at all. Try some melatonin drops. Three or four on a teaspoon, or stirred into a drink and you may find you have a good nights rest. Mine were from a company called agestop.co.uk

The seeds from a variety of tomato called 'Aranta', saved by me last summer, were sown in early February and are now healthy plants, happily basking in the sunshine on my windowsill with some runner beans and cauliflower plants for company.

A few dvds l've enjoyed over the past week or so -not necessarily recent releases but new to me are '- The Cell'; 'Eastern Promises'; 'Society'; and 'Wallace and Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'. 'Into The Wild' is next on my list, but l am reading the best selling novel of this first.

Actually, the title should be - ok, it's winter, but l'm feeling sort of alright really. Not yet into the deep dark gloom which usually descends around this time.

Partly, l think this is because l have tried to avoid my regular December activities, ie endless Christmas shopping, writing Christmas card lists, and thinking about what food to buy to consume over the Christmas period. 

lnfact, l'm pretty chilled about the whole event. Decorating the house has been largely pared down to a small, but attractive Christmas tree, and l may - or may not - string up some icicle shaped fairy lights. But that's it. Enough. And if people are so kind as to send me a card l will return the favour. But gone are the days when l'd be bent over my address book, trying to decide if a nice robin design would be more appropriate for the recipient than The Three Wise Men.

Christmas is a state of mind. l firmly believe people's expectations of the event are too high. They want it to be perfect, everyone bonding, and sharing, and caring, with presents they are thrilled to receive. A season of Goodwill To All Men. 

l wonder why?  lf you weren't feeling this Goodwill in Spring, Summer and Autumn - how does the arrival of the cold and drab Winter months suddenly bring out all this generosity of spirit ? lt's just not realistic and therefore doomed to failure.

No, my new plan is to not have a plan !

l aim to enjoy and be part of the festivities without forcing it to be something it isn't.

And to buy presents on the internet wherever possible. 

This is a nice surpise - l've just won £10 in today's lottery. l had half of the required six numbers. lf only l'd had the other half as well ... if only!!  l would have been 18 million pounds richer.

18 Million Pounds !!!

But ultimately, would it bring me happiness??

Answer: Yes.

One of my current favourite 'must sees' on TV is 'Nigella Express', presented by the fabulously beautiful Nigella Lawson.

Her speciality for this series is producing great tasting comfort food in a hurry - and she really delivers.

Even if you're not into cooking, this show is a delight to watch as Nigella wafts about her kitchen - complete with huge walk-in pantry big enough to live in - gleefully tossing some tasty ingredients into a bowl or pan and with a quick stir rustles up an irresistable meal that even the fussiest of eaters wouldn't refuse.

l love the way Nigella so shamelessly tucks into her food; and the closing scene where she goes back to her fridge at the end of the day to polish off the left-overs!!

Truly a woman after my own heart. 

Check out some of her recipes at www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/nigellaexpress_index.shtml

An article in yesterday's copy of The Sun caught my eye, although l don't as a rule feature newspaper stories in my blog.

The headline read '42p pinta is record.'

Are they kidding ?

At my local corner shop a 500ml (less than a pint) carton of milk has been selling for 42p for months, and recently had a price increase slapped on it. Current cost ?

A whopping 47p  !!!

At this rate it'll be cheaper to slosh champagne over your cornflakes in the morning.

Quote: ' A corpse is meat gone bad. Well and what's cheese ?  Corpse of milk.'

                                          James Joyce