Over to you ......!

Having just finished my list of "10 Things That I Love", I've just been reminded that I should be tagging 5 people to draw up their list.

I put the names of my followers into a hat, and these are the five that I have come up with!  It would be lovely if you could join in, but please don't feel that you have to if you don't want to do it.

• Odie, from A Simple Life http://www.odielangley.blogspot.com/
• Olive Cooper, from Olive Out http://oliveout.blogspot.com/
• Natasha, from 5 Minutes Just for Me http://5minutesjustforme.blogspot.com/
• Bouncin'Barb, from http://bouncinbarbs.blogspot.com/
• Becky at Just Being Me http://justbeingme-becky.blogspot.com/

10 Things I love - Final Instalment

Right, here we go again then.

8.  I love smiles. Whenever I'm out and about, I always try to be cheerful with people and, after all, a smile costs nothing, and yet if someone is smiling and cheerful, it makes us feel so much better.  Most people do respond, but I have to say that you get the odd ones that just seem to glare at you.  It used to bother me, but not any more.  I just think, "oh well, it's their loss."  As you get a little older, you realize that life is just too short to be miserable.

9.  I love reading.  I am an avid reader, and always have been.  I just love books.  I can still remember going to bed on the eve of my 8th birthday, and feeling really excited because I knew that I was going to get an Enid Blyton book in the morning!  My two daughters also love reading, along with my eldest granddaughter, and I'm delighted to say that my two year old grandson already loves books, and will sit there for ages looking at the pages.

I do like reading autobiographies, but mostly read novels.  Here are just a few that I have loved over the years, a few of them going back to childhood!  All of the Enid Blyton Books, What Katy Did and What Katy did Next, Heidi, Anne of Green Gables.  Then, more recently, Sea Music by Sara Macdonald, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and The Rose of Sebastopol, to name but a few.

So then, I'm now onto my last choice, which is -

10.  I love peace and quiet.  Hopefully this won't make me sound boring, but I'm not really a party animal and, although I love meeting up with friends, going to the cinema, out for meals, to the theatre etc., I am quite happy with my own company, and I certainly prefer quiet to a lot of noise.  Perhaps that's something to do with being an only child of older parents, so I have never had the chaos of a large family life, and I do find that, if I am in an environment with a lot of people, I am always happy to get home and take off my glad rags and just relax!

I hope that perhaps you might have been able to relate to some of my "loves" and thank you for reading about them.

10 Things I Love (Continued...)

Right then, how many 'loves' have I done so far?  Oh no - only 2!!

3.  Well, I suppose this is a good time of the year to say that I love Christmas.  I love everything about it, apart from the crowded shops and crowds of people of course!  I love the sherry and mince pies, the roast turkey and all the trimmings, (not a particular fan of Christmas pudding, but I will eat a portion on the day), being with loved ones, the Christmas carols, having the house all cosy and warm with all the candles and festive decorations and fairy lights.

4.  As it's so bitterly cold outside today, I love a roaring log fire. We are fortunate to have an open fireplace in this house, and I love it when the log fire is burning.  As well as looking so good, it gives a lovely smell as well, especially if you put orange peel and pine cones on the fire.  I thought I had a photo on my computer of our log fire taken one Christmas, but I can't find it, so I shall have to take one for my Blog another time.

5.  I love chocolates!  I'm afraid I try not to buy bars of chocolate very often, because once I start eating, I just can't stop.  I try to be good and eat the dark chocolate, but I'm afraid that it's just not the same as good old Cadbury's milk chocolate.  That's one of the things my daughter and her family miss by living in France, so I have to send food parcels over every so often!

6.  I love my pink laptop!  I've always had a computer, but my little laptop was given to me for my birthday in April of this year, and I love, love, love it!  Even more so, of course, since I've become a Blogger.  I love it that I can just carry it to any room in the house, and off I go!  I know, it's sad, isn't it?!

7.  I love my Apple iPhone.   This is on a par really with the love that I have for my laptop.  It is fantastic.  I've got all my music on there, plus games such as Scrabble, along with all my photoes of the grandchildren.  It takes really good photoes and videos, as (here comes the technical bit!) it has a 5 megapixel camera, so I don't always have to carry my digital camera with me.  I can see what the weather is like in countries all over the world, plus the different time zones, and all the different Apps are fantastic.  I'm beginning to sound like a nerd (geek) now, aren't it?! 

I still love to listen to the music of the 60's and I have this fantastic App, whereby you can pick up music stations from all over the world and I listen to 1.FM which comes from America, and they play 60's music non-stop. 

Another really good App allows me to text my family in France, as well as sending them photoes and videos of the two grandchildren in this country, all for FREE.

Right, let's move onto the next 'love' of mine, before you start to get really worried about me!!

Actually, I am going to finish this post here and continue again tomorrow.  I've been reading all about Blogs and blogging, and the 'experts' say that your Blog shouldn't go on for too long, as people will just get fed up and move on to the next post, and dear Bloggies, I don't want you all deserting me.  See you tomorrow - bet you can't wait (LOL!)

Sunday Song

Natasha

I love this song by Elvis Presley ("Always on my Mind") and I love the words.  Somehow it always makes me feel sad, because it is obviously about a lost love, and perhaps it should remind us all this Sunday to take care of the one we love, to not take them for granted, and to let them know how much they mean to us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0wWYCQBU_c

Ooops!

My apologies regarding my previous post written earlier today, as the link-up to the site did't appear to work.

Hopefully I have now corrected this! Gawgus things

10 Things I Love

My friend over at gawgus-things has set me the challenge of naming ten things that I love.  I actually find these quite hard to do, as I did with my 5 indulgences.  There are so many things that I love, but when asked to actually name them, my mind seems to go a complete blank!

Talking about gawgus-things, do go over and check out her Blog.  She writes about gorgeous things in her life and her fashion sense is excellent.  Personally, I feel that she should be researching and writing for a Fashion Magazine.
Come on now, thisisme, you're just rambling on to try and put off the challenge that you have been set!  (Ten is quite a lot to have to come up with, by the way).

1.  I love quotations, inspirational sayings etc.  They could be lines from a film, such as from the movie I love, Now Voyager, when Bette Davis says "Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon.  We have the stars." (you will gather that I am an incurable romantic!).

Another quote that springs readily to mind is from Oscar Wilde, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

Here's another of my favourites :



2.  Like a lot of you, I suspect, I love the summer, when I can feel the sun on my skin and go to the beach and paddle in the sea.  (Very rarely in England is the sea actually warm enough to swim in).  I love to hear the waves gently lapping the shore and the noise of the gulls flying overhead.

Yes, this is me!

I don't want to make this particular post too long, as I know your interest will wane, so I will continue with my other loves tomorrow.  See you then dear Bloggies!



Funny!

This doesn't need any words.  I hasten to point out that it is NOT a photo of my husband and I!

Bless!

Horses

Here are the horses in the field right next to our garden.  They are always after apples, which we collect from the orchard to give to them.  Sometimes the field is also full of sheep, and then, from about May to July, the Farmer lets the grass grow, so that they can bring in the harvest at the beginning of August, which ensures that they have feed for their animals throughout the Winter.  When my granddaughter was young, she asked if we lived on a farm.  Almost, but not quite!

Thanksgiving

Sending blessings to all my American blogging friends on this Thanksgiving Day.  After reading all your comments about this special day to you all, I am feeling very left out and envious.

Maybe next year, I will have my own Thanksgiving Day here in England!

Photoes to make you smile

I know that my blogging friends seem to like taking photoes, and also looking at them, so I thought that these might make you smile today!

My favourite has to be the little puppy cuddling his little cuddly toy!

Sad News

Just heard the sad news that all the 29 Miners in New Zealand are now believed to be dead, after a second explosion in the mine.  There is now little hope that anyone could have survived the second explosion, and our thoughts and prayers must now be with the families and friends of these poor men.  We had the miracle in Chile when all the miners were rescued alive, but a totally different result this time round.

Let us give thanks that our own families are safe and sound.

Very Profound!

I was talking about fitness a couple of days ago, and my lack of motivation, and one of my blogging friends left me a comment (Sandra, from Absolutely Narcissism.  Please visit her Blog - it is excellent!) which was so good and profound that I just have to share it with you.

"It does not matter that you stop.  In only matters that you begin again."

How  good is that.  In fact Sandra, I am going to make that my quote of the week!

Talking about things people say, my husband went grey when he was in his early 40's and one day he was picking up our granddaughter from Nursery School.  As they were walking to the car, she suddenly said "oh look Papa.  That man over there has got old hair like you!"

One day she was looking at me very closely and said to me, "Grandma, you're old, aren't you?", to which I replied, "No, of course Grandma's not old."  Well, she looked at me for a couple of minutes as if thinking to herself, how can I say this, when she then said "You are old Grandma.  You just don't know it yet!"  Priceless.  Out of the mouths of babes and all that ....

Local Area

I was very good yesterday and did actually get out for my walk.  It was such a lovely day - sunny and not too cold - that it was wonderful to be out in the fresh air, and I certainly felt much better for it.  Memo to self: go out for that walk each day (if it's not pouring with rain of course) BEFORE you sit down at your laptop and get involved with your blogging world!

To prove that I actually was out and about, I took some photoes around  the area in which I live, and here they are -

The American War Memorial

The River Erme

The Vey Ancient Ivy Bridge

The War Memorial

I'm afraid that I got a bit carried away taking the photoes, but, in actual fact, it is really good to look at where you live through different eyes, and really appreciate everything  you see.  All the places in the photoes are just five minutes from where I live and were taken on a 45 minute walk of the area.



Three Wise Monkeys - Plus One

The following is courtesty of The Lady Bloggers Society -

Fitness (or lack of it!!)

Today I am going to go for a long walk all round where I live.  This might not sound very exciting to you, but, to me, it's a start of my fitness regime.  Hah! How my daughters would laugh if they could read this, as I have started so many of these fitness regimes, but, unfortunately, they do not last very long.

I blame it on my Star sign, Aries.  I am full of enthusiasm for starting new things, get all the gear and off I go.  But then I falter and it all comes to a shuddering halt.  I guess motivation is not a strong point of mine, which I am not proud of.

I have been a member of several Gyms over the years, and, because I've tied myself into an annual subscription, usually end up paying money every month, but not actually attending.  I do love walking along the coast (the nearest beach is only fifteen minutes away from where I live, so we are right on the coast in this part of glorious Devon), but I lost one of my walking friends last year, and I don't really feel that safe to do the walks on my own, which is such a shame, but you just have to be sensible these days. 

walking by the sea

A couple of years ago, I bought myself an exercise bike (not the first one I have owned, I should point out!) together with a step machine.  Oh! And some weights for my arms.  Now we have the usual story here, I started off so well and actually did continue it for several months, but now, I'm ashamed to say, they are all gathering dust up in my spare room.  (In fact I shall probably have to dust them off in a minute before I take the photoes!).  I was regularly spending a good half an hour on the bike, and when I went on it the other day, I could barely manage five minutes - my legs felt like jelly! (On second thoughts, I have decided not to bother to take a photo of said items - it would be too much trouble!).

I also love swimming and, when I was in Cyprus with my family in the summer, I was swimming everyday and thoroughly enjoying it.  And guess what?!  Yes, I was going to go swimming at least three times a week when I got back home.  Pah!  That never came to fruition.  Somehow it's not quite the same dragging along to the indoor pool at the local Leisure Centre as to feeling the warm sun on your back in warmer climes.  (I even bought a new swimming costume for the pool.  That one, also, is gathering dust at the back of a cupboard somewhere).

But now, I have an even better idea for keeping fit.  I saw Helen Mirren on the television the other night, advertising the Wii Fit (Can you believe that she got paid £500,000 for the advert?!) and, as we are of a similar age, I thought, "yes! this is for me".  It was a Eureka moment).  Strangely enough, at just the same time, one of my good blogging friends, Becky over at "Just Being Me"  mentioned about fitness on one of her blogs, and, yes, she mentioned the Wii Fit.  I have been in touch with her, and she has assured me that it is easy to use and certainly worth having.  So you see, dear friends, it was just meant to be, and I am going to put it on my Christmas pressie list.  So, in the new year, you will be seeing a new, fit and toned "thisisme"!!!

LOL!!!