A Brainstorming Top Ten and some Friendly Fill Ins

Today I'm catching up with Top Ten and the Friendly Fill Ins - enjoy.

This week for Top Ten Thursday (I know I'm very late) Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom has asked us to brainstorm an upcoming project: top ten ideas on how to remodel your terrace, how to fit in more exercise into your days or how to pimp your blog,...?

My project is to make sure we're getting all our nutrients and and include more veggies that we've not had before in our pescatarian (fish eating vegetarians) diet.

1. I've recently bought a fabulous chart that outlines nutrients and the veggies they're found in, which I plan to stick to the wall where we do our food preparation.

2. Follow instagram accounts that share healthy vegetarian recipes. A great one that I've found is Vegetarian Eats.

3. Try new foods when out and about to see if it's something we'd want to experiment with at home. Something that I must try as I've seen it in several recipes, is Jackfruit.

4. Remember that a lot of vitamins and minerals can be found in seeds which are really easy to add to all sorts of things.

5. Lots of people always assume that we find it difficult to get enough protein as we don't eat meat anymore, but there are lots of other ways to get this very important nutrient, nuts being one of my favourites especially in the form of peanut or cashew butter.

6. The other important mineral that is a little harder to get is iron, though you'd be surprised how much iron is in vegetarian foods. This Website gives details of the different foods and how much iron is in them. The other factor with plant based iron is that it's important to try and optimise the absorption by eating vit C rich foods with your iron ones, and avoid tea or coffee at mealtimes.

7. Another thing I'd like to do to perk up our diet is to try some new vegetables in our meals. One of the supermarkets we were at recently had some veggies that I'd never seen before so I'm definitely going to google some recipes and try them. 

8. Explore more health food shops to find new and unusual things to eat. We've got some seaweed noodles in the cupboard that we need to try - they're black and full of healthiness.

9. In project eat better we need to not become too obsessed with what we're eating that we lose the joy of food.

10. Never forget that chocolate and coffee have lots of really important nutrients in them, especially the feel good nutrient that it would be silly to live without.

Have you got any projects that you need to undertake? Before you leave today, make sure you hop over to Tamara's Blog and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Now it's onto Friday's Friendly Fill Ins which is hosted by 15andmeowing.com and Four-Legged Furballs, visit their blogs to see other bloggers answers. The bits in bold are provided for us and the rest is purely me.

  

1. My beloved brings out the best in me as he always has faith in my abilities even when I don't.

2. Animal cruelty and neglect makes me grumpier than Grumpy Cat and more morose than Eeyore. I'll never understand the mentality of people that can hurt an animal, especially cats as they are such beautiful creatures (but then I'm a bit biased).

Lord Rocky Horror - much chubbier than when we adopted him.

3. If money grew on trees, I would buy us a house and take in lots of animals that need a good home.

4. I have a fear of spiders and heights when I'm in a car which I know is a bit bizarre. Spiders is a sensible fear as lots of them in Australia are very poisonous, but the car thing is a bit odd as I'm fine with heights otherwise. 

That's it for today, if you've enjoyed this post why don't you join us next week on Thursday or Friday or both.

Until next time, have a really wonderful week.

Pamela & Ken

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My 500th Post & Friday Fill Ins

This is the momentous milestone of our 500th blog post. I never realised when I started the blog in 2012 that it would still be going six years later. I've always loved writing and journaling, so I see the blog as an online journal where I can share thoughts and moments with whoever cares to read it.

During these 500 posts we've shared our travels and days out, and our move from London to the Highlands of Scotland. We've said goodbye to cherished friends and welcomed new ones into our lives. Two precious furbies have travelled over the rainbow bridge but we also were lucky enough to adopt two gorgeous (crazy) animals into our family.

I've probably driven some of you mad with my soppy posts about my beloved, but he is the silent partner in this blog and I couldn't keep it up without his support, perfectly made coffees, and him taking on the role of my personal ideas man.

Today is also Friday so it's time for the Fill Ins which are hosted by Ellen at 15andmeowing.com and Lorianne at Four-Legged Furballs who provide the prompts in bold and the rest is by me.

1. My favorite subject in school was a toss up between English and Music. I've always loved reading and writing about things so that's why English was something I loved - it also helped that for at least two of my highschool years I had a really good teacher who was incredibly encouraging.

2. An extracurricular activity I participated in was the concert band - I played the flute. Then when I went onto secondary college I was in the choir - so all my extracurricular activities were music related.

The high school concert band - I've put a pink diamond on me

3. I want to learn so many things but the top two on my list would be to speak another language fluently and to play a new instrument.

4. It takes courage to challenge yourself to do something new, as there is always the risk of failure. One of the quotes that I try to keep in mind when doing something new is: 'A life lived in fear is a life half lived.'

Do you have anything that you'd really like to learn? Before you go, do hop over to our hosts blogs to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and try and use less plastic this week.

Pamela & Ken
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Friday's Friendly Fill Ins

It's time for the Friday fill ins which are hosted by Ellen at 15andmeowing.com and Lorianne at Four-Legged Furballs who provide the prompts in bold and the rest is by me.

1. It is a real blessing to be living in such a beautiful part of the world and just this morning I looked out the kitchen window to see a young deer in the neighbours garden.

2.The best part of last week was visiting the Highland Wildlife Park where we got to see Hamish the young polar bear and the Scottish wildcat kittens. Wildcats are endangered so it's really lovely to see a new generation playing in the sun.

Hamish

Kittens

3. Every summer, I love seeing the purple heather blanketing the countryside - it's my favourite colour so Scotland is the perfect place for me.

4. Once upon a time, a guy and a girl met, became friends, and 26 years after that first meeting they are more in love every day, and have three furry children including a princess, a horror, and a dog that thinks she's a cat.

November 2015

What's been the best part of your week? Before you go make sure you check out what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their answers.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and do something to help the planet over the coming week.

Pamela & Ken

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Friday's Happy Fill Ins

Welcome back to the fill ins which are hosted by Ellen at 15andmeowing.com and Lorianne at Four-Legged Furballs who provide the prompts in bold and the rest is by me.

1.Happiness is being married to my best friend.

2. Ten years ago, I never would have pictured all the changes that have happened in our lives including leaving the NHS and moving to live in the north of Scotland.

3. Time spent with animals is the best medicine. More specifically time spent with cats, but I love all animals and of course I couldn't miss out Bramble Jelly, our lovely puppy dog.

                      Princess Cookie Cat                              Lord Rocky Horror & Bramble Jelly

4. Most people don’t know that I love an over the top disaster/action movie. Think 2012, The Day After Tomorrow,  and the gorgeous Vin Diesel in XXX - I can watch these films over and over.

That's it today, so until next time, be good and stay safe.

Pamela & Ken
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Friday's Fill Ins

After a break from the fill ins during April it's time to get back to them. The fill ins are hosted by Ellen at 15andmeowing.com and Lorianne at Four-Legged Furballs who provide the prompts in bold and the rest is by me. Annie from McGuffy's Reader is having a well deserved break from the blogosphere and we're sending lots of good thoughts her way.

 1. I spend too many hours per day online. Between Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, e-mails, and blogging, I need about four more hours a day.

2. When I go online, I use my phone, tablet, and laptop.

3. Mother’s Day in the UK is in March and in lots of other countries including Australia and the USA it is in May.

4. I wish we had our own home so that we could decorate to suit us, and we could catify the space for the furbies. Check out The Cat's House where some very lucky kitty cats live - I would love to do even a fraction of the things they have for their feline residents.

Lord Rocky Horror

Do you spend lots of time online or are you very strict with yourself? Make sure you hop over to Fur-legged Furballs or 15andmeowing.com to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their fill ins.

Pamela & Ken

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Friday's Friendly Reflections

It's the end of another week and time for some fill ins that are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Ellen at 15andmeowing.com - why don't you come and join us. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. My favorite Dr. Seuss book is Green Eggs and Ham.

2. The most interesting person I have ever met is really difficult to choose so I'm going to have to go with two. The first is an elderly gentleman who fought in the second world war in the desert campaigns - I looked after him in Tasmania and he was so fascinating to talk to, and would share lots of things about his life. When he found out that I was going to work in the Middle East he got very animated and we talked for ages about customs and religion. I often think about this patient, even though it is twenty six years since I knew him.

The second person is an elderly gentleman that lived in the nursing home next to the secondary  college I went to. Sometimes during free classes two of us would go over to the home to talk to the residents and on about my second visit I met Carl and after we talked for a while he realised that he knew my dad when he was growing up, so from then on I would go across and chat to Carl and play cards with him. 

I think that we find out the most interesting things when we stop and listen to other peoples stories - everyone has something interesting to tell if we just give them the time. 

3. Besides books by Dr. Seuss, my favourite book as a child was actually a series by Susan Cooper called The Dark is Rising. It's a fantasy series set in England and Wales that includes aspects of Arthurian legend and mythology. I love these books and still reread them every few years.

4. Lately, I have been working on not catching any of the bugs that have been going around. Lots of people have been coming down with colds and chest infections and so far I have been lucky enough to escape them.

What was your favourite book when you were a child? Before you go make sure you hop over to Annie's Blog and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their fill ins.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and I hope you read good books this week.

Pamela & Ken                                                                                                                                            xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: Lord Rocky Horror has taken over the house and it's like he's been here forever. We his humble servants are wrapped around his little paw, whilst Princess Cookie Cat sits in her gilded tower glaring and growling at the young upstart. Bramble Jelly still hasn't learnt that sticking her nose in Rocky's bottom will result in a whack on the nose.

Friday's Friendly Ramblings

It's the end of another week and time for some fill ins that are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Ellen at 15andmeowing.com - why don't you come and join us. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. My favorite president is Nelson Mandela because despite his 27 years in prison he was a beacon for peace and reconciliation in South Africa. During his years in prison Mandela completed his law degree and I'm sure this helped him in being able to debate the rights of all South Africans and be effective in his role as President of South Africa.

2. This weekend, I have plans to get my hair cut and my pink streaks refreshed - you can see a bit of the pink in the below picture. We'll see what else we end up discovering in our travels. 

3. I love how my beloved carries Bramble Jelly from the car to the house if it is wet so that she doesn't get dirty wet feet. It's very cute with her wriggling away under his arm.

4. I believe that we can all have an impact on the world around us, we just have to decide whether or not that impact will be good, or bad. Reducing our use of plastic, eating local food, eating less meat, turning the lights off more, recycling as much as possible, and so many more little things that can help look after this planet we live on. Earth Day 2018 is April 22nd and this years focus is very much on reducing plastic use and cleaning up the plastic waste that is polluting our world.

Until next time, we hope that you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are in the world.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: Our new little man, Lord Rocky Horror has settled in really well and has finally stopped inhaling his food for fear of someone else eating it. He's the cutest and friendliest little cat and we're so glad he's become part of our family.

Fridays Friendly Fill Ins

It's the end of another week and time for some fill ins that are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Joyce at 15andmeowing.com - why don't you come and join us. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me. Lets raise a glass of something fizzy for the new year.

1. My Chinese zodiac animal is the Rooster, and more specifically I am an earth rooster. A famous earth rooster is Jennifer Lopez and we're meant to be 'lovely, generous, and trustworthy. My beloved is a Monkey which sounds about right.

Today being Chinese New Year we're entering the year of the dog and leaving my year, the rooster behind.

2. My zodiac sign is Capricorn which is an earth sign and I have been told several times in my life that I epitomize the personality of this sign. A Capricorn's traits are; responsible, disciplined, practical, and grounded, with them also expecting the worst and being a tad unforgiving

3. Income tax season is not something I have to worry about.

4. In hindsight, there are probably lots of things that when I look back I wonder if I should have made different decisions or chosen a different path, but at the time I made the best decision with the information I had. Besides, Lady Destiny had it all planned already.

Do you know what your Chinese Zodiac sign is? We wish you all a fabulous new year with all good things.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: Introducing our new furby, the very handsome Rocky. He joined our family yesterday and we suspect he's called Rocky because he's a bit of a fighter, having already given Bramble Jelly a whack that caused Bramble to bark and get upset, which has never happened with Princess Cookie Cat.

Friday's Romantic Fill Ins

It's the end of another week and time for some fill ins that are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Joyce at 15andmeowing.com - why don't you come and join us. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. The Winter Olympics is underway and lets hope that the sport is what dominates the news and not the politics.                     .

2. I think the most romantic movie (or book) is Sleepless in Seattle. I love this film so much and every time I watch it I laugh and cry as much as the first time.

                      .
 3. (Recently, I had an odd experience when) Actually I haven't had any odd experiences recently that I can think of. I had a very funny experience yesterday when two of us were trying to pose for a photo for our work facebook page (Click Here to visit) and over 25 photos were taken to get the one that we finally used. This is one of the bloopers when we couldn't stop laughing. I kept getting told off for doing a too fake smile and Seonaid kept talking when they were trying to take the photo. We're also very critical of our own pictures so there were several that we weren't happy with so they were dismissed as well.

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4. I believe that love is a precious gift that once given, by human or animal, should be cherished forever. We are very blessed with the love of these two brats, Princess Cookie Cat and Bramble Jelly Sassy Pants.

What's your favourite romantic film? Before you go, make sure you hop over to Annie's Blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and I hope wherever you are in the world you have special moments over the next week.

Pamela & Ken

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Friday's Friendly Fill Ins

It's the end of another week and time for some fill ins that are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Joyce at 15andmeowing.com - why don't you come and join us. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. Trust given by an animal is a beautiful gift that must never be betrayed. I think it's why I love cats so much, they are such independant creatures that when they give their love and trust you really know that you have earnt it. I'm grateful for our puppy dog's love as well, but I don't think she was quite as hard to convince that we are trustworthy.

Bramble on her first trip to the beach last year

2. I would protest lots of things and I regularly sign petitions and have been known to send letters in the past. The things that really upset me are discrimination (of any kind), animal cruelty, destroying the environment, oppression, and I could go on.

Protest signs in London

3. I have worn glasses since  I was 13 years old. There have been some very dodgy designs over the years, starting out quite small, growing to huge ones that took over my face, and now back to relatively small. I have had contact lenses a few times in my life, but I'm not allowed to wear them anymore, so it's glasses all the time for me. I have even been known to get in the shower and wonder why everything is fogging up, before I realise that I still have my glasses on.

4. Right now, I am keeping everything crossed that a lovely little black cat at the SSPCA (Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) shelter gets the all clear to come home with us. He's adorable and we'd really like to welcome him into our family. Hopefully we can convince Princess Cookie Cat that a brother is a good idea.

Cookie on our cat quilt that mum made

I hope you've enjoyed my ramblings - before you go hop over to Joyce's Blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their fill ins.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and we hope your week is filed with magical moments.

Pamela & Ken

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Friday's Friendly Reflections

It's Friday so it's time for the friendly fill ins which are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Ellen at 15andmeowing.com. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. I have never been able to sleep with a wardrobe door open in the bedroom. I know it's a bit weird for an adult to have a thing about monsters in the wardrobe, but it's just one of my many quirks. 

2. I wish I could still play the piano as well as I used to, but as I haven't had access to one for years, my abilities have slipped away. I think the last time I played one was when we stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast in Whitstable, Kent, which was years ago.

Bed and breakfast piano

3. Home with my beloved and the furbies is my ideal winter night. 

4.  A picture of Bertie Boo and Muffin Monster came up in my Facebook memories today. Bertie was such a lovely boy, and left this earth in 2014 at the age of 12, and Muffin, our feisty little black cat left in 2016, again at the age of 12. I wrote a post, Farewell to Bertie Boo, after he died, but I still haven't been able to write one about Muffin - maybe one day.

What would your perfect winters night be? Before you go, make sure you pop over to Annie's blog, McGuffy's Reader, to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their fill ins.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and say hello to the next animal you see.

Pamela & Ken

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Friday's Belated Friendly Fill Ins

It's Friday so it's time for the friendly fill ins which are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Ellen at 15andmeowing.com. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. I would like to ask world leaders why they don't do more for the disadvantaged in society. Provide better care for the elderly, the homeless, the bullied, the discriminated against, people with mental health problems, and I could go on. I would also ask them why they don't make animal cruelty a more serious crime, as in the UK and Australia the punishment for animal cruelty is pathetic.

2. My favorite fast food restaurant is probably Chinese takeaway. We used to live near a fabulous one in London which did really lovely food. I also really like fish and chips, especially if we get to eat them at the beach.

3. If I could go to any concert of someone still performing, it would be Melissa Etheridge. We saw her in concert in London about three years ago and it was the best concert I've ever been to. She is an amazing singer and performer and I would love to see her again.

4. My Winter pastime is usually reading, because it's an indoor activity and I can stay in the warm. I can also do it in bed or still in my pyjamas but curled up on the sofa with a hot water bottle.

What's your favourite winter pastime? Before you go, hop over to Annie's blog, McGuffy's Reader to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and wherever you are in the world I hope you're having a great day.

Pamela & Ken
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Friday's Friendly Fill Ins

It's Friday so it's time for the friendly fill ins which are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Ellen at 15andmeowing.com. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. My guiding word for 2018 is write. Allow my creative words out and put my thoughts and feelings down on paper - that's where the best poetry and prose comes from. It doesn't matter if no one else ever reads it, but it's important to get those words out there.

2. A house is not a home without a cat (is that too predictable?). I always had a cat when I was growing up, and even when I left home my cat Tiddles was still at mum and dad's so it was like I still had a cat. When Ken and I got married it took us five years until we were renting a flat where we were allowed to get a pet, and we got our first two babies - Muffin Monster and Princess Cookie Cat. (We miss Muffin so much).

Muffin

Cookie

3. I look forward to seeing what exciting things my beloved and I find to do this year. 

Blog post: Seeing How the Other Half Live at Harrods

4.  I really need to walk more, because it's good for me. I've downloaded Map My Walk onto my phone and it's a great motivator as it keeps track of the route you took and how far it is. Here's our walk from new years day.

What makes a house a home for you? Before you go, make sure you hop over to McGuffy's Reader to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their answers.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and make sure you have some moments of calm this weekend.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: Today Princess Cookie Cat received a parcel from the USA - it was some lovely homemade cat toys from the tooth fairy (aka Ellen from 15andmeowing.com). Cookie was loving them and got very spaced out - thank you so much Ellen.

Farewell 2017, and Welcome 2018

It's only a few hours until we wave goodbye to the old year and welcome in the new, so time to be a little reflective on how the year has been. In January I wrote this post, My wishes for 2017, and I think all of these still apply for the coming year.

We've had lots of great Days of Fun and found some really unique things to see and do. There is so much incredible history to explore where we live and in January we visited a remote church which sheltered Highlanders during the clearances in 1847 and has words scratched into the glass by these long ago people - A Scottish Tragedy Preserved in Glass.

We attended a world championship in which the Swedish reigned supreme, ironic really as it was the World Porridge Championship and it's one of the dishes that Scotland is known for.

April saw me taking on the A to Z Blogging Challenge for the second year, this time I had a theme and it was all about the Scottish Highlands which made it much easier than 2016. Read my thoughts on the experience and some of the great blogs I found in Reflections on the A to Z.

I ticked two things off my bucket list this year. The first was Glamping in Glenshee - basically camping in a glamorous style. It was a beautiful tent with a low bed, a small wood burner for heat, and a fantastic view of the countryside. It was so lovely that we're going back in April to stay in an old train goods carriage.

The other bucket list item was eating a Deep Fried Mars Bar. I know this sounds like a really strange thing to have on my list, but it's one of those weird food items that I'd heard about for years and had really wanted to try. The verdict - yummy but I wouldn't want to have them very often.

We had a wonderful holiday home in Australia, three weeks of catching up with family and friends whilst still managing to find interesting things to visit and explore. In Tasmania we had a great day out visiting the Murals and Mailboxes of Northern Tasmania and during our brief stay in Melbourne we explored the laneways and Street Art of this fabulous city.

I continued to take part in Top Ten blogging which is hosted by Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom and this year we've done a very diverse range of topics from movie quotes, favourite summer foods, rudeness, random photos, and this one, Favourite Place on Earth. It's a small town in Tasmania called Stanley which I absolutely adore. I love lists so this prompt based challenge is perfect for me.

During the year I found two more prompt based challenges which have been great fun to do. On Wednesdays there is the Hodgepodge which is hosted by Joyce From This Side of the Pond and one of my posts included Problematic Confetti.

The other prompt based challenge is hosted by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and is called Friday's Friendly Fill-Ins - here's one of my posts from October, Friday's Friendly Contemplations. Annie also hosts Sparks on a Monday which is a place for us all to share positive thoughts to spread out into the world - it's a really lovely idea and my first contribution in October was Sparks of Hope.

Throughout all this blogging my beloved is there being his wonderful supportive self, exploring our part of the world with me and making me coffee when I'm sitting at my laptop. I'm truly blessed to share my life with this gorgeous, thoughtful, adorably funny man.

As for our furbies, Princess Cookie Cat is nearly 14 and has started to show her age in small ways - the biggest being that I can catch her quite easily now which makes going to the vet much less stressful. She's sitting beside me as I type this, but of course she's got her back to me so I'll share a photo I took earlier.

Bramble Jelly Sassy Pants (our Cocker Spaniel) is as energetic as ever and still hasn't learnt that if she annoys Cookie too much she will get a whack on the nose. I love this picture as Bramble looks so innocent and Cookie has her paw in the air ready to strike.

With one hour to go until midnight, I wish 2017 a very fond farewell - we had ups and downs like anyone does, but along the way we shared lots of love and laughter.

In 2018 I'm sure I'll find lots of other challenges to take on and hopefully we'll tick a few more things off our bucket list. Starting tomorrow, on the first day of the year I'm going to start the 100 Happy Days Challenge which I was inspired to do by Tamara who did it earlier in the year. This involves taking a photo everyday for 100 days of something that makes you happy and sharing via your preferred social media - mine is going to be on my instagram account.

We wish all of you a year filled with peace, health, love, and lots of laughter.

Happy 2018

Pamela & Ken
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