Ten Things about Ten Years Ago

This week for the top ten, Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom has asked us to think about what we were doing ten years ago in 2008. I've really had to rack my brains for this one and look back at photos to see a bit of what we were up to.

1. I began a new job in January 2008 as a Palliative Care Lecturer Practitioner. Big title for a specialist nurse who also did education. Loved this job but I never got over the nerves when I was presenting.

2. Our brats, Princess Cookie Cat and Muffin Monster were only four years old and still liked each other enough to sit together.

3. Mum and Aunty Chris came to the UK for a holiday and we had a wonderful time with them, including taking them to Scotland for a week. (We were living in greater London at the time.)

4. I joined Facebook in 2008, finally getting on board with the Social Media trend. This was my profile picture in 2008 which was taken at the wedding of a doctor I worked with.

5. A really historic moment took place in this year - Barack Obama became the first black president of the United States.

6. We discovered a fabulous Bed & Breakfast in Deddington Oxfordshire, The Old Post House. It was dog friendly and the lovely hostess had dogs as well. We stayed there a few times over the years as it was perfectly situated for exploring the Cotswolds or just relaxing in the local area. Down the street there was the fantastic Crown & Tuns which basically serves pies - big, scrummy pies.

7. Even though it was season 7, this was the year that I got hooked on American Idol. The eventual winner this year was David Cook, which was totally the right choice. Here's his audition that started his journey through the show.

8. The film Cloverfield was in the cinemas and there were reports that it was making people feel sick because of how it was filmed. My beloved decided to go and see it with his youngest, and not that long into the film he rang me from the car as he'd had to leave due to feeling sick - Jamie was fine and stayed for the whole film.

9. We visited the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire which consists of several features but the one I liked the best was the Kings Men, which is thought to have been erected in 2,500bc. The really interesting legend around this circle of stones is that you can never count the same number of stones, and this proved true as I counted them at least three time, getting a different number each time.

10. We took our gorgeous Bertie Boo to the beach for the first time and it took us a little while to convince him to go in the water - he didn't know what to do with the waves.

There you have a snapshot of our 2008 - it feels like forever ago. Before you go make sure that you hop over to Tamara's Blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their list.

Until next time have a really wonderful week.

Pamela & Ken

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A Romantic Hodgepodge

This weeks hodgepodge falls on (supposedly) the most romantic day of the year, Valentines day so our host, Joyce, has asked questions around this theme. Make sure you visit her blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their answers - From This Side of the Pond.

1. When's the last time you had a heart to heart talk with someone? A change of heart? Experienced figurative 'heart failure?'

The last time I had heart failure was when we were packing our flat in London up and we thought our little black cat Muffin (RIP) had gone outside, somewhere she'd never been before in her life. It was about 6am in the morning in December so pitch black and we were wandering around trying to find a black cat. Thankfully we discovered that she was actually hiding behind the fridge - I think I nearly squeezed the life out of her when I got a hold of her as I was so relieved.

2. Champagne, chocolates, flowers...what's your Valentine pleasure? Any special plans for the day?

Chocolate all the way for me. We don't have any special plans for the day as I have to work until 7pm. Some years we've gone out to dinner but we just as often stay in. We always get each other a card and a small token of our love for each other. The funniest present that my beloved has ever given me was quite early in our relationship when I still hadn't aclimatised to the British weather so he gave me thermal underwear - it still makes me smile.

Here's what I received this morning when I woke up - my beloved knows me so well.

3. Are you a hopeless romantic or do you fall more in the category of practical and pragmatic? What's a gesture you find romantic?

I'd say I fall in between the two. I am hopelessly romantic but this is tinged with my natural tendency to be overly sensible. When it comes to my beloved I can't help myself when it comes to romance, as he inspires me to feel like this. If you want to understand a bit more about how I feel about my man then read this post I wrote for our 14th anniversary - 14 Years of Wedded Bliss.

I find all sorts of things romantic, especially the little things like my beloved bringing me a hot water bottle when I haven't even asked for one,

4. Do you ask a lot of questions in life or are you pretty content with what you already know?

I'm a bit of a question asker and I'm very good at yelling questions at the TV (no, I haven't gone totally crazy yet), especially when historic shows give facts about the past that I feel they have no way of truly knowing about. For example, they may be talking about the behaviour of dinosaurs to which I will sit here repeating 'how do they know that?' The I'll ask my beloved how they know that, before again asking the TV.

5. Your favorite power ballad?

So many to choose from and it totally depends on my mood for which one I'd want to listen to, but for today's post I've gone with Jeff Buckley singing Hallelujah.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

As we're about to become the proud parents of a new little black cat, I thought I would share two photos of our Muffin Monster who left us 15 months ago. She was a funny little thing that one minute could be extremely loving, including kisses on the face, and the next she could be very grumpy and scratchy. The first picture shows how we used to put the chairs on the sofa so that our old dog couldn't get on there when we were out, so the cats took advantage and made them into their special beds.

Do you like valentine's day or do you think it's an overhyped and meaningless day in the year.

Until next time we hope that all is good for you wherever you are in the world.

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 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.

Friday's Friendly Ponderings

One of my favourite things to do, apart from reading, is writing, so I love this blog link up at McGuffy's Reader. In the Friendly Fill-ins we're given written prompts (the words in purple bold) and then complete them how we wish.

1. If I was a ghost, I would haunt my beloved, but in a really nice way. Make sure he's kept safe, and watch over him always (until he joins me in my haunting). There are a few people in the world that I might be tempted to act like a poltergeist to, but I'd try and restrain myself.


2. I always look at my beloved when I turn out my bedside light so that he is the last thing I see before I go to sleep.

3. My favourite scary story is not in existence. I really don't like scary films and would never choose to watch them, especially if I was by myself. Sometimes we'll be watching a film or tv show at home which I didn't realise was going to be scary so from that point on I watch around the edges of a cushion, or wait until Ken says it's okay to look.

4. I will be so glad when we find another cat to adopt. It's a year in November since our little Muffin Monster died and we're both starting to look at cat rescue sites. We're not sure how Princess Cookie Cat would take to another brother or sister as she can be incredibly bossy, evidenced by her causing Bramble to whimper recently due to a well aimed swat. We'll just keep looking as the right cat will find it's way to us when the time is right.

Muffin Monster

There you have my fill ins - how would you have answered differently? Before you go, pop over to McGuffy's Reader to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and don't be scared of things that go bump in the night.

Pamela & Ken

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Friday's friendly musings

One of my favourite things to do, apart from reading, is writing, so I love this blog link up that I've found at McGuffy's Reader. In the Friendly Fill-ins we're given written prompts (the words in purple bold) and then complete them how we wish.

Enjoy.

1. I am far too Australian to ever get a British passport. In December I will have lived in the UK for 21 years and yet the thought of having a British passport still feels wrong. People here just assume I've changed passports and some even react as if I've insulted them personally by not wanting one.

2. To save money, I take a coffee to work with me in a travel mug to save myself the cost of twenty coffees a month. I know I could save even more if I didn't buy a coffee at lunch time but I'm a bit of a latte lover and it's a comfort thing - my little indulgence each day that helps me get to the end of the working day. I also do my little bit for the planet by getting my lovely latte in my even lovelier reusable mug which is made out of bamboo.

3. Love matter(s). I don't just mean romantic love (though that is pretty fantastic especially when it comes to my beloved) but more the love for our fellow inhabitants of this little planet called earth. I say inhabitants because of course I would include animals in the love fest. 

Ken & Bramble Jelly last year (she's bigger now)

Princess Cookie Cat looking particularly cute

4. Cold mornings make(s) me think that winter isn't very far away and I need to assess my winter wardrobe and see if there's anything new I need before the temperatures drop too much. I've got plenty of scarves and hats but I think I may need a new pair of gloves - what do you think, nice pink fluffy ones?

I'm not the biggest fan of winter but I actually prefer them here in the north of Scotland to the winters in London when I had to get the Underground to work - miserable way to spend a cold, dismal morning. I'd much rather spend cold mornings like our little black cat Muffin used to like to, wrapped up in the duvet.

Muffin Monster (miss her)

Hope you've enjoyed my responses to the prompts - I wonder what you would have come up with. Until next time, be good, stay safe, and doing something nice for yourself this week.

Pamela & Ken

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