Top Ten Thursdays - Uncomfortable Situations

Here we are at Thursday again and a topic that I can think of loads of examples but not all of them can be published for the general public to read. We're talking uncomfortable situations and several of these are going to be ones that I've witnessed as they're definitely worth mentioning.

1. I have a slight problem with maths when it comes to foreign money to the point that when we were in Barcelona several years ago we were chased down by a waiter after we'd left the restaurant as I'd underpaid by quite a bit. Very red face and now I always make Ken check how much I've put down.

2. When I was a student nurse I was talking to a blind man whilst the cricket was on the tv and when there was a really good catch I said, "did you see that?" Yes, I know, he couldn't see it as he was blind - thankfully he thought it was quite amusing.

3. Talking to a man with a scar on his face when the person with me told him he had dirt on his face!! Definitely one of those moments when you wish the ground would open up and swallow you - the poor man politely explained that he couldn't remove it as it was a scar.

4. Another student nurse incident - I had said something which made the male patients I was with laugh and when they said that I was always good for making them laugh I replied that my aim in life was to give them pleasure!!!! I think my face may have gone puce I was so mortified and you can imagine the comments I got from the male patients for the rest of my time on that ward.

5. One of the most cringeworthy moments I've ever witnessed was at our local church in Tasmania. The lady next to me had been away on holiday for a couple of months and during that time the lady sat behind me's husband had died. Lady next to me turned around and said "your husbands not with you today, is he not well?" It felt like it was happening in slow motion it was so awful.

6. Another nursing one - believe me when I say that I could write a book. This was when I was qualified and one of the older gentlemen that I was looking after had wanted a bath. He didn't get his bath because I ran the bath over and flooded out half the ward. What made it worse was that when his family came to visit him and asked him if he'd had his bath his reply was "no because the big sheila with the big glasses ran the bath over."

(Have you noticed that we could change uncomfortable situations to mortifying ones?)

7. In cooking class in my first year of highschool I used the wrong flour (why it was out I'll never know) to make my cake so compared to everyone else's mine looked like a discus and felt a bit like one too. My teacher then proceeded to flip said cake discus back and forth between her hands whilst telling the rest of the class how not to bake a cake. Totally embarrassed I took my cake home and insisted on eating some of it just to prove it was edible.

8. Sort of a nursing one - we used to play lots of pranks on the medical students when they stayed in the nurses home on placement. Well, they got their own back one day and I was the recipient. They plastered my ankle and my wrist and kept me held down in a locked room until it dried. This meant that we had to wait until night time and get one of the orderlies to let us in the back entrance of casualty so that they could cut the plaster off in a darkened room so that no senior nurses knew what was going on.

9. Something that nursing has taught me is to never assume you know what the relationship is between two people when you meet them. Lots of times I've seen others make the mistake of asking if the younger man is someone's son when they are the husband/partner - I don't know why it's younger men with older women that so many people struggle with but they do.

10. This one is reserved for all those incidents which I can't mention here - just know my face was a delightful tomato colour every time.

So that's it for today's top ten - what sort of uncomfortable situations have you experienced. Before you go, pop over to Tamara's blog, Cofessions of a part-time working mom to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with - click HERE to visit.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and smile at people you don't know.

Pamela & Ken
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Taking steps for Ovarian Cancer

This weekend we had a sponsored walk in Edinburgh to support the charity Target Ovarian Cancer - they are a really good charity and if you would like to know more about them then click HERE.

As Edinburgh is 177 miles away we drove down on Saturday afternoon to stay in a hotel near to where the walk was. As you can see, someone wanted to come with us.

Now at first glance I know you're going to think me very weird (or more weird) but I took a picture of this sign in  a toilet for a reason, and that is the bottom two lines. I love it when people who make signs have a sense of humour and also, how many people put money down public toilets??

We stopped in Pitlochry for sustenance and there is a lovely Christmas shop - I always love their window display but I particularly liked this owl as he looks like he's had one too many drinks.

Passing the Forth Rail Bridge - this was the first all steel bridge in Britain, began operation in 1890, and sees 200 train movements a day.

The next morning we made our way to Holyrood Park where the walk was taking place, got our lovely purple t-shirts and prepared for the walk. We chose to do this walk to support all those people who are affected by ovarian cancer and in memory of my beautiful Aunty Margaret and my gorgeous friend Elaine who both died from this awful cancer.

They didn't have any doggy t-shirts which was a shame, so poor Bramble had to walk naked.

Warming up before the walk - the girl leading the warm up was way to energetic.

Bramble was doing her own warm up by making friends with the other dogs that were around. This is George, who was such a lovely gentle dog and made Bramble look very little. There was another puppy who was equally as mad as our precious girl and at one point my legs were very tightly wrapped by two leads as the two dogs ran around me - eventually Ken and the owner of the other puppy managed to get me untied after they'd finished laughing.

This is Ralph who was enjoying a gently stroll through the park - isn't he beautiful. We think he's a Puli which is a Hungarian dog that protects livestock. Their walk was quite slow as lots of people were stopping them to ask about him and to take photos.

Now one thing that I wasn't warned about was that there were hills in this walk - I should have know this as Edinburgh is full of hills. Here are some shots of the view as we walked up the hill and I couldn't speak to anyone as I thought my lungs were going to explode.

Here we are at the half way point - I'm hanging onto Ken so that I don't fall over.

More shots of the beautiful Holyrood Park and looking out towards the sea. There were way too many fit people out in the park for a Sunday morning with lots of joggers, cyclers, and dog walkers going past us. A few people passed us more than once which made us feel very unfit (or should I say it made me feel very unfit as my beloved was walking slow for me).

At the end with our medals - very sweetly they gave Bramble a medal as well.

As we were walking back to the car we passed this white van with two very interesting stickers on the back.

We then found a Costa to reward ourselves with coffee and cake.

My gorgeous man who supports me in all my crazy endeavors and makes sure I'm okay through it all.

We were soon back on the road and heading home - the trees are all changing into their beautiful autumn colours now.

Picture as we were driving onto the Forth Road Bridge and includes the two bridges either side - the Forth Rail bridge and the new Queensferry Bridge Crossing to the left which is due to open in May 2017.

We stopped in Pitlochry again for food and had a lovely meal at Hettie's tea room - the one that Ken things looks like the inside of a doll's hous.

As we were driving home we had a great view of the Hunters Moon which with a mobile phone camera isn't that dramatic but it was amazing. What made it even better is that it is a super moon so closer to the earth than normal.

Just before I finish, here's a picture of the back of our t-shirts which is a reminder to all those people out there with ovaries - know the symptoms of ovarian cancer and see your GP if you're concerned.

That's it for today, until next time be good, stay safe, and do something nice for someone else this week.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S:  Click DONATE to go to our fundraising page and give to this great charity.

Top Ten Thursday - Movie Locations

Top ten Thursday and a subject I love - movie locations!! I love visiting places that I can recognise from the silver screen and we even go out of our way sometimes to do this, so this weeks top ten was an easy one.

1. Eilean Donan Castle: a beautiful castle on Scotland's West coast that has featured in many films but the two that stand out for me are Highlander (1986) starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, and James Bond - The World is Not Enough (1999) starring Pierce Brosnan.

2. Temple Church, London: This church was featured in the book The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, and filming for the movie took part here as well. It's a really interesting church that was first consecrated in the 1100's and built by the Knights Templer.

3. Rosslyn Chapel: founded in 1446 and even though it was already famous, after it featured in the Da Vinci Code it became even more a spot for tourists. This year they hosted an outside viewing of the film as it is ten years since the Da Vinci Code film was released on the world.

4. Big Ben: an iconic part of London's skyline and I'm sure every tourist that visits the city takes a photo of it. It features in loads of films but probably the most famous ones are Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, and of course it was blown up in Mars Attacks and Independance Day.

5. The London Eye: as it sits on the Thames it is seen in a lot of the films that Big Ben is seen in but another one that it stars in is Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

6. Waddesdon Manor: a National Trust property not far from London features in the movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows which stars Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law.

7. St Bartholomew The Great: London's oldest surviving church and has been in use since the 1100's and has featured in loads of films. The ones I was most interested in when we visited were; Four Weddings and a Funeral, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, and Sherlock Holmes.

8. Portobello Market, London: a great market to visit for the eclectic range of things available, but it is especially well known for it's antiques and featured in the film Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

9. Tower Bridge, London: another iconic view of London that is seen by so many people and that makes it even more recognisable when it features in a film. Just a few of the films that have featured this bridge are: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, James Bond - The World is Not Enough, Sherlock Holmes, and The Long Good Friday.

10. Glen Coe, Scotland: a simply breathtakingly beautiful part of the world which would make a perfect backdrop for many films. Two that have made good use of this beauty are Braveheart and Harry Potter.

So there you have it, my top ten film locations that I've visited. Before you go, why don't you pop over to Tamara's blog and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with - click HERE to visit.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and take care of you.

Pamela and Ken
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Top Ten Thursdays - Be prepared!

The weeks are just flying by and it's October already - colder mornings and too much Christmas stuff in the shops. This weeks Top Ten Thursday is things to take care of before going on vacation. This challenge is hosted by Tamara over at Confessions of a part-time working mom so hop on over if you're interested in joining us top tenners.

I found this weeks list easy as we love going on holiday and whether or not it's nearby in this country or getting on a plane and travelling to the far corners of the globe, my routine is usually fairly similar, except for number 3 as that doesn't apply in the UK - you'll see what I mean.

1. Furbies: the first thing we always have to take care of is the furbies - Cookie, Muffin, and Bramble. As she's still a toddler Bramble comes with us everywhere and the poor brats have to fend for themselves - only joking. Ken's darling sister visits the cats everyday when we're away, making sure they're surviving having the run of the house.

Cookie (Brat 1)

Muffin (Brat 2)

Bramble (Brat in training)

2. Research: I'm a little bit old fashioned in that I still love buying guide books for our holidays. Yes I do lots of research about where we're going on Mr Google but once we've pinned down the spot, and especially if it's in a foreign land, then I buy a lovely book to take with us. My favourite are the Everyman Mapguides as they're compact, fit in my handbag, and have everything you could possibly need for all the major cities of the world - click HERE if you're interested.

Part of the research also involves checking to see if where we're going to stay has wifi - I know I'm sad but it's a necessity for me unless we're going for a romantic escape where we just want to unwind and relax.

3. Passport and Visas: once we decide on a destination, if it's outside the UK we need to think about what visas one of us may need. My beloved always has to get one for Australia when we go home to visit family, and I often need them for countries on this side of the world.

4. Reading Material: it took me a while to get onto the e-reader revolution but my beloved got me one for Christmas a few years ago and now I wouldn't be without it. When I commuted on the London Underground it was a lifesaver and when we go away it's so great as I know that I have loads of books at my fingertips. Before I had it I was known to cart six or more books with me for a two week holiday as I'm quite a quick reader, and even then we had to go and raid the local charity shops for more. The flight from here to Australia usually sees at least one or two books read, but that does depend on whether or not there are many films on that I want to see.

5. My spikey babies: I used to have loads of houseplants when I lived in Australia, but due to certain four footed brats that is no longer an option. Instead I have cacti which I love, and the cats leave them alone as they get spiked if they're too close. So going on holiday always leaves me with the dilemma about their watering as they don't need a lot but should I get someone to do it whilst we're away. I've only managed to kill a couple over the years, and I think that was more because they were pot bound and not due to water restrictions.

6. Dressing up toes and fingers: I love painting my finger and toe nails, or getting someone else to do it for me, and when going on holiday I always make sure that they're dressed in the finest colours.

7. Headache relief: I've been known to have a few headaches in my time and unfortunately do get migraines as well, but when travelling I've found that non medicated methods are often as helpful as tablets. These are my go to treatments that I always make sure are in my hand luggage as all of them are under 100mls and can really help if I feel my head starting to ache. If I could only take one it would be Origin's Peace of Mind (on the left) which is fabulous when massaged into temples, earlobes, and the nape of your neck. It works even better if a gorgeous man (like Ken) massages it in for you.

8. E-mail out of office: This is usually the last thing I do on my last day at work before a holiday and it feels so lovely when you activate it.

9. Writing: I need to check that I have everything I need in my travel journal/art journal kit so that if I'm feeling the need to write or draw (abstract, not proper art) then I just have to grab my small bag and I have everything I need.

10. Fridge: The last thing we need to do before we go on holiday and one of the mundane things but you have to admit it's something that's quite important to sort out unless you want to come home to a very smelly fridge.

That's it, the top ten of things we take care of when going on holiday. Do you do different things? Why don't you visit Tamara's blog and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with in their top ten lists - click HERE to visit.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and do something really nice for yourself this week.

Pamela & Ken
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