2009.......

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HAPPY NEW YEAR

TO ALL MY READERS

May 2009

bring you

Good Health

and

Happiness

New Year's Eve 2008.......

Well here we are on the Eve of a brand new year again.

Looking back, 2008 hasn’t been a disastrous year for us so I thought I do a recap.

February found me celebrating the first anniversary of my successful knee replacement operation see here or if you want to read all the gory details see here.

July MWM and I had a memorable fortnight on the Greek Island of Kefalonia. If you missed the photos you can see them here, here, here and here.

We returned from holiday to the news that our eldest son had been a victim of a knife attack. Thankfully he escaped with a broken foot and an injured knee. The rest of the year has been spent fighting the Justice system trying to get the people responsible punished for their crime. You can read about it here, here  and here and it's ongoing!

In September we got three (yes 3) new additions to the family when my eldest son bought three hens!

October found us celebrating MWM’s 60th birthday.

November was the month I was warned to keep my nose out of a neighbour’s argument. . We also had a memorable trip to Krakow, Poland – you can read about it here, here, here and here if you missed it.

We had three inches of snow in December which caused absolute chaos here and meant I was stranded for two hours until my son came to rescue me and others. Also this month a colleague and I raised some money for Children In Need by organising a Teddy Crèche at the school where I work.

Tonight MWM and I are going to a party at our local civic hall with our friends. There will be lots of music, dancing and drinking (probably) and we’re going to have a ball! There a group playing called the Dakotas they used to back a singer called Billy J. Kramer.    The Dakotas are not the original group but no doubt they will be singing hits from the 60’s. It will be a late night so we will have a long lie in bed in the morning then MWM and I are going to our favourite Chinese Restaurant in the evening.

What are you doing tonight?


However you are ringing in the New Year, I hope you have a great time and I truly hope the New Year brings you Good Health and Happiness.

Friends........

Riverpoet (Poetic License) gave me the above award just before Christmas, she said:

Akelamalu over at Everything and Nothing for her continued comments even when I don't make it over to her place on a regular basis

Well I have to tell Riverpoet it's entirely my pleasure!

This is the thinking behind this particular award:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

So, in the spirit in which it was given I hereby pass it on to the following, in no particular order, fellow bloggers who show the spirit of friendship as detailed above.

Marmie (Twaddle Everyday Rubbish)

Linda (Are We There Yet)

Cloudia (Comfort Spiral)

Flowerpot (Flowerpot Days)

Storyteller (Small Reflections)

Ron (Vent)

CG (The Compulsive Worrier)

Ciara (Ramblings & Whatnot)

If you don't already visit them do yourself a favour and drop in, you won't be sorry.

I'm adding to this post as Mike (Rambling Stuff) just left me a message to say he has given me an award -

Mike passed this litte beauty onto  all those who commented on his blog in the Month of December, so I'm going to do the same.   So folks, you know who you are please take the award with my love.

Been and gone......

Well, Christmas Day has been and gone, how was your's?

Our's was just perfect!

I was up at 8 a.m. to set the table, finish the trifle, make the starter, get all the crockery out for dinner.   I had prepared all the veg the day before, the turkey, ham and pork were cooked already.   I had to do all this before hand because Christmas morning at the Akelamalu house is manic!

My Dad comes on Christmas Eve to stay until Boxing Day and we take him out for a drink or two.  He was still fast asleep at 10.30 a.m. but I had to wake him up because we were expecting everyone to arrive by 11 a.m.   

Right on cue my eldest son arrived with his three children, all wanting to know if Santa had been here.  Of course he had and our lounge became a flurry of flying wrapping paper as they tore open their presents.  As we were busy picking up the wrapping my eldest brother arrived with his three children - I say children they range in age from 15 - 21.  By this time we were bringing dining chairs into the lounge so everyone had a seat.  Ten minutes later our youngest son arrived with his two boys  - more flying wrapping paper!      This enjoyable mayhem lasted until 12.30 when my brother and his family left, and our sons and the grandchildren set off to visit Granny's house (MIL's).

MWM and I rushed round to tidy up after the whirlwhind of the children and I started cooking whilst he went to pick up MIL & FIL.    Within an hour of their arrival we were sitting down to Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings.  We finished off with Christmas Pudding & Brandy Sauce, Sherry Trifle, Mince pies and cream all washed down with copious amounts of wine.     We passed a couple of hours at the dinner table before the parents retired to the lounge leaving MWM and I to stack the dishwasher (twice!) then we all had a relaxing time talking about the festivities and the children.

By 7 p.m. MIL & FIL were tired out so MWM took them home, my Dad had fallen asleep on the sofa -a result of too much food and excitement I think.      Once MWM got home we sat and watched the television until midnight then retired for the night exhausted!

This morning I took my Dad home and MWM and I have spent the day just chilling with him watching telly and me blogging.

So that was our Christmas.    What did you do?

It's HERE!!!........

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

and a

HAPPY NEW YEAR

to all my readers

Here's some of my grandchildren getting in the mood for Christmas.

Christmas Eve....

Last year Mimi (Mimi Writes) asked bloggers to post a Christmas Peace Globe, I'm taking the liberty of posting it again this year with the same heartfelt message.

Christmas Eve has always been a busy day for me.  When the boys were young I always got up especially early to start baking mince pies and clean the house from top to bottom.     Once these chores were finished I sat down to watch my favourite film, one that was always on on Christmas Eve afternoon - Lassie!    When my youngest son was still maleable young enough to appreciate Lassie he would watch it with me.   We'd sit with a hot drink and a mince pie (or chocolate for him) and a box of tissues bcause Lassie films were always sad with a happy ending, so we cried all the way through them!

At bedtime, the boys would put out two mince pies and a small glass of whisky for Father Christmas and a carrot for Rudolph.    MWM and I were always really lucky that MIL was always willing to babysit for us on Christmas and New Year's Eve, so we could go out to celebrate.  We couldn't have too much to drink because when we got home we had to gather all the Christmas presents from their hiding places and put them under the tree ready for morning, all the time praying the boys wouldn't wake up and catch us.

On Christmas morning the boys would be awake at the crack of sparrowfart, at some ungodly hour, like all kids, but they were under strict instructions that no way should they enter the lounge before MWM and I, on pain of all their presents disappearing.   Good boys, as they were, they took what we said to heart and waited until we dragged ourselves out of bed after telling them to go back to bed at least four times at a reasonable time, so that MWM could go into the lounge to set the video camera up to capture their faces as they walked in make sure Father Christmas had left their presents before I let them in.  They always checked that the whisky, mince pies and carrots had gone so they were sure Father Christmas and Rudolph were fortified.   It was such a joy to watch their faces as they opened their presents.     We didn't have a lot of money in those days but we tried to make Christmas good for them.

We always had Christmas Dinner at home then we'd go visit the grandparents, first my parents then MWM's mother and grandmother.    Christmas Day was always fun wherever we went.

Once the boys and the grandparents got older the Christmas Day routine changed, the grandparents came to us for Christmas dinner.    That is the pattern today - the grandparents come to us and the boys come to visit us with the grandchildren then go home and have their Christmas dinner.     

What goes round comes round!

Do you have a routine at Christmas or is every one different?

HANGOVER RATINGS..........

These hangover descriptions may prove invaluable to you over the festive period to distinguish just how hungover you are and whether you really should be back in work!     All courtesy of a friend who emailed them to me thinking I might need to know.   CHEEK!


1 star hangover

No pain. no real feeling of illness. You slept in your own bed and when you woke up there were no traffic cones in there with you.

You are still able to function relatively well on the energy stored up from all those vodka redbulls.

However, you can drink 10 bottles of water and still feel as parched as the Sahara.

Even vegetarians are craving a Cheeseburger and a bag of fries.

2 star hangover

No pain, but something is definitely amiss.

You may look okay but you have the attention span and mental capacity of a stapler.

The coffee you hug to try and remain focused is only exacerbating your rumbling gut, which is craving a full English breakfast.

Although you have a nice demeanour about the office, you are costing your employer valuable money because all you really can handle is some light filing, followed by aimlessly surfing the net and writing junk e-mails.

3 star hangover

Slight headache, stomach feels crap. You are definitely a space cadet and not so productive.

Anytime a girl or lad walks by you gag because the perfume/aftershave reminds you of the random gin shots you did with your alcoholic friends after the bouncer kicked you out at 1:45 am.

Life would be better right now if you were in your bed with a dozen doughnuts and a litre of coke watching daytime TV.

You've had 4 cups of coffee, a gallon of water, 2 Sausage Rolls and a litre of diet coke yet you haven't peed once.

4 star hangover

You have lost the will to live. Your head is throbbing and you can't speak too quickly or else you might spew.

Your boss has already lambasted you for being late and has given you a lecture for reeking of booze.

You wore nice clothes, but you smell of socks, and you can't hide the fact that you either missed an oh-so crucial spot shaving or it looks like you put your make-up on while riding the dodgems (depending on your gender).

Your teeth have their own individual sweaters. Your eyes look like one big vein and your hairstyle makes you look like a reject from a second-grade class circa 1976.

You would give a weeks pay for one of the following - home time, a doughnut and somewhere to be alone, or a Time Machine so you could go back and NOT have gone out the night before.

You scare small children in the street just by walking past them.

5 star hangover

You have a second heartbeat in your head, which is actually annoying the employee who sits next to you.

Vodka vapour is seeping out of every pore and making you dizzy.

You still have toothpaste crust in the corners of your mouth from brushing your teeth.

Your body has lost the ability to generate saliva, so your tongue is suffocating you.

You'd cry but that would take the last drop of moisture left in your body.

Death seems pretty good right now.

Your boss doesn't even get mad at you and your co-workers think that your dog just died because you look so pathetic.

You should have called in sick because, let's face it, all you can manage to do is breathe ..... very gently.

6 star hangover

You arrive home and climb into bed.Sleep comes instantly, as you were fighting it all the way home in the taxi.

You get about 2 hours sleep until the noises inside your head wake you up.

You notice that your bed has been cleared for take off and is flying relentlessly around the room.

No matter what you do you now, you're going to chuck.

You stumble out of bed and now find that your room is in a yacht under full sail.

After walking along the skirting boards on alternating walls knocking off all the pictures, you find the toilet.If you are lucky you will remember to lift the lid before you spontaneously explode and wake the whole house up with your impersonation of walrus mating calls.

You sit there on the floor in your undies, cuddling the only friend in the world you have left (the toilet), randomly continuing to make the walrus noises, spitting, and farting. Help usually comes at this stage, even if it is short lived.

Tears stream down your face and your abdomen hurts. Help now turns into abuse and he/she usually goes back to bed leaving you there in the dark.

With your stomach totally empty, your spontaneous eruptions have died back to 15-minute intervals, but your body won't relent.You are convinced that you are starting to turn yourself inside out and swear that you saw your tonsils shoot out of your mouth on the last occasion.

It is now dawn and you pass your disgusted partner getting up for the day as you try to climb into bed. She/he abuses you again for trying to get into bed with lumpy bits of dried vomit in your hair.

You reluctantly accept their advice and have a shower in exchange for them driving you to the hospital.Work is not an option.

The whole day is spent trying to avoid anything that might make you sick again, like moving.

You vow never to touch a drop again and who knows for the next two or three hours at least you might even succeed.

Which one(s) do you recognise?

Premio Dardos..........

No Saturday Wordzzle today sorry. I have just been too busy this week to write one and I will probably miss next week's too cos I'll be busy eating, drinking and entertaining. Anyway it's award time.


San (A Life with a View) passed this Premio Dardos award onto me.

The PREMIO DARDOS award is "given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing."

I'm honoured that San thinks my mutterings are worthy of such an award! Thankyou San.

It didn't come with any rules so I'd like to pass it on to all who comment on this post because you all fit the description in my view.

Friday 55 Flash Fiction # 56 Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning

Ali dressed the Christmas Tree.

Wrapping presents,

Baking and cooking,

She loved Christmas.

No children but she made the effort for David.

She sat and cried when on Christmas morning she discovered they’d been burgled.

“They didn’t get your present” said David handing her an envelope.

First class travel tickets to the Maldives, leaving today.

Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.

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Portrait Of Words # 4

Jeff (A Word in Edgewise) has started up this monthly challenge, derived from a previous challenge from R.E.H.'s "Picture Fiction Challenge".

The object is to:


Write a story of any length or style. Long or short, comedy or tragedy, fact or fiction, etc,etc... it's up to you.

Use each of the picture representations in your story. (one from the wild card options)



Here are the portraits for this month's basis of the story and the guidelines:

Photo Credits:

(From Flickr.com/creative commons, unless otherwise noted)
Main Character- Bill Adams
Backdrop- clry2
Purpose- Olivander
Item- Shawn Econo
Wild Card #2- Dave77459


THE CATEGORIES:

Main Character(s): Your story can be told through or about this person(s), i.e. first or third person. Either way you go, their involvement in the story should be a focal point. Have as many or as few additional characters as you wish, but at least one of the ones pictured should be central to the overall story.

Backdrop: This will create the setting for your story. It can take place at the location depicted, be a destination to it, or be a journey from it.

Purpose: This is what drives or motivates the main character(s) to action. It can also be viewed as the objective of the story.

Item(s): The object(s) should have a significant value to the main character, backdrop or purpose of the story.

Wild Cards: Writers choice here. Choose one of the three options to use in your story anyway you see fit.

Here's my story:


Harry looked a flamboyant figure in his Hawaiian shirt, shorts, Panama hat and sunglasses. It was the perfect disguise; no-one would suspect he was a secret agent. Entering the casino he headed straight for the roulette table, found a seat and ordered a martini, shaken not stirred.

His luck was in today. Not only was he winning but the beautiful young woman sitting next to him had given up her seat and was now watching him with one delicate hand resting on his shoulder. Unfortunately for Harry he was winning too much, he’d become the centre of attention and too much attention wasn’t good for an agent.


Professing an appointment Harry collected his chips and cashed them in, it was then he noticed the two burly men watching him from a distance. It wasn’t his money they were after, noticing the bulge in their jackets he realised he had to get out of there.


As nonchalantly as he could he strolled out towards the foyer and just managed to squeeze through the closing doors of the lift. He exited the lift on the top floor, noticing that the other lift was rising to the same level. Running to the stairs he climbed the two flights to the roof, which he quickly scanned to make sure no-one had gotten there before him.


“Thank God for fire escapes” Harry thought, as he started his descent. Things were going really well until he got to the last flight of steps, he missed his footing and plunged over the side, somehow just managing to grasp the rail, which prevented him from plunging to the pavement below. His arms were being torn from their sockets, the pain was unbearable, should he let go and take a chance on the fall? There was no sign of the two men either above or below so Harry let go. Cracking his head on the pavement Harry lost consciousness, the next thing he knew he was strapped to a bed with someone shining a bright light into his eyes.

Monica saw the light flashing on the ansaphone and pressed the play button. She shook her head as the message played back, Harry was in trouble again. Picking up her keys she jumped in the car and headed for the address given in the message.

“The police found him unconscious on the pavement” the nurse told Monica.

“Harry, when will you learn?” asked Monica, his wife. “You can’t go round pretending to be a secret agent; the police have better things to do than keep rescuing you!”

Christmas Meme.......

This is my lovely daughter-in-law Ali all dressed up for Christmas.   

I found this meme at Mother of Invention's blog Spilling Out and just had to copy it.  It's OK I told her what I was doing.   Apparently it came to her via email but she posted it on her blog and I really like it, I've got a blogvoid (can't think of anything to write about) at the moment and it's Christmassy, so here goes.

If you want to copy go ahead and fill in your own answers, just let me know if you're posting it so I can come read yours.


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial.   We used to have real but I hated it when all the needles fell off!


3. When do you put up the tree?  The second week in December.  Though if it was left to MWM we wouldn't have one at all!   Scrooge!


4. When do you take the tree down? Before the 6th January.   There are conflicting views in our family as to whether it should come down before or after the 6th.


5. Do you like eggnog? I prefer Baileys!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I got a doll dressed in a wedding dress with a veil and a bouquet.  I played with that to the exclusion of my other doll, Susan, and when I went back to Susan I thought she'd shrunk!

7. Hardest person to buy for? The men in my family.

8. Easiest person to buy for? The grandchildren.


9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, it broke and I never replaced it. Maybe I will this year.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Definitely Christmas Cards - I love sending and receiving them.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A blouse my auntie bought me when I was 18, it was suitable for a 40 year old!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street.    Santa is REAL!!


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? The January Sales.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? YES, a few times but they were good ones!


15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas Pudding and Brandy Sauce

16. Lights on the tree?  Of course, 3 sets, and lights in other rooms too.


17. Favorite Christmas song? White Christmas - when I hear that on the radio I know it's almost Christmas.


18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home.   We have only been away at Christmas once for our Silver Wedding Anniversary.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dancer, Prancer, Donna, Blitzen, , Dasher, Cupid, Vixen, Comet & of course Rudolph.  

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on Christmas Eve the rest on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? I don't find anything annoying about this time of year.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Gold

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Turkey, Pork and Ham.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Nothing except my family.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Anyone who loves Christmas.



So go on, if that's you.

Christmas Carol Quiz Part 3 Answers....

For all those who took part here's the answers.

1. Two Little Boys Had Two Little Toys

2. The First Noel The Angels Did Say

3. I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing By

4. O Come All Ye Faithful

5. Chestnuts Roasting By An Open Fire

6. Sleigh Bells Ring Are You Listening

7. Oh Holy Night The Stars Are Bright And Shining

8. When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney

9. It Was Only A Winters Tale

10. Christmas Time Mistletoe And Wine

And the winner is

LINDA (ARE WE THERE YET?)

Well done m'dear, take the badge and display it with pride.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

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Saturday Wordzzle # 43

The idea is, every week Raven (View From Raven's Nest) gives you between 8 and 10 words/phrases and you have to create a small but coherent paragraph using every one of them and the same with the mini challenge. You can do either, both or a megawordzzle using all the words, or even all three, it's up to you, you can post them on your blog or email them to Raven. If you join in go to Raven's and put your name on the Mr. Linky so other participants can come visit you.

Here's my efforts complete with my doodles.

This Week's Ten Word Challenge is: Horny as a toad, Frankenstein’s sister, Greeks bearing gifts, Holiday, Cheese grater, Gridlock, Drip dry, Coffin maker, movie mogul, Turkish coffee

Greta may have looked like Frankenstein’s sister but it didn’t stop the queue of Greeks bearing gifts, all horny as a toad, turning up at her hotel every day causing a traffic gridlock. Her pockmarked face resembled a cheese grater and she looked like she had been hung out in the sun too long to drip dry. However, she kept people entertained with her tales of her movie mogul father, coffin maker mother, her holiday escapades and they just loved the way she made Turkish coffee.

Mini Challenge: prenuptial agreement, The purple cow just hated the orange cat, potato chips, sari, Hammer and nails

It appeared that the purple cow (Alfie’s pet name for Mary) just hated the orange cat (Mary’s pet name for Alfie), and Mary even insisted on a prenuptial agreement before they got married. At the wedding they were arguing about anything and everything; Mary’s sari, the lack of potato chips on the buffet and the fact that Alfie didn’t know how to use a hammer and nails. Everyone thought it was a marriage of convenience but they were wrong.



Megawordzzle

Reeta and Ali met in a little café when she was sheltering from a sudden rainstorm she’d been caught in and was trying to drip dry. Ali served her a Turkish coffee and some potato chips and wanted to know if she was on holiday and why she was wearing a sari. Reeta explained she was in a movie about a coffin maker, being filmed there by her movie mogul uncle.


Ali was quite taken with Reeta, she was definitely a hundred percent better than Frankenstein’s sister, a benchmark he and his friends judged girls by. In fact the moment Ali saw her he felt as horny as a toad and proceeded to chat her up.

At first Reeta was wary, “beware Greeks baring gifts” (or in this case Turks) her mother always said, but in the six months it took to film Reeta threw caution to the wind and when it was finished she and Ali were totally in love.


Ali moved to America with Reeta and was amazed how famous she was and was bewitched by her lifestyle. She took him to the premier of the film in a stretch limo, so when there was a traffic gridlock they relaxed in luxury sampling the bar. He’d never been in such a luxurious car, the cars at home were so old they were full of holes like a cheese grater, understandably he was getting used to the good life and didn’t want to give it up.

Twelve months later they were planning their wedding, Ali’s family were insisting it happen in Turkey, as they wanted a traditional wedding. Reeta didn’t have a problem with this but she and her mother-in-law to be, Neriman, didn’t get on at all. They were so different it was a case of ‘the purple cow just hated the orange cat’, every time they got together they argued, going at it hammer and nails. Since Neriman got wind that Reeta was rich she insisted on her drawing up a prenuptial agreement before the wedding, so that Ali would be ‘taken care of’ should the marriage not last. Reeta agreed but what the greedy old bag didn’t know was Reeta didn’t actually own anything, her uncle paid for everything!

Friday 55 Flash Fiction # 55 The First Mince Pie

The first mince pie

His first mince pie of the year.

Make a wish, it's the custom

He didn’t look forward to Christmas.

He’d been alone so long, his family all miles away in Australia.

He was old now, he didn’t have much time left.

What was the point?


Christmas Day arrived

And so did his family.

Surprise, surprise.

 


Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.

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Justice, Ha, ha, ha............

Just to update you on what happened to the 'nice young men' who attacked my eldest son back in July.


The Crown Prosecution Service, in their infinite wisdom, decided it wasn’t worth the cost of prosecuting, or there just isn’t enough room in the prisons, or they just can’t be arsed, or something, to prosecute the youngest of Nick's attackers, even though he is a persistent youth offender because, in the words of the CPS lawyer, "for what he'd get it just isn't worth it" !


The elder one, who pulled the knife, was prosecuted only for having the knife because he admitted it.  Actually he handed it over to the police when they arrested him.    Seven weeks after the attack Nick was told he would have to identify his attacker via Viper Identification, where he would see 9 faces on a video screen and had to choose from them.   Nick said it was virtually impossible because he only saw a fraction of the man's face at the time, it being obscured by a hood, he got no sense of height, build, mannerisms from the faces on screen and the time lapse had blurred his memory.   Consequently he picked out the wrong person.  The CPS said they couldn't prosecute the man for the robbery because Nick couldn't identify him.   


The fact that the two men were arrested four minutes away from the scene, whilst Nick was on the phone to a 999 operator at the time giving a description, bore no weight.   Even the fact that they fitted the description, the elder one had a knife which fitted the description Nick was giving, the younger one admitted they had been involved in an incident, all this bore no weight either.

I immediately complained to the Prime Minister, my MP, the Home Secretary, opposition MPs and anyone else I could think of, which brought an explanitary letter from the local CPS office with the offer of a meeting.   Of course we took up the offer - they were only expecting Nick but his wife, MWM and myself turned up with a list of questions to ask.


We rattled them a few times with pertinent questions but all we got were excuses.   We asked why if the younger man wasn't being prosecuted he couldn't be brought as a witness against the elder man - the CPS's answer was "we don't have plea bargaining in this country" a downright lie!  They admitted that the delay in asking Nick to identify his attacker had prejudiced the case but insisted that they could not prosecute without the identification.    We asked how many people were in the area at the time that fitted the description Nick was giving at the time of the arrest; how many addmitted they had been involved in an incident and how many had a knife - they couldn't answer!  We asked if the CCTV cameras at the supermarket on the road where the incident took place had been checked - they hadn't but they promised to ask the police to check them - to date this has not been done.   I asked if Nick had banged his head when he fell and died from the injury making it impossible to identify his attacker, would they have used the existing evidence to prosecute, they said there would probably be forensic evidence.   We pointed out that there would be no more evidence than they had at present  so they would have to use that and let a jury decide - they couldn't answer.   The truth is it all boils down to cost and statistics and the fact that, thankfully, Nick wasn't murdered!   The policeman in charge of the case said in all the time he's been a policeman we are the only people that have ever challenged the CPS and he just wished more people would do it because the CPS do exactly as they want.


The outcome of this fiasco was that the 'knife attacker' was sentenced to 9 months, suspended for 2 years and a 12 month supervision order just for having the knife.   It came out in court that he'd previously  had a reprimand and a final warning, though what for we don't know, but he is obviously not a previously law abiding citizen.     


We feel that the CPS should have prosecuted him for the robbery and left it to a judge and jury to decide whether he is guilty on that count, they were sure of a conviction for possessing the knife.    The judge said had he been prosecuted for the robbery he would definitely have been serving time.     To add insult to injury the judge also said the man is not capable of doing paid or unpaid work, so Nick is working to keep him on benefits!

Such is justice in this country.


Needless to say Nick has complained about the way the CPS have handled the case, we await their reaction before informing the media of the shortcomings of the Justice system in this case.  I'll keep you posted.


On a good note though Nick has just landed a dream job!    You may remember when he was incapacitated by the attack he was made redundant and once the plaster was off he took another job working 40 hours a week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night just to pay the bills.    Now he has got this dream job we are thinking whilst what happened in July was terrible, it makes you think "it happened for a reason" doesn't it!

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Christmas Carols Quiz part 3........

Here's what you have to do.



I give you some initials which

 represent the first line of Christmas Carols and Songs.





Here's an example:

O.I.R.D.C. - Once In Royal David's City - get the idea?

Email (through my profile) your answers to me by Saturday then next Monday I'll post the answers and the winner(s).

All those who get any right can claim this badge for their blog.

OK off you go.......

1. T.L.B.H.T.L.T.

2. T.F.N.T.A.D.S.

3. I.S.T.S.C.S.B.

4. O.C.A.Y.F.

5. C.R.B.A.O.F.

6. S.B.R.A.Y.L.

7. O.H.N.T.S.A.B.A.S.

8.W.S.G.S.U.T.C.

9.I.W.O.A.W.T.

10. C.T.M.A.W.

GOOD LUCK!

Best Graphics - MySpace/Hi5/Friendster

Saturday Wordzzle # 42

The idea is, every week Raven (View From Raven's Nest) gives you between 8 and 10 words/phrases and you have to create a small but coherent paragraph using every one of them and the same with the mini challenge. You can do either, both or a megawordzzle using all the words, or even all three, it's up to you, you can post them on your blog or email them to Raven. If you join in go to Raven's and put your name on the Mr. Linky so other participants can come visit you.

Here's my efforts complete with my doodles.

This Week's Ten Word Challenge is: think the rain’ll hurt the rhubarb?, B Vitamins, credit card, jolly, angels, mouse, three ring circus, haiku, sponge, copper

The high energy group ‘B-vitamins’ made more noise than a three ring circus. Their new single ‘Think the rain’ll hurt the rhubarb?’ was jolly but it wasn’t as good as their previous hits ‘Angels Haiku’, ‘Copper Mouse’ and ‘Sponge Credit Card’.



Mini Challenge: compulsive, trunk, African violets, curiosity, UFO

UFO magazine was compulsive reading for Jimmy and did far more for his curiosity than his job of delivering African violets from the trunk of his car, which is why he lost his job because he spent his time reading instead of delivering.



Megawordzzle

Pete was busy on his allotment when Jolly, the neighbourhood copper, walked passed shouting “Think the rain’ll hurt the rhubarb?” Of course Jolly wasn’t his real name, it just fitted him to a T because that’s what he was, Jolly!

“No, ‘course not” replied Pete “it’ll soak it up like a sponge.”

“You amaze me Pete, at 80 most men sit at home writing haiku but you’re a compulsive worker aren’t you?” said Jolly.

“No poetry for me” chuckled Peter “I take my B-vitamins, so I’ve plenty of energy!”


At sundown, after a full day of tending his plants, Pete retired to his shed and made himself a cup of tea. He loved this time of the day, it was so quiet you could almost hear the angels singing. He watched a little mouse scurrying backwards and forwards making a nest in the corner

Suddenly there was a deafening noise.


“What’s going on? It’s like a three ring circus out there. It’s a bloody UFO!” cried Pete.

At that moment a 4 x 4 ploughed through the fence demolishing Pete’s allotment and just missed his shed. A man clambered from the wreckage, opened the trunk, took out a box and stumbled towards Pete.

“Are you OK? What happened?” asked Pete, his curiosity aroused.

“I’m fine, I misjudged the corner, are you Pete?” asked the driver.

“I am” replied Pete


“Oh good, my wife sent me to buy some of your African violets” said the driver, holding out the box and his credit card.

Friday 55 Flash Fiction # 54 HOT!...

HOT!

Lying in the bubbling water was quite pleasant, relaxing.

"Mmmmm, it seems to be getting hotter" she thought.

It was becoming very uncomfortable but her calls brought no response.

She was being boiled alive!

Suddenly she was being lifted out of the water but it was too late.

She was now....

a hard boiled egg!

Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.

Pudsey........

This is Pudsey Bear the symbol of

Children in Need (BBC)

The BBC Children in Need Appeal is a registered charity.  The charity operates all year round, not just the months leading up to Appeal night, and staff around the UK process thousands of applications for funding. Every year the funding requests exceed the amount of money raised so all applications are carefully assess to ensure that grants are targeted on areas of real need. Voluntary committee members, based in each region, draw on their expertise and local knowledge to advise the board of Trustees which projects should receive grants, and funds are allocated geographically to ensure that all corners of the UK get a share of the money raised.   In 2007 the BBC Children in Need Appeal raised over £37 million.

As you probably know I work in a school and when Children In Need day comes around (November 14th this year) all the school is involved in raising money for this worthwhile charity.    One of my colleagues and I hold a Teddy Creche, where the students bring in their beloved teddies for us to look after for the day. We charge the students 20p per teddy but they get a raffle ticket to win another teddy, which we provide, and we charge 50p for staff teddies


We feel very priviledged to be trusted to look after cherished teddies, a couple of the staff’s teddies were 30 years old!

Each teddy has a label showing the teddy’s name and it’s owner and we take photographs during the day of the teddies doing various activities i.e. being read a story by one of the teachers, going for a walk etc.  At the end of the day each teddy is given a report saying things like

‘Really enjoyed the games and made lots of friends’

‘Very well behaved. Welcome back any time.’

‘Took time to settle but then had a good day.’

‘Spilt milk but otherwise very good indeed.’

‘Enjoyed story time and snacks.’

‘Missed parent at first but soon joined in the fun.’

‘Made new friends easily, had a good time.’

‘Was a little tired so had a nap then joined in the fun.’

‘Very well behaved and friendly.’

The students love the reports and pop in at break and lunchtime to make sure their teddy is OK. We write ‘special’ reports for the staff teddies, this year one of the Form Tutors brought her teddy in but had forgotten to tell her students to bring in theirs, so her teddy’s report read:

“Seems unable to follow simple instructions!”

Another member of staff told us we’d put Teddy Creche on Friday not Thursday on the email we'd sent round and she doctored the email prove it, her teddy’s report said:

“Bit of a practical joker, and a little naughty.”

This year we made £32 to give to Children in Need, it is usually more but we had to do it on the 13th instead of on the 14th and a lot of students got confused so didn’t bring their teddies in.

I’ve put together a little slide show of the Teddies and what they got up to.

If you'd like to read more or make a donation to Children in Need just click on the link under the picture of Pudsey at the top of this post.

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Do you remember my Christmas Carol Quiz last year?    Well I'm doing another one next week if you'd like to join in and win a nice badge for your sidebar.    

I'll give you a list of initials which represent the first line of Christmas Carols and Songs.

Here's an example:

O.I.R.D.C. - Once In Royal David's City - get the idea?

I'll give you 6 days to Email (through my profile) your answers to me then I'll post the answers and the
winner(s).

All those who get any right can claim a swish badge for their blog.

I hope you'll join in.

Chaos........

Why is it when it snows in England the whole place grinds to a halt?

When I got up this morning there was a three inch covering of snow everywhere.   I hate driving in snow but as it was forecast I thought the gritters would have been out and as soon as I got onto the main road from our little cul-de-sac it would be fine.  How wrong was I?

I set off at my usual time of 7.30 a.m., the main road had not been gritted but at least the traffic was moving.  My route to work (usually a 15 minute journey) ended at 7.40 a.m. when the traffic became gridlocked, mainly because of parked and abandoned cars.    I (and others) was stuck going up a steep hill with nowhere to go because traffic was still coming down the hill with nowhere to go.  

In desperation I phoned my son who lives not far from where I was stranded because I knew he was at home, and good lad that he is he came to my rescue.        He marched to the top of the hill,  managed to stop more traffic coming down, got the cars that were stuck on the downward journey to back up onto the main road and posted a sentry to stop more cars coming down.   He then helped the traffic in front of me to get up the hill, there were quite a few women in front of me who were terrified of trying to get their cars up the hill and were almost crying - he drove their cars.    He then came back for me and got me home, finally, at 10.00a.m.


He's my hero!!

Whilst stuck in the traffic I got a phone call to say the school where I work is shut because of the snow so I don't have to worry about not being able to get there.     I'm making good use of my day off by wrapping my Christmas presents and catching up on blogging.

Hope you're not stranded anywhere!

The Pink Sisterhood.....

Storyteller (Small Reflections) invited me to participate in the Pink Sisterhood meme and as it's in a great cause here goes...


Here's the rules:


1. Put the logo in your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Add your link to the list of participants below

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

PINK Sisterhood

1- Fara 2- Massy 3- N.O.Y 4- Mariuca 5- A Great Pleasure 6- LadyJava 7- Kim 8- Pink Thoughts 9- Turn-u-Off 10- Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 11- STAY AT HOME MOM 12- Fida Abbott 13- Also Mommy 14- Janice Ng 15- Juliana’s Site 16- The Painted Veil 17- Heart of Rachel 18- Mga Muni-muni 19-Picture Clusters 20- Scraps of Mind 21- Antoinette 22 - Hootin' Anni 23 - storyteller 24 Akelamalu


Please join 'the Pink Sisterhood', keep it going and leave me a link when you do.

Queenie (Queenie's Random Ramblings)

Bee (Muffin 53)

Daisy (Daisy's Daily Diary)

Flowerpot (Flowerpot Days)

CG (The Compulsive Worrier)

Shrinky (Shrink Wrapped Scream)

Jo (Jo Beaufoix)

Thanks in advance Pink Sisters.