My Christmas present

This is the lovely picture that I got for Christmas from Elder Daughter and her husband, which I hung in the dining room today. Each silhouette is one of my children. It's such a lovely and unusual idea.

Thanks again, Kathy and Mark. It's brilliant!

Political correctness

This, from TK, was in my inbox today and, as a definition of 'political correctness' I think it would be hard to beat.

There's an annual contest at the Griffiths University, Australia, 
calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term.

This year's term was 'political correctness'.

The winning student wrote:

Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, 
illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by mainstream media, which 
holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a 
piece of shit by the clean end. 

Don't you agree?

Seven more things...

I just found a post from 2006 this one, in fact, in which I listed seven things I was pleased about from the previous year and thought I might have a go at it again. Life is quieter these days, as I am no longer teaching, but the days still get filled up one way and another, so here goes, in no particular order:

1. Being able to see my grandson, Paul growing into a delightful, intelligent and  energetic boy that his father would be so proud of.
2. Having two dogs instead of one. Jake joined us last new year and he and Paddy get on so well.
3. Doing Pets as Therapy visits to a nearby retirement home with Jake. He loves going and the residents love seeing him.
4. Being in my second year of learning Welsh.
5. Elder Daughter having passed her consultancy exams. Soon she will be a consultant in care of the elderly, which could come in useful for us one day!
6. Seeing Younger Daughter settled in her own house and living an active life.
7. My iPad  Christmas present from Keith. (Yes, I know, very materialistic of me!)

For anyone who would like to have a go at this, feel free!

Best wishes

Happy New Year to everyone

Service with a sharp intake of breath

On Thursday, the washing machine finally breathed its last and my knight in shining armour, aka Keith, sprang onto the internet and, within minutes, had a new one ordered, to be delivered, plumbed in and the old one taken away yesterday. So far so good. Yesterday, I cleared the cupboard under the sink, got everything ready and, give them their due, they arrived as promised.

In fact, all went smoothly until man A looked under the sink and said, in tones of great satisfaction,

"Can't do it!"

"Pardon?" I said.

"Can't do it." There followed a stream of incomprehensible reasons, which, to cut a long story short, boiled down to the fact that a little blue plastic tap had broken off and they weren't allowed to use a wrench, nor to turn the water off at the stop cock.

Man B took his turn at peering under the sink and shook his head gloomily.

"See?" said man A to me triumphantly, "And I haven't even said anything to him!"

The thought crossed my mind to ask which of them was pulling the other's strings, but by great effort of will, I desisted.

When Keith came home, he turned the water off in seconds, with minimal effort and then got on the phone to request that the men return and do what they were contracted to do.

So they are due to return before 12.30 today ...

Watch this space.

TK's Insurance advice

 Is your insurance due for renewal in the new year? Check T.K.'s list below first...

Make sure you get the correct insurance for the sex you are having.
Find below a list of companies catering for most tastes: 

Sex with your wife - Legal & General.
Sex on the telephone - Direct Line.
Sex with your Partner - Standard Life.
Sex with someone Different - Go Compare.
Sex with a lady of generous proportions - More Than.
Sex On the back seat of a car - Sheila's Wheels.
Sex with a posh bird - Privileged
Sex with a prostitute- Commercial Union ;
Sex with your maid- Employer's Liability.
Sex with an OAP - Saga !
Sex resulting in pregnancy- General Accident
and finally
Sex with a transvestite - confused.com

Nadolig Llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda

Or, to put it another way, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I have been up since seven, but awake since four - another of those inexplicable nights when I sleep for a few hours and then lie awake for the next few, but maybe, this time, it was the sound of sleigh bells which woke me, unlike some years in the past when I was Santa, which involved trying to grab an hour's sleep in between creeping into the children's bedrooms to deposit their presents when they had finally gone to sleep and responding to the delighted cries when they woke up and discovered that "he's been!"

It was a very narrow window, which resulted in my spending Christmas day feeling sick with tiredness. I have never been able to deal with lack of sleep!

But these days, Christmas day is calmer. Dad is here for the week and Keith insists on cooking Christmas dinner. What a gem he is!  Reason given is that he doesn't think I can do it properly but, who cares? I can take the insults if it means I am excused culinary duties.

Younger Daughter will arrive around one o'clock and we will see Elder Daughter and husband on Friday.

AND, just for the moment, IT'S NOT RAINING!!!

Have a good one, everybody!