Minkyweasel World

One Girl's Outlook On Life

Archive for October, 2010

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Batteries drained.

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 31, 2010

Over the last few days I have been very busy at work and my usual four hours of sleep has crept up to almost six hours. Yesterday I had an extra lie in bed. I woke up after five and a half hours, went to the toilet and fell asleep again for another three hours! I must have needed it. The day before, Friday, I managed to squeeze a lot of work into four hours and was thus able to go out for lunch with E. We dined rather late at around three in the afternoon and we visited our favourite carvery. I polished off a whole bottle of red wine with my meal and felt really great for the rest of the day. At around seven-thirty in the evening we visited the house of a couple of Christian friends who had kindly invited us a week or so ago. We simply sat and talked. They laid on a small buffet with red wine or soft drinks but neither E nor myself were feeling hungry after our late lunch. I did succumb to another couple of glasses of red wine though! After a pleasant evening we arrived home around midnight and shortly afterward I was in bed although I didn’t finally get to sleep until one o’clock. I like sleeping, especially when my batteries are drained! I was awake for a couple of minutes and my cellphone rang. I ignored it and took the message later. It seems there is no rest for the wicked or electricians who are in great demand (LOL). This coming week promises more of the same, which is actually usual for this time of year for me as we approach Christmas. I don’t mind the work, I like it, as long as I can have my red wine and be able to re-charge my batteries. I have promised myself a complete rest again today.

Shirley Anne

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This world has gone mad!

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 30, 2010

 I suppose we all have our pet hates, things that irritate and annoy us. Some things however go beyond that and to the average person are totally unacceptable in Society. The majority of us do have moral standards which are accepted and expected by the society in which we live. Anyone falling foul of basic ‘decentness’ and morality are subject to the wrath of the majority and rightly so. However even the majority can get things wrong. As human beings we tend to gravitate toward community living and we form societies in which to live. Of course we are born into situations and naturally fall in-line with the status quo. By and large our society is one based on good moral standards. These in turn are founded in Scripture, The Ten Commandments and other diverse Scriptural directives whether we believe in Scripture or not. If we are left, as a society, to our own devices, I feel we would lose the stability and security we now generally enjoy. Things can and do go wrong though and we, as a society, make the wrong decisions sometimes. Common sense seems to go out of the window occasionally when it comes to even the simplest of things. Those in authority seem to take a path which goes against what the majority of us would probably take if we where in their position. I could probably cite many instances and no doubt you could do the same, especially in the decisions made in Parliament. I wonder how we manage to survive in this world today when we see things going the way we least expect them to. The world is driven by business and the need to make money, it is also driven by those who seek power and control, whether that be based in religion or politics and we as those ‘being controlled’ suffer as a consequence.  I will never understand what drives some people in life but only wish to live out my own life in peace and harmony amongst them.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Community, Morality | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Halloween and all that…

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 29, 2010

Extracted from Wikipedia:-

 Halloween A Jack-o’-lantern Also called All Hallows’ Eve All Saints’ Eve Observed by Ireland, Canada, United Kingdom, United States and other places. Type Secular, Christian, and Celtic tradition Date October 31 Observances Costume parties, trick-or-treating in costumes, carving pumpkins, ghost tours, haunted attractions, bonfires, divination, apple bobbing. Related to Samhain, All Saints’ Day Halloween (or Hallowe’en) is an annual holiday observed on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints’ Day, but is today largely a secular celebration. Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o’-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films. Exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while “some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)”. The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly “summer’s end”. A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced Kálan Gái av). Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise showing a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play a variant, which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination games.The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the “lighter half” of the year and beginning of the “darker half”, and is sometimes regarded as the “Celtic New Year“. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family’s ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces. Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. Sometimes two bonfires would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual. Another common practice was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink. The name ‘Halloween’ and many of its present-day traditions derive from the Old English era. Origin of name The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even (“evening”), that is, the night before All Hallows Day. Up through the early 20th century, the spelling “Hallowe’en” was frequently used, eliding the “v” and shortening the word. Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556. Symbols Jack-o’-lanterns in Kobe, Japan Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time encompassing customs of medieval holy days as well as contemporary cultures. The souling practice of commemorating the souls in purgatory with candle lanterns carved from turnips, became adapted into the making of jack-o’-lanterns. In traditional Celtic Halloween festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces, and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. The American tradition of carving pumpkins preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century. The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy). Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, magic, or mythical monsters. Traditional characters include ghosts, witches, skeletons, vampires, werewolves, demons, bats, spiders, and black cats. Black and orange are the traditional Halloween colors and represent the darkness of night and the color of bonfires, autumn leaves, and jack-o’-lanterns. Trick-or-treating and guising Main article: Trick-or-treating Trick-or-treating in Sweden.Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, “Trick or treat?” The word “trick” refers to a (mostly idle) “threat” to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats. The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of “puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas.” The custom of wearing costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white. American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the US; The Book of Hallowe’en (1919), and references souling in the chapter “Hallowe’en in America”; The taste in Hallowe’en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Burn’s poem Hallowe’en as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe’en is out of fashion now. Kelley lived in Lynn, Massachusetts, a town with 4,500 Irish immigrants, 1,900 English immigrants, and 700 Scottish immigrants in 1920. In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; “Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Hallowe’en customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries”. At the time of substantial transatlantic Scottish and Irish immigration that brought the holiday to North America in the 19th century, Halloween in Scotland and Ireland had a strong tradition of “guising” — Scottish and Irish children disguised in costumes going from door to door requesting food or coins. The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911, when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street “guising” (see below) on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops and neighbors to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs. Another isolated reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920. The earliest known use in print of the term “trick or treat” appears in 1927, from Blackie, Alberta, Canada: Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing. The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating. The editor of a collection of over 3,000 vintage Halloween postcards writes, “There are cards which mention the custom [of trick-or-treating] or show children in costumes at the doors, but as far as we can tell they were printed later than the 1920s and more than likely even the 1930s. Tricksters of various sorts are shown on the early postcards, but not the means of appeasing them”. Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U.S. appearances of the term in 1934, and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939. Costumes Main article: Halloween costume People dressing in Halloween Costumes in Dublin.Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses. Dressing up in costumes and going “guising” was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the 19th century. Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States. What sets Halloween costumes apart from costumes for other celebrations or days of dressing up is that they are often designed to imitate supernatural and scary beings. Costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as vampires, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils, or in more recent years such science fiction-inspired characters as aliens and superheroes. There are also costumes of pop culture figures like presidents, athletes, celebrities, or film, television, and cartoon characters. Another popular trend is for women (and in some cases, men) to use Halloween as an excuse to wear sexy or revealing costumes, showing off more skin than would be socially acceptable otherwise. Halloween costume parties generally fall on, or around, 31 October, often falling on the Friday or Saturday prior to Halloween Games and other activities In this Halloween greeting card from 1904, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of the face of her future husband.There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a very sticky face. Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. A traditional Scottish form of divining one’s future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one’s shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse’s name. Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards from the late 19th century and early 20th century. The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before the holiday, while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere. Haunted attractions Main article: Haunted attraction In front of haunted house during Halloween season, Northern California.Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees) for fundraising. They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides, and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. Haunted attractions in the United States bring in an estimate $300–500 million each year, and draw some 400,000 customers, although trends suggest a peak in 2005. This increase in interest has led to more highly technical special effects and costuming that is comparable with that in Hollywood films. Foods Candy apple because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts. At one time, candy apples were commonly given to children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples. While there is evidence of such incidents, they are quite rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free X-rays of children’s Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children’s candy.[citation needed] One custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays, the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish: báirín breac), which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin and other charms are placed before baking. It is said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany. List of foods associated with the holiday: Barmbrack (Ireland) Bonfire toffee (Great Britain) Candy apples Candy corn, candy pumpkins (North America) Caramel apples Caramel corn Colcannon (Ireland) Pumpkin, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread Roasted pumpkin seeds Roasted sweet corn Soul cakes Novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc. Around the world Main article: Halloween around the world Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, and among those that do the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly. Celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the holiday is observed in other nations. This larger North American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places such as South America, Europe, to Japan under the auspices of the Japanese Biscuit Association, and other parts of East Asia. Religious perspectives See also: All Saints and Samhain Christianity Christian attitudes towards Halloween are quite diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions of All Saints’ Day, while some other Protestants celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation. Father Gabriele Amorth, a Vatican-appointed exorcist in Rome, has said, “if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that.” In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a “Saint Fest” on the holiday. Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy. Many Christians ascribe no negative significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular holiday devoted to celebrating “imaginary spooks” and handing out candy. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners’ heritage. In the Roman Catholic Church Halloween is viewed as having a Christian connection, and Halloween celebrations are common in Catholic parochial schools throughout North America and in Ireland. Other Christians feel concerned about Halloween, and reject the holiday because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs. A response among some fundamentalist and conservative evangelical churches in recent years has been the use of ‘Hell houses’, themed pamphlets, or comic-style tracts such as those created by Jack T. Chick in order to make use of Halloween’s popularity as an opportunity for evangelism. Some consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith because of its origin as a pagan “Festival of the Dead”. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate Halloween because they believe anything that originated from a pagan holiday should not be celebrated by true Christians. Paganism Celtic Pagans consider the season a holy time of year. Celtic Reconstructionists, and others who maintain ancestral customs, make offerings to the gods and the ancestors. Some Wiccans feel that the tradition is offensive to Wiccan practitioners for promoting stereotypical caricatures of “wicked witches”.

For further information and references see Wikipedia free encyclopedia.

I hold the same view as the Jehovahs Witnesses and some of my brother and sister Christians who believe we should not be celebrating a festival rooted in pagan holidays. I further believe as a Christian that following in the traditions of men (all man made festivals, including Christmas, Easter and other so-called Christian festivals) rather than following Gods Word is wrong.  Those who hold different views have a right to do so of course but it is worth thinking about the consequences if you are a follower and believer in God.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Celebration, God, Religion, Tradition | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

It’s a matter of taste

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 28, 2010

Whenever I do work for anyone I am usually asked if I would like a drink, sometimes the minute I step through the door. Most people will offer me a drink but very occasionally I might come across someone who doesn’t, then I ask if I can have a drink of water. This prompts them to ask if I would like a hot drink instead! Much of the time I prefer water, especially during the warmer months as I will be perspiring a lot more. When asked if I would like a hot drink I usually ask for coffee or maybe tea but I like them both extremely weak and black. I do not like strong coffee or tea. Nobody seems to get it right though and I have to apologise for pouring some away and topping up with water to make the drink weaker. I like it so weak that I can see the bottom of the cup through the liquid. Hardly worth drinking as some people have remarked but it’s all a matter of taste isn’t it? I sometimes wonder what strong coffee or tea means to someone who offers me what they think is weak when I can almost stand a spoon up in it without it touching the sides. Okay, a slight exaggeration but I think you know what I mean. My preferences for coffee are smooth and instant and I know there are some lovely varieties in the freshly ground version but not when they are strong and bitter. I sometimes use saccharin as a sweetener, never sugar, or go without. I drink unsweetened tea but I carry a tube of sweeteners in my bag for use in coffee. I will try most things at least once but I settle for what I like best. Tea is probably best and it has beneficial qualities in the anti-oxidants it has but coffee or too much of it, is supposed to be bad for the heart as it is a stimulant and can, in some cases, cause palpitations. Too much of anything is bad for you I suppose. Today whilst driving home from work I was listening to a program on the radio in which there was a debate about food, specifically what will be the kind of food people will be eating in the (distant?) future. One person suggested that soya would be more widely eaten in ways we only occasionally consume it today. Another person thinks we may be eating insects, or more of them for those who do so already. Ugh! Definitely not one for me, even if they are full of protein! In this case it isn’t just a matter of taste for me, it is a forbidden food. Only certain insects being acceptable. I don’t think I would be eating even those!

Shirley Anne

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Going warm again.

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 27, 2010

Not that I talk about the weather much (lol) but it has been getting warmer lately and the forecast is that it will stay that way for a while. Today at work I was wearing a skirt and a short-sleeved top, nothing different there because I always dress this way for work. Even outside I was very comfortable in the bright, warm sunshine. It’s as though the clock has been turned back a couple of months. Very welcome of course but it cannot last. We are told that we are in for a cold winter. We’ll see. I have been rather busy at work lately and the phone doesn’t stop ringing. Get it while you can people say but it can be too much at times. I shall be 65 next month on the 21st but I certainly don’t feel it and by all accounts don’t look anything like it either from what people say about me. I am often taken for somebody 15 years younger. You are as old as you feel they say and I am making hay while the sun shines. It certainly did that today. One day I won’t be able to work of course. I enjoy my work, I get pleasure from fixing problems, installing new circuits and making people happy. I might only be doing my job and getting paid for it but it’s more than that and it is different every day. I must be doing something right for I get plenty of recommendations! I am hot stuff! Well maybe just a little warmer than usual!

Shirley Anne

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Transvestite murder. Read all about it!

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 27, 2010

I was thinking today about this evil world in which we live. I was reading about a woman who is being held by police on suspicion of murder. She has been accused of pushing someone under a tube-train in London. As it was reported this male person who subsequently died happened to be a transvestite and it was that fact that majored in the report, not that the poor man had been simply murdered but the emphasis was on his mode of dress and that he was in drag so to speak. Several things spring to mind. Firstly, someone had been murdered. Secondly, he was being judged. Thirdly, it shows just how wicked and ungodly humanity can be.

This is what Scripture has to say. I will let Scripture speak for itself…………

Romans 1…………. 

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Will mankind ever learn? This is serious stuff and worth thinking about. God isn’t a figment of mans imagination, He is real. Ignore Him at your peril, for nothing else can save you, not religion, not a faith in philosophy or some other idea or practice. If you don’t think you need saving then you are already lost.

Shirley Anne

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Finally we did it!

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 26, 2010

Over this past year E and I have made three attempts to fly in a hot-air balloon. Our fourth attempt yesterday finally realised our wish. E had won two tickets in one of her competitions last December but each time we tried to get the ride the weather caused a cancellation, We had however to drive 160 miles down to Hereford which meant a trip down three motorways go get there. We were doing fine until we reached a spot half-way down the M6 when all traffic almost came to a standstill. We had left home in plenty of time, or so we thought but it only takes a couple of hold-ups to eat away at the time. The flight was arranged for sometime after 3.30 and we were just leaving the last motorway but still thirty something miles away from our destination. We thought we would be too late but as it happened the balloon had yet to be inflated. We had though a more pressing need before we climbed aboard for our flight. We needed a toilet! There were no facilities at the meeting place but E had an idea. Next to the entrance to the field were some houses so we went there to plead our case! One house was being renovated and looked like a building site but it did have a portable toilet standing outside. We asked the guy inside if we could use that toilet and he allowed us to. That done we returned to the balloon. They were just beginning to inflate it which didn’t take long. We had to climb into the basket, there was no ladder, no set of steps, just some footholds. Have you ever tried climbing into a basket wearing a skirt whilst trying to hold on to your dignity in the presence of a dozen onlookers? I do not wear jeans or trousers, I don’t possess any! We all managed to climb inside and slowly the basket left the ground. Before we knew it we had reached 5000 feet! The view was amazing and we were treated to a fine little journey which took us about fifteen miles from our starting point. Up there you don’t notice speed which I guess must have been 15mph because of the time we were up there. We made a brave attempt to return to our take-off point but we got no closer than ten miles. It was beginning to get dark and we had to land where we could. After choosing what seemed the ideal spot we drifted down to land. Assuming the landing position as instructed we came down with a rather heavy bump and the basket landed on its side with all its passengers looking up to the sky and hanging on tightly to the hand-holds. It was quite amusing to see the efforts to disembark! Eventually we all got out and then collectively started to pack away the balloon to aid our pilot. We had to be careful not to stand in any of the cow-pats! After a short while the ground crew arrived and placed the balloon and basket on to a trailer. Meanwhile we were each treated to a glass of Champagne before returning to our set-off point in a mini-bus to collect our own transport. It was almost eight o’clock before we set off homeward. On the way we stopped by a restaurant and had a much welcomed meal. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast time because of the journey down. We arrived home at 11.45 and went straight to bed. Altogether a rather lovely day.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Enjoyment, Leisure, Lifestyle | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

More work!

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 25, 2010

Today we are having some scaffolding erected again. During the last few weeks we discovered that the roof was leaking. We had employed somebody to carry out repairs on the roof whilst we had other works being done a couple of months ago and whilst the scaffolding for those works was still erected. We are not surrounding the house with scaffolding this time however but just erecting one column. Hopefully the guy will then make good the leak. E and I are hoping to go out at noon but that depends on a phone call. Yesterday E’s nephew returned to rebuild an old low-level wall in the rear garden and has much of it done. He may not return for a while as he hopes to spend some time in France with his girlfriend. That’s okay with us because there is much work to do clearing the area before the next stage can be done. Whilst he was building the wall a friend came over to sort out this new computer for me. As it turned out the solution was very simple and it took little time to fix. It is quite an amazing computer and I am still getting used to it but that takes time. The best way to familiarise yourself is to be ‘hands on’ and that’s what I am doing. After today I am in for a busy time ahead with my work this week with the prospect of more to come. Well I need the cash! Over the next month or so we need to plan the purchase and erection of the new greenhouse to stand on the recently completed concrete base. Some of my other plans have had to go on hold for a time but one thing’s for sure, there will be plenty to do! Roll on Summer!

Shirley Anne

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She got her way…..

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 24, 2010

It was eight years ago on the 14th Oct. that I realised my dream of becoming a woman. Sounds a bit silly does that remark but what I mean is that my body became in-line with my already feminine brain! Leading up to that moment of triumph my marriage had been in tatters. You can read more in my pages above. For many years I was living in a sexless relationship and was merely being treated as somebody who was bringing in the wage. Don’t misunderstand me here, I know my ex. loves me but her problem was always one of not being able to show it, not just in a sexual way either. It was six years ago we divorced and a matter of only two years since we decided to continue living together in the same house. The house had been on the market for a few years and it wasn’t selling. One of the reasons for that of course was the recession. In a way it has proven fortunate for us both. She is relying on me more and more because of her physical condition and I think she would have found living alone difficult at times and getting worse as time went on. I love her dearly and I am happy to do things for her. To be honest it would have broken my heart to be completely separated from her. I am crying even now just writing those words! I couldn’t be more happy at this time. I think things work out as they are planned to do. I believe that the Father has intervened in my life. In many ways our life together hasn’t changed one bit, in fact most of what we had and what we did together remains just the same. Sex of course isn’t on the menu but it hasn’t been on the menu for years. She got her way in that respect as in many other ways too. Getting back to sex, well I don’t miss it, I don’t need it, I have better things going for me. Part of the transitioning process and following regime is the need to dilate one’s vagina. I followed the set pattern over the years but now I am not so strict with that regime, in fact I only do that once a week these days. I cannot see the point if intercourse is not going to happen. I am not interested anymore.

Shirley Anne

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Radio or television?

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 23, 2010

Which do you prefer? I often listen to the radio whilst driving and occasionally at home too. I like pop music, in fact I like all music, as long as it is music and not just a noise! To that end I will listen to the radio. I get bored listening to the same channel all of the time so I tend to switch once in a while. I like classical music and I often switch to Classic FM. Lately though I have been listening to BBC Radio 4 which is more of a magazine type of broadcast featuring music, stories and plays, chat, debates, news and many other things of interest. Radio stimulates the mind in a way that television cannot. Everything is left to the imagination because there is no visual stimulation. It gets me thinking and that is something I enjoy.  As a child I was given pictorial books and comics to read but as I got older I did not switch to reading non-illustrated literature easily. I preferred literature that was educational, instructional and illustrated to assist in the tutorial. I still like books based on information and facts, illustrated if it helps to convey the message. However I am just as at ease with non-illustrated material as long as it isn’t fiction. I am interested in Astronomy and I find that illustrations form an essential part of books based on the subject. I also like History but in this case I am happy to simply read about things and not have any pictorial assistance. With history I prefer to allow my mind to picture the events of old. So I ask myself is visual stimulation better than audio stimulation? The answer is both yes and no, it all depends upon the subject. Can something be proven if it isn’t seen with the eye? Can something exist only in the imagination? Some things are real even when they cannot be seen with the naked eye. Atoms are real but few people have actually seen them. Love is real but we cannot see it, we only experience its effect upon us. Do we really need to see something before we believe it exists? Something to think about like the invisible world of Radio.

Shirley Anne

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And now it is Friday!

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 22, 2010

Last night before bedtime I spent some time on my treadmill. The exercise is always beneficial and especially so in the evening as I seem to be able to get off to sleep much easier. I don’t think I’ll have that problem tonight though because right now I am feeling rather tired after the days events. I had a job to do this morning which lasted until lunchtime. An old couple had asked me to do some installation work for them but the man followed me round like a shadow. I think  he was interested in how the job was to be done, either that or he may have been intrigued at the prospect of having a female electrician because he was trying to help me at every conceivable chance! Actually he was more of a hinderance than a help and it slowed me down somewhat. He asked if I would like a drink and was all too pleased to go and prepare it. I was glad for the opportunity to be left to do the job. His wife was more sensible and kept out-of-the-way.  After my visit there I had a couple of errands to run before visiting a guy who lives a short distance from my home. He was enquiring about some work he’d like me to do in a week or so. Eventually, after a trip to a filling station, I got back home. I’d not eaten so I prepared some lunch to eat with a glass of wine. It is now 4 in the afternoon. I have just awakened from a little ‘cat-nap‘, and am writing this entry. My weeks work is done and I can now relax, maybe! I am hoping my friend will be able to come over on Sunday to correct the faults with my new computer. In the meantime I continue with this old machine and I don’t just mean my computer! 

Shirley Anne

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And I thought it was Friday….

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 21, 2010

Last Sunday I was out working. Nothing has happened since then, as far as work goes that is, until today when I had two small jobs in two different locations which made good the lack of income for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It often goes like that in my line of work. I shall be working tomorrow morning (so far) too. Part of the problem of working on a Sunday, when not used to it, is that I lose track of the days. I keep thinking it is Friday. I know Lauren visits me on Thursdays and she is due here shortly. Remember Lauren? She is the girl who gives me my electrolysis sessions. I am glad my sessions are few these days, not because I don’t like Lauren, I do. It’s more the tedious zapping that needs to be done to remove unwanted hairs! She visits every two weeks normally but sometimes it gets to three weeks. I have to plan that because I need to wait for the hair to grow long enough to be removed and that takes days! That means I can’t have a session on the spur of the moment. It does mean that I can plan ahead in my work too. E has gone off to do her weekly shopping and I am at home twiddling about. I checked my Lotto results today and I won again! only £5 this time but still a win. That makes it eight times in eight weeks! It saves me spending my own cash I guess as the winnings are used to buy the next ticket. Which reminds me, I must buy my tickets for tomorrow…….see ya!

Shirley Anne

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He never ceases to amaze me!

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 20, 2010

Those of you who by your own admission are unbelievers will not understand what I am writing about here. It will seem meaningless but you might suggest that it ‘works for me’ and leave it at that. It isn’t however something ‘that works for me’ as though it was dependent on my belief. It is outside of that. It does not depend on what I think or say or do. I just want to say that God works in so many differeent ways and He does so in my life, often. I have reached that point in my life whereby I can rest in the assurance of Gods love and provision. If all the world around me falls apart I know that God loves me and provides for me. It is often in the small things that He operates, things we may overlook at the time but are revealed to us after the event, if we are open to His voice. I look back over the day and see where He has been involved. I look back over the week and know what He has done for me. I look back over my life and wonder how I managed without Him. The fact is, I didn’t. If God is on my side, who can be against me? Read this………

Romans 8 (New International Version)

Life through the Spirit
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Can you cry ‘Abba, Father’ and know He listens? He will if you are a child of His…………………

Shirley Anne

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Bl**dy Nora!

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 20, 2010

It isn’t often that I make remarks like that but today has been one complete pain in the proverbial a**e! It was today that E and I had a hot-air balloon ride for the third time of booking. Each time thus far we have been thwarted by weather conditions. I thought the weather was fine with winds of only 8 or 9 mph but it seems that it depends on winds at a higher level in the atmosphere. It might be calm down at ground level but it may be blowing a storm a half mile up! So E and I got up around 4.30 for a meeting at 7.30, 80 something miles away. We phoned through as we were told to do to find out whether the flight was on or not. It was cancelled! That meant a cut in sleep. I resigned myself to yet another disappointment.

During the morning I spent some time on my computer. I had downloaded a program that re-arranged my registry and consequently rendered my computer unusable for online browsing. It is simply a matter of programs not pointing to their correct paths. Easy to say but time-consuming to correct. A friend has offered to correct the problem on Sunday. She is a Godsend! In the meantime I am back on my dinosaur. (Sorry dinosaur, you have been good to me…LOL)

So today we decided to dine out and forget my problems. That we did and had a great time at a place we often visit. We have become valued customers there and the staff always enjoy our visits as much as we like going there. It is so good that the head barman apologised today for not having ‘our’ table ready! There is one table we try to sit at each visit, mainly because it is easier for E with her disability. Later we decided, or rather I decided to visit the supermarket to buy some more wine. Whilst there we met with a mutual friend, a Christian lady who constantly asks E if she would like to visit her and her husband socially at their house. You have to understand that E isn’t a committed Christian so the idea is perhaps not her number one priority. I have known Terry and Eric for years, long before my transition, so I am comfortable with the idea. We have arranged to meet a week this Friday. I hope E will be relaxed about the prospect but I know she will enjoy it.

So tonight I switched on this machine only to be confronted by other problems. Thankfully they are now sorted and I can get on with some browsing. It’s just been one of those days! Perhaps Satan is having a go at me? Well if he is I am not taking the bait!

Shirley Anne

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Adverts!

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 19, 2010

Do television adverts annoy you? Maybe you like them? Perhaps they entertain? Some adverts I see are quite amusing, slightly entertaining but most are simply boring. One or two of them are quite ridiculous and annoy that much that I turn off the sound! One of these adverts is for a company called ‘Go Compare’, an Internet comparison website. It is ill-conceived and ridiculously stupid and has the opposite effect on me than it is intended to have. Not that I respond to advertising claims or rush out to buy whatever is on offer, I don’t. Oh I will remember product names and what they are offering in some cases but it doesn’t influence my buying habits. One of the joys in shopping is finding out things for yourself and buying what you see and are drawn to. It isn’t about labels or brands, special offers and deals, it is about buying what you consider meets your needs and more especially what you want to buy through your own choice. Silly background music and jingles which attempt to put you into a frame of mind and deep masculine voice-overs all serve to annoy me. I am very cynical when it comes to advertisements. I hate them!

Shirley Anne

Posted in Advertising | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

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