Archive for the ‘Lifestyle’ Category
Posted by Shirley Anne on January 26, 2012
Image by Vaguely Artistic via Flickr
After working every day since last Thursday I found myself free on Tuesday. I squeezed in a session on my treadmill late on Monday evening making falling asleep much easier. I planned to have an extra lie-in on Tuesday morning and thankfully I wasn’t disturbed by telephone calls as usually happens when I want that extra rest. This meant that I arose just before ten o’clock, too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. I collected some clothes that needed washing and fed the washing machine with them before collecting my tools and setting about dismantling the drain pipe from our downstairs toilet as it entered the sewage pipe outside. I cleaned the sewage pipe collar ready to accept a new soil pipe later and covered it with a plastic bag to contain the wonderful sewage smells that would continue to emanate from the open pipe until the new pipe was connected. Following that I dismantled and disconnected the toilet pan, cistern, wash basin and all water pipes and drains ready for work to continue when I feel the urge. This will be the new wet room I promised E and myself last summer! We have most of all the necessary materials we will need to complete the task. All we need now it the time and the inclination! On Monday whilst purchasing a new distribution board for the job I was doing I finally got round to buying two of the new boards I have been thinking about buying for our own house. These boards each have a ten-way circuit capacity but I know I will need to buy a further two four-way boards later. I am waiting until the weather is warmer before tackling the installation of those boards. We do have a lot of electrical circuits in our house. So it was that at 1.45 I was feeling rather hungry and thirsty too but was loathed to prepare anything and I told E that we would be dining out. She raised no objections either and off we went to enjoy the afternoon in one of our haunts. No wine this time but a couple of glasses of cider and on the way home E dropped me off at my local so that I could put in an appearance after seven weeks absence. I had but one drink and bought one drink for a friend before walking home a half-hour later behaving myself by not making a night of it but I may make another trip for that soon. On Friday, the 27th, I will have known E for exactly 40 years and I have already told her that I want to take her out for a special meal to mark the occasion. She is selecting the venue but she always does that anyway!
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Celebration, Electrical, House and Home, Lifestyle, Work | Tagged: Friday, Pipe, Sewage, Sink, Toilet, Tuesday, Washing machine, Water pipe | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on January 25, 2012
Image by -DjD- via Flickr
Continuing about my work and how long I will carry on doing it I find myself even more in demand and thereby reluctant to stop altogether. Many people close to me tell me that I am too obliging but when I get requests such as complete loss of power I find I want to help. This was the case on Saturday. Now Saturdays are my sabbath days of rest but when an emergency situation arises and I have been asked to help out then that is what I will do. My philosophy and the teaching is that the sabbath was made for mankind and not mankind for the sabbath. I was about to enjoy my Saturday afternoon watching television (I was watching the Masters Snooker semi-finals, something I like to watch) when I received a call from a lady whom I’ve worked for many times and she asked if I could help her as her food freezer wasn’t working. Now I do not repair fridges and freezers when once I did years ago but then my employer supplied the necessary equipment for that sort of work. I talked her through the possible reasons for the problem which was most probably a loss of power but she maintained that she hadn’t a clue how to go about that. I arrived at her house fifteen minutes later. Now this lady is currently having her downstairs floors levelled which means all the floorboards being removed and new floor joists installed, quite a big job and she has to live upstairs whilst the work is carried out. That being the case it was most likely that her builder had accidentally switched off her freezer whilst raising the kitchen floor. It took me ten seconds to find the problem. It had been switched off at source! Whilst she is having this work done the builders are also doing some work on the roof and have erected scaffolding at the front of the house. When I arrived I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that scaffolding leaning over by as much as 40 degrees from the vertical having been blown over in the high winds we had been experiencing the night before. It was only a supporting stay which had become embedded in the soil preventing it falling over completely. We telephoned the builder several times but could not get a reply. I had to leave and return home. No sooner I got home I received another call from another lady whom I’ve worked for in the past. She asked if I could go to her daughter’s house as all her electrical circuits were not working. By this time it was late afternoon and already dark. When I arrived about twenty minutes later I discovered a genuine fault. The RCD unit had tripped but wouldn’t reset, thus disconnecting all of the supply. Switching off all circuit breakers didn’t solve the problem so that meant I also had to disconnect the circuits neutral cables too. Still the RCD would not reset which meant that it was faulty and would need replacing. However it was an old type unit and would be better to replace the whole board with a modern version that is easy to repair should anything go wrong. Of course I do not carry such things in my vehicle, no electrician does and as it was too late to purchase one and too late to do the work I had to effect a temporary repair. I by-passed the RCD unit so they could have power over the weekend until I could return on Monday to fit a new board. So that was my Saturday in tatters! I actually had scheduled work to do on Sunday morning, only small jobs this time and only because my clients could not accommodate me during the week. Normally I wouldn’t work on a Sunday as I don’t do on a Saturday. At least I was back home within two hours and had the rest of the day to myself. I did return to replace the distribution board on Monday morning, an up-to date version of the old one which enables the lighting circuits to be isolated from the RCD controlling the power circuits so if it trips the lights won’t be affected. I also discovered a fault in the washing machine which was probably the reason the old RCD kept tripping and eventually giving up altogether. I was told that several times in the past it had caused the RCD to trip. Some people never learn. Her failure to get the washing machine repaired caused her having to pay for a new power board to be fitted and she still has to do something with the washing machine.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Leisure, Lifestyle, People, Work | Tagged: Circuit breaker, Residual-current device, Work | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on January 22, 2012
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On Wednesday, after some morning’s work, E and I decided to dine out at one of our favourite places some 12 miles out-of-town. I had been working outside in that fine drizzle type of rain, not enough to prevent the work being done but enough to make me feel a little irritated. By the time I had returned home the weather hadn’t changed so we were reluctant to chop up any more of the trees we had felled on Monday and Tuesday. There is no urgency to do that as we have two more weeks before the green waste bins are next emptied. When we arrived at our destination we found the car park practically empty and consequently there were plenty of empty tables inside. Of course we usually dine mid-afternoon and therefore expect fewer diners. We were pleasantly surprised to find an empty table next to the fireplace. This fireplace stands in the centre of one of the rooms and is open on two sides. A young couple occupied the table on one side so we took the table on the other side. It was so nice to be able to sit by a log fire for a change although anywhere in the dining rooms is pleasantly warm. I had a bottle of red wine which I didn’t drink completely, in fact I took it home still half full when we left. We both had a cola drink too. I chose sea bass for my main course and E chose a gammon steak. Neither of us had a starter but we chose something from the dessert menu later. When we had finished eating E had a coffee and I finished the glass of wine I had left. I wasn’t feeling well for some reason and I went to the toilet. On my return my brief uneasiness had disappeared. E mentioned that it could have been the heat from the fire which caused me to feel strange but I have my doubts about that because I remained sitting next to it without any further problems. Whilst out I received a couple of calls requesting my services. That work will more than pay for our lunch by the cosy fireside.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Food, Leisure, Lifestyle | Tagged: Dining room, Drink, Fireplace, Food, Leisure, Lifestyle | 5 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on January 14, 2012
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The end of the week usually brings a release from the working week and a chance to relax, or used to! When I worked for an employer I didn’t have the same freedom as when I started to work for myself but the pressure became stronger. So although I used to look forward to my Fridays and my weekends to myself when I became self-employed those feelings became stronger even though I had the freedom to choose how I spent my time working. There is a greater sense of urgency when working for one’s self I would suggest. That being the case and especially now as I am kind of semi-retired or at least only working part-time I relish taking time out to engage in some self-indulgence. Last Friday afternoon I went dining out with E and yesterday we had a repeat performance but at a different location. Yesterday morning I did an electrical job repairing some lighting and replacing fittings and returned home sometime around noon. We had already planned to dine out so I wasn’t prepared to take on any more work for the day. We tend to eat a little later into the afternoon as many places by then are not crammed full of other diners and the pace is subsequently much slower and more relaxed which makes for a better afternoon I think. I tried a new dish this time. Even though the sea bass looked very tempting I decided together with E, to have pork rump in a plum sauce with steamed vegetables and new potatoes. E had tasted this dish before but it was a first for me and she told me that I would enjoy it. I always thought that pork and apple were good together and I had reservations about pork and plum. I was pleasantly surprised when the dish arrived and I tasted it. The pork was very tender and the sauce was sweet. The two things go well together. However I did find the sweetness of the sauce a little too much by the time I’d finished and I think it would have benefitted from being a little less so. I pushed the boat out with my dessert too trying a lemon based dish I had never ordered before. Its name escapes me but it was basically sponge soaked in a lemon sauce topped with something resembling custard but not custard mixed with white chocolate and meringue chippings. It was too bitter for my liking but I ate it. I probably will not have it again. I am usually open to trying new dishes up to a point but I will draw the line at some things. We left the restaurant about two and a half hours later with the other half of the bottle of red wine because for once I behaved myself by not drinking it all at the table. We stopped by a supermarket on the way home to re-stock on cola and some foodstuffs. A very nice afternoon was had by all.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Drink, Food, Lifestyle, Rest and relaxation, Work | Tagged: Cooking, Drink, Food, Friday, Meat, Pork, Potato, Rest and relaxation, Sauce, Work | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on January 8, 2012
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I had the day to myself on Friday as I was released from my jury service until Monday. Not wanting to let the opportunity pass by to enjoy myself for the day I invited E out for an extended lunch, well they are always extended when I dine out. I love the experience of wining and dining out and generally socialising and it is nice to do that with friends and family but it is nicest when in the company with someone very special. In my case that would be my ex partner E whom I love dearly. I take the opportunity to dine out with her as often as I can so that not only do I get to enjoy myself but that she can enjoy life more than she usually does. As is the case I often ask her if she is happy so that I can help her to be happy as much as I can. She is hard to reach sometimes but I persevere for I don’t want her to feel unhappy if I can do something to change that. I wonder sometimes what makes her tick, what it is she wants out of life because I feel she is missing out on things when she should be getting the most out of life. I know she enjoys her outings with me but she is often reluctant to show that. So it was that we both went to one of our favourite haunts in the next town on Friday and had a carvery lunch with dessert and drinks. I polished off a full bottle of red wine and later had a liqueur coffee with a cream topping, similar to the picture on the right. We both had soft drinks too, she was drinking Pepsi-Cola and I was drinking the diet version in-between my sips of wine. I like the taste of the cola following the wine and sometimes I mix the two in the same glass when I am tired of drinking the wine neat, which isn’t often (LOL). We arrived at the restaurant/pub at around 1.30 and we left just before 5.00 stopping off at the supermarket for some rum, whisky and cream. I wanted to enjoy another glass or two of a liqueur coffee! I am off to work on Saturday morning which will be yesterday by the time you read this so I will not be able to have a drink, if I want one, until late in the day. I probably won’t indulge as I value having a healthy liver which needs a break now and then! I might have a drink today, Sunday but then nothing until the end of the week when I have finished my jury service. Mind you, I may get on a case that lasts longer than this coming week but in any event I will enjoy a drink or two at the weekend. I might even surprise the staff at my local pub by paying them the first visit for over six weeks. I love life and I love people who are prepared to enjoy it with me. Life is too short not to enjoy it.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Drink, Enjoyment, Food, Happiness, Leisure, Life, Lifestyle, Philosophy, Values, Wisdom | Tagged: Alcoholic beverage, Drink, Food, Friday, Leisure, Life, Lifestyle, Monday, Pepsi, Philosophy, Saturday, Soft drink, Wine | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 31, 2011
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I have never believed that homosexuality (and lesbianism) was right and I have always objected to the association given between the homosexual community and specifically the transsexual community. The two are incongruous. These beliefs are based upon my faith as a Christian and what the teachings are on the subject as far as Scripture is concerned. God clearly states in several places in His word that these things are wrong but the gay community either chooses to ignore it or doesn’t believe it or tries to twist the truth in order to justify the lifestyle. Of course they may not believe in God in which case in their eyes there isn’t a problem. It amuses me when non-believers quote Scripture to defend themselves when they don’t believe in God or when they try to justify what they do by the use of Scripture as if it mattered to them. I do not have a problem with homosexual or lesbian people in the least but I do, as a Christian, have problems with their sexual behaviour which for Christians (and perhaps others) is unacceptable because it is in conflict with what Scripture says on the matter. What is objectionable is the fact that some quarters insist that the Christian Church accepts this behaviour as normal and allows acceptance of individuals into their midst without question. Christians are taught and it comes naturally to them to love their fellow-man but that does not mean accepting their sexuality and lifestyle. How can a Christian believer reject God’s word on the matter? It isn’t a question of love in the way that is often demanded of a Christian either. We get told that we should love those who are different as it is the Christian thing to do. Well it is the right behaviour to expect from a true Christian. However, loving someone doesn’t mean accepting their behaviour.
1 Corinthians 6
1 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[b] 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.[c]
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Footnotes:
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.
- 1 Corinthians 6:16 Gen. 2:24
- 1 Corinthians 6:17 Or in the Spirit
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Behaviour, Christianity, God, Lifestyle, Religion | Tagged: Christ, Christian Church, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Lord, New International Version, Religion and sexuality | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 26, 2011
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At last! Yesterday is all over and done with. Not that I had anything to be done with. I had a day to myself and did almost nothing at all. There were things to attend to promises I’d made to myself but after that I simply drank my wine, had my customary ‘beans on toast’ for lunch, no turkey/chicken/goose, no pudding/mince pies et al, just the simplest of fayre. I don’t feel bloated, I haven’t a hang-over, I’ve not had an argument with anyone, I haven’t actually seen anyone! It has been a lovely Sunday. Am I mad? You might be thinking that but I am not. I am not sure what I will get up to this coming week but I know it won’t be much whatever it is! Probably things won’t pick up for me until mid-January when all gets back to normal. It’s Monday morning and for once I am looking forward in anticipation. Hope you are too!
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Holiday, Lifestyle, Rest and relaxation | Tagged: Chicken, Christmas, Cooking, Home, Meat, Poultry, Soups and Stews, Turkey | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 25, 2011
Today is the day to indulge one’s self isn’t it? Well, er, no, not for me at least. I am treating myself to a bottle of red wine of course but I usually do that at the weekend anyhow. As for food, my stomach can only take in so much but I am only eating a normal menu so I shouldn’t have any problems there. In fact I will be tucking into beans on toast for one of my meals, a favourite of mine. I am spending the day alone which has been my usual routine now for quite a number of years. Even if I celebrated Christmas day I never get the opportunity to do that with anyone anyhow, nobody invites me. That works in my favour because I don’t then need to make excuses or explain myself. What I will be doing today is spending more time in prayer and a quiet house lends itself perfectly for doing that.
E will be going to her moms house and my children will be doing their thing. A baby is due to arrive on the scene today and it may well have done so already by the time this is posted. I will let my readers know one way or the other when the time arrives. It will be my first grandchild. I suppose there will be very few bloggers writing today and I am one of them. I wrote this several days ago and scheduled it as I do with most of my posts. Well even I want a day free from blogging! The routine starts again tomorrow but knowing me I will already have it written something by now. Enjoy your day.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Lifestyle | Tagged: Christmas | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 24, 2011
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Christmas eve and all is well. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, no-one to see. Quietly indulging in my red wine flicking between the television channels to see if there is anything worth watching, something that hasn’t anything at all to do with Christmas, very difficult at this time of year. I tire of the pressure that is imposed on us all, if we allow it of course. Monday morning and it will all be finished with, forgotten and stored away until next year. Folk will already be looking forward to their New Year celebrations and many will stay ‘in the party spirit’ for the whole intervening week between the two celebrations. Each to their own of course but it isn’t for me. It has been at least three weeks since I visited my pub and it will be another three weeks at least before I make another visit there. Hopefully all will have returned to normality by then. I am not really a party animal but I do like mixing with people and socialising over drinks and perhaps the dinner table. I lead pretty much a quiet life and enjoy the simpler things. As I write this (on Thursday….well I said I wanted a break from blogging) there has been no news regarding the arrival of my first grandchild but I will post something when it happens. I won’t be wishing everyone a happy/merry Christmas/New Year but I do wish everyone to be happy in their lives, to love one another and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. May God bless you all.
Shirley Anne
PS….I got a phone call which got me out of bed in order to reconnect an electrical supply for someone 12 miles away. Somehow I knew that was going to happen, a premonition, a vision if you like but I knew it was going to happen. The strange thing is I get these visions quite often lately. The supply was re-instated and all is well.
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Posted in Enjoyment, Happiness, Life, Lifestyle, Love, People | Tagged: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Holidays, New Year, New Years Eve | 3 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 19, 2011
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Having enjoyed a lovely afternoon on Friday and having consumed a fair amount of red wine I wasn’t particularly interested in having some exercise on my treadmill the morning after, which was Saturday. During last week I had not been able to exercise for a couple of reasons, not least of all was the fact that I had been suffering with back pain so I really needed to exercise even if I didn’t feel like it. As it happened I didn’t get to bed until two o’clock in the morning and didn’t fall asleep straight away as usual but when I did I had a good night’s sleep. I awoke at seven, a mere four and a half hours after falling asleep, very much what I do nearly every day and dressed for a session on the treadmill. Forty minutes later I felt great, had a quick light breakfast then bathed and dressed for the day. Nothing to do on Saturdays I caught up with some reading and played around on my guitar. I always find that when I am not in the mood to exercise I do it anyway and never regret it. It is all about discipline of course and I suppose if I were to give in to laziness rather than exercise I would be in a sorry state. What professional footballer remains so if they refuse to exercise? How long would a boxer last in the ring if he decided not to prepare himself because he didn’t feel like it? I sometimes don’t like the idea of exchanging a comfortable bed for a stint on the treadmill but I force myself to do it. A few years ago I would be up and about at two-thirty in the morning and out on the street at three o’clock running a few miles come rain or snow. That takes dedication and determination and it didn’t do me any harm, in fact quite the opposite! I therefore make a special effort to exercise the day after some self-indulgent eating and drinking when it is time for me to do some exercise.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Exercise, Health, Lifestyle | Tagged: Fitness, Health, Physical exercise, Saturday, Treadmill | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 17, 2011
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I’ve been considering my life quite a lot lately, much of that about my gender transition but also about my life in general, work, relationships, health, lifestyle and so on. I suppose it is all to do with age and how I am reacting to the changes that come naturally with it. Some things I have no control over but over much of it I do maintain control. I know I am not able to do things as quickly as I once did, in all areas of my life. I am finding that I like the free time I get when not working and the fact that I can accept work or not. I have turned down a few jobs of late, mostly because they were too big to take on when I don’t want to work full days, especially as the work was highly labour orientated. I get much satisfaction in doing smaller jobs whilst still earning a decent wage, not that I actually need the cash but one day I might so I save what I can too. My health has been suffering a little lately, aches and pains in my back muscles for a few days forced me to take things easy for a while. I am generally quite a fit and healthy person and I do look after myself, eating the right food and getting exercise when I am able. All of my life I wanted to transition and there have been a thousand and one reasons for me not doing so early in life but when I did transition over nine years ago, well nine years since my operations, I was as happy as I could be. The change in hormones fuelled a change in my perceived sexuality which was rather confusing at first but I finally settled down to what is normal for me. These days I feel I am asexual, having no urges to indulge in any kind of sexual acts either with myself or with anyone else. I have never enjoyed self stimulation of my vagina but was readily aroused if someone else did it! I now have a vagina that gets no sexual activity at all so dilation is pointless and this is the way I want it to be. Some might say that is a waste of all that I have gone through to get where I am but life is not about sex, especially when no interest is taken in it. Yes, I could still be stimulated and probably, no, certainly would get aroused (I still get feelings of arousal but take no action on it) if I pursued a life that involved sexual activity. However and although I have a high but suppressed libido, I choose not to. Some things in life I can choose to leave without missing them, sex is one of them. I still get advances from guys though. How does the saying go? I would much prefer a pan of Scouse (similar to Irish stew in Liverpool for those who may not know). So where am I now? Well apart from my family and one or two friends I am quite alone, no relationships. no lovers and happy as I can be.
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Happiness, Lifestyle, Transsexual | Tagged: Happiness, Health, Human sexual activity, Lifestyle, Liverpool, Scouse, Sexology, Sexual arousal, Sexuality, Transition | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 14, 2011
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I have always been interested in the news and make every effort to watch reports on television or listen to them on the radio whilst driving. Over the years I have noticed the increased frequency in the reports of violence, especially murder and also of other crimes in general. In years gone by a murder was reported at national level but sometimes crimes of this nature are only reported locally or only given brief attention elsewhere in the country. Murder it seems has become so commonplace that it doesn’t shock us like it once did. This past week alone I have heard reports of three murders. As for lesser crimes most do not even make the news because there are so many of them being carried out. It is symptomatic of today’s society. Values have deteriorated, we as a society have become morally deficient and the result is an increase in the crime rate. Some people would blame that on a decline in work opportunities, too much taxation, insufficient remuneration or the rising cost of living, anything but a diminished personal morality. What is becoming of this country? Why does it seem to be getting worse? One factor could be the increase in drug abuse and the need to fund it. The cost of drugs forces users to a life of crime in order to pay for the habit but of course had they not indulged in the first place no problem would exist. The same goes for people who drink far in excess of what they should, they see a rapid decline in their living standards to pay for the alcohol they consume. It is down to individuals to take proper control of their lives and say no to things that will lead them down the wrong paths in life, maybe to a life of crime.
Shirley Anne
- Why violent crime is set to rise (traditionalchristianity.wordpress.com)
- Crime on the rise during recession (autonetinsurance.co.uk)
- Civilized Crime Today (misswhiplash.wordpress.com)
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Posted in Crime, Lifestyle, Morality, Wisdom | Tagged: Crime, Crime statistics, Morality, Murder, Standard of living, Substance Abuse, Violent crime | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 5, 2011
I have never been able to understand why some people are so untidy and others are not. Take my ex. E for instance, as long as I have known her, which has now been just about 40 years, she has been an untidy person. She spends a lot of time sitting with her computer in the rear lounge busy doing her competitions, which incidentally wins her many prizes but at the same time she gathers around her quite a lot of paraphernalia.
And this is a good day! Now I have seen her bedroom and it is much worse. Don’t misunderstand me here, I am not criticising, believe me I have lived with her for so long and am used to it. It’s just the way she is. I am completely the opposite inasmuch as I do not like untidiness and therefore you will never see my bedroom in such a way or the armchair on which I sit cluttered and left that way. I have worked in many houses over the years, thousands of them in fact. I have seen places far worse than E’s minor untidiness and places so clean they are like show-houses without a blemish or anything out-of-place. One extreme to the other and many in-between. I like a house to be ‘lived in’, to show that people live there and are not being too fussy about their space. One house I visited was so bad but it wasn’t so much the untidiness of the place it was filthy too. The woman had about 12 cats freely roaming about, cat food all over the unswept floors, cobwebs everywhere, dust an inch thick, food left open on a table, unwashed dishes and much more. I think you get the picture. It is one thing to be a little untidy but quite another to be very untidy and also unclean. At least I can say that although our house is a little untidy in places (LOL), it is kept clean. There may be an excuse for untidiness but there isn’t one for being dirty and I cannot understand why people allow themselves to get into such a habit. Human beings come in all shapes and sizes and with all sorts of strange habits and persuasions don’t we? It is what makes us what we are. It is our differences which hold us apart sometimes yet the same differences can attract, up to a point!
Shirley Anne
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Posted in Behaviour, Humanity, Lifestyle | Tagged: Behaviour, Cleanliness, Humanity, Lifestyle | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on December 3, 2011
Image by kevin dooley via Flickr
I am quite an active person, when there are things to do I get on with them. These days my electrical work comes and goes and I find myself either with nothing to do on some days and at other times I am fully occupied. Now I am not getting any younger, like everyone else, so I cannot do as much now as I was once able to do but even so I do far more than most people I know of the same age. I get tired of course I do but strangely enough I don’t seem to be able to sleep for longer periods than 4 or 5 hours at a time. On Wednesday morning I planned to get up early and have a stint on my treadmill as I had no scheduled work. I went to bed at 11.30 the night before but watched television until around 1 am. I woke up around 6 but that is an estimate, I don’t have a clock in the room and I couldn’t be bothered to check the time on my mobile phone. I could tell approximately that is was 6 o’clock by the amount of light coming through the chink in the curtains. I closed my eyes again and went back to sleep. I didn’t wake up until 10.30. I really must have been tired. That happens sometimes when I need that extra sleep. It can be a bit awkward as we get older, not needing much sleep and therefore having more time awake but less to do in it! Physically I can only do so much but whilst I am still able I do what I can. The important thing is to find something to keep me interested. I spent almost half an hour on the treadmill before returning upstairs to bathe and dress and had the rest of the day to myself. Most of it was spent doing household chores and pursuing my hobbies. The exercising does help by the way!
Shirley Anne
- When will it end?! (familyphotographyandfood.wordpress.com)
- For the Love of Sleep (glimmerdesigns.wordpress.com)
- How Exercise Affects Your Sleep (sleepoptionsmattress.wordpress.com)
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Posted in Activity, Hobbies, House and Home, Lifestyle, Rest and sleep | Tagged: Back to Sleep, Health, Housekeeping, Time | 2 Comments »
Posted by Shirley Anne on November 30, 2011
Despite it being very windy, occasionally raining and unusually warm, it isn’t the weather I dislike. In fact I love Autumn, No, it is the approach to Christmas. I hate the advertising on television which promotes and encourages unnecessary spending. Assumptions are made that everyone is looking forward to the day and accordingly promotes good times using carefully selected music and filming. Many people will be feeling left out of things because they are poor or have no family to share the time with, maybe some will be living alone. Whilst I do not agree now with holding Christmas festivities when once I did, I do realise that I am in the minority. I have written about this on several occasions here in the past year or thereabouts so I won’t re-iterate again. Christmas isn’t about the birth of a saviour anymore, it has become a hedonistic and lavish experience for most people. People will say that Christmas is for children and they want to make sure that their children enjoy the now ‘magical’ time with plenty of presents and good food. That wasn’t the original reason for celebrating Christmas. The real reason for celebrating Christmas although believed to be sincere is probably debatable in light of what Scripture dictates but nevertheless even that is ignored in favour of the modern empty version. The atmosphere surrounding the approach to the day is full of hype and is all commercially generated. It is all so false and without meaning. Is it any wonder that people do not believe in the true message that Christmas was supposed to convey? They want the tinsel, the bright lights, the food and drink, the ‘good times’, the short-lived season of ‘goodwill to all men’ and then return to their hum-drum lives the following week where none of the ‘goodwill’ goes with them. I see signs in the back windows of cars which read, ‘A dog is not just for Christmas, it is for life’, in an attempt to curb the practice of dumping the animal at the RSPCA once the novelty has worn off. Well ‘Jesus isn’t just for Christmas’ either but how many even consider that, or even believe it?
Shirley Anne
- Screw the holidays! (blogsbyaloser.wordpress.com)
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Posted in Advertising, Celebration, God, Jesus, Life, Lifestyle, Religion | Tagged: Calendar, Christianity, Christmas, Decorations and Props, Holiday, Literature, Opinions, Religion and Spirituality | Leave a Comment »
