lifes-a-bitch

I thought I'd send this out early to make sure you all get it before you go out partying somewhere and miss it till it's all been and gone!

www.icq.com/img/friendship/static/card_16961_rs.swf

Hope you all have a Happy and Healthy 2009

JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW IF YOU DIDN'T ALREADY

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... 1, Happy New Year!
Timekeepers add extra second to countdown to 2009
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 | 2:48 PM ET
CBC News

Celebrants gearing up to say goodbye to 2008 will have to wait an extra second before popping bottles and pursing lips to usher in the new year.

Timekeepers at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich will be adding a "leap second" of time to the clock on Wednesday, a method used sporadically over the past 30 years to offset the fractional slowing of the Earth's rotation.

The extra second will be squeezed in on Dec. 31 after 6:59:59 p.m. and before 7 p.m. ET. Combined with the extra day on Feb. 29, the extra second will make 2008 the longest year since 1992.

The seconds have been added as needed since 1972, sometimes at the end of December and sometimes at the end of June, depending on the speed of the Earth's rotation.

Though the time shift is so nominal it's not even noticeable, accumulated over a millennium it would mean that noon, generally accepted as the time when the sun is highest in the sky, would actually occur at 1 p.m.

If seconds continued to be added over time, however, the sun would be days behind the human calendar within tens of thousands of years.

That prospect is a cause for worry for some.

"I think [our descendants] will curse us less if we choose to keep the clock reading near 12 p.m. when the sun is highest in the sky," said Steve Allen, an analyst at the University of California at Santa Cruz's Lick Observatory.

The decision to add an extra second to the clock was made by an international consortium of timekeepers, and announced earlier this month.

I just saw a photo of a cider press in Usksider's blog, and it brought to mind the time I tried to make cider when I lived in Kent.

We had a big garden with about 20 fruit trees down the bottom, mostly apple, with a few pears and plums. The first year we were there we had more apples than we could possibly use or give away to friends, so we tried selling the surplus at the front gate, which helped to get rid of some of them, as well as boosting the finances a bit, but we still had loads left that we couldn't shift.

Being a hard up, and, of necessity, economical lass, I pondered on this state of affairs,......... Ping ....... I came up with this Brilliant idea: .... I'd turn the rest into cider!

Went to the library, and got a book out. Of course, I didn't have any of the necessary equipment, but I've never been one to let such trifling problems halt me in my tracks.

First thing I had to do, apparently, was squash the apples into a pulp.....So I cut them into bits, and tried bashing them with a rolling-pin. Didn't work! The bits just flew all over the kitchen, like popcorn does when you forget to put the lid on the pan. Plan B: Put the bits in a plastic bag first, then bash them. That didn't work either, the bag burst and the bits shot up to the ceiling, and not all of them came back down. Undaunted, I thought "tread it like grapes then" so I grabbed the washing-up bowl and gave it a good scrub, and put some in that, then washed my feet well, put the bowl on the floor and stomped. Have you any idea what it feels like stomping barefoot on a load of bits of apple? Take it from me - YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW Didn't work very well either, my feet weren't hard enough. Stronger feet were obviously going to be the answer then, so out came the Wellies, and they got a good scrubbing with some sterilising solution, then I pulled them on, and jumped up and down in the washing-up bowl. Success!! I started to get some actual pulp. Very hard work though, all that stamping, and jumping.

At that point in the proceedings my next door neighbour wandered in, having been let in by one of the children, who just opened the door and announced "Mum's in the kitchen" then high-tailed it before I could save my face. "Susie dear, why are you jumping up and down in the washing up bowl with your Wellies on?" - "I'm treading apples" - "I think you're a little bit confused sweetheart, it's grapes you do that to. Why don't I make you a nice cup of tea, while you have a little rest?" I tried to explain - really I did, but I don't think she quite believed that I hadn't suffered a nervous breakdown.

Anyways, having got my apple pulp, the next thing the book said was that I should press it, to extract all the juice. Not having a cider press handy, nor even the likelihood of borrowing one, I had to rely on my ingenuity again. So I tried putting it in a cloth (well....pillowcase, actually) and using my trusty rolling pin. Useless, of course! Next came sandwiching said pillowcase of pulp between two bread boards in the washing up bowl, and jumping on it, standing on it, sitting on it (I was getting pretty tired by now) but all I had was a tiny dribble of juice. Still, a slight improvement....If only I could get more pressure......

The Black & Decker Workmate in the garage Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? Got it out, and summoned hubby to assist me. I held the sandwich of breadboards and pulp pillow between the two halves of the Workmate top, while he turned the handles till we had obtained a vice-like pressure on our pulp sarnie. Slowly...Oh...Soooo...Slowly... the juice dripped into the waiting bowl, and patiently we waited, and tightened the handles of our vice, and waited, and tightened, and...

Eventually we ended up with about half a gallon of juice, which we duly fermented and bottled, and a few months later we drank it. It was quite nice actually, but we stuck to wine making after that.

Hi Everyone

Hope you all enjoyed yourselves over Xmas and had plenty of food and booze.

I had a lovely time at middle son's home with his partner and her daughter, and her parents. We had an excellent dinner on both Xmas day and Boxing day, with plenty of wine to get the party spirit going. We all had fun playing Nintendo Wii Sports, and Playstation Kareoke, and generally having fun, then hubby and I played some Christmas Carols for everyone to sing along to (he plays guitar, and I play harmonica) and they all joined in, even though most of the family had the dreaded lurg (apart from me and hubby), but they all soldiered on majestically .... and then gave it to us to bring home with the pressies!

Currently fighting it with (purely medicinal) doses of booze and chocolates, which don't seem to be working too well, but I'll persevere anyway

Was due to visit 91 year old mother-in-law tomorrow, but we've just phoned her up and postponed our visit, as we don't want to risk passing our germs on to her.

I'm gonna have another hot toddy now, and I think I might have an early night too.

Best wishes to all of you from coughy sneezy runny-nosy -
Susie xx

WISHING EVERYONE IN BLOGLAND A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

I'm away for a couple of days, but I will catch up with all my lovely friends when I get back

XX Susie XX

ENJOY

I found this and thought I'd share it with all of you. I'm just guessing here that I'm not the only Tweety Pie fan around

This morning I was peacefully dreaming about something (can't remember what) when the sound of the smoke alarm intruded into my dream.

I woke with a start and I jumped out of bed, grabbed my dressing gown and put it on as I ran downstairs. Unfortunately I tripped on something (the hem, or dangling belt maybe) and started to fall. I grabbed the bannister as I fell, and woke up - clinging to the side of the bed with my alarm clock beeping in my ears!

I'm a relative newcomer to blogging, and using smileys and such, and I've just found out that I've been using the sticking out tongue smiley all over the place without realising that's what it was, (until someone pointed it out to me). I thought it was just a smiley with red lips

I've just backtracked as much as I could and altered the one's I've found to more appropriate ones.

If I've used that one in any of my comments to any of your blogs, please accept my apologies, and feel free to edit them. I hope I haven't upset anyone, and now I know I won't be using this smiley as much, if at all.

Best wishes to everyone
Susie

Murphy mole has been a member since November 2006, and is a moderator on Blogship Lollipop.

Her star sign is Pisces (the fishes), and a quick search on Google reveals the following information: "Pisces is the most compassionate sign out of all the sign of the Zodiac", and "Pisces woman has a heart of gold, instilled with a deep intuition for the feelings of others".

She is a lovely divorced lady of many talents which include writing poetry, running karaokes, super photography, and she's very handy with a needle and thread. She has 4 children, 4 grandchildren and two dogs called Jess and Dingle. She has a caravan on the east coast, in Lincolnshire, and loves spending lots of her time there, although she actually resides in Nottingham.

Murphmole started Nurse training when she first left school, but didn't complete it. She used to be a Publican, and comes from a long line of publicans. This may explain her love of karaoke (she loves getting up and 'strutting her stuff'). She worked for a while in a nursing home, and then took on the care of an elderly gentleman in her street. She also enjoyed being a "Brown Owl" for 13 years.

For those of you who have ever wondered what inspired her choice of "Nom de plume" I have copied the following poem from one of her earliest blogs.

My New Friend
By Murphymole

I met a little friend one day, his name is Murphy Mole.
I saw him through my window as he popped up from his hole.
He gave me such a cheeky grin as he scooped earth in a mound,
And with a "Top of the mornin" he went back underground.

We became good friends young Murphy Mole and me.
He'd often drop on by, and we'd share a cup of tea.
I drank mine from a china cup, but as he was so tiny,
He had his from my thimble, it was silver and so shiny.

I learnt a lot about him as we chatted in the sun.
Murphy came from Ireland and he was a lot of fun.
He talked about his country of fields so very green,
He said it was the prettiest place that you had ever seen.

Now you may think me silly talking to a mole,
But you have never met our Murphy he's a very clever sole.
I was surprised the first time he said "Hello" to me,
And I had to blink and rub my eyes to check what I could see.

So this little book I've written so you can read his tales.
He is a funny creature and he never ever fails,
To make me laugh when I'm feeling sad,
So if it brings you pleasure I will be really glad.

Read more!

I saw this on a door, then pushed the door and bumped my nose!

Which category are you in - 33% or 67%

I've had a really boring few days, so I found myself looking for a diversion. Being near Christmas I thought I'd have a go at making some Christmas candles. Didn't have any proper stuff to do it with, but I thought I'd just improvise.

I fished out all the nearly used candles I could find and melted them all down in an old non-stick milk pan which had lost it's non-stick. I hadn't thrown it away because I thought it might come in useful some day. Ditto the candle stubs. I'm like that! (Must have something to do with having spent all my younger years on the brink of poverty).

The resulting melted candle wax was a sort of greyish pink - not all that Christmassy, so I added a bit of red food colour. That didn't work too well, just sort of turned into bits of sediment.

After thinking about it for a bit I came up with a brilliant idea! Well I thought it was brilliant I stripped the wax off a hunk of Edam cheese that was lurking in the fridge and added that to my mixture. Yesss! Pretty!!!

Now to find some suitable moulds. Rooted in the depths of the cupboard, and came up with three glass tumblers, which were all that was left from what was once a matching set of drinks glasses. Next I cut some circles of card out of an old cornflake packet, and poked a length of string through the middle, to use as a wick, then warmed the glasses up in the oven so they didn't crack when I poured in the hot wax.

Another brilliant idea - why not make them perfumed while I was at it! So I stirred a few drops of perfumed essential oil into my melted wax.

The rest was easy-peasy. Just pour the perfumed wax mixture into the warm glasses, place my cardboard circles on top so the string hung nicely in the centre, and wait for them to set......

Well they look excellent, and smell nice. How well they will burn is anyone's guess. I'll let you know when Xmas is over!

On a trip to Thailand three years ago I went to see some elephants in a reserve near Krabi. The keepers actually lived with them all the time, and had a bed in their enclosures. When we had looked around the reserve they put on a little show with some of the elephants, usual sort of stuff like you used to see in Circuses, but no whips or anything, just words and signals and the promise of a bunch of bananas. At the end of the show they walked the elephants over a line of the keepers who laid on the ground in front of them, and these gentle creatures stepped delicately between them, being very careful not to accidentally tread on them. Then they asked the members of the audience if they would like to be given a Thai massage by an elephant. I volunteered, and as nobody else seemed to want to partake I was chosen for this treat. They sent the bigger elephants back to their enclosures and one fairly small one was left to do the honours.

I think he was only about eight years old at the time, but still quite big enough to have crushed me to a pulp if he had used too much pressure. He was very gentle and pressed his foot several times across the of my back, from shoulder to shoulder, then all down my spine to the lumbar region and back up again. I thought his foot would feel something like a horse's hoof, but it was surprisingly soft, more like a big leather ball would feel.

When he had finished he gave me a kiss on my cheek. That felt very strange - rather like it would feel if you covered the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner with a piece of wet chamois leather and then hoovered your cheek with it! I was given a few bananas by his keeper, which I fed to "my" elephant, and the audience applauded us loudly as I returned to my seat while he followed at my heels (no doubt hoping for more treats.

When I got back to my seat, all the other elephants came back carrying little wicker-work baskets. We were told they wanted to go to the shop (which you can see in above picture) to buy some more bananas, and that if we put some money in the baskets they could go and get some. The elephants came right up to the audience and 'trunked' out their baskets. As soon as one had some money he or she wheeled around and raced for the shop, where the shop assistant took the money out of the basket, and replaced it with a bunch of bananas. Then the elephant walked quickly back to THE SAME PERSON WHO HAD PUT THE MONEY IN! and presented them with their basket. We took back the baskets and gave the elephants their bananas. My little 'masseur' stood to one side looking rather sad while this was going on, then started tapping his keeper's shoulder with his trunk. The keeper laughed and went and got him a basket too, and he (my little masseur) came straight to where I was and presented me with his basket. Needless to say he got what he wanted.

We finished off our day by having a ride on the bigger elephants through the strip of jungle next to the reserve headquarters.

Wasted most of the morning looking for something that didn't exist!.......
My BHS statement arrived in the post, and there was only 1 item on it - cost £8. Racked my brains but couldn't remember what I'd bought. Summoned hubby to remember for me - he came up with "You bought a new T shirt recently". DING! "Oh yes,I remember now a grey long sleeved one, I haven't worn it yet" (roots around in T shirt drawer) Not there! Tried other drawers etc. Zilch. Tried less logical places, like in the veggie rack, larder, under the stairs etc. Hubby helped me look as I was getting a bit manic by then. NOTHING. Kept giving up the hunt, then starting again 'cause I just couldn't stop myself.

Eventually I took all my T shirts out of the drawer and put them on the bed, so I could see if it had slipped down the back. As I did so I noticed an M&S price tag still attached to a CREAM one! It was for £12.

Duuuuh - Now I remember! I'd LOOKED at a grey one in M&S then decided the cream one was nicer, after which I'd gone into BHS and bought myself some nice warm mittens.