Time Team ....my new heros

I am besotted with the Time Team. I discovered the programs on Google video..much better than the television..no commercials. They have been on Channel 4 in the UK for upwards of 16 years. There are at least 172 episodes. I plan on watching as many as I can.
Archaeology is my other passion and this program is great fun to watch. I wish the segments were longer than 50 odd minutes. Great sock knitting videos.

The dearest man is Professor Mike Aston with his multi striped jumpers and distictive white halo of whispy hair. It looks as if he is making Welsh cakes in the picture on the right/middle. During one of the programs I noticed he was wearing one of the jumpers inside out. You could see where the ends of the yarn had been woven in. Archaeology is very much a MAN science and it is a treat to see the intelligent woman on the program holding their own with their peers.
Tony Robinson is the main presenter and he is as hyper as a Jack Russell terrier. That would be himself on the left. As the years pass Tony's hair receeds, get's shorter and greyer. Mick stays the same.

Anyone with an interest in British history will find lovely gems of information in these programs.

Just go into Google Videos and type Time Team then change the "duration" to +20 minutes....enjoy

Music will caress my soul

Lady Smith Black Mombasa brings tears to my eyes and sends shivers up and down my arms. How this happens I have no idea. Our worlds are so very different. What can this little white Grami know about life in South Africa? There is a universal cry to the soul for fairness, light and justice when I hear the song "Homeless." I hope you will be moved by this song and the group who sings it.

Possession is 9/10's the law ....

I have no idea what that really means. I have heard it said may times over the years and I think it has something to do with, "If it's in my garden it's mine." So with that mind set I looked at this bloom protruding through the fence into "my space" and thought"OH, baby you are for me." Peonies are so beautiful. The Japanese needle women embellished their Kimonos with these gorgeous blooms. Takes my breath away. Once I had dangled it upside down to shake out the ants it was ready for my table. I have enjoyed this exquisite beauty all week. Now the bud is beginning to open. Lovely.

Tempus fugit....

It surprises me sometimes how our minds work. One minute I am thinking about one thing and then I am off on a tangent someplace else.
My mother is in the hospital, again. Poor Mummy she is not doing well. She is 84 now and between the osteoporosis and the arthritis she is in a lot of pain. Of course walking backwards down a concrete steps whilst sweeping up flower petals with a hand whisk was not a good idea . Especially when she found herself flat on her back looking at the sky. She has broken several bones before. None this time, thank god. Bruised and with no appetite her electrolytes are out of whack. Where has the time gone?
I wondered for a moment where she was when she was the age I am now? Good grief that was the year I turned 40. I spent my fortieth birthday in Edinburgh Scotland. Good times that. I mean if you have to be 40 then do it hiking around Scotland.
I remember when Nana was my present age. I have told this story before but it bears savouring again. My grandfather, Ernie, and I were sitting on the couch while Nana kept walking back and forth in front of us from the bathroom to the bedroom ( It was a small apartment in Toronto). A cloud of "White Shoulders" perfume swirled in the air behind her. She was immaculately coiffed and dressed in high heels and her silk stocking seams where perfect. "Your grandmother is a beautiful woman," my grandfather said to me. I just stared at him. I had overheard her say the day before that she was 62 yrs old. She was such a class act. I always wanted to be just like her. She was with us 'till her 97th year. Life is so fragile and the older we get the faster the days fly past. I am concerned about my mother.

Wishing and hoping and thinking....

If you are old enough you will recognize the title as words to a Bert Barack song from my youth.

Which just about sums up what I have been thinking lately. Dreams unconsummated give us hope. A friend of mine once said that I was afraid to do "something", I forget what now, because I was afraid I would fail. Of course I was afraid of failing who doesn't? Years later, these words went around in my head the night I sat up thinking about whether to open the wool shop. No one embarks on a journey with the expectation of failure. At least that's what I convinced myself at around 3 am. So, I opened the store. It was not to be and seven years later I closed in ignominious failure. That was five years ago and yes, it still smarts like a hang nail.

Unfortunately, that has affected my ability to act on another dream. Dreams are like secrets. We hold them tightly, we are selective about who we share them with and we savour their unlimited possibilities. Do I really WANT to know whether it's possible? That is the question. Will I be happier dreaming? Probably, maybe.....damn I just don't know. If I decide to act I don't know where to start. That means I would have to share my dream with another being...hmmmm

The picture has nothing to do with said dream. I just like it.

I thought I liked Monday...what happened?

Success! My push yesterday worked. Last night I knit the last stitch on the tablecloth with a loud "Hurrah."
All I have to do now is to spend a leisurely evening crocheting up the live stitches.
Break out a glass of vino!
Busy Monday at work. Discovered I ordered the wrong equipment for Wednesday...sigh...and it will be delivered promptly tomorrow morning at 8am ( I am too efficient).... By the time I discovered my mistake (4pm) it was too late to change it (cut off at 2pm). Now I had to put in another order for Wednesday's equipment and it will arrive Wednesday morning at 8am. ..boo hoo me... So I will be rushed to complete the paper work for Wednesday and then I will have this great hunking 2.5 ton air conditioner sitting there mocking me. I had to offer to pay for the extra shipping..(weeping and gnashing teeth now)...my mistake....the boss is laughing at me.
I am beginning to worry that I am getting to old to work... My brain just doesn't work the way it used to. Now I am concerned about "early onset Alzheimer's." My personal "efficiency rating" is in the toilet. Mistakes are one thing but I do not wish to make a career out of them.

What do I do all day???? Well, let me see, I handle ALL the payable, receivables and payroll, the mail, answer the phones, book sales calls, service calls and answer trivial questions and trouble shoot complaints from frantic people who can't get their air conditioner/furnace to turn on or off and do verbal sales quotes..... all ....day..... long. I order a lot of equipment..correctly, most of the time.. and track inventory. I file rebates, warranty registrations, and financing ,when needed, online. I also "vet" the bosses calls. You would not believe the number of charity calls we get every day and pushy sales men. I eat my lunch with one hand and type with the other. I do not take a structured lunch or tea break. I grab it when I can.

I am feeling a little better. What's one little boo boo in the face of all that? I do a lot.

Today it rained
and the ceiling in Shawn's office began to leak. Then it began to leak in the show room. I called the building super, he called the landlady, she called the roofer. I have every bucket, wastepaper basket and pail lined up catching the drips. My office is dry. All that dripping, splotching, dropping.. all day had me dashing to the loo. The roofer can't do anything till tomorrow if it rains tonight we are buggered.

Carl is working tonight..ahem.. every evening this week. "The Daughters of the Nile" (female counterparts of the Shriner's) are in town for a convention. All two thousand five hundred of them. He is one of a fleet driving them around town. They think he is charming. He has such a gallant way with us old broads....lololol
I bought him a new white shirt and black tie for the occasion. If he knew what I paid for that shirt he would have a conniption fit. It is beautiful fabric and the seams are all flat felled. I do appreciate good construction in a garment. The ladies are from all over Canada and the US. He chauffeured the "Queen" in from the airport. He has been complimented on his appearance. Your welcome.

Tonight I am making myself a little spaghetti bolognese....and I am over cooking the pasta. I like it that way. Apologies to Luigi.

Busy Sunday

No time to post. The push is on today to achieve row 168 on the Daffodil Tea Cloth ! My private DJ is playing the oldies on his computer..."come on baby do the locomotion".......hmmmm
Life is sweet.