ukelele gal

i joined a uke club! i have wanted to join this club for months but just didn't get around to it... so glad i finally got there... i don't mind telling you that after 2 hours of uke strumming i had a very sore index finger but in fact i didn't mind ;)

can you believe such a thing exists? the world is a wonderful place after all...

supermarket karma

today i went to the supermarket for some milk, breakfast, lunch etc... nothing out of the ordinary... but as i walked home i had a smile on my face! let me tell you why...

i bought a whole bunch of stuff - including those things i shouldn't have like chocolate biscuits and white choc magnums* - and i got to the checkout to find it wasn't too busy, usually on a sunday supermarkets are queue-tastic! i waited behind this old lady as she and her carer got through their shopping and as i did i saw a guy with an onion and a baguette looking for a place to pay.. now to give you some context i was at the only 'manned' checkout, there were a couple of self-service machines in use as well as the kiosk area for cigarettes, lotto etc but also busy... so i saw this guy and he had a look on his face that i instantly empathized with, the 'oh i only wanted to pop in, buy this onion and baguette and be gone but now i have to wait to pay... ruined' face!

so i caught his eye and waved him over, i said come here, go before me mister! he was reluctant, no, no need.. but i wasn't about to have my good deed turned down! haha i persisted, come on, i said, you have 2 items, it's no big deal, it's your lucky day, go next! after reassuring him i was sure, and this wasn't a trick, or a tv stunt (!) and good for my karma bank haha, he accepted my offer, saying thanks, how he was just parked on double yellows outside and actually how he had to buy fags from the kiosk anyway.. at which point the checkout boy who had obviously overheard the goings on piped up - which ones do you want? he was waiting to serve the next person (me or the dude) but was waiting patiently for the very elderly lady in front to get going... the random guy was incredulous - asked for the brand he wanted and the kid popped across to the kiosk to grab them for him... he said wow this really is my lucky day to which i reminded him it was only 12 noon so plenty of time for some other great stuff to happen to him!

it's a shame that this was such a surprise to him, hopefully he will return the random act of kindness to another human being some time soon and the ripple effect will make the world a little nicer for everyone :)

jeez i'm SUCH a hippy these days! lol

but anyways, i can totally recommend doing a stranger a good turn**, it cheered me right up and i was smiling all the way home***

*omg it's a good job i go to the gym!

**in my experience the reaction isn't always as good as this one was but it's worth the punt people!

***and not just cos i now had choccie biccies ;)

my fridge magnet tour

i seem to have become addicted to fridge magnets... i think i can blame my mother, not just because that's what you do, but because she is addicted to fridge magnets and seems to have gotten me started with some gift fridge magnets.. which you then can't help but add to! argh!

recently i have been spring cleaning.. and surely one of the things i really don't 'need' in life is fridge magnets.. and yet they tell a great story about my life* do they not? let me explain for you this collection..

top line - no messing about let's get straight to David! haha the classical David from Italy shows off his manhood in this magnet.. my friend Kate bought it for me as a momento when we were in Rome together a few years ago.. he's pretty eye catching no? hehe next across is a silver Liver Bird - a gift from my fridge magnet loving mother!! the Liver Bird is the emblem for Liverpool my home town, two giant Liver Birds sit aloft the Liver Building on the water front and word is, if they ever fly away Liverpool will sink 'neath the river Mersey - ya gotta love these old sailor yarns, only from a port city baby ;)

next up you have a postcard of a Boston Terrier... this is my dream dog should i ever decide to be responsible enough to own one (ahem)

okay next line down L-R we have a Guinness Toucan magnet.. I think I bought this in Kinsale on a weekend away with my mum, and we all know Guinness is good for you ;) this sits next to a signed picture of Deal Or No Deal host with the most Noel Edmondson.. couple of years ago I went with a bunch of friends to sit in the audience to watch people open them boxes and absolutely LOVED it! haha next up my most recent acquisition, a sign post for Australia , it reads 'It's a bloody long way' and it's not wrong!!! moving swiftly on we have a Brazilian magnet brought back for me by my pal Lou, then a lovely eye from Malta i think from the bf's parents.. just under that the word drizzle from a foodie magnet poetry kit of my dads, a Brighton magnet - I used to live there and 'twas amazing... and a superlambanana - a new Liverpoolian emblem, again from my mother..

onto the bull and the Isle of Mull magnet from another weekend away with my mum, up to Oban this time in bonnie Scotland... followed by an Edward Monkton magnet entitled the Pants of Peace**

okay back to Noel's piccie and we have another Aussie magnet - this time from the gallery of NSW featuring the work of native artist Margaret Preston.. underneath that a Holland fridge magnet from my bf's latest trip to Amsterdam.. next to this is a monkey from Monkey Forest in Stoke-on-Trent, this is an awesome day out - if you haven't already.. DO IT! haha the monkeys are right there on the path, i would love to know what they thought of human beans wandering around their forest!

ok next along we have a jailhouse rock Elvis Presley, i have had this a long time and can't recall anyone giving it to me so perhaps i bought it.. next along, a postcard that exclaims 'omg! my mother was right about everything!' which pretty much sums up the last 5 years of my life haha

this is held in place by a wooden heart magnet, another gift from my mother (are you spotting a trend?! haha) next along is a NYC magnet from my 1st trip there, i think it was 2005? not sure, but it was february and it was freezing!

next up more monkeys - this time from Monkey World in Dorset.. i really like monkeys.. underneath - it's a bit bleached out by the sun but there is a tropical fish that denotes the Birmingham Sea Life Centre.. that was interesting.. smelled kinda.. fishy tho! haha

finally my 50s gal magnet has written next to her 'she could never remember was it better to be safe? or sorry?' i bought this for myself and it does make me smile...

please feel free to send me snaps of your own fridge ;)

*of course now i've photographed and blogged this photo i have a log of them so i don't really need to keep them... omg i really have issues, i can't even bear the idea of chucking them away! haha

**this magnet broke today! it's now an ex-magnet...

the royal wedding

since you asked, i went to the gym and then to the pub on the big day in question.. it was on tv at both! but other than a quick glimpse of frocks i wasn't really up for celebrating.. i'm no party pooper so i didn't get all vocal about it but, y'know as a peasant, i wasn't really up for cheering on the over-priviliged ;) this picture was taken in the bunting-fest that was the beer garden of the Prince of Wales pub in Moseley, Birmingham.. a fine establishment, frequented by all sorts of local characters.. including this guy who had this tres amusing Wills face mask!