An original idea by lyndlj of Blogland and nicked from Subs, Fatal & AJNSpencer.

OK, the good and magical fairy Fantasmagoria has granted you three wishes.

But she is a feisty good fairy (as you would be with a name like that)

So there are conditions

Your first wish has to be about a person/people not related to you

Your second wish has to be about a place ... that you might like to live in or visit

Your third wish can be about anything not related to the first two wishes but is not allowed to be more wishes And your wishes have to be personal to you.

So

My first wish ... I wish that Britons would wake up to the lie.

My second wish ... Retirement in Australia

My third wish ... perfect eyesight.

Copy and paste on to your blog and post your answers.

The weather was warm enough today to check on the status of our growing things in the garden. The onions are poking up shoots as are the runner beans, our daughter has followed the family tradition of donating her swing frame to the growth of runner beans, something I did when I was 11. To my surprise my dad is still using that same swing frame for growing his beans, he bought me that swing in 1970 - I wonder if my daughter's swing frame will last as long.

My parents recently celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary - which I, as always forgot. I supposed I'd better make an effort next year and do something special, after all, just 5 months later it will be my 40th birthday.

Hedgewolf and I were discussing the archetypal Granny the other day - does anyone really have a white haired Granny, who smells of cough sweets? Cos in my experience, Grannies are getting younger and fitter and more active, not like when I was a kid and everyone's Granny would be a little old lady. These days most of the Grannies I know are still at work, flirting, dancing and drinking. Where are 'those' Grannies I remember?

Check it out - funky!

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/witchdoctor

This evening I have mostly been ......

Peeling & chopping the rinds of 5 lemons
Squeezing said lemons into a bowl
Peeling & chopping ginger root
adding above to empty 3 litre & 2 litre bottles with water, sugar & yeast.

Hey presto - in two days time I will have the most divine fizzy drink I have ever tasted - Home made lemon & ginger ale. Heavenly.

Mr Sketchweasel aka Hedgewolf is currently creating a flag for taking to the bike rallies.

Photo's will be added!

I've had this blog for just over a year now - and me being stooopid it's the first time I've actually looked into the settings ....

Hence the new look!

Oh my god ...

This is so bad that it's funny!

Or is it funny cos it's bad?

I don't know - what do you lot think?

Found here ..

http://www.tamponcrafts.com/

And I don't even know how I ended up at that page ....

Hope you having a great time!

It's been a quiet day here today as Hedgewolf and the daughter are not back from Wrexham.
The cat has been like a whirlwind - one minute in - next minute out - and a strange ginger cat was trying to climb through the closed windows of my study. Weird.

Been listening to lots and lots of music today - Beautiful South (every album I've got - except Quench, I can't find it where is it? Slighly panicked and bemused now!) also been listening to Athlete, Queen, David Bowie, Quireboys etc ...

I've been doing some reflecting on my choices of music today and analysing why I like that particular track or what it reminds me of;

Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf is one that I have particular mixed emotions about for a couple of reasons, only one will I mention here.

It connects me to the boy I fell in love with in the 1st year (year 7) at secondary school, we went out together on and off for 6 years from the age of 13. He married in 1990 and went off to South Africa with his bride.

Which brings us neatly into;

The Quireboys - I don't love you anymore

At the wedding of my 'childhood' sweetheart I met up with his best friend who was also in my class at school, he'd been away in the army for 5 years - at the wedding he invited me to see the Quireboys with him that night.

Instead I chose to go to a party with a female friend, which is where I met the man who became my partner for the following four years.

How often did I wish I'd gone to see the Quireboys??

Hindsight being an exact science and all that.

Then there's Brian Adams - Everything I do ...

It was originally dedicated to my by an ex, over the phone from an army barracks in Germany, he was trying to persuade me to dump the current boyfriend, the same one who I spent four wasted (and I mean wasted!) years.

I didn't and the rest as they say is herstory, it also means a lot to Hedgewolf and myself just because it sums up our whole relationship from day one, the first song Hedgewolf dedicated to me was; Extreme More than words.

Then there is bizarrely - Robson and Jerome's version of Unchained Melody and Sweet Child of Mine by Guns n Roses
Both of which were played at our wedding on April 1st 1995.

Unchained Melody was played because our tape with Sweet Child on it wouldn't play in the wedding room tape deck for some reason and the registrar said to Hedgewolf 'You look a bit of a Righteous Bro' and promptly stuck on Robson and Jerome! Eh??!

But then it was a biker wedding and he was wearing his leather trousers (phwoar!)a shirt & tie and his leather jacket, which I had so carefully polished the night before. I must dig out photos and stick em up on here sometime.

I am looking forward to our twelth anniversary next Sunday, at our wedding my Dad and my friend Adrian discussed mine and Hedgewolf's divorce! We were favourites to be divorced within 3 months! I like to phone them on the day and gloat!

My best friend didn't turn up at the wedding - he thought it was a wind up cos of it being April Fools Day.
He phoned partway through the reception to say 'If you really did get married this morning - Congratulations .. oh and by the way I got my decree nisi this morning'

Hedgewolf and I are planning to renew our vows for our 13th anniversary next year. Our daughter is desperate to be a page boy!

It will be different next time round - when we got married in 1995, we had only been together 3 months and we went into it with our eyes wide open and were prepared for a challenge - it's been that at times!

Since then, we've discussed how we would have done it differently, for a start I wouldn't wear an electric blue dress now, I seem to have grown some taste since those days and am not out to startle or shock people with my behaviour .... often!

So we have a year to save up and plan our bumper shindig!

Anyway I think I've probably waffled enough for now ...

Tara a bit

I've fed the chooks

Made a trifle for Adamantix - which I'll have to scoff all by meself.

Had a long soak in the bath - divine - Lavender and Patchouli bubbles! Read a book while in bath .. heavenly

Drunk lots of tea today .... eaten homemade Chelsea buns .. scrummy

Ripped 30 cds onto my hard drive in preparation for transfering to my Rio Carbon.

Todays choice of music:

Bat out of Hell - Meatloaf
Break the Cycle - Staind
Shake your Money Maker - The Black Crowes
Demon Days - Gorrilaz
The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

Hubby has called from Wrexham to say the bike rally is going really well, our new 9 person tent is fantastic and our daughter has learnt all about condensation forming on her overnight!

Don't forget to put your clocks forward tonight!!

Well that's torn it ...

I was supposed to let the chickens out early this morning! Whoops ....

I slept until 10.50am .. boy did I need that .. but the poor chooks were crossing their legs by the time I got there to open them up.

They all swivelled their beady eyes at me as if to say 'Oy! We need to get out and peck at those worms'

Didn't know a chicken could give off guilt .. I am SO TOLD!

Now the bloody cat wants her brekkies ...

No rest for the rightious!

ho hum .. does anyone else have that?

It's friday night, I have the house to myself, there's just me and the cat. The Daughter, the dog and the husband have gone up to Wrexham for a bike rally.....

What to do???

Any suggestions ???

Remember these?

The first time I used a computer was way back in 1984 and I hated them!
They just seemed so slow and clunky... how things change, with my Pentium4, 80 gig hard drive, dvd rom, cd rom.  To be honest if I didn't have this box of tricks to play with I'd probably go insane.  My pc is the gateway to the world, I love to keep in touch with friends and family overseas, network and get involved.  How times have changed.

When I was at school only boys were allowed to do 'Computer Science' as it was known then - I had to do cookery or needlework - bleugh!
I was a bit of a rebel though, a friend and I persuaded the oh so very cute metalwork teacher that he really ought to let us girls set up a metal work club during lunch breaks - he did and we went and we had fun.  I seem to remember making a key ring and oggling the teacher a lot!

I also rebelled in as much as I had made a decision quite early on that I was going to follow my Grandad into the army and become a Redcap, but first I was going to go and study Agriculture at Hadlow college.  Having studied Agricultural science from the time I was 11 till I was 15 it was something that interested me.
Hadlow college didn't like the fact that I was planning on going in the army when I was 18 and decided to recind their offer of a place.

So instead I started my working life on a Youth Opportunities Scheme here ..

Although this is not the actual shop I started in - this is the 'new' shop which the company moved into in 1988.  When they moved I was already working somewhere else but popped in to assist, it was a great day with the local scouts helping to ferry furniture and stationery across the road.

The guys who own it are still very good friends to me and I always try to pop in when I'm in the town visiting my folks.

Not only that - when I started as a YOP they sponsored me to go to college and get a proper edumacation and paid me more than the government allowance of £26.25 a week! Those were the days - when my weekly housekeeping to my Mum was a fiver! - for the youngsters we are talking 23 years ago.....

That's it - Thursday night .......

Time to kick back and relax a bit and enjoy my days off before it's back into the maelstrom of a corporate world on Sunday.

Just spent a few very precious hours eating, laughing and joking with a friend I hadn't seen since last summer and persuading him that he really wants to come and work with me, we worked together before and he was one the first support workers that I worked with in my last job. He's one of the most laidback peeps I have ever met and he's a god damn musical genius.

His name is Deepsonics and you can check out his music through his MySpace page ....

http://www.myspace.com/deepsonicsprojects

Now I don't particularly like the kind of music of his genre but I can hear that it's well put together and it makes people jump around - A LOT!

The page is slow to load but that's cos there's a lot of content on it and a LOT of loud music, so if you're into Jungle, DnB etc ...

I don't know how many of you have Faith - nor do I wish to know which Faith you follow. Accept that I have and that I do believe.

I would like as many people as possible to whisper/sing/shout/say a prayer for the family, loved ones and parishoners of Father Paul Bennett, who was brutally murdered at his church today in Wales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6451681.stm

To many people in Wales their Faith is unshakeable and right now the people of Trecynon, Rhondda Cynon Taf, need to know that there are people praying for the family of their Priest.

Those of you who know me will agree that I am!

I don't have a television and I don't care!

I find it incredibly boring when people at work can only find the soaps to talk about - I don't care!:b

I don't have a microwave and I don't care!

I gave my microwave to Bird in the Big Blue house six years ago - it was gathering dust and wouldn't fit in a caravan and we didn't have electricity to run it! We rarely used it - occasionally used for defrosting.

Wouldn't know how to cook in one and don't want to.

At work they ask what I do of an evening - well I write my blog, network with internet friends, spend time with my husband, read a book and go to bed. My evenings are limited - I get home from work at 9.30 on four out of seven nights. Why mong in front of the goggle box?

On three nights out of seven - I spend time with my daughter, cook wholesome meals from fresh mainly organic foods, watch a dvd or a video, have a long soak in the bath and read a book.

During my days off I get to spend good quality time with my family - what do other people do with their time off? I'm sure most of you good people are more net heads than tv coach potatoes but I would love to hear what everyone else does, just to reassure me that I'm not that weird.

I just find it odd that people judge me for my lifestyle just because I don't have a tv - as a family we gave it up in 2001 and we haven't looked back. There is so much more of a world out there that contains real life stuff!

I don't wish to bombard my head with images of so called celebrity - this weeks hot topic of conversation at work - Liz Hurley's wedding! Great - so what about the real life weddings of friends - someone I know once refused to go to a friends wedding because it clashed with the football - it's true - I was there and it was my ex!

My daughter says that sometimes she wishes she could be 'a little bit' the same as the other kids but still she says that she'd rather read a book! Not bad for a dyslexic really.. That's how much progress she's made in a year just by changing schools!

It is with much sadness that the school will be losing it's most excellent Head Teacher at the end of the summer term - fortunately for us, our daughter also leaves at the end of the summer term, so she will be able to have the continuity she so needs until then.

Anyway I'm sure that by now someone is lighting a match and waiting to stick it under my soapbox and tell me just how educational tv can be ... sure there are some merits to it, I do miss certain things like nature programmes but then I just wander outside and look at the chickens and the garden and remember why I gave up tv in the first place.

1. Can you cook?
To the relief of my family - yes

2. What was your dream growing up?
To not drink myself to death before the age of 25

3. What talent do you wish you had?
To play a musical instrument that isn't the damn recorder!

4. Favorite place?
Home with my husband and daughter

5. Favorite vegetable?
OOOH! Mashed swede and carrot with lots of black pepper!

6. What was the last book you read
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon

7. What zodiac sign are you?
Leo cusp Virgo - so a totally confused person who gets it wrong all the time with a tendency to be stroppy.

8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?
3 earrings each side and a tattoo on my left .....

9. Worst Habit?
Getting the wrong end of the stick

10. Do you personally know anybody on Blog?
Hedgewolf = Hubby, Bloke & Bird in Big Blue House

11. What is your favorite sport?
Nine mens morris

12. Negative or Optimistic attitude?
Neither - pessimistic with obstreperous tendencies

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator lift with someone of the opposite sex?
Ask if they can reach the alarm button - cos I sure as shit can't!

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
I'm sorry if I told you I'd have to kill you.

15. Tell me one weird fact about you:
only one - oh dear how boring.

16. Do you have any pets?
Currently the pet human to 2 cats, one of which has 3 legs the other with an obsessive compulsive disorder, a dog called PVC - who is neurotic and five very edible chickens.

17. Do you know how to do the macarena?
No but I can dance a mean Lambada!

18. Is the sun shining where you are now?
It's bloody dark and I've just got in from work!

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
I see a clown and I feel this insane urge to kill things - so that's scary then!

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
My height - I was 5'6" now I am only 5'2 and a smidge.

21. Would you be my good angel or bad angel?
I'm already an angel - but you'll have to decided which one!

22. What color eyes do you have?
Hazel with shades of green - my redeeming feature

23. Ever been arrested?
Yes - drunk & disorderly - trying to break up a fight between my friend and her boyfriend.

24. Bottle or Draft?
Either so long as someone else is buying - current fave Enville Ginger Ale ... mmmmm......smoother than a cashmere codpiece .. oh no that's a different ad!

25. If you won £10,000 today, what would you do with it?
Make a serious dent in my debts and book a holiday.

26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?
ah ... Bubblicious ....

27. What's your favorite bar to hang at?
The Man of Kent, John Street, Rochester, Kent

28. Do you believe in ghosts?
I've seen them!

29. Favourite thing to do in your spare time?
Horizontal olympics

30. Do you swear a lot?
Motherfuckingbastardofacuntfacebollockwanker ... what you mean like that

31. Biggest pet peeve?
Lloyds TSB Credit Card Services .. now don't get me onto that subject.

32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Unfathomable

A few weeks ago we had three chickens, Freeda, Lawrence and Fred.

Fred got et.

(and very tasty he was too ... )

Freeda and Lawrence have been getting a bit snuggly lately and today Freeda produced her first egg!

Our neighbour gave us three more hens and another cockerel early afternoon today.

Speckled Hen is now Henrietta (sorry I just had to ... we had one called Henrietta when I was a kid)

Speckled Cockerel is now Charles ...

Blue Cheeked white hen is now Cheeky

White Silkie hen is now missing presumed eaten!

Her name was briefly Chum and she had extra toes on both of her feet - strange creature.

They were all in the hen run when we left the garden earlier this evening. Hedgewolf went out to lock em up for the night and counted them .... there are now only 5 chickens in the run .... where oh where has our Silkie gone?

There is no sign of blood nor guts and no trail of feathers across the garden, the dog was indoors with us .... perhaps one of the cats? Whatever it is a mystery and won't be solved in the dark in a garden full of rocks and holes. Tomorrow we search, well Hedgewolf and the daughter will search for I shall be at work!

Ho hum .. going to grab a film and a massage and then to bed!

Tara a bit x

Discarded tyres found in the alleyways, disused railway line and play areas ....

Good day to you all on this fine spring morning .. well at least it's giving the impression it's spring out there, yesterday I spent the afternoon in the garden with Hedgewolf and the dog - we have a pond in our garden which is full of yuck and up until now we've kind of ignored it.

We decided yesterday was a good day to get some of the rubbish out of it, so with the aid of the hoe and some not so waterproof gloves we set to our task.

Hmmm...... after extracting all of the Flag Irises we found to our disgust much discarded litter. I know that the garden had been neglected for the best part of 10 years but there is no reason to let rubbish accumulate. We are told that the previous owners to the one we bought the house off were very capable and handy gardners and once this garden was not only beautiful but fruitful as well.

We are attempting to put things right as both of us love the garden and like to make use of what we've got and what we can 'find' there are all sorts of uses for dumped shopping trollies and car tyres. I will stick photos in my media later on ....

The flag irises have now been moved to a place of our chosing and are taking an active part in our fedge - a combination of fence and hedge. Mr has been growing willow withys to create a small border, round what will soon be my wishing well herb bed.

I love wells - it stems back to my early childhood, when my dad was a keen gardener, we had a huge garden when we live in the farm cottage. We had a pond in the 'front' (it was really to the side) garden, through the gate and down the path by the privet hedge there was the chicken run - which to my little eyes was huge, my swing was to the right of that and halfway across the garden there was a wishing well that my dad built. It was glorious, it looked just like a real well, except it was filled with flowers.

When I was really little I used to like helping my Dad or my Nan and Grandad in the garden. My Nan worked as a Nurserywoman for many years, only giving it up when she was 75 years old. Her windowsills were covered in all manner of plants, Christmas and Easter Cacti, busy lizzies, geraniums - of many varieties and my long time favourite - the African Blood Lily - this blood lily never once flowered during my Nan's lifetime.

I took it home with me after she died and it lived on the window sill of our little bungalow in Chatham, unidentified for many months ... then a week before my daughter's birth - it flowered with the most glorious flowers imaginable, this plant then produced some children plants, we gave one to my parents in memory of my Nan and we gave others to friends.
Unfortunately the Blood Lily is no longer with us, I gave it into the care of a lovely lady I met when we lived in a caravan in Wales, she is one of the founding members of the bio-dynamic farm we lived on and I felt that it would be safe with her and to this day it lives strong and healthy in the same victoria glazed pot that it has lived in for all of it's life. That plant must now be 35 years old - I can remember it's first appearance on my Nan's kitchen window sill when I was a child.

I am also very partial to some plants my Grandad used to grow and feel that they will be well suited to the garden we now have. This year we will be growing Sweet Peas and Sweet William.

I will be 39 this year and think that it's about time I put down some roots and started to pay homage to the people who helped to shape my love of the garden, so in memory of my Grandparents I intend to become self-sufficient with vegetables, fruit and herbs. My jams and pickles are popular with all of my friends the world over, I may even consider selling them at boot fairs and the like next year.

Anyway - Hedgewolf and the garden are calling, so I shall shake my weary bones and get out in the sun and enjoy what's left of my day off.

I noticed the other day that PaddyUK has a banner on his blog which comes from one of my favourite sites.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/

Check out Badgers .....

Also if you are of a slightly warped persuasion check out Salad Fingers... Very Very Disturbing .....

Anyway it's Wednesday night I finished my working week 2 hours ago and I'm now feeling rather shattered. So I'm off to natter with my mate Clare and then to bed.

Here are five things I would like to put into Room 101.

McDonalds Corporation

Fluffy Pink Mules

The spawn of evil - the scourge of society - Chavs wearing burbury

All of the poisonous wildlife in Australia

The current Labour government

I just noticed that I'm only two posts away from my 100th ..... what shall I do???
Do I just rush off two new pages or do I plot and think about how I should approach my 100th posting ......

Hmmmm.....
Thinky thinky thinky ......