Florida 2012.

Music is my future

Awake at 4.30 am... fretting about bloody Cerner again. Why? Work has been vile but is either getting better or I'm getting used to it. Paula said I swear too much but the other day when we discovered the surgeon had been given a clinic on Easter Monday (today) she said fuck! ha. I should get a swear box.
Always loved live bands, though seeing them when the are moderately successful and the place is full of screaming little girls is disturbing. The girl's cousin is in a rather good and very visual band called Marmalade Sky and we love them... they are raw and talented and have great massive potential.
There's so much crap out there, how dare they not be signed and let the world hear their talent? I just made Steve turn off the TV with his fav garden railways and tornadoes rip apart USA and CGI monsters and we're listening to my Ipod. Everyone's music taste is individual and shouldn't be pissed on but to just say you like JLS or Matt Cardle is a travesty...... get Enter the Sandman (Metalllica) on your Ipod... listen to Megalomaniac by Incubus or I wish I was a Girl by violent delight..... get a life and Keep the Faith my readers...

How much did I used to love this blog? Rely on it. Need it? It was self indulgent though but don't we all need some self indulgence at times?
My life is good. Very good. Salsa lessons, three types of humous in the fridge? (do you watch Mongrels?)
Looking in you might think we are very lucky and I guess we are in many ways but there is always the heartache there somewhere.
We started spanish lessons. I highly recommend El Richon in Bedminster. Chilled, fun, wine, tapas, good people what more do you want?
We're going to Cuba in May and hoping for an authentic experience (if possible) Ana is our teacher. Young cute and patient but gives MASSES of homework.
Work is like thick treacle. I'm keeping my head up but fearful that at any moment it might pull me under. Really don't earn enough for the crap and responsibility it incurs.
Want to retire but don't want to be old. lol! Love music. Love Salsa and the salsa friends. All from different walks of life. Older , young, strange, fun, lonely, forced to come, artistic, bold, shy as a mouse. Social life has never been so hectic.
So my advice? Marry again :P take up dance. Learn a new language. Travel and be bold. Fuck the strikes and volcanos, Twitter, only work if you have to. God does not exist. Take responsibility for your own life. Love hard, never argue. Spend time considering others and their feelings. Spell correctly and use grammar properly. Drink LOADS. Not rubbish eitther. Friday night? Just home from work. Yes open the bastard £30 bottle of wine. You deserve it babe.
Love love love and be validated.

vegetarian frustration

Why oh why when you mention you're about to have a vegetarian meal do meat eaters feel it's the idea opportunity to tell you what meat they ate for dinner, what meat they are about to eat? How many dead animals they have stacked up in the freezer? Is it some sort of perverted guilt? I have no idea why you'd want to eat animals anyways. Do you realise they are transported all over the country and then have their throats slit. Taken from their mothers. Slaughtered?
I have no wish to push vegetarianism onto anyone. If you don't 'get' it you simply don't. But don't try to push your perverted (yes I feel it's perverted) eating habits on me. It makes me very sad.

Vegetarian Majorca!

We have just returned from Majorca. It was meant to be 10 days of rest, sun and fun. It was ok. It rained 6 days out of the 10. Some of it really heavy. Thunder, lightening and flash floods. With shorts and sandal in the suitcase it wasn't that great.
The worst bit though was the food.
We stayed at
Hotel Playa Golf in Playa De Palma. Right on the beach and four stars. We decided to go half board. No nasty shocks with the food bills! Hmmm
We are both vegetarians. The first night we arrived at dinner and looked around. The food was plentiful. For meat and fish eaters there was every kind of meat and fish you could imagine. But for us? Well chips and side salad and.... umm well some squares of cheese and some courgettes in batter. OK. We ate.
Over the ten days the situation got worse. I informed the chef and head waiter we were vegetarian. You'd think I was an alien. They didn't seem to understand or comprehend that some people didn't eat meat OR fish.
The next night I asked if the tomato sauce with the pasta was meat free. No it had beef in it. However the next night the head waiter excitedly informed me the pasta sauce was vegetarian. Oh good, I went over to get some to find the pasta dish accompanying it was ravioli. With beef in the middle. Duh!
I began to dread going to dinner. One night the only options were Chips side salad and carrots. I thought that couldn't get much worse but the next night and every night after that they added meat TO the vegetables! Cut beans with slices of ham. Corn, peas and bits of what looked like chicken. They even took away our ability to have vegetables! They had salads, egg mayo salads with SHELL FISH!, potato salad with German sausage.
Pizza! out of 10 days it had ham on for 8 of them. 2 nights were just cheese,
I cannot believe the Spanish are so backwards in thinking that vegetarians either do not exist or aren't worth catering for. I have a Spanish sister in law whose a vegetarian.
Also the hotel were well aware we didn't eat meat. You'd think they would have done something?
I do not recommend this hotel one little bit!

Trains

We just got back from a lovely day in London. We went to Bodyworlds and a mexican restaurant and Trafalgar square and China town. However the journey down was completely stressy due to a woman called Rosy Daniel. I do hope she occasionally goggles her name and sees this. She got on the train in Bath and sat opposite us on our prebooked table.
From the moment she got on the train she was on the phone. She was quite loud and persistant. Everyone was darling or sweetheart. She was a doctor and worked for a company that deals with a holistic approach to cancer. Some herbal indian remedy that seems to work in some cancers.
She was on the phone for 90 minutes. I know her girls names, what school they go to, what their headteacher is called. That one of them recently won an appeal to get into another school (which I know the name of) that someone has sold two shares in her company. That a man called Lambert had donated loads of money to her charity. Her email address, that she's organising some charity gigs for cancer with coldplay snowpatrol and her friend has excellent contacts with Portishead. The list is endless. I wanted to move but was far too polite.
On the way back we were in the quiet carriage. Now I applaud those carriages after Rosy Daniel.
I'm sure she is a very decent hard working lady but crikey, Information limitation woman!

Mad life

Steve pointed out today that I haven’t blogged for several months. It’s not that stuff hasn’t happened worthy of blogging, oh yes stuff has happened in handfuls. But the need to tell the world via the net about it has faded. Shame really because as a diary resource this is good. Though sometimes on reflection painful. Was I REALLY like that? Did I REALLY do that... crikey!
Last year was a whirlpool of blood guts and champagne.
You know I never had any intention of remarrying. The marriage game was not for me. Done it before, it left a bad taste. I didn’t feel the piece of paper tying you up to someone was necessary. If you love and care about them you’ll stay with them.
But I hadn’t reckoned with Steve’s ex wife. Ex is a sociopath. She has no people skills at all. She is self centered and mad. Totally nuts actually. Believe me. I know all about nuts.
From the day we met I felt this underlying force that was controlling Steve and their son (W). Little things, little bits were said and done but I knew, however. that I was a major issue for her. It seemed that Ex was adamant that we were NOT to wed. There is the mind of a deranged woman. That she actually though that she could influence Steve in that way. But she did think it and her weapon was W. Her threat, if you do not do as I say you will never have anything to do with him again. But she couldn’t just initiate this without appearing totally nuts. It had to be done with subtlety... well as subtly as a megalomaniac can act. She had a receptive sponge in W. Stinging from the change in his lfe, having to share his father and not being the centre of attention he readily lapped up her vicious propaganda. He told us that they talked about me all the time, I was the constant topic. They talked about how to topple me, how they wanted Steve to leave me and life to return as it was. He also had a great resource pool in his great love of drama like Eastenders, Holby City and Casualty. Research has recently shown that children exposed to this so called drama find it hard to entangle it from reality. They become anxious and unsettled. Wulfric is allowed to watch these programmes in a loop. They are taped and he listens to them over and over.
One day on the telephone W told Steve that at the weekend I had hit him, he didn’t of course say at the time but went home told his mother who demanded he say something. However he couldn’t say when the assault had happened, why or had any reasoning. Over the next few months as the wedding approached I had Hit him ,stamped repeatedly on his feet, tried to hit him down the stairs, burnt him with an iron and then le piece de resistance Poisoned his food.
He told us he had even rang childline encouraged by this mother.
We also noticed that if something happened on Casualty it also ‘happened’ to him.
We had an issue with food one weekend because his mother forbid him from eating french bread because of the ‘well known’ link between french bread and constipation. As Steve put it of course the French population are well known for their constipated bowels!
I don’t really wish to discuss W’s personal stuff here but that woman is convinced he has something major wrong with him and has been known to give him 10 sachets of laxatives in one go. As a kids nurse it seems that people obsessed either with their own bowels or their children’s tend to be a little unhinged.
Wulfric also told us she had told him he had a hole in the heart. This is completely untrue. What is the woman on?
For his 13th birthday we bought him an iPod shuffle which he loved. She brought him a ball pool. For age 12 months to 3 years. We did him a party with school mates and peers. She had him a printer party (W had a bit of a thing with printer noises) She had a table. He sat at the top and on the other 5 seats sat a printer, his friends! Printers? He also had a tee shirt made with a printer on it.
Luckily we broke the printer fixation after W broke apart a brand new printer Steve had brought here that we’d had 24 hours.
We moved him away from printer noises to music... much better agreed? :)
So the wedding loomed. W became more distant and rude. The way he spoke to us was awful. The girls were horrified, that someone would come to our home and talk to their mum like that. He didn’t send his dad a fathers day card or even ring. When asked why he said he didn’t wish to.
The wedding day was lovely. My dear friend Marie was allocated to look after W. In a way where he was never left alone, needing anything, his needs were met and more. She is lovely and adores him and he likes her. We all got on the coach to Bath, Steve took a picture of the flowers. W began to get cross. He said his dad never ever takes pictures of him anymore. Steve laughed as he’s always taking pix of him. We have hundreds of them.
Interesting though that as the day went on W got upset. A lot of the pictures have him crying a little. He said he didn’t want his picture taken. Marie took him away to the hotel after a while and got him drink and sweets and they sat quietly talking about stuff. She said they had a lot of fun. Steve also spent time with him and in the evening party Steve sat with him most of the night.
Sadly after that things crumbled. We saw him twice after. He refused to come to France with us saying he had been before then a few days before we went changed his mind. But it was too late, the tickets had been set and he couldn’t come. According to his mother he was desperate to come but Steve spoke to him and really he did not want to come, he reiterated that he had been before.
We saw him in August 2008. We had organised it for the Friday evening but apparently his mother had an engagement on the Thursday night and he wanted to come then. I work a very long day Thursdays. I said it was ok but he had to behave himself. I couldn’t cope with him being vile. We arranged to pick him up from Radstock at 7pm. His mother had NEVER offered to help with the partial driving before so she MUST have been desperate to get rid of him that night.
However after that initial phone call he didn’t ring again and I was not surprised when he didn’t turn up on the Thursday. Steve was upset and finally getting through to the Nuthouse in Frome we found out they’d gone to the wrong car park, we had to drive all the way to Frome to get him. He got in the car. I asked why he hadn’t rang for 4 days as if he had rang we could have made sure he knew the right car park and avoided all the upset. He immediately screamed at me. How dare I ask him to behave on the phone. Who did I think I was, he was not to be asked to behave. We did have an argument for a few minutes as I was so cross. How can a child of 14 be allowed to get away with such crap, talking to me like dirt and being so obnoxious? But are not an arguing couple. Me and Steve have never had a cross word in 3 years, ever. The argument stopped and wasn’t referred to again. We had a good weekend. We took him to a spectacular play at a school near Swindon with drums, and banging and lights. He squealed with delight. He went on the swings and stroked the horses there. The sun shone and it was lovely.
We took him back and that was the last time we saw him.
He says he never wants to see us again, he hates his dad and if he ever saw me again he’d like to stab me.
He also wants nothing to do with his extended family.
We have been to a solicitor. She was so lovely. In telling this to people you always either get an incredulous look or people think it’s so complex and mad they don’t want to hear it.
She said she’s sure Ex is mad. She is pulling his strings and influencing him. It was deeply therapeutic to see her and worth the £300. So what now? The solicitor says he desperately needs to have contact with us to balance his crazy life in Frome. He however is ensconced in his life so much that he believes the crap she comes out with and indeed his own propaganda. The one thing I know for a fact though is that if he carries on with her in this way he has no hope for a normal future. She has a lot to answer for. Let’s hope she gets her comeuppance really soon. She is an evil woman..

human rights

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7956450.stm
I have been in many a situation when a child's ventilatory support has been removed. It is never an easy decision. It is always made with the parents and relatives fully informed and part of the decision. Doctors DO NOT remove ventilators because of cost! I watched in horror as Ruth Winston-Jones lamented the doctors who had looked after her child Luke. Accusing them of wanting him to die because of Money. He was costing too much to stay alive. Personally I would sue this embittered woman. What a wicked thing to insinuate.
As paediatric nurses we are our children's advocates. We will go where the parents dare not. I have questioned doctors, disagreed with things and bloody well told them. Parents are too close. Of course they don't want the child, not matter now fragile their cling to life, to die. I cannot begin to imagine the horror of losing your precious child. But sometimes the child's life is so horrific. Attached to a ventilator. Having air forced through your lungs. Noises lights everywhere. Drips and drugs. Having tubes inserted down your throat to suck out secretions. Where is the quality of life? There is no comparison to a normal child's life.
No hope of survival, no cure, just a parents love willing him to carry on as long as possible to delay the terrible pain of loss as long as possible. How can that be fair?
I feel deeply sad for them. They will, like Mrs Winston-Jones, never get over this. The hospital staff will feel like they have failed. Not failed in their care of the baby, but failed the parents. They weren't able to reach a joint decision that was to the best interest of their baby.
I'm just glad I'm not the one who has to remove the tubes.
Dx

Unfair

I've felt sad this week. Danielle told me a while back that a friend of hers was ill. It was suspected some form of cancer. CANCER, the big nasty word. Reassurance that lots of people were saved and he was a child, they'd try very hard to help him. His name was Jamie Fish. He was born on the same day as Danielle. He was diagnosed with a form of cancer Christmas Day and died yesterday 2nd March 2009. 15 years and 1 month.
It has hit Danz hard. She is distraught. They went to Venice and France together, they sat on the plane together. But it's the knowledge that people of her age do die. That terrible things happen not to strangers but people she knows.
He seemed like such a lovely boy. No one had a bad thing to say about him. Everyone loved him and he was always happy and positive. Danielle gave me a run down of each individual teacher who'd broken down and cried yesterday to my bemused face. I'd thought it odd how she seemed to take heart in seeing them upset but I now understand, in retrospect it was that they are human. They are just like her, they care. They genuinely liked Jamie and are truly upset that he has gone.
I have seen many children die. I have switched of life support and been the one to tell the family their beloved child has died. It never gets any easier. There is no magic way you can tell yourself to cope. But remember that as awful this tragedy is and as terrible you feel this isn't your child. This is their child and your grief cannot overtake theirs.
I cannot imagine how Jamie's mum is coping today. I looked at the girls last night and wondered if I'd noticed if they were that ill? We seem so busy everyday now. Gone are the days of playing and doing loads of stuff together. But to lose one of them would be unthinkable.
So my sadness seamlessly sweeps towards Steve. We haven't seen Wulfric properly for 6 months now. Wulfric isn't dead. He is very much alive and choosing along with his stupid mother to cut us off from his life.
Life isn't fair is it?
Jamie, I hope your next life is worthy of you mate. I hope you live a long and happy one with much love, kids, and fun. Everything you missed in this one.

St Moritz

St Moritz. December 08. The snow we had here was NOTHING lol

quizzy

1. My uncle once: I had no uncles I can think of
.
2. Never in my life: would I intentionally hurt anyone
.
3. When I was five: I bit the dentist and he threw me out of the chair
.
4. High School was: Hartcliffe Comp
.
5. I will never forget: my nan and grandad
.
6. I once met: Guillermo del Toro
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7. There's this girl I know who: umm is this a Danielle story?
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8. Once, at a bar: I set the bar alight with hot apple pie drinks
.
9. By noon, I'm usually: getting ready for bloody work!
.
10. Last night: I cried
.
11. If I only had: more kittens
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12. Next time I go to church: I’ll burn it down
.
13. Terry Shiavo: who?
.
14. What worries me most: Steve getting ill
.
15. When I turn my head left, I see: the curtains
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16. When I turn my head right, I see: Steve
.
17. You know I'm lying when: you could never tell if I’m lying
.
18. What I miss most about the eighties: being younger!
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19. If I was a character in Shakespeare, I'd be: the one with the dagger
.
20. By this time next year: I hope it will all be calmer
.
21. A better name for me would be: Your highness
.
22. I have a hard time understanding: The scots dialect
.
23. If I ever go back to school, I'll: have school dinners yum
.
24. You know I like you if: I share my chocolate
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25. If I ever won an award, the first person I'd thank would be: Heidi
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26. Darwin, Mozart, Slim Pickens & Geraldine Ferraro: aren’t invited for dinner
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27. Take my advice, never: refuse
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28. My ideal breakfast is: nothing
.
29. A song I love, but do not have is: Halfway Hotel Voyager
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30. If you visit my hometown, I suggest: you come armed
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31. Tulips, character flaws, microchips & track stars: mean nothing to me
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32. Why won't people: stop smoking?
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33. If you spend the night at my house: bring wine
.
34. I'd stop my wedding for: no-one I love him
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35. The world could do without: cigarettes Christians and Amy Whitehouse
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36. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: Amy Whitehouse’s belly
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37. My favorite blonde is: Owen Wilson
.
38. Paper clips are more useful than: religion
.
39. If I do anything well, it's: Ironing
.
40. And by the way: You aren't getting 7 monkeys for Christmas

Trin is Famous

I really am famous. Keep checking it for the video I made. It was such fun despite the 'incident' ;)

sofa love

Our sofa has died. To be honest it was second hand when we got it and it came from a house with dogs. Luckily all the cushions are removable and it's had many washes but Steve's cats are something else. They puke at the drop of a hat and for some reason the sofa took the main brute.
I took the worse one to the vets. I was kind of hoping they'd say she was past it but nope. She has a delicate tummy and now has to have 'special. highly expensive food.
Great!
Consequently the sofa has taken a huge toll on the fabric and huge holes at appeared.
I kept showing Steve various sofas I liked. Last week we were passing this furniture store by us SCS and wandered in. There sitting at the back was a perfect cream leather suite. A 4 seater and 2 seater. It called to me. Buy me... and do it now.
Steve sat on it and fell in love.
For the first time ever I was getting a new suite and it was gorgeous.
Delivery Friday madam? Not a problem. Paid cash off we went.
I'm not a very materialistic person but the thought of my new suite kept me going all week.
Friday we got up. Chucked out the old dirty vile monstrosity. Cleaned the lounge, even got those girls to wash the skirting boards... WTF!!
And we waited....
3pm. No sign. Hmm, I thought let's ring and see if they have any idea what time.
Then it all got messy. They'd made a mistake. "I'm so sorry Mrs Trinity but I'll have to disappoint you but the next delivery is Thursday"
I was NOT happy. He said he'd make some enquiries and ring me back ASAP.
One hour later no call, so I rang again. He'd done nothing. He'd been with a customer choosing HER new suite and hadn't time to deal with us who had already paid for their no show suite. Something wrong there?
So at 7 pm last night we had to go to the store and pick up the 2 seater ourselves, either that or sit on floor for a week. Luckily it fitted in the new Peugeot partner.
They rang today. They were sorry. They were nice. I'm ok, got something to sit on at least.
But they can't get the computer to accept that the suite is in the store and not awaiting delivery from manufacturers. So it looks like we'll have to collect the other sofa as well.
Brilliant. At least the suite is worth it!

Reporter Trin

"Debs, I've been invited by ITV Meridian to the 'Dorset Steam Fair' as a blogger"
"Really! why you?"
"Mainly because of the S&D Blog"

So started our experience into the world of social media. I wasn't meant to go. I wasn't actually invited. Steve didn't want to go without me but it was ok. I would be ok on my own there. My mate Lyn had said there was a huge range of shops and I do love to shop. But one by one the chosen bloggers dropped out. Silly people, missing the experience. Steve mentioned me to the organisers. Told them I blogged and hey presto I was in. I wasn't exactly thrilled mind you. I was a bit bemused by it all. After all what did I know about steam and engines and machines?
Steam energy is one of the things that us at Transition Bristol think about for the future though. We've been transition members for a year or so. We ARE Transition Hartcliffe at present. Steam is a sustainable energy that will possibly play an important part in this fuel depleting world of ours.
So onto our day. We got up early and got there on time. We were met by Colin from 1000 heads
Colin was a good bloke with a nice hat. We had a walk around then met Sharon an editor for ITV and her quite adorable child Vincent who, trust me, really was quite a character.


They wanted us to peruse the fair with a camera. Chat to some locals, film a bit and just get a flavour of the place.
As you an imagine this was right up my street. I have been waiting to be 'discovered' since I was 18 months. Somehow though I fear it will have to wait till the next life ;)
We started off at the steam engine things. A long row of shiny smelly colourful engines all billowing out smoke. All surrounded by men in sooty clothing huddled in groups in deep conversation about bits of machinery. And they say women chat?
I filmed a couple of men who wouldn't give me their names at first. Shy!! right. But basically if you asked them about the machine their eyes glazed over in some obsessive cloud and they could chat for England.
I got the impression that Nostalgia was the name of the day but you see I was looking at it all in a different way. These machines moved without any oil. This was good.
Moving away from the smoke the whole enormity of the fair hits you. It's HUGE vast sprawling. You never seem to reach the end. It's noisy busy and happy. There's people everywhere. Old ones in those motor wheelchairs whizzing round, kids in prams, Teenagers on the fair ground. And a lot of men mostly in groups in deep conversation. Whatever you're in to there's something for you there.
Around every corner there was one of those noisy organ music machines. I can't bear them but there were people sat happily listening to Abba and Cliff Richard played organ style.
I've been to quite a few of these fair type places in my time. The Bristol Balloon festival is a huge affair here in Bristol every year but this Dorset place was something else. They had every type of food imaginable. Everyone seemed to be eating something really nice.
Everyone seemed to have a dog as well. I filmed a lot of dogs.


We walked miles...well it seemed. I had some lovely sweeties from a sweet stall to keep me going. We tried to find somewhere a bit quiet to film stuff but it was almost impossible. We found some owls next to one of the organs with a notice by them saying that they have their own mechanism for blocking out noise. I assure you it was needed!
They have camping at this fair. We almost laughed at someone wanting to camp out at a steam fair but there's no way in one day you'll even see a quarter of it. It's enormous.
We filmed and filmed. We filmed kids, dogs, people sat on hay bales, a man controlling a dalek, girls on the information desk, people sat outside drinking cider (think they made Colin jealous) Swiss dogs pulling little carts, men making hay with big machines, funny outfits, lovely army men (very helpful and informative and quite handsome!) people sawing logs with equipment only for display purposes(what's the point of that?)
Then we decided to stop for food and it all went wrong. I had the camera. I was holding it carefully. No chance I was going to drop it when I fell. I went down like one of those sawn off logs. I was more fussed about the camera to be honest. Got up quick and followed everyone into the food marquee. Steve asked if I was OK. YES I am a nurse. I exclaimed. My knee hurt and I took a glance. I knew it was superficial but there was a nasty gash there and it was bleeding. I thought I'd need plaster from the first aid a bit later.
Then it all got fuzzy because as we sat down I felt ill. Really sick and dizzy. I made Steve come outside with me and I had to sit on the floor. It seemed to pass and we went back into the marquee. Steve insisted I needed food and sugar but almost immediately I felt faint again and Yep I fainted. In front of Poor Colin, Sharon the ITV editor and little Vincent.
I must have been unwell because I am not the one to allow people to fuss over me and call an ambulance but St John Ambulance arrived to sort me out.
I think you tend to take them for granted at these events but they are pretty amazing. They were so calm and caring and I had a check up with a doctor and my knee seen to and felt really embarrassed and silly.


I did laugh though, there I was flat out on the ground all these people fussing and the non plussed unfazed 5 year old Vincent just sat through it all calmly playing his PSP game. Whatever he must have thought of it all!!
So we decided to go home. I felt I'd let everyone down a bit. I was very embarrassed but life is a big adventure and I did get first hand Dorset Fair experience of the emergency services. They told me that last year was a good year No one died.... hmmmm.
So what did we gain from it all?
It was fun, and I'd go again to see the fair. I was sad I'd missed my dose of retail therapy that Steve promised me. He was going to give me money to spend :(
I liked the interviewing and filming. I watching ITV West's little piece on the fair that evening. A young girl sat on one of those steam engines fawning about how steamy and noisy it all was and how she didn't have a clue about steam.
Missed the point completely.
I met some cool people. Colin the hat man, Sharon who really is a cool rock chick, knows more bands than me. I got to go on the ITV bus which was very interesting. And I'm still alive. Has to be a bonus surely?

sex ed youth style

The girls got invited to some youth thing today. They've been doing a lot of consumer studies. I guess people trying to get into the mindset of an executioner today's teenagers (oops a little Mighty Boosh slip up there).
They came home clutching 'things' "It was all about sex" Mum , they protested. Danielle reckons she learnt more today than at school. "At school all we did was write as many words about sex we knew on the blackboard then chased a sperm on a PC game"
Hmmmm that's why half of Hartcliffe's teens are up the duff then?
Anyways, the leaflet gave them 101 ways to show someone you love them rather than having sex.
Here's a little sample for you lot out there to mull over

23. buy them a piece of the moon
26. suck their toes
33. write their name in the sand
39. write their name with a sparkler
67. go on rides on the pier together (cripes there's one pregnancy already ours burnt down)
88. Gaze into their eyes.

Apparently it was the youth of Brighton and Hove who came up with these ideas.
Lovely idea guys but..................
The girls got a lot out of it though. Steve just wouldn't make a very good grandad just yet ;)

car troubles

The Suzuki which has served me so well has died. It's final journey was to the garage where they didn't even look at it. The gear box was fecked and at a price of a grand to fix the thing it was uneconomic.
Ah well, looks like we were down to the Pajero for now. I don't actually like the car. It's too heavy and bulky and monstrous. It also overheated on the M32 billowed steam and had to have a nice AA man come rescue me a mere 3 weeks ago.
Last week the Pajero also bit the dust. Driving along a road close to home doing 25 mph it suddenly started to rev like a maniac. I was suddenly doing 60 with no acceleration. I couldn't brake and was terrified. I managed to career into the side of the road and get it to slow a bit but it was still moving toward a load of parked cars. Steve rammed the automatic into park and I switched off the engine and we stopped.
So now it's been towed to the same garage as the Suzuki was. The mechanic must wonder what's hit him.
Thing is what if it had happened in a different place. I drive down Bridge Valley Road every day where that JCB digger went over the edge. That could have been me.
Imagine life without Trin? Unthinkable ;)

carry on frome

My mate used to do a clinic where they assessed people with extra digits. Lop off the extra ones etc. She always said a fair proportion of them were Fromeys.

Not surprised really. Frome the land of those not posh enough for Bath and not chav enough for Warminster.

Thursday we had to collect said step child from his dear Mother. She had offered rather generously to drop him half way. I'm a known cynic but I fear her generosity didn't come from wanting to help us with our car situation (which I shall enlighten you with in a sec) but that she wanted us to have him Friday as she was busy and the fear was we wouldn't play ball.

We arrived dead on 7.45pm and sat watching the skateboarders and teenage kids messing around in the woods. By 8.15pm I was a little pissed off at the no show and Steve managed to get hold of someone who said they were in a different car park. Fecking typical! So we whizzed over there to find they had gone back to Frome.

So we set off in pursuit to Frome. Meanwhile the person we'd spoken to had got hold of them and they had tuned around and driven back to the original car park.

Scream very loudly! Completely useless.

We finally got them at 9pm at their house. They said Steve had told them the wrong car park. He didn't, I heard him.

Fromeys? Must be the water.

ship ahoy

My new husband with his sister in law... ha. Note he is wearing my shirt.

I said puck you miss

Six weeks post wedding and everything has calmed down. In fact sometimes life has been a little flat. I guess most of our energy and thoughts were taken up by the wedding since Christmas and before. I find myself fretting about stuff like work again now. I had work nightmares last night and they are mostly centred on me not being able to cope with it anymore and having to leave and the big moneyless abyss that would follow. Really though if it did get so bad I had to leave then it would be the best thing. I'm afraid not having nursing as a big part of me anymore though just lately it is unfulfilling and boring. I'm still having a few management issues mostly surrounding lack of support encouragement or recognition for the shit I put up with that NO ONE else in the department has to endure. My choice though, I took the job. Silly cow. Should have stuck with nursery nursing. Maybe I'll look back into doing something in that line again. Nearer to home and more fun...maybe?
We're off to France on Saturday. I liked it last year. The villa is gorgeous with every mod con in the kitchen, big bright and classy. The area is beautiful and different and it even smells lovely.
Steve's son doesn't want to come with us though. He says he can't spend a whole week with me. Sadly I feel the same way. Whenever will all this end and sort itself out? Seems to have gone on for ages now. I can't bear the way it makes Steve so sad. Every phone call and visit I get hugely anxious that he will upset Steve. My mum says we will have a better week without him. Steve says he'd rather not have a miserable child with us who doesn't want to be there.
Won't be the family holiday of last year though it will be different.
Maybe different will be good. If the weather is bad he says we will head south and chase the sun... lol. I could have told you this week would be bad. It's the balloon festival. It ALWAYS rains for that. Bloody English weather.
My sister is getting married in September. In Cyprus. I feel a bit pissed off that she couldn't do it here. I'd like to go to a wedding and not be the one doing all the organising. Just sit back and enjoy. We never wanted to go to Cyprus anyways. Not our scene. What with our wedding and our other holidays we couldn't afford it anyways. We did go to her hen night last week though, funny we were the only family to go and we aren't even going to the wedding. It was a boat trip on the river during the harbour festival. We all dressed as pirates, it was fun. Loud raucous and rude. The fireworks were good too. I love fireworks, though after my friend Chris's recent accident would be very wary about having any at home.
Right bored you enough my little blogger.
Loves you all as ever
Dx

Kiera Price

my wedding 21/6/08

paper stars

Danz and Jeff at the station.....

post strike

Ridiculous, old fashioned, idiotic.
BUT....

"Flexibility is the main issue at stake," he said.

Earlier, the CWU had said that some of its members would come to work at 6am, do a full day's work and at the end a manager could arbitrarily say whether they had worked hard enough for them to go home.

"I call that slavery," said Dave Ward, CWU General Secretary"

Bloody heck, sounds like my place.

(Steve better get his new hoody in time for Switzerland you damn postmen!!)

superstorm

Hartcliffe Superstorm.

master carpenter

One man and his shed and a little help from his friends


Bailey watches the progession.

Heidi ever helpful. She's got massive with the fluffiest tail ever.