The Lion King

There are always little nooks and crannies in any city and Bristol is no exception. Turn any corner and there is always something to snap. No end of watery things to choose from.

Well, we are an island surrounded by the stuff. I am quite pleased about that.

However look into the pool below and you will see something that makes my blood boil. Can you spot what it is?

For more stunning photos, look up 2sweetnsaxy who hosts Watery Wednesday.

Who Is Influencing Who?

We often have Amber and Millie for a Friday night "sleepover" and its always a pleasure to have them stay.

However, one Saturday morning, I was tidying the table for breakfast, when I noticed the word Millie had been written across the plastic tablecloth in large children's writing. The problem was it had been written in biro.

Obviously I was not very pleased and confronted Millie.

"How did this writing get on my plastic cloth?" I demanded in a stern voice.

Millie gulped and said, "It was put there by accident."

Well....... I ask you! The pen jumped up and wrote Millie's name by itself!

Shortly afterwards, I noticed a piece of china on the draining board. Problem was, it was a broken piece of china and the mug that it was broken from was nowhere to be seen.

"Does anyone know anything about this broken piece of china?" I asked.

It was obvious that the children had nothing to do with it. I could tell by their reactions that consisted of complete lack of interest and no trace of guilt.

Harry ambled in. "Oh that," He said. "It just sort of fell off the mug."

Now who is he kidding? Telling me a large chunk of china just fell off a mug by itself!

Is he learning from the children do you think? Or are they learning from him? Thats what I'd like to know.

Two Dogs Meet

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGee

While on a day trip recently, I came across this dog made of pieces of metal, nuts and bolts that were skillfully put together to look as though they had been made of junk, I think.

Any way, I thought it would make a really good photo so I snapped it straight away.

Imagine my surprise when I transferred the photo onto the computer and I saw the real dog in the corner!

At the time I took this photo, I honestly didn't notice it at all. I guess it was moving quite quickly.

Do you think I could have been quick enough to capture this scene if it had been engineered? No way!

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek. Why not join in this week?

Lonely Beach

There is not much to say about this outlet of fresh water bubbling out into the sea. All the beaches along the Bristol Channel have beaches where the tide goes out a long way. However it does move fairly rapidly.

Not sure what that little black blob was though. Any ideas?

Watery Wednesday is hosted by 2sweetnsaxy. Why not look her up?

Medical Research

Foxgloves (Digitalis) were used to treat heart conditions, years ago.

Not long ago, I had my DNA taken and stored on file.

No, I hadn't been arrested and neither was I a suspect for a crime, nor was it needed for elimination purposes.

My Family Practitioners (Doctors), got in touch to say that thousands of people were needed to help with medical research and Harry and I were asked if we'd take part.

Those of you who know me (if it is possible to know some one from a blog) might well be shocked.

"What! Maggie May, the elusive grannie who won't even have her photo printed on the net! Giving DNA!"

Yes, that's right. After doing quite a bit of research into the company and asking quite a few questions about what they would do with the information and samples, we decided it was pretty safe to do this. There are some pesky diseases in our family. Prostrate cancer, breast cancer and the tendency towards depression. Wouldn't it be good to find a way to halt these illnesses and to even eliminate them in the future?

We will not be told anything about what they find from the blood and urine samples. It might be years before they are processed and we gave permission for the samples to be stored and used after our deaths. That's it....... curtains! Forget about it.

We had to have medical checkups and to answer questions on a computer. It took one and a half hours. Some of the questions made me go a bit hot, but there was an option to say that I'd rather not answer. However, I didn't take that option.

The man who took my blood asked me, "Do you normally faint when you have blood taken?"

I quipped back, "It depends how much you are going to take!"

I had to climb up onto the huge leather chair, which had a reclining back and I thought, "Blimey! They are well prepared if I do pass out."

Anyway, I didn't, but he filled up 5 phials and made a massive bruise on my arm. Looked like I had been injecting for years by the time he'd finished. (Not that I'd know, of course, but I can imagine!) Never mind.... this was for the future good of mankind, I reminded myself.

I had to be weighed....... Grief- the moment of truth! They didn't put me down as obese, but I was definitely overweight. Oh and my Body Mass Index is high!

Right, that does it. I am dieting from tomorrow. We eat too much. I blame Harry for that as he always seems to bring back little treats from his shopping sprees and he says, "A little treat now and then never hurt anybody."

Well, the treats seem to be everyday now. It has to stop.

Harry told me that my lung capacity was good! What a cheek! So I was looking forward to a good result. Something positive. However, because of an eye condition that I have, they wouldn't do the lung capacity test as they thought it was too risky. I have managed to blow up balloons without any ill effect ( for the granddaughters, that is, not for me.) Oh well......

I had to stick my heel into a little box and I am pleased to report from that test that my bone density is good! Why am I telling you all this stuff?

Any way, that was that. Our little bit to help the future generations.

The clinic was full of people doing the same and we were offered tea/coffee and biscuits for our trouble. They would have paid our bus fares too but we used our free bus passes.

It all made a change from the things I normally do on my day off!

What would you have done? Gone for the research or not?

Are You Squeamish?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

My garden has been taken over by scaffolding. Most of you know that we have had renovations here on our kitchen roof.

This is the point that I put a warning on this post. If you are squeamish do not go any further.

This is the roof that has held a terrible secret for six years. The roof that has caused me so much misery, often to the point of making me despair. The cause of all the noises, the smells and the frustration of not being able to get to the source of the problem because a pitched roof was built over a flat one, making it impossible to investigate let alone do anything. The cause of rows between Harry and me. The roof that has been the reason for my feeling trapped and not even having the option of moving away from the problem. The roof that has made me feel like running away. The roof that I have blamed for ruining my life over and over again.

And this is the start of the discovery of just what it was that was making my life such a misery. This is the hole that was revealed once the fascia board was taken off the side of the roof, on my neighbour's side. There was no sign of the hole until that moment. This is only one of the holes that was found.

This is my last warning for the squeamish not to look any further.

The men had decided to cleanse the roof from the outside in and took off the tiles and felt and also the flat roof, leaving the kitchen ceiling directly under the scene above. This is what met our eyes..... rat runs. You can see the way that they have chewed up the insulation and they had also started on the wiring and had stripped several wires of their plastic outer casing. Fortunately, the wires were not touching. I hate to think what might have happened if they had been.

This was number one body that was found amongst the chewed up insulation that had obviously been used as bedding. There were five of the pesky rodent bodies hidden away at various points in the roof. No need to show them all, as after you have seen one, they all look the same!

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek where you will find some great entries.

Fancy a Shower Anyone?

I have passed this fountain at Weston Super Mare, Somerset, so many times without thinking. However, on the last visit I suddenly thought of Watery Wednesday! Just as well I had my camera handy! I got a bit splashed taking it as sometimes I get carried away and get too close.

Watery Wednesday is hosted by 2sweetnsaxy. Why not enter this week?