Claret’s blog

Beliefs

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:27:30 +0000

Here's a good one to start the day off.....

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born. A Death Certificate shows that we died. Pictures show that we lived! Have a seat . .Relax . . . And read this slowly.

I Believe...
That just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other.And just because they don't argue,It doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if   we understand that friends   change.

I Believe...
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe...
That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe...
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...
That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe...
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe...
That my best friend and I, can do anything, or nothing and have the best time.

I Believe...
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe...
That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others. Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe...
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but, we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life Forever.

I Believe...
Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.

I Believe...
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I Believe...
That you should send this to all of the people that you believe in, I just did.

'The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything.

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The gorgeous Tali, and a lurcher on guard!

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:42:26 +0000

We met Lesley's new pup for the first time on Saturday, so there I was, outside the cafe in Stratford, with my bare Saturday morning face on, cuddling the most gorgeous squiggly pup! Tali was very well behaved and gave her ears and tummy lots of kisses and cuddles while Rosie took the photos.

Getting a good ear-licking!

Tali9

Tali10

Here's one of another type of dog - Ruby on guard out of the front window.....

Ruby at window

We took her on a lovely walk on Sunday, on the canal near Oxford and towards Hampton Gay.

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37 Lessons learned

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:20:27 +0000

A friend recently turned 37 and blogged the 37 lessons she'd learned in those years - some of them very wise. I am sure she won't mind me repeating them here:

1 Remember that you start as a child, but although you will always have a child inside you, you will never have anyone to nurture it once you’ve grown up.

2 Do your best, but don’t excel if it is not needed. It will only raise people’s expectations beyond what you can, or are willing to, give.

3 Honour your body, treat it and respect it like you would your best friend, and never ever let anyone be harsh to it in any way.

4 Let people into your soul, but always assume they will want to go out again. If they let you into theirs, step inside but always know they will one day ask you to leave.

5 Keep your promises. Even the ones you made to the people who have broken theirs.

6 Always forgive. Yourself, and others.

7 Do not expect unconditional forgiveness from anyone.

8 Accept your imperfections. They are a sign of your humanity.

9 Look at your children with love, respect and gratitude. Always. Unconditionally.

10 All things that live, breathe, grow are to be treated with respect, no matter how big or small they are.

11 Money doesn’t bring happiness. It doesn’t even make happiness easier to find.

12 Don’t give your heart easily. It might seem like a good safe secure gift at the time, but mostly it ends in breakages.

13 Never pretend you do something for someone else, when really you are just doing it for yourself.

14 Don’t give anyone the right to stand between you and your beliefs and goals.

15 Don’t let anyone convince you they know better than you, if you have reason to think that they don’t.

16 Learn to make the differences between somebody else’s guesswork and their knowledge.

17 Never regret an act of kindness, even if it backfired. It was still kindness, and kindness is always good.

18 Give yourself time and permission to hurt and grieve. Being without emotions is not a quality.

19 If you’re afraid to speak your mind, change company.

20 If someone you love keeps testing you, take distance. Loved ones should accept you as you are, not keep appraising your value.

21 Do not put your loved ones to the test either. Love is a gift, not a prize to be won over and over again.

22 If someone knocks you down harder than they hold you up, let go.

23 If you feel so angry you are going to hurt what you hold dear, walk away until the anger subsides.

24 Make time each day to look at the sky, appreciate its vastness and its beauty in all weathers.

25 Don’t replace one addiction with another.

26 Never believe men are better than women in any way.

27 Never believe you are better than someone else. There are things about others you might not know, that might make your judgment mistaken.

28 Never think you know all there is to know about anyone. Everyone has their secrets.

29 Admit your mistakes and be able to make fun of yourself. It will help others deal with their own mistakes better.

30 Never, ever, let anyone tell you that you won’t be able to do something. They don’t know.

31 Never let anyone judge your past or predict your future. Don’t judge or predict others’ either.

32 Trust your instincts above your reason.

33 Never believe eternal promises.

34 Always, with no exceptions ever, treat others as you would have them treat you.

35 Give high value to honesty, but don’t place it above gentleness and kindness.

36 If you are the kind to hurt others regularly, make sure you learn how to heal them.

37 Be yourself. After all, it’s yourself you are sure to have to face in the mirror each day for the rest of your life, and there is no running away from what and who you are.

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Happiness is....

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:05:58 +0000

... that feeling of satisfaction when I've stripped and re-made the beds, with the winter duvets on now that it's cold.

There's a big pot of home made chicken soup bubbling away on the cooker - the carcass from one of the meat birds from Jude.

The house smells divine and I shall rest tonight in a warm bed with a lovely feather and down duvet on top.

Just one moment of smugness.....

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Rolling hills

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:45:13 +0000

I just love walking out with the dog - Phil and I took her for a walk out at North Newington, a village barely a mile from the house, but with the most beautiful scenery. We only walked for about a mile, but it was so quiet and refreshing.

The monsetr is clean in this photo, but not for long... she managed (yet again) to find a fox poo to roll in before i spotted what she was doing - cold bath for her under the outside tap when we got back!

Clean lurcher

I love the contrast here between the red earth we have locally (coloured by iron ore) and the fresh green shoots of the winter wheat.

Green rows

She's still for just a moment...

Phil and Ruby

Plenty of these hills - it's very dingly-dell here

Rolling hills

And hedgerows full of rosehips

Rosehips

And a hawthorn covered with a twisted creeper

Twisted tree

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I love my Fat Boy

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:37:57 +0000

*grins*

He's just the best hot water bottle ever!

Biscuit usually sleeps at my feet or between my ankles, but on cold nights I wake up to find him up in my arms, with his little nose snuggled into my neck.

.... he loves his mummy. The snuggle monster is currently sprawled across my bed, taking up most of the room and snoring with his nose tucked into an old t shirt of mine.

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Bad things

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:50:54 +0000

I just love this track - a friend sent me the link, apparently it's the theme to a TV series or something like that. She knew I'd love it... enjoy....

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The Buddhist Tree Surgeon

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:47:42 +0000

My enormous eucalyptus tree needs trimming every few years and this is one of those years, so I called round to get some quotes as my previous tree surgeon had immigrated.

I plumped for Neil Wilson - a buddhist tree surgeon nonetheless; a lovely, enthusiastic young chap who understood how I wanted it pruned. He turned up on Saturday, in lovely weather after the rain we'd had in the night. His missus (they are newly weds) to help him, and shinned up the tree. Now as someone who gets dizzy just wearing thick socks, I never cease to be amazed at how these people shin up trees like monkeys.

He got all kitted out - the climbing kit can cost over £1k and climbed right to the top to secure his anchor rope, which he could revolve around while he worked. Made me feel sick just to watch.

Can you spot him?

Neil getting ready

They logged up the bigger branches so that I can dry them out on the woodpile before using - Eucalyptus wood is very dense, so it burns slowly and smells divine.

Starting work

It's this swinging around lark that gets me - it looks lovely, but I couldn't even think about doing it myself

Swinging happy

Taking it easy

The tree now looks much better; he has taken out a lot of lower branches and brougth in the upper ones so that they don't spread so much and cut out the light.

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Chilling out and doing nowt

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:49:45 +0000

That was the plan for our four day trip to the Algarve, and I'm pleased to say that we did precisely that... well Phil and I did - Rosie spent all her time in the pool and playing water polo.

The flights both ends were uneventful, with a very smooth transit. The managing agent for Lorne's apartment met us there and handed over the keys, explaining how things worked and leaving us with a local map. He has three apartments and they are located on a gated complex just outside Vilamoura and Quarteira - fantastically safe and very peaceful.

Here's the view from the front door into the dining room and living room, as you can see, we just dumped our cases and went off to explore! You can just see Rosie on the balcony outside. One of the lovliest parts of the holiday was eating breakfast on the balcony in the sun of a morning.

In the front door

Two photos of the kitchen, which was very well equipped - better than mine! There was a utility room off the kitchen, with a washing machine and tumble drier.

The main bedroom had a king sized bed, which could be split into twins, and an en suite bathroom. The Balcony looked out over the gardens and pool areas, where there were three set of pools and a jacuzzi.

Main bedroom

Ensuite bathroom

Here are some more views of the living room and the balcony

The twin room, bathroom and view from the balcony

The apartment was beautifully clean and well equiped. The grounds were really well tended, gardeners working every day, the pools were cleaned and it was all sparkly.

We got changed and went down to the pool right by the apartment, a medium sized rectangular pool which wasn't heated, although Rosie and Phil went in. Here's Rosie going in the pool.

Towards our apartment

We spent a chilled out afternoon in the sun, just lazing around and investigating the surroundings.

The Boy had to relax with a beer.... of course!

Boy with beer

Or two!

The Boy relaxing

As he attempted to get that deathly pallor off his legs and even out the 'truckdriver's tan'.

I read the whole of Dan Brown's latest novel while we were away - a really compulsive story.

We had a lovely sunset across the villa complex.

We caught a cab into Vilamoura on the first evebning - a lovely marina to walk around, but quite frankly, you could have been anywhere really expensive. Disappointingly, most of the restaurants and bars had wide screens TVs on, blaring out football. Not really the authentic Portuguese experience we were after... and the cab into Vilamoura was 10euros each way! We ate in a bar near the apartment the next night, then went into Quarteira which was much more authentic. We watched the fishing boats bring the catch into the harbour at night and ate right by the beach.

This spectacular villa over the road from the apartment had a pool, and when we researched some prices, we reckoned that it must have cost about £750k! Nothing over there is cheaper than the UK, in fact, most things were more expensive.

Villa over the road

We took these funny photos at the bar just near the apartment - there's a tiny shopping complex there with a bar, cafe and a couple of boutiques.

Cheese

Rosie and I on the last night

Rosie and Phil

The Boy on the last night

We spent the last day just relaxing and sleeping in the sun;

Zonked

Really don't want my photo taken

Phil took these lovely photos across the villa complex early in the morning.

Early morning across the quad

Across to the pools

Along to the right

Last morning view from balcony

And I took this video of the panorama (click to play)

CIMG3743

This was all we saw of Phil on both flights... he loves watching out of the window - it's like travelling with two children!

View of Phil on the plane

A really lovely trip.

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Time

nobody@vox.com(Claret) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:03:20 +0100

The old cliches say that time heals and that we learn in time... not always.

To realise
The value of a sister/brother
Ask someone
Who doesn't have one.

To realise
The value of ten years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.

To realise
The value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realise
The value of one year:
Ask a student who
Has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realise
The value of one month:
Ask a mother
Who has given birth to
A premature baby.

To realize
The value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realise
The value of one minute:
Ask a person
Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realise
The value of one-second:
Ask a person
Who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when
You can share it with someone special.

To realise the value of a friend or family member, you have first to lose one.

I hope you never do....

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