Waving Goodbye

On Friday I went to funeral.  It was for the mother of a very old friend.  We go back to when we first went to school at five years old.  That's a good many years ago.  Her mother was over 90 and had lost her hearing.  It was difficult to communicate with her in her final years.  But I have a lovely memory of the last time I saw her.  I followed my friend into her flat and she clearly wasn't sure who I was.  When she was told I watched her face light up and she opened her arms and gave me a great big hug.

Funerals are grim, sad affairs.  My friend told me that they had talked about it, and she said her mother wanted her departure to be more cheerful than that.  She asked to be played out to the strains of "Wish me Luck as you Wave me Goodbye."  There was not a dry eye in the house, but we were all smiling too.

Wordless Wednesday: Ginger Made a Nest

Written and Planning to Write

I've just submitted a story for 100 Stories for Queensland.  It's another of those charity books to raise moneu for disaster areas.  Hope I do get it accepted for this one.  The one I sent for 100 Stories for Haiti didn't get picked, and then I never sent anything for 100 Stories for Pakistan.  So I thought this time I should make the effort again.  It's better than sitting watching the terrible news on the TV and feeling helpless about it all.

So that's a story written.  What I'm planning to write is a review of the film, The King's Speech, which I saw last week.  Better not preempt it here except to say I thought Colin Firth was absolutely marvelous.  He certainly deserved that Golden Globe he won for it.

Gardens and Window Boxes

I've been thinking about what to do outside the house in the coming year. We did a lot of work on the back garden last year and we have our decking with matching planters; we have our small lawns and tidier paving; we have our veg patch and the two beds on the terrace by the house for flowers and my herbs. Admittedly there's not a lot in it right now, but we did have a colourful spring and summer, with quite a bit of veg produce.

But although my hubby made a start on the patch at the front he abandoned it when he injured his back, so it's still in a sorry state. We need to give it some priority now.

I've also thought about window boxes and found a website that supplies a good variety of really great looking ones, plus all the accessories you need to fit them and make them look as though they belong. I particularly like the white wooden window flower boxes, but they all look good brimming with plants that make beautiful pictures.

Sadly I can't use this site because they only deliver across the US or make international shipping arrangements to Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico. But I'll probably bookmark it, if only to get some ideas for my own displays.

Remembering Last Summer

Successes

Good things are happening at the moment.

A very fast sale at Constant Content, even before I had received the email telling me it had passed the site's review stage.  A first for me.  And a note from the buyer saying s/he would use me again.  If that means some private requests I'll be over the moon.

Google has finally found me and this blog has a page rank at last, and it's a three.   I used to check for it every couple of months, and got very frustrated when I found no result.  So I gave up checking.  But all of a sudden, everyone wants me to write sponsored posts.  So I checked again, and there was my PR3.  And don't worry.  I won't write too many posts for cash.  I can be choosy now.

Tomorrow is a day off to dog sit while our friends go on a jaunt to London.  We will keep Ginger company, take her for a long walk and give her supper.  We'll be quite late getting home but the next morning we have to get up early to dismantle beds and reorganise them before our new one is delivered, so I can look forward to some more comfy nights.

So I'm a happy bunny, or should I say otter?

This great pic is of a grinning California Sea Otter by Sstasi at Wikimedia Commons

Dream Cars

After the cold weather I had to buy a new battery for my car. And then I had to get a new belt for the alternator. I still don't know how much it will cost. I suppose I'm lucky because it still runs well even though it's over ten years old.

I wish I could afford a new car. Dreaming about that I've been looking at cars currently on the market and I found some real dream cars at thecarconnection.com.

If I wanted a 4 wheel drive, I'd probably go for an Audi Q7 Tdi. This is described in some detail, but what I needed to know was that I could fit in up to 6 passengers, so taking the family or friends out wouldn't have to be in convoy any more.

If we won the lottery we might decide on a Lamborghini Gallardo, but I could only find their review of the 2009 model, which has now been updated. I don't suppose the funky shape of this super performer has changed much (see my pic). Great car for a rich poser. Not for me, I think, but hubby might appreciate one.

If you are a Honda enthusiast like my daughter the newest version of the Honda Odyssey Minivan might be your dream car. It's not like any van I know. Top of the line for 2011 is the Touring Elite model which has many luxury features.

But perhaps the one for me would be the Toyota Avalon luxury sedan, more sedate than the rest of this bunch for an ageing woman like me, but still up there in the opulent category.

Anyway I enjoyed looking at dream cars on the carconnect site and learning about them. The site redirects you to other car reviews as well, so it could be really useful if you are a buyer trying to decide which car to get.