Followers ...

I'm a bit ambivalent about this latest innovation from Blogger/Google. I still haven't made my mind up about Followers. I think I must just be one of these people who take a long time to get used to new ideas - or maybe it's as I've got older!

One of the attractions of blogging for me, and I suspect for others too, is the anonymity of it. Even though friends and family or anyone who knows me well, would easily be able to identify me from my blog, it's good to be able to retain a little anonymity in not using my real name and a lot of bloggers do this, presumably for similar reasons.

I follow several blogs and it's good to be able to see at a glance when they're updated but mostly I like to follow anonymously. I've noticed that our children's generation don't have such reservations about privacy. I was very wary of Facebook at first and the idea of actually putting my photo up on the internet was quite difficult for me. Now, however, I don't bat an eyelid so maybe, I'll be following all sorts of blogs publicly soon and saying, 'who cares who knows what interests me!'

Herald of Spring?

Yes, I now know for definite that Spring must be just around corner. 'How?', I hear you asking. 'Have you heard the first cuckoo ... noticed frogspawn on the pond .... or even heard the buzzing of a bumblebee?'

Not at all. On driving home today, on a gloriously bright day, I noticed the first ice-cream van parked on the Downs ... and quietly doing not bad trade at all! A more reliable indicator than any of the above!

Long may it last, I say.

By the way, this is not the actual ice cream van on the Downs - I didn't have my camera on me when I drove past. I'll try and get a picture of the real thing soon and update this post.

Post Script: This picture is the real van now!

Early daffs ...

Well, we're ready for St David's Day in our garden! We have a bunch of early daffs that always light up the path to our front door about this time of year. I never cease to be amazed by their resilience. Just when we're fed up to the back teeth with winter and long for some sign of improvement in the weather, there they are ... ta daaaaaaaaa. It really cheers you up.

Especially since they are right by the front door so you can't help but notice them (even the paterfamilias has to acknowledge them when he stops to put his key in the lock and much as we love him, he's not known for his botanical observations!) Most of the plants in bloom at the moment require you to put wellies on just to go and have a look - our garden is very 'claggy' at the moment.

Actually by the time 1st March comes around, we'll probably have a few more daffodils in bloom the way the garden's looking now. Not that we have any Welsh connections (apart from some Welsh friends and neighbours) it's just the fact that these flowers usually appear about this time and are a reminder of the feast day.

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday and it seems rather fitting that we had such a lovely evening out yesterday, and with feasting of a sort too - a bit like our own mini Mardi Gras.

The contrast between yesterday and today will be all the more obvious - a quiet day with the minimum of food. We'll be going to Mass together this evening with the usual imposition of ashes. Although the people will be different to those in the picture below (!), it will be exactly the same ritual with the ashes and this will be repeated all over the world in a similar form. That's what I like about the universality of the Catholic Church - one of many things!

Sunset Boulevard ...

Yes, we did have a really good evening last night. We went to see Sunset Boulevard at The Comedy Theatre in London. It's a fairly small theatre with a very intimate feel about it - lovely. It was an excellent production. What a talented cast! A fairly small group of actors who effortlessly (or so it seemed) switched back and forth between being instrumentalists to singers to dancers and very convincing actors. It was amazing to watch.

We were lucky again to have time for a quick pre-show drink and a light meal. This time we found another lovely, friendly pub, The Imperial, very close to the theatre, which served delicious food, and very efficiently too. It was fairly full with a mixture of people having an after-work drink, tourists and theatre-goers but we managed to find a table straight away (thank goodness as I really don't like standing and drinking in a pub).

A good run home in the coach and safely tucked up in bed by midnight. Perfect!

It's Pancake Day ...

Yaaaaaay, it's Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday to give it it's proper name. I'm having mine early today as we're out this evening but I'm sure they'll be just as yummy. I hope you enjoy this clever video showing you how to cook pancakes. I'm not sure about the method of eating them at the end though!

I've also really enjoyed eating up all the chocolate I could find in the house in anticipation of the beginning of Lent tomorrow. I hope I haven't overdone it and feel queasy on the bus this evening.

Byzantium or bust ...

Well, the Byzantium exhibition was really good as expected. Our helpful coach driver had downloaded a podcast of a talk on the exhibition which he played during the trip up to London. A bit long as the expert was still talking when we arrived an hour later! And the fact that it was an audio podcast and the speaker kept referring to images, meant that quite a lot was lost ... but it was a thoughtful idea and and we did gain quite a lot from listening.

I made a mistake afterwards, however. I persuaded our son that we didn't really need a big 'proper lunch' and we could 'manage with a snack, couldn't we ... and enjoy dinner in the evening when we got home?'

That would have been fine, except that we found ourselves with a lot of extra time on our hands and spent most of it just wandering aimlessly, filling in time until the coach was due to pick us up.

With hindsight (a marvellous thing, if only we had it!) it would have been much better to have lingered over a proper meal in the warmth of a restaurant. Never mind, I've learned that lesson and next time, that's definitely what we'll do.

Mind you, we did take advantage of our early arrival in Picadilly to treat ourselves to a drink in the very superior cafe and patisserie, 'Richoux', not far from Fortnum and Mason.

See what I mean? I could quite happily have lingered here for an hour or more!

Test your knowledge ...

I've been whiling away a few minutes doing quizzes and I finally found one that I did well in - you don't think I'm going to post something that says, 'You're rubbish at this!' do you? hehehe!

There Are 0 Gaps in Your Knowledge

Where you have gaps in your knowledge: No Gaps! Where you don't have gaps in your knowledge: Philosophy Religion Economics Literature History Science Art

Do You Have Gaps in Your Knowledge?

No, I'm not a genius! I expect it would be pretty difficult to get a bad score in this particular quiz.

* * *

Sorry, I should have started a new post for this but haven't time to start again now!

Our older son and I are off to the Byzantium Exhibition tomorrow at the Royal Academy and I'm really looking forward to it. I've heard very favourable reports from everyone who's already been.

We're going on a 'works outing'. That expression seems to have gone out of fashion but that's basically what it is and we try and go on these 'jaunts' whenever we can. It's so liberating to be able to get on the coach and let somebody else do all the worrying. No need to think about where to park, how long we need to allow to get there, should we take a train or a bus etc. etc. We get dropped off at the door (or at least as near as the driver can get to it!) and picked up there afterwards. There's nothing like a charabanc trip!

Look what I saw in our garden today!

Shhhh..... don't say it out loud, but I saw something very exciting in our garden today. Now that the last traces of snow have finally disappeared (apart from a stubborn little patch by the side of the drive!) I noticed not one, but several bright yellow crocuses opening their petals to the watery sunshine today. HOORAY!! I love Spring and these little flowers are a sign that it is not that far away.

St Valentine or St Raphael?

I popped into our local shopping centre after work today and couldn't help noticing an increase in the number of men, young and old, buying; looking at; or carrying flowers in various forms, from a single rose to large bouquets - but of course today is the day before St Valentines Day!

But perhaps they've got it all wrong . . .

According to Clare Ward from the Catholic Enquiry Office St Valentine is the patron saint for those who have already found the love of their life. Those still searching for a soulmate should be petitioning St Raphael. At least that's what I read here.

"If tomorrow you are still looking for your soul mate, the actual patron saint is St Raphael. He's the person you should dedicate your day or pray to if you are looking for Mr or Mrs right."

St Raphael, according to legend, helped Tobias enter into marriage with Sarah, who had seen seven previous bridegrooms perish on the eve of their weddings.

Well, whichever saint you decide to ask to intercede for you, I hope your prayers are answered.

By the way, chaps, I think most females would be equally impressed with a large box of extra special chocolates - I know I would be! (Here's hoping!)

Now we can eat eggs again ...

Don't you just love it when scientists come up with 'new' food stories? The latest one, in the news today, is that we can now eat eggs again.

A team of scientists at the University of Surrey say research shows that limiting egg consumption has little effect on cholesterol levels.

I remember back in December of last year another group of scientists, this time from Oxford University, said that chocolate and wine improve memory.

Well, if eggs are OK and chocolate, then are chocolate eggs good for us too?

Roll on Easter - after the fasting and abstinence of Lent, I'm already looking forward to my chocolate Easter egg and a nice glass of wine. I may even start the day with a boiled egg and soldiers!

10 Years Younger? ... Be careful! ...

Thanks to Fr Leo for this joke.

A 54 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience.

Seeing God she asked, 'Is my time up?'

God said, 'No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live.'

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck. She even had someone come in and change her hair colour and brighten her teeth!

Since she had so much more time to live, she thought she might as well make the most of it.

After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded, 'I thought you said I had another 43 years? Why didn't you pull me out of the path of the ambulance?'

God replied: 'I didn't recognise you.'

This is for anyone who has been watching the TV programme '10 Years Younger' recently - Be careful, be very careful!

You get better weather with the BBC!

Interesting, isn't it how different two separate weather forecasts can be.

Like many others, I'm watching the forecast with hawk-like eyes at the moment hoping that it might be possible to take the car to work tomorrow.

Both of these forecasts were given at the same time today;

First of all the BBC:

Then Google:

Now, I know they're in different formats but no matter how you look at it Google predicts snow on Friday and Saturday and the BBC doesn't. I'm going to stick with 'Auntie' and hope she's got it right!

Something missing ...

Yes, it's good to have an unexpected day off but today is the second day at home and I missed Mass today - missed in the sense of being absent and also missed in that I felt that absence.

Today is the optional Memorial of St Blaise and we always have the blessing of throats at the end of Mass. This would have been especially good for me as I've had an ongoing problem with my throat for a few years.

I've decided I'm going to walk to church anyway as I know that it will be open. We are very lucky that we are able to leave the church unlocked every day during the day so people can pop in to pray when they want to.

In these conditions I should make it in under an hour and a half. I hope my family and friends will send a St Bernard (dog) after me with a tot of brandy if I don't return home by nightfall!

Not really about the snow ...

Just a footnote ... I've got loads of time today as I'm 'snowed in' (what a fantastic expression).

Looking out of the window, I can see neighbours and their children out playing in the snow (funny how a bit of snow brings out the child in most of us) and chatting to those who have ventured out saying, 'everybody's out, buying milk and bread etc. what a lovely sense of community .'

I'm itching to get my wellies on and do the same.

Even more snow ..

I know I've already posted pictures of the snow last night but how can you not take more photos when it's so beautiful outside?

The view from my window told me straight away that I wouldn't be going to work today.

Having spent an anxious evening worrying about whether or not my husband would make it home last night, I was relieved to hear that he was within half an hour of home at about midnight, having left Manchester soon after 7 pm.

Half an hour in ordinary driving conditions, that is ... however, a later phone call at about 1am told me that he couldn't get any further and he had made it as far as the office and was going to try and get a few hours' sleep there (home from home anyway!) I was happy to hear he was in the warm and dry at least.

It really is just like a scene from a Christmas card here.

And finally, this shot taken at about 8am shows just how much snow has actually fallen. It looks a bit surreal, almost as if a snowman is slumped in the chair.

I'll try not to mention the snow again for a while!

A little bit of snow ....

As a friend commented on my Facebook, it looks just like icing on a cake.

Quite magical! View from our bedroom window at 10pm.

View from our front door - will it be possible to get to work tomorrow?