Where in the world?

If you won two free plane tickets, where would you go?

Three lots of first-class plane tickets and five star accommodation? Wow. That is a wonderful prize to win. Thank you so much!! 

Leaving aside the fact my mom has passed, I’m thinking she would enjoy a holiday in Antigua ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฌ or Barbados ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ง. Somewhere sunny and gorgeous.

With the next pair of tickets I would like to fly a very special person to me up to Scotland ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ to an area of her choice. For many years, she, her husband, and their dogs would take fishing holiday’s up there. They loved the wildlife and the space.

Last but not least, i would use these tickets to take my buddy from Cornwall to Chennai ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ I am sure she would enjoy the India experience.

Thanks for that DP @ WP! Very much appreciated I can assure you.

Who are you?

What’s the story behind your nickname?

I’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody too?

Then there’s a pair of us – don’t tell!

They’d advertise – you know!

How dreary to be somebody!

How public like a frog

To tell ones name the lifelong day

To an admiring bog.

Emily Dickinson ( 1830~1836)

New Beginings

What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?

First off, I would like to thank someone here on WordPress ..G Man thesurvivorshandbook

( As you see G Man, I am even unable to highlight this link to you. What a loser ๐Ÿ˜†)…

https://tshb.info ( grrr even that didn’t highlight)

Seems a bit random to do so, you’re thinking? Not really. It ties in with the health and well-being vibe DP has going for us today. He ( G Man) has kindly reached out to me to help with some tech stuff I need to learn/do.

An organic shift has been going on with me lately. I’m shunning the chat radio. I’m no longer asking Alexa to play music ( except A Town Called Malice, by The Jam…love that to fire me up sometimes!), and I’m definitely turning my back on the Socials…and those games I played for hours? Gone!. I’ve even taken the battery out of the kitchen clock that’s was getting on my nerves.

I need to make room in my head for a new phase in my life. A refresh, a reboot. Not just a turn it off, turn it on kinda thing. But an unplug at the wall and wait…

All that is gold does not glitter

What are your future travel plans?

‘ All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall beย  blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

J.R.R. Tolkein (1892~1973)

It’s not the radio

What do you listen to while you work?

Until quite recently, I would have LBC London, a chat radio station on in the background for hours…but at the moment I’m favouring silence.

However, at this moment in time, there is a fly going round that earlier must have wriggled through a slightly ajar window somewhere and cannot find its way out, with all doors and windows now wide open.

Then there’s the fridge that hums along for a short while and then shudders and sighs.

A van is reversing somewhere along the street, so his warning beeps are audible.

Squirrel manages to make quite the racket clambering up and down the garden fence as he grabs pieces of apple and then legs it to his crib.

That clock. I’ve had the kitchen clock for many years. Aesthetically, it’s very pleasing, but I have wondered for some time if the tick is getting louder. It’s beginning to grate.

Birdsong. That always delights me. What’s that saying about becoming old/er.? ‘ One minute you’re young, free and a little bit wild The next thing you know, you’re studying the details on the back of a bird seed bag’ Pigeons are cooing. My darlings blackbird and robin try to get a word in, but the crows are dominating the airwaves at the moment. Curious that they are so very loud and yet so skittish when they land.

A police helicopter will whizz overhead at some stage. An ambulance or fire engine will have me giving a quiet thanks they are not present for my benefit.

My dog snores softly, my tummy rumbles. The floorboard will creak as I cross it to put on the kettle, and you will be able to hear the rustle of a bread wrapper and the toaster fires up.

Welcome to my world.

.

Food Glorious Food

Whatโ€™s your go-to comfort food?

I could write you a very long list of comfort foods that work for me; crunchy peanut butter spooned straight from the jar (whilst standing in the kitchen watching the birds feed)

If it wasn’t for haloumi and Feta, I’d be a fully paid up vegan. But these salty cheeses get me every time.

Oh, and curly fries. I won’t go on and on, but I easily could. To finish up I  must add meals cooked by someone else.

The best food I’ve eaten recently was at The Tremenheere Sculptor Gardens, just outside Penzance in Cornwall. Oh my goodness, the Mushroom Risotto was sublime..

The Games People Play

What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?

A few days back, Daily Prompt asked us what activities we did that made us lose track of time.

I mentioned playing and enjoying Redecor, Zen Word and Woodle Screw on my tablet. Well, that statement was the kiss of death as I’ve already stepped back from two of them.

Redecor, as the name suggests in an interior design game. I’ve played it for years and mostly pay a little each month for enhancements. But enough already! The repeated graphics are becoming tiresome, and I’m properly bored of ‘ beige’ winning every round. Use any form of self-expression and you tank. Simple as.

Woodle Screw is a logic nuts and bolts game, totally addictive, and that’s not healthy.

I shall still play one round/ circuit of Zen Word each day, ’cause that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it?ย  For the words. The game lasts about 30 minutes, giving my grey matter a bit of a workout.

And that’s about it, really, for today.

Yesteryear, I was taught to handle a pack of cards by Lily and Arthur, my guardians, at that time. I have fond memories of playing Gin Rummy at their kitchen table. Or Patience by myself. Happy days.

You can take the girl out of India….

What foods would you like to make?

I would like to perfect a South Indian breakfast. Having written about favourite foods before, I won’t elaborate. Simply to say it’s divine. Maybe I should learn to master a pressure cooker?

For the majority of the years I lived and worked in India there was a cook in the house. How lucky was I to have my breakfast presented each morning, in such a manner. A daily feast. Amazing!

Often I would drop into the kitchen to see what was going on. It was always such a hive of activity. Pans rattling, wonderful aromas, huge piles of palak ( spinach) and bunches of fresh corriander…local chit chat and a Tamil film score in the background….. wow

Patch, my muse

Dogs or cats?
Dogs, but I love cats too

Animals are my thing. I just love them!

Dogs are an absolute passion, I share a life with my Canine companion, and I’d be lost without him.

But it’s cats that really make me smile; their aloofness, the patience they have to sit facing a stone wall for as long as it takes to spot a field mouse. Their way of using that last ray of sunshine  to nap in. Their agility and poise. They way they prowl through my neighbourhood and stop outside just long enough for Patch to pick up their scent and react. I’m sure they do that on purpose. Their curiosity. Their stillness.

Dogs have owners, cats have staff ‘ Margaret Benson ( 1865~1916)