Monday, 1 September 2014

Things That Go Bump In the Night

   
   
    Having never lived in an apartment before, I'm finding living in such close confines with complete strangers takes a little getting use to. The coughs from the guy through the wall first thing in the morning makes me want to tell him when I see him, to call for an appointment with the doctor.

    The late hours that the teenager with the pink hair two floors above keeps, I know must be worrying her parents and the dog that belongs to one of the apartments on the landing above, has the annoying habit of starting to bark just when I've managed to drop off to sleep.

    But, what do my neighbours think of their new foreign neighbour? Maybe they describe me as the woman who is constantly perspiring when they meet her. Because the thirty plus degrees outside temperature, is also something that I'm having to get use to.

    Apartment living is all about live and let live, I've found out in the last week. The only thing that I'm not so keen on, is the occasional bump in the night of which has no reasonable explanation.

Friday, 29 August 2014

Wash Day Blues






    I told you in Monday's blog, as to how I was temporarily moving my home base to the Canary Islands and I want to shout out, 'I've arrived.'

    Not that it will make any difference to the folks around here, but I'm ecstatic. However moving home can be a little stressful and relocating to a different country does have its little drawbacks.

    Especially, when it seems that your brain has decided to catch a later flight. Yeah, I'm running on dumb mode at present. First day here I managed to cut my fingers three times making dinner, thankfully I had packed the plasters. Then disaster struck when I put a dark blue towel in the wash with a white bath sheet, result turquoise bath sheet.

    Oh, and there's my new iron which has the shortest flex in the world and it keeps flying out of the electric socket when I try to smooth my rumpled clothes. Laundry days I can see are going to be a challenge.

    Hopefully, my brain will arrive in the next few days and I will feel back to normal, not that I'm saying that I will ever fall into the normal bracket. That would be a little far fetched.

    Okay, next challenge before  my brain arrives I'm going to have to find free WiFi somewhere so I can publish this post. I better splash on some suntan oil.

 


Monday, 25 August 2014

A Bit of a Change



    I'm kind of excited because over the next few weeks I'm setting off on an adventure. I'm not going to some place which is unfamiliar to me, but to move into my own apartment in the place I love holidaying the most.


    While I won't be taking up permanent residence in the Canary islands, I will now be spending more and more time there. I've told you all before as to how Tenerife is my 'Fantasy Island' and I'm looking forward to starting a new project and hopefully blogging about living, rather than holidaying in a different country.


    Of course there are some things that I will dearly miss when I go away. There is one important person that I definitely will miss, and I certainly I will miss the little guy below.


   For us all it will be a bit of a change, for sure.

Friday, 22 August 2014

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

 

    For over a week I've been visiting a close family member in hospital everyday and placed at the doors of the elevator was a massive sign that stated the hospital's pledge to its patients.

    It contained the words, caring, compassion, respect, dignity, kindness, humanity, individuality and concluded that everyone matters.

    At first I payed little, or no attention to this collection of words; but as the condition of my relative deteriorated, the words that I read each day became more significant. Writers use words to demonstrate the depth of the thoughts, actions and feelings of their characters in a fictional piece.

    However, being a seriously ill patient in hospital is not a work of fiction, words written in a pledge need to be carried out. Sadly, the staff's actions never did speak louder than the words.

 

 

Friday, 15 August 2014

You're Amazeballs



    If you read original versions of books by William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and other greats; I'm sure we all come across words that are pretty alien to our everyday lives. It may also be that we have to search out the actual meaning.

    The English language and other languages are continuing to develop, all influenced by the multicultural society that we now live in and our use of social media.

    Because of this the Oxford Dictionary has added some new words to their listings, in recognition of words that are now being used on a regular basis by English speakers.

    Some people I'm sure will be holding there hands up in horror, when they read through the new additions. However, if the users of words such as clickbait, amazeballs, bingewatch, neckbeard, sideboob, cray are used in the correct context and the user knows the true definition; I certainly don't know what the fuss is about. After all, YOLO.

Monday, 11 August 2014

Drawing the Line



    There has been lots of debate recently about the over sexualisation of teenage girls. We can't stop talking about how distasteful some of us find the raunchy antics of celebrities and the advertisements for teenager's clothing ranges.

    Yes, we know that sex sells, always has and probably always will. Even if we go back 60, or 70 years in the movies, young female starlets were cast in the lead role not on account of their wonderful acting skills, but because of their sex appeal.

   Without a doubt, due to the Internet and other media outlets it's now out there for all to see, therefore making it a very difficult thing to police. Yes, some girls may try to emulate their idol, or wear their skirt as short as the model's in the advertisement, for them it's part of growing up.

    However, it is our duty as adults to protect our girls and boys whenever possible. Providing both with a good sex and relationship education I believe is critical in helping them distinguish the difference between right and wrong. Ultimately, the teenagers themselves are the only ones that can draw the line that should not be crossed.

   

Friday, 8 August 2014

Super Luna



    As the moon cosies up to Earth on Sunday, 10th August; should we brace ourselves for a natural disaster such as an earthquake, and volcanic eruption? Or, with all the man-made disasters that are going on in this crazy world should we just enjoy the beauty of her lighting up our night sky?


    I'm hoping that the clouds won't come along and spoil the sight of the perigee moon, because I'm depending on its light whilst I'm keeping a look out for vampires, werewolves and any roaming deities that may want to gatecrash the party.