Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Arse Kicker...

I saw these 'Words of Wisdom' on the back of a sweatshirt, worn by a blonde, large 'arse', 30 something. I used to be an Arse Kicker - 'AK'! When I was young, I had beautiful skin, witty words and sexy eyes and many older women would not speak to me. I did not understand why they treated me like dust. I have never been a 'bitchy' woman as I could not see the point. I vowed, at the age of 26, I would never, ever treat a younger woman like that. I have stuck to my vow.

Onto the AK that I am now. Recently, I found myself stumbling through my life but it was only tonight that I realised that I can be an AK again. I still have sexy eyes and am able to be generous, loving, giving and...as hard as bloody steel if the situation demands.

Talking of which, I am made of Stern Stuff because I come from Stern Stuff! My 90 something Grandmother made the trip to Cornwall yesterday. She looks absolutely fabulous with her 3 inch heels and her lipstick. My grandmother or as she is known as 'Nanny' to me and 'Two Nanny' to my children or 'Three Nanny' to my Granddaughter Angelina. It is a beloved Welsh thing and she is a definite 'AK' plus two.

I am trying to imagine her life. She has lived in the same house in Cardiff for 70 plus years. During the Second World War she took a Belgian family in and looked after them. She had three bedrooms, three children and another family to look after. As a young boy my father had a great friend called Roger and when they were teenagers, Roger was left to fend for himself. She took him in, fed, clothed and watched him join the RAF with my dad.

Just as I did, she found herself pregnant in her 30's with my lovely Aunt Jacqueline. When I fretted over my late pregnancy, she telephoned me, told me not to worry and told me it would be alright.

I must look to her and realise that whatever she went through was far and beyond what I am going through. Her name, by the way is Florence May.

Thank You Flo.

Be Careful out there.

Muse x

Sunday, 17 April 2011

Dedicated to D - She knows who she is.

I tried to watch 'The Social Network' the other night and failed to watch it to the end. For those not in the know, it is the story of Facebook. How it was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and various other people, the ensuing lawsuits and 'Social' fallout he endured.

Perhaps 'endured' is the wrong word for it, as to me, Zuckerberg is an infamous Geek with the mind of a genius and the social skills of a Hermit Crab. Note the reference to 'Hermit' and recent pap pictures of him squatting in a shop doorway, eating Mexican food. There is a reason for this. He is probably what I fondly call an 'Aspe' - I've dated a few BTW! His Asperger traits, linked with the mind of a Japanese high speed Bullet Train have got him into an awful lot of hot water. I understand the premis of FB and how it is used. Post what you want to folks but be aware it may come up behind you and bite you in the bum! Therefore, I don't really have a problem with Zuckerberg, suffice to say; get those fecking ads off my wall, they are irritating the pants off me!

Facebook has given me access to so many long lost friends and so much enjoyment that I cannot thank the Geek enough. Getting in touch with the Donut Kids was such a massive thing in my life. Last night I heard from a girlfriend that I had 'lost' along the way. I missed her so much but wasn't able to write that letter or make that phone call - as you do.

I searched for months on FB for her and my little bit of grey matter finally registered that she had a maiden name - I had been searching for her married name. Durr! I had a precious message from her and am delighted that she is bigger and better than me and was able to put my past mistakes behind us both. That little message meant so much to me.

Whatever you all think of 'The Great God Facebook', use it as it is supposed to be used and enjoy the ride.

Be careful out there.

Muse x

PS - Shame you did not use your talents effectively V.

Friday, 15 April 2011

Middle Class Bangers.

My little Banger has gone and has been replaced by a bit of a smart Nissan Micra. Tis very plush, it has a radio instead of a hole, power steering and some brakes.... imagine having Feck Off Brakes that you can actually use instead of having to change from 5th to 2nd very rapidly! Note to all you guys out there, I can read a map and tend to drive with my gears rather than wearing out my brake pads...nuff said! The blowers for the windscreen work so that I don't have to travel with 15 tea towels and a Shami stuffed in my glove box. Even more impressive is that the sun roof does not leak! No more Chinese Water Torture for me!

I have to say that the Banger has been a faithful and trusty companion for the last 9 months. I was very sadly broke at the time I purchased it. Obviously, I bought it on a sunny warm day and everything looked fine. I had a terrible winter trying to mop crap off the inside of the windscreen. I do not normally touch the inside of my windscreen - only 'women' drivers do that...ooo get me! I used to struggle to get into the damn thing as sometimes the central locking went into 'sulk' mode and it would take me a good half an hour to gain entry. Oh! And do not forget all the times that the alarm has gone off at 3am and I have had to get out of bed to silence, kick and swear at it. Apparently it wanted to kip on my sofa when we were experiencing high winds and rain.... However, it has never ever broken down and never failed to start! This I must be grateful for!

I knew that the banger was coming off the road, so was reading the motoring section of the local paper a couple of weeks ago and wondering how I was going to manage to get another Ve-Hickle on the road. I came across an Ad asking for a banger from a guy who wanted it for his son to learn to drive in. As I was reading the paper 4 days, after it was published, I rang the number and thought that he probably had a banger already. He rang me straight back and we agreed to meet. Surprise, surprise he offered me £170 for it! This meant I could afford to invest in Middle Class Banger rather than Working Class Banger. The MOT was due and as my car had a huge hole in the back passenger floor, an exhaust that farts like a Pregnant Elephant and the need to kip on my sofa when it's cold and exhausted, I said to him "Are you sure"? I am too honest to sell a load of crap onto someone else. After all Bad Karma comes back to haunt you! He was quite happy to take it and told me that he lived in deepest Cornwall, had a lot of land and it was for his 12 year old son to drive around his field in. Apparently his son has already wrecked a Ford Escort on the field. What a great dad he is!

That! was my childhood. At 13 years old I was driving Landrovers (real nasty ones) and backing Speed Boats down the jetty at Dhekelia Ski Club. At 17, I actually managed to 'deep six' a Landrover complete with trailer and Speedboat. Erm...I think this was due to a 4.30am start at Dhekelia Ski Club and a 2.30 am finish at The George Club! The Yompers at Alexandra Barracks had to pull out my Landrover, with their Landrover. Oh, the shame! I was Catatonic!

So here I am, in a state of bliss, driving my zippy little Micra through the Cornish lanes with superb v.flashy stereo on extra loud! The stereo is so good that apparently I have to remove the cover and take it with me in case someone is jealous. Apparently people are more jealous of Middle Class Bangers than Working Class bangers... It's All Greek to me!

Be careful out there

Muse x

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

His Crap is the same as my Crap !

T'Internet went down last week. Not just me but most of my neighbours. Blimey, my front door was red hot with people knocking on it and wondering whether I had a landline. The answer was a No. Not difficult in Bodmin, where I live. My phone number has only 5 digits and if its gonna crash then we are usually the first to do so.

A few nights without the Internet does strange things to a person. I actually watched some Crap TV. Dutch and I were discussing this and we agreed that my Crap is the same as his Crap. That means same Crap but different Crap to other people. Hmmm, hopefully you know what I mean! Crap means something that you can watch on TV with your thumb up your bum and the brain in neutral - erm...thats how the old saying goes.

Okay, onto my Crap. Reality TV. First, I watched something on BBC3 called 'Working Girls'. A programme about getting young girls to work as they were unemployed. Jaw dropping stuff. All they wanted to do was stay in bed. Getting these young women to work was like pulling teeth. Perhaps I am lucky. My elder children both work full time and have done so throughout their 6th form/degree education. We have always had a work ethic and I expected nothing more. I brought my children up to be independent.

These young women were unbelievable. They actually had no confidence in themselves. Sorry to preach but at 18, despite growing up under the 'Forces Brat' umbrella I was delighted about starting work. The girls in question had been spoiled by their parents, waited on hand, foot and finger. The parents should have taken responsibility for themselves, not just their offspring. Back to the sofa. I ground my teeth down to nothing as I sat and watched apathetic young women resist every opportunity that was thrown their way. All was eventually sorted and the girls started to realise that work might be a good thing. Hurrah for that but why did they need such remote 'Mentors'?? Why were their parents so submissive?

Onto the hilarious 'Living With Women'. Yeah, a fairly ridiculous premis. Again the parents played a huge part in this. Young guys were sent off into the yonder by their long suffering girlfriends to learn how to 'live' with older, wiser and much more savvy women. Actually they were rather gentle with their 'victims'. The whole thing stank of very bad parenting. Not difficult is it...

I did watch one whole episode of 'Jamies Dream School'. That's a lie! I had to turn it off. Stick to the cooking you Mockney Illiterate Little Boy!...Ooo get me! Our teachers are having to deal with the lack of parental control and could do without your help. Get over it man!

Onto 'One Born Every Minute'. Channel 4's rather excellent attempt at showing what happens when women go into labour and give birth. Personally, I would rather have my Ma there than some poor man who is having to deal with the incoming concept that is Fatherhood and his girl completely losing it in front of him. Believe me, an air of mystery is far better than asking him to shave your legs for you !

This week we had Oakley and Dave. Dave is an ex-Heroin addict now turned Methodone addict. He probably had about three brain cells in his head and was so laid back that I was rather worried he would actually lay back and stick his feet in the stirrups. (Note all single guys, look up Birth and Stirrups, not to be confused with a sexual preference.) Oakley is a pretty 18 year old, middle class girl who had (in her defence) got up the duff by accident. Dave was the love of her life...aww bless she's 18! Oakley had to grow up rather fast and supervise their finances and cope with his methadone habit. Oakley was so in awe of him because he represented everything her parents abhorred.

Oakley; Quote - I want to give my baby girl everything my parents gave me. We had a lovely life with beautiful things and lovely holidays. - Unquote. God help her!

I am so distressed for her. Baby Tallulah or Tiffany or something like that was born at a whopping 9lb ish to this tiny size 8 girl. All Dave could do was grin and congratulate himself. Gruesome.

My Crap might be the same as his Crap but I think it upsets me more.

Look after you and yours.

Muse x

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Bored Little Boys.

I spent last week at the Parents Lodge in deepest Cornwall. It is about six miles from the sea, with not a lot between it and the Atlantic. The parents were in Switzerland with the Great Grandaughter, I was therefore responsible for The Git over half term. He usually buggers off to the parents for every weekend/holiday and I am left to be ill in peace. Add to this the fact that The Git had been off school for two weeks due to a bad chest infection...difficult!

I do try to be a good parent...honest. But three weeks in the company of my son was pushing my sanity to the limit. We started out quite well. I live in a three bed 60's house with virtually no heating and am used to wandering around in the evening looking like a homeless person. Scarf, check! Furry boots, check! Large cardi, check! Fingerless gloves, check! The Lodge has state of the art heating, insulation and is fecking boiling. I spent a week hanging out of a window with my face in a force nine gale blustering off the Atlantic. Seriously though the weather was horizontal rain and a force nine ALL week. Pretty awful for the poor Git.

We went to McDonalds, the Beach and the Aquarium. Tried the swimming pools but they were all closed and I was not going to wander around a very small Zoo looking at grumpy, wet and fed up animals! A further complication was that there was no landline, no mobile signal and as for Broadband...forget it! This meant we had sporadic electricity, a TV and ourselves.

The Git was really good but bored little boys are not the easiest to deal with. I suppose the whole week made me appreciate how insular we have all become. All readers of this Blog know that I did not have a TV as a child due to the many postings abroad. I did not know any better and am very grateful for that. Instead I buried my head in books. The Git has slowly grown into the age of the Internet and now knows more about 'Putes than I have forgotten. This is a reality check for me as a parent.

The Git does not spend hours on games, online. He spreads himself around, talking to friends, shopping, playing the odd game and editing his You Tube page which is all about skate boarding. I don't play games online and also spread myself about doing different things. Okay...so we are using the net in a positive way but we are not communicating. This all smacks of BAD mother. Yeah! I agree, he is my third child, perhaps I am not able to parent as I once did. I remember, as the eldest of five kids, my little sister Jax, was at one point in her teenage years, allowed to stay out until two in the morning! I actually had a row with my mother about it as I was given a curfew of 10.30.

There are two sides to the coin here. Do you realise that times change and become a more relaxed parent? Or do you understand that you must step up to the mark, embrace the change and still instill values and routine in your child?

Talking of 'Bored Little Boys' and the Internet. I have quoted this on my Blog before but this quote is so topical at the moment.

The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had.
Eric Schmidt

We have a lot of 'Bored Little Boys' in the Middle East at the moment and as this is not a political Blog, I shall just say that watching certain people smack a load of propoganda on the Net and sitting back to watch it explode is interesting to say the least.

Be careful What You Wish For.

Muse x

Sunday, 27 February 2011

Into The Mystic.

I first heard this song at the age of 13. I was babysitting at MRS in Cyprus, the former BMH. BMH had caused my mother some consternation on the 1st of December 1963 when I was delivered by an Officer in his dinner jacket, all 8lb 13oz of me. Blimey, Sumo wrestler!

Back to the song, the kid I was babysitting for went to sleep and I put on the stereo. From that moment on I became a lifelong fan of Van the Man. Yeah all 5 foot 4 of him and an aggressive nasty Northern Irish Boy.

This song is for all the Donut kids as I start my Blog again with hope and a smile on my face. Listen to it and think of our childhood. You Tube is too easy, look it up!


We were born before the wind,
Also younger than the sun...
Ere, the bonnie boat was won, as we sail into the Mystic.
Hark, now hear the sailors cry,
Smell the sea and feel the sky.
Let your soul and spirit fly into the Mystic.

And when that foghorn blows, I will be coming home.
And when that foghorn blows, I want to hear it.
I don't have to fear it,
I want to rock your Gypsy soul,
Just like way back in the days of old.
Then magnificently we will fold into the Mystic.

When that foghorn blows,
you know I will be coming home.
And when that foghorn whistle blows,
I got to hear it
I don't have to fear it.

And I want to rock your Gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old,
And together we will fold into the Mystic
Come on Girl..

Too late to stop now...

Muse x

PS I was 27 when they blew it up - yeah, some twist of fate meant I was there to watch it!

Monday, 14 February 2011

Valentines Day and a Beautiful Girl.

I am sorry to have been out of touch recently but I haven't been so well. Thanks for sticking with me.

It's hard to get going again with Donut Child after such a long absence but I am determined to give it a go. Thank you! to all of you for your mails, telling me how much you missed it. Here I am with a sticky keyboard - due to The Git spilling a drink over it.

I don't celebrate Valentines Day in the traditional sense, not because I am a Grumpy Old Woman, just that my beautiful daughter Sian was born at 5.25 am, 26 years ago today. Poor girl. She hates having her birthday on this day. She cannot celebrate with her friends by having a meal as the restaurants are full of loved up couples trying to be romantic. Love exists in many forms and the best of that is spontaneous. There is nothing spontaneous about Valentines Day!

Sian was born at Cheletenham Hospital in the snow. She was four weeks early and took us all by surprise. I had no pram or cot, they were on order but had not arrived. Nothing really. She was my first baby and at just 21 I had no idea. In those days there wasn't the shopping culture there is now. At the time I worked as an 'Advertising Sales Executive'...those 80's titles were hilarious weren't they!

Sian was born on the Thursday morning. On the Monday I was still working and fell down the stairs at my parents house. It wasn't really a fall, more of a 'slip on your bum and slide down the stairs ungracefully'. I went to the Docs to get checked out and he told me that my blood pressure was through the roof and if I didn't give up work, he would hospitalise me. Suffice to say, I turned up at work and gave them the bad news. I can remember the fantastic people that I worked with and within a few hours I was given a wonderful send off with lots of gifts.

I felt very sorry for myself on the Tuesday. I was staying with my parents at the time. Dad was on a course in Bude and Mum was at work. I had this terrible urge to clean (rather unlike me!) and went through the house like a mad woman. I did not sleep on the Tuesday night as I had a back ache. On the Wednesday a friend came over to cheer me up. She was a Staff Nurse and noticed that I kept wincing every 20 minutes or so. She kept looking at her watch and I asked her if she was late for something. She replied, 'Nope, but you're in labour'. 'NAH!!!' said I. 'Bugger off'! She insisted that I went to hospital and there I was a 21 year old, first time mum to be, in total denial.

On arrival they established that I was a whole 4 centimetres dilated. Blimey how did that happen, I thought! A nurse came in and laid some baby clothes on a radiator. 'Why are your doing that?' said I. She told me they were for my baby. That is when it hit me. I am about to give birth. I had a massive panic attack and told the nurse I wanted to go home as I wasn't ready. Yeah, very funny I know but the thought of becoming a mum hit me like a train.

Mum arrived in a bit of a panic, poor woman but brave woman! Mum was just shy of her 40th birthday. She stayed with me throughout the 16 hours of labour. I was convinced that I was having a boy. As I pushed Sian out Mum caught her and shouted 'We have a girl, a little girl!'. I was shaking so hard that I could not hold her. As mum cradled her she opened her big blue eyes and looked around. My reaction to this?? 'Sod you Mum, why do you always have to be right.' Mum had said it would be a girl and I insisted it was a boy. Sian weighed in at 6lb 12oz, despite her early start.

My father was in Bude and snowed in. He finally saw her when she was 11 days old. I still have a little slip of paper which is the message my father received on her birth. It read ' Your Daughter has given birth to a baby girl, both doing fine'. It must have been as much of a shock to him as it was to me!

A couple of hours later a nurse kept giving me this baby to feed and change. I wasn't on the ward as I my blood pressure was a tad high and was in my own room. I put them off as long as possible as I was so badly shocked and bewildered. I finally had to change her. Opening the nappy, I was utterly appalled and not knowing what to do, I ran the tap in the sink, testing it carefully with my elbow ( I had seen that done in films) and put her bum under the running tap. This poor little mite was being held upside down, under a tap by her incompetent mother and I was caught in the act!!! Nurse took over and I was mightily relieved that someone knew what they were doing!

Some five hours after the birth my entire office crowd piled into my room bearing gifts and smiles. All I could think about was I had no bloody make up on! I could not understand what all the fuss was about! Sian and I had 87 congratulations cards. It took me 10 days in Hospital to get up the courage to take my precious little girl out into the world. I remember being terrified in the car. It was a 'What if ???' scenario.

My lovely family rallied around me and somehow she survived, despite my inadequacy. She was such a pretty and content baby. I remember leaning over her cot when she was six weeks old. Looking at this wonderful sleepy little girl and whispering to her that I loved her more than life itself.

Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Sian

Love Mum x