Typecast

Back in October I was having a bit of a clear-out of all my crafting bits and pieces and found a few crochet hooks.  I'm not sure how I acquired them because I've never been able to crochet - it's the one craft that has always eluded me.  They might have been in the sewing box that I rescued from Mum's house after she died.  Crochet is becoming increasingly popular with lots of pop-up tutorial sessions, stitch and bitch classes and my IG/Twitter/Facebook feeds full of scrumptious pictures of projects that people had completed.  So knowing that I'm a kinesthetic learner I took to YouTube to try and teach myself.  I could do chains but then my rows back and forth ended up as unintentional triangles and I still didn't know how to do a square which everyone had said was easy peasy.  I felt as though I had failed miserably so returned to knitting. When on a visit to my mother-in-law's house about five weeks ago I saw that she was crocheting some squar...

For more Silent Sunday pictures, have a look at Cosmic Girlie 's blog.

I wrote about my five favourite Christmas songs last year so as a seasonal addition to the Soundtrack To My Life series this year I have sourced some of my most favourite Christmas songs (or covers) that I think deserve a bit more air time. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas wherever you may be. If you want to join in with Soundtrack To My Life in the future please scroll to the bottom of the post for more details. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Jona Lewis - Stop The Cavalry This almost falls into the category of " shove some sleigh bells in the background and it's a Christmas song " (ref: Stay Another Day  by East 17) or " make the video Christmassy because of its November/December release date " (ref: Power Of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood)  because it has the line " ... wish I was at home for Christmas... " in it.  But it's a song from the 80s - which is my era - and is one of the songs of my childhood. Ant & Dec with Robbi...

I think I've shared all my stories of Christmas with you so until more are created  I've decided to do a bit of a round-up of the best for you.  Grab a brew, put your feet up and have a read. ☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆ 。☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆ Firstly, here is my annual Christmas message (I should update it really), then you can have a read of what happened on the first Christmas Eve that my husband and I spent together which we spent at my parents house.  Next find out what Santa brings naughty boys for Christmas and finally, here is some Christmas preparation insight which has been gained over the past 23 years (yes, I impart more wisdom.  You're so lucky!). And, to finish, I never thought I'd be able to top this (dancy, jazz hands) version of All I Want For Christmas Is You  but my hero of the year, Steve Kardynal , has been back on Chatroulette again and pulled off this masterpiece ! ☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆ 。☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆‿↗⁀↘‿↗⁀☆ Have ...

The High Tea Cast writing team have created some fantastic Christmas-themed articles this year and I hope you've already tuned in and have been enjoying them all.   Today it's my turn and I'm using The Three P's to demonstrate how to destress the cooking of your Christmas Dinner . It's worked for me for the past 20-odd years so it's time to share the secrets...  Find all my articles on The High Tea Cast here 

I am the world's clumsiest twat.  Seriously.  I'm not sure there's anyone to rival me.  I can trip over thin air and create a disaster out of nothing (I'll replay an example for you at the end of this post).  And today I surpassed myself. I fell down two steps.  Two really small s teps and landed like a sack of potatoes with my handbag spilling out all over the place and all the pages in my file wafting in the wind.  But I'm British and refused any offer of help from passers-by because I was s.o. e.m.b.a.r.r.a.s.s.e.d.  I gingerly put some weight on my foot and felt OK so I limped to my meeting. An hour later, as I attempted to walk back to my car, the pain had got almost too much to bear.  I cried all the way home as I drove down the motorway.  Gratefully, my husband was at home and, after calling me a clumsy twat (see, you thought I was exaggerating with my opening sentence, didn't you?), drove me to the hospital.   A sho...

The UK's Number One... HUGGER takes centre stage on Soundtrack To My Life today.  Tara is a fellow blogger who I'm lucky to have met on a few occasions and can now call a friend. Having left behind a career in journalism, Tara is now much happier as a work-at-home mum with a passion for photography.  Let's have a listen to which tracks she has chosen for her Soundtrack To My Life .  ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Stevie Wonder - Pastime Paradise   I grew up in a very musical family. My dad was a guitarist in a band and when I was 10 I moved in with my step-dad who was a sound engineer for live bands.  He had the coolest collection of music and whenever I would play a new song I heard, he would go to his LP collection, select an album and play some obscure track off it and say "this is where that riff comes from; can you hear it?"  He used to play Stevie Wonder's album Songs in the Key of Life all the time and this really reminds me of him. Simple Minds - W...

I used to work for an insurance brokers and was so grateful for the staff discount I was entitled to when I first started driving.  At this moment in time, two of my children are learning to drive and once they pass they will have the skill forever but we're all worried about the cost of purchasing a car, then the price of insurance and the escalating cost of fuel.   Hitachi Personal Finance have sent me some really useful information as a guide to buying a car for young drivers.  The tips are from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) . ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ It is tempting for young drivers to buy cheaper, older cars. However, as the IAM argues, this can prove a false economy as research shows that nearly half of men under 20 who were killed or seriously injured in crashes were driving cars over ten years old.  Younger drivers are at more risk of serious injury because older cars offer less crash protection and have fewer safety features. IAM director...

As the parent of three children - one girl and two boys - and grandparent to two young girls (I know, I don't look old enough...) I was very interested in the  ITV Tonight  programme " Pop, Sex And Videotape " which promised to examine the amount of sexually suggestive imagery in modern pop videos. Years ago I used to study pop videos and copy the dances, strutting my stuff in the lounge or my bedroom. I'm sure my mum was concerned that I was going to be pushing my crotch out suggestively and making wavy arm movements (see the Salt n Pepa ' Push It ' video) much in the same way that I am concerned that my eldest granddaughter (who knows almost every single word to every single current pop song) is going to innocently attempt to emulate twerking.  The programme started off on the right foot, comparing the exposure we have in the modern digital era to how pop on camera (or video) has evolved.  We had a comparison of Elvis' swiveling hips (very ...

My husband despairs at me.  I have a good job and have made a significant and successful career change recently yet I fail at the most simple of things.  Today, however, I even surprised myself.  Let me explain. I parked the car at 9.30 this morning, knowing that I wouldn't be returning to it until much later in the afternoon.  I park in a multi-story car park that I use regularly because it is dirt cheap for a daily ticket.  I pick up my little pull-along case and march across town.  I do my work thing and march back. I push my ticket in the machine and it spits it back out at me.  Computer says "NO!" I push my ticket in the machine a little bit harder and the same thing happens. I push my ticket in the machine, threaten it and watch it eject itself.  . I hang back and let three people who who have formed a queue behind me try their ticket. They all manage to pay for their car parking time, give me a smug or withering look and fu...

Error pages on the web are commonplace and everyone has encountered one whilst browsing their way through a website at one point or another. Most commonly, a user will end up on an error 404 page which displays very little information and merely tells the user that the page they are looking for does not exist. The standard 404 error page isn’t especially helpful or even interesting to look at. If the user cannot navigate their way back to where they were, the chances are that they’ll get fed up and navigate away from the website altogether. While broken links and deleted content will land a user at an 404 page, it isn’t always the fault of the webmaster that a user lands on the error page. If a user mistypes a URL then they’ll be confronted with it. Either way, it’s in the webmaster’s best interest to reengage the user should they land on the error page. There are lots of simple ways to create a great error page which should reduce the risk of your user wandering off the site ...

Today's Soundtrack To My Life comes from Louise.  Our paths crossed online many years ago and we've kept in touch despite never meeting.  Louise is a talented writer and it's through our love of the creative that she introduced me to her dad who also loves writing and music.  And we all know how I love those random connections, don't we?  And on that note (see what I did there?), it's over to Louise...  ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Paul Simon - Graceland   Both my parents were big Paul Simon fans and I could have chosen a dozen different songs by him but this one sticks out. Firstly because it's just such a good tune and secondly it always brings back memories of walking the dog along the canal, this album plugged permenantly into my cassette player. No matter how you're feeling, this tune suits it. Meatloaf - Bad Attitude In my teens I was all about rock. Especially Meatloaf, you just can't help but love a good power ballad. This is one of his le...

When I first came up with the idea for a radio quiz show I firstly didn't think that I would get anyone else interested in participating and secondly thought that no-one would ever listen in.   I was wrong on both accounts.   However, I truly did not know how much work goes on behind the scenes to plan, record and edit a half hour show of this nature.   But it was SO much fun!  I think a lot of that was down to the team that I managed to convince volunteered to participate and this included one person with a stack of (not so) mobile recording equipment, someone who could assist in the recording of the shows and a group of people who gelled as a team despite never having met prior to July of this year.   You can hear all past shows on MixCloud  and read a bit about each show here  but, for now, here are the outtakes.  Maybe this is just funny to The Big Cheese team but the eavesdropper in me knows that you'd lik...

I wrote this post while participating in an influencer campaign by Mumsnet on behalf of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.   Please view my disclosure policy for more details. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ I think it was during a childhood developmental check that my parents found out I had issues with my eyesight.  Tunnel vision was mentioned, but soon dismissed and it was agreed that I should have regular check-ups to monitor the situation.  As a child of the 70's there were a grand total of one style of frame available in three colours- pink, blue or brown.  Lots of attempts were made (by my parents) to make me wear my glasses and lots of attempts were made (by me) to 'lose' the glasses.  I was never over-confident about my appearance in the first place  and the f ace furniture just made me feel even more self-conscious about my looks .     I'm not even sure why ...

After a conversation at work last week I totally embarrassed myself with my lack of football knowledge.  I probably dug a deeper hole by by quoting this advert for milk verbatim, complete with dodgy Scouse accent... But I got home and went on a bit of a YouTube fest, digging deeper and deeper into that sentimental hole. Many of my nostalgic adverts have songs that end up as ear-worms and have embedded themselves into that part of the brain that never ever gets used until one or two bars of a jingle is played when it comes flooding back to the forefront of your head and bursts out of your mouth.  So here is my journey through the adverts of the 80's and there may be one or two from the 70's there as well. We shall start with the Smiths Crisps advert (to the tune of "Bobby's Girl" - a rewrite of a well-known song always helps with the ear-worm process) and then on to the Shake n Vac because that is still how I vacuum the house to this day... ...

Here's a great infographic about drivers in Ireland (who appear to have a lot on their plate).  This shows where they get their insurance cover, how much they spend and how they behave on the road plus a few extra interesting statistic. Infographic Source : OnePoll Survey of 500 Irish drivers This is a featured post.  For more information please see my disclosure policy .

This week's  Soundtrack To My Life  is from Jo.  She is a Stay At Home Mum and fully embroiled in family life who started a blog to document family life and to meet like-minded parents.  Let's have a look at the songs that she's chosen to represent her journey through Soundtrack To My Life .  ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston   This was big just around the same time I was splitting up from my then Fiancé. I had left home to buy a house with him and was very upset, so this song was one of those I'd listen to, like you do, to have a good cry! I remember watching The Bodyguard at the cinema and it coming on. Incidentally I did not continue to always love him! And I kept the house! Relight My Fire - Take That   I was a huge Take That fan the first time they were big and still am now! This song was fab and really got the crowd joining in when I saw Take That on tour before they broke up. I remember going to the gig an...

Not a day goes by when the news headlines don't feature a breaking story about the NHS. Whether it’s about strikes, protests, government cuts or negligence, we can't help but form our own opinions about our National Health Service. As a controversial and often heated topic of conversation, it can be difficult to tell if there is a common thought amongst the public. Thousands, if not millions, of us turn to the NHS year-on-year and many would be lost without it – but does that mean we love it? Compensation landslide A report by the Standard revealed that the NHS in London alone pays on average £470,000 in compensation – and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The service pays on average £700 every day for every livebirth , according to a report by the BBC. Due to the nature of these compensation pay outs, the vast majority are due to what is deemed to be negligence. Naturally, many in the public are angry, but not necessarily at the expense of the NHS. ...