Creating Space

All Hail the King!! (of Rock 'n' Roll)

 

So in honour of Elvis' birthday (which would have been today) I'm taking part in the Music Blog Train organised by Helen. If you'd like to follow the blog train from the start go back to her blog here! If you've just come over from Laura's blog welcome!! 

We're all talking (in various ways) about our musical tastes and styles... which really got me thinking! I wonder if any of my lovely readers would know about my musical past? No, probably not! It's not something I advertise much because for many years now I had 'fallen out of love' with music. Sure, I still listened to it but I haven't taken part for ooooh.... nearly 13 years now. However, over the past few months I have started feeling a stirring, an urge to get involved again.

I started playing Piano at the age of 6-ish and went to lessons after school for years. At High School I started doing my lessons at school and eventually I got my Grade 8 and sat my Matriculation exams in Music. Several times I had wanted to quit, but my parents kept saying that they "hadn't paid all that money for music lessons just so I could give it up!" During the early  part of High School I started singing in choirs and groups and the latter part of High School saw me involved in the Natal Youth Choir. At the end of High School I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my future and found myself being "guided" into doing Music at undergrad level. I enjoyed the first 18 months of it as I transferred from Piano to Voice as my first instrument. Then, it all went pear shaped. My whole life fell apart for various reasons and I left Uni at the end of my second year vowing never to play an instrument again. I returned to the UK and met my husband. It was at this stage that I realised that my musical tastes were not exactly 'normal'. All my life I had only really ever listened or participated in "Classical" music. After Uni I decided to start 'educating' myself in more modern music. I started at early Jazz and Ragtime and there I fell in love with the arrangements of Count Basie and Duke Ellington. The crooning of the jazz singer's including Ella Fitzgerald and the gravel-voiced Sachmo (Louis Armstrong). They led me onto the wartime years where I fell in love again... with Glenn Miller and Vera Lynn and Nightingales in Berkeley Square. Elvis followed soon after followed very quickly by Cliff Richard and the Shadows. I was lucky enough to see Cliff Richard perform in Durban soon after the sanctions had been lifted in 1993 and was amazed by his energy. I dabbled a bit in the Beatles too, but that is where my musical 'self-education' seemed to stop. It was only after I met and married my hubby that I realised I had missed out on so much. The 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's all held so much that I needed to catch up on! 

Now days I can say that I'm a little more 'with it'. I'm enjoying Snow Patrol, Keane, Paloma Faith alongside some of the older bands such as the Rolling Stones, BeeGee's, Pink Floyd as well as some of hubby's favourites like Big Country and the Housemartins. Yup, to the casual observer it may seem that my musical tastes have caught up somewhat... however, the more discerning eye will still catch me putting Classic FM on the radio and enjoying my Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt...  In fact, I'm considering returning to my roots all together as I've raised enough money between my Birthday and Christmas to invest in a Digital Piano . The only question is... am I going to play Classical Music... or teach myself to play more modern stuff? I'd love to play the Blues like Jamie Cullum!

Now, head on down to Tracey's blog for a look at her musical tastes!

New Years resolutions and just one word....

Happy New Year to all my friends, family and random readers! I hope that 2010 is a year of peace, happiness and prosperity for you and your families. I don't know about you, but I'm actually looking forward to 2010 and everything its going to bring with it. I can't believe that we are already a full week into the new year. See? Only 51 more weeks to go until we do it all again!

Seeing as there has been so much snow around this week, I've not been doing a lot of rushing around like I normally would. This forced inactivity gets a person thinking and this week there has been an awful lot to think about. Two things have been the focus of my thinking.... firstly, New Years Resolutions. OK, so if you're anything like me these are a nightmare. I make a looooong list of things that I want to change and by the time the end of January comes along they've all fallen by the wayside and are long forgotten. The last few years I tried not to make any resolutions at all, which was okay-ish, but I felt I was lacking something to work towards. Not really a problem for two years or so as I was too busy dealing with being pregnant, renovating a house, putting said house on the market, packing up, moving, finding a new house to rent, starting eldest daughter in new nursery, moving in and unpacking lots of boxes, having new baby, having too many sleepless nights, finding a new house to buy, organising 4th birthday parties for the same day we got our new house keys, decorating and flooring the new house before we moved in, packing and moving in loads of boxes, changing eldest daughters nursery again to be closer to the new house, having a first birthday 'party' for youngest daughter, getting stuff fixed on the new house that the previous owners had bodged, my own birthday, preparing for Christmas.... and trying to remember to breathe in amongst all that lot! But this year I don't forsee any babies or moving or renovating. In fact, other than the eldest daughter starting 'big school' I don't actually forsee much happening at all. Ah! Bliss! Ok, there will still be the usual day-to-day stuff and routine maintenance on the house... but this year I would like a challenge of some sort. So I'm resorting to New Years Resolutions again! So here they are....

1. Lose weight. My excess weight is really affecting my health and mobility now. I've had enough of it all and am going to make the change to get rid of it.
2. Get fitter. 
3. Create more. I love being creative, but with all that I've been doing over the last two years its taken a bit of a backseat. I would love to increase my creativity... including the painting and sewing I used to do before eldest was born!
4. Learn a new skill. I still have to decide what I would like to learn. Something creative that I haven't tried yet? Or maybe a new language?
5. Be more involved at Church. 
6. Improve my relationship with my kids... basically, yell less and hug more!
7. Improve my relationship with God... basically, yell less and listen more!

Are these impossible? I don't think so. The key to all of these things is self-discipline. Something I'm not terribly good at. Will they last? I hope so, but only time will tell. Check back at the end of January for that one!

Part of the New Year Resolutions thing for a lot of people, including Ali Edwards , is to choose one word to live by for the whole year. Just one word that will guide your thoughts, actions, goals and dreams for the year. I participated in this a few years ago and found it to be really inspiring. I chose the word Create for that year. And boy did I? It was a great year for creativity, not just in scrapbooking or artistic stuff... but also for creating a home out of a building site, creating a second daughter, creating a calmer environment for all of us as a family etc. This past week I've been thinking about choosing another word for the year. Create came to me easily, but this time I was really struggling. Then, a couple of days ago I suddenly struck on the word Seek. No, its not a generic, feel-good factor sort of word... but I think it will work! It came with a couple of Scriptures attached too....

"Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" Matthew 7:7

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well" Matthew 6:33 

 (source: http://elegantwordart2.blogspot.com/ )

So this year I believe that if I seek God in all these things then I will be able to accomplish the goals I have set myself. This year I'm going to Seek a slimmer, fitter body; A more creative life; A new skill; Greater involvement; and Better relationships. 

I don't think they're bad things to strive for... do you? What resolutions have you made?

Madam & Eve

Fun Friday is here again and this week I'd like to introduce you to one of my favourite comic strips! I love this strip for its uniquely South African view on life. Most of the time the comic strip is a commentary on the politics, news or social state of the 'Rainbow Nation', which means you really have to understand what is happening in the country... something which I must admit I have lost track of. However, sometimes they produce a gem that works no matter what nation you live in. This is one such time!

 

 

Madam & Eve takes a humorous look at the daily lives of two people from very different backgrounds as they experience life in postapartheid South Africa. The strip's main characters have become icons of a changing South Africa, providing light relief through the days of transition to democracy. Madam, is a typical white South African madam struggling to come to terms with the new South Africa.Eve Sisulu, Madam's "domestic maintenance assistant" actually runs the household. Always fighting for a wage increase, Eve often sets up mini-businesses to run from home to supplement her meagre income. Madam & Eve fight a lot, but they secretly like each other, even though neither of them will admit it. Mother Anderson is Madam's mother from England. She's a guest who arrived but has never left. Her hobbies are watching TV, drinking gin & tonics and fighting with Eve.

Spiced Yummy-ness

Yummy-ness. Yup, in this household its a technical term! I'm sure it is in some other households too, although the Oxford Dictionary people would probably be turning in their gravy right now. The reason for using this technical terminology is... baking. Hmmmm.... there is much yummy-ness to be had whenever baking is being done, but especially when the festive period arrives and I get the urge to bake. It doesn't happen often tho', which is a pity! I don't really see myself as a baker. That was always my sisters forté. 

We used to go to my Gran's house whenever my parents needed to go shopping. Once there, she would sit me behind her old treadle Singer sewing machine with some fabric, thread and a big tinful of buttons. Then she would scuttle off to her small kitchenette with my little sister in tow to do some baking. My sister would have hours of fun measuring and mixing and then out of that small kitchen would come the most delicious things. I think that was when I realised that working in the kitchen could produce more than just food to fill hungry tummies. Working in her kitchen would produce the most mouth watering stuff which could only be considered as treats. Scotch pancakes (which we called crumpets), brownies, cakes, pancakes, scones, fairy cakes and biscuits. My Gran and my sister made all of those in the times we visited her. I suppose my Gran did most of the work in the early years - my sister would only have been about three at the time - but over the years my sister became more proficient in her own right. My sewing improved too in those years, and so it became that while sewing was 'my thing', baking was always the province of my younger sister. Even now, when I try to bake it doesn't always come out well. Its always a bit hit and miss. However, occasionally I find a recipe that always works well. 

The one thing I don't ever remember my Gran baking was muffins. I'm not sure if they're largely an American thing or a modern thing or just not my Gran's thing, but muffins were never on the menu. Me? I luuuuuurve muffins of all flavours! Luckily for me I found the most delicious muffin recipe... and it seems to be one of those that always works! Yay!! We had invited some people around for Saturday afternoon as a housewarming/christmas/birthday party and had decided just to invite people around for coffee and biscuits. However, I decided to do an extra little something in the form of some Spiced Cranberry Muffins and some Mulled wine too. So, on Saturday morning I did some baking and produced some lovely yummy-ness! They turned out well and everyone who had one said they were delicious! 

So, for those that visited and asked for the recipe... and for those that are sitting at home wanting some, here's the recipe!

You will need:

300g Plain white flour
2tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
finely grated zest of 1 orange
125g demerara sugar
75g frozen cranberries, defrosted
50ml sunflower oil
225ml skimmed milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to gas mark 6/200C/Fan oven 180. Line 12 hole muffin tray with muffin cases. Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl and stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest. Add sugar and cranberries. Beat together oil, milk and egg and pour over dry ingredients.

 

Mix well with a wooden spoon to make a soft batter. Spoon mixture into muffin cases and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins are well risen and golden. 

 I have made a couple of changes to this original recipe. Firstly, I used dried Cranberries as I couldn't find any frozen ones; and Secondly, I put more mixture in each muffin case so I only got 9 muffins out of the recipe rather than 12. 

Don't you think these are just the epitome of yummy-ness? I do! In fact, I have a few left... I might just go knick one now. Shhhhhh! Don't tell the kids!!

Another year older!

Happy Birthday to me, 

Happy Birthday to meeeeee...

Happy Birthday dear meee-eeee.

Happy Birthdyay to me!

OK, so I have officially lost the plot! Still I'm happy today, because its my birthday. I have had a few presents, my girls are behaving well and in general life is good! I haven't had a particularly eventful day but that is good too. Sometimes eventful days are things nightmares are made of!! 

This morning I was presented with a digital slow cooker. Lovely! I haven't had a slow cooker since the last one packed up. I used to love doing roasts in it. Lamb, in particular, used to be done to perfection in it. But since the last one went phizz I haven't had the money to replace it. Hubby, however, has taken care of that with this new one. It's a biggun' too with a whopping 5ltr capacity! Which means I should be able to get a good sized joint in there! Also, I'm hoping that this one is better for stews and casseroles too. The last one used to leave a really funny taste in the casserole. Not pleasant! I really hope this one doesn't do that. I know that a slow cooker wouldn't be everyone's idea of a good birthday present, but I'm dead chuffed!

Another pressie from hubby was another coat. "But you just got a new one!" I hear you say. Well yes, I did. But when I was in the shop trying on coats I really couldn't choose! In the end I asked hubby to choose for me as they were exactly the same price, both fitted well, both looked good and both would go with my current wardrobe. And then this morning I found the other one nicely wrapped up! Now I can have choice of coats... which is my idea of heaven!

The girl's gave me this book! Perfect! I love Simon's cat... he's hysterically funny and I see so many of my previous cat's character traits and behaviours depicted in cartoon format. Reading it this morning I had to laugh out load as the pictures showed him trying to fool birds into thinking that his mouth was a bird box, attacking his owners bare legs, getting the dog into trouble whilst having a perfectly innocent look on his face and demanding food with menaces... to name but a few! It makes me seriously consider getting a cat again. If you want to have a good laugh then check out  Simon's Cat on the web! Thanks girls for getting me a fabulously funny read. 

And now, I'm going to tootle back to my crafting space to continue making my Christmas cards. Or maybe I'll treat myself and do some scrapbooking instead!!

Top 5.... books, erm authors....

What five books should every person read? A very good question, posed by Typepad on their homepage today. It got me thinking... I have a whole wall full of books. Some good, some bad. I've read all of them, but wouldn't recommend every single one. Lets face it, there is a lot of dross out there in bookland and I've bought my fair share!! So which books out of vast collection would have to be on my mandatory reading list? Wow.... now I've got to sort through all my crime novels, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, classics and other random books that don't seem to fit into any particular category. Its a tough job! In fact, I can't single out any particular books as such, but I do notice a definite trend when it comes to Authors! So instead I shall recommend some authors and perhaps one of their finest works for you to hunt down and add to your reading list...

1. Jane Austen - Yes, I know, that's a particularly 'girly' choice, but she definitely is one of the best authors out there. Every person - including men - should read at least one Austen in their lifetime. I guarantee that once you get used to the old fashioned way of speaking, you will completely fall in love with her books! Now, everyone gets all excited about Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility, however for me one of her best novels is Persuasion. I think it is quite an undiscovered gem, and that the literary bods don't make enough fuss about it at all!
2. Terry Pratchett - For a good all round laugh Pratchett is one of the best out there. All his books are easy to read and very humourous, abounding in puns and double entendres. His characters are all charming and really get under your skin. If you need a good 'pick me up' book then you can't go wrong with Mr Pratchett's charming assortment of Diskworld residents!
3. Raymond E. Feist - Fantasy at its best! His epic collection has spanned several worlds and numerous generations and is truly breathtaking. Starting with Magician the Riftwar Saga flows seamlessly from one book to the next. The best bit is.... he's still writing them! So far I have about 15-20 books on my bookshelves with his name on and I'm currently eagerly awaiting the next installment. Magician, however, is probably the best one and I often find myself re-reading it! His collaboration with Janny Wurts has also produced an excellent trilogy viewing the Rift wars from the opposite side. 
4. Dorothy L. Sayers - An author of immense talent. Her series of books on the adventures of Lord Peter Wimsey really draw you in. They present a picture, a snapshot, of life spanning the turn of the century, the twenties and all the way up to the years of the Second World War. Solving crimes and working in covert operations for the government in wartime, Lord Peter Wimsey hides a cunning and astute brain behind the facade of an indolent, well-off, second son. Murder Must Advertise is one of my favourites although I thoroughly enjoyed Thrones, Dominations - an unfinished manuscript that was completed by Jill Paton Walsh.
5. J.R.R. Tolkien - The father of fantasy novels wrote The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and used his books to express his religious views and some childhood experiences in allegorical form. His books are so well written and so popular that he achieved cult-figure status within his lifetime. Although I did enjoy The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings my favourite book has to be The Silmarillion. A prequel to the rest of the Middle Earth books, it describes the creation of Middle Earth, the origins of all the races and also details some of the legends that form the backdrop to the other books. It is fascinating to read, especially as it makes use of Christian beliefs as the foundation of Middle Earth.

I hope you've enjoyed my list of authors and some of the book suggestions too. I'm interested to see what other people's choices would be. Send me a link in the comments box to your favourites so I can have a browse please!!

Revisiting....

Since having started blogging again just recently, I have been reading back on some of my old posts and marvelling at how much has changed in such a relatively short time. Its amazing to see how my perspective has changed on events, how my hopes and dreams have changed and how even small things have morphed into something completely different. This post  ,for example, was inspired by a blog prompt that was shared on UKScrappers - an event that no longer happens due to people going their seperate ways. The topic? Handbag envy... lol. 

What a change three years can make! I'm still a jeans girl, but the trainers have gone out the window. Crocs, Birkenstocks, walking boots and a lovely pair of leather mules are in. My pockets are currently empty, and have been for quite a while now. Mostly because they've been well and truly been replaced by.... a handbag! Oh My gosh! Having two kids now I find I have far too many things to carry, especially as there is usually a baby who also needs carrying at the same time. So, its easier to have a bag hanging off my arm while the baby sits on my hip, the keys are carried in the same hand and the 4 year old is being controlled with the other hand. Yes, I've become SUPER-MUM! Well, not quite... What I am tho', is a mum who now does school runs and toddler group on the same day followed by baby swimming lessons the day after and various other groups throughout the week. Not forgetting the nursery open day, parent-teacher conferences, play dates, birthday parties and school concerts. 

The contents of my pockets are still present... the bank cards that used to sit in my pocket now line themselves up neatly in my wallet; the reciepts overflow and the change keeps escaping - but the wallet is being used. However, wallets dont fit conveniently into pockets - so into the handbag it goes. The mobile phone has also migrated to the handbag too, except now I can never find it. Somehow it always escapes from the specially designed mobile phone pocket (which was my whole inspiration for buying this particular handbag!) and makes its way down to the bottom of the bag. And its never in the section I'm looking in when its ringing, so consequently I usually find it a few seconds after it has transferred my caller to voicemail. The keys are usually to be found at the bottom of the bag too, usually making mad attempts at scratching the mobile phone's screen or grabbing at the fabric lining of the bag in a ,usually, successful attempt at ripping it all to shreds. The one thing though that really has changed, and which really sparked the purchase of a handbag... is the PDA. Yup, I've gone all electronic. My poor mushed baby-brain can no longer cope with having to remember all the appointments on its own and I have given up and resorted to using an electronic nagging device to remember it all for me. Its very handy as it keeps all my appointments, contact details, birthday reminders, notes, shopping lists etc. all in one handy place and it beeps at me when I need to remember things. Well, it should do.... unless you let the battery go completely flat as I did last week! In which case, you will find that it loses every last piece of data you had ever entered into it and you are left with a useless lump of plastic that has reverted to default factory settings, thus making you miss one very important appointment, several birthdays and leaves you having to rewrite your whole Christmas list. Unfortunately this wonderful piece of technology is too large for pockets which means that I ended up buying a handbag... and finding that actually, I can make it work for me!  Its just all the stuff inside the handbag that overwhelms me now!!

I love comments.... but

As you can see I have this little blinkie on the side of my page. It doesn't do anything special really, its just there to draw your attention to the fact that I looooooove comments. I'm a comment addict, in fact if there was a 'Comments Anonymous' I would have to sign up and follow the 12 step programme. BUT, and here is the big BUT, I have noticed when hopping and reading other blogs that it can be quite difficult to leave a comment on some of them. Mostly because of the millions of security questions that you have to answer. Granted, nobody likes spam... after all why would I want to buy viagra, slimming pills or an e-book that promises to give me the secret to becoming an instant millionaire? However, having to fill in what my date of birth is, my favourite colour and my first pets name is a bit ridiculous. This got me thinking about my own blog. Now when I comment on my blog I don't have to do any security questions, because it already recognises me as the owner of this blog. I'm wondering tho', does it make you fill in security questions to leave me a comment? If it does.... can anybody tell me how to disable this facility or make it easier for people to leave me comments? Please let me know! I'd love to hear your opinion... it would make this comment addicts day!

At the going down of the sun...

"They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them."

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

We will remember them

Prompt #4: Blogging the Mundane...

I'm loving Shimelle's class! Today's prompt is all about blogging mundane things. Things that we think are 'boring' that might actually be interesting to other people. So, life is not always a rollercoaster of highs and lows, sometimes its just nice and flat and uninteresting... so what? Perhaps nice, flat and uninteresting is good - because a rollercoaster life can make you sick! Shimelle was talking about blogging about things like

• going to the library
• doing the shopping
• the school run
• filling up at the petrol station ....

....oooh now there's one that would do me! I nipped there this morning to get some milk after I had dropped herself off at nursery. I filled up with petrol too at the same time... and then came home to find Shimelle's prompt sat in my inbox. It did get me thinking! I remember when I was a kid I used to sit in the car with my parents while the petrol was being filled up! Yup, my Mum and Dad sat in the car too! See I grew up in South Africa where illiteracy is high and lots of people don't have jobs. There is no dole, no benefits or handouts - so if you don't work, you don't eat. Consequently, there are a lot of things that people are 'employed' to do, that here in the UK we do for ourselves... and one of them is filling up at the petrol station. You drive onto the forecourt, open your window and hand a guy the keys. You tell him what type of fuel your car takes and then wait for him to fill up. I remember as a child thinking how it all sounded like a foreign language as my Mom would hand him the keys saying "fill up, 98, oil and tyres" Suddenly there would be three guys rushing around. One would be filling up, one would be checking the oil and another would be checking the tyres. A fourth man would approach the window and ask if she would like the windscreen cleaned. The petrol attendant would then tell my Mom how much it cost and she would give him the cash (before the days of credit cards!) he would take it to the kiosk and bring her the receipt and the change. She would then have to tip him and they would divide it between them. That is how they lived... on tips. I only found out years later that the garage didn't pay them a salary, they did all that in the hope of a tip... and quite a few people didn't give them even that much! The only time my parents would actually set foot anywhere near the kiosk was when us kids nagged them into getting us some crisps or a drink. Quite unlike living here in the UK... where we now have to get out the car (shock, horror!) and do it ourselves. So I filled up the car; watching the numbers whizz by until it clicks. Then I do this "thing", I rock the car - to get the air out of the petrol tank - and then continue to fill it up until it clicks again. Does anyone else do this? I'm not sure where I picked it up from? I think I must be the only person who does this. LOL. I collect my wallet from the car and then head into the shop. Of course it is a *shop* now - not just a little kiosk- petrol stations have now become mini-supermarkets. Our local one has a Marks & Spencers shop, so I often get stuff for tea from there too. I wander around the shop; even though I know I really only need milk -  and pick up a quiche, milk, bread, a snack selection, ham, cheese and sushi. Mmmmmm, yup Sushi. Its a M&S and their sushi is gorgeous. I'm addicted to it! I can happily walk right past the chocolates and crisps as long as I can get my hands on some sushi! I take my stuff to the till and pay.... £60 later I walk out of the shop with a full tank of petrol, the milk I originally wanted and nearly £20's worth of stuff that I had never intended to buy! And sushi. Yum! 

I think that the old South African system was probably better, the temptation to buy additional stuff was easier to resist when it was someone else who was handling the money and doing all the work!

(Photo source)