Boobs and Fairy Lights!

Good morning! I bet the title of this post grabbed your attention didn't it? No, I haven't been adorning my chest in preparation for the festive season, I have merely bought some fairy lights to brighten up the dismal afternoons that we seem to be having at the moment .........................oh, and I have been summoned for my first ever mammogram.  

Here are my twinkly lights:

I am defiantly classifying them as winter lights, as opposed to Christmas ones. Despite the fact that our neighbours put their Christmas decorations up at the weekend - it's NOVEMBER for pity's sake! I'm not a great fan of Christmas decorations. Truth be told, if left to my own devices I think I would probably go to the other extreme, putting them up on Christmas Eve and taking them down again on Boxing Day. My birthday is December 28th and, believe me, it's a sucky time to be born! Stamped all over by Christmas, ("this is for Christmas and your birthday dear" being the phrase that every child longs to hear!) and then nothing to look forward to for a whole year. My mother even used to take the 'Merry Christmas' sign off the cake and replace it with a 'Happy Birthday' one - despite the fact that it was half eaten! Bitter, me?! Anyway, we now compromise, getting the tree (which I do actually like) after E's school breaks up, usually around the 10th, and taking the whole lot down on the 3rd January in time for E's birthday on the 4th. Yes, I know, I timed that badly too!
There is tension every year over the tinsel - beloved by everyone else in the family but considered the work of the devil by me. I can't stand the stuff and would happily jettison it to Room 101, along with whistling (it makes my brain itch!) and people who festoon the town with sheets declaring 'Happy Birthday Kylie' or some such nonsense. It's not the putting them up that annoys me so much - it's the failure to take the wretched things down again after the big day. There they flap, filthy and progressively more tattered for the next 2 months; a hideous blot on the landscape.
Oh my, I do seem to be having a bit of a rant this morning! Moving swiftly on .......

This afternoon, I'm booked for my first mammogram. Perfectly routine, but I'm not exactly looking forward to it. Let's face it, it's not exactly going to be afternoon tea at The Ritz is it? Stripping off in a mobile unit (mammovan?!) in a hospital car park and having your breasts squashed between 2 X-Ray plates until they resemble an anatomical version of pitta bread isn't my idea of a good time. Embarrassment and discomfort aside though, I never doubted for a nanosecond that I would do it. Having lost a good friend to breast cancer just over a year ago, I would happily strip off in said car park, even without the van, if it meant that I didn't have to go through what C did. Check your boobs, ladies!

Aside from my WINTER lights, other happies this week have included:

Butterfly cakes and squash soup for lunch:

 My beautiful irises - I just love that combination of purple and yellow:

 A new garden mobile - bought for a mere £2.99 from a Christmas Fair at our local theatre:

 Loving the bountiful crabapples on our little tree:

Joining a new gym. My old one closed down at the beginning of the summer when the council sold the land for new housing. Since then, I have attended a pilates class and forced myself to go swimming at the local pool. Sadly, said pool is a bit on the grim side - it's not the cleanest and it smells of rancid mop. So, a membership to another gym is going to be my Christmas and birthday present (count them!) from R this year. It's heaven to have clean changing rooms once more and swimming has become a pleasure again, rather than a keep fit chore.

 A cup of tea and a magazine:

Crocheting some snowflakes. Initially I tried some from a book but found I was struggling somewhat, so I did what a lot of us do when we have a crochet problem and headed to Attic24. Lucy's easy to follow tutorial made them quick and simple. It was the first time I had tried blocking too. I bought this pad last year, thinking it might come in useful for blocking. Unfortunately, E then borrowed it for one of her archaeological digs, so it's now a bit on the bent and grubby side. It still did the trick though, along with a can of spray starch.

Since the weather is colder, the ducks have started coming up to the patio to be fed. This one can get a little impatient and often taps his beak on the glass to hurry me along.

Lastly, a beautiful bunch of flowers from my lovely neighbour (not the one with the premature decorations!) as a thank you for cat sitting at the weekend whilst they went to Centre Parcs:

Anyway, that's all for now. Enjoy the rest of the week and have a fun weekend.
Toodle Pip. x