Angel Jem's City Cottage

You have to admire this woman. Not only did she become queen at 18 and marry as a monarch (imagine how she fitted the headdress on over the crown) she was also a prolific baby-machine and according to unconfirmed rumors a bit of a goer. That and she reigned over a quarter of the world's population as empress of where-ever and had a thing for legs (why else cover them up? I mean, they even covered up the piano's legs, for goodness sake!) She reigned for the longest time of any British queen, indeed any British Monarch and she had an incredible love story. She was buried beside her beloved husband,Prince Albert, in the Royal Mausoleum, which she had built for their final resting place and above the Mausoleum door are inscribed Victoria's words: 'farewell best beloved, here at last I shall rest with thee, with thee in Christ I shall rise again'. How romantic is that? It's interesting to ask what life in Victorian times would have been like had Albert not died in 18...

No, it's MY day. Since I was little I have always been able to pretend that nobody shares my birthday. My birthday is unique. I don't even admit to sharing it with Joan Collins who, unfortunately, had the temerity to try to pass it off as her birthday. I've always been lucky enough to not know anybody who has the same birthday. (and I don't want to) The only person I ever shared it with was the first boy to kiss me, on the school field when I was 13. He used to tell me that his idea of heaven was a decent settee, a video of Blakes 7 and me. He was 14, or I suppose a decent bottle of wine would have featured in there too. His name was Chris but, for some unfortunate reason everyone called him Bessie. And, yes, I did like/love him in that strange sexless way that you can when you're (very) young, and any thing physical just seems like a big joke (you do what? And put it where? Oh how disgusting! I still think sex proves that God has the biggest sense of humour going)...

Or the little self-employed courier. My Amazon parcels were delivered today by a very very nice man and his wife who dropped them off with a smile and a very pleasant exchange. I always get a smile off the post man too. Is it that I am a naturally smiley person..... or is it the fact I answer the door still in my nightwear? You have a chance to decide which sort I wear, 1. this or 2. this Leave a comment and I'll see exactly what sort of a girl you think I am! (and I'll post about what I got on Wednesday 23rd..... wonder why?)

I have, finally, taken the plunge. With the prospect of a half a day in nursery/reception tomorrow, I have invested my not-yet hard earned cash in a couple of Barefoot contessa books, her At Home and Barefoot in Paris, one to arrive next week, the other next month. Nicely timed, isn't it? And a couple of Trish Deseine books, the Nobody does it Better book as featured in the Mail on Sunday (available for less than half price on Amazon) and one of her french cookbooks.... yes, that's right, it's actually in french, but I couldn't resist the title; Ma petite Robe noire et autre recettes. Yes, a little black dress book; How good is that?

How I have enjoyed reading the entries for my birthday competition (that's my birthday on the 23rd May, Carolyn, please take note!) If only I were realy like these descriptions, I'd be a wonderwoman! Thank you, muchas gratias, danke, grazie and merci beaucoup to the very willing entrants; Papoosue at Random Blethers , Thimbleanna , Sarah at Everything stops for Tea , Isobel of the Cosy Corner , a Shropshire Girl , Weirdbunny of The Crystal Mountain , Victoria May Plum , Alison of Foxgloves in the Breeze , Beachy's Cape Cod Cupboard , Valerie of Un Arc de Ciel dans le lavabo and Gill at Lucy Locket . I had great fun trying to decide which one was most like me and how..... carefully balanced I could be between me and the person I think I am. No one put me down as a 6 foot blonde, which was a little disappointing as, obviously, in my wildest dreams I have been known to grow six inches, lose 5 stone and change hair colour, but I can live with that. What? You want to know what ...

Lovely Little Cotton Rabbits has this image which you can go and use off her blog freely.... It helps to put anything else in perspective. My heart weeps when I think that there but for the grace of God goes any one of us... it is but the chance of a moment that anything happens and I'm sure we all can imagine what we think we'd feel in their shoes, without ever wanting to be there. Those brave, brave parents and the level of support and feeling that there is for them At times like this, and I apologise if this offends anyone, I find my faith a great source of comfort. I know I cannot go and stand by them, I cannot go and search in Portugal and I cannot offer to take care of the twins while they do what they have to do, but I can pray. I can pray to God that there will be a happy resolution. I can ask that He will be with Gerry and Kate as they go about their business. I can ask that he will be with Madeleine and keep her safe. I can ask Him to touch the people who have taken h...

We live 50 yards away from school. We knew we lived close to school (part of the attraction of the house was its proximity to a school we liked) but we never realised how bad the parking was. People often park across my gate. I don't like it. I always ask them to move. And sometimes they do. This silly cow today didn't and it freaks me out. I feel so angry with her for being so selfish, but I know this is a carry over from the other selfish cars who make easy passage in and out of the road impossible by parking as close as they can to school. These are healthy & fit people, not disabled persons, they're perfectly capable of parking another 25 yards away and leaving the turn in clear. aren't they? The worst thing is, there is noone to complain to. DH says don't rock the boat or we'll get double yellow lines, but we don't want that. We had cones off the police, but the community Bobby couldn't get here everyday to put them out & when the Selfish Gi...

This weekend we had a little visitor from school.... no, not nits, but Cookie. Cookie comes home with the best behaved child in the class... and this weekend it was the Princess! So, we had to entertain him (yes, he is a he despite the dress & pink socks) so he joined in very happily with all the things we did this weekend. A teaparty to welcome him to our house. An early bath (Friday night is video night) and a chance to try on some new Tigger pyjamas. Pizza in front of the TV Ice cream sundae in plastic sundae dishes (£1.99 for 4 from Home Bargain!) Bedtime stories. An early bed. Without the Princess and with! Shopping at Sainsbury's and a trip to JJB. Church parade, where he joined in very nicely with the Rainbows. Swimming (he was far too modest to let you see him in his costume; bears are, you know) Watching the last day of the football... apparently, Cookie is a keen Wigan supporter, so he was very happy by the end! And an hour on the 'puter setting up a powerpoint pr...

Don't forget to pop over to the Best of British; Crafters Days Out in Britain and see what's going on in various parts of the country. If you're inspired & you'd like to post a contribution, please drop me a line & I'll add you to the list of allowed personalities; I sent out invitations to all the people whose e-mail I had or could find; apologies for anyone who thinks they should be a contributor but isn't. Also, I am so enjoying the answers to the question "What do you think I'm like". I should print them off & read them as positive affirmations everyday. Gosh, I must be a nice person, after all, not that horrible bitchy cow I always thought I was! There's still time to enter the competition before next Monday (I think that's when I said I'd judge, but it could be Tuesday) Go back to this link and have a read before you commit your thoughts to the screen. I need more positive inspiration, so come on!

Tagged. Three times so far,darn it. Thank you to Andsewtosleep , Alison at Foxgloves in the Breeze , and Gill at Lucy Locket . I'm sure I'll find a way to express my deep gratitude at this momentous event. And I thought I'd done such a good job of keeping my head down and staying quiet. Never mind, better luck next time. Right, seven weird things about me.... er,..... um,... em. 1. All my names make up pretty much the whole holy family except for Jesus. (Jo=Joseph, Anne= Mary's reputed mother, Elizabeth= his Aunt and Mary= His mother. I always joked I was going to take Jesus as a confirmation name and in the end didn't take any because 3 is enough and who would want more than 3 and, anyway, my initials are great just as they are JEM, get it? And, yes, I have trouble using Joanne as my name because Joanne is a little tubby girl with her hair in big bunches who cries a lot. Jo is a capable and very humorous woman. The power of a name. (Damn. And I've gone and give...

An ordinary day.... the base of life's quilt onto which golden days of joy & dark days of sorrow are sewn.

Is to be allowed to choose without either way being the 'easy' or 'lesser' option. This, from David Elkind's classic book, 'The Hurried Child' ; “Within the short space of twenty-five years, the role of the middle-class woman has been profoundly altered. In the 1950’s a woman who worked was looked down upon as someone who did not “care enough” to look after her husband and children. Today, however, a quarter century (at least!) after the feminist revolution, a middle-class woman who chooses the life of the house-wife is often regarded as un-ambitious (and therefore less intelligent than her working counterparts) and generally lacking in self respect and female pride. the situation is complicated by the fact that with the higher divorce rate, more and more women have to work. Thus many women are caught in a conflict between their desires to perform well the traditional role of mother and wife and what may well be an equally strong inclination to embrace the n...

So, this is the beginning of summer according to one source. As I sit here listening to Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds at full pelt from the other room (DP has recently got ever-so into this) I can believe it. Hasn't it been glorious? And I, in a burst of luck, have not been in work. Feast or famine; supply is not a certain source of income and I need something better. I'll work on that. But in the meantime; I have painted my bench and little picnic table. The garden has been weeded and the plants watered so that I can, this evening, take a cool beer out and enjoy the sunset through my trees. (must remember to take my hayfever tablets) I have got white geraniums to pot up and put at my front door and a red poppy, birthday gift from my Mum whom I dragged out to the garden centres today. I had a shopping trip yesterday and came back proud recipient of floral tins, wooden pegs (none better!) big shopping bags that will stop me using more plastic than I have to and a net canop...