Angel Jem's City Cottage

Isn't life wonderful? I am half way to deciding what my next step will be, half way to a house that will not disgrace me, I had a lovely night last night with my dearest darlingest husband, I am surrounded by luck and winning online twice in a week. That's TWICE IN A WEEK!! and life is beautiful. My Ma rang to ask what shoe size the princess is so she can get her pink crocs.... pink crocs, I might need a pair and to say that she had found some Corolle dolls comme on a vu a Marie Claire Idees, did I want one? (Duh? Of course!) The rain is saving me the job of watering the garden, I can wear my favourite Butchers window top (everything is on display) and I feel good. When your friends ask about the smile and the glow you know life is good. Mr Amazon delivered the Barefoot Contessa in Paris, my two favourite Time Lords are going to battle it out tonight (And, thank goodness, I know that David is not leaving after this series, but hopefully this episode will make me cry. I do dearl...

I did tell you I 'd got a bag from Dollie Daydream as a prize, but I didn't post any pictures (I hadn't put them on the puter. Don't ask.) So, because I am chuffed by it and very grateful to have won again..... never in the real world only in the virtual, I'm thinking of becoming a full time avatar and being one of those strange people you only ever meet in online games. I'm going to be a six foot tall blonde haired amazon who can stop a man at sixty paces with her eyes and make him quiver with pain and anticipation before she snaps his neck in a single move... Oh dear, too much Tomb Raider, I need to start reading Woman's Weekly again. The bag is beautiful, it has the most wonderful combination of colours and I used it this week as my bag of choice. Thank you, once again, DollieDaydream. And now a warning; for those of you with a nervous disposition & lusting after Marie Claire Idees; Look away now. Domesticali, bless her offered & I said yes and to...

A. Give me some antibiotics. B. Get the men in white coats out for a little holiday. C. Send me for therapy (& meet me there himself) It's a cool phobia.... it knocks agrophobia and claustrophobia into a top hat. Firstly, you can't spell it, you can't say it and it is totally irrational. I know, I know, phobias are an irrational response, but at least if you're scared of flying you know there is a reason, I mean, planes do fly in the sky & sometimes they crash too. Like wise, claustrophobia is understandable. If you're somewhere small and airtight then there is a chance of suffocation, or spiders bite or you may bleed to death, but Keraunothnetophobia (and I pasted that, I couldn't be sure of spelling it right twice) is totally irrational. Do you know what it is yet? (If you are like me, you probably opened a separate window and looked it up on google) A fear of the fall of man-made satellites. Yes, it's actually ChickenLickenitus. I might work on it...

The answer is none, because they go out to coffee shops where someone else will change it for them. I met Sarah today of Everything Stops for Tea . My first blogmeet in the flesh! And it was very good fun. We both probably knew what to expect from our blogs, but you can't help worrying that there will be awkward silences or that you won't get along. There was one silence, and I really mean more that there was a pause while we both breathed. Chatterbox? Moi? Well, I thought so.... until I met Sarah! We had a wicked time & I'm very pleased to have met you at last. See you again, soon, I hope! (Do you fancy coming to mine for a craft and daft night? Bring your family.... I have the valium so I'm sure I could cope!) My many, many thanks must go to Dol lie Daydream who had a blogoversary competition that I won. The bag is glorious, the book is so much fun & the ribbon is being hotly contested as I write. The Princess has nearly but not quite said what I say to my Mu...

I'm usually very positive. I usually smile. I usually find my stock response to most things is a giggle. I don't feel very giggly. I don't feel very happy. I don't want to smile. I want something different but I can't say what because I don't know what. I want a job... no, a career that still allows me to collect my children and spend all evening with them. I want a role that will benefit others but not crucify my family life. I want to be 3 stone lighter. I want to feel like there is more to life than a cappucino and a skinny muffin. I want to feel like I used to feel when I read books and I lived them. I want to sit and watch TV and say, "Yes, that is me and my life" like I do with Charlie and Lola without feeling that the life is crappy. I want flowers in my bathroom and a wardrobe of clothes that I love and not just tolerate. I want to see the sunshine in the dawn and the rays hitting my face in the evening. I want to feel the sea spray and the san...

Why do I feel like I'm falling apart? My hip aches, my heels can have a real good go at making walking in the morning feel like hot coals and there are days when I could stand permanently like a pregnant woman (you know, hips out to the front, hands on my back, long-suffering face) because of my back. No, I don't take cod liver oil, yes I do take Evening primrose oil and, yes, I think I know what causes it. It's because I spend a portion of every week sat on little dinky chairs that are only 12 inches high. Somedays I feel like Gulliver, standing over a bunch of self-opinionated and bossy Lilliputians. Is it worth it? You betcha. My magic moment today (there is usually at least one) was having 50 little reception children hanging on to every word as I told the Naughtiest Story of All (with apologies to Dorothy Edwards!) from memory..... I love the fact that My Naughty Little Sister is still going strong after 50 years. We got the cd to listen to on holiday and it kept my 5,...

We went away. Hello, Everyone, I'm back! We had a week in Shropshire, which effectively translates as 4 days at Ironbridge. I promise, pictures and a post on Best of British later, but today I'm up to my elbows in muck and bullets and it's all Her fault. You see, she's back on Wednesday at 8pm (BBC 3) and if my house isn't cleared, clean and tidy I will not be able to watch it in peace without grabbing a feather duster and clearing the cobweb which hangs down above the TV. It's been there for two months now, and if it grows any longer it will interfere with the picture, at which point I suppose action will be inevitable, but at the moment we are co-habiting. I don't interfere with it, it won't interfere with me. Until Anthea comes along. Two years ago, if you'd have said that one of my viewing highlights was going to be a programme about housework fronted by Anthea, I would have said you were crackers and that I'd need a full-frontal lobotomy to ...