(Photo taken last night on the way home from work)Many thanks to all of you who gave me an award on your blogs recently - it really does mean a lot to me when you say you enjoy my blog. I have done a few of these "10 things" over the last couple of years, so I'll try and think of things I have not already said.
1. As much as I really love Summer - especially when it is really hot, I don't think I could live without the 4 Seasons. There is such beauty in each one of them.
2. After reading Cybeles blog recently, I was reminded that my favourite Theatre in the whole world is The Minack Theatre in Cornwall. The Minack 's story in remarkable and I would have loved to have known its founder, Rowena Cade. I often visit its live WEBCAM for a Cornwall fix.
3. I am turning into a Grumpy old woman - my patience is running out after 51 years! The people I get most annoyed with are the ungrateful gits on "Relocation relocation" who have HUGE amounts of money but can't find anything suitable!!! Where do these exceptionally young couples get HUGE WADS of cash from? And I don't get the logic either. A recent one showed a couple who lived in London with 2 small daughters and they didn't spend enough time together as a family. So they thought it would be better to get hubby a flat in Croydon where he would live and work in the week, whilst she would move to Cheshire with the girls! They discounted one house because the Feng Shui was bad. Apparently a beam over the bed meant that their relationship would be tested. I would have thought one of them in Croydon, the other in Chester would have been a bigger test! Also the couples who go on "Find a new house - home or abroad" or whatever its called, who have no intention of moving abroad, but are just getting an all expenses paid break!
4. I can scare myself silly when I think about "Space". As Julian Lennon sang, "We are a rock revolving, around a golden sun". When my kids did their Space Projects at Junior school, it made me really think about the Universe, Solar System etc, and what we really are living on, and it is just too much to get my head around. Huge natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes, floods etc are tiny tiny blips on this planet of ours, but have such major impact on the human race.
5. At Christmas, I got to thinking about my favourite Christmas Carol - which is "Little Children Wake and Listen" which I used to sing at Sunday School - Thanks to the wonder of Google, I discovered that this is a French Carol. Has anyone ever heard it?
6. I was reminded recently just how much I used to love Rick Astley. I was driving on the motorway and was in exactly the same spot as I was in when I first heard him. I was convinced he was some gorgeous big black singer (in the style of Luther Vandross or Alexander Oneil) as his voice was so wonderful - I think we were all surprised when we actually saw him! But the best thing he did was smarten boys up. Up until then, they had been a bit scruffy, but Rick's Chino's and Blazer style eventually hit Barnsley and the lads looked so much better! Note to self - order a Rick Astley CD from Play.com!
7. I like to squeeze the last drop out of everything. Whether this is toothpaste, a tube of lippy, a day out or just life itself.
8. We paid our mortgage off last year - which is great financially, but it left both hubby and I feeling a bit strange. It felt as if something big was "ending" . I realise that I don't like endings, they don't seem as exciting as "beginnings". And of course, I suppose it made us feel a bit older.
9. I was born with very dark hair. The first grey hair appeared in my 30's and I have been covering it up ever since - which may have been a big mistake. My natural colour now (when I get the badger strip!!) is almost white!!!!!!!! I have a huge dilemma. I am not a white haired lady - I am a brunette. How long do I keep dyeing it? Do I do a Jean Muir and continue forever? I don't recognise the middle aged lady in the mirror as it is, so with white hair I feel as if she would be a complete stranger. If my face was thinner, I would go for a lovely short Annie Lennox white style, but its not. And how the hell do you grow it out without looking a total idiot? I should have done what my Mum did and never dye it. growing into it gradually might have been the better option.
10. I wish I was in St Ives - but I might have told you this before.
xxxx
34 comments:
Great post and fantastic photo. We also watch Relocation and wonder how these young couples have so much money to buy houses !! After working all our lives we still cannot afford the things these youngsters do. Mind you we have the disadvantage of our money in S.Africa has a terrible exchange rate but even so..... Nigel has been trying to retire ever since we bought in France in 2005 and has not been able to afford it :( This year maybe :)Diane x
Wonderful post. I gave up the hair dye years and years ago and have grown grey disgracefully..... was hoping to go beautifully white haired like my one granny, but 'twas not to be, I am just GREY, but I LOVE being grey.
really enjoyed getting to know you a bit better.
As you know I have taken the plunge and not used hair dye for over a year. I am white with some grey and darker bits round the back - a badgers bum, my brother calls it - he has one too!!.
For me the secret was to dye my hair a lighter colour each time so that when the grey appeared it was not so stark. The second was to find a good hairdresser that will support you and not let you give in. I came very close last year and asked her to cut my hair so that I could see how much grey there was and it turned out OK. I did not colour it.
Maybe try and go a bit shorter and try different styles.
Anyway good luck - it is not easy but definitely worth it.
I do still catch a glimpse of myself and think I am looking at my mum!!
My youngest son doesn't like it either but MOH does.
Sue
Interesting post! I'm 62 and dye my hair (blonde) regularly - can't stop now! I agree with you about Relocation - at least on that folks do seem to buy, whereas on the live here or abroad one, they just leave it open-ended. I agree about the seasons too, though it's hard to remind yourself of that when it's grey and rainy!
Thanks for making me laugh out loud this morning re the Feng Shui couple. I felt the same when we paid our mortgage off in 2009 but I'm so grateful we don't have to struggle to pay it anymore. My Mum was grey at 40 and I'm the same although it took to 50 to go really grey - I did colour it once but the growing out was dreadful so I've decided to stay grey going on white. Like you I love the Minnack theatre - I remember visiting as a child and being enchanted with it. I'm also a squeeze to the last bit person - I even cut handcream tubes in half and scrape out what's left inside!
I laughed at what you wrote about Relocation Relocation. I think we all must think the same about the couples on that programme. Our mortgage would have been due to end in two years had we not extended the house a few years ago and took out another mortgage to finance it. Ah well, at least we won't be paying out what we are now. My mum is 76 and she hasn't got one grey hair. A hairdresser once asked her which dye she used, she was very offended.
Going white is easier than dying and touching up roots. Not that I would know, I haven't dyed my hair since I was very young. When I was bringing up the babies in my thirties , I went grey. When I went back to work I went in the hairdresser and asked for suggestions on colour to cover white hair. They looked at me and said don't, it looks fine as it is and people pay money to have their hair dyed that colour. That cheered me up and I've been white ever since. I can see you're dilemma of how it will look growing out.
LOL at number 3 and 9 Diane :-)
Same with Escape to the Country .... I think they are just on a jolly day out.
Have to admit to being a badger too .... I did go au naturel in 2009 but still had a dark skull cap effect on the top so went back to the bottle! I keep it cropped short and will submit when it is the same shade of grey all over.
Lovely photo. I love the Minack Theatre (and now only live a few miles away) - I especially love the Childrens Theatre they put on in the summer, I take my nieces and Nephew!
C
xx
Firstly, I am loving that photo with a passion...
Secondly...space...yes, it is a scary concept - the infiniteness of it, the silence, the vacuum but I think there is also something so wondrous and beautiful. Something we will never be able to full grasp...distances we will never travel or ever be able to fathom...I would like to spend more quiet evenings outdoors, gazing at the milky way... I think there is a lot of beauty and depth that comes from considering this massive universe we live in. It is humbling and a good thing to stop and take note of when we get bogged down with the little details in life...
As for grey hair - Hmmm...that is a funny one...Maybe start with dark highlights- letting some of the grey slowly work its way out? See how you feel about that (maybe try when you know you're going on holiday if you are worred!)? I've always wanted to dye my hair brown but I think it would be a disaster...but I think one day I will probably try it...I imagine you will give grey a chance one day too because curiosity will get the better! And if you don't like it - at least you know you can quickly sort it out! :) xxx
Very entertaining post.
I gave up watching those 'moving' programmes ages ago as they just seemed to be filled with people who have more money (and very BIG mortgages) than sense.
Another purchase on play.com I see... together forever we two!
Lisa x
I really enjoyed this post, little snippets on entetaining info!
The Minack is on my "Wow, I need to go there" list, it must be wonderful to watch a performance there. One day...!
I hope I won't start finding grey hairs until I'm in for 40s or more, but I have occasionally wondered what I should do when they do start appearing... I decided it's probably better to let it happen and gradually get used to it, which is a good job as my hair refuses to take dye anyway!
Ah, Rick Astley! I was in love with him when I was a little girl! I have fond memories and, although it's not something I usually admit, I have some Rick Astley in my 'guilty pleasures' (or slighlty embarrassing) music collection!
I rarely see any TV, but those house hunters make me feel quite envious... how do people so young afford so much? Most people dream of paying off their mortgages - my dream is to actually get one, and a house, any house, of my own.
It was fun learning a little more about you!
Oh my word, Rick Astley! Never liked him myself, but people used to say that Mr J and P resembled him in his hayday (similar hair colour and style). "Never gonna give you up...."
Hi Diane, I have loved reading your '10 things' and will be back to read them again soon, to be entertained all over again.
Haven't heard the carol, well don't recognise the title anyway - and what about highlights for your hair as a sort of compromise? Bye for now. Lesley x
Afternoon funny lady!
I chuckled my way through your 10 things & its been intersesting to read others comments....
Thanks for the comment on my last post! I often neeeeed things too!
I am mortified to admit though, that I never recieved your card, you must have thought me very rude not to pop by & say thankyou...
Lx
A great post and everything you say is true. Having worked for 42 years and longed to pay off the mortgage it is indeed odd not to have it and to contemplate the prospect of down sizing. Still plenty of life in us both yet and I do feel that because I have the time I should express my opinion when I feel things are not right, grumpy old woman that I've become
I actually read about a couple who were paid to do the abroad relocation thing what a con !
We paid off our mortgage then took out a loan so are still in debt !
Great list
loved your post and agreed so much of it that i felt i was a clone! Helen x
I loved reading your blog last year & can't wait to read this years, keep it up. A. Joan x
You are funny Diane! Sorry to rub it in but St.Ives has had beautiful weather the past two days!!!!! xxxx
fab facts :-) I can't wait to pay our mortgage off, trying to do it by the time I am 40 (possibly 42), can't wait :-)
Oh what a great post!!!!
Mid forties and lots of white. I just don't cover it up that often, I think it's part of life...
Hi Diane
Thanks for the lovely comment.
Your 10 things made me smile too, seasons, check, grumpy old woman, check, dyed hair, check.. The last bit made me smile the most. I have been, for some time, a lovely shade of bottled pale auburn and I am one of those people who always seem to have a tanned face. I have 4 brothers and sisters and they are all pure white. At my sons wedding 3 years ago we had a photo all together and I sat in the middle wearing burnt orange and navy against all their pale blues and whites and I look like that little girl in Schindlers List, (No not young) as if I am the only one in colour and the others are in black and white. I must put it on my blog sometime to give you all a laugh. I said to my OH I think I will stop dying my hair and be like my siblings...his answer is not printable!!!
I am still pale auburn...
Jenny x
Hello Dianne I need a bit of help if you read my last post you will see why - how do I unfollow myself.
well if rick astley is your matt cardle.......thats cool what ever floats your boat!
persoanally I couldnt cope with the qwiff!
Great post Diane! love your rant about Relocation Relocation! very funny.
I think I am very grey too under my hair dye - i daren't think about it really!
Saw Rick in concert at Scarborough last year - he was ace.
We have 18 more mortgage payments to go, I can't wait!
Morning Diane the bridge is on the Chesterfield canal I started my walk at Kiveton Station opposite the station pub. It's part of Cuckoo Way or Walk. If you follow the direction I went you could walk to Shireoaks just outside Worksop actually you can walk for miles if you want. Its lovely and actually you pass locks, and there are also other walks that lead off the canal path through some woods - think you can walk to Thorpe Salvin through them theres a nice pub there called the Parish Oven not been myself for ages but have heard they do good home cooked pub grub. There are lots of walks around me I shall do some more and blog about them - it is a good incentive isnt it when you can share. Have a good weekend. Oh I think you might be able to get walk routes from the library.
What a great blog you have! I'll have to say I just went gray and now all my friends who dye theirs are a little jealous as they are in the boat with you. When and how to stop!! BTW, gray doesn't mean you can't still have lots of fun. Ooh lala! :)
V
Oh Diane you make me laugh! I can't wait to see you this summer. Regarding No. 3...I recently watched the movie/documentary "The Fourth Kind" o-boy-o-boy that certainly gives you food for thought. They leave it up to you to make your own decision, but they show some scary facts. I didn't like turning the light off when I went to bed.
I dyed my hair for several years but stopped after new found confidence in myself. I suddenly had no need to follow the fashions of everyone else and was comfortable in my skin for the first time. I now have silver hair with a few signs of the original dark colour underneath at the back. I LOVE being this colour. The silver in the sunlight is quite striking and somebody even told me how nice it is and what colour do I use!
White hair seems to be a fashion fad of the moment amongst young folk, models, pop stars etc. so my advice is get with it! Be yourself let it be. You could always use temporary colours on it until the permanent colour has grown out.
Freedom from colouring is great!
I dye my hair but am finding it more and more expensive! it may be the money I would save that stopp
s me in the end!
love
Lyn
xxx
Fantastic 10 things - I did 7! Yes, paying the mortgage off is a wonderful feeling. My teacher's pension matures this year and my financial adviser said the majority of people have vast sums to settle. I am so relieved we dont have to
Lovely post Diane! Totally agree about Relocation Relocation. Not sure if you saw last Thursday's, where the bloke was complaining that the walls were 'bumpy'. You just feel like banging their heads against that same wall!
As for going grey, I've been discovering grey hairs for a few years now (have just turned 40 last month). I can't be bothered to find the time to dye my hair (would rather spend the time knitting...) and my mum's hair is quite a nice grey/white colour, so it's going to stay natural!
meant to say, will be checking out 'your' webcam tomorrow!
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