I dream of a warm blue sky
Of an orange scented breeze
And of sun toasted skin.
Listening to the roar of the waves
In the shade of a palm
With sand beneath my feet
I long for some time to spare
To lie with eyes gently closed
And nothing to do
And I want you by my side
Enjoying this moment
And sharing the dream.
It’s a Shrove Tuesday! Also known as Pancake Day. Also known as ( and I didn’t make the connection until today) Mardi Gras.
So I guess everyone knows that it’s the start of Lent but what I was wondering today was ‘What does Shrove mean?’ Really – Do you know? If you do I’m very impressed. When I start wondering something like that I have to find out.
Well, the best I can come up with is this description: A shrove is a confession and the word still lives today in the word shrift (to give someone short shrift)
So today is Confessional Tuesday. A chance to purge yourself of your sins before entering the period of Lent.
Don’t you feel better for knowing that?
I’m a spiritual person but not a religious person. However in the spirit of the occaision here is my confession.
Now, with a clear conscience I’m off to enjoy my pancakes.
These are actually Barbary Macaques in Gibraltar.
I’m feeling pretty gloomy right now so I thought I should cheer myself up by looking through some old holiday photos. It kind of did the trick looking at those wonderful sun filled memories. On this holiday I got some wonderful images.
Anyhoo - these are some of the best monkey pictures from that trip
The ‘lady’ eating the crisps had a wrestling match with me……she tried to steal my handbag! I’m in lots of other peoples holiday snaps trying to get her to give it up 
)
It’s half term, so I wanted to spend at least one day this week with the kids. Better still, my husband was able to get the day off too so we had an entire day together as a family. That’s a rare treat.
Last year I had managed to get some vouchers giving us free entry into the Tower of London. Having spent many years living on the edges of and working in London there are a lot of the sights and landmarks we haven’t seen. Husband and I have both been (separately) to the Tower so thought it would be an interesting place to go as a family.
Luckily husband works around the corner and we were able to park there and finish our journey on foot. I say luckily because the train fare would have been in the region of £70 return.
It was surprisingly busy for a February morning but there was lots to see and we all enjoyed it. There are still bits there we haven’t seen, but as I say it was busy and very chilly too. I don’t mind as it’s reason to go back 
We had a late lunch in The Breakfast Club in Spitalfields. It’s my new favourite place. The decor is ‘Nouveau Retro’ and shabby chic. The food, unsurprisingly, is all day breakfasts and burgers and was a smash hit with my children. The background music was a fantastic blend of 60′s soul, and 80′s pop with a few other classics thrown in for good measure. The clientele was a fabulous mix of city suits and arty types. I could have happily moved in there!
So photos: A few from the Tower, which my Daughter still insists is NOT a tower, and a few from The Breakfast Club. The picture at the top of the post is the signage above the restaurant and, do you know what? Today was a good day.
Aaaaaaaargh!
Do I have your attention? Good! Because I feel like I’m teetering on the edge of a great pool of despair and I’m about to fall in.
It’s been such a busy week and I am tired. Being tired always makes me so grumpy. I also know that a ‘friend’ wants to ‘talk’ to me and you know that any talk in inverted commas is never a good talk. Today, for the first time in a couple of days I’ll be seeing my (senile) Father in Law (http://thedementiadiary.wordpress.com/), which because I am tired will be a struggle. I have to keep patient. We’re taking him to my Mum’s which should help; A problem shared and all that!
So I’m looking now for a couple of positives to see me through the day and I’ve come up with a couple.
The first is dinner cooked by my mum. I don’t think there’s many people in the world who don’t love their mum’s cooking (except my kids who have weird eating habits but that’s another story) and I am no exception.
The other is this post that I’ve just found http://chittlechattle.wordpress.com/a-collage-a-day/
It’s half term so the kids are at home. My work is reduced during the holidays so I’ll be looking for creative ideas to share and do with my children, and this really inspired me. I’m looking forward to doing some similar things.
Right off I go now into the day………..
Image via Wikipedia
Sun 1/1/2012 Debussy – Clair de Lune
Monday 2/1/2012 Edvard Grieg – The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16
Tuesday 3/1/2012 Elvis Presley – Hound Dog
Wednesday 4/1/2012 Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite No.2 (4)
Thursday 5/1/2012 James Morrison – I won’t let you go
Saturday 7/1/2012 The Sugarcubes – HitFriday 6/1/2012 Debussy – Clair de Lune
Sunday 8/1/2012. Justin Bieber – Christmas Love
Monday 9/1/2012.
Tuesday 10/1/2012. Amy Winehouse – Our day will come
Sunday 15/1/2012 The Calling – Wherever you will go
Monday 16/1/2012 Karl Jenkins – Sanctus
Tuesday 17/1/2012 Stanton Warriors ft. Eska – Still Here
Wednesday 18/1/2012 Barenaked Ladies – The Big Bang Theory
Thursday 19/1/2012 The Kings of Leon – Use Somebody
Friday 20/1/2012 Etta James – At Last RIP Etta
Saturday 21/1/2012 Eliza Dolittle – Pack Up
Sunday 22/1/2012 David Bowie – Let’s Dance
Monday 23/1/2012 The Killers – Mr Brightside
Tuesday 24/1/2012 The Maccabees – Pelican
Wednesday 25/1/2012 Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime
Thursday 26/1/2012 Lily Allen – The Fear
Friday 27/1/2012 Levellers – What a Beautiful Day
Saturday 28/1/2012 Muse – Uprising
