Smile it's The Weekend Blog Hop {12}

Good afternoon and my apologies for this being a day late, we where hit by stormy windy weather again yesterday, as a result we've been without power, internet or phones. If that's not a reason to start scheduling  these posts I don't know what is!

Himself has been back to hospital and finally had the stent removed, he now has only one more check up then he's all finished at the hospital, which is fantastic news.

So much has happened this week, all good news I must add, but I'll save that for another post and get this done quickly in case the power goes off again, which it probably will as the wind is picking up again.

So I'll leave you with this amusing picture, one of my old work mates posted it on facebook of the plaster drying on his wall.

Did you see what I saw?

Hope you all have a great weekend, take care wherever you are in the world with this weird weather we've been having, be it snow, cold, wind, rain or heat that you're enduring at the moment.

xxx      

get the InLinkz code

Follow @Miss_Biggun Tweet

Good Riddance 2013

 

I don't know about you but I'm glad to see the back of 2013, it has been a terrible year for us.

 

I was forced into Medical Retirement from a job I loved 3 days before Christmas in 2012, which has resulted in me struggling to learn to survive on a tiny pension. Being unable to get a job and not qualifying for any benefits, this year has involved much tightening of my belt and learning to budget.

 

Himself has been most unwell and had to have two unsuccessful operations and is currently awaiting a third this month.

 

  

Christmas came and went, we had a power cut over the whole period and much of the surrounding area in Godalming was flooded, devastating many homes.

 

 

This picture was taken Christmas morning and is our local Bowling Green, more pictures can be found over on Badger Boo's Blog.

 

We're all electric here, so had no heat or oven to cook the Christmas Dinner, my brother kindly invited us over to his for lunch. We had a fantastic Christmas Dinner and it was most enjoyable to spend time with my family again.

Something I haven't done for many years, as Christmas is usually a very depressive time for me. Surprisingly with all that was going on this year with the weather and power cut I was feeling pretty upbeat for a change. 

 

So I say Good Riddance 2013 and welcome 2014 I have plans for you.

 

Happy New Year

 

xxx

 

Follow @Miss_Biggun Tweet

Silent Sunday

Follow @Miss_Biggun Tweet

Ooooo Look...

Eleven years I've lived in Godalming and walked down this little alley way many times, but yesterday was the first time I noticed this plaque high up on the wall.

Godalming is a beautiful town and full of history, you just have to open your eyes and look up to see beautiful buildings.
Although my observation skills were obviously ZERO when it came to seeing this plaque.

Follow @Miss_BiggunTweet

Ye Olde Town of Godalming Christmas Lights

Pictures were taken on my mobile phone, some are from last year as they are better than the ones I took this year.

Godalming Olympic Torch Relay

Today it was the turn of Godalming (my home town) to have the Olympic Torch Relay.

What an amazing afternoon, the town was absolutely packed full and the weather was fantastic, we got there a bit late and finding somewhere to stand with a good view was not easy.

Some Normality at Last

Life is finally starting to return to normal, Himself is now up and about and although he is still in a fair amount of pain, it is now under control.

On Saturday we went to Busbridge fete, and Himself felt up to doing some fake wounds on the St John Community First Responders stall, the kids really love it and it raises some much needed funds for equipment.

Himself applying the makeup for a bruise...

Great fun was had by all, at one point we had a longer queue than the face painting stall. Some fantastic wounds were done, although sadly no pictures due to legal requirements and permissions needed for photographing children.

My New Phone

Not sure what came over me, the other weekend, I dragged Himself into the Vodafone shop and decided I wanted a new phone, as the contract had run out on my old one a few years ago, and the battery is always letting me down, so I have to carry my old Nokia X6 and my sons old iPhone all the time, to ensure that I have a fully charged phone should I ever need to make an emergency call.

So I'm now the proud owner of a HTC One S. I've no idea how it works yet, but gave the camera a quick go and I love the quality of the picture (for a phone that is). 

Zoomed in as much as camera will go,
as sculpture on other side of canal in Guildford

It even lets me crop pictures, don't you just hate it when something creeps into shot, like that red car!!!

It does so many different things, most of which I will never, ever use. My mobile phone is only ever used to make phone calls (shock horror) and take pictures, I have no need of anything else. I like being stuck in the past, but can appreciate the benefits of technology. 

Here are a few random shots I've taken with it.

Flower in a box Guildford High Street

Not an appropriate way to display the Union Jack!!! The Square, Guildford

Fantastic window display in Godalming Shoe Shop, Godalming
I love it

HMS Warrior Portsmouth Dockyard

Obviously it makes good phone calls too, it came in very useful for when Himself was in hospital as I finally learnt how to send texts, and we were in constant contact, which was nice.

My New Phone

Not sure what came over me, the other weekend, I dragged Himself into the Vodafone shop and decided I wanted a new phone, as the contract had run out on my old one a few years ago, and the battery is always letting me down, so I have to carry my old Nokia X6 and my sons old iPhone all the time, to ensure that I have a fully charged phone should I ever need to make an emergency call.

So I'm now the proud owner of a HTC One S. I've no idea how it works yet, but gave the camera a quick go and I love the quality of the picture (for a phone that is). 

Knitting and Crochet

I needed to do something to keep my hands supple as I have really bad Arthritis in them.

My Granny taught me to knit and crochet as a child, and I thought it would be good to do it again for my hands. But when I looked into lessons they were so expensive!

I saw on twitter that a Stitch & Bitch group had started in my area and was having it's second meeting that night.

So I dug out some needles and wool and had a go, I didn't want to turn up if I'd forgotten how to do it.

I was quite pleased with my first effort.

So then came the hard bit, actually getting there as I suffer from 

Panic Attacks, I did get there, and met some wonderful people who made me feel most welcome.

"Baby Steps" and "Panic Attacks"

Last night I took the bull by the horns, and went out alone to meet people I don't know in a pub. 

As a Recovering Alcoholic with Social Phobia it was a massive thing for me to do!!!

I've wanted to relearn knitting for some time now, to keep my hands flexible with the Arthritis, I've made enquires about private lessons but the cost was way beyond my budget, so I had to give up on that idea.

Whilst browsing twitter yesterday, I stumbled across a retweet about something called "Stitch 'n' Bitch" at The Snug Bar in Godalming.

Question to self:- 

I live in Godalming, I've been to The Snug Bar.

Could I really overcome my panic attacks and pluck up the courage to go?

Answer:-

If I want to do it, it's only myself holding me back!!!

Funny thing is, anybody that knows me thinks I'm a confident

The World is Full of Spooky Coincidences

The strangest thing happened today, went for a wander around Godalming with Himself and Badger Boo, once we had finished in the town we decided to walk along the canal to let Badger have a run about for being so good and to feed the Ducks.

A very pleasant walk it was too, so many Ducks, Canada Geese and even a few Moor Hens. So glad I spent the time training Badger it's ok to watch the Ducks and whine, but a definite NO, NO to chase them, as with this warmer weather they may be thinking about nests although I'm not sure about that.

I have always fed grain to the Ducks after a friend of mine who was a Countryside Ranger at Lightwater, said they always fed grain to