When I was about ten years old my parents gave me a record player for my birthday, along with an album titled ”Abba”, I still have it today (note to self to check eBay prices!).  I played that record over and over again; all the while holding my hairbrush and pretending to be Agnetha swishing my long blonde hair behind me just like her.  My walls were plastered with their posters, along with Leif Garrett, and sadly Chachi from Happy Days, very sad really!  I knew all the words and ALL the actions, yes I think I liked the actions as much as the words.

This afternoon my sister, niece and I went to see the musical Mamma Mia  at the flicks and I’ve gotta’ say girls this movie is fantastic.  We laughed, my sister cried and we all sang along to each and every song.  Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan are really great and you won’t believe Colin Firth, let’s just say he’s no Mr Darcy in this performance!  So get your girlfriends together, probably not one for the fellas, and go and see this movie, it’s a ripper!

Have a great weekend everyone.

TTFN

With such a beautiful array of colour it was easy get creative.  I’ve had these two big letters for ages, they are gifts for a girlfriend who has two very lovely little girls, Abby and Lilly.  I just need to paint the edges in a dark pink which will set off the letters and they will be ready to wrap.

I hope you are all enjoying a great week, here it’s the last of the school holidays.  Yesterday I took the boys to see Kung Fu Panda, what a hoot.  Today I’m back to work, only a half day so it will fly. 

TTFN

I’ve been crook with a nasty flue over the past week and not felt much like blogging or anything else for that matter.  Lucky for me as my blogg has been up and down like a fiddlers elbow, apparently the server has “issues” mmmmmm.  I’m not really sure what’s been going on but each time I’ve logged on the server was down and that is sooo very annoying, hopefully it’s all been fixed now.

While I’ve been curled up on the coach moaning and requesting drinks, tissues and chocolate, to ease my sore throat you understand, I have also been able to watch loads of television and I have to say there was plenty of good stuff to watch.

For instance, Friday night now starts off with Big Brothers Friday Night Games, yes yes I know “Big Brother” I hear you cry, but I just love it.  I really like watching the housemates battle it out in their silly outfits all the while pretending not to notice the camera crew all over the place.  And how they suffer when there are no mirrors around to preen themselves in, this years bunch has been particularly vein. 

After BB I switch over and I get two rippers in a row, Silent Witness followed by Spooks.  If you’ve not seen Spooks before it’s a British series based around your typical MI6, undercover, very covert team of dedicated spies.  OK … I really just watch it to drool over Adam (Rupert Penry-Jones).

Now Saturday nights has also turned into a really good night starting out with The Vicar of Dibly followed by a double episode of The Bill and finishing up with Midsomer Murders.  Last night was doubly good as Wimbledon followed with the women’s final.  Admittedly I didn’t get to bed until just after 1am but with all my laying around I really wasn’t that tired.

Sunday is not without it’s share of great viewing either!  During the afternoon I spend an hour folding washing while I watch The Gilmore Girls.  I need to keep my eye on the TV guide for this one as Channel Nine have a nasty habit of changing the time it’s on, naughty little buggers they are. 

But the piece de résistance to our weekly viewing is at 7.30 with the return of Dr Who, yes we are a house filled with loons!  I rush the dinner to make sure it’s all over nice and early then we all gather round the telly and spend an hour transfixed … alright it’s not that bad but we do love the Dr.

So if you have been wondering where I am and why there hasn’t been much blogging action you can blame it on UK television as I’ve just noticed most of the shows I rush to watch at predominantly British.  I’ll try to be a better blogger this week, as I am feeling much better today.

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely weekend.

TTFN

A few months ago I mentioned that I had started to go through menopause and that I had been really suffering with hot flushes.  The flushes had become so often that I was having them hourly, which is very unpleasant.  I did a bit of online research and found that a lot of people got good relief from Evening Primrose Oil, nice and naturale with no nasty side effects.  I started taking them on Friday night and although I did have a few hot moments during the night, nothing to do with Lee the Love God, Saturday was flush free.  Halleluiah!!  So if you have been suffering try these…

My weekend was spent mostly here…

Doing lots and lots of this…

The boys are on school holidays now so I’m gong to have to do the ‘working-mum-juggle’ and try to suppress the constant feelings of guilt for not being home with them.  They are such good boys though and they never complain.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

TTFN

I love movies of all kinds, old, new, love stories, thrillers and especially musicals, I guess I just love watching a good movie.  Over the past month I have watched a couple that I’d seen before but forgotten how fantastic they were, so I thought I’d do a post on “my all time favourite movies”.

First up is The Color Purple.  I probably saw this movie twenty years ago when I was “young” and really not that interested.  Sure I loved Whoopy and Oprah but I didn’t really get it, well that has certainly changed since my last viewing.  This movie doesn’t just tell a tail it also gives us an insight into history.  The scene that got me the most was when Sofia is asked if she would like to be the maid for the Mayor’s wife and she replies “hell no”.  You just know that her life is about to change, and for the worse.  If you haven’t seen this movie for a while it’s well worth a look.

Dirty Dancing is next up.  I think I saw this movie three or four times at the movies, a dozen more times on video, DVD and the telly.  It’s just one of those love stories that lifts you up and makes you wanna sing.  And of course there is that line … “nobody puts Baby in a corner”!

I couldn’t write this post without including Little Women, whenever I see that it will be on telly I’ll make sure I’m home and that the boys are out.  I love all three versions of this classic, including the newest version filmed in 1994.  The 1933 version staring Katherine Hepburn is great but I think the 1949 version is by far the best.  And how could it not be with stars like June Allyson, Margaret O’Brien, Janet Leigh and the amazing Elizabeth Taylor. 

If you have an entire afternoon free to watching telly you just can’t go past the 1939 extravaganza that is Gone With The Wind.  Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable burn up the screen with their love/hate relationship.  If there is one movie with more quotable lines in it it’s this one.  Who could forget Scarlett exclaiming “Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war; this war talk’s spoiling all the fun” and “Great balls of fire. Don’t bother me anymore, and don’t call me sugar”.   Of course Rhett Butler doesn’t get away without a couple of memorable lines, I mean how many of us haven’t exclaimed at one time or another “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”.  But it’s this line that I wish I could remember on occasion,  ”I’ve always thought a good lashing with a buggy whip would benefit you immensely”.  Finally I couldn’t write about this movie without one more quote, which I use often … “After all, tomorrow is another day!”

When my nieces were small and I would spend the night babysitting we would often find ourselves watching Father of the Bride.  This is a really funny movie with loads of lines I just love.  Martin Short’s carecter, Frank Eggelhoffer, is wonderful and has more quotable lines than I have room for in the post.  A great chick flick if ever I saw one.

Another really sweet movie that I love on a rainy day is Serendipity, it’s just lovely.  There is something really magical between John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, and who hasn’t bumped into someone for a few moments and wondered what could have been?

While on the subject of great on screen romance, I really love the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan combination.  Two movies I could watch over and over are Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, no violence or swearing just lovely.  If I were single and living another life it would be in the NY apartment that Meg’s character lives in, just wonderful.

Tom Hanks should probably have a category all of his own as he just doesn’t know how to make a bad movie.  Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 the list really is endless.  His voice over work on all three Toy Story movies are classics as well, whenever my boys would ask if they could play their Toy Story DVD I’d always have a little secret smile.

Trilogies, lots and lots of trilogies!  Of course there are the blockbusters like James Bond, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Treck, all great movies but would I watch them over and over?, nahh not really. 

When I was a kid I just loved musicals, I didn’t have the movies to watch, I had the records to play.  I know that really dates me and my kids probably wouldn’t understand how I could play those records over and over but I did.  I’d spend all Sunday afternoon switching from Hello Dolly to Oliver or West Side Story and South Pacific.  It wasn’t until I was married and we bought our first video player that I got to see the characters behind the words.  More recently I’ve been able to get them all on DVD and when the boys are out I’ll put one on, turn up the volume and sing to my hearts content!

And finally I’d like to finish with a little movie, not a blockbuster but one of my favourites, Steel Magnolias.  The women in this movie are fantastic, all play wonderful parts but my number one character has got to be Olympia Dukakis as Clairee Belcher, what a woman!  This movie has more one-liners than any other so I’ll just quote a few for you… “In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven feels so good, I buy a size eight”, “Sammy Wayne Desoto, what is this in my Frigidaire?” “Well, we went skinny dipping and we did things that frightened the fish”.  If you would like to read more you can go here, I highly recommend it!

I was going to link each movie to IMDb but it would have taken me way too long so I’ll just leave you with their link, it’s a great site for movie trivia and has settled a number of arguments in our house.

Well that’s my list, I’ve left out some great movies like Pride and Prejudice, Grease and Pirates of the Caribbean which it goes without saying I’d watch over and over.  Let me know your favourites and have a great weekend everyone.

TTFN

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post, I got just a little paranoid that you’d all left me never to return!!  There was a small story behind that beautiful lily from my husband.  It was a peace offering!  My lovely husband had been spending far too much time on the xBox and not attending to all the other things he should have been doing and I had a bit of a meltdown.  But after the lovely lily arrived all was forgiven. 

As I have no pretty photos to share I thought I’d do a Mosaic Monday entry.  Here in Australia it’s mid winter, cold and wet with little colour in the garden to inspire me.  As I’m craving colour I thought all this wonderful colour would feed my soul.

I received a beautiful parcel last week as part of Zoe’s Words and Bookmark Swap.  Thank you to Jo for the great parcel, no Kisses left but I’m going to really enjoy the book.

Monday is my housework day so I’d better be off and get stuck into it.  Have a great week everyone.

TTFN

When I got home from work today this beauty was sitting on my kitchen bench, isn’t she lovely.  My husband has great taste don’t you think?

Now to other news.  I’m not sure if it’s me or my blog but over the past week comments have dropped from 5 or 6 per post to only one!  What’s going on, I ask myself?  A friend said she had tried to leave a comment but had trouble, so if you too are having trouble please let me know on madelinedunster@hotmail.com and I will look into it.  If not I’ll take the hint …

Hope your week is going well.

TTFN

I just read this over at A Year From Oak Cottage and I can’t resist writing about it…

“For sale. Baby Shoes. Never worn.”

“Back in the 1920’s, the great writer, Ernest Hemingway, made a bet for $10 with someone, where, he stated that he could write a complete story with just six words. He won the bet with the above. Never have six words been so thought provoking or made one ponder more . . .

I was immediately inspired by the challenge of writing a thought provoking statement in just a few words.  After all, here in blog land we write about our lives all the time, in huge big long posts.  But can I write about my life, or indeed just one day, in a few words?  Do I need to embellish the story to make it interesting or can I just make a simple statement that will tell the tale?

Over the years there have been many short statements that tell a tale, like…

“Huston, we have a problem!”

“I have a dream”

“A dingo took my baby”

“Something Wicked This Way Comes”

I bet you know each of these and maybe know the story too.  They each make us feel some kind of emotion or provoke questions in our mind?  What is the problem?  What is your dream?  Where did that baby go?  What is coming?  We all read these words and are challenged to think.  I’m going to have ago and I hope you will too.  I don’t think you need to limit your words to six, or even use all six, just make a statement that provokes thought or creates an image.  Here is my contribution…

“My page is blank, my pen is ready.”

and

“Quick Mum, I need your help.”

Let me know what you come up with, I’d love to know.  Have a great week, filled with inspiration.

TTFN

I feel like I have run a marathon this week.  It all began last Saturday morning when Lee and I joined forces with our friends, Ash and Jo, to dig up our front yards and replace them with a more drought friendly Tuscan coloured gravel.  Our day began around 8.30am and finished with Jo and I raking gravel in the dark, filthy, sore and exhausted. 

Sunday was no better.  Earlier in the week I had this brilliant idea that Nicholas needed a desk for in his room.  His first year in high school has seen vast amounts of homework, and with only the kitchen table at his disposal the entire family has had to tip toe round while he concentrates, what better gift to give than a study table hahaha!    EBay came to the rescue with the exact desk that I was looking for.  With just a few days till the birthday I only had Sunday to pick it up, all the way over on the other side of town.  To cut a long long long story short, it took most of the day!!  I still had some gifts, cards and wrapping paper to buy, all my washing still in piles on the laundry floor (the laundry fairy didn’t turn up again!), food shopping to do as well as everything else that I would normally have done on a weekend.

Monday was a public holiday here in Aus, hip ra hip ra hip ra to Her Maj. Nick had invited a couple of friends to go to the movies to celebrate his imminent birthday and I realised as I dragged myself out of bed that I had not organised anything.  I spent the next hour running around like a lunatic making treat bags for the boys to take into the cinema with them.  By 2pm we are home and I now have the afternoon to relax get all the things done that I had meant to do the day before, including a visit to my sisters for a new hair do!

Nicholas turned 13 on Tuesday and as usual was up at the crack of dawn to open his gifts.  My parents called and asked if I’d mind bringing Nick over to see them before school to give him his gift,  as he starts school at 8.15 we are in the car and off to Mum and Dad’s by 7.30.  Before I go to work at midday I need to bake the birthday cake and pre-cook dinner as Nick has invited the entire family to eat with us, thanks honey I love you too!  I baked 24 yummy muffins and shaped them into a 13 and prepared his favourite lasagne and garlic bread!  By this stage I’m happy to see the bank and have a rest!

I’m so glad I pre-cooked the dinner as I really enjoyed the evening with our family all around and only a few dishes to put in the dishwasher and a cake board to wash.  The muffins went down well and we even had some left over to put in lunch bags for the rest of the week.

With only parent-teacher-interviews left on my list of things-to-do I was soooo happy to see the end of that hectic week.  I’m truly exhausted.  Today I intend to get my housework done by midday and then I’m going to treat myself to an hour in front of the telly watching my new BBC Classic, North and South.

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend of rest and relaxation.

TTFN

I have received the lovely Excellence award, thanks Judy and I also have two memes to do and pass on.  So here goes with the first meme.

What Was I Doing 10 years Ago?
Ten years ago i went back to work following a three-year hiatus while I had my boys.  I actually started work on my Nick’s 3rd birthday.  Luckily for me I didn’t start work until 5pm so I had all day to enjoy his birthday and celebrate with him.  In order to go back to work I had to stop breast feeding Bailey who was 10 months old.  The first night at work was interesting at Bailey’s normal bed time of 8pm when suddenly my breasts began to tingle and there I was sitting in an office!!

5 Things On My To Do List

Ughhhh only 5 things, I need more room.  OK let’s see,

1 I have a basket of folding from last weekend.

2 A basket of ironing from same weekend.

3 A vegetable patch in desperate need of digging over.

4 Winter veg to plant in said patch.

5 And finally I have 20 emails in my inbox awaiting a reply.

5 Snacks I Enjoy

1 Toast, I love toast.

2 Chips

3 Olives

4 Cheese

5 Chocolate

Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire

I think the first thing would be to pay off the home loan.  Two new cars for hubby and me, we have never owned a brand new car.  Pay for the boys school education up to leaving age.  Put some money in the bank for the boy’s future.  Have a huge party for all my family and friends.  And finally I would give each member of the family some money with no strings attached.

Places I’ve Lived

Born in Durham, England.  Moved to Germany, then back to England.  Immigrated to Australia, we have had two family homes here.  As a married couple Lee and I have shared the “love shack” our first tiny flat, then on to the “renovators delight” and then we built this lovely home.

I’m passing this meme onto 5 people and they are-

Ann - Still At Home

Molly - Molly’s Knitted Teddy Bears

Annalise - Now and Then

Krissie - Head for the Hills

Marie - A Year From Oak Cottage

And this beauty called The Book Meme.

1. Pick up the nearest book.

2. Open to page 123

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

My book is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, not that I’m reading it but it was sitting on top of a pile of books waiting for the fairy to come along and put it back on the shelf.  Ok let see what’s on page 123.

“You see, Amos?” said Mr Weasley.  “Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they’d done it, leaving Harry’s wand behind.   A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which would have betrayed them.

I got this meme from the lovely Judy and I am passing it on to-

Katie - What Katie Did

Kirsty - Two Lime Leaves

Brenda - Butlers Abroad

Clair - Nothing Will Go Wrong

Rebecca - Irish Sally Garden

Now if you don’t have a blog you are welcome to join in and just leave a comment here with your book details, but if you got a blog of your own, hint hint, you could join in at your place.

TTFN