Shisha/Hookah

If you spend any amount of time in the Middle East (like moi) you learn how to smoke SHISHA. Or Hookah. Or if you are a Brit – The Hubbly Bubbly. I am SO VERY DISAPPOINTED with yt and their Shisha videos. This is an ancient tradition and a part of life. To refuse is […]

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Double Bagger

To this very day I am still STUNNED how those two words changed my life. My F1RST posting in Berlin. My F1RST mobile patrol around the city with someone and he said those two words. Me being STOOPID asked what they meant. He followed it up with…”She was F*****g UGLY. There was I all prepared […]

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Sophisticated vs Peasant

Me and She are OK in the UK. OK in France. OK in the Middle East but Italy was MY downfall :o( I drink very dry white wine or Scandinavian beer. Or an Irish (ice-cold) Guinness. She’s a G&T girl. Gin = Disgusting. Tonic Water = Double Disgusting You can get G&T anywhere in the […]

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“Intoxicated by the Beauty”

I was around 3 years old when I first met my Dad’s family. From that day until the last time I visited his hometown, the beach was MY “deeply mysterious…awe-inspiring” place. When my brothers and I would visit the grand-parentals they ALWAYS knew where to find us. That was Our Playground. The waves, the sand, […]

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An Inkling

I had an inkling, even before this book arrived, that it would be fantastic. If the intro is anything to go by, I’m in good company. BTW. I loved my school years. Almost every day was FUN. Maybe because we were a very happy bunch of kids who placed the “education” part of going to […]

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Do Anything You Wanna Do

I’m so in love with and enthralled by the Liars, Cheats & Thieves :o) They now watch what I watch…..but haven’t got a fkin clue why they do it. Apart from TRASHING me and myself and I ? Aaaaaw. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! These Three Musketeers are middle-aged 13 year olds Who love life and fun. The song […]

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FOOTLOOSE

If you have children, you will KNOW this feeling. The one when you ask a Totally Stupid Question and the child gives you THAT LOOK!! Youngest son used to buy t-shirts made to his own design. When the black one came with a picture of a rasher of streaky bacon with the name KEVIN under […]

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Curry Symbology

I love these boys for many reasons. Geordies. Hairy. Bikers. Cooks. Funny. COOKS! Men. COOKS. Men who cook! And no. NOT my curry today. Tempus Fugit. I didn’t even have time to open and read their cookbooks in my kitchen, never mind about the worry of buying lemongrass and galangal in Lincolnshire!!!!!!!! I cheated. Shoot […]

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COCK!

I could go so deeply into this but I’m cooking curry for tea and time is limited. Why did Dan Brown make his fictional character, Robert Langdon, a symbologist? Why were his films so heavily promoted? Why Tom Hanks? Anyhoo. The symbol/sign/code of the COCK was, once upon a time, SACRED. It was nature’s alarm […]

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Cake

You never know what people are saying behind your back. This is a true statement. Unfortunately, more often than not, it will be something horrible. But once in a while…! The homemade cake above was hand-delivered to me this morning with a message. I know you had a crappy birthday ‘cos the boys were on […]

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Happy St Andrew’s Day

In honour of St Andrew, this post is about the Fiery Cross that the Scots used to light to call in the clans. A little bit obvious, you say? Running around the mountains with that lighting the way! Yes. But they also had other ways. The image above is a watermark showing The Fiery Cross. […]

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Watermarks

The History of Watermarks in Paper is a long one. It’s fascinating and little known about outside of Academia. The process of watermarking paper reached expert levels as far back as the 12th and 13th centuries – mainly in the South of France where the Cathars and Huguenots had to hide their heretical religious leanings. […]

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