Tag: love

2024-2025

Probably one of hundreds of thousands of similar posts that will go out around midnight as the clock strikes 12, I’m loving this year seeing some blogs I follow calling up “Happy new year” many hours prior to us even getting there. It’s lovely to see and I return the compliment of Happy new year, I sincerely hope that the coming year is kind to you and that you achieve all that you set out to do. I really do.

When discussing the years, we normally say it’s a good or a bad one, I’ve had one of those years where I’ve suffered loss, it has really hurt and still does. But it wasn’t a bad year. The last four months have been awful I won’t deny that, but the eight prior ones were fantastic as we spent good, quality time with that family member, and fantastic life long memories were made forever. I am so thankful for being blessed with having that individual in my life. He was a gift to us, and the Lord called him home to be at his side. We were blessed, you can really have too much of a good thing.

Going forward into 2025 we have a lot of plans, and hopefully these will come to fruition along the way. We don’t plan too strictly as plans often fail but they can always be scheduled for a more appropriate time. Happiness and contentment are all we really want, we don’t want anything material, we have all we need. We are by no way rich, far from it, but we are extremely wealthy where it comes to love and appreciation for what we have, what we have had, and whatever is coming our way in the future.

We are all blessed, I’ve stated in an earlier post that the fact we are all on this small planet in a vast universe, is outstanding, the odds on you being here are 40 Trillion to one. You are a very special and important person. It’s an exclusive club for sure.

Don’t cringe at this next statement, its corny but let’s hope the year brings less war and hate and more peace and compassion. I doubt it will, but we can all dream.

I send greetings to you, your family and friends and sincerely wish you all the most happy and joyful of years.

Be the special person, help that one person in need. Change the world, if only for that one person.

Love and peace to you all.

Pinch Pottery Pt:2

Back in September 2024 I wrote this post about pinch Pottery: Pinch pottery

It’s been a few months and I’ve just decided to finish it off and give it some bright colouring and a sealant coat or two. I want it to represent a bright sun if I can, but when I get to actually paint it, it could well turn out looking totally different. Here we go.

This is one of those things I think my wife dislikes but she knows it means a lot to me, even though it is a poor quality and there are probably kids of 5 or 6 years of age that could produce something a lot better. But I made it, it was made at a time when I was grieving and gave me a lot of pleasure. It still does and this will probably remain in my workshop when I eventually get it up and running. It makes me smile when I look at it and i love it. It’s simple, it’s how life should be.

This is how it originally looked:

Alf
Reminder

I started painting the base Yellow, and the inside Orange, with the dog done in white with a black outline. This is what I have so far.

Just started to paint.

I’m using acrylic paints here. I’m going to put a line of vine type effects around where the yellow joins the orange. At the moment I’m letting the piece dry for the next 24hrs and then I will try some touching up and repainting what I have already done. The yellow coat is quite dull as it is being absorbed quite literally into the clay base. I’m kind of hoping that the next coat will not be absorbed so much, fingers crossed.

Multicoloured madness

I’ve gone with a yellow scheme for the underneath and a red – orange on the inside. I’ve tried the same type of painting that you find on narrowboats on Uk Canals, when they paint the buckets and metalwork with flowers. I’ve used this effect around the rim and from one angle it looks like he is looking over a hedgerow. It’s exceptionally basic, but it’s brightened up a piece of pottery that would otherwise sit in the corner unnoticed, discarded and unloved. You can’t miss this now, it just stands out.

First coat of lacquer
Fast drying enamel clear coat lacquer

The final task is to give a nice coat of lacquer to protect the acrylic paint. I’m going to use some fast drying lacquer that I have sitting in the shed at home. About two coats will be sufficient.

Before and after
Side decorations

I’m pleased with the outcome, it’s made me happy, and I smile whenever I see it. It’s kept me occupied and busy, It’s special to me and that is all that matters. It’s adult pottering and nonsense at its best. But it’s my nonsense.

Thanks for stopping by.

Boys toys

What is your all time favorite automobile?

First of all I hope you all had a good Christmas Day, our family day went really well with no issues, and today is round two at someone else’s house so at least the washing up won’t be left for me today.

All time favourite automobile? Now I’m not really a petrol head and to me an automobile is purely a way to get from A-B. I’ve owned some right old bangers that I’ve really loved, but to be honest as I’m having to choose favourites, one is a toy and one is real.

The toy:

1970s I was brought a Tonka crane that was my absolute pride and joy. I was probably about 8 years old when I was brought this but to this day it’s still there in my memory banks as just something special. Knowing my love for anything retro I will probably one day look at obtaining one, much to the wife’s dislike.

A 70s Tonka Crane

The real thing:

When I was diagnosed with Kidney cancer a few years back I went out and treated myself to Landrover discovery 3. God I loved that car, it was like sitting in your favourite arm chair and a beautiful car to drive. It cost an absolute fortune to maintain but was worth every penny. Just like everything in this country though, we pay too much tax and because big diesel drinking vehicles fell out of fashion the grabbing government decided to tax these out of every day affordability. I loved that car and must admit I shed a tear the day it drove off our drive for the last time. I’d buy another one in a heartbeat, I loved it.

Doris – my old trusty Landy

We currently have a new car that serves a purpose but is as basic as you can get. That said, I’d rather walk anywhere within a reasonable distance than take the car.

Have a peaceful pleasant day.

Just have a calm and peaceful day

Ok, I’m not going to be around on the 25th as I have a number of hungry mouths and inquiring minds to keep occupied, as we have the wife’s side of the family here for dinner.

It’s been a tough year but for one day I think we can put all bad to rest and hopefully look forward to whatever new challenges the new year can bring. Today we can let bygones be bygones and celebrate being together, our health and wellbeing.

I know everyone does not celebrate Christmas and I fully accept that, so hopefully I can attempt to wish you all the most peaceful of days , I apologise in advance for any words lost in translation, no offence intended.

Have a wonderful peaceful and happy day.


  • आपका दिन अद्भुत, शांतिपूर्ण और मंगलमय हो

  • તમારો દિવસ અદ્ભુત શાંતિપૂર્ણ અને આનંદમય રહે
  • Magkaroon ng isang magandang mapayapa at masayang araw

  • أتمنى لك يومًا هادئًا وسعيدًا رائعًا

  • একটি চমৎকার শান্তিপূর্ণ এবং সুখী দিন

  • 祝你有個美好嘅和平同快樂嘅日子

  • Que tingueu un meravellós dia tranquil i feliç

  • Passez une merveilleuse journée paisible et heureuse

  • Να έχετε μια υπέροχη ήρεμη και χαρούμενη μέρα
  • Semoga harimu indah, damai, dan bahagia
  • Selamat menjalani hari yang damai dan bahagia

  • Ich wünsche Ihnen einen wunderschönen, friedlichen und glücklichen Tag

I know there are probably about another 140 languages I have failed to address. But to you all my message remains the same.

Peace, love & happiness.

A few, and a profession.

Who are the biggest influences in your life?

Personally my biggest influences amount to no more than a few people and one profession. Let me explain.

  • My Mother, she went through absolute hell in a marriage where she was beaten, abused and used like a carpet. I did my best as a child to protect her and like to think I did that well. She was still being abused well into her Seventies by a horrible jealous man who masqueraded as a husband. I dislike that man, as I have previously stated in a previous post I am unable to hate, I feel sorry for him and I’m sure he received his judgement when he passed over. At least I hope he did. Mother taught me patience and kindness, i absolutely love and adore my mother, and this week was the 20th anniversary of her passing.
  • My wife. She has this year kept the family together, she has saved a friend from harm. She has rescued that friend from the precipice, cared for her, seen she gets helped and spoken with her four or five times on a daily basis until that friend has been repaired, and brought herself back to a place where she is happy. My wife continues to impress me and make me so proud as she is a wonderful, beautiful soul that I believe was put on this earth to help people. She was unable to be a mother, something she would have truly excelled in, but she treats every child as her own and has beautiful relationships with youngsters, she guides and protects, she really should have wings on her back as I’m sure she was put here to serve that purpose. I am so proud of her and I know I have been gifted her presence for a short while, and I so appreciate that, I am a very fortunate person. And I so love her.
  • Anyone who teaches. You are very special and underrated individuals who deserve so much. I was most fortunate to meet the most influential man in my life who was a teacher : My Primary school teacher. Anyone that teaches deserves the utmost praise and respect, it is these unselfish individuals that shape this world and shape individuals into respectable members of society. You make the people who will go forward and shape this world. You make the world a better place. Anyone who just offers good advice and comfort to someone should pat themselves on the back.

We all have a role in society, we can all influence someone.

Have a peaceful day, have a wonderful holiday period no matter what your faith is or where your beliefs lay. Be that better person. Peace.

I won the lottery…that day

Share what you know about the year you were born.

My birthday year was special because I was born. I’m not being big headed, I actually won the lottery that day.

Well I didn’t win the actually “money” lottery, so you can stop thinking about the begging letters, however anyone born prior, during or since are all in fact lottery winners and your prize is life. (Like it or not.)

Yes your chances of winning the top prize in the Uk National lottery are a whopping 1 in 45,057,474 (source National Lottery)

Prior to being born your parents entered into a lottery arrangement (Polite way of saying what occurred) and your odds of being born are allegedly an eye watering 1 in 400 Trillion . Just let that sink in for a moment. You really have won the lottery of life.

As I said, like every big winner there are things you will like and dislike about you fortune, but you have been afforded probably the most precious gift of all.

Life.

So there is the saying that someone is one in a million, next time you are told that, stop that someone in their tracks and say. “ Hold on there, I’m actually 1 in 400 Trillion.”

We are all very special, on this little planet of Lottery winners.

Stay safe. You wonderful person.

(Picture courtesy of Earth.com)

Anger and hate – Why?

I’m not going to answer today’s daily prompt as WordPress sometimes asks some quite pathetic questions. Who really cares what my 5 favourite foods are or what the last things are that I did for play purposes. If you want to get some good interactions then ask about real life issues, if you want to know what someone has had for dinner then mosey on over to Fakebook or one of its sibling sites.

Today I’m talking Anger and hate, as I’ve experienced it big time in the last few days and I don’t really understand why.

I work hard. Very hard and it’s a thankless task at times. In my job I have to keep transport moving and people safe, however, occasionally one collapses and the other suffers. A young girl with serious issues, had this week presented herself, wandering out onto high speed train lines wearing just pyjamas bringing the system to a halt. I’m one of the first on scene, I arrange protection for everyone ensuring that trains aren’t moving near us and we then go about the task of recovering her and getting her to a place of safety. We achieve this and after a short while she is taken away and given support from a medical team. She is safe, it is all that matters, a life has been saved and it’s about as good as a day gets, but then I meet members of the public who’s travel plans have been ever so slightly disrupted, and it is disturbing and disgusting what I now experience.

“Why didn’t you just let her get hit by the train?”

“She’s ruined my F***ing day as I’m now late”

“People like that deserve to die”

I could go on, and the personal abuse I received questioning my parentage was not much better. It was pure bile and hate and that is why I ask why is there so much anger and hate about today?

What have we become as a society when your lives are arranged in such a way that a small delay brings out the absolute worst in you.

Why is so much anger present in society, even I walked away from this situation and wondered why I had even bothered.

I never use the word “Hate” anyone in my family will tell you that, and I will always pull someone up when they use that word. It’s an awful word, and there is far too much of it in this world. Dislike is a simpler word and can always be worked upon to improve a situation. It’s always easier to turn dislike into something more positive, however hate is a cancerous word that that can rarely be eliminated, it poisons the mind and very quickly kills all manner of rationality.

I work alone, I help get teams together to achieve common goals, the main one being to get transport from point “a” to point “b” safely. Sometimes we are challenged and have to work hard to achieve this goal, but we are always doing our very best. We work in the background and you probably wouldn’t even see us on a daily basis keeping everyone safe, but we are always there, always looking out for issues. Always looking out for you.

But it seems there is (hopefully a minority) an underbelly of society who are so selfish, that they are a danger to their fellow humans, they seem to have lost all reasoning, and common decency and this seems to be eating away at our core values as a social and caring society.

It’s been a tough week and I dare say on the run up to Christmas and just beyond that we will, experience more of these incidents. But guess what?

I will be there, I will do my job, I will put an arm around each of these individuals ( if they allow me) and tell them that I care and that I will be with them whilst they are my responsibility, they need this. I will think about them, no doubt for a long time after the incident and wish them all the very best.

For the irate passenger though I will feel sorrow, for the way they feel and act, and I will dislike that, however they can easily change their ways and become that better person.

Be that better person yourself, don’t hate upon anyone and just try to make life that much better for someone less fortunate, you just don’t know what they are going through.

You will feel a warmth in your body that you may never have felt before. That’s peace and contentment. Spread that feeling, this old world needs a lot more of it.

Have a safe and happy day.

I Care

Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.

I’ve probably covered this in a number of earlier posts, however this one in particular probably sums it all up just fine. Why bother? I care that’s why.. I’m a pretty hard shelled character and it takes an awful lot to gain my confidence, but I do hope people go away from meeting me and say that I’m a caring soul.

Says it all

I have been hurt an awful lot in the past especially by those who were put on this planet to help me on my way but failed miserably. Through this all though I have kept and nurtured a caring attitude as I don’t wish for anyone to be alone with poisonous thoughts and attitudes. If I achieve nothing else in my life at least I can rest comfortably knowing I have helped along the way.

There is an old saying,” Helping one person might not change the whole world, but it could change the world for that one person”

Simple. Isn’t it. Stay humble.

End of life

What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why?

That has to be ending the life of a much loved and cherished member of the family, a pet.

In our married life we have had three wonderful little Bichon Frise dogs, who we have rightly or wrongly treated as our children, they have wanted for nothing and had the best that we could bestow on them. We have never had children as we can’t, we obviously upset someone in a previous life and that privilege and pleasure has been taken away from us. We needed surrogates and the dogs were those stand ins. We were very happy.

There comes a time where you have to let go, you notice changes in an animals behaviour, the little whimpers, the constant sleep and the inability to do things, the little looks you get and the realisation that their quality of life is deteriorating. Decisions have to be made.

That final journey to the vets, me driving, my wife cuddling the little package on the back seat and the fight to see through the flood of tears that are clouding your eyes.

The vets bench, the dogs wagging his tail, he’s ok you think, but he’s not. The injection to subdue him, he rests, the second injection and then he’s gone.

The lonely drive home knowing you have left a family member behind, the sadness you are going to feel everyday going forward.

The little things you miss, the what ifs? that suddenly come to mind and the guilt you feel for ending a perfect little life.

We’ve done that three times now and it hurts so damned much, I don’t think we will ever be able to do it again as the pain is just unbearable.

Life is full of hard decisions, but when it ends in the death of a much loved companion, I just don’t think there are many such decisions that are harder to make.

Peace to all. Be safe.

One – alone

Who are your current most favorite people?

We moved into the East Midlands approximately seven years ago, I came up with my wife and my dog and they were, and still are, the most important in my life. However that has changed since the passing of my dog in August. My family unit has changed. I still have my wonderful wife but I now feel vulnerable in a way, as there is no one else. I have no friends up here only colleagues and the recent passing of my dog has made me consider that I am only one tragedy away from being alone.

I am a person who likes my own company, but I’m not looking forward to having that forced upon me. My future seems quite bleak in that aspect but I’m just going to have to prepare for that day I guess.

When you start losing the ones you love it’s as if you are personally having the love and support you are used to, gradually being ripped away from you. It’s a horrible situation that I don’t think that life ever prepares you for, and you will always be caught out by it.

Appreciate what you have. And protect that with all you have.