Archive for Blogging

Now I am WORRIED

Ramana in his generosity has honoured me with The Liebster Award.

I was aware that in German “Liebster” means dearest, or favourite.  Here I become confused – I will return to this point later.

Having learned in the past by my mistakes while using the German language, I thought I better check on the meaning of the word “Liebster”.

This is what I found:

German     English

liebster        beloved
liebster        boyfriend
liebster        dearest
liebster        sweetheart

Now my mind is more than a little addled and who can blame me?
Sudden declarations of love on my blog.  His belovedHis Dearest. His Sweetheart.  Any one would be enough to bowl a girl over, if she heard it in a romantic situation surrounded by soft lights and sweet music….

But to be his BOYFRIEND! :shock: That shock was more than enough to set my heart going.  It took half a can of my spray to get it back on even keel.  I didn’t think he swung that way.

Where were my Toyboys, my protectors when I needed them.  Ashok, Nick, Magpie, Conrad, Mayo, Paul, Will and Tee O, I need your help.  What am I to do?

As for the first point… The Bounder; the Rascal has conferred the honour on FOUR other women:- Gaelikaa’s Diary, Padmum, Delirious and Silver Fox.

The Cad.

I should have listened to my mother!

I am off to lie down in a darkened room…..

I can’t even offer the award to my Toyboys listed above because their wives might not appreciate having me around for extra curricular distractions! :sad:

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Names

Yesterday I was listening to a BBC radio programme about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was one of the most versatile and adventurous engineers of the 19th century, responsible for the design of tunnels, bridges, railway lines and ships.  The name has a certain ring to it, but it was certainly not on my list when expecting a baby.

In the flow of comments on this weeks Food Monday recipe post, Tee O The Old Fossil informed us of his good lady wife’s name: Mary Alice Arlene Mildred Louise Roena Knickerbocker. I wonder if she was an only child, or the first of a new generation? If the latter, perhaps the names were to insure inclusion in the Wills of all four grandmothers. ;)

I do hope Tee O doesn’t mind, but it set me thinking of names….

There are many examples of multiple middle names. I do know an Aline Mary Veronica Anne and an Eileen Mary Philomena!

Royalty are rather fond of multiple names too,

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary does well despite the fact she does not use a surname. You don’t recognise the name? Why she is well known as Her Maj Elizabeth II Queen of England.  Good old Charlie is actually Charles Phillip Arthur George, Prince of wails Wales. His two sons are officially: William Arthur Philip Louis The Duke of Cambridge  and Henry Charles Albert David Prince Harry.  The Princess Royal was given the names Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise.

What about a musical sounding name like John Ronald Reuel Tolkien – Is it any wonder that he became an English writer, poet and university professor, perhaps best known as the author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

British musician Brian Eno’s full name is Brian Peter George St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle Eno.

Canadian actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas named their son Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland.

The name Rose entered the English language as a form of the Old German word ‘hros’, (horse). The attributes and beauty of the horse were much admired in ancient times. However since the 19th century when flower names became popular, Rose is usually taken to be from the flower.

I did meet a family of flowers, the mother was Violet and her daughters were Heather and Iris. I am glad my parents didn’t go down that road with me or I might have ended up being called Dandelion!

A middle name could be one’s mother’s maiden name, very common in Northern Ireland, or the last name of another recent ancestor (for instance a grandparent).

William Atticus MacGhilleseatheanaich, is rather a mouthful to pronounce and even to write.

Featherstonehaugh is believed to be the longest English surname, it originates from Featherstonehaugh, not far from Haltwistle, in the county of Northumberland.

Now can you imagine telling this guy that his dinner was boiled…

Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfe¬schlegelstein¬hausenberger¬dorffvoraltern¬waren¬gewissenhaft¬schaferswessen¬schafewaren¬wohlgepflege¬und¬sorgfaltigkeit¬beschutzen¬von¬angreifen¬durch¬ihrraubgierigfeinde¬welche¬voraltern¬zwolftausend¬jahres¬vorandieerscheinen¬wander¬ersteer¬dem¬enschderraumschiff¬gebrauchlicht¬als¬sein¬ursprung¬von¬kraftgestart¬sein¬lange¬fahrt¬hinzwischen¬sternartigraum¬auf¬der¬suchenach¬diestern¬welche¬gehabt¬bewohnbar¬planeten¬kreise¬drehen¬sich¬und¬wohin¬der¬neurasse¬von¬verstandigmen¬schlichkeit¬konnte¬fortplanzen¬und¬sicher¬freuen¬anlebens¬langlich¬freude¬und¬ruhe¬mit¬nicht¬ein¬furcht¬vor¬angreifen¬von¬anderer¬intelligent¬geschopfs¬von¬hinzwischen¬sternartigraum, Senior.

The dinner certainly would be both boiled, burnt and cold by the time you were finished, and so would you in more ways than one!

And finally….

Maybe I would need to make a vegetable curry if I was inviting this guy to dinner:
Umayalpuram Krishnamurthy Venkatramana!

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I promised you

On Friday I introduced you to three fine young men that I know of from the world of blogging and podcasting. One of them was

Cian MacMahon a fifth year student who podcasts as a hobby and so far has succeeded in finding two sponsors to cover his hosting expenses. Cian is a handsome young man with a crystal clear voice and excellent diction and I predict he will go places in the not to distant future.

Cian asked to interview me for a Podcast and the fruit of his labour is now available.

So make a coffee put your feet up and go pay a visit to View from the Quad where you can listen to the golden voice of Cian. In fact Mr Woss et al might learn a thing or two about how to conduct an interview with patience, good manners and preparation from this fine young fellow.

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PodCamp Ireland where do I begin…? (Podcast)

Podcamp Ireland took place on Saturday 29th September 2007 in the Ormond Hotel, Kilkenny, Ireland.

Some of the people I met

Krishna De

Ellybabes

Clare

Martha

Now the Toyboys:

Conn

Martin ‘GD’

Dennis

Dean

Keith

Neville

Brian

Michele

Tom

Bernie

Will

Ken

Niall

Spudshow Music Podcast

There were more, (hugs & squeezes at the back of the room!) lunch and coffee friends, but my lips are sealed ;)

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Talk among Yourselves

The other day Hails over at Coffee Helps asked for inspiration for a blog post. My suggestion was ‘Stick a pin in your Blogroll. Open the one your pin has landed on, now take the fourth sentence from it and away you go!’

It gave me an idea and a challenge to all of you out there.

Now you know I am not into the ‘meme’ lark and that sort of thing, so here is my proposal:

Take one sentence from each of the people in your Blogroll. Then use this wonderful material to produce a post.

Simple!

Have fun.

I’ll be watching!

Back after PodCamp… well maybe not if I find a Toy boy…………!

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Nobody Remembered

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20th September was a 1st Anniversary for me!

To be truthful it was the first Birthday of my Baby. Now Elly calm down and don’t get all worked up. There is nothing for you to be excited about. Relax and rest up after all that travel round Europe. I will talk to you tomorrow.

The baby I refer to is my blog. The very first post consisted of five lines. Today I could ask the same question “Am I mad or just insane? What would I have to say that would be of interest to other people?”

I suppose I have improved a little and from time to time amused the odd passerby.

There is one thing for sure, it is much more fun that I ever expected. I have made friends across the globe, spoken to a few and physically met several. I hope not to have made any enemies along the road. Granny surely you know I love admire Grandad and his easy way with words.

I am now at the stage of feeling guilty on the days when I fail to find the words for a post. It is now more important to read the work of my new found friends and laugh, learn and sometimes weep at the stories they have to tell. Thank you one and all for help, encouragement and faithfully returning to to leave comments.

I never for one moment thought I would last a month never mind a full year.

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Cheers, thanks & hugs!

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My Hidden Vice

Over the past few months I have been naughty! Not really naughty, just a teeny-weeny, little bit.

I Grannymar am a Kleptomaniac!

You see I have developed a liking for reading other folks Blogs. They cover a wide spectrum and are not all listed in my Blogroll. Perhaps one of these days I might find the time to sort it out. So how can that be naughty?

I steal phrases or sentences I like. My collection is growing.

Today for fun I wondered if I used all of them what kind of post it would turn out to be. So here goes, and (((((HUGS))))))))) to everyone I stole from. See if you recognise a few words that belong to you:

#~#~#~#

I find myself in a strange space today as Mother Winter breathes crisp air into our my lungs, but my bathroom smells like a bucketful of barnacles that have been rotting for a week in the belly of a whale. There was no excuse for this, so I had to get down to some serious cleaning.

As I scrubbed I sang a little ditty to myself. At this stage I must confess that the only place I dare sing is in the bathroom. I didn’t ‘do’ music at school. Since I couldn’t carry a tune in my head, there was little point of me carrying a violin. As I sang croaked, my mind wandered to “Mushroom Meg”. In the town where I was born, bred and buttered, you were nobody unless you had a nickname! Mushroom Meg was at school with me, in fact we shared a desk. She called me “frost frogs”. Her granny who was German told her “This is the way people in Germany are called when they easily get cold!”

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things. Today I remembered something important! It was Mushroom Meg‘s Happy Mummmbledy-somethingth Brithday!

As we grew up she had all the signs of too much junk food and lack of exercise. She never realised that a tube of lipstick or the latest handbag and shoes can never make-up up for dry skin, dull hair lack-lustre eyes and a tired overweight body!

It is quite a few months since the last time we met for lunch; she had poor health for a year or two. I was afraid to hug her too hard because she seemed so very tiny and fragile. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. So I phoned Mushroom Meg with my usual birthday greeting: Yay for annual continuation days! (Birthdays) We talked of things we “coulda-woulda-shoulda” done, and she told me about her sister “Lucy Leek”

I can no longer hear the name Lucy Leek without becoming incandescent with rage about something or other. Lucy Leek has very strange ideas. She seems to think when you pay cash into a bank it goes in their safe wrapped up in rubber bands with your name on until you need to withdraw it again. Her attitude could use a little adjustment, when our dear Lucy Leek gets something into her mind hell and high water won’t stop her trying to force her ideas on her audience. I certainly could use a bit more patience with her.

So things are going stingingly in Funnymoon-land. Elly called to tell me she had an emergency trip to doctor as an insect bite has flared up badly. Thanks to the EU health card that we should all carry, the visit was free.

All the travelling reminded me of something I have discovered about a sense of place. It is that you can travel the country, seeing, touching, tasting, talking to people, participating in their community events and come to know something about each one.

The most important discovery of all, however, is that place truly resides within your heart and soul and memories.

As When the sun sets on this day, remember that God, in his infinite low sodium wisdom, loves you! And for what it’s worth- I do too!

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Podcamp Ireland in Kilkenny (Podcast)

My thoughts on and expetations of Podcamp Ireland in Kilkenny, Ireland

on

29th September 2007

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Schmooze Woozee, that’s Me

Tuesday I was in shock, and you can blame that K8 once again! I worry about her because she gets more like her father every day. He fires hands things out ad lib and now she is at it.

“So what is she handing around now? A tray of drinkies, or a platter of Smoked Salmon”, I hear you ask?

Not at all, it is another Award. This time it is a Schmooze Award.

So why me? Well to put it in her words:

“Because you’re such a motherly spirit around here.. your posts are warm and familiar, and you always find time to comment, which ain’t easy!”

It’s the ‘motherly spirit’ that scares me. I have heard of High Spirits and Holy Spirits but motherly spirits are a new one. I wonder are they part of the tekki language with a total different meaning to our usual one. I must remember to ask my grand nieces.

So how would you like one of these on your Blog?  (Honours for cash easily arranged!)

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Now I have to put my thinking cap on….

Right now, are you paying attention? Here we go…

Conortje: He amuses me daily and he is just the age to be my Toyboy!

Ellybabes: Since she pushed me into this entire blogging lark, I have to get my own back. Anyway if I didn’t include her she might have me in the Nursing Home before the weekend!

Gingerpixel: A lady of great talent and the ability to make me broody!

Nelly Moser: In the wilds of Co. Antrim she waxes lyrical about life, living and anything that catches her mood.

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Mobile Phones

Modern technology is wonderful WHEN it  works!  If I had a penny for every time I said that, I would be worth mugging!

Now steady on George, go back to work and  relax I said IF!

Elly sent me an email and suggested I blog the content.  The easiest way is just to copy and paste the info so here it is:

Nokia have announced a battery recall for some BL-5C phone batteries manufactured between Dec 2005 and Nov 2006. In very rare cases the affected batteries could potentially experience over heating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge.

Since so many people carry Nokia phones, I though it might help to post the link below which provides you details on how to check if your battery comes from the affected batch. Remember to look closely to spot the difference between ‘zeroes’ and the capital letter O – it can be hard to tell. Also think of sending the link on to anyone you know that uses Nokia phones.

Nokia Battery Replacement Check Website

Now you know, do what your grannymar tells you, go check!

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