Typecast

Time for another Listography, prompted by Kate .  This week she wants to hear about simple pleasures. Mine are nothing amazing (and probably quite predictable) but they elicit a little smile and give me a bit of a much needed boost.    ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Sunsets Urban living means that you don't see a great (true) sunset too often but you do experience some great skies so when I catch a sunset from the back yard it can feel quite special. A Lie-In On occasion, the alarm is turned off and I wake up naturally.  Knowing that I can get up and not have to rush about is a small luxury that isn't often afforded. On normal working/school days I am usually the first one up, letting the dog out, pottering about just doing those little jobs that take a couple of minutes and ensuring that everyone is up and out on time.  Yarn Now that I have  taught myself to crochet  I am constantly on the look out for yarn to make another afghan throw and I...

It seems like a while since I had any content published on The High Tea Cast but it's that time of the month again.  You can find me lamenting about the over-sharing of family photographs on Facebook (prompted by all the recent papping of Simon Cowell's baby).  Hop on over, have a read and let me know if you agree with me! Find all my articles on The High Tea Cast here 

This week there was an article on Buzzfeed which pointed out that (the television series) Friends was pre-hashtag , i.e. there was no suggestion on screen telling you what to tweet or how to involve other Twitter users in your tellybox watching experience.  They already included my favourite three - #Pivot, #Unagi and #Seven - but to make them even better here they are in .gif format! Anyhoooo, I felt like it was only a quarter of an article because they had missed so many out. So, with a little help from my fellow Friends addicts actual friends here are the ones that Buzzfeed missed out with my ABSOLUTE favourite ever scene at the end. #OhMyGod #Mississippily #Woopah #PrincessConsuelaBananaHammock #ReginaPhalange #PryamidGame #jemapelleclaude #YemenRoad #moopoint #vafanapoli #howYOUdoin #theyvemadeapaste #LondonBaby #wewereonabreak #TheRoutine #whatdidImarryinto ...

Lesley writes for a living (copy writing, blogging, social media, poetry) and is also a winner of NANOWRIO - which means she wrote a novel of more than 50,000 words in one month - which is still waiting to be published. More about Lesley can be found on her blog (links at the bottom of the page) and for now, it's over to her Soundtrack To My Life choices. ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨  Donny Osmond - Puppy Love As cringeworthy as it is, I was about 4 or 5 and this was the first record I ever owned, a 45 and it was never off the turntable. Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf When I was an older teenager, the girls all used to use this song to laugh about all the boys we thought we could wrap around our fingers and get to do what we want. Those were the days when we all thought that our slim figures would just be there forever more and we were the creatures in control of the world.....Parents were just fun spoilers. Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin A favourite of my g...

I fancied baking something this week and got out my trusty recipe book but then realised that I hadn't got quite the right ingredients in to make some cookies.  In for a penny, in for a pound, I replaced some of the ingredients and hoped for the best.  My 14 year old chief taster has pronounced them "not bad really" which is high praise indeed.  I love the rustic look of them too so here is the recipe for you to try this weekend. This recipe makes about 12 cookies. Ingredients  125g butter or margarine 75g of brown sugar 1 tsp of vanilla essence 125g of self-raising flour 15 glace cherries (chopped into small pieces) Large baking tray covered with a layer of baking paper. Method Preheat the oven to 180F/Gas Mark 6. Beat the butter/margarine, sugar and vanilla essence until soft. Sift in the flour and mix well. Add in the chopped cherries and mix again until the mixture forms a soft dough.  It will be slightly sticky Wrap the s...

It's been years since I took part in a Q&A session prompted by another blogger but Liska at New Mum Online has included me her list of favourite bloggers victims.  At first I read her post when I'd had a glass or two of wine so set off answering the questions that she'd answered.  Then I realised that she had made her own questions up at the end and I'm supposed to answer those.  SO MANY RULES - I'M SO CONFUSED.  Anyway... I'm not sure I've answered them all as expected but then that's the risk you take when you ask me questions.   ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨  If you're into soaps, are you a Corrie or Enders girl? Neither.  I used to spend half my evenings glued to the soaps, getting attached to all the characters and their story lines and investing too much time in pretend situations.  I can't remember when I tore myself away from them but that part of the evening is now dedicated to replying to emails and studying.   What's your fav...

This week's Soundtrack To My Life is from Gwyn.  I really can't remember how I got chatting to Gwyn on Twitter but I'm sure he will remind me.  It was probably a random connection but one that has lasted a few years now. We share a love of music, quizzes and dead celebrities (more of that at the end of the post) and enjoy a good old discussion.   Enjoy the journey through Gwyn's memories... ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨  George Baker Selection - Una Paloma Blanca Now, some of you might wonder why I'm choosing a song that was in the charts when I was barely 6 months old, but apparently this was my favorite song as a baby. When it would come up on the radio I'd go mental and start bobbing around like a meerkat on acid. Little did I know that Jonathan King, the notorious paedophile, would later release it on Top of the Pops in the same year, introduced by none other than Jimmy Savile. Yup, I sure picked a good one there. Luckily The Wurzels stole the tune for I'm ...

I dabble in finding ways to organise my thoughts and motivate myself.  I download inspirational podcasts to listen to whilst I am relaxing, I read self-help books and, in more recent times, I have taken opportunities as they have arisen because you're only here once, aren't you?  So when presented with the book set " ...and then you're dead " along with its complement " ...and then you're alive " and saw how they worked in tandem, I was quietly excited. I'm a lover of lists and notes and jotting down ideas and this is the ethos behind these books, written and created by Jim Rai .   Jim says:  " I wrote the book after experiencing a major setback in life - which we all experience from time to time.  As I prepared to write my thoughts and feelings, the words came pouring out and it had a therapeutic effect on me, giving me not only a sense of control and determination but also a feeling of hope and desire.  I felt compelled to share t...

I saw the #STANDFORSOMETHING campaign tweeted out by Dr Martens a couple of days ago. I then saw that my buddy, Sian, had designed her own boot using their Facebook app so I've jumped on the bandwagon.  Seeing as though Sian totally stole my idea I decided to stay local and stand loud and proud for Lancashire. I never thought that a slightly out-of-focus picture of Blackpool Tower could look so awesome. There are much more meaningful campaigns on the Dr Marten Facebook page . Go and make your own on the  Facebook app  and then leave me a link to the picture in the comments so I can have a nosy. Edited to add:  I got a bit carried away and designed another. Now I can't decide which I like best. Which one would you choose?

This Soundtrack To My Life is from Sadie who is one of my "online friends" (yes, another... ).  Her tunes are exactly what I'd dance to and I've even had the first one as my ringtone too.  A great mix of genre with some fabulous memories attached.  Over to Sadie... ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨  Soft Cell - Tainted Love   This is the song that was playing when I first realised that Boys were attractive. I was 11 and his name was Jamie, a very exotic name in 1981!. I remember being stood by the stage at the Youth Club, listening to this song and looking at him surrounded by girls. I was so shy and although I think my friend told him, I don't think my love was reciprocated. He left our school to go and live in America (I don't know how true that was!!) and I didn't have a boyfriend until I left school! Tainted Love is now my ring tone as it catapults me back to the beginning of my adolescence, and the start of the wonderful eighties. The Rolling Stone...

More Silent Sunday pictures.

I'm a regular down at my local bingo hall (and have been for many years now). Speed, concentration, a lucky dabber and a bit of luck are all you need to stand a chance of winning the prize money on offer .   The attitude and image of bingo has been brought right up to date recently and has definitely moved on from the stereotypical blue-rinse brigade in a fug-laden room.  Popularity has increased and players of all ages are now taking part especially now you can  play online bingo  with companies such as Paddy Power.  So here are my six reasons for playing bingo at home: I don't have to find a babysitter - I'm £10 up already.  YAY! I don't have to run around for an hour beforehand, tarting myself up - there is something decidedly recalcitrant about playing online bingo in my pyjamas, with a dye kit on my hair (NOT a blue rinse, before you ask). I can "talk" to my fellow players during a game of online bingo without an...

It's not often I go loopy for an item of clothing but I just had to share this with you. I ordered this gorgeous little Elephant Dress  from the AskHerFriends website along with two other items - a present for a friend and another handbag - and didn't really take much notice of the seller (AHF is a crowd-sourced marketplace - read more about it here ).  It was a lovely surprise to find out that the dress had been stocked by fellow blogger, TigerLilly Quinn ! Because the sizing was a bit vague, I ordered a 'Large', crossed my fingers and thought that I could gift the dress to my daughter if it didn't fit me or didn't suit me.  Well, there's no way she's getting her hands on it.  I'm a size 16 and the 'Large' fits perfectly because of the slightly stretchy material. I'm wearing it for work on Friday teamed with the boots I bought from the John Lewis sale, a boyfriend cardigan I've had for ages from Zalando and some trus...

More Silent Sunday pictures