What indeed will happen in tonights much awaited episode??????
RTD gave us one hell of a cliffhanger....but how the heck is he going to get out of it??? because the Doctor fully regenerating at this point just (IMHO) WILL NOT HAPPEN!!
So just how is he going to twist this story around?
I am writing this now because I can't bare the last few hours wait unitll this story is aired, and what has made my impatience worse is the fact that it is on the BBC news at the moment interviewing the lady who won Dr Who mastermind! Now to my way of thinking the Doctors stops his impending regeneration somehow, because of his hand...remember it was cut off in his first story by the Sycorax leader, but becuase he was still regenarating at this point he simply just grew a new hand!...so has this theory got somthing to do with it??? I realy do get the feeling Mr Davies will un-pick some loose end form a past story of his (and God knows there are enough of them) and use this loose end to stop the Doctors regeneration!...but now the question is "which loose end has he chosen?"
Colin has reassured me that he will try and watch the full episode tonight, but he also said if it realy does get dreadfull he will tur over the TV again....I am planning my WHO watching carefully tonight! Its being aired at 6:40 pm which is a little to early for me to be sipping Port, so I will have an early bath and have some icey cold fizzy pop and some munchie treats to hand (sod the diet when Dr Who is on;-))...oh and make sure Sirius is well walked and fed, and preferabally with a fresh bone so he dosent disturb me when I am watching!
Ok...short entry I know, but I just had to do somthing to ease this excrusciating wait for 6:40 on BBC1

What do you think will happen lovely folks???

Its quite normal for me to not take in the content of the morning news as soon as I have woken, but I realy could not belive my ears this morning....The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, told the BBC today that the application of Sharia (Islamic law) in Britain "seems unavoidable". This would entail lashing for fornication and amputation for theft!!!!!!!!
This sad, overly hairy, little man needs to take his meds and be booted out of office immiediatly!! Well in my opinion anyway!
Sharia means literally the road to a watering place: a clear path to be followed. It is translated as "law", but it governs without restriction, as an infallible doctrine of duties, the whole of the religious, political, social, domestic and private life of those who profess Islam. Belive me when I say I know as I have traveled in many Muslim countries (some of my favorite countries are Muslim I hasten to add) and worn a headscarf and heard the call to prayer...But to have a man in such a high office to say that Muslim law should be used in the British legal system is absolutly bonkers! For one thing most decent law biding citizens will be outraged, and I would go so far as to say I think British Muslims would be very embarraced by Dr Williams comments...Sharia punishments include cutting off body parts (heads, hands, feet, fingers etc) stoning to death, and also female circumstision!!...How would extreme punishments and bad treatment of women be prevented where the jurisdiction of Sharia was recognised? In Islam Sharia is the law of God as revealed in the Koran and through the behaviour and words of Mohammed...also drinking and smoking are huge no, no's in Muslim society and hugly frowned upon if its a woman seen drinking and smoking (I have had some funny looks I can tell you!) and even when alcohol is available its sold to you under the counter with the bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag!!!! Now I don't want to sound too extream about all this, but think about it for a second??...??....First we have the smoking ban (Muslims are anti - smoking)...next the Archbishop is sprouting his mouth off that we should integrate Sharia with the British legal system....and now I look into my crystal ball and suddenly see a George Orwell style 1984 society!!...Oh and what made it worse was Dr Williams actually admitted that he dosent know much about Sharia law!!!! and I quote:
**"I don’t know enough about the detail of the law in the Islamic law in this context," Dr Williams said, "I’m simply saying that there are ways of looking at marital dispute for example within discussions that go on among some contemporary scholars which provide an alternative to the divorce courts as we understand them."***
Well my advice would be...go and live in a Muslim country!!! Read the Khoran, and understand the laws of this religion, and the punishments your talking about!!! and then come back and say the same thing....I don't think so!!

Ok...sorry *blushes* rant over with....

*climbs off soap box*

As promised from last night! ;-))









and this is my 75 year old Mum playing with my playset!!



I freely admit my Playset has become an inpromptue dolls house! I have even saved cardboard that is Tardis coloured (from other bits of merchandise) to build up the tardis walls!and not only do I love it, but as you can see my mum loves it too! On her last visit I had to part with a remote controlle K9 (an old one) and two small remote controlled Daleks, which she now proudly shows off to he neighbours with glee!! Once when she came to stay at my house she went around taking photos of my collection...went back home, and showed her neighbours the photos! One of her neighbours asked Mum about my White Dalek (apparently one of the least collectable) and said WOW! Where did she get that, that must be worth a lot of money!...I got it from ebay years ago for about £10...LOL!...mY PRIZED who collectables are actually clothing which include a black satin jacket that belonged to John Nathan Turner, and a T shirt signed and dated by Jon Pertwee! Both are currently stored in tissue paper, but I would like them to be framed!
Ok...in other news...
I am back on my pole today *cringes* because I dident dance yesterday I feel like a right lazy slacker!
Last night while out on walkies I was chatting to Bristols Mum and I was telling her about it and she looked shocked and said "Does hubby know about this"..."yes!!!" I exclaimed "He bought it for me!!" I had giggled, and when I put the thing up (pole) its slap bang in the middle of my living room...I find it very odd that pole dancing still has this *stigma* attached to it. You know the one! Pole dancing = seedy bars, grubby little men ect! But I would have thought that would have been a thing of the past as the areobic qualities of pole dancing is second to none, and I have only been doing it for about a month now but already I am feeling better toned and my upper body strength is stronger! In short and even with all the moaning and growning, its been one of the best things that I have ever taken up as a hobbie! I would reccomend it to absolutly anyone as size, age, and sex are no barrier...my Pole Mentor is a lady from New York who I have been chatting to and getting tips from. She is a journalist, and looks a wee bit like J.K. Rowling, but she is also 48!!! and as a result of pole she has the body of a very fit 22 year old! She is amazing, but she has been pole dancing for 5 years, and she frequently sends me videos of herself doing new moves so that I can try them. She has become my teacher realy!!!
Right...dog walking...
...and he needs a jolly good brush too...and a bath!

Vix xx

Got the shock of my life this morning when I realised I had run out of ciggies, and had to make an impromtue trip into town!!
The nearest shop to me is about 20 mins walk away, and I dident have any ready cash, and I know they make a % charge for credit cards, so going into town for them makes some sense realy...and gives me an excuse to go shopping! *huge grin*
Right now its HOT! ...Very hot...and I bet Colin is suffering because he hates the heat!...poor love! So anyway I decided to go early before it got too baking...first bargin of the day was a bikini from Wallis for £8 and some flip flops for £5!...But what I found in Woolworths, I just had to have!!!!!!!! "the Doctors fob watch!"...Now I have not been collecting "who" stuff for a while now, due to tight finances and the credit crunch, but this little item was a simple must buy for me as I have a small collection of fob watches and even wear my ladies Tardis pocket watch on occasion! I did actually buy an antique watch chain to go with the Tardis watch and it looks absolutly gorgeous worn with a smart waistcoat and low slung jeans! Fortunatly ladies waistcoats are very in this season (Lis Sladen was even wearing one in Stolen Earth) so I have been wearing my pocket watch more frequently and have to say, it (not me) gets a lot of admiring looks! Now this new "the Doctors fob watch" looked wonderfull in the packet, and I was realy excited and thinking "wow! I can wear this one now too!" But when I got it home and out of the packaging I was hugely dissapointed!...Its very light, and very plastic feeling, and indeed even looks cheep (although at £14.99 I certainly don't think it was cheep) and for some odd reason its so hugely thick I will never get it in the pocket of any of my waistcoats!! Well perhaps I am whinning too much as this is basically a toy, but I realy do think they could have made it look a little less plasticy! When you put the battires in and set it and the press the side, lights flash on the dial and you hear the Doctor saying somthing about being the last of the timelords, but to me the voice sounds very speeded up! Ugh!! ?? Oh well, it will still be added to my newly insured collection! The extra priemum on the insurance realy dose mean that I can't add new stuff like I did in the past! But its better to be safe than sorry as I have been collecting this stuff since I was 10!!
Ok...on me go...
Had a lovely chat to our Kate yesterday! Its wonderfull catching up after all these years! and I could hear her son in the background, giggling, which was a delight! Kate has been telling me about how much Warrington (my home town) has changed and I realy don't think I would recognise it anymore! and she told me all about Nathan, her lovely son and I must admit I am starting to get VERY broody!! Sadly the prospect of children at my age is slipping away and hubby who is 51 next year, isent interested! But I must admit I realy would have loved to have been a mum!! and teach my offspring about the joys and wonders of Dr Who! LOL!!
Anyway, at the moment I am in the middle of cooking a 3 cheese pasta bake for tea and it smells absolutly yummy! But it will be eaten with some garlic bread out in my garden later on, if the weather holds, as we are forcast for thundery showers here later today! At the moment though its gloiriously hot and I have even had an hour sunbathing! If this heat keep up I will be getting out my blow up swimming pool soon! That should be fun!...I have not been on the pole today as its far too hot, but fortunatly I had two good sessions yesterday, and the aches and pains seem to have gone, thankfully! So I must be getting used to it. Also my firemans swing is getting better and more steady as my upper body strength is getting stonger! Yesterday though I was polling in ballet slippers to see if it would be better than the sky high pole dance shoes, but no...when you pole dance your naturally lifted onto your toes and this is where the high shoes come in handy! I can also turn in them better too...Pole dancing in bare feet is ok, and gives me good grip with my toes...I think when I am finally fit enought to do the routine for "Doctor in the Tardis" which I will post to PoleJunkies, I will probabally be bare foot...the sky high shoes don't realy go with my Dr Who pole outfit either...Oh wait...I could wear Tennant style sneakers!!
*giggles*

see you soon lovely people! xx

oh and for anyone who is interested, please take a look at my deviantArt gallery! ;-))

http://mrssiriusblack.deviantart.com/

you will have to copy and paste the address as I still haven't figured out how to add a link on here yet, as it dosen't seem to work!

Synopsis:
When the Earth is stolen from its orbit and placed in another galaxy with 26 other stolen planets, the Doctor's secret army of allies comes together to defend the Earth from the new Dalek Empire. With battles raging on the streets and in the sky, the Doctor and Donna confront the Shadow Proclamation to find the truth; however, a fearsome old enemy waits in the shadows.....

All week I have found myself being teased with tiny, tantalizing snippets of this weeks Doctor Who, and for once in quite some time now, I was realy excited with the prospects of this story...Recently I have been put off by the new series, I am sad to say, and I found getting excited about new episodes, becoming more and more difficult. But I am happy to say the exact oppersite happened with "Stolen Earth"...WOW!!! what an awesome episode that was indeed!!! Very fast, almost beathtakingly fast moving, and I felt like I was on some kind of WHO rollercoaster. My breath was taken away in the first few minuits when, Sarah Jane, Matha and Torchwood all look into the sky to see 26 close proximity planets (surley the gravity would change) right next to Earth! The earth had somehow become a collection of stolen planets in another part of the Universe! I loved the CGI sky! It was absolutly fantastic and at the time I thought would make a superb jigsaw at some point...The Doctor and Donna arrive at the Shadow Proclaimation where we again meet the Judoon and humanoid ladies who want to take the Tardis to lead the war...On Earth we catch up with Rose who breaks into the UNIT computer only to find a mass of spaceships approaching the Earth, announced with one errie, very familier word "E-X-T-E-R-M-I-N-A-T-E!!!!" We cut to Sarah Jane (I have not been following the SJ Advenures) and Liz's acting at this point was worthy of an Oscar IMHO! looks horrified and broken when she hears the Daleks...Meanwhile our other hero's Martha and Jack are in New York where they discuss the indigo Project which is a teleport device based on Sontaran technology, but the Dalek's are already invading and causing world wide havoc! Martha escapes using the teleport pack, at the express orders of her commanding officer who (just after she vanishes) is Exterminated by a Dalek!...One realy fun bit was when Donna's Mum and Grandad are confronted by a single Dalek and Grandad fires a paint ball blob at the Dalek's eye-stalk! the blob sizzles and falls off and the Dalek says "my vision is not impaired!" and ready's itself to fire. Rose ecomes to the rescue and blows the Dalek to bits from behind with her huge (Sigourney Weaver Alien gun)...Now by far the best bit for me was the return of Davros!!! Davros reveals to the Doctor that he was rescued from the time war by Dalek Caan (who subsequently went loopy) and he has given birth to a new generation of Daleks using tissue from his own body which he then reveals tot the Doctor! Absolutly loved this bit, and the idea of Davros using his own body to re-build the Daleks! Davros lifts up his black jacket to expose rotting flech and a black, steadily, beating heart encased in rotting, putrid ribs! Davors seemed very zombie like at this point, which I thought blended perfectly with the story! The Daleks truely are the babies of Davros!! Anyway the Doctor somehow cuts the transmission and lands the Tardis back on earth where he is reunited with Rose...abruptly....as a rogue Dalek fires at the Doctor, who is carried back into the Tardis where he starts to regenerate........
Sorry for leaving out lots of details but there was just so much going on in this story, that would make this the longest blog ever!! LOL!! I dont usually like multi-storyline stories but this one worked so very well, and even managed to tie up a few remaining loos ends from other stories! The CGI of the Universe and the Dalek invasion was absolutly second to none, and left me begging for more!.........But WHAT A CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!?????? EH???
I am going to stop before I become a blubbering fan-girl mess!!
What did you lovely folks think about this story??
I would love to know!

love Vicky xx

The year before I went traveling, I managed a pub with a friend and we both lived there at the Wheatsheaf in Dallington, a leafy suburb near Northampton town centre! It was a large two section pub (Scottish and Newcastle) with the bar section, off to the left as you walk in, was older and I am not sure but would date back to late Tudor. The lounge section had been added about 3 hundered years later!!! Now it was a very picturesque pub, with a thatched roof, and some of the upperfloors (my bedroon included) had floors that had sagged badly with age...AND it has a resident Ghost called the White Lady!!!
At first it was just odd things happening, like things vanishing, and showing up somewhere else, or footsteps could be heard on the stairs...the ususal spookie stuff, you know! Well one evening while I was alone in the pub and I was just about to open for "early doors" at 5pm, and I was in the pub kitchen making a cup of tea, before I finally let my thirsty regulars in. My hair was tied back in a pait braid at the time and was just haninging down my back...so there I was making my tea, when suddenly my hair was pulled quite violently at the back, and stretched my neck so much I called out "OWW!!!" And spun around expecting to see my buisness partner, Linda standing there laughing at me, having snuck back in from her shopping trip...........but there was no-one there!!!!!! In fact I had to acctually remind myself that I was alone in the pub, and had the keys so no-one could have got in!! I wasen't acctually scared...I was more baffled than anything else! Some *thing* had just pulled my hair!!! Anyway my hands were trembelling as I unlocked the back door to let my early doors regulars in, and the first in was a chap called Nick!
"Freeking hell, you look like you have seen a ghost!!!" he had sniggered at me, into his first pint!!
"I think I have just felt one!!" I had exclaimed in answer! Nicks grinn had just widened into the Cheshire Cat variety!!!
"Oh she has introduced herself then!" he said...and preceded to tell me the sad story of the white lady! Apparently she was a young girl who has hung herself in the church yard oppersite the pub and this tradgedy had come about becuase she was pregnant and came from an upper-class family who would disown her for becoming so! She has been haunting the Tudor side of the pub since, but is never seen in any other part of the place! She is never seen in the lounge or indeed upstairs (thank goodness) but many older regulars confirmed the story to me over and over again! More comfortingly they confirmed to me that she is a playfull ghost and the hair pulling episode was simply her way of saying hello! ...Linda and I had only been at the pub for two weeks when this happened (I was there for another 10 months before I flew to India) and the regulars were saying that the ghost does this to all new live in managers at the pub! Now Linda and I had a good system which worked weel for both of us...I would work first thing (setting up prepping food ect) untill 12 midday when it was Linda's turn to take over, and I would go and have lunch and resume work at 5pm untill 7:30pm untill Linda took over once more! This system meant that I had most evenings off so Derek would bring his travel photo's round and we would look at them, and drink and play Mah Johng in the warm upstairs kitchen! We were never bothered by the ghost upstairs and from mine and Linda's expierence of her, we figured that she walked in a pattern from the kitchen (downstairs) through the old bar and back again! Linda and her boyfriend both actually saw her, but I dident....oh apart from a flash out of the corner of my eye one afternoon while I was closed and I was cashing the tills! It was a white flash out of the corner of my right eye and I said "Oh go away will you!!" and the next thing the Gents toilot door opened slowly and suddenly banged shut!!!! No windows were open to cause a draft as I always locked the windows in the afternoon, and I was alone!
Anyway....so I have had expierence of and indeed have an interest in ghosts...So browseing youtube recently I found this little piece of film from a guy in America who apparently had a ghost in his pantry. In this amazing video you can clearly see a young girl pressing herself against the glass (you may need to pause the vid between 53 - 58 sec)...its spookie!! *shudders* ...it also maybe a fake, but I can't see how??? it looks pretty bloody genuine to me!



What do you think???

Is it real??....or is it Memorex?? ;-)

Oh and WHO blog is coming.......................

Hope you like it....!! ;-)



I made it using Corel paintshop X (10) and it took about an hour...but I wanted to make sure I got Hever Castle in there too!!

For those of you who don't know...I am an absolute Anne Boleyn freak!!! LOL!!!

Hope you all enjoy WHO tomorrow!

Kisses from Vicky xx

Firstly may I give a huge welcome to Nic, from cremate-me.net!!!
He has been kind enough to take the time and do a page on his amazing website, featuring me!!! Please visit!

http://www.cremate-me.net/vicky.php

For an informative insight into what could be, my final journey!
Now I know this is not everyones cup of tea, but I find this absolutly fascinating!!! (you all konw I am weird LOL) And I love the thought that I will be able to have a final smoke! *giggles* But Nic presents this page in such an educational, and indeed entertaining manner and his work realy is superb!!

Ok.......WATER WOES!!
Yesterdays water happenings were unfolding throughout the day, and it turns out that Pittsford resoviour, which is almost on my doorstep, has been infected with the bug cryptosporidium, which can cause the dreaded gastroenteritis (I had this in Austrailia)...Yesterday lunchtime I took the bus into town and went into Sainsburys to get a couple of bottles of water, and the shelves were already bare and people were milling arround looking for more bottles of water! I took two bottles of evian off the top shelf and a lady behind me asked "That is plain water isent it? not flavored" and when I said yes, she grinned and I got two extra bottles down for her...Anyway I hasten to add that I only got two bottles, but other folks were panic buying gallons of the stuff!! So much so Tesco slapped a 5 bottles per person ration of water, on customers! Why oh why do folks panic buy?? the water is fine if you boil it!! and I have lived with this little piece of travel wisdom for years! Indeed I am currently drinking my second cup of coffee made with the stuff! and currently I have about 2 litres of perviously boiled water in my fridge for me and Sirius! Admittdly I had to rummage around my garage to find my Eurohike water bottles that I use for camping, and yesterday my kettel was on overtime, but Sirius is my priority here as I change his bowl of water after every drink, because his beard fur gets in it occasionally...otherwise things are ok with me waterwise! I have a friedge full of cold water and later today it will keep me going when I am back on my pole for another session of pole dancing!
Good grief!!!
I have just seen another trailer for this Saturdays Dr Who!! OMG this one looks realy exciting, and tantalizing climpses of the new Davros, practically had me bouncing off the walls with excitment!! I love the Daleks and their new designe, but my all time favorite villian has always been the Cybermen. Now I wasen't too keen on the new designe of the Cybermen because they were cluncky and stomped about a lot, now part of the old Cybermen's menacing charm was that their movements were silent, which gave them a stealth-like errieness! not stomping about announcing thier presence to the world! Oh well...my passion for the new Who has wained sadly, but on my shopping trip to town yesterday I bought my first Dr Who DVD in ages, and its the one with "Blink" on it which in my view was excellent!! (and it was only £6.99) However I still remain a massive fan of the *classic WHO* and I still watch stories every week (mostly Pertwee, my fav Doctor)...Oh dear! I have just tried to post a piccy of Jon but photobucket is down at the moment!
Ok, thats about it for now!
Must get on, and take Sirius for his walkies!

xx

Something fishy is going on with our local water!
Derek forwarded me an email this morning from Anglian Water warning local residents NOT to drink tap water untill further notice....but it dosen't say why? It realy bugs me when this kind of thing happens and there is no explanation from the water companies as to why this has happened. But needless to say I am worried now because I just cleaned out my goldfish last night and replaced about 2 thirds of the tank with tap water! Also I realy dont fancy the prospect of having to boil 15 gallons of water for said fish tank!!! Ahh its just been on the local news that they have found some kind of bug in samples of water that causes upset tummy's...emmm...they could have put this in the email...
Water is something we take soooooooooo for granted!!
Memories came flooding back this morning of having to clean my teeth with bottled water throughout all my travels! But mostly my thoughts returned to trekking in the Everest region and drinking water...There is a local rule that goes "the higher up you are, the safer the water is!" and I cannot tell you just how gorgeous it is to drink fresh iced glacsia water at 15,000 feet!! Well in retrospect it was probabally a silly thing to do, but as I remember it dident make me ill and I drank glacia water quite regular. Having a wash in the rivers though is a different matter! I washed my hair at the edge of the Dudh Kosi river and the water was so cold my head ached for ages after (or was it the altitude that gave me headach) so genrally for most of my trek I was absolutly stinking, and after 3 weeks of it I arrived back into Kathamndu by Helicopter with a back pack full of stinking washing!!! I had no chance to wash it either as we were flying out to Hong Kong the following day.
Me in tears, with said Helicopter, terrified about the prospect of the 45 min flight back to Kathmandu!!!



The day before we flew back I was sat at a cafe in Lukla watching the Helicopter coming and going with extra trekkers and I was burning with nerves at the prospect of our flight on this old, clunky Russian made Helicopter. Nepalese pilots have a saying..."we don't fly in cloud!! Because in Nepal the clouds have rocks in them!!" that alone terrified me as Lukla is nestled between some massive Himalayian mountains, so the skills of the pilots have to be exacting and prescise! On boarding the 'copter we were required to go through "customs" (a scruffy old red curtain) where we had our pockets checked and I was horrified when the man checking me suddenly pulled out my matches (for ciggies) and through them away!!! Thank goodness I dident have an expensive Gucci lighter with me at the time....when I got on the Helicopter, with my heart pounding, I realised just why matches and lighters were not allowed in the cabin...the cabin stank to high Heaven of PETROL!!! it was so bad I thought we were going to explode before we got off the ground!!. But I have to say the ride was uneventful (Thank God!) apart from Derek who was really excited and kept saying "Look out of the window Vicky! you can see the trails we trekked on!!"..."No thank you!" I replied "I only want to look out of the window when we are back in Kathmandu and back on the ground!"....On getting back I was so relived not just because we were in one piece, but because a wonderfully yummy cooked breakfast awaited us at "Meggies" cafe on Freak Street where we were staying in Kathmandu! Two fried eggs on a potato Rosti, and tomatoes, and I must say after 3 weeks living on nothing but Dhal Bhat Takatri (rice lentil stew) and Omletts, I thought I realy had died and gone to Heaven!
My backpack and indeed its contence absolutly STANK!!! Anyway no time for washing as our Royal Nepal 737 was waiting to take us on to Hong Kong! That was an adventure in itself as we were landing at the *Old* Hong Kong airport which had a runway out in the sea!!! I remember flying past blocks of flats so close I could see what folks were having for lunch!!! Now landing at Hong Kong was like coming into another world, and it felt like I was back home again oddly...At customs though a lady was waiting, and she had her beady eye on me and I could tell she was thinking "UK national coming from Kathmadu, I just HAVE to find some drugs here!!!" she was practically rubbing her hands with glee as she grabbed my back pack and began to unload my stinking heap of 3 weeks worth of unwashed trekking gear, including my underwear!!!...it was my turn to grin as I saw her nose wrinkling at the smell!! After just a few moments of rummaging she just pushed everything to one side and she herself vanished hastily through a door behind the table! "So you dont want to put all that back then?" I yelled after her but she was gone...Needless to say the first thing I did in Hong Kong was do all my washing, throughly...and suddenly I felt human again...
Sorry for the travel waffle, but isent it amazing that just going without water at home can trigger such memories!
Ok....I have to post a piccy of the (human not doggie) love of my life now....Gorgeous Gary on the set of Dark Knight!



Ahhh I feel better now!! *faints*

and this is my latest magazine cover! LOL!!!! The tital suits me I think!

Holy person on a bike!!!! I had a shock yesterday evening!
As some of you know I am an animal lover and fully paid up member of both P.E.T.A and I.F.A.W...but yesterday evening I had a shock from one animal rights website I visit called voice4Dogs...........
Did you know that some raw hide dog chew's imported from the far east can and do contain a certain ammount of skin from dog's and cat's murdered for the fur trade! THIS IS ABSOLUTLY HORRIDLE!!...And sent me running to Sirius doggie cupboard to check the packets of all his chews and treats. Fortunatly I found that non of his packs of chews were suspect, but it dident alter the fact that I felt totally sickened by what I had read and left me thinking WHY? I have already mentioned in my blog that the horrific fur trade in China is sadly, alive and well (although the animals are certainly not) and more recently I have been finding out that some fur products imported to the west can be labled wrongly to confuse the buyer into thinking your buying faux fur, when infact it is REAL dog and cat fur! It really saddens me that this is still going on in the 21st century, when millions of years ago it was cave-men that wore real fur for warmth, and used the meat for food! We should not have to do this today! We can make lovely fake fur, and eat meat from animals that are free range (Suffolk has some amazing free range pig farms!) and killed swfitly and humanly...What goes on in the fur trade is INHUMANE!! Something else that shocked me over the weekend was learning that the store chain, Primark has been using child labour in the far east! Now I shop in Primark simply because the stuff they sell is cheap and cheerfull, but if I thought that the clothes on my back had been made by exploited children I would be physically sick!!! Primark has now said it has cut all ties with these factory sweatshops, but I have to say its put dought in my mind, and if I am honest hear I belive most high street stores have clothes on thier racks made by cheep, exploited labour in the far east...well all this set me to thinking I am be going to use my sewing machine more often and make my own clothes! I already make my own Kaftans (God I sound like a hippy) to wear around the house and to lounge in, so in future I am going to have a go at a few simple patterns!...and I will probabally be manically checking "made in" lables on clothes in future!
Having seen the extream poverty (and indeed wealth) in the far east first hand I can only conclude that things will not change unless the govenment of these countries decideds to change things! But even in the poorest countries (Nepal for instance) the children go to school and can and do have a normal childhood. But because of poverty the children are naturally very industrious, and will make things to sell, have their own shops and indeed their own restraunts!!! and I suppose in a way, this way of life is what makes the people of the far east VERY good in business, because they have grown up with it, and has always been a way of life...But for westen companys to exploit this way of life is absolutly dispicable!!
Ok...in other news...
Found Doctor Who on Saturday a little confusing (I confuse easily LOL) but...errr....enjoyable....was David Tennant on holiday for this one? But the clip from next weeks story looks quite exciting so I am looking forward to that! ...and Sirius has a boyfriend! LOL!! yes it realy does appear that my lovely doggie is gay! For weeks now Derek has been coming home from his evening walks telling me tales of Sirius exploits with his friend Bristol, who is a chocolate labrador puppy! So on Saturday evening I decided to go with them on their evening walk, and sure enough I met Bristol, and his lovely hoomin (owner) and what a gorgeous bouncing bundle of joy he is!!!! (the dog) and he absolutly adores my Sirius! so much so (and as Derek has told me many times) Bristol was...err....how can I put it politly?? ...showing his affection for Sirius! and Sirius was loving every second of it!
Last night I finally got to watch the comedy-horror "Black Sheep" which was absolutly superb!! Basically its about genetically modified sheep which go on a murderous rampage, and if bitten by one the victim become a sheep zombie! some very funny bits in it which I enjoyed, and took my mind off the real horrors of the goings on in the real world for a while...I suppose this is why I like horror (comedy or otherwise) as it is a total escape from the real world and helps you forget about things for a while...hehehehe watching horror is a bit like getting drunk I think!
Well I am back on my pole at some point today!
I took a break from it for a couple of days to let my muscles recover and because my weight loss has "Plataued" so I have had a break from the diet too. The general rule of thumb is once weight loss levels out you should give your metabolism a break for a couple of days, to re-engage the weight loss...well thats my excuse for being a bit of a pig yesterday! So back to normal today (me?? normal?? never!)

Back soon! x

But crikey I was down this morning when I got on the scales and they had showed I had PUT ON 4LBS in 2 weeks!! So seeking some solace I went back to polejunkies for some answers and apparently the rule of thumb is "do not weigh yourself" because Pole dancing puts on muscle!! Me, muslces? NEVER! So I decided to try on some old smaller sized clothes of mine....right at the back of my wardrobe I found an old pair of topshop jeans size 12..."Never" I thought as I proceeded to try them on, and got the shock of my life when they fitted!! Tight gaurenteed, but they fitted...so my mind began wondering to years past, and my "Looney bin" jeans, and I stated to root around for these special jeans that have not seen my arse in 5 years!....let me explain.
In 2003 I had a severe nervous breakdown which was so bad I had to be sectioned under the mental health act and had to be put into a secure mental health ward, T2 Sherdly unit at Whiston Hospital near St Helens. I was there for 2 weeks! Now foutunatly I dont remember much about the breakdown itself, and some of the drugs I was put on were really...errr...high! hehehehe...a little anecdote for you!...I was in the smoking room one morning after taking my meds (as they call them) and a ward nurse came up to me and asked if I wanted to join in the mornings excersise class....
"Are you joking?" I said "I am flying Concorde right now and loving it!"
Gradually the medication was reduced for which I was thankfull as I like to be incontrole of my faculties and I think by day 5 it was I was off the "section" and allowed to go out on my own...to be honest I have never felt better in years!! and took the bus to nearby Prescott did a little shopping and had lunch in a quaint coffee bar. While I was shopping I bought a red and white halter neck top in a size 14 which I thought would be too small for me but it was strechy, what I had not considered was how much weight I had lost during my breakdown, and when I got back to the ward later that afternoon I was surprized to find it fitted me perfectly...I made two lovely friends during my stay called Ruth and Wendy (Ruth was my age and had lost both her husband and her father in an accident and totally lost her mind, Wendy was 18 and had overdosed on Vodka and E tablets) Ruth had come into my room while I was wearing my new top and exclaimed "Thats gorgeous!! where did you get that from?" and we proceeded to have a girly conversation about clothes shopping...The following day, and with heaps of added confidence I went into St Helens and straight into TopShop and spotted these lovely jeans!! I remember thinking "em size 12?? should I??" Needless to say I bought them (I never try on in shops) and was absolutly delighted to find that, back at the hospital, they fitted me perfectly!!! Poor Wendy was upset!! "Wish I could get into a size 12" she had wailed...Now in fact Wendy was young pretty and certainly not fat, she just had very low self esteme. During my time there I kind of took Wendy under a motherly wing, but not becuase I felt sorry for her, it was because I could see so much of myself in her! Her story was a sad one. Her mother was a drug addict and kept throwing Wendy out of the house, so she started taking E herself (I dont know what it dose as I have never taken it) and she had tried to drink herslef to death! Poor Kid!! But we had many long chats in the garden of the ward, where we sunbathed talked and laughed! I hope like me she is better now and living her life to the full!...Ok back to these jeans...
Well as the years went on, so did the weight and these jeans ended up descarded because they dident fit anymore, and lay unwanted at the back of my wardrobe...Untill this morning, where I am now happy to say they are gracing my bottom once again! They realy are lovely jeans, with a faded, very 70's look to them although they are not flared, they are hipsters however, so I wear a belt with them so I don't show my bum if I bend down...as a rule I don't usually like hipsters (I can't seem to hold them up) but these jeans are special, very special as they were with me during the darkest part of my life...
Sadley mental heath still has a stigma attached to it, but I think that is just because of lack of understanding unless you have been there yourself. Absolutly ANYONE can suffer a nervous breakdown, regardless of age, sex, race, or creed! and it can be caused by a many number of things or a combination of lots of things, one of mine being witheld grief following the death of my Dad, and loosing my buisness...But just like any other illness it is treatable, and most people who suffer a nervous breakdown go on to lead normal lives again...Like everything (including my travelling) it was an "expierence", but I went to a dark, demonic place that I never want to see again...and my Loony Bin jeans came with me!

Firstly a moan!!!

Why on why do women have to be so noisy in clothes shops (and anywhere else to come to that!!!) I was in several shops today in town and I have never in my life heard so many, noisey, bitchy moaning women!.........In Primark I was looking at a sundress and two women pushed past me almost shouting "Ewwwww look at that!!! that is just awfull!!" and "I wouldent wear that if you paid me!!" as well as "Its all such cheap crap in here!!!"....I felt like shouting back "well go and shop somewhere else then!" but I dident as the women in question was about 20 stone and six foot, and I severly dought if anything in the shop would have fitted her anyway! Next came Faith shoe shop and two women loudly discussing the merits (or not) of the new super high heels! One said "Only a tart would wear those!!" loud enough to be heard in Kettering!!...the sales assistant who only looked about 16, went bright red and her mouth fell open like a goldfish!...and I exited the shop as fast as possible! Why do people have to be so obnoxious I have no idea!...Oh and another moan!! Why do teenagers insist on having a competition to see who can play their iPhone (or whatever) the loudest on the bus!!!! Not everyone wants to listen to their sad excuse for drum and bass! Have they not heard of headphones??? or is being a public transport DJ, very trendy these days??
Oh I give up!!
*end of moan from grumpy old woman*
Ok the credit crunch!! We can't escape it can we?? *sighs*
But I have come up with several crafty ways to beat the supermarkets and thier sky high prices!
As mentioned in an earlier blog, I have a cook and freeze day where I make my own ready meals so there is always something yummy in the freezer! Belive me its worth investing in some of these small tinfoil food boxes, and learning a few simple recipies that can be cooked in bulk and last you ages because you freeze them! Chilli and Spag Bol are the easiest and freeze beautifully! But seveal variations of these are yummy too such as meatballs in galic and herb (itallian sauce) and making your own beefburgers! Contrary to belife about not re-freezing beef, it does actually freeze very well so buy your mince in bulk (pref from a butcher and not a supermarket) and freeze tons of it for use in your cook and freeze meals! Its best to do "cook and freeze" meals in a slow cooker for about 7 hours to be sure everything is cooked properly and leave to cool before loading them into boxes for the freezer. Also try alternatives for a sunday lunch which are cheeper than buying a roast! Frozen Brains Faggots (Savory Ducks) are still cheap and make a delightufl lunch, and how about leek, potato and bacon bake, which is delish, and also Corned beef hash with homemade galic bread and salad! or a simple potato curry...there are many cheeper alternatives out there to buying a roast...But a little hint hear, if you buy meat from your supermarket, buying it ready frozen is much cheaper than buying fresh and a frozen beef joint will be much more tender when cooked! However under NO circumatances re- freeze Pork or chicken and Turkey! They harbour bugs that will make you very ill....beef and lamb is fine though! Saying all this though personally I am almost a veggie as I dont eat much meat, but my other half is a huge meateater so all this is mostly for him realy!...for cost saving deserts why not try bananas in custard, making your own fruit sorbet, or making your own trifle! ...Another way of saving the cash is shopping in the "Pound shops" Pet food is far cheaper there as well as tinned food which can be uesed in your own ready meals, such as baked beans, tomatoes and red kidney beans!
Ok I am done with my own brand of silly, cookery wisdom! Hope it helps you save the pennies!
Well I am still considering whether or not to pole dance today as I still ache...but I have bought some new "Pineapple" dance gear from Debhanams today which was in the sale, so I would like to try it on and get back on the pole...but I think not! I will have a bath, and a relaxing evening, and start my pole dancing again tomorrow!

xxxxx

Crikey I ache!!!
I wasen't going to do a blog this evening as my fingers are aching so much from gripping the pole and trying to strengthen my hold! I am still unable to hold my wieght on the pole, which I am finding very frustraiting and have even resorted to jumping off the furnature to test my upper body muscles...only to end up aching like an old woman again!! I have been watching some youtube vids and the ladies on there make it look so gracefull and indeed easy! But Hell its not, although I am determained to learn!
One thing got me worried though today when I was testing my firemans swing and I realised my pole was actually moving at the base (if it moves from the top I am in s**t) so I had to tighten the top of the pole by twisting it....the problam is I am heavy and the firemans swing requires full momentum on the first leg swing to carry you around the pole. Now it dosent take a genius to work out the heavier you are the more momentum you will have and I think this is why the base is going walkies! Wish I could invest in a professional pole like Platinum or X-pole! *sighs* Still Rome was not built in a day, and I am absloutly determained I am going to learn but I am almost out of Ralgex and I ache too much! Its not as if I am doing a lot (2 sessions of about 20 mins pole dance everyday except Sunday) but even the non-swing manouvers really take it out of you, and trying to look sexy at my age and physical condition is about as easy as Davros joining the Samaritians!
Well like I said, my fingers realy do hurt so I am going to stop now (I think this has been my shortest blog so far) becuase I certainly don't want to damage my drinking arm...I am going to enjoy my Port tonight methinks!

Love from a VERY sore trainee pole dancer xxxxx

Couldent think of a tital for this entry because yesterday was kind of surreal.....................????

Following the recent death of my Uncle Trevor (who was cremated) I have been browsing the net to find out more about cremation (my dad was cremated too) and I came across this site called:

cremate-me.net

Now dont' view this site if your faint-hearted!!! really, I mean it!! its VERY graphic!!! but it did set me thinking about my own mortality (I have always been a bit morbid) and after reading the pages I was more convinced than ever that I want to be cremated!....The site is compelling, very informative and even dare I say entertaining! so I have left two messages on their guest book saying how much I liked the site! Now yesterday morning I recieved this email from the owner of the website, a lovely guy called Nic, who asked me to help build a forum for his website AND he wants me to be his next *star* for a piece intitaled "Cremation and the intelligent woman!" well I was totally honoured and very flattered so I set to work putting together a forum for his site...I tried to work it so it tied in quite neatly with the theme of his website (there are lots of ladies in tights on there!) but at times I found it realy strange to be making a forum on the subject of human disposal?? Well in all honesty hear I am a bit strange and I thought "why not!" after all its only another part of life, and its going to happen to me one day.....
Ok I am done with yesterdays morbid going's on but I did enjoy it!
I had a day off the pole yesterday as Saturday I was in compleate agony!!!!!
After my morning session on the pole on Saturday my muscles began to sieze up badly, and it wasen't long before every move I made was accompanied by "OUCH!!" and Saturday evening saw me in a huge deep bath up to my neck in Radox muscle relax bubble bath! Then after I had dried myself I covered myself in Ralgex muscle spray, and spent the rest of the evening spralled on my couch with a bottle of Port at my elbo.....Now nobody ever said learning to pole dance was easy, its very hard in fact, but if I am honest I already feel more flexable, and after just a week I am seeing some muscle tone. and yes! Pole dancing is very addictive! thankfully, becuase I realy do need to keep fit, as I am fast becoming an old crock, and I aint ready for that yet! *wink* and I can now do two types of spin!! One with one leg tucked into the pole and the other leg splayed outwards, and the second one with both legs wrapped around the pole in a kind of fireman spin, so basically I am learning and I have only been doing it a week today!

Anyway, this morning I had a wonderful surprize when a lovely friend of mine got in touch from FriendsReunited!! Her name is Kate and she has been my best buddie for many a happy year, but I lost contact when I was suffering with depression! So I was excited to find that she had found me again! We had some wonderful times, mostly at the Kingsway pub (now demolished) on Sunday evenings playing "DUCK!" (as in duck under the table when the ashtrays, tables and chairs are flying!!!) The Kingsway had a terrible reputation for violence, but it was mine and Kate's local so we both put up with it after dowing copius amounts of booze...we both had such a giggle though!! Wonderfull times! Kate is now married and has a baby son!!! I am hoping she will send me some piccies to post on hear!.........Oh and Kate if your reading this and wondering who Richard and Colin are, Richard is a good friend from Scotland who collects Dr Who merchandise, and is a realy lovely chap!! and Colin is.....err....just Colin....strange chap *just kidding* from Guilford also a Doctor Who fan, and my best mate who I love to bits! hehehehehe!....Lads!! you will be pleased to know that Kate is also a fan of Doctor Who! and I am realy looking forward to hearing what she thinks of the new Who!

see you soon lovely folks!! X X X X X

I have a horror lurking in my fish tank in the shape of an obese fantil goldfish!!
For over a year now she has been the top-dog (err...goldfish) in my tank!! Bossy with megga attitude, and ALWAYS the first at the top at feedingtime with her huge gaping mouth open like a hungry baby bird! She eats ANYTHING.........peas, bread, mellon, oranges, grapes and today, 2 tank fellows who were mino's!!! I am so mad I feel like putting her in a bucket and starving her for a few days (but I wont)...Oh her name is Hermionie (from Harry Potter, all my fish are called after characters from Harry Potter) and she actually ate Malfoy and Goyal!! My third Mino called Crabbe has some how survived this Mino macacre by his own stealth and when I realised what was going on I hastily rescued him and he is now swimming about happily in a large plastic jug on my coffee table!
Now what should I do with a "Mino Murdering Psycho Goldfish" ??
Emmm....I could think of lots of horrid things at the moment...but if I am honest here she has far out-grown my modest size aquarium and the chances are I will have to return her to Pets-at-home if she shows any further agression towards my other fish! I have 2 black google eye fantails called Voldie and Bella, a smalled silver fantail called Albus, and two small rainbow fighting fish called Percey and Cedric! Actually since this horror started Voldie seems to be very angrey with Hermionie and has been chasing her all over the tank as if to punish her for what she has done!
In other news, I have managed my first spin on the pole today!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a kind of clumsey, shaking firemans swing where I clung onto the pole for dear life during two spins using feet (bare) thighs and hands! I have joined "PoleJunkies" forum for some help and advice and they seem lovely and friendly over there! Oh and I have downloaded "Doctor int the Tardis" by the Timelords (aka KLF) to pole dance too!
Also Sirius had an inpromptue bath today after I took him for his afternoon walk, where has had a nasty case of *runny bottom* and manged to get his tail and back legs covered in poo!!! Goodness knows what he has been eating?? I have not chanced his diet and he has "Butchers" specials as well as othet tit bits, bones and chews etc. I do know that my homemade chilli gives him runny bum (and me too LOL!!) but he has not had any of this for days. Nearly every evening he shares his supper with me, and last night I just has a small portion of Cauliflower cheese which he finished off, but he has had this before and not been ill....I scrubbed him for half an hour in my shower and he is back to his usually fluffy self now! *woof!!!*
Its been a weird day......
But I am a weird (or is it wired) woman!

X X

WhooooHoooo!!!
I went to town today!!
Now there is nothing special or unusual in that, but today was a bit of a land-mark for Sirius and me!!
We have been together now for 16 months and during that wonderfully beautiful time of Mummy and doggie bonding, I have lost 14 pairs of designer shoes, had cushions totally distroyed, as well as carpet, tea towles, bathtowles and any other distructive mischief he can make while my back is turned or I am asleep in the middle of the night...so before today I have always shut him in my kitchen if I had to go out!! I would leave his favorite tit-bits in bowles, fill his Kong (dog toy) with cheese and have a huge bowl of water and the radio on, so he is not lonely, but he has even managed to make mischief in there, like rummaging in the bin, ripping up plastic bags and he even managed to break a cup once. Recently however he seems to have calmed down a bit (just a little bit) and so this morning when I went out I took the heartstopping desicion to leave him with the run of my house!! I left his dog stuff in the living room and left the radio on as normal...and with a huge element of trust I shut the door and let him get on with it....Needless to say he did me proud and when I returned about an hour and a half later and I could hear him barking as I walked up the drive! He was so excited to see me, and indeed I, him, and my house was still in one piece! Everytime I go to town I always bring him home a pile of treats from the pound shop or Wilkensons and today was certainly no excption as he found out when he went head first into my shopping bag, tail wagging so fast I thought he was going to take off!! So the days of shutting him in the kitchen, when I have to go out, are over...and I am glad realy as it used to break my heart to do that.
For the rest of the day I was chuffed to bits while walking down to TK Maxx when a girl canvassing for Virgin Moblie said "Exucse me what brand are you smoking?" I just smiled and raised the packet and said "Richmond lights" and kept on walking..."Excuse me!! are you over 18!!!!" I kept walking and when I turned the corner I nearly wet myself laughing!!!!!!!!!!! AM I OVER 18!!!??? I dont know about over 18 but I am almost over the hill!! LOL!!!! Its been a long time since someone has said tha to me!! Either the sales girl needs an emergency eyetest or this pole dancing has had some miraculas effect on my wrinkles! Well it gave me a laugh anyway!...it reminded me of the time when I would get asked for my age well into my 20's for ciggies and booze, which although flattering, can be quite annoying! Back in 1993 I ran a pub with my then best mate, a gay man called Peter who was only 5 years older than me...One day a lady came in and wanted to book a Christmas lunch for her family, of which I gladly took the booking details. Later that day (during Peter's shift) she returned to add some detials for the booking...the next thing a knew a huge and very angry, fluffed out Peter bouncing up the stairs shouting the worst obsenities and "Cheeky f***ing Bitch!!!!!!!!"...I asked what the problam was and he said the lady who booking it was, had said to Peter...
"Yes!!! YOUR DAUGHTER took my booking and what a lovey polite girl she is!!! you must be proud of her!!!"
I thought poor Peter was going to throw a fit!!! But ohhh it was so funny!!!...and when it came to her family's Christmas dinner I gave them extra Turkey and insisted on serving them myself...much to Peters annoyance!
Well the Virgin sales girl realy did give me a good chuckle...but on the bus on the way home I was terrified!! Mad bus driver or what???????? he seemed to think he was in some kind of rally the way he was driving, and had to skid to a dramatic half about half an inch from the bumper of some poor old crock in a Fiat, and sent little old ladies flying round our bus! It has been raining so the skid was realy a very nasty one...why is everyone in shuch a hurry in this day and age!!
I like sedate! I can use a bit of sedate!
see you soon x

First pole dancing breakthrough for me!
and I am as pleased as punch (or a glass of Port!) I started off with my legs either side of the pole, and bent backwards into a semi-crab and when I realised how safe I felt with my thighs gripping the pole, I tentively lifted both feet off the floor!!!! AND HEY PRESTOW!!! Well I am so happy to have learned how to get off the floor even if I am still doing crashing spins!!! I feel like a did when I was learing to swim! Trying to fool my dad into thinking I was swimming when all the time I had one foot on the floor! This (although about 30 years later) is how I am doing my spins at the moment...swininging around the pole with one foot on the ground! It feels like I am cheeting!! What I will do though is watch the training DVD later and double check that I am doing everything right!
This was me trying to look good before my daily pole session!

THE POLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this is a shot of my sky-high shoes!! Well showing off my cloud tatto on my ankle! *grinns* please ignore any scares!

I have been sorting out several costumes that I can wear while I am keeping fit, and one I have found is a superb Lara Croft (tomb raider) costume that I have ordered...AND I have also put together a kind of Dr Who, Tom Baker era costume compleate with tweed hot pants instead of trousers, my white *?* color ruffle shirt not buttoned byt just tied at the front, with a velvet waistcoat and Tardis key watch-chain!! Its realy funny!! Oh and my season 12 scarf as well (a shorter version that a made several years ago....well what pole dancer needs a feather boa when she can have a Doctor Who scarf!!???
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am on my pole!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After lots of messing about yesterday (and the return journey to B&Q) my pole was up and ready for use early in the afternoon, but I dident go on it yesterday for the simple reason that I was cooking!
Every so often I make my own ready meals and freeze them so I will just spend one day a month and do nothing but cook (Chilli, Cauliflower cheese, cassrole ect) load it all into tinfoil cartons and freeze them, and as it happened yesterday my pole going up WAS on my cook and freeze day!! Darn and drat!!! and I was still at it this morning with a huge pot of chilli beef!! So I gritted my teeth and set to work finishing the chilli by 9am and leaving it in my slow cooker.......Now for my pole!!
*Silly grin*
Just after 9am I loaded my pole CD and warmed up to the first few bars of "CherryPie" by Warrent! CRIKEY!!! Pardon my languge but its knackering! and I began to realise I was using muscles that I never knew I had, and my old bones were cracking and moaning! "Get used to it" I was thinking! Now because this is my very first time on the pole I quickly realised that my arms are far too week to hold my body weight yet so the several spins I tried, my feet barely left the floor and I was coming crashing, rather ungracefully onto my living room carpet, in a heap! But I guess that in time, and as my arms get used to baring me on a swing, I hope I will get better! OMG!! I will ache in the morning....But its huge fun! Its amazing! Several times I realised I was putting almost all my body weight on one arm, without even realiseing I was doing it! So without any wonder the sweat was pooring off me in a matter of minuits!! Anyway after 15 mins I decided that was enough for my first session, and my sadly worn body agreed with me, so I setted down to right this...I will do another 15 mins after I have taken Sirius for his walk later on, and then another 15 mins early this evening, and so I will continue this way and slowing build up my stamina!
The pole itself feels surprigingly safe, and does not wobble which I was glad for as this gave me more confidence while I was dancing...I was a bit nervous at first because while watching the DVD that come with it, the lady demonstraiting the pole, her pole wobbles like heck, and I was thinking "if my pole does that, I wont have the confidence to do spins!" But I am happy to say this is not the case, and so far it feels very good indeed, very sturdy and safe!
Ok! I had better give Sirius his walk before he bites my leg off!
And have another go at lunchtime............methinks I will have a very bruised bottom in the morning! LOL!!

More Pole news!!
Trying to install it this morning and it was an absolutle nightmare!! The scew just dident want to go in the cieling, and after about an hour of struggling, the thing snapped in half!!!! My language was rather obscene at this point as I could see my pole dancing dreams steadily floating away!!! Locating the beam in my cieling however had been a piece of cake, but either my ceiling is just too tough or the screw just wasen't strong enough! I examined the scew after it broke and it does seem to be made of aluminium and not, much stronger steel...so tomorrow morning its another trip to B&Q to get a repalcement "steel" screw and somthing to fix it with...just my bloomin' luck! I would go back to the store today, but its alway packed out on Saturdays so I will go first thing in the morning!
In other news I learned to use my new pedometer yesterday so now I can track how far I am walking when I take my beloved out for walkies!! Its great as I can set it to distance, Calories burned and keep an eye on the time all at once. Yes I am determined to get fitter this time, and realy all this is training for me and getting me a bit stronger in preparation for my starting to pole dance! Oh and my "pleaser" shoes arrived this morning! Good grief!! call air traffic controle!! I was thinking when I tried them on, and took my first, tentive, wobbly steps around the living room. They are the type with the clear plastic front and I have seen a vid on youtube where a lady explained that this type of shoe was good for gripping the pole, using the top of the plastic of the shoe, so I decided that was the type I should get! But for learning (and for the moment) I shall be just doing it bare foot...I have realised that at some point I might want to post my own pole vid's but at the moment I do not have a digital camera, and the camera on my phoe will only run for 20 seconds, so thats next on my to buy list! Yesterday I was thinking about this and I realised that when I do decided to do a video, my horrid scares on my legs will be visable....let me explain...I call them my "travel scares" as they are testement to my many little accidents (lots) I have recieved while traveling! My right leg has horrid white scars running across my thigh, caused by broken glass after my bus crash in the mountains of China. Also on my left shin I have two holes that look like bullet wounds! These were infected ant bites that had to be gouged out of my skin my a doctor on the Thai island of Kho Phang ghan (I wrote about the ants in an earlier entry) Now from what I have learned you have to have bare arms and legs to pole dance as that gives you a better grip on the pole so I wont be able to get away with tights (panty hose) as I do normally if my legs are visable. So yesterday I concluded that leg warmers could be the ansewer so I have ordered an orange pair (was my dads favorite colour) Now I know they might look silly and a bit *Kids from Fame-ish* but if they cover my horrible scare I dont realy care! Anyway the vid may be months away as I want to make sure I can capable on the pole first, and I have to save up to buy a camera.
Anyway! I hope my next blog will be "I am on the pole at last"
I am keeping my fingers crossed for that one!

With any kind of project I take on I always totally reserch it first so I know what I am getting into!! So if its a new country I plan to visit I will try to find out as much as I can about the place, customs and cultures, history, religion and do's and don't...My Pole dancing has taken the same turn, and I have been finding out all about it on the net, both reading and watching videos...Last night I was on one perticular pole site that has a load of Pole dancing tracks loaded so I listened to them, and I realised that the "ambient" cd I had burned was totally wrong!!
Pole music is borderline "heavy metal"
But ofcourse!!! I was totally forgetting the nature of the activity I am getting into is basically sexy!! So all the music is very sexy (with naughty lyrics sometimes) with a heavy drum beat, and heavy bass line!
Fortunatly for me I do like some of the bands that were listed on there like Nine inch nails, Rammstien and Foo Fighters!! So I had to load and burn a compleatly new disc so I can get into it properly, but I had totally the wrong idea about the music! Embarracing realy when I like to appear that I am all clued up on modern music, so I should be hanging my head in shame! I don't realy like Prince (formally known or otherwise) but I found a Prince pole track that I was happily tapping my feet too! The ladies on this site wer almost obsessive about their hobbie, but I have heard it can become addictive! Still it can't be a bad idea to be addicted to exersize! In this day and age when I see so many fat wobbly bottoms waddling around town, there realy is no excuse! I have also been reading comments about ladies who have taken up this hobbie who are my age, and one woman in America who was slightly older than me said even her five year old likes to keep fit with her...so I have concluded that age is certainly no barrier!! Niether is sex! Men have taken to the pole too becuase it great for toning ab's and tummy muscles! I wont join classes though as I have found out a class near me charges £75 for a six week programme!!! So its cheaper for me to buy my own pole and learn at home!
Just keep a look out for the blog on hear entitled "Ok...I am home from Accident and Emergency!" LOL!!!!!
This is the list of songs on my NEW pole dance cd!

Cherry Pie - Warrent
Peek a boo - Souxise and the Banshees (my choice)
Pusifier - Saw II soundtrack
Voodo Child - Rouge Traders (my own choice because its from Dr Who!)
Erotic City - Prince
Eagle - Rammstien
Supermassive black hole - Muse
Disco lies - Moby (my choice because its brilliant!!!!!)
Lately - Massive Attack
I touch myself - Jack off Jill
Strict Machine - Goldfrapp
She rides - Danzig
Into the void - Nine inch Nails
In and out of love - Imagination (my own choice)

Now these tracks (or some of them) are from a Pole Dancing website and I would rate tham at NC-17 because of provocative lyrics! So if your offended by naughty language please DON'T listen to them! (the Prince one is BAD)...but the ones that I have marked as my choice are ok!!

...because I am taking up "Pole Dancing" as a hobbie and fitness routine!

*hides*

Recently I have been on this Pink Patch DIET in a bid to get back to a size 10 (uk) before my 41st birthday! Yes I am being very optimistic here! LOL!!! But so far I have lost a stone and have already dropped a dress size...so I have been looking all over the internet for the best ways to tone what could be a saggy 40 year old body, and I have concluded the best way (heaps of women recommend it!!) is Pole Dancing! So I have just bought my first home pole kit from a reputable seller on ebay at a cost of £50! Now where am I going to put my pole? you may ask! Well best place for me is my livingroom as I am at home most of the day and my other 3 bedrooms are either taken up or have no room, and my kitchen is quite small as is my dining room, so living room it is...Now what is a 40 year old woman doing taking up pole dancing in the first place...well as our bodies get older we have to put in more effort to keep in shape (I hate being fat, or even too thin come to that) so with my pink diet I thought "wait a minuite...I may loose the weight but at my age it might not tone back into place like it did in my 20's!" During my early 20's I was virtually anaorexic weighing just 7 stones (about a stone and a half underweight for my height) and it realy upset me one day when my Dad said "For friggs sake eat a bag of chips will you!! your neck looks like a scrawney chicken" and that kind of brought me down to earth a bit, but shortly after that I had a breast cancer scare (a very nasty one) and I dident eat at all because I was so worried sick...On the other extream I have been up to 13 stone (mostly drinking too much beer) and hated it so at the begining of this year I heard about the patch and I am now determained to get back to my size 10 figure by my birthday!!!
Yes...but why pole dancing?
Well my favorite form of excersize is dance ( I was a bit of a raver in my youth) so I do dance for a couple of hours every week to try and keep in shape, but I feel that middle age spread is beating me which is not fair becuase I only thought that happened to women who had children, and its a shame because I have not had any kiddies! Now I know I will not get back the peitie tiny firgure that once bopped all over the dance floors at Mr Smiths nightclub in Warrington (now called Synergy) but I am hopefull to get back to a healthy size 10, and I am hoping Pole dancing will help me achieve this...I am confident I will learn as I am still quite a good dancer, and I still go hiking and walking so I should not have much of a problam with it...The pole I have ordered is a removable one so its not permenently stuck up in my living room (would spoil my Doctor Who collection lol) and it just requires one bolt through the cieling into the joiced which is easy enough (Yes I can use a drill very well) and there is an internal spring in the pole which causes friction beween the floor and the cieling thus holds the pole firmly in place so I will be able to learn lifts and twirls on it, Oh and it comes with a pole dancing cd too! My out fit (I have two now) well they are both all in ones. dance outfits, one is black with spagettie straps and a huge retro looking diamantie waist belt that is low slung. The other kind of resembles a school uniform (LOL) with a pleated check miniskirt that should flare nicely when I am doing a routine!...oh and my shoes are 6 inch platorm stilletoes in silver (pretty standard for pole dancing) well I do have to get the look right, dont I *giggles*...I have even burned some sexy, ambient dance tracks to a cd so I can practice (mostly Moby)...and yes!! I am looking forward to it!
Ok, optimisiam is my best buddie at the moment!
...but I did read somewhere that a lady of 75 attended Pole dance classes........so I suppose there is hope for me yet!

and Colin...before you ask...I WILL do some photos if I can! Watch this space! ;-)

Being holed up in a small tent halfway up a high pass in Nepal realy isent fun!!
Also Goyem is a confusing place, as there seems to be three seperate villages all with the same name!!
The pass Derek and I were heading for was called Lhamjura and the trek to the said elusive pass seemed to go on forever!!! But there were these villages where we would stop for a break and a refreshing glass of tea! I must say I got heartiful sick of saying: "Yogah unko namee ke ho?" which in Nepali is "What is the name of this village" and each time I got the same responce "Goyem!" so I concluded there was a lower Goyem, a middle Goyem and an upper Goyem...and we got stuck at the latter...Now up there at almost 10'000 feet its cold!! so we made our way down a slope to a local Bhatti (tea shop) for some warming Rakshi (local fire water, very strong served hot and often sipped through yak butter) I had several hot glasses of these before I could actually feel my toes again, and a flush to me cheeks, while Derek checked a crumpled map for the upmteenth time supposidly looking for ansewers....
"Snow come!!!!! snow come!!!!" yelled the landlord as he came rushing back in!
Now snow is not unusual in this region but this was a veritable storm!! and I am not kidding!!!
Derek and I rushed out side and hastily began making camp in the freezing ice storm. At one point I swear my fingers were refusing to obey the commands of my brain, as I felt like I was being frozen to death, before crawling into the newly erected tent while Derek scrambled back to the Bhatti for some supplies of Rum and a large flask of hot water!
Needles to say that was one of the worst nights of my life! But we had come prepared with a expedition standard tent, and some emergency supplies from Kathmandu....the next day it was still snowing and by now our tent had vanished under it...Derek looked out and about half a ton of snow fell in and said with dismay "we aint going anywhere in this!" and so it was we were stuck for two day's playing HangMan and trying to keep warm while nibbling on chocolate! The second day the wind had set in, and that night it got much warmer and the snow had started to thaw so we would de-camp in the morning and continue our onward trek....at one point I looked out of the tent flaps at the snow covered trail and burst into tears!! Why was I kidding myself I could do this when I was just a pub landlady and not an adventurer? Silly cow! I thought to myself and lit another Chewrot (local cigarette) breathing in the comforting smoke deeply! Well at least it wasent as cold, I decided as I setlled down in my sleeping bag that night, and within a short while I was drifting off to sleep...
SCHEKKK!!!
At first I thought I had drempt it!
Sccheck!!! the noise came again.....
Something was outside the tent running its claws down the outside of our tent!!!!!!! SCHEKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! The next noise came and I almost jumped out of my skin as it was almost by my ear "Derek!" I hissed and shook the crumpled sleeping bag next to me! "Derek!!" I almost screeched "Whaa..." a sleepy scruffy, curly head apeared!
"Thers is a freaking Yeti outside the tent!!!!!" I panicked as my heart was almost beating out of my chest "its a YETI!!!"
"Don't be so bloody...." he began, dismissivly as the sound came again! Claws running over the outside of the tent! "Whaaaa the..." he started as the terrorfiying sound came again! By the look on his face Derek was starting to rethink, and his loss of confidence made me a tad more terrified!
"Im going to check" he hissed quietly "there is definatly someting out there"...I waited with baited breath as he quietly unzipped the tent and shuffled to poke his head out...I had expected a scream, but all I could hear was a fit of man giggles, as he began to laugh...
"What??" I said impaciently
"Its just snow!!! Snow sliding down the side of the tent!"
I felt soooooooooooooooo stoooopid! DUHHh!

My tales like these are many as I kept a kind of diary of the trek as I sat many an evening at a local Bhatti with a braizier keeping my legs warm! Very greatfull to the wonderfully, hospitable locals, as well as the ammount of readily available Racksi and ciggies! The Nepalese do love their drink and I even tried what I called "Birdseed beer" which is basically millet seed soaked in boiling water that miraculusy turns into somthing that closely resembals Sherry...I remeber with great fondness asking a local porter why eyerone drank so much out here? "well you have seen the state of the trails!! It gives us courage! He replied!
This is me on to of Lhamjura pass!

"Just call me Maria Von Trapp"

and here I am filling in said diary when I was invited to tea!

Last week I was back at Souter lighthouse in the keepers cottage for the week with mum in tow this time!
She enjoyed herself but there was a little two much road travelling for her...However the weather was glorious, and she enjoyed the lighthouse and some shopping we did, as well as a visit to Lindisfarne (Holy Island) almost on the boarders of Scotland! Its nice to write about the good bits, but there were some bad bits too...like thanks to the smoking ban I, as a law bidding citizen, have now been criminalised for smoking in a holiday cottage!!! Oh I dident get caught or anything, but I had too descretely smoke in my bedroom with the window wide open, and the help of a smokeless ashtray I got from ebay! Now in the entrance to the cottage there is a huge notice saying it is illeagal to smoke on these premises! Good grief!! It realy did make me feel like a criminal, and when a weird alarm sounded (Usually morning and evening) I was terrified that it was a smoke alarm!!! By the end of the week we had figured out it was actually the caretakers of the lighthouse coming and going, morning and evening, and setting and de-setting the alarm...I have to say it was rather alarming!...opps....sorry...*blushes* Anyway when it came to leaving I Fabreezed, and aired the whole bedroom and stirpped and fabreezed the bed just to make sure, but what a way to send a supposidly relaxing holiday!
Of all things (and like most women) my Mum loves shopping so I took her for a day out to the Metro centre near Newcastle!! Now for those of you who have never been here, its HUGE!!!! and you would need at least a week just to see it all. Fortunatly I know my Mums favorite shop is House of Fraiser so I took her there for a couple of hours, and she loved it! Oddly I love shopping too, and managed to scare the witts out of my credit card! The first thing I got was a *love at first sight* DKNY handbag for a bargin price of just £95!!! it just had to come home with me, its just beautiful with dkny embossed in fusica pink, with gold trim, and leather studded handle! and needless to say is my pride and joy! I also got a pair or Morgan black stilleto evening shoes, and a pair of Gladiator style sandals! I was in my element! Mum bought 3 pairs of shoes and a gorgeous coat, and between us we managed to spend a small fortune! My new handbag looks rather small but its like a Tardis inside and holds far more than my old leather bag (which is also small as I like small bags, and dont carry a huge ammount of trash with me) but it fits my bits perfectly...ciggies, purse, keys, compact, sniffer (Sinex, as I suffer from Sinustitus) and my mp3 player and a lip gloss! Ok I will stop waffling on about handbags now and return to the Holiday!! LOL!!!!
Souter lighhouse is supposidly haunted, and was even featured on the TV programm "Most Haunted" in its first season (I absolutly love that programme) and I told mum about the ghost and let her watch the dvd...two days later I found her in the morning in the kitchen scratching her head and looking confused...."My pee bottle has vanished!!" she told me all very bemused! (pee bottle is a hospital type bottle she had for night time emergencies of a personal nature)...anyway...she blamed the dissapearence on the ghost!!!!!!!! So the tales go, the ghost at Souter likes to take things and move them about, and things will re-appear in the most unusual places. So my mum was looking all over our cottage for this bottle! I must admit it was rather funny and I told her she would find it when she packed her thing...but it never did turn up! If it was the ghost at Souter, I will never know!
One of our nicest days out was the the Holy island of Lindisfarne!
We took the shuttle bus to the castle on a small penninsular, but becuase it was a steep climb, Mum just wanted to sit on a seat overlooking the bay, and so we did, and drank tea and admired the view...it realy is a magical place, but absolutly packed with tourists of every kind, but it did not spoil our day out! Several times a day the island gets cut off by the tide, and it is totally unaccesable by road, so you have to check and double check the times of the tide, and make your visit between these times! After our viewing of the bay we got the shuttle bus back into the delightful tiny village, and had lunch outside in the warm sun. It realy was glorious!!! that was untill my dog Sirius spotted a cat over the wall....................
CRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sirius was off and took the table with him, smashing crockery and knocking over chairs in his ultra fast wake!!!! It was soooooooooo embarracing!! Sirius had previously been very quiet and supposidly asleep under our table, and I had attached his lead to the table leg beliving it would be safe enough...Obviously not!! I had forgot just how very strong my potty beardied collie is, and he just took off after the cat!!!! Everyone on the verrander was stairing, but I cleared up all the broken crockery, whent back inside the cafe and explained what had happen, and I offered to pay, but the kind lady would not except it, and she just said accidents will happen!! I was very greatfull to her! Oh and I scolded my dog, who just looked at me as if to say "well it was a cat!! what do you expect!!!"
All too soon it was time to leave and Mum remarked on how quick the week had gone, which I was plased about because it meant she had enjoyed herself and I think the sea air did us good too! Souter lighthouse cottage's realy are a beautiful place, and well worth staying for a *get away from it all* break (thats if you don't mind the ghost LOL) and you get a sea view every morning! You can find information about Souter cottages on the National Trust website! You pay for the cottage not per person so it makes sence if more of you go! it sleeps up to four, and has a huge kitchen and bathroom all none smoking ofcourse!!
BTW if you go and smell cigarette smoke in the master bedroom, its not me....its the Ghost!!!!!!! he smokes too!! ;-)

Following the recent 7.5 earthquake in South West China I felt my heart breaking!!
Admittedly I don't have very fond memories of China, but this area of south-west China is breathtakingly beautiful, the people are very friendly and welcoming, and the children treated me like a film star (teachers invited me to schools) and I would get happily mobbed in the playground by hundreds of happy, excited kids asking for my autograph!!! Ok this was ten years ago, and steadily China has opened her door very wide for the tourist $ and because of my 6 months traveling in south-west China, I have been able to send many tourists to this region myself, where they too have has the expierence of a lifetime!
What I saw on the news was horrific and devestating images from an area of the world I know so very well...the thing is, I know it so well I know that many of the more remote area's in the moutains may not be accesable to the rescue workers, and there may be people and children trapped...many area's are not acessable by road even!! (or wern't when I was there) my only hope is that the Chinese army gets to these regions quickley and save those who desperatly need help. China has a superb army, and so far 15,000 troops have been deployed to help with the rescue effort...I hope and pray for the vistims of this horrific earthquake!
China is many things I hate!!
Animal rights are a huge issue with me, and China has a terrible Animal rights record. Certain areas have a huge fur trade, which is grotesque, and so cruel its impossile for me to belive these people are capable of such crulety! Fur isen't sexy or trendy, and recently I saw a picture of Madonna dressed in a real fur coat that just made her look like an aged cave-woman!! I instantly lost all my respect for this singer for indorsing the fur trade! Also at the time I was in China certain authorities I encountered were so annoying!!!! Like the time I was unable to buy "People Class" train tickets at a train station simply because I was a white westen woman, I was told I had to travel first class, which is about as expensive as flying, and when your on a budget, not justifiable! So I had to hang around the station for nearly two days before I befriended a Police officer, by offering him one of my cigarettes (the best way to make friends in China) and he purchased me a People Class ticket for me! Now this IS what makes China such a special place! The friendlyness of the people! When your traveling in China its not uncommon to be invited to someone family home for a meal!! To me, China is definatly a land of extreams! and I learned to expect the unexpected, which seems to be the best rule...I was involved in a bus crash in a remote mountain area, where I (and my fellow passengers I am relived to say) were unhurt, and all got out with just cuts and bruses...was defriended by a student from Tibet called Xhau Tzong in the mountain village of Lijiang, when I had desentary, and she took me to see the Doctor and helped me get back on my feet again. When I had to leave both she and I were very upset, and we said a tearful goodbye at the bus station (photo below) OMG I hope she is safe!...Oh and the time after the bus crash, another bus driver picked me up for an overnight drive to the next town and dident chage me a penny!! (a Yuan) which was so generous of him! so I gave him a packet of cigarette's instead which he accepted very happily! My heart and thoughts are so with these lovely people at the moment....I swore I would never go back to China, but at the moment I wish I was there at the moment, to offer what little help I am capable of....
Below are some pix of me in South-West China where I spent 6 months traveling!



The maginificent Hauongoshuo waterfall!



Playing pool with the local kids just outside Cheungdu!



My back!!! me from the back out shopping!! Vicky the Westen Oddity!! LOL! I love the expression on the man's face sat to the right of me!

Watch this space..........................

Several things to report folks!! Firstly my weight loss on this magic patch! So far I have lost 11 pounds!! I was absolutly gobsmacked when I got on the scales on Saturday morning! Please dont worry, as I have a lot of exess weight to loose, as over the years it has crept on slowly, and is now at an unacceptable level...my target weight is the perfect weight for my height which is 8 stone 7lbs!! and belive me it will take a long time to get there!
Now in other news...I have developed this weird rash on the top of my thighs (wonders if its releated to my patch??) it seems to have come up after two sessions of sunbathing over the weekend. Now with all the traveling I have done, its given me huge respect for the suns power, and just what it can do to your skin!!! (I watched the skin on my arms actually boil while on a river trip in Costa Rica!) so needless to say I am a VERY carefull sunbather! In the tropics the sun just hits you with a sledge hammer and its best to cover yourself from head to toe in white cotton topped off with a wide brimmed sun hat...Now over the weekend I had just two half hour sessions in my garden, and yet this morning I woke to find this rash on my thighs, so I am staying out of the sun today!!
Doctor Who on saturday was a huge dissapointment for me (the Doctors Daughter) the story was just daft, I thought, and I had the impression the screen play had been written in ten minuits on the back of a match box!!! Not much of it made sense, and it was very rushed, but I did like the designe of the Hath creatures, so it wasn't all that bad. I am sure lots of fan's did enjoy it though. Doctor who desperatly needs the "Invasion of the Pylons" (Electricty Pylons come to life after a Meteorite crashes into a main substation in Birmingham, and the Pylons come to life dominated by an Alien force, and stride across the countryside rather like H.G Wells Fighting machines, killing everyone withe a deadly Electric ray....) Ok I will shut up!! LOL!!! I have lots of ideas for stories but putting them into a script format is very difficult for me as my schooling was crap so subsequently is my spelling and grammer (I would need a bloody good editor) Its been my lifes ambition to write Horror stories...real *keep you awake at night* stuff...b