Still searching for a winner

In more ways than one really. I got the scratch card again from the post office, a different one this time, one nearer to me, but would I have the same good luck. I bought the same type of card too, not willing to experiment with any others, besides, this was the cheapest one, I am not sure I can afford to splash out anymore than a pound on one of these things. I suppose the greater the risk, the greater the reward but still, as a safe to nonexistent gambler, I have very little to risk to be honest.

I got the card and put it in my purse, as I always do. Maybe I should put it in my pocket next time or hold it in my hand until I get home, my purse could be an undoer of good things. There is hardly any money in it anyway. I left with the ticket safely secured and ventured into the charity shop. I really must stop going in there. I find I get books cheaply in there. It is also a bit of a lottery but unlike the library where I sometimes go for free books, I do not have to return them after 3 weeks. I borrow so many that I never have the time to go through them all and end up taking them all back en masse so I am not hoarding them when someone else could be using them. With the charity shop, for the grand price of 20p to 50p depending on the book and the amount I buy, I get to keep the book forever and not worry about having to take them back. I have made some good finds there too, but I must going there as every time I do venture in, I leave with a book or five.

I take my new book, a nonfiction paperback, based on turn of the century events which I find myself drawn to of late, and my scratch card and go home. I am currently reading another book so I do not even look at the one I got today. If I did, I would start to read it, I am like a child with a present or a selection of sweets and spoiled for choice. I leave the book in my bag. I eventually get out the scratch card, I always forget it until I am settled and reflect on the day; what have I done, where did I go, and then it hits me, oh, I have that scratch card in my bag. I wonder if my luck will change today. What will I do with a win; there is no shortage of things to do and get, places to go, upgrades of electrical and non electrical items, the list goes on.

Alas, the fact that I am not blogging "I WON, I WON!!!! So long loser’s" means that I am still one of the masses still searching fervently and hopelessly for a winner. So instead, my blog shall state, "long live us losers and long may continue we inspire each other and ourselves with our mundane lives and our ambitious dreams".

Two out of three

First, the exhaust falls off the car, then the toilet gets blocked.

As I drove with the kids out of the museum car park, I hit the kerb and dislodged the remainder of the exhaust from under the car. Necessity is the mother of invention they say, even though I have breakdown cover because the car is so old, I had to do something just in case help came but I still had to pay for something other than what is covered under my policy, so I crawled under the car and sorted the exhaust out. All that happened was that the exhaust slipped out of the hook that was holding it under the car. Crisis averted, no need for a mechanic and the inadvertent bill that would follow.

Then the toilet gets blocked. Cause of blockage was a whole reel of toilet paper stuffed down the pan: the stuffer; one of the said kids fresh from a trip to the museum. Once again, I rolled up my sleeves and went in there, dug and poked and prodded and eventually, whatever was holding things up moved and the blockage cleared. Another possibly expensive venture also averted as call out charges alone for plumbers is more than I can afford right now, not to mention parts and repairs. I have no breakdown cover for domestic plumbing.

These things happen in threes they say; I will discount the wet spot on the living room carpet that mysteriously appeared at the same time the toilet got blocked (strange), so what next I wondered. Well I bought a scratch card from the corner shop in an attempt to get change for parking. I only just remembered it and so I took it out, read the instructions and scratched as directed. Match two symbols on each line it said, and win the corresponding prize. The first line contained two mismatched symbols, nothing new there; I don’t have this kind of luck. No matter, I carried on. The second line had identical symbols, as did the third. Result. I looked at the prize, it was a tenner for each line; a £20 scoop, all for the grand investment of a pound. Not bad going. I am going to cash it in as soon as possible before it expires, or before it becomes clear that I misunderstood the instructions

All very strange, two out of three lines, eerily similar to the two out of three things that went wrong in one day. People say when things go wrong, it happens in threes, just like buses, you wait and wait and then suddenly, three come along. In this case, only two buses came along; I desperately wished the third ill away and in return, a limousine came along instead of the third bus. Well not so much a limo, more like an available cab. I do suppose it is true that you make your own luck, no use crying over spilt milk or sitting in the dark, it is better to light a candle. I took matters, literally, into my own hands and things worked out alright in the end. Except the lottery win, that was just pure luck.

Most time, we make our own luck, other times, we get tossed a freebie. One notices the freebie more if one chooses to, to be honest, that can be said of any good fortune, man made or natural. So here's to more freebies, may they continue to come, thick and fast, in threes in fact.

Beans on Toast

Beans on toast. It is a quick and simple solution to breakfast, lunch or even an evening meal when you are hungry and there is no time to get ready anything substantial and there is nothing substantial to throw together.

All you need is a tin of baked beans, some cheese of your choice, I prefer the more mature stuff, butter, and of course bread for the toast. I suppose different people make it in different ways. I tend to first toast the bread while I whack the beans in the microwave, having already opened the tin and emptied its contents into a microwavable bowl. Then, when the toast is ready, I butter the bread and throw the warm beans on it. Then I get a grater and grate some cheese over the toast, and then pop it back into the microwave for about 3 more seconds, just so that the cheese gets gooey. Then I cut the ensemble into four equal squares. It all takes a little over five minutes in preparation time. And then I proceed to eat, and a very filling meal it makes too, and it has all the important food groups, protein, carbs, dairy, vegetable (in the form of the tomatoes in the tomatoes sauce and beans, if that can be considered a veg).

All very simple and effective but look at the mess in its wake, just for a simple meal like this, knives, graters, plates, and the worktop; grating cheese can be a messy affair, however, still prefer this to buying ready grated cheese.

Despite the mess, this light and tasty meal has often proved a lifesaver!

It felt different this morning...

I could get used to this. It is a large blogging community, i look forward to being part of it. i wonder who will be the next Julia/Julie (or is the other way around?)

wake me, I am dreaming

What happened I wonder?

Did I fall asleep and wake up in an alternate reality? It all feels so weird, everyone is concerned and yet I am still in a blissful state of calm. It hasn’t registered as yet; this is my body and my minds way of protecting me in times of great disturbance. Instead of feeling the whole impact at the time, it slows things down but then eventually, after the event, it seems to register. This way I suppose, I remain rational in the face of turbulence. I don’t freak out too badly afterwards either because then, then worst has passed.

I happened upon an old newspaper at my sister’s house, it was an advert for budding writers, it was like a sign, a cue from the gods. It said if you have the urge to write, then this is for you. And so I followed its advice and went on the website, registered where it asked me to and eventually found my way onto this blog. And there are a lot of budding authors out there and since that is what we (yes I said we) authors do, there was a lot of advice, encouragement, testimonials and success stories in general. I suppose as a writer, a story of ones failure usually makes for good reading.

I have always wanted to start a blog of my own; I am broke as is the requirement for most artists and so when I was directed to this free blogging site, I was pretty chuffed and started to write right away. As it turns out, several years ago, I actually posted a picture of my sons at Christmas on this same website, I had just acquired a new phone and was messing around with it and as a result, the picture got posted on this blogging site. The posting was meant to be a test, I left it there and pretty much forgot about it. Just the other day, I wondered what had become of that picture in cyberspace, I wondered if the account had been closed as is the case with redundant email accounts.

As I re-registered on the blogging site, I found that the picture was still there. I put it there 5 years ago, it seems like ages ago but then it is. So much has happened in that time too. I may have to take the kids picture off so that I can blog with relative anonymity.