CRACKED POTS

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect & always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one & a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of it's accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of it's own imperfection, & miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"

That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, & every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks & flaws that make our lives together so very interesting & rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are & look for the good in them.

So, to all my crackpot friends, have a great day & remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

THE FESTIVE SEASON IS A TIME OF JOY....

"Christmas is a time of year when we often get caught up in the seasonal celebrations & fire safety is the last thing on our minds & brings a wide range of new fire hazards to our homes. Think about it - lots of guests, candles, extra decorations, people smoking & it's easy to be careless when you are tired or if you have been drinking, all the everyday fire risks become greater, but don't let fire safety stop you enjoying yourself, but instead know the risks & plan ahead".

"I am particularly concerned about candle fires. Candles are actually a growing cause of fire & have seen examples in books & shop displays advocating the use of lighted candles as Christmas tree decorations, it is obviously extremely dangerous & I would advise you never to do this". To ensure you have a safe & Happy Christmas I offer the following fire safety tips.

CANDLES

• NEVER use a lit candle as a Christmas tree decoration.


• Blow candles out before you leave a room.


• keep candles away from anything that can catch fire, like curtains, clothing & hair.


• Don't leave candles burning unattended or where children can touch them.


• Trim candlewicks to 1/4 inch each time before burning, long or crooked wicks cause uneven burning & dripping.


• Always use a candleholder designed for candle use. The holder should be heat resistant & large enough to contain any drips or melted wax.


• Keep burning candles away from draughts, vents & this will help prevent rapid, uneven burning, smoking & excessive dripping. Draughts can also blow lightweight curtains or paper into the flame where they could catch fire. Ceiling fans can cause such draughts.


• Don't put candles under shelves.


• Never move a lit candle.
  
  

CHRISTMAS TREES

• Check that your Christmas tree lights conform to the British Standard. Test your Christmas lights before putting them on to your tree. Replace sets of old lights, especially those that are not in perfect working condition.


• Natural Christmas trees are highly combustible, particularly as they dry out & should always be kept away from fires.


• As Christmas decorations are often made of combustible materials, never attach them to lights or heaters or place garlands immediately above or around fireplaces.


• Check the maximum amps that can be handled by the fuse in the plug of your Christmas lights.

FIREPLACES

• If you have an open fireplace but only tend to use it at this time of year, make sure that the chimney has been cleaned & swept.


• Never burn Christmas wrapping paper in your fireplace.

COOKING

• Take extra care in the kitchen & never leave cooking unattended on the hob or under the grill.


• The risk of accidents, especially in the kitchen, is greater after alcohol is consumed.

SOCIAL GATHERINGS

• Let your guests know where to find door & window keys.


• Look out for elderly people, children & anyone with problems getting around.


• Make sure exits are kept clear.


• Make sure cigarettes are completely extinguished before going to bed & never empty ashtrays into waste bins.
  

FIREWORKS

• Only buy fireworks marked with British Safety Standard 7114.


• If you are planning to celebrate with fireworks, store them in a metal box & read the instructions.


• Never go back to a lit firework & keep a bucket of water nearby.

Remember to check your smoke alarm & NEVER remove batteries from your smoke alarm to use in your children's Christmas toys or in the TV remote control.

"All it leaves me to say is, I wish you, your family & guests a very safe Christmas".

A COST-CUTTING CHRISTMAS?

With the credit crunch among us, this is the year to have financial discipline. I'd like to give you my top tip this Christmas. The aim is to buy christmas presents, not to be paying for Christmas past.

Admittedly the perfect time to plan your Christmas is in January when you still have an entire year left to save up. You can get baubles, cards & wrapping paper at reduced prices & leave yourself well-placed to slash the cost. But for those who aren't so well prepared, there's still enough time to get your Christmas preparations underway.

Act now & there are still substantial savings to be had, wait any longer & you'll be leaving it to late to get the best savings.

1. It's about what you can afford, not what you want. Too many people are driven each Christmas by their aspirations. They sit down & work out everything they want for Christmas, from the plasma TV to the huge dinner for all the family. Only afterwards do they sit down & think about how they are going to manage to pay for it, yet that's completely the wrong way to do it.

Your starting point should be how much money you have & can afford to spend this Christmas, then the real question is, "What's the best Christmas we can have on that amount of money?"

If you have nothing or very little to spend don't think, "It's Christmas, we've got to spend it". Remember financial discipline! Draw up a budget, & plan what you are going to spend, it may not seem as romantic as spending willy nilly, but it should mean having a merry Christmas won't give you a financial hangover in the new year.

2. Don't use Tesco Clubcard vouchers for Christmas food, lots of people store up vouchers earned via loyalty points from spending there, to supplement the Christmas lunch budget. Instead, use your vouchers on the special Clubcard deals brochure which you can find on-line or instore, that way they will be worth four times as much.

Something that would get you £5 off your food bill will give you £20 towards gifts, magazine subscriptions, days out or even dinner at Pizza Express.

Instead of getting a few pounds off food for your Christmas dinner, find things that you are looking to give as presents & you'll get better value.

3. Why not have a NUPP campaign. NUPP stands for No Unnecessary Present Pact. How many times have you been given a present that you know you are never going to use hmm? You smile politely, say thank you & then throw it in the drawer, well, you are not the only one it happens to everyone. We spend millions of pounds each Christmas on things that are never going to be used by anyone.

By giving presents we often create an obligation for people to give presents back to us, & that may be something they can't afford to do. So why not sign a Pre-NUPP with family & friends? Agree not to exchange presents. But if that's a step too far for you, go NUPP-lite & agree to spend no more than £5 or £10 pounds on each other.

4. Take advantage of supermarket bonuses. Supermarket saving stamp schemes are designed so that you can save up money all year & spend it at Christmas. Asda's bonus date has already gone but Tesco's, Morrisons & Somerfield's haven't. Morrisons will give you a 3 per cent boost on your stamps, while Somerfield & Tesco offer 4 & 2 per cent.

Why are they so generous? Well, if you buy the stamps you are locked in to spending that money with them & for their administration purposes it's much easier for them to add the boost on one day. They hope people will save across the year, but there's no need to, simply buy stamps & earn the bonus on the day you want to spend.

Finally, the biggest danger at Christmas is borrowing. If you are thinking, "How on earth am I going to pay for it?" I'd say don't buy it in the first place, you don't need it, Christmas is one day. The last thing you want is still to be paying for this Christmas next Christmas.

© Copyright Tina Kay 2009

HAVE A COST-CUTTING CHRISTMAS & A DEBT-FREE NEW YEAR

Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey , you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life .. . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!' May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next state; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them , at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER : Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

OFFICIAL WORLD BLACK PUDDING THROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Many places in Britain have their traditional dishes,East Midlands have pork pies, London have jellied eels, Glasgow have battered mars bars, Yorkshire have the yorkshire pudding but Lancashire boasts, tripe, Eccles cakes, meat pies and Bury black puddings.
So this weekend we joined the conpetitors young and old from around the world, and the supporters for the annual black pudding throwing championships which takes place in Ramsbottom on the second Sunday of september each year.

As part of the tournament the the "Golden Grid" is transported from Bury town centre by steam train and once at Ramsbottom Station,
is carried up to Bridge Street to the skirl of
Scottish bagpipes, to be laid in the road next to the wall which the Yorkshire puddings are mounted from a wooden platform 20 feet up.

So with one foot on the golden grid you throw a 6oz Black pudding underarm that is, and with 3 attemps to dislodge as many yorkshire puddings you can.

To claim the World Championship Crown which went to a guy called Adam who managed to knock 5 down.

This tradition has been going for 150 years and it's thought that contest is a revival of clashes between people of Lancashire and people from Yorkshire, during which Lancastrians hurled black pudding at the counterparts from Yorkshire pudding county.

And just for anyone still in the dark, Black pudding is a Bury delicacy and a type of sausage consisting of congealed pigs blood, fat and rusk, encased in a length of intestine, hmm, Yummy!

© Copyright Tina Kay 2009

La Princesse Invites Herself To Capital Of Culture

Took a trip to Liverpool but was'nt expecting to bump into a giant spider (La Princesse) hanging from the side of the Concourse Tower as we came out of Lime St Station.






The mechanical spider weighs 37 tons, stands 50 feet high and she will be crawling her way to different locations around the city, I will be honest and say, "I can't stand the horrible 8 legged freaks but what an amazing piece of walking artwork to invade Liverpool".






Also visted the Conservation Centre where you can reveal the hidden story of objects such as how an Egyptian mummy can be examined without being touched, how lasers are used to remove the dirt that damages objects and you can even have a go at rebuilding a broken statue,but my high-light of the day had to be the Maritime Museum.






You can explore the facts and legends behind 3 tragedies that shook the world, Titanic, Lusitania and the forgotten Empress. Also immerse yourself in stories of bravery, rebellion, historical and contemporary aspects of slavery and the slave trade which I found moving at times but also you see the achievements too.

Went around Albert Dock saw a few tall ships then into the Tate Gallery, "hmm, yes I know it's modern art and some of it's interesting and I was impressed, but I also found some of the work very disturbing to say the least,Oh and bumped into Billy Fury and super lamb banana".

© Copyright Tina Kay 2008

The Mancunian Way

Been a very packed week from Yum Yum Restaurants, Sex in the city, Dancing the night away, Drinking, Gambling(lol) & taking photographs.

And what a place to start the Lowry, which is set in a magnificent waterside location at the heart of the redeveloped Salford Quays in Greater Manchester.





The lowry is an architectural flagship with a unique & dynamic identity, rising from the regenerated docklands, it is a welcoming building designed to reflect the surrounding landscapes & flourishing waterways of the Manchester ship canal in it's glass & metallic surfaces.

The Lowry also has the biggest public collection of paintings & drawing by the man himself, L.S.Lowry. Some of his pictures on show did surprise me since they don't conform to the stereotypical view of Lowry's work, it's a "must see" & breathtaking destination.





Other photo's include the Lowry bridge that links the Lowry Centre & the Imperial War Museum, The urbis, The Wheel Of Manchester,"Who needs the London eye when you have this", & Chester, Oyez,Oyez,Oyez.

MATCH STALK MEN AND MATCHSTALK CATS AND DOGS

He painted Salford's smokey tops
On cardboard boxes from the shops
And parts of ancoats where I used to play
I'm sure he once walked down our street
Cause he painted kids who had nowt on their feet
The clothes we wore had all see better days
Now they said his works of art were dull
No room all round the walls are full
But Lowry didn't care much anyway
They said he just paints cats and dogs
And matchstalk men in boots and clogs
And Lowry said that's just the way they'll stay

And he painted matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
He painted kids on the corner of the street that were sparking clogs
Now he takes his brush and he waits outside them factory gates
To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs

Now canvas and brushes were wearing thin
When London started calling him
To come on down and wear the old flat cap
They said tell us all about your ways
And all about them Salford days
Is it true you're just an ordinary chap

And he painted matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
He painted kids on the corner of the street that were sparking clogs
Now he takes his brush and he waits outside them factory gates
To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs

Now Lowry's hang upon the wall
Beside the greatest of them all
And even the Mona Lisa takes a bow
This tired old man with hair like snow
Told northern folk its time to go
The fever came and the good lord mopped his brow

And he left us matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
He left us kids on the corner of the street that were sparking clogs
Now he takes his brush and he waits outside them pearly gates
To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs.

Flying High

Most people when they think of kite flying, it's the image of a child running through a field with the single line kite flapping in the air.

But kites have advanced as you can see from just some of the photo's I took at the festival. The kites with some of the largest in Europe, some measuring a staggering 20 metres across also giant shaped kites.

© Copyright Tina Kay 2008

Friendship/Soulmate

THERE is a very lovely word,
Whose letters number six.
It stands for someone who will help,
If you are in a fix.
Someone you can always trust,
In whom you can confide.
Whose loyalty will never swerve,
Of whom you speak with pride.
Whose presence is a blessing,
In times of stress or storm.
Who speaks such words of comfort,
So loving & so warm,
Whose every word is genuine.
That lovely word of letters six,

Can only be but "Friend".

There's warmth in the house when my friend comes,

It fills every part of my soul,

And loneliness leaves when my friend comes,

And the day is perfect and whole.

I never feel low when my friend comes,

Every moment is precious and sweet,

So here's to the next time when my friend comes.

Greek mythology – Originally humans were combined of four arms, four legs, and a single head made of two faces, but Zeus feared their power and split them all in half, condemning them to spending their lives searching for the other half to complete them.


Soulmate (or soul mate) is a term sometimes used to designate someone with whom one has a feeling of deep and natural affinity, friendship, love, intimacy, sexuality, and/or compatibility.

Lying in her arms that's where I want to be,safe in her embrace letting her love all of me,feeling skin on skin feeling the warmth within.
Feeling the softness of her flesh wishing we were'nt apart,lying in her arms that's where I want to be.Safe in her embrace letting her love flow over me. X

© Copyright Tina Kay 2009

Hibenation Season Over!

Yawn,Stretch,rub eyes."Okay, I've slept the winter away, is it really over? Has the cold weather gone?Hmm, Perhaps these photo's I've took could answer that question for me!

© Copyright Tina Kay 2008

Hybrid Motorbike

What is your vision of the future of high speed transport? Jetpacks perhaps? Driverless pods, bullet trains, scram jets?

Well according to Dr Peter Markus, a former Mercedes-Benz and Porsche engineer, it is an enclosed hybrid motorcycle capable of 340mph and Lucerne to London in an hour and a half. Its maker intends it as a long-distance commuter for a world in which city transport is provided by solar powered electric vehicles.

The Acabion GTBO looks remarkably like a 1950s Bonneville Speed Week contender, often fashioned from B-52 drop tanks, but its specifications sound bang-up-to-date. An electric motor and 1.3-litre turbocharged petrol unit together produce a scarcely credible 750bhp making the GTBO capable of 100mph in first gear. Hitting the triple tonne takes 30 seconds and top speed is 340mph. But don't think the GTBO has run out of steam; that is simply the point at which the electronics rein things in - 330mph is achieved on half throttle. A low kerb weight and very slippery shape makes it efficient as well as fast; fuel economy at 100mph is said to be 100mpg.

At a Veyron's top speed of around 250mph, the GTBO can still achieve 25mpg and unlike the Bugatti, the GTBO actually has some luggage space. There is accommodation for two and steering is by motorcycle style handlebars although with such a lengthy wheelbase, handling would be interesting to say the least; the two small drogue wheels retract at anything above around town speeds. Although simply intended as an awareness builder for Dr Markus' ideas for future transport solutions, the GTBO is fully functional and anyone willing to part with £1.4 million and wait three years can have one. The bit I like best is the tail - what other machine gives a V-sign to the car it just overtook?