Musings of a Transient Tweeter

Well, before too long I will be celebrating the anniversary of my first tentative tweet. You fellow tweeters will recall it's the one where you don't fully understand what the hell you are doing and you are darn sure no-one will read it on account of you having no followers. Zilch, zero, zip, naught, knack-all. But you gotta start somewhere - right? 

The early days were unusual, but encouraging. My first follower was a local talented chef who had served up many a tasty treat for us and before long I had purloined some of his tweeting group from our neighbourhood. I was particularly delighted to find that my ex piano tutor was one of them. Since I had given up the ivorys, I had missed sharing the time with John as we often had a giggle - usually at my expense as I amused both of us with my alternative style of play. Think Miss Marple meets Marty Feldman.

Then there was a lovely lady from an art gallery close to my parents roots in West Yorkshire whose website inspired me to order from them. There was the 'mad busy florist' and the local beef producers who I noticed have now been following this blog - high five and thanks to you both, I am touched. Along came an Irish guy whose claim to fame was making the worlds best Shepherd pie and I have to take his word for this. Oh and A & A bringing up the rear from their gorgeous 'little shop around the corner' - gee welcome back from the windy city folks.

I take a great deal of interest in Sue and Alison - the former a talented and eloquent award winning gardener and the latter a very amusing, energetic epic smiler who is determined to keep going despite many set backs and disappointments. And as for Sparklie, what can I say. Such a way with words that often has me chuckling out loud, and oh how I miss her contributions if she is laid low for a day. But I understand.

There was a memorable moment last month when I mentioned having an ear worm that involved a very complex rapper's hit going around in my head. Within a couple of minutes, Phiona, talented artist who was exhibiting not long ago in Paris (for real, mais oui) reported back that she once memorised all of the words to 'Rapper's Delight'. Whoa respect to that woman! Then on a dull day in Britain I only have to dwell on the tweets from our friends in Tuscany to conjure up a little virtual sunshine and warmth. Or to inspire myself, I head down to the wildlife artist's site for inspiration and gaze in wonderment at his beautiful pictures which are painted just a few miles from where I live. 

Another of my favoured tweeters is V who lives in one of the most beautiful parts of the North East where we have often stayed. The walking is just out of this world and V and her family run a lovely cafe, serving great coffee and the freshest sandwiches we have ever tasted on this planet! Not that I have yet sampled moon sandwiches as a comparison but It's on my retirement list for 2030. Earth to Tuss00 ....

Susie baked a cake, posted a picture and invited me over to share it; Mrs S, just down the road, boy when she gets angry she makes me smile - language Timothy! Finally, a mention to the one that I miss who isn't around at the moment .... come back soon, please. It's not the same without you

Request Granted

I know what you're thinking. "wow, she's been to Buck Palace and had the Corgis away'. But actually, if you look really closely you will see that these aren't real dogs at all. They are knitted using wool! Honestly, I am not kidding. My little joke ;-)

A few months ago I read an article in The Guardian which included instructions to knit your own Corgi. They looked so cute that I pondered upon how I might obtain one. There was absolutely no way on this God given earth that I would knit one myself on account of my not being able to sit still for long enough.  As a youngster, under guidance of the family matriarchy I did once manage to knit one glove and that was enough for me. I was outta there looking for more excitement than a pair of needles and a ball of wool could provide for me. Sagittarians are soon bored by routine and repetition. 

So I emailed several friends and family and appealed that someone might take the trouble to knit one of the critters for me. I expected to hear no more on the subject and tucked the idea away in the back of my mind. Well, within about 5 weeks I had 3 of the little beauties presented to me. To say I was touched is an understatement. The big lad at the back was from my mum and the pair of pups in the foreground, from one of my oldest friends, Sue. The red ribbon with the jingle bell is from a Lindt chocolate bunny that fell into my mouth one day as I walked past the kitchen cupboard. It just happened.

So there lies the story of 3 Corgis which I treasure very much. Oh and if you want to know the relevance of the yellow mustard pot then leave a comment with your email address and I'll tell you ...

Our Wonderful Winter Common Pasture Land

Today is Monday and yesterday was Sunday and I wish it was yesterday again. Like many other areas of England we awoke to a heavy covering of snow and this, to the child-like side of my character, equated to our very own fairy tale winter wonderland. It had the added advantage of being fresh and clean too. Oh what joy! I simply had to get out there to experience this rare opportunity before it all disappeared for another year. You'll probably have realised by now that I had temporarily suspended my usual reaction to heavy snow as I didn't need to use my car. It was almost as if I was in a convenient bubble of hedonism and had blocked out the existence of another world that I just didn't want to think about for 24 hours. So off we went on the short walk to the Westwood breathing the clean fresh air into the far corners of our gills. Boy it felt good.

And before long we came across the people and the dogs. All ages and all shapes and sizes. And for me as a dog lover it was as much about the dogs as it was about the people. Have you ever noticed how much dogs just love being around people at play? They are in heaven.

Now below is a lovely hound who, shall we say, was a little on the voluptuous side. Hadn't quite retained the figure of her youth. I digress. I first spotted her as she was trying to squeeze under the nearby bench  failing miserably. So she gave up and decided instead to chew playfully on a lump of snow as she eyed me suspiciously. This same dog was soon to be seen scampering about like a crazy kid making friends with people and other animals in the area and generally enjoying the freedom that her kind guardian had allowed her on this special day. You may spot her in another photo later on as she scampers and plays.

 Then we have the grown-ups at play. Good on you who ever you are. 

 Oh and the colours - such a great photographic opportunity

This hound was called Holly. A pretty brindle cross staffy with a liking for all things 'snow'. Here she waits, alert, ready for the snowball to be launched. I have no idea who most of these people are but I often find that we communicate through our dogs and before long we know their names

 Little and large. I have seen these beauties around town and they always draw admiring glances. How beautiful they are ... one day I will know their names too. 

 And after a couple of idyllic hours we started to head home. It was a perfect morning and I reflected later upon what a wonderful, spontaneous, community gathering we had witnessed and been part of. There were hundreds of people and dogs enjoying our special area of common land and we all got along so well. It's times like this that my faith in humankind is restored. It was all free, it was all healthy and the biggest surprise of all? I cannot remember hearing or seeing one piece of electronic equipment anywhere! Pinch me - I think I must have been dreaming