WE LIVE IN SOMERSET NOW!!!

Hi everyone,
Sorry I took so long to do these couple of posts but been enjoying living by the beach! Also, as put in the little message box on the left, it takes ages to load my blog and I won't spend my time sat here waiting when I could be out enjoying myself!

We are two minutes from the beach and five minutes from the local wildlife park where we go regular to watch the canoeing, model boat racing, and feed the swans, ducks, geese, coots, moorhens and grebes.
We also feed the fish, as when we throw bread for the birds, some enourmous fish surface and grab what they can!

Had my stepdaughter (the one I like!) and her boyfriend stop for the Bank Holiday weekend not long after we moved in, that was a really nice weekend.

Me and Little'Un sometimes go to the beach and watch the RNLI doing their training, watched them last night, bit cold and windy but enjoyable.

On a clear day, if you look to the right across the water, you can see Wales (not sure, but think all the bright lights at night might be Cardiff?), if you look to the left we can see down the river Parrett almost to where Big Bruv lives, to the right there are two islands, a big one and a little one (can't remember their names right now) they are the same ones you can see from the beach at Weston.

Little'Un has really settled in great down here, she loves her new school and has made quite a few friends.
I feel a lot calmer down here too, as the pace of life is slower so my smoking has gone from 35-40 a day down to 10-15!!!!! Although sometimes I smoke even less than that.
Went back up to Manchester to visit Mum, Dad, Little'Uns Dad and my previous neighbour and bestest bud Shell in September just for the day, funnily enough, my smoking immediately shot back up and I coughed all the way back to Somerset in the car!

Really looking forward to the firework display on the beach in a couple of weeks. PLUS! The carnival (see video clips in left hand column) passes right under our window as it goes along Burnham High Street, I will get my camera and maybe even my video camera all batteried up and ready to go!

Went to Bridgwater fair a couple of weeks ago, WOW! Biggest fairground I have ever seen!!! Lil'Sis was here at the time so we all went together Big Bruv, Sis'in'Law, Lil'Sis, Little'Un and me, had a fabulous time, went on loads of rides. I felt just like a teenager again, screaming at the top of my lungs and laughing so much my eyes were streaming and my stomach hurt. Almost made myself sick through going on everything but a great time was had by all!

Will try to blog more and also stick some pics on.


ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!


By the time I had typed all the above, it wouldn't let me post, it had shut down connection, don't know why, maybe I had lost the signal, who knows????
It does this all the time!!!!
I hate this computer!!!!!


I'll keep trying though, I'm not going to type this all over again!!!


Loadsaluv
Azzy
XXX

SOMERSET

Hello,

Well folks, sorry not been on for a while, been real busy making plans and generally living my everyday life.
Got so much going on right now that I just haven't had time to visit my blog.
   

Just got back this weekend from a stay in Somerset at big Bruvs, lovely and relaxing and the weather was beautiful, warm and mostly sunny, it did wonders for my dickie knee, I hardly limped and walked for miles (can't do that up here, it's too cold and damp, I'm sure my dickie knee is RUST from all the rain in Manchester!)
  

We found the perfect place we want to move to. I'm saving really hard for the move, making sure I have enough for my rent deposit, first months rent, administration fees and moving costs with a little extra for any unexpected costs that may crop up, I will have enough by the end of July!!!
  

Went to see the school Little'Un will be going to, it was closed for Easter but the following week we went back and the caretaker was there so we got quite a few leaflets/information off him, while there we saw loads of properties for rent and visited a few estate agents for details.

Little'Un loves the place, it's such a small town that no matter where in it you live, you are only about five minutes from the beach. 
  BLISS!

Neither of us can wait and have started packing up bits and pieces already!

Well, that's all for now, hope you are all keeping well and will pop over to a few of you now to catch up on things.

Will try to post a little more often, can't promise though, busy, busy, busy!
   

Love Azzy
XXX

PUXTON PARK

Yesterday we had a lovely day out at a place called Puxton Park. It was an Alice in Wonderland weekend so all the staff were dressed up as the characters. Little'Un really enjoyed herself, there were all types of farm animals, even alpaca, a petting zoo, things to climb up, on, and over, slidy things and bouncy things, she had a whale of a time. As you can see in photo number 3, that is me being a bit of a silly moo and pulling my face (the things we do when we have kids. Sigh.....!) Photo number four was taken by Little'Un, how it was not blurred I will never know as she was laughing so much due to me being attacked by chickens, they were pecking at my legs and shoes and pulling my laces. Little'Un rode a pony for the first time, which she said was fantastic even though she said it was a little bumpy on her bum.We sat and watched cows being milked. Little'Un (and me to tell the truth) were amazed at how the machinery does it all automatically then drops off when it has finished! Little'Un wasn't too impressed with the smell though. We have ended up staying at Big Bruvs longer than originally planned and will not be leaving until Friday of this week.

We have had a wonderful time and the weather has been perfect on the days we have planned to go out, sunny while we were out and about and only rained when we got back to the house tea time.

We are planning to go to Sedgemoor Splash again later this week, the local pool in Bridgwater which has slides, fountains, whirlpool and a wave machine Little'Un absolutely loves the place. Unfortunately it seems it isn't making enough money and the local Council will be closing it down this month.

Will post again soon.

Love Azzy

XX

SOMERSET RESCUE!

What a day we had the other day. We were in the lounge when I suddenly heard a thud on the decking outside the sliding doors, when I took a closer look I discovered it was a poor little bird, a house martin, I assume it had misjudged its flight between the houses and hit the wall. Well, there it lay, on its back with its legs in the air looking quite pathetic so I called for Big Bruv to see what we could do.

Big Bruv gently picked up the tiny little thing and sat on a chair outside with it cupped in his hands, positioned over and under the bird so it was similar to the actual nest it makes and with a gap to see from or fly out of.

(SEE PHOTOS BELOW)
The little bird eventually came round but seemed quite happy sitting there, meanwhile the heavens opened and I had to cover Big Bruv with my coat as he was getting soaked, TWO HOURS and one soaked Bruv later, I suggested putting the bird in his minature chimnea on the table under the gazebo cover, thus giving Bruv a rest from sitting like a soggy statue trying to keep the bird warm and dry until it had recovered fully.

Another forty five minutes passed and it had a go at flying but crashed onto the decking then fell where we couldn't reach it. I stretched my hand between the decking and the wall as far as I could and it slowly struggled towards me and hopped onto my hand. We put it back in the chimnea and put the chimnea into the greenhouse for the night as by now it was getting late and we didn't want to leave it to the local cats or foxes. We checked on it now and again and watched as it settled itself for a sleep. Next morning at about 5am, Big Bruv opened the greenhouse door and we just kept our fingers crossed. We were going out for the day and just before we left we checked on it again, this time it wasn't there. We went inside and checked all round to see if it was in there but the greenhouse was empty so we are sure it must have fully recovered and flown away. What a lovely feeling that gave us.

Love Azzy

XX

LOOK WHO'S HERE!

Hi de hi folks,

YES, IT'S ME!

In Somerset this week staying with my Big Bruv so am taking the opportunity to use his PC. (He, he!)

Wow, didn't realise how long had passed since last time I had been on here!

Guess I'll have to do a lot of blog reading while I'm here to try and catch up with all your news.

Good grief I've missed you all so much!

Been very, very busy and stressed out for a while. I left Hubby in March.

Me and Little'Un have got a little flat just down the road from my Mum and Dad. It's perfectly situated, just a short walk (about a mile) to Little'Uns school and the local pool. Grandparents just down the road. Across the road facing our flat is a general store, Indian takeaway and a Chinese takeaway. next door on the left hand side is a pub where a girl Isobelle (8) and her little brother Alex (4) live so Little'Un plays there a lot of the time.
Our flat is two bedroomed and on the ground floor, it has a walk-in shower rather than bath which comes in handy for me due to my dicky knee (Osteo-arthritis). Not too good with stairs now and more often than not have to use my walking stick.

I am starting to plan for a better future for us now and one of the things on my list is moving to the South, think Little'Un will have a better and safer future down there. People go on over here in England about 'The Friendly North' What a load of ****! You could collapse in the street and they would just step over you tutting! There are a few exceptions of course but they are few and far between.

Anyway, hopefully I will be able to hobble to our local library (as often as I can) to keep up to date with my blog as I don't have a phone line or internet access in the flat.

Going to finish here as I really want to whizz round to all your blogs and see what you have been up to. Plus I don't want to come down to Somerset and spend my time sat indoors typing. Will post again very soon.

Missed Ya!
Loadsa luv.
Azzy
XX

BACK FROM SOMERSET

Well my friends, I'm back (boo, hoo!)

What a fabulous time me and Little'Un had!!!!

At this point I would like to send BIG HUGS AND KISSES to Big Bruv and Sis'-in-Law for giving us this wonderful holiday and taking us to all the places we went to. WE LOVE YOU BOTH LOADS. THANKYOU SO MUCH!!!!!

.................................................................................................................................................................................. The Sound of Music was amazing. To tell you the truth, it was so good I shed quite a few tears. Sometimes music affects me that way, I'm just a big softie, I cry watching films too!

Little'Un was singing along to all the songs, she was totally absorbed and oblivious to everything else. (I had to poke her quite a few times before she even noticed I was offering her chockies!)
I was as excited as she was about London, it was my first time on the Underground too. I had been to London before but that was when I was about fourteen on a trip from school (many, many years ago). We finished the evening by having a meal at a restaurant just across from the London Palladium. Little'Un had scampi and I of course, had a BLUE steak which was done to perfection. YUM!

Seems Max WAS taken to work and was tied to Hubs chair leg in the office.
Max leapt all over us when we came back, he is curled up by my feet now as I am typing this post.

Must admit, Hubs did well, the cockatiel and the fish are actually still alive!

Here are a few of the many, many pics I took at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire/Wessex UK, (which is owned by Alexander Thynn the 7th Marquess of Bath) actually, I'm quite proud of how they turned out, click on them if you want to see them better.

There is a programme all about Longleat on our UK TV, it shows how they look after the animals and are helping sustain the populations.

By the way, the Ostrich is called Trevor!

The Gorilla (I can't remember his name at the moment) has his own little house on Gorilla Island in the middle of the lake and believe it or not, his own colour TV! We were told he likes watching cartoons best.

They used to have a white tiger but unfortunately it has passed away since the last time I visited, as has the female Gorilla, so the male spends most of his time watching TV (sound familiar?). The photo was brilliant, it's the first time I had seen him up so close and he actually ran at us all slapping his chest! Fantastic!

Visitors are able to feed the deer in the park by hand and some cheeky ones stick their heads right in through the car window!

If you have never visited Longleat, I suggest you do, it's a wonderful experience no matter what your age. There isn't just the grand house and safari park, there are all kinds of play areas and attractions, cafes and shows, which is why we went on the Monday and again on the Friday, so we got to see almost everything.

Love Azzy

X

SOMERSET

Ello everybordy, Oi be in zummerzet!
'Avin a smarshin' tyme!

Arrived Saturday night about 10.30pm after about a three hour drive down the motorway.
Big Bruv and Sis'-in-Law had called to pick us up and bring us down here.
Didn't do too much on Sunday, just sat in the sun in the garden and relaxed, later that evening we had a barbeque.

Went to Longleat on Monday, took a walk round Lord Baths grand house, (makes mine look like a matchbox! My whole house would fit in just his entrance hall!) the rooms were enormous, some of the paintings were taller than my walls! Everything was so ornate, mirrors, paintings, carvings even just a door to get to another room was intricate and inlaid with marquetry! Absolutely stunning! It must take the window cleaner months to finish all those windows! Even Little'Un found it amazing. We will be going again tomorrow (Friday), this time to see the safari park.


On Tuesday we all went to the cinema to see Wall-E, (it was a bit dull and rainy that day) Little'Un had wanted to go to see Wall-E from the moment it had come out. Can't say I was too impressed with it, most of the story went over the heads of the kids but it didn't seem good enought for the adults so I was quite confused as to which kind of audience the film was supposed to be aimed for?
The rest of the day was spent playing bowling and tennis on the Wii sports. Whooohoo! Muscles ached that I didn't even know I had! Quite proud of myself, I did quite well even with my dickie knee!

Wednesday we went to Sedgemoor 'Splash' in Bridgwater,
a pool where they have flumes, whirlpools, fountains and a wave machine, had a fantastic time in there, then after we had come out, we did a bit of shopping
and called to a cafe for a snack.


Today (Thursday) is a lazy day, Little'Un is playing on the Wii again, I have just got back from a lovely long stroll along the river Parrett, all by myself! (I can't go anywhere by myself! I always have Little'Un or Max the dog, or mostly both of them, stuck to me like my shadows) it was sooooo peaceful. I sat on the grass for about an hour watching the clouds roll by and the house martins and swallows skimming the surface of the water, sometimes drinking, sometimes catching insects, the only sounds were the grasshoppers, the bees and birdsong - .........Absolute bliss........!


Saturday is the day we are travelling over to London to see 'The Sound of Music' at the London Palladium.

Then Sunday morning we set off back home. Me all the way kicking and screaming....... BOOOO!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!! SCREAM!!! DON'T WANNA GO!!!!! LET ME STAY!!!!!

Will update this post more at a later date and will add some photos. That's all for now, don't want to waste time sat inside at a computer when I could be out with nature strolling along a river bank.

Azzy
x

SOMERSET ROW!!!

Had a row with Hubs yesterday, he had asked when I was going to Somerset and said he would take the week off to look after our Max (The Mighty Mutt). I told him we are going the first week of August and he then said I should ring my Bruv and change the date as it was inconvenient!!!!!

I said Max can go in kennels for a week, which I would to pay for plus any innoculations required. then he won't need the week off, he said he won't allow that as Max would be sad!!!!!!And still said I should be the one to alter my plans and change the date I'm going.

(I said...He said....I said....He said....Blah!....Blah!....Blah!)

My Bruv has already bought the tickets for the West End Show and I'm not allowing him to lose his money like I did last year (I previously paid for Hubs coach fare then when he didn't bother to get the coach (he said he doesn't like travelling by coach!) I then paid for his train fares, but each day when I rang asking him when he was arriving so we could pick him up at the station, he kept saying he was too busy although he had booked the weekend off work to come with us, in the end, he didn't bother to come at all!!!!) I couldn't get any of my money back as they were all pre-booked tickets!

A lot of swear words were said yesterday (mainly by me!) and the outcome is......I AM *!&*!@* GOING!!!!

Mum and Lil'Sis have said he will try to palm Max off on them but they are not having any of it as he had the solution with the kennels and it wouldn't have even cost him anything! So, if he said he wants to look after Max then HE should, nobody else!!!

Hubs even complained saying, because of me, he will now HAVE to take Max to work with him !!!! WHAT!!!! Who takes their dog to offices in a building company???? What's he going to do, tie him to a desk? Has he never seen 'Turner and Hooch'? Max would demolish the place! Plus pee and poo all over.

As you have probably guessed I am not in too happy a mood today.

That's because, not only was there this row about Max but the cheeky git asked me for a tenner (£10) to get a taxi to work this morning as he had got up late (although I had set the alarm for 5.45am!) he told me he didn't have any money but,..... on opening his wallet to put in the tenner I gave him, I saw he already had a tenner (maybe more, I couldn't quite see!!!!!) He then lost his temper at ME because I had seen it!!! And shouted at me to keep my bloody money!!!

Ooooooooooooooooooooh!!!! I'm piggin' fumin'! What a bloody mug I am!

That's it for now, best finish before my piggin's and bloody's become stronger words!

Love
Piggin' peed off Azzy

P.S. Anyone thinking of getting married to their beloved (beloved - Ha!) DON'T DO IT!!!!!

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Hi guys,

I'm back from a fantastic long weekend down in Somerset to see Bridgwater Carnival 2007 (ignore the fact that 'Neeza the Gitty Geeza' had me upset for most of it! See updates on my 'Somerset here I come' post (next one down).. I shall be shortly popping over to Pauline's blog for a few ideas!!!)
Me and Little'un still enjoyed it!

Above are some photos of the parade, TAKEN BY LITTLE'UN while I was busy with my video camera. Unfortunately, the batteries ran out after only eight photos (I had forgot to bring my spares, I had left them in my weekend bag!)...Bugger!!!

The Gremlins float this year was 'Vampires' it was really impressive, although I don't think anything could top their 'Ghost Ship' entry of last year. That will go down in history as the best ever! Most of the crowd were still talking about it this weekend.

There were 150 entries in the parade and it lasted around three to four hours, I used to think our local carnival was not too bad (Ha!) and the Disney parade fabulous but they BOTH pale in comparison to what we saw this weekend. Not only were our mouths and eyes wide open in amazement, but also in laughter, as there were a few that were really funny.
The heat from all the bulbs on the floats was tremendous and kept everyone lovely and warm.

Little'un was dancing all night to the music as each float passed and she was 'over the moon' when Pudsy Bear came over and gave her a big hug!

Pudsy Bear (pictured), just in case anyone doesn't know, is the symbol of 'Children In Need' an annual charity event that raises millions.

The parade then went on to various other towns over the following couple of days and the lights from all the floats could be seen illuminating the skyline, waaay in the distance, across the river from the little village where my Brother lives.
Bridgwater Carnival is something I would suggest everyone MUST go and see.
I can now understand why people from all over the world come to it.
Once it was all over, we then had plenty of time to stroll across town to where the 'Squibbing' takes place.

The 'Squibbing' I am told, is an amazing thing to watch. The main street of Bridgwater is lined on both sides of the road with people holding long poles above their heads with fireworks on the end. It starts at one end of the street and each pair light their fireworks immediately after the previous pair therefore sending a stream of cascading fireworks from one end of the street to the other. Unfortunately, this weekend, the wind picked up quite strongly and the extremely hot sparks were blowing into and all over the crowd on our side of the street causing everyone to huddle together bent over to cover themselves from getting burnt.

Everyone's coats ended up with lots of small singe marks and holes, we received the odd minor burn between us from the sparks and my Sister in Laws hat actually caught fire, thankfully the man standing beside her, noticed and patted it out.

What an end to the evening!!!!!

We will certainly never forget this weekend!!!!

Click on the very first vid clip box in the column on the left for snippets of what we saw.

Cindy from - http://adayinthelifeofcindy.blogspot.com/ just pointed out to me that being American, she doesn't know where Somerset is. Sorry folks, it never occurred to me to explain where Somerset is. Here is a map........