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Chai And A Chat #198 #ChaiAndAChat

08 Aug 2022 37 Comments

by Ritu in Chai and a Chat Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Catch Up, Chai and a Chat

Hi there, Peeps! it’s Monday, again!

I have been so productive this week but relaxed, too! It’s been good!

If we were having chai, I’d tell you that the first few days of the week were spent in Birmingham with my parents. It was a bit of a whirlwind visit, but much needed since they had been away in Finland for a few weeks, and I missed being able to talk to them daily! We chilled out together, ate good food and generally relaxed. Apart from on Tuesday, when Mum thought it would be a good time to go up to the attic to empty it out, while we were there. There are some heavy bits they wouldn’t be able to manage alone, so she wanted someone from her family to do the lifting instead of Pops trying. I managed some words while there, which I was most impressed with!
If we were having chai, I’d say, talking of words, I had, in my head, a target of 10k new words, to get this book closer to The End. And I did it I wrote over 11k, actually, bringing my holiday count to over 21k! I am so chuffed with myself, even though this first draft, and especially the end, feels like word vomit, that will need a lot of cleaning up! But I can’t wait to type The End for the second time ever! (And this story is neverending, it seems… It now sits at over 102k!!!)

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If we were having chai, I’d mention that I popped into school for one day to help one of my co-teachers sort out the classroom. It feels strange that I won’t have my own room next year. Instead, I am split between both Reception classes! But, it will give me time to do more of the managerial things I was splitting myself into two to do last year, and I will also get to know both classes.
If we were having chai, I would tell you that Lil Man had a good cricket match this week. He scored over 20 runs and bowled well, adding another wicket to his belt. The team had another great win!
If we were having chai, I’d have to tell you that I finally, after many moons of trying, got a telephone Drs appointment to ask their advice re: my hand injury from over 2 months ago, where the bones are still hurting, as well as requesting blood tests to see whether I am indeed hitting perimenopause, or if there is something else untoward that I haven’t thought of.
If we were having chai, I would end, as always, with Sonu Singh. I don’t think he was impressed with us on Sunday as we were visiting and would be gone all day. We had a plan to go to visit some dear friends from university, who we hadn’t seen for a long time. One couple we saw in 2007, last, the other in 2012. We had a blast and enjoyed it so much that we didn’t even take photos! That is in-the-moment enjoyment. But, back to Sonu Singh. He hid under a table when we left and greeted us with loud miaows of indignity when we got back!

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This week is relatively calm, (she says…). I have high hopes for a finished draft 1 of book two, fingers crossed! A couple of appointments, too, as well as a mid-week match for Lil Man and possibly two more on the weekend… All in the job description of a wife/mother/author, eh!

And while you’re here, did you sign up for my mailing list? I am in the middle of writing an exclusive Chickpea Curry Lit story for my subscribers, and there will be news, tips and even recipes! You know you want to join… go on! Click the pic below to sign up!

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 387 – Old Friends

07 Aug 2022 32 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Friends, Spiderman, Spidey, Spidey's Serene Sunday

“Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them but you know they’re always there.”
Anon

Thank you, Spidey, for a lovely quote, befitting for what we will be doing, today.

It’s a busy one for us as a family this Sunday as we head off to visit two of our old university friends, and their families. We haven’t seen them for anything from ten to fourteen years!

We all have children, our own homes,(and I have plenty of grey hair) and so much catching up to do. I can’t wait to spend time with them all!

So, forgive me for the shortness of my post, but I’ve got to go and get ready for a lovely afternoon of reminiscing!

So, are you still in touch with old university/college friends?

Wishing you a wonderfully peaceful Sunday, Peeps!

#SoCS August 6, 2022- Wallpaper

06 Aug 2022 24 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Linda G Hill, Socs, Wallpaper

Linda’s SoCS prompt.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “wallpaper.” Use it however you’d like. Have fun!

As soon as I read this, I knew I had a fantastic BOTS (Based on a True Story) to tell you, all about wallpaper!

So, the first story goes a bit like this…

As a child, I always shared my room with someone. From the beginning, when my brother was born and old enough to be in a bed, we had a small room with a bunk bed. The wallpaper was images of Holly Hobby (Remember her?) When a cousin of mine was going to live with us, it was decided that I graduate to what used to be the spare room, with two single beds in it. But I was still sharing with someone. This time my cousin.

My lucky brother got an overhaul of the small room, with a fancy new bed and rainbow wallpaper, because it wouldn’t do for a boy to have to sleep in a room with a rag doll plastered all over the walls, would it?

My new room was decorated with green wallpaper. I’m not the biggest fan of green. This paper was covered with teeny green flowers. The curtains matched. The headboards were the same green, as was the carpet, and there were even matching bedsheets! Green overload!

Still, I couldn’t complain. It was the biggest room in the house. And I was only 11, so what say did I have i the decor of the house?

This cousin lived with us for three years. After she left, others came, too, and if the other single bed in my room was empty, there was always someone who would stay over and be my roommate for the night.

Anyway, I began having an opinion on what I wanted my room to look like but was refused the chance to change the wallpaper because it was so expensive.

So, I did the next best thing.

I got permission to plaster the walls with posters!

For a good few years, my walls were covered with Bros, Tom Cruise, Kylie and Jason, New Kids On The Block and all manner of 80s icons.

Until I decided I was too old for these posters, I took them down.

I was growing up. The green had grown on me. I’d still have loved new wallpaper, but I could make do.

Until the day Pops walked past the room. The way the light bounced off the wall highlighted a very silly thing I had done.

So, when hanging said posters, no one taught me the best way. I used Blutak in some places, but they kept falling down, so I found a solution: dressmaking pins. I slid a pin into each corner of the poster and down into the wallpaper, through the lining. The posters stayed up.

However, when I took them down, I didn’t account for the slight rips that would occur. As Pops walked past my room that night, all he could see were tiny rips across the whole of one of the walls. Oh, and there were the oily Blutak stains!

All I can say is that he was not best pleased!

What resulted was a right royal telling off, followed by a chance to finally redecorate my room!

I got the wallpaper I wanted, curtains, new bed sheets, etc., but we had to keep the carpet and headboards, so as long as what I chose blended in, that was fine.

I was a very happy bunny, but I felt bad about how awful the old paper had ended up!

Confession done!

But, I have to admit, I have never hung wallpaper myself. It seems a very complex job. I’ll leave that to the professionals!

This morning, I remembered another wallpaper story, where me, my brother and two cousins inadvertently stripped another cousins bedroom of her wallpaper, not knowing we were doing the wrong thing!

She said they were redecorating and shed started peeling some of the paper off, herself.

So the four of us decided to ‘help’, with gusto!

Soon, swathes of peeled wallpaper covered the floor. The satisfaction of pulling a corner, and a huge sheet coming off was addictive!

We left, pleased with ourselves, for being so helpful!

Until the morning.

When my cousin’s mum, my aunt, called mum in the morning, shouting about the bad thing we had done!

We were gobsmacked!

But, it turned out that my cousin wanted a change, so she instigated it in such a way that the room would have to be redecorated!!!

We were all under 10 and mortified, after!!!

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Aug. 6, 2022

Throwback Thursday #50 – Are Rules Made to be Broken?

04 Aug 2022 24 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, throwback Thursday

Having another go at Maggie and Laurens, Throwback Thursday challenge! This week it is Maggie who has set the questions.

This weeks prompt is: Are Rules Made to be Broken?

Who in your family was the person who made and enforced rules? I feel like rules as such were unspoken ones that everyone in our community were meant to follow. Cultural and religious expectations, as well as those that expected respect for our elders. As for the simple ones like setting bedtimes and who did what around the house, it was mainly Mum.
Did you grow up with many rules, or was your life a little more flexible? As I mentioned above, cultural expectations were like lifestyle rules that we were all meant to follow. But in our home, we had a little more flexibility as my parents wanted to be more flexible with us to some extent.
Were you a rule follower or a rule breaker? I was always a rule follower growing up. It might not have been the same as I got older, though!
How were discipline and – in contrast – rewards managed in your household? It was very rare, but if we needed telling off, there may have been raised voices. Rewards were there but not in obvious forms, like you see more of now. No sticker charts or treats like that, but knowing we weren’t disappointing our parents was a huge reward in our eyes.
Were you given the opportunity to plead your case in matters of disagreement? To an extent, but I have to be honest, as a youngster, I was a real goody two shoes!
What tools did your parents use – ‘I’m going to count to three‘, or ‘don’t make me get up‘ or a time-out chair? None that I remember.
Did fear of discipline curb your desire to break or bend the rules? It was fear of disappointing them that curbed the desire to do wrong things.
Did your upbringing influence the way you (as an adult) managed rules in your own home? Yes, and I can see the difference in my thinking compared to my Hubby Dearest’s ideas, too, as his upbringing was a different kettle of fish!
Were you ever ‘grounded’? Do you want to share the story? Nope, never grounded!
Did you break rules your parents never knew about? Want to confess and leave with a clear conscious? No? Oh, goodness, when you go and visit the Uni Ritu, there were plenty I broke! But I don’t think I am brave enough to confess more!