That Lucky Feeling

This morning, for no apparent reason,  I woke with one of those "It's going to be my lucky day" type positive vibes. On my way to work I stopped to buy some milk, outside the shop was a guy selling The Big Issue.  Such was my feel good factor I not only gave him £2 and told him to keep the change but also an extra £1 and told him to buy himself a lottery ticket. I carried on to work with mixed emotions of feeling good and wondering what the hell had come over me!

I got home this evening and waiting for me in today's post was an envelope I didn't recognise. I opened it and found a cheque from the Premium Bonds people for £25. Happy days :-)  My "feeling" was obviously more of a "premonition". Then I turned it over and spotted the bit that said the winning bond was in the name of my daughter (the cheque has to be payable to me till she's 16 ) Not so happy days :-(  I rarely have much spare cash  at the best of times but that has to be the quickest in with  one hand and out with the other ever, even by my standards.

Still, I'm pleased for her (I even smiled through gritted teeth as I exchanged the cheque for cash for her) but I've bought myself a lottery ticket for tonight. Just in case. £17,000,000 triple roll-over , and after all today isn't over yet.

Why Can't Girls Throw ?

It's a known fact, white men can't dance, girls can't throw*.

During a walk in the snow yesterday with  Mrs Wurzel, she suggested that a good photo would be one of her throwing a snowball straight at the camera. "Ok", I thought, "We'll see".

I got her nicely lined up in a ready to throw pose and told her to aim straight at the camera. "Won't I damage it ?" she asked. It was a risk I was prepared to take.

Through the viewfinder I saw the snowball leave her hand, sail upwards and out of shot , with no idea where it landed. "No, aim AT the camera" I told her.

The following 5 minutes reminded me of the never-ending loop programmes we wrote at school back in the mid 70s. (We thought that such a programme would eventually blow-up the computer - disappointingly it never did)

10 Me: Aim camera

20 Mrs W : Throw snowball

30 Me: Say "Aim at camera"

40 Goto 10

There was one "mishap" when one snowball I never saw first nor last hit me fair and square in the - in cricket parlance - box region. Curiously, and I am not making any accusations here, that one seemed to have more force behind it than the others.

Eventually, I managed to end up with the shot below,probably more by luck than judgement. I use it as an example to justify the story, not because of any artistic merit. Not quite the dramatic shot I hoped for, but if I stood there any longer I'd have started to freeze.

* with apologies to Tessa Anderson and Fatima Whitbread

Let The Annual Battle Commence

Last night we put up the Christmas tree . Well I say we, I sat back and let Mrs and L'il Wurzels get on with it. A fine job they made of it too. With 2 cats in the house, how long will it last.?

In 2007 we had a fake tree and the 2 (at the time) five  month old kittens came out resounding winners.

Last year we had a real tree, and whilst the lowest decorations came in for a bit of "feline attention" the tree (maybe because of it's natural smell or spikier needles) was treated with a bit more respect - that one went down as a score draw.

This year it's a real tree again, and the cats are a year lazier. William Hills have refused to offer me odds, but this year I'd bet on a no score draw. They watched with interested whilst it was put up but 12 hours later I got up this morning to find it untouched. But of course it's not all over till the fat lady sings (or in this scenario Jools Holland's Hootenanny is over) ...........  they're probably planning some sort of joint attack strategy as I type.

Ow, Bloody L

How quickly does our life pass us by? It only seems a short time ago that my eldest daughter was toddling off down the road for her first day at school. Now she's already got her own car and is currently taking driving lessons. Where did those years go?

Just before her birthday I was letting her drive my car round an empty car park near home to get the feel of thing before her first lesson with a proper instructor. Which, although she done OK for a first time behind the wheel, was pretty scary. A few short weeks later and we went out for a drive last night, already she seems confident and in control. I'm not a good passenger at the best of times but I felt quite relaxed with her driving.

She wanted to practice reversing into parking bays, so we headed for a car park not far from my shop. I've no idea why this car park was ever built, it's in an area where no one is ever likely to want to park and the only cars you ever see in there are learners practising. My Mum learned in there as did I and my brothers, now my daughter was making use of it, as were 2 others who were doing the same thing at the same time

Her reversing into bays was soon nice and straight and controlled but it seemed to me she was stopping well short, even though she thought she was reversing as far back as she could . So I decided to stand behind her whilst she reversed , telling her to stop when she thought she was within inches of my legs. First she stopped about 4 feet short which I indicated with my arms wide apart. She edged back a bit more but was still about 2 feet short, with me doing the appropriate "I caught one this big" with my hands. Now she thought it would be funny to scare me so she put her foot down and - much to her amusement and that of her little sister sat in the back - proceeded to drive straight over my foot!

Surprisingly the weight of a Ford Ka and two occupants didn't actually hurt very much and hasn't done any damage - at least none I can see although I do keep getting a funny tingling in my toes. It could have been worse, I thought I would be wearing flippers to work this morning. Once they'd stopped laughing her main concern was that I wouldn't be claiming any compensation from her insurance as she didn't want to lose her no claims bonus before she's even taken her test.

Still, as no examiner is likely to be stupid enough to stand behind an examninee (is that a word?) it's not a situation she's likely to encounter in her test, so hopefully she'll pass first time and soon she can drive her old Dad down the pub and buy him a pint by way of an apology. Except she won't be able to do the latter as she's not 18 till next summer - maybe time doesn't fly fast enough after all.

When the NHS Works it Works Well

On Saturday evening my daughter Li'l Wurzel came home claiming that her foot was too painful to walk properly. New school shoes had rubbed her heel, but as her sister pointed out, it hadn't stopped her walking around the shops, and Dad being Dad decided that she was just trying yet another excuse for me to do her paper round for her.

By Sunday morning even I was admitting that yes, it did look more than a little swollen and very hot and red. We had a birthday party to go to so we stayed for an hour before making our excuses and left, heading for the local NHS Walk-In Centre. Within 20 minutes she'd been seen, diagnosed with an infected blister that was still spreading up her leg and would get worse before it got better, wound dressed, advice given, course of anti-biotics dispensed, and on our way home. All done in a caring and friendly manner. A total contrast to tales of long waiting lists and people left unattended for hours.

Of course we could have just been lucky with the timing, it could yet be that they got it wrong and her leg falls off, but yesterdays experience was the NHS at it's best.

(If only they had a mobile phone department, maybe they'd be able to get my Nokia up and running again after it decided to dive into a cup if tea later the same afternoon.)

Picnic In The Park

PC time a bit restricted this week so a bit late with the blogging.

Once a year around this time of year we have a picnic at the local country park. Nothing formal, just a general invite to friends and family to be there at a certain time on a certain day. This Sunday was this years "event".

There was a bit of coming and going throughout the afternoon but in all close to 50 turned up. Someone up there was looking after us, the weather was perfect.

With picnic eaten and beers drunk it was time (for some anyway) for football, cricket, tennis, rounders and frisbee. All who took part in the (non competitive and to be honest not exactly strenuous) activities had great fun, but to a man, and woman, seemed to be suffering from aches and pains in various places the next day, not least myself. Perhaps my previous post regarding the need to exercise a bit more really was a timely reminder that a 47 year old body really can't carry on pretending to be 27 any more.

I really envy those every day people that manage to take part in events like the London Marathon. If I start training now maybe I'll be able to take part in next years game of rounders and actually score a run without needing to stop for a rest at third base.

Fashionably Old

Last night - if I didn't know it already - I finally realised that I'm getting old.

My 16 year old daughter had won a place in a catwalk show. 3 dozen young ladies had to be whittled down to just 12, with those 12 acting as models for a fashion show to take place next month. She paraded in front of an audience of around 300 people, first in casual wear, then swimwear. She was then selected for the final round, this time wearing evening wear and being interviewed by "celebrity" (I use that word advisedly) compère (I use that word advisedly too) Mike Osman, she didn't seem at all nervous. In fact quite the opposite she seemed quite the confident young lady. And if my daughter is already a young lady that must make me an old man !

Unfortunately she didn't get through into the final 12. Like any totally biased Dad I thought the judges had it wrong, although to be fair they were picking 12 girls to model clothes and it would appear that they went for the biggest variety of shapes and sizes t show off the clothing.

My daughters boyfriend had also entered. Only 4 men were required but he WAS one of the successful ones. NOT the best way to curry favour with your girlfriend I'd have thought.

The evening - unknown to me until I got there - was a charity fund raising evening for Sophie's Appeal. Sophie had died from wilms disease, something my stepson (before I knew him) had battled through and thankfully beaten when very young, losing a kidney in the process. Sophie's parents set up the charity in her memory, to raise funds to support the social, emotional and educational welfare of sick children and their families or carers whilst being treated either in hospital or the community. So all in all an enjoyable evening for a very worthwhile cause. Even if I did go home feeling a lot older than when I got there.

In The Words Of Gary Glitter ............

........... "Did you miss me, Yeah, while I was away ?"


Ok not the best example in the world to use for a comeback was it . But one has to keep ones legion of fans happy ( I say legion, I strongly suspect that "Stephen" and "Turtle" are one and the same) so after a gap of a few months I decided it's time to rekindle Wurzel's World.

No excuses for the gap in posting except for, well, I just don't seem to have had the time. So a quick update. Since I stopped posting in April I've

• Been a bit busy at work (sometimes, just a bit, now and again)
  
• Had my Sten night (joint stag and hen night)
• Got married (best day EVER)
  
• honeymooned in Spain
• came home
  
• still enjoying being married
• spent ages opening presents sorting "thank yous", photos etc.
• still enjoying being married
• tried to revive cricket career after 2 years injured - bowling ok, batting shite, now throws like a girl.
  
• still enjoying being married
• lots of days out to random places
• still enjoying being married
• Holiday in Cornwall it rained.
• still enjoying being married
• tried to get excited about start of new footie season
  
• still enjoying being married
• Same old Saints - already bored with new football season
• still enjoying being married
• regained position as reigning champions at Nick's Quiz Nights (with more than a bit of help from Mich )
• still enjoying being married.

As for the rest of the world, it's gone into meteorological and financial melt down. Whilst I take no responsibility for the weather rumour has it that financial traders the world over have been distracted whilst searching for my non-existent latest posts and taken their eye of the ball investment wise - sorry about that everyone.

I'll try to make sure I post again before Xmas.

Hello tell all your friends I'm back,
I'm back as a matter of fact,
as a matter of factI'm back.
G Glitter

Hubble Bubble Xmas Trouble - Latest Score

The current standings in the battle between the kittens and the xmas tree are as follows

Scores for the kittens.
All bottom branches bent down to the ground
Lower lights resting on carpet.
Hanging toy drum missing.
Fairy on the top now at strange angle
2ft high wicker snowman now laying face down.

Tree has only managed one revenge score so far.
Small pile of cat sick containing tinsel.

And still it's 10 days to Xmas !


Caught In The Act

Hubble Bubble Xmas Trouble

Last night I got the Xmas tree down from the loft so the kids can decorate it this evening.
I've just had a phone call - Mrs W has got home from work and - well let's just say it sounds like 4 month old twin kittens and Xmas trees aren't compatible.

Damage assesment awaits when I get home.

New Cats / Old Cat League Table

Dumps On Living Room Carpet League

Salem - Lifetime Record - NIL

Hubble and/or Bubble - After One Week - FOUR*

Carrier bags and bricks are ready, Itchen Bridge here we come.

*(includes one all over my cable tv remote control)

The New Kittens - Hubble & Bubble

Not the easiest to photograph, either sound asleep cuddling each other or awake and not staying still for a second.

And Ok, maybe they're growing on me.

Loss Of A Loved One

On Friday afternoon I received a garbled tearful phone call from Mrs W. Could I come straight home, Salem was dead.

I raced home to find her and the youngest L'il Wurzel in tears. Salem, the family cat, had indeed died, just a day or so before her first birthday. We've no idea what happened, a neighbour found her dead outside their back gate. She appears to have simply died on the spot, her body frozen in a walking pose. No apparent injuries, no cuts, no blood, eyes open. I've read of cats simply dropping dead on the spot due to some sort of heart defect (one to the extent of jumping from one chair to another and dying in mid air) and really hope it was something similarly quick so that she didn't suffer in any way.

It's amazing how quickly you can get attached to animals. Anyone sad enough to still be visiting my blog from almost a year ago will recall how reluctant I was to even get a cat . Yet less than a year on I haven't lost a pet but a little friend.

Mrs W was distraught and felt a need to immediately go and get another cat - not as a replacement as nothing ever will, but without Salem the house felt empty. I still can't understand her way of thinking - whilst I still wake up expecting a little black face to nuzzle into mine a new pet in the house seems just too soon. But with the little Wurzels on her side off they went and now we have not one but 2 new kittens, little white boy twins. As yet no definite names, I'm sure there'll be photos to post later.

Just as I did with Salem I'm sure I'll grow fond of them but at the moment I still miss my little mate.

This Keep Fit Lark..........

Not content with a few walks recently Mrs W has convinced me that when I get home this evening we are going on a bike ride ! She had a little difficulty at first, but she finally persuaded me when she said she would be wearing proper cycling gear like those girls in the picture ==>.
There's a lot of hills round our way so one way or another this aint going to do the old blood pressure any good at all .... this could be my last post for some time.

A Breath Of Fresh Air

I am lucky to live where I do, there is so much open space within a short drive.
On Sunday we (Mrs W and I) took a trip down to the New Forest to follow a short route described in a book of forest walks. The directions were a little vague to say the least and we soon weren't quite sure if were on the right track. Eventually I (well someone has to be in charge) decided we would make it up as we went along. After an hour or so we found ourselves - much to Mrs W's amazement and relief - back close to where we started.
When you're working indoors all day during the week it's great to be able to get out like that, stretching the legs and breathing some fresh country air. Ending it as we did with a visit to a proper country pub makes it even better.
Getting home from work on Monday it was a beautiful evening. I was up for another one so I convinced Mrs W housework could wait for another time nd off we went. Just a couple of minutes from home and we were parking the car and taking a walk of about 5 miles down the bank of the river Hamble and back. Totally different scenery to the day before but just as enjoyable.
Oh, and that one involved a pub stop at the halfway point - there seems to be a theme developing here.

Race For Life

This morning Mrs W, along with 10,000 other women took part in the Southampton Race For Life, a 5km charity run raising money for Cancer Research Uk. She managed to run it in a very comendable 30 minutes, proving that even now she can still live up to her FAF nickname.

But the whole point isn't the time ,it's the taking part and raising money for a good cause. To see so many women of all shapes and sizes, from fit young girls to old ladies barely able to walk unaided, all willing to give up a bit of time and effort to help others was very humbling. Mrs W entered as part of a team along with 27 workmates, I'm not sure how much they raised between them but congratulations to all of them and everyone else who took part.

Nothing Is Impossible

Yesterday we took the kids back to Chessington World of Adventure. Amongst the attractions was one of those typical "rip off" stalls that you see at fairs and fetes. A rope ladder, at an angle of approximately 30 degrees, secured at the bottom and top by single central attachments. If you managed to get to the top (hands and feet only, no lying down, no knees, no hanging below etc etc) and ring the bell you win a cuddly dragon. Of course nobody ever wins, the ladder always pivots at some point, you end up dangling below it, and off you fall.

L'il Wurzel wanted a go.

"No" I told her, "it's impossible, no-one ever wins these things"

"I can do it" she insisted. In fact she was so insistent I thought it would be worth the £1 just to shut her up.

So off she went, onto the ladder and slowly and very carefully edged her way up rung by rung. There was hardly a wobble as she got higher and higher with a look of grim determination on her face. Before we knew it, and to the visible disappointment of the operator, she reached out and with a huge smile rang the bell.

I have never seen such a look of satisfaction and " told you so" on a child's face. And there must have been a look of pride on mine.

Sometimes it's great to be proved wrong.

Chester the Dragon - the big prize.

Kids - who'd have 'em?

Last night - in an effort to regain some enthusiasm to start playing again after my shoulder injury - we went down the park to watch some cricket.
Whilst we were there the two (not so little any more) kids started messing around resulting in the Junior Wurzel (14) getting hit right in the eye with a fir cone thrown by her sister Li'l Wurzel(12)
Seeing she was in some pain, and not taking any chances with eyes, I took her off to the walk in clinic.
They were short staffed and couldn't check eyes so sent us on to A & E.
Whilst driving to the hospital she texts Mrs W (who couldn't come with us as she had to pick up Jamie her son (10) from a party) saying "Walk in say we have to go to casualty".
2 minutes later her phone rings. It's Li'l Wurzel.
LW " We are on our way to the walk in centre"
JW "Didn't Deb see my text?, we have got to go to casualty"
LW " We're not coming to see you, Jamie has trod on a rusty nail and it's gone right through his foot!"

Thankfully both are ok - but Kids eh? - who'd have em ?

Confirmed

Further to my post of 2 days ago Salem went off to the vets last night.

Yes, the same vet who has already confirmed twice he's a boy now tells us "What a lovely young lady you have there "

Oh and just to rub it in there's a strong possibility that he .... old habits die hard, I mean she ... could be pregnant, we need to wait 3 weeks to know. :-(

He's a She ?!?!

Regular readers of my blog will both remember that back last November we bought a kitten. A little boy kitten called Salem.

I never wanted a cat, but soon had to admit he was really cute and in no time at all grew to accept him as part of the family. Much as I would have preferred to have a dog (which I wouldn't whilst we both work) , watching my little boy cat grow up was almost as much fun

Well 6 months on it would appear that Salem is a girl !

When we bought him we were told he was a boy. Twice the vet has confirmed he is a boy. Our own visual checks, (see diagram left) whilst not the easiest thing to carry out on a cat who doesn't want his "private bits" inspected by all and sundry, gave us no reason to doubt his gender. We have been getting a little concerned at the lack of balls dropping now he has reached 8 months old but assumed it would be happening any time soon.

But this week Salem has been showing a few new "trends". He/she/it has started calling, raising it's bum off the ground and sticking it in the air (lordosis) and showing all the signs of estrus . All these are new terms to me but basically it means our little boy is a female and in heat ! We'll take her to the vet tomorrow for confirmation, but everyone we know who has any knowledge of cats is in no real doubt .

Fingers crossed there's no kittens on the way.