Friday Funding Fun

Easter is a-coming....and there are pennies to be pinched here at GBT. Mr GBT has a special extra tummy allocated to chocolate....chocolate opportunities need to be maximised not reduced by a smaller amount in some fancy packaging. Hence why I have bought him two bars of Cadbury's Dairy Milk on offer and a smaller egg for the small person along with a separate selection of chocolate bars of his choice. I meanwhile have taken full advantage of the situation and used the whole festival as an excuse to have another miniature for my dollshouse.....rather aptly a teeny nest with insy wincy eggs!

Arilx

Mustn't Grumble!

That little phrase is just so quintessentially English. Take things on the chin and say sorry even if it clearly isn't your fault...that's the way to navigate the rules and avoid social embarrassment....that is until someone has the audacity to try and jump the queue. Now we all know how to queue and heaven forbid any foolhardy soul who tries to circumnavigate the etiquette for they will be informed loudly if they have done so amidst raised eyebrows and audible tsking...eventually this should send them sheepishly scurrying to the back and waiting "properly".

Along with many others, I regularly indulge in a good moan about some imagined offence, the weather, the price of a pint and although at some levels I do have some admiration for those who publically state that they are going to go for a period of time without whinging nobody likes a saint do they [Gwennie take note] and us mere mortals positively crow when they fall off their pedestal. What I don't do is express my disgruntlement directly to the person about whom I am carping- that just wouldn't be cricket would it now! However, one thing that does irk me is  rubbish service from the big companies...I never squawk at the staff at the coalface because I've had it done to me and it's not very pleasant. Some people can be flamin' well rude to the point of being abusive.

Recently we stopped off at a tavern which is owned by a well known chain [mentioning no names as I feel I have no need of a writ winging its way to me]. It's part of a set up designed specifically to provide services for motorists who are en route. The whole concept of such places is that the food and the service is speedy so that people resume their travels quickly. Now this hostelry is hardly a gastro pub nor is the food haute cuisine- I'm under no illusion that the food arrives pre prepared and is most probably reheated in a box that goes ping. However, normally I find it's good value for the reasonable price they charge and it arrives within an acceptable time. This time we had already waited 40 minutes only to discover that people were still waiting after an hour. We didn't create a scene but simply asked for a refund and upped and left. I filled out an online feedback form the next day and suggested that if they were busy it would be far better that customers were told what the waiting time was before they placed their order so that then the onus is on the punter to decide whether they want to wait or eat elsewhere on the site. Seems like common sense to me...although sometimes it seems to me that common sense is not that common these days. I did note that the staff were polite. Today I received an apology from Head Office thanking me for my feedback and enclosing £25. So yes it was on this occasion worth raising my head above the parapet and having a little grumble.

Arilx

Catastrophizing.

I have, what I like to term as, a vivid imagination. At times, this works well for me, but more often than I care to admit, it works against me as I imagine all sorts of dire consequences, when heavens above I make a mistake [for some reason I don't have an issue with others making error, only me]. It can be something hilariously minor [oh the joy that is hindsight], take for example the recent blue bath episode, but I can quite easily jump from the reality to virtually being put in the stocks with rotten tomatoes being hurled at me within a nanosecond.

At least now, having completed my amazing CBT course, I understand what it is I do and to my amazement I discovered that there are others out there who do exactly the same thing. It has a proper name and everything...catastrophizing. When I catch myself doing it I have now learnt to sit down and check that my conclusions are accurate by checking my perceived proof i.e checking the evidence for and against my "belief". Every time so far it has not stacked up and I have been able to readjust my thinking to give a more balanced view. If I'm driving and start down the familiar anxiety provoking thought route I start to notice what's going on around me and giving a running commentary to distract myself. Finally, I have been taught to ask myself how I would react to a friend if she/he had made the same mistake- I would never talk to a chum in that way so why do it to myself. It has been a most enlightening process showing how your thoughts really do affect the way you feel about yourself. For more information on this there's a fabulous free resource here courtesy of the NHS
http://www.llttf.com/index.php?section=page&page_seq=8

Dear old Mr Benjamin Franklin sums up what I've been trying to say very succinctly!

"Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight."

Arilx

Excellent Enuciation Required....

To pronounce a tongue twister correctly.....

Over the weekend I was reading a tome about the origin of various tavern names [perfectly normal reading material in my obscure little corner of the world  when I happened across the place name of Tetbury. Now I only know one single paltry fact about Tetbury and that is a tongue twister, oft repeated in the back of the car as a youngster along with a couple of others whilst trying to pass the time on one of those interminably long car journeys all parents insist on taking their offspring on [you know the ones that last about an hour but you're asking if you're nearly there yet after about 7 minutes!]. Well of course on remembering those two little magic words "tongue" and "twister" my brain rambled off for a trip down memory lane. The first three are offerings from my childhood the others are courtesy of google.

Two toads totally tired tried to trot to Tetbury.

Unique New York.

Red lorry, yellow lorry.

Six slippery snails slid slowly.

Bad money, mad bunny.

If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?

Irish wristwatch.

Now trying saying them with your teeth in after a couple of small sweet sherries!

Arilx

Merrie Monday

This was the first single I ever bought- it was 1978 and I had just seen the film. All the naughty references went straight over my head [I was 11] but it made me feel sick when they discussing piercing Sandy's ears!

Arilx

Round and Round the Garden

Mr GBT is a mighty fine fellow and he spent a fair amount of time weeding our tiny little patch yesterday [I was ironing so no guilty conscience about not joining him]. He also took the opportunity to get a few snaps whilst the weather was dry.

Forget-me-not- the original clump came from a fellow freecycler but they've happily self seeded and made themselves at home.

Snake's Head Fritillary with its superb checkerboard pattern.

Snowflakes from my parents' garden.

And last but not least wild violets growing in a patch in the border where countless other plants I've tried have neither survived nor thrived. Mother Nature really does know best!

Arilx

It Truly Is A Hard Life!

Standards are deteriorating fast here at Gnat Bottomed Towers. I informed Her loudly and repeatedly that it was slatternly to leave the bed unmade - the fact that the "bedding needed washing" is a poor excuse indeed. She'd had all night to sort that one out. After raising my voice on several occasions [it appears She is more than a little slow on the up take at times] I found that after all my additional exertions I was beginning to feel a little weary....

So a small tortie snoozelet was in order........

Before I was rudely interrupted and evicted from my self styled bed [some five hours later - Aril] but at least the bedding is now where it should be...on the bed. Normal sleeping position has been resumed today!

Twittenx