most wonderful time of the year?!?!

some might say so

and i am one of them

its the christmas markets as of today, people, and i am so excited. five pm today, watch me, i'm gone, down that oldham road, across town and then i shall delve into the christmassy, cosy, colourfully-lit wonderland of albert square...the smells and the laughing and the -I WANT THAT-s and the -ooooooh look at that brooch!just looks it it!-s and the bratwurst which i like the smell of and the idea of but not so much the eating.

saddle up friends, we are in for a glorious thirty-nine day sleigh ride to the fun and food of christmas...follow me, its going to be a good one!!

so..

tonight i am going here

(the cafe rene, gloucester..)

to drink some of this:

(several pints of draught weston's stowford press...west country in a glass..)

and hang out with the

(bear, the...lovely)

and then tomorrow, joy of joys, we are going here:

(westonbirt arboretum...in autumn...with a lovely man...also with nick+ang...day of fun....followed by fireworks at the docks in gloucester..and more stowfords...and then poker at rob and amy's.....can you imagine how giddy i'd be right now if i weren't so tired...?!)

not long now...

less=more

so right now the leaves are giving up on the trees. they're falling away, and leaving the tree behind..they gotta go...and they go so beautifully. there really wasn't any need for god to make it so, was there?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

LOOK!!!!!

whoop!!

steve is going to be here tomorrow.
can you believe it?!

ok these are some of the things i like about him

he is funny. in a way that i'm not sure other people find funny but in a way that i certainly find funny.
he has the greyest of grey eyes which i had never thought to be a good thing but am now converted.
he is very kind and thoughtful. not in a make-you-a-card girl way, just in a thoughtful-boy way
when he is next to me i feel tiny. and after a lifetime of feeling like a big fat giant, my joy at experiencing this delightful sensation cannot be overstated.
he is full of fun facts to know and tell......as many of you will know, while i appear to be quite bright, am in fact a dunce at knowing how things work etc. he's good in explaining hows and becauses.
he witters. almost as badly as me
he knows alot of words. it won't surprise you to know that i find a wide range of vocabulary a pleasing attribute in a man.
ok sorry you probably didn't need all that....i'm done now don't worry

so i keep doing this thing lately, where when i'm in work and walk past one of our many unsold mirrors, or am in the bathroom about to clean my teeth, or in my room about to straighten my hair..............i turn to the mirror and i'm smiling. before i get there, already smiling. its become a bit of a feature.

a strange thing, when at last it happens.....

happy happy birthday.....

to fiona jane ezra hayward....

twenty-two today...

and a beauty, to be sure....

love you fifi trixabelle!!xxxxxxx

is there

anything more pleasant to have in your nose than the smell of autumn...?!
seriously..
i went out for a walk round ancoats today at lunchtime....travel-mug of coffee, a very rare smoking-during-school-hours occassion, and just walked, breathed in the air, listened to the kooks, looked at the cold bright day and, well...thought about a lovely man.
i know i keep going on about autumnal bliss but i really am giddier on a bright cold dry day than on any other. i think it wakes me up somehow. i think maybe part of me hibernates during summer...and i've got my smashing new winter coat (MT £2!!) and re-heeled winter boots...
seven weeks til the markets....

the world at one..

for anyone who still reads this..the news from lunchtime today..

me: hi

john: What's going on Hayward?
What's the news?

me: the news is do you guys want to go to trof for a beer tonight?

john: I can't tonight. I've promised I'd see a friend at chess

me: well news goes stale you know

john: I know

me: i could just tell you now

john: I'm already feeling it
And I've not even heard it yet

me: now? you want news now?

john: Well I could hear it now and then you could tell me again ?
How long does the news take?

me: two minutes

john: great

me: ok

john: ok

me: so i told you about the bear of a man
from the wedding

john: yeah

me: i went to london on saturday and met him in the afternoon

john: cool

me: we mooched around on the south bank, looked at books and old maps
mooched some more
went to a pub
sat outside and had two pints of cider over about two hours
talking talking

john: yeah

me: me liking him more

john: ok
this is like a Jane Austin novel
Lorna would love it

me: then we got a tube up to oxford street and went for a roam in behind the main roads and then ate pizza outside this fun pizza place..the kind of one that actually makes you feel like you're in europe and on holiday
loved it

john: I, too, love it

me: so we sat outside of there eating pizza and smoking
and lots more talking
and drinking wine

john: don't stop
I can't bear it
and then......?

me: and i'd told emily who i was staying with that i'd be back at half nine to have a drink with her and helen who is our other friend (these are friends from glos) so then it was ten o'clock and i'd had wine and lost track of time and i didn't fancy my chances of finding my way home by myself
his train home wasn't for ages

john: ok

me: so i said why don't you figuratively speaking walk me home, ie, tube and bus me home
he seemed very pleased not to be being sent home

john: right

me: so then we went down to oxford circus tube and then

john: then what?

me: there was hand holding

john: no way!
he held your hand
ok
keep going

me: and then when we were on the escalator going down to the tube, he was on the step in front of me and so we were the same height, it was the perfect moment and he took it..
kissed me jolly well there and then on the escalator

john: wow!

me: yep

john: What did you do?

me: kissed him jolly well back

john: ok then

me: obviously it was a limited time offer thing, we were on an escalator so someone was going to fall over
and then got the tube
then got a bus
then we got to em's

john: right
then what?

me: and then he came in with me and we hung out on the balcony with the girls for an hour and drank wine and smoked
and they loved him.

john: ahh
then what?

me: so then he had to go so i walked him to the bus then i said i like you and he said i really like you too and then he walked away and then i shouted after him 'bagsie not telling nick! (my brother)' and he was like 'oh no...' and then got on the bus
it was very funny
he looked gutted at me having bagsied it first

john: I bet he was
and what a lovely end to a very great day
and story

john: told exceptionally well
I must say

me: he's coming to visit in a few weeks and i'd very much like you and lorna to meet him..i'm not sure when it is but i think you'd really like him

john: ok
I'll get my hair done specially
don't want him thinking your friends are unclean

me: no indeed
and
he's going to tell nick.

john: Congratulations!

me: tonight
on the phone, which is good, for me, because i didn't want to do it

john: are you nervous?

me: about nick?

john: yeah
they're best friends, right?
who's the biggest?

me: yes..only because i've liked his friend before, a different friend, and he was thoroughly opposed to the idea
they are a very similar size

john: who's win in a fight?

me: i think steve might be a bit bigger
oh man
i really don't know who'd win

john: o

me: that is an excellent question

john: you better find out
in case anything happens

me: they are both very bear-like

john: ok
but gentle too perhaps?

me: indeed

john: I love your life

me: hahahhahahhaha

john: see you on wednesday hopefully

me: have fun in the shire!!
love to lorna
xx

john : thanks
x
bye

ursa major

potential confirmed

autumnally

I’m so excited
Last night, I got home to my flat after London, baby and It was cold….got in bed, cold…slept like a baby………woke up, cold…put big jumper and long jeans on….stepped outside….air - cold….sky - clear….sun - trying…oh and its autumn, people!!!!
I’m bursting with the excitement of it all…..
Honestly, I looked for new winter boots today, and am bringing my pile of winter coats into town tomorrow to get them cleaned. I am thinking about advent and gluwein and fireworks and mittens.
I know, cate and helen, its sheer madness to you, but love me, love my woolly hat…

The (recent) Times Rich (in life) List..

sleep - good..isn't it...? finally...almost two weeks of good sleep now...and i'm tired, alot, because the floodgates are opened, and the months of awakeness are stamping down my door telling me i owe them sleep....the sleep baliffs....and i give in....its good...

wedding - good..i officially love being a bridesmaid..i have never been hugged so many times in one day..never looked so hot...never grinned so much..never drank so much wine...never been to the cafe rene til four am in a posh frock before (yeah we bridesmaids and ushers snuck off to our local after it was all over and rolled home when we'd had enough...)

friends - good (in a crisis, you can rely on hawkes and sal for movies and wine, at work i can trust in the support and encouragement of friends, in the shire i can know that friends love to see me arrive back..some far away friends are happier than i have seen them ever, and some closer to home are nesting, or nursing black eyes, or falling in love, and each one of them surprises me a little more ever year that passes....)

the anticipation of christmas - good.....a little early perhaps, but the nights are darker, and while that means fewer balmy evenings (although i think we had about four of them all 'summer', at last count!) it also means mittens and red starbucks cups and the markets and the delicious joys of advent....can't wait...

god - good (this is not exactly breaking news, perhaps, but reminders are ever-helpful)

family - good (i adore them. i love how collectively happy we were at the wedding and either side of it. my dad beaming, my mum giddy, fiona the belle of the ball, jimmy in tow who was quite the hit, and nick and angela as happy as children, just pure happy...)

skirts - good (its a late end o'the summer campaign to bring back skirts..)

men - good (well, just one..and he's more potentially good, rather than confirmed as good...we'll see...)

'mark watson makes the world substantially better' - good (radio four late-night comedy and my new favourite comedian!)

work - good..just good..

manchester being sunny in september like we've been holding out for - good

hanging out with denno - good..been chuffing ages..worth the wait...

john simpson books - good

the holiday - good..jack black..what a guy..

wallet getting stolen - not as bad as when phone got stolen

nicely painted nails - good

new frizz ease conditioner purchased with advantage card points - good

i think i'm done...

sorry its been so freaking long....i've missed this!!love you x

ok, ok.

lo siento

i suck at this these days, i'm sorry!
lunchtime today, i promise....
les agradezco su paciencia

no somos enemigos..

sending big love from over here...

its a shit time....

we must be the change we want to see.....

oh for god's sake..

please, president bush, get a grip
this morning, this is one of the thoughts that began my day as i listening us usual to radio four and today
the guy goes to war
he helps impose a carefully chosen leadership over a shambolic nation
and then four years later, joins the rest of the world in verbally assaulting the guy that he chose to lead the beleaguered state because things aren't going how he had hoped.
Mr Bush said the Iraqi government would ultimately be judged by the Iraqi people.
"The fundamental question is: will the government respond to the demands of the people? And, if the government doesn't demand - or respond to the demands of the people, they will replace the government. That's up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American politicians."
no, what you mean is, you will somehow ending up arming the people until they overthrown their government....but probably once you are out of power and ceo of some international evil arms corp that'll make sure we mess them up good and proper this time, even if all-told it takes a generation of us marines dying to do it....
what a knob
i literally despair of him, his pals, his observations, his logic.....
literally

whoop

sleep cometh..
thanks guys...
i feel so quietly sure that something truly changed
may the lord be praised..

ouch..

two nights in a row..
last night, to its credit, wasn't so bad..it was only about three am, maybe three-thirty before i got to sleep
two night in a row is very rare...
i feel so special

no i don't, i feel very, very tired....

sunrise...

So I didn’t sleep well again last night
Its averaging out at about once a week now.
And it always, but always, happens on a day when I’ve said the words ‘oh, so much better these days, thanks.’ In answer to the question ‘are you sleeping any better now?’
I call that a kick in the teeth, amigos, don’t you?!
a friend of mine said to me the other day that she loses about one night’s sleep in every three or four. And no its not a friend who has babies, just a friend who much more humbly and noiselessly gets on with her own part-time insomnia and doesn’t go round moaning about it like I do!
But it freaks me out, and I know that that’s half the trouble – that on a school-night, I lie there and am a)freaked out by being awake on a school-night and therefore will end up struggling at work the next day (although god almost invariably comes up trumps for me with an extra abundant helping of energy and patience on the post-no—sleep-days…) and b) by the notion that there must be something inherently and irreparably wrong with me and my psyche and my wretched nerves and my sheer ability to obsess and fear that can only be described as my mother’s greatest genetically-bequeathed gift to me…
(And I love her for it, obviously….!!)
lately I have seen a friend emerge from years of having a rubbish time, and by that I mean grief and depression and fear on a scale you should never have to go through, into a life where things are colourfully possible…and has done all that without yet knowing jesus….
And more lately still I have watched as another friend decided to get some help, opt for sanity and work his way out of the hole he was in….
And me, I’m just cycling in my cycle of night-terror and sunrise dread…..no-one should fear the sunrise…but on the nights when you have the hungry hoards to feed the next day, the sunrise isn’t exactly your best friend….its a sure-fire sign that all hope of sleep is gone…I reckon I beat it by about two minutes last night, probably getting to sleep around four, four-fifteen…wait, what time is sunrise round here these days….?
Checking…
No actually I beat it by quite some time, seems it doesn’t really hit us til 0548…slacker…
The amazing thing is that everytime this happens, I freak out less and less….and am learning to trust god with my sanity…and with work the next day, and with the idea that it may not always be like this, but that even if it is, if part-time insomnia is to be some sort of thorn in my side, then a) I had jolly well better get on with learning how to make that time count and b) I will still be alright. i will always be alright.
God’s sneaky
Its win-win when it looks like lose-lose.
And that, my friends, is my own unique and soon-to-be patented summary of the gospels of our lord jesus…amen…
Hope you have a lovely day xxxx

howstuffworks..

i invariably don't know how things work.
this is a well-known fact about me.
over the years, russell has given me periodic science lessons on many things...boats, cds, trains, radios, and the like....
however, howstuffworks.com is a brilliant website, that keeps me informed and educated while russell is away...
if i have questions they know the answer.
i also now have a feed from this site that lands daily on my igoogle page telling me a fun set of new facts to know and tell, on a particular theme....sometimes fireworks, sometime egg timers, you know..

and today, the howstuffworks offering is this.....

how stuff works: the rules of war...

today

i am in work and while pretty much most staff are away, the dream team is in session:

me, paul and mrs trivino..

i do like my job!

the town mouse and the country mouse..

was one of my favourite books when i was little. but it distressed me quite alot. and this is because i am easily swayed, and because i can understand both the terror of being a country mouse in a big town, and the vast emptiness and all its associated fear, for a town mouse who finds himself in the country.
lately i feel i have certain dilemmas on my hands, about do i stay in manchester, or do i head back for the west country, to london, to ireland even....
i am no further along the road to having an answer, but the questions pose yet more questions about what sort of a mouse i am....
when i think of jon and ellie, tucked away in their walesville setting, far from the localised horrors of moss side, no more tossed about by this fickle city of ours....i am filled with this glad envy....and when i am here, in my parents' pink house, it is not the country, but the country is a mere stone's throw, and you can feel it...and there is a larder and space and seagulls...and then there is the far west country, land of my birth and the home of the freshest air these shores can offer...but part of me, even now after a year of it being part of my day, is still slightly enchanted by the grim creativity and secretive depth of the northern quarter....and rusholme high street never tires for me....and the walk up arrow-straight wilbraham road to trof is well-trodden and is perfect for a good music-while-walking time....
and so you see i am divided....geography getting the better of me once more. there is a part of me that would like nothing more than the jam-making, egg-collecting and fete-planning of the country life of a farmer's wife....
and yet i walk up oldham street, as as per previous posts, navigate my way through the pawn and porn shops, witch supplies shops and rehashed retro clothing shops and dirty, dirty pubs full of either casually dirty young creative types, or determinedly dirty old men, and i find a bizarre peace...i think it comes from knowing that all would continue such if i were not there, for it is as has has been since lowry and before...
but then the farm wouldn't be going anywhere either, would it..
no-where needs me, you see, and its liberating and terrifying at the same time...
my head is spinning a bit these days from decision-making and let-downs and lovely camping and no more harry and no more west wing and work being mental and just not really feeling at all ready...
so i'm going to take a stroll into gloucester...and see what happens...i can promise you coffee will be involved...and hopefully the buying of a new book...and then blues music and sitting outside and angela's hen-do and honey beer and getting drunk and laughing alot and then coming home and probably resuming thinking again...
ugh...
its good though, isn't it..? its hard to get on in life if you don't know what kind of a mouse you are...

whoop

this is where i'm going..in about three hours...

haHA!

a weekend of wellies, wine, and other things fun..

hasta luego friends!

whoa nelly!

stop there a second and cop a load of this:
www.libertorre.com
our very own hannah houseman, people...
look at her go...

four simple rules..

sitting just now with drago, too late for a school night, but we had
worries to air...and i found myself remembering to seek a reminder
that the god of all peace wishes to sanctify us through and through..
and as on so many fretful occasions in the past, i turned my attention
to the precious book -the imitation of christ-
it never fails to bring counsel and fresh thought...tonight is no
exception...get your eyes and hearts round this, me hearties, and let's
set said together on that tranquil ocean of good sleep and sound
faith...

chapter 23
on four things that bring peace
resolve to do the will of others rather than your own
always choose to possess less rather than more
always take the lowest place, and regard yourself as less than others
desire and pray always that god's will may be perfectly fulfilled in you

amen x

waiting for spring...in summer..

so as you will by now know, my lovely hometown is on the front page of all the papers, flooded beyond belief and its proud inhabitants learning to wear wellies with dignity..
this week and next should be the annual camp of st peter's parish of gloucester, out in the woods and hills of the beautiful forest of dean...
i'm not sure i've ever waxed lyrical about this tradition of ours, so i thought that just to maybe aid its coming, i'd do so now..

when i was six we first attended. nick was seven, fiona one...
it had emerged from being a five-year old tradition of the august bank holiday weekend, several families from the church just getting away together for a few days, barbequeing and letting the kids roam free, to becoming a more long-term stay..it went from those few days to a week, and for some, went on to claim their whole summer holidays...
for us, it became a two-week camp at the end of our six weeks off school..the first two were always ireland, the second two were always cornwall, and the last....blaisdon...

at that age, there is nothing more splendid than being bundled into the car, sleeping bags, top trumps and plastic crockery at the ready, about to face whatever the elements threw at you, and to be with those friends who otherwise, we'd see at school or mass and say hi to, but they quickly became these sacred friendships, that were pure camping ties only..
we and the other kids would spend our days roaming around blaisdon forest, getting legs scraped and the occasional limb broken..we loved it. every morning, we'd have our cereal and juice, and then we'd be off! they wouldn't see us til sandwiches and hula hoops for lunch..there was an outdoor pool, bikes and skateboards, a treacherous rope swing right in the heart of the forest (no, you're right, i never, ever went on it...)

what we later learned was that during those long, sunny mornings, the parents would do their morning chores (sweep out the tent, sort the frozen blocks in the cool boxes, and generally potter about...
but then, they would then convene, not long before we'd come hurtling back for lunch, for their morning coffee....now, most of these people are pillars of the community, back home twelve miles away: teachers, nurses, housewives, accountants..but on camp, they're different...they're irish, in the main, and so it was the daily routine that the jamesons would get liberally snuck into these morning coffees, and if we got back a bit too late, we'd be getting our own lunch, if you know what i mean..

then more play, until dinner..the dads would always have their barbeques in a huddle, and would talk as men do over cooking, while the mothers (and usually daughters) would peel the spuds, wash the salad and dig the ketchup out of the cool box...and we'd eat together, sharing food, and rola cola, and wine...

but come the evening..!
now that was when the real fun would start....around seven, or as soon as the dinner was done and the tedious washing-up-over-a-makeshift-washing-up-stand over with, the fire would be lit, and the games begin..those usual campfire games of 'my granny likes...' and 'in my bag i packed..' and in the early nineties, always one of the boys (or more) would be too cool for skool, and sit with their gameboys until they realised everyone else as having more fun than they were!
and then my dad would arrive, usually after a small nap, guitar in hand, beard full and funny, and he'd sing..we'd all sing..there can't be too many groups of kids like us who know the words to so many irish songs and english folk songs and beatles and old american rock and roll and a bit of the blues and the hollies and simon and garfunkel songs...i think we may be a rare breed...and so it would go....
depending on your age, you would be sent off to bed in stages, torch in hand, the song 'goodnight fiona [or insert other name], goodnight fiona..' ringing in your ears, minding for guy ropes and hoping no bugs were in your bed waiting for you...usually some high jinks or other would follow, a stolen sleeping bag here, someone falling down the hill there....and we'd go to sleep with the sound of our parents singing and laughing and hunting for more wine in that famed cool box later in the night...
and in the morning, we'd wake with that horrible 'oh god i'm so hot get me out of here' feeling and have to get out of the tent asap, hungry for breakfast and for another day of fun.
even the rain didn't stop us. if it came, it invariably poured, and we'd have to stay inside...rummy and crazy eights and shithead were our card games of choice, monopoly would last all day..top trumps never failed to keep us out of trouble, at least for a couple of hours, and we were never, ever bored....

truth is, last year was pretty much the same...

i want my summer camping fun!! let the shire dry out please lord, if only for tradition not to be broken...and also, its not that much fun in the flood....

i say that, knowing that my parents are on their way out to the field RIGHT NOW to put the tent up..mum reckons its a balmy evening, so they're putting out their branch and seeing what happens..

hurrah!