Polly Wally Pammy all the Way!

Today finds me particularly excited because fabulous Sarah, over at People Don't Eat Enough Fudge
(no stranger to awards herself) has awarded me, both    award and her own Tap (Toast a Post) award for As I walked out one October Morning

Sarah had passed an award to me earlier in the summer too, but I was a novice then and had not- a- clue how to go about passing one on. I feel that I have watched Sarah grow in confidence with her blogging, her prose is beautifully evocative and stylish.

What between the previous blog and this incarnation, I  have now been lucky enough to be given a few awards and endorsements whilst still retaining what must be a record-breaking Teensy Tiny Follower Tally (though I have just reached double figures and am thrilled!)
So, a few things to sort :-

 First of all I am keen to say that Sarah, you are my champion and my hero. With well over 100 followers I can only snap at your heels which are barely visible through the clouds.

Secondly, I am required to give my fave 15 new blogs a shout out. This might be tricky as I don't read enough, but I am determined to find at least 2 or 3 new ones a week to guide you towards, like a beacon on these pages. But for now and first up Robbie at    http://robbiegrey.blogspot.com/2011/10/epilogue-forever-regaind.html    transports me to another place and time. He's a loner like myself and has taken it to the next degree. His prose is quirky and at times, even gruesome but I am addicted.

Thirdly, I need your help as I have absolutely no idea why my readership remains so small.
Obviously, it may be because I am just shockingly poor at blogging (can we take that as read?) but, I have seen poorer with more readers.
Maybe I'm not many people's cup of tea. I am a bit.. weird.
 But can you, my tiny blogging community - please help me with handy hints for attracting Readers and Followers? Use the comments box after this post please.

Onto ....
THE MAIN EVENT

Today, I have 3 heating installation engineers in my house. This particular one is called Mark. and he's lovely! He's the proud Dad of baby Freya and little Harry. He is also a keen amateur photographer and I was touched to hear that Mark's very first camera holds a special place in his life since it was filled with photos of his friend who died at an appallingly young age.  They had taken those first photos together. Mark's camera has a soul.
I was intrigued to discover that he is also a member of the  cloud appreciation society  and has sold it to me so well that I may be investigating shortly.
 I JUST HAVE!!
Frikkin' fantastic!!!!
 I'll have to join.


The Three are here because my old boiler     had seen better days and wasn't particularly strutting its stuff when it was young. The lads have fitted a new one, given my radiators a total overhaul and  completely replaced the pipes . It's a grand world; you can entirely replace a heating system but I can't even leave the house without 3 pairs of glasses. One for distance, one for reading and third pair in case I am reading whilst I'm  wearing my contact lenses. Wonder if there's a firm that sorts out middle age?
 The optician did ask me if I wanted to consolidate with varifocals but I reckon it's not only his frames that have a screw loose! I am fine with my specs and my trolley bag for carrying them all.
 Actually, it's a golf cart cos my knees are playing up in this cold weather. Mind you, I am not wearing much in this photo so it's no wonder!

Anyways, I asked the chaps if they wanted to be in my blog and they agreed and asked for the web address. Well, how mortifying!
They are going to spot my 11 followers and wonder how I can harbour such bloggish pretensions. So, if I tell them not to log on till Wednesday, can we make a concerted effort to up the readership please?  Think of it as a charitable appeal.

"A Blogger needs your help this Halloween... what you are about to read, may be distressing. Please donate any spare comments, to Postcard Pam "

 something like that...

Anyway, back to the boys - here they are working away (and they have worked very hard with minimum chocolate biscuits and tea; clearly they are not small and Scottish) and under the delusion that I can make them famous.
This is Mark again. Mark who smiled for 2 straight days, who never sat down despite clearly doing so here, who always went that extra mile when it wasn't strictly speaking what he was there to do (like extend a radiator pipe so I could tile under it and make a removable bar for my cupboard to allow access to the boiler and trunk things that were tricky to trunk)

I know he'll be reading, so THANK YOU and enjoy Friday's birthday celebrations and the tiny shoes.












This is Steve. He's an exceptional young man.

As with so many people who have come to support me with the house recently, I have learned such a lot from him.
I have learned that the Irish can be as softly spoken as though they were singing you a lullaby. But maybe that's just those from the West, or maybe it's just one.

I have learned that the young can hold the wisdom of ages, that gentleness radiates and that intelligence, intellect and curiosity aren't always found in academia.
I have woken today a quieter person than when I awoke yesterday. He has helped me to know myself just by observing how well he knows himself.

Finally, I have learned that he needs photos for his portfolio and  I hope that these are what he needs.


Look how messy this room is - mess and dirt are a recurring theme of these photos. It was like that before they arrived. I have no shame (nor duster it seems)

     This is my favourite radiator as the  little copper frame at the bottom is a work of art :)

He was sitting in a pool of under fridge gunk here! He wasn't vulgar enough to mention it.

Last but not least, this is Scott - another proud father of Harvey and Oliver (6 and 4), resident of Leicester, footie fan and walking enthusiast.
Being Foxes Fans ourselves, he was very welcome in our house and when I offered him Yoyos for the boys, he very politely pointed out that one would no doubt throw it at the head of the other then strangle him with the string.
 He offered to fix my loo for me (after a year of sticking my hand in the cistern and playing russian roulette with the lid, this was tantamount to Sainthood) and he drew me a diagram of the bit I needed to buy.
 In the event, it was the birthday of one of his lads and he was delayed in all the birthday morning excitement - so Mark got here and fixed it first.
Scott was soooooo patient as he talked me through thermostatically controlled radiators, digital timers and boilers. I usually get things on the 20th go and you'd have marvelled at the amount of different ways he found to say exactly the same thing, and with good grace too.
He tells me that Watermead Country Park is for walking and cycling, so I can see a half term trip coming up.
Yep, hand on heart and will all honesty, the job was excellently co-ordinated and carried out and it was a pleasure to have them all in the house.

 In summation

PLEASE !!!!!!!!!! add your tips for gathering Followers in the comments box below. You don't want to be a lonely group of 11 forever do you?

xxxxx

Better than Sex!

...well, I think so. It's been so long that I can't quite remember...but in any case, this week has been one of the best ever!


It's been a week of getting things done. Actually, I've been getting things done all summer.
 I have been clearing out, dusting down, clearing out then washing. Then I cleared out and dusted down and cleared out and had a car boot!
Then I cleared out, organised and had another car boot.
Then I cleared out, had a change round and had another car boot! 

Then I thought I'd do a bit of sorting and chucking out but was thoroughly hacked off with car boots and so stuck stuff at the bottom of the drive with an honesty box.

Wish I'd thought of that before all those early mornings.

It felt marvellous; free if you will.

Free even if you won't.

Then, I got a man in. He put my blinds up and assessed my awning (too much material apparently)

I enjoyed that so much that I got another man in who took two days to flatten my mound.
It looks so much better and he had the good grace to leave a plum tree marking the spot.
He taught me lots about planting and trees and  that rats like dry roasted peanuts. 

Who'd have thought?

He arrived on the same day as my painter.
The painter and the mound flattener didn't like each other.
There was a bit of a Mexican stand off under my hanging baskets. It was so embarrassing.
They've gone to seed.
  (This house has been changed to protect identities)

The painter taught me patience, how to concentrate on 1 thing at a time and not fly off in all directions willy nilly . He taught me that I deserve 1 lovely room to sit in and to have someone do it properly. He taught me to value myself.
 He taught me that painters need an awful lot of tea.

Then I got a woman in to tend to the rest of my garden,which had gone a bit hysterical and then had a   breakdown.

She came round with lots of power tools and I got very excited. I love power tools.
There was the petrol strimmer -it really kicked the shit out of the triffids.
Then there was the 'hedge trimmers' -they seemed to masquerade as a chain saw. There were leaf blowers and loppers and choppers and spikey things and funny shaped spades. I was labourer all day and just  giggled because we were showing the fucking bastard garden who was boss at last.
I saw a couple of frogs.
I can see where edging is now....

................

..........................Sorry, just had a small weep of joy.

Oh and I had the most fabutastic massage yesterday. Guess what my fave bit was? (It was an all over body massage)
Nope! It was my hands and feet...Apparently we hold lots of stress in them. Something tells me if I had a petrol strimmer and industrial hedge trimmers, I'd have less stress.

Anyway, the point is, that I have finally and irrefutably discovered the joy of 'support'. I have always felt that I should be able to manage. But I can't and as my philosophical painter said, neither can he. We all need people to help us to do the stuff we aren't so good at, and sometimes, that needs paying for.

What I didn't expect was that, rather than feeling completely skint, I feel ...happy!
I think that's it, but it doesn't visit here very often. Overwhelmed visits quite often, but I think 'support' might be the antedote to overwhelmed. What's more it's totally addictive. I can't stop organising support.
The house has had to be tethered to the ground after all that clearing out. It feels so light and spacious and breathable that it thinks itself weightless. Then, like everyone who loses weight, it felt like sprucing itself up and showing off with some new clothes and  the combined effect is that there is enough space in my house to create enough space in my head to get on with work. Spending money might actually help me to earn a wage.

My life feels like it's being put through one of my dad's old garden sieves and the ground is smooth and fertile beneath. Those old bits of pottery and rock  and straw are slowly being put at the end of my life's drive.

It's surely better than sex for the effects will last much longer.

What's better than sex for you?