Mick was the name of the host that met us and he was nowhere as old as I had initially thought.  He was wearing a tee shirt with ‘Goa, India’, emblazoned across the front. I decided that he must be an aging hippie, much like myself.

His giant Doberman was only 11 months old. Buzz and Finn were delighted to meet them both. I was very apologetic about getting so lost and he mentioned that a couple had come from South Africa the previous week and had no problem finding the place.  I felt like a right Jackeen eejit.

The first night I was tired after meeting family and was glad to get back to my room.  That night I had a fitful sleep because of a nightmare.  I woke up three times to use the loo and each time there was a very strong smell of smoke in the room.

The brand of cigarette was familiar to me as I used to smoke them myself.  When I woke up the next morning the smell of smoke had gone. My nightmare consisted of distorted and disfigured images of people flashing before my eyes. It was very disconcerting.

My room was completely separate from the main house as it was a standalone building.  When I met Mick in the morning, I was reticent to discuss the smoking smell.   I knew I could not mention the nightmare as he would then know that I am completely and utterly doolally.   I generally hide it quite well. Apart from this blog…………………..

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Today I drove to Cork to see some family that I have not seen in some time.   It was a long drive and, on the way, Buzz got a panic attack. He was hyperventilating and clearly distressed.

I stopped the car immediately and we walked around for 15 minutes. Back in the car he was not much better.  I started to sing to him. This is a song that I normally sing to Buzz and Finn at times after they have been playing on the bed. They love it as they both roll over and give me their bellies to rub.

It helped a little but not much.  In future I have decided they will need an hour’s walk and not 40 minutes and possibly some homeopathic medicine for Buzz to calm him before the trip.  Finn was as cool as can be for the entire trip.

I was staying in an Airbnb and half way there my phone Google Maps stopped working, What should have been a two-and-a-half-hour drive took over four hours. I got spectacularly lost. This was the beginning of what would be a strange couple of days.

The host of where I was staying met me in Ballycotton and guided me to where I was staying. When I first heard his voice on the phone, I thought that he was much older than he was. He rocked up in a gold pick-up truck with a giant Doberman sticking his head out of the passenger window. I was exhausted, as were Buzz and Finn but delighted to be finally there.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Angel Cards 3 ( 3 of 3)

‘Child’ is my angel card for today.   It states that I care deeply about children- which I do. I do not have any of my own.   But I have been blessed with wonderful nieces and nephews.  I like to say that I love children but that I can never eat a whole one.

The card further describes that ‘All children, including my own inner child, require love, affection and attention’.  The angels can clear and open my heart and schedule so that I can give more time and energy to the children who need me.

My neighbor has a beautiful little grandchild called ‘Marlee’. She is only five years old and 18 months ago she would not have said boo to a goose.  She was so incredibly shy.

Lately when I walk past the playground with Buzz and Finn she cries out ‘HI, Adele’ and comes running over.  The change in her confidence over such a short period of time is a joy to behold.

Sometimes when the playground is empty, I will go in and have a go on the swing. It reminds me of my childhood. We had a swing in our garden when I was younger but I was a terror for going too high on it and jumping off midair.

My Dad removed the swing and I then decided to up my game.   We had a few empty oil barrels in our back garden and I placed one in front of the empty swing frame.  I had been watching the Olympic gymnasts on the TV.

I rolled the barrel up to the swing frame and threw myself at the upper bar from the barrel. I missed and broke my arm. I will never forget the pain. My adventurous spirit remains but it is now tempered with a degree of caution.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Cards are from The Doreen Virtue Daily Guidance Oracle cards

My angel card today is ‘Acceptance’. To see myself as others see me through the eyes of the angels, with unconditional love and acceptance is vital. In this way I will inspire and lift everyone to their highest potential.

Sometimes I struggle with the whole self-love and acceptance concept but then I can remind myself that If I choose to accept who and where I am in my life at that moment, without resistance, that this can be self-love.

On occasion when I meet somebody that annoys me, I need to think that they are there to remind me that I am possibly looking in the mirror and that I need to do some spiritual work on myself. Don’t get me wrong. I am no angel. Even though I may have a pack of their cards.

Like everyone else I have good days and bad days. When I was younger one of my school reports had the phrase ‘When she is good, she is very very good, and vice versa’.

I had a bit of an imp in me and to be honest still do. But not to the degree of when I was younger. Perhaps I have mellowed with age.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Cards are from The Doreen Virtue Daily Guidance Oracle cards

Angel Cards 1 ( 1 of 3)

Today my card was ‘Ground yourself’. I am glad to say that I shall be doing this in a little while as I shall be going for a swim. A dear friend told me once

-‘How do you know a sea swimmer?’.

– ‘They will tell you’.

I am acutely conscious of the fact that we have become quite the boring lot to those that do not swim.  A bit like golfing I suppose.  I have never played it myself nor do I ever wish to. Whenever I meet a golfer, I cannot match their passion and fervor for their sport.

The first time I saw somebody with a Dry Robe was in Howth.   I nearly crashed the car.   Somehow, I knew that they had been swimming in the sea and I was filled full of envy.

As soon as I got home, I had to look up the brand.   My suspicions were confirmed and indeed they were this new brand to help swimmers change and keep warm.

Little did I know that I would be swimming in the sea the following year.   All year round.  I get so much joy from it and also from the social circle that we meet down at Low Rock in Portmarnock.

We are a very hardy and friendly crew. The phrase ‘When you’re in. it’s grand’ is the most used.   Referring to the fact that the water is feckin freezing but when you are in all will be well. I like to tell fellow swimmers as I am getting out and they are gingerly getting in

‘Don’t worry, when you get down and swim around for a few minutes, it’s still fecking freezing’ which usually gets a giggle.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Cards are from The Doreen Virtue Daily Guidance Oracle cards

Maya Angelou ‘Still I rise’

https://youtu.be/qviM_GnJbOM

I came upon this clip and was not only mesmerized by the poem but by Maya’s delivery.  I mentioned a few days ago in my blog ‘Whose line is it anyway’ that I attended drama and elocution for seven years as a child.  This performance exemplifies how a poem of this magnificence should be told.  I get goosebumps whenever I watch it.

Mohammed Ali Why is everything white?

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM81FXW5S/

This is such a powerful speech from an interview with Parkinson.  I must admit that I am and never have been a fan of boxing. Two people relentlessly causing one another physical harm is not really my thing.  But I can recognize awe inspiring wisdom when I see it.

More than a year following the death of George Floyd it appears that we have begun to see more cultural diversity represented on television. When I was researching #blacklivesmatters I was surprised to see that the movement began in 2013.  It gained traction on social media following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012

This inspired me to research other words that contain the word black. Here are a few that I have found.

Blackguarding. Blacklisted. Blackballed.

My favorite thing to do as a child and still today is to watch Disney movies. Thinking of all of my favorite Disney movies I was reminded that many of the villains wore black.

Maleficent, Ursula in The Little Mermaid, the evil queen in Snow White and the Seven dwarfs, Hades in Hercules and Jafar in Aladdin.  I feel that I was almost conditioned to believe that white was good and black was not.  Thank goodness I understand that we are all the same regardless of color or creed.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Westie on wheels

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8e5B9qw/

How ridiculously cute is Jack the Westie?  I love the fact that the suspense is built up whilst the owner is running to find him.  And the relief to see that he is ok.  When the owner elegantly flips him over and he trots off I was beaming.  And her ‘Your welcome’ cry as he shoots off between the trees for his next adventure is pure class.

Finn has developed a habit of stealing other dog’s balls when we are in the park.   It is becoming a bit embarrassing.  As there are so many new dog owners where I live there are a few regular times throughout the day when we gather for doggy dates.  I keep forgetting to bring balls as I owe a few to other owners.

Buzz has been getting a bit cranky in his old age.  Although he is only five years old.  When the new puppies are frantically bouncing around him keen to play, I think that it all gets a bit too much for him.

Lately he has also taken to stopping at regular intervals whilst we are walking.   I have come to believe that perhaps it is his way of reminding me to be more mindful whilst walking as I can often be in my head.   It is probably more likely that he just wants to stop and smell whatever is wafting past his pretty little nose at that moment.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

YouTube Whose Line Is It Anyway -Funny stuff compilation

https://youtu.be/T0SGPwkqhS8

I just adored this show when it was on television. This may have something to do with the fact that as a youngster I studied elocution and drama for seven years.   It was my favorite thing to do.   Being a bit of a minx as a child my mother struggled to find a sport or a hobby that would hold my interest.

She tried everything. Basketball- as I am tall, Camogie, Scouts, ballroom dancing-lasted a week- and cooking.  Nothing could hold my interest like elocution and drama.

I won a gold medal for the duologue Toad of Toad Hall. I played the toad and won a silver medal for playing the maid another time.  But my favorite thing to do every Saturday when I attended class was improvisation.  It just seemed to fire up my imagination.  Being given a word and then three minutes to design a miniature play around it was my kind of challenge.

Mock the Week seemed to copy a lot of the themes in Whose Line Is It Anyway.   I often wondered how much of it was rehearsed.  But to be honest it was still fabulous regardless.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele

Emma Thompson fangirling over Lenny Kravitz

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8e5EWpK/

I seem to be on a roll here with regards to writing about my favorite female actresses. Emma Thompson is another woman who belies the Hollywood stereotype.   She can never be accused of being aloof as she is hilarious. This clip is evidence if nothing else.

She is also a wonderful advocate for female rights. I have only recently learnt that she is an author. screenwriter, comedian and producer. As well as winning the Oscar for best actress in Howard’s End she also wrote the script for and starred in Sense and Sensibility.

Just in case she was not fabulous enough she received dual Academy Award nominations in 1993 for her roles in The Remains of the Day and In the Name of the Father. And in doing so became only the eighth performer in history to be nominated for two Oscars in the same year.

She is the only person in history to receive Academy Awards for both acting and writing.

Her gorgeous husband is currently strutting his stuff in Strictly come Dancing 2021.   He appears to be as funny as his wife and quite the mover also. She may well have gone home to him following examining the abs of Lenny Kravitz on Graham Norton and requested that he develop the same.   And it very much looks like he has succeeded in doing so.

All the best

Stay Fab

Adele