Update from Marta world

Well I was going to give an update except I have no idea if I am just journaling to myself. I once upon a time had loyal readers but then I was sloppy while life's events took over. So I have to ask is anyone reading this? No - okay well I am still going to scribe because it makes me feel better, I like writing and it's a good way to capture random things I'd like to reminisce about in the future.

Birthday lunch was a shambles this year but very fun all the same

Suna found out why: "I would go back to that crazy restaurant with those beautiful views. Just for the surprises! I actually had a friendly chat with the owner on Monday. He told me they had two kitchens - one of them filled with Thai staff that speak no English. (Which explains why Mark got his starter and main together.) The owner designed that complicated menu system so wasn't too receptive to any suggestion that it should be simplified. And he said he needed a good restaurant manager but couldn't afford one. And could only afford untrained staff whose English wasn't good enough to distinguish between 'scallops' and 'escalopes'. So I don't hold out too much hope for any radical improvements in the future! But it added a lot of crazy fun to the lunch!"

And Oksana is still waiting for her apple juice!

What? No cat?

Have Armen's cats this weekend and I love them but they are driving me nuts. Duds sleeps under my bed all day and then is a howling weir wolf at night meowing out an opera for hours on end - I think because he wants to be out of the prowl killing wildlife. In the end at 2am I gave up, locked them in my kitchen from where they have access to the cage outside and stuck ear plugs in. I took out an ear plug a while later and he was still meowing for England. Hope neighbours didn't hear them. He's like this at home too and I pray by not giving in to him he'll learn fast not to meow incessantly with me because he won't get anywhere. He was like this when we first moved to bracknell and after 2 days of no sleep we gave in and let him out and then he was missing 3 days. Dudley also thinks my sofa is one party size scratching post despite being surrounded by his own posts. Scooby has prized out the skirting under my kitchen cupboards so they got filthy in there chasing spiders I guess. He walks all over my lap top every hour for a cuddle and then makes noise scratching like mad trying to get into wardrobes every hour - like a crazy cuckoo clock. Luckily he then sleeps somewhere near me for a while. You know, not getting that kitten could be a very good idea. I value my sleep very much indeed, never mind the prospect of spending weekends in Bmouth which would not be fair on said puddy cat.

History for fun

Check out my pal Simon's blog: http://historyforfun.blogspot.com/

Psychopath test

Read this question, come up with an answer and then scroll down to the bottom for the result. This is not a trick question. It is as it reads. No-one I know has got it right.

Story: A woman, while at the funeral of her own mother, met a guy whom she did not know. She thought this guy was amazing. She believed him to be her dream guy so much, that she fell in love with him right there, but never asked for his number and could not find him. A few days later she killed her sister.

Question: What is her motive for killing her sister?

[Give this some thought before you answer, see answer below]





































Answer: She was hoping the guy would appear at the funeral again. If you answered this correctly, you think like a psychopath. This was a test by a famous American Psychologist used to test if one has the same mentality as a killer. Many arrested serial killers took part in the test and answered the question correctly.

If you didn't answer the question correctly, good for you. If you got the answer correct, please let me know so I can take you off my e-mail list. Thanks

Planet Robin

From Robin "Went to buy mozzie repellent on Sat. Recommended to use this jungle-power, industrial-strength, army-approved, sniff-this-and-die-you-bastards spray specially formulated for use in the steaming, streaming Amazon rain-forest with temperatures and humidity both in the 90s.....on the back of the bottle..."keep in a cool, dry place".
Hmmm"

Man on man

Had a nice dinner with Robin, my neighbour, the other night. He did this fab skit on how he can't stand most men and how women are so much more evolved. Basically he was saying he had tried going out with the work lads of an evening and when one of 'em is trying to ascertain why he isn't getting anywhere with a certain lady, Robin has to somehow couch the explanation in terms the neanderthal can understand. He then progressed to show me how this would need to be done through a series of grunting sounds that sounded like...

"Eughhhh! 'haps she don't like ruff? Eughhhh!"

I collapsed laughing. Brilliant!

Guess you had to be there.

My love of the idea of skating grew

after I checked out these videos. Had no idea it could be such fun and so versatile. I really hope I master some basic moves soon. God bless the internet - so many instructional videos on there for free :-) like this one http://www.rollergirl.ca/media/movies/misc/learn-to-roller-skate.wmv

Anyone in Bournemouth/Bracknell can join me - just go to the skateshop in Poole on the big roundabout with the municipal buildings and Police station. Yay!!!!

The videos - note you may need various things like QuickTime to view these (last few inc cat fight) and Broadband for sure:

Windows media player
http://quadskating.com/ask_the_expert/viewtopic.php?p=1025#1025 - check out the moves from the Side To Side Slide to the Spreadeagle Heel Splits Into Knee Spin
http://www.rollertrip.com/img/illustration/lolomoi.wmv street entertainment on wheels to Michael Jackson
http://www.quadskating.com/videos/PowerSkating.wmv for extra speed pop a hoover on your back ???
http://www.sk8z1.com/videos/lass/lass.mpg Eddie the Eagle style jumping
http://www.quadskating.com/Grannys_Video_Vault/Selvyn.wmv helps you breakdance - this will be me soon folks (yeah right!!!)
http://basketballshows.com/videos/2005video.wmv entertainment at half time in a basket ball game - what a fun job
http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/9999/rollerbot.wmv - the robot that skates - can it be true? Those crazy Japanese.


Quicktime
http://www.kerowack.com/video.htm - shows what a fun time you can have in the park come 70s roller disco
http://www.crashcamfilms.com/hellonwheels/trailer.htm - even girls fight while on roller skates
http://www.quadskating.com/videos/grammont.MOV because you don't need a skateboard to have fun

Other
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBJ_3MxOsek&search=roller - What it looked like in 70s glory

There's even a French b/m short movie with criminals on skates - http://eccentrica.free.fr/argent_content.mov

I am so excited - so very excited because at long last after much seeking quad skates are back in and I have me a pair. I really need to learn how to stop though but have had my first go in a near deserted car park today. Well not first - I did it when I was 10 - how hard can it be to remember the moves?

I happened to flick through the Matalan catalogue a month ago and recalled they had the most fab retro shorts for �3 that will be perfect with my skates for sunny days on the Bournemouth promenade. Cue the music "it's my life da da da da.." just like the Tampax ad.

Oh my f'ing gawd! urgent letter to my friends

People, trust me on this one. Run to your local fine delicatessen and see if they have any post Easter sales on Lindt's praline connoisseurs Easter egg. It's a big box. The bottom of the egg is milk chocolate praline and the top is a tray full of assorted pralines. I bought Mark one and sit here helping him eat them - I don't care if I have a migraine for a week. I'm in seventh heaven and a half. These chocolates are gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!

I have completely lost my senses and self control
Marta

PS it's gone crazy here. Mark has nearly completed his first sudoku puzzle and the house is in near hysteria between the two of us. He's so engrossed, he's not aware I've eaten half his chocolate which he normally wouldn't allow because he knows I'll likely get a migraine.

Chocolate rules!

[ahem - feeling a little sick now]

A happy thought before I start my new job tomorrow

“66% of Britons aged 15-35 feel depressed or unhappy with the bulk of this dissatisfaction stemming from unhappiness at work.

70% of fulltime workers say that their jobs take up too much time and emotional energy.

66% feel stressed at work and parents register higher stress levels than their childless peers.

(Analysts Publicis)”

More fascinating stats at http://www.orc.co.uk/orcuk/businesssectors/retail/Experts%20in%20Customer%20Research/Survey%20Scan/Edition%203%20June%202002.htm

The reception of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea in Egypt. Here's some photos and notes from our recent trip.

The hotel was in a Moorish theme and you had to be fit as it was flights and flights of stairs to get to the sea. Great because not many screaming children for that reason.

Arabic, known there as 'oriental', food was the best by far. You don't go for the food. The sun yes and at 30+ some days the sun obliged finally on this holiday.

I was fascinated by the lights. The hotel was really nice and quiet at night - you hardly saw a soul. Just what I wanted. No talent competitions etc.

The waiter running around after me with our freshly squeezed guava, mango and strawberry cocktails while I photograph around the Roman Pool.

My gorgeous exboyfriend to boyfriend to exboyfriend to boyfriend. The course of true love does not run smooth they say. The boys amongst you are probably more interested in the background and you'll be delighted to know there were many lithe stunning Russian goddesses in lil bikinis adding glamour to the pool areas. Funniest thing was a journalist (so it said on his card) asked to take my photo for the Egyptian version of Hello. Marta = Egyptian it girl! I don't think so

Marta in her 'I got sunburnt yesterday' outfit! I was staying white as ever so had 40 mins without suncream. Big mistake!

This is why we came - heat and a coral reef. In fact the coral reef is right under the artificial beaches of the hotel. In the middle you see the jetty which you only had to stand on to see lots of lovely fish.

And we saw fishes galore - didn't even have to leave the sunbed too. Just amazing. Mark gave the eels and jelly fish a wide berth though while snorkelling. Shame it, like many reefs the world over, is dying and that's why it was important to see a coral reef ASAP. Go I urge you while there is still something to see altho the hotel building is not helping this reef at all

A fish swimming close by me as I stand on the jetty

Beer anyone? Marta becomes a lager lout or sitting at table after Glaswegian flight left

Come fly with me anyone?

Chateau Brian anyone?

Naama Bay we found far too tacky and only went the once. Everyone wanted to get you in their shop using some ruse and no-one sold anything but ugly bad quality junk. It was the same everywhere and the stock didn't improve up a mountain or in an oasis where they still tried to ply you with tacky shit. You were happy to give money without taking anything.

Dahab typical scene - don't go there!

No camels and no horses on the beach because they would injure themselves on all the litter on it I am thinking!

Five star food but not a five star hotel as was advertised! Dead shark lamp - interesting?

Into the desert

Obligatory Bedouin rip-off stop provides a great picture

The Coloured Canyon - it got a lot narrower

Looking back after we'd gone through the wide canyon (also beautiful) and climbed out

Our very funny guide Emet who was half Egyptian half Sudanese and spoke English, Russian and Italian fluently. Just as well as those were the nationalities of the very nice group.

Unexpected potholing experience. Just squeeze through this hole and drop 2m. They said bring walking shoes but not climbing shoes - there was a bit of climbing to do for the brave too finding footholds and praying the rock you were clinging to didn't crumble - but then our group chose the quick short but difficult route out!

Walking down into Petra - can't recommend this trip highly enough. Was amazing!

Walk through the very long very tall gorge - see the tiny people at the bottom

Petra - crowds have died down but they are still touting camel and donkey rides like hell. I don't like the way the donkeys are treated by some of their owners and sneer at the fat tourists sat on the poor donkeys who struggle with their burden.

Donkeys and dwellings

Wild rock - my favourite ;-)

And I thought it was just a small gorge walkway opening onto a pink temple! You keep going and it goes on forever. Temples and geological wonders abound. Go! And make sure you have 2 days there.

The other end of the main track through Petra - into the Roman era

Climbing up the 900 steps on the other side of the settlement

A brilliant disguise to get from Mexico into the US

How clever - http://ubersite.com/m/19993

It's hide from the Jehovas Witnesses time - do they have to look so scary?

Hope they can't hear me tapping on this so noisy keyboard.

Anyways I have 3 reasons to be happy this morning.
(1) Slept a long time so should have less bags under my eyes (apart from the unexpected 6.30am alarm delivered by my weather station thanks to when I reset the time last night by removing batteries exactly at midnight - well easier than reading destructions)
(2) caught up with all my blogging
(3) for the first time managed to lift body from feet into lion's roar 'kum nye' pose but had to have hands further apart from eachother and used visualisation to help!!! Now knees hurt loads going up and down stairs but may be that was the squats when I was going to go skiing. Oops - safer on the sofa!

Going abroad for a weekend - consider my friend's very good flat rental company

http://www.apartmentsapart.com/ in many European cities including Polish ones and some in UK too.

One I forgot to blog from last summer

I came back to work after my big op to discover the ceiling fallen in above the desk next to mine (good job he'd gone home early that day) and a colleague who had lost his hair quite literally. Yes all the omens were saying to apply for voluntary redundancy and get out of there.

I recounted how the neighbours in my new flat may be as good as last ones, where I had my front door superglued by one of them.
Rod said "Not so bad - you get extra security"
Joe said "Yes, but it was to her forehead"

At another of those lunchtimes I so miss with my team, someone mentioned working on tomatoes you can dip in chocolate and stripey ones too.
Joe: "Sounds like a marketing department full of pregnant women"

Who are you?

Most people would rather be certain they're miserable, than risk being happy. - Robert Anthony

Strange stuff found while working at Mars

Sign on back of door - "Please put toilet paper down toilet"
Really, what else would you do with it? Must be part of working for a multi-national!

Said by colleague - "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative"

Van Gogh family tree:

> His dizzy aunt ------------------------------------------Verti Gogh

> The brother who ate prunes ---------------------------Gotta Gogh

> The brother who worked at a convenience store ------Stop n Gogh

> The grandfather from Yugoslavia --------------------------U Gogh

> The cousin from Illinois ------------------------------- Chica Gogh

> His magician uncle -----------------------------Where-diddy Gogh

> His Mexican cousin ---------------------------------- A mee Gogh

> The Mexican cousin's American half-brother ---------- Gring Gogh

> The nephew who drove a stage coach--------------Wells-far Gogh

> The constipated uncle --------------------------------- Cant Gogh

> The ballroom dancing aunt ----------------------------- Tang Gogh

> The bird lover uncle ----------------------------------Flamin Gogh

> His nephew psychoanalyst -------------------------------- E Gogh

> The fruit loving cousin ----------------------------------Man Gogh

> An aunt who taught positive thinking ---------------- Way-to Gogh

> The little bouncy nephew ------------------------------- Poe Gogh

> A sister who loved disco -------------------------------- Go Gogh

> And his niece who travels the country in a van ----------------------Winnie Bay Gogh

> And there ya Gogh!

Another way my mum answers the phone these days

"Hello from the mother land"

On priorities at work and nagging customers

Joeism for that week "It's the squeaky gate that gets the oil"

Google leading world opinion - follow instructions

Try this...

1.) go to google
2.) type in "failure" without the quotes
3.) press the I'm feeling lucky button (instead of the google search one)
4.) Laugh

25 SIGNS YOU HAVE GROWN UP

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.

2. Having sex in a single bed is out of the question.

3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.

4. 6:00 am is when you get up, not when you go to bed.

5. You hear your favourite song in an elevator.

6. You watch the Weather Channel.

7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up."

8. You go from 130 days of holidays to 20.

9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."

10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door
won't turn down the stereo.

11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.

13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.

14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.

15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

16. You take naps from noon to 6 pm.

17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.

18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 am would severely upset, rather
than settle, your stomach.

19. If you're a gal, you go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid,
not
condoms and pregnancy tests.

20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."

21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.

22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to
drink that much again."

23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.

24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.

25. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't
apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old butt.

BONUS: When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them
instead of asking "Oh s*$# - what happened?"

Then you forward it to a bunch of old friends because you know they'll
enjoy it & do the same.

A great Manchester Evening News Story

"A seven-year-old boy was at the centre of a local courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him.

The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her.

When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to Manchester United Football Club whom the boy firmly believes are incapable of beating anyone."

Correct way to say 2005 and 2045 please

My Polish friend who teaches English asked me and I did some research. Jury is still out. Who decides this stuff? I think I'll defer to the almighty BBC who probably had a team working on it.

"I was a little confused about this too with the arrival of 2000 where we say two thousand so I looked for it on Google search. Some nice people even have it as part of operational standards so I guess this must be right see but they are not clear on what to do with 2045 http://www.geocities.com/jusjih/numbers.html#ddr

1000- one thousand
1074 - ten seventy-four
456- four hundred and fifty-six
2045-two thousand and forty-fife or twenty forty-five

see debate below (me thinks the latter)

1766-seventeen sixty-six

For 2005 we have this answer from a discussion on the web:
"two thousand five - most often
two thousand and five - fairly often
twenty o-five - seldom, but it is heard
I'm sure when we get into the "teens," we'll hear the "twenty" pattern more often, as in: 2012 twenty twelve, or 2014 twenty fourteen."

The BBC are correcting us already - "I was listening to the news on BBC Radio 4 this week and I heard the news-reader pronounce the year as twenty oh four rather than two thousand and four. The newsreader repeated this a minute later, so it was clearly a deliberate policy rather than a mistake."

I guess BBC must be right as they know best but common usage is two thousand and four so what would you teach? I reckon when we hit twenty ten it will all be the same. So twenty forty five I'd say."

Qantas becoming my favourite airline - this is so funny

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humour. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S)by maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident. ... Enjoy!

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're for.

P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last..................
P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget

Woody Allen - is me backwards reincarnated in a man's body

I am sure of it. Or do I just think I am like everyone unless they are wearing white stilettos, freezing in a nightdress outside a nightblub and talking about Big Brother?

In support of my friend I read a bit more on her thesis subject and was horrified

I want to say any guy who buys mags like Nuts or Zoo etc. should be excuted on leaving the shop as a way of weeding out the crap from humanity. It'll be the same as "I want to be Homer Simpson" t-shirts being all over the lion's enclosure you drive through at the safari zoo.

Sorry - was that a bit strong? I've just read this http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,1596384,00.html

Girl's - I suggest you read this article and if you find one copy in your man's house, leave and never look back!

Funny article about labelling gone mad

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1972272,00.html

My little boy - little at least for now. Get him at Easter time and can't wait!

Ruben's dad called Goliath - Ruben might get to be even bigger as he'll be having 'the chop'

Ruben in basket with siblings to show off his lovely cream colour.

It's so hard to choose which one of my kitten- to-be, Ruben, to show you but here he is on someone else's lap looking as cute as a button. Has anyone ever thought a button was cute I wonder?

Now I include this because Oksana thought it was a real kitten as it looks so much like Ruben.

Ania, my 23 year old distant cousin from Poland. We have so much in common it is uncanny and the weirdest idiosyncrasies too except she calls this one 'Winnie' and I call him 'Mr Hanky - Christmas Poo' which South Park fans will understand!

My garden before as it has been since I bought it

Colour in my garden at last - only �60 later and some graft.

Groundforce in action: Mark, my brother, announced "Here comes Hardy!" and I looked up to see mum in overalls.

Sorting out sofa to bring up to Bournemouth flat: Mark, my brother, announced "Here comes Laurel!" and I looked up to see dad in overalls. Obviously a family thing. I must get some too!

Strong woman competition

Signs I'm getting old

Forgot to tell you that a few months back, the M25 mysteriously disappeared from my awareness. As I got off the M3 I was in my mind joining the M4. I even thought “how strange, haven’t seen the 60 mph lights over the M4 before”. As I happily followed the lane to Slough/Iver I saw the sign for the A30 and realised I hadn’t been on the M25 yet. Oh dear! Oh dear!

I’ve also become someone’s parents – because mine never did it – and now listen more to Radios 2 and 4. I have gone off Heart and even Magic was too bland – too bloody inoffensive. Radio 4 from 18.30 to 19.00 had a wonderful play called ‘Clare in the Community’ about a social worker team lead and her life. I laughed out loud so much. Wonder if you can download them – it’s making me finally hamper for an Mp3 player.

Mum and Mark visited me yesterday and helped me do the garden i.e. I didn't have a garden before and now I do. It was like groundforce. Had to meet mum at train station for her to follow me home as she couldn't find my house. Gawd - she drives so so slowly like one of those annoying old people you get stuck behing altho' she blamed it on the car. I'm going to get it a turbo injection when she's not looking and see if there's an improvement.

Mum came out with one of her Polish mom language gems yesterday. I told her she should be hired by marketing people trying to find great snappy names for things. I explained my cousin Ania from Poland, who is currently staying with me while she seeks work, found a job in a juice bar. "Oh" said mum "So she'll be making smoochies."
What's more she is still calling a futon, a tufon.

She reminded me of a childhood trip to Blackgang Chine theme park in Isle of Wight where we dared her to go through this tree designed for kids to play in and she got stuck. After a few minutes of us convulsing with laughter she said "I'm not joking. I really am stuck and I can't breathe - get someone to help". And then there was a scene much like the story of the big turnip that a string of people are trying to pull out of the ground with a collection of other day trippers pushing and pulling until mum was set free. Oh happy days! Probably not for mum though!

Cups of tea is the new currency

Some council workers were cutting down troublesome trees in our street so I asked if they'd give me some of the logs for my cats to scratch. Then had the cunning idea to ask them to cut down the trees that were growing onto my car park spot which they did in return for a cup of tea. So good job I brought those mugs back from Mark's as I was making 9 cups and giving them every biscuit, chocolate and crisp I had in the house. They were real happy and my cat-to-be got my car park spot tree to climb = result!

Been a great month, especially getting a call to hear I beat 2 other companies to get a usability contract for a top UK charity's intranet site. That will keep me busy until April/May time.

Technophobe photographer on his first digital camera

"I've just spent some quality time getting to know my, wait for it....no, you'll never guess, digital camera omigod ! The Haliborange Powerranger is a natty little thing with programmable J-peg upside floosie and 925 picanoxels of fram. Inkypinky blogpallets and emotion stabilizer through Porton Download facility. Features inside pantyhose wafflebunny and Cadbury's (TM) fireguard.
Tayks gud pix bt nt az gud az flim.

So I'm set
Bob"

Don't trust any company you see on Dogwatch!

R reminded me today how we laughed at her when she referred to the TV programme 'Watchdog' as 'Dogwatch'. That was funny. I love the way she looks up a plumber in the "golden pages" too as that's what they call the yellow pages in Ireland. The best R hoot was when she thought the batteries needing changing in her remote control was the reason her TV reception went to pot during a storm.

First find one equally crazy friend or two - well we borrowed him for the photo after he asked to take ours

Pirate Marta lands in Venice for the carnival!

I love Venice!

Phantom of el catedral

San Marco is a really breathtaking

Doges Palace with more birds above...