Howdily doodily you fine folks?

Hello!

Its a Saturday and here I am about to announce Februarys Top 10 schedule!!

Feel free to join in :) and as a special extra I have a progress picture of my Frosted Pumpkin Passport Pals.

I have only the flag pole and the clock hands left (other than the borders and the wording...hehe...but I wanted to get the image done in time for the February part on Monday. Other than changing the skin colour and tweaking the flag to be more jack like, I do intend to add some of my own backstitches. Hopefully they won't be detrimental but we shall see!

Aaaaaanyway.....February's Top 10 Tuesday themes are.....

2nd:  Top 10 Phone Apps

9th:   Top 10 things you would do if you won the lottery (£75 million)

16th: Top 10 Movie Heroes

25th:  Top 10 YouTube Channels that you find yourself watching

Top 10 Tuesdays: Careers I would love/hate to have.

Some five years ago I think, about six months after the birth of my blog, I participated in my first A to Z and it was a careers based list. Very short blog posts in a humorous manner about careers I had contemplated (some seriously and some fancifully) and oddly since that time I have dabbled in almost all of those – Maybe this years A to Z will be an update? Anyway, todays Top 10 is about careers I would love or hate or even love to hate, hate to love? I’m not sure. Interpret it anyway you see fit and please take part!

Keebles and Tiffstitches deserve your attention on their lists so be sure to go and check them out straight after you leave here…unless you came from there, in which case…welcome…but anyhoo!

1. Music Journalist

This is my current aspiration. Why? Because I realised I do love to write and I love music so why not combine those two and do something I love. I am not even concerned about making money doing it because I love it so but that would definitely be a bonus! I am currently doing a short course in it (its only been a week) and already I feel slightly out of my depth and lacking in confidence! I know what a way to start but one thing I also feel is super excited and happy and am so pleased that tonight is lesson two. I know it will be a steep learning curve but that’s half the fun.

2. Author

I know that I have written some things, and recently I have read them, and apart from the fact that they are like weird premonitions (maybe I will tell you about that one day) but I do have a voice/style and I am not entirely sure that I like it. The dream career would be part time music journalist and part time author. Or can I say a better author? Yeah. That would be good.

3. Dancer

I always say dancer, maybe it’s because I love music and flinging my body around the house, but to be able to do this gracefully or with any level of style would be dreamy. The RA makes it less likely that this will happen but I think I could line dance,..hehe…not sure that’s a career!

4. Project Manager

Admittedly, some of you (myself included) are raising an eyebrow at this but I would like to manage a project. Preferably, this would be within a company that is a charity or not for profit organisation.

5. Small Business Owner

I have always wanted to work for myself and the jobs listed so far sort of reflect that, I like to have autonomy over my work, and the freedom to be creative even when organising stuff. I am not sure which small business but maybe some of the careers to follow may reflect that.

6. Event Planner

I like the idea of event planning, because I like having a project with an end result, event planning more so because it’s a party at the end and its both something office based and on location.

7. Stationery Designer

I love stationery, paper chase is one of my favourite shops on the planet, and I would love to design my own line.

8. Cattery Manager

Ok, so I do like cats, I do also think that to live with more than two/three MAX might freak me out. But I also think pets need to have a good place to stay when their owners travel and I would like to spend my days stroking and playing with them, lol! Obviously not changing the cat litter! Heheheh

9. Some sort of data analyst

I like numbers, I like data, I like patterns and spreadsheets….please don’t disown me!

10. Criminal Minds Show assistant

I am not too bothered which job, as long as it involves me hanging out with my boys Shemar and Matthew and talking to their experts about crime (fodder for future novels!).

There lies...a poem by me (AKA Marjie Myers)

Details of image used:

Stitchy update...

Hello!

Well.. thanks to all those who commented on my SAL suggestion blog...I can announce that I subscribed to the 'abc' and the Frosted Pumpkin 'Passport Pals' and the hardanger stitch along.

I am also pleased to say that I have started the abc and passport pals...I wanted to start the hardanger but I need to order the fabric so that is on the to-do list.

I started the 'abc' first whilst I waited for the first part of passport pals to be published, and I don't know what i was thinking!

I chose the fabric based on it looking the right colour (I have no idea of count or where I purchased it from) and began to stitch...2 over 1...thats right...2 over 1...I don't know what I was thinking...it is actually quite nice but very small and I am debating redoing this 2 over 2...I might as well as its not quite finished...but here is how far I have gotten.

Then whilst I waited for passport pals...I opened the christmas kit taht I was given, its a design based on the artits Lowry, he painted street scenes of Manchester, and i like their simplicity. Such is it that the stitching has no confetti or dithering and if I dedicate some more time to it, I am hoping that it should stitch up quickly.

Here is what it should look like finished:

And here is my progress...its the left side of the yellow house...

The photo colour isn't so great!

Then finally the passport pals....

I still have the border and the text and to finish London but its not far off being done..I did change the skin colour as my niece wanted it to be the same as her and also...I used a fabric I had sitting in my stash bag and not that which was suggested...this fabric I do know is whatever was recommended to stitch a mirabilia on...which i hadn't gotten around to!

I can see how having a rotation can help you to get more done, it stops you getting bored, or at least thats the idea!

SO....I wrote this on Monday...and I also wrote my Top 10 but on paper...I thought yesterday I would have time but...I went to a course that I have just started in London and it was awesome but...a really long day...so this is for now and Top 10 Tuesday will follow tonight! 

Top 10 Misheard song lyrics

Top 10 Misheard song lyrics was suggested by Tiff and Keebs and I expect that their posts today will be much better than mine.

I don't know of many songs so my list is made up of a combination and one of which is my misheard lyric.

So let us begin....numbers 1-4 were taken from a website that is dedicated to misheard lyrics called KissThisGuy.com.

1. Sir Mix-a-lot: Baby Got Back

"I like big butts in a can of limes"

2. Robert Palmer: Addicted to Love

"Might as well face it your'e a dick with a glove"

3. Abba: Dancing Queen

"See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen"

4. One Republic: Apologize

"Its too late to order fries"

Next up is my misheard lyrics...

5. Foster the People: Pumped Up Kicks

"All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, outrun my gun.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet."

this is what I heard...

"All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, outrun my dog.

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks you'd better run, better run, faster than my puppy."

If you read them you may think how is it possible that i heard this but please go and listen and let me know if you agree with me?

Next up is one for Keebs...

6. Take That: Patience

I heard ..."My hardest lump has no feeling.." and I challenge Keebs to let us know what the words should be without googling! lol

Next up was supposed to be for Tiff...

7. Meghan Trainor: Title

I tried to find some misheard lyrics for Meghan Trainor and I even listened to her album but seriously that girl can enunciate! 

Next up was a song my niece misheard and I think she did so because she was watching the video...

8. Frozen: Let It Go

There is a part where she sings..."the cold never bothered me anyway" but as she does this she flings off her cape and my niece firmly believed that the lyrics were "the coat never bothered me anyway"...

Next up my friend's misheard lyrics...

9. Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody

"Beezlebub has a Breville on her sideboard"

A Breville being a brand of electrical appliance so that makes some sense.

And finally...a colleague suggested these misheard lyrics...

10. Blur: Song 2

"I had a sex change, only yesterday, it wasn't easy but nothing is"

2016 Cross Stitch SAL

Ok, so...I have projects that I have started...and I was even given a kit (L.S.Lowry design) for Christmas...but...you know what's coming next right? None of them are grabbing me right now.  I do have to start knitting something for my cousins baby boy (due in March) but I want to stitch too.

I did join in with the Christmas Ornament SAL for three months until I had no time in which to stitch...I currently have a snowman with a head and no body!

I did find that it was a good project to have to stitch on and it motivated me and so I would love to take part in one during 2016. I am about to go off in search of one...currently I've only seen the frosted pumpkin passport SAL so far (which is nice) but wondered if any of you knew of any that were open to anyone (some of these groups can get quite cliquey) or if you were keen on starting one that I could join?

Lemme know! I'm all ears...I would also like to take it along to stitch this weekend at the second meeting of the group I started on new years day! eek!

Music reviews have a new home...

Hi There!

I was thinking, as I am prone to do, about what things make me happy....as in really happy...as in hip hop hip to the hop happy...and the same two things were at the top of the list...writing and music!

I started blogging due to crafting and I had a blog called Momuboocrea Island...when I started writing music reviews (way back in 2012) I started this one...and they ended up morphing together. So in no short way, what I am trying to say is that writing music reviews is what started me writing fiction...and a band I reviewed in 2012, both their single and a gig, are now releasing their album. It doesn't seem possible that it was three and a half years ago, and I imagine for them it has been three long years of hard graft, but it was...and it is at the end of the month that they are playing in London.

I shall be going! I shall be taking my niece to her first ever gig (they are family friendly)! and I shall be blogging about the album and the gig.

I still have my music page here but I have moved over to a new home for my music reviews, this is because I am starting a course soon on music journalism, its just a short course that I thought would help me to write better reviews. I find myself waffling at times - see Band Reviews for all that - and sometimes finding just the right words to describe the music can be a challenge. I am hoping this course will help me with that.

So...if by any chance you are curious to see what music I am listening to and reviewing or gigs I am off to this year then please go and check out my past reviews on my new blog:

Look, Listen, Love Music

AND...yes there is more...here are the links to the band mentioned above...they are called Narrow Plains and just finished a small tour of the US in the summer.

BAND REVIEW: Narrow Plains

GIG REVIEW: Narrow Plains

I hope to see some of you over there and if you have any band recommendations who you think deserve a listen then I am always open to suggestions.

Top 10 things to save in a fire

Today's topic is a dramatic start to the new year! I thought of it as I pondered what I would save, most of you may remember my house fire and subsequent burglary of 2014, and having lost things that I was emotionally connected to I wondered if anything had changed. 

I haven't really bought anything that I wouldn't be ok losing. I think it's quite common for people having experienced loss not to want to hold onto anything for fear of losing it again. 

I sat at home last ninth and looked around at items that I might grab...

1. Mobile phone

I would grab this and the charger because it's my main form of contact and communication. 

This is the only thing non-living that I would have to grab. Everything else is replaceable. All heirlooms were lost in the fire so there isn't anything like that to grab. 

I guess number two could be...

2. Stitchy stash 

My stash is one craft bag, a plastic file and then 8 boxes of threads. How many items does that cover? 

I might grab the file (with charts) and the threads and maybe some fabric?! Would I have time? 

3. Laptop

I might grab this only because it's easier to type on and watch Netflix on and such! 

4. Painting

I have a painting on my wall that I bought in 2002 in Ghana and I love the vibrancy and the design and yet there are so many flaws in terms of perspective yet it makes me love it more. 

5. Pluto

Anyone who knows me knows I love Pluto, I have a collection of pluto's....which keebs would scoff at...I have four of them :) but two Pluto mugs too! I might grab those.

6. Walking dead graphic novels

I have 23 of these and yeah, not the easiest thing to grab, but they survived the fire, we're stolen by the burglars and eventually returned to me, so I fell that they should stay with me.

7-10. Wild cards

I'd like to keep these as to be used on the day...like I'd grab my boots but only if I was wearing shoes, I also have a cosy homemade jumper, and then there is that dress that I feel amazing in...lol!

Why not share your list? Or go check out Keebs and Tiffs! 

Top 10 things I am looking forward to in 2016 #18

The Top 10 things that I am looking forward to in 2016

1. Posting my Top 10 Tuesday lists on time every week without fail! 
I hold my hands up and confess that my midlife crisis has sort of pulled the rug from under my feet this latter part of the year. I love Top 10 Tuesdays and I am looking forward to carrying on with it in 2016 and I hope Keebs and Tiff are still gonna join me...and Bea too?

2. Create with Mates Meetup group
I started a meetup group....just let that settle in your minds for a bit...and on the 1st January a small group of introverted people with solitary hobbies met in the upstairs function room of a local bar. I was happy, it was a success I think, and I am looking forward to the next one....so watch this space!

3. Write daily
I recently went on a date and was talking about a story I am half way through and the guy said...you should definitely finish it as its obviously something you feel passionately about, I can tell by how animated you are. He wasn't wrong...talking about the story made me want to go home and write it...i have missed writing fiction this year, and so am hopefully going to write something each day to keep up with the habit.

4. Spend time with my nieces
I do spend a fair amount of time with them already but maybe one day a month with each of them on their own would be nice. Especially as they get older, they will probably want to spend less time with me.

5. Finding a space of my own
After moving back home to cope with the RA, I am now all sorted and admittedly I have been for a while, but mentally and emotionally I think I need my own space again. It may not be easy and it may mean a big move for me but I think I need it.

6. That elusive permanent job doing something I enjoy
As with birthdays and new years, I am prone to assess my life, with 40 coming up I am thinking I should be more of an adult than I am. I need too make a commitment and get a permanent job in something that I enjoy. Whatever that is!

7. Canada! Oh Canada!
I have long wanted to go to Canada and travel from Toronto to Vancouver and this year is when I hope to do that as a 40th birthday present to myself.

8. Boyfriend material
Ok, so we all know I am dating...badly...but I am hoping that by my birthday ( a good ten months away) I would have met someone who could be boyfriend material...

9. Read more
 I just bought Stephen Kings latest book of short stories which is going to be the first thing I read this year...and i asked for recommendations earlier this year which i intend to read also.

10 Relax
Yep, I need to find something to switch my brain off....and that my dearest friends is....

STITCHING!!