U is for UP UP AND AWAY

How many of you have heard of The Fifth Dimension?  I bet Roger knows of them!  They were one of my favourite groups back in the day.  They were an American singing group, formed in late 1965, who sang pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway.  I recall when they came to the Queen Elizabeth Theater in 1967 or 1968.  My boyfriend took me to see them and we had great seats in the orchestra section!  After a great medley of their songs, they came up the aisles of the orchestra section singing and I could almost touch them as they passed.  What a thrill that was!

So, how is it I thought of them this week?  Well, I remember their song "Up Up and Away" and thought of how I will be "up up and away" in about 2 1/2 weeks and flying to my favourite country in the whole world (at least so far|).  I'm heading to Wales to tour the western and northern areas with friends Jane from Newport and Liz from Swansea. I have been in the south and eastern sections before, but this time I plan on seeing the town where my paternal grandmother was born and raised - Llandudno, a beautiful seaside resort town now!

After about 10 days of that I'll be heading over to Liverpool to see my good friend Diane (Trubes here on ABCW) to see more of that wonderful city where my paternal grandfather was born and raised.  I was there in 2012 and met Di and her lovely hubby Ian, but I didn't have long there as I was heading over to the Isle of Man.  This time I plan on doing the "Hop On Hop Off" tour to see as much as possible in one day and then meet them for dinner! 

Then I'm heading off on the train to the east coast of England for a week to visit my good friend Jill, who lives in a little village just outside of Whitby in North Yorkshire.  We're going to see Whitby (of course), Robin Hood's Bay, Scarborough, and other scenic spots in the area plus spend a night in York - just the two of us. 

From North Yorkshire, I'll hop on the train again to head back to southern Wales to stay with my friend Jane for another week.  She's planning on coming over here to see me in late summer, early fall.  Oh we are going to have such a great time!

Can you tell I'm excited?  I haven't been away for 4 years or even had a little holiday anywhere for that long!  I'm going on my own so I can do my own thing and be an independent lady. Who knows who I might meet?  I find that when you travel alone, you tend to meet more people than if you're with someone.

You can rest assured I'll have LOTS of photos to share when I get back!  In the meantime, here's the song "Up Up and Away" by the Fifth Dimension. Turn up your sound and take yourself back to the late 60s.

T is for TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES

I was a bit stymied about what to write for our T-themed week, so resorted to the internet for some ideas.  I have come up with Thomas Hardy's (controversial at the time)  "Tess of the D'Urbervilles." Some of you may have read it in the past as part of a literature course or even for your own personal enjoyment.  I read it during my first year at the University of British Columbia as part of my required reading.  Never having read a novel with such complex themes, symbols, and motifs, I had difficulty with it - not the reading of it - just the interpretation of it.  The essay the professor chose to have us write was: Should Tess have told her fiancé that she had had a baby with another man before she married him?

You must understand that this was the mid-60s and discussing things like sex in my family was not only not done, but I had no idea about anything of that particular topic.  My father was a very controlling man and if he said, "Jump!" you asked "Is this high enough?"  So when he phoned me at university one day to see how I had done on my exams, it was extremely unusual of me to argue back at him when he indicated disappointment in my marks!  I told him that he had controlled us (me and my 2 sisters) and overprotected us so much, that I was totally unprepared for the topics of conversation and/or classroom discussions.  No wonder I failed! Not only English, but also History!  Now, you must understand that I was a scholarship student and this was absolutely not acceptable! 

But never mind, I quickly learned the rules of the game.  I became more open, I listened very carefully, and I read and read and read!  I had failed History because in high school, it had been rote learning, but at university I had to express my thoughts and opinions of historical events along with explanations of how and why things happened the way they did.  I understood that I was expected to have opinions and to express them both in writing and orally.  I actually found my voice! I learned what to expect on the tests and exams and studied accordingly.  After my 33% mark on the Christmas exam, I ended up with around 85% so I really must have aced that final!

Anyway, back to "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" - I believe it's on the reading list at the local secondary school, so I must urge at least one of my students to read and study it.  That way, I'll be forced to read it again with a more mature outlook and with my mind geared to those themes, symbols, and motifs. Hopefully, one of my students will gain insight from a book that had given me a thorough testing of my own mind and outlook on life, making me a more independent person.

On the internet, the book is described:  Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891 and in book form in 1892. Though now considered a major nineteenth-century English novel and possibly Hardy's fictional masterpiece, Tess of the d'Urbervilles received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England.

The book was made into a mini-series in 2008 and I looked forward to seeing it with great excitement.  This was the promo:  A free-spirited yet naive country girl is caught between her wealthy, manipulative "cousin" Alec and the handsome, educated farmer Angel Clare in this Victorian tragedy from novelist Thomas Hardy. I was thoroughly moved by it!

Some of you might have thought I would write about Tegan this week, but lately I seem to be ending my posts with something about her - and that's enough. Some people like dogs and some don't, so for those who do, here's a cute photo of her for you.

Well, that's it for my T week post so I'd like to, as usual, give titanic thanks to the talented Mrs. Nesbitt, creator of ABCW, and to the trustworthy Roger for his tremendous work keeping this trendy meme alive!

S is for STARS

Hi everyone and welcome to ABC Wednesday where this week we salute the letter S as in sausages, syrup, sunshine and sunrise and sunset, seaside, sundaes, shells, salad, sushi, sand, and salt.  Plus stupid me not realizing it was Monday and I hadn't done my script for this week yet.  It wasn't until I was watching the early feed of "Dancing With the Stars" tonight that I realized I hadn't done it and wondered omg...what will I write about?  Well, you got it - stars!

First, I've been a fan of DWTS for years - I think I started watching during the second season and was hooked.  It may not be everyone's cup of tea, though.  I mean, every season, I have no clue who most of the participants are and, at first, even the professionals.  But now I know all the pro dancers and just wait and see how things develop through the show.  Maybe it's because deep down I've always wanted to be a dancer - one of the Rockettes - you know part of that famous precision dance company. "Founded in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, since 1932 they have performed at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York City. During the Christmas season, the Rockettes present five shows a day, seven days a week. Perhaps their best-known routine is an eye-high leg kick in perfect unison in a chorus line, which they include at the end of every performance. of dancing, mainly ballet, tap, modern, and jazz. Normally, 400 to 500 women audition yearly."

I digress.  This season, there were one or two amateurs that I'd heard of, but the ones who have made it to the finals are total strangers to me.  But WOW are they great!  There are two women, one of whom is a meteorologist (weather girl) well-known in the USA.  The other is a mixed martial arts star in her own right.  And the third finalist is the winner of Tyra Banks' male American's Top Model, a deaf fellow who is absolutely spectacular, considering he can't hear the music!  I don't care who wins because they're all STARS all-caps!

Next, I used to have a dog named "Star."  She was so-named because of the white "star" on her forehead.  She was a brindle boxer that we brought home when she was only 8 weeks old and I used to carry her in a baby pocket thingy when I walked my second daughter to kindergarten.  I remember the first time I took her, all the Moms came running up to me thinking that I had a new baby!  But they oohed and aahed over her anyway!  And the children just loved her!  She lived to be almost 12 and had a wonderful life with the family.

Now, the star of my life is my baby girl Tegan (whom you all know by now!) and I love taking photos of her all the time.  One of her favourite sleeping positions is on her back and she looks so funny that I photograph her like that.   But the only thing that bothered me was that her "privates" were exposed and not so sexy, really.   I have just recently bought a new smaller Canon camera and uploaded a photography editing software on it so that I can put stickers in appropriate places. Like the following.

Oops I guess I startled her and woke her up!

Well, just a bit of humour to end this post.  With serious thanks to the strapping Roger, our administrator, who took over from the overworked but saucy Lady Denise, creator of ABCW.  Also, to the super team of support staff who swing by to each and every contributor to ABCW.  Without them, keeping ABC Wednesday going would be a struggle!

Q is for QUIRKY

Welcome to Q week where Q is for queen, quick, quiet, quiescent, query, quill, and quinoa.  This week I thought I'd show you a few photos of some things that I consider to be QUIRKY.  Hope you enjoy them.

A cute ceramic frog in a cement pond in our gardens here.

A set of "horses" done up so children can pretend to ride them out on a farm.

Someone put up the "Red Baron" in the garden here.

 

A ceramic owl attached to a pole at a nearby park.

And one final shot - Tegan fell asleep on her back with a bone in her mouth!

With many thanks to the quintessential Denise Nesbitt, founder of ABC Wednesday, and to our most qualified administrator, Roger.  Also to the team of helpers who quickly zip around to the contributors leaving quotes of a complimentary nature.