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Borrowed from daily calm because their pictures always inspire me
#dailycalm
Tag: share
Had an urge to eat chocolate bourbons but had none, so made some shortbread instead 😃
With a little from my friend … who knew about grating butter into the dry ingredients rather than spending hours and hours ‘rubbing’ chunks through – Nigella is genius … and beautiful 🌹
I had treated myself to a cup of tea, milky, as you know but needed something with it. Don’t ask Michael, he’s on a health kick!
I checked the cupboards and guess what? I had everything (and bonus – the baking soda was still in date!).
Cream and egg? I’m sure my previous efforts at biscuits did not include cream, but wowee. You can feel the difference once you start moulding the dough. Dough? Would you call it dough?
Thick enough but not too thick.
These grew a bit, as in rose. So now I think I could have rolled them thinner… but I’m not really complaining 😃
Kettle on again…
The Old Man and The Sea … Ernest Hemingway 🐟🐟🐟
How about another blogger readathon? Just a quickie… check the size of this version so it shouldn’t take long. There have been many reprints of this classic since it first went into print in 1952.
Joseph Beech and Ortensia I’m hoping will join me?
I’ve wanted to read this ever since (here’s where you expect me to say something educated) I watched Denzel Washington reading a copy in the 2014 film The Equalizer.
I like the fact he refers to it in a couple of scenes and its moral is evidently linked to that of the film … but I need to read it to know fully how they link.
Come join us if you have a copy?
Don’t Be A Parachute Pal
I’m sure many of my followers already follow this pair of amazing bloggers who regularly share their wisdom. Today is no exception. Friendships are very important when they are true and special.
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I am writing staff performance reviews at present where I assess whether or not the members of the team I manage have met their objectives for the previous year. Thankfully as I am such a fantastic manager and they are such a fantastic team I can hand on heart write that they all have. No need for bribes, inducements or back handers. It’s the truth!
One of the key performance areas are strong communication skills; with other members of the team, the wider organisation and external stakeholders. This relates to both verbal and written communications. Active listening skills are always essential as effective communication is a two way street. Ha! You would almost think I was copying this out of a leadership manual. Which of course I’m not.
Solid communication skills also form the base of any successful relationship. Let me give you an example. Fionnuala shouts at me when…
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Sick Day …. part 3?! (A challenge is a red rag to a bull 🤣👌🏼)
Fellow blogger TheCeaselessReaderWrites
challenged me to continue his piece of flash fiction… eeeek! Can I do it justice?
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I saw the knife and saw it move, catching a small amount of light on the blade as the hand of my boss lifted it high above his head.
I ducked, shrieking, and froze on my haunches. A deep roar made me jump and I waited for pain, waited to feel a burning slash in my back but nothing came.
Opening my eyes and focusing on the floor in front of me, only table legs were visible, no feet of a man. I raised my line of vision gingerly, nervous I was falling into a trap, the silence a false hope….
Our own worst enemy ..
Goodness, I’m reading some brilliant posts this morning by my regulars (not being possessive by calling them mine – I just mean those writers who I can pretty much be certain will post something that hits a spot I’d forgotten needed itching).
Ben’s conversation he shares today illustrates how we can become so embroiled in worries and analysis that we create metaphorical cesspits of crap, climb in and wallow around bemoaning the stench. I had paused in my housework (I KNOW; SEND ME A MEDAL LATER) to type a couple of emails for work, and print off some VAT receipts before taking a sneaky look at wordpress. On waking over your hours ago, I had planned to disappear into the spare bedroom – minus phone – and continue to create my masterpiece, hence the guilt.
I allowed myself to become side-tracked, but I am not negative or down about it, because Ben reminds me of something. Our own perception of life. Today my kitchen is spotless, domestic washing is circulating inside the machine, horse-rugs are circulating in the three industratrial machines in the barn (that’s my day job btw) dinner is out tonight so I do have time and Sir is out chain-sawing being man of the woods.
I’m going to close on that note and promise you I will progress Lucy from the open doorway of the villa at the vineyard she has inherited (in Tuscany .. obviously 🙄), after poor old Maud passed. She has just pushed the billowing curtain to one side and takes tentative steps inside, her hire car parked in the dust outside amongst the scratching chickens …..
