My Mammy

I'm from the North East of England and up here everyone I know calls their Mother 'Mam'. It's my Mam's birthday on Friday so today I went to buy her a birthday card.

Have you ever tried to buy a birthday card that says Mam? Let me tell you, it's not easy. All the cards say Mum, that's no good to me, I want one that says Mam.

First I went to Hallmark. They had loads that said Mum or Mummy but none that said Mam. I would have even settled for Mammy (at a push) but there wasn't even one of those.

Then I went to WH Smiths - they didn't have one either. The ones that said Mother were way too soppy - if I'd bought her one of those she would think there was something wrong with me. I'm not into soppy sentimental cards, I just want one that says Mam on the front - it's not too much to ask is it?

Next I tried a fairly new card shop in the Cornmill shopping centre. Once again they had loads that said Mum but none that said Mam. By now I was getting quite annoyed.

The last shop I tried was Clintons Cards but even they didn't have what I was looking for so in the end I bought a jokey one that says 'For Mumsie' on the front and inside it says 'Here's hoping that one's birthday is absolutely tip-top and tickety-boo.'

I'm sure she'll be very impressed by that - not.

Card companies please note, up in the forgotten North we say MAM, not Mum - would it be too much to ask for you cater for us as well as the rest of the country?



You might have noticed that the titles of my last three posts were also song titles. That is going to be my new challenge, use a song title or a line from a song as each post title and possibly include the song in the post. It's not as easy as it sounds. I was desperate when I chose the title for this one, knowing how I feel about Al Jolson.

Talk to you later,

Susan.

Eye On The Prize

On Friday afternoon there was a knock on the door and when I answered it there was the parcel man with a big box for me.

I wasn't expecting anything so my first thought was that he'd delivered it to the wrong house. No, it was definitely for me.

I opened the box and the first thing I saw was a letter informing me that I was a Candis winner. I had entered a giveaway and won a prize.

Inside the box was a bathrobe and a selection of Eau Thermale Avene products - gel cleanser, skin recovery creme, protective hydrating cream and thermal water.



What do you think of that then? I actually won something. I've been entering the giveaways at Candis for ages now but never thought I would actually win anything.

What a nice surprise.

Talk to you later,

Susan.

I Can See For Miles (Or Maybe Not)

Driving in fog
Originally uploaded by Kat 30

A question for many of the motorists who were driving around Darlington in the fog today. Did you find it easier to see the other vehicles when they had their headlights on? You did? So why did it not occur to you to turn your own lights on so that the people driving the other vehicles could see you ?

Oh, I know why - you could see as far as the end of your bonnet so you didn't need your lights on.

Is it any wonder there are so many accidents on our roads?


Maybe this will help you:



Talk to you later,

Susan.

Blinded By The Light

Well, not exactly blinded by the light but it seems to be brighter than it was.

It was a bit of a dull day so I thought I'd use the lights when I went shopping on the bike today. They weren't working. I stopped and pushed the dynamo into the tyre but it still wouldn't make contact so of course the lights wouldn't come on.

When I got home I had a look at the bracket that the dynamo is mounted on and tried to figure out what was wrong with it. In the end I decided that I needed to bend the bracket slightly so that it would keep the dynamo against the tyre.

I altered the bracket and I also took the cover off the front light and discovered that the bulb wasn't screwed all the way in so I sorted that out too and now the lights seem to be working OK.



The light seems to be brighter than it was on Saturday so maybe that was the problem - the dynamo wasn't in contact with the tyre all the time.

I'll find out in the morning when I'm riding in the dark. I hope I don't have to go back to using the big set of battery lights. I'll still use the small set of lights with the dynamo lights so that I stay lit up when I stop at junctions.

The new basket was perfect. I bought about the same amount of shopping as usual but because I wasn't carrying it in a rucksack my back wasn't aching at all when I got home. So now I can ditch the rucksack and stick to the basket.

Just because of the title of the post, I'll leave you with this:



Talk to you later,

Susan.

My Bicycle

Last week I decided to buy a rear basket for my bike. I have a removable front basket which I attach when I go to the supermarket but even though it's a reasonable size it can't carry much weight as it affects the steering.

I have to carry most of the shopping in a rucksack on my back which can be quite heavy. So last week I decided to buy a rear basket to make it easier for me to carry everything.







I should be able to leave the rucksack at home next time I go shopping. It's quite a big basket, there should be more than enough room to fit everything in it. Unlike the front one, this is permanently fixed which will be useful as there have been occasions when I've used the bike to go to work and haven't bothered with the front basket then bought something while I've been in town and had a struggle to get it home. Now I'll always have somewhere to put my unexpected purchases.

As well as the basket I also bought some new lights for the bike. I wanted some lights that were fixed and couldn't be removed. When I get to work I have to remove anything that isn't screwed onto the bike so that it doesn't get pinched. They'll nick anything given half a chance so I have to remove the two sets of lights and the mirror which attaches to the handlebar with a velcro strip.

The lights I bought are dynamo lights and are not easily removed so I thought they'd be ideal. Of course I only bought a cheap set and as you probably know you get what you pay for. There were no fitting instructions with them and I had no idea what to do so Billy fitted them for me yesterday afternoon.

You can see the back one in the photos of the basket above. This is the front one



I had to go into work late yesterday afternoon for stocktaking and decided to go on the bike. It was dark when I was coming home which gave me the opportunity to test my new lights. Looking at the size of that front light you'd think it would be quite bright wouldn't you? Well it isn't, it's rubbish. I'm glad I was also using one of the sets of battery lights as I doubt if anyone would have been able to see me otherwise.

When we tested them in the house they seemed quite bright but outside in the dark they didn't seem to be putting out much light at all.

I don't know if it's because they were cheap or if all dynamo lights are as bad as that but I'm not very impressed. If I can't do anything with them to make them brighter I might just have to go back to using the battery ones. Oh well, never mind - at least I didn't waste too much money on them.

Talk to you later,

Susan.