Diana's Blog - Glorious Confusion

Blue Bead Earrings

2011-12-03T01:35:00.006Z

I designed and made all the hand-made blue bead earrings myself, unique and what's even better, very cheap - just right if you are tightening your belt in the recession but still want to buy something attractive which doesn't look cheap!

All these earrings cost just $11.50 (£7.00)

BLUE BEAD EARRINGS

Wooden Bead Earrings - Cheap Gifts

2011-11-30T23:49:00.002Z

Ideal Presents.

Affordable hand-crafted unique earrings which I designed myself - they cost under $15 (£10) and are cheap enough for you to buy several pairs as presents.

Wooden Bead Earrings

The Adventures of Tintin: How to Entertain Children

2011-11-30T05:28:00.002Z

The new Stephen Spielberg film, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, USA release 21 December 2011 has led to a renewed interest in Tintin.

I have done my best to save you precious time by gathering together a variety of Tintin products, and ideas for Christmas presents, including Tintin toys, Tintin games, Tintin books, and even T-shirts and a mug showing Tintin, Tintin Youtube videos, a Tintin Quiz and a Tintin Poll to entertain you.

The Adventues of Tintin - the Secret of the Unicorn

Beswick Figurines - Alice Series: Great Collectable Christmas Presents

2011-11-27T23:13:00.001Z

You'll love these Wonderfully detailed and lovingly created Beswick
figurines created in the "Alice" series by master craftsmen which are a
collector's delight.

Anyone would love to receive one of these Alice in Wonderland figurines as a gift. Great Christmas presents

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Ataturk - Father of Modern Turkey

2011-11-26T22:39:00.001Z

To Understand Turkey, You Need to Know About the Founder of Modern Turkey - Ataturk, Turkish General, Politician, Statesman, Humanitarian and Reformer.

Oh, and at the end I have added some beautiful Turkish designs, which you will find on Zazzle - The would be very nostalgic for Turkish people and would also make beautiful and unusual Christmas presents. Zazzle has quite a lot of items which have designs with a Turkish flavour, and you can choose to put most of the designs on different things. Take a look.

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Oil Paint versus Pastel Crayons

2011-11-24T22:06:00.001Z

A debate about the benefits of Oil Paint as opposed to Pastel Crayons.

Lots to look at - pictures by famous artists, arty things to buy as Christmas presents and a Quiz about Art.

Quite entertaining

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Chicken & Turkey Leftovers: Quick Easy Recipes

2011-11-23T20:17:00.001Z

After you've had a good meal of roast chicken and vegetables, it can be a bit of a bore knowing what to do with the remnants, and devising meals with the scraps which someone will actually want to eat. I hope this will give you some new ideas and also remind you of things you already knew but haven't put into operation.

I come from a background of great change, and have experienced both wealth and poverty, travelled widely and have lived in several areas of very mixed cultures, ending up in one of the most metropolitan cities of all - London. I have had the opportunity to try many wonderful national and international dishes and, in a city where so many cultures live side-by-side, it is easy to find an enormous range of imported food sitting side-by-side with local produce. As you would expect, this has influenced my style of cooking.

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Poppy Seed Pudding - the Story

2011-11-23T10:58:00.001Z

Explaining how I developed a delicious recipe purely by chance, rescuing a kitchen disaster. You will find it quite fun.

This builds on my recipe web page about Poppy Seed Pudding Diana, but this story page is more of a blog.

Take a look

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Poppy Seed Pudding Diana Recipe - Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T11:08:00.003Z

Not everyone likes poppy seeds, but if you do, you will love this Poppy Seed Pudding.

It would make a delicious dessert for Thanksgiving dinner.

This pudding recipe evolved in my own kitchen - that's why I named it Poppy Seed Pudding Diana - a delicious and unusual pudding.

I developed a lasting interest in cooking when working in, and helping to run, a restaurant in the 1960's. It wasn't a fancy restaurant, maybe more of a cafe really, where the emphasis was on simple home-style food, and as a result of that experience, I became adept at creating simple easy recipes, using the sort of ingredients you might have around the home,

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

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I Wrote a Song in My First Song Writing Class

2011-11-19T20:04:00.001Z

I Wrote a Complete Song in My First Songwriting Class

I never knew I had it in me, until I wrote a poem years ago about the Fire at Alexandra Palace. It had a chorus, and was very repetative, and people at my poetry group said it had the makings of a good song, and I ought to get it set to music. Of course I never did, and it languished as an unrecognized lyric.

However, a few days ago a friend asked me if I would like to go to a free songwriting class at our local library, and, ever-curious, I went.

First we were asked to do some physical loosening up exercises as a prelude to singing a song. I was a bit disconcerted, as I consider myself as being useless at singing - one of the reasons I never bothered to continue guitar lessons was because it didn't seem much good if I couldn't sing along to my own strumming.
Anyway, I did the arms above head and down to the ground, wriggle around, blow through your lips like a sperm whale and so forth.

Then we were given an explanation writing a simple song using AAA format. This is, basically, three similar verses or stanzas, no chorus, no complications.

We were shown a song by Bette Midler, "The Rose", which was in this AAA form. Then we sang it, reading the words from the song sheet. A bit tricky for me really, as I didn't know the tune. However it was pretty easy to pick up, and, although I merely droned without proper singing, I didn't disgrace myself more than averagely.

Then we talked a bit about travelling and were asked to write something ourselves, in class, something personal, maybe about a journey, using some rhymes.

The man next to me (whose name shall not be revealed here) is already a seasoned musician and song writer, but he said he couldn't possibly write something there and then, and preferred to write something at night. That left five of us, including our teacher, ready to get writing.

I had something down on paper quick as a flash. I'm used to doing this in poetry group (which I no longer attend) and at home - you get something down in writing, anything, and then you can always go back and polish it up - indeed revision is an essential part of writing poetry.

The man who wasn't writing was chattering away, and said something about throwing a line. This got incorporated into my poem. I was only marginally bothered by this diversion, but my friend, who is also in the poetry group, was well put off, and asked him to desist, as she couldn't concentrate.

I wrote quickly, and finished quarter of an hour before everyone else. Surprisingly, I was the only person to write a complete poem, the others having varying success. Inspiration just came without much head-scratching. One man could only think of two lines, another wrote a lot of very existential philosophical stuff, which was clearly going to be the best one of all once he found the words to finish it off, and my friend and the teacher wrote competently but needed to take their pieces home and do work on them.

So that was a good experience. I managed to find suitable rhymes, and although one or two of the rhymes were rubbish and had to be revised at home, I was reasonably happy with the result. This is what I wrote:

                Travelling to Dover

      As I travelled on the train one rainy morning
      Tired and wet, I couldn’t stop my yawning
      Looked up and saw what surely was a warning
      Hooded eyes that set my heart a-warming

      I turned away and stared into the mist
      But all the while I held a secret wish
      That I’d put out a line and catch this fish
      And he’d be mine forever on a dish

      He moved to sit by me and I moved over
      I sensed that one day soon he’d be my lover
      And give me hell because he was a rover.
           I caught him as the train pulled in to Dover

© Diana Grant                       16^th November 2011

Life Happens: Tell A Story About It

2011-11-19T18:12:00.003Z

Life Happens: Tell A Story About It

A very thought-provoking article - snippets of people's lives, written by alwaysjules who is a playwright and writer. Her writing skills show through, and her philosophy of life speaks out for itself.

The article is on Squidoo, and she was deservedly awarded a Purple Star for excellence.

Go and have a look, then come back here to tell everyone what you thought about it

Snow - by Orhan Pamuk

2011-11-16T22:12:00.001Z

This book is about a poet, Ka, who is also an investigative journalist. He is stranded in a snowbound small town for an eventful few days to learn about the mysterious suicides of young women who have been obliged under the laws of Secular Turkey to remove their veils. The book is poetic, dreamy, atmospheric, exciting, political, and very informative about the ideological cross-currents in modern Turkey.

I was captivated right from the start by the sheer poetry and competence of the writing, which shone through the sensitive translation by Maureen Feely.

There is a love story interwoven with a tale of political unrest, and an exploration of the contrasting attitudes of secular society in Turkey and Muslim fundamentalists, culminating in violent action.

The viewpoints of the characters are revealed sympathetically and non-judgmentally, giving an insight into the problems of the warring factions in modern Turkey, which, under the auspices of Ataturk, became a secular state in the 1920's.

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Why Make a Will

2011-11-14T21:56:00.001Z

If you do not make a Will, your estate will devolve according to the law relating to intestacy (Intestacy means not having a will). The consequence of intestacy is explained below.

The Will disposes broadly speaking of everything which you own. A Will should be carefully worded, as it may affect not only the financial well-being of your family but also its harmony.

An unfair or inadequate Will can create lasting grievances.

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Blog - Resolutions From Hell and What Happened Next - Glorious Confusion

2011-11-10T23:00:00.001Z

Developing Goals or Resolutions - My intention is that this will be an ongoing journal of my progress through the peaks and troughs of carrying out my New Year's Resolutions for 2011, and that you will dip in from time to time to wail or rejoice as appropriate. It will be a poignant journey and although I have done my best to keep it light and entertaining, it veers to the heavy side when I discuss the news as we knew it in January, and compare it with the most recent news. Hindsight can play games with our minds.

A positive story of triumph and success, or merely grim treading water whilst I try not to fall by the wayside? I know not.

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Climate Change - Copenhagen Convention and Beyond

2011-11-02T20:25:00.001Z

What Did the Day of Action on 12th December 2009 during the Copenhagen Meeting of World Leaders about Climate Change Achieve ?

The outcome of the Copenhagen Convention 2009, discussion,links to news items, a poll and a debate and even some music

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Halloween Activities and Quiz

2011-10-31T16:38:00.001Z

I have lots of free Halloween pictures which you can use on your own websites, and if you are already a Squidoo lensmaster, you can earn lots of points by taking the Halloween quiz. You can also get some ideas for Halloween fancy dress, and buy some too. Last but not least, there is a Halloween poll.

So have fun, use the Halloween freebies, and maybe learn something about Halloween.

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Halloween Trivia and Pictures

2011-10-06T21:53:00.003+01:00

You'll find lots of Halloween Pictures, Halloween Facts,a Halloween poem and some general Halloween Trivia
Some of the Halloween pictures are photographs I took of Halloween items in our local shop and then edited. Other Halloween scary pictures are posters you can buy and then there are Halloween goodies you can get from Cafe Press, a Halloween monster on a mug from Zazzle and more Halloween stuff from Amazon.

There is also a piece about the origins of Halloween, so whilst browsing you will also learn something new about the Halloween festival.

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or go direct to Halloween Trivia and Pictures

Beefburgers - Quick and Easy Recipe

2011-09-27T00:32:00.002+01:00

If you love beefburgers, you'll love this recipe. Because the beefburgers are home-made, you can control what goes into them, and make sure they are nutritious as well as tasty. using good quality mince meat - much nicer than anything you can buy.

This recipe is very easy, and therefore suitable for beginners, and more seasoned cooks will find it very simple and quick. There is also a Poll to entertain you and lots of pictures, as well as a few things to buy

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Beetroot Soup or Borscht Recipe

2011-09-14T23:26:00.001+01:00

Borscht is a popular Eastern European and Jewish dish, made with seasonal beetroots, which makes it very cheap, as well as being nutritious. It makes a good vegetarian meal, as no meat is used, and it is so easy to make, because there are very few ingredients - just beetroot, lemon, salt, sugar, egg yolk and either yogurt, cream, or milk.

There are many different ways to make borscht, and this recipe is the way my mother used to make it.

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"London, My London" has just earned a Purple Star!

2011-09-13T22:04:00.001+01:00

I wrote this web page London my London on Squidoo to show off some of my many photos of London, the most wonderful city in the world. It's full of open spaces, trees, and internationally famous sights, such as Big Ben and the British Museum, but it also has little nooks and crannies which yield their pleasant surprises when least expected.

There are small museums which were simply the personal collection of one wealthy person, such as the Sir John Soane Museum, and the Hunterian Museum, which holds a very interesting medical collection within the Royal College of Surgeons (where I worked for a few months). I will shortly be writing a further web page on London, indeed a series in time for visitors to check out before the 2012 Olympic Games. So look out for more of the same.

I have also been wondering whether there would be any call for people wanting to rent a room with a family in London for a few days during the Games - I know lots of Londoners who would be happy to oblige, if you don't mind being in a suburb a little way from the centre, with something a lot less than luxury, but homely and welcoming nonetheless. Let me know if you think I should maybe do a short web page about that.

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Favorites of the 1950's

2011-09-11T21:51:00.002+01:00

The Music of the 1950's

Elvis Jailhouse Rock
Buy This Allposters.com
Let me take you through a snapshot view of the 1950's, a view skewed by the fact that I was not even a teenager in 1950, and by 1959 I was already a mother.
Too much happened in those post-war years to give you all the cultural, historical and political details, so these are just a few of my own musical memories which stood out.
It was the decade when Pop Music and Rock 'n Roll really took off but there was other good music too. And we played records on the gramaphone or radiogram.

1950s,rock,music,rocknroll,records,vinyl

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Creepy Poem for Halloween - "Subway"

2011-09-09T14:48:00.001+01:00

In a large city like London, in many places where there are underground stations or busy main roads, you will find interlinked passageways.

When they are deserted, they can be very eerie, disturbing places, and you wouldn't want to linger there.

This is my poem about one such subway.

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Quiz on Cats and Halloween

2011-09-07T17:45:00.001+01:00

If you like cats and you like Halloween, this is the quiz for you.

There are lots of pictures - photographs and art, some of them famous, some of them not, but all beautiful in their own way.

I think you'll enjoy this

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My Weird Collection for Halloween

2011-09-07T08:04:00.001+01:00

My Weird Collection of Masks, Pictures, Figurines and Ornaments

What better time to display them than Halloween?
I've always had a fascination for arts and crafts, fantasy and oddities - I was considered to be mildly ghoulish when I was a child and my taste has developed rather than receded.
I must be a weirdo myself to have gathered round me such an odd collection and I'm going to show you some of the best ones. If you think they are a bit eerie, blame the craftsmen, not me! But one way or another, you must admit they are very collectable.

There's also a Poll and a Quiz about arts and crafts.

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Pumpkin Pie: A Halloween Love Poem

2011-09-06T22:51:00.001+01:00

Halloween poem about the lovely and desirable Pumpkin Pie

You will also find here a popular nursery rhyme, "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater", and some blogs

A Grinning Carved Pumpkin - Warm and comforting but by no means ordinary.

That toothy grin, those staring eyes all lit up by a candle.

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