FrogPrincess

Pole Fitness Instructor

2018-05-27T07:57:00.001-07:00

After half a year leading, supporting or teaching on my own, I'm about to begin as a freelance pole fitness / pole dance instructor with a great gym.

I'm excited and nervous, I am still learning about class dynamics and the art of instructing but I'm looking forward to this adventure.

My last class as a volunteer instructor for another company was a let down, the one lady who had booked in didn't arrive. I then spent some time practicing and taking some photos for my new Facebook page and private group.

I love pole dancing. I caught the bug in the late 00's beginning at Pole Pursuits, Studio 202, Soul Pole, and Inverted with a great day course with Head over Heels. I thought I'd try burlesque for a while but took fright when confronted with a pair of swirling tassels and frilly undies.

So wish me luck and a fuller classes than that last one 🙄😀🤞

Hi Sweetie!

2018-01-25T03:24:00.001-08:00

Reception rambling

So I've been working on reception for the last month due to the office possibly closing (and being the person least likely to complain too much).

It's been quite a long slog most days due to not being able to access all the systems or folders from a stand alone computer.

Anyway, today. A visitor came to the door and when I buzzed him in, he said "Hi Sweetie". As good morning greetings go its the first time I have heard that, or been called a Sweetie.

I've never seen this guy before and probably never will again. He was one of the travelling sales people who visit companies handing over their own information in lovely, shiny and expensive looking brochures.

Just now I'm sitting wondering how I feel about his greeting.

Should I find this okay? Should I be upset?

I am actually stumped.

I didn’t like him or wouldn't like anyone else saluting me in that way. To me it feels lacking in respect. I felt deemed and it put my back up.

Would he have greeted a male receptionist in the same way?

No. I don't suppose he would have.

The stories in the news at the moment are making a lot of people question how they come across to others, question their interactions with the opposite sex.

It's making me more aware of every single contact I have each day. Being ultra aware and checking yourself and my conduct means that I am stilted in my interactions during my daily life. But, I feel I won't upset anyone, so I'm happy.

As for Mr Sweetie, well I saw and spoke with him for less than five minutes. I can live with that.

Whitework Sampler

2018-01-25T02:47:00.001-08:00

Cornwall Holidays are Great

2014-06-10T01:39:00.000-07:00

So, holiday in Cornwall, took us a day and a bit to get here, staying overnight at the Trotworth Hotel - can't say enough about how lovely this hotel is, if you ever get the chance to stay, do it!

Beautiful setting in a mature woodland, arboretum, one of the oldest in England, lovely conversion and extension of the buildings to create the new rooms, spa, wedding reception rooms etc.

Food is top class too, rabbit pate, steaks done to perfection and the puddings selection, omg!

So on to Cornwall and St Mellion Golf and Spa resort, staying in one of the cottages has been great. Come and go when you fancy, take advantage of free golf and access to the expansive gym and swimming pool, sauna, hot tub etc.

I'd say the only drawback was the amount of steps to the cottage...especially after a long day sightseeing. It did mean that we could basically behave like we were at home as no-one overlooked the property :)

Driving was a bit scary as well, with the lovely high hedges to both sides of the road, blind corners, one track roads and meeting various tractors, Tesco to You lorries, locals driving very fast. We both think that our satnav took an insane delight in sending us down the smallest roads and tracks she could just for the lols as when you look at a map, Cornwall has lots of better class roads we could have taken...

I highly recomend visiting Padstow, St Michales Mount, St Ives, all the cream teas and local pubs meals you can handle and give Newquay a miss.

Still three days left, so some more scary driving and sightseeing left :)

Wrestling and the Cove Bay gala

2013-06-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday started with a visit from mum (minus her doggie Misty). After copious cuppas and a good natter, she returned to Peterhead.

Almost immediately my chums arrived and we headed out to the Cove bay Gala. What an experience that was, about 10 stalls (including the NLGA - Nether Loirston Growers Association), a full size wrestling ring, football league, cupcake decorating, wild bird area and the great stand by - the bouncy castle.

As we were too old and too tall for the bouncy castle, majority ruled we decorate cupcakes. The icing was various colours of luminosity and the decorations (much to the delight of Amy, 3yrs old) were sweeties. Quite why my partner said no to the decorated blue icing cupcake I don't know, probably best as the ones that did get eaten had reviews of "Gads min", "mmmm" (then asking for a teaspoon to remove the icing) and one was left on the table with a tiny bite out of it.

The wrestling we kind of missed, but we bumped into them later while we were enroute to the magic show. I got a cool picture with two of the wrestlers (no idea what they were called, but brightly coloured costumes and lots of sweat...)

The best thing about the day was the magic show. a kind of manic head master arrived with lots of "I can't hear you" etc and a few children getting picked as magician's assistants (and getting magician assistant stickers to proove it). Even though we all had out hands up, he never picked us, very dissapointed but we survived being trampled by the children, food poisoning from the cupcakes and flu from the cold wind.

a most successful day - next weekend is the Hazlehead Highland Games, I'll update you later :)

Winners Win & Loosers Don't

2012-10-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

Calling all winners! Lottery winners especially welcome :)
A short questionnaire follows:

1) how big did you win
2) how did you choose your numbers
3) have you won before
4) do you use a system which can be replicated
5) are you willing or able to share the above
6) can you tell me pleeeeeez

ok so today was crappy, but it is time to sleep and start it all over again tomorrow - back to the mad house

Back again!

2012-10-17T12:21:00.001-07:00

Since my last post - in the year 2009...? I've moved house, got a non-garden and made it into a garden :)
Took lots of trips to the skip and many hours soaking away tired and overworked muscles in a hot shower. Final trip to the skip with the last bootload of granite boulders was satisfying.
The garden is at the back of the house, looking out of french doors, onto the first small herbaceous border, spring time is lovely with grape hyacinths, tullips, the iris, peonie rose, main rose and poppies, along with geramiums, hebe and lavender. The rockery is the real stunner - full length of the garden, I built a granite retaining wall, filled with the mound of topsoil the last owners left (outside the frnch doors) and planted with as many tiny specimins as I could afford. The 3 years we have been here has let the rockery mature until it is a tapestry of colour. The 3 cats also appreciate its sheltering nature in sumertime, although the plants have been squashed, they soon spring back up again.
I may not have an allotment anymore - had to give it up due to distance away from the new house and no time (very sad about that and never been back to see it, couldn't bear it if it was all weeds and disused!) but I have a relaxing space where our friends have enjoyed gatherings and lazy days in the sun on the (new) grass.
I spend time now trawlling how to keep your grass green sites! Each weed has been removed while tenderly careing for the remaining grass...
When we moved in I was amazed at the wildlife in the garden - I carried a newt away from my fork while I was weeding and opened the door to see a frog on the doormat the other day :) Our garden is a highway for the cats in the area who first of all spent all day/night in the house (and ate all the cat food, fought with our cats), but now have to just look in the windows in envy - latest purchase of a Microchip cat flap is a godsend! Best investment of our time here, apart from the lockblock driveway, the new garage door (old one was MDF), the roof (twice repaired at obscene cost) and new boiler - also at obscene cost, is the view of the sea (discounting the Bluray 007 anniversary boxset)...
We have Cove Rangers football ground next door and an open view to Norway (if my eyes were that good). But at least we can apprciate the sea harr rolling in regularly hahaha.
Next blog in hopefully less than 3 years time...bye for now
FrogPrincess

Globe Artichokes & Strawberries

2009-06-09T05:31:00.000-07:00

Another surprise at no5 King Street when I saw all the strawberry fruits that have set on the plants this year. Laden is not descriptive enough as I will have enough fruit to keep Asda supplied for a while - as long as the birds and the slugs don't eat them all.

The globe artichokes I grew from seed 2 years ago are also looking the best this year - I had to move some as they had outgrown the space so I extended the bed. The transplanted ones are slightly behind the others but I can still see some large heads starting. I will have to keep a close eye on them as I don't want them to go to waste, waited 3 years now, so I better get a taste of them this year!

The petrol trimmer is still going strong although I had a problem starting it this week - probably a flat battery but the pull cord got it going and with a little help from Bob got the cutting wire the right length.

I saved lots of leaves from my last garden last autumn and have spread them around the black currant bushes. It seems to be working keeping some of the weeds down and there were so many worms that the leaf mould must be good for the soil. Free fertilizer anyway always good news.

Potatoes are up but not flowering yet and the rasps have a few fruit starting. They seem to be a bit later this year, due to the weird weather - sun and sleet in the same day.

The winner this month has got to be the ornamental alliums I planted, got a selection from my favourite shop (Ebay) and made a short row of them. The colour purple is so good against the rest of the plot and lots of comments from the neighbours too.

Ryobi Petrol Trimmer

2009-05-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

Ryobi Petrol Trimmer

Why did I not buy one of these sooner? This must be one of the best buys around and it is so easy to use. Got it delivered to my work and the security guards now think I'm a bit mad...I felt like a minor celebrity the next day with the amount of people asking me if I'd managed to use it yet!

The trimmer cut through the 3 months worth of weed growth easily and I was left with an hour tidy up job. The plot once again looks like it is being used and the new "grassy" area looks the biz (to me at least). It was starting to look very neglected but I am glad it is looking good again.

The alliums I got from Ebay last year are all open, dark, mid and light purple with a couple of white ones and one green one that is supposed to be a hairy allium, just looks like it has hardly any petals so maybe the hairs appear with the seeds?

The chives have spread into substancial clumps and look good round the roses and the apple tree, now the weeds have been cleared also looks very healthy. Spot of surprize with the red currant bushes this year they are covered in berrries - thought they were not hardy enough for Aberdeen last year as I only got one string of barries and they were blown off in a gale. The black currant bushes are once again covered wit berries so more black currant jelly this year - my favourite spread for morning toast, evening toast and midnight snacks.

The new trees from Morrison's the pear and plum trees, that I was advised were duff and would not be doing anything bar dying on me - are also doing good. Some minute fruits starting on both, so quite proud they survived the winter.

Spot of bother with the strawberries, some of them have black spots on them, after an internet search still can't find it, so will have to remove the bad fruits just in case this spreads. Think it might be to do with the stranger than usual weather we are having, sunny, water logged the next and we had some sleet one day last week!

The house is now feeling like home and I have been in the garden starting to build a rockery alongside the left side of the garden. The rocks I am getting for free from the garden - I think the whole garden is full of a house that was demolished a while back and all the granite blocks and off cuts were left lying. New soil dumped on top...

There are hardly any worms but heaps of slaters and spiders and snails amongst all the stones and boulders. I found a newt in the leaf pile a month ago and moved it to the rockery out of the way of my fork but not seen it since. The frog has never appeared again so hope the cats have not eaten it also...

The seeds I plants are all up, lupins doing well and cabbage, cauliflower and sweets corn looking good. The rest have been a bit of a miss this year. Not enough time to do everything so either need to win the lottery and retire or start to specialise in just the garden or just the allotment or just the house...need to clone myself?

Buy for now and keep gardening

:-)

New House New Garden

2009-04-07T00:44:00.000-07:00

We have been in the new house all of one month now, the anniversary passed un-noticedby the cats who, since we let them explore outside, have become very seldom seen (except when they know food is on the go).
Witnessed one of the little darlings having an animated discussion with a neighbouring cat - oops think they both got a bit of a wallop when they fell off the shed roof, onto a timber fence then onto the granite boulders at the bottom of the garden...
Need to get down to basics in the new garden though - nothing there execpt 3 large trees and lots of dandelions, dockens and couch grass. I started by de-stoning the small border at the side of the house and have discovered granite boulders about 6 - 2 inches down...only thing I can think of planting there are apline flowers?

2009

2009-01-04T01:08:00.000-08:00

Happy belated New Year

Well it has been several months since I have typed into this blog...and not much to say today either! Been digging up potatoes, letting the brussel sprouts go to waste (oops) and collecting fruit and pretty much finished everything this year.

A bit of tidying up to do - the new shed has lasted very well considering it is an old filing cabinet - slight rust starting at the base and hinges think it has one more year from it until it will be turned into a raised bed?

I bought heaps of plants and small trees to make into a fruiting hedge down the right of the plot - from Hedgehog Nurseries. Sent to my work (and kindly placed into the car boot by the helpful security man Mike). Kept me busy planting them half a day as I studiously measured the planting spaces for the first 10 then gave up and dug holes and squished them in any old way hahaha. The trees are a mixture of hazel, beech and hawthorn while the bush type ones are dogwood, dog rose, wild rose and blackthorn. As I labeled all the twigs before I planted them, the finished line has lots of white tags blowing gaily in the wind, very pretty for this time of year when most of the plot is dirt and weeds.

I will be moving at the end of this month so need to get organised for that - even less time at no 55 and I am dreading the possibility that our new house might be too far away from the plot for me to keep it on...I think I will manage and don't want to think too much about that just now - too busy packing away everything for the move. Although I am sure the council might have plots close the the new house too :-)

Harvest time

2008-08-04T05:56:00.000-07:00

I must have been doing most things right this year - been digging up lots of goodies recently!

Potatoes - Edzel Blue - very nice tatties - bright purple skin and pure white inside, purple colour disappears on cooking though, bit of a disappointment there). Pink Fir Apples - so knobbly they look like Jerusalem artichokes, but lovely salad potato. (And still to dig up the main crop of Maris Pier.)

Onions - all the over wintered onions are now dug up, white, red and yellow (as I can't remember their names)

Garlic - got a mix of elephant and normal (welsh?) this year - all dug up also

Broccoli - not much left of this either now, but been a good crop, small but very tasty (my nephew Liam says)

Cauliflower - forgot I planted two small rows of this - the broccoli and Brussels sprouts covered them totally. Small but perfectly formed heads and no slug/snail or other beastie attacks to be seen!

Strawberries - lots of greenery and a few tasty fruits but left them too late to pick so slugs got most of them (next year I must invest in straw to see if it makes a difference)

Raspberries - oodles of the canes from last year are covered with fruit and the new ones this year look healthy for next year's fruits too

Blueberries - a couple of handfuls from the one bush and nothing ripe yet on the second one.

Black currants - got about 8 pounds of fruit so boiled it down to jelly for my toast in the mornings (and any time at the weekend - yummy)

Red currants - bit of a disaster here, lots of healthy greenery but no fruit

Radish - think anyone could grow this, mine was up and eaten as soon as it rained

Beetroot - just starting to harvest now, looks a bit bedraggled with the recent rain though

Turnips - Milan purple tops again this year, and I am harvesting them small to get more eaten this year

Swedes - look like they will be big and bountiful too - rain and sun and weeding around them does make a big difference to last year, or maybe it is the place I am growing them in?

Sweetcorn - never started growing really and other allotmenteers in the area have similar story to tell

Carrots - after a bumper crop last year, think I have 3 carrots this year from 3 rows!

Other non-starters this year are:

chard, celeriac, parsnips, chives, basil, courgettes, asparagus (2nd year in so it is not dead yet!)

On a brighter note, the tomato plants at my front door, that were started off in a portable greenhouse are growing up roof now - 10 tomatoes from 4 plants, all loving the Aberdeen weather. Is it normal for the plants to need so much water? I give them a bucket between them every day, and more at the weekends as I see them getting dry.

Well must try to write in here more often, next time I'll update the pictures as well.

More Stones

2008-05-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Think I must have found the foundations of an old building now - fork goes down about 3/4 then hits a solid lump of concrete over a lot of large stones. Still digging up half bricks, granite shards etc but this is new!

There was an old crane on the site before the council made it into plots, so maybe a bit of the foundations are still there. They did dig up 3 car sized bits of concrete last year and that may be why the ground is fairly well compacted in some bits?

My free wheelbarrow find last month has been a godsend for carting the lumps about. New stone wall build on the way.

Rhubarb Tarts tonight

2008-04-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

Just came back from the plot and will try to attach some pictures - rhubarb is up lots now, got a clump from mum last November but no idea what type it is. It seems to be growing well. Very red. I didn't try to force it since this is the first year since I planted it.

cheap as chips greenhouse

2008-03-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

Can't believe the price I paid for 2 green houses! £9.99 for 3 shelves and as high as my shoulders, cheap shops are just brilliant for bargains and I need to use something as the cats have discovered the nice individual litter trays on the window shelf...I could do a CSI Aberdeen with plaster casts of their ickle paws to find the culprit?

I am leaving the print to see if any seeds survive - survive 3 cats wandering over them, they will survive Aberdeen summer.
:)

Seeds galore

2008-03-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

Well I have just sowed enough seeds to keep Morrisons in business with brussell sprouts for this Christmas! Didn't think they would germinate as they are last years ones - got every seed coming up now and need to transplant them into more suitable pots. The Jersey Walking Stick Kale is also up and bolting with the sunny window sill it's on. Bit of a quandry - should I remove the covers now and let the cats eat fresh greens, or leave them on until I repot?

Leave them on just now I think - less mess in the kitchen. Got a few cloches from my favourite online shop Ebay, now I need to figure out a way to stop them blowing away into the North Sea. Look great all the little tunnels but the plots are very open and prone to gale force winds. Wonder if washing line will work criss crossed over them with some tent pegs to hold them down? Will try that next weekend.

On another thought - went to see Derek Acorah last night -what an experience - guy looked like he was a split personality, but entertaining evening all round. Lots of guest speakers arrived with loving messages. (Admittedly the hospitality suite helped my enjoyment of the act.)

Last years tatties

2008-02-29T23:49:00.000-08:00

Started digging up the 4 rows of tatties I'd left in the ground since last year...they are enormous. Only a few have been worm eaten, the rest are all bakers now, might try this again this year - salad potatoes or bakers?

Bought a couple of Wisteria plants half price from Woolies and a blackberry cane. I love berries and will probably eat them straight off the canes again this year. I've been advised that they will grow everywhere so I need to cut down a foot away from the main cane in the autumn and separate the new canes. They have plenty of room to grow so might leave them be for a while.

Tatties - second earlies

2008-02-21T02:43:00.000-08:00

Back to digging stones up again - I'd left about a quarter of the plot empty last year and covered it with black plastic to stop the weeds getting too much - unveiled it yesterday and dockens still managed to grow underneath it! They didn't last long after a morning digging up roots etc.

I found another two large stones - thought my fork was goning to break lifting the corner of the second one. The plots here used to be a granite work area back in the 50's and most of the stones I dig up are cuttings, the latest two must be left overs from grave stones or wall copings. First one was about 40 cm square and about 10-15 cm deep, the second one must be 40 x 70 and the same deep. It was so heavy I had to drag it along the ground. Think I over worked my back as it is kinda sore today.

After the grave stones were cleared, the ground was easy to dig over and I got 2 rows of second earlies in "Edzell Blue" for baking and mashing (so the packet says anyway). They have very purple skins and whitey cream flesh. Bought them along with smoe main crop "Pink Fir Apple" for a try out, good for salad, boiling and roasting. Found out last year (my first allotment year) that the ground likes producing monster tatties, so I'll wait and see what size these ones end up.

Neighbour Bob turned up updating me on his plot - looks like a market garden, one of the old school with a keen sense of gardening lore. I had a chat with Rapunzel my other allotment neighbour - weeding and de-stoning another bed - there have been a fair amount of grave stone sized granite blocks from his plot too.

Horizontal Sheds

2008-02-02T01:34:00.000-08:00

Took a trip to No 5 after some serious storms here and I had to lift both sheds upright again. There are not really sheds as such, one has been recycled from its earlier life as an office filing cabinet (looks like a metal wardrobe) and the other one was a weekend project involving some pallets (and odd pieces of wood we inherited when we moved house 2 years ago).

I felt like I'd had a proper workout after righting them!

The plot looks quite bedraggled at the moment, not very much growing, the onions are at least withstanding the wind but the strawberries are really looking flat and not likely to survive the forecast snow.

When I got home again, went onto Ebay...now the proud owner of 2 cloches that should help the strawberries get a better and warmer start to the season. Will wait to see if the instructions on how to make them up are as easy as the item description said they'd be...not convinced (memories of flat pack furniture are surfacing)

No 5 King Street

2008-01-14T05:50:00.000-08:00

Since getting this plot last year quite late, I have done so much digging and de-stoning I feel like a proper labourer. I got a shock when I saw it - 10.5 meters by 20.5 meters. not sure if that is usual for plot sizes, but it is enormous to me. I started by marking out 2 meter lengths and digging all of the stone out and almost breaking my back - lots of hot baths later I had made quite a big stone and weed wall at the front of the plot.
The nice council faries came one week and spirited this away, so no trips to the skips needed anymore!
I planted and destoned, and watered for all of 2007 but apart from potatoes and carrots galore, nothing else realy grew so 2008 is my I'll get it all right year. Wait and see.

Jan 2008
I have white, red and normal onions in already along with 2 types of garlic which are all growing away nicely. The last of the potatoes really should be dug up and binned as they must be frosted by now. I got some strawberries from Marshalls posted at the end of last year and they seem to have survived so far, will wait to see if they grow any in the coming months. A couple of the artichokes also came with very small heads which I felt sorry for so left them on - they look like sticks now. Lots of my plot I have put flowers in so I can pick some now and then, the roses were the best last year and the pruning seemed to go okay. I am just waiting for better weather now, lots of seeds bought to try this year can't wait!