In The Words Of Granny Weatherwax...

You're Gonna Have To Face It, You're Addicted To...

... Farmville (apologies to the late Robert Palmer for adulterating his lyrics there)...

Damn game should come with a Government Health Warning!

If you are worried that you may be becoming addicted, here are some of the warning signs to look out for... If you can identify with any of these, you may need intervention:

- First thing you do in the morning is log on to Facebook to see if anyone left you any gifts.

- If no one did, you are in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

- You are seriously considering creating a fake persona on Facebook just so that they can become your neighbour so you can expand again.

- You buy a chicken coop for your TWO chickens.

- Your real world (and if you say "what's the real world?" then there really is no hope for you) friends (assuming you still have some) start avoiding you because all your conversations start with "When are you going to accept my neighbour request? You don't have to play after that, I just need another 6 neighbours so I can expand".

- You spend 65,000 farm coins to buy a (pink) tractor, a seeder AND a harvester... and you've only got 6 plots!

- You start organising your day around when your dog needs fed.

- You finally tear yourself away from the computer at 2am, with everything fed and harvested, once you've double checked that you have no pending gift requests.

- 10 minutes later after logging off at 2am, you're logging back on, just in case someone sent you a gift request in that time.

- You ignore your best friend when you meet in Tesco, just because they haven't sent you a gift request for the last 2 days.

- Despite the fact you live in a rural community, when you overhear someone saying, "I must go home and see to my chickens", your first thought is to run up to them and say, "Add me as a neighbour!"

- You have been heard shouting "Not another bloody nail! I'm not building anything!" at the computer.

- You rate your friends according to their Farmville level.

- When you hear someone say "I'm level 16 now", your reply is "Oh, bless! I remember when I was a Newbie too".

- The merest mention of "Farmville" overheard makes you prick up your ears.

- You're sitting in a cafe having a coffee, and you can hear 2 people a couple of tables away (close enough for you to earwig, but too far away for you to "casually" join in the conversation) discussing the Farmville Phenomenon... and you are so desperate to ask, "Need another neighbour? I only need one more to get a super plantation".

- You put a request out on a community-based forum you use for anyone who plays Farmville to add you as a Facebook friend, just so you can add them as a neighbour.

- You get palpitations every time there are new items available in the market.


Now, did you blush and laugh nervously at any of the above? (And, yes, I did). Then you could be in danger of becoming an addict.

However... before you book yourself into Farmers Anonymous (which may not exist, but really SHOULD)... gonna add me as a neighbour? Please? I just need 2 more to expand! I'll send you gifts regularly... and fertilise your plots... and feed your chickens... Go on... PLEASE???"

Today's Burning Question....

How does a cat know that rubbing your thumb and index finger together means "come here, puss"?

Who tells them?

Finally I Can Post This! (2)

OMG! Songs you've been waiting for ages to appear on YouTube are like buses - wait ages for one, and then 2 come along!

Apples In Stereo and "The Bird That You Can't See"...

Finally I Can Post This!

This is one of my favourite songs, and finally it's on YouTube (no video, but I don't care)...

Prince and "7"...

"I am yours now and you are mine, and together we'll love through all space and time"... lovely lyric!

Well, At Least They'll Have Good Teeth!

That's it! That's the last time I take pity on our putty tats and let them sleep inside when it's raining...

Why? Well, I came through this morning, wondering why they weren't begging for their breakfast as usual - and then I saw this:

That is what is left of the tub of Whiskas Dentibit treats that we bought them yesterday! They'd only had half a dozen or so out of them yesterday afternoon, and now it's empty!

I can't even give them a row, because I don't know if it was Leia or Gizmo to blame, or if it was a joint effort.

Naughty, sneaky putty tats!

Mind Your Language...

Viki, my flatmate from Hungary, speaks excellent English, but every so often she comes up with something that really makes me laugh (eg. "if someone says "can you get me flour?" how do you know if they mean for baking or a daffodil?").

However, a few days ago, she asked a question that I kind of begrudgingly admit was a good point...

It all stemmed from the fact that the Hungarian language doesn't have a "th" sound like we do, so it doesn't come naturally to her (I still like to get her to say "thistle" so I can giggle when she says "sissle" (sorry, Viki)), and one of the words she finds hardest is "booths".

Well, she came up with a new way to pluralise booth, following another rule. Her logic?

One tOOth, two tEEth
One gOOse, two gEEse
One fOOt, two fEEt

So... it's now...

One bOOth, two bEEth!

And I kinda had to admit she had a point!

Reversal Of Roles...

If you look in the tank containing our two turtles (and fish), you will most commonly see Aristotle and Atlas sitting on their stone, basking under the lightbulb... generally looking something like this:

Well, that was until recently, when it seems Aristotle has got fed up of always being on the bottom of the heap... as sometimes now when we come to the tank they are sitting looking something like this:

Judging by the expression on Atlas' face, he's none too impressed with this new arrangement - no wonder, considering Aristotle is about 3 times the size of him, and considerably heavier!

Look To The Right...

... and down a peedie bit, and you will see a bright, shiny new link in among the Orkney stuff.

All About Orkney is a new website that does exactly what it says on the tin - It's All About Orkney!

Well worth a look...

Ooo...

... my StatCounter counter reads "030030"... I should make a wish!

Seriously, though, it means my humble little blog has chalked up its 30,000th visit sometime over the weekend... Congratulations to you if you were that lucky visitor - your prize is in the post!

I Could Have A Criminal Record...

... and, no, I don't mean "Engelbert Humperdinck's The Dance Album"!

I went shopping tonight at our local supermarket (I won't tell you which one, but I will give you a clue, because - ahem - "Every Little Helps"), and as part of my shopping, I bought two plastic storage crates for keeping handbags and shoes in (2 females sharing a house = a lot of handbags and shoes). Anyway, I got to the checkout, put all the shopping on the checkout, and decided once it was all gone through, I would put all the groceries IN the storage crates (one inside the other, I didn't have THAT much shopping). Packed all my shopping, paid, and off I went outside.

And that was when I noticed...

... all the groceries were in the storage crates, except for a carton of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice with EXTRA Juicy Bits (no, not just the normal Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice with Juicy Bits, this stuff was more expensive @ £1.93), which was sitting in the trolley.

"Funny," I thought, "Why did I put all the rest of the stuff in the storage crates (one inside the other), and then put the carton of orange juice just in the trolley?"

And that was when the feeling of dread came over me... and I checked the receipt...

AND THE CARTON OF ORANGE JUICE WASN'T ON IT!!!!!!

Yes, people... for the first time in my life, I am guilty of (inadvertantly) shoplifting!

But, by that time, we (my brother & I) had left the-supermarket-who-will-remain-nameless, and I couldn't exactly go back and say "Here's £1.93 for the carton of orange juice I just accidentally nicked from you"!

I've got to go there again tomorrow night... What if they've reviewed the security cameras and the cops will be waiting for me? Or I'll be walking around the store and suddenly the security guard will clap me on the shoulder and say "Do you mind coming with me, madam?"?

I'll try to keep blogging from jail, if they let me...

Thanks, Kasia & Marcin...

Viki & I were invited to stay with a couple of Polish workmates of Viki's last night, as a kind of housewarming since they'd moved into a flat of their own. And, as it was through in Stromness, and there were no buses going back after about 9pm, we slept on a couple of sofas in their living room.

It was a great night. To start with, we had bigos (which is absolutely delicious, by the way), and some alcohol (tea with rum for the other 3, and rum & coke for me, because I hate tea). And later we went out to the pub (where there was a karaoke night on, but I swear I didn't sing... I wouldn't do that to people).

Lol... to begin with I felt a bit "normal" - it was a very international party - one Hungarian, 2 Polish, a Lithuanian girl, and a Nigerian! And me just a simples Orcadian! I never imagined 5 years ago that I would have such exotic friends!

So, thank you Kasia & Marcin for the hospitality & the sofas... It was really good fun.

Just a final thing, though... I don't think I will ever risk Polish beer again!

The Cartoon Spot...

Here's a Tom & Jerry I don't ever remember seeing until a month or two ago, but it's really cute and funny...

Pecos Pest

I just love Uncle Pecos... his moustache with a life of its own, and his dance has me in stitches every time!

Viki says her dad loves this one too...

A New Simon's Cat...

I missed this one a couple of weeks ago!

Evil bird...

And, horrors... another one I missed!

Simon's Cat: Hot Spot