Native flooding waters

As a child I grew up around bilingual speaking family. I could follow the mother tongue of the relatives, yet chose to converse in English. I went through school having to complete lessons in Welsh and German. Leading to a lovely GCSE in Welsh and German...what's the point I thought? When will I use those two languages? Well I really didn't know what to study at A level so I chose German as 'an easy option' !!!!!!!!! How wrong was I in my youthful naivety? After a year that got dropped and thrown into a folder somewhere amongst the other languages I had tried and finished abruptly. 

Four years later, after finishing my A levels and my degree (which again I had to do elements of Welsh) I ended up marrying the man I love and moving to Germany.  My German isn't too bad, I can follow conversations and converse enough to do my shopping and other tasks.

Today, nearly 11 years after touching German language, I spoke Welsh.  A necessity, helping others, trying to make a change.  Language that is compartmentalised is like a river bank bursting its banks to wash around your feet.

So do a ding and decompartmentalise a thing, just to see if it all comes flooding back.

Love Ding xxx

Inspire your inner child...Part 2

Well today I inspired some children.  Just by handing out the pencils and setting the task they up with these!

Mark making on the lolly stick pencil and using the tipex mouse to start again (Below)

Super Hero helping make marks.

Mark making with the help of lolly sticks and tipex

Unfortunately, the peg pencils didn't stand up to the test of adventure.  This creative person found a new pencil topper.

Super Hero sock to help tuck fingers out of the way

A cleaning up robot, designed using a pipe cleaner pencil

Ding of the day...appreciate every step of creation.

Love 

Ding xxx

Inspire your inner child!

Someone said to me the other day

"What's the point when you will get hardly anything of it?"

There is always a point, that's kind of the point. Maximum effort means results! I spend time making things that are sometimes discarded or broken or unused BUT if this happens there is always another pair of hands that will enjoy or imagine or be inspired by what I have made.

What do you get if you have a couple of tubes of strong glue, pencils, felt, scissors, lolly sticks, pipe cleaners, lego, nerf darts and pegs?

THESE...

 That's right a whole load of exciting recording implements.  The lolly sticks can be written on with the help of a tipex mouse, it doesn't matter if it's not right, the handy mouse can just start a new background to write on.  A simple clothes peg that may be the place holder for a flag, a story, even to keep the pencil safe and pegged onto clothes.  In our house we have a box of nerf guns and darts, the darts were swiftly changed to super heroes, I can't wait to see what adventures they go on.  For the toughy feely of us out there, a simply twisted pipe cleaner gives a different feel on the hand or grip.

FINALLY, where the pencil idea started. Using the lego pieces glued on, sections of robot bodies can be created with the addition of sticky labels and some artistic minds.  Maybe they will be used for a grand structure or hammering something or even constructing sentences by writing words on the labels, carefully piecing them together.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have some inventive ideas with you that were inspired by these simple implements.

Ding of today...never lose your inner child!

Love always 

Ding xxx

Am I a Tea Pig?

I absolutely love tea! Tea fixes all problems.  Rules to follow with tea:

1.  Always offer tea when you don't know what to say.
2.  Best thing to wake up to in the morning (well that and anytime after 7am!).
3.  There is always room to be a tea snob (yes I do take my own bags to friend's houses if I know they have tea that is not to my liking!)
4.  Opening teabags as a birthday gift is some what precious or maybe the note that reads 'I can't be with you but at some point today we will sit together sharing a cup of tea, I have kept half of the box and you have the other half'.
5.  No matter where you are in the world there are always friends who will post you tea, you just have to ask.
6.  As you age like a fine wine, so do your tea tastes, try something new, it may surprise you.
7.  Seasonal teas will evoke memories of past and present.
8.  Show someone you care by sending a tea care parcel.

Number 8 is what happened today, a really great friend of mine sent me an amazing new tea care package.  Tea and Christmas are two things that are my all time favs.  I had tea and Christmas in a cup today.  After a rough week, it was just what I needed.  Spiced winter red tea.  Reminded me of my teen years when Big Red chewing gum had just hit the shops.  The sharp, spicy hit of cinnamon lingering on your tongue.  The comforting worth when breathing in cool air.  That kind of sense of internal warmth.  A comfort blanket in a mug!  Not only does it taste great, the tea is ethical and green.

www.teapigs.co.uk 

So today, my ding thing is remember your friends who may need a cuddle of comfort in a mug.  Support local businesses and try something new.

Love Ding x

Marathon

Do you ever feel like you have run a marathon? Physically or mentally?

The last couple of days have been back to back marathons of the mental kind. 

Love of loved ones and support from all around who understand helps.  

Today's ding thing is to do what feels right and normal to you in order to get through what ever marathons you are stuck in.

Love 

Ding x

Custard Cream kind of day!

Waking up on a Monday is not always the best, particularly after some time off it is very challenging! Rocking up to work to see happy faces and great work colleagues lightens the mood of the Monday moan.  Warm friendly faces and greeting of joy.  Hard work and perseverance makes going to work all the better :)  Realising you make a difference in people's lives is really warming for the soul.

So why has today become a ...

...kind of day? Circumstance sometimes takes over the joyous emotion of a day.  We all have our anxieties and for me the cure or invisibility cloak for these anxieties is custard creams!  Bizarre I know but we all have our vices.
Custard creams stuffed in, a nice cup of Twinnings tea soon to follow (definitely not a dunker!) and then bed.  Ready for the day ahead tomorrow.

My ding thing for today is the news that Tesco will be selling custard cream spread, that's right the filling of a custard cream in a jar! Ready to spread on anything, the world is your oyster!

Sleep tight

Ding x

Inappropriate!

My favourite type of conversation has to be a knee jerk inappropriate comment or conversation.  You know the kind you have when doing something important. One of which being visiting a deceased member of the family, admiring the casket and a sudden thought of 'oh crap, what if the bottom doesn't hold?' Not because the deceased is a chunky monkey but because of the material the casket is made of. Cue me inspecting said casket on all fours in the funeral home! It's ok no one saw and it was solid as anything.

Another inappropriate moment in my time, to a work colleague: 'so where you skiving to next wk?'

'A funeral' Ah no, think fast think fast. Nope appropriate comment of i'm sorry for your loss was not the first thing that fell out of my mouth! 'Well that was a conversation killer' was the thing that fell out.

Have you ever had THE DEATH conversation with your significant other? Well I have. A few times. Not because I want to bury him under the lawn or because I'm planning on harming him in away way, I just need to have this important stuff all organised! I've not quite gone as far as choosing a coffin for him etc so do not worry. So, he is to get cremated, after parts have been donated to those in need, no cryogenic freezing and no donation to science because apparently they get enough donations!  I'm sure I have plenty of time to sort a rocket that can reach outer space or outer Earth, whatever it is. The atmosphere area that is programmed to explode so the ashes cover the Earth. Then I thought about those that keep ashes, ashes of pets or relatives. I might want to keep them, why not, turn it into a lovely piece of jewellery.  As inappropriate conversations do the focus soon changed to me, the usual, donate to the needy and a bit of cremation.  That is if Dr Who (1st nov 2014 episode) is wrong that the soul feels being cremated! Apparently, the significant other would make sure our kids wen through school ok with my insurance money...Urm ok, someone might have a slightly inappropriate plan for me!  

Just to make you cringe before I go for today. My all time inappropriate conversation to date is the kind a child should never have to have with their parent.  The sex and STI chat! That's right, when your parent starts dating again, needs must! Sit them down and have the chat!

Ding thing of the day...never leave that inappropriate conversation until it is too late.  Make time, be bold, no matter how awkward.

Love 

Ding x