A View From My Summerhouse

Six Degrees of Separation and Thank you Todd Fisher

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

This is how the story goes :

Me to my kids: “I once met Clint Eastwood while horse-riding in the Hollywood hills with your father. He was coming towards me on his horse and as he passed by he tipped his hat and said “Howdy, Miss”.

My kids to me: “Yeah, right Mum! Sure that was Clint Eastwood!!” to peals of laughter.

I blame their father for telling them that it wasn’t him. So I gawped, open-mouthed like an idiot for nothing as my hero, he of one of my all-time favourite films, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, sauntered on by. An English girl horse-riding in the Hollywood Hills – it had to be Clint, right? It’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

As you might have gathered by now I’m a bit of a film buff and I do enjoy the Oscars but that isn’t my only reason for thinking about my tenuous claims to fame. Something in my lighthouse keeper post jolted a memory which further reminded me of this fascinating thing we call ‘six degrees of separation’, defined by Wikipedia as:

Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare.

One Saturday afternoon back in the 70’s when I was all of sweet-sixteen, I was sitting in a pub somewhere in Hampshire with my dad. Life revolved around the pub (for those who have recently started reading my blog, my dad, now 81, is an alcoholic who has spent most of his adult life in prison for numerous drunken and failed attempts to rob banks).

While Dad held court with his fellow revellers, I found myself listening to a one-sided conversation with a rather eccentric man wearing yellow, ‘Rupert Bear‘ trousers and a very ‘loud’ cravat. Typical wear for the 70’s come to think of it.

I couldn’t possibly tell you what he was talking about, although I do vaguely remember something about Shakespeare. Later on when I asked my dad about him he blithely replied, “Oh, that’s Freddie Jones, a famous actor!” Well, you could have fooled me! I had never heard of him.

I’m sure he was/is a very nice man but why oh why couldn’t it have been Steve McQueen, the King of Cool, the u l t i m a t e?

I would have to settle for Clint. It’s a tough world.

Rumour had it that this same pub was frequented by a handful of famous musicians, Mick Fleetwood being one of them (no pun intended, ha!). Although it must be true because for some reason my dad acquired Mick’s jacket and I really don’t want to know how, although I can hazard a million guesses. A plaid, lined thing it was. Somehow my brother ended up with it and I can remember wearing it while out walking through Suffolk fields. Sorry Mick, hope you didn’t miss it too much!

I don’t know what it is about my Dad, skirting on the edge of some kind of shadowy celebrity life-style. I remember him telling me that he once met Elizabeth Taylor in a pub in London (always the pub). He said she was incredibly beautiful – from the waist up. He also once snogged Joan Collins at a party, or so he says. I wonder if Joaney remembers that?

Back to Freddie Jones. Dad of course knew him from playing the part of Alex DeLarge’s probation officer in A Clockwork Orange. The film meant nothing to me then and it would be many years before I watched it. When my own grown children did so decades later I at last gained some celebrity kudos with them when they believed my story about my chance encounter with an actor.

(Incidentally, today Freddie Jones plays Sandy Thomas in Emmerdale, I had no idea as I don’t watch soaps.)

Then one-day my middle boy, Nicky, told me something very interesting about a work colleague and friend of his who casually mentioned of a lunch time that his brother happens to be Toby Jones, a well-known actor who has starred in many films including playing Alfred Hitchcock in The Girl and Waddington in The Painted Veil, a most exquisite and moving film based on the book by W. Somerset Maugham. I highly recommend it.

Nicky made the connection first and this is what I love most about this entire Freddie Jones story: He was proud to tell his friend that, “My mum met your dad in a pub when she was 16!” Now that’s some pretty cool street cred for an old mum don’t you think?

Nicky had his own encounter with a famous actor, when, during a visit with his dad in California a few years ago, ‘Liquid Metal Guy‘, (correctly known as T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day played by Robert Patrick) casually walked into the same shop as them. Nicky is a huge fan of the Terminator films so he was thrilled to have a chat with him and get his autograph.

When celebrities take the time to talk to ordinary folk like us sometimes they can make a real difference to our lives without realising it. This is what happened to Aspie D (my daughter’s nickname).

She had a very rough time of it last year. By April she was cheered up enough for our trip out to California and so there she was with her father ambling along Hollywood Boulevard towards the Chinese Theatre when next thing she knew she was standing on the red carpet at the première of Oblivion with Tom Cruise stepping out of a limousine and walking towards her. He chatted with her for a few minutes, shook her hand and gave her his autograph. No photo though!

Still, some hours away I was with my lovely friend eating the best guacamole I’ve ever had in my life at a Mexican restaurant (miss those so much!) when the call came.

“Mum, you will never guess in a million years who I just spoke to and shook hands with?”

To hear the joy and sheer thrill in her voice was the best gift I could ever have had and for that I thank you, Tom Cruise.

Finally, there is another celebrity I would like to thank.

Eldest son, while in his senior year of high school back in 2001 (in California) was in the throes of putting together a movie production for its final grading. He stayed late after school many an evening in an attempt to get the editing done but the very archaic and limited equipment at the school made the task frustrating if not impossible.

A friend of his, a girl he had known all through his high school years, offered for him and his friend to come to her home as she was sure that her step-dad could help them out as he knew a little bit about sound production.

So one evening, as arranged, I drove son and friend out to the girl’s house. It was out in the middle of nowhere and I dropped them off at the top of a long drive, the house partially hidden behind a forest of trees. Hours later, upon picking them up, I heard the story.

Turned out that the girl, Vanessa Rivers, was the daughter of a certain Johnny Rivers, the American rock-n-roll singer – think ‘Secret Agent Man’, ‘Poor Side of Town’ and ‘Memphis’ – but since her father and mother had split up, she now lived with her mother and her step-dad who happened to be Todd Fisher, son of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher (who left her for Elizabeth Taylor), and brother of Carrie Fisher, the one and only Princess Leia.

13th March 1973: American actor Debbie Reynolds sits and smiles with her children, actor Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher, as they attend the opening night party for the Broadway musical revival ‘Irene,’ in which Reynolds starred, New York City. The music was composed by Hal Tierney, with lyrics by Joseph McCarthy. (Photo by Tim Boxer/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

So much for knowing ‘a bit about sound production’. Todd Fisher had his own recording studio. I wish I could have been there to have witnessed my son’s face when he walked in the room. In all the years that he had known Vanessa he said that she had never given any inkling of her Hollywood connections.

Getting down to business with the very helpful and pleasant Mr Fisher, my son and his friend tried to pretend that everything was normal when the phone rang. It was Princess Leia. Both huge Star Wars fans, the boys couldn’t believe it. There was one more interruption. This time it was his mother, Debbie Reynolds. I’m not sure what was said during their conversation but I think that Todd might have had a ticking off because after he hung up the phone he said something like this:

“Boys, if there is one piece of advice I can give you it is this, and it has nothing to do with sound production. When you leave home and wherever you go in life, always, always, make sure to remember to call your mother!”

My eighteen year old boy-man was about to launch out into the world and I would miss him terribly but he took these words to heart. My son’s movie gained him a grade A but more importantly, in all the years since he has always kept in regular touch with me. I wonder if Todd Fisher realises the power of his words that day?

As for Clint Eastwood, well, I know it was him and for this impressionable young English girl who had already known pain and loss by the time I watched him go by on his horse as he smiled and tipped his hat to me all those years ago, I want him to know this:

“Clint baby, you made my day!”

Posted in Family Life, Memoir, My California | Tagged California, Carrie Fisher, Celebrities, Clint Eastwood, Family Life, Freddie Jones, Liquid Metal Guy, Movies, Six Degrees of Separation, Steve McQueen, Todd Fisher, Tom Cruise | 95 Comments

A Lingering Look at Windows: Beautiful Bordeilles, Rural France

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

This week’s A Lingering Look at Windows, Dawn’s wonderfully laid back weekly photo challenge, has me remembering a visit to the delightful town of Bordeilles in the Dordogne region of southwestern France in the summer of 2012. Transported as I was to window heaven, I snapped away. Here are just a few of those photos:

I just love the mix of the new with the old, the painted wooden window frames, some in bright colours;

Bourdeilles - Dordogne region of southwestern France (c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Bordeilles – Dordogne region of southwestern France
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Some in warm wood with outside shutters, delicate lace curtains hanging prettily on the inside:

Bordeilles – Dordogne region of southwestern France
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Or the not so pretty curtains, but still rustically beautiful hung as they are in ill-fitting windows framed by sun-bleached shutters. In this photo I wanted to capture the door as well as the window, both a thing of beauty to me set in grey stone so typical of the types of buildings found in rural France.

Notice the chair and just a peek of a small table to the left of the slightly-ajar door? Perfectly positioned for al fresco dining in the cool-brick shade away from the heat of a French high-summer, mere inches away.

Bordeilles – Dordogne Region of southwestern France
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Yet what sets these windows off so perfectly are the themed pot plants perched on their stone window ledges. They are lovingly watered and nurtured to keep their natural beauty alive for all who wander by to lazily admire.

These windows keep the heat out and the cool in but they don’t close out the world. They don’t say “Keep out” or “Go away”. With their carefully placed accessories they say, “Look at me, look at how endearing and welcoming we are, all for your pleasure”.

I would like to clothe my windows with outside colour so here, in England, I grow a rambling rose-bush around them. I don’t have stone window ledges but if I did they would be home to a mismatched line-up of terracotta pots stuffed full of red geraniums and I would sit down on a rickety chair just outside my old, heavy-wooden slightly-ajar door and I would say to you, “Won’t you join me for a glass of something to wile away the hours? Acclamations à vous tous! Cheers to you all!”

Well, we can all dream, can’t we?

Posted in A Lingering Look at Windows, Friendship, Photos, Travel | Tagged A Lingering Look at Windows, Bordeilles, Dorgogne, Foreign travel, France, Friendship, photos of windows, travel, Windows | 51 Comments

Sherri’s Ocean

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

My new friend and very talented artist Patsy asked if she could paint a picture from my middle photo of Montana de Oro from my ‘Story of the Sea’ post (Weekly Photo Challenge: Threes). Delighted and then amazed that she has already painted it and here it is! I love, love, love it. Thanks so much Patsy! 🙂

Patsy's Creative Corner

I painted this watercolor yesterday from a photo of my new friend Sherri who has a blog named A View From My Summerhouse. Here ya go, Sherri! I hope you like it. 🙂

https://sherrimatthewsblog.com/2014/02/24/weekly-photo-challenge-threes-a-story-of-the-sea/

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Posted in Reblogs | 49 Comments

WPC: Threes – A Story of the Sea

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

With the merry sound of Friday’s catchy little number no doubt still ringing in your ears (*grins mischievously*) and hoping that the weekend was good to you, I thought that my take on this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge would follow on nicely as you will see. The theme is ‘Threes’, defined as ‘telling a three-picture story’. I have used three slightly different photographs of the same view which I hope fits the challenge.

Here is my story:

Beach at Montana De Oro, Los Osos, California (c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Beach at Montana De Oro, California
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

This is a view of a beach at a little place called Montana De Oro, a State Park on the Central Coast of California. The name means ‘mountain gold’ and is so named after the wildflowers which grow in the park. I have very special memories of this park and the beach as it is only two miles south of a small town called Los Osos which is where I moved to in 1986, leaving behind my family and friends in England to start a new life with my three-year old little boy and his father.

We spent many an afternoon down by the cove as seen here, my little boy loving to climb the rocks, his favourite activity. We also loved to look for tide pools and I always came home with my pockets full of pebbles, bits of seaweed and hermit crab shells. Treasures from my son.

Broader view of the beach and coastline at Montana De Oro, California
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

This view is more panoramic. The road from Los Osos to Montana de Oro is winding and narrow and as you can see my vantage point from where I took these photos is fairly high up. Notice a few of those wildflowers in the lower right of the photo?

We lived in Los Osos for five years, it was the perfect place to raise a family. We went on to have our second son Nicky (as some of you already know him) and he too loved to paddle about in the sea and collect his treasures, even trying to copy his big brother in scaling the rocks. He was just a bit too young though; we moved a little further inland when he was two years old, my daughter (Aspie D) yet to arrive on the scene.

Photo taken by my friend of me filming the beautiful Pacific ocean
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Here is the last part of this story. You can see that I am even higher up the road and I am filming with a camcorder so that I can remember this day with not only photographs but also with the sounds of the sea. I took these photos in April last year when I returned ‘home’ to California after a ten-year absence for a two-week visit with Aspie D. She stayed with her father near Los Angeles and I stayed with a dear friend in Los Osos, mere minutes away from where I had once lived some 28 years ago.

This is the view from my summerhouse today; from this breathtaking vista I see shadows dancing in the sunlight, shadows of my little boys running along the beach pushing the sand between their toes and trying to catch seagulls. From this view I hear their untroubled laughter ringing out, carried along by the sea-breeze straight into my heart where it lives still, never to be forgotten.

This view tells me that though the years have passed by and my life has changed irrevocably, I am blessed to be still standing and I am here to tell you my three-picture story.

“I dropped a tear in the ocean, and whenever they find it I’ll stop loving you, only then.” – Anonymous

Posted in Childhood Memories, Family Life, My California, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged beach, Central Coast California, Childhood memories, Family Life, Montana De Oro, Pacific Ocean, Photos of California, postaday, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge | 96 Comments

I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper and Other Tidbits…

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

Don’t worry Hubby, I’m not leaving you for a lighthouse keeper. I don’t actually know any, ha! I jest of course, and he knows it. He also reads my posts…

In response to my Lighthouse Award post on Monday in which I mentioned not being able able to get a certain little ditty out of my head, as in ‘In want to marry a Lighthouse keeper and live by the side of the sea’, both Jenny and Andrea told me that they had never heard of it. So, as promised ladies (and for anybody else who may have been wondering what I was on about) I have tracked this song down for you.

To be honest, I thought that everyone knew it but what I’ve discovered is that although it was first recorded by Erika Eigen in 1968, apparently, it shot to fame from Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange. Latterly, it was also used in M&S’s 2008 television advertising campaign. Do you remember that? I don’t!

So just for you lovely ladies, and anyone else who might want a listen, here it is and Jenny, just for you, this is the closest you will ever get to watching anybody prancing about in shorts to this little number as it certainly won’t be me, ha! Besides, I have no idea where my pink shorts have gone…

So there you have it! I suppose too the only question that remains is how come I know this song so well and frequently find myself humming it? Most certainly not from the TV ad, I’m sure of that. I can only conclude that it must have become embedded in my brain because once-upon-a-time Aspie D was obsessed with watching A Clockwork Orange. Need I say more?

Now onto to those other tidbits…

Yukta Kher is a new blogger (a lovely young lady of 16!) who came over to congratulate me for my awards and also to nominate me for The Sunshine Award.

This is to acknowledge her kindness and to wish her every success as she shares her ‘words, visions and trivia along the way’… thank you very much Yukta.

One other thing I haven’t forgotten about is that a couple of you (pommepal and Steven) showed a great deal of interest in the crocodile that appeared in one of my photographs from my ‘Historical Lewes‘ post. Here is that photo once again for reference for those of you who may not have seen it the first time:

Windows at the back of The Snowdrop pub in Lewes, Sussex. Notice the chalk cliffs behind it. Taken in late summer, 2013
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Isn’t he a beaut? Just for you two I did some more research and found out that this magnificent crocodile is neither a sculpture nor made from steel. It is in fact plastic, made up of several dozen wheel trims from old Vauxhalls, Rovers and Renaults by a local Lewes artist. There are several other pieces of this artist’s work around Lewes and next time I visit I will try to find out his/her name.

So there you have it. Mystery solved.

Well, what a week it’s been. I’ve been quite staggered by everyone’s kind and loving words in response to this week’s posts, thank you all again so much but in the end I have to admit I couldn’t get to either of my usual photo challenge posts despite my earlier enthusiasm! I ran out of steam, that’s all!

Next week things really will be back to normal. Among other things, I plan to write a post that includes a little name-dropping, ha! Well, you know how it is, all this fame is going to my head and there’s no stopping me now…

Have a great weekend everyone, keep safe and keep smiling and keep your light shining…and, as I always say…

Watch this space!

Posted in Current Affairs, Humour | Tagged A Clockwork Orange, Art, Artists, Crocodile, Current Affairs, Humour, Lewes, Lighthouse Keeper Song, The Sunshine Award | 57 Comments

Awards Part Three: The Shauny Award for Blogging Excellence and Seven Awards in One!

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

This is the third & final award’s post of this series. Yes, can you believe it? Still more to come and I’m delighted to start off by introducing the lovely Mich from Lessons in French.

Mich writes beautifully with heartfelt and moving accounts of her journey towards fulfilling her four-year-long family’s dream to move from Africa to a new life in France. Hence the ‘Lessons in French’ (she is a teacher!)

Mich meets life’s challenges head-on and with a heart full of faith, ‘longing for complete fluency’ in life as well as in the language.

When she nominated me for the Shauny Award for Blogging Excellence I was astounded and of course absolutely delighted. I adore surprises and this was a very unexpected surprise I can tell you. Mich, I am humbled and grateful beyond words that you considered me for such a heartfelt award. Merci beaucoup, mon amie 🙂

There is some background to this award which I discovered by doing a quick Google search. It was created by Doctor Rex (Horty, as she likes to be called) in honour of Shaun Gibson over at prayingforoneday. The sentiment in which she created it is just beautiful and the only rules, if you can call them rules, are these:

Show Humanity, Show Love, Be Yourself, Don’t Be Others, Don’t Gossip, and Share This Award with 10 others.

Well, I hope I can live up to these ‘rules’, from the heart, although I’m breaking one ‘rule’ already as I couldn’t choose just 10 bloggers. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I announce my 12 nominees for the Shauny Award for Blogging Excellence:

Moggiepurrs – Paying it forward to Bev and her charming site ‘all about cats’
Reflections and Nightmares – This one’s for you Irene.
DonCharisma.org – Don’s awesome blog ‘Because anything is possible with Charisma’.
e-Tinkerbell – Stefy lives in Rome and has taught English as a foreign language and literature to high school students for 20 years and her blog reaches out to these students.
Chris The Story Reading Ape’s New (to me) Author’s Blog – Chris is an avid reader whose literature hero is Terry Pratchett. He also offers and gives incredible support for authors everywhere. Take a look at his blog and you will see what I’m talking about.
Aspie Story – Darren, a ‘creative guy on the autistic spectrum’. Lovely blog, fab photos!
ranniyork – Raani is an author/writer with a blog packed full of life!
Eye-Dancers – Mike’s blog, bringing together his love of sci-fi and fantasy together with his great talent as a writer.
quirkybooks – Sandra’s excellent blog is inspirational to all those looking to change their lives in every way for the better.
moodsaplenty – Steven’s art is out of this world and his writing isn’t half bad either.
this man’s journey – Island Traveler, a wonderful man full of love for his family, friends and life. The man ‘Behind the Mask is just a Man who Lives to Love and Be Loved’
Screenkicker! – Mickey’s wonderfully entertaining blog all about ‘Sticking its boot into the world of movies’. Great stuff.

Many congratulations to you all 🙂

This next award was given to me so generously by my long-standing blogging buddy Beverly from moggiepurrs. The Friends and Followers Award is new award created by Nerissa’s Life to celebrate her 75,000th hit on her blog! Wow, congratulations Nerissa, but I’m sure it’s even more than this by now!

This award has a few simple rules:

Post the award on your blog
Thank the person who nominated you and follow them by any means necessary
Pass the award to a few friends who already follow you
Let your nominees know they have been nominated

BUT, and it’s a very big BUT, I find it simply impossible to send this award on to just a few. Actually, this award is perfect because I have a dilemma; for one thing, I have been as careful as I can in making sure that I haven’t nominated anyone with ‘award free’ blogs, so apologies if by chance I missed that.

The other thing is this: I am so thankful to all who have recently signed up to follow my blog and who take the time to drop by and read a post here and there. I’m sorry if I haven’t been able to get over to your blogs as yet, but trust me, I will just as soon as I can. After all, you are indeed ‘Friends & Followers’ and so I invite you to please accept this award from me given to you with a very grateful heart, and display it proudly on your blog.

Then there is this last final thing: Yeah, you know. You know who I’m talking about. My band of brothers, my soul sisters, my partners in crime and, as my blogging friend Andra said to me recently, ‘my people’. This means YOU because I know you’re reading this right now!

My blog survives and thrives because of you, my shining stars who beam your light on most if not every blog post, showing up no matter what, reading, commenting, encouraging and goodness knows, if you only knew what this means to me…You know jolly well that I would be bombarding you with all these awards if they were your ‘thing’ because I love, love, love your blogs but instead I give you my humble ‘thank you so very much’. That’s it. It sounds so inadequate but there it is.

Oh, and if you would like to, please take this Friends & Followers Award. After all, surely it was created with you in mind?

With all that said, it is now, at last, time for the grand finale. Yes folks, the final award. Actually it is Seven Awards, for the simple reason that there are seven in one! Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you!

It’s a bit like watching a firework’s display, saving the biggest one for last! Well, get ready for some noise because they are about to explode:

As if Bev hadn’t been generous enough, she nominated me for this magnificent display of Seven Awards (talk about bling!) and then I was incredibly surprised and delighted when lovely Raani of raaaniyork also nominated me for the same! Raani is an author/writer whose blog is packed full of guest posts, interviews and book reviews as well wonderfully written stories about, among many other subjects, her cat, relationships, beauty and fashion and, well, just life! Thank you so much Bev and Raani!

Here are the rules for the Seven Awards:

Display the logo on your sidebar
Link back to the person who nominated you
State 7 things about yourself
Nominate 15 (or so) bloggers for this award (18 for me)
Notify the nominees of their nominations

I don’t want to bore you with any more facts about myself and I’ve run out of things to say so I’ll move right on to my nominations which is much more interesting.

These lovely bloggers are my 18 nominees for Seven Awards:

Reflections and Nightmares – Irene A Waters – Wonderful writer and photographer you are Irene
Plain Talk and Ordinary Wisdom – Pat’s wonderful ‘Kitchen Table Stories to Inspire and Warm Your Heart’.
Simply Ilka -‘Science with a smile’ Love your blog Ilka!
Lessons in French – Love your blog Mich, and right back at ya!
Lost In The Labyrinth – Some well deserved bling for you Maria!
PRIORHOUSE blog – Love Y’s blog about ‘Photos, Art and a little bit of LIT!’
It Goes On – Suze inspires others with her writing and photographs
reading interrupted – Letizia, university professor, translator, editor, workshop coordinator (and lover of all dogs!) She loves to read – anywhere!
restlessjo – ‘Restless’ Jo has the travel bug and shares her travels on her blog,
What’s (in) the picture? – Chris Breebaart’s beautiful photography blog
Jots from a Small Apt. – Jot is a talented artist, photographer and writer. Witty too!
Expatially Mexico – Life, Love, Patience as an expat in Mexico – love Kristin’s blog
Donicia’s World – Donicia’s wonderful ‘Thoughts, Adventures, Photography. Bits & Pieces’
Pilot Fish – Patricia’s ‘Guide Through a Sea of Change’
Jo Robinson – Lovely Jo, an author and animal lover who ‘blogs about writing and books and things that happen’
Espirational – Bob and Rogene Robbins, students of human nature positive living and authors. Their daily messages never fail to inspire.
Evelyne Holingue -‘Chronicles, Stories and Books’ – Evelyne, a French-American Writer
Miss Lou Acquiring Lore – Lou loves to laugh, be challenged and enjoys long-winded conversations!

This, at last, brings me to the end of these award’s posts. Once again, many congratulations to you all. I also want to thank everyone so much for your lovely comments on my other award’s posts which I haven’t had a chance to reply to yet, but I will be doing so later on today. As you can see, and as usual, I am running behind but you know me, I’ll get there in the end!

So I’ll see you soon and, finally, there is one more thing left for me to say…

Thanks for everything, I love you guys 🙂

Posted in Awards | Tagged Awards, Blogging, Friends & Followers Award, Friendship, love, Seven Awards, thank you, The Shauny Award for Blogging Excellence | 115 Comments

Awards Part Two: Fun and Flowers To Brighten the Day

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

Following directly on from my first Award’s post here is Part Two in which I’m so happy to share some light-hearted fun and present some beautiful flowers.

Firstly, I must make mention once more of lovely Maria over at Lost in the Labyrinth, bless her, who has nominated me for four, yes I said four, awards over the last couple of months! Thank you so much Maria, you are so generous in thinking of me for these wonderful awards and also for the very kind sentiments with which they are sent.

The first two are: The Imagine Award and the Blog of the Year 2013 Award.

Having already accepted nominations for these awards just before Christmas, I won’t be participating again, although the Blog of the Year Award 2013 is a bit different because each time somebody is nominated, a star can be collected for a grand total of six stars. I presume this still counts even though it is now 2014!

To save space and time (and cheating just a little, sorry!) my previous post for the Blog of the Year Award 2013 with the rules and my nominees can be found here. Go ahead, pick up your extra stars if you wish as I am nominating you all once more and congratulations to you all!

Maria then nominated me for the Linda Mad Hatter Jesters Award which is a personally created award by Linda Mad Hatter herself to be passed on for ‘whatever fun-loving reason’ with this proviso:

‘If you receive this award, it is polite to pass it on, however there are no firm and fast rules here.

Please also feel free to post recipients below (and the reason for their award, if you are so inclined to share), so we can all check them out ‘

Here are my fun-loving nominees for the Linda Mad Hatter Jesters Award:

1. Playful Kitty – for all the fun Robin shares with her two lovable and darling cats, Cinco and Manna. Take a look at what they get up to and some hilarious photos too!

2. moodsaplenty – Wanting to thank Steven and nominate him for this award because he never fails to bring laughter into my day with his witty banter and shenanigans (I love that word!)

3. thebufferzoneblog – Diane’s delightfully written blog posts aimed at the modern, dysfunctional family never fail to make me laugh out loud. Her blog is a delicious treat you can’t afford to miss.

3. The Photographic Journey – Bulldog for always making me laugh with his laugh-out-loud (very clever!) captions to his beautiful wildlife photographs. Thanks Bulldog for always bringing a smile to my heart 🙂

4. A Blumes With a View – Andrew for his hilarious – and very clever – take on movies together with his brilliant illustrations which will leave you in stitches, trust me.

Thanks guys for the fun and laughter, you brighten my day in more ways than you know 🙂

Then came the Awesome Blossom Award which I received not only from Maria but also from my friend Lorraine, so a huge thank you to both. Lorraine is a prolific blogger and writer who has recently announced the launch of her new website ‘Wording Well‘ and I wish her every success in her new endeavours.

This award is very close to my heart (and not just because it is so pretty) because, of course, I love anything to do with gardens and gardening, having at long last had the chance to grow my own and actually stay to enjoy it for a few years rather than leave it all behind after a couple of years!

The sentiment behind the Awesome Blossom Award is extra-special, representing as it does the beauty and colour of our ‘virtual’ gardens as we grow and nurture them through friendship and community.

With this in mind, for the Awesome Blossom Award I have nominated:

B is for Blessed – to Lilka for her delightful posts sharing her observations on family life, her faith and the struggles of daily life against the backdrop of her beautiful garden in Atlanta, with homegrown photographs to match!
Alzheimer’s Trail – Awesome Blossoms to Sheila to cheer her day as she tends to her mom who lives with Alzheimer’s.
A Maine Mama’s Mind – To brighten this mama’s family ‘garden’ as it grows and changes with each new season of life.

Congratulations lovely ladies 🙂

As if Irene hasn’t been generous enough, she also nominated me for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award (which I have already participated in).

: Dragon’s Loyalty Award

Then, as luck would have it, just as I was preparing this award’s post, a message pinged up that she had nominated me the gorgeous Field of Flowers Award!

What really moved me was that Irene sent it with the message that she ‘hoped the flowers would brighten my day’. Thank you again so much Irene for this beautiful, heartfelt award and sentiment, I feel as if I have just received a wonderful bouquet of flowers which did indeed ‘brighten my day’ 🙂

The rules for this bright and beautiful award are:

Thank the blogger who nominated you
Place the award on your blog
Nominate 7 other bloggers and write a little something why you are giving these bloggers a ‘field of flowers’
Let your nominees know that you have nominated them

My 7 nominees for the Field of Flowers Award are:

MoggiePurrs – Bev was my first blogging buddy and these flowers are my way of saying thank you for sticking with me and for all the marvellous support 🙂
Tracy Lee Karner – Flowers to say ‘Get Well Soon’…
Jennifer K. Marsh – A field of flowers Jenny Jen Jen for blue skies and twilight…
Imelda – Because she ‘longs to see a field of flowers’…
Mich – A field of flowers for her dream of her life in France…
Sonny Days – Flowers for a wonderful mom to her autistic son
Living with Shadows – A woman who finally feels she knows who she is, sharing the shadows from her life. I applaud her courage with these beautiful flowers.

Many congratulations to you all!

Posted in Awards | Tagged Awesome Blossom Award, Field of Flowers Award, thank you, The Linda Mad Hatter Jester's Award | 54 Comments

Shining a Light in a Dark World – The Lighthouse Award

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

Lighthouse at Watchett Harbour, Somerset
(c) copyright Sherri Matthews 2013

The memories of a glorious day by the sea are still with me as I find myself humming along to a certain little ditty; you know the one don’t you, something about marrying a lighthouse keeper and living by the sea? There, now you won’t be able to stop humming it either.

Lighthouses are on my mind, obviously. There isn’t one at West Bay but seeing all the storm damage firsthand made me think of all those lighthouses along the coastline of our poor, battered Isle which must have given such comfort to those out at sea at such perilous times.

There is another reason that I am in a ‘lighthouse’ state of mind which I will go on to explain shortly.

Firstly however, and I am rather embarrassed about this, I am very sorry that it has taken me so long to get this post out (didn’t happen yesterday, WordPress gremlins on the march again). Actually, this is the first of a set of three awards posts, all to follow one after the other.

This is because I have been nominated for an amazing selection of beautiful awards (since Christmas) for which I am extremely thankful and which leaves me so very humbled but I love to be in the rather wonderful position of being able to share this incredibly generous bounty of treasure with as many of you as I can.

Besides, what better time than the present to hand out some awards? Time for some brightness and cheer, time to celebrate. After all, the Olympics are in full swing, we have had the BAFTA’s and The Academy Awards are coming soon so it must be award season.

Let’s start now.

Blogging, as I have said many times before, has brought with it a whole new community of friends from all over the world who support, encourage and inspire me and many others greatly. In so doing, they help lighten the load by shining their unique brand of love and care into the darkness.

In turn, my hope has always been that through sharing my thoughts, stories and photographs here with you I have been able to send a little of that same light right back at you. What better way to illustrate this than with the enduring image conjured up in our minds when we think of a Lighthouse with its comforting beacon of guiding light beaming out into the wild, dark night?

So when my lovely friend Irene from Reflections and Nightmares – Irene A Waters nominated me for The Lighthouse Award with the words: ‘A blog which brings light into a dark world’ I was thrilled, incredibly humbled and honoured that she should consider me for such a beautiful award. Thank you so much Irene for thinking of me in this way, I am truly grateful 🙂

Irene’s blog is a delight to visit, packed full of her wonderful stories, both memoir and fiction, haiku poems and other writing challenges as well as her incredible photographs from her many adventures of a life well lived and travelled, and still doing so! Do take a look at her blog and you will see what I mean.

The rules and guidelines for The Lighthouse Award are:

Display the Award logo on your blog
Write a post and link back to the blogger who nominated you
Inform your nominees of their nominations
Share three ways that you like to help people
There is no limit to the number of people you can nominate

Three ways I like to help people? Helping others begins in the heart and in the home I believe and so how to list three distinct ways? I can’t. I simply hope that in my every day life I can be as helpful to others as I can be. Even when I don’t feel like it.

Now for the hard part. Who to nominate? Whose blogs bring light into a dark world? I can think of so many but I eventually decided to nominate those who have impacted me by shining there unique light into my darkness in a very personal way. I wanted to take the time to say something special about each of them.

My 9 truly inspirational nominees for The Lighthouse Award are:

1. Steve over at iChristian – Steve lost his vision at the age of 25 but refused to be beaten. He learnt to play the drums and guitar, became a ‘blind photographer’ and married his beautiful wife Sarah. Today he shares his incredible story, faith, ministry and gorgeous photographs on his blog. Steve is a great friend to me, having found my blog early on in my blogging journey. He is my inspiration, a true shining light in the darkness of lost hope and despair for so many and living proof that, as he quotes on his ‘About’ page:

“You don’t need sight to see, you need vision“

“I strongly believe that Disability doesn’t have to mean inability or lack of creative talent!”

2. Maria at Lost in the Labyrinth – Maria writes her powerful, honest and truly poetic blog, sharing her personal challenges, struggles and victories unique to someone living with Asperger’s Syndrome. Maria is only a couple of years older than Aspie D and she and I have forged a strong friendship through our shared struggles from ‘both sides of the coin’. She shines her light into the black days of those who also live with ASD and on a very personal level for me as a mum as she never fails to remind me that I am doing alright even when I feel that I am doing it all so very wrong.

3. Steven at moodsaplenty – Steven is a great pal of mine and he and I share a good deal of silly banter as some of you may have read but it isn’t all fun and games. Steven suffers from bipolar disorder and I want to give this award to him because he never shies away from sharing on his blog the hard-hitting reality of the way this disorder heavily impacts him on a daily basis. In this way, he shines his very personal light into the dark world of mental illness and I have nothing but the deepest admiration for him for doing so.

4. Bev at moggiepurrs – Bev’s blog is all about cats and her love of all cats, the care of them, every aspect of a cat’s life in fact, domestic or not. She shares stories from her work at her local cat shelter, and the sad reality of the plight of strays and unwanted cats, so shining her light on the importance of responsible cat ownership. Bev never shies away from hard-hitting subjects such as declawing. She takes a very firm stand that this barbaric act should be made illegal in the States where it is still practiced by certain Vets. Not only that, but Bev is an all-round lovely lady and friend, always ready to help with any blogging questions and I can honestly say that my blog wouldn’t be the same without her.

5. Jennifer at Chopping Potatoes – Jennifer is another blogging friend who I’m proud to have known since my early blogging days. She is a writer who has battled postpartum depression after the birth of her third child and she has written many excellent articles about her personal struggle with this debilitating mental health issue on her blog. I would like to nominate Jennifer for this award because she has helped many who have suffered in the same way by shining her light into this excruciating darkness.

6. Michael (‘Nav’) at The Mirror – Nav is a great guy who has become a really great friend. He shares his writing journey with us as he prepares to publish his first book, but not just any book. This book is about a corrupt system that saw his children turned against him during his ‘divorce from hell’. Nav doesn’t pull any punches and by writing his book he hopes to shine his light into the black hole of despair that fathers find themselves so often sinking into when they are deprived of their children and their love.

7. Michelle at Rising Woman – I would like to nominate my friend Michelle for this award because she shines her light into the abyss of alcoholism with all its pain and suffering and by doing so, brings hope to countless others. She is one of the most courageous women I know, sharing as she does in her take-no-prisoners style of writing about her nine years and counting of sobriety, real enough to know that addiction never goes away and describing herself as a ‘non-practicing alcoholic’. She is a published author, wife and mother and she is also a cancer survivor. Michelle found my blog when I was a very new blogger and has never left. In Michelle I see the hope and the possibility that a precious life can be saved from the all-consuming grip of alcoholism. In her I see what I once believed I would see in my dad but was not to be.

8. Susan at Susan Irene Fox – Susan is a gem of a lady with a heart of gold and friendship who has done nothing but encourage and support me and many others. She shares her unique and very personal story on her blog through her faith-filled ministry which shines with the force of forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, hope and love. Susan’s light shines in a world that desperately needs strong, courageous women like her, a woman with a tender and gracious heart and a true love and desire to help others.

9. Alana Munro – Alana is a new blogging friend. She is a published author and blogger who supports and inspires others as she shares her writing, blogging and marketing journey but she also shines her light into the dark world of depression by writing about the way it is so often incorrectly perceived. In this way, she does indeed support and inspire many, me included.

My deepest thanks go out to every one of you and many congratulations on your nominations, which I sincerely hope you will accept as you deserve it.

Keep shining your light into the darkness and this world
will be the better for it.

Posted in Awards | Tagged Alcoholism, Awards, Bipolar, Blogging, cats, depression, Friends, Friendship, hope, Lighthouse Photo, love, Postpartum Depression, The Lighthouse Award | 48 Comments

The Calm After The Storm – A Sunny Reprieve for Somerset

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

With Valentine’s Day behind us, and I do hope that you all had a truly wonderful celebration, here it is Monday again, the start of another week, and I was expecting to post my usual Monday weekly photo challenge but once again my plans have changed.

So what’s new pussy cat? Well, for one thing, for those of us living here in the West Country of a very storm battered Britain, Valentine’s Day turned into a very stormy Valentine’s night. ‘Storm Carnage’ was the headline I read in a Saturday newspaper if that gives you an idea.

This was the worst storm yet and definitely not what Somerset, nor the entire south coast of Britain needed. All in all, up to 22 severe flood warnings were in place (this level signifies a danger to life) stretching from coastal communities all along the south from Cornwall, across to Brighton and Hove and up to the Thames Valley and to parts of Hampshire and Gloucester where rivers are at their highest levels for decades.

The wind howled and thumped against our homes (but then we are getting used to that so we don’t pay much notice now) and the rain lashed down on our windows and doors but we were cozily tucked up inside, enjoying a lovely ‘dine-in’ M&S meal (that is, starter, main, side-dish, bottle of Cava, dessert and chocolates, all for a cool £20) and then we enjoyed watching the Olympics.

We were very grateful to be safe and sound but wondered about all those poor folk whose homes have already been flooded and were facing even more. They woke up on Saturday to their own personal nightmare.

Having said that, when I was a little girl our home in Surrey flooded one year and I have a memory of slopping about downstairs in my wellie boots with water up to my knees, but that’s another story.

The next morning brought with it more wind and rain to a lesser degree until at last, as the day drew on, the storm itself ran out of steam and as if fed up with causing so much havoc , and if not a little bored by now, decided to pack up its things and leave. Good riddance!

Then, by Sunday, a very strange thing happened. Very strange indeed. We awoke to clear, blue skies, birds singing from the half-standing trees and not a breath of wind. It was calm and unseasonably warm too. When I say warm, I don’t mean tropical, I mean it wasn’t freezing cold as one would expect for February in Britain.

To top it off, a strange, orange light beamed down on us from the sky. We almost forgot what it was but quickly remembered our old friend The Sun who had somehow managed to find his hat, no thanks to the wild winds, and had placed it firmly back on his head. The Sun had come out to play and in no uncertain terms, was urging us to do the same.

So we did. This called for a celebration, a walk in the fresh air, an escape from our confines. We decided to take a drive to West Bay which is only a forty-five minute drive from where we live. A walk along the beach was just what the doctor ordered.

West Bay is in fact in Dorset but we live right on the border of Somerset and Dorset so it makes no difference to us. Upon arrival and finding the car park strewn with tree parts and debris left behind by the storm we were not surprised to find the place packed out as we were obviously not the only ones desperate to get out and about. Still, we paid our parking (very reasonable I might add, £1.70 for the entire day) and headed down first to the harbour and then to the beach.

Harbour at West Bay, Dorset
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

West Bay
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

West Bay Harbour, Dorset
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Tide coming in at West Bay Harbour
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Crab Pots, West Bay
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

West Bay is nestled just south of the town of Bridport and is known as ‘The Golden Gateway to the Dorset Jurassic Coast’. The Jurassic Coast, part of The Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Sight, spans 95 miles of stunning coastline giving evidence of earth’s glorious history with rocks dating back as far as 185 million years. West Bay is part of this coastline and with its magnificent sandstone cliffs is a truly spectacular beach to visit.

It also has a working fishing harbour which is surrounded by tea shops, waterside pubs and cafes and of course ice cream huts, and there were long queues for ice creams let me tell you! I would imagine that vendors all along the great British southern coast were singing the weather’s praises yesterday.

Hard to believe that we went from this:

View from my car window during the storm.
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

To this in just two days:

Sunday lunch outside by the beach in February , West Bay
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

What’s this? A holiday snap of a lazy lunch taken while sitting outside on a terrace or a patio in the Med perhaps? No. This was our lunch yesterday as eaten sitting outside on a bench by the sandy shore on a sunny Sunday in February in West Bay. And no, I am not one of those people who take photos of my meals wherever I go, just in case you were wondering, but how could I pass this moment up and not record it for posterity?

Be warned though. There are thieves lurking about here. Should you ever decide to visit West Bay, make sure to hold on to your valuable items as you never know who might try to steal them away.

West Bay
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

After lunch, we headed out to the beach.

West Bay Beach
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

West Bay after Storm Damage Feb 2014 (15)

West Bay Beach
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Walking along the beach we noticed right away the collapse along one part of the cliff. Not surprising considering the storms. I was stunned, however, when quickly scanning Sunday’s paper earlier this morning (always a day behind, as per) to see mention of West Bay, together with a photo not too dissimilar to mine, that this damage had only happened on Valentine’s night.

Here is my photo with hubby standing in the distance to help gain perspective of the sheer size of these magnificent, if not dangerous, cliffs.

Storm damage to cliff face, West Bay
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Another little bit of trivia: An excellent BBC drama called Broadchurch which I for one was glued to last summer, was filmed, in part, at West Bay. I had actually forgotten this until reading this in the newspaper and I do remember seeing the huge sandstone cliffs in the background of some of the scenes now that I think about it.

As we turned away from the beach and back towards the other side of the harbour we saw for the first time the extent of the damage caused by the recent storm surges. On Sunday the sea, while looking very murky and churned up, had receded as normal but we realised that the waves must have come up so high as evidenced by the damage to these walls.

Taking a walk up towards the coastal path, I was able to take this shot. See the edge of the waves to the right along the beach? This is normal. Now look to the left of the photo and you will see the white buildings (beach-side holiday apartments) on the other side of the car park (which is closed off and covered in gravel and debris). That is how high the waves reached, right up the edge of those apartments:

The walls in front of those apartments should like this:

This is what they look like now:

Storm damaged wall at West Bay
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

We were also shocked to see how high driftwood and debris from the sea came right up against the sea walls. We have never seen anything like it:

Driftwood at West Bay
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

Is that a meerkat peeking out? No, just more driftwood!
(c)Sherri Matthews 2014

It was one of the most rejuvenating days out we have spent for a very long time and we were so grateful. It has really made me stop and think about this whole business of climate change though. Our very windy and stormy Isle needs to step up to the plate if this is the kind of weather we can expect as typical, otherwise we will be in for far worse trouble down the line.

For now, it is back to rain and wind today in Somerset but we will always have yesterday…

This has replaced my weekly photo challenge post which I will do either tomorrow or Wednesday. I have also been working on a couple of award posts (very late, sorry!) which will follow this post directly, or at least a bit later on today. So, hope you don’t mind but I will be bombarding you with posts this week. You know what it’s like over here at my summerhouse – you never know what you’re going to get, but I hope you enjoyed this little interlude anyway! I’ll see you all again very soon. After all, as I always say:

Watch this space 🙂

Posted in Current Affairs, Nature & Wildlife, Photos | Tagged Britain, Current Affairs, Dorset, Flooding, Nature & Wildlife, Photos of beach, Somerset, Storm Damage, Storm Surges, Storms, West Bay | 72 Comments

A Lingering Look at Windows: Parisian Windows for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Sherri Matthews

Well, I missed yesterday, unable to get my post out (no excuses, same old same old) but then I realised that I have the perfect excuse since the theme this week over at A Lingering Look at Windows Week #7 is ‘Valentine’s Edition’ and today is Valentine’s Day, so here it is!

Thinking about this romantic theme I was stumped at first but then it came to me. Several years ago, Hubby took me to Paris, and what better city in the world to associate with all things romantic, and therefore for Valentine’s Day? After all, isn’t Paris known as the City of Love?

As a girl I had taken a few school trips to France but we only went as far as Calais and the sights and sounds of the fish markets there didn’t exactly excite me. The idea was that we could practice our French in the shops when we bought our souvenirs but since the shopkeepers there could speak English they spared us the embarrassment and told us not to bother. C’est la vie!

When I returned to the UK in 2003 after living in California for almost 20 years I was amazed at how popular holidays in France had become for my fellow Brits. Not only that but it seemed that everybody I met knew somebody else who had moved there and were living their dream. I couldn’t understand it, my only experience of France being those smelly fish markets but then I had never been to rural France.

When friends of ours offered for us to stay with them at their farmhouse in the Dordogne region of France a couple of years ago we jumped at the chance and it was during that visit that I at last understood the love affair. The acres and acres of sunflower fields set against clear, blue skies, the open air and the peace and quiet. Like Britain 50 years’ ago so the saying goes, and it’s true.

Visiting Paris is, of course, a very different but just as spectacular an experience. We made the trip by Eurostar from St Pancras station in London right after its refurbishment and opening as an international station in November, 2007 (the original St Pancras station was opened in 1868 and needed work!)

Half the fun was sitting upstairs in the rather swish Champagne Bar. Nothing like knocking back a glass or two of bubbly with a plate of smoked salmon as its side-kick before embarking on what would be for me the train trip of a lifetime. This is because I had always said that no-way no-how would I ever travel to France via a tunnel right underneath the English Channel. As it turned out, I hardly noticed. The bubbly helped.

What is so amazing is that it takes just over two hours by Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris’s Gare du Nord. Now that is travelling! The only problem for us was that when we arrived in the early evening we discovered that Paris was in the grip of two things: A public transportation strike (no Metro, no buses) and an icy chill which arrived just about the same time as we did, blasting its way across the region.

This meant that we had to wait for three hours in bitter cold for a taxi to take us to our hotel. An American who travelled frequently between Paris, New York and London on business shared our taxi with us and we had a lovely chat. He ended up paying our fare. The random kindness of folk like this never gets forgotten.

View from the River Seine - Parisien Windows (c) Sherri Matthews 2014

View from the River Seine – Parisian Windows
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

When we pulled up to our hotel it was surrounded by scaffolding. The taxi driver didn’t speak any English but although our French is circumspect, we managed to ascertain that he was asking us if we were sure this was the right place. I was asking Hubby the same thing since he had booked it.

When we stumbled into the lobby we were met by the French version of Basil Fawlty (he was barking in other words). He led us up the narrow, winding stair case (the lift was broken) to our tiny but delightfully cosy and perfectly Parisian room at the very top.

The first thing we did was to take off our shoes and stand over the hot water pipes we discovered were running beneath our feet through the flooring and there we stood until we thawed out. It was heavenly. You can’t get more romantic than that.

Building on Avenue George V, Paris
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014

This building on Avenue George V had some very strange and unusual windows. I wondered what the view would be like? As it turned out, not much. Look closer. These are not windows at all but murals painted on the side of a building under renovation. Had me fooled!

Happy Valentine’s Day!