Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent is my hero . . .

Susan Boyle. Not pretty, not slim, not young (48 years old), unmarried, never had a date, never been kissed, unemployed, an object of small-town ridicule (Scotland), and dressed like a frump. The entire audience was ready to boo her off the stage in a British talent search before she even started.
She lives with her cat Pebbles and is the youngest of 9 children in a musical family. Her mom died 2 years ago. What a pity...she would have been so proud!

Britain’s Got Talent rising star Susan Boyle has revealed to The Mirror that she hated how she looked on Saturday night’s show. Susan, 48 told the newspaper: “They say that television makes you look fat and it certainly did. “I looked like a garage. It was mortifying to see and a bit of a shock. I didn’t realise I could reduce people to tears and I hope it wasn’t because of that.” (She's funny too!)

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

The amazing Susan Boyle was such a huge hit on Saturday night’s Britain’s Got Talent show that she is said to have offers of work pouring in already.

Susan shocked the nation when she ambled onto stage and belted out ‘I Dream A Dream’ from Les Miserables. The video of her performance has racked up more than seven million views on YouTube and The Sun reports that Simon Cowell will now offer her a record deal whether she wins the show or not.

Piers Morgan told the newspaper: “As I watched Susan’s performance back, I texted Simon in Hollywood: ‘My god, she was even better than I remembered — she’s unbelievable’.

WAY TO GO, SUSAN! Everybody loves an underdog and we certainly love you!

Life's Little Instruction Book, pages 68 + 69 . . .

...To be continued...

One year in 40 seconds [video] from snow to summer and back . . .

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

Images from the same spot through one entire year. Audio captured at the same place.
His last video was entitled: One year in 2 minutes.
Was it too long...getting too few viewers?
Was the same thing accomplished in 40 seconds?
Methinks more people would watch the 40-second one. A sign of the times?

Oranges are so interesting . . .

• In Afghanistan, oranges are customarily used as a seasoning at the dinner table; oranges are squeezed over the food to help cut grease.


• In Jamaica, people clean their floors with an orange cut in half; mechanics there use oranges to clean away grease and oil.


• Spain has over 35,000,000 orange trees.


• In Switzerland, oranges are sometimes served smothered with sugar and whipped cream.


• Europeans sometimes eat oranges with knives and forks.


• It wasn’t until after the Second World War that commercial orange-juice concentrate became available in America.


• The taste and aroma of oranges differ by season, county, state, and country, and even in the position in which it grew on the tree.


• The outside color of an orange has no absolute correlation with the maturity of the fruit and juice inside.


• Oranges were used in cosmetics by ladies of the French court in the 17th-century.


• The navel orange is one of the oldest varieties of oranges.


• About 25 billion oranges are typically grown in the United States each year.


• Many orange varieties float when placed in water; very sweet varieties, however, sink to the bottom.


• In the 19th-century orange blossoms were regularly shipped to Paris in salted barrels, because no French bride wanted to be married without wearing or holding them.


• Lightning kills as many orange trees as any disease.


• 17th-century Frenchmen liked to pour orange juice over their roasted chestnuts.

Orange you glad I'm finished? More facts about oranges.

Photo: Bowl of oranges in an antique Georgian glass bowl in my kitchen.

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds."

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Easter Sunday + a few photos . . .

I took an early morning walk with my sweetheart (Webster) and it it was pretty chilly. The water in the birdbath was frozen and my hands were cold. The daffodils are blooming and the native barberry bushes are getting green. The skunk cabbage is getting tall too. Some of the trees are starting to bud and some are not. It's still pretty gray out there.

Have a great Easter whatever you do. I am going to put my ham in the oven as soon as I have another cup of hot coffee. Has anyone else heard the weatherman say that Easter is colder than Christmas? I'm trying to think back to what I wore when I went out to deliver some gifts to nearby friends and I'm remembering needlepoint shoes with no socks...so maybe he's right!

Life's Little Instruction Book, pages 66 + 67 . . .

...To be continued...

Vintage Easter Postcards . . .

These vintage Easter postcards brought back fond childhood memories. I always got several in the mail each year from out of town relatives. Now we send eCards.

This one is my favorite! Which is yours?

My mother used to make new outfits for me (and my brother) until I got old enough to sew my own. After that I can remember being up late the night before putting the finishing touches on my creation and being somewhat sleepy in church on Easter Sunday. I was an expert seamstress from a young age and my clothes never looked homemade. I don't sew much now but I sometimes dream about it. Have a wonderful Good Friday and a great Easter (and Passover) weekend. The weather is supposed to be nice here. ♥Rosemary

flickr images

Make time to pamper yourself today . . .

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. Make time today for a little pampering to ensure that you'll be beautiful.

Images

Beatrix Potter Easter Eggs + Video . . .

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

Enjoy this wonderful video even though it's about mice and not bunnies.

Hedgehog pincushion + Beatrix Potter | Perfect Day + Peter Rabbit BBC Videos

I know, I know, I wrote about this fantastic hedgehog pincushion yesterday. I think this is a better picture so that you can appreciate his real beauty. I found a wonderful video on YouTube that shows him in real life in a few shots. I don't know how I could possibly have missed this television series.

It was produced by the BBC and was called: The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends. One of my readers told me about it in a comment on one of my previous posts about Beatrix Potter. No, this is not a blog about Miss Potter...she just keeps coming up lately for some reason.

Anyway...this video is in two parts. Let me know if you like it.

The show's theme song 'Perfect Day' is also on YouTube. It is hauntingly beautiful and I recommend it highly. Here's hoping today is your perfect day!

You will enjoy the DVD boxed set The Beatrix Potter Collection based on the BBC Series


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