Author: Chatter

How would you describe yourself to someone?

We are all of course unique, unless you are an identical twin and even then there are probably qualities unique to each twin.

So besides my uniqueness I am an outgoing, liberal, woke lady of 75, married, with two children and four grandchildren.

I don’t indulge fools gladly and there are a lot about.

I’m outgoing and kind, interested in everything going on around me, both locally and globally. I interact on Twitter and write a diary on Facebook every day.

I’ve married across the religious divide in Northern Ireland during the troubles and written about it both here on Chatter and in a video blog on YouTube. So I’m not a shrinking violet.

I’m a good and faithful friend and will be there if you are having a tough time.

I’m obviously not very modest or I wouldn’t be saying so many nice things about my self.

Physically I’m overweight despite walking at least 2 miles a day but I’m reasonably healthy and accepting that I’m never going to be slim again.

I’m very much consumed with American politics and follow it closely. So an anti- trumper and can’t believe some Americans would actually entertain voting for him.

So that’s me in a nutshell!

What’s the story behind your nickname?

Don’t have one, never had one, unlikely I’ll ever have one.

What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?

Stratagise : To devise a strategy or course of action.

I really don’t have any strategies about my health and well-being. I just go on instinct and the numerous tablets I take every day and so far I’m not doing too badly.

I don’t drink alcohol, not because I disapprove but because I can’t stand the taste. To me it’s like drinking medicine straight from the bottle. I also hate the taste of coffee so I stick to tea.

I know I should drink more water and I do when I remember.

I have grandchildren ranging from 16 to 24 and they keep me young mentally, which in my opinion helps with my physical condition.

I walk at least 2 miles a day and recently completed 100k walk during the month of June for Dementia UK and raised over £1000 pounds.

I go to bed late and stay in bed late doing most of my homework and gardening in the afternoon, then watch tv in the evenings.

So no strategies just playing it by ear and using common sense.

What are your future travel plans?

I have no future travel plans.

I haven’t had a holiday in over 20 years and that is due to choice.

I traveled when I was younger but holidays usually ended up a disaster. I couldn’t wait to get home again and get into my own cosy bed, in my safe place, home.

I look at travellers now, caught up in queues at airports, cancellation of flights, extreme weather conditions and I think to myself, I’m lucky to be here at home, no hassle and able to go outdoors in moderate temperatures. Ok bloody cold !

I watch my children and grandchildren jet off to Bali and Greece and other far flung places and I worry that they will be safe.

So no I have no future travel plans other than to the great beyond but hope that I don’t need to pack my case just yet.

What would you change about modern society?

For every generation since the 1600’s I’m pretty sure they thought they lived in a modern society. From that point on things began to change, new discoveries were made, great advances in science, discovery of new continents and of course, the printing press which was a game changer.

I’ve lived in both the mid twentieth century and we are now a quarter of the way into the 21st Century.

So I’ve lived in a time back in the fifties where many of the things we now take for granted were only science fiction and not science facts.

If I had know then what I know now I would have been very wary of the World Wide Web.

I feel it has been the cause of many of today’s problems. Rumours spread around the world quickly, disinformation is rife and governments are infiltrated by those out to wreck the world order. Face to face friendships have been replaced by texts, FaceTime and emails. No wonder there are people in our modern world who feel lonely and isolated and Mental health is taking its toll.

So if I could change anything, even knowing that there are huge benefits, the internet would be one of the things I would change. I feel the danger of the internet and our increasing reliance on AI outweighs the benefits.

What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?

While I’ve enjoyed playing whist in the past, no one plays it anymore. Whist is a strategy card game where it is important to remember the cards already played. Similar to Bridge.

Whist drives used to be very popular community events in the local church hall when I was younger but the older people who knew how to play the game passed on and the younger people became engrossed in video games.

So I joined the online games and for the last 13 years I’ve played ‘Word with Friends’ with friends from all over the world. Keeps my mind sharp and I even discover words that I haven’t come across before. For those who haven’t heard of it, think of Scrabble but slightly different rules.

Opponents come and go so it’s always a challenge to win as many games as possible.

As long as gaming and games don’t take over your life they are great way of keeping the brain active especially at my age.

What foods would you like to make?

None if I had my way and I had a personal chef to do it for me.

I hate food shopping; I hate having to decide what to eat for dinner and I despise all cooking programmes that show me that I’m not a very good or imaginative cook.

I’m happy with my roast Chicken dinners, my special rice pudding, my special trifle and I’m happy with my fruit loaf and scones.

I do like Christmas food but we tend to go to out to family now so I can put my feet up and enjoy someone else doing the cooking.

When I watch, which is rarely) cookery programmes, I can’t help but wonder how many kitchens have the ingredients to actually make one of their dishes. How do they come up with the ideas and how expensive a dish would be.

So I’ve no ambitions to be anything other than a simple homely cook.

There ‘s always a take away nearby or a nice restaurant if I do fancy a change.

Dogs or cats?

I’ve never had a cat so I can’t really speak in favour or against, although I must add I don’t like the way cats look at you and I’ve always be slightly scared when I’ve come across one.

We don’t have a dog but we have four granddoggies.

Olly, Poppy, Luna and Ivy.

We have become boarding kennels as over the year as the family head off on breaks, some long, some short and the Allan kennels are much cheaper than the alternative.

Luckily the dogs are happy coming to us and settle down very quickly, apart from one ( Ivy) who will only settle down to sleep in her own home. So many nights of no sleep ensue as she won’t settle resulting with in two tired pensioners in need of a good nights sleep.

On the other hand Luna heads up to the spare bedroom. She settles down on the bed and that’s her until Gordon gets his face licked around 8 and then she settles down beside him for another doze.

Poppy ( aged 16) sleeps on the floor beside the bed and doesn’t move. I sometimes check to see she is still alive.

Olly is ..well Olly. A mad dog who will bring a leaf and lay it at your feet for you to play fetch. Too much for us to handle so he goes to proper kennels.

They all have their individual personalities and we love to see them coming but after a week we are also glad to see them going.

Which activities make you lose track of time?

What is time?

: the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues :

I must admit that there are few occasions that make me lose track of time. Maybe because my day is a bit like ground hog day in that every day is much the same.

However, social media is my downfall. Facebook, Twitter (X) and other social media sites are like a rabbit hole. Click on one story or tweet and that leads you to another and another and ….

I like to follow up replies to posts. There you can gauge what the consensus is on any topic or breaking story.

Before I know it an hour has passed and I have lost all sense of time.

Otherwise I’m quite time conscious. Meals at the same times. Walk same time most days and I like to be on time for appointments so I really don’t lose track of time on too many occasions

You can follow me on @apallan on Twitter.

What bothers you and why?

‘Doesn’t bother me’ is a well worn phrase but I think people are too polite to say when things really do bother them. I’ll try to keep to trivial things cause life is too serious at the moment and we need a bit of levity.

It bothers me that even though the toilets in my house have easy close lids, many don’t close the lid.

It bothers me that when grandkids visit they take all my diet cokes and leave empty tins sitting around

It bothers me the way my husband fills the dishwasher but I hold my tongue ( most times) and say nothing.

It bothers me that drivers have no problem parking on the pavements so close to the hedges that I have to go on the road to pass.

It bothers me that dog owners lift their dog poo and then throw it in the nearest hedge.

It bothers me that dog owners ignore signs that say ‘dogs should be kept on a lead at all times.’

It bothers me that football gets so much attention and that losing can result in domestic violence. Ok, thats a serious one.

It bothers me that some citizens of the USA can be stupid enough to think that the orange one would make a good President!

Finally it bothers me that so many things bother me and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. 😜