Be eccentric now! No. 21.

My zombie alter ego!

Earlier this year I wrote an outraged response to an article in the Reader's Digest on the sorts of activities we should be doing as we get older. Reading this article I discovered that the activities that I currently engage in makes me fall into the 20-30 year old age group. At the same time I'd come a cross a list of 42 lessons to live by compiled by a woman in her 90's. I knew which set of rules I wanted  to follow!

I know that traditionally people take time at the end of the year to look back and reflect on how things have been and also make some decisions about any changes, if any, they want to make in the New Year. I've decided to get ahead of the game and do this now. Re-reading this blog I decided to review the list to see how I was doing in terms of following it. Some of the points are quite deep, like point 10 which says, ' make peace with your past so it won't screw up your present'. I've done quite a lot of that in the past few years but I think that this is one I'll probably be working on for the rest of my life! Unless my life suddenly becomes perfect and things stop going wrong or I stop making mistakes, that is. My mission statement says that  'I want to prove that life can still be an adventure'. This year has had its challenges, but that doesn't mean that I can't have a bit of fun.

This year we decided to treat ourselves and booked a cruise, 8 nights aboard the Grandeur of the Seas, sailing from Baltimore down to Nassau in the Bahamas, stopping at Port Canaveral on the way down and Key West on the way back. I was really ready for this holiday and pictured days sunning myself on deck when we were at sea or on some exotic beach with white sand with the clear blue waters of the ocean gently lapping the shore, lulling me into a sense of calm and tranquility. I should have known better!

As we set sail from Baltimore, my hubby and I watched from the warmth and shelter of the Viking Crown lounge as the entertainment crew and a few brave (or foolish), souls battled the cold and high wind trying to dance beside the pool. Never mind, I thought to myself, we're sailing south, things are bound to improve!

The next day proved to be no better. The temperature did improve slightly, but the winds were so strong it was safer and warmer to stay inside. Fortunately, one of the great things about cruising is that there is always something to do. So what did I, a 'lady of a certain age' choose to do? Play bingo? Try the quiz in the Schooner bar or even shop? Nope! I decided to attend a session where we could learn how to do a shortened version of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' dance! Believe it or not, although there were a few young people, I wasn't the only person my era that attended this class, both male and female. If the young dancers of the ship's crew were dismayed by this, they certainly didn't show it. Over the week we had precisely 4 x 30 minute sessions gradually being taught the routine. The last session being at 2 pm on the last full day at sea. Then at 7.30 that evening we performed the dance to a packed audience of guests and crew in the Centrum of the ship.

For those of you unfamiliar with cruise ships. The Centrum is a bar/lounge area, in this case on deck 4 , which can be looked down upon from balconies from several decks above. An hour before the performance we gathered to have our hair teased, back combed and sprayed and our faces transformed to look like zombies. Despite our nervousness, there was a great sense of excitement as we looked out and watched as the Centrum and balconies above began to fill to capacity.

Then we were on! It was over really quickly. Apart from the entertainment crew and a couple of young ones who took part, it wasn't the most polished performance. But everyone received it as the bit of fun it was meant to be.  The audience went wild, clapping and cheering and as we left the dance floor people were congratulating us on our performance. For any Strictly fans reading this, it was more a 'Dave the Hairy Biker' entertaining performance, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. I know I did. No. 21 on the list I mentioned at the beginning of this blog is: 'Be eccentric'. Well what could be more eccentric than a 'lady of a certain age' learning and performing Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' dance on a cruise ship.

We seemed to spend the week at sea chasing or out running high winds which resulted in changes to the itinerary and the cancellation of a few excursions. One particular evening it was so choppy it was like being in a roller coaster laying in bed. No it wasn't the sunbathing, relaxing holiday I'd imagined, but it was certainly fun, with the Thriller performance being the highlight and a memory that in the future will always bring a smile to my face.

But no. 39 on the list really caught my eye! 'The best is yet to come!' I'll happily take that one on board. During the Captain's welcome aboard party, an announcement was made that one of the guests was celebrating his One Hundred and Second birthday! Now that's something to aspire too! Goodness knows what I'll be doing this time next year, but if I can believe this  and live  each day with this expectation,that the best is yet to come,  it should help get through the long cold days and dark night's of winter. Meanwhile if you fancy a laugh I've added the link to the Thriller performance on you tube. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tEBAI0Tjxc&feature=youtu.be ©

A Cautionary tale

The Little Hedgehog.

It was the end of Summer. The nights were getting colder and longer. The trees were stretching their branches and shaking off their leaves as a snake rids itself of its old, dried skin ready for the new one to emerge. They did this in the knowledge that, after the long sleep of winter there would be new life to look forward too. The ground became blanketed with the reddish, yellowish, brownish carpet of leaves that rustled and crunched under the feet of the children as they gathered up sticks and fallen branches for the bonfire. They laughed and sang, excited at the prospect of the glowing fire and their mouths watered in anticipation of the marshmallows that they would be toasting in its heat.

Deep in the wood, cowering under the hollowed out root of an old oak tree, was a little hedgehog. He wasn't afraid. After all, the noise sounded happy and not at all frightening. No, he was just confused. Everything was changing so quickly and he didn't understand why. He didn't understand why he felt so cold at night or why the ground felt so hard when he tried to forage for his supper. Even more strangely, all his friends seemed to have disappeared! For weeks beforehand he kept hearing this strange word 'hibernate' being mentioned. Somehow he sensed that he should instinctively know what it meant. But so far the meaning had eluded him.

Darkness fell. All the children had gone home and a sense of stillness and quietness had descended on the wood. The little hedgehog slowly uncurled himself from the ball of sleep that he had fallen into. He pushed his paws forward and like a cat stretched out his tiny limbs. Maybe if he investigated what it was that the children had been doing, he might find the answer to why everything was changing. It took some time because it was a long way to the edge of the woods and he had such little legs.

Finally he reached the edge of the wood. He was always very wary about venturing outside the safety of the wood. Especially after the incident with this enormous, hairy animal with four legs and an extremely wiggly thing at the back, which swooshed rapidly from side to side. If he hadn't instinctively rolled up into a ball when this monster had approached him at speed and sniffed him so hard, he was afraid that he would have been inhaled into the depths of the monster. He shuddered at the memory, but glancing around he could see that the coast was clear.

 Carefully, stopping every now and then to check that he was still alone, made his way in the direction that the children had gone. He found himself in a large clearing in the middle of which was as a mountain of wood that had been created out of the sticks and branches. It rose majestically up to the sky,  and how it didn't fall down was a mystery to the little hedgehog. Very gingerly he edged his way around the mountain. About halfway round he spotted a large gap in the pile. Tentatively he poked his head in. The gap seemed to be bigger on the inside. Feeling a rush of courage he proceeded to enter and found himself in a cosy little nook in this mountain of wood. It was so cosy and warm that he felt very sleepy and thought that he would curl up and have a little nap. After all there was no way that the big hairy monster would be able to get to him, surrounded as he was by all this wood! Little did he realise it, but he had by instinct settled down to await the coming of Spring by hibernating as generations of hedgehogs had done before him.

As he slept on, all the children from the day before arrived with their parents. They were excited and drooling at the thought of the marshmallows. Soon the fire would be lit and the sky would be alive with the explosions of the fireworks carefully guarded by the dads. The air was tense with excitement, yet still the little hedgehog slept on.

Bounding across the opening towards the bonfire leaped the big hairy monster of the little hedgehog's nightmare.It was in fact an old English Sheep dog. Racing around the bonfire he suddenly stopped by the gap where the little hedgehog had entered. He lifted his head and started barking excitedly, swooshing his tail and running up to his master and back again to the hole. "What is it boy? What's got you so worked up?" "Come here boy." But the dog continued to bark and push at the bonfire with the nose that had sniffed the little hedgehog. Eventually just as the the fire was about to be lit, the dog's master reached his gloved hand into the gap and with a look of astonishment on his face pulled out the little hedgehog. Still the little hedgehog slept on. Very gently the master wrapped him up in his scarf and determined to place him safely in a box of straw in his garage, to sleep out the long winter. The big, hairy monster was given the most enormous bone as a reward

Photo courtesy of: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://a-z-animals.com/media/animals/images/original/old_english_sheepdog2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://a-z-animals.com/animals/old-english-sheepdog/&h=600&w=733&sz=65&tbnid=toCaueS3EpzbEM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=154&zoom=1&usg=__dq4TxCWmOvnumz-AlTdkIoH_xmo=&docid=FWQiDQNAzQT4LM&sa=X&ei=ahV4Ut7ZDauX0QW86oGYCQ&ved=0CD8Q9QEwBg

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Car wars -- a polite notice!

Have you ever been in a situation where you've ended up taking on someone else's pet hate or obsession? I've recently discovered that I have!

We live in what should be a quiet road. The road itself is a dead-end leading to a local church and an old Manor house and farm. Our house is one of a row of terraced cottages which were originally built for the managers and workers of a local blanket factory now demolished with new houses where the factory used to exist. We don't have a garage and the front garden isn't large enough to park a car. This didn't bother us as there seemed to be plenty space on the road outside our house to park. Shortly after moving in we became acquainted with our next door neighbour, an older gentleman who kept 4 retired greyhounds. He was pleasant enough but we soon discovered that he has one main topic of conversation,cars parked in our street that are not owned by any of the residents. He's obsessed by it! He especially gets upset if they dare to park directly in front of his house.

Over the years he's been known to phone the police to report cars as being abandoned or stolen. He's had numerous arguments with the occupants of a rental property around the corner which doesn't have any parking of its own who've parked in our road. He's even reported another neighbour, a policeman, for illegally parking cars for sale on our street. He's constantly harassing the police about it but there's nothing they can do as it's a public highway. On one occasion a policeman told him to park really close to the cars and to persuade the rest of us to do the same so that the drivers would have to knock on the door to ask us to move and let them out. The idea being that we would get the chance to ask them politely to be more considerate of the residents when parking in future. I found this quite amusing and declined to do so. Over the years the whole topic of parking has become a frequent topic of conversation among all the residents of the street.

But gradually over time I've found myself starting to be a bit niggled by this. I've been smitten by the parking virus. It started one day when I came home from shopping and had to park outside one of the houses at the far end of the street. It was raining heavily and I had several bags of shopping to carry from the car to the house. By the time I'd finished I was wet, grumpy and fed up! And so the rot set in. Now if I arrive home and there's someone parked outside my house I glower at the car, constantly checking to see if it's gone yet. I must admit that I've not gone as far as parking so close to the car that they can't get out, but I did once put a 'polite notice' under the windscreen wipers of a car that was parked outside a neighbour's house, without moving, for over a week. In my defence it was the house of an elderly lady who has carers popping in several times a day, plus her daughter who is often laden with her mum's laundry or shopping, she even brings her mum all her meals.

This might sound like a bit of a rant, not to say a bit ridiculous, but this has been going on for several years now. 

So why have I chosen to write this now? For my sanity really! For the past week there's been a car parked outside my house. Every morning when I open my bedroom curtains there it is! I go out for the day and when I come home, it's still there. It's golden frame and vacant eyes mock me every time I look at it sitting there, in my space! Various scenarios have run through my head from acts of vandalism to doing as my neighbour has done in the past and reporting it to the police. I did place a 'polite notice' on it but removed it the next day. In town today I bumped into some neighbours and this car came up in conversation. These neighbours think that it has been abandoned as the driver's door isn't properly closed and it has an air of being dumped. Who knows? Perhaps I'll give it a couple more days and see if it has been reported stolen.

We're not being completely 'unpublic' spirited, (apologies if that's not a word). We realise that sometimes people will need to park here. However, at the end of the row of houses there's a large hedge with plenty of room for several cars to park along side it without inconveniencing anyone and all we ask is that people have some consideration for the residents and park there instead of in front of our houses. Is it too much to ask?

Downton Abbey at Cogges

Yew Tree farmyard, aka Cogges Manor Farm

Ever had to keep a secret so big, so exciting that you thought that you'd just burst. I have! But now I can reveal all.

A few months ago, 17th May to be precise, I was fortunate enough to be allowed to be on site at Cogges when some of the cast and crew of Downton Abbey came to do some filming. As I've already said, I was sworn to secrecy. a notice had been posted a few days earlier to inform people that the farm would be closed in the morning for filming. There was much speculation and as Downton was being filmed at the time in nearby Bampton, it was the hot favourite. I should have got an Oscar for my performance of keeping a neutral expression on my face so as not to give the game away.

The small wall attached to the larger wall isn't normally there.

For weeks before hand members of the film crew popped in from time to time to check things out and see what had to be done to turn a historical site in the 21st century into a setting in the early 20th century. The day before filming a wall appeared that isn't usually there. A temporary sheep pen was constructed on the grass in front of the stables and on the day of filming some of the sheep from the pastures beyond the woodland area were put in this pen. The old building that housed the toilets had a large security light on it and this was hidden by the addition of a wooden dovecot being built over it. The door to the upper loft of the stables has a hole in it and a hessian sack was draped over the railings in front of it to stop any of the 3 farm cats from sticking their head out and getting in on the action. One of the volunteers, Bob, was asked to be an extra and spent the morning walking around dressed as a 1920's farmer in tweed and wearing a flat cap.

Temporary sheep pen.

The day of filming arrived. Another volunteer and I had been asked to stand with the security guard at the entrance. The security guard was to stop any members of the public from entering and my friend and I had free entry vouchers to give to anyone who had travelled especially to visit Cogges that day. In practice we took it in turns to go into the farmyard to watch the action, such as it was.

 There was an awful lot of hanging about. If the sun went behind a cloud filming was stopped. If the sun came out filming was stopped to ensure of the continuity of the shot, which would be compromised by shadows. Then there were the planes from Brize Norton airbase that flew past at regular intervals.



At one point during one of these breaks,  I was in the office when the actor who plays Tom Branson came into the office to ask where the toilets were. I directed him back to the area where they'd just been filming. After he’d gone, one of my colleagues asked me why I hadn’t offered to show him the way. Now why didn’t I think of that. I had met him once before at Highclere Castle at the Help For Heroes fundraiser, but of course he wouldn't have remembered that. But he did leave this mature lady in a bit of a flutter.




Everyone that passed Cogges asked us if it was Downton Abbey that was being filmed. My friend and I said that we could only confirm that it was a costume drama. The security guard and film crew on the other hand were quite happy to confirm that it was indeed Downton! Around the other side of the site there is a white gate leading out to a public path and members of the public had stopped to watch some of the filming anyway. So much for keeping it a secret. But I had been told not to tell anyone and  I wasn't going to risk not being allowed on site if they ever come back to film again.

Lady Mary, Tom and Farm er Drewe.

Finally after about 4 hours of being on site they finished filming. A car drew up at the large green gate and the 3 actors emerged and were whisked away to Bampton to film some more scenes there. The film crew stayed behind gradually dismantling the set and removing all trace of the filming and the doors were opened for business as usual. Finally after weeks of agony not being able to tell anyone, the new series of Downton started and last Sunday, 20th October the scenes filmed at Cogges were finally shown. Poor Bob was edited out. But he was well paid, so he didn't mind. It was only a brief scene but who knows? Perhaps they'll need to film more scenes at Yew Tree farm. After all the Crawleys and the farmer, Mr Drew, are meant to be working in close partnership. Watch this space!

Photos with actors courtesy of Katja Partridge.

Additional photos by Isabel Johnstone.

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WOAPA perform at ABC 'Witney in Pink' event 2013

Pushing your boundaries.

'To have an extra-ordinary life you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Only ever regret what you wish you had done, but didn't.' unknown.

This was posted on my Open University Creative Writing Facebook group by one of my fellow students. It had a profound effect on me as this is how I'm trying to live my life at the moment; it's not always easy. But it's one of life's lovely quirks that sometimes things happen or come to your attention just when you need them to.

 I recently watched the Last night of the Proms on BBC television. I'll be honest here, it's not usually my thing. All that bobbing up and down and waving flags to the same songs that were sung last year and countless years before! I'm sure that it's one of those situations where being there makes all the difference. So why did I watch it? Out of curiosity, is the short answer. Earlier in the day I'd heard that the orchestra was to be conducted by a woman for the first time in the 118 year history of the Proms, and this intrigued me.She told the Today programme that she is "very, very proud, but also pretty surprised to be the first".

At the tender age of 9, Marin Alsop expressed a desire to learn to be a conductor, but her violin teacher told her that; 'girls don't do that!' But undeterred her parents went out and bought her a box of batons and told her that with practice there was nothing that she couldn't do. How wonderful to have such supportive parents. It took a while, but not only did Marin conduct the BBC orchestra at the proms, but she also has her own orchestra, the Säo Paulo Symphony orchestra and she's also the Director of the Baltimore Symphony orchestra. Not bad for a girl! 

 Coincidentally, Marin happens to be the same age as me, although I'm a few months older!  In an interview the day after her performance she said; 'Follow your passion, never give up.' So how can I fail to be inspired and challenged by this incredible woman.

Well that suits me! For the past couple of years I've been doing just that. Now the thing about doing this is, sometimes it works and, sometimes it doesn't. But if you're doing something that you're passionate about, it doesn't really matter if it goes wrong. We all know, we can learn from our mistakes, sometimes even more so than when things work out. I know that I seem to remember the things that have gone wrong more vividly than the ones that have worked out alright!

I'm also very fortunate in being surrounded by people who are very encouraging. Although I'm sure that my children must roll their eyes sometimes, wondering what mum's going to get up to next! But the way I see it, we only get one life. I've taken risks in the past simply because I didn't want to look back in the future and think, 'if only'. I wouldn't have my youngest son if I hadn't taken a risk.

So today's challenge to anyone who'd like to accept it is; take a risk; push your boundaries. If there's something that your passionate about but haven't pursued yet; go ahead and try. What's the worst thing that can happen? As I've already said, if it goes wrong you'll at least be able to learn from it and perhaps try again with the knowledge that you've acquired from your first attempt. 

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. Surround yourself with the people who will support and love you, no matter what. I can promise you one thing, it won't be boring.

Now what new challenge can I attempt today? 

photo courtesy of  http://inspirational-images.tumblr.com/image/56716548392

Part 4 in 'My Invisible Dragon Adventure' series.

Here at last is the the next part in My Invisible Dragon Adventure series.

In the last part Isabel and Lancelot decided to return to their own realities. Lancelot toYe Olde Camelot and Isabel to Witney in 2013. but first Isabel had to figure out how to summon the Invisible Dragon. Has she succeeded? Will Lancelot return to claim Guinevere? Find out what happens next!

A new day dawned and as ever the sun shone brightly as Isabel and Lancelot went about their daily rituals of swimming, sun bathing and generally just having a relaxing time. But this particular morning Isabel had for the first time in ages woken up with a headache. This was down to her spending most of the night tossing and turning as she tried to figure out how to get Lancelot back to Camelot and his true love, Guinevere. All her attempts over the past few weeks to summon the Invisible Dragon back had been unsuccessful and she was running out of ideas. As for herself, she wouldn't mind staying in Shangri La. Being in such a beautiful and quiet place had begun a process of healing, both in a physical and spiritual sense, and she was in no hurry to return to the circumstances that had led to here being in need of this healing.

It had really just been a bit of fun trying to cast the spell which had brought them to this time and place. At least that's what she'd told herself. But the reality was that she'd been finding life very difficult for a very long time and had longed for an escape from reality. Well, that's certainly what she'd got! Here she was, in Shangri La, with Lancelot.

A peal of laughter from Lancelot jolted Isabel out of her reverie. She found herself smiling as she watched Lancelot playing a game of' tossing the coconut' with a school of dolphins. They were teasing him, passing it between themselves, never giving him the chance to catch it. He looked so happy. In fact he seemed to have lost that wistful look that had made her realise that perhaps he would rather not be here but instead wanted to return to Guinevere. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part. She must stop thinking these thoughts. Lancelot and Guinevere had been lovers long before she even existed and who was she to change history.

Lancelot flopped down beside her, splashing her as he shook his head.

'Oh Lady Isabel! Who knew that life could be so wondrous! I had never even heard of such creatures before joining you on this adventure. I feel a lightness in my heart such as I have never known before'

'I know what you mean. I was just thinking the same thing. But we can't stay here forever. '

'Why not? Would it be such a bad thing? I find myself thinking of my days in Camelot and they seem but a distant memory. A pleasant one, but not one that I wish to return too.'

'What about Guinevere? Don't you want to return to her?'

'Ah my Lady Guinevere. She is indeed beautiful and part of my heart will always belong to her. But being with her never brought me the peace and joy that I've found here, in this Shangri La, with you. Besides she belongs to another. My lord King Arthur. She could only be mine if he were to die and he is my friend as well as my lord, so how can I desire such a thing?'

'Ha! Make your mind up! Don't tell me I've come all this way for nothing?'

Lancelot and Isabel jumped looking around for the source of this voice.

'I don't know why you're so surprised you've been trying for weeks to get me back here so you must have been expecting me.'

'You startled us dragon. We can't see you if you remember. At least Lancelot isn't trying to fight you this time. '

'I'd like to see him try. He won't do me much harm with that coconut, even if he did know where to throw it.'

'I'll try my hardest if you have come to take us away from this place.' Lancelot said jumping to his feet.

Isabel stared at Lancelot.

'Do you really mean that? she said a huge grin on her face.

'With all my heart! It is yours now anyway' he replied clasping her right hand to his chest.

Pulling her towards him he gently kissed the top of her head.

'Very touching I must say!' said the dragon. 'But before you get too cosy I must tell you why I've come here and it's not because of your attempts to summon me. There's been a development in Camelot. Arthur's in trouble and he needs the help of all his best Knights. He's even sworn to forgive you for your indiscretion with the Queen.'

Lancelot stepped away from Isabel. His face a kaliedescope of emotions.

Isabel smiled, a tear trickling down her face.

'It's alright. I understand. It's been a wonderful adventure while it lasted and we'll always have our memories.'

'What will you do Lady Isabel?'

'That's up to the dragon. I'd like to stay on here for a while if he'd be happy to return for me later'

'Oh I will! Your adventure is not over yet Isabel, there's more to come. But first you must say your farewells to Lancelot.'

'Will he be coming back?'

'I can't tell you. It's never a good idea to know about the future. Come Lancelot. Climb on my back, there's no time to waste.

'I would if I knew where you were?

All three of them laughed, the dragon, setting fire to a bush as a flame inadvertently escaped from his mouth as he laughed. Isabel ran to get some water to put out the fire and when she returned the only sign that Lancelot had ever been there was the coconut on the ground. Isabel looked towards the horizon, a wistful smile on her face as she wondered what was going to happen next on her Invisible Dragon adventure............

Dolphin photo Isabel Johnstone 2013 ©

Shangri-La picture courtesy of Peter Maxian, available at;

http://www.thedragonadventures.com/2013/04/a-new-dimension-of-time-and-space.html