Lets play a game...Namesakes

Have you ever ‘Googled’ yourself?


I’m not a narcissist, but when I overheard someone, who evidently is, doing this yesterday, I thought this might be a fun little game… I’m not expecting me to ‘come up’ in the search results… but it’s funny to see who your namesakes are out there….

I started on Google UK, as I’m English, and look at this.. I’m bloody famous.. if only I’d known..

Apparently I am..

A famous nutritionist (well I have my own business and write for national publications)


The official harpist to HRH the Prince of Wales. !! I’ve apparently performed over 50 times at Buckingham Palace ( I love this one!)


I’m also a best-selling BBC travel photographer and own my own PR company!

See, this is fun…so what about images.. I think for the purpose of the game you are allowed to take the first three images that come up for your name…

O.K. a bit of a miss-match, but I reckon if you morphed the three images you get something that vaguely resembled me in the flesh!

Update... I did try some morphing software.. and looked something akin to an axe murderer.. so maybe not

So do you want to play… ?

Google yourself (name) on your countries Google

Post three of your name sakes occupations and then the first three photos, and if you come up on Google’s 1st page then can I be your friend ‘cause you are famous!!!!

Either post a reply here or if you play the game on your blog then post a link for me to have a laugh with you!

Post-it Note Tuesday

Here we are...posting on a Tuesday... and lazy me resorts to something I did back in Feb, Post-it Note Tuesday.. an opportunity to bitch and moan, concisely!

Enjoy !

Did Aliens steal my dog whilst I was away...?

Whilst cavorting  working around Australia I missed home immensely, especially hubby and Gary. Gary isn't particularly a loving dog... sure he likes to be stroked and loved on, but don't try and get him to sit on your lap or any of that sissy other stuff. He's a mans dog and prefers to hang out (literally) on his own most of the time

just hanging...

So imagine my consternation that since I have been back my mutt has turned into a lap dog.. 38 pounds of lap dog that is too...

Every night he tries to create a nest on the sofa behind hubbies legs or down the side of me... in the mornings he has worked his way from the end of the bed up to near our heads (gross, dog breath! - or maybe that's hubby..) Whilst I was working yesterday he jumped on my lap in the office (ouch).. what is wrong with you dog...

More worryingly he has developed a desire to kiss us..and when I say kiss I mean tongues and all.. urgggh. I love my dog, however French kissing is not part of the deal... yuck

Lastly, and look away now if you are easily grossed out, he has started to frequently run his little 'penie' out (we call it that cause it sounds nicer than wriggle worm which is what it looks like) when he is excited...see French kissing above..  He has been 'done' but the red worm is definitely out more frequently..nice

So what has happened.. my only explanation is alien abduction

Unless you have any other ideas....

I have been investigating my theory this morning and have discovered there are not many instances of dog abduction although Google returned all sorts of weird and wonderful...

I'm think of getting me a dog tag to identify to aliens without language where I am from so they can get me home again (I thought that the Alien would probably know where you were from as he carried out the abduction - but what do I know?)

the blurb says...

 Picture yourself lost in the galaxy...UFO sightings and Alien Abductions are on the rise...Will you return to tell the story?
In case of alien abduction these dog tags may save your life. The crucial data an alien will need to get you back to Earth is die stamped into these dog tags. The design is based on NASA research for the Pioneer 10 Space Mission that used a gold plaque attached to the craft to inform any Extraterrestrials of it's Earthly origin. Alien abduction dog tags, engraved with several methods of locating Earth in the Galaxy, an alien pilot does not need to understand any human language to use this information. The mathematical location of Earth in relation to several important pulsars is represented by the radial diagram. Earth's relation to the solar system is shown at the top. Also included is a schematic of Earth itself and it's major land masses. Two human icons (man and woman) are graphically connected to Earth at points in all three diagrams and are shown with their hands waving as a gesture of goodwill...

Forget identity cards and passports.. I think we should all be legally required to have alien abduction dog tags, and whilst were at it can Gary have one too?

Last weekend in Perth... lets have a trip around the vineyards...

So my last weekend in Perth. My boss had already deserted me, so it was up to me to find something to do. I'd exhausted the 'comedy photo' opportunities in Perth high street (on my endless search for a decent a nail salon). 

Luckily for me one of my clients stepped up to the plate with an idea. On the Saturday he called me.. ' can you get to the Bell Tower for 9am tomorrow morning?'.. OK bang went my lie in (and seeing as I was out on a girls night out Saturday! eek) 'yeah, no problem, what are we doing..?' 'you'll see' and with that he hung up!

9am rolled around and I was there, waiting the sun for my client to arrive... He ambled up and told me we would be going on a 'Long Lunch Tour- degustation' around the vineyards in the Swan Valley. Sounded good to me.

Brad (our excellent host for the day) pulled up in the mini bus and we were whisked to Hougtons vineyard (only about 30 mins away) - OK so wine tasting at 10am may seem a bit decadent, but it comes highly recommended.

Moi, outside of Houghtons...carrying my goodies out!

Here we started our degustation - trying wines with various foods...it was great fun and the wine was spectacular. There was cheese, smoked meats, asparagus, salmon and chocolate.. everything was designed to enhance the different wines we were tasting!

A cornucopia of food for our wine...

Brad coming out of Talijancich

Next stop Talijancich. Three Generations of Wine Making are behind the reputation of Talijancich Wines, which was established in 1932 and is located in the heart of the Swan Valley Region of Western Australia.

Talijancich Wines are synonymous with great character and complexity and are renowned for producing Verdelho, Shiraz and luscious, aged Liqueurs - a bottle of which I have been drinking every evening since I got back!. More cheese and wine here and we were then off to our last stop before lunch - John Kosovich Wines

tipple of the moment - serve over ice - delicious

At John Kosovich the wine tasting was down in the cool cellar - a feat for me at a slightly tipsy stage to get down and up from !

Brad pulling up under the hanging vines...

Another little family business, I loved the reserve Cabernet malbec, which I just had to treat myself to!

The sales area down in the cellar.. I just made it!

Wine tasting over it was off a spot of lunch (and some more wine). Today this would be at 'Dear Friends'. It was a very pretty location, set in rolling countryside, and has won numerous awards. I'd like to comment on the food, but by this time I was too drunk and it all went by in a bit of a blur!!

artsy starter..Marin and other stuff!

All in all, a great day. next time I'll eat more for breakfast and probably enjoy my lunch more!!

Thanks Brad, you are highly recommended. Please try the http://www.longlunchtourco.com.au/  when you are next in Perth, it was great!

Perth - its not all sunshine you know!

For all my friends you just thought I was having a 'whale' of a time in Perth .. it wasn't all fun. Whilst I was there Perth had a freak storm.

Homes were damaged, power knocked out and hail the size of golf balls fell as a sudden storm swept across the Perth metropolitan area. Dozens of sets of traffic lights were knocked out by the storm (making getting to work the next day slightly interesting!) and roads north and south of the Western Australian capital were flooded. It was categorised as a natural disaster in the end and the damage bill will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

What, you say, a little storm! Well I was stuck on the motorway in a huge traffic jam when it hit. My little car was moving and was in danger of floating away. This BMW just about to send a tidal wave over me!

 My boss filmed this from his hotel bedroom window..

To someone who lives in Florida this looks like a hurricane....or at least a tropical storm.

Any within 2 hours it had all passed and by the time I rolled up to the hotel the sun was back out!

There was millions of dollars of damage, the weirdest being the car dealerships that basically lost all their vehicles to hail stone damage...

This was the size of the hailstones in some areas..

Anyway, I wasn't hurt, didn't drown or have to walk through the floods as I saw some poor people have too...so no need to worry about me or my beautiful blue car!

Finally I make Perth!!

After 2 weeks touring around Australia (seemed much longer - it's not glamorous living out of a suitcase you know) I hit Perth airport at 11.30 at night. It was a balmy evening and I was happy to finally be somewhere I knew and could unpack. It was late so my hire car company had just left an envelope for me instructing where to find my car. SO far on the trip I had been super lucky, being upgraded in most cities, so imagine my horror when I trundled out into the car park searching for my reg plate to find this....

It was dark at the time and the true horror of the colour did not hit home until the morning when I was nearly blinded by its 'blueness'!. I have suffered much abuse about my Marg Micra, however I could fit in the smallest parking spaces, and it was nippy to boot! so I don't care if they give me it again in 6 weeks when I'm back. (all my clients loved it too, however I think they were just being polite!)

So Perth... miles from bloody anywhere, this 1.8 million people city (and burbs) is beautiful, if remote. There are no direct flights from the US to Perth, so I always have to fly miles extra to get there...(although this has worked to my advantage as I'm just about to hit gold status with Emirates which means I no longer have to hang out with you lot in the airport!)
What can I tell you about Perth....

• It's stunning... one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. Dissected by the Swan river (estuary), by the sea and hills either side. Palm trees everywhere and sun nearly everyday. Ranked 5th in best world cities to live in
• It's hot, I mean cook your eggs on your bonnet hot...with hardly any rain (suits me fine :-) )
• There are Brits (from the UK) everywhere...approx 10% of population where born in Britain.. I think they get blinded by the sun and forget how to get home.
• Perth is booming because of its close proximity to the mining and gas fields.
• EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE so don't go unless you have saved some wonga.
• Everything closes early - this will be a huge shock to Americans

So the first week my boss and I had the most amazing deal of $118/night to stay in the normally $350 / night Crowne Plaza on the river. He had this view... I was looking at a building site, but as I was working all day I let him have it...not bad heh?

Our 1st weekend was looming and its always a chore to find something new to do ...but Andy had a good idea.. a boat trip to Fremantle..

Camera at the ready we set off on Saturday morning on foot to Barrack street jetty. If you are ever lost and you need a ferry as someone to direct you to the bell tower - its where the ferries are.

Interesting fact no. 1 - The Swan Bell Tower is one of the largest purpose built musical instruments in the world. The tip of it's towering glass spire rises a lofty 82.5 metres above the Swan River. In 1588 they tolled after England's victory over the Spanish Armada. They welcomed Captain James Cook home after his great voyage of discovery in 1771 and they have celebrated the coronation of every British monarch since 1727.

Any way I digress. Safely ensconced on our ferry we sped towards Freemantle, taking in the river sights at breakneck speed ( we'd accidentally taken the high speed, no frills peak service between Perth and Fremantle - the fastest trip on the river between the two cities. If time is of the essence, this is the perfect solution - we however had all day and I was in danger of falling out of window trying to take pictures!!)

Ok.. not on boat yet, but I wont be getting on of those whilst I'm away ;-)

The CBD from the water

The old brewery...and some really expensive restaurants and apartments

one of the marinas on the way

The smallest boat club in WA

Me scoffing fish and chips at the famous Cicerellos in Freemantle

Eating companions

Time for shopping... cant decide if these are a touch long?

Andy... in a Bolton top what else..

Our day out was great., but necessitated me buying some Crocs as I created the worst blisters known to man on both feet with some stupid girly sandals...

If you visit, make sure you take a boat to Freemantle, it had great history, restaurants, shopping and bars!

Flying visit Brisbane....

After departing from what felt like the smallest (of course there are smaller, but once you live in the States everything gets blown out of proportion) and most terrorist friendly airport ( anyone can walk through the whole airport it seemed..and look at the departure gate!

The smallest waiting area and most unsecure, terrorist friendly airport every... Newcastle, NSW

my next stop on my whirlwind working tour of Australia was Brisbane. I can't say anything nice or otherwise about it apart from it looks very pretty on the drive from the airport to the hotel. I could see the GABBA from my window (not some strange Aussie bird, but the local cricket ground where they play test matches) and I went under a cool bridge on the drive to the hotel.. apart from that no pics, all work and no play...we'll move on swiftly to Perth and some sunny weather!

cool bridge, yes I have developed the ability to snap whilst driving

The Gabba, I know, not very exciting!!