Random Wednesday
10
A Deadly Committee
After having the girls and quitting my job, I started to be more involved in the community and also happily felt embraced by it, and not only because of their curiosity about the only Italian Anglican family the village ever had. I still like to think people genuinely liked me.
Once we moved on the other side of the county, despite our reverend arranged the girls to be transferred to an affiliate school and and churce, I never felt the same involvement and neither the same warmth. May be because the community was bigger, or simply because it didn’t happen.
I don’t exclude that maybe a reason was also that we were not actually living where everything was happening( church, school, activities, our overall social life) . We in fact lived, and still does, in a village just a few miles away where, unfortunately, there isn’t a protestant school and neither a protestant church, not anymore at least.
So, I was living in a place but all my social life was elsewhere, and for years I spent my days on the road while the feeling of not belonging to anywhere grew stronger and stronger. Thankfully, I was too busy to really pay attention to the discomfort until things started to slow down, and I finally realised how much I missed a community to call my own. The girls had by then moved on to secondary school and lately college and I was not gravitating much in the next town anymore. I had no reason. That was when I rediscovered my village and became very proud of where I live. I joined the community garden, I joined the tidy town volunteer group and finally I felt again embraced by a community to call my own.
We are small but we have a great value, and it’s not only me saying it; our village has in fact been selected, along two others, to represent the county in a nationwide competition. Every village, town or city participating will have to get a theme, make a video preset station of the place highlighting it’s history, evolution, what’s going on in it, etc etc.
Of course our point of strenght is the heritage because we have this beautiful medieval tower and old church from the days when the village was a barony. It’s well conserved and still in use for pilates, bingo, child care…..You name it and there it happens.
Considering we have a population of just around 2000 people we probably also have the higher number of sports teams in the area: soccer, tennis, cricket, golf, rugby, basketball, targetshooting, fishing. We also have a pharmacy, a bookie, a pub, a hairdresser and a beautician and the mechanic. Someone should really and seriously think about a coffee shop though. Oh, and I nearly forgot about the itinerant library stopping by three days a week.
All this to say that we are a pretty cool village, that has nothing to envy to the two next door town that tend to look at us with superiority. We are the town of knights after all!!!!
Now, down to the most important part of living in a such funky place : guess who is part of the committee to make the magic happen and show the world ( just Ireland actually) how beautiful and busy our little village is? ME!
And so here I am taking my seat at the first meeting in the main room of the tower( now officially called Heritage Centre). I know what you are thinking here, and I will disappoint you by saying that I was not the youngest among a group of octagenarians. But yes, my candidacy didn’t come easy. I had to be presented by a village elder, be vetted by the others and, most of all, prove myself in the last few months being ready to pick up litter or planting/watering community flowers whenever one of the elder blew their whistle.
Back to the meeting, I confess I was a bit nervous to be asked to speak, thankfully, the two county council representatives talked for most of the time explaining what they are expecting us to prepare. Once they were done, they took a picture of us, all together and happily smiling outside the tower with the graveyard in the background. After that, we were back inside gathering our things and briefly discussing ideas and plans for the next meeting. Well, actually, THEY were, because while the discussion and the excitement were firing up the spirits my mind was wildly wandering in a world of its own and the only thing I could think of was: “Oh boy, this would be the perfect setting for a Barnaby style murder.”
And who knows, we might have to add that to the long list of the village amenities. Plenty of time before July when our presentation must be submitted😉
Have a fabulous week ahead you all🥰
Random Wednesday
A Chat Among Bloggers, Episode 11
Good day, everyone, and welcome to another episode of A Chat Among Bloggers.
Another old friend is the guest this month. I have been following him for a long time, and he never fails to bring a good old-fashioned laugh to my day. Let me introduce you to Rob, from https://prog2goal.wordpress.com
As for you, well, you know the drill: sit back, relax and enjoy the chat.
O: Good day, Rob, and thank you for joining me today. Would you like to introduce yourself a little?
R: Hi, I’m Rob, and my current blog is Prog2goal, a blog about my current weight loss journey. I started it as a way to provide accountability to myself, while also connecting to other bloggers on a similar path.
O: Before Pro2Goal, you had a blog called FriendsWithoutBorders that you maintained for a few good years; in fact, that’s where I “met” for the first time. What made you start it, and what led you to the decision to close it down?
R: That blog got really big and very time-consuming. I found myself writing things that would appeal to my readers and not what I wanted to write. My blog became very formulaic, and I was creatively stunted. Its time had passed.
O: I get it. There is a time for everything. So now the natural follow-up question: What is the story behind your new blog instead?
R: My new blog is about me, what I’ve become and where I want to go relative to my weight. I write when I feel inspired to do so, and not because I feel I have a deadline to meet.
O: As it should be! But you recently brought back some characters from the old blog to the new one. Did you start to miss it? Maybe it did not really make its time? I am just teasing here.
R: Ahhh… Mr. Tips! He was a serial character from my old blog, and one that was popular and fun. Definitely a jab at myself, along with his propensity to give out terrible advice. As far as the rest of my prior blogs, I’m at peace with letting them go.
O: Cheers to a new era then! I personally enjoy your new blog as much as the old one because, while definitely more serious and following a purposeful journey, it still has that humour of yours that I love. And, in fact, as soon as you were back to the platform, I followed you, like many others from the good old times, I noticed, but I also noticed that while you were gone, you kept following a few blogs ( like mine, as I am flattered to say), so it is safe to say you have your networks in WordPress?
R: Yes, WordPress is my only social media outlet. I stopped writing for a while, but I didn’t stop reading my favourite blogs. You were certainly in that category.
O: What did you find here?
R:😂 Here? Where? There! I like your varied content. You are able to convey the human condition in a way that’s relatable and funny. That’s gold. Also, I feel like you’re an old friend. Wait – not that YOU’RE old, just that we’ve been blogging buddies for years now.
O: For the record, I meant on the platform and not in my blog, and I did not intentionally mislead Rob with my vague question; also, for the record, Rob had not been paid for saying that! He is a natural, flattering ego booster, highly recommended.😜
O: Ok, back to the real protagonist of the day now: Rob, from your blog, it is quite clear you are not shy with pictures and possess a great sense of humour, so I kind of might know already the answer to the next question, but I got to ask: Is your glass usually half full or half empty?
R: Yes, not shy. But some people think I’m very confident – I’m not. I think my nude body is almost antithetical to the picture-perfect examples the media portrays. So yeah, I’m poking fun at myself, and my glass is half full!
O: No surprise there. A man who is not afraid to not take himself too seriously and looks at his glass always half full. No wonder we have been blogging buddies for such a long time.
Now, time to dig into personal stuff:
a- Sweet or savoury?
R: Savoury! But I’m cheating because I like both.
O: That’s ok, that’s allowed!
b- Coffee or Tea?
R: Coffee, with cream and a pinch of stevia.
c- Wine or Spirits?
R: Wine, preferably Cabernet, but I do have a love of white burgundy, too. Did I just cheat again?
O: I am a Cabernet woman myself, so it sits well with me. Also, I am Italian, and we all know Italians usually do not suffer from vertigo given by their high moral standards, so NO! You are most definitely not a cheater!😉
I am afraid that is all for today. Thank you again to Rob for being my guest of the month, and I hope you all enjoyed the chat because I certainly did.
Stay tuned till next interview and don’t forget you can catch up with all my chats clicking the link below or through the blog main page.
https://ortensia72.wordpress.com/chats-among-bloggers/
Love to you all,
Ortensia
Read With Ortrensia, May Edition
Hello, dear readers, and welcome to another month in books.
AUDIO BOOKS
THE BABY GROUP, by Jade Lee Wright
Weak plot and unlikable character, with a finale that you could see coming since halfway through the book.🌟🌟
THE DEVOTED WIFE , by Sarah A. Denzel
A well-developed and fast-paced thriller with some twists and turns that keep you guessing till the end, an end when you finally understand who the devoted wife actually is. I can really see a Netflix series coming out from this.🌟🌟🌟🌟
EVERY MOTHER’S NIGHTMARE , by S.E, Lynes
Disturbungly close to home but definitely an enjoyable read. Relatable situations and character, flowing well articulated plot.🌟🌟🌟
FIVE LIARS, by D.L.Fisher
impossible to like characters, and they are not very credible. I won’t hide that up to the last couple of chapters, I thought I wasted my time listening to another stupid book, till the final twist happened, and everything changed. Great turn of events in the end, but not enough to earn more than 3 stars.🌟🌟🌟
PAPER BOOK
THE BOOK SELLER, by Lorena Franco
With its original and cleverly developed plot, this book is definitely more than just a thriller and more than just a novel. Dark and at times funny too, with excellently described multilayered characters, it kept me on the page from the beginning to the end.🌟🌟🌟🌟
IMPERFECT WOMEN, by Araminta Hall
A fluent read in the ordinary life of all of us, with all its ups and downs. Relatable characters and a credible story that could belong to any of us; a reminder of how fragile life is and a chance to think about what we would do if our world as we know it suddenly crashes down.🌟🌟🌟🌟
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Happy reading!🤓📚
And don’t forget that you can catch up with the previous editions through the link in the blog’s home page or simply clicking the link below:
Random Wednesday
Happy Birthday New Old Me.
Last year around this time of the year I gave myself a new identity.
No, I didn’t pay a fortune for documents with a different name, and neither did I emigrate to some tropical Island, leaving my family behind; even though the temptation is sometimes strong!
I simply got rid of my signature jet-black short bob and, with it, of the version of myself I had known for the last 35 years.
In the beginning, it was an exciting feeling. Seeing myself in the mirror blonde and with long(ish) hair was strange but exhilarating. Also gave me that nice feeling of doing something for someone else; in this case for my husband because I was giving him a new wife without a messy expensive divorce. Well, at least that’s how I imagine it if it were ever to happen. But do not worry, it won’t happen because after writing three murder mystery books I know my stuff!!!!!
Anyway, back to the point now I can confidently say I have started the biggest transformation of my life. A transformation that by the end lost its charm and left me with a sense of guilt and discomfort rather than excitement. I have always been a proud Snow White in a world of Sleeping Beauties or, more likely, a Tanya in a world of Barbies and now I had betrayed them. The more cm I was adding to my ends and the more blonde I was going, the more lost I was feeling.
And that was it, a year later for my birthday I walked into my hairdresser’s and got my old dark short bob back and, with it, my true self.
Unquestionably the best birthday present to myself.🥳
Have a good week ahead you all and remember: not all gentlemen prefer blondes😜
P.s
The first good hair day I will take a selfie and change my avatar picture 🤓
Random Wednesday
A truly madly ordinary Easter break
Reality does not always meet our expectations, and this Easter break definitely did not meet mine.
Nothing majorly disastrous or dramatically catastrophic, but we all know the disappointment when you have it all planned and your plans never see the light of day.
First, I was going to Italy for a long weekend, visiting my parents, and back right in time to indulge in an Easter of relaxation, celebrations, very little to do, and a ton of chocolate.
Now, starting with the trip to Italy, it was very enjoyable but the original intent of relaxing and chilling browsing around beautiful Venice or Treviso with my mom was replaced by sleep. Lots of sleep! Because by the time I got there, I was freaking exhausted.
The week before my trip Ada the gremlins chewed my passport (the only valid travel document I have) throwing me into complete panic because getting an appointment at the Italian embassy is a Calvary, not to mention at such short notice. Thankfully once I explained what happened and sent a picture of my passport, now short of a few pages and marked all over with dog teeth, they took pity on me and gave me an emergency appointment. Once I was there, I actually realised that what moved them was not pity; it was pure curiosity of seeing the face of the idiot who leaves her passport at the mercy of her dog. And, believe me, they did nothing to hide it! Still extremely grateful that I would be able to travel despite the little chewy accident, I felt hurt in my dignity and so after holding in my hands my new passport I told them the truth: first of all the passport was on the desk in the study which I left unattended for less than 20 minutes. Certainly not my fault the dog jumped on the chair to scavenge among my stationery and, most importantly she is my husband’s dog! I’m not sure that made me look less idiotic but they certainly looked at me with real pity this time.
Keeping on the husband subject, he had booked himself a business trip for the day after I was back: “I’m away, don’t you remember?” I asked, perplexed but not surprised, when he told me. “Yes, but you are coming back on Monday night and I’m leaving Tuesday morning “. Spoiler: He did not remember , he had just been lucky with the dates. But that was just really the problem. The problem was that he didn’t think about the fact that his clothes don’t self-wash and iron before jumping all folded up in a self-packing luggage. There is actually a physical woman doing it and she had to rush to get all ready before her little trip, when not in the process of being humiliated by the embassy’s clerks.
Looking at the bright side, I had the first week of Easter break with only the girls at home but no school runs, no activities, no engagements and no husband to feed. I would pot around the garden, read, and relax.
Yea, right: Nope!!!! I would not!
To start, the weather was crap, it’s Ireland, no big shock there , that’s why we have conservatories and verandas.
The shock was more to be informed, as ” told” not “asked”, that daughter number one had invited three friends over for the week. Happy that I was finally able to put faces to the names and she was obviously ( I presume) not ashamed of me anymore, would have not been great if they arrived the same day, roughly at the same time and possibly at the same station? And what about if at least one out of four was able to drive themselves around? Wouldn’t that have been FANTASTIC?!?!
Easter Day came and went quite quickly and lazily, not that I was in any condition to do much after the heavy lunch and the literally tons of chocolate I ate. At least one thing that I planned went through though. Maybe the one and only I could have done without but…. oh well, life is too short to go shy on chocolate.
Easter Monday I honestly do not recall anything but the early rise to ship daughter number two to NY with the school and pack the travelling husband too. And that was it. Now it was just me, the dogs and daughter number one for the remaining 4 days, but while I planned to rekindle with laziness, my daughter planned to rekindle with me. Not a recurrent occurrence and something to be grateful for, if only happened any other week.😉I mean, I have been asking fir it fir neatly twenty years?Ever heard of bad timing?
Finally the Easter break was over!!!!! I never thought I would say it but I was glad to be back to the usual routine. No, I rephrase it: I was glad to be back to an empty house after walking the dogs.
If only Gino, the handsome ginger, had not decided to disappear on me for 3.45 minutes that,I later discovered, he spent galloping across the local golf club for the joy of the players.
Well, sometimes Mondays are not new beginnings…. you need to wait for Tuesdays😜
Have an awesome week ahead you all🥰
Random Wednesday
