I haven’t been on the blog much at all over the last week or so, mainly due to this:
This is Dougal, my sister’s dog, who I have been looking after while she went on holiday. My sis lives quite a distance from me, so I moved into her flat where (for the first time in about nine years), I was living on my own for an extended period of time. Continue reading
It’s 7.30am and I’m on a train up north to spend Christmas with my family. I feel like I’ve written that sentence so many times…
I discovered that tickets to Manchester – my usual destination – were really expensive and there were no connecting trains to Bolton, so I managed to bag one to Wigan instead for £8.50. The only trouble is, it was at 6.15am. It’s worked out well so far – there’s a storm set to hit the north later on this morning, by which time I should be happily relaxing in my jammies at my Mum’s house. The carriage is pretty much empty, so I’ve taken advantage of that and sat at a table with a power socket to charge my phone. There’s the usual whinging toddler (“But whyyyyy? Nooooooo, I don’t want that! Muuuuuum I waaaaant thaaaaat”) so I’ve put my headphones in and am listening to The Backstreet Boys. They’re not normally my travel music of choice, preferring 80’s rock anthems usually, but it feels like a Backstreet Boy kind of day. Continue reading
Meet Heather!
Heather is the creator of Shank You Very Much. I like her About page (and the adorable picture of her dog!).
I am a person filled with sarcasm and it makes its appearance at the most inopportune times. I’ve been likened to a Seinfeld character, which is unsurprising since that show literally shaped my childhood. Every Thursday through the late eighties and early nineties, you knew where to find me. Continue reading
I’m on the train back to Birmingham after a lovely few days doing very little at my mum’s. The weather is glorious (who knew that sunshine actually happens in Manchester!) and I’m regretting the fact that I decided to wear my big padded coat that I affectionately refer to as my sleeping bag – I’m beginning to get a little uncomfortable but don’t want to take it off as I am wearing my scruffy clothes that are now covered in dog hair, thanks to spending three days being mauled by my family’s various canine friends. Luckily, I’ve managed to bag myself a seat at the back, despite the fact that the train is so busy that lots of people are being forced to stand for their journey, and I also happen to be sitting next to a very attractive man (seriously, this guy is gorgeous) who is quietly dozing in his business suit.
It’s been a nice few days – me and mum have spent a lot of time doing what we do best: fighting over the TV remote (I hate Coronation Street, she hates Jeremy Kyle), eating homemade panini’s (she could make a fortune if she decided to market these – they’re amazing) and generally talking nonsense at each other about anything and everything. It’s been very relaxed, and mum has slept a lot, which I think she needed as her job is extremely stressful. Continue reading
I’m already back on the train so I can get down to Birmingham before it gets dark. Today seems to have gone really quickly – I cooked us a Sunday roast type lunch and we’ll spent a large amount of time fussing over Dougal, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He’s certainly grown since the last time I saw him! Continue reading
I’ve spent the day with Dougal, my sister’s new pug puppy and my family. He’s only 12 weeks old, and what a bundle of energy he is!
I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship… On my part anyway!
Want to follow more of his adventures? You can see him on my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks
During our trip out to Blackpool at the weekend we went inside the famous Coral Amusements. My mum was desperate to play the racehorse game that we played on day trips when I was in my teens and she was excited to find one right in the corner…
Fifteen minutes and about £15.00 later, both my mum and I had won several times and were given a choice of cuddly toys as prizes. As she wanted some to give to her beloved dogs when we got home, she chose a large and a small Om Nom from Cut the Rope.
It was then that we realised that we would have to carry the bloody things around for the rest of the day. Sh*t.
Luckily, the smaller one fit in my handbag, but the big one was so huge that my mum had no choice but to carry it round by its antennae. I found it hilarious, and she was quite self conscious about it after a while, particularly when children started to point it out.
“I feel like I’m carrying it by it’s willy!’ she kept saying.
And thus their names were born: Big Willy and Little Willy.
Throughout the day, Big Willy had several adventures…
Enjoying the view from Central Pier
Taking a selfie with me and mum
Even Little Willy joined in the fun at one point:
Little Willy enjoying a cheeky drink at the station…
When we finally got home (after a two hour journey took three and a half hours), Big Willy met Max, my mum’s springer spaniel. Big Willy liked Max very much.
Max meets Big Willy
However, it wasn’t reciprocated, and their brief relationship was over in a flash as he was shredded over the floor before moving onto Little Willy.
Goodbye Big Willy…
Goodbye Big Willy. Goodbye Little Willy. It’s been emotional…
You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks, my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks and my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks
Meet Joelle LeGendre!
She’s the co-creator of Two On A Rant, author extraordinaire and all round supportive and friendly blogging enthusiast.
Her ‘About’ page makes me smile:
If there are annoying people, places or things…if there is minutia that needs to be beaten to death, Joelle is out there–in more ways than one. If you’re looking for relaxing reading, something to soothe your frazzled nerve endings, or something to fall asleep with, you’re in the wrong blog.
I can relate – as someone who gets annoyed on occasions by the little things, I find that blogging about them is a useful form of therapy!
However, this page doesn’t quite do her justice. Her layout is simple, easy to use and looks attractive, and I love the mixture of poetry and animal photography (I’m always a sucker for anything to do with happy and well looked after animals).
Joelle is also an established author, with her book ‘Atto Run’ being available on Amazon and Kindle. I love the description – A SciFi Cinderella comedy-romance that pokes fun at the craziness of life on Earth, & possibly elsewhere – which sounds exactly the sort of thing that I would enjoy reading! You can find her book (and her five star reviews) simply by clicking on the image – I’m sure it will be worth your time!
To find her blog, click on this link
Want to connect further with Joelle?
Here are her social media links!
Twitter: @JoelleLeGendre
WordPress – do your thing. Follow, reblog, comment and get to know the lovely Joelle – she would love to see you there!
You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog, and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks
I have received quite a few new followers over the last few weeks and wanted to get the message out about my #SundayBlogShare Twitter parties – I started it about two months ago and I’ve been delighted with the enormous response that it has received, with hundreds of bloggers participating each week, sharing over 1,100 posts. At the end of December I decided to be a bit more serious about it and registered it with Twubs to my Twitter handle, so the hashtag is now mine! Last Sunday was the busiest yet, with lots of new bloggers joining for the first time.
It’s a simple process – post your blog links to Twitter using the hashtag #SundayBlogShare and enjoy! If you include my Twitter handles (@suzie81blog or @SundayBlogShare) in your post I can retweet it for you too! Your posts can cover any topic and you don’t have to follow my blog or any associated social media accounts. You can participate if you have been blogging for days, months or years and it’s a brilliant opportunity to develop your social networking skills and boost your traffic and following. I have received hundreds of messages from people that saw their traffic increase immediately.
I will remind everyone again each week but here are a few rules for everyone who wishes to participate.
1. #SundayBlogShare is a happy place. Racist, sexist and homophobic propaganda will not be tolerated, and if you disagree with the content of a post it should be done in a polite and respectful manner.
2. Blog posts only. NO Amazon book promos, company promos, music promos, inspirational quotes, newspaper articles, random selfies of you drinking coffee, Justin Bieber fan promotion etc… you get the idea.
3. No pornographic images are allowed.
4. Do not use it as an opportunity to demand follows and retweets from others, but feel free to retweet posts that you like. Be generous with this – the more you retweet, the more likely you will get them in return!
5. Don’t go overboard with the amount that you post… If the Twitter feed is just a list of your own posts, you’re doing it too much. Post a few, spend some time reading and retweeting others and then come back later to post again.
6. Hashtag spamming is not allowed. For those of you who participated last week, you’ll be aware that because of the popularity of the hashtag, there was a high level of spam from people who used it as an opportunity to post hundreds of links within an hour, clearly using the hashtag to spam potential clients. I have contacted Twitter and Twubs, and hopefully the matter has been resolved, but if this sort of thing appears tomorrow I would really appreciate it if you would block and report them. Don’t engage with them, just block and report.
It starts each Sunday morning and will end at midnight. I’m in the UK, so you will need to work out times for whichever country you live in. This may mean that some of you may be participating on Saturday, or going into Monday, but please use the same hashtag…
Looking forward to seeing you there!
You can find me on Tumblr @suzie81blog and I’d love it if you would hop on over to my Facebook page and give it a cheeky ‘like.’ http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks
If you would like to follow me on Twitter, my account is @suzie81blog.
It’s Saturday night, which means only one thing – tomorrow is my #SundayBlogShare party on Twitter! It’s the ninth consecutive party and I’ve been overwhelmed by how quickly it has grown, with nearly a thousand posts being shared last week! However, it’s also the last one of 2014, and I need your help to make it go out with a bang!
Everyone is welcome to participate – you don’t have to follow Suzie81 Speaks or its associated social media accounts, there are no limits on the amount of posts that you share and you don’t need to have a specific theme to your blog or the links that you share. Simply tweet your link with the hashtag #SundayBlogShare and enjoy! Meet hundreds of other bloggers, retweet their posts and build your own Twitter following!
The rules are simple and easy to follow:
1. #SundayBlogShare is a happy place. Anything that contains racist, homophobic and/or sexist material will be removed and reported.
2. Blog posts only! No inspirational quotes, links to book promotions on Amazon or porn.
3. Share the #bloglove! Follow, retweet and enjoy lots of posts from blogger all over the world. However, don’t be desperate enough to beg for or demand retweets and follows from others.
You can also include my Twitter handle @suzie81blog and I can easily retweet you!
The party is on all day – you are welcome to join us at anytime throughout Sunday!
Here is where I need your help my lovely bloggy friends. The more people you invite, the more of a success it is going to be… I’ll get the drinks and the party hats, you share the hashtag with everyone you know.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
You can find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks
Suzie Speaks 
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