Five Reasons why 'Life is Grand'

I have been tagged by justme
to list five reasons why 'Life is Grand'.

When I was first tagged I thought I would need to hold the tag in abeyance because I wasn't feeling particularly cheerful at the time but, since then, the sun has come out and I'm sure that has lifted everyone's mood, as it did mine. so...

1. Having worried about over-decimating the front garden when I recently went on a Lopping Attack, I am happy to report that the almost ground level stumps of hydrangeas are now bearing fronds of brown with green shoots at the end; likewise the Passion Flower has a few tendrils and looks in good health. It's too early to tell about the Hibiscus, but it is a moody shrub at the best of times and doesn't really begin to thrive until about July.

2. Being initially daunted by the reputation of Goethe's Faust (and the endless moaning about it on the Open University student forum), I am happy to find that it has some very funny moments. Mephistopheles has some great lines - he is witheringly sarcastic with much use of irony. It would be very exciting to see on the stage because there are lots of magical effects, although the scene when M - in the guise of a big black poodle- first approaches Faust might be a bit hard to recreate on the stage (unless one had a dog a bit better behaved than Misty and Poppy bichon). In short, Faust is a cracking read and the thing is that at the time that plays like this (and Shakespeare and his ilk) were written they were not considered highbrow, they were just regular 'things on at the theatre'. It is only in our chavtastic times that the reading of good literature is considered an intellectual pursuit. More about this when I post the result (for which I am still waiting) of my last essay - the Davy/Marcet chemistry one.

3. I recently blogged about the fact that I had become addicted to biscuits and I was going to give them up. Guess what - I did. I have not had a biscuit since then and,despite the fact that the bichons have a canister of Petit Beurre for their treats,not one has passed my lips. If I'm peckish and fancy a snack with a cup of tea I might have a dried apricot or an apple. It does make it much easier to stick to my regime.

4. After six years of living here and an ability to speak passable French, Mr FF and I have now enlisted the services of an excellent French teacher in order that our French goes from passable to really good. He is from Paris, has an accent and teaching method that is clear and easy to follow and we are having two-hour lessons every Friday on a one-to-one (strictly speaking it's a one-to-two) basis. We don't sit writing things down from a board, it's mainly conversation and we are learning lots of things about France and the French and being constantly corrected when we hit a bit of poor grammar. Our neighbours and French friends are lovely but, with the exception of our hairdresser, nobody corrects us when we speak even though we have asked them to.

5. I recently thought we were going to have to get the plumber in because our sink had a major blockage and simply refused to drain. Mr FF dismantled the U-bend (why does that always sound cue for a silly gag) and found a large amount of ancient pasta that seemed to have slipped past the little strainer that I am not always very careful about placing 'just so'. I have been since then (you can imagine the conversation).

The image for today is one of my pairs of Rocket Dogs (called for some reason Tugboat) and if I could buy a pair of every design that they produce I would. My foot looks enormous in the photo but it is a size 3. I find that Rockets are the most comfortable footwear I have ever had and all I seem to have on my feet these days are one of my eight pairs, despite having a cupboard full of other shoes and boots.

Now, with this tagging lark...my new philosophy is not to tag people any more. If you would like to pick it up you are most welcome and I'd love to read your five reasons why 'Life is Grand'.