Zone Doubt, a.k.a. 'Surreal Я Us'...

Joules, trusted by... dozens... to make a drama out of your crisis...

Other sites:

:: JAT :: WaveWrights :: Publications ::

I live to write. It's not wise to get in my way.

... I'd write my autobiography, but no-one would believe it....


If you come across any words you don't recognise in this blog, take a look at the Taylorspeke Glossary in the left-hand infopane, you'll usually find a definition there.


The Poppy Tales

(Transformers fanfiction!)

Transformers mini-comics here.




Adventures in Orchids

Apparently I am now collecting them...

There's room for one - or maybe two, at a pinch - more on that bedroom windowsill (the only one in the house that's ideal for them). Let's see what I find. Well, that didn't last long...


EO - Everlasting orchid. Phalaenopsis. I've had this orchid since 2007 and it just keeps flowering...







AO - Alien face orchid. Phalaenopsis . Bought 2018 - lovely little flowers, all different patterns!





RO - Rescued orchid photo to come when it flowers. Phalaenopsis. Rescued from a bin up the road in 2019. Classic!






TO - Tiny orchid. Phalaenopsis. Bought at Tesco 21.8.20. It just begged to come home with me. How could I say no?





CO - Crimson orchid. Cambria. Another Tesco find. This one may be going to live in Ken's room once we've redecorated and put up the new shelving; it prefers a cooler, less sunny windowsill. If so, I'll need to find another cambrian to keep it company.






GO - Golden orchid. Phalaenopsis. Saw this one when I bought CO and left it behind - then immediately regretted it as soon as I got home. Never seen one like it before. Ken, bless him, went back over to Tesco in the rain and bought it for me...





DO - Dendrobium Orchid. Smells of wisteria, so beautiful...











RO2 - Rescued orchid no 2. Phalaenopsis. This is the one I rescued from the wall along the road middle of 2021.








PO. Pink orchid. Phalaenopsis. This is the one I bought at Cabury Garden Centre on special, late 2021. It's much happier here!










TWO. Teeny weeny orchid, Phalaenopsis. Rescued from Tesco end 2021 (I think).




















My IMDb ep summaries

(completed)
Arthur of the Britons
Sky
Star Maidens
The Starlost
Space Rangers
The Sentinel (part: seasons 2 and 3)
Swamp Thing (part: season 3)
Gravedale High
Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Energon
Transformers: Cybertron (part)
Misfits of Science (four eps)
Zoo Gang
Zodiac
Jupiter Moon
Transformers: Beast Wars (part: seasons 2 and 3)
Transformers: Beast Machines (part)
Vampire Princess Miyu
Starhyke
Nathan Barley
No Heroics
Undermind (3 eps)
Will Shakespeare (Tim Curry version)
Nightwalker
12 Kingdoms
Trigun (ep 8)
Rayearth
Hyperdrive (season 2 ep 3)
The Café

For later:

Missing Earthian ep
Missing Haibane Renme eps


Silver birch at Eastwood 

Farm

"Autumnal - nothing to do with leaves. It is to do with a certain brownness at the edges of the day... Brown is creeping up on us, take my word for it... Russets and tangerine shades of old gold flushing the very outside edge of the senses... deep shining ochres, burnt umber and parchments of baked earth - reflecting on itself and through itself, filtering the light. At such times, perhaps, coincidentally, the leaves might fall, somewhere..."

(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Act 2: Tom Stoppard)

Autumn...

I love this time of year. I love the colours, the sharp slant of sunlight on the trees, mosaics of acid-yellow and harts- blood, velvet and darkness and a haze of mist-grey over the hills. I love its immanence, its mellowness, the tang of frost just around the corner of the year...

Watching the little birds in the goat-willow in my garden, I realised something more.

I love this land with a fierce, possessive love, deep-rooted in two thousand years of history. From the frosted beaches and cloud-brushing peaks of the north to the wind-haunted meanderings of the rivers of the east, from the sensuous rolling patchworked hills of the south to the demanding dark moors of the west, this land seeps into bone and blood and synapse, mother of motley nobility, culture, individual freedoms. It can be known. It can be understood. It can be felt deep inside.

I love its effortless eccentricities, its vigour and vibrancy, its flawed perfections, its silent strength and tenacious resilience, its hard-won tolerances and intense and variable beauty, the profound energy in its sacred mythical landscape.

Home and more-than-home, the forces that shape and protect and bind, in me, as I am in the land. Love returning love in the stillness for those who'll only take the time to listen...

(Joules, Autumn 2004)


All photographs taken by Joules unless otherwise specified. All photographs © Joules A Taylor or other specified individual.


In Memoriam

17.03.09 - Argent

25.07.08 - Raptor

18.12.07 - Quyn

02.12.06 - Ryme


Currently enjoying:
Muse
Transformers - IDW, Prime, Animated, Rescue Bots.

Currently reading:
Various Transformers books and graphic novels.



Currently working on:
Haadri

Currently chuffed with:
My garden

Currently miffed at:
Nestlé, Nonpres Tinyhands Fart, Toadface Farage

Currently maintaining:
BCHS
BCW


Blog Pics
I've gathered some of my pages of photos together: the page of links is here. I'll be adding more as time goes by!




Evil Squid
A Little Glossary of Taylorspeke
(in no particular order)

plit popints - n. Typo for 'plot points' typed on a keyboard with more than half the characters worn off...

[PING] (alt [ping]) - n. A brainwave. The text equivalent of a lightbulb going on blindingly over someone's head. Usually mine. And usually at the most inconvenient of times. [sigh]

TPTB - The Powers That Be.

wulmet - n. A person of little or no talent who somehow inveigles himself into a position where he is in power over other, far more talented people and uses his position to downplay them in order to try to make himself feel superior.

biteable - referring to an anatomical part vb, tasty.

Flatterfed - vb. 27.02.08: my typo for flattered, but since it's so cutely apt I thought it would fit nicely here. Lutra defined it as "the lovely warm feeling of satisfaction resulting from enthusiastic reviews..." (which I've been getting for my MB fics).

Composted - vb, 'compos mentis', mentally capable of working. Contrast with uncomposted or non- composted, not 'compos mentis', not capable of working, hungover...

Cumbles - n, cucumbers.

Kewp - how Ken says 'thank you'. We rather like Lutra's 'nanx', too...

Musekick - noun, music, without which I cannot work.

'feinne - noun, caffeine, essential for correct mental functioning, especially first thing in the morning. I prefer mine in the form of SodaStream Diet Coke. And on that subject...

Skoosh - verb, noun. To skoosh - to add CO2 to a sodastream bottle filled with water to make it fizzy, prior to adding Diet Coke syrup (or just drinking as sparkling water). A skoosh - a bottle of water that has been skooshed. Skooshy - something that has been skooshed, water, or that whipped cream that comes in tins you have to shake then upend and press the nozzle...

Shoogle - verb. To shake gently, for example, of roast potatoes in a roasting tin to ensure they're covered with oil. I have vague memories of this being a real Scottish colloquialism...

Stegasaurus - n, spider of the genus tegenaria. Why? No idea. I just find it easier, that's all...
Edit 08.09.07: Lutra thinks that Brian is a good name for a mini-stegasaurus. From now on, any 'Brian's in the posts may be assumed to be a tegenaria. Except where otherwise specified.

Viterals - noun, vitamins + minerals. Also a pun on victuals.

Splish - verb. A combination of slosh and splash.

Parrots - noun, paracetemol (from the old joke "Why are there no aspirin tablets in the jungle? Because the parrots eat 'em all...")

Maggles - noun, magpies. As opposed to non-magical people.

Flamewings - noun. Swifts. So called because the first time we became aware of them was an early summer evening when they were flying high, the light from the setting sun seemingly turning their wings to flames. Lovely little birds. We always know summer's arrived when we hear their high-pitched squeeing.

Murfs - noun, moths.

Peasant cut - noun, roughly cut up into big chunks, e.g. vegetables chopped in a hurry for a hearty stew or soup. By extension, anything prepared in a hurry - haircut, material, even a first draft of a story...

Giraffe - noun, a carafe (of wine, coffee or water, for example).

Shrumps - noun, mushrooms.

Splings - noun, Kai's spelling homework: by extension, any spelling.

Tyops - noun, typos. var toyps, typso, psyto, psoyt, etc. Usual result of a dose of the fingerials (see next entry).

Fingerials - (pr. fin GEEE ree yalls) noun, fingers that will not type what you want them to.

Haddock - noun, time, of which I never have enough. (Origin of this term here.)

Sleep - noun? vb? a.k.a. sheeeeeeeeep.... I used to know what this word meant...


The Updates Blog

The place to stay notified of WaveWrights' Fiction updates: Zone, Darkside, DarkRealm, Matrix, Vault, Safehouse 13...




my computer gremlin Butch. click the pic to see the larger image

Butch, my computer gremlin. Click the pic for larger version, and read his adventures here...

Butch by the talented 

Sylverthorne

A gift for me! Butch by the very talented Sylverthorne. Click pic for larger image.

Joules' 

Haddock

This is MY haddock. It was caught exclusively for me by Talon. No, you can't have any. I need all the haddock I can get!!



A'lestrel by Valkyrie.

A'lestrel - a gift for me from Valkyrie...



Albino Alsatian Benten (c) MEBird 

2004

Another gorgeous Valkyrie gift for me - Benten the Albino Alsatian! Click thumbnail for larger image.

Radittsu, an oekaki for my birthday 04 

by 

Onna

Oekai by Bakayaro Onna - Radittsu at his sexiest...



The Zone Plant from
The Zone 

blog 

plant

OrganicHTML (which alas no longer seems to exist...)
[::..My Regular Reads..::]
:: Astronomical Pic of the Day [>]
:: What is Space... [>]
:: Dark Roasted Blend [>]
:: BLDG [>]
:: Watchismo Times [>]
[::..Fun Places..::]
::HubbleSite
Stunning...
::PALEOMAP Project
Absolutely fascinating.
:: Skymap
Check out the night sky where you are!
[::..Useful Sites..::]
:: GreenNet
First stop for environmental matters
:: The Forest of Avon
Our local community forest and places to visit
:: The Guardian
Online Guardian Newspaper.
:: Symbols
Exactly what it says
:: World Timeserver
For checking the current time around this world
:: Universal Currency Converter
Actually it's just a terran-global currency converter, not universal, but it's still useful...

So what is it with the haddock? Am I some kind of fish freak?

I'll leave that to others to decide.

The tale (or tail if you prefer) harks back to October 2000, when my GoodTwin and I, ably assisted by Sue, ran the first UK Professionals convention...
It's common knowledge that I never have enough time, and I was determined not to bewail the fact that weekend: hence I promised not to use the 'T' word...
Of course, that didn't really work (if nothing else I had to let the trainees know what times things were supposed to be happening!) so we decided a substitute word would be employed instead. There were several suggestions. Banana came very close to being chosen. However, I eventually decided that 'haddock' fitted the bill nicely. Ever since, haddock=time. Hence the title of my forthcoming autobiography,
My Half-Life in the Haddock Space Continuum....


Normally I wouldn't, but these were just irresistible...

How could I resist?

Just too adorable...

and to complete the rainbow...

These Too-Kawaii Kitties
were adopted from
Ghost's Anime Page (which appears to have disappeared, alas...)

[::..Anime/Manga..::]
Useful sites:

BBTS -
Fabulous anime figures

Anime Lyrics
A huge selection... evil popups

Anime still needed to complete series' I'm collecting... Many thanks to everyone who has helped me acquire the collection!
Ai no Kusabi

Owned:
   DVD
   Dj: June Special
   CD: Ambivalence

Cyber City Oedo 808

Owned:
   DVD
   All 3 eps on Video, dubbed
   Dj: Cyberage 1-3
   Illustrated Book 2 (Benten's) in Japanese

From Eroica with Love

Owned:
   Manga Vols 1, 9, 11

Mirage of Blaze

Owned:
   DVD Vol 1 (eps 1-4)

R.G. Veda

Owned:
   English Manga: Vol 1
   Japanese Manga: Vol 1-7 complete
   Tarot Pack
   R.G.Veda video

Twelve Kingdoms

Owned:
   Anime Vol 1-12: complete

Under the Glass Moon

Owned:
   Manga Vol 1, 2
Vol 3 needed

Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust

Owned:
   DVD

   Vampire Hunter D Book 1



New Vampire Miyu

Owned:
   (Studio Ironcat) Manga Vols 1 -5 (complete)


Yami no Matsuei

Owned:
   Viz Manga: English translation, Vols 1 - 11 (complete: I believe vol 12 is only available online)
   Japanese 3-DVD set
   Central Park Media: Descendants of Darkness Vol. 1, English/Japanese subbed.
   Sketchbook


[::..Joules SP fied..::]


... this is Terra? How the hell'd I end up here...?

(Thanks, Lutra, for the quote!)

[::..archive..::]
07/01/2002 - 07/31/2002
08/01/2002 - 08/31/2002
09/01/2002 - 09/30/2002
10/01/2002 - 10/31/2002
11/01/2002 - 11/30/2002
12/01/2002 - 12/31/2002
01/01/2003 - 01/31/2003
02/01/2003 - 02/28/2003
03/01/2003 - 03/31/2003
04/01/2003 - 04/30/2003
05/01/2003 - 05/31/2003
06/01/2003 - 06/30/2003
07/01/2003 - 07/31/2003
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10/01/2003 - 10/31/2003
11/01/2003 - 11/30/2003
12/01/2003 - 12/31/2003
01/01/2004 - 01/31/2004
02/01/2004 - 02/29/2004
03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004
04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004
05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004
06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004
07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004
08/01/2004 - 08/31/2004
09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004
10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004
11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004
12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004
01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005
02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005
03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005
04/01/2005 - 04/30/2005
05/01/2005 - 05/31/2005
06/01/2005 - 06/30/2005
07/01/2005 - 07/31/2005
08/01/2005 - 08/31/2005
09/01/2005 - 09/30/2005
10/01/2005 - 10/31/2005
11/01/2005 - 11/30/2005
12/01/2005 - 12/31/2005
01/01/2006 - 01/31/2006
02/01/2006 - 02/28/2006
03/01/2006 - 03/31/2006
04/01/2006 - 04/30/2006
05/01/2006 - 05/31/2006
06/01/2006 - 06/30/2006
07/01/2006 - 07/31/2006
08/01/2006 - 08/31/2006
09/01/2006 - 09/30/2006
10/01/2006 - 10/31/2006
11/01/2006 - 11/30/2006
12/01/2006 - 12/31/2006
01/01/2007 - 01/31/2007
02/01/2007 - 02/28/2007
03/01/2007 - 03/31/2007
04/01/2007 - 04/30/2007
05/01/2007 - 05/31/2007
06/01/2007 - 06/30/2007
07/01/2007 - 07/31/2007
08/01/2007 - 08/31/2007
09/01/2007 - 09/30/2007
10/01/2007 - 10/31/2007
11/01/2007 - 11/30/2007
12/01/2007 - 12/31/2007
01/01/2008 - 31/01/2008
01/02/2008 - 29/02/2008
03/01/2008 - 31/03/2008
01/04/2008 - 04/30/2008
01/05/2008 - 31/05/2008
01/06/2008 - 30/06/2008
01/07/2008 - 31/07/2008
01/08/2008 - 31/08/2008
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01/10/2008 - 31/10/2008
01/11/2008 - 31/11/2008
01/12/2008 - 31/12/2008
01/12/2008 - 31/12/2008
01/01/2009 - 31/01/2009
01/02/2009 - 28/02/2009
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01/01/2011 - 31/01/2011
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01/01/2012 - 31/01/2012
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01/01/2013 - 31/01/2013
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01/01/2014 - 31/01/2014
01/02/2014 - 28/02/2014
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01/11/2014 - 30/11/2014
01/12/2014 - 31/12/2014
01/01/2015 - 31/01/2015
01/02/2015 - 28/02/2015
01/03/2015 - 31/03/2015
01/04/2015 - 30/04/2015
01/05/2015 - 31/05/2015
01/06/2015 - 30/06/2015
01/07/2015 - 31/07/2015
01/08/2015 - 31/08/2015
01/09/2015 - 30/09/2015
01/10/2015 - 31/10/2015
01/11/2015 - 31/11/2015
01/12/2015 - 31/12/2015
01/01/2016 - 31/01/2016
01/022016 - 28/02/2016
01/03/2016 - 31/03/2016
01/04/2016 - 31/04/2016
01/05/2016 - 31/05/2016
01/06/2016 - 30/06/2016
01/07/2016 - 31/07/2016
01/08/2016 - 31/08/2016
01/09/2016 - 31/09/2016
01/10/2016 - 31/10/2016
01/11/2016 - 31/11/2016
01/12/2016 - 31/12/2016
01/01/2017 - 31/01/2017
01/02/2017 - 28/02/2017
01/03/2017 - 31/03/2017
01/04/2017 - 30/04/2017
01/05/2017 - 31/05/2017
01/06/2017 - 30/06/2017
01/07/2017 - 31/07/2017
01/08/2017 - 31/08/2017
01/09/2017 - 30/09/2017
01/10/2017 - 31/10/2017
01/11/2017 - 30/11/2017
01/12/2017 - 31/12/2017
01/01/2018 - 31/01/2018
01/02/2018 - 28/02/2018
01/03/2018 - 31/03/2018
01/04/2018 - 30/04/2018
01/05/2018 - 31/05/2018
01/06/2018 - 30/06/2018
01/07/2018 - 31/07/2018
01/08/2018 - 31/08/2018
01/09/2018 - 30/09/2018
01/10/2018 - 31/10/2018
01/11/2018 - 30/11/2018
01/12/2018 - 31/12/2018
01/01/2019 - 31/01/2019
01/02/2019 - 28/02/2019
01/03/2019 - 31/03/2019
01/04/2019 - 30/04/2019
01/05/2019 - 31/05/2019
01/06/2019 - 30/06/2019
01/07/2019 - 31/07/2019
01/08/2019 - 31/08/2019
01/09/2019 - 30/09/2019
01/10/2019 - 31/10/2019
01/11/2019 - 30/11/2019
01/12/2019 - 31/12/2019
01/01/2020 - 31/01/2020
01/02/2020 - 29/02/2020
01/03/2020 - 31/03/2020
01/04/2020 - 31/04/2020
01/05/2020 - 31/05/2020
01/06/2020 - 31/06/2020
01/07/2020 - 31/07/2020
01/08/2020 - 31/08/2020
01/09/2020 - 30/09/2020
01/10/2020 - 31/10/2020
01/11/2020 - 30/11/2020
01/12/2020 - 31/12/2020
01/01/2021 - 31/01/2021
01/02/2021 - 28/02/2021
01/03/2021 - 31/03/2021
01/04/2021 - 30/04/2021
01/05/2021 - 31/05/2021
01/06/2021 - 30/06/2021
01/07/2021 - 31/07/2021
01/08/2021 - 31/08/2021
01/09/2021 - 30/09/2021
01/10/2021 - 31/10/2021
01/11/2021 - 30/11/2021
01/12/2021 - 31/12/2021
01/01/2022 - 31/01/2022
01/02/2022 - 28/02/2022
01/03/2022 - 31/03/2022
01/04/2022 - 30/04/2022
01/05/2022 - 30/05/2022
01/06/2022 - 31/06/2022
01/07/2022 - 31/07/2022
01/08/2022 - 31/08/2022
01/09/2022 - 30/09/2022
01/10/2022 - 31/10/2022
01/11/2021 - 31/11/2021
01/12/2022 - 31/12/2022
01/01/2023 - 31/01/2023
01/02/2023 - 28/02/2023
01/03/2023 - 31/03/2023
01/04/2023 - 30/04/2023
01/08/2023 - 31/08/2023
01/11/2023 - 31/11/2023

Monday, March 31, 2008

... must go faster... must go faster...

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

[sigh] "Wake me up at 9, please." I said. "I want to get down to the Sunday market early." I said. "I have a lot to do."
Ken forgot. And also forgot the clocks went forward. I woke up naturally at 10.30-was-really-9.30...
cushion cover And just as we were ready to charge out of the door, Raptor had an 'accident' - all over the outside of the catflap and the step. By the time that was cleaned up and the patio area hosed down it was gone 11, and today's schedule way off.
However, the market trip was successful: Kai chose a sturdy pair of brown trainers ("They won't show the mud!"), I found this rather nice cushion cover (brown satin: the flowers are filled with sequins and the outlines and leaves picked out in golden thread embroidery. Though it looks better in RL than here!), and picked up some cheap grapefruit for me.
Then Kai wanted to go out cycling (to break in his new trainers) so he and Ken went out to Wyevale (to pick me up a pot for the oriental salad greens mix, and some 8 foot long bamboo poles so I can make sunshades for the greenhouse for the summer) while I fixed netting over the two veg beds (to keep the cats off) and watered/tended/tidied in the greenhouse. We now have galia melon seeds sprouting, and mint, and the second lot of Brussel's sprouts are appearing. Everything is doing wonderfully out there so far.
Dinner was a bit of a kerfluffle too (roast with all trimmings), so I have spent most of today on my feet. It was nice to sit down with a couple of eps of Torchwood season 1 after dinner, at Kai's request.
Off to the loom...

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[growl]... bloody haddock changed direction a-bloody-gain...

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Saturday, March 29, 2008

The wind it do blow...
It made the greenhouse glass creak. That was mildly alarming.
But I have made a .php passworded file to connect to the VM dbase. And made the dbase itself. Now I just need to get them talking to each other.
... I know I did other things. Can't remember what. Brain gone.

Note to self: try updating earlier - you won't be too tired to remember what you've done...

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Friday, March 28, 2008

More client stuff: potting on spinach/toms/the second lot of courgettes, planting out garlic, and getting the Romanescu broccoli on the go in the greenhouse: enjoying the garlic bread Kai made at school: nap: ready to get some of my own work done tonight - today in a sentence...

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Hecticity abounds...
Spent much of the day wrestling with the IAVMT MYSql dbase. That was fun. Not finished yet, but at least I've done the data-entry. It would be good to have it usable by next week.
Made the quickest of all possible chilli con carne, which we all ate with tortillas, then Kai and I bombed out to John Cabot for parents' evening. Which went extremely well. We first tried to find his form tutor, who wasn't where she said she'd be, so I asked Kai to ask one of the other teachers. As it happened his Geography teacher was handy... Nearly crushed my hand! Big guy, towered over me, and boomed out into a hall crowded with teachers, kids and parents that Kai was an absolute delight to teach, bright, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and very well-behaved. But no, sorry, he didn't know where the form tutor was...
That kind of set the tone for the whole event. No-one had a bad word to say about the sprog except his Product Design teacher, and that was only that when he sits with a certain other sprog he gets sucked into talking rather than working. Kai himself said he's aware of it and tries not to sit with said sprog, but it's difficult - whereupon said teacher said she would move the whole class around a little so he could sit with someone else (and she'd break up a table of other sprogs who also all sit together and chat rather than focus, so it wouldn't look too obvious). Result!
His music teacher says he's the only one in his year to play keyboard with both hands, and is already well above the standard they're expected to reach by the beginning of year 9. She really wants him to continue on to BTEC/GCSE, and Kai is perfectly happy to comply - he loves his music. So we're now on the hunt for a better keyboard for him - and a very cheap/freecycled guitar, as he wants to try different instruments. And Ken said we'll see about a bassoon too, so he can sellotape it to his forehead and make like a jazz dalek...
And I could not believe his artwork. Makes mine look like scribbles.
The problem, I think, is going to be deciding which subjects he wants to concentrate on most, since at the moment he seems to be good at everything!
Except PE. I saw the PE teacher that gives him grief, from a distance. Think Nappa. This guy could be his live action double.
However, Kai's form tutor tells us that as of next year, the sprogs are going to be sorted into ability bands in PE, so he'll be with kids of his own level and hopefully tastes. And there's talk of offering mountain-biking as one of the options. Fingers crossed.
Anyway... He thinks, for next year, he's going to opt for Product Design for the tech GCSE, and for the other GCSE either Media Studies (with Astronomy as his reserve), or Astronomy (with Media Studies as his reserve. Astronomy... [sigh] Why didn't they offer astronomy when I was at school?) - the object being that the kids will all have two GCSEs before they even start studying seriously for their others - and they'll have had the experience of researching their subject, turning in graded coursework, and sitting real exams, before all the real pressure starts.
So we're proud, so proud of him! All that hard work is proving well worth it.

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Got to sleep about 1am - and woke up at 6.30am, which was probably just as well as Ken's radio-alarm had packed up and Kai forgot to set his...
Bit tired now though.
Shopped early (picked up new radio-alarm), got photos for driving licence renewal (decided I'd better, finally. Need some sort of photo id and a passport now costs £72, as opposed to £10 for a licence. And no, you can't see them. They're 'orrible) and got shot of a load more business stuff on my return. Our last bit of amazon order arrived - IT Crowd season 2 and Lifeforce, an old fave - and the film must have been remastered for DVD as it's astonishingly crisp and clear (watching it now to check it's OK before ditching our old, ex-rental video of it). And I'm currently having another stab at the CalCol font. It's all go...
Found via Romyra's Lj (if you take the birthdate quizz, it's one of the others offered - "What's my darkest secret?" - which I did out of... something...) and posted because to my amazement it's true:
Your darkest secret is:
You like the movie Howard the Duck



Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com
Apparently I'm also going to take over Haiti with just a pair of pruning shears, I was bigfoot in a previous life, if I was some sort of medication it would make your hair turn blue, and the celebrity I'm most like is Marlon Brando. Not sure about that last one...
Back to the loom.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

It's all a bit slow today.
Shopping, business bits, starting on the CalCol font. And that's about it for now...

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Kai came down all doomful and distressed just after midnight (as I was finishing up planning to have an early night since I had to be awake early): he didn't know why, just that he felt meeply and couldn't sleep. I let him curl up on the sofa under my ginormous cardi (yes, I have one for times when I feel cold and just want to curl up and watch TV. Which admittedly doesn't happen often. Laid sideways it covers me from toes to shoulders: it swamped Kai. But it's very comforting) and watch a Boosh ep (Charlie) and a couple of IT Crowds while he sipped a hot chocolate Horlicks. By 1.30 he felt a bit better and kept yawning, so trundled off back to bed. It's really just hormonal, but it's hard when you don't know how to deal with it. Distraction's probably best at the moment, until he's a little older.
Got up ridiculously early. And this morning was the APAG Easter Egg Hunt down at the park. I've taken several dozen photos, which I still have to check through, resize and post on the new site. Ought to do that tonight I suppose.
After that Kai and I went shopping - principally for new trainers for him (couldn't get any. Rather, couldn't get any at a price I was prepared to pay. NOT forking out £25 for a pair when they're going to get a) caked with mud and other less salubrious materials and b) hell kicked out of them! We'll try the market next Sunday) and a pair of TV tables - the sort you eat TV dinners from, I mean - that I'd seen in The Range for £7.99 each some time back.
[growl] All sold out and they don't think they'll be getting any more in. Should have got the blasted things when I saw them - except I was completely laden down and wouldn't have been able to carry them at the time.
So on the whole only a moderately successful day. And I gave in to temptation and had a nap this afternoon - which was a little stupid as now I'm not tired and I have a very early start tomorrow morning.
Not fond of Mondays.

Later edit: THIS cheered me up, however...

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

frozen cheesecake

Bit of an odd day. K&K decided to go for a walk over in the Knowle direction, and ended up being gone for four hours, which was a little extreme. I got on with some Heart, accompanied by Darkplace and Nathan Barley, and only remembered I hadn't defrosted the cheescake (Tesco's 'light' raspberry: half the fat of a normal cheesecake and really extremely nice) an hour before they arrived back.
<- This is my attempt to slice it so it thawed faster, but I have sod all strength in my hands now so had to wait til Ken got home to cut it up.
Was a nice dinner though - roasted a half leg of lamb, roast spuds and mixed veg, including probably the last (tiny) sprouts of the season. Very tasty.
After watching the Boosh special last night there didn't seem to be much point in not letting Kai watch Boosh Live, so we did this evening. He found it very funny.
On a side note, I was both pleased and infuriated to note that it was obvious, from the special, that Messrs Barratt and Fielding are not at all happy at bloody Sugar Puffs ripping off their crimping for the latest Honey Monster ad. Pleased because I couldn't imagine them selling out, certainly not to something so dire, and infuriated at the sheer fucking nerve of the company to plagiarise so appallingly. I'd boycott them, but we never eat their vile products anyway...
Back to the loom.

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

Wild orchid!

A useful sort of day. K&K mended my headphones. I did a little more client site updating, along with planting carrot and onion seeds into the veg bed. We have a couple of marrows now sprouting in the greenhouse. One of my favourite vegetables, marrow. Though quite where I'm going to put them I'm not sure. If we have the sort of endlessly wet weather we had last year, I'll lose them if I just plant them out. [sigh] I need a coldframe...
But I'm really pleased! This -> is one of Wendy's mum's native wild orchids (the ones that appeared naturally in her garden and of which Wendy gave me a couple last year. That's an awkward sentence if ever I wrote one...) It's survived! I am delighted - I wasn't sure if either of them had. I shall now tend it carefully and take photos if it flowers (fingers crossed).
There's a Boosh special on at 9pm. Kai's staying up with us to watch it.

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Friday, March 21, 2008

Oh, if only...
So, today... Much of it spent in client site stuff (it's spring, everyone seems to be fancying a change of scenery...). Frodo came round to head off biking with Kai for an hour in the afternoon. I potted on the Brussel's sprouts and got some more seeds on the go in the greenhouse: planning to actually get some in the ground as soon as the cold snap's over.
Then after dinner Kai and I watched the last three Dr Who eps - Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. Bloody fantastic: I'd forgotten some of the details. Well, a lot of the details, actually. Positively awe-inspiring.
And then, of course, there was the next Torchwood, which for some reason they've moved from Wednesday to Friday. Though actually, this week, that works really well, since what appears to be the last ep of Season 2 is on BBC3 in a quarter of an hour, and since it's Sat tomorrow Ken and I are going to treat ourselves and watch it instead of waiting for next Friday. Three eps in one week - wheeeeee!
That being said, last Wednesday's was disappointing, to us, and I think probably to anyone who knows Sapphire and Steel, as it was very much a recycling of S&S ap 3, Man Without a Face (although that story was much more chilling than the Torchwood version. Though From Out of the Rain did reinforce how useful Owen is at the moment). Adrift however - that was wonderful.
I've found this series much more moving than the first. I don't want it to end.

Edit, 23.15: No, not the last one, the penultimate ep. I liked it. I enjoy a nice bit o' backstory. Wish it could have been longer though.

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Equinoctial Greetings!

There's a pic of the FSM on the wall behind Moss' desk. And I can't help but wonder if Roy's aversion to anything goatish is a veiled reference to the infamous goatse site...

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The amazon order arrived today - The IT Crowd and AD/BC the Rock Opera (which Ken has hidden away for Yule. We'll see how long that lasts, shall we?)
SO of course we watched IT tonight. All of it. All of us. It's hysterical! Rather more accessible and mainstream than our other new acquisitions. Unfortunately I went a little mad last night on Youtube and watched The Return of the Golden Child from series two, which stars the delicious Matt Berry (it's the voice. You know me and voices. And hands. And eyes. And mouth, in this particular instance...) as Douglas and which had me spluttering loudly with hilarity at two-thirty am. We have to have series two. I'll order it tomorrow.
The rest of the day saw more bread 'n' butter stuff: client site updates, one review written ('ooray! Only four more to do then I can start on the new pile...) and finishing a little fic for the (other) Zone, devising the background tile, code/uploading (details over on the Updates Blog).
And some gardening, of course.
Still haven't started the database, and I absolutely must. Hopefully tomorrow.
Oh, and I somehow volunteered to take the photos for the website for APAG's sprog easter egg hunt down at the park on Monday. Forecast is for a sunny day: please keep fingers crossed!

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

My garden is full of bees...
Huge bumblies, as long as my thumb. (Though I have stupidly small hands, so that's not really saying much.) Well over an inch long, probably getting on for two inches. The bees, that is, not my thumb. (Which is two inches long, just.) They love the flowering currant - finally got the name, ribes sanguineum - but don't seem to be too fond of the magnolia stellata, which is now in bloom. (That reminds me, ought to crumble up some more chalk to go around it - I'll get Kai to do that this weekend, he loves hitting things with hammers.) I'm now keeping an eye out: the goat willow has just started flowering, and the honeybees seem to love it.
[grin] and right now (1.41 pm) Argent is at the top of the garden, glaring at the two maggles sitting out of his reach in the elder tree and glaring right back at him. It's a squint-off, folks!
I gather Argent lost, since he stalked in five minutes later and made his displeasure known by perching on the edge of the litter tray and peeing all over the floor. Well, all over the newspaper that we leave down given Raptor's current inability to aim straight. Elderly semi-incontinent cats, what joy...
Spent an hour trying to coordinate buses/meeting times for Kai's Parents' Evening, next Thursday. We didn't go last year, as we didn't feel the need to, he seemed mostly fine and his reports were great, but this year the school is holding half hour presentations on GCSE options: Kai has to start working towards two of them next year, so it's rather important that we attend to see what the procedure/choices are. There are times when I miss having a car. Not that I like driving through Bristol - I always hated it - but for evening events and heavy shopping it would be useful. Eh well. Maybe one day. Then again, I'd probably need a whole new slew of lessons: it's been seventeen years since i was behind the wheel.
Back to the rockface...

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Monday, March 17, 2008

[blink] Where'd the weekend go?
But tonight Kai and I managed to find the easter eggs on Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, and spent an enjoyable thirty-eight minutes listening to the entire soundtrack.
And the greenhouse is looking great - now have mint and sunflowers sprouting in addition to everything else...

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Saturday, March 15, 2008

scared eggs
Not much has happened today...
Idea shamelessly pinched from DRB. They caused some bemusement when found... ->
(Ken fancied a fried brunch - sausage, egg and fried bread. Tasty, if hardly healthy.)
This had Kai and I near-pissing ourselves - sheer genius.
Watched the end of Torchwood 1 - which Kai loved. And Ken and I finished watching Nathan Barley - a definite WTF? ending... (And Dan's hair! Oh nooooooo...)
And finally, a quote from the always scary FSTDT:
[On the Shroud of Turin] From what I watched on the tv show and what the Bible say, Jesus was raped in it for 3 days and then He rose from the dead.
A prime example of why correct spelling is important...

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Today has been a day of swan management - or as I often prefer to call it, fiddlefarting about like a de-winged bluebottle. Although - no, actually, fiddlefarting isn't quite the right term. It's more like trying to run a marathon on the moon - exhilarating and fun at the time but takes you about a year to finish. Unless you cheat and use a jet pack/IID/personal wormhole. But you'd never stoop so low now, would you. Because I know you're an honourable sentient. Aren't you. It's not a question, but you can consider it one if you like. [Hint, the correct answer is an affirmative...] Where was I? Oh yes.
IOW I was busy.
(Where's this urge to use abbrev. come from? Oh yes, this evening's goggleboxing. More on that in a mo.)
So here I was, trying to reply to a couple of tricky emails, revise the new APAG site, chat to Lutra, and tell Ken what was needed for his Arno's Park History segment onsite (all at the same time of course) when the doorbell screamed. I just knew it was the amazon order, so beat K&K to the door...
[verybiggrin] Kai immediately begged to put Garth Marenghi's Darkplace on again, which we did - and I had a brainwave (which will be posted over at the HaadriBlog once I've finished here). So while I carried on at my desk, and he continued creating his animations (his latest thing: he has a group of sort-of-super-heroes he's making little films about), it played in the background. Twice. With us watching favourite bits...
Then I made the mistake of idly checking amazon again. (Query, can one idly check such a site?) And found this... Ken said buy it and put it away for next Yule (yes, well, we know how well that idea works...) But in order to get the free p&p, I had to make it up to £15 - so we now have The IT Crowd series 1 on order (Kai is ecstatic). That's me starving next week!
My latest LoveFilm rental is War of the Worlds Live, which Wendy has seen (twice, I believe) and heartily recommended. Kai loved the music when he first heard it (and still plays the CD, GoodTwin, though perhaps not as often as he did at first), so I thought it was a good idea.
It's definitely a phenomenal show, but I think would work far better live than on the screen. We enjoyed it, but several of the tracks, which would have been perfect had we been in the audience, were just a tad too long for a TV viewing. Kai and I would still love to see it live though, if we ever got the chance. (Not sure about Ken...)
And THEN, after Kai went up to bed, we watched the first three eps of Nathan Barley...
Ye gods.
Well, Ken sat there with his 'not sure whether to be shocked, amused, appalled or traumatised' expression all through the first ep - which changed to a smile by halfway through the second. Me? I loved it. I freely admit I was all prepared to love it though, going by the reviews and the people in it. But it exceeded my expectations, being both a great deal more subtle than I hoped, and a lot more complex than I would have believed. Though there's no way Kai's watching it til he's at least 16!
Now I get to play - if I can decide which of the umpteen things I have on the go to tackle first. And beat back the guilt at not writing the backlogged reviews. So I have the third item from today's amazon delivery blasting through the headphones - The Broadsword and the Beast. Yes, I like Jethro Tull: you know by now my tastes are eclectic, to put it mildly. Ah, you should have heard me bombing down the A35 with the windows wide open, belting out Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll (Too Young To Die) back when I still had a car. Sight - and sound - to chill the blood, it were. Especially for the people in the cars coming the other way...
Laters!

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Our Mighty Boosh tickets arrived this morning...
So, what else has happened?
Shopping done (and I found a big pig and a half lamb leg on special!). Phase two of the newly designed APAG site done. Tarragon, kiwi and dragonfruit seedlings potted on, and sunflower seeds started. Oh, and 20 Uses for a Greenhouse number 5 - as a bird hide. I stood in there this afternoon, out of the rain, and watched the bluetits a yard away searching out insects in the fake currant bush, while our resident blackbird pair hunted worms under the spirea, all of a foot distant. Terrific!
Watched Random Shoes (which I remember not liking first time round. Second time it's really, really sad and poignant) and Out of Time, which I enjoyed as much as ever.
Going to try to tackle the database tomorrow. And I really must get those reviews written - I'm lagging well behind.
Later...

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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

So off K&K trotted in the morning, though not quite as early as planned, to bus first to Wells and then onwards, via Taunton, to Bishop's Lydeard and the West Somerset Railway (even though it wasn't running today). Unfortunately they left it too late to start, and would have had to return before they even got there. And the TARDIS still isn't finished. So they went to Yeovil instead. Not that there's much there, but Kai thoroughly enjoyed riding on the buses.
But Kai will never touch a Starbucks ever again. They went in for a coffee while waiting for a bus and it was vile. Could have told them that!
I got the initial design for the new APAG site done (waiting on feedback now), potted on the courgettes and got the pepper seeds on the go, tidied the greenhouse a bit more, and even managed a little housework. This evening was taken up with old Torchwood (They Keep Killing Suzie), new Torchwood (which we loved and which I think Kai might like too), and then I found The IT Crowd series 1 ep 1 was on. As it happened Kai was still awake, so he came down to watch it with me. It had us both in stitches - wonderfully daft.
Ken picked up another pack of venison sausages from Wells market: posh sossij and mash tomorrow!

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Morning - housework. Oh joy. That being said, I really should try to schedule in a decent spring-cleaning session: the place looks dingy in the sunshine. It's probably because the windows need cleaning. Kai will need to clear his bedroom floor before I can get in there though...
Afternoon - meeting (here) with the APAG PR person: they want a newly designed and greatly expanded website. Not a problem.
And Kai's birthday presents arrived, a nifty matt black and silver 1gig mp3 player, FB 13 and the Frequency DVD. He's wonderfully happy with all: I've copied all his favourite Boosh tracks and Demon Days onto it.
Evening - Kai watched Frequency while I started on the APAG site design. He really enjoyed it - terrific film. Then all three of us settled down to watch the next Torchwood - Greeks Bearing Gifts. It was better the second time 'round.
I think K&K are going out tomorrow, either to Bath or to ride on buses. I plan to finish the site design and have a stab at the MYSql database I'm supposed to be creating for IAVMT (though I'm still waiting to hear what searchable fields they want, so not sure how much I can actually get done... Eh well.)
Going to try for an early night.

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Wonderful...
We all thoroughly enjoyed our Torchwood tonight - Small Worlds and Countrycide (which I still find incredibly chilling). Once we've watched all the eps, I think I'll have to pick up the end of the last Dr Who series to complete the story, however. Oh woes. What a hardship...

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Sunday, March 09, 2008

Kai's Birthday.
He seems to have enjoyed it - a quiet day doing exactly what he wanted, which was mostly watching DVDs. We picked up Ice Age - he already has Ice Age 2 - and Back to the Future pt 2 - he already has pt 1 - as presents: he thoroughly enjoyed them. Unfortunately our main presents to him haven't yet arrived, despite them being in stock and me ordering them two and half weeks ago. Bloody amazon, no idea what they're playing at at the moment but their postal service is appalling. But at least it means he has something to look forward to.
And this evening we watched the first four eps of Torchwood series 1. Yes, it was supposed to be for Ken's birthday in June, but there you go... Kai loved it. And tonight I let him stay up with me to watch The IT Crowd (series 2 ep 4), which was very funny. I can see that going on the 'must buy' list too...
I spent some time on the garden, sorting out the two new slug-pubs and starting the galia melon seeds in the greenhouse. I left the tomato seedlings out there last night (in the mini-cloches) and they were fine, which is great as it frees up room on the kitchen window shelf.
Oh, and we had another Thompson and Morgan £5 gift voucher in the post, too, so I've ordered seeds for next year (the Maximus Brussel's sprouts I couldn't get this year, all-year-round caulis and a cold-tolerant Czech Republic tomato variety, and because I was ordering seeds I could also claim two other packets for free, so we also have mangetout and... bugger. Forgotten. Brain still AWOL, dammit. Another packet of something we wouldn't normally try, anyway. It'll cone back to me. Main thing is, all we had to do was pay the postage and an additional 37p. Not bad!
The wind is beginning to pick up out there. I'm hoping the forecast storms don't hit this area too badly. (Any area, in fact, though we know that won't happen.)

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Saturday, March 08, 2008

Found Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and Nathan Barley on amazon uk at a ridiculously low price (70% off? Why?), so have ordered them. Looking forward to the latter after reading the reviews!
Ken commented that he enjoyed Darkplace - not as much as Boosh, which we can watch again and again without it losing its appeal - and thinks that Wendy would really like it. And thinking about it, he's right! Fancy watching next time you visit?

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Friday, March 07, 2008

Kai isn't looking forward to his birthday. He doesn't want to be a teenager. He wants the celebration to be low-key, so that's what we're doing...
We walked to the BookBarn on the Bath Rd today - only to find it closed down February last year. [sigh] Eh well, the exercise was useful, and the sun glorious today.
I now have courgettes and spinach sprouting, and the cumbles were perfectly fine in the greenhouse overnight, so fingers crossed they'll be successful this year.
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace arrived from LoveFilm this morning, so of course we had to watch it this evening. It's a little uneven, but with enough laughs to make it worthwhile getting (Kai loved it, although despite my warning him there'd be bits he wouldn't understand, he kept asking questions all the way through - which isn't bad, exactly, but it didn't 'alf interrupt the flow.) And of course, it has the delectable Mr Barratt, although with only something like two minutes screen time I was left a little disappointed. Still, Matt Berry (he of the cuddly-teddy-bearness and amazing voice) only had a little more than that, relatively speaking, in Boosh, so I suppose it all evens out... why the hell am I typing this? Anyone who knows the series' will know that already, and anyone who doesn't won't understand... Then again, I could say that about just about everything, and if I ever actually paid attention to myself I'd never write anything... Nah, never happen. They won't shut me up. Never. I swear that even when I'm dead, I'm going to come back and possess some poor sod and force them to write my books for me [insert evil/mad scientist laugh here].
... back to the loom.

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Thursday, March 06, 2008

Ken had an optician's appointment today.
belladonna eyes (Photo taken without flash.)
The optician gave him some drops to enlarge his pupils so she could check the small haemorrhage they found last time... WHAT? Honestly, I wish he'd tell me these things! Everything is OK now, apparently, but the drops have taken hours to wear off (the appointment was at 1pm, it's now 9.15 and they still aren't quite back to normal). He's felt headachy and like he had flu all afternoon - not fun...
Kai's been watching time travel DVDs all day, which has been a little distracting, but I've potted on the cucumbers, recycled the old, torn mini-greenhouse cover and shunted the second bag of compost up to the potting table. The first lot of Brussel's sprouts seedlings are coming up, and some of the courgette seeds have sprouted. I think there are even a couple of mint plants showing as well. I luvs me greenhouse, I does!
Ken hasn't been able to do much today - can't see the computer screen clearly yet - so we're taking a little time off to watch Boosh Live again, with a glass or two of wine. Shall get back to the loom afterwards...

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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Well that was fun...
A while back I proposed taking Kai to Wells, so he could see where Hot Fuzz was filmed - so today we headed off at just gone 9am, off up Talbot Hill to the Wells Rd to catch a bus. We arrived in plenty of time, but the sun was so bright (and my astigmatism a pain at the moment) that I had to have Kai read the bus numbers as they approached. And I misheard what he said, and didn't realise until after it had sailed past that that was the bus we needed. [sigh]
But buses to Wells are every 30 minutes, so we went to check the charity shops, and popped into the DVD/Games exchange - where we found Flatliners (an old favourite: played it tonight to check it was OK and Kai just loved it) for £1.99, and Back to the Future part 1 (it's time-travel: of course Kai loves it!) for £4.99, so it was probably just as well we missed the first bus!
Caught the next one without problem and arrived in Wells an hour later after a really lovely ride: brilliant sunshine and a relatively quiet road. It was market day, which was great fun, loads of stalls with local produce, could have spent a fortune if I'd had one! I was strongly tempted by the pheasant burgers, but at £1.99 a pack of either one big or two small burgers - couldn't quite see - thought I'd give them a miss this time. But I did pick up some posh sossij (venison, sage and onion - £3.80 but the stall had tasters and they were irresistible!) for our sausage and mash junk food dinner tomorrow. Door in the wall of Wells' Bishop's Palace
We followed the moat around the Bishop's Palace - this little door was open and the glimpse of the inside was quite lovely - and sat watching the ducks while Kai stuffed his face with the 'special' hotdog he'd pleaded for (three sausages - venison I think - in a whopping great bap!) for his lunch. I must remember next time and not bother taking lunch rolls for him...
A quick walk around the cathedral later and we decided to go a bit further: no point in buying SouthWest FirstDay tickets if you don't get good value from them! We decided a jaunt to Bridgwater would be nice, so leapt on the bus...
It was a country bus. I knew it was going via Glastonbury and Street: what I hadn't realised was that it also went completely round the houses (literally) through the viallges of Ashcott, Catcott, Edington, Cossington, Woolavington and Puriton as well. An hour and 27 miles to go 12. Ye gods my back was aching by the time we got to Bridgwater!
And there wasn't a more direct route back to Wells, either, so we got off, walked around for ten minutes, then got back on the bus. And just outside of Glastonbury the police had blocked off the roundabout and weren't letting any traffic through on the Wells Rd (no idea what had happened, there was nothing on the local news this evening) so we had to go back through Glastonbury, round the side of the Tor and out on the Shepton Mallet Rd. Oh joy!
We finally reached Wells bus station half an hour later than anticipated - and that was lucky too, since the police had also blocked the roundabout there! - but did finally manage to get the Bristol bus. Didn't arrive back until 6.30, though - a long day. Just as well I cooked the chili yesterday!
But it was a fun, if tiring, day. And tonight's Torchwood was quite beautiful I thought.
Think I'll take it easy tonight...

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Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Quick update:
Enjoyed Another Flip for Dominick (though the end was a bit of a cop-out). Discovered LoveFilm carry Nathan Barley, The IT Crowd series 1 and Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, all of which I missed previously, so now have those listed to rent. (I caught an ep of the second series of The IT Crowd on Sunday night - well, Monday morning really - and rather liked it...)
... and I know there were at least three other things I meant to write here, but I foolishly stopped along the way to read some fic and now I can't remember what they were. Bugger.
I'll edit later if I reremember.

(Ten minutes later) Oh yes... well, one of them anyway. The new orchid is scented! Lifted it for a little orchid care this afternoon (still battling scale insect) and the wonderful fragrance of vanilla drifted up. Just beautiful. I'm really pleased: I'd hoped it was a scented variety.

(Several hours later) Ah - and Celtic Symbols reached number 17 in amazon.com's Celtic Bestsellers list today. You never know, I might actually get some royalties for that one!

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Monday, March 03, 2008

Monday shopping - oh joy. But Kai came with me to help carry, so it was better than normal.
It's cold. All my seedlings are wrapped up in little white blankets until tomorrow...

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Sunday, March 02, 2008

Happy Mothers' Day to all UK mums!
It's not often my birthday and Mothers' Day fall so close together. (Is it? My brain is still AWOL and my memory about as useful as a faulty colander...) I was treated to breakfast in bed (scrambled eggs and sautéed shitake mushrooms on toast and a glass of blueberry juice - my favourites) and read a little of Eroica 11 while it was being made. Lovely way to start the day!
I have some Belgian truffles for later too...
I'm not working today - well, only to prepare the veg for dinner (big pig roast with all the trimmings): the MYSql database I have to construct will wait 'til tomorrow, I'm sure, and the emails I need to answer ditto. I have done a little gardening though: started marrows and courgettes off in the greenhouse, and given some thought to how to organise everything, since the cucumbers will need planting on soon. I suppose I ought to start leaving them out overnight first, in a few days when I feel more confident we won't have frost. Though the environmental fleece I picked up last year did a grand job of protecting the seedlings a couple of weeks ago: I can always resort to that overnight if I'm worried.
Ken has a meeting this evening: Kai and I will Boosh.

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Saturday, March 01, 2008

cambria


Just beautiful. I still don't know which cambria it is!
Today was hectic in the garden - beautiful sunshine, if a rather chilly wind. I weeded both the veg beds, then Kai came out and helped me edge the new veg bed with the same sort of plastic stuff I used on the old one. We pruned the bay tree a little, then I transplanted radish seedlings into one of the troughs in the greenhouse, and emptied out the first of the bags of organic peat-free compost into a variety of planters and pots, in preparation for the (hopefully) warmer weather this month. It's all looking a lot tidier in the garden now.

Kai's term report is very good again. Interestingly he has more 'excellent's and 'outstanding's in Art, English, Geography and Music than in the Science and Maths side, this time. We're very pleased, of course!
cambriaKai and I watched the Mighty Boosh special feature Making of Boosh 3 this evening. Thoroughly enjoyed it - wonderfully daft...
Time to be getting on with something creative, I think. Back to the loom...

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A little update...
I don't often check my sitemeter report these day (haddock! haddock! my... um... not my kingdom, as I don't have one. Except for my garden, and strictly speaking that's not altogether mine to give. And you're not getting my greenhouse! I could probably spare a custom aromatherapy mix... where was I? Oh yes...) but I'm rather glad I did tonight. There were several hits from the Aeclectic Tarot site, and, curious, I hopped over to look.
It's a lovely site - and to my delight a number of the members have tried and really like Celtic Messages. (Emma, if you're reading this, they love your illos!) I can't comment without registering - which I have done, but it takes about 24 hours for acceptance - so if anyone from the forum visits here in the meantime: yes, I am that same Joules Taylor, and thank you for your very flattering comments! I am very happy that you find the pack both attractive and useful, and hope you get much pleasure from using it in the future.

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