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
08/01/2003 - 08/31/2003
09/01/2003 - 09/30/2003
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
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01/01/2015 - 31/01/2015
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01/12/2015 - 31/12/2015
01/01/2016 - 31/01/2016
01/022016 - 28/02/2016
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01/12/2016 - 31/12/2016
01/01/2017 - 31/01/2017
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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
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01/04/2018 - 30/04/2018
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01/06/2018 - 30/06/2018
01/07/2018 - 31/07/2018
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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

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Hm. 2,726th blog post...
that bloody squiggle... Into town today, primarily to the bank, and wonder of wonders managed to get everything I went in for, which included new (Egyptian cotton) sheets and (ditto) pillowslips, as ours are a little old and thin now, a 2009 calendar (kittens and puppies together, the least offensive of the cheapies at Wilkinson's. Though I have to confess they're rather cute...) and a pair of little cheapie bins from Hawkin's Bazaar for bird-watching.
And while I was out Ken used his Yule pressie to take this pic of that bloody squiggle acrobatting it onto the thin thin branch where I thought the feeder would be safe...[sigh] Nifty camera though - excellent zoom.
So, the bed is all made up with new sheets and downie and pillows and pillowslips (and you might remember how much I love new bedding). Actually looking forward to going to bed tonight.
My copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel arrived this morning: watched it after dinner, and there was a distinct excess of drooling. Though Lutra says she prefers Chauvelin:
I just wanted to slap him [REG] as the Pimpernel. Really? Why? Arrogant, sarcastic, superior shit [g] my sympathies were with Chauvelin. LOL! Have to admit he was deliciously nasty. But no, REG captured the book SP perfectly. Did I mention I have all the SP books? There are 10 of them You didn't, but that doesn't surprise me. Proletariat wee soul that I am I probly wouldn't enjoy them! [smirk] You know I'm an aristo at heart. LOL! and I certainly am not. Funny how things work out [g]
Although I've just checked and there are actually 18 SP books. Oh noes!! I haz not all of dem! I must hunt them down...
So now we have Beeb 1's New Year Live prog on the TV while we wait for the chimes. (Normally we'd watch Jools Holland, but Top of the Pops was on earlier with Duffy, and I had to turn it over as her voice actually made me feel ill. Yowling cat wasn't in it. She's guesting on JH, so we're giving it a miss.) There will probably be fireworks outside later, but we may give them a miss: it's been below freezing here all week, and it's much more pleasant inside...
So - 2008. I won't be sorry to see the backside of it. Problem is, there's not much to look forward to for 2009 either. Yet anyway.
Health and Happiness to us all. Prosperity is likely to be in short supply.
Later...

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Bird table! Bird table! I haz a burd tabel... (The upside-down bowl is to deter that damned squiggle...)


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Monday, December 29, 2008

No bird table today either - will try tomorrow...
Films. Lots of films. Bussed up to Broadwalk: found the RHS hardback Essential Gardening Techniques in Works (exactly what I was looking for!) and another three DVDs from Pink Planet (Bram Stoker's Dracula, to replace the now-aging video, Volcano, because Kai likes it, and Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves just for Rickman's wonderful Sheriff of Nottingham. Well, you wouldn't buy it for any other reason, would you? It's a dreadful film!)
Also found the Transformers special two-disc set (for a fiver) and a kingsize 13.5 TOG downie at half price (ours is ancient and getting holey) at Sainsbug's, which I'm rather pleased about.
Then tonight we watched Superman Returns. Looked like a recap of several of the previous films, but it was OK I suppose. Nothing really new. Glad I didn't pay to see it.
Back to the loom...

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[Very Big Evil Grin] So Lutra and I were skyping, discussing films and fanfics and things, and I mentioned that my consistent favourite actors (as opposed to the occasional and variable ones) are Richard E Grant (since I first saw him in Warlock), Alan Rickman (Die Hard) and Nic Cage (Con Air), and Lutra asked if REG and Rickman had ever been in a film together, and I did a quick skim and said I thought not - but oooh, wouldn't that be just gorgeous, they're such beautiful opposites character-wise... and she then came out with those awful words...

[ignoring the ping]

At which point my spelling just went to pot...
WIRTE IT!!!! I deman you no ingorer hte ping! it's the barest glimmer of a possible idea! ROFOLMAO! and I've suddenly become an illiterate half american half amazonian pygmy ROFLMAO! I noticed I'm very glad you can interpet joules as my splings have just taken off for warmer climes, mocking me from far away ROFLMAO! cheeky blighters
[bg] I've been promised a deliciously slashy fic for my birthday. [grins at Lutra] Now you HAVE to write it!!

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Sunday, December 28, 2008

No bird table, shopping instead. Bird table tomorrow, perhaps...

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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Parents safely home, order restored, we're absolutely exhausted, and Ken's back is killing him. Looking forward to a good night's sleep.
It's been good though, a lot of fun, and the folks have really enjoyed it. We've done really well in the DVD department: Jesus Christ: Superstar, Blood Ties (the complete boxed set), AD*BC (which we watched this afternoon. It's a rock opera starring the Boosh crowd, a deliberate and very funny rip-off of JC: S) and the director's cut of Ghost Rider for me, The Wall for Ken, and Sunshine and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (for his time-travel collection) for Kai - along with the DVDs I picked up from Pink Planet. And since play.com have The Scarlet Pimpernel (the TV Series starring Richard E Grant as Sir Percy and Martin Shaw as Chauvelin) for £1.99 p&p free, and since I seem to be on another REG kick, I have the first film on its way. Insane I know, but I shall try to find time to watch everything over the holiday. Such a chore... [g]
We're having a loooooong lie-in tomorrow, then hopefully assembling my bird table. It's bitterly cold, but the forecast is for sun for the next five days, so it would be good to get a few things done in the garden.

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Friday, December 26, 2008

Knackered. I think I'm too old for this now...
But it's all good. Much eating large amounts of food and watching of DVDs has taken place, and the weather has been traditionally gorgeous here.
Though I must confess it'll be nice to have my own bed back tomorrow.

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Thursday, December 25, 2008

*headdeskheaddeskheaddesk*
... mecha in Dr Who. That's it, it's officially now gone to the dogs...

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Folks arrived just fine, and were able to park outside the house (which may not sound like much but other people always leave their bloody cars and vans parked right outside my house and it really pisses me off when family and friends have to try to squeeze in halfway down the road and lug stuff back. One in particular, despite having plenty of space outside his own place, insists on parking across my gate with his hideous van...)
Mum and I got the new bus up Talbot Hill to Broadwalk (lovely little ride with a lovely friendly young driver, and biscuits and sweets for all passengers today!) where we trawled the charity shops, I failed to find raspberries (managed to pick up another punnet of strawberries), but did find Love, Actually at Pink Planet DVDs (picked up City of Angels and the live-action Spawn to take advantage of their buy three for £10 offer). So tonight we all watched Love, Actually which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.
Now I think I've remembered to take everything necessary out of the freezer ready for tomorrow... There's always the microwave if I need to fast thaw anything, I suppose.
Later!

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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

[bleary eyed] Up at 8.30 (to go shopping) after four and a half hours sleep (my own fault, I should have gone to bed earlier!) Tired now, but everything's ready. Well, almost. Although both Sainsbug and Tesco had sold out of raspberries, which is a mini-disaster (I bought strawberries instead but they're never so good in a Pav...) I suppose I could try again tomorrow but it's unlikely they'll have got more in overnight.
However, Kai's feeling and looking a lot better today, still coughing and spluttering, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. This is good.
Early night tonight I think...

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Monday, December 22, 2008

Poor sprog is poorly - actually feels pretty rough and doesn't want to go to bed as he won't be able to sleep. So I'm letting him stay up 'til I go up...
Ferris wheel But it was a good day. Managed to get everything we went into town for, and the orthodontist was delighted with Kai's dental hygiene. She's whapping off a letter to our dentist for the extraction: I need to ring for an appointment in the New Year, then for the ortho appointment for two weeks later. Kai's resigned.
The Yule market had gone from Castle Green, but the ginormous Ferris wheel was still there (sorry about the photos, that's what happens when I use the wrong camera setting. Though actually I quite like the squiggles...)
Kai loved it, although he was a little wary of it to start with (you could spin the capsule you sat in by turning the wheel around the central pole) - and it was a bit cold, and he forgot his gloves. But it was the first every fair ride I went on as a child (at Bournemouth, I believe, and was hooked afterwards) and it's always been a favourite, turning lazy circles in the sky.
from Ferris wheel from Ferris wheel

Kai's been having fun on Google Translate, translating English phrases into Japanese then back into English. My favourite so far has been 'To be or not to be, that is the question', which ended up as 'In Oregon, but it is a problem, please.' (um, yerrss.)
And now Love Actually is on - such a great film, and nicely distracting for Kai. Tomorrow will be the third bad day of the cold, so I'm expecting it to start going by the evening. Certainly hope so, my folks are up the following morning...

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Sunday, December 21, 2008

Joyous Solstice!

And happy nineteenth anniversary to us!
messy Pavlova Hm. A somewhat messy Pavlova: a trial to see if I could still make them after a break of about ten years - I just threw the raspberries on. Tasted great though, right texture an' all; I reckon I can risk it for dessert on the day...





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Saturday, December 20, 2008

Nice loooong lie-in - actually until 11, and even then Ken had to wake me up. Ended up only doing the Sainsbug shop (Kai came with me to help carry) as they had almost everything I needed. Weighed a ton, crammed rucksack and four heavy bags...
After dinner Kai announced he wanted to watch a film - so we did, Iron Man on FilmFlex. Crackin' film, I'd forgotten how much I liked it! We have it for 24 hours: will watch again tomorrow. (Apparently there's an Iron Man 2 in the offing, but it has a release date of 2010, so a wee while to wait yet.)
And now K&K are watching V for Vendetta. Another good film.

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And, before I go to bed - 'alf-inched from Romyra's Lj....

I am Penemue

Take The 'Which Fallen Angel Would You Be?' Quiz

Brought to you by Angel August's Abode

("Ironically, for an evil angel, Penemue was the curer of stupidity. This seems to go against church doctrines which state that demons are stupid. However, a demon needs to be intelligent and cunning in order to be able to tempt the wisest of men. He also taught man the bitter and the sweet, and the secret of their wisdom. Worst of all, he taught the use of ink and paper in writing. For God had said that human beings were not created for such purposes.")
Heh....
Romyra finds the most interesting quizzes.

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Friday, December 19, 2008

Kai's home from school now until Jan 5th - but he arrived back feeling poorly, coughing and snuffling, and he has a slight temperature. I'm hoping it's just the stress of the last month rather than another cold (surely he should have some immunity after the last one!)
Didn't manage much, though Ken cleaned the kitchen floor for me, bless 'im. Will finish the kitchen tomorrow in between Sainsbug and Tesco shops, then I'll only have to go to the butcher and pick up last minute things on Tuesday (paté, lettuce, cream, strawberries, milk, bread, that sort of thing). Everything else is already pretty much done/bought. Not bad really, given I've been so horribly disorganised this year.

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

It's a year ago today we lost Quyn. I miss him.

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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

OK - tooth now refilled. Or rather, half-refilled: she only removed half the old filling and replaced it and the broken bit of tooth (although it's been done in composite, so it matches the rest of my teeth). I'm not quite sure why, unless it was to a) save money or b) from a desire not to cause me any more pain, because despite two fairly substantial shots of anaesthetic it still hurt, and I mean wincing and yelping hurt. And given that I once accidentally poured boiling water down my arm when I knocked over the kettle and didn't do much more than swear very quietly, it takes quite a lot to make me yelp.
I just don't get on very well with anaesthetics. Bloody annoying it is...
But anyway - tooth is fixed, and she's confident it should be OK now. It certainly feels much better not having a gaping hole in the side, although I'm a little wary of biting down on it just yet. The great thing is the anaesthetic wore off quickly and it all feels fine.
The rest of the day - client stuff, email answering, shopping and queueing at post office, though not for very long, I obviously got the timing right.
Tired now - and legs aching again. Eh well, it's all good exercise!

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Well that was a day and no mistake.
I FirstDayed it up to Wild Oats in Redland, looking for the elusive organic sea food sauce (a.k.a. Marie Rose sauce): we love the Simply Delicious variety but it's been discontinued. "No," said the assistant, "we only stock vegetarian products here." [headdesk] Sea food sauce is mayonnaise with other vegetarian ingredients - why don't 'health food' shop assistants know that!? Do they think it has bits of fish and prawns and eels and squids in it or something? They said the same up at Harvest last week, too. Reminds me of the time I asked Ken to get me some pearl barley for a stew I was making, and the Tesco assistant asked him if it came in a tin or a jar...
Then again, the sauce does seem to be very easy to make - from the BBC cookery pages:
3 heaped tbsp mayonnaise 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce few drops of Tabasco sauce few drops of soy sauce squeeze of lemon juice celery salt and freshly ground black pepper
I shall have to experiment (though not to the extent of making my own mayonnaise. I can, used to make it regularly, but I can't be arsed these days.)
Anyway, bought a three seed loaf and a bag of organic wholemeal flour, and found a large pizza plate in the Kitchens shop around the corner that will do perfectly as a plate for cooking Pavlova. Walked almost the length of Whiteladies Rd/Park Street hunting the last few Yule presents, then staggered off to the PO delivery collection place just up from Temple Meads, to try to pick up the parcel they failed to deliver yesterday. Failed to deliver because I wasn't out, as they claimed, I was upstairs. I heard no bell or knock, just came downstairs to find the card on the floor. Apparently this is a bit of a headache here at the moment as some couriers aren't even bothering to knock, just putting the card through the door and scarpering.
It hadn't arrived back at the depot yet, so I asked for it to be redelivered on Friday. I thought it must be my birdtable, but when I got home I found that that had been delivered (and left in a safe place) while I was out - which is probably just as well as it's bloody heavy! So I assume that the undelivered parcel is from you, Sue.
The editor of Soul and Spirit magazine emailed back, saying she loved my Imbolc article and please could I write one for Ostara/Easter! Dead chuffed about that - it's awfully nice to be wanted. Of course I said yes...
Then it was a matter of wrapping presents ready to go in the post tomorrow. I'm due at the dentist, not at 9 am as originally set, they've changed it to five past three instead, which is much better, so will go up to BroadWalk early and use their PO. And then check out the mini-mall for a few more last minute things, and do a Tesco shop on the way home after my appointment.
The week before Yule is always hectic.
My legs are aching now though - it was a lot of walking. And this evening Kai needed seven different genres of music mp3s for his music presentation: I had five of them already, and finally managed to find the last two - SATB choir and steel pan band - online after he went to bed.
Oh, and we're transferring WaveWrights from Claranet to Soho Hosting (five times the megs and password protection thrown in for half the price of Claranet, and the tech support has been excellent so far). If we're happy with it, I shall also transfer Haadri over when the sub falls due next year. Will report back here when we know how good they are!
I suppose I could think about having an early night - certainly tired enough... (Have cat patting at my leg asking to be fed, but he's just thrown up so I think it might be better to leave it til the morning. He doesn't agree of course.)

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Monday, December 15, 2008

So, Monday.
I'd like to rewind the day and start again, if it's all the same to you. Or even if it's not. One of those insanely irritating days where if a thing can go wrong, it does go wrong.
Eh well.
[splutter] I've just seen the new Mr Muscle advert... No, sorry, I don't care how sexy they try to make it, household cleaners just don't do it for me...

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Sunday, December 14, 2008

Cheeky bugger...Cheeky bugger...
Cheeky bugger...Cheeky bugger...
Cheeky bugger...
Cheeky little bugger. Even when I went out to move the long feeder further away from the trunk he sat up at the veg bed waiting for me to go ('til I chased him off, anyway).
A useful day. The Imbolc article is finished and polished, ready to go off tomorrow. K&K stripped all the twigs and unusable small branches off the goat willow remains: Kai has all the long sturdy branches stacked against the wall in his den ready to be suspended between the ivy-tree and the ivy-covered greengage to make a natural roof (we're going to let the ivy grow over it) while I have plenty of the smaller ones to make into wigwams to support my mange tout, peas and dwarf beans next year.
Sprog has also finished his music homework (part of his BTEC, so quite important).
No doubt I am severely behind the haddocks but I fell over this by accident. I knew it existed, I just didn't know it was so readily available!
Boreded Ceiling Cat makinkgz Urf n stuffs
1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem. 2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz. 3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz. 4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin. 5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1 6 An Ceiling Cat sayed, im in ur waterz makin a ceiling. But he no yet make a ur. An he maded a hole in teh Ceiling. 7 An Ceiling Cat doed teh skiez with waterz down An waterz up. It happen. 8 An Ceiling Cat sayed, i can has teh firmmint wich iz funny bibel naim 4 ceiling, so wuz teh twoth day. 9 An Ceiling Cat gotted all teh waterz in ur base, An Ceiling Cat hadz dry placez cuz kittehs DO NOT WANT get wet. 10 An Ceiling Cat called no waterz urth and waters oshun. Iz good. 11 An Ceiling Cat sayed, DO WANT grass! so tehr wuz seedz An stufs, An fruitzors An vegbatels. An a Corm. It happen. 12 An Ceiling Cat sawed that weedz ish good, so, letz there be weedz. 13 An so teh threeth day jazzhands. 14 An Ceiling Cat sayed, i can has lightz in the skiez for splittin day An no day. 15 It happen, lights everwear, like christmass, srsly. 16 An Ceiling Cat doeth two grate lightz, teh most big for day, teh other for no day. 17 An Ceiling Cat screw tehm on skiez, with big nails An stuff, to lite teh Urfs. 18 An tehy rulez day An night. Ceiling Cat sawed. Iz good. 19 An so teh furth day w00t. 20 An Ceiling Cat sayed, waterz bring me phishes, An burds, so kittehs can eat dem. But Ceiling Cat no eated dem. 21 An Ceiling Cat maed big fishies An see monstrs, which wuz like big cows, except they no mood, An other stuffs dat mooves, An Ceiling Cat sawed iz good. 22 An Ceiling Cat sed O hai, make bebehs kthx. An dont worry i wont watch u secksy, i not that kynd uf kitteh. 23 An so teh...fith day. Ceiling Cat taek a wile 2 cawnt. 24 An Ceiling Cat sayed, i can has MOAR living stuff, mooes, An creepie tings, An otehr aminals. It happen so tehre. 25 An Ceiling Cat doed moar living stuff, mooes, An creepies, An otehr animuls, An did not eated tehm. 26 An Ceiling Cat sayed, letz us do peeps like uz, becuz we ish teh qte, An let min p0wnz0r becuz tehy has can openers. 27 So Ceiling Cat createded teh peeps taht waz like him, can has can openers he maed tehm, min An womin wuz maeded, but he did not eated tehm. 28 An Ceiling Cat sed them O hai maek bebehs kthx, An p0wn teh waterz, no waterz An teh firmmint, An evry stufs. 29 An Ceiling Cat sayed, Beholdt, the Urfs, I has it, An I has not eated it. 30 For evry createded stufs tehre are the fuudz, to the burdies, teh creepiez, An teh mooes, so tehre. It happen. Iz good. 31 An Ceiling Cat sayed, Beholdt, teh good enouf for releaze as version 0.8a. kthxbai.
Blithely stolen from the LOLcatbible. Nearly Now complete, I understand...
Right. Um... Haadri I s'pose...

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[bemused] We watch the BBC's Countryfile most weeks - their articles are always interesting, and they do a detailed weekly weather forecast which can be very handy. This week, along with a feature on tree-dressing, a visit to a free-range turkey farm and a worrying article on fuel-laundering and its devastating effects on the countryside, they had a cookery feature. Along with the three bird roast - a pheasant inside a duck inside a turkey - they had a new slant on traditional veg...
Stuffed Brussels sprouts, anyone?
Oh, sorry, sprout canapés, must get the terminology right. Lightly cooked (I assume they were cooked, they didn't look raw), cored, and stuffed with chestnut purée, or sweet chilli mixed with crème fraîche (there was a third but I forget...) then decorated with caviare and two long chive leaves in the case of the latter, and two curls of lemon skin for the former. Looked really nice, but I wouldn't have the patience. Life's too short to stuff a sprout.
As for the week's weather - the usual mixture, but with primarily south-westerly winds it'll be warmer. We'll try to take advantage of the clear spells - I still need to weed the veg bed...

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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Rather a nice day. Almost finished the Imbolc article, and we watched The Little Vampire (which I picked up for £2.99 at Sainsbug's) - it's an absolutely charming film, funny, playful and just so cute (with the added bonus of Richard E Grant, of course, a favourite actor of mine). We loved it. Think we'll watch it again with the folks over Yule.
Then later (after an unusually offensive Harry Hill's TV Burp, not a programme I particularly like but Kai finds him funny) we all sat down for Night of the Demon... Still as shiver-worthy as I remember, and Kai was impressed. Ye gods, that film is older than me!!
Back to the loom.

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Aaaaaaand the BCP site is finally done: the RSS xml page was surprisingly easy (even if the validator is a fussy bugger). Just hope it works properly for everyone...
I can have a glass or two of wine now. (erk, nearly 2.30 am....)

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Friday, December 12, 2008

Blowing a gale, pissing with rain... this country has a lot of weather. Then again, according to that documentary we watched, we're right where six different weather systems meet. (Or have I already said that?) Still, at least it's not so cold tonight.
Then again, we haven't been able to see the full moon spectacle tonight. Annoyed about that...
Kai's room is beautifully tidy - at last! - and the Tag Cloud is now in place on the BCP site. Just the RSS to do now.
And the rest of the Imbolc article, mustn't forget that.
... back to the rockface...

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

dinner!Remember me mentioning the fine fat wood-pigeon visitor to the garden that I kept threatening to make into dinner? Here it is, perched on the birdbath, and looking particularly fine because the light is reflecting off the ice in the bath onto its breast feathers and giving them a pearly shine...
It flew away when it saw me pointing the camera though.
The BCP Directory is finally done. RSS feed and Tag Cloud left to devise, then it's finished.
Tonight was Kai's school concert, and since he was in it I went along with him. It was - mostly - very good, and there are some fine musicians and singers at John Cabot. (There are also just a few wincingly bad ones, alas,) It was a fun evening, and we were offered a lift home by the B sprog's mum, which was much appreciated!
Kai's on an inset (day off) day tomorrow: he's promised to do his room...


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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

And today just vanished...
Did manage to get a good thing done though - we've been getting robot mailing list applications on the Heartsown site, so now there's a captcha there. Should help a bit!
Ken has Kai's cold. Ken almost never gets colds. He's managing with the cold medications I keep in, just in case. Luckily the First Defence is still working for me.
And we've watched Death Note Vol 3 disc 1. L and Light, handcuffs and chains, eh? Kinky...

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Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Wendy emailed this: I hadn't seen it before and it tickled me...
SOME TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING 1. Avoid alliteration. Always. 2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. 3. Employ the vernacular. 4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. 6. Remember to never split an infinitive. 7. Contractions aren't necessary. 8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 9. One should never generalize. 10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." 11. Comparisons are as bad as clichés. 12. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
Early night tonight.

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Monday, December 08, 2008

Monday shopping - but into town this time, for Bio-D washing liquid etc. fillups, SodaStream exchange cylinders, corks from Brewer's Droop, and Yule presents (did quite well on the latter, actually: found what I was looking for for my mother, along with a few other bits for others). Didn't get back 'til nearly two pm though, and was knackered (rather a lot of walking was accomplished today), so I haven't managed to get much else done. Well, washing and cooking, and a nap, but tonight I have a load of client site stuff, and I really need to finish the Imbolc article...
Exciting life I live, ne?

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Sunday, December 07, 2008

It was cold last night. Got down to around -7°, I understand. I had to make a hole in the ice over Roeg's Pool with a saucepan of boiling water and plonk in a tennis ball to try to keep it open...
frosted garden But it was such a glorious day! Kai decided he wanted to go for a bike-ride, so he and Ken set off for Eastwood Farm... They had a fantastic - if chilly - time!
Eastwood Farm
(Yes, that is really Brislington. I love having green spaces near enough to walk...) Eastwood Farm
That water is frozen solid. Eastwood Farm
Eastwood Farm

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Saturday, December 06, 2008

After a much appreciated long lie in, K&K cut down the goat willow while I went shopping/put a wash through/cleaned the fridge/showered/made stir-fry pork for dinner. Not sure which of us is tireder.
There is a cricket driving me nuts, it WILL NOT stop singing. Kai caught it and dropped it in Rosa's tank yesterday, but so far she hasn't managed to catch it. A week now it's been giving me earache. It's a brown one, they're supposed to be silent...
The other thing I meant to comment on last week was Canary Wharf underground station. I had to go down four (very deep) levels at Westminster Station, which was unnerving, and the Jubilee Line has a seven foot high barrier all along its stations - I assume to stop people falling or being pushed into the track - with sections that slide open in line with the train doors. All very civilised and quiet (and also quite comfortable; not many people). But Canary Wharf station itself is a nightmare of steel girders and corrugated foot plates and grey concrete struts, ugly as hell and incredibly, noisily echoing. Has to be the most unfriendly station I've ever been in, and that includes Harlem, NY, in '84 (though that was an accident) and Glasgow's clockwork orange in the late 70's (pick a station, any station...)
Creating worlds tonight.

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Friday, December 05, 2008

[sigh] So sprog definitely has a cold, poor thing, and I'm still First Defencing it off.
No response yet to the Friday thing. Hopefully Monday...

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Thursday, December 04, 2008

[grumble] Got up particularly early after four hours sleep to watch a news item and then they delayed it by an hour...
Still, the Friday thing is finished and emailed, and I've done one of the client-site things that came in. Will try for an early night - need to be up early tomorrow too.
... I think Kai has brought home a cold from school - sinuses are prickling most horribly. Just as well I stocked up on First Defence...

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Wednesday, December 03, 2008

[grin] Tried the quizzes on Lutra's blog...
Your results:
You are Mace Windu
Mace Windu
70%
Darth Maul
68%
Qui-Gon Jinn
66%
R2-D2
66%
Darth Vader
65%
Lando Calrissian
64%
Boba Fett
63%
Chewbacca
62%
Han Solo
62%
Emperor Palpatine
61%








Tall, dark, handsome and hairless.
Others look up to you,
so if you were a little less of a grump,
you'd have more friends.
(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)
Click here to take the Star Wars Personality Quiz
Um, perhaps not...
I liked the art one.
Non-conformist, Visionary, and Independent
19 Abstract, -14 Islamic, 1 Ukiyo-e, 10 Cubist, -13 Impressionist and -23 Renaissance!
art quiz
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, colour and line to create a composition which exists independently of what may appear to others as visual realities. Western art had been underpinned by the logic of perspective and an attempt to reproduce an illusion of visible reality. It allowed the progressive thinking artists to show a different side to the world around them. By the end of the 19th century many artists felt a need to create a 'new kind of art' which would encompass the fundamental changes taking place in technology, science and philosophy. Abstract artists created art that was diverse and reflected the social and intellectual turmoil in all areas of Western culture. People that chose abstract art as their preferred artform tend to be visionaries. They see things in the world around them and in people that others may miss because they look beyond what is visual only with the eye. They rely on their inner thoughts and feelings in dealing with the world around them instead of on what they are told they should think and feel. They feel freed from the tendency to be bound by traditional thought and experiences. They look more toward their own ideas and experiences than what they are told by their religious upbringing or from scientific evidence. They tend to like to prove theories themselves instead of relying on the insight or ideas of others. They are not bound by common and mundane, but like to travel and have new experiences. They value intelligence, but they also enjoy a challenge. They can be rather argumentative when they are being forced or feel as if they are being forced to conform.

Back to the rockface...

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Managed to get half the Imbolc article written last night, so today has been spent on the Friday project. The time hasn't been as productive as I'd hoped, but it's OK. I do need to get a whole lot more done tonight though - and the client site stuff is piling up as well...
Send in the clones.

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Tuesday, December 02, 2008

[bemused] Ken recently wrote an article (Winter's Gifts) for Soul and Spirit magazine, and suggested I see if the editor might be interested in an Imbolc feature (and possibly subsequent fire festival articles). So I whapped off a brief proposal and intro sample this afternoon - and half an hour later got an email back saying yes please, 2,000 words by the 16th of December... So that's what I'm working on tonight. I should be doing at least two other things, but I still have until Thursday afternoon, and Imbolc is easy to write about.
(This is, incidentally, nothing to do with the London visit.)
In other news... my ceropegia and kiwi plants are now repotted - my chilli pepper plants' leaves have suffered with the freezing weather, as has my basil, alas - and I've organised the feeders on the medlar. It's a veritable avian restaurant out there!
Also ordered the RSPB birdtable and their recommended cleaner (and got the robin card holder for free and the diamond-shaped robin/wren nesting box for £3.27 instead of £10.49), so my little birds will have new toys after Yule. Ken suggested keeping a pair of binoculars in the kitchen/my room, so I can try watching from indoors (because the meadow is just far enough that with my astigmatism I can't clearly see the wee things without a little help).
Back to the rockface...

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Monday, December 01, 2008

Oh for... Anyone else finding that every time Blogger does its autosave thing, it creates a separate draft copy of the post you're writing? I've just had to delete six drafts. What the hell have they done to the software now? [grump]
But I had a terrific day. Kim arrived just after lunch: we went out to Cadbury Garden Centre in the end, as the Banwell one is, apparently, very small. T'was great: I've restocked my organic peat-free potting compost (a 60 litre bag), bought two more bird feeders and some table food for after Yule, a pack of cabbage collars and a box of grease bands (to protect the apple tree - and maybe the greengage, that might work - from ants, earwigs and coddling moths), a Yule present for Ken's folks, and a new matching pot and saucer for my ceropegia. And in the smaller, independently run garden centre next door to Cadbury I found bags of the greenhouse fixings (saved myself a trip out to Almondsbury) - and a lovely birdtable, price reduced in their sale.
I really liked it - it was simple, a sensible size, and the roof was supported by the central post, making it easier to see the birds. But the table surface was rough (and hence would gather rotting food fragments and be difficult to clean) and the drainage holes were in the base, rather than the sides. So I rather reluctantly left it, and will probably be ordering the RSPB table instead.
till receipt I could not believe the sunset on the way back - it was a pure Kafraxis moment, dyeing the whole countryside the most glorious red-gold. I've never seen anything like it - and I didn't have my bloody camera...
[sigh]
This ->
is the top half of a till receipt from last week, when Tesco had Ken's organic hazelnuts on special and their tinned organic toms were a lot cheaper than Sainsbug's. It's not often you find a till receipt amusing but this one had us chuckling - read it aloud for the best effect...
And as for this week's [ spooks ] -
... bloody hell...

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