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
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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
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01/01/2015 - 31/01/2015
01/02/2015 - 28/02/2015
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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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01/12/2017 - 31/12/2017
01/01/2018 - 31/01/2018
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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
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01/07/2019 - 31/07/2019
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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

Friday, February 28, 2014

Right - catchup...

Firstly, no, the blasted BPPV hasn't gone, although it is a little better than it was yesterday and the day before, which is encouraging. The meds (prochlorperazine maleate 3mg buccal tablets) do seem to help a little, and of course I'm learning to cope (although today everything's developed an annoying tendency to tilt to the right: the screen looks as though it's 2 - 3 degrees off true). Walking is a trial, and I still need to have something nearby to grab if my balance goes, but otherwise I can manage. Well, I made dinner yesterday and have managed to put a wash going this morning, so I'm not exactly helpless. And at least I've stopped throwing up. I wouldn't wish this on anyone though, it's horrible.

As I discovered yesterday, sitting here at the computer is actually the most useful thing I can do at the moment (well, that or lying in bed, but damned if I'm going to waste time doing that! Not to mention it kills my back...) even if I'm a bit slower than normal. My lack of balance doesn't matter too much when I'm sitting, and focusing on the screen stops everything moving quite so dizzyingly. As long as I take breaks every now and then I'm OK.

We're now all organised for the London trip - and yes, it is necessary. We spoke to Dr Lowry on Monday after Kai's blood tranfusion, and the last biopsy shows no change: Kai's bone marrow still isn't working, and there should have been some improvement by now. When we've seen the specialists we'll have more of an idea which treatment to try next (and of course there is always the remote chance that the ATG could still kick in, even though it's been nearly five months now). That's in a couple of weeks' time. Other than that, Kai is now having washed platelets, and for Monday's transfusion they tried them without the half dose of hydrocortisone - and he was fine. The less of that stuff he has to have the better. He and Ken went over to the Callington Road nature reserve (a little further on from Tesco) on Wednesday and he thoroughly enjoyed the walk, and even caught the sun a little (yes, we actually had a sunny day!), so is looking better at the moment.

Kai and I watched Erik the Viking and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd forgotten quite how thought-provoking the film is. We watched the original theatrical release: the director's son's version has had a good 20 minutes removed, and even though the blurb recommended it as a superior version, we thought we'd watch the original first. (I'll try to watch the other version sometimes soon). And last night we all settled down with Thor: the Dark World, which I bought on Monday to watch for my birthday...

Very enjoyable (apart from that hugely irritating Darcy character). And the film makes an effort to address something that really bugged me in the first film: the story is about Norse myth, so why the hell is Heimdall black and one of Thor's warriors Asian? (Yes, I am vaguely aware of that stupid 'law' that seems to dictate that all earthly races must be represented in big name films these days. Tuvok made me spit.) By making Vanaheim the home of Hogun's people (hence Asian), the makers have at least attempted to give a logical reason for his presence. In context, anyway. Presumably one of the other Nine Realms is the home of Heimdall's people. I can live with that. In context.

The acting was generally good (especially Tom Hiddlestone's Loki. How anyone can look so vulnerable and evil at the same time is a marvel...) and the cgi gorgeous. Now looking forward to the next one.

I've read More Than Meets The Eye 3 and 4 (little by little when the words stopped moving around the page) over the last few days, and I really have to quote a bit. The backstory is that the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons is over, and while most Cybertronians are working on rebuilding their devastated world, Rodimus has assembled a group of transformers (misfits, oddballs and nutcases, essentially!) to travel on the Lost Light to find the ancient Knights of Cybertron. The graphic novels tell the stories of their adventures along the way, and are great fun (as well as being heart-wrenchingly sad in places. The characterisation in these books is the best I've ever seen in the Transformers multiverse and the writing truly excellent.) Ultra Magnus is a member of the crew. I like Ultra Magnus, despite his being absolutely 'by the book' (the book in the MTMTE case being the multi-thousand page Autobot Code)...

Ultra Magnus: MUTINY!
Everywhere I look I see rules being stretched and laws being broken and protocols being dragged outside and kicked to death.
I've made a list: One, Skids keeps using the maintenance droids for target practise; Two, Waverider and Sureshot insist on playing hand grenade tag outside my office; Three, the warning signs that Dipstick put up in the engine rooms are riddled with misplaced apostrophes; Four, Sprocket keeps touching his
Rodimus: MAGNUS! Can we just... can we just pause for a moment? These rule breakers - and I use the term in an exceptionally loose sense - what've you done with them all?
Ultra Magnus: I've... imposed appropriate disciplinary procedures.
Rodimus: Is that Magnus-speak for 'I've had them all killed'?

I love that 'misplaced apostrophes'!

A little further on (whispered conversation):

Rodimus: C'mon, if anyone can cheer him [Ultra Magnus] up, you can.
Swerve: You say 'cheer him up' like it's something other than a centuries-long undertaking destined to end in madness and suicide...

I love these books. I really hope they eventually become a TV series.

That's about me for now - I need have something to eat, stick the tablets under my upper lip and go lie on sofa with Tf:Animated for half an hour I think...

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2 Comments:

Blogger Sue said...

Delighted to hear you are at least feeling a bit better. It sounds quite an awful thing to have.

5:36 pm  
Blogger GoodTwin said...

[tilts head slightly] Yerrs, I can see how that would be off-putting.
I'm sending 'fluences for vast improvements. You can't be ill :)

11:39 pm  



Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Ken here. Joules is currently stuck in bed with BPPV (google it), which came on suddenly yesterday mid-day: can't even sit up without the room spinning, and can't eat for nausea. Has meds from dr. to minimise symptoms, but don't know when it will go away.

She says many thanks for cards and wishes, and will celebrate b-day properly when better. Hopefully just a few days.

Lutra, please let Clicha on tumblr know and ask her to re-blog Starmun's apologies to r.p. partners.

Cheers





3 Comments:

Blogger GoodTwin said...

That sounds awful! Give her our best.

10:45 pm  
Blogger Lutra said...

Ack!
Will let people know. Make sure she takes it easy!

12:59 am  
Blogger Sue said...

Oh goodness, that's awful. Please pass on my love and I hope a few pills and some much needed rest will see her right again.

8:48 pm  



Sunday, February 23, 2014

And first thing this morning there were six large clumps of frogspawn in Roeg's Pool.

They were at it again ten minutes ago. I nipped out to take a look and there are another two clumps. [sigh] We have four pools in the garden - Kai's woodland pool is twice the size of Roeg's and would be much more suitable, but for some reason it's always Roeg's...

Ah well. The garden's big enough to support quite a large frog population.

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2 Comments:

Blogger GoodTwin said...

They obviously heard my comment yesterday :)

Can you transplant some of the spawn between pools, or doesn't that help?

5:28 pm  
Blogger Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor said...

Indeed they must have.

I wondered about that but I'm sure I read in a wildlife advisory thingie that it's unwise to do it for some reason... It's not really a problem there's plenty to eat in Roeg's Pool, it's just very open to birds and foxes and other assorted wildlife that might enjoy a sushi treat...

11:55 pm  



Later edit: So I'm about to close down after clearing up a few bits and pieces and I suddenly realise there is an absolute cacophony of croaks and brrrrrrruPHS coming from the pools in the garden. I mean, it's been... January: rain, wind, more rain, foxes, wind, rain, quiet... February: wind, rain, more rain, foxes, rain, rain SUDDENLY FROG-BONKING SEASON!!

We'll be OK as long as there isn't a sudden cold snap.

We like frogs. They eat bugs and are very pretty.


GoodTwin and Sue came to visit, and I had an early birthday...

*bg* Of course I have to open my presents, so they can see my reactions. Which were absolutely delighted: I have a Transformers mug with the Decepticon brand on one hemisphere and the Autobot one on the other; MTMTE volumes 3, 4 and 5; and Erik the Viking!! I love this film! And this has the director's son's cut as well as the theatrical one (there's a booklet in the case that explains the difference which I will check out tomorrow).

GoodTwin drove us out to Almondsbury garden centre, where we had lunch and I picked up three small irises (blue and purple, very pretty), four different dianthuses and a couple of winter flowering heathers, as well as some indoor potting compost and a handful of packets of seeds - sweetcorn, cucumber and tomato.

Sue had brought her Agatha Christie and Trivial Pursuit games with her... I was a complete fail at both, though in my defence the first was heavily reliant on names and dates, neither of which I'm very good with, and in the second one I got some very tricky questions. Sue won both games - her questions in the second game were mostly really easy! They were great fun though, and highly amusing in places. Especially when we were trying to remember Robert Carlisle's name...

Thank you both - I had a fantastic day! Definitely tired now though - hoping for an earlyish bed.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Sue said...

Fabulous day as always, thank you. I suppose I can't deny the ease of some of the questions but as I said, everything is easy when you know the answer :)

2:48 pm  



Friday, February 21, 2014

Later edit: Please spread the word.


So this morning I get an email from amazon UK telling me my £2 mp3 credit is due to expire at the end of Feb... To be honest, I didn't know I had any, although I have bought a few mp3 tracks this last year. Anyway, rather than let it go to waste I treated myself to the Broken Iris mp3 album The Eyes of Tomorrow. I raved about the track Where Butterflies Never Die a while back, and it still gets added to every playlist I make.

Listened to it over the last hour.

wow.

I mean, WOW.

It's beautiful. 15 tracks and there isn't one on there that I don't love. That's never happened before. There are shades of Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Muse, but none of them overpowering. Big, rich, complex sounds and wonderful lyrics. Why aren't they better known!?

It may well be the best £5.49 I've ever spent. Their website's a mess though. I'm itching to get in there and sort it out for them.

Lin sent me this -


Certainly the best I've ever seen. Though her comment made me laugh too...

I am of an age to remember using the Wang computer, and oh my the Chinglish involved in that! "To adjust heaties and coolies, please control yourself at no bigger than eighty degrees Fahrenheit" has engraved itself onto my cerebellum for ease of recall.

*snerk* 'Heaties and coolies'. I love that. (We won't mention the Wang computer...)

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2 Comments:

Blogger GoodTwin said...

oh, beautiful Chinglish...

Wang computers - that's a blast from the past...

11:10 pm  
Blogger Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor said...

You mentioned the Wang computer! We weren't going to mention the Wang computer...

11:14 pm  



Thursday, February 20, 2014

Nice quick appt today: Kai's RBC was 74 and his platelets 17 (he has transfusions when they hit 70 and 10 (or below) respectively).

Did Tesco shop when we got home, then we both flopped and watched Avatar. Been a while since we've seen it and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Bit annoyed to find out the sequel won't be out til 2016 though (and films 3 and 4 in 2017 and 2018).

I'm now so tired everything's gone fuzzy. Having a lie in tomorrow.


A shelf of Strarscreams. This isn't quite all of them: Prime is with the rest of his compatriots on the shelf above, while Cybertron, Machine Wars, Armada and Hearts of Steel are still down on my desk (and I have the new Armada 'scream on order from BBTS end March). This pic is clickable to a much larger one: see how many you recognise!





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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Another catchup...

Saturday Ken sank five big rocks to make new steps from the patio up to the meadow. It's a tiny slope but with the atrocious weather it's been muddy and treacherous: it's now nice and safe. I use it at least three times a day to fill the bird feeders.

Sunday we repotted Rosa, fed Feather, and watched Young Einstein. It's even funnier than I remembered (I missed the time travel gags before) - thoroughly enjoyed it.

Monday appointment was long. Kai needed platelets, and they decided to go with washed ones - except there weren't any ready and he really couldn't face waiting five hours in the day unit while they were prepared. So we got a taxi back (wince) and he slept on the sofa until it was time to go back. On the plus side, they've prescribed him a half dose of hydrocortisone when he has washed platelets (and put in an order for them to be ready when we go next Monday) and it all went very well (apparently he's been feeling strange with the normal platelets, but didn't know whether it was real or fear of the reaction, so didn't mention it). So it'll be washed platelets from now on. It's a compromise, but it works.

Also heard that we will get the funding for the London consultation, so I can go ahead and order the train tickets. Raileasy - oops, Trainline! - looks to be the best option, should be around £60 for both of us, return tickets.

Today I've cleaned the kitchen (and we have the husband of one of my APAG friends coming round to fix the drip tonight: he's a builder, did their kitchen himself I think): cleared my client stuff, answered emails, and tidied my Starscream shelf. I have actually cleared everything I had left to do, until more comes in, so I can happily carry on watching Transformers: Animated with a clear conscience. (Season three is out in June so I thought I'd watch the rest in advance.) Which reminds me - my latest find:


Leader class Animated Megatron. On ebay. Complete. And he talks (well, he would if I could find where to put the batteries!) and his mouth moves. I am dead chuffed! He's over £60 new: I got him for £16 + p&p.

And to end - the lilies are amazing. As they die they go translucent, like fine embroidered linen. Wonderful flowers.

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Saturday, February 15, 2014

Behind again. Thursday was a quick appt, and when we got home I did a double shop to save having to do too much this weekend.

Yesterday my new jacket arrived from Oxendales (and about time too, my old - 25 year old - fleece is now so threadbare the wind goes straight through it, and it was never rainproof...), so I borrowed Ken's bus season ticket, ventured out in the atrocious rain and wind, and went in search of crickets. Discovered a new place - The Reptile Emporium - that I can get to more easily than Almondsbury Garden Centre (bus into Westbury-on-Trym then another bus two stops up a very steep hill), and they also keep frozen rats, so at a pinch I have an alternative supplier for food for the non-four-legged beastlies. Nice place and very nice people, unlike the boss at the Reptile Zone. Used the trip to pick up buckwheat flour, Vitam-R and organic gravy powder at Phil's and Wild Oats as well. (And the jacket is brilliant - warm, dry and comfortable. Very pleased with it. Now let's see how long I can make it last!)

After dinner we watched Second Sight Detective Agency, which is supposed to be for my birthday but we all needed a laugh. It's funny - not brilliant, but the idea is fun, and the execution nicely done. I also recently found the DVD of Young Einstein, a film that never fails to make me laugh, which is also supposed to be for my birthday and which we will probably watch tonight. (I'm actually doing quite well with my goal of replacing all our old videos with DVDs.)

In a little while, when Ken reaches a natural break, we're going to repot Rosa...

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014


On the landing...

... in the lounge...

... on my desk. Gorgeous.

For non-UK readers who don't watch international news, THIS is what the country is currently enduring. Current thinking is it's going to last for months more: more storms are on the way and there is simply nowhere for the water to go. The aquifers are full to bursting and the ground is completely saturated.

Having an early night - I feel dreadful, haven't been able to eat anything today, can't get warm, and everything hurts. Probably just stress.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Writer Chick said...

My gods, Joules, that is absolutely dreadful. My heart goes out to everyone involved, particularly the farmers.

2:46 am  



Monday, February 10, 2014

9 am appointment - and the doctor decided Kai needed blood as well as platelets (usually - if I can say such a thing - it would be Thursday before he needed any). So not exactly the happiest start to the day. At least we didn't have to wait too long for the blood, but it was still a much longer day than we'd anticipated. And they gave him hydrocortisone before the platelets too, though we're expecting a decision about the washed platelets later in the week.

Arrived back to a HUGE bouquet of flowers from GoodTwin and Adrian, as a cheer-up present. They are absolutely beautiful...

that's Ken's arm holding them

Tomorrow I shall look out some vases and split them up. We can have flowers all over the house, which will be lovely. The fragrance is gorgeous too. Thank you.

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I've spent so much of my life feeling helpless, but this...

Thursday I had to sign a form declaring that I was Kai's mum/carer/guardian for the application for funding for the London appointment in March. The nurse who gave it to me then had to nip off for a moment to deal with someone else, so I flipped the page and read the consultant's report.

It said the treatment isn't working.

I daren't cry. If I start, I won't be able to stop.

Ignore me. I'll be strong again tomorrow.





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Sunday, February 09, 2014

Soooo...

Friday was mostly shopping and various online stuff in the evening.

Yesterday was the Sunday shop, early, general cleaning, and Taken 2, which was fun but not quite as compelling as the first one.

Today has been more cleaning, and I've got some seeds started - early peas and spinach outside, tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflowers and sweet peppers on the kitchen windowshelf. Satisfying but tiring weekend.

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Thursday, February 06, 2014

Another very quick checking in. Kai had a reaction to today's platelets: went through the same procedure as before and is OK, but it made the visit very long. And they're talking about giving him hydrocortisone before every platelet transfusion, which means once a week. I've expressed my misgivings, and the doctor was going to speak to the consultant (which is s good thing, as she wasn't at all keen on Kai having regular steroids at his age): we may be moving to 'washed' platelets...

After dinner Ken and I watched the last hour and twenty mins of Farishtay. All I missed at the end was a fairly obvious finale and explosions on a Michael Bay scale (so I didn't miss much then). Overall it was lots of fun and Kai's made me a great copy of my favourite song - Bhai Behan Ka Pyaar (this isn't a clip from the film, unfortunately, but it's a wonderful high quality version of the song, so play it while looking at other things...)

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Monday, February 03, 2014

Checking in quickly.

Today's appointment was quick - blood test, review and line care - and we were home by 10.30. It does look, however, that the London appointment is going to be a thing in March. More on that later.

This evening I watched the first hour of Farishtay (a Yule present), which I saw part of on TV back when we were living in the Totterdown flat: I set the tape going to record it but the film itself is about three and a half hours long and the tape ran out - so I've never known the ending. Oh wow, the music!! *g* It's wondrous. Hoping to watch a bit more tomorrow (it's too long to watch the whole thing in one evening).

Sue, will get back to you soon. With all the appointments and delays over the last seven days I'm all behind...

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1 Comments:

Blogger Sue said...

No worries, take your time, t'was nothing urgent :)

8:43 pm  



Saturday, February 01, 2014

Right - where did we get to?

Ah yes...

So I took advantage of the looong day yesterday to make a start on the Freda Warrington Blood trilogy while at the hospital. Actually got to page 361 of the 512 page A Taste of Blood Wine. I read it a very long time ago and the only thing I remember about it is the Crystal Ring, and that because I found the idea absolutely irresistible. Anyway - I'm enjoying it a lot.

Today was both Tesco and Sains shopping, then the start of my marathon cleaning of the kitchen. After dinner we watched Ghost in the Shell, which DVD I found for £1.50 in a charity shop and which haven't seen since just before Kai was born, and which we all enjoyed. My favourite kind of anime - classic, old school, thought-provoking and intelligent. There was a follow-up - Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence - which I didn't know about and found on amazon for 9p plus £1.26 p&p, so that's now its way to us too.

After spending much of last night exhausted and lying on the sofa watching Mission to Mars and John Carter, today Kai's been feeling a lot better, and has been getting on with projects. (And I probably forgot to say but on Thursday we got another letter from Kings College Hospital with a revised appointment for mid March. I handed the matter over to Dr Lowry to sort out, though I'm perfectly happy to contact them again if need be.)

Still tired. I can't seem to catch up on my sleep. Persistently aching legs don't help, mind you...

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