Zone Doubt, a.k.a. 'Surreal Я Us'...

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

Other sites:

:: JAT :: WaveWrights :: Publications ::

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

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


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


The Poppy Tales

(Transformers fanfiction!)

Transformers mini-comics here.




Adventures in Orchids

Apparently I am now collecting them...

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


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







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





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






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





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






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





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











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








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










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




















My IMDb ep summaries

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

For later:

Missing Earthian ep
Missing Haibane Renme eps


Silver birch at Eastwood 

Farm

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

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

Autumn...

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

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

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

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

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

(Joules, Autumn 2004)


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


In Memoriam

17.03.09 - Argent

25.07.08 - Raptor

18.12.07 - Quyn

02.12.06 - Ryme


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

Currently reading:
Various Transformers books and graphic novels.



Currently working on:
Haadri

Currently chuffed with:
My garden

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

Currently maintaining:
BCHS
BCW


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




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

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

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

TPTB - The Powers That Be.

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

biteable - referring to an anatomical part vb, tasty.

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

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

Cumbles - n, cucumbers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Splish - verb. A combination of slosh and splash.

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

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

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

Murfs - noun, moths.

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

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

Shrumps - noun, mushrooms.

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

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

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

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

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


The Updates Blog

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




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

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

Butch by the talented 

Sylverthorne

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

Joules' 

Haddock

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



A'lestrel by Valkyrie.

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



Albino Alsatian Benten (c) MEBird 

2004

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

Radittsu, an oekaki for my birthday 04 

by 

Onna

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



The Zone Plant from
The Zone 

blog 

plant

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

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

I'll leave that to others to decide.

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


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

How could I resist?

Just too adorable...

and to complete the rainbow...

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

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

BBTS -
Fabulous anime figures

Anime Lyrics
A huge selection... evil popups

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

Owned:
   DVD
   Dj: June Special
   CD: Ambivalence

Cyber City Oedo 808

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

From Eroica with Love

Owned:
   Manga Vols 1, 9, 11

Mirage of Blaze

Owned:
   DVD Vol 1 (eps 1-4)

R.G. Veda

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

Twelve Kingdoms

Owned:
   Anime Vol 1-12: complete

Under the Glass Moon

Owned:
   Manga Vol 1, 2
Vol 3 needed

Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust

Owned:
   DVD

   Vampire Hunter D Book 1



New Vampire Miyu

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


Yami no Matsuei

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


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


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

(Thanks, Lutra, for the quote!)

[::..archive..::]
07/01/2002 - 07/31/2002
08/01/2002 - 08/31/2002
09/01/2002 - 09/30/2002
10/01/2002 - 10/31/2002
11/01/2002 - 11/30/2002
12/01/2002 - 12/31/2002
01/01/2003 - 01/31/2003
02/01/2003 - 02/28/2003
03/01/2003 - 03/31/2003
04/01/2003 - 04/30/2003
05/01/2003 - 05/31/2003
06/01/2003 - 06/30/2003
07/01/2003 - 07/31/2003
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10/01/2003 - 10/31/2003
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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
01/03/2015 - 31/03/2015
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01/05/2015 - 31/05/2015
01/06/2015 - 30/06/2015
01/07/2015 - 31/07/2015
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01/12/2015 - 31/12/2015
01/01/2016 - 31/01/2016
01/022016 - 28/02/2016
01/03/2016 - 31/03/2016
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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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01/06/2018 - 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, February 28, 2018

Snow... 

Snow clouds yesterday evening.

And at 9 this morning.

10. The snow is horizontal and the wind chill making it feel about -8°.

More snow forecast for tomorrow, but Friday is supposed to be much warmer and rainy. The bus may be cancelled - I emailed to ask and was told if there's too much snow they will, reluctantly, have to cancel it for safety reasons - but it's only about 3 miles from Millbrook to Torpoint, and the interior of the peninsula is a valley, so hopefully the snowfall won't be too bad. I should be able to get a taxi. Fingers crossed. (I did debate going home early, but I really don't want to lose any of the holiday. Not going to get another for quite a while.)

Occurred to me my mention of a llamahat may not make too much sense. This is it...

Will get to try it out in a couple of hours. There's supposed to be a break in the snow, and I need to venture out to ditch the rubbish and recyclables.

England. Where you can sunbathe one day and get snowed in the next...

Labels: , ,





1 Comments:

Blogger Sue said...

We've had plenty of snow here today as well - and more forecast for tomorrow. Hope you have a safe journey home.

7:50 pm  



Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Woke to glorious sunshine, and a chilly but not strong wind. The tide was the lowest I've yet seen...

...so I went for a walk...

That's Kingsand in the distance. Apparently you can walk there along the coast at low tide, although I'd call it more of a rock-scramble than a walk.

The back - landward - side of the fort, with the main entrances to the apartments. Given that the lift is still out of order, it's easier to use these and walk around to the front than go down the longer staircase to the underground car park.

Steps up to the gardens. Too steep and no handholds, so I haven't risked it.

The plaque on the front door!

It's still gloriously sunny - just had a coffee out on the balcony, without a jacket on as it's quite warm. There's been a few flakes of snow back in Bristol, but not even a flurry here yet. Though there are clouds now rolling in from the south and the wind's picked up, so we'll see...

Labels: ,





1 Comments:

Blogger Sue said...

The pictures look great and how lovely the weather brightened up for you.

9:31 am  



Monday, February 26, 2018

Sunrise.

So it was off to Millbrook this morning, in glorious sunshine but an absolutely freezing wind, for supplies and to check out the charity shop, because while I came packed for winter, I did not expect Siberian weather...

The shop is great! Picked up three warm tops (cotton too!), a very cosy woollen llama hat, and a large colour-changing mug (because the ones that came with the apartment are dainty little things no good for packet soup or frothing salted caramel hot chocolate (with or without the salted caramel liqueur!) The whole lot came to only £6.35! Either the shop is very cheap or Bristol charity shops are overpriced... On the way back the taxi driver (there's only one, a grizzled man in a brightly coloured knitted hat and silver hoop earrings: we're old friends now!) said that occasionally you can see dolphins in the Sound. Will keep fingers crossed but I doubt I'll be that lucky.

Millbrook is tiny, but still has everything you might need. This is the shopping centre...

The reddish building on the distant right is the Indian restaurant and takeaway (yes, they get everywhere!): the Co-op is tucked in just beyond it. Extremely well-equipped with everything you might want (except salted caramel ice-cream, dammit. I was hoping for some for my dessert tonight. Got a double pack of individual strawberry cheesecakes instead).

This is the pedestrian access to the shopping centre!

Now I don't need to go out until Friday morning, unless I want to, which is just as well as it's clouded over, the wind's picked up more and the ice green sea is decidedly choppy - heralding the Plymouth version of the Arctic blasts. Though if it's clear tonight I might step onto the balcony: woke up at 4.30 this morning (as I usually do) and the sky was bright with stars, but I was too tired to get dressed and go out and look. Now I have warmer clothes will see if we get a clear spell tonight.

Wildlife watching: three different types of seagulls, and a large cormorant flew past an hour ago. Also a helicopter in the distance, if we're counting such things...

The bookcase. There are also a selection of games on the alcove above the wardrobes, including Monopoly, the Cornwall version.

TinyScream, Smallwave and diddy Ratchet enjoying their first view of the sea.

And last night's sunset...

It's probably time for a lie down now. Later!

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1 Comments:

Blogger AmandaHuffleduck said...

We absolutely are counting such things :)

Glad the tfs are enjoying themselves, too.

10:22 am  



Sunday, February 25, 2018

Later edit: A submarine has just sailed past!

Lutra says I should start a 'wildlife spotted' list - seagull, fish, submarine...

I went for a walk around the immediate area yesterday afternoon, to enjoy the sun (though not so much the bitter wind!) before, as Ken put it, the icy blasts set in.

Have some pics...

The small harbour. There are boats here in the summer.

The private beach. A bit tricky to get down to, but very nice all the same.

Not doing much today!

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1 Comments:

Blogger Sue said...

Great pictures. Glad all is going OK. If you find it 'cool' then I think I'd be cold, brrr!

2:30 pm  



Saturday, February 24, 2018

Long post is very loooong... 

...with quite a few photos (having found I'm missing the .ini file from my .ftp program I've used the integral blogger photo upload for the first time. Fingers crossed the pics don't disappear!)

Yesterday was ridiculously long. Up at 7, last minute prep for K&K, and making sure I had everything: easily got the 9.30 coach to Plymouth. More than half empty, so had a double seat to myself.

Pleasant trip down, sunny most of the way, and pretty peaceful. I found myself checking lorry drivers for illegal phone users (obviously been watching too many cop programmes...) No phone users, but there were a cheeto-eater, someone getting himself a cigarette, and one driver pouring a coffee from the biggest thermos I've ever seen...

Reached Plymouth at 12.45, then had a 20 minute wait for the local no 70 bus. At one of the coldest bus stops ever, in a bitter wind, because of course the UK is on track for a spell of absolutely freezing weather. Of course it is. I'm on holiday after all...

But the bus ride was fun! Went across to Torpoint on the ferry (never been on a bus on a ferry before), then all around the tiny villages of the Rame Peninsula along the tiny country roads. Hairraising in places. A Millbrook inhabitant got on the bus at Kingsand and sat behind me, so I asked her to tell me where to get off (we got talking and I found out a lot about the area, including the best places to visit if I had time. Which I don't. Maybe next time.)

Millbrook is very pretty. Picked up loads of shopping at the local supermarket (ready meals I can just nuke. No cooking or washing up!), then got the taxi down to the Fort.

... aaaand the lift was out of order. Well, something had to go wrong, didn't it? But one of the lads working on the doorway of the little library in the lift lobby offered to help me carry everything up to the first floor, so that was OK. Actually getting in was a bit of a performance, as the keysafe is very stiff to open, but I managed.

The apartment is exactly as in the online pics, so I'm not going to duplicate them here. It's wonderfully comfortable: the mattress is memory foam and I had the best night's sleep I've had in months (even the lighthouse light wasn't disturbing - more like a slow heartbeat). Going to put new mattress at the top of our 'to buy' list! I did miss my pillow, but the soft ones provided were OK. Neck wasn't aching when I woke.

I have found, however, when the sun isn't shining, it feels quite cool, even with the four heaters. Not overly surprising - it's a granite fort, after all! I brought warm clothes with me and there are plenty of blankets!

The kitchen has an induction hob (I think: haven't used it yet), and there's a bookcase full of a wonderful variety of books and DVDs (including the Lord of the Rings trilogy). Setting up the WiFi for Prowl wasn't too hard, but I can't get phone reception here - don't know how to connect to the network. May sort it out later, but I have skype, and that's what matters.

The beauty of the apartment is the view. This was first thing this morning...

The rock pool immediately outside the balcony.

View from the bed! Sorry about the quality: camera doesn't cope with high contrasts very well.

Oh this is great. Brand new speakers, played fine last night, today the left hand one has packed up. This is why I loathe Hewlett Packard products.

I think it's time for lunch. More later!

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1 Comments:

Blogger AmandaHuffleduck said...

what a fabulous view!

8:15 am  



Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Last post before holiday. Bit of a catch up.

Forgot to mention last time that Kai went to Weston-super-Mare with about 15 friends: they played Cards against Humanity - and he won! I'm too scared to ask him with what...

On the 17th Ken and I joined his old workmate Caroline, who's from Singapore, at Oriental City to celebrate the Chinese New Year. It was great!

The Chinese god of money throwing riches into the crowd (we were too far back, unfortunately!)

Young dancers...

... and their teacher.

Elite dancers.

The city itself. The Water Sky restaurant is the green semi-circular building.

We had lunch here: had to miss the Lion Dance in order not to have to wait an hour to be seated! It's very popular, and I'm not surprised. The food was delicious. Dim sum is apparently appropriate for New Year: Caroline advised us what everything was then ordered in Chinese. The dishes came a couple of minutes or so apart (the restaurant was full by then and the staff kept the orders straight by putting clothes pegs with the table numbers on them clipped to the dishes on the trays!) The king prawn dumplings with salad cream were particularly yummy. We gave the chicken feet and tripe a miss though. Planning to go back with Kai - he'd love it!

And I couldn't resist this...

A rather aggressive looking 'lucky poo' trinket thing. The Japanese gold ones are for good luck: the brown ones are, apparently, for good health. That would be nice! Anyway, it's now attached to the zip of my new rucksack. (Treated myself to a wol wheelie and matching rucksack after finding another, black, wol shoulder bag up at Broadwalk. No pics yet as my camera is packed: maybe when I get back!)

I found rather sweet little logos on the Lipsy orchid bedding...

  

Films watched... The Bourne films: Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy, Bourne Ultimatum, Bourne Legacy and Jason Bourne. All a lot of fun! Kai and I have finished House season 1 (surprised me that I remembered nearly all of the eps for House, but hardly any for Eureka...) which was all most enjoyable, if gory in places. Hoping to start season 2 when I get back.

Of course, a planned holiday just wouldn't be us without something health related: I got a nasty pain under the root canal last week. Luckily the dentist had a cancellation so I was able to be seen that afternoon: she took out the old filling, smothered it in a medical dressing then put a temporary filling over the top, which will be fine for the holiday as long as I don't eat anything too hard on that side. Fingers crossed. Made another appt for the week after I get back to decide whether to try another full filling or just extract it...

So, I'm just about ready. Middle drawer in the freezer is full of half-prepared meals for K&K to make up next week: fridge has plenty of snacks and nibbles, and larder is full. It's Kai's reading week, so he has no classes, so no need to set alarms for early rising! They're both quite happy about that. I've got everything working on the laptop (I hope: will see the first time I try to upload photos here!) and the forecast for the Plymouth area is for very cold weather and snow on Monday and Tuesday! (Been a very long time since I've walked on a beach in the snow...) Ideal weather for writing.

Wendy, many thanks for the card. Going to open them all when I get back rather than before my birthday!

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4 Comments:

Blogger AmandaHuffleduck said...

[happy wriggle] eeeeeholidaaaaay...!

9:35 am  
Blogger GoodTwin said...

Did you ever see this cartoon? >:)
http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=985

Hope you have a good journey and wonderful week!

9:37 am  
Blogger Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor said...

[g] I hadn't. I laughed!

10:23 am  
Blogger Sue said...

Have a great time, I'm sure you will!

8:21 pm  





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