Bosch

I’m not sure this is worth a blog entry, but seeing as I was a bit gripey in the last entry; it might be nice to report that our new fridge freezer is arriving on Monday and I’m very pleased. I’m very much looking forward to saying goodbye to the old one which was leaking water, made funny noises and was the only place on earth defying global warming – the ice wasn’t melting, in fact great swags of the stuff often prevented us from closing the door.

I appreciate this is not terribly exciting or even, to be honest, all that interesting, but it’s made me feel better and that’s got to be an improvement…

Bangers

I’ve got a bit of a hangover. I had a police away day yesterday (I am a specialist advisor) and we went to the pub afterwards. Five pints later, I jumped on a train to get back (late) for my reflexology appointment. Luckily the woman is a friend and she had made toast and walked the dog for me!

I think I’m also feeling a bit crappy because we’ve been working on our mitigating statement for our TV licence summons. Actually my partner did the statement, I’m not sure I was much help. I’m still hoping if I ignore it it will go away… it’s not that I mind paying a fine because at the end of the day, I fucked up – my licence was slightly out of date and I hadn’t remembered to renew. It’s just the being treated like a criminal that I’m having a few issues with…

I’m not sure what we have planned for this weekend. Bearing in mind, we are trying not to spend money before our holiday! I suppose I should try and do some photography but I’m a bit fed-up with that too. My first two rolls of film were a complete washout. It didn’t help that the 2nd roll came off the spindle and light ruined most of the shots.

Anyway, from the negative to the positive, Abel and Cole! I’ve had two deliveries from them and so far, it’s been a splendid experience. The food arrives in a cool box with ice packs so you don’t have to be in to take delivery. The biscuits we ordered last week were so good I ate all but one and had to re-order some this week just so my partner might actually get to enjoy them too. Everything is well packaged and the meat (which we haven’t tasted yet) looks superb. The rump steaks are huge. And yes, it is quite expensive relatively speaking but I guess it does depend on how you view food and the treatment of animals. Because although I can go and get a 50p chicken from a supermarket (actually I’m not sure that’s true, but you know what I mean), I’ll have paid dearly in terms of the lousy quality of the meat and of course, the treatment of the animal before it died and in some cases, how it died. So, I’m very pleased so far. And I appreciated the phone call after my first delivery to check everything was ok. Sausages were missing from the first order and they immediately deducted the amount from the total and were very apologetic. I ordered them this time and they arrived safe and sound!

So maybe that’s something I’ll be doing this weekend, sausage and mash!

Update...

Last week we had two appointments at the hospital; one on Thursday and one on Friday. Mum had a CAT scan on Friday and should be having a bone scan in the next couple of days. Meeting with her consultant on the Thursday was really helpful, she is a very knowledgeable and calm woman and we both came away feeling that we were in very safe hands. In fact, with the exception of mum’s first cancer nurse who moved on due to promotion, most of the team have been with her from day one and most have done an excellent job. Now we just wait and see...

Holiday plans

It’s cold and rainy so it must be a bank holiday! I can’t say I’m too concerned; I’m tucked up at home with the heating on, the dog at my feet and a Mr. Kipling bakewell slice!

We’ve spent the morning booking accommodation and festival tickets for our holiday in Scotland (we’ll also be camping). We’re going to the Outsider festival in the Highlands.

http://www.outsiderfestival.co.uk/

We considered doing both days, but decided in the end to just do the Saturday with KT Tunstall and Capercallie. (From being a fest’ virgin, I will have two under my belt by the end of summer!). I think we’re going to have a fantastic two weeks but I’m trying not to think about it too much, because I get a bit overexcited!

But from the pleasure of holiday planning, I now have to do the vacuuming and the washing up… only after Murder, She Wrote and my second bakewell slice though; it is a bank holiday after all…

Online

Well, we are having a few last-minute technical hitches, but it looks like the missus and I are back online! Will try to blog tomorrow...

Probably the best holiday destination in the world...

I’ve noticed I’m getting a lot of international readers so hello to you. I do realise you haven’t actively sought my insightful commentary and topical humour, you’ve just sort of tripped over me like a bag left lying in the middle of a very long corridor, but welcome anyway. Please do come back because you make me look popular.

I’m off to a literary festival in Cornwall in July which is very exciting – I am toying with the idea of just happening to have several copies of several books on me at all times. But I think the whole thing will be very lovely and quite gentle. For those of us whose mosh pit days are well and truly behind us, it’s a far more appropriate way of enjoying the festival experience. And of course, Scotland is just around the corner. Made all the more exciting by the fact that we’re talked about possibly moving there…

I’m also hoping to take my partner to the Isles of Scilly at the end of the year for our anniversary so we are well and truly flying the flag for the UK this year. It’s great! And again for the benefit of our international friends, the UK is very beautiful and you must all visit. I’ll even meet you off the plane*.

It’s only 11:12 and already I’m desperate to eat my lunch. Hanging out till midday is going to require every ounce of self-control I have. Maybe if I did some more work it would take my mind off food… 11:16… just 44 minutes to go…

* I probably won’t. Sorry.

Good food

I approached this morning as if I had all the time and the world and it’s been rather pleasant. My partner is off to Hove to see her grandparents today and she could have had a lie-in, but instead choose to get up with me to make fresh coffee and bacon and egg bagels (if I didn’t love her before…). I took the dog for a leisurely stroll after brekkie and then headed into work. There was no particular reason for this go-slow approach to my day except sometimes feeling a bit fed up with having to do everything at 80 miles an hour to try fit it all in. Anyway, the sun is shining and all is well…

Yesterday I made the most expensive u-turn of my driving career thus far. Yes, by literally only 2 or 3 feet I ventured into the congestion zone! I wanted to turn right on to Battersea Bridge but there was no right turn. So I crossed the junction, indicated to pull into a side street and made my costly u-turn. As the car turned, I read (with some horror) a sign that read, “Congestion ends her”. And because I forgot to pay yesterday, I have to pay an extra £2 today. Raspberries!

I’ve become a new customer of Abel and Cole the organic grocers. I’m very excited because I love good food (you wouldn’t know it to look at me… ahem…) and I love good, good food – i.e. responsibly grown and produced food. Meat that hasn’t had more steroids than I have (and I’ve had a lot – for asthma not recreation I should add), food that hasn’t travelled more than I have, food that doesn’t have the sort of additives that glow in the dark, food that doesn’t contain so much pesticides that it’s a pretty safe bet I’m never going to suffer from cabbage fly…

The delivery arrives tomorrow and I will blog about whether it’s lovely grub, effecient delivery, super service etc, etc. I’m particularly looking forward to the sausages and the ‘old smokey fishcakes’!

www.abel-cole.co.uk

and I forgot to write the web address of the Chelsea Pysic Garden yesterday so...
www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk

What's the point of Ofcom if it has no balls?

LONDON (Reuters) - "Top Gear" presenter Jeremy Clarkson was criticised by the media watchdog on Monday for describing a car as "very ginger beer", rhyming slang for "queer".
In a written ruling, Ofcom said the phrase could offend homosexuals and should not have been used.
Clarkson used the phrase during a discussion with the studio audience about the rounded, two-seater Daihatsu Copen.
An audience member described the car as "gay" and Clarkson replied: "A bit gay, yes -- very ginger beer".
The watchdog said "gay" can be used to mean "foolish, stupid and socially inappropriate, or disapproved of and lame".
But Clarkson's response made it clear he was using the word to refer to homosexual people, Ofcom said.
"This ... meant that the use of the word became capable of giving offence," Ofcom said. "In the context, there was no justification for using the word in this way."
Five viewers complained about the show, broadcast last July on BBC Two.
Ofcom said the BBC had reminded producers and presenters to avoid using derogatory comments about sexual orientation and the matter was resolved.

-

"Gay can be used to mean "foolish, stupid and socially innapropropriate, or disapproved of and lame."

Oh so that's alright then. Glad you cleared that up. Must remember to tell that to all the kids being bullied, beaten up, ostracised and harrassed, they'll be so pleased to know that they are suffering not for being gay or perceived to be gay, but because they are foolish, stupid and socially innapropriate instead... unless of course they're gay as well?! I'm very confused...

"Ofcom said the BBC had reminded producers and presented to avoid using derogatory comments about sexual orientation and the matter was resolved."

And the BBC once more demonstrates it really doesn't give a fuck about offending gay people at all. Chris Moyles, Jeremy Clarkson... hmmm, a pattern? Big mouths, small dicks...

Personally I think that people that use the word gay in a derogatory sense are themselves foolish, stupid and socially innapropriate wankers. Just my opinion of course, and I'm quite sure my mum would be happy to 'remind' me to avoid bad language.

Lavendar scones and marmalade cake

The weekend just flew by… I got the car washed, we changed the tyre and started working on a few scratches Peggy acquired whilst driving down a sheer mud and rock drive, surrounded on either side by barbed wire-like gorse, at the farm in the Peak District some months ago. We tidied the garden, enjoyed an outdoor fire, defrosted the freezer, drank some beer and planned two other mini breaks for this year (literary festival in Cornwall in July; staying on another organic farm in Norfolk in August). I should point out that we didn’t do all of those things at once, they were spaced over the weekend!

We also went for brunch with friends and then visited the Chelsea Physic Garden. It really is a fantastic place: you can wander aimlessly enjoying the surroundings which are tranquil and lovely, or you can really get stuck into the botany and history of the place. Or you can do both, of course. I took the film camera that my friend had lent me and snapped away like a mad thing, but disaster struck! The film didn’t rewind and I’m not sure if it is ruined. (Like all good artists, I am convinced that it was some of my best work and nothing short of a tragedy). I’m going to an independent camera shop run by a rather cantankerous old man at lunchtime to see if he can save my pictures… bloody film cameras…

Anyway the garden was just what I needed after a terrible week. I started to feel relaxed and I particularly enjoyed breathing-in the cool, fragrant air. (So close to a nasty, busy road, but such lovely air!) We sat on the grass and ate lavender scones and marmalade cake and then managed to spend too much money in the shop (now there’s a surprise!).

And so back to work, lots to do and definitely more of an inclination to do it… even with the caveat of a certain amount of staring into space, dreaming about home made cake and one day owning our own small holding where the air is lovely and fresh…

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Feeling tired today, although I have been sleeping ok – if a little deeply.

So how’s this for eclectic; for my end of year photo assignment I’m either thinking of doing apothecary (medicinal or healing) plants or chemotherapy… as in the people, nurses and equipment involved in chemotherapy. True they have something in common, but I can assure you that even the plainest plants are a far more attractive than the ugliness of tubes and drips and injections. Of course I may change my mind again tomorrow! I can’t use my RNLI or sailing pics because there were taken with a digi SLR and this assignment requires a film SLR. (Don’t get me started on the hoo-ha that followed the announcement that we suddenly needed to get hold of a film camera – something we should have been told in term one, not term three!)

Mum has a hospital appointment next Thursday and maybe chemo the day after. She is keeping busy at work and it is helping to keep her mind off things – hard to do though when it feels like this is the only thing in our world right now.

I bought my partner some beautiful roses last night, four red and two white, just to tell her I love her. Also scored further brownie points by doing the washing up!

I have another relexology appointment this evening – feels kind of weird to start with but you soon start to feel sleepy and relaxed. Actually, I don’t need reflexology to feel sleepy right now… I may not wake up for days after tonight!

The disease that keeps on giving

I was in TK Max yesterday which was notable for two reasons; one I had just bought some amazing underwear (I didn’t know at the time it would be that amazing, I only knew that this morning, when I tried it on) and two, it was were I heard the second worst piece of news I’ve ever heard. My mum called, the cancer is back.

She has found a lump in her neck and the professor who looks after her at Guy’s is pretty convinced that it’s cancer. I got back to the office, told my boss I had to leave and spent the afternoon with her. They will be rushing her back into chemo maybe this week, probably next. And this time, no matter how sick it makes her, I suspect they won’t be able to stop or postpone the treatment.

I’m devastated. I feel that everything I was holding on to has shattered. The fact that she was getting stronger, less sick, less often has just been snatched away. And so despite being weary and frightened, the fight has to start all over again. If you have any strength you can spare, send some our way, it will be appreciated…

Surfing 9 - 5

Pay day… I’m rich, I’m rich… until I’ve paid all my bills and then I’m poor, I’m poor… OK, slight exaggeration but it’s amazing what you spend out on just the fundamentals of day to day living. I’m sure there will be enough left over for the odd treat or two and a nice meal for me and the missus. We are trying to put some aside for Scotland in June so I made a transfer into my savings account this morning. The only account that has tumbleweed blowing through it...

For those of you not in the UK, the weather is rubbish - cold and rainy. The healthy glow (I never tan) I acquired whilst sailing has long since faded and to be honest, it feels a little too like autumn for comfort!

We organised for a new broadband service last night: Orange (and yes I will blog about whether they are good, bad or indifferent!). My partner gets a great deal because she’s an Orange customer. So in 10 days of less, we will be surfing in the homestead. Great news because there’s only so much ‘personal stuff’ you can do at work! In the meantime, as Dolly says, it’s all about the 9 -5… and on that note…

One foot in Sydenham, one foot in Cornwall and the world in between

So much to blog about that I’ll have to keep it brief… as I said, our broadband no longer works (major disaster for all sorts of reasons, not least I work from home every week), so I haven’t been able to blog about some of the lovely things that have been happening.

We spent a long weekend in Devon at my partner’s aunt and uncle’s fabulous house overlooking Plymouth Sands. We went sailing on the Saturday and I proved not only to have a sturdy pair of sea legs (it’s the rugby player thighs!) but an aptitude for sailing generally. I steered all the way over to Cornwall! But as if that wasn’t enough. The most magical thing happened. A school of wild dolphins played around the boat for about 15 minutes. It was such a privilege to be so close and my partner’s uncle (who sails a lot) said he had never seen so many. We dropped anchor and had a lovely lunch before clambering aboard the dinghy (with all the dignity of a baby elephant) and heading into Caulsands. Now I like ice cream and it’s true that in my time, I have eaten quite a lot of it – some bad, some good, some gorgeous. But truly I have found the best icecream in the world and it is Cornish and comes in a sugar cone. We all had a double scoop and I had strawberry and honey comb. It was massive but if I could have hired a second and third stomach I’d still be there now…

The next day we caught up with my partner’s cousin and her partner and went for a few drinks and a drive through some beautiful Cornish countryside. We headed home on the Monday and then spent the rest of our week off pottering around the house and garden, enjoying each other’s company, eating well and throwing out all the jetsom and flotsam that sneaks in when we’re not looking to fill up drawers, cupboards, storage boxes and book shelves.

I feel much more rested now, but I can’t deny that I’m a little sad to be back at work. We have plans for our future that I want to happen now! Being stuck in an office questioning whether what you do is really all that important is not how I want to be spending my days. I want fresh air and a new direction! But you know what, plans are afoot and it may just happen sooner rather than later ;0)

I am still alive...

Had a week off work - will blog about it later - but the broadband isn't working at home anymore and so consequently I was cut off from my loyal readers... both of you...

Tune in later for the next exciting instalment!

TV licence

Well I thought yesterday couldn’t get any shittier… I was wrong. I came home to a court summons.

Last November, TV licensing came to the door asking after some woman who I can only presume lived there some time before me. Apparently she hadn’t paid her TV licence, he asked me for proof of who I was (I asked for ID first) and he told me he was within his rights to see my TV licence. Which was no problem at all, and thank god, in a fit of common sense when it first arrived, I had put it in the front room and could lay my hands on it. Unfortunately, he checked it and it was about 30 days out of date. I was absolutely horrified. I had no idea, and yes I should have had an idea, but the truth is, I paid and then just forgot about it…

Yesterday I came home to a court summons for ‘non-payment’ of TV licence and it’s really upset me. The implication is I am a criminal who deliberately defrauded the TV licensing people. Now at the end of the day, I f*cked up and yes, I’m going to have to pay a fine. But why the court summons?

I clearly thought my licence was in date otherwise I wouldn’t have cheerfully handed it over. And if I was trying to avoid detection we wouldn’t have opened the door in the first place! Ironically, I literally can’t get any channels because an aerial was never installed. Without my Sky I get nothing, so I pay twice for the BBC, ITV etc.

In all honesty, I’d just like it all to go away, because I feel guilty, like I’ve done something hideously wrong. (It also makes me really angry. Nice to know my slightly out of date licence warrants a court appearance, hours of staff time and a newly planted carbon off-setting forest in paperwork; heaven knows I wouldn’t want them to use court time to try and convict more rapists, for example). However, I have asked some advice from a legal friend and clearly I’m going to have to pay a fine (which should be enough to make me check the licence every month!) but it’s the rest of it that’s so unnecessary…

So there you have it readers. This blogger is now a criminal and she’s pretty bloody upset about it!

Zen and the art of living

After being stuck in traffic for over two hours and then turning up to a meeting that didn’t exist I really don’t want to hear any of the following: How are you? Can you do me a favour? Blimey, you’re late today! Because I assure you, whilst it’s unlikely there will be physical violence, there will be a stinging rebuke and quite possibly a snotty rejoinder…

I keep reminding myself that I am one day closer to my holiday and as such am trying to develop a zen like calm to the world and it’s challenges.

Actually I’m not that peed off, just a bit irritated, but it has been a tough morning and I’m panicking that I won’t get everything done before I’m on leave. (Of course, using work time to blog may not help either…)

So on that note, I shall start work on the mother of all to-do lists and hope for the best!

Housework and mobile phones

The missus is doing a course in Hammersmith today so we drove in together which was nice. Couldn’t do it every day though, it was quite a strain getting ready to leave at exactly the same time. I didn’t even manage breakfast and coffee! I treated myself to a supercharged Latte when I got to work which has helped ease me into my day…

My partner has decided to only watch a very limited amount of telly during the week – maybe once a week – because she was getting into the habit of slumping in front of the TV with me and neither of us were getting anything done. Now I like TV a lot more and so will continue to watch it when something I like comes on; but I also avoided switching it on almost straight after I walked the dog last night and we achieved so much! A nice dinner, a bit of gardening, hoovering, dusting, washing the bathroom floor, walking the dog and laundry! And I even got to watch NCIS (in my opinion the television equivalent of Green & Black’s butterscotch milk chocolate). And I slept really well last night…

Using my new phone today and honestly, it’s like a foreign country. I was due for an upgrade so I chose the Samsung u600 which is apparently the business – a really fantastic top of the range phone. The only problem is I couldn’t work the bloody thing out so for the first two weeks of ownership I used my old phone! I’m no dunce, but it does seem hideously difficult. Samsung advised that I download the manual for the 900 model (because they haven’t written an in-depth manual for the u600 yet… why?) and so I feel more confident giving it a bash but texting is taking an age and there are all sorts of buttons that I haven’t even dared press yet… I’m sure (I hope!) it will all be second nature before long…

Here’s a question before I sign off, are creative people a bit of a nightmare with instructions? Sometimes I get told something and seconds later I can’t remember what it is. Yesterday my boss told me several times to be at one town hall, and this morning, I turned up at the other… it’s not the first time either. It can be an instruction on how to use the DVD or how to get somewhere (although I do have a superb sense of direction) and it’s like my brain decides independently to chuck out the information. I am, instead, a compendium for useless, abstract data. Is it because I am creative; dyslexic; not bothered; not listening…? Answers on an instruction manual.