Canada Rocks!

Do you ever worry that you’re going to forget all the concerts you’ve been too? This was what was preoccupying me this morning on my commute so for me more than you; this is the list of people I’ve seen in no particular order:

Madonna (Blond Ambition)
Neil Diamond
Manic Street Preachers
Steps (don’t even go there…)
Erasure
Soul II Soul
Dolly Parton (this Friday)
KT Tunstall
Capercallie
Kate Rusby
Mel C (surprisingly good even if some of her lyrics are a bit strange. Who can forget – and I paraphrase – ‘you don’t have a home and I can’t even do without my phone’. A searing insight into the life of a homeless person.)
Paul van Dyk
Dulwich Ukulele Club
Brother Beyond (I was only 13 at the time…)
London Lasses
Public Enemy

Wouldn’t it be great to go to a festival where all those people were playing? No? Just me then… Anyway, that’s not an exhaustive list by any means and I will be adding to it over the next couple of days.

We’re off to the concert Canada Rocks tonight at Trafalgar Square in aid of Canada Day tomorrow for those of you not in the loop. (Which could explain why I’m ticking off all the concerts I’ve seen.) I’m looking forward to being Canadian for an evening. Just one evening – I’m not sure they’d want me any longer than that…

We’re worried about Martha. She’s listless and clearly not on good chicken form. We’re keeping a close eye and making sure she eats and drinks but I’m just about to phone the vet and ask whether they deal with chickens – being London, they’re more used to dogs, cats, rabbits etc.

I went on to a forum for all things poultry but ended up thinking she had half a dozen illnesses and was left feeling upset and confused. Maybe she’s just having an off day? And maybe I’m just being optimistic…

Another trip to the New Forest

Yesterday was lovely. Although we had another bit of bad luck when my partner’s bank called her to say her details had been stolen (my credit card company called only a few days ago to say the same thing – not related – and they had to send me a new card and account number.) However, thanks to their vigilance, she was contacted straight away and there hasn’t been too much damage.

Anyway, we arrived in Burley just after 1pm with two very excited dogs and found a quiet sunny spot to lay out all the picnic stuff (for those of you interested: butternut tarte with caramelised onion and apple, fresh salad, sweetcorn, bottle of bubbly, spiced carrot cake and kettles chips! I do a fabulous picnic!) We then spent a happy couple of hours lazing in the sun and taking photos before heading into the village for a cream tea. I also bought a rather magnificent walking stick with a deer antler handle. If I have to use a walking stick from time to time, why not a handsome one?

Then it was back into the forest for a game of mini boules, more exploring for the dogs and more lazing for the humans before we decided to head into Lymington and walk down to the old quay and eat fish and chips in the last of the sunshine.

We got home around 10pm; tired, grubby, well fed and satisfied and with over 200 photos. A very good day indeed.

Today my partner headed over to Brick Lane market where it is reputed most stolen bikes end up. She saw one Brompton but sadly, not hers. Although she realised she was probably looking at bikes that were stolen from some other poor sod and that made her sad. Back home (I had to go and help my mum with her shopping) we ate fresh bagels from Brick Lane and discussed getting another dog.

Now I’m thinking a pre-dinner nap might be in order and then a bit of telly and a glass of wine before the weekend is over...

Tough day

Friday's are normally a good day for me, but today has been, to say the least, tough. Actually it's been a really hard week! Part of me would like to crawl under the duvet and forget it all. Maybe I could wake up in a couple of days and feel better able to deal with everything.

Tomorrow we're off to the New Forest with our friend and her dog because if you remember from a previous blog, Charlie (the dog) hasn't got much longer after a massive tumour was removed from her spleen. She's in good form at the moment though so we're making the most of her wonderful company while we can. I'm taking my camera and we'll be making an album of the day. I'm looking forward to a cream tea! And maybe next week will be better.

Maybe.

The little things...

I love Waitrose. It makes me feel warm and loved. I stopped there on the way home last night to sort out what I wanted for my half-year birthday meal. And to buy some flowers for my beloved because despite putting a brave face on things, she’s still very upset about her bike. I managed to get some gorgeously fragrant (British grown) stocks which now look stunning in a vase in our bedroom.

I glided round Waitrose filling my trolley, getting smiled at by staff and feeling that grocery shopping can actually be quite pleasant when it’s not approached in the same way as one approaches a rugby scrum…

I decided on pizza and salad for the meal. Not original but it is one of my favourite meals.

After cleaning out the chickens and dinner, we ended up watching the Princess Diaries 2 on TV (purely by accident) and were a bit surprised to find it was a really funny film! And then my partner surprised me with a birthday cake! The remainder of which I’ve brought into work today. So it was a fantastic night really, very gentle and very relaxing…

Happy half-year birthday to me, happy half-year birthday to me, happy half-year birthday to meeeee, happy half-year birthday to me!

Half full or half empty?

Yesterday was a day of little disappointments and one massive stinker of a disappointment. I made my usual cup of coffee in my travel mug for my commute yesterday morning, left it on the roof of the car and drove off. When I braked it fell over and spilt coffee all over the car. (Although to be fair, this did make me laugh)

I ordered a pastrami and Swiss and they forgot the Swiss. How can you have a pastrami and Swiss without the Swiss?

My wedding suit jacket was too short and needs to be re-done so I have to wait another three weeks before I get my suit.

And then when I finally got home I discovered some bastard had stolen my beloved’s bike. A £600 Brompton folding bike. It was on the train, she took her eye off it and someone just calmly picked it up and walked away.

So here’s a competition for my loyal readers: if you can guess what I’m thinking right now (in graphic detail) you can win a packet of jelly babies - with the heads ripped off!

Actually don’t bother, it will just depress you and you’ll be surprised at how violent my thoughts are. I’m pretty sure you couldn’t get handle bars up there anyway…

People steal without consequence; they commit criminal acts and hurt people and they just don’t care about the damage they cause. Nobody seems to do anything. Occasionally there’s a hysterical knee-jerk piece of legislation or political spin about putting everyone who drops litter in the Tower of London and throwing away the key, or beheading teenagers who experiment with cider, or some such, but nothing real ever gets done.

It makes me so sick. Yes it’s just a bike and yes she wasn’t hurt or challenged but what’s the point of working hard and buying things of worth if some slack-jawed fucktard thinks they can just help themselves?

Today is going slightly better. It’s my half-year birthday and my partner brought me a birthday card and coffee in bed (I’m 34 and a half!). I had a good meeting this morning and there was enough food left over to not have to pay for lunch either!

I do however have an itchy tattoo and I need to clean the chickens out tonight. Cup half full or half empty… you decide…

Life lesson?

Something happened the other day which I think was a life lesson. (You’re expecting something dramatic now, I can tell… oh dear…)

I’ve already mentioned my organisation’s attitude to disability which I think it’s fair to say, isn’t great. Occupational health recommended I be given a parking space but sadly the policy is that it’s seniority that gets you a parking space, not need. But I do have a pass for a car park about 15 minutes away from the office. It means I can park for free and so it’s very useful. I keep this pass in the visor but have noticed that recently it kept falling out. Rather than do something about this, I just left it. Until last Thursday, when turning a corner with the window wide open, the pass shot out of the window and landed somewhere on a very busy road. At first I was too shocked to really do anything and carried on driving calling myself all sorts of unhelpful names.

Eventually I turned the car round and went back to where it flew out of the window, parked up and had a look (as well as I could without getting run over!) It wasn’t there so I drove home. Parking is about £9 a day in the car park I use (£36 a week), which I can ill-afford when I am trying to save for so many other things, and I knew work wouldn’t give me a space so as you can imagine I was feeling fed-up, annoyed and worried. (There was no chance of getting a replacement pass either as my organisation have stopped doing them and I literally had the last one.)

I got back and my partner was already home and with my bottom lip on the verge of a serious wobble I told her what had happened. She asked whether I wanted her to go back with me and look again. As impossible and faintly ludicrous as it sounded, I suddenly said yes. We jumped in the car and headed back. We parked in the same spot and started the search and I found it! Ducking between traffic I picked up the small and very flimsy – but very valuable – pass! I could not believe I found it (I still can’t actually). It had been driven over and blown about all over the place but there is was right in front of me.

Of course, this could be seen as a mildly interesting story, a stroke of luck perhaps. But actually I thought at a time when we have so much on in our lives, it was a little sign to not give up despite the odds. Because if you don’t give up, you will get there in the end…

(Oh and the pass is somewhere a lot safer now!)

Dolly in Cardiff!

I'm going to see Dolly Parton in Cardiff with a friend of the 4th July (how appropriate, yehaa!) Anyway, I'm uber excited as you can imagine and have just booked our hotel. 4 stars and with all sorts of fancy pants extras like jacuzzi and an indoor swimming pool. Shame we're only there for one night!

Short-listed

Just found out I've been short-listed for another job... there is hope!!

Perspective

I have loads to do so as per, I’m blogging…

We had a lovely weekend. Saturday we lazed around during the day and then in the evening headed out to a friend’s leaving drinks in Soho. I haven’t been out in Soho for ages, literally months and months, so it was nice to go out and catch up with people. And the friend who is leaving is a lovely guy and good friend so it was important to send him off with a pear cider or six… although I should point out that he’s only going for 3 months and is going to try and get back for the wedding so we’ll try not to miss him too much!

Sunday we headed down to Lewes and Hove. My partner’s parents have bought a house down in Lewes and its lovely! It needs a lot of work but it’s a great location with lots of space and a fantastic garden (Pluto very much approved of the garden!). It was the first time we had seen it so it was lovely to have a tour, hear about the renovation plans and enjoy a nice lunch. Then it was through to Hove to see the grandparents (hers not mine). We took Mr. P in to see them as well which went down very well. My partner’s grandmother in particular thought he was great! It was nice to see them both and update them on the wedding and hear their news. Afterwards, we headed back and although we hit traffic we were very, very lucky and managed to get from Hove back to Balham in less than two hours. When we finally got home, all three of us pretty much crashed on the sofa…

Now I’m work and half an hour in, I’m miserable and stressed. Oh well, got to keep things in perspective I guess…

Phobia, a psychologically unstable dog and an Indian restaurant...

Yesterday I had a very horrible experience and did wonder whether to blog about it because I’m embarrassed but actually, if I didn’t blog about it, that would be validating that embarrassment and that’s just wrong. Because being scared is nothing to be ashamed about.

I am claustrophobic. I avoid lifts (with wrecked knees this can be inconvenient); I don’t like closed doors and just generally don’t like small spaces. As I left to go and see a Dogwise client yesterday, our front door closed behind me and as it clicked shut, I thought KEYS! Yup, the keys were on the other side of the locked door on our coffee table. I was not impressed. I went to open the main front door to think through my options when I discovered it was double locked. I was trapped in a very small hallway and I went berserk. I just couldn’t think. I tried, honestly, but it was like my brain fused. I found myself trying to yank open our door. I was kicking it and couldn’t breathe. But for door that looks kind of flimsy, it wasn’t shifting. Upstairs have left two metal rods in the communal hallway and I picked one up and was about to start smashing the door. My fear was spiking and I was sweating and dizzy when I suddenly thought of my partner and called her. At first I couldn’t remember how to work my phone, but managed and luckily my partner was fantastic! I asked her to come home (wondering how was I going to manage an hour in this box that was getting smaller and smaller) but she remembered Pluto’s boarding mum had keys and persuaded me to let her call her. She did and then called me straight back and stayed on the phone with me.

It was half an hour before P’s boarding mum came and my partner talked to me all that time but I can’t remember anything she said. At one stage I became dizzy and distraught again but we worked through it. My brain was desperately trying to override my strung-out emotions: you’ve been in this hallway a million times, you’ve even been in it with both doors shut, it’s light and there’s lots of air, but it didn’t work...

P’s boarding mum turned up and was concerned I think by how pale I was and especially so when she learnt I was claustrophic. I was just grateful she was there. When she left, I went to the bathroom, threw up, and then P and I headed off to our Dogwise appointment.

The appointment was about 30 miles away in Kent. It was such a beautiful drive. I had the windows open and put on some Kate Rusby to sooth my battered soul and we arrived only 15 minutes late.

Really interesting case this one, the first dog I’ve worked with with genuine psychological issues (all the others have been training/dominance issues). Pluto was my stooge dog because the other dog’s socialisation skills are poor. True to form, she didn’t know when to back down and her excitement became aggression. My beloved and very stable Mr P wasn’t really fussed. I’ll be doing her written assessment today.

Last night we decided to put the hallway incident behind us by discovering a new Indian restaurant called Chandri in West Dulwich. It was fantastic. The service smooth and efficient, lovely stylish decor and the food was gorgeous. I had lamb shashlik and it is quite literally the best I have ever tasted.

All in all, quite a strange day really!

Tattoo - the sequel

Voila!

Big day!

Today is the day: lunch with an old friend in a couple of hours and a couple of hours after that, my tattoo! I actually woke up feeling excited about it. I hope it doesn’t hurt – obviously – but am less concerned about that than I thought I would be. I’m just looking forward to having it done.

Last weekend was the Bingham Cup in Dublin. I was one of the Directors for the tournament when it took place in London in 2004, then it was NY in 2006 and now Dublin (the first one ever was San Fran in 2002). For personal reasons I will blog about another time, I couldn’t go. At first I was planning to and even paid my registration fee. However, when I found out I hadn’t been registered (I thought the club were doing it, the club thought I was doing it) I checked my diary and decided I couldn’t go anyway. I’m hoping I get the registration fee back haven’t heard anything for a while…

Anyway, I have been looking at some of the photos on facebook and am delighted to report it was the best one yet – a huge success! This is exactly what we set out to do in 2004: make sure that every two years it got better and better but in my opinion NY was a setback (poor facilities and events), but Dublin pulled it out of the bag and got it back on track in grand style! Well done the lads. I would have loved to have been there but my family comes first and to be honest, we have so much else on it’s getting a bit stressful fitting it all in.

Of course, the biggest winner out of all this, is the game. We want young people knowing they can play rugby (or any sport) without fear of prejudice and discrimination.

I had another Dogwise client yesterday – two rather lovely Cocker Spaniels. It’s really interesting listening to people; how they interact with the dogs, what training they do, what they expect etc., etc. I still maintain that you could solve some problems after only speaking to the owners and not even meeting the dogs! There are two recurring problems; lack of consistency (one partner lets the dogs jump, the other doesn’t), not being enough of a leader (giving affection too readily and letting the dog control the relationship(s)). I have another client on Friday.

Right now though, it’s back to the day job…

Pain in the waiting list...

My hospital appointment went well. I've got new tablets, some cream and I've been put on the waiting list for acupuncture. Unfortunately it's a very long list - over 5 months. I may decide to go private before then, but we'll have to see.

At least I'm on the list now, which is something...

Pain clinics and cottage industries

I’m excited. I’m off to hospital to the pain clinic where for the first time in ten years, I might be able to have my knee pain managed in an effective way! That’s exciting. I’m going to ask that they refer me for complementary pain care as well. Acupuncture or some such. I’m not leaving until they help me! Ok, so it’s not exciting in an ‘ohhh look I’ve found five crumpled tenners in an old pair of jeans way’ it’s more of a hopeful excitement. There’s less squealing and jumping around for a start... but then my jumping about days are generally behind me anyway. But I need to believe that they can help me otherwise what’s the point?

We sold 12 eggs yesterday and made £4. What we’re hoping is that we make enough to significantly contribute to food and straw...or towards buying a farm in Cornwall. Whichever is cheapest...

Now, what’s £4 from half a million?!

Tattoo!

I’m having a tattoo! (On Thursday at 4.30pm to be precise!) I’ve wanted a tattoo for ages and I just never got around to it. It wasn’t the pain that put me off – it’s not that painful I’m told. It wasn’t even that it’s permanent – I have a dozen scars that are also permanent and a lot less interesting! (And really, if it bothers you that much you can just laser the sucker off).

I’m not trying to be rebellious or edgy (I’m 34 so I’m pretty sure that’s not allowed at my age anyway). I’m not waiting for a sharp intake of breath and mutterings of disapproval. I’m just doing it for me and if my family and friends like it, cool. If they don’t, I’ll just wear a sock on my arm every time I see them…

In case you’re wondering; the design is 3 stars – different sizes – on the inside of my right forearm and the reason I’m having it done is I’m fed up with my knees. I realise that’s a pretty unconventional answer but as my knees gets worse, things are happening to my body that I have no control of and which, well, hurt. A lot. So I’m choosing to do something to my body which I have control of and which will look good. It makes sense to me anyway and that’s all that’s important.

I will post a pic when it’s done, but more importantly I’ll blog about the tattooist because it wasn’t easy finding somewhere to go. Some I spoke to were so far up their arse there was an echo on the line. It felt that by not already being covered in body art they weren’t really interested in my simple design and consequently I wasn’t interested in giving them my simple cash. Others weren’t unfriendly but just seemed a bit rushed or stand-offish, which understandably also put me off. This is, after all, quite an intimate process and you want to feel relaxed and confident in the person’s abilities. The tattooist I’m using in Hammersmith seems talented, cool and very friendly. Now there’s a thing.

Of course they do say that people become addicted. They go in for one small design and 12 months later they have a full sized komodo dragon tattooed from their ankle to their armpit…

I have a feeling though I might just settle for my three stars. I don’t want to get greedy…

More cake?

The ever eating assistant is eating… I’ve only just walked into the office and it seems she’s been eating for a while now… she looks dug in behind a packet of crisps and various other snacks. Clearly she’s expecting a rapid and dangerous drop in her blood sugar. Although I suspect diabetes might be more likely. She’s eased up on the frostiness (she was annoyed at me for asking her to do her job better) but as you can probably guess, I don’t really care.

She’s after a husband. Maybe someone who works at a crisp factory? Someone who has fascist leanings might be looked on quite favourably as well, seeing as she has some funny ideas about ‘foreigners’…

Hong Kong here I come!

I think initiative should be rewarded… this morning I signed into my email to see that a comment form had been submitted from Pickfords’ head of sales! (You can see the comment under Happy Saturday part two.) And it made me laugh, because let’s face it, how can we not now get a quote from them when we move? So if you’re reading this Mr. Pickfords we will indeed be in touch nearer the time…

The power of the blog!

Anyway, yesterday was fairly mundane although I seemed to achieve oodles. I won’t run through my list of domestic achievements (although the sweetcorn relish I made was delicious thank you very much…) but something exciting did happen. I decided I was going to the Hong Kong 7s in 2009! An old friend of mine has been trying to persuade me (it was a fairly brief discussion: do you want to go? er, yes!) but I was concerned about money what with everything else that’s happening between now and then. However, my beloved and I discussed in last night and she’s happy for me to go and so dependant on a good deal, I’m off to HK next year!

Wohoo!

Happy Saturday part two

My soon to be in-laws are moving from a four-storey five-bedroom house to a one-storey three bedroom house. When we walked in I gulped and thought, they're never going to get packed in time!

I hate moving. No scrap that, I loathe moving. We have already decided that when we move down to Cornwall, we're getting someone like Pickfords in who will pack and transport everything to the new location (putting the right boxes in the right room). We know it will cost an arm and a leg but for our mental health and stress levels, it's worth every penny!

We actually got quite a bit done and set them firmly on their way. We turned up with 10 boxes, lemon slices, organic ale and enthusiasm! Oh, and Mr P who was adorable and well behaved. We took a break after an hour or so, went for a walk over the common and then came back for tea and toast and a bit more packing.

Now we're back and I'm making a romantic meal for my beloved :0)

Happy Saturday

Already this morning, I've made breakfast, cleaned the fridge, picked up the dry cleaning, walked the dog and done two piles of laundry. We're off to help my partner's parents pack now, and then we'll take the dog for a long walk on Wandsworth Common. I feel happy and relaxed!

Enjoy the sun...

Helpful pets

Pluto decided to take me for a walk down the woods earlier today. He thought I needed the fresh air. Woods are one of our favourite places and it was lovely and cool and full of squirrels so naturally Pluto had to assert his dominance much to their amusement... I walked along slowly, whilst Pluto charged about and occasionally ran up to me with a big grin on his furry little face.

As we drove back we saw a fox cub sunning himself in the hot sun, right out in the open. Bold as brass, he sat there watching us only a couple of feet away. Admittedly we were in the car and had I opened the car door, he would have been gone in a second. I stopped the car and watched him for a minute before we drove off. As we turned the corner there was a man up ahead doing some building work being ‘helped’ by his dog. The man was filling a bag with building sand and presumably taking it to where he was working. Each time he poured in a shovel full, the dog would stick his head in the bag – just to check that there were no cats or sausages in there – spilling a bit of sand and then looking up expectantly at his dad. The man didn’t seem to mind and would gently push the dog’s head away and add more sand. It was very sweet!

Pluto likes to be helpful. He likes to lean on just-painted walls and chicken runs to see if the paint is dry, or bark at the Hoover just in case it attacks us, or eat the food we drop on the floor to save us bending down to pick it up... how would we manage without our pets?

I’ve generally had a productive day managing to do some work, get the car washed, do the grocery shopping and get a bit of exercise with Mr. P. I even paid all my bills. (Although that was a lot less pleasurable!)

It’s going to a be a great weekend, but for now I’m having a Chinese and a beer and putting my feet up.

Maynard's sports gums

When I was a kid, the yellow ones were always lemon, but now, much to my delight they are pineapple. This is in my opinion, why modernity and change should not be feared, because sometimes you actually end up with something nicer. The other thing – and I was a little disappointed about this and Maynard’s if you are reading, take note – they are sports gums in name only. I'm afraid they just look like misshapen wine gums with funny bumps and ridges. I saw nothing of the promised bicycle, cricket bat and tennis racket. Please make more of an effort to make sure the end gum does indeed look like what’s on the packet. Thank you.

Biker mongrel

My wedding suit will be ready next week! How exciting! (How to transform from slightly scruffy to sophisticated chic in only three weeks – and with a shed load of cash…!)

We think we’ve decided on cupcakes for the wedding (don’t tell anyone will you) but that may change as it already has done on four occasions. Yesterday we briefly flirted with trying to organise the running order. Who says what, when, basically. It was surprisingly complicated.

Here’s something that annoyed me yesterday on my commute home… a kid was in the middle of the road waiting to cross and I saw him and braked fairly hard to bring my speed right down. Because in that split second I couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t misjudge my speed/stop paying attention and step across the road. There was a biker behind me – not that close – but he started shouting abuse at me and gesticulating because I had braked when it wasn’t a zebra crossing. Now I should point out I had checked my mirror to ensure that nobody went into the back of me and then made a calculated decision. But despite this, I spent the rest of the journey seething. As he went past my open window shouting I told him to “fuck off idiot”. Not very dignified but I’m glad I said something. So what did I do wrong? Kids sometimes do step out at the wrong time and I didn’t want this to be one of those times. No one behind me was adversely affected – yes, they would have seen my brake lights and my reduction in speed and so would have had to also slow down but really, is that enough to make people so angry nowadays that they mouth off? Apparently, yes. Sad, isn’t it?

I got home in one piece though and was glad to enjoy a glass of wine with the missus and some lavender oil to sooth my ravaged soul…

And then I watched Murder, She Wrote and NCIS!

People are strange

People are strange (when you’re a stranger). We have neighbours that think nothing of polluting our lives with stereo and TV noise. They aren’t bad people but they think because they have the equipment they should use it loud and really, they don’t care that they are causing a disturbance. We have another neighbour who likes his parties and invites weird women who sound like donkeys and loud and obnoxious men who play poker all night long and shout at each other. Unfortunately, they like to do all this with the windows wide open. I think they think they are being urban and edgy but really they’re being pricks. Anyway, these neighbours (2nd lot) decided to have a big party on Saturday and it went on all night. We were so exhausted that although we could hear the noise through earplugs, miraculously we fell asleep and stayed asleep. Apparently though, the other neighbours (1st lot) were kept awake all night. Now, this is where I would have thought you would have called or knocked on the door. But no, they said absolutely nothing to the offending neighbour but have said they will call the council next time or the police and might put a note through the door… wtf?!

Apart from the irony of this from the people that have woken us up/kept us awake on more occasions than we can remember, why call the council? Why not go round there and talk face to face. I plan to pop round one night this week and say basically, this has to stop because the next time I will call noise abatement. But you at least let people know that they are out of order and you won’t stand for it anymore (and this will be the third time I’ve talked to him about keeping the noise down, which I think is fair warning).

Ironically neighbours one and two actually have much in common…

Dulwich Ukulele Club

Yes I know I'm biased (my bro-in-law is in the band!) but they are brilliant. They've got some new material and I can't recommend seeing them highly enough. They've got a myspace and a Facebook page and that's where the primarily post info on gigs etc... see them and be a better person... or something like that anyway...

Living it up

I’ve annoyed my annoying support officer my asking her to do her job better. I wasn’t that blunt (honestly!) but she puts sales calls through to all and sundry and often will pass a call over without telling you what it’s about, you answer it and find it’s not for you after all…

Despite all her huggy new age, knit your own karma beliefs, she does apparently bear a grudge.

It’s a shame the brilliant weekend had to end, especially to come into this dump with the seven dwarfs; grumpy, inefficient, stupid, bewildered, arrogant, stroppy and useless. Never mind. I’m sure on some level all this makes me a better person you know. At least I hope it does otherwise this is such a huge waste of my time…

A friend popped round unexpectedly last night with her dog and Pluto’s best friend. Charlie had a tumour removed a few weeks ago and it’s not good news, they don’t think she has long. It’s a shattering blow. They’ve been together 11 years and she is a wonderful dog and companion. Our friend decided that rather than retreat into tears and grief she would make sure that Charlie has a fantastic last couple of months. Next weekend, we’re going to take them to a National Trust park down in Kent and take lots of photos of Charlie and make an album.

I can’t even imagine the pain and devastation I would feel if it were Mr. P and at times like these, the idea of never having loved to ensure you never feel pain is appealing. Albeit briefly. The doggy world will be a little dimmer without our friend Charlie but at least she is going to live it up while she can!

Makes you realises all the things we have to be grateful for really. At least, I think it does.

The New Forest

We went to the New Forest yesterday. It was pretty close to perfect! From us, the Forest is about 2.5 hours away. For some people that may seem far, but for someone who does a lot of driving it doesn’t feel very far and it’s a pleasant trip.

Our weekend started on Friday with dinner round at friends. We had a great evening and decided to leave the car because J offered to pick us up the next morning to go and get it. So it was decided we would get a taxi home and the wine started flowing. They are lovely people and we seemed to talk about everything and anything – silly to serious. We had a wee hangover the next morning and were running late, unfortunately, J wasn’t, so we left him in the front room reading a book about hens as we raced around getting ready.

I put together an absolute feast: sandwiches, bananas and cake for lunch, salad with tuna and new potatoes for supper with strawberries for desert!

Before long we were on the road, with an excited dog and enough food for about six people! We hit nasty traffic problems in west London but eventually got down to the Forest around 1pm. The sun was shining and we pulled off and found a quiet part of the forest to lay down our blankets and laze about reading the Guardian and eating our lunch. Pluto was very happy and took himself off to explore, occasionally he would trot back and lick our faces unexpectedly just to say hi or he would sit sunbathing at our feet. Around 3.30pm we headed over to Burley for a gorgeous cream tea and a look round the shops. Despite Burley having only about 8 shops, my partner managed to buy a new cycle helmet and wallet and bizarrely I fell in love with a peg bag decorated with witches and bought that! (Burley is famous for its witches!). We then headed to another quiet part of the forest, where Pluto was chased by an over protective mare looking after her foal, I had a nap, my partner went for a walk and then we had the most gorgeous supper outside in the sun. We popped back to Burley, went to the pub for a drink before heading back home just after 8pm...

I am finding it increasingly difficult to leave beauty to return to chaos each time. I love the countryside, and I’m afraid London does not provide the succour it once did. But as long as I have my partner and my dog, it’s fair to say I have more happiness than most, and could live pretty much anywhere. Very soon we will be house hunting again so that hopefully we can live in our own little bit of paradise...

Off to see the fantastic Dulwich Ukulele Club this evening at the Brockwell Park Bandstand.

All in all, a great weekend I think you'll agree!

Deadline

Looks like I'll just be heading home tonight. I've got a deadline for tomorrow morning... aarrrgggghhhhh!

Chickens, drinks and sleeping well

Slept like a log last night. Getting up was a problem though. Every time I sat back down I started to drift off! Taking the dog to the park helped – it’s a glorious day and it was lovely to get some fresh air…

Last night I spent an hour with the chickens, they pretend they don’t care but actually they really like having you out in the garden with them. I tidied up their house – always a pleasant experience – and then headed in for a bath and a beer.

A friend who lives in Oz is back for a couple of days so tonight I’ll be heading into town to see him. I’m not sure how I’ll manage, I truly am very, very tired.

We’ve decided to head down to the New Forest this Saturday. Take a picnic and laze about all day letting the dog run off some steam and catching up on our reading.

Better do some work now though – not the weekend just yet!

Wake up shit head!

So sleepy…

One of the jobs I am going for is working from home full time. Imagine that? Being able to wake naturally without some incessant beeping in your ear the equivalent of someone you really dislike standing over you every morning saying wake up shit head, another crappy day awaits…

I made a delicious (and nutritious!) dinner for my beloved last night and then we watched Miami Ink (the reality show about a tattoo shop in Miami. Three episodes and already I’m hooked and want to cover my body in tattoos! I’m a marketers dream…) Then my partner did some work on her laptop and I did a job application on my lap top and the dog lay between us gently snoring. Domestic bliss!

Today I have to take a proper lunch break (first time in about 2 months?) because I need to call some Dogwise clients to organise appointments, and I need to read over the application I did last night. If I can at least find enough interesting jobs to apply for then there is hope...

Not good enough

I didn’t get the job. I came home to a letter – and a t-shirt I ordered but my excitement at getting that soon disappeared when I read my rejection letter...

On the one hand, I’ve sent off two job applications and got two interviews which is pretty impressive and if I can lift myself out of my self-pity for a minute, I would point out that there is a reason for that: I’m a skilled professional with a great CV, but anyway, back to self pity. Two interviews for jobs I really wanted and I didn’t get either one. So what now? I’ve already done another application (before I knew the outcome of this job) and have another one lined up so I’m doing everything right, but I’m so fed-up right now. Actually I feel really bruised. You don’t realise how much you invest in job applications and interviews. I’m not one of those people that send off random job applications I genuinely need to want and be excited about the job before I can start on what is a long and involved process. I’m a bit of a crap liar and would find it extremely difficult to sit in an interview saying this is the job of my dreams when actually, it really isn’t! (Apparently I start to fidget terribly and keep looking away just in case you ever want to know if I’m lying to you.)

I should get back on the horse I guess, but for a while I might just sit in the dirt kicking my heels and feeling that the world is just a bit unfair....

Going into the egg business...

Well it’s a bit soggy this morning but that’s why umbrellas and hats were invented…

I got home last night determined to do all the washing up, eat a healthy meal and walk the dog. All of which I achieved. Normally when the healthy partner is away, the less healthy partner takes the opportunity to eat pizza and drink beer but I thought I’d buck the trend and have a salad and a diet coke. What’s more, I’ve brought the rest of the salad in for lunch today. Get me.

Didn’t sleep that well, dropped off ok but then woke up at 4am and had trouble getting back to sleep.

Two people want to buy our eggs! We were a bit thrown because we’d not really thought about selling them (3 chooks does not an egg industry make). But of course, we’re delighted that people think they’re that tasty so we’ll come to some arrangement I’m sure.

Tonight, I seriously need to sort out laundry and clothes in general as well as tidy up the bedroom. I’m also making dinner for my partner who is back this evening. The dog will be pleased. He’s been a bit grumpy and I think he holds me responsible for her not being in bed this morning…

Surely healthy = happy?!

This is a bit of a weird stream of consciousness but bear with me… why are independent health food shops often run by such rude people? We need fabric softener (fascinating I know) and so I was just writing a list because I pass a Sainburys on the way back to the car. But then I thought, maybe I should get the softener from the health food place close to my office – support small business and all that – but then I thought, actually I’m not sure I want to give them my money because they can often be surly and offhand. And then I thought about the local health food shop near home, and it struck me that they were also a bit grumpy and stand-offish.

I’m not even sure this is worth blogging about, because I’m not advocating forced pleasantries and group hugs, but a hello or even a smile might be nice once in a while. Surely healthy people are supposed to be happy people? Or are the people that work in health food stores actually very unhealthy? Enquiring minds want to know...

Park life

I haven’t blogged about my park for a while. For those of you who regularly read my blog you’ll know it is generally an unremarkable park, but the birdlife is astonishing we even have woodpeckers and parakeets. I was walking a grumpy Mr P (my partner is away on business for 2 days and he doesn’t feel he should have been left behind) and was letting my mind drift and I was struck yet again how fantastic parks are generally. They can’t all be fancy with herds of deer, or lakes, or top of the range sports facilities – and in fact thanks to the Tories and in no way helped by Labour – it’s remarkable we have these green spaces at all. Just this morning there was one jogger, three speed walking grannies, four dog walkers and one new dog walker training his German Shepherd puppy (very cute but I do hope he can grow into his ears!), two people taking a short cut across the park, one cyclist and someone pushing a pram and getting a bit of fresh air with their baby…

Not bad for 7am on a Monday morning in an unremarkable park, eh?

Yesterday I was recovering – not from drinking too much but standing too much. It was a fairly gentle day with tea and chocolate in the afternoon with friends who are currently renovating their house. It’s chaos but exciting as well, and I can’t wait to see it all finished. (It did make me a little wistful though, if we had got the house, we would be - if not doing, then planning - renovation work as well.)

Afterwards we went for a walk with the dog and then back on the sofa, feet up, telly on. I was trying to keep my mind off work but occasionally I would feel a sense of dread as I thought about the long stressful week ahead.

Still haven’t heard about the job – still got everything crossed…

In defence of pottering

Just as I always suspected, pottering is good for you... click on the entry title to take you to the BBC story.

Oh, and get better soon Monty Don.

Wasps!

What a day!! Yesterday I went to Twickenham to watch the Guinness Premiership Final between Wasps and Leicester. I was meeting up with an old friend, my original rugby buddy, who I only get to see a couple of times a year because of his work travel schedule. I started the first of nine pints of Guinness in the Fox in Twickenham and we meet up with the others that were joining us for the match. Then to the main event! Even walking up to the stadium was incredible. Thousands upon thousands of people, singing and drinking and chatting and really excited about what promised to be a cracking match...

My friend M had organised the tickets and the boy done good – we were on the west stand, about a third up on the 22. Although answer me this, why did the best rugby stadium in the world design the seats for tiny people?! I’ve actually got a bruise on my knee from cramming my long legs into those bloody seats. Anyway, I won’t do a detailed match report – there’s a good one in the Observer today, or go to the Wasps site – but Wasps were superb. Two of my favourite players Rees and Lewsey scored a try a piece and Mark Van Gisbergen slotted over six from six. The players – always top class – played out of their skins for another reason yesterday; big Lol’s last game. Laurence Dallaglio the ultimate rugby warrior was retiring. And when he came off with about 10 minutes to go, he received a standing ovation from Wasps and Leicester fans alike. We wanted to show our appreciation and for a while the action on the pitch stopped to enable us to do just that. He was emotional and so were we.

Wasps won 26 to 16 and when the players gave a lap of honour it felt even more special than usual. The crowd was 82,160 strong and it broke the previous world record of biggest ever crowd at a club rugby match and I really felt proud to be there in my Wasps shirt seeing off my favourite ever player with passion and gratitude for all that he's done for club and country.

We headed over to the Guinness Village but the queues were enough to test the patience of even the Dalai Lama so we headed back to the Fox and sunk even more booze. A trip to Pizza Express to get some much needed carbohydrates and then it was back home. It was my first outing in as long as I can remember without the car and I’m paying for it now with inflamed and very painful knees, but to not have a pint whilst your team win the Premiership is just very, very wrong...

COME ON THE WASPS!