myrtlebaggins

xkcd.com

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:22:04 GMT

I had no idea other people had this dream too! For me it is nearly always my French class at uni.

from xkcd.com

CAKE

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:58:03 GMT

I did not make this but I think it's rather splendid.

1) It is cake
2) it is cookie
3) it is Blue Food
4) IT'S A MUPPET

stolen from taperoo2k

Bunker News

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:42:21 GMT

Gosh look at that, I didn't post for all of Feb.

Anyway, I can't get onto the Bunker tonight and according to Teh Milkster it looks like it has been off a few days. I have been informed that this is the problem:

The data center that host the server have power issue.

http://www.carostatus.com/2009/03/06/friday-march-6-220pm/

site will be online, once the they fix the problem.

So there we have it. We are without our tin mugs and TVCs until power returns to wherever that place with all the acronyms are. It's a shame I don't have any way to inform Boreas apart from snail mail.

Savage Chickens

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:26:40 GMT

Meme-a-reem

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:36:51 GMT

I haven't done one of these for ages. Stolen from most of you actually.

People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blog and replace any question that they dislike with a new, original question.

~~Tag eight people. Don't refuse to do that. Don't tag who tagged you.~~. Yoink and complete yourself as you wish. :)

Make a list of things you can see without getting up.

Computer screen, teh obvs
Various PC paraphenalia, hubs, printers etc
TARDIS telephone
Batteries that need charging
Papers to do with work
Papers to do with Gibside
Mahoosive David Tennant painting (Neil Davies original don't choo know)
Papers to do with boring finanacial stuff
Plans for vege patch
Ribbons
Mobile phone
DS and games
Cameras old and new
RC Dalek
Greeane Bunnies in various colours and styles
Glitter Lamp
Saxophone inna case
Some birthday presents, bought well in advance in a 'saw this and thought of you' stylee
Ironing board
D'you know there is too much stuff, so I'm stopping.

How do you style your hair?
Styling is going a bit far. I wash, condition, dry round a brush then mini tong on the end to curl it out. Then sometimes, give up and clip it up anyway.

What are you wearing now?
Bright blue hoody, jeans and trainers, and a few layers underneath. Cold, innit.

What are your aspirations?
To be better in every way.

What's for dinner tonight?
It is way to early to be making such plans!

Who was the last person you hugged?
I had to think for AGES about this one. I do believe it was my new boss.

What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction?
Oo. Erm. I do think about my vegetable garden a lot at the moment. I don't think I have any addictions right now. How unusual.
Apart from I'm really into eating raw carrots, if that counts.

What was the last thing you ate today?
Choc Chip Muffin from Somerfield. They make the best ones and I heard they other day they've been taken over by the Co-op so I hope they don't change the recipe. I'd be FORCED to shake my tiny fist.

What was the last text message you received?
"I'll try n make sure it doesn't get burnt 1st, will pat him down 4 flammables"

What websites do you always visit when you go online?
Unless I've switched on for something in particular, usually in this order: The Bunker, The Alternative DBFF, The Original DBFF, LJ Friends.

What was the last thing you bought?
19 deckboards and some screws.

What are you listening to right now?
Kowalski twittering and the computer fan groaning under the strain.

What's the last song that got stuck in your head?
That Tr-uh-ble one by the Winehouse. Is it called 'I'm No Good'? Something like that. It might not even be the Winehouse. I KNOW you know the one I mean though.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Teleportation always seems like a good idea. But then so does flying. And invisibility. Teleportation wins in the end though. I really do not like travelling, but I like being places.

What is your favorite weather, and why?
Sunny and warm with a light warmish breeze. It just lifts the spirits no end.

If you could play any musical instrument, which one would you play?
I'd love to be able to pick up and play my sax without any effort whatsoever.

How are you?
I'm fine thanks, yourself?

What's something you'd like to say to someone right now?
I think I'm quite good at saying things as they occur to me. Or quite bad, depending on how you look at it.

Say something to the person who tagged you..
No-one did, I STOLE IT!!!! But I stole it from Miss Papillion, so HALLO and I have a challenge for you. For the next week, no matter how much crappy crapola crops up, look for the best in any given situation. Most things, even the worst things, tend to have a positive side if you look for it and even though it doesn't change the actual situation, it can make you feel a whole lot better about it which can be a result in itself tbh.

I'm so rubbish at being on the Internet atm

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:33:31 GMT

I'm amazed at how little I'm using the computer since I left my old job. Oddments of stuff:

I have a new job, hurrah! It's admin type stuff at a charity and so far it's been really interesting. Well the admin stuff is admin stuff, but the environment is very interesting. Unfortunately at the moment it's only 2 days a week but I'm hoping it might increase in the future because I heard my boss has already said to someone else that I'm *a gem* and that she'd have me full time if they had the funding. On the plus side it means I can keep going to Gibside for the moment, so that's ok. I may end up with half a day at a different charity to sort out their website as someone mentioned something about that this week, but I think they have to run it past the Management Committee first. I'd like to say more about the interesting bit of what I do, but it feels too identifying or confidential or something so I won't. My colleagues have been made of lovely so far. In fact everyone in the building seems to be the happiest person I've ever met. I worry that I may be giggling too much with my new colleague. Am Serious Lady Of Business now. Must reign in the daft.
I have a plan for my vegetable garden. It has been re-drawn many times and called off, and called back on and called off again but last night I bought the wood and tonight JB came over with his fancy pants compound mitre saw wiv a laser onnit tonight and we cut it into 58 boards ready to knock them into beds tomorrow. WOO! Although sometime between now and then I have to find some soil to fill in the hole that the chickens dug under the run over 3 years. It looks like a grave.
I have been making some very nice ice cream lately.
Most of the people I know seem to be having a really crappy time so far this year.
Due to new job being Out In The World, I've had to rush out and buy some office wear. I haven't worn office wear since 1996 -I feel like someone else.
I've just started playing the Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party that I got for Christmas. I LOVE THE DANCING BIT.
I should never switch the shopping channel on late at night. Last week found me phoning Ideal World (not even QVC mind you, Ideal flamin World!) at 1am to order a bonkers exercise machine type thing. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm already wondering if it really is going to magically reduce my unwanted wobbly bits.
I went to see Khalyn and Oddbodd's panto last week. It was teh lols :D
Which reminds me, In the office next door to me works SOMEONE FROM THE INTERNET FORUM I POST ON. It's a little bit weird but I'm getting used to it. I bump into him at the photocopier sometimes and I met him and his girlfriend (who also posts on the forum as it's where they met) in the cafe the other day so we had a natter. Small world. (Black Winged Angel and funbunny, for those who know them)
I had a lovely meal at the Ravensworth Arms the other night with my family. We very rarely go out for a meal together and we should totally do it more often, it was great. A whole lot of lolling was had.
The eglu lady and her boyfriend came up a couple of weekends ago and it turned out they were really lovely ackshully. They were pleased with the eglu and we waved it off. It's mad that it's living down in Oxford somewhere now.

I'm so sorry my update is so flamin' dull, but I can smell the chicken casserole that is nearly ready and it's all I can think about tbh.

Books of 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:24:45 GMT

It's unlikely I'll start and finish another book before tonight so here is the list of books I've read this year. My aim at the start of the year was to read more in general and read more classic books that everyone is supposed to have read. I started well but lost it a little bit in the middle. Overall I'm still quite happy, although there are a few children's books in there.

I started off writing mini reviews of them after I'd read them, but I only got as far as June before giving up on that.

January
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
A Walk In The Woods - Bill Bryson
** Nicobobinus - Terry Jones

February
Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett
Jingo - Terry Pratchett
** The Carpet People - Terry Pratchett
** Stig of the Dump - Clive King
Alice in Sunderland - Bryan Talbot
Cranford / The Cage At Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell

March
Mr Harrison's Confessions - Elizabeth Gaskell
An Utterly Impartial History Of Great Britain - John O'Farrell
My Lady Ludlow - Elizabeth Gaskell
The Blue Hen - Des Dillon (omg I hated this book. Luckily it was more of a short story)
** Archie's War - Marcia Williams
** Introduction to the First World War - Ruth Brocklehurst and Henry Brook
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams

April
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
** The Worst Witch Strikes Again - Jill Murphy (I bought a box set of these thinking it was one I'd read in my youth, but it wasn't)
** The Worst Witch All At Sea - Jill Murphy
** Moonfleet - J. Meade Falkner
** The Worst Witch Saves The Day - Jill Murphy
Touching The Void - Joe Simpson
Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding
** The Voyage of QV66 - Penelope Lively
Animal Farm - George Orwell

May
** Winnie The Pooh - A. A. Milne
** The House At Pooh Corner - A. A. Milne
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams
** The Little Vampire - Angela Sommer-Bodenburg
Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason - Helen Fielding
** The Wizard Of Oz - L. Frank Baum
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Manga Shakespeare (lol)
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Hamlet - Manga Shakepseare
Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare (yeah I'm counting plays as books)
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

June
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson
** Prince Caspian - C. S. Lewis

July
Howard's End - E. M. Forster
** The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C. S. Lewis
** Beyond The Midnight Mountains - Frank Charles
Down Under - Bill Bryson

August
Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
Making Money - Terry Pratchett

September
** The Tree That Sat Down - Beverley Nichols

October
The Last Continent - Terry Pratchett
The Truth - Terry Pratchett
**The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett

November
** Well Met By Witchlight - Nina Beachcroft
An Inspector Calls - J.B. Priestly
Man Bites Dog - Adam Ford

December
** Anne of Green Gables- L. M. Montgomery
** Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Cafe Scheherazade - Arnold Zable
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
We Bought A Zoo - Benjamin Mee

SO, we have 57 in total, 22 of them children' books (**), 8 of them books I've read before and 8 of them Pratchetts (my comfort books).

Farewell Betty Chicken...

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:16:05 GMT

Betty's been poorly on and off for quite some months (as documented a little bit here). I think it was something to do with her rather complicated egg laying mechanism getting old and the vets couldn't work out what exactly it was or how to fix it and Betty kept fixing it herself after a few weeks and being fine.

She's been looking very elderly for the last few weeks and spending a lot of time during the day sleeping in her poorly box in the conservatory and then her eating of her food slowed down and stopped again, so I knew when I left for London for Christmas she wasn't terribly healthy but I suppose I assumed she'd pull herself round again and be ok. I did have a word with her before I left to say I was only going to be away for a few days and she'd better be there when I got back!

On Boxing Day I was on my way to visit my sister's boyfriend's family when I got a text from my aunt that just said something like 'How did mucking out the horses go then? When are you back, I'm all mixed up with the days!' and I don't know why but I was all *Oh no, do you think something happened to Betty?*. Mum said I was probably being paranoid and I should phone if I was that worried but I thought better to leave it until AFTER the visit because I think there's probably some social rule about turning up at a stranger's house in pieces, so I just texted back to say we were coming home Saturday and was everything ok, then put my phone on silent.

When we got home there'd been no reply so I rang her and she was very cheery and we chatted for a bit about Christmas and she said she'd just seen my message so I was all *OH! I thought something must have happened!* and then I asked if Betty was ok and there was a pause then she said 'Well no, actually. I'm afraid she died' and I lost the ability to speak for a bit so Mum took the phone off me.

She was fine on Christmas Day, Mr. Next-Doors let her out on the morning and tucked her in at night and had a few words with her, but when he went to get her up on Boxing Day she didn't come out so he opened the eggport door and found her in the nesting box. He did know she'd been poorly and I'd left my number and instructions on what to do if the worst happened. He lifted her out and put her in the carry box I'd left in the conservatory and then he rang my aunt rather than me to ask what to do. My aunt didn't want to tell me but I asked a direct question so she didn't want to lie. I'm glad I knew though because I would have felt terribly guilty if I'd been having fun and being jolly when Betty had died.

Because of the timing of it and things I asked (well Mum asked because I still couldn't speak very clearly) if my aunt could ring the vets and see if they could take her in like they did with Elsie on Saturday morning because otherwise we'd have to keep walking past her in her box in the conservatory and that would have been dreadful and luckily my aunt is fab and was happy to do that, and the vets were open and able to take her in.

Coming home was a bit sombre and seeing the 'Happy Holidays' sign outside the eglu was REALLY hard. I hadn't realised how often I thought about them through the day - everytime I look out of the back window I'm looking for her, or when I'm near the back door I keep thinking I'll pop out and have a chat, or when it gets dark I think I'll have to go and tuck her in etc.

So that's the end of me being a chicken owner. For now anyway. I definitely want to have them again at some point because they are so funny and lovely and full of personality and not at all what I thought chickens were before I had them. For now though I'm going to sell the eglu and convert their run into a vegetable patch. If I can get a couple of little quirky chicken ornaments to go in there, or a silly hen topiary I might do that. It'll have to be something daft though.

I'm not going on holiday again. First time I lose my job, next time I lose Betty. Holidays are VASTLY OVERRATED tbh.

Celebrity Scissorhands

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:56:37 GMT

D'you know I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed this series of Celebrity Scissorhands - more than I've enjoyed a reality show for a long time. Definitely more than Strictly this year (*le gasp*) IT WAS ACES. Even though I appear to be the only person in the land that watched it. I'm actually gutted it's over. LOVED Lucinda-from-the-Apprentice and Zammo-from-Grange-Hill.

I went to a psychic evening last night (against my will) and I was told that they don't pick anyone from the audience so you can just sit and say nothing, 'cept when we got there she was all *picking people from the audience* :| The first person she picked was my friend sat right beind me, then she picked someone on our row two seats away, and then the two people in front. I felt like I was dodging bullets all night. And THEN in the second half the two people in front didn't come back so I was all *exposed*. However I was in with the 2 back naughty rows who were giggling the whole time so I think she avoided us after that. Halfway through the second half my aunt whispered something to my mother who then had an attack of the uncontrollable giggles which then spread along the row until we couldn't look at each other, which for me was the most enjoyable part of the evening tbh. Interesting though in a sort of working out what she was doing kind of way. She did do one odd thing, which was to pick someone out of the audience and get them to try and do a psychic bit for another member of the audience, which to me is a bit like saying 'look, anyone can do it! It's all made up!' - birrof an odd choice of method.

Any road up.

Majorly behind with LJ F-list reading! Will sort it out eventually! :D

Early

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:52:28 GMT

I've been listening to Christmas music for 4 hours. (Had to, was making Christmas cards. Get me, not making them on the 15th December!)

iTunes informs me I have enough Christmas music to last for 17.7 hours. Haha!

After kicking back hard against iTunes for so long I'm finding I really really like it. Finding music is SO EASY (if tagged correctly), and Genius is cool too.

Stuff I've Been Meaning To Post But Haven't

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:25:19 GMT

Here is this year's pumpkin. I left it a bit late and had to do it in a hurry on Hallo-actual-ween before going out so I didn't have time to make one up meself and just used one I found online. It's a witchy-woo.

Miss gingerelanor brought me back some excellent baking goodies from hols, two of which were cookie cutters in the shape of a dress and a duck and I'd been itching to try them out so I made biscuits, along with some Halloween shapes and discovered that I suck the most at biscuit icing. (I think my fave is the pumpkin top left. Lol?) Still they tasted very nice and THAT'S THE MAIN THING!!

Also in my parcel of American Goodies was an iron-on sparkly cup cake thing and I decided I'd make myself one of those re-useable folding plastic-bags-are-bad shopping bag type things with it. I've never made a bag before so I did a prototype with some stuff left over from my loud flowery skirt. It is reversible, if I'm feeling a bit extrovert.

Then after some minor adjustments I made my cupcake bag which I like very much actually. I might have to take it out this afternoon and buy stuff to put in it.

At some point I may get around to posting the photos from Thorp Perrow the other week and boomerang exploits with Khalyn from a few weeks ago.

Done

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:50:47 GMT

I've finally finished typing up my Oz diary. As I said before it will mean nothing to anyone else and it's fairly lengthy and pic spammy, but it's all backdated so hopefully enough time has passed that it won't mess up anyone's friends list. (I haven't hidden any of it behind lj cuts because...well because I didn't want to really.) If it does cause you problems then delete me or ask me to change it or something.

So yeah, the text will be boring but for those people that wanted to see photos, there are lots of them in there.
It starts at the bottom of here.

Can you tell what it is yet?

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:15:25 GMT

I'm back! I had the best time EVAH! (Apart from when I read an email on the day we left to come back that said the company I work for is closing down and we've all been made redundant) But even so, it was Teh Fab.

I kept a paper journal while I was there that I'm going to type up and backdate and stuff, but I should imagine it will be excruciatingly boring for anyone who is not me to read because it's pretty much a list of things I did so I don't forget them. But I'll do that later, when I'm a bit more sorted out.

EEH. I've been to actual AUSTRALIA. And I didn't freak out apart from a tiny bit one night but I think that was because I'd overdosed on chocolate.

EEH.

Etc.

Dresses

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:34:53 GMT

I now have 4 possible dresses for the wedding. And a top/skirt/cardi combo. Lol?

Tardy.

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:38:43 GMT

I've been doing all sorts lately and writing LJ posts in my head that I never get to actually put on my LJ because, in the words of Jack Bauer, THERE'S NO TIME.

I finally put my sepia video of Betty and Elsie on YouTube. (Lovely Elsie. We miss her terribly)

And another one I did of Betty and Hannah this week:

A bit behind on :LJ

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:31:51 GMT

I've been a bit busy. I haven't even gotten around to doing my birthday post yet and that was over a week ago! I'm also really behind with reading everyone else's journal, so sorry for that. I'll be back when stuff calms down a bit :) (by which point I won't be able to remember anything!)

*edit* Gotten isn't actually a word is it? It looks all *wrong*

The Bublé

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:39:01 GMT

Was AMAZING. I wondered if it would be as good as the last time, or if I'd remembered it as better than it was, but he is most definitely the best person I've seen in concert ever. His shows have a great vibe about them - more like a party atmosphere or something, and he is really comfortable with the talky bits in between songs which helps.

Last time his support act was a comedian, which was fairly random, but this time it was a group called Naturally 7. There was a voiceover along the lines of 'what you are about to hear is solely using the human voice' and 7 chaps in baseball caps came out doing a beatboxy rap style thing and I was all. Oh. Srsly? Rap? At a Swing concert? :( But they turned out to actually be really good (and not rap). JB was all *yeah but the beat isn't a human voice* and I was all *yeah that's a backing track* and *wondering why they'd claimed it was all vocal* but after a couple of songs they did a demonstration and it actually was all them and no instruments at all. They got a bit of a standing ovation at the end, which isn't something I've seen for a support act before. (Mind you they murdered Amazing Grace. They were all riffing all over the place and they're clever and very talented and stuff, but dude. That's just noise.) I found this on You Tube today and this is one of the ones they did last night, but with some extra bits.

In the break after the Naturally 7, some people came past us to sit on our row with fancy looking drinks and next thing I know, Mum is giggling away and getting along like a house on fire with the woman from the group who then gave her a fancy drink (it turned out to be a Pimms thing with mint and cucumber and things in it that they'd been given free at the bar for some corporate thingy), which Mum proceeded to get squiffy on and had to surrender the car keys to JB to drive us home at the end.

When Teh Bublé came on stage I thought he looked dreadful tbh and I didn't think he'd make it through the first song. He looked proper ill, but after he'd got through the first one he perked up quite a lot and got into it. I noticed when he sang 'You Were Always On My Mind' they switched the screens off so there were no close ups and he seemed quite emotional during it and when the screens came back on he looked as if he'd been crying, or on the verge of. It's the first show he's done since he and his girlfriend split up after allegedly being a Very Silly Boy (see story here) and I wondered if the lyrics were a little near the knuckle or something.

OH and when JB and I had been hanging around looking at the Stuff To Buy, two chaps wearing security tags walked past us to the bar. One was v. tall and the other was quite...big...and I was all *ooh do you think they are security for the band?*. When the curtain went up they were totally sitting at the back playing trumpets. One of them was Justin Raaaaaaaaaaaaay baby. I can't BELIEVE I didn't recognise him.

I thought Naturally 7 would be perfect to replace the bits on 'Comin' Home Baby' that Boys II Men sang, so when at the end he said he was bringing them back on to sing with them I was all *YAYAYAYAYAY* but then it was 'That's Life', which is cool an stuff, but it's not 'Comin Home Baby' :(

I have photos:

And some video. The clips are really short because I didn't know how much of my memory card they were taking up so I didn't take much. I'm glad I got the bit at the end where he sings without a mic.

All in all, the best night I've had for a long long time, and only the second time I've been to see something where I didn't want it to end. (The previous one also being Michael Bublé) I never hang around to get autographs etc at these things anyway, but as we were walking past the back of the arena a big black car with tinted windows came out and past us so I'm guessing he didn't hang around last night anyway.

JB really enjoyed it so I'm pleased and he said thanks for introducing him to Bubbly so YAY. (I swear he's a bigger fan than me, and I heard him singing along most of the way through it :) )

I'm full of YAY today.

Draggy again.

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:10:30 GMT

Hey Draggy you can't MOVE for trebuchets in the shops at the moment. I saw the Trebuchet of Wrong in Tesco on Wednesday.

I suggest you get both this and the Past Times one, pit them against each other and see just which one is, in fact, FTW.

The Dress Saga - Latest Instalment

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:02:52 GMT

I have been Defeated by the Dress.

Vogue Easy Options my left pinkie toe. It is probably easy if you are the pattern size to start off with but if you have to make any alterations to the bodice, easy would not be my word of choice. I think the problem is that there are so many parts to the top of it so if you're altering it, it's all *complicated* and I have no patience with alterations anyway.

So, I bought two dresses (which need altering, naturally.) Here they are being modelled by Maud as there is no point in me modelling them until the straps are shortened, whereas I can stick pins in Maud and she doesn't mind.

The dark one is a silk/linen blend according to the label, so slightly shiny with embroidery on it. It would need livening up with some sort of jolly shrug and/ or jacket thing. It seems to go well with my new Shoes of Pain. The other one is linen so will crease like a demon, but it's also embroidered so might not look toooo much like a dishcloth. It will also need some sort of shrug/jacket combo cos it's going to be the equivalent of March and I'll be frozen.

Sewing Aunt has come to the rescue on the altering the straps front and - bless her actual heart - has offered to whip up my mountain of sad and forlorn fabric into something resembling a Vogue dress. HURRAH.

In other news, I'm off to see my favourite Canadian warbler tonight (who is NOT Cliff Richard's secret love-child the_milkster, so shush.) I do hope he does 'Comin' Home Baby'. I'm all *taking my camera*

Saw this and thought of you

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:03:54 GMT

I meant to post this a little while ago for dragonnade . Saw this in Past Times and thought of you:

And gingerelanor or the_milkster - have either of you been in the changing rooms at the M&S outlet store in North Shields lately..?

Click images for near-magical enlargement to occur.

Teh Weekends

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:51:35 GMT

Yesterday's happenings.

I woke up to a text from JB asking if I fancied a ride to the Metrocentre to help him shop for his niece's birthday and I found that I did actually, so off we went. Everybody and their dog had apparently decided to do the same thing so even with skipping along the back roads instead of sticking to the A1 there was still a certain amount of being stuck in traffic to be done. We went to the Disney shop to stock up on High School Musical goodies (omg the Prince Caspian costume/clothing is aces. I found a child left on its own in a buggy and I was *this* close to just dressing it up and leaving it.) We seemed to have lots of bags when we came out but I only got a magazine and a postcard. :(
We scooted back to mine to check on Betty (still ill), have pizza and make a personalised HSM birthday card for aforementioned niece, then I had to eject JB as I had tickets and went to see
Khalyn, Oddbod and Khalyn's scarf in Pygmalion which was cool. That theatre is gorgeous - all stone walls and wooden beams - and I got to see the bar this time which is also very dainty and cute, as I stopped by for drinks in the interval with K's friend N. I didn't hang around afterwards as I was worried about Betty who had been making frequent jerky movements with her head before I left.
In my absence and the fading light she had espied a fleece of mine that I'd untidily strewn over the back of the seat out there and had somehow managed to get herself up onto it and snuggled down in the fleece. It was the cutest thing evah but I had to get her down sadly, in case there was pooing in the night. She followed me back out to the eglu and spent the night in her own house.
I then settled down to watch Doctor Who. I liked that episode MUCH better than last week's - I didn't resent the others being there so much as their appearance was more about the DW story and less about their story this time (apart from some random comment from Sarah Jane about Luke only being 14 - long story) so I didn't get all *annoyed*. I knew the regeneration thing would be a fuss all about nothing, but I wasn't expecting it to be dealt with and finished in the first 5 seconds. Talk about yer anti-climax. Not sure how I feel about the 2nd Doctor and Rose tbh. It was a bit like he'd given her a real life Real Doll - just...creepy. Loved everything else though (what happened to one of them dying...?)

This morning I woke Betty up and she followed me back to the house and climbed into her sick bay box for a lie down, poor thing. I noticed he comb is started to get a bluish tinge, which I think might be related to her heart but I'm not sure.

My brother rang yesterday and they have a possible date for the wedding - a month earlier than we were expecting :| We now need to look at flights (had a quick look last night and they seem to have gone up £300 since I last checked, which is Ungood) and I really really need to make those dresses!

Books

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:12:43 GMT

OH, and I was skimming my sister's bookshelves looking for The Dawn Treader when I found this:

Quite possibly my favourite book cover/tagline combo ever. On the back cover, this (made clicky, for size):

HURRAH for heroic dog books!

More Stuff

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:58:47 GMT

Betty is still ill. I can't believe she is still with us - yesterday she came into the conservatory and spent most of the day lying down asleep in her box looking like she was at death's door. She didn't eat anything until 5pm and didn't drink until 7 at which point she jumped up and went out into the garden happy as a happy thing to run around until bedtime, leaving me stunned.

Today she spent the morning in her box again, but I think it was a bit too warm in there for her so she spent most of the rest of the day standing under a tree looking sad. She hasn't eaten or drunk anything today, despite my attempts to get her to and it's been really hot so I don't how she is keeping going - she's a little soldier.

The new stuff from Omlet came today so it's nice that she gets to see it although I don't think she'll get much use out of it.
They've started doing the sunshades in colours to match the Eglu now and they say they are stronger than the others so I've replaced the ripped and faded green one that was there before:

They are also now doing plastic bars to replace the wooden ones - WUHOO! They were the only part of the thing that were difficult to keep clean, and I always kept two sets in so that I could use one while the other set was drying. Now I can just...dry them. I wonder if they'll be as warm for their little feet in the winter though.

From 3pm onwards the cricket club behind our garden has been blasting out snippets of music for no apparent reason. Seriously loud. It wouldn't be quite as annoying except they are mostly just playing the intros. At first we had American Soul classics, then we had what sounded like Toni Braxton's Greatest Hits-plus-a-bunch-you've-never-heard-of, then Ring of Fire and the theme from Misson Impossible (they played the whole thing for those two and there may have been some dancing and silliness in our garden) but after that it went downhill. You get the idea if I say let's get ready(ready) let's get ready(ready) let's get ready to rumble! Oh, oh, I think they've just stopped! That's about 6 hours then.
I meant to go and see the touring production of Joseph tonight but I was all tired and hot and sweaty from the garden and I didn't want to leave Betty ill especially in case there was any trouble from the goings on at the cricket club, so I didn't. I think it's coming back to Newcastle later on so maybe I'll get to see it there.
Just realised I'm going to miss Doctor Who tomorrow night and will have to tape and watch it as soon as I get back so I don't see anything spoilery in the meantime. I can't BELIEVE that the will he/won't he regenerate thing was on the BBC News tonight. That's just silly.
I have had nothing interesting to say for months now. I need to get back to going out more, or doing *something*.

Chicken Stuff, poss TMI

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:36:24 GMT

Just got back from the vets again with Betty because she'd spent the entire day looking sad in the Eglu and I'd only been able to convince to eat 3 grapes and 6 sunflower seeds. I rang up to see if the results of her test were back yet and the vet said that she was clear of parasites but they have to wait for the bacterial report as they have to wait and see if anything grows. I said she hadn't even been eating toast for a few days and was quite poorly today and he said to bring her in again for another look.

Through the day I have been opening the egg port door to talk to her and offer her various food items, but the last time she clucked what sounded like a 'Go Away' noise at me and I was all *she's given up :*( *.

I wasn't sure how I'd get her into the box from the eglu without getting her out first so I waved a grape and whistled and she came walking out and followed me to the house so I could pick her up there. We saw the cheery lady vet again who gave her another shot of the wormer because she picked up so well the last two times she's had that, although the last shots will still be active so she doesn't actually have worms or mites, and a shot of calcium because I told her that she'd come out of the eglu covered in yolk the other day and calcium will help her egg laying muscles to expel anything in there. She said it could be egg peritonitis which is not good - I've seen it mentioned on the chicken forum before as the cause of a few deaths. It would make sense that her poorlyness is mixed up with her egg laying as she hasn't laid an egg for 4 months, but there have been a few yolks and mangled rubbery shells.

The shots cost £54 so the vet's bill is now up to £90 :|

When we got home, she ate a grape and some sunflower seeds she found on the floor, and some of the porridge in the dish that she had left earlier, which was encouraging. I went to look inside the eglu to see if I could see any mites/lice/critters and there was an egg! Sitting there! Like it owned the place!! That must have been why she was telling me to go away that last time. I'm amazed (not going to eat it though..I'm going to crack it and see what is inside, then chuck it). I've tried to give her some antibiotics in porridge and she wasn't having it, so I put it on toast - also no go. I'll try her with the porridge again later, I REALLY don't want to have to force the syringe into her mouth.

So now it's just a wait and see how she fares. I'm not getting my hopes up too high though, poor lamb.

Meme Season

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:33:30 GMT

Gosh there are a lot of these about atm int there?

What side of a heart do you draw first?
Right I think. It's not often I have cause to draw hearts since I left school tbh ;)

Can you dive without plugging your nose?
I never really got past sitting dives and one of the problems I had with it was the ol' water up the nose factor.

What color is your razor?
Pink. (seemingly like everyone else's)

What is a rumor someone has spread about you?
When I was a civil servant, that I was a lesbian.

How do you feel about carrots?
They are yummy raw, particularly the middle bit.

How many chairs at the dining room table?
Six, but I mainly use it to sew on these days.

Which is the best Spice ~~Girl~~?
Cinnamon.

Do you know what time it is?
Yes thanks.

Do you know the words to the Fresh Prince Theme song?
Um. In West Philadephia (I?) was born and raised, in the playground was where I spent most-uh-mah-days, chillin' and...no wait, that's not right...car pulled up...no....um....do the Bartman?

What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator?
Pan-ic.

What's your favorite kind of gum?
Blue Extra chicklets. NO! Big Red, but that is hard to find.

What are you doing right now ?
Considering the universe, and my place in it. Also thinking about lunch.

Do you know how to use some words correctly, but not know the meaning?
There are some words that pop into my head ready to be used and I think I know their meaning, but I'm not 100% sure as they are not words I use often. I almost always look them up before I use them though. There are some words that I have no idea how I know their meaning, but I do seem to when I check. Or something. I should have used better words on this part really. Words Are Not My Tool.

Do you like to sleep?
Sleeping is like, my favourite thing evah.

Do you know which US states don't use Daylight Savings Time?
No. I doubt it is vital to my everyday wellbeing though.

Do you know the song Total Eclipse of the Heart?
Turn around!!

Do you want a bright yellow '06 mustang?
No thanks, you keep that.

What's something you've always wanted?
Oo. More money but that's really boring. Um. I've wanted my own Grand Design for a while. I can't think of anything I've ALWAYS wanted.

Do you have hairy legs?
Not hairy exactly, but it is time for an epilate.

Would you rather swim in the ocean or a lake?
Ocean salt is tough on the eyes and lake has the potential to be foisty with a shopping trolley at the bottom of it and both have the potential to contain Creatures, so tell you what, I'll just sit here with the towels and mind the bags while you go have a dip.

Do you wear a lot of black?
Yes I do. Goes with everything innit.

Describe your hair?
Rubbish.

Where is/are your best friend(s)?
I don't know who that would be so their whereabouts are likewise unknown.

Do you have a tan?
Rarely.

Are you a television addict?
I might be if there was anything worth watching!

Do you enjoy spending time with your mother?
I am very lucky in that I get along with my mother very well. Apart from when we fight. But that is quite rare really, and I'm always right so that's ok.

Are you a sugar freak?
I'm not so much with the sweet tooth actually, despite the frequent appearances of cake in my LJ.

Do you like orange juice?
On the odd occasion. Sometimes I find it a bit acidic. Prefer it with bits in.

What sign are you?
Stop.

Where do you wish you were right now?
Somewhere lovely and far, without the bother of having to travel there.