with a bing and a bong and a buzz buzz buzz

whenever st sends me an e-mail she doesn't put in a subject line ~ just gets a random one. i don't know why ~ i don't get them . . . maybe she has signed up for them? . . . i don't know . . .
anyway, they are usually funny ~ here's an example: 'the ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind' hahahahaha!!
the title of this blogging is the one i received the other day and it's my favourite so far. it makes me think of hugh laurie in 'blackadder goes forth' ~ and maybe it is a direct quote? i don't know that either but i like to think it is an example of typical brit humour . . . but perhaps it isn't . . .
lots of good things have been happening lately ~ ma and ke celebrated their first wedding anniversary and ma's birthday with a party in their garden, im had a super-duper confirmation and celebration and i had a lovely afternoon with fr last week. st, ri and the pies were down last week-end and we visited with o and g and went to a little park just over the High Road where there is a duck pond. o and g are settling in very happily. they had to buy a load of new furniture as most of what they had in the house was far too large for the flat. but they managed to get some good stuff including a very posh sofa and chair. i went shopping with o and i must say it was lots of fun watching o spending on herself!!
no news yet on either newbee or c and d's iminent arrival ~ fr's 'due date' is today and ca's some time later this week . . . . EXCITING!!!!!

it is about time . . .

I wrote on here again!
life has been very busy.
Fr has finished work and is waiting for Newbee to arrive. Lpip is as excited as a big sister who has something to be excited about and is practising being gentle with splendid results! She went to stay with St and Ri and the Pies for a few days soon after Fr finished work and had a lovely time with them.
O&G have moved! yay! They moved out and took possession of the flat on Friday but are staying with me until Er Ja and I have decorated the sitting room and kitchen for them. We having been working like billy-oh up there, have very nearly finished and are hoping to move all the sitting room bits in tomorrow while O gets in and stocks up the beautifully-cleaned-by-Ja kitchen. It has all been a huge laugh with the usual barrage of insults bandied about between the three of us (E J and me I mean!)
Not a great deal of stitching or knitting has been going on as the new job, whilst continuing very enjoyable and interesting, is quite a few more hours per week and I don't have as much spare time as previously. And I don't want to lose any of the social bits!!
And the 'book pile' is growing into a veritable Great Wall on China on my bedside table!

since last I blogged . . .

. . . quite a few good things have occurred . . .
O&G's move to Bushey would seem to be going ahead at the beginning of May ~ fingers crossed!
Mothering Sunday was great! O&G, Frankie, Alex, Lucia and I all met up at the Lily Lounge for Afternoon Tea ~ which was lovely!
I went to the Civic Awards and hob-nobbed with the Great and the Good ~ which was exciting!
Today Alex and Malcolm came and put up my new garden gate and Fran and Lucia came to play and Ricky came and cut my grass and tidied up the garden for a couple of hours. Then Alex, Fran, Lucia and I spent an hour or two in the garden chopping up (mainly Alex) and burning (mainly me) the old interior doors (HOORAH!!!). So today was ~ satisfying!

This was on Do's facebook and I thought I would give it a go:

BBC Reading List

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
3) Tally your total at the bottom.

x 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
x 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
x 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
x 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
x 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
x 6 The Bible
x 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
x 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
* 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
x 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
x 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
x 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
x 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
x 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
x 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
x 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk ~ x
x 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
* 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
* 20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
x 21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
x 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
x 23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
x 24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
x 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
x 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
x 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
x 30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
x 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
x 34 Emma - Jane Austen
x 35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
x 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
x 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
x 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
x 40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
x 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
x 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
* 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
* 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
x 45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
x 47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
* 48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
x 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
x 50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
x 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
x 53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
x 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
x 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
x 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
x 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
* 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
x 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
x 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
x 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
x 67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
x 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
* 69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
x 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
x 74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
x 78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
x 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
x 85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
x 92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
x 93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
x 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
x 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

57 read and 8 that I would like to read!
A triumph of age over 'well-readness' tbh!

it has been another good week . . . .

. . . though very busy!
work continues good and very interesting although 2 evening meetings plus one govs' meet has meant I haven't seen an awful lot of my home this week!
and then on Friday instead of going home and putting my feet up I zipped off up to Yorkshire and spent the week-end with St, Ri and the Pies. Arrived in the evening after a l o o o ng trawl of four and a half hours up the morotorway ~ due to road works and the usual Friday night traffic ~ triffic! The Pies were in bed but not asleep ~ I think they had been waiting up! ~ and then I had supper and sat around talking. To bed very late ~ or very early!!
Saturday was Kpie's Pre-primary Ballet so St and I nipped off there soon after 11. Kpie looked very sweet ~ and she got her certificate so that was good. Back home for lunch and then St did about 2 hours digging in the garden (there is a lot of digging to do!!) and I went with Kpie and Jpie to the little park with their scooters. Quiet evening chatting with St.
Today I played 'Escape from Atlantis' with the Pies and then went with St and Kpie to Dunelm Mill (yay!) and then back for a quick lunch. Just before setting off for home St took me to see 2 new developments of houses. It's hard to believe the prices up there!! About half the cost of similar down here. I'm obviously living in the wrong place!! LOL

I wish I had taken my camera . . .

. . . because my blog looks boring wihout photos I think . . .
This week-end has been good although it started sadly . . .
On Friday I went with my friend F to the funeral of a friend from a long time back. We have known Jim since we were 17 ~ a long time ago now ~ and he had been a very good friend of Boogy's for years before that. The funeral was very sad, but it was good to meet some other old friends and good that quite a number of people were able to stand up and say a few words in tribute. He will be much missed.
F and S had asked me to stay the night at their house and as an anti-dote to the sadness of the funeral we went to a small local theatre/club for an evening of music and poetry (Rhythm and Muse!). It was wonderful! and just what we needed!!
On Saturday, after a leisurely morning and lunch we walked along the tow-path to Kingston for a talk on 'Sculpture between the Wars' mainly featuring Dora Gordine (who I had never heard of before ~ I am making it sound like I am very cultured aren't I?). I enjoyed that too and I certainly learned a lot as I know virtually nothing about the subject!! Back for a quick cuppa and then I came home.
Today has been productive in that I have had a good sorting out of my wardrobe. Lots of things have been 'slung'. They always say you shouldn't keep anything you haven't worn for a year as on that basis you aren't likely to wear it again anyway. I don't actually believe it but I did manage 2 bin bags and the wardrobe looks much better now!
It is still very cold although we have had some lovely sunshine on and off all day . . . and my daffodills are looking very jolly in the garden! I will try to find my camera and get some good shots of them.

The Hallowed Halls of Handyman Heaven

What is it about men and tools?
We have a shop in our town called 'Simbles' ~ I know it fairly well having been forced through its portals more times than I care to remember. Apparently it is the best shop for handymen in the world ~ and I have to admit that if you want anything in the d-i-y line it must be pretty hard to beat. Inside it is like an Aladdin's cave with every square inch (or cm) packed with screws, nails, g-clamps, screwdriver, hammers, spades (I like to call them spades), bits, rulers, hods, drills . . . Lord! . . . I could go on and on infinitum! I mainly know all this because Boogs was forever in and out of the place and Eric, when he visits, insists we drive past just so he can drool a bit (though tbh it is on the way from town to my house and it's a bit of a joke anyway!! (Once when we walked into Watford he made us go in and wander ~ actually it's impossible to 'wander' as the place is so packed with stuff ~ about and we were 'lucky!(!!) enough to be able to watch some video thing about a rotor tool. Wow, you must think, what an exciting life we live!!)

Anyway . . . where is this leading us? Well last evening Frankie phoned and we chatted a bit and she happened to mention that Alex was looking at the Screwfix catalogue ~ I mentioned Screwfix to Eric once and he said it was 'Ok, but not like the real thing' (he meant Simbles). then she phoned again a bit later . . . and he was still reading it!! . . . and then I remembered something a bit later and than that and guess what? He was still reading the Screwfix catalogue. And that's what I mean . . . What is it about men and tools? Now a nice Next catalogue . . . or M&S . . . or Laura Ashley . . .

phew!! what a week!!

It has been so-o-o busy that I don't have time to tell all . . . so here are the 'main' bits . . .
Last Saturday Er and Ja brought O & G down to look at the flat that Stella and I had seen and liked the week before. Fortunately O & G liked it too . . . and during the rest of the week . . . they have accepted an offer on their house, had their offer on the flat accepted and it's all systems go go go!!
Sunday was fairly quiet ~ except for mass with Edna and the Confirmation Inscription Promise.
Monday: work and a quick visit to Fr and Al in the evening to drop off Lpip's present and card for Tuesday.
Tuesday was Lpip's 2nd birthday! Crikey!! TWO!!! Where did the time go. Sadly I couldn't see her on the day as I had work first and then a Govs' meeting in the evening.
Wednesday: Book Group in the evening at Jenny's. Good time was had by all though none of us had enjoyed the book all that much.
On Thurday nothing much happened.
Friday evening I had Berny over for a meal . . . which was lovely. Haven't seen Berny for quite a while so it was lovely to chat and catch -up.
Saturday: Went, fairly early, to the flat for a measure up, noting plugs and all the stuff we didn't take in too well on our other brief visits. Back home and had calls from Er and a very-nearly-2-hour chat with Stella who had been away for a week with the pies. Went to evening mass with Edna and then over to Fr and Al's for a very pleasant and jolly evening.
Today: Fr, Al and Lpip came over for the day. Al has almost finished putting up my fence and it looks great. We had to go to Wicks to get more wood and managed to get a gate too. Hoorah!! Nice private garden for me this summer!! I had a lovely time with Lpip ~ she is very funny and made us laugh and laugh. After they left I tidied up and did a bit of stitching and listened to my Satie cd. Rich told me once it is the most depressing piece of music he has ever heard ~ it is a bit I suppose but in truth most of the music I like is a tad dismal.
Finally: I would like to say how much I enjoyed reading other peoples' the 'Random things'. I have been 'tagged' before and didn't know what I was supposed to do . . . so I'm sorry if I didn't exactly ' play up, play on and play the game' before but I really am game for any other tags!

I have been tagged by St and these are the rules:

1. Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

5. For the recipients, leave a comment for the person who tagged you, so they can go and read your answers.

Here are mine:

1. My favourite flowers are: poppies in a field of waving corn, snowdrops peeping out of the snow and purple croci growing in a bright green lawn.

2. I hate my curly hair. When I was young I would have loved to have had dead-straight flame-coloured hair. Now I would just like it not to be grey!

3. I hate to feel hemmed in and always want to be able to see as far as I can ~ the horizon if possible. I don't like being in a room with net curtains at the window.

4. I never go out without my swiss army knife ~ so useful!

5. The furthest north I have travelled is Dundee, Scotland and the furthest south is Montserrat. Montserrat is also the furthest west I've been and Slovenia is the furthest east.

6. When away from home I like to unpack and put away all my baggage ~ even if I am only staying one night.

7. I could worry for England! If I get temporarily distracted, I then worry that I won't be able to remember what I was worrying about!

8. I would like the can-can played at my funeral.

I'm tagging 4 people:

Sarah

Kim

Patti

Jen

and it continued to snow . . .

I went to work ~ stupidly I went in the car as I was convinced the roads would have been gritted once I got out of the estate . . . but they hadn't been. I had a scary few minutes going up Orphanage Road where several, much bigger, cars than mine had been abandoned. But my trusty little Fiesta managed to make it up to the top!
Not a lot of peops made it into work and then just before mid-day we heard that the weather and roads were going to get worse so it would be wise to go home a.s.a.p.
The homeward journey was much easier (DG!!) and I decided to risk the estate roads and did in fact get onto my driveway without any probs.
The afternoon has been great!! Lots of neighbours and children have been out in the road (schools all closed!) playing and having snowball fights. It has been fun to watch them. I brought some stuff home to read and gen up on the new job and have been sitting toasting my toes, drinking hot chocolate and watching the snow falling. Mmmm! Fabulous!!

it's snowing here!

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

pies for the weekend

St, Ri and the pies arrived Friday evening . . . and we have had a wonderful week-end! We had a quick casserole when they came and then the pies went to bed and St, Ri and I sat around mostly chatting until gone one . . . much too late!! LOL!!
Saturday: St and I went to see four different flats for O and G. Three of them were 'reet manky' but the fourth was quite nice and may be a 'goer'. Fr, Al and Lpip came over late afternoon and we all had a meal together ~ which was fun. The pies and Lpip get along so well it is a joy to see them ~ especially Cpie and Lpip who are only 11 months apart and have a lot of fun together. I always felt a distinct lack of cousins when I was young as I rarely saw mine, so it is a delight to watch my daughters and grandchildren and their cousins enjoying each others' company to the extent that they do!
Today: Lovely morning! Had the pies to myself for most of the time and they were very good drawing and cutting and sticking at the kitchen table. Now they have gone home, calling at O & G's en route and I am getting ready for tomorrow . . . and my NEW JOB!!

a question from last night's quiz!

This foxed us all:
If every one of a certain animal were to be exterminated, within a few months there would be more. Which animal is it?
?? does any one know the answer??

more photos . . .

I went to the Annual Catenian Quiz last evening and amongst those on my table were Ka and To K . . . which reminded me of this photo:

This is moi soon after my arm was plastered. I was rather proud of my 'different' green plasterings ~ until Ka told me it was only the NHS types who have colours ~ all the 'privates' have white!! So here's me looking decidedly plebbie!! LOL!!
It was a good quiz and a great evening: nice company and lots of fun!! ~ even though we didn't win!!

I recently blogged a photo of Lpip and the inside of the front door I had put in last Summer. Here's a pic from outside (I like this photo because you can just see Tully's tail at the bottom). I love the fact that it is dark green ~ looked lovely at Christmas with my wreath on it ~ and I now longer feel so exposed in my hallway! That's the old white door below it (yeuch!).


I have had a lovely week off; I have visited with very nearly all of my immediate family and have had a pleasant time pottering around at home sorting and slinging. Back to work tomorrow . . .

mugs!

What is it about mugs that they just seem to multiply almost of their own volition? I've got heaps ~ far too many to use and sadly some of them have been stuck at the back of a cupboard because they are too precious for me to want to use them!
Today I had a good sort out and decided to put all my favourites on the high shelf in my conservatory. These are generally the ones I am too worried to use in case I break them.
Here they are all together: (as you can see I still have my Christmas lights up ~ because I think they look cheerful!)
And here are the left hand ones in a bit of a close up:

The first one is Stella's baptism cup which I keep meaning to give her and keep forgetting about . . . maybe next time they are down . . .
The second is one of a pair Boogs and I used to use and has pigs on it. They were a present from Boogs. And the next one is a mug commemorating Holy Rood's Centenary in 1989 ~ a good year and lots of fun in the Parish!!
Then comes one which Jackie, Danuta and Trisha and families brought back from Poland for me when they went on their Grand Trek in 1996.
The next one was Boog's because he worked for London Underground ~ it has a map on the back.
Then one of my favourites ~ here it is in close-up:

Ha ha!! Boogs was Maggie Thatcher's greatest 'fan' ~ he took this mug to work and used it always!
Next to the Big sister mug is one from Scotland which Jackie gave me after one of their Scottish hols.
And the next one is my lovely Godmother mug that Freddie gave me at his baptism.

Here are the next lot:

The first two are a pair I bought just before the Millenium. The handle is made in such a way that it actually says 2000. I think they are lovely but the girls think they are awful (!!) so I suppose they are better up there really.
And the next one commemorates the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and Er and Ja gave us two. They came to stay for the 4-day Bank Holiday week-end and we had the most tremendous fun. Boogs and I used to use the mugs all the time but then one broke and I'm a bit nervous of losing the other one.
Stella brought the Hertfordshire Girl Guide mug back from camp in Cheltenham in 1990.
And Frankie gave me the next Eyeore one. Piglet is actually my favourite Pooh character . . . but it is generally accepted that I am more like Eyeore than any of them. In fact, another time, Frankie gave me a little toy Eyeore who lives on the dashboard of my car!
And finally, the two mugs at the end were presents from Ja and Er and are both dated 22 August 1985 which was the 500th year anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth. Poor Richard III, my hero, and much maligned in history due to the devious lies of that William Shakespeare chappie.
I think they look very nice up there and I'm so pleased they are now out on show!!

oh dear!

i went to my second weightwatchers' meeting tonight. i have put on two pounds! obviously too many good dinners and too much caake!!

wombling about . . .

i start a new job very soon so am taking this week off to use up my hols allocation before the end of the council's 'holiday year'
it's been great so far!!
saturday early morn i set off for south yorks to visit with stella, rich and the pies. i had a lovely lovely time. they are all so welcoming and the pies are so funny and always pleased when i come. we didn't do an awful lot other than drink gallons of coffee and chat and play with the pies and read stories. stella and i went to the garden centre to buy some of the good organic meat they sell there . . . and then we popped into dunelm mill because . . . well because it's dunelm mill and we love it! i stayed for 2 sleeps and kpie kindly let me have her bed and she 'topped and tailed' with cpie.
monday afternoon i set off south and visited with er and ja. we popped round to see em and pe in their home. it was the first time i have been there. it's a lovely house and very cosy. then back to e and j's for dinner. li had arrived home by then so she sat and chatted for a while and then went out to meet some girlie friends. it was a lovely relaxing evening.
this morning after breakfast i continued south and called in on o and g who seem very well. o was going out with some friends to a 'talk' so it was nice to just sit and chat with g for a while and then go and collect o and bring her home. quick cuppa and a slice of caake and then travelling on down the m1 and so home.
tomorrow i will be looking after lpip for the penultimate wednesday as my new job is full time and the wednesdays will be 'lost'. boo-hoo!! i will enjoy it while i can!!

i have found my camera!!

hoorah! although, in truth, the photos are really rather boring . . . and since the last one I took was in october, rather old too. however, as i haven't published any photos for ages and my blog looks somewhat bland i am adding these: they are all of lpip, who actually looks quite different now . . . but anyway . . .

i changed my front door in the summer. here is lpip trying to 'escape' ~ early september. she has grown since then!!



frankie and lpip in my kitchen ~ early autumn

lpip loves her little car! here she is in my garden mid october

that's it for now ~ all the blurry ones are nice and all the clear ones aren't ~ mostly! ho hum!

it's been a good week so far:
saturday: pa and ch and ly and mi came round for a meal.

sunday: frankie and alex and lpip came round for sunday lunch. frankie cooked (fortunately) so it was edible!!
wednesday: book group at my home. we had been reading 'the vanishing act of esme lennox' and scores ranged from 8.5 to 10. we all loved it and had an interesting discussion on psychiatric care in britain over the last 50 years an enjoyable evening!

addenda . . . and life so far in 2009 . . .

this is very bad indeed . . . but i completely forgot, amongst all the lovely events over christmas to write about 2 very kind acts by members of my family
firstly:
stella made the most delicious christmas pudding for us! boogs used to make 4 each year: one for us, one for e and j and family, one for jackie and family and another 'spare' . . . and how we have missed them! it would seem, however, that stella really is a 'chip off the block' because hers was every bit as good! I do so hope it will become a tradition!
secondly:
g nailed on and undercoated the skirting boards in the conservatory whilst he was here over the christmas break. at the time i was really wishing he had left well alone as it just seemed like work that could have been done some other time ~ not when i was trying to keep everything 'tidy' ~ but in truth it was very kind and i'm jolly pleased now!!
the annual panto trip:
stella, rich and the pies were in watford for richard's family's annual visit to the palace for the panto. they came round for lunch on saturday which was a hoot. the pies were very lively and funny and i had a lovely time with them all. after they had left janey, eric, and lizzie fetched up and after we had sat around talking for a while we headed off for the palace. almost all rich's family were there including cpie and fredster who, being now 2, were going for the first time. we all had a great time with lots of shouting, singing and laughter. freddie shouted out that the man was 'silly' at one point (LOL ~ he was!!). it finished quite early and j, e, lizzie and I went home, ordered a chinese and feasted . . . and drank wine ~ hoorah!! up very late in the morning, late breakfast of croissants, tea and coffee and the 'awks went off home and i sorted myself for work the next day
this week:
back to work ~ which after such a very long break i wasn't looking forward to ~ but it hasn't been too bad . . . it has, however, been very cold. it has snowed several times but not enough to give much cover. but it has never quite disappeared and the temp is well below freezing. in lincolnshire they used to say ' it's hanging around waiting for more' !! i can but hope!!

101 things

i am trying to complete a list of 'things' before I am sixty . . . and to be honest i'm not progressing as rapidly as i had anticipated!
here are some of the 'things' i have achieved this year:
No 19: see the sunrise
yay! did this with jackie and danuta on ivinghoe beacon at this year's summer solstice
No 21: walk on the beach at least 4 times
given that no-where in england is very far from the sea, one would think this would be an easy one! sadly not! time is the problem mostly but at least i managed to walk by the sea at bournemouth last november. having done sligo last year, that only leaves 2 to go!
No 28: knit a scarf for alex
managed to do this in time for christmas
No. 29: frame my old long-stitch piece
am really pleased with how it looks ~ it is in my bedroom and if only i could find the camera i would take a photo!
No. 30: knit 3 items for kpie
have finished 2
No 32: knit 3 items for lpip
started a little ballet cardi back in may but now i think i will have to unpick and start again
No 33: knit 3 items for jpie
just finished a 'froggie' scarf
No 43: change my front door
i have hated that door since we moved in on 22 jan 1993 - a long time to hate anything!! - but in july i changed it for a lovely dark green one which is far more in keeping
No 44: change all internal doors
i have hated the internal doors even more than the front one if that were possible. early last month they were all changed to lovely old-looking ones to match the front door - now all i've got to do is paint them!
No 61: see 3 shakespeare plays one of which i have never seen 'live' before
again not too difficult one would think but again time is the problem. this year i saw 'much' and last year is was 'r and j'. so this year it will have to be one i've not seen before ~ hmm!
No 74: read wordsworth's 'the prelude'
i am trying to re-read all the texts i studied for 'o' and 'a' level ~ this was one of them. we only did boook 1 for 'a' level but i am reading all of them ~ and both the 1805 and the 1850 versions. i must be mad ~ it's a jolly long job!!

i sometimes think i have set myself too difficult a challenge ~ given the time i have awailable