Productive and relaxing, in turns.

I'm having a lovely holiday week so far. Apart from the fact that it seems to be going by much too fast (helped by the fact I was at work on Sat/Sun and that Anthony was here on Monday) it's been going well.

I've got 13 ticks against my 20 item to-do list, although I still have to tackle the boxes upstairs that need both sorting out and then breaking up for recycling.

Today however has been less productive. I woke up feeling miserable (partly due to scary dreams about dentists) and opened the curtains to a dark sky that promptly opened up and rained so hard that it freaked the cats out. I overdid it on the pc yesterday (as well as earning 7 ticks) so couldn't even get excited about playing some WoW.

What's a girl to do?

Well in this case she gets lots of cushions on the sofa, organises herself a nice drink (of Whittard's Blackcurrant and Elderflower Tea) and gets her sewing out. Then she puts on a film...

When I say a film, I mean a few films, in fact I mean the extended editions of LOTR. I've seen the first two and have Return of the King to watch tomorrow (as I think 8 hours of film is enough for today).

I adore the book, and I love the films almost as much. I hate the bits they cut from the story, the same bits they always cut - Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Wights, and I'm still bugged by them pretending to kill Aragorn off in that whole Warg battle scene.

But I do love the bit when Aragorn tells Eowyn that he's 87...looks damn good for his age that man. Wonder if he'd have looked as good at 6500 as Elrond does though.

Random Dad Fact #4

Many many years ago (ok, 1992) Dad wandered into my bedroom one evening and re tuned my radio from Radio One to...well, to birdsong!

He'd heard that they were testing the frequency that Classic FM was going to be broadcast on by playing (among other things) a recording of birdsong from someones countryside garden. I used to listen to it when I could, taping it when possible and then playing the tape at night as I went to sleep. I even had a kind of meditation that went with it (not that I thought of it as a meditation, it was just me daydreaming).

Then today I was watching Breakfast on BBC1 and they started playing the birdsong again.

The story about it is here.

I shall be listening as much as possible, just wish I had a way of taping it again.

Merry Birthday!

I hope you people all had a lovely Christmas?

Despite Anthony kindly passing on his stinky cold to me I have had a very good few days. (I'm still off work, now until the 4th Jan).

Christmas was strange without Dad, but at the same time there wasn't a huge big horrible gap there that was impossible to fill. Even when we were having Christmas dinner and I was sitting in his spot at the table, it didn't feel odd. We did go and see him on Christmas Day, after opening stockings (supplied by mum (and Emily got one from Brychan too)) but before we did tree presents and got comfy. It was pouring with rain, but since other people had had the same idea parking was a bit tight at the site. I did mean to take my camera and get a picture of his stone, but I didn't as the weather was so horrible, I shall get one of it in sunshine which will be more fitting. This picture shows the pond at the site, Dad is on the far side, in fact the little tree on the far bank is where we hung the bird feeders that we'd brought along as his Christmas presents. After we'd hung the feeders the rain started coming down even heavier, so we took that as a polite hint to bugger off and leave him in peace.

Tree presents (although there wasn't actually a tree this year) are always opened while drinking Bucks Fizz, and this bit of tradition was stuck to. Emily had a Jack themed set of presents from me and Anthony - Jack Daniels and Captain Jack that is. Anthony had a selection of car themed gifts plus Band of Brothers from Emily. Me? I'm the happiest girl in the world in my new Leyton Orient shirt, with oodles of Lush stuff and The Sims 2 to play (when I've defragged the pc this afternoon). My lovely neighbour Angela bought me a Cath Kidston stationery pack, thus fulfilling my longings for both Cath stuff and pretty notepaper!

My new board game Bookchase provoked some mixed reactions when we played it as both Emily and Anthony were convinced they would do badly. Who won? Anthony. Who came last? Me. So, proof that book knowledge is not always required to win a board game based around books! (You also have to pick up cards that entitle you to three free books, and then roll a six).

Emily kindly let me open my birthday present from her yesterday, a beautiful green purse by Jimmy Liao that holds EVERYTHING all in one go. I've just been a Googling to try and get you a picture...the range is very new and has no pictures anywhere so I will have to charge the camera up.

I do not know what else I have for my birthday as I am not allowed to open anything until Anthony gets home from work. I will distract myself by defragging and loading up Sims 2!

One more Sunday before Christmas...

...no really, only one more to go. One more at work for me anyway, and it'll be the 23rd...

...I will be a gibbering wreck before then.

To be fair, we didn't have any customers today like yesterdays. Thank God. There would have been blood up the walls.

I was a lot more relaxed today than I thought I would be after yesterday. This was partly due to the romantic film-fest last night (While You Were Sleeping and Practical Magic - I was in a Sandra Bullock mood) and partly due to the fact that when left alone yesterday Anthony went out and spent money. Some of this money was spent on secret Christmas things, but some was spent on a storage unit for the bathroom (so the cardboard box that's been in there since we moved in here in May can go) and some was spent on an electric blanket.

It was soooooooooooooo nice getting into a warm bed last night, it's impossible to describe the amount of tension that eased out of my body when it didn't have to deal with icy bedding. The hot water bottles are now redundant and I shall not have to buy so much Deep Heat (think Withnail).

I have a day off tomorrow and shall spend it doing nice domestic things like arranging things in my bathroom, and emptying the litter trays...



Mum's cross-stitch is coming along.


I've had to shift it all about in the frame as it's too big for it to fit on all in one go. I could have stitched it sideways but figured that would drive me barmy! All of the green bits on the right were done during the films last night.

Holiday!!!

I am on holiday for two and a half weeks now...I go back to work on the 12th of April! The half week is due to Easter Monday and then my day off being the Wed, and having an odd day of holiday to use so taking that Tuesday.

The last time I had two weeks together off work was back in 2003 when I broke my arm, and then before that was Sept/Oct 2002 between moving up here and getting my current job.

It's very odd. Even with a week off there's a certain amount of "must do this today" but I have no feeling of that at all. Yes I only get one week of that with Anthony (since I get a weeks more holiday than him and our holiday years fall differently too) so we have to move all the bookcases this week so I can rearrange to my hearts content next week. Other than that...nothing HAS to be done on any day.

We're actually getting to go away too. My mother is spending this week in Bath where she's rented a flat. She made sure when she rented it that it would be able to fit two errant daughters and one of their blokes. Although Emily possibly isn't coming now, it means we get what is essentially a free holiday.

Yes we'll be taking her out for a slap up meal etc, but we've had assurances that she'd have rented that flat just for herself anyway (especially comforting when Anthony's car went bang on Thursday and we didn't think we'd be going at all.)

So I have a guidebook to all the places there are to go and a man who is happy to go to most of them (although he's not too keen on the Museum of East Asian Art). The only slight downside is that this will be the longest I've been away from t'internet for a while. I shall have to get used to getting my news from papers and the radio, and my entertainment from other things.

That really does make me sound like a sad junkie, I'm not. I'm just used to being able to pull up things as and when (like info on the Poll Tax after we had another political discussion in bed this morning - is it just us who only have discussions on religion and politics in bed?) and not having to wait for info.

So now for a few days of culture and shopping...well certainly shopping anyway!