February 10th: Lady Boz's Birthday

I kept on meaning to post some pictures of the last Red Hat event I went to and eventually I managed to do so. The Saturday before last was the birthday of Lady Boz, Mistress of Hattitude, a member of our chapter of Red Hat ladies. So some of went around to her house for a birthday party and we chatted and laughed and ate and all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Thank you Lady Bz for inviting us all. And may the year ahead be as good for you as you deserve. The top picture is us all together and the one below is the birthday lady herself.

From the Meditation Tip of the Day

Life is a constant flow and it never stops.
The experience of today is only valid for today...
tomorrow will be a new day where all has to be started again.

Dharma

From Deeshan

I am still awaiting another password from the new ISP. I telephoned them on Friday and was told that it was in the post. Now this to me sounded suspiciously like an adaptation of one of the Three Great Lies that are omnipresent in modern society but I'm willing to wait a couple more days before I moan at them again. {The three great lies are universally known, of course, as "No, you don't look fat in that"; "Yes, I will respect you in the morning"; and "The cheque is in the post".}

Other than that we've had a quiet time, mainly because we have a bout of "Man Flu" in the house and the Husband has been suffering....... vocally.......extensively.

Generally, though, life is uneventful.... oh, except for the fact that the vacuum cleaner burst into flames this morning. You don't have that everyday, thank goodness.

Now I need to mention things I've been doing while I've been away. Just over a week ago, Wednesday of last week to be precise, I decided to start tidying up my pots of herbs. The Oregano I trimmed back all the dead growth off the top and discovered on it a few baby plantlets appearing. The plant itself was just on one side of the pot so I added the plantlets as cuttings in the rest of the pot. The following day we had yet another heavy bout of snow (well, for England) followed by a freezing (literally) night. You can see what happened to the pots.

I am hoping that the snow acted as a blanket and protected the cuttings from the cold weather but at the moment I haven't the heart to check whether they have survived. If they have not then it's my fault for jumping the gun with the weather.

Well, I'd no idea that changing your ISP could be such an experience. Well it was.

I think part of the problem was that there were four parties in the transaction: myself; the old and the new ISPs and British Telecom (BT). I know little about the subject but it's my understanding that BT is responsible for virtually all the telephone lines in the UK and used by the general public. So, given that the type of Broadband service that I have is provided down BT's telephone lines means that when a final date for the service of the old ISP was sorted out then BT had to transfer the Broadband cabling to the new ISP. Well, something like that anyway. Anyway, the end result, given that as far as I could make out the three parties don't talk to each other properly, was that it took some time to sort out my new internet access. It's online now, with some difficulties that I am still trying to sort out with my new ISP.

Internet access may have been painful for me but it's nothing to the difficulty I am having setting up a new e-mail account. The new ISP sent a password by snail mail that is supposed to give me access to that part of their website so that I could set up a new e-mail account. Wonder of wonders their password didn't work. They are supposed to have sent me a new one, again via snail mail, as yet it hasn't arrived. I am currently contemplating (and experimenting) with an alternative option. I've not enjoyed not having access to an e-mail service. I've felyt quite lost and disorganised.

The bottom line is that I am back, sort of, and I hope to write soon to friends and family with an e-mail address that works.

Chelmsford and District Gardener's Association

An interesting evening at the Gardener's Association yesterday evening and I've decided to put here what I can remember, as a record for me for the future. Everyone else reading it - I hope you find it interesting.

The title of the talk was "Compost Heaps and Practical Gardening" and it was given by a gentleman called Tony Budgen, who described his career as being a Head Gardener of a big house not too far away. His talk was very much of the practical aspects of gardening (as a matter of fact he clearly loved the subject - he didn't stop talking about it all the time he was with us.)

The idea compost heap will be a minimum of 6ft by 3 ft square with two posts placed equidistant in the center. Fill the heap as follows: 2 inch layer of vegetation, 2 inches of soil then a dusting of lime. Repeat until the heap is 4 foot high. Then pull out the posts, which will give the heap enough ventilation. After 4 months turn the heap.

In fact, of course, most of us last night (including myself) have the plasic compost bins which are Dalek shaped. He said don't forget to add spadefuls of soil to this along with the vegetation. And don't use the spent soil from pots when you've repotted the plant (or it's died) instead, as this will have no goodness in it.

The square plastic compost bins are better than the Dalek shaped ones as then compost can be removed from the little door at the base while you are still adding stuff to the top. Do not use the bins with wire netting or equivalent around the sides as the wind will just dry out the mixture and most of it just will not compost.

Any vegetation can go into the compost heap with the exception of bindweed and couch grass (guess what is found in my garden). Also you can add shredded paper, coffee grounds and tea leaves. Not egg shells as they just don't break down.

Sulphate of ammonia does exactly the same job as the much more expensive compost maker mixtures you buy in garden centers.

The way to start off Hyacynth bulbs is to plant them in a pot, put them outside and cover their pot with an upside-down one large enough to cover the pot completely so that it touches the ground all around. Sufficient water for the bulbs will go through the holes in the covering pot, which will otherwise keep off excess water. There will be no need to bring this indoors at all until the bulbs germinate and the shoots appear. Then treat them as usual.

Any seed or bulb should always be planted 3 times its own depth.

Now (February) is clean up time for herbaceous plants, so that new shoots find it easy to come to the surface. Then feed the ground. Good feeds for this are: blood, fish and bone; pelleted chicken manure; or Growmore.

I walked this afternoon to Oaklands Park Museum. It's actually two museums in one: the Chelmsford (local) museum with displays covering the archaeology and natural and social history of the immediate area; and the Essex Regiment Museum. I must admit that I have never been in the latter as military history isn't really an interest of mine. The local museum, though I like to pop in every few weeks. In addition to the usual local things there is a room with a significant sized collection of 18th century drinking glasses which I always find fascinating. They also have 1 or 2 rooms where they have visiting exhibitions too, which I always try to see. I took the external shot of the building from one side. It's a bit early in the year for the flower beds to be full of flowers, however two of the beds were very interesting. Both were full of ornamental cabbages and have a real visual impact at this time of the year.

The sign in the town center. I'm not sure but I think I remember the words on the banner as "Many minds, one heart". (I'll check on that the next time I walk into the town.)

A busy time at the moment as I am preparing to change my ISP and Broadband service. The new one says that it will take them 15 days to get everything set up with my new service; my old ISP says that my account with them comes to an end as soon as the Migration Access Code transfers my account to the new company. I just hope that I don't have a gap in between but if I do disappear offline you will now understand why.

I have a Hotmail account that I use only for buying from eBay (my own ISP doesn't like the site and e-mails never travel between here and there or vice versa) and at the moment I am Forwarding to that account any e-mails I want to keep, just in case.

Hopefully moving to a new ISP will reduce, at least for a while, some of the spam I receive. I deleted 68 spam e-mails this morning alone. I know my Internet Security package is good at filtering them out but I still go through them before deleting them, as very occasionally something I want to keep ends up in the Spam folder.

I will let friends and family know my new email address as soon as I know it.

The Husband's attempts to lose weight have really worked and to date he has lost 4.5 stone (63 lbs) and is still aiming to lose some more. Most days he walks at least 10 miles. All his attempts really, really show and he looks so much better and so much healthier now.

Since the New Year he has also started morning exercises and today's pictures show part of this morning's session.

This Hebe has been flowering its socks off for weeks, despite us being in the middle of winter. Neither sun, frost, wind, rain, sleet or snow has stopped it being in full flower.

Waiting for Breakfast

I found out something about using the camera today. There is a slight timelag between pressing the button and the camera actually takes a picture. Now the timelag is only about 1-2 seconds but it is enough to make taking pictures of a cat as active as Nimrod the Mighty Hunter very difficult. The moment he moved into an attrective position I would press the button but by the time the camera actually took the picture he had moved. I deleted about 8 pictures like that. Also the minute I sat on the floor he came to investigate and sat too close to get other than a distorted picture. I'm certainly learning things about taking pictures.

Anyway, the pictures are of Nimrod and his sister Pickle outside the kitchen and waiting for their breakfast.

The Thinking Meme

I pinched this from Buffy. The answers are mine though and I found thinking of some of the answers very difficult.

1. If you had to choose one vice in exclusion of all others what would it be? The odd thing is that this is one that has really fallen by the wayside since I gave up work: READING. I read all through my childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Then I retired and suddenly I no longer seem to have much time to read the way that I have always done throughout my life. No longer do I have a 4 hour commute to and from work when I would read to pass the time (and spend an absolute fortune on books). Now I read only what I really, really want to and am willing to make time for.

2. If you could change one specific thing about the world what would it be? Goodness, this is a difficult one. What would I ban: Cruelty.....bigotry.........sports commentators.....Diana Ross's singing.......

3. Name the cartoon character you identify with the most. I've absolutely no idea. I always liked Popeye and I love spinach but I don't look anything like him .

4. If you could live one day in your life over again which one would it be? Perhaps my wedding day. Or there were days wanding through the countryside in Summer that still stick in my mind and I think back on and they still make me happy. I can remember a day visiting the gardens at Cotehele - absolute magic!

5. If you could go back in history and spend a day with one person who would it be? Leonardo Da Vinci - his questioning mind has always fascinated and inspired me.

6. What is the one thing you lost, sold or threw away that you wish you could have back? A large pile of magazines and pamphlets on machine knitting. They were turned out in a clearout before I retired. Now I want to dig out my knitting machine and they would have been so useful now. Aargh!

7. What is your one most important contribution to this world? I haven't had one. When I was working I used to think to myself that what I did made a contribution to my employer but thinking back I know I was wrong. Now I have no contribution to make to the world.

8. What is your one hidden talent that nearly no one knows about? Ah, weirdo alert ahead....... I used to be a Spiritualist medium who used to give clairvoyant readings to people. Then I married, moved to a new area of the country and the whole thing came to an end as life got very busy. Also I am a fully registered (and insured) Spiritual Healer.

9. What is your most cherished possession? I have a large crystal pendant in a silver Edwardian setting that I always wear when doing the activities in the answer to 8 above. I also wear it on occasions that are very important to me or if I feel I need extra protection.

10. What one person influenced your life the most when growing up? A difficult question for me. I'm not sure.

11. What one word describes you better than any other? Kind, I hope. I asked the Husband and he said he didn't know. Then he said Adolescent (Adele- escent)

Today

I sometimes feel it would be nice to take pictures every day of my life to give myself a real record of my life. So I think I am going to try this, I think, not as a New Year resolution (a bit late for that and I don't really believe in them anyway) but just as something new and, I hope, interesting in my life.

So here are two pictures of the garden as seen from the sitting room and taken 90 minutes apart. The forecast is for much more snow and ice over the next couple of days. What fun, I don't think.

My garden always looks unkempt during the winter because I work on the principle that if I leave all the old plant material in place until the Spring then the palnts get a little extra protection during frost and cold spells. (Well, that's my excuse anyway, .)

The last two days

Well, the last two days have been something else and Great Britain is still trying to recover from them.

Thursday saw the worst storm to hit the UK since 1990 with winds of between 75 and 95 miles per hour. At least 10 people died, buildings, fences and walls all over the country collapsed, as did thousands of trees., Air, road and rail travel was severely disrupted, especially as many, many lorries were just blown over by the gales. Power cuts were many, in our part of the country (East Anglia) at one stage 75,00 households were without electricity.

It was particularly horrible where we are although we personally were only slightly affected. We heard a clatter in the morning when the television arial was blown off the roof and was just hanging down in front of the window to the sitting room. The Husband quickly ran outside and disconnected the arial before the winds could blow it through the window - a real possibility given how strong the winds were. We also lost a few roof tiles, one of our fence panels on our back boundary blew out and two of our small conifers in the front garden, both about 3.5 feet high, are bent over. Fortunately we did not actually loose our electricity supply, although it was flickering on and off all day. The whole day was particularly unnerving, especially the winds and how helpless one feels in the face of uncontrollable nature.

The next day, Friday, the whole of Britain spent clearing some of the mess up, although I can imagine that some of the damage will take longer to clear up. The husband has managed to put back the loose fence panel, at least until we can replace it for one that isn't damaged. The water in the rivers is very, very high at the moment and the Husband came back from a walk in the afternoon to say that there is tree damage and trees down all over the place locally. I made the mistake of going out yesterday, not a good idea for me after any storm, and had an asthma attack. I'm feeling better now though.

The next task is to get the tv arial put back. The winds did not affect the satellite dish, though, so we still have access to tv channels.

When I first saw this photo in the paper last week I thought that I'd got the date wrong and it was actually 1st April. But no, it's a real story which can be found here.

But I keep on thinking about that picture, and so I decided to past it here.

Why do politicians come up with such crackpot ideas at times? Now is a case in point. The Labour party proposes that by 2013 the minimum age at which kids may leave secondary school should be increased from 16 years of age to 18. That means that every schoolchild will be forced to continue their education until they are 18.To say the least this proposal gives me pause for thought. Once again politicians seems to think that all 16-18 year olds are exactly alike, with the same academic abilities and ambitions to enter the university treadmill and come out the other end with a degree. They seem to forget that one of the wonders of humanity is how we are all different, with different skills and abilities, but together we form a community which benefits us all.

This proposal will do very little for those youngsters of an academic bent, who have the skills and motivation to thrive in a classroom, and who already leave school at 18 years of age with already developed ambition and motivation to go on to university. to study for a degree and to seek a future, perhaps in the professions.. But a huge proportion of kids in secondary school either not like that. They do not, and will not, thrive in an academic atmosphere. However on leaving school and entering a more adult environment where they will develop their own maturity as well as learning vocational skills and abilities that will be of benefit both to themselves and future employers. I know. I was one of them.

Even now I remember my schooldays with a haze of horror. I then did not have the maturity to see why I was at school and what was the benefit of education. All I wanted was to leave the school I hated as soon as I could, to get away from an atmosphere that at the time was totally antipathetic to me. I had no idea what I would do when I left school, the thought of having to support myself and to earn a living never even entered my mind. I just knew I wanted to get out. I was lucky. My father (who left school at 14 thinking exactly as I had done but as an adult took up further education himself and subsequently became a senior lecturer in an FE college) understood my point of view and so I left school at 16, once I had had my GCE “O” levels, then he pushed me into a job in the local County Council (he actually was in the room when I was interviewed for my first ever job). I started work there and over the next couple of years developed the maturity to see that I had the opportunity of a career, which I took up, moving to the civil service and ultimately into the profession that was right for me. But it took years and years of learning my own lessons in life to see what path I should take. I was just not the type to learn that during my schooldays.

Many, many school kids are the same and making them stay in a schoolroom for two more years after they are 16 will just be a complete waste of their time and will be a waste, ultimately, to the community and the country as a whole. They are likely just to feel demotivated and will not achieve anything valuable during the extra two years at school. They would be much better suited having to find a job or perhaps an apprenticeship. Supporting themselves would help them to discover their own maturity and the life that is right for them. Perhaps, then, there should not be unemployment benefit for kids, making them find a job to support themselves at 16 instead. They will soon grow up much more quickly and will become a benfit to us all.

Dear Daughters

There is a piece posted today on the Yarn Harlot's site which is priceless, incredibly funny and absolutely true. As a stepmother, my goodness, I recognise and remember this.

Knit Geek Questionnaire Meme

OK, I'm feeling totally apathetic at this time of the year and have no idea what to write. So I've nicked a Meme (whatever that is) from one of the Groups I belong to (it also came from here) and will put my own comments in it.

1. What's your worst habit relating to your knitting? I have the habit at times of losing interest in what I am knitting - I have many UFOs (UnFinished Objects) in a cupboard waiting for me to develop interest in them again.

2. In what specific ways does your knitting make you a better person? Not at all, it's just something I do.

3. How might you or your life be different if you were suddenly unable to knit? I would probably destroy the tv set - many the time I have continued watching an uninspiring tv programme because I have some knitting to occupy me.

4. If money were no object, what one yarn, and what one tool or gadget would you run out and buy first? Absolutely no idea.

5. What knitting technique or project type are you most afraid of (if any)? What, specifically, do you fear will happen when you try it? Fair Isle or Intarsia. The only time I tried Fair Isle I knit it at much too tight a tension so the finished garment looked wrong. I've not had the courage subsequently to try again.

6. Who is/are your knitting hero(es), and why? I don't think I have any. I grew up surrounded by women who knit and just considered it a normal activity, so I don't think there is such a thing as a knitting hero(ine).

7. Do you consider knitting, for you personally, a mostly social activity, or a mostly solitary activity? A solitary activity, or at least something I do at home with the Husband and family.

8. Is there a particular regional tradition in knitting that you feel strongly drawn toward (e.g., Fair Isle, Scandinavian, Celtic, Orenburg lace)? Any theories as to why it calls to you? Aran knitting. Stocking Stitch is boring to do for any length of time but give me a jumper with lots of cables to do and I am a happy bunny.

9. If you were a yarn, which yarn would you be? No idea, probably something in pure wool.

10. Some statistics:
(a) How many years have passed since you FIRST learned to knit? 50 years, I think - I was about 5 years old.
(b) How many total years have you been actively, regularly knitting (i.e., they don't have to have been in a row)? I suppose since I left school and started work at 16. Up to then I just fiddled about, making dolls clothes as a child and then the odd jumper when I reached adolescence. After I started work I began to knit during my spare time. I still do so.
(c) how many people have you taught to knit? No-one.
(d) Roughly what percentage of your FOs do you give away (to anyone besides yourself, i.e., including your immediate family) I suppose 1 in 3 of the sweaters I knit is for the Husband.

11. How often do you KIP (knit in public)? Never. I am aware that many knitters enjoy doing this but to my mind knitting is something one does because you enjoy doing it on your own or to finish something you want to wear. It is not to become an exhibitionist and display to others how skilled you are. (Having said that when I was commuting to work in London I used to knit on the train and the tube to relax myself and stop myself from going mad at the commute.)

12. If a genie granted you one hour to stitch-n-bitch with any one knitter, living or dead, who would you choose and why? I'm not sure, probably Kathleen Kinder, not because of handknitting but to become fascinated once again at machine knitting and to dust off my own machine and find somewhere in the house to put it up.

13. What aspect or task in knitting makes you most impatient? Doing a tension square (so I don't do one: fortunately I always knit to tension).

14. What is it about knitting that never lets you get bored with it? Cables, lace patterns or anything patterned engages my interest.

15. Describe how and where you most often do your knitting - where do you sit, what is going on around you, what tools do you use and how are they (dis)organized? All the accutrements of whatever I am working on sits beside my chair in the sitting room, so I can pick up my knitting quickly and easily whenever I chose. The work I am not actually working on is packed away in a cupboard, as is the bag with spare knitting needles, stitch holders and other knitting bits and pieces.

16. Which one person is the recipient of more of your knitting than any other? Myself, I suppose. I do knit for the Husband, though, and I made a blanket for my hairdresser's new baby last year.

17. What's the oddest thing about your knitting, or yourself as a knitter? Nothing. I was raised to consider knitting an ordinary, everyday activity - and that is how I've always treated it.

18. What do you see yourself knitting - if anything - twenty years from now? Woolly bed socks: we'll both be in our 70's by then and will probably be feeling the cold at night.

19. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could have only ONE SKEIN of yarn, which yarn would it be and what would you do with it? Depends where the island was situated and how cold it was: if warm a shawl for cool nights; if cold then some warm socks for nighttime.

20. If you were allowed to own only one knitting-related book, which would it be? (you'd be free to browse others, but you couldn't keep them) My knitting bible, that tells me anything I need to know and that I've had for years is "The Handknitter's Handbook" by Montse Stanley.

21. Is knitting the new yoga? Why or why not? Knitting is knitting and something one just does. Why make a fashionable fuss of it?

Give Away of the Day

There is a website I discovered yesterday called Giveaway of the Day . This works on the principle that every day a new piece of software will be featured which you can download entirely free of charge. Beware though - you can only download the software for free on the day that it is featured on the sidebar. You can still click through and download previous days' software - but you will have to pay the manufacturer's normal price. These programs are not shareware and will not time expire, provided you activate them within the time scale shown.

Yesterday, I downloaded the Sticky Password software which is certainly turning out to be useful. Obviously, however, one needs to use a bit of discrimination with this site as you don't want to load your computer with 365 pieces of software which you don't need but if you are selective you can find things that really help you.

4th January 2007

Today is the 4th January. The newspapers tell me this, as does the radio and my computer. However, here is a picture I took shortly at noon today of an iris in the flower bed at the end of the garden. I also took a picture of a Hebe in full flower for the second time since last summer, but the picture turned out to be too fuzzy to put here.

Temperatures are certainly mild for the beginning of January. Walking into town this morning I almost wished I wasn't wearing a coat. I've seen pictures of daffodills that came into flower in November. Global warming certainly seems to be upon us.

Happy New Year

Well, it's the last day of 2006 and the New Year is hoving into view. Of course it is, I've just got used to writing 2006 on cheques, etc and now I'll have to make myself remember to write 2007 instead.

Christmas wasn't bad at all although it was much quieter than originally expected. The family gathering on Christmas Eve was cancelled due to family illness, although I saw my mother a couple of days before that. Instead we went to see the Husband's sister and her family and his parents a couple of days after Christmas instead, when everyone was feeling a lot more relaxed, much better.

I think that I've made a rod for my own back as I gave ther Husband an iPod for Christmas. So I've been hardly able to get near the computer as he is having a wonderful time adding music from some of his huge library of CDs. Still, he's enjoying himself and I hope that the iPod soon becomes an everyday item to him.

I hope that all my friends had a wonderful Christmas.

Chrstmas is coming - and I'm running around like a blue***** fly

Like most woment at this time of the year I am incredibly busy at the moment preparing for the festive season to come. The whole thing will start tomorrow when I go to Wales to see my mother. Then Sunday, after all the usual frantic last minute shopping of vegetables and fruit etc, the Husband's family is coming to us for the day. We've just discovered last evening that more of them are coming than we originally thought. So in a few minutes we are off out for more food.

Christmas Day will be the four of us until mid-afternoon, after the Christmas meal, and then the Stepson will be off to his mother for a few days. I hope the Stepdaughter will stay the rest of the day with us but on Boxing Day she will probably be off to see some of her friends. The Husband has also invited all his family over here for New Years Eve but that hasn't been fully agreed yet. Some time between Chrstmas and the New Year I'll probably make another visit to Cardiff.

So, that is what we are up to and why I'm not around much at the moment. Probably most people are doing similar things this time of the year. That's why everyone I see in the town shopping looks so frantic.

Intimate Strangers

There is an absolutely fascinating article on the BBC website (here) talking about how many people you see everyday who you don't know or speak to but recognise and wonder about them. I have to admit that this piece really intrigued me as did the many comments left there, most of which endorsed the whole concept. I see people everyday, some I recognise, fewer I smile at and a couple I say "Hello" to, although I don't know their names or anything about them. Of my neighbours I would recognise two - both of whom I've chatted to when I've been working in my front garden or have been walking past their gardens when they were working in theirs. But I don't know their surnames and very little about either of them. Another neighbour I don't know at all.

The trouble is that we British are not that forthcoming, well especially those living and raised in the South of England anyway. We tend to be reserved and diffident people and talking to complete strangers is considered a real taboo over here. It would be like stepping out of your own National characteristic and my own innate shyness. I was struck by the piece of the person from Nottingham who did start to talk to someone, who then changed their routine so that they never met again.

I am really attracted by the idea of doing something like this. I just wished I had the courage.

Here is a qote from Thursday's Telegraph newspaper:-

US Puzzled by Princes' English
Princes William and Harry were subtitled when a recorded interview with them talking about the concert in memory of their mother was shown on American television because station officials thought viewers would not understand what they were saying.
CBS used subtitles when the princes were asked how people could get tickets. William says: 'They have to be very good and ask Santa nicely.' Harry interrupts: 'Or ring his mobile.'
William responds: 'Harry, shut up!' CBS said: 'They speak so quickly.'

I know I have made comments before about two Nations divided by a single language but both Princes speak received English and if British tv programmes and films are shown in the US without subtitles then I am sure that the lads could be understood.

Flight of the Hamsters.

If you want to waste a few minutes with a bit of fun here is the answer. Funny and daft.... so far I'v got to throw one hamster 90 feet. I am sure I can beat that though. Eventually. and with lots of practice. (grin)

Try it here: http://coolflashgames.free.fr/jouer.php?jeu=318

Christmas Decorations

All the Christmas decorations are up now at home. The Stepdaughter and her brother came over for the tradition of decorating the tree and the house on Sunday. I just sat back and let them get on with it as they really enjoy themselves doing it. The family tradition for the Christmas tree does not follow the elegant, "less is more" and single coloured theory. Instead we go for adding more and more decorations, that we've had since their childhood, and then when every branch and twig has something dangling from it then add lots and lots of tinsel (needless to say all that lot goes on after the three strands of lights). We used to add chocolate decorations in years past but gave up after we discovered that by Christmas Day they were all gone- the Stepson as a boy had an unerring ability to find them.

I wanted to take a photo of the tree but it just wasn't possible to get the impact: either I stood back far enough to get in the whole tree and you couldn't see the decorations other than a coloured blur or too close and it didn't look like a tree at all.

Buffy in her blog here has talked about setting up a new tradition. Instead of sending cards, a tradition that has become to some extent mechanical and without true meaning she plans to write a letter a day to all her family and friends. It sounds an excellent idea in many ways but as far as my personal family is concerned they would think I'd gone bonkers if I tried that. It's just not the way we think or act. But they know where I am and that I am there if I'm needed.

Pickle

I learnt something today. That it's not easy taking photos of cats. Pickle was sitting in a pool of sunlight in the sitting room, looking really relaxed. So I dug out my camera. However, as soon as I sat on the floor to take a picture she became intrigued and came over to find out what I was doing. So I ended up with a series of action shots which I hope give some idea of what she looks like.

Unfortunately I haven't any pictures of how interested she was with the Christmas tree we put up in the other corner of the room on Friday. Today the Stepdaughter and Stepson (now back from Cambridge for the Christmas holidays) are coming over to decorate the tree and the room. I hope to take pictures of that in due course.

Cambridge

I took some pictures of our trip around King's and Trinity Colleges. However the sun was already setting and so they were not as bright or as good as I would have liked but at least they give you an idea. The first picture, the one with the people on the bank of the River Cam is the Husband (in the hat), the Stepson (the tallest) and my sister-in-law, her husband and her youngest daughter.

I've had an interesting couple of days recently. Thursday the Husband and I went to London for the day. We started by going to St Thomas' Hospital for my eye clinic. This time they used a new piece of equipment on my eyes which scanned the back of my eye - wonderful because they didn't have to use eye drops to dilate my pupils which make it difficult to see for the rest of the day. From the hospital we popped up to Oxford Street where we braved the crowds Christmas shopping and just generally shopping. That road is always incredibly busy with people no matter what time of year or day. We soon tired of the crowds so after some lunch we walked the few years to Manchester Square to the Wallace Collection. The Husband had never visited it, despite being born a Londoner and I hadn't visited it for at least 20 years but the magic of the place remans. It's fascinating to realise that the building, which is crammed from floor to ceiling with paintings and art treasures of all kinds, was owned by one family which was responsible for putting the collection together. The only problem was that there was so much there you just couldn't take in everything. But then the idea of such a collection is that you go back to it time and again, each time discovering something you missed before. (It's a good thing admission there is free.)

Saturday we made another visit, this time to Cambridge to visit the Stepson, and we took the Husband's sister, brother-in-law and niece. The day was a really good one. They drove up from Whitstable to our place and then we all drove up together. As the city was built before cars were invented parking there is always totally impossible so we used the park and ride which was as efficient as ever. We met up with the Stepson who showed us his room and gave us a guided tour of his College (Pembroke College) including the College chapel, which was built by Wren before he started on St Pauls Cathedral in London. Then we went to Browns, the restaurant parents always take their undergraduate offspring to, to fill; them up. The meal was really good, serving a range of English dishes including their traditional and very famous Steak, Guiness and Mushroom pie. Then we took around the university areas of Cambridge, especially King's College and Trinity Colleges.

After we had said our goodbyes to the Stepson we returned to our home and we had a scratch meal together (fortunately I had made a pot of soup the day before so there was plenty for us all to eat). Then after a good chat John's sister and her family set off back to Whitstable.

Casino Royale

On Wednesday the Husband and I went to the cinema to see the new Bond, James Bond in action and I have to say that Daniel Craig didn't make a bad fist of it at all. With appointing a new Bond the film makers decided to start at the beginning of the series of Ian Fleming books. I haven't read this book in about 30 years but I have to say that the overall "shape" of the film was vaguely familiar, so I assume that the film bears some resemblance to the actual book. However, the character of "M" was played by Judi Dench, as she did in the Pierce Brosnan Bond films, which seems a little perverse to me.

Anyway the film was really quite good and really exciting at places. I am not a lover of violence although I've found with past Bond films that the fights and violence had an almost cartoon quality which made me not take it seriously. However with this film the level of violence seemed much higher and certainly had a much greater impact on me. I felt rather uncomfortable with the fights at times because of this. There were virtually none of the special spy equipment that was so important in the previous Bond films. Generally the film was played seriously with very few quips or puns.

I know that there has been a lot of fuss at giving Daniel Craig the role of Bond but in my opinion he did a very good job. I certainly wasn't worried that he is fair (rather than blond, despite what some commentators have said) or that he is only 5ft 11ins, rather than 6ft, his blue eyes at times have a real impact.

Generally the film was worth going to see and definitely took my mind off the fact that half my face was frozen following another visit to the dentist (one more to go!).

Teeth. Don't talk to me about teeth.

This morning I had almost finished drafting a paragraph for here about those people who wish that they live in a previous age but of those things that they would particularly miss - like up-to-date dentistry, giving as an example the fact that I had a toothache last week and the way that a dentist can help today that years ago ago they could not (i.e. X-rays, fillings rather than extractions and antibiotics for infections). However I didn't post the piece as we were going shopping and so I thought that I'd post it in the afternoon.

Then over lunch, carefully eating on the other side side of my mouth and there was a crunch. And I realised that a crown fitted only last month had come off. It cost me almost £300 and I had been assured that it would be there for at least 5 years. OK, I didn't lose it and Ihave an absolutely excellent dentist who uses the latest technology from Scandinavia (I think that the machine that produced both that crown and a bridge I also have came from Finland). He will sort out both problems, the crown tomorrow and two more appointments dealing with where the abscess is once all the antibiotics have had full effect. But the whole experience just reminds me of getting older and the fact that one's teeth reach a stage when they begin to disintegrate slowly and slowly. I just hope that false teeth are far away in the future. Somehow I am beginning to doubt it.

And until tomorrow I'll have to eat like a rabbit with my front teeth. SIGH.

This site is really enjoyable.

Why? Because....

1. The photos are from NASA
2. It's a good lesson in astrophysics
3. The music is by Eric Idle
4. It made me laugh.

Make sure your speakers are on for this.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

I make this quite frequently at home as it's both popular and delicious. It's also easy to make.

I kilo sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice
1 red onion, diced
1 tablespoon oil
salt and pepper
1-2 tablespoons curry powder, amount to your own taste
1.2 litres vegetable stock
1 400 gram tin butter beans

Heat the oil in a pan add the sweet potato, onion and some salt & pepper, stir well. Put the lid on the pan and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the curry powder, stir well and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the stock. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potato is cooked. Turn the heat out and add the tin of butter beans. Cool for a few minutes then bled/liquidise until the mixture is smooth. Check the seasoning.

Comments:
I find that if I make the soup the day before we want to eat it, cool it completely, put it in a bowl and in the fridge overnight that the flavours have a chance to mature and develop.

Adding the whole tin of butter beans makes the soup very thick. If you'd like something a bit thinner then drain the liquid and rinse the beans before adding them to the soup.

And I'm Back

Well, after the computer had been in a computer workshop for a week and a half it became clear that even if they got it running it would no longer do everything we want of it. So I bought a new one. And that's when the fun began.

Up to now any computer I've bought has been put together by the Stepson who is exceptionally good with computers, despite being a History graduate. He, of course, is currently at Cambridge so I had to try to put it all together on my own. He would probably have had it working in about 15 minutes. Faced with all the hardware and a tangle of wires and plugs and feeling very nervous I decided to aproach the problem like knitting an extremely complex Aran pattern, bit by bit. Slowly (OK then, very, very slowly) it all came together.

Then I had to go on to stage 2 of the process of getting the computer working - adding all the essential software as it came with just Windows and a few totally unnecessary free programmes. So I added the software (and hardware) for Broadband access, Internet Security, the printer's system, anti-spyware, Adobe reader, IE7, Webshots, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, iTunes and 27 already purchased audio books that were on the C drive of my old computer and needed to be re-downloaded. I'm sure there were other things I did yesterday but these are the things that really stuck in my memory.

Luckily all the e-mails that were sent to me while the old computer was off-line arrived once I had set the new one up, as they's all been sitting in a "pot" held by my ISP. There was over 1,300 of them, although a huge number of them were Spam or otherwise unnecessary. Is everyone drowning in Spam, as I am? Fortunately my Internet Security software has an Anti-Spam facility. It has a "learning facility" or something and the sooner it learns what is Spam the better.

It's odd though. At work I had internet access within a few months of it becoming promoted generally to the world. At home I've had a home computer with internet access for something like 10 years. But that isn't really a long time when you take into account my life-span generally. But I was staggered how much I missed having access to the internet. I look at many sites during the day as well as reading lots of e-mails and I missed having access to friends and family. Also not having access to Word became a problem as well. It's odd how computers and internet access has become significant to life generally, at least to that part of the world capable of affording it.

Anyway I hope that at least now I will have a relaible computer system after having one that played up quite regularly. Now life can return to an even keel, at least until some time in January when I will probably move to a new ISP.

My Computer is Dead

Tuesday of last week I wrote of my frustration at the way my computer was playing up. The following day I couldn't get it to do anything. It turned out that my Hard Disc had died. I've lost everything - all the software on the hard disc, documents on Word and Excel, e-mails I was planning to reply to, e-mail addresses, reminders of passwords, everything.

It took until Tuesday of this week for a new Hard Disc to come by Courier and be installed by one of the Stepdaufghter's boyfriends. Then I discovered that there were further problems and yesterday I took the computer to the workshop. I have no idea if the patient will survive or if I'll have to replace it. I'll let you all know in due course.

Oh, I'm writing this on a computer in the public library. Can't get used to its keyboard at all.

If anyone world like to write to remind me of their e-mail address I'd be very grateful - there is plenty of room left in my space in my ISP website for e-mails.

I have returned from another visit to Cardiff (I wonder if it would be cheaper to buy myself a train season ticket) and yesterday was, in effect the first "normal" day for the better part of a week. And it was good, a quiet day when life got back to normal and I did some cooking and other normal things, all went well. Today, however, has been different, a day of frustration after frustration. And most of it has been my fault.

Yesterday evening I was having some trouble with downloading an audio book and I decided to tidy up the computer system to make it neater and quicker. No problem with the anti-spyware software, I've used it lots and lots of times before. But then I decided to use the software for tidying up Registry keys etc. Then I went to bed. This morning turning on the computer and I got some error messages which just would not depart from the center of the screen. OK, I thought, I know how to deal with this, I've had it before when I've used the registry key cleaner, just have to insert the Microsoft Windows disc into the computer for a couple of seconds and all will be well again. Could I find it anywhere? No. I spent the morning looking for it. It's astounding how many discs one accumulates over the years so I took the opportunity to do a fair bit of "weeding" of those discs I no longer needed. It was during lunch that I suddenly realise that there was another way to sort this problem out: by restoring what the Registry software had removed. And it was sorted out in a matter of minutes.

Then there was the problem I had downloading that audiobook. After e-mailing the Help Desk for the audio book website (ww.audible.co.uk) I got an almost immediate response to say that my surmise that it was because I'd updated my computer to Internet Explorer 7: CopCar had mentioned that it was available and she found it good (see here) so I did it too. I managed to sort the problem out in a few moments once I knew what to do. And the books arrived into my iTunes. Success!

This afternoon I made the mistake of trying to move the Audible Download Manager to my F drive, failing horribly and then failing also to move it back to my C drive. So I've just sent a long e-mail to Audible's Help Desk, long because it all got very complex and I had to expalain just what I did. I am awaiting their response.

I've been sitting at this computer since 9.00am, with breaks for lunch and tea, and at the moment I'm fed up with the sight of it. So I'm turning the whole lot off for the evening and tomorrow I hope I can do some fun things on it as well. Oh, and sorting out the Audible thing too.

It's amazing to think how tough some plants are. Take this hardy fuscia for example. When we moved into this house 11 years ago the lady who sold it to us said that she would like the fuscia for her new garden. So when the Spring was upon us the Husband dug up its roots with a spade and mattock and carted what we thought was the entire plant around to her n a wheelbarrow. However, the following year I suddenly realised that there was a small twig with leaves and flowers growing there. I had thought of digging it out but what with one thing and another we just ignored it ... completely. Each year it grew a bit more and we ignored it No feeding, no watering, nothing. The only time I gave it a haircut was this Spring, when I did the other two hardy fucscias in the garden. And now it's a beautiful bush in full flower, some 3-4 feet high and the same diameter.

Isn't Nature wonderful at times.

It's odd the way that some foods act as a trigger for becoming a manic and overeating everything around them. The type of food varies from person to person but that particular item makes all willpower disappear immediately and diets come to an abrupt end. Some people find that eating just a crumb of cheese does this, for others it's chocolate or sweets. For me the fatal one is ..... Crisps. I don't know why but all I have to do is to eat just one solitary crisp and I become a manic, consuming not just all the crisps in that packet but also every other food I had previously given up while trying to lose weight.

I have, over the last few weeks lost almost a stone in weight and some inches from my body to boot. I still want to lose more and, hopefully, make a rather obvious stomach disappear. I am not eating much at all - 2 slices of toast for breakfast, homemade soup and some fruit salad midday and two (small) rolls filled with cold meat in the evening, with some fresh fruit for munchies if I'm hungry. Eating like this makes me feel healthy and the weight is shifting, slowly but it is shifting.

However, walking today through the local Tesco I still avoided the isle where the crisps were set out. Just looking at the huge range of colourful packets of them, whether Small, Medium or Large, made me think how ephemeral a diet can be. I swear that eating them acts like a compulsion to me, then I just have to eat all sorts of fattening foods, not just that day but the next day and the day after and the next .... I suppose it's a bit like an alcoholic afraid to have one drink, in case it starts him drinking too much again. So it's self- discipline for me, with the hope that yet more pounds and inches will disappear.

Two weeks

I notice that it's two weeks exactly since I last posted. Thinking back over the two weeks I realise that the first of the two weeks I seem to have spent a lot of time battling the weeds that have appeared in the garden since the drought came to an end. It's odd but despite spending quite some time outside it still seems in need of more attention. We have had a lot of rain over the last couple of days and the sooner I can get outside again the better.

The Friday before last (13th) was an interesting day as the Husband and I went up to London as we had tickets for a film premier. We started the day though with a trip to Tate Britain (the origial Tate) where we saw the Holbein in England exhibition. This was really good, and we both loved his portraits, especially the two of Erasmus and the only one of Henry VII definitely painted by Holbein. Then we noodled around the main galleries for about 30 minutes, got something to eat and then walked across to Piccadilly to see their current exhibition of Rodin sculptures. I've always loved Rodin's work and although The Husband wasn't originally very enthusiastic about visiting the exhibition he said that he enjoyed it as much as I did. Whet I found most fascinating was that in addition to his most well-known works - like the Kiss (two version of this), the Thinker (ditto) - outside in the courtyard of the RA were a reproduction of his Gates of Hell, made after his death but something on which he had worked various elements throughout his working life. It was incredibly imposing.

After this we went to the cinema. I've mentioned several times here of the fact that the Husband has been a film star(!) One of his friends and former colleagues from work has an absolute passion to become a film maker and started by making two small 3 minute long films, one this year and one last, each filmed on a sealed container of Straight 8 film that could not be edited at all. The Husband "starred" in both these films. The first film was called Earth to Earth, I am not sure if this will work but you may be able to see the film here. The second film was made in january/February this year and is called "Go, Got, Need". This has been successfully shown on a tv channel from Holland and can be seen here. Anyway, that's the background. Nick Scott the passionate film maker wanted to try and break into the film beusiness and with a lucky windfall (he won £5,000 on a £3 bet while playing internet poker) he has made one. The film is called "Breaker", 10-15 minutes long and last Friday was shown at the Curzon Soho cinema. He used professional actors for this one, so the Husband didn't have the opportunity for more acting. More about Nick's production company at http://www.thewinnersproductions.com/.

Then came the week just gone. I spent it either in the dentit's chair, waiting for my dentist to ring me or just waiting with trepidation for the problem to be sorted out. The latter was the worst. I had an absolute butcher for a dentist as a child and this has left me with a real terror of the profession. However I do have a very good dentist at the moment and so when a few days ago I lost a crown I went to see him. I had two options to sort out the problem: a new crown using the new wizzy technology he now uses and costing me almost £300 ; or to remove the tooth altogether which as I don't have many other teeth up there would cause me difficulty eating. After spending Monday and Tuesday waiting for the dreaded work my first appointment was first thing Wednesday morning. The next appointment should have been an hour and a half later (once the bleeding was under control) but I had a phone call to say that they had had a power cut and they would ring me when they could fit me in. So spent the day hovering, waiting for a call then finally came at 8.30 at night to say sorry and could I come in for two appointments on Friday instead. I said Yes, put down the phone and within 30 minutes the temporary dressing in my mouth dropped out. Thursday wasn't a good day for me, waiting.... Fridayand by the afternoon it was all over. And I felt like an overcooked piece of spaghetti.

Saturday (yesterday) was a visit to the in-laws in Whitstable, Kent. A good day.

Dogs vs Cats

Dog's Diary:

7 am - Oh boy! A walk! My favorite!
8 am - Oh boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9 am - Oh boy! The kids! My favorite!
Noon - Oh boy! The yard! My favorite!
2 pm - Oh boy! A car ride! My favorite!
3 pm - Oh boy! The kids! My favorite!
4 pm - Oh boy! Playing ball! My favorite!
6 pm - Oh boy! Welcome home Mom! My favorite!
7 pm - Oh boy! Welcome home Dad! My favorite!
8 pm - Oh boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9 pm - Oh boy! Tummy rubs on the couch! My favorite!
11 pm - Oh boy! Sleeping in my people's bed! My favorite!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cat's Diary:

Day 183 of my captivity...
My captors continued to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal.

The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from clawing the furniture.

Tomorrow I may eat another house plant.

Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded - must try this at the top of the stairs.

In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair - must try this on their bed.

Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in an attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear in their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm, not working according to plan.

There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the food. More important, I overheard that my confinement was due to my powers of inducing "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit.The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured. But I can wait; it is only a matter of time.

Many thanks for all the kind comments about my mother. Her health remains very poor at the moment, there seems to have been very little improvement since she went into the hospital and she seems likely to be in there for some time to come.

Anyway life is still going on, sort of, although the news in that front isn't good. The rest of us are all fine. The Stepson is back at university, having started his third year there. The Stepdaughter is very busy, studying yet more insurance exams and dealing with one of the plane crashes that has happened recently (she is in avation insurance). The Husband is fine, though he is starting to develop a real interest in Wagner's Operas, especially the Ring cycle. I'm not all that enthused - before I was married I had a boyfriend who used to take me to Covent Garden and this has left me with a dislike of all sorts of opera. Still, I normally just duck into another room when he is watching a DVD of a Wagnerian opera, so that works out fine.

The evening classes in curtain-making have been a disappointment as they have changed their structure and focus completely over how they were done last year. I am going to have to work out what I am going to do with all that fabric I bought before I broke my finger, so I'll let you know when I've reached a decision, which isn't yet as other things are filling my mind.

Sorry I'm not around much at the moment and when I am I'm more than a bit distracted. Basically my mother, aged 85, is far from well and we can't see a happy end to the situation. I had to make an emergency dash yesterday to the big University Hospital in Cardiff to see her. Basically two of her vertibrae have fused together, another one is broken badly and the doctors don't know why or how it has happened. And the drugs she takes for her arthritus don't seem to be working properly either, something else the medical profession doesn't understand yet. So she isn't eating because of the pain she is in - not a good thing now she has diabetes. She's in hosptial for an indefinite period of time for tests, bone scans and more tests

Please think a special thought for my brother who lives in Cardiff and takes the brunt of the pressure of the situation.

Chicken and Watercress Soup

Here is a recipe that is very popular with the Husband. It's also cheap and easy to make and adaptable as you can add other ingredients to the finished soup. I've thrown in a handful of frozen sweetcorn into the soup in the past and to the batch I made this week I added a leftover sweet potato, peeled and diced, and just simmered it in the soup until it was cooked - it made a really good addition to the chicken and the watercress.

Chicken and Watercress Soup

Stock
1 kg chicken wings
1 medium white onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 bay leaf

Soup
1 large potato, peeled and diced
the chickenmeat from the stock (excluding the bones and skin)
salt and pepper to taste
bunch or bag of watercress

To make the stock put the chicken wings in a pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil, then drain and rinse with fresh water to get rid of the excess fat. Then place the wings in a clean pot, cover with cold water again and add the other stock ingredients and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for an hour. Be sure to remove any fat that comes to the surface. Add a little extra water if the level falls below the bones.

Pass the stock though a sieve into another clean pot. Bring to the boil and add the diced potato. Simmer until the potato breaks down and thickens the soup (I cheat and use a potato masher when it's cooked).

While you are doing this pick the meat off the chicken wings, discarding the bones and skin. Add the chicken meat to the soup base and season with salt and pepper.

To serve chop up a few stalks of watercress and put them in the soup bowls and add the soup. Within seconds they are part of the soup. Delicious.

A Modern Fairy Tale

Once upon a time

in a land far away,

a beautiful, independent,

self-assured princess

happened upon a frog as she sat

contemplating ecological issues

on the shores of an unpolluted pond

in a verdant meadow near her castle.

The frog hopped into the princess' lap

and said: " Elegant Lady,

I was once a handsome prince,

until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.

One kiss from you, however,

and I will turn back

into the dapper, young prince that I am

and then, my sweet, we can marry

and set up housekeeping in your castle

with my mother,

where you can prepare my meals,

clean my clothes, bear my children,

and forever feel

grateful and happy doing so. "

That night,

as the princess dined sumptuously

on lightly sautéed frog legs

seasoned in a white wine

and onion cream sauce,

she chuckled and thought to herself:

I don't think so.

Grin. Found on the web and I don't know who write it. But it speaks to me a lot though as I almost married someone like this - until I took a look at his mother one day and realised that this was exactly what she had taught him to expect of a wife and what hell she would put me through. I got out and have never regretted it.

It's working again, I think

The computer seems to be working properly again. I have to admit that although the Stepdaughter promised to find a Rentageek to work on it before she could pin her mates down to a time and date the Stepson came back and insisted on working at it. I was a little dubious - let's face it he's reading History at Cambridge and his computer experience is all what he has picked upby trial and error as first a schoolboy and now a student. It took three days but he seems to have sorted it out and the computer now seems to be working properly.

I have one problem though. The reason why I wanted to move iTunes to a new hard Disc with greater capacity is because it contains lots of audio books and unabridged books by such as P D James, Ngaio Marsh and, one of my favourites, Ruth Dudley Edwards. Each book having several CDs. All the tracks that make up each disc and hence each audio book have transferred. However the playlists of each book did not transfer over. As a result for each disc of each book just the tracks that make up each disc show up on iTunes as numbered as Track 1, Track 2, etc with no identification of which disc they come from and what the book actually is. As each disc starts from Track 1, and I failed to add anything that identified each book, it means that I now have the major task of identifying each book and working out the sequence of tracks that make up each disc and the order of discs tat make up each book. I think it's going to take me ages. Oh well, I should have added proper identification in the first place.

A few days ago I made four attempts to answer CopCar's question without success and I don't know if that was because of my computer or Blogger itself. So here goes. CopCar asked "Either those Yorkies are smaller than I think of Yorkies being, or Nimrod is, indeed, a mighty hunter--and larger than I had in mind. I'll need to go back for another look at the photo of Nimrod with your hat. Are Yorkies noisy? " What I tried to say was this: I may have exaggerated Nimrod the Mighty Hunter's strength somewhat but he is tough. Also although I've not seen the neighbour's dogs yet from memory Yorkshire Terriers are quite little things. I saw here that on average they are about 6 ins tall and about 7 lbs in weight, although I am sure I have seen adult Yorkies that are smaller than that. Anyway Ce Sera sera.

I have several letters to write now the computer is working. So Buffy and Peter (my cousin) -expect notes from me in the next few days.

Well, I managed to post here yesterday although it took ages. So I'm back again today. All is well, other than the battle of the Hard Discs. Life is generally going on. The Husband and I plan to go up to London soon to do a museum or art gallery - we planned to go today but there is something wrong with the overhead lines of the trains at the moment and we decided not to risk it yet. We had to put up with the trains when we were commuting to work every day and the luxury now is that we don't have to unless we want to and know that things aren't too bad.

We now have new neighbours. They moved in just before the Bank Holiday and comprise a couple, some kids and two dogs. They are obviously busy at the moment getting the house sorted out but seem nice people. I do have one concern, though, that keeps creeping through my mind loke a fog since they arrived: their dogs... I haven't seen the dogs yet but understand that they are Yorkshire Terriers. All the Yorkies I have seen up to now have been quite small and every time I think of that I contemplate the skills of Nimrod the Mighty Hunter. His kills have in the past included rats and squirrels which are a fair size for a cat(he lets smaller live prey loose in the house but never larger creatures which he kills and leaves the bodies in the hall for us to find). I now have a fear that I'll wake up one morning to find a dead dog there. Now I know that this is quite an unreasonable fear - as far as I know Nim has made no attempt to go into the garden since it became the dogs' territory - but I just don't want us to have poor relations with our next door neighbours, not to mention that I like dogs as well as cats. Oh well, Ce sera sera.

Rentageek needed

Well I haven't thrown the computer out the window yet but it's been a close thing.

As I think I've said before, I wanted to transfer all the music, including iTunes, and photographs to a new hard disc to free up space on my Drive C. So I bought something called "My Book" from Amazon, an external Hard Drive which has 250 GB. I installed it without any problems last week and subsequently have spent hour upon hour upon hour ever since trying to transfer files to what has become my Drive F. I've tried everything, from using my iPod as a hard disc to transfer files over, reinstalling iTunes on the F Drive and even straightforwardly trying to drag folders from one drive to the next. Nothing has worked and I now seem to have links all over the place between the two drives. The end result is that the computer is now just working much slower than before, despite all the extra hard disc space, and I'm not getting anywhere.

I tried asking a question at Yahoo answers but the only reply received didn't help either. So out of sheer desperation I've sent out a cry for help this afternoon. My Stepdaughter has some of the best person and networking skills of anyone I have ever met. As a result she has a huge number of friends and acquaintances and so I wrote this afternoon to ask whether she knew anyone who could help me. She has focused in on one person and I am now waiting to hear when he can come around. In the meantime I am stuck with a computer going about the speed of a snail. Very frustrating!

I sincerely hope this goes through.

What a Week

This has been one of those weeks when all I've wanted to do was to hide in bed and pull the duvet over my head. Nothing seriously wrong, just a lot of niggles.

It all started on Sunday evening. I'd cooked a meal for the three of us (the Stepson is with us for the moment) of a chicken roast in the oven with batons of leeks and, when cooked, the flesh of the bird, the leeks and the juice from the chicken all mixed with some cooked tagliatelli - quick, easy and nothing one would think to hurt one. However while I was eating there was a crunch and one of my crowns came away, leaving a nasty hole and no existing molars on the upper left side of my mouth.

Monday I had an appointment at the glaucoma clinic at St Thomas' Hospital, on the banks of the Thames for a regular check-up. They checked my pressures and they were fine at 18, which was a relief because at an appoinment at my opticians a couple of months ago they were worried about my pressures - fortunately a false alarm. Then after the fields test they took a picture of the back of both eyes. To do this eye drops are used to dilate my pupils and then a sort of flash camera is used. The outcome of this, though, is that afterwards I can't see properly for at least 4 hours. In particular any sort of light is very difficult and I cannot focus to read anything other than the largest of print. The Husband had promised that he would come up and meet me after the hospital appointment to help me home. Unfortunately when I finished he wasn't there and when I rang he said that he had decided not to leave home. So I ended up wandering around central London, fortunately cloudy and no sun, for about 4 hours until I could see well enough to find my way home.

Tuesday was the trip to the dentist where I discovered that my very good dentist is on holiday. The new one there was very complementary about my regular one's skills (he called the crown that had come adrift a "minor miracle") and didn't want to do anything to the tooth in case my own dentist could repair it somehow. So the hole in my mouth continues. My new appointment is at the end of the month.

Wednesday I felt grumpy, and generally rested after the tiredness and tensions of the previous two days.

Thursday was nice as the Stepdaughter came around in the evening . The Husband made a paella which tasted nice and we all watched "Topsy Turvey" about the writing and first performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado".

This morning the digestion of both the Husband and myself is not working properly - presumably the paella. (The Stepdaughter has just phoned up and she is having problems too - almost definitely the paella.)

My Red Hats, Part 2

Here is Nimrod investigating the hat I bought from eBay. I took this and afterwards I wished that I had crouched down to get more to his level before taking the picture. However If I had done that he would probably have promptly left the hat and approached me so that I could make a fuss of him {grin}

My Red Hats, Part 1

Just over a week ago Buffy said here that she would like to see the Hats I now have to wear to Red Hat Society events. Well here they are. The picture at the top shows the hat I bought on eBay, after I exhumed an old Hotmail e-mail address and reRegistered. (The things I do for my interests!) The lower of the two pictures shows the hat I bought in Debenhams and wore to the gospel concert I went to the first week in July.

As you can see Nimrod decided to get involved in the action. I also took another picture of him with the second hat and I'll try to post that one too.

Good News

What I thought would be a difficult day turned out, in the end, to be a really rather good day. I spent a lot of it in hospital for yet another appointment with the consultant about my asthma. OK, I had to do loads of waiting, as usual for anyone attending a NHS hospital, but when I eventually saw the consultant he gave me some good news. My breath was stronger then before and it appear that the asthma is finally under control for the first time since I was diagnosed with it exactly two and a half years ago. Basically I've still got it, and will have it for the rest of my life, but I've learnt to manage it and can cope with it, at least for now. He has decided that I need not be one of his patients but to be treated by one of the asthma nurses at my GP's surgery - they will decide whether or not I need to go back to see the consultant again. Oh, and I am to try doing without one of the lots of medication and see how I get on.

As you can imagine I am really cock-a-hoop about this as it is the first indication that my health is really on the mend. Clearly I shall have to be careful at times, especially when it has been raining (fat chance at the moment!) or when certain pollens are around, but this is the first time I have had positive news about my asthma since it was first diagnosed.

Changing the subject somewhat why is it that waiting for a bus seems to take much, much longer than waiting for a train? It is an absolute nightmare trying to park at Broomfield Hospital. I have driven round and round before now trying to find a space - and when you do find one you have to pay a substantial amount to the privilege of doing so. So I decided to take the bus, which runs not too far from our house. It was a quick and easy journey and the total bus fare was only fractionally more than the car park fees, let alone the cost of runiing the car/fuel, etc. However waiting for the bus seemed to take forever, even though I have waited for much longer in railway stations for a train.

My Very Easy Gazpacho Recipe

I mentioned in the comments here that I was looking for a Gazpacho recipe for a nice chilled soup recipe in this hot weather. I found lots of recipes for it but decided in the end to devise one based on the major ingredients in most recipes. I didn't want all the faff of peeling loads of tomatoes and removing their seeds. So, I went for something simple and so here is a nice easy way of making Gazpacho:

I blended together until smooth a 500ml carton of Passata, a peeled cucumber, half a green pepper, a few spring onions and a handful of chives. Then I added some salt, freshly ground pepper a good slosh of Worcester Sauce and passed the Tabasco Sauce bottle over the mixture. Then I just poured the lot into a bowl and added a litre of tomato juice, mixed well and then put in the fridge to cool.

I had meant to add some garlic but just forgot -but it didn't need it. It is really nice and spicy and well worth doing again.

A Request to Everyone Reading this Blog

Last year, as I mentioned here, the Husband got together with some friends and made an amateur film. Basically they had a reel of film that couldn't be edited at all - everything had to be done once, so they had to get it right. first time. Anyway theirs, produced and directed by his friend Nick Scott is called "Earth to Earth" and was good enough both to be shown at Leicester Square and at last years Cannes film festival. Anyway now the film has the opportunity of appearing in a major film competition in America if it gets enough votes.

So I am writing to ask everyone to vote for it. To do so all you have to do is to click on the link http://www.slamdance.com/anarchy/, Register, get their e-mail with a password in and then vote for "Earth to Earth".

Incidentally it is possible to see the film. To do so you need Quick Time, which comes with iTunes. I've tried and it does work. All the actors are, of course, amateur and the two oriental gentlemen just happened to be around when they were filming it and got roped in. Nick also managed to borrow the telephones and the car close to the allotment where he was filming in South London on the coldest day of winter early in 2005. (The Husband is, of course, wearing a wig part of the time and certainly when holding up the trophy in the picture on the Slamdance website).

Also, if you could pass this request to any of your friends and ask them to vote also I would be very grateful.

Knitting

I've never given much thought to knitting. Let's face it there are only two stitches to learn - knit and purl and each is so easy to do they take only about 30 seconds to learn. Casting off is just a matter of passing one stitch over the other and casting on takes only very slightly longer to learn. I've been knitting since I was about 6 years old and the whole thing is just second nature to me. I have huge problems sitting in front of the tv without some knitting to do.

Having said all that there is one job connected with knitting that takes a little longer: picking up stitches. This is one task that takes me a little longer to do, necessarily to make sure that all is even and looks right. Picking up stitches evenly around the neck of a jersey is relatively easy and doesn't take too long, however the task I have been doing the last few days has taken a huge amount of time, concentration and frustration.

I have finished the five major pieces of the cardigan I have been working on. I then put it aside for a few weeks to gather my strength for the task ahead [grin]. This week I have taken it up again and started work. It has taken hours. The band goes up one side of the cardigan, round the fiddly bit from breastbone to neck, around the neck, round the other fiddly bit and down the other side of the cardigan. A total of 511 stitches to pick up, small stitches given the weight of the yarn (4 ply - don't let's go there again!). I was aware that I had to get it right as if the border was done hurriedly there was a risk that the finished cardigan would just look tatty. It took me ages to get it right. All that frantic counting, never easy on a circular needle which, of course, moves a lot (I'd never get all 511 stitches on a straight needle).

To make it easy and the stites regular throughout I broke the long bands up the front of the cardigan into smaller sections, with a set number of stitches to pick up in each, each section divided by safety pins (using the pins I use when sewing together pieces of knitted fabric - the sort with big plastic heads doesn't really work as they work out of the fabric too easily when you don't want them to). And on the end of the circular needle that I wasn't actually using to pick up stitches I threaded a ball of Blutak covered with cling film to stop the stitches sliding off.

I did it in the end, it took ages but it looks right. Now all I have to do is to knit the band, not a straightforward task as it takes frantic counting to work out exactly where to put the increases to make sure that the fiddly bits on the way to the neckline lie flat.

The Husband and I reek of garlic at the moment. After weeks of hot weather and high humidity I've been looking for cooling summer recipes - there is a limit to the amount of salads you can eat, day after day for weeks on end. So I went looking for a good cooling recipe that didn't take too much cooking and found one in Delia Smith's book on "Soups" that I tried on Thursday. Basically it is half a pint of natural unsweetened yoghurt put in a blender with two peeled and sliced cucumbers, 5 fl oz of soured cream and garlic cloves, blended until smooth and then seasoned, put in a tureen add 2 teaspoons of chopped mint stir and then chill until really cold and then serve.

Anyway, the blessed Delia always suggests too small portions of garlic - for example she suggests 1 clove in her Minestrone recipe when I find we need 5-6 cloves. So with this I used about 5 good sized cloves which proved far too much and so it's a good thing that we both ate it. However, the recipe is nice and refreshing in this hot weather and I'll certainly try it again only with slightly less garlic.

Oh, her recipe also suggests adding 2 tablespoons of lemon juice - not a good idea as it curdles the mixtrue, although it makes no difference to the taste.