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Monday, 9th January 2006
The little guy is going through a dinosaur phase at the moment. It used to be Thomas The Tank Engine but after spending a small fortune on several thousand miles of track and just about every engine in the TOMY range he’s abandoned that little money sucking fad and moved on to bigger things. And because I’m either a) a good Mother who appreciates the educational value of toys, or b) stupid, I’ve been searching high and low for model dinosaurs to fuel this hobby. And I’ve become quite a dino connoisseur in the process because I can spot a crap replica at a hundred paces. I’ve had to shop on-line to get the realistic figures from the Carnegie museum and the Natural History museum because the cheap, plastic ones they sell in Woolworth’s look like they’ve come out of a cracker. Today he lost his Megalosaurus in the supermarket. “It was hungry” apparently, so he put it down on one of the shelves. He couldn’t remember which shelf so I re-traced my steps (like shopping isn’t bad enough the first time round) but we couldn’t find it. I had to go to the customer service desk, leave my phone number and a detailed description of the missing dino and drag my distraught kid back to the car. At regular intervals throughout the day he kept asking “Have they phoned about my dinosaur yet?”. If they don’t call me tomorrow then I’m going to Woolworth’s to buy one of those cheap dinosaurs and to hell with accurate representations. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thursday, 5th January 2006
I've added a webcam. It's located in the Summerhouse in the left of the picture (the one on the right is the little guy's play house). If you see anything interesting take a screenshot and send it to me (this is particularly encouraged if you see someone trying to break into my house while I'm out).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tuesday, 3rd January 2006
I sat in my car for almost an hour watching this huge formation drift out to sea and dissipate over the English channel. Even with a bored 3 year old in the back I wouldn't move until it was no longer worthy of a photo. Bad Mother!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wednesday, 28th December 2005
We got some snow, only a centimetre and it was gone within a couple of hours but still - snow!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tuesday, 29th November 2005
I know, I know. 28 days later and I still haven’t got my shit together. Honestly, you’ve no idea how cold it is out here in this poxy chalet. Even with a heater I can barely manage to flex my fingers enough to type and the Winter here isn’t quite as balmy as the Californian one so don’t give me any more lip Mr Prop. So, what’s been happening? I finally got round to replacing the broken stereo in my car. It wasn’t actually broken per se, the buttons locked up and I couldn’t change the radio station and, worse still, I couldn’t de-activate that dreadful TP function that interrupts whatever you’re listening to every 10 minutes with traffic reports at 100 decibels. It’s amazing what a cup of McDonalds coffee can do to a perfectly good stereo. The cup holder in my car is directly above the radio console so I’m renouncing myself of all blame (obviously). What idiot would put a cup holder above a stereo anyway? The new stereo is shiny and silver and not matt black like the rest of the fascia so it’s only a matter of time before some skanky little teenager steals it. It stands out like a Belisha beacon. Photography. I really need to get back in the loop there but I think I need to find someone to go and shoot pictures with occasionally. A solo jaunt down to Brighton has been on the cards for months but it’s so easy to look at that dreary, grey sky outside and switch on the TV instead. If anyone knows a cure for apathy please let me know. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tuesday, 1st November 2005
We finally moved into the new house a few weeks ago but the previous owners didn't cancel their broadband service until the day they left so I'm on dial-up until their contract ceases and I can activate my own, hence minimum time spent on painfully slow computer. I seemed to have missed the transition from Summer to Autumn during the move and didn't take any autumnal photos this year because I was busy getting the house straight. I now have my PC in the Summerhouse, so called because it's only habitable in Summer and almost intolerable on this chilly November morning. Anyway, broadband permitting (and some sort of portable heater), things should be back to normal pretty soon.
Friday, 16th September 2005
I've placed an order with Wing Yip because I’ve noticed that my stomach feels less yucky when I eat Chinese and as happy as I am to live on take-aways forever I just can’t afford it so I’m going to try and cook my own. I’ve ordered a huge bag of Thai Jasmin rice and various noodles and sauces, along with a bottle of Sake to wash it all down because Bob raves about it and I want to know what all the fuss is about. I love Chinese food. I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail miserably at trying to re-create it but what the hell. Moving update : When I said in my previous entry that we’re moving house what I should’ve said is that we’re hoping to move. We accepted an offer almost 10 weeks ago but our buyer’s solicitor is a crock of shit and whenever our solicitor tries to phone him for a progress report he’s either “really busy at the moment” or he “hasn’t got the paperwork to hand” so I don’t actually know for sure that we’re going anywhere, I foolishly assumed that we were. The way the conveyancing system works in this country is a farce and so painfully drawn out that you’ll either give yourself an ulcer worrying about it or lose interest altogether. Infact, I absolved myself of interest on Monday and told BF to deal with it because I don’t care anymore. We’re constantly calling the solicitor for updates because they don’t offer any information without being prompted. It must be a real big inconvenience for them having to converse with a client who’s PAYING THEM to ensure that the biggest financial commitment they’ll ever make goes smoothly. Pricks. Yeah, the swearing cessation classes aren’t going too well ;-) Bite me. Scrubs is on – gotta run. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thursday 8th September 2005
God, I ought to be ashamed of myself for letting this website slip so far into oblivion that I actually forgot my ftp password. Anyway, we’re moving house, although that’s totally unrelated to my absence. We’re upping sticks to somewhere a little quieter with a bigger garden, a summerhouse, an established vegetable plot (how cool is that! Perhaps the fact that I’m getting excited about growing my own veg is a reflection of how fucking old I’m getting but if you’ve ever cooked a potato within an hour of digging it up you’ll know where I’m coming from.), a wooden playhouse for the little guy, a shed and a greenhouse. Basically, the garden sold the house, which is actually no bigger than the one we’re in now but we have plans to extend eventually, funds permitting. We’ve been here 5 years and it’s time for a change. My photography has virtually shriveled up lately, something I plan to rectify. I bumped into my old photography tutor in the supermarket a couple of weeks back and he asked if I’d be interested in signing up for evening class; an informal get together with weekly night shoots that invariably end up in the pub because of inclement weather. I like the idea of that. My stomach has been pissing me off for several months and despite a recent CT scan and Endoscopy nothing has showed up so far which makes me question whether I’m actually going crazy and the symptoms are psychosomatic. I don’t truly believe that but I get more despondent with every negative test result and I know there’s only so much investigating they can do before they diagnose IBS and send me packing with strict instructions to eat rice and chick peas for the rest of my life. I already know that I have a yeast intolerance and I have to avoid bread and cakes. Cakes! Can you imagine? The little guy turned 3 last month and he’s doing fine. He’s irritatingly curious and asks “Why?” to everything I say. “Get your shoes on we’re going down the shop”, “Why?”, “Because I need some milk”, “Why?”, “So I can have a cup of coffee”, “Why?”…..you get the idea. Well, that’s catch up. I’ll try not to leave it so long next time. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Friday 18th June 2005
God, jetlag sucks doesn’t it? I feel like my eyes have been blasted with a blow torch and my guts…well, let’s not even go there. Anyway, we’re back from Florida and we had a great time. Disney was plain exhausting; we bought a 7-day park hopper ticket and totally maxed it out and if I never see Mickey Mouse again I’ll be one very happy lady. I’ve decided though that America gets more paranoid and slightly weirder each time I visit. To get into the country you have to queue for at least 2 hours, go through numerous baggage security checks, have a mugshot taken at immigration and give a fingerprint sample. Florida is particularly strict with their smoking laws too and whilst they’re happy to sell you cigarettes at virtually every outlet they’re not forthcoming in providing places to smoke them. They confiscated lighters at immigration due to some bizarre notion that they could be used as some sort of terrorist device. They don’t let you fill up with Gas unless they’re holding your credit card first which basically means you have to queue twice (over here we just fill up then go into the shop and pay). They have way too many TV commercials selling fitness products yet every other restaurant sells burgers and fries and trying to find a healthy meal is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It’s bizarre. The beach part of the holiday was nice, as I knew it would be. We had to ride out tropical storm Arlene in our hotel for a couple of days but the thunder and lightning that came with it was amazing and you know how much I love bad weather so even that didn’t bother me. All in all a good time was had but I desperately need more caffeine so I’m out of here.
Sunday 15th May 2005
This is a photo of my Grandfather taken last March when I bought my 10D. I was keen to show him my new camera and I knew he'd be proud that I'd pursued a hobby that he was so passionate about but no longer had the strength to indulge in. My interest in photography can be attributed solely to him. I was raised by my Grandparents and I'd sneak into his little darkroom at every opportunity and stare in wonderment at all the beautiful pictures he created. He died yesterday. I'm going to miss him very, very much. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
