Baby it's cold outside....

I was just sitting here trying to warm up my hands and thought - this is silly! I'm wearing gloves, have a jumper on, am wearing my uggs and am snuggled under multiple blankets - why am I still cold? I put the heater on and then had a look at the weather forcast just in case...

This would be why:
The little x's on the clouds for this evening? That means sleet and / or expected snow. Nice.

In other news, I've managed to reach the 40k mark in Nanowrimo. This year has been a slog uphill all the way. Not so easy the fourth time around. Keep your fingers crossed I'll make it to the finish line! :s

Nano has begun.

9903 words written so far, so not a bad effort.

Four days ago actually. I'm nowhere near as psyched about it as I have been in the past. Probably because I'm working all the hours available to me, including Saturdays, and I'm just really, really tired.

I also peaked a tad too early in my preparation. I was rearing to write the story around the first week of October, and the fact that I had to wait a further three weeks to start dampened my ardor just a tad.

I'm thinking that this could even possibly be the first year I don't succeed. But then I know I'm damn stubborn, so I'll probably get there in the end. It might be just by the skin of my teeth...

There is one other rather cool thing I'm doing this year, which I'll have to rave about in another post 'cause I'm falling asleep right now and it rather requires enthusiasm to rave, but I must and will tell you all about my adventures with a speach-to-text software package I'm playing with. It's really saving my fingers.

Anyway, need to sleep. Will report back later.

G'night.

I feel like a two-year-old.

My mouth hurts. Ha, boy is that the understatement of the century.

Several weeks ago, as I reported here, I had a tooth extracted. At the time, the damn bugger didn't want to come out, it was happy where it was thank you very much. The poor dentist-lass was yanking at it for a good 15 minutes before it would even budge, and in the end, some bits of the roots broke off rather than leave their comfortable home.

The dentist couldn't remove the pieces, or perhaps didn't want to given I was already white and shaking all over, as there was too much blood etc in the way. She told me that the pieces would eventually erupt on their own, like any new tooth. I thought, fair enough, they must know what they're doing, I'll go along with that.

Idiot.

Well the first piece erupted successfully, although it spent a good five days cutting my tongue to ribbons before it would dislodge itself. Enamel - the stuff that coats your tooth - is the hardest substance in the body, and this was a very sharp, broken shard of enamel.

But the second shard would seem to be a lot bigger than the first and it has somehow managed to migrate under the skin to lie along the inside of my jaw in a prime position to get bumped every time I move my tongue. It has started to erupt and has got to the point of cutting up my tongue, but will go no further. It is making my mouth bleed daily, but it won't come out. It's been nine days now, and I am sick to death of it.

I can't eat, I can't talk, I can't swallow, I can't drink and I can't sleep on that side without causing myself excruciating pain and tasting copper.

If this is what a kid feels when her teeth come through, I can totally sympathise with and understand all the screaming. Please feel free to scream your head off kiddo, I wish I could, because I know it f***ing HURTS!

Edit to add: Not copper; Iron. Blood tastes like iron. I honestly don't know why I said it tasted like copper, except that that's the commonly held belief. I'm not common. It tastes like iron.

Cat and Printer

This is hilarious!

And so exactly how I relate to technology sometimes!

Butter for the King...

There is a guy at work called Jon, but I have it stuck in my head that his name is James, as that's his surname and also the name of one of my cousins and, lets face it, my memory resembles a swiss cheese. Unfortunately, I call him James to his face - regularly.

It's become a bit of a standing joke, and the poor guy is very nice about it. Today for the umpteeth time I did it again, and after yelling at myself and startling him I started reciting 'James James Morrison Morrison', which is the first line of a poem by A. A. Milne - of Winnie the Pooh fame - called Disobedience.

One of my other, older workmates was damn impressed with my referential knowledge and recited the rest of the poem for us. Thus encouraged, out of the unfathomable recesses of my mind, I then proceeded to recite my favourite Milne poem for his edification, and to general bemusement all round.

Since it's stuck in my head, here it is for you too. I always make a big show out of the 'Oh Deary Me!' bits so try to imagine them in my voice accompanied by lots of over-acting... :D

The King's Breakfast
by A. A. Milne

The King asked
The Queen, and
The Queen asked
The Dairymaid:
"Could we have some butter for
The Royal slice of bread?"
The Queen asked the Dairymaid,
The Dairymaid
Said, "Certainly,
I'll go and tell the cow
Now
Before she goes to bed."

The Dairymaid
She curtsied,
And went and told
The Alderney:
"Don't forget the butter for
The Royal slice of bread."
The Alderney
Said sleepily:
"You'd better tell
His Majesty
That many people nowadays
Like marmalade
Instead."

The Dairymaid
Said, "Fancy!"
And went to
Her Majesty.
She curtsied to the Queen, and
She turned a little red:
"Excuse me,
Your Majesty,
For taking of
The liberty,
But marmalade is tasty, if
It's very
Thickly
Spread."

The Queen said
"Oh!:
And went to
His Majesty:
"Talking of the butter for
The royal slice of bread,
Many people
Think that
Marmalade
Is nicer.
Would you like to try a little
Marmalade
Instead?"

The King said,
"Bother!"
And then he said,
"Oh, deary me!"
The King sobbed, "Oh, deary me!"
And went back to bed.
"Nobody,"
He whimpered,
"Could call me
A fussy man;
I only want
A little bit
Of butter for
My bread!"

The Queen said,
"There, there!"
And went to
The Dairymaid.
The Dairymaid
Said, "There, there!"
And went to the shed.
The cow said,
"There, there!
I didn't really
Mean it;
Here's milk for his porringer,
And butter for his bread."

The Queen took
The butter
And brought it to
His Majesty;
The King said,
"Butter, eh?"
And bounced out of bed.
"Nobody," he said,
As he kissed her
Tenderly,
"Nobody," he said,
As he slid down the banisters,
"Nobody,
My darling,
Could call me
A fussy man -
BUT
I do like a little bit of butter to my bread!"

One Month 'Till NaNo!

The count-down begins. Only 31 days until the month of madness recommences.

I really do love it.

I can't believe I've been doing this for four years already. I can't believe I didn't do it for the three years I knew it existed prior to 2007. I can't believe that after this November I'll have written stories with a collective word count of at least 250k. I can't believe I'll have finished four stories that could, given some help, be turned into real live novels!

But I do believe I'll have a damn good time doing it. To force yourself to be so intensively creative for such a short period of time is such an amazing experience. And to have written 50,000 words is such a mind-blowing achievement!

It is also totally insane. Last year I spent my walk to work talking out loud to myself recording bits of my story on an mp3 player - and seriously alarming the people I passed. No, I am not drunk, I'm just crazy! And in typing on my laptop to reach the 100k mark I completely stuffed both my wrists. I couldn't type anything for months and I was in constant pain. I have an ergonomic keyboard now - I learned that lesson, never fear.

But damn, it is worth it. I have a proof copy of the mess I wrote last year - An actual book with my (pen) name on it! That's really very cool. I also love the fact that I have managed to finish three novels. I've spent so many years saying 'one day', and never doing it - and now, it's done!

Come on November! I can't wait to see what you've got in store for me this year.

Eight-Ball or Blackball?

Some useless information for you!

There isn't much to do in Aber most nights of the week, so for some time I've been trying to get my work mates to join me in a couple of games of pool. This evening I finally succeeded - only, the game they were used to calling pool was not the game I call pool.

Now as far as I was aware, there were only three games you could play on a Billiards table: Billiards, Snooker and Pool.

Billiards and Snooker are the same game both here and at home.

Billiards is the game where you have two cue balls and a red ball and you score up to 12 points depending on whether you can get just the red ball in, or the red and your opponents ball in... I think. I never really understood Billiards, and I think I always thought that Billiards was actually Snooker, but when I think about it, I do know the difference.

Snooker is the game where you have one white cue ball, 15 red balls worth one point each, and six balls of different colours; those being yellow (worth 2 points), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7). You have to pocket a red ball first and then you can pocket a coloured ball and the coloured ball gets replaced after the score is recorded until all the red balls are done and then you pocket the coloured balls in order... or thereabouts. This was the game I learned to play with my friend Nick Burden back when I was 9 or so - he had a table in his back room, and was Brilliant at it.

The game of Pool however, is a completely different kettle of fish. There is not one, but two games played under the name of Pool: Eight-Ball, an American game which is what is known as Pool in most of the rest of the world, and Blackball, which is the English version of the same game.

No wonder I was confused. The rules are remarkably similar, but the table and the balls are not.

The game I know is the American game. It has a white cue ball, the black 8-ball (logically so called 'cause it has the number 8 on it!) and then seven striped and seven plain balls of various colours with numbers on them. You are assigned either the striped or plain balls, and win when you have first pocketed your seven balls and then successfully pocketed the black. I spent many enjoyable evenings with Amy, Marty, DB, Jase and others at the Norwood pool hall playing this - which I always called pool.

The English version of the game has a white cue ball, a black ball and seven red and seven yellow balls. The balls are slightly lighter and slightly smaller than their American cousins and the balls aren't numbered. The tables are also slightly smaller, and have smaller pockets - just larger than the balls - which are hard edged, rather than the softer ones we often see at home. I played this for the first time the other night at a farewell do - but I don't remember what we called it... the evening was sober for me, but not for my companions. I don't think the name came up actually... :D

From the discussions we had tonight, I believe that the rules are pretty much the same. Fouls, when you pocket the white ball or your opponents ball, or when you miss a shot, lead to a double shot for the other side seem to be the same. You still have to pocket all your balls and then the black to win and if you pocket the white after the black, you still lose. But as with any game, the 'House' rules also apply.

Anyway, all this was leading to me learning a few things and having a great evening. I taught the English guys how to play 8-ball pool, and then proceeded to get walloped for the first three games. I thankfully won my last two, thus saving myself from complete disgrace, but will have to pick up my game if I'm to have any hope of a reasonable reputation. Next week we're going to play Blackball and I expect to get even more soundly walloped... but them's the breaks. :)

GTHBA.

My first tooth...

Warning: This is a bit graphic and probably too much information.

Holy cow.

This morning I noticed that the bit of tenderness in my jaw that made eating not so fun had managed to get perceptively worse, so I thought - better get me to a dentist. Not that I wanted to go mind you, I hate every member of the profession just 'cause, but there are some things you just gotta do (Read: I had arrived at the point where the pain was not something I could will away).

I expected that there would be a wait and have been repeatedly told that getting into a dentist here was difficult. But no, the second practice I rang up said they had vacancies and that in fact they had a cancellation for this afternoon and would I like to take it? Damn.... Well, yes, I suppose I really should.

So I did...

They took x-rays to see what was going on.

Let me 'splain. Me and my teeth do not get along. I tell you, I have THE worst luck and THE worst teeth. I brush, I use mouthwash, but no. I have fillings in all of my molars and caps on many of the front ones. I had my first root-canal treatment at 17, my second at 21. My body doesn't seem to like calcium much.

Anyway, The x-ray revealed another possible two root-canals in the making: One completely hopeless tooth that probably couldn't be salvaged even with the root canal and another that had a cracked filling which could lead to a possible second root-canal.

EEEEEEEEK!

The lovely lady dentist gave me a choice; anti-biotics to calm the pain, then root canal on hopeless tooth with the possibility of collapse of the tooth (yes, that's happened too - I have a wisdom tooth somewhere in my mouth which they re-planted into the space another collapsed tooth had vacated) and at the cost of some 400 plus pounds, or, remove said hopeless tooth completely for the bargain price of 40 quid.

Well, I have no money. So the choice was painful but clear. Extract, excavate, uproot and discard. In other words: Remove The Tooth.

OUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH! I hate dentists... lovely people, but crap they hurt like hell!!!

So, I am now minus one tooth. I have survived my very first extraction. I am still on the anti-biotics though and I have to go back to have an assessment done on the other one and they didn't even look at the top row.

*whimper*.

One day, when I have money, I'll get a replacement denture or something. But in the meantime... I have a bleeding hole in my mouth. Literally!

OUCH!

Autumnmnmn

I know it's been here for a while, but it finally really feels like Autumn. So, because all the trees are reminding me of the fact around here:


To Autumn
by John Keats

SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Carmen Aber-Style

Interesting...

My first rehearsal with the Aber Choral Society was a study in contrasts. Granted this is only the second choir I've sung with since I became an adult but it's strange how quickly you become accustomed to a certain way of doing things.

Aber's choir has no-one younger than me, whereas at least half the Plym choir were Uni students. This changes the sound considerably, believe me. There was a lot more warbling than I was used to! Mind you, I didn't hear any really bung notes either, so that was a most definite plus. But I missed sharing subtle eye-rolls with people my own age at some of the endearing but daft statements some older of the constituents make. I had to really suppress a fit of the giggles at one stage and I would have loved to have shared a smile with someone.

And the way the sections were placed was different - we were spread out more like an orchestra, with Soprano's, Tenors, Bases and Alto's fanned around the conductor in that order rather than having the Sop's & Alto's at the front with the Tenors & Bases sitting behind like in Plym. I miss having the deeper sound behind me! I find I'm best at keeping myself in tune when I can hear the harmonies and counter-melodies. Something to keep me on my toes most definitely.

We also did no vocal warm-ups this evening, which I dearly missed not having sung for six months, but in place of the quiet pianist of yore who I always had to struggle to hear, tonight we had this wonderfully bombastic lady who thumped out the tune extremely proficiently and managed to be louder than the full-voiced choir. Generous applause was given to her from all at the end and deservedly so.

We are learning the concert arrangement of Carmen for performance in December. In English, which is a tad disappointing, as I'd like to learn the French, but still, all the tunes are very familiar. Actually, the one real problem with singing stuff you know well, is NOT singing the tune! I had to keep pulling myself back onto the Alto line as I found myself wandering into the Soprano's territory. Someone's also played a bit fast and lose with the lyrics which are a little ... odd. I really don't believe Bizet would approve of the line 'Buy one and Get one Free' appearing in his work. But there you go. It will certainly amuse the audience, if they can work out what we're singing. :P

Anyway, the music is still the same, and that is all that really matters. I shall enjoy my 12 week stint in this choir and cherish every moment that I get to be part of such an enjoyable activity. I am grinning now and shall be for some time to come.

I really am blessed, I know that, to have the ability to sing. It's so difficult to explain to someone who has not known it, but be it in an orchestra or a choir, participating in the massed effect of music lifts you up out of yourself. You become greater than the sum of your parts and it is a really wonderful feeling.

Wish I could share it with you. Love & Music - K.

Summer is officially over...

It is now getting dark before 8 pm and I've been wearing a light jumper for the past couple of days.

I have to admit though, summer here was pretty impressive. The first 'real' summer I've had in the UK. I was in T-shirts most of the time and even got my sandals and thongs out for part of it. Sun and more sun and even some heat.

So yes, it's getting cold and getting dark rather more quickly than I'm used to, but at least it was light and warm for a period of time. Remind me of that when it gets miserable, won't you?

Backblog: Singing All Day Long...

On the evening of the 13th of March 2010 I wrote:

Amazing day! We (Plymouth Choral Society) just had a vocal workshop. This means learn the song in the morning, perform it in the afternoon. I just got back and my throat is ... croaky. But what a day! We were singing in St Andrew's Minster, which has an awesome acoustic, and had a wonderful mezzo soloist. She sang among other things, Adele's laughing song from Die Fladermaus (Johann Strauss II) and Mimi's introduction from La Boheme (Puccini). Wonderful.

The choir sang some equally great stuff. From Opera we sang Verdi's Anvil Chorus and his Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, The Villages Chorus by Rossini, Handle's Chorus of the Enchanded Islanders, Bizet's Habanera (Carmen) and Dido's Lament and Chorus by Percell. This was intermixed with some sacred music; from Brahms, Ach, arme welt, From Mozart, Ave Verum Corpus, from Anerio 'Christus Factus est', from Palestrina 'Sicut Cervus', From Vitoria, 'O quam gloriosum', from Stravinsky 'Ave Maria' and a piece by Bruckner that I forgo to write down. None of which elicit any immediate triggers for most of you I know, but I assure you, if you heard them, you'd know them - well, most of them anyway.

It really was a divine day. I haven't felt as Euphoric as that since the last time I performed in a Tea Tree Gully Youth Orchestra concert. Makes me wish I had had the dedication to keep up with my Violin practice. Well, there is always choir here to look forward to, and it will start up again shortly, so expect more singing related posts soon!!

Click on a Joe or a Yoe?

On the way to Powis castle t'other day, R & H put on a Play School album to entertain A with. Oh my gosh - I remembered so many of the songs! I knew the voices - I knew the singers names for heaven's sake! So many memories from childhood...

Anyway, one, a very Australian song which needs no introduction, was sung by the singers using a lyric I was unfamiliar with. To whit; 'Yeo' rather than 'Joe'. Yeo, it was explained by our singer, is an English dialect word for female sheep, so it does make sense. But it threw me a bit.

I investigated a little. Not only is the Yeo/Joe bit debated, it can be bare bellied, or blue bellied or even a Ewe! And other lines of the piece also get chopped around.

Well, there is no known author, so changes to the words can't really be contradicted, but still, strange to find so many differences in a song I thought I knew backwards.

I learned stuff though. As an Aussie, you'd think I would have some idea of the meaning of the words of a song I sang regularly. But I had no idea that a snagger was a shearer who rushed his job and therefore left tufts, or snags, of wool behind. In actual fact, I always thought the word was swagger! :D You learn a new thing every day. See this good website for explanations of the first four verses or so.

Anyway, here are the lyrics with some of the additions that I found. Interesting.


Click Goes the Shears

Out on the board the old shearer stands
Grasping his shears in his long bony hands
Fixed is his gaze on a bare-bellied "joe"
Glory if he gets her, won't he make the ringer go

Chorus
Click go the shears boys, click, click, click
Wide is his blow and his hands move quick
The ringer looks around and is beaten by a blow
And curses the old snagger with the blue-bellied "joe" (a.k.a. bare-bellied Yeo)

In the middle of the floor in his cane-bottomed chair
Is the boss of the board, with eyes everywhere
Notes well each fleece as it comes to the screen
Paying strict attention if it's taken off clean

The colonial-experience man he is there, of course
With his shiny leggin's just got off his horse
Casting round his eye like a real connoisseur
Scented soap and brilliantine, and smelling like a whore (or smelling like a sewer, or a.k.a. Whistling the old tune "I'm the Perfect Lure")

The tar-boy is there awaiting in demand
With his blackened tar-pot and his tarry hand
Sees one old sheep with a cut upon its back
Here's what he's waiting for "Tar here Jack!"

Shearing is all over and we've all got our cheques
Roll up your swag for we're off on the tracks
The first pub we come to it's there we'll have a spree
And everyone that comes along it's, "Come and drink with me!"

Down by the bar the old shearer stands
Grasping his glass in his thin bony hands
Fixed is his gaze on a green-painted keg
Glory he'll get down on it ere he stirs a peg

There we leave him standing, shouting for all hands
Whilst all around him every shouter stands
His eyes are on the cask which is now lowering fast
He works hard he drinks hard and goes to hell at last

You take off the belly-wool clean out the crutch
Go up the neck for the rules they are such
You clean round the horns first shoulder go down
One blow up the back and you then turn around

Click, click, that's how the shears go
Click, click, so awfully quick
You pull out a sheep he'll give a kick
And still hear your shears going click, click, click

A question of pens...

Not that he reads this, but Happy Birthday M-Moose!

This post is all about Zebras - I swear!

I went shopping online today for a very important implement; A new pen for NaNo.

This can be no ordinary pen. It has to have ink that flows quickly and freely across the paper I most prefer using so I can write at the speed of my brain. It has to have a non-slip grip so that when my fingers start getting sweaty, with the stress of keeping up with my mind, I don’t loose the pen. The same grip has to be comfortable and slightly giving so I don’t end up with ridges or blisters on my fingers from the extended use I make of it. It has to have a large diameter so that when, in my panic to get my word count up, I grip too tightly I don’t give myself cramp. It also has to have enough ink to last me for at least 50,000 words. No mean feat I can tell you.

The search has been long. Over the years I have survived many inferior pens. When I was at school I liked Schafer pens, tapered and angular, but these actually gave me blisters somehow. After I had started writing regularly I spent years using uni-ball micro roller-ball pens, bog standard and relatively cheep, which were great for easy-flowing writing and weren’t too uncomfortable although the finger-ridges thing happened regularly. Only problem was the damn roller-ball point kept detaching itself with my vigorous use. I would always manage to break the pen well before it ran out of ink. I went through at least thirty before giving up. I tried Bic four coloured pens as these were slightly more chunky than the usual pen, hoping to overcome finger cramp, but they have no grip and my fingers just slid right off.

And then about five or six years ago I started using PaperMate’s four-coloured multi-pens. Really nicely chunky, a soft, non-slip grip, a lot of ink (four times as much!), comfortable... But it just didn’t flow as quickly as I wanted, and it’s standard nib-size (1.0 I think), is too thick for my preference. I like a fine line.

Well, they don’t sell PaperMate’s here, so last year in Plymouth I went looking for a substitute and discovered a Zebra brand four-colour pen. I had already fallen in love with their Tapli Clip pens as work-pens in Canberra (unfortunately TapliClip are now discontinued :S) so when I saw the four-colour ones, I grabbed the very last two in the WHSmith in Plymouth.

And right there, for me, heaven in pen form had been discovered. The nib size was perfect, the ink flowed beautifully, the grip was great and NaNo was a breeze – well, I notched up 100k words, so yes, it went well!

Unfortunately, I never saw the pens in ‘Smith again, although I looked routinely hoping to buy more. My current two are all but out of ink now, so I have been studiously looking for replacements. I couldn’t find them anywhere. I searched Plymouth, I searched London, I searched Melbourne over Christmas, I searched Aber, I searched Shrewsbury, I searched Birmingham: No Zebra four-colour chunky pens did I find. So I went online. I went to the UK Zebra website and the US Zebra website and even to some websites in Japan, Zebra’s home country, but they no longer make them.

*deep groan*

I was properly horrified. My favourite pen has been discontinued! Even worse, they haven’t (as yet) come up with a replacement for it! I am devastated. Why do these companies have to keep improving and re-inventing the wheel? Have they not heard of the adage ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’?

*sigh*

I discovered a sort-of substitute four-colour chunky pen from a company I have never heard of – Reynolds – which works ok, suffering from the same problem as the PaperMate pens being not-flowy enough and a bit too thick for me. And although they’re good enough for everyday writing, they’re not good enough to survive NaNo. Not as I do it these days at any rate.

So I went searching today for substitutes. I looked under ‘4-Colour’ and ‘Multi-pen’. I found bic's but steered well clear of them. Then I thankfully discovered a good website selling hundreds of different brands of pens. I found three four-colour pens that look like they might be chunky enough to be comfortable. Actually, there were only three four-colour pens on the site! Two Pilot pens – the Feed GP4 and the BegreeN Feed GP4 and something by a company called Tombow – their Reporter 4-Colour Pen. I thought I’d try out each, so I bought all three. They were dispatched almost immediately. I should get them in the next day or so.

And then of course this evening when I got home, I looked at the shell of my favourite pen and realised it wasn’t called a multi-pen or anything nearly as snazzy. It was called Clip-On. Just that. How very undescriptive.

So just on the very off chance that they might exist in some hereto-undiscovered corner of the universe, I went looking for the 'Clip-On'.

And guess what they have up on the WHSmith website at 10% off right now?

You guessed it, the Clip On! I bought six, which is all I can really justify at the ‘mo as at over 3 quid a pop, they’re not cheep. But they still exist!!! Happy Happy Joy Joy!

*Kat Happy Dance*

Of course, they are still discontinued, but ‘Smith have a surplus supply so yay for me! When I feel sufficiently extravagant, hopefully before WHSmith run out, I will buy some more.

But for the meantime, I’m very happy. I have discovered a supply of my favourite Zebras and they are on their way to me right now!

See, I told you this post was about Zebras! NaNo 2010, Here I Come!

Aunt Millie's Garden - Block 8.

Done and Dusted. This means I'm half-way through the blocks, and have completed one block of each of the colours that will be represented on the quilt top!

Block 8: Purple - I like the way the green leaves make an additional pattern inside the flowers, but it does make it rather a bit too green!



And here's a refresher- Click to enbigen!

The warm colours:



And the cool colours:



Yay! They are looking good, even if I do say so myself!

Core of my heart...

I have a lurgy. I have no energy. So a Poem it is...

It was T's Birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday T!) and I got homesick, so here is one for the home I miss. Apparently it was originally called 'Core of My Heart', hence the blog title, and also that the last line of the third stanza used to read 'And ferns the crimson soil' which I like much better - but here is the currently accepted version thereof:


My Country
by Dorothea Mackellar (1885 - 1968)

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die-
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold-
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land-
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand-
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

Aunt Millies Garden: Blocks 4, 5, 6 and 7

Aunt Millie's Garden progresses!

Block 4 in Orange: Very Cheerful!


Block 5 in Red: It took me a long time to accept the centre petals of these ones but I think they work.


Block 6 in Indigo:


Block 7 in Yellow: - Not too happy with the centres of these, but will have to change it later - I don't have my fabric stash with me!


And here are Blocks 1 through 6:


I am now working on Block 8 which is the first purple one, then I just have to do 9-16 and the borders of course... oi vay!

New Home: Aberystwyth, Wales, UK

Right, so I moved to Aberystwyth in May this year, four months ago. Yes, I've been slack. But anyway, Aber, as it is known locally, is located half-way up the West coast of Wales. Essentially a University town these days, it had its hay-day in the 1800s when it was a favoured sea-side resort for the upper class. The Georgian promenade is still an attraction but it is the Welsh who come here for their holidays now.

It is at the end of the train line and with roughly 12,000 inhabitants, not including the annual influx of 8000 uni students, it is a rather small place. The smallest I've lived so far in actual fact.

For all that, living here has been lovely. It's a very relaxed place. The weather has so far been great (I'm told to expect endless rain in Winter, but Summer was brilliant!), it's very easy to get around, with lots of interesting independent shops to browse and walking along the sea of an evening has been just perfect. Very easy to lose track of time in a place like this.

Really, how could I not love a country whose flag sports a dragon?!? And it is oh-so-easy to imagine that 'There be Dragons' in them thar hills!

Anyway, some pics for show and tell: 1. The view from my Attic, 2. Along the Bay, 3. The ruined Castle, 4. The Foreshore, 5. View of the town from the top of Constitution Hill.

Powis Castle

Ok, as promised, a start to the backlog. Well, this actually only occurred last weekend, so not so much backlog but at least it's keeping abreast of things!

So, this last weekend, I visited Powis Castle with R & H & A. Powis is located just outside the town of Welshpool, in Wales, near the English border. It dates from the Medieval period and has the most beautiful gardens I have ever been in. Absolutely humongous! Some 26 acres or so they say. I couldn't take any photos inside the castle itself, so you'll just have to be awed by the gardens. I was!

Finishing the Book...

Something else rather major I did in May was finish the final draft of my 2009 NaNoWriMo book. And sent it off, to get a real-life, hard copy thereof.

So damn exciting, and I'm so damn proud of myself! And I'm swearing too much again... shall stop now!

But WHOHOOOOO!!!!

... of course, the very first sentence I read contained a typo. My dragons don't die, they debate the philosophy of right and wrong. But them's the breaks! :D

Yoiks!

Time got away from me. It is now the end of August which means I've been in Aberystwyth, Wales for four months and haven't blogged about it once. I shall remedy that very shortly - I promise! Really!

It has been a very timeless four months actually and I can't process the fact that I've been here that long. The job is so endless - I do pretty much the exact same thing every day of the week - that it is really difficult to pin-point any markers that actually distinguish one week from another. Time is diffuse and relaxed and kinda endless. Nice really, but not very productive!

I have done stuff though.

I visited Nottingham and saw R & H on the weekend of the 29th of May. We went to Nottingham castle and saw jousting there, and I visited the caves under the city.

I went to see Shrewsbury and the Iron Bridge World Heritage Site with Pat and Alan on the 28th of June. We wandered around a few places, got lost and saw a Victorian era town.

And last weekend - the 21-22 August - I went to Birmingham and visited the Festival of Quilts, and had a major shopping spree.

I have also completed blocks 4 through 7 of Aunt Millies Garden, started knitting a winter shawl for myself, took up Mandala drawing again and will hopefully soon be singing with the local choir - the start again in September.

I will write further about all of these soon. I just wanted to make sure I wrote now, so I wouldn't forget again.

Sorry to have been so lax guys! I'll pick up the pace again asap.
Kat

A moment of levity...

Yes I know I haven't blogged for ages, but I've been busy. I'll get back to it soon.

In the meanwhile...

Huma's Hymn

Oh mighty Arkleseizure, thou gazed from high above.
And sneezed from out thy nostrils, a gift of bounteous love.
The universe around us emerged from thy nose.
Now we await with eager expectation, thy handkerchief, to bring us back to thee.

From The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy soundtrack, by Joby Talbot.

Oxford

R & H took me up to Oxford on the 17th. It was lovely, if rather imposing. I found it actually quite intimidating. Not sure I'd really like to study there, although I imagine if I did, I'd love it. It's another light and airy town like Bath but with a lot more gravitas somehow. There were some truly beautiful buildings and the attention to detail is amazing - the gargoyles themselves are a damn hoot! I enjoyed it, but perhaps would go back when we didn't have a little person around who had to be entertained. Any hoo, pics are of Christ College x 2, a replica of a Venetian bridge, inside the college of physicians and the library!

There is no 'R' in 'Bath'

Whence I went today. And a brilliant day it turned out to be. Beautiful weather, beautiful city, beautiful... well you get the picture.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself even after being woken up yet again by the ass of a person in the bed next door snoring like a train... anyway.

Bath is full of 'Bath Stone' which is white to begin with, hence the city is mostly a light yellowish colour. Very bright and airy.

I went on one of those bus sight-seeing tours before getting out and trotting around on foot. I saw the Royal Crescent and Royal Circus, went for a tour around the Jane Austen Centre and through the Roman Bath's (Acqua Sulis?) and went inside the Bath Cathedral.

I bought and ate some fudge which was remarkably light. It was ancient and amazing and beautiful and pretty and yes, I enjoyed it immensely.

Images in order of appearance are: The Upper Assembly Rooms, The Royal Crescent, Bath Cathedral, Inside the Roman Baths, and the outside of the Roman Baths and Pump Room

You'll think I'm crazy...

But I really enjoyed driving around England. Everyone has told me horror stories and say it's blood awful, but I think I have inherited dad's love of driving, 'cause I found it fun. It was certainly very zen.

Yesterday saw me driving from Exeter to London and back to drop off some stuff at my storage thing and I found the trip really easy. The roads are good, the services are fabulous (at least five different shops, always including a cafe. Mmmmm... coffee...), the other drivers are polite, the speed limits are not limiting and with a GPS unit, there was so little stress the nine hour trip was a breeze! I actually found driving through London easier than driving through Sydney because of the GPS taking all the stress out of navigating.

I took the M5/M4 route through Bristol and stopped off at Reading for a job interview on the way back (don't get your hopes up, I'm not too confident about that part), and I didn't get caught in a single traffic jam. I was hellishly lucky about that last bit I know, but all the same, the drive was a lot more pleasant than I was led to expect. Admittedly I have probably done a lot more driving than most of my friends here, what with all the countless trips between Melbourne-Adelaide and Canberra-Bendigo I've done, but still...

So, having spent a lot of time on the motorways yesterday, today I took to the back routes. I drove down to Torquay (Lovely, pretty little town that trades heavily on it's Agatha Christie connection, with a gorgeous Abbey) and spent a relaxing morning wandering around and having tea on the terrace by the water! :) I also went to Cockington, a model village nearby, and spent a lovely time wandering around the grounds there.

And then I wound my way up through Devon to the edge of Dartmoor, and somehow managed to find Castle Drogo.

That was fun.

I really didn't believe that there were as many narrow lanes around the place as I had been told, but I found, and spent hours driving on, a whole heap of them today. So narrow you can't open your car doors if you stopped and passing another car is an adventure. I had to do that several times and it was damn hairy! You can only do it at certain spots on the road, so I actually spent a fair amount of time going backwards so that I could reach said spot and let another car pass me. I'm so glad I spent so long driving a manual when I was younger, otherwise today would have been impossible!

Castle Drogo was interesting. The last real castle built in England, it was constructed between 1911 and 1930 I think, with a break for the war. Very stylised. An Englishman's ideal of what a castle should be I think. Luxury and comfort and central heating and grandeur and opulence (three, count them, 3 kitchens!). Not sure it was really worth the 8 quid entry price though. But I found and went and had an actual Devonshire tea, in Devonshire (my first in eight months of living here would you believe?) at the cafe there, so not a wasted trip by any means.

Now, I'm knackered. But yeah, I enjoyed driving in England. Go figure.

Freedom

I have almost left the building. I mean, Plymouth. Well, I've almost left the building in Plymouth.

What am I waffling about? Well, I am about to be homeless. My job contract ended last week and now my rental contract is up, so I am about to take off into the wide world and explore. I have a rental car, I have too much stuff as always, and I have nowhere I have to be and no one I have to please, so I'm going to float. Zen traveling. Well, almost. I have a date with a hostel in Exeter and a desire to see Bath before I might have to leave this country, so some time in the next week, I'll see those places.

But other than that - life is wide open. Scary. Fun.

ARHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I don't want to go back to Australia. But no-one here wants to employ me. This sucks!

Alice in Someplace Else

Saw 'Alice in Wonderland' last night. The title is misleading. It's not quite Alice in Wonderland - more like Alice through the looking glass but she didn't go through the glass, she went down the rabbit hole - all a bit confusing really. They mashed the stories together. Very Weird. But good on the whole. I saw it in 3D. It's a Tim Burton / Danny Elfman / Johnny Depp production, so very quirky and colourful and strange. A lovely adventure into escapism which was very welcome. Three and a half out of five for me.

Unemployment

Blerch!

The WWIP

The title of this post stands for The Writing Work-In-Progress. Ie, the current NaNoWriMo story. Which is called 'Coeurmorph I: Dragons of Death' by-the-way.

I decided that this year, I was going to complete my NaNo story. I've done three NaNo's so far and the end result has been three complete messes. This year, the mess is going to be sorted into a linea-storyline, with-complete-sentences, as-few-mistakes-as-possible, first draft.

I am determined to do this and to do so before the first of July.

This way I can get an actual bound copy of my draft, which as a winner of NaNo, I am entitled to. This is one very cool thing about doing NaNo, of which I have yet to take advantage.

In order to facilitate this achievement, I have persuaded the three young ladies who, along with myself, managed to complete NaNo in Plymouth, to join me in finishing their stories. We meet every couple of weekends and write and discuss problems and are going to exchange our (hopefully) finished masterpieces with each other so that we can also get some feedback before the actual publication.

Exchange is to occur at the end of March. Ie, less than four weeks away now.

I have only edited about a quater of the damn thing and that took me from January to now.

EEEEEEEK!

Of course, in writing this post right now, I am procrastinating. I'm brilliantly good at doing this. So, back to the story woman!

London and Chicargo.

The first a city, the second a musical!

I went up to London on Friday and spent the evening playing Agricola with Richard, Hillary and Helen. It was nice to say hi but we were all pretty pooped. Afterward I actually had a bit of a mini crisis; I couldn't for the life of me remember why I was in the UK and it was all rather overwhelming.

But then Saturday was a beautiful day and reminded me why I like this side of the earth so much.

I started the day by shopping around Camden Markets for stripy over-the-knee socks; an item of clothing I have found it difficult to purchase elsewhere. Oh, you can get over-the-knee socks, but not the incredibly dazzling ones you find in Camden. I got eight pairs :D.

Then I proceeded to have a lovely cuppa at my favourite tea-house (also in Camden Markets - in the Camden Lock Market out the back if you're looking) called YumChaa. This is a place where they have smelling pots of every tea variety they sell out on display so you can choose what you want to drink that day by sniffing it! Heaven! They also sell chocolate brownies that are to die for.

Jason joined me for brunch at Foggs. Of around-the-world-in-80-day's fame. Need I say more?

Then we went off to do tourist stuff - and decided to see and to climb St Paul's Cathedral. I hadn't been inside St Paul's before, it was under wraps the last time I was in London, but it is indeed beautiful. I couldn't take photos inside but the detail was literally awe inspiring - the point I guess. It was built by Christopher Wren after the London fires 300 years ago. 528 steps later you get an absolutely awe-inspiring biew of London too. Hoooowee!


Atferward, the requirement for energy and a place to rest my dead knee led us to a Paul's. Jason will stand testament that I drank the whole of a large hot chocolate in no time flat and the rhubarb flan was as incredible as I remembered... yaum!

We met up with Belinda Knott (incredibly, she stepped off the bus right in front of us whilst Jason was talking to her describing where we were - coincidence incomparable!), and went for a beer, found with difficulty due to the number of closed pubs. I couldn't tell you the name of the bar though, as I gulped my (very tasty) beer in order to get changed so that I could rush off to meet up with Helen and Hilary... who were late.

But I got a few good pictures of the Cambridge Theatre at the Seven Dials (a roundabout with a statue on it with seven dials and seven streets leading away from it). We were there to see the musical Chicargo, and after a hurried dinner at some italian restaurant which looked remarkably like a wagamamma inside, we did so.

It was magical! I am squirming right now as I type due to the exquisite enjoyment I derived from those incredible dancers and singers. The reason we went was to see Ruthie Henshall - a legend of the theatre, and she was absolutely fabulous as Roxy Hart. Not quite as young and naive as perhaps the role required, but her acting was truly superb. And the men.... ooooooh the men! Their hips! They could DANCE!

Wow.

And we topped the evening with cocktails at a hotel bar across from the theatre. I had a cosmopolitan, which was really delicious. Must remember to have that again some time.

So, yeah. A great day. And a good trip. All I need now is a job.

The Hobbit

I saw The Hobbit at the Theatre Royal last Wednesday evening. Before rocking up I wasn't sure if it was actually a play or a musical, but at only 19 quid, it hardly mattered.

It was a slow starter. The story is essentially a road trip so rather difficult to show this on stage. There was a lot of walking on, around and over the set by the actors. I found the same problem with the Grapes of Wrath. Journeying just isn't inherently interesting.

But it got better.

The actors finally found their stride about a third of the way through and no longer seemed to be just wandering around aimlessly. The spider was a real highlight and so was smaug. I especially enjoyed the riddle game between Bilbo and Gollum. Bilbo apparently played Sam in the Lord of the Rings musical. The scenery and props were really good (two tree-looking things on rotatable bases with stairs and doors), transforming from Hobbiton to Mirkwood to Laketown with ease and the cast clambered all over them, and even rope-swung between them. The barrel scene was also well played with the actors getting into the wine kegs and disappearing into apparently thin air. Very cool. I liked the archers too. Good effects.

The actors were very carefully chosen for height too. They were either over six foot or under five so there was a very discernible difference between the 'dwarfs' and Bilbo and the 'men'. It really enhanced the illusion that there were two different races. Although one of the actors who played a man was clearly a sub for the dwarfs.. with such a height difference, it was very obvious what he was intended to be. :D

But then Gandalf fluffed his lines a couple of times, some of the lighting techs were off in their timing and the staging had a few problems too, so although the actors were good, especially Thorin and Bilbo, it just didn't engage me as much as it possibly could have if the flaws hadn't been so noticeable.

My rating for that performance would have to be about 3.5 out of 5. I wanted to like it more than I did. Ah well, experience experienced.

Black Ice - Ouch!

I discovered what Black Ice looks like this morning. It masquerades deceptively as just normal ground but is incredibly slippery.

I took an inelegant tumble.

Only minor damage to one knee but still a very painful shock to the system and now my body is aching in strange places from muscles that were contorted in weird ways.

The thing is, my work trousers were undamaged, my thermals likewise excepting a few blood stains, but my epidermis is peppered with holes and currently leaking!

I don't get it.

On Reality

I just read this in a post by Lynn Flewelling and I couldn't not re-blog it! I must go and read the rest of the sonnets!

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun (Sonnet 130)
by William Shakespeare

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Sublime...

I've just got back from Choir practice and I'm floating on air...

We are currently rehearsing Shumann's Requiem Op 148, along with two Mendelssohn pieces, Song of the Lark and Hear My Prayer. The song is a perky little piece sung almost in rounds, and makes you happy just bopping along to it. The prayer is something most of the older generation in the choir recognise as a tune that their primary school teachers tortured them with - anyone know 'Oh for the wings of a dove'? - that's the prayer.

The Requiem though... I should really call this post sublime mess as that's what it sounds like most of the time. I bought a recording of it by the Berliner Philharmoniker, with Bernhard Klee and the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra so that I'd have something to practice to, and it really is sublime. The comparison with our choir is rather invidious to be sure, but every so often, as with the last piece we sang tonight - the Requiem from the Requiem - we manage to achieve something really magical.

I remember when I was in the TTG youth orchestra, playing along and getting so lost in the experience, I was no longer an individual, but an extension of this greater being that was the music itself. It's really hard to explain, but getting to that place in a creative endeavor where you are no longer one, but many - the whole being greater than the sum of its parts - is truly euphoric. And at the concert last year (which I promise to tell you about shortly dear friends!), and this evening, I touched again that place where person-hood disappears and only music remains. It was wonderful.

Peace to all & to all a good night!

Guilty Pleasures

As some of you may know, I'm an avid collector of DVDs. I love the feeling of escape into another world you get from watching a good movie or a film. From light and fluffy to deep and introspective, I've got a large and varied collection. I'm actually not at all good at NOT buying a DVD if I wander past any on sale. And when I start a series, if I enjoy them, I'll end up collecting and watching every episode, gorging on the series to completion if possible. I bought and watched the entire series of Gilmore Girls last year. Right now my guilty pleasure is Star Trek: Voyager. Such a feel good series as it is. I bought the first season last week and watched it over the weekend. I then went and bought season two, and am mid-way through that now. There are seven seasons, right now, they're on sale at Amazon! Oh dear...

Backblog: The better part of valour is discretion.

From Shakespeare; Henry IV, Part One, spoken by Falstaff.

On the 6th of January I wrote this:

SNOW!!!

I at first thought this morning that I would walk to work. It had been snowing pretty much all night and was continuing to do so plentifully.

It took me just the six steps from my front door to the footpath to decide otherwise. It was manageable but probably would have taken me twice as long to do and a 90 minute walk is not something I wanted to do. I caught the bus instead

This is my front gate:


This my front door:


And this is a tree on the way down into town:


Weeeheeeheee!

This was my backyard three days later:


SNOW!!!

Aunt Millie's Garden Blocks 2 and 3

I have finally made progress!

This is block two, completed over Christmas:


And this is block three, completed just this week:


Only 13 more to go!...
Oi Vey!

Hello, I'm Moby!

Pleased to meetcha!

Let me explain:

When the guy who sits next to me saw me this morning, he said "You're moby, aren't you?"

This took me aback. Initially I thought he said mopey, but then processed what he'd actually said and, since he's worked with me for four months now and knows my name's not moby, I intelligently said "What?"

"Moby. Moby Dick."

This statement, still illiciting confusion on my behalf, I shook my head.

"Moby Dick. You know, Sick."

Oh.

Yeah. Ok, so this rhyming slang thing is still not really what I'm used to. And since I am indeed 'Moby' I had to agree with him.

My first cold of the year, and it's a very visible one. I'm white and shaking and running a temperature. Oh joy.

But at least I can say I'm also a character from a classic novel so life isn't all bad! :)

Happy Australia Day!

Wish I could be there... Hugs!

This is the birthday report:

'How wonderful it is to do nothing all day long, and after having done so, to rest.'

Well, not quite nothing. I went into work and had a quiet, relaxing day there due to an error of mine on Monday which saw me take that day off rather than this, but it was a very easy day.

I went out for a getting-older-day meal with a friend last night to a new restaurant here called The Barbican Steakhouse. My meal consisted of fillet steak followed by a drunken chocolate brownie, which are two of my favourite things, and I was not allowed to pay either, which was very, very nice.

I received various emails, texts and even a couple of phone calls from my brothers, which absolutely made my day. It is always lovely to be remembered and to be told I am loved.

I received presents of useful stuff and useless stuff which is really all you'd want in terms of presents.

And now, I am doing one of the most enjoyable things in the world, and curling up in bed with a good book.

Thank you universe, for a pretty perfect birthday.

Thing are looking up again...

They always do come around. It's just hard to remember that in the middle!

Today was a good day.

When I left home, the sky was actually starting to lighten. The days are getting longer and soon I will see the sun come up. I am hanging out for that day!

I also got some good news. My base pass finally came through, which will allow me to roam around the place unescorted. It will also allow me to work in similar situations so might actually improve my job prospects.

And this evening, choir practice resumed. Who can be miserable in the middle of such amazing sound? We're doing Schumman's Requiem 148, which I had / have never heard before. From what we've sung so far, it has some really tricky bits and some really sublime parts to it. I'm going to really enjoy singing it.

So, yeah. A good day. Here's hoping that more like that come around soon.

Flat as a pancake

Sorry I haven't blogged lately. I've been really antsy. I learned, just prior to Christmas, (and what a wonderful Christmas present it was) that I probably wouldn't have a job come March.

My employer (Govt) is having to rationalise to pay for the bank bail out and so all external recruitment has been stopped and all agency contract will not be renewed. Which means me. It's nothing personal, I know they'd keep me if they could, but they can't.

I tried not to let this affect Christmas at home but I think it did. I wasn't as social as I could have been and I missed spending some quality time with my brothers which is a real shame. I just hope I didn't affect their enjoyment of the holiday - I'm so sorry if I did guys!

But ever since I got back, I've not been able to rouse enthusiasm for writing at all. We even had snow for a few days as I reported and I couldn't keep my joy in it alive for long enough to build a snowman which I have wanted to do for years.

I am down.

I hate job hunting and when you feel bad about yourself it's even harder. I've had all this positive feedback from work too - they like me and I like it here so it's doubly damning.

The job market really sucks in the UK right now too. I can guarantee I won't get another job in Plymouth so I'll have to move again.

It all just sucks lemons, so I'm grumpy and writing up-beat blogs is beyond me. Sorry guys. Hoping it will get better soon. Send me cyber hugs in the mean time please!

Yours in a puddle,
Kat

Plymothian Snow

It snowed this morning as I was walking to work. It snowed until about 9am, coating everything in a white brilliance... and then it rained. And unhappily, it didn't stop raining for long enough to dry out so now walking has become rather frighteningly interesting, and everyone is waddling. I almost fell over several times on the way home. A stiff-legged sliding gait is the order of the day. Very weird.

But back to the morning snow. It was amazing, not very heavy and it only managed to create a light coating before being rained on, but it was snow!

And I saw something I'd never seen before: Diamond snow!

You know snow is white of course - the frozen water reflects all light. Sometimes fluffy (this I have yet to see) and sometimes hard, it kind of floats down to the ground, slower than rain, and makes a shushing sound. Well it's ice of course, and in the right light, it sparkles. This morning walking along, when the car headlights caught it just right, it really looked like I was walking through a shower of silver glitter or a rain of tiny diamonds. It was extraordinarily beautiful.

Unfortunately, it was also Bloody Cold! I have just gone and bought myself enough thermal underwear to last the week out and a second hat, one with ear-flaps. Brrrr!

What are your new years resolutions?

Mine will be:

1. To finish writing one of my books this year.
2. To eat more vegetables... a thing I always forget to do.
3. To do yoga at least once a week. I love it and I keep forgetting this fact.
4. To see more of England.
5. To find a more permanent job, one I can get my teeth into.

Happy new years 2010 and good luck with whatever you desire to do this year.