So, this evening I managed to pull with a better technique. I felt much more in control and the rope didn't seem to be whizzing before my eyes at such a speed. I still wish that I had hands that were more gibbon-like in their ability to wrap themselves round things but at least I seem to have got the knack a bit better now. And next week I'm going ( Read more... )

I'm glad I don't have any long journeys to do at the moment. The trains are all packed solid with people trying to get where they need to go without flying and the poor souls stuck here or overseas are getting increasingly restless. Flights across the whole of Europe and down route are affected now - Read more... )

I'm in the middle of re-doing the two tubs full of alpines that sit on the patio outside the french windows, so my back aches at the moment. Digging out and trimming the plants, mixing up a new batch of soil + gravel, re-planting with an eye to contrast of leaf shape and colour, time of flowering, etc, has kept me happily involved for most of the ( Read more... )

Looking at the lemon, fig, and olive trees in the greenhouse, sitting there in their respective pots, I hope it's not much longer before the weather's warm enough that the little trees can be moved out to their summer positions. All three are making a lot of growth now - in fact the fig tree, tiny as it is, has something like 25 young fruit on it ( Read more... )

Smudge (new cat) is a very large cat, about twice the size of Tabbs. He's starting to settle down now, for which we're all thankful. However he seems obsessed with the kitchen taps and the sink. His favourite occupation is watching the water come out of the taps and then down the drain when the washing up is finished. Then, if we leave the kitchen ( Read more... )

The sofa and chairs in our sitting-room really have seen better days - they're still (just) comfortable but I do tend to blush for them when we have visitors. And Tabbs hasn't helped - one chair has a definite 'fringed' look to it. Anyway, after months of vacillation we have now taken the plunge and ordered some replacements. A big sofa, a small(er ( Read more... )

My fingers have decided that they will go along with my desire to learn to play the piano. Following a very helpful post on another site I've been taking a different approach to practising - and it seems to be working. This week I've been doing little and often and this afternoon I played right through the piece that had been driving me nuts a ( Read more... )

I've just picked a peck of peppers...now all I have to do is p..p..pickle them.

So, went round to see my brother this morning, to catch up on news and have a cup of tea. I took him a pot of my damson jam and he gave me...£100! Not that my jam isn't worth that, of course (!), but he had apparently recently bought a lottery scratch card and out of the blue found it was a winning one, and for £200 no less. Considerable amazement ( Read more... )

I've just been reading about a project to digitise old Royal Navy logbooks and those from all the lighthouses in order to provide (among other useful data) information on weather systems over the past 200 - 300 years: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2009/09 ( Read more... )