I have just fished my iPod from the mug of distilled water wherein it has lain soaking for the last quarter of an hour. This was occasioned by an unscheduled encounter with an uncontrolled tub of honeyed yogurt, in the depths of my handbag.

Now to allow it to dry out. Very, very slowly.

I go back to work tomorrow, having been on holiday since Christmas Eve. I've managed to see friends in Manchester and Birmingham, have welcome visitors, and make progress on the house.
I even cut all the glass for a simple square lamp this afternoon. The innards are from a nasty Ikea lamp that got broken a few weeks ago. The glass is in red, orange ( Read more... )

I'm on a sofa in Oldham, next to a contentedly purring cat. In the next room my beloved is running a game for our friends. I can hear them laughing. There is home-made chocolate fudge. Life is good.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

On Sunday I committed utterly horrifying calendar crime. Helen and Richard were expecting us for dinner and we didn't show up, because I thought it was next week. Simon says this has not happened in the ten years we've been together. Auuuggggh. I'm still a bit discombobulated. We'll go round next week, with more apologies ( Read more... )

I'm in somewhat of a blue funk about a paper that I'm writing. It's on cybersecurity, a subject in which I have been dumped up to my neck since early July. Now has come the time to draw a line, accept that I can't know everything, and just write the damned report. It doesn't help that every manager, analyst and his/her dog keeps making helpful ( Read more... )

Off to Toronto on Saturday morning. I have Sunday in which I can sight-see, before four days of banking technoloarrgghy conference and having to be permanently 'on'.
Tourism recommendations?

I am ridiculously pleased with the blue and white horizontally striped cream jug, which I acquired from eBay for a surprisingly low sum. Also a blue and white butter dish.

There is a blue and white striped pudding basin calling to me. Those with long memories may remember a scaled-up version used, once upon a time, as a key component in a Cake ( Read more... )

I've been gardening this morning, planting out the cucumbers, and rigging a net of jute string between the eucalyptus and old house bricks, for the young plants to start climbing. Jute is so much nicer than the nasty green polypropylene stuff, and actually better, due to its innate non-slip nature. I also used it to lash together a tent of bamboo ( Read more... )

We're considering going back to Mongolia, either later in the year or next year. This time the Mongolia trip would be largely riding, and by not going with a top of the range travel company, it would cost significantly less money than our 2009 trip. (No need anymore for the mollycoddling.)

Or possibly Iceland again. Or somewhere newJust a thought ( Read more... )

forbinproject has been thoroughly converted to Wagner. We went to the Met live HD performance of Das Rheingold at the BFI on Saturday and he frothed enthusiastically all the way home. This on top of Janacek's Makropoulos Case at ENO a couple of weeks ago, qualifies him for his certificate in Advanced Opera ( Read more... )