Did I ever tell you the one about the baby elephant?
I was in Reading one Sunday morning several years ago. I had parked the car in a multi story car park. I got out of the car and saw a man walking up the car park leading a baby elephant attached to a rope.
'Oh look' I said to my Sister who was with me - 'a baby elephant!'
'Oh yes' she replied!!!
Oh it was funny at the time - I guess you kind of had to be there!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The only Mini in the Village
Hello - I have been reprimanded by several people because I haven't updated by blog for ages, so here goes!
I am still doing 4 hours per day at work and to be honest it is enough - by the time I get home I am shattered. It is nice to know tht I still love my job and the people I work with though. I am getting up 15 minutes later than in Mudeford but it is a rush in the morning, especially with the locks on our front door - it is like getting out of bloody Fort Knox - I think I am going to have to start getting up 5 minutes earlier just to unlock the door. If there is ever a fire I think we are done for!! Talking of Fort Knox, we had to call out a locksmith just before Xmas because we couldn't unlock one of the locks and the locksmith was dead excited by the chubb lock that was stuck because he hasn't seen many of them before because he doesn't 'do' the prisons! The lock is called a Chubb Retainer and they are commonly found on cell doors!!
Kitty is now enormous and really quite heavy although not as big as the ginger cat I saw in our garden yesterday - it was bloody enormous - the size of a fox but fluffy. Not sure what sex it was but despite the fact that it is the first cat I have seen around here I quickly discounted it as father material for Kitty's kittens - he (surely it had to be a he) would pulverise her!
H is severely bunged up again so I am trying to improve his diet by stealth! He quite happily ate my chocolate and beetroot muffins this afternoon - I suppose anything tastes ok if it is mixed with enough cocoa and sugar! Whilst making them I had to summon up all my willpower not to retch a the mixture stank and I hate beetroot and I did think for an awful moment that they were going to come out pink and then there would have been no hiding the secret ingredient!
S is grounded at the moment - surpassed herself with her behaviour last weekend!
The house is coming on well; we had to have a new lock on the garage at the weekend because the other one got stuck - my poor little car was stuck in there for a couple of days :-( The single story roof has all been replaced now as have the rooflights so we are water tight at last which is nice. The insides where the rooflights have gone in have been plastered and just need painting now. All we need to do then is get our conservatory sorted out and get some flooring down downstairs; I am fed up with having to wear shoes around the house.
I went back to my pilates class for the first time last night; didn't feel like going but I have been saying that I will go back since Xmas and I didn't want to lose my place in the class. I did have some one to one sessions at home with the teacher before xmas but I still found it really hard last night and the teacher was hinting as to whether or not it was worth me going ;-( I will persevere until the end of this block of lessons. It was lovely to see the couple of people who started with me again and a bit like with work it seemed as if it was only yesterday that I saw them.
H has started attending the village pingpong club which is really sweet - he was dead chuffed with the new bat my Sister bought him for Xmas. It didn't help him much with his matches in the first week of the tournament they ar running, when he got soundly beaten by the two girls in his age group :-)
I saw another Mini in the village today - and I though I had the only Mini in the village! It wasn't half as nice as mine though - it was a lime green old Mr Bean style affair, so I still think I own the nicest Mini in the village.
I am still doing 4 hours per day at work and to be honest it is enough - by the time I get home I am shattered. It is nice to know tht I still love my job and the people I work with though. I am getting up 15 minutes later than in Mudeford but it is a rush in the morning, especially with the locks on our front door - it is like getting out of bloody Fort Knox - I think I am going to have to start getting up 5 minutes earlier just to unlock the door. If there is ever a fire I think we are done for!! Talking of Fort Knox, we had to call out a locksmith just before Xmas because we couldn't unlock one of the locks and the locksmith was dead excited by the chubb lock that was stuck because he hasn't seen many of them before because he doesn't 'do' the prisons! The lock is called a Chubb Retainer and they are commonly found on cell doors!!
Kitty is now enormous and really quite heavy although not as big as the ginger cat I saw in our garden yesterday - it was bloody enormous - the size of a fox but fluffy. Not sure what sex it was but despite the fact that it is the first cat I have seen around here I quickly discounted it as father material for Kitty's kittens - he (surely it had to be a he) would pulverise her!
H is severely bunged up again so I am trying to improve his diet by stealth! He quite happily ate my chocolate and beetroot muffins this afternoon - I suppose anything tastes ok if it is mixed with enough cocoa and sugar! Whilst making them I had to summon up all my willpower not to retch a the mixture stank and I hate beetroot and I did think for an awful moment that they were going to come out pink and then there would have been no hiding the secret ingredient!
S is grounded at the moment - surpassed herself with her behaviour last weekend!
The house is coming on well; we had to have a new lock on the garage at the weekend because the other one got stuck - my poor little car was stuck in there for a couple of days :-( The single story roof has all been replaced now as have the rooflights so we are water tight at last which is nice. The insides where the rooflights have gone in have been plastered and just need painting now. All we need to do then is get our conservatory sorted out and get some flooring down downstairs; I am fed up with having to wear shoes around the house.
I went back to my pilates class for the first time last night; didn't feel like going but I have been saying that I will go back since Xmas and I didn't want to lose my place in the class. I did have some one to one sessions at home with the teacher before xmas but I still found it really hard last night and the teacher was hinting as to whether or not it was worth me going ;-( I will persevere until the end of this block of lessons. It was lovely to see the couple of people who started with me again and a bit like with work it seemed as if it was only yesterday that I saw them.
H has started attending the village pingpong club which is really sweet - he was dead chuffed with the new bat my Sister bought him for Xmas. It didn't help him much with his matches in the first week of the tournament they ar running, when he got soundly beaten by the two girls in his age group :-)
I saw another Mini in the village today - and I though I had the only Mini in the village! It wasn't half as nice as mine though - it was a lime green old Mr Bean style affair, so I still think I own the nicest Mini in the village.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Spaced Out
Well I had my first day (well morning) back in the office yesterday and everyone made me feel really welcome - it was so nice to see everyone. We went for our Xmas meal in teh afternoon but it was a little unfortunate becasue I was taking some new painjkillers and they made me feel totally spaced out - quite a nice feeling really but not very sociable!! I was even struggling to cut up my food! The food was nice although I was left a little traumatised due to the fact that my turkey was served with boiled potatoes!
I had several offers of a lift home but I thought that the drugs would have worn off by the time I caught the 4:06 train! However on the train I was feeling even more spaced out and I was struggling to keep my eyes open - I was half expecting to end up in Weymouth!! I was also finding that the motion of the train was making me feel quite nauseous.
I got to Sway station and decided that I was on fit state to drive so thought I had better call a taxi - of course it had to be the day that I had forgotten my mobile!! There was no sign of life at the station so I walked to a pub and they rang a taxi for me, which took me home via H's childminder - but we had to stop on the way home for me to be sick - I kept on protesting that I was not pissed but I suspect the driver thought otherwise!!
I had several offers of a lift home but I thought that the drugs would have worn off by the time I caught the 4:06 train! However on the train I was feeling even more spaced out and I was struggling to keep my eyes open - I was half expecting to end up in Weymouth!! I was also finding that the motion of the train was making me feel quite nauseous.
I got to Sway station and decided that I was on fit state to drive so thought I had better call a taxi - of course it had to be the day that I had forgotten my mobile!! There was no sign of life at the station so I walked to a pub and they rang a taxi for me, which took me home via H's childminder - but we had to stop on the way home for me to be sick - I kept on protesting that I was not pissed but I suspect the driver thought otherwise!!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Cold November
Hello everyone. I think I need to come back to work because this house is so cold during the winter!! Nala is very funny and is providing me with lots of first aid opportunities - I am covered from head to toe in puncture marks - she seems to love climbing up my legs and jumping high and attaching herself to the first bit of flesh she finds!
I am spending a lot of time at the gym trying to rebuild my core strength; -1 hour in the gym, half an hour walking in the pool and then an hour of pilates when I get home, provided that the cat doesn't jump on me too much.
I have been busy making Christmas puds and cakes; I think I know why I love doing this - it is the smell of freshly grated nutmeg - absolutely divine - one of my top 10 things to smell before you die (unlike Nala's litter tray!)
The scaffolding is down on the main part of the house now but some more will be going up the first week of December so that the roofer can re roof the lower part of the roof and install the rooflights. I am looking forward to this because it is a bit depressing to have spent so much money on the house but to still need to have buckets around the house in various awkward spots when it rains.
Hayden was 11 yesterday so we went out for a curry - very nice but I still feel stuffed now - probably not helped by the fact that I went out for lunch yesterday as well!! I can't believe he is really that old now :-(
My Sister and Sian have been trying to pressgang me into having a birthday party at home in February but I'm not sure - I am kind of thinking that if I had one at home it would be better for it to be belated and held in the spring/summer so people may be able to spill out into the garden - and of course I don't like being bullied into anything!! Maybe I will get my Husband to take me away somewhere nice for a weekend instead.
The inside of the house is nearly finished now apart from flooring downstairs, on the stairs and on the landing upstairs. The toilet is also still unconnected in the main bathroom and our plumber has gone AWOL again, but I think the builder has it in hand - he has dug a big hole outside anyway!! Once the rooflights have been done we can also do the roof in the entrance hall - and then we are more or less done inside and we can concentrate on the conservatory.
I am seeing the GP tomorrow so hopefully he will agree my back to work plan (mid december) and also the osteopath so he can do something nice to me such as stick needles in my neck!! Nala is having her second lot of jabs later this weeks so she will officially be allowed to go outside but I think she is a bit small to go out by herself just yet - so she may have to be taken out on her lead :-)
I am spending a lot of time at the gym trying to rebuild my core strength; -1 hour in the gym, half an hour walking in the pool and then an hour of pilates when I get home, provided that the cat doesn't jump on me too much.
I have been busy making Christmas puds and cakes; I think I know why I love doing this - it is the smell of freshly grated nutmeg - absolutely divine - one of my top 10 things to smell before you die (unlike Nala's litter tray!)
The scaffolding is down on the main part of the house now but some more will be going up the first week of December so that the roofer can re roof the lower part of the roof and install the rooflights. I am looking forward to this because it is a bit depressing to have spent so much money on the house but to still need to have buckets around the house in various awkward spots when it rains.
Hayden was 11 yesterday so we went out for a curry - very nice but I still feel stuffed now - probably not helped by the fact that I went out for lunch yesterday as well!! I can't believe he is really that old now :-(
My Sister and Sian have been trying to pressgang me into having a birthday party at home in February but I'm not sure - I am kind of thinking that if I had one at home it would be better for it to be belated and held in the spring/summer so people may be able to spill out into the garden - and of course I don't like being bullied into anything!! Maybe I will get my Husband to take me away somewhere nice for a weekend instead.
The inside of the house is nearly finished now apart from flooring downstairs, on the stairs and on the landing upstairs. The toilet is also still unconnected in the main bathroom and our plumber has gone AWOL again, but I think the builder has it in hand - he has dug a big hole outside anyway!! Once the rooflights have been done we can also do the roof in the entrance hall - and then we are more or less done inside and we can concentrate on the conservatory.
I am seeing the GP tomorrow so hopefully he will agree my back to work plan (mid december) and also the osteopath so he can do something nice to me such as stick needles in my neck!! Nala is having her second lot of jabs later this weeks so she will officially be allowed to go outside but I think she is a bit small to go out by herself just yet - so she may have to be taken out on her lead :-)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Long Time No Blog
Sorry not to have added to this for ages - my excuse is that I couldn't find the charger for my camera poor excuse I know!
Anyway before my battery ran out I did take a few pictures of the progress on the house. http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee25/eatwell_album/ although I could probably do with taking some more now.
Progress seems a bit slow now, as we have been waiting for our new rooflights to arrive; it is a bit depressing when you think of all the money that we have spent and the fact that we have to have buckets around the house when it rains hard!!!
I found evidence of mice in one of the kitchen cupboards on Monday - I was too scared to tell Kev that I don't want to live in the countryside anymore, so I went out and bought a kitten instead - trouble is I think it would run a mile if it saw a mouse!!
It's ironic really because last Saturday evening we were lying in bed and Kev kept on saying that there was an animal in the bedroom and I told him he was going mad! In the end he got up and H's hamster had done a bit of a Houdini and was scuttling around our room. As it turned out this was a taste of things to come in the kitchen!
This is the puss.
Anyway before my battery ran out I did take a few pictures of the progress on the house. http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee25/eatwell_album/ although I could probably do with taking some more now.
Progress seems a bit slow now, as we have been waiting for our new rooflights to arrive; it is a bit depressing when you think of all the money that we have spent and the fact that we have to have buckets around the house when it rains hard!!!
I found evidence of mice in one of the kitchen cupboards on Monday - I was too scared to tell Kev that I don't want to live in the countryside anymore, so I went out and bought a kitten instead - trouble is I think it would run a mile if it saw a mouse!!
It's ironic really because last Saturday evening we were lying in bed and Kev kept on saying that there was an animal in the bedroom and I told him he was going mad! In the end he got up and H's hamster had done a bit of a Houdini and was scuttling around our room. As it turned out this was a taste of things to come in the kitchen!
This is the puss.
She is very cute but a bit of a time waster! She fell asleep lying on me yesterday evening much to the consternation of the kids who both wanted her!!
I had tickets to see Scouting for Girls last Saturday which I had to give up much to my disappointment as I didn't think I would be able to last - rather than waste them I made Kev take H!!
The new rooflights have now arrived which is good and there is a man on the roof which is even more promising.
I am feeling much stronger this week and had my first one to one pilates session yesterday, which was a little trying, since I try and avoid being the centre of attention at all times during classes - but this is simply not possible with a one to one and your core/neutral spine is the teacher's total focus; what a shame I've lost my core! Maybe I should advertise on Hantsnet for a new one!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Life, Death and Lollypops
Crikey can't believe it is so long since I posted. We're still moving in on the 27th; the kitchen is 99% finished and the tilers are starting tomorrow. When we went over last night (to drop more boxes off) two baths were in place (the whirlpool bath has a leak though) but no showers or new loos yet. The range has been unwrapped though and looks superb. I have also ordered a fantastically retro looking toaster but it has not yet arrived.
I went to order carpet for the upstairs bedrooms today but got a bit carried away I decided, when the bill came to £1600 for two rooms!! I think I will go in and choose something a bit cheaper tomorrow, after all it is only for bedrooms, and if I spend £1600 K will expect it to stay down for about the next 30 years!!
I picked H up from school today and he had that look on his face, as if he was about to burst into tears; I gave him a hug and he started..........my first instinct was to worry that he was being bullied. However it turned out the school had just held a memorial in the church for Mr Jim, the school lollypop man who died just before the summer holidays. Anyway apparently H was asked to hold Mr Jim's lollypop during the service, and it was all too much for him; poor little fella - he is so sensitive. I was just relieved he wasn't being bullied.
I am very disappointed with my gardening efforts this year - I have harvested one tomato, and I have been carefully watering what I thought were miniature aubergine plants, only to be informed that I have been nurturing weeds - how did that happen, when I grew the bloody things from seed? - and I thought they were growing so well!!
I have decided that I want to get a British shorthair kitten when we move - I have been cuddling Mr Fatty, the local specimen this afternoon - he is just so lovely and cuddly - almost teddy bear-like. I will try and take a picture of him to show you.
I am being very lazy and have arranged to have someone in to clean the oven next Friday - I just can't get down there - that's my excuse, and I am sticking to it!! I must admit I am also quite tempted to get someone in to clean once we have moved our stuff out too!!
In a way it will be sad to leave the beach house, but I am looking forward to having our own house again. Our landlord rang during the week to check when we were moving out, which I initially thought was a bit cheeky since the rent is paid until the 2nd - and then he said that we were very welcome to stay on a couple of weeks longer rent free if we wanted to - wow, how unbelievably kind of him - I was really touched.
I went to order carpet for the upstairs bedrooms today but got a bit carried away I decided, when the bill came to £1600 for two rooms!! I think I will go in and choose something a bit cheaper tomorrow, after all it is only for bedrooms, and if I spend £1600 K will expect it to stay down for about the next 30 years!!
I picked H up from school today and he had that look on his face, as if he was about to burst into tears; I gave him a hug and he started..........my first instinct was to worry that he was being bullied. However it turned out the school had just held a memorial in the church for Mr Jim, the school lollypop man who died just before the summer holidays. Anyway apparently H was asked to hold Mr Jim's lollypop during the service, and it was all too much for him; poor little fella - he is so sensitive. I was just relieved he wasn't being bullied.
I am very disappointed with my gardening efforts this year - I have harvested one tomato, and I have been carefully watering what I thought were miniature aubergine plants, only to be informed that I have been nurturing weeds - how did that happen, when I grew the bloody things from seed? - and I thought they were growing so well!!
I have decided that I want to get a British shorthair kitten when we move - I have been cuddling Mr Fatty, the local specimen this afternoon - he is just so lovely and cuddly - almost teddy bear-like. I will try and take a picture of him to show you.
I am being very lazy and have arranged to have someone in to clean the oven next Friday - I just can't get down there - that's my excuse, and I am sticking to it!! I must admit I am also quite tempted to get someone in to clean once we have moved our stuff out too!!
In a way it will be sad to leave the beach house, but I am looking forward to having our own house again. Our landlord rang during the week to check when we were moving out, which I initially thought was a bit cheeky since the rent is paid until the 2nd - and then he said that we were very welcome to stay on a couple of weeks longer rent free if we wanted to - wow, how unbelievably kind of him - I was really touched.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Work in Progress 2
Well I have gone blogger mad today; probably due to the fact that I overdid things on Saturday and I am in a lot of pain today - it's my own fault and I have totally negated the soothing affect of the acupuncture I had on Friday!!
Some updated photos from this morning.
http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee25/eatwell_album/WORK%20IN%20PROGRESS%202/
Things are starting to look a bit more civilised! The kids chose their own room colours - Hayden is colour blind - Sian doesn't really have an excuse!! I did however put my foot down when H asked if he could have his ceiling painted in squares of all the left over paint from the house!
The funny looking wall in our room is much nicer in real life - a kind of aubergine colour - quite spectacular.
Must go now and get back to packing for H - off on school trip for a week tomorrow.
Some updated photos from this morning.
http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee25/eatwell_album/WORK%20IN%20PROGRESS%202/
Things are starting to look a bit more civilised! The kids chose their own room colours - Hayden is colour blind - Sian doesn't really have an excuse!! I did however put my foot down when H asked if he could have his ceiling painted in squares of all the left over paint from the house!
The funny looking wall in our room is much nicer in real life - a kind of aubergine colour - quite spectacular.
Must go now and get back to packing for H - off on school trip for a week tomorrow.
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