Spookily enough... books I read in October...

Blessed Samhain (or happy Halloween).... early post tonight before I go light candles in the windows to keep away the spirits.  If you are going out trick or treating, stay safe.

So, to the book list...

1. Outcast Mine – Jamie Craig
2. Dirty Kiss – Rhys Ford (r)
3. Dirty Secret – Rhys Ford
4. My Relegence Rake – J.L. Langley.... I’d been caught up in the hype on this one, given that I also really like the first two in the series, but this just didn’t live up to it possibly because as readers we already knew of both the MC’s (though it was nice to see minor characters from the previous books getting more page room)  It felt more like a fill in arc to get from the first two books to the next two...

5. Magic Mansion – Jordan Castillo Price – October challenge book – I have been recommended this author on numerous occasions but just not got round to it.. This book wouldn’t have been my first choice as I don’t do reality TV or in fact stage magicians.... but the writing was superb and I really enjoyed it

6. Gilliflowers – Gillibran Brown – ah Gilli, I have such a soft spot for these books... I am really hoping he continues to turn his diaries into books, despite the fact his website says that he probably won’t.

7. Salad on the Side – Karenna Colcroft

8. Out of the Woods – Syd McKinley
9. Twice-Caught – Syd McKinley – This duo of fantasy books were well written and fun, but the world building could have done with a lot more work, luckily the main characters personalities carry the story really well.

10. Home Work – Kaje Harper
11. SUBlime (collected shorts) – Rachel Haimowitz – I am not a fan of short stories but breaking it down and showing individual scenes did work better for me

12. Lost & Found – Syd McKinley
13. Rock Stars & Size Queens – Sean Michael  - meh, I really don’t enjoy the Velvet Glove series, I do not know why I buy and read them because I could basically read the blurb and tell the predicable story in my head...

14. Your biggest FAN – Missy Welsh
15. Duck! – Kim Dare (r)
16. Magpie – Kim Dare
17. Concubine – Jill Knowles
18. The Druid Stone – Heidi Belleau
19. Galway Bound – Heidi Belleau

20. Wee Free Men – Terry Pratchett (r)
21. Hat full of Sky – Terry Pratchett (r)
22. Wintersmith – Terry Pratchett (r)
23. I shall wear midnight – Terry Pratchett (r) – comfort reading!

24. The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Creatures – Amy Lane
25. Super Sock Man – Amy Lane
26. How to Raise an Honest Rabbit – Amy Lane  - I bought all three of these in one go and read them one after another, very sweet yet amusing stories.... and free knitting patterns too – a friend of mine is getting married soon and I am knitting him the willy warmer from the back of the first book to throw when his wife throws her garter.... I’ll probably knit the gloves from the third book too... but the socks alas have cables, and I have a morbid fear of cables....

27. Peter and the Wolf – Fabian Black – this is a “scene” from a story, not a book!

28. Conduct Unbecoming – L.A. Witt

29. Andy Squared – Jennifer Lavoie – (YA – Goodreads GLBT group read).... Fairly light coming out story.  Spoilt for me by the fact that the actions of the female twin (Andrea) were in my mind over the top, she was a bully from the start, outed her own twin brother, forged his college application, was supremely controlling of her family and friends, yet was forgiven in the blink of an eye... my view, but if an author gives their characters qualities like these they should really have to work for redemption.

30. One small thing – M.J. O’Shea & Piper Vaughan (r)
31. One true thing – M.J. O’Shea & Piper Vaughan – I was disappointed with this.  I can do “insta-love” stories if they are sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal, but I really struggle in a contemporary.  Although this was Dusty’s story he kind of got swallowed by the twins and the debt issues (and just how did Asher get past the credit check for his lease? And why didn’t he notice the letters coming to the shared house in his name not his brothers?) the happy family resolution with his sister just seemed thrown in at the end as in “ta da!” happy ending!

32. Chase in Shadow – Amy Lane.... see continuing my quest to understand angst... really liked the story, and am coming to the conclusion angst is just putting your characters through the wringer emotionally and physically as frequently as you can to get to the happy ending ....

Ok, so it looks like I average about 30 books a month from the stats this year so far!  Thank goodness for Dreamspinner and their October give away as I am going on a book buying diet for the next month to save some pennies for festive presents....

An accident prone kind of day...

Or maybe things were just out to get me!

The day didn't get off to a good start, well being woken at 4.08 am by one of the dogs with their "urgent" bark is never a good sign.... so I was probably half way downstairs before I was actually fully awake, then, without turning the lights on ... which generally I don't at that time as increasing the light levels decreases the chances of me or any of the critters getting more sleep... I got the dogs out their night crates... which was fine till I got to Hopes, which has a sprung latch mechanism .... that I misjudged and trapped my little finger between it and the metal cage front... ouch!  There was some bouncing up and down whilst using creative language as I bustled the dogs out into the garden whilst telling them (and possibly me) to keep the volume down.....  little finger is a little bruised around the middle joint.....

I made it safely then through the morning to 7.45, when I got into the shower, forgetting that I'd had the bath mat up to clean the bath before bed the night before and hadn't checked that it had latched onto the now squeaky clean bath, queue my right leg twisting about as I was standing on it and trying to get the left leg over the edge of the bath without Hugo attacking my foot........ slightly jarred and bruised right knee where it hit the tap.....

I should be grateful I got to work safely by this point......

Anyway, as the day progressed it appeared that the stationary was in fact out to get me....... and my hands are, erm, decorated with plasters.... I have one on the fleshy bit at the bottom of the thumb on my left hand where a metal binder from a document bundle decided to slice into me whilst I was undoing it so I could get a document out to photocopy it....another is on the outside of my right hand where I managed to stab myself with the sharp pointy blade of the scissors I was using to get into the boxes containing the next file I was working one... and finally... and most painfully..... I have a tiny little paper cut on the tip of my right ring finger.... which hurts more than the rest put together and bled all over the desk........

My evening meal tonight was a vegetable bake, which involves lots of finely sliced vegetables in layers..... I elected to use the food processor to slice the veg... I thought using a knife might be tempting fate..... and having reclined on the sofa with my cup of calming herbal team I had hoped for a quite peaceful injury free end to the evening...... yeah, cos that didn't happen as Ivan managed to open the babygate into the hall whilst Hugo was still in there and as I scooted my chair backwards to leap after him and rescue, well one of them, I managed to send the cup flying from the table to the floor, where it shattered sending still rather too warm to be wearing it tea up my right leg.... and as I tried to herd the dogs out the way of the broken mug I managed to stand on one of the pieces......

I think that I shall declare today officially over and go hide in my nice soft comfy bed with my paperback copy of Tigerland which arrived this afternoon........ I should be safe from further injury...... well unless I move my feet in a way Gina and Hugo don't approve of that is.....

A question of timing....

Summer is officially over.... given that we changed time zones at 2 am this morning from British Summer Time back to Greenwich Mean Time.... or in other words for almost everyone else in the UK they got an extra hour in bed this morning...  I say almost everyone else, because I am pretty sure there will be other people who like me own critters who do not understand the concept of someone sneaking an extra hour into their night and mucking up the daily routine.

In an effort to combat what I knew would happen I stayed up till midnight last night and let the dogs out then before putting them to bed.... did they sleep in... did they hell.... 4.30 am (new time) and they are bouncing up and down in their crates making hopefully yipping noises.... I was unimpressed....... a quick nip out into the garden as opposed to a full walk and I put them back to bed again... which lasted all of another hour....at which point I gave in and got up to walk them.

I've had a running battle all afternoon with them in that every time I went near the fridge after about 4 pm they leapt at it hopefully expecting chicken wings to fly out into their gobs.... I held off till 5.30 pm - by which time the cats were also threatening mutiny.  We've had a repeat performance at bed time... when they've paced and glared at me from what they think should be the right time to go out and into their night crates... thing is I don't want to be up at stupid o'clock in the morning tomorrow.

It usually takes them a week to adjust to the time change......... and me about, oh, 5 months of doom and gloom as I walk them in the dark in a morning, go to work in the dark, come home in the dark and never see daylight aside from through a glass window... I am seriously considering applying to be re-classified as a creature that hibernates through the winter......

It's that time of the year......

When if I shut my eyes after about 8 pm it actually does sound like I am living in the middle of war zone.... I hasten to add that I'm not, I am still residing in my usual place of abode.... it's just the fly by night cheap firework shops that sell to everyone and anyone have opened again and have sold their wares to all and sundry....... who then persist in just letting them off where they feel....

It used to be that we only got fireworks on Guy Fawkes night (5th November), but after the millennium it appears that any festival or holiday is a reason to set them off.  Today we appear to have fireworks for Eid al-Adha (well, officially it was yesterday) as well as the usual hooligan element who like to just let fireworks off in the street.... before Christmas we will also have fireworks for Diwali (5 days starting 13th November) and then it all goes mad again at New Year..... I have to admit, as much as I love living in a large multi-cultural city (and in a part of it that is very nicely mixed) I could do without the fireworks at every celebration...... at grove meetings for Beltane and Samhain there are large bonfires, but not fireworks.

Ooooh, that was a close one, my windows rattled....

Luckily none of the hell critters that reside in my house (or possibly own me) could give a stuff about fireworks.... the dogs like to go out in the run and watch.... well, when they aren't sleeping through it.....Though Gretchen does sometimes like to bark back at the louder bangs in a territorial kind of way.....  The cats will watch from the window, though at present it's so cold here (really must sort out getting the boiler fixed) that they have taken up permanent residence in my duvet (yep, inside the cover, who says you need opposable thumbs to get the press-studs undone?)

I think I shall go lie down and watch the fireworks out the window.... I am still rather tired from yesterday... the arrangements at the place we were having our training were useless and had just put out coffee which I was tempted to drink but didn't... as a result I ended up with one glass of water to drink all day and then got stuck in traffic on the way home (90 minutes in a queue outside Glossop... not fun)...by the time I got home (after a really fun run down Snake Pass in the dark.... I love my car, it might have taken a while to climb to the top ... and annoyed the drivers behind me...  but knowing the road when I got to the top I could leave them all in the dust and sail down..... nope didn't break the speed limit once... I am a good girl after all *grin*)... I was shattered and had a stinking headache thanks to being a gnats dehydrated... It's taken most of today to get rid of the headache and re-float myself (though I am not actually a boat...)

More pre-exam mumbling....

There is really no avoiding the imminence of my finals..... not only is tomorrow my official "revision day"... which is going to be painfully boring as our very dry and un-humorous course leader runs through what we will need to revise but today in the post I received my official letter confirming my seat and giving me my candidate number........ I have a really, really strong desire to run away, or stick my fingers in my ears, shut my eyes and sing loudly whilst pretending this isn't happening...... ah yes, that river in Egypt again... denial....

I think one of the problems is that I've always fought off getting a professional qualification.... I've been doing the job, or a variation thereof, in the legal sector for over 15 years and managed rather nicely without it...... trouble is, once I have this, I have a title, I have essentially a career, I can tell people what I am (hell I can even swear oaths and sign passport photos) ...... what I'm hoping is that this doesn't mean that I have to be a grown up and all responsible?

I think that I've resisted the whole qualification route because to me it seems like that is it, that my career path is set, that my future is mapped out to retirement .... and you know what... that scares the hell out of me.  I want to go do other things, to explore, to have fun, to chuck it all in and try my hand at new things..... but a qualification says this is what I am, what I will be..... at least it does in my mind.

Last time around, when I failed to turn up for my finals for my chemistry degree, I already knew that I had no intention of doing anything with the degree I'd worked for and I didn't see the point of putting myself through the exams.... I wonder now how much of me was subconsciously thinking that if I sat those exams, got that qualification, my life would be mapped out by it.... at 22 it really didn't matter all that much, I had my life ahead of me, I could change directions.... but I'm nearly 40 now.... and it's not so easy to think that way.

I will sit the exams this time, after all I owe it to my employers, who have paid for the course, my boss, who I don't want to let down, my family, who have been so proud that I am finally getting a qualification for the work I am doing....... trouble is, I can't find it in myself to sit the exams because I want to, because I'm proud of what I have achieved....

I wonder if this says something about me.... I don't do things for myself.... I knit for friends and family, I write stories for other people, I will go help out when and where people need it.... I've been living in this house for nearly 4 years and aside from buy a few new books and replace the pieces of electrical equipment when I've blown them up, I've actually done nothing for myself, I had a list of things to do when I moved in but, hey, it's just me living here, so why bother.....

I think part of the trouble is, I like doing things for other people ......  okay so I am not so sure about the work related items.... that's more the fact that I find letting other people down is the hardest thing in the world to forgive myself for and if I do let someone down, be it in work or a friend, letting go of the guilt, even if it's only perceived by me, is really difficult..... doing something for myself though, all I can think, is why bother, it's not worth it, I'm not worth it.

Oh deary, deary me....

As we get closer to Samhain, and the doors between the worlds get thinner, the critters occasionally known as the devil dogs, who currently reside in my house and masquerade as being domestic pets, are turning back to their wild ways.

In the last few days there as been a steady increase in the number of sacrificial offerings to whatever demonic creature it is they are worshipping and I fear that very soon the joke about the fact I am the Mistress of the Void under the Kitchen Floor (I title bestowed upon me by friends who should know better that these things will sometimes come to pass) will become a strange reality as the Void opens and the spirits complete their corruption ..... which may in fact mean that Gretchen makes her long awaited bid for world domination.

On Monday there was the destruction of the Oven Glove...... which involved shredding the outer cover to pieces and then liberally spreading the white stuffing all over the floor

Yesterday, the sacrifice was the boxes containing two DVD's which were stealthily removed from the shelf in the lounge as I was reading, taken behind the sofa and ceremonial ripped to pieces, the sparkly DVD's themselves were then simply abandoned to lie unloved amongst the dust bunnies...

look closely and you may just see the horns
yep, right there, in front of her ears...

Which brings us to today........when obviously the demons were hungry and required sustenance, and being demons they required left overs and such like which could be obtained from knocking over the kitchen bin and liberally spreading the contents over the floor.... better still, I had last night disposed of those items in my freezer which were out of date (I meant to put the bin out this morning before work but forgot) and some of those things (including prawns) have vanished.... alas not into the demon but into the dogs...... which meant this evening was neither restful or pleasant.......

And there is still a week to go before Samhain itself..... Goddess help me!

For a Monday....

Today has been remarkably good!

Okay, so there was work, and really dreary drizzly horrible dark weather (I swear you'd have thought we'd moved so far north that we had no daylight at all today).... and the slight problem of me miscalculating my medication and running out of pain killers last night after the chemist shut and having to do without for 24 hours....(insert lecture from person of authority regarding carelessness, forward planning, organisation and looking after yourself)....thank goodness for mother's who can be persuaded to pick up your prescription and stick it through the letterbox so it's there for you when you get home!

That aside, the day started well when the characters for my NaNo project started talking to me over my cup of tea first thing and kept going all the way to work, where I made some quick notes so I didn't forget.... then I caught up with a friend on line.... who helps keep a certain level of sanity throughout my working day (probably to both our respective employers horror if they knew!)....there was some chair dancing as I hummed along to the MP3 player (which was heavy on the Florence & the Machine this morning)...and my boss bought me a toffee apple (okay so she bought the whole team one)... though it turned out to be out of date so I didn't eat it, but it's the thought that counts.

I've finished getting my sister's birthday present together.... and it's not even her birthday until 2nd November... she's asked for some DVD's and craft stuff ..... she does the most beautiful free hand embroidery and I might just have chosen some lovely threads in greens/browns and bronzes and a small frame with the suggestion that I'd quite like two small pieces to hang over the fire place in the lounge....okay, so it will probably fall on deaf ears but it's worth a go

I just have to now get paper and a card, oh and choose some yarn from my stash (and appropriate needles) as she's decreed that I need to teach her to knit...... which is slightly worrying as I do not have the patience for teaching people a skill I still pretend at time I cannot do myself..... I can't remember what is easiest to learn to knit with.... I am tempted to start her with DK and some 4mm needles.... though my nicer yarn is mainly either in sock or aran weight I do have a nice hank of Colinette Cadenza I could give her.....then again  it's only for learning and I've a shed load of revolting bubblegum pink squeaky acrylic.....she can have some good stuff when she's got the hang of it....

Right, well to round off the rest of my nicer than expected Monday I am off to finish Amy Lane's first knitting book in preparation for the second to come out whilst I am in a yarnish type mood :)

Living in a fantasy world....

Okay, well I did say I was on a bit of a fantasy kick at present....

At the back end of last week I fancied some comfort reading so I read the Tiffany Aching series of Discworld books (Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith & I Shall Wear Midnight) by Terry Pratchett..... (I won't take the Kindle up to bed for fear of death by feline so I tend to re-read paperbacks I already own as I don't seem to be buying them any more).... I then started, at stupid o'clock on Saturday morning re-reading the prequel to the Belgariad (Belgarath the Sorcerer by David Eddings).....

Switching to the Kindle a few hours later and Concubine by Jill Knowles was next on my to read list.....

After a little light research on line for my NaNo Project... thankfully non fantasy (Ha! I say this now) ... I decided that I would do some TV watching and through the magic of cable TV and in my wisdom decided to spend a good few hours watching The Lord of the Rings.... well dozed on and off on the sofa whilst it was on..... only switching over to watch Merlin (after safely hiding the plot bunny as his ideas about Sir's Gwaine and Percival are, well, lets just say, it would get them kicked out of the Knights of the Round Table for sure....)

This morning I finished watching the Return of the King after I'd taken the dogs out at a time on a Sunday morning which for normal people only happens on the way back from a really good night out.... and then started reading The Druid Stone by Heidi Belleau & Violetta Vane.....

and then I fell asleep......... and landed in the most visually real but at the same time disturbingly surreal dream  in which I was thrown into a highly weird (and very blue like the picture above) fantasy world...... thankfully there were no dragons.... but it was a good thing I know how to use a bow and arrow or I might not have got out alive.........

As it was, reality returned when Gretchen landed on my head to see if I was interested in perhaps getting up and feeding her........... I think I might have to read something other than fantasy next.....

The week in numbers....

because right now my brain is not functioning into forming a proper coherent post....

1.  This week I have slept.  A lot.  Now I've never been one of those people who needs 8 hours sleep a night, or in fact someone who gets 8 hours sleep a night (thank you critters)... my night pattern tends to be along the lines of go to bed about 10 pm ish, read till eyes go gritty, get up at about 2 am to let the dogs out (Ivan bless him can't go overnight) go back to bed till 5.30 am then get up and get ready for the day.... so some nights, depending on how long I read, I will actually only sleep from 2 am to 5.30 am... erm, yes, no, 3.5 hours a night is really not enough sleep....... this week I've spent two nights where I wander through to the lounge at about 6.30 pm... and by 7 pm I am asleep on the sofa buried somewhere under the critters, well Gretchen, who drapes herself round my neck like a scarf.  I obviously needed the sleep and as I am still rather more tired than I'd like I think that an afternoon nap may be the way forward tomorrow and possibly Sunday....

2.  My counselling session on Wednesday was a complete snot and tissues fest...... I failed spectacularly to make a list of "positives" in my life and was pretty stressed out anyway (it happens when I have days off work that make up a long weekend... basically, Friday I unwind from work and try to put out my head what I should be doing, Saturday and Sunday I enjoy, Monday I wind myself up panicking about what will be on my desk on Tuesday... and then try to fit 6 days work into 4....).... Counsellor thought the session was worthwhile... I begged to differ.... hopefully we can move on from the current subject next session.  Mind you, she did point out something.... you can't leave grit in a wound and expect it to heal cleanly.... meh, she has a point, but really, I didn't want to hear it then and I am trying to get my head round it now...the grit in my mental wounds is quite ground in and it's proving a bugger to shift.

3.  I have run out of knitting projects........ okay, I am lying here.... I have run out of things that I want to knit.... I have a list of people who I owe socks too and absolutely no inspiration to knit for them.... the last things I've knitted quickly and happily are for people I care a lot about.... I should at least try and get on with them... or finish the shawl I've been knitting for aeons....

4. I've managed to pick up a load of books from Dreamspinner's tweet away this week... which is good... but I want them on my Kindle... so this weekend I am going to try and master the art of transferring stuff from pc to Kindle..... there maybe screaming... for I am the original techno-numpty....

5.  Hugo and I aren't talking....... he split my lip last night when he leapt on the computer desk and smacked straight into my face with the top of his head... he then clawed my foot in the night...... he got kicked out the bedroom and has been sulking ever since.

6.  I have done no revision at all..... and it is now less than a month to the exam.... I have a revision day run by the governing body next Friday in Manchester... then the panic will probably set in..... last time I had to take exams I turned into the complete brat from hell .... this time I have no one to firmly tell me to pack it in.... I think the critters may wish to seek new humans by the time November is half way through....

7.  I am staying in and being a good girl this evening, though there is some research on the cards for this weekend I am trying not to get myself arrested....... that said, I really could do with finding out what a police interview room looks like these days..... it's been a while since I last found myself in one......

8.  Okay, back to my book I think, I have a major fantasy kick at the moment, be it M/M or not, and I feel a re-read of some of my favourites may be in order....

In which I fail at shopping....

Well, I've managed to have a fairly uneventful rest of the long weekend .... no more police men were involved....

Saturday I got to be a lady wot lunches.... then yesterday I took the scenic route through the countryside to drive to the next city down to visit a friend who has recently had spinal surgery.... we spent a good few hours putting the world to rights as I knitted the rest of a gift I was making for someone and she laid out her patchwork on the floor.... at which point one of her cats came plonked himself down in the middle of it and threatened her with the evil feline look of doom (and shredded material) every time she tried to so much as lift a piece of the fabric....

Today there were plans involving my mother and shopping for my sister's birthday presents.... oh dear Goddess... why do I volunteer myself for these things?

Now I am the sort of shopper who, when not shopping for groceries, writes a list of what, where, how and when.... In other words shopping is treated as some sort of battle campaign to be conquered (or beaten into submission)... Internet shopping is my saviour!!......my mother is, well, not.. she likes to browse.... and she's had years of experience and practice doing it!

I knew exactly what I wanted, where I wanted it from and how much I was spending.... so we went
and did my shopping first...... then one of the shops mum wanted was shut on a Monday, though we didn't find that out till we'd driven all the way across town .... and then she wondered if we could just nip out into Derbyshire to look at a couple of crafty type places.... being a good and obliging daughter I said yes, on the proviso that we also got to go to the book shop on the way

My new friend

By the time we got to the third incredibly twee craft shop, which had far too much home made Christmas tat already on display, I admitted defeat and made a strategic retreat from the shop before I took out the next person who stopped directly in front of me to exclaim at the cuteness of some over priced frippery (sheesh, my inner grinch is starting yearly this year!).

So whilst waiting for mum, I took up residence balanced on the edge of a fountain, which was in the main courtyard of the stables at Chatsworth House......where I made a new friend.... and we communed about all sorts of intelligent, diverse subjects and trivia... okay we didn't, she quacked at me a bit and let me stroke her....

Further adventures in research....

Well, it has to be said, sometimes I really don't think things out before acting....... I know this, people have told me this (frequently)... but sometimes, you know a good idea in your head is hard to see past and look at the possible outcomes....

Which brings us to last night's exploits...

Having decided to take yesterday off work despite my visitors cancelling I spent the day very boringly doing housework and laundry.  Now these sort of mindless tasks allow the voices in my head to chatter at me and tell me their stories..... they haven't been playing ball recently so I was a little surprised to get a couple of them shouting quite loudly at me about what they wanted me to write.... unfortunately, they weren't the characters I'd been planning out for my NaNo (avoid the revision) project... they weren't even the incredibly familiar voices of my YA characters... they were two characters who appeared a while back, gave me some interesting ideas and then hid...

So when the house was marginally cleaner and upstairs resembled a Chinese laundrette with clothes hanging from every door frame I decided I'd at least write out some character profiles...... which is as near to plotting a story as I get.... So, older of the two characters was easy as he appears to be a lawyer and as I work with them all time time I could easily see him, his habits, his routine, his wardrobe etc..... younger character I have what he looks like, his tattoos/piercings, some of his habits and part of his wardrobe... the day time part...which comes from my commute too and from work when I drive past both universities..... only I then got to the question "what would he wear of an evening, say going out, or just for lounging around at home in?"

I pondered for a while and then had an "idea"....... it was Friday, I'd been home with the dogs all day so I would put them to bed at 9pm and then nip out in the car with my note book..... the plan was to park up initially in an area where there are lots of student houses, coffee shops and a long row of take away places and take some notes.... then wander across towards the town centre where there are a couple of big shiny loud bars and a couple of smaller pubs, one of which I know is a gay friendly pub (because our diversity group at work go in there out of term time)... I remembered there was a side street I could park in which would give me a visual access to all the venues...

So off I went.......... the first part was simple, I wrote down a load of details of what I saw and then headed up into town.... only I forgot to get to where I wanted to park I had to negotiate my way round some one way streets and the tram lines......a couple of wrong turns later I made it to where I wanted to be, parked up and took out my note book....

I was kind of lost in what I was doing when there was a loud tap at my window which sent the notebook flying, and my heart rate through the roof.....  Now it wasn't a brilliantly lit side street, and yes I'd locked all the doors.... so I cautiously wound down the window only to see a badge and hear the words "can you step out the car please".....  Yep, police officers, two of them.....

So I did as I was told and whilst one of them called in my car's details I provided my own to the other.... then it came to the explanation as to what I was doing..... I was researching for a story....... which got a sceptical raised eyebrow as one officer looked at the other..... they then proceeded to explain that my car had been picked up on their surveillance operation in the red light area.... which I'd forgotten ran between the university residences along the back streets up into town past where the old maternity hospital used to be.... and through the streets of which I'd been seen driving slowly on several occasions that evening... They'd then had a call from one of the security/door men of the bigger bars concerned at my presence in the side street and now wanted to know exactly what I was doing......and if they weren't satisfied with my explanation they would have to consider taking me to the police station for further questioning....

My explanation was extremely garbled... I ducked back into the car and grabbed the note book and waved it at them..... I am not sure whether or not they actually believed me, but their radio went off with a call out for something serious so I got told that I should move along and not loiter in the area again........

I was very relieved to get home and shut the door behind me..... I think I shall stick to surfing the net for my research for a bit... much safer that way....

Feline takeover....

The owner of this blog is being held captive 

away from her computer

until such time as she goes out

and buys us more cat biscuits.

For our food bowl is empty

and we are poor starving kitties 

and no matter how much we have screamed

and wailed

and yowled

and howled

and wound up the dogs

she hasn't rushed out and bought us any more

Gina & Hugo

Starving naked cats

(with exceptional typing skills)

Look at my wrinkly skin!!
all because I am a starving cat that has no biscuits

ps - don't believe a word of it, they've had 4 pouches of cat food this evening... just no crunchy bits....no matter what they tell the universe....

Weekend in a nutshell....

Well probably not, because nutshells are quite small... even walnut shells, though my weekend may at a push have fitted in a coconut shell......... okay I'm waffling..... I blame the drugs.... nah, nothing serious and/or illegal, just painkillers because it's flippin freezing and my arthritis has decided to make itself extremely well known....

In a fit of organisation....the housework actually happened..... completely, with pulling out of the sofa and looking horrified at the breeding colony of dust bunnies I've acquired   Alongside the housework, yesterday there was a soupçon of laundry, shopping (I lie, the shopping was delivered), and going out for lunch with my mother and sister...

Today I thought about doing something productive.. and then decided against it in favour of working up a playlist, you know, just in case I decide to do NaNo this year, of inspirational type tunes to keep me going as I write......... Yeah, I know, a playlist to do my revision to would probably have been a better idea, but it just isn't happening!

I've also trolled about on the net finding pretty pictures for inspiration..... that was fun  *grin*

There was also some reading, some knitting (I finished a pair of baby socks... a whole pair... in weekend... note the word "finished" here, this is important...) oh and some sampling of chocolate and special calming herbal tea I received in my package of goodies ...... the other package was my yarn... which I balled up round at mothers as trying to turn a hank into a ball with the assistance of rent a mob is not an experience I enjoy......... (oh and Gretchen is yet again evil devil dog incarnate as she turned my brand new set of 5mm dpns into matchsticks when my back was turned for 2 minutes)

And now alas my weekend appears to be over and work is beckoning ........ well it's smirking at me just round the corner safe in the knowledge that it will have my almost full attention for the next few days (particularly as I am going to be cancelling holiday tomorrow)

The week in one post....

So that's the first week of October over with.... and what a boring and miserable week it has been....Autumn is definitely here and I have an over-riding wish to go into hibernation and come out again in the spring.

I have at least now got my replacement Kindle charger... which is in a safe place where evil hell hounds cannot get it (and where the cats cannot nibble on it either)... I might also have blown the book buying budget for the whole month as well....  The rest of the week mainly involved working - which is boring and tedious.  There was a visit to my counsellor on Wednesday, who is pleased with my progress and is moving me to fortnightly appointments... I have homework again though, for next time she wants a list of positive things in my life ...... humm, that could be quite a short list right now ...

Tonight I got home to find two cards from the post man through the door to tell me I had parcels... for some reason though they've taken them to different places to hold onto them till I can collect them..... I am pretty sure I know one is some yarn I bought the other day when I was given a brilliant excuse for visiting the Colinette site .... the other I think maybe a little parcel from Austria which I am very excited about... I shall be going to collect as early as I can tomorrow....

I did have other plans for this weekend ... though they mainly involved heavy duty housework as I was expecting visitors next week.... in fact there was plotting and planning on Wednesday night for the visit.... and then there was a phone call this evening and now there is no visit.... She said she felt guilty for letting me down, but really, it's not her fault, in fact it's really nobody's fault, just sometimes life gets in the way and complicates the hell out of everything - in this case a potential move of residence for my friend and her family which is much needed and if all goes to plan will be fantastic for them.

Now I could potentially have a moment of self pity and wailing as all my plans fall apart.... after all I see this friend twice a year, we've been planning this visit since May, I probably won't see her now till next May as there is a new baby due at the end of March..... but you know what.... the world doesn't revolve around me..... and to be honest, the potential new home sounds so brilliant for them I'd rather just keep my fingers crossed that everything goes well and that rather than being with me next weekend they are busily packing.... not to mention that the saving in terms of the cost of petrol to drive to mine will buy them a new carpet....... I feel that this should be known as my carpet in future ...

I might still do housework...  or I may break into the new yarn and curl up on the sofa to watch TV... after all the new series of Merlin starts tomorrow and the slash possibilities are endless...

The Critters Strike Again....

*Sigh*... tonight I find myself repeating the mantra "I love my dogs, I love my dogs, no really I love my dogs".... although they have all just been put into their night crates in disgrace with no bed time treats and in complete silence..... yep, that too angry to say anything kind of silence ....

And the reason for this?  Well let me explain....... my dogs are, relatively, well behaved.  They come when called (except Gretchen), they aren't overly noisy (except Gretchen), they play nicely with each other (except, on occasion Gretchen) and they are great with visitors (especially Gretchen... who can be a complete tart).....  Unfortunately, all of them, well the three girls, have a tendency to believe that possession is 9/10ths of the law, and that sometimes things are best destroyed before another dog gets hold of it... or in fact I catch them with it......

Which brings me to tonight...... I noticed earlier when I switched books that the Kindle needed charging overnight, not an unusual occurrence, after all I would hate to be caught short somewhere with time to kill and no battery (not that I don't have portable knitting (socks) with me at all times...)  So I meandered through to the kitchen, where I keep the necessary recharging apparatus for those small bits of technology that make my day more fun in one of the fruit bowls (the other fruit bowl contains yarn.... the fruit is kept in the fridge away from thieving hell hounds),  only to find the charger for the Kindle wasn't where it should be.....

After checking all the sockets in the kitchen, where I usually recharge things I stood shaking my head trying to work out what the hell I'd done with it.... as I did this the dogs were milling around my ankles, wandering in and out to the yard and generally wondering what exciting thing I would do next.  Absent mindedly I started to pick up the various dog toys that littered the floor and return them to the toy box.  It didn't register at first but as I dropped the last toy in I noticed a wire, a white wire, or a bit of one at least, in amongst the toys..... further investigation revealed what was my Kindle charger....... which is now in several pieces and no use whatsoever.

Now, ranting at the dogs has no effect at all........ Ivan always looks as guilty as sin and like he's about to wet himself, although I can almost say with 100% accuracy he'll have had nothing to do with it.....  Hope leaps up and down barking back and getting over excited, Kammi looks at me blinks and wags her tail in a hopefully cute fashion and Gretchen has mastered the art of the "sod you" expression of disdain for such outbursts... I ranted anyway....

I then demanded that the guilty party own up to the destruction......... yeah, okay, so I possibly was slightly irrationally irate by that point....and when they refused to do so issued dire threats of stopping pocket money (erm, no they don't actually get any) and going on strike if they thought they'd be getting liver cake or salmon and cheese muffins in the near future (yes I do bake for them)...  I am not actually sure how they managed to get the charger off the kitchen work top..... but that's besides the point....

They are being exceptionally quiet now as I am upstairs on the computer .... a new Kindle charger having been ordered (sadly with my two replacement kindles they didn't send a new charger.... which would have been useful really)....and the cats are still sniggering that the dogs are in trouble..... I may have calmed down and forgiven them by morning.......