Saturday Song....

A flashback edition, one filled with home grown music (and the acoustic version)....  and a title that is just something that you never normally hear someone being called unless they come from this city....

Grey and Miserable........

Well that's mainly the weather, and really compared to other parts of the country I shouldn't complain as whilst we've had a lot of rain we've not had floods or the severe storms they've had on the south coast... but frankly I've had enough of it..... and my joints really don't like this weather... every time I stand or sit or actually just move something clicks, grates or creaks... seriously I sound like I am about 70 when I move!

I am trying to keep myself positive and look forward ..... SAD makes this quite difficult this time of year even when we aren't up to our, erm, shoe tops? in snow....

So, some positives.....

- I have booked my ticket for the UK fiction meet this year in Bristol. My sister has, for my birthday, paid for my hotel room for the weekend and I have a dog sitter booked - someone brave enough to come stay here for the weekend and supervise the hell critters.  It will actually be my first weekend away without the dogs in about 14 years.

- I have friends coming up to visit on Saturday - and they are bringing with them and fitting for me a new washing machine and gas cooker, at the cost of taking them for lunch and some petrol money.

- The days are getting longer. For the last few days I've got home and it's not been completely dark and, better yet, when I leave the house I just have to use sidelights not main beams on the car.  Roll on spring!

- I have nice flowers on my windowsill.  My mum always has fresh flowers in the house and I hadn't realised how such a small thing does actually make you smile until I picked up some roses the other day.  I don't have house plants as unfortunately the only safe from critters place for them is the kitchen window which is in direct sunlight all day and gets baking hot in summer so I am going to try and keep some fresh flowers in the house instead.

- I am keeping up with my challenge to knit an item a month. I finished socks in January and have so far made a hat in February and the first of a pair of socks.... I am going to go lurk in the lounge and cast on the second sock this evening whilst watching mind numbing TV.

Can I start today over please........

So... I got up this morning in a not so with it kind of haze... thanks to some rather over enthusiastic members of the local wildlife who decreed that 3 am was the right time to have a punch up in the middle of my garden... there is a badger set in the church yard nearby and several foxes that live on the park down the road - my garden appears to have some sort of right of way which they use regularly (and the dog fox is a cheeky bugger and keeps stealing the dogs bones and hooves out the run) but sometimes, when badger and fox meet in the garden, fur flies... literally....... then add in some owls that like to hoot loudly followed by the overly optimistic dawn chorus ... yeah... sleep wasn't so much an option after that....

I headed off to work and got there safely - despite the fact I completely failed to go buy petrol on the way - I was on autopilot and headed to the office without the diversion to the garage despite the dial being on empty....... parked up and forgot I was still in gear so as I switched off the engine the car lurched forward... into the metal barrier ... and cracked the number plate......

Work was typically Mondayish..... lots to do... idiots asking stupid questions they should really know the answers to and secretaries who think that I should do their work for them .... then shortly after lunch I managed to walk into a filing cabinet, well, sort of, I misjudged the gap and slammed my left hip into the corner...... sometimes my spacial awareness isn't so accurate!

Just before home time I went to put my file away... and nearly broke my wrist turning the handle to slide the cabinets across to get to mine because the minion had locked the handle on the other cabinets which meant that it wasn't possible to move them... yeah, I didn't register that till I'd tried to force the handle....

There was a queue in the car park from the paying machine, so by the time I got through that and into the car park itself I was eager to get home...... and turned left through the door and walked slap bang into the red and white barrier at the entrance........it's just at the right height to get my bust......

I got home and put the kettle on to make a large vat of tea and unwind............... and the whole of the downstairs electrical circuit went BANG with such a loud noise that poor Hope wet herself.......

It's all fixed now and I have tea.  I also delved through the back of the cupboard to discover a packet of Reeces Peanutbutter cups to make me feel better...........  I think after today I deserve them...

Books for a rather wet January...

So, the first month of the year is over... and whilst I've done a fair bit of reading it hasn't exactly been a banner month.

For some reason I think I may be falling out of love with the "happily ever after"... there are probably a few reasons for this but the main one appears to be my own perceptions that everyone has to end up with their prefect partner and that meeting the right one is so easy ... I think in February I shall try to find a few more non traditional romances or those that have only tentative happy endings.  I read The Blue Moon Cafe by Rick R Reed this month which gave me exactly that and I really enjoyed it.

That said there were some good books this month.  My favourite was Stormhaven - the third of the Whyborne and Griffin historical/paranormal series.  Honourable mentions to the runners up - Thorns by Feliz Faber, Blood Howl by Robin Saxon and The Boy Who Belonged by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock

1. Let it Snow – Heidi Cullinan
2. Stormhaven – Jordan L Hawk
3. Yakuza Pride – H.J. Brues
4. Pretty Poison – Kari Gregg
5. His Roommate’s Pleasure – Lana McGregor
6. The Boy Who Belonged – Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock
7. Greetings Cards – Tinnean
8. Thorns – Feliz Faber
9. Blood Howl – Robin Saxon

10. Hairy Harry’s Car Seat – Sue Brown
11. Bob, The Destroyer of Leads – Sue Brown
12. Hazel Takes Over – Sue Brown
13. The Blue Moon Café – Rick R Reed
14. A Private Gentleman – Heidi Cullinan
15. Inland Empire – James Buchanan (r)
16. All or Nothing – James Buchanan (r)
17. Three Traders – Rolf & Ranger (r)

18. Blood in the Sand - Robin Saxon

Onwards to February's reading - where I already have my bingo book, Fleeting or Forever book and Pick it For Me book to read this week..........

Don't faint......

But I finished off one of the knitting projects!!

Now, okay, I am not the fastest knitter in the world, but I really have no excuses for the fact that this particular pair of socks have taken me about 18 months to knit....... yep they are the pair I was knitting at the UK Meet back in July....

For some reason I just couldn't find my mojo for finishing these - although I've knitted other small projects in between.

One of my not a new year's resolutions was to try and knit something (completely) each month or to finish off a WIP that had been languishing at the bottom of the project bag.

Caught up in the momentum of finishing something I cast on another sock last night - and would you know it, I cracked on and am nearly at the heal flap already... which says to me it was something about these particular socks.

So, after the next pair I have to decide on whether to knit the scarf I promised someone for Christmas, to crack on with more socks I have homes for or to finish either the shawl I started about 2 years ago or finally do the wings and stuff the gargoyle I was making for my sister - yes seriously, that is all that needs doing to finish it... I just haven't got round to it yet.......

But for now... Yay!  Go Me! A finished item!!

Rinse and Repeat.........

So, normality (in so far as my life is in anyway normal) has been back for three weeks now.... and I am in the grind of get up, sort dogs, go to work, come home, sort dogs, collapse for a couple of hours in front of the computer/TV/Kindle/knitting depending on my mood, before going to bed and starting all over again....... and to be honest... just three weeks in and I am hating it....

Yesterday I let fly at my counsellor.... which I feel somewhat guilty about but he did say that it was fine and part of his job to help me deal with my emotions... the thing is, this rut I am in, I have no clue how to get out of it.  So guess what my homework is this week?

Aside from the people I work with and seeing my mum on a Wednesday evening and Saturday morning I don't really socialise at all with real people (caveat - my internet friends are real (and fantastic) I just don't get to see them in person).  I only really see my sister a couple of hours a week, but then she very definitely has her own life.

I know something has to change, and my counsellor is trying to give me a push......... but I have no idea how to go about it.  I have no choice but to work - and anyway, I actually like the job (most of the time - today is not a good day to be writing that as it's been pure hell) and the people I work with.  I don't intend to change anything about the critters I own - sure I know they are a tie, but they are also one of the only things in my life that keep me tethered to it.

I've come to the conclusion need to find a hobby or activity that gets me out the house in the evening.. or I perhaps I should go and  learn something new........ the trouble is, I have no idea what I want to do.......I am not really a sociable person, I am not a fan of meeting new people - partially shyness, but also a fear of people pointing and laughing (yes seriously it has happened in the past - making fun of the fat person is the last socially acceptable form of harassment and bullying) and of course their are the physical limitations of a body that doesn't work properly.

I keep going round and round in circles about what I might want to do... and am getting no where fast with any decision making....... so I guess I'll go knit in front of the TV whilst I think some more about it....

Cat Wrangling.........

Poor Mavis the Samosa cat isn't a happy cat.......... she has a flea allergy and a food allergy.... and unfortunately both have flared up.... not that she has fleas but she's one of those cats who likes to visit the local homes of everyone else that owns a cat on the off chance she can steal food.... this time she obviously picked up a flea and ate the wrong food....... clearly she should stop visiting other houses, but I doubt she will.

Anyway, the upshot of this was on Wednesday night I had a call from my sister asking how did she give a tablet to a cat......... I was slightly perplexed... I mean, you just open their mouths and chuck the tablet to the back, hopefully then they swallow it, but you might have to wait, holding their mouth shut, till they do....... well apparently they'd tried this and both my sister and her partner were now sporting some impressive battle scars, the tablet was covered in fluff from being spat out on the floor several times and the cat was back upstairs under the bed swearing at everyone......

I might have laughed at her a bit at that

On Thursday I went to demonstrate........ and watched them do battle to capture and hold her, before trying to get in the tablet using a pill popper....... they managed in the end, so yay!  they obviously didn't need my help........ only I then asked what they were doing about her tablets this weekend cos they were away and mum was popping in to feed the cat...........

So we struck a bargain........ as she is a bad and evil cat, and giving tablets to her is a dangerous thing....... If I came and did it for them my sister would pay me....... or rather... she'd buy me a new top I've had my eye on.......

So, Friday night, I went to meet mum after work at my sister's..... mum picked up Mavis, and I dropped in the tablet, by hand, in a matter of seconds, no fuss....... the procedure has been repeated three more times since then....... though without mum holding her ..... she swiped at me once but missed and then just looked extremely pissed off......... but that might have been because I locked her cat flap and she ran into it at speed trying to escape me and bounced off it head first......

My sister and her partner are back from their weekend away in the Yorkshire Dales this evening and are optimistically stating that Mavis will obviously be so pleased to see them and so used to taking the tablets that she'll be no problem.......... I give it till about 8pm before I get a phone call asking me to go give the cat drugs.......I wonder if I can get a second top out of it.......