A nice late morning. Boys in good cheer. Generally a lazy day.
However during the afternoon Lorna popped in on the way back from her sister's and I went for a short walk with her, getting back at 5, and she then drove home to the Midlands. I expect we'll see her later this month, as she's visiting her sister again then.
I popped round to our neighbour Debbie who's back from visiting her brother in Windsor. She's had an unusual Christmas and is glad to be in her own house again.
The whole family watched a programme on ITV with a shrunk Nigel Marvin exploring his back garden and saying "Help! I'm no bigger than a bug" which was relatively good but not brilliant.
Soup for tea... I'd made the reddest soup possible, with tomatoes, red peppers and beetroot, and it was lovely. Had this with a pastie, and a cabbage and cashew nut thing which Gill made, plus some left over baked beans. Tasty!
Fairly quiet evening.... watched some telly, played Scrabble and answered composting questions on Facebook. Bed by 2am.
Showing posts with label Lorna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lorna. Show all posts
A nice start to the day, with a phone call from Lorna who's up in Yorkshire visiting her sister and asked if she could visit us all this evening. I came down and lit the stove as it's cold, and breakfasted.
Gill went out with our eldest to go and look for a Nintendo Wii, as he's been saving up for one for ages, after enjoying using one at a friend's house earlier this year.
I went on my computer and our youngest played on Spore on the other computer.
The others came back, they'd walked into town, got a good deal on a Wii and walked back. They'd got a basic Wii Sport with added games, steering wheel, extra user remote and probably other stuff... for an all inclusive price which was quite a bit cheaper than all the bits if bought separately. So what's going to happen is that he'll have the basic stuff he's saved up for, and keep earning and saving so he can buy the extra stuff off Gill.
We had a late lunch of the last of the leek and potato soup, and I did a small amount of work outside, pruning out this year's brambles, some chainsawing (just 10 minutes) and splitting.
Lorna dropped in after tea (which was tomato soup, home-made of course!) and watched the boys and Gill setting up the Wii whilst I filled up the aquarium that our youngest got for his main present. Lorna had never seen a Wii before so was just as amused as we were to watch our eldest having a virtual boxing match, very entertaining and fun.
Lorna left at about 9 and I set to and made another batch of tomato soup on the woodstove. This is what you do with a glut of tomatoes: chop two onions and a stick of celery, and fry in the biggest heaviest pan you have. Add a job lot of chopped tomatoes, followed by a couple of chopped beetroot and two red peppers. Stew for a couple of hours with the lid on and then let it go cold overnight without taking the lid off. Tomorrow morning I'll add some herbs and bouillon, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. Then whizz with the hand-held blender and bring it up to heat again... it will be delicious!
Whilst this was bubbling, I watched Nine Months, a rather rubbish American film, and played Scrabble with my various Facebook friends.
Gill went out with our eldest to go and look for a Nintendo Wii, as he's been saving up for one for ages, after enjoying using one at a friend's house earlier this year.
I went on my computer and our youngest played on Spore on the other computer.
The others came back, they'd walked into town, got a good deal on a Wii and walked back. They'd got a basic Wii Sport with added games, steering wheel, extra user remote and probably other stuff... for an all inclusive price which was quite a bit cheaper than all the bits if bought separately. So what's going to happen is that he'll have the basic stuff he's saved up for, and keep earning and saving so he can buy the extra stuff off Gill.
We had a late lunch of the last of the leek and potato soup, and I did a small amount of work outside, pruning out this year's brambles, some chainsawing (just 10 minutes) and splitting.
Lorna dropped in after tea (which was tomato soup, home-made of course!) and watched the boys and Gill setting up the Wii whilst I filled up the aquarium that our youngest got for his main present. Lorna had never seen a Wii before so was just as amused as we were to watch our eldest having a virtual boxing match, very entertaining and fun.
Lorna left at about 9 and I set to and made another batch of tomato soup on the woodstove. This is what you do with a glut of tomatoes: chop two onions and a stick of celery, and fry in the biggest heaviest pan you have. Add a job lot of chopped tomatoes, followed by a couple of chopped beetroot and two red peppers. Stew for a couple of hours with the lid on and then let it go cold overnight without taking the lid off. Tomorrow morning I'll add some herbs and bouillon, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. Then whizz with the hand-held blender and bring it up to heat again... it will be delicious!
Whilst this was bubbling, I watched Nine Months, a rather rubbish American film, and played Scrabble with my various Facebook friends.
Walked into Swadlincote to get some provisions... I bought a loaf and some iced buns, Lorna got veggies and lasagne. So much for my participation in International Buy Nothing Day!
In the afternoon I helped her install her compost bin which has been sitting behind the house unused for months...
Tried to avoid playing with her kittens Kiwi and Fluffy, which are 13 weeks old and very playful, as I didn't want to set off my allergies which have been in abeyance for some time now, seem to be getting less as I get older.
So a chilled day, read lots of NewScientist and had lots of good chats.
In the afternoon I helped her install her compost bin which has been sitting behind the house unused for months...
Tried to avoid playing with her kittens Kiwi and Fluffy, which are 13 weeks old and very playful, as I didn't want to set off my allergies which have been in abeyance for some time now, seem to be getting less as I get older.
So a chilled day, read lots of NewScientist and had lots of good chats.
Up quite early as our eldest is off school and I needed to say 'byeeee' to our youngest as I'm going to work in Normanton this afternoon/evening and then going onto Burton on Trent, coming back Sunday. Gill took our youngest to school and I swapped the water around on top of the stove so there's plenty of bathwater. Did the washing up as I didn't do it last night...
Had lunch and got myself together for a 2pm cycle-off, visiting the Post Office in Leeman Road first as I've had a note through the door saying there's post with unpaid postage waiting for me, so I go that. It was a letter from the Maudsley about how to get there (!) and some forms to fill in before my visit (!!) and it had no stamps of franks on whatsoever (!!!).
So then went to the station and unloaded mt reduced Fiddlesticks gear (ie no children's unicycle, training unicycles etc) and got tickets to Burton On Trent via Leeds and Normanton, checking I could break my journey legally in Normanton. Then onto the train to Leeds and a fairly swift change onto the Sheffield train which goes through Normanton. Once there, I walked up the main street which had lots of fairground rides and candy floss/burger vans ready for the 'big switch on. Got to the Town Hall and met my handler Donna who showed me where to get changed and offered me a coffee and biscuits before getting started at 4.30, outside a closed shop very near the place where 'Father Christmas' and the Mayor would be switching on the lights. There were lots of crowds of teenagers in town, many of them bent on causing a nuisance and having fun, such as lighting aerosol cans to make jets of flame, and smoking fags guiltily, scrapping and swearing loudly at each other. However, I coped well with the situation, was my usual strict self but gave lots of goes on the devilstick and a couple of juggling workshops. It got crowded towards 6pm which is when the lights were due to be switched on, and then got quieter again, so I finished the entertainment at 6.40 and went back to the station.
Changed trains at Sheffield an hour later, and met an interesting woman carrying an engaging 2 year-old boy whom I chatted with all the way to Derby. Lynette claimed that she'd been on the station earlier, without her child who was with her Mother for a while, and she'd had a 'few drinks' and the police had taken her train ticket and purse off her, just for being tipsy! I find this difficult to believe but have no reason to disbelieve her. She was travelling down to Birmingham to meet the child's father, without a ticket, but with the knowledge of the train company. Most odd. I offered to lend/give her some cash if she needed it, but she declined.
I changed trains again at Derby and rang Gill to tell her all was well, and spoke briefly with both boys. It was only a short hop to Burton where Lorna was waiting for me in the car park. She drove us to her house near Swadlincote. It was really good to see her, she's a really good friend, and I was pleased to be able to spend a little time with her.
Had lunch and got myself together for a 2pm cycle-off, visiting the Post Office in Leeman Road first as I've had a note through the door saying there's post with unpaid postage waiting for me, so I go that. It was a letter from the Maudsley about how to get there (!) and some forms to fill in before my visit (!!) and it had no stamps of franks on whatsoever (!!!).
So then went to the station and unloaded mt reduced Fiddlesticks gear (ie no children's unicycle, training unicycles etc) and got tickets to Burton On Trent via Leeds and Normanton, checking I could break my journey legally in Normanton. Then onto the train to Leeds and a fairly swift change onto the Sheffield train which goes through Normanton. Once there, I walked up the main street which had lots of fairground rides and candy floss/burger vans ready for the 'big switch on. Got to the Town Hall and met my handler Donna who showed me where to get changed and offered me a coffee and biscuits before getting started at 4.30, outside a closed shop very near the place where 'Father Christmas' and the Mayor would be switching on the lights. There were lots of crowds of teenagers in town, many of them bent on causing a nuisance and having fun, such as lighting aerosol cans to make jets of flame, and smoking fags guiltily, scrapping and swearing loudly at each other. However, I coped well with the situation, was my usual strict self but gave lots of goes on the devilstick and a couple of juggling workshops. It got crowded towards 6pm which is when the lights were due to be switched on, and then got quieter again, so I finished the entertainment at 6.40 and went back to the station.
Changed trains at Sheffield an hour later, and met an interesting woman carrying an engaging 2 year-old boy whom I chatted with all the way to Derby. Lynette claimed that she'd been on the station earlier, without her child who was with her Mother for a while, and she'd had a 'few drinks' and the police had taken her train ticket and purse off her, just for being tipsy! I find this difficult to believe but have no reason to disbelieve her. She was travelling down to Birmingham to meet the child's father, without a ticket, but with the knowledge of the train company. Most odd. I offered to lend/give her some cash if she needed it, but she declined.
I changed trains again at Derby and rang Gill to tell her all was well, and spoke briefly with both boys. It was only a short hop to Burton where Lorna was waiting for me in the car park. She drove us to her house near Swadlincote. It was really good to see her, she's a really good friend, and I was pleased to be able to spend a little time with her.
Up reasonably early and got kit together as I've a gig in Sheffield, at Ali's daughter's school, so that Ali can get some film of 'Professor Fiddlesticks' for her University project.
I cycled down to the station for about 9.15 and Ali met me at Sheffield station at 10.30, and took me back to her house in the car... a quick stop for a coffee and to pack her filming stuff, and off to the primary school where her little girl is a pupil. I did a 30 minute show with juggling, devilsticks (show only, no workshop), lots of feather balancing as the children watching were quite young, so I chose the easiest skill which got the maximum number of children out to have a go (and that Ali's daughter can do, as one of her arms doesn't function properly/at all, due to Cerebral Palsy)... followed by 'Derek the Naughty Diabolo' and a unicycle/devilstick finale... fast, fun and a well received show, hopefully with some good images for Ali's project!
Had a nice lunch with Ali back at her house and a shore interview using a digital dictaphone to do some voice-over material for masking some of the noisy stuff filmed at the front of our house (next to a busy road)... and then back to school to pick up her little one, and down to the station so I could get the 15.46 back to York... a pretty non stop day, but enjoyable, and glad to help out Ali with this final part of filming, I think...
Gill went out in the evening to a school quiz, with our eldest. I stayed in with our youngest and we watched the BBC2 'Oceans' programme together. I had a nice Skype chat with Lorna and the 'quiz two' came back at 10pm, having won some sort of computer equipment.
I cycled down to the station for about 9.15 and Ali met me at Sheffield station at 10.30, and took me back to her house in the car... a quick stop for a coffee and to pack her filming stuff, and off to the primary school where her little girl is a pupil. I did a 30 minute show with juggling, devilsticks (show only, no workshop), lots of feather balancing as the children watching were quite young, so I chose the easiest skill which got the maximum number of children out to have a go (and that Ali's daughter can do, as one of her arms doesn't function properly/at all, due to Cerebral Palsy)... followed by 'Derek the Naughty Diabolo' and a unicycle/devilstick finale... fast, fun and a well received show, hopefully with some good images for Ali's project!
Had a nice lunch with Ali back at her house and a shore interview using a digital dictaphone to do some voice-over material for masking some of the noisy stuff filmed at the front of our house (next to a busy road)... and then back to school to pick up her little one, and down to the station so I could get the 15.46 back to York... a pretty non stop day, but enjoyable, and glad to help out Ali with this final part of filming, I think...
Gill went out in the evening to a school quiz, with our eldest. I stayed in with our youngest and we watched the BBC2 'Oceans' programme together. I had a nice Skype chat with Lorna and the 'quiz two' came back at 10pm, having won some sort of computer equipment.
A Fiddlesticks work day, cycled to Selby to do a gig for my friend Mark, who attends a church called St James, and the gig was an outreach fun day ('Fun-B-Que') organised by
The Edge Project. Everything was free... food, bouncy castle, face painting, 'gospel magician', band, me, and more. I got there at 11.20 after a good cycle down the York to Selby cycle path (Route 65) including getting a 'tow' (cycling in the slipstream) from a couple on a brand new tandem, on a day out from Tockwith.
The 'Fun B Que' was from 12 til 3 and was a lovely event, which I enjoyed adding to, and the weather was perfect! I very much enjoyed my cycle back, and was delighted to meet my friend Lorna within a group of about 10 cyclists on a try-out round trip. Lorna's twin lives close to York and is a very keen cyclist, so she was there with her husband on recumbents. The editor of Velovision magazine (Peter Eland) had supplied some of the bikes, so we stopped at his house briefly before going over the Millenium Bridge. I parted from Lorna and company near the University as they had parked a mile away in the Heworth area.
So I came home with a smile. I had some soup for tea and chopped a few logs, bagged up some leafmould as it's that time of year again to empty last year's leafmould container to refill it soon.
Restful evening.
The Edge Project. Everything was free... food, bouncy castle, face painting, 'gospel magician', band, me, and more. I got there at 11.20 after a good cycle down the York to Selby cycle path (Route 65) including getting a 'tow' (cycling in the slipstream) from a couple on a brand new tandem, on a day out from Tockwith.
The 'Fun B Que' was from 12 til 3 and was a lovely event, which I enjoyed adding to, and the weather was perfect! I very much enjoyed my cycle back, and was delighted to meet my friend Lorna within a group of about 10 cyclists on a try-out round trip. Lorna's twin lives close to York and is a very keen cyclist, so she was there with her husband on recumbents. The editor of Velovision magazine (Peter Eland) had supplied some of the bikes, so we stopped at his house briefly before going over the Millenium Bridge. I parted from Lorna and company near the University as they had parked a mile away in the Heworth area.
So I came home with a smile. I had some soup for tea and chopped a few logs, bagged up some leafmould as it's that time of year again to empty last year's leafmould container to refill it soon.
Restful evening.
Up early... 8ish, and watched skiing on C4 whilst having breakfast and cuddling Gilly.
At 9 got a phone call from Caroline, who wants to deepen her raised beds with some of my compost, so I went to a finished 'sit and wait' heap and dug it out and bagged up 4 sacks worth plus 8 carrier bags worth... she'll collect this later today and I hope it's all right for her, and enough.
Came in for 11 to watch Countryfile and do emails, blog etc.
Had an early lunch and at 12.30 shot off down to town to pick up squished halved oranges and coffee grounds from Millers Yard and meet Lorna who came to York for a dance, and is taking the opportunity to have a hot chocolate with me. We met in the National Railway Museum car park and took a brief wander into town, then went for a short drive(!) to find a quiet place to sit and chat... which we did and it was lovely. She dropped me back at the NRM and I cycled home via Martin's veg emporium to collect a box of biodegradable goodies to compost. Got in just before 3 and prepared small potatoes for tea, boiled them on the stove, then did bathwater for the kids too. I put the oranges on two sit n wait heaps... and found a load of OK oranges which I'll be able to squeeze for juice. I have no idea why Dylan has thrown them away, they seem fine!
A tense evening as we all watched Time Team on C4, which was good, but the children's behaviour was disruptive but we tried hard to keep them with us and all calm and happy. Bathtime diffused all behavioural issues.
I wrote my paid blog this evening, and whilst doing that, got a comment posted from the anonymous 'Dr Evil' from this blog posting. She is obviously unhappy about my social life and seems to think that I shouldn't have friends, especially female ones. I don't think that my friends are her business really. If I am happy with my friends, and Gill is happy with whom I spend time with (and Gill knows exactly what I'm like... when we met in 1993 I was just as busy a person with a very active social life) and my friends are happy being my friends, well what exactly is the problem? I think she may not have many friends and could be jealous that I go visiting people and that we get plenty of visitors, but there might be something else in her psychology that I don't know of or cannot guess. I admit I am intrigued, and do want to know who she is, which would allow me to explain face to face in words of one syllable exactly how I choose to live my life and why it is perfectly OK to be who I am. Once again I will not be publishing derogatory or ignorant comments from anyone. I look forward to something more intelligent from her.
At 9 got a phone call from Caroline, who wants to deepen her raised beds with some of my compost, so I went to a finished 'sit and wait' heap and dug it out and bagged up 4 sacks worth plus 8 carrier bags worth... she'll collect this later today and I hope it's all right for her, and enough.
Came in for 11 to watch Countryfile and do emails, blog etc.
Had an early lunch and at 12.30 shot off down to town to pick up squished halved oranges and coffee grounds from Millers Yard and meet Lorna who came to York for a dance, and is taking the opportunity to have a hot chocolate with me. We met in the National Railway Museum car park and took a brief wander into town, then went for a short drive(!) to find a quiet place to sit and chat... which we did and it was lovely. She dropped me back at the NRM and I cycled home via Martin's veg emporium to collect a box of biodegradable goodies to compost. Got in just before 3 and prepared small potatoes for tea, boiled them on the stove, then did bathwater for the kids too. I put the oranges on two sit n wait heaps... and found a load of OK oranges which I'll be able to squeeze for juice. I have no idea why Dylan has thrown them away, they seem fine!
A tense evening as we all watched Time Team on C4, which was good, but the children's behaviour was disruptive but we tried hard to keep them with us and all calm and happy. Bathtime diffused all behavioural issues.
I wrote my paid blog this evening, and whilst doing that, got a comment posted from the anonymous 'Dr Evil' from this blog posting. She is obviously unhappy about my social life and seems to think that I shouldn't have friends, especially female ones. I don't think that my friends are her business really. If I am happy with my friends, and Gill is happy with whom I spend time with (and Gill knows exactly what I'm like... when we met in 1993 I was just as busy a person with a very active social life) and my friends are happy being my friends, well what exactly is the problem? I think she may not have many friends and could be jealous that I go visiting people and that we get plenty of visitors, but there might be something else in her psychology that I don't know of or cannot guess. I admit I am intrigued, and do want to know who she is, which would allow me to explain face to face in words of one syllable exactly how I choose to live my life and why it is perfectly OK to be who I am. Once again I will not be publishing derogatory or ignorant comments from anyone. I look forward to something more intelligent from her.
Happy New Year everybody!
Saw in the New Year with my wife, children (yes, both of them stayed up!) and our friend Alison. We spent most of the evening with Simon and Melody and their son, and we had a really lovely evening. Alison arrived later, she's also a close friend of Melody and Simon, so it was very cosy. We had some good food and a variety of drinks, games of Jenga and picture consequences, and played some tapes (Orb, Eatstatic, Deep Purple) and all in all it was a very enjoyable night. We have an excellent view over York from our loft window, so once we'd heard it was midnight we shot up to the loft to watch the fireworks.
Alison left at 1am and we did a little bit of clearing up before collapsing at 2.
Woke needing orange juice and paracetamol at 7am!
Woke again at 9, the boys had woken Gill at 7.30.. we'd hoped that their late to bed time might cause them to sleep in later... but no joy.
At midday, our first visitor of the day arrived, a bit of a suprise because I wasn't expecting Lorna to visit, but she'd been dancing the year out with her sister in Dunnington, and popped in to say hi on her way home to the Midlands. It was lovely to see her and for my family to meet her. I showed her the garden, despite the standing water and mud, and she stayed about an hour.
We had a bit o lunch and then another suprise, the always busy Jim Semlyen, with his 8 yr old daughter and his partner's two children. He was giving his partner some space, and it was really good to catch up. Our boys played really nicely with the visitors, even though they'd only met Jim's daughter before. We fed them, even though they hadn't come for food! Spent a couple of hours chatting, it was a really good New Year visit.
I did an hour of clearing up in the cold and wet before it got dark, then came in and did an enormous wash up and food prep... had earlier picked some 'Winter Mushrooms' off a productive log (also known as Velvet Shank due to their black stem, 'enokitake' in Japan and in Latin, 'Flamulina velupites') and had these with some onion and sweetcorn with a breadroll and potato salad.
Saw in the New Year with my wife, children (yes, both of them stayed up!) and our friend Alison. We spent most of the evening with Simon and Melody and their son, and we had a really lovely evening. Alison arrived later, she's also a close friend of Melody and Simon, so it was very cosy. We had some good food and a variety of drinks, games of Jenga and picture consequences, and played some tapes (Orb, Eatstatic, Deep Purple) and all in all it was a very enjoyable night. We have an excellent view over York from our loft window, so once we'd heard it was midnight we shot up to the loft to watch the fireworks.
Alison left at 1am and we did a little bit of clearing up before collapsing at 2.
Woke needing orange juice and paracetamol at 7am!
Woke again at 9, the boys had woken Gill at 7.30.. we'd hoped that their late to bed time might cause them to sleep in later... but no joy.
At midday, our first visitor of the day arrived, a bit of a suprise because I wasn't expecting Lorna to visit, but she'd been dancing the year out with her sister in Dunnington, and popped in to say hi on her way home to the Midlands. It was lovely to see her and for my family to meet her. I showed her the garden, despite the standing water and mud, and she stayed about an hour.
We had a bit o lunch and then another suprise, the always busy Jim Semlyen, with his 8 yr old daughter and his partner's two children. He was giving his partner some space, and it was really good to catch up. Our boys played really nicely with the visitors, even though they'd only met Jim's daughter before. We fed them, even though they hadn't come for food! Spent a couple of hours chatting, it was a really good New Year visit.
I did an hour of clearing up in the cold and wet before it got dark, then came in and did an enormous wash up and food prep... had earlier picked some 'Winter Mushrooms' off a productive log (also known as Velvet Shank due to their black stem, 'enokitake' in Japan and in Latin, 'Flamulina velupites') and had these with some onion and sweetcorn with a breadroll and potato salad.
