courgettes day 21

courgettes day 21, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

They've got big leaves and they're dark green, fleshy and slightly fluffy like proper grown-up courgette plants.

I planted 4 seeds in each side. On the right hand side, they all came up, on the left, only one did. I suspect this was because I didn't shake the grow-bag thoroughly enough at the beginnning and the soil was more compacted at the left hand end. I suppose I should thin out the plants a bit. The question is when and by how much?

on time and not having enough of it

I've had a good weekend. Went to see Cymbeline on Saturday with my mum and my uncle, which was great fun. Possibly Shakespeare's most bonkers play, in which it seems anything can happen and probably will. Apparently some of the most bonkers bits were cut, so I'll have to read it to find out what they were.

Sunday, went to Jubilee, heard Adrian preach on Missional Bible Study (good stuff, lots to think about about and more importantly, put into practice) and caught up with friends. We spent the afternoon doing and finishing the Guardian crossword from Saturday. It was good to be relaxing with my family, enjoying the sunshine and just being.

And now it's Monday again. It's not sunny. I have lots of non-work things to do (sort out my car, read, write an essay, possibly knit a shawl to wear to a wedding at the end of June, although the yarn's not arrived yet and I haven't bought a dress yet, sleep) and quite a lot of work things to do. Weekends never feel long enough.

Courgettes day 10

I'm growing courgettes (zucchini) in our back garden. I planted the seeds on 9th May. (Edit: Actually it was the 16th.) Saturday was the first day I noticed shoots. They've got a bit bigger since then.

Any tips for growing courgettes? They're getting plenty of water at the moment because it keeps on raining.

suddenly coming to earth with a bump

That would be me.
I've been going flat out for the last 10 days or so. Worked all weekend at a course, was pretty tired before that, now it's time to stop. Day off tomorrow, going to London, going to see Kiss of the Spiderwoman in the evening, long weekend, planning to shop, maybe sew things, maybe just sleep.

Perhaps next week I'll blog things, like pictures, fun thoughts, a meme for Amrita.

Happy Birthday Debs!

It's my sister's birthday today. (She's the one with the big brown eyes). Go and wish her a happy happy birthday.

eurovisioning

I watched The Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in several years. It was fun, but not quite as much fun as it would have been watching with my sister. Fortunately, she was blogging it, so you too can experience the fun of Eurovision with Debs (part 1), Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, summary, result.

mountains and valleys

Snowdon, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I had a wonderful time in Wales. This photo was taken on our way down from the top of Snowdon. I'd never been up it before and it was beautiful. It was a hard climb, with a scary ridge and some even scarier scrambling across scree, but worth it for the views from the top.

Now I'm back at work, still aching from all that hard walking and very tired. It feels like I've gone straight from a mountain top to a valley. From all the time in the world, at least as long as the light lasts, to clock-watching and alarm clocks and no time to do anything. I've got to keep plodding on until the path starts to climb again.

escape

Tonight I'm off to North Wales for a long weekend. Lots of walking, fresh air, sunshine (I hope) and relaxation.

And no internet and no phone (I'm leaving it at home).

ttfn

a pocket a pocket!

pocket, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

You know you're bored when the most exciting moment of your day is discovering your new skirt has pockets.

Pretty new skirt and blouse, both from H&M.

If we're on the subject of fashion and frivolity, I am underwhelmed by Kate Moss's collection for Topshop. I happened to be in town at lunchtime, so took a look at what all the fuss was about and, it's not really me, I suppose. Skinny jeans and waistcoats and a couple of interesting jackets.

Now, Lily Allen's collection for New Look, that's more my kind of thing.

sunshine on Dartmoor

Hound Tor, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

It's been a good week.

HP and I went for a walk on Dartmoor on Thursday. We started off by Hound Tor and wiggled our way up and down to Bowerman's nose. The sun shone and everything was beautiful.

Save the William Morris Gallery

Jonathan Glancey's article in today's Guardian reminded me. The William Morris Gallery, which is very near my parents' house in Walthamstow, is under threat of drastically cut funding, which would see its opening hours cut to weekend and bank holidays and a huge reduction in its education work. Glancey says of visiting school children "Most have experienced nothing like it; a world of beautifully crafted romance. The rest of Walthamstow is virtually bereft of such special moments." I might beg to differ a little on the last point, Walthamstow's not quite the artistic desert he describes, but the overall point that the gallery is an important resource for the borough and a unique place which many people should have the chance to experience is one I whole-heartedly agree with.

If you agree too, there's more information about how to get involved in the campaign, including a link to the online petition on the Keep our museums open site. Vestry House Museum (the location of the column above) is also at risk.

can anyone tell me..

...why the BBC's standard pronunciation for Manuel de Falla's surname is "de FAL-li-ya" rather than "de FI-ya"?
Radio 3 have been doing it all week and now Counterpoint on Radio 4 are doing it too. Although the contestant pronunced it "de FI-ya".

barefoot in April

barefoot in April, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I'm having a lovely Saturday. Sunshine, warmth, music, poetry. At lunchtime I ate salad with perfectly ripe buttery avocado, tomatoes, peppers and tasty bacon and listened to cello suites on Radio 3 (Bach and Kodaly). Then I lazed in the garden reading poetry all afternoon. Bliss!

afternoon poetry

afternoon poetry, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I've been enjoying myself, curled up on cushions with textbooks and poetry. At the moment I'm working my way through the chapter on poets of the 30s and I'm loving it.

spring comes to Cambridge

spring comes to Cambridge, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

It's been beautifully sunny for the last couple of days, but today it's gone cold and misty again. I cycled the scenic route into town this morning, across Coldham's Common and along the river, parked the bike here and wandered around the town. It was too cold to stay out long, so I pootled back home for fresh coffee and my morning snack of humous and mange tout.

huh?

I've just been watching Napoleon Dynamite. I don't think I get it. Why do people love this film?

I liked the title sequence. The lat ten minutes or so so made me smile, but mostly, I really don't get it. It just left me blank and sometimes a little sad. And wanting never to live in a small town in America.

Anyone want to explain it to me?

moving the furniture

It's obviously a week for spring cleaning. I've got a couple of weeks holiday from work, which I'm mostly spending pottering round the house. Over Easter I was home with my family in London. Now I'm back in Cambridge and tidying stuff up, while my housemate clears out her room. It's a beautifully sunny day. What shall I do?

Oh and I've rearranged the blog. Let me know if anything looks odd.

good friday

crocus field, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

spring sky

spring sky, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Sometimes it feels like spring, sometimes it doesn't.

reality checkpoint

reality checkpoint, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Morning fog on Parker's Piece.

new hair

new hair, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I got my hair cut on Saturday. I like it!
The hairdresser got it to go all curly, which I rather liked. I couldn't quite recreate it this morning. I'll have to practise.

coruscating

It was something Nathan said about "Beatrice and Benedick and how we all want to be them but in real life we often aren't." Last night I watched Becoming Jane and was reminded. It's a fun film, pretty preposterous (my housemate Sophia was amused to learn a new word, she hadn't come across it before) and sentimental, but good for a girls' night out. There's an early scene in which Jane (Anne Hathaway, what is it with getting Americans to play Brits? She did it very well though) and the love interest Tom LeFroy (the very pretty James McAvoy) are dancing and sparring verbal points off each other as they dance. It's fun to watch them, knowing that they're as much fascinated by each other as they are irritated.

What is it that we love about witty pairs of lovers? Historically, Beatrice and Benedick have always been the favourite characters of Much Ado About Nothing. They're so much more interesting and human than the rather sappy Hero, who hardly says anything (I liked the production I saw once in which she was always trying to speak and being cut off by her father or uncle) and the idiotic Claudio. I think it's that we want to be witty, to have clever things to say and win the argument, but also that we want to have relationships that are alive and sparkling, where the other person provokes us, draws us out, makes us more alive.

They're a dangerous pair to emulate. It would be easy to look only at their verbal sparring and build relationships that are nothing but fine words. Perhaps more crucial than their friends' trickery in showing them their true feelings is the moment of testing provided by Claudio's rejection of Hero. In the chilling moment when Beatrice tells Benedick to "Kill Claudio", he must decide whether love for his friend or love for Beatrice is more important. Not that asking your boyfriend to kill his best friend is a good test for whether he loves you, but at the time where it matters, Benedick proves that there is more to their relationship than words and argument.

So why aren't we like Beatice and Benedick? Or Elizabeth and Darcy or any other pair of literary lovers? We aren't scripted by a genius for a start. We live in the real world, where arguments about silly petty things or big ones can hurt and wit can wound more than it means. Love is in the mundane and quotidian as much as in the sparkling and the heat. But it's also in the fizz as much as in the everyday. Either without the other would be incomplete.

escape!

You might have noticed I've moaned rather a lot about work on my blog. I love where I work and the people, but I don't really love what I do. During yet another whining phone call sometime in January, my lovely mummy said "Maybe it's time you looked for another job." Somehow, this wasn't what I expected her to say, but I'm so glad she did. She gave me permission to dream. So I thought and I dreamt and what I came up with was doing a PhD in English Literature, somewhere exciting, like the US or Australia or New Zealand, or...

I worked out that a) there wasn't enough time to apply for a PhD to start in September this year and b) I wasn't likely to get accepted on one with half a degree in Literature and not much research experience and only vague ideas of what I wanted to research. So, my first step is an MA course. I've applied and been accepted on a course at Anglia Ruskin, starting in September. I've told my boss I'm leaving, though I haven't yet formally resigned.

The rate at which I've changed jobs in the last few years seems a little crazy. Since I started this blog I've had 2 new jobs, both of which I've decided I want to leave after not much time. (About 4 months in the first case, a year in the second). But for once, this next step has a possible step beyond it and even possible steps beyond that. It's taken me a long time to realise it, but I seem to be a natural academic. Being in Cambridge has helped me figure that out. Part of my dissatisfaction with this job is the feeling that I'm sick of supporting other people to do research and I want to do some of my own.

It's a little scary, thinking about being a student again, especially the financial side and the idea of studying abroad for my PhD needs a lot of thought, planning, prayer and hard work. But I'm excited about the prospect of doing something I love.

spring is in the air

spring is in the air, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Today is sunny and spring-like. Still cold, but warmth is coming.

all that effort and nothing to show for it

You'd think if I was busy I'd have lots to blog about. Apparently not.

I did have a lovely weekend in Exeter. It was so good to get away from Cambridge and leave behind all the things that were making me busy. Had lunch with parents, sisters, grandparents, uncle and sister's boyfriend which was fun, though poor old Debs wasn't feeling well. HP was very good in Princess Ida. Stayed with my friend the lovely Miss P, who is currently doing the very grown-up thing of buying a flat. We did lots of catching up and relaxing and watching Comic Relief Does Fame Academy.

And then it was Monday morning and back into real life again. Tuesday night was great fun, the Rev concert. We rocked and a good time was had by all.

Suddenly, it's nearly the end of the week. I'm busy again tonight, but Friday night, I've nothing planned and then it's the weekend. Hooray! Slightly blighted by having to work at an event on Saturday (which means I have to miss a friend's birthday party, perhaps I'll get to the end), but I'm taking Monday off, so all is well.

..and breathe

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Next week is equally crazy, but at least I have the chance to grab a breath of fresh Devon air in between. I'm off to Exeter to see my sister HP in Princess Ida, meet up with my family, including Debs and stay with another HP, a friend from uni.

All I do is get through a morning at work and catch a train.

Have a lovely weekend.

waiting

I am not good at waiting. I always want things NOW! Actually that's not true with everything. Somethings are worth waiting for, like waiting for the right occasion to debut a new outfit, or saving that delicious piece of chocolate until you've got time to really savour it. But the things where I'm waiting on someone else are harder. Right now, I'm waiting for things to arrive in the post, for the results of an essay I handed in a while ago, for a response to an application I made, for the weekend.

I must be patient.

new dress

Showing off, mostly for my family's benefit. Here's the new dress I bought on Saturday from New Look, for the bargain price of £3. It's quite short. On Sunday I was feeling brave and wore it with tights and boots. Today, I'm wearing it over trousers (also bargainous but charity shopped). Ooh and the necklace is a charity shop find too.

Love it!

looking for spring

crocuses 2, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

It's being intermittently warm and springlike today. I took advantage of a sunny spell at lunchtime to go and look for crocuses along the backs. Outside Trinity's back gate, I found a carpet of lilac shimmering beneath the trees.

happy purple skirt

Today I'm wearing a new purple wool skirt, bought yesterday from the Oxfam shop. It's lovely and it's a whole size smaller. Hoorah!
I'll see if I can get a picture to show you.



Updated: Here's a picture. Looks a little Victorian with my hair up.

rushed off my feet

Brighton - red shoes, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

That's how I feel at the moment. Yesterday was the first evening this week where I was in and had no-one coming round. Not that those things aren't good, but it has been a busy week. I enjoyed myself, made experimental pudding (pearl barley, milk and nuts, rice pudding with barley instead of rice, basically) did some reading and started making notes for an essay. But tonight I'm out again and the weekend holds lots of busyness and every spare moment needs to be taken up with essay-writing. I like writing, but I could do with a little more sleep.

This photo is from last summer and it's a reminder that sometimes you need to take a moment to sit and relax and talk to God. Shoes off = I'm not going anywhere right now and I'm listening.

chocolate fondue

valentines meal, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

We had fun last night. Lots of food, lots of chat, watched Monsters, Inc (Why have I never seen it before? It's lovely!).

Valentines photo set

Happy Wednesday

It's a little wet and cold this wednesday, but I intend to enjoy it anyway. Tonight a bunch of my friends are coming round to eat chilli con carne, watch a silly film and have some fun.

Have a happy Wednesday, whatever you're up to.

plotting and planning and trying not to worry

I'm starting to plot my escape from my current job. I'm happy living here, church is great, I've got lovely friends. But work is getting me down. I'm bored, mostly. It galls me to say it, but I think that's the problem. So I've come up with an idea to do something I'd enjoy more. The idea's very new, but if it's going to happen I need to act quickly. I think it's a good idea, but no idea if anyone else does, or if God does. I'm trying to learn from the past and not worry, just trust and push doors.

Prayers appreciated!

style and substance

I've just been going through my wardrobe, discovering old clothes. Most fun, finding things that haven't fitted for years and finding that now, they do. Yay for shrinking me! Trouble is, the things I like best are the things I'm least likely to get to wear - a black empire line dress I made for a ball and wore once, a silk/linen blend tailored jacket in pale sky blue, perfect for a spring wedding, but not really the thing in freezing February. What to do? Anyone planning a ball in the next month or so? Or maybe a Pride and Prejudice themed party?

Actually, maybe I should just plan one of those, myself. Anyone want to come? We could watch P&P on DVD (we've got the BBC version at our house). We could see if we can teach ourselves some Regency dances, and generally flit around in pretty dresses. But we'd need some gorgeous menfolk to dress up in breeches. I can't actually see any of the men of my acquaintance finding it much fun. Ah well.

So I shall either have to overdress for work one of these days, or suddenly acquire some friends with the kind of lifestyles that require black tie several times a month. Shouldn't be too hard in Cambridge, right?

And looking on the bright side, when I lose more weight and all my clothes no longer fit me, I get to buy and make more. And an excuse for more clothes is always a good thing. :-)

little cold wooden horse

little cold wooden horse, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

The only camera I had on my way to work was my phone. I saw the little wooden horse looking all snowy and had to take his picture. I was surprised how well it came out.

snow day

snow day, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

It's back and it means it this time.

We were promised snow and snow we got. A few inches, I think and it's still coming down. I cycled in rather gingerly this morning.

green squiggle

Brighton - green doughnut squiggle, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Two of my favourite things to photograph - giant public sculpture and philosophical grafitti.

This one's in Brighton, near the pier (the one that has stuff on, rather than the one that's slowly falling into the sea.)

wedding gravestone

wedding - gravestone 2, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I took this at David and Zoe's wedding last July, while waiting around for official photographs.

I like the simplicity of the stone and inscription. It seemed fitting.

Flickr photoset for David and Zoe's wedding.

moo

moo, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Wow, a grumpy day when I almost decide to give up blogging and then suddenly, four posts in one day.

Home time soon. I shall leave you with this friendly cow.

proud cat

proud cat somewhere near Plockton, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I love this photo. It's the combination of the angle and the expression on the cat's face.

More photos from last year's Scottish holiday are on my flickr.

last night's dinner

dinner, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

The food I cooked last night looked so good, I had to take its picture.

It tasted delicious too.

A silent poetry reading

I found this on Mary's blog.

WHAT: A Bloggers' (Silent) Poetry Reading
WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2007
WHERE: Your blog
WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Bridgid, aka Groundhog Day
HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.
RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this post. Last year Reya put out the call and there was more poetry in cyberspace than she could keep track of. So, link to whomever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun.

DREAMS.
by Robert Herrick

Here we are all by day ; by night we're hurl'd
By dreams, each one into a sev'ral world.

There's a poem on pigwotknits too.

fish heads

fish heads, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Thanks guys.

I think I'm back to photo-blogging for a while.

I have nothing to say

I'm not really sure why I have a blog when I hardly have anything to say to anyone at the moment.

If I think of something to say, I'll get back to you.

thank you

Thank you comforting people. You're all very kind.

I am glad it's the weekend and that I have fun things to do and friends to spend time with.

Have a lovely weekend.

happy flowers

happy flowers, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

On the way home last night I bought big yellow smiley flowers to cheer myself up.

They do help a bit.

can I go home now?

It has been one of those days. Too much to do. Too many people demanding things to be done yesterday. Frustrations it seems no-one listens to, or at least frustration because I can't communicate the things I want to say to the people I need to say them to.

I've been in this job a year and I still don't feel like I can do it to anyone's satisfaction, least of all my own. I am uninspired.

I've been trying to think of exciting things to do for a holiday and deciding I am too scared to do any of them. I want to go somewhere exciting. But I hate travelling alone. I need people, a person to travel with. And a few more tons of confidence.

And I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Whenever that is.

Tell me nice things. Please. I'm hoping the main thing wrong with me is January and once it's gone away I'll feel better again. Hurry up Spring.

abstracts

shadows and refraction 1, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I seem to have been taking lots of terrible pictures lately.

But I think these are OK. See if you can guess what it is before clicking through to flickr to find out.

snow snow!

Cambridge snowscape, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

It snowed in the night! I didn't notice until I got downstairs to the bathroom and thought, it looks very light out there, I wonder did it... And I opened the window and there it was, white stuff over everything. Magic!

It's my little sister's birthday today. Unfortunately she's down in the South West and didn't get snow. And she's got an exam today.
Happy Birthday HP! I hope it's good despite the exam. :-)

aches and pains

This weekend was fun. Lots of knitting, lots of reading and a celidh on Saturday (the cause of the aches and pains. It's fun whirling round as fast as you can, but you do feel it the next day). Now I'm back at work and realising I'm bored. I've lost my initial excitement for my job now I've been at it a year and I know what I'm doing. Most of the time. Time to think of ways to make my job more exciting.

huh?

Just had to share my favourite google search so far. Someone clicked through to my blog from the search "Ricky Martin Assyrian". What exactly where they looking for?

not today's weather

boat on the Cam, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Cambridge is wet and cold and windy this week. Here's a reminder that it isn't always like that.

happy

Despite evidence to the contrary (like today's earlier post) and blips like this weekend (very flat, mainly due to tiredness and a modicum of disappointment), I am mostly happy at the moment. This feels like an achievement. I spent lots of 2006 being not happy, and lonely and a bit moany and grumpy (see the archives).

I put this down to lots of things. A warm and friendly place to live, lots of really good friends, a job that, while being hard and sometimes frustrating, I'm excited about, being settled in one place for a good length of time and, I'd say, most importantly, God. I learnt a lot last year about how much God loves me. Not because I'm better than anyone else, or more important, or more holy, but because he does. And that's a pretty mind-blowing, joyful-making thing to know. And one I want to hang onto and know more and more.

Monday mess

I've arrived at work and caused a mess of panic and disorganisation which I'm now trying to untangle. It's my own fault for leaving undone things which should have been done months ago. Oh dear.

Hello to all those people who de-lurked! Nice to know someone's out there reading.

zonk

It's been a long week, having worked all last weekend. I did have Tuesday off, but it wasn't much of a break. I think all the busy-ness finally caught up with me this afternoon, I'm suddenly exhausted.

Day off tomorrow and then it's the weekend.

Do something pretty while you can.

See you Monday. :-)

say hello

I notice it's Annual De-lurking week. Time for all those people who read and never comment to say hi.

So if that's you, leave a comment. If you want something to say, then tell me what was the most exciting thing to happen to you this week. Or just say hello.

little little me

There's a picture of me on Debs' blog. And Debs and her friend Esther. All looking very sweet and young circa 1985. Go and have a look.

look up

I've just seen the most beautiful sunset and, something even more exciting, a comet. Comet McNaught, visible today just after sunset, above the horizon, a little East of Venus. I've never seen a comet before. It was beautiful, a bright nucleus and a long tail streaming behind it.

You might catch it in the sky tomorrow, although it'll be lower in the sky tomorrow and the weather forecast isn't so good. According to the British Astronomical Association, comet McNaught will be at perihelion (closest to the sun) on 12 January, when it "could be brighter than Venus".

blue sky year

morning sky, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

2007 seems full of possibilities. I don't know what's going to happen this year, but I'm feeling excited about it.

what you lookin at?

what you lookin at?, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

On the weekend of my birthday, a bunch of us walked up Magog Down around sunset. I took pictures, of people, sheep and the sunset.

The sheep ones came out best.

Quail eggs

Quail eggs, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Cooking for New Year's Eve.

They were tasty.

well, maybe my nose

It's sore. It's streaming. The cold is still here. Grrr. I'm going through tissues at a ridiculous rate and my nose is bright red.

On the other hand. It's not raining. And I have new bike lights and I'm not going out tonight and both my housemates are back.

things fall apart

Not me, I'm fine. Got a bit of a cold, but otherwise I'm enjoying the novelty of having the same job before and after Christmas. It hasn't happened for a while. No, it's my stuff that's falling apart. This weekend saw the demise of my front bike light (age estimated at 15-20 years, so it's not suprising, although they were only in active use for about 5 of those years), my CD player (age 10-12 years? Fortunately it's only the CD bit that's died, the radio still works) and a sewing machine needle (age unknown).

The bike lights and the needle have been replaced. I'm working on the CD player. Stops me buying any more CDs (maybe it objected to my most recent purchase - Alice by Tom Waits, although it was playing Jamie Cullum that killed it.) but it's silly to have CDs and nothing to play them on. Any recommendations? I like my current player because it has a radio, CD player and tape player, and because it has a remote control so I can turn it on and off without getting out of bed. Or does everyone have iPods and all their music on their laptop these days? Anyone?

going home for Christmas

frost and fog, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Not long now until Christmas. I'm heading to London and then Cheltenham tomorrow. Probably not much blogging over the next week or so, although I might do a 2006 roundup at some point.

Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas, whatever you get up to.

I'll see you in the New Year.

odd day

The back brake on my bike jammed this morning, so I had to take it to the bike shop and then walk to work. Today has been a bit disjointed so far. Work has been broken up by the delivery of a large quantity of lunch from the caterers we're trying out and an important phone call to ask a question to which I didn't know the answer and will be broken up again by walking to fetch my bike from the repair shop at 4pm.

Currently stuck in my head, Victoria by the Kinks, or more likely the version by The Fall since that's the one I've heard most recently. All the fault of this post about Christmas traditions on 'Tis the Season. Which is far more entertaining than my wittering, so go and read that instead.

pink fog

pink fog, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

The day stayed cold and frosty and got foggy.
The fog made the trees beautiful and mysterious. As the sun went down, everything turned pink.

mulberry bush morning

frosty web 2, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

It's cold and frosty, a proper winter day. Outside the back gate, the spider webs are wearing diamonds.

yesterday was a good day

light sticks 002, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Christmas services at church, including a carol service in the evening when I sang in the choir. We had a houseful of people round for lunch and spent the afternoon chatting and having fun. Then after church, a bunch of us went to The Snug, where there's a guy with a piano playing jazz-ish stuff on Sunday nights and someone gave us light sticks to play with.

is this thing on?

I've moved to Blogger beta. I think.

See if this works.

Queen of Carthage acheived nothing (4)*

Today's been a good day and a bad day.

Good day: I had a meeting with someone who does a vaguely equivalent job to mine in another organisation and got all inspired about ways I could do my job better and things I could do.

Bad day: Lots of the things I could do involve doing scary things I don't like, like networking and phoning people up and there's only little old me to do them. This is probably why I've achieved nothing since I got back from the meeting and feel all worn out and daunted by the whole thing again.

Other news: This is now the longest lasting job I've had. Which ought to be celebrated in some way.

This is my least favourite time of year because I have to get up in the dark, go home in the dark and generally never see my home in the daylight during the week. It's also a fun time of year because it's nearly Christmas.

I'm going to a party on Saturday and the theme is 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. Any ideas what I should dress up as? Preferably something easy and non-embarassing. If I had unlimited time, money and bravery I'd make something like Bjork's swan dress (scroll down), but in the real world, that's never going to work. Might manage a swan beak I suppose. Or borrow a recorder, convince lots of other people to find recorders so we can be 10 pipers piping.

*It's a cryptic crossword clue. See if you can answer it in the comments.

sunday morning sky

sunday morning sky 9, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I'm back in internet contact.

Here's the amazing Sunday morning sky from a week ago yesterday. I was in Northamptonshire on my church 18-30s group weekend away. I had a brilliant time.

it's raining, it's pouring

I'm at home in Walthamstow while Turk gets his running board fixed. It's raining.

On the bus coming back from the garage this morning, I overheard a lad in a baseball cap talking on his mobile. He had a deep voice and a way of Enunciating. Every. Word. so that whatever he said sounded terribly sinister.

"You. Sat. On. The. Bench.
I Know You.
You. Did. You. Were. On. The. BENCH!

You Stayed. At. Your. MUM'S. Did. You? At. Your MUM's?"

Most odd.

all quiet again

I've got a work off work next week, so blogging may be quiet. I might get to a computer at home I suppose.

See you soon!

you can learn a lot through procrastinating

I've been wandering through the archives of the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, a compedium of intriguing and downright bizarre objects, images and stories.

From the society's webpage: "The Athanasius Kircher Society was chartered to perpetuate the spirit and sensibilities of the late Athanasius Kircher, SJ. Our interests extend to the wondrous, the curious, the singular, the esoteric, the arcane, and the sometimes hazy frontier between the plausible and the implausible — anything that Father Kircher might find cool if he were alive today."

Apart from the objects themselves, I'm fascinated by the variation in the comments from readers. For instance, most posts seem to get half a dozen comments or so, if that, like this one abut the largest flower in the world or The Museum of Scientifically Accurate Fabric Brain Art. Yet this post about a cat piano (admittedly a rather cruel idea) had gathered 129 comments when I last looked (some of them offensive, be warned). Worth a look, although some of the exhibits are a little on the macabre side. Perhaps not a website to browse while eating.

own up

Who arrived here looking for a picture of a pig dressed as a reindeer?

I do love site meters.

squish

autumn into winter - berries, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

These berries are everywhere, all over the carpark and the bike racks, squished onto bikes and the soles of my shoes.

sleepy Friday

I had fun last night. Singing in a concert with my gospel choir, then after performance drinks, then sampled the delights of that Cambridge institution Gardies for the first time (Falafel, delicious, but enormous), then sat around in someone's room in Trinity, eating biscuits and being silly. It was good pretending to be a student again, but not so good when I had to get up for work this morning. Good thing it's nearly the weekend.

gold on brown

autumn into winter - leaves, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Not this morning, but a couple of days ago. As I walk from the bike racks into work each morning, the low sun hits the leaves and the gravel just so, making beautiful patterns.

Off to sing soon. Hooray!

Wednesday morning 8am

Wednesday morning 8am, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Or thereabouts.

The view from my bedroom window.

autumn into winter

autumn into winter 3, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Remember what these trees looked like a few weeks ago? This morning, they're bare and wintry.

Christmas silliness

reindeer, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Not a great photo, but representative of a surreal interlude yesterday. The gospel choir I sing in performed at the turning on of the Cambridge Christmas lights (I think we sounded good. I had a solo, which is always fun). Beforehand we warmed up inside the Guildhall, where someone found a reindeer costume hanging around. Soon after this was taken, a pearly king arrived to claim it. We wondered along the corridor, past people with bunches of balloons, giant instrument cases and people dressed up as a fairy (very brave, it was cold) and a duck (or maybe a goose). We waited in the cold for a brass band to finish and gave them a huge round of applause as they trooped past. Then we squeezed onto the tiny stage, sang our songs to a friendly, but not overly enthusiastic crowd, trooped off again, and dispersed. Fun, but a little surreal.

November evening

The day got better. As the sun got lower in the sky, it lit up the leaves so that they glowed, making then look almost unearthly in their contrast to the grey sky.

lonely horse and friend

lonely horse and friend, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I first noticed him at night, when he looked lonely and sad. But this morning, I discovered he has a friend, if only in daylight.

(I tried to post this yesterday morning, but blogger wasn't co-operating. Yesterday was beautifully sunny, but today is wet and grey and gloomy.)

oh dear

Every time I see the title of yesterday's post, the radio inside my head (everyone has one of those, right?) starts playing Kiss me by Sixpence none the richer. Not good. It's a sweet song, but not to have playing in your head all day.

I have a picture to post, but blogger's playing up. Perhaps tomorrow it will co-operate.

bring bring

bring bring, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

This is the bell on my (t)rusty bike, Gertrude.
It's very useful when cycling across Parker's Piece, especially in the dark, because otherwise pedestrians can't hear you coming up behind them.
Wellington Womble* reminds me of my friend Kate from university, who had a Womble rucksack. The red thing is a squashed berry from the tree which overhangs the bike racks at work.

*You can find out what a Womble is here.

weatherbeaten

dead bug, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I have nothing to say at the moment. Well, I have, but most of it's whiny. I thought I was feeling better about life, but I'm not, right now. I'm going to try to post pictures of stuff every day until I have something worthwhile to say with words.

not dead, busy

It's going to be quiet here this week. I've got lots on at work and no time to think.

bizzy backson.

unhappy bug

furry bug, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Turk got bashed. :-(

It wasn't my fault, he was parked and someone went into him. I think all that's damaged is the running board on the driver's side and some scrapes on the paint. Fortunately, the person who ran into him was honest enough to own up and was very apologetic. Still, I could have done without that news last night after a long and frustating day.

It's only a thing and it's fixable. It's just it's one more thing that needs doing when I've no time to do anything about it.