wednesday? really?

i'm sitting with humph on our ugly sofa that was supposed to be temporary. it would be ok if it was ugly and comfortable, but it is, alas, just ugly. humph, who has a fine-tuned sense of beauty, for a dog, grimaces every time he deigns to jump up and join us for snuggles. at least, i hope it's the sofa he's grimacing at.

i've been working at home - a day of sorting through project invoicing. and that my friends, is about as much fun as it sounds. it has left me knackered, splayed across the sofa with a hundred yard stare. (edited to add - it's me, not the sofa with the hundred yard stare. although, that would probably explain why it makes us so uncomfortable)

help is at hand. h&j are arriving imminently with wine and tales of teaching and toddlers. if i am honest, i would rather (far rather) deal with project invoicing than a toddler.

even though we have sworn - sworn not to drink much tonight, n and i have already happily guzzled nearly through a good third of the first bottle. project invoicing will do that to you. i sense a dreadful case of wine flu on the morrow...

autumnal

is a great word - sounds so prestigious. autumnal.

i love autumn. trees trees trees. i am an uncontrollable picker-upper of leaves, which i then press into unsuspecting books and promptly forget about them. surprise ending indeed.

this morning the sun shone, the ground was frosty, and the trees were magnificent:

this is humphrey's look of enquiring disdain when i am not keeping up due to examining leaves and taking tree pictures:

that dog is amazingly eloquent. last wednesday n had a band practise here, and about 1030 pm humph decided he'd had enough and stood in the living room doorway, literally humphing and glaring at everyone. his message was clear. unfortunately for humph, everyone just laughed. "ah poor old humph" we say, and he sighs and goes to bed.

we also did some serious xmas prepping today:

36 bottles (6 gallons) of spiced ginger wine, and 40 pints of dark xmas ale. yum. sit tight my pretties, we will be with you shortly...

november is a great time of year. the dark days are here, but xmas is just around the corner, and everything starts vamping up. my calendar is gaining lovely entries like "xmas drinks" and "h's school concert at canterbury cathedral". we are discussing plans for boxing day and new years and looking forward to the break. so much anticipation even as adults - how do children manage?

i must stop now - i have slipped in at n's computer "for a second" and he is muttering darkly about my definition of "quick". i tried pointing out that in relation to, say, glaciers, i am positively speedy, but he is having none of it. i think he and humph are in cahoots.