world cup fever has officially hit our office. the uk loses its collective head at world cup time - it really has to be seen to be believed. we have done the obligatory draw at work and it is unlikely that i will be recouping my fiver as i've drawn switzerland and greece (both with current odds of 125/1).
my cake turned out well :)
and my coworkers bought me lovely wine and chocolate for my birthday :)
go greece!
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
snazzy new swimming costumes
i love how the british say swimming costume. it makes me envision fully outfitted clowns or something in the pool.
anyways, turns out there are "pool suits" for regular swimmers which are suited to the chlorine in pools. the alternative, as i have discovered, is a swimsuit that rapidly thins, even during wearing. quite a startling feeling, i can assure you. i am now the proper owner of 3 snazzy "pool suits" - the one above is my favourite. i tried it out tonight and i positively swished through the water. then i messed up my breathing on the turn and nearly choked to death. i'm a very stylish and debonair swimmer as you can tell.
in other news i am baking a cake that had the temerity to call for 2 8 inch pans when all i have are 9 inch, so i winged it, and the result is mixed. I will have my work cut out for me frosting it tomorrow. may the goddess of straight cutting smile upon me. the cake is for me - it's my birthday on friday :) at work, we bring in goodies for our birthdays, or, in one man's case, when the spurs win a game.
and so to bed
Friday, 4 June 2010
wine tastings
1. nettle wine
making: argh. nettles. how exactly do you define a nettle tip? ouch. ouch. ouch.
bottling: hmmmm. maybe this will improve with age.
aging: OMG what was that noise? did something crash through a window? uh oh, another nettle wine bottle exploded....
tasting: first taste - this tastes like medicine. fifth taste - *hic* very strong medicine
verdict: probably good for vikings. hippy vikings.
2. cranberry wine
making: i am going to channel martha stewart and have the best thanksgiving evah.
bottling: go go go. i know, 2 weeks short, but thanksgiving waits for no one. i'm sure you won't be able to tell.
aging: unimpaired as was disgusting at thanksgiving. forgotten about for 8 months.
tasting: wow - this is drinkable
verdict: probably an accident
3. peach wine
making: peaches, yum. what could possibly go wrong?
bottling: is it just me or is this a little syrupy?
aging: you open it. no you open it. no you open it. isn't there some nettle wine we could have instead?
tasting: bland syrup. how is this possible? very alcoholic bland syrup.
verdict: stick it under the stairs maybe it will turn into schnapps.
4. elderflower wine
making: are we done yet? no - you will never be done. there are still 3 million teeny tiny flower heads to pull off of recalcitrant stems.
bottling: yum. juice.
aging: it's winter. elderflower is wrong. easy to age until the first sign of spring, then, - save it for summer! but - but - but
tasting: yummy. perfect for summer, but you'll never know because you have drunk all 5 gallons of it before the end of may.
verdict: *hic* hail hail the elder tree
elderflowers are out. tomorrow is our first picking day. the race is on.
making: argh. nettles. how exactly do you define a nettle tip? ouch. ouch. ouch.
bottling: hmmmm. maybe this will improve with age.
aging: OMG what was that noise? did something crash through a window? uh oh, another nettle wine bottle exploded....
tasting: first taste - this tastes like medicine. fifth taste - *hic* very strong medicine
verdict: probably good for vikings. hippy vikings.
2. cranberry wine
making: i am going to channel martha stewart and have the best thanksgiving evah.
bottling: go go go. i know, 2 weeks short, but thanksgiving waits for no one. i'm sure you won't be able to tell.
aging: unimpaired as was disgusting at thanksgiving. forgotten about for 8 months.
tasting: wow - this is drinkable
verdict: probably an accident
3. peach wine
making: peaches, yum. what could possibly go wrong?
bottling: is it just me or is this a little syrupy?
aging: you open it. no you open it. no you open it. isn't there some nettle wine we could have instead?
tasting: bland syrup. how is this possible? very alcoholic bland syrup.
verdict: stick it under the stairs maybe it will turn into schnapps.
4. elderflower wine
making: are we done yet? no - you will never be done. there are still 3 million teeny tiny flower heads to pull off of recalcitrant stems.
bottling: yum. juice.
aging: it's winter. elderflower is wrong. easy to age until the first sign of spring, then, - save it for summer! but - but - but
tasting: yummy. perfect for summer, but you'll never know because you have drunk all 5 gallons of it before the end of may.
verdict: *hic* hail hail the elder tree
elderflowers are out. tomorrow is our first picking day. the race is on.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Monday, 24 May 2010
i want out!
it's monday. i'm at work. it's beautiful. i want to go outside! i want to be swimming! it's too nice to be in here.
on the otherhand i also want to be paid...
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Friday, 21 May 2010
it's friday!!!!!
oh yes. a very friday sort of friday, the best kind.
i snuck out of work at 215 this afternoon (ok i didn't sneak - one of the advantages of being a contractor is that, on friday, at any time, you get to say, "see you monday" and no one is allowed to say anything but "have a good weekend". we don't get holiday or sick pay but we do get that). unfortunately "due to signaling problems in the gravesend area" my train sat at st pancras for 45 minutes, but i remained stoic, resolutely watching mad men episodes until my laptop ran out of battery.
the wool i'd ordered was waiting for me when i (finally) arrived home - and it is wonderful lovely strings of candy-like potential that i will doubtless fail to draw out, but it will be my first proper project, one that i am making up myself, and i don't care. i'm just excited and can't wait to have a go. or two or three or four.... i'll keep you posted until it gets monotonous. (just don't mention the hat)
two happy pints at the elephant in the late afternoon sunshine, and now out in our garden, admiring the frankly spectacular show of leaves the trees have put on this year. spring has been so late here - last year we were doing this in april, but now that it's here (please be here) it is worth the wait.
this weekend the forecast is sun sun sun. i don't have to work (get thee behind me, dissertation) and i plan on soaking up every last ray of it.
yay friday!
yay weekend!
yay exclamation marks! i know i use them too much but - hey!
!!
!
i snuck out of work at 215 this afternoon (ok i didn't sneak - one of the advantages of being a contractor is that, on friday, at any time, you get to say, "see you monday" and no one is allowed to say anything but "have a good weekend". we don't get holiday or sick pay but we do get that). unfortunately "due to signaling problems in the gravesend area" my train sat at st pancras for 45 minutes, but i remained stoic, resolutely watching mad men episodes until my laptop ran out of battery.
the wool i'd ordered was waiting for me when i (finally) arrived home - and it is wonderful lovely strings of candy-like potential that i will doubtless fail to draw out, but it will be my first proper project, one that i am making up myself, and i don't care. i'm just excited and can't wait to have a go. or two or three or four.... i'll keep you posted until it gets monotonous. (just don't mention the hat)
two happy pints at the elephant in the late afternoon sunshine, and now out in our garden, admiring the frankly spectacular show of leaves the trees have put on this year. spring has been so late here - last year we were doing this in april, but now that it's here (please be here) it is worth the wait.
this weekend the forecast is sun sun sun. i don't have to work (get thee behind me, dissertation) and i plan on soaking up every last ray of it.
yay friday!
yay weekend!
yay exclamation marks! i know i use them too much but - hey!
!!
!
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
sigh
so we're under a conservative government for the first time in 13 years. i am ideologically opposed to most of what the tories stand for, and i really can't stand this lot. the only saving grace (maybe) is which way the coalition with the lib dems lines up, if it goes through. please, please do not let george osborne be chancellor. ideally, not in the cabinet at all. that would go some way to the soothing of my soul. it should be interesting to hear how the lib dem party reacts when nick takes it to them tonight - and maybe this is churlish, but i always suspected the lib dems to swing rightward when given the opportunity. that whole orange book business was the canary in the coal mine.
at the moment though i'm going to go to bed. i need to be up early tomorrow - i snooze-alarmed past two trains on monday morning and one train this morning and tomorrow i must get up or i won't make my early meeting. the temptation to open a (large) bottle of wine is nearly overwhelming but it is only tuesday and i'll be damned if i'm going to waste my weeknight abstaining on the bloody tories. anyways i'm going to the pub tomorrow for lunch (a "brainstorming working lunch"!) so i'll save my transgressions until then.
in nicer news, i finally got around to getting a reader's pass for the british library - it was easy, and they were very nice. i'm still intimidated to the point of squeeking but i assume this will pass. i do not think, though, that i will ever be cavalier about it.
i also have a swish new hair cut, first in 5 months. my hairdresser is a fantastic no-nonsense londoner, an island of sanity in an ocean of trendy london hair fashion. she held up one lank of hair, eyed me in the mirror and said, "it's been awhile." "yes" i agreed meekly. she eyed up the tress, did some internal calculations and said accusingly, "5 months". "really?" i tried to sound surprised. she gave me a look, but no more was said. and it does look lovely now. yay to good hairdressers. i love her especially because a) she doesn't talk much, and b) has never said i should think about getting highlights. so my hair is going white. big deal. i like it this way.
that was longer than intended. i am now going to bed.
at the moment though i'm going to go to bed. i need to be up early tomorrow - i snooze-alarmed past two trains on monday morning and one train this morning and tomorrow i must get up or i won't make my early meeting. the temptation to open a (large) bottle of wine is nearly overwhelming but it is only tuesday and i'll be damned if i'm going to waste my weeknight abstaining on the bloody tories. anyways i'm going to the pub tomorrow for lunch (a "brainstorming working lunch"!) so i'll save my transgressions until then.
in nicer news, i finally got around to getting a reader's pass for the british library - it was easy, and they were very nice. i'm still intimidated to the point of squeeking but i assume this will pass. i do not think, though, that i will ever be cavalier about it.
i also have a swish new hair cut, first in 5 months. my hairdresser is a fantastic no-nonsense londoner, an island of sanity in an ocean of trendy london hair fashion. she held up one lank of hair, eyed me in the mirror and said, "it's been awhile." "yes" i agreed meekly. she eyed up the tress, did some internal calculations and said accusingly, "5 months". "really?" i tried to sound surprised. she gave me a look, but no more was said. and it does look lovely now. yay to good hairdressers. i love her especially because a) she doesn't talk much, and b) has never said i should think about getting highlights. so my hair is going white. big deal. i like it this way.
that was longer than intended. i am now going to bed.
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