and february can bite my arse

i think it's safe to say that now - it's only a few hours till march is in and surely revenge takes time?

i saw out february in the best way possible seeing as the sun has not shone on this land for a good fortnight. a friend of mine (a very lovely friend indeed) organised for four of us to have a spa day today - courtesy of her - in celebration of unexpected funds appearing, and the general necessity of this sort of thing at this time of year. in an extremely unfortunate turn of events, one of the snappers belonging to the above came down with scarlet fever - which was a relief because it looked like meningitis and there was a rush to the hospital which gives you a flavour of what last night was like for them. he was to be discharged today, but by then one and possibly two snappers of super lovely friend also caught the victorian malady and it ended up that only two of us enjoyed the much anticipated spa day. it was still a lovely (though guilt-tinged) day and i am now more relaxed than a bag of frogs. on xanax. the frogs, i mean, not me.

so. being this relaxed is crap for pithy updates or observations on life. who cares? gill scott heron is on spotify, and yes, if i was down and out and did not know what to do, i would indeed call on lady jane and john coltrane.

this year has been tougher than expected - the year anniversary of my dad's death has been effecting - in many ways. i didn't really expect that - i thought we were through with most of that. it's good though- it's healthy, and i'm ok and the people i love are ok - and that's a lot - but i'm glad to start to move on now.

"and they'll take your troubles your troubles your troubles your troubles away...."

hello march - we've been expecting you!

i also have this huge unquenchable desire to KNIT ALL THE THINGS!!!!! is it spring fever? at this rate i'm going to have to quit my job for more knitting time...

preparing for an eventual spring

when we first moved "to the countryside" from london, there was a lot to learn. such as the fact that it is only possible to buy logs in the winter. when one thinks about this, it makes sense: logs = fireplace/woodburner = not necessary in summer. however we use logs outside, in a fire pit, all summer (whenever it stops raining so next to nothing last year). after two summers of disappointment  (once due to ignorance, once to laziness), we now know that if we need logs, get them well before thoughts of late and balmy evenings are taking root.

which explains why we had a delivery of half a truck of logs this morning, on a day so cold the wind literally takes your breath away, to a house with no chimney and therefore no fireplace.

there can be no doubt that we are optimists.

snapshot

-da-da- hey hey hey hey
-da-da-hey hey hey hey
don't you - forget about me

simple minds on the radio in the cab of the lorry. the lorry is so big i have to reach above my head to open the door. i'm sitting in the front seat looking out at sheets of rain through a foggy windscreen. london looks different from up here. the lorry belongs to our removal contractor. i have a crew out today picking up desks and cabinets from another site that i will need for the weekend when we're re-designing a floor in our main building. the boys let me ride along because it's quicker, even though we're not really supposed to. the driver is giving a running commentary on how senseless london drivers are. there is an obvious fraternity and courteous respect between the drivers of these huge trucks on narrow roads. there seems to be a code, but if i asked, he'd drive in silence for the rest of the job. two young guys and my foreman are talking shit in the back of the cab. something about football transfers. "it sucks being the only kid not opening presents at christmas" one of them says. they all laugh.

the music is a perfect fit.

laa la-la-la-laa la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
laa la-la-la-laa la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

snow

as witnessed in the post below, the uk really loses its collective head over snowflakes. i've lived here now for 16 1/2 years and this is one thing that i still fundamentally do not understand. it is forecast to snow tomorrow -  in wales, quite a lot of snow (even for canada!), and maybe 5-10 cm for the rest of us. maybe. for faversham, there is an amber cold weather warning, and light snow forecast from friday lunchtime until monday, more or less.

no big deal right? well, ordinarily i'd just be doing my snow dance and keeping all my fingers crossed - i love it when it snows here. but i have an office moved scheduled for saturday, and today i had to weigh up the pros and cons (and likelihood of disruption) and i had to do so by 2pm. here my rational mind and psyche divide.

my rational mind knows perfectly well that 24 hours of snow = major train cancellations, and that southeastern's response to trains being stuck overnight with no power, heating, light, or food has been to issue train conductors with foil blankets and glow sticks . not to mention the chance that my lorries will get all gummed up in the ice/idiot driving that surfaces upon london snowflakes. so i rescheduled the move.

my inner canadian is having a fit.

i tell her - look - you are being rational. this is how it works. you know this. even though every winter on the one day it snows you still trudge to the station and are still surprised (every year) to find no trains running and you come home and feel guilty all day for not trying hard enough - you know this. it will snow and the lorry won't get through and the train will be cancelled and you could be stuck in london or worse (much much worse) on an actual train and you will be forced to go to plan b anyways. so? what's the problem?

but it really really bugs me.

anyways on the upside - SNOW!!!!

commence snow dance in 3 - 2 - 1

seriously?

ah bbc. it's your subtlety i really love...

christmas 2012

i'm alive (croak)

this latest distinct lack of posts has been brought to you courtesy of a really crappy and persistent bout of flu. my 11 glorious wine-soaked gluttunous days off transformed into fever sweats and a throat so sore that little tears welled up in my eyes on each swallow. my christmas fairy is obviously a sadistic little bugger.

i'm on the mend now, and on the up-side, i still have leftover christmas wine and champagne. january is looking up.

busy days

newly knit socks with gratuitous dog

gingerbread not showing up so well on a brown table-top

christmas tree

n's sourdough bread

no pics of the beautiful carol service in canterbury cathedral last wednesday - it began in the dark with just the sound of a chorister singing once in royal david's city. made all the hairs on your neck stand up. then one by one, lighting the candles everyone was holding, until the whole cathedral was candle-lit. you could imagine people doing the same thing for the last 500 years. it made me cry. my dad would have loved it, so i  loved it for both of us.

no pics either of last christmas parcels posted and not-quite-written christmas cards (last post is thursday. that's - like - buckets of time. it will be fine). 

no pics of n snoozing on the couch after watching white christmas this evening - i think he has been  schmoozed into oblivion. not much chance of a white christmas out here - after some promising frosts this week it is now raining raining raining. what a surprise. 

last week of work for the year - and full steam ahead on the xmas prepping! the end is in sight - hang in there peoples....

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.