Gosh, I am still here.
It has been a long couple of days.
My wrist, for reasons that remain unclear for the last gosh knows how many years has blown up out of all size delivered lots of pain and made things like changing gear or using a keyboard not an option.
These have also been things that knees and ankles and things have done before.
Copious drugging normally knocks this one out but it has failed this time meaning the device of last resort has been used - a visit to the doctor.
Medication in this case being a non steroidal anti inflammatory that has side effects that make you wonder if pain is not actually a better choice.
But of course a visit to doc changed all that, new meds, not the one that has been making me very reluctant to take it for years but a new one, this one seems to work and I don't feel nearly as bad with it either.
On top of this the grim reaper has been abroad. No I don't mean the Ankou, the old person with the hood and the scythe, I mean something even more scary management with a scythe.
When we first moved here I had this gut feeling that there here strimmer things were a lot less useful than my granddad's old scythe had been.
Of course we are going back a good few years since I had the use of that.
Now, fueled by auction folly we each have a scythe and she went on a scythology course.
Bad move, she has come home all fired up and the realization has been reinforced, scything is a skill but when you have it you can forget the strimmer, this thing lunches grass that a stimmer will not look at.
Then of course we have the mad axe man.
Well no Ok the mad AX man.
Tallie has really sprouted his wings and taken to the car like a duck to water.
His sister I recently promoted as her mothers daughter, he is now his mothers son.
Getting into the car is to brace legs against the cab corners and grit teeth.
This weekend builds though.
With Bethan having a slot in the local folk festival lots of practice has been going on and rounding up of mates has been occurring.
Saturday, I could be down the valley playing fire engines and instead I will be in town supporting my daughter and ohh err maybe drinking beer....
Sorry if this is not too tight or coherent but I think these meds have a lot to answer for.
R
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Thursday, 13 May 2010
A delight of days.
Today the management was off in college so peace reigned - well it might.
I have a paper to co write and a huge hole was made in it today.
A medical broke up the day and all was well with the world.
Even better when the management came home with her certificate of Mathness.
But more than that, it was brill, management took Branwen into town in the AX.
Or put another way sat in the car with her alter ego.
I am not quite clear what went down but, a close encounter with a tanker was mentioned.
The same corner was dealt with in the same style. If it affected me it seemed to have galvanised management.
She says she is not getting in a car with Branwen again - period.
I know that feeling.
R
I have a paper to co write and a huge hole was made in it today.
A medical broke up the day and all was well with the world.
Even better when the management came home with her certificate of Mathness.
But more than that, it was brill, management took Branwen into town in the AX.
Or put another way sat in the car with her alter ego.
I am not quite clear what went down but, a close encounter with a tanker was mentioned.
The same corner was dealt with in the same style. If it affected me it seemed to have galvanised management.
She says she is not getting in a car with Branwen again - period.
I know that feeling.
R
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
fear is the key.....
It's odd being a parent. One minute you are staying up all night with a braying baby and the next you are going broke trying to pay for driving lessons.
Of course I remember my first car, I think everyone does. Mine was a Morris Minor 1000, a lovely little 4 door car that lasted me over 3 years and took me on countless voyages of discovery and adventures. Simple, cheap on parts and it succesfully defied my every attempt to tune it.
It was, brakes aside, pretty bomb proof too. The handling was very well matched to the power available even if the brakes were, even by the standards of the period, not brilliant.
Of course things teleport onwards and for my kids I have the equivalent ideal first car.
A 1.0L petrol Citroen AX. Cheap to buy, easy to drive, holds the road like a limpet but, hmm, the brakes are not anything to write poems about - just like a moggy thou!!
But the engine revs like a mad thing will do 80 MPH and more importantly 50 MPG.
Seats 2 adults in the front and 3 small children in the back.
Of course that is not to reach the main point, once you have bought the thing then you have to get used to sitting in the passenger seat.
"Of course she is OK to go out in it" said Branwens driving instructor.
So I did.
You know, there is something in this genetics thing after all.
Her twin, Taliesin is like his father: cool, calm, collected, fast but smooth, I can sit in a car with him - no probs.
Branwen, ahh well, she is her mothers daughter, arrived at the first bend carrying way too much speed, realised she had her boots on so she could not quite get the brakes, realised it was too late to slow down so applied exactly the right ammount of throttle to hold the car steady through the bend right on it's limits. We saild through with the AX adopting simply silly amounts of roll. Truly, a lovely piece of driving.
Me, I found God, all these years he has been hiding in the footwell of that AX, I bumped into him when I took cover. Can't say I blame him, seemed a good place to be to me.
Of course I remember my first car, I think everyone does. Mine was a Morris Minor 1000, a lovely little 4 door car that lasted me over 3 years and took me on countless voyages of discovery and adventures. Simple, cheap on parts and it succesfully defied my every attempt to tune it.
It was, brakes aside, pretty bomb proof too. The handling was very well matched to the power available even if the brakes were, even by the standards of the period, not brilliant.
Of course things teleport onwards and for my kids I have the equivalent ideal first car.
A 1.0L petrol Citroen AX. Cheap to buy, easy to drive, holds the road like a limpet but, hmm, the brakes are not anything to write poems about - just like a moggy thou!!
But the engine revs like a mad thing will do 80 MPH and more importantly 50 MPG.
Seats 2 adults in the front and 3 small children in the back.
Of course that is not to reach the main point, once you have bought the thing then you have to get used to sitting in the passenger seat.
"Of course she is OK to go out in it" said Branwens driving instructor.
So I did.
You know, there is something in this genetics thing after all.
Her twin, Taliesin is like his father: cool, calm, collected, fast but smooth, I can sit in a car with him - no probs.
Branwen, ahh well, she is her mothers daughter, arrived at the first bend carrying way too much speed, realised she had her boots on so she could not quite get the brakes, realised it was too late to slow down so applied exactly the right ammount of throttle to hold the car steady through the bend right on it's limits. We saild through with the AX adopting simply silly amounts of roll. Truly, a lovely piece of driving.
Me, I found God, all these years he has been hiding in the footwell of that AX, I bumped into him when I took cover. Can't say I blame him, seemed a good place to be to me.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Things to learn in life.....
Taking down lath and plaster ceilings is really easy when you have the tools off a green goddess to hand.
The plaster in lath and plaster is the vilest most penetrating dust known to humanity.
The mess left by removing a plaster ceiling can only be replicated using high explosives.
All nails have a secret desire to penetrate your boots.
Steel toe caps offer no protection against nails coming up through the soles.
BUT
Last and not least.
I do not do working outside the house on scaffolding.
It's HER birthday present SHE can use it.
Looking to number one son for sympathy when sitting in the living room quakeing in post vertigo induced shock is a waste of time....
R
The plaster in lath and plaster is the vilest most penetrating dust known to humanity.
The mess left by removing a plaster ceiling can only be replicated using high explosives.
All nails have a secret desire to penetrate your boots.
Steel toe caps offer no protection against nails coming up through the soles.
BUT
Last and not least.
I do not do working outside the house on scaffolding.
It's HER birthday present SHE can use it.
Looking to number one son for sympathy when sitting in the living room quakeing in post vertigo induced shock is a waste of time....
R
Saturday, 8 May 2010
What a time we had....
Really bizarre turn on the weather, cannot understand it at all.
We have the fire lit in may for goodness sake.
Management has retired to the bath as I grapple with finances that make the Greek situation look simple.
The defecit can be cut but will I be faced with rioting on the streets, or in the living room anyway.
Tomorrow a motor hill climb, something cheap to take the kids to see.
Then I think Monday is a normal back to work day.
Woodcutting and demolition.
Windows arrive soon - god thats another shed load of money to find.
Gosh this is turning dear.
R
We have the fire lit in may for goodness sake.
Management has retired to the bath as I grapple with finances that make the Greek situation look simple.
The defecit can be cut but will I be faced with rioting on the streets, or in the living room anyway.
Tomorrow a motor hill climb, something cheap to take the kids to see.
Then I think Monday is a normal back to work day.
Woodcutting and demolition.
Windows arrive soon - god thats another shed load of money to find.
Gosh this is turning dear.
R
Friday, 7 May 2010
Death wish.....
A bewildering election result.
Lib dems took more votes and won less seats.
As prophesied the country by and large voted for social democratic policies. A 2 million majority so not to be sniffed at.
As I prophesied it is looking increasingly as if we get neo con policies.
It really is one to watch, Cameron so desperate for POWER that he seems ready to horse trade with Clegg.
But I wonder if it really would be wise on the part of the Lib Dems?
A substantial part of the vote for them was an anti Tory vote I would guess.
They could really pay the price at the next election which is likely to be sooner rather than later I would guess.
Gordon Brown trying hard to act the statesman today, while Cameron virtually invited the lib dems round for tea.
I would have everything tested before I touched a drop Nick.
That chalice might just be poisoned....
R
Lib dems took more votes and won less seats.
As prophesied the country by and large voted for social democratic policies. A 2 million majority so not to be sniffed at.
As I prophesied it is looking increasingly as if we get neo con policies.
It really is one to watch, Cameron so desperate for POWER that he seems ready to horse trade with Clegg.
But I wonder if it really would be wise on the part of the Lib Dems?
A substantial part of the vote for them was an anti Tory vote I would guess.
They could really pay the price at the next election which is likely to be sooner rather than later I would guess.
Gordon Brown trying hard to act the statesman today, while Cameron virtually invited the lib dems round for tea.
I would have everything tested before I touched a drop Nick.
That chalice might just be poisoned....
R
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
End games
We are nearly into voting day.
Oddly enough tomorrow I am off to uni for a day interviewing students so I will have to squeeze my vote in around being on manouvers.
But anyway, it's off isn't it.
From the polls we get a notion that the vast majority of people in the UK support policies which are socially liberal.
Yet the current electoral system is likely to deliver a government whose very core is neo conservative.
Not that it has stopped Cameron rushing to Ireland to cuddle up to the Cristian Homophobes of the heirs of Ian Paisley just in case he needs them.
So on the current likely vote all three parties enjoy support that hovers around the 30 percent mark
That will translate into about 250 seats each for labour and tory, under 100 for the liberals.
How democratic is that?
This system is innately skewed towards the tories, no wonder they have no plans for change....
R
Oddly enough tomorrow I am off to uni for a day interviewing students so I will have to squeeze my vote in around being on manouvers.
But anyway, it's off isn't it.
From the polls we get a notion that the vast majority of people in the UK support policies which are socially liberal.
Yet the current electoral system is likely to deliver a government whose very core is neo conservative.
Not that it has stopped Cameron rushing to Ireland to cuddle up to the Cristian Homophobes of the heirs of Ian Paisley just in case he needs them.
So on the current likely vote all three parties enjoy support that hovers around the 30 percent mark
That will translate into about 250 seats each for labour and tory, under 100 for the liberals.
How democratic is that?
This system is innately skewed towards the tories, no wonder they have no plans for change....
R
Monday, 3 May 2010
we are there
A truly peaceful day. Well for me, anyway.
Had a potter round a Green Goddess.
Management was off jungle mowing and strimming.
We have done a deal of wood choping this weekend.
It looks like we might even have the fire in a few nights this week.
That's a bit late in the year and bonkers for us.
Taliesin is having each bale of wood apart, so he can "stack it properly" this seems to involve removing all the bits he thinks might be useful to a separate and growing wood pile.
Hmmmmm
Management has had enough - she wants bed.
R
Had a potter round a Green Goddess.
Management was off jungle mowing and strimming.
We have done a deal of wood choping this weekend.
It looks like we might even have the fire in a few nights this week.
That's a bit late in the year and bonkers for us.
Taliesin is having each bale of wood apart, so he can "stack it properly" this seems to involve removing all the bits he thinks might be useful to a separate and growing wood pile.
Hmmmmm
Management has had enough - she wants bed.
R
Saturday, 1 May 2010
switch the bloody thing off
07.33 on a Sunday, management is decidedly tetchy. Her famous good sense of humour has failed.
I have now removed the batteries and placed this weapon of sleep destruction beyond use. OK, so Branwen is home tomorrow night and I will have hidden it in her room by then.
Yesterday went so well too.
Wood got cut, the wood pile rationalized and shifted, we now have room for at least another 8 tons of wood.
This all counts for nought though.
07.00 on a Sunday and something woke the management.
That is NOT funny.
Not at all, not even slightly.
R
I have now removed the batteries and placed this weapon of sleep destruction beyond use. OK, so Branwen is home tomorrow night and I will have hidden it in her room by then.
Yesterday went so well too.
Wood got cut, the wood pile rationalized and shifted, we now have room for at least another 8 tons of wood.
This all counts for nought though.
07.00 on a Sunday and something woke the management.
That is NOT funny.
Not at all, not even slightly.
R
AUctions......
When she goes to auctions, Management is a big buyer of cardboard boxes.
The sort of things that you get at a general auction, a box full of odd things typically going for a quid.
She spent 3 pounds yesterday and came home with some bizarre items but also useful things like baskets that you would easily have parted with a fiver to own.
Tucked in one box, carefully wrapped in paper were 20 chandelier crystals. They are lovely and worth a quid on their own.
Add in a proper Sony Walkman - a metal one not plastic and a proper Sony diskman with speakers and phones, you are getting towards your moneys worth, the phrase bargain might be used also.
But occasionally just occasionally you get something else.
I think the fact the thing was brand new in it's box should have been a warning to all.
A gadgety thing, a clock that projects the time on to the wall. How cool was that in a naff sort of way?
But why had someone bought this then left it in it's box.
I found batteries and set it up.
I should have taken further warning when I realized it was an alarm and one that has a choice of 15 alarm tones each one more Del Boy than the last including such delights as an electronic happy birthday and William Tell.
The instructions mentioned lots of things but no instructions as to how to turn it off.
I discovered the design flaw at 7 am this morning when the dulcet electronic rendition of "this year I am off to sunny Spain" rent the air. I was able to switch the alarm tones round but nothing short of a lump hammer was going to shut the bloody thing up.
There is only one thing to do with such an item, sneak it into Branwen's bedroom and hide it under the bed.
I think it can go back in it's wrapping back in a cardboard box and, with other bizarre items we can offer it as a lot in the next auction.
R
The sort of things that you get at a general auction, a box full of odd things typically going for a quid.
She spent 3 pounds yesterday and came home with some bizarre items but also useful things like baskets that you would easily have parted with a fiver to own.
Tucked in one box, carefully wrapped in paper were 20 chandelier crystals. They are lovely and worth a quid on their own.
Add in a proper Sony Walkman - a metal one not plastic and a proper Sony diskman with speakers and phones, you are getting towards your moneys worth, the phrase bargain might be used also.
But occasionally just occasionally you get something else.
I think the fact the thing was brand new in it's box should have been a warning to all.
A gadgety thing, a clock that projects the time on to the wall. How cool was that in a naff sort of way?
But why had someone bought this then left it in it's box.
I found batteries and set it up.
I should have taken further warning when I realized it was an alarm and one that has a choice of 15 alarm tones each one more Del Boy than the last including such delights as an electronic happy birthday and William Tell.
The instructions mentioned lots of things but no instructions as to how to turn it off.
I discovered the design flaw at 7 am this morning when the dulcet electronic rendition of "this year I am off to sunny Spain" rent the air. I was able to switch the alarm tones round but nothing short of a lump hammer was going to shut the bloody thing up.
There is only one thing to do with such an item, sneak it into Branwen's bedroom and hide it under the bed.
I think it can go back in it's wrapping back in a cardboard box and, with other bizarre items we can offer it as a lot in the next auction.
R
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