Twenty ninth part of New World - Unresolved - now posted over at The Poppy Tales (link above).

Enjoy!

Labels: The Poppy Tales, Transformers

Well that was a good day!

It wasn't raining - most of the day anyway - so we got some essential garden stuff done. Ken finished disassembling Kai's log scramble (which was more of a rotted wood death trap by now!) and we moved the honeyberries there from the slope. Sue's wiegela is now on the slope, along with my latest acer and a stray sumac we found sprouting in the middle of the ferns by the mahonia. All things that will help hide the wall once the rest of the ivy has come down (it's half way there already with the winds we've had recently). And I've pruned the worst of the holly, and cleaned the birdtable and the hangy things under the hanging feeders. Took us an hour and a half in total, which was quite enough in that cold wind. Everything now has time to settle before the worst of the winter weather (because I'm sure there's worse to come in January...)

Kai is feeling a lot better today, and I'm coughing less, which is all good.

Next!Poppy now two pages in. Determined to get it posted for New Year, so will be working on it tonight - after Tf: Prime eps 21-23 (last three tomorrow). Oooh, it's good...

Labels: busyness, gardening, medical matters, The Poppy Tales, Transformers: Prime

Fun day.

Though Kai now has a cold. Let him sleep in today - til three. Did him good. After he'd woken up we played a game of Transformers Risk - great fun! In a three person game two play 'Cons and the other person a 'Bot - so Megatron (me) and Barricade (Kai) took on Optimue Prime (Ken). Heh. I won. Ended up owning more than half the zones on the board (only with one mech to each, but that's all that's required). Most enjoyable, though we think we could improve it with some nifty house rules (later, when we've tired of the original).

Tch'. I should have taken a photo...

Labels: games, Transformers

A successful day. Ken came with me: up to Wild Oats and then to Phil's for provisions, and then into fopp where we found Hawkwind's Hall of the Mountain Grill CD at a ludicrously low price. Ditto Bowie's London Boy CD (an old favourite of mine from way back when dinosaurs ruled the earth). And while we were checking out the DVDs the assistant put on something that almost had me dancing in the shop! I asked what it was, was told Django Django, and promptly bought it.

Tomorrow we're going to play Transformers Risk. We'll have these three CDs plus the new Muse CD we gave Kai for Yule as soundtrack and have a music and game day...

The rest of the day was successful too. Found the perfect food processor in Robert Dyas - Gino D'Acampo (I thought he was a chef rather than a line of cooking equipment...) - £24.99, half price. It doesn't fit where the old one did so I've had to have a bit of a shufty around, but that's fine, I'm re-orging anyway before New Year!

And look! A baby Stronghold at the bottom of Park St! ->

So cute! I really wanted to take him home with me...

Labels: Defenders, musekicks, shopping, Transformers

So I ventured out to Sainsbury's for shopping after lunch, to find they had loads of stuff at half price. We now have three new teal bath-sheets and a new kettle (the old one had developed a leak).

But I'm shattered. Lurgy plus the stress of Yule and soddall sleep this last week has left me completely knackered. Planning an early night. Tomorrow I search for a new - cheap - food processor, as mine has finally died... That being said, it was given to me by my mother on the occasion of my first marriage and I do believe it was second hand even then, so it must be... um... about 30 years old? Fair enough, I only ever used it three or four times a year, mostly for making batches of beefburgers, but it is a useful thing to have, so replacing it is a good idea.

Labels: shopping, tired

New food addiction - wasabi coated peanuts! Whoa! HothotHOT! Strips the skin from the roof of your mouth, blows out the sinuses, and really clears the head, with a lovely sweetness underneath...

We bought Kai a raspberry pi (plus clear case and extra long charging cable) for Yule - only to find out he also needed a SD card and an hdmi cable. So off we tanked to Tesco, who were open today, and picked up what was required.

Then on the way back he told me it won't work through a monitor, only through a TV.

[sigh]

So we're now looking for a small, cheap TV for him...

And then we watched How To Train Your Dragon, which is adorable and an absolute delight. The lurgy and last night's indigestion are also much better, so all in all a good day!

Labels: films, food, hardware, presents

Presents! Loads and loads of Transformer loot!

Megs and OP, of course.

Wheeljack!

And Carscream - who is actually a very nice piece of design. Beautiful alt mode and the root mode is also surprisingly attractive. Also an absolute bugger to transform. Kai had to do it for me as it required the relatively strong use of two thumbs and (he complained) at least three hands. The instructions were in Japanese but luckily the visual guide was in universal...

Unfortunately the photos haven't come out that well, but you get the general idea...

Side on he has similarities to Drift...

Very nice light-up eye effect when the light is behind him!

Altogether I'm quite impressed - even if he isn't a jet (he does have little wings that flip out in alt mode to make him a sort of flying car though...)

I also have TF Hearts of Steel: Evolution and Megatron: Origins from GoodTwin and Sue (really been wanting to read both of them, so dead chuffed), 'Bot and 'Con sigil keyrings from Sue and Repo: the Genetic Opera from GoodTwin. [GLOMPS] and thanks to you both!

Also have the Tf: Risk game! That;s going to be fun - never played Risk before...

Roast duck with all trimmings for dinner - was tasty.

Doctor Who special did nothing to endear him to me.

Lurgy still not gone and now ribs are hurting from coughing. But it was sunny again. We've now had a 23 year straight run of sunshine on xmas day, ever since we got married... It can't last...

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows shortly.

Labels: Dr Who, presents, Transformers: Prime, Yule

Twenty eighth part of New World - Erratic - now posted over at The Poppy Tales (link above).

Enjoy!

I haven't had time to do it properly - had planned to make a proper backdrop and a manger and fill it with energon straw, and have Prime SS kneeling with his servos raised in delight and Arm SS's servo on his shoulder. Maybe next year...

Transformer nativity. [grins merrily] If there was a hell I'd have a first class ticket. Just as well it's a myth.

ST-3V3 loved his wings so much he's refusing to take them off. Makes seeing my monitor even harder than it already was...

(Ignore the coyness, it's fake...)

Labels: The Poppy Tales, Transformers

Busy day - two lots of shopping with Ken (Sainsbug and Tesco), organising the freezer and trying to get ready for the next few days. Then it was Operation Bumblebee 1 & 2, Loose Cannons and Crossfire, and then Let The Right One In - which is... interesting...

Still suffering the lurgy: really hope the worst is over now though. Fed up with sneezing and coughing.

Labels: films, Transformers: Prime

LOLing...

Midday news report yesterday.

BBC commentator: "And fears that the world would end today have proved unfounded..."
Me: "That's the Beeb for you. If it had ended, they'd just say - 'And it appears we were wrong, and in fact the world has now ended'."
Kai: "And now, the weather."

Still laughing...

Labels: funnies

23rd Anniversary!

We were going to go to Wells, just Ken and I, for a treat, then I thought I didn't really feel up to it, so we'd just go into Bristol instead. But today I feel really bleurgh, so I'm just going to stay in and take it easy (well, until my dr's appt at 5.20). We'll order in a curry out tonight, and watch the last four eps of Tf: P season 1 in preparation for starting season 2 tomorrow.

Yeah - that's a good plan...

Labels: anniversaries, medical matters

Well that was satisfying.

Spent much of the day tidying. Y'know, the dreaded housework. Properly too - taking things off shelves and dusting underneath them, then dusting and polishing them before putting them back in different and more suitable places.

And we racked and bottled the white cooking wine. And while tidying I found a bottle of elderflower and a bottle of Galia melon wines from 2009 - going to risk opening them over Yule. (Might be 'orrible but you never know...)

And made lists of things still to buy - mainly fresh veg, I have the main meals now.

So, nicely organised!

Only hassle is I'm trying to fight off the traditional Yule Lurgy. It leapt out and surprised me late yesterday evening. One minute I was fine, ten minutes later sinuses were stinging, throat was sore and stomach was hurting. [sigh] Oh joy. Feeling rough today but if it doesn't get any worse this will be fine. Fingers crossed.

Labels: busyness, domesticity, medical matters

A bit of a catch up...

The weather was lovely yesterday, with rain forecast for the rest of the week, so I took advantage of Ken's FirstDay ticket and went to Keynsham to have a look at the charity shops and see if I could find a Yule card for Kai (they're dreadful< this year, the 'Son' ones).

There'd been an accident just up by the big Toys Я Us store at Flowers Hill - a woman was lying in the road with two cars parked up nearby and traffic reduced to one lane. I'm not exactly unsympathetic - that's her Yule spoiled and probably that of her nearest and dearest, but honestly! Given the appalling standard of driving in Bristol, anyone who tries to cross a road as chronically busy as the Bath Road without using one of the (admittedly badly placed) pedestrian crossings is just asking for a Darwin Award.

It also meant I had to walk home from the Park and Ride as the bus back from Keynsham had been instructed to turn off right at the crossroads there instead of continuing down into Brislington...

Complained to the Surgery reception about their error and I have another appointment - on Friday. Bugger. That's our anniversary. But it would be good to be seen before Yule, so I'll just have to put up with it.

Hoping to start next!Poppy tonight.

Labels: medical matters, shopping, The Poppy Tales

[growl] I had a doctor's appointment today. Except when I got there they said it had been last Monday, the 10th. I was certain it was today, but I left the house in a rush and forgot to grab my appointment card. Made another (not til second week of Jan though) and walked home. And then when I checked my card it WAS today and someone had screwed up their end. Ken has an appointment tomorrow morning, but if he gets back in time for me to get the bus up there, I shall go back and complain (and demand to be seen earlier).

Yet another reason to hate doctors/surgeries/hospitals...

Labels: medical matters

Remember my photo of the swollen river?

This is what it usually looks like.

You can't see it here but there was a shag in the distance...

        

It's been a normal Sunday, quiet, dull, and less than rivetting.

Labels: just another Sunday..., weather

GoodTwin and Sue came over for the day!!

And GoodTwin brought this! And the ensuing hilarity was heard up and down the street. It's most enormous fun - though that being said, it's always an awful lot of fun when we get together. Especially when surreal things happen, like Yugoslav President Tito being mistaken for one of the Jackson brothers. And me mistaking Heartbeat for Hart to Hart.

And only managing to answer the sport questions by luck or accident! Rollicking good fun.

Thank you both - I had a wonderful day!

Labels: friends, fun stuff

Twenty seventh part of New World - Time Out - now posted over at The Poppy Tales (link above).

Enjoy!

Labels: The Poppy Tales, Transformers

Waking up at 5.13 am (after getting to bed at just before 1) is good in one way - I've already done a good half of what I had planned for today - but in another... I'm tired already and may need a nap later...

Corollary to yesterday's vanishing Yule tree - the tree may have reappeared, but now half the decorations have gone missing. So it's a bit minimalist this year, with a couple of holographic silvery garlands and no snowflakes out here. And the main tree is teal and silver instead of the usual red and gold. But it looks pretty, and will do fine. It's not like Kai's a child any more and needing lots of sparkly things.

So - Poppy!

Labels: strangeness and charm, The Poppy Tales, Yule

I swear there's a mischievous black hole in this house. It eats my emery boards, hides socks and other assorted things - including apples sitting at the front of the fridge (though to be honest I blamed that on his not replacing his retinal batteries often enough) - from Ken, and, lately, Yule trees. Last year it was my silver one, though since I was planning to get a black one anyway that didn't matter. But this year the main green tree, the one for the lounge, went missing...

We hunted, honestly we did, all three of us. It wasn't in Ken's cupboard, where it usually lives; it wasn't in the shed; and as we found out today when we turned out the airing cupboard, it wasn't in there either. We were about to brave the freezing weather and turn out the shed fully when Ken said he just have one last look in his cupboard...

And there it was. In its bag. With Kai's fibre-optic tree. It had reappeared.

There's a reason for the sub-title to this blog...

Eh well. The airing cupboard needed sorting out anyway.

In other news... I've created a new blog. Serious blog is serious - a more professional journal for work-related stuff. It's very plain at the moment - will jazz it up a little as time goes by. It won't be updated every day - possibly once a week or whenever I have something to say.

All the Yule cards are now written, enveloped and stamped - just need to get to PO to post them.

We had a jay at the birdtable this afternoon...

           

Going to decorate the tree while dinner cooks!

And then I absolutely must tackle Poppy...

Labels: birds, blogs, strangeness and charm, The Poppy Tales, Yule

So, yesterday...

The dinner was at the Chelsea Arts Club, a lovely characterful old building in, naturally, Chelsea. I was able to chat to a few of the other authors there, Phil Gooden (a fellow lingauphile - though since this was an authors' event I suppose it could be said of all of us!), Bill Laws, who is very funny, Sue Stockdale (I need her books!), Jane Struthers, Elizabeth Holmes, Lyndon the photographer, and Liz Dean, who we've known for our entire published life (it was wonderful to catch up). And of course it was great to see Chelsey and Charlotte again!

The food was terrific. There was really too much choice, but I went for the best (rich, creamy) leek and potato soup I've ever had, confit of duck leg on beetroot and wilted greens with silky creamed mash potato (shaped to look like a boiled potato on the plate. That threw me for a minute when I tried to cut into it) and orange-flavoured carrots ("Must be a Heston Blumenthal thing", Ken commented. I don't know, but I'm going to find the recipe - they were delicious!) with a fantastic Tiramisu as dessert.

A thoroughly enjoyable event! Even the travelling - although long - was fun. There's nothing quite like flowing along a motorway in brilliant sunrise sunshine, frosted fields on one side, a sea of morning mist on the other, with Pink Floyd's Keep Talking on Kood -

I love this song. The fact that that really is Stephen Hawking speaking just makes it more awesome...

Riding at night is always inspiring...

And synchronicity struck again (of course). This

is a Porsche Spyder (Bluestreak's alt mode in The Poppy Tales). I've never seen one in real life. Gorgeous car!

However, a day away from my desk has left me with the usual backlog and I'm still catching up...

Labels: days out, food, London, The Poppy Tales

Back. Enjoyed. Shattered. Details tomorrow.

Labels: days out, London

It's frightening how quickly Yule is approaching. We planned to write out cards and put up the decorations today - only we can't find the tree. Which is stupid. It's only a small house, it must be here somewhere... I may have to turn out the airing cupboard, a job I hate.

The rest was the normal Sunday.

Labels: busyness, Yule

Haircut - he had to take off about four inches from the back: it doesn't half grow quickly. Then we did the Sunday shopping. Early, so I can have an easier day tomorrow. Author lunch in London on Monday.

Labels: days out, hair

And the final Starscream has arrived (well, the final one to date anyway). This one is a stealth bomber combiner from the Beast Era (Beast Machines, to be exact. I haven't watched it yet but I suppose I'd better make a start. Maybe after Yule...)

Starscream and BB (who is a bit of a lug, and all he can say is 'Roger' which apparently Starscream can interpret as whole sentences). BB's wings jerk up when Starscream, who slots into the back, is pulled out. No comment.

BB.

Starscream.

Japanese manufacture...

Labels: Starscream

I haz a armlet...

Labels: Feather

SqwerlScream arrived!

His sword slips into his alt. mode's tail...

He's just so cute!

And then my Transformers: Prime season 2 boxed set arrived... My week is complete.

Also, I introduced Feather to Tyjer yesterday (Ken stayed to grab cat if he made a move). They were both quite interested in each other for minute or two, then Ty decided she wasn't worth looking at any more and wandered off. Though he did see me put her back in the vivarium, and later on went to peer in at her with his paws on the glass.

... I think Feather was sizing him up as lunch though...

Labels: Feather, Starscream, Transformers: Prime, Tyjer

Twenty sixth part of New World - Captive Audience - now posted over at The Poppy Tales (link above).

Enjoy!

Labels: The Poppy Tales, Transformers

[grin] Meet mimobot Penscream...

Yes, he's a Starscream pendrive. A 16 gig pendrive. He was ridiculously cheap on ebay, and as Ken says, you can never have too many pendrives...

                

Cute!!

[sigh] The new bedding is lovely, soft and warm and cosy. Unfortunately Tyjer thinks so too.

Unfortunately he leaves masses of ginger hairs behind. I have to de-lint the downie twice a day.

Next!Poppy finished, just need to be coded and uploaded. Which I shall do after Grimm...

Labels: hardware, Starscream, The Poppy Tales, Tyjer

Pretty much a normal Sunday. Next!Poppy is nearly finished - hoping to post tonight but it might need to be tomorrow.

Labels: nowt really, The Poppy Tales

Lazy blogging...

The Cyberverse tales - when Bayverse met Prime.

Megatrons and OPs

Starscreams

Ratchets

Twin Bees

They do get on really...

Labels: Transformers