Tuesday already? Heh...

So what happened? Um... Sat was shopping and gardening - finishing up treating the bench and getting it into place (on bricks this time to keep the legs in better repair).

On Sunday am Ken and I went back to Wyevale (10% off everything that weekend) for another 2 for 1 breakfast, new grass shears and grease bands for the fruit trees (I ended up buying a tin of grease instead, much easier to apply!), and bought a very pretty double primrose and a blue vinca (periwinkle). In the afternoon Kai and I went along the Whitchurch Way, which is looking very pretty right now...

but I was absolutely knackered when we got back.

Monday I started tackling the meadow: cut down the old teasels, dug up brambles, took the dead wood off the rose of Sharon and cleared around the Juneberry. Also shifted all the dried wooden cuttings into the greenhouse to keep them dry until we can incinerate them.

Today Kai and I started clearing the ivy from his railway track, but had to stop when it started hailing...

That was followed by a couple of peals of thunder, which fortunately didn't come to anything else, as I'd arranged to meet Ken after work at Sains so he could carry back the heavy shopping (I just can't manage it any more, it makes my shoulders, back and legs hurt. Sometimes I miss the car...)

So busy, but generally productive and satisfying. I should start getting photos soon, so you can see what we're doing to the garden.

Labels: busyness, garden, garden centres, walks

Light cloud made getting pics possible! These are Ken's (his camera is better than mine).

The clouds mostly cleared for totality, which meant most of the photos were useless as the glare was too intense - except for a few of mine, where a strange optical effect gave us an inverted, reverse purple 'ghost' of the real thing!

The light stayed quite bright, but the drop in temperature was very noticeable. All in all a quietly dramatic event.

Labels: eclipse, Spring Equinox

Major catchup before I'm too tired to get it written up. It's been busy...

Kai's been fighting off cold bugs for a couple of months quite successfully, but it was, of course, too good to last! Just after my last post he took his temperature - 38.3°. So it was off to the BHOC. By the time we got there it was up to 38.5°: the nurses took full bloods and throat and nose swabs to be analysed urgently while we waited to hear what we should do. Happily, the initial results came back negative, so we came home again (with a course of anti-biotics to tackle a minor unrelated possible-infection) but were advised, as ever, to contact them if we were worried. At this stage there's the possibility that other worse infections can creep in under cover of a cold or flu bug, so any time his temperature gets above 38° we're to ring for advice.

The bug is now on the way out - it was a cold, but quite a nasty one, and it looks like it may be a little while before he feels completely better. Hopefully his new immunity to that one will stop him getting another for a few weeks (for my sake too, his coughing keeps me awake). Other than that, all continues well. The next hurdle is in a few months, when they'll be testing for chimerism. It's vital that my stem cells have taken over, and there are none of Kai's left, for the transplant to be considered a success (as I understand it the tacrolimus is the drug that's keeping his down/killing them off, which is why they won't reduce the dose yet. That's the med that makes him feel fuzzy-headed, unfortunately...)

We've let the university know that, if all continues as it is, he'll be starting his course in October.

We haven't been for a walk in over a week, as he hasn't felt well enough. Looking forward to restarting them, as although I have time this fortnight to catch up with all my own stuff, I find I rather miss them!

Sunday was Mothering Sunday: Ken and I went out to Wyevale for me to use up some of my vouchers (2 for 1 on breakfasts, £2 off a purchase, £1 off the latest copy of the BBC Gardener's World, plus double points. It was really nice, and we came back with the veg seeds I need for this year and two camellias (on special at a third off!) - an Adolphe Audusson, planted out the front, and a Nagasaki (I've wanted one of the latter for a while now). That will be planted at the back, but we're not quite sure where yet. It'll probably be between the spiraeas in the unicorn bed to the side of the greenhouse.

After dinner we watched Starship Rising... Yes, we knew it was going to be pretty bad from the IMDb review, but I was fancying 'park your brain atthe door' entertainment to end the day.

... it was awful. I think it qualifies as the worst film I've ever seen. It tried hard, with some excellent, strong female characters (who would have been more believable had they not been plastered in inch thick makeup and wearing ridiculously high heels), with the look of the live action Casshern and a vague feel of Lexx, but apart from that... Ken described it as the visual equivalent of Vogon poetry. Kai said it was like a bad fanfic. To me it played like a 26 ep bad s-f series condensed into an hour and half. It was incoherent, the acting was dreadful and the dialogue incomprehensible.

And there's a sequel!!

Yesterday I (reluctantly, as the new position is much more exposed and less secure) moved the planting table out from it's usual position by the fence (to stop next door killing off my seedlings, he cost me hundreds in lost produce last year), cleaned it and got the first of my seeds on the go - spinach, radishes and the first batch of peas. Ken picked me up a couple of packs of peat/cardboard pots at Broadwalk: I need more compost, but I think I can buy a small bag at Sains to keep me going until I can get out to a garden centre.

When Sue visited last she brought over the Zodiac DVD set (I'd had it on my amazon wishlist) and we watched the first ep. I was hooked, ordered it, and we've been watching it after dinner for the last few days (and I've been writing the ep guides on the IMDb). It's wonderful! Very much of its time, but such fun! It has the ambience of The Avengers (the John Steed/Mrs Peel version, not the superheroes) with a tiny hint of Sapphire and Steel. I really wish it had gone to a full twelve eps instead of stopping at six.

Still ploughing through Transformers: Armada, writing up an ep at a time on the IMDb (ep 38 today...). Then - oh joy - I'm determined to do Energon and Cybertron too, at 52 eps each... Glutton for punishment indeed. But I don't like leaving things unfinished.

Which naturally leads to the consideration of Poppy. It's been nagging, but I've also been undecided how to proceed. The Tales are based on the Bayverse films, and now, of course, there's Age of Extinction to take into account. I could ignore it - but I actually really like the film... I think I have the plot organised in my head, will try to get it on rust asap.

Finally, Ken's latest book - The holy well and the Chapel of St Anne in the Wood.

Ken's been writing this for some years, slowly accumulating information, and when the Discover Brislington Brook project organisers suggested it would be a good complement to their work, he happily agreed. The book was to be paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund - but instead of putting it out to tender, the organisers insisted it be published by Fiducia, a small, independent local publisher. Ken wasn't completely happy with this, but after so much work - and under pressure from the organisers - agreed.

Well, Fiducia might have been good in the past, but it's under new management, and said management is aggressive, combative and, quite honestly, incompetent. They wanted the book to go to press riddled with typos and inaccuracies: when Ken refused they asked to go to mediation. Ken had to take a day's unpaid leave to do so (and remember this was all happening at the time when Kai was facing his transplant and the future was uncertain and terrifying).

The results were not good. (How much so? The following day the mediator rang Ken to apologise: he said in all his career he'd never had to deal with anyone so unreasonable.) The upshot is that the time ran out for the Lottery Fund cash, we had to use Archyve as the publisher and pay for everything ourselves, at not-for-profit prices...

A (somewhat dubious) bright spot was that the printer printed the first batch at the wrong quality. The second batch was at the right quality, and it meant we were able to provide two versions of the book, standard and deluxe. The only difference is in the quality of the pictures, and even the standard ones aren't bad, just not quite as crisp and clear as the better version.

And the book itself? It's been very favourably received, and despite all the obstacles Ken is happy with it. I think it's gorgeous.

Later edit: [headdesk] sorry - it's Thursday tomorrow. I've been living the wrong day all day...

So - Friday tomorrow. Super moon, partial solar eclipse, and Spring Equinox all on the same day. Should be good!

Heh. Been typing this up for over an hour now - time to get out and get some shopping. Later!

Labels: books, British drama, Fiducia Publishing, films, garden, Kai, medical matters

Farewell, Sir Terry - you will be deeply missed.

Labels: Terry Pratchett

Catch up...

We've been watching a lot of films just lately. I picked up the triptych of Lewis Collins mercenary movies - Code Name: Wild Geese, Commando Leopard and The Commander, terrible films but a lot of fun! - which Ken watched with me: found time to watch Speaking Parts (birthday present - surprisingly good, has gone on the special section of the shelf along with Snowpiercer, The Fountain, Cloud Atlas and Only Lovers Left Alive): Lucy (bizarre, shades of The Matrix) and yesterday I'll Follow You Down - a.k.a. Continuum - which is rather good in an understated way.

Kai, unfortunately has the most horrendous cold at the moment. He's managed to fight off most of the cold bugs so far, but this one... eurgh. It's never affected him so badly, and knowing this is only the start of his immune system rebuilding itself is a little depressing. He's staying chipper though, as best he can. But his birthday yesterday wasn't much fun for him... (GoodTwin, I did ask him to email you thanks but I haven't checked he did it and his memory is fuzzy atm. He really appreciates the present, though he doesn't know what he's going to get with it yet.)

Today was actually hot in the sun so I took advantage and started clearing out the greenhouse; Kai came out for some sun and fresh air, and felt a little batter afterwards. Still a bit to do, but it's a little more organised now, and for the time being we've moved the bench inside: it needs some serious weatherproofing, but it needs to be completely dry before I can treat it (we picked up some decent Ronseal stuff in a sale). Should be OK to do it in a week (I'm planning at least three coats) and then I need to burn the sulphur candle in the greenhouse to sterilise it before I start growing. All jolly good, if very smelly, fun.

The frogs have now discovered, and have been bonking in, Kai's woodland pool, which now also has frogspawn. GoodTwin was right when she said biblical proportions. Plagues of frogs in a month or so. We're going to be so popular...

[sigh] Foxes...

I've left them some food out tonight, in the hope they'll stop burying empty dog food tins in my big plant pots...

Labels: films, foxes, garden, greenhouse, Kai

Quicky before I go fall over...

The results of frog bonking season, Roeg's Pool. There's more, but the reflections hide it.

Labels: frogs, garden

[g] Snazzy stealth bomber Megatron now ordered and on his way, to be wrapped and put away for me for Yule...

Labels: Transformers

So... Saturday was great fun. I now have the first two volumes of Robots in Disguise, the companion series to MTMTE, to enjoy, and the wonderful Revenge of the Decepticons: pt 3, which I needed for the fabulous version of Megatron... (His alt mode is a stealth bomber, and that on his right arm is a fragging rail gun!!! I really really need this figure...)

And it actually exists!! [wince] Bit pricey though....

ANYway... a trip to Cadbury Garden Centre was fun, if not overly successful, and was followed up by a general knowledge quiz over dinner at the Black Castle and then Barry Norman's Interactive Film Quiz DVD back at home - most enjoyable! We're going to try to organise a summer visit this year - easier now Kai's improving.

Sunday was the usual manic, and today also very busy: into town to bank etc, then a late afternoon walk along the Whitchurch Way with Kai, as the weather was so beautiful (cold, but sunny).

Clouds over Dundry.

And it's frog bonking season again! Roeg's pool is already half full of frogspawn (nine clumps today: Tyjer keeps poking at them). Probably be more tomorrow -

Heh. We probably need more females.

Labels: frogs, fun stuff, garden centres, Transformers

... and Sunday just went, again... Proper post tomorrow, I promise. Must just say that GoodTwin and Sue visited yesterday and I had a truly wonderful day!

Labels: zzzzzzzoooooooooooooooooommmmm