... ye gawds... I've finally managed to post the next chapter. It's not brilliant - it's getting on for a year since I last wrote anything other than the blog or IMDb ep guides, and it's going to take me a while to get back into the mindset - but it's up.

And... heh, I actually feel quite nervous about it. That's odd. I've never felt nervous about anything I've written ever before.

Don't like this feeling. Going to have to work on that...

In other news... Watched The Theory of Everything, which moved me to tears. Beautiful film. When I was little, Sherlock Holmes and Spock of Vulcan were my heroes: now it's Stephen Hawking... is it something to do with the letter S? Sherlock, Spock, Steven, Starscream...? Hm. Interesting...

Also watched Birdman. Which is... annoying, in that I didn't like it, found it very pretentious, but... it had something. Not necessarily something I'd want to catch, but... Maybe I should watch it again and see if I can pin it down.

Bed soon, I think. I'm not sleeping at all well, combination of pain and stress does not make for a peaceful night's rest.

Labels: films, The Poppy Tales, tired

Quick update before I drag myself to bed...

Next door has spent much of today having security cameras installed - as far as I can tell (and of course I may well be mistaken) 180 degree cameras, one of them fitted immediately on the other side of the fence at the back, with a direct view down onto our patio.

This was the clichéd last straw. The complaint appeal for advice went off to the Avon and Somerset Constabulary this afternoon, and this evening I've had an email back with a log number: beat officers will contact me soon to discuss the matter further.

In better news, I've had a letter confirming that my mammogram was negative. Very happy about that.

AND a very reassuring medic rang from the BRI to let me know the details of the MRI. Essentially - they have a lot of claustrophobic clients, and do the best they can to make the experience easier. I can go in feet first, and it's more than likely my head and shoulders can stay outside (that I can cope with!) and I can take in music to play through the headphones. Each scan can take up to half an hour (ouch, but I can have pillows to settle my back comfortably, which is good)... yes, I'll be OK. I can do this.

Labels: medical matters

Wednesday was more gardening - although my copy of More Than Meets The Eye vol 7 arrived... I read the first chapter, which nearly had me in tears. Gah. I'm hooked...

Anyway - garden. Outdoor melons are now in the ground, as are the rest of the peas. In the greenhouse everything is doing well.

Have some irises. I agree, they are very short lived, but so elegant and sophisticated I don't care. I'll enjoy their transient beauty while I can and look forward to their resurgence next year.

Thursday's appt went well: it looks like Kai's bloods are now pretty stable, which is good. We had planned to head out afterwards, but he didn't get to bed until 3.30 am (the appt was at 9.15, which meant getting up at 6.30 for me in order to get everything done) and was too tired to do anything more than come home and nap on the sofa while I went shopping. We watched the last three eps of Drawn Together season 3 when I got back: now there's just the film, which I haven't ordered yet. We're not in any hurry.

Orchid cactus in the bathroom! There are eleven buds this year.

"Feeeeeed meeeee

And my MTMTE charms have arrived from Musashi's Shapeways Store, in plenty of time for Auto Assembly!

Rung on the left, Rewind on the right. I shall be tempted to get some more at some point, they're so cute.

Last Twin peaks ep tonight, and I've nearly finished the guides for Energon - eight more eps and I never have to look at it again!

Labels: garden, Transformers

The usual brief catchup...

I'd hoped to have Friday to myself (hah!) but ended up with quite a bit of client stuff to get done - and I also cleaned the freezer ready for a major restock on Sunday. By the time I had time to sit and write I was, as usual, too tired. HOWEVER, I do seem to be getting a little more organised, so fingers crossed that improves.

On Saturday we all went to Wells! First family day out in nearly two years! K&K went for a walk to the woodland out past the Bishop's Palace while I went to pick up the four ramson plants I'd ordered from Glenholme Herbs - only to find another woman had visited earlier asking for her wild garlic, and bought the ones I'd had put back for me (they didn't ask her name, as it's not a usual sort of request. Heh, if I was the least bit paranoid I'd think someone was hacking our land-line...) The proprietor was very apologetic and let me have the two that were left for free (and I then bought another artemisia, a native yellow iris, and an angelica from them).

Irises by Roeg's Pool - the yellow one is the new one. The ramsons are small, but I'm hoping my usual luck holds and they survive and thrive. They're planted over by the wall in the shade of the Torbay palm (cordyline australis) that the bees love so much. Fingers crossed!

Sunday was two lots of shopping - Sains and Tesco - and a well-filled freezer. After lunch I did some garden tidying up (pruning, weeding, hoeing). In the afternoon Kai renewed his Student Finance application for Uni, and then I did my part, giving them my financial info so they can decide what sort of maintenance grant Kai can claim (although the site was glitched and I ended up having to ring one of their operators to gain access to my account...) In the evening we watched Trance, which we picked up absurdly cheaply from Tesco. It's a good, engrossing film which we didn't like at all. If that makes sense!

Yesterday we planted everything I bought at Wells (six alpines for the rockery as well as the ramsons, artemisia and angelica).

It'll look better once everything has settled and spread out a bit. I'm now on the lookout for another one or two (or more!) bearded irises. With the exception of my Sultan's Palace

most of the current ones are in shades of blue and purple, so I'd like something like this, this, this, and/or this. These irises are a bit pricey, however, so I shall be keeping a close eye out whenever I go to garden centres. It'll only be a few months before they start having their end of season sales. In the meantime, Kim and I will be heading off to pick up more compost soon: I'll see if she fancies going to Brackenwood Garden Centre. They had a good selection last time I was there.

Only ten more Energon eps left to go, and maybe fifteen Swamp Thing. Then on to Cybertron (some of which have already been done), then I'm considering Jupiter Moon, which is almost completely empty. That series is 150 eps long though... We'll watch an ep of Starhyke together first, see if K&K want to catch it. If not, will tackle that in advance of the longer series.

Labels: busyness, client sites, days out, films, garden

Later edit: forgot to say. We had slices from Greggs at Weston-super-Mare - pork, apple and stuffing for me and ham and cheese for Kai, the first non-clean-diet fast-food item he's had in a year and a half. I asked him how it tasted. "Like freedom!" he exclaimed...

Catchup (again... when I have time to sit and write up this blog, at night, I'm usually too tired...)

Sunday I got my sweetcorn in the ground. Then it hailed... Fingers crossed the plants will thrive.

On Monday Kai and I finally got to see Age of Ultron, which is great fun! Silly, of course, but beautifully crafted, rollicking silliness, a wonderful 'park brain at door' film (although they did get the physics right at the end, which impressed us both!)

Tuesday I had my three-yearly mammogram. Oh joy. Ouch.

Wednesday was Kai's blood review (which they're still very happy with, it now seems to be quite stable), and since the appt was fairly early we bussed to Weston-super-Mare afterwards.

Very, very windy but sunny with the occasional cloudy spell, OK for Kai to cope with without slathering on the sunscreen (which he hates even more than I do...) We went a bit further than Birnbeck Pier -

- but not quite as far as Sand Bay. The Pier is derelict now.

Grammar by Yoda...

It was a really nice day out! We didn't get back until 5 to 5, though, and today my legs are really aching. Still, it was good exercise.

Labels: days out, films, medical matters, Weston-super-Mare

Long time readers may remember, about ten or more years ago, I was stung right above my wedding ring while out in the garden. I just managed to get the ring off before my finger swelled too much, but the swelling has never really gone down, and I've been unable to wear the ring ever since. Drs have told me that there's nothing wrong, it's just going to stay like it now, which necessitated having my ring resized. Since it's custom-made platinum with a black opal singlet, we knew it would be pricey, so it's not really been an option until recently. But I've missed it very much, and when I mooted getting some quotes to Ken he said go ahead...

I took it first to A & P Jewellery in St Nick's Market (I'm a fan of independents), who were extremely helpful, and quoted me a rough price of £75, and there was a risk of the stone breaking: they could offer a replacement, although it would cost more, and they'd let me know in advance of doing any work. This was all great, and they were very helpful and pleasant. However, since we're always advised to get more than one quote, I went to Parsons in The Galleries as well.

They wouldn't consider trying to work on it because of the stone, and referred me to Kemp Brothers in Union St. This establishment is the sort of place you have to ring the doorbell to be let in, and I was greeted by a very nice assistant. I showed her the ring, explained the problem, and she asked the jeweller - who may have been the boss - his opinion. He glanced at the ring, looked at me, then, in a thoroughly offensive dismissive way, said yes, they probably could resize it but the opal would probably explode. Moments later a couple rang for access and he gave them his full attention. Then again, they were discussing having an expensive engagement ring made...

The assistant quoted me a minimum of £150, and quite possibly substantially more if they had to replace the stone.

I thanked her and left. Needless to say I shall not be using Kemp Brothers - ever - nor recommending them to anyone else, and have left them a 'poor' review on Yell.com.

I went back to the Market, and spent a good twenty minutes with several different gauges - even some of the rings A & P had on display, until we settled on the correct size (three up from the original!) I was told that if there was a risk of the opal breaking (apparently jewellers use a kind of heat-resistant thermal gel to protect stones when they have to work with hot metal these days, which is very effective) they'd check with me first, but would be able to offer a choice of replacements...

Had a phone call this morning: it was all done, the opal was fine, they'd inserted a piece of platinum to resize it rather than trying to stretch it, and it was ready to collect. And it was £78.

I pretty much dropped everything to get into town, and here's the result. It's perfect, and they've even managed to polish out some of the scratches on the opal! It's a little loose when on, of course, but it fits snugly over the swollen part and isn't going to fall off, which is the very best I can hope for. I am, needless to say, absolutely delighted.

So, anyone in the Avon area who needs anything tricky done with jewellery, head in their direction! The service is excellent, the quality top-notch, and the prices wonderful.

In other news...

Kai's blood tacro levels have finally reached a recordable level (above 3 in other words) - a month before he's due to be weaned off the med. We'll find out next week if he needs to increase the dose again - I really hope not...

We walked the Whitchurch Way yesterday - first time in weeks. Before we got there we saw a crow paddling in the brook... Cute!

It was a really nice walk, if tiring. Kai helped me with the Tesco shop on the way back.

Heh, I have a white iris amongst the blue!

Finished the Gravedale High ep summaries today. Now debating whether to tackle Swamp Thing season 3 or Starhyke next...

Labels: garden, jewellery, medical matters

My heuchera bed. There's room for at least three more plants, and while tidying up I listed all the varieties I have and will carry it with me so I don't buy duplicates!

Labels: garden

Checking in briefly...

Have some garden pics!

Paeony. We now have a whole load of these coming up from where we transplanted them last year - they left tubercules (I think the term is) in their original position and they've settled in nicely.

Pretty irises (so that's what I planted at the top!)

And solar lights. I picked up seven of these at Sains for £1 each: we have four on the rockery, one beside the greenhouse, one on the corner of the strawberry bed and the last one up on the slope by the birdbath. At night it's like a constellation on the ground - so pretty!

Finally got to watch Gods and Monsters - really rather good!

Tonight we watched the first ep of Wayward Pines. Hm. Feels like a jumble of The Prisoner and Once Upon A Time with a vague ambience of Eureka. I'm not impressed so far, but will watch another couple of eps before deciding. Kai quite liked it, I think.

Tired as usual. May even try for an early(ish) night...

Labels: drama, films, garden

Later edit: the pretty blue flowers are phacelia!

Catching up again...

It's been as busy as usual. The getting of seeds on the go proceeds apace, my beefsteak toms are now in their final pots (well, growbag actually, thought I'd give it a try this year), my sweetcorn are now outside hardening off (must go in the ground soon, they're nearly 6 inches tall), and my special irises (the bronzy ones, Sultan's Palace I think they're called) now have four flower spikes peering out. I'm treating them regularly with Py, hoping that'll keep the caterpillars at bay. They did attack two of the blue iris flower stalks but the rest have survived rather well!

I've had to stake them because of the high winds we've had. By the same token the Juneberry that was in the pot out the front is now in the ground out the front - it kept blowing over. Photos when there's more to see!

I am so happy with my wisteria!

It smells glorious - can smell it in our bedroom with the window open.

These are the bee-friendly flowers I got from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Can't remember what they're called but they're beautiful and the bees love 'em.

On a less great note, Kai's tarolimus levels are still way too low and they've increased the dose again. Poor Childe is feeling awful (high tacro dose makes him feel like he has 'flu, and Peter - the trial specialist - says he's now on a "massive dose"): we get it checked again this week and if the level is still low we'll have to assume it's his metabolism ditching the drug. I shall ask if we can go back to a lower dose. It might be OK: Prof is planning to wean him off it in a month or so anyway...

All else continues well. I'm still knackered, but slowly catching up on sleep, am now just over half-way through the Energon IMDb ep guides (and have five left to do for Gravedale High), and this morning read the intro of Algebra for Dummies and now suddenly understand the grouping format in stylesheets - I think I'll be fine with the subject!

I really must get nextPoppy finished and posted asap. It's almost a year since the last chapter...

Labels: busyness, garden, gardening, medical matters, projects

BMT clinic appt today - all is going well: the Prof is all for Kai starting uni in Oct, has reduced his aciclovir dose (skipping the lunch time tablet now!) and will see about starting weaning him off the tacrolimus at the next appt in 6 weeks. Going to do it slowly though: we anticipate it taking about 3 months.

He's now off the clean diet (although we should not eat from fast food places or street vendors), has to keep building his energy and stamina and start exercising his brain (he's already doing A level exam papers to keep his maths up). And it's fine to eat homegrown fruit! (Well washed, obviously.)

We watched the first four eps of Drawn Together S1, which Kai described as 4-chan but animated, when we got back...

Next door's old aerial is currently hanging by a thread, banging against the upright and echoing very loudly down the chimney. Been doing it for several weeks now, it's getting worse, but there's no way he'll do anything about it unless it bothers him. I'm kind of hoping the vicious winds we have at the moment will blow the damned thing off...

Labels: medical matters

Apparently, this is what happens if you prune your wisteria, as recommended, in October!

I'll try to take another when it's sunny. In the summer, once I've turned out the shed and found the step ladder, we're putting up vine eyes so I can finally train it along the side and around the front of the house...

On the health front, Kai's tacrolimus level is still low, so he's back on the capsules, which means he's not feeling too great at the moment (but coping. We've been here more than once). They'll check again at his next main BMT appt.

Yesterday we went to Goblin Combe...

It's a strange and somewhat eerie place. The temperature drops quite dramatically as soon as you enter the valley.

We wondered if these moss-covered rocks are the goblins (when people are around)...

[sigh] Banks and banks of ramsons and me without my trowel...

It was a really nice expedition, 40 minutes each way on the Weston bus, and a fairly gentle incline along the valley. Kai climbed the steps (I gave it a miss, pretty sure my hips and knees wouldn't cope with coming back down, at the very least!) but pranged something on the way back, so we didn't go any further along the combe. Next time!

We're now watching Twin Peaks - an episode a night - and so far thoroughly enjoying it. I'd forgotten quite how anarchic and surreal it is...

My garden from the landing window.

I love my garden...

Labels: days out, garden, medical matters