... I'd write my autobiography, but no-one would believe it....
If you come across any words you don't recognise in this blog, take a look at the Taylorspeke Glossary in the left-hand infopane, you'll usually find a definition there.
There's room for one - or maybe two, at a pinch - more on that bedroom windowsill (the only one in the house that's ideal for them). Let's see what I find. Well, that didn't last long...
EO - Everlasting orchid. Phalaenopsis. I've had this orchid since 2007 and it just keeps flowering...
AO - Alien face orchid. Phalaenopsis . Bought 2018 - lovely little flowers, all different patterns!
RO - Rescued orchid photo to come when it flowers. Phalaenopsis. Rescued from a bin up the road in 2019. Classic!
TO - Tiny orchid. Phalaenopsis. Bought at Tesco 21.8.20. It just begged to come home with me. How could I say no?
CO - Crimson orchid. Cambria. Another Tesco find. This one may be going to live in Ken's room once we've redecorated and put up the new shelving; it prefers a cooler, less sunny windowsill. If so, I'll need to find another cambrian to keep it company.
GO - Golden orchid. Phalaenopsis. Saw this one when I bought CO and left it behind - then immediately regretted it as soon as I got home. Never seen one like it before. Ken, bless him, went back over to Tesco in the rain and bought it for me...
DO - Dendrobium Orchid. Smells of wisteria, so beautiful...
RO2 - Rescued orchid no 2. Phalaenopsis. This is the one I rescued from the wall along the road middle of 2021.
PO. Pink orchid. Phalaenopsis. This is the one I bought at Cabury Garden Centre on special, late 2021. It's much happier here!
TWO. Teeny weeny orchid, Phalaenopsis. Rescued from Tesco end 2021 (I think).
"Autumnal - nothing to do with leaves. It is to do with a certain brownness at the edges
of the day...
Brown is creeping up on us, take my word for it... Russets and tangerine shades of old gold flushing the very outside
edge of the
senses... deep shining ochres, burnt umber and parchments of baked earth - reflecting on itself and through itself,
filtering the light. At
such times, perhaps, coincidentally, the leaves might fall, somewhere..."
(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are Dead Act
2: Tom Stoppard)
Autumn...
I love this time of year. I love the colours, the sharp slant of sunlight on the trees, mosaics of acid-yellow and harts-
blood, velvet and
darkness and a haze of mist-grey over the hills. I love its immanence, its mellowness, the tang of frost just around the
corner of the
year...
Watching the little birds in the goat-willow in my garden, I realised something more.
I love this land with a fierce, possessive love, deep-rooted in two thousand years of history. From the frosted beaches
and cloud-brushing peaks of the north to the wind-haunted meanderings of the rivers of the east, from the sensuous
rolling patchworked hills of
the south to the demanding dark moors of the west, this land seeps into bone and blood and synapse, mother of
motley nobility,
culture, individual freedoms. It can be known. It can be understood. It can be felt deep inside.
I love its effortless eccentricities, its vigour and vibrancy, its flawed perfections, its silent strength and tenacious
resilience, its hard-won tolerances and intense and variable beauty, the profound energy in its sacred mythical
landscape.
Home and more-than-home, the forces that shape and protect and bind, in me, as I am in the land. Love returning love
in the stillness
for those who'll only take the time to listen...
Blog Pics I've gathered some of my pages of photos together: the page of links is here. I'll be adding more as time goes
by!
Evil Squid
A Little Glossary of Taylorspeke
(in no particular order)
plit popints - n. Typo for 'plot points' typed on a keyboard with more than half the characters worn off...
[PING] (alt [ping]) - n. A brainwave. The text equivalent of a lightbulb going on blindingly over someone's head. Usually mine. And usually at the most inconvenient of times. [sigh]
TPTB - The Powers That Be.
wulmet - n. A person of little or no talent who somehow inveigles himself into a position where he is in power over other, far more talented people and uses his position to downplay them in order to try to make himself feel superior.
biteable - referring to an anatomical part vb, tasty.
Flatterfed - vb. 27.02.08: my typo for flattered, but since it's so cutely apt I thought it would fit nicely
here. Lutra defined it as "the lovely warm feeling of satisfaction resulting from enthusiastic reviews..." (which I've been
getting for my MB fics).
Composted - vb, 'compos mentis', mentally capable of working. Contrast with
uncomposted or non-
composted, not 'compos mentis', not capable of working, hungover...
Cumbles - n, cucumbers.
Kewp - how Ken says 'thank you'. We rather like Lutra's 'nanx', too...
Musekick - noun, music, without which I cannot work.
'feinne - noun, caffeine, essential for correct mental functioning, especially first thing in the morning. I
prefer mine in the
form of SodaStream Diet Coke. And on that subject...
Skoosh - verb, noun. To skoosh - to add CO2 to a sodastream bottle filled with water to make it
fizzy, prior to adding
Diet Coke syrup (or just drinking as sparkling water). A skoosh - a bottle of water that has been skooshed. Skooshy
- something that
has been skooshed, water, or that whipped cream that comes in tins you have to shake then upend and press the
nozzle...
Shoogle - verb. To shake gently, for example, of roast potatoes in a roasting tin to ensure they're
covered with oil. I
have vague memories of this being a real Scottish colloquialism...
Stegasaurus - n, spider of the genus tegenaria. Why? No idea. I just find it easier, that's
all...
Edit 08.09.07: Lutra thinks that Brian is a good name for a mini-stegasaurus. From now on, any 'Brian's in the posts
may be assumed to be a tegenaria. Except where otherwise specified.
Viterals - noun, vitamins + minerals. Also a pun on victuals.
Splish - verb. A combination of slosh and splash.
Parrots - noun, paracetemol (from the old joke "Why are there no aspirin tablets in the jungle?
Because the parrots eat
'em all...")
Maggles - noun, magpies. As opposed to non-magical people.
Flamewings - noun. Swifts. So called because the first time we became aware of them was an early
summer evening
when they were flying high, the light from the setting sun seemingly turning their wings to flames. Lovely little birds. We
always know
summer's arrived when we hear their high-pitched squeeing.
Murfs - noun, moths.
Peasant cut - noun, roughly cut up into big chunks, e.g. vegetables chopped in a hurry for a
hearty stew or
soup. By extension, anything prepared in a hurry - haircut, material, even a first draft of a story...
Giraffe - noun, a carafe (of wine, coffee or water, for example).
Shrumps - noun, mushrooms.
Splings - noun, Kai's spelling homework: by extension, any spelling.
Tyops - noun, typos. var toyps, typso, psyto, psoyt, etc. Usual result of a dose of the
fingerials (see next
entry).
Fingerials - (pr. fin GEEE ree yalls) noun, fingers that will not type what you want
them to.
Haddock - noun, time, of which I never have enough. (Origin of this term here.)
Sleep - noun? vb? a.k.a. sheeeeeeeeep.... I used to know what this word
meant...
:: World Timeserver For checking the current time around this world
:: Universal Currency Converter Actually it's just a terran-global currency
converter, not universal,
but it's still useful...
So what is it with the
haddock? Am I some kind of fish freak?
I'll leave that to
others to decide.
The tale (or tail if you prefer) harks back
to October 2000, when my GoodTwin and I, ably assisted by Sue,
ran the first UK Professionals convention... It's common
knowledge that I never have enough time, and I was determined
not to bewail the fact that weekend: hence I promised not to use the
'T' word... Of course, that didn't really work (if nothing else I
had to let the trainees know what times things were supposed to be
happening!) so we decided a substitute word would be employed
instead. There were several suggestions. Banana came very close to
being chosen. However, I eventually decided that 'haddock' fitted
the bill nicely. Ever since, haddock=time. Hence the title of my forthcoming
autobiography, My Half-Life in the Haddock
Space Continuum....
Normally I wouldn't, but these
were just irresistible...
These
Too-Kawaii Kitties were adopted from Ghost's Anime
Page (which appears to have disappeared, alas...)
Anime still needed to complete series' I'm collecting...
Many thanks to everyone who has helped me acquire the collection!
Ai no Kusabi
Owned:
DVD Dj: June Special CD: Ambivalence
Cyber City Oedo 808
Owned:
DVD
All 3 eps on Video, dubbed Dj: Cyberage 1-3
Illustrated Book 2 (Benten's) in Japanese
From Eroica with Love
Owned: Manga Vols 1, 9, 11
Mirage of Blaze
Owned:
DVD Vol 1 (eps 1-4)
R.G. Veda
Owned: English Manga: Vol 1 Japanese Manga: Vol 1-7 complete Tarot Pack
R.G.Veda video
Twelve Kingdoms
Owned: Anime Vol 1-12: complete
Under the Glass Moon
Owned: Manga Vol 1, 2
Vol 3 needed
Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust
Owned:
DVD
Vampire Hunter D Book 1
New Vampire Miyu
Owned:
(Studio Ironcat) Manga Vols 1 -5 (complete)
Yami no Matsuei
Owned:
Viz Manga: English translation, Vols 1 - 11 (complete: I believe vol 12 is only available online)
Japanese 3-DVD set
Central Park Media: Descendants of Darkness Vol. 1, English/Japanese subbed.
Sketchbook
[::..Joules SP fied..::]
... this is Terra? How the hell'd I end up here...?
Speedy update to end the year. Will try to update more regularly in 2022 but making no promises...
22.11.21 we had the solar panels installed...
Rather chuffed about that! Will see what difference they make to the fuel bills when I can finally get some info from our supplier.
After getting the new carpets, I decided I wanted a roomba. I hate vacuuming, and can't keep asking Kai to do it. So - meet Bumble...
(First video I've ever tried to take so sorry for quality. Might be better using the 'watch on youtube' link...) Not only adorable, bumbling around burbling to himself, but also very efficient. Also somehow managed to get him for £89 less than originally advertised on amazon - no idea what happened there, don't think it was Cyber Monday...
The stairlift (or indoor finicky vernacular, as it immediately got designated) is called Lurch, because it tends to lurch over the hinge at the bottom, and because it reminds me of Lurch from the Addams Family. Not using it much at the moment as walking up the stairs currently counts as exercise!
Now onto 3001: the Final Odyssey. Only a chapter to go, but it's a bit wearying. The previous volumes were largely considerations of time, space, sentience and power. This one is more ordinary 'attacking aliens', which is both anticlimactic and vaguely annoying...
Trip to Babbacombe 6.12.21 went well: took the Poms for a walk and chatted for most of the day - weather wasn't great.
Oddicombe beach from the Downs
Mum T is doing OK, although her sight has now almost gone (which didn't stop her making the most delicious ham sandwiches!)
I recently had a hankering to re-read some Kemlo books: I remember enjoying them as a child. Found Martian Ghosts, Space Lanes and Star Men very cheap on ebay, so treated myself... Hm. Well, as kid's fantasy/sf they still work, mostly, but some of the science (or maybe just the terminology?) is somewhat cringeworthy. Won't bother with any more...
Media... Black Swan - brutal exploration of obsession and the drive for perfection. Good, but very depressing.
We watched Superman and Lois (the full season 1 - quite fun!) on Iplayer, and it reminded me of the Superman films. We didn't have any, so I bought them... Superman I is fun, and has aged quite well.
Superman II, daft and not as good. Haven't watched Superman III yet, treat for the New Year perhaps.
Black Widow is very good. Be interesting to see if there's a sequel.
Attack the Block... heh. Bought it as it came highly recommended. Loathed it. It did, finally, get interesting in the last 20 minutes, but even Jodie Whitaker couldn't save it.
Jungle Cruise, however, is great fun! Silly, but very enjoyable.
Ken and I watched On the Beach, which I've had for a while. I saw it when I was very little (it came out the year I was born) - too young really for it to have the full impact. Watching it again, it was so desperately sad, but such a wonderful film.
We had a good, if quiet holiday. Our 32nd anniversary went well, and the 25th presents were well received (very much looking forward to the DVDs from GoodTwin and Sue!) and the meal was fine too. Boxing day was the usual buffet with help-yourself-salad for a nod towards healthiness!
Tyjer is still haunting me, so I popped into BARC last month, and signed adoption papers for both cats and dogs. Waiting now for the right fur babies to appear...
Astonishing sunset the other day! Everything was bright pink!
A last bit of cuteness to see out 2021 - robin taking a bath in the bird feeder's water bowl...
More photos next time - I should have my new curtains up then, and with a bit of luck the splashback for the kitchen sink will be done (we bought the tiles but the job's a bit too awkward for us to successfully do ourselves). Also, the orchid I rescued in August has a flower spike coming, so hopefully I can soon find out what colour it is.
Wishing everyone a wonderful - safe, healthy and happy - start to 2022. Let's hope it's a bit better than the last two years have been.
Happy new year to you too! Glad you had a good time. You've been busy with the solar panels and the vacuum cleaner (but then when aren't you busy?). I'm watching Superman and Lois, one episode at a time, and enjoying it too. Love the robin pictures!
um... Wheeee? That's another 10 days gone whistling past... >8-} (Work, visiting family, drama group - all the usual excuses.) I love Bumble. Exactly what we could do with, if we didn't have so much junk around the place that it would actually need to hover to do any good :) Also I suspect it might get pounced on by the cats :) Keeping everything crossed for some suitable furry companions to come your way; we didn't realise how much we missed Sophie until Leo and Roma arrived. And the robin is lovely; mine still comes round frequently. I now have 3 blackbirds in residence: my original male who is really getting on and showing his age, the son he raised last summer (he brought him to my feet for mealworm feeds) and the female who is about three. It's an odd and interesting dynamic: the old boy chases off the female, who chases off the youngster, who chases off his father, but somehow they all manage to get some worms.
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2 Comments:
Happy new year to you too! Glad you had a good time. You've been busy with the solar panels and the vacuum cleaner (but then when aren't you busy?).
I'm watching Superman and Lois, one episode at a time, and enjoying it too.
Love the robin pictures!
um... Wheeee? That's another 10 days gone whistling past... >8-} (Work, visiting family, drama group - all the usual excuses.)
I love Bumble. Exactly what we could do with, if we didn't have so much junk around the place that it would actually need to hover to do any good :) Also I suspect it might get pounced on by the cats :)
Keeping everything crossed for some suitable furry companions to come your way; we didn't realise how much we missed Sophie until Leo and Roma arrived. And the robin is lovely; mine still comes round frequently. I now have 3 blackbirds in residence: my original male who is really getting on and showing his age, the son he raised last summer (he brought him to my feet for mealworm feeds) and the female who is about three. It's an odd and interesting dynamic: the old boy chases off the female, who chases off the youngster, who chases off his father, but somehow they all manage to get some worms.
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