Flickr has taken over from my blog! Photography and website tinkering and surfing (Anthea has been sending me music and Mum and John have been phoning regularly, both via Skype), walking, work ... I don't know. Time flashes past.
I'm trying to be disciplined and go to bed early, ha ha. Today I was wrenched from my bed by the doorbell at 11:30am - Bertie's new kibble being delivered. He's recovered from his ordeal (aka my holiday) to the extent that I think he might be better off on "Greyhound Maintenance" than "Beta Active". He turned his nose up at the new stuff though. "Bleugh! I'm not eating that rubbish."
On Easter Monday morning it was the fencing man that woke me, come to do a quote. The bamboo curtain isn't going to last another winter so I'd better get on with a replacement. The back gate is also falling apart, so I got him to quote for that as well. He reckoned 4ft would be high enough for the fence, though I have my doubts.
Last week's alarm clock was the next door neighbours having new central heating installed - they were very good about it, making sure the noisy work didn't start until late morning. They had to have the chimney swept and warned me about it in advance, which was just as well - it sounded as though someone was coming through the wall!
Went to quite a good concert recently - the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. One of its members works in the features department and sells us tickets at a discount. This was a varied programme, to mark the launch of their CD. They did a James MacMillan piece, A New Song, which was gorgeous ... I really like MacMillan ... and my favourite bit of The Messiah.
On Saturday night Fiona, who is an ace social organiser, got a fun group round to her place for drinks and then off down the hill to a pub at Granton for a meal. There were ten of us altogether, once Verity had arrived - she'd just flown in from California that day! Really enjoyable evening.
Some wonderful news: my friend Colin (used to be a workmate, taught me sailing, now training to be a nurse) has just become a dad - his wife Gillian had a little boy by Caesarian section this morning. She already has three kids and he's been being a house-husband while waiting for his course to start.
Right. I'd better head off and walk Bertie before getting to bed - it's nearly 3am!!
31 March 2005
13 March 2005
:: losing streak
Must ... go ... to ... bed ... must ... stop ... surfing ...
But wait! I've just stumbled on Bertie's racing record. Poor devil, he started out really well, but it all went pear-shaped in a matter of months. All his races were in Galway, Ireland, the first on 15 April 1999, the last on 21 September 1999. I've had him since 22 March 2001. "Total prize money of €0." Pooooor Bertie, he didn't earn a living.
Right! I'm off to bed. I've been working on my website revamp - it's a lot easier with broadband! Honestly!
But wait! I've just stumbled on Bertie's racing record. Poor devil, he started out really well, but it all went pear-shaped in a matter of months. All his races were in Galway, Ireland, the first on 15 April 1999, the last on 21 September 1999. I've had him since 22 March 2001. "Total prize money of €0." Pooooor Bertie, he didn't earn a living.
Right! I'm off to bed. I've been working on my website revamp - it's a lot easier with broadband! Honestly!
11 March 2005
Forth Road Bridge
Blustery, cold day - walked across the bridge with the wind blowing up my sleeves, had an ice-cream and got the train back. At the station some Russian tourists told me Bertie was a Russian dog and asked how much he cost. They thought £50 was pretty reasonable.
9 March 2005
:: on the mend
Bertie's fans will be pleased to know he's recovered from his ordeal (aka my holiday) and has regained most of the weight he lost in kennels. Accordingly he's becoming a fussy eater yet again - for a while there he was scoffing anything and everything and then asking for more. His bowl is always clean at the end of the day though.
I should really take some photos of my house just now - it's a wreck. I've just got broadband (which is fantastic!) and installing it involved plugging a special splitter and extension cable into the phone socket. Which is behind a six foot tall bookcase. So I took all the books out of the bookcase and stacked them on the table and wiggled the case away from the wall. So far so good. But to get the extension to reach all the way from the socket to the modem, I had to slide it round behind the four other six-foot tall bookcases. This was tricky - they fit flush against the wall, so I had to stand on a chair and delicately tip each one forward, being careful not to tip them right over - books are heavy. But the cable got stuck underneath and wouldn't pull through and wouldn't fit all the way round. So plan B is to get a USB extension and take the mountain to Mohammed. In the meantime the books stay on the table - along with the box the modem came in, a printout of the instructions for doing everything, the old phone extension cord, packets of photo paper - the usual stuff.
Meanwhile in the livingroom piles of mail are building up: photo CD-ROMs for the family, music CDs for Rowan, books for Chris and Kate, a card for Caroline, pressies for Faye. out in the hall is the recycling collection; my old office upstairs has never recovered from its demotion (it's turning into one of those rooms you have to seal off when there are visitors); my bedroom - well, let's not go there. It was tidy for five minutes about a week ago, when I finished packing. It's not any more. Bertie refuses to keep the spare room tidy. The bathroom and toilet are pretty good.
The kitchen was a disaster area until Monday, when I had a shock visit from the water inspector. "Do you mind if I just shift these dishes out of the sink?" she said. It's a random thing they do every day, apparently. This woman drives around visiting houses to sample their water. She swabbed the tap with chlorine, left it for two minutes (she had a timer round her neck) then ran it for a while before filling a bottle from her tray. As soon as she was gone I did the dishes and wiped all the surfaces and polished the kettle and swept the floor. I'm sure she sees worse, but still, it was a wake-up call.
I should really take some photos of my house just now - it's a wreck. I've just got broadband (which is fantastic!) and installing it involved plugging a special splitter and extension cable into the phone socket. Which is behind a six foot tall bookcase. So I took all the books out of the bookcase and stacked them on the table and wiggled the case away from the wall. So far so good. But to get the extension to reach all the way from the socket to the modem, I had to slide it round behind the four other six-foot tall bookcases. This was tricky - they fit flush against the wall, so I had to stand on a chair and delicately tip each one forward, being careful not to tip them right over - books are heavy. But the cable got stuck underneath and wouldn't pull through and wouldn't fit all the way round. So plan B is to get a USB extension and take the mountain to Mohammed. In the meantime the books stay on the table - along with the box the modem came in, a printout of the instructions for doing everything, the old phone extension cord, packets of photo paper - the usual stuff.
Meanwhile in the livingroom piles of mail are building up: photo CD-ROMs for the family, music CDs for Rowan, books for Chris and Kate, a card for Caroline, pressies for Faye. out in the hall is the recycling collection; my old office upstairs has never recovered from its demotion (it's turning into one of those rooms you have to seal off when there are visitors); my bedroom - well, let's not go there. It was tidy for five minutes about a week ago, when I finished packing. It's not any more. Bertie refuses to keep the spare room tidy. The bathroom and toilet are pretty good.
The kitchen was a disaster area until Monday, when I had a shock visit from the water inspector. "Do you mind if I just shift these dishes out of the sink?" she said. It's a random thing they do every day, apparently. This woman drives around visiting houses to sample their water. She swabbed the tap with chlorine, left it for two minutes (she had a timer round her neck) then ran it for a while before filling a bottle from her tray. As soon as she was gone I did the dishes and wiped all the surfaces and polished the kettle and swept the floor. I'm sure she sees worse, but still, it was a wake-up call.
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