chaletian | Entries tagged with grandparentals

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you all had a smashing time. I did, it was super. Nice presents and nice food and lots of hugs with Grandma. Also, the following anecdote:

"Ooh, I was going out with Betty Plumtree, and I said, Betty, I've got one leg longer than the other. And she said, Stella, I've got one arm longer than the other! We're a right pair! And we couldn't stop laughing!" Good times.

ION, I got a beautiful Psmith story on Yuletide, and my recipient liked hers so yay!

I hope everyone has a nice time for the rest of the Christmas period, and thank you to everyone wot bought me presents!

xoxo

What ho, chaps! Summer, I can now report, is definitely icumen in: the first Pimms of 2010 has been spotted at Fangirl Towers. Naturally, being England, this will be the brief eye in the drizzly, grey-skied really-not-even-one-interesting-storm that is the British summer, but tant pis. For now, I will enjoy the (mild) sunshine. Actually, for the past couple of days, I have been enjoying it OUTSIDE. Yes, visitors to Fangirl Towers may not have noticed that we have balcony (unless you're Kathye and have used as a prime smoking location), as we never remember it ourselves. However, the balcony door has been open recently, and - STAND BACK, PLEASE - there have been some idle attempts at GARDENING. Yes, you did hear me aright. Actual gardening, with compost and, I'm not too proud to admit, various purchases from Poundland. (Fucking Poundland, I love you.)

So, over the weekend I planted rosemary, thyme, sage and mint (the mint in a separate pot, natch), and today I planted some fresia bulbs (I love fresias) and a gooseberry bush (in a pot that is possibly a touch too small, but we will see). In the coming months, I will be doing strawberry plants into our hanging basket (slightly limp and aged, but I am confident it is up to the ask), although I don't have particularly high hopes of them actually providing any fruit, and a tomato plant into the big tub thing my parents bought us for daffodils.

All these things are very likely to die.

I don't want anyone to be under any illusions. No tears when the news comes that the gooseberries died about six months ago and we didn't notice. No wails of despair when I excitedly announce that the cracked earth in the plastic pot once appeared to home some sort of plant, its desiccated leaves now giving no clue as to its identity. Please face the truth now, and accept it into your life: this attempt at bringing joy and happiness to our balcony is doomed to epic failure.

Speaking of death, funeral went as well as these things do. My father did the eulogy, and jolly well he did it too. Not easy, given his slightly rocky relationship with Grandpa, but I think he did them both justice and I was very proud of him. Nice to see the old family again, albeit fleetingly. Thankfully, the next family shindig should be Chris' wedding next year, which should be somewhat cheerier.

The prog man has decided on early retirement. Calloo callay etc.

I cleaned the windows in my room and the spare room (they look out onto the balcony). Ruined three dishcloths in the process, though will attempt to return them to some semblance of white with some Vanish. The windows, I suspect HAVE NEVER BEEN WASHED BEFORE. They were filthy, and are still a bit streaky due to me not getting around to rinsing them, but good grief, one can actually see through them. A miracle.

A thought: I do not think a hung parliament will lead to the apocalypse. Just my two penn'orth.

I am re-reading Eva Ibbotson's Magic Flutes. I love her books.

So, I am back in sunny Barlborough for the second time in a week (ah, the M1, my dear old chum), this time for Grandpa's funeral (he died at the beginning of last week). It feels a bit weird to have gone from having all my grandparents less than two years ago, to having just one clinging still to the vine. Anyway, another outing of the funeral dress for me.

In other news, I was simultaneously amused and dismayed by the Daily Mail's headline today: "Clegg in Nazi slur on Britain". Fucking hell, DM, really? Here is the article in question: Don't mention the war. Grow up, which seems perfectly reasonable to me, and relates to #6 of my previous post.

Our programme manager is due back today, having been off two weeks for stress. Having started in February, she's approaching the point where she's been off more than she's been in. I have demanded of Amanda that she text me the minute there is news of whether she has returned or not.

I am currently reading another new Stephanie Laurens. Seriously, why am I doing this to myself? I know that she's gone a bit shit, but like some mindless sheep, I keep trundling towards the slaughter gate of the sub-par trashy romance. In happier reading, I'd like to recommend Beswitched by Kate Saunders, about a girl who gets sent off to boarding school by her parents and ends up in a girls' school in 1935. It's actually vg, and I loved it.

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I am sure this will come to a massive shock to everyone, but I don't really believe in censoring reading for kids by the time they hit high school age (particularly American high school age, which I imagine this questions means, and which I think I am right in saying is about 14?). Partly this is the voice of experience - I never really had my reading censored (I started borrowing books from the adult section when I was 11/12), and I don't think I suffered in any way for that. I read what I wanted to, what I was interested in, and that worked for me. Occasionally, I read stuff from my grandparents' top shelf, which was 'racier' than stuff I got at home (but we're talking Jeffrey Archer/Harold Robbins racy here). I read teen and adult books that talked about sex and stuff, and that didn't faze me particularly. I don't know, I think adults can get extremely precious about "protecting the children", which by 14 or so is a bit absurd, because children can actually decide for themselves what they want to read.

Anyway, in other news, I'm selling my soul (or, OK, GGBP books) on eBay if anyone's interested. Buy stuff from me! This time, it's an aid of going out next week for my work leaving thing. Because next week is my last week! Thank fuck! I've mostly enjoyed this job, it has to be said. I like (most) of the people I've worked with, the job itself has been often tedious but occasionally interesting and challenging, and I've had to learn stuff, which is always a bonus. I think I'm a better administrator than I was when I started. So, y'know, progress is good. On the other hand, they screwed me over a bit and the uniform made me want to kill myself, and the challenge is mostly gone, so I'm glad I'm leaving. Looking forward to the next job, too! I've got three weeks of that (well, two and a bit, plus the fun of NHS induction), and then two weeks of holiday, which I am really looking forward to - I do need the break.

I've been stressing quite a lot recently: largely because of work, and also because of my ongoing inability to budget my money effectively. So, I apologise to my chums who've had me ringing them up expressly to rant about work, and then adding some feeble request about their own lives! I am going to try and chill out and not obsess over being slighted by HCA and enjoy life and be sensible. A fine plan. Let's see if I can stick to it.

In fanfictional news (fascinating for everyone), I have embarked upon my long planned Merlin fic on the old rex quondam rexque futurus theme. I do, of course, use the word "planned" loosely: I had a vague idea, wrote the first part, and now find myself trying to actually plan the rest of the story. I sort of know what's going to happen. IT WILL BE FINE. In other fanfictional news, I wrote Dean and Jo and internet porn, pimped it, and then (this is unheard of), DEPIMPED IT. Yes. You heard aright. I depimped a fic. It wasn't right, and I will probably rewrite it. I've also read a load of fic recently, and will rec the good stuff shortly. I also need to get cracking on the SGA bigbang. Also, I am, once again, regretting that sign ups for Yuletide passed me by. Every year I think I'd like to do Yuletide, because there are loads of small fandoms I love and would be happy to write in, but I never do anything about it. I suck.

Small break there: I went to fetch my dinner. I'm eating parsnips. Yum. I have to take total parsnip responsibility in Fangirl Towers, as Katie doesn't like them, but that's fine by me, as I am heavily pro-parsnip. You're never alone with a parsnip, I always say. I am also wearing leggings. I look fucking absurd, but who cares? I am alone. (I interrupt this fashion update to inform you that I put a little honey on my parsnips when I cooked them, and they smell delicious. I AM A PARSNIP GENIUS.)

So, what other news do I have? I went up to Sheffield last weekend to visit Grandma, which was very nice. She's mad as ever, but it was lovely to see her (and Rosie, and my parents), even if it was quite a fleeting visit, most of which seemed to be taken up with preparing meals. But we had a jolly time nonetheless, and it's not so long to Christmas, really. Journey both ways was hideous though. There must have been some sort of M1 hoohah on the Saturday morning, because the driver came off just south of Derby and toured the back streets of Derbyshire AS IF THE COACH WERE CROSSING MOLASSES IN JANUARY. Jizzy Chrizzy, I thought my bottom would fall off by the time we finally crept towards Meadowhead. And, natch, M1 into London on Sunday evening was foul. I swear to god I'm getting the train at Christmas...

Anyway, there's my news for the time being. I'm off to read a Mills & Boon set in the Norman Conquest. Good times...

OH MY GOD, WHY AM I ALWAYS SO STUPID? WHY? I need to be in bed and asleep now because of getting up at some godawful hour tomorrow to go to Sheffield pour visiter la grandmère, except there's an awful lot of faffing going on, and we watched Bones and Supernatural when Katie got back from Brownies. Firstly, can someone please to be explaining to me ( a spoilery thing )? I do not understand. Also, I want to write fic RIGHT NOW with Jo finding Dean/Jo porn online, not to mention the Merlin fic I got three-quarters of the way through today, and the Dean/Jo fic I've been messing around with for the last month or so. CAN'T SLEEP, FIC WILL EAT ME. Actually, it's more CAN'T SLEEP, WILL NOT GET UP IN TIME.

I LOVE TV. I LOVE FIC. I LOVE THE INTERNET. I LOVE THAT RPATTZ DOES NOT BOTHER TO WASH BEFORE PIMPING THE NEW TWILIGHT FILM AND THE GFY GIRLS SEEM TO HAVE GIVEN UP ON HIM. I LOVE JIM PARSONS ON CONAN O'BRIAN. I LOVE THE STUPID CHEESY OPENING CREDITS FROM LAST WEEK'S SUPERNATURAL. I LOVE THAT A ONE SECOND SNIPPET FROM A MERLIN TRAILER MADE THE CAMELOT_LOVE COMM EXPLODE. I LOVE THAT BOOTH COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT (HEH). OMG, HOW IS THE WORLD SO AWESOME?!

Had a lovely sojourn with Katie to Greenwich Park today to see Donna. We sat in the sun and dined well on picnic food and fizzy pink wine - good times. I then abandoned them to bop around London, and came home. Now. Riddle me this, people: at what point did I think getting a bus home from Aldwych on a Saturday afternoon was a good plan. If I'd just nipped across Waterloo Bridge and got the train, I'd have been home by the time my stupid bus shuddered from a crawl to a stop at Hyde Park Corner, where I had to change because my particular No. 9 had decided not to bother going to Hammersmith. Whatevs. I got home in the end. Comedy moment: chap wearing a Captain Hammer t-shirt in Hammersmith whilst I was listening to the Dr Horrible soundtrack!

( Just taking a minute to be a tiny bit sad. )

Also, the Savoy is still closed. What gives, Savoy? It's been nearly two years! How long can it possibly to take to get restored?

Also, Katie and I came up with a bit of nice SPN fic for me to write (OMG this week's ep not actually shit!!!). So I might do that this afternoon.

I write this sitting on the sofa. Which is less interesting, I grant you, than some other literary openings. Anyway, so much has happened for me to tell you all about, that I'm bound to leave everything interesting out. However, I will try my best, sadly hampered by the fact that I'm about to explode from an excess of chicken korma (mmm, chicken korma).

1. I can't remember whom I have previously button-holed on the subject of chicken korma. If it was you, I apologise. As PG Wodehouse so perspicaciously pointed out once, it is so difficult to know how to pitch your tale, when there is the possibility that bod A may know more of the story than bod B. Anyway, I have never really cooked a curry or anything like it, so it was with some trepidation that I embarked upon a recipe for c.k. that Emma gave me, but it turned out OK and I have now cooked it approximately fourteen times in the last week. Next stop: thai chicken curry, which I love but which I have, again, never cooked.

2. Do any more northerly folk know what's going on at the Tesco-roundabout-end of the Chesterfield bypass? They demolished the glassworks there ages ago, but apparently they're now building a giant (new) Tesco there, and there are rumours that there's going to be a bit of football stadium action on the remaining land - that's going to bugger up the traffic nicely come match days.

3. In re release of Lockerbie bomber as what is dying fairly imminently, WTF FBI man? Scotland's case, Scotland's jurisdiction, Scotland's decision. Fuck off out of it.

4. I'll stop waffling now and get to the nub of LIFE and the only topic about which anyone will have any interest. I'm sure you will all be delighted to hear that my hair has faded quite a lot, and although it is still massively, stupidly red, I no longer look like Jane Goldman, so yay. Also, Helen cut me a bob, which is ACE and also AWESOME (even though Pim's bathroom was apparently covered in my hair for quite some time EVEN THOUGH I totally tidied up after myself).

5. So, ja, the other weekend, I went to Helen's, and we hung out being ineffectual together, and then we went to Pimly's, where she cooked us Mexican lasagna (always a treat, and who knew Nellie Dean could even cook?! I thought she lived on scraps...) and we watched St Trinian's and Mamma Mia - frankly, what could be more glorious? What indeed? I hear you say. And, as mentioned, Helen cut my hair, which was a TRIUMPH because she is unexpectedly skilled in that arena. &Helen;

6. Subsequently, Pim and I went out to dinner at that gourmet institution that is Pizza Express. I had - no, wait for it - chicken caesar salad! I know! *makes I-know face* Who saw that coming? Service was fairly rubbish, as per, but we had a nice meal and chatted and bitched, and then wandered down the South Bank (which may well be MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE WHOLE WORLD) to the National, where we sat on the giant grass furniture and met Katherine and brushed our hair like land-locked mermaids and had ice lollies and chatted. All vee nice. We were, however, saddened by the absence of Kathryn, who blew us off for COLLEAGUES SHE PRESUMABLY SEES ALL THE TIME. Pah.

7. The day after that was Thursday (an accurate timeline is crucial), which was my last day at work that week. Now, we have a thing at work where, when it's someone's birthday, we bring in food AS A SECRET and have a little lunch party. However, Emma and I are the only ones who have ever arranged this, and as Emma's last day had been the Wednesday, I was not expecting lunch. We continued our hilarious file purge in the morning, and then I was called into the office in a tiny emergency TO FIND THEY'D DONE ME LUNCH ANYWAY! Woo! It was so exciting! Also, Cath had bought me a bottle of No 6 Pimm's (a sort of Pimm's No 1/vodka hybrid which turns out to be DELISH). All in all, a good day.

8. On Friday, after getting up ridiculously early to pack and blow dry my hair and such like, I bopped to Victoria to meet Katherine and Pim and wend our way up to Chesterfield, where the CBB Summer Frolick was - well, actually not scheduled to take place. It was to take place in Barlborough, the village where my parents live. The mater (eventually) picked us up and we went to Sainsbury's where Katherine shopped for Frolick food and Pim and I wandered around and bought clothes and stuff. Went home and then OHNOES! TRAGEDY! Katie was cutting short her holiday to come up to the old borough of Barl, and had booked her ticket from Cornwall to Sheffield, but tragedy had struck! Fearful traffic along the byways of the west country! No train catching! No movement of any kind! EPIC SADFACES ACROSS THE LAND. In the end, she had to give up the Sheffield plan and buy a ticket back to London. I will not lie. There was a tiny crystalline single emo tear*. Anyway, as luck and the script would have it, I managed to find a relatively decent ticket for London-Doncaster on the Saturday morning, and, with a bit of (FRANKLY GENIUS) jiggery-pokery, I booked it for her. \o/

9. On Friday evening, we had savoury pancakes and my parents were ridic. I love them. They're awesome. Also, on a similar note, Pim and I suspect that our mothers may actually be THE SAME WOMAN. Have you ever seen them in a hospital together? Have you? I didn't think so. I mean, we always knew there was the daughters-of-NHS-managery-women bond between us, but even so...

10. Saturday! Frolick! Tiny plastic Jesus watched over us all, and the Frolick went according to plan (except for the bit where I kept leaving out bits of activity, but that happens with the most well-regulated frolicks). Katie arrived sans problem. The Little School even had a cake stand for all Katherine's cupcakes (lemon cakes = delicious beyond measure). I made quiches.

11. DONNA BOUGHT ME A TINY PLASTIC JIM KIRK! BEST PRESENT EVER! HE IS MY TINY PLASTIC LOVERRRRRRRR! I LOVE HIM!

12. Saturday PM: back to the homestead, and time to open presents! Woo! I was in receipt of a tea towel (a present classic), a giant Cornwall pencil, a thing to make Virgin Mary toast, two pairs of Holy Socks AND PIM KNITTED ME A SHATNER!FACE! YES! YOU HEARD ME RIGHT! AN ACTUAL, HONEST-TO-GOD SHATNER!FACE, LIKE SHE SWORE SHE WOULDN'T! (Yeah, she's weak. Exploit her, people.) IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE WORDS! I LOVE YOU, NELLIE!! Also, Katie made me a birthday card that had me and Jim sailing down an Amsterdam canal, while Spock watched us go, his left eyebrow a picture of emo woe. Fucking beautiful. I love my friends. Then Daddy made us his chicken curry thing, which is always yum, and Katie and I tidied the kitchen and went to bed. A smashing day.

13. Right. Sunday. Got up, had some orange juice and a tea cake. Had a shower. Faffed. Katie and I went to the station with Katherine and Pim and bid them adieu, then Mummy took us on to Grandma's, where I had more presents, and enjoyed Grandma being as ridiculous as ever. Then Chris turned up and there was a bit of chatting, and then we went down the road to see Grandpa, who was much as ever, though he'd managed to bash himself up a bit falling down the drive. Went in the garden to admire decking and fish - all vee nice, actually. We went home and had some lunch, then Mummy took us to Sheffield to catch the old coach back to London. We had a surprisingly smooth, un-awful journey. Had a bit of tea (God's honest pork pie, some tomatoes, some Babybel, some pickled onion Monster Munch, and an apple). Got home not too late, all in all. So, that was my weekend.

Anyway, that's about it. Not much else to report.

In Conclusion

Item: I am in possession of one (1) tiny plastic Jim Kirk and one (1) knitted Shatner!face.
Item: I have new short hair.
Item: I have, this very moment, been outbid on the chest of drawers I want. Damn you, eBay, damn you!
Item: Chicken korma rocks.

Addendum: My little brother, who works for Accenture, has just had a promotion and a 25% pay increase! I am very proud of him, and also very envious! Still, he's been working ridiculous hours, so I think I'd rather have my poorer paying much less working job!

* This is, in fact, a lie.

♥ HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

megaleena!!

♥ I have just eaten so much squash risotto I may well turn into a giant grain of starchy rice. Think of me fondly, darlings.

♥ I was supposed to draw Rob's leaving present this evening but I HAVE NOT DONE IT! Am vee bad and Venom will scold me tomorrow.

♥ LOL the Go Fug Yourself girls discovered Shooting Stars and were much confused.

♥

xanantha, I have given Katie a cheque for tomorrow.

♥ Katie and I are going to see Ben in Orpheus in the Underworld at the Holland Park Opera on Sunday - vee, vee civilised. I foresee the wearing of dresses.

♥ I have discovered that just the music for The West Wing makes me happy.

♥ I made apple sauce last night and heat sealed it into a jar and everything. We had sausage and mash for dinner, and I added some apple sauce, and the combination was delightful.

♥ Have been watching an anime version of Daddy-Long-Legs. A tad bizarre.

♥ Grandma's latest plan: to go into business providing sound effects for the BBC. Who are we to argue?

Item: I have a headache. Woe.
Item: I took the rubbish out but have not done all the washing up yet.
Item: I am about to go and make Mississippi mud cake.
Item: I love Star Trek.
Item: I'm supposed to be going to the Open Air Theatre in Regents Park tomorrow, thus it rains.
Item: The fresias I bought the other day are absolutely beautiful and smell divine.
Item: I sent my grandmother a postcard with bluetits on.

♥ OMG STAR TREK! STAR TREK TONIGHT! I AM SO EXCITED!!

♥ So, other than a brief cri de coeur over OTH, I have lots of update-y things. Well, not lots. A number of update-y things. Starting with Grandad’s funeral. Don’t worry: I exhausted my descriptive powers by going on at length on the subject to both Katie and Emma, so they have basically taken the bullet for you. Suffice it to say, it was actually as lovely a day as it could have been. The weather was beautiful, which I think put everyone in a nice mood. Grandma coped OK with the whole thing – as did we all, in fact. I read my pome without a hitch. The chapel was absolutely crammed – standing room only, in fact – and it was really nice to see so many people turn out for Grandad, including a load of care workers and district nurses etc, which Grandma was very touched by. Chris and I weren’t that taken with the padre, but Grandma, Mummy and Rosie really liked him, which was the main thing. And Alan Gildersleve (an old pal and medical colleague) did the eulogy thing which was funny and sweet and just right for Grandad. So it was all quite nice, actually. And then the parentals took me out to Ashford in the Water for a rather spiffing pub dinner, so all in all, a good day. Thank you to everyone who sent sympathy and good wishes etc – it was very much appreciated.

♥ I invented another new meal last night, which I am calling Pesto Primavera. Onion, leek, broccoli, spinach and peas cooked in a ricotta/mascarpone and pesto sauce. Vee spring-like and delicious (I thought). The other night I made savoury pancakes with chicken and leek, which was so-so (needed more flavour, I think).

♥ There have been various annoying things in the press recently, about which I have got quite irate, but I can’t remember them now, so you are spared a tiny rant.

♥ I am wearing my Spock t-shirt today. Not right now, of course. No, I’m currently wearing one of my mauve monstrosities. But out of hours – bring it on. “You Are Sooooooo Illogical” – present genius, Katie, my darling!

♥ I still haven’t finished Gossip Girl 1899 vol 2 – I am so slow with reading at the moment! I have loads of stuff to read and am just not getting round to it. I have a week off soon, though, so I might catch up then.

♥ Oh, yes, I remember now. Was reading the Daily Telegraph’s letters page over someone’s shoulder this morning. The first letter was someone frothing with rage over the latest parliamentary scandal, and they did that FUCK ANNOYING THING of being “ooh and our unelected Prime Minister…” OMG WILL THESE PEOPLE PLEASE GET A GRIP AND DEVELOP SOME AWARENESS OF THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION!! Rawr.

♥ Happy Birthday,

pim2005, my darling!! Hope you had a nice day!

♥ Made rice pudding. An interesting experiment.

♥ Grandad's funeral is on Thursday. Grandma has asked me to do a reading, on the basis that I will not weep all over the place. Hmm. Well. We'll see how that goes... Thank you, everyone, for the comments on my previous post. :-)

♥ Have now watched all of The Big Bang Theory. It is MADE OF WIN.

♥ Katie and I watched this week's Primeval. That show is stupid and awesome and I totally love it.

♥ I have written another page of Picked Up By Those Behind, but am still struggling with the fourth part a bit. Grr. Especially irritating because I've had an idea for another sequel.

Golly, who ever saw *this* coming? Oh, that's right. Pretty much everyone.

Anyway, wooooooooo America! How exciting was that!? I was going to be sensible and go to bed after the first east coast polls closed, but frankly that was but a pipe dream, and I stayed up till they called the election, watching the BBC online and the groovy interactive map on the MSNBC website and IMing

bookwormsarah (ETA: whom I just realised I have known on the internet for the best part of A DECADE!!!). So yesterday at work was interesting... *g*

Off to see HIGNFY tonight. Russell Howard on Saturday evening - hurrah! I think I've decided to grow out my fringe. I have been a bit of a genius at work. Last night I made mushroom and leek pasta and we watched OTH (when is that show not ace? Never, that's when...). Grandad's still broken. Grandma's still a bit of a mentalist.

And today we go to one the country's leading political pundits: my grandmother.

On the subject of John McCain - "What's an old man like that doing running for president?"

♥ You know how I posted a day or two ago about Katie getting trapped by Jehovah's Witnesses? Well, I felt a bit bad about it, because she said they were quite nice (which they were, though I had to struggle to restrain myself from shouting out "she's a heathen!" when they asked if she'd thought much about the Bible, but I was wearing a towel and didn't want to involve myself). Until some anonymous bod replied that I could learn something from the Bible, the self-righteousness of which made my instinctive response "fuck off!" Because whilst (a) I believe that there are valuable moral lessons to be learned from the Christian doctrines, viz being nice, I think that actually that's fairly universal and I don't *actually* need the Bible to tell me and (b) um, whatever, stop touting your deluded personal fantasy. I'm sorry, I think people can believe and say what they like about stuff and I'm with Voltaire on the whole not necessarily agreeing but fighting to the death for your right to say it (only, admittedly, less noble and thus only really willing to fight to the mild discomfort and/or slight personal embarrassment), but when it comes down to it I don't believe God exists and therefore any "relationship" anyone has with him is entirely in their heads. Which, whatever, if that works for people, but keep it to yourself (which most people I know do). It's not like I try and involve people in my personal fantasy (viz being secretly descended from the Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia and thus heir to the Russian throne, as will be proved by my Romanov jewel, purchased very reasonably, and even more mystically, at the Kingston H&M). Well, OK, except for Megan, whom I almost managed to convince. Yes, that's right. I abused her childish trust and belief in me by making her think that one day my £1.99 necklace will fall open to reveal a Faberge jewel that will cement my claim to Russia. Heh.*

♥ On an entirely different note, a new poster has appeared in Baker Street (northern Jubilee line, should anyone be interested. Not that I can really imagine that. Moving on...) for the film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. There is a little box on the poster considerately telling me that the film contains scenes of Holocaust, Threat and Terror. Well, thank fuck they told me, frankly, because the picture on the poster of two boys on either side of a CONCENTRATION CAMP FENCE didn't give that one away or anything... FFS, how stupid is the public assumed to be these days? Pah, I say. And I say it vehemently.

♥ Have read a great number of comics recently, including majority of the Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive storyline (really like the Batman comics - can anyone recommend any good Batman and Nightwing fic? Not slashy, necessarily, just sort of angsty family stuff?). Also, latest issue of Fables - two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

♥ Anyway, you might be asking yourself what I've been up to recently. (Or you might not, but I can't cope with that possibility of no-one caring, so will pretend it could not exist.) So, yep. Um, not much, actually. I tidied my room a little while ago but since then I developed my current art project (a sort of collagey-wall-hanging thing) which is half-finished on the floor, with every single vaguely craft-related item I own silting up the room. The odds of it being spoiled are increasing exponentially (not literally, that was a little bit of hyperbole). So, there's that. We're going to the Bad Film Club this week to see Robocop III which should be a little bit of a treat. That's about it. Ooh, we had a BT line installed on Friday, that was a bit of excitement in the week.

♥ Bah. Mid-September already. Must remember to fashion the remains of Grandma's birthday present and send it. Re my little plan to bop up to Sheff and surprise her, I surreptitiously floated the idea to Grandad and he was dubious on account of Rosie etc and not knowing what they're doing in advance. So on the one hand I want to post it so she has her present for her birthday, and on the other hand want to save it till I next go up so I can see her little face. *making see-one's-little-face-when-receiving-present gesture*

♥ Ooh, totally forgot to mention that on a whim we went to see Tim Minchin at the Bloomsbury the other week, which was really ace (though there's a funny story there, cuz I saw a thing in the paper about it on the Friday, and had a little email conversation with Katie about let's go tonight! and we agreed to do that, and I bought the tickets and was quite excited and we were making plans about meeting etc until I realised that in fact it wasn't till the following Friday, so that was side-splittingly funny but fortunately worked out OK despite my own stupidity and inability to know what the date is), though I was nearly late because the Gower St Waterstones is there, and I got sucked in by the books. So, yes. Tim Minchin. Katie discovered him back when Mark Watson made the world substantially better and made me listen too. He writes songs (and then performs them. Obviously). They are funny. And ace. And on Youtube. Go and watch. Or go and see him live, which was much better. Also, I wrote a pome (which was nice, on account of having lost my pome-fu! 0.o Like my fic-fu and my computer-genius-fu... I am fu-less. Fu-free. Sans-fu. Tragique), because that seemed an appropriate medium:

( Pome, or, I tried to think of a genius title but failed )

My god, I actually will one day become the next poet laureate. I can see it now. Please don't interfere with my personal fantasy by commenting on the pathetic attempts at rhyming with words that don't quite fit. Or that it's crap. I just want my fu back!! *g*

( Also, I have a little confession... )

Anyway, I'm going to go to bed again. I woke up at about two in a bit of a bedlinen tangle and couldn't sleep, but I've gone tired again. I'm never going to be up in time in the morning, and Emma will have yet another reason to bully me. I didn't mention, did I, that in the course of my day's BT-man-leave on Friday, she called me three times merely to bully me? You've actually got to give her kudos for the kind of persistent hard work she puts into it... *g* Apparently Roman brought in jaffa cakes, and I missed them. :(

* Actually, I must sadly confess that I didn't entirely succeed in making her believe my little tale of intrigue and romance. She remained mostly sceptical till the end.

Today I have:

- Done some actual, professional, paid-for work. (Go me.)
- Drawn a work!C21st Justice cartoon.
- Opened two new bank accounts.
- Had confirmation of the booking for Ten Inch Hero. (Yay. And *fear*. In equal measures.)
- Bought Katie's and my tickets for the Platform on Friday.
- Tried not to pay too much heed to the birthday-present-from-Katie hints that Emma has been sending me. (Yes. Yes indeed. Emma emailed Katie and Katie told her what my birthday present was. And, apparently, condoned Bullying Friday ON MY BIRTHDAY which as any fule kno is just plain wrong.)
- Listened to the end of Hay Fever and some Victoria Wood whilst making Bakewell tart. (I made my First One Ever at the grandparents' on Sunday and it unexpectedly turned out perfectly, so we are now quite enamoured.)
- Written a speedy thank you note to the grandparentals.
- Tidied, actually *tidied* in the hall and living room. (A bit.)
- Realised that I still haven't posted about my hols and the grandparental sojourn. This may or may not come, depending on my mood.
- Sadly discovered that there is not a Wikiquote page for Charlie & Lola. *sad face* This is clearly quite wrong.

♥ We were graced with Pim’s company last night, which was vee nice. I made the previously mentioned aubergine and mozzarella penne, though I am struggling with the exact cube size necessary for optimum taste. I think slightly smaller is better. I look forward to my next effort. Katie: I’m planning to do bbq chicken for Friday – please can you remind me to take the chicken out of the freezer ce soir?

♥ I rang up Chris to check he’d been to visit the grandparents, and had a rather disturbing conversation with him viz my entire family is being weird and implody and it’s incredibly crap. And our parents tell us nothing. Nothing at all. Sorry, I don’t really want to go into all the problems, but I did want to go wah, so forgive me if I sound leady and crap.

♥ I have instigated a challenge entirely inside my own mind to write Supernatural (and possibly other fandoms; I shall not at this stage tie myself down) using Babylon 5 ep titles. Which is all well and good, but they’re all slightly, I dunno, suitable for Dean about to die. Basically. The Coming of Shadows. All Alone in the Night. Ship of Tears. Deathwalker. Dust to Dust. I mean, blimey! But I shall carry on regardless.

♥ We’re off to see HIGNFY tonight – huzzah!

♥ I have swapped to decaffeinated coffee in my mochaccino.

♥ Thanks for the hat, darling.

♥ So, what has been going on in my little life that I can share with you? Answer: not a great deal, as usual. Went to Sheffield at the weekend. Came home. Had Chris and Bex over for dinner on Monday. Had woe with Sainsbury’s yesterday. This is about it.

♥ Hmm. Oui. Grandparentals not exactly bopping around in the most lively way. That is, Grandma seems to be OK, but Grandad most definitely not, which is vee bad and crap and makes me want to hit things. Also, has been much family woe, which I will not go into further. We went to Chesterfield on Saturday morning (there is a really, really nice new deli/café off the lower part of the market which I would recommend, for those who are likely to be in the vicinity) and Grandma and Grandad got various bits, and then we went on to Chatsworth and had lunch (running into one of Grandad’s old medical school friends!), and then to Derby, where I wrestled with Andrew (taking care, of course, not to damage his aeronautical engineer’s hands – he was quite emphatic on that point *g*), and we had a takeaway Chinese, which seems terribly modern for my grandparents. Chopsticks, Englebert. My grandmother using chopsticks. I shall say no more. (Actually, to be quite honest, she manages perfectly well with them and there is no cause to mock, but frankly the very idea is comical, so…) On Sunday, Andrew drove over and we did some chores.

♥ Much as I love my grandparents, the most gratifying part of the weekend was me carting stuff about and being all useful and adult. I carried a GATE. An actual GATE, people. And not one of these little crappy ones either. One of your full-length wooden jobbies. Also helped carry giant televisions around, and generally fetch and carry. I was USEFUL and PRACTICAL. I am very proud. I told Katie, and she was proud too.

♥ Also, I made apple sauce. I’ve never made apple sauce before. Had no idea what I was doing, but we were having pork for Sunday lunch, and Andrew had just picked all the apples off the tree, and I said, “Grandma, are we having apple sauce?” and she said “Oh, we should. I haven’t done it,” and I said, “I’ll make it,” and she said “All right,” and I did NOT say “I don’t actually know how to make apple sauce, never having made it before, but I’m going to peel and chop up a couple of apples and shove them in a pan and hope that this is the right course of action, following it up later with a subtly framed question as to whether to add sugar.” But I thought it. In my head.

♥ I am still watching The West Wing. Have just finished season 5. ( Spoilers to the end of season 5. ) Season 6, coming soon…

A couple of gems from Grandma:

"He [Grandad] is flinging money around like a man with no arms!" (I didn't dare enquire into the etymology of that one. To me, it sounds like he's not flinging money around at all, which would be in keeping with one's usual perception of Grandad, but Grandma had just informed me that he'd driven off with Daddy yesterday to buy a new television that Grandma frankly and unashamedly admitted they did not need, and was planning to replace the cooker (which is, at a cautious estimate, at least as old as me), so I don't think she meant it like that. Hmm. Curious. Still, let's remember the twenty-spotted ladybirds, and be not surprised.)

"My foot's purple. I'm going mouldy. I wonder if I've got MRSA?" (Apparently Mummy assured her that this was unlikely to be the case. A wise woman, my mother.)

♥ We are sailing into dangerous waters. As the skies darken earlier and earlier, so vanishes any urge to do something constructive when I get home from work. I’ve never been very good in the winter. Dark, to me, signifies that the day is over, and no further work need be done. I struggle to even sort out laundry after the sun has set. Last night, by the time the sun had gone, I was cocooned in my duvet on the sofa, idly browsing the internet (ah, the mindless refresh of the sofa-bound fandom whore) and watching TV on the other laptop. I stayed this way for some considerable time. I consider it a personal victory that I managed to get up long enough to cook some tea (spaghetti carbonara with wholewheat spag (run out of the normal kind), which was quite nice, actually – what say you, Englebert?).

♥ Old news, I know, but I see that the Beeb is planning a Christmas special of To The Manor Born. Much as I loved that programme, I can’t help but feel this is a Bad Move. Come, come, BBC, is it too much to ask for a little creativity in your programming? Oh, it is. OK then. Might I enquire as to a rebate on my TV licence? No? Fuck off, then.

♥ It is Grandma’s birthday on Sunday. I will be wrapping and posting off present today, all things being equal (viz finding a second half to the present in my paltry lunch break). Ooh, and in a similar vein, I am happy to see that we will be getting an increase in our statutory holiday - up to 28 days by 2009. Excellente. Obviously, in the NHS, thanks to AfC I was on about 27, but the private sector stiffed me, and left me on 21, which is frankly pathetic. Long live holidays! Holidays for everyone!

♥ I am starting to get a little bit concerned about Gordon Brown and his government-of-all-the-talents malarkey. I was reading an article today which suggested that the most likely outcome of the surely-coming-soon election will be a hung parliament, and that there will be some kind of coalition deal bopping around (most likely between Labour and the Lib Dems). But given Gordon Brown’s approach, it really feels like (and, actually, not just under Brown, but under Blair as well) that the Government has annexed the centre ground so effectively, in essence seeming to take up both the centre-left and the centre-right (and quite how they’ve managed that, I’m still not sure), that it has destroyed the traditional dynamic of British party politics, leaving the Liberal Democrats, and especially the Tories, scrambling to find some kind of policy basis, other than a sort of automatic opposition. It just feels that the parties are becoming homogenized, leaving us, the voters, with very little actual choice.

♥ There was an interesting little bit in this month’s Prospect where Tony Grayling was asked whether there was any justification for ID cards: his response articulated what I have tried (and failed) to say in the past (though he does take his line of reasoning further than some people might find tasteful).

♥ As I’m sure you all know, Sir Stephen of Fry has a blog. Let us all rejoice.

♥ More TV last night (mmm, cuz that’s a change).

( Bionic Woman 1x01 )

( Gossip Girl 1x02 )

Grandad is in hospital again. He was admitted on Tuesday. Once again, I have only found out because I rang up my mother to ask. I spoke to her last night; she clearly didn't think it worth mentioning. I *hate* it when she does that - when they all do that! Why can't they let me know what's going on?

I hope he's OK. Grandad is NEVER ill, not once, ever, that I can remember. I hate the world.

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chaletian

All My Fic Ever

June 2016

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"There's a SHARK in my BEDROOM?!"
Despatches from SW14
"You're going to be reading a bit today about your secret plan to fight inflation."
"Now fetch me Wil Wheaton!"
"I smell a robot."
"I want to trace my father. Could you recommend a good marker pen?"
Jim Kirk is my loverrrrrrrrr...
"He probably wants to curb your use of extravagant metaphor."
A tiny, tiny update.
"All I need is a healthy ovum and I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy!"
"The guy's one lab accident away from being a super villain..."
I am Proust, and I approve this message.
...
"It's all words! Masses and masses of words!"
Housework is my favourite and my best...
A Voice in the Wilderness
"'Tyranny of terror'? 'Deathmongers'? What is this, Tolkien?"
"...il faut rater sa morte..."
"He's only got one white bloodcell left and it's off fighting the Alamo..."
Poo

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Diary of a Suburban Squeen

Entries tagged with grandparentals

"There's a SHARK in my BEDROOM?!"

Despatches from SW14

"You're going to be reading a bit today about your secret plan to fight inflation."

"Now fetch me Wil Wheaton!"

"I smell a robot."

"I want to trace my father. Could you recommend a good marker pen?"

Jim Kirk is my loverrrrrrrrr...

"He probably wants to curb your use of extravagant metaphor."

A tiny, tiny update.

"All I need is a healthy ovum and I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy!"

"The guy's one lab accident away from being a super villain..."

I am Proust, and I approve this message.

...

"It's all words! Masses and masses of words!"

Housework is my favourite and my best...

A Voice in the Wilderness

"'Tyranny of terror'? 'Deathmongers'? What is this, Tolkien?"

"...il faut rater sa morte..."

"He's only got one white bloodcell left and it's off fighting the Alamo..."

Poo