not to mention

...drinking til the smlal hours and cylcing hoem ina perambulatryo fashion. hee hee hee

what are friends for...

...if not to dig trenches in your back garden for wall footings, painting brickwork and mixing up concrete?

hurrah to the nice people i know. whenever you want the favour returning be sure to ring. there are a number of excellent building companies in this town. calls here are to be restricted to demands for dinners, drinks, nights out and heart to hearts. anything manual or technical is someone else's domain. which is why we asked you round today, duh!

So thanks for making my garden looks like a bomb site. Give it a month and I'll have a grin like the proverbial Cheshire Cat.

"Was it good for you? Read my blog."

awol in norfolk

this week, mini-me is away with grandparents. i miss the lil blighter.

twisted fire starter

should have posted this a few days ago.
just as impressive now though!

bright city lights

There's something loveable about these cranky old lights in
the storm porch of a Fleet Street shop.

Had a day in London for my fast track course so it seemed
reasonable to take a picture of tracks.

fresh raspberries

my parents are pretty cool folks. they sent me home with fresh raspberries, apples and rhubarb.
Not a show stopping entry tonight but a kind of online knowing smile, nod and happy sigh.

comp

What do all these words have in common?

PROFILE
BOILIE
POD
WAGGLER
CAT
P.B
SNOT
COMMON

Big, big prizes not up for grabs!!

london evening

After a day of no natural light and hours of meetings it was time to step out into loveable London. Man, I love this place. Drinks at The Cock where the bar has these groovy little swinging windows that you speak through to place your order and tables outside just made for booksellers to sit round and word process the day. Then a short step down to Soho Square, arriving just as the bells struck six to meet my good friend Joe. Drinks in the George Orwell bar and more discussions of Swedish playwrights and personal attempts at creativity and tardiness. Dinner and more drinks at the I.C.A with many fascinating questions each way about our characters, fictional and otherwise. Midnight came too quickly.

hang man

" A / L I T T L E / L E A R N I N G / I S / A / D A N G E R O U S / T H I N G;

D R I N K / D E E P / O R / T A S T E / N O T / T H E / P I E R I A N / S P R I N G:

T H E R E / S H A L L O W / D R A U G H T S / I N T O X I C A T E / T H E / B R A I N

A N D / D R I N K I N G / L A R G E L Y / S O B E R S / U S / A G A I N . "

ying yang

In contrast to yesterday, today I did not have a man breathing fire in my back garden. In fact, I sat in an office all day typing numbers into a computer and spending virtual money on thousands of books. Not a bad way to spend a day but somewhat less memorable than swirling firebrands.

I did have very good African Peanut Soup for lunch though.

And I'm spending tomorrow night swinging round Soho.

Mustn't grumble.

Is that ying yang or karma? Or swings and roundabouts?

dragonian measures

Today I had a man eating fire in my back garden. Weird huh? What's more, he kept doing it over and over, drinking white spirits, fire breathing and generally being my mate P, all round crazy man who jumps out of planes and takes impromptu trips to venezuela and the arctic circle when he isn't dicing with death. Or a burnt face at least.

The best we could offer in return was an afternoon kiting. With no wind. And too many glasses of wine and hunks of home made carrot cake.

As soon as this stupid thing allows me to put photos up again, I'll show you the type of insanity that visits me from time to time.

thspeeking funny

...my dentist.

Just had my head excavated and didn't feel a thing. The echoing has stopped at last. Have had more pain from getting my nails done or going to the hairdressers than I did having a drill in my head spitting out enamel across the surgery floor.

and then there were 3

whittled our dinner party down to three and had fun at the pub after writing beer mat postcards. Something I initiated and hadn't done since the olden days when i were a lass.

Can't beat an evening that starts discussing slug psychology and ends with promises of more fine dining with best mates.

this blog entry comes with uncharacteristic sentimental hugs for all the people i know who are the stuff of happily anticipated evenings and days out.

very full...cant'move....must....stop

It was a modest little 6 course affair and my guests actually turned down the 4th . Can you believe that?

First course - avocado crisps, chilli crisps, olives, hummus and cucumber dip.

Second course - Stuffed vine leaves with hot tomato sauce and falafels.

Third course - Spanakopita, tabbouleh and mixed bean salad.

Fourth course - Marrakesh vegetable curry, filo tarts with pine nuts and Iranian rice.

Fifth course - Strawberries, raspberries, vanilla bean Green & Blacks ice-cream with single cream and creme fraiche.

Sixth course - tea, coffee and a slab of white and milk chocolate swirl with dried raspberries from Hotel Chocolat.

Various wines.

Celebrating nothing other than having good friends we want to spoil with good food and punish with our company.

ick

i stood on a slug in only my socks. brrrrr

reading again

after spending weeks on, the promising yet ultimately unfulfilling not to mention downright dull, dante club, i am 2/3 of the way through something i only picked up today. 'Strangers' by Yamada. Spooky as hell, jittery and unnerving. What fun!

So I made it!! 30 degrees out and further than i've run before.
I made £266 pounds for Cancer Research so it's well worth the effort.
The first 4k were easy enough but the last kilometre was a killer. Felt
pretty nauseous and done in by then. I just kept thinking I could never
face having to say 'I ran most of the way' so I kept going. The picture is
of me at 3.5k feeling pretty confident...by the end of the road I was wondering
where I was and what would happen if I collapsed. Quite a day!

HP6

back in from a 6:30 a.m start at work having comprehensively out reserved the competitors and refused to drop to their levels of (unsuccessful) queue pinching at midnight. made lots of kiddos and i'll-have-read-it-by-tomorrow adults happy.

i think i'm going to curl up in the corner for the rest of the weekend and sleep. on second thoughts, i think i'll do a 5k run.