On Friday we went to Hereford so I could rustle through the charity shops and Mr T could walk the Toast along the river bank. So far, so usual.. until that is Toastie discovered something buried in the mud at the side of the river..
She just knew that the Saxon Hoard was buried in there somewhere..
What a little darlin..
Oh well - better luck next time..
I came across Mark Steel when we moved to the UK the first time in 2003. He was on the radio with a series called The Mark Steel Lectures where he argued for the importance of particular historical figures, fascinating AND funny. I loved it.
I would have posted a video of one of the lectures from the t.v. version off You Tube but it won’t let me embed for some reason, so you will have to check them out for yourself.
Today we tuned in to listen to Chain Reaction on BBC Radio Four and were pleased to discover that Mark Steel was being interviewed by the equally brilliant Kevin Eldon – if you are in need of a laugh you can find it here for the next 6 days.
Oh and a photo of me wearing my latest creation 
My neighbour who obligingly took the photo had just said "Nice tits"
So..
Outside it is doing its darndest to snow and inside I am hiding away from the world – for its own sake I might add.
I awoke this morning psychopathically hormonial (my word). I discovered the psychopathic part when I attempted to cash a NZ fifty dollar note firstly at the post office and then at the bank. Mr T had unthinkingly buggered off to work with all the finances and as it is market day I thought to exchange my Christmas money for real money and buy some necessaries and maybe the odd unnecessary. It had taken quite a lot of effort to get myself out the door and I had promised myself an almond croissant from the french bakers stall for being a good girl.
Blood arose in front of my eyes as the pleasant lady behind the counter told me that there is nowhere in Hay that will cash the note and that I would need to go to Hereford – an hours bus trip away………. FOR FUCKS SAKE!!! FUCKETY, FUCKETY FUCK!!
So I went home
For tea and cake and crochet
And not to deal with this, which is difficult in a room this small..
And then a very kind person sent me this
and this
Until next time – aint life grand?
Heavens to Murgatroid, I love this blog – take a visit and it’s more than likely that at least some of the thousand will make you smile Thank you so much Sue for finding it.
I have had a long day but thought to blog about some of the things I missed out yesterday. No photos this time though.. (well, maybe one).
Firstly , and astoundingly, I am mentally well for the first time in ages – this is wonderful and I am trying to enjoy every moment. I had been having a go with a new antidepressant called Sertraline (a SSRI also called Zoloft), which seemed to work well for me. After a while however I ran into a wee problem that is apparently common for many of us poor bastards on SSRIs, and is also responsible for large amounts of people not completing their course of treatment. Which is what has happened to me, except I have stayed well – long may it last!!
I had been meaning to write about this problem for some time but could never get my head around exactly what I was going to say without giving too much information. Then when I was paying a visit to one of my favourite bloggers I came across her post on the same subject – and here it is. . Why reinvent the wheel huh? And she says it so much better than I could. It is really interesting reading some of the post comments as well.
I first came across Dooce’s (Heather Armstrong’s) blog when I became aware after four years, that the mystery illness I was suffering from was actually depression. She had been through the hell of post-partum depression and was so badly affected that she had ended up in a psych unit.
I love her blog for many reasons, not the least being that she shows it is possible to be on depression meds and still have a lovely life. Also because she and her husband John strongly remind me that not all Americans are bonkers – Oh and because she takes photos of her dog Chuck with objects balanced on his head.. well maybe she is bonkers, but in a nice way..
Chuck
One of the most helpful things that I came across in my research about depression was information about mindfulness, which is why I go on about it so much. The book I probably found the most helpful is called The Mindful Way Through Depression, another is called The Noonday Demon – An Anatomy of Depression by Andrew Solomon. This weekends Guardian bought an article by Tim Parks who has just had a book published called Teach Us To Sit Still, A Sceptic’s Guide to Health and Healing, which I found really interesting for his discovery of how mindfulness/meditation helped him with his illness. It is on my Amazon Wish List.
Sunday’s Observer bought a wonderful interview with Christophoer Hitchens which can be read here, for anyone who is a fan of the man..
And last but nowhere near least, is the podcast which features Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Wilson in conversation on the subject of folklore. So if you are after a little insight into the writing of the Discworld Novels and/or just plain fascinated as I am, in how humans seem to really need to invent and tell ourselves stories, go and have a listen.
To prove that I haven’t completely disappeared from the blogosphere -
Follow this link to THE WORST ALBUM COVERS EVER!
Enjoy
Also you might want to check out some of the other wonderful photography on this website.
Thanks Kaz for posting the link on Facebook, I need all the laughs I can get at the moment..
I have been keeping it a little bit quiet, but I have been sewing myself a pair of wide leg trousers.
As you may recall from earlier posts, due to a childhood trauma (caused by my complete crapness at the art), sewing and I do not see eye to eye. Since those days I have studiously avoided it whilst keeping an envious eye on those who knew how.
Anyhoo – in the last few months the feeling has crept upon me that it might just be possible that my earlier crapness may have just been callow youthfulness and maybe, just maybe, I might not be quite so ham fisted as I thought.
Queue visit to material shop with Phillipa my birth mother (the adopted mother being far too impatient to teach me). Cloth purchased, extremely simple pattern chosen, I made a shaky start and have, over the last couple of days, managed to put together a recognizable pair of pant. The trouble is they are huge – really huge. I could fit another person in with me without wrestling. Queue gales of laughter as I tried them on.. (and no, you are not seeing a photo).
Still, better too large than too small huh? And Phillipa is visiting me tomorrow so a little remedial tutorial may be the order of the day 
I will show you a photo when they are presentable.
There were things my Mother did to me when I was a child which were just plain wrong. She made me wear home made jeans, eat brawn (jellied pigs head for the uninitiated) and gave me a Beatles haircut before the school social when I was twelve saying I looked ‘very nice’ when in fact I looked like a complete gomer. BUT and it is a very big but, she never, ever, even suggested that me and my brother sing in a band with her – can you imagine? Something even worse than this???
Have spent a little time today catching up on my Discworld monthly newsletter I get emailed to me. There were two this month, on account of a letter Terry Pratchett had written to friends and fans. After reading that missive I then had a little explore around the PJSM Prints website it had linked to and was over the moon to find such a lovely lot of Discworld ephemera on sale.. I particular like the Guild of Seamstresses t shirt – Often Licked, Never Beaten.
I have always had a bit of a yearning to attend one of the Discworld get togethers that they have in the U.K. and it is my aim to actually get to one this time around. Maybe Hogswatch 2010?
