This how I feel today.

So many things have gone wrong. I don't know how to deal with it except have tantrums and hide away.

Red cabbage!

No, not those kind of worms! Tiger worms!!!

I bought an "original organics" junior wormery, and had to send off for my worms with a postcard. The poor things arrived in the post today (They must have a headache from hitting the floor after being dropped through the letter box!).

Stupidly though, between buying the wormery a week ago and the worms arriving today, I have managed to lose the instructions. So, I had to try to remember what to do with it. Hopefully, they will be ok, they have all disappeared into the worm bedding, but haven't touched their food yet. (You would think they would be hungry after their trip, wouldn't you?)

Talk about bizarre clubs, but we have set up this weird collective up at work. In my office we have people living in three different boroughs, so we are doing our bit for the environment by swapping our rubbish!!!!

Why? Because no joined up thinking is going on between the bordering authorities and they are all collecting different things for recycling. So, as my doorstep collection won't take card (actually you are lucky if they take anything made of paper that wasn't originally a NEWSpaper), I am now swapping it and some more dubious plastic items (such as liquitab BOXES - type one plastic)for glass and type 1 and 2 plastic BOTTLES which they will collect.

We are doing this because we care about our effect on our environment.

But the real question is this: If we can organise this between us, why can't three neighbouring boroughs of the same county do the same. It would be far more efficient!

I need to come up with a business idea of my own. I am just sick of the daily grind, all the time for someone else to take the credit. I'm sure I could do well if I struck out on my own.

Problem is...That fantastic idea just hasn't turned up yet

My energy direct debit has been put up by £23 per month, so I am trying to save energy. One of my things is to use the tumble drier less. Today my shiny new brabantia drier arrived - it looks like a rotary drier but it attached to a wall and folds up flat.

I decided this was needed, as my current washing line is in a perfect position to garote anyone who steps out of the back door! (This won't look good next time I have a barbeque!)

In other news: I am seriously thinking about packing in my gym membership. They too have hoiked up the price recently, (but seem to be spending less on on their cleaning staff).

Unfortunately not in alcohol, but vinegar.

Today I have been making up jars of pickled shallots (to my mum's recipe!)and the house now smells of a rather unpleasent mixture of onions and vinegar. It'll be worth it when I can eat them in a few weeks time.

In other news I think I need to take a photo of my pumpkin seeds. I think one is actually alien spawn - you wouldn't believe how long it has grown since this morning!!!!!

No.1 Cheap compost bins!
My Aldi compost bin that I had for a few years is full and falling to pieces, so I thought I could do with a new one. However, the price of £40+ has been putting me off for quite a while. Howver at the weekend I came across this website where the 330litre bin cost only £10 with £1 discount for ordering online! I ordered it on Sunday, and my shiny new bin was waiting on my doorstep when I got home from work yesterday!

Unfortunately, I should have read the dimensions, because it was too big to fit through my front door I had to squash it (and several of my fingers in the process) to get it out into the back yard

No. 2 The joy of pumpkins
A further propagator excitement this morning was that 4 out of 7 pumpkin seeds have started to grow. I have tried many time to get pumpkin seeds to grow but have never managed to germinate any at all! Whoohoo!!

Without my new electric propogator!

Maybe this is a little sad, but every morning I rush down to see how my seeds are getting on, I am enjoying unprecidented success! (13 tomato plants, 5 aubergines, 2 chillis, and more basil and mint than you can shake a stick at!

In other news I have decided to reduce the use of my tumble drier, so I had ordered a wallmounted fold away drier.

I think these are sure signs of getting old when you get excited by these things - or maybe its a sign of contentment maybe?

Well I'm not really going to see any difference for my "small portions" (a new year resolution) if I can't stop eating left over Christmas food.

And my other half isn't helping matters by buying cut price party food every time he visits tesco's.

Still no visits to the gym

Thanks to Usksider for letting me know how to do this!

Over the last two years I have gone up two dress sizes, and several people have made coded hints such as "wow, you are looking healthy" (code for "when did you get so fat?". But I regularly weigh myself, and over the last three years my weight has only increased by 1 kilo!

How can this be?

Perhaps I am getting shorter?

1. Have eated small portions all week.
2. No takeaways
3. Trips to the gym: still none
4. Took my own shopping bags to town with me yesterday so I could buy veg from themarket without the use of wasteful carrier bags. Unfortunately, I left them in the car on the top floor of the the multistorey carpark and only realised when I had gone down the eigth flights of stairs to the bottom (tried to retrieve them but my other half thought I had gone insane).
5. Drank two pints of cider.

Verdict: Could do better.

And I have already got my first headache of the new year.

Funny how work manages to do what 2 pints of bitter, 1/2 a bottle of white wine, 1/2 a bottle of rose, and 4 glasses of champagne didn't do on new years eve!

When's the next holiday????

Only ate half a fried breakfast (lunch?) yesterday (well I do have an irrational fear baked beans), and only ate half my usual portion of chese on toast for tea.

Walked to the shops today: Remembered my shopping bag! All vegetables purchase were organic.

So far then:

no booze consumed
two meals with smaller portions
no wasteful supermarket carrier bags used
no trips to the gym (oh well, no-one's perfect)

Question is... can I keep it up? It is only day two after all.

I think these must be the most boring yet, but I think they are necessary.

1. To eat smaller portions.
2. To go to the gym at least once a week.
3. To get my work life balance sorted so that I do less work, and spend more time on myself.
4. To decorate the dinning room.
5. To remember to take my shopping bags to Tesco so that I use less plastic bags.
6. To grow more of my own vegetables.

Having spent many frustrating hours Christmas shopping this year, I have decided that next year all my family will be getting homemade pickles and preserves for Christmas instead!

- is a lay-in.

I'm so tired.
I don't know why, but I am exhausted.
I have to go to bed as soon as I get home from work. I have had to cut short two evenings out with friends because I can barely keep my eyes open. The house is a tip because I haven't been able to quite keep up with it.

I would do anything just to sleep through Christmas day this year.

My first message on the new bcuk message service is spam!

How pleasant it was today, to travel home in only half the traffic! Yay! Local schools are on holiday!

Usksider: would this solve your little "flashing" problem?

Travel John Disposable Urinal
2 used & new available from £4.70

Sorry, no customer review of this one!

1) They will not buy anything that requires going out of the house: Therefore, if it cannot be purchased from Amazon, they won't buy it.

2) They will seriously suggest items like this as a present for your mother:

Here is a really helpful Amazon review of the item:

I bought this item on the spur of the moment whilst shopping in the Lake District. As we climbed our first hill the next day I packed it into the top of my ruck sack a bit unsure if I'd be able to use it or if it would work. Normally I'm running down the mountain, hiding behind a rock while my husband stands watch for passers by or exposing my rear to the midges but with the Shewee it offered easy to use complete freedom without exposing a jot. So good I'm now buying one for each of my daughters who both hate sitting down in public toilets. Really good to keep in your bag for all occasions anywhere.

Desperately trying to reduce the amount of packaging that passes through my home.

My target is have nothing in carrier bag this month. But is it ok to turn up at Morrisons with a pile of Sainsbury's heavy duty re-usable carrier bags?

Spent the morning putting poppies on war graves (including in the section that is fenced off because its unsafe!).

Am now relaxing, trying to warm up my soaking wet and freezing cold feet.

Not sure why I always apologize when I have to step on someones grave.

For the first time ever I have had a blog post dedicated to little ol' me!

Well I've never really been into halloween. But when I arrived home from work tonight, I found that nearly every house on my road was decorated with halloween type stuff, and I almost felt I had missed out: It must have taken a fair amount of co-ordination to put up all the fake grave stones and creepy spider's webs, (and without me knowing about it in advance!) However, when I just popped out to get a photo, my neighbours were hastily packing it all away.

Thats when it all clicked into place. The place were I now live is very famous for its ghosts, and when I went outside, there seemed to be a guided walk just leaving the street!

Anyway, while I have no inclination to take part in this stuff (i'm sitting in the back room with most of the lights switched off), I will however be hanging around my local cemetery at the weekend - putting poppies on the war graves.

I just realised, that even though I worked from home today, I wasn't disturbed by my neighbours dog barking all day like usual. (This might be why I seemed to get through much more stuff than usual)

I hope its ok. (but, also that it stays quiet)

I hope nothing horrid happened while I was away. Poor lonely dog.

I thought I would share the conclusion to my little shopping spree from the other week when I was buying clothes for work.

Whilst in M&S I spotted a suit that I quite liked that was on display. After hunting around the area I couldn't find any similar so I asked an assistant. She replied that they had been moved to another part of the store because they had a sale starting the next day and they would be in it. I don't like sales, there is never anything I want in my size, but she said, you should reserve the suit, and then pick it up tomorrow and you will get it for the sale price, even though its not marked down yet.

Anyway, I looked, but alas there were none in my size. "Don't worry!" said the assistant, "we can order it for you in your size!"

So, I managed to pick up the trousers before my holiday, and was quite chuffed to find that they were marked down from £25 to £12. However, today I picked up the jacket. It had been reduced from £39.95 to £5!!!!

A whole work suit for only £17.00!

Lets just say that I will be buying new (non-work) shoes with the money I have saved!

Just got that, "spent ages writting a post, but now its gone" feeling.

Again.

Well I'm back from my holiday. Have had a lovely relaxing week, where I finally seemed to shake off the horrid cold/flu/chest infection type bug that I seem to have had for weeks.

Have been back two days, and I already have a sore throat and a snotty nose.

Maybe I'm allergic to the UK?

But its just not working today.

Came home from work with a horrible headache. Probably just because I'm tired. Went to bed last and next doors dog woke me up early barking. They are so cruel, to have a dog and then leave it locked up barking all day everyday. Its not the dogs fault, its just lonely. They have a lovely garden but I never see it out.

I just barks and barks.

Well the weather seems crappy now I'm home. I don't really get to see the weather these days. My new office doesn't exactly have a view, and we have to have the lights on all day, so I don't even notice when its nice out. I had a few pangs for my old place today. I admit it, I had got really comfy there, and I still feel out of place here, like I'm on holiday without all my home comforts, living out of one suitcase. But I miss it all the same. The grass isn't always greener, I wish I had learned that before.

Oh well, off to have left-overs for tea! And put the washing on.

What a truely uninspiring day!

I don't usually mention work much but this has been brewing for a while and I need to let it out somewhere, otherwise I am likely to swear at the person concerned and end up with a disciplinary

I like to think that I can get around on a computer, but I'm no wizz. I can manage all the things I need to do for my job: Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc. However, it isn't my job to do anything more technicaland I have never really had any proper training in anything else.

Thats because in my office we have a "technical support" guy, and as far as I am aware, technical stuff is his job.

So when I can't do something, or I am a bit slow on the uptake of some new computer thing, why does he shout at me??? He gets paid to help, but every thing I've asked him about for several months now, he just shouts at me, and when I ask him not to shout, but to explain what I am doing wrong, he just walk off in a huff.

I can't help it if I didn't study computers, and don't have diplomas and things in IT. I get paid to help our customers, and I can't shout at them if they are a bit slow on the uptake.

This is starting to upset me now, and I must admit to having a little weep in ladies when he did this last week.

MEN!

(I would just like to point out that this is the same "technical support" guy who removed my old but working printer in June, and replaced in with a brand new one late July, but has so far made no effort of allocate it to my computer, so I always have to log off my own computer and print every document on someone else's)

When you get dressed and you find that the pair of shoes that just go with the outfit you're wearing, you sold for a pound at a car boot sale three days ago!

I can tell its Autumn for the following reasons:

My car is so covered in leaves it looks like a compost heap, even though I washed it on Sunday.

Slates have started falling off the roof of the outside loo.

I have had a shocking cold for over a week.

I have this uncontrollable urge to eat nothing but jam donuts and homemade soup.

I have had to have the lights on in my office all day.

In the last week I have started wearing my coat to go to work (first time since early May)

I have been home from work for an hour, but I still have my coat onbecause the house is so cold.

I have had to put my "winter" duvet on my bed.

However, I have only a week and a half before I go on holiday - to somewhere warm

I thought I had a free weekend and had big plans for tidying up the house, getting little jobs done like putting up shelves etc, and just lazing about.

However my SO thought it might be nice to catch the train to go to a beer festival. No problem I thought, nice afternoon out, home for tea, relax by not doing much in front of the TV.

Well I would tell you all about it, but I can't remember much apart from a lovely old man who kept showing me photos of busses, missing the last train home and then waking up this morning with all the curtains open and a terrible hangover.

Lets just say, no chores have been done so far!

"Knackered"

Sorry its nothing more profound, but I'm too shattered to think!

Wrote a long post about the reasons why today I am "fed up".

I just lost the whole post.

This just about sums up my whole week.

I am too fed up to type it all again, but the idea is that: I need to learn to say "no", and I think I need to go on some kind of assertiveness course.

*Hhhmmmmpppphhhhh!*

I would just like to point out that the horrid, ill-matched wallpaper/paint combination that you can see on my previous post, was NOT my idea!

This is the next bit to be hit by my revamp!

This was a present from a very dear friend about two years ago, and with lots of nurturing I have pursuaded it to flower again. It looks even better than when I first had it!

I may ruin my credibility by admitting that I love antiques roadshow, but not anymore after I heard this:

The husband of my mum's best friend is an expert on historic clocks. Antiques Roadshow apparently got in touch with him and invited themselves round to his house to talk clocks. They then chose two old clocks, and invited him to a roadshow, where they promptly filmed him with his clocks, while he pretended to know nothing about them and their "expert" repeated back to him everything he had already told them about his favourite clocks!

WHAT AN INJUSTICE!!!!!

I will never be able to watch this programme seriously again.

This is a new track called "Mirror Ball" (first new track recorded for about 10 years I think) from one of my best friends. I have heard this evolve from a rough first recording to this polished version

If you love electro-pop you'll love it!

What do you think? 

I know, its Tuesday! But it still feels like Monday today!

I slept really badly last night, so got up at 2.30 and watched 3 episodes of Twin Peaks on DVD before going back to bed.

As a result, I missed my alarm, and turned up for work looking like a bag lady!

Well I am feeling quite chuffed with myself, because instead of wasting my time on my highly skilled procrastination techniques, I have actually had a really good couple of days workwise, and have made a real breakthrough on a project I am working on.

I shall treat myself, with a nice glass of wine and a night infront of the TV as a reward!

My home grown veg have been really disappointing this year, especially my tomatoes. There are hardly any one the plants and they just aren't ripening.

Until yeaterday, when I got all excited to see one small tomato blushing slightly.

Unfortunately, in my excitement, I promptly knocked it off the plant!

Having grown up living the outskirts of Nottingham, my worse memories of childhood all revolve around the tedious journey every year to our nearest bit of seaside - Skegness, that bastion of Brish seaside tat! Most of those memories also involve getting VERY travel sick and vomiting, and the very word "Skeggie" makes me feel nauseous!

Today I hear that many of the building's on the parade will have to be pulled down due to a large fire. But I can't help thinking that someone missed a trick here, and should have bombed out the whole place while they were at it!

I’m tryin to make me go to rehab
I said no, no, no
Yes I been black, but when I come back
You wont know, know, know

I don’t ever wanna drink again
I just, ooo, I just need a friend
Im not gonna spend 10 weeks
Have everyone think im on the mend

It’s not just my pride
It’s just til these tears have dried

They’re tryin to make me go to rehab
I said no, no, no
Yes I been black, but when I come back,
You wont know, know, know

Amy Winehouse has cancelled all her tour dates today. I can't pretend to know it must be like to be famous in today's love-hate media climate, but again and again we see creativity hand-in-hand with self destruction?

Whatever her demons, I hope she feels better soon.

As if reinforce the point about how peaceful and quiet it is, and how much work I can get done whilst working from home, now I am back in the office there are workmen making a God awful racket somewhere in the building nextdoor!

My sandwich break just couldn't come early enough!

In the last couple of days I have had a couple of "friend" invites to my hotmail inbox, but they are not in the "invites" section on blog when I press the link.

Is anyone else having this problem, or are people just changing their minds and deciding I'm not worthy??? (Obviously if you are on my friends list, it worked!)

I'm sat here in my dressing gown trying to muster up some effort because of my massive hangover. I yearn the long lost days of my youth when I could drink pretty much what I liked without having to suffer the consequences the next day.

Unfortunately my SO doesn't quite take my working from home seriously!

When he works from home he tends to sit on the sofa watching daytime TV mixed up with strutting around shouting into his mobile phone or spending a two hour lunch break in the pub.

When I work from home, its because I need to get some important project work done, which I can do with the constant interuptions and answering the phone etc in the office.

My SO obviously thinks I'm not really going to be doing any work today, so he has taken it upon himself to make sure that I don't slack off my giving me a massive list of jobs to do as well!

Suppose I'd better be getting on then, hadn't I?

Well here I am at work, watching the rain pour down outside Unfortunately, my dear friend talked me into having a barbeque tonight (on the new "mediteranean style", half finished patio), as she doesn't have a garden now, and her husband is driving her crazy wanting one. The compromise is an occassional barbie round at mine

At least I don't have to worry about the food, and I have plenty of beer (stashed in the coal cellar!). I think I might decorate the kitchen with the bunting and stuff that I had bought to his the unfinished bits out side.

Not sure it will be quite the same though, without the taste of firelighters etc in my sausages!

In the middle of my post about is it ok to fancy a serial killer google adds placed this:

Just large sized knickers
we don't sell anything except knickers from 3XL to 6XL UK 40-42
www.thebigbloomerscompany.co.uk

I may have put on a little weight lately, but I didn't think anyone had really noticed, let alone a large multimational company.

I got the hint thanks! Diet starts *umm* tomorrow

I just love this politically incorrect show, and there must be something very wrong to admit that the main character is quite fanciable!

BUT he's so cute!

Having spent what felt like an eternity yesterday doing the shopping, I finally got round to making Sunday dinneer using the first batch of runner beans this season. I am so pleased that something in the garden survived the enourmous slugs this year and homegrown beans taste so good that I would never buy them.

I also managed to a bit more on the "mediteranean" style patio. I bought some glazed wall pots yesterday and have filled them with geraniums and trailing fushias, and have put a couple of lavender bushes in some old terracotta pots that I found abandond at the end of the garden when I first moved in. So, it is all starting to look a bit more inviting. I just need to buy a small table and a couple of chairs!

Having done all this I spent a relaxing evening sat with a bottle of beer on my kitchen step watching a large bat (I call him Bert!) making his regular big swoops up to the guttering and back, catching moths and flies! True relaxation!

In my quest to get better a reducing, reusing and recycling, I came across this quote by the environmentalist Edwin Datschefski:

We're not running out of resources - we are just turning them into rubbish we can't use again.

 
Its not that long ago that everyone was able to "make do and mend", but we seem to be losing those skills all time these days.  I ask myself, what will happen when there is no one skilled left?

This is what my SO keeps singing to me because he thinks we should get a cat even though I am allergic. (I am obviously not good enough company any more!!!!)

He keeps singing this to the tune of "Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow-wow" in a really sad voice - I never know whether to laugh or to cry!

Got to had it to him though, he has now made up THREE full verses to go with it too!

Today I have spent a lovely day at my local cemetary!

Not quite as bad as it sounds actually, as the cemetary is a glorious oasis of calm in the middle of the city and actually hasn't been open to burials for many many years.

I actually was on a guided walk looking at the nature of the cemetary, which incidentally appears to have declined since the council actually started looking after the site again rather than leaving it to decay. However, I saw a few woodpeckers, and a large family of long tailed tits.

I must admit though, that there is something really fascinating about the victorian gothic memorials to the long gone with the angels standing guard.

Having been forced to go to a conference with my boss because someone obviously more senior than me dropped out, I actually suprised myself and really enjoyed the conference, taking everything to heart.

The conference was on sustainability - this year's biggest trend! I know that some people don't agree that climate change is under our influence, but it has really made me think about how I could do my little bit, just in case.

I have succeeded in getting into the habit of turning off the TV so it isn't left on standby and switching light off when I leave the room etc. But this has really got my thinking about how we seem to have more and more packaging, because we are losing the skills to make the things for ourselves that would not have been routinely purchased 40 or 50 years ago.

With this in mind I have decided that I an going to make all the new blinds for my house! I had thought about curtains, (and my dear friend who is a design teacher in a secondary school offered to help me), but I have decided that blinds would be more cost effective, and surely easier as they will be smaller??

Will let you know how I get on!

Also on my "holiday" yesterday, I did some work in what could be loosely termed a garden. The Sunday Mirror "Homes & Holdays" magazine, had tempted me that an hour or so's pottering would reward me with a glorious mediteranean style patio.

That was the theory anyway.

3 hours later, I was still in a scruffy mess, but my clothes were covered in a light coating of dead leaves, snail poo, earwigs, and an army of off spiders, angry that I had filled their hidy holes and painted their homely, (but dirty) habitat in brilliant white masonary paint!

All I have succeeded in doing is make the rest of the house look even more scruffy than it was in contrast to the stark white.

Maybe I should set my sights lower.

But I ask myself: Is there anywhere lower than the Sunday Mirror???

I had a days holiday from work yesterday, to do some painting and decorating. But whilst hard at work, I started thinking about how cost affective this really is.

Seriously, it would have cost me £65 for a local decorator to do it (would have taken half the time of my amateurish efforts too). This is less than I get paid in a day.

So, am I really fooling myself? having a full days holiday. Does it really work out that cost effective?