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The geese are on the move. On Sunday, a great skein of them - over fifty, but I was looking at the shape rather than counting - swept over the National Trust gardens at twice tree height and disappeared South in the golden afternoon sun. I could see everyone looking up at them and looking at the leaves just turning, and thinking how impossibly obvious a transition it was, like a fingerpost marking the seasons. Winter This Way.
Yesterday, a perfect V of about fifteen Canada geese zoomed, honking wildly, from the direction of the station to the river. They skimmed over the water, raised themselves up just enough to get over the railway bridge and carried on upstream, heading North. I expect they were just looking for an unoccupied stretch for a rest and a bit of a paddle, but for a moment I thought I heard, carried on the noise of vintage car horns: "Are you sure it's this way?"
Yesterday, a perfect V of about fifteen Canada geese zoomed, honking wildly, from the direction of the station to the river. They skimmed over the water, raised themselves up just enough to get over the railway bridge and carried on upstream, heading North. I expect they were just looking for an unoccupied stretch for a rest and a bit of a paddle, but for a moment I thought I heard, carried on the noise of vintage car horns: "Are you sure it's this way?"
First daffodils spotted this morning! Oddly, the ones that are usually out first (tiny ones at the bottom of a South-facing wall) are still buds, but further along the road there are one or two in full flower.
I always think that the daffodil has an incredibly appropriate shape. They really are the fanfare for Spring.
I always think that the daffodil has an incredibly appropriate shape. They really are the fanfare for Spring.
I passed at least four pickets this morning; the ones further from the town centre were looking a bit sparse and chilly when I went past, so I hope they get warmer weather and/or more reinforcements, or they may need to break out the oil drums. I rather surprised one lot by tinging my bike bell at the sign that said 'beep beep' in large letters, although I'm not sure why they'd be surprised about support from cyclists. I reckon maybe one in five or six cars hooted, although it's hard to tell when you're not going at the same speed as the motor traffic.
Interesting observation on transport: I didn't notice a huge difference in the number of cars on the road (perhaps a few fewer but nowhere near the difference you get when it's half term) and there may not have been quite as many cyclists as usual (but it's hard to tell, as the numbers are smaller and less consistent) but colleagues who come into work by bus and train report that both were pretty empty this morning. I wasn't expecting quite so marked a contrast. Has anyone else noticed something similar?
Interesting observation on transport: I didn't notice a huge difference in the number of cars on the road (perhaps a few fewer but nowhere near the difference you get when it's half term) and there may not have been quite as many cyclists as usual (but it's hard to tell, as the numbers are smaller and less consistent) but colleagues who come into work by bus and train report that both were pretty empty this morning. I wasn't expecting quite so marked a contrast. Has anyone else noticed something similar?
Well, what else are LJs for?
I've had a horrible cold for a week, urgent and stressful stuff-to-fix-for-touchy-customer things at work - and have just discovered that we really need to make a change which is going to be really quite tricky to code and a real nightmare to deploy - and what I really want to do is go home, make myself a cup of cold-repelling tea* and knit.
*1 lemon and ginger teabag, hot water, as much real lemon and root ginger as you have the energy to cut up, a large dollop of honey and a larger one of cheapish whisky.
What I'm actually going to do is post this music meme that's been going around, then go back to huddling in my corner and working out exactly how much effort it's going to be to sort this work thing out.
---
Lyrics from the first ten songs that came up when I shuffled the music currently on my phone (excluding bits of Latin Mass, instrumental music and bird calls, which together seem to form a far larger proportion than I was expecting):
1. You think we look pretty good together
You think my shoes are made of leather
Substitute, The Who -![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
oursin
2. Fancy, if you believe in what I believe in,
Then we'll be the same, always.
3. Ground Control to Major Tom,
Ground Control to Major Tom,
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on.
Space Oddity, David Bowie -oursin
4. The tax-man's taken all my dough
And left me in my stately home
Sunny Afternoon, The Kinks -oursin
5. Oh, Cindy gal, oh Cindy gal,
Oh, Cindy gal, where'd you stay last night?
6. I got a kind-hearted woman,
Do anything in this world for me
7. Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota
Rocky Raccoon, The Beatles -boxofdelights
8. (How long now)
I love you.
Steel painted eyes.
Feels like snow.
9. I recall how we lived
On the corner of a bed
10. Your heart is not open so I must go;
The spell has been broken, I loved you so
From everyone else's memes I have learnt that I have almost no ability to remember lyrics without their music. Also that some people's music collections seem to be much less scattershot than mine!
I've had a horrible cold for a week, urgent and stressful stuff-to-fix-for-touchy-customer things at work - and have just discovered that we really need to make a change which is going to be really quite tricky to code and a real nightmare to deploy - and what I really want to do is go home, make myself a cup of cold-repelling tea* and knit.
*1 lemon and ginger teabag, hot water, as much real lemon and root ginger as you have the energy to cut up, a large dollop of honey and a larger one of cheapish whisky.
What I'm actually going to do is post this music meme that's been going around, then go back to huddling in my corner and working out exactly how much effort it's going to be to sort this work thing out.
---
Lyrics from the first ten songs that came up when I shuffled the music currently on my phone (excluding bits of Latin Mass, instrumental music and bird calls, which together seem to form a far larger proportion than I was expecting):
1. You think we look pretty good together
You think my shoes are made of leather
Substitute, The Who -
oursin2. Fancy, if you believe in what I believe in,
Then we'll be the same, always.
3. Ground Control to Major Tom,
Ground Control to Major Tom,
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on.
Space Oddity, David Bowie -
oursin4. The tax-man's taken all my dough
And left me in my stately home
Sunny Afternoon, The Kinks -
oursin5. Oh, Cindy gal, oh Cindy gal,
Oh, Cindy gal, where'd you stay last night?
6. I got a kind-hearted woman,
Do anything in this world for me
7. Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota
Rocky Raccoon, The Beatles -
boxofdelights8. (How long now)
I love you.
Steel painted eyes.
Feels like snow.
9. I recall how we lived
On the corner of a bed
10. Your heart is not open so I must go;
The spell has been broken, I loved you so
From everyone else's memes I have learnt that I have almost no ability to remember lyrics without their music. Also that some people's music collections seem to be much less scattershot than mine!
Found a tick on the cat yesterday. Horrible things, brrr.
I'm surprised there were any about, as the temperature's only got above freezing in the last few days. Still, it came out quite cleanly with the help of a tick tool - despite the fact that I accidentally pulled a couple of hairs with it, causing the cat to leap a foot in the air at the crucial moment.
I'm surprised there were any about, as the temperature's only got above freezing in the last few days. Still, it came out quite cleanly with the help of a tick tool - despite the fact that I accidentally pulled a couple of hairs with it, causing the cat to leap a foot in the air at the crucial moment.
Check Your Nuts
Dec. 9th, 2009 03:17 pmNo, not the testicular cancer campaign, although do check those too, if applicable.
Seeing as the strange noise my bike was making as I cycled to work turned out to be my pannier rack tipping bouncily sideways because the right-hand bolt had fallen out altogether, I thought I'd remind those of my flist who cycle that this might be a good point to make sure that all of their nuts and bolts are still holding on. If I hadn't checked, the next thing to fall off would have been the bracket holding my back light on. Oops.
I was quite grateful for the fact that I carry a cycling multi-tool - just a small one, with three hex keys, three sockets and a couple of screwdrivers - as that meant I could take a couple of minutes at work to fix my pannier rack (stealing a bolt from where my bottle cage would be if I had one) and tighten anything else that had worked loose. I'm pretty sure I could borrow a screwdriver at work if I had to but I'm less sure about a spanner or socket set.
Seeing as the strange noise my bike was making as I cycled to work turned out to be my pannier rack tipping bouncily sideways because the right-hand bolt had fallen out altogether, I thought I'd remind those of my flist who cycle that this might be a good point to make sure that all of their nuts and bolts are still holding on. If I hadn't checked, the next thing to fall off would have been the bracket holding my back light on. Oops.
I was quite grateful for the fact that I carry a cycling multi-tool - just a small one, with three hex keys, three sockets and a couple of screwdrivers - as that meant I could take a couple of minutes at work to fix my pannier rack (stealing a bolt from where my bottle cage would be if I had one) and tighten anything else that had worked loose. I'm pretty sure I could borrow a screwdriver at work if I had to but I'm less sure about a spanner or socket set.
Sayers Question
Nov. 30th, 2009 02:12 pmWhen I asked him what he'd like for Christmas, my dad said that he'd seen a Dorothy L. Sayers-related something in August that he thought he'd like, but couldn't remember what it was he'd seen. The only details I have are: 1) he saw publicity material for it, not the thing itself; 2) he's fairly confident that the reason he saw the publicity material was that whatever-it-was was either new or forthcoming at the time; 3) it might be a DVD but he's not really sure. From my own knowledge, I think he's more likely to have seen publicity material in a shop, on the high street, or on TV than on the internet, and he almost certainly saw it in the UK (there is a faint possibility that he saw it in France).
I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas?
I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas?
Questions from serrana:
( Read more... )
Should you care to participate: leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."
• I'll respond by asking you five questions, unless I've gotten burnt out on the exercise or I don't think I know you well enough to come up with five.
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.
serrana:( Read more... )
Should you care to participate: leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."
• I'll respond by asking you five questions, unless I've gotten burnt out on the exercise or I don't think I know you well enough to come up with five.
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.
Christmas is coming...
Nov. 18th, 2009 02:14 pmI'm late making the Christmas cake this year, but last night I finally got round to it. I love the steeping-in-brandy stage, especially this year, as I'm trying a new recipe and apricots, figs, prunes and a whole orange (zest and juice) are joining the usual lexia raisins, sultanas, glacé cherries, candied peel, currants and brandy in my largest mixing bowl*. The whole of the downstairs of my house smells like Christmas.
*I've realised that this requires me to empty the fruit out in order for me to actually mix the cake. I seem to remember doing this last year, as well.
*I've realised that this requires me to empty the fruit out in order for me to actually mix the cake. I seem to remember doing this last year, as well.
I bought the yellow version of this about two years ago for somewhere in the region of £45. For the first nine months or so I was very happy with it - it's high-visibility (there are more reflective strips in the next model up, but this was really bright yellow with some reflective bits), is light, packs quite small, is a good shape (rounded tail, high fleece-lined collar, adjustable cuffs), has a useful pocket, is fully mesh-lined, has large zipped side vents and is windproof enough for me to use as the only layer above a t-shirt for most of the year. The problem is that it doesn't stay waterproof. From about six to nine months in my arms got damper and damper every time it rained. I've washed it with re-waterproofing stuff (and I really need to do that again this weekend) but that doesn't last for long. Basically, by now, I have a lightly-showerproof not terribly breathable faded pale yellow jacket that now dries so slowly when it gets soaked that in a rainy week I live in fear of being arrested for smuggling dead badgers.
As soon as I can get to a bike shop with a decent range of other makes, it's going. The question is, what to try next? There's what looks like the equivalent model from Endura - slightly more expensive, but would it be more long-lasting? I could try a cape, using it more for wearing over an ordinary jacket or jumper in wet weather than as a general purpose cycling jacket. There are the expensive Gore-Tex ones, which would score more highly on waterproofing and breathability, but would they cope with being stuffed in a pannier most of the time? And which of these or other options will I be able to find in women's sizes?
As soon as I can get to a bike shop with a decent range of other makes, it's going. The question is, what to try next? There's what looks like the equivalent model from Endura - slightly more expensive, but would it be more long-lasting? I could try a cape, using it more for wearing over an ordinary jacket or jumper in wet weather than as a general purpose cycling jacket. There are the expensive Gore-Tex ones, which would score more highly on waterproofing and breathability, but would they cope with being stuffed in a pannier most of the time? And which of these or other options will I be able to find in women's sizes?
(no subject)
Nov. 16th, 2009 02:41 pmWell, I didn't make it to Oxford at the weekend, partly because I was later leaving the house than I'd intended but mainly because as well as all the motorway repairs with speed restrictions someone - or more probably, several someones - had so severe an accident that the whole of the M1 was closed for several hours between two junctions. I found I had a couple of hours to spare but not more, so I stopped briefly in Stratford-on-Avon for a cup of Smoky Caravan tea (which tasted to me like the tea I used to know as Russian Caravan, presumably renamed because people kept being disconcerted by the extreme smokiness), a slice of not half bad dark chococolate cake, and a rather bracing wander round by the river.
*It seems to be Dig Up All The Roads I Use season, although thankfully most of the local ones are happening at times when I'd normally be off the road anyway
*It seems to be Dig Up All The Roads I Use season, although thankfully most of the local ones are happening at times when I'd normally be off the road anyway
Having been fairly pleased that I'd managed to remain reasonably productive in the last few days (in work and housework terms, anyway) despite this season's obligatory stinking cold, I appear to have hit a wall somewhere. Grand total of not a lot done since about yesterday lunchtime - energy and motivation distinctly lacking, stuffed nose and chesty cough still distinctly present. Hmph.
Visiting Oxford
Nov. 12th, 2009 01:17 pmI'm going to be in Oxfordshire with a bit of free time on Saturday afternoon, and as I've only been to Oxford once and didn't get to see much of it then, I'd like to pop in for a while if I can. I'm planning to park at one of the Park and Rides, wander around for a couple of hours (rather than going to see anything specific, as time is limited and I'll be with people who don't really do museums and such), then head off for my evening engagement. Does anyone have any recommendations for a)places to wander to/around and b)places to have coffee and cake?
...is a 14oz can of tomatoes the same size as a 400g can of tomatoes? In general, when US recipes give a measurement in oz for tinned food, is it fluid ounces or the dry sort?
I keep finding US recipes I want to try. I've discovered that one of my cup measures is unexpectedly a US cup rather than a UK cup, and I'm pretty sure I now understand the various ways of measuring butter (in sticks, for instance), but I'm still having a little transatlantic recipe trouble. Whose idea was it to have different sized pints?
I keep finding US recipes I want to try. I've discovered that one of my cup measures is unexpectedly a US cup rather than a UK cup, and I'm pretty sure I now understand the various ways of measuring butter (in sticks, for instance), but I'm still having a little transatlantic recipe trouble. Whose idea was it to have different sized pints?
