Alien Spouse

"Ooh, and Here's A Treasure! You Want's That, Don't You, Dearie?"

We went to walk dogs and fuss cats today, it was very fun as always and once again we fell in love with a dog that we cannot have because we're renting a house. sigh.  Oh well, one day...

On the way back home we dropped off our recycling.  Boring.

Except!  They have a small table covered with stuff people have brought to swap, so it's essentially a free jumble sale.  It was pretty much as you would expect, and I could started quite a collection of steamy romance novels should I have been so inclined.  Just as I was about to walk away, I noticed a small binder that had a really ugly cover design, you know Beethoven wrote some quite beautiful music, but a pin-up he is not, nor did he ever claim to be as far as I'm aware.  Anyway, Beethoven was there to reinforce the small binders claim to be the A to Z of music and that is quite an assertion for something that's only slightly bigger than your hand, so I had a look at it.  Inside wasn't anything to do with music at all, in fact it was a transcript of the novelisation of the film "Labyrinth".

Squeee!  That is brilliant!  I particularly love the title done in that classic 80's style of large letters made out of typeface.

So naturally, I took the transcript out of the ugly binder (hey, someone else might want it.  I am just not that person.), and brought it home with me.  I shall treasure it, not least because an actual copy of the novelisation goes for $40 on Amazon.  I haven't started reading it yet, but rest assured I'll report back if there is anything really special in it.

Sulphur Blackened.

Doc's wedding ring has been through some more changes.

The story so far is this:

1. Doc used a ring he already had when we got married, because he liked it.
2. The ring turned out not to be silver and turned his finger green.
3. We bought him a $10 replacement ring.
4. The cats lost it.
5. I found him a vintage cigar band silver ring on Etsy, with a lovely patina to it.
6. It was too big.
7. When we took it to be resized, the jeweler kindly polished it.
8. This made it too shiny.

What to do next?  Obviously I turned to the internet, it is the modern "Enquire Within Upon Everything", and I discovered that you could blacken silver by putting it in a ziploc bag with a hard boiled egg.

I had to try that one out!  I mean how could you possibly read that and not want to see what happens, but I kept forgetting about it; until last night. I was already in bed (watching "Death Note" on Hulu.  Ohmigod, I love Hulu!), so I shouted down to Doc.  He promptly hard boiled an egg, cut it into quarters and put it into a snack sized ziploc with his ring.  This morning I got up to feed the cats, and I retrieved our little experiment from the fridge to find:

 

Wow!  I would definitely call that a successful result.

It's the sulphur in the egg that reacts to the silver and blackens it, which is the scientific explanation for what is otherwise clearly MAGIC!

I rinsed off the eggy smell before presenting it to Doc, and he was very pleased with the effect.  I particularly like the one little blob that didn't turn, I think because it was actually touching the egg.

Doc is wearing it as it is already, but I'd like to polish the inside of the ring back to silver, and maybe lightly rub the outside with some wire wool to get a brushed effect.  Whatever makes my Sweetie happy really!

You Krazy Kats. *

The cats are still really pleased that we are home from our holiday, and that they can now get into our bedroom at night because it's too warm for us to have the door closed.  However they still don't understand that we like to sleep all night, not just take a series of naps.  This bores the little darling apparently.

Nancy woke me up this morning at about 2:30, by biting the tip of my nose.  It wasn't a hard bite by any means, but it's always disconcerting when you are woken up by a tooth going up one of your nostrils, however gentle a bite it may be.  It turned out that all Nancy wanted was some attention, and she sat on my chest purring wildly until Edith tried to get in on the act by curling up on my tummy.

 Edith, on the other hand, has been trying to entertain herself.  Unfortunately this involves her bring her favourite toy up to our bedroom and then chasing it.  Edith is a beautiful cat, but dainty she is not, so we have been woken up several times by the thunder of her paws or a crash as she slams into a wall.  It particularly annoying when she loses the ball in a paper bag, because she adores the noise she can make whilst trying to get it back. 

Still I suppose it is quite sweet that, even though I always take the ball back downstairs for her to play with, when we wake up in the morning she will have brought it back upstairs.  This morning I found it left neatly between the shoes I wore yesterday.

* Bonus points to anyone who can name the 90's pop duo I'm referencing in this post's title.

Hair Spray! (Well, Actually It Was A Gel)

It's the first Saturday after pay day, so naturally I had an appointment to get my hair cut today.  All this week Doc has been dropping subtle hints such as "Are you sure you need to get it cut?" or "You look so pretty with your hair longer", and "I think I like your hair this length".

Well, that's tough luck Sweetie!

Because once my hair gets to a certain length it goes really flat and loses all body, which drives me crazy, so it needed to be cut today.  This time I compromised with Doc somewhat and kept some of the length, but asked my hairdresser to take out a lot of weight and put in more layers. Of course when you go to the hairdresser in a Southern State and say that you want more volume, they really take that very seriously.  I think my hair is probably adding an extra half inch to my height right now.

Right now Doc is pleased that I haven't had it all cropped off which is my usual default mode, but he's not going to venture an opinion on the compromise cut until I've washed and styled it myself.  He's a very sensible husband.

Things Nobody Tells You About Tattoos.

My tattoo is a week old today!  Weird!

I'm still not used to having a permanent image on my skin, it's most odd.  I'll just catch sight of it and think "Oh!  That's right.  I have a TATTOO now. Huh."

You know what, Mum, I don't think you'll want to read the next two paragraphs after the photo, but do join us for the third.  That's when I stop talking about the actual process, and go into why I chose a key.  See you there!

I was expecting the sensation of tattooing to be more painful than it actually was.  It wasn't like a nice relaxing massage, but it really wasn't agony either.  It was more like when a cat starts licking you and won't stop; their tongues are so rough that it's not really a pleasant feeling and, if they get really obsessed, it can start to hurt.  So it was sort of like that, but with moments of stinging occasionally.

The annoying part that nobody tells you is that, because a tattoo is essentially scar tissue, it has to heal; so it scabs over and gets really itchy and you cannot scratch it for fear of damaging the image.  If you pick at the scab and it takes away too many layers of skin, that will leach out some of the ink too.  I'm pleased mine hasn't scabbed too much, so it's looked quite pretty from the moment I unbandaged it, but bloody hell it is itchy now.  Annoying!  Doc tells me that once the healing is complete the "...bad-ass factor kicks in" and you forget how aggravating it was for that first week or two.

The other thing that Doc C didn't mention until after I'd got my tattoo, was that when people notice a tattoo they tend to ask what the significance of the image is, and they generally want a nicely complex back story.  My tattoo is a key, which I chose because I wanted something that I wouldn't be embarrassed by in twenty years time, so I didn't want skulls, or kittens, or Doc's name, much though I love all those things, obviously.  So what did I want?  I don't really invest a lot of personal significance in symbols, but I did want something that would remind me that I can do things if I just apply myself, and it had to be something small that I could cover up if I really needed to with a large bangle.  The other reason for the small size is more practical; I have very pale skin and I have a lot of moles, so I couldn't cover a large area of skin up without one getting in the way (actually another thought was just putting numbers next to my moles, so that I looked like a large dot-to-dot drawing, but my moles aren't coherently grouped enough for that!) I also knew that I wanted something that was what it was unambiguously, so I wanted a clear image and I immediately thought of Victorian engraved illustrations.   

The more esoteric explanation is that my tattoo means that the right key will unlock anything, you just have to find that key, although really that's a little bit more new age than I like to get usually.  Still, when I tell people this version of the back story, I'm also adding in an unlocking gesture with my hand whilst making a clicky noise with my tongue. That seems to be going down well.

Of course after we'd left the tattoo artist, I thought it would be great to have blank key fob tattooed onto the key, so I can write whatever it is that I want to unlock with a felt tip pen.  The only difficulty with this ingenious embellishment to the design, is that I can't write with my left hand.  The devil really is in the details.

Portrait of A Latte as a Hot Drink.

I still have holiday photos to work through! Yay! How exciting!

One of the places I think we have been every time I've been to Boston with the Doc, is the 1369 Coffee Shop.  This time we were on our way to the S&S to have brunch, so we only stopped off to buy Doc one of their t-shirts. 

Whilst one of the baristas went to the stock room to find the tees, they only had kelly green left, I noticed these fantastic photos on the wall.

They are portraits of latte ferns made by the baristas, well I'm really assuming that because all of them have a name and a year on them, but what else would it be?

I would be thrilled to get anyone of those latte ferns on top of my frothy coffee.  Beautiful and and delicious.

Gleefull.

If you haven't seen it yet, I've embedded the pilot below the jump.  I'm only sorry that Hulu doesn't work outside the US, but hey I can't watch "Eastenders", "Strictly Come Dancing" or, sigh, "The Eurovision Song Contest" (Did Germany really have Dita Von Teese as part of their act this year?  And I missed it?  Damn it all!) on the BBC's iplayer, so I do feel your pain.

So here's the YouTube link to the big finale song.  You are entirely welcome!

My Predictions.

We saw "Terminator Salvation" this evening, and "Star Trek" in Boston last week.  I'm sure you'll agree that that places me in an excellent position to anticipate the near future of mankind.  

What I've learned is that Anton Yelchin will be around almost as much as Former Aussie Soap Stars, and that there will be a lot of explosions.  I've also ascertained, from close observation of the women of the future, that there will be huge strides in both lip gloss, false eyelash and hair care technology, although eyeshadow seems to be regressing somewhat.

You heard it here first.

Flora Confectionary.

The bush just outside our front door has decided to blossom.   

You know before we moved here I thought that Iced Gems were baked and then iced, I had no idea they grew on plants.  As you can see, we have a pink Iced Gems bush, but based on that I would hypothesise the existence of white, blue, yellow and lilac Iced Gems bushes.

Fascinating.

(Please note: This is meant to be whimsy.  I would not actually recommend eating anything off a bush just because it vaguely resembles food, unless, of course, an Oompa Loompa pops up and sings a song indicating you have permission.)

Boston Cupcake.

Ooh!  We haven't had a cupcake photo in a while, have we?

 This is a lovely example of an elegantly iced cupcake in a classic chocolate and vanilla colour scheme.  Delicious with a nice cup of tea.

I took this picture in Boston; in fact this is what I had for lunch on Friday, shortly before getting my tattoo.

Return to the Gym.

Tomorrow we are going to be back to our usual gym routine, which is good because apparently eating loads whilst in Massachusetts wasn't a great weight loss strategy.  Who knew?  I was still keeping a track of my calorie intake, but I may have been overestimating the amount of exercise I was getting just a touch.

 Anyway, I thought I'd finish off the last of the fudge that I bought it P-Town at the Fudge Factory.  I never saw the shop closed, and on the extremely rare occasions that I went in the same Eastern European guy was behind the counter.  Whatever you asked for one of he would always "recommend two", or five, or whatever he thought he could get away with, like the Count from Sesame Street grew up and started a sweet shop.  When I bought the fudge I only wanted a small piece for the car, so before he sliced it I looked very carefully at the size of the slice before saying yes.  What I failed to do was watch which bit he put in the bag, and when I unwrapped it I saw that he had wrapped up the much larger piece instead.  Sneaky.  Although, it was delicious so I can't really complain much!

Yes indeed, I've earned that early appointment at the gym tomorrow.

Monday, Monday, Can't Trust That Day.

It's Monday, and, it's my first day back at work after my holiday.  As you know Alien Spouse isn't about my working day, but I will say that being back at work was fine; it just wasn't exactly a whale watching expedition followed by hot fresh crumpets and a friendly game of cards.  I am sure you'll understand the culture shock.

Still I am very glad that there are several back-to-back episodes of "Teen Titans" on TV and that I have half a Magical Mystery pizza (Mushroom and jalapeno) in the fridge for dinner.  Yay for cartoons and carbs!

Home Again, Home Again.

Safely back up our mountain after two days of driving.  Well, Doc drove and I read, snoozed and sang along to whatever the iPod chose to play.  I'll be getting my US driving licence this summer, if all goes to plan, so next time I can take on some of the actual driving. 

We are getting so used to these road trips though, that we know exactly when in the journey to call ahead and order the pizza so it's ready to pick it up, when we reach town.  This means we can eat the minute we get in the front door, and no one has to cook or wash up.  Perfect.

The cats are pleased to see us, which is gratifying.  Especially as they have clearly been having a lovely time in our absence; for example Someone has been sleeping in one of Doc's flower pots and squashed all of the seedlings.  Our money is on Edith for that one.

It's nice to be back in our house, particularly because I am really looking forward to a good night's sleep in my open very comfortable bed.  That's always the best sleep of any trip, isn't it?

Barely Coherent.

I slept really badly last night, but we are in the home stretch now.  Only a few more hours until we get back to our nice little house, with our comfy bed and our high-handed cat overlords (Is there a female equivalent of "overlord"? I feel like there should be, but I can't put my finger on it when I'm so sleep deprived)

In other news it is getting warmer the further south we head, and there are thunderstorms forcast for every single day of next week.  Humid heat, eh? I look forward to a week of impossible hair styling. sigh.

Stinky, Stinky, Stinky.

Today's top tip, should you be about to drive route 81 through Pennsylvania, is to bring gas masks and some sort of air freshener because OHMIGOD there is a stretch of about fifteen miles that stinks to high heaven.  I am not even joking.  I found myself hoping for a skunk to become enraged at one point.  Funnily enough this stink was very close to the town of Hershey, I will say no more. *cough* chocolate-should-not-taste-like-that *cough*

Our trip was further enlivened by Doc C noting that his beef jerky purchase, far from adding to his manliness, in fact indicated that he was "...not a real man of the road...I went for the low sodium option."

To round up this post of dubious taste I'll just add that I have been reading "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" which combines the classic tale of romance with a plague of reanimated corpses.  It's very fun, and the conceit does explain why there is a garrison of soldiers permanently stationed by a sleepy English village.  Unfortunately Miss Austen's co-author rather stretched my credulity by adding a scene in which chipmunks scurry across the Bennet girls path, followed by several other animals, including a skunk.  That's just taking things too far!  Zombies? Yes. Misplaced wildlife?  No.  You have got to have limits and that would be mine, it's exactly the same issue I had with the live version of "101 Dalmations" frankly.

Inked.

So I tweeted yesterday that I was visiting a tattoo artist with Doc C, which was a subtle clue that I would be getting inked.

I've thought about getting a tattoo before, but never did for various reasons.  Yesterday?  I don't know, it was just different.

I wanted to get an old fashioned key on my wrist, and I knew I wanted it to look like a Victorian illustration.  Annoyingly I have a book of nature sketches at my Mum's place that I knew had the perfect type of illustrations, albeit of completely the wrong subject matter, so I was looking for something like that in all of the local bookshops.  Which of course meant I could not find a picture like that to save my life.  I found a couple of kind of, sort of, close to images on-line and off we went.

When we got there, we were introduced to Bill, our tattoo artist, who was lovely.  He had tattoos of his bikes, as well as lot of others, so he and Doc clicked immediately.  Doc wanted the suits of cards, and pulled out a deck with exactly what he wanted on.  Easy.  Then I explained what I wanted, so Bill thought for a minute and went into his studio for a reference book for me to look at.  It was the architectural equivalent of my nature book, by the same press and everything, and that's when I knew for certain I was going to be in good hands.

 It came out quite well I think.

Busy Boston Day. I am

Busy Boston Day. I am SO tired, but the highlights include art, rock & roll and Doc's family.

Doc C's Home Turf.

Boston is always fun to visit, particularly because it is The Doc's home town so he knows it really really well.

Of course sometimes he forgets to tell me about things; for example yesterday was the first I'd heard about the Garment District which is a massive warehouse of clothes, costumes and accessories. It is fabulous and has great prices, but you do have to be very determined and prepared to try everything on. We didn't have enough time yesterday, so we went back today and succesfully plundered the racks.

After that we had lunch before going to H&M and Lush. The only problem has been the heat, which knocked us both sideways and necessitated a later afternoon return to the hotel for a nap with the air conditioning cranked up.

Oh! Mighty Lamp, We Beseech You!

 One of the really fun things about staying in a house rather than a hotel is that you get to live with other people's taste for a while, and that can be fascinating. Our house in Province Town was very comfortable and had some lovely things in it.

 I was particularly fond of the lamp on my bedside table.  The base is a sculpture depicting a cat, a hare and a pig holding a platter which the lamp sits in the middle of.  The animals are all dressed in formal suits, and it's quite an odd piece of furniture but it really grew on me.  It's got a sort of Wicker Man oddness to it, but it's also quite sweet.

 

As it happens I spotted a makers name on one of the photos I took of this lamp, so I know it's a Frederick Cooper lamp.  However I can't find it on their website, so I have no clue if it's still available; and the site has no prices anyway, so I can't even work out if it's vaguely affordable.

(p.s. The book is "The Clue in the Jewel Box - A Nancy Drew mystery".  This edition was published in 1943 and this has to be one of the most breathlessly event packed books I have ever read.  So far our heroine has

• Has helped an old lady, who was taken ill
• Discovered the old lady is, in fact, deposed royalty.
• Searched for the lost Prince.
• Tried to foil a pick pocket gang.
• Saved her father from being shot.
• Been trapped on a runaway ferris wheel.
• Had to deal with that horrid paparazzi.
• Dived into a river from a speeding boat to rescue a small child.
• Been on a picnic.
• Rescued a postman from a savage dog.
• Had a valuable hair ornament stolen from her.
• Recovered hair ornament.
• Modelled in a fashion show.

And I'm only about two thirds of the way through!  Wow!)

Time to Go.

This the first morning I've woken up in PTown and not been happy about it. I have to take a shower and pack my last bits and bobs, then it's one last breakfast at Cafe Heaven before we start heading out.

Then we have two days in Boston, and we'll be back in N.C. by Monday.

It's been lovely.

The Time Has Simply Flown.

This is our last full day in P-Town.  sigh.  Still it does happen to be a gorgeous day so we are making the most of it.  First we went to Cafe Heaven for breakfast (I had the french toast with strawberries, yum!) and then I did laundry whilst everyone else climbed the Province Town monument.  Doc called me from the top of the tower, so I could run out to the deck and wave to them.  In a very Jenny Agutter moment, I grabbed my red t-shirt and I think there are several photos of me using it as a flag. After that we went for lunch and some shopping, before heading to the beach.  I had my sunblock and my paper parasol with me, so I can't be said to have sun-bathed but I do enjoy spending time on a beach.

It has been a very nice day, but it's not over yet; after all we still have to decide what we are doing about dinner. 

Ryan Landry's Showgirls.

We went to see a drag cabaret last night, and, OHMIGOD, it was fabulous! Loved it!  It was a mixture of  amazing professional performers and gifted amateurs competing for a cash prize, although we weren't told ahead of time which was which and some of the amateurs were extremely good.

 Personally I was very fond of Katya, who did THE routine from "Flashdance", complete with back flip and splits, but she was narrowly beaten by Susan Boil.  It was eerily similar to the "Britain's Got Talent" YouTube sensation in that when the queen made her entrance to the stage she looked such a mess we assumed it would be off-key screeching at worst, or lip synching at best.  Instead we got a pitch perfect performance that brought the house down, and won the $500.

 Of the professionals the standard was uniformly excellent, the Mistress of Ceremonies had absolutely nothing to hide by the end of the first number, and was a charming hostess for the whole show.  The co-hostess, Shady, was very sweet and had just the most gorgeous face; in fact I can honestly say that she was making me reconsider black lipstick as a style choice and that thought hasn't occured to me in a good 15 years. 

 Penny Champagne was stunning and I also loved Thirsty Burlington's homage to Little Edie.  I can quite honestly say I haven't seen drag acts this good since I left London, and that's a long time to go without a good wig and the judicious use of diamante.  I feel most refreshed.

Unusually I went out today and took photos to accompany a post I'd already written, so now you can see posters!

The main poster for Showgirls is a take on the logo for a popular brand of salt, but the face has been altered so that it's Ryan Landry.  I put in a picture of him from the poster for "Willy Wanker and the Hershey Highway", so you can see how great that portrait really is.

The poster on the left is for Illusions, but it features three of the Showgirls we saw.  Shady Pines is being very dramatic at the back, whilst Billie Jean is front right and we also saw the gorgeous chanteuse on the left who I believe is Tisch DeWilliams.  Fabulous creatures all of them!

An Alien Who Speaks Her Brains.

As you know, here at Alien Spouse we are not afraid to speak our minds on controversial issues.  

• I don't like really hot weather, I would far rather be too cold than overheated.
• Gay marriage?  Sounds perfectly lovely!  I have no problem with it at all, and look forward to attending many same sex weddings.
• If the choice is between Malteasers or Whoppers, then you can bugger right off with your Whoppers. Thanks all the same.
• Global warming is not a good thing, and, yes, I think industrialisation probably has got something to do with it.
• What is Twitter for exactly?  I think it's different things to different people, for example my friend David uses it to track and disseminate both breaking news and classic 80's rock songs; whereas my imaginary monkey friend Pablo uses his to keep us up-to-date on the issues that matter to primates.  Personally I like it because it feels one step closer to telepathy.

 Now that I've warmed you up with some easy ones, prepare yourself for my latest bold statement.

•  I prefer being on holiday to being at work. 

 There I've said it.  That is my position on the matter, and I don't care who knows it.

Whales

Today was overcast, so we seized the opportunity to go whale watching.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It cost a mere $36 for a three hour boat trip, on which we saw several tons of Humpback Whale feeding on the local Sand Eels.  I took around 90 photos, and this is one of my favourites.

 I was also extremely glad that I had the foresight to wear several layers and bring my cagoule with me.  I looked like a muppet, but believe you me it was chilly out there. That doesn't explain the extended little finger in this photo, clearly I am more genteel when at sea.

 

Keep On Lying To Me.

I got myself all dolled up to go out dancing last night, but what with one thing and another, I ended up getting some ice cream and coming home fifteen minutes later. Oh well!

Instead I curled up with Doc C and we caught up with the final five episodes of "Lie To Me". If anyone reading this knows an exec at Fox please can you tell them that this has got to get a second season? The obvious reasons being the great central performances and strong character dynamics, and, hello, Tim Roth's Cal Lightman out-Housing Hugh Laurie (they're both great, and obviously I love having two of my favourite British actors on TV regularly. Don't make me choose!).

I also feel very strongly that you do not introduce Mekhi Pfeiffer as an apparently regular cast member in the penultimate episode and NOT let your audience see what happens next. You just don't.

Your consideration in this matter would be greatly appreciated, Fox execs.

Ooh, and obviously "Dollhouse" too, but did I really need to say that?

Build a Little Birdhouse Village in Your Soul.

There is a garden near our house that has lots of birdhouses in it.  I particularly love this wall which has birdhouses in the shape of different types of human houses.

So adorable.

Aches and Fashion.

If you've ever had too much red wine to drink, then you will know how horrible your head feels the next day.  That is a hang over.  Well, this morning my knees felt hung over, after all of the cycling I did yesterday.  When I got up I did half an hour of yoga, which really helped, and I could then cycle back the the bike shop with Doc C to return our bikes.  The only difficulty being that I elected to wear my denim pencil skirt today, and cycling in a straight skirt is, um, problematic.  

I would have changed into my denim pedal pushers, because that's obviously what they are for, but I seem to have inexplicably failed to pack them.  I distinctly remember putting them in the pile to be packed, so I have no clue why they failed to get here.  Oh well, I have my fantastic black-and-white gingham shorts instead.  I bought those about 2 years ago and haven't been able to fit into them before now.  They are delightfully retro, and now I can put them on without distressing over-spills I think I shall be wearing those things for the rest of the summer.

Hoorah!

Bike Ride to the Sea.

Today a group of us rented bikes and rode to the beach.  It was 9 miles over a bike trail through the sand dunes, and it took us two and a half hours.  It was supposed to be overcast today, but by the time we got to the ocean it was a beautiful sunny day.

 Yes, I had a nap when I got home and, no, we are not going bar hopping tonight.

Lost and Found.

Today started off badly with Doc realising he had lost his courier bag.  His favourite bag, that he has had since I've known him.  The bag with his wallet in.  And his phone. Oh, and the zip drive with all of his academic work on. And that Valentine's card I made him when we first started going out.  So, you know, everything.

We tried calling the bars we went to last night, but got no answer.  So we walked over to the last bar we were in, and there was no-one around but the door was open.  We went in, and there on the coat rack was Doc's bag!

It had everything in it!  His wallet had all of it's credit cards, his phone was still in there as was his zip drive and, most importantly, the Valentine card.  The only thing missing was the cash, which was about $20.  We are thinking of that as a finders fee.

After that I thought Doc could do with a stiff drink, but instead we went to get breakfast.  He asked for decaff coffee, because otherwise his heart was never going to stop racing.

First Morning of P-Town Summer Break.

We both slept really well and woke up to a lovely sunny day. First things first; the hunt for breakfast!

P-Town! Yay!

We have arrived at our holiday cottage and very cordially decided on bedrooms. Doc and I ended up in the biggest, which has it's own sitting room and outdoor deck.

I'm getting hungry now, so I think we should go and find dinner!

Breakfast.

Middle River, Baltimore. Morning. We are back in the car.

Middle River, Baltimore.

Dinosaurs of Virginia.

Highway 77.

I Can Never Work Out

I Can Never Work Out How Long The Title Should Be When I'm Posting By Text. The Mini FULL & we have been driving for 2 hours now

Holiday Preparations Complete!

I tidied up as many odds and ends in the office as I could think of, and now you'd think I could leave the mountain for two weeks without a creeping sense of guilt over any uncompleted paper-work.  However I am prepared to bet I'll be in Baltimore when something urgent occurs to me.  That's how my brain likes to amuse itself.

Whilst we are away the cats are being looked after by Nicole, who is one of the managers at the Humane Society.  She already knows both cats really well, and Doc told me that when Nicole came to pick up the keys this afternoon that both of our girls seemed to recognise her; apparently Nancy gave her a little friendly chirp and ran over to be fussed, which is very sweet.  Nicole actually told Doc a bit more about our cat's histories, Nancy was found in a cardboard box outside the shelter with the lid weighted down with a bag of food, which sort of explains her extreme phobia of boxes.  Edith was found pregnant with her kittens, so she was taken to a foster home until she'd weaned them; whilst she was there she mothered another litter along with her own.  This explains nothing at all about Edith, because she acts like she's a kitten herself most of the time.  Still, it's nice to know more about our felines and I'm sure that they'll barely miss us whilst we're away, although I'm fully prepared to be coldly ignored when we get back.  Cats like to make sure you know your place, which is firmly under their hind paws.

So, let's go through the list:

• Work completed (you know, for now anyway)? Tick!
• Cat Sitter arranged and briefed on bizarre cat habits? Tick!
• Healthy snacks for the journey purchased? Tick!
• Plans made to buy doughnuts on the road? Tick!
• Swimming costumes taken out of storage in anticipation of hot tub? Tick!
• Packing completed? Um, no.  I'll do it in a bit...

A Really Freaking Huge Moth

Last night we were watching TV and Nancy was at the window, batting at moths on the other side of the glass.  Then we noticed she was particularly fascinated by something in the corner of the window which at first we thought was a leaf, but she was so hypnotised by it that I went to investigate and it was a huge moth.

Doc tried to get a photo from inside, but that didn't really work so I went outside to take some more pictures.  I managed to get a couple in focus, but nothing that really illustrated the size of the thing.  So I asked The Doc to put his hand up against the window next to the moth.

That thing is ENORMOUS!

Doc C looked it up on-line, and he discovered that it was a Luna Moth, which are even more weird than they look.  Adult Luna Moths only live for seven days, and they don't have mouths so they can't eat anything.  They eat a lot as caterpillars, which are also huge, and they just live off that as adults. 

Wow, that is just peculiar!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Get To Work On That Sink.

Yesterday Doc said, he knew this would make him sound like his Ma, but he thought we should clean the house before we leave on our road trip on Tuesday, so that we come back to a nice clean house.  I was very glad he'd said it because I'd been thinking the same thing, and I really don't want to sound like his mother.  So we split the tasks evenly.  He's vacuuming the whole house and cleaning the kitchen floor and counter tops.  I'm taking on both bathrooms, and cleaning the stove and the kitchen sink.

I can never seem to get the kitchen sink as clean as I want it to, and the fumes from most cleaning products give me a headache, so I decided to use some distinctly old fashioned methods that I'd been reading about.  For this I required one lemon and a packet of baking soda.

1. Sprinkle baking soda on sink liberally.
2. Cut lemon in half, then use cut-side to scrub sink.
3. Scrub sink with brush to work the lemon and baking soda mixture in.
4. Rinse.
5. Whizz the used lemon in the waste disposal unit to make it smell nice.

Ohmigod!  That worked beautifully!  And it was SO easy!

It was really quick and it got everything off, including a particularly stubborn brownish stain that just wouldn't shift using normal cleaning products.  It was also very satisfying, not least because the lemon juice makes the baking powder fizz in a very fun way, rinses off really easily and it smells really nice.  The added bonus is that lemon juice and baking soda are both non-toxic, so you don't have to worry about the chemicals involved.  After I'd finished the sink I couldn't resist trying the same thing on the patch of work surface next to it, even though that is the Doc's chosen task so I should have left it for him.  I don't know what our counter tops are made out of, but it's slightly porous, so it stains at the slightest excuse and then it's very hard to clean those marks without leaving a faint ghost stain behind.  Really frustrating.  You know what works though?  Baking powder and lemon!  Fantastic!

I really should have taken a before-and-after shot to more fully demonstrate the efficiency of this method, but that would involve letting the internet see my dirty kitchen sink and I didn't want to do that.  When I was a kid my Dad would tell me how his Mum refused to buy the most popular brand of household cleaner, because the television adverts for it showed a filthy house being made to gleam.  My Grandma didn't want anyone to think that her house had got into such a state that she needed to use this stuff to get it clean again.  When I was small I thought that was a very funny story, but I think I understand how Grandma felt now.

The moral of this post is: Always have fresh lemons to hand, they are extremely useful around the house and most important to garnish a good G&T.

Nap-Time for Humans and Pusskey Cats!

 Once I'd woken up Doc felt sleepy, and he fell asleep on the sixties armchair, then Nancy joined him on the ottoman.  The Doc woke up just long enough to ask me for a blanket, so I covered them both up, and grabbed my camera.

That is so sweet!

Sleep! Slleeeeeeeppppp!!!!!!

You know yesterday when I said all I intended to do was sleep this weekend?  I was really not joking.

True, I stayed up well past my bedtime watching the film version of "Aeon Flux", which I did not see through to the bitter end; oh, and I'd forgotten to switch my alarm off so I was woken up at 6, which meant the cats were fed and happy.

However after that I went back to bed and slept until 10:30, then I got up and had some porridge.  Then I went back to bed and slept until 2:45, then I got up and ate the freshly cooked crumpets Doc was making me to lure me downstairs.

I've made it to the sofa now, but I'm still in my pyjamas.  I might go and have a shower in a bit, I'll see how I feel.

Friday Night In.

It's Friday night, I am at home with a cat at my feet, a glass of wine to my side, we've just watched the season finale of "Dollhouse" and a film on the telly. 

• The cat is Nancy, and she's curled up on the ottoman.
• The wine is a nice Cab Sauv.
• "Dollhouse" is excellent.  I require another season please Fox. It was particularly good to see Alan Tudyk being a total psycho.
• The film is "RocknRolla" from Netflix, and it's fun; but can Guy Ritchie make anything other than gangster flicks?  Still Tom Wilkinson! Mark Strong! Idris Elba! Gerard Butler! Thandie Newton! Jeremy Piven! Jimi Mistry! Gemma Arterton! Ludacris! Matt King! The scenary is just there to be chewed frankly.  Love it.

Tomorrow?  I sleep.  That is all.

Pre-Graduation Reception (With a Detour into Bookselling Cultural Indoctrination).

This evening was the medal ceremony for the graduating honours students.  I arranged a reception for what ended up being over 200 people, and I think it all went pretty well actually.

I went over to the reception hall to make sure everything was set up properly, and I took the medals across at the same time.  We'd asked for a small table to be put on the stage, so that the medals were to hand during the ceremony and I found that my ex-bookseller aesthetic requirements kicked in, so I instinctively pyramided the cases.  I just couldn't help it. 

Actually it was all I could do not to open all of the cases and straighten the medals so they were all in exactly the same position, because any multiples circular objects of that diameter triggers my stickering impulse.  Next time your in a chain bookstore look at a table with a display of 3-for-2 books, I think you'll find that all of the stickers are in the same position on the front covers.  Which believe you me, is really tedious to do in the first place, but it's even worse when you have to carefully unsticker a whole stack of them without ruining the covers entirely.  Ugh.

Anyway...

I think the event this evening went well, not least because the students seemed to really appreciate it and several of them thanked us in their speeches.  I was even asked to friend someone on Facebook, which I was very pleased to do.  So sweet!

Modcloth Presents: Beach Blanket Bingo Retro Two Piece in Red-Mod Retro Indie Clothing & Vintage Clothes

Beach Blanket Bingo Retro Two Piece in Red-Mod Retro Indie Clothing & Vintage Clothes.

This is the Esther Williams designed bikini that I'm thinking about buying for the summer, but I may actually need a smaller size if everything goes according to plan, so I'm holding off for now!

The Rise of The Machines Begins.

Why is it always when you really need the washing machine to work that the damned thing conks out on you?

I'm taking a couple of weeks off work, and we are going on a road trip (Squee!) so I really need to do a load of dark colours.  All the machine does is start the cycle by moving, making some encouraging watery sounds and then it stops dead in it's tracks with the start button flashing on and off.

Hates it we does!  Hates it!

Fine.  I'll watch one episode "Ace of Cakes", which I'm hoping will also help with my hankering for sucrose, and then go to bed.  We can go to the Launderette on Saturday.  I'd go tomorrow but we have our medal ceremony and reception for the graduating honors students and I have to be there in my girly shoes.

I'm just glad that I happened to wash my party clothes yesterday with the pale colours, or there would be some seriously bad language directed at that stupid Whirlpool right now.

Sugar Cravings.

Are you going to eat that bag of Revels?  Because if not, I will happily take them off your hands because I really want to eat something sweet.  I was very excited when I got home from work because I still had an chocolate Easter bunny left, but, although pleasingly shaped, the chocolate was so disappointing that I gave up on it after eating the ears.  The disappointment was so intense that I was toying with the idea of eating sugar straight from the bag to make up for it.

So now I'm chain-eating soft mints, whilst making a cup of tea that I shall add a spoonful of honey to.  I hope that takes care of my craving for sweets, because I am six pounds away from my target weight and about to spend ten days wearing swimming costumes and possibly even shorts.

I do not want to eat spoonfuls of Ovaltine powder.  I really don't.  That sounds really tasty at the moment, but I'm sure the cup of tea will be just as nice.

sigh.

Amost Rorschach.

I finished the hat this evening, and put the black ink blots on to the mask.  I still need to add buttons, a belt and a scarf. 

Of course then I'll probably want to re-do the mask, which will be tricky now that I've deployed hot glue to attach the hat.

I Wish I Could Have Heard The Pitch

The current trends for reality TV are either weight loss shows, e.g. "The Biggest Loser" and dance competitions, e.g. "Dancing with the Stars".

Naturally Oxygen have noted these trends and created the ultimate reality show.  Which "...features full-figured contestants who dance to unleash their inner thin and a chance to win $100,000 grand prize. Each contestant will be paired with a professional dance partner who will train them for their weekly stage performances - ranging from Hip Hop, to Ballroom and even Pole Dancing! Then they’ll shake and rattle their rolls in front of a live studio audience and a panel of expert judges" (Source: Oxygen Press Release)

This work of staggering genius will be called "Dance Your Ass Off".  I am not even remotely joking.

Horticultural Baby Steps.

Doc has become interested in trying to grow a container garden on the balcony.  He germinated seeds last week, and I took this picture of the tomato seedlings at the weekend.  They are already about twice the size, and Doc is very proud of them.