Sarah's Journal

10:40am: Frog(s)
With increasing frequency this summer, we are being woken at around dawn (so before 5, at this time of year) by Small Cat entering the bedroom with loud, insistent cries, uttered through a mouthful of live frog. Having got our attention, she deposits the frog on the bedroom floor and stands there pointing to it, clearly waiting for a reaction. What reaction is she expecting?( Read more... )

8:35am: An experimental entry
I have just discovered lj-cut and I like the effect, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on the RSS feed. But maybe that was only because I was adding it by editing old entries. So here is a brand new one ( Read more... )

4:25pm: Catching up
Quite a lot's happened since then. Here's a bit of a list.
( Read more... )

8:59am: Decisions and choices
I read Barry Schwartz's Paradox of Choice a couple of weeks ago. A significant book, I think. It will probably join my select list of "books that have permanently changed my ideas about the world". (I'll post the rest of the list some other time).

Today I had a thought that is connected with it, ( Read more... )

10:10am: Catching up - includes the rest of the French trip
I seem to have given up the habit of writing daily postings. I posted everything I'd written on the French trip on the first day home, but haven't written anything since. I think I won't do daily postings for the next while, except maybe when travelling (more short trips coming up soon). Some reasons for why: ( Read more... )

10:30pm: Last full day in Menton
Sat up reading Patrick O'Brian until about midnight last night -- I guess I am getting hooked again -- but still wake just before dawn. Beautiful dawn once again, clear blue sky and gorgeous pink early sunlight.( Read more... )

11:32pm: Still in Menton
A good long sleep to make up for being so tired. Wake refreshed but a little stiff as the bed is too firm. Up in time to see the dawn from my window and to photograph it, in between having a bath and washing my hair. Beautiful start to the day: clear blue perfect sky.( Read more... )

10:00pm: To Menton
Wake before 7. Do as much preparation for leaving as I can without disturbing A ( Read more... )

11:56pm: A day in Lyon
Up quite early. Quite a decent breakfast, though unremarkable: cheese and ham, a roll, tea, yoghurt etc. See A off to his conference, then I'm on my own for the day.( Read more... )

11:56pm: To Lyon
Wake about 8 feeling quite lively. Try not to wake A too soon; ( Read more... )

11:56pm: To Paris
Up fairly early and we have plenty of time for our journey to London as we're catching a later Eurostar than usual. ( Read more... )

11:56pm: Preparing for French trip
Very busy day, as the last one before a journey usually is. Why do I leave so many things to the last day? And then do them quite efficiently, when finally backed right up against the immovable deadline -- so I could have done them before. ( Read more... )

11:56pm: The Boat Show
Train to London with A, and Docklands Light Railway to Excel. Beautiful sunny day for a change -- nice views of modern architecture from the DLR. Day at the Boat Show: great fun. ( Read more... )

11:56pm: Bus committee meeting quite business-like -- planning some concrete campaigning activity rather than just whinging about poor bus service. I'm a bit dubious about whether our activities will have any results but it's nice to be doing something; meeting feels more cheerful anyway.

Out with A afterwards to the Pipasha, which is rapidly becoming our new favourite Indian restaurant. Very enjoyable.

7:20pm: Up and dress quite early: expecting the chap to service the burglar alarm. In fact he doesn't turn up until I'm in the middle of preparing my lunch. Meanwhile, spend most of the morning catching up on the local paper, which I haven't really read for the last month. One benefit of its recent dumbing-down is that it's quicker to read, but it's also nastier.

Weather is nice: sunny and quite mild. Take some advantage of it in the afternoon by going out to work in the garden: prune the lavender beds. Don't seem to have time for much else today besides more local paper, a half-hour on the rowing machine, and a bath and hairwash. Oh, and some laundry. Mean to wash up and tidy the kitchen before 6 when M, the cat-sitter, is expected, but don't have time. She doesn't seem to mind a lot, though. Spend an hour or so showing her where everything is, finding her a key and a code for the alarm. Then rush to prepare for bus committee meeting. Feel rather guilty about leaving her to the mercy of the bus service, but I'm worried about being late myself. Print out documents, do hair, and dash out in the car.

11:40pm: Squeeze in the time for half an hour's rowing machine exercise followed by a super-quick shower, before usual Thai lunch. A is rather cross as there wasn't in fact enough time and we arrive at 12:30 (most people turn up at 12 for this). Enjoy lunch anyway, but there is no room for us at the big communal table.

Out on foot to take in the signed acceptance of glazier's estimate; buy some cat-food; round to D's with her present and a small rucksack full of newspapers for the guinea-pigs. Stop there for cup of tea, chat with her and her daughters (very pleasant -- the ill one is getting a lot better); then weather has become really foul -- windy and rainy -- so she gives me a lift home.

Italian class: another listening test followed by a long conversation practice -- my least favourite bit. I'm paired with the motorsport photographer who feels the same way about it -- it's just really awkward to try and communicate in Italian with another English-speaking person. We keep lapsing into English instead.

Rather a melancholy evening of TV: Dakar Rally mourning the death of Fabrizio Meoni, followed by a documentary about the Jonestown tragedy.

10:36am: Long night's sleep, woken by the radio alarm at 9. Really must have been tired yesterday. Small Cat spent the latter part of the night on A's pillow, having failed to join me at bedtime in her usual way. Is she cross with me?

Glazier's estimate arrives in the post. I phone to accept but they won't act till I go round with a signature. Then it will take a week to order the replacement unit from the factory! This is a lot longer than they led me to believe when I phoned them on Saturday. Conclude rather grumpily that no-one else is likely to be quicker. Glad we have a house-sitter lined up for when we're away.

11:20pm: Less efficient evening. Why is going shopping in town so extremely tiring compared with other activities, even when you go only for a short time? Intended to exercise before going out, AND catch up on my backlog of the local paper in case anything has happened that I'd be expected to know about, but in fact I did neither. Had some sandwiches, and didn't do much else. Did have time to walk rather than drive to the meeting though, which is something I suppose.

Meeting was mercifully short. It was another in the series of local crime-prevention/ anti-social behaviour meetings. However, there doesn't seem to have been much crime lately -- local policeman confirmed that it had been very quiet (apart from our broken window of course!) and very few of the public had bothered to turn up. They were considerably outnumbered by the "official" participants from council, housing association and so on. So we wound up early.

Arrived home as A was heating up a cook-chill curry for himself, so ate a bit of it. Watched some of the Dakar (not all, as there was a snag with the new cables to sort out first) and then misc channel-surfing. I declined the offer of something challenging from a DVD, as too tired. To bed relatively early.

5:30pm: Up before 8; dress quickly and wait for the glazier, who arrives promptly at 8:30, measures window and promised to send a quote.

Continue the sitting-room rearrangement: clear the single bookcase that stood by the kitchen door and move it into the kitchen (temporarily); shift the double one that had been standing in the middle of the dining area into place -- it fits in the space where the single one was, because it wasn't very efficiently placed before. I find I can move these on my own: they are quite light after all. A is busy of course, working today, so it is good to be able to make progress without his help.

Spend some time happily arranging all my Jane Austen books, which occupy two whole shelves (the novels, several different editions; the letters; the biographies, about a dozen of them; the critical works; the Austen Society reports (UK and US); the trivia books; the continuations, "sequels", and re-interpretations (including Bridget Jones' Diary); the joke books and pure fan ephemera; the videos of movie adaptations; the "making of the movie" diaries.

Run out of steam rather, after that. The next logical stage in the book re-organisation is to fill up the not-yet-existing glass bookshelf. Till I have done that, I can't think about what to put on the floor-standing book-cases. The next batch of glass shelves isn't expected until the end of the week, or perhaps next week. I guess we can live with piles of books for a week or so.

Do some laundry: bio-soak all my nightshirts to get the muddy paw-prints out. (Small Cat been using me as a doormat).

Cook myself a very nice green lunch -- microwaved leek and broccoli -- with cheese sauce. Feel very smug about using only English-grown veg (thus saving energy on transport), but the cheese is Italian.

Fairly efficient afternoon. Book the Center Parcs trip; cancel the cattery (as we're having a cat-sitter); write up the notes from last bus-campaign meeting as I'm going to meet the chair this evening and he's bound to ask for them; out to Maplin on the bus (have to run for the bus -- very pleased to find that running feels easier than of late -- all this exercise is working). Slightly frustrating Maplin visit -- phone A, as per his instructions, to discuss details of cables, but phone doesn't get a signal in the back of the shop so have to keep breaking off my interaction with the (rather dim) assistant. Eventually conclude that the only long enough video extension cable is a highly expensive 10-metre one with gold-plated connectors. Ah well, it'll be a talking point.

11:56pm: Up quite early (I mean about 8:30, not early by summer standards) and feel fairly energetic. Have some time to kill until A is feeling energetic too (this takes a while, as it involves two leisurely cups of coffee and all of Broadcasting House), so I have a half-hour session on the rowing machine and then a bath and hairwash. Funny how much harder it is to exercise in the morning than in the afternoon. Still feel better afterwards, though. Desert Island Discs: Andy McNab, a fascinating individual. He has an interesting kind of flexibility -- someone who has learned very effectively how to bend rather than break, and thus is very strong.

Once A is ready to face the job, we work together on moving the hi-fi. It goes surprisingly easily and everything works in the new location except the digital radio, which behaves oddly. Eventually he discovers that the DVD player is interfering with the radio signal! Adjusts some wires, then it is OK. Wiring is all much neater now and the room definitely looks better, even allowing for the piles of books that are awaiting the new bookshelves. Also, we can now open the middle blind, which has been closed for the past several months to screen the hi-fi. So the room is brighter. Only snag is that a few cables are a little too short, so one or two items (the cable TV box and the power amp) are not quite in their right places yet. I promise to go to Maplin tomorrow.

Break for tea, then carry on with moving books, records, videos, CDs, DVDs... and the book-cases themselves. Arrive at dinner time with one beautifully-arranged book-case next to the hi-fi, containing CDs, videos and records, and the table usable -- which is just as well, as we are about to use it. Lots of piles of books around, and one empty bookcase standing out in the middle of the room, but that is tolerable.

Evening with J and his lodger at our house. She has offered to cat-sit for us while we are in France, which will be nicer for the cats than being in the cattery again, so is here to make their acquaintance. We get the usual takeaway and bring it here. Pleasant evening, chat and so on. Cats are charming. Take visitors home about 11, then watch a little Dakar Rally coverage before bed.

11:56pm: Woken at 8:30 by postman needing a signature. Serve me right for ticking the "Special Delivery" box when I ordered my train tickets. I am well into winter mode now -- sleeping in late, or I would be except that I seem to keep getting interrupted.

Discover we have a broken window in the kitchen! A thinks it might have happened yesterday early evening while I was exercising. He heard a loud noise but couldn't identify it at the time. Break is only in the front pane of the double glazed unit. Looks as though two stones have been thrown. Phone glazier, who will come on Monday. No point having it boarded up meanwhile, as inner pane is intact. Send email to local police.

Spend an hour or so ministering to my desktop PC: installing Norton Anti-Virus 2005, which requires numerous re-boots, updating virus definitions, doing full system scan...

I'm reading Anne Tyler's Ladder of Years, the last of the books that D gave me for my birthday. I took it to Italy but had too many books and didn't start it; A was short of books so read it instead of me, and now wants me to read it too so we can discuss it. He liked it. So far, so do I.

Out for Thai pub lunch with the gang. On the way, pass another house with a broken window. We knock on the door and exchange stories. They also are not sure when it happened. Reassuring to find it's not just our house being targetted. Looks as though neither attack was an attempted break-in, just vandalism.

Pub pleasant as usual. Baby K is celebrating her first birthday and is there in a gorgeous iridescent party dress, like a baby ball-gown.

Brief Tesco visit on the way home, just for milk and fresh things, meat and veg.

Bus to town. Sales on in bookshops! Buy several books between us, including some collections of photos of interiors -- partly just nice to look at, partly to help us decide what to do about the house -- and a lovely collection of graffiti and street art photos from around the world. Also the last unfinished Patrick O'Brian book, from just before he died (of course I won't read this till I finish the series, but it was half-price). Also manage to find a present for D finally, after some brainstorming. A's idea. Hope she likes it (I won't say here what it is as she might be reading this!). And get some fancy cheese.

Home again on bus. Quite exhausted by shopping. Revive a bit after a cup of tea; then start on the project for this weekend: clear two whole bays of book-case ready to move the book-case itself so as to move the hi-fi... this is all part of the sitting-room re-organisation. Very hard work. Stop to eat dinner (A cooks: steak, salad, baked potatoes).

TV: more Dakar Rally; then Jerry Springer, the Opera which we have to see because of all the fuss there's been. Rather entertaining, we find, though it flags a bit in places (we both are reading on and off while it's on).

11:56pm: Out on foot in the morning for local errands: buy milk; pay newspapers and cancel them for forthcoming trip; take all calendars to post office. Book MOT for car, and do some other low-grade admin jobs.

Dyson engineer arrives to upgrade washing machine. He still wants us to sign to say that it's in a bathroom and thus contravenes electrical safety regulations! I refuse to sign -- this is too much, after going to all the trouble of getting an electrician to change the wiring explicitly so that it conforms to regulations. "But it's still in there" he whinges. Tough.

Cook nice lunch for myself with pasta and fresh veg (getting better at lunches lately -- healthier diet).

Sort out more travel details. Surprising how long it takes to organise travel. These are extra bits for the French trip -- the bits that are just for me when I go off on my own, which I've deliberately left till fairly late because I prefer things that way. It turns out to have been a good day to do it, as I'm just in time to get cheap advance train fares while still being able to take advantage of late-booking discounts on hotel rooms. Rather satisfying to get both! Also make enquiries about Center Parcs and compose a long email to all the members of A's family who've been invited to join us.

Spend an hour or so sweeping up leaves. Not ideal conditions for it -- too windy -- but it is at least dry, and it might not stay dry, and there is room in the green bin. Actually the wind makes surprisingly little difference to the difficulty of the task, and I enjoy being outdoors and making the front garden look a little less unloved. It's surprisingly mild outdoors today and I am working without a coat on.

Prepare birthday card for D. No present -- haven't thought of anything. This is pathetic really as I could have got one at any time during the week, but inspiration did not strike. Out in car to deliver the card, so at least she gets that on time; before going, spend half an hour or so sorting out the leaflets that I picked up from the party office: they are addressed letters and are bundled in streets, which need grouping into rounds. Having done that, I have an excuse to use the car rather than walking or cycling round to D's, as I can take some bundles to deliverers at the same time.

Arrive home to find A exercising on the rowing machine. He has just installed small loudspeakers in that room so can now exercise without boredom. He is listening to the Garrison Keillor CD I gave him as part of his Christmas present. When he's finished, I take his place and start on the CD of Ladies of Letters that I bought myself ready for this moment. It really does make the exercise experience a lot more fun. Only time for 20 minutes today (and, anyway, sweeping up the leaves was exercise too).

Bath, dress and out on foot. Mild weather but very high wind -- we're walking straight into it so it's hard work. Stop first at our Thai pub for a meal, then on to pub for Friday-night usual thing. Lots of the usual crowd are there; pleasant chat though rather noisy. Wind even stronger when walking home -- almost feels as though it's blowing us off our feet.

Watch half an hour of the Dakar Rally coverage when we get home. It's becoming fascinating.

11:37pm: Woken by postman: parcel of belated Christmas presents from my brother's family: Bridget Jones style pink scarf and gloves for me, quite stylish, and the Simon Hoggart book, his demolition of people's Christmas circular letters, for A -- well, for both of us really, I guess. Anyway, I read it -- it's a quick read and I finish it within the day -- and it's the funniest thing I've read for ages, though it leaves a slightly nasty taste in the mouth at times -- Hoggart is rather cruel at times and sometimes I'm afraid he doesn't see that the writers intend their letters to be funny. I do hope sending the book to us is not meant as criticism of our own letters (they never do one themselves so I suppose it might be), but I am guessing not.

Apart from reading that (on and off all day) my main achievement is to get all the remaining calendars ready to ship: create mailing envelopes by cutting down larger ones to fit, print labels and stuff them. Also spend a couple of unproductive hours trying to understand enough about Microsoft Access to re-design our name and address database. Come to the conclusion that making it work the way I want is actually unexpectedly hard. And, as usual, spend 30+ minutes on the rowing machine followed by a bath.

Quiet evening of TV: Dakar Rally and misc surfing. Very sleepy -- too many late nights lately.

11:56pm: Quite an effective day. Get some things organised for next trip away, and some other admin things, then rowing machine again (doing quite well at this) and bath.

Out in the car for whole afternoon: John Lewis shopping -- slipper socks for A, cleanser for my face, and a medium-sized suitcase as we seem to need one. Then directly to party office to look over a second-hand computer that has been handed on by regional office -- can't get it to work at all. Phone A for advice. Conclusion is that it's only fit for the tip. Load it into car and leave with it (and some more wretched leaflets for delivery!). Finally round to the pro film-processing place to pick up A's medium-format photos from Naples trip.

Evening meal from chip-shop, then out again with A to pub to meet a wholly new person -- a contact made at the DTI software patents meeting before Christmas. Interesting but a bit batty -- far too theoretical a thinker for us. We are pragmatists. Nice to have an evening exploring stuff that matters, though. We don't often find anyone who's interested in the same intersection of ideas.

11:56pm: Rowing machine, bath, out in car to deliver some posters for next week's public meeting, then out (in car again) with A to pub for First Tuesday (which is basically the same as an ordinary Friday evening). Eat sausages at pub. Talk veers dangerously towards politics -- never a good thing with that crowd. A deals with it quite effectively (I think), just quietly pointing out the obviously fallacious arguments without getting too contentious.