25 Things

It's been ages, I know. So I thought I'd post this thing sent to me via Facebook - you know the deal, tell me about yourself etc. Here are 25 fairly random things about me.

1. My favourite TV programmes (in no particular order) are currently Dexter, My Name is Earl, Come Dine with Me, Time Team, QI, HIGNFY, "Period Drama Shit" (as B calls it), Family Guy & American Dad, Spooks, The News (BBC or C4), Wildlifey programmes.

2. I've just had my first Pilates class

3. I've never seen a dead person but I've never seen a live badger

4. I've lived in this house 5 years and only redecorated the bathroom.

5. I have a mock standing stone in the garden

6. The "My photos" folder on my PC is 51GB - all backed up but I can't bring myself to press delete

7. I've got an old Casio scientific calculator that my Dad bought on 21st May 1981 from Curry's in Carlisle, for £19.95. I know this because it still has the receipt and little booklet with it. It still works (slowly)

8. Most people think my favourite colour is pink, but it's just convenient. It's really a particular shade of blue-grey or grey-blue, but it's hard to describe. Nor can you easily get pyjamas in it.

9. I like wind turbines. Even in unspoilt landscapes.

10. I like high-up places but can't look down over a cliff or my legs turn to jelly.

11. I once went on a Granny's bus trip to Italy. £350 for a fortnight, half board? Damn right! I was the youngest on the bus my quite a bit ...

12. One of my pet hates is toilet brushes.

13. I don't follow a religion but have respect for those who do - I'm simply far too cynical. I'll probably start panicking when I'm about 90, although I don't really expect to live beyond 60.

14. I met B through an internet dating site - he moved in after two days, almost 4 years ago :-)

15. I do enjoy a good sneeze. Preferably from pepper though, not a cold.

16. I hate liars. The worst, most evil sorts of people are the type that talk bullshit but believe it all. It makes me very frustrated and I've had to develop a coping mechanism so I don't end up smacking them around the face.

17. On my bookshelf beside me I have a copy of "500 Bus Stops" on video by John Suttleworth. I no longer possess a VCR but can't throw this away because it's not mine, I borrowed it years ago and have lost touch with the person so here it stays.

18. I hate waste, by that I mean I hate to see things disposed of before reaching their complete potential. That's why I have 50+ used jiffy bags here.

19. I download songs for free. So there. I justify this by saying I only listen to them on the PC, and that's the same as hearing them playing online, right?

20. I started an Open University geology course twice cos I fancied it, but never got past the first book. I seemed to get on better with calculus and organic chemistry... got my degree after 10 years, presented by Betty Boothroyd. Forgotten almost all of it now, of course.

21. The first time I got properly drunk I was 26.

22. I like the idea of reading books but don't because I find it hard work. I can never find a comfortable position to hold the book, then it takes concentration I simply don't posess. Although, I could quite happily study a map for hours.

23. I own a stuffed-toy representation of a flesh-eating bacteria streptococcus pyogenes. It's red and has a little knife and fork.

24. I have a massive 1:500000 map of Scotland on my wall.

25. I have to give my cat an injection of insulin twice a day. She's also on a special diet.

Quiet Heroes

Sometimes I feel inspired to write posts on this 'ere blog, but it's usually when I'm miles away, perhaps driving to work, perhaps sitting in the cinema, even while shopping... always when my mind is wandering as it so often does. Today I've decided to pop a quick post up because I'm actually sat sitting here at my PC at the right moment.

I've just been reading an article about Lockerbie on my local newspaper's website. It's the 20th anniversary this weekend, and because I now work in the town it's rising up in my consciousness as I'm sure it is with everyone else who remembers it.

My memories: I was 18 - I'd just come home from my boyfriends on my bike, on a cold dark evening. I thought I would be in trouble for getting home late... I was called into the living room and remember very vividly standing there in my reflective sash and waterproofs, steamy hot from both the bikeride and the heated room, watching the news open-mouthed. At this stage the news reports were saying it was probably two fighter jets which had collided; a fair assumption as we have so many training flights over the area. So we settled in for the night and watched all the reports until (as with most of these occasions) the news teams changed their story, then ran out of things to say, the police had clammed up, things were repeating themselves and so, we all went to bed.

I don't really remember anything else in detail, we were after all miles away, and most of the conversations at work revolved around the stories of sandwiches being donated by the company to feed the searchparty members, and the idea that the bomb maybe went off right above our heads, how we were lucky to have escaped, and then - well - then it was Christmas. We got on with our lives, subdued but pretty damned normal. This was a time in my life when venturing to Lockerbie had associations with teenage ice-skating trips with the Girl Guides; of course the fact the ice rink was used as a mortuary was amazing to me (I pass it almost every day; I think of this fact every single time).

I realise some of my workmates might read this post, and hope they don't mind. I realise they all have stories and none talk openly, and I never ask. Sometimes it is hinted at, and there are plenty of legacies remaining both emotional and financial but at the end of the day they are normal folk in a normal wee Scottish toon, which is dank in the winter and pretty in the summer, complete with school kids outside eating chips in their lunchbreaks and old ladies rushing the Pelican crossing past the boarded-up old shops caused by the obligatory Tesco takeover... but it's always a busy main street as it's not too far from the motorway, and handy for the curious traveller taking a slight detour.

There's always a sense of vague sadness to the place but tomorrow night we will be ignoring all this and attending the company Christmas party, held at a large local hotel and trying not to think of the rescue teams, families and volunteers which probably stayed there during the searches.... or is this just me, I dunno. I doubt we'll talk about it, though.

x

New goodies in my shop!

Throughout the horrible wet summer (and current horrible wet autumn) I've been dabbling with making earrings and some other stuff, and I decided this morning that the time has come to put some of it up for sale.

I've started with earrings - and why not. They are my favourite thing to make - it's where I started and I keep coming back to it.

Enjoy!

Autumn = Blog Update

Bless me father, it's been a while ...

Well the summer is over, and what have you done? Nowt much. Rain has been terrible, obviously, plus my feet are giving me jip hence preventing me from walking far if I wanna be able to walk at all the next day.

So a lot of my flickr shots have been taken from car parks and lay-bys and in gardens and not far from the car. I'm been semi-creative but somehow not been inspired - although visiting the Bead Fair at Rheged on Sunday was fabulous. I could have spent hundreds of quid ...

I've been reading other people's blogs - like me they sometimes have crises of confidence where they think no-one's reading it and are they wasting their time - well in my opinion they are sometimes the equivalent of the penpal letter to a stranger, only not always necessarily getting a reply. The doesn't make them any less interesting, and a sometimes so well-written they could happily be at home in a perfectly good book. Perhaps that's why I don't read books much (well OK that's not the only reason)

So what else has been going on -well some good friends of mine came oop norf from dahn sarf, the plan being to walk the Hadrian's Wall Path. Well that was the idea when the planning started, it soon became a portion of the interesting bit in the middle, but once they got here, Rain + Heavy Bags = Plan C. They are now experts in museums and the AD122 bus timetable. I think there must be some walkers out there that complete the wall in one go, but they must be pretty determined and also completely anal, let's face it. My friends took the better option of enjoying everything to hand when the opportunity arose, and found such a wonderful caravan they decided to stay there for the last 3 nights!

I visited them for a day and took them up to Kielder to see red squirrels, and lots of moss. They couldn't get enough of the moss, oh and the trees. That's two things we have plenty of up here ... and marshy bogs. They now know how the recognise the types of grass which like to grow in bogs (learned the hard way no doubt)

While at Kielder,we went to the Bird of Prey Centre at Leaplish. Now I've been to quite a few of these places now, and this was one of the best; they even had a vulture as part of the display team, and we were encouraged to pet a little Scops Owl called Tilly who just sat there like an adoring toy. She and her feathery mates were fantastic - well the pelicans were impressive but rather scary if I'm honest, and bloody huge!

For pics of the Kielder trip see here.

L8trs!

Juvenile blackbird

Juvenile blackbird
Originally uploaded by pebblesfromheaven

... possibly?

maybe a fledgling from the nest about 8 feet away from this fence ...

Domestic slatterns of the world, unite!

The above title was donated by my friend Fairy Nuff. It's perfect!

I love Northumberland

I have a very special relationship with Northumberland. It was my home for two years and during that time I made a deliberate attempt to make the most of my time there, and it made a great impact.

My desire was to move away from Cumbria to get an outsider's perspective; to try to appreciate what others see in it - but instead I ended up loving somewhere else - although in a different way. After all, I have never managed to forget that Cumbria is who I am.

Cumbria, and Carlisle, to me is like loving family because you have to - there are bits I am bored with, places that make me feel safe, and areas I know intimately like the back of my hand. I take it for granted and I treat it flippantly ignoring all those people that might be envious. Cumbria provides memories of childhood and of course contains places that will always be "home".

But when I lived in Northumberland it was like being on a gorgeous relaxing holiday that lasted years. The wildlife and climate feel different - not too much but just enough. The light comes from a different direction, somehow. I think it has to do with being on the opposite side of the same geographic coin - the sea is on the other side, and so is the land. It's as if my magnetic poles get swapped round.

I spent a lot more time deliberately exploring Northumberland itself, as opposed to it being a place travelled through to get somewhere else. Even now, Northumberland is close enough to be visited often and quickly, and is always beautiful whatever the weather.

Pebs = Procrastinator Extraordinaire & Bull Shitter

This weekend, I have been mostly thinking and not doing. By the time I've squeezed out all these bubbling creative juices dry, there'll be an awful mess... ooze all over the place...

I've rearranged my workspace, drilled some holes, joined a new forum, spent some money, spent some more money, and dreamt of spending even more money than that ten times over.

So I've decided I definitely need to sell some of my stuff. I have to get over any modesty, false or real, forget any excuses and just go for it.

So keep watching this space... please ...

Back for good - or bad, not fussy

Hellooooo ... to 2008.

Last day of the holidays here and I'm getting really sick of the chrissie decs so they may get taken down today.

I'm in that panicky phase after the realisation that I've been off work for almost 2 weeks and I've done nothing but lie on the sofa and scratch my arse*

Saw "I am Legend" the other day, was pretty enjoyable. did lots of shopping and thinking and daydreaming - so what else is new?




*not entirely accurate

Back from the Dead

OK to be fair we've been back online for 2 weeks but isn't that rediculous?

"They" can get broadband to remote island communities but "they" can't manage to supply a 21st-century housing estate to fulfill demand.

I presume someone had to die in order for us to get our line. Or something. I had to take desperate measures - I emailed the ceo of BT. It worked; I was in regular communication with an Openroach man who was very very helpful and sympathetic but unable to change the fact that here we have the "wrong sort of wires". But at least I didn't have to ring that stomach-knotting, head-banging, bloody-awful, should-be-outlawed helpline any more.

In order to survive the technological famine, I've had to persuade myself intellectually that I don't need the internet, no-one's interested in my views and no-one will miss me anyway. So I've mentally "lost the urge" to talk rubbish (online anyway).

Plus, I have my new job to occupy me! Wayhey! I get to play with goo all day and pretend I know what I'm talking about. It's great!

So sometime soon I'll tell you all what else we've been up to during the blackout. It just might take a while for me to get used to the idea.

Addicted to Flickr

Well it's quite easy - you join up, create a member name, icon, profile if you want to, and start posting loads of pics (which I'm not exactly short of) and other people view them, sometimes comment on the (usually complimentary!)

It gets very addictive, when you get other people praising you and you feel part of a group and so you join in and post back, have conversations, etc etc. Before you know it, you actully give a damn whether your photos are removed from such-and-such a group because they don't fit in with the group moderator's idea of what the group is all about.

So you set up your own group, (sod 'em!) and invite other people and they post pictures to your group and comment on each others pics and it's all one happy family.

Then, you start reading the more political threads about whether you should support yahoo really, or who owns the photos and read the small print etc etc ... all gets a wee bit involved.

So anyway that's where I'm at - when I log into my computer, the first thing I do is check to see if I have any Flickr comments, and if anyone has joined my group or posted more photos, etc etc ...

great stuff!

Makes me wonder where the future lies for this sort of repository. The day all the electricity dies, will all these photos cease to exist? How sad would that be?

Addicted to flickr

Well it's quite easy - you join up, create a member name, icon, profile if you want to, and start posting loads of pics (which I'm not exactly short of) and other people view them, sometimes comment on the (usually complimentary!)

It gets very addictive, when you get other people praising you and you feel part of a group and so you join in and post back, have conversations, etc etc. Before you know it, you actully give a damn whether your photos are removed from such-and-such a group because they don't fit in with the group moderator's idea of what the group is all about.

So you set up your own group, (sod 'em!) and invite other people and they post pictures to your group and comment on each others pics and it's all one happy family.

Then, you start reading the more political threads about whether you should support yahoo really, or who owns the photos and read the small print etc etc ... all gets a wee bit involved.

So anyway that's where I'm at - when I log into my computer, the first thing I do is check to see if I have any Flickr comments, and if anyone has joined my group or posted more photos, etc etc ...

great stuff!

Makes me wonder where the future lies for this sort of repository. The day all the electricity dies, will all these photos cease to exist? How sad would that be?

Leopards can't change their own spots

I was incredulous when I read this report on the BBC website.

It talks about an experiment undertaken to see how microorganisms are affected by being in space, in micro-gravity. The result was that "the bacteria were almost three times as likely to kill infected mice compared with standard samples held on Earth".

It contains the paragraph:

"These bugs can sense where they are by changes in their environment. The minute they sense a different environment, they change their genetic machinery so they can survive," Professor Nickerson said.

What a complete load of rubbish! Microorganisms don't have brains - they can't think for themselves. And even if they could - do you think they'd know what to do, in order to make themselves better? GAH!

I can't believe that a Professor could speak like this. It's against any true scientist's instincts to come out with this sort of crap - and if she didn't, the BBC have twisted her words and portray her as a daft blonde, or worse, they consider their readers to be thick. Hmmm yes that could be it.

What is much more likely is that the cells less likely to reproduce under micro-gravity conditions are dying without copying, and the ones which move well and reproduce successfully, survive. Thanks to their quick life-cycle the effects of natural selection will become apparent quicker than in other, slower "lifeforms"*. The Hfq master regulator could be important in this process, according to the Arizona University website. Hmm that makes the story much more interesting and informative.




*I'm allowed to use this word because it's a space story.

Swinging in the new job

Yeah, so it's day two and I still feel a complete spare part. It's starting to remind me vividly of the two days work experience I spent at Robert Ferguson's Printers in December 1986. I filled most of the time spinning on a wonderfully free-moving spinny lab chair, but also managed to get a tour around one of the last Victorian factories left in Carlisle. It was worth it for that. I watched the huge fabric-printing machines and visited the design room and peeked inside the director's office, all this impressed my Mam no end because she worked there as a telephonist in the 1960's and was amazed it was all still there for me to see. It's been converted into flats now.

I suppose should make the most of this quiet time, while I can still go home at 5pm without feeling guilty.

Don't Panic! First Day

I start my new job today. If it goes really bad at least I'll have my enamelling class to look forward to tonight - I've bought some copper blanks from eBay so I won't be going empty handed this time. I've had lots of ideas!

We went across to Northumberland on Saturday, and yesterday was spent sorting out the photographs we took. I'm quite addicted to Flickr - so much so that I was gutted when I got thrown out of one of their groups for not following their (hellishly bloody) complicated rules! Well they can sod off. I started my own Carlisle group cos there wasn't one - I have civic pride even if no-one else does.

I made a lovely byriani last night. The way I've spelled it there you'd think it was Italian. Suppose I must get ready.

Unemployed = freedom

It was my last day yesterday. Rather than throw me out and shout abuse at me while throwing rotten veg, they were quite nice and wished me well. No tears, no looking back. I took them a gift but for some of the office staff this was the first they'd heard about my leaving so there was no pressie for me - what's all that about?!

It felt good - not only to leave a job that wasn't right for my future, but to have all ends tied up (or most of them anyway). There is a continuing cleansing process going on in my home office... stuff was returned to it's original home and some will be heading for Mr Skip.

So today it's more reorganising, sorting, chucking, cleaning, shredding, bagging, throwing, dusting. I might watch a DVD or two.

New job starts on Monday.

A couple of days ago, I watched a leak in the road develop into a gush and later the men with tools came to repair it. There's still a hole with a little blue fence round it. The whole drama was enough of a distraction for me to actually take photos of it. So if you'd like to see the story, it's here.

Saddo!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Arrrrrrr it be my last day today

Jimlad... has marmite in jars just got more runny and brown rather than black and sticky? I blame the squeezy culture.

Shiver me timbers I had a horrible dream about my cat last night

Ahoy it be wetter here than a dog that's been left out on the sea arrrrr

errr....

Radio Two Pickings

Radio Two - the lesser of the mainstay evils of the Beeb. Local radio doesn't work for me when I travel so much.

Radio One is full of shouting numpties, but I can get quite involved in the stuff on Radio 4, except for the Archers, which I never saw the attraction of even in my soap days.

Gah! But Johnnie Walker should sue his dentist, those new false teeth keep whistling so much that I can't listen to him any more. I bet you'll notice this all the time now.

And the more they play Katy Melua, the more often I'll switch over (or off). She's almost as bad as Tanita Tikaram for annoyance factor. I can honestly say I can sing better than both of them. Melua wanders her vocals until she finds the right note - surely that's not how it should be?!

Chris Evans (kennel name Christoff Lammy Pie) - there's a reason to keep the dial in place. What a star. His blog is quite good reading too. I've been a fan ever since the Zig & Zag days, and TFI - ahhh yeah, great memories. I still remember a great live performance of 'Bulimic Beats' by Cerys Matthews which had me in tears, then the next time they'd be tears of laughter at someone swearing their head off when it wasn't allowed.

He made being ginger cool! For a while anyway ...



PS - Christoff opened the show with "Last Christmas" tonight - what's all that about?!

The Weak End

And so this is Friday. And what have you done?

I signed up for broadband today. Not that I don't already have it - but I'll be sacrificing it when I leave my job and I can't stand the thought of being without it, so took the plunge. BT have promised me that no, there's no problem whatsoever with the fact that I have a dacs-split on my line. No problem at all. Just for the record.

See Cadbury's has recalled some more chocolate no for being crap but because they forgot to put the "maybe nuts" label. But what about those poor souls who are allergic to elephants? I think they need another label, just in case they are sued.

The sun is shining and the chavs are loitering. Summer is here at last...

One week to go ...

I had a dream about this foot last night - I dreamt they were trying to repair it, and the new bit had long nails, painted different colours. I blame Dexter.

The other bits of my dreams involved my boss being nice to me - this is surprisingly based on reality. I spent a large part of the day with her yesterday and she is being incredibly nice to me. Not sure of the psychology of this, but my last boss did it too, and the one before that...

Said goodbye to some more people yesterday. I'll miss some of my customers as much as the folk from the office, because it was my job to be nice to them and many were nice in return, and I enjoyed their company. None of the customers know yet, so if you're one of them don't be offended (not that I have to keep you sweet any more!). I hope to keep in touch with some - perhaps through this blog - but everyone knows that usually this doesn't happen. It's one of those facts of life things that no-one tells you, you just have to learn by experience.

It's like a story I heard about Richard Harris - how when he finished a play or film he would announce, rather than be subjected to cast and crew members vowing to keep in touch: "it's been nice, and goodbye".