Brrrr...

It is officially rather chilly and for the first time since last winter, I have brought my snowman icon into action.

It's not cold enough to snow or anything like that, not by a long chalk, but we are in that period where we are - or at least I am - still acclimatised to summer tempaeratures and they aren't here any more. Not in the night time, anyway.

I have just had a shower and for the first time this side of the equinox, I cheerfully had a steam-filled shower, drew the shower curtain and stepped into a steam-filled bathroom. Not only was the mirror all huffed up, but so was the air. I should have guessed, really. All day we have been loping around the Carpathia wearing woolie pullies. It is not yet time to crack and fire up the furnaces, but an extra layer doesn't come amiss...

Brrrr...

It is officially rather chilly and for the first time since last winter, I have brought my snowman icon into action.

It's not cold enough to snow or anything like that, not by a long chalk, but we are in that period where we are - or at least I am - still acclimatised to summer tempaeratures and they aren't here any more. Not in the night time, anyway.

I have just had a shower and for the first time this side of the equinox, I cheerfully had a steam-filled shower, drew the shower curtain and stepped into a steam-filled bathroom. Not only was the mirror all huffed up, but so was the air. I should have guessed, really. All day we have been loping around the Carpathia wearing woolie pullies. It is not yet time to crack and fire up the furnaces, but an extra layer doesn't come amiss...

More free books

It seems that The Times is giving away books again this week. I think, but am not sure, that the theme this time around is London. Despite being the third in the list on the back, today they have given away a copy of Nancy Mitford’s Love in a Cold Climate. The full list for this week is below and is given in the order printed, though what order they will be issued in is anyone’s guess:

Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton;
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Sevlon;
Love in a Cold Climate by Nanct Mitford;
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell; and
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark.

That will be two I’ve heard of, then. Still, at 90p a shot for a paper I buy anyway, it’s worth picking them up.

More free books

It seems that The Times is giving away books again this week. I think, but am not sure, that the theme this time around is London. Despite being the third in the list on the back, today they have given away a copy of Nancy Mitford’s Love in a Cold Climate. The full list for this week is below and is given in the order printed, though what order they will be issued in is anyone’s guess:

Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton;
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Sevlon;
Love in a Cold Climate by Nanct Mitford;
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell; and
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark.

That will be two I’ve heard of, then. Still, at 90p a shot for a paper I buy anyway, it’s worth picking them up.

Monday

I am tired today. I slept well, but not for long enough. I recall looking at the clock to see that it was 3.00am, but then it was suddenly 7.20 and the alarm going off. My next memory, apart from the nauseating introduction to the Johnnie Walker breakfast show on Radio 2 was the time pips at 8.00 when I finally fell out of bed.

That’s the trouble with a restful weekend: when it ends you are no longer tired, so it becomes impossible to get to sleep on Sunday night and suddenly there you are again, catching up. Of course, as soon as I leave the office this afternoon, I shall wake up again. I must find something interesting in my work heap to keep me going until then.

Over the weekend, we managed to concoct two exceptionally tasty meals – a beef casserole on Saturday that was so well cooked that we had to soak the casserole dish for about 12 hours to loosen up the spills where it had boiled over in the oven (onto a tray – we’d seen that coming).

Yesterday we created a chicken thing. I’m sure it has a proper name, but we looked up a random recipe on the intarwebs specifically to use up a rather large sprig of thyme left over from the making of the casserole. And very nice it was, too, accompanied by home made (and low fat) potatoes dauphinoise (or dopey taters as they are known in The Carpathia).

Sandwiches, now. Not so tasty.

Monday

I am tired today. I slept well, but not for long enough. I recall looking at the clock to see that it was 3.00am, but then it was suddenly 7.20 and the alarm going off. My next memory, apart from the nauseating introduction to the Johnnie Walker breakfast show on Radio 2 was the time pips at 8.00 when I finally fell out of bed.

That’s the trouble with a restful weekend: when it ends you are no longer tired, so it becomes impossible to get to sleep on Sunday night and suddenly there you are again, catching up. Of course, as soon as I leave the office this afternoon, I shall wake up again. I must find something interesting in my work heap to keep me going until then.

Over the weekend, we managed to concoct two exceptionally tasty meals – a beef casserole on Saturday that was so well cooked that we had to soak the casserole dish for about 12 hours to loosen up the spills where it had boiled over in the oven (onto a tray – we’d seen that coming).

Yesterday we created a chicken thing. I’m sure it has a proper name, but we looked up a random recipe on the intarwebs specifically to use up a rather large sprig of thyme left over from the making of the casserole. And very nice it was, too, accompanied by home made (and low fat) potatoes dauphinoise (or dopey taters as they are known in The Carpathia).

Sandwiches, now. Not so tasty.

Melting Ice Caps Expose Hundreds Of Secret Arctic Lairs

The true horror of global warming revealed

Melting Ice Caps Expose Hundreds Of Secret Arctic Lairs

The true horror of global warming revealed

Unwritten

I have a short story about The Mapmaker in mind, with a possible cameo from The Advocate¹, but I seem to have run our of steam. Less so for the story, but mainly for the effort of writing it.

I find more and more that I want to write stuff while I am at work, but that would be bad, career-wise (obviously), so I don't. When I get home I don't feel like it quite so much. I also know that if I was writing for a living, I would find something else scartching at the edge of my mind seeking an audience instead of me actually producing much prose.

I'll get around to it at some point, but right now I am saved by the need to reboot my PC to install the udgrade that's just come through.



¹This will mean little, if anything, to most and something to some.

Unwritten

I have a short story about The Mapmaker in mind, with a possible cameo from The Advocate¹, but I seem to have run our of steam. Less so for the story, but mainly for the effort of writing it.

I find more and more that I want to write stuff while I am at work, but that would be bad, career-wise (obviously), so I don't. When I get home I don't feel like it quite so much. I also know that if I was writing for a living, I would find something else scartching at the edge of my mind seeking an audience instead of me actually producing much prose.

I'll get around to it at some point, but right now I am saved by the need to reboot my PC to install the udgrade that's just come through.



¹This will mean little, if anything, to most and something to some.