Free yarn!
Sep. 25th, 2011 04:25 pmAnyone interested in about a jumper's worth of purple Rowan Linen Drape yarn? I know it's about a jumper's worth because it used to be a jumper before I ripped it all back. After the 3rd abortive attempt to construct it into something, I have concluded that I'm just not all that keen on it (either the feel or the colour or *something*) & should get rid of it to someone who might appreciate it.
Happy to post or to arrange delivery...
Happy to post or to arrange delivery...
So, hey, I'm 16 wks pregnant[0]! ![[livejournal.com profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
uon and I will, if all continues to go well, become parents sometime in early March or thereabouts. This is both exciting and somewhat terrifying, which I think is an entirely reasonable set of reactions to have to the upcoming reality of being responsible for a whole new human person.
The first scan was a couple of weeks ago & the foetus is looking fine in there. I kept going "holy shit there's actually a real life proto-human in there" (because what was I expecting, a puppy?); it still seems a little bizarre, tbh. The foetus woke up halfway through and waved its hands around at us which was, again, both awesome and terrifying.
( obligatory blurry photo behind cut )
I am mostly done feeling sick, now, except for when in a car (thankfully not likely to be a problem again)[1] or when I haven't eaten for a while (also not, as a rule, a big problem). There were a bad few weeks early on, though. I now await further exciting physical developments as my entire insides are reconfigured for my temporary internal guest. (Pregnancy is weird.)
In other news, in the last few weeks I have moved house; done quite a lot of painting, DIY, etc; had huge numbers of Competent Professionals through the house to fix boiler / do more painting / put floor down; spent a fortnight in Devon learning about permaculture, which was awesome & v v interesting but INCREDIBLY hard work; and spent a week in Aberdeen for my parents' ruby wedding anniversary, which was absolutely lovely. Now I really need to do some damn work, and also to get the house sorted properly before e.g. March. BTW anyone who has visited since we moved will be pleased to hear that as of today our sofa has finally migrated up to the living room, courtesy of some exceptionally buff & very professional chaps from a company called SofaAssist.
[0] 17 wks according to the scan, which is wrong. Let's hope I don't wind up going lots overdue.
[1] I reckon I spent more time in a car during my trip to Aberdeen than I have in about the last 2 years total. Possibly 3 years.
uon and I will, if all continues to go well, become parents sometime in early March or thereabouts. This is both exciting and somewhat terrifying, which I think is an entirely reasonable set of reactions to have to the upcoming reality of being responsible for a whole new human person. The first scan was a couple of weeks ago & the foetus is looking fine in there. I kept going "holy shit there's actually a real life proto-human in there" (because what was I expecting, a puppy?); it still seems a little bizarre, tbh. The foetus woke up halfway through and waved its hands around at us which was, again, both awesome and terrifying.
( obligatory blurry photo behind cut )
I am mostly done feeling sick, now, except for when in a car (thankfully not likely to be a problem again)[1] or when I haven't eaten for a while (also not, as a rule, a big problem). There were a bad few weeks early on, though. I now await further exciting physical developments as my entire insides are reconfigured for my temporary internal guest. (Pregnancy is weird.)
In other news, in the last few weeks I have moved house; done quite a lot of painting, DIY, etc; had huge numbers of Competent Professionals through the house to fix boiler / do more painting / put floor down; spent a fortnight in Devon learning about permaculture, which was awesome & v v interesting but INCREDIBLY hard work; and spent a week in Aberdeen for my parents' ruby wedding anniversary, which was absolutely lovely. Now I really need to do some damn work, and also to get the house sorted properly before e.g. March. BTW anyone who has visited since we moved will be pleased to hear that as of today our sofa has finally migrated up to the living room, courtesy of some exceptionally buff & very professional chaps from a company called SofaAssist.
[0] 17 wks according to the scan, which is wrong. Let's hope I don't wind up going lots overdue.
[1] I reckon I spent more time in a car during my trip to Aberdeen than I have in about the last 2 years total. Possibly 3 years.
New house!
Aug. 1st, 2011 09:40 amThings we do not currently have in the new house:
- a phone line [0];
- and, therefore, broadband;
- a living room (the flooring people are starting this afternoon);
- hot water (MYSTERIOUS BOILER CRISIS) (the boiler person is coming tomorrow morning);
- a plug in the kitchen sink;
- access to the garage (because it is full of all the living room furniture, boxes of books, CDs, etc, see above re living room);
- a bed for
![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
doop.
- a kitchen we can move around, & a functioning kitchen table (not true this time yesterday!);
- skirting boards in the proto-living-room (also not true this time yesterday!);
- central heating, because the *boiler* works, it's the hot water tank that doesn't (which is, of course, bugger-all use in August);
- most of our belongings! (there is still stuff to collect from both previous houses);
- RIVER VIEW;
- a beach (albeit slightly muddy) outside the front door! (For another hour or so, anyway; but it will return.).
Query for cooking-type people
May. 1st, 2011 01:43 pmVegan cooking query!
I would like to be able to make a vegan equivalent of cheesy flapjacks (where by 'equivalent' what I really mean is any kind of savoury flapjack; I'm not that picky). The basic problem here is that in cheese flapjacks the oats are held together by the cheese (and by egg if you use that, although it works OK without). What can I use to substitute for this that's vegan?
Tried so far:
- just using vegan marg, nutritional yeast, and some mustard mixed into the oats. Tasted great, but did not hold together AT ALL and had to be eaten with a spoon.
- as above but with some soya milk to hold the oats together. Tasted OK but consistency all wrong; what I like about flapjacks is their crunchy nature. This was more like solid porridge.
I've seen flour suggested, but fear that that will also bugger up the texture (making it too cakey/bready). Any other ideas?
I would like to be able to make a vegan equivalent of cheesy flapjacks (where by 'equivalent' what I really mean is any kind of savoury flapjack; I'm not that picky). The basic problem here is that in cheese flapjacks the oats are held together by the cheese (and by egg if you use that, although it works OK without). What can I use to substitute for this that's vegan?
Tried so far:
- just using vegan marg, nutritional yeast, and some mustard mixed into the oats. Tasted great, but did not hold together AT ALL and had to be eaten with a spoon.
- as above but with some soya milk to hold the oats together. Tasted OK but consistency all wrong; what I like about flapjacks is their crunchy nature. This was more like solid porridge.
I've seen flour suggested, but fear that that will also bugger up the texture (making it too cakey/bready). Any other ideas?
Cheap glasses? (and update)
Apr. 8th, 2011 11:17 amThere is a slowly-growing crack in one of the lenses in my glasses. Can anyone recommend a cheap place that I can go to in-person for an eye test (haven't had one for a couple of years) and to get the lenses replaced? (have no particular desire for new frames; certainly not enough so to *pay* for the hideous experience of choosing the damn things).
ION: I have spent the last couple of weeks helpingangelmine and my brand new oddson Luca :) He is very lovely, and it's been a great, if intense, experience. (I miss both of them now I'm back in London!) I have been singing to him, viz: Leonard Cohen (Hallejulah has 7 readily-available verses, which makes it excellent for singing babies to sleep), the Magnetic Fields (Papa Was A Rodeo being one of the few songs I already knew all the words to even when massively sleep-deprived the day after Luca was born), and Billy Bragg (The World Turned Upside-Down; indoctrinate 'em while they're young!). I feel I am fulfilling my oddparently duties well.
Have also been to Belfast for a funeral, which was and still is a sad thing.
Now I mostly want to sleep for a while.
ION: I have spent the last couple of weeks helping
angelmine and my brand new oddson Luca :) He is very lovely, and it's been a great, if intense, experience. (I miss both of them now I'm back in London!) I have been singing to him, viz: Leonard Cohen (Hallejulah has 7 readily-available verses, which makes it excellent for singing babies to sleep), the Magnetic Fields (Papa Was A Rodeo being one of the few songs I already knew all the words to even when massively sleep-deprived the day after Luca was born), and Billy Bragg (The World Turned Upside-Down; indoctrinate 'em while they're young!). I feel I am fulfilling my oddparently duties well.Have also been to Belfast for a funeral, which was and still is a sad thing.
Now I mostly want to sleep for a while.
My story is out!
Feb. 17th, 2011 04:26 pmI have my first published story out in this anthology, now out in ebook & at 15% off! Am inordinately excited :) I've been reading the other stories as well, now that I've got my contributor's copy, and can whole-heartedly recommend the whole book.
"Magic that detects crime, magic that heals, magic that destroys: all this and more and in hands of queer women who use their powers to shape their worlds and their destinies."
"Magic that detects crime, magic that heals, magic that destroys: all this and more and in hands of queer women who use their powers to shape their worlds and their destinies."
Snowboarding, & free stuff
Jan. 30th, 2011 03:03 pmdoop & I just spent a week in Les Arcs (somewhere in the Alps... not actually sure exactly where, but it took us about 5 hrs by train from Paris) throwing ourselves down mountains. Snowboarding is a very splendid thing, even if it did take me half the week to remember what the hell I was doing. Mountains lovely, injuries mostly moderately minor (though d did get to visit the doctor on day 1 after crocking his elbow).Beastwatch: 4 penguins, 2 leopards, a koala, and a Jersey cow, all on skis; and Batman on a snowboard. (He waved at me, then fell over.)
Actual beastwatch: lots of tiny birds! And what looked a lot like hare tracks, but no actual visible hare.
ION: I am clearing out drawers again, & have a nice set of straight knitting needles, in a nice zip-up red case, that used to belong to my Mum. I never use straight needles, so really they ought to go to a better home. Anyone want them?
(While I'm at it: despite my best efforts to offload the lot on anyone who expressed even mild interest at my party, I still have a couple of copies of that book about Linux that I wrote to give away. Anyone want one? Happy to post.)
Anyone want a house?
Jan. 12th, 2011 11:19 amSo, P & I are going to move house (although not very far!). Which means we need to sell our current house. Before we involve the estate agents: if anyone is looking for, or knows anyone who might be looking for, a house in Bermondsey, please point them here. Brief details under the cut.
( It's a very nice house! )
( It's a very nice house! )
Does anyone have an MP3 of either Teenage Turtles by Back To The Planet, or Hanging Around by Me Me Me?
(I do actually have the latter on vinyl but if I can avoid the hassle of ripping it, that would be nice. The former is very very hard to get hold of; I have a CD single on the way, but post is bollocksed & doubt it'll be here in time for my purposes.)
(I do actually have the latter on vinyl but if I can avoid the hassle of ripping it, that would be nice. The former is very very hard to get hold of; I have a CD single on the way, but post is bollocksed & doubt it'll be here in time for my purposes.)
Free records!
Nov. 27th, 2010 06:08 pmAnyone out there got any interest in a couple of carrier bags worth of miscellaneous indie 7"s? Mostly from the mid/late 90s. Some sufficiently obscure that I didn't actually remember buying them... Collect from Bermondsey; feel free to come and have a rummage although the more you take the better... Otherwise I guess it's Freecycle (not having much luck there atm, though) or the Greenwich MVE. I anticipate that I would make about £1.50 tops on the lot, unless "Welsh Bands Suck" by Teen Anthem has suddenly become collectible while I wasn't looking.
Anyway. Free records! Cup of tea and possibly even home-made biscuits for anyone who wants to come & take any of them away!
Anyway. Free records! Cup of tea and possibly even home-made biscuits for anyone who wants to come & take any of them away!
Sidney is back home & perfectly fine, thankfully. I'd like to think that she's learnt some kind of lesson from this experience, but I fear that that is monumentally unlikely :)
The vet nurses all think she's lovely, though, and curiously, she was much more relaxed on returning to the vet today for final blood test (she came home last night) than she has been previously.
The vet nurses all think she's lovely, though, and curiously, she was much more relaxed on returning to the vet today for final blood test (she came home last night) than she has been previously.
Dog of cast-iron stomach
Nov. 17th, 2010 01:53 pmDid you know that grapes & raisins are toxic to dogs? No, me neither, until Monday around midnight, when we discovered that the 0.5kg of raisins Sidney had stolen earlier in the day might give her renal failure.
So it was ho! for the emergency vet in Streatham (I have taken that taxi ride too many damn times, although this was Sid's first visit), where they admitted her and stuck her on a drip for 48 hrs. She was transferred to our own vet yesterday morning so I got to go and visit her in the afternoon, when she was clearly very perky, if a little stressed at being stuck in a small kennel in a strange place.
All blood tests have come back fine, she's peeing fine, she's eating & not vomiting, and she seems well in herself, so we've been cleared to take her home tonight. (This decision may have been affected slightly by the fact that while they were cleaning her kennel out today she bit through her lead and tried to go for a wander, in classic BORED NOW mode*. Thankfully, if slightly to my surprise, she hasn't tried to chew through the drip.)
Aaaaanyway. She'll be fine. But apparently raisins are (or can be**) toxic to dogs, so there we go.
I have probably been doing other things, but right now they have gone from what passes for my mind. Oh yes,dogrando & I went to Camber Sands the weekend before last, and it was lovely. Primarily featured were: reading, eating, having the odd beer, walking on the beach.
* She is apparently undertaking a tour of S London supermarkets, having bitten through her lead and followed me into both the local Co-op and the Morrisons in Streatham. She always looks terribly pleased about it as well. "I got bored! So I came to find you! And here you are!" I have now learnt better, yes, at least until we get around to getting a chain lead for her.
** No one knows quite why. The evidence to date is that some dogs have a couple of grapes & go into renal failure; others gromph pounds of the stuff and even without treatment experience only a dodgy tummy for a day or so. Obviously we didn't want to take the risk with Sid, hence the proactive kidney-supporting fluids. It's thought that it *might* be some sort of bacteria or fungus or... something, but it's all a bit of a mystery.
So it was ho! for the emergency vet in Streatham (I have taken that taxi ride too many damn times, although this was Sid's first visit), where they admitted her and stuck her on a drip for 48 hrs. She was transferred to our own vet yesterday morning so I got to go and visit her in the afternoon, when she was clearly very perky, if a little stressed at being stuck in a small kennel in a strange place.
All blood tests have come back fine, she's peeing fine, she's eating & not vomiting, and she seems well in herself, so we've been cleared to take her home tonight. (This decision may have been affected slightly by the fact that while they were cleaning her kennel out today she bit through her lead and tried to go for a wander, in classic BORED NOW mode*. Thankfully, if slightly to my surprise, she hasn't tried to chew through the drip.)
Aaaaanyway. She'll be fine. But apparently raisins are (or can be**) toxic to dogs, so there we go.
I have probably been doing other things, but right now they have gone from what passes for my mind. Oh yes,
dogrando & I went to Camber Sands the weekend before last, and it was lovely. Primarily featured were: reading, eating, having the odd beer, walking on the beach. * She is apparently undertaking a tour of S London supermarkets, having bitten through her lead and followed me into both the local Co-op and the Morrisons in Streatham. She always looks terribly pleased about it as well. "I got bored! So I came to find you! And here you are!" I have now learnt better, yes, at least until we get around to getting a chain lead for her.
** No one knows quite why. The evidence to date is that some dogs have a couple of grapes & go into renal failure; others gromph pounds of the stuff and even without treatment experience only a dodgy tummy for a day or so. Obviously we didn't want to take the risk with Sid, hence the proactive kidney-supporting fluids. It's thought that it *might* be some sort of bacteria or fungus or... something, but it's all a bit of a mystery.
Very belated photos
Oct. 25th, 2010 10:08 pmI realised the other day that I never got round to uploading my photos from cycling the Great Ocean Road, and meandering around West Australia.
Great Ocean Road to Mt Gambier
South and West Australia
Great Ocean Road to Mt Gambier
South and West Australia
Tags:
I have just returned from a lovely weekend with doop's family (very early Xmas dinner! there were roast potatoes) in Belfast. During our very smooth return voyage (Belfast-Stranraer-Glasgow-London), it occurred to me that we are now expert in the various ways to get from London to Belfast overland. From there it was but a step to the conclusion that I should document this experience. Executive summary is below the table.
London-Belfast
| Route | Route detail | Price (single) | Time | Epicness | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holyhead/Dublin (overnight) | Train to Holyhead, ferry then bus to Dublin, train to Belfast | £42 RailSail | 13h30 (overnight) | High. Lots of waiting around in Holyhead. On way out: sleep on nice-ish sofas on ferry & fairly comfortable seats on second train. On way back: hideous 4 hours on Holyhead station floor. NEVER AGAIN. | Daytime route might feel less epic (no need to attempt sleep) but probably even more boring. There is a pub near the station at Holyhead which was open till 2am last Thursday & had a 50p pool table. It also had karaoke in the other bar & someone throwing up in the Ladies, so, yes. Holyhead not the classiest of locations. |
| Cairnryan/Larne* | Train to Stranraer, cycle to Cairnryan, ferry to Larne | ~£60?? | ~13h30 | Moderately epic. V v v early (0539) start from Euston when we did it outbound (cheap train issues). Unsure of timing inbound; possibly also quite epic. Fair amount of waiting around. | Not sure they take foot passengers (also, 6mi from Stranraer station). Nice bike ride to Cairnryan, also a v nice cafe in Stranraer for lunch which mitigates the waiting around part. |
| Stranraer/Belfast | Train to Stranraer (change at Glasgow), ferry to Belfast | £46 daytime RailSail**, >£50*** overnight | 12h daytime, 16h overnight (but mostly on sleeper)**** | 0539 start from Euston daytime on way out; otherwise all matches up well, pretty non-epic. Overnight coming back beautifully smooth. Trains overnight going out appear not to match very well. Ferry actually quite nice, ditto Belfast Port. | Technically haven't actually done this one outbound either daytime or overnight; but Cairnryan route is the same trains. Nice Italian cafe in Glasgow station available for the hour wait there on the daytime option; or there is time to find a Boots to buy a replacement Mooncup (just for example). Came back on the sleeper this time, and it was lovely. Ferry & train matched up beautifully; sleeper train a genuinely pleasant experience involving whisky in the lounge car. |
| Troon/Larne* | Train to Troon (change at Glasgow), ferry to Larne | ?? | 9h returning | Trains don't join up with ferry v well, and very early start. Otherwise civilised. | Haven't done this Troon-Larne, only Larne-Troon. Only runs in the summer. No foot passengers, I think? |
Notes:
* Endpoint for these is Larne, not Belfast. Train from Larne to Belfast Central is I think about an hour; they're not wildly frequent.
** I am *sure* this was a lot more expensive about 9 months ago, the last time I looked at this route.
*** £25 Glasgow-Belfast (RailSail). Then you need to buy the London-Glasgow leg, which if taking the Caledonian Sleeper is more complicated. IN THEORY you can get £19 bargain berth overnight sleeper tickets; in practice it's nearly impossible, although if you can be flexible about the dates, you can get £39-£49 singles. From £53.50 for an advance sleeper (£88 standard non-advance); from £25 for advance seated sleeper (£51.50 standard non-advance).
**** Add an hour for the journey between central Belfast & the port. I confess we got a lift on this occasion, but I believe there's a bus which is free to Stena passengers.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: I think if neither time nor money were a factor, my preference would be to go via Stranraer both ways, in the daytime on the way there & overnight on the way back. If time is a factor & money is available, overnight out via Holyhead and back via Stranraer is a reasonable compromise between cost/comfort/waiting around (avoids taking a day of leave just to travel, avoids the hideous overnight return via Holyhead, saves money on the outbound less-hideous Holyhead trip especially given that outbound overnight via Stranraer is fairly epic). If cash-poor but time-rich, daytime both ways via Stranraer is only £4 each way more expensive than Holyhead and way, way nicer (the only real disadvantage being the very early start from Euston). The Larne option was OK but a bit faffy.
Drowsy Chaperone ticket
Oct. 12th, 2010 02:35 pmAnyone free tomorrow evening & fancy seeing The Drowsy Chaperone at the Highgate Gatehouse tomorrow? I can't make it, unfortunately :( Ticket was £12, but I'd rather it was used than not, so if you'd go but can't afford it, let me know.
Salt Water
Sep. 16th, 2010 12:28 pmI have a short story, 'Salt Water', in this month's issue of Eclectic Flash. Available for free online, or as a hardcopy from Lulu.
