a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

You will be relieved to hear I am much cheerier than yesterday. Part relief that the takeaway induced food poisoning I was expecting did not develop. Part joy at the luxury that is working from home - I do much prefer it, there is a dog curled up by your feet, flowers on the table, lunch in the fridge, comfy jeans to wear and it just feels more productive all round. No time lost getting to and from work and the ability to put the washing on/load the dishwasher during your lunch break. Hurrah for home working.

I also discovered a fascinating fact today. I suspect it may not be fascinating to many other people, especially as I fear that actually most people already know this, so you will just have to humour me. Whilst making my grandad a cup of tea I lifted out the sugar bag and spotted this on the back:

Does anything jump out at you? Tea, yep. Coffee, yep. Baking, yep. Sprinkling, a bit vague but fair enough. Cereals, I would think that was covered under sprinkling but I shall allow it. Flowers......?

I wondered if it meant crystallised flowers but thought that seemed a weird thing to suggest. I told grandad and he immediately announced that adding sugar to your flowers helps them live longer, as does, he informed me, aspirin. Sure enough there on the side of the packet:

Well who knew? Except grandad obviously. And Whitworths. And apparently all of the internet. I suspect, and I can completely understand this, that they had the first five and didn't want to have an asymmetrical list. I still think it's a bizarre thing to have chose to put on though. I can't imagine anyone going shopping and picking up a packet of sugar specifically to keep their flowers alive. Or a packet of aspirin either.

Through the magic of the internet I discovered that everything helps flowers to live longer. Fizzy drinks, vinegar, aspiring, copper coins, even bleach. I'll never need to buy another bunch of flowers again. Not because they'll be so well preserved, just because there'll be no room in the vase by the time I've put all of that in.

the week is just a blur

(Ocean Colour Scene - Up on the Downside)

Writing something every day is tricky! I have only had about an hour at home this evening so I'm perhaps not feeling particularly inspired. I'm conscious of not just turning this into a daily journal but alas I am lacking ideas and it is late.

Today has been up and down. Ups include a wonderful hot stone massage, getting all of my work travel plans sorted for the next few weeks, and the prospect of working from home tomorrow. Downs include realising how many nights away from home I've got between now and Christmas, only getting in at 10pm, and opting for a takeaway which turned out to be a bad decision and spectacularly unappetising. 

Here is a classic Millie picture to fill the void, looking for all the world like she has just had a disappointing takeaway too. Tomorrow is Friday and we have a free weekend to plan our travels and enjoy some time together - it will be nice to spend longer than an hour with The Husband and holiday planning will be exciting indeed - especially now the visas and the insurance are sorted. On that happier note I will end the post and head for bed to dream of beaches and barbecues.

sunlight in the morning

(Don McLean - Castles in the Air)

We didn't get to a fireworks display which disappoints me greatly. The plan was there but other things needed doing and the time ran out. I'm hoping for a weekend one instead. I love fireworks. I forget how much until I see them, and then I am amazed all over again - they are truly spectacular.

There is not much to report here, we are having some mini passport dilemmas in relation to how long we need left for our trip. We have also realised our changeover is quite short on our way out so I'm trying not to assume the worst! Instead I had a happy hour with my Grandad finding a myriad of places to stay on AirBnB. I have often visited the site but never booked before, I'm hoping if our plans to travel down the coast come together it will be a good place to look for accommodation for three!

It was exciting to sit curled up in a blanket, the dark evening outside and all the while looking at pictures of sun, sea and sand. The scenery looks spectacular and it's sinking in that we will hopefully get to see some of these amazing places. In fact, we may well get to see fireworks over Sydney harbour for Australia Day - I imagine that will more than make up for missing out tonight!

Have you ever used AirBnB? I'd love to know your thoughts!

down the empty streets

(Lindisfarne - Meet Me On The Corner)

One of the things that's changed with my new placement is the amount of walking I manage to do each day. The bonus of working in a city is that it feels far more acceptable to go out for a walk in my lunch hour and there's plenty to see as I wander around. In addition, it's amazing how much walking I clock up in the course of my commute. Home to the local station, then the city station to the office building, and then return legs at night, in total clocks up nearly three miles. It feels good to be up and about a bit more each day than going straight from sitting in the car to sitting at the desk.

Having said that, the commute can be fairly inconvenient. Even though the rail journey is less than half an hour, it ends up being around an hour door-to-door. I also have bad luck with trains, losing tickets, missing them, and in the first few weeks somehow kept misreading the national rail app and turning up for trains at the completely wrong time. All of the trains home are clustered around the same time, so five minutes difference in what time I finish work can mean an hour's difference in what time train I catch. Luckily today I dashed as fast as I could and made it just in time - which is always a good feeling! I'd also forgotten what a difference the weather makes when you don't drive from door to door, and there have been a few days of soggy shoes and damp feet.

Particularly when I do longer days, or it's pouring it down, The Husband (or Grandad, or Step-Dad) will often come and meet me at the station. It's just over half a mile but when you're cold and wet it can make all the difference to get home ten minutes early rather than trudge home feeling sorry for yourself. There is no lovelier sight than walking from the platform, emerging with the crowds of commuters, and seeing a familiar car with a familiar face sat in it and the heaters on when you climb in the door. Except perhaps, when The Husband decides against driving to meet me, and does what he did today, and walks down, so that I am greeted by both him and this familiar face:

I can honestly say there is nothing more guaranteed to make you forget instantly about work than stepping off the train to be greeted by that big-eared beagle, who always looks utterly delighted to see you again. There is no warmer welcome than standing at the station as she wags her tail and jumps around your feet as though you have been away for years. Even if it means another ten minutes before I'm home and getting warm, it was a great start to the evening, catching up on each other's day, walking home together with Millie bounding along between us.

when i wake up

(The Proclaimers - 500 Miles)

The Husband and I first started dating when we were sixteen, which is a long, long time ago now. Back in the first flushes of love we had a particularly soppy habit of keeping a note book (I have always been a stationery geek) of quotes and lyrics. I don't really remember how it came about, I think it started when one of us was on holiday and the pure heartache of being separated drove us to writing out love songs. Who knows, clearly sending a simple text message just didn't cut it.

Anyway, one of us would have the notebook and write in it, there was even a point where we would cut out pictures of houses we would like to live in in the future and stick those in, and then after a few days would leave it at the other's house, ready for when they got home. Then they would take up the mantle of documenting romantic extracts and so on and so forth. The ultimate manifestation of teenager in love.

I would think it is still in the loft somewhere. The Husband ventured up there for some cable or other recently and came bounding into the kitchen to ask me if I remembered where I went on our 23 month anniversary (we also did the irritating monthly anniversaries). Unsurprisingly, as we now approach our 150 month anniversary (yes I did just calculate that, and yes I am slightly terrified by it) I alas, could not remember how we had marked the occasion. He happily informed me that we had eaten at the Chinese restaurant, just down the road from where we now live. He was even able to tell me that we had used chopsticks. How? He had found the restaurant card with the date, occasion, and the presumably notable act of our chopstick use, written upon it. I have no idea if he actually found what he went up there for.

So why this trip down a slightly nausea-inducing memory lane? Well today's* writealm prompt is "first thing I see" (*I have realised that I have been looking at the 2013 prompts but I was part way through this post so let's just pretend it's right). I remembered the following quote, from Tony Parson's Man & Wife which I must have studiously copied into the notebook at some point, and which has since remained somewhere in a dusty corner of my mind:

"I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want her face to be the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning. I want to watch that face as it changes through the years"

How lovely. How romantic. How so unlike real life. The first thing I see in the morning is usually my phone screen, as I swipe frantically to get the irritating, incessant chirruping of my alarm to stop. I then close my eyes and go back to sleep. The next thing I tend to see is indeed that of my beloved, as The Husband, now fully dressed and ready for work tries to wake me and wish me goodbye.

via godisheart

I wish I could say I cherish that moment, that I appreciate that it is the realisation of my teenage dreams, that I relish being woken by the sight of the one I love. Unfortunately, the first sight of me that The Husband has each morning is generally of me rolling over to his side of the bed, pulling the cover over my head and telling him to have a nice day because I'm just going to have five more minutes. He has long since learnt to let me stay put, any attempts to get me up are futile, and generally end badly. Our morning routine might not be the most romantic, but as I hit the snooze button, face down in The Husband's pillow, I couldn't be happier.

be here now

(Ray Lamontagne - Be Here Now)

My very wise mum has long been of the opinion that the people who seem to achieve the most have the ability to be completely present in the moment at all times. No matter how much they seem to be juggling, they give themselves over completely to whatever they are doing, but similarly don't then dwell on things when they have moved on to the next task.

It is a skill I do not have, particularly not at home. When it comes to watching a film, or enjoying a meal, I often find my mind wandering, or my hands reaching for my phone. I replay the day's events as I lie in bed and find it difficult to sit still without thinking that there is something else I should be doing instead. That is why I enjoy reading, and blogging. I tend to become completely immersed in those activities, and find them all the more enjoyable for it.

via jokideo.com


I am trying to improve though. At work I am good at paying attention, and focussing on the task in hand (once I stop procrastinating and get on with it, obviously). I'm gradually learning to do it for the fun things too, talking with friends, walking the dog, even playing computer games with The Husband. I'm realising that it's just as important to concentrate on those moments, and allow yourself the space to relax and switch off, without constantly feeling that you should be doing something more productive, or achieving something from the to-do-list.

On the subject of the to-do-list, we booked our flights today. Australia here we come! What makes it even more exciting is that my Grandad is coming with us. We have family there that we can't wait to visit, and I can't believe how lucky I am to get to go travelling and exploring with The Husband and Grandad for company. I will no doubts be allowing myself some daydreaming about our travels when perhaps I should be focussing on other things, but I will also be sure to make the most of every moment of our trip when it comes around.

linking up with Amanda's November Prompts

first things first

The first of November.

The first day of National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). Will I make it to the end? Based on past performances (GBBO Bakealong, The Year in Books, Photo-a-Day, 100 Happy Days) it is not looking hopeful. I am clearly a starter not a finisher. But always with the best of intentions, and so I will begin, though I may not end!

Also the first day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Catchy abbreviations, no? Also surely not a sensible idea to do the two at the same time? With eleven other months in the year available for this kind of activity it seems perhaps an oversight to have double-booked in such a way. Will I take part in this one? It is unlikely, I always think I should write a book (doesn't everyone?!), we will see if any first lines take hold once I've finished this post.

The first day wearing my Gran's beautiful ring. My Grandad bought it as a gift for her a few years before she died. I have wonderfully happy memories of her opening it at a family gathering, and some fabulous pictures of her looking thrilled with her present! I got it re-sized and we went to collect it today, and now I have spent the day looking thrilled with it too. Currently trying to decide whether to save it for special occasions or simply wear it all of the time.

The first step of an exciting adventure. We are hoping to go on some travels in the New Year, for a few weeks. Tomorrow afternoon has been put aside to start some itinerary planning, and possibly flight booking. It still all seems like a bit of a daydream for the moment, I've not fully convinced myself we are going yet as the idea has appeared out of the blue really, but watch this space! Any recommendations? Must-dos? Three-week itineraries that also fit in Uluru? All gratefully received.

The first television series in a long time that I can heartily recommend. I don't know if you have caught The Code - we found it by chance on iplayer and I can honestly say it is one of the most compelling things I have watched in years. It is only a six-parter, you could quite easily have a cozy Sunday and devour it in one sitting. Do. You won't regret it. And then I could talk to someone about it, because nobody has seen it, and I'm desperate to compare notes.

The first page of a new book. Although I haven't been doing the posting for the year in books, I have been reading fairly regularly all year round. I've got through several books, and am enjoying swapping novels and recommendations with my parents, who have also become avid readers in recent months too. Tonight I will curl up with a cup of tea, light a candle, don a blanket and read a few chapters. In recent weeks I have been hankering for some old-fashioned, unplugged evenings. We got engrossed in a jigsaw a few weeks ago, spending hours around the kitchen table putting pieces together by candle light.There is something so homely and soothing about turning down the lights, turning off the screens and sitting in peace. With the busyness of the last few months, and the fact that our houseguest (a relative from overseas) has now left, I am eagerly anticipating the first evening of candlelit calm for some time.