Lissa
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Lissa" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
|
01:46 pm
[Link] |
Vegetarian help wanted!
My Dad has arrived to visit us today and I'm belatedly thinking through the whole food thing. He's vegetarian these days and my family is anything but. I know I'm going to end up cooking a bunch of double meals so my question to you is - can you give me some good vegetarian recipe suggestions?
I'm looking for things that are easy-ish to do (ie take no more than half an hour to put together, maybe a bit longer including cooking time) but that are your favourite of the things you make that are veggie (please ignore this whole post if you don't - I'm sure there are plenty of you on that front :-]).
Dinner tonight will be probably be New Covent Garden Soup Company soup (one of my cheat items I usally have in the fridge), but tomorrow I work from home so can make ratatouille, which I know breaks my 'quick to assemble' rule but is one of the few things I have in my recipe book.
Salad ho!
|
|
10:17 pm
[Link] |
No work tomorrow!
Well, that's probably not true, but I won't have to commute and I don't have my work computer at home with me, so it will be work-lite at the very least.
I got a call this evening from the EY Emergency message centre telling me there had been an incident at my office and I was to call our emergency number for the detail. The detail is there has been a burst water main which has either damaged our building or the power supply to it (I lost track) so the building will be shut to workers on Monday - we can't even go in to collect our laptops.
So no office for me tomorrow. I can still read my work e-mail from home however, and expect to be able to arrange temporary home access to some of the resources I use to do my work so I should get some things done still - the plus (or minus) of internet connectivity... No commuting however, and I get to pick Alex up from school. I might bunk off after that - we'll have to see.
|
|
10:28 pm
[Link] |
Not Swiggling after all
The intention was to attend the Swiggle today, since the weather met my conditional requiring sunshine for attendance (thus allowing the kids to play outside and not try to play inside quietly enough not to bother people when actual filking happens). But because it was actually sunny and warm (bordering on hot) and it didn't rain yesterday, the first thing in the order of progress was to mow the lawn. Which since it hasn't been done since the autumn and is of reasonable size and excessive dandelion infestation, took a while. Then we had lunch and then we set out.
We discussed route options and agreed that going through the Dartford tunnel and up the A13 would be quicker than going up the A2 and through the Blackwall tunnel. This worked very well right up until we reached the North Circular where things ground to a spectacular halt due to an accident which warranted the air ambulance arriving to take someone away. We tried to wiggle around it and that took ages too. We were lamenting spending such a large proportion of the best weather so far this year in the car. We debated. We very nearly turned back on to the NC to head to the Swiggle but then Alex chipped in threatening to scream if we didn't go to the Swiggle. And because we were already borderline and do not respond well to threats from a 6 year old we headed home instead.
On arriving home we took due advantage of the remaining sunshine and warmth, had a nice meal and so on. My apologies to anyone expecting to see us at the Swiggle but it just wasn't meant to be. I hope the house filk was still announced in our absence.
Current Mood:  tired
|
|
08:53 am
[Link] |
Announcement: House filk and concert date confirmed
There will be a housefilk at our house in Gravesend on Sunday 15th June, commencing at about 12 noon and going on until it stops (not that late as it's a work day the next day).
This is also expected to include a house concert of an hour's duration by Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps. As the finances of this tour of the UK and Germany are more constrained than usual (a couple of festivals they were counting on have fallen through) there will be a charge for the house concert of £5 a head*. The concert will be at 4 or 5 pm.
This date and timing are now confirmed after the nMC have kindly jiggled around their rehearsal timings so that those as wish (a not insignifcant proportion of filk fandom) are able to attend both their rehearsal and the concert and what remains of the housefilk from that point.
Food and drink will be provided but as always you are welcome to make additional contributions. If the weather suits then a barbecue is likely.
Anyone wanting directions please contact me at my LJ name at gmail.com Please note for everyone driving, the junction on the A2 leading to our house may have been closed by then. I will keep you informed on that point.
Please feel free to pass this news on to other members of the UK filk community (and beyond if you think that's likely to cause someone to attend from further afield).
Please comment below or e-mail me if you are likely to attend so I can plan.
*If this charge means you might not be able to attend due to finances please discuss it with me.
Current Mood:  Anticipatory (again)
|
|
12:22 pm
[Link] |
Announcement: Housefilk with added concert
There will be a housefilk at our house in Gravesend on Sunday 15th June, commencing at about 12 noon and going on until it stops (not that late as it's a work day the next day).
edit - date is subject to debate as the given date might clash with an nMC rehearsal
This is also expected to include a house concert of an hour's duration by Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps. As the finances of this tour of the UK and Germany are more constrained than usual (a couple of festivals they were counting on have fallen through) there will be a charge for the house concert of £5 a head*. The concert will be at 4 or 5 pm.
Food and drink will be provided but as always you are welcome to make additional contributions. If the weather suits then a barbecue is likely.
Anyone wanting directions please contact me at my LJ name at gmail.com Please note for everyone driving, the junction on the A2 leading to our house may have been closed by then. I will keep you informed on that point.
Please feel free to pass this news on to other members of the UK filk community (and beyond if you think that's likely to cause someone to attend from further afield).
Please comment below or e-mail me if you are likely to attend so I can plan.
*If this charge means you might not be able to attend due to finances please discuss it with me.
Current Mood:  anticipatory
Current Music: Lady Marian by Clannad
Tags: concert, housefilk
|
|
07:56 pm
[Link] |
Welcome to England Shinobu!!!!
All best wishes to you and Albert as you commence your life together, and welcome to our community of friends. I hope you will find your new life very happy.
Current Mood: welcoming
|
|
09:45 am
[Link] |
Snow!
Jumping belatedly onto the bandwagon of those in the UK making posts about our unusual amount of snow, I want only to comment that I did indeed (as friends who've seen me in action would only expect) take due advantage of our 2-3 inches of snow by dashing outside with the kids to throw snowballs and build a snowman in the back garden.
The snow was perfect for this, being the variety that sticks together easily but also comes apart easily and without pain when it hits someone. Both kids enjoyed the snow immensely, which is an improvement over last year when Amy was decidedly unimpressed.
Then we jumped in the car to drive over to Phil's parent's place in Southend, just a few miles north and East. In a fit of optimism (and because I'd feel stupid if I didn't and it turned out I should have) I packed the sled, as we definitely had enough snow at home to make use of it if we'd had the time. However the north side of the Thames had received decidedly less snow, and the amount decreased steadily as we approached Southend and it was apparrent that it was a good thing I had warned the kids that we there was no guarantee there would be enough snow at Nanny & Grandad's to use the sled.
I said to Alex "I'm afraid I was right and we won't be able to use the sled after all."
"Don't be afraid Mummy, so long as we're all together and well, that's what's important."
Cue mushy Mummy moment.
In other news Alex has now been abandoned in Southend for 3 days of excessive sugar and television with his grandparents and excessive running around in small circles making even more excessive amounts of noise with his cousins, all 5 of which are in Southend for the 'spring' break.
|
|
10:05 pm
[Link] |
International website redesign day?
I mean, what is it with these sites? My company, the BBC news page and one of my smut sites. And they've all gone for acres of white space. I'm seriously unconvinced by the new BBC iteration.
|
|
08:28 am
[Link] |
Computer book recommendations wanted
I have someone in my office who is working more and more with MS Access and wants a good book on it - does nyone have any recommendations?
Currently she describes herselt as a competent amateur but needs to up her level and get her teeth into computations and a bit of Visual Basic.
Cheers
Edit: Thanks for all the replies - I've ordered a For Dummies book and we'll see how that goes
Current Location: work
Current Mood:  inquisitive
|
|
10:05 pm
[Link] |
A long Easter weekend
( Yay for 4 day weekends, that's what I say. Can we have some more of them please? Maybe with better weather? )
Current Mood:  lethargic
|
|
04:27 pm
[Link] |
The Cambridge Science Fair
Today Alex, James and I went to the Cambridge Science fair, as previously mentioned. Thanks to everyone who recommended the Park & Ride since we started in Peterborough we went to the Cowley Road P&R and bussed in from there, then pootled on towards the Dr Who exhibit. At 10.30 the queue for this was already out the door and 'round the corner and Alex declared a lack of willingness to queue, echoed by James. We thus pootled a little bit further and went to the Rocket Car Derby, where the boys built cars that would be powered by compressed air. Both opted for cars with wings and a tail and I provided varying levels of assistance and technical thought.
Then we took it through to the room where they had the compressed air launchers and let loose. Alex's flew better so we took them back to the design area and added a weight to James' plus some extra decor. That improved it's flight path but on the second shot Alex's rolled all the way to the wall and set a new rolling record for the day. Huzzah!
After that we looked at plants, had lunch at McDonalds, went to the zoology museum and admired some displays of rocks, volcanoes and earthquakes. I had wanted to pause and learn how to make an origami bird but the boys weren't interested, so we headed home a bit early.
On the whole I call it a success. This evening I get to go see Return to the Forbidden Planet while Anne wrangles the children.
Current Location: The Mill House
Current Mood: tired
|
|
06:51 pm
[Link] |
Shiny teeth!
Alex and I went to the dentist today, having thoroughly scrubbed our teeth and used a disclosing tablet just to double check how good a job we were doing (both of us needed to touch up a few teeth - need to keep an eye on that). Alex's teeth are all fine and the dentist opined that his upper front teeth would be coming out soon.
Surprisingly he thought my teeth were fine too but then he cleaned and polished them and found the odd spot of sensitivity so he gave me 2 x-rays and found two little patches of rot underneath extant fillings, so I'll be going to the dentist again in a couple of weeks - sigh. There's not a whole heck of a lot I can do to prevent the formation of cavities *underneath* my fillings.
Then we went into town to pick up some dry cleaning and spend Alex's World Book Day book token. I trolled Neil Gaiman's Odd & the Frost Giants in front of him (this being one of the £1 books this year) and he agreed that it looked the best choice. Then he pleaded with me to be allowed another book and being a true bookworm I said yes, and then it turned out it was buy 2, get 1 free so he came away with 3 books, one of which he has read already.
Current Mood:  satisfied
|
01:54 pm
[Link] |
Cambridge help
I am taking Alex and James to the Cambridge Science Festival this Saturday and have a couple of questions
Any advice on where to park that's economic but not too far from the action?
Any advice on how best to attend the fair (focus on 2 or 3 things v they're all close enough to hop about between the things that appeal, that sort of advice)
Cheers
Current Location: Working from home
Current Mood:  busy
|
|
10:31 pm
[Link] |
World book day prep
Tomorrow is world book day and Alex (along with zillions of other children, I'm sure) has decided he wants to go to school dressed as Harry Potter, despite me lobbying for Tintin (much easier and many fewer people doing it!). So, glasses, check; face paint for scar, check; black goo to colour and style hair, check.
Robes definitely much more of a problem. I am not much in the seamstress line and I could do a cloak but definitely not robes. In the end I caved and bought a set off E-bay, nabbing it at the last minute while my Mum sat by and told me how I'd gone and broken some other child's heart by doing so. Fortunately it got from Wales to here in a day *and* I was working from home today and thus here to receive it.
Wand gave pause for thought. Alex pulled out his plastic black and white traditional stage magician's wand but that did not appeal, so I cut down some dowling, used my pen knife to give it a more appropriate shape and my pumpkin carving dremel to carve some grooves in it, stained and varnished it and we have a wand.
But then I got to thinking about how he would carry said wand around at school all day, and how long (or not) it would take for it to get lost, and started thinking about making a case for it to go in. And thus the case in this picture, which has a strap that will go over his head and one arm, so it hangs (hopefully) more or less at his hip without getting too much in the way. Given how long it took me to make this, it's a jolly good thing I didn't try and make the robes, or even a cloak! There's another picture on Flickr, plus one of the wand. I took it using the webcam on my laptop, since what else is tech for if not to gratuitously abuse?
There will be pictures taken of the full ensemble tomorrow, though getting them onto the net may take longer.
Edit: There are photos of Alex over on Phil's Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/39048245@N00/
|
|
11:25 am
[Link] |
A life update
The future is interesting an uncertain inplaces, what with Phil taking a job down in Farnborough that will eventually relocate to Portsmouth, but as I said to him, it will be worth it for him to have a job where he is given work and is active and involved and not being driven buggy by the same level of broken promises. Besides, life is change, and it could be a lot worse.
Apart from that life is good.
I am going to be getting a CD with a song about lemurs on it real soon now (Graham Leathers having been overrun by Lemurs when I suggested them as a song topic)
I have fish shoes,
Alex has asked if we can go to the park more often and I've bought us a football to go with
There have been several sunny days this week that make one feel good just to be walking along, even if the end of the walk is the office
I shall be doing gaming tonight with Phil and Rick
I love my new laptop
Alex is a lot better behaved that this time last year (or maybe I've learned how to manage him better, or maybe a bit of both)
Alex has learned how to make toast (even if he is a bit generous with the honey) and on Wednesday he took Amy downstairs and made them breakfast with no parental involvement.
What's making you happy at the moment?
Current Mood: happy
|
|
03:49 pm
[Link] |
Advice
My new computer comes without such things as Word and Excel - what's out there and free and works with Windows that I can install and use? Will those be able to open Word and Excel files?
Thanks!
Current Location: working from home
|
|
08:57 pm
[Link] |
Huzzah - we charge
Today I have proven that I do in fact know how to change a tyre, though Phil and I had to have a discussion first about where exactly one is supposed to position the jack. From the fact the car did not seem to break I'd say I chose the right location. Also, it's a good thing I'm working from home tomorrow, since that means I can take the car to the tyre place.
Current Mood: tired and a little ill
|
|
08:33 pm
[Link] |
Birthday and a weekend
As presaged by the excellent start on Friday morning I had a grand birthday. Phil and I had the day off so we dropped the kids at nursery and school, picked up a parcel from the post office (a belated gift that should have arrived for Christmas but instead arrived for my birthday, so the timing was most apt) and went shopping without children (a fabulous situation, as most parents will attest) in nearby Rochester (lots of fun and unusual shops, but I was very restrained) and then came home early due to the cold for lunch at home and time spent playing with the new computer.
I collected Alex from school and then a bit later we all jaunted off to collect Amy and head out to dinner at the local Frankie & Benny's (not amazing food but nice enough and child friendly), an experience made more entertaining by Alex accidentally knocking a glass of coke all over me while playing with an airplane. Oops! Then home and our regular Friday evening gaming session with Rick & Albert - Phil's new train game which has enough complications to do my head in mildly but which I enjoyed more than might have been thought by how I talked about it.
Saturday was tidying and prep day, giving the downstairs a thorough tidy and eventually a vacuum to get rid of the accumulated dust bunnies. It was also going to Bluewater and remembering just before I went that Alex had a birthday party to go to that afternoon (fortunately in plenty of time to make it) and wrapping the emergency present I had up the loft for such eventualities (and then wrapping it again when Amy found it on the lounge table, unwrapped it and brought it out to me ("What dis, Mummy?")).
Sunday was competitive baking with Phil (white chocolate brownies from him, apple bran muffins from me, very busy kitchen with both of us active in it with a side order of assistant Rika) and then in the afternoon we had a bunch of people over for a small party and gaming afternoon - just the right number to be able to have 2 games going and some people to sit at the side and kibitz, websurf and otherwise relax. It was another wonderful day and a great way to celebrate birthdays various - thank you to everyone who came!
Current Location: kitchen (because I can)
Current Mood: content
|
|
08:18 am
[Link] |
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) artbeco! May you have a wonderful day :-)
Current Location: bedroom
|
06:52 am
[Link] |
Birthday goodies!
How cool! Phil bought me a laptop for my birthday and wireless connections for the house, so I'm lying in bed and posting to LJ - very decadent!
Alex and Amy gave me chocolates from Hotel Chocolat - yum!
Now off to get the day started :-)
Current Location: bed
Current Mood: VERY happy
|
[<< Previous 20 entries] |
