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Today I took apart my bedroom, washing everything I could lay my hands on (including the curtains) and hanging it out into the sunshine to dry (there is nothing like the smell of sun-dried bed linen), cleaning the windows, brushing down the carpet (it's amazing how much dust and crud accumulates over time, especially under a bed where you can't reach with the hoover), washing every surface, and putting it all back together. Then I started on the wardrobe, and now there are almost four bags of clothes to go to a charity shop (and that's only half the wardrobe done, it got dark by the time I was finished with the first half).

I've just walked into the bedroom, and it smells sweet and fresh and clean. I feel like I've battled entropy and won.

But the war is not over yet! *eyes living room*

It is a beautiful day.

Let Project Unf%&*£ Your Habitat begin.

And by extension, Unf%&*£ Your Life.

Dammit. A little warmth, a little moisture in the air, and I get bitten in both arms and the face by a gnat in the night, and of course I've scritched the bite on my face without realising it and now it's bleeding. On my right cheek. As if I don't have enough problems with my skin. And it's still itching.

Still alive. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

Been to the Czech Republic recently, for my cousin's 50th birthday party. Met the family again - there is nothing like family. Had lots of fun, did a lot of dancing, eating, drinking and reminiscing, sad to leave again. Need to get there more often. Dad got plastered - I wish he'd be able to relax himself without resorting to alcohol, but by that time I had had a drink or two myself and found it refreshing and funny.

It's kind of summer. My allotment is unsatisfactory - it was too wet and cold for too long, and though some things I've plated have grown, the combination of a plot that's been vacant for long and me just starting out in the art of gardening, plus being laid low for weeks being barely able to walk but not kneel down result in a green space with little food value. But it's me being out in the fresh air so that's good.

While hanging up the washing outside just now, I saw a dead mouse (we do have a lot of cats in the area). My first thought was, “Poor mouse”, my second, “What a waste if they haven’t eaten it”, and the third, “I wonder if I can remove the head, get out the skull and use it in a jewelry project”.

I said the other day that I keep finding things. Usually, it's small things; the most recent ones were pens, a toy horse as big as my little finger, a smiley-faced yo-yo, coins, children's hair clips, and the like. Once I found a stuffed toy rattle squoshed in a puddle, took it home, gave it a warm bath, good as new, it sits on my shelf opposite the desk and I smile every time I look at it.
Snail shells, feathers, a paper heart, a small British flag. Broken pottery, pieces of clay pipes and big old nails from the Thames. Curious stones, stones with holes in them, stones from the beaches I visit, whether it be in Spain or in Scotland. I don't hesitate to bend down and pick things up when they look interesting. Part of my way to work leads over a parking lot which every Sunday hosts a car boot sale, and things get dropped or left. I have an old cookie tin where I keep these things, though the most recent ones reside in a glass bowl on my windowsill.
I keep finding things. But never yet have I found an abandoned piece of furniture, until today, while I was walking home in the rain. I now have a small wood and canvas storage unit. As far as I can see it's part of a wardrobe set from Argos, and the canvas drawer is missing, even though the canvas cover is there and currently being washed while the wood dries in the bathtub. I don't mind that the drawer is missing, I'm sure I can find something to replace it.

Author Ray Bradbury has died in Los Angeles at the age of 91.

Watching the Queen's Jubilee Thames Pageant was worth it for seeing the Royal Family, especially Prince Charles, jig along ever so slightly to the Sailor's Hornpipe.

The burst of fireworks however would have looked a lot more impressive if the weather had been better. And the weather was very British indeed.

It's cooled down enough for my brain to start working again, which is a beautiful thing.

I wish I had a cat. But at least I can cat-sit occasionally, which is always a joy, especially with such an adorable cat as my co-worker's little red persian. Her purr is louder than her meow, but my, does she purr! She loves to play, and have her tummy scratched, and then she will lie loaf-shaped on a sofa and gradually sink into it, I don't know how she does it but it looks adorable.
And then there are the cats that I meet on my way home from work, of which there are at least seven. Most of them I just say hi to (there are the two who always stick together, so similar in colour - a dirty tortoiseshell - but one is a longhair, one a shorthair with only three legs; then there is the white one, and the redhead that looks so much like my Garfield; the large black one who looks like a bonsai panther; just to name a few), but there is one black cat which I'm seeing most evenings, the friendly, engaging one who will let herself be petted - no, who demands to be petted for at least ten minutes, if she can get away with. The funny thing is that she appears more often than not when I am feeling stressed, or am in a bad mood, but this mood never lasts around her.
I hope one day to live in a place where I can have cats. Am I going to be a weird old cat lady? I could imagine worse fates.

My mum called earlier, and after the usual "hey how are you" and "how was your day", she began talking about this series that had just been broadcast in Germany, and how brilliant it was, and how stunning - she was sure that when the man jumped off of the building, he was dead, and then there was the graveyard scene, and he was standing there - Yes, my mum has watched Sherlock, and she loves it. (Mum loves crime anyway, and Sherlock Holmes has been read in our household.) Without prompting from me, mind you, she talked about the show for some time, mentioned Baskerville too, and how well written it all was. And she's only seen the German dubbed version! (She also likes Mr Cumberbatch and said how striking he looks. I guess, well, chip off the old block, me.)

I keep finding things. I think that once you start noticing things and don't just pass them by, but pick them up, things will start noticing you. The last three things I found were pens and pencils. I guess it's fate kicking me in the butt.

What an absolutely wonderful day, blue skies and a light wind, no clouds to be seen, it's Sunday...

... and I spent most of it in the living room, windows open and blinds down, with ibuprofen and a cold cloth for comfort, battling a migraine.

Could be worse. Could have happened tomorrow.

Here we go, then!

United Kingdom - OK, let's get the Hump over with. What can I say, the man's a professional, sounds good (except for the vibrato at the end), the song's good, and might even have a chance. It would definitely have had one, oh, 15, 20 years ago.
Hungary - This one is starting to grow on me. Still missing a huge keyboard solo.
Albania - Oh it's the Time Lady again. She's singing beautifully, very intense... but she was better in the semis.
Lithuania - I still like that guy and the song. "A young John Barrowman", says Graham Norton, and he's not far off.
Bosnia & Herzegowina - The Shoulderpad Singer. I could have done without the flute solo, but a nice ballad all the same.
Russia - The Grannies Strike Back! The beginning is better than in the semis, they caught the rhythm. As for the main part of the song... I hope they collect enough money for their church.
Iceland - Again, the folk elements and the interplay of the vocals, nice.
Cyprus - As Graham Norton said, "Maybe they're dancing on the end of education."
France - Someone I actually haven't heard before. And haven't after the song either. There was a song? All I could see were half-naked athletes... (seriously, though, good background music for that choreography)
Italy - Amy Winehouse re-incarnated? A good song, but her voice is a bit too tame.
Estonia - Oh man, yes. I was looking forward to seeing this again. A really effective ballad.
Norway - For some reason, I am thinking of Glee. I wish he was a little more in tune though.
Azerbaijan - Sorry, doesn't do anything for me.
Romania - Because Eurovision doesn't start until you see a moonwalking bagpipe player. Otherwise meh.
Denmark - I still like the New 4 Non Blondes. I get the feeling that they are actually a band.
Greece - Still don't like it. Sorry, Greece.
Sweden - Oh it's MiniKateBush. Yeah, I like her! Go Sweden!
Turkey - Looking forward to it for the dancers, I will have to admit.
Spain - What a beautiful ballad!
Germany - Sorry, chaps. Nothing to write home about.
Malta - Like the song, love the foot dance.
Macedonia - Aw yeah! I like the bit when the drum starts, I just wish they kept it like that instead of going to a more usual pop-rhythm.
Ireland - Why. Why. Why. And costumes.
Serbia - A folky ballad with two violins. What can I say, I have buttons.
Ukraine - The trumpet sounds... not nice.
Moldova - This trumpet makes you my girl. Love it! Loved it the first time 'round, love it now.

I'm actually surprised how many violins I've seen on stage this year.
I love the fact that Mark Gatiss was live-tweeting the Eurovision.
Now, I shall retire until the results. :-D

Here we go again, the second semi-final!
Again, I'll italic those who actually get into the final.

Serbia - Sounds good, this. A love song, ok, but with folk-like influences, which I always like. In fact, that song could have been longer, I missed an instrumental bit.
Macedonia - First song I'm actually going "wow" at. She can definitely sing, and I like the arrangement. This would have my vote, if I had a vote to give.
The Netherlands - A young Cher in a huge Native American headdress and more than a little sharp, painfully so, with a slightly Country & Western thing. Early 1980s, they would have had a chance, but today?
Malta - Solid performance, happy pop, can't find fault with it for what it is.
Belarus - The song doesn't keep the promise the outfits and mike stands make. Run-of-the-mill pop which could come from any country at all.
Portugal - A "classic" kind of Eurovision song. I'd be surprised if it made it into the finals.
Ukraine - What I like most about this are the peonies in the singer's hair. Very dancefloor-poppy.
Bulgaria - A spiced-up Space:1999 uniform costume, a good voice, and this actually sounds, how shall I put it, regional? And at least they don't pretend to have a band on stage.
Slovenia - I see they raided a bridalwear shop for the costumes. The song's corny, but for some reason, I find I quite like it. 's good.
Kroatia - Again, not bad, but as well as she sings and as cool men in black skirts are, I don't think I'd be able to recognise it if I were to hear it again.
Sweden - She does remind me of a young Kate Bush, if a young Kate Bush were to sing early 2000 technopop. On the other hand, I can imagine her winning. She's good.
Georgia - Alright! Not only can that guy sing, but this is the first song that's actually made me smile. I want to see this again!
Turkey - I usually like what Turkey sends to Eurovision, and with the exception of the singer, this holds true this time as well. Music's good, dancers are good (oh yes), but the singer's just too, well, young - this needs a stronger voice.
Estonia - Quite beautiful, actually...
Slovakia - They have zero chance of winning, but for me right now, it's a breath of fresh air. Rock on! (For some reason I want to hear some Faith No More right now...)
Norway - Kind of cool. Could see this playing in a disco somewhere, wants me have a nice cold drink. Sounds very Eastern for some reason. This is Norway?
Bosnia & Herzegowina - Good voice, pleasant song. Make this the soundtrack of a romantic movie, and it's a hit.
Lithuania - Lithuanian Michael Jackson? But he is good - he can sing, he can dance, he's got cheekbones. I'd like to hear him with a different song.

Right, so much for the semis. Tonight, the final!

Catching up on what the Eurovision is doing these days. It has become a tradition of sorts after all. Two semi-finals to watch, and then the actual Eurovision tonight. Coffee's ready! NB: All opinions are mine, no offense intended.

Montenegro - Rambo Amadeus? Uh, no thanks.
Iceland - Nice beginning, love the violin (of course), could be more like Garmarna for my taste.
Greece - A little like a Greek Shakira. I could make a quip about the Greek financial situation and how the money obviously wasn't enough to buy decent costumes. Good thing the BBC commenters did that for me. Interesting to see a second singer standing still at the microphone in the semi-dark on the other side of the stage.
Latvia - Another song commenting on the Eurovision. How tall is that woman? The song itself is not very memorable I'm afraid.
Albania - She looks like a Time Lady, but she can sing! I am impressed. Bet she won't make it into the final.
Romania - Another Shakira. This one's a little flat I think. Nice choreography.
Switzerland - Hola! Not bad, not bad at all. Rock! And the lady bassist, very cool. This is a band I hope has success on it's own, because again I am sure they won't be in the finals.
Belgium - Nice enough, her voice is a little breathy for my tastes. She wouldn't make it into third round on The Voice UK.
Finland - I like it! This one I can imagine having on my playlist. Three-quarter time, a cello, a good voice and melancholy-happy melody, pushes buttons. Nice!
Israel - I'm wondering which decade I'm in, late 1970s probably, but why not? Kind of cool.
San Marino - Social Network Song? Cute idea. I seem to have heard the melody before though, it'll come to me eventually. Something from the 1960s.
Cyprus - Books and dancing librarians. Another Shakira-clone. Europop. Forgettable.
Denmark - Yep, that one I like, too. The band is cool in a slightly retro way (a little 4 Non Blondes), and the song could be played on any radio station I know.
Russia - Words fail me. But I LOVE IT!!! Eurovision needs more grannies. I wonder what's in those cookies.
Hungary - It kind of washed over me without making an impression. Maybe I'm still overwhelmed by the grannies.
Austria - That's a Summer song right there. Kind of fun (though I have no idea what they're actually rapping. What's noodle soup doing in a song about shaking your butt?)
Moldova - Pretty but unfortunate dresses for the dancers. The singer I wouldn't push off my bed. Trumpet, eh? I kinda like the song too.
Ireland - Oh god please not Jedward again! As if there are no other musicians in Ireland. Please. And those costumes? The song is forgettable. As expected.

I would have liked to see Finland and Israel in the finals, myself.

I spent some time these past few days doing my nails.

What? Me, little miss "I don't do make-up"? Well, yes. Beats me where this suddenly came from. My nails are still violin-short. I never got into the habit of growing them, firstly because of the violin-playing, which I maintain you cannot do with long nails, and secondly because the one time I tried long falsies, they snagged on everything and I couldn't type.
But then I saw this beautiful azure nail polish (which of course immediately had connotations of TARDIS blue) and I thought, why not. One thing led to another, and I now have not only the azure, but also a stunning peacock, a burgundy, a metallic black cherry, as well as my current favourite, silver lilac. These are not colours I associate with nail polish ("back in my day, it was red or nothing!"), though I probably won't try the canary yellow or turqoise. A nice shade of green, however, might still be in the cards. I also got white, and I want to try red with white polka-dots.

I will not grow my nails long; I need to type and play the violin. I won't paint my toenails. Yuck. But colour on my hands, great! I wonder what is going to be next, eyeshadow? Lipstick? Who knows, I might just get colourful in my 42nd year. And why the hell not.

I am now as old as the answer to the question of life, the universe and all the rest. Maybe that means this year will be even more confusing than the 41 before this one, or maybe I'll finally get the answer. Either way, I had a great birthday, with two days off work and a visit by my oldest, bestest friend. We only left the flat twice, once to have dinner at the nearest best Indian restaurant, once to buy groceries. Other than that, we sat and chatted, watched TV (How I Met Your Mother and The Voice UK, mostly), had tea and talked, hung out, caught up, taked shop (aka writing)... It was wonderful. I'm lucky and thankful to have a friend like that.

In other news, the morning of my birthday brought an email from Australia (and I do owe you one in return) which had me grinning all day. One more step in boosting my confidence in my writing.

In yet more news, there are a handful of currently living authors that I would be over the moon to meet (one of them I owe an email to, see above). Thanks to the Sherlock fandom and the contacts I made through it, I will most likely meet another in London later this month. I've been reading her books since I was 15. I hope I will not embarrass myself by fangirling overmuch or not being able to speak.

Just got a letter sent to everyone in the building from the management company of the building I live in. Oh no wait, let me first elaborate.
There is a nook in the hallway, totally out of the way, where three parties in the building store their bikes. There are another two bikes out of the way on the first landing. Disturbing, oh let me think, nobody. There is nowhere outside the building where we can safely store our bikes (say, a communal bike shed), and there is no room inside the flats for bikes. Even if it were, there would be dirt and oil and whatnot in the flats, and I don't think the owners want that.
The letter asks us, in the management-speak I know so well by now, to remove the bikes as they are a trip hazard (they are not, but oh well).

What I will do is put a little letter on all of the bikes asking whether we want to ask the management company for a communal bike shed on or at the property. There is certainly room enough outside for one. It's not like we want to be a trip hazard. But we also don't want our bikes stolen.

Does that sound like a good idea?

Still here. Editing pictures from the Spain holiday (which by the way was marvellous, so many beautiful things to see, and so many lovely people!). Just thought I'd drop y'all a line.

My knee is still buggered, more so since yesterday. I went out to do a little light shopping and then to the allotment, which looks terrible. Seems the only thing that really wants to grow is weeds. But then, that was probably to be expected in the first year of a piece of land that's been out of use for years. On the way back, I took a step and the knee joint sort of went backwards, as if I wanted to lock it but almost futher than that. Suffice it to say that I used a bag of frozen peas to cool it town once I got home, and there is now ibuprofen salve on it. Hobble, hobble. But I know that it is not the joint that is hurt, it's the muscles and sinews around it, so that should heal at some point, yes?

It appears I needed a lot of sleep. I woke up at eight this morning, had a cup of coffee, ate a slice of bread, got a migraine, went back to bed at ten, woke up again at three. Headache's gone, but so is the day.

Good things: I can see the sun! It just poked below the cloud cover and is now shining into my living room. There should be a beautiful sunset in a few minutes. I've been using the remainder of today to get some of my writing in order and have a look at works in progress. I've watched a little bit of TV and finished a sock. And tomorrow is another day off so yay!

In Marbella, to be exact. The weather is glorious, if a bit chilly in the mornings. Tomorrow, a week of "seeing the sights" begins - Gibraltar, Ronda, Sevilla... Today is a day off, just hanging out and enjoying the holidays. I'm watching the swallows and drinking coffee while mum calls dad (who's at home while mum and I travel).

I am starting to relax.

Current Location: Spain, Andalusia, Malaga

Got that elastic bandage from Boots. Should have done so sooner. It works. I can walk! I can walk!

The thing with walking is that once you learn how to, early in your life, you forget to think about it and just do it. Unless something demands your attention.

At some point during the first part of last week, I must have somehow wrenched my right knee or overstressed the muscles around it, although I do not remember doing it. Ever since then, though, the muscles about a hand's width above my knee are hurting, not so much when I'm sitting or bending it - in fact, I can do that fine, which is a relief because it means that it is a muscle and not the joint that's hurt - but when I put weight on it when I stand up, and even more so when I walk, then the muscles feel like they're seizing up and it is rather painful. Running is out of the question (makes it feel as if the knee is trying to reverse directions), and even my usual walking pace is too fast, much to my annoyance. I've been treating the muscles with Voltaren, and I'm going to get a knee stabilising bandage from Boot's today.

Of course, the fact that I'm limping along and favouring my right leg means that my left leg wants to join in the fun, giving me a cramp in the calf. I am conscious of every step I take.

I've just this year realised that I like long walks, and now even walking to and from work is annoying. I hope this is over sometime soon, because I don't want to limp through Marbella later this month.

Or the many other culinary choices London has on offer: Every time I'm here, I wish we had a Pret a Manger in BiSto.

Current Location: United Kingdom, England, Greater London

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Lunch Break Papers

A Journey through Time and Space

Recent Entries

Unf£$%*&ing, Part 1

Let the Games Commence

Whine in the night

Nothing is yet in its true form.

Findlings

RIP Ray Bradbury

God Save the Queen

Cats, Sherlock and Pens

Wonderful Sunday... not.

Eurovision - The Final. In space, no-one can hear you sing.

Eurovision: Semi-final two.

Eurovision - because, why not. Semi-final one.

Painted Lady

42

It would be so nice, if it weren't for the management.

A day of rest

I am in Spain

Leg update

Damn my leg

Never mind the sushi