Itisi

Good Evening Dear Reader, I join you as a pretty pissed off blogger. I have just discovered via technorati that some splogger is using the posts from this site, as content on their own spamblogs. Grrr. What a bloody cheek! They are using what seems to be some kind of scraping software, I have visited the site, and although the terms state that users shouldn’t steal someone elses content, what the heck do they expect! I haven’t got a clue how to stop this, so if anyone has any ideas, please leave a comment. Thank you

OK, taking nice deep breaths and calming down.

Listening to: my teeth griding

It’s really quite nice here today, a bit chilly, but pleasant none the less. I know I shouldn’t be saying this, because the last time I commented on the weather led to a torrential downpour, but I’ll chance it. You know, it’s really starting to feel like Spring.

Yesterdays trip to Wok Mania went well, we ate all we could for a fiver. Admittedly, some of us ate more then others, but overall I think we got our moneys worth. There was even a good range of vegetarian options for Number Three Son. Usually, the poor chap is faced with a pretty limited choice. While I was in town, I forgot to check whether The Hills Have Eyes was still showing at the cinema. Not that I want to see it you understand. In fact nothing could be further from my mind, Mr Blogs seems to think I would like to, but he is wrong. Personally, I think that if you have seen one film which involves maniacs hacking people to death, you have, pretty much seen them all. (As it happens I saw the original version of THHE, although not intentionally, I got it mixed up with How Green Was My Valley, a tale of everyday folk in a Welsh mining village, and not at all the same thing.) Anyhow, I meant to check, so that I could tell him, most triumphantly, that is was being shown no more. I may tell him that anyway, so ssh, you know nothing Dear Reader.

Bad news on the woodland seedlings front. If you are wondering what on earth I mean, see this post. I seem to have killed them. This is a common problem with anything I grow in pots or containers. I kill plants with kindness. I am a chronic over-waterer. Anyhow, my poor little seedlings have gone all mouldy looking, poo! I suppose there is a chance that they will survive, but I’m not that optimistic. It’s not as bad as it could be though, I do have another packet, so if this batch doesn’t work out, I can at least try again.

And now for another meme, these are fast becoming an obsession to rival online quizzes. Todays meme comes from http://bdinsanity.blogdrive.com

1. What is your favorite veggie? Umm, carrots, they’re tasty and really versatile.

2. Are there any veggies you don’t eat? Brussels Sprouts, they are vile. As a child I swore I would never eat them when I grew up, and I never have.

3. Which veggie do you think has the funniest name? Lolo Rosso, it sounds like an Italian footballer, he’d play in goal for Chelsea.

4. If you’re a vegetarian, why are you and do you like it? If you’re not a vegetarian, would you ever want to become one? I used to be one, but gave it up about a year ago. I got rather tired of eating the same things all the time. I would take it up again if I lived in an area with more veggie options.

Listening to: nothing

Hello Dear Reader. I’ve been quiet for a day or two, but now I am back. Quite honestly, on Sunday and Monday I was too bloody tired to post. Really, this always happens when ‘They’ tinker with the time. Every six months we go forward or back an hour, and it takes me the best part of a week to get used to the new arrangement. I literally spend several days feeling jet lagged, but without the advantage of a nice holiday before hand. Puzzled by the whole idea, I went in search of information about why ‘They’ inflict this on me twice a year, and after wading through dozens of sites containing complaints (it seems this isn’t a British phenomena, all over Europe and the US clocks are springing forward and falling back) eventually, I found this. Well, it is no longer 1916, WW1 is over and done, along with hobble skirts, suffragettes, and the notion of doffing your cap to anyone in a suit, and this whole time juggling thingy should also be consigned to history.

My kiddiwinks have an extra day off today, thanks to the public sector workers strike. Ironically, when Number Three Son went in to school earlier for a drama rehearsal he noticed half the catering staff had turned up for work unaware that the strike was being held today. Arthur Scargill would be spitting feathers at such complacency, in a former mining village too. Anyhow, as we have a free day, the munchkins and I are going to place called Wok Mania in a while. Apparently, it’s all you can eat for £5.

And now, another meme. I found this on Tuesday Twosome and thought I’d have a go.

1.Do you suffer from allergies? If so, name it/them: Yes, I’m allergic to onions of all things.

2.What two things does spring signify? Better weather, well in theory, new life.

3. Do you look forward to Spring? Why or why not? Yes, I hate winter, by the end of January I am looking out for the first signs that Spring is on the way.

4. What are two negatives about spring? Can’t think of anything.

5. Are you enjoying your current weather conditions? Why or why not? No, it’s quite warm, but incredibly windy, which plays havoc with my hair.

Listening to: the wind, it really is loud.

Good news! Number Two Son has returned safely from his visit to That London. He seems distinctly unimpressed by the whole experience. Trying to get details of the trip was something akin to pulling teeth, but I have managed to get some info, in a conversation which went like this:

Me: Where did you go?
N2S: The BBC and some museums
Me: That sounds interesting, which museums?
N2S: I’m not sure. Just museums.
Me: Did you meet any nice people?
N2S: Yes, but none of them spoke English

(It seems That London is now entirely populated with people from France, Japan and America.)

Me: But don’t Americans speak English?
N2S: Yes, kind of, but we didn’t speak to them anyway, they were old.

(This means they were about 30)

Even more good news! Stiltzkin arrived home yesterday morning, looking very disgruntled and extremely dirty. We still have no idea were he has been, but presumably no refreshments were offered because he ate two bowls of food in quick succession.

You’ll never guess who was driving the bus when I went to town on Thursday. Phil Jupitus So, now you know what he does of an afternoon. OK, so it wasn’t really him, but there was a remarkable similarity. I didn’t mention it, because a) he’s probably been told before and b) PJ may not be the sort of celeb anyone would want to be likened too. (Mind you, if he was that bothered he could have lessened the similarity by removing the beard. ) I suppose being told you looked like Mark Lamarr would be worse ‘ Hey you resemble an annoying, greasy haired twerp’ probably isn’t the sort of thing anyone wants to hear.

While in town, I bought some rather nice bulbs for the garden. Off the top of my head I can’t remember what they are. Crocosmia, some kind of lily, and something else, that’s about the best I can do without going and fetching the packets. The lily looks similar to the pic on the left, but white. Whatever they are they will be taking up residence in the front garden, in an area that is rapidly expanding. It started as a small flower bed next to the gate, and has grown by several feet. I can’t help it, I keep finding things I want to grow.

Listening to: Liverpool beat Everton 3-1 Gerard was sent off, very bad. Silly Philly (Neville) scored an own goal, very good.

Good morning Dear Reader. Today’s post is a little earlier than usual because I am heading into town to do some shopping, and maybe even have a spot of lunch. Before I begin, a quick announcement. You may notice the search thingy is missing, I’m afraid I had to remove it, it was driving me nuts. Or, more specifically the constant stream of emails it was sending me. You see, every time a search was made using the thingy, an email was sent to let me know. This sounded very useful in theory. In practice it was completely bloody annoying. All day yesterday these messages were coming in, and initially it seemed that there had been a sudden stampede of visitors all searching away merrily for terms that were already listed in the thingy. Guessing that a stampede was unlikely, I checked the site stats, and discovered none of these visitors were registering, regular readers were logged, but all these extra folk were nowhere to be seen. How mysterious. Invisible visitors. Maybe launching my blog into space had attracted a host of alien visitors. I pondered for a few moments over the possibility that I had become the subject of blogging’s equivalent of the Twilight Zone (doo doo do do) when the answer suddenly became obvious. The daft search thingy was logging search bots. Each time a bot visited, it was following the links in the search thingy, and this was registering as a search. Deciding that this rather defeated the object of having the thing in the first place I removed it. It is supposed to track the searches made by humans, not bots, who may be very cute but aren’t entitled to an opinion.

Our cat, Stiltzkin, is missing. He went out on Tuesday evening and hasn’t come home. It’s very worrying because usually he doesn’t go very far for very long, really it’s a case of nipping out, having a quick poo, and dashing back in. The good news is, we haven’t heard of any cats being run over. So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that he has got locked inside a shed or greenhouse and will return home hungry but unharmed. He will then be reintroduced to the litter tray he has been so reluctant to use and alfresco poos will be a thing of the past.

I’m not sure if I should say this in case I jinx the whole thing, but, I think Spring may finally have arrived. The weather over the last couple of days has been, well, distinctly Springlike. A bit chilly, but with clear blue skies, and hours of sunshine. It’s great! I have become so tired of what seemed to be an endless winter, it’s actually quite depressing. By this time of year you kind of expect the weather to improve, and when it doesn’t it throws you out of sync. I can’t wait to put away my winter woollies, and I have a really pretty pair of sandals I bought in the autumn sales I haven’t had a chance to wear. It’s definitely not sandal weather yet, but it’s heading in the right direction.

Well, now I must be off, have a great day

Listening to: birds twittering and the pesky bin men coming up the road making their usual racket.