just been reading Rob's missive on the toothbrush episode and have to admit to having had a similar incidentby finding myself staring at a lady's bottom in the communal toilets on the public campsite we were on this weekend. not that I've taken to regularly admiring other women's assetts (unlike Ms Emuss who seems to have become obsessed with mine...) but due to the fact that this particular lady was wearing pyjama's with Miffy on them.
Cow.
Now I want some.
and even worse that led me to search on the internet for some and have now found an expensive ebay outlet for my miffy obsession, selling not only pyjamas but also miffy bathmats, gym bags, duvets covers.... oh dear god where will it all end.

cats and the great escape

me, jess and millie are bonding - not unlike some others this afternoon looking at another blog. and we're appreciated the quality tv (well a bit of it). Plus I weeded, and washed.

good end to a top weekend!

ok ok

so I'm kind of getting used to the odd dead bird and mouse, I accept it's a part of nature and all that. We also had words over the live bird that pooed all over my carpet.... but I draw the line at a live bat. Gee thanks guys. And I think it was Jess as well who brought it in. Sly fox that she is, acting all sweet, innocent so I blame Millie for it all.

So I picked it up in a tissue, set it outside and locked the catflap (officially "grouding" the two of them) to give it a chance to recover and escape, which it eventually did. Jess sat headbutting the catflap for at least 20 minutes! I'm considering installing a "naughty corner" or a "reflection room" like on supernanny.

me too....!

Given that I was born at 9.05am on the 25th (or thereabouts), first on the list for the days Cezarian ops.... the below kind of makes me wonder what day I should have been born naturally, cos this sure ain't me!!! Possibly the 27th?

Your Birthdate: May 25

Your birth on the 25th day of the month (7 energy) modifies your life path by giving you some special interest in technical, scientific, or other complex and often hard to understand subjects. You may become something of a perfectionist and a stickler for details. Your thinking is logical and intuitive, rational and responsible. Your feelings may run deep, but you are not very likely to let them show. This birthday makes you a more private person, more introspective and perhaps more inflexible. In friendships you are very cautious and reserved. You are probably inventive, and given to unique approaches and solutions.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

3 barbeque's in one weekend is too much, even for someone with as strong a constitution as me. I'm stuffed, I'm knackered, and stroppy and basically not a pleasant person to be around today.

photos

oooohhhh... I'm so proud of myself - photos ahoy!!!!

today I will mostly be completely knackered. I seem to have lost all energy and am struggling even more than usual to get out of bed in the mornings. Oh for another week off, and for a weekend which wasn't filled with various BBQ committments.

a hard habit to break....

Well it was a really successful Sagga Camp.

The weather was variable but good on the days when it mattered, ie. The day we walked along some of Hadrian’s Wall. It is a lovely site that we stayed on and having the indoor facilities was a real bonus, without really detracting from the Sagga camp feel – the indoor marquee was just as messy as the outside one would have been, and the only real difference being you didn’t have a constant nagging fear that you would be hit on the head by an errant tilly-lamp succumbing to gravity!
The kitchen facilities were a real bonus, and despite the odd “issue” arising, it led to a much more relaxed and less antagonistic cooking experience. The fact that you couldn’t have too many people in the kitchen at once probably helped, and also not having to bend down or sit on tiny stools to cook eggy bread for 80 made a big difference to those with aging bones (including myself on this one!). The change also removed a few of those necessary but ultimately irritating rules about the position of flasks and the eternal rinsing debate. But before we all start freaking out…. It was good to know that some things remained….. so in summary –

Lost for this year
- Flasks – up or down? Who knows who cares..
- Rinsing –do you or don’t you?

No chance of losing these….
- To bang the pan lid/ring the bell in the morning or not to? (Surely the old people are so deaf they won’t hear it anyway)
- Porridge –salt or not? (Who cares, it’s tastes like shit either way)
- The numerous eating disorders seem to be multiplying, with Mr J’s inability to eat concrete causing no end of culinary challenges.

Hey look it’s some new ones…
- String on squash bottles. Why? If it tastes too strong, it’s probably not diluted!
- Just because a man is wearing a suit doesn’t always mean he knows what he’s talking about
- Forget colour coded plate stacking, lets get into “adult plates” and “children’s plates” – except it doesn’t work when you have adults with tweenies and miffy plates……
- The phantom early morning bottle-recyler – who’s the culprit?

Anyway, I digress. It was great to see so many ex-SSAGO people and they all worked bloody hard. I tried not to work as usual and spent most of my work day falling over in the mud rather than actually shifting it. The dancing on the Friday night was a bit of a risk but it paid off, with only a few not joining in. Heather and I experienced the basketing skills of Hugh and Swedish Scout number 1 (or was it 2?) which led to a near shoe-flying incident and aching arm-pits the next day – that took me back to SSAGO rallies of old!

So in all a great camp and I’m looking forward to Sweden next year. Looks like quite a few people are keen to go which will make it a real laugh. Perhaps we can rent a big red bus and drive it over there, Cliff Richard style…

camping!

Back from a bloomin' brilliant weekend in the Gower with Paul. We went to a huge public campsite in port eynon which overlooked the sea, excellent view and a quiet spot possibly the furthest you could get away from the toilets (and therefore the screaming kids...). Didn't do much for my bladder though - holding it all in until the last mintue!

Paul and I seem to be compatible on the views on camping - which is a refreshing change. he even managed to carry out karen's role of getting up and making me a cuppa and bacon sandwich in the morning. Sorry karen, you're surplus to requirements now! Having pitched the tent we downed a bottle of wine, then started on another as the first seemed to ahve gone down too well without any impact - unfortunately we hadn't tried to stand up by this point adn the econd bottle certainly had it's effect when we tried to stand up to go to bed....
We went on a walk to Rhossili on the Sat - the weather was warm but cloudy so I made my usual mistake of no suncream - and now have a seriously burnt face and have taken 2 days to get over the heat exhaustion! Chilled out sat evening then went to the beach on the sunday. really relaxing and a good start to a week off!

now just packing manically before heading off for a ridiculously long drive to sagga camp...... :-( will be worth it when i get there....

reading everyone's blogs it seems like the entire world is camping, except me. Very frustrating, but this time next week I will be residing in a tent up north, no doubt sporting a lurvely pair of wellies and a mac, wishing I was at home in front of my PC. So it all comes to those who wait. I'm really looking forward to my week off, work is quite exhausting really, and it's a wee bit stressful at times. Starting a new job is great, and I like the people and the company, but it will be nice to have a week where the hot topic of the day is not disciplinaries and absence, but rather "what time do you need to get up to put the porridge on" and "do we put out 2 packets of bourbons at elevensies or do we go for the safer option of 1 packet of bourbons and one packet of Nice biscuits"... ah the dilemmas......

Before speeding up north i'm hopefully going to spend a couple of days in south wales, which should be fun. Good to get some time away with the man, and see a bit of the sea. The programme Coast on BBC2 keeps telling me that you're only 72 miles (or soemthing like that) away from a coast, I'm sure Cheltenham must be that mid-point. It would be great to live by the sea.... fresh air, knotted hankies, seagulls, fish and chips, what more can you want.


On a completely different note, my slacker use of a laptop, without proper keyboard, over the past 4 months has finally taken it's toll and I seem to have developed really painful wrists. No dodgy comments please, this really does bloody hurt! I've got msyelf a proper keyboard now and wrist support but it's been a real shocker to me. I guess it's not so much the actual pain, it's the fact that, in my mind, this means I'm now starting to suffer from "old people's" complaints. This isn't the sort of thing young people deal with, it's the thin end of the wedge, soon it'll be varicose veins, ringing in the ears, creaky hips.... oh god my mind is going overtime.... I've gone to the dogs..... help me i'm melting.....