My throats a bit sore today... no where near as bad as Porls head though.

Well done Steven Gerrard for sleeping with the trophy last night. I think I'd have done that too.

Now I just need Sheffield Wednesday to have the same luck on Sunday in their play-off against Hartlepool, then I'll be an extremely happy girl.

Is BBC3 trying to stop people having kids?
Tonights viewing was "The House of Tiny Tearaways", then "Desperate Midwives".

I can't watch Desperate Midwives, but I find The House of Tiny Tearaways quite interesting. I like Child Psychology, and I'm sure most people must watch it thinking "God what awful kids", I watch it thinking "God what awful parents".
I know I'm not a parent, but I've looked after enough kids over the years because of Mum's child-minding, my baby-sitting, oh and let's not forget those 50 or so kids with disabilities and Challenging Behaviour on the Playscheme. So I think I've got a fairly good idea of what makes children tick and how to handle them, even when they're kicking, screaming, biting and beyond reason.

Thankfully the advice the parents are given is what I'd do anyway.
It's relatively simple.
1. Remember who's in charge (the grown up, not the kid.)
2. Mean what you say. (Porl learnt the hard way. "You can hit me as much as you like it won't hurt." So the kid hit him as much as he liked.)
3. If a kid does something wrong explain why it's wrong.
4. Followed by the Playscheme mantra "It's the action that's bad, not the child."
5. Shower you kids with affection, (not money). Never let them go to sleep thinking they're not loved.
6. Respect them as people.
7. Show them Eddie Izzard from a young age. Make them believe it's all true. (Daddy is friends with the bees. Cats go to Jazz Clubs behind the sofa.)

Hopefully one day soon we'll be able to put this into practise (and try to stick to it). I think the offspring of Porl and I will be ace. Warped, but ace.

However if I see anymore than the 30 seconds I caught of Desperate Midwives there will be no little Celeste's or Porl's to experiment with.

Gonzo's eyes both continue to twinkle, and the magpie continues to swoop and cackle at him.

I'm going to have to take extra care to make sure Gonzo is in at night, otherwise that Magpie is going to be waking me up in the mornings.

The photos are very bad quality, but it was getting dark, (and I was doing my chav impression stood in the back garden in my pyjama bottoms... they're comfy, and I'd just spilt coffee all over my trousers)
I'm sure they'll be plenty of opportunities to take some better pictures over the next few weeks.

Dash it Obby! Dash it! It twinkled! I like twinkling things!

Magpie - The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew.

We may have a problem. Gonzo has a new favourite perch on top of our shed/storage thing in the garden. Unfortunatly a Magpie has decided to build it's nest in the tree directly above Gonzo's perch. The nest is about 4-5 foot above where Gonzo sits, he's far too heavy to be able to get up there, but we have one very irate Magpie who has spent the day lunging and diving at Gonzo trying to scare him away.
Let's hope Gonzo's eyes don't twinkle too much...

The weekend was quiet. Mum and Dad came up on Friday to do some DIY, then Jimmy and Robin came up Friday night we drank beer and had a silly game of Balderdash (not that it's possible o have a sensible game of Balderdash). I also slept a lot, read a little, and started crocheting a new bag.

Who needs expensive Noro yarn, when you can get 20p balls of yarn from Charity shops that work up like this!

It's quite fluffly, and using a 4mm hook it's working up quite firm, I'm having to feel where to put my hook in, because I can see any gaps. The finished result is great, almost like it's been felted. I'm not sure how tall it will be, probably about the same height again, I'll just keep going until I run out.

Work today has made me feel a bit more comfortable as I've found out what my new role will be. I was basically given a choice between working in Customer Service, Accounts, or Operations. As I hate customers, and have never worked in Accounts, I went with Operations. Which is what I wanted to do anyway. Now I get to process orders, sort out faults, and shout at BT and YC a lot, and not have to speak to customers. I'll also be the only female in a team of men which is how I like it. Women are wierd!

Finally we had Drama this evening!
Porl came downstairs asking what the beep beep beeping was. He thought it was on the telly, I thought it was a car alarm. After a minute or so of trying to work out where it was coming from he shouted "call the fire brigade it's next door!"
He'd seen smoke coming from the vent next door, but no windows or doors were open so we thought they were out. I phoned the Fire Brigade, while I was on the phone to them the neighbour came out, and smoke was billowing out of the door. I tried to tell them it was okay, but the Fire Engines were on their way already.
Her dinner needed 20 minutes to cook, but she'd left it in for 2 hours. The house was full of smoke. The fire engines arrived, we apologised and explained it was a bit of a false alarm, but they checked everything out and used big industrial fans to clear the smoke for her. They left then I had a chat with her and calmed her down. I was shaking like a leaf, and she was crying. Thankfully there's no lasting damage, and I understand her a little better.
That makes 3 times in 2 years that we've had to call the fire brigade. That must be way above average. I'd like to not have to do it again for many many years.

Hurrah for the return of pictures. It's all been getting too dull around here lately. So now we have pictures to illustrate my weekend, and a new design is hopefully on its way soon.

Had a relatively productive weekend. Yesterday I went to town to collect an Amazon package (CSS and HTML books, also a new Naked Lunch for Porl), while I was there I got around to joining the library (the rest of the books shown, 3 on the history of Tameside, 1 on crochet, and a great one on wirework.) Then I had a quick look around the charity shops in search of double ended needles. Failed, but did manage to get a couple of patterns, and some great yarn all for the grand sum on 60p. I gave them a £1. I'm not sure what type of yarn it is, but the colours are great, it goes from pink-purple-dark blue-purple-pink-purple. It's quite fluffy too, I think I might be using my re-found knitting skills to make a bag. The patterns are for a non-70's jumper, and a Mr Bean teddy bear. I hate Mr Bean, but I do like teddy bears. Which bring me onto the newly washed Donbit, doing his Marvin impression. He is sporting the latest in next winters fashion, hand knitted hats with knitting needles and paper clips in the top. He doesn't look happy, but I'm dead chuffed with this. I've got as far as I can with the circular needles, hence my hunt for the double pointed ones. Shelly I need your help. Fancy meeting for a drink at some point? Or I might just find somewhere online and by my own set of circulars and DPN's, I can see than getting a lot of use in the future.

Today Porl and I went for a walk, the paper has been advertising "Tulip Day" at Stamford Park, a kids fun day, with craft stalls, and a free tulip for all. We've not been to Stamford Park yet, so it seemed like a good opportunity to find out where it was. Well we found the park... eventually... but we never found "Tulip Day". We were only walking for an hour, but since getting the office job it's the most I've walked in months, my legs were like jelly by the time I got to the car.

When we got home I spent some time in the garden. Hopefully in a few weeks time we'll have some cut-and-come-again lettuce, also rocket & coriander. That is if the slugs don't have it, or if Gonzo doesn't use it as a litter tray, as I caught him trying with one of the other pots! Bloody cat!

Back to Alderley Edge tomorrow. I've found another thing good about it, the Newsagents has the largest collection of Craft mags I've ever seen! Hence the Simply Knitting Magazine. It's dangerous on my pocket though, and it's still MILES away!

2 days into the new job. First (and second impressions). It's MILES away! It takes me about an hour and a quarter in the morning, and an hour at night, I work longer hours, and the office is boiling, they're also stricter with the internet access. On the plus side, the people are nice, my TFT monitor is gorgeous, Alderley Edge is quite pretty, with posh charity shops, a craft shop and a cheese shop.

The biggest problem though (after the distance) is that I'm not entirely sure what my role is. Before I was Customer Services/Sales Admin/Order Processing/General Skivy Person. This company has a Customers Services Department, and Opps do all the Admin and Order Processing. Which leaves me with General Skivy. So whereas before when the Sales Guys annoyed me with their inane questions and their Peck-Peck-Pecking I would take so much, and then tell them to do it themselves, now it seems it's my job. I'm not particularly happy about this. But we're still getting set up, I haven't had any training in any of the systems yet, I haven't even worked out where the departments are yet, so we'll see. Hopefully over the weekend someone will invent teleporters and I'll figure out what I'm meant to be doing there.

In other news. I met up with Shelley on Monday. She's set me off making a hat. Last time I knitted anything other than a square was when I was 7, but the knitting skills seem to be resurfacing from the depths, as I'm finding it quite easy, so long as I don't try to talk and knit, then I get confused and knit bits which should be purls. It was so nice to be able to chat to someone about crafty things without them thinking I was a freak. I'm not sure the other people in the pub thought that though, we did get a few peculiar looks when we were knitting.

Last night was the Craft Club again. I got let off work early so I could get some tea before heading up there. It was our last week of card making. I was so tired I half thought of giving it a miss, but I'm glad I decided to do. A couple of hours playing at cut-and-stick and all my stressed dissolved. I'd take some pictures of what I made, but I'm exhausted. Instead I'm going to curl up on the settee with my knitting, and watch the man with the nice voice on Grand Designs.

Hmm, silly Blogger. Usually it plays quite nicely for me, but it's being annoying tonight. Earlier it posted something twice, so I deleted one of them, but it crashed halfway through. I came back home and there were still 2 posts, so I deleted one, and now both have gone. Nevermind it wasn't very enlightening anyway.

We've just got back from seeing Hitchhikers. In the 9 years of living in Ormskirk I think I must have been to the cinema about 6 times. It was just too awkward and too far to get to. Now we have a cinema 10 minutes away, so we're trying to go more often. I'm always horrified at the price though, when I used to go regularly it was £1.50. Now it's £5.40.

Anyway Hitchhikers was good. I didn't like Zaphod, but then I never did in the books either. The soundtrack was ace, but I love anything Neil Hannon has a hand in. Marvin was a little bit too Japanese, but I'd still like a knitted one. I don't want to say much more, it's only just been released and I hate it when people spoil films for me by blabbering on about them.

Decided to do some late night gardening when I came home, dead-heading the daffodils. I discovered why they looked so tatty so quickly, the slugs have been eating them. They were covered! So I got the salt out and killed them all.
What a nice vegetarian I am.
I hate slugs. My love of walking barefoot means I've trod on too many slugs in my life, and I'd be happy if every last one of them died a horrible shrivelling death. There were a few snails around too. I don't mind snails (although I really get the shivers when I tread on them.) They were pulled off the plants too, and pointed (thrown) in the direction of the neighbours garden. Maybe they'll eat all their dandelions.

The Week from Hell continues, and just to make it more exciting my hormones have joined in the party too.
I have managed to resist snapping at customers, however the boys at work have born the brunt of my temper instead. As the week has drawn on they have begun to tread more carefully around me, especially when asking complicated questions like "How are you this morning?"

I've had to be a bit cryptic about what's been going on this week. Partly because I didn't know, but also because it's work related and the bits I did know were secrets. But basically the company is being bought out, and while I was pretty sure my job was safe I couldn't be certain. I've found out more today, and it's all moving incredibly quickly.

Tomorrow I have to go to the new company to meet everyone. This is scary. I hate first days at work, and we all have to make a good impression. My current job has a very relaxed atmosphere, jeans and t-shirts on a Friday, and only slightly smarter the rest of the week, for the 2 years before as a Support Worker I wore scruffy clothes, as I was never sure what bodily fluids would be on them at the end of the day. I've kept meaning to buy some smart clothes, but I hate shopping, so I've been putting it off. The lads were all talking about buying suits tonight, so after work thought I'd best go shopping. I went to Asda (it's cheap, it has things I like, and I don't care about labels) I wanted a black cardigan, and some black pumps. But they're not fashionable, so there weren't any. Instead I got a crocheted brown cardy, and some brown shoepolish to make my trainers look less scruffy. Not as smart as I'd intended, but at least my smart facade won't have as far to fall once they get to know me.

I got home just after 7, hungry and grumpy, and had to cancel meeting Shell again because it was so late. I've spent the evening polishing shoes and shouting at politicians on telly... quite theraputic actually.

Oh, my new place of work is Barrington House... and Danny Marsh works there too.
(If you're from the Ormskirk area you'll find this hilarious... if you're not, well I can't be bothered explaining. Night night.)

Rubbish day.
I hate money. I hate struggling to get by each month. I hate that when you got to the bank to try to sort it out they won't help you because you haven't got enough. "Sorry we can't help you in that way. Why don't you do this instead? It's 3 times more expensive, but we don't care!" Grrr

I also hate my work not being valued. Too angry to even form words about that one though.

And to top the day off I've found out we haven't had any buildings and contents insurance since we moved here, because Royal Mail are useless, the insurance company are useless (and okay, I got totally confused with Direct Debits and failed to notice that it hadn't been set up.) Thankfully that's sorted now.

Back to work tomorrow... lets hope no customers try to get narky with me or I might just lose my rag... or cry...

Woooooooo!

Finally it's done! Now I can relax.

In other good news... My computer is alive! It's been switched on for about 6 hours now and it hasn't turned itself off!

That's enough exclamation marks for one post.

The weekend has been ace. I spent Saturday afternpoon pottering around the garden, putting some plants in, and repotting the pots of herbs. Then Robin and Jimmy showed up, we ate, we drank rum and we moaned about telly being rubbish. Then we cursed our DVD player for being little more than an expensive dust catcher. It's extremely tempremental, but as Porl has a DVD player on his PC, and I rarely watch films we've never bothered buying a decent one. We should really though.

Today we did the usual Sunday Lunch thing. While it was cooking I cut the grass and tidied the patio up a bit. Not as well as I wanted to though, because Stupid Me has gone and lost the keys to my bike lock, so unless I can either find the keys, or I make friends with a burglar, my bike is permanently fastened to the garden bench. The lock is made of toughened steel, and the bench was my Grandads, so I'm not going to be hacksawing through either of them except as an extreme last resort. After lunch and digestion, Jimmy helped me put the new power supply in my PC, then they headed home (taking the scenic route; they took a wrong turning and got lost in Manchester City Centre.) Then I decided to have one final stab at the Shirokuma site. 4 hours, and a lot of cursing later it's done, and online. Feedback/Error Checking appreciated.

Day off tomorrow. I was supposed to be doing practical things, but as I've not organised any of them I'll just have to see what the day brings.

I'm sooo tired!! I went to town this morning for a wander. It was so windy. I think the combination of exercise and wind blowing my breath away is what has made me tired.

I got another power supply and had a chat with the guy in the computer shop. He suspects it's probably the motherboard too. I'll put the new power supply in this week at some point and if it still doesn't work I'll take it down the them to sort out... or give it Jimmy...

Also had a wander around the charity shops, picked up a couple of books, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", which I've never read, and "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" which I've read numerous times, but I've lost my copy. Also bought a load of singles;

Pepsi & Shirlie - Goodbye Stranger
The Real Thing - You To Me Are Everything
Chris DeBurgh - The Lady in Red
Huey Lewis & The News - Stuck with You
Sister Sledge - Frankie

I know my music taste is a little peculiar, but don't worry, I've not bought them to listen to, (I've already got the mp3's,) I haven't a record player anyway, I'm going to turn these into bookends.

I've also put the new Shirokuma site online, not in the proper place yet though, I need to check things first. The first thing I noticed once it was online was that most of the apostrophies have turned into Control Characters. Haven't a clue why, but it means I've got a lot of checking to do.
If anyone wants to offer constructive criticism, it's online here I know the photos page is wrong, I'm going to get that right now, and I think I've uploaded the wrong stylesheet for the lyrics & album info pop-ups, oher than that, and any wayward apostrophies it should be okay. Let me know.

Actually I might go and spend half an hour in the garden before doing anymore webstuff. I've got plants that need putting in.

Aaaannnd Relax.....

I'm so pleased it's Friday, and I'm even more pleased I've got Monday off. My thoughts are making be crave a Crunchie Bar.

This week has been hard. I was going to trying writing something to keep this regular updating flow going. But I can't really be bothered... it would mean forming thoughts, and that seems too much like hard work just now.

I have wine, I have a belly full of Stew and Dumplings (comfort food made by the wonderful Porl), I'm clean, and in my cosiest clothes. I'm on the verge of falling asleep, but won't yet.

I think I'll do some web design work, the big question is what to put on the telly while I do it. Angel or The Box of Delights?

Came home from work early today, I was feeling really hot and queasy, (queazy? oh my brain isn't working.) Thankfully I'd got no work to do, so I didn't feel guilty about asking Lisa if I could come home early. Went straight to bed and slept for a few hours. When I woke I was starving, so had some cornflakes, felt okay, so Porl made scrambled egg on toast, but now I feel terrible again. It's probably stress/nerves about the impending job chaos. I don't know...

Last night was the first meeting of the Craft Club. All went well, everyone was really friendly, not many people my age, but it was far better than staying at home watching Eastenders. I made a decoupaged wedding card, and had a play at heat embossing which I've never done before. The best bit was the joy of raiding someone else's crafty stash. I felt like a kid in a toy shop. Looking forward to next week.

Now I'm off to raid the yarn bin, because tomorrow night I'm meeting up with Shell for the first time. She's going to help me master knitting.
How adventurous am I getting? Going out twice in a week!

Gah! Just spent the last half hour at work (lunch break) annoying myself with this Flash game. The Crimson Room. It's seems I'm only of "normal" intelligence because I've only found 9 objects and I'm still stuck in the bloody room. I can see this may be annoying me for a while.

Craft club tonight, vaguely nervous, but trying to ignore that bit... it will be good... it will, it will, it will... Annoyingly Shell can't come for the first few weeks, so I'll have to be brave and face them alone.
I used to be outgoing and gregarious, I used to speak to random people in clubs and round the fountain (down the ro-o-o-ad... sorry random pulp reference.) What happened? Surely growing up makes you more confident, not reclusive.
But I will do this. I will go, make friends and it will all be good... until in 6 weeks time when I have to do my teaching slot. Arghhhh.

So tired today, stayed up late writing emails to random people. Another cousin has been in touch, 8th cousin, 27 times removed, or something daft, but it's still interesting and sparked me off looking for things again, but without my PC I'm a bit stuck.

I swear when I get my computer working I WILL back up EVERYTHING.

I'm procrastinating.
I have to get Mark's website done, but the whole PC not working thing has really put a dampener on my day.
Earlier today I was looking at the other two sites I've been working on. They both look really washed out and boring. I nearly deleted them there and then, but managed to resist that temptation. They're going to need a rethink though. I need inspiration. I've order some books from Amazon, HTML Pocket Reference, and CSS Pocket Reference. I decided to buy some updated references when I realized that my most useful Webdesign book was published in 1996. It covers tables, touches on Javascript, and waxes lyrical about Scrolling Marquee and Blink tags. So pretty rubbish really. The new books won't be here for another 2 weeks, so I think I'll get the Shirokuma site done then forget about websites for a while.

I've got a general lack of enthusiasm for everything at the moment. Mainly because work is really really cheesing me off. I try not to talk about work here because I can never be sure who's reading, but I need to vent.
The company is going through some complicated changes, and I'm not feeling particularly secure. However if on Monday I found out I no longer had a job I wouldn't be too upset (except for the panic about bills, mortgage, eating etc.) I'm really not enjoying office work. I miss the freedom of shifts, I miss the ability to earn extra money, I miss sitting around reading books with Lizzie and drinking coffee. But mostly I hate that instead of being paid to support and care for people, now I'm paid to help other people make money.
Not exactly the fulfilling life I'd pictured for myself.
I keep scanning the papers for NHS Support Worker posts, but nothing has come up, well I've seen one, but I'd need a sex change. None NHS doesn't pay as well, or have the benefits, so I'd only do them as a second job.
I'll keep hoping that work gets better, or something else come up, I'm not one for giving up on a job, no matter how grim it gets. The other problem is that if I was to leave I'd feel unbelievably guilty about leaving people in the lurch. Oh for an easy life.

Anyway rant over. Very sorry.

On a positive note Porl found an Angel Box set in Morrisons today. Season 3, part 2, but it only cost £4.99!
Guess what I'm watching.

Grrrr I hate computers.
I finally got around to going in the loft to get the spare power supply so that I could fix my computer. I was quite pleased with myself when I found the note in the box that said "I work! I'm the power supply from Celeste's old PC case." How very organised of me.
So I put the PC back together, and it worked 1st time (5 geek points for me). Next I rearranged the dining room area so that I had a comfortable workspace, where I might enjoy sitting while I worked on websites.
Finally at 6pm I was able to sit down and start working.
6.15pm the PC turned itself off again.
... ... ... ... ...
I think the mother board is drawing too much power.
So I unplugged the CD-rom drives, the second HDD, just leaving the 1 HDD plugged in which has all the data on it.
But the bloody machine won't turn on at all now!
So I'm back on the laptop.

I'm going to have to buy a new motherboard aren't I Jimmy?

I might start a campaign to bring back chalk and blackboards.

Oh, and what a surprise, Politicians lie.

When the Weather Forecast tonight said "snow on high ground" I thought they meant in Scotland.
Not here, now, in the middle of April!

I don't think I'm going to get the garden done this weekend.

Bourbons!!!!
I have just had my first bourbon in months.
I'm a happy girl.

Thanks to a tip off from the appropriately named hot milk with cookies,(thankyou so much, I owe you a drink, or bourbons, or something.) Porl and I went on an expedition tonight to find the Morrisons in Dukinfield. With A-Z in hand, it took just 2 three-point-turns, and a realization that the place marked "supermarket" on the map was probably where we wanted to be.
Thankfully we were both relieved that the Dukinfield Morrisons is better than the Ormskirk Morrisons, which opened just after we left and is reportedly rubbish. It's closer than Asda and cheaper than Tesco's so we'll probably go there regularly.
I can't believe I'm talking about supermarkets. I need to get out more.

This weekend I'm looking forward to staying in and pottering though. The grass needs cutting, also now I've realized I'm not allergic to Stainless Steel I want to make some earrings. Lastly I'm determind to get at least 1 of the websites on the list done. At the moment Mark's, my craft site, and this one all have half finished redesigns, and Danny has asked if I can do something new, but I haven't even thought about that yet.
If I was getting paid I'd be busy enough to make a living out of this!

I've been looking through my referalls.
A few notes.

To the people searching for the following;

Cheese parcel up
gore vidal on brett easton Ellis
sewing machine "won't turn on"
munchkin cats sites with webcams

Sorry, haven't a clue.

Since the Bourbon Biscuit post my traffic has trebled. I'm obviously not the only one with a Bourbon addiction, but I'm quite chuffed that typing Bourbon Biscuit Shortage into Google, lists me at no.1. If anyone finds any let me know.

gonzo knitting - I wish! He could teach me then.
run down houses pictures manchester - Seen lots, not got any pictures though.
glory holes manchester - Again, got lots, but no pictures.

Apologies to the person who typed this into Google.

iv got a pain on my lower left hand side of my belly

Seeing the following probably didn't make you feel any better

manic kitty
... afternoon I'd got a nagging pain in the lower left hand side of my belly. ...
The doctors gave her 4 months to live, that was nearly 2 years ago. ...
www.coastaltown.nildram.co.uk/2003_09_01_archives.html - 29k - 10 Apr 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

I promise they were 2 completely seperate incidents about different people. Google just decided to combine them.

The person searching for COASTALBLOG. I think you want Matt, he's here

Finally, the Nicky Wire fan who lives vaguely near here going by the name Manic Kitty.
She isn't me.
Neither is this person.

Most people, with names like Jane, or Sarah, or Paul will know of tens, hundreds, maybe thousands of people with their name.

I can think of 3 people called Celeste.

The actress Celeste Holme, there's a character in an American Teen show about Witches or Vampires or something, and lastly there's the girl I briefly met in a training seminar in London.

If I see, or hear my name I assume it's refering to me, and it almost always is. Which means I've just spent a long time reading those posts just checking I've not aquired split personalities who are posting while I sleep. An unusual thought but it would explain the tiredness.

So tired, can't think straight, must sleep.

Saturday was ace. Went to Ormskirk for Alex's Birthday and Robin's Welcome home. Gin was consumed, songs were sung, people were talked too, (or at as the gin kicked in), fantasic veggie lasagne was eaten, and a great night all round was had. We wandered back "home" through the woods at 6 in the morning, I felt like I'd regressed 3/4 years. I loved it.

Sunday was not so ace. I was a poorly girl. Everyone was going to Matt's poetry reading at the Walker Art Gallery. I again bailed due to the poorlyness, and the fact I was still drunk. My wonderful friends let me stay in bed and I slept till about 5.

Matt I am so very very sorry! I will make it to a reading...one day.

This evening I went over to meet one of the Craft Club ladies in Hattersley. They've bought loads of beads and wire, and wanted to know what else they should buy. I'm getting excited about it again, still nervous, but less so now that I've got a plan in mind. The first meeting is in 2 weeks time. Luckily we've a few weeks of card making and glass painting before I do beading, so I should get chance to know people.

Lastly, I've a new obsession flickr. How could I have missed this for so long? I love other peoples photos. I'm spending hours looking through the groups.