The longest day.............Part 2

Despite the conspicuous lack of sun, on this the longest day, I am feeling a karmic connection with the whole summer solstice thing.

This may have something to do with the fact that PP's former brother-in-law (aka Greywolf) is Chief of the British Druid Order, and will therefore have performed a pivotal role in the summer solstice rituals at Stonehenge.

Yes really.

I kid you not.

You want proof?

OK, HERE it is..........

*hint* He's the one in the wolf cloak.

The longest day.............

So we are now past the mid-point of the year, and the longest day is upon us. From now on there is the inexorable slide into ever-shortening days and before we know it, it'll be only a few weeks till Christmas.

*barely repressed shudder*

However, despite the glowering grey skies outside, there are hopefully another 3 months of summer in which to revel, and we haven't had our holiday yet either, so woohoo!

Today got off to a good start, thanks to the truly wonderful Freecycle. Someone in Hastings was giving away a selection of china paints, of which we were the lucky recipients.

There then followed a brief period of displacement activity, before guilt kicked in and I decided that instead of faffing about for the whole day, I should really spend at least a few hours in the workroom, where several orders are awaiting my attention, not least a selection of pullalong toys including a giraffe, baby rhino and elephant calf.

And yes, I did make some progress on them, until I got distracted by an idea which has been fermenting in my brain for a while.........a pullalong dodo. So I have spent an amusing hour or two creating a rather supercilious dodo, wearing a frankly ridiculous hat, which is not helping to improve its mood at all. It has therefore developed an unflattering sneering curl to its bill.

I still have to finish it off and made the wheeled platform etc, but when it's done I'll post a picture. Of course I will only be able to make one at a time so that I can legitimately claim that it's the only one.

Displacement Sunday..........

And so my impromptu weekend of displacement activity continues. However thus far today I have been marginally more productive than I was yesterday.

Not in a cleaning the house, weeding the garden, cutting the lawn, tackling a kiln-load of soft cleaning, productive way.

No.

No by no nonny no.

Nothing quite so useful.

Instead, I have been creating a new blog, which I was intending to keep under wraps for a little while, but after discussing it with the co-author, we have decided to reveal it to a very select group of people.

You!

So if you wish to view the result of my displacement activity this morning..........

Diplacement Saturday.........Part 2

Thus far, Displacement Saturday is going very nicely thank you.

Have just polished off two warm pancakes with maple syrup and am settling down in front of my laptop with a fresh cup of tea, as large grey, rain-laden clouds gather over a previously cloudless blue sky.

My first feast of displacement comes in the form of one of Small Dog's daily emails, related to Yorkshire Terriers and all their activities.

Yes, SD receives at least one Yorkie-related email a day in order to keep fully up to date with the latest fashion news, travel tips etc.

They're not always as slick as this one though...........

Displacement Saturday...............Part 1

This last week has been a doozer..........but not in a good way.

A whole series of unfortunate events punctuated the week including, in no particular order:

• My spending a whole morning at A&E with a suspected DVT, confirmed by a positive D-Dimer blood test, but subsequently ruled out by an ultrasound scan. So evidence of clotting activity but no clot where the pain was. To be fair, I was seen pretty damn quick, with none of that hokey cokey,' in-out-in-out-wait- a -while- about' nonsense. It was standing room only in the waiting room and it seemed as if half of Hastings had come to A&E purely for a day out, nursing what looked like ridiculously minor, trivial injuries. Doesn't anyone know how to do first aid any more?
• PP has 'done her back' and is walking around like a crab, rattling with painkillers, unable to bend, stretch or lift anything.
  
• Small Dog traumatised by visit to vet, where she had her claws clipped, ear canals plucked and annual booster injection.....much to her clearly expressed disgust. Luckily we all escaped with only minor flesh wounds which didn't require a visit to A&E. She has also had an upset tummy all week, with predictably gooey consequences, and as PP can't bend, stretch or lift anything, it has fallen to me to perform the required decontamination procedures and wash SD's nether regions each time she returns from a dash to the garden.
  
• Campervan failed its MOT which means it has to go to the motor equivalent of A&E next week for extensive surgery which will cost us an arm and leg.
• My fantastic Ipod dock speaker system died suddenly last night, just two months out of warranty. I suspect it's the internal power unit. Visited some user forums on the net to discover that any number of other people have had the same problem, many of them within the warranty period. However the company's website is offline and apparently emails, letters, phone calls are all going unanswered. Further digging revealed that the company was bought out in May of this year and it is impossible to contact the new owner. Bugger!
• For the first time in my life I have a dreadful case of hay fever. It's so bad that I can't breathe properly, despite taking maximum doses of anti-histamines.

I'm sure there have been other 'challenges' but that's enough to be going on with.

So I hereby declare today to be Displacement Saturday and intend to do absolutely nothing practical, useful or work-related, and instead dedicate myself to faffing about with mindless diverting trivia.

So there.

Nit-picking pernickity...........

Finally making some inroads into my epic To Do lists, both personal and business which is somewhat relieving my stress levels.

I've been working on a new toy pram kit today, making a components list and starting on the instructions.
I always approach instruction writing with a great deal of trepidation, as producing clear, unambiguous, easy to understand directions is both an art and a science and not to be undertaken lightly.

I can't be the only person regularly completely stumped by incomprehensible instructions seemingly originally written in Mandarin Chinese then translated into English by way of Swahili, Urdu and Inuit, losing clarity at each stage. Anything 'flat pack' is especially bad for this.

I like clear, numbered, step by step instructions, preferably accompanied by an uncluttered diagram, telling me exactly what I need to do, and what I need to enable me to do it. My heart sinks when I read something like.......

"Attach sub-section A to pre-assembled assembly D using a 7/16"positronic reversible widget (not supplied). Ensure that you remove the self-tapping rotating flange cap first......."

Or words to that effect.

However, so far so good. I've made diagrams and everything so I am well chuffed.

In other news, Small Dog has taken to her bed, feigning illness so that she won't need to go to the vet.

Great idea..............

Yorkie longevity..............

Came across THIS heart-warming tale earlier and felt it was worth sharing.

In other news, our very own Small Dog is currently in a mighty huff as one of the tasks on my 'To Do' list for today was to make an appointment for her at the V.E.T. to have her annual booster injection, which has now been done and ticked off the list.

Hence tomorrow afternoon she will be literally dragged across the threshold of the vet's surgery for a quick check-up and vaccination. Hopefully this will be successfully accomplished within her brief 'goodwill period' which extends from the point at which she is placed on the examination table, right up until the needle hoves into view.

Our vet is a lovely chap, as are all the others in the practice, and she is undoubtedly much better behaved with him now than she used to be. But when she decides she's had enough it's everyone man/woman for themselves and PP and I have to grab an end each and hold on for dear life.

I usually draw the short straw and get the bitey end, although to be fair, she does always look very contrite afterwards. Who would think it would take 3 adults to subdue one Small Dog long enough for her various orifices to be explored and injection administered?

However, since I casually mentioned to SD that she would be going to the vet tomorrow she has been strangely silent..........can't imagine what's she's plotting.........