Retox

Happy New Year everyone. Hic.

Too Much Turkey?

The Royals seem to be on a downward spiral towards life in a lower division. Perhaps the club should pay their players on some sort of 'pay by results' basis..? 

26 Dec 09 Reading 1 - 1 Swansea

28 Dec 09 Plymouth 4 - 1 Reading

Tweet!

Have just unwrapped a lovely hand-made tree hanging.
Thank you.

One More Sleep...

Seperated at Birth..?

Santa Claus (aka Father Christmas)

The Hogfather (aka The Fat Man)














Have a great Christmas.

I Quit

So I've just handed my notice to my boss.
A shiny new job awaits 25 January...

A Nightmare Before Christmas?

Yesterday afternoon the snow returned with a vengeance with all told about 4-6 inches (10-15cm) falling very quickly. Needless to say the country came to a standstill. At around 3pm most folk in the office decided it was best to leave and try to get home promptly. The fool that I am had work that needed working and opted to stay with a couple of others until just before 5. Big mistake.

Nearby Arborfield Garrison (honest!) last night.










 
I live about 8 miles from the office and this normally takes under half hour during so called rush hour times. Yesterday by 6.30 I'd gone about half a mile and managed to get the car stuck on a moderate hill, with no chance of getting up it and the prospect of more hills to follow. Plus the clutch was getting a tad smelly and the last thing I need is for it to burn out.

Spencers Wood today.















Fortunately I had hat, gloves and boots with me (as well as my coat) so I grabbed these, abandoned the car safely on the roadside and walked home, taking the opportunity to make a few calls and catch up with some people until the battery on my phone gave out. Finally got home cold, hungry and back aching just before 9pm, where upon I went more to less straight to bed. Of course many others were less fortunate and didn't get to their destinations for several more hours, I understand. 


More Spencers Wood.











Thank goodness I was able to rescue my car this morning, even if I did discover I'd left one of the windows fully down over night and the front passenger seat is now soggy LOL.




View from my attic window.










Nevertheless I'm reminded just how special winter can be (if you don't need to travel) and perhaps I could suggest a song for today? How about Kate Bush (who else? LOL) "December Will Be Magic Again."



19 Dec 09 Bristol City 1 - 1 Reading

Winter Wonder

Woke this morning to find this, there's a car in there somewhere LOL.

And this was the scene having 'battled the elements' to get to the office...



















Gotta love snow!

First Snow!

Not much and it probably won't last long but it's still exciting to this big kid!

Hogwood Lane, Finchampstead












 




(It's about time it snowed- temperatures were down at -4 degrees Celsius when I woke this morning.)

Doo-Hickey Too

My final two finished pots of the year are home. Please let me know your thoughts.

Manganese Dioxide with Bright Blue (sponged) glaze.

Bright Orange Red and Porcelaine Green, both sponged.









I'll upload a couple of images of each to Webshots shortly.

The Big Day Is Nearly Here...

Six pm Friday 25 December 2009 BBC One, "Doctor Who- The End Of Time, Part 1."





Three wise men?










Oh yeah, there might be something else happening that day as well. Now how many sleeps until Santa?


In other (mundane) news, yesterday I was given a clean-ish bill of health at my annual optician's visit. The haemorrhage that was detected in early January has cleared up and my general eyesight remains unchanged. Oh and I've moved over to daily disposable lenses and into the 21st centuary LOL. Next up was a visit to the dentist where I was severally taken to task by both the hygenist and the dentist for not flossing regularly. They've found some gum disease you see and this gives them the opportunity to sell flossing equipment. And it appears I might have a problem with one of my wisdom teeth. Grrrr. 

To return to the festiveness, here's a picture I took yesterday around 3.30pm. This is one of the main streets in Reading, decked out for Christmas. It was a tad early for most of the lights to come on but it doesn't look too bad does it?

It's Nearly That Time...

Took Little Lad out to see some of the local festive light displays yesterday, including this one at a house in nearby Sonning. The owner goes to great effort and expense every year to put on an original display and collects donations for a local children's charity. One year he even had an artificial snow machine going believe it or not...





























Earlier in the day the Royals hosted Scunthorpe at the Mad Stad. Please can someone tell me how a team that two years ago beat the mighty Liverpool, managed to dominate a match for more than 75% of the play and still not get a win and a vital three points? Reading are now in 21st place, only one above relegation.

Reading 1 - 1 Scunthorpe

Also I thought I should mention the following, perhaps a contender for Product of the Week (assuming there is such an award). It helps. Does that make me sound old? LOL

Little Seats And Nativity Bears

This afternoon I had the chance to sit on a tiny chair and see Little Lad take part in his first school nativity play. It was pretty good although this being the fifth show of the week, the wee little ones were all looking quite shattered.

Bet you didn't know there were bears present in the stable to witness the birth of Christ...? Well I guess the school had to make sure every child had a role, no matter how obscure. Could have been worse I suppose: you have to feel sorry for the child playing the Christmas dolphin LOL.


This is what all modern bears are wearing apparently.








On the ceramics front, I have to say things can only get better. Tuesday night I got this pot back from glaze firing. Once again the Glossy Rusty Amber hasn't really worked at all well: it seems to be extremely thin in places and on the whole far too brown, not the rust red I was expecting. Don't feel inclined to use this glaze again. Ever. Ho Hum.














And yes before you ask, it is meant to be ripped. It's experimental dontchaknow.


Reading 2 - 4 Crystal Palace.

If Only...

Many will know I'm not a fan of reality tv, you know I'm A Celebrity..., Strictly Come Dancing (also known as Dancing With The Stars), Britain's Got Talent and of course X Factor to name but a few.

Apparently a local fella has been doing quite well on the current series of the latter show. Until last night that is, when he crashed out of the semi finals. All morning our local Heart radio station has been carrying- as the top news item- the story of his exit and a sound-bite from an incensed fan: "I was fuming. I was straight on Facebook and a massive complaint to the X Factor."

Now if only the Internet really was that powerful. I shudder to think! LOL


5 Dec Sheffield Wednesday 0 - 2 Reading

New Pots

Have just up-loaded images of a couple of new pots to my Webshots page.

The first is a small casserole glazed with Rusty Glossy Amber. It's amazing how much this glaze can vary from one firing to the next, previously it's come out quite red. The other is an open carved bowl in Yellow Brown glaze and a small amount of Red Brown on the rim and centre.


















Had quite a bit of fun last night creating some new forms. More on those shortly...