Seaside

Friday saw me take a day off from work (so soon?!?) and take LL down to Highcliffe to visit his Grandad. Unexpectedly  he got to spend some quality time with one of his step-cousins (is there such a term?), very noisy and full-on. Later we cut over to Swanage where he is currently spending some time away with his mum.

 

13 Aug Leicester 0 - 2 Reading

So Soon?

The new English football season started today.

It seems like only yesterday the whistle was blown in the final match of the 2010/2011 competition. Used to be football was a winter sport along with rugby, while in summer we had cricket and athletics. How things change.

Anyway the Royals kicked off their campaign at home to Millwall and a final score of 2 a piece.

Vales Emerald

I had a little helper yesterday assist me removing these from their container, while the sun smiled down on us.

Come supplied with dirt, at no extra cost LOL.












It's not quite The Good Life but it certainly is great growing your own food and knowing exactly where it came from, what is in it. Mmmm.

Gone

Have just seen the final Harry Potter. Wow.

Can't believe it's all over now (sniff).

Saturday Night Thoughts

A few comments and observations:

• 27 is far too young to die. It sadly didn't come as a surprise to hear Amy Winehouse has been found dead but nevertheless you have to concede that despite her troubles she was extremely talented.
• As of yesterday LL is on summer holidays for around 6 weeks. He's now finished at the Infant school and in September, the start of year 3, will transfer to the Junior school.
• I've been offered a job, after so long looking. All being well I start this coming week. Am feeling excited at the prospect, although starting early once again may come as a shock to my system.
• Still not quite sure what has happened to the summer weather. Downpours one minute, glorious sunshine the next.
• The death toll from Friday's Norwegian bombing and shooting spree now stands at over 90 confirmed. Can't imagine the horror.
• I've heard rumours the rent-a-house round the corner is due to be filled with students again from September, grrrrr. Please can we have some quiet, sensible ones this time?
• Just as I feared, the new series of Torchwood has so far proved to be a poor shadow of it's former self.
• I've been eyeing up Kindles, iPads and similar of late. Is that bad of me?

Today at the park.

End

How sad the Space Shuttle program has now come to a close after 30 years.

In my younger years I had a poster of one of the Shuttles sat on it's launch pad over my bed (next to the life size one of Kate Bush, naturally); like many I used to dream about space exploration and the brave new era it promised. Not quite the fully reusable craft to make Han Solo envious but still an incredible vehicle. I guess now I can add to my list of unfulfilled ambitions: to fly Concorde, to see in person the Space Shuttle take-off and ...  oh maybe I'll cover those in another posting...

At least the crew completed their mission and returned home safely. Truly historic.

A Plot Is Hatched...

I know I have been a bit quiet of late, here's something I have been up to...

Some will know I have an attic room in this house. It's quite nice and roomy although at the moment it is only used as a store, it could easily be used as a bedroom. During summer it's really handy to open wide the window up there and allow the heat from the house a means of escape through the stairway. There's no door and needless to say that last winter, even with the window fully closed, I felt too much heat was escaping by the same route, therefore contributing to rather excessive fuel costs.

This coming 12 months fuel costs are set to rise by between 15 and 20% depending on supplier and the only way to realistically curb this is to use less. Last winter was pretty harsh admittedly but I'm preparing for the worst, particularly when you consider I don't have an income.

To this end I have constructed a light weight cover or hatch to the attic room which can be easily lifted into place in time for the cold. It's not quite completed yet: I'm yet to stain it to match the existing woodwork before adding the insulation.

Here's a couple of work-in-progress images, what do you think?

From below.

There are pictures of me as a baby sat on this carpet.
















Anyway, I'm just doing my bit to save energy.

Potter Fest

I seem to have a little time on my hands at present so I'm thinking perhaps I should re-watch the first 7 Harry Potter films in readiness for the final. Maybe not all in one sitting; that might be considered a tad extreme and I wouldn't want to come across obsessive in any way LOL.

 


















Have I mentioned I can't wait until The Deathly Hallows part 2 comes out..?

How Could I Resist?

Why can't more products have cool and descriptive packaging?

Tilted

I've just uploaded images of my final (for the moment) two pots. They can be found on Webshots here and as ever will be at the very end of the folder.

Now before you say they look rather wonky, they were thrown on an angled wheel head, as I've previously mentioned. It's pretty b****y tricky I can tell you. Having thrown a nice regular pot, the effect is that when placed to a level surface, the pot leans at a pleasing angle. If I return to ceramics, I think I'll give this another go...

Deathly Hallows

I've just seen the latest trailer for the final instalment of the Harry Potter series. It looks great.

It's due for release on 15 July and based on part one, it should be a good one even if it has the shortest running time of all 8 films. To be honest I thought the final book was flabby and somewhat unfocussed; thankfully the screen version- at least of the first part- corrected matters and was a much tighter affair, so I have great hopes Harry and co will leave the silver screen on a high. 




What exactly is the deal with Pottermore, I wonder?

The Sky At Night

I found this image today and couldn't resist posting it. This is the United Kingdom as seen from the International Space Station. While I feel it looks rather cool, it does highlight just how much light pollution there is. Most of it I expect is unnecessary.

The view from 230 miles (around 370 km).
















Read the full article from the Daily Mail website here.