Two Sheds Jackson’s blog

So I haven't visited Vox in ages, other than to have a bit of a lurk on other peep's blogs.  As I am now around eight and a half months pregnant I thought I'd better come and say bye to you all!  I figure that as I'm fairly lousy at keeping up with this blog at the best of times, I don't stand any chance of keeping up with it once the sproglet is here.  So this is cheerio for now as I prepare to give up my life to nappies and no sleep!  Bye peeps!

I really am crap at keeping up with this blogging thing.  So, things that are new with me: - I'm now around 4 months pregnant and wearing a fetching pair of over the bump trousers.  They are not attractive but are extremely comfy.  Erm .. that's about it really!

Spring is well on the way here, crocus flowers, camelias and snowdrops are all out and the daffs are threatening to flower soon.  I absolutely love spring - largely because I hate winter so much.  Mind you the timing of this baby isn't too clever - it's due at the end of July so I'll have at least 2 or 3 months of hot weather whilst being enormous - good one!  

I'm off to Devon to see my parents for my half term holiday tomorrow.  Spring should be further along down there because it's a few degrees warmer, due to being nearer the gulf stream.  I've got a nice evening planned with a couple of my best mates - we're going to order a massive take away from either our favourite Indian or Chinese restaurant and then proceed to stuff ourselves silly whilst talking non-stop.  Dad wants me to sow the tomato and bell pepper seeds, this is so that he can blame me if they don't germinate!  As he has a propagator, it's very unlikely that they won't germinate.  He'll then bring up some of the plants for me when he visits around Easter time. 

The garden will have to be put on the back burner a bit this year - I won't be able to bend down very easily in another month or so!  I can't live without home grown tomatoes, lettuce and peppers but I think the veggie patch will have to have flowers in it for a season. 

Happy Chrimble to all the peeps out there.  Hope you like this one, she does like to get involved!  I'm expecting to see her climbing the tree fairly soon - I've just finished decorating it and it would be unlike her to leave it alone.

It's up on YouTube too: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LvnGsojkQ1k

Happy Christmas from me, the bloke and Ellie. xxxxx

My computer has become totally temperamental.  It fell over at work whilst it was inside its protective air-cushioned bag so I thought it would be ok.  (Oh, how wrong I was - I'm now thinking about getting a tank to carry any future laptop in!)  Then I tried to turn it on and it refused, utterly, to even contemplate starting - its blue light came on for a nanosecond before it powered down again.  Later that day it came on for a bit longer and now it seems to work when it's in the mood - sometimes it needs to restart several times before it decides to stay on. 

Since I use this computer all the time at work, the fact that it's been largely out of action is an absolute arse. 

I've only just got my interweb back after what seems like ages, thanks to the bloke.  Phew - it's not nice living without the internet - I'm quite shocked at how much I missed it.  Thank goodness I'd already sorted out out all my Chrimble shopping. 

So I think I'm going to have to buy a new laptop after Chrimble.  Of course, my bastard insurance doesn't cover laptops - gits.  Here's hoping the January sales have a stunning offer.

So I read Redzilla's Toilet Trifecta and Valerae's She had to go to the bafroom and I had to have a rant.

Ahem (clearing throat before launching into the rant) do you guys have any idea how bloody lucky you are?  I visited the U.S. 2 years ago and could NOT believe how clean your public loos are - they don't smell too bad; you have those nifty toilet seat covers; they're generally in good repair and you don't feel as if you need a decontamination process after you've left them. 

British public loos are a nightmare: they nearly always smell hideous; they were mostly built in the 60's and haven't been renovated since - so the spilt urine seeps into the cracked concrete exposed by the missing tiles.  They often have this awful thin paper which manages to be a lot like tracing paper - hard enough to be really uncomfortable and scratchy but not soft enough to be absorbant in the least.  The buildings themselves are often underground (no - really) or are squat square 60's monstrosities with tiny windows which are so grime encrusted that the light which does get through is only just enough to see by.  They are very often out of soap, hand towels (or the hand dryers are broken) and paper (you'd think in the case of the scratchy stuff that would be a blessing but not so much after you've had to use all the old till receipts/ envelopes/ letters/ any scrap of paper in your bag!).  The water is usually only cold - the hot taps aren't even plumbed in.  In addition to all this they're cleaned so irregularly that just entering them makes you feel dirty.

There are some exceptions which are looked after well and sometimes even have flowers in vases.  Generally though, over here you learn the art of crouching to hover over the loo so that you don't have to be in contact with anything at a very early age.  You also become adept at flushing by using your foot to push the lever.  I just wish I'd remember to carry tissues with me at all times!

Mind you they're still better than the weird ceramic holes in the ground with foot grooves that you find in some places in continental Europe - way to develop the thigh muscles!  Or the strange toilets in some European countries which have a little shelf to catch the number twos just in case you fancied having a look - no I'm not kidding!

So either I was really lucky with the American toilets I encountered or you guys haven't seen our awful bogs for a comparison!

Ok rant over!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf-Lq25Wgx0

Ok so now I have to go to CO to submit it!  Phew - busy night - I signed up for You Tube and PayPal and I've been pootling around Vox for hours!  The bloke will be so chuffed if Ellie gets on CO!  And mariser you are right I am the provider of pettings and snacks - Ellie can't quite open the treats drawer by herself - she tries though!

A colleague lent them to me recently and I gave them back to her about a week or so later having been unable to put them down.  Fantasticly well written, thought provoking and utterly absorbing - I was sobbing in the sad bits and had my knuckles in my mouth in the tense bits. 

I like Harry Potter lots but Pullman is for a slightly older audience, I would guess, and he is a far better writer.  His prose is bloody lovely (that's a technical lit crit term dontcha know!) and his characterisation is very convincing. 

I need to join the library now so I can read the rest of his books.  I can't buy any more books - there's no room left on my bookshelves and the loft already has boxes of books in it, so it doesn't need any more!

I do have a brilliant 'Read and Return' bookshop in my town - it has that wonderful musty, dry, old book smell and books are arranged by genre on mis-matched shelves and in cardboard boxes on the floor.  It's a great place for a rummage when you've got some time to spare.  The added advantage that it has over a library is that you can keep the books you like.  See - this is how I have no more room on my shelves! 

Talking of things to read - I've spent a long time tonight reading the stalking letters competition started by brownamazon - it made me go: "yipes, eep and *shudder*" - but it was very funny and encouraged me to spend yet more hours here!  

Ok now I remember why I got out of the habit of coming to Vox!  It's because I had to make sure I had plenty of time before I logged in.  I end up spending hours and hours here, not doing the things I'm supposed to be doing!!!  I've been here since about 5pm and now it's 10.30pm - alright, so I had dinner and did a few other things, but mostly I've been here.  And I missed you guys!  It's been a very enjoyable evening.

Mind you, I reckon I'm going to have to limit my visits to a certain day of the week or only come here at weekends or something.  If I don't I'll never get my lesson plans written!

Blimey - how slack am I???  I just tuned out for a bit, then got out of the habit and, before I knew it, I'd not been here for nearly half a year! 

So it's been a bit of a dull summer - weather has been beyond awful and the outdoor tomatoes were a wash out.  Most crops in the UK, apart from apples - which like it wet apparently, have been hit hard by all the cold wetness of this summer.  I did manage to harvest 4lbs of toms at the very start of the summer, before the blight set in, so I made some homemade ketchup.  I'd like to point out that I am in no way any kind of domestic goddess, but I have a friend who is and she gave me a recipe.  (Well what else do you do with 4lbs of tomatoes for heaven's sake?)  It took all bloody day!  I had to sit in front of the telly whilst squishing the mixture through a sieve because it took hours and I was bored!  Not sure I'll be repeating  that experience, mind you, the ketchup was very nice on chips.  (That's 'fries' to those across the pond.)

I had some people up to visit during the summer holidays at various times, but I'm afraid to say that I rather wasted my holidays and didn't do very much at all.  So here are some pics of the garden this summer: 

It was something of a disappointment as lots of plants were attacked by slugs and snails or were just too cold and wet to perform properly.  Still, there's always next year - I'm collecting seeds already!