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Saturday 22 December 2012

Christmas time

A Tuesday Christmas is a bit odd, but does make it easy to do food shopping in advance! Tesco last night, and Waitrose first thing this morning. Made a point of being very smiley and polite to absolutely everyone. Looking forward to a few days spent eating and being merry, and sharing of gifts. Lovely.
City centre working coming to an end shortly, as I'll be beginning a new job on the 2nd January. 12 month contract - excellent. It has only taken seven months to get full time employment! It is local, a step-up, and better pay. Someday soon I'll post the blog that I began several months ago detailing the various tasks I was asked to carry out during different interviews. There were many!
Having a busy work schedule and lots of evening activities has stunted the progress of this blog a bit, but the point of it was to stimulate some writing in duller times. Target achieved! Potentially there will be some swish photos appearing courtesy of Christmas camera purchase, but we'll see!
Happy holidays to all.

Monday 19 November 2012

Tryfan Troubles

Bruised and achy today thanks to funtimes climbing Mt. Tryfan near Llyn Ogwen on Saturday. We took a path directly up the crags, then had lunch at the top, then came down a slate gully to make it a very short distance walk, but a high effort adventure! We even saw mountain creatures. Goats or sheep, not sure which. On Sunday it was much less active for me as I was just a slightly cold observer of our friends doing some rock climbing. Nice to have a shorter drive than on our previous jaunt to the Lakes with same friends, but I still conked out somewhere on the A5, and only woke up at Telford. Heck, it makes the journey seem shorter.
Last week was a mixture of different activities: library, Excel training, charity shopping, and a major tidy up of the garage. Pooped by the end of it. Still no full time work - come on employers, it's been six months since I last had a full time job! I'm great - hire me!
Phototime!
Cue silly poses.

Mountain creature.

Tryfan from below

Climbing the crack

Llyn Ogwen

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Back here again

After three weeks taking phonecalls for a local visitor attraction, I'm back on the job hunt. I've not been doing it full time since the design firm went quiet. Four applications in currently. Hopefully this will lead to some more interviews. In the meantime, have had lots going on in the evenings. We saw the new Bond film, and liked it. Tap classes are going well - still enjoying it. Musical theatre has been a bit wonky because the MD hasn't been around, but we had a good session last week.

Over the weekend, I headed up to the Lake District and saw Blackwell Arts and Crafts House, which is a superb building. On Sunday I walked up the fells at the south end of Coniston and had great views across the surrounding area: sea to one side, and snowy mounts to the other. M6 is a nuisance, though we did see some fireworks from the car window. This weekend will bring visits to Gloucester and the Rainbow in Digbeth. Further invitations for coming weeks include the Christmas market, a trip to Llyn Ogwen and also to the Hollywood Costume exhibit at the V&A museum. Anyone fancy giving me a lottery win?  

Blackwell Arts and Crafts House

Coniston

View across Coniston to the Old Man

The sea!

Lake District hills, with Grizedale Forest
Links
Blackwell Arts and Crafts House
Hollywood Costume exhibit
Birmingham Christmas Market
The Rainbow

Sunday 21 October 2012

Somewhere in Shropshire

Returned from a weekend in Shropshire - it was sunny yesterday and foggy today. I even managed to get some photos of the countryside while out hunting geocaches. Driving there from the Midlands is interesting - very very twisty turny roads if you aren't using the motorway to get there. We even managed to gatecrash a party yesterday, quite by happy accident. It made a change from answering phones and making bookings all week for a very busy local tourist attraction!



House on the left from 1509, and a Norman Church

Saturday 13 October 2012

Autumn

Autumn is most certainly here! It is cold, the radiators are on, there are squirrels everywhere, and the trees are suddenly ablaze with multicoloured leaves. It even hailed today! It is all a reminder of this time last year, when we were living in Vancouver, and seeing the best and worst that Autumn could throw at us. We invested in heavy-duty raingear: Vancouver shops are full of it - casually making light of the Pacific Northwest tendency for incredibly wet weather! We also had beautiful, cloud-free, bright days that just made everything gleam.

Having had a look through last year's blog posts to find appropriately Autumnal Vancouver pictures, it is quite odd to find that I am in the same position again - unemployed, seeking work. Hopefully this will change soon, but for now I am keeping busy with temporary positions. Useful for finding out about new workplaces, meeting new people and getting some money in the coffers. So, Vancouver pictures can be found here: http://www.adamdaisyadventure.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/keeping-busy.html .

Another 'keeping busy' task today was helping to set up this new website: www.agh-electrical.co.uk. This is the website for AGH Electrical - local Electricians in the South Birmingham and Solihull areas, registered and inspected by the NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting). Friendly, trustworthy and with their own set of promises! 

Links
Vancouver blog
AGH Electrical

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Bad blogger

Bad blogger indeed. Apologies for the total lack of updates. It really is appallingly bad. However, I guess I can say it is down to having some additional temporary work. It is great to be busy, though it is not permanent. The duckpond job didn't happen, unfortunately.

However, having the odd weekday free does allow for pursuit of some additional fun activities: yesterday we went out to Earlswood woods to find geocaches! The first one was so well hidden we didn't succeed in finding it, but managed three more and another after lunch. Geocaches, for the uninitiated, are small, hidden items that you use GPS coordinates to find. On smartphones there are applications that list these hidden items that you then use a map, hints and a compass to locate. Hints yesterday included 'step' and '12 trunk tree'. The one that was 'magnetic' was brilliant: hidden upside down inside a road barrier! Nobody but a geocacher would have any idea it was there. If one gets removed, there's nothing of particular value, and therefore not a huge loss. Good fun.

Friday was The Wizard of Oz at the Crescent Theatre, Saturday was spent planting seedlings in Malvern, and Sunday was a trip to the Electric Cinema to see Untouchable - absolutely great.

Do you know any children aged between 7-16, interested in singing and dancing? If so, they are invited to audition to take part in Queensbridge Musical Theatre Society's performance of The Wizard of Oz at the Solihull Arts Complex theatre between 18-22 June 2013. The date of the audition is Saturday 20 October 2012. For more details, please contact Sabrina Handy on 07917333915 or sjhandy2382@gmail.com. Rehearsals will take place weekly in Kings Heath. 

And now for some more jobhunting - just as tricky as geocaching!

Links
Geocaching
Crescent Theatre
Untouchable at the Electric Cinema

Tuesday 25 September 2012

What it is to be tired

Gordon Bennett, I'm tired. We had a whistlestop jaunt in Devon this weekend, meeting and partying with family, playing in rockpools and a well-earned pub dinner, a mile or two from the village of Nomansland! I kid you not. We barn-danced, which was hilarious. We held live crabs - they tickle! We (I) found a sandwormy-fishy thing while building a small sandcastle of great potential. We looked at a hermit crab, and hoped that another, larger, crab wouldn't exemplify the wild outdoors when confronted with a trapped fish.

We made friends with the cats at the Mitre pub, and admired the satisfying honk of an old car horn, and the toot of a bugle, relics from the wall of the pub. (Good job she couldn't reach the scythe...) The B&B was superb. Lovely hostess, great house, absolutely fab veggie breakfast, and she produces the most amazing wicker basketwork. We all left wanting to come back for the class! We even saw an owl on the way... and thank goodness for satnav systems...

All that in two days. And now I've got some temp work for the week - the early finish is nice, particularly as it is fairly close to home. The interview at 5.15 yesterday was a challenge after a day of work though! (But it had a duckpond...)

Two Moors Way B&B Link

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Google Analytics

Just been experimenting with Google Analytics... hopefully I'll be tracking all sorts of things on here now! I haven't been the most proliferate correspondent recently though... It is tricky to find the subject matter when days are filled with hosting, feeding and seeing relatives, or in pursuit of work. (No news yet - boo!) However, I did manage to conquer a few of the Malvern Hills at the weekend. Perseverance, Pinnacle, Third Land and almost to British Camp. Good fun gadding about with family.

Thursday 13 September 2012

What fun it is to bake

A friend and I spent a happy afternoon baking yesterday. As meetups go, what a great way to do something productive during the day, where you have lots of opportunity to catch up. Lovely. Even though the nutty loaves were not rested in the fridge overnight, and may have not come out of the loaf tins in in one piece, they were delicious. And the flapjacks superb. Who knew that orange zest could make them so tasty?

Not sure where the flapjack recipe came from, but the nutty loaf was from one of the Hummingbird bakery cookbooks. The picture was totally unassuming, and is not a recipe I would have ordinarily chosen, but it was worth it! Cooking apples in a lightly cinnamon-flavoured cakey loaf, with a few pecans and lots of walnuts, and melty hints of dark chocolate. Fresh from the oven was best - moist and warm. I'm very glad we made two! We had a slight disaster upon finding that the recipe requires that the batter be left overnight! Instead, we just put it straight in the oven - no harm done! (I guess it helps with allowing the wet parts of the mixture to settle, and may be why they didn't come out in one piece.) Impatience still allowed for delicious food though!

Link
Hummingbird Cookbook


Thursday 6 September 2012

Croak!

Cheering too much made me lose my voice. It is an interesting thing, to attend an interview and answer the phone in this condition! The Paralympics were superb. I had an absolutely brilliant day watching the GB team vs. USA, and Sweden vs. Belgium in the wheelchair rugby, a.k.a. 'murderball'.
A few highlights, impressions and items spotted:

  • Seeing Jonathan Edwards' bum before noon. (Well, a clever art installation on the route between Euston and St Pancras involving painted footfalls of Olympic achievements. So, the footsteps taken towards the triple jump, the jumping off point, and the bum and foot prints of the landing - all sorts of sports represented. Very clever!)
  • Seeing a gold medal up close before even entering the park! A few members of the Moroccan team had gathered for filming, and one man was keenly showing off his medal. Couldn't help but grin even more having seen that.
  • Seeing her madge's row boat tethered in the river at the low level of the Olympic Park. 
  • The most spic 'n' span loos in an event site ever!
  • Gigantic police horses
  • Catching up with family members I've not seen in a while
  • Spotting Boris in the audience - you really can't miss him with that hair!
  • I really liked the park itself - nice to have such a large open space so close to London.
  • The velodrome is gorgeous. And the basketball court does indeed look like an upturned mattress.
  • Seriously impressed with each of the teams we saw: such different skills and tactics used. 
  • Impressive array of spare wheels (and I liked the Captain America shields that Team USA had on their wheels!)
  • Meeting so many members of athletes' family in the audience - we were only 4 rows back! We were behind Mandip Shemi's mum, near to some of the coaches of the team, near to Aaron Phipp's mum and partner, and next to the USA coach's wife and kids! For the second game, we were next to a lively group of Swedish fans, one of whom was brother-in-law of the captain, and behind us were pals of one of the big goalscorers. We got quite into the Swedish chants: "Sverya!" (Or thereabouts...)
  • On the way out, noticing the vast array of different flags hanging from the balconies of the athletes' village.

It was cracking - such a great day. I enjoyed all of it! (And the sun shone, which was nice.)
Links
Murderball film

Lots of people, big signs

Rather snazzy rowboat

Police horses and the giant mattress!

Spare Team USA wheels - they were needed!
We saw the first two games

Team USA support camp - right next to us

Team GB pre-game huddle

After being introduced to the crowd, and prior to national anthems
The final score

Sweden and Swedish supporters before game 2

The introductions to Swedish and Belgian players

More Swedish supporters ( we had a crowd by us too)

The velodrome

High fives!

Tuesday 4 September 2012

I suppose it had to happen

I have been felled from great levels of activity by the axe of illness. Summer cold passed on by nearest and dearest. Pah! Busy busy last week having finally got some temporary work. However, it was awful, so I'm glad it finished! 350 phonecalls to answer in a day is not fun, for a variety of reasons. Another interview this week - I'm not quite sure of the tally, as I'd rather not think about it! I am drafting a blog about all the many and varied tasks I've had to complete as part of the interview process, but rather than tempt fate in some roundabout way, I'll leave that until I'm fully settled into something permanent.
This week holds further excitement with the late offer of a ticket to the Paralympic games tomorrow! I'll be watching the afternoon session of wheelchair rugby a.k.a. "Murderball"! Team GB are on first, so I'll be nice and hoarse of voice in time for the interview later in the week. A large part of the excitement of the day is that I've picked a fast train home, but paid not much extra to go first class. I'll want the guaranteed seat, snacks, and probable quiet by that time after a long day. (And if I get there early enough, the first class lounge!) I've done travel to London often enough in the last few months to know when to scrimp and when to splash! And a shorter journey is always nice.
Oh, and one more thing... Saturday was a pleasant trip down to Somerset for the BOS folk festival, where family performed brilliantly! Mudlarks choir - fab group. Felt really iffy by the end of the day, therefore only one picture. Still feel pretty iffy now, so I'll leave it there for now.
The famous wonky church tower in BOS Somerset.

My ticket!
Links
Mudlarks choir

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Aaaaand pause

Phew! What a busy few days. London was brilliant - catching up with friends is always fun. We spent a good deal of time dodging raindrops and racing map apps to direct ourselves on Saturday, which included a trip to Little Venice, a trip to the wrong platform at Paddington, and a giggle at the V & A museum - packed with raindrop-dodgers. We also admired the Olympic park from friend's flat. (And the several taxi cafes we spotted.)
Sunday was brunch and a wander around the Notting Hill Carnival. It was huge, and the crowds were incredible. I don't think there were any stereo speakers left anywhere else in London - so loud. Great costumes, but slightly perturbed by the chocolate and paint throwers - really not sure what that was about. A quick dash down Marylebone road and I made my train with minutes to spare.
Taxi cafe no. 1

Heatherwick silly seats at the V & A

Snazzy brickwork and garden courtyard at the V & A

It's got to be another Heatherwick at the entrance to the V & A

Taxi cafe no. 2 - with taxi

View from friend's flat of the Olympic park

People as far as the eye can see at Notting Hill

Wicked bird costume - there were puppet flamingoes earlier in the day!
Note the boarded-up windows behind!

Big Ben as a carnival bird

Not sure why but friend insisted...

Taxi cafe no. 3 (Huuuge piles of rubbish in the carnival zone, but even
giant bins would have been overflowing.

Saturday 25 August 2012

Not enough hours

There really weren't enough hours in the day this week. Finally succeeded in getting temporary work - not the most fun job ever. I think the total tally of phonecalls across three days was 650. 350 on my first day. Now I'm off for a weekend with some friends in London town. Before next week I'm also meant to have: finished the painting in the conservatory, prepared a task for one interview, do some prep work for another, done a list of tasks for my career coaching progress, and the laundry basket pile mounts ever higher.
Watch this space for London photos... and an exhausted writer.

Monday 20 August 2012

Weekend antics

Busy little weekend! Saturday was a jaunt out to Leamington Spa to attend the Latin festival hosted by HabanaLoko. Fabulous weather ensured a big turnout, and we enjoyed our friend's dance performance as well as the spontaneous salsa moves by various groups in the pump room gardens. The samba performance left me wanting to go and find the nearest music shop and buy the biggest, noisiest drum possible! (Maybe once I can afford it...)
Sunday brought iffy weather and a jaunt down the the University of Birmingham with some friends to take part in the Birmingham skyride - a closed-road course of about 10km with 17,985 other cyclists! I liked the kid with the shark-shaped helmet, the knight and princess and their trusty steeds, and the man dressed as easy rider! We managed two laps, bolstered by freebie fruit and malt loaf, but flopped for a leisurely pub garden lunch later. Long naps were required after our return! Hope the chap with the compound fracture to his wrist feels better today...
The clock tower

A few of the be-bibbed cyclists and the newest addition to the red brick semi-circle
Links
HabanaLoko
Sky ride events

Saturday 11 August 2012

Knitting

More photos? Go on then. Sticking with the knitting, I've recently purchased an anti-moth box for storage of all the crafting-gubbins. Yesterday, I found a proper knitting project bag - a battered sainsburys 'bag for life' just wasn't cutting it.
Sneak peek of my current project - a ruby red scarf
Definitely being limited by training though. The lovely jewel green cape/shawl has been put on hold as I got the stitches completely wrong. (The beauty of knitting is that you can get away with it, but I'd rather know what I should be doing!) The other problem with that is because the stitches are so complicated, I can't undo the bad bits for fear that I'll muddle up the ok bits!
I've got two separate sock projects that are paused too - I'm at the point where you have to decrease for the toe - I think it might end up being a knitalong with a youtube video! It is quite funny to try them on while unfinished though...
I'll never be a foot model...

Monday 6 August 2012

As promised

I went and saw the steam train - and yes, there were trainspotters there too... And on saturday I ran away from some swans.
The Bard (for once, not surrounded by tourists)

Don't go to Stratford with a loaf of bread

On the way

The Shakespeare Express - being driven backwards for some reason...

Thursday 2 August 2012

Sorting

When you have moved in with someone, it can be helpful to try and be tidy with your things. I made use of the offer of filing cabinet storage space today, and in so doing, found the stash of paperwork that returned with us from Canada. Duly sorted, and I also found the bumper selection of postcards that were sent across the waves. Would you like to see?
Note the quantity of 'English' themed cards...

We had good reason to be concerned about our luggage allowance on the return leg...