The cat's meow

The first day of autumn

It just occurred to me that today is officially the first day of autumn! I am so ready for autumn. I haven't really been into summer this year, we have had some hot days and i was just bored with it. Today, the weather turned cold, breezy and rainy, almost like it knew that now its time to cool down a little.

I have been fighting turning my heating on, determined to freeze it out until at least October, but i weakened the other day. I have to confess i've weakened again tonight, its freezing! So i whacked on the heating. Why fight it.

So, i guess now autumn is here i really should sort my garden out. I've been majorly fighting the weeds, and its by far finished, but my flowers are going to seed, so i should get out there collecting, all those free plants, as well as sowing seeds for next year. However I did make a start this evening by cultivating some of the lovely fragrant lavender i am growing.

I decided to make some scented lavender bags for my drawers, wardrobes and tops of radiators (hoping they will give the rooms a lovely smell of lavender when they warm up. So tonight i spent my evening curled up on a chair infront of the tv, sewing little bags and drinking hot chocolate. After a long and tiring week at work, its actually very therapeutic! Of course Lavender is also a well known relaxing scent, so it is ideal!

my life is not very rock and roll is it?

An example of my handy work.

“If you can keep you’re head when all around are losing theirs….. then you obviously haven’t realised the severity of the situation.” 

Finally...i can prove that i know what i am doing!

Today marks a momentus occassion for me. I have been working over the past....well actually i don't know how long, about 4 or 5 months i guess... compiling the necessary work to prove that i am competent at my job. The amount of work is easily equal to formal qualifications and more. It meant many long evenings at work...though incidently i got to know the cleaners pretty well. One of the security guards has become my best friend and brings me chocolate occassionally! (which a few of my colleagues have witnessed and find highly amusing!).

Anyway, so on August 31st I handed in the first stage of this huge project and it was signed off as being acceptable by my boss. I then had to undergo 1 1/2 hours of questioning today about the things i need to know about in order to do my job, which covers the content of the folder.

The thing about interviews is that i completely clam up. I forget the obvious, i am sure if they asked me my name i would have forgotten. Somehow though i managed to get through it, and i think even then that was only by trawling through my memory saying everything i thought was even half way relevant. I even caught my boss out on some questions that he thought i would find difficult and not be able to answer.

It doesn't stop there though, i still have to produce two more folders like these! Added to which i start my housing studies next week too.

However, the good thing is that i now get a payrise! YAY!! I deserve it (in my considered opinion!).

murdering music

I have wanted to learn the guitar for ages. In fact i have owned a guitar (or 2 guitars actually) for a couple of years now. I went to evening class convinced that yes, this was the way forward. However, all it taught me was a few basic chords because i found that in this 'beginners' class there were people of all abilities - some even played in a band! How is that beginner.

I've been contemplating lessons for a while, puting it off because there was always something else that i needed to be spending my money on. But finally i decided. Enough is enough, i have to stop puting it off 'till tomorrow. Because as you know, tomorrow never comes.

I was a city show about 5 or 6 weeks ago and was hanging around some guys i work with who had a stall there, i kind of lingered a little because i was feeling too lazy to trek back to my car in the heat, and i was in a lovely cool marquee. This girl delivering leaflets walked up to me and handed only me a leaflet and then carried on. Would you believe it was a music school advertising classes! 'its a sign!' i thought.

I rang them the next day and now have a guitar teacher on a one to one basis. I have had about 4 or 5 lessons now, and am making progress..at least thats what my teacher tells me. Perhaps he is being kind! Although i have noticed that i am not murdering music as much as i was. Its starting to sound more like a tune when i play, and not only that the things that i just couldn't get are just clicking into place. I just wish i had done this a couple of years ago, maybe now i could actually play!

I told some people i work with what i was doing. Its an interesting insight into a persons character when you get a response. For example a couple of people have said..."why?". This was the response of the girl i work with. However the guys have tended to be more supportive. They just said, what made you do that then...i told them, and added and why the hell not. "fair enough" they said and then said, they could see me as a rock chick.

Maybe one day i'll actually be able to play something that constitutes a tune. Practice makes perfect, and everyone has to start off at the beginning!

Mrs Donovan

Mrs. Donovan was walking down O'Connell Street in Dublin when she met up with Father Rafferty.
The Father said, "Top o' the morning' to ye! Aren't ye Mrs. Donovan and didn't I marry ye and yer husband two years ago?"
She replied, "Aye, that ye did, Father."
The Father asked, "And be there any wee ones yet?"
She replied, "No, Not yet Father."
The Father said, "Well now, I'm going to Rome next week and I'll light a candle for ye and yer husband."
She replied, "Oh, thank ye Father."
They parted ways and some years later they met again.
The Father asked, "Well now Mrs Donovan, how are ye these days?"
She replied, "Oh, very well Father."
The Father asked, "And tell me, have ye any wee ones yet?"
She replied, "Oh yes Father, three sets of twins and four singles, 10 in all."
The Father said, "Glory be! That's wonderful! How is ye loving husband doing?"
She replied, "He's gone to Rome to blow out yer fookin' candle."

The great garage in the sky...

An MOT test (annual compulsory road worthiness check) confirmed to me a couple of days ago what i already suspected. The time is up for my car. We've been together for 5 years, but now, i have no choice but to get rid of it. What it would cost to bring it back up to the required standard, and what it is actually worth makes it no longer viable.

Its now probably only worth someone buying for parts, which is a shame. Its not even an old car really, but as i have discovered previously from owning a Fiat, it may still be going, but the body work just corrodes around it.

Of course, whilst i suspected this was coming, financially its a disaster. Buying a house this year has pretty much cleared me out of any savings, so to have to buy a car too is a nightmare. I went to see my bank, and fortunatley they were more than happy to lend me a little money in return for an exorbatant interest rate. So i ended up buying another car. Its perhaps not what i wanted, and is only a year younger than my current car. However, beggars can't be choosers and i ended up with a ford ka. Its a small car, ideal for driving in the city in which i live - and more importantly parking in the road i live in - which is always full. And another plus is that its a ford and will be much cheaper for parts.

Oh yeah..and its another Ebay purchase...god i love Ebay! It seems like a good deal, and has low mileage,actually its really low mileage for its age as well as having a full service history. Being one of the 'glass half empty' crowd, i obviously think its too good to be true. But, we shall see. I'll be getting it on Wednesday or there abouts - the pic below isn't it, but its what it looks like, and in roughly the same colour.