An occasional journal
house
Cats on the Table
Jan 13th 2019
Admin1 is reading Insidious Intent by Val McDermid and Admin2 is reading Speak by Louisa Hall; a clever novel about artificial intelligence, love and loss.
We scored 9.5 on the GWQ, close to our average score in 2018, which was 9.347692308…, continuing our year-on-year improvement.
Balls!
Oct 23rd 2018
Admins 1&2′s new dining table which converts to a snooker table. Thank you St Gemmas. Game on!
Admin1 is rereading Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson. Admin2 is reading The Hit by Nadia Dalbueno.
Khofi ya tsiku: Malawi Pamwamba which was pamwamba (top).
All the Family
Oct 6th 2018
With this lot on our team we managed to score 11 on the GWQ. Thx Gui, Lee, Bi & Fi, C, G & D.
Admin1 is reading Transcription by Kate Atkinson; finely written, but I wasn’t convinced by the denouement. Admin 2 is reading America City by Chris Beckett, a fabulous book about the power of publicity to change for the worse an America changed for the worse by climate change, and topical in the week of Hurricane Michael.
In the Air Tonight
Sep 28th 2018
Our new toy tool: a drone with a movie camera, bought to look at the solar panels to see if they need a clean (and definitely not to have fun with). It’s pretty difficult to control in small spaces, but Admin1 is slowly improving with practice. This is the highest we’ve taken it so far.
Admin1 is rereading The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell.
Coffee of the day: Costa Rica Montanas del Diamante Tarrazu; smooth and citric.
So Tired
Aug 28th 2018
Admin2 is rereading Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan: the spy who loved reading novels. Admin1 was reading The Lies We Tell by Kristina Ohlsson, but gave up because it was rubbish.
Wonderful Christmas Time
Dec 23rd 2017
Our Christmas tree and all our presents (before G, D, A and B came to take theirs away). But with their help we scored 9 on the GWQ.
Greet the New Door
Nov 17th 2017
Admin1 is reading No Echo by Anne Holt, which was totally implausible, not helped by the characters all acting like spoiled kids. Admin2 tried reading The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olsen but discovered that we had already read it under the title of Buried and is now reading Gnomon by Nick Harkaway, which was visionary.
Ms Robot
Sep 6th 2016
Our new cleaner. Goodbye Carrie, hello Carrie2.0. And happy birthday Lee.
Admin2 is reading Open Grave by Kjell Eriksson. Someone has to do it.
Up on the Roof
Apr 20th 2016
Our shiny new roof is finished and it’s the sunniest day of the year so far but the solar panels are still parked next door so we aren’t getting any electrical benefits.
The World Made Anew
Jun 13th 2015
It was cloudy and rainy today so we did our jigsaw from 1978 that included Upper Volta, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the USSR and watched Whitechapel. We scored 5.5 on the Guardian Weekend quiz. Bah.
Streetview
Nov 27th 2014
Google looking at Admin1…
View Larger Map
…looking at Google:
We watched Oculus, which explains, on reflection, why we have an aversion to looking in mirrors.
Fog…
Oct 12th 2014
In the misty morning a cobweb sparkles with tiny dewdrops and frosted flies
…Dog…
And in the afternoon a parhelion lights up the sunny skies
…Bog…
A mediocre bathroom “improvement” from Norwood Interiors. Caveat emptor.
…Blog
This blog is 500 posts old today. Happy blogiversary!
Admin1 watched Gravity and is reading The Jewel That Was Ours by Colin Dexter. Admin2 is reading A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver, about squabbling siblings.
Today the solar panels reached the amount of money we made in 2013.
Plant of the Day: Stapelia
Nov 6th 2013
Huge pink hairy stripy flowers that smell revolting. What’s not to like?
Admin2 is reading Nineteen Eighty by David Peace.
LOLgadget: tower fan boy
Jul 5th 2013
Warmest day of the year so far.
Admin1 is reading Mind’s Eye by Paul McAuley and Admin2 is reading The Adjacent by Christopher Priest. We are watching Arne Dahl (more Scandinavian slaughter).
Lard of the Day: Mandelbrot fat
Sep 21st 2012
Last night Admin2 burnt the supper and poured boiling water and detergent into the charred pan to help clean it. This morning the fat had congealed into fractal patterns.
Cloud of the Day: Insulation
Apr 20th 2012
Today a couple of blokes came round to insulate our house under the Wrap Up Leeds scheme. While they worked a gentle snow of fluffy fibre flakes fell all around, but as they worked, the insulation worked open the ventilator in the bathroom and filled the room with a fabulous fall of fluff.