cheeses....

have had a very productive weekend with bea's parents up - shifted the bed out of the attic, lined the walls of the little room and fixed the 2nd step again.
went out to thyme last night for a meal which was (as always) delicious, and as a break from the usual, i finished the night off with a cheese board. cant remember what they all were, but there included a very tasty blue cheese, a buffalo milk cheese, a creamy brie like one and another. also noticed that all the cheeses were made by women.
think i'll be having cheese boards again if they're of a similar caliber. the resulting dreams were pretty odd too, but thankfully cant remember them too much..

what a lovely day it is today.

the little room is coming along very well at the moment, and its great to see barnaby again.
we're off to the cask & cutler this evening for a few drinks if anyone fancies coming down to see us. phone if you need directions.
i even won a little painting competition the other day.

it's the little things!

I have just been chatting with one of the diabled students at work - he is visually impaired and started losing his sight a few years ago. He was saying that even though he worked as a driver for most of his career, it wasn't giving up driving that bothered him when he started losing his sight. It was the little things such as cutting his toe-nails. I agreed - at the weekend I attempted to cut my toe-nails and it was really hard with my bump in the way. Painting them was manageable but with unique paint effects that I wouldn't normally use! Then yesterday I cried because I had bumped my head for about the fourth time by trying to do something that I used to be able to do without bumping my head - fortunately I had four batteries in my hand so I slammed these down on the floor which didn't help so much as make me feel a bit of release!

bea & baby

here are some pictures of a very pregnant bea for those of you who requested them and for those to whom they were promised.

Tru Dawgma ? Straight Tribbin'

ok - heres one for abigail to have a read and maybe offer a few translations where possible. if anyones gonna understand this its gonna be her or rob...

Eschatological know-how, not evangelical lowbrow
Postmodern cash cow
Revelation based on canonization
The millennial nation looms in dispensation
I spit pedagogy orthodoxy
Prima manifesto in the incarnation proxy
Imprimatur, my roots be the hypostatic union
The theocratic fusion, infusin'

Portiuncula mentalities be waxin'
Straight tribulation factions gaining esoteric traction
No apology, my strict epistemology
Will influence doxology and put you in a quandary
Infralapsarian? tribulation prose
Makes me wary and your pragmatism's blatantly exposed
I Didache your Tim Lahaye while rapture spankin' Jerry Jenkins?
Now cogitate this great awakenin'

Hook
Tribba-what (what?), Tribba-who (who?)
Flex eschatological like straight tribbahs do (2x)

Rapture, comin' at ya, gonna fetch ya, gonna catch ya
I be a theocrat with exegesis comin' natural
Ontology gazes in the wake of Armageddon
Pleroma in soma, not a disconnected remnant
Reviviscence is valid and callus as operatum
While your unbelief and disposition won't even fade Him
Cardiognosis, He knows your thoughts and your dreams
Like the Sadducees, your heresy is leaking out the seams

What, what, who? Henotheistic views
Are romanticized, sanitized, still ain't true
But from the parthenogenesis to the Parousia
We got imputed righteousness until the day we meet up
Since the ascension we got metaphysical nominalists
Refer to Postulates for obedientialis
Hidden like the pseudepigrapha in the
Deuterocanonical pack ? the apost-hata's back!

the collier approacheth

yon this very week coming, tween days of tues and frid, our true friend master barnaby collier esq shalt rise up from londinium and reside unto our country abode.
all rejoice.

Christian Hip-Hop Artist's Lyrics Too Theologically Complex for Rap Fans

NEW YORK ? As the hip-hop industry's tradition of wholesome, thought-provoking lyrics has slowly decayed since the 80's, one artist wants to buck the trend by adding a new level of linguistic complexity to his lyrics. Tru Dawgma, a self-proclaimed "exegetical elaborator," insists that his new style will help counteract hip-hop's recent reputation of promoting only superficiality, sex, drugs, and violence. But not everyone appreciates Dawgma's approach, as God's Fro Records recently terminated his contract and stated, "Most of our listeners don't have a GED, let alone an M. Div.!"

the holy observer has a new issue including this article - more here

nothern lights

got through the first 140 pages in an exam i've been sitting in - it's one seriously engaging, dark book.
it's imagary is so well done - i cant think of another book i've ever read that is so able to put you into the story to the point you can hear, smell, see the things going on around it. the fantasy of its background walking a perfect balance between reality and alternative. the communities created, the mysteries, the characters, relations, the creativity of a similar universe thats different in the most magical ways.

cant believe its taken me this long to getting round to reading it. i'm thoroughly impressed.

kate rusby cntd.

at last she has a new website - her previous one really was pretty poor - even i could've done better. but no. the new ones a lot nicer - at: www.katerusby.com

glasses fixed

and at no cost to yourself mr wilkins.
arent you lucky?!

kate rusby dvd

hmm. Just discovered Kate has a dvd out. Might have to get it.

Just extrovertly processing.

Last night was thoroughly enjoyable though - good to be at a gig again - even though mr wilkins broke my glasses (currently held together by a piece of paperclip) - thankfully he did say I can add a 4000% mark-up on any repairs that needed doing when invoicing him.

nostalgia...

Have been clearing out our loft space and under the cabin bed ready to
dismantle it and came across not only (matt p’s I think) N64, but also my
old SNES. Including a Legend of Zelda (ocarina of time) for the N64 and
Mario cart on the SNES, it was all just a bit much so I had to go down and
play a bit on them.

Has brought back loads of old memories from those days too.

oo yes - and this post was done via email, not blogger - how exciting!

What a lovely weekend!

Andy and I had a really lovely weekend. We went down south to visit Andy's Granny and then his mum and her partner mike. All the food was fabulous and the weather was amazing.

yesterday we came back via Coventry where we visited my best friend Sam who is doing her finals. and then homeward bound to plant out some things we pinched from Granny Dot's garden.

i still need to plant out my tomatoes - I have lots of compost ready and this year I have even got some water retaining crystals because I often forget to water!

jolie holland: escondida

being someone i'd heard of through the be good tanyas, i brought it a couple of days a go (well, actually swapped it at fopp for the blanche album which i wasnt too impressed with), and bea and i have taken quite a liking to it since.
its very much old style blues-jazz typed stuff, with slightly bluegrass tinged vocals, but only released a couple of weeks ago.
some songs to listen to:

old fashion morphine

mad tom of bedlam

amen

(although i think they just take you to the amazon.com page, but that's a good place to have a listen to her.)

strange things afoot!

Yesterday in particular was a very odd day. Andy and I were walking into work and as we walked past the Winter gardens a man in a wheelchairt was wheeled out and then carried down the steps. In itself, I suppose this is not too odd except for the fact that there is a wheelchair ramp just a couple of metres away! Then, wakling home, I crossed the road in town and as I stepped up onto the kerb I lost my balance and fell over. this morning I nearly fell over twice in the garden but there were things to grab onto to steady myself. So, having fallen over in the street, I got the tram home and couldn't face the walk up the hill (this now takes me about 15 minutes compared to the 5 minutes before I was pregnant!) so I rang the lovely Jen who gave me a lift. We came in and made a cup of tea, and as we went into the lounge I saw a pigeon sitting on the sofa. Then the pigeon went a bit crazy (it had come down the chimney) so I got a towel and Jen manged to catch it and put it outside. All very strange.

But in it all, God is so good:

1. There are miracles happening at work cos I am relatively calm and I am completing tasks in hugely unrealistic times.
2. When I fell in the street, I landed heavily on my hands and elbow but there are no scratches or even bruises.
3. The pigeon pooed but only on wipe-friendly surfaces, such as the leather sofa and the window sill and no soot from the chimney came down onto the new carpet etc.
4. My nextdoor neighbour, Vicky, is amazing. She is ready just at the right time to help me hang out washing or put the bin out and we are doing communal gardening which is great.

maternity leave

I have finally agreed a leave date with my boss!! woo hoo!! I shall be leaving on 9th June with the possibility of coming back in for a few days to hand over to my maternity cover. this is amazing - I now have a definite date to work to! Praise God for sunshine and good bosses called Paddy!

dreads! everywhere!

there are odd nights at the dev cat where you seem to notice a proliferation of a certain people group - normally its metallers on a friday and saturday night (corporation being roud the corner), occasionally its raver types (headcharge AKA head candy, at the same place), but last night there was a welcome collection dreads everywhere - then a few people from work (uni that is) came in and were off to a bob marley night (yet again, round the corner).

hence all the dreads, and come to think of it, a very slight smell of pot.

I got a letter today from the hospital to say that I have too little iron in my blood. Although it's not great to be anaemic, it is common in pregnancy and easily treated. In particular what it means is that I can get on iron tablets and hopefully it will have a positive effect on my tiredness and my wobbly emotions. Then when I eat my placenta I'll get such a fantastic boost of iron that you won't be able to slow me down!

hot dang! ben folds at the octagon?!

on the 18 november, bea, myself and baby are going to see ben folds play at the octagon - if you fancy coming, tell us, but do it soon, cause we want those tickets, and we're not waiting around on this one.

it gonna be good though!

at last.

we finally have blogger up and running properly again.
it looks like we've all had constipation - stuff building up and finally released...