January 2012

(Remember - On all photos, a single click on the image will open an enlarged view in a new window.)

1 Happy New Year !!!
I'm back and determined to keep my website up to date again.
2 The gym was SO full this morning.  All the guilt-ridden overindulged at Christmas bodies hitting the exercise machines before returning to work.  It's always bad at the beginning of the year but will be back to normal by February...
3 Well, I know we're having a pretty mind winter, but boy is it windy and stormy today!  Too windy for me to venture out on my trike.  Besides pedalling the weight against the wind, I might get hit on the head by falling debris.  Opted for an hour of swimming at the gym instead.
I wasn't joking about being hit on the head.  I took a trip to Maldon this afternoon and had to bypass a local road, blocked by a fallen tree, then could only just get along another road, half blocked by another.
4 Impressed with Direct Line.  They've sent an automatic renewal for my car insurance which is cheaper than last year.  I've trawled the net and comparison sites just to make sure and can't get anywhere near it, so well pleased with the new price.
5 Still to windy for my trike, so I cleared up the last of the thick piles of wet fallen leaves from the back lawn.  So bored after an hour and a half and stopped as I couldn't get any more leaves into our massive leaf bin.
6 How flattering.  A lady from Interflora emailed me today to ask permission to use one of the photos from these pages in their blog this month.  Craving the fame (ha ha) I said yes and now eagerly await its publication.  I'll let you know when it happens.
I also noticed today that some of my spring bulbs are already sprouting green shoots up to 3 inches tall.  Are they going to get a big shock if winter suddenly comes along?
7 I'm quite fond of the odd weird word, so here's one for today
Paraprosdokian
A weird word that refers to a witticism with an unexpected ending whose surprise provokes laughter. You won't find it in any dictionaries, yet.  It's a favourite trick of comedy writers.
Examples: "If all the girls attending it were laid end to end, I wouldn't be at all surprised." (Dorothy Parker, about a Yale Prom)
"It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about nowadays saying things against one behind one's back that are absolutely and entirely true." (Oscar Wilde)
(Chicken Diary 2012 up and running)
(About Us updated)
8 On Friday (6th) I launched a set of locked heart boxes on  craftsuprint and they featured in the new3sletter as Crafty Bob's Pick of the Week. 

Sales have been good with 63 sheets sold over the weekend, so I'm quite pleased with this.

They are pretty little things, perfect for a small jewellery gifts, cufflinks, money, or that special chocolate for wedding or party favours.
9 The gym is publishing monthly stats again and I'm top of the women's chart for amount of weight lifted in December.
10 Recording another 10  miles clocked up on the trike made me think about maths geekness.  What seems like a lifetime ago, when I was young and carefree, I studied for a BSc degree in Mathematical Sciences at Newcastle University.  Wouldn't be able to understand any of that stuff now, but I am left will a legacy of recording statistics.  So I've decided to add a "My Statistics" page to this website.  Look out for it soon.
11 This month's Interflora blog has been published.  My photo appears here in the article about Spring Gardening Tips: what to do in January.  It's the sixth pic showing my plants in the conservatory after I had re-potted and tidied them.
12 Been out doing one of my favourite things today - canoeing out from the shore at Heybridge.  It was too choppy to go around Northey Island (the original aim), so we went around the estuary, up to Beeleigh lock, then on to Ricketts lock, then back down the canal through Maldon and back to Heybridge Basin.  Then a nice tea room treat as a reward.
The afternoon was spoilt by Ron's car being damaged in the car park whilst we were having our treat   :-((
13 I seem to be suffering with a swollen gland problem on the right side of my neck, which started a few days ago.  It is so incredibly sore, that I even went to see the nurse today.  She couldn't find anything wrong in my ear or mouth and my temperature was fine, but she said that if I developed a rash over the weekend I must go straight to the walk-in centre for treatment as that might signify Shingles.  I'm praying that doesn't happen as both my sister-in-law and a close friend have Shingles and they have been suffering for months.
14 Bit of a lazy day today.  I got scared last night when my neck swelled up worse than ever, so I thought I should take it easy.  I spent a little time outside in the winter sunshine filling four bags with kindling from the fire, lopping sticks from the trees that Ron is cutting down.
15 Hit 100 sales for my locked hearts boxes today.
16 We are having solar panels fitted this week!  The scaffolding went up this afternoon.
17 On this day in 1983, the BBC launched Britain's first breakfast news programme.  Newspaper critics at the time claimed there was no demand for breakfast TV.  So what do critics know?  A year later, the BBC and TV-am were bringing in weekly audiences of 1.5m and 1.2m respectively. 
18 Solar panels being fitted as I sit here.
19 Solar panels all fitted, roofers departed and electrician here.  Huffing and puffing and grunting a bit, working in a tight space in the meter cupboard and unable, so far, to locate our earthy bonding. 
20 9:00  Electrician back to finish his job and get us connected.
14:00  Yeh!  We are generating electricity.  Very dull & pouring with rain today, so only about enough to run 2 light bulbs but it proves the system is working.
21 Had the pleasure of seeing the dial on our electricity meter going backwards today, which is what happens when you are meeting your own needs and generating surplus electricity, feeding some back to the grid.
22 I'm pleased to report that my swollen glands are almost better.  No idea what caused the problem.  I guess I'll never know.