Happy Birthday to the Doctor (sort of) and Clara (in at least two incarnations)! And Happy Birch Moon ( Read more... )

I had another smear test this week and, as I found my report on the unsuccessful and successful attempts three years ago very useful for planning this time, I'm writing it up again.

( Cut for gynaecological stuff )

A busy day, during which I bought a new (well, second-hand) armchair, which I hope is the one I've always wanted, from Oxfam, and gave them the old one in return; I also bought a bowler hat, but didn't give any headgear away ( Read more... )

I've been meaning to post for about a week, so this will be a collection of miscellany ( Read more... )

Rosie had a blood test on Tuesday - which was a bit strange, because the vet was a locum we hadn't met before and he wouldn't let me stay with her while he was taking the blood. And he tried to tell me I should be giving the thyroid pills whole, not crushed, so I said it was crushed or nothing because, having seen how much resistance these two ( Read more... )

It's taken nearly four months since we installed the stained glass windows downstairs, but at last ( the upstairs windows are in! )

You may remember that last July I asked for opinions on which of three designs for stained glass windows I should choose for my sitting room. (The choice was here - later mocked up by the amazing entropy_house.)

Today was the day when the finished windows were installed!

( This way to see the windows )

Damn, I need a spare £2,700 and a spare 800mm x 1200mm x 300mm space. And the latter is probably trickier than the former. Though my lust is so powerful I have been wandering round with a tape measure, and I think the only possibility is to turn my wooden desk sideways, jutting out into the room, and stand them back to back. Actually, I had ( Read more... )

Zimbabwe beat India for the second time in a week, and this time they claimed a bonus point by winning with nearly 12 overs to spare! It's a bit of a scissors-paper-stone tournament so far, as Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe while India beat Sri Lanka in the first round - those two fixtures come up again before the final, but Zimbabwe currently head the ( Read more... )

pinkdormouse made the appealing suggestion of a photograph-your-bookshelves meme. I hope I've got them all now; I'd got eight pictures up and ready to post a few minutes ago, and then realised I'd forgotten some shelves in the dining room.

For some reason, it seemed important to explain the provenance of the various cases, as well as their contents...

( Nine pictures behind the cut )