Good morning, your Grace, or, Miscellany
Jul. 26th, 2009 12:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pensnestWe had a Family Outing to Chatsworth yesterday. Since Beast and I went on the Camp Sparkle outing back in May, the tourist guide has been lying on our dining room table, where Bun spotted it and decided that we should all go.
Sadly, about twenty minutes in to our tour of the garden (we were watching the Revelation water sculpture) it began to rain. After a while, it was raining so hard that mere umbrellas were not very comforting, so we took refuge in the little cafe and drank hot chocolate. From there, we could see a sign for a motorised tour (on something not unlike a golf cart), so when it showed up, we did that, which worked very nicely even if it was still, mostly, raining. At least, it covered most of the garden's outstanding features, and our driver called out, "Good morning, Your Grace!" when another little buggy showed up, driven by the Duchess and carrying two ducal grandchildren, several pots of flowers, and a small dog. I was delighted to note, when we stopped, that the duchess's buggy had halted next to the house, and that a flunky in a black waistcoat had stepped out with a large umbrella to see the Quality dryly into the house.
We had cream tea for lunch, of course. Some of you will be rightly astonished to learn that Bun added an extra scone (double size!) to her consumption, and Beast had a Bakewell Tart (with ice cream).
Did you know—for I did not—that Father Christmas *actually appears down the chimney* in the Painted Hall, to the general delight of the estate children? I was charmed. We had a chat with one of the... what are they, concierges? who was talking about how when the girls' school was moved into Chatsworth during the war, it was often so cold that their hot water bottles would *freeze* if they fell out of bed during the night. Imagine, though, sleeping in one of the state rooms, how fabulous! Occasionally, one of those girls comes back to look round the place.
We headed off to Derby, assuming (rashly) that at some point in the town centre, the railway station would be signposted. Hah. However, after spiralling for some time I spotted a pedestrian sign indicating the presence of rail and bus stations thataway, and Beast navigated southwards using the sun as a guide, and eventually we deposited Beast at Derby's mighty station in order that he might head to Manchester, there to brighten the life of a World of Warcraft guildmate by improving his game playing. Bun, Boy and I went home. There was a truly magnificent rainbow (with reflection) as we got out of the car at the service station where we had supper.
Today, I pootled off to a friend's house, where there was a gathering of some two dozen people who ate and drank and were merry, and then went off to see a play—a premiere, in fact!—which the friend's son has directed and which is going up to Edinburgh for the festival. An interesting and generally enjoyable experience, though I was astonished to discover afterwards that it had been written in verse. Hmm.
I love Pharyngula, where I lately discovered Dara O'Briain, who is so fucking funny and smart. A quote: Science knows it doesn't know everything, otherwise, it'd stop. He's having a go at homeopathy in the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIaV8swc-fo
It is possible that I shall in the future be making use of the phrase "Get in the fucking sack."
Also, I can't remember if I linked to 'Homeopathic A & E', which is also smart and very funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0
If you are a fan of homeopathy, I'm sorry.
And finally, I meme: Stolen from various people: the WIP meme: post a single sentence from each WIP you have (or as many as you want to pick). No context, no explanations.
01 "I'm pretty sure most of us are on the same wavelength, yeah," said Lance. "Except Joey, of course."
02 "I can sing," the drunken guy repeated. "Don't, but. Solos my ass. I can too sing. And I don't sound like a fucking adenoidal goat whose testicles haven't dropped yet, hah! This one."
03 Look over my left shoulder. The brunette in the pink dress that does her skin tone no favors at all? She's a feed for Perez Hilton. And if you think she hasn't noticed us together...
04 Oh, it was a magnificent place, the Tower Library. Lancyn had never imagined that so many books had even been written.
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Date: 2009-07-26 12:10 am (UTC)Rain and all, sounds like you had a nice time, though.
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Date: 2009-07-26 09:12 am (UTC)Yep, it was nice, though I'm sorry we couldn't show the brats how beautiful the garden was in the sunshine.
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Date: 2009-07-26 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 12:37 am (UTC)Yay for Wips.
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Date: 2009-07-26 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 06:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 09:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-26 10:05 am (UTC)Sentence 4 of the meme delights me.
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Date: 2009-07-26 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 11:24 pm (UTC)Your WIP #2 is entertaining me the most right now, perhaps because it's 2 am. Ha.
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Date: 2009-07-29 08:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 09:47 am (UTC)But seriously, I need to get that thing moving. Any thoughts on the schedule?
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Date: 2009-08-02 09:19 am (UTC)