Pen's Nest

Tree rats 3: humans 0

It did not take them long to figure out how to ride the bucking slinky.

Beast has put a baffle on, about half-way up the pole, which seems to be throwing them a bit, but not enough to stop them entirely. I did see one leap onto the slinky and be hurled sideways in startlement, but it does not appear to be a thorough deterrent. Sigh. I foresee we are going to have to give up the War by purchasing a squirrel-proof food dispenser, which feels like cheating. I wish to DEFEAT them, not get someone else to do it for me!

*

I got **drenched** on Saturday, walking back from the hairdresser. I had a quite long plastic coat, with hood, but everything from mid-thigh was sodden when I got to the fish and chip shop (where Beast had just put in an order). Sat and dripped while they cooked the cod. Had to get changed completely before eating it! (Uh, at home.)

Yesterday I was happily indoors when the heavens opened to disgorge hail, and emitted lightning and thunder. My poor plants. I had to rescue a few of them from drowning, as I'd stationed them in a large bowl. Which Sable has since been using as a drinking water dish, though I don't think the fresh rainwater is entirely to her taste. Not enough rotting leaves in it. Cats are strange.

*

Having had considerable success with keffir making, I am branching off into kombucha. There's a rose-and-green-tea one in progress, and I'm just about to put the new scoby into another one. Which may not be entirely happy as the teabags were vanilla chai, but I can only experiment. I like kombucha, but it costs an awful lot per glas when bought in bottlefuls, so this seems a worthwhile experiment. And after that, I can ready Of Cabbages and Kimchi, wot my Boy gave me for my birthday, and see about producing some kimchi. All the Ks.

*

Because I happened upon it recently, here is a memelet from tielan

What was the first piece of furniture you bought?

Hmm. Beast actually had a house before we were married, and thus had dining table and chairs and an elderly but comfortable sofa, all second hand. It may have been a decent sized bed, or it may have been the handsome Swedish teak sideboard. Can't remember for sure.

What proportion of your meals do you cook?

I cook/prepare about 95%, I should think. The rest, we get delivered or eat out. Beast *can* cook, but he doesn't particularly enjoy it and generally needs a recipe and lots of advance planning, which I don't.

Favourite chore?

Cooking! At least, I quite enjoy cooking, which is why it is my job and not Beast's job. I also maintain the flow of groceries. He fills the dishwasher, and is responsible also for making it run and for emptying it again.

Least favourite chore?

Well, I offloaded those.... my husband is a rare and precious Beast, who vacuums and cleans toilets. I do the ironing, less frequent but it usually takes a while, as it accumulates. And most of the things to be ironed are mine.

Most precious thing one of your pets has destroyed?

I don't think I can remember anything. The cats have been fairly well behaved in that respect. We did find tooth-marks in the butter once....

I saw these questions on author_by_night's journal and thought, why not?


What is the first TV show you remember watching?

Huh. I think the earliest one I can *remember* watching was Top Of The Pops.

What is the first “grown up” TV show you watched?

I, Claudius I was at boarding school, but senior enough to be allowed to watch this one.

Have you ever been in a wedding bridal party? What was your role? What did your outfit look like that you wore for the day?

I've been a bridesmaid twice, and a bride once.

First bridesmaid, as a young teenager, for my uncle's bride: I wore a long cream dress with light brown patterned stripes, big sleeves with long cuffs, a flounce round the bottom. It was the '70s, and not my fault!

Second bridesmaid, while college age, for my grandma: found a paisley dress in beiges and pinks which I really liked, and my parents managed to find the same dress with a darker pink trim for my sister to wear.

Bride? Does that count? I don't really know the definition of 'wedding party'. Anyway. Full length, white, lace from high collar to hem, fairly close fitting to body, then A-line. Long sleeves. Cathedral veil, attached to a little pearled cap.

What is your ethnic background that you’re aware of?

English, through and through. I have a family tree of my mother's mother's family, which lived in Buckinghamshire in the 16th century and hasn't moved far since. Intermarried with Bucks and Beds families. My mother's father bore a Bedfordshire name, though I don't know anything else about him or his family.

My father's father's family seem to be mostly from the Coventry area, and my father's mother was from the East End of London. She was illegitimate, and her mother seems to have been a tart, but my grandma thought that her real father was the son of the woman who ran the flower shop where her mother had worked. And a 'gentleman', though what that might mean in this context I cannot say.

What was the last hotel you stayed in and where? Did you like it?

I... actually can't remember when I last stayed in a hotel.

Journal entries are usually by their nature ephemeral, but there have to be some that stand out in our memories.

How about a little meme? Post links to your three favourites of all the posts you have made to your journal. Probably not fic posts, I think (although maybe if fic happened in the comments?), but turps has an honourable exception for the Lava Lamp In Pictures post, which remains the Best Thing Ever.

My three are...

Number Three: I found myself watching a boyband round-up on MTV, and could not forbear to comment.

Number Two: This one is quite recent. Snowflake Challenge prompt #10 this year asked for a love letter to Fandom, and mine poured happily out. And I really enjoyed the responses, too. Read the comments!

And perennially at number One: See, I watched some porn, and I had Questions, so I made a poll.

Spotted an AO3 fic meme at topaz119's journal and thought, well, why not?

1. How many stories have you posted?
135, but that may include stories that I podficced but did not write, of which there are a generous handful.
( Read more... )

Well, I suppose I should have prepared in advance some kind of awesome display post to start a frivolous February, but I didn't, I went to the gym and went for lunch with an old schoolmate (and actually enjoyed it) and bought a little yarn (which I needed, truly, truly I did) and walked home and watched some more Agents of SHIELD with Beast and then knitted and watched a Lewis episode and then knitted and watched SYttD Ireland and stroked the cat.

But I came upon this fandom meme, and though I am sure anyone who's been reading my journal for any length of time knows all they care to know about my fic output (also mostly available on AO3), I thought, what the heck, why not, so here it is.

Comment below with up to 3 of the following (and a fic, if the question requires it) and I will answer.

A: How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?
B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?
C: What member do you identify with most from [insert fic[?
D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?
E: If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it be about?
F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?
H: How would you describe your style?
I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?
J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [insert fic].
K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?
L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?
M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?
N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?
O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters?
P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)
Q: How do you feel about collaborations?
R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?
S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?
T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?
U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.
V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?
W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones?
X: A character you enjoy making suffer.
Y: A character you want to protect.
Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

ephemera asked me for this, and as she has been closely involved with much of my Secret Santa experience, one way or another, it seems entirely appropriate.

( Fandom Secret Santas )

About this year's MTYG: I always look forward to the "guess the author" posts, but I don't really feel it would be fair for me to try to participate, these days, as I'm one of the Elves and have the chance—actually, the duty—to check through the stories beforehand to ensure they meet the challenge requirements. So I get to see who wrote what… and although by now I can't remember most of those details, I probably have a lot more of a clue than I ought.

So do, please, have a go at guessing. It ought to be much easier than usual this year, as you have fewer than two dozen authors to choose from. The MTYG Discuss guessing post is here on Dreamwidth or here on LJ.


On to my meme for the day: letterboys asked for my 'Patronus Memory'.

But the thing is, I don't think I have one.

I have quite a few very happy memories—when Beast proposed, for instance, which was quite the surprise; and when Bun was born, looking into her disapproving dark eyes for the first time; and when Boy was born and I looked at him and burst out laughing, for he was frowning and looked just like his grandpa. My wedding day might be an excellent memory if I could actually remember it, but most of it was a blur of smiling so hard my cheeks ached, and being photographed a lot. I can tell you roughly what happened, but the memory isn't particularly vivid. I probably have more detailed recall of my sister's wedding.

I can remember getting my A-Level results, which got me into Cambridge. I can remember graduating (though that was mostly relief!). I can remember my children graduating. Hmm.

I have good memories made with fellow fans. Awesomely fun conversation at first con. The Lava Lamp Reading. The first Camp Sparkle, and subsequents. Backstreet concerts.

I spose this means I've basically had a very happy life, which I have. No Patronus memory, though.

brandywine asked what is the best Christmas gift I've ever given and/or received.


The trouble is, I can't remember! I mean, I'd like to think I have on occasion managed to produce a spectacularly good gift for someone, but I don't know who and I don't remember when. If I were organised like my Dad, I'd have kept a Christmas Book with details of all presents received and sent, going back forever. But I ain't. I have done knitted stuff—I think the sweaters for my father in law, brother in law, husband and son (in a variety of years) went over well...

As for gifts received, I do remember a squeak of joy when I opened the present from Bun a year or two ago, for it was a set of Knitpicks circular needles, with interchangeable cables. I was slightly disappointed that they weren't the pretty decorative wooden ones, but I have since found that I really love the metal needles, and rarely use anything else now.

I'm sure there must have been other spectacularly well-chosen gifts, but I don't remember... argh!

In a broad sense, I have rather a large family.

My mother's mother was one of about a dozen children, and she produced five who survived to adulthood. There are eleven of her descendants in my generation, and several of us have children too. I have vague notions of the existence of grandmother-level cousins (and, consequently, their offspring), most of them in the vicinity of Bedford. In fact, one such cousin died a couple of years ago and left me some money, completely to my astonishment. I suppose he had a much more complete picture of the family tree than I do, and, without children of his own, left them to his cousins.

Speaking of family trees, my aunt and her husband have done a fair bit of research, and came up with a tree for the descendants of John Uff and Elizabeth Norman, the umpty-great grandparents of my mother. John Uff died in 1580, in Buckinghamshire. There are a lot of Johns and Williams in it. And Elizabeths, like my maternal grandmother. If you are an Uff, you are related to me. Hi!
( Read more... )

Only five days still available, here.

... or, if I have none, my favourite book, and why (dine)

I have no plans for the zombie apocalypse. I realise it makes me a peculiar fan, but I have no interest in zombies, aside from reading the Top Gear Zombie Apocalypse Special.

My favourite book, however, has to be Pride and Prejudice, which I admittedly have not read for ages, but which, by coincidence, Beast and I have been watching at lunchtimes of late (the BBC 1995 version, of course).
( Read more... )
To fill the last few days, go here.