RIP Computer

It couldn’t be saved.  It has been returned to Factory Settings.  And everything is lost.  My whole email address book is gone.  Please could anybody who reads this who I email, email me so I have your address again.

On the plus side, Tim did manage to save my Itunes.  It’s coming back tomorrow afternoon.  In the meantime, here’s a picture of an amazing rainbow I took last week.  It’s a bit dodgy because I took it through the car window, but if you look carefully you can see a second rainbow above it. 

Bugger

Ha, beware of what you write, because it may just turn around and bite you on the bum! 

I didn’t think I’d have the opportunity to test out this week’s ‘Add’ (see below) so soon, but this morning I stumbled out of bed, switched on the PC, and it was dead. D.E.A.D.  Told me it had a Trojan Horse, then died.  The bastard.

I’m sure you all know how hideous it is when you computer is out of action, and I’m lucky enough to have Ashley’s laptop today, so it could be an awful lot worse, but OMG, it’s not looking good: Tim, my computer repairman has been round and tried to fix it, but after lots of tutting, sighing and dark muttering, he has taken it away with him, and has warned me it may very well be a ‘return to factory settings’ job.

Ohgodohgodohgod.  All my docs and photos are on a separate personal media drive which Tim thinks will not be infected (thank heavens), but all my downloads will be gone, my itunes will be gone, my email address book and mailing lists, loads of work stuff, my internet favourites, my bookmarks – the list goes on.  I feel sick (but obviously less sick than I would do if I wasn’t being serene and unworried this week – ha.)

Still, it could be worse ….. I think …….

Edit Add Appreciate Sunday

Edit one thing–material objects, negative thoughts, bad habits, or activities that don’t reflect who you are as a person. It doesn’t have to be a physical thing; Sometimes bad habits and negative thoughts are more detrimental than physical clutter.

Add something. Bring in something or reinvent one thing in your life–thoughts, habits, activities, clothing, objects…Add something that will help you be a better person; And yes, sometimes a new pair of jeans can help!

Appreciate something or someone already in your life. Hug your children and tell them how special they are. Call your spouse, just because. Be extra polite to the guy who makes your latte. Frame that favorite piece of art.

Edit – hopefully, lots of ‘things’ from William’s bedroom, as I’m planning to do some decluttering in there this week.

Add – serenity, aka ‘Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff’.  I really want to not get work on not getting wound up about things that really don’t matter that much. 

Appreciate – the wonders of modern medicine that have enabled my dad to have potentially lifesaving operation, and the great medical staff who are looking after him and helping his recovery.  I know I’m the first to have a moan about the ’state of the nation’, but I cannot praise the NHS highly enough in this instance.

Weekly Round Up & Plans For Next Week

Phew – my feet haven’t touched the ground since getting back from holiday last week – and the coming week doesn’t look set to be much quieter.

Many thanks to everybody who sent good wishes for my Dad’s operation: I’m pleased to report that his triple heart bypass and valve replacement went according to plan and he is making a good recovery in hospital in London.  I’ve just had my first chat with him on the phone since the op, and he sounded in good spirits, though he’s in quite a lot of pain, I think.

I’ve had a lot of school work to catch up on this week, and eBay is keeping me very busy, too.  It’s a great time of year for selling all the toys I picked up a while ago, so I’m making the most of it.  Also been doing a bit of Christmas shopping online (Internet shopping ROCKS!).

This coming week, I need to make a start on decluttering in William’s room, and make a list of everything I still need to buy for Christmas.  I’m working on Monday and Thursday, and Ashley is going to be away for part of this week, though not sure when yet, so will possibly need to sort some childcare arrangements.  Lots more Ebay listing to do, and I MUST do some housework – it’s looking sadly neglected at the moment. 

Looking forward to the new carpet being fitted in our bedroom on Thursday, as we’ve been without one since coming back from hols.

Right, it’s Sunday afternoon.  I need to get off this computer, and I’m going to get into bed in my PJs and watch Love In The Time of Cholera, which needs to go back to Lovefilm this week as I’ve had it ages.    Happy Sunday, everybody!

PS No car boot sale in Newton Abbot today and couldn’t be bothered to go as far as Exeter – but there’ll definitely be a car booty post next Sunday, I promise!

Fireworks & Food

Bonfire Night on Thursday was the first opportunity to try out the ‘Fireworks’ setting on the camera I got for Christmas last year, and here are a couple of the results:

Pretty good, huh?  I was impressed, anyway.

One of my goals for this month was to cook and blog about five new recipes and blog about them, and I’ve tried two new ones this week.  No photos, I’m afraid (hopeless!), but the first was a recipe for a cheesy scalloped potato scallop dish, which I saw on one of the food blogs I read.  I cooked it on Wednesday evening, to go with gammon steaks and ratatouille, and it was a DISASTER.  Despite following the recipe to the letter, it came out of the oven completely undercooked, and practically inedible.   Even after another half hour in the oven, it was pretty rubbish.  Won’t be cooking that again.  It really annoys me when recipes don’t turn out how they are supposed to when you’ve followed the instructions so closely.

Anyway, my second new recipe was Carrot & Cumin Soup, from the New Covent Garden Soup book, which I was sent a while ago to review.  I’m pleased to report that this is delicious, and I’ll definitely be cooking it again – very good for using up the glut of carrots I found myself with when my veg box arrived this week, too.

Shopping Spot Friday

The first post of a new regular feature, all about what I’ve been buying recently.

So – some recently lovely purchases:

I saw this lovely Bombay Duck Kids vanity case in a recently sale on www.brandalley.co.uk  (one of my favourite new finds online), and I just couldn’t resist buying it as a Christmas pressie for my nine year old niece, Gabriella.  I’m going to fill it with lots of girly bits and bobs from Accessorize.

Also from www.brandalley.co.uk is this selection of Stila make-up.  I’ve never used any of this brand before, but have read about it in lots of magazines, and I just couldn’t resist trying some at these bargainous prices (£2.99 for a moisturiser, anybody?).  And the packaging is just lovely.  Am loving the plumping lip glaze (not too strong a colour, and lasts for ages), not too sure about the glittery green eye liner (think I must have been having a momentary aberration about my age when I chose this!).  My master plan is to sell one of the moisturisers and the foundation on Ebay, which SHOULD cover the cost of the items I’m going to keep.   Mwaaaa hahaha!

And last but not least, I felt the need for something warm and cosy when I got home from warmer climes last weekend.  I don’t really ‘do’ coats very well, so this longline cosy cardy just fitted the bill perfectly when I spied it in Matalan.  It’s as warm as toast, lovely and soft (that’ll be the 10% mohair), and for some reason, Matalan had £5 off all knitwear this week, so I bought it for only £20.  Can’t be bad!

Back next Friday with more – hey, what a fab excuse to shop!

An Interesting Juxtaposition

I slept SOOOO deeply last night, and really had trouble dragging myself out of bed when the alarm went off this morning (still jetlagged?  Or recovering from two sleepless nights with Will’s ear infection?  He’s much better and back at school now – thanks to everybody who sent good wishes).

Anyhoo, my mega-sleep got me to thinking about tiredness, work etc, and the difference between men and women in this regard:

So, a little comparison is in order, I think (this is all very tongue in cheek, I am not really having a moan, honest!):

Ashley’s Morning: 7.10 am – awoken with a cup of coffee by Caroline, and sit in bed drinking it while watching the news on breakfast TV.  Get up at around 7.40, get ready for work and leave the house at 8.10 am.

Caroline’s Morning: alarm at 6.50 am, haul my ass out of bed, feed cats, open curtains downstairs, tidy lounge, take coffee to Ashley, wake William, turn on computer, check emails for any eBay purchasers who have paid overnight & wrap up and address parcels, get William’s breakfast, wash any dishes which are leftover from last night, empty dishwasher, help William with spellings, make sure he has everything he needs for school, tidy kitchen, run up drive chasing Ashley’s car with whatever William has forgotten that day.

During the day, obviously Ashley’s at work, and I’m at home, but I never seem to stop.  I do make myself sit down for between 45 mins and an hour at lunchtime, and generally watch something that I’ve recorded from the TV, but honestly, that’s the only time I relax during the day.  I am constantly busy with school work, eBay (very busy time of year), running the household finances, cooking and housework.  Hey, the fun never stops.

Ashley’s Evening: arrive home from work at around 6.00 pm.  Have a chat with William, and relax in front of the TV with a beer watching cartoons, or play Mario Karts on the Wii.  Eat dinner (prepared by Caroline) at around 7.00 pm.  Pour a nice glass of red and install myself on the sofa for the rest of the evening.  Perhaps have a hot tub a bit later on.

Caroline’s Evening: arrive home from school run/chess club/karate any time between 4.15 and 6.15 pm, depending on which activity Will has that night.  Check emails, help William with homework, prepare dinner (usually x 2 – one for Will, one for us), wrap up eBay parcels, tidy kitchen, feed cats, wash up, run William’s bath, check emails again, also do any surveys that have landed in my inbox that day.  Check eBay sales, answer any questions, put Will to bed, do more parcels if necessary, finally turn off computer at around 8.30 pm.

 Although I love working from home and being my own boss, sometimes I long for the days when my working day began at 9 and ended at 5!  I find it really difficult to switch off.  Any helpful advice?

Madeleine McCann

Somebody out there knows what happened to her.  I cannot even imagine how her parents continue to function.  There’s a new appeal for social networkers worldwide to post this video  on their sites.  Please spread the word.

A Step In the Right Direction

As I’ve mentioned many times before,  despite the fact that I’m generally quite an organised person, my office is a haven of disorganisation, clutter and piles of ’stuff’.  I was delighted, therefore, when a lovely lady called Rose from simplehuman , asked me if I’d like to test drive one of their range of recycling bins.  I jumped at the chance, and very soon, the semi-round recycling bin arrived.

It was immediately installed in my office, to replace the mismached (and overflowing) waste paper baskets therein.  And *whispering quietly, in case the mess gods hear me* - it seems to be having a very positive effect: the twin canisters make it super easy to separate recyclable waste from non-recyclable, and the brushed steel finish looks much smarter than my previous waste bins.  My favourite thing about it, though, is that unlike a lot of pedal bins I’ve used inthe past, when you let go of the pedal on this one, it has a ’soft closing’ mechanism so you don’t get that horrid crashing noise as the lid slams down.

You can read all about this particular bin here, but do have a look around the rest of the website as well, as there are some great ideas in there – and if the bin is anything to go by, the quality is excellent.

Sixes & Sevens (And Holiday Photos)

I’m feeling all at sixes and sevens today.  Poor William is still home from school with the most rotten hideous ear infection.  I was at Asda at 5.30 this morning buying liquid ibuprufen, as Calpol just wasn’t doing anything for the pain, and he’d been awake all night.  Pyjamas, raincoat and bedhair – not a good look – thank God Asda was empty!

On further investigation on the net, it appears that the dosage of antibiotics the doctor has prescribed is so tiny as to be almost non-existent, so Doctor Caroline has prescribed a double dose today.  I’m sure it’s a money-related NHS thing, you know – Ashley once went to a private dentist to have some work done, and was prescribed antibiotics twice as strong as the ones he normally got from the NHS dentist.  When he questioned the private dentist about why this was, he was told ‘because they’ll work more quickly, and hence you’ll be pain free more quickly’.  Makes sense, no?

I wouldn’t mind, but the last time William went to the doctor  must have been about four years ago.  Ashley hasn’t been to the doctor for at least five years, and I couldn’t tell you when I last went, other than for a smear test.  We don’t (touch wood) use an awful lot of their resources, so when we do need some antibiotics, I would bloody well appreciate it if they’d at least give us a dose that work.  Grrrrr! 

The poor little chap is currently in the bath (not with his ear anywhere near the water, don’t worry!), feeling very sorry for himself.  Mummy, who has also been up all night, also feels very sorry for herself, hence above rant.

Anyway, here are some lovely holiday photos:

Blogging poolside at 6 am – now that’s what I call dedication!

Butter wouldn’t melt!

Just about to leave for home, after a fab two weeks

Pelicans – they were just amazing

Fun and games in the pool

Gorgeous colourful huts on the beach, selling all manner of tat!