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Bah Humbug. Already.
The neighbouring house is lit up like a Christmas tree. I noticed it because that means my bathroom is lit up like a Christmas tree too. Well, it is Christmas, I suppose.
No, wait a minute. Or a month. It’s November. I guess these are the sorts of people who hide Easter eggs around the house in February.
Have you read “A Christmas Carol”? No, neither have I. I have, however, seen “The Muppet Christmas Carol”, which I’m sure remains faithful to the original. Though perhaps featuring more urchins and fewer frogs.
Dickens would have been proud.
I’m also visited by ghosts every Christmas. The ghosts of bank accounts past, present and future. I’ve even given them names. “Marginal”, “Shocking” and “Bankrupt”.
Never fear. I’m sure in three weeks I shall be “in the Christmas spirit” :-).
Brrr – It’s Cold!
It’s only just Autumn, and look at the temperature when I stopped for petrol at 0710 this morning. Even the frost warning light came on! Yeeks :-(. (Google tells me that’s 39F.)
Well, that was easy
Yes, I’m back. Windows 10 actually installed without a hitch. Yay!
Here we go!
That’s good to know. Um, what apps?
How nice!
That’s a relief. If this hadn’t have worked I would have been unamused.
And it’s all good in the hood
Total time to upgrade – around 1 and a half hours (including 2.6GB Windows 10 download). Yay!
3 Quotes Day 3
Here is my final quote for the “three quotes in three days” challenge. I think we can all get behind this one. Thanks, Bill and Ted, and Party On Dudes!
3 Quotes Day 2
Here is my second “three quotes in three days” quote. I don’t really know any inspirational quotes, so here’s one of my favourites from one of my favourite authors.
This is from “Lords and Ladies”, by Terry Pratchett and describes the “Big Bang”. The image (which I’ve altered a little bit) is from bbc.co.uk.
3 Quotes Day 1
I have been challenged by The Storyteller’s Abode, A Smith’s World and Story Teller to post three quotes in three days! I’m also supposed to nominate three people each day, but I think everybody has already done it, and I’m never comfortable nominating people for things, so I won’t 🙂
Here is my first quote. It’s an old classic, spoken by one of the greatest philosophers of “a long time ago”, Master Yoda.
Four Word Love Phrases – Rubbish Edition
I was tagged by Millie Thom to write ten four-word love phrases. I believe this challenge originated over at #lovebooks.
Now, I’m probably not the best person to ask to do this. I’m not sure I know anything about love. 99% of my flash fiction is either comedy, dark humour in which someone dies in an unexpected and humorous fashion, or dark, in which one or more people die in a horrific fashion. I’ve written enough apocalyptic stories that I’ve probably wiped out somewhere in the region of fifty billion people. In fact this is so expected that in my one attempt at romance, in which the woman “melts” at the end, at least one commenter thought she literally melted.
So, here goes.
Playstation 4, rock on!
That’s the silly one out of the way.
Lives shared, forever one
That didn’t sound too bad. Let’s try another.
Two hearts, one head
That didn’t sound quite right. I’ll rephrase.
One heart, two brains
That’s even worse. Well, you get the gist.
Her face, butterflies flutter
Now we’re back on track! How about a four word Haiku:
Perfection
Rose
Coloured spectacles
Cynic or realist? You decide.
Floating blissfully in Heaven
I like the floaty theme. Here’s another:
Drifting in dreamy skies
Yeah! Now let’s try “the four stages of lurve”:
Fear, excitement, bliss, comfort
It starts with “fear” for me, anyway, or at least “extreme nervousness”. There weren’t enough words allowed for the fifth stage, disillusionment. I’ve ruined it now.
And for my final phrase:
This drawer’s for you
I did it! I did it! Sort of. Finally, there is supposed to be my favourite love quote from a book or film or whatever. Well, good luck with that. Sorry. I tried :-).
I’m not going to tag others as I don’t know who to tag, but if anyone else wants to try, go for it!
Secret Santa and the Christmas Market
Secret Santa has been! We do that every year at the work Christmas Party, and here is what I got.
That’s a massive bar o’ chocolate and a “talking” Chewbacca. He makes Chewie noises when you squeeze him! The little tag is my work avatar, Christmas-ified as a present tag.
I also went to the Christmas Market in the village hall. As well as sausages, bread and such I also bought this, ideal for keeping my tootsies warm.
And also this – a dinky chocolate-coated one-man Christmas cake in a little box.
I don’t really like Christmas cake all that much 🙂 but I couldn’t resist the cuteness of the little cake, so I also bought a pot of Cornish clotted cream to mask the taste.
Yum.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Odyssey!
I was one of the lucky recipients of one of Evil Squirrel’s holiday pictures, drawn by his own paws! I’m impressed that it has already arrived, all the way from the US of A, and this being Christmas time as well with all the postal delays that implies.
I got Odyssey – “The Nest’s patron saint of lost causes“. And what a cool picture it is!
Odyssey, by Evil Squirrel
Thanks, Evil Squirrel, and happy December holiday of your choice to you too :-).
Shopping Around the World September
Here is my contribution to Bacon and Fozzie’s monthly “Shopping Around the World” feature. It was supposed to be Wednesday but that’s my flash fiction day, and I was busy yesterday.
This month is all about fruit and vegetables! I Googled what “fruit and vegetables” are, so I’m ready to go. Here are the results from the Cornwall, UK jury!
Apples
I don’t buy apples, but I’ve looked up the prices. There are so many different types of apple. Who knew? You can get a pack of 7 “Goodness” apples for £1.35 (US$2.19, €1.73). They must be the cheap brand. Good old Granny Smiths are £1.75 (US$2.84, €2.24) for 5.
Strawberries
I like strawberries! I went to pick my own last month and got quite a few for £1.65 (US$2.68, €2.11). In the shop, they’re £2.00 (US$3.25, €2.56) for 300g.
Carrots
I don’t buy (or eat) carrots, but I’ve looked up the prices. £0.80 (US$1.30, €1.02) for a kg. Yucky little orange things.
Green Beans
Green beans? That’s obviously a typo. Everyone knows beans are orange and come in tomato sauce. That’s food 101, that is.
There you go. £0.42 (US$0.68, €0.54) for a 150g can.
Lettuce
I’ve heard of this. It’s that tasteless green leafy stuff, right? £0.49 (US$0.80, €0.63) each. If I were you, I’d spend your 49p on a can of beans, and have change left over.
Random fruit if your choice
I’m going to go for Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut bar. It’s got “fruit” in the title, so that counts. I don’t like nuts and I hate raisins, but fortunately it’s mostly chocolate. That’s £1.40 ($US2.28, €1.79) for a 120g bar. Here’s a photo.
Mmm, Fruit and… HEY!
WHO ATE MY PROP?
It was me.
Who said that?
Me. I ate your chocolate bar. It was me.
We’ll have words later.
Random vegetable of your choice
Potato. I like to bake potatoes. Then I add a ton of butter and chuck chilli all over it, so not quite as healthy as it might be. £2.00 (US$3.25, €2.56) for 2.5kg.
See you all again next month for more Shopping Around the World mayhem!
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