gark life

An unexpected turn of events

We appear to have acquired a cat: We passed her on Brookside Way, and she followed us home. She then hung around outside for another half hour, and was looking quite lost ( found her when she went outside to get some thyme). The seems a little unsure as to what to make of her; he’s currently stroking her gently, but he was telling the cat to ‘go’ earlier. He at least now seems confident that she won’t play with his train (although he’s quite keen to demonstrate it to her). I’ve been on a quick trip to the shops… Read More »An unexpected turn of events

What I did on my birthday

So, time’s winged chariot duly rumbled past last Wednesday and added another year to my age, putting me indisputably past the halfway mark of my three score and ten. and I took the day off, having left the in the nursery, and we went out! And saw a film! In a cinema! Without the ! Like real people! We ended up going to the Harbour Lights to see Quantum of Solace, mainly because it meant we’d have a fighting chance of staying awake; the had been pretty unsettled the night before, so we were in need of sleep. Not bad… Read More »What I did on my birthday

Things you don’t see every day

The Red Arrows flying low over your house in formation, en route to Cowes. And I do mean over, near enough (maybe displaced 30m to the east at most). Still not quite as cool as the time a B1B Lancer flew low over the house, though; nine Hawks are nowhere near as loud as one Lancer.

What I did on my holidays

Got back last Friday from a week’s holiday in South Wales with the usual ex-Warwick suspects. Total head count this year was twenty-five adults, by my reckoning, with a further eight little ones. The was the only small boy amongst the kids; hopefully either and will produce another boy, otherwise it’s going to be him versus the monstrous regiment of women. Anyway, he enjoyed charging around with the elder girls (Lottie, Thea and the twins), even if it was a little trying on the eardrums of the rest of us.

A lad of expensive tastes

The has managed to outdo himself this morning by taking a small swig from ‘s bottle of Chanel No.19. Not the eau de toilette (which is relatively cheap at ~£60/100ml) nor the eau de parfum (which is slightly more expensive at about ~£80/100ml), but the little 7.5ml bottle of the parfum, which works out at a staggering £850/100ml. We don’t think that he managed to drink much, since it’s quite bitter – maybe 0.1ml, which is still enough to make his breath reek of No.19 – but he then managed to tip half the bottle over the dressing table. My… Read More »A lad of expensive tastes

The week in review

It’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegonethe Gark household. Actually, that’s a lie. Got back from Luxembourg on Tuesday night, fortunately with my luggage this time (made sure that I was checked in for both legs, and that my luggage was marked as priority). Also, to those folk who suggested that I carry everything as hand luggage, I checked the maximum size for carry-on on the LUX->CDG leg, and it was barely large enough for my not-overly-big laptop bag. As it turns out, losing my luggage was a blessing in disguise. My case turned up while I was at… Read More »The week in review

Tool-using mammal

This has been a pretty good weekend, all things considered. After losing last weekend (and my chance of getting to Eastercon) to an utterly futile assignment for the HE teaching pgcert (I have not the words to explain my complete disdain for the common-sense-dressed-up-with-needless-jargon school of pedagogical theory that seems to be the fashion), I’ve managed to be quite productive. Saturday was a massed invasion by et famille, plus , and . Managed to nip out to B&Q beforehand for timber, about which more below. The had a whale of a time romping with Lottie and Thea, and it was… Read More »Tool-using mammal

Dressing the tree

Now that the ‘s first birthday is out of the way (see ‘s journal for an account), we’ve started putting up the decorations. Himself seems to be rather taken by the tree and its adornments (in his words: dah!), and I’ve managed to stop himself from electrocuting himself by sucking the fairy lights. We’ve decided that our living tree of the past two years is really looking too sorry; it was charmingly crooked when we bought it, now it’s charmingly crooked, marginally taller, and rather the worst for wear. Think of it as the Steve Buscemi of the tree world.… Read More »Dressing the tree

Alex’s Naming Day

Thanks to everyone that came to Alex’s naming ceremony yesterday – we had an enjoyable, if hectic, time, and we hope that you did likewise.