We shall not be moved

I went on my first demonstration today.

What got me off my bum? The bedroom tax that's what.

No it doesn't affect me directly I don't get housing benefit I don't live in social housing but the way people are being treated makes me incredibly angry and ashamed.

So I went to show solidarity because I am happy to pay taxes to provide a safety net and I don't think it is right that MPs who have their housing and food subsidised by my taxes should take away the little that other people have.This tax makes no sense other than to punish people for being poor it will cost more to collect than it will ever save. All I can see is the green eyed jealousy of people who are not content with having more than most they want everything and they make me sick.

I'm over there

No not over THERE not in France. That might be up for sale soon (the house not France obviously), then again maybe not as we wrestle with the idea of putting that into the past.

I mean over there over here. Over there being my jewellery blog. Though I have to confess I am spending more time on my new web site Bejewelled Swan. At least more online time. When I am not out earning a crust I am mostly creating scrap metal and some jewellery.

Bejewelled swan - fanciful eh? But lots of interesting mythology connected to swan women so to me its a strong name not a pretty prissy one.

With Spring looking like its finally springing as we officially head into Summer back here I come to look at photos of Norfolk and my thoughts turn to getting back out on my bike.

There short and sweet but I did say I'm mostly over there.

Breezy breaking in Norfolk

Poppies and cornfields its a classic

Deserted beaches

Quaint churches

We've been for a rather damp week in North Norfolk . . . but despite the week long 70% chance of precipitation forecasts we managed to somehow miss most of the raindrops. Must have been our superfast cycling.

Only got soaked to my underwear once. And on the bright side it did make our tiny (but completely waterproof ) tent feel cosy. Plus cycling all day I slept like a log even though my airbed deflated gradually through the night.

It was a real eye opener our previous experience of Norfolk was on the Broads on hire boats and wonderful as that was I had no idea just how pretty the place was.

The quiet country lanes were a pleasure to cycle on (except for all the punctures due to flint new tyres on order), the natives were friendly and the fish and chips were marvellous.

So we'll be back
... with a bigger tent .. .  that we can stand up in . . . where we don't have to stand in the rain to make a cuppa . . . get dressed and walk across a field at 4 in the morning to have a wee.

So we'll be back but next time we'll be glamping!

My Lovely Bike

That by the way is sung to the same tune as My Lovely Horse in Father Ted.

None of these is me I'm taking the picture!

I've got a new bike can you tell? It makes me very happy. You see I was huffing and puffing about on my old bike (yes the one I bought this time last year it got old very quick) and between my general lard arsedness and my imaginary arthritis. Which seems to be responding well to no chillis, tomatoes and peppers,( chips thankfully are still on the menu), certainly as well as it did to the cortisone , who'd of thought it.

Anyway huffing and puffing and getting no fitter and certainly no slimmer I decided to blame my bike and went and got a much better one on the cycle to work scheme and do you know it was the bikes fault all along! It was! It's true! I've cycled to work nearly every day (keeping my side of the cycle to work scheme bargain) plus we did over thirty miles last weekend and this weekend a trip to the shops yesterday and 16 miles along the canal today. I whizz about and people marvel at the speed a fat lass can move.

I love my bike so much I keep it in the living room instead of outside where the bad people are who might run away with it.

I know its been ages

Where did my lovely veg garden go?

But we did manage to transform this

To this

We went to France to visit our house.

Thank goodness Debs & Ian put us up for two nights as the clean up took two days.

So we had a week of cleaning in between calling round to see old friends and checking to see what had changed.

Ho hum

Been a week now

Would that be a good title for a country music song? Been busy playing with CorelDraw and fancying up my MISI shop. Adding the stuff I had made and working on my mad scientist project of home electroforming which has had me ordering chemicals over the interweb.

TS is expecting a visit from MI5 anytime now to find out just what I am up to.

The electroforming is still at the waiting for stuff to be delivered stage but you will be able to keep up with it on the jewellery blog.

I really need to get out of jewellery land and sort things out for our trip to France. The lovely Debra has offered food for our first night there so I'm fairly laid back about the whole thing that side of the channel. We may have to rethink the cat holiday plans though as Uncle Oscar has now been joined by Zena a fiesty princess who is not altogether sure she will tolerate Oscar and hasn't had the pleasure of meeting our pair yet .

I'd tell you more but The Project beckons waha waha wahaha (that was my creepy mad scientist laugh by the way)

Is Today a Funny Day or What?

Catchy title - you like?

Well its the 29th February, only comes round once every four years but does it mean anything? Because do you know although nothing that I could really absolutely positively put my finger on has gone wrong somehow it's been a f**** awful day.

Of course there is an extra day this year and I *son't see an extra days pay anywhere and I'm a firm believer in a fair days pay for a fair days work which might be why despite my best efforts ( I got out of bed and went there) it would be difficult to slip a fag paper between what I actually got done and bugger all.

Roll on a proper day thats what I say, a day you can rely on to turn up every year.

Yes thats it short and bitter. Move along now . . . . nothing to see.

* typo but I think I'll keep it as a new word sont = so don't

Of Divas and Divs

I'm ready for my close-up

I suppose this belongs on the other blog but sometimes life can't be neatly divided (most times?).

I decided not to do the craft show next week but to list my stuff on my sadly neglected MISI shop. The main reason being I didn't feel like I had enough jewellery ready and the second reason being I felt pushed to make something rather than making what I like and feel proud of. Same as the first reason I guess.

This meant a day spent in my photographic studio (bedroom and/or front doorstep if the sun is shining). Its a blummin good job the sun did come out too as Dora, on discovering her services as a model were not required, flounced off in full supermodel mode "accidently" batting one of the lamps to the floor and breaking it to cries of "for F****s sake Dora!" she really took the hump then and went downstairs to sulk with her trusty sidekick Max.

He doesn't have delusions of divaness but is a bit of a div he has extended his love of soggy sponges to anything that might be found in the bathroom. So razors, tubes of toothpaste and the pumice stone are the latest things that have to be hidden if you don't want to find them in your shoes of a morning and the toilet rolls continue to be sacrificed to the gods of the u-bend. We really must get a lock on that bathroom door.

Blending in

We bought a food processor/blender type thing the other week because we were going to eat healthy soups and smoothies and things well drink healthy soups and smoothies and things.

First Saturday big mistake we started the day off with a breakfast smoothie, lunch was a wholesome veggie soup this had the unsurpring effect that by teatime we were both  . . . well lets say we had to open the windows. OK lets tell it like it is we were farting like vikings. (apologies to any vikings out there but it is a turn of phrase that amuses us both greatly that we probably heard on some comedy somewhere apologies also to whoever's turn of phrase it was before we nicked it and used it and probably constantly misquoted it )

So we quickly cut back on the vegetation to the breakfast smoothie while our ancient digestive systems adapt. It might not seem like much vegetation to you but TS semi seriously told me tonight that he'd read somewhere that you could overdose on nuts so you get an idea of the baseline we are starting from here. This was incidently while he was eating a bun that had some of the flour replaced by ground hazelnuts which brings me to my next point.

Obviously the odd smoothie is not really a good return on our investment in the food smashing up/spinning round machine so in addition to smoothies it's moonlighting on cakes and scones and we are telling ourselves that they are bound to be healthier than shop bought ones.

Roll on the light mornings and nights so we can start cycling to work. Did I tell you we'd started cycling? Yes well that's another story. I did make a start on fitness by walking to work last Monday but I fell and had to go to A&E and get my ankle x-rayed it wasn't broken just soft tissue damage which I think is A&E code for what are you bothering us for. They did give me a nice leaflet with ankle strengthening excercises in though.

Oh and TS has confessed he had two smoothies this morning and by lunchtime he was letting rip with such ferocity he was startling the cats

Walking backwards to Christmas

Sunrise Robin Hoods Bay

So you've had the turquoise hair. You lucky people now for the pre-Christmas break.

Which you can guess by the photo was at Robin Hoods Bay. Bliss. Walks on the beach (I really like the seaside in Winter it's definitely at it's best). Despite TS buying a pick fossils for the extracting of, there was a complete absence of fossil finds not so much as a T-rex nor bugger all to be had.

I did see a seal swimming about under the sea wall which was nice and we walked along the cliffs to Boggle Hole and lets face it with a name like that it was practically compulsory. In the evenings we sat in front of an open fire and watched the Horror Channel, well it was that or the god botherers or teleshopping.

We got back to reality with only two shopping days to Christmas and I got the food and gifts in a mad two hour whirlwind tour of the White Rose Shopping Centre.

What it's nearly March already?