Not the best photo, the colours are actually much brighter, but here's about half the quilt strips laid out. There's a seperate strip on the left to show how the strips were pieced together.
Clever, eh? :)
(Thanks for hosting the pic, Joules!)

Heh, feet hurt, not surprising given the amount of walking the cubs and I did today. Went to the Museum via the supermarket (much cheaper to buy snacks there), then as we'd just missed the bus I suggested we walk the rest of the way to the train station. It's really not that far, and all downhill, so we did.
Went in specifically to see the 'Treasures' exhibition but I was a little disappointed truth be told. I was expecting to see lots and lots of old/rare stuff, but there was only 25 displays spread throughout the building. Some of it was brill – it was good to see the giant turtle shell again, and the 1940's caravan was so cute - but I was expecting more. I was also expecting to see all the pieces in the one area, I think it would've had more impact that way. Eh, I left feedback. :)
(Oh, GoodTwin, in the 'Australia Gallery' they've got the kitchen from 26 Ramsay St, the one that was destroyed by fire. Just thought you'd like to know. <g>)

Right, I've washed and dried all the cubs' school uniforms, this way there won't be a paniced scramble the night before they go back to school – again.

Mmmm... the house is smelling very Lush again. The Rock Star soap finally ran out so I trotted down to the shop to get something else nummy before I had to resort to ordinary soap. Was convinced to try a sliver of 'Miranda', so called cos it's fruity. (Get it? Carmen Miranda...) It's delicious, sweet and soft. Lovely. :)

Woohoo! The cubs' room is clean, the carpet's been vaccumed and everything.

Musical Kung-fu.
The cubs were asked what sort of games they'd like to play at their birthday party and that's one of the ones they came up with. It's like musical chairs, sort of, except that while the music's going you 'do Kung-fu moves' and the last person still moving when the music stops is out. <bg> Yes, they devised that one themselves...

Fondly remembering my own 'science experiments' at the same age I cheerfully let the cubs play about last night, mixing together various ingredients from the pantry – soy sauce, soy milk, water, vinegar, food colouring etc. I'd forgotten though, how much mess I used to make... Luckily there was a bath full of luke warm, soapy water with which to clean up. <rolls eyes>

I have a taste-memory of the porridge I used to eat when I was living in England, before we emigrated. It's taken me a long time but I've finally found a brand which is almost the same, especially when it's made with milk.

Awww, how cute! <squinch> I had a mini Hiei and Kurama battling it out around the house last night. : )

Mmmm... fluffy slippers, real sheepskin... lovely. They're blue - I had the choice of that or grey - would've really liked purple or bright pink but all the affordable slippers in cool colours had synthetic linings and that just won't do. I'm very particular about what goes on my feet.

Egad, the cubs and I made a clean spot in their room yesterday. We should be able to get the rest of it sorted today, especially as I've threatened we're not going to go anywhere fun until it's done and that includes the Golden Arches of Doom on their birthday. Mean mummy. <smirk> (Anyway, it's better if their bedroom floor is cleared before their birthday cos that means there'll be room for all the balloons...)
... and in breaking news – it's been a week already and still the lounge-room is clean...

I'm getting on with 'Cathouse Ellis' before I tackle anything else. It's already half-done, has been for months, won't take much to wrap it up and I'm in the mood for some fluff.

Got the latest lot of photos back, including a reasonable shot of some of the quilt strips. I'll get that scanned as soon as I can pin the cubs' father down to do it for me.
Heh, on my list of things-to-get is a scanner, I'll probly be more inclined to scan/post if I don't have to share them with him first. Daft, I know, this hesitancy. There's nothing really explicit or embarrasing about what I want scanned but still, it's bits of my life that he has no need to know about any more.
Speaking of the quilt, I've just started to attach the fourth strip – it's looking good. :)

I'm having one of those snivelling 'why am I bothering?' days where I'm feeling flat and unenthusiastic about everything including my abilities. Sorry to say but the thought of having the cubs at home with me for the next 2 weeks isn't filling my heart with joy either. Eh, I'll get over it.

Introduced the cubs to Yu Yu Hakusho and they're loving it. :) Only the first 12 eps are available here at the moment but hopefully the next lot won't be far behind. I think I prefer the dubbed version though, it's funnier. For example, when Kurama ('are you sure he's a boy, Mum?) takes the sword-thrust meant for Yusuke, in the original Japanese he answers the spirit detective's query as to his health with 'I'm a yokai, we don't die so easily.' and in the dub with 'It's just a minor hole in my stomach...'. <g> Guess which one had me rolling around laughing? (Plus, in the Japanese version Kurama is voiced by a woman and that's just aggravating.).
However, also watched some more Excel Saga recently (damn, that girl's perky!) and Ilpallazzo is soooo much sexier with his Japanese voice. :)

Saw something interesting on Catalyst (a newtech science program) last week. A scientist here is working on a way of utilising plastic in steel-making. Currently, coal is used in the process, for its carbon, but plastic also has a high carbon content. If a way can be found to use the plastic safely it could go a long way to reducing the mountains of waste, non-recyclable plastic pouring into the dumps as land-fill.

Joules has asked me if I want to write a particular bit in her next AC cos she doesn't like causing permanent damage to characters. Heh, I'd call her a wuss but she'd probly hit me...

On Saturday night we finally saw the episode of The Bill that was aired live in the UK months ago.
... Bit over the top, wasn't it? By the end of the episode we had 2 confirmed deaths, (and has anyone else noticed that every gay character has been victimised in some way?) 2 potential deaths, a glimpse of someone thought to be dead... Was there anything else? Oh yes, angst and drama aplenty, and Cathy Bradford digging herself deeper in.
Have to admit the acting in this one was better than the previous 2 eps – gods, those actors playing the lawyers in Polly's murder case were making a meal of it! I just wanted to slap them, tell them to get proper jobs. :)
Last night's – Tuesday's – ep was ok, though I don't trust Gabriel at all, never have, and Yay! Go Inspector Okaro! Put that Bradford woman in her place! (No I don't get too involved with my programs, why do you ask? <g>)

The cub's father gave me some earplugs the other day, they're marvellous. I only need one, in my good ear, and that cuts down the general level of noise and dampens the awful, high-pitched overtone that the telly, CD player, and the cubs generate. This is great for my concentration, it means even with the lounge-room full of people and the telly blaring I can still hear enough to know what's going on around me but not have it shatter my ability to focus on what I'm writing.

Cos the cubs did a good job at clearing their crap out of the lounge-room on the weekend, their dad gave them some spending money. They'd originally planned to get a Lego surprise thing (chupa chup lolly pop and lego figurine) but then they saw some little remote-controlled robots that were about the same price. They're very simple toys, only go backwards and forwards but the cubs are having great fun with them. You should hear the shrieks of laughter when they get their robots to 'wrestle'. :)

Ok, someone gives you something valuable, no strings attached apparently, but you know they've been wanting you to do something for them for ages. Does this sound like a bribe?
Yes, I thought so to.
We've got an election coming up and our government, as part of it's 'help for families' strategy, has given single parents, and carers of disabled people, a substantial one-off payment. Thank you very much but is it going to influence me to change my vote? Nup.
What I'm wondering though is just where this money's coming from. The government's been crying poor for the whole of it's time in office, saying they need to make cuts to health, education, infrastructure etc. This families payment must run into millions, so where is this money coming from? I don't doubt it'll be taken out of our hides at some point but in the meantime I can catch up on some bills, buy the cubs clothes, shoes and uniforms, you know, the sorts of things I can't usually manage to do on what I normally receive...

My latest Dystopia chapter, 'Hunted' is now posted in Darkside - thanks, Joules!
I was planning on having Cathouse Ellis (remember that?) finally finished before the holidays start but I've gotten distracted by something on Val's new Cyber City lj community. <bg>
Be good if I can get 'Ellis' done and out of the way though, it's been hanging around for a year. Eh, I'll see how I go and heh, at the rate Joules is writing the latest (nail-biting!) AC's it won't be long before I'll need to contribute a chapter there as well. Novel? What novel...? :)

Cleaned the lounge-room today... found a lot of socks...

Rang the estate agent about the stove, anticipating that she'd tell the owner and he'd want to come around and check it out for himself. Surprise surprise I get a call back from the agent to tell me the owner's organising an electrician to come over... <blink> Okay, good, I'm feeling more relaxed already.

My housemate's an ubergeek and he shared with me some of the things available from one of his catalogues. There was a remote-controlled clown fish, which admittedly is really cute, that'd be fun to put in an aquarium and chase the genuine fish with. :) There was also a whole range of stuff you can plug into your unused USB ports (because, gods know, it's against the law or something to have spare ports and not use them <rolls eyes>). There's things like lights, and bloody coffee-makers, but I admit I'd like the mini-aquarium complete with itty-bitty plastic fish. <g>

There's a feng shui stall in my local shopping centre. It's very interesting, full of the usual accoutrements; resin buddhas, plastic 3-legged frogs, mirrors, coins etc but I fail to see how knock-off DBZ and Power Rangers figurines could help the flow of chi through your home...

Hn. Yahoo Mail's changed its look again. They've also given me a 100meg of space now, for free, which is amusing considering I've been looking at adds for the past 2 years asking me if I wanted to buy 100megs of space. Tch.

I had a dream the other night I was drawing a raffle. I thought I'd won a prize but it turned out I'd read the number upside-down. Heh. :)

Had a fluffy bunny moment last night and watched Camelot. (I know every word to every song – are you surprised?) It occured to me half-way through that the story isn't about love and betrayal it's about possession. The only reason things blew up so badly was cos Guinevere was Arthur's property. Now, if the 3 main characters had lived in a differently structured society – like one of the ones in my head, for instance <sunny smile> – there wouldn't have been a problem. They could've all quite happily shacked up together and the outcome would've been very different. If Arthur had the love and support of the two most important people in his life, instead of fighting them, Mordred wouldn't have got his hooks in. <tra la la> (Okay, that's assuming we're still following the stories based on Mallory's 'Morte d'Arthur' which, because they were written in a particular style had to have a villain. Actually I think Mordred is horribly mis-represented in most of the stories, as is his mother... where was I? Oh yes...) I still love the musical version, Richard Harris is so gloriously sappy and if I was a princess I'd want to be just like Vanessa Redgrave. :)

Oooh! There's an exhibition of impressionist paintings starting at the Gallery! Love to go and see that, and during the school holidays the Museum will be exhibiting some of its treasures. That'll be good, too, I have fond memories of the old museum and its seemingly hundreds of rooms packed with old-fashioned glass and wood display cases. The new museum, while nifty, doesn't have the same sort of soul. The old museum had fantastic (cheesy!) diaoramas of 'man through the ages', and dinosaurs, and examples of different habitats. I remember wandering through the 'technology' galleries and being fascinated by all the weapons and armour, and clocks, and sewing machines and geiger counters... <g>

My cubs aren't camera shy. While I was fiddling with the quilt strips they noticed I had the camera out and insisted on having their photos taken with their newest toys. <rolls eyes> 3 shots of the project, 6 shots of them...
They borrowed an environmental awareness video from the library today and were quite chuffed at just how many of the 'how to be green' suggestions are already part of how we live. :)

The cubs' father was going to take them to school this morning but the car wouldn't start – again. Fortunately I was dressed and ready to go so I took them there by bus instead. Wasn't too bad, only got to school 20 minutes late.
I think – until the car is definitely sorted – it'll be less stressful for me to keep using the bus. I loathe the feeling of helplessness when I'm stranded somewhere with a dead car.
Heh, only got a week and half before it's school holidays anyway!

'k, Zoo Pt 2 is posted in Dystopia, between Joules' triffic (exciting!) Loan pts 4 & 5. I've started pt 3 of Zoo, which should nicely tie up at least one of my arcs... 'Strawberry Blue', a non-aligned, one-off, sci-fi ficlet is posted in The Vault on the Wordwrights site. Here's the link to that and be sure to go ooooh at the background tile. In fact, once you've read the story, scroll right down to the end until all the text is off the screen and just gaze at the background for a few minutes. Very soothing... (Thanks, Joules! :)

Glimpsed something really cool in a movie last night - a curtain of leaves. It looked like fake/silk ivy leaves attached to a fine net curtain but I thought wow! I could do that! <g>

I spent a little time yesterday fiddling about with the quilt strips, laying them out and getting them in order ready to sew together. Didn't need too, really, it's sposed to be put together randomly but I'm glad I did. The quilt's made up of 2 different types of strips and I discovered I'd miscalculated a little. Instead of there being 7 of one and 8 of the other, the ratio was 9/6. Oops. Not a problem, just involves a little bit of unpicking and resewing, easily fixed.
Tell you what, it's going to look very... bright when it's all finished. :)
(Oh, I took some photos of the strips. Once they're developed - and if I can get them scanned - I'll put some up here so every one can see exactly what sort of fiddly nonsense I bog myself down with.)

<snigger> On the History Channel at the moment they're showing a little snippety fill-in program about items in the collection of the Australian National War Museum. So far, every thing that's been shown has been either 'souvenired' by Aussie troops or outright stolen! <smirk> Ah, you've gotta admire the Aussie spirit of considering anything not nailed down as fair game...

Hn. Soulsis sent me a link to a writing competition I'm eligible for. Not many details on the site and I can't download/print the entry form. I'll give them a ring. I wonder if there's a particular story rating which is preferable. I assume not multiple X. :)
I think this was a competition I entered after my dad died <counting fingers> six years ago. I almost changed my mind but he'd paid the entry fee for me and I thought it'd be a waste not to accept that last gift.
(I didn't win, by the way, don't think I even placed. But interestingly I've recently been thinking about one of the stories I entered - before Soulsis sent me the link - and wondering if I could rewrite it. Coincidence? No such thing...)

(nicked from The Zone...)

How to make a Lutra

Ingredients: 5 parts success 1 part crazyiness 5 parts empathy

Method: Add to a cocktail shaker and mix vigorously. Add a little fitness if desired!

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com


Heh, a very little fitness...

L	Loud
U	Unreal
T	Trustworthy
R	Revolutionary
A	Ambivalent

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com



Loud? Only if you count overt displays of squealy fan-girl behaviour loud. <smirk>

Monday - Queen's Birthday Holiday. Transformers marathon, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Cartoon Network.
Feel the joy.

The stove died on Saturday night while I was on the phone to OkapiPrincess (I don't think there was a connection :). One of the elements blew and I was a bit annoyed cos it was the one I use the most but I thought, no problem, I'll just transfer the pot of water to another element and keep cooking. Nope, the whole thing had stopped working. <sigh>
Niki's lending me her really neat little electric oven (it's got a hotplate on top) so I can at least <hand to forehead> feed my children.
I'll give the Estate agent a call tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too long before the stove's replaced.

Just about finished the short (potentially) Dystopia fic, then there's another Dys fic planned, one that'll slot neatly in between the last 2 Joules wrote this week. (<impressed> How come I can't write 20 or so pages a week?)
Then what?
I'll think of something to amuse myself with, I'm sure...

Hm, the cubs are running out of socks - time to clean under the couch...

Well that was amusing. Just watched 'Gen X Cops' (1999), the Nic Tse, Stephen Fung movie I got cos I couldn't find a copy of '2002'.
Not a shockingly original story, 3 maverick rookie cops recruited for a nigh-impossible mission deep undercover in the treacherous Hong Kong underworld... Yeah, yeah but 2 of them at least were so pretty! Nickypoohs being all brooding and angular; and cute, round little Stephen with longish, blonde-tipped hair. <silly grin> The Yakuza villain was very charismatic as well, I liked him. There were a lot of familiar faces in this including Sam Lee, the ghost-partner in 2002, as the third rookie and again he's playing 'the comic one'. He does it well, though, and the three of them played off each other nicely.
Watched it with English subtitles (hardly suprising, I don't speak cantonese) and the coy difference between the fruity parts of bits of the English soundtrack and how they were translated made me giggle. And let's not go into the typos in the subtitles!
"He was a well-known Yakuza box!" <smirk> Riiiight...
Was interested to hear an Aussie accent on one of the female leads and the executive producer - Jackie Chan - makes an amusing cameo appearance.
Gen X Cops is ultimately a teen-cop flick but engaging nonetheless and the double-double crosses kept me on my toes.(Honestly, sometimes it was like a pea and cup game - who's/where's the villain again? :)
Apparently there's a sequel, Gen Y Cops, I think, and I glimpsed something about a prequel in one of the few bits of the special features I could access. Might be something I'll hunt up at a later date, we'll see how far I'm willing to let this interest in the Hong Kong movie industry go...

And this is the reason why I don't ever want to live somewhere there isn't any public transport...
Tuesday night, after picking the cubs up from school, had to get help jump-starting the car so we could get home. (That's what I was thanking Penny for – she happened along as the cubs and I were treking to the nearest petrol station.) The cubs' father and I thought it was the car battery that was faulty, and after recharging it the car started without a problem. Cubs' father got to and from work a couple of times without incident and then yesterday morning I took the cubs to school in the car then went shopping. When I got back to the car, however, I found it wouldn't start.
I'll skip the bit where I swore and cried, and cutting a long story short I left the car in the carpark and got the bus home. Got the cubs home on public transport as well, after stopping off to optimistically have another go at starting the car. (Well, sometimes it works. You leave something for a while, switch it off, and when you come back the problem's miraculously fixed. :)
So, we got the bus to school today. Not really a problem, just time consuming.

One of my cubs told me this morning he liked it when I bossed him about...
<guilty twitch> Am I setting my child up to be an uke?

Hey. Val, remember that supercool spider/twister painting you did? Remember how I said it'd sparked something? It's only a little something, just an adding flavour scene-within-a-scene sort of thing in the next novel I'm planning. Would it be okay if I used it, properly credited of course? Naturally I'll show that bit to you first, once it's actually written. <g>

I've finally begun a fic I had an idea for waaay back last summer holidays. It was originally intended for Dystopia but ultimately it's got no connection with the main narrative of that at all. It could go in with the other sci-fi/fantasy one-off's... What do you think, Joules?

Gah! I am well and truly stalled on chaper 12 of Dancing. It's really sketchy, patchy, needs a lot of work, and yes, I do believe I'm procrastinating.

Aya! Found a copy of the movie Dogma on special and I treated myself. Can cross that off my wish-list now... :)

(Nicked from various blogs.)

Well, gosh, this is a surprise...


How evil are you?


Yeah, I'd agree with these...

INFJ - "Author". Strong drive and enjoyment to help others. Complex personality. 1.5% of total population.

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Global Personality Test Results

Sensate (50%) medium which suggests you are moderately empathetic, sensitive, and considerate of others. Intellectual (56%) moderately high which suggests you tend to be internally motivated, self seeking, and independent. Assertive (43%) moderately low which suggests you are timid, indirect, and unable to start and/or follow through on things.

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I realised something the other day, or rather, I finally found myself able to articulate it.
Men intrigue me - women don't, well, not in quite the same way. I like women, I understand them and I'm comfortable with that understanding, but men? They're like exotic, unfamiliar labratory animals, I have an almost clinical interest in poking them, wanting to see what they do. Their reactions to stimuli are fascinating.
Heh, but then fascinating or not they're like some types of fine art, really interesting to look at but not necessarily something I'd want in my house .. :)

I've decided that if/when I publish any of my work I won't be using my 'real' surname, my family name. Neither will I use my married name. This aversion to utilising these perfectly adequate names was something else that took me ages to pin down. Put simply (or about as simply as I can manage) what is write is very personal, it's mine and I want to publish it under a name that I've chosen, not a name that's been passed on to me from a male.
I've chosen the surname I want to use, it's still a family name but has come down through the maternal line. I like it, it resonates nicely...

Wouldn't a barcode make a triffic tattoo? But a barcode for what product? Favourite book/DVD? Something tacky, iconoclastic? <evil smirk> Japanese 'love-doll', perhaps, or a Hello Kitty vibrator?

(Rereading what I've written: okay, this is getting a little odd. I'm obviously tired, the barrier between what I think and what I'm actually saying is more porous than usual...)

Thank you, Penny, for rescuing the cubs and I this evening! (Dead car battery, don't panic. :)

[stares at bill, then glares at Zasshu] I hope you're sharing that with Lutra, piglet!

[growls and reaches for wallet…]

Aaaaargh! <grumble> Saturday's episode of The Bill ended on a major cliff-hanger but cos of the stupid Angel's thing taking up 3 nights I have to wait 'til next saturday to find out what happens.

Took the cubs to Smorgy's tonight for dinner, and guess what? There was a new dessert. <rolls eyes> Lemon meringue pie made as only a bulk-food family restaurant can. The crust, though sweet, still managed to be tasteless, the filling was so insipid it wouldn't have offended the anti-lemon nazis on ff.net and I swear a bit of the meringue topping that fell off my piece bounced off the table...
But the cubs enjoyed themselves and that's all that matters, right? :)

Since being pregnant I've learnt to listen to what my body tells me and right now it's telling me to avoid wheat products. Actually, given the general antipathy I have towards bread and pasta it's probably been telling me this for a while. (Though there are times when hot buttered toast is just perfect, or fresh, crusty bread with soup. Mmmmm... Anyway...) I eat a lot of rice, and quite enjoy rice noodles, so that's not a problem, and I suspect if I bought a corn-based cereal I'd be more inclined to eat breakfast. Heh, and there's always porridge – yummy – though that's more of a weekend thing. :)
Fortunately this doesn't feel like a full-blown intolerance (do you have any idea how many products have wheat in them? It's boggling!), more like a precautionary measure. Eh, will see how we go.

<happy squeak> Joules is writing a KMask/Eskara ficlet! KM is big, <quiver> so big...

Heard a quote last night (from the Brit comedy 'Gimme Gimme Gimme') that had me rolling around laughing. One of the characters accused someone of 'being so far in the closet they were back in ****ing Narnia! <wiping eyes> So funny...!

I like aspirin, aspirin is my friend. If I take some 20 minutes before I have to do any amount of walking the fused lumps of flesh and bone at the ends of my legs don't hurt so much. :)

Have you noticed that when politicians go visiting (Please, Mrs Bush, can George come out to play?) they always stage 'photo opportunities' where the Press (and the polie's official photographers, no doubt) can record the auspicious occasion. Have you also noticed that no matter how firm and friendly the handshake the politicians never look at each other, only at the cameras? I find this disturbingly insincere, and annoying.

I cooked myself a curry. Okay, it was a watered down version of an already mild dish (and the curry powder was quite old) but still adventurous of me, nonetheless. :) The cubs wouldn't touch it, naturally, but I enjoyed it.
I can just see the evil look my mum would give me if I told her I cooked it: when I was little I'd have to go hungry sometimes because I'd never eat one of her curries. <g>

I've been having a slack couple of days, not doing much else but rereading old stuff of mine. It's good to look back and see you've improved. <g> I was delving into some of my initial Professionals fanfiction, specifically a 3 part story I wrote 4 years ago with Sammi. In between wincing at the sheer clumsiness of the prose (the plot was mostly Sammi's, the words were mostly mine) I could still spot the occasional good bit and be pleased. I'd forgotten how much I liked one of the original characters, someone I devised out of Sammi's basic ideas. It'd be so very easy to lift this character and put her somewhere else amongst my original fiction – she'd fit right in to Dystopia, or the Supers' universe. Hm...
Should probly check with Sammi first – I don't think she'd mind but it'd be... polite. :)

(Why do I feel defensive about the state of the house when the cubs' father's special friend is over?)

I had a good look at the Kylie Minogue replica doll today... Is she supposed to look like a transvestite? I have yet to see a 'scanned face' doll that actually looks like the person they represent.
In a pet shop they were selling painted shells so your hermit crabs can have that funky look. Gotta admit the ladybird patterned one was cute. : )

<happy squeak> Picked my fugu sake set up from lay-by! Hee, now I can have a sake party to christen it...

The grade 3 mums had our once-a-term lunch today. You'd think by now I'd have learnt never to assume anything. Previously we've always had these lunches at a particular pub – this time the venue was changed but I only glanced at the note we were given and ended up in the wrong place. Tch. Was only a few minutes late though.
Food wasn't bad at the new place, decent sizes, reasonable prices. There's a biggish indoor playground there as well, might think about taking the cubs there sometime. (Incidentally, we lived across the road from this pub for several months but never managed to get there. Funny, eh? : )

(nicked from OkapiPrincess' journal:)

<blinks> Pardon?


Blue! Your eyes are the Blue of insanity! You make
a lot of friends easily, and you're very
carefree and easy going. Watch yourself,
though, because responsibility is still a big
deal. That doesn't mean you have to stop your
flower obsession, however.


What Color Are Your Anime Eyes?
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Hm. Dogs - friendly, affectionate, pretty dogs - have figured largely in my dreams the past couple of days. Generally I don't like dogs - this is interesting.

Hey! I've made it through another month without succumbing to ebay! <pleased>

One of my cubs made up this joke...

Q: What do you call something that charges at people and is really dumb?
A: An oxymoron.

Trust me, in comparison to the previous jokes he's come up with, this one is actually funny. : )

There are advantages to reading novels out of sequence. I'm halfway through Tepper's 'Raising the Stones', which was written before 'Sideshow' (the last one I read) and is set in the same continuum. Knowing what's to come takes the 'ooh' factor out of the plot twist but I'm also picking up loads of background information which is making the events of the 2nd book so much clearer. <g>

Heh, well, I probably shouldn't be thinking of starting anything new, not when there's how much stuff waiting to be finished, but I've been fiddling about with plans for my next novel. It's got a name now, or at least a working title, and I've been writing character/racial summaries.
Hee, this is fun! Going to be waaaay more involved than 'Dancing' - there may even be enough material for more than one book. Eh, we'll see. : )

Threaten to eat it? Heh, if it hasn't hatched after all this time maybe you wouldn't want to eat it? Eeeuuuww...
Has anyone's eggs hatched?

<sigh of relief> And that, I think (unless I fail) is that for the last subject I'm enrolled for. There's a couple of others I can see about signing up for but they don't start for several weeks. Eh, we'll see. :)

We've got school photos this coming friday, which means I have to find and keep clean the least stained/chewed articles of the cubs' uniforms. They really do need new stuff but it's so expensive to kit them out. I baulk at the price of the official uniform pieces and the el-cheapo brandless stuff I use as a substitute has been annoyingly scarce this year.

The piggles' cage has been slowly falling to pieces over the past few months. I obviously tugged too hard when I shifted it to a fresh spot of grass on the weekend cos the back wall of their hutch came away completely! (Damn chipboard.) So there I was with an unsecured hutch and 2 piggles who'd suddenly taken an interest in the gaping hole and potential freedom. Fortunately it wasn't too hard to come up with a solution. The cat's carry-box was in the garage, I took the front grill off of that, pushed it up against the entrance of the hutch (there was a little lip of wood it fitted quite snuggly underneath) and then jammed a brick at the back of it so it couldn't be accidentally pushed out of place. So far so good, the box is plastic and enclosed so the piggles won't suffer from drafts, and it's holding up well enough. I'll need to get a new cage for them soon though, either buy one or ask one of my clever, handy friends if they can make one for me. :)