Published Photographer

One of my many roles as a Tranny Wallah is to wield the camera when Becky is ready for her "close ups, but not too close darlink." I don't really mind as I enjoy photography and bossing Becky about. So when the Norwich Evening News asked Becky to supply some photos to illustrate the feature about her it was inevitable that at least one of my photos would get sent along. That didn't stop it being really quite freaky to look at the NEN online this lunchtime and see my picture above the fold on the front page.



Nothing I've done has ever been published before and I'm finding it odd to think that the picture what I took will be looked at by thousands of people and become landfill or wrappings for fish and chips and that's a rather weird feeling.

That and having my name changed to Lucy to "protect the innocent" has been all rather exciting. All I need now is a plain clothes policeman in a homburg to ask me for "just the facts Ma'am" and my day will be totally made!

Not Fun

It was not fun driving into work this morning.




Even after an hour and twenty odd minutes of the engine running the frost hadn't completely melted from the bonnet.

We Put Up The Tree Today

Been Busy

On Saturday we went to Norwich, we did our bit for Norwich's economy well, John Lewis's, getting the last of Simon's outfit for the day and other sundries. We were on our way to Castle Mall when we spotted a Charity shop - The Big C that had a bridal boutique upstairs.

It was a treasure trove I got myself a tiara £6.50, we had a look around, of course a charity shop's stock is always changing, they had some great stuff amongst perhaps the slightly tired and worn. Retro wedding dresses mostly from the 60s 70s and 80s but they even had one that dated back to 1947, it was stunning, in ivory satin with shoulder pads and a bias cut. Definitely worth a look for anyone looking for clothes for a wedding.

And then today we made chutney, rather like Dan we had a bit of a surfeit of produce but unlike Dan we didn't grow it ourselves rather Simon's granddad donated it to us either from his garden or from when he went scrumping in Sandringham. I prepared the spices first, I had to make the quatre épice then spoon out the right amount for the chutney (the rest is in the fridge awaiting the next casserole). The smell of cloves, light brown sugar, ground ginger, raisins and nutmeg was Christmas cooking. We had to start out in two pans as I underestimated the volume occupied by the uncooked ingredients but we got down to one in the end.

We bought jars especially for the chutney yesterday, there was more than enough of the mixture to fill all three jars.


We zizzed up what was left over in the blender to make our very own special brown sauce and boy is it smashing! Very smashing indeed.

Went Out Last Night

A works do, the same one I blogged about 2 years ago. This is what I looked like then,


and this is how I looked last night,



There is no morning after picture as truth be told it was more the afternoon after that I felt anything less than extremely jaded, I did meet up with my mum for a coffee this morning but she did say it was like having a conversation with a corpse.

Night Out

We had a lovely night out on Saturday with Siobhan, Isobel and Jo at Pink Punters, as Siobhan said it was not very busy, normally when we go it is bursting at the seams but we had no problems find a seat getting served and there was no queue for the loos which is almost unheard of in most night clubs. It was also the first time we had been out strutting our funky stuff since the smoking ban came into effect. It was bliss not to pick up clothes the next day that stuck of old smoke, but it did cause a fragmentation to the conversations in the evening as Siobhan popped in and out for a ciggie. I took my camera and took mostly rubbish photos, my ambitions out way my technical knowledge and my equipment, the best photo of the night was this one of Siobhan, who is always willing to strike a pose for the camera.



Today, we made our way home slowly via IKEA for lunch and a nosy about(we didn't buy anything not even a bag of tealights and a ludicrous soft toy). We were most taken by the soft closing action of one the kitchens, and we managed to get our hands on the catalogue too.

Not A Reference Book

Not A Reference Book, originally uploaded by Jane Goth.

I used to think that Waterstones was a relatively decent book shop but that opinion has been evaporating recently. The popular science section has books about the human soul and the afterlife slotted in, the academic science section had books about "The Law of Attraction" aka "The Secret" stocked there. The Secret is not science ffs it's woo of the highest order. Now you can just about understand that book shops are pretty poor on what is science after all their employees are not trained librarians and they tend to work there because they love reading (classics, literature) not because they love the science, but surely they should be able to recognise a reference book from entertainment.

Air Show

Some pictures.



The chap stood next to me had the most amazing camera set up. I don't think he took any pictures though, just hugged the camera



There wasn't a display by the Red Arrows this year but we did have a Hawk from 100 Sqn to look at.



And vintage bombers too.

The Report

The rain stopped for long enough for us to have a go on the dodgems and for me to win a coconut on the coconut shy. It rained for the fireworks but there were big heavy umbrellas laid on so that we could stand outside and watch. They were magnificent, but I couldn't hold the umbrella and take photos at the same time. I did get some photos of the evening here are the best of them. Words to go are here

Never Trust

Tesco disposable bbq. They are not much cop and the one we used on Saturday evening tainted the meat with the taste of firelighters even though Simon had followed the instructions to the letter. It was inedible we ended up going to the chippy for mixed kebabs - which were freshly cooked to order and very nice.



We were decorating the flat again, this time the walls. Crumbling to the dictates of the property shows we painted the walls a tasteful, neutral, inoffensive yet ultimately dull cream colour covering over my lovely deep exciting rich red colour that always gave the living room a warm cosy library feel all it needed were the leather chairs in deep green but I could never afford those.

as it once was



as it is now

A Little Spot Of Green

We went for a walk before dinner, to stretch our legs, get some fresh air into our lungs and work up an appetite. There is a mess of trees and nettles with a slim overgrown path going through it a bit behind our house. We walked up ducking under wet trees and dodging nettles, neither of us had been up there before and we were surprised when the path neglected as it was opened out on to a secret green, a tiny park with a bin for dog poo, rabbits, mole hills and newly mowed grass. Hidden from the roads by hedges and trees and from the houses that backed onto it by high fencing.



Completely unsung, it would be a great place for exercising small dogs, children or having a leisurely picnic in the sun.

Downpour

Downpour, originally uploaded by Jane Goth.

My blog about bad driving sparked a few comments, including some from twitchy Ford Focus drivers. Now I didn't say that all Ford Focus drivers were dangerous just that a significant number of the dangerous drivers had the old Focus, but still they twitched possibly guilty consciousnesses? I don't know ;-)

After the rain in Manchester and on the drive back yesterday, today was mostly dry, a few spots and dark clouds in Cambridgeshire but otherwise warm and almost sunny. As I got to the Wisbech roundabout I could see over Lynn a large back cloud threaded with the occasional flash of lightening. It didn't actually rain until I was just getting to the outskirts and it bucketed it down, by the time I got home our next door neighbours were in danger of being flooded as the drains had been overwhelmed.

So far this summer has been a bit of a wash out. There's my work's barbecue coming up soon I hope it doesn't rain for that, there is nothing nastier than sheltering under as marquee from the lashing wind eating soggy burgers.

Got The Decorators In

Or I'm Gonna Wash That Paint Right Outta My Hair

Saturday saw Si and I going across to my old flat armed with good intentions and a long list of decorating things to do.

Every room needs redecorating; the living room and the kitchen because I painted them in strong colours, the sort so hated by the people who give unwanted advice on how to sell you house. The rest of the flat needs decorating because I never got round to doing it in the first place. There are unfinished projects and just things that need doing to make it sellable quickly and for the maximum return.

After we cleared out what we could from the living room labour was divided, Si bravely tackled getting more of the gunk off my lovely archway armed only with Nitromors, brush, scraper, wire wool, brute force and swearing. Oh yes and marigolds



I washed down the walls with sugar soap, to get the grease dirt and nicotine off them, rinsed off the sugar soap residue with clean water and filled in the cracks with polyfiller and that was the end of Saturday except for watching Dr Who, (which was absolutely, bloody, fantastic, best episode yet. And it had (swoon) Capt Jack (/swoon) Derek Jacobi was superb. In fact, all this series it's really struck me the quality of the acting and the actors that they have got this year. They've hit a rich seam.) And we watched "Hot Fuzz" which has just come out on DVD



Today we spent painting the ceiling and coving, twice, humping furniture across the room and climbing up and down ladders.



Next we tackle the walls; we've chosen the colour, it isn't magnolia, but it could be said to be in the same family as magnolia, cousins you could say, kissin cousins probably.

Bank Holiday

Boy the weather has been bad this weekend, almost constant rain and like an idiot I was wandering around in open toe sandals, in the rain and wind. As Bex has said we went up to Liverpool to celebrate Jessica's Birthday. But if the weather outside was grim inside it was warm, welcoming and just plain fun.



Jessica and Abi showed that they were taking sensible drinking very seriously by using the smallest cocktail glasses possible.

Later we went clubbing, it's not really my sort of music but I had a really good time strutting my not so funky stuff to the tunes, but mainly it was really cool to get to hang out with the gang again as we hadn't seen most of them for a while.

Yesterday after a leisurely brunch we set off up to Lancaster to visit Siobhan and see for ourselves the servers that Trannifesto lived on. We put the state of blogging to rights and just generally caught up. Add to that finally getting to drive across the M62 and it was a great way, if very tiring, to spend a bank holiday weekend.

we r in ur ikeas eating all ur meatballz

We R In Yr Ikeas Eating All The Meatballs, originally uploaded by Jane Goth.

I'm beginning to think that Ikea know full well when they've chosen a name that is going to make their more infantile customers snigger into their big yellow bags We were *cough* more restrained than that and anyways I had remembered to bring my big blue bag.

I think we were fairly successful we didn't source all the innovative storage solutions we were after but we got stuff for the kitchen, bedroom, a really really lovely dark purple duvet set and two throw cushions and a new floor lamp for the living room. We avoided buying the attractive, fun, but ultimately useless stuff that Ikea is so well known for. I was tempted for a short while by the multicultural, male, Russian dolls but sense and lack of space restrained me.

Collecting the Collections

CD towers, originally uploaded by Jane Goth.

Today I've been mostly sorting out our CD collections and making them into one collection. And I really enjoyed myself I've been dying to get my hands on Simon's CD collection and have a proper look through it. There was remarkably little overlap so there are only a few CDs for Ebaying.

And then I made dinner, using a variation of a recipe I saw on Mid West Rock Lobster and very nice it was too. Now we are waiting for Doctor Who to start. So while we've been busy it's not been wildly exciting just a life bimbling along nicely.

Bubbl

oooooOOOOOOoooooo

Doctor Who - Series Three (new style) starts tomorrow at 7pm, and I'm just a little bit excited.

Could Snow

I rang my Mum today, just to see how she was and because I usually ring her on a Sunday after the Archers if I'm about. She said that it was threatening to snow in darkest Cambridgeshire. I did not ring her because it was Mother's day, you see my Mum doesn't believe in it. She says that if you need a day in the year to remember your mother on and treat her properly because you've ignored her for the rest of they year then please don't bother at all. This was my paternal Grandmother's view as well, so there has never been a tradition of bothering with Mother's day as far as I remember. I suppose I will have to carry on the tradition myself too.

I personally think Valentine's day is a load of crock too, there's nowt wrong with a card but leave it at that the rest is over priced tat. It is far nicer to receive a bunch of flowers just because "it's a Wednesday and they looked nice and the sun was shining and I was thinking of you..." than because all the supermarkets and florist shops are telling you this is how you must show your love.

Anyways that was not what I was intending to blog about. Yesterday as well as going for a tramp in the woods (we had a good time I'm not sure whether the tramp enjoyed it though. Ah the old jokes they don't get much better than that! :D )We went out for dinner in Historic King's Lynn by the Quayside as the restaurant is a bit posher than your usual rubbish we decided to scrub up, this is me all scrubbed up and ready to go as taken with my new camera. I forgot to take a photo of Simon be assured that he looked very dapper too.

St Patricks Day

And to celebrate I bought Cinnamon and Raisin bagels - there is a reason. And then we went for a walk in Sandringham woods, it's quiet now but in 1,2 or 3 months time the roads will be chocka with caravans and tourists.