Eventually the post that I was meaning to write... *g*

[byslantedlight]

It feels like forever since I was properly on lj (ie, wittering away... *g*) but today is a gorgeously blue-skyed Sunday when I should be outside doing useful things, and I am feeling lazy enough to look forward to spending it inside doing random things. *g* Well, there may be a garden centre visit later, and there will probably be finally-planting-the-plants-I-bought... *g*

I've been re-importing my DW back-up journal (which will need doing again after this post of course!), but so is everyone else because it's taking forever this time (and I had to remember my password first, too - *headdesk*) I've had emails about people "subscribing" and "adding" me to their DWs, and I shall add back as soon as it's finished doing its thing. I'm still undecided about whether I'll actually use it - and even its use as an archive if my lj actually vanishes is dubious, because my posts generally involve images and those would vanish with lj. But of course I don't want to lose people... Do feel free to add me over there if you have a DW and want to keep in touch, and we'll see how it goes if the time comes I suppose.

So - where were we otherwise?

I'd bought a new sound system (well... *g*), and was looking forward to my new telephone. It should have looked like this:
But unfortunately that gorgeous thing didn't work, and there'd been enough similar complaints in the reviews that it couldn't be coincidence rather than a real fault with the design, so I decided to go with a different maker, and ended up with this instead: I figured that if I couldn't have what I wanted, then this relatively petite version would work, and the push-buttons on the dial seemed slightly less obtrusive than on some of their other models. And the bright side - it works, and it has a proper bell ring! And I'll keep my eye out for this company making something as cool as the other company did. *g*

More dramatic skies.

Visit to a garden centre which led to the discovery of a local archaeological site and museum... Shades of The Secrets Beneath! Sadly they've finished digging the villa itself (they've been working on the site for nearly forty years!), but they're excavating the stable block, and I'm actually thinking of taking myself up there over the Easter weekend to help out. It's been ages since I've done any digging, and there's the actual possibility of finding stuff here, which would be nice for a change!

Spring has continued to be sprung - here's one of my routes home from various chores, past what is apparently one of the most beautiful houses in the country (sadly privately owned, no entry to look around). The gateway is actually over the road to the village though, and then you go over the old stone bridge and glimpse the river. There's often a herd of deer in front of the house, and birds around the water.

I was also rather surprised the other week to find a memorial in the bus stop of the local village with the names Frederick and Gerda Konig (having not long ago been at Konigsberg itself), but he turned out to be an American descendant who moved to England, started a bank with his brother, and owned the house above for a while. She was born in Germany, though. They built the school in the village, and seem to have been reasonable eggs - there's newspaper descriptions of the family giving Christmas gifts of food and coal etc. to the villagers during WWI, too.

I've also just discovered that the big field next door, over which most of those sky photos are taken, was once a medieval settlement, complete with church and graveyard, so I shall have to find out more about that! *g*

Work, work, work - alternately challenging-girls and lovely-girls. Lots of driving around with them, mostly to R's activities, which means I get to see pretty landscapes like the above, in the course of work. And of course the main house here has even prettier views from the bottom of their garden. But there have also been bats flying around in front of my place in the evening (hurrah! love bats!) and the other night there was church bell-ringing practice ringing through the air - very bucolic countryside!

But work also makes things difficult - such as losing a filling last Friday night, and not being able to get to a dentist until this Friday night. And ack, a private one, with the ensuing costs, but of course I'm not registered anywhere, having just moved here, and ack, complicated. It's the tooth that I know has to come out, but I wasn't quite ready for that the other night. I hoped/was expecting they'd just slap a temporary filling over the top, but when I'd convinced them to do anything at all, they went for what now looks like a beautiful reconstruction of a tooth, warning me that it will definitely not last long. It took ages too, bless the-incredibly-good-looking-young-(Greek?)-dentist. I arrived around 6.40, and granted there was form-filling and a bit of waiting, but it was nine o'clock when I left! The tooth's niggly now too, despite being a root-canaled one that I shouldn't be able to feel at all, and I'm hoping that it's just general disturbance of the area, and will settle down and give me time to register with an NHS dentist. Cross fingers...

Finally - last night I went for a walk, heading northwards along the local track: If you look at the big version of that first pic, you'll see what looks like a lone hill in the distance - it's not, its actually a massive "real-snow ski slope"/cinema/shops etc.... That's MK for you - but I suppose it does make for something to orient yourself against!

I was just thinking how much it felt like going for a walk in Cambs. (minus the historical architecture in the distance), when who did I spot through the trees? S/he was in the middle of the field when I first saw her, and we eyed each other for a while - well, she eyed me, I tried desperately to take a photo that would focus - and then she bounded away, pausing to check what I was doing every now and then. *g*

On the way back, in the next field... ...so I presume she'd long-gone by then!

Anyway, that would seem to be me... I ventured to Ikea again yesterday, having had an idea about how to sort out some of the remaining stuff lying around, so that's on my list for today too. If I ever get off the computer... *g* Hope you're having nice times - how're you doing?

Comments

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

Oh, your phone!!!
What a shame that the other one didn't work properly!
And a fox! The only one I ever saw "in the wild" was when I was wwoofing in Siston.

It looks like you are discovering things in your area, and how awesome that you might be able to participate in a local dig!
Have you found good book stores/library/clubs in the area, to join, or are your working hours too long?
How is your dairy shaping up? Did the heat get fixed? Is it feeling like home, yet?

When we got back from our California/Arizona trip, our house felt huge, after living two weeks in the MG. *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I'm a little bit heartbroken about the GPO phone, cos it was so pretty and perfect for me, but oh well... If I hadn't seen the other one, I would have thought this one was so pretty too! *g*

Seeing the fox was fab! I've seen them in the wild at a distance - including once being chased by a hunt - but this was such a surprise, and she was so beautiful! I knew I should have taken my big lens with me - next time!

I've not found a good bookshop yet - I thought I'd found the main MK Waterstones, but it turned out to be a sort of extra one (which I was very pleased to realise - I was quite worried about the lack of books!) There's lots of libraries, which is nice - one in market town, one in other town, one near kiddie's gym that we go to, and I've not even visited the central MK one yet! I'm still looking for a reading group - there's one via MeetUp that I keep meaning to join to see what it's like, but you have to join MeetUp first of course, and it's just an extra step that I haven't got around to yet. There's an archery club not far away, which I might give a go, and I've just found a fiddle teacher (though he's away for the next week, which is a shame when I've just started back again)...

The Dairy is getting there. I think my office solution will be quite helpful, and although I've had a break to do some gardening, I'm going to see how much more I can sort out around it this evening. The heating was fixed sort of - I still didn't find it was particularly efficient. On the bright side, I've turned off the heating now anyway, cos it's been warmer again, so cross fingers it can stay off now anyway until autumn!

It's sort of feeling like home - I started to arrange my books on the shelves this morning too, rather than just being in any-old-order, and that started to make it feel more like my place, too! Funny, isn't it, the things we want/need... *g*

I loved the pics you posted - glimpsed them last week, and didn't manage to comment. Started to comment several hours ago (like I started to reply here!) and haven't finished that yet either. I must go and do! *g* (But I did plant the plants that I bought last weekend, had dinner and watched an ep of Outlander, and tidied some things away!)

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Oooo - lovely pics. We get urban foxes round our way, which is nothing extraordinary - but we also get urban bunnies. Just sitting in the middle of round abouts or frolicking near Sainsbury's.

Love the blossom, I think this is the prettiest time of year. Other months can be stunning or beautiful, but this is the prettiest.

And yea for archaeology. Always fascinating to see the past come alive with the things people actually saw and used.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was nice to see a fox out in the fields, running free (and without being chased by a pack of hounds and hooray henrys on horseback).

Spring is definitely a pretty time of year. I love the freshness of the green too, and the way you can feel the energy of the plants!

It's been a while since I was digging, so we'll see if I'm still up to it!

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

I shall await the results of your potting and planting with interest :0)

Sorry your 'phone didn't work out, but I kinda like the clotted cream colour of the one you ended up with.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

The phone was a darker cream than I'd expected from the pics, but the black version was also glossy and I thought it would look sort of faux-sinister. This is at least quite calm, just sitting there, waiting to ring!

[loxleyprince.livejournal.com]

My plot bonny approves of the bunny pic. (The fox ones not so much.)

I think it's rarer to see foxes in the wild these days than in the towns. When I lived in Swindon, the foxes were playing on the verges most nights. My auntie feeds a family of foxes that come to her garden every night (last count there were 2 adults and 4 cubs-from-last-year.)

Poor you for having toothache. :-( Still, if you have to be gazing up someone's nostrils for a protracted period of time, it might as well be a handsome Greek, eh?

That private house does look wonderfully elegant. Ski-slope aside, there do seem to be a lot of pretty things to see in your new neck of the woods. :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

My pot bunnies approve of anything really... *vbg*

You could be right about country foxes - you certainly hear more about urban foxes, but then that might just be that blogs etc. are more likely to be written by people in towns, too!

Oddly enough, gazing up his nostrils may well have killed the handsome-Greek thing... besides, they wear masks nowadays, thank goodness! Also, I tend to either stare into the distance or close my eyes and pretend I'm not really there... *g*

The manor house looks entirely like it should be National Trust - but I suspect that's cos the National Trust has got us so used to going into big houses, that we expect automatic access these days! There are definitely some pretty bits around here, though not in the Somerset league. Pretty in a different way, though - and it's nice to find them... *g*

[loxleyprince.livejournal.com]

Pot bunnies! *vbg*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Courtesy of moth2fic. Good, innit! *g*

[loxleyprince.livejournal.com]

Very! :-)

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Wow, a princess phone! Hadn't seen one of those in years.

And being on an archaeological dig! That would be amazing. There seems to be quite a lot going on in your area, too.

Ugh, terrible about the tooth. I almost sounds as if an implant is in your future.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yup, a princess phone! But it has push buttons in the dial, and tone dialling so that you can use call menus and so on. I just like the shape of the old handpieces so much more than the modern flat ones, I find them easier to hold somehow.

It's been a long time since I've been on a dig - not since the Shetlands, I think, because I didn't manage it when I was in Alaska last. Still humming and ha-ing about this one. Do I really want to get up early every day of my long Easter weekend? Well, maybe I could do a couple... *g*

And with the price of implants? No, they're not in my future... a gap is in my future - luckily second last tooth from the back...

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

So good to hear from you!
Great phone and cool pics and bad tooth and everything just so interesting!
Do you feel better about the new job? How is the niggling feeling coming along?

We spent a long weekend at Lake Constance, it was fabulous! Even though most of the family was there, too. *ggg*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hallo - nice to see you too!

And ha - your comment reminds of the Chinese curse - "may you live in interesting times"! Sometimes I think a little more boredom would be nice!

I think I feel better about the new job, and I think the niggling feeling is almost gone - there are ups and downs, and sometimes I wonder what I've done leaving a house that I (mostly) chose myself and decorated and loved (the inside of), and the friends I made at book group, and the beautiful Somerset countryside (and dentists!), but I remind myself that there was definitely a reason for it all, and that I had good reasons for my decision. And I'm already feeling better for it, really...

Love the photos you posted - what a gorgeous place! *g*

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

So good that you feel better about it!

Looking forward to you digging!