Finally - finally, finally, finally...

[byslantedlight]

...Job 2 and Job 2.2 are over! Well, 99.9% over except a couple of relatively minor things that I can't do until other people get back to me. But over in the sense that after five weeks (wait, five weeks, was that all?) I am taking a day off tomorrow. Three days even, cos I am not working over the weekend either (for the first time in five weeks). Yeay!

D'you remember how I actually thought that Jobs 2 would be a nice break from Job 1 and I might actually have the time and inclination to write at the same time? Silly, silly Slantedlight... Although I might have, except for unexpectedly having to take over a second team alongside my first and... oh well. Done now, and there's a few days to relax a bit. *g*

Of course now I'm not quite sure what to do with myself until I start work again on Monday, back at Job 1... *headdesk* Hopefully I'll think of something... *g* I nipped over to a nearby sixteenth century National Trust place this afternoon when I realised I was done - it was so nice to get out! That bed? That's a "campaign bed" - they came apart and folded up, and that's what officers actually took with them when they were off on army campaigns, or exploring or the like back in Victorian times! Oddly enough I'd just been reading This Thing of Darkness (by Harry Thompson - brilliant book, about Darwin and Fitzroy on the Beagle) and it'd described Darwin taking a bed with him on a trek over the Andes - presumably it was something like this. Mad!

So I think hopefully I'll get out again tomorrow - maybe Bath, but actually maybe Exeter for a change, I've not been there for yonks, and I've always liked it... or maybe just Taunton, or... the world is my lobster! Well, anywhere within driving distance... *g* And there will be catching up of emails, and lj reading and posting, and tidying up of the wee annexe, and... stuff. Yeay!

How're you doing? *g*

Comments

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Hello! It's good to see you posting. I remember when you said you'd be busy, but I hadn't realised you'd be quite that busy. Yay for a break and the chance to travel wherever it takes your fancy!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I hadn't realised I'd be that busy either! It's not usually that bad! Speaking of bad, it turned out to be the end of school term today - the worst possible day/weekend for travelling anywhere, as everyone tries to escape on their school holidays at once (on the bright side, it reminds me of Caravans (and I want to say that's by Baravan, but surely that's not right) when the lads are stuck behind the traffic heading up through Scotland (I think). I should see if I can find it in my boxes, it's just right for today. So no travelling this weekend for me after all - at least not very far. But not working at home will do for a start... *g*

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

Welcome back!

I do love that doorway with the blue flowers - clematis?

Did you ever read A Paintbox for Pauline by Ruby Ferguson? One of the characters is obsessed with trying to paint a door in a wall and is always disappointed with the result the next day.

I think she'd have liked that one!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *g* I think it was clematis over the door, but I'm not desperately good with plants. That was my first thought when I saw it, though - "what lovely clematis"! *g*

I don't know A Paintbox for Pauline at all, I'll keep my eye out for it - it sounds like the sort of book I would have liked. It was a very nice door... *g*

[jessebee.livejournal.com]

That is the most exquisite doorway ever and with flowers yet! (WANTS) Glad to hear you are getting some breathing room at last, have fun with your weekend :-D

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

It was a rather gorgeous door... *g* And yeay breathing room - although it turned out that today was also the last day of term, so not such a good idea to try and get anywhere this weekend after all. Oh well... *g*

[unbelievable2.livejournal.com]

Glad you've resurfaced to have some time to yourself! Have a lovely weekend!

I love the bed - it reminds me of the Ripping Yarns episode "Across the Andes by Frog." :))

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I must admit I'm already eyeing Monday rather sideways - but there are two days before then! *g*

Isn't the bed fab - and I can't believe I've not heard of campaign beds before! There was me imagining these blokes roughing it!

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

Nice to see you back and congrats on just about finishing job 2.

I *think* I've been to that NT property... just can't remember the name of it. Never mind. Enjoy your weekend! I'm around if you're passing and fancy a cuppa. :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

It's Lytes Cary... *g*

And ooh - it might be quite nice to pass. Is either day better or worse for passing?

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

That be it! *G*

Either day is fine... any time after two. Be nice to see you but don't worry if you change your plans or whatever.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Looks like not today - I've got all caught up in pottering around my gravel-yard-with-pots-in-it, and generally being homely. But maybe tomorrow, if that's still good with you... *g*

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

Pottering is lovely. :-) Yes, tomorrow is fine but once again if you don't fancy venturing out don't worry. Not much going on at this end for a while now so you can visit at any time.

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

Hello there, nice to see you! *g*

And wow photos! (Mmm yeah, wonder who carried the campaign beds and all the etc. etc.. Apart from any draught animals there may have been, I bet we can guess)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

*waves* Hello!

I think we know who carried the camp beds... And I always think well at least times have moved on from that..., but then I think about being careful with my assumptions, cos if you scratch at them just a little bit... *sighs*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Love the long pathway and door. Where were you, exactly?

The idea of taking a bed like that on campaign seems a bit much, doesn't it? And sort of girly looking, which I guess goes to show how much our ideas of manhood have changed.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

it was Lytes Cary - and a very nice visit too. Friendly, knowledgeable guides around the house, happy to chat at the end of the day - always nice! - and then pretty gardens to wander at the end. And there may have been an ice cream. *g*

According to wiki, it was as late as the 1930s/40s that pink became "a colour for girls" rather than/as much as for boys, and we just seem to have got worse and worse at using it to try and differentiate between the idea of "strong" boys/men and "tender" and "pretty" girls/women. So when you say "girly looking" that's definitely only current sensibilities showing through! I hate that it's become a kind of circle now - is something "girly" because it's pink, or does being pink make something "girly"? And what the hell do people mean by "girly" anyway - which I rather think is more to the point...

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I guess, for me, girly is the same thing as feminine. And it's not so much the color, as the detail. The arched headboard with valances, the dust ruffle. It just doesn't fit with how I perceive something as being masculine. Stupid of me, I still hold to some of the archetypes I was brought up with.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I assumed the headboard and valances etc had a practical reason, probably to do with keeping out insects and the like (though I could just be harking back to four-posters!) And to be fair, I also presumed that the fabric itself was chosen by the woman who furnished the house rather than being the fabric that would have gone on campaign with the bed (though maybe it would!) - and I forgot to note that, when I wrote about the bed.

I've got to say, I really don't like the word "girly" when it's used to describe something - what's the male equivalent? That decoration is "mannish" or "manly"? The implication is that "girly" is delicate and weak and pretty, and the male equivalent is tough and practical, and I don't associate those qualities with either gender - I've met delicate boys and practical girls, and pretty men and tough women, so... so I must admit, the word just rubs me the wrong way!

But it is all too easy to hold onto those ideas we grew up with - I know I catch myself doing it far more often than I'd like... *g*

[murphybabe]

Hooray that you've (almost) finished! Lovely pictures, and I do like the bed :) Happy sightseeing!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I'm already dreading Monday a bit, and back to Job 1... I must make it work better for me, from now on! No sightseeing this weekend, I reckon, unless I want to be sitting on the roads for hours at a time... maybe some closer-to-home sites... *g*

Isn't the bed fab - bloody men! The things they do!

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

It's so nice to see you again!
As always, when I'm at my parents, I hardly get to the computer at all. It's sitting upstairs, in my superheated attic room. *g*
I managed to buy a fan yesterday, though. The last one still on the shelf in the 4th store I checked. I believe it is saving my life! :D

Have a wonderful weekend off work!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Helloooo! It's nice to see you around too - I hope you're having a good time in Germany, even if it is also a hot time. I had no idea it was so warm over there, we seem to be having pretty average temperatures this year so far (I shouldn't say that out loud, really... *g*) Yeay for finding a fan though - well done, you!

And yeay weekends, too - there will be... well, hopefully housekeeping, lots of housekeeping - and bits of gardening, and practicing fiddle, and reading, and sorting things out, and... not work. *g*

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

Yay, you're back!
I missed the virtual office, but was too busy to open one .
Or too lazy?

I should be working on something I dread....

But there was sewing and reading in between, and much talk about our last holiday. *gg*

The little Maus wants to visit again, the bestest place was your place, apparently, though I'm not quite sure if it's for the wifi or for you.

I love the look of the NT place you went!
Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy your weekend off without thinking too mich about monday.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Wheee - nice to be back! *g* I can catch up on all kinds of things now - lj and email and... housekeeping... *g* I shall try to Virtual Office on Monday too, because it was nice to know that people were around... actually perhaps I didn't need it so much during Job 2, because I was constantly in communication with people, one way or another. Proofreading is very much more isolated!

Yeay or sewing and reading and chatting about your holiday, even if there was dreadful work in between... And yeay that little Maus wants to visit again! Hee for wanting to visit here again - I wonder if it had something to do with meeting Landlady and the horses just before you guys left! And there's something to be said for wifi on tap, so I get that too! *g*

So far it's a nice day - I've done laundry, and been pottering in my gravelly-garden. And potting too, my poor neglected courgettes, which were managing to grow pretty well in yoghurt pots, and even to flower, but must desperately need more space... And I must try and get my weather station up too - I need to go and find a post that I can attach it to... *g*

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Hi there, good to hear that you will have a loooonnnngggg weekend! Enjoy it! And the pictures are wonderful

Last week at my little trip to Ireland I found this boxbett

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool box bed! I've now seen two beds like that! I wonder if the box-bit was supposed to give privacy in a shared room, or protection from insects or mice or something... Do you know any more about them? And ooh, you went to Ireland? Where abouts? Did you post about it somewhere, or...? *g*

Ireland

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

This box-bed was really a box-bed. It was in a small farmcottage in the folkmuseum at Bunratty Castle and it seems that they had to shift the desk and the chairs when they wanted to sleep, because the cottage was so narrow and small, there was no room for a huge bed. At the morning the put the mattress in the box, closed the door and had enough room for the other furniter. I had a newer form of a box-bed when I was a teenager because my room was to small. So my parents bought a wall unit with wardrobe, folding bed and writing flap. And "tada" I had my own universe! :-)

So, to Ireland. We went to Lisdoonvarna and had day trips to Kylemore Abbey and Connemara, to Limerick and Bunratty Castle, a boat trip on the Shannon with time to visit Ennis and we went up the Loop Head Lighthouse and had a quick visit at the gardens of Kilrush. Loop Head Lighthouse was in more then one way breathtaking. When we got up and came to the view border we wondered why we should hold our glasses. But when we came around the curve towards the Atlantic , we felt it. There was a storm which took the breath away but the look was breathtaking at all.

I have send you a PM with a link to my photos. But at the moment I haven't written anything about this trip. But if you find a picture you want to know something about, just ask!

RE: Ireland

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Got the link, and I can see the pics just fine, thanks! Looks like a gorgeous trip - and very Ireland, with all those dark clouds hovering... *g* Actually I shouldn't say that, I've only been over once myself, and that was doing archaeology rather than travelling very far). Ireland is on my trips-to-take-soon list, though!

Ah - that kind of box bed! A bed that folds up into an actual box! *g* I can see the doors, now that you've said that. Having your own universe as a teenager sounds very cosy, too... *g*

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! I saw you popping up on other journals around the traps but it's nice to see you posting again.

That campaign bed just cast a new light on hardship and roughing it - neither as hard nor as rough as I'd imagined. That thing is almost luxurious!

I hope Monday takes its time arriving and you have a lovely relaxing weekend.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I managed to keep a weather eye on lj, and comment occasionally, but not to anything that required much thought... It was nice to post again though, and see that people are still around! *g*

Today's been nice - I actually tried to stay off the computer, because my eyes have been giving me hell, and I need them better again for Monday. I've been pottering, and gardening - well, potting, actually. *g* Tried to set up my weather station, but realised that I need a tall pole to put it on and tie it onto, to be lashed to the fence... Didn't do much housework..! And now I'm actually thinking I might watch a Pros ep - it's been aaaages since I did that... *g*

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Yay - it's lovely to see you back! Congratulations on conquering all the jobs, and finally getting time off for good behaviour. And lovely piccies, as ever. The bed is gloriously potty!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

It's nice to be back, and lovely to see everyone properly again too! *g*

I'm already frowning at the idea of going back to work tomorrow - I've enjoyed having some Pros time at last... I shall just have to make more of it, and make sure I get my work done in a timely fashion instead of letting it drag out! Here's to time off for... behaviour. *g*