The World of Kate

Gosh...

2011-12-27T09:50:00.000Z

...so much for saying I'd be blogging more.

To be fair, I've got a pretty good excuse.

This picture was taken on the 15th of November.

Then these pictures were taken on the 13th of December.

So I'd say that's a pretty good excuse really. ;-)

What with my dreadful past history and all (2, 3, 4), the doctor signed me off work as soon as I went in there with my positive test. This was a very good thing, as apart from all the pre-planned pills I needed a course of antibiotics that basically led to me sleeping right through November. Seriously. For five weeks I was awake for about three hours a day and either asleep or dozing the rest of the time. Thank goodness for audiobooks!

But since I'm 14 weeks and two days pregnant today, oh and cos it's my birthday, I thought I'd spread a little bit of sunshine into the post-Christmas gloom. (I'm back at work tomorrow too!)

I also want to say a massive THANK YOU!!! to the lovely folks who have been aware from the start and kept me going through my paranoid days. You lot are real blessings.

(I won't finish this post by saying I'm going to blog more, cos that'll just jinx it...again.)

Remember...

2011-10-21T12:07:00.000+01:00

...this post about the amazingly gorgeous illustrations that tanaudel is doing for The Dalek Game?

Well when I woke up this morning and discovered Neil Gaiman had been tweeting about it, I might have had a little bit of a squee.

Oh yes indeedy.

Check out the hashtag #dalekbooks. I'm in love with this tweet from daibhidc.

The Booker Prize...

2011-10-19T12:20:00.003+01:00

...is not something that I choose books based on. In fact, having looked at this list, I have read exactly zero of the winners, and exactly three (Small World (1984) and Nice Work (1988) by David Lodge, and Astonishing Splashes of Colour (2003) by Clare Morrall) of the shortlisted titles. (and the David Lodge ones were read because my parents had them and one of the covers appealed, exactly how I ended up reading Animal Farm and 1984 before I'd started senior school).

Basically, that type of writing is not my type of reading.

But this kind of thinking is my kind of thinking.

Julian Barnes, in his acceptance speech, said: "I'd like to thank the judges - whom I won't hear a word against - for their wisdom. And the sponsors for their cheque."

Thanking the book's designer, Suzanne Dean, he added: "Those of you who've seen my book - whatever you may think of its contents - will probably agree that it is a beautiful object.

"And if the physical book, as we've come to call it, is to resist the challenge of the e-book, it has to look like something worth buying and worth keeping."

Can I get a HELL YEAH!

I will freely admit to buying books based on their looks. There have been countless books where I have read a proof copy and known I wanted to buy the book, then not bought it because it just isn't nice enough to be worth the money when I've already got a proof copy. There have also been quite a few where I've made myself wait for the paperback to be released, only to be disappointed by it, and instead buy the hardback before it gets sent back to the publishers.

One year, darling Miss Emily bought me this beautiful hardback, quarter leather bound edition of The Colour of Magic from a second-hand bookshop.

Later, I discovered that the mail-order book club I was a member of had started producing these editions and I added to my set. Sadly they only ever produced up to book 18, but I do keep my eyes peeled in case one day, they decide to complete the series.

When I went down to London at the beginning of September, Mama and I spent a nice couple of hours at the British Library, and she practically had to forcibly remove me from the shop due to all the beautiful Folio Society editions that they keep in stock there. Warning; if you follow that link, prepare to be scared by the prices. Instead, I had a quick look on eBay when I got home, and Folio Society editions do turn up on there quite often.

I treated myself to this totally gorgeous slipcased edition of I Capture the Castle, for a barginous price of £8.50 (inc shipping). (the edition on the right is my original second printing copy)

Now I just need some kind person to be selling off these editions of The Hobbit and The Silmarillion at sensible prices, and I'll be a mostly happy bunny.

Mostly happy, because I'll still be lusting after this, and this, and this, and this, and this. Ooh, and these.

Anyone won the lottery recently?

PS: I'm experimenting by having set all of the above links to open in new windows/tabs. Let me know if this majorly narks you, and I'll get rid of it.

Miss you...

2011-09-23T11:11:00.000+01:00

...dad.

I hope if there's an afterlife, that they pull a decent pint or three there.
I hope if there isn't an afterlife, that your component atoms have relocated themselves to suitable pints of beer. :-)

Before the new DiscWorld book...

2011-09-19T09:00:00.031+01:00

...comes out on the 13th of October, I am attempting to reread all the previous ones. All thirty eight of them, plus the three Science of DiscWorld books (people miss these out, but if you don't at least read the story sections you are missing out on vast chunks of Rincewind and The Wizards).

I am partly reading, and partly listening to the unabridged audiobooks. This way even when I decide to have a reading break and go and do some jigsaw or some WoW or some stitching, I'm still getting through the books.

I might have to speed up a little though, I spent Sunday finishing off Reaper Man, which is book eleven.

DiscWorld Reading Guide

I am very aware...

2011-09-18T12:00:00.019+01:00

...that nowadays I am a very intermittent blogger. I am trying my hardest not to be.

I have been trying to blog by thinking up ideas ahead of time - this then means that I feel like I have already written the blog post in question. When, of course, I have not.

I have been trying to blog by not thinking up ideas ahead of time - this then means that I go "I need to blog" and then go "errrr, about what...".

The fact that I have just had two weeks off work (holiday I booked in March when partly expecting Anthony to be able to get the time off too (he couldn't) and thoroughly expecting to be off work for a year from the start of November (maternity leave)) should have meant that I blogged. If only about my plans for my four days down south, or about what I did when I was down there.

Instead I did a lot of cross-stitching, played a bit of WoW, read/listened to (Audible rock) a lot of DiscWorld and did assorted jigsaw puzzling, Pinteresting, and clearing out of old cross-stitch magazining while watching an awful lot of NCIS.

Then this morning, despite going to bed at 2.30am (a very failed attempt at getting back onto "normal" time), I woke up at 8am and had ideas for blogs and crafts and all sorts of things. So instead of just snuggling back to sleep and losing them all, I got up and wrote some very short notes on life, the universe, and everything. (and found a million beautiful Whovian things on Pinterest, but that's today's previous post)

So I'm not going to promise suddenly organised blogging, 5 days a week, with a topic for each day. But I'm going to add "blogging at least once a week" to my Now List (that's from this here book), and see what happens.

I am currently...

2011-09-18T10:21:00.002+01:00

...so deeply in love with this that it hurts.

The Dalek Game by tanaudel (not only for the illustrations, but also for her "Fire and Hemlock" inspired name)

I stumbled across her dalek illustrations on Flickr while I was drooling over these heavenly Mucha inspired prints

Now I just have to work out: a) where I can put them in my house, b) what I have to not buy in order to afford them.

No news...

2011-08-15T13:46:00.000+01:00

...is good news. Right?

Well in terms of me not blogging it is. I have been actually busy having actual adventures... a whole two of them.

Plus after phoning the hospital every day for a week following @SarahAnnGreen's totally fabulous news, I was finally told that although I wouldn't be getting an appointment to see the consultant, I did have a letter in the post.

Cue four days of worriting (our post is crap).

The letter arrived, was hastily ripped open...and then I burst into tears.

Good tears, as you will know if you were on Twitter about 10 minutes later to read my joyous tweetlings.

I need to start taking folic acid and low-dose asprin as soon as I start trying to conceive again, then as soon as I get a positive test it's off to the doctors for a course of progesterone.

I get to choose between this and this.

I'm choosing the second one, I bruise far too easily even without the aspirin!

I'll keep you informed better in future... promise ;-)

Blood, blood...

2011-06-28T13:46:00.001+01:00

...glorious blood. (with apologies to Flanders & Swann)

Today was appointment day to see the consultant at New Cross about my miscarriages. Unfortunately we didn't get to see him this time, but it wasn't as bad as last time.

We got a lovely nursing sister who talked me right through my entire history and picked out a few things to focus on. Then she took another armful of blood (note to self, right arm has better veins) for testing.

I will get to see the actual consultant in "probably August but possibly July, he's running some extra clinics". But "if you get an appointment in the next 10 days, well done but the blood tests won't be back by then".

Meh.

But I have enquired about progesterone and oestrogen testing and she has flagged this up in my notes for the consultant to review when I see him "as he knows more about that than I do".

Essentially no answers again, but when I do get to see him I will get a PLAN that will be passed on to my GP and will also be for me to keep and will potentially include things in it like no lifting of any sort, daily aspirin, etc etc.

Fingers very much crossed that I get an appointment in...oooh, 12 days maybe!

Plus much much love to all my darling darling twitter-folk for their support, hugs, kisses and virtual cake this morning, just what the doctor ordered ;-)

Seriously...

2011-06-22T20:45:00.000+01:00

...prodding buttock.

I may have just found the perfect motivational tool for 99% of my days.

I've just managed to spend an entire hour on the cross-trainer (assisted by the wondrous Lady Gaga), my legs now feel like jelly and I'm worried I may faint in the shower, but I did it.

My motivational tool is below:

This is the baby jacket that my darling sister brought me back from Canada in 2005. In fact she brought it back exactly six years ago last Monday (20th). Unfortunately that makes tomorrow exactly six years since I had my first miscarriage.

We've got an appointment with the specialist at New Cross next Tuesday. Hopefully we'll get a few questions answered and get a few pointers for the future.

But I'm thinking that making myself sad and angry so that I blast it with the cross-trainer until I fall over will be an excellent coping technique.

As for the other 1% of the time when it just makes me want to eat chocolate, hopefully the 99% will help counteract it!

Well...

2011-04-25T22:14:00.000+01:00

...that was number 4.

A few of you might remember this post about history repeating. (If you don't, follow the link and read it).

Well it did.

The day after we got back from our lovely Lanzarote holiday I peed on a stick. And it told me that I'd probably be avoiding chocolate for 8 months or so.

Unfortunately last Tuesday there was another little bit of history that repeated itself.

Namely, this bit.

Once again we went for the first scan, and once again there was no heartbeat.
The plan then was to go back in the following Tuesday (tomorrow) for another scan, and then to be "surgically managed" on Wednesday. My body had other ideas and tomorrow's scan is now to check that it's done it all itself with no help from any doctors.

I have spent the last week in a bit of a fog, well to be honest a lot of a fog. Anthony is pretty much the same, he just doesn't know what to do with himself or how to help me. Therefore when he hasn't been at work he has been getting himself hooked on The Walking Dead or having mad organising sprees in the garden.

I have been lucky enough not to have to go into work (fat lot of use I'd have been there anyway) and have instead been blasting through some achievements on WoW.

This had its own side effect, the PC had a fatal error on Saturday morning and we had to go and buy a new one. But that's another post

However every terrible thing brings good things in its wake. In this instance it has brought postmen bearing chocolate gifts from fabulous people, it has had me giggling at links on Twitter posted by people trying to get me to smile, it also had me in tears with surprise when the person knocking at the front door turned out not to be a salesperson, but instead a Kayels bearing flowers and cupcakes.

These people are my real true blessings from this. The people who may not live just round the corner (and those that do and offered to post me bread through the letter box one slice at a time so as not to disturb me) but who are no less my friends because of their geographical distance.

You have all been real heroes this week, thank you so SO much.

Nico and Michael...

2011-03-25T18:55:00.002Z

...and a little healthy competition.

Reminded me of this one, only ever seen on tv once after a little incident at Spa 2007.

PAD Week 9...

2011-03-06T07:38:00.001Z

...27/02/11 to 05/03/11.

PAD Week 8...

2011-03-03T18:07:00.004Z

...20/02/11 to 26/02/11.

PAD Week 7...

2011-03-03T18:01:00.004Z

...13/02/11 to 19/02/11.

PAD Week 6...

2011-03-03T17:48:00.003Z

...06/02/11 to 12/02/11.

PAD Week 5...

2011-02-12T18:00:00.001Z

...30/01/11 to 05/02/11.

PAD Week 4...

2011-02-11T18:00:00.000Z

...23/01/11 to 29/01/11.

PAD Week 3...

2011-02-10T18:00:00.000Z

...16/01/11 to 22/01/11.

PAD Week 2...

2011-02-09T18:00:00.000Z

...09/01/11 to 15/01/11.

PAD Week 1...

2011-02-08T18:00:00.001Z

...01/01/11 to 08/01/11.

One of the things...

2011-02-07T19:55:00.003Z

...I'm doing this year is taking part in a Photo a Day (PAD) project as inspired by the lovely @sarahgb

My photos are all going up on my Flickr in a PAD collection but I'm also going to try and post them here weekly too.

But so I don't suddenly overwhelm you with posts and you faint with shock that I'm blogging again, I shall set the backlog to appear over the next few days and then attempt to do each weeks batch on a Sunday.

Probably.

Barring the week a month from now when I'll be on holiday.

Squuueeeeeeeeee.

*ahem*

History might just...

2011-01-30T17:35:00.003Z

...repeat itself.

33 years ago, on the 14th of March 1978, a little football team called Leyton Orient won a sixth round FA Cup replay 2-1 against Middlesborough to get through to the semi-final of the FA Cup.

They had defeated Norwich City (1-1, replay 1-0), Blackburn Rovers (3-1), and Chelsea (0-0, replay 2-1) to get to the sixth round.

In the semi-final they unfortunately lost 3-0 to Arsenal.

But in winning against Middlesborough, the damage had already been done. I was born 9 months later.

In this years FA Cup, Leyton Orient have defeated Dagenham & Redbridge (1-1, replay 3-2), Droylesden (1-1, replay 8-2 aet), Norwich City (1-0) and Swansea City (2-1).

In the fifth round of this years FA Cup, Leyton Orient will be playing Arsenal for the first time since that 1978 match.

Here's hoping that allowing for prevailing winds and good luck and all that jazz, I can be embarrassing a child of mine with this story. Not quite in 9 months time (cos not pregnant yet, plus also, you can't embarrass a newborn) but hopefully within the next year.

Fingers crossed eh.

2010-12-31T11:57:00.001Z

The Archers at 60 - BBC audio slideshow

Merry Christmas...

2010-12-27T14:10:00.000Z

...and Happy Birthday to me :-)