Friday 22 April 2016

Five on Friday








Joining in with Amy and Five on Friday.

1. Excuse the horrible light in the last photo, the sun is barely up. I wake like clockwork every morning, far too early. By early afternoon I'm tired. The other day I put my head down on the desk (well, it's the dining table actually) next to my laptop and went to sleep. I can't recommend it, I could hardly straighten my neck afterwards. Maybe I need more exercise to wear me out a bit. I'm pressing on with the calligraphy which is SO much harder than the professionals make it look. I do it last thing at night instead of knitting. I'm writing the date on the pages in the hope that I'll see an improvement in a few weeks (or years...). I've ordered a new bottle of ink. Being a particularly clumsy person with pale carpets, bottles of inks scare me. We all know where it's going to end.

2. There was yacht racing at the coast at the weekend. The littlest boy found the most adorable French bulldog puppy to play with. French bulldogs are at the top of our list of Potential Dogs now. Although I fear we should go for something a bit more robust, see clumsiness above. In reality, dog ownership is over two years away and it will be a secondhand one. In the meantime we like to picture ourselves with every different breed we take a fancy too.

3. Technical hitches are continuing and I still get an email every single time I leave a comment on someone's blog telling me it is not possible to notify them. I spent the whole of Saturday morning trying to set up a new email address, but I just couldn't get it to send and receive in Windows Live Mail. (I use Windows Live Mail because as I recall I couldn't get Outlook Express to work last time I had to tinker with something). I wasted a whole glorious sunny morning on it and was no further forward by lunchtime which made me SO cross.

4. On Monday I tried to plug in a new DVD player, which you would think would be simplicity itself. Except that there are about forty wires stuffed through the back of a really small hole in the tv unit and so that bit was tricky. When I finally managed to manoeuvre out all of the old wires and get all the new wires in place (the new wires were different from the old wires, and I'd already had to delay everything while I bought a new wire because the old ones didn't work...) the new DVD worked perfectly. You thought I was going to say it didn't work didn't you. No, it was the television that no longer worked. I spent a while ranting and grinding my teeth and finally the only way I could find to fix it was to put the old DVD player back in underneath the new DVD player. A lot of my life is cobbled together in this way.

5. Here at ATR Towers a mad Rubik's cube obsession has gripped the children. I wake up to the sound of cubes being turned and it's the last thing they do at night. I'm guessing they dream in little plastic squares. The biggest boy has a dodecahedron shaped one now as well. When someone scrambles someone else's cube uninvited a riot breaks out. I am staying at the table clutching my bottles of ink and hoping it all blows over.

36 comments:

  1. Very colorful sight on the shore.

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  2. I've tried calligraphy and it is fiendishly difficult! I guess practise is key and you are bound to see improvement!

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  3. Love your photos Amy, I have always been rubbish at caligraphy, being left handed means ink smudges, but it must be a nice thing to do in an evening.
    I hope to join in 5 on Friday again next week, I haven't had much time lately
    Jill

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  4. I always enjoy reading your blog posts, there's always so many exciting things going on. :-)

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  5. Keep up the calligraphy. You are already much better than I managed in years!

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  6. Oh wow...Clevedon, just up the road from me...dinghies not yachts...I used to race a Mirroer (red sails) then a Topper (fluro on sail) then Lasers (yellow hull) my dad had a Solo (one in front of the red sails)

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  7. Lovely photos of the yachts. Well done on the calligraphy, something I want to try one of these days but being left handed I am not sure how I will get on with it. xx

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  8. Hi
    Calligraphy! It looks great. I'm tempted to give that a try... Looks like lots of fun. I've always been into pretty writing. Love it! It looks challenging though and I believe you when you say the professionals make it look easier than it is... Good luck and keep practising!
    Xxx

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  9. Melinda Jackson22 April 2016 at 12:31

    Re your note 3 above, I've just read a blog post from http://journeynorthof49.blogspot.co.uk/ who says exactly the same thing about messages saying the same as yours. She hasn't found a solution yet, but I thought you'd like to know you're not alone.

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  10. A good night's sleep is a precious thing. Sorry to hear it's eluding you at the moment. Your calligraphy doesn't seem to be suffering, though – it's wonderful. Rubik's cubes, hey? Much better than iPods or xboxes and all the other stuff. I've never managed to do one but my brother was a whizz. My children feign interest occasionally but it's not caught on with them. Good luck sorting out the techy stuff – it takes up a stupid amount of time. Ignore it over the weekend. Sam x

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  11. I know what you mean about waking up early and then being tired in the afternoon. Your calligraphy work is lovely to see, I tried it once and went to a few classes and it is definitely harder than it looks:)

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  12. Ah, the Jabberwocky, I haven't read that poem in a long time. I used to be able to solve the Rubik's cube but now I get stuck with the last four corner. My memory space has been used for other non-essential stuff, like how to turn the washing machine on etc. Most people's life is cobbled together, it is normal. Isn't it?? French bulldogs are so funny, we call them frog dogs because somehow the back legs always seem longer than the front legs. They also hop, don't eat so much and poos are quite small. Definitely one to consider. Have a lovely weekend, hopefully without any technical hiccups. I would just wait until the problem goes away... xx

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  13. I am worse than useless with anything technical, so I feel your pain. I remember the Rubik's cube the first time around and it drove me to distraction then, but I did manage to achieve it in the end. The calligraphy work is beautiful, my eldest daughter has a real talent but not something I have ever tried. Have a great weekend.

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  14. You make me laugh CJ. You are the best,
    Meredith

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  15. When my husband was away working years ago, I went a month without our satellite TV working...because the actual TV was on the wrong channel. I got more done, perhaps I should have left it that way. I do feel your pain with the technology. Every once in awhile blogger doesn't let me load pictures the usual way and I spend precious time fiddling around and usually don't finish the post. Frustration. I think your calligraphy looks lovely but I know how we all judge our own work more harshly :) Keep at it and, yes, do keep those bottles of ink under cover ;) Jill

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  16. They haven't yet reached the stage where they peel off the stickers and stick them on the other side then? I think you should invest in copious quantities of salt, just in case of ink spillage ;o) xx

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  17. Fantastic photos. I bet you will see a difference with the calligraphy sooner than you think. I too have a problem posting in some blogs. I can't comment in Wordpress ones. It's very frustrating

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  18. Your calligraphy is beautiful - I love all the 'curly bits' (I don't know the technical word for them). I too sometimes do the head on the table asleep thing - so uncomfortable. I don't fully go to sleep, but am too asleep to get up and move. I leave TV/DVD/computer/internet jobs to my husband which isn't very emancipated of me (although I do jobs that he doesn't know how to do). I like to think that we each bring a different skill-set to our partnership. Have a great weekend.
    Cathy x

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  19. I read blogs via Bloglovin too and don't get a message when I comment, but... I don't have the "frame" turned on, I think there is somewhere in the settings that you can turn that off, perhaps that might help? Just a thought. Anyway, on to funner things. Your calligraphy looks amazing to me! I understand what you mean though about wanting to get better and see your progress, the idea of dating your work is a great one. Hope you keep enjoying it and getting better at it. Love the idea of the virtual dog test drives too, so much fun!! Thank you for joining Five On Friday again this week, I do so appreciate it and enjoy reading your posts. Hope you have a great weekend! xx

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  20. Blogger is misbehaving for me too.. for some reason I am no longer getting emails telling me about comments! My last blog post had no comments 24 hours after I posted so I went into the settings area and saw there were a bunch of comments awaiting moderation! I just spent a long time looking around there trying to figure it out but my same email is there for moderation.. argh! I know the scare of having an open bottle of ink.. you could fix that by getting a calligraphy pen that fills like a fountain pen. :-) You should try to practice when you're not tired (your teacher speaking) :-) I loved seeing the little sailboat racers. That's just like the sailboat I have sailed for years.. a Sunfish.. some of those are Lasers. Have fun imagining dogs! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  21. Waking up far too early every day, then being tired by the afternoon is the perfect description of me as well. By the time we have eaten our supper I'm pretty much done for the day. My kids knew this about me, and there was a rule in our house that they absolutely couldn't bring up any serious discussions after 9:00 PM. I felt I was in an almost comatose state by then and might agree to anything!

    I tried switching my Bloglovin account to my gmail email address and it hasn't made a bit of difference. I'm so sorry you wasted all that precious time trying to figure it out and didn't get anywhere either. There really aren't enough bad words in the English language to cover technology problems like this. :-)

    I'm very intrigued by your calligraphy. It's beautiful! Do you have a special course or program you are following? I've always wanted to be able to write like that. The sad reality is that I write so infrequently these days that my handwriting has deteriorated to the point of being almost illegible.

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  22. I'm an early riser too - annoying isn't it! I'm usually really flagging by about 9pm. Your calligraphy is beautiful; I'm sure you will notice an improvement. I remember the Rubik's cube phase when I was at school. I tried to lubricate mine with Baby Oil to reduce the friction and make me speedier - the oil destroyed the plastic and I ended up with lots of little, separate cubes! Have a great weekend and best of luck with those ink bottles! xx

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  23. 1. Teresa worked with me a bit on calligraphy. My left-handedness presents a challenge for me to follow the proper slants [that is my excuse]. As a teen a teacher taught me to write with a back slant...a reverse sort of calligraphy? At any rate, I admire your disciplined calligraphy efforts.
    2. Such pretty sailboats you saw, and my Google search gave me an intro to some adorable looking French Bulldogs.
    3. I do not get a bounce back message when I comment on Teresa's blog, and am wondering why.
    4. You are a braver woman than I am, and a brilliant cobbler!
    5. Confession: I looked up a solution to solve my puzzling Rubik's Cube configuration. Bravo to your patient family! xx

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  24. Got a great kick out of the boats! Funny thing is, tonight I brought home a jelly roll of Bonnie and Camille's fabric called Daysail, and it's got lots of sailboats! So after supper I started a new Blessings quilt and when I stopped - before I lay my head on the sewing table for a nap - I came in to clean up e-mails before heading to bed, and here are your boats - they look a lot like the ones on my fabric!

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  25. If you search back on The Simple Things magazine site there are recipes for home made ink, should you be interested. Ah Rubik's cube many happy memories there. Lovely happy post as always xx

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  26. Number 4 - yes, I sympathise. I regularly moan that we have too many remote controls and honestly am never exactly sure which one I should be using. The children have to help me. That's a bit humiliating, actually, isn't it?

    Beautiful photos as always CJ, and your calligraphy looks pretty good from where I'm sitting. Xx

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  27. Beautiful yachts, great calligraphy- yay! Technology that won't work - boo! x

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  28. Technology always finds a way to defeat us; and they want to build robots?

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  29. your writing is beautiful. technology and me do not mix. neither I've discovered do me and internet banking. I spent most of yesterday on the phone to the bank. it was Exhausting.............
    for a while the teenage boy carried a notebook with a transcript of how to solve the cube almost everywhere he went...

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  30. I admire those who just try calligraphy, let alone actually "do" it! It looks like you are doing very well. Love the boats and the sails -- very pretty. Ah, the Rubiks cube ... I giggle about dreaming in blocks. :) Have a lovely week.

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  31. I'm an early riser too and flake by the afternoon. Can't change old habits and I like getting up early.
    My technology challenge this week is to try to get Instagram on my computer. It didn't happen last week so I hope I can persevere long enough that I win.

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  32. Hey CJ,
    An early riser here too. I enjoy the quiet solitude to be honest. There's not much of that here from about 7.30 onwards. I used to love the bottles of ink I would buy for my school ink pen. 'Quink' was it? Or am I just making things up now? I am impressed with the cubing. It's much better than gaming anyday. I have promised myself an English bull terrier for my fiftieth birthday. Which is actually not that far away. Her name will be Mabel.
    Have a lovely week.
    Leanne xx

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  33. gosh Rubik's cubes are still around? I remember when they first came out ...
    I think Number 4 is why I still have an old box tv with rabbit ears. technology confuses me - I shall have to hire someone to set it all up for me I know! so I empathise completely (and with number 3 too).
    good luck with that ink :-)

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  34. Ah yes, the Rubiks cube phase was a funny time. Squinched up obsessive faces. I love the picture of boats. Boats and/or birds and rolling hills some of my favorite pictures in general. I endorse the french bulldog because they are so cute and seem like they are not too stingy with the love. hehe.

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  35. Goodness I struggled with a cube shaped rubik cube, let alone anything more complicated. Good luck!

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  36. I love the colour in that first picture! Your calligraphy looks wonderful! I know just how you feel about cables at the back of the TV we have so many problems with them in the past! Sarah x

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