Bloody freecycle.

Here's a clue (or two) for freecyclers everywhere....

1) In the subject line of the email offering goods, you will see something along the lines of:

[huddersfieldfreecycle] OFFERED: Lava Lamp - Outlane - HD3

This tells me that:

1a) This is the HUDDERSFIELD group.

1b) The item is in Outlane in Huddersfield in the HD3 postcode area.

2) Don't be bloody expecting me to deliver anything!!

3) Don't email me telling me you will have the item before noticing that you live too far away to make the journey.

4) Don't tell me you can take the item but can't collect it for two weeks.

5) If you tell me Sunday at six PM is the time you will call for the item, then don't expect either me or the item to be here when you finally decide not to show up!!

6) Be considerate, polite, and don't screw it up for all the good freecyclers out there.

7) If your name is Wayne or Dre Dre, and you are anywhere near Outlane, then watch your back!!

I won't be offering any more goods up.... EVER!! I will take them to a tip rather than be pissed about.

Such a shame....

In other news:

Amaryllis cam is almost unable to fit the complete plant into view now. The main stem is twenty nine centimetres tall now, and the side shoot is already thirteen centimetres. It's growing like crazy. Remember it was only eleven days ago when Amaryllis cam was begun with a single six centimetre long shoot!! Check out the live cam pics here!! Check out the very first Amaryllis cam pic here!!



Thanks Blogger for FINALLY fixing that bloody annoying spell checking error!!

Thanks to Joey Cool for my wizzened Granny Smith's apple tree!! I will always keep a fruit bowl full of their decaying remains in your honour.

I have updated random shopping blog today as well. (I am writing this before I have updated it, but for most people it will have been updated by the time they read this so it will be technically correct on at least some levels?!?)

Thanks.

I'd like to extend a warm "thank you" to birthday well wishers the world over. It was lovely to receive so many texts, emails, birthday cards, gifts, comments, and facebook wall scrawls. You've all contributed, in no small way, to what can only be described as an enjoyable and memorable birthday.

Last night Dawn took me to Loch Fyne, a fish and seafood restaurant in Leeds. I have wanted to go there for quite some time, and we had a most enjoyable evening, even if I did get rather drunk by the time we got home. A fair meal, a little on the pricey side, with a few niggling faults, backed up by sparkling company of course made the whole experience well worthwhile. Halibut, potted shrimp and a cheese board.

Today I've been relaxing, or "chillaxing" as the kids on the street might say. I've been reading a bit more of the Ben Elton book that I started and drinking lots of coffee. Then, somehow, something happened, and I am still not sure what, but..... I think Dawn must have slipped some Rohypnol (spelling?) into my baked potato.....

I got suckered into going to frigging Ikea!!

It's the worst shop EVER!

I was going to take some random shopping photos, but the whole frikking shop is so disorganised that I would have run out of space on the two jiggy-byte card in my phone. I think I need to award Ikea some sort of "global" random shopping status. No photos required.

A land where products are called "Mokkjokk" or "Tittas" or "Okkenslokkenknockken" is not really a place I am comfortable in.

I am looking forward to the Oktoberfest at the Irish Centre in Huddersfield next week. I have promised to take Fred along on the Friday afternoon. If anyone would like to meet me there for a jar or two of some fine Marsden or Golcar brewed beers, then please let me know and I promise to not be too pissed to achieve this.

Anyone wishing to take part in the Huddersfield Halloween Zombie Slouch on Saturday 27th October, can see the details here. Click the image for a bigger version. Not sure whether to go as a zombie or to just capture it photographically. It's for a right good cause though and I reckon it'll be a screeeeeeeam.

Stuff....

.... and nonsense.

I've been busy doing "background" tasks.

These tasks are essential to my "online" existence and take up a great deal of time. Not many people notice that I have done them or even care, but I know things are tidier, neater, more organised, and much happier - In complete contrast to my "real" life!!

So, for a few examples:

Flickr - I have been adding, subtracting, tagging, geotagging, dating, uploading, and generally making my whole collection there as comprehensive as possible. New sets for Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Black Moss walk. Lots of new "phone camera" pics too.

Random Shopping - I am trying to make sure that my "Random Shopping" blog doesn't die on its arse. It's hard enough to keep one blog going (as I am sure you lazy non-updating-buggers will agree) but to keep two on the go, and make them remotely interesting is a task of some size. In order that I DO keep Random Shopping open, I have diversified into the world of discarded shopping lists.

Reading - I now subscribe to forty-four blogs in my snazzy Google blog reader. I need to subscribe to so many, so that at least someone will give me something to read each day!! Consider yourselves "roasted" for inactivity, AGAIN!

In an "offline" context I've also been quite busy:

Reading: Having recently finished another Lynsay Sands historical - The Switch, I've moved on to: Ben Elton - Stark (in the bedroom) and Robert Sabbag - Snowblind (in the reading room!).

Watching: I don't get much time to watch a lot of television at the moment. I love the 4OD and BBC iPlayer, because they allow me to download the television I missed and watch it at my leisure. I am loving CH4's Dogface, and have been watching ITV's Hell's Kitchen (which has of course (for me at least) been dreadful and compulsive).

Playing: Sims 2 with my left hand and Pogo with my right.

Picking: Blackberries. Nature's bounty is exploding around us. We managed to harvest ten pounds of blackberries on Saturday morning. Nettle stings, and ripping of thorns. The blackberry plant seems so ancient and unsophisticated, yields its fruit so easily, and you can't help but feel the primeval surge, knowing it has always been this way. Low effort in, maximum reward. Survival.

Anything else?:

Getting depressed at the quality of these photographs.

Finding this link for my tap-playing cousin.

Drinking "real ale" at the Three Pigeons (an art deco pub) in Halifax.

Eating curry at Zam Zams in Elland - Bloody gorgeous!!

Surprise!!

I am truly surprised by the reaction to my previous post. It would seem that my passion for birdfeeding is not such an isolated case. Messages of support have been flooding in.... well a couple of people mentioned that they also indulge, and that's nice.

This year is the first year that I have had baby birds living in and around my garden, and it fills me with delight.

There's a family with three baby goldfinches. The juveniles looking similar to their parents, but lacking the vibrant red patch on their heads. They have a resplendent yellow "Z" down their wings though.

A family with three baby robins, and they are just starting to get their red breasts and to lose their spotty juvenile down. They've been such good company this summer. Apparently they are rarely seen in July and August, but I have had a garden full of them.

Bluetits nested in the holes in the cement between my house and next door. You wouldn't even know there was a hole there to be honest, and it took me a while to actually find where they were flying their beakfulls of worms into. Lots of chicks and still a good number in the garden.

Other feathered friends without families it would seem are:

Collared dove; Starling; Dunnock; Wren; Sparrow; Chaffinch; Greenfinch; Blackbird; Thrush;

In other news.....

Big Brother.... we're winding down, and tomorrow is the final. I'd be lying if I said I was excited, but I am looking forward to it. I think I have managed to keep my blog fairly Big-Brother-free during the mammoth thirteen week stint.

Beer: I've got a hankering for some real ale this weekend. I am going to give both The Star at Lockwood, and The Grove at Springwood a shot. From what I've read, they are two of Huddersfield's finest "ale" pubs, and I am getting a bit old for drinking wihtout being able to speak to my companions.

Antichrist: I have made the fatal error of reinstalling the antichrist of video gaming onto my computer. I had it before, but after it ruined my lust for gaming and lowered my self esteem to nothingness, it had to die. The Sims 2 rides again!! How many weeks will I spend maintaining my virtual real estate, while my real house and life fall into complete disrepair around my ears??

Yorkshire Pudding: You don't scare me, you big puddin'!

Random kindness: Still working on this one. Pol, it was also on R2 the other day when the lovely Davina was standing in for someone. Those blagards have robbed me blind and cast me assunder.

Blog updates: I know it doesn't look like I have been here much lately, and the posts have been thin on the ground, but believe me, I've been working my fingers to the bone for you. Here's a brief list of things that have changed:

Random Shopping has started again.

The navigation stuff on the right hand side of my page was looking really shabby, and there were so many sections with different little snippets in them, and I know nobody read any of them, so I have turned each section into a blog entry.... Feel free to click some fo the things under the "Blogbits" section on the right hand side to see what I mean.

Flickr: Not only did I upload a little section of photos for Connor (and tag them all, and geotag them all, and title, and description them), but I also uploaded a few new ones of my own. Feel free to head across to Flickr and look at mine and/or Connor's pics.

Bloglines: My cousin Sophia mentioned (sometime earlier this year) that there was a product out there called "bloglines" which manages all the blogs that you read. My list of blogs to read was becoming so long, that I have (more by necessity than curiosity) invested some effort into it, and I am loving it. If you have a long blog list to trawl through, then I suggest you set it up for yourself. Thanks Soph.... Also: I found the Guitar Hero disc that I couldn't find when you were here - didn't take me long huh?

Bowling cam: More new pictures on my dedicated bowling cam highlights page.

Pogo; Sims2; Battlefield 1942; Dungeon Keeper2 - Too much time to mention on the aforementioned.

Walking wounded.

Seems like the nearest and dearest are all falling foul of the dreaded winter lurgy. Strange flu like symptoms, coupled with bronchial madness, and phlegm, are flooring those around me with some ferocity.

I have picked up my stethoscope, and gladstone bag, and begun to administer all manner of treatments, ranging from champagne, right through to Nintendo. I think I was born to heal. Suffice to say, nobody is getting better, but they don't mind being ill so much when I have prescribed.

Frosty mornings and fog are the daily occurences now. I snapped this pretty sunrise during my inaugural cig break the other morning. Please enjoy this sunrise over Huddersfield.... Spice, don't get TOO homesick now, and don't be too mad that I only had my phone/camera to hand.



Christmas shopping is almost complete, and everything's neatly wrapped and under my lovely tree. I am almost set to enjoy christmas on my own (as everyone is going to be tucked up in bed drinking flu remedies). There is still the matter of a couple of birthdays inbetween now and the big day..... it never rains.... It damn well gets wet though!

I have even updated my seemingly unpopular "random shopping" blog, with a couple more choice items.... You REALLY should head on over and take a look.

I think I might go "all-out" and fully update my blog to a fancy blogger template, so you never know, I might lose everything.... if not, see you on the other side.... good luck!

On the other hand.... now that I've just snipped my finger with a pair of scissors, and I have an unhealthy addiction to Age of Empires III, perhaps I'll just sit here and cry for a while!!