I don’t know enough about spiders to say how old these little guys are, or how long they will stay on the chair in our back garden. But I’m glad to see them. Welcome!
Reader, I purchased them.
June 1, 2009 at 4:46 pm (bizarre)
Tags: china, faux, plates, wood
Well some of them. In the end I picked out six small plates and one large one, which I would like to see filled by a large cake. Ideally a Black Forest Gateau or a Buche de Noel, to continue the obsessive wood/tree theme. Thankfully someone had already purchased the teapot when I got there on Sunday so it could no longer tempt me. I’ve left the creamer, mug, canisters and assorted chipped plates to their fate – I cannot save them all.
Ford Rotunda postcard
May 30, 2009 at 8:20 am (art, usa)
My late father, artist Tom Schenk, painted the image featured on this (undated) postcard; he did quite a few paintings for the Ford Times magazine at one point in his career. Strange to come across this cheerful image just when the the US auto industry is in such dire straits. He remembered fondly the Model T’s from his childhood on the farm in Ohio.
I do not need to buy these
May 27, 2009 at 9:45 pm (Uncategorized)
If this were branded Hermes it would be the height of fashion. It is made in China, and is languishing in our local T.K. Maxx. Initially it was in a very prominent position, now it is on a bottom shelf. The wood grain is not just a decal but an actual texture that would probably make washing up into a monumental challenge. And yet… it appeals to my surrealist side. Tell me what you think. Encourage me to rescue them from their fate! Do not tell my husband.
We now have a kitchen
March 25, 2009 at 6:29 pm (house)
At this point it was just about finished – bottom plinths were not in yet. Counterspace. Cupboards. Now I need to remember how to cook. This little video doesn’t show the right side of the kitchen – but does prove that we have finally gotten rid of exposed brick…
Kitchen stripped bare
November 25, 2008 at 8:43 pm (Uncategorized)
This old house…
September 25, 2008 at 7:52 pm (calendar, website)
I see that the last time I posted I was exercised about the 42-day detention without trial vote here in the UK. Sadly David Davis’ effort to highlight this issue didn’t seem to prompt the public debate he’d hoped for. Closer to home, well actually in the home, we are about to embark on some much needed work on our old house, the centrepiece of which will be a modern central heating system. The old yet previously reliable boiler, as if sensing this treachery, stopped working completely in protest last week, so we are racing against the frost. As much as I had hoped to do another Tate calendar in December, the complexity of this project is such that it’s going to require all my spare time and attention. I really regret this, but know it won’t be possible to accomplish both. I certainly don’t close the door (so to speak) on future stories and calendars, maybe even at a different time of the year…
Magna Carta and the Very Important Day
June 11, 2008 at 7:24 am (politics)
I was doing some research for a talk later today, and came across some lovely images of Magna Carta. To be fair, I was choosing sample search terms to demonstrate search engines, and this issue was on my mind. This evening is the UK House of Commons vote on whether suspects can be detained and held in custody for 42 days WITHOUT CHARGE. If you ever thought that people’s concerns about Britain becoming an Orwellian police state were overstated and alarmist, this might change your mind. 42 days is plenty of time for your life to go to (excuse me) hell in a handcart.
Imagine explaining to your employer what happened, when you don’t even know! I doubt that many MP’s visit my blog, but if they did stop by I would say to them – is this really what you want on your CV? The demolition of ancient rights that we always talk about as if Britain invented them Because It Did?
19:19 – Depressing, predictable update: the government won this vote, barely. What a disgusting travesty of democracy. Note to self: might want to actually Write Down Constitution if ever starting a country to avoid nonsense like this in times of tabloid-stoked public hysteria. There is now literally NOTHING Gordon Brown could say that would ever, ever persuade me to vote for him.
Help us House of Lords, you’re our only hope…
I didn’t imagine it…
June 5, 2008 at 4:03 pm (food, usa)
Have you ever been mid-story, and as you are speaking, the whole thing sounds so implausible that you begin to doubt that it ever occurred? This happened to me yesterday when I was telling two colleagues about the existence of a Mock Apple Pie in which the filling consists of Ritz crackers. As a dual-citizen, I have a good line in tales of “funny American customs”, but this threatened to veer into the realm of fantasy. Could there really have been such a recipe? Enter the ever-useful Internet with the answer: yes. I hasten to add that I only remember *reading* this recipe – this starch-meet-starch concoction never darkened our door. My mother made only lovely pies that contained actual fruit. Clearly just seeing the description was enough to etch it in my memory though.
photo of Ritz cracker by flickr user Velo Steve
Thanks everyone
December 3, 2007 at 10:18 pm (technology, website)
Thanks for all the kind comments and understanding about this year’s hiatus. I am especially delighted to hear about the adopted black kitty. Thankfully, I recovered some time ago from my minor surgery and related woes – currently I am just fighting a run-of-the-mill winter cold. As for the computer, it is now in rude health after two weeks in intensive care in the shop. It all started when I decided to add some memory and upgraded my video card in order to speed up Vista. When I got it back from the shop, it would just randomly power off with no warning. I defy anyone to troubleshoot this problem while remaining calm and collected – I developed a phobia about going into my office to see if it was still running. When I took it back, the techies did many hours of testing and found that the motherboard was bad. They replaced it with a new one, put in a new power supply, then also discovered that my hard drive was about to die. So they replaced that as well. Luckily they are the masters of backing up and moving data, so I did not lose much. About the only original hardware left at this point is the case and some memory. I am now running XP again – I don’t know how other people find Vista, but on my setup it was way too slow and unpredictable. I am usually an enthusiastic early adopter, but I’m going to wait awhile before trying it again.
