Getting my act together

Thinking back to the last couple of weeks, I can't recommend getting the flu, ha ha....

Anyway, all is over and I am nearly A1 again, but need to get the brain cells working as well as the fitness thing so decided to splash out on some new kit.....hmmmm

A monitor so I can see what I am doing when I use my graphics capabilites would help I thought as I have for too long been subjected to a 15 inch laptop screen, not good when 3 years ago I had a really serious monitor for my DTP and stuff. So I have a 23 inch arriving tomorrow. Not an expensive one either but it does seem to be a good screen; at least I spent half of yesterday doing my research. When you live in the country aka Cumbria its difficult to see anything in the flesh except of course sheep....... So pouring over reviews is the only option I have: way back when I was head of computing at a local college it was what I used to do when I had loads of dosh to splash around, (¼ million once I seem to recall.) Anyway, I have only spent £138 so I don't expect it to be an all singing and dancing model but I do expect my screen to double in size and for that I am truly grateful. If the resolution improves enormously too so that I can see what I am doing in my graphics program that will be wonderful. So here is the beast, let me introduce you to......

AOC i2353Fh

This is the link if you want to read the review yourself.

But you would think that was enough.... no I am serious when I say I am getting my act together because what with my interests in quilting and sewing and computers and being a mountain leader, my desk is a tip but not my sewing table which I sorted about 4 years ago.  Now that was a decision which changed my sewing from haphazard to bliss, so I thought about that too. Result, a new desk was also researched and is on its way from Ayrshire in Scotland to me in Keswick, yesssss.

Its a proper desk not what I am using at the moment which is a Heath Robinson affair. So let me show you the beauty.

Its all inside those cupboards, believe me it opens out into a wonderful place for printer, paper, router, keyboard (in my case laptop) and all the rest. I am not sure when it will arrive yet but before it does I have some clearing up to do, can't let it down by introducing it into this room without a mass sort out.

Meanwhile, my other jobs are pressing, i.e. the button on KR guided walks which is supposed to launch some script and go to an online booking system is not working yet so I have work to do.

Christmas cards - day four advent

A cheerful robin on a christmas card

Cards have started arriving at our house but not all of them are real, some are emails. So how do you feel about this?  I know times are hard and many people resent the costs involved in buying the cards and the postage but it is traditional.  I for one like to balance the cost by making my own cards, mainly because I enjoy it and because it has become a tradition in our house. This means the outlay is low but the fun element is great, afterall we don't have a television and have not had one for over 10 years so we like to make our own entertainment.  Anyway, whatever you decide I hope you enjoy the result. We have not designed our cards yet as its usually done nearer the time and sometimes in a huge rush, but done it is.......................

Day 21 Advent Challenge I see the moon, the moon sees me......

Now that title is in a song but I can't get past those few lines, does anyone know how it goes?

I did see the eclipse this morning through the bedroom window and I was not going to open it for anything as it was -14 outside!  Anyway, I snapped away with my camera but none of the results were good enough for this blog; I do have some standards. By way of a substitute then, I am showing you a kitchen cupboard the way I like to display it with my dryed hydrangeas on top.  Each autumn I replenish them so they stay fresh looking as in my opinion there is nothing worse than old, tired, dusty flower arrangements. I usually add a few fairy lights at Christmas and they look pretty in the kitchen at night when all the other lights are out.  So I am gradually decorating the house with a little bit new each day.

This afternoon, Bella and I went for a walk in the woods and picked some wild ivy and a few little snips of fir tree from Hope Park..... I went round the back of the tree and took a little from there. The result will be shown soon as I am still arranging the foliage at the moment and broke off to do this blog because I suddenly realised that time was ticking away again......So I must go or else.......

More quilt progress

Well this was supposed to be an update plus photo of the current quilt, but I cannot get Google Blogger to upload the photo without turning it 90degrees... Its so frustrating, anyway, I have told them about it so I hope they have a solution. Meanwhile, I can say that the quilt is looking better than I expected to be honest. In fact I am beginning to feel I might be onto something new and exciting.....But I do not want to show you it sideways so have had to leave the photo out.

Instead of my effort what about something truly magnificent.

Meanwhile I want to comment on the latest debacle that Cumbria has suffered this month, as if poor Cumbria has not had its fair share of troubles since the terrible floods last November and just when our little county seemed to have found a treasure, it was lost to us. I refer to the wonderful Roman Cavalry Parade Helmet which was found in May in a Cumbrian field at Crosby Garret by a metal detector enthusiast. It was given some very careful repairs and then promptly despatched to London for sale at Christies. Our local Carlisle Museum immediately launched an appeal to save this exquisite helmet from leaving the county where it had laid buried in a Cumbrian field for nearly 2000 years. The reason they wanted it is obvious, take a very careful look, it is beautiful. Stunning workmanship, of the highest order.

Now I used to belong to an archaeological society when I was a teenager. The Lower Medway Archealogical Research Group or LMARG for short was the group I joined and what fun we had scraping the sides of Roman trenches with our 5 inch mason's pointing trowels, but we did not have sophisticated gear like they do now. (We never found more than a few pot sherds but we were operating in the late 60's.)

Fast forward a few years and metal detectors are here to stay and that's fine so long as the use of them is subject to sensible precautions in order to save important objects from being sold to Mr or Ms 'anonymous' for purely financial reasons. Nationally important archaelogical finds by metal detector wielding folks should not be sold at auction without first going through a vetting procedure. I know the law does allow for gold and silver objects to be declared 'treasure trove' and so protected from sale to anonymous buyers but it must be extended to include all metal objects which are significant. Christies London auction house should never be the place where these items end up because this just panders to the cult of the rich can buy what they like approach. Our cultural heritage is swept away into private collections whose owners remain anonymous and we sit at home fuming.  ok Rant over..... but Cumbria needed this helmet, it was a jewel, and I would have given £50 to go and see it at Tullie House Museum in Carlisle.