Last Week

Posted on April 7, 2014 by nicdempsey

Last week’s highlights included:

Blooming flowers (a Mother’s Day gift from my nephew, which makes no sense but I love-thank you Laura!)

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Work, quite a bit of work…

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Movies and Ice Cream. The film was Captain America, the ice cream Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia..

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Post cinema champagne with Ma

 

 

 

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Things that happened but were not photographed:

DIY – replacing the toilet seat…again

Flip flops – it was warm enough and not wet for a couple of days so my feet were happy until Sunday when the rain returned

Wine and good friends – over to Kathy’s to talk children (her’s), careers (both) and other stuff. I’m capable of staying shut away with myself and my books and just when I’m at that point, my friends come and rescue me!

Boat Race – Oxford won! By 11 lengths…

Peppermint tea – I’ve started to replace tea for coffee Monday to Thursday. I still love coffee but I had the feeling that it didn’t love me. Fridays are coffee and pain au raisin days and at the weekend it just depends on what I’m doing. I’ve also gone back to limiting my booze intake. I wasn’t doing more than one G&T a day but I’m back to trying not to drink on schoolnights because overall I sleep better when I don’t have that G&T.

What happened in your part of the world last week?

 

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Weekend Tasklist

Posted on April 5, 2014 by nicdempsey

It’s Saturday morning, which means that’s it’s time to talk housework! I had a conversation   this week about my lazy tendencies. I am actually half sloth and no-one believes me! I hate all forms of exercise and work generally. That I go to work, tidy the house and do stuff is entirely down to having to and this weekly list more or less keeps me on the straight and narrow but don’t for a second believe I do this because I want to, I do this because no-one else will do it but I’d much rather lie in bed or on the sofa reading!

Kitchen

  • General clean (sort out the recycling and rubbish, mopping the floor and general cleaning)

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Cooking

  • Food prep for next week.

Bathroom

  • General clean (mop floor, change towels, empty bin, clean bath, sink and toilet)

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Bedroom

  • General clean (sweep floor, change bed, dust, general tidy)

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Living Room

  • General clean (sweep floor, dust, tidy sofa, put things away etc)

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Hall

  • Hoover

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General things

  • Shopping
  • Washing (clothes wash, white wash, towel wash)
  • Ironing
  • Wash make up brushes
  • Wash hair brushes
  • Water plants
  • Back up laptop
  • Charge kindle, ipad and camera batteries
  • Handwashing

What are you crossing of the list this weekend?

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Friday Links

Posted on April 4, 2014 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday. I don’t know about you but this week for me has been a bit odd.  Mostly, I’ve just been busy and tired, there was a conversation in the office this week about how 4 day weeks are strange because you spend the rest of the week playing catch up with yourself and I have felt some of that, which is why I didn’t post for some of this week. However, Friday is here and I’ve got through most of the office chores I needed to do and the weekend and a lie in tomorrow beckons.

This weeks links..

1) Tuesday was April Fools Day – this from CERN made me laugh

2) Not sure that this is fair but I’m not keen on council tax being properly linked to the value of the property I live in. The flat I live in could be conservatively valued at around £250,000, which I couldn’t afford. I’m happy to pay some tax but you’d have to have some kind of opt out for renters.

3) Dirtbag Anne of Green Gables.

4) Why China doesn’t have famines any more or why a mixed economy makes things better.

5) It’s been 20 years since the Rwandan Genocide, I heard this story about Capt Mbaye Diagne on Thursday morning on the radio.

6) Suzanne Moore on the housing crisis in London. Yes, I know that London gets subsidy and I think that the govt ignores the rest of the country at it’s peril but housing in London is ridiculous for the people that live here and aren’t super rich. And don’t tell me to move somewhere cheaper, this is where all my family and friends are.

7) There’s a whole show devoted to stationery. Where do I sign up?

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Birthdays

Posted on April 1, 2014 by nicdempsey

Two of my favourite people have birthdays today.

My lovely sister in law, Laura

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And Sarah

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I’m incredibly lucky to have these two people in my life and my family. Laura is the only woman in the world who could live with my brother without wanting to kill him! (I love him but I think we’re both in agreement that we should never live together ever again) She is also amazingly clever and she makes our family less spiky.

Sarah is one of my ‘dead stripper’ friends (you wake up in a hotel room with a dead stripper and no idea how you got there, who do call?). She’s my slightly nuts voice of sanity and although she’s always busy, I know that if I really needed her, she’d be there in a heartbeat.

Having a birthday on the same day is not all they have in common, Laura and Sarah are the mothers to two of my favourite boys, Ryan and Oli. Their generosity in letting me part of their life is hugely important to me!

Happy Birthday. guys!

 

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Last week

Posted on March 31, 2014 by nicdempsey

Like last week I’m going to talk about the various things I did in the week just gone.

There were blue nails..

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Turkey burgers

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Some sunshine

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Thursday night wine (it was that kind of a week, wine was necessary!)

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A Friday team lunch at Wahaca

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Mother’s Day lunch with the family on Saturday!

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And lunch and general silliness at Ma’s on Sunday..

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Things not photographed include, a catch up with Kathy and a request for my baking skills, listening to Oli tell jokes, the world’s longest bus journey (ok not actually the longest it just felt like it!) early nights, reading and just general getting on with life!

What did you do last week?

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Sunday Music

Posted on March 30, 2014 by nicdempsey

Today is Mothers Day in the UK so Sunday Music had to be for Ma.  So I picked a song from her current favourite album, which is Divided and United, it’s songs from the American Civil War and it’s grown on me because I’ve heard it about a million times already!

Here’s a video about it.

This is Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel

 

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Weekend Tasklist

Posted on March 29, 2014 by nicdempsey

It’s Saturday and I’m feeling behind with everything, I have packed weekend and a dirty house! Next week, I’m having friends over so the house needs to be clean because, well just because! So this week’s list is the same as every week, but I actually have to do it all!

Kitchen

  • General clean (sort out the recycling and rubbish, mopping the floor and general cleaning)

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Cooking

  • Food prep for next week.

Bathroom

  • General clean (mop floor, change towels, empty bin, clean bath, sink and toilet)

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Bedroom

  • General clean (sweep floor, change bed, dust, general tidy)

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Living Room

  • General clean (sweep floor, dust, tidy sofa, put things away etc)

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Hall

  • Hoover

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General things

  • Shopping
  • Washing (clothes wash, white wash, towel wash)
  • Ironing
  • Wash make up brushes
  • Wash hair brushes
  • Water plants
  • Back up laptop
  • Charge kindle, ipad and camera batteries
  • Handwashing

What are you crossing of the list this weekend?

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Friday Night Cocktail

Posted on March 28, 2014 by nicdempsey

The Rickey is a DC drink and Green Hat gin seems to have been made with it in mind. So I had to try…

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What

Juice of half a lime

2oz gin

Soda water

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How

Squeeze the lime juice into a collins glass. Add gin. Fill the glass with ice, top with soda water and garnish with a lime wedge.

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Friday Links

Posted on March 28, 2014 by nicdempsey

1) Maybe we’re not as busy as we think. I’m not really, I just bitterly resent all time that has to be spent doing things I don’t want to do, like working and housework…

2) How often do you call your mother? I speak to Ma everday, weekdays I call her when I leave the house and then when I leave the office. Weekends generally she calls me around 10am and sometimes in the evening. Ben calls her at least twice a week. We are possibly a bit weird but we’re happy..

We also text. This week there was a lovely text discussion about how (not whether but how) she would kneecap me if I bought her cookware for Mother’s Day. Feeling the love over here!

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3) Barry Lyga is wise. Adults should not have relationships with teenagers. I don’t care how mature the teenager seems to be, they are still children and just no. He followed this post up later on with another, which is also full of sense.

4) The idea of teenagers having sex (with each other) becomes more disturbing to me as it gets harder to remember what being a teenager felt like. However, if they are going to have sex, it needs to be safe. So more access to contraception is a good thing and handwaving about promiscuity isn’t.

5) An interview with Kermit!

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Things right now..

Posted on March 27, 2014 by nicdempsey

Current nail colour…very blue

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I’m thinking (and making lists) of all the things I need to do this weekend. It’s Mother’s Day and Laura’s birthday and there will be people in the flat next week so it has to be tidy!

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I do get to see this chap on Saturday and he can tell me about his swimming lessons..

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Wondering what to buy/make Ma for Mother’s Day. I know what not to buy her but it’s tough to think about! She has told several people that I’m really good at buying presents, which sort of adds to the pressure.

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Wishing I was in Northumberland. April time is when we normally go but it was all rearranged due to my DC trip being changed so we won’t go until September this year.

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