Laying the Old Year to Rest and Preparing for the New Year

Day Twenty Eight.

Finally starting to feel normal again, after a week of exhaustion and being completely full of cold (alright, snot). I can't believe I've had to breathe through my mouth every night for so long, it was a relief to be able to breathe through my nose again last night! Ah, the petty detail. Isn't that was blogging is really about?! Ha ha :)

So, one of today's missions is to catch up with my blog entries... I know, I've really let it slip what with being ill and all.

The other main task was this: I spent a good part of the day creating an itinerary for Ember's upcoming tour 'Up North,' sorting out the details and logistics of each gig and making sure we have the right times and contact numbers, etc.

The tour runs from 9th - 15th January and was booked many months ago, mostly repeat gigs, so we know what to expect. We shall be visiting these places (more info on our dates page):

Sat 9th: Faldingworth
Sun 10th: Guisborough
Mon 11th: Stockton on Tees
Tues 12th: Hartlepool
Weds 13th: Otley
Thurs 14th: York
Fri 15th: Near Telford

I'll have to sort the details out for the rest of January and February in the next few days, so there's that to look forward to as well, ha ha.

Happy New Year, let's hope it's a good one :)

Cat Wee Samples

Day Twenty Six.

I spent practically the whole day in bed. Still so tired and ill.

But at 4pm we made it over to the vets with a sample of Molly (our female cat)'s wee, to see if there's a medical reason for her drinking so much water all the time. She's very fussy though, and only wants to drink from a glass, and a glass that I'm currently drinking from at that. We thought she might have cystitis. The vet tested it and said she didn't have that. They don't know what's up with her, and all they could say was we need to keep an eye on her and see if she gets any worse.

Well, that's good news in a way, and we've been feeling guilty about not doing anything about it despite our worries. So all we can do now is watch and wait. At least we've done something.


She looks OK. Maybe she's just spoilt?!

A New Knitting Project

Day Twenty Seven.

I've been salivating over my Christmas book 'Stitch and Bitch' for a few days now, and my fingers are itching to start making something. I thought I'd start with something quick and easy, so when I found the pattern for 'Hot Head' - a lovely, ribbed hat - I knew I had found my project. My stash of wool is massive - I got pretty carried away last time I ordered from Kemps Wool Shop (a very cheap, online store, which I thoroughly recommend) as their clearance wools are so very beautiful, and so very affordable... I knew I wanted to use Wendy's Chameleon (Chunky) as it's quick to knit and holds together so well. But, I must be a very slow knitter, as this is how far I got, when the book promises it will only take two hours at the most:


So you see I have indeed started, which is something. I shall share the results with you when they are worth seeing! :)

Pando Saves the Day

Day Twenty Five.

Phil and my dad left early this morning to drive to Pembrokeshire to pick up more of my dad's boxes to take to the smallholding. I'm starting to see where my hoarder's personality has come from! My father finds it really hard to part with anything, much to my mother's dismay. I've promised her that I'll help my dad to go through everything if he's not already done so by the time we move in, probably sometime in March.

It was lovely to get up so early and feel the whole day stretching ahead of me, without any distractions. Finally I had the time to sit down and convert all of the individual tracks (of the songs ready to be mixed) from Garageband files into aiff files. Sounds boring, but is essential for the tracks to be imported into ProTools - which is how Chris (our amazing sound guy) needs them. When we were at his place last, we had a bit of a breakthrough after several difficulties raised their ugly heads. Non-techies can stop reading now...

To get my Garageband songs/files onto Chris' ProTools, I needed first of all to get them onto his computer. They are very large files, and so I thought I should set up an FTP directory on our website so that I could upload to there and he could download from it. Alas, FTP will not support files with anything other than numbers and letters as names, and Garageband seems to insist upon naming each track something like 'Recording#23.' Invalid filename, unacceptable to FTP.

Then I discovered Pando.com - a programme which allows you to send large files (much larger than normal) in an email. I sent the songs to Chris, and despite his disgruntled murmurings about it taking hours to download, he was surprised that it worked... But... But it became an impossible dream when we opened the files with him in his studio and discovered (to our horror) that each recording was no longer in order, nor was it cut down to size, so that would mean we would have to go through every single track and a) try to place it in the correct place in the song, and b) cut it back AGAIN to cut out unwanted parts, which means that c) we would have to re-listen to everything to determine whether or not it was a wanted or unwanted section - argh!!!

At that point we thought the whole project would have to change course, and without Chris' expertise at that. There was no way we could afford to rearrange every micro-recording of every track of every song. 'If only we could get the tracks with the silences in between...' we muttered, glumly. And then suddenly I had a brainwave - if I could mute every track but one, I could send each track to iTunes and the silences in between would happen in real time! I quickly put my idea into action and was mightily relieved that it worked. So that's what I've been doing this morning. Saving each song with all tracks but one muted, one track at a time (naming them appropriately!), and sending every version to iTunes. I'll wait until tonight to send them all to Chris, as Pando takes up all of the bandwidth when it's sending...

I can't wait for the album to be finished, I'm so excited! :)

This afternoon I'm going to drive over to the smallholding to have a look around before Phil and my dad return from Pembrokeshire. Then I'll give him a lift home. I can't believe I've only really spent about half an hour there - that was when I went to view it before we all put the offer in - yet we're planning on being there for the rest of our foreseeable future... I'll take my camera, maybe I'll have some nice pictures to share when I come back :)

EDIT Here's one:

DVD and Youtube Killed the Video

Day Twenty Four.

Another easy one today, but it's all good. I figured it out as I lay totally devoid of energy in bed: if I get rid of something I don't want today, then it's a success. So I dragged myself over to the video shelf and did the first purge (of many, I hope - this was only a small one)...


Some of these were bought at charity shops for Phil - he loves Bottom and Steve Coogan - but he won't miss them. He hates the video player anyway, and I can't remember the last time we actually sat down and watched a video. I think I'd like to watch some of the remaining videos before giving them back to the charity shop though... Or am I just making excuses not to get rid of them?! We shall see... :)

Boxing Day: The Story of One Box

Day Twenty Three.

This is going to sound stupid.
I was so knackered, that I thought I'd do a very easy job today. Since we cleared all sorts of crap into our bedroom to get it out of the way for Christmas, I found myself tripping over this one annoying thing every time I went into the room.

It's this:


Nothing wrong with brushing up on your Welsh, that's not the issue.
This is the stupid thing about it:


There's only ONE tape in the damned box. And it's not even mine. I found it in my last house after we moved in. There was only one tape in the box THEN. I have kept it for five or six years! And I have since bought another, full set. Why am I holding onto this piece of useless, guilt-inducing rubbish?

Well, that's the last you'll hear of it. That's IT. It's going in the plastic recycling.

Christmas Day

Day Twenty Two.

Yes, today I did an awful lot of de-cluttering, but none of it was anything more than clearing up after meals and cups of tea, as you would expect at a family Christmas. :)

Me, my parents, and my brother went for a morning walk around 'the loop' while Phil stayed in and cooked the roast. He's a bloody good man, that Phil, and a damned good cook.

Turned out to be a pretty pleasant day, all in all.
:)

Christmas Eve: Is it Nap-Time Yet?!

Day Twenty One.

We may have both been struck down by runny noses and bone-aching lethargy, but we have still somehow managed to complete the preparations for the family Christmas... Horray!

The bedrooms look lovely and cosy, and the downstairs kitchen/sitting room area is warm and inviting - decked with ivy and holly and fairy lights as you know - and topped off by the funny Christmas tree Phil pulled in from the garden (it turned out that a previous owner had planted their tree outside, after it had served its purpose, and over time it has grown tall enough for us to nip the top off without shocking it to death).

I have wrapped the few presents which arrived today via City Link. For some reason Amazon split my order into two and has promised that the other things will be coming by Royal Mail Special Delivery. They should have arrived by 1pm, so I've lost all hope by now. That'll teach me to think that last minute internet present shopping is a clever way to avoid the shops, the crowds, and preparation in general...!

My parents have just phoned to announce that they are on their way. I must now take a nap as I am completely drained. Merry Christmas to you; hope we all have a chance to put our feet up and open a bottle or two :)

The Food of Life

Day Twenty.

Ah! Now we are one fifth of the way through the 100 Days Project! I must admit that despite the one evil comment, I am feeling positive and somewhat changed for the better. I'm feeling a real sense of community with other 100 Days bloggers, and it's a opened up a whole new world for me. I spoke with my old friend Kellee of The Yellow Lamp today, and that was very lovely indeed. This blogging process is bringing us close again after some years of very little contact - she moved away and we've just been soooo busy, ya know? :) She reminded me that only horrible people make horrible comments on blogs. Still, I've left it there in case anyone feels like responding. I don't like to censor things too much, I like a dash of reality, so I'll leave it until its time comes.

Today worked out pretty well. It was market day in Machynlleth, so we collected our pre-ordered organic veg from the Treehouse stall, picked up the pre-ordered free-range chicken and local sausages from Will the butcher's, and bought some nice fresh sea bass from the fish man (there are two fish stalls on the market - one is right outside our house and leaves a rotten fish smell when he goes; the other is down by the Quarry cafe. We bought the fish from the one down by the cafe - partly because we have heard the nasty, racist jokes of the one outside our house). I spent the morning on Amazon, choosing self-sufficiency themed presents for my parents and surfing related gifts for my brother. Phil and I decided that after the huge expense of everything else we would not need presents ourselves. Still, I got a bit carried away and ordered a 'Stitch and Bitch' knitting book for myself and promised to get an Ikea magnetic knife holder for him (it's what he wanted, to be fair, and it might give us an excuse to get ourselves there sometime in the New Year).

Sorted out our room ready for my parents to stay in it, and got the lights and tinsel on the tree. Phil cleaned the pantry and the hall, and all we have left to do tomorrow is last minute floor-cleaning downstairs, and making beds. As soon as we realised that, Phil asked if he 'was allowed' (what?! There's a first time for everything, I suppose?!) to have a glass of wine, and so I suggested that he make up some mulled wine from scratch as he's been boasting that he'll be able to make it without touching the singular sachet in the cupboard. He rose to the challenge (a good chance to see if it'll work when my family arrives!) and I read the ingredients list from the back of the sachet, whilst pointing out cinnamon, cloves and the like in the dark and chaotic cupboard. It turned OK, though maybe he shouldn't have put the garlic (?!) in, but with a few spoons of sugar, I thought it tasted pretty good. :)

And so we relax again, job done :)

Getting the House Ready for the Family Visit

Day Nineteen.

Bought loads of food for Christmas and a couple of presents, cleared the landing of all the boxes and general crap which has accumulated, started sorting out the bedrooms where my parents and brother will be staying, had a lovely long bath...

Now waiting for Phil to make us some tasty pizzas, whilst watching some Derren Brown.
It's good to relax! :)