cabin fever

Oscar helps make the bed in the morning...

Have been writing grammatically simplified exercises for students all day, and fancied a new challenge!

Where is your mobile phone?
bag

Your significant other?
working

Your hair?
dyed

Your mother?
ancient

Your father?
dead

Your favourite thing?
earrings

Your dream last night?
forget

Your favourite drink?
spritz
Your dream/goal?
move

What room are you in?
loft

Your hobby?
garden

Your fear?
age

Where do you want to be in 6 years?
abroad

Where were you last night?
ironing

Something that you aren't?
tall

Muffins?
wheatfree
Wish list item?
space

Last thing you did?
lunch

What are you wearing?
green

TV?
unfortunately

Your pets?
cats
Friends?
yes
Your life?
stressed

Your mood?
down

Missing someone?
no

Drinking?
will

Smoking?
no

Your car?
Renault

Something you're not wearing?
scarf

Your favourite store?
bookshops

Your favourite colour?
orange

When is the last time you cried?
yesterday

Where do you go to over and over?
italy

Five people who email me regularly?
work

My favourite place to eat?
Carmine

Favourite place I'd like to be at right now?
Elba

I don't get out enough especially as Oxford has great jazz including a wonderful venue for jazz called The Spin. We last went about a year ago, but managed to go last night. It is a small venue, last night there was a maximum of 30 people. It's a bit like a club or a cabaret venue. It's dark, subterranean and last night, incredibly hot! I don't know how the jazz pianist Andrea Vicari managed to play!
She was excellent, playing standards and her own compositions, and played with the Pete Oxley quartet (well three of them, guitar, double bass and drums). Exellent chilled out jazz.

We bought her new album as we had heard a couple of pieces from it - good summer listening:

http://www.myspace.com/andreavicariband
Do check her out.

Continuing my collection of details, this time Venice, from winter 2002:

The day before yesterday was a beautiful day and we went for an afternoon walk at Iffley lock, Oxford.

Photo 1 Oscar a few weeks ago.
Photo 2 Oscar gives up learning English grammar! Don't blame him.

I'm glad to report that there's life in the old boy still. He's back to eating more than his body weight each day and being a general pain in the.... But loveable for all that! We have rearranged our holiday so we hold our breath!

Ambrose Bierce, an American in the 19th century, an underrated writer (of ghost stories and Civil war experiences) and famous for his Devil's Dictionary. My other half was reading out some quotes to me so thought I'd share them!

Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.

Road, n. A strip of land along which one may pass from where it is too tiresome to be to where it is futile to go.

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

Pray, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy.

Twice, adv. Once too often.

Youth, n. The Period of Possibility, when Archimedes finds a fulcrum, Cassandra has a following and seven cities compete for the honor of endowing a living Homer.

Mad, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech, and action derived by the conformants from study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual. It is noteworthy that persons are pronounced mad by officials destitute of evidence that they themselves are sane.

Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. This disease is prevalent only among civilized races living under artificial conditions; barbarous nations breathing pure air and eating simple food enjoy immunity from its ravages. It is sometimes fatal, but more frequently to the physician than to the patient.

Congratulation, n. The civility of envy

Taken from: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce

On the day when we were supposed to be travelling on our cancelled holiday we decided to have an afternoon in a local garden - a famous landscaped garden by William Kent, surrounding a Jacobean House and enclosed walled gardens as well.
It was stunning hot weather and with a fridge emptied ready for the holiday we went to M & S and treated ourselves to a picnic of smoked salmon, hummous, cheese, salad, tomatoes, strawberries, wine!
Well it certainly cheered us up as it was an idyllic day. There is no tea room or shop at the garden but they welcome picnickers. There are no rules or regulations either. And there were only about eight cars in the car park we only saw a few people the whole day.
Not a substitute for our holiday but a lovely day and a reminder of the glories of Britain!
Here are some photos:

Our place in the sun (well for two weeks a year)

Our old old cat has been ill for a week. In fact, when we took him to the vet last Friday and the vet said we should feed him little and often and keep an eye on him, and give him this and that pill at this and that time we looked at each other and commented that it would be difficult to impose that on our neighbours while we were on holiday. At which point the vet said: "Well, how about euthanasia, then?" And when we protested he said "After all, he's living on borrowed time." At that point we had taken him in because he hadn't improved much in four days, and the weekend was coming up. But he could walk, talk, purr - no temperature and blood test results showing good liver, kidney and thyroid function. Not very well - but not quite ready for the final needle. So the vet really offered the option of death as a way for us to go on our holiday. Which has made us very rebellious against his cynicism and hardness.
We had delayed our flight at great expense with British Airways to Tuesday from Saturday - the agreement being together that if we then didn't go on Tuesday (tomorrow) we would cancel the holiday. So tonight we were all set to go, mostly packed, but very reluctantly, the neighbours are briefed, they even have a burial plot in the garden, just in case (can't believe I'm writing that dry-eyed, it's just I don't believe it). And until last night Oscar was improving. But this evening... he's off his food again and weird.
And we are riven with doubts - guilt, potential guilt. Our trip is two full weeks. What would we feel like if the cat got sicker, if he died, if the other cat is left home alone, if our neighbours have to deal with it all, even if they just have to deal with our constant phone calls. And then... if he did die, would we just stay there and go 'never mind' and potter down to the beach feeling a bit depressed? Can't see it. And.if we stay and he lives...well that's great. And we would say... wasn't it lucky that we went after all.

But what about the fact that to 'save' our house rental (we've rented the same house for years) we have suggested that we take the holiday off season (October) to save our landlords being out of pocket, which is nice of them anyway as we owe them the booked time. So if Oscar survives the summer - do we feel the same in the autumn? Just transferring the problem?

My sister, having recently nursed her old dog to easeful death, thinks that we have an instinct about Oscar, and that probably the situation will be 'resolved' by the autumn - to be brutal Oscar will either have died or we will have come to terms with him being much weaker and older. I can't believe I'm saying this, as we will be devastated - I mean devastated by his departure. We have had him for 22 years - that's an incredible amount of time and he is so much part of our daily lives. Such a personality.

Anyway here I am - it's half past ten, the bags will have to be unpacked, clothes unchosen, laptops unpacked, lists thrown away - and we'll have to go shopping tomorrow as the house is empty of food!