Thursday 20 September 2012

Pirate Evening

Well, if you're going to do International Talk Like a Pirate Day, you have to do it in style - particularly if you're a Pastafarian. So, when he came home from a long day of pillagin' not-so-wealthy businessmen, this is what His Lordship had waitin' on his sofa.

The lovely lady at Denix was most amused - she wasn't aware that TLaPDay existed (it really does) and was kind enough to send my parcel express overnight courier for no extra charge.

The top gun is a rather nice brass William Bailes Italian Flintlock Percussion Lock Pistol, designed in 1825 - and the bottom gun is my heavy Bailes English double-barrelled turnover pistol, designed in 1750.

Not only are they magnificently piratey (though defunct), but they're also legal to carry in public under the current replica firearms laws.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Pirate Day

ROIGHT! Now ye listen 'ere and ye listen GOOD, yer 'ear me?!


It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, so hand o'er all yer good stuffs an' pledge allegiance ter tha +Flying Spaghetti Monster - or oim ter run yer through wi' moi colander, and strain dubloons from yer pockets tha' way.

DO yer underrrrstant me, yer salt encrusted scabs of scurvy BILGE RATS!?!

An' iffen ye want to Poiratificaaaaate yer GOOGLES, well lookie here ya scurvy bilge rats - thar's no excuse, cuz now yer can, 'ERE!

Sunday 16 September 2012

Flying Dragon Update...

The dragons are ADORING the brand new and ginormous P-shaped bath tub in our new house. Tsam was an absolute gentleman at bath time, even when Hyphen started making a fuss, and Sandy sat on him. He knows bath time means towel time, and he loves to snuggle in his blue blanket.

Mocha drank and drank and drank and drank until she had to sit up suddenly and go "GASP!" Yeah, you need to breathe. She loves water, but she's not YET aquatic.

Jacques is still in quarantine, but is beginning to understand the purpose of baths. It doesn't mean he will be any less grumpy about it though. He's still a lot skinnier than I'd like, but his eyebrows are nicely domed, his head isn't concave at the top, his weight is steadily increasing (181g at last count) and his bones don't stick out so badly - not to mention he's not pulling filthy black faces at me nearly as often any more!


Hyphen has lost the fight to that lizard shaped bit of carpet on the floor on several occasions. Poor Hyphen. He's beginning to think his name might be "Stupid." Well, up until recently... I'm actually rather impressed with Hyph - he's found something he is genuinely good at!

Even Tsammy, the brightest of the dragons so far, can't manage the ferret ball. Hyphen's got the right combination of size and weight and a natural ability to counter the wobble. 

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Busy busy busy...

Springbok steak, chargrill rare, with red wine and mushroom sauce. It is utterly divine.

If you haven't had the opportunity to try it, I strongly encourage you to source some. It is nicer even than sirloin.

I can't BEGIN to tell you just how good it was; simply that it was worth the £240 train fare...

This last couple of weeks has been kinda quiet, blogwise - because it's been lots hectic. Long story short - looks like we might have a friend who wants to borrow the old house (until everything sorts out and we can sell it). Means I don't have to pay a grand and a half in insurances and tax, so I certainly don't mind.

Saturday 1 September 2012

Over £750 and counting for MacMillan Cancer Support

"Shave It" roared in as the strong winner, with over a £60 lead with Natwest's pledge landing us over £750 in total for MacMillan! I have to thank you all so much - so "Hairsyourchance" to see what happened next...


The pages are still open at www.justgiving.com/yeshair and www.justgiving.com/cuthair, but of course voting is now complete.

2:28 - he accidentally dropped a clump of my hair in my lap - and I was "what the... holy cow! Lookit..."
2:58 - "Yuck!" (I don't like loose hairs at the best of times!)
3:49 - the lovely reporter from the Chronicle arrived.
4:53 - that's the sign and the big cheque being held up for the first of the photos - my friend Dale is helping the papers get pictures. The nice girl from reception is holding the video camera!
5:50 - and now they want me to hold chunks of my hair. Icky! :P

6:45 - Dale's stealing a "hilarious" half-and-half hair pic. Thanks mate... hahaha!
7:44 - I'd been asked how much we'd raised at that point, and I was trying to check the www.justgiving.com/cuthair and www.justgiving.com/yeshair pages. My eyesight is terrible! (£740 something at that point, including NatWest's £250 donation.)
10:16 - hahahahaha, it's like a pathetic dog's tail...
10:22 - aaaaaand... gone.
11:03 - this isn't my best angle. Feels WEIRD.
Totally worth it.

Thanks to my partner, Rich (Yamabamlo) glimpsed in the mirror at 02:45 for recording this, and putting huge amounts of work into the #hairsyourchance to Shave It or Save It project with me - as well as to Toni&Guy, ForbesBurton, NatWest and all you wonderful people from G+ and in the wild for all your help, donations and voting: we raised well over £750 for MacMillan! 

So that's it from me - and until next year, thank you everyone! :D