A miscellany

• First, a huge thank you to ankaret for tea at the Pump Rooms in Bath yesterday with her and aella_irene. I have vague plans to make 2009 the year of putting faces to the names of my flist and this was a lovely way to begin. We talked about Jane Austen's probable views on blue cupcakes with sprinkles, the medicinal value (or otherwise) of the spa water which ankaret and aella_irene were mad enough brave enough to sample, the problems of in-laws, the fabulousness of the Old Shed, the foolishness of publishers and a whole lot more. I am very glad to have met you both and hope to do it again sometime.

• Second, and less happily, I got home to find an inch of snow on the ground and frozen water pipes in the Shed. There was enough residual hot water to have a much-needed bath, and there is cold water coming in through the kitchen tap, but there is no water in the bathroom at the moment. The plumber is coming tomorrow. The most irritating thing is not being able to flush the toilet. I shall go over to the parents' house for a hot bath later.

• A cold which has been threatening for weeks has finally developed. My throat feels like it is being sandpapered from the inside and the frequent coughing fits are therefore agonising. My voice hasn't quite disappeared but it is certainly lower and huskier than normal. Grrr.

• In the light of the previous two points the amount of useful brain activity this morning has been negligible. It is not looking at all likely that the next section of the dissertation will be done by mid-January as I so optimistically suggested to my supervisor. Not least because I haven't actually sent him the previous section yet.

• I have sausages and lentil salad for lunch. Yum.

• On the radio last night someone described Josiah Wedgwood as 'an imaginary man'. He's done jolly well keeping things going for as long as he has if that's the case. Actually, I am very sad about Wedgwood. My best friend from primary school lived in Barlaston, within walking distance of the Wedgwood factory; my great-uncle worked there as an accountant; it's always been a part of the fabric of the local area.

• I think all the Secret Santa gifts have now finally arrived except mine. :(

• I have finished going through the Yuletide unfulfilled requests list and I have four that I would like to write.

• I wrote comment fic for tdu000 here and here and, yes megan29, you get one too. Give me a prompt.

I knew I should have made this icon go up to 7

John Shuttleworth is in land_girl (aka Joan Chitty)'s lounge!!! No sign of the ghost though. :(

Review of 2008 and a resolution for 2009

Review of 2007

( Summary of what I wrote in 2008 )

My resolution for 2009 (though it may become redundant after today's news) is to go back and tag my LJ entries properly. The fic is all more or less accessible through roswrites and the tags/masterlist there. But everything is disappearing in a morass of frivolity and I would like to be able . to find things more easily. I shall begin with this post. ;)