Fun, joy, laughter, creativity, tears, cooking, baking, diy, camping, friends, God, lego all over the floor, weeds taking over the allotment, trying to remember that happiness is an inside job...just the usual jizz jazz of life
Saturday, December 23, 2006
An eventful couple of days...part 1
Next morning after a freezing cold night we got up at 5.30 to pack to leave to Finland. We left the house 7ish and headed south. The weather was gorgeous, frosty cold with pastelly sunrise. We got to Gaenors at about 1.3pm. traffic was nice and easy all the way. She made us some tasty and filling lunch and then we were off to the airport...
In case you don't know, the last couple of days have been total chaous (can't get the link button to work but you can go and have a look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6205247.stm) at Heathrow. With all internal and most of european flights cancelled because of dense fog- The fog doesn't affect flying but the ground stuff directing the planes around the airport and putting hte bags in etc are effected by it.
Ok the shower is finally free and I've got 30 minutes before we are off to the countryside. (we are at my sisters so there are 4 of us waiting for the shower). So hopefully at some point later I'll have time to tell about our Heathrow experience...
Friday, December 15, 2006
There is snow....

My friend Tina from Plymouth came to Newcastle on short notice and we met up for lunch and hot chocolate yeterday which was really nice. It was quite surreal as it all happened so quickly, she only emailed me on Monday saying that she was coming up to Newcastle. We had lovely time together, we had lunch, wandered around the city and then had coffee/hot chocolate.
I also met my second supervisor (for my PhD) yesterday and she seems very nice. I've got couple of more things to finish off and then my proposal is ready :)
Moses' eyes are a bit funny (infected we think) so I think we'll need to take him to the vet tonight.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
there is hope...

Moving date...
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Update on the snowsituation

Monday, December 11, 2006
Where is my snow???

Friday, December 08, 2006
Christmas present to Australia
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Moses & bones
Waking up at 5.30 wasn't too good but I seem to have survived and the train was on time which also helped. I was lazy and took the tube rather than walked, it wouldn't have been too long walk but I quite like the tube :)
I must have looked really scary with my knitting needles as nobody sat next to be on the way there or on the way back...but I finished a pair of mittens which is good.
I got woken up early today as well. Moses never ever makes noise at night but last night he started making lots of fuzz in his cage at 4.30 and he didn't stop so I thouhgt I'd better go and check what was going on as he wasn't stopping it and I was awake. We had given him a bone last night and he has very strong teeth and he can reduce a sizeable bone to a little pile of bone bits very effectively (some bones are better than others, but this one was definitlely on the easily destroyable side). I guess due to consuming a bit too many of these pieces he needed to go outside...and he took his time...
I was not too happy waiting in the cold...and it also took me a while to get back to sleep and I had a weird dream of bear cubs trying to get to our house! Especially weird as all the bears in England were hunted extinct centuries ago (that's why there are no forrests in England - they chopped down all the trees so that they could kill the bears, they like to let you think that it was to build their ships for conquering the world but that's just deception!)
PS: the bones usually smell horrible and his breath smell even worse after he has chewed them...do you think you can buy dog breath fresheners???
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
I'm hungry

Monday, December 04, 2006
Weekend update


Thursday, November 30, 2006
Self-combusting lights
So dutifully following the procedure for anything that doesn't work I emailed one of the admin girls who emailed one of the estates people to report the broken lightbulb. The following day, in the middle of another exiting artcile I was reading the man from the estates with a lovely geordie accent comes to fix it. He changes the lightbulb...nothing happens...he turns the switch on an off...still not working!!! And it gets dark early up here so I need my light!
So he climbs up on the ladder again and starts taking my light to pieces (alongside I get a running commentary of how much trouble these lights are, the lightbubs are £35 each to replace etc). Finally he comes to the conclusion that it had shorted (or something to similar effect) and the fuse box has melted. As he needs to get a new part he can't fix it today so he tapes it up according to all health and safety regurlations and promises to come back tomorrow.
The next day he duly appears, fixes my light and this time it works. Just to cheer me up (or scare me even more about these lights) he tells that he had a call from office on the first floor and instead of just melting the fuse box the whole thing had gone up in flames and exploded!!! It is a dangerous life working in an office, if it is not papercuts or nasty staplers that are out to get you, it is the lights!!!!
PS: Have you ever heard of picking up rasberries in November? It is not just me who thinks it is mild!!!
Laura to the rescue
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Kuvia Mooseksesta Roosalle!
Aina van mun pitaa istua ja odottaa, eiko ne ihmiset tajua etta ma tykkaan juosta!
(One of my sisters requested pictures of Moses some time ago and here they finally are)
Those were the days
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Some exploration and persistant cold
On Saturday we went for a drive along the coast north of Newcastle. It was really pretty and we had some good fun. I sneezed and coughed but the weather was nice and the car was warm so all was well. We stopped at couple of different places and had a little walk. Moses definitely approved of that!!! We bought some pies for a lunch from a farmshop and stopped at little town to eat them. We parked by the quay and watched some fishermen sorting out their nets while we munched our lunch. The coast was beautiful, very different than in the south west but equaly lovely. We found this huge beach with some amazing sanddunes and it didn't have huge carpark right next to it, which hopefully means it won't be too busy in the summertime. And there was no 'no dogs' sign either so Moses can come with us.
On Sunday I was even more miserable sniffing and coughing so we stayed home for the day relaxing and eating lots of oranges. We watched oceasn 11 in the evening which was good fun. My cold is pretty much over now, just some minor sniffing left.
My proposal due date is 25.12! As it is very unlikely that noone will be here on Christmas day to receive it, I will have to hand it in before Christmas which means I've got busy couple of weeks coming up.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Be nice

Casino Royale

As it was Wednesday yesteray we went to cinema and surprisingly saw the new Bond film. We'd planned to go for 8 o'clock show but there were only single seats left, same for the 8.30 so we went for the 9pm and spent an hour or so looking around this huge bookshop that is close to the cinema (and is open untill 10pm!!!)
We loved it. It took a while to get used to Bond with blond hair but he was brilliant. It had all you want in a bond film, classic lines, pretty girls, twist in a story, fast cars, explosions, villain who looks like villain, beautiful scenery...only thing it didn't have was a carchase...probably just to make up for the last one that didn't really have much else than car chase in it ;) And the critics seem to like it as well.
And Judi Dench was excellent as M (not really a surprise). Actually the acting was really good all around. Someone at work made a comment that Bond had turned emotional (which is obvioulsy bad if you are 00) so I kind of expected it to be 'emotional' but it wasn't, it was brilliant! I guess he was a bit more in touch with his feelings than before but it jsut fitted in the story very well.
We thoroughly recommend it!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Christmas present?
Monday, November 20, 2006
Newcastle-Plymouth-Beaconsfield/Seer Green-Newcastle
We stayed with Paul & Nikki for the night. It was really nice to catch up. I got the honour of reading Abi's bedtime story :) Once the girls were asleep we had lovely dinner and chatted etc. We've really missed having dinner with friends (as we haven't made that many friends yet up here...snif, snif...)
In the mornign Nathan cooked us breakfast. So we got to catch up with him and got cooked breakfast - what more could you ask! Moses had developed an eye infection so we had to take him to the vets for that (paid lots of money, got some eye-ointment thatseems to be working). Rest of the morning was spent cleaning the house and taking the cooker out. When David put the kitchen in, he did rather good job at it, and the gas-hose was very solildly positioned behind one of the cupboards - now there is a neat little drillhole on the side of the cupboard...
We had planned to see Tony for lunch but he had to work so instead we made a considerable reduction in Nikki's chocolate spread stock...chocolate spread on toast....yammee :)
After taking the pooch for a walk we drove up to Rob & Gaenors arriving there when it was the girls bathtime, I am jeaolous of their extensive bath toy collection, Anna has a fish that squirts water, a crab that squirts water, a whale that squirts water...and I got very wet as I had nothing.
On Sunday morning we got woken up by Anna and Rebekkah chattering away and playing together which was really sweet. After breakfast we went to church and saw Gaenor vicaring which was really nice. It's the first time we've seen her 'in action'. We had a lovely lunch in the vicarage prepared by the vicar herself and some delicious stewed apples for pudding.
Drive back was good and we got to Newcastle at sensible time. We had some dinner, watched love actually na ddrank some german wine that was really nice. (we've been on a mission to find some german wine for a while and found this one in oddbins and it's really nice)
We enjoyed our weekend, a bit tired after doing lots of driving but it was so nice to see friends. Moses enjoyed the visit as well...he got to snif around in three different kitchens for crumbs...he got to say hello to both of the old ladies who use to take him for a walk...he chased a squirrel in the woods...
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Moment of happiness
Window shopping
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
All is well
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Hide and seek

Monday, November 06, 2006
Part II Church hunting
Thursday, November 02, 2006
It is (still) getting colder...
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Lectures...
Friday, October 27, 2006
The wonders of interactive internet tools
Thursday, October 26, 2006
NHS for the animals
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The House
Here is the hall from top of hte landing.
The front room with a huge bay window where the sofa will be going or Christmas tree depending on time of the year :)
This is the dining room/breakfast room to be - you can'r really see much but it is really nice and light and will look so gorgeous once we knock the wall down...

PS: we can't wait to move in
PPS: we still need to get the mortgage arranged and the house in Plymouth sold but we are really really exited regardless
PPPS: we will be having a knock-the-wall down party
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The wall is hollow, hurrah hurrah hurrah
Monday, October 23, 2006
An eventful weekend
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Monkey business
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Northern haircut
Monday, October 16, 2006
The Finnish invasion
Friday, October 13, 2006
So....
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
another sleepless night
Monday, October 09, 2006
No sleep :(
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Oh dear...
We are back in the south west. We've just returned from Plymouth with the last car load of stuff. It was very weird seeing the house empty, didn't really feel like home any more. We saw Tony for lunch which was really nice. We also got a new lead to replace Moses lead that he had chewed through, good thing that we bought a lead with a lifetime guarantee after he chewed through the first one ;)
And now we are watching Robin Hood and waiting for delicious dinner David's mum has prepared for us...and crumble for pudding :)
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Quote of the day
And you failed miserably.
The lesson is ‘never try’”
“Counterfeits of the past, under new names, can easily be mistaken for the future… We must be wary of the trap”
"One of the indiciments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence
"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views...which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts needing altering"
Robert Anton Wilson
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Beach & rain

Moses appreciated the beach as well. Our ladies next door in Plymouth bought him these two rings and he loves running after them and chasing them.
It is funny being here. We know it was the right to move up here but at the moment everything seems a bit out on a limb, apart from going to uni we don't really feel part of anything yet...David has just made me a cup of tea so I'll stop and enjoy my morning cuppa :)
Monday, October 02, 2006
biochemistry and other scary things
It was very interesting trying to make small talk at the coffee break. I had a chat with couple of people but both of them were doing something chemistry related, I did ask one of them to explain what it meant in understandable language and basically he is going to spent the next 3 years looking at the medically beneficial properties of type of seaweed and the effects it has on diabetes and other chronic illnesses...
As far as social sciences go psychology (by most non psychologists) is usually considered to be the most scientific out of the lot but I felt exteremely non scientific today being surrounded by all the biochemists and physicians. Apart from feeling very out of place hte introduction was fun and they organise lots of exiting training (if you are into research) but I was very happy when it was time to come home and I can have a cup of tea with David and actually understand what he is talking about!
The weekend went quickly, did couple of walks, one along hadrian's wall (though we didn't see the wall because it had disintergrated and we walked along where the wall should have been) and the beach which was fun - it started pouring down with rain 5 minutes after we got there so we might go and give it another go this evening, I'm sure Moses will appreciate it.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
The wardrobe is finally standing
We've nearly been here for a week now, it seems to have gone pretty quickly. David's done some developing and printing and I've had couple of meetings and wine & nibbles welcome (there were couple of other new people as well so they did this big welcome thing).
The flat is looking pretty good apart from the spare room...today the plan is to go for a walk with the pooch - we are thinking of heading to Hadrian's wall - then come back and do some more unpacking.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Flatpacked furniture
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
So how did it all go
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Moving
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Second posting of the day
I've received my programme for the induction for all the postgrads in the medical school, not exactly tiring...on
- Monday we've got talk by the Dean 1-4 followed by drinks reception
- Tuesday we've got an hour on Health and safety (I didn't know research could be hazardous???) in the afternoon we've got talk on how to manage your research degree 2-4.30
- Thursday there is an optional library introduction from 10-11 and then 12-1 we've got research training portfolio
So far it all sounds pretty manageble - especially the drinks reception in the postgraduate common room
But now it is bedtime - I need all the energy I can get for carrying the boxes over the next couple of days. Hopefully we'll get internet sorted out quickly and then you can send us lots of emails and I can blog again :)