Strippers, Seals and Sand

We've just had a lovely rest from "Brinsleying" by having a weeks' holiday in Norfolk.  I think it will be the last holiday for a few years as both time and money are now both in short supply, consequently we were determined to enjoy a peaceful and relaxing holiday while we could and spent most of our time enjoying the scenery and the last of the years' sunshine;  taking walks, admiring the work of local artists and enjoying Norfolks cream teas.

Most of our walks were in North Norfolk, close to where we were staying, and making use of the peddlars way - but one day we ventured down the coast as far as a place called Horsey, it looked like this would be a disappointing trip because the villages were much less picturesque than where we were stopping but it was definately worth the trip -  Horsey beach gets loads of seals playing about in the sea right near to the waters edge - after about 30 or so we stopped counting, 'couldnt believe how lucky we were. We read that later in the year (between dec and feb) the beach has to be closed so that they can safely have their pups. We didn't taken any pictures of the seals cos we didn't think that we could do them justice, so we just enjoyed the show that they put on for us playing in the surf.

   

Jac thought she'd found the highlight of her holiday when one of our walks went past the Saracens head and the chalk board outside was advertising Morston Mussels - she thought she'd stumbled across an upmarket pub with a Chippendale act, before quickly realising that she'd be a pretty disappointed as a vegetarian as all she was going to get would be a limp bit of fish in a shell - doh!

Colin and Jackie

Brinsleying (noun, verb and adjective)

There's a really good book called the Meaning of Liff, by Douglas Adams. In Liff there are many hundreds of common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we all know and recognize, but for which no words exist.
On the other hand, the world is littered with thousands of spare words which spend their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places.
Liff is a dictionary which manages  to get these words down off the signposts and into our vocabulary, where as Douglas Adams puts it "they can start earning their keep in everyday conversations and make a more positive contribution to society".  In other words Liff is a "dictionary of things that there aren't any words for yet"; all the words listed are places, and describe common feelings and objects for which there is no current word.
My favourite examples are Motuspur  which is the  fourth wheel of a supermarket trolley which looks identical to the other three but renders the trolley completely uncontrollable.
and Melton Constable (n) A patent anti-wrinkle cream which policemen wear to keep themselves looking young.
So why am I telling you all this?  I've taken to describing our activity at our new house in Brinsley as "Brinsleying"  Brinsley  (v) therefore is the act of hard physical labour while seemingly achieving nothing at all.

Jackie
I'll explain more Brinsleyisms as they happen

Disaster area

A bit over the top I know. But the Brinsley project looks like a disaster area at the moment we currently have no electrics, no gas very little plaster, no plumbing and the roofs now got to come off . I hope this is going to be worth it.... oh and the concrete floors yet to come up..

Jac's buggered today after spending nine hours cutting and burning the rubbish timber that has come out , never mind we have filled nearly two builders skips of plaster and brick.

I need bed for a week to rest up I think and I'm sure the mucks now more an addition to my skin than the little sun tan I had.

Col

Its not going well

I'm really struggling to put a lining into a dress - I'm not a dressmaker and 3 dimensional thinking has always been problematic for me. 
My strategy to this problem is to leave it to one side and come back to it later, consequently i've gone back to my drawing course, which is normally a source of calm and relaxation, but this module has been particularly difficult for me - when it hasn't been about capturing fine detail (I'm very expressive, but not detailed) its been about drawing animals, and nextdoors cat just won't sit still

Save our Countryside

After a battle to stop the government from selling up our forests, they are now proposing that our greenfields and countryside are used to create more housing stock.  It feels like madeness, there are plenty of brown field sites available for building on and there are plenty of houses for sale that are unsold because people can't get mortgages.  Taking away our green spaces for houses that are built on projections that aren't necessarily correct and that can be built elsewhere seems a crime. 
38 degrees have set up a petition http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-countryside to try and stop this.
Its not often that I use the blog as a soap box but this is really important to me.  All of the things that are important to me; running, walking, wildlife, scenery, inspiration, a place to feel uplifted and calm and just being away from urban life could all be removed in the next 10 years.
Please click on the link above and sign the petition and forward it on widely.
Thank you
Jackie

Book Vandal

Over the last few days I've posted quite a few things on Freecycle (a website where you can give things you no longer need to other members, and request or be gifted things from others).  I really like Freecycle, although a few people are really greedy in what they request or don't feel the need to say please or thank you, the majority of people are really nice and are really happy if they get a few glass jars for chutney making or some green house glass.
Along with a load of other things I'd posted (such as big old cathrode televisions that we found in the garage at the house we've bought, and crafting items) I'd posted a few of my old social policy text books.  I didn't really expect anyone to want the social policy books and not wanting to waste them completely, I had a flash of inspiration and  decided that the covers might be useful collage material.  Of course it was only after I'd torn the covers off and started cutting them up, that somebody requested the books, and I had to sheepishly explain that they could have them but that they were now naked..  I think we made each other laugh; I had the lovely response, "don't worry, its like people, its whats on the inside that matters" and then laughingly got told that they'd not met a book vandal since they were at school.

Bag Ladies

I've been making a few bag ladies, I'm hoping to sell some at a craft fairs and through Treehuggery