I've just managed to survive 6 minutes of hula hoop, 10 minutes of I-am-a-chicken-so-I-flap-my-arms, and 30 (!!!) minutes of free-style jogging with Wii Fit Plus!
Earnings: 7 WW active points. Yay!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Letters from a Publisher
From a long-dead publisher, that is. As you might know, the doctor-hat-wearing me is working on a postdoctoral project on Punch, the famous Victorian British magazine. I love researching 19th-century periodicals -- it's such an exciting field and so much wonderful research is getting done right now. (Case in point: Patrick Leary's The Punch Brotherhood, which is simply brilliant!) But since I have a lot of catching-up do, I spent yesterday afternoon looking at different digital projects and online archives of old periodicals and publishing houses. Thereby I stumbled across two very sweet letters written by John Murray to his wife Annie in 1808 while he was staying in Scotland.
On September 27 he was Edinburgh and wrote:
On October 5 he was back in Edinburgh after a visit to Sir Walter Scott. All that time, his wife Annie, it seems, was never far from his mind as he writes:
He ends this letter with
On September 27 he was Edinburgh and wrote:
Upon my word thou art the most impudent baggage to write so little to thy husband for whom I conclude, out of sight out of mind, you think very little about. In your letter to your mother today you say that as you have written me so many letters, & pray Miss how many more letters have you received from me? This the Eighth I believe in return for which I have got only Three—and moreover as you never condescend to ask me to write again I am inclined to suppose that you find the postage too heavy a tax upon your private purse and so I have half a mind to trouble you no more in this & to give you no further account of your husband's (if you have not forgotten that you have one) operations—write me this instant you saucy rogue or expect to hear from me no more.Hehe. :)
On October 5 he was back in Edinburgh after a visit to Sir Walter Scott. All that time, his wife Annie, it seems, was never far from his mind as he writes:
When Mr Ballantyne & I left Mr Scott & Mr Heber at Melrose & travelled to Kelso—my first attention was to secure the room where my dearest love and & I rested once before, & I did not sleep, she will believe me, without a thousand thoughts of her whom I now love a thousand times more dearly than when we were there together.Awww! Isn't that sweet?
He ends this letter with
My most dear Girl
Your faithful husband
John Murray
More sweetness!
All in all, I found these two letters rather charming and just couldn't help sharing them with you. If you like to have a look at the full-length letters, head over to the correspondence archive of the Quarterly Review.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Knock, Knock (Round 2)
And who might it be this time?
It's Miss Very Pink Bunny!
I sewed her as a Christmas present for the daughter of our secretary. Miss VPB turned out somewhat pinker than I had planned, but apparently, that's a good thing since the little girl in question luuuuuuurves pink! :)
In other news: today would have been Weigh In Day, if it hadn't been for that dratted migraine that caught me unawares this morning. Duh. But I will go tomorrow morning -- not simply because our coach is fantastic and the meetings are extremely motivational, but also because there's a distinct possibility that I have reached the 10% goal this week. When I started with Weight Watchers last November, the 10% mark seemed so far away -- out of reach basically. But in the end, it's taken me only eight weeks to come to this point. Needless to say that I'm mighty happy!
It's Miss Very Pink Bunny!
I sewed her as a Christmas present for the daughter of our secretary. Miss VPB turned out somewhat pinker than I had planned, but apparently, that's a good thing since the little girl in question luuuuuuurves pink! :)In other news: today would have been Weigh In Day, if it hadn't been for that dratted migraine that caught me unawares this morning. Duh. But I will go tomorrow morning -- not simply because our coach is fantastic and the meetings are extremely motivational, but also because there's a distinct possibility that I have reached the 10% goal this week. When I started with Weight Watchers last November, the 10% mark seemed so far away -- out of reach basically. But in the end, it's taken me only eight weeks to come to this point. Needless to say that I'm mighty happy!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Knock, knock ...
... anybody there?
KNOCK, KNOCK ...
Ah, there she is! :)
Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great start into the new year! Mine was certainly fantastic -- I had a sweet baby on my arm (though not my own, alas).
As you can see, I still haven't been abducted by slimy green aliens, haven't travelled back in time to snatch up Mr Thornton (oh wait, he wasn't a real person to begin with ... too bad! No wonder I didn't travel back in time!), haven't fallen into the duck pond. Instead, I have been hard at work at ... well, myself. After gaining 25 kilos in the past four years (that's 55.1 pounds for you), I'm now determined to get rid of all that weight until summer. Why summer, you ask? Well, because I'm going to RWA National this year (at this point feel free to imagine me jumping around the room and yelling WOOHOOOO!!!! at the top of my voice). I haven't been since 2007, and I really don't want people to say things like, "Have you seen Sandy? Wow, she's become fat, hasn't she?" No, I want people to say things like, "Have you seen Sandy? My, but she's looking good, isn't she?" :)
Incidentally, I also didn't want to buy bigger-sized trousers yet again. So, on 25 November I joined Weight Watchers, and I haven't looked back since: not only have I lost weight and am eating healthier food, but I am also enthusiastic about food again. I have discovered new dishes (how could I ever live without oven-roasted veggies???) and old favourites. Better still, I feel that I have finally taken back control over my own life. I'm looking forward to things again (RWA National!!!!), and I'm hopeful about the future (despite the Euro crisis and all that).
One thing I want to do over the next few weeks and months is to document my WW journey. So without further ado here's the first set of pics. They were taken on 13 January, when I had already lost 6.6 kilos (14.6 lbs):
By then, the worst of the wobbliness had been reduced, which was in part also due to umpteen hours spent on the Wii balance board. There's nothing like riding the bike around the Wii Fit island to improve the shape of your thighs! *g*
KNOCK, KNOCK ...
Ah, there she is! :)Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great start into the new year! Mine was certainly fantastic -- I had a sweet baby on my arm (though not my own, alas).
As you can see, I still haven't been abducted by slimy green aliens, haven't travelled back in time to snatch up Mr Thornton (oh wait, he wasn't a real person to begin with ... too bad! No wonder I didn't travel back in time!), haven't fallen into the duck pond. Instead, I have been hard at work at ... well, myself. After gaining 25 kilos in the past four years (that's 55.1 pounds for you), I'm now determined to get rid of all that weight until summer. Why summer, you ask? Well, because I'm going to RWA National this year (at this point feel free to imagine me jumping around the room and yelling WOOHOOOO!!!! at the top of my voice). I haven't been since 2007, and I really don't want people to say things like, "Have you seen Sandy? Wow, she's become fat, hasn't she?" No, I want people to say things like, "Have you seen Sandy? My, but she's looking good, isn't she?" :)
Incidentally, I also didn't want to buy bigger-sized trousers yet again. So, on 25 November I joined Weight Watchers, and I haven't looked back since: not only have I lost weight and am eating healthier food, but I am also enthusiastic about food again. I have discovered new dishes (how could I ever live without oven-roasted veggies???) and old favourites. Better still, I feel that I have finally taken back control over my own life. I'm looking forward to things again (RWA National!!!!), and I'm hopeful about the future (despite the Euro crisis and all that).
One thing I want to do over the next few weeks and months is to document my WW journey. So without further ado here's the first set of pics. They were taken on 13 January, when I had already lost 6.6 kilos (14.6 lbs):
By then, the worst of the wobbliness had been reduced, which was in part also due to umpteen hours spent on the Wii balance board. There's nothing like riding the bike around the Wii Fit island to improve the shape of your thighs! *g*
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Pretty Christmas gift tags, cards & ornaments - the internetz has it all!
Today we briefly interrupt the Harewood tour to marvel at the heaps of awesome Christmas freebies that can be found online. Let's start with Kirsty Neale's sweet Christmas cards. You can find the angel and many others on Papercraft Inspirations.
If you'd like some gift tags to go with the cards, you need to look no further than Kirsty Neale's blog (make sure to check out her Etsy store, too -- she's got some adorable stuff! Bunny garlands, anybody?).
The next gift tag comes from Amy Moss on Eat Drink Chic. Isn't it cute?
The next tags are really special -- or have you ever heard of feather gift tags? As you can see from the picture below they look simply amazing when paired with simple brown packing paper. Find them on Love vs. Design.
If you prefer classic design, have a look at these pretties, which you can find on The Sweetest Occasion. They were designed by Jen of Blush Printables.
Last but not least, what about some birdie ornaments? Lisa Rupp is offering these two sweet birds as a free download on her blog. You could use them as gift tags or even as Christmastree decorations.
If you'd like some gift tags to go with the cards, you need to look no further than Kirsty Neale's blog (make sure to check out her Etsy store, too -- she's got some adorable stuff! Bunny garlands, anybody?).
The next gift tag comes from Amy Moss on Eat Drink Chic. Isn't it cute?
The next tags are really special -- or have you ever heard of feather gift tags? As you can see from the picture below they look simply amazing when paired with simple brown packing paper. Find them on Love vs. Design.
If you prefer classic design, have a look at these pretties, which you can find on The Sweetest Occasion. They were designed by Jen of Blush Printables.
Last but not least, what about some birdie ornaments? Lisa Rupp is offering these two sweet birds as a free download on her blog. You could use them as gift tags or even as Christmastree decorations.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Harewood House Part 2: The Terrace
Madame Sphinx greets you at the entrance to the terrace. (Have you ever wondered how a spinx does her hair? Perhaps they've got servants for that kind of thing ...)
And here it is -- ta-daaah! -- the formal garden on the terrace.
This is the view from the house, across the formal garden, with the landscape garden in the background.
The view from the balustrade that you can see in the picture above:
They're kind of difficult to see, but all these black spots on the lake and on the lawn? Geese. Hundreds and hundreds of geese. I could already hear them while walking down the drive.
Back to the formal garden. There were pretty fountains, like this one:
And rather cold stone (marble?) benches to the left and the right. You can just about see one of those benches on the picture below. It nestles in the inner ring of the curved hedge in the back.
And then there is the very large, very neikkid man. Right smack in the middle of the terrace:
It's Hercules with a leopard, and it's a modern statue. The original statue was destroyed by severe frost in 1982.
So when you now look out of the window up at the house, you've got a very nice view of Hercules's very nice, muscular bum. Not the worst thing to look at early in the morning, I should guess. ;)
In the next installment I'll take you to see the ice house, the landscape garden and the walled garden.
And here it is -- ta-daaah! -- the formal garden on the terrace.
This is the view from the house, across the formal garden, with the landscape garden in the background.
The view from the balustrade that you can see in the picture above:
They're kind of difficult to see, but all these black spots on the lake and on the lawn? Geese. Hundreds and hundreds of geese. I could already hear them while walking down the drive.Back to the formal garden. There were pretty fountains, like this one:
And rather cold stone (marble?) benches to the left and the right. You can just about see one of those benches on the picture below. It nestles in the inner ring of the curved hedge in the back.
And then there is the very large, very neikkid man. Right smack in the middle of the terrace:
It's Hercules with a leopard, and it's a modern statue. The original statue was destroyed by severe frost in 1982.So when you now look out of the window up at the house, you've got a very nice view of Hercules's very nice, muscular bum. Not the worst thing to look at early in the morning, I should guess. ;)
In the next installment I'll take you to see the ice house, the landscape garden and the walled garden.
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