So Onto the Fun Stuff…

The last time I wrote Mrs H3 and I were heading to Leeds Castle for their ‘fantastic’ firework display. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really the stunning evening that we’d been hoping for or expecting considering the tickets cost £34 for the two of us. Firstly the fireworks started at 5.30pm; not exactly a useful time when I didn’t finish work at the pub until 4pm and had some networking to do (and I mean real work-related networking not just drinking). To cap it all on the evening in question the weather was appalling. It had rained all day and was torrential by the time of the display. Mrs H3 was certainly pleased she had her wellies – me I was in Converses which aren’t exactly known for their water-repellent qualities. Unluckily I didn’t have a waterproof coat either and was therefore dressed in a wool cape with fur around the cuffs and hood, pretty but definitely not functional in a monsoon. In fact at one point I was seriously upset that I hadn’t thought to bring a black bin liner as that would definitely have been more waterproof than what I was wearing! Mrs H3 did (apparently) have a waterproof jacket, but it leaked so badly she may as well not have worn it. I was wearing my Slytherin scarf though, which was a good thing as by that time my nasty cold had turned into a serious chest infection for which I was taking antibiotics and using an asthma puffer regularly and at least I managed to keep reasonably warm even as I got soaked to the skin.

The display took place over the top of the castle and was supposed to be an impressive mix of fireworks and lasers. Unfortunately, the low cloud meant the lasers were almost invisible and the driving rain – which as luck would have it was coming directly into our faces from the castle obscured the view of the fireworks especially when my glasses got completely soaked. The only point in its favour (considering the weather - although had the evening been fine it would have been an even worse point) was that it was short. We arrived in our watching spot five minutes before the display started (at exactly 5.30pm) and even taking into account walking back to the car and queuing to get out we were back in the Sherwood Oak by 6.45pm. Yep that was it – 1 hour and 15 minutes in total door to door – definitely NOT worth the money, even if there had been no cloud.

So considerably poorer we spent the evening thawing out in the pub, which although a tad frustrating considering the money we’d already spent turned out to be rather more entertaining than originally anticipated. Mrs H3’s red wellies garnered considerable interest from several patrons and eventually by the end of the evening we, with the admirable help of Neil had talked Chris (who may or may not have been very drunk) into drinking a pint of Kronenberg from one of them (I’d just like to point out that Mrs H3 DID have spare boots available).

Below is the video (totally rubbish quality as it was taken on my crap phone camera) of the whole event. To be honest we didn’t expect him to drink the whole pint – a few mouthfuls would have done, but he was obviously enjoying himself, so kudos for that.

Hello Everyone – Remember Me?

Okay so I was out of action for the whole of November, although I have to admit I didn’t do much novel writing, even with my hero Philip Pullman and the wonderful Piers Anthony (among others) giving me encouragement along the way. To be honest with only a couple of days to cobble together a plot I was never going to be onto a winner. Time now to get ready for next year’s event and then it’ll be a cinch!

So if you haven’t been busy writing, what the hell have you been up to? I can hear you asking. And it’s a good question. To be honest the answer is a bit of this and a bit of that. I think I’m going to split my news into several posts as I have loads to write about and loads of fantastic pictures to upload, otherwise this will be the longest blog post in the history of the world.

Firstly, and most importantly for my current mood there’s been a huge change around at work, with our Department being revised and renamed (farewell to Claims - but not to the work!), the section I work in being disbanded (hello to Peter and the Safety section) and my lovely boss Nick leaving on early retirement *sob* which has left me working for someone with whom I have somewhat of a problem (a slight understatement), something that has caused me a considerable amount of stress over the last month. I am hoping steps are being taken to sort the situation before I end up having a nervous breakdown – although said lovely boss predicted that it would be about a month before the doctor signed me off and almost everyone I’ve spoken to has told me I’m being harassed and need to go and see Welfare about it. My sleep patterns (never great anyway) are completely shot and I’m dreaming about the boss in question, which definitely isn’t a good sign. With the streamlining I’ve acquired a whole new set of tasks including attending meetings in the middle of nowhere (okay Whale Island, Portsmouth to be precise so far) and so I’ve now got the stress of travelling to add to all the other stresses of my life. Interesting to see how things fare in the next month or so. Looking on the bright side I only actually have another 4 days in the office, what with leaving do’s and Christmas parties and such so I expect I can survive somehow. I’ll also have 8 days of my advent calendar to open tomorrow – 8 pieces of Thornton’s chocolates should go a long way to improving my mood even if I do have another stultifyingly frustrating meeting to attend in the morning.

So onto the exciting stuff – the things I (and Mrs H3 naturally) have been up to in the last month. It’s been fun and almost makes up for the fact that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince wasn’t released on the 21st as it should have been. Hey look at the countdown – only another 220 days before the film’s out (and 12 days till Twilight – although the release date clashes with the Christmas party).

Oh yes and while I remember on what should have been release day (or was it the day before?) just to tease a bit more WB released a new trailer. Lots of new stuff which had me spending the first one and a half minutes screaming where's Snape? and then the last twenty three seconds squeeing excitedly at how they seem to have actually got it right for once.Obviously we won't know for sure until the film is released, and of course there won't be anywhere near enough Snape action (as there never is) but if the "fight back you coward" is in the right place then I'll be a happy girl.

Halloween Pics and More

So I should be busy writing my novel but I’m not. Instead I’m having a quick catch up on here.
Last Friday there was a Halloween fancy dress party in the Sherwood Oak and Mrs H3 and I both dressed up (of course), along with a few other brave souls. It was an excellent evening and the photos are below.

I had bought the most fantastic witches’ hat from M&S and built the costume around that, as you can see Mrs H3’s costume was mainly the most fantastic red patent leather DM boots and a rather bouncy tutu.



So it’s Bonfire Night and all around I can hear the bangs of fireworks, although I can’t actually see anything. I love fireworks but I can’t be bothered to leave the house tonight to try and see them as it’s too cold out there and I’m still full of this horrid cold that I’ve had since last weekend. Instead we are going to Leeds Castle on Saturday evening for their ‘Legend of Excalibur’ display. Mrs H3 is excited ‘cos she gets to wear her wellies, I’m excited as I get to wear my Slytherin scarf – I’m not sure which of us is the sadder! LOL

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we had got tickets for Elbow at Wembley. Since then they’ve announced a full tour (I get a feeling that Elbow are a bit like I Am Kloot on the touring front i.e. they don’t really stop) and the first night is at the Brighton Dome (Wembley is the final night) so we’ve got tickets for that too. Am very excited at this but also hoping IAK are going to tour the UK early next year ‘cos I’ll be going frantic by then as it’s been almost 7 months now since I last saw them live (and watching them on the internet doesn’t count however good they were!)

So I suppose I should get back to the novel. Jonathan Stroud (author of the wonderful Bartimaeus Trilogy) has sent me (and everyone else taking part in NaNoWriMo) an e-mail containing a pep talk and some advice for getting the story written and sticking to deadlines. I’m really behind now as I haven’t written anything on it since Sunday but I’m sure once I get to grips with the plotline I’m thinking about at the moment I’ll have loads to write about.