the blog o' moosh

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

It's not really Birkenstock weather.

It's official - my employers are morons. They've taken away for no good reason half the software I need to do my job and with it my will to go on. So I am not amused. My computer died again today for the umpteenth time, so once again, I have lost all my RSS feeds, favourites, log ins ... it's almost a 6 monthly occurence. So even tho I just got my blogging mojo back, I will most likely go quiet again as I work for dullards.

Over and out for now!

posted by Claire @ 6/26/2007 08:43:00 pm | 1 comments |

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Friday, June 22, 2007

I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss school sooooo much.

This is an appeal to you all. Please click here and sign a very important petition in support of a cause that is close to all of our hearts.

Yes, that's right - bring back the Crystal Maze! I LOVE this show. It's currently being rerun on Challenge at 6pm weekdays, so Lee and I have been racing home to watch it, shouting "get the crystal!" and "just leave him in there, he's a fanny!" at regular intervals.

For the uninitiated, here are some links to more info on the show:

About the show
Games on the show
Supposedly the only crystal maze in existence today! Let's go!

Richard O'Brien was by far the better presenter, in my opinion. Tune in to Challenge to have a look today!

posted by Claire @ 6/22/2007 04:24:00 pm | 0 comments |

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Daniel's having a baby. I mean his wife is. He's not pregnant.

Things are heating up to tomorrow's grand opening. It's exciting and nerve wracking at the same time.

Pop in and say hello if you're in the area! We'd love you to come and have some free cake and steady our nerves!

posted by Claire @ 6/22/2007 12:13:00 pm | 0 comments |

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Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Ever since they introduced the wheeley bins we've got loads of mice.

The economies of hatred

Pink Floyd

RSS feeds that tell you there is a new post when there isn't

Paedophiles

Lollipop people, especially the ones who let adults with no children accompanying them cross mere feet away from a pedestrian fucking crossing

the word trinket

nicholas lyndhurst

the term "touch base"

celery

That is all for now.

posted by Claire @ 6/19/2007 03:52:00 pm | 3 comments |

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I think Woolies do duvet covers.

posted by Claire @ 6/19/2007 03:43:00 pm | 0 comments |

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Ok. I'm thinking of a number. Bzzzzzzz! I am telepathically transferring the number into your mind. Bzzzz!

Where did the time go? I've been so busy I've not had a moment to blog. So much has been happening!

Firstly - the flat. There has been loads of interest and viewers pretty much every night. However, if you'd care to cast your eyes leftwards to the photo, you'll see a new addition to our living room - the hole.

Lee sadly had an accident (not that sort) in the loft and descended through the ceiling to the living room below. Thankfully, he was relatively unscathed - a few bruises, a nasty cut on the hand (I had to cut the skin off it, it was hid) and a liberal coating of fibre glass - which is the main thing. But it does rather set back our plans. Can't be helped tho.

We had also been busy crafting our collective asses off for the Miso Funky market in Edinburgh on Saturday - it was a great day out, as always, but the weather was ridiculous. It was like the middle of December, rather than June - wet, windy, cold ... and that was outside, not even in the Caves! As a result, customers were rather thin on the ground, but the ones that did make the journey got into the spirit of it and parted with their cold wet cash, so all was not lost!

There was also the now traditional trip

to Monster Mash to dissect the day, get mildly drunk on margaritas and eat our own body weight in stodge - my favourite part of the day! I had steak pie and it was to die for.

The next thing we are working towards is the very exciting grand opening of the Miso Funky SHOP! Yes, a shop! We are going to be trialling a unit at the Barras this weekend, so please spread the word and come along - there will be free cake and everything!

More news as it happens, people - new photos are on flickr.

posted by Claire @ 6/19/2007 03:37:00 pm | 0 comments |

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Friday, June 08, 2007

I'm not gonna talk about it anymore because you don't listen and it only makes things worse.

We're officially for sale!

And less than hour later, we have 2 enquiries. So exciting!

posted by Claire @ 6/08/2007 09:39:00 am | 2 comments |

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Wednesday, June 06, 2007

It's got those pop-pop studs instead of proper buttons.

A quick round up on some new sites I have been reading.

www.tokyojazzpanda.co.uk

Please buy me things from here!

Discovered this today quite by accident and spent the best part of an hour with mar-c on msn going WOW at most of the things for sale! It is a real treasure trove of kawaii things and it is probably just as well I am so skint or I would have happily bought one of just about everything!

Note to friends - don't buy anything from here, because all my birthday and christmas gifts to you will be coming from here from now on!

A crafting bridge too far ...

Personally, I am finding this just a step across the line. Each to their own and all that, but this gives me the dry boak.

Rantings of a mad woman?

I just find this blog hilarious. I like blogs that are written in the manner that someone speaks and this person is just clearly deranged.

posted by Claire @ 6/06/2007 03:21:00 pm | 2 comments |

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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Why do they have escalators if they never work?

We are selling our flat! I think I mentioned it before, but it's time for a bigger place for us.

So, here is my shameless plug for our pad!

We have a one bedroomed flat in Maryhill. The flat is about 20 years old and is in a quiet cul-de-sac. In the surrounding area, the tenements are being demolished to make way for new private housing (so the story goes).

A new leisure centre is being built a short walk away at the site of Maryhill Burgh Halls so it's in a great location. There are also excellent transport links and only 20 minutes walk from Byres Road!

On to the flat itself:

The flat is the upstairs cottage flat of a block of 4. It has a hallway with stairs to a small hall and door to the living room.

The living room is fairly spacious and lots of natural light comes in from the picture window (double glazed of course!).

Off the living room is the kitchen area, which has an electric oven and hob and cooker hood, plenty of cupboard space and shelving and a funky round inset sink with mixer tap.

We have silver fridge and washing machine and a freezer which are negotiable in the price of the house!

On to the small hallway which leads to the bedroom

The bedroom is a double room with a large wardrobe with mirrored doors. There is a window overlooking the back garden and ample space for drawers, etc.

And that just leaves the bathroom, which I think is quite large for a small flat. It has an electric shower and funky silver tiles.

There is also a cupboard in the hallway with hotwater boiler in which is good for storage of hoovers, etc.

The flat has the added bonus of a loft which covers the entire flat - so almost like another room! Plenty of room for storage and ripe for conversion!

The garden is shared with the downstairs flat and is quite big - ideal for summer barbecues! There is also private parking for the flats.

So there we have it! Spread the word to your friends who may be looking for a first flat! Viewing available - just email me!

posted by Claire @ 6/05/2007 12:59:00 pm | 0 comments |

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Monday, June 04, 2007

It's easy putting your vest on back to front.

Inspired by mar-c, here is my very own list of procrastination techniques:

Opening my tins of buttons, taking some out and then putting them away again
Flicking thru Sky TV's kabillion channels to check that CSI isn't on somewhere
Looking at my Flickr contacts contacts to see if I've missed anyone interesting
Checking my RSS feeds every 13 seconds
Clicking the random article button on wikipedia and stocking up on random facts
Taking out fabric, looking at it and then putting it away again
Picking the fluff out of my hairbrush
Reorganising the things on my desk
Deleting old text messages
Checking my Yahoo mail every 3 minutes
Thinking of all the things I would do when I win the lottery
Mentally composing strongly worded letters to the council

There are many more but these are all I can think of right now.

posted by Claire @ 6/04/2007 03:32:00 pm | 0 comments |

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You're not getting married are you? Really? Golly.

Favour
Originally uploaded by mooosh.

I have so much to blog about, but I wanted to get my holiday posts out of the way first, so I have mostly forgotten what I wanted to say. My posting about holiday was sadly interrupted by the unusual step of breaking a finger. It doesn't sound all that bad, but man, was it annoying. How did I manage that, I hear you cry! Well, to cut a long story short, a box of books fell on my hands from the loft as I passed it up to Lee. The handles gave way and it fell on my outstretched fingertips, making a horrible crunching noise on the way. 4 hours in casualty later, I came home with painkillers and a strong desire never to be in a hospital again. When I got into the consulting bit, the nurses were all too busy to see anyone, being that they were crowded round a computer on Myspace. Grrrr.

Anyway, my right hand was all bandaged up as was my left one as it was quite bruised too, so I could literally do nothing for a week. I was off work as I am right handed and couldn't type, I couldn't craft and I could barely even make myself a slice of toast. It's fair to say that I was bored out of my mind. I was so bored I took an unhealthy obsession with Jeremy Kyle and Midsomer Murders - see my photo blog for evidence!

But, it's healing well and I am back to full mobility in both hands, interspersed with bouts of throbbing pain, bizarrely, usually in the middle of the night, down the side of my right hand. Not sure why that is, but I am actually almost glad to be back at work and out of the evil clutches of daytime television.

What else has happened? Well, there was the week of 2 weddings in a row (3 for poor Jo) - first Catherine and Lee's and then Jo's Dad. Catherine and Lee's big day was simply beautiful. They are one of my favourite couples, in that they are so clearly not only made for each other but so head over heels in love with each other despite being together for 10 years (a inspiration to us all!) Their wedding suited them down to the ground - relaxed, unhurried, romantic, touching, funny ... and that was just the speeches! Jo and I bawled our eyes out as Catherine made her way down the aisle to a Super Furry Animals song played by a 3 piece of flutes and (I think) cello and we were still bawling as the new Mr and Mrs Black (no more Nivlack!) made their way back up the aisle to The Beatles All You Need Is Love - I am welling up again just thinking about it. It was truly the perfect day for them and so much fun for us as guests! We met so many lovely people and had a great time in the evening when the rest of the crafting crew showed up. And I managed to just about eat my dinner one handed and was thus spared the embarrassment of having Lee cut up my chicken! Congratulations you guys!

Next day was Jo's Dad's wedding and it was another beautiful day! They got married in St Mary's Cathedral on GWR and the place is absolutely stunning inside. They had a religious ceremony with a full choir and then on to Cottiers for the reception - I'd never been to Cottiers but it is lovely there, the food is great and the staff very friendly. The evening passed in a bit of a haze I must admit, vodka induced this time, but I do recall a lot of dancing, chatting and merry making! Ann, the new Mrs Barltett's dress was stunning, I was most envious of her great figure in it! Jo was acting as wedding planner/organiser of everything and bridesmaid and also looked divine in her blue dress - see here for the photos!

After all that excitement, it was pretty inevitable that we should be made to pay for the fun we'd had - and Lee and I both caught stinking colds, which are still lingering. Lee's was so bad he was off work for 2 whole days - he's never off sick. We're both recovering now thankfully.

We are currently courting estate agents most evenings to see which of them are going to be the ones to sell our little flat! I have grown to love our home, but it's time for us to move on to pastures bigger and so we are looking at selling our place pretty soon and moving to somewhere with another bedroom which is generally bigger. Our place is ideal for a single person or someone looking to get on the property ladder, so if you know anyone who's looking, drop me a line!

I am sure lots more has happened, but I think that is the salient points for now. Back to normal now! Chin chin.

posted by Claire @ 6/04/2007 01:46:00 pm | 1 comments |

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It's like that whiney band. Not Radiohead. The band with Gwyneth Paltrow's fella.

Day 10

Up early (surprise!) to take advantage of the breakfast laid on - and very glad we did. You just don't get crispy bacon properly at home. We decided to just hit the road and get back to civilisation, I mean, Cincinnati, so we set off on the road home (and by now, it really was beginning to feel like home). We headed back down the I-75 and we stopped off properly at the outlet place to get some last minute shopping in. We'll definitely be needing that other suitcase!

Arrived back in Cincinnati late afternoon and thanks to another great map, arrived at Anne's offices without a hitch. We left the car there and headed back to chez McBride in Anne's enormomobile and had a few drinks on the patio before dinner. Mack was very confused to see us as he'd thought we'd gone home already, but was over the moon to have us back. He'd had his hair cut in our absence annd he was looking very dapper.

Up until now we'd managed to avoid Scottish Quest, the boardgame that they make Mum play every time she is there. It's very convoluted and unnecessarily complicated, and all the questions are based on Scottish history, culture and stuff. Tonite tho, we could not escape it and we played but sadly we were shown up and Jim won. Anne is VERY competitive so was not amused. It must run in the family.

As it was our last nite there, we went back to El Coyote for dinner, a tradition. Steaks this time which were just amazing and very cheap. More margaritas, more bemoaning the fact that it was almost time to leave. Back home to have a go at squeezing all our purchases into our bags - in vain. Anne and Jim have kindly lent us an enormo case and when they are over in the UK in November, will fill it up with things to take back with them. After packing, we headed back downstairs, but Mack would not sit with us - he knows we're going. Even the cats can tell and they are all sulking down in the basement. I don't think any of us are happy about it, but we must go!

Day 11

Up at a reasonable hour to fit in a last minute shopping dash. Anne insisted on doing all of our laundry (but I managed to hide some) so that we didn't have to do it when we got home - she really looked after us! Off to Target for a final stock up on chewing gum - why don't we get all the good flavours at home? Mint mojito and black raspberry - mmm! Anne has a Staples card! I could have spent hours in there, if only Jo had been with me to egg me on.

On to Skyline at the bottom of the road for lunch - Jim met us there from work. I had a nice burrito and we all tried not to think about our impending departure. Back to the house for last minute packing - I didn't think we were going to make it, but once we took the poodle out the case, it closed easily. And then, nothing else for it - off to the airport. Anne came in with us and managed to negotiate our excess baggage charge (only $25! They are really missing a trick). She accompanied us all the way to security by which point I think we were all in tears. We had such a great time with them we were so sad to leave, even to go to exciting NYC. In a way it was worse going on somewhere else as then it felt like we should have been going "home" to Cincinnati - maybe one day!

We arrived in Newark on time and headed for a taxi. The traffic was ridiculous despite us arriving after rush hour and it took over an hour to get anywhere near our hotel. The taxi driver tried to rip us off on his already inflated price, but I felt justified in ripping him right back off with his $1 tip. That'll learn him!

Our hotel was quite homely and felt like a flat I used to live in on Sauchiehall Street. Very comfortable bed, the only complaint being no curtain on the skylight window, so we were awake at daybreak every day. We got ourselves tidied up and hit the street to explore! We were perfectly situated for the East Village, so there were loads of restaurants to choose from for dinner. We chose a Thai restaurant with open patio doors as it was so warm and the food was fab. Very different ambience from Cincinnati - within 5 minutes of sitting down we'd spotted our first 2 loons of the weekend. After dinner, we wandered back to the hotel, taking in the sights and sounds on the way for a reasonably early nite in order to rest up for a day's hardcore sightseeing tomorrow ...

Day 12

Woke up pretty early thanks to the skylight. Got ready and planned our route to the Empire State Building on foot where we thought we could pick up the tour bus we'd booked. We had a leisurely stroll as far as Madison Square Park where we bough croissants and cranberry juice and had breakfast in the park. The park has a dog park where the city's kajillion dog owners are allowed to let them off the leash, so we had fun spotting all the different breeds and watching chiuauas mingling with roitweillers! I don't understand why so many New Yorkers have dogs in the city, but there we go.

Quickly discovered we had another 14 blocks to walk as we had to go to the tour office which was very inconveniently located. Picked up our tickets and then saw the queue to get on snaking out of sight and round the corner - why do so many people want to stand in a queue for hours on holiday! We sneakily decided to head back to the Empire State Building (yes, another 14 blocks) and pick up the tour there where we had to wait just 10 minutes before we were on board. Ha! It was a very hot, sunny day and we certainly weren't going to waste it standing a queue getting burnt when we could be sitting on a bus doing that!

We saw all the sights of the downtown area and decided to get off at the stop near the Brooklyn Bridge so we could walk across. We took our time as it was so hot and very busy. It's a great way to see the city from a different perspective, the skyline view is amazing. We had planned to pick up the tour bus on the other side, but by this time we'd missed the last one, so we had an unexpected trudge back across the bridge and caught the bus back to the vicinity of our hotel. After resting our very weary dogs, we went out for dinner and tried an Indian place in the East Village - the food was fantastic and our table was right next to a special room for making naan bread, so we had quite a floorshow. We worked out that we'd probably walked about 10 miles that day - we were very tired but happy!

Day 13

Decided to see the uptown area today so after breakfast at a Polish cafe (Christine's - the cleanest toilets I've ever encountered!) we headed to our tour bus stop. We caught it to Times Square and transferred to see Haarlem, etc. Another sunny day, but a bit cooler - my head was now purple. A great day for sightseeing tho and we saw a lot of really nice buildings and some areas a bit off the beaten track. We had a great day wandering round and then headed to Greenwich Village in the evening, only 15 minutes walk from our hotel. We'd had quite a big lunch (barbecued pork and margaritas) so we had another NYC classic - pizza to go - for dinner. Very good pizza from the Two Boots, should you ever be in the region. We came back via Broadway, earmarking shops to come back to during the day. We stopped off at Dean and Deluca and treated ourselves to some posh cheesecake for desert - $11 for a 4 inch cake! It was well worth it tho as it was to die for. Back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow!

Day 14

Decided to make the most of our bus tickets by being out early, so back to Christine's again for breakfast - bagels with cream cheese and bacon - and then on to our bus. We were headed for Battery Park but the bus had to change over and our tickets were up, so we headed down to the subway. I'd definitely recommend using the Subway $7 day pass - such a bargain and you can literally go anywhere and everywhere in the city. We took the subway to Battery Park and had a wander round in the blazing sunshine and had hotdogs for lunch whilst waiting for the boat. We took a ferry ride round the bay, past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and under the Brooklyn Bridge.

Once we were back ashore, we took the subway back to Canal Street at Chinatown and had a wander round there and then back towards our hotel via Broadway. We got to have a wander round the shops we'd earmarked the nite before to go back to and then went back to the hotel to get changed for an evening out at Retox, a bar owned by one of Anthrax and a Beastie Boy.To cut a very long story short, we got the address wrong and ended up 30 blocks away in a dark street with no bars on it. Thanks to the wonders of technology, we got the address from the internet via my phone and got the subway to the right area, eventually, walked another 5 million blocks only to discover ... it was closed on Mondays. It was fair to say by this point we were both peeved, having spent the best part of 3 hours getting to this stage and having missed dinner time! However, we pressed on and took a taxi to the Empire State Building where we'd planned to go after dinner. It was now after 11pm, so we took in the chilly, windy view from the top and bought bagels and dejectedly headed home to watch Who Wants To Be A Millionaire on TV. It was a good evening, and we certainly saw some off the beaten track parts of the city, albeit unintentionally!

Day 15

Home today, booooo. Up early to finish our packing. The hotel kindly let us leave our bags all day so we could make the most of our final hours. We headed to Broadway to take something back to Old Navy and for a last minute trip to pick up some things that Lee had been coveting. Then back on to the subway to Time Square for lunch at Hard Rock Cafe - the steak was absolutely divine! Sadly we didn't have enough time to spend exploring it all, so we had to head back to the hotel to catch our shuttle to the airport.

So, that was it, our holiday! I bet you are all glad it's finished now. Normal blogging service will resume shortly.

Over and out.

posted by Claire @ 6/04/2007 12:43:00 pm | 0 comments |

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