The Cult of Ellen

The November G.E.D. Month to do list! And if anyone wants to come round and give me a hand, shout out encouragement, etc, you're very welcome to do so. I'll be adding to the list, I dare say...

House

Kitchen - put a heavier curtain over the back door / take the catflap out of the back door and board up the hole and repaint the board / get a top shelvey bit for the sideboard or put up some shelves (shelves bought and put up 8/11/08) / repaint the kitchen / replace the cupboard doors / measure up and replace the drawer runners if possible
Living room - polyfiller the hole in the ceiling / put film over the windows to keep the draft out / do a whole pile of tidying up - started (8/11/08) / rearrange the furniture so I can get to the wall heater and/or get ravenlas to move the tv that's in front of the fire / move some more of the books out to the shed / clear space to use the wii / fix the door of the display cabinet / read the gas and electric meters and phone the power company / catch up on paper shredding - started (8/11/08)
Hallway - go through the bag of stuff at the bottom of the stairs and file or bin it / polyfiller the holes in the wall and drill new ones, put the bannister back up (3/11/08) / get rid of the bag of clothes to ebay or give away - (started 10/11/08) / find some place to put away my box of clothes / put up a curtain rail & curtain over the front door - bought rail (8/11/08), put up 9/11/08 / put a letter cage over the letter box / put a draught excluder over the letter box - bought (6/11/08), put up (8/11/08) / put up a high shelf for hats - bought (8/11/08), put up (9/11/08)
Bathroom - put up the skirting board, put down beading / check the bath sealant / put up a shaving mirror (not for me!) (3/11/08)
Spare room - go through the clothes and shoes in the wardrobe and get rid of or trunk anything that doesn't fit or I don't wear any more - started (6/11/08), finished (10/11/08) (and get ravenlas to do the same) / go through the boxes and get rid of piles of stuff - started (6/11/08) / get legs for the table and put it up (8/11/08) / get ravenlas to put the spare telly on the wall in here / replace the chests of drawers - new chests of drawers bought (8/11/08), put up 1 (10/11/08) / put up some shelves
Attic stairs - repaint / stick down the paper around the velux / clean the velux / put away the decorating stuff at the bottom of the stairs / go through the boxes at the bottom of the stairs
General - get house rewired / replastered / central heating / new windows (or at least new hinges) / remodel downstairs / get conservatory built

Garden

Put the tomato plants on the compost heap - likewise, the courgettes / cut the grass / clean the patio / weed / take out the bamboo / weed the front garden / put edging stones along the front bed / plant a few more plants between the primulas / clip the long grass around the 'grassy knoll' / turn the pond into a bog garden? / replace the pond liner? / relay the stones around the edge of the pond? / spraypaint all the woodwork / get the house repointed / get the guttering cleaned and resealed / get the dormer woodwork treated and the flat roof checked / replace security light at the back / add a security light at the front / rotivate lawn & add more topsoil and sand for drainage / edge all flower beds / add more bark chippings & cardboard to the bottom of the garden / replace front drainpipe

Writing

1 6k short story (asap) - started! (800 words, 3/11/08) / Squirrels - finish editing - submit to agents / Thunder Moon - finish writing / Tie Me To The Mast (But Do Not Stop My Ears) - to finish writing / Desperate Measures - write a sequel (4/11/08) / Shed World - edit story

Crafts

Shawl for Mum - to finish knitting - done more on (4/11/08) / Stripey Socks - to finish knitting / Purple cardigan - to finish knitting / medieval kit - to design - to cut out - to sew / viking kit - to design - to cut out - to sew / '50s housecoat - to make / Frock coat - to make / mittens for Sue - to naalbind / make curtains for the whole house

Online

Get my website up and running (finally) / clear out Hub's slushpile / clear out Pseudopod's slushpile - started! (3/11/08) / clear out my email inbox - started! (down to 67 3/11/08) / list things for sale on Amazon and Ebay /

People

Phone round the family (started 3/11/08 - Anne, Kate, Mum & Dad) / email Emma, Audrey, Cat, Paul / Phone Sue, Sarah

Other

Give blood / change bike brake pads / wash the car / take India and Emilio climbing / make a gastroenterology appointment 27/11/08 / phone 3 and ask for pac code 27/11/08

Woohoo! My story The Whole Chicken is in this week's issue of Hub Magazine (issue 62). Warning: the story is both explicit and rather gross. Really. It's horror. So if that doesn't float your boat, don't read it. But I also have a book review in the issue, too, which is pretty harmless.

*runs around squeeing in circles like a headless chicken*

(Also, today I bought beautiful silk cloth at a fraction of the price from a very nice man who gets manufacturing seconds. Hurrah!

The conference was really good. I didn't run off with $DiscoStu (shudder) or $BobHoskins (a really nice guy who said to tell Jerry he's a very lucky man). I didn't disgrace myself or embarrass the company. I did go swimming in my pirate bikini. The after-dinner speaker was Dominick Holland who seemed a tad bemused by his IT audience.

I am back. Today is deadline day. The help file is nearly finished. Which means....

Real Life should be resumed shortly! By dinnertime, no less! Hurrah.

Then all I have to do is open the post, find and sign the remortgage documents (and hope the offer's still valid), clean and tidy the entire house, make medieval outfits for 4 people, charge through a slushpile, finish 2 short stories and finish editing a novel, and the weekend's a good 'un!

Well, maybe I'll save some of it for, yanno, the evenings I'll actually have free when this help file is done.

This morning I travelled into work by train, as usual, on a nice, modern train. And I listened to Fort Minor playing on my iPod, through my bluetooth headphones. While doing 16th century blackwork embroidery on a 15th century linen shift. And since getting into work I've posted up part 16 of my 25th century Firefly fanfic (over on the_proofreader).

Sometimes, my life strikes me as improbable.

Also: I am tired. I have left my phone at home, because I no can haz cheezburgler brain. In more dire forgetfulness, my chilli chocolate is also at home, not here with me. I am distressed.

For those of you on my f-list who wish to keep track of their story submissions, here's a good, free online tracker. Also: a Waterstones story competition. Prize: a place on an Arvon Foundation writing course. *wants*

So no, I'm not getting much work done today. In fact, I'd be getting more done if I were simply at home watching tv. Ho hum, never mind.

I know I've been a bit lax in wishing people happy birthday lately (doh!), so here goes (in date order):

Belated Happy Birthday, thirstypixel, spindr, Fleur, and for last Saturday, Kate and ravenlas! And just to be on the safe side, Happy Birthday makyo for tomorrow!

My apologies if I've missed anyone...

Last week? Busy. This week? Even more busy. This weekend? ravenlas' birthday treat is a trip to London to see Wicked and Spamalot. Yay! Next week? Almost certainly busy again. Ho hum.

If you want to see me, I am hereby declaring Thursday nights 'open house night'. I'll be home some time between 6 and 6:30, barring train problems. You're welcome to come round and visit. And if you tell me in advance you're coming, I may even be able to provide biscuits, sandwiches, hot drinks, mulled wine, yada yada.

No, I'm not available to come visit you, not this week or next week, and maybe not the week after. Sorry, that's just the way it goes. I have a Chinese exam coming up, a dressmaking course, and a writing/proof-reading career, outside of my full-time job. To say nothing of 4 siblings, several parents and assorted friends to make presents for. And that makes the run-up to Christmas rather busy.

Oh, and I have a wedding to plan. Btw, anyone coming to my hen do? ayrton_nix needs to know numbers, I think.

I has a sewing machine. It's a Janome MC4800 with quilting accessories, and it's all very shiny and it's sitting in the office by my desk. Now all I have to do is get it home...

You know, Chinese isn't all that difficult. Apart from the bit where 3 sets of 3 consonants sound almost identical to each other, and attempting to pronounce them gives tongue-spasm, that is.

Writing group - sillier than usual. It's good to be back! Now, off climbing.

I've more-or-less decided to take the house back off the market and stay put, at least until next year. The decision leaves me feeling lighter, happier, relieved. It's probably the right one, then.

So, sheds and painting and pointing and suchlike! Anyone fancy lending a hand? I could maybe do with one for pulling boxes back out of storage on Saturday morning. Mind you, the exercise will do me good. I shall see if I can take some of it to work: there's a very large back room we don't use.

And I've revised an old short story, and alasdair1076 has very, very kindly agreed to be my submissions fairy, as I'm rubbish at actually sending things out.

I even got around to booking the car in at Faber to get the exhaust fixed.

I have another story to revise tonight, and a waistband to put on a skirt.

And I have the urge to re-read The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock, rather than fanfic.

Normal service is slowly being resumed. Thank goodness for that! About time, too.

I'm sitting at home, watching pictures of the flooding in Sheffield on the BBC breakfast news. My goodness! Apparently, yesterday was the wettest (June) day since records began. A month's worth of rain fell in a day. And June is usually fairly soggy.

Sheffield station is flooded, so I won't be in work for a while. Yes! Ooh, sorry, did I say that? Well, I have work to do, and a medieval outfit to make, and books to put into storage and suchlike, so I have plenty to keep me occupied. And if I run out of stuff to do? There's always the armoury to paint...

Ooh, and it's Wimbledon!