Brainiacs

Bloggie pals!

You may or may not know this but I work for a university and came across these marvellous PhD research subjects in the field of chemistry!

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Photocatalysis with Enzymes for Future Energy Technologies

Self-Assembled Cellulose Structures for Sustainable Photonic Technologies

Artificial Photosynthetic Systems for Solar Energy Conversion

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No, I haven’t a clue what any of these entail but don't they just sound ever so fascinating?

 Charlie and Gumtree say: E=MC2, or Eating equals Munchies and Chicken for Two.

Have a great week everyone!

Perspective

Hasn’t time flown by

As we say goodbye to July

But fret ye not oh beautiful bloggie pals

For tis only 148 days to Yul-e-tide!

LOL!

Charlie says: This space is occupied.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Identity crisis!

Bloggie friends!

Charlie says:  I do not believe my eyes 

(and please ignore the big boots and smelly socks behind me!). 

The silly Gumster....

... thinks he is a meerkat!

Gumtree says: I am many wonderful things!

Have a great week everyone!

Names! Nerds!

Bloggie pals!!

Gumtree says: I look for Charlie.

Star Trek: Into Darkness was utterly utterly fabulous. I give it a gazillion stars and then some! If you are going to see it I promise you, you won't be disappointed! It made this trekker nerd very happy indeed!

And you know what else made me happy? A footballer called "Fitz Hall" is know as "One Size" to his fans. 

Yes. As in  "one size fits... "

Have a great week y'all! :-)

p.s. I didn't make up Mr Hall's nickname, I read about it here!

Bonkers basking baking

Bloggie pals!

As I bake blueberry muffins (they taste better than they look! LOL!)

Charlie basks in the glare of the camera

And Gumtree goes bonkers while snoozing! Well he was boxing the air while asleep!

Spring madness is truly here! Have a great week y'all!

Rare new plant discovered!

A Charliecus Potticus!

Gumtree says: I want lots of them!

Happy April Fool's Day!!

Have a great week y'all and if you are A-Z-ing - enjoy!

Perusing for a bruising

Bloggie friends!!

Whilst perusing job vacancies, I came across this ad that specified:

“The normal working hours are from 9am to 5.24pm, Monday to Friday”

5.24pm? A misprint, surely!??!

Charlie says: Don’t call me Shirley!

Pic taken 25/08/12.

p.s. I am on semi-holiday so am most sporadic with my blogging at the moment! So do forgive if I don’t visit often!

p.p.s.Have a great week everyone!

The Paralympics start in two days' time!! Yay!

Gadget Girl!

Bloggie friends!

Wasn't that a great Olympian fortnight! Roll on the Paralympics! Yay!

Now last weekend, I tested some gadgets!


1) iPad - I give this 3/5 stars! It was easy to use with super duper wireless connectivity but overall it was a heavy enjoyable very expensive TOY! Can't even write a story on it! LOL! This was borrowed from work so back it goes.

2) Nespresso coffee maker - I give this 10 gazillion stars out of 5! I LOVE MY NESPRESSO coffee maker! It makes gorgeous coffee and froths milk! And the best bit - I got it for free!! A work colleague had it for 6 months and decided she didn't want it anymore. So I got it!

Charlie says: I upgrade your pc by adding some ears.


Have a great week everyone!

A ditty from Old Kitty!

Bloggie friends!

As we wave goodbye to May

And say hello to June

We wish you all a happy week

And see you all very soon!

J

Charlie says: I ignore the ant mess.

p.s. Ok! Blogger just allowed my happy smiley face when normally it doesn't! Darn it all, is New Blogger trying to make me like it?!?! LOL!

The Visitor

Bloggie friends!

Look who visited me and Charlie on Good Friday last week!

A very lost and pleasant pheasant!

Charlie says: Dinner time!

Not to worry – there’s a field behind the big house so off it went there!

Charlie and I continue to enjoy our Easter break, so we'll be back anon!

p.s. after 4 months and 12 days I finally finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Phew! LOL! All I can say is while the central story of the Vanger family was compelling, riveting and utterly devastating, chapters 1 and 28 on wards were a chore to read! And the novel was riddled with pov jumps I found totally distracting! Just my humble opinion!

Happy April Showers!

A Leaping Anecdote

Bloggie friends! 2012 is a Leap year so here is my leap year anecdote.

A few leap years back when I was so young and ever so foolish, I won a leap year bet at work by marching to my male manager and asking him to marry me.

Luckily said male manager turned me down but not after he had an apoplectic fit of laughter bringing on his indigestion and causing him to take the afternoon off to see his doctor - but let’s not dwell on that.

Now as I look up Leap Year on Wiki I discover these amazing facts (as yet unverified and unsubstantiated so I deny all liability for false information) that if the man turned down such a proposal made by a woman during a leap year, they were liable to:

1) Pay her £1.
2) Buy her 12 pairs of gloves.
3) Or fabrics for a skirt.

Anyway! I still think I got the best out of this as the bet I won was for a pint and pub dinner!

Charlie says: I see the New Year in by taking it easy.

Happy leaping 2012 everyone!

A Very Naughty Post - be warned! and a serious p.s. about Jack the cat

Rick of Life 101’s recent blog post about typos and their hilarious - and in his case more serious consequences - got me thinking of the working title of a recent short story I wrote.

The title was “The Last Shift”. I sent my first draft to a trusted critique partner who then immediately replied asking me if I was serious about the title of my story.

Bloggie friends! Of course I sent him “The Last Shift” not realising I had written the word “shift” WITHOUT the F.

Charlie says: I lie here, un-amused.


Pic of Charlie taken last Saturday, 5 November (Guy Fawkes’ Day), when fireworks were exploding everywhere and he was trying to be super cool about the noise!

Happy Autumn everyone!

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p.s. I don't know if any of you were following the news story about Jack the Cat who was lost by AA Airlines cargo people (baggage handlers dropped his cage and he fled) in JFK airport? He was found after two months, starved and wounded. He's now gone to the Bridge. Just read the news here. I'm so sorry Jack for what was done to you. Run free now.

53 Shiny New Words

Bloggie friends!

I am horrified to report to you all that I wrote a total of 53 words of my shiny new short story after taking Tuesday off to do be all writerly creative.

That’s from starting at 9 am sharp and finishing… just before midnight! LOL!

Yes, I got most stuck delivering that oh so important knock-out first sentence!

Oh but I did rustle up a mean courgette cake and baked a pizza from scratch! Yay!

Charlie says: I discover the bath tub. I do not like it.


Happy Midweek!!

My Staycation temptation, part 1

So far, I baked this chocolate chip banana loaf but do not understand why all the chocolate chips sank to the bottom? LOL!


In the meantime, Charlie helps me tidy the bed.


Tomorrow I shall wow you all with my next baking project.

Bloggie friends, I hope to introduce you to … The COB! (It’s a big round bread thing!)

p.s. Has anyone been tempted by Bad Blogger’s very tempting “Try the updated Blogger interface” link that it insists on putting up on my dashboard?!?! Bad blogger! I just know that if I do click on this link it'll all end in (my) tears! So I won't, na-ah!

Holidays are such fun! Love you all!

She cannae take it!

Bloggie friends!

Why do they make snacks look like cute and cuddly baby bears?!!?


See? I may love my snacks, but I also eat my greens! :-)

Now bloggie friends! The lovely Ellie Garrat will be hosting a Star Trek As We Know It blogfest on 22 August. All you have to do is list 5 of your all time favourite Star Trek things – characters, episodes – anything – and why!

I just had to sign Charlie up cos he’s a Trekker Kitty through and through.

Charlie says: I see Klingon birdie. Phasers set to stun.


Have a brilliant weekend everyone!

Misread expressions

Bloggie friends!

Now I know I’ve got the sweetest face on this planet bar none (LOL!!!! I’m kidding!!) but really did the guy behind the baker’s stall have to say in all seriousness, “Cheer up love, it may never happen”, to me while I was concentrating very very hard on what pastry to buy off him?

Hmmm.

The above occurred during my lunch break yesterday at work.

Goodness knows what expression I must have worn as I gazed at all these pastries but couldn’t decide on whether to get the pain au raisin with custard filling or the cinnamon swirl. Or both. Ahem.

Charlie says: The lawn needs mowing and I continue my snooze.


Yes, it’s still Silly Summer time! Hooorah!

Three little herbs

Once upon a time, there were three little pots who went to the Old Kitty academy of gardening.

Two were Basil and Chives, the other, Parsley and they were each all planted with hazardous seedlings.

But I took them away from all that, and now they grow for me.

My name is Charlie.

This bit of inspired madness was completely lifted from the original narration to Charlie’s Angels.

I just wanted to show my mixed successes with growing these herbs! LOL!

Yes, more August silliness, bloggie friends! Enjoy!

A dandy first

First of August is here
It’s time to have some beer!
The sun’s come out
It’s summer’s last shout
So let’s all just cheer and cheer!

Charlie says: Hip hip zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Hope you all had great weekends!! I love that today, Monday, coincides with it being the 1st of the month. I just think it's dandy! LOL! Ok, off I go!

For those about to ROCK!

Bloggie friends!

In the time I’ve been blogging – lots of writerly bloggers ask each other what music they listen to when penning their best-sellers.

I thought I’d tackle this from a different angle by filching something I saw in the Guardian newspaper yesterday:

The paper asks:

“What music do your pets like?” (article here)

This follows on from reports that some sharks respond to AC/DC (Angus! Angus! Ahem! Of course you all know the legendary Angus of AC/DC?!?!?!).

You can leave comments under the article nominating what kind of music your pet likes!

The cats with taste like Barbara Streisand and Abba (yay!). LOL!

I’m yet to discover what Charlie likes!

Charlie says: I’m a little bit country, I’m a little bit rock n roll.


Oh it’s the middle of the week and yes this is a very silly post, hoorah! I hope you all discover your furry friends' musical tastes!

Splashed! But not blogged!

Bloggie friends!

I've been sprayed with puddle water by speeding cars all the way from the station to home while I walked in the cold, rain, wind and darkness so forgive me as I leave you with Charlie while I pour myself something suitably... erm.. medicinal.

Charlie says: I will not look.

Charlie says: Darn.

Special hugs to lovely Trish of Katnip Lounge and beautiful Carol of Ginger Jasper. Trish will be having her surgery on Tuesday, Carol - Wednesday. Charlie and I are sending you both waves of love and best wishes for speedy and safe recoveries!!

Have a blessedly dry day today everyone!