Aaaarrrgh! Spider!

6 January 2011 at 9:18 pm (Animals, Nature, Reading, Wellbeing)
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Kiddie book? Cute. For reals? Not so.

I don’t like spiders. I don’t go into screaming hysterics at the sight of one (though I might even do that if one drops on me from high *shudders*), but I don’t care to share living space with them. Big ones pack much more ick factor, but small ones can be sneakier and more harmful. Like the one that, apparently, got caught in the hem of my jeans and left me a ring of bites all around my right ankle to remember it by. Mind you, I never saw it; I only noticed the bites when they started itching like crazy, and pieced together what had probably happened from there. There was no actual harm done to me, but the days until the bites healed were certainly not fun.

The area I live in has much more greenery than I grew up accustomed to, from grass to trees and everything in between, and naturally, the industrious little critters are everywhere outside. There are some impressive webs appearing to be suspended in mid-air, and you have to get the viewing angle just so to see where the ends are attached to – as often as not, to a tree or shrub several feet away. They are fascinating pieces of work, and they become even more fascinating if you catch the weaver there as well, whether actually working or lurking for hapless dinner to fly in. But, you know… fascinating from a distance. I will not disturb the webs of field spiders, but inside the house, any arachnid that comes close to me gets whacked, no questions asked.

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Oh Happy Day

20 November 2010 at 8:49 pm (Animals, Art, Education, Entertainment, Family, Food, Humour, Internet, Music, Parenting, Plinky Prompts, Reading, Relationships, Roleplaying, Seasons, Self, Style, Writing)
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Eleven (just to buck the trend) things, people, and ideas that make my life worth it. The list is by no means exhaustive…

My husband
We fell in love without even realising it, at a junction in life when things couldn’t possibly look less favourable. We pulled through that, got together, built a family, and we look forward to growing old together. Things are far from easy, but that’s when one gets to appreciate the people who matter: those who support you despite everything.

My son
He’s a toddler (smack in the middle of his Terrible Twos, actually) and a handful on a good day, but for each time he gets my pulse racing he knows to counter it with a big dimpled grin, or by climbing into my lap to snuggle and watch TV, or by feeding me bits of his food, or by the cuteness overload he is when asleep, or by surprising me with a new word.

Chocolate
Is there anything in this world that doesn’t look or feel better through the lens of a good chocolate fix? The ultimate feel-good food, not even the workouts I need to keep it off my hips can make me give it up. Moderate, yes. But hell would be forbidding it me for the rest of my life. So don’t do it. This means you.

Baby animals
Even those beasts that grow up to be ugly or scary manage to be cute as babies. If we talk about fluffy kitties or frisky puppies, I challenge anyone out there not to have their spirits lifted; or a belly laugh at the very least. That’s why CuteOverload.com has been in my bookmarks for nigh on eight years.

Fashion
I don’t mean anything expensive or bleeding-edge fashionable. But there’s no resisting a pretty tone-on-tone embroidered coat or dress, or a pair of soft ballet slippers or jazz boots. Such items make me feel pretty, sexy, and distinctive at the same time. Epic win!

Crisp clear days
The best weather to walk out in. I enjoy wrapping myself warmly, but not needing to thaw out uncovered bits when I get back, and to be as certain as possible that it’s not going to rain. There are no two months better suited to long hikes than April and October.

Music
It’s what makes a long drive or walk fly by. It’s what gets me in the mood for writing, or provides inspiration. Discovering a new artist I like is like receiving a gift for no reason.

BookMooch
Books I want to read coming through the letterbox, without me having to pay a penny for them. Nicely broken in books, vibrating with the life of having been read and enjoyed. Chances to get rid of books I otherwise wouldn’t know what to do with. Thanks, Trip, for alerting me to this wonderful thing.

The Body Shop
When I was a penniless student, and later equally penniless unemployed, I used to trot over to my local branch when depression struck and go around sniffing products until my mood improved. The whirl of colour and gorgeous smells is still effective – last time I was there, I let my son have a sniff at their new orange body butter and his response was, ‘Yummy!’

Words
Whether I read them or write them, whether they’re books, blogs, roleplaying games… the sheer creativity that is creating vibrant worlds and living people out of a handful of squiggles is irresistible.

The internet
A few clicks here and there are enough for me to find information, entertainment, socialisation, everything. I don’t really know how I managed before I found it, and if I were to lose it, I’d feel bereft without my online communities.

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The People at the Other End

19 October 2010 at 5:47 pm (Animals, Britain, Family, People, Plinky Prompts, Self, Writing)
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A brief, insignificant incident allows for a good lot of observation.

Stone clad end of terrace. E5

We met, by chance, with the neighbours from the far end of the terrace today. I was just taking Zack out for his second walk of the day, and he was tugging frantically on the leash while I struggled to close the door properly. Sometimes I wonder if it was a smart idea to get a puppy at our age.

Anyway, at the same time, the lady from number 36 was coming out with her little boy. Funny how kids are like puppies; that one, a toddler of about two, was wearing a harness with walking reins, and was pulling on them, eager to get going, never minding his mother, who was trying to unfold the buggy; just in case he got tired along the way, I suppose.

I’m not sure if Zack or the little lad spotted the other first, but there was no mistaking the attraction, by the way they strained to get closer. They got to us first, and we took a moment to watch the two, amused, as they tried to pet each other, one barking and the other squealing in equal delight.

I’d seen the lady before, from a distance, although I’ve crossed paths with her husband; our parking spaces are side by side, after all. She struck me as quite girlish, going around in yoga pants and trainers, her dark hair pulled back with a headband and whatever they call those elastic ties that hold ponytails. Up close, she’s not that young, after all. She must be in her mid-thirties, with lines forming around her tired eyes and her neck beginning to sag. She could stand to lose a few pounds and wear some makeup, but I suppose life at home with a toddler can’t be all grooming, and money must be tight.

The grin on her face and the sparkle in her eyes, though, at the sight of her child and my dog getting chummy, trumped all the rest. She was really enjoying the incident. Was it the unexpected break, the distraction of the kid from whatever she had to be wary of, or real love for the beast? Her guiding of the young one on how to pet, as well as Zack’s obvious liking, make me think the latter.

I don’t remember what we said; some kind of featureless pleasantries, no doubt. She didn’t introduce herself, that’s for sure, and so I didn’t either. I thought that was a bit odd, but she didn’t strike me as unfriendly. Is she used to effacing herself behind her kid, I wonder? Whatever – it only lasted a couple of minutes, and then we moved away. I took Zack along the back crescent, where there are still little thickets and things for him to sniff at, and she led her little one – Duncan, now I remember, that’s what she called him – towards the main road, off to the shops.

We had just made our rounds and come inside when they turned into the mews too, the kid sitting in his buggy now, an orange canvas bag of groceries in the basket beneath. Zack wagged his tail, but they didn’t notice him through the frosted glass of our front door. No matter. They’ll meet again.

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