Ian's bought me this tiny ivory netsuke, it's carved from non restricted mammoth ivory, which is exempt from the import ban. The frog is less than 20mm long and the detail of it is extraordinary. This piece is also signed by the sculptor.Its now only 6 days to Christmas an I started to wrap up my presents last night. I realised that I still have a little shopping to do. Therefore I'm going to be very brave and venture into Meadowhall tonight after work.
Wish me luck, it doesn't have the nickname Meadowhell for nothing!!
Mum & Dad have bought me a new netsuke for Xmas, this one is again carved from a tagua (palm oil) nut and is in the shape of a Japanese god. The god is Daikokuten and is carrying a mallet, which is a Japanese symbol of prosperity. 
I've started to collect Netsuke (pronounced Net-ski). To explain what a netsuke is, is probably best left to the experts so click here for the Wikipedia explanation.
It's carved from a tagua (palm oil) nut and is approx 3.5cm in size. The holes underneath are where it would be attached to the cord of the inro. It is also signed by the sculptor. I have no idea of it's age.
This weekend Ian and I went to Chester to meet up with one of his clients for a meal, it's a ritual we've done for a couple of years, Ian spends all night talking shop and I bitch with his clients wife about what all the other women are wearing..It's usually quite good fun. We spent most of the day on Saturday shopping in Chester, a place I'd never been to before. What a suprise it's really quite nice.
On the Sunday morning as we were leaving the hotel I noticed a sign for an antiques fair which was being held in one of the hotel's function rooms. I mentioned it to Ian who naturally wanted to have a walk round.
While we were browsing the stalls, I spotted a piece of netsuke, which was a small sculpture of a cicada sat on a piece of bamboo, netsuke are small carved ornaments from Japan and were traditionally worn on a cord hanging from the belt or Sagimono (i think) of the kimono before western clothes were adopted. The piece I'd spotted was carved out of some form of wood, but often they are carved from ivory.
I've been interested in netsuke for years and have often seen them on sale for huge sums of money in America, but I'd never thought of buying one of my own. I asked the woman running the stall how much she wanted for it, I don't really think she knew what it was, she only asked for £20. Ian, knowing that I'd always wanted to start collecting netsuke, offered to buy me it. I obviously said yes. So now I'm the proud owner of my very first netsuke. Pictures to follow!!!
Just my luck, at 3.10pm this afternoon on the way home from work on Friday, the car hit a raised manhole, which ripped off the exhaust manifold from under the car, this has also resulted in the sump being dented and possible piston damage to the engine, which could mean a new engine is needed.
I had to organise for the car to be towed, inform the police, insurance company and get Ian to come and pick Dad and I up from the garage.....the insurance company was brilliant and by 5.30 everything was sorted with everyone.
At least I dont have to worry about that while I'm away.
That's it I've just finished packing my suitcase, I've run through and checked everything, passport, tickets, money etc...
All I have to do now is endure a half day at work, thank God I'm finishing work at 2.30pm. I don't think I could stand a full day, and then have to drive over to the hotel in Manchester in rush hour traffic. The thought of being able to check in at the airport the night before you fly is fantastic, no rushing across to the airport 2 hours before you fly. At least we can stroll across and have a leisurely, relaxed breakfast without the hassle of standing in line.
I don't know if I'll have time to post before I fly out on Saturday, I'm not taking my laptop so unless I find an internet cafe in Las Vegas or LA, you won't hear from me until I get back on the 20th November.
I still don't feel excited...
It's happened, I had to spend 5 minutes defrosting the car this morning. Xmas is just around the corner, Sunday night is Bonfire night and the leaves have all but dropped.
The end of the year is nigh!
Time to finish packing my suitcase!!!
It's Halloween night and we've had the sum total of one little boy with his dad knock on the door. I know there's a lot of old folk where I live, but I thought we'd have had more than that. Oh well, maybe next year I'll go out trick or treatin myself!
I thought going on your holidays was supposed to be a stress free time, NOT. My head is a jumble of what to take, is it clean? does it need ironing? where is it?
I think I need to go to bed and start afresh tomorrow!
It's now only a few days until my holiday, I've not even started to pack yet. I'll be standing ironing and packing tonight as I don't have much time to do it during the rest of the week. I lead an exciting life don't I?
Everything else is sorted, tickets, money, sunglasses..etc
If I don't get chance to post before I go...I'll catch up when I get back.
Wish me Bon Voyage!
I can't believe it's been over a month since I last updated this. Time has just flown by and it seams that so little has happened.
My holiday is now only 4 weeks away and it seems an age since it was booked, but there it is almost on the horizon and most within reach if I close my eyes. I'm there already sat on the white sand on Venice Beach watching the guys go by…
Big changes and shakes up at my employer meant that yesterday lots of people were made redundant...but not me.
This morning I arrived at 7.15am and claimed someones big leather chair.
I felt guilty for seconds...
When I first started with this employer, there were around 20 people in the workforce, it has steadily grown to around 40, and now today we're back at 20. In 3 years we seem to have gone full circle, and now I'm one of the longest serving members of staff. Which is weird. It also means I'm one of the most experienced too.
I've worked with some great people over the last 3 years and I'll miss some of them a great deal.
But now, it's time to look forward and focus on the tasks we've been set, if those of us who are left want to still be here in a years time.
I like my job....and I'll do anything to protect it and those of us who are left.
So, focus, focus, focus...
The temperature guage in my garden reached 109 yesterday...there's no wonder the plants are wilting!
A wonderful weekend just gone, yesterday Ian and I took the dog to the east coast, not far from Hornsea, we spent most of the day walking up and down the beach throwing stones and sticks for Max into the waves. Max had the time of his life, he went right up to his belly in the water.
It was a nice warm day, not sunny, but just nice to walk around without a coat. We went fossil hunting and found some nice examples too. We had lunch and then on the way home stopped of and did some strawberry picking at Stamford Bridge.
When we got home we were completely wiped out, the dog fell asleep straight away and we almost fell asleep ourselves.
A day to remember...
Met up with Ian again last night, we decided to go to Pizza Hut instead of the Red Kite as the Red Kite was really busy. I left my car and Ian drove us in the Porche to Pizza Hut near the cinema.
Pizza Hut wasn't too busy, and we were seated fairly quickly. I was really hungry and couldn't wait for the pizza, so I ordered two salad bowls so we could nibble before the pizza arrived, with the side order of potato wedges.
After we finished at Pizza Hut, we drove back to the Red Kite and sat outside and had a drink as it was a warm night. We ended up talking about Big Brother, which is a laugh because Ian swore blind he'd never get caught up in it!
It's been a strange week this week, I don't seem to have had time for anything. I was at college yesterday having a tutorial for my teaching degree, which was vile; we were stuck in a cramped office with no aircon and loads of black insects swarming everywhere. It wasn't an interesting or stimulating day. I was glad to get away.
Last night, i spent the whole of the evening re-writing an essay because it wasn't written in "academic language". So that was fun! Finally gave up and crawled into bed about 11.30pm.
...and what a nice weekend too, I did a little bit of shopping, bought some new shoes, DVDs, a new top and some new pants (steady there!) all at sale prices..yahoo!
Had a nice lunch yesterday at TGI Friday's at Birstall near IKEA, then spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the sunshine drinking cherryade and reading New Scientist and Empire magazine until the rain started!
Looks like there are some good films coming up for the summer. I'm looking forward to Pirates 2 and Superman Returns.
Ian and I met up at the "Red Kite" in Wakefield last night for something to eat. I like it there, it's full of middle 30 somethings of undecipherable sexuality.
I had the biggest fish and chips ever, it could have been a whale I swear. The whole bill including drinks was less than £40. You can't beat it.
Whilst attending a meeting at the JCP this afternoon I bumped into a woman I used to know about 10 years ago, she was working at Barnsley & Doncaster TEC at the time and I was a partner in my own business. We had a lot to catch up on, I was glad to see that she came out well from the demise of the TECs.
It reminded me that no matter what happens to the business you're employed by, something always crops up. The old saying "as one door closes; another door opens" is such a truism.
I've travelled down many paths in the last 10 years, all of which have led me to the point where I am now. It's funny to think 10 years ago our paths were similar but then split apart and we went our seperate ways only to find that 10 years later they converge once again.
I have created a new photo gallery page where I will be depositing and sharing my photos. A link to the page can be found in the "My Links" section.
I'm home after spending the weekend in Leeds, I had a nice relaxing time doing the usual mundane stuff, shopping, watching TV, eating...etc
I'm a man of simple pleasures...although I have over done it with the chocolate again this weekend.
What is it Oscar Wilde said, "I can resist anything but temptation!" Oh I hear ya Oscar!!!
I read an interesting line today, it said
"It takes two to make a lie work, one to speak the lie, another to believe it."
It's funny, I never posted a blog yesterday and I feel quite guilty about it. I wouldn't say that nothing happened yesterday, it did, lots of things happened. It's just that nothing that I would consider worth commenting on…except that bloody awful picture of Wayne Rooney in the Sun Newspaper. Who wants to see a picture of some ugly, lumpy football player practically naked, painted white, with a red cross daubed across his torso?
I could understand if it was David Beckham or Freddie Ljungberg…but Rooney?
If that guy is being looked at as a sex symbol, then it's time to turn in my whoopsie union card.
The thing with blogs, is that once you've made a post, you remember other stuff which you wanted to say.
I thought I'd better mention it, but I'll start to make reference to my holidays fairly soon. We've booked (my partner and I that is!) a week at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and a week at the Regent Beverley Witlshire in LA. You may remember these hotels from films like Ocean's 11 (Bellagio) and Pretty Woman (Regent Beverley Wiltshire). We fly out on the 4th November. This is our second visit to Las Vegas and LA, so we pretty much know what to expect and I'm really quite excited about it!
Secondry to that we've also booked a long weekend away in Amsterdam over the August Bank Holiday. Although I'm not sure what the name of the hotel is.
So when I start mentioning holidays, you'll know what I'm talking about!
That's all for now.
I just thought I'd introduce you to my group of learners and to some of my work mates. The photo was taken Xmas 2005 during our festive party. I'm in the middle somewhere with a green t-shirt on!
I've just heard that Lisa, one of my colleagues is going to hand in her notice today. It's sad, she joined the company just before I did and she is a really valuable member of our team.
This is one of the reasons I've never felt comfortable building relationships outside of work with work colleauges, as once they leave you kinda lose touch.
I don't like saying goodbye....I don't suppose anyone does. Do they?
It's now 7.50am and I'm sat at my desk at work. The loved ones returned last night, their plane touched down about 10.45pm but due to traffic on the way home we didn't get back to the house until 1.30am this morning. I obviously haven't had a decent night's sleep, so I'm probably going to be a bit crabby today!
I'm off to put the kettle on and clear the milk that’s gone sour in the fridge! I DO GET THE GLAMOUROUS JOBS!
I woke up at 8.40am this morning feeling great; I had a good night’s sleep, which I needed after the night before. I’ve cleaned and tidied up again. Where does the dust and dirt comes from. I’ve been out and watered the plants in the hanging baskets and done the plants in the greenhouse. It’s surprising how dried up they were considering I only missed one day!
I hope they make a full recovery.
Well the weather is rubbish today, still warm but overcast and cloudy, and it’s just started to rain, although only a little. Typical after I’ve just watered the garden.
Its’s 12 noon now and I’ve not eaten today as yet. I’m waiting for Ian to turn up. I can’t remember whether he said 12 or 1pm…suppose only time will tell.
Well it's 9.30pm on Saturday the 17th June. Tomorrow, the loved ones return from Portugal and I have to pick them up at 10.45pm from Manchester Airport.
I've made the most of the last two weeks, I've run around the house in my underwear, not made my bed and generally done what I want when I wanted to. It'll be great to see them again and I know the pooch will be very pleased to see them home safe and sound.
I've spent a few hours today cleaning the house from top to bottom, putting things back where they sould be, fluffing up cushions, dusting and cleaning the bathroom. I don't think there will be any accusing looks.
Anyway, my brain is fried after only having 4 hours sleep last night..so I'm going to sign off for today.
One of the reasons I wanted to set up this blog page, was that I wanted a cathartic experience of writing a diary; a diary that other people could read and if they wanted to, make comments on. I will make this blog available to all my family and friends so there will be some editing, but not much.
This work is licenced under a
Creative Commons Licence.
