Blogger templates

Please can someone tell me how to get a list of things on the LEFT hand side of the page and not the right? As you can see from the dots, I have been editing this thing, and I can't work out how to put things on the LEFT. I want to keep the stuff on the right AND have stuff on the left as well (because I am greedy :-) ) but it just makes everything go weird when I try.

World Cup distemper

Well we are out.
We had a bbq planned to celebrate after the game but we had it anyway.
Pictorial evidence from the man with the world's biggest glass of beer (and no, I don't know what was going on with his hair here either)
A sad day.

Guess who has discovered how to edit her blog template?

ME. Hello vile pink pink background!

DC79 Thatched House Stockport

Another gig, another drink fest. Took the new camera and took it OFF automatic mode for the first time. It kept asking me questions! How on earth am I supposed to know what to tell it when it asks for cf speed x sm ratio? Back to the manual I think. Brother in law John kindly brought a cd holder in the shape of a guitar for us as well, so thankyou John :-)
Today we went to the pub to watch the match and then had salt and pepper chips from the chinese, which are indeed as lovely as they sound.
Am now a vegetable on the settee and I couldnt move very far if I tried.

Do not click on this

When your cats wake you up and you think "just 2 minutes on the internet".
Speakers required.

Happy Birthday Daddy

He is 32 today. I can't get my head round the idea that he is any older than 32 so he will be 32 forever. At least to me.
Here he is, on his 32nd birthday! Happy birthday xx

Him indoors

I totally and utterly forgot to tell you about his birthday on the 1st. We went to Ulveston to do all things Laurel and Hardy (he has an "obsession" you could say), and we did lovely things like go to the museum and wander round the shops and drink and eat and drink and eat and.....you get the picture.
Here he is.

New camera

And this was the first picture I took..... I had no choice really :-)

I am what I am - sadly :-)

I spend a bit of time reading a lot of "crafting" blogs. Its mostly American ladies with young children who seem to have access to the best charity shops in the world, and who then make gorgeous stuff with the material and things they find there for about 4 cents. They have lovely houses, cook pretty cakes and spend every other day at the beach with a hamper full of home made cheese and wine. They dont get me all annoyed or anything - I just wonder where do they find the time??Ok, some of them don't work, but they do have kids, which surely cancels that out a bit. I realise that if I lived in America, I too would probably be able to afford a big house somewhere nice rather than the elderly, falling apart tatty shoe box I currently live in, but when you see all those bleached wood floors and home made curtains and tended gardens (mine is a jungle of mis-matched plants bought on the spur of the moment and planted wherever there is a bit of room which explains why a rather worrying sycamore tree planted as a seed 6 years ago is now becoming a tree hanging over the rather worried next door neighbours garden), it does make me wonder - HOW do they make it all look so easy and so nice?
I guess my problem is this. I can clean up and paint the kitchen. Or I can go and rehearse with my band/sit in the pub with him indoors/play with the cats in the garden/read a book/write and so on and so on. The "and so on" wins every time. I will be old soon enough, and then I WILL have the time and inclination to live in house beautiful. In the mean time I will drink just enough Aussie red wine to ignore the faded paintwork, listen to enough loud music to ignore the pile of washing that wants putting away and go and play my guitar in a tiny, heat filled room with a load of sweaty blokes just long enough to make the un-made bed not matter.
I am not a sloven - I am a bohemian :-)

This weekend

Went to the pub to watch the England game. Drank way too much in the day and fell asleep on the settee after tea, woke up at 8pm and thought it was 8 AM and got terribly confused for a short while.
This morning did some gardening and discovered that the bit of wormwood cutting that gothboy gave me has turned into a mini bush now! Maybe I will make Absinthe. And maybe not. Harvey likes to nibble the wormwood and then and go and lie under the hedge in a louche way. I wonder if you can get chaise longes for cats? And maybe a cat- sized smoking jacket and a couple of poetry books would suit him...

World Cup fever...

...is upon Faery Towers. Him indoors is in some mad sweepstake at work, is rushing home from work early and trying to arrange everything around the games. He's even got some bunting in his car. I must admit, its quite exciting.
Apparently the Germans cheat :-)

Friday Night, Saturday..erm Night, and Sunday an' all

OOO I HAVE a life!
Friday. Me and him indoors hauled ourselves over to Farnworth to see a mate and we went to see Sinnerboy, a Rory Gallagher tribute band, at the Moses Gate. It was awesome. We got really drunk, had a kebab on the way home (kebab house run by scary bikers and I bet they get NO trouble in there),and I watched 2 16 year olds have the world's stupidist non violent fight ever:
16 year old number one (encased in pastel shirt, chinos and razored hair) - I'm gonna have you!
16 year old number one's girlfriend (encased in white shoes, orange skin and velour pants) - Leave it, He isn't worth it...
16 year old number two (dressed EXACTLY like 16 year old number one) - Yeah, I'm gonna have YOU!
Cue #1 swinging a John Inham style punch at the other, missing, falling over, teenager #2 doing almost EXACTLY the same thing, girlfriend starts crying, and all parties leave in opposite directions. Embarrassed probably.
Saturday. Met two lovely people (hi Crystal and Granville!) for a meal at Nawab near us. For once we walked so we could have a drink. We don't normally have starters but it being a social occaision we joined in and I am glad I did. Paneer tikka. Like chicken tikka but its not chicken its CHEESE. HEAVEN.
Had a few spoons of wine, chatted and off to bed. Not all together obviously :-)
Today - been rehearsing with Born Idle. My proper band. Not that other band. I have also got a new camera courtesy of the boss, so I took a picture of my stuff..... The silver foil is my cheese sandwich wrapper. Not very rock and roll but I like to be prepared.

Another gig and some other things

1. Our new drummer is going well and we should be gigging soon.
2. Last week I went to see DC79 at the Moses Gate in Bolton (I may as well MOVE to Bolton, I spend so much time there) and it was awesome.
4. I watched Day of the Dead last night. It was also awesome.
5. I bought a tshirt saying "I'm with the band" :-)
6. Going to Wales in a minute for another gig. After Watford win the playoffs 2-nil.

Another gig

Last Saturday saw DC79 in Burnley. I was sound engineer and I got so loud that some light fittings vibrated off the celing and broke, so I officially ROCK. Drank real ale, ate chips and burgers, wore the new boots and had a great time.
Having a big clear out of rubbish chez moi, and got a stack of things to sell on Ebay. Makes up for the constant buying of Richard Laymon books.
Our new drummer for MY band is working out well.
Otherwise, all is well in my world.
Except I forgot to say that it took me THREE HOURS to get to work this morning. A diesel spillage on the M62 took 2 lanes out and due to the total ineptitude of the highways agency, I was car-bound for all that time. However, I am a girl that travels well. I had water in a cooled flask, toast with blue cheese dressing (trust me - it WORKS), a book (Fred And Rose - The True Story), 3 Rob Zombie cds and a pen and paper. I may do it AGAIN tomorrow :-)

What keeps you awake at night? Or rather in the early hours of the morning....

My cat does. She has taken to stamping about on me at around 6.30 am on a work day and 7.30am on a non-work day, until I wake up. Then she mews and cries a bit and then goes back to sleep. I, however, am now awake and stay that way. I know she is old, and I know they develop funny habits, but she is warm and healthy and well fed and can come in and out of every room in the house at will (and they have a cat flap) and the other aged pensioner cat conks out at 10pm and thats the last you hear from him before 10am the next day but he is happy to sleep in a big pile of smelly cat fluff with her if she wants. I just dont understand it. I am developing bags under the eyes and crossness. We arent out of the house a great deal, and sometimes she is downright standoffish if you try to get too close to her, so I am not sure that she is lonely.
I wouldnt mind if she wanted to get up FOR something, but I always leave water and/or milk down for them at night, along with some food in case they get hungry in the night so it isnt that either. Maybe she is getting cat alzheimers, if there is such a thing.

Birthday Girl

Its my birthday and I'll (paraphrased to fit actual events) ...open pressies/go to the pub/drink cider/watch Doctor Who/go for a curry if I want to!I am up to the drink cider bit currently. Me and the BOOTS are going for a curry in a bit :-)

Just checking in

Been busy recently. Last Thursday we went to see friends who were over from Ireland. On the Friday we drove to the other end of the country to see ma and pa. We got half way back (Nuneaton to be precise) and stopped overnight in a Butlins style Motel, complete with Corby trouser press. The next day we went to see ma-in-law, and on Sunday evening a mate came round. Today its jut me and the cats and a wind down. I also got a pair of NEW ROCK BOOTS!! Yay! They are FAB - dead comfy and a bit scary and they add about 3 inches to my height. However, they were so expensive that I shall never be buying a pair of boots ever again.... And I found these two links today: 50s style housewifery and addictive gaming cute (in a Happy Kitty Bunny Pony way!)

This week.....

I have mostly been working, but the boss is back (complete with a toy stuffed Camel for me- my choice:he isnt that kind of man) so normal service will be resumed. Had hotdogs last night. Now, I like a proper hot dog,not those out of tins,and I like them with mayo,hot mustard, chilli sauce and cheese slices. All together. The buns take on a very interesting colour with all that lot mixed up. On our regular charity shop trawls in Chorlton (before it got a Subway), we used to go to a place that did proper grilled hotdogs with toasted buns.They were dead long as well. MmmMmmMmm. You can tell I am going out for my tea again can't you :-)
Its Nawab again. Only this time we are getting a taxi so we can have a bottle of wine and both drink and thus avoid the "its your turn to drive" arguments which usually culminate in him indoors bringing up the fact that when I passed my driving test I said I would be happy to drive us everywhere. That was 8 years ago! Why on earth does he think that I still mean what I said???
I have turned the back bedroom into a music room. Every bit of musical gear we own is now up there, apart from my bass rig and his Marshall setup (as these are in regular gig/rehearse mode and therefore would beUNBEARABLE to carry up and down stairs every five minutes), and I didnt realise we had so much! A couple of guitars remain downstairs for convenience (its nice to know one is to hand when you want to churn out a few bars of something or other) and the hall is still crowded with speakers, but the keyboard is plugged in and ready to go should we fancy a quick whirl. I struggle though. My left hand will not obey me when the right hand joins in. On its own its fine. Maybe its like that film "The Beast With Five Fingers" and its not reallyMY hand at all.....

Pub Crawl

My boss is on holiday and work is a terrifying place as I am responsible for everything. Consequently I have been stressed out a bit and so yesterday we decided to get the bus into town so we could both have a drink, and do a bit of mooching about.
Left home at 3pm and went to Waterstones, where I bought a book about Lynyrd Skynyrd and that Excess All Areas book about Status Quo. Then we went to The Sawyers on Deansgate and had a pint. Then we went to a South African place called Barracuda, then to The Salisbury.
Here is a picture of our pints. And another of the alleyway outside.


















Then it was off to the Lass O Gowrie for another. And then we WERE going to go to the Old Monkey, as we used to spend a lot of time there many years ago, when it was new. Except we changed our minds and went into the smallest pub in Manchester, The Circus Tavern. Its REALLY small but very nice and we met some Danish blokes who were going to see Stiff Little Fingers.
Then we were getting hungry so we thought we would head into town. We almost walked past a little Italian resteraunt but then changed our minds and went in and I glad we did because it was lovely! We had a bottle of wine and I had a blue cheese pizza and him indoors had a seafood one. It was proper pizza, nothing like Pizza Hut or any of those places, and soooo garlicky. And I cannot for the life of me think what it was called! Its either Don Antonio or Bella Roma, and I would like to get it right because it was very, very nice. Small and a bit poky, and the waitresses didn't speak much English (in fact they were Chinese!), but the service was good and the food was lovely and it wasn't too dear.

Its on Portland Street if anyone knows it? There are more pictures but they are on my phone and the blue tooth wotsit is at work so I can't get them off until tomorrow.



Then it was last drink in the Bulls Head before getting a taxi home and realising it was nearly 10 o clock.....

Down Mexico way....

We have just been to Chiquitas, a psuedo Mexican place that has as much to do with Mexico as one of my cats, but its a very nice place. Sombreros on the wall, pictures of mustachioed bull fighters all over the show - you get the idea. I had sizzling chicken and steak fajitas and him indoors had chargrilled swordfish. Mmmmm. I also had a Mai Tai. Double mmmmmmm.
What WASN'T mmmm was the tshirt worn by one of the hoards of 17 year olds waitressing : "Famous for Fajita's". Fajita's WHAT? Grrrrrr.
What else have I been up to? Not a lot really. I won the whole Malory Towers series of books off Ebay for £4 and I am up to Third Year at Malory Towers. They even have the same covers as the ones I used to have but which got lost somewhere along the way.
I never, ever liked Daryl Rivers. For someone who went about losing her temper and slapping people/shoving them in swimming pools, hurling them over chairs etc, she seemed to be far to well liked for me. Alicia was much better. And Mary Lou. And Sally. But no, I don't like Daryl.
Ooo I tell a lie - I HAVE done something. The new drummer we auditioned was a) good, b)not an idiot or a serial killer and c) seems to like US, so we are on a roll again. Had a rehearse somewhere in Wigan and it all went very well indeed. Hopefully gigs will be on the horizon soon, unless he turns out to be awaiting sentence for drug dealing/has a psychotic girlfriend that will burn his drum kit/get run over by a bus. Fingers crossed guys.