Good Deeds

I'm normally a bit rubbish at doing good deeds. I vaguely mean to be a bit more giving, but then I get all caught up in myself again, and forget. So when I manage to do it, I like to shout about it. None of this selfless self-effacing nonsense for me, if I Do Something Good I want to get the full benefit with a few pats on the back, thank you very much.

So, I just got back from my grandparents' house, where I spent the weekend Doing Good Deeds like installing phone extensions, buying / putting up white boards (very handy for writing reminders on for those with failing memories), gardening, picking fruit, cooking, generally being a "grand daughter," as my grandad said. He's 97, you know. And my grandma is 93. And they are the sweetest grandparents in the world - straight out of a fairy tale. They even live in a fairy-tale house, with a minitaure steam railway at the bottom of the garden, which will stop and pick you up if you stick your hand out. I kid you not.

The way they look after each other is amazing. OK, so they need a little help these days but they still live in their own house and do a lot of their own stuff.

I'll write more about it (I hope - I've made a million little notes) during the week, but for now it's pat on the back for Clare time. I know, I know, I should shut up about it. But, well, I'm proud. Of them, and of me. So there.

Ow, but my fingers are too sore to type any more. Did tons of weeding today and my fingers are covered in slug slime, nettle stings, rose-thorn-pricks, bramble scratches and ground-in earth.


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Look What I Did

We have this ace travel Scrabble set, look! The pieces don't fall off even when you fold it up and put it away!

Anyway, I was bored, we were on a train, so I thought I'd see how far I got with the five letter words... I never thought I'd get to the bottom of the board. And then I had some letters left over, so I used them up too.

Every single word you see is in the international Scrabble tournament dictionary, aka SOWPODS. Apart from one. And yes, I used every tile in the Scrabble set. And yes, I am very anal.

I will send a prize to anyone who can identify the one word which is not in the
Scrabble dictionary. And I might send a prize to whoever can find the most entertaining way of saying "what a clever girl you are," too.

Here's the full grid of words, in case you can't see them in the pic...

ADAGE---JOY----
-EGADS---FOP---
--ERICK---WIZ--
---ECHOS---XIS-
----TABLE---NUR
-----VAULT---BO
Q-----NIGHT---D
IT-----TIARA---
-OR-----NIEVE--
--EL-----MEINS-
---OW-----NODES
----OU-----NETE
-----MY-----RAP
------UR-----LI
-------EF-----A

Oh bother, the font's all wrong for this type of game. Here it is the other way round:

A-----QI-------
DE-----TO------
AGE-----RE-----
GARE-----LO----
EDICT-----WO---
-SCHAV-----UM--
--KOBAN-----YU-
---SLUIT-----RE
J---ELGIN-----F
OF---THAIM-----
YOW---TREEN----
-PIX---AVION---
--ZIN---ENDER--
---SUB---SETAL-
----ROD---SEPIA

gOD, i'M SO ANAL. eEK! cAPS LOCK FEVER!

Ahem. God, I'm so anal.


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New Haircut!

Before*:



After:




*I'm generally camera shy, and anyway mostly tied my long hair back (it was only long cos I couldn't be bothered to get it cut), so we don't have any photos of it in all its grey glory.


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Telepencil

It's all happening at the moment, what with exciting literary agents reading my book (no word yet), the Alabama 3 sending me messages, and being shortlisted for Post of the Week (didn't win, but didn't expect to)... and then today I got contacted by a documentary-maker who wants to film me blogging.

And yes, I did warn him it's not the most televisual of entertainments. I mean, it's not like I do it in the nude or anything.

Well actually, sometimes I do. But not for the cameras.

Oh God, I hope they don't want me to do the pencil trick...


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Enchanted Gordon

Oh lookie - just found this, from last year's Big Chill festival.

[showing off]

Aw. That's my man, that is.

[/showing off]


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