Well spring has, or rather, is, definitely sprung! The Easter break was delicious weather, still not warm enough for shorts, but nice enough to sit outside and soak up some sunny warmth. The sky was blue and the air was fresh and warm, LOVELY!

On Good Friday I was a complete lazy arse and surprised even myself by sleeping in until 2 in the afternoon! Couldn't believe it when I got up and checked the time. Still it was a lovely afternoon so after getting up Mark and I went outside onto the green with a few beers and a bifta. Sat there for a while and watched the world go by as we both struggled to wake up... A lovely afternoon 'twas!

On Saturday both of us worked around at a mates place - me sorting out the office, and Mark in the garden. And surprisingly it was again beautiful weather, warm and inviting you to go for a walk in the park, or have a picnic in a field... Still we didn't take up the offer that day, and went home again to chill out after tiring ourselves out with work.

Derren Brown The Mind Tinker was our Sunday night entertainment. Tony, Dawn, Terry, Debbie, Mark and I made our way to the White Rock theater expecting to be filled with awe at the amazing things this guy was going to do. Well he was pretty good, and I had no idea what to expect, but he basically works with body language and subliminal messages to tell you what your thinking, or to get you to read his mind. There were some good tricks, and some that didn't seem to work so well, which is all part of a live show - innit?
At the start he got this guy up on stage (with a seemingly innocent way of having him selected from the crowd) gave him a locked briefcase, and asked him to figure out the combination in the interval. Anyway, at the interval, we were stood around having a beer or two, and Mark decided to go up to this guy and see if he was a 'plant' or not. You never know though do you? Mark was convinced he was before he even went to talk to him, and then more so after it. At the end of the show the combination ended up being this guys year of birth, his house number and his age, or something like that.
The second half of the show was a bit gross though and started off with Derren hammering a nail into his right nostrill - not a pretty thing to see. Some chick from the audience (Mark was sure she was a 'plant' too) pulled the nail out again - GROSS! Then he walked over broken glass, and even lay face down on it whilst getting someone to stand on his back.
After the show we went out for a few more beers and then back to ours for a few more and a spliff or two. Before I knew it I was napping on the couch in front of our guests. How rude!

On Monday morning Tony gave us a call and next thing we were all going out for Yum Cha at the local Chinese restaurant. Lots of yummy scrummy things to eat, and then a walk along the pier to a pub for yet another beer. It was quite a pissy weekend actually! Still the all you can eat was excellent, and spending the day with Tony and Dawn was nice too. The weather again was gorgeous, and we popped back to Tony and Dawns for some wine, munchies and a DVD that evening. By the time we called a taxi I wasn't walking straight, and the fog had rolled in from nowhere, making all quiet and damp.

Tuesday I somehow managed to get into work without too much of a problem and only one panadol before leaving the house. The fog was still there too, but I don't mind that so much.
Yesterday and today the fog is still about, it hasn't lifted once, which is really weird, I've not experienced something like this before. It's been like living on a horror movie set.... Maybe I am???

Spring is here! Definitely, you can smell it in the air, and the crisp cold has dissipated to a fresh warmth. It's lovely, and long awaited by all the poms - and me!

This weekend in celebration of the first mild to warm weekend since I've arrived, Mark and I went out for a picnic in the country park. We found a nice little ledge on the cliffs facing the sea, and tucked into some scrummy food. Mmmm, pate, nice cheese, wine and other deliciousness! Sitting there in the sunshine, looking out to the English channel and watching the wheeling seagulls and gentle blue of the channel was just what we needed!
We also had a little explore further up the cliff face (off the path) and I managed to put my hand right in the middle of a clump of stinging nettles - OUCH! We looked around but couldn't find any dock leaves which are supposed to counteract the stinging. It settled down after a while, but even now - a day later - I can still feel it in my hand and one of the veins has gone a surprising blue-ish colour... But it hasn't dropped off and I expect I will be ok on the whole. I've never heard of anyone dying from stinging nettles anyway...

Work has kind of calmed down a little. I had a really hectic stint there for a while, trying to catch up with the work I missed when unable to get in coz of the snow. I did a load of over time only to have the majority of it stolen by the tax man... They're the same the world over aren't they? Take every last penny that they can - the bastards!!
Anyway, it looks like I may have snagged myself a permanent position here, which is brilliant. I may be jinxing myself by writing about it. It hasn't been confirmed yet, and nothing is in writing, but my boss has said that the position will be advertised shortly (hopefully not long after Easter) within the organization and that it's mine if I want it seeing that I have been doing that position (pretty much) since I have been here. So that's good news, now I am simply waiting for it to eventuate, and these types of things take ages with charities... HR is staffed by tortoises. I'll have to interview for it again, so please keep your fingers crossed for me!

And now Easter is on its way! 4 days off and hopefully more sunshine! Marks brother and sister in-law are coming down to visit on the Sunday and we're off out to see some magician type guy Derren Brown. Not too sure exactly what he does - hypnosis type things from the sound of it - but he's reasonably well known and Mark seems excited about seeing him in the flesh and not just on telly. Should be interesting if nothing else, and nice to see Terry and Debbie again as last time was Christmas day.

Well that's about it from me. Looks like I won't be doing too much other travel until later in the summer as my savings need a little extra meat on them... But I'm working on it and they're on a high carb diet which should have them looking a lot more beefy by the time my birthday comes around, until then though it's heads down and nose to the grindstone! Which unfortunately means not so many interesting blogs or travel stories... Although a few weekends away to exotic places may be able to be arranged!

Thank Gawd it's....Wednesday?

Ah well two more days and then I can sleep again. This week is full of overtime as I am trying to make up the hours I lost to the snow. So it's early to rise and late to bed for this week and next. After that it's EASTER TIME. Chocolate time more like it!!

I've been having some strange animal omens this week. Yesterday it was a black cat, very sweet he/she was crouched beside the railway line. The this morning a black rabbit, just calmly sitting in a field looking as though he was minding his own business, but then again you never know... Plus 3 Pheasants, male ones with the gorgeous tail feathers and green caps. I hope there's not a black theme running here though, I don't need or want any bad luck. The again I don't suppose anyone does.... Maybe the black animals are signifying dark chocolate easter things...?

Well nothing interesting has happened, and doesn't look like it's going to for a few weeks at least while I try to make my bank balance a little healthier. Mark is off to London on the weekend, I'm staying in though. Gotta love that snow and follow on pay dip.... Anyway, if and when something nice, interesting, or eventful happens I shall write again!

Ahhh. This glorious Motherland, country of my ancestors and family roots, the beginning of civilization as I know it... You'd think that they'd have things sorted here after the 100's and 1000's of years they've had to fine tune their nation.

It's been a really cold week, it snowed again on Monday morning, and the flakes were silently floating down past the bedroom window as my alarm went off that morning for work. So instead of having a repeat of Wednesday the week before where I walked to the station only to have to walk back home again, I called. They said the trains weren't working due to a power cut...hmmm, the amazing powers of English snow. So it was no work on Monday - Wa hay! Except that I'm temping, so no show means no pay. Fair enough though, a day off is nearly always appreciated. So I stayed home and slobbed about, was good in a way as it gave me a chance to try and get over this cold/flu that keeps bugging me.

Tuesday was still cold, but thankfully no snow, so I happily (but carefully) skipped off to the train station and even worked back to try and make up my hours lost on Monday. A 9 hour day and over time for the rest of the week should've set me right!

Wednesday morning snuck around and the back courtyard was covered in white (the snow seems to stick especially nicely to the cat poo in the back yard... mmm) and big globular flakes were falling rather thickly. Again no work, but seeing that this was the 3rd day in 2 weeks that this had happened I was beginning to be a little over the 'lovely white clean snow' and a lot pissed off at the lack of pay! So I called, and then I called again, and then the third time I called I was told that yes, the trains had just started running again! Wa Hay! I was going to be about 3 or 4 hours late, but better than not going in at all. So I rugged up (cheers for the hat and scarf Julianne) and carefully slid down the hill to the station, kinda buoyed by the fact that I was going to be able to get in more than just one day of work this week. (Sad I know) So I skipped into the station and lo and behold, between my phone call and walking to the station, that train had yet again been cancelled, and not one replacement bus to be seen! ARRRGH....

I trudged back up the hill, got a sweat on for my efforts and went back to bed. Obviously work was not going to be on that day. In the afternoon rather than mope about I went out and about with Mark on his errands. A day in the life of Mark eh? We ended up at the pub (after enquiring about some photos, going into Bexhill and to the post office), and then another pub, and finally a 3rd pub in the old town. After however many beers and drunken conversation it was back up the hill and home by about 9pm. Not a bad innings and I would much rather spend my train fare in a bar, any day....

So yesterday, Thursday, rocked around and when I looked out the window after getting up, my heart sank. The ground was still white from Wednesdays snow and the sky was ominously grey and had that 'I'm about to snow really hard' look on it's face.... Luckily though after quickly sliding down the hill it still hadn't snowed and the trains were going! Yay I made it in to work and a 10 hour day partly made up some time for the 2 days missed.... Ahhhh. Not home, but almost free!

So this morning when I woke up and the sky was only patchy with cloud, and the ground was still covered in white, I thought maybe I'd have a chance of getting to work. No point calling the station first as they don't know what's going on anyway.... So down the hill I go. I get to the train station, and the trains aren't running but I'm told there is a bus service to take commuters to a town 2 stations away where they can connect with their regular train. I was a little wary after the week I've had, but thought 'hey, give them the benefit of the doubt, after a week of snow they've finally been able to come up with half a solution..!' So I bought my ticket and hopped on the bus..... Hmmmm, at least it was warm.
The bus got to Bexhill ok, but the train we were supposed to connect with had already left. The next train was due in 45 minutes. I tell you it's bloody cold here, and waiting on a station platform isn't the best way to spend your morning, no matter how rugged up you are! So everyone waited, and then waited a bit more, and what the hell we waited some more, until one of the platform guards came along and told us that the trains had been cancelled, again.... So we all made to leave, but were asked to wait a little longer, and then just a bit more, and oh! they almost had it fixed, thank you for your patience!
Finally after an hour and a half of waiting in the cold and cursing in my head, a train finally arrived. An old one, with no heating but at least ti was going all the way to Brighton, and I finally got to work, almost 3 hours late, but at least I got here!!

Aside from that though, my week has been pretty uneventful. The weekend was a quiet one, and needless to say the next few will be quiet as well as my cash funds have been largely depleted due to this weeks exercise in 'The Brits: how they have tamed the typically horrid English weather'.