under another sun

Having to chase the new agency to get information today. However some stuff sent me, which I duly pored over. Luckily Valérie sent me some work to do from Paris, so I simply got on with that. Unbelievably, it is another shit job. This one about cow diarrhoea. The glamour. Still, all this keeps me out of trouble guv. I had got up early too, so I managed a bit more on the new story. A few walks to stop the brain from seizing up. Have been listening to Horrorstör , a rather fun audiobook, a horror story set in a downmarket Ikea-a-like store. Made one of Mum's layer pies, a firm favourite as a child. It is a pie, which I made in a bread tin, lined with pastry, and then layered with chopped onion and pork luncheon meat. Beaten eggs, a dash of milk mixed in with a bit of turmeric and black pepper, are then poured slowly into the pie, letting it settle in between the layers. It looked rather good once pulled out of the oven and rested. I cut it revealing stripes inside. Nice. A quic...

Made a layer pie today, one of my mum's old recipes, where you layer onion and pork luncheon meat in a pie, then pour in beaten eggs. You bake it, and when sliced it appears in attractive strata of pork and oniony egg. It is not a thing of great sophistication, but very comforting on a cold day with baked beans and baked potato.  Fed this to an appreciative Lorraine this evening. I like to be able to cook for her in the evening. She brings me tea and breakfast in the morning quite often. It is a beautiful thing a cup of tea in the morning. Went off with Betty during the day to London road to a poundshop to buy bits of Christmassy stuff for the stage set of We Three Kings. Beth also prepared the music for the show. Not going to London, nor having any work, nor a rehearsal meant I had the luxury of a sleep this afternoon for an hour. Beth sorry to be missing the pie. Nice to speak to Matty this evening, having sent him some of my Chad poems, which he received while sitting in The...

Monkeying around I've noticed that as soon as I start designing anything, time evaporates. Spent hours this morning moving things around by smidges, and endlessly rewriting copy. I was also sent some monkey business by Mandy in New Zealand. Her new game features excellent photographs of evil and wise monkeys, and I will write a wee bit of copy for it. In the afternoon I set off for the gym, bumping into Clare with young Aubrey. Had a nice chat and we were met by joined by Reuben and young Serge who had been into town to look around in the Natural History Museum, and do a spot of whale fancying. A mild-mannered workout today as I had a twinging back and sore throat. Lorraine home early and was able to supervise the pastry part of a layer pie I was making. I had no timings for this recipe but we guessed one and a half hours, and I felt quite proud when I sliced it open and it was in its layers of egg and onion (flavoured with mustard and thyme) and tinned pork meat and had set proper...

Snails and spreadsheets Drenched this morning, caught in a downpour with an umbrella the size of a dinner plate. Bah. However a very good day getting on top of my business stuff. Found all the figures for rates, utilities and other payments which can be claimed back and emailed them to my glamorous accountant - finding them put years on me. Also making spreadsheets. There is something sexy about spreadsheets. The fact that you can put stuff in rows and columns and so on. Organised, that's what it is. Also did a cheeky bit of writing work for my French client and the prospect of more on the horizon. So all in all a good and productive day which makes me feel on top of things. I also mistakenly made a layer pie, which I ate the majority of. Once it had stopped raining, and I had done all my work, I poked about in the snail sanctuary that is my back yard, and tidied and put clippings into bin liners. Picked up one particularly large snail and threw it into the Twitten in disgust. Noti...

That's not small, it's my newt A much needed chilled weekend. Watched the Frasier series 9 DVDs from my sofa. Also playing guitar, and combining these activities with a jazzular riff to accompany the Frasier theme tune. Otherwise I dealt with a backlog of bills and other drivel sent in envelopes, laundry, cleaning, and all the thousand other natural chores that flesh is heir to, amid the usual flashes of rage about not having servants. There is a nasty smell of damp under the stairs. This provoked by rain that would have Noah eyeing the skies and reaching for a brace of aardvarks. The damp joins the list of things about which Something Must Be Done: a damp course in due course. On Saturday I baked a layer pie, which is a pie containing layers of onion and egg and pork of my mother's invention circa 1970. Actually really nice hot or cold. And, having strata of various colours, delights both eye and gullet. It is especially fine cold, and served with hot chips. Out and about ...