Life is sometimes sort of okay because...

[The Legendary Shark]

This forum requireth ye olde "like" button.

Sounds very enjoyable, JBC.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I forgot to add that it had been sold out, but I dropped by on the offchance that they'd let me in, which they did.   And on the way home through the Phoenix Park I had to stop to let three young deer cross the road in front of me, and watched them run down into a wooded valley.  Not a bad evening at all, all told.

[The Legendary Shark]

Uh-oh... It sounds like you may have slipped into a Neil Gaiman novel. You'd best avoid talking cats, sentient dust, and mysterious strangers for a bit...

[The Legendary Shark]

...I've just untangled a hosepipe. There's something very satisfying about untangling a hosepipe, something very Zen.

[JayzusB.Christ]

...I've just untangled a hosepipe. There's something very satisfying about untangling a hosepipe, something very Zen.

You'd want to try untangling a rope from a boat propellor.  The satisfaction is immense, if not quite worth the 6 hours standing in dirty, cold canal water in a wetsuit, stopping sporadically to sharpen a knife, and frequently holding one's breath to duck under to do some cutting.

Never again, as I said the time before last.

[Funt Solo]

My young daughter was telling me she was scared of the monsters under the bed, and so I told her that if the monster came out we would smack it with a broom and it would run away, and I did a stupid voice and we laughed at the plight of the monster.

Anyway: her younger cousin was staying with us in a beach cabin, and after we'd put them to bed, we could hear them chatting.  The younger cousin was saying she was scared in case there were monsters - and my daughter told her that if the monster came out they could smack it, and she did a stupid voice and they laughed at the plight of the monster.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Obviously a good stern talking-to about the evils of plagiarism is on its way 

[The Legendary Shark]

Funtella Soloette - Monster Mangler.

Misty beckons...

[Funt Solo]

I was definitely going to show her the Tammy & Jinty special: she goes through books and comics like a hot knife through butter.

[sheridan]

...I've just untangled a hosepipe. There's something very satisfying about untangling a hosepipe, something very Zen.

If only you had a non-kink hosepipe.

[The Legendary Shark]

If only...

*sigh*

FS, that's great - I love to see children reading!

[JayzusB.Christ]

I've just started the first phase of a plan I've had for ages.  Having used a kayak to get to the side of the canal which I can't access any other way, I've hacked and slashed my way through the trees and thorns down a steep overgrown slope and begun to clear out what will be my secret garden. No idea who owns the land but whoever it us hasn't touched that particular part of it in years, if not decades, and can't see it anyway. 

There's already a stream and a fallen tree, and there'll soon be a woodburning stove, a hammock, some seats and a solar light. Oh, and some camouflaged tarp to hide it all when I'm away.  Keep it under your hat, though.  I can't tell if I'm breaking laws or not.

[TordelBack]

Sounds excellent, JBC. If a posh lad malingering in a wheelchair shows up just punt him into the canal.

[JayzusB.Christ]

The bramble-covered fifteen-foot slope down to my little site should make short work of the bastard anyway.

Failing that, I'll get a mohawk and circle him on my motorbike, finishing all my sentences with the words 'old man'.

[TordelBack]

I like how you thought I was referring to Logan/Prof X, when I was actually referring to Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, but it worked perfectly anyway! 

I'm a bit tipsy, but this reminds me of one of those all-too rare moments of parental success. On our recent excellent trip to France, we were camping in a naturist pine forest.  The missus and I were sitting outside the tent, gulping down the €1.50/litre local co-op red, when my naked 9-year old daughter comes running towards us out of the trees, lurching theatrically from side to side, quasi-feral camping hair straggling behind.  She charged right up to us, widened her eyes to a crazy stare and intoned "It's...".

At least we've done something right.