the pog blog

Animals of all shapes and sizes

Posted on April 14, 2014 by thepogblog

This morning, while it was still dark, I opened the door from my bedroom to my conservatory and found a dead rat. Armed with a lot of kitchen roll I inspected it a bit closer and realised it wasn’t a rat. I wondered if it was actually the world’s biggest fur ball. Then I had a stroke of genius and thought I’d turn the light on and discovered…

….half a joint of cooked beef. Obviously someone’s Sunday left over’s. Probably enough for tonight’s dinner for about three people. How Norman cat got it home I have no idea.

It was obviously a hungry animal day though. At work we had an unexpected visitor on the 9^th floor window sill.

He wasn’t this blurry (neither is the office) in real life

This seagull was pecking the window, attempting to reach a colleagues tube of Love Heart sweets.

And in other animal news, one of my very lovely colleagues made me laugh a lot last week. I’d bought a box of tissues and was very happy to discover that the ears and mouth poked out to give a 3D effect (it’s the little things).

However, I felt the manuafacturer hadn’t gone as far as they could as the tail didn’t do anything exciting. A few days later though, I was staring at the box and realised the tail was sticking out. This very lovely colleague of mine had got creative and doctored the box:

Ta da!

It makes me smile every time I look at it. Norman just makes me worried when I look at him. He seems to be upping the stakes with the food he brings me. I’m concerned it won’t be long before I wake up to find he’s dragged a lamb back from the field over the road…. :o)

Posted in Pog Life | Tagged colleague, Naughty Norman, Norman, seagull, work | Leave a comment

Announcing the next Pog Plan!

Posted on April 11, 2014 by thepogblog

I’ve been working on a plan for the last month. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t completely sure it was really going to happen, but this week I started my injections, booked my flights and…(drum roll please)….on 5^th August I’m taking two weeks annual leave and going to volunteer in the Philippines. The effects of the typhoon that hit back in November are far from over and, through a series of coincidences I have the opportunity to actually do some doing and help.

I’ll tell you the full story in a minute, but in case you just want to find out what I’m doing, pop over here and take a look. While you’re there, it would be great if you could click the’ follow’ button as by the wonder of the interweb, it seems that the more people who click and follow a blog, the more other people will take note. And if you could send the link to a few of your friends for them to follow it too, I might just love you forever.

If you’re still here, I guess you want the full story. Here we go:

In January I looked into going on a volunteering holiday. It turns out that there are a lot of ethics around it though – sometimes people are creating an industry to cash in on where it’s not needed and sometimes volunteering tourists take much needed jobs away from local people. It was too much of a minefield and I gave up in case I ended up doing more harm than good. I booked to go back to the Greek island I love and forgot about it.

In February I looked into a short additional holiday to see if I could do the single lady holiday with less chaos than the last time, but I never ended up booking it. It just didn’t feel right (and also, I’m a complete scaredy cat and didn’t want to go on my own).

Then, last month a friend of a friend died. A link was sent around Facebook to collect donations for charity in his memory. Facebook, clearly realising I needed a distraction, threw back a couple more suggested sites when I clicked on the link. One led me to a charity asking for volunteers in the Philippines. This got my attention as back in November a colleague in the US, Jackie, had posted on the company intranet about her family in Tacloban days after the typhoon had hit. It had brought me to tears and I’d donated money, and later clothes, but I didn’t understand why people were needed 5 months after the event. I contacted Jackie and…well, the rest of the story is on the other blog.

Take a look at the ‘where it all started’ page if you don’t look at anything else. It’s the blog post Jackie wrote in November. And it shows the truly amazing spirit that her family have, and that she tells me the whole community share.

So I’ll be blogging there and here now. Here you’ll get the unfiltered version and hear things like the fact I am actually terrified. I’ve gone from not wanting to stay in a posh hotel on my own for three nights to going somewhere I won’t have a shower, on my own for two weeks (and the one thing I can’t live without is a shower). I’m not keen on flying, but I’ll be on a plane for two days to get out there and one to get back (I still don’t really understand the time travel aspect there…). And I have to change planes TWICE when I usually have trouble staying calm enough to find and get on one. I’m scared I won’t understand anyone, that they won’t understand me, and you know how things seem to ‘happen’ to me? Well….it’s probably best not to think that one through too much!

But mostly, I am excited. I really hope I can do something to make a difference. And I really hope you’ll be following along, there and here :o)

This picture is one of Jackie’s, taken in December 2013. We’ll tell the story behind it on the other blog sometime. I just love that the little girl is focused on the star with a smile on her face, able to ignore for the moment that just behind her is total destruction.

Posted in Volunteering | Tagged Candahug, colleague, help, Phillipines, support, Tacloban, volunteering, volunteering in the Philippines | 7 Comments

It’s only Tuesday?

Posted on April 8, 2014 by thepogblog

It feels like a lot later in the week. A short while ago my boss in America sent me an instant message about a decision I’d made. We started discussing it and she asked for my phone number so we could talk it through properly.

Five minutes later the phone hadn’t rung and an instant message popped up on my screen: ‘Is this your number?’

My boss is brilliant. I will cry if I ever have to work for anyone else between now and my retirement. She tells me what she thinks, I tell her what I think, we talk fast and we get to the point. When we have a conversation on instant messaging and it turns into a phone call, there is no preamble, we just continue where the other left off.

Which is why it was slightly awkward to realise I’d not given her my phone number. I’d given her my parent’s. And my mum sounds like me. So she’d answered the phone and my boss had gone straight into the issue at hand for quite a while before Mum managed to get a word in edge ways and explain she had the wrong number…

I assume my boss thought she’d misdialled because it turns out she tried again…and got my Dad.

Luckily, all three have a good sense of humour. My boss said (once I’d stopped laughing) that had she known who she was talking to, she’d have given them a report of how I’m doing at work. When I called my parents to explain why an American woman had been trying to solve custom stream issues with them, they took down her name so they can have a proper chat should she call again.

Sometimes, all you can do is laugh. And hope that Friday comes around soon. :o)

Just because it’s pretty. And calming!

Posted in Pog Life | Tagged boss, oops, parents, work | 13 Comments

Why I shouldn’t attempt to draw

Posted on April 4, 2014 by thepogblog

I have always been bad at drawing. I mean, really bad. When I was at school, my highest grade for Art was a C. My picture was so bad that my teacher re-drew it for me and I just had to colour it in. So basically, I managed a C for colouring in, aged 14. Brilliant.

It was Mother’s Day last Sunday and I like making cards for people, but I’d exhausted my ideas for Mum – she’d had the photo ones, the crochet based ones and the ones that probably have a fancy name but are basically cut out bits of paper on a card. So in a last minute panic, I decided to go back to my childhood and draw a picture of me and my Mummy. The card I presented her with was this:

If I were 5, I imagine it could be considered quite good, but clearly I’m a bit older than that. We posed for a photo to see just how good the likeness was:

Um….

It made my family laugh though. Pretty hysterically as it turned out. So I thought I’d try again for Little Pea’s birthday. I don’t think there was even a smidgen of improvement:

But we posed together anyway, just so you can check it out for yourself (He wouldn’t do standing next to me…his knees got all bendy when we tried that):

I think you can see why I never got higher than that C. I don’t think I’ll be starting a production line anytime soon, but at least I know my attempts at drawing can raise a smile :o)

And just because he is SUCH a little lump of gorgeousness, here’s Little Pea without me to detract from the picture, aged one year and one day old. What a big boy:

:o)

Posted in Pog Life | Tagged art, bad drawing, drawing, Little Pea, mothers day cards, mum, Mummy | 2 Comments

Bumpkinsville in spring sunshine

Posted on March 31, 2014 by thepogblog

A few weeks ago I was working from home on a teleconference with a colleague in the US. I had the back door open and she asked if the noise she could hear were birds. She lives in New York and said unless she goes to a park, she doesn’t hear birds, and being a bit of a Country Bumpkin at heart, she misses them. I said I’d have a Bumpkinsville wander and post some pictures here for her to get a bit of a countryside fix….albeit through her computer.

As luck would have it, a few weeks back, we had the loveliest day here and Sister 2 and I decided to attempt a walk across the fields to a pub. So, for my US colleague, this is for you:

Sheep in the field just across from my road

It seems sheep like a walk in the wood in pairs too

It seems sheep like to walk in the wood in pairs too

not a building in sight

Just as Sister 2 commented on how dry the ground seemed after the months of rain we’ve had, it got a bit soggy….

And then it got REALLY soggy. I attempted to jump across. Sister 2 took a three mile detour.

I shouldn’t have jumped.

Bumpkinsville can be a bit rickety

But it’s all worth it when you see the pub…

…And have a cider and black in your hand…

….and a smile on your face

The blossom is out…

…and so are some furry things we didn’t know the name of.

It’s cheating as this is in direct sunlight, but here’s proof that it did get rather warm – this is later in the day in my parents back garden. Yes, that says 41.8 C.

So there you have it: Bumpkinsville in spring sunshine. It’s not been quite as lovely since then, but hopefully it will be again soon :o)

Posted in Bumpkinsville, Pog Life | Tagged bumpkinsville, country Bumpkinsville, country walk, pub, Sister 2, spring sunshine | Leave a comment

A quick catch up

Posted on March 28, 2014 by thepogblog

I’ve not written a blog post for ages and I promised a friend some Bumpkinsville pictures but I thought I’d tell you what’s happened in my little break first.

Last week I had a week off work. Recently, I finally got around to ordering new flooring / carpet for the house, something I’d been putting off for about three years. In preparation I decided to paint. As the flooring would be lower than the carpet this meant cutting out the carpet around the edges of the rooms, pulling up the grippers, sanding the skirting boards and then painting. Then painting the walls and the ceilings.

I also managed to gloss Norman quite significantly. I finished the house on Wednesday night, feeling rather poorly and having a spot of trouble breathing.

I spent Thursday mostly asleep and woke feeling worse. It turns out I’m allergic to the paint. Grrrrr.

Friday I want to visit a friend from work and meet her little girl for the first time. That was fun and mostly filled with food and checking of handbag contents:

Earlier in the week I also went on a lampshade making course. I now have two very unique lampshades. I’m not entirely sure they are unique in the right way, but hey ho:

On Monday I took Norman to the vet. We arrived, the vet asked the problem, I told him Norman didn’t love me anymore and could he please fix it. He asked me what the problem really was, I confirmed that was the real problem. It turns out I was right: I had a feeling that his flea treatment hadn’t been working properly and the poor fur ball was itchy scratchy. That is why he was not happy. (With new treatment he is now bouncing around and paying me attention again again. We’re both much happier about the situation).

This week my aunt got rather poorly so rather than be the one being driven to hospital, I’ve taken Mum a few evenings. I don’t like the idea of people watching me as I lie in bed so I figured my aunt would feel the same. As a result, I talked at her. A lot. I have a slight concern that she now may be in a deeper coma than was intended by medical staff… I’ve told her though: If she wakes up I promise to stop talking quite so much – she has to wake up to tell me that though :o)

On Wednesday the new floor I’d ordered was being started (they had to put a layer of concrete type stuff down). They had asked me if I would be moving out when I booked it all and I did wonder why. When I got home I found out. My lounge was COMPLETELY empty:

My cooker was on the kitchen work top:

Everything was in my bedroom:

Or my conservatory:

I couldn’t get to my bedroom light switch. I could only get to my bed by climbing through a small gap between my upturned sofa and a bookcase. I ended up borrowing a wind up lamp from my parents so I could climb in, in the dark!

Then there was the malfunctioning bright orange chub suit (don’t ask), 1000 cake pops, and 100 helium balloons. I also did some shouting at a Network Rail man when he couldn’t tell me what platform the next train was on because ‘he only got back from holiday yesterday’ and was trying to put us back on the train we’d just been turfed off part way through the journey. And the lady I accused of chipping paint off my car due to her atrocious parking. Her parking was atrocious, but it turned out that the chipped paint wasn’t down to her. Ooops. (she was very lovely about it, I was very apologetic).

So maybe you can see why the blog got left for a while. On the upside, my house looks much better, I even have a brand new sofa type thing, and I have a lot to tell my aunt over the weekend :o)

Posted in Pog Life, Uncategorized | Tagged Aunt, decorating, flooring, holiday, hospital, lampsahed making, mum, Norman, Painting | 6 Comments

The wheels on the bus go round and round…

Posted on March 14, 2014 by thepogblog

The doctor told me this week that I can drive again (hooray!). Last weekend though, I couldn’t and I’d booked myself in at the hairdressers. I was feeling a bit cross that, rather than jump in the car and whizz up the road for 10 minutes, I’d have to wander to the bus stop and spend 25 minutes watching the word go by. As it turns out though, it was the best bus trip ever (I admit, I only have a handful to chose from, but still…).

First, I met Audrey at the bus stop. It turns out that Audrey lives down my road, on her own and, being rather short, has issues with changing light bulbs. I have offered to help whenever required and in return I heard all about her cats, nephew and childhood at the other end on Bumpkinsville.

At the next stop, Shirley got on. Everyone, bus driver included, was most surprised to discover Shirley was only going as far as Bumpkinstown as usually on a Saturday she does a 2 hour journey to a town much further away. Shirley ‘wasn’t feeling her best’ today though, so was just going to do her shopping locally.

Three stops later and the elderly people in the ‘priority seats’ moved to make way for some even more elderly passengers. By this stage the volume was loud. So loud, that the ladies behind me had to make a real effort to tell me about where their daughters lived, how many grandchildren they had and how often they saw them.

A few stops later and a big shiny Range Rover had parked so badly that the bus had a matter of centimetres to spare to get past. I led the applause as the driver managed to pass without hitting it.

At the next stop a gentleman got on and told me that he would be sitting next to me as I was a credit to the sun shiny day that it had turned out to be. He then sung to me and told me jokes for the rest of my journey. The annoyed the two ladies behind as it made it even more difficult for them to tell me about where they had lived and worked as younger women…

When I’d got on the bus I’d asked the driver where the nearest stop was to the hairdressers (knowing it was a good 10 minute walk away, but hopeful he might stop at a slightly closer one, not on the timetable). He told me to ring the bell when we were close and he’d stop a bit nearer. As we approached, I interrupted my neighbours serenade to try to get out of my seat (bus moving, wobbly older gentleman and bags involved, this was a bit tricky), and rung the bell as instructed. I’m pretty sure it’s not allowed, but the driver stopped on the road a few steps from the hairdresser and smiled at me. It was almost a taxi service.

I turned round as I got off the bus and everyone – that’s a full bus – waved goodbye to me.

Now, it might have taken 3 times as long as if I’d driven, but I bet if I had gone in my car, I wouldn’t have been smiling quite as much when I arrived. I might have my licence back, but maybe I’ll get the bus occasionally anyway. It was a very smiley experience! :o)

Posted in Bumpkinsville, Pog Life | Tagged bumpkinsville, buses, local business | 2 Comments

Pog pictures – week 10

Posted on March 12, 2014 by thepogblog

Featuring my washing, a terrible selfie, a toilet and teeth.

6th March 2014: The first time this year it was warm enough to hang out my washing – hooray!

7th March 2014: Post EEG hair. They stick thingys to your head with a cross between lard and hair gel that makes your hair solid. I had a two hour journey home. Thank god I hat a hat in my bag…

8th March 2014: Winston Churchill on a day out with my Mum

9th March 2014: Little Pea and I spent ages viewing each other through a glass door. He spent more time licking it than me though… :o)

19th March 2014: Someone one road down from me posted in a Facebook group that her cat was missing so I did a quick hunt to help out. I didn't find the cat, but I did find the start of a camp, and another use for wool!

10th March 2014: Someone one road down from me posted in a Facebook group that her cat was missing so I did a quick hunt to help out. I didn’t find the cat, but I did find the start of a camp, and another use for wool!

I have two photos from the 11th and I couldn’t decided between them. Both were taken when I went to Harley Street (a rare moment of poshness courtesy of health insurance) with Dad to get my brain test results (all clear – hooray!). Also of note from the day, among a whole heap of quotes, was my favourite:

Dad (very loudly at the tube station): ‘This escalator is broken!’

Me: ‘They are steps, Dad.’

11th March 2014: People making teeth in a Harley Street basement.

11th March 2014: The MOST ostentatious toilet I have ever seen (also Harley Street)

12th March 2014: I was early for an event in London so I took a wander. I liked this view at Cleopatra’s Needle with Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament poking out from behind a bit of Egypt.

:o)

Posted in Pog Pictures | Tagged Harley Street, Little Pea, London camp, Pog Pictures | 5 Comments

The magic Magical Pillow

Posted on March 10, 2014 by thepogblog

Almost a year ago a friend asked me to make something to help cure her son’s nightmares. It seemed a tall order, but the Pillow of Power was born. And weirdly, it worked.

Roll on 10 months; another friend remembered this post and asked if I could help her friend’s daughter. This little girl had a bit of a monster issue (they can be really pesky things, those monsters), so I decided she needed something a little bit different. (Translation: I had none of the original materials or patterns, – just a photo…)

So I started with a dragon. Just as I finished her, someone posted on our company intranet that I crocheted. Concerned I may lose credibility – ignoring the fact that I had none to start with – I posted a picture of the dragon along with a little of the story. How I thought it better people imagined me crocheting dragons rather than lots and lots of blankets, I don’t know.

Anyway, a colleague in Canada who I have never spoken with, let alone met, contacted me as a result of my picture. He wrote stories for children and had one about a dragon looking after a princess….would I like to include a copy with my magical pillow? Isn’t that lovely?

I finished the pillow – again, the only thing that might physically help was a little pouch of levender I’d stuffed in Dragon’s nose -, printed the lovely colleagues story and created some instructions:

This is a special pillow that will keep the monsters away from your bedroom (and anywhere else they might try to hide).

Put the pillow at the end of your bed and you will find lots of things to help you in the special front pocket.

There is a pouch for fairy dust. It has three hearts in it that you can put on your bedroom floor. These hearts have the power to make monsters vanish. Poof!

There is a Magic Hankie. If you put a magic hankie under your pillow it will stop any nightmares that have woken you up from coming back.

Best of all though, there is Dragon. Dragon is an expert at scaring away monsters and she has promised me that she will always look after you. All she asks in return is that you cuddle her every night. When she is happy you will be able to smell her very special smell which will help you feel all relaxed and sleepy.

I hope you like your magical pillow. I know it will help chase away those monsters.

Lots of Love,

Xxx

It turned out that the little girl lives in Australia so I sent it to my friend to send on. It arrived on Friday. On Saturday her Mummy e-mailed me:

‘It worked! It worked! …. I can’t believe it.’

I do like a happy ending :o)

Posted in crochet, sewing | Tagged crochet dragon, magical pillow, nightmares, pillow of power | 8 Comments

Entirely Norman. I’m sorry. Kind of.

Posted on March 7, 2014 by thepogblog

“A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime.”

-Mark Twain Notebook, 1895

I can only assume that for the last few weeks, Norman has been keeping this intelligence under wraps. He owns two lovely comfortable baskets (I have sat in both to try to persuade him in, so it’s the voice of experience talking there), a blanket I crocheted just for him and his own stall with a cushion on top. Does he recline on these throughout the day? Does he hell. I’ve been snapping him since I’ve been at home more, and this is the compliation:

‘It’s a day bed. I’m reclining in a day bed fashion. Never mind that you say I’m a cat’:

‘Yup, I know it’s a plastic bag, but it is the best plastic bag ever. I will lie on it for at least 3 hours and wink at you’:

‘I know it is your working chair, but you moved for at least 10 seconds. You must now kneel on the floor at your laptop instead, and I will stay right here.’:

‘I am hiding. And liberally covering your jumpers in fur’.:

‘You said it’s carpet, so why can’t I sit on it? Why do we have to “not tell the carpet man?”‘:

‘Is this a more cat appropriate daybed recline pose?’:

‘This door mat is so bristly…ooh… the sun, I must catch the sun!’:

‘Well, this is a little embarrassing, I appear to have face planted the carpet.’:

‘I was trying to kill the duvet. But I think it won.’:

And to finish on another quote, which probably sums up this post…or at least me, quite accurately:

“There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person.”

– Dan Greenberg

:o)

Posted in animals, cats | Tagged cat, Norman, Norman cat | 6 Comments

the pog blog

Animals of all shapes and sizes

Announcing the next Pog Plan!

It’s only Tuesday?

Why I shouldn’t attempt to draw

Bumpkinsville in spring sunshine

A quick catch up

The wheels on the bus go round and round…

Pog pictures – week 10

The magic Magical Pillow

Entirely Norman. I’m sorry. Kind of.

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