Bethanhughes2’s Weblog

ell it has been a very long time since I last posted. So long in fact that I can’t even remember when or what my last post was. I will just try and have to guess the developments which have happened in my life. Work has been manic, conferences here there and everywhere, conference submissions, meeting which last at least a good hour longer than they need to, a lot of administrative stuff going on and working on what feels like a gazillion projects. I have my fingers in far too many pies. On the home front, me and Dom are good, I think we have overcome what we needed to, although he got a bit weird and quiet on me last night. We are trying to do one interesting thing together every two weeks on a monday. Last week I took Dom to quasar, when I informed him of this, he looked terribly embarassed that he would need to participate in such an activity. He said it’s what eight year olds do. Anyway I drove there, the place was dead, we waited for the next session to run. Meanwhile the previous contestants were emerging from their time in the quasar room, and out marched a bunch of seven year olds in full kit. Dom looked at me and laughed, he couldnt believe I was taking him to such a thing. Anyway, we went for our induction, all the time Dom looking naturally embarassed as we were the only participants of that scheduled game. By the time we got into the space laser room, we were laughing our heads off, it was amazing, we spent the next twenty minutes running about and falling about in stitches. I was knackered after twenty minutes. We had a great time. Dom is organising the theatre for next monday, I think I may have convinced him to go for a prix fix meal. Woooooooo hooooo. So that should be good.

Over the bank holiday we went to see Doms dad in Guildford, we drove down on Friday (I thankfully had the day off) it took six hours though, I was knackered and we returned on Sunday. His sister was there, texting away. It was also good to see his little niece, the cheeky little madam. The step monster was a nightmare at times, and I think I may have overstepped the nosy mark at one point. Nevermind.

On the way back, me and Dom experienced the weirdest weather storm. The cloud was as black as night, and very large, whilst driving through it I could barely see the road in front of me for the rain. It was so dark, all cars had to put their lights on, it was as if there had been a total eclipse. The rain was falling so hard, that rivers started to emerge on the motor way, and driving through them at sixty scared the buggery out of me. On the bank holiday monday, we went for some drinks, I felt well rough on the Tuesday.

I have booked four tickets to go to a Belgian festival in July, I am very excited, the lineup is amazing. At least 40 top bands, including Radiohead and REM, to mention but a few. We are going via ferry which is free courtesy of my sister. That’s about all I can be arsed writing about for the time being. Post more probably never.

Well easter has been and gone. I have much to report: having taken off last Thursday, I spent the day spring cleaning and then went out to the pub and on to the noodle bar. On the friday we took it easy, I can’t remember quite what we did now. Anyway, got up rather early on the Saturday and drove round to my friends house where I would be leaving my car for the weekend. We started on our way down to Oxford. The whole journey proved to be a bit of a nightmare, we were expected to arrive at half past one, however the Police had other plans. They closed a section of the M6 off, thus we spent three hours queuing on the motorway, before we were diverted off into the wilds of Staffordshire. The whole of the southbound traffic of the M6 let loose in the wilds of the staffordshire countryside. Are you joking me? We spent 3 hours travelling 6 miles. It was a nightmare.

Anyway we missed our induction and didn’t arrive until half past six, and were also told that we would not be allowed to travel along our planned route because of flood warnings. So we wehad to travel northbound, however there would not be any sailing if you can call it that until the next day as barges aren’t allowed to sail at dusk. So we were stuck in a little village for the evening. We made the best of it and walked to the nearest pub. The food was OK, probably the worst meal of the holiday though, before making it back to the barge. Myself and Dom took the worst bed on the first evening, a table which is converted into a bed, it was OK, but extremely cold, we had a duvet and a blanket and that wasn’t enough so when I woke up in the morning I grabbed a sleeping bag too.

That first morning when I opened the curtains, it was the most amazing sight, at that point I didn’t even feel the cold. We had moored next to some fields that night before and they were now covered in a thick blanket of snow and the snowflakes were huge. So I huddled in the bed and stared out of the window for a while, it must have been about seven o clock in the morning. It was about 11 o clock before everyone was showered and ready to go, so we turned the engine on and off we went. We travelled to Aynho which was about three hours away by barge. Once we got there, mooring proved to be a bit of a nightmare, anyway we eventually moored up in a tangle of novice attempts. Dom insisted on watching the football so we walked a mile and a half to the nearest town. We got there and the pub was jam packed with easter eaters, nice sunday lunches were everywhere, even the bar area had been converted into an eatery. We spoke to the owner of the establishment, a very posh man, reminded me a little of Boris Johnson. Anyway, he said that there probably wouldnt be much time to put the football on, so out best chance was to walk into the next village which was about a mile down the road. So off we went, I was pretty knackered, and getting sock burn from my boots. We eventually got there, and Stacey bought a round in, only the barman voiced his concerenes that he felt that I looked under age. He asked for my identification, I told him I was 26, he said that he wouldnt serve it to me without ID, I told him I didnt have any, and said that’s it was OK I was not that bothered whether I had a drink or not. He got a little agressive after that and said that I shouldn’t come into the pub again without any ID, and that he was willing to serve me the drink, but there wouldn’t be another one. In the mean time Dom had had a route through his wallet and found my ID, the barman looked it over thoroughly and made his apologies. We then walked about the village trying to find somewhere to eat, there was no room at any of the inns it seemed, so we had the long walk back to the barge, and I was starving.

Mary cooked us some lunch, she had preprepared some spag bol, and set out to warm it up and provide us with some wholesome grub. Whilst Mary was cooking we moved onwards with the barge, opening and closing locks, and tried to get as far north as we could so that we could moor for the evening. It was about half past six when we arrived at Kings Suttons, which was a stretch to achieve in a barge. We stopped there thinking that there would be some connection to the village so that we could get some grub for supper. Having moored up, I nearly fell in, my foot got cought in a pot hole! Anyway we walked up to the lock, looking for pathways to the village. We couldnt see any and we looked so pathetic the man who lived in the house next to the lock came out and pointed us in the direction of some fields in the opposit direction to the village. He said “walk up that road for about a mile, you will come to a field with some horses, lock the gate behind you,  and there is a pub accross the road”. So off we went the road was a nightmare, puddles everywhere, we crossed a bridge which floated over a motorway and eventually got to the pub. The food was better in this pub, I had some meaty casserole thing with some puff pastry and chips. Yum Yum. After a few drinks we made our way back in the pitch black. Back at the barge we played a game of Mr and Mrs, which was very entertaining.

We got the bed at the front of the barge that evening, it was still cold. The plan was to get up as early as possible and head for banburry so that we could turn around and make it all the way back to the start. So at eight o clock, I got up and assisted Ben with the first lock, whilst everyone else sorted themselved out with showers and breakfast. We got to the turning point at Banbury at about 11am with some expert steering from Ben, and started making our way back to the start point.

By the time we arrived back at Aynho, it was felt that we should get some more water for showers and drinking. It was a bit of a disaster really, the group effort was a bit embarassing, and I felt really bad for everyone else who was moored, it drove me crazy, but nobody listened to me. Not that it would have probably improved matters, I would however have try my best not to get on the bad side of other boaters, instead of just doing as I please regardless of everyone else. Anyway hay ho, we got it done, and then left very quickly. We made it back to base by about five. It was good going. We then made for the pub, we had a really good night. The food was plentiful and really good quality, and a bargain for its price. We had pudding and lots of drinks and attempted the pub quiz. The locals were so friendly that it unnerved mary and she was convinced that they were going to eat us. We came fourth in the pub quiz, and everyone had a really good night! We made it back to the barge, everyone was so knackered from driving and locking it in the cold, that we all just went straight to bed.

We got up early the next day, as the boat had to be returned by nine, and completed that last couple of hundred metres to the boat yard. Everyone cleared the boat and we set off home. It was a great holiday all in all, despite the rain, snow, wind and cold. I fully recommend it, we had a great time!

had a really weird dream last night, i remember the remnants of it anyway. I was in a harbour and had to fish these spiders cocoons from somewhere. I was doing fine, and there was one which was just about to breach or pop and I had to quickly fish it out and put it safely out of reach. As I put it down it popped and was no good to me (no idea why) and then all these baby spiders started coming out and i ran. Ming.

Last night I watched pitch black, I have seen that film so many times, but it’s been a while since I last watched it. Dom and I used to watch it when we first got together. He was doing work all night, he has some major deadline after easter and he is trying to get it all finished. He is in career orientated mode, not much company. I cooked a jamie recipe last night, was very nice indeed, it was a basic tomato sauce recipe. It didnt even have that many ingredients but it tasted amazing. Perhaps it tasted amazing because I had been out for a run with Rose and was starving by the time I got back. I fell asleep on the sofa upside down, how very glamarous. Supposed to go to pottery tonight, me and Carol said that we would try and go every two weeks. But I really want to see my lamp base, I guess it can wait until next week.

I am going to cook some hot cross buns tonight, and bring them into work tomorrow, feeling very festive.

ondays, mondays are supposed to be sleepy days, but I was up and rearing to go this morning. Had an eventful weekend, on Friday, Andy came round and we played assassins creed for far too many hours. On sat I went round to Rosies, we watched Wales achieve yet another grand slam…. apparantly. Rosie had a friend visiting, and we all went out for dinner. We went to a nice mediteranean restaurant, I had pasta with mussels and clams, which was delicious.  Yum yum. Dom went out, got pissed with Tom and Rick. I think he needs man time. On sunday, Angela and John came round, I wasn’t really in the mood for company, having had an energetic weekend. Well for me anyway. What’s wrong with me, I do two things and I feel like my whole life has been consumed. I guess I don’t like doing things which I haven’t suggested, which isnt really fair on anyone else. So we went out for Sunday lunch, three course mean for eight quid. Bargain. That stuffed me up, so I was in a lethargic mood for the rest of the afternoon. Poor poor me, not. Watched American gangster last night, it was a rubbish version of Goodfellas and Casino. Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.

Had a very productive day at work today (until i started writing this blog, of course) I managed to put a massive dent in the paper I am trying to write. I have almost got to the point where I can’t write much more until the project develops a little further, or some questions are answered… I have an exhaustive list.

My Jamie Oliver book came today, the italy one, we eat A LOT of pasta, so i thought it would be appropriate to get at least one italian recipe book. Having meat and pasta tonight, yum yum. I also think I am going for a jog tonight, hopefully it will be longer than the last one, I nearly died after a hundred paces. Just talking of food makes me hungry, you would think by the fact that I talk so much about food and I have a distinct lack of excercise that I have a few excessive pounds hovering over my midrift. The truth is I way about nince stone, give or take a pound. I hope it stays that way, however I am all too familiar about the fact that when you hit age 35, you will put on a pound a year unless you do something about it. So, I thought, if I start now, I will be in full swing of some excercise and healthy diet scheme.  I still enter a blog at least once a week, so there is hope for me yet!

I went for a run with Rosie last night, we were only jogging for about 15 minutes and I was knackered. I have to improve on that. Me and Dom watched ‘black hawk down’ last night on his brand new big telly, it’s an amazing film, shame that it’s true. I don’t understand how such a f*** up could happen. Leave no man behind…. regardless of the cost? I think a total of 18 men died in that operation. Such a tragedy. I then watched ’somethings gotta give’, it makes me laugh, such a good film, well suited for jack nicholson. Andy is coming round tonight, we are going to play some vid games and maybe watch a film. Maybe ‘Lord of war’. I am going to either cook some pasta, or we can have pizza, i can’t decide. Nothing else on the relationship drama, I think some space is still best practice. Not long until we go on our barge adventure now either, very exciting. I am still debating whether I should get a dog, is it cruel? Even if I pop home at lunch time? Granted the dog would be alone for some of the day….. I don’t know. Perhaps it’s better to wait until we have a garden, at least the little thing can go out by itself then.

Whilst in the shower this morning, I don’t know if it was the sound of water hitting the hard surface, but a memory vividly came to mind. I was about eight or nine years old, we had spent the entire day up at the beach in Mrs Brassingtons house. It was an amazing house overlooking the cove,  in the huge glass window over looking the beach, lighthouse and sea she had a telescope in the window. She also had a huge greenhouse where she grew all her vegetables, Dad was painting the house at the time, myself and my sister spent the whole day playing about in her vast garden. When my mother came to pick us up, a torrential downpour occured, we rushed for cover in the car and she drove us back in to town. She stopped in the port, outside my grandmothers house as she wanted to pop by. It was still raining, but I and my sister jumped out of the car and ran for cover in rather large square entrance of my uncles warehouse. He used to keep his boat there, one he had been working on for as long as I can remember, there was always saw dust on the floor, and the smell of hot wood which had just been worked on. It was a rather large boat about 25ft or so, so you can imagine how large the warehouse was. It always puzzled me how he would get the boat out, as there was a large slated roof on top of the warehouse which didn’t look like it was going anywhere anytime soon. Anyway the entrance to the warehouse lay about 3ft off the floor and there were no stairs to help you up. The entrance lay about 2ft deep in the thick stone wall, and at the entrance lay a large red wooden door, which would slide backward and forwards when required. The rain was falling hard, and both our hair was dripping wet. It thundered, and I remember thinking about that old trick where you start counting the seconds from when the flash occured to the frightening loud crash. I remembered that you needed to count in thousands - one, one thousand, two one thousand. I think i got up to about nine or ten. The sound of the thunder made me feel so small and  insignificant, and I remember turning my awe eyes on to admire this amazing spectical so that I could remember it for the rest of my life.

oops! It’s been a week since my last confession. I knew this was going to happen! The pressure got too much for me. In which case I have much to report since last weds, on Thursday night, we went to the pub quiz. We were rubbish, a total score of 8 out of 28. It was a girls v boys effort, the lads only managed to score another two points. Then on Friday we took it easy. Sat house party, Sun cinema, last night not very much and tonight pottery I hope. Since last week, I have invented a business, had several hangovers and given each song in my iTunes a rating.

I went home early on Fri, I had accumulated some hours so I took half of the day off. We to a house party at a friends house, her family are a little bonkers and karaoke mad. But not the good stuff. Dom ordered a taxi a little earlier than we were expecting it, so our leaving was an uncordinated flurry. I had just opened another beer too! Like I mentioned, we went to the cinema on Sunday - Juno was the film of choice. It was a really good film, I must say. I had heard in a review that the film was a little diappointing, the reviewee mentioned that he/she thought that the film was unrealistic because the leading lady’s vocabulary was too confident and complex.  I thought it was fine, I have seen worse in Dawsons Creek.  I liked it very much, I liked the style of the film, the dialogue, the characters and I even shed a tear at the end. I think I have mentioned my soppy uncontrolable crying at the end of a film, which always believe is the sign of a good film.

The worst thing happened yesterday, and it was planned. A cervical screening test, it was barely ten a clock and someone was already poking about my nether regions. I told this to the nurse in fact, i said - ”a little early for this kind of procedure isnt it?” She didn’t look amused. At least I don’t have to take another one for three years. All women have to go through this procedure, men get it so easy! Don’t even get me started on child birth.

Not sure if I mentioned that I completed - his dark materials - trilogy. Was a bit of a rubbish ending, mainly because Dom ruined it and told me that there was a love story in the end. It’s not the same if someone tells you, even if you are expecting it. I was surprised to find so much inuendo in a childrens book, I guess it is quite a complex and timely read. But that doesn’t stop the harry p fans either. I don’t know, a little strange I thought. The second book was definately my favourite, but I think that is always going to be the case. I will let you know if I read any other trilogies. Well I did read the LOTR, the first was just a long walk, however it did have that weird man in the forest which they didn’t include in the film. Mr green fingers or something or other. The second was OK, however the fight went on forever, such a boy thing, and the third was rather poor. So I will go with the first for this trilogy. Anyways I am offski….