Assorted Rubbish...

The exam on Tuesday was horrible. Started off great, but my brain went on holiday half way through. Argh. I console myself with the knowledge that we get to ignore our worst module each year...

My younger daughter is 14 next week! How did that happen?

The rabbits are doing great. Buttercup, the female, has noticably gained weight. She is the one that Number One Son said was fat when we first got them... But don't worry, she is still able to jump from the floor into the upper floor of the hutch, so she can't be TOO fat.

Mrs RC has been on a diet for the last couple of weeks, getting back into things after recent disruption. Do you know what I like about Mrs RC being on a diet? Part of her approach is to cook especially nice things for the rest of us! Don't ask how that works, I have no idea, but I am certainly not going to complain. For example, last night we had chicken in chili sauce with sweet potatoes that had been mashed, mixed with cabbage, onion, bacon, cheese and probably a few more things. It was amazing. The remaining gaps in the stomach were then filled with home made white chocolate and cranberry cookies. Yum. I have heard that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach - works for me!

I am now just letting my poor brain recover from the stress and strain of the exams, painting a few toy soldiers in the evenings and re-starting my lunchtime guitar playing sessions out in the Cathedral grounds, although my fingers were a bit cold yesterday. I am sure it is colder than it should be right now - there was snow in Scotland the other day, surely far too late in the year for that!

Well I think that is about it for now - don't forget to check the previous post about my trip to Hastings!

Going to the Battle of Hastings

Hi! As you may know, last Saturday I went to the site of the Battle of Hastings (where the town of Battle now stands) to meet up with an old Canadian friend of mine.

Here is a short vblog that I made of my journey (the contrast is really out of whack on a lot of this - it was one of those very bright grey days...):

I didn't record any video while there - too busy chatting to my friend and his wife.

This is the view up the hill from the Norman's side of the field. At the top is Battle Abbey which is where the Saxons stood awaiting the Norman attack.

We played our game on a picnic table under a huge tree.

The armies are about to clash:

King Harold checking to see if his escape route is clear:

William encouraging his troops:

A promising start for the Saxons, as some cowardly French are driven off:

The start of the end, as the Saxon left starts to crumble:

We managed to get the same result as history, with the help of my utterly terrible dice throwing and the fact that my opponent was clearly a "cheating foreigner"! (A running joke between the 2 of us).

A great day, hope to do it again some time - with bigger armies and better dice I might win next time!

One down, one to go!

Today's exam is over - seemed to go OK, if a little shakey at first.

Not sure what to do tonight - revise for tomorrow's exam or just relax. I have got tomorrow morning set aside for last minute cramming, so relaxing a bit to avoid burning out my brain sounds very good...

The Saturday wargame event at Hastings was great fun - more on that later in the week.

Until then, be good! And if you can't be good, be careful! ;-)

Yes, I know it is an old one...

Friday!

So, the election is over. Looks like the Conservatives have the most seats but not a majority. This means that anything that the new government tries to do will have to be discussed, argued and amended as it goes rather than the ruling party just being able to force through whatever it wants. This is probably the best we could hope for, IMO. But we will see in time.

Tomorrow is the day I meet my Canadian friend at Hastings to refight the battle with toy soldiers. Look out for lots of photos some time next week!

I have got exams on Monday and Tuesday - I hate it, nothing seems to be sticking in my head. I am intending to take a book or 2 with me tomorrow so I can put the 6 hours of travelling to good use...

General note - if I turn into a real asshole when I am old I hope someone shoots me or something...

Back to reading I guess!

Have a great weekend!

Election Day!

Today is the day that Britain gets to decide who will get to take the reins for the next 5 years.

If you are British, make sure you vote! There is nothing worse than having an all-powerful government that only a small fraction of the population actually voted for!

People have died for your right to vote, so damn well use it!

*****

In other news, the rabbits have settled in really well, and tend to rush to the gate of their run every time anyone goes near - and why not? Most of the time it is someone arriving with a tasty little something for them! I think Bubbles might be over-eating a bit, though, as sometimes he just lays on his back, looking a bit like a haggis with legs... I will have to get a photo of that!

Have a great day!

At the Movies

Finally got to see a couple of movies that I have really wanted to see for some time.

The first one was 2012, a story about the end of the world which sadly comes after the 2012 Olympic Games. If it came before it would certainly save us wasting a ton of money on this stupid event! The movie was very entertaining, a good action movie, but didn't have the depth that I had expected - I think I heard the words Mayan Calendar once, but that was about it. I still enjoyed watching it, and it was certainly better than the cheaper version which we saw a couple of weeks ago...

The second movie was Avatar. I sat down to watch this one with massive preconceptions. The director was the guy who gave us Titanic, one of my pet hate movies. Add to this the ground-breaking 3D stuff at the cinema and I had the distinct feeling that this movie is really going to suck.

But it didn't. I really enjoyed it, a great mix of action, shifting emotions, a bit of humour, some good morals, a not very well hidden history lesson, even a moment that brought a lump to my throat! I liked it so much that I think I have actually forgiven him for Titanic! Hey, most people have something dodgey in their past...


Finally, I had a great find at a boot sale/fair. Found a copy of this classic movie on DVD. Tom Hanks and Shelley Long together - what more could you ask?

Introducing...

Bubbles and Buttercup!

We got these two yesterday, and they now live on our patio, with a run that takes up probably a third of it! My daughter loves them and has been spoiling them already, for example feeding them some of these stupidly expensive strawberries!

My younger son also loves them and was out in the garden this morning looking at them, still in his PJs.

Number One Son is not so impressed - according to him "one is fat and the other looks retarded". Can't argue there, I guess...

Custard the dog is not quite sure what to think about these invaders, half curious half frightened - they don't run away from him like cats do even if he barks at them!

Better not show him this!