Oddly named whisky photo-ed at Tesco (on Michael's new wee camera phone). Apparently it is made in Glasgow. Quite possibly from girders...  

I know Cambridge is kind of flat and prone to flooding, but surely this lifebelt situated handily next to a bench in the grounds of Emmanuel is overdoing it a bit?...(I think there's actually a very small swimming pool just behind the wall - you can just about make out the steps if you peer over a bit) 

Red swirly thing... 

Bluebells underwater 

white bluebells underwater 

Hyacinths underwater 

Camelia in the rain 

Bleeding heart in B+W 

Speeding ducks. 

A lamp and the moon... 

Rose Crescent at night. 

Slice of screen. 

Japanese-style cherry blossom pic 

Sunset on Carlyle Road 

Camelia and Japanese Maple 

Like the previous inhabitant, the people next door seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in their garage. This picture was taken at midnight the other night. Clearly there is only one explanation: their garage contains some sort of demon that requires them to worship it at all hours of the day and night...and no, I've not been watching too much Buffy... 

Confusion

When talking to my Mum last night I mentioned that Michael and I had gone to a Placebo concert a couple of years ago. Mum ,not having heard of them asked, reasonably enough, if they were a band - which of course they are. But it makes you wonder what an actual "placebo concert" would be like - would you just sit in a darkened room, but feel like you'd watched people playing guitars and singing?

Also, one of the Provers was today expressing concern about the cows in the field next to the Astronomy Dept. Apparently one herd had vanished for a few days, and been replaced by a new one, giving rise to the fear that they'd been taken off to be eaten. Even more worrying was the fact the previous night's menu at Churchill College (just along the road) had been beef... The food is indeed very fresh at the colleges here...

And finally, if you can get thick-cut and fine-cut marmalade, is the stuff with whisky in it half-cut?

More useless tat!

Today's highlights on ucam.adverts.giveaway (also known as ucam.adverts.useless-tat) - lists a bizarre and varied collection of items that people don't want any more but think the University Messenger Service might like to ferry around town...

Old and grotty butlers' sink.
Suitable for covering with hypertufa. YOU collect.

Used corks, free to a good home, some real, some not. Will UMS.

Guard dog...free to good home
9 yr old cross between a Rotweiler and a Pit-Bull.
Very friendly if he knows you...not very friendly at all to strangers.

A vampiric Michael prepares to cycle off and terrorise Cambridge...OR, Michael on the way to Formal Hall at Wolfson, having borrowed my gown (which I borrowed from my Dad, who borrowed it from someone at school, etc.)

Actually, I expect the gown is glad to get out of the wardrobe for a bit. It used to get to go along and hear lots of singing every week when I was in the Chapel Choir in Glasgow, but rarely sees the light of day in Cambridge. Occasionally I hear it fidgeting restlessly on its hanger and put it on while I learn the music for Cantus, just to calm it down a bit...well, no, not really.  

Bluebells in the garden. But white... 

Meanwhile, back in Glasgow...

House 18 webcam!

Proof and Beauty

This is what I do all day (although I now work on developing the computer programs used to do the proofs rather than the proofs themselves, which was the case in the PhD of Doom...;-)

Percival

Today's happenings:

Survived another pilates class. It's actually very soothing at the time, but no doubt I will be in great pain tomorrow...

The inflatable platypus has been christened Percival (by Mick, who was very impressed at my lack of jumping when he knocked on the office door yesterday - perhaps the reduction in coffee consumption is good for me)

Michael was equally impressed by my ability to take 3 cloves of garlic and, by adding some milk, cheese, and pasta, remove all trace of flavour. Clearly my cooking works along the same lines as my washing, which according to Dad "forces grey in and white out" :-(

Look! Picasa will make you a lovely collage thingy from the photos... 

Excessively saturated magnolias. 

One of those ferocious ladybirds that live in the back garden... 

Forsythia 

Magnolia blossom 

Wee blue thing - periwinkle? 

More cherry blossom - note the cunning "wheel" effect blossom in the top left hand corner...