I realised this morning that I have a 'pet hate' odd term but that was the one that came to mind, so it's the one I'll use for now, unless you can suggest a better term.... anyway my particular pet hate concerns the use of grossly oversimplified, often gendered, generalisations......... you know the sort -sentences that start 'women (or men) usually do/think/react...... ' I really resent being herded in with half the population and expected to behave in just one particular way.. I do feel this biologically deterministic viewpoint irritating to say the least, surely the spectrum of behavior is inordinately diverse and although there are differences the differentiation between gendered behaviour is so overemphasised with such generalisations being commonly repeated that it sort of becomes too difficult to step away from and people start to believe that the behaviour is set in stone and irrefutable. i.e that men do behave in one particular way and that women do behave in another particular way with no leaway for looking at behaviour patterns more along a spectrum rather than distinctly grouped........

anyway moving on... have signed up for a refresher climbing course at Mile End Climbing club. went the other night and was pleased at the friendliness of the place and the diverse range of people there... so have paid up for a 2 day course in early June!

AND have got tickets for Glastonbury!!!!!!!!!

Finished reading 'If nobody speaks of remarkable things'....... a lovely book quite the best read I've had for absolutely ages, a totally absorbing and poetic journey, a journey through a day, a journey through the mundane, a look at the detail of people's lives in such a way that the mundane becomes extraordinary... even the title is a delight in that in the book the sentence 'If nobody speaks of remarkable things' is completed by the words 'then they cannot be so'..... wonderful! a pure delight indeed! It even made me cry! Right from the start you knew something dreadful was going to happen.. there was much exploration of life and death issues and how they affect the individuals. The characters were described in perfect detail but without names, all the people in a street were watched in absolute detail and described in an innovative way, conversation was not demarcated. it flowed along with all the other flotsam of the street..... it WAS a good read.. definitely recommended as a truely remarkable book

What a weekend! It seemed to start thursday.. with a visit to Highgate in the fun car, met up with Pete's two brothers and girlfriends in The Flask which was a really nice pub where we sat outside and drank copious amounts of wine and ate pistachio's! Very nice indeed, we than went on to an Indian and then it becomes a little blurred, well to be exact I fell asleep so it is less than just a blur it's not even a remote and hard to reach memory! Even managed to sleep all the way home which in an open topped no suspension 2 seater buggy is remarkable really! So friday I thought I'd give up alcohol as I don't seem able to do the sensible stopping after 2 glasses sensible thing.

Friday night was the Club Moto BBQ night and I was a bit of a party pooper really ....... though the one advantage of not drinking was that I drove myself home in the fun car having decided that I didn't really fancy the trip to Chelsea Bridge to watch old bikers and lads on scooters....

Saturday was meant to be the big day for moving the boat! It didn't happen, Enfield dock were just not ready! Jake came to visit though so I went to meet him in Kings Cross and we had a quiet evening with a BBQ .. sunday I had booked a jet ski so Pete and I left Jake in London and headed to Wyboston Lakes. had a wonderful ride there. the A507 was a lovely road all sweeping curves and picturesque countryside.. Pete enjoyed the trip down which I was pleased about as he didn't seem too excited about jetskiing!!

But we got there and we got kitted up in wetsuits and went to play! Loved it and so did Pete... we were both zipping around the lake in the sunshine until somewhat from nowhere it went horribly dark and the heavens opened up and tipped buckets on us and at speed on a jetjski rain hurts...had half an hour of play and was unable to work my arms properly! Muscles just gave up, getting the wetsuit off afterwards took ages!

Just had a look at Rose Darling (see link on the left under 'Blogs') Rose agrees with me about a recipe for youthfulness... forgot to mention the gig we went to ... the 'Godfather' boys were excellent in their usual sleazy way...... bit of a problem with their CD though ... the music is excellent, the CD design is very very polished I was really impressed and then I played the music video on my computer! All I can say is............ Lip sync ....!!! It really didn't work .. in fact it made me think of a A level art student who had big intentions but then just smoked too much weed and didn't quite get to finish the project off... but still had to hand in something!! Oh dear....

it's monday and I feel like spending money!! have an need to buy hmmmmmmmmm well anything really, though I'm trying to decide what I actually need...... after getting soaked yesterday in the fun car a waterproof jacket seems like a good option. Went to Chelsea in the sunshine, well almost sunshine and had a walk along the King's Road, looking at shops, had a coffee and sat in a pleasant little Italian place drinking my Americano and the heaven's opened up! It was pointless rushing back to the car as it's not really a convertible, there is no roof! So we just had to linger over the coffee watching the rain. When we finally got back to it we were presented with a crowd of people looking at it and two good size puddles in the seat wells!! Oddly after borrowing a sponge from another little Italian coffee house we managed to soak up most of the puddles so we weren't actually sitting in water but nevertheless it was still very very damp....... rather than driving via Hoxton on the way back we went straight home.

In the evening watched Twelve Monkeys as Pete had never seen it and was reminded how good a film it is as I'd forgotten most of it anyway.....

so might pop along to Field & Trek to purchase a suitably expensive waterproof...........

Feeling very lively and bouncy today and suddenly amazed that I am 45. How on earth did that happen?? Anyway decided to impart the secrets of eternal youth..... well this is what has worked for me anyway! And without being too vain or stuff like that I reckon I'm not doing too badly for someone who has attained this age......... oh dyed my hair red this weekend.... mmmmmmmmmm not too sure about it so giving it a week to either get used to it or decide to go back to the more 'normal' brown!

Anyway I digress........ what has got me feeling sprightly and youthful mid forties......... is a recipe made up of;

a plentiful supply of alcohol
sitting under a hot sun whenever possible
drugs (a bigger variety the better, spread over at least 30 years!)
financial hardship.... (the more of a struggle the better i guess... cuts out unnecessary expenditure on stuff like cakes )
and loads of frenetic shagging

seems to have worked for me

Well I like the new look, seems much neater and cleaner but I'm really struggling with the top line! can't find an appropriate code to complete the border?? Oh well! Nice font I think. Gill sans.... very clean indeed

I'm keeping the stones, and no I'm not refering to that band but to the image at the top of this blog... it was part of the original template .... and still in keeping somehow....... a nice link to the weekend ahead.. Pete and I are off camping, heading off tonight on a Honda Hornet with tent in panniers! We really haven't given too much thought as to where we are going, it's more a 'getting away from' idea rather than a 'going to.. ' so this afternoon I have randomly selected some maps and Dorset seems to have landed on top!........ there are stones there are there not? Big ones! and fossils on beaches and a coastline and beaches and cliffs and beaches ......... ahhhhhhhhh cliffs.......... seems a good choice! Hardly heading off in search of stones but hopefully will trip over a few.........

Time to start working on this blog, a bit of an update is required and as the boss is out today it seems the ideal oportunity.......

just did a google search for Delilah's Palaver and it came up!! Whether this is because blogger and google are now inextricably linked or because there are a few more links to the actual page I guess I just wont ever know, but I like to think it's the latter!!

profound thought of the weekend was:

'There is a little bit of a rebel even in the most innocuous looking biker'

came about because I was in the shop and realised that even the dullest of biker must have a bit of ummmmph about him just because he actually is out there riding a bike! Ergo they can't be completely dull!....ok maybe I was a little bored!!

hmmm its tuesday afternoon and sadly I am bored....... new job is sort of ok.... getting busier mostly but but but (and my god is there always a but !!!) can't really motivate myself to go looking for stuff to do as it's all fairly inconsequential

oh well...... life is trundling along, getting used to some stuff but have this underlying feeling that I want to go home. I have had a bit of fun but now I want it to return to normality and hide away with my own things, in my own place... the only way to describe the feeling is by saying I want to go home. Trouble is I left home and am supposedly building a new one here but its not emminently comfortable yet, it's not utterly familiar, so I feel a little like a spare part yet to discover my niche.

London is a good place to be though, I am not miserable and wallowing in despair here far from it. life is fun, dynamic and very sociable!! with lots of accompanying exclamation marks. god I sound like a true whinger! I want a bit of normality, of familiarity. though I suppose when it comes when this place does feel like home I will start looking elsewhere..... endless striving is particularly pointless -as is endless waffling. so I will go now and find something useful to do

Walked home from work Tuesday night. and it was thoroughly pleasant! Hadn't intended to walk quite so far. Originally planned to walk to London Bridge but discovered The Thames Path, so enjoyed a little stroll along by the river. Then realised that to get to London Bridge I would have to back track quite a bit..... as Tower Bridge was in sight I decided to head for that so had to walk around the Tower which was very pleasant if a little touristy!! The walk after Tower Bridge was mostly continuing along the Thames Path, it was sunny and most enjoyable, a vast improvement from the walk home in Cambridge which included mostly council estates!

Where to start??

Have now been living in London for a week and a half and already it is becoming more familiar. Feel more relaxed about stuff now, the job seems ok.... maybe not utterly dynamic but pleasant enough which at the moment is as much as I need!! There are still worries about the boys in Cambridge as Jake is still off work and Josh hasn't got a job yet but I am trying not to focus too much on that and to concentrate on stuff that is happening here.

Four days left here....... difficult to fully absorb the enormity of finally leaving Cambridgeshire! Maybe London isn't too far away but it's a whole new world to explore and experience

The weekend has been utterly lovely, with Friday night starting off at the shop in Bermondsey, not so many people turned up but it was decided at some point around 11 to head to Chelsea Bridge. Now, in my naivity, I just assumed that the half dozen or so of us would go to this bridge maybe one or two of them would try the wheelie thing and that would be it. Well, we did all ride down there together, though Pete decided to go on the Quad bike which was hilarious. He led for most of the trip -people were being very polite and not just racing past him. It was really quite odd to be part of a group of 'bikers'..... very buzzy! So we arrived at Chelsea Bridge and it was a full, heaving mass of bikers!! They ranged from grey beardy blokes on big Harleys to teenagers on scooters. The lads on scooters spent most of their time wheelying across the bridge ... there was a strange smell of burning rubber and the buzz of a large gathering! Very odd, and it happens every friday night!
We then, as a team, headed into Soho and found coffee at 'Bar Italia', sat on a doorstep and watched the world go past at 2 am

Congratulations to Neela and Sacha for the arrival of..... a new person

How about Nezzah! Ok so maybe I have used the last bit of Nebuccanezzah! but I think it looks like a proper name!!!


and I have managed to get a job, starting on the 14th of April!!!! working ....... don't laugh! .........for a fashion company! Well maybe not at the height of fashion as they make silk ties and cashmere scarves but its better than reproductive biology!!!! Its in the grubby part of London that hides in the shadow of the Barbican which actually isn't too difficult to get to from Rotherhithe..... so that's the job thing sorted now we just have to fix up the boat!

Monday again .... and once again the weather has been wonderful! Even dozed off in the sun on saturday afternoon!


It has been a quieter weekend, went to a party in Maida Vale friday night...... it was Jamie's, Pete's mechanic, 30th birthday...... fairly pleasant affair, nice to see Nina again. As Nina is Matty's girlfirend and Matty has been in Dubai for 5 or 6 weeks she hasn't been around but she will venture to the bike shop for next friday's bike do...... definitely want more females to go as the conversation does become rather biased towards biking things with a pile of leatherclad bikers discussing weird stuff about the greasy workings of supermotards....... ?

Sunday was Mothers Day so I had to go home and be a mother! J &J cooked roast lamb... it was very pleasant though I found their insistence that I could not help quite difficult to cope with!

the afternoon

what is going on in the world of knickers????? Is it that long ago I bought new ones? but had a little wander into the Grafton centre to purchase a number of such items and find the choice is limited to thongs or big pants, there seems little in between and maybe I'm just too old or not so very adaptable but thongs are a laughable commodity and I can never forsee the day when I would purchase something that will sit uncomfortably in my bottom all day long, it just doesn't make sense and so I am unable to conform to that present little fashion pecadillo. But big pants! ahhhhhh cant cope with them either??

hmmmm yes H had a scan but didn't see it herself, though J did... this must be so traumatic?? a very difficult time for both of them

and on to another matter only somewhat ambiguously linked...... favourite babies names! well maybe not all of them are serious, or any in fact!

Murdo......... can you imagine a child at school being called this!!!!!
Mungo......
Shebah........
Yitsak........ had to have that one on the list
Noah... met one the other day, he was tall and extremely skinny with a very big nose
Murdoch....... seem to be having a run on names starting with Mu for some reason
Lili...........
Neemah......think I made that one up?
and last but not ever forgotten
Nebuccanezzah....... though think this one could be spelt in sooooooo many different ways

Its probably a good job I am planning no more myself!!!

Friday and the sun is shining....... had another job interview this week and once again didn't get it. next week I'm going for yet another one, this time as a receptionist! But it pays as much as anything else I've applied for, it's in Moorgate which will be 20 minutes away and so I will go along for the interview... dont really want it though, I dont want to be an invisible person. Sometimes wonder if I will ever be regarded, in employment terms, as anything more than fluffy... dont ever seem to get interviews for jobs I actually want, for positions that will challenge and not leave me bored to tears after a couple of months?? Will have to concentrate on stuff outside work but I do feel that I am a vast underdeveloped potential..... I managed to get a good degree whilst working and being a single parent of two kids. so why am I only considered capable of 'meeting and greeting' ordering lunches and shuffling paper around? How on earth do I get a foot into a more interesting world?

the weekend has been good........... weather has been more than springlike, there have been positive hints of summer about some of it. I was actually wandering around with naked shoulders! and this is still March! Actually cleaned up Pete's patio furniture and basked whalelike on his balcony for a while which was very pleasant.......

Had a new toy to play with... a quad bike that is 'street-legal' it has indicators, lights and is registered for road use!!! Very nippy between cars! Ok to drive/ride it with a car license but still need to wear a helmet......

The boat........... it moved!! it didn't really go far but is now facing the opposite direction! Unfortunately because there is so little ballast the rudder is out of the water...... so you cant steer it!! As this type of boat is basically meant to carry tons of cargo it is easier to steer when full..... so we need to either pour concrete into it or some similarly heavy stuff! Apparently for the purist concrete isn't such a good idea ......... I guess because once set its impossible to move?? Anyway Island Hope is rather a heap at the moment -an unsteerable heap!! hmmmmmmmmm it's going to be an interesting summer.