My Great Aunt died last week, she was the twin sister of my Nan who died 10 years ago. According to my Employment Handbook I am entitled to 2 days compassionate leave, so on Thursday next week I am venturing out of SketchWeasel Towers and trusting my luck and life to the public transport system of great Britain.

Hmmm... she ponders ... I don't like trains much .. coach is 5 hours of chucking up ...

So the lesser of the two evils is let the train take the strain. I have to change train four times to get me within 10 miles of my final destination in Kent, that and tackle the ruddy London underground .. this does not please me .. everytime I have travelled on the tube some poor bastard has decided that that's the train he's jumping under. When I have finally made it dishevelled and distraught to the station of choice, I then have to catch another bloody train and then buggery bolloxs a bus. Only then after 6 hours of travel will I reach my parents home in the heart of Kent. I could drive it faster ... but then I don't drive so it's not really an option is it?

I came across this quote in Prydwen's blog earlier and thought I'd share it with people who may have missed it.

8. My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me."
(Shipping executive, FTD Florists)

Hmm... I felt a bit like that today when told that I could only have 2 days compassionate leave. Thankfully on Thursdays I'm given a seven hour rest period, when I can start my journey and then I have to be back on duty at the latest by 4pm on Saturday.....

Anyway Mr SketchWeasel is calling - so I guess it must be time to hit the sack ..

Blessed Be All xx

Ok I've had my blog for a few weeks now and I'm still not up to speed with how it all works ... can anyone tell me how to get all those pretty pics and animations on my blog too... I feel I'm missing out on the fun!

I really love reading Prydwen's blog - he always has such funny stuff on there.

I've known Deadheaduk and his Bird for years and normally chat to one or the other on a daily basis.

This weeks music has been a bit boring - not much time for Napstering at all. Have been listening mainly to Radio 2. I like to wake up to Wogan in the morning - god that is so scary - I've become a TOG! and found that I'm having CRAFT moments .. (Can't remember a f'ing thing)

A friend today gave me a great acronym which we are considering putting on badges DILLIGAF - Do I look like I give a F**k.

And this is my latest favourite T-shirt .. I want one of those ....

It's been a busy week here at Sketch Weasel Towers, hence no blog for the last week.

This week we have mostly been chasing our tails and running ourselves ragged trying to get some help for our 9 year old daughter.
Finally she had an appointment with a counsellor and lo and behold we are told that we are in the wrong area for her to get the help she really needs.
We are also trying to get an assessment for her with the Dyslexia Institute. Unfortunately we have to pay for an assessment with them. 400 quid!!!! hmmm...... how is it that some kids can get the help they need without too much hassle and others have to struggle to get attention.

Work is also an unfriendly place to be right now, with most of the staff (including me) threatening to lynch the management team. Meeting with head of HR planned for next week - watch this space.

Well we've survived the week ..

I shan't say it was easy cos it wasn't, the CSCI inspectors didn't turn up - thats bolloxed it! That means we are now in line for a 'spot' inspection - which means they turn up and check up on us when they feel like it. Good job I'm up to date with the paperwork.

My daughter is now a little happier than she was at the beginning of the week .. She's chuffed cos she's off to spend a few days at Easter with our mate DeadheadUk and his missus and their fine brood.

Not much else to say tonight - so I'm off to my pit.

Tara a bit x

It's been a bit of a week here at chez SketchWeasel.

We are slowly recovering from the incident at the weekend ... Daughters!! The knock on effects have been enourmous.

Work is also being a bit weird - working as I do for a residential college - we are governed by a lot of rules and regulations and this week - we are mostly being over run by Care Standards inspectors.... CSCI are the governing body that regulates the standards of care homes, they are there principally to protect the 'service users' or 'clients' of a service provider. For most of the year we are under staffed and overworked, overwrought and underfunded.
But as soon as CSCI pop up - suddenly we are all having overtime paid and budgets stretched to buy things that we've needed for a year or so.

So to ensure that we pass our 'inspection' hubby and I have been working flat out to make sure that the house is nicely decorated and beautiful. It's a bit of a sod really - cos so far we're not on the 'hit' list!! Bugger all that work ...

Oh well - it looks nice now and we're quite chuffed with it.

That's all on weird Wednesday ...

My nine year old decided to run away from home yesterday ... She packed her three bedtime companions (3 cuddly rabbits)and sped off up the track like there was a rocket up her arse.

We all assumed that she'd dived into the woods that borders the farm we live on ... did she hell!!

3 hours,4 search parties and 3 police cars later, she is found by an off duty police officer and 2 women wandering about 4 miles from home - having got herself completely lost and having had a nap under a tree in woodlands six miles away.

You can only imagine the horrors that we were imagining, it was cold, there were intermittent snow showers, strangers etc ...

Daughter unrepentent! - She thinks she's had a great adventure which finishes up with a nice cup of tea at the local nick.

This morning a flat refusal to go to school - she locks herself in the toilet - then when she comes out she decided to kick off again. Dad picks her up, sticks her in the motor and starts to drive her to school - another kick off! Dad about turns brings her home, because there is no way a school can cope with hysterical 9 year old.

Friendly police officer turns up tonight and reads her the riot act and gets an agreement out of her that if she ever feels like running away again - she's to write a letter to her and drop it into the local nick. She also extracts a promise from her that she will go to bed when I tell her (7.30pm tonight). Also told her that if she behaves like she did to us today (she punched me really hard and kicked her Dad in the face) then she will bring along Mr Nasty Police Officer and he will take her off to the cells to cool down.

Daughter now slightly more repentant.....

The strange thing is - in my job I am trained in Studio 3 techniques, which involves non-confrontational calming and disarming methods. I've been trained to take down a 20 stone 6ft 6" person without harming them or me, but with my daughter, because of the emotional involvement it makes it very hard to cope with for both of us.

I know my daughter has deep seated issues, some of which relate to her dyslexia and we have been trying for the last 18 months to get the local mental health people to take notice of her, she was apparently being fast tracked because of an incident that occcured last Christmas, the fast track appointment?? Is at the end of March, some 30 miles away from where we live!!

What's going on with the health service??
Come on - wake up and smell the coffee!

In rural Wales - where we used to live, for a mental health appointment, the waiting list is six weeks. SIX WEEKS!! Come on South Staffs - get your act together!

My nine year old daughter is suffering and I feel useless to help her.

I work very strange hours 4pm - 9am, but I am allowed to sleep between midnight and 7am, it's a strange life but it brings in the money. One day I may even have that plot of land I dream of.

My dream is to run an ecologically friendly campsite that's open to all manner of people (so long as they don't get upset by bikers arriving day and night) A place where you can have a fire pit outside your tent, you can drink beer till the early hours and not have to worry about silly campsite rules.

Be biker friendly! It may be little me that you cut up at the traffic lights ... I feel very vulnerable on a bike, but as I have no intention of ever driving a four wheeled box it's the transport of choice for me.

Not all bikers are raving nutters who travel at 150mph, some of us are Mums and Dads who choose a sustainable mode of transport, my bike is the most efficient on the road at present - it even has a catalytic converter!

She's a lovely little bike - I also have my big bike sitting in the garage waiting for when I pass my Direct Access later this year. I have a Classic Honda CX500 which my hubby is going to either chop or trike for me - cos I'm a short arse I need things nice and low.

I bought her on Ebay!! I have spent rather a lot of money on ebay - last year we bought 2 motorbikes and a horsebox (which we are converting into a fantastic camper/workshop, it will also be used for carrying the bikes.

Hubby rides a bike, he too has a CX500, I spent 10 years looking for the right one for him - he had one about 2 years before we met and he kept saying that he wished he'd never parted with it, so I vowed to myself that one day I'd get it for him. So on our 10th wedding anniversary in 2005, I presented him with the keys .... (He bought me a new computer - which cost more than the bloody bike!)

Hubby and I celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary on 1st April - yes we know it's April Fools Day - and yes that's probably why we did it! We had only been together 3 months (to the day) when we got married and we just get stronger as the years go by. He fell of his motorbike at my feet on New Years Day 1995, so I picked him up took him in the pub - and he never went home - I tease him that it's cos I had central heating in my house and he didn't but he tells me that it's cos he loved me from the moment he met me, funny thing is, I know what he means, because believe me, Love at first Sight really does exist. It happened to us and it can happen to anyone of you.

Anyway I think I'm probably papping now as I tend to do when tired or overwrought.

Resistance is ....

Voltage over Current

And Maidstone and District were the best bus company in the country to work for. Shame Arriva had to get hold of it.

ooh that reminds me ... check pension fund....

Haven't listened to much in the way of music today - did Napster Paul Weller's Fly on the Wall album though.
Radio 2 was on the background for most of the day.

Menzies Campbell - that's a weird one apparently he prefers to be called Minger...
Jeremy Vine had a field day with that one!

Anyway time for this old bird to be put on the perch with a curtain over her head.

Sleep well all.

I thought this was a great ice breaker - so thanks to the person I nicked the idea from.

Where were you born? Tunbridge Wells, Kent
How old will you be on your next birthday? 38
Who was the last person you e-mailed? My boss
Who was the last person that e-mail you? My boss
Do you like white chocolate? Yes – Green and Blacks Organic – love it
Tea or Coffee? Tea, Tea, Tea
What is the most embarrassing CD or album you have ever owned? Brother Beyond
What is the worst book you’ve ever read? Jane Eyre
What is the worst film you’ve ever seen? Vera Drake
What is the best book you’ve ever read? A Kestrel for A Knave
What is the best film you’ve ever seen? Kes
Do you own any cuddly toys, if so how many? Yes – A valentine mouse given to me by my hubby 10 years ago
If you had to choose your last ever meal, what would it be? Bacon, Brie and Mushrooms on toast with Waldorf Salad
Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes – frequently – currently pillar box red
What was the last book you read? Margrave of the Marshes – John Peel and Sheila Ravenscroft
What is your all time favourite TV show? Don’t have a TV
Have you ever had a crush on a famous person, if so who? Paul Weller when I was 10 – 15 years old
What type of car would you most like to own? Already got it … Series IIa Landrover from 1966
Do you have any tattoos? Yes - one
Do you have any piercings? 3 in each ear – used to be five in the right ear
How many pairs of jeans do you own? six
Can you play a musical instrument, if so what? Recorder – learning bass guitar and accordion
How many jobs have you had since leaving school? 6
What is/was the best job you’ve ever had? Current one – working with teenagers with learning difficulties and behavioural problems.
What is/was the worst job you’ve ever had? Chopping lemons in an ice cream factory
Have you ever broken a bone in your body? Both ankles 7 times, right arm once and left arm twice
What phrase do you use the most? Oh bloody hell!
How many people’s phone numbers are on your mobile phone? Zillions
Where did you last go on holiday? Wales
When did you last go on holiday? 2 Years ago
What person do you most admire? Nelson Mandela
What person do you least admire? Tony Blair
Do you have any allergies? Yes - Penecillin
Where were you the last time you laughed out loud? This morning when the rat tried to eat the cat
Where were you the last time you cried? Bedroom - yesterday
What is your biggest fear? Losing my husband or daughter
What is your greatest hope for the future? To own my own plot of land.

It was minus 6 here last night - very heavy frost but still no snow.

I reckon that it will arrive in the West Midlands around easter - just when everyone else is digging out their swimmers .. oh arse!

There's no daffodils either - which was a real sod on St David's Day - couldn't find any leeks in the larder either.

Today - hubby has crashed out with the snots that laid me flat yesterday.

Watched a film I hadn't seen before last night - A Fistful of Dynamite (Duck you Sucker)- I'm not really into westerns but Sergio Leone did some wonderful films.

In a more modern vein - I thoroughly enjoyed the 'Mariachi' series of films by Richard Rodrequez (sic) the funniest and most touching of the films being Once upon a time in Mexico - starring Johnny Depp.

Johnny Depp (purrrr .....) is a very talented actor who seems to completely immerse himself in the roles he plays. He especially shines as Raul Duke/Hunter S Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (top film)

I think my dvd collection is mostly made up of films containing Johnny Depp and Guy Pearce.

Guy Pearce played Mike in Neighbours during the early to mid 80's and has since appeared in Priscilla Queen of the Desert (fantastic film), LA Confidential, Memento and numerous others.

I like my actors to have a slightly chiselled but effeminate look about them.

It's been one of those days ...
Firstly I wrote a bit for my blog this morning and promptly lost it ...

It went something along the lines of I must live in a micro climate in the West Midlands, because all around me is snow, except for where I am - for most of the day it was sunny and I mean really sunny the sort of sunny you expect in spring, but I could see from my window that the Malvern hills are covered in snow. When are we going to see some real snow, you know the sort we had as kids (I'm talking the 70's here guys and gals) Does anyone remember the winter of 1976 it seemed to go on for months - this followed the 1976 drought. And still there's a hosepipe ban in my home county of Kent .. bizarre that - they've had rain and snow for months now - yet Mid Kent Water in their infinite wisdom declare a drought for this year. But last year's quote from a 'spokesperson' for Mid Kent Water will always make me laugh. Speaking on the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 the spokesperson said " When are people going to realise that water is not a renewable resource"... Errr .. The water that falls is the same stuff that's always been around and will come around again - sorry mate! At sometime in the past that water has been through Ghandi, Jesus Christ, Buddha etc ...

Anyway that's more than I intended to say in my original posting.

I've spent the day being ill .. the flu bug that everyone else seemed to have before Christmas passed me by ... until now ... Aargh! I was hoping to spend my day studying but I've spent most of it sneezing and dribbling snot... not a pretty sight.

I fell asleep on my boss too!

I'm hoping that I'll sleep better tonight - without the constant feeling of suffocation, I hate it when my nose is bunged up.

Today I have been listening to an eclectic bag of sounds.
Paul Weller - Clearly - new dvd arrived in the post this morning - huzzah!
Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley Shoals
Shed 7
Curtis Mayfield

Oh and my hubby playing the 'washtub bass' this is just one of a long line of instruments that he has built from scratch with a few wombled materials. There are numerous drums made from all sorts of pieces of pipe and sheep skins that he has sourced and cured himself. He's a classically trained Flugel Horn player, but he rather enjoys 'sounds from scraps' So I let him get on with it - it's entertaining, cheap and keeps him off the street.

As I'm new to this blogging lark, thought I'd start with a few details about meself.
Born in Kent,UK, sometime in the late sixties. Married 11 years and have a daughter of 9 going on 19 - Honestly it's like living with permanent PMT!

I'm a music fan - there isn't much I don't like to listen to, favourites have to be The Jam (I've been a fan since I was 7 years old - that's dedication)Paul Simon, Van Morrison, lots of old 80's metal - you know the kind - "poodle rockers" as a friend of mine calls them.

I especially love my Napster membership - I get to listen to all the new bands that are being influenced by the musicians I like and also find stuff I would never have dreamed of listening to.
Man I love those Blues .... Muddy Waters ... George Thorogood and The Destroyers .. The Whistlers Jug Band.

I have a penchant for Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate - if you're buying mine's the White one.

I like real ale ..
I ride a motorbike ...
I paint stuff .. and if you sit still long enough ..

I tuned in turned on and dropped out for 3 years and lived in a caravan on the side of a mountain in Wales .. Fantastic .. escaped the rat race ... Unfortunately reality and a bad business deal caught up with us and we had to come back into the 'machine' world, where a paying job wasn't an option but a necessity.

Now I work in the education sector and am studying for a degree in Social Work.

I was a fcuked up teenager - might as well put all that practice into good use.

Ok - everyone else has one - everyone seems to read them, so here's mine.