@LL - hoping your wife will have a swift and uncomplicated recovery. I've met many people who are delighted with their knee-replacement surgery; they tell me they've gotten their lives back. I hope that's the case for your wife.

@chrisinhouston ... getting off the pain meds is great! Glad you've turned the corner. Now you don't have to deal with those GI side effects.

@Big Sarge ... Crocs have become our quick-stick-your-feet-in-them shoes to run outside and grab some firewood or some herbs from the garden. I agree with you, very comfy and convenient!

My crocs are camo and are great when you have to go to the latrine at night.

:) Quite a sight Sarge.

Lil Pete's boyfriend has been peppering me with house construction questions all evening. Kids got the itch.

Oh, so the kid sees property, trees, and a seasoned veteran... one stop shopping. :haha:

Sarge doesn't mean those good-hot-weather-shoes-with-ventilation (which I own a knock-off pair of).
He sticks his feet in real crocodiles (I think he means alligators, though)

You don't pull the mask of the night latriner and you don't mess around with Maury.
Big Schuh, big bad Schuh.

Pizza night tonight!
Yumyum. Even Dad is having some.

Baking a cake tomorrow.
And then making Mum chicken liver in cream & brandy with tagliatelli on Thursday.

What am I saying?
In the kitchen, in this heat?

Also bought a pair of work shoes.
Not by choice - none of mine are suitable (which I suspected anyway.)
Wore them to walk round the block today. Sweet FSM my feet were hot.
What am I thinking? Work shoes in this weather?
But work shoes mean end of not working and job and MONEY!

Am working on the silver lining aspect here.
'Cept for the pizza. That's a slice of fried gold right there.

Damn, almost forget the real reason for the post.
The World's End on Friday.

Huzzah. Yes I have a ticket. I have forgone my usual treats in order to buy it, and am even intending to take water into the cinema with me rather than buying a bucketful of Diet Coke.

For those who don't like to link it's the new Edgar Wright/ Simon Pegg/ Nick Frost film.
Mixed reviews, but the critics whose tastes tend to match mine - or at least overlap - have enjoyed it.

Yay! Friday!
Start work on Monday!
Not paid til 26 AUGUST though :eek:
Tcha, got a full store cupboard and will get through somehow.
At least all my clothes are provided and the 'rents will wink at what I pay them for a little while; they've seen the documents, they know the deal.

In summary and on balance, very happy.

We found a big goofy puppy running free on our evening walk. My husband went back with treats and caught him, only to find the dog had no tag. We kinda stared at him for an hour trying to figure out what to do with him. (Couldn't bring him in for the night or put him in our yard cuz our dogs would freak.) Finally, my husband started ringing doorbells on the street where we'd found him, and luckily he found the pup's family. Hooray!

send my thanks to Kitsune for his good deed.

In the middle of feeling at a very low ebb and very sorry for myself...Sundae sent cake!!!!

I almost cried (in a good way) when it arrived. A large slice of moist chocolate (I assume, havent tasted yet:p) cake wrapped in foil in a plastic box with the easily identifiable panda tape around it.

Bless you chika, you haven't half cheered me up :)

10 years, a week, and a day ago, Mr. Clod and I got married. We missed celebrating around the actual day because of me being on death's door, but finally got our chance to go out to dinner last night.

We went to Uchiko, where the executive chef is Paul Qui, the winner of Top Chef season 9. I've been to expensive places, but I've never been to a truly foodie kind of place like this where the portions are tiny and they serve things like fennel sorbet. Really amazingly fantastic.

Congratulations to you!

Choco, it wasn't a Korean family that claimed the dog, was it?

I, too, got cake!
It was sitting in its panda-taped box on the doorstep when we got back from our travels yesterday evening. I tucked it into the fridge immediately and had my slice for late breakfast this morning. As if that wasn't decadent enough, I munched on this divine morsel while Mr L pedalled 6 miles on the exercise bike behind me.
It was GORGEOUS! Thank you so much, Sundae, you shouldn't have!

Hooray for cake!

Congrats on your anniversary, Clod!

Boooo. The family is trying to sell their house; during a showing the realtor accidentally let the pup escape, and by the time the family got back home pup was long gone.

This is terrible, terrible selling behavior. Nevermind whether it's safe for the pet; you don't leave an animal in a house you're trying to sell!

Absolutely. One of the biggest stresses of selling a house with four smallish children was taking all the children AND all the pets out in the car while the house was being shown. But I would never have left the animals in the house.

Congrats on your anniversary, Clod! Many happy returns!