Waiting for the Kettle to Boil...

Today's my day off and I'm having a right good sort out, tidy up and clean! It's funny how I can be someone who likes things tidy, organised and clean - and yet my house quite often looks the opposite of that! I have all sorts of explanations (excuses?) but the more cynical might just say that I'm a messy person deluding themselves into thinking they're a tidy person! Being, also, a rather analytical type character I could far too easily find myself going off on an analytical divert into priorities, procrastination and psyche... so I'll resist the temptation!
Anyway, this isn't getting it done is it (I was just waiting for the kettle to boil)! Of course I'll drink that nice cup of tea while I wade through the last load of filing!

Add-on: One thing I have noticed about myself is that all those little things I like to do when all is organised around me, like writing and posting little notes or letters, reflecting a bit in my occassional journal, reading something historical or biographical that interests me, or taking some time to pore over a map all seem to fall by the wayside and are replaced by vacant procrastination when I'm surrounded by chaos! Well, I couldn't help but analyse a bit!

The Cult

Pure class... just love it! (See the ramblings below for why I'm delighting you with The Cult and Dr. and the Medics!) .

And this one was posted on You Tube by a generous person who allows people like me (and therefore you!) to play the vid! (Again, see below for an explanation of that seemingly random comment)!

And I still love it...!

Ok, here's another little insight into my psyche... or something! When I was in my teens and something of a Goth, I was totally into The Cult and Dr. and the Medics! (No they are not quite of the same class!). Well, I went to see Dr. and the Medics at Hammersmith Palais when I was 16 - with my cousin, who was seriously Goth in comparison to me (and I still managed to make my family wince!). Anyway, I seem to recall hanging around for ages after the concert was finished while she chatted to one of the Anadin Brothers backstage (a friend of hers) - they're the two funky women singers/dancers... who also pop up in The Cult's 'Rain' video I think (can anyone out there confirm or deny it - it certainly looks like them!). Blimey, I thought they were so cool and spent embarrassing amounts of time copying their 'Spirit in the Sky' moves! It was also an interesting night because we'd left the (cousin's) car at Redbridge tube station but when we went to go home they were only running as far as Wanstead... so we hitched between with a lorry driver. (My mum has a fit when I tell her these stories now!)
So I was massively chuffed when I found this vid on You Tube. My family so relate this song to me that they're going to have it at my funeral!! (You have to understand that as a minister, talk of funerals becomes rather commonplace - without meaning any disrespect!).

Add-on: Well, I've just discovered that "the owner of this video does not allow video embedding" - how mean can you get!! Please humour me and go and watch it here instead (just search for "dr medics spirit sky" and it should merrily appear in front of you - 2nd option!). If you put in Spirit in the Sky you'll just get a load of Gareth Gates!

Semi-logical Statistics of a Non-Statistician!

This is going to be another one of those random type of posts! I'm sitting here with my cup of tea, and I was wondering what on earth I was going to post on today (my life does seem to contain situations and conversations that I'd just love to mention here - but confidentiality, as well as respect for the people involved won't allow me to do that)!
There was my son's birthday yesterday for example - I am now the (not that old!!) mum of a 15 year old... but that was his special day and I like to keep his life away from my blog. (He already has to contend with having a minister for a mum (ie. someone who preaches). Not that long ago we were having a conversation about the fact that I wanted to mention him (something he'd said or done) in a sermon (I was asking permission)... So my little gem starts negotiating a fee for each time he's mentioned... and was trying to get a fiver a throw!! (It's looking promising for his hoped-for degree/career in Business!). But moving on - as all that was by way of saying that I wasn't going to talk about him!

Anyway, I thought I'd have a little look back over the first couple of months of this Teapot blog (the virtual blogging world still being fairly new and only discovered by me in March). I had a look back to see which of the posts got the most comments etc... thus creating a psychological profile of Teapot readers (only joking!). So, for anyone else out there who is in the least bit interested, here are some random observations on the life of Chelley's Teapot from its first 3.5 months of existence, brought to you by a non-statistician:

The very first post - which was one of those pretty typical, "Er hello, I've got a blog, I don't really know what to say (not much changed there then!) but here's a picture of my lovely yellow teapot" type posts - actually got one comment. Admittedly it was a comment by someone who I suspect was providing themselves with a link to their own blog, but it was an exciting start!

The 11 posts after that got nothing, nil, rien... no blip on the cyber radar... yes, even the ones about Chas n Dave, Trumpton and Dinnerladies... I mean, come on, how could you contain yourselves and not comment on such legends? (Well not so much Chas n Dave as legends, but don't you just love 'Gertcha'?!)

The most Googled (that is arrived at through a google search) two posts on the blog (according to my impression having regularly checked my SiteMeter, rather than according to proper counting!) are 'Diary of a Church Mouse' and 'The Temple Curtain'. I have no idea though if those who were directed here found what they were looking for as neither of these posts has any comments! (The link I provided with Diary of a Church Mouse to John Betjeman's recording is well used though).

I suspect that the most disappointed Googler is possibly the person who came by today looking for "Find Rihanna clothing line worn in SOS". My apologies that the Teapot will be no bloomin' use to you whatsoever - but I do love the song!

The comments did start to pick up a little bit after a while... and the two posts with the most comments (8 each, which includes my own comment/reply) were 'Hits and Linkeage' which was a '38 days old' blog anniversary post mainly about Technorati confusion and thanking my first linkers for linking here. And the other was the one about my wonderful, marvellous, shiny purple DM boots (which have also found some support on the Ship of Fools discussion boards too!).

You are such gracious people out there clearly - as none of the 5 comments on the 'Mulberry House' post made any reference to the picture of me inelegantly sprawled on my backside! I don't know that I could have been so kind!

I noticed that there are only a couple of posts about Spurs or football in general... which I know at least Neil will be pleased about... but I don't imagine I'll be able to get through the World Cup without saying something about it - even if it's just to post some pictures of me in my assorted England hats!!

Right, that'll do for now... I was going to declare my favourite posts but I've got brain-ache and can't be bothered!
Thanks for reading :)

Add-on: Actually the Rihanna search was a Yahoo one not Google, but that doesn't really have the same ring to it as 'disappointed Googler' now does it?!

A Bit of Time in the Garden... Part 2

In the usual way of the logical and mathematical, Part 2 comes after Part 1, so if you haven't read Part 1 please go and read it first, rather than starting with Part 2, because otherwise Part 2 will make even less sense than it will do if you read it after you've read Part 1. I hope that's quite clear. And so to commence Part 2...

'Gardeners' World' gardens with a nice place to sit with your pint... (best to empty the plants out first!)...

And a wild flower garden - with the beers at the ready...


And a big barrel that I thought looked great...!

There was obviously a lot more to see, as well as lots of places to sit and watch the world (the gardeners) go by, places to shop and eat and of course to drink copious cups of tea - which I did, though didn't actually take any pictures for the Teapot, so you'll just have to believe me!

Of course, Thursday was also the day of 'The England Match', so at 5pm I was sitting on the floor in a big hall waiting for my dad to wander back with some more plants, with my faithful old tranny glued to my ear. The little radio stayed there through the wait in the rather long bus queue (to take us back to the car park!), on the bus and into the car park, when the car radio took over. I have to say though (as you're well aware I'm sure) that the first half (the tranny half) was not the most riveting game of football I've known - I'm afraid I can't bring myself to be more derogatory seeing as the lads did score us those two excellent goals - but when you're standing in a very long bus queue looking something like 'Day of the Triffids', even a pants match is worthy entertainment!

A Bit of Time in the Garden... Part 1

Had a lovely day out yesterday with my dad at Birmingham NEC for the 'Gardeners' World Live' Exhibition! You may recall from the Springtime pictures of my garden (aka wilderness) that I have not given much attention to my outdoor space! And this despite the fact that I do in fact love gardens, have a ridiculous number of gardening books and a lot of good intentions! So, days like yesterday are wonderful for procrastinating gardeners like myself to gather even more inspiration and intention and live in hope that one day they'll juggle their priorities and spend a lot more time working in the garden rather than just sitting, dreaming, playing football, drinking tea and chasing the cat in it! (Having said that, my wilderness has improved dramatically from two afternoons of grass cutting, strimming, compost heap building and other energetic taming pursuits by G - who when visiting with his family never gets a free meal!).

So, for all you other not-quite-gardeners out there, here are some piccies of my day (I should have taken one of the Champagne and Pimms stand - what a great idea!)...

I'm a bit of a traditional garden girl myself, so the wacky stuff's not quite my thing... but this is certainly an impressive sandcastle (or is it a model of Madonna's bra?).
Saw this and thought of me Shipmates on the Ship of Fools!

This very pink garden was the 'Think Pink Garden for Breast Cancer Care'.

I didn't go presenter spotting, but, well, Monty Don just happened to be standing there... so I thought I may as well take a photo!

Part 2 to follow...

Liverpool Street Station

Well, I'll begin with a confession... I love Liverpool Street Station! I have lived all my life somewhere or other on the Liverpool Street line - and am currently the furthest south on the line that I've been (the farthest away being when we lived in Cambridge for a couple of years). From Cambridge it's actually much quicker to get into London by going straight into King's Cross (both lines go from there) but KC just can't compare!
Maybe it's because (as I said) from my earliest expeditions into London, we went into LS - all those years ago it didn't look as it does now. I have only vague memories of how it used to be, but I know it wasn't as big and 'glossy' as it is now! And there were the teen years of shopping trips and late night concerts - of missing the last train home - wasn't there once a milk train you could catch? I love the familiarity, and the bustle, of the station; I like the variety of life in the bit of London in which it sits; and I like to watch the world go by from my favourite little vantage point (of course, I should have had a nice cup of tea sitting in front of me...!):




I even love the roof! Perhaps you have a slightly bizarre favourite place too? Liverpool Street has been one of those places with a part in many eras of my life, and of it I will always be very fond!