Odd Thomas Odd Blog

You're probably wondering what happened at the photo session from last Friday? No? Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway, so if you don't want to read on, go have fun with the kittens ... For those of you into cats, my mate Foshie has become a foster carer, looking after cats until a home can be found for them. His second cat, Molly , seems to get two distinct reactions: "Aww, she's gorgeous!" and "My God, what is that?!". My reaction to the first photo I saw was to laugh: she had huge eyes and a face like an Ewok . Then I met her on Friday night, and my heart melted. As well as being the smallest, skinniest, 8-year-old cat I had ever seen, the poor thing also had a cold and was wheezing and snuffling like I do after I've been around cats!* Surprisingly, she didn't run away from me, and within 10 minutes I was taking pics of her lounging about. Foshie had said that she was cam era shy, but I think she secretly enjoyed being the centre of ...

Things have been a bit lax on the excitement front of late, hence the pic of today's lunch! If it looks as good to you as it tasted to me, then it was worth hanging out of our second-story office to get a 3G signal in order to upload the pic! You see, I'm prepared to risk life and limb just to make an entry for you ;-) There's a little sandwich shop called Sandwich Plus , in Tring's Dolphin Square, that appears to offer the more interesting sandwich fillings in the area. This one was Serrano Ham and Brie, which you can't really see here as it was hidden somewhere under the ton of salad!! I'm not complaining, mind, as it was very tasty ... the same of which could not be said for the salad dodger I passed on the way to buy it. Tonight should be a fun night. My mate Foshie has asked me to attempt to take some pics of his new cat, Molly , under the theory that she won't screw her face up with my camera due to the auto-focus being E-TTL , so there is no aut...

Recently, my mate Foshie signed up as a foster carer for cats, looking after those without homes or that have been badly treated. His first, Leon , took to hiding under the bed, but he was very affectionate and would come and make a fuss if you went up to see him ... though the least said about the results of too much catnip , the better! Leon found a home last week, so Foshie was all prepared for the next tenant, who arrived last night. How would you react when the lady delivering the animal pulls this out of her hat? Foshie's reaction: "My God, she's hideous!" Personally, I'd have pissed myself laughing - in fact, I do every time I look at this pic: the poor thing looks like its walked into one too many patio doors. Though in a strange way, she is quite cute...

Tesco, the British Bulldog of supermarkets are something of a business success story when it comes to making profit. What they don't tell you is how successful they are in other areas, such as teaching new skills. Thanks to their Fish Nigiri pack, I have now become pretty nifty with a pair of chopsticks and should soon be catching the flies lurking round the office Karate Kid stylee ... lets hope I have better luck than I did with the 12-inch name plaque that nearly disappeared out the window. * * * * * One of the positive aspects of working in an office two floors over a busy high street, apart from having a great view (especially in the hot weather ;-), is the protection afforded by distance. It seems that, despite the lack of rain over the past few weeks, the drain across the road had become blocked, so the local council brought out what must have been it's biggest sludge-sucker to take care of business. If it wasn't for the fact that the machine was operated by a w...

In the early hours of 10 April, my maternal Grandmother passed away after a period of illness, aged 89 years. She was a tough little woman who raised 11 tough children, 24 grandchildren and over a dozen great-grandchildren who came together on 18 April to pay their respects and say their farewells. The service was a really nice ceremony where my Uncle gave a fitting eulogy to the lady who held the family together ... and credit to him for managing to do so, I can only imagine how hard it was for him. Buried with my Grandfather who passed away in 1988 aged 71, Grandma will be remembered with fondness, admiration and love by all who knew her. * * * * * Ever since last Saturday, my stomache has been causing me some major problems in the bowel department, possibly caused by a combination of cheese and lemon curd (makes me feel ill all over again just thinking about it). Luckily (though not apparent at the time), an 'accident' in that department a few years ago taught me to be more...

So, according to that wonderful bunch, The Scientists (this time of The Mind Lab ), women prefer chocolate to kissing . Well, who'da thunk it?! No surprises there really, was there?! Was there?? In fairness, they did say that there was an equal reaction in the guys, but they're not known for their chocolate addiction as much as the ladies! If this means that chocolate is more appealing, then either it really is more addictive than physical passion or the ladies just aren't getting the right attention from their guys ... but then they haven't met me yet ;-) * * * * * Despite still having a dodgy tum this morning from something I ate Saturday (I'm putting it down to the lemon curd), I went into work this morning and brightened up some when I saw I had a package waiting for me. I love receiving parcels through the post - it gives me a good reason to spend money :-D There was only one thing it could be: the cards I had ordered with my Flickr details on had arrive...

Yes, they've hit double figures ... and you thought small town life was boring! Shame on you!

Dandelion , originally uploaded by Odd Thomas . Well, this is the pic I have chosen as the background for my new Flickr cards that I'm getting printed through StreetCards . I've adjusted it slightly so the grass is darker and the dandelion brightened a little, just to make it stand out more ... and obviously added text, too! Hopefully, they will come out well - I'll post one on here when they're done :-)

Well, belated Happy Easter to you all - better late than never! Okay, perhaps this isn't the best Easter Egg to present to you, but it is more interesting than most! On Saturday, I travelled with a couple of friends to Cliveden House , each weighed down with his favourite camera, on our never-ending hunt for experience, new places and that perfect shot. Ah well, at least I found a new place! The weather was pretty good, and there was a fair amount of ground to cover, so I would definitely recommend it as a day out - even better if you are a National Trust member as you can get in for free! :-) As usual, selected pics have been posted to my Flickr pages in the Cliveden Set , so you can check out what we got up to. They're not great, but hey, I'm still learning! You should recognise the image used to create the above egg at dumpr.net :-) Both Friday and Saturday I also finally entertained friends: I've been keeping them at bay as my place is cluttered beyond belief,...

I'll miss you. x

And the epic blog entry continues ... I really must learn to précis!! As you may remember, oh faithful reader, Saturday morning was my launch into that wonderful past-time normally reserved for penniless teenagers or bored grandparents: babysitting. Or in my case, toddler teasing, as they take life far too seriously! So far, we've had spilled milk, I've had my breakfast pinched and I have inadvertantly succeeded in turning the youngest into a pen-sniffing junkie. Then the lunch wars began... Dinner Duty The time came when the terrible twosome decided they wanted to eat. In a much appreciated act of foresight, honed through years of parenting, my sis had already sorted out some sandwiches for them to eat, so I took out a small square for the youngest and gave him a plate. And then I did something he didn't agree with: I dared to tell him he had to eat it up at the table! Oh no no no, he wasn't having that! Whining loudly, and sobbing better than Gwyneth Paltrow at an ...

Wow, what an eventful weekend! I was due to visit my parents, but due to my nan taking a turn for the worse :-(, they had to disappear, so I offered to fill their role as babysitter for my sister's kids. Kid Duty 6:15am Saturday, I get a wake up call from my sis to make sure I get in the shower before they arrive. I am not great at getting up in the morning, so the call was very much appreciated ... though I couldn't help thinking that if I was at home, I would have slept in until at least 11! Ah well, gives me a taste of parental life! The one thing that I was really dreading however, was the nappy changing. In the past, either my sis or my mum have been around to clean up the nappy mess of the youngest, but not this time. This time, I would have to brave the baby paste on my own - and I think my sis relished the fact that he had eaten a lot of bran lately, so his nappies were more fragrant than normal! Breakfast Duty After my sis had gone, without any of the expected fuss ...