Busy Bank Holiday

[jadesfire]

Yay for Bank Holidays! For the first time in 4 years, I'm actually taking this one off and at home all day. Of course, being me, I have a schedule of what I want to get done, but that's mostly to avoid getting to the end of another day off where I sort of potter randomly, get to the evening and think 'damn, I wish I'd done...' At the moment, I'm earning some money by copy-typing eighteenth century accounts of Tartars, which is surprisingly interesting, and not just in the comma usage.

It's absolutely pelting it down here, which makes me all the more glad that we went out on Saturday. Blenheim Palace is just about one of my favourite places to walk, and the more we visit Woodstock, the more we want to live there. The peace of the park was somewhat broken by a 'jousting and falconry' display that was going on up at the main house, and the sound carried really well over the lake. But it's still a lovely place to wander round, with wooded walks along the lake, open fields, and beautiful views. I always forget how big it is - you can walk for a couple of hours without doubling back on yourself.

Woodstock itself is a traditional English Village, with lots of Cotswold stone houses and little tiny shops. We love it there, and had lunch at a wonderful deli where everything is made fresh and tastes great. J had a craytish tails bap, shedding crayfish every time he picked it up. They also don't mind your lingering over a coffee, so we sat for a couple of hours, reading the paper and eating baklava. Mmmmmm.... On the way back to the car, we met the most gorgeous chocolate labrador puppy, who loved my Shaun the Sheep backpack, even when I accidentally dropped it on him. Lab puppies are so sweet, with that 'not quite grown into their feet' look that they have, and interest in absolutely everything. He was incredibly slobbery but very affectionate. I'm assuming chewing my sleeve was a sign of affection, anyway. It only doubled my dog-craving, allergies be damned. All in all, a good day.

The tardis_bigbang admin is well under control, so all I have to do is get my own story edited and nudge authors to get done as well. Because if you have more than one person checking an email account for replies, chaos ensues. I might start prodding at my sgabigbang story, I might tackle the beginning of "The Watching Years", I will tackle the story that miss_zedem prodded me towards the other day, and I might follow aeron_lanart's example and sign up for the occhallenge with Hugh. I'm also thinking that Hugh is a great character, with or without Jack and Torchwood, so I might see what I can do with some original stories with him. The thought of writing outside fanfic for the first time in years is scary, but kind of exciting. We'll see.

Also, while the house is quiet, I thought I might do some audiofic recordings. I've got a list of other people's stories that I can record, but I thought it might be nice to record some of my own as well. Any requests? (list at heretoutopia) And if you haven't read rustydog's beautiful post-Exit Wounds fic Steps, you can now listen to it as well. Download it here. Definitely recommended.

Other things to do today, to be crossed off as I go:

Finish typing

Audiofic recordings

Baking

Pilates

torchwood_meta rota

Re-organise MP3 player

Edit Big Bang fic

Email J + C [RL friends]

Hope everyone else is having a good day too - do drop in and say hi. I'm here all day :D