While sitting here waiting for some work to arrive this morning, thought I'd take a quick flick through the Telegraph online and was instantly drawn to this - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5210489/Identity-of--jigsaw-body-parts-murder-victim-solved.html.
While researching a recent local history article I came across a murder that took place in Victorian Norwich which immediately grabbed my attention, so much so that I actually put aside the article I was researching and decided to look into the murder case instead. Having worked in the Cathedral Close in Norwich for over 20 years I found it amazing that I'd regularly walked the very street where this gruesome event took place and hadn't been aware of it. (http://www.authspot.com/Short-Stories/Trouble-in-Tabernacle-Street.336079).
So often we crave the 'good old days', but were they really that great? The murder and mutilation of Jeffery Howe recently was shocking and horrific, but it certainly bears similarities to a lesser publicised murder which took place in Norwich around 150 years ago.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Another Day Over and Deeper in Debt
... as the old 1960s song Sixteen Tons says!
The day started on a high - I had some work in from one of my favourite clients to keep me going for an hour or so and then .......... nothing! Eventually I got one or two bits and pieces filtering through - probably about enough to keep the wolf from the door for the next couple of days. The highlight of my day was unpacking my monthly Asda order which was delivered to me during the morning but now, sitting here at 6.00 pm in my study with the window open, the sun shining, a lovely warm breeze blowing in and the sound of bird song in the air my spirits have been well and truly lifted.
At the end of the day, provided I can pay my household bills and feed me, my partner and the cat it's all I need from life. Who needs to go to the pub or the cinema or take expensive holidays? It'd be nice to be able to afford to do it once in a while but, being 'income restricted' I've come to appreciate what really matters in life. I'm far more fortunate than so many other people in the country at the moment. I have my own little slice of tranquil rural England just outside my window, I have a roof over my head, I have at least some work, unlike many others during this time of recession, I have a close family and, all in all, life ain't so bad. Anyway, tomorrow's another day and I could be inundated with work.
The day started on a high - I had some work in from one of my favourite clients to keep me going for an hour or so and then .......... nothing! Eventually I got one or two bits and pieces filtering through - probably about enough to keep the wolf from the door for the next couple of days. The highlight of my day was unpacking my monthly Asda order which was delivered to me during the morning but now, sitting here at 6.00 pm in my study with the window open, the sun shining, a lovely warm breeze blowing in and the sound of bird song in the air my spirits have been well and truly lifted.
At the end of the day, provided I can pay my household bills and feed me, my partner and the cat it's all I need from life. Who needs to go to the pub or the cinema or take expensive holidays? It'd be nice to be able to afford to do it once in a while but, being 'income restricted' I've come to appreciate what really matters in life. I'm far more fortunate than so many other people in the country at the moment. I have my own little slice of tranquil rural England just outside my window, I have a roof over my head, I have at least some work, unlike many others during this time of recession, I have a close family and, all in all, life ain't so bad. Anyway, tomorrow's another day and I could be inundated with work.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Good, The Bad and (Possibly) The Ugly
I got up this morning feeling decidedly depressed.
Having worked out hard on Wii Sports and WiiFit last weekend and pulling a muscle, I'd decided to give it a rest for a few days but to try and maintain a healthy and balanced diet until I was able to bend and stretch again. I was extremely good during the day yesterday but then things went a little awry. I finished work at around 5.15 and my partner reminded me we had some post that needed sending. As our post box is in the centre of the village, we took the lazy man's route - got in the car rather than take a 40 minute walk. Unfortunately the local fish & chip shop is immediately opposite the post box and essence of hot fat tickled our taste buds and we found ourselves strangely drawn over the threshold!!
So, I woke up this morning feeling very down at heel. I then settled myself at my PC ready for a deluge of work but nothing seemed to filter through so not only had we spent £9 on a very unhealthy meal last night to undo all the hard work we'd done on the Wii over the weekend, I hardly earned enough to replenish the piggy bank during the morning.
Then things took a turn for the better! First of all I got a whole load of work in after lunch from one of my favourite clients, and then I received an email from a newly formed independent TV company that makes historical crime docu-dramas - Archive TV - who are interested in promoting some of my recently published articles.
I already have visions of Martin Shaw, Stephen Fry and Amanda Holden being cast as characters in TV productions of my local history articles as all three have bases in Norfolk, but knowing my luck I'll end up with Russell Brand, Ronnie Corbett and Vanessa Feltz!!
Maybe there is some being out there in the wide blue yonder watching us - the boost I got this afternoon far outweighed the gloom that started off my day.
Having worked out hard on Wii Sports and WiiFit last weekend and pulling a muscle, I'd decided to give it a rest for a few days but to try and maintain a healthy and balanced diet until I was able to bend and stretch again. I was extremely good during the day yesterday but then things went a little awry. I finished work at around 5.15 and my partner reminded me we had some post that needed sending. As our post box is in the centre of the village, we took the lazy man's route - got in the car rather than take a 40 minute walk. Unfortunately the local fish & chip shop is immediately opposite the post box and essence of hot fat tickled our taste buds and we found ourselves strangely drawn over the threshold!!
So, I woke up this morning feeling very down at heel. I then settled myself at my PC ready for a deluge of work but nothing seemed to filter through so not only had we spent £9 on a very unhealthy meal last night to undo all the hard work we'd done on the Wii over the weekend, I hardly earned enough to replenish the piggy bank during the morning.
Then things took a turn for the better! First of all I got a whole load of work in after lunch from one of my favourite clients, and then I received an email from a newly formed independent TV company that makes historical crime docu-dramas - Archive TV - who are interested in promoting some of my recently published articles.
I already have visions of Martin Shaw, Stephen Fry and Amanda Holden being cast as characters in TV productions of my local history articles as all three have bases in Norfolk, but knowing my luck I'll end up with Russell Brand, Ronnie Corbett and Vanessa Feltz!!
Maybe there is some being out there in the wide blue yonder watching us - the boost I got this afternoon far outweighed the gloom that started off my day.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
All in a day's work
Thanks to the downturn in the property market I've now been sucked into this blogging lark! I'm normally sitting here at home busily typing up surveyors' reports or estate agents' particulars but as there's less work out there at the moment, I've taken up writing articles just to pass the time and that's somehow led me to start up a blog.
I love writing articles for publishing on Triond - http://www.triond.com/users/jackie118 and my real passion is history, in particular the more gory side of it; true crime/murder tales and true ghost stories are right up my alley.
At the grand old age of 49 I suspect I'm not going to get a huge 'following' of fellow bloggers but hopefully those of you who do find me will enjoy reading some of my articles and get a laugh out of some of my daily incidents.
I'm currently researching for my next article (my most gory one yet!) but, in order to take a break from my keyboard, I've been WiiFitting!! My partner, Adam, and I invested in a Nintendo Wii a couple of weeks ago and it duly arrived the middle of last week. Adam set it up and we spent a couple of evenings completely engrossed in Wii Sports. In fact, it instantly became an addiction. Adam was supposed to cook dinner but, come 8.00, we still hadn't eaten so we quickly switched on the oven and threw a pizza in for 20 minutes. Two rounds of golf later, which took us about 40 minutes, we remembered to take the pizza out - not quite burnt to a cinder but pretty close! We hurriedly slung that down our necks and did a bit of ten pin bowling and suddenly, lo and behold, it had gone midnight!
Over the weekend we WiiFit up and running. We both set up our fitness regime. Adam's fitness age was calculated at 49 years - bit of a bummer as he's 51! Mine came out at a very disappointing age of 52 which was a bit demoralising as I'm only 48!!! But following a good workout - yoga, followed by aerobics, followed by numerous games of tennis I finally ended up with a fitness age of 49. Not exactly what I wanted as I was hoping to drop at least another year off that to at least bring me into line with my true age, but then again, as I'd pulled a muscle in my bum and my back due to all the running around I suppose it wasn't too bad. Needless to say I'm taking it a little easier for a couple of days before I go for it again.
I love writing articles for publishing on Triond - http://www.triond.com/users/jackie118 and my real passion is history, in particular the more gory side of it; true crime/murder tales and true ghost stories are right up my alley.
At the grand old age of 49 I suspect I'm not going to get a huge 'following' of fellow bloggers but hopefully those of you who do find me will enjoy reading some of my articles and get a laugh out of some of my daily incidents.
I'm currently researching for my next article (my most gory one yet!) but, in order to take a break from my keyboard, I've been WiiFitting!! My partner, Adam, and I invested in a Nintendo Wii a couple of weeks ago and it duly arrived the middle of last week. Adam set it up and we spent a couple of evenings completely engrossed in Wii Sports. In fact, it instantly became an addiction. Adam was supposed to cook dinner but, come 8.00, we still hadn't eaten so we quickly switched on the oven and threw a pizza in for 20 minutes. Two rounds of golf later, which took us about 40 minutes, we remembered to take the pizza out - not quite burnt to a cinder but pretty close! We hurriedly slung that down our necks and did a bit of ten pin bowling and suddenly, lo and behold, it had gone midnight!
Over the weekend we WiiFit up and running. We both set up our fitness regime. Adam's fitness age was calculated at 49 years - bit of a bummer as he's 51! Mine came out at a very disappointing age of 52 which was a bit demoralising as I'm only 48!!! But following a good workout - yoga, followed by aerobics, followed by numerous games of tennis I finally ended up with a fitness age of 49. Not exactly what I wanted as I was hoping to drop at least another year off that to at least bring me into line with my true age, but then again, as I'd pulled a muscle in my bum and my back due to all the running around I suppose it wasn't too bad. Needless to say I'm taking it a little easier for a couple of days before I go for it again.
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