by Fern Shaw | Oct 23, 2014 | Water, Water Coolers
Recently a real and FB friend posted something on my page about listing your top 10 books to read ever or that had a huge influence on your life.
Now as a complete and utter bookworm, believe it or not, I was stumped. A wee bit ironic, that – a wordsmith / blogista without words. Why though? Well, I suppose it’s a little like this – bookworm envy I’d call it. When I read through said friend’s list of what her top 10 were, I saw how inspirational and life affecting they all were. My top 10, not so much.
The reasons are that I have an attention span of a goldfish or what the purported memory span of a goldfish is – 5 seconds … sorry, what? See, like that.
Somehow, my goldfish brain made the connection between water and books and The Wind in the Willows (author – Kenneth Grahame). I was very fortunate to grow up in a household of bookworms, and British classics abounded. The book I had was illustrated by the incredibly gifted E. H. Shepard and his illustrations just brought the magic of the book to life even more.
Anyhow, once my brain had made this wind, willows and water connection I started wondering about the volume of books (fiction) had water in the title. Even specifying fiction, it soon became apparent that I’d bitten off far more than I could digest. Digest, geddit? As in Reader’s Digest. Before your time? Sorry for you as they say in my neck of the woods.
From Like Water for Chocolate to Ring of Bright Water, there are thousands of watery books, more than you can shake a stick at. I’m not even going to go there.
I think I’ll rowboat race my office chair down to around the water cooler and compile my 10 best ever list there. Not a Herculean task as watery books, but close.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 23, 2014 | water cooler
As you may have gathered by now, I spend an inordinate amount of time water cooling. This doesn’t mean cooling by water (although this does play a part if you get what I mean, kind of, sort of) but rather that I lurk a lot at our office water cooler.
Before you get the idea that this is all about me skiving off, let me assure that this not.
Being at the water cooler garners a number of positive results – here are just a few for you to consider:
- It can mean a very effective manner of garnering office info (apart from all the current skinny endemic to an office environment). Because most people tend to socialise when they’re being watered or fed, you’re sure to pick up on some hot tips about what’s happening in the workplace.
- Setting a routine that involves you moving away from your work station; moving around and replenishing your water can only be good for your posture, well-being and hydration health.
- This in turn will keep you feeling refreshed, more ‘switched on’ and more likely to handle workload pressure.
- You get to meet colleagues that you perhaps haven’t met before past the ubiquitous e-mail contact.
In extreme situations (i.e. being around me), being around the water cooler can also mean:
- You get to lighten up your day by lounge-lizarding around the water cooler, who knows, you may well hear a cracker joke that will just make your day.
- You can play {safety first people!} water cooler games e.g.
- Who makes the best water bottle gloomph;
- Have a 20 second corniest word association face-off with a colleague – will keep you sharp witted if nothing else;
- Play a water version of beer pong where you have to down water in place of beer – borinnnng I know, but mate, you are at work!
- In the autumn and winter months, buy some tropical island type, neon coloured corkscrew straws and offer them up to colleagues when they come for water refills.
Told ya, loads of reasons to hang around the water cooler and most of them are good for you. See you there!
by Fern Shaw | Oct 7, 2014 | water cooler
Yes, it’s come to that. I’m addressing my fears. I know I’m probably one of millions of arachnophobes the world over, but when it comes to this particular fear, I’m only really interested in how it applies to me. And in case you were wondering as to why there’s a pretty photo of a spider’s web and not the topic at hand, all I can say is ‘are you barking mad’ that you imagine an arachnophobe would add to their misery but pasting an image of the dreaded creatures anywhere.
I read recently that apparently spiders are repelled by peppermint oil. Joy abounded, until I did a little research and found out that the peppermint oil doesn’t work. Hmpf – back to square one. You might wonder why I’m going to such lengths to use a natural repellent vs. a manufactured chemical and it goes something like this: your average tin of Raid is chock full of serious chemicals (that most creatures are resistant to anyway) and you’re willingly spraying them in your home. As per some pop speak of today would ask – what’s up with that? Of course, when it comes to a pathological fear, one must take into account that in the past I was known to empty an entire tin of bug spray onto a spider – we don’t mess around spider size where I live – and then spend the next few days sleeping on the patio because of the fumes generated from the attack.
Another idea was to buy those cutesy little bubble type spray bottles – brightly coloured, of course – we all know what a sucker I am for the colourful – fill them with lemon water and try spraying the critters into submission. Ya, right – that went down like the proverbial Hindenburg.
So, for now, it would seem that I’m pretty much stuck. Not prepared to get in close enough to handle the things, which means no guaranteed outcome and also not prepared to chemical the nasty 8 leggers into submission. ‘Tis a quandary.
It’s such a shame, really, as when I think about the beauty that spiders produce – what’s more delicate and feat of nature gasp out loud amazing than a dew spread spider web I ask? Or the facts that spiders will munch most of the other in-house nasties like mozzies and flies?
I’ve had my ideas laughed at (a lot) around the water cooler and when the riff-raff heard of my water bottle spray deterrent, that provoked roars of laughter heard as far as the mailroom underground. But it’s fine, I’ll come up with something. They’re a pretty useless bunch anyhow, I’ve noticed that not one of them has come up with any useful ideas as it is, so what they’ve got to crow about, I’ve no idea.
by Fern Shaw | Sep 12, 2014 | Water, water cooler
Summer is winding down to a close – we’ve all had (hopefully) our summer hols, gloried in our blooming gardens and green spaces, watered the lawn, rejoiced in the warm temperatures and generally had a jolly good old time.
Now late summer progresses into autumn and with it comes a new set of to-do’s for your gardens in preparation for the winter months –
September is generally a cooler, gustier month than August and the days are noticeably shorter. While there’s not as much to do in the ornamental garden at this time of the year, if you have a fruit or vegetable patch, you’ll be busy reaping the rewards of harvest. It’s also time to get out and start planting spring-flowering bulbs for next year and you can collect seeds for next summer’s colour too.
1 – Divide herbaceous perennials.
2 – Pick autumn raspberries.
3 – Collect and sow seed from perennials and hardy annuals.
4 – Dig up remaining potatoes before slug damage spoils them.
5 – Net ponds before leaf fall gets underway.
6 – Keep up with watering of new plants, using rain or grey water if possible.
7 – Start to reduce the frequency of houseplant watering.
8 – Clean out cold frames and greenhouses so that they are ready for use in the autumn.
9 – Cover leafy vegetable crops with bird-proof netting.
10 – Plant spring flowering bulbs.
* Excerpts from an article in the Royal Horticultural Society
by Fern Shaw | Sep 2, 2014 | water cooler, Water Coolers
I’ve hit a bit of creative burnout, people. Happens to the best of us. It may have something to do with that inevitable, eventual information overload, or the hailstorm I slid through yesterday, or the fact that I’ve not been getting my full 6 hours sleep a night. Who knows? So here I slump. Hence the title, ‘slumping at the water cooler’. It goes without saying that the HOD and her gang are casting dark looks at me, but I’ve sort of perfected the ‘speak to the hand’ ignore – when I’m not slumping or draping myself over the bottle fed, I upend myself (a little like the water bottle does) and hang upside down, trapeze like. If anyone approaches with a battle light in their eyes, I just lift my top lip, showing my fangs, uhh, canines, ever so slightly. Works like a charm I tell you.
So, the idea today is all about free association, which as you may have twigged by now, is rather a speciality of mine. Before you chip in, no, you can’t play – this is a game I play all on my ownsome. Off we go:
Penguins – Opus & Bill – fabulous, fabulous cartoon from Berkeley Breathed circa the ‘80’s. I passed my passion for Opus onto a dear friend of mine who named his cat after him.
Cat on a hot tin roof – Fiddler on the Roof – To Kill a Mockingbird: A life changing novel by Harper Lee. Cannot even begin to explain the connection there.
Wacky Wicks – Beechies – Strawberry Beechies and that bubble-gum smell. Still a favourite.
Nosferatu – Dracul – Dracula – Nazgul (the winged creatures from The Lord of the Rings). Okay, that one, perhaps, is not so difficult to figure out.
So, there you have it, dear people, plenty of brain fodder for you to go and eddicate yourselves with. Pleasure.
Psst. The photo of the penguin baba was initially chose for no reason at all – just because it’s a really good photo and also because it’s of a cute, fluffy, baby penguin. This of course started the Penguin – Opus etc. association. Powerful stuff, eh?
