Weekend

Much of my weekend has been spent lulu-ing and I must now go and lulu again. Lulu is the radio station cat and her humans have, most inconsiderately and without any thought for her well-being, gone to celebrate a major birthday in Cornwall and left her with a most inferior monkey who only feeds her, plays with her and cuddles her several times a day. Lulu is Burmese. Need I say more?

Anyway, despite vile weather, we went out to dinner last night at the Red Lion in Babcary - highly recommended if you're in the area. It's one of Somerset's better gastro pubs, but still has a little stone-flagged back bar where all the non-gastronomers go. Years ago, on New Year's Eve, I received a proposal of marriage from a toothless ancient in the back bar, who turned out to be 50. He'd inherited a sheep farm and wanted a woman to run it. I said no.

Today will be spent weeding and writing, in no particular order. We're going up to Stanton Drew tonight to deliver some robes.

For the record, I drive a Jeep Cherokee and a fine car it is, in the main. However, driving it straight at a row of bollards does exhibit a fundamental misunderstanding of the limits of the Jeep's robustness. And losing your nerve at the last minute, chaps, is damned un-British, although I suppose that's the point.

Archaeology and me

I'll be posting more info on the Tara campaign as and when it comes in. dianora2 points out that this has been covered in the NYT, so if you're interested and in the US, it might be worth checking that out as well.

This hasn't really come up on this LJ before, but archaeology is an interest of mine. Years ago, I worked for several summers as a volunteer on a hill fort in Gloucestershire (Crickley, if anyone knows it). It was a long dig, run by Phil Dixon from Nottingham Uni, and a very layered site, dating from the Neolithic through to Roman times (Gloucester was a settlement for retired legionnaries). On my last summer there, someone found a beautiful Roman belt buckle in the shape of a sea horse. I also did some rescue archaeology near Cirencester. I've never worked in Ireland, but the preservation of ancient sites is obviously at the forefront of my mind. It's fascinating, back-breaking work (anyone who's ever dug out a post hole will empathise, I suspect).