It's Snowing! Ullswater & Lantys Tarn

It's Snowing! It's Snowing! Well, in Shap it is, and it was dusted on the hills this morning. We went out to Ullswater last weekend and Lanty's tarn, which was another gentle stroll but good to focus on something further away than a computer screen for a while. The first phase of my work project is coming to a conclusion, and I've got a week off - to prepare for the Winter Solstice - soon, so I'm looking forward to a gentle de-acceleeration for a while ....

The Big Wind

We always have a "Big Wind" this time of year - one particular night the Sprites come and blow away all the leaves off the trees and make way for Winter. We went out a walk to enjoy the last moments of Autumnal colours before the BW this year, wandering to Castle Crag in the Borrowdale valley. A nice meander of a walk, and look at the colours!

The Fall of the House of Usherettes

On Tuesday we went to L's birthday bash which she had at the Theatre by the Lake here at Keswick. We went to see "The Fall of the House of Usherettes"
(http://www.forkbeardfantasy.co.uk/FF%20Diary%202005.html ) which was ever-so-surreal but a fine demonstration of stagecraft, with animation, puppets, live action, screen presentations and a revolve.

My favourite moment was when one of the actors, as a cross between a Macbeth Witch and a Gothic Usherette, was twirling a crisp between his fingers as another character was saying "It looks ... like Lucy.." and the audience laughed. At that point, I knew we'd been sucked into another world!

Castlerigg and an Autumn Moon

The title speaks for itself, really. We saw the moon and decided to go to Castlerigg on the way home from Grasmere, and I took this picture of rooks flying below the Moon. The digital camera gives a flatter shot than would be taken with a lens camera, but I don't cart around my SLR anymore (and the prices of digital SLR's are still *way* beyond my skill level to justify).

Incidentally, this photo has been "tampered" - I cropped the original shot, tilted it slightly, and removed a large puddle. Hooray for Photoshop!

A Clear Day in Autumn

We went out a walk this afternoon as it was *so* clear and wintery. Decided to go to Grasmere for Gingerbread and Fudge, then on to Ambleside to see the choices for Christmas decorations at Hayes garden centre. The sweets were nice, but the decorations were *very* expensive; there was even a Christmas Tree (with decorations) for £999!!! Now, I've decided to "do" the Winter Festival this year, but no way am I paying £2 per bauble, LOL.

In the meantime, there was an incredible cloud-show in the sky, including a reverse rainbow and this feathered cloud. I used to know the names of clouds when I was a kid, it was something that fascinated me; but I'm not quite sure what this formation would be called!

Project Manager Exam - Done & Dusted!

I went to Cheadle (near Manchester) last week and took my 1-hour Prince2 Foundation exam. This is a Project Management method, detailing a process model and the components of succesful projects. I'd decided to take it as it seemed a) common-sense, b) useful when applying for contracts (if I'm ever in that situation again!) and c) relevant to the project I'm working on at the moment. I did it all self-study, which was difficult, as I'd intended to complete it before everything else kicked in; the MA, the work project, the NLP Weekend! Anyhows, I scraped through it - I was getting about 70% in the mocks, and I got 60% in the exam, so I passed! It makes me certified with the APM (Association of Project Managers) whatever that's worth?!

The exam was also taken by 'proper' Project Managers, mainly from Government and Civil Engineering. The reception area was full of bullish-looking suits yelling into their Bluetooth devices "I don't care if Balfour's haven't got the bridge design ready, I want it on my desk by Monday, Stat!" or "Whaddya mean, the wrong &^%$%^ing Tarmac?!" So it seems being a Project Manager is actually more about being able to shout at people from a distance!

Oh hum, I'm not sure if I take my exterior world seriously enough ;-)