It's that time again

Woo. Autumn has officially started, yesterday in fact.

This makes me happy. It makes me happy every year as we rid ourselves of  the insect-fest that is late summer and the utterly insane declaration of "it's an Indian Summer" every time the sun shines for more than ten minutes on any day after the official Last Barbeque of the Year has taken place. And of course that is coupled with the perpetual moan of having to put the heating on due to the half a degree drop of the ambient internal temperature.

On that topic, I do embrace the onset of winter slightly more favourably in our nice brand new double  glazed, un-drafty house. The last three winters were spent in a drafty, cold, damp, untouched-for-a-full-century Victorian upper flat, which really tested my love of the cold. It turns out I don't actually love being properly cold. I have a lower room temperature tolerance of 19 degrees, it seems, and while it is nice to be able to wear smashing jumpers, it isn't nice to have to wear several at once, at all times.  This is a house so cold you have to take a few layers off when you go outside.

But still, here we are.

Turns out the first day of Autumn, which I'd never heard being considered before yesterday, is the autumnal equinox. Which in turn transpires to be, not a crazy and arbitrary Pagan thing, but in fact the time when the equator is bang in line with the sun. So everywhere has the same length of day. Just at different times according to when they are on the planet. There's another day, very very soon, I think it's September 25th, where the hours of daylight and night are equal, and that is called the equilux in a very satisfying instance of nomenclature.

This is a GREAT time of year. Halloween is coming, I have new boots that I'm able to wear without my feet melting, and it's almost time to forget about brushing my hair altogether as I can wear a hat without looking totally mad.

(That last bit does depend rather on the choice of hat)

I have agreed with Little Miss Christmas that we won't start the Christmas countdown until Halloween is over. Luckily she loves Halloween. We're all set. We're pretty much having a party. It's
Very Exciting and nobody will expect a barbecue. Woohoo.

Of course, Strictly has started, and that's the official start of the countdown to counting down to Christmas...

Happinose

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

To me this cold has mucked up my face
And I'm just about the reddest human in the whole human race
I've got bunged up, I couldn't smell a rose
But now I've got Happinose on my nose.

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

Happinose to me is an calming thing
Hence the need to make me sing
Or maybe almost make me breathe again
When I'm breathing I feel almost sane.

Happinose is a tube of balm
Fixing my face from the falling snot
I can see it in the cabinet
I'm so relieved to apply Happinose.

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

A wise chemist told me one time
That Happinose is nothing but a tube of balm
I hope when you get a cold of your own
That you don't call the doctor, call on Happinose.

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

(mostly credited to Bill Anderson)

Despite the wonders that are Sudafed/Happinose, I have a nose that rivals traffic lights, which makes people run away from me, and I feel kinda poorly. At least a cold goes away quickly...

Wooo hoooo

Well, the proposal is written and ready to hand in on Friday. Go me, finished 34 hours before the deadline! Fingers crossed it's not complete garbage but I did really well in the exam so I only actually need to get 40%. I sincerely hope I can manage THAT.

I now have a streaming cold. Himself had it last week starting Thursday, the kids got it on Sunday, and I've been expecting it ever since. And ta da, nose of tap proportions, throat of sandpaper and general health of, well, me.

Ventured into SportDirect.com (which is a stupid name for a shop) which was horrible and procured myself a cheap waterproof jacket, which looks disturbingly shell suit like and makes me look like a cross between Vikki Pollard and a mad old lady. It was however both cheap and waterproof, so I can't really complain.