Busy doing quite a lot of things, really

[nineveh_uk]

It has been quite a busy week. I went to Chelsea flower show with my mother, had an interview for the job I applied for a couple of weeks ago, and visited undergraduate university friends in the Yorkshire Wolds.

Chelsea - I'd never been before, and it was a lot of fun. We went for the second half of the day, which is sufficient time to see everything that matters, i.e. you completely ignore the shops, the flower arranging, and the food, while walking all the way round every single garden, and each stand in the pavilion. There were some lovely gardens, some amazing nursery displays, and some extraordinary tat. It doesn't matter how expensive it is, tat is still tat. I would have enjoyed it on my own, but with my mother it was much better, because she used to be a landscape architect and knows what she is looking at and can actually explain why something is innovative, impressive or otherwise. She is also indefatigable when faced with plants - we did not stop once, no cafe, no bench, no Pimms or champagne (there were surprising numbers of quite drunk people).

Job - I didn't get the job, which is disappointing, but given that it is the first thing I have applied for in five years I am looking on the bright side of having got back on the horse and put in a decent application, decent paper, and - not getting the job notwithstanding - decent interview performance. I shall not be asking for feedback, as I feel I'm much better off analysing my own performance and considering how to address shortcomings, than being

The Wolds - were lovely, and we went to York and round the Minster, which now costs a whopping £9 entrance fee*, but this was all right because Wolds Friend (as opposed to visiting-from-Ireland friend) had already paid this for a bunch of visiting relatives and was determined to get every penny out of the 'annual' ticket (a great deal if you live locally and want to pop in often, seriously off-putting if you don't. I hate annual tickets in general). We also went to Betty's, where I ate a raspberry frangipane, and bought this postcard. At this time of year, the Wolds themselves look exactly like this (as portrayed by David Hockney). A much-needed restful weekend, and delightful catch-up with friends.

Work continues mad on all fronts, but one front only has about a fortnight to go, which is something.

*Insert rant about CofE mismanagement of its money here. Friend in the Wolds had to buy insurance when purchasing her house against the possibilty of chancel repair liability.

Comments

[antisoppist]

than being... what? There is no need to answer that. It is a sentence that speaks volumes as it is.

Your mother is hard-core flower show material. We did a lot of gardens in my youth but it is associated with hideous embarrassment and law-abiding horror because Gran used to sneak her secateurs out and steal cuttings and we used to have to hide and pretend we weren't anything to do with her.

Yay non-working break interlude amid the madness.

[helenajust.livejournal.com]

I'm seriously impressed that you were able to "do" Chelsea without stopping once! I loved it when I went several years ago, but found it very tiring. Your Yorkshire visit sounds great fun! Good luck with future job applications!

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

When I visited York, I refused to pay that money to go into the Minster - if they had a donation box for maintaining the building and made it optional I'd have happily contributed but the fact it was compulsory unless you were going to pray put my back up, especially as there is no guarantee they are going to spend it all on the buildings.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard of chancel repair liability before but funnily enough, a work colleague is currently having great 'fun' trying to complete the sale of his house because under the terms of the deeds, the local church can technically charge £2 rent a year, and the buyers want him to cough up for over £100 of insurance to protect them against this fee even though it has never been enforced since the church sold the cottages in the 1950s!

[tree_and_leaf]

The official guidance from the C of E encourages PCCs not to enforce the chancel liability, but I quite agree it's a system that would be far better abolished.

I also object to charging for admission to cathedrals - though if you think £9 is bad, avoid Westminster Abbey (£18!) Durham, I am pleased to note, is free, as are Liverpool and St Albans. So is Norwich, although they do push the suggested donation pretty hard (still within the bounds of politeness, though).