mycroft, tennis, and turtles

Mycroft's coming home today! We're leaving to pick him up in a bit, although not as soon as Sherlock would like. He set all the clocks in the flat forward. I wondered why I was so tired when I got up at seven...it was actually five.

Here, have a baby two-headed turtle. Her name is Thelma and Louise, and apparently she's healthy and 'eating with both heads', which I imagine is a good thing? Sherlock wants one, needless to say.

I read this article the other day, Where Are Tennis's Young Guns?, and while I don't agree with it entirely, it does mesh with some thoughts I've been having. Maybe it's just me getting old, but I find myself wondering who I'll watch when the current crop of players retires - and by 'current', I don't mean those coming up now, because there doesn't seem to be anyone coming up now. I know you can't expect a Federer or Nadal in every generation, but there's no one who really stands out to me.

I don't know if it's the baseline play or slower courts or different equipment, but the play itself seems significantly less interesting than it did even ten years ago, and that's sad. 

indeterminate berries

Black raspberries? Blackberries? Someone's else's patch at the allotment. Sherlock is mad with jealousy because our pink blueberry bush has not yet formed one visible berry. We thought they were starting, but they haven't got anywhere and it's been weeks. 

I've been watching a lot of tennis. I was shocked when Rafa went out, of course, and...less shocked today when Federer went out. I wasn't expecting him to lose the match, but I suppose I was expecting something like this, at some point before the quarters. It's too bad. I hope it improves Murray's chances. 

I've been thinking a lot about work on Saturday night. The last man I saw was detained under the Mental Health Act, and shouldn't really have been there at all. But he was a bit drunk and...not violent exactly, but shouting, making gestures that could've been interpreted as threatening, which is why he was brought in. And why it was so hard to find anywhere for him to go. 

The hospitals didn't want him because he wasn't an emergency and was 'potentially violent' (I really don't think he was). No crisis team available. It was about two solid hours on the phone before I found someone who'd take him, and he would've spent the night in a cell otherwise, not getting the help he needed, and he hadn't done anything wrong. He was more scared than anything else. There ought to be a better way.  

whales and bodies

I'm stuck in a police station, so I thought I'd put a post together. I haven't been arrested (this isn't Egypt after all); they want me to look at someone else, but he hasn't been brought in yet. So I'm waiting. Have been for quite a while.

As L mentioned, we went to see the beached whale sculpture... I believe it's a sperm whale.

And we got a boat back... 

Sherlock kept a careful watch for corpses in the water the entire time. And was sure to mention it to everyone who asked what he was looking for so diligently. 

Pride and Mycroft's homecoming are both next week. Sherlock's started talking about giant sparkly bat wings to replace his old wings, along with face paint, capes, roller skates, hot air balloons... Basically all the things he also wants our wedding to include. The most reasonable is the chocolate fountain, and he's not going to win on that - L has strong feelings about low quality chocolate. 

The coffee here is really, truly horrible. Like a punishment from on high. Thou shalt drink swill until thine solve rates are up? Maybe they're hiding the good stuff and this is what they keep for visitors? 

Something's happening, got to go. 

this is murray

Hey this is Murray, Watson's making help him weed the allotment (what is my payment?? I DON'T WANT CHARD, jesus who wants chard??) so I'm stealing his phone and trying to do this post thing. Typing loads on this keyboard is not the easiest thing in the world and he's going to see me in a minute. I mean, I have a smart phone and all but I don't use it to write f***king novels on unlike some people. Do you want to know how lon g it took me to find the star key just then?

In case anyone cares about my life apart from my mum I have two job interviews coming up, one with a perfectly normal London hospital and one with 3C's boss because she called me out of the blue and told me to be at an address at a time and I think I should go because even Watson seems possibly genuinely a bit scared of her. Army still owns my soul for now oh shit he's seen me gotta post fast

rings

Last night, we bought wedding bands. I'm not sure which version that's linking to, but we got the platinum ones. I really like them - nice and simple. And the thing I like best about them is that we've actually bought them and they're on their way here. It makes it seem more real - even more so than picking the place, somehow, for me at least.

Mycroft approves. Sherlock thinks they should be more sparkly, but then he reconsidered, because we both have to wear gloves for work a lot, and sparkly things might rip the gloves. Very practical.

Today was lovely. Really peaceful. Nice long walk, lunch in the park, more than usually successful attempts to distract L from the paperwork he knows is piling up while he's away...

And here is some amazing origami:

friday and father's day

I got called out twice on Friday, just far enough apart to fall asleep between them (naturally). Drugs, extremely petty crime, and one very ill PC. I had to threaten to take her to A&E myself before she'd take me seriously and go home (if you're reading this, I will be calling you to check you've seen your doctor). Just like being back in the Army: keep going till you keel over...and then keep going. I do understand the attitude and it's not as if I don't have it myself in spades, but it's still frustrating in others.

Today is Father's Day. Mrs Holmes rang me this morning to say she's taking the boys to visit their father's grave. Mycroft's idea. Sherlock is anxious about it. We've been out to buy him flowers to take, and he's made a card - not for his father, but for Mycroft, because he said 'Mycroft is sadder about it' than he is. He really is incredibly kind and thoughtful sometimes.

Mrs Holmes should be here soon. I'm having lunch with L, and then maybe a run if the boys aren't back yet. And calling my own father. Probably. I did send him a card. 

sherlock wishes his skull could do this

It's made out of paper. Doesn't look like it though, does it? Sort of mind bending to watch.

Sherlock took the fox skull that L gave him into school today. I gather it was a big hit, although Mrs N did ask me afterwards if it was all right that he had it. Apparently Sherlock said it was from a crime scene, and she wanted to make sure that he hadn't been making off with evidence. One of the girls liked it a lot and promised to bring her mouse skull to show Sherlock. He seemed pleased and even said later that she might like to see his model human skull with the removable teeth (he miraculously still has all of them).

It's my second shift tonight, starting at seven. I don't know whether to hope for a quiet night or not, but, being Friday, I expect I'll get at least one call if not more. Following some of the advice in the comments (sort of), L and I have a logbook now that we're supposed to write in if we have to go out after Sherlock's asleep. Hopefully it'll make him feel more secure and only make us feel very slightly as if we're out after curfew and likely to get told off by our housemaster. 

on the road again

Sherlock is at school, L is not at work, and his bike is calling him so loudly I think even I can hear it. We're off soon for a nice long ride to nowhere in particular. Portchester Castle possibly? Pretty long ride, but I think we could manage. It looks nicely deserted in those pictures. I always think historic sites would be better viewed without everyone else viewing them with you - of course, everyone else is probably thinking the same thing. Anyway, we'll come up with something. Or we won't, and we'll just ride until we get somewhere, which is nice too.

Oh, and I did make the text smaller, if you're thinking that. It's not your imagination, or your eyes going. Although I had a fun time switching it back and forth really quickly while L reloaded the page to show me the bigger text...which suddenly wasn't there. He got back at me, don't worry.

I'm just killing time right now really. L's been in our room changing for so long I suspect he might want some help with that... I'd better go and check, right? 

giant jammy dodgers

Sherlock left me with strict instructions not to even think about eating any while he was at school today. He also took in pictures to show his classmates. Murray was over earlier and I had to divert him with a walk or there would've been none left. 

...Sorry, guys. I just don't seem to have any words today. I've been looking at this screen forever, and this is all there is. 

bike day, the third

Sherlock, L, and I went to pick up L's new bike today. It's very...shiny. And sleek. Obviously I am not jealous at all, no matter how new and nice looking it is, and how smooth to ride, and... Not jealous at all. And I still maintain that my bike is superior (for me).

We went to pick up Mycroft afterward, so he could ride it too, got a snack together, and delivered him to his school before his housemaster could start making disapproving faces. Good day.

Last night...was strange. I got a call out a little after eleven, went from that to another, and then got another when I was heading home. Home happened around three, I think, so all in all I wasn't even gone that long. It felt much longer and like no time at all.

In some ways, it was like being back in a war zone. A lot of differences, too, obviously, but that familiar sense of urgency, of things that need to be done right this second, the feeling of not a moment to lose. Different consequences, too, but still the same feeling.

The first and last were fairly straightforward drugs incidents, no overdoses, no one too badly off. The middle one was a man who'd had hot sauce thrown in his face, one of those hot sauces with dire warnings on the label. I hadn't seen that before. I think I can now definitively recommend against it. 

lettuce yesterday and lettuce tomorrow

Someone asked if anything was ready to eat in the allotment and I think I said no, but there is lettuce, sort of. Lettuce thinnings anyway. And cress and various other things.

Lettuces

That's the entire harvest though - not really enough for a salad even for one person, let along three. I'm sure L will find something delicious to do with it though. Just not tonight. I gather it was worse than usually busy at work, and Mrs Hudson made us chicken and potatoes, which was very nice (and nice of her). 

Tomorrow...my first shift. 7pm - 7am. I'm looking forward to it. 

forever and a day

It's been ages since my last post...by which I mean about five days, I think? Italy got the better of me. I don't think I did a single productive thing while we were there, unless you count eating. Which I do. It would've been incredibly remiss of us not to eat...just about everything on offer.

It was really lovely, if slightly confusing on both sides, meeting L's family. They were confused by us, our relationships (mine and L's, the boys and ours - the only one that really made sense to them was Sherlock and Mycroft, but that's not all that different from home). And Sherlock and I (mostly me, Sherlock to some extent) were confused by basically everything everyone said, because half the time L thought he was translating, he was actually just repeating what they'd said in Italian...

He's still speaking in Italian occasionally, and now that Mycroft's back at school, I've got no one to translate. I did learn a few new words though, most of which I would prefer to keep Sherlock ignorant of.

And...I didn't check my email at all for the last two days we were there. Came back to the news that I have my first shift this Friday. I'm looking forward to it.

And here, have some pictures.