octopus slippers

Someone has made slippers out of bread. There was no information on the site about who it was. Just slippers. Made out of bread. I wonder if you could wear them for any length of time, or if they would just fall apart. I think you could definitely make hats out of bread. As long as it didn't rain. Bracelets. Possibly legwarmers made out of baguettes.

I'm slightly concerned that when Sherlock sees this post he will want to try it. Usually, 'why not' is the question I ask myself when he wants to do something. I think that's mostly because of my background. I don't want to end up limiting his life to make things more convenient for me. But walking on food might be where I draw the line, even though I suppose it's not any more wasteful than buying flowers.

Anyway. It's just the sort of thing I wonder about. I always wonder if I'm doing the best thing for him. For all of us. This untimely bout of self-examination brought to you by slippers made out of bread.

In lighter news, here are some octopus eggs. I can tell you right now that Sherlock will definitely want some octopuses in 'his' pond, meaning the one at his school. I can also tell you that the answer to that will be no. Some questions are easier than others.

For anyone who is wondering, Midnight Riot, the American version of Rivers of London that I bought used without knowing that Rivers of London existed, did change the spelling of the words to American, but not the vocabulary. (Rivers of London is a better title.)

days in the sun

All of us went to visit Steve's grave today. We stopped for flowers on the way there. Sherlock usually has a multitude of opinions on picking out flowers, but this time sulked as far away from us as he could get without actually leaving the shop.

It was the same when we got to the cemetery. He doesn't like the idea that Lestrade and Steve might've ended up together and that, therefore, the four of us...wouldn't. It's understandable. I won't say I didn't feel a little odd being there myself. Simultaneously sorry I'll never meet him, because he meant so much to L, combined with the knowledge that if he were alive, my chances of meeting him through L would be slim to nonexistent.

Sherlock actually wanted me to pick him up, which he hardly ever does anymore. I managed it for about two minutes, and I can still feel it in my bad shoulder, even thought I wasn't using that arm. Might have to be the last time, but I always say that, don't I? And then he got down to kick the heads off dandelions.

klein

Klein bottles:

From the website:

This is one of a series of glass Klein bottles made by Alan Bennett in 1995 for the Science Museum, London. It consists of three Klein bottles, one inside another. A Klein bottle is a surface which has no edges, no outside or inside and cannot properly be constructed in three dimensions. In the series Alan Bennett made Klein bottles analogous to Mobius strips with odd numbers of twists greater than one.

I've always liked Klein bottles, and I like these particularly.  The more you look at them, the more confusing they get.

We have been swimming. Sherlock worked on his diving for a while and then worked on hurling himself into the water and making as big a splash as possible. He's now decided he wants to go kayaking, preferably on the Thames, but he says the ocean would do. Just like that. 'I suppose the ocean would do.' I said I'd consider it, but definitely not on the Thames. You would think he's heard enough stories from L by now to not want any chance of getting that water in his mouth.

Mycroft's gone to walk the dogs and invited Sherlock along. When last seen, Mycroft had said he knew more of pi than Sherlock did, Sherlock declared he didn't, but even if he did, pi was pointless...and so on. I'm just going to enjoy the peace and quiet for a bit. 

glowing trees

This will be short, because I'm tired, and L is already in bed. Sensibly, given the time. 

Someone in California is making glowing trees. 

I can't remember now where I heard about this - was it one of you? But it looks pretty amazing. They did a Kickstarter for it, asking for $65,000 and got over $400,000. Which I can understand, because they're offering seeds for their glowing trees to people who gave over a certain amount.

Right, I can't think of anything else to say that isn't about the horrors of the potential misuse of genetic engineering, so I'll stop at glowing trees and go to sleep. Goodnight, everyone. 

home again

We have beans! We had a few before. Now we have...a lot. These beans may end up on the evening news by the end of the summer. Two children crushed by massive falling bean pod, film at eleven. 

Here's a site that Mycroft showed me. He says it helps him concentrate at school. And at home when Sherlock's not in the flat. It's called Coffitivity and it plays the sounds of a coffee shop at you. I'm not quite sure whether I like it or not yet. 

I had a long and ridiculous argument with Murray this morning about whether it was rude of me to ask him to be my best man via text. He maintains it was. I maintain if we went around pointing out every time we were rude to each other we'd literally never do anything else. I also said I'd ask you lot - rude or no? He said yes anyway. 

pitch drop part 2 and invitations

Remember this post, where I talked about the pitch drop experiment? Well, it's dropped. Thanks to Pip for pointing it out in the comments, and you can read about it here or just stare at the gif below for far too long.

And wedding invitations! Time and place blacked out for obvious reasons, but we will tell you when it's going to happen. Just...not yet. 

They were both red initially and I was concerned it looked to much like blood. Sherlock thinks they don't look nearly enough like blood and at once point suggested they should actually be blood (no). They are our actual fingerprints though. I really like how they came out. And they've got magnets on the back so you can stick them to the fridge. Or anything else metal you would like to stick them to. 

The t-shirt making went well, and we watched Sherlock get his platinum award for...well, this is his comment from L's blog; I'll let him describe it:

I've done better than I even had to in everything like reading and maths and writing and also I was helpful and also I didn't have to go to the thinking corner more than three times all year.

He really has done amazingly well this year, and I'm so proud of him. 

heat, drugs, and flowers

We have ice in the shape of small flowers. Why? Well, remember when Sherlock and I went to Ikea and bought him a Sherlock-sized chair for his reading corner? They also had ice trays in the shape of various things. Sherlock would've preferred skulls or bones or bats, but was fascinated enough with the idea of ice in shapes that he settled for flowers (and another one, not pictured, that makes ice in long tubes). 

Work was mainly people who had taken too many drugs, had too much to drink, or been out in the heat for too long. Or all three at once. Took a blood sample as well, from a man who insisted it would clear him. I hope it will, and that he didn't do it - he seemed like a nice bloke, and what they were holding him for wasn't nice at all.

I think I got home a little before midnight. L had tea waiting for me. :) He had also removed the tie from his new shorts and was modeling them with a pink ribbon tied into a large bow in its place. Mycroft was looking tolerant and amused. I had one of those moments where I'm almost shocked by how lucky I am to live the life I do. 

did you know

Did you know there used to be a tradition of medical students posing with their cadavers? This is one of the more serious ones. I saw one with the students and cadaver playing cards...and another that had been made into a Christmas card to send to friends and family. 

And another 'did you know'...that some idiots are leaving their dogs locked in their cars with this heat? And that the police are allowed to break their windows to rescue the dogs? A broken window's the least of what they deserve, really. 

Since Sherlock learned that little fact, he's been on the lookout for dogs to rescue, and today... 

It was some sort of vastly unhappy terrier mix. Poor thing. Mycroft had some very strong words for the owner when he came out to complain about his window.

And lastly, L tells me I need to complain about the heat more and stop acting like I'm made of asbestos, so: it's hot. 

massive dragonfly

This dragonfly hitched a ride on my bike halfway across the city today. I thought he'd landed there and died, until I got where I was headed and tried to take a photo, when he of course immediately took off. I caught him (or identical twin) an hour later on this sign post, once I was done. 

Work was interesting, massive dragonflies aside. I saw an asthmatic who's being detained for murder and also got to take his dental impressions - which Sherlock is wild to see, just in case he can see some difference between normal teeth and murderers' teeth. He says he'll need a much larger sample size, so will I please bring home all dental impressions I make (no).

Also a drugs case where I was called in with the hope I'd get permission from a man to do what's rather delicately called an 'intimate search'. He eventually said he'd given it to his six year old son to hold, which is...I don't know what that is. I suppose it could've been worse. In several ways.

Anyway, I was happy to get home - to a lovely dinner cooked by all three of my boys. And now we're watching blood drip off of things at this link L found. 

courgettes and honeymoons

Items in the subject line are not related.

1. We have courgettes! Or at least we have flowers and possibly the very small beginnings of courgettes. I don't think I remembered that the plants got this large. Mum used to grow them, and I remember them as being big, but lots of things look big when you're seven.

2. I found out the origin of the word honeymoon today, or at least I heard a story explaining its origin. I'm not going to vouch for it being true, but it sounds plausible. Apparently the ancient Persians believed that honey was an aphrodisiac and they drank it, or possibly some sort of honey drink, for a month (moon) after they got married.

I also learned that the Aztecs thought avocados were an aphrodisiac on the theory that they were wrinkly and grew in pairs... 

i've met the met...

An understatment if I've ever heard one! L got me this at the park today. They were there handing them out, mostly to kids, but I like it. I've put it with the stickers Sherlock got us at Pride. 

We went swimming today. L and I demonstrated dives at Sherlock's request, multiple times, while he observed our form and technique...wait, I think I mean critiqued our form and technique. He did almost nothing but diving today himself - he's like that, goes flat out at what he wants to learn until he gets it. No diversions. He probably would've stayed until the pool closed if we'd let him. 

Mycroft spent most of the time reading or people watching. I was just sitting next to him, trying to get a decent amount of sunblock on my ears, and out of the blued he pointed out a young man across the pool and asked me if I thought it was odd that someone who wanted to join the Royal Navy was unable to swim. Took him a while to explain that one to me.

Anyway, good day. Especially after yesterday. L got home around two in the morning. I didn't wait up intentionally, but I was awake anyway and we talked for a while... I don't know. I'm glad the police there know the situation now, at least. Also glad that Danny didn't break the skin when he bit him. 

two good things

1. Murray won - barely, he was two sets down against Verdasco of all people, not that he's bad, just that he hasn't historically be this good at Wimbledon. Anyhow, Murray's through the semis.

2. Our rings arrived today! I waited (again, barely) until L got home to open the parcel, even with Sherlock circling it like a shark eyeing an unwary swimmer with a bleeding head wound. He doesn't like unopened parcels, even when he knows for a fact that they have nothing exciting inside, and of course this one had something very exciting inside. Mycroft was very helpful in distracting him, although I caught him eyeing the box too. We were all pleased when L got home.

They look amazing. Well. They look pretty plain, I suppose, compared to some. But I love them, and of course it's impossible to see them objectively. I see them for what they mean rather than what they are, and yeah...amazing. 

wimbledon

This morning started as usual - L went to work, I took Sherlock to school. Mycroft came along for the walk and seemed...unusually amused when I said I needed to do some serious cleaning that morning and he might want to shut himself in his room before I drafted him into helping. I found out why he was so amused when we got back home.

L was back as well, waiting for us...with Centre Court tickets to Wimbledon. I honestly don't know what I said. There may have been unseemly noises. And overly enthusiastic hugging.

The whole thing still seems unreal. We saw both Murray and Djokovic play - Murray won (good), Djokovic won (unfortunate). Also saw parts of a few matches out on the smaller courts, including Li Na's and Fernando Verdasco's, both of whom are going on to the quarterfinals (good! - in my opinion at least, especially Li Na). And we wandered about a lot and had strawberries and L was extremely patient while I told him basically everything I know about Wimbledon and tennis (don't worry, I don't expect you to remember it all; it was enough that you listened!).

It was just...amazing. And I am still overwhelmed and happy and so grateful to him and Mrs H both.