31 January 2013

You can make me do right or you can make me do wrong

John pointed out earlier that Jo and Lisa's wedding is only 2 weeks away... so just writing this inbetween practicing like mad.

Definitely fish and chips for dinner tonight. I think Sherlock's mum is taking him out somewhere to eat, so we get to slob out and not feel guilty :) Fish, chips and mushy peas...heaven.

Went to see Mum - the weather was a bit awkward. High winds, rain showers, really got a beating on the motorway, but got there fine. Had a coffee and 'prepared', mentally speaking. Then found the home.

It is quite nice. Mum's one of the youngest in there, though. Not sure she's really made any friends yet. But the garden is nice, if she's there for long enough for the weather to get better. It's all very...well, you know, it's geared up for everything she needs. Proper rooms for physio as well as places to relax.

John said it all seemed okay. The staff seemed nice enough - efficient. Her room's only small, but she's not supposed to be spending loads of time in there, so it's fine.

She seems a bit more like my Mum again. Suppose I've accepted we'll never get along, exactly, but...well, we're back to how we used to be, a bit more. She even asked about our wedding, which is good on two fronts - one that she brought it up, and two that she remembered about it in the first place. She was fairly...dismissive, I suppose, about it all. But then she's done it four times, so... yeah, well, sometimes we really are too alike.

29 January 2013

So before you point your fingers, Be sure your hands are clean.

Mycroft's app on my phone is still providing me with endless amusement - it told me to cover my DCI with glitter earlier, has a fairly good grasp of the fact I need a lot of coffee, and isn't too rude!

Sherlock grumbles when it tells me to kiss John though :)

Got court tomorrow, which should keep me out of trouble for a bit. Big case, I hope it goes the right way for us - although we won't know for a while, I doubt.

It's very hard, obviously, persuading people to give evidence in court against violent criminals. I completely understand why people don't want to do it - but. thankfully, lots of them do and get criminals put in jail.

Witnesses in trials like this get a Witness Care Officer - well, everyone can get one, but they play a bigger role when it's a big case, naturally. And it's frustrating for us sometimes not to know exactly what the CPS were thinking when they call certain witnesses - and even more frustrating when the CPS or the court won't allow special measures, like screens or remote video link. Makes our job really hard, and witnesses do sometimes turn hostile or just refuse to attend/stay silent.

Anyway, all far too serious to think about right now. Feel free to ask if you're interested.

Have an owl burrito.

26 January 2013

An' you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!

We headed out East today. After the rain and wind of last night, it was a really nice bright day, so we did something we've been meaning to for a while - go on the Emirates Airline or whatever ridiculous thing it's called.

Basically, it's a cablecar over the river - part of the London Transport network, so you can use it with your Oyster card, but privately sponsored, hence the name.

Anyway, it was great. Some places it would be some sort of tourist attraction, not just a way of crossing the river.

Here's the view from near the start of it:

24 January 2013

Yes, no, you can't, but you can and you know why.

Bought Sherlock some mittens today. the sort that are fingerless but have a flip-over top to make them 'whole'...hoping they'll keep him warm, but also allow him to poke/prod/explore all the things he usually removes his gloves to do. We will undoubtedly have to wash them a lot.

Getting places slowly with our case. It's pretty grim. I've been feeling rough all day - don't think it was visiting the charred bodies. But who knows. Not like I haven't seen enough bodies in my time.


Anyway, off for three whole days now.


So, onto some more answers. (and feel free to ask anything else, too. Although I don't blame you if you don't.)

22 January 2013

Churns my insides and the wheels are in motion

So we're trying to sort out the wedding, one small step at a time.

There will be dancing. And flowers. And we will be wearing something. Probably purple underwear...and not much else, right now.

Maybe these?

20 January 2013

And make believe it's wonderland

We went and saw Mycroft today - in the snow. Snow came even earlier than predicted. So it was a cold and slightly slippery ride up there. But we were all fine.

Mycroft helped me do this - by which I mean, put a picture on my phone, and then provide evidence of this...I don't even know.

I do know that I immediately fell prey to some autocorrect. I emailed myself this image, to use in this blog, using the subject 'Jmob' - makes sense, right? J on my mobile?

Yeah, so when a photo of my lovely boyfriend arrived in my inbox with the title 'Knob'...well, it wasn't intended!

17 January 2013

Open up your skull, I'll be there

Dealt with some annoying people today. Industrial accident, so lots of people desperate to pass the buck, and certain people who seem to think I fell off the top of the Christmas tree, instead of getting more than my share of grey hairs becoming DI the traditional way.

Anyway, got home, leant against the worktop having a rant at John about it (he told me to!) and Sherlock, as he occasionally does, decided to climb me.

It was only about halfway through that I realised how completely...normal it all is :) Made me smile.

He starts standing on my foot, then grabs my arms because I usually have them crossed, and pulls up, then either I cross my legs so he can jam his foot in at knee-height, or he uses the top of the stitched padding in my knees (biking trousers.) to get to the next point, then he tries to grab around my neck and I automatically cup a hand for his other foot to go in, then today, he used the worktop for the final ascent onto my shoulders... And all this is now done without a word! He knows I'll stand there, I know he'll climb me, I attempt to keep up the conversation with John, as I peer around arms and hands and knees that obscure the view.

This sort of thing just makes me so happy. From the little boy who ran away and hid from us, to a little mountaineer...

I also made a rash promise to Sherlock about what we'll do if John does go on this course. I will be held accountable, clearly. He's not going to let me forget! (Neither is John...)


We're waiting to see what tomorrow brings, now...snow is forecast. Not that much, but Sherlock has begged to go out in it, and I'm sure we will. He said parts of the pond at school have frozen, so he's keeping an eye on it all.

15 January 2013

When the metal is hot and the engine is hungry

There was a bat in Sherlock's school today. I think they found it fairly early. He was still talking about it when we picked him up... I don't know how Mrs N survived the day.

John and I had a fairly lazy morning - Sherlock was so well behaved this morning. He just sat in our bed, occasionally showing us things on the computer, so we got a lie in with a nice cuddle together.

Of course, we were then nearly late for the school run...but it wasn't a problem, as we just went on the bikes :) Sherlock was so proud to show people the bike, and his jacket, his boots, his helmet. He put them all very neatly on his hook/bench space in their cloakroom. Honestly, I was so proud of him, he was actually fairly patient when people asked him about it all.

I don't think he's posted about his jacket yet? He was so excited when he got it at Christmas. It's like this, but his Mum had one made in his size:

12 January 2013

Step from the road to the sea to the sky

Today Sherlock has been mainly wishing for snow.

In talking about that - and underwear, oddly, I found this site with before and after pictures of the snow last Feb in the city my family are from. Not particularly so you can see the snow, but just because lots of them are great shots of the city!

And from that city, to this one. London, yesterday morning:

10 January 2013

The only explanation I can find

Was at court today for two things - well, mainly for one case, which went okay. I'll hope that the jury come to what I consider to be the right decision there, once they've heard the rest of the evidence.

It's quite a drama, really, courtrooms. Especially the public gallery. Friends of the victim and friends of the accused can clash there, if you're not careful. It's...yeah, it's odd. Each part of the room has these opposing sides, fighting battles of words, following ancient rules.

I got out of that case in time to get to a sentencing for another case, that was, by coincidence, taking place down the hall.

I'm glad to say that the guilty party there got life (which, to people not from these parts, doesn't mean he will necessarily spend the rest of his life in prison. He will probably be out in 17.)

The family were very grateful. I got hugs from both his mum and his dad. It's hard to know what to say. They know that, for us, it's another case. We've had to move on, new cases, new murders.

I always hope that, after the funeral, the trial, the verdict, the sentencing is...well, the end. I hope it brings a different sort of closure for the family. But I know that they'll be counting down every one of those 17 years. The man convicted of the murder of their son may well be out of prison when he's 39. Their son was 24 when he was killed.

What we do can never be enough. But it's something.


In other news, John filmed Sherlock at kung fu today. He looked very focused on his work. I was very impressed. I've been forced to promise to help him practice. I shall be forced to use sofa cushions in my defence.

7 January 2013

You will look for me and I'll be gone and I'll be gone.

Today was one of those days.

It's not often I seriously think about what I'd do if I wasn't a police officer. Today I did...and didn't come up with much.

The job... I don't know. Didn't have the best start to the day, with a witness deciding they hadn't seen anything, in court. Got back to the yard to get my DCI on my back about doing the Crisis Negotiation stuff, because the Super's been on his. Told him flat out I didn't want to, which then led to him moaning about every single case my team have got on right now.

You've just got to wonder if it's worth it. Not enough staff, not enough time, too few resources, even things like forensics being squeezed to death. And at the end of it all...

Yeah, well, it's not like there's anything else I can do, so...no point thinking about it, really.

Got home to find Sherlock had bought me a cactus to cheer me up - it's very nice. And very kind of him. Now in pride of place next to Mr Cactus, on the windowsill.

5 January 2013

It's not perfect but it's getting closer

Had a fairly good day today.

Did the long ride to Bristol with the boys - Sherlock was so determined he'd be fine on the back that John and I decided we'd just stop along the way anyway, because we were fairly sure he'd refuse to ask if he did want to stop because he was getting tired.

So it was a slow, but very enjoyable, ride down.

Sherlock is now the owner of a harness, which goes around him, then around my waist - just in case he did slip, lose concentration or fall asleep.

It was great to see Nicky, and then John and I headed off to see Mum.

She's doing a lot better. Can walk with a frame, for short distances. Sits up most of the day, her speech is a bit clearer and she just seems more...alert. More aware of what's going on.

Nicky's being an angel - not only visiting Mum, but also checking on her house, taking her clothes and things, washing. She's just...being brilliant.

Anyway, tomorrow is all the chaos that getting two boys back to school can bring...

3 January 2013

It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for...Johnny

So...well, anyone who can tell me what's going on here is really quite welcome. Just have a guess - why not?? Frankly any offerings are going to be fairly entertaining.

I'll let you all know where your response came on the pink-ear-o-meter that John has, once I'm home tonight. If he doesn't kill me. Still, the reason I'm posting this now is because I won't see him for a few more hours, and this way I'll die laughing, at least!

Thank you, Harry, for my lovely Christmas picture of John. It's on my desk next to the other one...