My Month in Numbers: May

Hello hello.

We've made it June. Already. June!  As James asked me, rather doubtfully, this morning: 'So, is it summer now then?' Because, this changeable, chilly, breezy weather we're having certainly doesn't feel like it! Here in the UK we could well be forgiven for wondering if we'd pricked our finger on a spindle, fallen asleep, and woken up in September.

Although, if that is the case then there should be a handsome Prince wandering around somewhere ... let me just check ...

No, hang on, before I get too distracted why don't I share with you my May ... in numbers? [If you're wondering what the whole number deal is ... you'll find all you need to know here, including how you can join in our merry band].

Let's start with the overnight trip James and I took right back on May Day Bank holiday ...

B6265 = the road I had to navigate to get us first to Fountains Abbey for the day and then on to our hotel.
Strangely, as I mentioned before, someone booked us an overnight stay near in a tiny town in North Yorkshire, as a birthday gift for James, without knowing that it was a mere 3 minutes / 0.9miles from the cottage I stay in twice a year when my friends and I go 'Crafting in the Country'.

Janet, all those times I spent navigating our way back from various tea rooms to our cottages must have paid off! I knew the roads like the back of my hand!

[Note to any other big 'Scandal' fans out there ... every time I had to say 'B6265 ... I would think of B613. And Jake Ballard. Obviously. Although ... I have been known to start thinking about Jake Ballard even without prompting.]


1132 = the year Fountains Abbey was built, which makes it an incredible 883 years old!
Here it is through the 'Toy Camera' setting on my new camera; I love that I can take my own 'tilt-shift' style shots now:

 

12,166 steps = taken around Fountains Abbey and its surrounding gardens.
Fortunately it was a beautiful day to be taking all those steps outside; comfortably warm [no coat!] and no wet grass. Apart from being situated not far from where we were staying our main reason for going was to visit the 4 'Folly!' installations they've currently got on show which are, as the name might suggest 'installations' inside four of the Georgian follies on the site. Here's my favourite ...

3.6m = the height of the 'Scavenger' found making itself at home inside the Banqueting House:

 For a sense of scale check out my post from last month where there's a shot of James next to it.

And while Scavenger [by theatre and set designer Gary McCann] was my favourite of the four ...
 the prize for 'Most painfully ironic installation' goes to this one:

If you think you've seen it before then that might be because I also mentioned it that post from last month; the one where I showed you a close-up of the nest with a lost doll inside.  But before I remind you of the name of this installation let me jog your memory that it was while were at Fountains Abbey that James lost his glasses and had to spend the rest of the trip wearing his sunglasses [if you missed that tale you can catch up with it all here]. 

And yes, he called their office to ask if they'd been handed in, and yes, they've taken his details and promised to let him know if they find them, and no ... they haven't called. So what's the title of this piece... well, naturally it's  ...  'Lost Property'!!

If you fancy seeing any of it for yourself then you can find out more on the Fountains Abbey website. And, while you're there ... have a look inside that nest for me will you?

We're wondering if rather than make their way back to the reception desk his glasses have actually been incorporated into the installation! ;-)

568 of 1006 = the number of pages I've read of Susanna Clark's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell :

Getting beyond that half way point felt great! Until I realised I still had 503 more to go - which in itself is a lot more than many novels!

3 of 7 = the number of episodes of the BBC adaptation that have aired so far.
I've been frantically reading, trying to keep apace, to keep ahead of the episodes and as I'd read well beyond the point I knew the programme had tackling I thought I was doing OK ... until I watched last night where 2 main plot twists were revealed that I hadn't yet reached!

Clearly, adapting a book so large into 8 hours is going to mean a spot of plot re-jigging!! And I'm going to need to get a lot more read before next Sunday evening if I'm to avoid any more spoilers!

And - purely because My Month in Numbers wouldn't be My Month in Numbers without a nod to a random statistic that's made its mark on my month ...

21.62m² = the total 'coverage' offered by 10 rolls of new loo roll. Which - should you ever need to know this - is [approximately] enough to cover one tenth of a standard tennis court!![Yes, I worked it out!]

I've never bought this brand before and didn't notice its particularly detailed statistical breakdown until I got home. Because, I don't know about you but ... when I buy toilet roll I'm not really looking for such in-depth product information. There's pretty much just the one thing, no make it 2 things, .. that I ever want to know about the loo roll:

1. Is it more absorbent [sorry, we're wandering into rather unfortunate territory now aren't we?] than that water-repelling stuff they used to have in the toilets at school? And ...
2. ... is there any of it in the cupboard when I need it??  And as long there's at least one roll [or 21.6m² as I should now refer to it] then that's all I need to know! 

And finally, while were talking in square metres ...

1.3 m² = the amount of lovely spread-out-able space available on my new desk!

If you'd like to see how much/little space I had before [and how much tidy my room was!!] then drop by this Month in Numbers post from 2012. But I really used to struggle to work on there though and got the men in my life to sort me out a new one!

My Dad made the top for me from plywood, re-using the legs from my old desk and the nice white work surface is a piece of vinyl flooring leftover in James's storeroom at work [don't worry, he cleared it all with his boss* first before we took it home. *He is the boss.]

It's such a small workroom [probably about 3x2.5m] that when they both went in there to set it all up I couldn't even fit in the same space as: 2 men plus the 1.3 m²m square of plywood that needed turning over so they could fix 5 legs to the underside! But it all worked out and now I have enough space to spread out my craft supplies while still having room for my laptop and - most importantly - my tea and biscuits.

The first time I put every last, beautifully useful, squared centimetre to the use it was intended [I.e: the first time I made a complete mess on it] James took one look and, unwittingly paraphrasing that famous quote from Jaws, declared ... "You're going to need a bigger desk!".

But if that's the case a bigger room will have to come first!

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Well then, those are the numbers that shaped my May 2015 if you'd like to join in you're more than welcome to. [The MinN etiquette is all here if you've not seen it before].

• Any one can take part, any time, you can dip in and out whenever you fancy;
• I always say I'll be here blogging my numbers whether anyone else joins in or not - so having you hopping on board will be an added extra!
• To read other people's numbers you can visit their blogs from the links they leave in the comments on this post. 
• Or you can follow the link to the Pinterest board where I save everyone's posts. 

And if you've just dropped by for a catch-up - hello!! - how's things?

How's your toilet tissue situation?

What? Hey, I'm not shy about jumping in with the deep and meaningful questions straight away. That's just how I roll ... ;-)

See you soon.

Julie :-)