Rainy day isolation

Chris has gone to London with work then off to Broadstairs for the Margate Amateur Dramatic annual Ball or some such night out! So that means I have the cottage to myself until Sunday!

The weather (surprise surprise) is bloody awful, so after weightwatchers,harvesting my broccoli,animal care,chores, pruning my climbing rose (pic), and carpet cleaning (I won't go into products Nige), I am settling down with a pizza (ham with extra garlic), Judge Judy, a small bottle of Chardonnay (only a few points left today) and a pile of wet terriers. I am also got a couple of dvds to sit through, so tonight is going to be pure "singleton" bliss!

I am also slightly smug as I now taste my weightwatchers goal! only 2 lbs to go and 42 lbs lost! Both Carole and I hope to meet our final goals next week and then we are excitedly anticipating the grand presentation of our gold key rings (amid much clapping of overweight hands) and life long free membership certificates!

George is looking rather smug today as it has been a day of firsts for him! After many weeks of trying (and shamed faces when he failed) to jump into the Belingo, he managed to scramble up after the others after their beach walk! and I suspect he was so fired up with self importance and confidence he also has his first knock down-no holds barred scrap with William. The two of them wanted a piece of dry seaweed, which Meg had carried into the boot and neither were backing down. I left them to it and went to buy pizza in Aldi, they had kissed and made up by the time I returned!

The Host and being shortlisted!

The Host (Gwoemul (2006) is the Korean monster movie that I missed when it originally came

out at the cinema last year. Caught it on dvd

this evening and I must admit that I enjoyed how it turned the genre totally on its head but whilst obviously paying homage to every prehistoric,city munching creature flick ever made.

This film has everything! a truly impressive monster , worthy CGI, and wonderful cinematography, but I was taken more by the narrative which centred around a dysfunctional Korean family and their efforts to save the youngest daughter Hyun-seo -(played by Ko Ah-seong) from the monster's lair. The plot cleverly saw sawed between slapstick,pathos and horror and even had a sideswipe at the US international policy and the "uncaring" South Korean government... a good 9/10

On a lighter note, got a letter today from the BBC, yep I have been shortlisted for the Weakest Link ! fantastic...watch this space

Diana Damrau as Queen of the Night II

The aria does not get going until 2.5 minutes into the clip but boy is it worth it! Chris and I were giving Aunt Judy a lesson in surfing the world web and found this on You Tube to show her! better than Jonney Mathis eh?

Supersize my cabbage, & "Bronwen" on the Beach,

With my trainer in shot to give a sense of scale,readers will not be surprised that I am pleased with the size of my cabbages! Also, I cannot quite keep up with potato orders from work and the village and need to dig up another few trugs tomorrow.


Prestatyn beach, like most Uk Beaches in bad weather, can look rather forlorn, and that can in turn feel rather depressing. Often I see an old school classmate at central beach, and meeting her often leaves me a tad melancholy which is often exaggerated by an overcast day. Bronwen (not her name) was never a popular girl in school and was often the butt of female bullies because of the affected way she carried herself. (her nickname was Queenie in way of explanation!). Thirty years later, she looks the same as she always did (unfashionable clothes with too tall a shoe heel) and sits in her car by the water for long stretches, reading the paper, with her senile mother slumped in the passenger seat. I always stop for a chat when I pass, as her scruffy affable terrier loves meeting up with my pack, and we swap smalltalk about pets,work and the weather. Perhaps I am totally wrong, but Bronwen always strikes me as that lonely lumpy girl, I always thought she was at school and with the risk of sounding patronising, I find that just a little sad.......

Norming and storming continues amid the dog pack and this is complicated when our pack meets with Celt and Samson (Carole's dogs) William continues to be a joy; bouncy,extremely lovable and just a bit gauche and spends much of his time falling over his oversized paws, rather like Scooby doo.

F#!*ing more rain

I am sick and tired of this bloody weather. Trying to have a normal Sunday morning (gardening,allotment,dog walking and chicken keeping) and I have been soaked four times now (to the soddin' skin too!!!) . I am sure that the hens are suffering from trench foot as their run now resembles the World War one battlefield.

Anyhow, took William out this morning for lead training and happened to walk past the Ebenezer Congregational Chapel in the village. It is an austere little chapel and I had always thought it was more or less defunct, as most places of worship usually are nowadays.This morning I realised that perhaps I was wrong as the hymn singing was strong,powerful and rather sweet!

Please read nige's blog at the following http://en-cee.blogspot.com/

(I am guilty as charged!!!!)

A mixed bag o' mashings

The bombings in London and this afternoon in Glasgow airport of all places are all designed to cause disruption and fear to the population already frayed at the edges with flood and wet weather. Despite the media I hope that the British people do what they always do so well in the face of calamity, and that is go about their normal lives without too much chaos and upset. Reading entries on the sheffield forum, that is exactly what people are wanting to do, and by doing so hopefully the terrorists will not gain the psychological upper hand.



The virtue of old fashioned products, came to the front today as (and apologies to Nige and other avid readers for this banal entry) I used the old tried and tested vim scourer on the nasty marks on the bath. Now I have tried glacier smelling mousses, biotic gel cleaners with scientific back up and

expensive anti-scum beating multi-sprays, all with little or no effect. Then this morning, with a rush down memory lane I used a ton of elbow grease and the trusty powder and BINGO!, clean bath! How sad is that? ......entries on a postcard please!


................and finally....When I was soaking in my beautifully clean bath this evening, I got to thinking about the phrase "looking without seeing" .On our bathroom wall is a 1940 print by Cecily Barker entitled "The Dead Nettle Fairy" Now we have this print for years, but tonight, for the very first time I realised how sweet and subtle the drawing actually is. Funny how you take things you see every day for granted isn't it? lesson for the day closeth!

The empire grows...and an Interesting French film

With the girls banging out the eggs big style, and orders coming in thick and fast, I have started to sell the ton of new potatoes left over from the allotment. This afternoon got rid of a load to a passing rambler, and I have made the most of the sunshine (more floods tomorrow I hear), and have walked on the beach,shopped and mown the lawn.

Tonight will be a night in, in front of the tv!



The other night watched an interesting film on one of those "out of the way" channels on sky. The French film Une liaison pornographique (1999) was a weird little number. A Parisian woman Nathalie Baye, advertises for a man on the Internet to fulfil her need for a pornographic affair. She meets, Spaniard Sergi López, and after a series of private liaisons they fall in love. The relationship falters and subsequently ends and that is about all there is ! yep it sounds a bit pretentious and very , well "French", but I must admit the leading actors gave the whole thing a heart, that perhaps the director did not want to show. The film does not show the "pornography" hinted by the title, but it concentrates on the little intimacies that surface between the two characters, making the whole thing rather more interesting. I thought Lopez particularly good ( he was the baddie to beat ALL baddies in Laberinto del fauno, El (2006))

Williams first hair cut and 20 bags of sugar!!!

William now looks like a real deco terrier! albeit a slightly skinny one! Took him to the dog groomer and fitted in weight watchers in between. Good news is that I have now lost the equivalent of 20 bags of sugar! only 3 lbs to go and thats it!!!

Listened to stories of Sheffield householders from Winn Gardens (just down the road from where we lived in Hillsborough) on radio 4 this morning, very sad!

Nights tonight!