Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks is not really a favourite actor of mine,....he bored me rigid in the bloody awful Castaway a few years back, so I have not been drawn to anything he has been in ever since..... But in Paul Greengrass' hijack drama Captain Phillips , Hanks carries the entire film with some of the best acting I have seen in a long time.
Playing the title role, Hanks  portrays the  " ordinary man caught up in extra ordinary circumstances" which seems a favourite subject of Greengrass' who made the desperately harrowing United 93, which told the story of the 9/11 aircraft passengers and their fight with the al-Qaeda  hijackers.
In this film Phillips is the strict Captain of an American cargo ship who has to play a cat and mouse game with four poor Somali fishermen turned hijackers who board his vessel off the Somali coast.
The action zigzags from cargo ship to lifeboat as Philips is taken sole hostage and for over two hours Greengrass cranks up the tension almost unbearably at times before the faceless American forces arrive to save the day.
Hanks is the real heart of the film, and in the last ten minutes, where we see his unflinching and raw portrayal of a man in deep shock, he very nearly breaks your heart.

Treat

The weather today is atrocious. Wet, cold and blustery, though you couldn't tell from the above photo. Irene and Sylvia are backing into the weather with scowls on their faces and the Ukrainian village is totally deserted.....only the ducks and geese are out
I am going to play hooky this afternoon and am off to the cinema.......what a treat!

Bake Off ...The semi Final ( beware spoilers)

Becca....waving the welsh flag rather well I thought

 The semi final of The Great British Bake Off separated the girls from the bakers. Francis and Kimberly looked cool and collected ( oh fuck off Kimberly)...and I loved that mousy Francis actually bit back at judge Paul Hollywood with this is " style with substance" comment..... Way to go girl....
But Ruby crumbled slightly with the gloriously funny Welsh lass Becca just behind her before they galloped into the final challenge ( Ruby tearful & Becca a little more sanguine )
You could cut the sponge tension with a knife!
Who got kicked out?
Well Becca of course.....it was a forgone conclusion which was a shame.

Ruby....upset at her soggy bottom

Kimberly, I hate to say looks as though she will win......she will deserve it too......... But I am not sure I would want to have a pint with her down the pub.... Like I would do with contestants Howard, Christine, Becca, Glenn and indeed now Ruby.....
No one  likes a big head but she does have the talent.....and a lovely smile
I now hope Ruby pulls it out of the bag.... But she is a mucky cow...... ( says him)

Badger Induced Insomnia

The cottage at night ..note the depressed pumpkin lantern 

There is a new large badger boar on the field at night.
He and his set mates seem to be new to the area, and have pushed their way through the riding stable's poor fencing to the south where they have left their signature black and white hair on the barb wire fencing.
The hen houses are all robust enough to withstand  badger attacks , but the very presence of a big, and rather aggressive boar has unnerved the ducks, who have become noisy and panicked when he is about. They woke me up with their quacking around 3 am on Sunday and Monday morning and I was up again around 5 am yesterday when I heard the badger scraping heavily at Mary's hutch wire.
I looked out of the bedroom window and saw the boar quite clearly.
He looked as big as a bear.

I took Winifred over to the field and snorting like a steam train, she saw the interlopers off but I am now toying with the idea of setting up a single electric wire strand which could circle the duck house at least.....the poor hysterical ducks could then have a good nights sleep...and so could I

Having said all this, the badgers didn't turn up last night....
Either that or I slept through their activity....
I need my coffee this morning

Badger chaser Winifred and I dozing on the couch at 5 am yesterday morning

Scruffy Dogs On A Scruffy Chair

Chris is away working for the week

So I sent him this photo earlier to buck him up

His scruffy dog sons sharing a chair
I love William's left paw position

Always Make Sure You Have Clean underwear On

The Walking Dead returned for it's series 4 last night in the US . Unfortunately I will have to wait until Friday before I can see hear Carol playfully call Daryl " Pookie"....how sad am I?
Anyhow
The subject of today's post, Children is public nudity and not Zombie apocalypses
Well it's not about frontal nudity....... God forbid........... but it's about losing one's trousers when holding four dogs on leads and two large plastic bags of dog crap .down the beach kind of  nudity.
I should be happy
It's all about losing over 16 lbs
And not investing in a belt.
Elasticated waists were so much easier.
And more practical

An Apology

I don't know what's wrong with me.......over the past few weeks I have forgotton THREE close relatives' birthdays.....brother  in law Tim...sister in law Jayne ( above) and Great niece Evie.
I am such a tight arse when remembering  birthdays are concerned, I just cannot quite believe I have done it.
No excuses mind you....just a big apology to the rels concerned.........belated gifts and cards will be posted tomorrow
Xxxxxx

Tradition!

Ok, so I have lost 14 lbs in just over 4 weeks.......
But I still resemble Tevye just a little,  waving my hands over my head in the village of  Anatevka whilst shaking  my belly and belting out a good Yiddish ditty.....and like  him ...I am a sucker for tradition.

Families make their own traditions.....some are handed down from generation to generation...... Others develop of their own accord .
Traditions maintain continuity and promote stability.
and they can give you the feeling that you have just been visited by old friends
That is the positive aspect of tradition
.......comfort..........

Depressed pumpkin 

Now at this time of year two traditions are visited here in out small corner of North Wales. The first is a family dinner, which my sister  terms warmly as  a " harvest Supper". We are all meeting up tonight for that, each sibling responsible for a course at the dinner.

The other tradition is the making of the Halloween pumpkin which will sit on the kitchen window for a few weeks before the 31st, warding off evil spirits from the cottage boundary.

Now, I am not a lover of Halloween.....it's gone all too Jamie lee Curtis for my liking....but I do like preparing the pumpkin' s sad little face a good few days before the event.....

It sorts of bookends the finish of summer and welcomes the start of winter.

Now what traditions does everyone adhere and welcome?