Sunday, 7 August 2016
Saturday, 6 August 2016
Film Review: The BFG
I'm just back from the cinema seeing The BFG so what better time to write a review of it?
During the summer holidays our local cinema shows two films; one for adults in the evening and a kids film as the matinee. It's brilliant because normally we get one film a week so you can be waiting several weeks to see the latest blockbuster when several big films come out around the same time. It's also a bit of a bummer when you're basically adult children like me and Mr Click because you're seriously limited on the days when you can go to the cinema.
Thank goodness for Saturdays.
I was a little bit wary about seeing this film because for me, I grew up with Sophie and the BFG looking like this:
Rather than this:
But then again, in the original Quentin Blake illustrations Sophie had long hair so I can't really complain too much.
I thought it was really well done, with a nice touch of magic about it. Personally I would have liked to have gotten to know a little more about The BFG. His house is filled with little bits and pieces which he's obviously collected from the human world; everything from a ship, which he uses as a bed, to a road sign, which is used as a tray. I can't wait until we get it on blu-ray so I can examine all the scenes in greater detail.
There were some departures from the book as well. I felt like Sophie was pretty tough right from the start, whereas in the book I think she takes a little longer to come out of her shell. She also didn't get to see one of the giants eating a child. On the one hand, this film was aiming more for whimsy than for horror, but it still always seemed like a fairly important part of the book.
I did sort of fall in love with the character of Sophie. The orphanage didn't seem as horrible as in the book (for one thing she was able to wander around at night without getting into trouble), but you still got the impression that it was definitely somewhere she didn't belong.
I liked the idea that Sophie wasn't the first child who had come home with The BFG; it's worth noting that apparently when Dahl first started writing the story it was a boy called Jody who was taken. I can't help but wonder if perhaps that little addition was a nod to the history of the novel.
My absolute favourite part of the film has to have been the dream catching sequence. I wasn't entirely sure how I was expecting it to look but I knew that if it wasn't right it would spoil the film. They got it spot on.
This is definitely where dreams come from and somewhere I would love to visit! The way that they are 'born' on the leaves and then take on their own little characteristics is pure magic. In fact, I wish we could've spent a little more time learning about dreams and what can happen in them. We got to see labels on jars but I'd have loved to see more.
As for the non-friendly giants, well, I'll admit, I wasn't really sure who was who, though I'm sure it'd become clearer on repeated viewings. I couldn't help but notice that one of the guys who played a drunk right at the very beginning of the film also doubled up as a giant later on. Closer investigation (read: playing on IMBD.com in between writing this review) shows that this was the case for most of the giants.
I know that this film hasn't done as well in the cinemas as was hoped, mainly because it was doing battle against Finding Dory. I can't help but wonder if it might have done better being released later in the year, perhaps in the run up to Christmas and definitely not going head to head with what's certain to be a big Disney blockbuster.
I'm definitely keen to get this one on blu-ray when it's released, and I'm looking forward to seeing lots of behind the scenes goodies about how it was made; especially The BFG's home!
During the summer holidays our local cinema shows two films; one for adults in the evening and a kids film as the matinee. It's brilliant because normally we get one film a week so you can be waiting several weeks to see the latest blockbuster when several big films come out around the same time. It's also a bit of a bummer when you're basically adult children like me and Mr Click because you're seriously limited on the days when you can go to the cinema.
Thank goodness for Saturdays.
I was a little bit wary about seeing this film because for me, I grew up with Sophie and the BFG looking like this:
Rather than this:
But then again, in the original Quentin Blake illustrations Sophie had long hair so I can't really complain too much.
I thought it was really well done, with a nice touch of magic about it. Personally I would have liked to have gotten to know a little more about The BFG. His house is filled with little bits and pieces which he's obviously collected from the human world; everything from a ship, which he uses as a bed, to a road sign, which is used as a tray. I can't wait until we get it on blu-ray so I can examine all the scenes in greater detail.
There were some departures from the book as well. I felt like Sophie was pretty tough right from the start, whereas in the book I think she takes a little longer to come out of her shell. She also didn't get to see one of the giants eating a child. On the one hand, this film was aiming more for whimsy than for horror, but it still always seemed like a fairly important part of the book.
I did sort of fall in love with the character of Sophie. The orphanage didn't seem as horrible as in the book (for one thing she was able to wander around at night without getting into trouble), but you still got the impression that it was definitely somewhere she didn't belong.
I liked the idea that Sophie wasn't the first child who had come home with The BFG; it's worth noting that apparently when Dahl first started writing the story it was a boy called Jody who was taken. I can't help but wonder if perhaps that little addition was a nod to the history of the novel.
My absolute favourite part of the film has to have been the dream catching sequence. I wasn't entirely sure how I was expecting it to look but I knew that if it wasn't right it would spoil the film. They got it spot on.
This is definitely where dreams come from and somewhere I would love to visit! The way that they are 'born' on the leaves and then take on their own little characteristics is pure magic. In fact, I wish we could've spent a little more time learning about dreams and what can happen in them. We got to see labels on jars but I'd have loved to see more.
As for the non-friendly giants, well, I'll admit, I wasn't really sure who was who, though I'm sure it'd become clearer on repeated viewings. I couldn't help but notice that one of the guys who played a drunk right at the very beginning of the film also doubled up as a giant later on. Closer investigation (read: playing on IMBD.com in between writing this review) shows that this was the case for most of the giants.
I know that this film hasn't done as well in the cinemas as was hoped, mainly because it was doing battle against Finding Dory. I can't help but wonder if it might have done better being released later in the year, perhaps in the run up to Christmas and definitely not going head to head with what's certain to be a big Disney blockbuster.
I'm definitely keen to get this one on blu-ray when it's released, and I'm looking forward to seeing lots of behind the scenes goodies about how it was made; especially The BFG's home!
Friday, 5 August 2016
Chapter-by-Chapter: New Moon, Catching Up
It's been quite a while since I last posted a Chapter-by-Chapter post and for all my complaining about the Stephenie Meyer Twilight books, I do quite enjoy offering a commentary on them. I just didn't enjoy devoting precious time to reading them when I was very limited about when I could get online and how long I could spend there once I was.
Now that's not at issue, I'll be getting back to it.
Next week!
In the meantime, I thought I'd just give you guys a little recap on where we got up to.
Basically Bella has spent much of her time in Forks this year moping around because Edward ditched her. She's swung from being deeply depressed to virtually self-harming in order to hear Edward's voice in her head, to being slightly obsessed with her friend Jacob.
The Jacob obsession only grew larger when he mysteriously disappeared for a while. Bella didn't believe his dad's claim that he was ill and so bugged him and dug until she discovered that he's actually a werewolf. He's also involved in a sort of town security thing, which is more necessary than ever because it seems that there's a wild animal eating the tourists to the area.
Except, it's not an animal, it's the vampire girlfriend of the vampire Edward killed for trying to eat Bella. That's right, it's vampire Victoria! And she wants to get Bella this time.
Jacob and the gang are out to get her, but Bella's going to go along too since she's got insider knowledge of vampire culture (and how to kill them or something).
So next week we'll be picking up with Chapter 14: Family.
See you there!
Now that's not at issue, I'll be getting back to it.
Next week!
In the meantime, I thought I'd just give you guys a little recap on where we got up to.
Basically Bella has spent much of her time in Forks this year moping around because Edward ditched her. She's swung from being deeply depressed to virtually self-harming in order to hear Edward's voice in her head, to being slightly obsessed with her friend Jacob.
The Jacob obsession only grew larger when he mysteriously disappeared for a while. Bella didn't believe his dad's claim that he was ill and so bugged him and dug until she discovered that he's actually a werewolf. He's also involved in a sort of town security thing, which is more necessary than ever because it seems that there's a wild animal eating the tourists to the area.
Except, it's not an animal, it's the vampire girlfriend of the vampire Edward killed for trying to eat Bella. That's right, it's vampire Victoria! And she wants to get Bella this time.
Jacob and the gang are out to get her, but Bella's going to go along too since she's got insider knowledge of vampire culture (and how to kill them or something).
So next week we'll be picking up with Chapter 14: Family.
See you there!
Thursday, 4 August 2016
Bullet Journal: Then and Now
Monday marked the eighth month anniversary of starting my Bullet Journal so I thought it would be interesting to take a little peak back at my early days of Bullet Journalling to see how things have changed.
Back when I found out about Bullet Journalling I desperately wanted a notebook with a grid layout but my options on New Year's Eve on the island were a little limited. I managed to get my hands on a Gorjuss spiral-bound notebook which had lined, grid and plain sections. It was a good starter book and had a massive pocket, though I was pleased to upgrade to my Leuchtturm in May.
I started out following the recommended layout for the month. You jot down the dates and days down the left hand side of the page (or pages, if like me your journal doesn't have enough lines). You then use the rapid logging format to scribble in all the important events coming up during that month.
I quickly found that I was running out of space using this format. Some days I'd have nothing and other days I'd be trying to squeeze in half a dozen events on the same day.
Eventually I settled on this method:
The Leuchtturm lends itself much more easily to this format because it doesn't have the rings in the way of the spread. And it gives me a little more space for the things I'm up to. I like having it separated into morning and afternoon because I can see what's going on at a glance.
The work section is just used to note my schedule for that day as well as other things I might need to remember. The page above also shows something else I've embraced in the last few months; making mistakes! I got my shifts muddled up and so fixed it with a bit of washi tape and sticky notes.
I've also been playing with washi tape and stickers. I got the sticker from a pen pal and I'm using different colour themes each week so the tape was a good way to fill up some otherwise blank space.
Recently my tracker page has undergone a big change too:
My tracker pages have probably seen the biggest number of changes compared to all the others in the book. I used this method of tracking in my first BuJo but then modified it to a landscape format when I got the Leuchtturm.
I've mixed it up tracking everything, including when I went on Facebook, Twitter, did knitting and colouring in. Last month I was tracking almost everything so I decided to switch it up slightly this month. I found I was tracking so much that it was becoming meaningless and I wasn't really paying much attention to the Goals section either, so I've done away with it. I might bring it back, I might not. That's the beauty of Bullet Journal.
It's nice and simple. Plus it made me think a lot more about what I wanted to track so I think this is working better for me.
I've gotten a little more creative with my dailies as well.
Now I'm even playing around with doodling and adding more decoration to my pages. This obviously only happens when I've got time, so it tends to be weekends or days off that get this kind of treatment.
I'm so ridiculously proud of that wand. I'm not the best at drawing things and I did it without anything to copy it from either!
This month I'm trying out using a time tracker, though this one just shows when I was sleeping and when I was at work (and I've just realised that I've filled that bit in wrong). I'm not sure whether or not I'll keep this yet, but it's making my header look interesting.
Other than that, everything else is much the same. I'm keeping using my Gandalf to keep me accountable. If it's in the book I feel compelled to actually do whatever I've said so that I can cross it off. I'm writing a little journal entry at the end of each day where I try and focus on the good (even if it's along the line of 'it's been a really long day and I'm tired, my bed feels so comfortable').
My newest page is actually for tracking and planning blog posts. Normally I do this in a spreadsheet on my laptop but Gandalf comes everywhere with me; Bloo doesn't. This page is so new I've not even inked it in yet!
The boxes you see in the above picture are for ticking off my progress on a post. I tick them off as I write the post, format the pictures, then upload it.
Are you Bullet Journalling or do you use a planner? How has it changed over time?
Back when I found out about Bullet Journalling I desperately wanted a notebook with a grid layout but my options on New Year's Eve on the island were a little limited. I managed to get my hands on a Gorjuss spiral-bound notebook which had lined, grid and plain sections. It was a good starter book and had a massive pocket, though I was pleased to upgrade to my Leuchtturm in May.
I started out following the recommended layout for the month. You jot down the dates and days down the left hand side of the page (or pages, if like me your journal doesn't have enough lines). You then use the rapid logging format to scribble in all the important events coming up during that month.
I quickly found that I was running out of space using this format. Some days I'd have nothing and other days I'd be trying to squeeze in half a dozen events on the same day.
Eventually I settled on this method:
The Leuchtturm lends itself much more easily to this format because it doesn't have the rings in the way of the spread. And it gives me a little more space for the things I'm up to. I like having it separated into morning and afternoon because I can see what's going on at a glance.
The work section is just used to note my schedule for that day as well as other things I might need to remember. The page above also shows something else I've embraced in the last few months; making mistakes! I got my shifts muddled up and so fixed it with a bit of washi tape and sticky notes.
I've also been playing with washi tape and stickers. I got the sticker from a pen pal and I'm using different colour themes each week so the tape was a good way to fill up some otherwise blank space.
Recently my tracker page has undergone a big change too:
My tracker pages have probably seen the biggest number of changes compared to all the others in the book. I used this method of tracking in my first BuJo but then modified it to a landscape format when I got the Leuchtturm.
I've mixed it up tracking everything, including when I went on Facebook, Twitter, did knitting and colouring in. Last month I was tracking almost everything so I decided to switch it up slightly this month. I found I was tracking so much that it was becoming meaningless and I wasn't really paying much attention to the Goals section either, so I've done away with it. I might bring it back, I might not. That's the beauty of Bullet Journal.
It's nice and simple. Plus it made me think a lot more about what I wanted to track so I think this is working better for me.
I've gotten a little more creative with my dailies as well.
Now I'm even playing around with doodling and adding more decoration to my pages. This obviously only happens when I've got time, so it tends to be weekends or days off that get this kind of treatment.
I'm so ridiculously proud of that wand. I'm not the best at drawing things and I did it without anything to copy it from either!
This month I'm trying out using a time tracker, though this one just shows when I was sleeping and when I was at work (and I've just realised that I've filled that bit in wrong). I'm not sure whether or not I'll keep this yet, but it's making my header look interesting.
Other than that, everything else is much the same. I'm keeping using my Gandalf to keep me accountable. If it's in the book I feel compelled to actually do whatever I've said so that I can cross it off. I'm writing a little journal entry at the end of each day where I try and focus on the good (even if it's along the line of 'it's been a really long day and I'm tired, my bed feels so comfortable').
My newest page is actually for tracking and planning blog posts. Normally I do this in a spreadsheet on my laptop but Gandalf comes everywhere with me; Bloo doesn't. This page is so new I've not even inked it in yet!
The boxes you see in the above picture are for ticking off my progress on a post. I tick them off as I write the post, format the pictures, then upload it.
Are you Bullet Journalling or do you use a planner? How has it changed over time?
Wednesday, 3 August 2016
Currently...
Shock! Horror! It's Wednesday and I'm not being Wordless!
As much as I enjoy being quiet on a Wednesday, now I'm able to post, I don't see why I shouldn't. Don't worry, I'll still be sharing photos, but I'm cribbing off of Mark @ So It Goes and switching to Silent Sunday instead.
So the Sunday Weekly Rundown posts are being retired in favour of something which is kind of the same but different.
And here's what I'm Currently up to.
Reading
Since I devoured Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (which is still sitting next to me as I type, like some sort of security blanket or something), I've switched back to reading a Kindle book. Normally I alternate between ebook and book-book but as I've been rereading all the Harry Potter books it's been hardbacks all the way.
Right now I'm almost halfway through Saucerers and Gondoliers by Dominic Green, which I got as a free ebook way back three years ago. I read Smallworld by the same author some time ago and this is a nice mix of comedy and sci-fi.
Watching
As I type this, we've got an episode of Criminal Minds on the TV. We're rewatching the seven series box set that Mr Click got me a couple of years ago. A few weeks back when we visited Ayr we picked up the eighth series so I'm looking forward to seeing some brand new episodes.
Oh, and at bedtime? We're back to watching Red Dwarf. I practically know that series off by heart. I've grown up on it and I'm thrilled to hear that they're making new episodes.
Eating
Right now, Flying saucers. Mr Click got them as a substitute for Fizzing Whizzbees while I was reading The Cursed Child. I feel like I'm about eight again.
Celebrating
Winning £33 worth of vouchers this week. I'm currently torn between putting them towards Christmas presents (as I often do with vouchers like this) or splurging on stationery supplies and books for myself. It's a tough call!
Trying
To eat more fish.
I'm really not a fan normally but Mr Click has been very patient at trying different ways of cooking it for me. I successfully ate a portion of salmon on Friday. I didn't die and the world didn't end so I think I did pretty well.
Wishing
I'd gotten more sleep last night.
I woke up at 1:50am because there was a crazy heavy rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightning, right outside my house. Then I couldn't get back to sleep until nearly 5am. I'm going to sleep like a log tonight.
Grateful
For the people who are still reading my blog. Hi guys! *waves* Sorry I was away so long.
As much as I enjoy being quiet on a Wednesday, now I'm able to post, I don't see why I shouldn't. Don't worry, I'll still be sharing photos, but I'm cribbing off of Mark @ So It Goes and switching to Silent Sunday instead.
So the Sunday Weekly Rundown posts are being retired in favour of something which is kind of the same but different.
And here's what I'm Currently up to.
Reading
Since I devoured Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (which is still sitting next to me as I type, like some sort of security blanket or something), I've switched back to reading a Kindle book. Normally I alternate between ebook and book-book but as I've been rereading all the Harry Potter books it's been hardbacks all the way.
Right now I'm almost halfway through Saucerers and Gondoliers by Dominic Green, which I got as a free ebook way back three years ago. I read Smallworld by the same author some time ago and this is a nice mix of comedy and sci-fi.
Watching
As I type this, we've got an episode of Criminal Minds on the TV. We're rewatching the seven series box set that Mr Click got me a couple of years ago. A few weeks back when we visited Ayr we picked up the eighth series so I'm looking forward to seeing some brand new episodes.
Oh, and at bedtime? We're back to watching Red Dwarf. I practically know that series off by heart. I've grown up on it and I'm thrilled to hear that they're making new episodes.
Eating
Right now, Flying saucers. Mr Click got them as a substitute for Fizzing Whizzbees while I was reading The Cursed Child. I feel like I'm about eight again.
Celebrating
Winning £33 worth of vouchers this week. I'm currently torn between putting them towards Christmas presents (as I often do with vouchers like this) or splurging on stationery supplies and books for myself. It's a tough call!
Trying
To eat more fish.
I'm really not a fan normally but Mr Click has been very patient at trying different ways of cooking it for me. I successfully ate a portion of salmon on Friday. I didn't die and the world didn't end so I think I did pretty well.
Wishing
I'd gotten more sleep last night.
I woke up at 1:50am because there was a crazy heavy rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightning, right outside my house. Then I couldn't get back to sleep until nearly 5am. I'm going to sleep like a log tonight.
Grateful
For the people who are still reading my blog. Hi guys! *waves* Sorry I was away so long.
Tuesday, 2 August 2016
Books 52 & 55 of 2015: Her Majesty's Wizard by Christopher Stasheff & The Awakening and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin
Wow, it's been a while since I wrote a book review. Not counting Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, of course.
Both of today's books were Reading Challenge books; the first, Her Majesty's Wizard by Christopher Stasheff was picked for Week 29, a book published the year you were born.
In this story, an average guy stumbles across a mysterious text which, upon reading it, transports him to a strange new world. He then discovers that his ability to quote verse, and make it up on the spot, endows him with certain magical powers. It's not long before he finds himself the wizard to a young royal and swept up in an epic quest.
I picked this book for two reasons, firstly, it was published the year I was born, and secondly, it was cheaper than Howl's Moving Castle (which was my initial choice for a book published in 1986). The premise appealed to me and there was something about the cover which reminded me of the Robert Asprin Myth books.
On the whole, I liked the premise. I enjoy books where someone finds themselves out of time or out of their world. And I enjoy poetry, so I liked the idea of it being a way to create spells in this world that Matt gets transported to.
The beginning was good as it established the character of Matt and then threw him into a strange new place. It was fun seeing him discover his powers, meet a dragon and adopt his new role.
But then it sort of got long and drawn out.
It was essentially parodying the epic fantasy format, but I couldn't help but lose interest as they went from one situation to another until Matt figured out the right way to word things to get them out again.
I also didn't really appreciate the way that women were described. I'm guessing that part of it was to highlight Matt's character, but the focus was always on women's busts whereas I didn't know what the other characters looked like.
It was a pretty good book to start with, but towards the end my interest was dwindling and I'm not planning on reading the others in the series any time soon.
The book I read for Week 31, a book with bad reviews, was Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Selected Short Stories. Chosen because it was available as a free ebook and which seemed the most appealing when I ran through a list of books which had bad reviews on publication.
'The Awakening' has a strong feminist message, with a housewife becoming a liberated woman; hence the bad reviews in the late 1890s. The other stories address themes such as racial prejudice.
Initially I found 'The Awakening' slow to start. I'd not really read much about it aside from the fact that the story got bad reviews, so I didn't really know what to expect. After a while I got into it and I did quite enjoy it.
It's the sort of story that I could imagine studying in English class at school so it didn't come as a huge surprise to see that it cropped up on some syllabuses. As I was reading it, I felt like I should be taking notes for an essay on feminism.
As I said above, I didn't read too much about it before I started, so I didn't know when it was published. Once I'd started reading it I had it pegged at around the 1910s or 1920s. It was quite the surprise to learn it was from 1899. Definitely ahead of its time!
My favourite story in the collection was 'Desiree's Baby' which was set in Louisiana. A woman, Desiree, who was abandoned as a baby marries a man named Armand and together they have a baby. And the baby turns out to be mixed race, which Armand is not happy about and throws Desiree out, only for there to be a twist at the end of the tale.
After I finished this, my Kindle recommended that I might like to read The Yellow Wallpaper, which was a convenient suggestion because I had picked it up as one of the Penguin Little Black Classics, so read it shortly afterwards.
Both of today's books were Reading Challenge books; the first, Her Majesty's Wizard by Christopher Stasheff was picked for Week 29, a book published the year you were born.
In this story, an average guy stumbles across a mysterious text which, upon reading it, transports him to a strange new world. He then discovers that his ability to quote verse, and make it up on the spot, endows him with certain magical powers. It's not long before he finds himself the wizard to a young royal and swept up in an epic quest.
I picked this book for two reasons, firstly, it was published the year I was born, and secondly, it was cheaper than Howl's Moving Castle (which was my initial choice for a book published in 1986). The premise appealed to me and there was something about the cover which reminded me of the Robert Asprin Myth books.
On the whole, I liked the premise. I enjoy books where someone finds themselves out of time or out of their world. And I enjoy poetry, so I liked the idea of it being a way to create spells in this world that Matt gets transported to.
The beginning was good as it established the character of Matt and then threw him into a strange new place. It was fun seeing him discover his powers, meet a dragon and adopt his new role.
But then it sort of got long and drawn out.
It was essentially parodying the epic fantasy format, but I couldn't help but lose interest as they went from one situation to another until Matt figured out the right way to word things to get them out again.
I also didn't really appreciate the way that women were described. I'm guessing that part of it was to highlight Matt's character, but the focus was always on women's busts whereas I didn't know what the other characters looked like.
It was a pretty good book to start with, but towards the end my interest was dwindling and I'm not planning on reading the others in the series any time soon.
The book I read for Week 31, a book with bad reviews, was Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Selected Short Stories. Chosen because it was available as a free ebook and which seemed the most appealing when I ran through a list of books which had bad reviews on publication.
'The Awakening' has a strong feminist message, with a housewife becoming a liberated woman; hence the bad reviews in the late 1890s. The other stories address themes such as racial prejudice.
Initially I found 'The Awakening' slow to start. I'd not really read much about it aside from the fact that the story got bad reviews, so I didn't really know what to expect. After a while I got into it and I did quite enjoy it.
It's the sort of story that I could imagine studying in English class at school so it didn't come as a huge surprise to see that it cropped up on some syllabuses. As I was reading it, I felt like I should be taking notes for an essay on feminism.
As I said above, I didn't read too much about it before I started, so I didn't know when it was published. Once I'd started reading it I had it pegged at around the 1910s or 1920s. It was quite the surprise to learn it was from 1899. Definitely ahead of its time!
My favourite story in the collection was 'Desiree's Baby' which was set in Louisiana. A woman, Desiree, who was abandoned as a baby marries a man named Armand and together they have a baby. And the baby turns out to be mixed race, which Armand is not happy about and throws Desiree out, only for there to be a twist at the end of the tale.
After I finished this, my Kindle recommended that I might like to read The Yellow Wallpaper, which was a convenient suggestion because I had picked it up as one of the Penguin Little Black Classics, so read it shortly afterwards.
Monday, 1 August 2016
I'm Back
It's been a while, how are you all doing?
Here's a little catch up on what's been going on since I last posted properly:
- Had my embryo transfer (a beautiful, perfect, hatching one).
- Got my period five days later - for those of you keeping score, that's not what's supposed to happen.
- Called the hospital loads and loads of times until I was eventually able to get a follow-up appointment - in September!
- Had a migraine (and my first sick day in two years).
- Went to Oban for a charity shopping trip; came home with a nice black and white dress, a signed copy of Andrea Levy's Small Island, The Corpse Bride on DVD and a Katie Melua CD.
- Ordered broadband for our home.
- Completed Bertie Bloomer for my Father-in-Law for Father's Day. Bertie is seriously awesome, I find it hard to believe I created this thing:
- Spent about a week chasing the set up of our broadband after there were several bumps in the road of getting it set up.
- Started knitting a shawl, a baker and a Hobbit. At this point in time, I'm yet to complete any of them.
- Actually got our broadband set up. It is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
- Done an awful lot of colouring in. I've been working on my Johanna Basford colouring books, I'm trying to work through Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest and Lost Ocean as much as possible before Magical Jungle is released. I've got the latter on pre-order already.
- Nearly knocked myself out by standing up into a cupboard in the kitchen. This is a hilarious story (in hindsight, not at the time) and I may share it in a blog post in the future.
- Replaced my Fitbit after poor Trevor started peeling. Luckily the replacement was a freebie from Fitbit.
- Put together my first ever photobook of all my walks across Middle-earth so far.
- Went to the cinema to see The Secret Life of Pets. Loved it!
- Downloaded Pokemon Go and had quite a bit of fun collecting monsters which are invisible to the naked eye (especially as most of them seem to congregate in my bathroom):
- Took a trip to Ayr where I was very restrained and only came home with three new tops, twelve rolls of sparkly washi tape, two books and a set of The Secret Life of Pets stickers.
- Took Tara to the beach and threw her in the sea - she had such a good time that she didn't want to leave (though part of that may have been because Mr Click threw her stick into the sea and she was determined to get it back).
- Read all of the Harry Potter books in anticipation of The Cursed Child coming out yesterday.
- Booked flights to Wales for a family Christmas. Woo hoo!
- Read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
I'm glad to be back. Now, what've I missed?
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