Weekly Rundown: Super Shopping Trip

All this week I've been getting up early so I can get to work a little ahead of normal time. I've been banking hours in order to finish a little early next week for my trip to Wales.

Normally this would mean a nice long lie on Saturday. But not this week.

Yesterday the alarm went off at 6am so we could get up and out nice and early. We had to leave the house at 7am. I finally dragged myself out of bed at about ten to. I was this close to telling Mr Click to go without me so I could stay in bed and take it easy all day.

I'm really glad that I did go though.

Out first stop was a garden centre to pick up some potatoes for my father-in-law. Cardwell Garden Centre has a craft shop which I like to visit when I get a chance. Alas, yesterday it was just not meant to be. We were there too early and the craft shop was closed. So we skipped that one and headed straight on to Lidl, via Tesco's car park while we deal with a suspected puncture.

Happily the car was fine and we were able to move on with the day, just a little later than expected.
I had a great time in Lidl and scored some fantastic 'decorative tape' in there. On all the Bullet Journal sites I see people using washi tape to mark off sections of their books, cover up mistakes, highlight and decorate areas of their plans. There have been a few times when I've thought it would be handy to have something to make things stand out.

About a week ago people in the UK started sharing the decorative tape they'd picked up in Lidl and I really wanted to get some. I was fairly certain that it would all be gone by the time we went this week. On my first trip round the shop I couldn't see any and I guessed that we'd missed it. Then I looked a bit closer and I found twelve different packs of the stuff. All at 99p each.

I did the logical thing and bought them all.

Another thing I picked up yesterday was a pencil case. I feel like I'm back at school! Since I splurged on the pack of 30 Staedtler Triplus Fineliners, I knew I needed something more practical than the box they came in to travel to Wales with but I was struggling to find a decent pencil case which would hold all the pens I like to take about with me. Then we stopped into Tesco and I found a pretty one for £3.

I may have also picked up Taylor Swift's 1989 CD as well; because I need music to listen to on the way down south.

Of course, I still have to finish washing the clothes I need to pack. I still need to actually pack. I still need to print off my luggage labels and decide which bag I'm using as hand luggage.


But at least I have pretty stationery supplies!

Film Review: The Desolation of Smaug, Part 4

Hopefully as you're reading this, I'm off to the mainland for a little bit of retail therapy. Unless the weather is bad. If the weather is bad, I'll be snuggled up in bed at home feeling really glad that I don't have to go out in the horrible weather.

But you're not here to hear about the weather or my shopping plans. You're here for the next installment of The Desolation of Smaug!

162. And now let's catch up with Gandalf and Radagast who have just arrived at Dol Guldur.

163. I love that after Gandalf send him away, Radagast comes back to ask him if it's a trap. Because it probably is one.

164. Thorin's like 'you have keen eyes, Master Baggins' except not really because it's a ruddy great staircase which is right there in plain sight.

165. Gandalf clearly isn't going for the surprise attack here.

166. Look out! Something's about to land on you.

167. I like that all of this was seamlessly added in from the theatrical release. The little running Dwarf guy would've freaked me out in the cinema.

168. He's quite spirited for someone so old.

169. Lucky that Gandalf was there to make him feel more like his old self.

170. By the way, it's Thrain. Thorin's Dad. It's quite a sweet reunion really, considering that unless you've read the books you probably won't have much of an idea of what's going on here.

171. They better enjoy it while it lasts because they haven't got long.

172. Quick flashback to the Battle of Moria. Just to remind us all of who Thrain is.

173. Oh and he had a ring. He doesn't have it any more. He also doesn't have the finger it was on.

174. I love that Gandalf stops the vines on the walls from trying to attack them with just a thump from his staff.

175. Turns out you might have made a mistake with the quest there Gandalf. Thrain does not approve.

176. Woo hoo! They've found the door. Or at least the place where the door should be.

177. You'd think that out of thirteen Dwarves, one of them would know how to get a Dwarven door to reveal itself.

178. They've battled Orcs, travelled miles across Middle-earth, been held captive and fought their way out to eventually make their way to the hidden door, only to lose the light. Do they stay and fight? Do they try to come up with an alternative? No, they all give up and head back down the massive staircase. Thank goodness they had Bilbo with them!

179. Whenever I watch this bit, I'm reminded of when I saw it in the cinema on the island (before they went all digital) and the sound conked out here. The picture kept playing but there was just a buzzing noise. They had to stop it and start it again. I still half expect it to go when I'm watching it now.

180. Lucky Thorin came back otherwise that would've been an even bigger disaster than turning back when they couldn't find the keyhole.

181. But at least they're inside now. And you know it's a big moment for them all because the music's doing that thing where it gets all swelly and both Thorin and Balin have tears in their eyes.

182. Thorin's having a little moment now. I get it, he's happy to be home. Now they just need to evict the dragon.

183. Oh look, there's a pretty inscription above the door. Wouldn't it make more sense to have that on the way in, rather than on the way out.

184. I always forget that until this point Bilbo doesn't actually know anything about the Arkenstone. I wonder why they don't actually tell him about it until they get there.

185. Meanwhile, Kili appears to be in labour.

186. Bofur: "Don't move!" like Kili's going anywhere.

187. Balin's giving Bilbo the low down on the Arkenstone. Moments like this make the Balin's tomb bit in The Lord of the Rings feel so much sadder now. I love Balin.

188. I also love Bilbo's dressing gown.

189. "Oh and Bilbo, if there is in fact a live dragon down there... don't waken it." Sensible advice.

190. In the book it is Balin who goes down a little way with Bilbo, I like that they included it in the film.

191. Back to Gandalf and Thrain. It would appear Thrain has led the wizard straight to Azog.

192. I'm momentarily distracted from the ferocious Wargs by my own ferocious Warg asking me to play tug of war with her Kong.

193. When I tune back in Thrain is telling Gandalf to pass on a message of love to Thorin before being grabbed by the Necromancer.

194. And then Gandalf's staff disintegrates which makes me very happy because I noticed in the first film that Radagast's staff looked suspiciously similar to Gandalf's in The Fellowship of the Ring.

195. The whole Eye of Sauron/Necromancer thing is sort of seizure inducing but very, very clever. I think it kind of explains how he came to take up a form like a giant eye, because the body shape was gone, but he was still this big burning ball of energy.

196. Martin Freeman is just totally perfect as Bilbo here. I love all of his reactions, and I love the featurette where they show some of the takes that they didn't actually use.

197. Although he does also remind me rather a lot of his character in Nativity!

198. Coin-alanche!

199. Oh look! It's a dragon.

200. It's a very big dragon.

201. In the book it mentions that Smaug has kind of illuminating beams of light from his eyes and I like how they did that very subtly in the film.

202. Run, Bilbo! Run!

203. "Something made of gold, but far. more. precious." Ooh, he knows.

204. Smaug is such a poser.

205. "Do you think flattery will keep you alive?" Well, I kind of hope it will.

206. And there's the Arkenstone.

207. I'm so glad they kept in the riddling talk, though I wish they'd used more of it.

208. "You have nice manners..." for my dinner.

209. Smaug's a fine one to talk about being drawn to treasure. Takes one to know one I suppose.

210. And back to Laketown to see how Fili and all are getting on.

211. Apparently the kids weren't told that was where the Black Arrow was hidden, to make their surprised looks more real.

212. Meanwhile, back in the cave Smaug is monologuing. He could've taken Bilbo out by now if he'd just got on with making fire.

213. Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Laketown, the guard would rather arrest Bard than let him try to bring down the dragon.

214. And Bard figures that if he's going to be hauled before the Master, he might as well go in for resisting arrest.

215. I wonder how many times Luke Evans fell in the water rather than successfully landing in that little boat.

And I think that's where we'll leave things for now. This time next week I'll be in Wales but I've got the final part of this blog series ready to go.

Next week the Dwarves join Bilbo inside the mountain, they all go head to head with Smaug; meanwhile in Laketown there's an Orc attack!

Not a Chapter-by-Chapter Post

You might be expecting to see today's Chapter-by-Chapter post where I read Chapter 9 of Stephenie Meyer's New Moon.

You won't find it here.

I had big plans to get ahead and read a couple of chapters to schedule while I'm in Wales, but real life has gotten in the way. I've had a couple of walks, a trip to the mainland and work which have kept me away from the blog.

This time next week I'll be on my way to Wales so I'll schedule a few posts for while I'm away, but it's a holiday so I'll be having a slight blogging holiday. Rather than making a rush attempt at a post, I've decided to take a break from posting Chapter-by-Chapter posts until I'm back from Wales.

Happy reading!

Bullet Journal: Food Log

When I showed off my latest spread in my Bullet Journal I included a shot of my Food Log for the coming month. I've seen these, looking infinitely more attractive than my offering, in other people's Bullet Journals on Instagram and Facebook.

I've been logging my food for nearly two weeks now. I started it with the hopes of helping to improve my results on my habit tracker page, also in my Bullet Journal, specifically on reducing the amount of chocolate I eat.

I know I can eat less chocolate. A couple of times I've given up chocolate for a whole thirty-one days with no adverse effects, the one thing that I did notice when I did that was that I would inevitably end up snacking on other things instead.

Which is where the Food Log comes in.

I'm not being obsessive about it, since I'm doing it to be healthy, rather than in an effort to lose weight. If I'd had more time to organise it, I'd have formatted it a little better. Instead I just listed out the days of the month with 'BREAKFAST', 'LUNCH', 'DINNER' and 'SNACKS' with a line for each. Occasionally I'll have 'SUPPER' too, but that just gets added on at the end of whichever line has the most space (usually the 'dinner' line).

As you can see from the photo above, I just write in what I've eaten during the day.

By last Thursday I thought I was beginning to notice a pattern, so I adapted my BuJo Food Log page slightly. Rather than writing everything in with black pen, I've adopted a sort of colour coding system. Foods eaten at home are black, foods eaten at work are in blue and things eaten anywhere else are green (for the purposes of my tracker, 'home' is not just my home, but my family members' homes as well).

This clarified the pattern I thought I was starting to see.

I snack way more at work than at home.

I suppose it's because at home I can get up and do stuff. I might be sitting and watching TV, but I'll be able to pick up my knitting or colouring in and distract my hands. At work I'll sit there, with a bag of something tasty on my desk, and I'll dip into it while I deal with an email or pop some notes on the system. In fact, the tasties don't even need to be on my desk. We're a sharing sort of group and someone usually puts something yummy out for us to help ourselves to.

I'm trying to come up with some healthy snacking alternatives, possibly carrot sticks and celery, which I can nibble on guilt-free, but if nothing else, at least I'm aware of my predisposition for nibbling on naughties throughout the day at work.

And I probably wouldn't have made the connection if I hadn't gone to the effort of writing it all down. Score another one for the BuJo!

What're some of your favourite healthy snacks to nibble on?

Wordless Wednesday: Cocoon

Books 23 & 24 of 2015: Filth by Irvine Welsh and Blood Bath by Stephen Leather & others

Tuesday means it's time for another pair of books from the depths of my book journal (that's right, it's the book journal today, I'll be blogging about my Bullet Journal again soon).

First up is Filth by Irvine Welsh. This was a book which had been floating around at work and EVERYONE had given up on it. Some had only made it a page or two in before deciding it definitely wasn't for them and bringing it back in for the next person to try.

Well, you know I love a challenge. And I can't leave a book unfinished. And I did need a book with a one-word title for my Reading Challenge. So I took it.

It's pretty much a long stream of consciousness story, narrated by Bruce (among others), and Edinburgh police officer. His marriage has broken down and he's got an uncomfortable rash. His life basically goes downhill from there.

Surprisingly, this only took me about five days to get through. I was expecting it to take me much longer. It took me a little while to get used to the style of writing, but once I did, I was able to read it pretty quickly. At least, I got through the first half quite quickly, the second half took me longer.

I think during the first half of the book I was waiting for Bruce to do something which would make me like him a little more. By the second half, I knew that was never going to come. I wound up just feeling annoyed and disgusted by him, at which point I really wasn't enjoying the book any more and I was just waiting for it to end.

We do get a glimpse into why Bruce is the way he is, but by the time that came around I really hated him and not even that could help me to drum up much sympathy for him. I get that he is kind of meant to be an unlikeable character but I can understand why so many of my colleagues were turned off the book.

In fact, the thing I was expecting to be my biggest barrier to the book, the fact that it's written entirely in dialect with some pretty bizarre formatting, actually was the easiest thing to get to grips with. By the end of the first ten or so pages I was used to Bruce's speech. I suppose living in Scotland for a decade and a half helped too. In fact, the things that probably bugged me most were the complete lack of quotation marks and the interjections from Bruce's tapeworm.

Yeah, it's just that kind of book.

As soon as I finished Filth, I went straight onto Blood Bath by Stephen Leather and a whole host of others. It's basically a collection of short stories, one of which was written by Jack Nightingale creator, Stephen Leather, the others were written by six authors and fans.

It's a fairly short ebook and each story has the same title, but they all tackle it in different ways. It made for a nice little quick read after Filth and despite the subject matter, it was quite light and easy by comparison. This was a good side read in between my Challenge books.

I have to say, I preferred the first couple of stories over the latter ones. Obviously the first one was closest to the Nightingale character because it was written by the actual author. Of all the stories which weren't written by Leather, the ones written by the competition-winning fans were the best. I guess the other authors wrote because they were asked to, the fans were already probably making up stories about the characters and obsessively read the previous books, so theirs felt more true to the original incarnations.


I did think that the book could have done with a little more editing, but it was a free book so I'm not exactly going to complain about a few spelling or grammatical errors. On the whole, it was a good little read. I thought it was an interesting idea to see how so many different stories could all come from the same title and cover. It'd be fun to have other writers do something similar to see the different results.

Pebbly Beach

Each week in my Walk Middle-earth group on Ravelry I set a challenge for people to take part in, if they feel so inclined. These challenges range from things people have to photograph on their walks, distances that should be covered, a particular time to spend walking, to specifically Middle-earthy challenges. Sometimes they're a combination of two different sorts of challenges.

In my Bullet Journal I have a list of potential challenge ideas but I tend to select them fairly randomly; when I set up the group I asked people which challenges they liked the sound of most and the Photo Challenge was definitely most popular, so I've got rather more of them than anything else. I try to make it fair and pick challenges that will challenge me too (it'd be really easy to think, I've got a busy week at work this week, I'll just challenge everyone to take a ten minute walk).

And this week's challenge was definitely a little challenging.

I'd suggested that people might like to take a walk to their favourite place, take some photos and then share their favourite places with the other members of the group.

It was a good challenge suggestion and I was quite proud of myself for coming up with it. Until the realisation dawned that I would also have to do this walk too.

Saturday ended up being a very lazy day and I didn't get out of bed until after 11am. My favourite place on the island is a little hidden away spot, Calvary Pond, and I planned to pull on my welly boots and trek up there with my camera. But I happened to mention to Mr Click that my proper favourite spot on the island is a little cove out at Kilchattan Bay.

When we first visited the island on holiday, when I was about eight or nine, we stayed at the Bay and one of our explorations took us along to a little beach which I nicknamed Pebbly Beach. It does have a proper and far more boring name, but my name has stuck.

So we headed out there and after walking Tara with Mr Click, I left them both at the car and ventured out to the beach.

And if I'd known what the path was going to be like, I would've picked an easier challenge for myself!

It was very boggy, very muddy, and very slippy. It took me about ten minutes to gingerly pick my way along the path, taking occasional photos (and trying to shield my little compact camera from the rain).

And it doesn't really look like much, especially when the windy is blowing and the rain is pouring down. But I've got many happy memories of playing on that beach. I'd scale the rocks and feel like I was standing on top of the world (now I stand almost level with the top of the rocks and they don't feel so very high at all).

I'm looking forward to when the weather starts to improve so I can go back out there and actually spend a little while there, rather than paying a quick visit and heading off before my thumbs freeze off and I got stranded.