Thursday, July 25, 2013

What a week.

One of those that if any thing could fuckup, it did. From household disasters and stress to personal stuff. This week has felt like lurching from one disaster to another and all in 48 hours. But this isn't a whine-a-lot post this is a post about affirmation. Because through all that has occurred one thing remains constant, and that is the love and I get from a little a red dog.

She doesn't mind if I get upset or grumpy or go all silent because I am too drained to talk. She is a constant source of joy, happiness and living her life to the full. She can make me smile at my lowest ebb.

She also shows me, that I have to smile through it, move on and get over it. Clever wee beastie she is.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Roll on winter

I don't do 'hot'. I dislike summer. I hate hot and humid nights. And I really dsilike the sensation of damp underwear after a long hot day. Sticky tits are the pits!

My thinking is; it is easier to get warm from being cold. Layers of clothes, hot drinks, a warming fire, hot water bottle, and extra blankets....or even a cuddle. You go from cold to cosy. Hot to cool is harder. I don't want to be touched, let alone cuddled when I'm hot. Heat does NOT equate to amorous, in my book, it equates with, 'touch me and I will rip your hands from your wrists and beat you to death with soggy ends'. A cooling drink soon wears off, a fan moves the hot air about and a shower makes the air more humid. Lucky for me, I invested, a couple of years back, in a bloody good air con unit, this week it has been a life saver at night.

My temper remains unpredictable with a bent towards volatile with extreme grump thrown in. This has been proved against Ma, M and J this week. This situation will remain all the while this awful weather continues. I therefore suggest that those who cross my path, stop and think, before telling me it is glorious and they hope it lasts for weeks.....I may not be responsible for my response or actions.

Monday, July 08, 2013

And the reading goes on

Catch up time  - with these added I will have read 59 books so far this year - and although I am not actually doing a '52 in 52' challenge this year and I am now working part time, I am quite happy with that count. So here are the recent additions to my list.

L H Cosway - 'Tegan's Magic' and 'Tegan's Return'
Format - Kindle

Read these back to back (straight after the first one). They are not literary giants but they are very readable for their genre. I've always been a fantasy/sci- fi girl and just get immense pleasure from these kinds of stories. They don't tax the brain, they aren't erudite in any way but they amuse, entertain and keep me turning the pages.


Neil Gaiman - 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane'
Format - Kindle

Had this on pre-order. Saved it for my holiday. Read it in a couple of days. Loved every page. This is the kind of story that you could say was more of a young adult work, it is not as complex or as long say as 'American Gods' but I think anyone of any age could happily read this and be transported. It is weird, quirky and very clever. The ideas and concepts work with an ease and delight that make the book flow beautifully. The characters are well drawn and thought out. The peril is written so that you can understand the way the main character (a  young boy) would feel and empathise with him and the supernatural side is very grounded in some ways, which I think actually makes it have more impact.
Write us more stories Mr Gaiman - you are so very good at it.

Christine Stovell -'Move over Darling'
Format- Kindle

A chick-lit that just didn't work for me. Perhaps it was just me but I got impatient with the story and the characters and found it a slog. There is nothing wrong with it - but it was like a bowl of cold and stodgy porridge for me.

Cassandra Clare - The Mortal Instruments Trilogy
'City of Bones', 'City of Ashes' and 'City of Glass'
Format - Kindle

One of those series that by the time I was a 3rd of the way through book 1, I knew I would be reading the others straight off. Again like the first books in this post, these are not works of great fiction etc, but they are entirely readable.
I am sure picky peeps would review and mention mistakes, and some of them are a little glaring at times, but I lost myself in the story and the characters and just stopped being bothered by them. I want to read for pleasure not nit picking.
Not sure if I will read the 2nd series yet - if I do - it will be later on as I do want to read other things now.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Went away, back now.

M and I went off for a few days, down to Dartmoor and the above is the view from our window. We stayed in a fab pub on the edge of moor called The Tradesman's Arms. Good ales, great rooms, warm welcome and good food too. They are dog friendly too.

We met up with lots of friends and M climbed the old lighthouse in Plymouth. I am sitting on one of the benches below waiting for him.
We went on the moor and found a lamb at Hound Tor. We explored and laughed and came home feeling much better for a break.

And when we got home we celebrated J's 16th birthday. Had a fabulous day. Am so proud of him. He has grown into a loving, funny, clever and articulate young man. Must have being doing something right. We all went to see Despicable Me 2 - on Friday (in 3D) - so funny - worth going to see.


Last bit  - cameo by Lottie Bo-Bo - she got a pressie from a friend we met up with on holiday. A Kong squeaky tennis ball - apt for Wimbledon - she loves it and has yet to let it out of her sight. The Boggart gave his a hair cut, desqueaked it and now ignores it.