November Plans... Or Keeping Me Sane

I can't believe that it's been since August that I've posted one of these.  Where did the time go?  Oh right... walking, gardening, eating all the cake...

 

Enough said.

 

Oh well at least my new goal of being a bit more organised is paying off and I'm finally posting one of these. 

Reading

 

Surprisingly going quite well even though I'm actually reading less.  Which makes no sense whatsoever but who am I to argue with the fact that my always massive To Be Read pile is actually down to a much more manageable level.  And a lot of those waiting books are my annual Christmas reads.  Talk about being organised.

Gardening

 

As for the gardening this is another win win all round.  Tomato and strawberry plants are all planted and so far doing well.  Thanks to our lovely warm but soon to be burning furnace conservatory.  Hopefully the plants can handle the heat.

 

Outside I'm just about ready to plant my corn, carrot, pea and radish seeds, as well as some lettuce and apple cucumber plants.

 

Next on the list to plant are some sunflower seeds, lots and lots more weeding, laying down more compost and finally sowing a ton of flower seeds which hopefully will turn a large part of our ginormous garden into a lovely flowering meadow... sort of?

Get Fit and Healthy

 

Can you believe three out of three for successes.  Because yes this is also going well.

 

Smoothies, scrambled eggs and the occasional piece of cake seem to be the answer.  That.  And lots and lots of gardening and walking.

 

I still want to do better so the plan for the next few months is to try and get back into doing yoga.  Mostly because my flexibility sucks.  Big time.  I may have the brain and personality of a 12 year old but I have the bones of an 80 year old.  And ain't that a kicker.  So yes yoga and doing it a hell of lot more regularly than I have been are the plan.

Watching and Reviewing

 

I've mentioned in previous posts that my weird brain is currently making me watch and review all the movies I have ever seen.

 

Like that ain't some crazy right there.

Still this is my brain for you.  Why do something simple when you can go all out and do something big and most likely completely nuts.  

Amazingly the reviewing is actually going pretty well.  500 odd and counting with only 2000 more or so to go.  Though I must admit the reviews are becoming shorter and maybe just a tad brutal and snarky at times.  It's also made me realise that there's an awful lot of so called good movies out there that are really not that good and a lot of movies that get a bit of a bad rap but are actually nowhere near as bad as some people make them out to be.  Then again I could just have appalling taste in movies.

Writing

 

You just know there had be at least one fail on the list.  Still I have been blogging more so maybe not a complete fail.  We'll just have to see if I can keep it up, as well as trying to do some actual writing.  You know the kind.  With words and a story.

 

I'm sensing a lot more cake in my future.

Book Talk: I've Been Reading...

Shock.  Horror.  Another post.  

I know right?  Who would've thought I'd be able to churn out another book post so soon.  This organisation thing seems to be working.  And this time there are so many good books.  Like really, really good books.

The Chain was one of those far fetched wacky thrillers that drew you in despite yourself.  I pretty much read it all in one sitting.  In fact a lot of the books in this post were read all in one go, they were that addictive.  House of Correction?  Ditto.  The Minders?  Ditto, ditto. 

Both Nicci French and John Marrs have become my new must-read-everything-by-them authors.  Particularly Marrs who writes thrillers with a all too possible futuristic twist.  Seriously love them.  And already hanging out for his next release "drums fingers".

Michael Wood's latest Matilda Darke detective novel also didn't disappoint and pretty much threw the whole series in to a "oh my God I did so not see that coming" territory.  I just love it when a series does that.  Unlike The Three Dark Crown Series which started out brilliantly but was seriously let down by the 4th and final book.  I was gutted that such a good series ended so incredibly badly.  Something, that sadly seems to happen way to often with fantasy series.

Along with with all the thrillers there was a hefty dose of chick lit.  The perfect antidote when other books disappoint you.  Feel good swoony feels all round.  I did however manage to sneak in a graphic novel, a thriller no less, about a housewife who just happens to be a hired killer.  So no surprise that I loved it.

Aside from that I also managed to fit in some audio book catch-ups.  Two comedies, a sci-fi and one about a pandemic.   I know.  Only my brain wants a pandemic book when there's an actual pandemic going on.  Weird but true.  However it was amazingly good.  Scarily so.  So totally worth it in the end.

Good thing I rounded it out with a lovely book featuring celebrity couples talking about what makes a marriage work.  No where near as serious as it sounds and actually filled with just nice stories about happy and successful marriages.

 

The perfect romance book for a big romantic like me.

The Viewing Files: All The Movies - Part 2

Another way overdue catch up post.  This time it's all the movies.  And there's a lot of movies.  Like seriously a lot.  Which means that I have (as I have mentioned before) been slowly - and I do mean slowly - working my way from my Letterboxd films and adding in reviews for every film I have ever seen.

I know right?  Absolutely crazy.  Still that's my brain.  Wanting everything nice and tidy.   So without too much fuss here's the 1st (or should that be the 2rd?) rewatch reviews.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Starring: Errol Flynn and some bad ass sword fighting

Original release: 1938

Synopsis:  "Robin Hood, Robin Hood. Riding through the glen..."

 

We should all have as much fun with a sword and a bow as Errol Flynn has. Easy to see why he was so popular, though that hairstyle was truly awful. What were they thinking?

The Guns of Navarone

Starring: Gregory Peck and a lot of other guys - some of who die

Original release: 1961

Synopsis:  A bloody great big gun that needs blowing up

War movies how they should be - action packed and heroic. The acting is superb too.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Starring: James Mason and some guy who sings

Original release: 1963

Synopsis:  A bunch of explorers head down a volcano (yes seriously)

Completely far fetched and yes there is even some singing (just skip those parts) and a duck and yet despite all of this it's somehow still entertaining.

The Count of Monte Cristo

Starring: Richard Chamberlain

Original release: 1975

Synopsis:  Revenge is a dish best served... years after everyone has forgotten who you were

Richard Chamberlain's cheekbones are the real star.  Zero marks for the awful white hair ageing.  Makeup artist you ain't fooling nobody.

The Man in the Iron Mask

Starring: Richard Chamberlain, again

Original release: 1977

Synopsis:  The title kind of explains it all

This might have worked better as a two part film or as a mini series giving the chance to show the prisoner in jail for much longer but as it is it's still pretty good. Chamberlain's cheekbones are once again superb and he does quite well playing the 2 roles.

Dead Poets Society

Starring: Robin Williams *sob*

Original release: 1989

Synopsis:  A bunch of uptight kids try to break free of their upper upbringing

I should really like this movie. There's great acting, a moving story and yet somehow it all seems kind of dull and boring in places.

Sometimes even great movies don't work for everyone and this is one of those for me.

Book Talk: I've Been Reading... The Blue Episode

Still trying to catch up on posts, still way, way, way behind.  This is what happens when you're trying to do multiple things, sometimes all at once.  Hence I'm going to try to be a little bit more organised and break up my day into smaller, bite size chunks so that I can get at least some things finished.

Hopefully the brain and body behave.

Reading catch up time and it's my normal mixed bag.  Though you may notice a distinct theme. 

 

Crimey thrillers abound.  And some new authors have now been added into my "look for future' books list which is always a plus.  There was even a James Patterson novel, an author I haven't read in years but which was surprisingly quite good. 

 

And then there's the chick lit.  Lots and lots of chick lit.  Some YA.  But still chick lit.  And with all the happy endings that you and I can handle.   Swoony feels anyone...

Seriously though I am reading a lot of feel good books.  Which is probably no surprise considering the ups and downs of the past two years.  And there's been a lot of downs.  So it's no wonder I've taken refuge in all the chick lit and feel goods I can.  Happy, comfort reading for the win.

I loved all of these.  And each one managed to be just slightly different and yet still warm and fuzzy.

 

There's one about a letter in a bottle, another about 'fake' dating, frenemies, the brooding lone wolf... yep, there's a trope for everyone and I've pretty much covered them all and more than once.

 

Sigh.  

 

One happy camper with one relaxed and spacey brain.  Just wait until you see my Christmas reading wish list...

A Day in a Life... A Midweek Tale

I know, I know.  I keep meaning to post and then get completely sidetracked by something else and before you know it weeks have gone by.  I really do need to do better. 

Thank you photo diary for at least making this one easy.

So how did my Wednesday from last week go...

 

8.30am

 

And Nudge is awake and enjoying the sun and wondering why I am getting up when the bed is so nice and toasty warm.

 

A few minutes later...

Starting the day right with a hot cup of Red Seal tea, my favourite, and so hard to find at the moment what with all the shortages.  I'm going have to make this last.

 

9.30am

 

There's something very relaxing about raking soil.  This is me getting the 'big' garden bed ready to plant some veggie seeds in it.

 

So far on my list to plant are corn, radishes, dwarf peas, dwarf beans, baby spinach, carrots and cucumber. 

10.30am

 

Big garden raked, small garden by back path and door planted with pansies.  I just love having a bit of colour in the garden.

Make that a lot of colour as I have still got marigolds, sunflowers, hollyhocks, cosmos and a few others to plant.  Hopefully by summer the garden beds will be a riot of colour.

11.30am

 

A break from all that gardening and time for a walk in the sunshine and amongst all the blossom trees.

 

These ones were flowering in the cemetery up the hill from our house. 

Even the ground looks pretty, covered in blossoms, daises, sunshine and shadows.

1.00pm 

 

Finally back from the up and down hill walk and time for some carrot cake and a Chai Latte.  As you do.

2.00pm

 

The jigsaw is coming along slowly.  Very slowly.

3.00pm 

 

Break time over and back to some more gardening.  This time it's to plant a cherry tomato plant in a large pot so it can hopefully grow nice and big in our lovely hot conservatory.

 

I'm going to be planting some strawberry plants too and maybe another couple of tomato plants.

 

Might as well get some use out of the conservatory since we never use it.

4.00pm

 

A healthy smoothie to make up for that cake from earlier.  This one is baby spinach, pineapple, a scoop of protein powder and water.

 

So yum. 

5.00pm

 

Some more Bridgewater podcast.  It's the final 3 episodes and I'm super hooked.  Can't wait until they start screening Season 2.

6.30pm

Red Election time with the always brilliant Stephen Dillane.  6 episodes in and it's seriously good.  Though I have no idea who the double agent is.  Or at least I have some idea but keep changing my mind.

Don't you just love twisty turny spy thrillers?  I do.  So I'm just going to round out the evening with the last 4 episodes and see what happens.

A Day in the Life... A Lockdown Tale

Well here I am again with another photo diary.  This time during a lockdown. Who would have thought that was going to happen again.  But here we are.  Doing our best to keep each other safe and well.

 

As for my day...

8.00am 

The sun is up and out and Nudge has already found his comfy spot on the bed.  Meanwhile I'm debating whether I should get up or wait a little bit longer.  Mmm I'm thinking waiting and having a quick read might be just thing.

9.00am

Finally up and the sun really is shining bright with the whole house filled with light.  Not a bad start to the day.

A few minutes later...

A few cups of tea before I get stuck in with today's plans.  Flamingo socks for the win and a lockdown pick-me-up

9.30am

 

About to start some serious gardening.  Sadly all the garden beds are mostly bare or filled with weeds but this is at least one thing that has come out in flower.  I have no idea what it is but doesn't it look pretty. 

Midday-ish

 

4 bins of weeds later and it's time for a break.  With all this lovely weather I'm finally making some progress.  2 garden beds completely cleared out and one massively large one to go.  And by massive I mean swimming pool size huge.  That one is definitely going to take more than a few hours to clear out.

Back inside...

And it's cup of tea and podcast time.  I'm seriously getting into Bridgewater which is a new find for me.  If you're looking for a new podcast to listen to I can highly recommend this. Especially if you like mysteries with a touch of supernatural.

1.00pm

Carrying on with my break by doing some of our latest jigsaw.  Sadly we don't have a dining table so we're having to doing this on a piece of board on the floor.  As you can see it's slow progress.

1.30pm

Back in the garden and my first daffy is in flower.  And though I'm tempted to pick it I'm going to leave it where it is and hopefully the others will come out in flower in the next few days.

4.00pm

Oops forgot to take any photos.  Then again all you would be seeing is a massive piles of weeds.  So it's probably a good thing.  

Back inside for more cups of tea and some reading.  A gardening book, naturally.  I'm busy figuring out what seeds to buy so I can get stuck in with some planting. 

5.00pm

And some more jigsawing.

6.00pm

Dinner.  Hashbrowns and mixed veg with butter.  Super fast and easy to make and so yum.  Just what I needed after a long day of gardening.  Also cooking is so not me so something like this is pretty much as good as it gets in our household.  Unless of course Other Half is cooking and then it's a whole different world.

7.00pm

I've been working my way through all the libraries online CrossStitcher magazine and am very tempted to do this pattern.

7.30pm

Movie time.  Other Half and I have been rewatching all The Avengers movies and finally we're up to the last one.  Thor, as you can see, is pretty awesome.  

And that's it for the day.  Not at all exciting I know.  Hopefully next time will be a little better.

August Plans

The mind is willing but the body is weak and suddenly months have gone by and all the plans come to a grinding halt as I hibernate all toasty warm indoors and pretty much ignore the world outside.

Which is a good thing considering how cold it gets down here.  Trying to garden when the ground is frozen solid is not a fun or easy thing to do.  Being indoors is definitely the way to see out the winter.  Even better when you have a pile of books and plenty of hot chocolate to help wile away the hours.

 

Still I'm not giving up completely so here I am once again making plans.  Cross fingers that the body this time actually manages to do some of them.

 

Reading

 

No surprise that is the one plan that is going well.  Minus 1 outside?  Read.  Snowing?  Read.  Pouring with rain?  Read.  Can't be bothered getting out of bed...

 

Mmm I'm sensing a pattern here.

 

On the plus side at least my To Be Read pile is finally going down. 

So yay me.

Crafting

 

I managed to finish the cardigan I was knitting and then completely pulled it apart and unraveled it to start it all over again all because I didn't like how it looked.  I know.  I seriously need to tell my brain to stop being a perfectionist.  Still I guess it's good practice and hopefully this time round it'll look a bit better.

Besides that project I want to make some cross stitch cards for Christmas.  I've got some cute patterns and most of the materials so all I have to do is make a start.

Baby steps as the say.

Gardening

 

This has been on hold for the past few months.  First due to a sprained ankle followed by some serious frosts and that was the gardening over.

Now that it's getting a bit warmer and the sun is actually making an appearance I've been getting stuck back in.  As you can imagine there's a lot to do.  Weeding and turning over soil, planting seeds and fruit trees, laying out paving for for paths and a 1000 other tasks.

Of course it might just rain all month...

Get Fit and Healthy

 

Despite all those hot chocolates I've managed not to gain any weight all winter mostly due to living on soup, scrambled eggs and roast veggies.  I've even been able to wear jeans for the first time in years thanks to the 20 odd kilos I've lost in the past year or so.  So on the whole this task is going quite well.

Even more so now that the ankle is all healed and I can go walking.  I'm hoping to up my walking to a daily 1 hour walk now that the weather is no longer freezing. 

I'm sensing some new walking sneakers are going to be in my future.

Writing

Failing on so many levels.  I wonder why I bother even trying to do this. Then again... that writing voice keeps nagging at me so it looks like this plan is here to stay.

Hopefully I can at least try to write some more blog posts over the coming months.   Pray that my computer doesn't have a complete break down from all the typing I'm going to be doing...