The Viewing Files: Dating Is The Worse

And we're half way through season 2 and it's about to get really emotional.

Season 2 Episode 11: Ted

Buffy's mom gets a boyfriend and everyone loves him except Buffy, a feeling she finds out is mutual when he threatens her. 

Things only get worse when a confrontation with him ends in his accidentally death.  Now Buffy is facing the suspicions of the police, the shock and grief of her mother and her own despair at having taken a human life.

Naturally the Scooby gang decide to help and find out the Ted may not be the man that everyone thought they knew.

Fav Quote: Buffy: Can you say 'sucking chest wound?'

Fashion: Willow's on form in the cutest outfit and rockin' the hat look and Buffy's stonewash dungarees make another appearance.  I've noticed she seems to wears these when she's feeling down or depressed.  Which is odd.

Body Count: None

Season 2 Episode 12: Bad Eggs

Health Class gets a whole new meaning when the eggs that everyone are given to raise as a parental exercise takes a typical 'Sunnydale is the worse place to live' spin and hatch, revealing mind-controlling face huggers that plan on taken over the town.

Before anyone can say 'Sigourney Weaver' Buffy is after the thing that controls the little horrors and finds herself underground and having to battle the monster mother from hell.

Can we just say eww and gross now.

Note:  Buffy names her egg Egbert which is totally on point.

Fav Quote: Cordelia: "It's an egg, Buffy, it doesn't emote."

Fashion:  Another blah kind of fashion episode.

Body Count: None

Season 2 Episode 13: Surprise

Buffy's birthday is just around the corner and the gang are plotting and planning to ensure that she can have at least one normal day in her life even if she is having frightening dreams foretelling that something terrible is about to happen.

Can't a girl ever catch a break?  

Probably not when one lives on the Hellmouth and Spike and Dru are scheming something big.

The something big turns out to be a demon named The Judge, a being that can cleanse the Earth of humanity.  All they have to do is to put all it's body pieces together and hey presto one big bad.

As Buffy and Angel fight to stop their plan their relationship moves closer and closer to it's inevitable next step.

Fav Quote:Buffy: You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My boyfriend had a bicentennial.

Fashion: Once again Willow is rockin' the hat look.  I totally love it and wish I could wear hats.  Sadly there's not a hat on the planet that looks good on me.

Body Count: None

Season 2 Episode 14: Innocence 

Birthdays suck, sex is bad and Buffy is an emotional wreck after Angel turns into Angelus, the demon with an angelic face and it's all because of her and their night together and the secrets Miss Calendar kept from them all.

With Angelus now on the Dark Side and tapping into his hidden Vader the gang have to work together to stop him and The Judge as they team up to annihilate humanity once and for all and Buffy has to pull herself together long enough to bring down the man she loves. 

Fav Quote: Spike: No more of this 'I've got a soul' crap?
Angelus: What can I say? I was going through a phase.

Fashion: Buffy and her mom's sweats and socks look at the end of this episode look so comfortable and just the sort of thing I would wear after a day of slaying.

Body Count: 1

The Viewing Files: There Can Be Only One

Racing through the episodes now... mostly because the seasons are now longer so there's a lot to get through.

Season 2 Episode 6: Halloween

There's no such thing as quiet time for a slayer even on Halloween.  Roped into to taking some kids trick-or-treating things take a turn for the weird when everyone becomes exactly like the costume they are wearing all courtesy of a spell cast by the new bad boy in town Ethan Rayne.

Suddenly Buffy is a helpless 18th century damsel and it's up to Xander (whose now a soldier) and Willow (whose now a ghost) to come to the rescue with the help of Giles who shares a history with Ethan.

Hello Ripper indeed.

Note: Giles's nickname is Ripper.  And he's totally badass.  I could get seriously behind this.

Fav Quote: Cordelia: Oh, he’s a vampire. Of course, but the cuddly kind...like a “care bear with fangs”?

Fashion: Willow totally rocks the black leather skirt, crop top and boots looks. I love her hair and makeup too.

Body Count: None

Season 2 Episode 7: Lie To Me

Ford, an old school friend of Buffy's turns up as a transfer student to Sunnydale High.  Of course this being Sunnydale and all no one is surprised to learn that Ford has a secret agenda and that it involves a deal with the devil... aka Spike.

The Sunnydale curse strikes yet again and Buffy is left having to decide a friend's fate.

Fav Quote: Angel: Things used to be pretty simple. A hundred years, just hanging out, feelin' guilty... I really honed my brooding skills.

Fashion: Weirdly nothing stands out in this episode.  It's all just a bit ho hum.

Body Count: 1

Season 2 Episode 8: The Dark Age

Just as Giles and Miss Calender are getting together Giles's past catches up with him when he finds out that 3 friends from his youth have died in horrible circumstances and that Ethan Rayne is back in town. 

It seems that Giles aka Ripper has more secrets than either Buffy or the Scoobies knew about it.  A secret that could have some serious consequences for him and Miss Calendar.

Fav Quote: Ethan: Well, I hate to mutilate and run.

Fashion:  Just when you thought you had seen the last of the short short skirt it's back.  Also: Buffy gets a tattoo, if only temporarily.

Body Count: 4, though none of them are students of Sunnydale or even live in Sunnydale.

Season 2 Episode 9: What's My Line Part 1

Career Week arrives and Buffy is suffering from a major case of the blues as she realises that her future life is probably going to be one of living off the Unemployment Benefit, isolation and endless night 'work'.

If that wasn't depressing enough Spike and Dru send 3 assassins to keep Buffy off their backs while they plan something major and another Slayer turns up unexpectedly.

Fav Quote: Buffy: Okay, then a regular kid and her cradle-robbing, creature-of-the-night boyfriend.
 
Fashion: I'm in love with the pinky purple cardigan that Buffy wears at the beginning.  So my kind of thing.

Body Count: 1 housewife

Season 2 Episode 10: What's My Line Part 2

Carrying on from the last episode Buffy and Kendra, The Vampire Slayer get to know each other and swap stories while discussing with Giles how there possibly be 2 slayers at the same time.

Answer: Buffy's 1 minute of biting the dust caused for a new Slayer to be summoned.

Spike and Dru's big plan is finally revealed and it's a race to stop them and save Angel.

Fav Quote: Buffy: You know. No kick-o, no fight-o?

Fashion: Dungarees for Willow again, this time in red, while Buffy it seems has taken to wearing a baggy plaid shirt (which seriously reminds me of Sam and Dean)

Body Count: None

The Viewing Files: I See Dead People

And onto season 2 it is.

Looking back on season 1 you could pretty much get away with just watching episodes 1, 2, 7 and 12 (which are probably my favourites anyway) and miss the others which are mostly fillers; some good and some not so good (though I have a soft spot for The Witch and The Pack).

Buffy's dress sense for the season was pretty much short short skirts or short short shift dresses except when she was fighting then it was trousers all the way.  I'm guessing no one wants to flash their knickers when they are slaying.  The short short shift dress and boots combo appeared a lot.  Weirdly I don't remember this being a look in 1997.  It seems more late 60's early 70s so maybe Buffy is into retro vintage dressing or buys her clothes from the local Op shop.  Do they even have Op shops in the USA?  That aside it was kind of cool seeing all the super bad outfits; from Giles horrible sweater vest to Willow's grandma pinafore dress.

Overall it's easy to see that Joss and Co were still finding their feet writing and story wise as was the cast but luckily in the end it all turned out to be an entertaining season.

Now on to seeing what the next season will bring...

Season 2 Episode 1: When She Was Bad

Buffy's back from her summer hols and feeling kind of bitchy.  Personally I feel she's got every reason to.  After all she did die.  That's gotta suck right there. Off course the team notice Buffy's less that cheery manner but can't seem to figure out quite why she is feeling so peeved.  Clueless much.

Still in the end Buffy taps into her inner bad ass self and works through her emotions with the only way she knows how - killing some vamps and smashing up a pile of bones into chalk dust.  

Sometimes you just have to deal. 

PS: Giles and Miss Calendar are totally cute together.  Sexy flirting all round.

Fav Quote: Snyder: That Summers girl. I smell trouble. I smell expulsion, and just the faintest aroma of jail. 

Fashion: Buffy has a new hair cut, it swishes and everything.  I want that hair.  And not in a creepy way.  The short short skirts and shift dresses also seem to be gone - thank God.

Body Count: Zero

Snyder: That Summers girl. I smell trouble. I smell expulsion, and just the faintest aroma of jail.

Read more at: https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=122&t=8316&sid=84cf59308c6b81af329aba66f6d7a030

Season 2 Episode 2: Some Assembly Required

Buffy tries to encourage Giles to ask Miss Calendar out on a date and then informs him that she found an empty grave and not of the vampire kind.

Meanwhile Cordelia is trying to steer clear of 2 science geeks who seem to be stalking her and not in the 'I-wanna-make-you-my-girlfriend-way'.

It quickly becomes apparent that the empty grave and the 2 geeks have more in common than anyone thought.

Frankstein's Bride anyone?

Fav Quote: Giles:  Grave robbing? That’s new. Interesting. 
Buffy:  I *know* you meant to say gross and disturbing. 
Giles:  Yes, yes, yes of course. Uh, terrible thing.

Fashion: Giles sweater vest look is really on form here (they're certainly an improvement over the previous vest) and Buffy wears her hair up for quite a bit of the episode which I also liked.

Body Count: 1 (although technically as he was already dead I'm not sure if he completely counts)

Season 2 Episode 3: School Hard

Just when Buffy thought her life couldn't get any worse what with being threaten with expulsion, her falling grades and having to arrange the Parent's Night get together, a new pair of vampires arrive in town to cause all kinds of chaos.

Yep Spike aka Blondie Bear finally makes his appearance and can we all swoon now?

Swooning aside Spike and Dru bring a whole new level of bad ass to town and soon Buffy finds that Parent's Night really is the worse.

Fav Quote: Buffy (seeing Spike with a long metal pipe): Do we really need weapons for this?  
Spike: I just like them. They make me feel all manly. 

Fashion: Dungarees for the win.  First for Willow with her cool black pair combined with the cute plaits and second for Buffy who goes for stonewash denim.  

Body Count: 4 

Season 2 Episode 4: Inca Mummy Girl 

It's foreign student exchange time and Buffy soon has a new roommate, a South American girl named Ampata.

Unfortunately Ampata has kind of big secret which could really put a damper on the whole can we be friends things. Strike 2 for Xander in falling for the wrong girl, yet again.

On a side note we meet Oz for the first time.  A cool, laid back kind of guy who from a far is intrigued by the cute mystery girl aka Willow.  Is one of this team finally going to have some luck in the love stakes?

Fav Quote: Buffy: "One day I'm gonna live in a town where evil curses are just generally ruled out without even saying it."

Fashion: The dungarees are back again and I totally loved Willow's blue hat.

Body Count: 1 museum curator

Season 2 Episode 5: Reptile Boy

Fed up with kill kill kill, slay slay slay Buffy agrees to go with Cordelia to a frat party.

Of course nothing every goes right in Buffy's life and soon she and Cordelia find themselves tied up and waiting to be sacrificed to a snake demon.  And people said frat parties were all about drinking and sex...

Fav Quote: Giles: "Yes, and you were very nearly devoured by a giant demon snake. The words 'let that be a lesson' are a tad redundant at this juncture."

Fashion: I loved pretty much every look Buffy has in this episode - sheer tops seem to be in and I liked all three of different ones she worn.  The skirts are definitely longer too.  And can we just talk for a minute about the hair?  There were curls at the end and it was just so cute and pretty - loved it.

Body Count: 2

Book Talk: I've Been Reading...

All this Buffy watching and posting is seriously getting in the way of all my reading and posting - as if I really needed to get even further behind.  Some multitasking is definitely required.

Oh well at least this book post shows that I have at least been trying to mix it up a little reading wise.  

Lots of chick lit this time round, all of which had been sitting in my To Be Read pile for absolutely ages so it felt good to finally get to them.  Even better they ranged from being good to really really good so that's always a nice thing.  

I especially loved Maybe This Time and The Memory Collector, both by authors that I have read before and enjoyed.   In fact I've probably read nearly all of Jill Mansell's books so no surprise that I would enjoy her latest. 

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me was my first graphic novel in a really long time.  Mostly because I am really fussy and super hard to please in regards to graphic fiction.  The illustrations really have to work for me for me to enjoy them which generally means they have to be fairly realistic and not too arty.  Which I know totally goes against the whole idea of graphic novels.   Laura Dean though worked for me and the story was a realistic look of how we sometimes let 'love' or the idea of love blind us.

After that it was three really excellent reads - two non fiction and 1 crime novel.. You just knew that there had to be a crime novel in there somewhere.

Both of the nonfic were fascinating reads; the first looked at the various Scandinavian countries and asked the question "are they as happy as all the surveys say" and the second looked at whether our population really is set to keep on increasing or is it actually decreasing and what does this mean for the future.

I read both of these in one sitting as they were so good.

And finally a crime novel.  A new to me author which means I now have a brand new crime series to work my way through.  Yay for me.

The Viewing Files: Bite Me

And it's the last few episodes of the season.  Which as you can see was a pretty short season compared to most.  Obviously the studio at the time were a little nervous as to how well the show would go down with audiences.

Episode 10: Nightmares 

It's bad enough that you live on the Hellmouth where all things creepy and scary live but to have your nightmares seem to come true is seriously wrong on every level.

Suddenly there are spiders and giant wasps everywhere, Xander's turning up to class in his underwear, Giles can't read, Willow is suffering from some serious stage fright and Buffy has to face the fact that she is stupid, unloved and a vampire.  Wait... what?

Never mind because soon the real monster is uncovered and a little boy finally comforts his fears.  And the lesson that everyone learns is that sometimes the monsters we fear most are the ones closest to us.

Fav Quote: Buffy: What am I, Knowledge Girl now? Explanations are your terrain. 

Fashion: Buffy looks totally cute as a vamp so kudos to the makeup department for making that happen.  Meanwhile Giles is looking very dapper with the silk scarf draped casually round his neck look.  Swoon right there.

Body Count: None

Episode 11: Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Weird things start happening to Cordelia's friends and it takes Buffy and the Scoobies to figure out what is actually going on.

An unhappy girl with a serious case of not being seen.

Yep it's Buffy meets The Invisible Girl and it's kind of all down hill from there. 

Fav Quote: Snyder: There are no dead students here. This week.

Fashion: Major points for the cherry print pink skirt that Buffy wears for the first half of the episode and zero points for the blue scarf wrapped around her neck for the second half. Like what was that... accept just wrong on all counts.

Body Count: None

Episode 12: Prophecy Girl 

And Hell shall rise... literally.

Buffy discovers that her death is foretold and that The Master will be free bringing with him Hell on Earth, and that isn't just a metaphor.

When a group of his disciples slaughter most of what is probably left of Sunnydale High senior student body the fight is on with the motto being if you're going to die you better take them down with you. Naturally you just have to try on the pretty dress your Mom brought you for the dance before you get down and dirty.  Priorities you know.

Buffy discovers being dead really does suck, even more so for those left behind who suddenly find themselves having to fight giant man eating worms that just happen to have burst through the library floor (I wouldn't want to see that insurance claim).

Of course there's dead and there's dead and before you can say bite me Buffy is alive and well and ready for some pay back time.

Fav Quote: Giles: As the soon-to-be-purple area of my jaw will attest, I did not let her go!

Fashion: The white prom dress.  Perfect for any occasion, from dancing to slaying vampires.  For extra cool factor team with a leather jacket.

Body Count: 5 - obviously making up for the last couple of episodes

The Viewing Files: You Really Can't Trust Anyone

For a show with vampire in the title there's an awful lot of other supernatural beings in Sunnydale.  I guess that's what you get when you live on the Hellmouth.

Episode 7: Angel

The man in black finally gets an episode of his own and his 'secret' is revealed.  How Buffy did not see this coming I don't know, I mean the clues were kind of there.

Still with that out of the way she now has to decide whether to give him that stabbing feeling or not.  In the end common sense goes out the window and Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies decide that Angel is a good guy.  Mmm... I'm pretty sure that is going to come back and bite them on the ass.

Fav Quote: Buffy: Cool, crossbow! Check out these babies. Goodbye, stakes, hello, flying fatality!

Fashion: Buffy wears a headband for the first time.  Not a look that I could pull off but as it's pink it would still be totally me.  Giles awful sweater vest and lime green check shirt are also back again.  Someone should raid his wardrobe and burn these.

Body Count: No humans were harmed in the making of this video... vampires on the other hand...

Episode 8: I Robot, You Jane

And let the flirting commence.  Giles and Miss Calendar the sexy computer science teacher finally meet and their flirting bickering is just so cute.  Meanwhile Willow finally decides to stop crushing on Xander and begins an online relationship with a boy named Malcolm.

Love it seems is in the air.

Of course the path of true love never goes smoothly and Willow finds out that the cute, nice boy is actually a demon now living inside a robot body courtesy of two geek boys.  Miss Calendar must be one hell of computer science teacher.

In the end Robot Demon is exorcised courtesy of Giles and Miss Calendar (that's team work for you) and fried courtesy of Buffy's duck and dive and the Slayer and the Slayerette's are left to commiserate the disaster that is their love lives.

Fav Quote: Buffy: Okay, so a powerful demon with horns is walking around Sunnydale, and nobody's noticed?

Fashion: This time Willow is wearing the pink headband.  Her and Buffy are now swapping clothes which is cool.  Either way she totally works this look even better than Buffy did.  It's also the first appearance of one of her signature fluffy jumpers.  This one in mauve.  Obviously having an online boyfriend has made Willow get in touch with her inner girly girl which she should definitely do more so in the future.

Body Count: 2 students.

Episode 9: The Puppet Show 

Buffy and the team are roped into taking part in the school's talent show by the new principal, something that fills all three with dread.   Really though they should be more concerned by the creep as ventriloquist dummy (they certainly give me the wiggins).

A talent show and a headless corpse is soon the least of their problems, though Giles may have more serious problems what with the demon that wants to slice the top of his scalp off and take his brain.

Yep it's just another sunny day in Sunnydale.

Fav Quote: Principal Snyder: There are things I will not tolerate: students loitering on campus after school, horrible murders with hearts being removed... and also smoking.

Fashion:  Buffy in a very short, short leopard print dress, need I say anything more. 

Body Count: 3 students - at this rate there's not going to be many students left at this high school.

The Viewing Files: Being A Teacher Has It Drawbacks

Three episodes in and I've pretty much got the theme tune stuck in my head.  I seriously should have this as my ringtone.

In the meantime I'll keep on with my rewatch marathon...

Episode 4: Teacher's Pet

Just when Buffy finds a teacher whose actually gets her he winds up missing (aka dead) and a new teacher arrives causing all the 16 year boys to go into hormonal overdrive.  You just know that something isn't quite right (this probably should have been Sunnydale's motto).

In the end Xander has to face the fact that he has the worse taste in women, Buffy goes on a bug raid and mourns the lost of the one teacher who offered her some encouragement.

Fav Quote: Buffy: Destructo Girl, that's me.

Fashion: Giles is spotted wearing his first sweater vest which is totally hideous by the way as is the check shirt that he wears with it.  Is it weird that I still find him very sexy despite his terrible wardrobe?

Body Count: 1 teacher and possible 1 student (this one is only mentioned by another student to Xander we don't actually see his death)

Episode 5: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date

Going on a date is never easy... especially if you have a not-so-secret life of killing and maiming things.  Never let be said that Buffy is the type of girl to let that stand in her way.  Of course you just know that things aren't going to go right what with a visit to the morgue and all.

Worse date ever.

Weirdly Buffy's date doesn't seem to mind (red flag right there) and even seems to enjoy it (even bigger red flag).  Luckily she takes this as a clue that perhaps he isn't the right guy for her.

Fav Quote:  Giles: Buffy, when I said you could slay vampires and have a social life, I didn't mean at the same time. 

Fashion: Willow totally rocks the long hair pigtail look.  I am very envious.

Body Count: Some random strangers.  Definitely no Sunnydale High students this time round - they will be relieved.

Episode 6: The Pack

Xander tries to do the right thing and ends up being possessed by some kind of hyena spirit along with 4 other students.  Even zoo trips in Sunnydale seem to result in something bad happening.

Back at school the following day Xander is suddenly a bad boy bully with a predatory walk and kind of hot with it and being rude to his friends while hooking up with some new ones.  It's only a matter of time before the pack attacks.

Things go seriously downhill from there especially for Principal Flutie.  And another Sunnydale High teacher is toast.  Somehow the job vacancies at this school should come with a warning.

Fav Quote: Xander: Shoot me, stuff me, mount me.

Fashion: Xander should wear black more often.  Just sayin'.

Body Count:  1 high school principal, and sadly 1 pet pig *sobs*

The Viewing Files: And You Thought Your High School Years Were Bad

"In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is The Slayer."

If any show could be said to be my show then Buffy the Vampire Slayer would definitely be one of them.  There's angst and snark and bad fashion choices and a kick ass heroine who manages to be vulnerable yet brave, stupid but smart, all while dealing with life and death scenarios and wondering if she'll ever get to date let alone go to the prom.  

Naturally a rewatch seemed like a good idea...

Episode 1: Welcome to the Hellmouth

Buffy arrives at Sunnydale High with a look that is a cross somewhere between LA hooker and former college cheerleader.  With that out of the way we met some of the other high school students, namely Xander a skakeboarding klutz who is the master of snark, Willow the awkward nerdy redhead and Cordelia the bitchy popular girl. We also met Rupert Giles, the librarian who dresses in tweed and wears glasses but who is totally hot by the way or maybe that's just me.

By the end of the episode we know that Buffy is The Slayer, Giles is her Watcher, the local vampires are planning something all courtesy of this season's Big Bad The Master, a mysterious man in black seems to know it all and Xander is on the 'secret, kind of...

Note: The opening intro with the voice over is kind of annoying and cheesy, thank God that the powers that be got rid of it in later seasons.

Fav Quote: Buffy: To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood. And then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing. Mostly they're just gonna kill you.

Fashion: Short skirts and boots is what every high school student is wearing... well except Willow who dresses like an 80 year grandma.  A very non trendy 80 year old grandma. 

Body Count: 1 possible high school student (I'm not going to bother counting all the vampires cause who really cares about them anyway)

Episode 2: The Harvest

Carries on where the first episode ended with Buffy about to be killed by a muscle bound vampire.  So not what you need on your first day at a new school.  

Naturally Buffy gets out of this predicament and soon Xander and Willow are all caught up on all things vampire courtesy of Giles, and Buffy is off to put an end to it or at the very least delay things for awhile as she takes out a few vamps including Mr Muscles the vampire that had earlier tried to kill her.  Revenge is sweet as they say.

Note:  This is the first appearance of Giles using the whiteboard to explain things.  It's so totally teacher-ery and him that it still makes me smile.

Fav Quote: Xander: I don't like vampires. I'm going to take a stand and say they're not good.

Fashion: The short skirt is gone for now replaced by trousers for ease of moment when one is busy saving humans and killing vamps.

Body Count: 1 bouncer and two high school students

Episode 3: Witch

It's Buffy the Cheerleading epsiode featuring a mom who doesn't know when to quit and the first appearance of Amy who seems like a nice enough girl.  No vampires this time instead it's all about witchcraft and Buffy trying to fit in and be a normal teenage girl, so being a cheerleader it is.  No surprise that things don't quite go as planned.

The ending with the statue is still kind of creepy even after all these years. 

Fav Quote: Willow: Yeah! You're the Slayer, and we're, like, the Slayerettes! 

Fashion:  The first appearance of the short, short shift dress.  Were shift dresses really around in 1997?

Body Count:  Surprisingly no one dies in this episode, which may well be the first... and last time that happens in this show.  On the other hand I imagine that some serious Post Trauma theory was on hand for quite a few of the students.  Therapists in this town are going to be rich in no time.

Book Talk: I've Been Reading...

I seriously need to do a whole run of these posts just to catch up but in the mean time the reading pile is steadying going down again which is at least something.

Reading wise I've been pretty much sticking to my tried-and-true genres of crime, chick lit with the odd YA thrown in.  Sometimes you just need your comfort reads though I really do need to get stuck into the very large pile of nonfiction that I have been accumulating over the past year.  With the weather finally starting to be sunny again I'm planning on at least reading a few nonfic before the year has ended.  Reading goal for the next few months sorted.

I'm still catching up on some series as I work through my never ending To Be Read pile so my latest two crime reads were part of this.  I'm a big fan of Linda Castillo and MJ Arlidge so reading their latest releases was always going to be on the cards and they were both so good.  I'm already looking forward to their next releases.

The Bucket List was a very different sort of chick lit novel in that it tackled the very serious subject of breast cancer while still having a sense of humour.  As for my other chick lit reads well they were wonderfully gooey and comforting so the perfect thing to read on a wet and miserable day.

I have to say that this year that YA has been pretty good all round and all dealing with a variety of subjects which makes a nice change.  Girl Against The Universe was particularly good and looked at the condition PTSD as experienced by a teenage girl.  Check it out if it sounds like your kind of thing.

September's Plans and August's Outcomes

Spring is here but the rainy weather doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon which of course means I have lots and lots of time to read and make plans.  As usual the list is long and never ending...

Crafting

I've actually made some progress on this... that is if you count sorting and tidying balls of yarn and cotton as well as downloading several knitting patterns as progress.   Sometimes you just have to take even the smallest of baby steps as a win.

Gardening

This on the other hand is going well despite the weather.  I've now dug a huge section up of weeds and patchy grass and other weird unidentifiable things (at least to me) and have it all ready to lay down some fresh grass seed.

The greenhouse is also ready for planting my summer veg and I have even got some flowers blooming here and there.

Get Fit and Healthy

Still going well *smug smile*.  I'm pretty much walking every day and on the whole I am managing to eat mostly healthy - we'll just ignore those bars of chocolate that creep in here and there.

Being Frugal

None of my cuttings took off which was a bit disappointing to say the least *sigh* but I'm gonna try again with a few changes this time and hopefully something will take, even if it's just one plant.

As for other frugal things... well I've been madly doing surveys (more about that in a future post) and now have a ton of vouchers coming my way which is rather nice.  And which will pretty much take care of all my Christmas shopping.  I'm also getting ready to sell some more things which should also bring in a little bit extra spending money.

Kondoing My Way

After watching some of Marie Kondo's TV series, because yes I was that bored, I'm going to start doing some cleaning out of areas around our house.  Both Other Half and I are generally pretty good about not having too much stuff but occasionally the odd drawer or cupboard does end up pretty messy with all sorts of stuff just shoved into it.  So a little bit of Kondoing should, hopefully, help.

Reading

Just when I've made a nice big dent in my To Be Read pile I go and download a massive lot of ebooks.  Which has pretty much put my TBR pile right back to where it started.... huge and threatening to smother me in my sleep.  

I've got the feeling I'm going to be needing lots and lots of tea with the occasional bar of chocolate to help me get this back under control.