Of Anne and Pumpkins and Pretty Houses: A Traveller's Tale

I'm warning you in advance.  There are a lot of pics of pumpkins in this post.  Weirdo that I am I went a bit mad at the sight of them everywhere and ended up taking endless photos.

I make no apologies.  All things pumpkiny seemed to be the theme during our visit to Prince Edward Island (otherwise known as PEI by the locals).  That and pretty houses and Anne of Green Gables.   

As a book lover a visit to Prince Edward Island was high on my list of must visit places.  And I'm so glad that we made the effort to get there.

But I'll be honest.  Getting to PEI isn't easy without a car.  It will most likely involve a train trip and then a bus trip.  Although calling it a bus might be pushing it a bit.  Think more along the lines of a van... with really cramped seating.  Shorty that I am, even I had my knees squished up to my ears in the seat they gave me.

Taking a car is definitely a much better way to go.  It will also mean that you will be able to see a lot more of the island because without one you're be pretty much stuck to seeing the sights of Charlottetown and nowhere else.  

Hiring a car for a couple of days was the best thing we ever did.

 

With a car we were able to visit the Anne of Green Gables house and even better we didn't have to pay a cent.  Yes you heard me right.  You can visit the house for free.  Only if you want to go into the house do you have to pay.  But if you're like us and are happy to just wander around the property and the outside then you can.  And all for free. 

Driving around the island we also got to see pumpkins and lighthouses and more pumpkins and pretty coastal towns.

We also wandered around Charlottetown a lot.  A super pretty town filled with beautiful painted houses, trees galore and a lovely boardwalk that takes you right along the waterfront.

We spent a whole day just wandering around oohing and ahhing at all the sights while trying to take photographs that would do it justice and failing.  

In the end we just soaked it all in and drank ice cold lemonade.

PEI seemed like the perfect place to treat ourselves.  So we did.  

First by staying in an inn which made me feel very Gilmore Girlish.  Then by having an amazing meal at the Lobster Barn Eatery just outside of Charlottetown and finally I went out on my lonesome at night and saw Anne & Gilbert the musical which was totally worth the $75 price of admission.  I came away singing all things Green Gables.

All in all PEI was amazing place to visit and one I would definitely love to go back to.

See. I told you there would be lots of pumpkins.

February's Plans

We won't talk about December and January except to say that selling, buying and moving house pretty much don't go well with having any kind of plans.  I spent the months trying to play catch up  (and failing) while moving between house sitting gigs as we sorted out both ends of finally buying a house.  Now so much closer and there is a light at the end of tunnel.  A pretty dim light to be sure but a light never the less.

And on top of all that my anxiety decided to kick into to gear for the first time in years and hit me with a whammy of fear and terror completely out of the blue.

It's no wonder that Monday will see us heading off on a two week jaunt around the South Island, taking in the sights and relaxing.

As you might imagine my plans then for February are fairly small.

First up reading...

I'm trying to mix up my reading a little bit more this year, while at the same time curtailing it just a little bit and not read quite so many books so I've just got 3 books on my reading pile at the moment.

1.     A Home By The Sea / Christina Skye
       A sappy romantic chick lit about finding love again sounds just the thing to read under a 
       shaded tree with a nice cold drink.
2.     A Year Of Being Single / Fiona Collins
       And another rom-com with a little less sap and hopefully a lot more sass and laughs.  
       This is also going into my holiday bag.
3.     Breakfast At The Exit Cafe / Wayne Grady  and Merilyn Simonds
        I've mentioned in a couple of recent posts that I'm keen to up my non-fiction reading so 
        when this one caught my eye I decided to add it to my pile.  I love a good travel      
        memoir and this one sounds interesting, cross fingers.

4.     South Island Holiday
        This is pretty much all organised.  We have our ferry tickets and first night of 
        accommodation booked.  The car all ready and camping gear loaded.  It's now just a 
        matter of days and we are off on our little adventure.  And yes you heard right, I, lady 
        of all things comfy is going camping.  I'm not sure how I will cope without my ties to 
        civilsation but I'm giving it a go and have at least got some books and hidden chocolate 
        if and when I need reminders of all things home.
5.     Being More Frugal
        Having money is nice.  No question about it.  It pays the bills, helps you out when you 
        are sick and gives you a few treats when you want something pretty or to do 
        something fun.  Other Half and I have always walked a pretty fine line between 
        splashing out on things just because and being extremely careful with money such as 
        me mostly buying clothes etc at charity stores.  Mixing the two seems weirds but it 
        works for us and means that we spend our money on the things we really want and not 
        spend much on the things we need.

        Our holiday down South is a mixture of this. We'll be saving money by camping as 
        much as we can handle, buying cheap food at the supermarket, and using our 
        saved up gift cards to buy our fuel and food which means that we can splash out on 
        some sightseeing like whale watching etc.  
6.     101 Things In 1001 Days
        I'm pretty close to ticking off one thing on my list and I'm also busy working on some of 
        the others.  Hopefully our holiday will see me nearer to crossing off some more items.

Making All The Plans: 101 Things In 1001 Days

I'm not sure I need more plans in my life what with everything else that is currently going on and yet here I am.  Making plans and setting goals.

I seriously need my head examined.

Still I have made my list.  101 things in 1001 days or Day Zero Project as it's sometimes known.  And I have to admit that seeing it all written down seems just a little daunting and makes me wonder if I'll be able to complete one thing on my list let alone 101.  Still having goals is good and I'm hoping that having this list will motivate me more as well as pushing me out of my comfort zone, even if just a little bit.

And of course having you watch my progress or lack there of may motivate me even more.

Start date: 1 Feb 2018

End date: 29 Oct 2020. 

The List...

101 Things In 1001 Days

1.     Adopt a cat                             
2.     Attend an author talk
3.     Bake a cake for someone and give it to them
4.     Buy a house 
5.     Buy a telescope and learn how to use it
6.     Buy at least 1 thing from Etsy
7.     Complete a Blogmas
8.     Create a reading/writing nook for myself in our new home
9.     Crochet 1 thing
10.   Do 5 things that are good for the environment
11.   Do an Ancestry DNA test 
12.   Do an online course 
13.   Do facial exercises every day for 1 month
14.   Donate to a charity 
15.   Drink 3 litres of water every day for 1 week
16.   Eat a meal by candlelight
17.   Eat vegan for a day
18.   Eat vegetarian for 1 week
19.   Experience a White Christmas
20.   Find 5 new blogs to follow
21.   Find 5 new tweeters to follow
22.   Find a lipstick I like
23.   Finish at least one of my ongoing stories 
24.   Finish cross stitch project
25.   Get a professional manicure 
26.   Get a professional facial
27.   Give someone a care package
28.   Go 1 month without eating chocolate
29.   Go on a horse drawn carriage ride 
30.   Go on a cruise
31.   Go to 5 conventions/conferences
32.   Go to a Christmas Market
33.   Go to a Farmers Market 
34.   Go to an art exhibit
35.   Go to an Ice Sculpture festival
36.   Grow a sunflower
37.   Have afternoon tea at a hotel 
38.   Have a bath by candlelight 
39.   Have a stone massage 
40.   Have fresh flowers in the house once a month for 1 year
41.   Host Christmas in our house 
42.   Improve my photography skills
43.   Knit a pair of socks 
44.   Knit a pair of fingerless gloves 
45.   Learn a new language
46.   Learn how to make compost 
47.   Learn to play backgammon
48.   Leave an inspirational note inside a book for someone to find
49.   Listen to 5 TED talks
50.   Lose 10 kilos 
51.   Make 5 new (to me) recipes
52.   Paint my nails a different colour each week for 1 year
53.   Participate in "A photo an hour" and post on my blog
54.   Post comments on 101 blog posts by other bloggers
55.   Plant a herb garden
56.   Plant a tree
57.   Plant a vegetable garden 
58.   Print off photos of places I have been to and get them framed
59.   Read 5 books in a genre that I don't normally read 
60.   Read 5 graphic novels
61.   Read 10 nonfiction books in 1 year that aren't on knitting 
62.   Read a book a day for 1 year  
63.   Say hello to 5 new people
64.   See a movie outdoors
65.   See a play
66.   See a musical
67.   See a live show (i.e. Brian Cox)
68.   See a pop-up theatre production
69.   See the Aurora Borealis 
70.   Send 101 handwritten notes 
71.   Set up a bird feeder in the garden
72.   Spend 24 hours offline (no Internet, no computer, no TV, no cell phone)
73.   Start a garden 
74.   Stay overnight in a castle or historic house 
75.   Take a boat trip
76.   Take a pilates class
77.   Take a Tai Chii class
78.   Take a train tip
79.   Take a yoga class 
80.   Take part in NaNoWriMo again
81.   Try 5 beauty products or brands that I haven't used before
82.   Try 5 drinks (or brands or flavours of drinks) that I haven't had before
83.   Try 5 foods that I haven't had before 
84.   Try a mail order subscription of some sort (Loot crate, Book crate etc.)
85.   Try 5 restaurants/cafes that I haven't been to before
86.   Visit a country I haven't been to before 
87.   Visit an island
88.   Visit 5 museums
89.   Visit 5 parks/gardens
90.   Visit 5 places/sites in New Zealand that I haven't been to before
91.   Walk for 1 hour every day for 1 month
92.   Walk in 5 different locations/areas
93.   Watch 10 documentaries
94.   Watch 5 foreign language films 
95.   Watch 5 foreign language TV series
96.   Wear 5 different fashion items that I haven't worn before 
97.   Win a giveaway/competition
98.   Write a book
99.   Write a story and post it on Inkiitt
100. Write and post 50 blog posts in 1 year
101. Write a "To Do List" every week for 1 year 

The Viewing Files: 2017 A Year Of All The Watching

You would think that after all the reading I did during the year that I wouldn't have much time left to watch even one show but master of multi-tasking that I am, I managed to not only keep up with old favourites but marathoned my way through some new/old shows.
 
Crimey, thrillery shows once again took up a large part of my viewing as did sci-fi.  Dark and twisty is how I like it after all.

As for the rest... well it was a mixture of the odd drama. a comedy and a handful supernatural themed shows, just to mix it up a little.

Disappointments

Well some of the new shows I tried I gave up on; Legion had great acting by Dan Stevens but was just way too trippy for me which is saying something, A Good Place just wasn't my kind of show as much as I wanted to like it and neither Alias Grace or Peaky Blinders grabbed me from the beginning.

As for movies...

My movie viewing was seriously down this year but what I did watch I really enjoyed so seeing so few movies actually turned out to be a good thing.  Indie movies were the win for me over bigger budget movies and there are quite a few others that I am hoping to get through this year.

Fav Movies of 2017

  Hidden Figures

The Founder

Gifted

Baby Driver

Logan Lucky

Thor Ragnarok

Sing

The only big disappointment was Dark Tower, need we say anything more. 

Favs TV Shows of 2017 Told in bite size pieces.  

12 Monkeys

A man loves a woman.  Twisty time travel.  Preventing the end of the world.  

And a seriously cool poster.

Bosch 

A bad ass cop who smokes too much.  Film noir feel with a gritty edginess.  

And of course Titus Welliver in the lead role. 

Black Sails 

Pirates, pirates, pirates.  You better not kill my favourite. 

And Captain Flint is totally badass and swoony

Colony

Invading invaders.  Resistance is futile.  The wall. 

And are the aliens really aliens?

Game O Thrones

Where good men die.  Bad men are totally psycho. There are wolves and dragons. 

And eww yuk incest.

 iZombie

A different kind of zombie show.  Crime solving undead heroine.  

Whiter than white is the way to be.  

And brains have never looked so good.

Life In Pieces 

Bite size pieces of family life. Cringe worthy and funny.  
And completely relatable.

Line Of Duty

Police corruption.  Betrayal and lies.  Everyone's a bad guy.

And seriously addictive viewing.

Lucifer

The devil in disguise.  Sexy sassyness.  The psychiatrist is awesome.  As is Amenadiel.  

And the devil music is totally on point.

Sherlock

A modern day Sherlock.   Watched again from the beginning.

And still excellent the second time around.

 Stranger Things

Stephen King homage.  Scary things in the dark.  A cool 80's soundtrack.

And basically I am hooked. 

Supernatural

Brotherly love.  The car is a star too. 70's rock. Hunting monsters.

And everybody dies... until they don't.

 The Blacklist

A legacy of lies.  A criminal mastermind and the FBI.  Twists and turns galore.

And James Spader and his crew really do steal the show.

The Handmaid's Tale

The future is ours.  The slavery of women.  The chosen few.

And so brutal and shocking to watch.

Travelers

From the future to the past.  A life that isn't your own.

And what if the 'mission' isn't really what you think it is?

Unforgotten

 Cold case detectives.  British crime.

And Nicola Walker is always excellent.

Vera

Another British crime show.  There ain't no romance here. 

And there's an awful lot of murder happening in the North.

Book Talk: 2017 A Year Of All The Reading

Would you believe that I read 215 books during the year?  That's almost twice as many as last year and doesn't even include the ones I didn't finish or didn't like.

Okay.  It's official.  I am a book nerd.

Of course having no job for half the year probably helped.  Which pretty much shows how I spent most of my free time.  I'm not sure if I should be pleased about that or not.  It definitely makes me think that I need to expand my interests just a little bit.

215.  
 
Wow I'm still trying to get my head around that. 

Of that total...

61 were YA
52 Crime
34 Contemporary Romance 
20 Chick Lit
15 Non Fiction 
11 Science Fiction
10 General
7 Audio
4 Supernatural/Horror
and 1 Fantasy

In the scheme of things I read about the same as last year for each genre.  YA was once again my No. 1 genre but crime this time was also a big contender, thanks to me working my way through several series that I had been meaning to read for ages. Weirdly I read the same number of Non Fiction and Fantasy as last year. I'd like to increase my Non Fiction reading this year, something that I have put down on my 101 list (more about that later), so if you have any suggestions please send them to me.  

As for my favs, well it was really hard narrowing it down.  I could have easily added another 5 to 10 books to the list and if you ask me tomorrow the list would probably change just a little bit, still there were some books that were just total standouts so in no particular order here are my picks.

Favs of 2016

 Broken (Torchwood series by Big Finish)

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr

Countless by Karen Gregory

Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin

Here and Gone by Haylen Beck

Something Like Happy by Eva Woods

Don't Touch by Rachel Wilson

Some Boys by Patty Blount

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

The Way I Used To Be by Amber Smith

Close Enough To Touch by Colleen Oakley

How To Disappear by Sharon Huss Roat

Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

Cold Summer by Gwen Cole

The Ultimatum by Karen Robards

Two Nights by Kathy Reichs

And Those That Disappointed

No major disappointments this year but I really do need to stop reading trilogies.  Every time I do I usually find either the 3rd book a bit of a let down or at the very least just not as good as the 1st one.  YA authors in particular need to stop doing trilogies.  Please just stop at the 1st or 2nd book.  Trust me you'd be forced to keep a much tighter rein on your story.  

Some of the Non Fiction I tried to read turned up to be a bit flat, to the point where I just gave up.  Life is too short to finish a book when it just isn't worth it.  I'm hoping to have much better luck with my Non Fiction choices this year.

And that was my year of reading.  

A pretty full on year all round with YA being outstanding not just in terms of the number I read but in how many really great YA novels there were this year.

And just to overwhelm you completely here is the list.

Every Book I Read In 2017