I’m not entirely sure what’s brought it on, but I’ve got a renewed bout of feeling Christmassy!  Now, I don’t know about you, but ‘are you feeling Christmassy?’ is one of the constant questions exchanged between friends anytime from November onwards.  It doesn’t usually start in February.  On closer examination, I have concluded that I’m still Christmassy from the last one, not from anticipation of the next!  And it’s mostly Kirstie Allsop’s fault.  One of my greatest pleasures over Christmas was an afternoon at home alone in front of a real fire, LH (unfortunately for him) was tucked up in bed with ‘man flu’, the boys were out with friends and I had a glass of sparkly (or two) to keep my spirits up. 

So, what did I watch?  Thanks to the magic of Vigin Catch-up, I indulged in back to back, all 3 episodes of ‘Kirstie’s Homemade Christmas’.  Bliss!!!!  I really like Kirstie and my little oasis of enjoyment was brought to mind again this morning when someone at work mentioned that they didn’t like her very much.  I felt I had to leap to her defence and voiced my enjoyment of the programmes as a jolly good reason to find her entertaining at the very least.

So, I thought I’d better do a bit of digging and to my great surprise, my colleague seems not to be the only one with some sort of beef about Kirstie.  I DO realise her ‘home-made’ Christmas was expensive, had lots of help and probably wasn’t very practical – especially as it was originally shown with only 2 weeks to go before the big day – and at that stage, blowing your own glass baubles is almost certainly a step too far for most of us………… But I didn’t think that was the point – it was fun, it was colourful, it was inoffensive, it was inspirational and very entertaining.  And isn’t it nice to see people being pleasant to one another?  I hate watching conflict and strife on TV – especially when it masquerades as ‘entertainment’, what on earth is entertaining about watching other people argue and fight?  I never would have thought of covering fresh fruit in gold leaf – it looked very decorative, not to mention being unusual enough to be quite a talking point – doesn’t mean I’ll ever try it; not sure I’ll ever waste time making my own Christmas crackers either - all the stuff ends up on the floor and then in the bin anyway – I always used to buy ‘luxury’ crackers, but they are just not worth it, the daft joke and the hat are the main point anyway and are equally good from a cheap cracker – more to spend on other things then - let’s face it, no one wants a miniature silver photo frame, set of micro screwdrivers or playing cards anyway.  At least, they don’t seem to in our house!

Anyway, if anyone is interested, here are a few links to blogs and forums who all had something to say about the series:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2009/dec/09/kirstie-allsopp-christmas-homemade

http://makeitandmendit.blogspot.com/2009/12/kirsties-not-very-homemade-christmas.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv-entertainment/tv/todays-tv/2009/12/08/kirstie-s-homemade-christmas-c4-8pm-115875-21880508/

I think that the Christmassy feeling is still with me because I haven’t got to grips with the fact that January has been and gone.  I could quite easily believe that it was 4th January TODAY, not 4th February and that would mean two more days of the Christmas season still to go.  The cold and snow have helped to perpetuate the Christmas feel too!  As I left for work yesterday, snow was once again falling in Swindon and I had high hopes of another ’snow day’, sadly, it turned to rain and here I am again!

Finally, if you are the sort of person who likes to stay in nice places without feeling ‘watched’ by the staff/oweners, you can even rent Kitstie’s house in Devon, (Meadowgate),  for your holidays – it’s not cheap, but it claims to sleep up to 12 and would seem like a cracking venue for a house party……more details on:

http://www.movingsense.co.uk/meadowdocs_2/index.html

So – that’s it for now from me.  I may contemplate making my own decorations for next Christmas, (which reminds me, I found some ‘old-fashioned’ paper chains in Morrisons of all places last December – I thought they looked great in our hall – all it took was about half an hour of licking the ends – very thirsty work)!!

A few months ago, I had never heard of Liverpool comedian John Bishop – I first saw him on Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow last autumn – Liverpudlians have always been known for their humour, and John’s deadpan delivery hits my funny button every time.   If you don’t know who I am talking about – take a look at

http://www.johnbishoponline.com/

Sadly, such is the demand for the man that his current tour is selling out faster than nights can be added – dates for Swindon Arts Centre and Newbury Corn Exchange are already sold out – and it seems I will have to travel much further afield if I want to see him live.  There’s something about a live act that is very hard to resist – esepcially one you know will entertain you. 

Another of my TV faves is Phil Jupitus – recently seen by me and LH in the role of Edna Turnblad at the Shaftesbury Theatre production of  Hairspray.  It was a great evening and I loved the story – set in Baltimore in 1962 and focusing on the twin prejudices of black segregation and the unacceptability of fat people as role models/icons.  I will do a fuller review soon………………

Meanwhile, if you manage to get a John Bishop ticket, let me know…………..

I don’t know how I could possibly have missed the first two series of Larkrise to Candleford, because, let’s face it, there isn’t usually much to do on a Sunday evening except sit in front of the box – it’s my one day of TV indulgence, the one day I can be found scrolling through the ‘catch-up’ facility to watch the best of the week’s offerings in one session – much more satisfactory than being bound to odd days and times and subjected to increasingly dumb advertising or advertorialising on the BBC.

But, miss the first two series I did…….  I think that watching Cranford over Christmas softened me up because I am not often to be found in front of too much costume drama, but I was entranced from the first minutes of the latest series.  The characters are wonderfully drawn and quite subtly send out messages about the reality of life in those far off, halcyon days.  The Misses Pratt in the dress shop, with their matching outfits and tightly wrapped emotions are brilliantly portrayed, as is the frustrated Mrs Brown, hapless wife of the most devout postman ever, Mr Thomas Brown – last weeks epidode featured their ‘endeavours’ and the classic line – ‘we sometimes endeavour eight or nine times a night, I am worn out’, which turned out to refer to praying rather than the endeavouring activity itself.  The story is honeyed and far-fetched of course, reminiscent of the innocence times reflected in the excellent Darling Buds of May, (though that seems more dated now), but with a pithier approach to life that shows that it wasn’t all a land of milk and honey.

If you haven’t tried it, give it a go – you may be pleasantly surprised.  Eithwer that or I am turning into a real old fuddie duddie – in my defence, I am still LOVING Nurse Jackie!!!!  Bye for now.

I have to confess, I LOVE snow – it’s great - beautiful, virgin, tramping through it is just fab – although I really don’t like it when it ’squeaks’ under my shoes – a funny feeling.  It was snowing last night when I went to bed, it was snowing again this morning when I woke up and has been snowing most of the day – all the footsteps in the garden got filled in overnight and I have had another ’snow day’ at home – this time, my computer connections have behaved and I have been pretty productive, plus sat in on a couple of conf calls and actually focused on what was being said!  A good day then.

I know there are folks out there suffering from ‘chaos’, ‘misery’ and untol other adjectives – but why not take the advice of the motoring organisations and police and stay at home, (we’re just not that important mostly), wrap up warm and go out and see the world transformed by whitness.  Go and knock on an elderly neighbour’s door and see if they need anything – milk, warmth, a chat – it’s not difficult to transform someone’s day for the better, but my heart breaks reading stories in the paper of people dying in their own homes because no one bothered to check up on them – or even worse, the council or someone else was told and they ‘didn’t prioritise it’.  We are not good at prioritising the right things these days – far too much ‘me, me, me’ and just not enough ‘them, them, them’.

So, please spare a thought for someone else and enjoy making a snowman, igloo or snow angel instead of fretting about anything else.

Happy Wednesday!

Well, here we all are. Back at our desks, wondering if it really can only be 2.30pm, when it feels more like 6.30pm. Why does time at work drag and the time at home with lots of loved ones fly by so fast? I can’t complain, I have had a good break – I finished work on December 18^th – that’s actually 16 days ago – I didn’t have that long off for my summer holidays! It feels more like a long weekend.

So, did you enjoy the Christmas telly? Were some things just too unbearable and no longer funny, (Christmas special of the Royle family springs to mind). I have long enjoyed the ‘catch-up’ facility on Virgin cable, but it has come into its own this Christmas, I watched what I wanted, when I wanted and could just scrap anything that didn’t come up to scratch. Loved the Cranford two-parter and the Victoria Wood special, her first in ten years, although some bits were a tad ’samey’. My only complaint about Virgin is their completely random selection of what they make available for catching up on and what gets left out – so, no Gruffalo for instance, but lots and lots of tacky, awful ‘Come Dine with Me’. Lovely Hugh F-W did another River Cottage party, and I managed to sneak in Kirstie Allsop’s ‘home-made Christmas’ without Lovely Husband knowing – he can’t abide her!!! Also managed a couple of really good films that were much more enjoyable than may have been anticipated – Easy Virtue – based on Noel Coward’s play, beautifully done, lots of stars, very funny and later the same day, (New Year’s day I think), The Painted Veil – a W. Somerset Maugham story about a young couple’s marriage and fighting cholera in 1930’s China – catch it if you can! One I wish I missed was ‘The Good Shepherd’, much trailed and featuring Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon, it may have worked better if Mr Damon didn’t look about 20 years old throughout – which was fine when it started, but by the time he had been married and had a grown up son, you’d have thought they might have done something to age him – good subject matter, (the birth of the CIA and the relationship with Russia during the Cold War), but dull, dull, dull!! If you didn’t see it, don’t bother!

Obviously, it’s good to get out of the house over the festive season and we had a very bracing walk to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and another, even more bracing walk along Wallasey promenade, (up on the Wirral). Both were undertaken in heavy fog and very cold temperatures – which has only served to ‘freshen up’ my cold and cough and exacerbate my asthma! Woe is me.

Happy 2010 everyone………

 

My friend, Curious Girl, has said all that needs to be said about Strictly and The Restaurant, so I shan’t repeat it here. I am bored with it. I have taken to watching SCD on ‘catch-up’ and fast-forwarding through Bruce and Tess’s idle chit chat, the ‘let’s see how they did in practice’ and even worse, the ‘let’s watch them making unashamed pleas to camera to be kept in because they have “learnt so much on the journey”‘. Where does this language come from – no one talked about going on a journey until reality TV took hold. I think we need to challenge these individuals to at least look for some ‘voyages of self discovery’ or other developmental language nonsense.

But there IS some good stuff to be had on our TV screens – I was very taken with the BBC’s ‘Small Island’, a great adaptation of an Andrea Levy, (check her out on http://www.andrealevy.co.uk/) book that I read a little while ago, (also an Orange Prize for Fiction winner) – powerfully described and dealing with the very touchy subject of racism and what it felt like to be told you were part of the ‘mother country’ and then not welcomed by it. It moved me to tears on a number of occasions and even LH thought it was ‘really good’, I’d watch it again – high praise from a man who normally prefers Heartbeat and Top Gear! If you missed it, it’s on i-Player, do try and catch up on it. I can’t wait for Andrea Levy’s new book, The Long Song, due out next February.

So, to quote John Lennon, ‘this is Christmas, and what have we done…..’ I don’t know about you, but I still haven’t done as much as I should. The internet is a boon, but sooner or later I am going to have to face the shops on my own.

Till 2010. I wish you a Peaceful and Happy Christmas and a Prosperous and exciting New Year!

 

It’s not often I run out of something to say, but this week, I find myself at a loss to know what to blog about. I try to be topical, or interesting, (preferably both) but I guess the inspiration has to come to an end sometime. And today’s the day. So, instead, I thought I’d do a list of things I dislike about Christmas – perhaps you have a list like this – or maybe I am just in a ‘bah humbug’ sort of mood.

1. Greedy children
2. Stupid shoppers who push and shove and bash into you
3. Tinny, crappy Christmas songs, (not the good songs, they are OK)
4. Trying to find a parking space
5. Being nice to people

OK, OK, I have to stop now, as I am really making myself depressed. Tomorrow marks the start of my Christmas shopping and I have 3 things on my list to buy – I will naturally do as much as humanly possible over the internet, but some things, (the Christmas tree for example) just don’t work so well that way – although I am sure if I searched, I could find a way of ordering one on-line! Sorry, dear reader – did you miss me? Just popped off for a quick Google, and well – what do I know – there they are: http://www.pinesandneedles.com/Buy/ But – they charge £20 to deliver it – I think I can manage to struggle to the garden myself after all!!! Not only that, if you live in the London area, it can be delivered fully decorated too – now that’s what I call service!!

Have a nice weekend everyone!!

In a week dominated by Radio 2’s way too over the top support for Children in Need, I was glad to be able to get out of the house and back to my favourite restaurant, Caldesi in Campagna, http://www.caldesi.com/caldesi-in-campagna/index.htm I have blogged about Caldesi’s before, but this isn’t going to stop me mentioning it again, as I really love the food there and think that Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi, the lovely proprietors, are two of the nicest, kindest, most genuine people I have ever met. Last week saw us attending Caldesi’s to celebrate Katie’s latest book – The Italian Cookery Course – available on Amazon of course – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Italian-Cookery-Course-Authentic-Masterclasses/dp/1856267792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258975382&sr=8-1 If you want a lovely location for a special occasion or just a yummy meal out, I commend it to you. The food is tasty, beautifully prepared and served, with a lovely selection of wines to set it off.

Are we all getting too cynical, or is Strictly losing its sparkle? Jade’s knee-popping accident a couple of weeks ago has taken her out of the competition and Ricky Groves lacklustre tango saw the judges bid him farewell. I really don’t like Chris Hollins and Ola – they are just too twee for me. And his baby-faced, uber-sweet smile is making my stomach churn. I have always loved Strictly and thought that this year’s less than stellar line-up would nevertheless grow on me and I would be enjoying it all the way to the finish. The only person that I can truly say this of is Natalie and the cheeky Vincent Simone, they dance well together, but unfortunately, they are not in the same league as the vacuous Brian and Ali and Ricky Whittle and another Natalie. I am losing interest. Bring back Camilla Dalerup – though that seems unlikely as she’s getting married next year and is doubtless pleased to be away from her ex, Brendan Cole.

Even The Restaurant is failing to impress- what a bunch of losers – there isn’t really anyone who can cook! Not sure how much influence Raymond has over who gets selected, but people who just can’t cook and who think it’s OK to be rude to customers shouldn’t still be in there!!!!

If travel broadens the mind, it also wearies the body!  I hate long-haul flights, I can’t follow the movie, (it’s usually crap anyway), I get fed-up with whatever books I have chosen and sleep is hard to come by.  But mustn’t grumble, at least I have a seat in Business, when LH has to slum it in economy!!  And there’s usually champagne to while away a couple of hours.

 

Another week and another destination looms, this time it’s Bangkok, ‘City of Pleasure’ – but it’s work for me, so I won’t see much of it. I am taking Lovely Husband along for the ride as he’s never been to Asia and can spend some time mooching while I am learning about ‘Adopting a Unified approach to Railway Communications’ or even better, Planning Competencies for Integrated Urban Transport Planning & Transit Orientated Design’, I shall definitely attend the latter, as I can’t even figure out what it means! If you fancy a week improving your knowledge about rail development in Asia, check it out at http://www.beaconevents.com/2009/AsiaRail/en/Home/index.jsp At leash LH shouldn’t be bored – there’s lots to see and do in Bangkok by day and by night as some of the photos above show.

On a completely different subject, does anyone else feel guilt about dropping ‘friends’ that aren’t really friends any longer? How often should you see a friend for them to remain a friend? If you haven’t seen them or even spoken to them for over 2 years, are they still a friend? And should you keep sending them Christmas cards? I really don’t know what to do, any ideas? I am thinking of giving up Christmas cards anyway, not because I don’t want to keep in touch with my friends – but because I want to show the numpties who work at the Royal Mail that there are other ways to do things – don’t they realise that their strike is just a boon for the courier companies and that many of us are being creative with how we send gifts, (directly from Amazon or similar for example) instead. The numbers are plain to see – the number of items carried by Royal Mail is down year on year, (and has been for at least 10 years) but the unions are resisting alternative practices, improved efficiencies and shift patterns. Where do they think it will end? Having just seen a fresh round of redundancies at work I know all too well that some people become extremely complacent – followed closely by noisy indignation that anyone has dared to bring their jobs to an end. And the more noise they make, the less work they usually do, (I have always been one for a sweeping generalisation, so please forgive me)!!!

Anyway, I know I won’t be blogging from the mysterious and distant East, not unless our IT links improve beyond all recognition!!! So see you in a couple of weeks time.

Take care and tally ho!

 

……..all through the dance. So said new to Strictly’s judging panel, Alesha Dixon, (giving her ((and who really cares)) opinion on Laila and Anton’s dance from Sat 7^th November. One thing that I really care about is English grammar and spoken English usage. This trend of allowing children to spell incorrectly and not to bother with the application of grammar when submitting written work at school is ridiculous. And look what it gets us……….a perfectly nice girl, who has managed to wangle her way into a job she isn’t qualified for, (and who continues to brazen out her unpopularity), who can’t speak English properly. And on prime time BBC1. It really shouldn’t be allowed. And now that I’ve got that off my chest, I can bitch about the fact that Laila is still IN the competition after managing only half a dance on Sat after limping on with an injury. This blatant sympathy ploy obviously worked with the public – who fell for it hook, line and sinker – forcing poor old Tuffers into the dance-off against a (quite distractingly) glasses-sporting Ricky, dancing with Erin Boag. I though Tuffers should have had it. Even Len claimed to be distracted by the glasses – I’m glad it wasn’t just me. There was an off the cuff remark made about ‘being able to see now’. Let’s hope that improves the dancing. At this stage, it’s anyone’s game, but I do have a very soft spot for Natalie & Vincent – I have never watched EastEnders, but have seen a few articles about Nat’s struggles with her weight and booze in the gossip mags – right now, she seems happy, bubbly and very much on the up. Go girl!