One a penny, two a penny...

Free film...

I won tickets today to see The International. It looks a good film, I'll let everyone know what it's like when I get to see it next week.

The first of many...

This months Farmers market is the last one for a couple of months because Judy's Son is getting married in Italy iat the end of March. Of course Judy and Lee are going which means I have a Farmers off...(yippee!!)

Not one for making my life easier, I suggested that we do a batch of Hot X Buns for this months market. Well they won't have any next month so at least we'll be giving them some. I did about 150ish yesterday and we froze them all-before the proving and baking. So really it was an extended retard. The plan is to pull them out just as I get in or just as Judy leaves, so they'll get a slow rise. The crossing batter will already be mixed so hopefully it won't be too much of a stress!

Easier...?

I've changed the settings on here so it's hopefully easier to leave comments, that way I'm sure to get loads and loads and loads! If it's not please tell me and I'll try again.

That was the weekend that was...

My Mum met a great couple in Cyprus a few years ago. Robin and Karen. I met them last year when we went out to celebrate my Mums 60th birthday. They came up this week with Jean who occasionally goes on holiday with them. It's great when you just click with somebody. It's as if we'd all have known each other for ages.

I managed to get Friday off so we all went out on Thursday night (there was nine of us!!) Had an amazing meal at Peaches. One of the best Chinese meals we'd all had in a while. I felt really spoilt as I was the only vegetarian there, but was looked after so much! It was great to have Friday off, which was a good thing as the drink flowed and we didn't get to bed until after 2am. Well the next day we planned to take them to Trentham Gardens, but instead opted to take then to the glamor that was Home and Bargains! Well they are from London so bargain shops like this are hard to find. Main thing is they loved it and spent nearly two hours picking up some good deals. Mum cooked one of her fantastic lasagne's for tea, but it was an early night for me as I was back at work at 5am. We are off down to see them in June.

Saturday I was sooo tired, but I'd already volunteered to cook for two friends. I decided to make Iones famous Lentil and Tomato soup and a goats cheese, caramelised onion with roasted pepper pastry. Both were very nice and we all had clean plates.

A busy but nice few days.

My nifty little toy....

Here is a pic of my mini web browser. Holding it in one hand so you can see how diddy it is! My first go in the world of WiFi blogging was a bust however as I couldn't get connected in the WiFi spot I was at! Ho-hum, I'll try again....

On the go...

I bought a mini web browser, not sure if I want keep it yet. I wanted something to take on holiday with me so I can check email and keep up to date etc. It wasn't that expensive and if it works out I'll be able blog when I'm on the move! As long as I can get to a WiFi spot of course!!

It's TINY! So I don't know how I'm gonna cope, I'll keep you posted! Ill get a picture on here soon of this nifty little gadget.

BTW-This is my first post on it.

Ladies of Letters

Ever heard the radio play of this? Based on the books by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman and originally a BBC Radio 4 comedy series starring Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales. Well ITV have made it into a series starring the equally brilliant Maureen Lipman and Anne Reid. It's on ITV3 Tuesday nights, but repeated throughout the week.

With cutting humour it's a joy to watch. Check it out if you haven't already seen it.

Ladies of Letters

Death Valley

An amazing national park. Known as Death Valley because very little lives there. The scenery was striking and in the height of summer it's the hottest place on Earth....

Snapshots,...my favorite place to visit

The Grand Canyon....My most favorite place. Above with my friend Vince.

Snapshots...

From Venice which was lovely!

This is from Lake Garda in Italy. I really want this room!

Sticking it to the man...

Ever heard the expression "Sticking it to the man"? The "man" in question is usually big corporate company's or maybe the "establishment", councils goverment etc. You how day to day rules get us down and we have constant red tape to get through the most mundane but essential jobs? By sticking it to the man we try and fight back a bit and try to live life a bit by our rules....all totally legal of course but on our terms for a short while.

Well I'm totally sick of "the man" sticking it to me!

During the past 3 weeks I've been charged for broadband that I don't have from a company that has had a pending cancellation on there system for 2 years!

After returning a faulty item that I bought I've had to ring up and request that they not only refund the item price but the postage as well, talking £7.00 worth of postage here!

Been cut off by BT because they got my address mixed up with someone else. I wasn't even with BT but that didn't seem to stop them cancelling my line because they thought I wanted to go back to them. So not only was my phone line cut off, I was then without a land line for a week. All of this was nothing to do with me. To make matters more frustrating I then had to rejoin BT so I have an active BT land line so I than can leave BT!!! But was required to pay them a £50 deposit and because I'm a "new customer" take out a 12 month contract! After being on hold (on my mobile...then being cut off and finally travelling over to use my Mum's land line) they finally gave in about the deposit and contract. I'm still getting letters from them addressed to the person they mixed me up with. I've seriously lost count how many times I had to explain this to them.

Arrrrgghhhh

Food glorious food....

Went Io a birthday dinner last night. A place called Oscars, a small and very nice bistro type place. Situated in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. As the name says the theme of the restaurant is the movies. there are loads of signed pictures, film posters and film and music memorabilia on the walls. There is even a replica dalek in the corner!

The food was fabulous!! The offer on Friday and Saturday nights is a three course meal with tea or coffee for £11.95. Not a bad price when you consider the starters are around £3-£4 each and the mains are around £8.00 (well the vegetarians are the meat dish's are higher).

Nice atmosphere and fantastic food! If you are ever in the area check it out.

The Menu

Picture this...

Trying to back up all my recent photos from various concerts, holidays, get togethers and the like is a pain!! It has to be done before I can delete them from my memory card(s). There are lots of great shots that I'd forgotten about. I'll post a few, and the nice and sunny ones will keep me going until this freezing weather disappears.

Light up, light up....

I know it's been out for ages and it's not as good as the original, but I still love Leona's version of the Snow Patrol classic Run. The ending gets on my nerves a bit as you can't tell what she's singing. Apart from that it's a beautiful cover.

The Video.

To post or not to post...a question

Doing the rounds on Facebook is a 25 random things about me quiz. I like these sort of things. I filled it in and one of my friends said I made her cry! Not wanting to seem that I'm an attention seeker should I post them on here?

I wish I was in Narnia...

The snow is lovely, really good crunchy walking kind of snow that makes great snowballs, as Nettie and I found out today.

Driving in it on the other hand is one of my big hates! I want the Snow Queen of Narnia with hot Turkish Delight and her magic sleigh to sweep me away. Of course that's as far as I would like to take my Narnia adventure.

The Book Thief...literally.

I bought this amazing audio book for my friend Kay for Christmas. The CDs came, still wrapped but with the case damaged. Not a huge problem, Kay started the long process of putting the discs on her iPod yesterday (there are eleven!!)

The fourth disc is missing...arrrggghhh! I hope Play.com accepts an exchange as this was bought a few months back.

The last book I read, the last film I saw...

I finally finished The Good Guy by one of my favorite author Dean Koontz. Not exactly a horror writer, more of a thriller suspense kind of guy. He does have a great way of writing some good humour into a terrible situations. I've been on this book for months and the only reason it took so long to read was that I wasn't curled up on a beach somewhere.

A good book that gets going straight away. The main character in question is a guy who we would all like to meet if we were in a dire situation. Slightly falls down a bit at the end, I found myself wanting a bit more. A flaw I get with a lot of his books, enjoyable none the less for those who like a good chase with a good twist here and there.

Premise

Timothy Carrier is an unassuming stone mason who, while having a beer at his regular bar, is accidentally mistaken for a hitman by a stranger who hands him an envelope containing $10,000 and a photo of the intended victim, a writer named Linda Paquette. The real killer arrives soon afterwards, and Tim manages to bluff him by pretending to be the client, saying he's had second thoughts, and cancelling the hit while giving the killer the $10,000 as a "no-kill fee". Tim covertly follows the killer outside, and is shocked when the killer places a portable siren on top of his car before driving off; the hitman is a cop. Tim tracks down Linda and flees, using his network of friends to stay one step ahead of harm, while being tracked by a relentless sociopath who is more well-connected and dangerous than anyone could imagine.


My film trip to Disbury was cool, nice cinema complex that even offers unlimited films for £11.99 per month. Why can't any of the cinemas around here do that?

Anyway My Bloody Valentine 3D wasn't bad...if you like horror that is! The 3D effects were ranged from pretty OK to very good. One question needs asking though, why are people in horror films so stupid?

You know you are getting old when....

You buy a duvet set that should have been £40 for £9.89 and are pleased as punch!