sock club

This is the latest installment from the Wild Fire Fibres sock club. I asked for an "orangutan in the trees" colourway when Vikki asked what forest animal each of us liked. This is what she came up with, isn't it clever? Go on over to her etsy shop, she has some gorgeous colours in stock at the moment.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
I didn't like the original Pride & Prejudice so I thought this may be a good laugh by taking the mickey out of it.

I was disappointed. The joke of zombies is funny at first but then it just gets boring. I have worked in a path lab and am not particularly squeamish but some of the blatant descriptions of pus and vomit made me feel a bit sick. I only made it to page 123, then I abandoned it.

I feel bad because I suggested this for a book group read and it won the vote so I have subjected other people to this rubbish. But some peole may enjoy it, you never know.


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Wimbledon

Wasn't Wimbledon great in the 80s? McEnroe, Connors, Borg, Lendl - my mum used to reckon Lendl didn't wear any underpants but surely he couldn't have gotten away with that with the short shorts they wore then?

Then came Agassi the showman, and after that it all got a bit boring, with the big servers and no rallies to speak of. I stopped watching.

But this year I am really enjoying it again. The fact that we have someone with a real chance of winning helps. But can Murray do it? I think he will get to the final but up against Federer I'm not sure he can actually win. Yes he's beaten him before but we'll have to see. If it is a Murray - Federer final I shall be glued to my seat like I was in the 80s. Come on Andy!!

a cooling shower

We went off to the forest earlier and as usual madam found the mud and water!


Which resulted in a hose down after. "Oi watch where you're sticking that hose, dad!"


She actually loves the hose and was having a good drink from it too.

There, all done!

The 'burbs.

I came to a realisation last night. It occurred to me at about 8.30pm. The situation was quite bizarre really. I was sitting in a school hall watching the end of term concert by a local dancing school, surrounded by adoring parents, grandparents and various other family members of the performers. The age range of the children performing was 3 to 18-ish. There were various efforts from the tiny ones literally walking in circles to "Wee Willie Winkie" and looking cute, to older ones doing ballet or tap routines. My mum would have loved it. The thing is, we don't have any kids, and I wasn't a volunteer helper or anything. Sounds like I was having one of my frequent weird dreams doesn't it?

Our neighbours up the road have two girls of 10 and 8 years old who go to the dancing school and were performing. The grandparents couldn't go, so at the last minute we were asked if we wanted the tickets. "Ah, why not?" I said (it was free and Saturday telly is pretty dire!), so that's what happened. Oh, the realisation? I am an ordinary suburban housewife!

New Moon

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Halfway through the first book I didn't think I was going to carry on, it was all a bit dull. Then it picked up and when I'd finished it I decided I would carry on with the series.

I liked this book better than the first I think. It was obviously what was going on with Jacob and his friends though.

I felt that some bits of the book were only written as set up points for the next books, like the bits with Victoria. She is obviously going to crop up again. And Charlie's friend died just in order to set up a misunderstanding. But I guess that is called moving the plot forward. It did work in this instance as the plot completely changed then and there.

I thought the emotions Bella felt were written very well, and I could really imagine the pain she was feeling when Edward left her. The descriptions of this were very good.

So what is going to happen in book 3?


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Ack!!

Ok, I'll have a go at a catch up but I am feeling a bit grumpy-bum! I've only gone and got ANOTHER ear infection! In the other ear! It is at the "getting really painful" stage but I'm not messing about, I've brought in the big guns straight away this time and am taking the painkillers that they gave me in A&E last time. Boy, they're good. Make you a bit sleepy though. Luckily my GP agreed over the phone to give me the same antibiotics as last time, I didn't need to make an appointment to see him, so I'm on those as well. (And I swear a cotton bud has not gone near my ear since the last time!)

Talking of GPs, did you ladies out there know that it is not enough now to just have a "General Practitioner"? They are far too general. No, now you need to also have an "aesthetic practitioner"! I discovered this by reading the small print on the screen of a TV advert for an anti-wrinkle cream last night. It told me to consult my aesthetic practitioner. No-one told me about this before, who are these people? I'm assuming they must be the faux "scientists" in white coats that congregate in the cosmetic department of Debenhams or Boots and the like. Maybe I should consult one on how to make an infected ear look aesthetically pleasing with goo dripping out of it?

It goes without saying that I have been reading a lot lately. But as for knitting........ I have a few things on the go. I am making another Vegas Sands neckwarmer because the June sock yarn I got from Wild Fire Fibres was too lovely to wear out on my feet. The Firestarter socks are on hiatus but I have started another project which I can't show on here but you can see if you are a Ravelry member here. I am making it using stash yarn that I have had for a while. I liked the colour combination when Ysolda used it in her Whimsical Little Knits book. I am doing random amounts of each colour. (Sorry non-Rav members but the person it is for is not a Rav member).

Colin has been off doing his thing for charity. Last weekend he went off to Scafell Pike with 7 others and they climbed it in about 7 hours up and down. When they got to the top there was SNOW! In June!!

On Sunday morning he was marshalling at the Race for Life in Chester.

So.... Big Brother is back for the summer. The same old bunch of usual suspects, the same petty arguments over nothing, the same silly humiliating tasks........ah we love it don't we? I'm going to put myself on the line here and suggest Rodrigo as this year's winner. He is in the background at the moment but I think he may come into his own once some of the loud mouths get voted off. Angel is a bit odd, she was sucking a raw egg the other day, that can't be healthy can it?

Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Well I enjoyed this one. I know, shock horror I enjoyed a classic! Well it was a Virago Modern Classic so a bit more recent which helped.

It is set in the late 19th century and is the story of Mary Yellan who moves to stay with her Aunt and Uncle at Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor when her mother dies. It is not a typical inn though, there are no guests and the coaches pass on by without stopping. The landlord (Mary's uncle by marriage) is a wrong'un and is involved in smuggling, and her poor aunt keeps quiet to keep the peace with her drunken, violent husband. There are various unsavoury characters and you aren't sure at first who is on whose side.

Not to spoil anything but I did think there was something not quite right about one of the characters early on in the story and was right about them. This didn;t spoil the story though which had me gripped all the way through.

In fact I have even bought another 3 books by DuMaurier as I liked it so much!


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Life Support

Life Support by Tess Gerritsen

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a fast paced medical thriller which I enjoyed.

When I first started reading it I wasn't sure because it seemed as if the author was just showing off their knowledge of medical procedures, but this doesn't carry on and the thriller aspect kicks in.

Basically there are very rich, elderly residents of a retirement home volunteering for experiments to prolong their lives, and at first this seems to be working, until they start dying of strange symptoms. It turns out that the doctors giving them the treatments are getting their "medicine" from questionable sources which haven't been screened against a certain disease. An ER doctor makes a connection and starts to investigate, putting her life in danger when she is discovered to be getting too close to the truth.

The story certainly kept me gripped but I did find the ending slightly rushed and there was no clear explanation of how they found out where to "rescue" her from when she was in danger. There was a bit of a leap there.

This was written in 1997 and some of it did seem a bit dated, although the "fountain of youth" concept does seem more plausible 12 years later.

I think I have read a previous Tess Gerritsen novel and would possibly read more.


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