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'So she can be near her 'winky dinky super slinky Johnny'? I DON'T THINK SO! OUT ... NOW!' And there was no brooking Rosie in her present mood. All for the best really, I didn't fancy having food snorted all over me again. I never did get the curry stains out of my favourite dicky. 'Darling, you called me your husband. When are you going to ... (Bernadette is wonderful,(love how she can shout just like Howard's mother 😂) as are all the characters. Such a well written and hilarious series. We've been watching it right from the start again. Hope to watch Young Sheldon again soon, it is just as good.)

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"Lord of the Flies" I was a bit disappointed after reading this book. My expectations were different, and as often happens, they weren't met.

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face , so help me I'll...' 'I shall only let Johnny decide..Johnny do inform your wife of how we met..and nothing ever happened..in fact Johnny asked me..over dumpling curry with radishes..if I want a relationship..I laughed soo much I cried..am just..' 'Rosie..we met when Debbie was at a university convention..I was doing mental health, she general...we laughed so much that I went for dinner. ...she laughed at me so I dropped it..and now give her a chance to care for daddy...' [PS .Bernadette is amazing poppy and my OH accused me of having designs on her years ago. 😃 😀 😄 )

piece of serendipity finding each other again like this. It must be meant to be!' 'I'll tell you what's meant to be, you little hussy,' shrieked Rosie, getting into Debbie's face. Well, not exactly her face really, Rosie was on the short side, it was more into Debbie's chest area. But Rosie, once riled, was a veritable little spitfire (think Bernadette from Big Bang Theory) and enough to make the burliest of males quake at the knees. 'You will have nothing further to do with either my father or my husband (a slight departure from the truth, but Debbie wasn't to know, and I intended to make an honest woman of her as soon as possible) Get out! If I ever see your despicable, conniving ...

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Jeepers that performance Wass terrible. Against one of the best who are hosts. I cannot see Scotland getting 3 points currently.

Germany 5 - 1 Scotland You can always rely on Scotland to embarrass themselves.

'The Human Stain' by Somerset Maugham. I enjoy reading Maugham, but it's not my favorite novel.

Currently reading Worth Dying For, Lee Child.

in my care for several years, in particular so I stay in touch with my winky dinky super slinky Johnny here..what a great

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A Song from Dead Lips by William Shaw Here I am sampling another starter in a detective series. I’m a glutton for punishment, but I do like variety. This one is set in London in 1968, the height of swinging London and flower power! Set around a Metropolitan Police squad room which means the inhabitants are racist, homophobic, sexist, misogynist, tribal and probably corrupt. The two protagonists dropped into this loving and caring atmosphere are Cathal Breen and Helen Tozer. Breen is a DS and is Irish: it wasn’t easy being Irish in Britain in the 1960s. Tozer is from Devon and is female, which leads to problems as she wants to work in CID which is a very male domain. The backdrop to the crime being investigated is the music scene in London, particularly a group of young women who follow the Beatles. There are a few brushes with actual history, like Nobby Pilcher’s arrest of John Lennon and Yoko Ono for drug possession. Another historical aspect to this is the Biafran War. The Nigerian community in London plays a significant part in this. Shaw does manage to highlight the British government role in the very bloody war (as you might guess a rather ignoble one). There’s mention of the fascist coup in Greece and Enoch Powell’s views are noted. The details seem to be accurate and I remember most of the technology (or lack of it) and the fact that everyone seemed to smoke. The plotting is pretty good and both of the main characters are suitably flawed. There are twists as you would expect and on the whole it was entertaining. 6 and a half out of 10 Starting Etc Etc Amen by Howard Male

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as well as can be expected, given his unfortunate condition.' 'What do you mean by 'his unfortunate condition', may I ask, and where do you get off calling Johnny 'darling'?' asked Rosie indignantly. 'Hasn't Johnny told you about me? We were once a very hot item.' I vigorously shook my head behind Debbie's back and mouthed 'crazy stalker', with accompanying crossed eyes and cuckoo sign,' to Rosie. 'As far as the Major's concerned,' continued Debbie, ' I'm afraid he'll have to be ...

A man named Ove. It's on my DNF pile. Destination charity shop. Just didn't like it.

I love 'Howl's Moving Castle'. Yes, I know it's more of a fairy tale than something deep and profound. But oh boy, sometimes you just want to take a break from all that seriousness and just relax with a nice book, feeling like a kid again.

I recommend a children's book I stumbled upon on Amazon called "Emotions at the Party." It's been such a great find for helping kids understand and manage their emotions. My 4 years old daughter is totally into it! Whenever she gets upset, I remind her of what the little girl in the book does—she takes three deep breaths—and it really helps her calm down. The book is about a little girl who goes through all sorts of emotions, and each one is explained in a way that's super easy for kids to get. It's great because it gives me a chance to talk with here about each emotion and come up with examples of when she has felt the same way. Plus, there are some fun activities at the end—little questions about the story and spots for kids to draw their own emotions. It's been a good way to teach her about emotional regulation.

City of Night (1963) John Rechy If someone told me they were writing a novel about the seedy underbelly of 1950s American life, the pimps and 'ladies of the night', the drugs and drag queens, the nihilism and cynicism of the post war era, and they asked me to come up with a title for that novel. I'd probably think of something really cliched like: City of Night. And yet, until very recently, I had never heard of this book, it's title almost too familiar, too obvious to be a real book. Having finally discovered it, I must say I loved it. It tells the story an unnamed narrator from El Paso, Texas who, having abandoned his parents (his relationship with his father especially strained) goes to New York. Here, he very quickly falls into becoming a sex worker and begins to learn about the world he now inhabits (with the help of a fellow rent boy called Pete). Rechy splits the book into sections that are general experiences and then sections where he tells us about a specific person he has met. He then moves to Los Angeles and does the same (detailing his encounters and experiences). Then again in San Francisco, then Chicago, and finally New Orleans. Throughout the book he never seems to have any particular goal or objective, only his confused experiences as a male prostitute and the people he meets along the way. It's fascinating to read (published in 1963 but detailing life in the early 50s) and paints a revealing picture of a time and a scene that hardly seems possible. The amount of drag queens and transexuals he meets is eye opening. The progressor who likes to take pictures, the guy who likes BDSM, the failed movie stars (for me, the best part of the book was the period in L.A), and the straight, married men exploring (or denying) their sexuality. It's all very interesting and well presented by Rechy, a world which comes alive and feels very real. Then we have Rechy's writing style. There's no doubt he was influenced by Celine (it felt very reminiscent of Journey) but also the beat writers of the era are noticeable. Rechy doesn't use apostrophes which doesn't matter except for the times he uses the word he'll which obviously become hell. Otherwise, you barely notice. And then there's all the dashes, ellipses and brackets. It all works well and creates a vibrant style that I personally enjoyed a lot. Occasionally, he can overdo it with adjectives but mostly it's very effective and often quite beautiful to read. The only criticism would be that Rechy essentially repeats himself. There are only so many times you can hear about queens, youngmen, hustlers, and scores, before concluding... haven't we already done this? As such, the book slightly outstays its welcome and drags on longer than it needs to. And the cod psychology at the end (like a teenage therapy session) isn't remotely required but I guess it was all the rage at the time (my father didn't love me so I sought out male attention etc). But again, it's a small detail and overall, I loved the book. It was just the kind of seedy exploration of murky nightlife, of the sickly underbelly of traumatised youth and gay sexuality that deserved (and earned) the title: City of Night. 8/10

I'm so sorry, Kev, I've only just seen this. I don't seem to be getting email alerts any more and I began to think the site must have closed! I'll try to answer your questions now. I find C of E vicars can be easy going or what they call 'high church' where there is chanting, so my parson in 4 of my books is more like a Methodist or Baptist because he is very casual. He's a country parson and carries on more or less as he sees fit for his congregation of farmers and smugglers! I also mention The Salvation Army in one of my books (look my books up on Amazon if you like) and it seems that you don't have to join, you can just go along as you would to a C of E or other UK church. A collection plate or bag is passed around and you can put in any amount you like or nothing. It seemed that you certainly don't have to pay towards their charity work - as you indicate, they do a lot of this and I think it's good. Hope this helps - and I'm so sorry it's very late.