Madeleine

Glad you're feeling better, and that the wine helped, maybe it acted as a sort of anaesthetic. Does anything in particular set it off?

Same here, nice and sunny but getting cloudier.

Yes that's very true Athena, Amazon reviews can also be dangerous as people aren't always careful to indicate a spoiler in their review.

Had some showers but managed to avoid most of them, definitely cooler though, thinking about getting my fleece out!

And so it starts again - I enjoyed the launch show, looks like being an interesting bunch!

I agree, our weather is nothing compared to theirs, but it's been horribly rainy and squally, with a bit of sun in between. We should be grateful though....

I really enjoyed The Silkworm last night, the hour flew by and the casting (if you've read the book) is spot on.

Oh no I think I know the one you mean Ian, the same thing happened to me! And also with the synopsis of the 5th Game of Thrones book, on the back cover, which gave away a major spoiler from a previous book

Same here, downpour this afternoon, sunny now.

Yep love 'em. Haven't read that one yet though.

Oh dear a bit of a culture shock, just wait til he starts high school! Glad we never had all that homework at primary school though.

I agree with pretty much everything you've said Kell - I don't think Jaime feels anything but contempt for Cersei now (and remember the look he gave her at the end of series 6, when he came back and saw her sitting on the Iron throne with that smirk of triumph); despite that one recent night of passion, I think he's completely given up on her now and she lost her last chance at redemption when she said that she lied about joining the fight against the Walkers. I think the whole experience of losing his hand, and how Brienne helped him at the time and they formed a gradual respect for each other did genuinely start the turnaround in his character, and joining Tyrion and co is the only option. Not sure what Dany would think though, as he's the one who killed her father, although now she does at least seem to be able to see what her father was really like, to the point where she was worried that she'd turn out the same way. I'm not sure if you've read the books, but there are also rumours about Gilly's baby being a possible heir, plus in book 5 there's

Yes and persevere if you still think something's not right with them. good luck!

I loved Merlin, probably my favourite of the Saturday evening serials! Just the right balance of action and humour.

And so it starts again... went into Marks and Spencer at lunchtime and they Christmas cards on sale, and yesterday went into John Lewis (well known UK store) and they had Christmas trees at the entrance to what they were calling their "Tourist shop" but we know what it really is, I'm sure Christmas stuff will creep in and gradually overtake the tourist stuff (some of which looked suspiciously like decorations) in the next few weeks

Poured most of yesterday afternoon, got soaked on the way home.

The Muse by Jessie Burton - this is the eagerly awaited second novel by the author of The Miniaturist, and is very different, although there are still tragic overtones. It's a dual time-frame, and the more recent part is set in 1967, when a young woman emigrates from Trinidad to London. First Odelle finds work in a shoe shop, which she hates, but eventually she gets a job on the reception desk of an art gallery, which she loves. One day a young man, Lawrie, walks in with a painting which his mother had left to him (the only thing she left to him in fact) and the gallery owner believes it belongs to a lost Spanish artist, who disappeared mysteriously during the Spanish Civil War. So the other part of the book tells the story of the painting, and the artist, who became involved with the Schloss family, who fled Austria for the Spanish countryside near Malaga. Mr Schloss was an art dealer, but it's his daughter Olive who is the main focus here. It was an enjoyable story, although I felt it took a while to get going, and I think I would have preferred a continuous narrative, despite the fact that I love dual time frames, but none of the characters felt fully developed, and none of them were very likeable (especially Mr and Mrs Schloss), but it was very beautifully written, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes literary fiction. Can't wait to see what the author does next! 8/10

Oh that's a coincidence, I'm just about to post my review on my thread here, glad you liked it.

Yep I'm having problems too, got new varifocals last year and couldn't get on with them at all, went back a few weeks ago and one of them said they might have measured the distance wrongly, then another said it was Ok, and then they said that my astigmatism, which had supposedly gone, was back, and wanted to give me another prescription. I have however gone back to my old glasses now and am leaving it for a bit, but they are a nightmare!

Cloudy, muggy and drizzly.

Very muggy at lunchtime, and trying to rain, bit brighter now but still quite clammy.

Oh yes Merlin and Arthur! Quite a few in Game of Thrones - Tyrion and Bronn in the first 2 books, then Tyrion and Mormont in book 5 (the best bits of that book), and Bronn and Jaime in the TV series.

It was a film a while ago with Harrison Ford.

Maybe better lighting? If your glasses don't help then you have the wrong prescription, you need to go back to the optician to check your reading prescription.

Muggy most of the day, started raining around 5.00 and rained for most of the rest of the day, drizzly this morning.