Chrissy

potato

Youthful

I think I will avoid drinking anywhere near the herd! A week of hard gardening and equally hard collating and filing. A productive week indeed, although today will be slightly more restful as I stay indoors with the paperwork. It's wet and windy outside so I am glad to have got things done. Our local (only 3 miles away) Indian owned newsagent has just started to sell homemade dishes and sauces, so I have two side dishes of bombay potato and vegetable malai to have with chicken later. I have dipped a finger into the dishes and my mouth is still watering from the flavours......Roll On supper time!

hedge

yodelling

The Time Travellers Wife. Love the book, and think the film is pretty darned good.

Hello, hello, hello! Good to 'see' you. How is life going?

I watched Avengers Assemble recently, so decided to give this new series a go. It is a tad box ticking formulaic, but I am in it for Agent Phil Coulson. Love the character, and am suitably intrigued by the "He must never know" aspect to the gap between the film and this series to continue with it.

normal

The answer to many of life's woes! Have you tried a steam cleaner with a nozzle attachment? They can sort out many a nook and cranny! Are you trying to clean the grout or remove it? This YouTube page has 'How To...' pages to both clean and remove grouting. I have found some of these tutorial videos really helpful, even if they do assume zero knowledge / intelligence at times (which is probably for the best with me!).

I have, although sadly it was in a zoo. Never have I ever completed a cryptic crossword alone.

Overdone by a long margin. I have enjoyed the YA novels I have read to date, but am now looking forward to greater creativity with regard to young relationships. I don't mind a dash of romance here and there but the constant stream of 'torn between two lovers' style has definitely started to grate.

I'm a huge Lord Peter fan and truly thought that the last book by JPW, 'The Attenbury Emeralds' was to be the last, so I am delighted to read this. She did a great job with the last book, so this is most definitely going to the top of my wish list. Thanks for the heads up.

Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series, 'Wee Free Men', 'A Hat Full Of Sky', 'Wintersmith' and ' I Shall Wear Midnight'. It's an original coming-of-age fantasy story set on the chalk hills in Terry Pratchett's Discworld. The series gets better with each book, and I felt by the time I had read the last that I wished they had been written when I was entering my teens. Tiffany is a character that really grows on you, and her learning of the craft of witching is clever and sometimes even profound. There is humour and wisdom and the joyous inclusion of the daft yet deeply loyal, Wee Free Men. A series I haven't read, but it is on my wish list is 'Diary Of A Wimpy Kid' by Jeff Kinney. There are 8 books in the series so far. In interview (wimpykid.com) the author said, "I wanted to write a story about the funny parts of growing up and none of the serious parts. I had a pretty ordinary childhood, but lots of humorous stuff happened along the way. So, I decided to write a book about what it was really like to be a kid, or at least what it was like for me."

Having just watched that 4 times, and having laughed heartily 4 times, I think maybe I should too!

Hello Sean, want to tell us more about your two books? I'm already intrigued by the titles.

When I married and moved down here 11 years ago, my neighbour was fantastic. She made me feel so welcome, and over the years we have developed a friendship despite our age differences. So today was lunch with a friend, and we nattered and gossiped and laughed. I just wish we could have done it sooner, but between work and an unsuitable car it didn't happen. I have been so lucky to have known a few of my elderly neighbours who have lived their lives within a 3 year radius of where they were born, and can tell such wonderful (and often very naughty ) stories of the people and places nearby.

Any more details you can think of Kerrie? Like what kind of story was it? A thriller or crime novel perhaps.

Hey, I had fish and chips, so my altruism levels remain low! The lunch was delicious, and we took a long route home so that she could show me where she had been born, where she use to play where she once dumped her bike on the way to school when the pedal dropped off. It was lovely driving along our local country lanes, some so underused they had grass and weeds running up the middle. She also showed me where a local marijuana farm had once been discovered ! We will definitely do a similar trip again, although I did say that next time it might be for a tea, as there is a lovely garden centre near the coast that does a lemon drizzle cake of some renown. Kylie, that's awful. Most definitely 2 bikes next time. That sounds great Peacefield, we'll have to think of lots of two-handed activities you should undertake, just cos you can now! Pottery maybe, or jazz piano? Athena, it's definitely nicer when we keep in close touch with our loved ones.

Feel better soon gardengirl. I recommend hot drinks, lots of TLC and perhaps a good book.

revolutionary

....Poppy doesn't ever invite me to join her at a Justin Bieber concert.....or Jedward....or One Direction....or....or......

Tell us about the tandem Kylie! Today I am a lady (pah!) who lunches. My neighbour loves fish 'n' chips, and I used to buy them locally once in a while and join her for lunch. Then the price got bigger while the portions got smaller, so we stopped. My neighbour doesn't get out and about too much as she is 93 and needs a wheelchair to go any distance. I would have taken her out before, but my old car had very sinky-into seats and I thought she would struggle getting in and out. Now I have my shiny new car with it's lovely comfy-firm seats we will be heading out to our local Morrison's supermarket café where we will be partaking of their 'Famous Fish 'n' Chips'. This may become a regular outing.