poppyshake

I had it on red button with Radio 5 live commentary which I think was Darren Fletcher/Jason Roberts .. anyway I thought they were pretty good .. though I only had one ear on it as was busy.

Phil Neville's had some stick but God he's monotonous ... made the matches worse to sit through I haven't had the pleasure of Robbie Savage's commentary yet ... was it as bad as his dancing? Not fancying our chances against Costa Rica ... they totally outplayed Italy. England just playing for pride now

Pretty happy with the England team (for once ) ... maybe need a Bronte on the bench and a Woolf

That was the bit I hated most ... like some sob story from X factor ... with an 'I Will Survive' soundtrack. It's not aimed at me obviously though and I've totally lost touch with what's entertaining for kids. My own nephews and nieces love it too so I know I'm out of step. I hanker after the good old hand drawn days ... as in The Jungle Book. These new films seem too grown up to me I'm too old!

Rooney both scored and set up a goal. I think he's unfairly singled out ... so much so that it must dent his confidence. I totally agree that they're overpaid but that's not their decision is it? They don't under achieve at club level .. they wouldn't stay in the premiership for long if they did. We've nearly always had trouble getting an England side to gel and the line up constantly changes. We were in the worst group and playing in heat conditions that we're not used to (all the other teams in our group are far more used to playing in heat.) I know all that sounds like excuses but realistically ... even on paper ... we are ranked lower than Italy and Uruguay so it's not a surprise we lost to them. We need more home grown talent for sure but whenever I hear Trevor Brooking talk about it he says there's been a lack of talent coming through for years now. Despite the high wages .. kids just aren't as passionate about playing the game as they used to be. British kids anyway. I wish Gareth Bale wasn't Welsh Just my opinion anyway. I was so disappointed last night but ended up more ashamed of English people than English players ... the vitriol on social media was unacceptable in my view. I'd like to see the FA stick with Hodgson ... I thought we played the best I've seen us in a long while against Italy and it is early days for this team. The defence needs sorting though ... you could usually rely on Ferdinand, Terry and Cole ... now it's all a bit shaky. Sorry for rambling Hope we play well against Costa Rica .. good luck to all other teams

Oh don't .. I'm feeling sorry for him Wayne however is glad of the rest for five mins My facebook feed has practically melted with the combined outrage of all my rellies and friends. I must say I've never had to read the phrase 'useless load of sh*te' so often in one night I must admit I had low expectations and they haven't exceeded them I thought the Italy match was good but tonight .. second half especially was pretty dire.

Oh bother it .. football's not coming home

Frozen .. and I must be the only person on the planet that didn't like it

In no particular order .. top twenty .. will try to highlight top ten in red 1. The Kick Inside - Kate Bush 2. Hounds of Love - Kate Bush 3. Innervisions - Stevie Wonder 4. Parallel Lines - Blondie 5. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles 6. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars - David Bowie 7. Absolution - Muse 8. Black Holes and Revelations - Muse 9. Exodus - Bob Marley 10. Frank - Amy Winehouse 11. The Human Menagerie - Cockney Rebel 12. Bring it On - Gomez 13. Grace - Jeff Buckley 14. Blue - Joni Mitchell 15. Whoa Nelly! - Nelly Furtado 16. These Streets - Paolo Nutini 17. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel 18. OK Computer - Radiohead 19. Mary Ann Meets the Grave Diggers - Regina Spektor 20. Nothing Like the Sun - Sting Nothing remotely recent

I'm in tea shops far more on holiday than any other time (and I'm in them often enough at home so disaster ) and I can never resist trying the cakes. And, as you know, Alan is a terrible influence. I would only be watching him eat if I didn't indulge and eating cake is not a spectator sport How lovely of the owner to make you a cake very welcoming and it gets the holiday off to a good start. Is there a bookshelf at the cottage? I do love it when I find a bookshelf in a holiday cottage .. I usually find something that I never would have thought of reading otherwise .. mind you We Need to Talk About Kevin gave me nightmares but if it hadn't been that then it would've been something else I string all the 'incidents' together until they make a 'catastrophe' Alan said he read somewhere that book readers (and it must have meant women in particular) were more inclined to be pear shaped. I think the inference was that I might as well stop trying to fight it

Oh I like her on all the programmes .. she's very knowledgeable isn't she and has such enthusiasm for her subject that it's infectious. Sounds like a great read

Great books from Devi I hope you enjoy them Gaia .. I liked them both and I Capture the Castle is an all time fave. The film is well worth seeing too if you can catch it.

Big shock that Spain went down so badly .. not the start they wanted for sure. Excellent start by Holland .. awesome stuff. England vs Italy tonight .. late kick-off Regardless of result I hope we play well Would appreciate it if I didn't have to watch from behind a cushion for once Don't ruin my night's sleep England!

Your holidays always sound so idyllic Claire The polar opposite of all of mine Glad you had a nice time, you picked a great week for it and a great holiday destination. Well done for losing weight on holiday I've never managed to do that ... I always put about 4lbs on Did you go walking a lot?

I've got two books on the go at the moment (well .. I've just finished one of them) Nick Hornby's How to be Good and Sketcher by Roland Watson Grant and today when I was reading them they both happened to mention 'Jonestown' which I thought was a pretty remarkable (well .. quite good anyway ) co-incidence as one is set in Louisiana and one in London and the stories are poles apart. I guess the co-incidence is not really that they've both referenced it .. more that I read that reference on the same day so it seems like more of a co-incidence. I wish I had had a white chocolate Magnum co-incidence (or even an almond Magnum co-incidence which is my fave) because that has to be just the best co-incidence of all It's not a co-incidence that nearly every book I read mentions toast (and just after I've eaten it sometimes .. in fact sometimes I'm actually eating it and reading about it!) Toast is all encompassing .. the planet wouldn't revolve if it weren't for toast so it would be weird if it didn't continually crop up Enid always made me want to eat slightly burnt sausages and Mr Tumnus gave me a liking for sardines and it may be that I ate them shortly after reading about them but if I'm honest .. I made that happen

Good to see you back Julie keeping my fingers crossed for the hubster and the new job. We are trying to save pennies too so know exactly what you're going through .. I am a whizz at cooking with leftovers now .. but my fridge is a sad, sad sight ... there's tumbleweed blowing through it Hope you can have that knee operation done soon .. you'll feel like a new woman .. probably be able to compete in the next Olympics It must be so difficult to have to worry about the expense of it though That's additional pain and worry isn't it? I've had to hammer a few books to my forehead as well .. concentration is the thing but it's good to try and lose yourself in a story .. I feel a bit sorry for the books I've read because they had to try extra hard to entertain This years tally isn't going to look so good but I'll be happy just to find us more settled at the end of the year. Will be hoping very much that you are too xx

Poor things! I like a Dalmatian .. of course I do .. but they're as mad as a box of frogs .. like Red Setters .. absolutely loopy.

Sending love Julie xx

Well done Gaia I'm so behind on reading this year but there's no point in worrying about it. I'm enjoying it again now and that's the main thing. Anyway, I might have a stellar last half of the year

Yay for James and Streetcat Bob I saw that pic with Jacqueline too Glad you enjoyed the book frankie ... what a great little puss cat. I do love ginger cats (no offence Molly ) I am slightly wary of German Shepherd Dogs That is .. I would have to know the dog to be comfy around it. If one barks at me I am about 90% more scared than if a labrador does the same thing. This is partly to do with me being a custard and partly to do with the dog's reputation (in the 70's/80's mainly .. they were the medias terror dog of choice .. then it passed to the Rottweiler and on to the Pitbull) all probably very unfair on the dog because they are individuals like the rest of us but you can't always rid your mind of the scare stories and I have had an encounter with an aggressive German Shepherd dog (which had more to do with the owner than anything.) I am afraid of dogs I guess though we always had them when I was growing up (just mutts .. of no specific breed ) I'm aware of their power over me should they choose to exercise it I've sometimes wondered if dogs don't like spots this may be where I'm going wrong. I've found out that they often don't like umbrellas ... trust me to live in England There's that old story too about dogs knowing if you're scared of them .. that's not helpful. I'm always thinking a dog can smell my fear

Idiopathy by Sam Byers Amazon's Synopsis: Katherine and Daniel used to be together. Now Katherine hates everyone, but not as much as she hates herself, while Daniel tells his new girlfriend he loves her, because not telling her would be like telling her he doesn’t love her. From out of the blue comes a message from their old friend, rehabilitated party animal Nathan – now adjusting to his mother’s new career as a misery memoirist, her tales of maternal hardships the stuff of Twitter superstardom. Nathan suggests a reunion, but with the bad blood flowing like cheap wine, it can’t end well. As a bovine plague sweeps across the nation, a toxic dinner party gets underway – its atmosphere so poisonous that none of them will escape infection. Review: I enjoyed reading this even though it was, in places, a little too far fetched and the characters, by and large, were completely unlikeable. Katherine in particular is hideous. But then it's not supposed to be a sympathetic portrayal. Nathan is perhaps the only character to empathise with (and I did love the writer's depiction of his mother .. who had been through hell and back with him but had found solace in writing her own experiences down in a book and become a bit of an internet sensation which has made her horribly self absorbed) but he was also perhaps the least fleshed out. He is really the only one to root for but then you don't have to love the characters to love a story and this one was readable and very often LOLable. Most of the time you're horrified by the behaviour of these characters who are obnoxious. You thank God that you don't know anyone like them (and if you do .. commiserations ) but then there are some truly touching soul searching moments which soften you slightly .. though never for long. Katherine and Daniel's relationship is fractured (they used to be together and one can only wonder at the day to day awfulness of it) but at Nathan's (a mutual friend) request they are meeting up again. Resentments have only heightened since they've been apart and guilt too so it's not exactly a welcome meeting or something any of them are looking forward to but from Nathan's point of view it's necessary. It's too much to hope though that things will be plain sailing .. Katherine could actually kill an atmosphere at thirty paces and all three of them have things that, they feel, need saying. For the reader it's like being invited to the dinner party from hell, I was in constant cringe mode. Not sure this book will be for everyone, the reviews are very mixed. It is funny but also .. because the characters are unlikeable and quite damaged .. it's quite a melancholy read (as much as the reader hates Katherine .. Katherine hates herself every bit as much and practically everybody in the book is self serving and narcissistic.) Sometimes I thought the writer lost his way but there were lots of razor sharp observations and witty lines. I did find myself constantly thinking 'that would never happen' though .. and that was my main gripe with it ... it is just too unbelievable and at times even farcical. Strangely absorbing though and the pages read themselves. 4/5

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness Amazon's Synopsis: One night, George Duncan is woken by a noise in his garden. Impossibly, a great white crane has tumbled to earth, shot through its wing by an arrow. Unexpectedly moved, George helps the bird, and from the moment he watches it fly away, his life is transformed. The next day, a beautiful woman called Kumiko walks into his shop and begins to tell him the most extraordinary story. Review: I thought I was going to love this ... it started off so well and I loved The Monster Calls. I really liked the whole opening chapter about the injured crane landing in George's garden .. it was beautifully described and I thought I was going to be in for something quite magical and it did get incredibly mystical but it also started to bore me. I wasn't in a particularly good place when reading it and so that might have had a bearing. I think I was also annoyed that it wasn't turning into the book I'd hoped it was The day after rescuing the crane, the mysterious Kumiko walks into George's print shop. They fall in love and combine their talents (Kumiko uses slivers of white feathers and George slices up old books) to make some beautiful artwork that is irresistible to the beholder (I couldn't quite believe in this if I'm honest .. perhaps I needed to see one ) Kumiko offers George the kind of love and serenity that have been missing from his life but she's also a puzzle to him ... who is she and where has she come from? George can't just accept her for who she is, he must know everything about her. I did feel like Patrick was trying to get something over to me that I was utterly failing to grasp. Again, that was probably due to my inattentiveness. I only ever had half an eye on it and this is a story that would benefit from continuous reading or as continuous as you can manage. Alongside the modern telling of this story comes Kumiko's folk tale (and this whole story is a reworking of a Japanese myth) .. but to me it felt disjointed and slightly heavy handed. Both stories build to a climax and my interest peaked again then but it didn't really compensate for all the trudge that went before. Ali Smith does this sort of thing much better imo. Interesting but overall disappointing. 3/5

Thanks Gaia Well that's good to know, I've only ever heard good things about it so I can't wait to read it. Hope you find this one good too bobbs Hope you enjoy it Alexi. I can still remember most of the story which is quite rare for me What an ingenious idea Hope both you and hubby like it Sam It's a good book to dip into.