Generally Gemma

Time Please

October draws to end and with it Blogtoberfest. Part of me still can't quite believe that I have posted every day for a month! When I started I was convinced that I was going to miss at least a handful of days, I'd given myself permission to and had decided that I wasn't going to beat myself up about it, but as time wore on and the end came nearer I was determined to carry on!

 

A good amount of crafting was begun and finished, an incredible amount for me actually! Four projects finished in a year never mind a month is pretty unheard of for me!

 

There have also been a handful of lovely days out!

To balance it out though, I've moaned a lot! More than I thought I had when I read back through my October posts this morning! I've suffered the loss of one of Boyz, the death of my iphone and I still don't have a job. But Blogtoberfest has kept me sane. It's given me structure, a daily goal and most of all I think it may have rekindled my love of blogging. The juices are flowing again, the passion has come back. And whilst I certainly won't be posting everyday again, (I think the everyday posting is where the moaning crept in!) I certainly shall be trying to post more regularly than I have done over the past few months. 

I hope I haven't completely bored or depressed you and that there have been some posts you've enjoyed and I shall be back again next week at some point! Ready for November!

Cruel Universe

I'm afraid my friends I just don't have the energy to post today. At 2am this morning in a sleepy beffudled state I somehow managed to drop my iphone in a pint of water. It's broken. I can't afford to have it fixed or buy a new one. I spent two or three hours in hysterics, not just because of my phone but frankly because I'm not too sure how much more turmoil and bad news I can take. Having said that as far as I can see the liquid indicators don't seem to have been triggered as it was a terribly brief dunking. So I may take it to the Apple shop in Regent Street and see what they say. I think Genius Bar appointments are free so really I have nothing to loose. 

I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up blogtoberfest but today, well, I'm not feeling terribly festive. 

Rock 'n' Sog

Today was a great day. A shopping excursion that actually ended with me buying trainers I liked and were cheaper than I had imagined and a trip to the beach this afternoon. We had intended on walking on the beach but G and I had both forgotten that British tides are not something to be messed with! We arrived at the top of high tide which meant there was precious little beach to walk! Just some rocks to scrabble over! So we did head up to the top of the cliffs in the picture at the top of this post. I did take some incredible pictures from up there, but as things seem to go with me at the moment my camera memory card has died. So, I have none, these are a combo of internal memory and phone.

 

This little guy came and sat practically on top of us! But he soon left when he realised the children a bit further on had sandwiches and ice cream to share. 

 

I got a bit soggy

 

thanks to doing some of this

 

so I had to warm up with some tea. G didn't paddle but he felt he deserved some anyway!

 

I miss the beach so much and a cobweb blowing away session was just what I had been craving. Salty air, wind blowing through your hair, chilly water on your feet. Because really what is a trip to the beach without getting your feet, trousers, coat soaking wet!

travel calamity

(post written earlier on the train)

Well folks as I write this I am sitting on a train in my way to Cardiff for the tail end of halfterm! I've found a table on the train with of all things a plug socket so whilst I wait for my iphone to charge up again so that I can watch either Someone Like You or When Harry met Sally which I painstakingly downloaded last night for my viewing pleasure on the bus. Oh yes people you read correctly! I was meant to be on a bus. A bus that would probably be arriving in Cardiff as I write this still a couple of hours away from my destination! Why are you on a train then Gemma? I hear you all plaintively cry. Well that is a long story that involves much stupidity on my part. 

I was at my train station having just bought my ticket into Victoria so that I could go and catch the bus. I got on the train and thought I would have a quick sort out of my handbag so that I could find things a little more easily when ARRRRGHHHHHH no wallet. Chance would also have it that I was on a fast train with very few stops. A great thing when you want to get somewhere, not so great when you are desperate to get off and go back to where you started! So, I started ringing various British Rail outposts trying to find the phone number for my local station. Phoning various friends who I thought might be in the village to see if they could run to the station. 

Would you believe that stations in England no longer publish their own phone numbers? You can't actually get through to your own local station and speak to the station master! Instead you have to go all around the houses speaking to a variety of machines and idiotic people who don't seem to quite understand the urgency of a lost wallet and aren't prepared to wait on the end of a ringing phone for someone to answer. 

Forty minutes after the discovery of the missing wallet I was on a train from Clapham Junction back to my original starting point and on my tenth phone call to the central phone number I finally managed to get hold of a sweet girl who understood my situation. The fact that I was hysterically crying on the other end of the phone might have helped her to understand quite how desperate I was! She spoke to the nice station manager who kindly wandered over to the London bound platform and found my wallet, intact and unscathed. At which point I started crying hysterically again. I could have kissed the man if he hadn't been encased behind a barrier of perspex!

So seeing as I was supposed to be on the bus in twenty minutes and that certainly wasn't going to happen G started phoning the bus company to see if I could swap my ticket for a later one. Of course sir, no problem sir. Turns out it was a problem sir as all the buses were booked solid. So, my Mother in Law very kindly offered to pay for the cost of my train ticket to Cardiff so that I could come this evening rather than slinking back to my house and spending the evening depressed and crying in front of The Notebook. (I was in a Notebook kind of a mood. A wallowing self pitying kind of a mood.)

After spending the better part of an hour and a half glued to my phone, calling British Rail, calling G, calling friends, calling the bus company, twittering so M & Bro would know what was going on my poor little phone was nearly out of juice. Certainly not enough power to last a film and the phone calls I will no doubt have to make when the train gets delayed! So I fell upon the plug socket with joy and thought, well while I am here I may as well play on the laptop at the same time. Fill out an application form for a teaching assistant role at G's school being one of the things on my to do list! A part time job which isn't terribly well paid but if I think about the future it's certainly a place I'd like to be. I'm also considering finishing my degree. Part time, possibly Open University from home, but I'm considering it. And a part time job would be most hopeful in achieving that goal I can say!

And with that rambling over, my phone is now at 95% so I am going to chance a film! And I can always plug it back in if I need too!

One final thing, can you believe that there are only three days left of Blogtober Fest!!! This last week seems to have run like the clappers! Although I suspect some of you will be somewhat relieved that I am no longer going to be clogging up your feed readers! 

UK Blogs

A little while ago when I threw open the comments for questions Bells said that one of the things that she would like to know are what UK blogs I like as she is always on the look out for new ones. So for Bells and anyone else who is interested here is a little list of "local" blogs that I love. 

Chatiryworld is an Scottish, recently married, librarian, knitting, crafter. Good food, good knits and she recommends the best posts ever to me on my google reader!

Cherry is less of a blog these days and more of a one woman world wind! House stuff, crafting, food and best of all these days, the glimpses we get of her new house as she turns it into a home.

Ali was one of the first blogs I ever discovered in blogland and I have been an avid reader ever since. A slice of life that contains a bit of everything.

Vanessa is a knitter and illustrator with an incredible eye for colour. Every time she posts it is a visual feast for the eyes and her little illustrations are gorgeous. Not to mention her knitting and crocheting. Fab all round!

Jane's blog Posy always reminds me of stepping into a warm hug. Her house is a riotous explosion of Cath florals and vintage lovelies where Coldplay is always playing on the stereo with her crochet in a basket by her feet. Another one that I've been reading since forever.

Another Jane AKA Yarnstorm. I've made no secret of the admiration I have for this lovely lady. Her blog is amazing and her first book The Gentle Art of Domesticity is one I often pick up when it's grey outside and I need a pick me up. Jane's was the blog that really inspired me to start blogging and if I hadn't discovered her I certainly would never have started quilting. 

Ruth over at Two Hippos is a lovely lady both on her blog and in real life, I met her and her adorable daughter in a knitting shop and we both giggled and had that awful first are you her moment. I've read her ever since.

Anna is another lady who seems to churn knitting projects out at a rate of knots! There's always something new to see over in her corner and her journey to yoga is guru is one that I am finding fascinating to watch. And inspirational as I begin to think about whether the office world is really for me. 

So there you have them folks. There are more and perhaps another day I will sit and do another link love post. I've quite enjoyed wandering amongst these people and browsing the archives once again!

On a personal front I am off to Wales for a long weekend when I finish work at lunchtime tomorrow. I shall still post because there is no way I am going to fall out of Blogtoberfest this close to the finishing line! There is talk of outlet shopping, beach walking, possibly a castle visit. And hopefully a bit of driving round. I really need to start familiarising myself with more than G's Mum's house, the station and Cardiff City's football stadium!

Exhausted

Folks, I am knackered. Getting up at 7:30am and being functional at 9am is a bit of a shock to the system when you aren't used to it I can tell you! Even if it is only for a three morning a week temp job that finishes at lunchtime!

All I want to do is lie on the sofa and indulge in crap tv for the evening. Hopefully tomorrow evening I shall be a little more acclimatised to the situation! And as blog posts don't come easily to the brain addled I instead present you with a cartoon that my Aunt recently sent to me and I have been saving for a slow brain day such as this!

 

 

 

Why she thought of me I don't know! But all I can say is, chance would be a fine thing!!!

Oh and ...

Liberty

 

Whilst I was on Regent Street on Friday it would have been rude not to pop into Liberty. And now for a shameful confession. I have never been before! And I am furious with myself for not going when I had a job and therefore money to spend!

 

Besides all the loveliness contained within the building itself really is the most gorgeous thing ever. I had a vague idea that it was off a side street somewhere and was a little bit worried that I might not see it, but there is no way on earth that you can mistake that frontage. 

 

Inside there are amazing sort of installation things made of the products they sell like this faux chandelier made of scarves. I was a little nervous of taking pictures so most of the interior ones are taken on my phone, which hasn't the greatest of cameras. 

 

The entrance to heaven. 

 

Buttons for all!

 

Beautiful fabric.

 

Not exactly craftiness but these are my absolute most favorite things in the world. I used to work in a posh chocolate shop that sold them and acquired a very expensive addiction in the meantime! Although it has been a VERY long time since I had any. 

All in all head to Liberty! Once I have another job I will certainly be heading back again! Although I did treat myself to a few little tiny things. Sadly not nearly enough for my liking!

 

These two buttons to make into a brooch. The big mother of pearl purple one is practically the size of my palm!

 

And I had to buy a couple of these. Just because I needed to have them.

Anthropologie London Opening

 

Yesterday I decided to treat myself to a morning on Regent Street with a very limited budget! Anthropologie is a website that I have drooled over for years and I have been terribly close so many times to placing an order and paying the extortionate shipping rates and no doubt customs charges to hold some of their beautiful goodies in my own sweaty little paws.

So when I heard that they were opening their first European store in London my heart did a little skip, my palms got a little bit sweatier and I knew that I was going to have to take a trip there. I hadn't planned to go on opening day but hey what the hell!

 

Besides the gorgeous clothes and home ware that they sell one of the other things that Anthropologie is famous for is their interiors. And let me tell you folks it certainly doesn't disappoint, from the enormous living plant wall that is watered from rain gathered from the roof

to the incredible chandeliers that hang in the stair well

 

to the mesmerising teabag installation in the window. The whole place is fabulous.

 

Anthropologie do sell a lovely line of clothes but given my current weight fluctuation issues I paid no attention to those and instead drooled over the home ware instead. 

 

 

 

And of course, what shopping trip is complete without a little self gifting?

I think I showed remarkable restraint considering all the yummy deliciousness that was there! Of course I can't promise that I will when I go again, which the second I have a proper job and a decent pay cheque I can assure I will be doing!

Part two of top ten comfort films

Dead Poets Society is one of those films that might actually be in my top ten of all time. I think it caught me at an impressionable time of my life where the biggest impression of all was made by Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke! Whilst obviously this film is cliche ridden to the extreme I am always transported by it from the first introduction of the misunderstood popular guy and the horribly shy bloke to the very last thump of shoe on desk.

I think that inspirational teachers are few and far between which is a shame as every child should have one that believes in them and their ability to do anything they want. I had two, one of whom I am fortunate to still be in touch with. And I like to think that even though I perhaps haven't lived up to the expectations that she had of me that she is still a little bit proud of how I turned out!

Now this is a shameful thing to admit. Bring It On. Great film. Catchy little songs, a classic girl meets boy, loses boy, gets back with boy story. I bought it initially for my Bro who had a bit of a thing for Kirsten Dunst and still does as far as I know, G certainly does. Then I thought, ahhh he won't mind if I just watch it before I give it to him. And that was the beginning of the end. I couldn't give it up. It's a guilty shameful secret that I draw the curtains for and before the diet I would normally crack open a tub of ice cream and sit and while away ninety minutes in the company of all American cheerleaders. Thanks to Sweet Valley High I've always had a bit of an obsession with American high school and college experiences. And this fulfills it to the max. So long as you aren't expecting anything beyond the light, fluffy and brainless it's fab!

When I was little one of the few cds we had as a family was an extended highlights version of Phantom and I fell in love. I'd always liked Michael Crawford ever since I saw him in a televised version of Barnum and after hearing him in Phantom I decided that I was going to be the female Michael Crawford, the fact that I can't hold of tune was of no importance to me what so ever! 

Living in Spain meant that I never got to see Michael Crawford as the Phantom I did see it years later though. A friend of mine treated me to tickets just before I left uni to go back to Spain and I say and wept like a baby throughout it simply because I couldn't believe I was finally there! The film is good, not great, and it doesn't have Michael Crawford but it does mean I can indulge whenever I want. And M I promise one day I'll take you.

Finding Nemo is my nightmare film. If I wake up in the middle of night and I'm afraid to go back to sleep which does happen occasionally then Finding Nemo goes in. I'm not sure if it's the colours or the sound of the ocean but it is one of the most soothing things on earth. G calls me Dory because there are times when I seem to have the most awful trouble holding a single idea in my head. I also can't say the word anemone, I stumble over it in the most terrible fashion which G finds terribly amusing. Fortunately for me it isn't a word that comes up terribly often in casual conversation!

This is my go to need a good cry film. Before I discovered this it was either the closing scenes of Titanic, Gilbert's almost death scene in Anne of Avonlea or a good dose of A Walk to Remember. They were all a bit hit and miss though. The Notebook hits the spot every time without fail. A classic chick flick which I think in time is going to rival Dirty Dancing, Bridget Jones or Pretty Woman. (Both of which were ohhhh so close in making it into my top ten.)

So there we have it folks! The ten comfort films according the me. It's thrown up some interesting conversations over the past few days with friends though. Who variously cite, Buffy, Dodgeball, Breakfast at Tiffanys and Jerry Maguire amongst their must owns. The strangest one though has to be G's choice. His desert island comfort dvd would be the 2005 Ashes box set!

Part one of top ten

This was actually far harder than I thought it was going to be! Trying to whittle down favorites into comfort films was more complicated than I anticipated. But here it is, the definitive list for better or worse. So in no particular order the winners are!

I've waxed lyrical about Anne of Green Gables before, so I'm not going to sit and do it again. But this series both the books and the tv version have been a part of my life for so long that I can't really remember ever not knowing them! The casting for Anne and Gilbert was perfect as it was for all of the characters it is very rare that a casting director and my ideas ever really mesh terribly well. Although Christian Bale as Laurie in Little Women was pretty close!

"I don't need diamond sunbursts or marble halls, I just want you." That is one line I can hear over and over without ever getting tired of it. One of the eternal great love stories!

These two series go hand in hand in for me. Both of them were on Sky tv when it first started up and had precious little new material and hardly any adverts! 

These were both on during the dinner preparation/eating period of the evening at home and were programs that we could enjoy as a family without M being worried that nudity or unnecessary gore were going to make an appearance!

Very few people of my generation ever seem to have watched these! But for Bro and I they are an intrinsic part of our childhoods. 

He bought the entire M*A*S*H collection and the first two series of Family Ties last year and he and I passed them backwards and forwards between us until we finished them all. I was captured from the very first moment of the cheesy title music of Family Ties. Bro and I used to sing along, he with the female part and I with the male as we always used to in those days. He was soooo much better at hitting the high notes than I was!

We knew Michael J Fox as Alex P Keaton long before we met him as Marty McFly. G watched a couple of episodes with me and he couldn't quite get over the fact that Marty was playing this straight laced tie wearing guy! He had to stop watching them in the end because it was beginning to cloud his view of Back to the Future, which incidentally is up there as one of his top ten comfort films!

And speaking of sing alongs that leads us to Grease! What can anyone say about this, so much and yet so little all at the same time. Classic karaoke tunes and songs that are guaranteed floor fillers in my experience. Bro and I watched this for years when we didn't have English tv, with of course the standard back to front male female singing split! 

It always amazed me later on though quite how much of this film went over my head! Teen pregnancy, sex, lyrics that would make a nun blush! How on earth did any of this ever make it passed our own personal family censor, my Mother! Especially when we consider the evidence of further films!

Dirty Dancing was one of M's greatest censoring jobs ever! In fact it wasn't until I was bought an official copy years later that I ever even realised that she had taken bits out of it! I defy any female to watch this and not fall in love with bad boy with a heart of gold snake hips Patrick Swayze! Seeing the stage show was one of last year's highlights and I would recommend anyone who loved the film to go and see it. It translates really well. Although when I watched this a few weeks ago I did have a little weep. I hadn't seen it since Patrick Swayze died and my heart did ache a little at the thought that Johnny Castle was no more.