Sunday 31 August 2014

Life, the midlands and other things.

Recently I haven't managed to blog quite as much as I'd have liked to partly because I've been busy trying to sort aspects of my life out, which I won't bore you with the details of.  Suffice to say it took up a lot of my time.

I've also been lucky enough to get some time with my boyfriend to see a non art house film! Now I like art house films I really do but I also enjoy sci-fi, action hero films and good old fashioned explosion heavy blockbusters. What can I say? I have eclectic tastes. I've also got to be part of my friend's Mr & Mrs Goddard's wedding day, which was lovely! This was followed the next day by a trip to the midlands to see my sister in Nottingham, where I got treated to tea and then I reciprocated by accompanying her to an outdoor screening of Grease at Wollaton Hall.

Yes, of course we drank wine, ate luxury popcorn and sang along to every song.

This week has been slightly less busy; however, it has seen me and my son both fighting off a cold which I've had for over a week now. Unfortunately this has meant that whenever a writing opportunity has presented itself I've had to use it to sleep. I'm hoping to rectify this slovenly behaviour with a few more posts about films, baking and other topics that I find interesting.

Wednesday 13 August 2014

Local Loves.

I've decided to write this week's local loves about my local park Richmond Park.

 It is not the biggest park or the most spectacular and it doesn't have any lakes or animal farms but it is just perfect for a stroll to get your thoughts together.
I've found these mysterious steps and wondered what they were the threshold to?
We've also begun to enjoy using the swings and playground so no doubt we'll have years more fun playing in Richmond park!

Monday 11 August 2014

Monday Movie: Populaire.

I ended up not making it to Kino Bambino this week to watch Mood Indigo, instead I opted to watch Populaire on Netflix.

Populaire is a French film set in the fifties about a clumsy girl called Rose who goes for a job as Secretary and gets it on a trial basis.  At the end of the trial her boss asks her to take part in a speed typing competition and in order to keep her job she applies but doesn't win. Undeterred her boss decides to be her coach and moves her into his house to over see her practising.

Basically if you've seen My Fair Lady you will see slightly more modern parallels here with added training montages. I guess it could be seen as a cross between My Fair Lady and the Karate kid but really it's a rom com with rose tinted glasses on (excuse the pun!)

This is a nice film which although slow moving in parts is fun to watch with characters I actually like and empathise with an improvement on last week's film!

Sunday 10 August 2014

Tea and travels...

This week I've been a bit quieter on the blogging front than I had intended as I decided it was time to go for a little holiday.  So I ended up spending much of Tuesday planning my trip and doing a little bit of novel writing and tea drinking. This was followed by mad packing on Wednesday and heading to the north west to visit relatives before heading onwards to the wilds of Wales. (Well Flintshire at any rate!) On Thursday we decided to sample the delights of Llandudno and enjoyed ice cream on the beach.

Once we had done playing on the beach and strolling along the promanade (whilst avoiding thieving seagulls) we headed back to our travelodge before visiting more family members on the way back east on the Friday.

I also failed to blog yesterday as I was busy trying to stop sheep attacking eating the picnic me and my friends were having at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, going for a walk then returning home before enjoying yet more tea with Paul's family and my son.  It's a hard life being social isn't it! Now it's time to drink a tad more tea and get cracking on my novel again whilst the baby slumbers... adios for now!

Monday 4 August 2014

Monday Movie: Arthur and Mike.

Arthur and Mike was another film shown as part of Kino Bambino which I went to see with my son this morning.

I missed the start of this film due to struggling after a fractured nights sleep... so when I got there the main characters Arthur and Mike had already met. The story is about middle aged Wallace who takes on the name Arthur and skips out on his mundane life to go on a road trip to take up a job as a golf teacher. He's accompanied by Mike also known as Charlotte who is trying to escape her worries as well.

They end up getting to know each other as they travel around and imitate others.  Yet while this is happening Wallace's loved ones try to come to terms with his disappearance and possibly death.

I found this film quite uncomfortable when I think it's supposed to be a comedy. I just thought Arthur and Mike were really selfish. Then again I think I'm not the target audience,  this is like a coming of age film for people going through mid-life crises. Maybe it's a gaining perspective sort of film? I think I enjoyed chasing my son around the cinema more... but at least it was short and followed by coffee!

Friday 1 August 2014

This & that.

Today I've enjoyed a cuppa coffee in peace at the Steam Yard, a cafe in what used to be Jacks records. Then I had a meeting, browsed some shops, returned a book to the library, did tetrapack recycling, had lunch, fed & bathed the baby and went to my friend's wedding celebration.
So after all that I think I need a snooze! Night!