Sunday 27 January 2013

I love presents

I love getting presents from myself and from others and I love giving people presents  so everybody is a winner in my book!

This week I received a few things and they are fabulous:

From the talented Hey Homewrecker! I got this fabulous frame:


How fab is this. I love it!!! I bought it from the Etsy shop.

A belated Christmas present as it had to come all the way from America:


Picture doesn't do it justice. I love sparkle. Not in glitter form as I am somewhat glitter-phobic but in stone/gem form.

My twin really surprised me and got me the coolest bag ever from a London market.  If it does not evoke bag envy....a 2-D bag.


Amazing.

P.S forget which sites you signed up to and receive too many emails from them? The answer is www.theswizzle.com. I love this. Great idea!

Friday 18 January 2013

Amazing debut from Jeff Miller

You know when you read and the book was ok, and you pick up another one and it was just ok too and then you pick up another one and it was so good you didn't want it to end?

Well that happened with 'The Bubble Gum Thief' by Jeff Miller. 


This book just made my week.  It's a crime/thriller (I'm never too sure about genre-lising) and about a skinny Dectective called Dagny Gray and her crime solving skills.  Dagny has some issues, don't they all, but her issues melt into the book seamlessly.  

I loved it so much I've ordered the paperback copy (I read the e-book version.) I got the e-book version by mistake. Best mistake I've ever made to be honest. I can't see anything topping it either in terms of mistakes.

Anyway, I praised the book three times (while I was reading it) on Good Reads. Jeff happens to be a member too and thanked me for my lovely comments.  I'd love to say I was brown-nosing but I honestly loved the book. It was a breath of fresh air.  I look forward to the sequel.

P.S Bartlam - Jeff is an AMERICAN like you!





Sunday 13 January 2013

It's all over for another year... and I talk a lot about myself...


Lakeside Darts Championships has just crowned Scott 'Scotty 2 Hotty' Waites as it's 2013 Champion.  All very exciting! I am a Lakeside Darts fan, just Lakeside. No other competition.

In the last week I  have been reading very fast and obsessing over (and eating) hummus. On my road to being healthier and eating less chocolate. To be honest I really overdosed on chocolate over Christmas and have temporarily  put myself off it.

Excessive book reading down to the fact thatI had book group and barely touched the book. We read 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' by Rachel Joyce.


'When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else's life.'

Join Good Reads for AMAZING reviews and recommendations. See what other people,like myself, are reading and be filled with jealousy. I love it. 

Next month's book is 'The Glass Room': 


Cool. Balanced. Modern. The precisions of science, the wild variance of lust, the catharsis of confession and the fear of failure - these are things that happen in the Glass Room.
High on a Czechoslovak hill, the Landauer House shines as a wonder of steel and glass and onyx built specially for newlyweds Viktor and Liesel Landauer, a Jew married to a gentile. But the radiant honesty of 1930 that the house, with its unique Glass Room, seems to engender quickly tarnishes as the storm clouds of WW2 gather, and eventually the family must flee, accompanied by Viktor's lover and her child.
But the house's story is far from over, and as it passes from hand to hand, from Czech to Russian, both the best and the worst of the history of Eastern Europe becomes somehow embodied and perhaps emboldened within the beautiful and austere surfaces and planes so carefully designed, until events become full-circle.

I fear it will be boring. I  don't really do books that are set in eras older than the 70s. BUT isn't that the whole point of book group - to explore new reads.  I like dystopian novels, Enid Blyton and Japanese writers.  I am a book snob and not ashamed of it. 

I like Edgar Allan Poe too - Andrew (bro) bought me a bag, print and brooch of his lovely face for Christmas. 


I suffer terribly with epics, tomes and waffle so Edgar's stories are a delight to read. Not too long and just fabulous.  Being a Cat lover I particularly like the story of The Black Cat. I MUST WARN YOU - it is a distressing story but the cat gets revenge.  Do not read if you're easily upset. 

Speaking of cats, I was browsing Flipboard and came across this: 


AMAZING!!! How to make one HERE.

The reversible pillow is quite cute.

Anyone got those fabulous Penguin classics mugs? I have a couple and decided to buy the book to match one of them: 

 
Brilliant.

Anyway, I'm done talking about me.  What are you lot reading and I expect to see you on Good Reads asap.

ta ta!

Sunday 6 January 2013

28 Day Photography Challenge

Well hello there!

I've spent my Sunday afternoon watching the darts on BBC and compiling a 28 day photo challenge list to start on (Friday) February 1st 2013.

Exciting no? The 'LIST' shall appear very soon. Tablet keyboard still winging its way over to me.

Want to join in?

Thursday 3 January 2013

And a really HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Abandoned Santa 

Greetings my fellow beings! I decided to dust down my notevensixmonthsold netbook and write a little entry to keep you ticking over.  Christmas is still happening until 6th January so our decorations are still up. The tree is shedding needles but it just needs to hang on in there for a few more days.

Christmas day itself was delightful - I was totally spoilt and I loved every minute of it. Linda of Hey Homewrecker! MADE ME CAT SHOES!


Are these not amazing. I own bespoke shoes. Something I never thought would be possible.  My Cat Shoes even have whiskers. I look forward to the dry weather returning and wearing my Cat Shoes every day.

4 other pairs of shoes, not unique, also arrived through the door. I spent Christmas Eve in work and figured I'd 'hit the sales'. I got some new brogues - two pairs, one of which I already have, a pair of yellow and black tiger striped trainers and the piece de la resistance, black jelly shoes with.a.heel.  Just call me the forefront of cutting edge fashion.

Christmas in terms of eating and drinking has been remarkable:


I've felt full on numerous occasions. I can't even manage a full bag of Maltesers these days. That's a 'sharing' bag by the way. I went out on the 28th and got so intoxicated I was sick. Suffered terribly for that and remembered why I stay away from alcohol.  Ended up buying a t-shirt and CD, getting a free badge and patch from some bands that were playing. They weren't even that good.

I'm on a mission to get this still as a print - I may have found someone to do it for me. In case you hadn't known already, I am a mega Glen Campbell fan. I don't love him in that way. I just love his songs.

Glen Campbell
I saw this fabulous picture which I am doing to attempt next Thanksgiving even though I'm not American and don't celebrate it:


This is my Mum, in the Sea, on Boxing Day when Penny's ball went out too far for Pen to get.  Mum took her shoes off and waded in in her tights. Mental but Penny was happy. So was I, I was wearing my new Croc Winter Boots and didn't fancy going in. 


THIS...is the greatest painting I saw in 2012. It is of Tina Tantrum, a well-known Belfast drag queen and carried a hefty price tag of £1500. I wanted it so bad but my purse wasn't full enough for it.  I've managed to get hold of the Artist's phone number so going to beg for a print.



And before I leave you to go and dry my hair, I am on the look out for the offender of this. The most annoying thing for someone who doesn't like JAM or MARMALADE at all, let alone in their butter:


My hair is dry and I am now going to go and tackle the book that is Great Expectations. I am also downloading the Fame soundtrack. It's been in my head for two days and I'm hoping that listening to it from start to finish will banish it.

Any resolutions made for the year ahead?


Wednesday 2 January 2013

Happy New Year!

This is the smallest post. I have ordered a keyboard for my nexus and will be back as soon as it arrives.

Hope y'all had a fabulous Christmas and 2012!

Hellloooo 2013.....