Words of wonderment and a water update

Well, I thought last week was bad. I've been off baddy sick this week with what I thought was a virus, but was actually an infection so am feeling very sorry for myself!

I have spent the week reading, sleeping and watching crap TV. I have watched a lot of old sitcoms on Gold and have just watched a Carry On film, but I draw the line at anything with Noel Edwards. He's been out of favour with me since he stopped doing Noel's House Party. Although I am now watching Wedi 7, just because there is nothing else on and I can't be arsed to get up and put a DVD on (or make my lunch to be honest). Although I have just rediscovered the Welsh word for forward slash - blaen sleis. It always makes me giggle. Perhaps you have to be here though.

I have a couple of book reviews to publish, once I've had my lunch and Bruce stops trying to attack my Um Bongo (for vitamin C to make me feel better, although the antibiotics might do a better job).

One thing I have been thinking about from my sick bed (apart from how fed up I am!) is how many words there are out there that frankly don't get enough use in this day and age.

Canoodling being one. The words you hear being used these days are so much more vulgar and less innocent.

Hoot, as in he is a complete hoot. Noone uses hoot enough for my liking. I try to bring it back into conversation but it usually results in someone taking the piss out of me.

Kerfuffle. Why is this not used more? There are all sorts of kerfuffles happening these days. Like those riots last year where loads of kids broke into sports shops to get new daps. They caused a bit of a kerfuffle.

Wondorous. What wondorous weather we are having this fine day. What a fine and wondorous cover is upon that book. A fine and wondorous word indeed.

These are just a few of the underused words I can think of. Maybe we should just start using the less used words more rather than adding new ones to the dictionary. Maybe that would save the country some money on printing new dictionarys and signs. Maybe I will put this idea forward.

Anyway, I went off on a bit of a tangent there. I think it might be the cold getting to me. You might remember my water related issues of last week. Well they were solved when we found that the stop cock (yes I said it!) that was under our sink only seemed like it wasn't working for one reason. It was the wrong effing one!!! We have found that we have two stop cocks, one for the outside tap and one for the water supply to the house. So the reason the water wasn't going off when the "plumber" (who might as well have shouted yee-hah and rode off into the sunset on the back of his trusty steed) was turning the stopcock was that it was the wrong bloody one!! And the stupid twonk (another good word) didn't even think of testing it!!!

So, since this enlightening discovery of the correct stop cock which wasn't fully open, hence the pressure issues, we have had no heating. We have water, and indeed hot water, but no heating. And the bloody boiler is leaking. And our normal plumber is on holiday until Monday. So I have been half freezing to death, as well as suffering with my illness (noone can call me a drama queen) with only a convector heater and a grumpy cat to keep me warm.

But on the plus side I have read loads and am on the mend! Yay!! Anyway, enough of my ramblings (for now!) I am off to make some lunch and watch either Dudley ar Daith (the Welsh Gordon Ramsay, but with less effing and jeffing) or I might put a dvd on and carry on reading Rob Brydon's autobiography!!

Lazing on a saturday afternoon

I have had a nightmare of a week this week. Work has been really stressful and I've had to work some long hours and I started off the week being ill, so it hasn't been great.

I have decided that today is the day of me and am not going to do the housework I should be doing, but instead I am going to make the most of my Saturday football widow time and do things that I want to do!

So far I have spent some time over on Goodreads, catching up with discussions and book reviews. I also had a nice lunch and a cup of tea and read the latest story of a certain Welsh sportsman who can't keep it in his pants!

My plan for the rest of the afternoon is to cwtch up on the sofa with Bruce and a duvet as it's freezing and watch a DVD and read some of my book.

A friend of mine in work has lent me the DVD of The King's Speech so I am going to watch this. Steve won't want to watch it as it has no guns in it and isn't a comedy so I'm going to make the most of this opportunity! I also have an episode of Midsomer to catch up on as I was too tired to watch it when it was on the TV on Wednesday, so I need to fit that in at some point this weekend too.

I hope you all have a great weekend and take this opportunity to be lazy and have a rest if you need to like me!

Book Review: My Life: A Coach Trip Adventure

I love watching Coach Trip (You may remember my love of crap TV). Not just for the nutters, but mainly for Brendan. I love him. He's so funny and seems like a down to earth nice guy.When I found out he had a book out, I knew I had to read it and luckily, Father Christmas brought it for me!

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fans of Coach Trip and also those who enjoy reading about other peoples' travels.

I found the first third a little slow. This section focussed on Brendan's childhood and his faith and I found it a little hard going. After this it picked up and I really enjoyed reading about his adventures.

I really liked the style of writing as it was easy to read and I felt like I could hear Brendan's voice in my mind when I was reading it.

As a warning, about three quarters of the way through you need to keep the tissues handy! Brendan is a lovely person who has led an amazing life and worked hard for it. Well worth a read.

Tales of Christmas and the days that followed

I may be a little bit late but have some pictures from Christmas to share and tales of what we did!

On Christmas Eve Father Christmas paid a special visit to Cardiff to drop off all of our presents and even fill a little cat sized stocking for Bruce.

We then had a special Christmas eve dinner of hot dogs and watched lots of Only Fools and Horses!

Christmas Day is always a bit of a mad rush for us as we open our presents in our house in the morning and then go to my mum's for lunch in Cardiff and then up to visit my other half's family in Aberdare.

This is what Father Christmas bought me to read and watch.

Father Christmas also brought me Bridesmaids on DVD, the obligatory Beano and Dandy annuals and Brendan Sheerin's autobiography (which I am currently reading!).

We had a hearty breakfast of bacon sandwiches and then set off on our journeys laden down with presents. It was just Steve, my mum and I for Christmas dinner this year as my nanna wasn't very well and mum cooked us a big turkey dinner. The downside to this was that I don't like roast turkey, so I had mainly a vegetable and gravy based dinner to get over this one! It was the first time that mum had bought turkey for about 15 years as dad didn't like it either, so I couldn't really complain!

After pudding we started making the long journey up the A470 to Aberdare via Hirwaun. We spent some time with Steve's parents (his dad had drunk a few too many in the traditional morning pub visit in the village so was particularly chatty and pretty funny too!). We then went down to Steve's grans. When we arrived, his aunty and uncle decided we hadn't quite travelled enough that day and that we should all decamp to their house! By this point we were pretty tired so stayed just long enough to be polite and then I had the pleasure of the long, drizzly and dark drive back down!

We got back in our house about 8pm and I don't know what Bruce had been doing all day as this was how he ended up after about half hour of us being home!

This picture is a little bit like where's Brucie as we hadn't had time to tidy up our presents and quite frankly by the time we got home couldn't be bothered!

We had our more relaxed Christmas Day at home on Boxing Day. I cooked us a big chicken dinner (I like roast chicken and so do Steve and Bruce!) and we had a toffee pudding for afters.

We then watched one of Steve's action films from Santa and I read my book. We had a few drinks though the day and it was really relaxed and lovely. And I didn't have to leave the house apart from to take the bins out!!!

On Tuesday I defected to the dark side. I bought a Kindle with my Christmas money. Some of you may have read my post about e-books and be a bit shocked at this or think I'm going back on my word, but hear me out. I have recently got back into reading and after reading some of my friends reviews on Goodreads felt I was missing out on the big world of free books and cheap e-books. Also, as the money was a gift, it wasn't my money so was the perfect opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. (This is my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).

Things didn't go as well as planned from here. I went to my local large electrical superstore and bought a Kindle there so I could have it straight away and my experience started badly as the shop assistants weren't interested in me. As I was only spending £89 on an e-reader and not £3billiion on a 70ft LED 3D television, it took me ages to ask a few questions and then got greeted by them trying to sell me a Kindle cover for £40. No thank you!

I eventually got out of the shop with my purchase in hand (I had forgotten my bag for life and wasn't going to pay 5p for a bag when I have a large reserve of them under my stairs!).

I got home and unpacked the Kindle (frustration free packaging, my ar*e!) it took both of us around 45 minutes to switch the thing on! I thought there was something fishy with this, but put it down to me being technologically inept. When Steve eventually got it working, I was so pleased (after wanting to throw it through the window!) but my joy was short lived. About 5 minutes later the device froze! This carried on happening until it decided to not let me reset it anymore and Kindle sadly died.

I returned to said large electrical superstore chain yesterday morning and informed them that the device was broken and that I would require a new one. To my surprise, they were obliging and friendly (this came as a shock to me!). I checked it before leaving the store just in case and, hurrah, it turned on within seconds! I wasn't as technologically inept as I thought! This was yesterday morning and it's still working so it's going well!

I am enjoying the (free and cheap) e-book experience and have also downloaded an electronic version of one of my self help books so I can read it on the go without anyone knowing. I promise to stay faithful to hard copy print though and still love the feel of real books and would love to have a library in my house one day. For now, I'm just aiming for a comfy armchair in my study though (there are two bookcases and a desk in there so nearly a library!) and am planning to buy one this year IF I get my promotion on a permanent basis.

So this is what I am doing today.

This is what I will be watching.

And this is what I am wearing.

Baby it's cold outside

Brrrr it's a cold one today! My plan for the day is to stay indoors, watch TV and read! Here is my reading pile for the day:

I obviously don't expect to get through all of it, but I have a good selection to keep me happy!

I have this weeks celebrity magazines, including the Christmas bumper edition of Heat (eek!), a few self help books which I am reading a bit of now and again, the Agatha Raisin book I am currently reading and a Marian Keyes book which I intend to read next! So quite a selection.

I have decided that there is nothing to be ashamed of with my self help books, and will add them to my "read" list on Goodreads when I finish them, although I won't add them as "currently reading".

I am also having a bit of a rest from reading the Dovekeepers as I am finding it quite hardgoing. I have been enjoying it, I am just finding it quite hard to follow. I may read a bit now and again and read it over a long period, or just put it to one side and try it another time. I have had to do this with a few books which are now my favourites. I suppose that's just the way it goes sometimes!

Crafty crafting

This afternoon I watched Kirstie's Handmade Britain for the first time. It has been on Channel 4 on a Wednesday night for the last few weeks but I haven't managed to catch an episode until now.

It is hosted by Kirstie Allsopp and shows all sorts of different crafts and she then enters competitions with what she has made. It has really inspired me to be more crafty and make things as this is something I enjoy doing and it really gives me a sense of achievement to see the finished product. I have recently posted a few times about the christmas cards I have made but am considering trying some other things.

I like baking so am going to try and do more of it. I am also tempted by things like jam and chutney making.

I am also quite tempted by some sort of needlecraft project as this could be something that I could undertake over a long period and would hopefully be very proud of what I made.

Any suggestions gratefully received!!

Crap tv

I've always been partial to a bit of crap tv. I will literally watch anything about people, history, cats, monkeys and just random stuff. I have found that my penchant for crap tv has got worse since I've had to take some time off work, and have shocked myself that I have enjoyed it and don't mind who knows!!

I've always watched reality tv such as big brother and I'm a celeb (new series tonight woohoo!). And am a massive fan of come dine with me, coach trip and three in a bed. I also have a soft spot for don't tell the bride, young apprentice, young, dumb and living off mum.... the list is endless.

Since being off work I have started watching something I never thought I would...the only way is essex. I'm quite enjoying it and even have my favourite people and the ones I hate. I also sit shaking my head at the stupidity of them (for example, did you know that the moon and the sun are actually two different planets?) but still watch it! I've tried watching made in chelsea but I hated it. I think I'll stick to towie as my guilty pleasure!

I've also discovered a new programme called sorority girls on E4. I find it fascinating that there are girls like this in America who are so involved in their sorority and that it's a bit like a religion. Episode 2 is on next tuesday so I'm looking forward to that.

I hope all this crap tv isn't ruining my braincells and that intelligent people can watch reality tv too!

Book Review: An Idiot Abroad

I've just finished reading Karl Pilkington's travel diaries from when he visited the Seven Wonders of the World. I can't remember the last time I read a book as funny as this and loved it from beginning to end! I managed to read it all in one day. I hope a similar book is released for series 2!

I've also managed to find the whole of series 1 on the catch up thingy on my tv as I didn't have Sky when it was first shown. So I've been watching a lot of Karl Pilkington! He reminds me of a cross between myself and my boyfriend's best friend. I find him really endearing and he has a similar mindset to me (which is a bit worrying!)

Books, Dvds and Wishlists

I've spent a lot of the last week or so reading, watching DVDs and making my Amazon wishlist even bigger than it was!

I'm currently reading The Crimson Petal and The White by Michel Faber. It was recently made into a BBC series which was really good and I decided to give the book a go. Its an 850 page tome with fairly small font which makes it a luttle harder to read than an average novel but is really moreish and really well written.

I'm about a third of the way through, but I already know I want to read more of Michel Faber's books. I love discovering new authors, particularly when they write so well. I felt the same last year when I discovered Sarah Waters' work. It is so easy to read and yet so compelling, I had to buy the collection! My favourite book is her latest release, The Little Stranger. I literally could not put it down! I've really enjoyed all her other books and have found that Fingersmith has been made into a drama. This is on my Amazon wishlist as I really want to see how it was adapted.

My favourite adaptation of a book for TV is White Teeth by Zadie Smith. This is one of my favourite books, discovered when I watched it on Channel 4 a good few years ago.I've read the book loads of times over the last 8 years and recently rediscovered the series on 4od. I haven't seen anything new from Zadie since On Beauty. I hope she continues to write.

I have also spent a lot of time watching an American TV series which my friend has leant me on DVD. Its called Fringe and I was a little sceptical when I first started watching it. I am now hooked and have it on my wish list as I want to watch them all!!!

My favourite character is Professor Bishop (The guy in the middle in the picture). He is brilliantly cast and has a definite mad professor feel to him but is also really likeable. His son is played by Joshua Jackson which is nice.

I'm a football widow at the moment so gonna do a bit of online window shopping for random stuff. Then I might read some more of my book. That all depends on how much lager I drink though!! Haha.