Little Things

The OH and I got new dressing gowns and pyjamas while we were down in Glasgow and honestly, such a little thing but  it cheered me up no end. My previous dressing gown was 'well old' as in I think it was bought when we lived at our first address in Leeds which makes it older than Son No 2 by  a few years and he's 27. And the  OH's, which he has clung to like a determined toddler with a 'blanky' was even older, but had Mickey Mouse on it; hence the clinging obviously. 

My sister once said that Orkney was lovely but she couldn't live so far from a Marks and Spencer which at the time I thought was odd, but then at that point I hadn't  lived for several years with the nearest M & S  an 8 hour ferry, or a 90 minute ferry and a 150 minute drive,  away. I have now, and I totally understand what she meant. Our trips to Glasgow now almost invariably include a quick drive out to the Braehead shopping centre where there are a lot of nice shops (Pandora, Hotel Chocolat, although not an Occitane en Provence which I feel is a lack), some not so nice ones, and a large M & S. Other department stores are of course available, but M & S is the one I spend huge amounts of money in when we're there,  because one thing Orkney is not good at is shops for women's clothes.

Anyway we got son no 2 a black suit, which he needed for something I shall doubtless be talking about later, and we both got dressing gowns, which we had gone in for, and new pairs of pyjamas which we hadn't, just because, and I remembered the now funny story of the year we bought my mother a new dressing gown for Christmas.

She was a difficult person to buy presents for so I was thrilled one September to hear her mention how old her dressing gown was; she had bought it in preparation for the birth of my sister and by then said sister was  in her early twenties, so I stored up this little nugget and come Christmas duly bought her a lovely new dressing gown (much much nicer than the dark pink candlewick one she had been wearing for the last two decades). Only to be told that she needed a new dressing gown like she needed a hole in the head. In fairness she and my father had been away for Christmas and it had been a stressful time for several reasons, possibly some of which I don't know about to this day, but I didn't know that at the time and n any case, who says that to someone about a gift they've just been given?

As I say, it's a funny story now, but it hurt like hell at the time. 

Baking Club Box 3

This was orange and almond cake, although the inclusion of almond is a bit misleading because the only almonds to be seen and (almost) tasted were the ones on the top.

Photos

I'm not sure how nice they make it look, but however that may be, it looks a lot nicer than it tastes. 

I'm not saying it's inedible because it's not, but it is quite bland, despite including a syrup made from the juice of four (yes four) oranges and the zest from them all being incorporated as well. The syrup didn't really thicken very much and it also filled the kitchen with that smell of hot orange juice which I dislike so much. 

We also had a minor disaster while I was making the buttercream as most of the kitchen got covered in a thin layer of icing sugar, much to the OH's not-very-stifled annoyance. Robbie the Robot was allowed, grudgingly, to come and get it off the floor, and the two of us saw to the rest. I am not myself convinced that the chair seats, which afer all had been well tucked under the table, needed going over twice with a damp cloth and heavy sighs, but that's what they got from the OH whether they needed it or not.

I would have minded all that less, had the cake been nicer. But there you go.

Glasgow was fab, busy but fab, and I'll write it up very soon. 

The 'Something a Bit Rash'

I mentioned a while ago that I had done something 'a bit rash' that was yarn related and here is part of it

Despite vowing not to join another yarn/knitting club for the foreseeable,  I did. 

How many not-quite-justifications have I got for doing it?

Well it's run by a designer whose work I really love - Ilga Leja. (Let's ignore for now the fact that I already have two of her patterns and the yarn to go with them. One I have never even dared start, and the other was the ill fated two colour brioche scarf that I started last year and that I went wrong on  so many times that I had to give it up in the end - thereby losing me 'Knitting something in Brioche Stitch' for Project 60)

This is about the fifth club she has run since I started following her on Ravelry. I haven't joined any of the others and I got sick of talking myself out of them. 

It's quite small, as in only four patterns and buying the yarn was optional and only for two out of the four. Naturally I opted for buying the yarn because it's easy that way, you know the designer will have put together colours that will look good with the pattern, you know you get the yarn with the right weight, drape etc for the pattern. Also she uses wool by Fleece Artist, a small dyeing company in Nova Scotia (possibly it's larger than I think it is) but they do great yarn anyway, in beautiful colours. The photograph above certainly doesn't do the colours of that wool, particularly the one on the left, any justice at all. 

For those who like to check out such tings the pattern is here - Coveside.

That's it for a wee while now. We're off down to Glasgow tomorrow for a few days; open evening for Son No 2's up-coming-in-September University course, an  opera, a trip to IKEA, lunch with someone from SO, a visit to the shop for big and ugly shoes of the type I now need to wear and I hope we will manage a quick visit to Kelvingrove too. 

Should be good. 

Seen any good telly lately?

Me neither.

I have seen some cheesy stuff and some enjoyable stuff, and some stuff that was adequate and some stuff that seemed to be good but let me down at the last minute. Stuff that should have been good, but wasn't. And then there's been an awful lot of stuff that was just plain bad. 

Quick review? well since you ask ...

I was thrilled to see that Dancing on Ice was returning to our screens after an absence of several years. I never got into Strictly because I loathed Bruce Forsyth so I was never gong to watch it. Since he died I tried a couple of times with the  new presenters but you know, it's so arch. I don't do arch. So I have up on Strictly again, and for good.  But Dancing on Ice had always done it for me, partly because I'm of the generation that stayed up until the early hours to watch Torvill and Dean win their Olympic Gold Medal and partly because I love watching things that show people getting better at things. Hence Masterchef, Bake Off, MKR, etc. But sadly there's something very cheesy about the current series of DoI. Is it the celebrities, many of whom I don't recognise? Is it the lack of a clear structure as the week's roll on; no longer do we have 'this week is celebrities skate without leaning on their partner, next week celebrities spin, week after that they must do a jump', so that there is no way to follow who is mastering which skill when? Is it the performance of 'nasty judge' Jason, and the way the whipped up crowd are constantly encouraged to boo him every time he opens his mouth - and sometimes even before that? Is it the inane conversations that the presenters have with the celebrities just before they skate/just after they have been thrown out? Probably just a combination of all of those things and a few more. I'll stick with this series because I might as well see who wins, but if it returns to our screens next winter I won't be returning to watch it. 

Also a contender for cheese of the week was the second series of Delicious, Sky's original commissioned drama set in a foodie hotel in Cornwall. I watched the first series of this because Iain Glen was in it, and I watched the second one for the same reason. I used to try and kid myself up that Mr Glen took parts like this because either he had an unexpected tax bill or he wanted to earn some good TV money so that he could go and do a worthwhile but non-commercial play at Equity minimum rates in a cold draughty theatre somewhere. Now however I just think his agent rings and says 'I've got you a part' and Glen says 'where do I sign?'. I don't blame him, it's a chancy world, acting, I just think it's a bit sad that a lot of classy actors end up in dross. Is Delicious dross? well maybe that's a bit harsh. Lovely locations, a good cast, and a storyline that twisted and turned were all pluses; some dreary characters and an ending that tried to convince you that everyone's a barsteward just out for themselves were minuses really. If there's a third series, IG or no IG, I'm not watching. 

Enjoyable, although I'm the first to admit that it is also both bonkers and at times stomach churning, is Sky Atlantic's Britannia. With no nod to real historical fact at all, save possibly that Romans and Druids both existed at one time, this is laugh out loud madness - it's not so-bad-its-good because it doesn't have the prerequisite for that of taking itself seriously, it's just a berserk romp, greatly improved by three leads, David Morrissey, Zoe Wanamaker and Julian Rhind-Tutt who are masters of the craft of acting parts with a straight face while simultaneously and subtly sending them up. 

Top of the Pops in the adequate section comes The Arctic Murders; more or less plausible plots and characters that pack a bit of an emotional punch, set against (and this is where the real pull lies) the background of Arctic Sweden. The outdoor shots of this beautiful place are what sets this series apart from other Scandi procedurals. Because of this I overlook the fact that the lead actress apparently cannot close her mouth completely. At all. Ever. Irritating. I was so taken actually by the first few episodes of this that I bought the first book in the series and really enjoyed that too. They're by Asa Larsson in case anyone wants to follow my example. Stumbling some way behind The Arctic Murders  is Vera, which generally manages a credible plot but falls down when it comes to making me care about who did what to whom and why. Also two days later I cannot remember a thing about the episode  I just watched, but it does all tend to flood back, together with a stifling sense of boredom, when I try to watch a repeat. 

Did a TV series with a great premise, a fabulous cast and an intriguing plot full of twists and turns ever let anyone down half  as badly as did Kiri, ITV's recent drama about a murdered child and the social worker whose actions apparently led to the tragedy? If so, I can't bring it to mind. This was well written and well acted with a plot full of twists and turns  which were revealed over several weeks, only for the whole thing to come to such a shuddering halt at the end of the final episode with no resolution of any of the character arcs, that I couldn't quite believe that really was the final episode and looked in vain in the Radio Times to see when another episode might be expected to tie up the loose ends.  I know life doesn't come with in tidy sections tied up with bows, and I honestly don't  expect everything necessarily to be tied up in a TV drama either, but to leave every single character hanging was perverse by any standard. 

Another disappointment was Next of Kin, again an ITV drama with an interesting premise, this time the radicalisation of one member of a Pakistani family long settled in the UK. There were such golden opportunities here for exploring the nuances of identity, religion, patriotism, and loyalty but all were abandoned fairly quickly in favour of cheap thrills and some crash bang wallop plot developments that defied not just belief but sanity. A major mistake was having one of the protagonists married to an upper middle class Brit, Jack Davenport drowning in a thankless part. Presumably the thinking was that if there wasn't a white person  at or neat the centre of the series people wouldn't watch. I don't think that's true but I suspect it is the prevailing wisdom in television land. The hapless Claire Skinner (and I'm a huge fan of hers)  played what must surely be the most inept head of security services ever known, but her service in general was written as being staffed by a multitude of insubordinate oiks who were very very bad at their jobs. The fact that generally in the UK we don't go to bed in fear of being blown up in the night or on our commute the next day must be a signal that the real security services are somewhat better at what they do than those portrayed here. .

And the bad things? Love Lies and Records (I got to the end of episode two before the lack of plot credibility and the general stupidity of the characters drove me away) and Girlfriends ( end of episode one, and that was just because I was busy wondering why people think Kay Mellor is such a wonderful script writer and trying to work it out from the clueless melodrama unfolding before me. Never did find the answer r to that one. 

I'm not writing about  Endeavour because lots and lots of people I know love it and I don't.. My main objection is to the lead actor who I find off putting to the nth degree. . I don't like his voice and I don't llike the hunched way he walks about, but most of all I don't like the period setting. They have it right, I lived through some of tis and remember it , and I find it utterly utterly depressing. It would be unfair of me to critique a program which I dislike for such very personal reasons. I gave the first episode of the new series a go because so many of the people I know were once again praising it to the skies, but it steadfastly refuses to draw me in. If it's your thing, well excellent. Its back and I genuinely hope you're enjoying it.  

Anyway, if the Radio Times is to believed there is still a Feast of  Drama to come in late winter/early spring. Taking his place as the heralding snowdrop of spring is Dougie Henshall returning in Shetland next week. Cue many complaints in the meejer about Scottish and Shetlandic accents, and many many jokes in our house from the OH about The Return of Mr Woodentop. Regular readers will recall that a fan of Dougie Henshall he is not. 

Go Go Gadget!

My sons both loved the annoyingly incompetent Inspector Gadget and his even more irritating, but practical and useful niece Penny; for a while Go Go Gadget was a bit of a catchphrase in the household vocabulary, but those days of having to listen to cartoon inanities (and Inspector Gadget was far from being the worst offender -Thundercats anyone?) are thankfully now long behind me. 

I did fall to wondering recently if someone had been reciting this mantra in the kitchen as two of our appliances seemed to have taken the sentence literally and given up the ghost. The kettle wasn't such a big deal; we have always been heavy on kettles and they're easily replaced. Although on this occasion, the OH, being left to his own devices on this matter while I was at a committee meeting bought 'the red one', neglecting to notice, in his excitement over the colour, that the water gauge is cunningly hidden behind the handle and is therefore about as useless as a paper parasol in a thunderstorm. Since he is incapable of saying 'oops I goofed there' he has spent much time since then assuring me there is no need to see the gauge as you can judge the fullness of the kettle by weight. 

Rather more inconvenient was the death of the dishwasher. I know there are only two of us and I know we don't 'need' a dishwasher (although that is debatable especially around the concept of need) but I have deep dark reasons for finding the dishwasher my favourite household appliance, and although there is no need here to share painful childhood vagaries, believe me there are few things I'd rather do without than the dishwasher. Possibly only the fridge comes higher in my list of things you should have in  a kitchen. (For related reasons I wish someone would invent the self cleaning bathroom, but there you go , still waiting for that one ....) We tried to arrange a repair for the dishwasher because of the environment and ethics and it's just too easy to dump stuff, but a non-guaranteed repair was going to cost only £50 less than a new machine. Given the non-guaranteed nature of the repair ('well it's a blown motherboard, we can fit you a new one, but we don't know that what caused the old one to blow won't do the same thing to the new one'), and the fact that a new machine is likely to be more environmentally friendly than the old one, we opted for a new one and I stopped feeling guilty after about two days. It has not yet arrived so I am doing penance for not being as friendly to the earth as I should be by hand washing dishes. I do not do this with enthusiasm, or good grace, but with a rather pettish resignation and all in all the sooner the new machine arrives the happier I shall be. 

On a more upbeat note, gadget wise, behold,  I give you this! 

Yes that is indeed a robot vacuum cleaner. I have often rather wistfully wished for one of these, but it was in the same league as those central systems that you switch on to suck all the dust out of your house in the twinkling of an eye or ceiling dryers in bathrooms that you stand under after a shower so that you don't have to faff about with towels i.e. desirable but destined to be forever out of reach because really you couldn't justify the expense. However the OH found the above on e-bay recently (no he isn't very busy with work just at present, how did you guess?). It was very very cheap because it was thought to be broken beyond repair and was being sold for parts, but the OH reckoned he knew how to repair it so bought it. I will freely admit that I was doubtful that he could get it working, but oh me of little faith! It took him less than  half an hour and Robbie the Robot now switches himself on, trundles round  the house cleaning the floors and carpets and then takes himself back to his little nest and plugs himself in to recharge. Magic. 

This is not to say that here haven't been teething pproblems with timing ( do you know how disconcerting it is to be woken at 6.30 by a machine suddenly deciding to vacuum your bedroom floor? if not, the answer is, very. Also, no human would vacuum a long narrow hall widthways rather then lengthways, since you then  have to turn round  every 40 seconds. But hey! I'm not doing it which is a plus, he goes under the furniture every time which is a plus, and he doesn't expect brownie points which is a plus. A bit like our cats, while I would never have gone specifically looking for him, I'm awfully glad he's here. 

Foot Note

(did you see what I did there?)

Podiatrist rang on Tuesday to tell me that, lo and behold, she had a pair of insoles my size in stock and I could pick them up from the hospital any time. Was going to go on Wednesday but the weather was truly foul so we waited until yesterday. 

The upside is that they don't seem to 'not suit me' as I quite enjoy the feeling of the arch support. The bad news is that they make my feet slip out of my shoes at the back and because they up-lift my whole foot there's not enough room in my shoe at the toes so that my arthritic big toe is having a good old grumble. 

I assume that all will be well once I have properly fitting shoes, and luckily there is a trip to Glasgow on the horizon - big surprise there! - and someone has recommended to me a place that seems to be a podiatry clinic with an attached shoe shop so that's high on the list of places to visit when we're next down. OK its not Kelvingrove, but what it won't do for my soul, it will do for my feet!