All at Sea - with a bucket and spade!

This was the sight from my back door the other day. I thought it was beautiful. Stunning in fact. Ten minutes later it was raining so hard that the water was boucing back up a few centimetres. It was the day that a month’s rain fell. Whatever day that was. The photo doesn’t quite capture the contrast between the sky and the green of the trees. It made me feel lucky.

This morning I went to church. The worship was one of those times where it starts off with me basically apologising and ends up with God saying something lovely. I am struggling with being a Christian at the moment. No huge spiritual crisis. I’m just knackered. All the time. I can’t be bothered with anything. I feel happy and secure in God. I just feel uneasy that I don’t ever want to pray or read the bible or go to church. During what feels like tiny amounts of time off, I want to sleep. And watch telly. And play mindless puzzle games on the laptop. Which is basically what I’m doing. I don’t think there’s anything majorly wrong. But I do feel like I’m drifting. Anyway, today I dragged myself to church. I took some homework in case the sermon was boring. And during the worship, I talked to God. One of the guys playing a musical instrument had a t-shirt on with a logo something like this. I thought that kind of summed up how I feel as a Christian right now. Falling. To cut a long story short, a passage from the bible came to mind “The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms” and I remembered I’m not falling anywhere. I’m being held. It was a warm, cozy, secure few minutes. I remembered that I don’t hold it all together. I forget that sometimes. I start thinking that my own good behaviour, reading the bible and praying in some way protects me. And makes me a better Christian. And more of a worthwhile person. Which it doesn’t at all. Not saying it’s great or anything that I’m too knackered to care. It’s just not a life or death issue. In the big scheme of things, it’s really quite a minor problem that I’m sure will get sorted out in good time.

The sermon wasn’t boring by the way. In fact it was very very interesting. And freeing. And kind of fitted with my experience during the worship.

I am this very moment going to do a small amount of exercise followed by a bath or shower followed by a short television programme followed by bed. I have five shifts over the next seven days, each 12 and a half hours long. 5.30am alarm. 7am start. 7.30pm finish. 8pm home. 10pm bed. It’s gonna flippin kill me. Really it is. But in ten days time I have 4 days off in a row. Me and Emma and Leah are going to Bo Peep for the weekend. We’ve been before. In fact, we’ve been twice. I can’t wait.

I also blogged here today.

Well, what can I say? Doctor Who was fantastic! [The pic above is watching confidential afterwards. During Doctor who, there was no talking going on whatsoever].

I didn’t for one minute think there would be a new Doctor. And I knew it was something to do with the hand. So no surprise there. The twist of the Timelord/human metacrisis was just perfect. That was a surprise. Part human Doctor! Part Timelord Donna. Amazing. And Rose got her man. Kind of. I loved it all. The whole 65 minutes. The end was a bit of a heartbreaker though. Poor Donna. Sad, slightly pathetic, Donna. Maybe with lots of positive praise from her family and evidence that they believe in her, life won’t go back to what it was. And Martha Jones. Fab.

Catherine Tate was brilliant throughout the series. I thought she was great anyway. I’ve always found her really funny. But I like her even more. She should be proud. And so many fab stories. Silence in the Library (and the second part) was my favourite. The girl was played by a brilliant little actress. It reminded me of the girl in the fireplace from the last series. Another brilliant little actress. Another fantastic story with loads of amazing detail. I also thought Turn Left was amazing. The lady who was trying to trick her was cool. She really did seem evil.

Lorraine watched it with us. And Jeanette and Ian. Well Ian. Jeanette took the opportunity to nick the laptop for an hour. She’s never really caught the Doctor Who bug. And Leah. Leah watched it with us too. She’s been a dedicated fan since the David Tennant era began. It has cost her the occasional night sleep. Bless her. But she loves it. I like watching with other fans. It’s so much more fun.

The daleks were great. I loved the way Davros laughed. And Dalek Kahn had me in stitches. Who’d have thought he was fighting on the doctor’s side?

Leah stayed the night. It was lovely having her around this weekend. She’s such a lovely girl. And she’s funny. Because we watched Doctor who again before bed, she didn’t really want to sleep on her own. I didn’t particularly want her to either. Partly because she’d keep waking me up if she was scared. And partly because she all warm when she’s asleep. Better than a hot water bottle. Better than two hot water bottles.

I don’t know what the highlight of my weekend will be now. Saturday nights just won’t be the same.

Bess has chosen a mate. Colin it is. Emma’s going to pick them up tomorrow after work. I’m so excited. But it does make me feel a pang of grief for Oscar. Colin’s arrival reinforces the loss of Oscar. But Colin is supposedly very lovely. He likes a fuss. Which is a good job because he needs to be groomed every day being a long-haired bunny. He thinks he’s being fussed when he’s being brushed so he’s quite happy. He’s old but we don’t know how old. I hope he lives a long time. I’d hate to think Bess needed to find a new mate again anytime soon. Pictures will follow soon.

Aunty Sue bought me a bunny rabbit cookie cutter. Today I made my first batch. Having made so many muffins lately, I automatically put the oven on gas mark 7. It should’ve been gas mark 5. Actually, they weren’t that bad. Slightly burnt at the bottom, but tasty. Especially because they were still warm.

I put the cookies in the oven in two lots. The second lot went in at the right temperature. Lots better. I made a round one for Emma because she likes things just so, you know. Me and Leah had a little play with the icing pens. I think the mixture’s about 75p from Asda. Just got to add a bit of butter or margerine and a couple of tablespoons of water. I got an oaty mix as well. For another day.

I was also assertive with the bank today. I got a letter the other day telling me there was a problem with my account. I bought something online last week which went over my overdraft by £1.08. The letter said I had to go into the bank and credit my account to get me out of the red and informed me there would be a charge. The letter neglected to say what the charge would be. I went in the bank with a few quid to deposit, hopefully covering the fee and leaving money in the account. I nearly fell over when they told me the charges were £38. And if I didn’t pay £31 of it today, my account would be in the red tomorrow, a new month, and another charge of £28 would be added. I was cross and upset. I didn’t put the money in but asked to speak to the manager. The manager was busy. I was promised that I would receive a call me before the end of the day. I wasn’t going to let it drop. £38 and another £28 all for £1.08. I’ve been with them 4 years and never had any charges incurred. I’m a student on a low bursary. I was really annoyed.

Anyway, the manager said they weren’t allowed to refund the fee unless there was a bank error but they did give me another number to call. They were actually pretty supportive. They told me the number was for the complaints department and that I should explain the situation and my current circumstances fully and tell them that I believe it is unlawful to charge such an extortionate fee for the sake of £1. I got through to one person who was very unsympathetic. I was basically getting nowhere. Thankfully my phone died. I redialled and got someone human. She (the lovely Dawn Barson apparently) refunded my account without any problem. I did head over to the cash point this evening and credit the account so there shouldn’t be any hassle. Phew.

From no purple shoes to six purple shoes in less than two weeks. White pumps from primark dyed purple. Blogged here. Purple DM shoes from ebay. £7.50 plus a fiver postage. Arrived yesterday. Very good condition. Very happy with them. And some flats from New Look. Spotted when I was out shopping with my lovely sister yesterday. Reduced to £7. How could I resist?

 I also bought these a few days ago. Reduced to £20. They are lovely. But they aren’t purple. And these about three weeks ago. Only £5. Also very lovely. Also not purple. I think it’s time to stop buying shoes now. Even bargain shoes.

 This Crazy Cat Lady set amused me greatly. At the moment I have three cats, well me and Emma do. But I could well envisage being this lady when I’m old. I’ll be screaching about who will look after my cats as they drag me away from my smelly house to receive well-needed medical care probably neverto return. I hate that my life may end that well. But I suspect it just might. Although Emma is almost seven years younger than me so it may actually be her it happens to and not me. Funny toy anyway. I didn’t actually want the pastic crockery. I do want some. For the caravan. But not with that particular design. There have been better designs.

I really didn’t want the hair clips and bobbles. But I loved the ice cream dessert ones. If Leah was younger, I’d have bought them for her. But she’s nine now, almost ten. You can get away with hello kitty and snoopy. But not so much with pink and babyish. Ideally, it would be Hannah Montana (spelling?) or High School Musical. She is also a bit partial to the whole skull and crossbone thing. The weeing boy was funny. I saw them later in Hawkins Bazaar for a bit less dosh. The box amused me. I did want one and I almost bought one. I’ll probably buy one as a present at some point.

I’ve got a thing for boxes and tins. I’ve got loads. I have to be selective nowadays because I’m running out of room. And quite a few of the ones I have are empty. I just liked the design of this one, the lift up attached lid and the ribbon tie I mean. I’m not so keen on russian dolls though. Don’t ask me why. They just unnerve me a bit. Not loads. And not when they don’t belong to me. So I didn’t buy it. The personal organiser is the same as mine, but different. It’s a very good design. It’s compatible with the filofax brand. I bought a filofax hole punch off ebay and made pages to suit my own organisational needs! I also punched some humerous pictures to make me smile as I flick through.

There were loads of other things I like but didn’t buy. I just didn’t take pictures of them. I just love the shop and basically want it all.

Friday May 30th, seven whole days after my 36th birthday. There were a couple of reasons why I postponed celebrations. For one, my head wasn’t in it. Last term was really stressful. Not just for me, for quite a few people. Exams were the day before my birthday and assignment hand-in was actually on my birthday. My head wasn’t okay really and I knew it would take at least a few days to settle. Secondly, Enisa, who I share birthdays with, was 18 this year. It was nice to do a party just for her. But my unbirthday was worth the wait. Emma took the day off (which was brilliant) and brought me a present in bed. Little Miss Sunshine underwear set. I have a thing about underwear sets. I’ve got loads. I can’t afford them anymore, what with being a stooodent and all. The back of the pants are fab. There was a bag of haribo jellies in there aswell. We ate them between us. Little Miss Sunshine ate some too.

Downstairs I had a strong coffee in my Tim Horton’s travel mug that cousin Linda bought me from Canada. Tim Horton’s is a bit like Starbucks. Apparently if I go to Canada before the end of 2010, I get my travel mug filled for free at any Tim Horton’s outlet. I’ve kept the voucher. It’s unlikely. But you never know. Anyway, my coffee stayed warm. And that’s what counts. Linda also bought me a lovely handmade card which I shall keep. I got one hundred moneys in my cards. I never get that much money in cards. Nowhere near. I haven’t actually seen that much money for about 9 months. I was very very chuffed. Really really chuffed. More chuffed than that even. (I will also be keeping this beautiful card, handmade by lovely Leah).

I opened half of my prezzies in the morning, including this from Lindsey Barry and this from Emma Walker. I love them both. Probably for very similar reasons. After reading my new book and playing with David for a while, Emma gave me her card, a folded piece of paper with nice loving words from her bic biro. On the other side was a centre map of Westfield shopping centre in Derby. This was rather exciting. A paperchase store, loads of food and coffee outlets, sweet shops, new look, top shop and loads more. And 10,000 pennies. Good job I was all dressed and ready to go.

I bought rather a lot at Paperchase. £35 worth of a lot. I’ll blog that stuff later. Far too important to just gloss over. I was in there for ages. I actually thought I might never get out. But I did. And we went in search of food. Eating with Emma anywhere other than home isn’t easy. We eat very different foods. Her favourites just don’t excite me at all. And vice versa. Westfield has one of those food halls with various outlets around the edge and seats all together in the centre. Perfect. I was torn between Yangtze thai noodle bar and Yangtze chinese buffet. Both were similar in that you fill a box of a certain size for a set price. £4.20 for a combination of three dishes. £4.80 for a combination of four dishes and £5.20 for (a slightly bigger box) filled with basically whatever takes your fancy. Guess which one I went for? Egg fried rice, special fried rice with goodness knows what in it, singapore noodles, sweet and sour chicken (without the sweet and sour), beef and mushrooms, a fantastic breaded chicken dish, crispy shredded beef (which I’ve never had before but will definately be having again), crispy won tons, mini spring rolls, barbecue ribs, pork balls, deep fried squid and chicken wings. I declined prawn crackers on account that I didn’t want to appear greedy.

Emma purchased and consumed a cheesburger from Hamburger Union. It was cooked fresh. Looked nice enough. I didn’t manage to finish mine. Well, I didn’t try. Being very generous, Yangtze put 2 or 3 of everything dry in the box, and a large portion of everything wet (or ‘bitty’ like rice). I made sure I ate one of each dry thing and some of everything wet or bitty. Emma ate some of the chicken balls and one of my ribs. I had diet coke and coffee with my meal. Emma was very kind and generous. For pudding, I got a small pick and mix from The Nut Hut. I chose four pieces of turkish delight, one covered in pistachio nuts, and a slice of crystallised pineapple. It was all rather yummy. Emma got a cookie from Millie’s Cookie’s.

There are loads of outlets at Westfield, I think the website says there are over 175. Obviously, I didn’t go to all of them. Emma wouldn’t let me. But I did like Parchment. A gift shop. I took a photo off the coolest card ever. Unfortunately I accidently deleted it. It was a big piece of battenburg cake with a hollowed out doorway and window, and a couple of action figures (men dressed in pink), coming out of it. It was fab. I want one for my wall. I don’t know why I didn’t buy one while I had the opportunity? I also saw the best wrapping paper ever, a retro toddler trying out his first pair of roller skates. After lots more shops, Emma had a last coffee and cookie at Starbucks while I whizzed round New Look. I bought a little plastic ring. Exactly the same as another plastic ring I already own. But in a different colour.

The journey home was fraught with fun. Although the M1 was completely closed due to a nasty accident and we stood completely still for about an hour, David amused us immensely. He is far funnier that he leads us to believe on his TV show. First, he stuck two stickers on his chest to illustrate the fact that he has two hearts. I personally think he was just being smug. Then he posed on the dashboard with his eleven rabbits, one of which is a gigantic alien rabbit from the planet Zarg. Another is shocking pink with sparky ears and a glittery heart on it’s tummy. Very pretty but actually the result of a tragic accident which left him with neither home nor family. He tries to look on the bright side and always wears a smile. Seven are clones, created in the future, who cannot survive earth’s atmosphere. They live in a special chamber suited exactly to their respiratory needs. They’re surprisingly cheerful little creatures. The last two are simply rabbits. Earth rabbits. Snowflake and Snowdrop. Who knew Mr Tennat was a rabbit man? I like him even more now.

He also has a scary cat called Scratchy. Which unnerved me slightly, if I’m honest. Finally, after fighting off a giant duck and gazing up at a rainbow for a while, he climbed into his sleeping bag (the bag from Emma’s first cookie of the day) and slept. We were all very tired so I didn’t blame him really.

More presents. Including melt-in-your-mouth Lindor Chocolates from Emma. There were four in the box. Two for Emma. And two for me. None for David. But he did get to make a fort out of the box. Eventually I got to the last prezzie. Another underwear set. Started and ended the day with underwear sets. Can’t go far wrong with that. Good old Emma. Good old Asda.

I really did have a brilliant day, if anybody’s still reading this far. I took sooo many pictures. The rest are here. Thanks for my prezzies and moneys and love and good wishes. I appreciated it all a lot. I would seriously recommend anybody putting off their birthday to another day. Unbirthdays are way more fun

I have a lot of things from my favourite shop - paperchase. A very lot. I’ve uploaded photos to a flickr album. I’ve got a few pics to add. Well, somebody else on Flickr who goes by the name Laura and I’m guessing was born in 1977, saw my photographs and was interested in how come I have so much. Turns out she works for paperchase! She’s obviously a very nice lady because today she sent me the pile of stuff in the top photo. And a little monstarz magnet which refused to be photographed. There was a hand-written postcard too. Little does she know just how much I really could do with something so nice. In the midst of all the studying and such and so. I love the black and white cat card. It’s just like Moses. And the pink reindeer stickers are fab.

And some time ago, I decorated an index card box with stickers, mostly paperchase incidentally, but I didn’t know what to stick on the top. Well, I stuck one of lovely Laura’s stickers on. It says ’study time’. Perfectly apt for one with exams and an essay deadline next week. Anyway, thank you Laura 77. You are lovely. Like hearts <3 <3 <3

It’s my birthday in 7 days and I’m getting some paperchase vouchers. I was gonna go and spend some money there anyway but now I’ll have even more spends! Can’t wait. I’m also going to Hatton Countryworld. I love it there too. Especially Emily’s cottage. We’re also going to pizza Hut. I think I feel a chocolate cookie dough dessert coming on. For now, time for sleeps!

As you can see I worked on my assignment all day long.

I didn’t walk round the house taking random photographs of things I own. That would be a very silly thing to do when you’re half way through a module and haven’t started on the assignment. Especially if you spent about four hours doing it. That would just be idiotic.

I am very very excited. A day and a half to go. Mr Tennant will be back in my life for a number of weeks. My Saturday evenings will be joyous affairs once again. And Catherine Tate back as Donna. It’s just all too much

I’ve been looking at the official site. Worth a look. Series trailer here. I must remember to get the pick ‘n’ mix in. And a bottle of coke or something. The Poole’s are away for the first episode. It won’t be the same. Usually we all pile into one living room and no-one’s allowed to talk. Well, I’m sure they’ll be having almost as good a time in Prague!

Roll on Saturday

Added: 

Ha ha ha. I’ve just had another look at the official site. There’s a clip of the first episode here. You’ve got to watch it. It’s really funny. Jeanette came round this morning. They aren’t in Prague this weekend at all. That’s another weekend. They’re planning Prague with the friends they’re travelling with. D’oh!

For mum’s birthday, three weeks ago, we had a lovely meal together, me and em, the pooles, the Burnetts, and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. Last week we did the second bit of her birthday celebrating. We went to see ‘One night in November’ at the Belgrade.

Bob and Enid, Sue and Baz, The Burnetts, The Pooles (minus child), Me and Emma, and obviously Babs aka Mum. We met in the foyer. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew it wouldn’t be happy cheery stuff, being about the Coventry blitz during the second world war and all. And I had been warned it was very very loud. I felt slightly nervous when I spotted the St. John’s ambulance on the back row. I suspect this was because a lot of the audience were older adults with increased risk of heart disease and other life-threatenening conditions coupled with the fact that parts of the play were very loud. I was beginning to think I may have underestimated the loud.

I had. It was ear-piercing. The story was interesting but the play was slow to get going and very bitty for the first hour. But it got better and it drew you in once the intelligence started to realise that Coventry may be at risk of severe attack and that civilians wouldn’t be spared as with previous concentrated attacks. Whether or not Coventry was sacrificed for the greater good was raised as an issue but not answered either way. As a Coventrarian, I’m glad I saw it. It gave me a glimpse of what people experienced during that night. I knew it was terrifying. I knew it was loud. I knew it was devestating. I knew people experienced great loss. But the play really did take you closer to grasping the scale of all of those things.

I would recommend it, especially if you were born in Coventry or plan to make Coventry part of your roots. But it’s not for the faint-hearted. And the first bit, in my humble opinion, is boring.

Afterwards, we went to Brewers Fayre at Cross Point. Jeanette and Ian grabbed Leah on the way. The food was lovely. BUT half the dishes on the menu weren’t available so we were all getting stressed with each other as people had to go back to the menu and re-order. Emma had posh sausage and mash. They ran out of brandy. The service wasn’t brill either. But it was okay in the end. And my mum enjoyed it which was the main point Leah stayed the night afterwards. She had fun painting in the morning. Blogged here.