Musings - Getting bolder...

Our little Miss is starting to be a little braver and join in the fun.


And bouncy castles... What could be more fun than that? :) xx


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Musings - Bangs and sparkles...

Even though I don't understand why we celebrate Bonfire Night I still find myself stood around the burning pile of wood with icy feet and a million layers if clothing.


At least this year we had entertainment in the form of a fantastic band from Leeds, 'City of Lights'.


And I was able to have some lovely soup instead of a greasy burger.


Overall we had a good night and Katharine loved the fireworks even if she hated wearing her hat. :) xx


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Photo - Pumpkin practice...

My offerings for Halloween...





A natural talent I think. :) xx


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Musings - Mama Kat's Workshop (18th October 2012)

This week www.mamakatslosinit.com has asked us to finish this statement:



Someday I am going to…

Now I remember saying that when I was a little girl…‘Someday’. The term always held such possibilities; as if saying the word out loud was casting a wish.

Picture it… Someone, somewhere in the wish granting world sat watching a giant cinema screen of life when suddenly alarms rage and lights flash as ‘someday’ is spoken with that raised inflection that hints at the naïve enthusiasm of optimism.

Now wipe that picture from your mind… no one is watching! Sigh. How do you know this for sure, you ask? Let me list a few of my somedays…
Someday I am going to (remember I rarely take anything seriously)…
· Marry Ethan Hawke as he was in White Fang
· Be a teacher or at least have something to teach
· Get myself a non-Yorkshire accent
· Travel to the USA in the hunt of giant pancakes
· Write a movie / book / play / anything!
· Time travel and tell Jane Austen to give old Darcy a back bone
· Be rich and famous(ish)
· Be sought for my opinion
· Win a movie trivia competition
· Have longer legs
· Live in a big house with pillars and a circle drive
· Be desirable (not just for the longer legs)
· Mend my broken heart
· Speak several different languages
· Have the (metaphorical) balls to go after and get what I want!

And so on and so forth. Now I could list the somedays that did get granted but then I would have to start this post all over again. And I am strapped for time… mostly due to having work to do and a house to run because Ethan chose someone else and I still haven’t gotten over it ha ha.

But I admit I did get my family and my Katharine and I am moderately intelligent with a side of hilarity.

But someday… I promise you… SOMEDAY I AM GOING TO catch hold of my dream, whatever I decide it to be, and dream it. Out loud. :) xx



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Musings - Clearing out...

I need to do a spring clean.
I know its half way through October but an Autumn clean just doesn’t have that same enthusiastic ring to it.
I have boxes full of items that need to be passed on. Things that still have a great deal of usefulness to them… just not necessarily useful to me.

Books, baby clothes, baby toys, my clothes, DVDs, winter coats, shoes… I could go on but I am starting to scare myself.

The extradition of my horde comes with questions:
Where to start?
When to put sentimentality to one side?
Where to send the stuff?
Will I just fill the empty spaces with more things that in a few years time I will be wanting to be rid of?
Where do I put the kid and the dog while I am sorting?



Again I could go on but I am scaring myself further.
I think the main issue is that I am fed up of living in a jumble sale and shamefully becoming oblivious to said jumble. And Christmas is fast approaching which ultimately comes with a new set of mess to home.

I guess if flowers can still be starting to bloom in the Halloween month I will just have to take advantage of the muddled seasons and get my sort on. Ebay, here I come. :) xx


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Photo - My little Supergirl...

It's the devilment in her eyes I love...


:) xx


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Poem - Age creeps...

Agitation at a fading dawn, dreams seemingly delayed; forever,
Gone is time in wisdom’s wake; life’s creases dominant, displayed,
Eventually youth surrenders, generations replace; full, another moon,
… Experiences now memories.


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Holiday - Day 7: Warkworth Castle and Oreo Ice Cream

As the sun decided to keep shining today we headed off for a little English Heritage. Northumberland is littered with Castles and so we thought for the last day what would be better than to walk the ruins.

We bypassed Alnwick for Warkworth Castle. The original home of the Percy family who debunked to Alnwick in their later generations.


Even though a lot of this castle is made up of crumbled walls and greener than green grassy areas you could still get a feel of what it would have been like to ride up to the gates on your stead and wait to be permitted entrance. The tower and the architecture in general took you back, made you long for the pride and glory of simpler times.

After the castle we moved on Amble for a spot of Harbour lunch and an Oreo Cookie Ice Cream from a specialist Dairy Farm. How can you not love a farm shop that sells only ice cream and has photographs of their cows on the walls... Like I said above, pride and glory ha ha.


It feels sad that this is our final day, there is just no appeal to go home... Maybe if I lived in a Castle... :) xx


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Holiday - Day 6: Monks and Mouths...

Finally the storms died down enough for us to dare to take the causeway across to the Holy Island. We waited all week, through floods and gale force winds but we Yorkshire folk are nothing if not patient.


It is a beautiful island housing it's own castle and priory.


You have to love the monks...


Due to the tide times we had a limited window to wander around but we were able to see what we had gone to see.


Once our window for escape started to close we headed to the main land and up across the border into Scotland. In Eyemouth we saw a Seal, Rohan finally got to put paw to sand and we felt some of that good weather that we had hoped for.

But some how going to a different country for the day seemed like cheating! :) xx


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Holiday - Day 3: Berwick weather not permitting...

The sun has taken a day off. We are Yorkies, we don't mind the cold but when you are trying to look around a holiday town filled with shops and the fine rain just will not let up... It makes you miserable.

We did manage to find a restaurant that allowed Rohan in and the decor was warm and friendly which was what we were longing for. But when the bill was over £50 for sandwiches, scones and coffee we almost wished we had eaten fish and chips in the car.

We headed back to our beautiful house where we played games and giggles with Katharine who loved having everyone's attention.


Rohan loved it too, much better than cold paws on cold cobbles.

Tomorrow we pray for a return of the sun but the weather forecast doesn't look too promising. :) xx


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Holiday - Day 2: Bamburgh...

Our first official day of holiday outings!

We chose Bamburgh after reading it had a lovely village and a castle. This has to be the most impressive castle I have ever seen!! I can take or leave Edinburgh Castle, I found it to be a busy courtyard of rude tourists, but Bamburgh... I was awed.


It is literally built into the mountain! And you can have your wedding here, imagine that! Unfortunately Rohan was not allowed into the grounds so we wandered around the outside taking far too many photographs before we headed into the village.

On the way back to the house we drove through Alnwick so that I could get a glimpse of Hogwarts ha ha. We decided not to go in but to wait until Katharine is old enough to appreciate its history and its current Potter fame.


We are going to start a list of MUST SEES and in a couple of years start ticking off the ones that Katharine views. :) xx


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Holiday - Day 1: Angel of the North

I have avoided blogging for a couple of weeks, I don't like it when it feels like a chore.

This week it doesn't... Because we are having a week at the coast. And in our travels we saw this:


Newcastles famous Angel of the North...


It is neither grand nor particularly pretty but it is amazing. And as a girl who loves Angels this is officially my favourite place. :) xx


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Photo - Hannah's golden post...

Anyone who earns a gold medal in the Olympics and the Paralympics on the GB Team have been honoured with their own postage stamp and a golden painted post box in their town.

Here is Hannah Cockcroft's box...


She is an amazing Paralympic and woman who I am proud to say is not only from my Country but from my home town.

Well done Hannah. We love you for your spirit and your determination. And of course your 400g of shiny gold. :) xx


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Photo - Sleepyheads...

I got up, popped in the shower and returned to find this...


And of course I couldn't resist snapping the scene and sticking it on blogging land for all to see. :) xx


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Question - Superhumans...

Who out there in the world has not been moved by the stories and achievements of the amazing sports men and women taking part in the Paralympics?


I feel proud to be human, proud to be British and ashamed that these people strive in the face of adversity yet I have thus far wasted the opportunity to achieve anything.

The Paralympics has changed me. I hope that people around the world feel the same as I do. :) xx


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Photo - Shoes, glorious shoes...

Today I found a reason to win the lottery, I found something I want to buy...


I discovered Irregular Choice shoes! The most beautifully designed and unusually styled footwear I have ever seen.

Sigh. A bit out of my price range... I guess I best get buying my lottery ticket. :) xx


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Photo - Jack on the box...

Yes, I miss wrote the title of the post in an effort to tenuously link into my photo...




Does anyone else have children that insist on climbing into boxes? :) xx
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Photo - What's she thinking...

I wish I could read my daughters mind...


This expression is magical. :) xx


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Musings - Thunderbirds are go...

We girls went shopping again today while the boys did boy stuff.

We went to Huddersfield and were quite productive. We managed to find something for my birthday, something for the husband's and some bargains for Katharine when she goes on holiday.

We even had some lunch and found this ride...


She did enjoy it despite what her expression suggests. :) xx


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Photo - Child's play...

Is it sad that I have more fun with my daughters toys...


...than my daughter actually does? :) xx


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Photo - Dog tired...

Rohan relaxing... Oh to have a dogs life. :) xx


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Photo - Zonked...

I just had to share this photo...


It is such a long time since she fell asleep in my arms watching television. :) xx


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Photo - Speed shopping...

I am on holiday for the rest of the week so decided to take Katharine shopping...


After running around she found a wheeled seat to plonk herself on and then spent the rest of the time zooming about.

Made her smile though. :) xx


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Photo - Recyclable...

Katharine decided to sit in the recycle box today...


I suppose it's forward thinking. :) xx


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Musings - Letters...

I want a pen pal. And I mean an actual person I can write to using an actual pen and a post box.


No one writes letters any more. It makes me feel a little melancholy to think that email and texting is it for our future.

So I have a new mission! To find someone around the world to give me a moment of their time and the price of a stamp.

But where do I start? :) xx


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Musings - Sunday in Stafford...

Sunday we visited the in laws and has a wonderful time in the garden. Katharine wheeled around the doll...


She contemplated the baby wood pigeons...


And shared a private joke with her cousin Ewan...


Good times. :) xx


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Musings - The Plaza...

In my town centre a new Plaza has been built with new restaurants, a cinema, a gym and a hotel. This weekend two of the restaurants officially opened.

And we sampled one...


Frankie and Benny's is a chain, excellent atmosphere and food repeated the world over...


We really enjoyed ourselves. A little expensive for an every Saturday venue but as a treat it was well worth it. :) xx


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Musings - Mann's response...

I posted earlier in the week that I had purchased a book of poems by Michael Mann. After reading through them I have my favourites already. :)

Here are two verses (from a larger poem) that Michael wrote in a response to an Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem...


How beautiful. :) xx


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Photo - Caught in the reflection...

So I twirled the mirror around in a wee circle until I found something in our living room to snap a photo of...


I happened upon the husband. :) xx


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Musings - Postcard bookmark...

Odeon cinemas always have a stand with random postcards on it. Next time you are there have a look for yourself.

Every time I go to watch a film I make sure I collect any postcards that I don't already have.

You see, I use them as bookmarks. They make the perfect marker for the page I am on and I like to leave the postcard in the book when I have finished. This is my current one...


I might have told you about this before in a previous post but I thought I would share it with you again as it is something that has sentimental relevance for me.

What oddities do you have that are special to you. :) xx


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Musings - Book within a film...

Do you ever watch a film and they mention another film or a book but then when you hunt for it you can't find? And you end up disappointed?

Well I love Field of Dreams and they state that a certain book had an impact on them...

'The Boat Rocker' by Terence Mann.

Well this week I googled that book and look what I found!!!!


It's a real book of philosophical poems by a man who might not be thee Mann but it's near enough!

Am I a geek to find that really exciting? And an even bigger geek because I bought it? :) xx


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Musings - Blues...

The world seems to still be misguided by the colour grey, blah blah blah so this week I have spat in the shades and added a little blue.

You see I have come across Blues Traveler...


And while not usually my type of music, the CD I downloaded has grown on me. Sort of blues meets folk meets rock.

Great for driving to and even writing to... :) xx

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Photo - Classy bird...

Sat on a box of nappies while eating her crisps...


Classy bird our daughter. :) xx


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Musings - Getting creative...

Does anyone else find it easier to write if they have an awesome soundtrack playing the the background?


I currently have Ernie Halter, Blue Traveler and Ryan O'Shaughnessy aiding my creative flow. :) xx


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Musings - Target set...

From close of work today I have set myself a writing target of 3000 words. This has to be achieved before I retire to bed on Sunday.


And it has to be freehand. I am going old school, going to see if pen and paper can get me all inspired again.

Fingers crossed... ;) xx

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Musings - Romantic notions...

I have this vision; it comes to me when I am listening to a particularly beautiful song. It is a flash of a story, maybe an inner desire, an idea?

I am slow dancing in a darkened room with a man. A band plays on a stage behind us, wooden floors are beneath our feet, light comes from a dimmed shiny ball above us. It’s warm but not hot, there may well be a crowd of dancers around us but we are not conscious of it. This man, this mystery dancer, is holding me close with one hand at the small of my back, the other hand hovering as if to cup my face. His brown eyes set in a pale face search mine, glance to my lips, his breathing shallow. This dance, this embrace, this song, this room has us bound together in an oblivion of anticipation.



He closes his eyes and in that moment I almost feel a kiss like a shiver of breath on the back of my neck…

And at that point a new song starts to play and my vision fades but it is always the same man, same room and same feeling of being completely and utterly overwhelmed by one person.

If only… :) xx


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Photo - Too much?..

Well...


And this isn't all the memorabilia we have been collecting!

Geeks to the core! Hurrah! :) xx


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Photo - Small spaces...

At the moment Katharine has a thing about squeezing herself into small places to play...




Down the side of the television is her current favourite. Me thinks she will soon be up for building a fort or imaginary fairy castle out of an old sheet and the sofa cushions. :) xx
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Poem - To have hope...

Hanging, grasping at that budding vestige of a dream coveted true,
Open mind and heart, warmth budding, expectation escalating,
Pessimism drowned in an overflow, promise rising cloaking doubt,
Evanescent, a mere moment yet felt, sensed, emoted,
… springing forth astoundingly.


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Review - Batman Part 3...

I went to see ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ because Tom Hardy was in it.

I’m honest at least! I was conscious that his face would be covered the whole 165 minutes and bar about three seconds it was; but I am a die Hardy fan (get it?) and let’s face it… his face might have been hidden but those muscles were not.

And you know what? He was out done. I went for Tom but was bowled over by Joseph. But before I wax lyrical about young JGL…



As an ending to the trilogy this film was immense. I never get to use that word on a day to day basis but in a one word summary that is it… IMMENSE!

The score, the visual effects, the acting (minus Christian Bale – wooden as ever), Anne’s bottom and the twists of the story kept you so entertained that the three hours (including trailers; I quite fancy going to see ‘Lincoln’) flew by. I love my action and I was not disappointed. I was not expecting such a poignant ending either but it worked. The whole thing worked and without revealing any spoilers I have to demand / scream / chant… that was so a hint at another movie!!!!

So, Joseph Gordon-Levitt… I know him of old; at university we had a poster of him up in our bathroom. His wee self would grin at you the whole time you were in there. He saw some sights, owes all our fathers a few goats. And he grow up FINE! And he can act! The last thing I saw him in was ‘500 Days of Summer’ which was fantastic though it did not offer him up as Man of The Week potential. In TDNR he was phenomenal (see another of those big out of the norm words), intense, emotional, charming, buffer than usual and he utterly stole any scene he was in.

He definitely has MOTW contender status.

Overall I would highly recommend the film; even if you haven’t seen the first two you can always back track when you get home.

Score, hmm… 8/10. A little more facial offering from Tom might have gained those extra points. Ha ha. :) xx


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