So, anyway.
Firstly: Doctor Who is FINALLY back on Saturday.
I've been busy, relatively speaking. My major task over the last few weeks has been to clear out the room that was Mum's bedroom (she now sleeps downstairs) and had turned into a junk room/general dumping ground. This took ages, including several trips into the loft, a trip to the charity shop and a trip to the tip. Then I bought bookcases which had to be assembled, and a desk, which likewise. I added a rug and an easy chair from my flat in London that had been languishing in the garage, unpacked all my books, and voilà!
This makes me SO, SO happy. I've got somewhere to go that's not my bedroom where I can sit at a desk which has room for books and paperwork, I've got a chair to read in, and all my books are not only accessible, but are SORTED AND ALPHABETISED.
Also, I've been growing strawberries.
These have turned out very yummy. Although not a huge crop, I'm satisfied for my first ever attempt at growing fruit. Hopefully more next year.
Also, I've been knitting. I knitted a fab scarf for the birthday of the friend I stayed with in Canada, which I neglected to photograph. I'm learning to knit on double-pointed needles, and am currently knitting a pair of fingerless gloves for my nephew's Christmas present:
Finding I'm really enjoying this, it's fiddly but it's satisfying. Also knitting a top for pootlus, but it's acres of stocking stitch and so I've finished the back and I'm taking a break to do fiddly, interesting knitting before I go back to it.
Last week I took the fabulous train journey up to Edinburgh to see a play that is part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The theatre company is Wishbone Theatre which is based in Edmonton, in Canada. My connection is that I know the actor from when he was part of a theatre company in Ontario. Rose, a mutual friend who works in theatre production in this country, is producing the UK show. The play is called Bashir Lazar, and is more-or-less a single-hander, about an Algerian substitute teacher in Montreal. The play was utterly brilliant, has had some fantastic reviews such as this one from What's On Stage, and Michael Peng, the lead actor, has been nominated for best actor in this year’s Stage Awards for Acting Excellence at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I had a couple of beers with Rose and Michael after the show, (which was worth the trip to Edinburgh in itself!), having had a lovely couple of hours wandering around the city beforehand, including lunch and a quick hello to i_smell_shite at Jo Jo's Danish Bakery and Cafe. All in all a really fabulous day.
What else? I'm hooked on Fringe, having got about 10 episodes into S1. Also now hooked on The Killing, which is being repeated on BBC4 Sunday-Thursday nights as I missed it the first time around. Torchwood is disappointing. But still, DW is back soon! The Hour I rather enjoyed. And I'm absolutely enthralled by The Great British Bake-off.
ETA OMG WTF! Mark Gatiss just tweeted to say that shooting has wrapped on the next series of Sherlock, with this wonderful photo to prove it. That gets a big 'yay' from me.
I've been busy, relatively speaking. My major task over the last few weeks has been to clear out the room that was Mum's bedroom (she now sleeps downstairs) and had turned into a junk room/general dumping ground. This took ages, including several trips into the loft, a trip to the charity shop and a trip to the tip. Then I bought bookcases which had to be assembled, and a desk, which likewise. I added a rug and an easy chair from my flat in London that had been languishing in the garage, unpacked all my books, and voilà!
This makes me SO, SO happy. I've got somewhere to go that's not my bedroom where I can sit at a desk which has room for books and paperwork, I've got a chair to read in, and all my books are not only accessible, but are SORTED AND ALPHABETISED.
Also, I've been growing strawberries.
These have turned out very yummy. Although not a huge crop, I'm satisfied for my first ever attempt at growing fruit. Hopefully more next year.
Also, I've been knitting. I knitted a fab scarf for the birthday of the friend I stayed with in Canada, which I neglected to photograph. I'm learning to knit on double-pointed needles, and am currently knitting a pair of fingerless gloves for my nephew's Christmas present:
Finding I'm really enjoying this, it's fiddly but it's satisfying. Also knitting a top for pootlus, but it's acres of stocking stitch and so I've finished the back and I'm taking a break to do fiddly, interesting knitting before I go back to it.
Last week I took the fabulous train journey up to Edinburgh to see a play that is part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The theatre company is Wishbone Theatre which is based in Edmonton, in Canada. My connection is that I know the actor from when he was part of a theatre company in Ontario. Rose, a mutual friend who works in theatre production in this country, is producing the UK show. The play is called Bashir Lazar, and is more-or-less a single-hander, about an Algerian substitute teacher in Montreal. The play was utterly brilliant, has had some fantastic reviews such as this one from What's On Stage, and Michael Peng, the lead actor, has been nominated for best actor in this year’s Stage Awards for Acting Excellence at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I had a couple of beers with Rose and Michael after the show, (which was worth the trip to Edinburgh in itself!), having had a lovely couple of hours wandering around the city beforehand, including lunch and a quick hello to i_smell_shite at Jo Jo's Danish Bakery and Cafe. All in all a really fabulous day.
What else? I'm hooked on Fringe, having got about 10 episodes into S1. Also now hooked on The Killing, which is being repeated on BBC4 Sunday-Thursday nights as I missed it the first time around. Torchwood is disappointing. But still, DW is back soon! The Hour I rather enjoyed. And I'm absolutely enthralled by The Great British Bake-off.
ETA OMG WTF! Mark Gatiss just tweeted to say that shooting has wrapped on the next series of Sherlock, with this wonderful photo to prove it. That gets a big 'yay' from me.