Mistletoe's Musings

I am in laid back mode.



Here is my day so far.
Got up.
Ate Danish pastry.
Noticed one of the Amaryllis had flowered.
Put meat in oven.
Watched Queen live in Milton Keynes on Sky Anytime.


Took pic of Amaryllis.
Changed batteries in camera.
Uploaded pic.

The temperature was 11C this morning and so I went to the doctor's without a hat on.Let us hope I do not pay for such clout casting later. I have fed already. The spaghetti bolognese I made yesterday was so delish I couldn't wait until this evening to eat the rest and so it is in my tummeh nao.



Time to complete what we learn about Booth in Season 2. So let's head to the roundup.
( Seeley Booth the man: "You know more about duty and honour than anybody else I know". )

Stand by for Season 3 revelations.

A signing on the cards from Paris St Germain. Say nothing till it happens.
Also England became the first team in the world to win 8 T20 games in a row. Record breakers. Doesn't seem important though when you see what else is happening in Australia. I cannot imagine an area that big being flooded for so long in such a devastating way. My thoughts are with any readers in OZ land who have been affected.

I have been hard at it all day, yes all day, making icons. Nearly done after a great deal of faffing about. I have 2 that I am not happy with out of 15 which isn't too bad and 5 Artist's Choice still to decide upon. Leaving them overnight was a good plan as it allowed me to look with a fresh eye. Plus I was able to mull ones I hadn't settled on so that they turned out quite well. I have had two slices of toast and a mince pie and that is all. So I am making spag bol in the next hour. At least I remembered to get the mince out first thing this morning because the next time I looked at the clock it was 12.40. What?!? Where did the morning go? Well now you know.



Have you seen the new pictures from the Fox do of David? To be frank I don't think they're very flattering. He looks tired and his hair is wrong.
Observe:



Some were better.

 

Thanks  to setje at The Boreanazists.

Sunderland have a new signing! David Milliband the Labour Party leader's brother has joined the Board. Niall asked him. Hmm. Well he is the MP for South Shields and he does have connections abroad, so Quinny is covering as many bases as he can. Derby day soon. I can't wait. And Bones day next week. Squeeee.

In the meantime I gave No Ordinary Family a go. I can't decide what it is trying to be. It's not funny; the special powers are uninspired and the supporting cast is irritating. I watched two episodes and already I want to strangle the daughter. The lab assistant is Daisy with dark hair. They even used the rooftop from Judas on a Pole as a setting.  It needs to settle on a specific route. There's a DA who wants to live life vicariously; a suspicious lady cop (who immediately got killed off); a nefarious Scientific Company with a dodgy CEO; a nasty teacher who belittles the hero's son and a couples counsellor. Oh and the mysterious assassin. All in just two episodes with a bit of bitchy PTA thrown in.  At the moment it is too scatter gun and derivative: The Bionic Woman meets Superman the non-flying version. At least he leaps tall buildings with one bound.  Incidentally, how likely is anyone to run from wherever to Arizona without hitting a car? She did have a close encounter with a bike in her housing development but no one was hurt. So that didn't last long.

Lie to Me starts from the beginning of Season 3 again this week, but it has lost its charm for me. Has it been cancelled? Last I heard it was mid-season and on hiatus. So that means I have nothing to watch.

Off to cook now.

I have been to the shops without snow and only a little rain. Windy though. Brrrr.



Purchases for friends!
1. A Victorian style trinket box with a colourful enamelled looking bee on the lid.
2. A booklet of notes with a Mucha cover for carrying in your handbag.
3. Unpublished letters sent to the Daily Telegraph.

That's two birthdays covered and one of them isn't until the end of June. I'll probably lose it by then.

Purchases for me
1 An appointments calendar featuring British wildlife. Only £1.35 in the sale. January's picture is of a brown hare, the fastest creature to live in Britain. This was a timely purchase as the dentists rang yesterday to rearrange my hygienist's appointment because they are moving premises. So I need to write that down in February and now I can.
2. 3 pork pies at a saving of 50p. One for tea shortly.
3. An Americano coffee and a Cheddar and apple chutney sandwich for lunch at Vennels cafe Omnomnom.

I also checked out the game shop in the market but resisted the pheasants. However, I noticed they had genuine Scottish haggis in, so I know where to go for my Burns Night treat. The fancy deli shop was shut so I was able to resist all of their treats successfully. A fixture of the market place is Bimbi's fish and chip restaurant. It's under new management! The dynasty must have died or something because there has always been a Bimbi's. Bell's of Gilesgate doesn't have the same sort of je ne sais quoi.

Now, I must get on with this month's icon challenge at  bones20in20 . It's a free for all that I am finding very difficult because there is too much scope. Also, I have exceeded my Booth limit already which is reducing my choices in the wrong way.  Trying to remember which episode had which particular intern in it that could be useful as a substitute is taxing even my memory. Never mind. I have a few days to compromise and settle for less satisfying caps. Grizzle.

Were you excited by today's date? 11/1/11 or in American speak 1/11/11. I used to like writing things like that on the board. Kids always found it exciting. He he.


Oh, I hope you like my new header. It is keeping ne happy anyway.

1. The world at the moment. Full of loonies.
2. Christiano Ronaldo. Git. Don't like him. The sort of face I want to slap.
3. The Beckhams. 3 children bearing your genes are enough.
4. The crappy snow we have. All or nothing please, not this icy slush that makes your feet wet and cold.

I watched Sherlock Holmes this morning which may account for my crappy mood. What dreck; what unmitigated dross; what rubbish. The only recognisable features were the names and parts of the London skyline. It reminded me most of that Biggles film they made a while ago. Talk about taking your childhood and turning it into modernistic pap. Holmes and Watson spent most of their time indulging in fisticuffs, shooting at people and swordfights. Holmes was not averse to physical rebuttal, but only when all else failed, not as a first resort. The avatar of this was Dredger, a Jaws like character who resisted all assaults and spoke French.

The 'plot' was an Indiana Jones reject without the special effects or braggadocio and the solution which was revealed only to the perpetrator, lacked intellectual elan favoured by Holmes. Doyle will be turning in his grave. Although Moriarty turned out to be the real villain of the piece we never actually saw who he was. There is a sequel? I shall not bother. O Jeremy Brett where art thou?

Now on to cheerier things!!!



I defy you not to smile when you see this advert which is my current favourite. I think it's Brian Blessed's voice. That and the song: Fruit! Aaaaaa-aaah. and the apples cheering and the superhero on strings. Here y'are.


The sun has finally come out and the snow has gone off the road. Not before the bus had to go down in 1st gear and various people waited until it got to the bottom of the hill before following. Disgraceful that no gritter came, Not even for ready money. (another Importance of being Earnest quote referring to the lack of cucumbers at the market.)

I shall attempt a trip to Durham tomorrow if it keeps fine. I have no calendar to write my important appointments on so I remember to go to the dentist's etc. I got a very nice one in the market last year which I would like to repeat. Also I am in need of coffee in a cafe, possibly with cake or sandwich. I am feeling decadent.

I am awarding myself a cookie because no one else has earned one. Indeed, there has been a deal of eyelash fluttering and appeals to my better nature which have, frankly, appalled me! Cupcakes have been issued, but really, I am appalled.

Hmmm. I seem to be channelling the perpetrator of the quotation I used yesterday. Here is more of it.

Ah! A life crowded with incident, I see; though perhaps somewhat too exciting for a young girl. I am not myself in favour of premature experiences.

This was spoken by Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. (Oscar Wilde) Tcha! Useless.



For a2zmom 




For melissasjack 

Sunderland went out of the FA Cup today at the first hurdle. Useless bunch, losing to a lower division team. Only 17,538 attended and I can't say I blame the fans for not turning up to watch Notts County. The fact Bruce started with only 5 first team players was a clue where his priorities lie, and mine, this season. We want top 6 so we can be in Europe next season where the real money is. I see Stevenage, a just promoted to League 2 team are beating Newcastle 3 - 1 at the moment with 2 minutes to go. That means all the north east teams are out as Middlesbrough lost to Burton Albion, a non-league team. Hartlepool lost to Watford. Ha ha ha

Liverpool sacked their manager Roy Hodgson today. Disgraceful. He had the job for 6 months having been voted Manager of the Season last year when he guided Fulham to European success. Kenny Dalglish, who all the fans wanted, has taken over as interim manager. In a way I hope Liverpool continue to be pathetic and the fans will get what they deserve: nothing. They hounded out their last two managers and have got someone in charge now who they consider one of their own. Well let's see what he can do with the worst set of players Liverpool have had in many a long year.

Small competition in today's post friends. Virtual cookies to the winners.



1. Which play features the quote in my subject line? Who wrote it? Who said it? Clue: I have played the role.

2. I feel like Mother Shipton. Virtual cookie to anyone who knows who she was. There I was yesterday remarking on the snow still being on the edges of the fields and what that means. This was half an hour ago:
( PICTURES AND A MEME OF SORTS THROUGH HERE )

Hmmm. That lacks a certain oomph factor. It is certainly a grey day revealing little anyway. I can still see little bits of snow at the edge of the fields, so that in olde wives' terms means more to come. As long as it waits until late next week, I won't mind.

Small sports update. Sunderland now have two more injured players. David Meyler who just came back from a serious injury before Christmas, tore a knee ligament and is out for the season again. Poor lad. That will be over a year he has missed. At least he's young but he's such a good player with Henderson it limits our resources. Then Danny Welbeck tore his hamstring and that is usually a month to recover. So we now have around 10 first team players unavailable: You're only allowed 25 players plus youth team nowadays so we can barely get a bench out. At least it is the cup on Saturday. Bruce may wash his hands of that with all these injuries. We don't want our resources stretched any further.

Out: Turner, Welbeck, Meyler, Mensah, Cattermole, Onuoha, Campbell, and Zenden suspended after two yellow cards last night. All of them are starters or first alternate if someone is injured. I hope it doesn't scupper our best season in 10 years. We have had to shuffle all of the defence and we still have 11 clean sheets out of 22 games played. That is only equalld by Manchester City. It's better than Manchester Utd. and they are top!

The other news today is that Paul Collingwood is retiring from Test cricket from tomorrow, the last day of the Ashes series. It's a good way to go out and the best time as he has had a disappointing go with the bat this series. He is an excellent fielder though and that will be hard to replace. Also as a part time bowler it's nice that the last ball he bowled took the wicket of Michael Hussey who had been a thorn in England's side this series.






Now I'm sure you're all aware, because I tell you every time I post about him, that Paul was a pupil at the school where I worked and I knew him and his brother very well. In fact, the last time he was in school to do a bit of coaching, he recognised me and spoke. (I'm such a fangirl). So this feels like the end of an era as he is the last of the famous people who went to our school. Let's hope the Sports College status pays off in the future, because we were just an ordinary comprehensive when he attended. My friend Trevor, who I used to go to the football matches with, taught him the GCSE years and so he has got a pass in GCSE English should he need it.

David Gower was very complimentary about how well Paul spoke this morning when Nasser Hussein interviewd him and it was a really good honest self assessment of what he had achieved in his Test career including his short comings. He was never a fluent batsman and most of his innings were built on graft and determination. His best was a memorable 206 in Adelaide in the last Ashes tour when England were whitewashed 5 - 0. It was definitely the stand out moment in that terrible series. He has also taken some magnificent catches including one of many one handed leaps to get Ricky Ponting in the last test. Here are 3 examples to show the skill.






Good luck Paul, and I look forward to you turning out more for Durham this season. He might get to a few Sunderland matches too. He is a fan.

I didn't do a video on Sunday as it is a new year so I have changed my ways ;P. So here's one on a Wednesday instead!



I see Gerry Rafferty died, which is sad as it got me thinking about the 70s, when I was at school, then university, then work. What a packed decade that was! Sunderland won the FA Cup for one thing; I went to live in Cardiff, then Hull, then Whitby, then here, although that happened in the early 80s actually. I was working here in the 70s though, so it still counts.

I liked this song, and apparently, I still do.


There we are friends of the online variety. Doesn't matter that I've never met you, this song still stands.

Bonus icons as I'm in vintage mood.

                 

The workers in education went back today and I count this as my official 1 year anniversary of being retired. \0/. That year started being trapped in the house by the snowy weather, so it all felt somewhat surreal while the snow lay around in heaps for what seemed like weeks on end. None of that this year as the snow came in November and lay around for weeks on end. It was milder today, a heady 5 degrees, so I went to the parents' house and took mam to Morrison's to buy supplies for their New Year's Party at the Modern and Sequence Dance club they run on Thursday. My mam does the catering so there were salad stuffs and cheese and ingredients for coleslaw and Waldorf salad purchased in record time.

Came up home around teatime and I finished rewatching Downton Abbey. Great series. I see PBS are cutting 2 hours of it in case the American audience doesn't understand the entailment plot. No one understands the entailment plot. Basically it just means that the title can't be inherited by the female line: there must be a male heir. The only complication in this story is that the Lord's wife had her own fortune which became part of her husband's estate, so when he dies she will be penniless. It's all legal stuff and if it's not in then the presence of Matthew Crawley makes no sense. If you can, get the DVDs for the whole story as it was meant to be seen.



One or two recs today, written by friends or people I know of in the Bones crowd. I hope it's all right to pimp abroad. Still, as this is a friends only post, most of you will  know them already. Anyway, please say if you don't approve.

First one is a 3 chapter piece by bite_or_avoid . It is set after The End in the Beginning and is an AU look at what Booth's illness might have meant to Brennan once she had time to think about it.      Resonance 

This one by cupcakebean is a reminder of simpler times. It's called The Definition of Normal.

Finally, another AU by Anna that I think is so very clever because it all could have happened like that. The Road Not Traveled Leads to Here

If you haven't read them before, please do. If you have, give them another look to remind yourselves what great writers there are in the fandom. And feed the authors!

See you tomorrow.