Home Thoughts Weekly

To be continued as and when. No guests were harmed during the making of this film.

Sorry, but I'm still not sick of this... even if you are! Normal service will be resumed when I've got a bit of thinking space.

A 'behind the scenes' look at 'Hotel' H (I know,I know - but this is such fun and I have just finished my ECA! I will get back to normal blogging, honest!)

It's all Lane's fault. I just couldn't resist having a go!!

I’ve finished my ECA (my OU end of course assessment) YAY! Well, I’ve finished it for the time being - I need to put it away for a couple of days then worry it a few more times before sending it off. In the meantime – and before the next set of guests arrive - I’m winding down with a good old knicker cull, as you do. (I know some of you are sitting in the sun, but a stiff sea breeze has set in here and it’s cold so I’ve had to find other ways to celebrate finishing my work). In fact, I’ve been having a trawl through my entire wardrobe in case the clothes fairies have left any princess dresses in there when I haven’t been looking. Nothing doing in mine, sigh, but I did have a try on of your bridesmaid dress, Rose, that you wore for your dad’s wedding and I looked quite fetching in it – if a bit boobalicious which was rather scary. Anyway, Lily will tell you, if you’re interested, that I tend to hang on to underwear far too long – just in case there’s a world shortage of knickers. ...

Okay, pick a well-known tune – I’d say 'Don’t think twice, it’s all right' would be a good one - and share my pain by joining me in a karaoke protest to BT. Deep breath and here we go:- Well, it ain’t no use me staring at my Home Hub at lights that wink and flash. And it ain’t no use me calling up BT ‘cos they only want me for my cash. When I tell them there’s a problem with their outside line, they read their scripts and tell me everything’s just fine. But when a hard rain falls it happens every time. Listen twice, please, I’m right! So, after many, many hours of my precious time being wasted trying to impress on a distant call centre that it doesn’t matter how many times I switch my router on and off, the outside line (as we know from last year) is f*cked, they finally agree that the problem requires a real live engineer. Hoo-berludy-ray! The engineer arrives, (truly, I’m grateful) runs a test, fits an Okey-Cokey 2009 which he says will make the whole system run more efficie...

*Working those ‘Bob-with-a-twist’ lyrics as originated by Little Brown Dog . Almost two years after my left shoulder ‘froze’, the thaw has finally set in. Thanks to Hema The Merciless, the wonderful physio, both hands are now waving fairly free. A regime of fiendish exercises, such as patting my back backwards (imagine having your arm twisted up your back, but twice as far as you think it ought to go and you’ll get the picture) and a programme of weightlifting has almost done the job – the rest is down to me. It feels wonderful to be able to just shrug a jacket on, instead of carefully inserting my left arm first – such freedom! Even better, my single bingo wing is morphing back to arm shape. A bit of exercise has made a huge difference... anyone for a spot of arm-wrestling? Actually it’s a good job I can wave my arms because I’m slightly panicking at how much I need to do. I’ve just completed my final assignment for my OU course and even though I’m really chuffed with my marks...

Looking at the blurb for my new Lacura WrinkleStop from Aldi, I see that its active ingredient has been ‘proven to help • Reduce forehead wrinkles by 52% • Reduce crow’s feet by 24% • Restrict 82% of wrinkle muscle activity’ That’s quite a claim, isn’t it? Frankly, after years when my face looked like a lunar landscape thanks to the joys of acne, these days I’m just grateful to see a fairly blemish-free skin. Part of me wants to believe that the wonder cream’s making everything looking a bit smoother and tidier, but, hey, there’s also a lot of ‘aqua’ and ‘glycerin’ in the stuff, too. Besides, I could tamper with my skin as much as I like (and I don’t), but I’ve only got to stand next to my beautiful daughters to see the difference. Ma has wonderful skin, so the chances are there are some helpful genes in the mix, but my dad died far too young of cancer, so it’s not all good news. My dad was a carpenter. ‘You can’t get age from a tin, Miss Chris,’ he’d say when rubbing his hands o...

ELizabethm and Withy Brook tagged me then Little Brown Dog , in her own words, cranked up the pressure. Thank you (I think) dear hearts. Here goes: What are your current obsessions? Writing. If I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing. It’s my default mode and it’s what accounts for that faraway look in my eyes. Well, that and the drink. What are you listening to? As well as rocking my Spotify ‘guilty pleasures’ playlist, I’m having a bit of a vinyl revival. Over the years I’ve lost custody of some good LPs, but my Faces (Yes? Something to say?) albums have stayed with me. I was off school with the lurgy when A Nod’s As Good As A Wink came out, and I begged Ma go into town to buy it for me. Despite protests of ‘If you think I’m asking for that you’ve got to be joking’ she did eventually cave in. I’ve also inherited my dad’s classical music collection. The only problem with those is that I occasionally select a record still bearing my dad’s fingerprints and it cuts me to...