What a great way to start the month - a surprise wedding! (Actually, it wasn’t that much of a surprise to me as I read this fabulous post first - oops!) Not such a great surprise for Jennifer, though. I have honestly never heard anyone quite so snobby. Of course, she inhabits a world where a barbecue takes two very stressful weeks to organise and involves marquees and hiding the expensive liquor. Did she really think Uncle Jailbird was going to be let out for a party? Funerals, yes. Maybe even a wedding at a push, but a party? Unlikely.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon in August, and Mr C and I found ourselves sitting in a large back garden with a cup of tea. This is unusually civilised of us. We surveyed the extra-long grass, and discussed what size plot you would need to fit an underground bunker. Quite big, is the answer. We discussed the pros and cons of more than one storey, and the concept of bungalows being more expensive because they take up more land, and how this translates to the underground.

So that’s it, I have finally completed the trilogy and thank goodness. What a let down this book was. After a fantastic, if slightly drawn out, story in the first book, we had the rather hard-to-believe but still intriguing set-up of the second. This final book had to tie together all the loose ends, but my god, it made hard work of it. The heroine spends more than half the novel in hospital, which is a bit disappointing. The main stories revolve around the gazillion different police departments that there are in Sweden, and how they interact with each other. It was all about the politics and new characters kept on being introduced for no apparent reason.

So, when you pick up a romance novel, you know exactly what you’re getting and they are not my kind of book. It being set in the beautiful motorsport paddocks made no difference to this whatsoever. Romance novels are silly, this we know. They are nothing like real life, people don’t ever talk to each other like that, and things like this don’t happen to regular people. Even so, to bring motorsport into the mix is interesting to me, so I read it. Oh dear.

Winnie-the-Pooh emerged as a free book on the Kindle, just as the iBook store came with the book as an example of what it could do. I like free stuff, so I downloaded it, but I had forgotten how much I like Pooh and Piglet. The writing is a lot more abstract than I remember. I know it’s aimed at kids, but it rambles around and wanders through sentences of nothing-ness and it’s absolutely wonderful. The short little stories could be told in about a page, but not with Pooh Bear around.

Franck has seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet, and so it is left to other drivers to preview the upcoming Superleague Race. I’m assuming FKM is still driving in the series, although last we heard he was a little bit peeved at the entire thing - his team included. This weekend the gang head to Italy, the Adria International Raceway for Round 8 of the 2010 Superleague Formula Championship. The official preview suggests:

A while back, I pondered the state of things in Dorset, where they drink beer from the Piddle Brewery. Fast forward a few months, and my Dad presents me with three bottles as a house-warming present. Here we have: Piddle in a bottle Jimmy Riddle in a bottle Little Willie Naturally, the next step was a taste test. Piddle in a Bottle - At first I thought it just tasted like lager, but then I got the aftertaste and realised the bitterness of the ale. It’s nice, but I don’t think I could drink a whole one. Maybe if I was sitting in a traditional pub with a roaring fire, and was preparing to nurse the beer for an entire evening. I think I just drink too fast for this kind of alcohol.

Ahh, that makes a nice and classy change from that last header, doesn’t it? I was mostly inspired by the image used to promote the brushes for this one. Something nice, bold simple and blue. It pretty much fits the bill. Although it has just occurred to me that the bit in the middle looks like a moustache. Made with: Pixelmator Brushes: Baroque Ornaments Font: Copperplate Gothic Bold

I figured I had gone on about running a bit too much for a little while, so I saved two weeks of the programme to go up at once. Here goes nothing: Week 7 Day 1 I don’t want to say anything that is going to jinx the next few weeks of running, but this was relatively easy. I wonder if having a goal - a race to actually train for - has made a difference? We shall see.

Ohhhh, I love it so much more now that I understand it. I mean, I’m no rocket scientist, but it makes so much more sense. Since we watched this film, I have become completely obsessed with all things Apollo and Shuttle and NASA, and did you know that in real life it wasn’t 39 seconds, it was actually 14? I still hate NASA for it, but cooool. I can’t stop reading Wikipedia about astronauts and space, and hey, what do astronauts do when they’re not up there? Do they just sit and wait? Anyway, fantastic film. Fabulous ending.

Aside from the extended baseball sequences, where I had little clue what was going on, this was a nice little tale. It did fall right into that injured and past it coach does awe-inspiring things category, but this comes from a true story which makes it just that bit more interesting. The casting is great, with some fabulous performances, so I was happy I watched it.

It had all the key moments, and was a pretty good-looking film, which is all you can really ask for. Sebastian certainly made it what it was for me. I couldn’t quite get my head around the girl playing Heidi and her accent, plus I was hoping for a bit more grump and then a genuine turnaround from Grandfather. Still, it was good.

This was actually surprisingly good. It took a while to get going, setting up all the people, their relationships with each other and how they would come into contact once the deed was done - which wasn’t until halfway through the film. But once it picked up, it was pretty good, and I wasn’t expecting the twist at the end, which was a bonus. Gooo Costner!

Credit: Shinya ICHINOHE/Flickr I know, I know, it’s not called ‘Baby Panda and Man Thursday’ but I love how the panda is just oblivious, happily chewing on what I assume is bamboo but looks suspiciously like a cigar.

The Ironbridge Gorge Museums are actually a collection of ten separate attractions spread out over a small area in Telford. There are all kinds of things there, including tile and china museums, pipeworks and a tar tunnel. I didn’t really fancy visiting all ten of these. In fact, there were only two bits that I was really interested in - the Ironbridge itself, and Blists Hill Victorian Town. The bridge is really just a bridge. The site says:

I did like that although it was so obvious they were going to get together, it didn’t do the usual chick flick thing of trying so hard to pretend that they won’t. They didn’t hate each other from the start, she wasn’t completely oblivious to his feelings, she just had to work out how she felt. And get a job and sort out her family at the same time. It was exactly as expected, and did the trick perfectly, with a few laughs along the way.

Not a good film at all. That initial music should have been a clear indicator - overkill for what was essentially a journey to a building. The beginning was okay, and the ending was interesting, but the bit in the middle made very little sense. There’s no way this film needed to be over two hours long. It really needed to get to the end a lot faster because the twist was almost worth watching.

I completed the next letter of the A-Z Adventure yesterday, and it was great fun! I will blog it soon. Before I left in the morning, though, I had a bit of a panic. I have lots of plans and not enough time and why did I ever think this was a good idea in the first place? After a bit of thought and contemplation, I came to some conclusions. Let’s get straight to the point. When I said I was going to do the entire alphabet over the course of a year, I might have wildly over-estimated my abilities to go outside. Therefore, I’m adjusting the rules and regulations slightly, so that I hope to complete it as soon as possible, but it might take more like two years.

I started with the brushes and was working purple on white. It was an interesting start, but it wasn’t quite what I was after. Then I put the spirals in place and applied one of the blending options (I forget which) and this amazing thing happened. I’m pretty sure it’s channelling E4, although entirely unintentional. Made with: Pixelmator Brushes: Circle and Brush Font: Arial Rounded MT Bold

After a long week at work, this is the kind of thing I like to come home to. I have the best husband in the world. Even if he does wrinkle his nose and say: “It’s just a box of breakfast.” Oh, it is so much more than that, my friend. Just ask the leprechaun.

My mum said: “Try it. It looks like it will be sour but that’s just because it is green. It’s basically just like a plum.” That is exactly what it was. Just a small green plum. Even if it does have a name like… greenhouse? rain gauge? Greengrass?

Maybe you have already heard of Mighty Girl, maybe you haven’t. I’ve been following her blog for a long time, and occasionally glanced at the Mighty Goods shopping site (which she’s now sold, but it’s still pretty cool). I never bought anything, but it’s like the ultimate window shopping for the internet. Anyway, this is not about shopping. A while back, Mighty Girl, otherwise known as Maggie, created a Life List. I mentioned this about the same time last year, as Maggie had managed to find herself a sponsor to achieve some of the things on her list. That, I imagine, is not going to happen to everyone. What is amazing, though, is how the Mighty Life List has been so inspiring to everyone else, and how the concept of the Life List has taken off.

Mr C and I have often discussed our desire to have less stuff. We move house on a frequent basis and the more stuff you have, the more tired your arms get by the end of each moving day. The Amazon Kindle apps were a big turning point, I think. A big marker in the sky saying that it really is possible to own less junk. You also have to throw in our fledgling desire to live underground, and you can see we’re not exactly “normal” in the “how people live” sense.

Hey, look what I made! You’ve all been incredibly generous so far - so much so I’ve had to up my target total. I was not expecting that. I notice everyone has donated the same amount, so I hope no one is put off if that isn’t the amount they want to give. I’m happy with 20p, too. I realised that I wasn’t that sure how far I was actually running in the allotted time, so I scouted around and had a look for GPS type apps for my phone.

This one may not be as spick and span as some of the others I’ve come up with, but the point about this header is that I made it up and created it all from scratch. The wavy background was done by hand, which is why it’s slightly bumpy, although I secretly think that adds to the charm. Plus I was trying to use some nice bright colours to make a change to the more subtle tones I am always tempted by.

Quite a lot of people came to the conclusion that watching The Love Bug was like being on drugs for about 90 minutes. It was definitely a lot of fun but also quite confusing. There was a bear in the car at one point! It also went a bit too Wacky Races at points, which was a bit of a turnoff. I know green screening wasn’t great back then, but it was slightly offputting as well. Good film but not as epic as I’d hoped.

Yesterday, I was just possibly thinking about signing up for a 5K race. I couldn’t have made that tweet more unsure if I tried - and I really did try! Somehow, today, I’ve taken it that next step. I signed up for the race and I set up a Just Giving page. Oops. I have written more information over on Sidepodcast (as the charity is a Grand Prix related one), or you can get all the information on the sponsorship page.

A slightly better week this week, although I had to work through a bit of “why am I so rubbish” emotional stuff, as you may notice halfway through. Week 6 Day 1 I must have been a bit smug about the twenty minute thing because today was quite tricky. It’s been quite a few days since my last run, so perhaps I left it too long this time. Even so, I must have broken a mental barrier somewhere because there were plenty of times I wanted to stop but I didn’t give up. Well, only with about 30 seconds to go and that’s because the bin men kept getting in the way.

It must be time for another Etsy-flavoured Baby Panda Thursday, in which I bring you some of the cute handmade stuff I have spotted over there. Painted Rock Panda with Bamboo I know, I know, it’s a painted rock. But look at how much detail there is! It’s definitely weird, the panda is a bit squished but I like it. Ohm Ohm Panda We’ve already established that I like pandas when they are given amusing characters (ahem, Nerdy Panda). I like to think this one has quite a stressful job running a bamboo factory, and is taking a breather from high-flying meetings.

Channel 4’s fantabulous program Grand Designs featured an Underground House in the third series, so this evening I watched the show via 4OD and took copious notes! Here’s what I found out as I watched. They built their house in a conveniently house-sized gap in a quarry that was already dug. The guy said he wanted a house like that to both “hide away and not impose.” Sounds about right. She was more into the eco effort, which we are less worried about. They only have one bit that sees daylight, so all of that was glass. The back of the house was lit by sunpipes. More on that later. She was expecting a baby! Big surprise. They dug down and found a big hole. That’s a problem. And another hole! The architect is called Mr Bodger. What could possibly go wrong? Base layer of concrete, then insulation. No heating required. Six times the insulation used in a normal house. Next layer is waterproof layer. Leaks would be catastrophic as there’s no way of repairing it once you’ve buried a house. They are just filling the holes in with earth that they dug up from somewhere else. 76 tonnes of concrete. 300mm base layer. House weighs 500 tonnes - two and a half times a normal house. Big ol’ brick things for the walls that Kevin McCloud couldn’t even pick up they were so heavy. Lots of steel and concrete in the walls to withstand horizontal pressure from the earth. Kevin finally uses the word “bunker.” Woohoo! Sheep! Internal walls also made from concrete. She’s not doing very well on the eco side of things, but concrete is the only way. It’s raining. Quite a lot. Kevin says building an underground house is a bit like building a swimming pool, except you’re trying to keep the water out. The sides are being waterproofed the same as the base was. Something about bitumen and sticky back plastic.

Lukeh wrote an excellent post yesterday to celebrate the 101st blog post on his site, and as you can imagine, he went for a Room 101 feel. Lukeh’s three choices to go into Room 101 were Facebook, buses and clubbing. I pretty much agree with all of that, but given the option to choose some hateful items of my own, I couldn’t resist. First, let Lukeh explain: Then of course, there’s the evolution of this idea of a torture room [from the novel 1984] thanks to the famous and very good BBC show named, of course, Room 101. The idea behind the show was to try and send your absolute worst pet peeves and things you greatly dislike into Room 101 and to be banished forever.

Thus the series comes to an end - three episodes is clearly not enough, but at the same time, I’m not sure I’d want thirteen or so of them either. Suddenly, all that talk about Watson’s blog and Sherlock’s website is actually impacting on the story. It starts to make sense why they actually exist. I was worried that it might be a bit too inclusive, though. I like the additional information but you shouldn’t have to read them to get it. They were careful, and I think they erred on the side of caution in this case, but it’s a fine line.

My dad sent me a link to this video, in which a man saw some birds sitting on an electric line and wondered what they would sound like as musical notes. Sounds weird, but it’s kinda intriguing. And of course, it’s very fitting with this week’s header.

Ah, the difficult second album. I’ve seen plenty of people slating this episode, and I’ll be honest, I’m almost right there with them. I lost track of the story mid-way through but I wondered whether this was my fault more than anything else. I’ve watched it twice now, and I do think the underlying story was pretty simple but it is very dressed up and quite confusing.

The BBC played a risky game with this short series. Aimed very directly at the people that love Doctor Who, they built it up to be something enormous. Steven Moffatt spent a lot of time raving about it on Twitter, and between him and Mark Gatiss, interviews, blog posts and adverts, it was hard to escape from the glare of the descending Sherlock. When it finally arrived, it turns out, the risk was absolutely worth it. Written to perfection, with a fine story and strong (as ever) dialogue, plus two extremely well-chosen actors in place, it’s hard to see where this episode could have been improved upon.

Recently, we found ourselves meeting up with some F1 fans - families of weary parents and gadget-hungry children - and we managed to sell several iPads to them. The kids just loved the iPad, whereas the parents were keen on the F1 Timing App - and it is pretty revolutionary. Selling the iPad is actually really easy to do. My mother is a notorious technophobe, but I left her alone with an iPad for five minutes, and she loved it.

There are lots of things the internet is good for, but handing over control of your life to internet users for a year would never have struck me as one of them. The newest show on Revision 3 is called Dan 3.0 and it features Dan as he takes a year out of his normal schedule to do what the people on the internet tell him. It’s a strange idea, but from what I can see, it’s full of promise. It’s kind of like a video version of something Dave Gorman or Danny Wallace would do. (Must be something to do with the letter D!)

The fabulous Alex pointed me in the direction of a site called Pencil Talk, and I love it. It does exactly what you would expect, looks at pencils from all over the world and reviews how they look and how they write. I don’t have much else to say, the pencils speak for themselves! It’s nice to have some stationery thoughts to blog about since the end of Stationery Corner. I really should do another Card Week.

Hadrian’s Wall is quite confusing. It’s a big long wall, obviously, but I wasn’t sure if just seeing it counted as part of the alphabet, as most of the visitor spots are Roman forts that come under another name. To combat this, I chose the Housesteads Roman Fort. Win-win! To get there, I had to travel along the amazing Roman roads. You know, you drive along a straight road and you joke about it being one of them Roman roads. They’re nothing like the roads running parallel with Hadrian’s wall. They are as straight as an arrow, and so incredibly bumpy, up and down, just like Postman Pat in the opening sequence. Anyway, suffice to say, it was so much fun that I almost missed the Housesteads Fort. From the road, it is just a carpark with a little hut selling ice creams.

I stumbled upon these brushes of electric poles, wires and birds. It seemed like such an odd combination that I instantly downloaded them to play around with. Turns out it was a lot of fun, particularly when you had tiny wires and enormous birds. Of course, I had to get a bit more sensible with proportions for the finished product, and I hope I got it right. The text was a real nightmare. I started out with a wibbly wobbly thing but I didn’t feel like it worked properly. It looked something like this.

So, this was not an easy film to watch by any stretch, but I liked it. I learnt some things, and I was proud when I was following the story (not so proud when I wasn’t). Mr C said he was disappointed he couldn’t play the ‘who’s that, what have they been in’ game, but I think that added to the film a bit. Less distracting. I want to read the book it was loosely based on, but it’s not available on the Kindle. Boo.

In the ongoing saga of Montagny versus Superleague, it looks as though our favourite Frenchman is still not happy, particularly after events at Brands Hatch this weekend. In this week’s Autosport magazine (available digitally here), they suggest that the team behind the football name Barazi-Epsilon gave priority to Tristan Gommendy when it came to pitstops. Franck said: We had good pace here, we were fast, but I think we gave away a podium finish at least. I like the series, I like the cars but I’m quite upset again with the team. I was screaming at them to let me pit, but it was a big mess and lack of communication.

This really was a terrible, terrible film. The redeeming features though: lots of famous people so good fun to see how they all interacted with each other. Quite amusing consuming wine and guessing what was going to happen in each of the relationships. We were right as much as we were wrong. That one surprise at the end was good. You couldn’t pay me to watch this again but I don’t necessarily want my two hours back.

Yes! Jude is out of the way. The only real problem this story had, aside from the ongoing annoyances at David putting his size fifteen wellies in it every step of the way, is that it was so obvious from the start. Jude was older, not that bothered, pretty darn lazy, whilst Pip - although head over heels in love - was none of these things. Her friend Izzy put it best, suggesting that when Pip was with Jude, she was not a particularly nice person. Thank goodness that she has gone back to counting grass and sizing up cows. I find it slightly odd that she would return so quickly to the bosom of the farmyard, but perhaps she wanted comfort in something familiar.

A while ago, Mr C compiled a list of things you cannot podcast near to, and they are (including but not limited to): near train stations in windy locations anywhere close to police or fire stations next door to noisy neighbours in an owl sanctuary Owls are a surprisingly common problem. A week or so ago, I offered a throwaway comment on Sidepodcast, suggesting if we had the funding, we would build a bunker and never come out. I think that was actually a reaction to some traffic based issues, but the more I think about it, the more this seems like a good idea for noise issues as well.

I read the first of this trilogy and I wasn’t 100% convinced, but the story had me intrigued enough to attempt the second one. It’s quite different but also quite the same. The first half of the book is really just a catch up, seeing what the characters have been up to. The story itself is slow burning, and it isn’t until about halfway through that it really starts to kick in. These bits are quite similar to the first.

It’s time for our next set of headers to appear (although technically this should have gone up yesterday - shhh). This first one was never intended to be a header, I was just messing around with the original photo, taken in Gretna Green. It’s silly, and it won’t win any design prizes, but I like it. Made with: Pixelmator Original photo: Welcome to Gretna Green Filters: Sepia colour, small amount of noise Font: Helvetica

As we established, Franck was back in the car for Girondins de Bordeaux for the Brands Hatch weekend, although we still don’t know where or why he went away for round 6. Maybe he just needed a rest. I didn’t get to see any of the action, apart from a few videos of the terrible crash for Chris van der Drift that overshadowed the entire day. It was an awful accident but he appears to have escaped with relatively minor injuries - a broken ankle and the like. Hope he recovers quickly.

I read quite a lot of thriller/action/crime kind of books, but I didn’t really like this one. When it came down to it, the underlying story was quite good, but the beat of the story, the way it flowed didn’t resonate with me, and there were several things about it that I really didn’t like.

It’s Sherlock crazy at the moment, with the film being excellent, and the new series seemingly very popular as well. I thought I was doing the right thing and starting at the beginning of the Sherlock adventures, but it turns out there are short stories I have missed. I’m annoyed, but even so, I enjoyed the book.