Finished Reading "The Rosie Project"

I know its not on my list but it is relevant for a really good reason.  I have three books on my list:

Middlemarch
War and Peace
Lolita

All excellent pieces of literature and all have been sitting on my book shelf, staring at me, for some time.  I have started to read both War and Peace (really struggling it is so boring - sorry to any fans!) and Lolita (a bit less boring, well written, but again I am struggling to become hooked enough to keep picking it up).

I am not usually a fan of what I would call "beach fiction".  My daughter bought "The Rosie Project", possibly because her name is Rosie, but for whatever reason she read it and quite enjoyed it so I borrowed it for my own holiday. 

What you need to know is that I have what I would describe as a mild(ish) form of ADD, that is Attention Deficit Disorder.  Note the omission of the often included "H" for hyperactivity.  I wouldn't describe myself as hyperactive.

This unfortunately means that I struggle to stick to things like hobbies or books, or anything else that calls for any kind of long term commitment.  Happily this does not apply to my marriage which is the exception to prove the rule!

Because of all this is it quite remarkable that I have just finished reading this book, and what's more I actually enjoyed it.  I started it this week expecting it to be just another example of "chic lit" but I was pleasantly surprised.  I had put off beginning it but, on the plane back from Turkey, I saw a man (with his female partner) reading it.  I was intrigued; obviously it had to be a bit more than I was expecting - OK accuse me of being sexist I don't care!

The main character in the book reminded me of Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory" and I think, for mainly this reason, it will be a book both men and women will enjoy.  It certainly made me laugh out loud on several occasions.  So, if you get a chance, read it - you might just enjoy it yourself!

Break a World Record

For those of you that don't know, Rainbows, in Loughborough,  is the East Midlands’ only hospice for children and young people, Rainbows is a place where life-limited children and their families can find care and support.

It is a local charity for us here and is one that we often raise money for both personally and professionally.

This year is its 20th anniversary and to celebrate the amazing folks at Rainbows are trying to create the world's biggest rainbow made from selfies.   They want us all to take part.  I have taken my photo and submitted it - see below - and you can see that I chose the colour green. 

This is something we  can all do and I have posted the link here to take you straight through to more information.  You can post your own photo on the Rainbows page on Facebook or on their Twitter feed using #RainbowsSelfie.   The more people that take part, the easier it will be to break that world record and you will be part of it too!

http://www.rainbows.co.uk/wp-content/cache/page_enhanced/www.rainbows.co.uk/birthdayrainbow/_index.html_gzip

Message in a Bottle

So this was the plan - go somewhere a long way from here,  write a message,  put it in a bottle, chuck it overboard, done; but it didn't quite work out that way.  I thought the Marmaris to Rhodes ferry would be perfect - open sea between Turkey and a Greek island - what could go wrong?  Let me tell you that what could go wrong is very rough seas and lots of sea sickness.

Unfortunately, because it was rough, we were confined to our seats and my seat was inside and downstairs (I'm sure there is a technical term for downstairs in a boat but I have no idea what it is!).  All I could see was the porthole, and the horizon appearing and disappearing.  It wasn't long until my hand was going up in the air requesting a sick bag.  All you could see and hear was people throwing up which, when you have a problem with travel sickness yourself, is not ideal.

The crew, of course, thought it was hilarious, even when one of them ended up with vomit all down the front of his lovely polo shirt. 

Thankfully I managed to retain the contents of my stomach and went on to enjoy a wonderful day wandering the winding narrow streets of Rhodes old town.  The story on the way back to our resort was pretty much the same, however, and the message, snuggly ensconced in the plastic water bottle, remained in my beach bag.

So it didn't quite work out as planned, but the following day plan B took shape and the bottle was safely dispatched into the Aegean Sea via a Kayak loaned from the hotel.

Lets hope it travels far and that I can report to you in due course with regard to its destination.  Bon Voyage little bottle!

Letter to Someone Famous

Two letters are written and are about to go into the post box.  One is to Kirstie Allsopp and one is to Paul O'Grady.  I've sent them to their management companies, lets hope they a. receive them, b. read them and c. reply!

I chose Kirstie and Paul because I love both of their personalities and enjoy their programmes.  In the letters I told them about this blog and I sent them both a photo. I sent Kirstie a picture of my dresser full of 1970s Denby pottery (amongst other things) and I sent Paul a picture of my dogs Arnold and Rufus on the beach. 

Wouldn't it be great if they log in to the blog and post a message as their reply - watch this space!

1,000 Page Views

I've just hit 1,000 page views on my blog - thank you guys,  although it is probably just ten of you looking at it over and over again!  Anyway, I'm really chuffed that there has been so much interest and it keeps me on track with my list of things to do.

Once again, may thanks!

Vin de la maison de poissons

Today is the day - bottling the wine  It has been settling in the demi-johns for the past six months and now will enter a further six-month period laying down in bottles and hopefully ageing beautifully.  We already have this years' batch of grapes developing on the vine just outside the kitchen and it is with a great sense of satisfaction that we are now at this stage with our first batch. 

We have bottled 12 in total - a whole case from our own grapes!  We have re-used some bottles - sterilised of course (you can probably see that from the photo) - but I do have plans  for printing our own labels to put on them.  If we actually get to that stage, you'll be the first to know!

Cheers!

(By the way that is "wine from the house of Fish" for those of you that, like me, don't speak any French - thanks Google translate)