Itisi

I found this over at Laney’s, who got it from Thursday.

The idea is, I create a list of things which are important to me, or which say a lot about me using the letters of my name. I debated using my full name, but decided to stick with just Kate.

Katherine – it’s my full first name and one I have never liked. Thanks to Katharine Hepburn people have this image of how Katherines should be, and not wishing to conform, I have always felt a bit aggrieved about this. Mind you, not wishing to conform is supposed to be a character trait of Katherines so I can’t win either way.

Antiquity – I love old things. Places, buildings, even people (except for bossy old ladies who try to push in front in the bus queue). One of the things I love about living in this country is the wealth of history that surrounds us, and the way we continue strange customs and traditions simply because we have always done these things. For example, morris dancing, it makes little sense to most onlookers, but people still do it, and I’m glad about that.

Tea – I’m a big fan. Earl Grey is probably my favourite, but I’ll drink most sorts. I like the idea of having tea properly, served in a pot with china cups (it’s true, it does taste better out of china) and with a plate of assorted cakes. Not that I do that very often, if ever.

Earth – I have never wanted to go into space for the sake of exploring (it looks as though it would be cold and quite boring for an extended trip) but I would love to be able to see the Earth from that vantage point. It looks incredible when you see it in photos and film footage, so to see it for real must be even more incredible. And very humbling.

I’m now supposed to tag people but I’ll go along the do it if you want to path.

Currently listening to: Nothing

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Number Five Son has returned from his jaunt to foreign parts. Phew!

It’s been a strange week without him here. The house has seemed so quiet and everyday when it got to 3.15 I kept expecting him to arrive home from school. Anyhoo, he’s back now, and I’ve decided he isn’t going away again until he is at least 47.

More good news: I’m going to this for my birthday – well, it’s for Mr Blog’s birthday too which is 10 days after mine. I’m really looking forward to it! I have seen Alice before, back in the 80s, and his stage show is brilliant. It’s not like a gig, more like theatre and it would be worth going for him alone. Motorhead I have seen twice, also back in the 80s, but I’m guessing they won’t be hugely different this time around, and it will be odd to see Lemmy now that he has grown into his face.

That’s it! Have a nice weekend

Currently listening to: Prayer Before Birth by Stiltzkin (that’s the band, not our cat) Isn’t that the title of a Louis McNeice poem?

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The title says it all but if you don’t know, after 36 hours of labour (well done that girl!) Ally gave birth to a little boy yesterday at 4.45am. Leo Thomas weighed a respectable 8lb 7 oz and both he and his mum are doing well.

Congratulations and hugs to all 3 of you!

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Before I get on with latest entry for Room 101, can I just give a shout out to Pelf who is calling for guest bloggers for her environmental blog, The Giving Hands. I’ve signed up and just posted my first post, but I know quite a few of my regular readers are interested in all things green, so if you would like to contribute, just go here to sign up. She’s very nice, and posting is really simple.

OK, now for Room 101. This week’s entry (as the title suggests) is those annoying programmes about buying houses. If you aren’t at home during the day you might not have seen them, and you don’t know how lucky you are. The idea is some people buy a house. Yes, that’s it. A whole programme following the activities of people buying a house. I was going to say it could only be more boring if they trailed supermarket shoppers as they purchased beans and packs of toilet paper, but to honest that would be more interesting.

Watching people buying a house is not entertainment, it’s not even informative because it’s something most people can figure out for themselves. What generally happens is some house buying person goes to an auction where they pay well over the odds for a dump they have no intention of living in. You see, usually the people buying houses are not buying them for themselves, they are buying to let, so you don’t even get to see a happy family moving into their new home, you just see someone bragging about the size of their portfolio.

I didn’t mind the DIY programmes, I didn’t even mind the DIY programmes featuring people trying to sell houses, but house buying programmes are just Boring and into Room 101 they must go.

To take part in Room 101 and consign life’s little irritations to oblivion go here.

Edited to add: It be Talk Like a Pirate Day – arr so it do.

Currently listening to: Birds, they are very vocal today

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I have finally got around to digging out the book I mentioned in my Booky Meme post the other day. It’s called The Forest of Souls and it’s by Carla Banks, you can see the page on Amazon here.

The blurb on the front says: ‘A tale of psychological suspense in the tradition of Minette Walters’. I don’t know if that is accurate because I haven’t read any of Minette Walters books, but it is a good read, with some interesting twists and turns and a theme that is both topical yet historical. Some parts of the story are told in flashback, which works very well, and I found those sections particularly atmospheric.

This is the review I wrote of it for Amazon:

“An enjoyable read, I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the old Russian fairytales, cleverly reworked to relate the history of certain characters. Good use of research helps to lend an air of authenticity to the novel. My only criticism would be that a couple of loose ends were left dangling at the end, but overall this is an interesting and well written book that is well worth a read.”

If I was awarding marks out of 10, I would say it’s a 7.

I’ve just realised it is ages since I bought a book for myself, I seem to buy them for other people but not me. I have had new books in the meantime, but I haven’t bought them myself. I suppose that works out ok in the long run.

Currently listening to: Not much, it’s pretty quiet for bin day.

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