Friday 31 January 2014

Good day and Rangers beat the Islanders again

It was a good day at work today. I had felt like WFH but it's lucky I didn't as I was the only manager in. Everyone else had either already planned to WFH or had to at the last minute. Saying that it's no big deal as we never really have to make an "management decisions" as such anyway which is a relief. Day was fairly productive though which can never be bad!

Following on from their close game in the Stadium Series the New York Rangers were back at Madison Square Garden to face New York Islanders once again. This game was not a disappointment. Rangers took the early lead and ended the first period 1 - 0. The Islanders than mounted a come back in the second period which ended tied at 1 - 1. The Rangers then stepped things up a gear in the third period and were 3 - 1 up after fifteen minutes. The icing on the cake though was an almost full ice empty net goal which cross the line with one second to go. It was good to keep the winning streak going and even better to take down the Islanders 4 - 1.

Thursday 30 January 2014

Upcoming movies and TV series

Though it was about time I ran some previews of upcoming movies and TV shows that have caught my attention.

ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
A romance vampire story that I could possible actually believe in. This looks pretty good.
Set against the desolation of the once-vibrant cities of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction the world is going, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured at least several centuries, but their debauched, romantic idyll is soon disrupted by the woman's wild and uncontrollable younger sister. Can these wise, but fragile, outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them?


300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE
I enjoyed the first 300 film and this looks to be a good action film. Based on Frank Miller's latest graphic novel Xerxes, and told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster 300, this new chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefield - on the sea - as Greek general Themistokles attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. This film pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes, and Artemesia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.


MALEFICENT
The untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the 1959 classic "Sleeping Beauty." A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman with stunning black wings, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army of humans threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land's fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal - an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the king of the humans and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom - and to Maleficent's true happiness as well.


FROM DUSK TIL DAWN: THE SERIES
Based on the thrill-ride film, the supernatural crime saga is centered around bank robber Seth Gecko (D.J. Cotrona) and his violent, unpredictable brother, Richard "Richie" Gecko (Zane Holtz), who are wanted by the FBI and Texas Rangers Earl McGraw (Don Johnson) and Freddie Gonzalez (Jesse Garcia) after a bank heist leaves several people dead.


GAME OF THRONES
If you haven't seen Game Of Thrones before then you have until 6th April to catch up with the first three seasons. Can't wait for this one to start up again!

Wednesday 29 January 2014

CM Punk goes AWOL and Rangers sweep the Stadium Series

It was a day for sports news. First off was the shocking revelation that CM Punk had walked on WWE even though his contract doesn't end until July. Rumours were rife but the upshot seemed to be that he wasn't very happy about Batista coming in, winning the Royal Rumble and getting a title shot at Wrestlemania (see my blog on Monday about the Royal (g)Rumble where I mention the same thing). Whilst it could be that the whole thing is a work it is currently believed that Punk was genuinely pissed off and has had enough. Now the wait will begin to see if he will return at all before his contract expires or if that is it. I would be very sad to see his career in the WWE end on a sour note after the excellent service he has given the company including continuing to wrestle when he is carrying injuries and heading for a burnout. Interesting to see what happens next!

Later that evening the New York Rangers returned to the New York Yankees Stadium to take on the New York Islanders. Can you spot a theme here? LOL Having humped the Devils 7 - 3 on Sunday I had high hopes for this game. It weas wasn't quite the barnstormer I had hoped for though. The first period ended 0 - 0 with low shots on goal. 18:33 into the second period and the Islanders made it 0 - 1 and I started to fear the worst. Fortunately I needn't have worried and at 19:13 the Rangers pulled one back to end the second period 1- 1. It was everything to play for in the third but it was the Islanders that came out hungrier. Thankfully though the Rangers went 2 - 1 ahead after 4:36. The Rangers then managed to fend off a persistant Islanders assault and ended the game winners at 2 - 1. Phew, that one was a little close for comfort.

(AP Photo - Kathy Willens)

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Exciting sci-fi visuals, offer on Pam's flat and twice Bitten (now shy)

There were a couple of exciting sci-fi visuals revealed today to get my juices flowing.
1) Lucasfilm and Disney revealed a new character for their Rebels animated series. C1-10P (aka Chopper) is a a lazy, cranky (if ultimately good-hearted) astromech droid.


2) Peter Capaldi's Dr. Who outfit was revealed todayday and I approve:

We got a call this evening saying that someone had viewed Pam's flat yesterday and that they were making an offer. We gathered our heads to discuss things and it was decided that the offer should be accepted as there was no chain and it was a cash in the bank deal. The estate then asked us if we were prepared to let him haggle. We said yes and the next thing we knew there was a significantly higher offer which of course was accepted. Now we wait for formal paperwork to come through and then hopefully the wheels will be in motion to complete the sale in a short period of time.

Leanne came over for the evening to talk Sensoma business. Plans for capturing data, information for press releases and ideas for the new website were all mulled over. It was all very productive.

Sam made a delicious stir fry for dinner and then we watched Grimm. It's getting really good and it's so frustrating when a show ends and you have to wait another week for the next episode.

Sadly this was not the case with Bitten. The first episode showed promise but the second was pretty awful. Lots of unnecessary sex and very little plot or exploring of the characters. Add to them some not so great acting and poor special effects and it lost it's appeal very quickly. Toni said that the book was actually quite good but in the case of the TV show it is a firm twice bitten, now we are most definitely shy. Shying away that is!

Herbal teas and Boston Bruins v Florida Panthers ended the day. The Bruins were on fire and banged in four before the Panthers could answer. Four minutes into the third the Panthers made it 2 - 4 on the power play. Five minutes later and Bruins had increased their lead to 5 - 2. Just to make sure the Bruins notched up another one to make it 6 - 2 with 2:09 left to play and an impressive win!


Monday 27 January 2014

WWE Royal (g)Rumble

Tonight we watched the WWE Royal Rumble, the (g) in the title will become apparent soon! This was one of the worst PPVs that I've seen in a while. The company just seem to have lost the plot, we had most of it on fast forward it was that bad!

Bryan v Wyatt was a reasonable match that served to build on Bryan's popularity and hopefully that will see the end of that story. Bryan needs to be allowed to match up with other technical wrestlers so that his skills are utilised properly.

Brock Lesnar v Big Show was a snooze fest. Lesnar cheap shotting before the bell was just shit. Two large men knocking lumps out of each other was just not fun to watch. I was impressed with Lesnar hitting the F-5 on Big Show which at least meant the match was over.

Randy Orton v John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship was also a bit of snooze. Cena can't really wrestle that well and while Orton might be a reasonable wrestler he just isn't good enough to carry Cena to make a match good. The only fun part was the endless failed finishing manoeuvres and listening to the crowd chant for Daniel Bryan. It was a screwy finish with the Wyatt family getting involved but for me it was the lesser of two evils with Orton winning. I only say this as I dislike Cena more! Waste of a championship match that was!

The Royal Rumble itself was OK. Roman Reigns was a real power house with a record breaking twelve eliminations so I am expecting to see big things from him soon as The Shield starts to disintegrate.It was great to see Kevin Nash put in an appearance. Dolph Ziggler got a great crowd reception which was nice to see as he also seems to have been overlooked by the WWE of late. Big thumbs up to CM Punk for lasting the longest. Was gutted that Batista won. He's only been back for a few weeks and this was his first proper match and yet he goes and gets the big prize and Wrestlemania championship match. Whatever happened to at least trying to earn your way back up the ranks? Instead people like Ziggler and Bryan will once again be standing in the wings while the big muscle heads are faffing about at the top!

Royal Rumble? Royal (g)Rumble!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Sunday 26 January 2014

Lazy day, roast dinner and Rangers win first Stadium Series game

It was a lazy day today. We didn't get up until twelve which was nice! The plan was to do not a lot and we succeeded spectacularly! Toni prepared a lovely chicken roast dinner was nomalicious.

The evening was mainly spent watch New York Rangers take on New Jersey Devils in the first of two Stadium Series games. The New York Yankees baseball stadium was converted into an ice rink for this game. They went from this:

To this:

The game started badly with the Devils taking a 0 - 1 lead. Rangers then equalised but ended up trailing  2 - 3 at the end of the first period. Issue for the players in the first period was glare (which delayed the start of the game by thirty minutes). Things improved for the Rangers in the second as they went on a scoring spree and banged in four to end the period 6 - 3. Issue for players in the second period was a heavy snow fall throughout. Devils then swapped out goalie Brodeur for Schneider for the third period. This was a slow period due it getting colder. Rangers made it 7 - 3 after converting a penalty shot (that should have been) but I wasn't complaining. Both teams seemed liked they just wanted it all to end and the Devils just couldn't build up any real offense. The game ended with a very nice 7 - 3 return to winning ways for the New York Rangers.

We finished the night off in hockey style by watching The Might Ducks. By some strange twist of fate/luck Toni had never seen it so it was time to fix that! I still enjoy it so much even though it is very silly!

Saturday 25 January 2014

All One Tribe (Sitting With The Ancestors) at Wicca Moon

It was off to Wicca Moon today for Toni and I armed with drums and rattles. We were attending their All One Tribe (Sitting With The Ancestors) workshop. We had amazing time. There was drumming, animal totems, spirit guides and a search for our animal archetypes all wrapped up in an amazing shamanic journey.

Some of what we were doing today was a continuation of things we have already been exploring. My first experience of animal totems involved a butterfly. I had been expecting this again but today I was introduced to a crow. My butterfly didn't remain absent for long though as it made a surprise return as my animal archetype. I guess there was some reinforcement and confirmation going on there! We then did a meditation and went on a journey to view ley lines around the country/world. What an amazing experience that was!

Friday 24 January 2014

The Beast is dead

So today we had the diagnosis on The Beast after our breakdown last Sunday. It wasn't good. The upshot was that unless we wanted to spend an obscene amount of money there was no coming back. We had a warranty policy but the mechanic basically said that it would cost us at least £1,000 to get a full investigation done (which we would have to pay ourselves) and then there was no guarantee that the insurance company would agree to have any work done afterwards as it was going to be expensive. We loved The Beast and this made Toni and I very say. Fucksocks is all we had to say to that! The only plus side is that we might be able to get a little money selling bits of it off for parts. The quest is now on to try and find a suitable replacement.

Thursday 23 January 2014

Doing what makes me tick and another Rangers loss

Having survived my boundary pushing yesterday it was a piece of cake rolling up to work in a similar blouse today. It's so nice just being able to do what makes me tick!  It was a good day at work too with me finally polishing off my guide to using JIRA which will be used by all those working on/with CF.

We were on the late shift in the evening as we stayed up to watch the New York Rangers v St. Louis Blues. This was a really close game but an equally frustrating one too. St. Louis went 1 - 0 up in the first period and New York managed to make it 1 - 1 in the second. I was hopeful in the third until  St. Louis made it 2 - 1. Ranger did their best to try and equalise but sadly they just couldn't get things done even with the extra skater. Ho hum, another loss but not a disaster as the Rangers played still played pretty well. Hoping for a win on Sunday!

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Boundary pushing

I pushed some of my own boundaries today. Usually I wear very simple blouses to the office. Today I went for something a little more glamourous! I did end up wearing my jacket for the first hour of the day but after that the jacket was off. Job done, don't know why I worried really. Will make things easier in future ;)

- Posted using BlogPress on my iPhone

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Tuesday 21 January 2014

WFH, new blouse, car update, Black Sails, Musketeers and Rangers choke to Islanders

Working from home day today. Pam sounds like she might be coming down with some form of cough and Toni was off sick again today as well. I'm hoping that I don't get whatever it is that is doing the rounds.  It was a very unremarkable working day that was also very quiet as not a lot of work is coming through as we are reaching the end of the current sprint. I did get to rock one of new blouses today which was cool. Might have to roll these into the office!

Must learn to try and taker better selfies! LOL

I even managed to have a lunch break today (which doesn't usually happen when I WFH). Leanne came round with Indie to see Pam and we chatted about where Sensoma is going and plans for the future.

We looked into our warranty policy for The Beast and it looks like we should be covered for the things that we suspect are wrong. The only downside is that first we have to pay for the investigation to be done to get the diagnosis and repair quote. Still, if that's the only bit that we have to pay for then that is a result! All being well it is going in for diagnostics on Thursday so we'll have a better idea what's happening then.

It was another lazy dinner today with Sam ordering us kebabs. I'm not complaining although we should probably try and get back to cooking properly again soon as these luxury dinners don't do much good for the old waist line!

We checked out two new TV shows today.

Black Sails
The series plot is simple: During the Golden Age of Piracy, the feared Captain Flint brings on a younger crew member as they fight for the survival of New Providence Island. This was a slow starting first episode and it was sad that Starz felt the need to try and wedge the story in between various sex scenes. Game Of Thrones might have got away with it but it doesn't mean we need it in other series. The show does have some potential and if they concentrate more on swashbuckling rather rather than nookie it could be a winner. It does of course have stuff competition as you can't help but use Pirates Of The Caribbean as a point of reference. A slightly disappointing start for a show that initially had me excited but hopefully it will find its course.



The Musketeers
This is a story that should need no introduction. Set in 1630 Paris, D'Artagan, Athos , Aramis and Porthos fight for what is just and are heroes in the truest and most abiding sense – men we can trust and believe in to do the right thing regardless of personal risk. Now this is what a TV show should be like. Fun and not taking itself too seriously while delivering a story you can follow. It kind of has that tongue in cheek feel that both Merlin and Atlantis have. I have a feeling this one will be good to watch.



Late night madness kicked in again as we watched New York Rangers take on the New York Islanders. This was a must win game that started off very well with the Rangers dominating the first period and taking a 2 - 1 lead. The second period improved things as the Rangers went 3 - 1 up only for the Islanders to level things up to 3 - 3. The Rangers had a poor start to the third period and I started to worry as they were playing like they had at the start of the season. With ten minutes left in the third it was still tied at 3 - 3. Islanders went 3 - 4 up with a power play goal with 4:38 remaining. Talbot came off for the 6 on 5 but with six seconds left the Islanders sealed the win with an empty netter and the Rangers losing 3 - 5. Fucksocks!


 

Monday 20 January 2014

Welcome to the house of lurgs

After a fun packed Sunday (!!!!) it was time to get up early and get back to work again! It was a reasonable but quite slow day at work. Not even the weekly puppet show was able to spoil things which made a change!

Toni had been really ill all day and she was crashed out when Sam and I got home. As a result of this pizza and Chinese was ordered to make things easier. Toni did surface later on to eat as she was feeling slightly more alive.

We caught up with the Rangers game from last night and watched another stellar performance as they downed Washington Capitals 4 - 1. I really hope they can keep this run of good form going as staying up until silly o'clock is so much easier when they are playing well, even if they lose.

Sunday 19 January 2014

Bexhill trip 2, beautiful sky and a return journey breakdown

It was back to Bexhill-on-Sea again today although this time nowhere near as early thank goodness. This time we were back down to pack up some smaller items that we could transport ourselves and also so that Pam could see a couple of her old friends as well.  There's so much stuff that we would like to take back but space is not infinite so tough decisions are having to be made. Once Pam had seen Carol and Frank (and Toni and I had collected up a load of stuff) we decided to pop out for something to eat.

This gorgeous sky greeted us:
La Trattoria wasn't open today so we had to settle for The Italian Way instead. The food was really good but not quite to the excellent standard of La Trattoria. 

After noms it was time to head back. We popped back to the flat and then loaded up the car before hitting the road. As we were driving we could hear a rattling sound that appeared to be coming from the engine. About half way back the check engine light came on and we started losing power. Fortunately we were on top of BP Blue Boys services so we pulled in there and called up Green Flag.

We had to wait an hour for someone to turn up and as soon as he turned the engine on he gave us the grim news that it was terminal. Deep joy, more money to have to spend to get The Beast back on the road again as we got the impression it is NOT going to be a cheap job. We then had to wait around 45 minutes for a flat bed truck to arrive so we bought a round of coffee and chatted with the Green Flag guy until it turned up. It was then time to load up ready for the drive back.

Toni and Pam were quite settled in the back:

We finally made it home much much later than planned and then had to unload everything. Green Flag did give excellent service I have to say and they treated us very well so big thumbs up to them! Once unloaded we had a quick cup of tea before hitting the pit feeling somewhat stressed and knackered.



Saturday 18 January 2014

Bexhill trip 1, Empire and an amazing Rangers win

We had to get up hellishly early today. 06:00 on a Saturday is just not on! The reason for this crazy activity was having to race down to Bexhill-on-Sea to meet a removal firm who were bringing a few pieces of furniture back from her flat for us (or other members of the family). We had to detour to Tesco to get some snacks and fill up with fuel. While there I spotted something that would be the ultimate mobile home for Sam!
Despite leaving slightly later than planned we whizzed down there and were only a few minutes late.

The removal firm made short work of their task and before we had a chance to draw breath it was time to go back home again! I have nicknamed Pam's room the trash compactor as it gets smaller as we bring more stuff over for her! Saying that it is looking quite cosy now.

After the furniture lugging we took some time out and watched The Empire Strikes Back. This still remains one of my favourite Star Wars films and I never get tired of watching it. Then again, I never get tired of watched any of them *grin*

The day ended perfectly with New York Rangers completely dominating Ottawa Senators and grabbing an impressive 4 - 1 away victory.


Friday 17 January 2014

Another good day and feeling under the weather

Well it was another good at work today. I really must stop doing this! LOL The icing on the cake was Sam getting to leave early despite being on the later shift so the working day ended perfectly.

I had been feeling a little under the weather during the day which seemed to get a little worse as the evening wore on. We watched a little Big Bang Theory before I had to bail out and have a bath. I must have been feeling unwell as I only ever have showers as a rule, baths are for when I am feeling MEH. Bubbles and candles were on hand and I crashed out and was woken up by Toni an hour later. I had planned to relax and read for a bit but that wasn't happening :o)

Thursday 16 January 2014

Great day, Indian, TV catch up and a Rangers win!

Today was a great day. Lots of things got done, things felt really productive and I had a great meeting that had me feeling more positive than ever. Couple that with someone else getting some potentially great news and I'm glad that I work where I do. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I'll just try and ignore the distractions that keep popping up from time to time en route!

Indian was ordered for dinner as the cook for tonight had forgotten to get anything out to prepare (and no it was Toni or I). Nobody was complaining though! We had planned on starting to watch new series Helix but it didn't seem appropriate for Gemima so we watched an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and then caught up with American Horror Story.

Toni set to work on finishing her latest craft piece and we watched New York Rangers v Detroit Red Wings. This was a fast paced end to end game between two Original Six teams. Both goalies were on fire and it was 0 - 0 at the end of the second period. With 05:58 left in the third Mats Zuccarello made it 1 - 0 to the Rangers. Then it was clench the butt cheeks time. Pulled goalie for Detroit wasn't enough and the Rangers emerged victorious 1- 0! PHEW!




Wednesday 15 January 2014

The Wolf Of Wall Street

No this isn't a grumble about work, it's a quick review of the film The Wolf Of Wall Street! The film is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

I'll start off with the first warning, it's a LONG film. Unnecessarily long in my opinion. The Wolf Of Wall Street turns in at 180 minutes. We actually had to watch it in two sessions, not sure I could have done it one hit. Much of the film is used to show the extravagance of Belfort's cocaine and hookers lifestyle with the real plot slotted in between. It doesn't take long to work out that it really was a lifestyle so it probably wasn't necessary to film so many variations of it LOL

It's quite a good film and Leonardo DiCaprio is the best I've ever seen him in the lead role of Jordan Belfort. If you dislike bankers, brokers and their ilk before you watch this, you'll be hating them by the end of it. It's definitely worth seeing if you can handle the length (oh matron)



Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Mental day and Rangers lose

Today has been absolutely mental. It's been non-stop! Although I did manage to make myself a sandwich and eat at my desk I didn't really have a break and pretty much worked for ten and a half hours straight. Oh the things we have to endure to keep clients and consultants happy! I don't really mind that much as I quite enjoy being at the sharp end having to do troubleshooting and helping out. It certainly made a welcome change from the norm!

Late finish meant a late dinner with delicious fajitas lovingly prepared by Sam. We started watching The Wolf Of Wall Street not having realised that it was a three hour film. We had to stop to due to upcoming hockey so a full report will follow tomorrow when we've seen it all.

Finished the day off with New York Rangers v Tampa Bay Lightning. Not long ago I had made the decision not to keep staying up to watch these games due to the inconsistent play of the Rangers but now they seem to have found their form I just have to watch again LOL. A reasonable start had the Rangers 1 - 0 up at the end of the first period. It should have been more but I'll settle for that! Within two minutes of the second starting it was 1 - 1 and then nine seconds later the Lightning were leading 2 - 1. Second period was all Lightning and ended 2 - 1. Sadly the Rangers couldn't get the job done in the third and they ended up losing 1 - 2. It was a good game they just faced a really good goalie.

Monday 13 January 2014

Good day, rain, Rangers win, Dolmen stuff, Bitten & True Detective

In a bizarre turn of events I actually managed to get up without a struggle this morning. I guess it is possible that the early night had something to do with it (yes we did finally manage one). Had a reasonable day, lots of things getting done and another set of issues to troubleshoot. Highlight of the day was the suggestion that some of these should be ordered before one of our meetings (and no it wasn't me for once LOL)

The skies opened on the way home and rain fell. LOTS of rain of rain fell. My supposedly waterproof German army issue jacket wasn't quite as waterproof as was claimed. Saying that it was only slightly damp in the odd place and it kept me well protected so I am not complaining. 

After dinner I caught up with the New York Rangers v Philadelphia Flyers game from last night. Oh what a game! Rangers were 3 - 0 up at the end of the first. They were on fire, a revitalised team that seem to have finally found their stride. At the end of the second period the Rangers were leading 4 - 0! Shut out was denied with 13:11 as Flyers scored on the power play. Flyers turned things up a bit for the remainder of the period but Rangers held firm and emerged on a roll with a 4 -1 victory.

Spent some time doing some admin type work for the Dolmen Grove Essex Moot in helping to plan topics for future talks as well as canvassing for volunteers who might be interested in giving those talks. It's all exciting stuff for us as we are starting to see the group grow already. 

The evening finished up with Toni and I eating meringues and watching the first episode of Bitten. Based on the New York Times best-selling Women of the Otherworld novels by Kelley Armstrong, Bitten is an emotionally charged supernatural thriller starring Laura Vandervoort (Smallville, Ted) as Elena Michaels, the lone female werewolf in existence. Desperate to escape both a world she never wanted to be part of and the man who turned her into a werewolf, Elena has abandoned her Pack and taken refuge in a new city. There, she works as a photographer and hides her werewolf existence from her new boyfriend. When bodies start turning up in her Pack's backyard, Elena finds herself back at Stonehaven, the werewolves' ancestral domain. Torn between two worlds and two loves, she quickly realizes that - when push comes to shove - she'll stop at nothing to defend her Pack.

The first episode showed promise. It's not a ground breaking show by any means but we've certainly watched a lot worse. We'll give it a few episodes to see how it develops.


This was followed up by the first episode of True Detective. The synopsis is simple: the lives of two detectives, Rust Cohle and Martin Hart, become entangled during a 17-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana.

True Detective also seems to show some promise. The filming style reminded me a lot of Hannibal. As with Bitten it will be interesting to see if True Detective unfolds nicely or collapses on itself.

Sunday 12 January 2014

Dolmen Grove Essex Moot

Well it was off to deepest darkest Essex once again for the first 2014 moot of Dolmen Grove Essex. Although it hasn't been that long since the last one it was lovely to see everyone again. There was another new face present which was great to see. We warmed up the energy with a nice bit of drumming. As usual this wasn't long enough for my liking LOL. Bel then gave a really good talk on pagan parenting. It was very interesting to hear how someone had looked at bringing children up in a pagan environment and how they approached it and have developed things as time went on. Bel was nervous about doing the talk but I thought that she did it really well.



After the talk we then made some plans for our Imbolc Ritual and confirmed the date for the next moot and then we had a chance to socialise and also purchase stuff from people who had brought their wares with them.















Saturday 11 January 2014

Cleaning, landlords, Rishta and a candlelit living room

We got up at a reasonable hour this morning and then blitzed the house from top to bottom. It was so clean, tidy and shiny it was lovely. The reason for this madness? The landlords were coming round to get some stuff out of the loft. We've never met the landlords before (as we use a letting agency) so it we wanted to make a good impression. They were both really lovely people and it was good to have a talk to them about our future plans and theirs too. Thankfully their plans seem to fit with ours so it's all good.

After the visit we took Pam to Rishta for dinner.

When we returned and settled Pam into her room we then brought the living room to life with some beautiful candles and some pagan music.