Miggi's Hell's Kitchen, The Haunted Mansion and Hocus Pocus

We made another trip to Miggi's today for breakfast and it was lovely to get away again for some yummy food. This might be the last one or a while with another lockdown looming. 

We got home with a take away for Sam and we watched the latest episode of Hell's Kitchen. 

A bit of the afternoon was spent in practical mode sorting out some stuff in the bedroom and throwing the vacuum around. Very productive time though.

We then had a nice cup of coffee and hit the Disney+ Halloween collection and decided to give The Haunted Mansion a go as neither of us had seen it. A very silly film starring Eddie Murphy and Terence Stamp that had just about enough in it to make it watchable LOL/ Well I thought it was, Toni was less convinced.

The final piece of our planned Halloween countdown on day thirty one was the Disney classic Hocus Pocus. We all really love this film and it was the perfect way to end our Halloween trail.

Samhain blessings

Samhain blessings to all my friends and family

Day off, Miggi's, The Mandalorian, Sixth Sense and Four In A Bed

Really enjoyed my day off today. Didn't get up until after ten and ignored anything related to work 99.9% of the day. It actually felt like I had a day off. Toni and I went out for a nice breakfast at Miggi's. I then spent a lot of the day reading more Star Wars novels.

The first episode of Season 2 of The Mandalorian dropped today so needless to say we watched that. So glad this is back again! It kicked off really well! So may nice homages to the past. No spoilers here though :)

Halloween countdown day thirty came in the form of Sixth Sense or as I like to call it, Titanic? Huh? you say? Icy dead people I reply. Groan...... you're welcome, no apologies!

The chilled out feeling continued with some car crash TV as we returned to Four In A Bed.

Quiet morning, half day, Turkish lunch, Little Shop Of Horrors and Four In A Bed

Nice quiet morning today which led into me being off for the afternoon which was lovely. Day off tomorrow as well so even more YAY!

Once work was done Toni and I went out for lunch with Ed. We went to a very nice Turkish restaurant and had some lovely food and a good catch up.

Halloween is almost upon us and on day twenty nine of the countdown we watched Little Shop Of Horrors.This little gem certainly stands up as a musical classic! There might have been a bit of singing along!

We finished the day off with some Four In A Bed since it has been a little while since we watched it.

Productive day and Fright Night

Continuing the good news it was a productive day today. Lots of little things got checked off my list and progress was made on major projects so all is good. Just winding down a bit now as I have a half day tomorrow and then I am off until Monday! 

Halloween is almost here and day twenty eight of the countdown was back to the 80s again with that 1985 'horror' classic Fright Night.

Better day, The Witches and Tattoo Fixers

I am pleased to report that today was a much better day, Very busy but stress free and reasonably productive. That was such a relief I can tell you!

Musical delights today came in the form of Genitorturers and Fleisch, industrial goodness.

Halloween countdown day twenty seven came with Anjelica Huston in The Witches,

It will be interested to see what Anne Hathaway's soon to be released reboot will be like.

We finished the night off with a nice cuppa and the last episode of Tattoo Fixers.

F***er of a day and The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit

Well that was an absolute fucker of a day work wise. Stressful, frustrating and a whole lot more. From early morning to late at night.

Thankfully I have an amazing family and they did things to cheer me up. This included watching Curse Of The Were-Rabbit as day twenty six of our Halloween count down. You can't beat a bit of Wallace & Gromit to bring a smile to your face.

Fall back, baking, Tattoo Fixers and Coraline

So the clocks went back last night so when we woke up feeing like it was 08:30 it was actually 07:30! Thankfully nearly all the clocks in our house are now digital so very little manual intervention required.

It was back to baking today and another fantastic batch of rolls for Toni.

A nice cooked breakfast and Hell's Kitchen began the proceedings. We then relaxed for the rest of the day with lots of talking and reading which was a pleasant change from the norm as we usually have the TV on for most of it.

Zoe came round to clean out her rats and to enjoy a roast dinner with us. We watched some Tattoo Fixers together before the food was ready.

Halloween countdown day twenty five was in the form of Coraline.

Early shopping, Miggi's, Hell's Kitchen, steak and Coco

To avoid any silly queues Toni and I headed out early this morning to go to Sainsburys to get in some food supplies for dinner tonight and tomorrow. There were very few people about which was lovely. Before heading home we popped in to Miggi's for a cuppa and a lovely breakfast.

We brought home some food for Sam and then watched the first episode of Season 19 of Hell's Kitchen. We've been waiting ages for this to air again so were delighted to find it has now started.

I then had two take brief time out to some work which thankfully didn't take too long.

Cups of tea, billtong and Four In A Bed helped the afternoon pass in a relaxing manner.

Sam make steak and chips for dinner and we watched Coco on day twenty four of our Halloween Countdown. 

Morning off, Miggi;s, stress, Practical Magic and Tattoo Fixers

I had the morning off today which was very nice. Toni, Sam and I went out to Miggi's for breakfast which set me up nicely for the day. I did some reading and listened to some music before it was back to the grind again. 

The afternoon started well and then promptly went completely tits up and became very stressful! Not that I had any say in what happened but the moral of this story is don't let a key person on a project take two weeks holiday at a critical point unless you are sure they have a deputy to step in (especially when it is the so-called project manager)! *le sigh* Next week is going to be a bit manic I suspect which is not something I am relishing!

Working music was courtesy of German/Norwegian symphonic metallers Leave's Eyes. 

Halloween countdown day twenty three came in the form of Practical Magic. I aways forget how much I enjoy this film. 

Tattoo Fixers closed out our day again.

Good day, more Schenker, Casper and Tattoo Fixers

It was another good day today. Things got done and plans were made and some time off was booked (and other time off juggled). My list of things to do is still pretty long but I can at least see progress and I am not getting stressed out about it. It didn't get a chance to listen to much music today but when I did it was back in Michael Schenker land.

Halloween countdown day twenty two and it was Casper (The Friendly Ghost) from 1995.

It's amazing how well some of the special effects still stand up today considering the technology that was available at the time. 

Tattoo Fixers (Extreme) saw out the rest of the day!

Great day, more Schenker, Ghostbusters and Tattoo Fixers

It was a great day today. I woke up happy, work was productive and there was little stress or drama. Even had time for a bacon break AND lunch today! 

Michael Schenker was in effect again today with an extended play list. There is so much quality material that he has done both solo and in collaborations that I had not head before so this is a great musical journey.

Day twenty of the Halloween countdown came in the form of the Ghostbusters 2016 edition

Also this version of Ghostbusters seems to be very unpopular we love it. It's a great film anyway but is boosted by one of Chris Hemsworth's finest performances,

We were delighted to find that another season of Tattoo Fixers was on Netflix so that was our car crash TV for the night. This time it was the extreme version :) 

Better day, Michael Schenker and ParaNorman

I am pleased to report that today was a much better one. There was still some stress but overall everything was good and I wasn't tearing my hair out. 

Musical accompaniment for the day was more Michael Schenker. I have 41 albums to get through so he will probably be with me all week!

Halloween countdown day twenty and this time we had another animated delight in the form of ParaNorman.

Today can do one, Micheal Schenker and Igor

As Sophie would say, today can go and do one! Well the working day anyway! It's been a somewhat stressful day and this does not please me. Fires, hassle, delays were lined up to just irritate and frustrate me. I ended up having to work a late stint as well just to get things back under control. Today had better be a more relaxed one or I am going to cry and/or fry!

My sanity was kept in check with German guitar legend Michael Schenker! I had really forgotten how good this guy is.

Halloween countdown day nineteen was brought to you by Igor (as opposed to eye-gore LOL)

Baking, Doro, Warlock, reading, Scorpions and Four In A Bed

Up at 8am this morning and straight to the kitchen to whip up this weeks batch of gluten free keto rolls for Toni with Doro and Warlock blasting in my AirPods. I seem to have got my new recipe down to a fine art so let's see how these ones turn out. If these are also a success I might look at sharing the new recipe and steps for making them.

After making a nice cup of coffee I then settled down to reading more of the Star Wars novel A Crash Of Fate while listening to more Doro and Warlock. I really don't make enough time for reading and this is something I should try and rectify.

Simple breakfast of fried egg rolls set us up for a round of Four In A Bed.

Rock video continued following yesterday and today it was Scorpions Moment Of Glory.

It was then back to more Four In A Bed just because!

Early work, Miggi's, nap, Doro, Ghostbusters and Four In A Bed

No rest for the wicked and it was up early this morning to do some work (following on from also having to work last night as well). Thankfully it didn't take me too long to complete things. 

After the work Toni and I jumped in the car and headed out to Miggi's for a lovely breakfast (Sam stayed at home as he was 'cream crackered' after gaming all night LO). It was quite nice to experience the outside world for a short time as I don't get out much these days. That's me done for another couple of weeks now LMFAO.

We returned with a take out breakfast for Sam and then settled down and watch some cat and dog silliness on Youtube. I then proceeded to start falling asleep so went upstairs for nap. I woke up a couple of hours later feeling very refreshed but also slightly confused and out of place. It was all good though.

Spent the afternoon watching Doro - Strong And Proud (30 Years Of Rock And Metal). I first saw Doro Pesch when she was in Warlock at the Wardour Street Marquee Club on the 25th September 1985! I've seen her many times since then and she still puts on an amazing show.

Day seventeen of the Halloween countdown was brought to you by the 1984 classic Ghostbusters. Doesn't really any introduction now does it? LOL

A cup of tea and Four In A Bed rounded things off quite nicely.

Better day, Swedish Hockey League, Young Frankenstein and Four In A Bed

I am pleased to report that today was much better than yesterday. It was very positive and good things were achieved. Things were learned and improvements were made. This I can handle. Music today was provided by The Struts, Engelsstaun and The Dogs D'Amour. I also checked out the new album from Motley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee titled Andro. This was NOT what i had expected. This was not a rock album but a great pop/rap outing. I actually quite enjoyed it.

Exploring the wonders of our new Virgin Media TV box we watched a recording of a Swedish Hockey League game from last night between Linkoping and Djugarden. It's not the NHL but great to be able to watch more ice hockey.

Halloween countdown day sixteen came courtesy of Young Frankenstein, a Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks classic.

There wolf. There castle...... Marty Feldman!

In what is becoming an end of night ritual we were back to Four In A Bed.

What a day! Dark Shadows and Four In A Bed

What a day! Can't really express how I feel about it without breaking into hundreds of expletives!  I am just glad that it is now over so I can relax for a bit. The positive spin on the day was Schwarzer Engel and Blutengel for musical accompaniment,

Day fifteen of Halloween countdown was still in Johnny Depp territory with the criminally underrated Dark Shadows. 

Four In A Bed completed the chill out with a nice cup of tea. Here's hoping tomorrow is a more calm day.

Stressful day, Frankenweenie and Four In A Bed

Today was somewhat stressful. It just seemed to be one thing after another, escalations, problems and so on. I hate days like this as it just means I am just doing management stuff and  don't get to do any real work!

There was some more gothic musical accompaniment today but that was mostly interrupted by a lot of calls and meetings.

On a positive note we had our annual gas inspection today and everything was good so that was a relief.

Day fourteen of the Halloween countdown was back in Tim Burton animation territory, this time in the form of Frankenweenie.

The chill out zone was reached through the power of Four In A Bed! Huzzaf for car crash TV!

Reasonable day, gothic rock and Edward Scissorhands

Today could be described as 'reasonable'. I got a few things done but some interesting snags are appearing hat are requiring further planning and causing a bit of mild frustration. Not thinking outside the box and changing the script at the last minute seems to be our forte at the moment. We'll see where this one goes over the next couple of days.

In the background of all of this was hours and hours more of beautifully dark gothic rock.Bliss it kept me sane.

Day thirteen of the Halloween countdown was another Tim Burton and Johnny Depp classic in the for of Edward Scissorhands. Haven't watched this for ages and it still brings a tear to the eye.

Good day, gothic rock, The Corpse Bride and Four In A Bed

It was a good day today. No major disasters following four client migrations and a major upgrade to a key system. The dry ice was in full effect today as I worked to a gothic rock playlist. Too many artists to mention but all the big names were there (Sisters, Mission, Fields etc) plus some more obscure acts.

Day twelve of the Halloween countdown came in the form of The Corpse Bride.  Another Tim Burton masterpiece.

We finished the day off with some Four In A Bed,

Early work, baking, The Addams Family, The Boys and Addams Family Values

Up early to work today but it didn't take long. Goth music in the form of Grooving In Green helped this along. I had a major baking success this morning, no real tweaks but these have been my best batch yet!

They get a big thumbs up from Toni what was great news for me!

Day eleven of the Halloween countdown kicked off with The Addams Family.

We spent the afternoon in B&B heaven with a nice load of Fouetté's In A Bed.

A gorgeous roast dinner was accompanied by the season finale of The Boys. What a crescendo they had building up for the end of this one! Can't wait for Season 3.

We rounded our day off with Addams Family Values.

Busy morning, new shower, Underworld, Four In A Bed, Squadrons and Underworld Evolution

Busy morning today. Up early, cleaned the bathroom and then did some work before going with Toni for her to get her flu jab. We got back and had breakfast.

Landlord came round to replace the shower so from tomorrow we now have the excitement of being able to use it and have proper showers again rather than the rubber hose shower mixer tap attachment in the bath! This is the next level of excitement after being able to wash up with proper hot water LOL.

Day ten of Halloween countdown started with the classic vampire versus werewolves movie Underworld.

We did a bit of car crash TV with Four In A Bed and then Toni went to have a rest as she was feeling a bit rough after her flu jab. I then caught up with a load of wrestling and then jumped back in the cockpit for a session of Star Wars: Squadrons

Back to the Halloween countdown with the second Underworld film Underworld 

We rounded the night off with another round of Four In A Bed!

Relaxed day, hot water, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Buffy and Lower Decks

Today was thankfully a relaxed and no pressure day which was just as well as I have to work on both Saturday and Sunday.

After noticing the overflow from the water tank in the roof letting out a lot of water and also a lack of hot water (it was warm at best) we called out British Gas to come and investigate. Two issues were quickly identified and fixed and now we have no more overflow issue and piping hot water thoughout, bliss!

Day nine of the Halloween countdown and continuing the Dracula theme it was Bram Stoker's Dracula tonight. Some would argue that this was a definitive take on the classic tale. 

It was a complete coincidence but we also had steak for dinner while we watched it LOL.

We then threw in Buffy The Vampire Slayer season 5 episode 1 for good measure (this was the Buffy v Dracula episode).

We finished the night off with the final episode of Star Trek Lower Decks. Hope we get a second season although Discovery starts up again soon to tide us over.

New laptop, Van Helsing and Four In A Bed.

Today was taken at a nice leisurely pace. There was lots to do but I needed to pace myself or face burnout as I have been working in the evenings and time at weekends too. New laptop was delivered  today and I spent the afternoon setting that up. All good now and ready to roll in earnest tomorrow.

Music for the day was a combination of Roger Waters, Angel, Child's Play and Balaam And The Angel.

Day eight of the Halloween countdown was Van Helsing. Another one of those films that wasn't rated that much but we absolutely love.

Cups of tea and car crash TV ended the evening with a nice bit of Four In A Bed!

 

Busy day, Van Halen and Dracula Untold

Early start today and didn't really stop much. 

I heard the news that Eddie Van Halen had sadly passed today so my music of choice for the morning was a load of Van Halen albums (Van Halen, Van Halen II, Women And Children First, Fair Warning, Diver Down, 1984 and Van Halen III). The man was a legend and he revolutionised guitar playing and influenced so many modern guitarists, 65 is no age at all :(

The afternoon was a combination of overrunning and boring meetings mixed in with Kidd Havok and Shameless

.Day seven of the Halloween countdown was brought to us by Dracula Untold. we really enjoyed this retelling of the classic tale and couldn't understand why it wasn't more popular.

Technology frustration (again) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army

As predicted, the technology frustration continued today. Did some more work with IT to try and resolve my issue but with no success. On the plus side it was decided that they would ship me out a replacement laptop (with a slight upgrade to my current one) so this was good. Just got to wait for it to arrive now and then go through the minor pain of having to set some stuff up again. For the record this was image was more the IT guy rather than me LOL

Day six of the Halloween countdown and it was time for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Loved this sequel and where the franchise was headed and was gutted that Guillermo del Toro didn't get to continue it with a third instalment.

Finished the night off with some Four In A Bed for car crash TV giggle.

Frustrating technology, KISS, Four In A Bed and Sleepy Hollow

Today had been a frustrating day of fighting with my work laptop and trying to work with IT to resolve a 25 minute login problem. Sadly after trying lots of different things we were still no closer to solving it but I was now needing to reinstall a load of applications that we had removed trying to make progress. Tomorrow could well be a frustrating day too LOL I couldn't find this key but I certainly needed it!

Music for the day was mainly provided by hard rock legends KISS. I often forget how good this band are.

Once the trials of work were over we indulged in a little Four In A Bed.

To celebrate Sam's creation day we ordered a kebab and then watched Sleepy Hollow in day five of the Halloween countdown. Gotta love a bit of Johnny Depp!

Happy Creation Day Sam

Happy Creation Day Sam

Hope you have a great day!

Late start, Hotel Transylvania 3, Four In A Bed and Hellboy

Didn't get up until 10 today. That hasn't happened for a while and it was most welcome. There was no backing this weekend and Toni hadn't finished last weeks batch so I'll be back doing that on Tuesday.

We continued our Hotel Transylvania viewing with breakfast with the third and final instalment Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.

It was then back to the trash with more Four In A Bed. My name is KT and I am an addict..... LMFAO

Day four of Halloween countdown came in the for of Hellboy, the original movie and not the remake.

Love this film so much, it's a classic to me and is exactly what a Hellboy movie should be like. 

Work, Star Wars: Squadrons, The Boys, Four In A Bed and Hotel Transylvania 1 and 2

Had to get up earlyish today as I had to do some work. Thankfully it only took just over their minutes. 

Spent a couple of hours out in the Star Wars universe having another play fo Star Wars: Squadrons. I am enjoying it more and more.

We caught up with the latest episode of The Boys which just left us gagging for the season finale next week. Can't wait to see how they close this one out. 

Car crash TV fix came in the form of another round of Four In A Bed.

Day three of the Halloween countdown was brought to us by the wonderful Hotel Transylvania! I never say blah, blah blah! Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula's (Adam Sandler) lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them. On one special weekend, Dracula has invited some of the world's most famous monsters -- Frankenstein and his bride, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more -- to celebrate his daughter Mavis's 118th birthday. For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem -- but his world could come crashing down when one ordinary guy stumbles on the hotel and takes a shine to Mavis.

This was then followed by Hotel Transylvania 2.

Productive day, Star Wars: Squadrons and The Witches Of Eastwick

Well today wasn't a bad day at all. Got lots done and am all prepped for some server migrations and I feel like I have had an accomplished week. Music for the day was Bon Jovi, Iron Angel, Isengard and Ost+Front. Now for the weekend!

I started my downtime by sparking up the newly released Star Wars game Star Wars: Squadrons. Haven't done a lot with it yet but it seems to be good fun and also has a solo story. Hopefully I will get to play some more over the weekend.

Day two of Halloween countdown was brought to us by The Witches Of Eastwick, another classic with Jack Nicholson in one his best roles.

Halloween countdown begins

As it was the 1st October we started our Halloween countdown where we plan to watch at least one Halloween related movie every day until we hit the witching hour :) 

First up on the play list was that classic The Craft.

What a great way to kick things off! A little bit horror and a little bit teen movie and a glorious result!

Sarah has always been different. So as the newcomer at St. Benedict's Academy, she immediately falls in with high school outsiders. But there's something different about her new friends, and it's not just that they won't settle for being a group of powerless misfits. They have discovered The Craft ... and they are going to use it.