Saturday seven - 7 movies

One of the good things about loooong plane trips (apart from going somewhere fab) is the inflight entertainment these days (unless you fly some low-cost airlines)....and catching up on some movies I may have missed.
Also seeing some brand-spanking-new ones that haven't been released here yet.

In all I managed to squeeze in 10, that's T.E.N movies! But we were in the air for 40 hours altogether so I actually physically watched more!

The best 7 of the movies I saw on the plane are -

1. The Place Beyond the Pines

The thing I liked most about this movie was the way the protagonist changes through the film. In fact it is more like 3 stories linked by strong connections. To say too much would be to be a spoiler.
Good believable performances and a tightly told story. Oh, it's not such a happy story, but not every story is happy.
Worth watching.

2. The Way Way Back.

Cute, quirky, off-beat, funny.
I liked it!
Great over-the-top characters and a lovely heart-warming story about being different, fitting in and acceptance.

3. Good Vibrations.

I enjoyed this quirky little film - a true story about Terry Hooley who opened a record shop in Belfast which led to him being a promoter of Ireland's punk rock bands.
His character is so adorably naive and sweet-natured, you just want him to succeed.
Notably I managed to fall asleep while watching it - Punk Music in my headphones and all!

4. Side Effects.

I was totally engaged by this movie. I thought the acting was really tops. And the story, although rather far-fetched had twists and turns aplenty.
Good airplane fodder.

5. Arthur Newman.

Well it has Colin Firth in - say no more!
I actually like Colin Firth as an actor, for the roles he chooses.
This slightly off-beat story was fun, moving and engaging.
4 stars!

6. Night Train to Lisbon.

I read this at my book club in fact it was the first book that we read after I joined.
And quite frankly I thought it was awful!
If it hadn't been my first book I certainly wouldn't have finished it, so it was with some interest I tuned in to the movie.
I must say it made a rather nice little movie, the book has been pared down (as movies really have to when adapting a book).
I liked Jeremy Irons in the role and I liked the look of the film and the way the story was told.

A nice surprise.

7. Drift, Mud, Quartet or Outside Bet
I cant decide - they are all reasonably average air-flight fodder.

Have you seen any good movies lately?
Seen any of these? What did you think?

Saturday 7 - places I have just been to - blogtoberfest 2013 day 5

I have just come back from a month away in northern Italy! Aren't I the lucky one?!

It was absolutely fabulous!
I feel to lucky and privileged to have seen some amazing places, met some wonderful people, eaten delicious (mostly) food and witnessed the glories of nature and man.

So without further ado I bring to you - in reverse order -

1. Rome.

There is so much more to Rome that the Colosseum and the Vatican although they are pretty splendid.
For example here is the Pantheon - it is a 2000 year old temple, remarkably well-preserved because it was made into a church. Bits of the outside were pilfered (recycled) for other building projects but not as badly as other places. And it has the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome!
Yes, the romans made concrete - who knew?!

2. Sardinia

Sardinia is an island. In the Mediterranean.
It has a spectacular limestone coast.
And unbelievably blue water.

3. Tuscany.

Tuscany looks like this.
No really!

4. Florence

Everyone raves about Florence - and it grew on me.
There is more to see - there always is.

5. Cinque Terre.

Five of the most beautiful little villages, perched above the sea, on and into the cliffs - connected by walking paths and a train.
Delightful.

6. The Dolomites.

Spectacular!

The Dolomites are series of mountains stretching from the eastern border to the Italian Alps. Lots of very sticky-uppy bits with the greenest of valleys in between and the sweetest alpine flower-bedecked villages dotted around.

7. Venice.

Venice - ah! Venice.
It did not disappoint at all.
I could ramble on all day about Venice and you can read why here and see why here.
....if you like.

And a bonus one today, because we didn't plan on going there but just needed to hop off a train to see  - Pisa.

There is a lot more to Pisa than the leaning tower, although it is much nice in real life...but you will have to wait for that!

If you would like to see more of my travels hop over to my other blog Adventures with G & T.

Fave albums - 7 Things Saturday

It's a funny thing with music isn't it? It all depends on the time of day, you mood, where you are, who you're with etc etc!

So choosing just 7 albums is hard - but here are 7 that I'm enjoying listening to at the moment without getting tired of them

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

How about you?
What are you listening to at the moment?
Got any recommendations?

Saturday Seven - amazing places

Just a quickie today.

7 amazing places - some of them don't look real, but they are!

You have to look at the people on the left hand side in this one to appreciate the size of those crystals.

Naica mine, Mexico

Something man-made.
I guess there a lot of amazing man-made places but I love the pattern of this one.

Chand Baori, Abhaneri, India

There are a few pink lakes around.
This one in Western Australia appears pink under certain weather conditions - something to do with salt and algae as far as I can tell.

Pink Lake, Western Australia

Just love the name!

Door to Hell, Derweze, Turkmenistan

There are so many cool optical illusions that people have snapped here - just google Salar de Uyuni to see them.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

A wave that you cannot surf.

Wave Rock, Western Australia

How sweet !

Tunnel of Love, Kleven Ukraine

Have a great weekend and I hope you experience some amazing places!

7 things Saturday - Crafts I have dabbled in

Like many of us crafty peeps I'm a bit of a dabbler.
Are you?

I've always been interested in making stuff - my mum was a great maker of things as I wrote here and I grew up in a hands-on environment.

We knitted from an early age, made clothes for our dolls as well as all sorts of paper bits and bobs (as you do when you are little)

So in no particular order here are some of the crafts I have dabbled in.

1. Pottery

I spent many years potting here and in England. I even had my own wheel and almost a kiln (it was a kit thing that I never finished building)
Our house has many useful and not-so-useful bits of pottery everywhere.

2. Sewing

As I said I learned to sew at a young age.I had a little toy sewing machine that actually worked - it was also good at getting your finger stuck under the needle!
I learned "properly" on my mother Singer treadle machine - how I wish I still had that!
For years I made most of my own clothes and my kids clothes. I have made tailored men's shirts and a tailored coat and jackets for myself.
I still sew a bit, producing Boos Tees tshirts, but I'd be lucky to even make a handerchief for myself these days.

3. Knitting

Also something I learned at a young ages. I knit now in fits and starts. I enjoy knitting - but hate the sewing up and I really am hopeless at picking up stitches around a neckline - so have a few UFOs around the place.
Also I have mitts and headbands in Boos Tees shop.

4. Jewellery making

This has been my passion and by business for the last 18 years.
Mostly what I do is bead stringing but over that time I have dabbled in polymer clay, friendly plastic, stamping, beadweaving, decorating all sorts of things with beads etc etc.
But what I really love is getting a whole bunch of gorgeous beads and making something fabulous out of them.

5. Lampwork glass bead making

I could have lumped this in with the previous category but it is so darned hard I think it deserves it's own dot point!
It involves holding a metal rod (which you have previously prepared with stuff to prevent the glass sticking, hopefully) in one hand and rod of expensive glass in the other hand and while moving both your hands independently produce a perfect round globe of awesomeness. Did I mention that there is also an incredibly hot noisy flame and gas involved?!
Then you have to wrangle the beautiful globe into a heat-retaining environment (eg vermiculite) or an hideously expensive glass kiln to prevent the little beauties from cracking.
Then you hold your tongue the right way and hope and pray that the metal rod does allow to remove the bead from it!
Arghhhh!
But why is it so addictive?

6. Woodwork
I made a coffee table once - it fell apart.

7. Watercolour painting
I was always an admirer of the gentle art of watercolours.
As a child I thought I was quite an artist - but actually I was wrong.

Saturday Seven - things to do on a rainy day

Sorry I've been MIA the last couple of weeks - life seems to have got in the way. In a good way - not yucky, thankfully.

But today is a horrible wet day - cold (for here) and windy.

What are some of your favorite things to do on a wet day?

1. Catch up on all those household chores you've been putting off for years. {boring maybe - but you will feel so virtuous afterwards}

2. Bake a cake {then you can invite friends round to share it - or just make a cuppa for yourself to go with it}

3. Watch a movie - at home or pop out to the flicks.

4. Read a book.

5. Start a plan - or revise your already written plan - er, um ; )

6. Blog! Or catch up on your blog reading - or find some new fab blogs!

7. Stay in bed!

Hope the weather is lovely where you are and that you are having lots of fun!

ps. we went to the camping and caravan show - in boots and raincoats. You can still get out if you want to!

Not chocolate! Saturday Seven

I was going to post this last weekend, when it was Easter, seemed somewhat appropriate!
But I was at a market on Saturday and we had visitors on Sunday...and *poof* the weekend was gone!

How was your Easter? Did you get lots of chocolate?
Mt daughter and I decided we would have a chocolate-free easter this year but unfortunately we forgot to tell my hubby! And we have the most divine chocolariere just down the road at Zokoko...so we ended up with just a little!

But it led my to wonder what are some favorite non-chocolate treats?

1. Champagne! Or a nice dry, fragrant rose (wine not the flower!)

2. Handmade soap - especially if it has patchouli in it!
This yummy soap is by one of my favorite soap makers - Inner Earth Soaps

3. Watching a movie at Gold Class: the works - recliner, glass of wine, something to nibble. Now that's the way to see a movie.

4. A decadent danish pastry, from a patisserie that knows how to do these things - with confectioners custard and a tart fruit like cherries or plums - yum!
One of my favorite places is the French Patisserie at The Rocks, or Black Star Pastry in Newtown.

5. Some gourmet little delicacy from a boutique producer - something like the ewe's milk cheese I found last weekend at the Burrawang market. Or a jar of spiced olives direct from the grower. Or some fancy-schmantsy pickle or preserve - you know the kind of thing!

6. A book. A good book. A book that is on my to-read list. Mind you, I have a stack of books as high as my bed to get through right now....but a good book is never wasted.

7. A night at home with my love - when he is not working and I'm not working and we can just sit together. Bliss!

How about you?
What would you choose?
If you decide to blog about this please leave a link to your blog in the comments so I can go and have a look.
Or you can just leave your picks in the comments.
Thanks and have a great weekend - with lots of treats!

Seven last dvd's I watched

Our local video shop has a list of special deals and one of he best is the 7 dvds for $5 only available on a Wednesday. It's a great way to catch up on the movies that I missed.
So I take my list to the shop and last week thisis what I can back with -

1. The Iron Lady
The story of MargaretThtcher, British Prime Minister.
I thought Meryl Streep was amazing! And I enjoyed watching it as a bit of period piece, not sure that the recent times bits were quite as convincing.
Would I recommend it? Nah.

2. J. Edgar
The story of J. Edgar Hoover, the long-time head of the FBI.
I also thought that Leonardo DiCaprio was amazing - not really being very familiar with J Edgar I can't say if it was such a faithful depiction as Meryl's of Maggie.
It's beautifully made as well.
Recommenation - maybe.

3. The Hurt Locker
I was a bit in two minds about this as I'm not a great fan of war movies, but hub had seen it and recommended it.
It's a totally engrossing movie, very believable. The characters seem really real.
Recommendation - see it!

4. Carnage
It's obvious that this is a movie of a stage play. (Hope I'm right about that!)
It is quite "stagey" in that it takes part in one afternoon in one location and is very wordy.
It is well acted by Jodie Foster, Kate Winslett, Christopher Waltz and John C. Reilly - all superb actors IMO!
It is very cleverly written.
Recommendation - OK if you need something cerebral and no action.

5. The Rum Diary
Well it had Johnny Depp and it is from a Hunter S. Thompson....but in the end was less than satisfying. The twist towards the end lacked "oomph" the whole movie meandered and lost it's way several times.
I was interested to see Puerto Rico as it was in the 60's, having been there more recently.
Recommendation - only if you are need of a Johnny Depp fix.

6. The Eye of the Storm
From the book by Patrick White.
I soooo enjoyed this, right from the very first moment.
I love Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis.
It was lovely and well- paced and funny and sad all at once.
Recommended (thoug I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea)


7. Beginners
I wanted to enjoy this more as it has Ewan McGregor in and Melanie Laurent as well as christopher Plummer. It's a gentle little story.
Recommendation -  OK for a quiet Sunday afternoon.

What have you seen lately?
Any suggestions to add to my list?

Saturday Seven - things I have to do

This week is a very personal list of 7.
Do you write "to-do" lists?
How do you go with them? Do you get them ticked off?
Or do you drag them around week after week?

I'm a bit of the drag 'em around type!

1. Get another pair of glasses.
I did have 2 pairs and then I lost one pair - the lovely purple framed pair and now this pair is flaking! Argh - looks ugly.

2. Do something about my living room curtains.
I bought new curtains ages ago and got one window done, but I think I need a new track and hooks for the other window, plus something to hide the top bit where the fluoro lights are.

3. Get ready for 2 big markets in 3 and 4 weeks time.
I have really let my stock slip since Christmas. It's been a time for me to do other things - you know, fiddle with this and that!
But now I need to get into production! Making necklaces and earrings, brooches and tshirts has to be on my agenda.

4. Sort stuff out and get rid of stuff. We are planning on moving next year - downsizing - and having lived here for a bazillion years we have accumulated so much junk. We have to start now I reckon - or we'll never get it done!

5. Do a bit more organising of our trip to Italy in September. I spent a bit of time looking at accomodation and stuff, but probably need to book something, especially in the busy places - Venice and Rome maybe.
All that is sooooo time consuming - but, hey! someone has to do it!

6. Look over the plans for the house we'll be building next year. That is very exciting and very scarey!

7. Get out in the fresh air everyday! It's such a lovely time of year (when it's not raining!)

 

What's on your to-do list?

Saturday seven - cute critters

Some cute little critters to bring a smile to your dial this wet weekend!

And this has got to be the funniest kitty video around!