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Things are a little busy here at the moment. I'm NaNoWriMoing for a start and that is proving more difficult than in previous years as I'm working three days a week. Actually I'm beginning to resent work because it eats so much into the time I used to spend day dreaming and not doing very much. I miss that time.

This past week, for example. Last Saturday I dragged myself out for a 6.5 mile run, which turned out to be a big paddle through deep floods (18 inches at their deepest) and more of a battle with the elements than flinging along like a gazelle.

Sunday saw me on a long-planned shopping trip to Cardiff with friend Jo and NO CHILDREN. Utter bliss. We wandered relatively aimlessly looking at lots of stuff and the new John Lewis and we had oodles of noodles in Wagamamma for lunch. A perfect non-pressurised shopping day without the usual: Mummeeeee I'm bored can we go to the Disney shop NOW?

On Monday I worked while the girls were at school. At 3pm I pick them up and then somehow there is suddenly such a lot to be done. I wrote my NaNo daily word total whilst watching FlashForward in the evening.

Tuesday saw me off to Newport for a lovely coffee with ChrisH for a chat about running and writing and other such interesting stuff. That left the afternoon for actual writing, rather than talking about it.

Wednesday? Work again and other Stuff and more words for NaNo.

Thursday was Christmas and birthday shopping in Carmarthen. December is riddled with present opportunities. Brian had to go back to the car three times with the various bags of booty.

Friday was working again. How astonishingly fast these weeks fly.

Saturday was a combination of a splashy run along flooded roads again (even deeper than last week) and searching on the internet for reasons to convince Brian that changing the CR-V to an ancient Land Rover Discovery would be an excellent idea. I'm still working on that one!

Last night was NaNo catch-up night. Three hours of writing until the wee small hours while everyone else snored in bed. Now it's Sunday again, I have four loads of washing to deal with, a mountain of ironing and another day's worth of NaNo words. And now I must dash - I can hear my children neighing at the guinea pigs.

Catching up

October was such a busy month - actually the rest of the year is shaping up to pass by in a total blur - and I haven't had time to write all the blogs I've wanted to, so here's a bit of a catch up.

Half term wasn't all films - we were out and about too. One visit was to Anna Ryder Richardson's Manor House Wildlife Park near Tenby. We've been following the development of this place since a celeb moved in and eventually curiosity got the better of us and we went for a look. Star of the show was Lisa the Gibbon swinging effortlessly up into the very tips of the trees. We sort of 'got' what Anna R. R. is about having been - she's into conservation and keeping the animals as 'free' as possible. It's a nice place and well worth a visit.

We spent Halloween at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. I've lost count how many times we've been there this year. This time we found the tardis in the Great Glasshouse. The next Dr Who episode The Waters of Mars was filmed there and I - I mean the kids - can't wait to see it.

H7 and R5 found that their witches costumes blended in nicely with the autumnal colours in the garden.

We were very taken with this greenhouse made out of plastic bottles. It was really warm inside. I don't often drink anything out of a plastic bottle, though, so I can't see us making one.

Back at home H7 and R5 got ready to trick or treat Granny in the Annexe, who was suitably 'scared'.

Bonfire night was a bit of a wash out as H7 was poorly. We did have a firework or two in the garden the following night, but it was raining. Much more fun was a spot of brightdancing - two big glow sticks and a long shutter speed (10 seconds) on the camera.

Happy days!

When will we ever learn?

Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
 
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Taken husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
 
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
 
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
 
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
 
by Pete Seeger

Half term film festival

We had a half term film festival last week. The weather was iffy and, between Halloween themed dances and other things the occasional space popped up in which we could watch a film in its entirety rather than in bite-sized installments bounded by dinner and bedtime.

First on the menu was Mamma Mia - a riot of ABBA fun which we've watched hundreds of times already. H7 and R5 know it word by word and either watch it sing-a-long or song by song, again with the words on the screen. They dance and sing to it too - but adults are banned.

Next up was Monsters Inc on Blu-ray. We had it on DVD originally and it's always been a huge favourite. I didn't think Blu-ray would make a difference to this one, but again it surprised me. The bit where they are flying through the air on the doors is utterly brilliant. R5 still hides her eyes at the scary beginning too.

I thought Monsters was going to be our Halloween movie this year, but it was trumped by Snow White. I haven't seen it for ages but, again on Blu-ray in a special diamond edition, it proved me wrong. It has the best witch, complete with wart and cackle and a really spooky running-through- the-woods-rather-than-being-killed-by-the-hunter bit.

Snow White is 'the one that started it all' , hand-animated and - by today's standards - very low tech. Blu-ray brings this 1937 film bang up to date with clear sounds and sharp pictures and we all loved it. I bet you can remember all the songs: Whistle While You Work, Some Day My Prince Will Come... Ah, memories.

Blu-ray discs have masses of capacity compared to DVD and this one has the best game I've ever found. It's a jewellery catching game where you use the remote to move Grumpy's truck, catch gems and score points. I began with 160, H7 followed with zero and R5 got 80. Of course there were tears! H7 had another go and improved to 120. I managed a lack-lustre 120 and R5 topped the whole thing off by scoring 1,320. More tears and tantrums (but only from me).

The last film of the week was Up in 3D at Theatr Mwldan. It was Disney-Pixar at its very best. The hero is an old man called Karl who is widowed and ends up in court on an assault charge. It doesn't sound a promising start does it! But Karl attaches balloons to his house and floats it off to Venezuela. A stowaway is adventure scout Russel and when they land they encounter a colourful bird called Kevin and a dog called Doug who can talk via his collar. (Squirrel!) We cried and we laughed and, of course, there's a happy ending.

And the best thing of all? A trailer for Toy Story 3! It was, when buying Toy Story 2, I thought that I really should have children of my own to give me some excuse for this love of Disney and my massive collection of videos, so I did (eventually). I can't wait to see Toy Story 3 (out 2010) with them.

NaNoWriMo

Well it's started again. Another November, another month of novel-writing. This will be my third, hopefully I'll finish again and maybe, one day, I'll write something good!

So far I've written 1,779 words - you have to write at least 1,667 words every day to get to 50,000 by November 30th. It's a good start considering that until I actually sat down at my lovely new laptop and started typing, I had no idea what I was going to write. One of that characters from last time came to my rescue. (If in doubt, write what you know.)

Where does it go from here? Who knows! How will it end? I dunno that either! It's a bit like running really. A half marathon is one step followed by another and then another and you just keep doing that until you get to the end. When you start you don't know what is going to happen in the middle, at mile 10 or at the end.

NaNoWriMo is just that: One word, followed by another and then another, until the end.

The Lewis Hamilton one

Conversation with R5 at the dining table. Chicken pie is on the menu. Before dishing up I'd just been reading a story on the BBC website about Nicolas Sarkozy and a very expensive, but unused, shower. R5 had been looking over my shoulder.

R5: Who were you reading about mamma?

M: About the president of France.

R5: Who's the president of France?

M: President Sarkozy. France doesn't have kings and queens like we do, they have a president. We have a queen and a prime minister.

R5: Who's called Gordon Brown.

M (stunned): Yes.

R5: What's happened to the other one?

M: Which other one?

R5: The Lewis Hamilton one.

M (nonplussed. Pause. Light bulb moment): You mean Barack Obama? The president of the United States of America?

R5: Yes. That one. What's happened to him?

M: He's still the president of the United States of America.

R5: Mamma, is 'Lewis Hamilton' Lewis Hamilton's real name?

M: Yes it is. (Thinks: Why can't my children ask about simple things like the birds and the bees?!)

Fame at last!

Back in July I was lucky enough to be treated to a fabulous trip to London where I took part - in my role as one of Disney's Blu-ray ambassadors - in the filming of three Disney adverts promoting the wonders of Blu-ray.

It was enormous fun and quite bonkers. We had hair and make-up done, then sat on a sofa and chatted about Blu-ray while they shone big shiny lights at us, stuffed microphones down our cleavages and pointed cameras in our direction. There were two groups - one in the morning which was three female bloggers (sorry I don't know who they were), and one in the afternoon which was (left to right as you look at the screen) Jo Beaufoix, Dan of All That Comes With It, Linda's lovely twins and me.

I honestly thought I'd end up on the cutting room floor, but there I am waving my hands around and saying: "Are you mad?" in 'Picture and Sound'. I thought I'd hate seeing myself on screen, but I find it absolutely hilarious for some reason. The best laugh I've had in ages. I loved every minute of it and I'd do it again tomorrow. Oh, and by the way, Blu-ray really is fabulous, you know, and Christmas is coming...

So, if you've got a few minutes to spare, here are the adverts:

Picture and Sound:

Ease of Use:

Perfect gift: