The good
The sun was shining and there was nothing in the diary so I decided to give my little car some tlc. For two hours, I shampooed, rinsed, polished, brushed, cleared (ooh, lovely, a pound coin), dusted and polished a bit more.
The bad
Him (having just returned from the car wash in his own vehicle): 'You did a terrible job on your car.'
Her: 'What do you mean? It's gleaming. Inside and out.'
Him: 'You missed a bit.'
Her: 'Where? Show me.'
Him: 'There. See it? Bend down. Now do you see it? Not there. There. On the wheel trim.'
The good
I managed to not slap someone across the face with a wet shammy (or chamois if you prefer).
The bad
After all these years, someone clearly hasn't learned when to keep their trap firmly shut.
The good
I baked a batch of extremely chocolatey brownies with just the right amount of squidge.
The bad
I ate most of them. And I picked off the bits stuck to the baking parchment. I may even have chewed the baking parchment.
The good
I bought the ingredients for a new knitting project.
The bad
The pattern turned out to be far too complicated with an unfathomable multi size/multi piece chart instead of instructions and on which 'x' meant both knit and purl depending on which row you happened to be on. So I ditched it after three attempts and started something more manageable. Hopefully.
The good
I cleaned the oven.
The bad
Said oven went into shock and stopped working.
The good
I couldn't cook anything more elaborate than beans on toast for several days until the Oven Man could work his magic. It was like being on holiday. A very basic holiday, admittedly, but still.
The bad
Someone should have told me the Oven Man would need to poke about in the cupboard where I chuck all the bags of flour and icing sugar to find the main switch. When he'd finished, his right side looked like it had been caught in a blizzard.
The good
This book. A tricky subject (domestic abuse). Two storylines (a journalist writing a book in the late 1960s about an ongoing criminal case and the story of the accused, in her own words with an interweaving of the perspectives of others). Highly recommended.
The bad
Not bad, exactly. It's just that I've already read it and have a copy (different cover, in my defence) on the bookshelf. I do this rather a lot these days. Though I should have realised with this one as I have a collection of most of Anita Shreve's novels. But Strange Fits of Passion is such a great story, and I couldn't remember a lot of the detail, so a re-read was no bad thing.
The good
An enjoyable evening with writer Joanna Trollope. We're not friends or anything and there were others at the event in our town's main library. A reminder, too, of just how lovely this building is.
The bad
I bought another book. Couldn't not buy after hearing Joanna (yep, on first name terms now) talk about her research (she spent time in Stoke and at the Emma Bridgewater pottery) and the writing process. She wrote in it. And I started reading it that night.
The good
The signs are there. Nights drawing in (or as my dad used to say, it's getting late early), changing colours, heartier meals, the distinctive tang of summer on the wane. We are definitely on the cusp of a new season.
The bad
The er..........erm............nope, nothing bad. I love autumn, me.
The giveaway
To mark the blogging milestone mentioned in the previous post, and as a big thank you for your visits, support and comments, I've put together a few bits and bobs, a little selection of some of the kinds of things that have appeared here in some form or other over the last eight years which I hope you'll enjoy.
1. Rifle Paper Co. labels and stickers 2. Melt scented candle 3. To Kill a Mockingbird brooch made from a page from the book
4. Rifle Paper Co. set of notebooks 5. Copy of the novel 'Astrid and Veronika' 6. Book of National Trust baking recipes
7. Packet of Sarah Raven Pictorial Meadow seeds 8. Bar of drinking chocolate
Just leave a comment on this post by October 3rd and I'll do the name out of the hat thing.