MC Gromster

Here is a video of Gromit's best moves, who needs TV when you can watch this- it even has outtakes at the end.

Photos of Florence

here we have pictures of Brian at the top of the Campanile with the dome of the Duomo in the background - and there were a lot of stairs to get up there!!!

A picture of the Ponte Vecchio and a picture of Florence at night and Brian eating hot chestnuts - which bucked the trend by being delicious and not expensive as well as being one of Brian's favourite things


<

6 wierd things

I don't know 6 other bloggers - this is my only blog!!

I don't have any wierd things as I am completely normal in every respect and only other people are a bit odd. However make what you will of the following

1) I am still a science fiction fan even though I am no longer a member of the British science Fiction Association
2) I would much rather sit at home with a book or the tv than go out to a party in most instances
3) Scissors do not like me - no matter how many pairs I buy we can never find any in the house
4) I had leprechauns as friends up to the age of 5
5) I go on diets and stick to them religiously and still fail to lose any weight (I can't figure it out)
6) Electrical equipment will take a dislike to me and die despite me being nice to them - we are currently going through toasters at a daft rate. I have also had a bad effect of fridges.

love Helen

Travels with Helen

Hi - I am getting to be nearly as well travelled as the Polish/Canadian/Hungarian/Spanish Carters - not quite but still. However this last couple of months I have been to Barcelona with everyone else for Peggy's birthday which was lovely and so warm (!). It was really nice to spend time with Chris and the girls and meet George and Oscar at last. Then in the middle of December Brian and I went to Florence. He has wanted to see Michaelangelo's David for ages so we had 5 days in Florence and walked our feet until they were begging for mercy. Highlights were all the various Michaelangelo sculptures in various places, not only the David, which gave us a chance to see different moods and different types of his sculptures in real life which is not something you can do in many places, and to study them in relative peace as there weren't hordes of tourists around. I loved seeing all the early art - Fra Angelico, Giotto etc which (being frescos mostly) you can only see in situ and which mean a lot more when you see them in context, and see them together. The Duomo is magnificent, the Baptistry is absolutly stunning and the Duomo museum is wonderful. The Accademia, in addition to David, has a really good little musical instrument museum which we spent ages looking at. They have 2 Stradivarius violins (in cases - a shame, they should be played) an original fortepiano by Christofieri (not sure about the spelling here) who invented the piano, and lots of other really interesting things. We sightsaw solidly every day we were there and still only saw parts of what there is to see. Down sides were the food which was exorbitantly expensive and not very good - after one awful lunch I did even say that I would have preferred to go to McDonalds (which is not a place I go to (sorry Joanne)), so that was disappointing. The other big disappointment was the Uffizi. We had prebooked tickets on the internet for which you are charged more than the cost of the ticket, and the way they had it set up when we got there you had to go elsewhere (not marked, you got told to go when you reached the ticket desk) then get your ticket there and come back to the entrance you had just left - by which time a busfull of Japanese had arrived. We queue jumped. In december you don't need to prebook. But the real disappointment was the gallery. The paintings were not well lit, they weren't even well marked - they had no information up about them, the place was shabby with cracks in the paint and looking just a bit down at heel. Some of the pictures were unavailable and a lot were in different places from the locations in the guide book, so it was generally just a bit of a let down. Not nearly as good as some of the other places we went to, which considering its reputation is sad. We were really lucky with the weather which was dry, clear and sunny every day. I would recommend Florence in December if you want to go - everything was open, there were lots of tourists, but no crowds, we saw everything we wanted and spent as much time as we wanted in every place. It was pleasant to walk around, not boiling hot as in the summer. However I would go self catering and not bother spending a lot on mediocre food. Fantastic experience though, and looking through art books for the Xmas art quiz I can see lots of paintings that I have now seen in real life which is a thrill and gives a different perspective onto things.

Just thought of another weird thing...

Am obsessed with strictly come dancing and may I just say what a travesty it is that lovely Emma Bunton has gone out and rubbish old Matt Dawson is still in. An abomination.

6 weird things about me? There are so many, where to begin?!

1. I love my job
2. Now when people tell me that having the dog is like having a child substitute, an inner voice tells me they might be right...
3. I want the new Girls Aloud greatest hits album
4. I used to hate marmite and now I love it - have totally crossed over to the dark side
5. I can leave the dishes unwashed for days but can't leave the cushions unarranged on the sofa
6. When I should know better and stop drinking and go to bed, I never do

So I now need to tag other people? Don't think we have enough other bloggers for me to tag....

Will be able to contribute lots more in the new year as I think Santa's getting me a digital camera for Christmas :)

Tagged

Well, you can all blame Christine for this. She tagged Mr K and he tagged us.
I have to say 6 wierd things about Trev and me. (Only 6?)
OK
1. It is a truth universally acknowledge that I am probably a bit obsessed with poo. I'm not proud of it but toilet humour always makes me laugh. Ho hum!
2. I do like to dress up the dog in clothes - luckily Trev stops me.
3. Trevor and I do the dog's voice. He has whole conversations where we are giving him a part in the proceedings.
4. I do have problems opening gates and doors. I am like the opposite of Houdini
5. I am probably more interested in Harry Potter than is normal
6. Trevor is always singing the lyrics Shields Up Shields down to the tune of the Darth Vadar march from Empire strikes back.

OK now I have to tag six people which will have to be contributors because I don't think I know many more bloggers so I tag Joanne, Kate, Helen, Moira, Matt Carter and Matthew Hull. Now you have to write 6 wierd things about yourselves and tag 6 other bloggers. Good luck! Boo