The Irregular Blogger...

...Yep, so, after two weeks I've pretty much dropped Five Senses Friday.

But here's the issue. I don't want to drop blogging altogether. I love reading other blogs (OK, sometimes I skim-read and squeal at the beautiful photos) but I just can't seem to commit to blogging my own life right now. Because on the surface all it is is this:

Sleep. Work. Sing in rock choir. Sing in church choir. Walk occasionally. Worry about not training for the MoonWalk. Worry about not having time to write. Try to build badge-making industry...
 

buy one here as of Monday!

But I'm also now part of the Illustration (OK, general crafting) Club at work -- we're practising knitting next week. I love Pinterest, I love Instagramming, photography, photographing food... rubber stamps... making badges... I just haven't managed to put all of these into blog form. And probably because I'm trying to make the quirky brunette into something it's not when actually all it needs to be is a reflection of moi. (I felt a bit of a One Tree Hill theme tune sing-along coming on there but stopped it in its tracks.)

So I think what I need to do is just step back, and work out what's blogworthy in my life at the moment, and flippin' well blog about it.

qb x

Five Senses Friday (belated)

Yep, onto the second week of Five Senses Friday and already I'm a day late!

Sight: Les Misérables -- saw this last night. It actually exceeded all my expectations -- don't ever trust a trailer, is my advice. Oh and don't watch any lead-up documentaries. Just sit down, have the tissues ready and let the film draw you in.

From the opening scenes of the slave ship and Hugh Jackman's wizened (yet still just plain beautiful) face as he works on the chain gang, to Anne Hathaway's frankly heart-breaking and intimate rendition of I Dreamed a Dream* to the uplifting epilogue featuring the whole cast singing a reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing it's just ... superb. Oh and watch out for Gavroche. He will break your heart. There's also a very dashing young man we spotted playing Grantaire (one of Marius' student friends initiating the revolution over a bottle of wine -- actor is a lad name of George Blagden). Watch out for him too.

...I am a massive massive fan of the stage show, have seen it maybe four or five times, seen the anniversary DVD, heard the original concept album, fully paid-up member of the I Heart Les Mis brigade, so I went in with preconceptions that frankly I just had to leave at the door. I will always love the stage show but there is something profoundly moving about seeing the characters' faces so close up.

* Oh and I admit, I was (too) quick to bewail the casting of the over-prolific Ms Hathaway and then after hearing her stripped-back rendition of IDAD on the trailer I bewailed even further. And then I watched the film and retracted all criticism. It works. She works it. She earned her stripes.

My last five Pinterest pins can be viewed in the sidebar! >>

Taste (this week's nom highlights): popcorn, chocolate brioche, home-made Black Forest hot chocolate (blackberry syrup, hot chocolate, cream, summer fruits sauce on top -- not on a par with Costa Coffee's offering but not bad either!), home-made carrot and coriander soup (made last Saturday) -- I replaced the crushed chillies with a pinch of cayenne pepper and didn't add crisps on top ...

Recipe adapted from Sainsbury's, here

And I'm working on perfecting omelettes -- great recipe by Delia Smith here! Love 'em with chives.

Hearing:

Last played on iTunes (according to iTunes):

5. When You Loved Me (Live) | Richard Marx
4. And The Beat Goes On | The Whispers
3. Sway | The Pussycat Dolls
2. The Big L. | Roxette
1. Crash! Boom! Bang! | Roxette

Touch:

I learned to purl yesterday in my continual journey through the wacky world of knitting. Yes.

Smell:

Fresh laundry. Can't beat it.

Five Senses Friday

Let's see for how long I can sustain this weekly entry!

Here's what I want to do with Five Senses Friday (and it's fairly self-explanatory): take time to note what is most immediate to my five senses -- sight, taste, hearing, touch and smell.

It might also be a good opportunity to give a shout-out to the blog posts I've enjoyed most over the previous week, as well as my last five Pins over at Pinterest, the last five tunes rocked out on iTunes, the last five recipes I've endeavoured (this is the one I may struggle with most of all!)... a bunch of fives, anyway.

Newsflash, though, last evening, my mother attempted to teach me to knit. Actually I didn't do too badly considering my dexterity is poor at best (and at lunchtime I'd had rather a lot of red wine) but I do rather liken my knitting technique (and reason for knitting) to that of Dr Meredith Grey*

via here

*I've only seen one or two GA episodes, I admit. One was dubbed in Austrian German. (Or was that House?) But I did see this one in which Meredith took up knitting. And her technique was, er, enthusiastic but rather chaotic.

I want to be knitting wrist-warmers and coffee-cup cosies before the year is out, people. You heard it here first.

So! Here we go:

Sight (my last five Pinterest pins):

5.

via here

4.

via here

3.

by Natalie Kucken, via here

2.

via here and here

1.

via here

Taste:

Tonight's tea: gammon, eggs, chips, chocolate ice cream, left-over mini-chocolates. Yep, really healthy!

Hearing:

Last played on iTunes (according to iTunes!):

5.  She's Not There | The Zombies
4. Oboe Concerto in D Minor | Marcello
3. Loved (Acoustic Version) | Richard Marx

2. Elevation | U2

1. A Hazy Shade Of Winter | Simon & Garfunkel

Touch:

Not sure how to cover this off. But I do love the feel of my rug under my feet, and skidding in socks, and a hot bath... And I've been knitting. So I now have a needle-point indentation in one finger.

Smell: 

I got a bottle of my favourite perfume, Paco Rabanne Ultraviolet (for women) for Christmas and have worn it every day since! Not sure how best to describe it except it's not so much floral, it's quite edgy, a teeny bit vanilla maybe?

---
And right now my new website is making NO SENSE and crashing every time I edit or deign to upload one of my product visuals. Not happy.

...Do you ever get frustrated and tense that there aren't enough hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month, months in the year for everything you want to create?!