We have been camping for the past week in Devon and whilst the weather hasn’t been *horrendous*, it has certainly not be fantastic.  Still, we managed to get in a couple of decent walks, some beach time, some sight-seeing and a very sort bike ride.  The plan was to leave the campsite in Devon Saturday morning and drive further west to the tip of Cornwall for three more nights but the impending crap weather coupled with the long drive put us off and instead we packed and left at 10pm yesterday (Friday).  We arrived home at 1am and we are both noe lying in our incredibly comfy bed, winding down from the drive home with our laptops. Ahhhh internets, how I have missed you!

More on our holiday soon.  Sleep beckons.

Although we still need to paint, our bathroom is now pretty much finished. The new furniture is lovely and the shower is a-MA-zing.

Here are some pictures courtesy of my other half.  Note the awesome square basin:

The bath is sleeker, squarer and just mich nicer.  The bath panel was the only option we had reall ybut luckily it looks good.

I love these tiles.  And the shower is yum.

Heated tower rail instead of rusty radiator = yay!

And then our cloakroom basin downstairs.  The loo is the same as upstairs.

It will all look much better when painted white but still, we are chuffed with it.

This week, we have been having our bathroom renovated. New tiles, new bathroom fittings and furniture, new floor – the works. Whilst it is much needed and will be lovely when complete, it has meant a week of washing teeth (and hair and bodies) in the kitchen sink. I don’t *think* I smell – I am sure my co-workers (aka Mum and Dad) would tell me if I did!

On top of this, I have a (not-so) mini-quilt for my Etsy order to finish and my wrist decided to swell up on Wednesday so I had to take a night off from sewing.

This weekend, I am off to Manchester to go to my cousin’s hen party (hi Alison!) which I am really looking forward to despite realising I have nothing to wear (it’s true, I swear!).

Today is a big day at work since today is the final posting day for almost all our claims (we have a 30th June deadline). Fedex has just taken a stack and our WIP table looks nice and sparse. We have just booked our celebratory lunch for tomorrow and I am looking forward to a bit of a rest – our camping holiday starts a week on Saturday!

Another post without pictures – I am very sorry about that. Bathroom and quilt pictures are forthcoming once both things are complete!

A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory

My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a really good quality crime book which has more emotion and human experience than most in this genre.

The story of a man haunted by a series of child murders in his home town both captivated me and moved me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more of Ellory’s novels.

View all my reviews.

In Spring,  I found this adorable site with pretty wallpapers and since then, my work and home computers have been decorated with this gem:

It gives me inspiration daily.  But it was time for a change so I was delighted to discover that they have just announced a new set of Summer wallpapers, all with the theme The Five Senses.  I chose this for its relaxing air.  Hopefully, it will help in my never-ending pursuit of serenity.

So it’s Monday again.  I managed to finish the baby quilt this weekend (whoop!) save for the final touches.  Sam Michael Stuart, the baby in question, was born on 11 June and he will receive his quilt just as soon  as I can get myself over to see him and his happy parents, Zoë and Chris.   Congratulations to you both!

I also had an order through my Etsy shop for a (not so) mini quilt.  The buyer asked for it to be bigger than usual so I am grappling with the different dimensions and colour requests.  I have made a start on the appliqué and need to continue this tonight.  Pictures will follow!

This weekend, I spent Saturday night with a couple of girl friends and we watched Juno and Mamma Mia.  I love Juno and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed Mamma Mia when we all saw it at the cinema, it was a bit excruitatingly cheesy in parts.  It seems to be our tradition when us three get together to watch one decent ‘chick’ flick and one truly cheesy offering.

Ever since I have started working here in Upper Heyford, I have been meaning to take some photos of the old air base which dominated the area until it closed in 1994.  Originally, this was an RAF base until it was passed over the the US Air Force in 1950.  Although the military are now long gone and a business park has moved into some of the old buildings, there still plenty of reminders of the bustling base.  Behind our office is the runway which B52 bombers took off from and in the underground bunkers lay nuclear weapons at the height of the cold war.

There are still secrecy act signs up all over with old chicken wire and cobwebbed barbed wire, even though in most cases, you can access both sides of the wire!

The water towers dominate the otherwise rural landscape.

The American influence can be seen in small places.

As someone who cannot resist taking photos of signs, this was a paradise for me!

It is so regimented here that even the trees have numbers.

The memorial was looking a little sad since the plants were between flowering periods.

The site is a fascinating mix of old rusty buildings…

… and green avenues.

The baseball parks are still used by the British Baseball academy in November each year.

The bleachers have not been used for a while though!

Not much evidence of the original RAF base remains.

And then just two minutes down Camp Road brings you towards to the original Upper Heyford village.

Although they were hiding on this day, usually sheep are grazing on this underground bunker!

Our dinky office.  It’s no Leadenhall Street, that’s for sure.

The rest of my pictures can be found on my flickr site.

This year saw some new shows with which I have already fallen in love.  Unsurprisingly, the creators of all three shows have decent pedigree: Fringe – JJ Abrams (Alias, Lost), Dollhouse – Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dr Horrible) and Parks and Recreation – Greg Daniels and Mike Schur (The Simpsons, The Office US).  Here’s a quick rundown of each show:

This was promised as an episodic show which had little follow-on story – Fox seemed to think this is what the masses want – but thankfully, the show evolved into something a little more complex and therefore, more interesting.  Sure, I don’t know really what’s behind all the weird shit that is going on but that doesn’t really matter.  It is less confusing than Lost but exciting and intriguing all the same.  Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), FBI special agent, is appointed to a special X-files type task force (ie fringe science) and in order to make sense of the various weird occurrences, she needs the help of loony scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble).  The show started with Walter voluntarily staying in a mental hospital (where he has been for some years since an accident in his lab caused the death of his assistant).  His son, Peter (Joshua Jackson), who has gotten himself into a spot of strife, is asked by the FBI to convince Walter to help them.  Peter has since stayed on hand to help manage Walter and generally support Olivia with her investigations.  The cast all work very well together and I am particularly thrilled to have Pacey Witter back on my TV on a weekly basis.  He’s all grown up now!  I am delighted that this was renewed – Fox have come through this year (see below).

Now, I am totally biased, I realise this.  But I have to say I think this show is awesome.  It took a couple of episodes for me to really get into it but I was really taken with the concept, the writing is of the usual high standards that Whedonites come to expect and the look of the show is glossy and slick.  Plus I have a total girl crush on Eliza Dushku who can kick serious ass.  I fully expected Fox to ditch this but we have been given a reprieve.  Let’s hope that the cut budget and new time slot don’t kill the show.  I cannot wait for the new season.

Parks and Recreation is a mockumentary comedy series which is not exactly the Office spinoff which was suggested but certainly is in the same vein – a documentary crew document a humdrum working environment, finding characters which are anything but.  The key to this show is Amy Poehler.  She is sensational as the peppy and optimistic but tragic Leslie Knope.  The first season was just 6 episodes so we will have to see how this develops over the length of a full season.

I have been quite remiss by not adding my blogroll to my site. I follow so many blogs – some personal, some crafty, some photo, gossip, TV, famous peeps, the list goes on… I have now added the long list and I tried to limit it to the non-commercial, non-famous although there is some blog royalty and the odd actor thrown in for good measure. That’s because I really love their blogs.  (And if you are reading, which you are probably not, I am not calling you odd, John!).  If I have missed you off, please drop me a comment and we can swap links.

I went to a wedding where the DJ played 'Young hearts, run free' by Candi Statton three times, a wholly inappropriate song given the lyric: "Young hearts, run free, Never be hung up, hung up like my man and me." The couple ended up divorcing. Any of these three would be much better.