Why would you!?

Don't worry, the shifting gravel business hasn't unleashed my inner soldier. I was looking for camouflage bedding for my nephew. I don't approve, he's boisterous enough as it is, but he's also a bit spoilt so as that's what he wants that's what he'll be getting.

Today has been a funny kind of day, and I'm tempted to go and sulk in bed. Maybe later. I'd arranged a haircut so offered to drop Mum at one of her friends on the way, but she seems to forget that I have places to go and am not a taxi that leaves when she says so, so by the time I got to town if I was irritated. Thankfully it was sunny enough to get the car roof down, which helped.

As well as a haircut I squeezed in a visit to an Art Gallery, which was holding its annual open exhibition. I've been going to see it for the last few years, using it as a way of finding new artists in the hope that I may be able to buy a piece of their work. Usually the stuff is good with the inevitable few pieces that leave you thinking, "I could do better than that!" but not this year - the quality was exceptional! But I think they're getting a bit carried away with it - some of the pieces were on sale for over £2000! I'm not being cheap about Art, but it finds its own value locally and that's well over-priced! And pieces by people whose work I already have were for sale at much higher prices than I paid. Dear God, that all makes me sound like a pretentious twat! Having said all that I'm totally in love with this man's work.

Exciting choices face me now: ironing or gravel?

Welcome to the Bank Holiday weekend!

I'm easing myself into it gently with an evening at home. I'd hoped to maintain last night's Spanish theme at teatime but Tesco let me down so I had custard instead. Boo.

Then I watched the third X-men film, in preparation for the new Wolverine film. Heavens it was a load of old nonsense! Vinnie Jones and Sir Ian McKellen shared some scenes - there's a meeting of minds! Still it's an excuse for another picture of lovely Hugh Jackman. Yummy!

Tonight I went to see a Woody Allen film, which once upon a time would have been something to look forward to, but it's years since he did anything worth getting excited about so I went rather begrudgingly, for old time's sake.

Well imagine my surprise when it turned out to be really enjoyable!

It was Vicky Christina Barcelona, and perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised as it had been getting decent reviews and Penelope Cruz had even won an Oscar and a BAFTA for it. But we all know this stuff can be misleading, and to be honest the signs weren't good: since he stopped making films in New York things have gone from bad to worse, and his obsession with Scarlett Johansson hasn't helped. But at least his stuff vaguely translated to London, but Barcelona?! Have you ever seen a man less Spanish than Woody Allen?!

It's about two American women who go to Barcelona for the summer. Vicky is finishing her Masters degree before getting married, whilst Christina is getting over her failure as a film-maker and trying to work out what to do next. They meet a handsome painter and things get turned upside down.

It starts a bit slowly. There's a voiceover that clearly should be Woody Allen but isn't. There's way too much Gaudi. Scarlett won't stop that annoying pouting. Even the presence of handsome Javier Bardem doesn't quite get it going. And then Penelope Cruz turns up and suddenly it's all better! She's great! Not necessarily Oscar winning great, but by far the best thing in the film.

By the time it finished I was feeling all warm and summery and in the mood for a holiday. Well done Woody! I'll leave you with a picture of handsome Javier:

Before - a tonne of gravel, although from the badly taken picture it doesn't look that much:



After:



So not quite enough then, although it might have stretched if I'd raked it a bit thinner. But I thought it was better to start thick and avoid having to top it up it a few months time.

It was surprisingly satisfying!

Last night I went to see the lovely Lloyd Cole playing in a lovely small venue in Cambridge.

It's now the third year in a row he's played there, and whilst other lightweights have dropped out I just can't get enough of the man! I could just listen to a man with a guitar singing sad songs about love forever and never get bored! It helps that he's funny and a little shy and has great tunes! I think they should buy him so he's always there so you could pop in for coffee and get him to sing to you.

When he played the first line of "Rattlesnakes" - "Jodie wears a hat although it hasn't rained for six days" - my eyes filled with tears, which was a shock as it's not my favourite song and not particularly sad, but it obviously works on the melancholy part of my brain.

He did quite a lot of the early stuff from when he was with The Commotions, which is always great to hear, but I'm not one of those people that clings to the past and thinks the old stuff is the best, some of his solo stuff has been magnificent! I'm just off to order some on Amazon...

Rather fabulously I Twittered about him during the interval, and a woman in Norwich who follows me on there started listening to his stuff and Twittered about it, then a woman in Australia who follows her did the same - I love the internet!

Here's the lovely Lloyd with an orchestra:

I woke up before 6am both days over the weekend, but just assumed it was because I'd had early nights the day before. Last night I didn't go to sleep until after midnight and yet at 5.55am I was awake! The sun rises before 6am now and clearly my body has decided I should do the same. Great.

Last night Ema, Alan & I went to see Ross Noble. He is quite possibly the funniest comedian working at the moment, although he has dreadful hair and if he doesn't shave he looks like a Hobbit. I don't think any of us were really in the mood for it, possibly because Sunday night is not the night for comedy, but within about ten minutes I was laughing and grinning, so I'm glad I went. He doesn't really do jokes you can repeat so you'll have to trust me on that.

Whilst the rest of the country spent the morning in bed/church/shops I was out in the garden:



Not masses of progress today: the earth has been covered in a membrane thing to stop the weeds growing through and is ready for gravel, and the slabs are tentatively arranged where I want them, although that may change.

I ordered the gravel. Or maybe not enough, who knows. I knew the area I needed to cover but didn't know how much gravel this equated to. Neither did the man in the garden centre. I've never seen him there before and think he might be new. He was cute, although you could tell that as soon as he took his clothes off he wouldn't have a single piece of body hair. And he had the flies of his jeans open. In a moment's panic I ordered a tonne of gravel, which will either be too little or too much. I'm guessing the former. It's coming at some unspecified point later in the week, so I get a few days off from the garden, although in reality that means I'll be flicking through plant books trying to work out what plants to buy.