Joining in, again, with the 'Movies in May' photo challenge

Hi hi.

As the month's nearly over [which reminds me ... are you joining in with your Month in Numbers this time round?] I thought I'd drop in with some more photographs that fit with the 'Movies in May' photo challenge set by Get It Scrapped.  Call it a sequel if you will ...

You can catch my earlier post here which contains half the photos from the challenge prompt:

... now let's move on to the main attraction [popcorn and bucket-sized fizzy drink optional] ... the other half of the film titles I've managed to find over the course of the month.

'Bringing Down the House'

Let's just say that when I took this photo - of my General Election polling card - I had hoped that the election result would indeed fit with the 'Bringing Down the House' title ... but, alas, it didn't quite turn out like that.

 

'Fried Green Tomatoes'

As he does every year Dad grew some extra tomato plants to donate to our tiny 6x4' greenhouse. I took this photo one morning after opening the greenhouse door so that they wouldn't actually end up as fried green tomatoes!

Honestly Dad ... they're planted up properly now and we are looking after them! And while we're in the garden ...

 

As Good As It Gets'

The clematis on the back fence is absolutely at its peak during May:

 

How about we nip back inside now? Follow me up the stairs ...

 

'28 Weeks Later'

Actually ... it's longer than that. Possibly over a year in fact. but still ... you get the idea ... It's been a long time since I first started redecorating my workroom and planning to have a new desk made. [Another job for Dad. He doesn't just grow tomatoes.] But I couldn't decide what to have and ... I waffled about ... but now finally, this month, it's here!!

So much better!

 

And while we're upstairs ... let me show you my current bedtime reading matter ...

 

'The Never Ending Story'

I've had this on my shelf since 2004 when it came out .. when I only read the first 100 pages.

 

This month I picked it back up again in the hope I could get more of it read before the BBC adaptation started. We're two episodes in [which I enjoyed greatly!] but at a whopping 1006 pages I'm not likely to get it all read before the next one. So I'm just trying to keep up!

 

'The Usual Suspects'

Attendance at the monthly crafty group I attend, The Middlesbrough Crop, fluctuates month to month. Sometimes we're packed-out, but this time round it was just the hard core regulars!

 

'Funny Face'

Me, in a just-killing-time-while-dyeing-my-hair demonic selfie:

I thought it might make James smile if ever he came across the photo. And, knowing what makes him laugh has probably contributed to the subject of next photo ...

'Unbroken'
We took this on our anniversary this month [no, don't vomit ... I'll be brief ...]:

It took dozens of arms-length-snaps to get one I'd be happy sharing. And when I look at this shot I definitely think how nice it is to still be happy together after all these years ... but I also think ...

...  how well that hair dye covered my greying roots ... and how clear the photo is despite it being taken indoors in the late evening. So really it was a win all round: Go romance! Go Vidal Sassoon Darkest Intense Violet; Go Fujifilm!

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Right then ... I'll better stop it there:

• for a start, that's all the movie title photos I've found this month ... and as it was just a challenge for May - it's all I'm going to find too.  17 out of 40 wasn't too bad! And next month sees the start of Rinda's Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt so the photo-hunting will continue!  
• and at this rate I'm going to have nothing new to share in my Month in Numbers post!

See you soon.

 

Julie x

 



Everyday Adventures: I'll see you when I get my glasses

Hi again.

You know how James and I visited Fountains Abbey over the May Day Bank Holiday [where I took lots of photos for the 'Movies in May' scavenger hunt?] well the reason we were over in that neck of the woods was because, for his birthday, someone had gifted him a surprise overnight stay in a hotel deep in the Yorkshire Dales.

Strangely enough, and by sheer coincidence [the person who bought the gift had no idea], the place where we stayed was a mere 0.9 mile / 3 minutes away from the cottage where my friends and I stay twice a year. In fact ... twice a year we all drive past it on our way to the craft shop and my friend Janet has often wondered what the food's like in there. And now I can tell her!

Anyway it was tricky knowing what to pack - we were only going to be away from home for 36 hours at the most and yet the weather had been so changeable that we had to take clothes to suit all eventualities. And so, somewhere in between sorting out cosy jumpers, lighter layers, sunglasses and winter coats I forgot to pack something.

A hairbrush.

Cue: thoughts of 'Oh great, we've come away for a nice break and I can't even make myself look presentable after a long day in the great outdoors.' [Basically I reckoned I was going to end up looking like I always had after a day at school: unkempt, bedraggled and like I'd just had a close encounter with a hedge. Backwards.]

And yet there were 3 key factors that meant  I needn't have worried:

Factor 1:

• I had brought a large hair clippy-up-thingy that had prongs on it which I could use to comb through my hair and get it in reasonable shape before being seen in public. 

Factor 2:

• I didn't even have to leave the building for tea!
• There was a table booked for us downstairs, in the pub below our room, so really, apart from wearing shoes, not sitting on a sofa, and not shouting answers at the TV while watching Pointless, it wasn't that different from eating tea at home. And goodness knows I never comb my hair for that!

But ... better still ..

Factor 3:

• James had lost his glasses ... ! Hurrah! How's that for a silver lining?!So, really, it all turned out OK in the end.

OK, OK ... don't roll your eyes at me ... I'm joking!

Well, not about the losing the glasses part. He totally did that.

But ... no, I wasn't actually happy about it!

But hey ... as a writer/blogger ... everything's 'material' ... and there was something deliciously ironic and complementary about the combination of things we both misplaced!

[Although, granted, as he can't see without them ... I accept that his loss was slightly more concerning than me having ruffled hair.]

So ... how did he lose them? Well ... it had been a gloriously sunshiny day at Fountains Abbey:

And he'd swapped his regular pair for his prescription sunglasses:

And, throughout the day as we walked the length and breadth of the grounds, he'd carried his glasses case containing his clear pair, in his pocket:

But it wasn't until we arrived at were we were staying, and he wanted to change into his clear lenses to go inside, that he realised they were no longer in his pocket.

Or his bag. Or even my bag.

Or, in fact, anywhere at all in the car.

And while the glasses are perfectly functional while the sun's out ... it's a different kettle of fish when you're inside ...

... and furthermore there's the dim light of evening approaching ... and they're the only pair of glasses you have in the world ... and you can't see without them ... and you begin to think that if you don't find them soon you'll have to go to work in sunglasses ... [and you know what people say about people who wear sunglasses indoors] ... and don't even mention if you have to drive any where at night.

And god help anyone who jokes about the future being so bright ...

And with all that in mind you can imagine the relaxing and fun evening we had. Talk about 'through a glass darkly'.

And so ... after an evening spent watching TV in the dark [which was fine really as we watched a re-run of the 1st episode of Sherlock which we know by heart anyway ... so he didn't miss much ...] the following morning, after phoning to check if the glasses had been handed in [they hadn't] we set off for home. And for the opticians.  And on a day that was far more grey, far more rainy, and far less sunny than the previous - my sunglasses remained in my bag ... while his stayed on his face.

On the way home we stopped off in Ripon where, upon noticing they had a branch of his optician's there, he went in to interrogate an assistant about how quick a turnaround he could expect on any new lenses he would need to buy once we got home. And I browsed their many charity shops seeking out 'treasure'.

Which is where I found this most perfectly perfect example of the universe having a laugh [and at 49p, a cheap one at that] and decided there was no way I was leaving the shop without it!

And when I spotted it, lifted it from the shelf, and handed it to him declaring "If we buy this then all your problems will be sorted" ... fortunately he saw the funny side too!

 

It's our 'Not a Wedding Anniversary Because We've Never Had a Wedding' anniversary soon ... and this little episode of light and shade is probably as good a metaphor as any for being in a long term relationship:

 

There'll be times you'll make the effort to go away for a relaxing break ... and it won't be.

 

But equally ... there'll be times when you'll have messy hair but it'll OK, because he just won't see it. 

 

 

Julie :-)