What's the story in Balamory?

This week, we are on holiday in Kilchoan, Scotland. Pretty enough, but god, the roads are scary.

In absence of a real update, here, have some photos.

Light house on the coast of the Isle Of Mull

We went to Tobermory, where they filmed Balamory.

We're still singing the theme tune.

We also went to the Tobermory/Ledraig whiskey distillery.

God ray on the Isle Of Mull

Abandoned ships on the Isle Of Mull coast

Sanna beach

Traigh Solais (light house in Gaelic)

We decorated cupcakes

Sunset from our cabin

Loch Lomand

We Will Remember Them.

Today is 11/11, while, yes it is the last binary day of the millennium, (of which I am incredibly excited), it is also Armistice Day, which celebrates the armistice signed between Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the cease fire on the Western Front, hostilities continued in other regions, especially across the former Russian Empire and in parts of the old Ottoman Empire.

It was declared as a national holiday in many allied nations, to commemorate the fallen. After World War II, the name was changed to Remembrance Day here in the UK, and Veterans Day in the US. Many people still call it Armistice Day, myself included. It seems interchangeable with Remembrance day.

We wear the red poppy as an outward show of our remembrance, the use was inspire by the WWI poem "In Flanders Fields". It's opening lines refer to the many poppies that were the first flowers to grow in the churned earth of the soilders graves in Flanders.

One of my favourite war poems, to commemorate the dead is "For The Fallen", by Laurence Binyon. It is one of his best known, as the fourth stanza adorns numerous memorials;

"They shall not grow old, as we that left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning

We will remember them"

So I hope, that today, the 11/11, you will take a moment to just remember the men that lay down their lives during the wars, so that we could live in the countries we do.

Where I Get Angry At The Broadcasting Top Brass.

It seems to be a big thing for TV channels to shrink TV show credits down into one corner and play them at double speed while someone shouts at you to let you know what is on next.

Shaun Dooley, (He's from Barnsley, don'cha know :D), tweeted and asked us to fill in this survey, on what we thought about this. Nothing gets on my ample bosom that this, so I quite happily did it.

It has a box at the end for any other notes, or anything else you wanted to say.

I got carried away;

I think it is incredibly disrespectful to shrink the credits. With nearly everyone having digital or sky, it is very easy to see what is coming up next, by pressing the information button, or similar. Saying that it is only the actors and their parents that read them is very incorrect. As a costumer, I find the credits very helpful in finding out who has done the costumes. As some one that is VERY interested in the production of shows, I am interested in who has done the lighting, the sound, yes, even who the best boy and the runners are.

If you went to the cinema, and they did the same thing, I'm sure you would complain. People quite happily sit there and watch the credits, find out who that actor was that had a fleeting cameo that they're sure they know from somewhere else, but can't quite recall, yet the moment they see the name, it'll come back to them. They sit and see who the director was, what that piece of music was, who did the FX. Okay, so TV credits don't go into so much detail, but it's surprising what can be found out from watching them.

There is no need for someone to shout over the top of the credits, to tell you what is coming up next, then what is on after that, what is on the next channel, what you've just watched. I KNOW what I've just watched, I watched it for crying out loud. I don't need to know what is on XYZ channel, I don't need to know what is on in 3 hours, I don't even really want to know what is on next. I certainly don't need telling again in 30 seconds, after playing a trailer for another 2 shows that won't actually be screening for another month. I don't need telling what I'm about to watch right before the programme either, I know what I'm about to watch, that's why, I have that channel on.

I digress.

There is no need to shout and tell us what is on next over the credits. If we want to change the channel, shouting at us won't stop us. If we were NOT going to change the channel, shouting at us would more than likely want to MAKE us change the channel. I have never met one person that does not have some form of TV paper, be it the Radio Times, or the S Magazine out of the Sunday Express. It's just as easy to pick that up and look in it. Most papers will print that days TV listings. Both of our local papers, even the free one, prints that day's and the next day's TV listings. There is no need to have Mr. Shouty-Man come over the credits to tell us.

In short, STOP shrinking the credits to let us know what is on next on half a dozen channels, while some one shouts at us in the hope that we won't change the channel. If you don't want us to change the channel, don't advertise other channels shows at the end of a programme. Or is that just common sense? Stop running them at double speed. Even me, with 20:20 vision who can read incredibly fast, cannot keep up. It gives me eye ache. Stop having Mr. Shouty-Man shout at us over the music. Yes, a lot of shows use the same music each week, (Eastenders for one), but just as many will continue the last piece of music played in the show.

It is disrespectful, rude, and downright annoying.

PLEASE, if you are as annoyed as the rest of us by the credit shrinking, fill in the survey!

I hev eh sociel seasen daaaaaaaaaahling!

I don't really. This year has just been a bit heavy on the doing stuff side.

First up, was Moo's hen do. We went to Go Ape at Sherwood Forest. Ehhh... it was ok. Wimped out on a couple of them, and hand a total melt down on the second one. But it was ok.

Yeah, Moo had us pretending to be monkeys...

Next up, Moo's wedding. We had to go to Dorset for it, went down on the Friday, came back on the Sunday. She looked beautiful. When it came to catching the bouquet, there were only, I think 6 of us took part, and three of them stood be hind the rest of us. I didn't intentionally catch it. I didn't actually want to. But when she threw it, my body took over and ehhh blah blah right? I caught it! Woop!

After that was my friend B's wedding. I love B. I met her at uni and we hit it off straight away. She... was a lesbian, but then she met Steve, and everything changed. They are an amazing couple, and so in love. It's kinda sickening really.

Also, annoying, I have no photos from this wedding. On the morning, Steve asked me to take photos, so I spent all day taking them for other people, and got none for me!

They got married in Blackpool, again, we went up on the Friday, had a catch up on the Friday night, then came back Sunday. It was really nice, getting to see friends that I hadn't seen in a couple of years.

Then was Bev's hen do. Bev is a friend from school, one of my oldest friends. I helped her and her partner get together (he was an ex's best friend. Not so much any more. That's another story.) We went to the dogs, at Owlerton. I was apprehensive - I don't really agree with sports like that, but I enjoyed it. Didn't win anything, but I didn't spend much either. It was nice to see Bev and her family again, and to get to meet some of Glyn's family.

Then, Bev's wedding. I've always wanted a maxi dress, but could never find one long enough (I'm 5' 11"). We managed to find this one in Evans, with another one that was long enough. I wasn't sure, I felt quite insecure, but then the trusty spanx came out. Phew. I really enjoyed wearing it. It was nice to not have to constantly worry about straps falling down, or it riding up at the back, or whether this pose or that made me look fat. It was nice and relaxing.

I can't wait until next summer to be able to wear it again :)

Admitedly, this photo isn't the most flattering. But I love it.

In between these, there has been various naming ceremonies, garden parties and house warmings. Been quite busy really. Thankfully that's it for the year, other than Mum's birthday, Christmas and a week away in Scotland!!

Pretty cunning, don'tchya think?

I have a confession. I have never actually watched Firefly all the way through. I own the DVD box set, but I've never sat down and watched them completley. I have seen Serenity, however, and know it off by heart.

That said, the one episode of Firefly I HAVE seen is The Message, guest staring Jayne's amazeballs hat.

Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb. From here

90% of people who know ABOUT Firefly, know about Jayne's hat. His Ma sends it him, to keep him warm on his travels, and Jayne being a good lil' mama's boy, puts it straight on.

One day I decided I needed that hat. I don't remember when... but I know that I thought about it for about 3 years. Always, "One day, I'll knit me that hat". This year, I finally bucked my ideas up. I found a pattern (this one, sort of), I went to my LYS, and got me some yarn. (Rico Aran for Kids. The softest snuggliest wool I've felt in a long time. And the colours. SO BRIGHT!)

The pattern calls for a 6 1/2mm circular, but I hate the damn things. Seriously. I own half a dozen, but I just want to poke people in the eyes with them when I use them. Instead, I used DPNs. I much prefer them, even though I constantly poke myself with them.

'Scuse morning face. Wanted to take advantage of the sunlight, and didn't think to do something about my face first. D'oh!

It knitted up so quickly. I did double strand the wool, as it wasn't quite chunky enough, but I think in total it took me about 6 hours. I'm not the fastest knitter at all, so I'm sure for someone who is faster, they can do it in no time.

I luffs me my hat. I just wish it would get cold enough for me to wear it. At the moment, it only really gets that cold in the middle of the night. And what good is that?

Cunning hat, seen here with Mum's Cunning Tester hat