“Do you do much sewing then?”

Nicktor came over last night. He still had the vestiges of a cold (‘man-flu’ Dawn calls it) but he soldiered through. We both agreed that whiskey could only help kill the germs that were besieging him. He certainly sounded a lot better this morning, though, as usual a touch seedy. Obviously this was due to a lack of sleep.

We ate at the 6 Bells – the chef was actually there – and had a couple of beers. There’s more people there on a Wednesday night than on Tuesday’s when we normally go. We had a couple of pints of a dark beer that doesn’t taste like one, called Ape Rilful (or something like that). As the barmaid pumped it out, I remarked that it was a dark beer. Nicktor said with complete authority that it doesn’t taste like one. I looked at him quizzically. Had he tried it before, I asked. No, he replied, I read it on the taste notes on the pump.

We nattered over dinner and then walked back up the lane in evening sunlight both praising the joys of daylight saving. Back at the house, the poodles went mad, of course, but finally we settled down to watch the first of our two movies.

Many years ago, when I was going through my horror film phase…actually, I’ve never really left it, to be fair…I saw I Spit On Your Grave. A wonderful revenge film which sees an abused woman kill off her attackers slowly but surely, gaining retribution in all manner of horrific yet deserved ways. If you like that kind of thing, it was fantastic. The filming was also terrific, as was the script and acting. Ok, it was never going to win any awards but it shone in a genre of movies not generally known for many artistic skills.

Well, last night we watched the remake of last year. When I heard about it, I wondered why they’d remade it. I nearly always do this when I hear someone has remade a classic movie. Why tinker with a great film? It makes no sense. Still, I tried to approach this remake with an open mind.

While I don’t think it’s as good as the original, I still enjoyed it. It’s one of those films where you have to seriously suspend your disbelief! It differs a bit from the original as well and it’s in some of these changes that it becomes a bit stretched. Nicktor hasn’t seen the original so he was approaching it with an open mind and he liked it.

The second film was truly awful. One of those films you just want to forget. For that reason, I’m not even going to mention the title (in case someone Googles the title and gets my blog, leading the person to think I watch that sort of rubbish) let alone talk about it. Enough said.

One thing that Nicktor commented on last night was our newest acquisition. Mirinda sometimes trawls ebay for Arts & Crafts furniture and ephemera. A few weeks ago she successfully bid on a sewing table. It arrived (after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with the courier) last week. Nicktor wondered why. This is not a surprise, he often wonders why. When he told me about his latest ebay purchase, I also asked him why (though I knew full well) just to be annoying.

Our new old sewing table

We think it’s lovely, regardless of what Nicktor thinks. It’s hand made and painted and about 100 years old. It fits in well with our other Arts & Crafts pieces. Mainly because they all speak the same language.

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A lot of people sit in Starbucks and work. They generally have their laptops out on the table with their coffee alongside, earnestly tapping away, their work clothes obvious. Some have other electronic devices but laptops are generally considered de rigueur. Try and imagine my delight when I spotted this lady this morning.

A technological gran

I love it when older people embrace new technology but this is the first time I’ve seen one with a laptop in a coffee shop. I wanted to go and tell her how brilliant she was but she left soon after I took this sneaky photo. If she somehow finds my blog and recognises herself, I would like to say I think she’s brilliant.