Bank holiday bliss!

What are Bank holidays for? Camping of course!

We stayed at a campsite in Derbyshire at the weekend with the most amazing pub on site. The meals we had were one of the best we had ever tasted. I had game pie and chips and MrM had beef and Stilton pie and chips. Well worth a visit for the food alone!

We also went for a looonnngggg walk around Lathkill Dale which had stunning views. There wasn't enough time to see everything so I hope to return again someday to do another walk here.

Mrs M
x

The Apprentice - normal service will resume shortly!

Pesky football on the TV tonight so wont be able to get my usual Apprentice fix until Thursday evening at the earliest. Hmmmppphhh. That means I will have to avoid all radios, TVs and news websites for the foreseeable future.

The Apprentice: Nick vs Maragret - episode 9

I can't believe we have been watching The Apprentice for almost two months now and thoughts are inevitably turning to the final in whatever shape that will take this time. Although I began to loathe Ben towards the end (and even regretted picking him for my fantasy Apprentice team at work) I didn't think he was the right one to go this week. Debra is so slippery she would give an eel a run for his money. The rocking horse was clearly her decision but she wouldn't take any blame. She has definitely go to be the next one to go...

Down to the serious stuff.

Episode 9
Winner - Nick
'Horlicks!'

Total: Nick 5: 3 Margaret

As for me, during my many years...

...living abroad, I had been struck every time I had returned to London by how many of my childhood peers seemingly led such socially monochrome lives (segregated drinks with colleagues excluded), despite no Richard Curtis Notting Hill movie being complete without Hugh Grant having a gay, a black, a disabled and a working class friend.

Phew - I was tagged by the Book-It list to:

• Grab the nearest book to you
• Turn to page 56
• Post the text of the 5th sentence as a post title and pass this meme on to who you like

This must be the longest sentence known to man! Feel free to play along with this meme if you are reading this post.

Mrs M
x

Pimp my house - day zero

The Apprentice: Nick vs Margaret - episode 8

The classic 'great idea but they didn't quite execute it' episode. The leaflet was hilarious - 'intentionally' left blank for advertising?!

Episode 8
Winner - Margaret
Her face was a picture when Kate and Yasmina asked the models to take their tops off!

Total: Nick 4: 3 Margaret

Too many plates spinning...

Exams first week in June. Builders start 18 May for 8 weeks.

Madness....

The Apprentice: Nick vs Margaret - episode 7

Wow - week 7 already! Doesn't time fly?? Once again the candidates seemed to completely miss the point of the task. They had pitches set up with some of the biggest retailers in the ares - candidates pick completely inappropriate products. Either it is very clever editing or they are just that stupid!

Episode 7
Winner - Nick
Nick in the boardroom to Philip - 'Do you remember Pants Man?' Surely the final nail in his coffin. Joke!

Total: Nick 4: 2 Margaret

Literary Meme

I spotted this on my newest favourite blog The Book-It list. I think it is WAY too highbrow for my reading exploits but one day I want to say with confidence that I have a favourite poet! So here goes...

1. What author do you own the most books by?
The most prolific author on my book shelves is Daphne Du Maurier closely followed by Agatha Christie.

2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Erm, I only feel the need to own one copy of a book. Is that strange?

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

Nope - I'm not hung up on getting things grammatically perfect. Language is here to evolve I say! lol!

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?

Ohh, good question! I'm quite partial to Lockhart from Harry Potter...

5. What book have you read the most times in your life?
As a rule I don't read books more than once - life is too short and there are so many great books out there to be read. As a child I read all of Roald Dahl books over and over again.

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Apart from anything by Roald Dahl, I loved The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse by Vivian French.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?

Being a member of a book group makes this question simple! I am torn between Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella and Elleander Morning by Jerry Yulsman (definitely the most bizarre book I have ever read!)

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
The one I have just finished 'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen. Again this is a book group book but sadly it was not my choice.

9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
The Shadow of the Wind - I loved that book!

10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
I don't think I'm the right person to ask about that!

11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
See question 9

12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
See question 9 also! Films are never as good as the book and as a rule I try to read the book BEFORE I see the film.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
None I remember

14. What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
Plenty but the Shopaholic series must be up there!

15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Difficult because of it's sheer length not because it was difficult to understand - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
Richard the third - only because I did it for English Literature A-level

17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I have no preference at all.

18. Roth or Updike?
Ekk - no idea! Should I stop right here?

19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
As above!

20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare - he is the only one I have read.

21. Austen or Eliot?
Austen - definitely. And is this the right place to say that I loved the TV programme Lost in Austen??

22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
A large proportion of the classics. I am more embarrassed and have bigger gaps now I have completed this!

23. Is it better to read broadly—a few books from a country and time period—or deeply?
Definitely broadly - you might just discover something new.

24. What is your favorite novel?
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

25. Play?
Pass

26. Poem?

Pass again - I really need to broaden my horizons!

27. Essay?
?!

28. Short story?
Ahh, here is more comfortable territory. Daphne Du Maurier's short stories are cracking, especially The Birds volume (not at all like the film).

29. Work of nonfiction?
I really love reading gardening and eco books. My favourite recently is A life Stripped Bare by Leo Hickman.

30. Who is your favorite writer?
Daphne Du Maurier

31. Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Hmmmmm. I would dare say that anyone is overrated. If they have the guts to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) then they have done something amazing - who are we to comment?

32. What is your desert island book?
Definitely the Lord of the Rings books. My husband is obsessed with them and keeps nagging me to read them. To be honest I don't know when I would ever find the time or the inclination to start such a lengthy book other than if I was on a desert island.

The Apprentice: Nick Vs Maragret - episode 6

This week saw the candidate valuing antiques - a disaster just waiting to happen! I would love to know if they are given the rules of the task to read. It occurred to me this week that if one of the teams didn't sell anything and just sat in the pub for the whole day then they would have ended up winning the task! What would Alan have said about that I wonder??

I think a new campaign needs to be started to get Debra out of the show. Did you see how she spoke to Nick?? Shocking - she has to go!

Episode 6
Winner - Margaret
For the Cassandra quote and also the 'never before has anyone done something so stupid for so long'

Total: Nick 3: 2 Margaret