What I do

Over the past few months I have had plenty of time to do what I like. With severe restrictions of course. One of the things I love doing is reading and I figured I would have plenty of time to do just that. And then I didn't. Yes, I picked up a book, but I couldn't stick to it. However, during the last few weeks I did finally pick up a book and finish it. Several in fact. Although that came about in a roundabout kind of way.

I have written several blogs about what I watched. Romantic comedies was what I started off with, but lately I have been more into a different type of film. Car chases, fighting, action, space. And then I subscribed to Amazon Prime and found a whole world of films and series. 

The series follows Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator who has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served. When Reacher arrives in the small town of Margrave, Georgia, he finds a community grappling with its first homicide in 20 years. The cops immediately arrest him, and eyewitnesses claim to place Reacher at the scene of the crime. While he works to prove his innocence, a deep-seated conspiracy begins to emerge, one that will require Reacher’s keen mind and hard-hitting fists to deal with. One thing above all is for sure: They picked the wrong guy to take the fall.

I thought I might as well give it a go and Janice (who mentioned it): thank you so much! I watched the whole series on two consecutive days. In: I watched the whole series one day and then watched the whole series again the next day! Since then I watched the whole thing a further two times. And decided to read the book the series is based on. Which I finished in two sittings as it was gripping me the whole way.

An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and can survive until a potential rescue.

At the same time I had bought another book. Based on a film this time: the Martian. This is a film I had wanted to see in the cinema and never got around to it for some reason. I regret that to this day as I loved it. I did watch it several times on television though, but never the complete thing. Until they had another broadcast and I managed to record it. By the end I knew I wanted it on DVD. It arrived the next day and I watched it again. Which led to me buying the book.

On the back of both those books, I bought other books by the same writers. In the case of Lee Child (Reacher), I bought several of the same series about the main protagonist. I am now on book 3, which so far is the hardest to get through, but I still want to know how it ends. I have number 4 waiting already. There are about 24 books so far, so I have a bit to go. 

So there you have it: I started reading again. While still watching a lot of television (new MacGyver seasons 1-3, the Transporter series plus of course films with a higher body count than I have ever seen in my life so far). 

More telly

Apart from watching films that are geared more towards young adults, children and families, I also love watching another type of film. The type of film where the body count usually is on the higher side of the spectrum. One of the good guys gets it good and then a lot of the bad guys go the same way (ie untimely death). And sometimes they can be quite funny as well. Like 'Spy'. Starring Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law with a brilliant comedic turn by Jason Statham. A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster. Very much a fish out of water story, I had seen parts of it before, but never the whole film. And even though it was very clearly a film, it was also quite believable as you rooted for Melissa McCarthy trying to do her best as a new spy.

Something with nearly the same title was 'My Spy', starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman. A hardened CIA operative finds himself at the mercy of a precocious 9-year-old girl, having been sent undercover to surveil her family. There were parts of this film that were so funny they had me nearly wetting myself as I laughed so hard. I thought the chemistry between the two main leads was very sweet and the supporting cast was brilliant.

'Safe' was another Jason Statham film (I really like him, he could read the phonebook and it would be good). Mei, a young girl whose memory holds a priceless numerical code, finds herself pursued by the Triads, the Russian mob, and corrupt NYC cops. Coming to her aid is an ex-cage fighter whose life was destroyed by the gangsters on Mei's trail. I fell into this halfway and once finished, I had to go back to the beginning to really get the whole story. There was definitely a higher body count here, as the Triads, Russian Mob and police force all were severely short of people in the end. And apart from some of the wise cracks, there was not much of comedy here. But, as I said, it had Jason Statham in...

I saw a few films recently starring Sam Worthington. 'Clash of the Titans', 'Wrath of the Titans' and 'The Hunter's Prayer'. In the first two he stars as Perseus, a Greek demi-god (Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes also star), in the last he is an assassin who helps a young woman avenge the death of her family. Very much in the same vein as the film with Jason Statham and still quite entertaining, the good guy and the bad guy looked very similar to me and were hard to keep apart until quite far into the film. Which did definitely not help. It was still a nice watch though.

A Mark Wahlberg film next. When I saw this film advertised, I watched it because I thought it had Matt Damon in (there was a tiny picture next to it). A man discovers that his hallucinations are actually visions from past lives. I did really feel for the protagonist and very much rooted for him and his friends. However, I did not get much from Chiwetel Ejiofor. He played the bad guy, but he didn't do it for me. Yes, at times it was a bit far fetched, but with these type of films you have to suspend your disbelief to some extent I think. And as long as they are not billing it as 'based on a true story'...

'In Time' was a film I had seen several times before, but only ever the second half, never the beginning. So when I saw it streamed on one of the streaming services I subscribe to, I had to watch it again. In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage - a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system. I am not much into Justin Timberlake's music, but I do like his acting very much. 

To end with something altogether less violent now: 'The Hating Game'. Resolving to achieve professional success without compromising her ethics, Lucy embarks on a ruthless game of one-upmanship against cold and efficient nemesis Joshua, a rivalry that is complicated by her growing attraction to him. When I first saw this, I fast forwarded quite a bit, but once I had finished I went back to the beginning and saw the whole thing from beginning to end again. I especially liked Austin Stowell's acting and his looks were very much cold and ruthless. Until he smiled...

More of what I watched

Continuing with what I watched recently. There was one film that I had wanted to see ever since I had first seen the trailer: 'The House with a Clock in its Walls'. Starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett, it is basically a children's film, but that has never stopped me before. A young orphan named Lewis Barnavelt aids his magical uncle in locating a clock with the power to bring about the end of the world. I particularly liked the interaction between Jack Black as the uncle and Cate Blanchett as the friend, as they bickered and called each other names. Overall though I thought it was okay, but not much more.

I watched two films on Amazon recently with the same premise: time loop. The first one was 'Palm Springs', the second was 'The Map of Tiny Perfect Things'. 1. Stuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again. This was very much an adult version. And it required more than just being a good person to get out of the time loop again. 2. Two teens get stuck in a time loop and make a map to try and get out of it again. This was more of a teenage version and for some reason a bit more fun to watch. Definitely more relatable. 

I had recorded 'Ready Player One' a while ago and watched it the other day. When the creator of a virtual reality called the OASIS dies, he makes a posthumous challenge to all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune and control of his world. It is set in the future and the main protagonists are all teens, but I liked it very much and in fact watched it twice in two days!

'Wonderstruck' was a film in two parts. It tells the tale of two children separated by fifty years. In 1927, Rose searches for the (silent movie) actress whose life she chronicles in her scrapbook; in 1977, Ben runs away from home to find his father. The visualisation of both stories was fantastic. The 1927 bits were shown with music only, no spoken word and were for me the best of the film. I loved the ending as well, as it really made the stories come together. 

The last film I will share today was 'The 5th Wave'. Another film starring teens. Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth in ruin. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. The film was left quite open ended as it was based on the first of a series of books. I think I would watch a sequel, but only if it were a close ended one. But I did quite like this one.

What I have watched recently

Over the past few weeks and months I have been watching plenty of films on television. In the run up to Christmas it was mostly Christmas films, some of them good, some of them utterly forgettable. But I also watched other stuff. One of those I saw was 'A Dog's Purpose' and its follow-up 'A Dog's Journey'. Both lovable films with the main 'man' being Bailey the Dog as he lives his (occasionally her) life as a dog to different people, yet all the time coming back to the same person (the character played by Dennis Quaid) or his granddaughter (played by Kathryn Prescott). 

Another animal film I watched was 'Cats'. Based on the work by TS Eliot, it was turned into a musical years ago by Andrew Lloyd Webber and a while ago they made it into a film. It got really bad reviews, but I loved it. I really did. I thought the sets were gorgeous, the actors were good and I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. 

Staying with an animal theme, I recently saw 'Finch' on Apple TV. There are only three real actors in the whole film: Tom Hanks who plays the main character Finch, Caleb Landry Jones who plays Jeff and Seamus who plays Goodyear. It is an apocalyptic film in that it takes place after some 'wipe out humanity' event which is never specified and Finch is suffering from radiation sickness. He has to look after his dog though and for that purpose he builds a robot, which will have to look after Goodyear the dog after he cannot any longer. There are a few other voice characters and sight characters, but these three carried the whole film. I have always liked Tom Hanks and here he proves it again. This film could easily shine at the Oscars!

No animals for the next film: 'Mum's List'. But plenty of tissues were needed for this film based on a true story. Rafe Spall plays Singe and Emilia Fox plays his wife Kate. Following the death of Kate, it shows hos Singe and their two sons cope and deal with that. Flashbacks show how the two met, what they went through and how and why Kate ended up with a list to follow. Rafe Spall was great as a bewildered and scared father, he made the story very real.

The last film I want to give attention to this time around is 'Kalte Füsse' (Cold Feet). It is a German film and even though it wasn't a tear jerker or thought provoking, it did give me an hour and a half of enjoyment. When Denis breaks into the Austrian winter cottage of rich business man Raimund he gets mistaken for the new nurse by Raimund's granddaughter Charlotte. In order not to get busted Denis decides to play along. It is quite slapsticky and crude in places, but I do on occasion love that kind of humour. 

I was going to...

...finish the painting. But, someone threw soot in the food by doing something with the chimneys on our block, which resulted in a lot of dust all the way. Which is not the best thing. Because paint and dust don't really mix if you want a nice result at the end of the day. 

Instead I installed our media box. Because I want to watch something, my dad wants to watch something else and my mum a third program. We need to be able to record stuff. And that was possible with this media box thing. 

I installed the thing and then proceeded to record something. Just for a try you know. As I was watching show A and waiting for show B to be recorded there was a message on the screen: in thirty seconds your show is about to be recorded. Great. And then the channel changed to show B! What the *^%$&? It would only record a program that you were watching at the time!

Needless to say I wasn't happy. At all. So, this afternoon I made a phone call. I explained, the girl didn't understand. I explained again. Hold the line please. She came back: the media box I wanted was available. It would only cost me x amount (ex VAT) per month. And x wasn't that low either. Considering all it did was allow me to record a show here or there. Ridiculous. 

We are still not sure what we are going to do. I am reluctant regarding the price. My dad is reluctant regarding internet (it's all one package) and my mum is reluctant because of the font on teletext. I think we will need to talk properly to somebody and not just over the phone. 

I will keep you posted. 

Update on the film

As I told you a few days ago, my mother is on the lookout for a film, which she wouldn't mind seeing again. Some of you said it might be Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which I must admit was my guess as well. To make sure it wasn't, we watched it last night. Dick van Dyke was in it, but no crocodile eating a broom. It wasn't the film.

Nor in fact was it Dick van Dyke that is in that other film. It is someone taller and blonder. Which really adds to the range of details so far. Not! 

I seem to recall a film where there is an inventor that sells his invention to some Chinese man, but I haven't got a clue whether her tall, blonde hunk is in it, nor whether there are any cold-blooded reptiles eating household equipment.

Here's what I know so far:

No Dick van Dyke in the film. It's not animated. The tall blonde hunk is married and has two daughters (at least) that have quite a free upbringing. There is a housekeeper that tries to chase a crocodile away with a broom that then gets eaten (the broom, not the housekeeper). It's NOT a horror film, nor a thriller. It's most likely made in the 1960's/1970's. Could be a bit later.

Help!

April Fool

Did you have that same suspicion as I did: that this whole Corona thing was just a very elaborate joke played on us by politicians? But today is April Fool and I don't think it is. Yesterday the measures taken originally until April 6th have been prolonged to April 28th. But our prime minister said that 'he wouldn't advise anybody to make any plans for the May holiday' (which is around that time). 

Which means that for the foreseeable future, we will be in the house trying to pass our days. Yesterday I spruced up my Mice for Mama site and added a few more things, including some made by my mum. Today I plan on continuing with a little cardigan I am making. It looks really lovely right now, but I can't wait for it to be finished. Probably another week or so.

I have taken out all my DVD's as well. I still haven't found 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks', which I thought I had, but it might be my sister who owns it. We have watched a couple of other films though as there is no sport to be had and at a certain point you do get a bit fed up with all that Corona news. 

I watch one episode a day of Doctor Who and have plenty of other series to help me through (Last of the Summer Wine, Dinnerladies, Sherlock, M*A*S*H, Eureka). So for the time being I am doing okay. 

My mum has a question though. She wants to see a film about a couple and their two daughters. Those girls are quite free and fancy. There is a housekeeper and also a crocodile that eats a broom (that last bit is important apparently). It's not animated, it's not horror or thriller, it's just a fun film. She thinks Dick van Dyke might be in it, but she is not so good on names (she does know Dick van Dyke though). Anybody any ideas?

Fun

I decided before I had even moved properly, that I would continue to do fun things like going to the theater and to the cinema. Money permitting obviously. And at this moment there are several films I would love to see in the cinema.

Unfortunately one (On the Basis of Sex) is at the end of its run and is only shown in Amsterdam and I am not going there. The other one (Le Grand Bain) never played at my local cinema, so I will probably not be able to see that one either. For now. The third one I wanted to see however, was playing here. Albeit at really silly times. Like 10.40am!

But, I really wanted to see that film and I saw that last Saturday it was being shown at midday. Not too bad and I decided to go. 

It was not busy. I think everybody would have fit on one row and there would still have been room left over. But what we got to see was a great film. Well, no, it was a documentary, but very well done and almost filmic in quality. 

Peter Jackson (yes, of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fame) did a fantastic job with his crew. Bringing World War I very close. If you do get the chance to see 'They Will Not Grow Old' in the cinema: very much recommended. And if you miss it: wait for the showing on television, the BBC was apparently quite involved as well.

Beastly

I don't often go to the cinema. I want to and I know which films I want to see, but in the end, I end up buying the dvd. So, the last time I'd been, was early last year, to see the Swedish film about a man called Ove (raved about the book and film on this blog before). But I really really really wanted to see Beauty and the Beast. 

And last night I did. With a friend. The place was nearly full with a lot of women (and a few men/boys who were dragged along) and the pre-film noise was quite high. Fortunately once the film started, it quietened down and we could enjoy the film. 

Because I live in Norway, films are not dubbed, but subtitled and I must say: they were awful! For the singing parts at least. They had made their own rhymes that did not fit the original songs. Fortunately I do understand a bit of English and was able to enjoy what they actually sang. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the lead Emma Watson who had a lovely singing voice, it took me ages to figure out who her father was played by (Kevin Kline) and the fact that the Beast actually turned out to be quite nice looking (as opposed to the animated version, where he is simply dreadful), only added to the enjoyment. 

It was a good night at the cinema and I know that once the dvd comes out: I will get it. Although not from Norway!

Day 19: Scrooge

Plenty of candles, but no Scrooge!

Last week I posted something about my favourite Christmas films and Anvilcloud replied that he thought it was a shame I had not included Scrooge in my list. In his opinion it was the best! So, when I saw it would be on television yesterday, I was all set. It was in my recording list and I would watch it at the same time.

That was, until the electricity went off. And when it came back on, it went back off again. After half an hour it came back on and yes, you guessed it: it went back off. Finally, after we turned most of the stuff we had on off, my landlord turned it on again and it stayed on. 

By then however, I had missed part of the film. There is only solution now: buy it on dvd!

We still don't know what caused the black-out. The cooker? The dish washer? The lights on my tree? The electricity troll? Whatever it was, we hope it is sorted now.

Day 11: Christmas in our house

Today we join Blogville's 25 days of Christmas and will tell you all about our Christmas. Which is going to be great this year, because Mara doesn't have to work! And that means that we can watch Christmas films and we have a lot of those!!

Here's a little list of our *****-films. The ones that we will definitely be watching this Christmas!

The Christmas Card (2006). Not a big story, but a sweet one. And Mara says it makes her tummy go funny every time they kiss!

Miracle on 34th Street (1947). The original is still the best, but its remake is right up there as well. We gave that one 4,5 stars.

The Polar Express (2004). People may say it wasn't that good, but we love it. 

Bad Santa (2003). There is a lot of swearing and things like that, but at the heart is a feel-good story. 

Love Actually (2003). Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Martin Freeman, Liam Neeson. What's not to love?

The Santa Clause (1994). The original. The best. Although its follow-ups were pretty good as well.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945). Heads and shoulders above its later remake. Funny and very feel-good. 

Lost Christmas (2011). A British made-for-tv film starring Eddie Izzard. A bit darker than most Christmas films, but the story really stuck.

The Ref (1994). More swearing and crime, but again it has heart.

Arthur Christmas (2011). So funny and sweet. We love grandpa and Bryony the packing elf and of course Arthur!

Remember the Night (1940). Romantic and sweet. What more do you need for Christmas?

Elf (2003). So many sweets! We love the sweets! And how can anyone not believe in Santa??

Make the Yuletide Gay (2009). Boyfriend shows up unexpectedly for Christmas. It makes us smile every time. 

The Snowman (1982). Boy makes snowman who comes alive at night. We will keep making snowmen ourselves!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). Boris Karloff telling the story and no Jim Carrey in sight. Nuff said!

A Dog named Christmas (2009). A dog just for Christmas. Or is it?

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). The best Christmas Carol. EVER!!! It has singing penguins and it has an acting bear!

We're no Angels (1955). Three escaped convicts make Christmas a good time. 

But our two favouritest of all our favourites:

White Christmas (1954). Mara tries to say that line Danny Kaye says to Bing Crosby every time, but she has never gotten it right so far: "My dear partner, when what's left of you gets around to what's left to be gotten, what's left to be gotten won't be worth getting, whatever it is you've got left."

A Muppet Family Christmas (1987). Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggles. Small talk (that begins with s you know), bears, chickens, rats. And songs. Lots of songs. The perfect start to Christmas.

Ove

One of my four plans this year contained going to the cinema more often. But I don't want to see just any film. I am no Star Wars or James Bond fan. I don't like those shoot-them-up films without any story to them and romantic comedies are quite thin on the ground right now for some reason. 

Then a lady I know said on Facebook that she had just seen this film and it was really good. Seeing as she also had read the book, that was high praise. Several of my colleagues saw the film and loved it (albeit none of them had read the book). I knew which film would be my first of this year: En mann ved navn Ove (or A man called Ove). 

I asked a friend whether she liked to come with me, since it's always more fun with two, and she said she would love to. She could have gone earlier this week, but other engagements had put a stop to that. So, last night I picked her up and off we went to see Ove. 

It was brilliant! It was funny and sad and at the end of the film (like the book), I cried. And I wasn't the only one either. According to my friend (yep, wet cheeks) the man sitting beside her, was wiping his eyes as well and I am sure there were plenty of others.

Highly recommended, both book (by Fredrik Backmann) and film!

Photo on Sunday 2015-32

My satellite connection is playing up. I mean, really playing up. It's working fine from morning to evening, but come 8.30pm, it starts to stutter and finally go down. Until about midnight when it comes back!

Next week the satellite man is coming over. He will hopefully update and solve this problem. Because not watching the Doctor....

Television

As you know I like my television. And over the past two months I have had plenty of time to enjoy a lot of it. The old Doctor Who, Time Team (archeological digs all over Britain) and lots more. During the first few weeks there was Hogan's Heroes. A show I had never heard about, but I thought it was funny and loved it when it was on telly every day. And then, after three out of six seasons, they stopped. Not a clue why, they just stopped. Which was annoying, since I hadn't seen them all yet.

Then a few weeks ago, another channel started with Hi-de-Hi. And 'Allo 'Allo. And Are You Being Served. Which are all series I love watching (again and again). But when Hi-de-Hi was finished, they started with a new series: Just Good Friends, which I had never seen before. But, four episodes in and nothing! They stopped! Why???

Now, I hope that after all that ball banging with sticks (otherwise known as snooker) is finished, they will go back to airing that show. Because it is a fun show to watch and the leads aren't bad to look at either!

Fortunately they will not be stopping with Doctor Who anytime soon. At least I don't think so.

Preparations are under way!

The meat for Christmas dinner has been bought and freezered. The main will be kale 'n' mash and the freezered meat. I know what I will have for desert (the Speculaas cake/pie). The side will probably be a home made husar salad (Dutch recipe). I still have some plums in red wine that will go down well with ice cream at some point during the day.

The choice of Christmas films to watch is growing by the day. Either they arrive in the mail or they are recorded off the telly (Channel 5 has a great choice). Of course the old favourites will be on my list as well: White Christmas, Arthur Christmas, the Muppet Christmas Carol, a Muppet Family Christmas plus many more. 

This Sunday I will do some preliminary Christmas cleaning and some serious Christmas decorating. No tree yet, but I am hoping to get one next week. I already have some presents to put under it as well, although there was one I had to unwrap today already!

Mind you, with all of these preparations going on, I don't even know yet whether I will have to work. Or perhaps I will be recovering from surgery (although I severely doubt it, seeing how 'fast' things are moving here in Norway). But at least the preparations are going fine!

This post is prompted by Spin Cycle. Thank you Ginny Marie at Lemon Drop Pie. 

Photo on Sunday 2014-25

2010 at the BBC center in London

An oldie today. One you might have seen before, since I have posted this one before. However, last night was the beginning of the new season of Doctor Who and a new Doctor as well (played by Peter Capaldi). Now, I had a party as well (more on that tomorrow) and made a bit of a mistake. 

I knew I had a party and had resigned myself to the fact that I would record the episode. And then at work a colleague told me they were showing the first episode in the local cinema. Not quite sure why, since the BBC is not a channel that is included in any of the Norwegian packages, so unless you have a satellite dish... Anyway. When my colleague told me, I didn't at first believe him. Until I heard it announced on the radio myself. When I got back to the office, I immediately bought a ticket. All thoughts about the party had gone out of my head!

No Daleks this time, but they are set to return next week!

Well, the episode sure didn't dissapoint. In fact, it was fantastic. I can't wait for next week's episode. Oh, hold on... a family do... somewhere not at home... Hm...

Hello Doctor

One dish

Ever since I moved to Norway, I have been amazed by several things and one thing in particular. Norwegians are fond of British television and will broadcast quite a few British programs. But, it is impossible to get the regular 'terrestrial' channels on tv here. No 'Strictly', no 'Russell Howard', no 'Mrs Brown's Boys'. And no Doctor Who!

Of course it had to be rectified. But once I got a place of my own (albeit rented) and got a satellite dish, I didn't even have Swedish or Danish tv, let alone British. And it would cost me a lot of money to get the channels I wanted. Money I didn't have. Or would rather use on something else. 

But, with my 43rd birthday just gone, the price of the whole thing not as much as I was originally told and me wanting to watch the new Doctor when he makes his entrance on August 23rd, there was only one thing for it: get a new satellite dish!

Two dishes

And I did. The dish itself was installed two days ago and today the installer came by to program the lot. I then had to sift through about a gazillion channels, many of which were the same, to get to a list containing 89 channels. I can now watch the Doctor, Wimbledon (yes Mum, you can come next year and watch your favourite), as well as a whole load of German channels. Oh, and one Dutch channel: the best of channel I think.

I think my bucket number 10 is filled. I got my dish so I can watch the BBC! Happy happy happy!!!

Good girl

3 sweaters, leggings and jeans, overcoat, hat, scarf and gloves, socks and shoes.
Ready for my walk!

I haven't been feeling too well this week. Stomach pains and such. But, I didn't let it spoil the job and went to work every day, while taking some pain relief to get through it. I am planning on visiting my gp on Monday however, since nearly two weeks with stomach/intestinal pains is not normal. 

On Friday night there was the annual staff club meeting. I always find Norwegian meetings so funny. They are so official. Don't try to speak out of turn: you will be reprimanded. And don't go back on a topic already closed: you will be told it's closed. The good thing about this year's meeting was that I was able to understand so much more than I did last year. Last year I was just hanging on. Trying to make sense of all these new things to me. 

On Thursday I had taken my walking boots to a local outdoor shop and asked them what if and how. Well, basically the boots are good. But... they don't fit properly since the back of the boot (the part I have trouble with) is too wide. I got myself a new pair of boots! Plus some pieces of advice: walk in the rain and walk through puddles.

Today I was up reasonably early and decided to go for a walk. As soon as the laundry was done. Then the mail arrived and I received my official BBC dvd of Doctor Who, containing all episodes of the last two series. The big question then of course was: walk or the Doctor? Well, I am glad to say: I walked. Into the storm, because yet again, there are stormwinds out there. I went a bit further and I must say: the lady in the shop had been right. The new shoes don't perform as nicely on the road. So, I walked in the grass, which was a lot better. 

I didn't find any puddles though. Some small streams, but they were either frozen over, or I couldn't see how deep they were and I don't think she meant standing knee-high in water! The good thing though: no blisters. My left foot was completely comfy and it was only the fourth toe on my right foot that was not too happy. I will soon knock him into shape. In the end, about 6 km (4miles). So, good training!