Hunting! or things about me [part 7]

A couple of days ago I was talking to Mum on the phone. I don't know how the subject came up, but we got around to books. We both read a lot, so not really surprising. Anyway, Mum mentioned that she wanted to find some books for her twin sister, that Aunty keeps talking about. Apparently my Aunty S had lent them to grandma and when grandma died they found out she had lent them on to someone else. My Aunty S particularly likes the series of books in question, and Mum wanted to know if they were still available. Mum and Dad don't have a PC, or want one, but she knew I'd be able to find out for her.
That was Friday evening, early. Within the hour I rang back to tell her the books are out of print, so charity shops and amazon are the best bet. Mum wasn't sure of the title, but when Mum said the author I was fairly sure which trilogy Aunty meant....I looked for these and found that the author had published around 15 books. I did find all three titles, that I thought were wanted on Amazon....and the next day found one on the market secondhand book stall. Yesterday Mum confirmed that the books were the ones I thought, as Aunty's daughters had been to see her. Apparently Uncle M, her husband, was looking for them as well. The elder daughter S called in again yesterday and Mum mentioned she'd asked me to look for them, and could she let her know if Uncle M found them. Mum told cousin S that they were out of print, and my cousin said, "well Dad won't find them then, cos he won't look that hard!"
Today I walked the dogs down to a huge secondhand book shop on the prom. He didn't have them in, but he knew what I was looking for and said he gets them in quite often. On the way back I called in at the market to see if they had any of the three titles. They had one volume, and three copies of it, so I picked the best one. One down, two to go. I know I'll track them down before Mum and Aunty S's birthdays in late October.
The books are Maisie Mosco's Almond and Raisin trilogy,and I have the third book now, so just the other two to track down, and as Morecambe has lots of charity shops and the huge second hand bookshop I'm sure I'll find them in time. Mum knew that I'd enjoy hunting them down, that is why she asked me, and she lives near a small town that doesn't really have any charity shops.

Mint condition! or Things about me [part 6]

That is how someone described me yesterday, they did mean that I was looking well, as they knew I have been poorly, as regular readers will know. If you are a regular reader you will also know I have a daft sense of humour that is liable to go off at tangents. And my mind did straight after being told I looked in "Mint Condition" , and asked, "do you mean round, a bit white-ish with a hole straight through my middle, or white and crumbly?" After all there are many different kinds of mints. Then my mind started it's whirring, and I started to think of the origin of the saying, which is more than likely to mean condition of coins when they are first "minted", and I know I'm far from that, but it entertained me thinking of all the different types of sweetie mint condition a person could be in.
Again, it's a good job the person who said it to me has come to know I have a daft sense of humour. I got told to learn to take compliments when they are given, instead of joking about them. Don't often get compliments, and that is why I joke about them.

Things about me [part 5]

Think I'm up to part 5.
I don't like watching reality TV programmes, apart from one particular one.
The one I like is called Come Dine With Me. The format is quite simple, the producer picks 4 or 5 people from a town who like throwing dinner parties, think they are excellent cooks and hosts, and throughout the week each person hosts their own dinner party for the others of the group.
At the end of each dinner party the guests give the host marks out of 10, and the one with the highest vote at the end of the week wins £1000.
Why do I like this programme so much? I don't know apart from the fact the narrator/announcer talks you through each episode, making some really funny comments. It's also fun to watch people getting in a flap.
I would never be brave enough to apply to be on it, but it would be fun to see how low a mark is possible. The lowest I have seen so far is a 9, and that was from 4 guests, they'd all given really low scores. I don't know if the host receiving that mark was particularly bad, or the guests just didn't like the style of food.
Another host/contestant had a caterer come in and cook his meal, how he won I'm not sure. I'd have given him 0 or 1 for that.

Things about me [4]

I like watching soaps.

Only British ones though, and not all of them though. Whittling down even more I like to watch Emmerdale, [originally Emmerdale Farm'] and Coronation Street. I sometimes watch Eastenders as well, but it can be a bit dismal at times, and I'm sorry, but I watch TV to be cheered up, not depressed.
Most of the British soaps have a certain "formula" that needs to be followed. There has to be at least two families, a pub, a shop, and a cafe. There can be places of employment that are local as well. That is about as close as it gets to real life, as if two characters ever meet and fancy a chat, they go to the pub, or the cafe, they rarely, if ever go back to their own house for a coffee and a natter.
Have just realised they all have garages that fix cars but don't sell fuel as well.
In Emmerdale there is a "rogue-ish" family, who sometimes get up to no good, but never mess on their own doorstep. If one of the family breaks this rule they are told to put things right straight away. And the fact that this family is also a source of many comedy moments tells the watchers they are not complete "baddies".
Emmerdale more accurately, to me shadows current events, as one of the businesses has gone bankrupt due to the recession, and they had a local council election when they were going on all over the UK.
There is one thing that puzzles me though. Did the Kings have all their suits repossessed when they went bankrupt? As you rarely see them in anything other than casual clothes these days.
I could go on for ages about things that amuse me in the soaps, perhaps I might pick it up another time.

Things about me [3]

I make the bed as soon as I get out of it.
I don't know why? It is just something I always do in a morning, usually the minute my feet have touched the floor.
I go into my kids rooms, and since we have lived here, I resist the temptation to straighten their bed.
I have my own reason for making mine when I get out of it, I dare say they have their own reasons for leaving them unmade. Although it could just be plain laziness.
I suppose it goes back to when I was young and Mum was working, so she didn't always have time to make our beds in the morning. Saying that, my sister always tended to leave her bed unmade, and still does now, and she's been married 29 years!
Ah, well, each to their own, but I like to get into a made bed at night, and not have to start straightening out a sleep tousled one.

Things about me [2]

Something else, besides having nothing to read, bugs me to bits. I hate it when my hands have nothing to do. At some points in the past I have fiddled like mad with my puzzle ring, to such an extent that I can almost put my puzzle ring back together without even looking. Came in very handy a few years back when I was in a jewellers, and a man came in...with a gold version of my ring...undone...I put it together in less than a minute..after the assistant told him there was nothing she could do.
But....I digress! I hate not having something to keep my hands and brain active. That is probably why I enjoy needlecraft. If you dropped me on a desert island with the requisite cookery book, some books to read and some needlecraft...I probably wouldn't even notice I was alone. Chuck in something to write on as well...and you might be able to leave me there.
Should I be letting you know all this? You know just how to torture me now....***chuckle***

Things about me [1]

Thought I'd occasionally put things here, just about me. So, here goes.

I love to read, and can't remember not being able to read. At primary school I do remember flying through the school "reading scheme". So much so that I finished it by the time I had finished year 4, I would have been no older than 8, as my birthday is late on in the school year. From then on I was allowed to read whatever I wanted from the school library, tiny, and helped by listening to the remedial readers. I also read all the books in the village library for children, back then the children's books were very limited in range.
By the time I started secondary school, aged 11, I had moved on to adult books, and started reading my way through a lot of Jean Plaidy's books, most of John Wyndham's, and I know that I read practically every book on the CSE literature reading list.
When I started college I still read on the way to college on the bus, and the way home. Same thing starting work. For two years I worked in Lancaster, and used to travel from home in Catterall and back every day, reading to pass the journey.
Whenever I go on holiday I pack my current book, and at least two others to read. When I went in hospital to have my ankle operation, books and something to keep my brain occupied were as important to me as a dressing gown and nighty.
My idea of hell is somewhere with nothing to read. I once was invited to a friend's house, I thought just for tea, but they asked me to spend the night and next day there as well. The only thing I could track down in the house to read was my friend's mobile phone handbook. I got very fidgetty. My friend asked me to play on the PS1 with them, but they were playing a role play game, and I was crap at it, I prefer puzzle type games.
So now, if I go somewhere...I nearly always have a book with me. Perhaps I should leave on in my car in a glass case, with a little hammer beside it...you know...like fire things have...saying...in case of emergency...break glass.
So.....there you have it, am a self-confessed bookacholic! And I NEVER want to be cured, I can think of much worse things to be.