Little Stalky Gets Super Powers

I've recently discovered that I have powers.  The power to bring basil back to life?  The power to defeat rogue pigeons and land dwelling sharks?  The power to re crown trolley dude as dude of the trolleys?  No.  I have the power to control the television with the power of blinking.  Confused?  Yes, I am, all the time.  Mystical Roo and I own a somewhat dodgy DVD player.  We had to buy a new one when we arrived here so that we could play Australian DVDS.  Having not invested great amounts in this DVD player it can get a bit fussy sometimes.  If the disc is slightly old or scratched then the DVD player will throw a huge hissy fit and take it out on the film.  Often we find that the film will stop or leap forward or back a chapter.  This can normally be resolved with some grumbling and cleaning of the DVD.  Now I can't do anything about the leaping but I have seem to mastered control over the freezing.  No need for grumbling and cleaning anymore.  Not with magical Stalky and her blinking powers of wonder.  Cue the ominous goat!  The other day the DVD we were watching froze and we both sighed knowingly.  But something came over me and I stopped Mystical Roo from leaping to his feet to do some grumbling and cleaning.  Instead, I focused my attention on the screen and blinked.  And the screen leapt back into life as the DVD carried on its merry way.  All because I had blinked at it.  Now I'm not boasting or anything but I've successfully blinked three times and have solved our freezing issues.  On three separate occasions.  Coincidence?  I think not. 

Little Stalky: Umbrella Master

In recent wet weather I found that I was arguing with myself over whether or not to use my umbrella. I can't say whether or not this is normal behaviour but that's besides the point. My dilemma? Walking home from work rather than to work I'm not actually that fussed about getting wet. It doesn't really matter if I get home and look like a drowned rat. Some might argue that it's fashion forward. Some. So walking home from work is all about purpose. It's about getting home as quickly as possible whilst getting a little exercise on the way. Therefore, with rucksack on back and earphones in place I tend to find using an umbrella somewhat of a hindrance. A bit of light rain wasn't bothering me but my hair was protesting and had started to go all fluffy. I finally whipped out the brolly when I realised I was unable to dodge the heavy drops that were falling from overheard branches. And believe me I did try to dodge them. I tried to dodge them for a while before I realised that a) it wasn't really possible, I'm not that little after all and b) I looked like a fruit loop. The heavy droplets were annoying me more than anything and kept landing on my face. They have good aim and got me in the eye more than once. So out came the brolly. But then I'm out from under the trees, the rain has stopped and now I look like I'm not paying attention to the weather. Using a brolly unnecessarily. Tempting the skies. So I put the brolly away. But literally as soon as I did that there was another downpour. So the brolly came out again. Then it stopped. So the brolly went away again. Then I came up against more branches and their droplets of doom. Out comes the brolly. Then I was back in the open and away from the branches. Brolly goes away. I think I got extra exercise from just putting the brolly away and then getting it back out again. I'd actually started to see how quickly I could do it. And couldn't help wonder whether a brolly could be used as a deadly weapon. I think it could. I was caught off guard when I was on the home straight as a load of sideswiping rain decided to make an appearance. In fact it wasn't sideswiping rain at all but sea spray that was whipping around on a rather over enthusiastic gust of wind. You have to be on guard see because it's not just the rain that will get you. It's the bloody trees and the sea too. I guess I wasn't too happy about getting wet after all, or I wouldn't have gone to so much trouble with the brolly. But one has to perfect her brolly extracting skills. You never know when they might come in handy!

Guilty Pleasures

I think that everyone must have a guilty pleasure.  It's just that some of us admit to it and others don't.  I don't know what makes a pleasure guilty.  You just know that it is when you're embarrassed to admit your habit or know that people will laugh at you, judge you or shun you.  I have several guilty pleasures and one of those is reading trashy gossip magazines.  I can feel you judging already.  I don't know what it is about trashy gossip magazines that I love so much but if I'm feeling in a lazy mood I like nothing better than wallowing in the bath, supping a glass of wine and reading about what's going on in the land of showbiz.  Maybe I like the fact that I don't have to concentrate.  I can skim through stories and look at pretty dresses.  I can read about other people's lives and realise that maybe I'm not that crazy.  I don't know what it is.  But I know why I feel guilty about this pleasure.  I'm paying money to a magazine that on one page will be outraged at some celebrity's weight loss while on the next page they'll be pointing fun at someones muffin top, whilst on the next page they'll be celebrating women comfortable in their own bodies when on the next page they'll be explaining the latest diet to help you lose weight in 24 hours.  I'll read ridiculous stories that I know can't be true and wonder who these "friends" are that are always on hand to dish the dirt on their best buds.  I know all of this and still I read them.  Still I enjoy them.  Maybe it's because I don't take it too seriously.  I'm not interested in who weights what and I don't believe everything I read.  It's just my way of switching off once in a while.  I think I'll continue to enjoy this guilty pleasure of mine even if I'm not altogether proud of it. 

Mushroom Sneak Attack

Mystical Roo and I have been trying to use as much as we can from the cupboards to make dinner without having to do a food shop.  We're trying to reduce waste and save money.  And most of the time we can scrape together a fairly decent, if slightly random, concoction.  Over the weekend Mystical Roo was putting together a rather excellent lunch of sausage, bacon and egg in a sandwich.  Whilst Mystical Roo was working his magic I was hovering around the kitchen and wittering on whilst trying to house some carrots.  We've been having trouble with the carrots lately.  They keep getting floppy before we have chance to use them and I was contemplating the storage of said carrots.  I'd decided to give them a go in the cupboard rather than the fridge and see if this helped the situation.  Whilst in the cupboard I realised we had a bag of mushrooms that hadn't been used and had the idea of whipping up a risotto.  I thought I'd whip those mushrooms out of there, put them aside and give the carrots a new home.  Big mistake.  As soon as I grabbed that bag I knew I'd made a mistake.  Not only because of the almighty pong that came wafting towards me but the liquid that came bursting out of the mushroom bag.  Mushrooms gone wrong.  Mushrooms gone bad.  Mushrooms gone off.  Good God how long had they been in there for!  Not that long I'm sure but they - or rather I - had made a huge mess.  Mushroom juice everywhere.  In the tray, in the cupboard, on the floor and dripping through my fingers as I held the bag in disgust.  Rogue mushrooms straight into the bin.  Smell lingering.  The smell was just horrible.  Horrible.  The tray came out and was straight in the sink.  I was in the cupboard with kitchen roll and then I was on the floor with kitchen roll and still the smell wouldn't go away.  Evil mushroom activity.  Evil!  I have since given the cupboard a proper wipe down and mopped the floor but I'm pretty sure I can still smell a rogue mushroom.  They're haunting me!