Such Fun!

As Miranda'a mum would say. And that's our verdict on last night's Orange Wednesday cinema visit to see Thor. A cross between Superman and Lord Of The Rings, Thor is colourful, funny, action packed and just the right length. The movie opens with a trio of scientists out in the New Mexico desert searching for astral phenomena when they are drawn into the most spectacular astral event of their lives. At the same time young Thor (relative newcomer Chris Hemsworth) is just about to be crowned king by his father Odin (Athony Hopkins) when all hell breaks out in Asgard their magical kingdom  ( a CGI tour de force). From then onwards director Kenneth Branagh takes us on two parallel journeys in Asgard and New Mexico as Thor's people battle the evil Ice Giants (a tribe of huge and wicked goblins) and on earth our scientist heroes are up against the secret service who are hugely interested in their research. It's an extremely entertaining couple of hours, the 3D is unobtrusive and very well done, Hemsworth is a likable Thor and it's certainly worth four stars from us.

And it has to be five stars for Hillfoot Plants Nursery who Marion has been emailing to order some special geraniums. Marion's order was only worth twenty or thirty pounds but Annie's response to her complex requests re timing, plant sizes etc was perfect - very friendly and helpful - something that is so rare in these days of one-click internet shopping. We are sure that the geraniums will be excellent when they arrive. You can check out their website HERE

I'm loving my foray back into the world of metal detecting but yesterday it took me on  a merry dance. I decided to find some new places to try the detector and spent some time on Tuesday and Wednesday researching potential sites. I checked them out on Google Earth and the landscape looked right so I set off in the car without the detector to do some knocking on doors. The first site went well and I gained permission to search a small area. Buoyed up by my success I travelled to farm number two. The farmer, Andy, was great and said that it would be fine by him but I had to clear it with his landlord. I drove to the landlord who was an estate manager who told me that I had to clear it with his superiors. So I got in touch with them and they're going to phone me back. Thirty hours later there's been no response so, with the Bank Holiday weekend ahead, I imagine that the field will be sown with a new crop and out of bounds before I hear back.

I drove another hour into the countryside. It was a beautiful day and it would have been a glorious drive had I not been stuck behind a couple of pensioners (I know pot-kettle and all that) on a winding road watching the ETA on the sat nat increase minute by minute. I'm not exactly Lewis Hamilton myself but these two were doing thirty in a sixty limit. At one point they turned off and I was able to put my foot down for a minute only to discover that they had taken a short cut and there they were again just around the bend. I eventually arrived at the farm and the door was answered by a friendly decorator who told me that the farmer was out. I explained the purpose of my visit and asked the decorator to give me the farmer's number (he couldn't find it but he gave me the full name and address and said I'd get it from the directory). Ninety minutes later I arrived home and the bloody number's ex-directory. Hence the accompanying pic.


I would have loved to have done this to those doddering drivers yesterday.