A bed of roses

My first task this morning was to do some washing. I checked my weather app, which assured me it was going to be a cloudy day with only the slightest chance of rain. Of course, as soon as I put the washing outside, the clouds burst, so I brought it back inside. Thank goodness we have space for drying indoors!

The rain went off again after dinner, so husband and I had a nice walk. We went up Prince's Boulevard because it's much flatter than Windsor St. It looks as though something may be happening with the old Welsh Church; all the undergrowth has been cleared away. I'm sure it will be turned into flats but it's better than it being left to decay any further. It does look like the sort of building you'd find in W3 or DAI - or even Horizon!

We went through Prince's Park, around the lake and then off to Tesco for some shopping, including the bread mix I forgot to get yesterday. I now have quite a fine-looking loaf to go with the Scouse I'm planning for tomorrow's tea. We came home via Windsor St, which is all downhill in that direction. Husband complained about the number of bumps, though. Well, I don't maintain the pavements, unfortunately!

Just after we got home, it started raining again! Then there was a beautiful blue sky this evening. Truly four seasons in one day. Gotta love that British weather :D

I had a go at one of the Chronoliths in FFXVI but time trials really don't excite me. I think there's a reward for the Wall of Memories if you do all of them...? But I'm a looong way from being a completionist, so it is unlikely it will ever grace Clive's wall. I did have a go at the Hall of Virtue and worked out how to use Megaflare and Zantetsuken, so it was worth it for that. I've equipped Odin but added two of Titan's abilities to R1 and R2, and added Flames of Rebirth to R2 under Shiva. But I've really got nothing else to do in the game until Rising Tide lands.

But that leaves me more time for watching telly! I got in a couple of old Doctor Who episodes and the 2007 version of 'Northanger Abbey'. The Doctor Who episodes are from towards the end of Hartnell's time - I'm watching them so I can say I've watched them. My favourite colleague, who is also a fellow Whovian, has said more than once that they don't understand how it kept going when the old stuff is so bad. The only thing I can offer is that people really didn't know what good telly was back then because it was still so new! We can only be grateful that it did keep going and we got to enjoy Tom Baker and Peter Capaldi :D

'Northanger Abbey' wasn't great. I know it's a short novel but squeezing it into 90 minutes really doesn't do it justice. Felicity Jones makes a wonderfully naive and wide-eyed Catherine but I didn't find Carey Mulligan's Isabella very convincing (although I've loved her in other stuff!). And they had her seduced by Captain Tilney - which I'm sure he would be capable of but I don't think she would risk. Although she does believe herself secure enough in his affections to break off with James... Anyway, it's a not-terrible adaptation, if you like Austen.

My favourite adaptations are (in order):

• 'Emma' 2020 - is there any character Anya Taylor Joy can't play?
• 'P&P' 1995 - beautifully paced, well acted, and wonderful costumes
• 'S&S' 2008 - Elinor shines throughout

I've watched a couple of adaptations of 'Mansfield Park' but they suffer from trying to make Fanny 'interesting' when the whole point of her is to be in the background, observing everyone else. Anne in 'Persuasion' suffers a similar fate in the two adaptations I've watched - as it's my favourite Austen novel, it's particularly painful to not have a good adaptation to watch. And Catherine always ends up burning her books in 'NA'.

Well, it's been a good day overall. Here's hoping tomorrow doesn't disappoint :)