A bed of roses

My chat buddy described 'Unpacking' as a 'zen game', yesterday. Today, I played it for about 2.5 hours straight and my head is still pounding. Note to self - use a timer if you play it again! I do love the beats of the story, though. I hadn't noticed before how the music matches the plot points so well. It's a very special little game - just pace yourself when you play it.

Some more 'beat the intro' on my liked songs list with the boys. I found I'd managed to like some songs more than once, so it's also a pruning exercise :D Tonight I skipped over songs from the Rocky Horror Picture Show even though I would have loved to sing along to them :D Which has just reminded me that Barry Bostwick turned up in 'Psych' and said, 'Janet?' and then 'Dammit!' >D

Took husband out for a walk but we had to cut it short because I didn't want to end up with blisters. Damn this hot weather!

And I've finished off the day with 'Becoming Elizabeth'. She's finally learning how to keep her head - quite literally. This series covers Edward VI's reign. I hope they do another for Mary I's. 

I really hope people stop using what happened in Southport as an excuse to cause trouble. The shops in the city centre had to shut this afternoon, and a phone shop was looted. How does that help the grieving families or protect other children? Oh, yeah - it doesn't because some people are just looking for an excuse to attack people who are 'other'. The leader of the mosque on Brougham Terrace has shown what's possible when people share their concerns and just talk to each other.

Looking forward to my talk in church tomorrow. I really am Ruth_Fan :D

There are some REALLY annoying flying enemies in BG&ER that shoot right at me whilst I'm trying to shoot at them. Shooting in video games is already my least favourite thing but I have to hit these things TWICE each. They come in waves - 1 then 2 then 1. I am not having fun! I've stocked up on healing items and will try again - probably Thursday.

A side question at church this morning was 'what is your hopeful song?'. It made me realise a lot of my favourite songs are pretty dark and gloomy, and involve activities I've never thought of engaging in. Maybe singing those songs (particularly Crawling, Runaway Train, Everybody Hurts, Hurt) are how I get those things out of my system...? Actually, a lot of my 'happy' songs are ones we sing at church.

I got in an episode of Psych. Things are definitely thawing! But Gus and Shawn made a REAL mess >D

And I've just watched the first two episodes of Becoming Elizabeth. I've always found Elizabeth I a fascinating character. She had to tread so carefully, even after she became queen. But the wrong word, a careless action, and she would never have made it that far. As far as I can tell, the programme is staying faithful to history. Looking ahead, it looks as though the series only covers the reign of Edward VI but it's already 2 years old. I wonder if there'll be a second series covering Mary's reign?

Managed to get out for a walk with the husband. It was a really good day to be out - overcast but not cold, with enough breeze to stop it getting too hot.

I'm in the office tomorrow, but it's a mostly desk-based day.

I've solved the problem of getting too hot at night. I'm sleeping on top of the duvet but under my bedspread. I really like being fully covered when I'm asleep, but the duvet is just too warm. The bedspread is just enough - I've slept like a baby the last two nights.

Speaking of which...

Had a really nice walk with husband this morning. Warmer than yesterday but still quite overcast. We walked past the Uni of's student encampment to protest the war in Gaza. Power to you, brothers and sisters!

When we got home, the pots and soil for my bonsai had arrived. Husband bought me a 'grow your own bonsai' kit for my 50th and of the many, many seeds in the kit, only two have made it to this point. I had to disentangle the roots because the pots they were in had got so full of weeds - I'm sorry, little trees! But each is now in its own proper bonsai pot, its roots wrapped around a stone from the garden, because those are the type of bonsai I like best. I've always been fascinated by miniature things - dolls houses, bonsai, tiny boxes.

Grandson #1 bought me a 'grow your own flowers' kit for THIS birthday, and I've planted some of the sweet pea seeds in the tin cans (washed out and painted red) that are scattered around the 'frog pond' - which is a green ceramic bird bath with a ceramic frog in it that USED to be a fountain until the solar panel gave out. I've given up trying to get sweet peas to climb around the fence because it just doesn't get enough sun, but these seeds are in a nice sunny patch, so hopefully they'd trail instead!

On the other hand, the ivy growing around the old gate really doesn't mind being in the shade! In a year or two, we'll forget there IS a gate there, I think :D

Then husband and I sat in the garden in the sunshine and just enjoyed our green space. We work on it in patches and fits of enthusiasm but it's a precious little oasis that we both love.

I think I've finally hit a metaphorical wall in Zau. I've got a skill that lets me freeze water, which caused some frustration, but I could see what I needed to do - it was just a case of doing it at the right millisecond. But now I've got to jump and dash and jump and dash over a patch of sharp rocks, with more sharp rocks in the ceiling. If I wait too long to jump, I land in the lower rocks. If I jump too soon, I hit my head on the ceiling. And if I get across, Zau doesn't seem to want to do the final dash, so I land in the lower rocks right next to the solid ground on the other side. This is why I don't platform! And why I'm unlikely to put myself through the Plat because I might have to redo stuff like this. If I don't get across it tomorrow, I will admit my chat buddy is right and it is Too Hard and watch a LP, instead.

I've just watched the first part of a series about new excavations in Pompeii. They found a house with builders' tools laid out neatly in one of the rooms and brand new roof tiles stacked in the entrance hall, and decided they must have been undergoing renovations following the earthquake 17 years earlier. They also found a fresco showing what looks very like a pizza! You can take a virtual tour of Pompeii here - Pompeii | BBC Partnership (open.ac.uk). History is another of my many interests :)

And that's all for now. Tomorrow's pleasures beckon :)