Media Monday: BritBox and AcornTV

We disconnected the satellite TV a few months ago and are now streaming only. We still get live channels via YouTubeTV. Which we pay about the same amount for as what the satellite company offered to keep us. But we’d made up our minds so we declined their offer. With the streaming subscriptions, we’re saving about $100/month over what we were paying for a bunch of satellite channels we never watched.

Photo from DepositPhotos

We’re watching a lot of British and Canadian shows via BritBox and AcornTV, thanks to Amazon Prime. Which we had watched many of these already, but we’re back at it, and finding some new ones.

I’ve previously written about Murdoch Mysteries, a product of Canada. There were two new seasons we had to catch up on. And talk about a cliffhanger at the end of Season 14! I immediately had to check and be sure they were filming Season 15. Whew! They are.

Murdoch Mysteries

It took us a year to watch all of Midsomer Murders, and last week we watched Season 22.

PBS recently aired a new version of All Creatures Great and Small, based on the books by British vet James Herriot. We watched Season 1, then went back and watched the older series from the late 1970s and early ’80s. We’d read all the books, of course. Both the older and newer series followed the same book fairly closely.

After we finished the older series, we went back to Midsomer Mysteries, Season 21, Episode 1, The Point of Balance, when Christopher Timothy, the actor who played James Heriot, guest starred in Midsomer as Ned Barnaby, DCI John Barnaby’s father.

That was very fun to watch! Seeing an older “Herriot” and how he’d aged.

We tried Doc Martin. I had tried it a few years ago, at several friends’ recommendation, but just couldn’t get into it. Stud Muffin and I tackled it together and after a few episodes, decided we enjoyed it enough to continue. But as often happens, (and I’ve told him this), he gets me to watching something that I’m not really wanting to watch (American Idol, Survivor, Longmire, to name a few) and then I get hooked and he decides he doesn’t want to watch anymore. Well sure enough, around Season 6, SM got tired of Doc’s perennial jerkness and said he was done. I do see glimmers of him trying to be better, so I’ll continue with Doc on my own. One of these days.

We’re currently trying Father Brown. After the first 2 episodes, SM said he didn’t care for how the “writers” (he blames all story deficiencies on the writers, never the producers, directors, or editors) portrayed the police officers/detectives/investigators as “bumbling idiots.” I disagreed with him. We did take a break and caught up on Midsomer, and we’re back to Father Brown. He hasn’t complained again. I don’t think he’s changed his mind, but at least he’s not arguing with the television set.

Monday Musings

Wow … Two months since my last post.

The last few months, my blog has devolved into mostly book reviews, and those are mostly of books I received advance copies of and committed to review. Which is great! I love receiving early releases, reading them, and sharing them with others. Especially when they’re from authors I’m going to snatch up and read anyway.

A couple of years ago, I did an overhaul of my blog. I received some good industry advice about what publishers and acquisitions people would look for when they considered my submitted fiction. They would visit my blog and evaluate if my posts were pertinent to my fiction and how many views I had, yada yada.

quote 130-3But let’s face it, no one–beyond my immediate family (any maybe not even they)–cares what I think about … anything. Not movies, not current events, not anything beyond book reviews.

I do have a few followers who like my thoughts about books. And I’m supremely grateful for every one of you!

But a curious thing happened when I changed the focus of my posts …

I lost interest.

So if I’m not interested, why would I expect anyone else to care??

Short answer: I wouldn’t.

So, I’m going back to my former format. But I’ll also retain elements of the new schedule.

Mondays: Monday Musings or Media Monday. Basically whatever I feel like talking about. I love movies and TV shows and podcasts and I like talking about them. Mondays were supposed to be about quilting, because I had a novel set in a quilt shop, but I complete only one or two quilts a year. It’s hard to blog weekly about that kind of production. 😉

Tuesday will still be Book Talk Tuesdays. Around May of last year, I decided 2018 would be devoted to catching up with favorite series I had lagged behind in. I did pretty well in that endeavor, so I’ll bring you all up to date as well.

Wednesdays will continue to be Wednesday Wanderings with tales of our travels or Woe! It’s Wednesday, when I talk about something personal, something I’m struggling with, something I don’t understand.

I will likely take off Thursdays, or will post an Author Spotlight on Thursdays.

Fridays will be devoted to food. Yes, Food Talk Fridays will be back. Restaurant reviews, recipes, whatever I feel like talking about.

Realistically, I know it’s January and I’m full of good intentions, and I may run out of champagne toast

steam and ideas by … ummm … May … but I’m hoping planning to be more consistent in 2019.

Here’s to good intentions! And even if I do less than perfectly with my posts, it’s okay. I’ll have improved, and that’s really all that matters.

 

Monday Musings: Boys, Quilts, and Wildlife

It’s been a while since we talked quilting, mostly because I haven’t had anything new to share or talk about.

But I bought a kit when my favorite local shop closed. It’s a small quilt, though bigger than a crib blanket. I made it for my two-year-old grandson. I’m mostly happy with it. I think he’ll love it.

IMG_0004I didn’t stretch the backing tight enough when I sandwiched the layers together and I ended up with too many little tucks and pleats on the back.

I laid it out on the living room floor, on a quilt board that was just a mite too small.

Lesson learned. Next time I’ll find a place with enough table space to lay it out, tape it down tautly, and then do the sandwich.

Life is a learning experience, isn’t it?

Just like quilting, which I learn by trial and error.

Life can’t be practiced for. It’s more like do, error, re-do. Sometimes, of course, we nail it. But mostly it’s me bumbling along, doing the best I can, failing horribly, sighing, getting up, and trying again.

I’ll quilt again. And I’ll pay special attention to the backing. And something else, something I didn’t expect will go wrong. Or at least not be perfect.

But I’ll persist and maybe one of these days, a quilt (and a life) might just turn out okay.

IMG_0005

Thanks for reading.

Do you have a favorite quilt or afghan or blankie? Even adults sometimes need a security blanket.

Monday Musings: Good-bye to an Era

My favorite local quilting store is closing. (Cue the violins.)

Quilters Paradise in Old Town Clovis is where I took my quilting classes. I bought lots of fabric there. Which reminds me, I have some reward cards I better redeem quickly!

QPIt’s rare to find a shop so focused on customer service, quality products, and value.

The owners are always helpful. The dog hanging around the back classroom was calm and never demanding, but always grateful for an ear rub or tummy scratch.

 

Employees are knowledgeable. My first quilt top that I made in the Quilting 101 class turned out great, but I knew I would need help with the backing choice. So I toted in the Quilt toptop, laid it out and pleaded for advice. I walked out a few minutes later with the perfect fabric. (Don’t ask me if I’ve actually finished that quilt yet. Please.) I love the blue and gold with the cream, but I wasn’t sure if the backing should be dark or light. We ended up going with one of the medium golds for the backing fabric. I think it will look stunning when it is finished. Which I hope will be next year. I’m committed to not beginning a new project until I finish the three or four I have in progress.

There are a couple other quilt shops near me that I’ve never shopped at. And of course we have a Jo-Ann’s. So it looks like my quilting fabric loyalty is up for bids.

Do you have a local favorite shop? Or a favorite you make sure to visit on your travels?

 

Monday Musings

About a year ago, I decided to shift this blog in a slightly different direction. Mondays went from talking about media (movies, television, podcasts, etc.) to mostly about quilting. But I quickly found out that being a quilter with limited projects done, I ran out of things that I felt were interesting enough to talk about. I kept book reviews on Book Talk Tuesdays. Wednesday’s became about travel. And Food Talk Friday went bye-bye. Sigh.

Wooden bowl with spa stones and candles on wooden  table, on flowers backgroundAfter some thought and talk, I’ve decided to do a course correction with the blog. Again.

Mondays will be Monday Musings. This may be about quilting or about art or crafting or media. Basically whatever I’m currently fascinated with. Tuesdays will continue to be book reviews (and I’ve got a great book up for tomorrow). Wednesday will be Wonderings or Wanderings. My thoughts and feelings about an issue or a travelogue of sorts. And since I’m still enjoying memories and pictures of our Ireland/UK trip in September, I have some material to keep posting weekly for quite a while.

Thursdays will stay either a day off or I may use it to spotlight an author, do a cover reveal, or post a second review if it just can’t wait until the following Tuesday.

Food Talk Friday will be back. Restaurant reviews, recipes, or food memories.

Please come back tomorrow for a review of the amazing new book, MRS. OSWALD CHAMBERS by Michelle Ule. You’ll be glad you did!