News

I've not been blogging much recently as I have not been feeling too well. Apart from the usual side effects I have had a blocked and runny nose with lots of sneezing and a headache, though no sore throat or other symptoms of a cold.

I have not been thinking very deeply, just watching the blue tits and four squirrels squabbling over the bird food we have put out. Apart from them I have spotted several species of dove, a couple of robins, a pair of chaffinches, blackbirds, crows, a jay, a pair of magpies, the odd sparrow and a herring gull. The weather has been a mixture of dull overcast days of drizzle and warmer sunny days. Early Spring has arrived. We have crocuses and daffodils out and the few snowdrops are finishing. The Forsythia is blooming and the first Camellias are out. Magnolias are in full bud and we are expecting quite a show.

We have just finished a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle which took us the best part of a month (held up by 5 pieces that fell on the floor). I have also set up the track for the electric train set that I had for Christmas and am making a start on the models. I added some more DVDs to my collection. They are a mixture of old films and new, films I missed and some I wanted to see again. They are in no particular order: Park Row, Pulp, Dressed to Kill, The Last Picture Show, Frighteners, Heaven Knows Mr Allison, Borat, Signs, A Serious Man, Waltz with Bashir, District 9, Vicky Christina Barcelona, A Star is Born, A Letter to Three Wives, Scanners, Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Andromeda Strain, Hotel for Dogs, On the Beach, Smiles of a Summer Night, The Invention of Lying, Carrington, Nashville, Stardust, Born on the Fourth of July, A Man for All Seasons, Carlito's Way, Inkheart , The Heiress, Adam, The Wrestler, Local Hero, The Parallax View, and Public Enemies. The only film I have watched recently is Mr Blanding's Dream House.

I have been reading Virtue Reborn by TN Wright, the present Bishop of Durham. It is quite a difficult read. Since a couple of his previous books have been Surprised by Hope and Simply Christian (not Surprised by Joy and Mere Christianity) I think he may see himself as CS Lewis of the Forties brought up to date for the Noughties. But his books are much longer and don't have that easy application to the common man. Still I will review it in detail at a later blog.