Getting refreshed, and being entertained 

Alice had been catching up on washing clothes and dishes, so she decided the two of us could do with a spot of freshening up as well.

Ba was very nervous indeed, despite the promise of nappy-wearing Fairy magic, because of course she can't swim. Well, neither can I, for that matter. Immersion in any liquid at all is a very weighty matter indeed. Weighty: get it? But Alice reassured us she wouldn't actually put us in the water.

So we were Bold: afterwards soggy, but still in one piece. The rubber-gloved washing lady had been extremely careful. Whew!

Sorry about the dodgey detergent links above, but once found, I simply couldn't resist...

We've put up mainly small photos for this post, as the story is all in the images, and you'll get a better picture (hee, hee!) if you click on them for the larger versions. But we're in them!!

Alice dampened the soft brush you can see here, and rubbed it all over each of us. It was actually intended for scrubbing earth off  vegetables. That felt rather insulting, but she said it was too soft for that job, yet ideal for us. It tickled and made me wriggle all over the place.

She set us to dry off on a towel over the "Do not cover" oil-filled portable radiator in the bathroom. Tut, tut.

I didn't like staring up at the ceiling as there had been nasty leaks from above in the past. But I have no choice but to keep smiling. Sigh. I was much happier the other way up.

This is the the one room in the flat with reds and pinks in it by the way - very soothing. Alice doesn't allow her feminine touch to appear often enough, I said. She just hrrumphed. But she did comment that we smelled really sweet now. Aaah.

You might think this is all a bit trivial and wonder why we haven't been seeing more intellectual, beautiful, challenging, exciting or fun movies recently. Well, we have done, but have been altogether too busy going to the cinema (plus keeping up with the boring stuff of everyday life) to write about them here.

But look at the Film Diary of her close friend "joy-pix". We go to many of the same ones (but not with Ba who finds it all too much). She writes reviews too. Check her out.

We've already recorded in the previous post how very much we loved the latest Star Wars. I do so want us to get our own BB8, but I'm told the amazing, all rolling, remote-controlled one is far too expensive. There's a nice video of her (she's a she) on Amazon, but it's better quality on YouTube, as you can get HD full screen.

So - the quiet little one is now on our Amazon wish list. And it is Alice's birthday quite soon.

Two very interesting recent films were The Danish Girl and Tangerine. [Warning: definitely very adult content at this last link - you have been warned.] Both had transgendered women as the main character/s, but there the similarity ends.

The first is a mainstream production of a serious, sumptuous-looking drama, based on the life of a historical figure, Lili Elbe, with the well known Eddie Redmayne as the lead.

The second was a small budget outrageous romp of a film, shot on modifed iPhones, in the sex-workers' district of L.A., with the brilliant (and beautiful) newcomer Mya Taylor, a transgendered actress.

The first one had Alice in tears in places, the seond eventually had her laughing. She says I'm being overly simplistic, so just look them up - or better still, see them for yourself.

Happy New Year!  

Here's wishing you all the best for 2016, whatever you end up doing...

A bit later than I expect most people do (I won't let on just how much later) we finally got all the decorations on our trees. The bigger tree is decorated only with silver and gold, and Ba's little one with red: very tasteful, don't you think?

I know I keep saying this, but do please click on the photos, to see them in their full glory. That brings up all the ones in any particular post, but only at a size that will fit the window. If you middle click, (or right click & select Open in New Tab) you might get it even bigger still, but just one at a time. We mostly post them as small to leave room for our usual witty banter. OK, OK, our sometimes witty banter. . .

We sat and posed for simply ages, while Alice kept adjusting the flash or the lamp, so it wouldn't look too much like full sunshine: it would be nice to have our joint efforts appreciated!

Quite a few pressies, aren't there? They're to go to the grandchildren and their parents. It'll be fun to see them getting opened when we pay our belated Xmas visit.


We stayed in for that special midnight moment on the 31st, and watched the fireworks on TV. They gave us London's BigBen, of course, but we could hear the Edinburgh fireworks going off from our flat! They showed those a few minutes later, too. There's a video of them on YouTube. We didn't have any traditional whiskey to raise in our glass, but Alice said Cointreau would do just as well.

She wouldn't tell me what her New Year Resolutions were - to avoid me telling her off if she doesn't keep them. Did you make any?

The BBC News did a nice compliation with lots of different firework displays from all round the world. Try this one as well. I say thank goodness there can be enjoyable and decorative explosions for celebrations, rather than the truely horrible ones the world is suffering so much nowadays. Alice often wants to cry at the News, and sometimes she does. That's healthy, I tell her: better than being stoic and all locked in.

We've not kept up to date with all our recent doings, I know. Sorry. Maybe later?

We can't sign off, however, without mentioning that we are not ashamed to be counted among those many who loved the new Star Wars film. In fact, we're going to see it again. Hooray! It's not just the esoteric stuff Alice goes to. Our favourite character is BB-8. He (she / it?) is simply wonderful.

You can now get a fully working, remote controlled miniature BB-8. We so want one!! 

But, of course, it's very expensive. Click on More Info for some prices...
Two different makes are reviewed on YouTube by Timmy's Toy Box.