Category: A – Z Challenge 2017

Phew, made it to the end. It’s been quite frazzling and a couple of posts may have been a tad below par (Happiness, anyone?) but I still managed to cover every letter. Even if there were an awful lot of TV related posts. Hey, I like TV. Zythum is a beer drunk by Ancient Egyptians.  You… Continue reading Z is for Zythum #AtoZChallenge #AncientEgyptians #TimeTravel →

Reason 1.  Just because: Reason 2.  The music, man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_L4Rixya64 Reason 3.  Dave doesn't care about looking ridiculous: Reason 4.  Dave loves his mum.  And she's just written a book all about how to raise a rock star: Reason 5.  Even after he breaks his leg on stage, he carries on playing - whilst they plaster… Continue reading Y is for (Best of) You: Why I love Dave Grohl #AtoZChallenge #FooFighters #DaveGrohl →

I was struggling to find a post for X.  It's been a busy week at work, I've been unwell and I was knackered.  So I decided to cheat.  You've got an defective title and an old piece about the local pool that I dug up from a writing course.  Enjoy. The summer of 1983. No rain for two… Continue reading X is for eXhausted equals eXisting Content: Summer of 83 #AtoZChallenge →

The bride and groom leave the church.  The bride looks lovely, as all brides do, but this one is especially beautiful.  Ignoring the ‘no confetti’ signs, the guests throw handfuls into the frosty air, where it dances like snowflakes. The groom catches hold of his bride’s hand and lifts it to his lips. ‘Happy?’ he… Continue reading W is for The Wedding #AtoZChallenge →

Ok, ok, so it’s another post on a TV programme.  I really don’t watch that much TV. Honestly. It's more that I only like to watch good TV that's worth talking about: carefully selected dramas or comedies. No soaps; no shows about DIY, cooking or babies (with the exception of Bake Off); and no shows that… Continue reading V is for (Silicon) Valley #AtoZChallenge #siliconvalley →

After my success last week (payment on its way to the click farm), today's A-Z Challenge post for U* is another Six Word Story. The prompt was Leave.  I may have misread it: Yew, oak…you did say ‘leaves’?? *Yeah, I know.  But it's my blog, my rules.

Another mash-up for today's post.  It's my first entry into Three Line Tales (pretty self-explanatory) using the photo prompt below, which reminded me of the lovely Michelin starred restaurants that Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan are enjoying as they constantly bicker, joke and try to outdo each other with their impressions on The Trip to Spain. But what are they… Continue reading T is for The Trip: Three Line Tales #AtoZChallenge #3linetales #thetriptospain →

Busy day so haven't had time to come up with anything but don't want to miss a day of the A-Z so it's a picture round-up of my Saturday.* *Yes, HWW, this post is a cop-out and not up to scratch. **Ah, Slimming World, thou art a cruel mistress.

Back to work after two weeks off, so there may be a few picture posts to get me through a couple of letters...with some very tenuous links. This was the view I woke up to each morning during last year's holiday in France.  Nothing but woodland, the odd farmhouse, mountains and that amazing, huge sky.   My cares… Continue reading P is for Pillow Talk #AtoZChallenge →

Another sit-com* that we used to like was Cougar Town with Courtney Cox - basically Monica left Chandler and the twins, moved to Florida and found a new group of friends. The Cul-de-Sac Crew (yeah, that’s what they call themselves. Sigh.) get together to drink red wine and play the Movie Mash-Up game. It’s actually quite fun. Honestly.… Continue reading M is for Movie Mash-Up #AtoZChallenge #Cougar Town →

This is my favourite new sit-com, featuring members of the Short family, whose lives unfold in four short (geddit?) stories each week.  It's not perfect but it has some amusing moments.  The Short family consists of: Mum and Dad, Joan (Dianne Wiest) and John (James Brolin.  It pains me to say it but he looks pretty hot… Continue reading L is for Life in Pieces #AtoZChallenge →

In October 1990, HWW and I were in Queensland, Australia.  We were spending a year travelling on a round-the-world ticket. What would now be called a gap year, except we had nothing to return to, so it was just a year for us. We’d pretty much run out of money and were scratching around trying… Continue reading I is for INXS #AtoZChallenge →

Who knows?  Answers on a postcard, please, to the usual address.

Following my post on Black Books, I've had a look through my book shelf and managed to come up with a few authors who are in my good books. David Sedaris: Everything He's Ever Written, Including Tax Returns and Shopping Lists.  I love David Sedaris.  He writes about his life in a brutally honest, painful and hilariously… Continue reading G is for Good Books #AtoZChallenge →

Last year's A-Z Challenge had some serious contenders for the most visited post on Barbed Words. Short stories did well, as did anything slightly risqué. But the most popular posts, without a doubt, were the ones that featured cats. So in a blatant attempt to increase my readership, here are some more cats. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkZJSFd0Ghw I blimin'… Continue reading F is for Feline Good #AtoZChallenge #Cats →

I could examine the beauty and complexities of the great English poets, such as William Wordsworth, John Keats or Pam Ayres, but I don't really enjoy poetry so I'm not going to. However, I do like the odd limerick, the ruder and sillier the better.  And the form is English so it still counts as English poetry.… Continue reading E is for English Poetry…Just Kidding #AtoZChallenge →

Think I'd rather not know...

It's been over a year since Ronnie Corbett died so to commemorate that anniversary, here's my wee tribute. Along with most of the population, Saturday nights for my family in the ‘70s and early ‘80s meant The Two Ronnies.  Sitting on the floor (in a family of six, someone always had to sit on the floor)… Continue reading C is Four Candles #AtoZChallenge →

In the Middle Ages, 'one's books' was the esteem in which one was held by others. To be 'out of someone's books' meant you were no longer part of their life.  To be 'in someone's black books' seems to have started with Robert Greene in 1592, who intended to publish his Blacke Booke, which was to list… Continue reading B is for Black Books. #AtoZChallenge →