The things my 5 year old comes out with...

Having to older children (20 and 25) I've been through pretty much anything a kid can throw at you ... or so I thought. Then I had Isabelle who is now 5. She is such an inquisitive child, very bright and makes me laugh.  Lately, her questions are getting harder to answer.. such as..

Mum, when is the earth's birthday? not how old is it.. what is the date of it's birthday

Mum, did you know there are 7 digits in a million? me [blank look.. checks google] yes Isabelle, you're right, well done  

after talking about religion at school... Mum.. who made God?

Muuuum.. if there's a Timbuktu what happened to Timbuk-one?

She's only just turned 5 in July!! What am I gonna do? lol

There was also a couple of conversations with her dad..

I: Daddy, now you're 40, you're very old.
Daddy: 40's not very old.
I: Well, you're not exactly young are you (disdain on her face).
Daddy: But Mummy is older than me
I: Yes, but Mummy is still young, You're very old now.

and the one I almost wet myself laughing about

I: Daddy, why are you growing a beard? You really do need to shave.
Daddy: I'm growing it because I like it.
(mummy's voice from the background) Tiz, he's turning into a wookie.
I: (very loud laughter) Daddy, you do look like a wookie. Why do you want to look like a wookie?
Daddy: I'm NOT turning into a wookie, I just like to have a goatee beard.
I: Well, you definately look like a wookie. And you've got hairy ears, wookies have hairy ears, Daddy is a wookie, daddeeeee is a wookeeeeeee. Will we have to call you Chewbacca?

and finally an awwww moment

I: Mummy, why did your mum and dad call you Ann-Marie?
Me: Because they thought it was a nice name. Don't you?
I: Yes, but they could have given you a better name.
Me: Oh? Can you think of a better name for me?
I: Yes. They should have called you Angel

Best Comedy of all time?

Heather over at Note From Lapland suggested that The Office was the best Comedy Series of All Time. [shaking my head]. Clearly, Heather has lost the plot. Ricky Gervais is one of the most annoying people in the world ever. 

Heather seems to have forgotten all about Blackadder! Which is obviously THE best comedy series of all time, is timeless and can be watched over and over again.

Edmund Blackadder goes through the ages as a male housekeeper and personal assistant, including to Queen Elizabeth I.

Classic lines from the show are sheer genius and are usually aimed at the hapless, brainless Baldric. Lines such as: 

Baldrick used the line 'I have a cunning plan' in every episode. The cunning plan was always useless.

Blackadder; You wouldn't know a cunning plan if it came and danced naked on a harpsichord singing cunning plans are here again.

Blackadder: Baldrick. Your brain is so tiny, that if a hungry cannibal were to crack your head open, there wouldn't be enough to cover a small water biscuit.

Blackadder: I have a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel

Edmund on Cousin MacAdder: "He's mad! He's mad. He's madder than Mad Jack McMad, the winner of this year's Mr Madman competition."

Blackadder: this is the most useless thing since the book 'how to learn french' was translated to french.

Blackadder: i believe the phrase rhymes with.... clucking bell.

"Baldrick, an eternity in the company of Beelzebub and his instruments of torture will be a picnic compared to five minutes with me, and this pencil!"

I could go on all day, but won't. The dry humour and sarcasm is pure genius. All lines are delivered with such seriousness but are hilarious. I don't know how they managed to keep a straight face. Rowan Atkinson deserves several awards for his acting in Blackadder. The other characters are also amazing. The entire cast must have had such a laugh filming the 4 series of Blackadder. I'd love to see the outtakes!!

So - skip The Office and go and watch Blackadder!

Sold a photo...

Wow, how long is it since I last made a blog post?

I've had so much going on in my head I've not really had anything to say out loud in the blogisphere if you know what I mean. I have too much on my mind and I need to sort it out before I can make a rational blog post. Lets just say that at the moment I am like a swan. Looking calm and serene on the surface, but under the water I'm paddling like buggery against a strong current!

Anyway, something happened tonight that has really lifted my mood and made me smile.

Anyone who knows me, or reads my blog from time to time, will know about my love of photography, and in particular, photographing the British Superbikes when they come to Oulton Park (due again in October and I can't wait!).

Tonight I got an email from a guy called Martin Jessop. Martin Jessop rides in the British Superbikes for a team called (long winded name alert) ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati. He'd seen a photograph I took of him on flickr and asked if he could have a copy. Firstly, I was shocked because I'd had an email from Martin Jessop.. and secondly, I thought, oh no, how can I charge him for a photograph of himself. I wrote back and asked if he wanted the image emailing or if he wanted a print. I explained that I'd have to charge for the print and include P&P. He wrote back, and wants a print and paid straight away through paypal.. woohoo. 

So now I need to get it printed off and posted to him. I am so chuffed to bits because out of all the photographs I've taken, to have a professional biker and racer like one of my shots enough to buy one means the world to me.

Funnily enough, it happens to be one of my favourites too.

It's been a long 7 weeks

I'm sure there will be hundreds of back to school blog posts today, but here's another one.

Isabelle was finally 5 years old in July. She is the absolute baby of her year. Some of the children in her class start to turn 6 in a couple of weeks. I am very proud to say that she was at the top of her class all last year, even though it was reception class and was put on the high achievers register in her school. 

She has enjoyed being home over the holidays but she has really really missed being at school. She's a child of routine. When her routine changes, she struggles a bit to adjust and to cope. After a week she started to ask how many days is it till I can go back to school? She did go to the free playscheme, but she wasn't learning. She loves to learn. She needs to keep her brain active and occupied. She's created, drawn and written so many things. I have almost a full ream of paper that she's drawn pictures on and refuses to throw away. I shall be filtering those over the next few days and will keep the best ones in our memory box.

The silence this morning was bliss after I dropped her at school to start year one. I walked back into the house and exhaled.. and thought ahhhhh the quiet. But now I'm bored. I miss the chitter chatter, the bouncing on and off the sofa, the questions, the constant talking, but it's ten minutes until I pick her up to find out all about her day in a new class, her new friends, her new teachers etc. I'm sure by the morning I'll be more than ready to take her back to school again LOL.

I managed to get a photograph of her where she isn't gurning or pulling faces with a natural smile. This is a very very rare occasion. She goofs for the camera. She waits until she hears the focus beep and then pulls a face. But this is a photograph of my smiling, pretty little girl with no grimacing.

It's official.. I'm a ...

OK, it's official! I am a very sad case and there is no hope for me. I've just got all excited because I had a twitter reply from Gino D'Acampo.

I've had various tweets from people from TV albeit minor celebs. Robert Llewellin (aka Kryten from Red Dwarf) Danny John-Jules (aka The Cat from Red Dwarf - in fact I've had several 'conversations' with him on twitter), Suzi Perry (gadget show and motogp commentary), Jason Bradbury (gadget show), Mark Blundell (ex Formula 1 driver) and Gok Wan (if you don't know who he is.. you should LOL)

But today Gino announced he's doing a voice over for an iPhone app he's bringing out in October. I told him I don't have an iPhone but would buy one just to listen to him. He tweeted back and said Grazie Bella xxxxx (note the kisses on the end?) swoon.

I've always had a bit of a sweet spot for Gino and even though I can't abide I'm a celebrity get me out of here, when he was on it last year, I couldn't help but watch it. He was walking around half naked, all muscly.... etc.. very sexist I know but hey.. who cares LOL.

So then he posted this picture on twitter saying he was all done for the day and was now relaxing. How am I supposed to go and cook dinner now??