As you know Masterchef Australia is one of my favourite reality TV shows and this year it was its 10th season.  I don’t know if you watch any reality TV shows but certainly with the cookery show there is always someone, out of the 24 contestants who is annoying!!!  Either the way they come across or the way they relate to the other people or just existing!!!!!!!

This year it was this person, Michelle, who as her job describes herself as a “writer”  when actually she just has a blog!  SO for all of us with blogs we can now describe ourselves as writers!  She never admitted to any problems in any of the episodes with any of the tasks and whatever they were cooking she had always done it already or always made that dish at home.  To me she was the worst person to be on the show because she never learnt anything from the chefs or the events, as she had done it or seen it or eaten it all before and I believe she really wanted to be on the presenting side rather than a contestant.  Fortunately she was eliminated early on, on Gordon Ramsey week and so we did not have to listen to any more of her wittering!!! 

There is a new advert out with Emilia Clarke for a new perfume from Dolce & Gabbana where she is singing as above.  I am amazed by her teeth!!!  Whether it is the red lipstick but I cannot  see how she can get that many teeth in her mouth, they are amazing!!!!  Love her in Game of Thrones and I do hope when the final series airs next year it is a good ending, but having read all the books I don’t think George R.R. Martin will be that kind to us, as he loves killing off main characters!!  In fact I am going to get all the books out and re-read them.  There is so much more in the books than on the show, so if you like the show and have not read the books, do so, you will get a lot more from them.

As you know quite a few of the TV shows I watched every season have finished so I have been scouting around the channels looking for some new shows and I have found this.  “Instinct” with the great Alan Cumming.  It is about an ex-CIA Officer who has left to join the world of academia but is asked to consult by the New York Police when a murderer starts to use his book as a blue print for his murders. So far, we are on Episode 4, it looks quite good and I am hoping it will continue.  

Finally back to this year’s Masterchef there was the incomparable Nigella Lawson Week.  I just love her whole style and her recipes are amazing and you can actually read her cookery books and she is so funny.  In fact she could write fiction.  Her recipes are very good and you can change elements in them and they still work. 

This is one of my favourite Nigella books and I have made lots of the dishes out of it.

DH and Youngest are both back tomorrow and I will be reversing Mondays schedule of collecting them from the airport and train station but not so early thank goodness.  It has been quite strange just Treacle and I at home and when there is no one else at home I leave all the lights on downstairs!  Silly I know but it makes me feel better!!!

I have been busy at my desk all day today with work and then called round to see a very good friend in the village whose birthday is on Thursday, but I could not see her on the day so I had a nice catch up with her over a cup of tea!!!

I hope you have all had a great Tuesday, tomorrow’s Wednesday and then it’s almost Friday!!  DH is getting his tooth hopefully fixed then so he can eat properly.  Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be okay but we are feeling the effects of high winds and it should be okay at the weekend but next week the temperature is due to fall a little making it more Autumn like.

Have a great Wednesday, Treacle will be here tomorrow.

Hugs, Susie xx

On September 10th 1993 the pilot episode aired for The X Files and for the next nine years we were glued to our seats of whether Mulder & Scully would find the Truth and would they ever Trust Anyone?!!!!

It actually aired on BBC 2 in the UK which is always seen as a Thinking Man’s channel and because of the BBC there were no adverts to interrupt the episode.  I loved it from day one and could not wait for each episode and I even persuaded DH to go with me to see the films at the cinema, although he was not keen on the monsters!!

Who didn’t want to be Scully and as she was born in 1964 I certainly identified with her, even though Ms Anderson was born in 1968, and yes I rooted for Mulder and Scully to be together and it took me a long time to watch Series 9 after their kiss over the baby at the end of Series 8!!!!

This poster still sits behind my monitor in our den where I work!!! 

My favourite Episodes :

“Squeeze”, “Firewalker”, “Dod Kalm”, “Humbug”, “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose”, “Small Potatoes”, “The Post-Modern Prometheus”, “How The Ghosts Stole Christmas”, “First Person Shooter”, “Hollywood AD”, The final four episodes of Series 9.  However if I am honest I loved them all but the above are my favourites. 

I am lucky enough to have all the series and the films on DVD so can watch them whenever I want to and step back into the programme whenever.

Happy Birthday X-Files!

Hugs, Susie xx

A little bit different #Throw Back Thursday today.  As you know whilst I have been confined to Quarters I have been watching quite a few films, some new and some I have watched several times before.  Of course there are only so many out there and I finally got around to watching a few from my childhood.  One of which was and remains still my most favourite.

I don’t know why it was my favourite as a child but I just loved it and watching it again recently it did not disappoint.  I always felt that the scene with Professor McGonagall at almost the end of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows where she makes the stone guards come to life to protect Hogwarts, was based upon when Miss Price makes the armour walk to defeat the Nazi invasion force.  As JK Rowling is the same age as me I am sure she got the inspiration from this Disney film for that scene of hers.

I always loved the travelling brass bed and when I bought my first double bed I choose one just like it.  It was dammed uncomfortable when you sat up to read in it with the brass bars on your back and despite putting pillows at it, it was still dreadful!!!!  Needless to say I got rid of it!!!.

I suppose because of this film I was bound to love the Harry Potter series, which I read all the books to both Boys and of course saw all the films with them, even DH liked them.

Speaking of movies there are quite a few coming out this year from Disney which I would like to see.  There is the new “Avengers – Infinity War” where there are more stars in it than you can shake a stick at!  Goodness knows how much the salaries are for all of them. 

There is the new Star Wars movie “Solo” coming out about a young Han Solo which I hope will be better than the Star Wars ones so far.  I feel that since George Lucas has handed over to Disney it has gone awry.  

Finally back to my childhood with the new Mary Poppins film coming out at Christmas with Emily Blunt as Mary.  I like her as an actress and think she will play the part well.  So with the price of cinema tickets now I had better get saving up to go and see all of these on the Big Screen!!!

Today is house jobs day and tomorrow grocery shopping and Saturday I will be back in my sewing room trying to get some more things done!  I hope you all have a Terrific Thursday.

Hugs, Susie xx

I Want to Believe

You know that I am a huge X Files fan and I have just watched Episode 2 of Series 11 and I am loving it!!!  Why, why, why they didn’t do more episodes than the ten in this series I don’t know especially as Gillian Anderson has said she will no longer do any more series!!!!

DH and The Boys bought me the box set of the original series on DVD so I am able to watch those any time I want and I just love it.  I know those of you who don’t like scary things will not like the show but over the past twenty four years I think it is one of the best written/directed/acted shows ever on TV.  I will be buying this series on DVD when it is out.

The Truth is Out There!

Hugs, Susie xx

Some shows have returned, some have finished and some came and went before we knew it!

Yes Game of Thrones came and went in the blink of an eye this season as we had less episodes even if some of them were a little longer!  It was a great season especially as I thought it was all going to be about battles and yes there were a few but there was also intrigue!!  Who is going to sit on the Iron Throne at the end of the day?  Will it be the Night King or Bran as a lot of people now think that is who the Night King is or will it be Daenerys or Jon Snow (or Targaryen as we now know his real name) or will Jon and Daenerys sit on the Iron Throne together?  That is my bet and prediction!!  We shall see in eighteen months time!!!

Masterchef Australia is now back on our screens and began a little earlier than its normal time of September.  Usually it starts when the children are back at school but this year it began in August.  This programme has a great format and very different to all the other Masterchef programmes and the presenters, Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston make the show.  If you do ever get chance to watch it, it is great fun and some of the dishes the contestants put up are amazing. 

I also notice that a lot of series now have only thirteen episodes which I know lets the actors then do other series and things between rather than doing a series of twenty four but they just don’t seem long enough!  Two of my favourite SyFy ones are

Killjoys and Dark Matter, both having just finished their third seasons.  I love SyFy programmes and these two are similar but then again very different.  I just feel we need more episodes!!!

A girl just has to watch some trashy TV once in a while and I watch Housewives of Beverley Hills.  It is the only Housewives show I do watch and to be honest I cannot believe the money which floats around this lot.  I like all the characters on it except for this season Dorit Kemsley, please decide which accent you really want and stick to it!!!!  You have to watch the show to know what I am talking about!!!!

This is a plug for a new show on BBC 1 which will be out next week and it is called Rellik.  I only mention it because not only is Youngest in it playing a mental teenager (aren’t they all?!!!) but DH managed to get an Extra part in it too!!!  The story is about a killer and the programme starts with his arrest and then works backwards, hence the name Rellik; Killer backwards!  I don’t know what it is going to be like and if it is terrrible I apologise now but we will be watching of course!  Richard Dormer above who is the lead in Rellik is also in Game of Thrones and plays Beric Dondarrion, he of the flaming sword!

This is one show I am going to miss as it finished this year with a reduced Season Six, Grimm!  I do have all the DVDs so will be able to watch again but I did love this show.

And Bones, again reduced Season 12 but I do have all the DVDs.

However they have just started filming Series 11!!!  I don’t care what anyone else says I love it!  They are doing a few more episodes this time, ten instead of six, but come on guys neither David nor Gillian have any other series filming or running at the moment so I am sure you can do at least thirteen?!!!!  But all fans of the X Files really want twenty four!!!!  A lot of fans did not like Series 10 but I thought they handled the return well and some of the lines were so funny (Mulder: I don’t run up stairs anymore!!!)  However it won’t be out until next year 😦

Well that’s about all I have been watching so far and I will let you know when we get to see the episode of Rellik which Youngest is in and it we can spot DH!!!! 

I hope you have a Thrilling TV Tuesday.

Hugs, Susie x

PS  My Grandparents had a TV like this!!!!!