July - A month in review

13 Recommendations 

2 more done, so pretty good this month.

13 Recipes:

It's been a while because Katie has been working so many extra hours we rarely eat at the same time. More effort needed on my part.

13 Meals Out:

No progress, but Ethan is going on holiday, so date nights are coming up.

13 Random Acts of kindness:

I need some ideas for proper random acts of kindness. Like paying for a strangers meal in a restaurant. But cheaper. I'm not made of meals.

13 Letters:

I plan to write all my letters in August, while Ethan is away and Katie is working. Lets see if that happens.

13 Blogs per month:

7 months done.

13 Family days out:

A few more done, and one planned for this Saturday.

13 New Foods:

I caught up with the backlog

£13 for Charity per month:

Nothing new this month (for which I'm blaming you lot, you uncharitable bastards). 8 donations done, so still ahead of the game

13/30 Autographs:

7/30. Officially. Another 3 received, but lost. So pretty good

13 (minimum) Postcrossing:

10 sent and 11 received. 3 sat upstairs waiting to be posted. I'm my own worst enemy.

13 (minimum) Geocaches:

Well, this is a tricky one. We were out and about and I decided to try and find a local Geocache and I couldn't make head nor tail of the app. I need to sort that out sharpish

13 @Replies or Retweets from famous people:

Challenge completed!

Trying new food - Venison.

I must admit, I had this bloody ages ago and never got around to blogging, so my memories are very vague but here goes.

Look, here are some burgers:

Look, I've opened the packet:

Look, I've stuck them in a pan!

Look, cooking!

Look, cooked!

Plated up like a professional

Served with the traditional venison trimmings

From what I remember they were tasty, but very rich. Four was far too much for an adult human to attempt to eat, even a self confessed fat knacker.

Johnny English - Watching with Ethan

Well, Johnny English really isn't much of a film is it. The plot made less sense than Stuart Little did... why was everyone just fine with talking cats and mice anyway?

I can however recommend watching Johnny English with a giggling 7 year old who thinks it is the funniest thing ever. I thought the neighbours were going to bang on the wall he was laughing that loudly when the Archbishop of Canturbury was de-frocked.

Who would have thought that kids would enjoy seeing the bare backside of an old man so much.

Speaking of Neighbours, it was nice to see Natalie Imbruglia giving acting another go after her pivitol role of Beth Brennan in the early 90's. And no, I didn't have to google to see what the name of her character was. I remembered because I am just that damn cool

Joanna Page - Autograph

This month I got a autograph from Joanna Page, but I've lost the bloody thing. This is a holding place until I can find it again.

Sue Barker - Autograph

This month I got a autograph from Sue Barker, but I've lost the bloody thing. This is a holding place until I can find it again.

H from Steps - Autograph

This month I got a autograph from H from Steps, but I've lost the bloody thing. This is a holding place until I can find it again.

Stewart Little - Watching with Ethan

Watching things with Ethan is always an adventure. He doesn't think he needs to be quiet when watching films outside of the cinema, because the screen isn't big enough.

He also refused to believe that I hadn't seen the film, so decided to 'test' this by telling me what happens at the end.

Luckily being a kids film, it was very obvious was going to happen, but it was nice enough. I'm glad Hugh Laurie had this chance to practice his American accent before House so he had chance for it to get good.

I'm going to have to leave the review there for now, because I'm being badgered to put Johnny English on straight away. This isn't going to be good, is it?

National Trust - 'Summer' is here, lets have a trip out!

This Saturday we are going to go somewhere nice for the day. But where? Here are the suggestions:

Rufford Old Hall

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/rufford-old-hall/

Erddig

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/erddig/

Dunham Massey

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunham-massey/

Formby

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/formby/

So... where should we go?

2 Facebook Suggestions

I've been pretty slack in this area, so I've promised to box off another 2 recommendations before the end of the month. It's no co-incidence that these are both family friendly ones for the summer holidays.

My sister Lisa has recommended:

Which I somehow managed to not watch when it came out, or in the 13 years since then. Ethan is a fan though, so he is going to watch it with me.

Speaking of Ethan, he really, really wants to watch this with me.

We are both fans of things that Rowen Atkinson has done in the past, but I've avoided this because I assume it's going to be closer to Bean than Blackadder. But a promise is a promise, so when Katie goes to work tomorrow, we are going to have a lads night in. I shall report back!

Daniel Kitson... the 2nd time this year!

The show is still being written and so information is currently pretty scarce. There is currently no running time, no marketing copy, no programme image. We don’t even have a title yet. But for the curious, tickets will be available from 15th July and for the more circumspect, full details will follow in a couple of weeks.

There aren't many comedians that could get away with that and still sell tickets. In all honesty, Kitson could probably do less and his followers (yes, followers) would still snap up tickets.

It's a big old run in Manchester this time though, so tickets are still available. Do yourself a favour and get some tickets. (I'm going on the Sunday if you want to avoid me being over excited)

http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/event.aspx?id=742

The Heat

Now, if there is one thing I enjoy doing on the internet (no, not that), it's entering competitions. I had a bit of luck a few years ago (I remember a particularly fetching Adrian Mole t shirt I won a few years ago), but after a massive dry spell, this year I have hit a real purple patch. Not only did I win a packet of Breakaway biscuits a few months ago, this month I won two tickets to see The Heat

I was actually quite pleased with this. Obviously it's been years since the Sandra Bullock's Speed/While You Were Sleeping peak, but she is a reliable hand, and I really like Melissa McCarthy. I even like her in Mike and Molly. It's no Parks and Recreation or Modern Family, but it's still still watchable.

If you are expecting a comedy classic, you might be disappointed, but if you are happy with your basic 'buddy movie with girls' then this might be right up your alley. Well worth the price of my free tickets.

Cornetto Trilogy

This month, I made the excellent decision to stay up late to watch The Worlds End at midnight on a Friday morning, as part of the Cornetto Trilogy.

For those of you who haven't seen any of these films, they are all recommended, but if I could only pick one, I'd have to say Shaun of the Dead is one of my favourite films ever. Even after all these years, it is still funny, and still quotable.

Too cheap to buy it on DVD? Fine... watch it right now, for nothing. You are welcome!

http://www.mojvideo.com/video-shaun-of-the-dead-2004-full-movie-online/7076d00e42a78598a38d 

Cooking from scratch idea - Banana Cake

With thanks to @michaellegge for his hard work