h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Me too, me too! (Except the am drams - not enuf confidence - used to help in the background though)

What do you like reading/singing/gardening?

I'll read owt that's going - even 8 year old newspapers - but I prefer SF/Fantasy/well-written crime/thrillers/horror (though that's started giving me nightmares lately).

Sing anything too - though the voice is best adapted for Folk (bit too high and pure for Rock )

Tell me about your garden ...

About the am dram, I used to think of myself as shy, never knew what to say in social crowds altho could make 'polite conversation' when required. Still do feel a bit of a misfit in some social gatherings. But on stage you see I can be someone else/the real me. It's really only local panto & stuff for charity & there's a real buzz from getting laughs & applause.

Not too keen on crime/horror, except Dick Francis & period stuff like Dorothy Sayers. I revel in Pratchett of course! Have read lots of SF/fantasy in the past, enjoyed Philip Pullman's Dark materials - can you recommend anything new that's good? Otherwise general novels, aga sagas - tend to go for a 'good read' rather than anything too heavy. Main opportunity to get stuck into a book is commuting one or two days a week.

I'll sing anything going! I belong to a small local choir that does occasional church things, concerts, weddings - not really strong enough to be a soloist, but at home sometimes my son plays & I sing rock/musicals. (Preferrably NO audience)

Now the garden - unkempt probably best describes it. Lots of grass (definitely not lawn), trees, nettles & brambles & wild flowers! Soil appalling cos a lot of it's over old knocked down farm buildings. Struggling just to keep everything in check. Fair weather gardener, me, rain stops play at the moment. How about you?

Oops, time to get tea ready...

Ian Rankin's are good. As are Ruth Rendell's and Anne Perry's. Crime but with a hefty dose of humanity. Rankin's are so evocative of the area and Perry's are set in Victorian times. I'll read owt I can get my hands on of theirs.

I'm enjoying Diana Wynee Jones at the moment. Like Dark Materials and Harry Potter a lot of her books are ostensibly for children but so well written... (Or am I in my second childhood?)

Mmm Pratchett. Talking of children's books, he wrote one called "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" which I found quite marvellous.

Is the commute for work or pleasure?

I used to belong to one of those (till I moved a long way ). Don't get much chance to sing with others these days and the sons tell me off when I do it at home

Hehehe. Mine's pretty unkempt at the moment too. I can only work in it when the sun's blazing down because the combination of river and countless trees makes it paradise for midgies and I'm allergic to their bites.
We've got a heavy clay soil . My last two gardens were sandy so I've been spoilt - but at least it's acid
Praying for an answer to ground elder

Thanks, I'll give them a try. Reminds me re SF, I've read a few Robert Rankin - amusing but bizarre (would appeal more to boys I think) & Tom Holt. Neither as good as Pratchett. His children's books are just as good as the adult ones. Have you read the Truckers trilogy?

The commute is what I regard as my day off from mothering & housekeeping etc. I suppose it's pleasure as I don't do it for the money,altho' every little helps. It's the same job I've had since before the children were born & after maternity leave they let me go back on a sort of flexi hours basis. I do one (short) day a week, sometimes 2 if they're short staffed. Great to do something totally different from home life & I get over an hour on the train to read!

'The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hip hooray, the sun has got his hat on - and I'm gardening today'
Well for a bit, anyway. Standing up - We had clay at our last house, this one is solid chalk a few inches down. But very sticky after all the rain. Cyclamen coming out which is lovely (primrose in spring, bluebells & celandines & not much in between ). Those aren't the famous Scottish midges are they? Envious of your river.

Washing machine repair man has been & all back in action. Poor thing was all clogged up with scale (chalk, you see). Will need to give it TLC in future. New vacuum cleaner arriving Tues, what fun. My mum has one that's 30years old!!

I think the motorhome idea is very brave. The most we're likely to tackle is some exotic holidays, when it's only 2 to pay for instead of 4. Elder son made the break this year, going off with friends, but I reckon another few years with younger son. Can't say I'm altogether looking forward to it.