Woooo - it's starting to get chilly.
Here at 'Wonderful Life Blog Central' the central heating is on and I'm wearing my Dr Who scarf - the Tom Baker years.
Despite having officially achieved a chest infection last week, I've been riding those bugs out of dodge with anti-biotics the size of horse tablets and many, many cups of tea.
Today we've been to the wilds of Frodsham (Cheshire). There were babies, toddlers, swings (oh my) .....
First kiss.
We tried to kidnap this Ewok!
......... and the best pudding I think I've ever had!
But it was a bit chilly.
I know - this picture will warm us up!
Regardless of phlegm, it's been another really good week - with my plans for re-developing the blog in the new year really starting to take shape (let's call it 'Top Secret Project X'). I cooked tea for a lot of people last week in return for offers of help and ideas.
It's all very exciting, but of course if I tell you - I'll have to kill you! So you'll just have to wait until the new year for the big reveal.
So last week in a nut shell ......
Still basking in the glory of nearly 1,000 page views the previous week and official affirmation of being 'cool' from The Red Hot Chili Peppers fan site Stadium Arcadium I started last week on a real high.
On Monday I shared some of my more spectacular DIY comedy cock ups, including some interesting uses for a butter knife and how to grout a sink with tooth paste!
On Tuesday we flew, business class on Emirates to Abu Dhabi. Splendid in her 'berkini', my 'best woman Gill' reported 'Live from the Lounger'. If you've never seen a cash point that dispenses in gold, then click on the link!
Wednesday was a double bill. Firstly with an update on Tris' Movember Mo. 'Oh my bloody God' was one of the more printable comments! It's morphed from El Poco to more of an Edwardian music hall impresario. It's definitely worth a view.
This was followed by guilt free adultery, rogue spaceships and the 'outing' of a green leafy vegetable - all as a result of typo's in 'The Worlds Top 7 Most Disastrous Typo's'.
On Thursday I was in the mood for a little You Tube fun with the hilarious film of a young Labrador (Benton) herding deer in Richmond Park - towards a road. The original film is funny enough, but check out the mash ups and edits that have followed, with Benton responsible for, amongst others, charging dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, wildebeest in The Lion King, the death of Bambi's mother and for humping someones grandma. They had us crying with laughter.
This weeks 'If you only do one thing .....' was a tribute to the genius Freddie Mercury, who died twenty years ago last Thursday.
Friday was my weekly Brides Up North gig. This time it was about finding inspiration for your wedding vows (which doesn't include stealing the lyrics from 'Street Tuff' by The Rebel MC). And then six months since our wedding, how I'm getting on with keeping my vows. I've been getting some really lovely feedback from the Brides Up North readers, like Ana, who said:
Alison, so beautiful as always. I have however made a note to myself to stop reading your blog entries whilst in work, as, I cry every time without fail!! Wonderful, thanks for the inspiration! x
Ahh - that's nice.
Friday bought another really nice message, from the Editor of The Good Review, a web site which reviews books, festivals, music, theater and films. After my success with The Chili Peppers and James reviews, with the help of a friend of a friend (who is already one of their reviewers), I decided to throw my CV at them. The response was immediate and positive.
I have just read you James review and all I could think was its been far too long since I’ve listened to them, in fact I might bash them on now - I guess that’s the best compliment you can pay to a review. I would love to welcome you to our team!
Hurrah! It's going to give me a fantastic opportunity to go to lots of really good and unusual stuff, and then write about it. I'm awaiting my first assignment!
We finished the week off with another installment from our New England road trip. Check it out, there are some truly beautiful pictures taken from the top of Mount Washington.
So that's about it for this week.
As we stand, I've made £25.33 on Google Adsense so far (thank you all for clicking on the adverts - which can earn me up to 80p per click), which is almost enough for a trip to Primark!
Very exciting!
Finally, I've set up a page on Facebook for 'My Wonderful Life'. Every time I post something on the blog it automatically updates the Facebook page. If you aren't following me on Twitter (@AlStaples) or are one of my Facebook friends, it's a really good way to be kept up to date. All you need to do is hit the 'like' button.
Thanks again for reading my ramblings - lots more good stuff planned for next week!x
