Full Metal Wheelbarrow

Proving once again that truth is stranger than fiction is this story about a Victorian walrus buried (in a coffin!) in a London graveyard, and better still, nobody has been able to find out why...

I'm envisaging a complex plot, probably involving Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

And a bukkit.

I especially liked this quote :- " “We did some research ... but we drew a blank. There was a reference to Prince Albert riding on the back of a giant tortoise, but unfortunately it wasn’t relevant."

20. Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher. 598 pages.
21. Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher. 535 pages.
22. First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher. 691 pages.

Books 4, 5 and 6 of the Codex Alera. Thoroughly enjoyed this second half of the series. Butcher loves to put his characters through the wringer and the ones in this series take some dreadful pastings, which can be hard to read sometimes because he's also very good at making you care about them - there was a point towards the end of the last book when I was hugely choked up at what happened to one of the quite minor characters. However, the stories are very clever and neatly constructed, as is the world in which they're set. The worst things about this series is that it's now finished :(

23. Doctor Who and the Scales of Injustice by Gary Russell. 208 pages.

The Third Doctor and Liz Shaw have another encounter with the Silurians.

I rather got the impression that Gary Russell wanted to take the TV episodes about the Silurians and improve upon them, but unfortunately he isn't a good enough writer to manage that. The tone is all wrong for a Doctor Who story for a start - it's dark and bloody and more like a Daniel Craig era James Bond film which, coming from me, is not a compliment. Worse, Russell commits the basic error of telling rather than showing for far too much of the time - information that should be conveyed to the reader through dialogue or implication is dumped on them in indigestible chunks in the narration. In addition, while I like references to other Doctor Who stories as much as the next fan, Russell seemed to be determined to cram in as many as he possibly could, whether they fit or not.

I got this as a free ebook and I'd say it was worth exactly what I paid for it.

RIP Nicholas Courtney, who gave us Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stuart  

:-(

Now that's the way to do a series finale! Eat your heart out RTD! :-)

As befits the thirteenth (albeit not Friday) Rob had two punctures today, one in the back wheel and one at the front. Bah!

He has now reached Blackgang on the Isle of Wight via the ferry and is camped at a site just over the road from the one he'd planned on , which turned out, despite his careful weeding of the site list, yo be only for folk with their own toilets. There isn't really room for one of those in the Glyde, so they wouldn't let him in .

For the Doctor Who fans he spotted (from the ferry) the fort where the Master was being held prisoner in The Sea Devils :-)

Tomorrow he plans to return to England and head down the coast to Poole.

55 miles today.

I liked it quite a lot. I think Matt Smith is going to make a good Doctor, despite his sad lack of eyebrows.

Under a cut for them as hasn't seen it yet or don't care.

( It's bigger on the inside! )

This weekend was a quiet one - the weather was pretty horrible so we didn't go walking.

Saturday I used the stain/varnish on the banister rail and it looks much nicer. For some reason the woodwork in the house was coloured in a reddish-brown stain that makes the wood look artificial. The dark walnut stain is a much better colour. We're planning to do the railing on the landing in the same colour, but that'll involve taking up the carpet to get at the lower bits properly and we'll probably take the opportunity to repaint the doorframes as well.

Meanwhile Rob started making the frame for a protective case for the wormeries to protect them when the frosts start. Last year we brought them indoors, but they take up a lot of space in the kitchen and bring a zillion fruit flies with them, so we want to keep them outdoors this time.

We watched two films this weekend, and I can now confirm that I am an utter Philistine because I enjoyed Hellboy II quite a lot more than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Even though the former had Luke Goss in it. There is clearly no hope for me :-)

We also watched Doctor Who. ( Not really spoilery, but better safe than sorry. )