Mr. Armitage is really attractive.

Didn’t get in a nap this afternoon, so I am hoping to get to bed a little earlier. Had a lovely time earlier this evening with my sister. We stretched out on the loungers on the condo balcony, the patio door shutting out the noise of Bill O’Reilly and Fox News so that we could enjoy the peaceful sound of the rolling Gulf waters. The moon was a gleaming silver half-disk in the velvet sky, and we held hands and sang along with the golden oldies on my Kindle Fire, and reminisced about the days gone by.  If my back wouldn’t have kicked up something awful, I would have been tempted to sleep out there . . . alas, it, like the rest of me, is a bit the worse for wear and tear these days.

I hope everyone has a good night and a wonderful Wednesday to come (or that has already arrived for some of you).  Nite, nite, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.

OT: The Charms of Susan Branch

http://www.susanbranch.com/newsletters/2012-10/

I got my latest e-newsletter from author/illustrator Susan Branch today (the link to her blog is above).  I love her books. The beautiful writing you see inside them is not a computer font but Branch’s actual handwriting and all the illustrations are largely self-taught artist Branch’s own charming watercolors.

Branch has written a variety of books and calendars over the past 20-plus years celebrating holidays, seasons, friendships and girlfriends. I  am happy to say that I own a number of them.

She has a lot of great recipes, but, as an editorial review on Amazon says, “the true theme of the books is family, love, friends and the celebration of life.”

Author/illustrator Susan Branch, a personal favorite. (photo courtesy of simplearts.com)

When did my cat Thumper pose for Susan?

A page from one of Branch’s delightful calendars.

This book makes a great gift idea for best buddies and sisters. It’s a lot of fun.

Branch’s website also offers a variety of notecards,  kitchen  and household items and personal accessories for purchase. But you can enjoy all the goodness of her website and e-newsletters without spending a dime.  That’s a bargain!

Ros & Lucas: Dynamic (SND) Duo!

I thought Ros and Lucas truly made a great team on Spooks. Here was a pair of smart, savvy spies who looked sleek and sexy and didn’t still need training wheels. They had each other’s back. Lucas and Ros had a mutual respect and admiration. I adored their flirtatious banter. They knew “colleagues are OK.” And both, by the way, are So Not Dead.

I have always loved Hermione Norris as an actress, and let us not forget she is the one who declared Richard Armitage (who had acted with her earlier in his career in Cold Feet) to be “sublime.” Obviously this talented lady is also one who possesses the Good Taste Gene. Long live Lucas and Ros, MI-5‘s Dynamic Duo!

Light & Shadow: In Nature & PeRformAnce

There are clouds in the canopy of sky today–pearl grey, dove grey,  smoke blue. contrasting beautifully with the swath of soft pink-orange beneath. Whitecaps swell as the frothy water rushes into shore. I sit outside and watch the changing sky and sea.

Even when it’s not all sunshine and blue skies, how beautiful it still is.  The grey moments, the melancholy moments in life certainly make us appreciate the sweeter and sunnier times, too.

Mr. A does an amazing job of telegraphing moments of melancholy, angst and introspection as experienced by his cast of ChaRActers. We see both the sunshine and shadows, the lights and darks, just as we would with any human being.  They move and affect us just as the ever-changing sky and sea do.

“Twofer” Tuesday: The Soldier and the Spy

MI-5 and MI-6’s finest: Lucas North of the Security Services and SAS soldier Sgt. John Porter. One spent eight years in a Russian prison,  wondering who had sold him out to their enemy as he faced torture, humiliation and deprivation on a daily basis. The other suffered his own hell when a Middle Eastern mission he was heading went pear-shaped, One mate was dead, another in a vegetative state. And signs pointed to Porter’s poor judgement being the cause.  Porter lost the trust and respect of his men, his wife and found his relationship with his only child on shaky ground.

Both men have something to prove to the world–and to themselves. Both have suffered loss and betrayal and are determined to discover the truth. They want the opportunity to make themselves useful, to return to some semblance of normality in their lives. They can be tough and ruthless and at the same time, tender and compassionate. Flawed and damaged though they may be, they are still most worthy of our respect and admiration.  Oddly enough, in spite of the fact they are fictional characters, the world feels just a little safer to me with these two fellows on watch.

Lucas and JP are amongst my personal superheroes. Who needs Superman, Batman or Spidey when you have North and Porter??