Sabrina

I thought this was going to be a trip down memory lane.  Not really sure how I feel about this remake even though we are about five episodes in...

Missing this...

Grand Designs

Recently Netflix brought me a blast from the past in the form of 'Grand Designs'. I love our house and could never deal with the stress of building but watching people bring these dreams to life is so interesting!

The first thing we learned from watching it is how crazy the building regulations (or sometimes the lack thereof) is in Great Britain. Nico has family in the building business and there's no way some of those practices would be allowed here.

What always surprises me is how rich some of these people are. They nearly always end up over budget and it's hard to imagine where the extra comes from.

I'm nearly always impressed with the finished buildings but there are quite few I would actually like to live in. It just shows you how much it comes down to personal taste.

Netflix

After some consideration, Nico signed us up for a trial month with Netflix. It's been less than a week and we're converts.

There's way more choice than I thought. So far we've binge watched The Crown and one and a half series of Prison Break. It really is infectious, especially since it automatically starts the next episode.

We'll almost definitely be signing up for good, I'm really looking forward to new series. I'll be looking for something girly to watch while I'm feeding Joshua or knitting when Nico's back at work.

I also like that you can set up different accounts. Isabella's is PIN protected so she can't get into anything she shouldn't.

If you're looking for me...

Cold Feet

I recently read that Cold Feet is returning to televisions in the UK and used the opportunity to introduce Nico to the show.  What a blast from the past!  It's so long ago that I needed a reminder of some of the storylines.  You can get them here.

I hadn't realise that the series were so short - we're already through the first two.

What surprised me the most was how dated they feel.  The storylines are good - they tend to have a theme for each episode and then look at how the three couples handle that theme.  It seemed strange to see them with no mobile phones for example, cabel television is a big thing for them and the whole family / work balance seems somewhat old fashioned too.

What I'm really enjoying though, is the scenery.  Spotting areas of Manchester that take me right back to my time at university.  So many shows are set in London these days, it was great to see something up north!  The bonus highlight was seeing Lindesfarne at the end of series two, having just been there this summer.

It's well worth a watch and we'll be sticking with it.  Looking forward to seeing how they have updated it too.

Favourite series of 2014

The Newsroom:

Love this series. The dialogue is brilliant, the events are current and the characters are lovable. The episodes are longer but packed full and enjoyable.

Grey's Anatomy:

Got this one for my birthday and binge watched nine series. It's a good medical drama. It differs from others because there's no one character I identify with but the cast as a whole works and the stories are very good.

Blue Bloods:

Another good crime drama. I can't help but love a series with Tom Selleck.  Ever since he starred in Three Men and a Little Baby - he brings a certain avuncular quality to his shows. The storylines are good and the characters strong.

Will & Grace:

A blast from the past, one of my favourite comedy series growing up kept us going when we finished our other series. It's almost a guilty pleasure but I love it.

One Tree Hill:

Another guilty pleasure I enjoyed on maternity leave, I used to watch this as a teenager. I love that they jumped forward in time for the later series, which made it more relevant for me. Jamie's still my favourite character.

The Bridge

source

We are big fans of Scandinavian crime fiction, whether it's literature, film or television so we were thrilled when we found series one of The Bridge through Amazon television and then series two aired on German television. Dad had already seen both in England with subtitles so that was an extra recommendation for us.

Series one was fantastic. The German series were five episodes of almost two hours but we flew through them. They were also dubbed into German so didn't require the effort of reading subtitles. The characters are so interesting and unique. The leading lady is seriously lacking in social etiquette which brings something different to the story. The story itself was full of twists and turns and kept us on the edges of our seats to the end.

The second series, while very good, did not live up to the first. Somehow it wasn't as gripping and the last episode really dragged and for us, there did seem to be some holes in the plot.

It will be interesting to see if there is a third series and we will watch if there is. In the meantime we are keeping our eyes and ears open for anything else coming from the North. If you get chance and you like crime fiction, try to find this one.

Our Square Eyed Cat

 Since we got the television Pete has become obsessed with watching it (as well as the laptops, which never bothered him before). 

 He especially likes wildlife programmes with big cats and meerkats.

 As you can see he can't get close enough.  He also thinks the DVD player is a God and regularly worships it.

 He was so engrossed that he jumped out of his skin, hurting himself and Nico when Nico switched it off just moments after these photos.

I don't remember our cats watching TV when we were younger but a colleague's cat goes crazy for gorillas!

Monk

Today saw the end of an era when we finally finished the final season of Monk.  We have been following this series since our early days together so it does feel a little strange.  There are so many funny moments and here's just one of them.

Hebburn

Recently been reliving this little gem.  Soooo funny.

Easter eggs

I was totally addicted to this project over the Easter weekend.  I caught an introductory snippet on channel four while I was in the UK last week and for once, it was something I could pick up on the internet over here.  It was amazing seeing a gosling hatch live!  It was like big brother but waaaay cuter!