Monday 23 November 2020

Photo diary: week 47, project 366

Christmas is creeping up stealthily upon us, in just over a month we'll be celebrating it. It will most likely be a subdued event, like everything else this year. I haven't properly started shopping for Christmas gifts, with an exception of one tin of cookies and a Star Wars jumper for Eddie, with Darth Vader in a Santa hat. 

I have, however, bought twelve chocolate bars for my now traditional annual chocolate giveaway, which will start on 1 December.  Don't forget to join in!

Who doesn't love swings? 

Chez Maximka

Our garden has hardly any blooms now, with the exception of some cyclamens and a few fragile white roses. Last week I was surprised to see a bright calendula in one of the flower tubs. It must have self-seeded, as I've never planted it, the seed brought by the wind or perhaps the bird pooped it in the tub.

Chez Maximka

I've been binge-watching The Crown season 4. As with the previous seasons, it's better not to study history, relying on Peter Morgan's version of events, but it's very entertaining. 

It's uneven too, the episode with Fagan was pretty boring. The episode with the cousins hidden in the asylum and registered as dead, is truly heart-breaking. Having a child with special needs, I found this part of the story hard to watch, though I knew about the cousins before. 
Diana appears as very needy and quite manipulative, and don't even start me on the self-centred Charles.

Did you watch it? What did you think? Does it ring true to you, do you recollect events as different? I arrived to the UK as a student in the last year of Diana's life, and remember watching the infamous TV interview, together with my elderly Irish landlady. At that time I didn't really follow the antics of the Royal family, and it was quite a revelation.

Chez Maximka

Our local Shake shop is a busy place. There is a long queue outside the shop most days, so when we passed by the other day and saw that there was nobody outside, we quickly popped in to get a strawberry shake with cream for Eddie. 

Chez Maximka

We pass by The Teddy Bears of Witney every day on the way into town centre. And every time I see this grinning doggy, I smile. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be cute or ugly, but it will surely scare any baby.

Chez Maximka, scary teddy

We bought the art print of the Cornish coastline back in summer 2019 for Eddie's birthday, he has chosen it from a big selection in the small art gallery in Perranuthnoe, where we usually stay for a week. 
He's been asking me for ages, when I would be buying a frame for it. I wanted to have the job done by the master framer who sells his wares at the market, but last year I haven't seen him at all (in fact, he later told me he was unwell and didn't come to Witney for many months), then Covid began and all that. Finally I decided to buy a frame online.
We picked the colour of the frame, and placed an order, it was made in Germany. When it arrived, the colour is completely different from the one we wanted, it was supposed to be grey blue-ish to match the waves. But it's too much faff to send it back, so it will have to do.
The picture is now hanging in our sitting room, next to Eddie's portrait.

Chez Maximka

We are still catching Pokemons. If anyone wants to become our friend, do tag me on Twitter (@maximka25). This Saturday it was a Magmar day, and he photobombed our snap.


Chez Maximka, Pokemon Go


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13 comments:

  1. I've not watched The Crown, but wondered if I should because so many people are talking about it. That toy dog is a bit grim - I wouldn't want it.

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    1. Thank you, Erica, you should start from Season 1 then. :) Get ready for everything else to stop until you finish watching it.

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  2. Christmas is certainly going to be different this year.
    What a surprise to see a new flower in your garden. We had a few that appeared from nowhere over the recent months.
    I loved watching the Crown. I can't wait for the next series because I will actually remember those events as they happened in my lifetime when I took an interest in the royal family.
    hehehe! That grinning doggy did make me smile. What big teeth he has. x

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  3. I did all my christmas shopping back in August/september as I thought I'd be back in Dubai by now, but at this rate I might still be here. I binged the Crown also, I thought there was a lot of artistic licence and the time scale of events wasn't as I recalled it either. Diana came across as very needy in my opinion.

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  4. It's hard to shop for gifts with all the shops closed. Why don't you check etsy? I bought from there some fun face masks with Christmas design on them, and those could make for a nice, funny, gift. There are also lots and lots of options. Hope that helps. x

    I plan to watch the Crown, but haven't yet. Diana was needy... I mean... she threw herself on the stairs while pregnant with William to get attention, so not exactly mother of the year if you ask me.
    I am curious how Charles and Camilla are presented. I follow the Clarence House account on Instagram and I saw a picture with them recently. They looked so in love and they are in their 70s, I love that.

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  5. That calendula is pretty. I’ve not yet started on season 4 of the Crown (still need to finish watching season 3). Glad you managed to get the picture framed at last, although it’s a shame that the frame wasn’t the colour you were expecting. It still looks good framed and up on the wall though. #project366

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  6. The poor dog looks like it has had too much of 2020 and is on the verge if a breakdown.
    Shame your picture frame is not what you had hoped for.
    We have random flowers popping up all over the place and a lot of the bushes are starting to flower as well, they are in for a shock when winter arrives.

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  7. I am glad you managed to get a shake when it was quiet. I like to avoid queues in shops and cafes too. We visited a Shake shop in Southampton once, would love to go back they had so many fab flavours. Shame the colour wasn't quite what you wanted, but it still looks nice :)

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  8. That episode got me too, I was utterly shocked at how heartless they could be! The Queen Mother came off as cold as ice, in real life she was always scathing of 'people from the North' so I was never a fan of hers anyway, but that episode made me dislike her even more!
    Darth Vader wearing a Christmas hat? Now that I must see! What an awesome idea for a jumper! Such a gorgeous vibrant flower for this time of year, however it self seeded, it's such a lovely surprise! Sim x

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  9. The picture is beautiful, sorry about the frame being the wrong colour. We have not watched the Crown yet I am sure we will. The dog looks a bit freaky! xx

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  10. I agree, who doesn't love swings? The flower looks gorgeous. I saw one episode of season 1 of The Crown and it looks interesting. Woah, season 4 seems twisted. OoO strawberry shake and cream. That dog toy is adorable. Cute Pokemon Go picture

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  11. We have roses blooming in our garden but nothing else. I can't wait to watch The Crown but am saving it until the Christmas holidays so that I can binge watch the episodes and cram in several per night without being too tired to enjoy. #project366

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  12. Ahhh The Crown ... I've just started watching it from series 1 so I've only just got to the Royal Wedding. It's interesting and does bring up a few things I don't really remember, but I go and have a quick google afterwards to see what's real and what's artistic licence ! Lovely to see you're still catching Pokemons !

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