The Tudors, Katherine Howard, an obsession!

I have gained an obsessive interest in Tudor history in recent times. So much so, I have set up a special Twitter account just so I can pretend to be a Tudor lady. Not just any Tudor lady (oh, no...) but one of the most important and memorable of the Tudor ladies (no, not Anne Boleyn, although you're very close) it is... the one, the only... Katherine Howard! (Which would have been easy to guess for some of you, especially if you already know of this other Twitter account.)

My Katherine Howard account is part factual and historically accurate, and partly fictional and totally made up. The factual part is that she is a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Cleves (the fourth wife of Henry VIII) and also that she likes fine clothes and wishes to find a man. I mean if she did not wish to find one, how come she got close with King Henry, and then had some sort of affair with Thomas Culpepper? The fictional part is that I make my character, Katherine, say pretty much whatever I like her to say - within reason. I have a friend (who Katherine did not truly have, I don't think) and that is William FitzYork. He is the unknown son of Edward IV, and does jousting and is respectful to the ladies. Especially to my character, as they are very good friends.

I enjoy role-playing my character very much. It is a joy and a pleasure to pretend to be such a fun and lively lady. In a way, she is kind of like me: she likes music, dancing and having fun, and also being happy. All of which I thoroughly enjoy! I also like the way people spoke back in Tudor times. My lady, my lord, your majesty, etc. All so polite, most of it. Everything in 'Tudor world' feels calm-ish, more civilised, more friendly, just better in so many ways that I cannot even think of. I like how people respond to my character and it is great fun!

Onto my main point of writing this blog post. I wanted to share a poem I wrote the other day. It is about Katherine Howard, as that is the lady I'm playing at the moment, and I wished to express my thoughts about her, whilst at the same time, to tell a bit about her life: some good, some bad.

The poem is as follows:

    Katherine lay awake in her bed,
    Thoughts of Francis danced through her head,
    Like sparrows they hung,
    Like a bird she sung,

    The man she knew was different,
    Changed somehow,
    Many hours together they spent,
    No longer in front of her did he bow.

    Another day,
    More words they didn't say,
    Losing faith and hope,
    With lost words it's though they choked.

    Alive and well,
    Then rung the wedding bells,
    King Henry did love her much,
    The sweet Katherine did have a gentle touch.

    The world was alive,
    Poor Katherine didn't survive,
    Her head chopped off,
    King Henry suffered a great loss.


I hope you liked my poem. It was written fairly quickly. But with quite a bit of thought put into it. I tried to make it chronological.

Here's a nice pic to end on...

Credit for this marvellous edit goes to my TBF and ultimate Sue fan (apart from me, ha ha! We are both superfans) @perkins_love!

 

For more Tudor loveliness and role-playing please go to my Twitter account page @LadyKatHoward!

 

For my normal page and to comment on this blog post please go to @Supersizer1!

 

You can also comment below if you so wish. I don't mind. But please, let me know what you thought of it and also my 'Katherine Howard poem', which I heartily dedicate to Katherine Howard (former Queen of England) and to Tamzin Merchant, who played Katherine so brilliantly in The Tudors!

 

Thank you for reading. Bye for now!

 

Lots of Tudor love, Ss1! xxx





The Choir, The Tudors, GBBO, etc.

I'm back, blog! I'm definitely back! How are you? You well? Miss me?! *smiles*

Anyway, this is serious. *does serious face* I'm here because I wanted to get back into using this blog, and because I like blogging! And also, I want to give my feedback on some amazing shows, that I've really enjoyed watching! The most recent being The Choir! Gareth Malone is an awesome choir master, and whenever he puts together a choir, he always, always, always makes them improve SO much from when they start out in the choir. He pushes them (in a good way) and makes them feel proud of themselves. He also holds auditions for solos. This bit is especially good to watch, because when I was in a choir years ago, I went and auditioned for a solo, I was doing it on a bit of a whim, I guess, I just thought I'd give it a go, and luckily, it paid off! I got the solo! I was SO happy at the time! It was a bit of a confidence boost for me, and I think I made my family proud. It was a rush, and really rather exciting, and I wish one day I could sort of repeat the process. Singing is still a big thing to me. And I do sing regularly. I just wish I could join another choir, or perhaps be in some musical one day. I really love singing!

In The Choir: Sing While You Work, the solo auditions were held in a nice room, and several people auditioned. The last two auditionees stood out the most to me. I think they both had good voices, and I clapped both of them, in my living room. The last one to audition was Siobhan Patton. She had a great voice, and really connected with the song. I was happy when Gareth said he'd picked her for the solo! And in the final performance, in front of the three judges, she really was marvellous! I felt she meant what she was singing, and that's a great skill to have, if you're in a choir or just singing in general.

Moving on... I also really like a programme called The Tudors. It was shown a few months ago, on the BBC, around summertime. It was all based on the Tudors time period. It had very good actors in it! And it was very moving, but also very funny at certain points in the show. My favourite queen out of Henry VIII's six wives was Anne Boleyn, because I liked her bold nature, and the way she loved to have fun, dance, and interact with people at court. She was the most interesting in my eyes. And the actress playing her was very, very good. And the scene where Anne is beheaded was particularly moving, and actually made me cry.

Also, on Twitter, there are several role play accounts, where people name themselves after the historical figures from The Tudors. Such as... Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII, Charles Brandon, Arthur Tudor, Lady Elizabeth (Elizabeth I, as a child). One account I want to mention here, in particular, is Lady Grace (@TudorsDynasty). She is a very kind, friendly, and nice Tudor lady, who I often speak to. We have tea together, and converse. And she's just a very nice tweeter, who I'm glad to have following me! So, thank you very much, Lady Grace!

Finally, I'd like to mention one last show which I have very much enjoyed watching in recent times. And that is, unsurprisingly (to peeps who read my blog regularly), The Great British Bake Off! Yes, I'm afraid it has come to an end, for this year. But, I did not get 'round to blogging about it in the last few weeks it was on the tele. And so, I now want to give my opinion on the semi final and final of the show.

First off, the semi final had 4 great bakers in it. One of which was Beca, who is a particular favourite of mine from the show. She's not only a great baker, but also a lovely person as well! And her vegetable cake, shaped like cheese, with mice on it, was definitely a highlight of mine from the current series. It was SO, SO cute!!! I loved the way it looked, and I bet it was tasty too! *does a big smile*

Secondly, I thought both Frances and Ruby did really well in the final, and at the time, before the winner was announced, I would have been happy whichever out of either of them won. I liked Frances for her creative flair, and how she came up with great designs for her bakes, but also they always looked amazing! And she really thought about what she was doing. She prepared things well, and they were well executed. And Ruby was talented too! She came up with things that tasted good, and her presentation of her bakes improved a lot over the time she was on the 'Bake Off'. I liked her as a person, just as I did with Frances, and both were humble and nice, and I think Ruby would have reacted similarly to Frances if she'd won. Frances was shocked, but also very happy to win. And even on Twitter I remember her tweeting 'Still in shock' and posting a pic of her award, which was under her bed. I was very happy to see Frances win! And it even made me cry when I first watched it! I couldn't contain my emotions that night! But also, I had been going through some stuff at the time, and so was feeling pretty emotional that week anyway.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post! It was a pleasure to write about my fave shows of recent times. And also to get back into using this blog again! Please comment below, or on Twitter (@Supersizer1) and let me know what you thought of this post. And also what you'd like me to write about next time!

Thank you for reading!
Bye for now!
Xxx

The Great British Bake Off. Review of series 4 (so far). And episode 6!

This series of The Great British Bake Off has got me well and truely hooked, and I am now so obsessed with it that it is pretty much the only thing I tweet about, talk about and think about! Ok, so I've been a fan of the show since it started in 2010. And every series there are bakers that catch my eye, and I think they're really great and skilled at baking! There is a disaster for someone at some point, i.e. the custard gate incident involving Deborah and Howard from this series. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01fwhms <--- A little link to Custard-gate for you here. It's sad, yet really funny. And even when things go wrong for the bakers, you've got to see the funny side, which Mel and Sue often do. And they help to lighten the mood too. Which I'm pretty sure is needed when you're under stress and a time limit in which to bake something.

The 13 bakers this year have faced 6 different types of baking so far. And every episode someone or more than one person has left. Cake, bread, desserts, pies and tarts, biscuits and traybakes, and sweet dough in week 6.

The bakers who have left this series so far are: Toby (a very likeable and cheery man), Lucy (who I thought deserved another week to prove herself), Mark (who in the Cake episode had trouble with his oven as it wasn't pre-heated to the correct temperature), Deborah (who I was sorry about having to leave when she did), Ali (who I really liked, but sadly he had a bad week and got sent home), Rob (he had precise technical skills, but didn't get further than week five), and finally Howard (who was creative, baked some outstanding things, and was very likeable and it was sad to see him go).

One of the joys of watching The Great British Bake Off each week is seeing Mel and Sue doing their intro. to each episode, and hearing their puns, and seeing them get on with the bakers and helping to keep them all as calm as possible. They are really great at making everyone feel more at ease, and they do make me laugh a lot.

In the Sweet Dough episode they have some really funny moments, that I have to share with you!

Mel and Sue's Best Bits in Episode 6 of GBBO

The announcement where Mel and Sue say they're not allowed to do any more puns about buns. They sound like The Queen. And that was very funny.

 

Sue says to Mary "They're like naughty cigarettes." (Howard's hemp).

 

 Mel says to Howard "You're a little schnecken, Howard.". To which Howard said "Thank you." and to Paul "Any compliment.". Aww... cute overload! (Which I liked very much.) I like cute moments like this.

 

 Sue hugging Glenn. The "over the bench loving" moment, for which everyone probably needs at some point in GBBO, and to which I bet some people definitely went "Aww..." at.

 

 Beca is spreading the prunes soaked in rum onto her dough. Sue comes over and says "Is there alcohol in that?" to which Beca nods her head, and Sue says "Goodbye!". This is funny, and just the type of thing Sue would do and has done on programmes before (such as The Supersizers). And because I like rum, I'd probably do the same, not gonna lie here. (Although maybe I'd say "Can I have a bit?", and then spoon some out and eat it.)

 

 Sue flung some of Frances' dough, and it caught her on the head a bit. It was funny, and Sue looks like she feels kind of bad about it here. But it was all a bit of fun.

 Mel says to Glenn "Is that gonna work?" Glenn says "Yeah." and Mel says "Prove it."! I LOVE this bit! My fave of the episode. It's just classically funny, you know what I mean?

I've loved this episode SO much! I loved what Beca did (her Bara Brith, rum-soaked prune buns and the lemon iced ones).

 

I loved what Frances did. Her Chai Tea Loaf, and Noughts and Crosses buns.

 

 

And Howard's Date and Hemp Yorkshire Loaf and his Peachy buns and German Baumschnecken were really interesting bakes that stood out to me. And the peach buns were particularly well presented.

 

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what the remaining bakers will make next, and who will make it through to the final (which is obviously a few weeks away).

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this post, which took me a few days to put together and write. As well as taking quite a few screenshots. I will hopefully do another post later on in the series. And I wish the GBBO peeps well.

 

Bye now everyone! xxx

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 





The Great British Bake Off, series 4! I'm watching, for sure!

The Great British Bake Off is on tomorrow evening! It's all about the Sweet Dough this week! Will the bakers prove to be the best they can be? Or will it all prove to be too much for them? *sniggers and smiles* How I came up with two kind of funny sentences in a row there I'll never know!

I'm getting all fluttery and flour-y, and kinda cakey. I had a muffin earlier. I'm proving to be quite the sweet food fanatic! (God, what am I writing here? This is supposed to be serious, I swear.)

For a pre-show taster, well, check out the BBC website. I'll link it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03bvvp3

But, if you're looking for stuff that's not baked or sweet, here are some things I've eaten recently...

The absolute tastiest toastie you can find on the high street. For just over £3 (so I'm told), it's a great filler, and keeps you warm.

 

Unless you have a frappe creme, which is cold, and not really for the autumn season. But I wanted to try it. It was a strawberry and vanilla one, and sounded lovely. So I just couldn't resist it, and didn't even think about the coldness not going with the cold weather outside. It was an impulsive buy. Sometimes I can be impulsive. I don't care.

 

Half a sandwich, toasted. Done by me. Yum-myyy. It's ham and cheese. So was the other one above, except that was bought in a cafe. This sandwich was bought in a supermarket. Still tasty though.

 

I really love my ham and cheese sandwiches, that's for sure. Any other flavour, or filling, doesn't even come close to the taste of ham and cheese sandwiches. I do like a good tuna and sweetcorn, or salmon and soft cheese. Salmon's very rich with soft cheese though. I only have it if I've been shopping and am really hungry. Otherwise I wouldn't.

 

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this little post. My pre-GBBO rambley thing. I had to do it. It was either do this, or do a massive post about all this AND The Great British Bake Off. And I couldn't see that working. Also, I really wanted to share my pics with you.

 

Bye now everyone! Hope you can join me for the next post (tomorrow, I hope). Bakey byes! :) XxX



It's Autumn, it's Bake Off season and time to wear glittery stuff!

It's September, and I would say that it's now autumn. The season that no-one really likes, unless you're a fan of rain and cloudy, dark days. It's not all bad though. Because of course there is the exciting prospect of winter (and more importantly Christmas!). You can't deny that Christmas is a good time of the year! It's the time everyone puts on a smile (ok, not everyone) and they spread the cheer and mince pies are given out everywhere you look (in the shops). It's all presents, lights, glittery clothes and make-up. Everything's brighter, even though the weather says otherwise.

Autumn is the build-up to better times for me. So, you've got to start enjoying yourself now! At least I think you do. Get out your glitter nail polishes, and your top coats of glittery nail effects things, and your glittery socks, funky shoes (but warm shoes), your stylish, glittery dresses, and wintery make-up, well, autumny make-up, but you know, just don't forget to sneak a few glittery eyeshadows in now, and the cooler shades of them too! It's basically time to get used to the cold weather, and wrap up warm.

The food you eat this time of year is important too, of course. When out and about, try and opt for warm drinks, like tea or coffee. And also, go for hot foods. Like paninis, toasties, pasta and soups. Whatever keeps you warm. Like this toastie...

 

Toasties are delicious and filling, and really do help to keep you warm. And make you feel happy inside.

The best drink to go with a toastie? Well, any coffee that you like really! (Except if you don't like coffee.) My choice this time is...

 

The bestest latte EVER! (It's an ordinary latte, with a hazelnut flavouring in it.)

 





Flavoured lattes are one of my favourite drinks to order when I'm out. But iced ones are nice too. As are cappuccinos and other drinks.

If anyone has any other suggestions as to what to drink or eat when you're out, then just comment below or tweet me @Supersizer1!

Also, The Great British Bake Off has been absolutely FAB this series! I will be sure to do a whole blog post dedicated to it in the near future. And HI to all the bakers who've tweeted me back recently! :) (I had to add a smiley there!) You guys are brill, and the guys from this series are doing really well on the show. Beca, Frances, Howard, Ruby, etc. I'm a big fan of the show, as peeps who read my tweets will know.

Bye for now everyone! Xxx

Fashion/make-up. It's all about what I'm wearing.

This is kind of old ground I'm covering here. I've done the odd one or two fashion and make-up posts in the past, and they've got the odd comment under them before. But this time I'm combining the two to make a massive jumbo post about the two seperate topics.

Fashion

It's what I'm wearing when I go out. It can be casual wear (for shopping or eating out) or it can be smarter and more glitzy (for going to the theatre or meeting a celeb).
I like casual clothes most of the time. Because I don't like to be in a suit or tight clothes very much. But then I also hate clothes that are too casual, and make you feel like a slob. Like, I'd never wear a tracksuit ever, to anywhere. Or wear trainers with it. Ok, yes, I do wear comfy trousers, etc. But never go totally casual. And I'd never wear an entirely pink, or green, or orange outfit. That's a bit much.
I love skirts and dresses. But only wear them if I feel like it. It's a mood thing, for me. I will only wear it if I'm feeling happy and it's good weather for it. Except, if I want to look good for an event (book signing, theatre, etc.). When meeting celebs (which I've done a few times) I like to make an effort. It's also something that you'd like to remember, and say to yourself, "Oh, I remember that day/night, I was wearing a lovely glittery dress!". Or whatever it happened to be.

When buying new clothes, you should always try to find things that are suited to you, and what you like to wear. Also, picking clothes that go with your body shape is important too. If you're petite, you should go for things that make you look taller. If you're broad on your shoulders, then it's probably best you balance that part of your body out with wearing something around the hips that is in line with the shoulders. Like a skirt that flares out, or is a puffed-up style. If you have an hour glass figure, then basically you should show that off, preferably with a nice dress, that has a belt put around your waist, and enhances your features.

Sites that I love to buy clothes from are... Boohoo and ASOS. I have bought more from ASOS, but both sites are good. They are so up-to-date on the latest fashion trends, and even have discounted products available, and on ASOS there's a store where you can sell and buy old clothes that you/someone else doesn't want anymore. I haven't used the store bit where you sell/buy things, but I can see that for some people this could be beneficial.

Make-up

I'm so much more into make-up than I am fashion. It's something you can experiment with, anywhere, anytime. It shows off your personality, and is something people will always notice about you, because people tend to look at your face more than any other part of your whole body.
I'm someone who will wear a full face sometimes, but more often than not I will wear just a few key bits of make-up, and that's enough for me. I like wearing mascara, I like wearing lipgloss, I like wearing lipstick, I like wearing blusher. I also like eye shadow, and eye liner. But basically I'll usually only wear lipgloss/lipstick and mascara. It's far less time consuming. And adds that little something to your overall look. It gives a splash of colour, when you wear lipstick. Especially if it's red, or a deep pink. Even plum lipsticks are good, but maybe better for the autumn/winter months. Although, wear them whenever you like (I do).

Recent purchases... I've bought several new nail polishes lately. They are by Collection, Barry M. and Rimmel London. I've bought a lip balm/tint. I think it's by MUA. I'm not 100% though. I've bought a red lipstick. It's by Rimmel London. And I've bought a super liner, and eye shadow trench, to do a smoky eye look. They are by Loreal Paris.

I love my smoky eye look. I have it on right now. It's so pretty and the colours really complement each other. They are a mix of grey, bronze, light pink and light yellow.

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed reading about what fashion and make-up things are interesting to me. And the little tips about fashion and your figure types.

Leave a comment below or tweet me if you'd like to.

Bye for now!
Ss1. xxx

Things that have got me interested lately. (Update post.)

There is only so much NOT blogging I can do... until I just can't put it off any longer. And so, here I am. Back in the oldie blogging world. Trying to write a good piece about something interesting. Well, I have a few things to talk about here.

1. Giles Coren did an event yesterday, at Proms at St. Jude's, somewhere in North London, I think (well, am pretty sure). I wanted to go, but it was at a bad time of day, like really bad, for me. And I live in South London, which is like over an hour away from North London. So, it would have been a stretch for me to travel to North London, and get there for around midday. I'm a late night owl, as you may know, and this means I can't get up and get ANYWHERE for midday. Except, for exams, in the past. Like ones I took years ago.

2. I have a cat friend called Billie. She's cute, she's a tabby, she's very friendly (most of the time), and she loves me. She can't get enough of my house. She visits most days, and eats and drinks milk, cat food, fish, meat. She even ate a hula hoop once. Bizarre.

3. I have a Twitter best friend, well, I think she is. @perkins_love is her name, and she's crazy about Sue Perkins, and calls herself a Perkster (as do I). We're tweeting each other most days. And love nothing more than to talk about Sue, or about each others' interests. It's great to have someone who's willing to talk about pretty much anything with you. I hope we can keep the Perkster name going for as long as poss.

4. Ant Payne is the Capital presenter I have to listen to and tweet to. He's seriously good at presenting, which I know I've mentioned in the past. He has a great voice for the radio, and plays awesome tunes! 'Nuff said.

I am about done here. Don't want to stretch this blog post out too far. But I would like to do other posts in the near future. Let me know what you want me to write about more. I'd love to know what you want to read.

Bye for now.

Ss1. xxx