This time I myself went to make a more secure repair to the fencing. Also due to damage caused in several gardens, local police were contacted to find out who was in charge of said cows, and it turns out that whoever that is, is responsible for the cows causing ‘criminal damage to property’. so now we are awaiting the arrival of local police on the scene to get statements and view the damage before they contact the farmer.

People often think of country life as quiet and peaceful – but not this morning. A back garden full of bulls isn’t the best alarm clock!

Matt Smith

Well… After watching last nights first episode of the new Dr Who series I have realised why I find it so hard to watch. Matt Smith just doesn’t ‘feel’ right as ‘The Doctor’ – plus the scripts seem much more ‘watered down’ since Matt took over which I don’t think helps, but I seriously believe if David Tennant was still in the role he could still make a silk purse out of the pigs ear scripts!

Alex Kingston

From what I have seen ‘River Song’ has more of the feel of a Doctor than Matt does, she is funnier, more polished and in my personal opinion a much better actor. She reminds me as well of the sadly departed Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah-Jane Smith) in her confidence and delivery. Why doesn’t Steven Moffat give Matt lines like he gives River? But in saying that – with Matt’s weak delivery and sometimes weary acting I still don’t think it would work.

If there isn’t a way to bring back David Tennant then maybe Alex Kingston (River Song) should take on the Doctor’s role as she has a much stronger screen presence and her energy almost jumps out of the screen at times…

Arthur Darvill

The BBC Doctor Who Website has trailers for the next episode which, according to Arthur Darvill (Rory) it will scare you… but if the episodes in Season 5 are anything to go by – they may scare a 10 year old but I fear it will be nothing on the scale of Seasons 2 & 3 which had me gripped.  But thanks to great acting by Alex Kingston I am prepared to give it a chance, Steven Moffat might pull a rabbit out of the hat with this season so I guess I should see how things play out. I am just sorry they had such a weak opening to Season 6.

ANGELA

On the 1st January 2011, the VERY first day of the year, my aunty Angela Dunthorne was taken in to hospital in Burnley. She had not been feeling too well, with problems sleeping and a painful stomach causing her not to be able to eat barely anything. After being in hospital just over a week, the hospital discovered that Angela was suffering from Ovarian Cancer.

The main problem with Ovarian Cancer is that by the time you know you’ve got it, it’s pretty much too late to do anything about it. I have been told this is the reason it has been nick-named ‘The Silent Killer’.

Angela was told she would have about 1 month to live, but she took in really well considering, and rather than just lay there and feel sorry for herself, she began making plans for her funeral and writing a will. It was a very traumatic time for the whole family as it all happened so fast and there was nothing anyone could do except to be there for her.

I find it very hard to accept that she is gone, as she was such an active person, holding down a full time job at our local B&Q in the garden centre. She would help anyone and was an excellent source of information on all things garden related. Her own garden was a pleasure to behold and she was very proud of all the hard work and effort she had put in to keeping it perfect.

But in February, Angela’s condition deteriorated and she passed away peacefully. Then of course came the funeral – Angela had opted for a full Catholic Requiem Mass, which I found to be a fitting end to her full and active life. It felt like it gave proper ‘closure’ on the life of such a wonderful person. It was a very upsetting day for all involved but as a family we seemed to pull through it relatively well.

After the funeral we all met at a hotel for the wake, including many members of staff from B&Q. It was here that I was to read the Eulogy for Angela. A 2 page document made up of comments and memories from the family. I was honoured to be the one allowed to read it. I got through it somehow, and in the days afterwards, I felt it had helped me to accept and move on from the 5 family deaths in the last 10 months. Again it was like ‘Closure’ of the whole upset and depression that comes with the passing of loved ones.

It still took me several weeks to really get my head back together and settle into a daily routine again after spending most of the last year visiting hospitals and nursing homes. My personal life was very much put on hold for the duration.

But now as we reach the end of April, with a week of fabulous weather, I’ve spent most it working on my garden, which Angela practically designed from scracth for me.
I went to B&Q to get plants to replace the ones that didn’t survive the harsh winter, and got all the weeding done, mowed the lawns and started work on leveling the back garden as it is a nightmare to mow with lumps and bumps everywhere. In my own little way my garden is my tribute/memorial to Angela without whose help my garden would not be anywhere near as nice as it is.

So in a small way Angela lives on through the fresh shoots and flowers that are starting to appear in my garden, and everytime I look at it my mind thinks of what she would say….

ELISABETH SLADEN

It was also sad to see the death of Actress Elisabeth Sladen this week, as Sarah-Jane Smith, one of my favourite Dr Who assistants and also brilliant in both the ill-fated ‘K9‘ series and her very own excellent ‘Sarah Jane Adventures‘  She lost her battle with Cancer at the age of 63.

May both Angela and Elisabeth Rest in Peace and may their memory live on forever…..

For the first time ever I am going to comment live on the Semi-Final of this years X-Factor.

I will be publishing my thoughts both here and on Twitter as it happens…. I want to see Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson in the final.

Simon Cowell seems a little too confident that One Direction will get through – to be honest I would like to see Rebecca Ferguson and Matt Cardle in the final.

Rebecca Ferguson starts the show with a great cover of my favourite 90′s dance tune – the Robin S song, Show Me Love. Extremely high standard to kick off the show I just hope it’s enough to get her into the final…

Mary Byrne – singing ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’ – Not her best perfomance but I think she can wave goodbye to Tesco even if she doesn’t win!

Matt Cardle – After being ill all week I’m worried for him. Started well singing ‘You Got The Love’  – if he can sound this good while ill he deserves to win! Well done Matt!

Simon and Louis have started bickering already about who can do what with a cold! Come on guys there are more important things at stake!

Cher Lloyd – sounds very nervous with a few dodgy notes but a good performance over all - Her song was a great choice though. Don’t think she has done enough to get to final.

One Direction – Not my favourite but they are consistant and I think they have a great future ahead. Not impressed with their version of ‘Only Girl In The World’ – but I have a feeling the teenage fanbase will love their performance.

After everyone has sung one of their two songs – I think Rebecca Ferguson stood out the most.

THE SECOND SONGS

Matt Cardle – ‘Always A Woman To Me’ – excellent song choice, Matt gives every song he sings a unique flavour, and this is no exception. If he doesn’t make the final – there is something wrong with the world. I totally disagree with Simon’s comments.

Mary Byrne – ‘Memories’ – great song – shaky start but Mary soon got back on form – another great perfomance. Even though she got a bit emotional at the end – as the song was a favourite of her mother.

Cher Lloyd – A great teenage role model and for anyone with a dream – it can be done! – Cher’s second song left her stripped bare on an empty stage and showed her raw talent. Great song choice ‘Love The Way You Lie’

Rebecca Ferguson – WOW! What a perfect song for her unique voice – as Cheryl would say ‘she smashed it!’ I have to agree with Simon on this occasion ‘A Class Act’! Go Rebecca!!!

One Direction – Great song choice, I actually really like this song and they did an excellent version – well done boys! They finally showed me they can sing like proper pop sout mtars!

One the second song I have to reluctantly say that One Direction stood ost!

Well that’s it – all five acts have done what they can to make it to the final – now it’s down to the British public to decide their fates.

It’s going to be a nail-biting night tomorrow – should be a great night….

CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS BEFORE LEAVING THE CHECK-OUT

I bought a bunch of stuff, over £150, & I glanced at my receipt as the cashier was handing me the bags. I saw a cash-back of £40. I told her I didn’t request a cash back & to delete it. She said I’d have to take the £40 because she couldn’t delete it. I told Her to call a supervisor. Supervisor came & said I’d have to take it.. I said NO! Taking the £40 would be a cash advance against my Credit card & I wasn’t paying interest on a cash advance!!!!! If they couldn’t delete it then they would have to delete the whole order. So the supervisor had the cashier delete the whole order & re-scan everything! The second time I looked at the electronic pad before I signed & a cash-back of £20 popped up. At that point I told the cashier & she deleted it. The total came out right. The cashier agreed that the Electronic Pad must be defective.

Obviously the cashier knew the electronic pad was defective because she NEVER offered me the £40 at the beginning. Can you imagine how many people went through before me & at the end of her shift how much money she pocketed?

Just to alert everyone. My co worker went to Milford , Sainsburys last week. She had her items rung up by the cashier. The cashier hurried her along and didn’t give her a receipt. She asked the cashier for a receipt and the cashier was annoyed and gave it to her. My co worker didn’t look at her receipt until later that night. The receipt showed that she asked for £20 cash back. SHE DID NOT ASK FOR CASH BACK!

My co-worker called Sainsburys who investigated but could not see the cashier pocket the money. She then called her niece who works for the bank and her niece told her this. This is a new scam going on. The cashier will key in that you asked for cash back and then hand it to her friend who is the next person in the queue.

Please, please, please check your receipts right away when using credit or debit cards!
This is NOT limited to Sainsburys; they are one of the largest retailers so they have the most incidents.
I am adding to this. My husband and I were in Sainsburys and paying with credit card when my husband went to sign the credit card signer he just happen to notice there was a £20 cash back added. He told the cashier that he did not ask nor want cash back and she said this machine has been messing up and she canceled it. We really didn’t think anything of it until we read this email.

I wonder how many “seniors” have been, or will be, “stung” by this one????

To make matters worse …THIS SCAM CAN BE DONE ANYWHERE, AT ANY RETAIL OR WHOLESALE LOCATION!!!

BEFORE LEAVING THE CHECK-OUT……..CHECK YOUR RECEIPT!!!!!

THIS COULD HAPPEN ANYWHERE.

CHECK YOUR RECEIPT BEFORE LEAVING THE TILL.

I’VE SEEN PEOPLE DO JUST THAT. NOW I’LL START!

It was sad to see Aiden leave, but hopefully we will see more of him in the future – Seeing Katie and Paige leave wasn’t such a big thing, but I do feel sorry for all the attacks in the press that Katie recieved – I think if the press had been a little more positive she may have managed another week… All I can say about Wagner is ‘Thank goodness for that! He’s finally gone – I felt he was making a mockery of the show.

I think Cher is turning into a proper little teen sensation, I love her attitude and spirit, if she can hang onto that I think she’ll go a long way.

Everytime I see Rebecca Ferguson and Matt Cardle, it’s like watching fully fledged artists as their performances are exceptional.

Mary Byrne has a great voice and personality but I don’t think she will have a wide enough appeal to win the show. But I am sure she’ll have a good career on the back of her X-Factor performances.

Only a couple more weeks to go until we discover this years X-Factor winner. I am guessing they will have to release some soppy ballad AGAIN!

Why – just for once – can’t X-Factor release a dancy tune with the winning artist??

Also why is it ITV1 repeats The X Factor several times through the week, but only shows a great show like Paul’s once? If I didn’t have a Freeview PVR I wouldn’t get to see it and as the internet where I live is so slow and there is no cable TV I couldn’t even watch it on ITVPlayer.

Maybe for the next series ITV could use their heads a bit and give it a repeat (maybe on a Sunday on ITV2?)

I like the format of the show – it’s basically the Paul O’Grady Show late (an idea I mentioned in a blog over 2 years ago). I don’t think we have enough shows like it anymore – I miss the days of fun and games on TV – things like The Generation Game, Bulls Eye, and Blankety Blank, and also variety type shows from people such as Little and Large, Cannon & Ball, and one of my all time favourites Morecambe & Wise. Why do we not have any of this fun family entertainment anymore? Even some re-runs of the old stuff on a non-pay channel on freview would do.

The only chance you seem to get to see some of the classic stuff is on channels like Watch and G.O.L.D. – channels that you can only view with a SKY, TalkTalk, BT Vision or Virgin Media contract. Some people – just like myself – may live in a rented property that won’t allow a satellite dish to be installed and with having such a slow internet speed it is impossible to use BT Vision or Talk Talk, and as with most rural areas there is no cable access here either. So people like myself have to make do with whatever is available on Freeview.

It’s about time BBC and ITV got together a channel that customers like myself (and there are quite of lot of them I have discovered) could enjoy, with some great classic archive programming that can be watched for free. I personally think they are missing out on a opportunity to gain an audience to help generate more revenue through the advertising on programmes they already have sitting in archives.

I must compliment ITV3 for making an attempt on this but I would love a channel with many more classic British sitcoms and dramas

For Example :

• The Good Life
• To The Manor Born
• Are You Being Served?
• Grace & Favour
• The Gentle Touch
• Widows
• French & Saunders
• Juliet Bravo

And maybe even bring back some of the kids programmes too…

• Pipkins
• Tiswas
• Rainbow
• The Herbs
• Mary Mungo & Midge
• Chortlon & the Wheelies
• Dangermouse
• Count Duckula
• Magic Roundabout
• Paddington
• The Wombles

I am sure there would be a market for them, the older generation could be reminded of a simpler time without computers and the younger generation could be introduced to classic British TV.

So if anyone from ITV/BBC happens to read this – let me know what you think

I have formed a theory about Wagner… After last years Facebook-led campaign to prevent X-Factor claiming the Christmas Number 1 single, I think the same people who are arranging this year’s Anti-X-Factor single (Surfin’ Bird) are also having a telephone campaign to keep Wagner in the competition to make a mockery of the show.

In my opinion that can be the only explaination. We have already lost some potentially very good acts, and kept in the scruffy Brazilian with the bad karaoke voice and a poor grasp of the English language. I feel more sorry than ever for any act that is forced to leave the show whilst he returns week after week, slaughtering song after song.

I would love to see Simon’s reaction if One Direction were to go leaving Wagner still going strong – I think there would be a public outcry!

This week we lost the very lovely – and one of my original favourites – TreyC Cohen. I wish her all the best in the future because she  deserves every success. I don’t think  Katie Waisell will be around much longer, but if she can pull her finger out a bit who knows.

I’m glad to see that 2 out of my 3 chosen acts for this week held in there.

In my personal opinion I think that this year’s X-Factor has the highest standard to date!

In a shocking turnaround from previous weeks my top three has changed almost completely – although it was a very close call due to the high standards – I have managed – after due consideration, and then some… to come up with the following – in no particular order….

Matt Cardle
Rebecca Ferguson
TreyC Cohen

Can I keep up my record of not losing any acts?
Will we finally be rid of the enigma that is Wagner?

May initial favourite Aiden Grimshaw managed to smile during his performance this week – but will that help keep him in the competition.

I think this was Mary Byrne‘s weakest performance of the series, but I may be slightly biased as she did sing one of my all time favourite songs – There You’ll Be by Faith Hill.

One Direction are starting to become annoying to me lately – they remind me of PWL artists for some reason, I keep expecting Pete Waterman to appear on the sidelines – I think the teenage boyband thing has had it’s time now – I believe people want something with more substance – just like that shown by my top 3 for this week.

Again I hope to see Wagner finally leave this week, but discounting him – I think the weakest overall performance this week was unfortunately one of my previous favourites, I am sad to say it’s Mary Byrne.

Bring on tomorrow with the one and only Kylie Minogue and former X-Factor winner Shayne Ward, I’m looking forward to a great show…

That’s all for tonight – good luck to all the contestants