Homebase Garden Umbrella

Got up early today (really early) Flyingpops isn't very well at the moment and she couldn't sleep, so we were in Crawley by 8am (zzz) picking up her new DVD writer from the City Link couriers office (they tried and failed to deliver it to an empty house yesterday), we nipped into McDonalds for a naughty breakfast, then decided on a whim to check out Homebase for special "Bank Holiday" offers and came away with this -

- which really was a good deal (£68 quid down to £44), so we're enjoying the intermittent sun, I've been doing a bit of gentle gardening (just tidying up really) -

- ready (assuming the sun keeps shining) for me to dust off the BBQ, which seems to have survived the winter quite well, later on this afternoon...I've got a load of ribs and some piri piri marinade... ;)


Oh and Unazukin liked her new home btw (here we are enjoying a last beer together yesterday)...and is looking forward to her adventures with Kipperfrog... ;)

Unazukin update

Got an Unazukin (more about them here)!!!! It's not for me though, it's for Kipperfrog's birthday...it's slightly bigger than I thought it would be (I had weebles in mind) but still *very* cute, checking on the back of the box reveals the complex instructions - it has four possible responses -

- so when you tell it a story or ask it a question, after it has done it's voice analysis it will reply either "Yes!", "Definitely Yes!", "No!" or "Definitely No!" (by either nodding or shaking it's head a number of times, click the picture for a closeup)...so a little more complex than my initial "flip a coin" guess...but I'm still worried about the "Unazukin, shall we go with this strange man to see his puppies?" aspect...I guess a million Japanese kids can't be entirely wrong though... ;)

I bought something else too, but it's a suprise so I'll have to post it later...it's funny though, great bit of "Engrish" translation on the back of the box... ;)

Anyway, happy birthday Kipperfrog (well, it was actually yesterday), but see you later on for the official celebration and giving of gifts! Until then, it's all mine... ;)

Unazukin - coming to the UK

According to Marketing Week, Bandai are bringing the hugely successful Unazukin range to the UK from Japan (I love quirky Jap stuff!), crammed with electronics it listens to things said to it and reacts with a nod or a shake of the head, a bit like a hugely expensive coin-flipper (genius!)...they have sold 1 million units in Japan since launch, so expect to see hundreds of young girls apparently talking to themselves and telling you that a "Fairy" that lives in their pocket told them it would be okay to pull up all the flowers in your front garden... ;)