Jesse Tree

Since Angel was little we have set up a Jesse Tree for Advent - not quite every year, but most. For several years we used a large branched twig sprayed silver, until it got too old and tatty. Since then we have made do with a small artificial Christmas tree, but I have wanted to find something different, something that would show up the ornaments more clearly. Finally, this year, I found this silver spiral tree in John Lewis, which I thought would work nicely. I bought it, and patted myself on the back for being ahead of the game. 

Then a couple of weeks after buying the spiral, I spotted this in the Lakeland catalogue, which would have been truly perfect! Don't you think it has "Jesse Tree" written all over it?

Ah well! Maybe next year.

Simple Woman's Daybook: 9th Novemb

Outside My Window ... grey, foggy November.

I am thinking ... of how to kill time while Tevye is at a medical appointment this afternoon. The river and park is not looking good in this weather.

From the learning rooms ... chemistry project for Angel on oil refining and petrochemicals. Not her favourite subject.

I am thankful ... Tevye took Cherub to playgroup this morning so I could whizz round the supermarket after the school run.

From the kitchen ... plans for German food for our pot luck international dinner with our neighbours on Friday. I've never cooked German food before. Should be interesting.

I am wearing ... jeans, blue striped long sleeved top, blue hand knitted socks.

I am creating ... Christmas presents. Concentrating on a shawl and socks at the moment.

I am going ... to try to teach my brother to play the trombone. This will be something of a challenge as I had never tried a trombone myself until yesterday.

I am reading ... nothing. I have hit a book hiatus. 

I am hoping ... I can transcribe lots of census records during a two week free trial with Ancestry.

I am hearing ... Cherub singing "Five little men in a baker's shop ... eating her curds and whey".  Interesting conflation of nursery rhymes

Around the house ...laundry. Again. Sometimes I think my life is dominated by laundry.

One of my favorite things ...  fresh, crusty bread

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... ophthalmologist for Tevye today (I have to drive him because of the drops they put in his eyes); dental appointments; potluck international dinner with neighbours on Friday (our turn to host); family meal at Dragon City (Chinese buffet) on Sunday.

A Picture Thought I Am Sharing ...

Find instructions and links to other daybooks at The Simple Woman

Remembrance Day

These hearts were woven of human joys and cares,
Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth.
The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,
And sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement, and heard music; known
Slumber and waking; loved; gone proudly friended;
Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;
Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended.

Rupert Brooke

All the more poignant this year with so many young men dying in Afghanistan.

Bonfire Night

• Wrapping up in winter coats and warm woollies to go out on a damp November night
• Spending time with old friends
  
• Eating hot dogs and sausages
• A blazing bonfire
  
• Ear muffs to soften the bangs for a nervous three year old
• A three year old realising she likes fireworks ("Look! Fairy dust!")
• Coming home to a warm house
• Eating a large bag of hot chips (fries) in our pyjamas
  

Application Forms

In the past couple of weeks I have filled in two application forms ... one to apply for a school place for Cherub, and one to apply for tutoring work with the Open University.

So, school for Cherub. We originally intended to home educate her, at least for a while, but having the older girls in school probably made it inevitable we would end up considering school for her too. And once we did start to seriously consider it, the choice was an easy one. Although I enjoyed home educating Angel and Star, homeschooling is hard work. After eight years my energy and enthusiasm were drained, and I'm not sure I could motivate myself to start over with the high level of interaction I think Cherub would need if she stayed home on her own. Balanced against that we have a very good school option, right on our doorstep.

Back in the summer, Cherub and I went to look round the school. We both loved it. The headmistress is exceptional, and over the eight years she has been there has transformed it from the run-of-the-mill, rather stodgy place it was when Angel was Cherub's age. The most recent OFSTED (government inspection) report judged it outstanding, not just overall, but in every single aspect they assessed. I could see why.

In the UK children usually start school at four, and depending on their birth date some are at school full time soon after their fourth birthday. With her summer birthday Cherub could be one of them, and being stuck in a formal classroom all day at four and a bit is not what I would want for her. The early years unit at this school is a whole different ballgame. Children are introduced to school slowly, with two terms of part time school before they start full time in the term they turn five. The way the unit works is very similar to the way I would home educate at that age, with short lessons (in small groups) slotted into lots of free play and informal learning. I'm sure Cherub will love it.

More about the other application later.

Simple Woman's Daybook: 2nd November

Outside My Window ... a beautiful, bright autumn morning.

I am thinking ... about a local history research project that is poking its way into my mind.

From the learning rooms ... playgroup for Cherub today, but the older girls have a teacher training day and are not back at school until tomorrow.

I am thankful ... for online grocery shopping with free delivery when I have been too disorganised to go to the supermarket. I'm not sure why Waitrose are currently giving me free delivery, but I'm taking advantage of it while it lasts.

From the kitchen ... cottage pie for dinner.

I am wearing ... khaki cord trousers, cream sweater and stripey handknitted socks.

I am creating ... a cardigan-coat for myself, a shawl for Mum for Christmas, and a dress for Cherub. Then I have more presents to knit for Christmas - a sweater for my brother, socks for Angel, and a penguin for Star's collection. Star also wants me to make her a knitted nail varnish bottle. Huh? 

I am going ... to enjoy getting back into our normal routine this week. School holidays are fun, but the lack of routine means grocery shopping, menu planning, laundry and housework all goes to pot.

I am reading ... still Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. 

I am hoping ... nothing else will break this week. Last week it was the phone and my camera. The week before it was Tevye's electric shaver. The gremlins have been out in force here.

I am hearing ... Angel at the computer working on homework, otherwise everything is quiet.

Around the house ... last week's autumn flowers still going strong.

One of my favorite things ... libraries. I love libraries.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... a firework display on Bonfire Night (Thursday); playing at Remembrance Day services with the brass band on Sunday.

A Picture Thought I Am Sharing ... I'm hoping that Father Christmas may manage to bring me something like this. I miss my camera.

Find instructions and links to other daybooks at The Simple Woman

Fallen Off The Meme Wagon

I mention that my posting seems to be mostly Mr Linky memes and what happens? I promptly fall off the meme wagon.

I'm afraid Corner View is on hold for a while so far as I am concerned, due to circumstances beyond my control ... namely, a dead camera. It makes hopeful clicky-whirry noises when I turn it on, but the effort to push out the lens and open the lens cover is too much for it. It is old, its battery performance has been deteriorating fast, and it certainly isn't worth fixing. So no camera, no corner view. At least I know what I want Father Christmas to bring. (Are you listening, Father C?)

And when I started to write 7 Quick Takes on Friday, my brain froze. I am apparently no longer capable of seven coherent thoughts in one week. So, for the time being at least, I'm going back to random blog posts. I've been short of ideas lately, and maybe that will make me push my way past writer's block.

Cherubic

Cherub has been battling valiantly with the English language this week. Here are some Cherubic-English translations ...

Hairphones = headphones

Tin oil = cling film (plastic wrap). Some confusion with foil there, I think.

Chocolate liver = chopped liver (Jewish version of liver pate)

Clock father = grandfather clock

Mattress = match (as in "you need a mattress to light the candle")

Crack! = Snap!

Simple Woman's Daybook: 26th October

Outside My Window ... night time, dark by six now the clocks have changed.

I am thinking ... of a job application for part-time tutoring I sent off today. It would be flexible and mostly working from home.

From the learning rooms ... half term.

I am thankful ... for a replacement dishwasher. The new one we got in June developed a recurring fault. I had forgotten how much more effort it takes to wash everything by hand.

From the kitchen ... pizza for a houseful of girls - both Angel and Star have friends sleeping over.

I am wearing ... dark blue jeans, striped top and hand knitted socks.

I am creating ... several things at once. I realised Christmas is only two months away if I wanted to make some knitted gifts I needed to get started.

I am going ... to take Star and her friend on a shopping expedition tomorrow. Angel is Cherub-sitting as Cherub + Shops = Chaos + Frazzled Mother

I am reading ... Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. 

I am hoping ... that if this job application comes to anything, it will be the right amount of work and not too much.

I am hearing ... Tevye watching TV. The girls are temporarily quiet.

Around the house ... autumn flowers. Yellow, orange and rust-coloured chrysanthemums.

One of my favorite things ... fresh bagels from a Jewish deli. A rare treat as Bedfordshire doesn't have Jewish delis.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... a trip to buy Angel new pointe shoes, band rehearsals (Christmas music already!). Not much else on the calendar. 

A Picture Thought I Am Sharing ... kung fu Cherub

Find instructions and links to other daybooks at The Simple Woman

7 Quick Takes

1. Almost all my blogging lately seems to be part of one these Mr Linky memes: Simple Woman's Daybook, Corner View and these Quick Takes. Partly because they provide me with a kind of bloggy discipline of the "it's Monday, so I need to write my daybook" variety; partly because I'm short of ideas, and find it difficult to come up with more than seven thoughts in a week! I want to get back to posting more book reviews. Other than that, are there any types of post or topics that you, dear readers, would like to see more of?

2. Over the past eighteen months or so I have almost totally fallen off my ethical shopping and eating LOAF plan (local, organic, animal friendly and fairtrade). And to think that two years ago I was doing so well. Two books I read while we were away have spurred me to try to get back on the wagon - Confessions of an Eco-Shopper by Kate Lock, and Spotted Pigs and Green Tomatoes: a Year in the Life of Our Farm by Rosie Boycott. Both were random library finds, but turned out to have connected content. This week I ordered an organic vegetable box for the first time in a year. Small steps.

3. LOAFER or not, there is one eco-thing I despise with a passion. Energy-saving light bulbs. Hate 'em. I like bright light, and the wretched eco-bulbs we have are slow to warm up and don't match the light output of the old (now banned) 100w bulbs. I'm considering trying out a couple of these Ecozone Biobulbs in the lights that bug me most, but the thought of spending £10 on a single light bulb is not a happy one.

4. As the mother of three gymnastics-loving girls it was wonderful to see two British gymnasts win medals at the World Championships in London. Beth Tweddle's tumbling in her gold medal floor routine was superb. Watch it here.

5. We used to laugh at Angel and Star using instant messenger to communicate with A- and J-Next-Door on instant messenger. Now Tevye and I find ourselves chatting to A- and K-Next-Door on Facebook. Oops.

6. Cherubism of the week: one morning she was a little constipated and I explained that she hadn't been drinking enough or eating enough fruit. How many drinks and how many fruits did she need, she wanted to know. Five, I said, randomly, and thought no more about it. That evening on the way to her bath and before bed toilet trip she turned back, wanting a drink. As I gave it to her she wanted to know if she had had her five drinks for the day. Almost, I thought. She carefully counted five sips of water, then announced triumphantly "I will poo easily now!"

7. Definitive proof of my horticultural inadequacy: I caught myself looking at a bunch of artificial flowers and wondering why they were not dead yet.

You can find more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary

Corner View: My Dream

My dream? To live in the far west of Cornwall.

With beautiful beaches ...

A private library ...

Grey stone houses ...

And pirates ...
ETA: This was maybe a little cryptic - the area is famous for some light operatic pirates. No real ones! The pirate boat below is a gift shop, I think.

For more corner views visit Dana in Italy, who is playing host while Jane of Spain Daily is away.

Next week's theme: water.

Simple Woman's Daybook: 19th October

Outside My Window ... dark. The longer nights are my least favourite thing about autumn. There are high winds and rain forecast for the rest of the week.

I am thinking ... of a list of things I want to accomplish today: a walk; a trip into town to post a parcel (hopefully it will beat the postal strike scheduled for the end of the week); a good long session reading to Cherub (we have got out of the habit lately); baking with Cherub; clearing out the boxes in the hall that hold Cherub's shoes and a jumble of scarves, gloves, rainwear, umbrellas and miscellaneous clutter.

From the learning rooms ... a couple of belated subject reports for Star from last year (both teachers were absent for a time), including a very complimentary one from her art teacher. Catch up GCSE work for Angel after our week away.

I am thankful ... for my car. After fourteen years of only having a car for a couple of days a week it is such a luxury to be able to hop into the car and go whenever I want.

From the kitchen ... chicken pie and root vegetable mash for dinner, and I'm planning to make these banana and chocolate buns with Cherub this afternoon.

I am wearing ... silly pink pyjamas.

I am creating ... a little turquoise dress for Cherub, for which I have a sneaky feeling I am not going to have enough yarn. Ack!

I am going ... to try to get into the habit of going for a walk every day.

I am reading ... nothing. I just finished Confessions of an Eco-Shopper by Kate Lock (holiday reading), and haven't started anything else yet.

I am hoping ... that by planning a list of three to five specific things I want to achieve each day I will accomplish more.

I am hearing ... silence. Tevye has left for work and the girls are all still sleeping. One advantage of darker mornings is that Cherub sleeps longer.

Around the house ... the inevitable post-holiday laundry backlog.

One of my favorite things ... Costa Coffee's gingerbread latte.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... a routine week, a shopping trip with Angel on Saturday, and a trip down to Essex to visit Tevye's parents' graves on Sunday (we try to go once a year).

A Picture Thought I Am Sharing ... I have been taking part in my first knitting swap, with a "Something Blue" theme - everyone taking part had to knit something in blue for the person below them on the swap list, and make up a parcel with some extra treats (maximum spend including yarn to be £10). This is what was in the lovely package I received from my swap partner. The little beaded things in the corner are stitch markers, and the scarf has silver thread running through it that doesn't show up in the picture.

Find instructions and links to other daybooks at The Simple Woman

Corner View: Typical Souvenir

This week's subject is "a typical souvenir of your city", which is a tricky one. Our medium sized market town doesn't do souvenirs, unless you count the handful of postcards available at the library. It isn't famous for anything in particular, and doesn't have any major tourist attractions ... but after a little thought I found two souvenirs for you.

(1) The Borrowers by Mary Norton, written in and based on a house in the town (now a middle school)

(2) Some traditional canal art ... the Grand Union Canal runs through the town, and there is an annual canal festival in August.

Visit Spain Daily for more corner views. Next week's topic: love.

Simple Woman's Daybook: 5th October

Outside My Window ... grey and damp. Looks more like November than October.

I am thinking ... about stuff I need to organise before we leave on Saturday for the free holiday Angel and Star won at Easter.

From the learning rooms ... forgetfulness. Forgotten lunches, forgotten PE kit forgotten dancewear, forgotten sicknotes, forgotten homework. There isn't much they haven't managed to forget this term.

I am thankful ... for central heating. I'm old enough to remember just how cold houses were without it!

From the kitchen ... shipwreck stew. And disasters. Burned honey cake and burned soup last week. It takes talent to burn soup.

I am wearing ... dark grey cord trousers, light grey jumper, warm hiking socks, crocs.

I am creating ... a sweater for myself, knitted top down and in one piece, so no seams to sew. I'm also procrastinating over sewing up a cardigan for Cherub and a sweater for my brother. This is why I need to master knitting without seams.

I am going ... yarn shopping for lots of this. It is warm and soft and cheap, and I want to knit a long cardigan for me, shawls for myself and my Mum, and another sweater for my brother.

I am reading ... Ripping Things To Do: the Best Games and Ideas from Children's Books by Jane Brocket.

I am hoping ... my sore throat goes away and my voice comes back.

I am hearing ... the TV. I'm taking advantage of Cherub's morning at playgroup and sitting with my feet up watching the remake of The Parent Trap that one of the girls recorded at the weekend. Also blogging and knitting (not simultaneously!)

Around the house ... tidiness! Angel and Star blitzed their bedrooms at the weekend. If they keep them tidy, they can redecorate. Will that be enough incentive?

One of my favorite things ... giggles and laughter as the older girls play with Cherub.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... a routine week, until we leave on Saturday.

A Picture Thought I Am Sharing ...  Weymouth harbour

Find instructions and links to other daybooks at The Simple Woman