7 Quick Takes: 8th october

1. Decisions, decisions. We have to apply for an upper school place for Star by the end of October, and having looked at both the local upper schools are now in a state of ditherment. When Angel was at this stage there was no realistic choice other than the nearest school (I'll call it School A) - we only had one car, and there was no transport available to School B. School A at that time also had much the best reputation, although School B was rumoured to be on the up. As of this year, School B now organises subsidised transport from this side of town. When we visited last night we were both very impressed (as was Angel, who much preferred it to her school). The downside, from Star's perspective, is that most (or all?) of her friends will go to School A. While School A has had some issues over the last year, it is still on paper the logical option - better exam results, good reputation, over-subscribed, and more convenient. We are going to visit School B again on Friday morning to see it in action, and see if Star is sufficiently excited by the idea of going there to take the tough choice for a twelve year old of leaving most of her friends behind.

2. Next, a minor decision. I am getting some cream wool for my birthday, which I want to use to make a traditional Aran style cardigan. I can't decide whether to make this one, which has a leaf pattern in the centre of the diamonds:

Or this one:

If I do the first, I will make it tighter (not figure hugging, but I don't want baggy); if the second, it will be longer (similar length to the first). What do you think?

3. Two more hospital appointments lined up for my Mum over the next couple of weeks - one with the surgeon on Thursday, and routine pre-op tests the following Tuesday. What a marathon this is turning out to be. New knee here we come. I hope.

4. The weather is weird. September was wet; now it is unseasonably warm and switching randomly between wet and sunny. This morning at 8am it was 16deg C (low 60s F), foggy and damp - ridiculously humid for October.

5. Maybe it was exhausted by all the rain, but one of the windscreen wipers on the car broke last week - a plastic bit pinged off, leaving the wiper flapping. So far my running repair with sellotape is holding.

6. Favourite quote of the week: "History is not just something that happened back then, in the past ... history in the end is now, and us." - Michael Wood, in his Story of England. I am still loving this series, and the way it brings alive the ordinary people of the past. The past two episodes have been looking at the middle ages - the Norman Conquest through to the thirteenth century, then this week the awful famines and plagues of the fourteenth century. One of the experts who contributed was my former doctoral supervisor - strange to hear such a familiar voice coming out of the TV! [Apologies to American readers: I'm afraid BBC iPlayer is only available in the UK.]

7. A conversation with Cherub about Hannukah led to this exchange:

Me: What is Daddy?

Cherub: Jewish
Me: What are the rest of our family? (hoping for "Christian" or "Catholic")
Cherub: Womans!

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