This Week: 1st August 2011

A day late this week ...

The weather ... hot and sunny, then hot and sticky, now damp and sticky.

I am wearing ... cropped summer pyjama bottoms and a grey vest top.

I am reading ... back to the book about politics in the 1970s. Some streak of stubbornness insists that I finish it before starting something else.

I am creating ... started a new pair of socks which wasn't going well so ripped out the half a sock I had done. Now starting another pair with self-striping yarn.

I am hearing ... Tevye talking to Cherub; voices and traffic outside.

I am watching ... a new series of Dragons Den. How do people manage to come up with such strange business ideas?

I am enjoying ... work!

I am planning ... packing lists for our holiday in Spain later in August. The older girls and Tevye sort themselves, but I end up being responsible for all the communal bits and bobs as well as my own and Cherub's stuff.

Learning notes ... Angel is procrastinating over the summer tasks she is supposed to complete before starting her A level courses in September. I suspect she will end up cramming them into the week between getting back from holiday and going back to school.

Cherub ... is suddenly being very "five". Definitely a bit more sure of herself and confident than when she was four.

On the calendar ...
Monday - went with all three girls to the local Pick Your Own farm and came home with raspberries and peas in the pod. Used some of the raspberries to make this raspberry cake.
Thursday - taking Star to buy some new pointe shoes. Family tradition is that we go out afterwards for a mother-daughter meal.
Sunday - meeting Tevye's sister and her family for a BBQ in the woods (another family summer tradition).

On the menu ...
Monday - turkey stir fry
Tuesday - picnic from the supermarket salad bar
Wednesday - chunky haddock fingers, potato wedges and peas
Thursday - Star and I eating out, not sure about the rest of the family yet!
Friday - sun-dried tomato and olive chicken
Saturday - ???
Sunday - BBQ

A picture from last week ... Cherub waiting patiently to feed the bears at the zoo. (Minnie Mouse stayed rather longer than intended and is waiting to be collected from lost property!)

And Some More Old Fossils

To add to my Old Fossil post the other day, I thought I would collate the suggestions in the comments and add a few more things that came to mind. So ... things my daughters have never known, part two:

• Reel to reel tape players
• Super 8 movie cameras and players
• Elevator / lift operators
• Electronics with vacuum tubes
• Yugoslavia
• Czechoslovakia
• Rotary phones
• Trim phones
• Elvis
• The Beatles
• Library card catalogues
• Floppy disks
• Half day closing (shops)
• No shops open on Sundays
• Chimney sweeps (except in Mary Poppins!)
• Reliant Robins
• Pre-decimal money

Pamela - I still use paper maps. Even Google can't quite match Ordnance Survey. No footpaths or bridlepaths on Google maps!

PixieMum - using Yorkshire leaf tea doesn't make you a fossil, it just shows you have good taste!

Ellie - we still have public telephone booths, though less of them and they only take pre-paid cards rather than coins. I think they will be around for some time to come, at least in places that attract tourists, as it can be expensive to use cellphones internationally.  Also, manual (stick shift) cars are still the norm here. According to Mr Google only 18% of cars on British roads are automatic. Personally I don't like driving automatic cars as I don't feel as though I have so much control. 

Missus Wookie - two out of three daughters remember video cassettes and players, so they don't quite make the list!

This Week: 25th July 2011

The weather ... summer! No rain all weekend, sun and temperatures into the 70s. Can it last for a whole week?

I am wearing ... black and white pyjamas.

I am reading ... still archive stuff. I have been doing background reading for an essay.

I am creating ... nearly finished the first sleeve of my winter sweater, and have started a new pair of socks.

I am hearing ... Cherub looking at photos on the iPad and telling me all about them. This is an improvement on playing tunes on an electronic keyboard, which is what she was doing at 6.15am.

I am watching ... the last few episodes of Upstairs Downstairs.

I am enjoying ... Pinterest. Oh my! If you are a creative and / or visual person, you must check out Pinterest. If you would like me to send you an invite, leave a note in the comments. Just make sure you have several hours to spare before you start!

I am planning ... summer holidays. Working in the mornings means I can still do holiday stuff with the girls in the afternoons, which is good - mostly with Cherub these days, but I have some one-on-one time with Angel and Star planned too.

Learning notes ... school is finally finished for the summer.

Cherub ... has suddenly developed a burning desire to learn to swim, but was hugely disgruntled to discover she can't start swimming lessons until September at the earliest (depending on the length of the waiting list).

On the calendar ...
Today: Star is going shopping with a friend; I am planning to take Cherub swimming this afternoon.
Tuesday: maybe going out for a meal with Tevye in the evening (or maybe we will go on Thursday, depending on how I get on with my essay)
Thursday: Angel is meeting me after work, then we are going for lunch and a shopping trip
Saturday: canal festival in town, so may go to that if the weather is reasonable
Sunday: visiting an old friend of Tevye's in London

On the menu ...
Today: Baked potatoes and cauliflower cheese
Tuesday: Pasta bake
Wednesday: Beefburgers
Thursday: Chilli beef kebabs
Friday: Inside out chicken kiev
Saturday: ??
Sunday: Roast lamb?

A picture from last week ... Star ready for her middle school prom. J-Next-Door, who has just started an apprenticeship as a hairdresser, did her hair (curls like that are way beyond my limited hair arranging skills!)

An Old Fossil Moment

Tevye had a conversation with Cherub this morning during which he tried to explain the Berlin Wall to her (not sure how far they got!). It got me thinking about how many things that were a constant during my childhood and young adulthood are nothing but history to my daughters, ranging from the state of the world to domestic items. For example:

• the Iron Curtain
• the Cold War
• Apartheid
• Margaret Thatcher
• miners' strikes
• coal fires
• typewriters
• leaf tea
• manual chokes in cars
• refundable deposits on pop bottles
• petrol pump attendants
• black and white TVs
• record players
• telegrams
• inkwells in school desks
• British Rail

I am beginning to feel like an old fossil!

What have I missed?

This Week: 18th July 2011

The weather ...ugh! I spent a significant chunk of the weekend playing the trombone in the rain. Enough said.

I am wearing ... pyjamas and snuggly blue dressing gown.

I am reading ... only archive related reading at the moment.

I am creating ... my winter sweater - the body and neckline are done and I am just starting the sleeves. I also need a pair of socks to knit on the train.

I am hearing ... a collared dove calling and distant traffic.

I am watching watched ... the last Harry Potter movie on Friday. I started reading the first book to Angel ten year ago. After seven books and eight movies our Harry Potter years are over.

I am enjoying ... work!

I am planning ... not so much planning, as trying to put plans into operation and adjust to new routines.

Learning notes ... I have set aside this week to work on one of my final assignments. My first (a report) is already drafted, and if I can get the second (an essay) drafted next weekend I will be rolling gently to the finish line for this module over the following three weeks.

Cherub ... is tired. Now she is into the last couple of weeks of her first term of full time school her energy is flagging. Adding a run of birthday parties at weekends hasn't helped. What she needs now is lots of summer holiday downtime.

On the calendar ...
Monday: Year 1 transition meeting at Cherub's school (for parents of children moving up from Reception to Year 1)
Thursday: Jungle themed picnic for Cherub's class (parents invited); Year 8 leavers's party for Star
Friday: Last day for school for Star and Cherub
Sunday: Cherub has yet another birthday party on the calendar; Star may be going to a car boot sale with my brother.

On the menu ...
Mon: Baked potatoes and chilli
Tue: Spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs
Wed: Honey mustard chicken and penne
Thu: Chicken steaks in breadcrumbs and chips
Fri: Garlic and herb chicken thighs with roasted vegetables
Sat: Pizza
Sun: Roast chicken

On my to-do list ... not much this week (so far!)

A picture from last week ...  the only pictures I took were the train photos I have already posted.

From the Train Window

And therefore a bit blurry due to movement and marks on the window. Also taken on my phone trying not avoid pointing towards the sun.

My station. Two tiny platforms, one on either side of a road.

A house at the end of a platform. Anyone want to buy it? Only two trains an hour, none at night or on Sundays.

One of several level crossings (British for a train track crossing a road)

Green countryside

Flat Bedfordshire wheat fields

A disused brickworks (this is only a small part of it)

A major road, about to link into the M1 motorway (the main north-south arterial road). Lots of lorries!

And part of a gigantic distribution centre - the headquarters of Amazon UK. I couldn't get a picture of the Amazon.co.uk sign as it was partially hidden behind trees.

1. So this has been my first full week at work. I am doing well with fitting work into my life, just not there with working and blogging yet!


2. First impressions? Very good indeed. I have a lovely job share partner, a great boss, and everyone seems very friendly. Getting to grips with the documents I will be cataloguing is interesting, and I think they will turn out to be more varied than I expected. I am clambering up a steep learning curve this week, but I think it will start to get easier within another week or two. 


3. I love my little train. I haven't quite adjusted to how small the trains are (sometimes a single carriage) and how quiet the line is - very much a railway backwater. It makes "rush hour" relaxing though! 


4. Combining a short drive with the train is working beautifully. I can get from home to the platform in 15 minutes or less, there is a short, easy walk at the other end, and 30 minutes relaxing on the train in the middle. Overall it is taking me about an hour door to door. Driving would take 45 minutes, but be much more tiring and stressful. 


5. Cherub went to breakfast club at school for the first time on Wednesday. After looking forward to it for weeks, she had a last minute wobble and panic at the prospect of doing something new. I dropped off a crestfallen, sad little person - then when I picked her up after school she said it was great fun and when could she go again! Phew! Nerves overcome.


6. & 7. I am out of time. I have a train to catch!

Read more quick takes at Conversion Diary

7 Quick Takes: 8th July 2011

1. Yesterday was my last day at the archive where I have been volunteering for the last year. I am going to miss it. The people were lovely - very encouraging and always willing to answer my random selection of questions. I am looking forward to getting started on my new job, though. I went on Wednesday to meet my job share partner and go through all the general introductory stuff. Today I am going back for a workshop on cleaning paper and mending small tears, and to meet some of the volunteers who are helping with the project. Then on Monday get properly started on cataloguing.

2. Cherub came home with her first ever school report yesterday. Clearly it has been apparent just how much she has enjoyed this year - they described her as a little ray of sunshine, busy and enthusiastic. I hope next year will be as good for her. She spent Wednesday morning in her new class and was very happy with it.

3. Jennifer at Conversion Diary asked yesterday for birth story haikus.  I apologise in advance for the lack of poetic merit in these, but I am never one to turn down a bizarre challenge:

Angel
First time excitement
Grinds to a halt. Dazed. Confused.
Birth plan? What birth plan!

4. Star
Waters break, slow start
Birthing pool, gas and air, then
Wow! Three hour labour

5. Cherub
Baby in distress
Emergency! C-section
Tiny little girl

6. This week's minor drama ...




Star's fingers after a close encounter with the hair straighteners and a visit to the minor injuries clinic at A and E. The dressings came off yesterday and the fingers are doing well - a couple of nasty blisters, but not sore any more.

7. And this was Cherub's artistic impression of Star's fingers on the iPad

Read more quick takes at Conversion Diary

This Week: 4th July 2011

The weather ... all over the place. We have had a two day heatwave, thunderstorms, cool dampness, and warm hazy sun over the last week. This week is supposed to start warm and go downhill.

I am wearing ... black and white pyjama bottoms with grey vest top.

I am reading ... still reading When the Lights Went Out, which is interesting enough to hang in with, but not gripping enough to read quickly. Also not much time for reading due to studying so progress is sloooowwwww.

I am creating ... an unseasonally warm sweater as I had yarn stashed and wanted some mindless knitting to do while I study. I finished my cotton socks, and have just put the finishing touches to a cotton cardigan.

I am hearing ... Cherub rattling plastic play food and CBeebies on the TV. Star has already left for school, Tevye is at work and Angel is still asleep, so the rest of the house is quiet.

I am watching ... well into the final series of Upstairs, Downstairs now, and caught up with The Apprentice.

I am enjoying ... Google Plus. Could it become bigger than Facebook? I am not sure whether you need an invite to join, or whether it just gives you priority. If you want me to invite you, please leave a note in the comments.

I am planning ... a revised study plan for the rest of the summer. I decided it would be better to tackle the final assignments for this module sooner rather than later as I have already done the relevant sections of the course.

Learning notes ... Angel absolutely loved her Sixth Form induction days last week and can't wait to get started properly. So far she is very happy with her subject choices (English language, media studies, product design and photography).  Star has a taster day at her new school for September on Wednesday.

Cherub ... was busy making paper flower jewelry yesterday so that she could dress up as a "flaminco" dancer (inspired by a picture in a children's magazine)

On the calendar ...
Tuesday: Meeting for First Communion catechists in the evening
Wednesday: Star's taster day at upper school
Thursday: No orchestra - finished for the summer after last Saturday's concert
Friday: Sitting in on a workshop for volunteers at the archive (the new one, where I will be working once all the paperwork gets sorted out!)
Sunday: Cherub's social whirl continues with yet another birthday party, and Star is dancing at a festival in the evening

On the menu ...
Mon: *Asparagus, egg and new potato salad
Tue: *Chicken and egg fried rice
Wed: *Sun-dried tomato and olive chicken
Thu: *Sausage and lentils
Fri: *Chunky haddock fingers, wedges and mushy peas
Sat: French bread / baked potatoes
Sun: Roast chicken   
(* from Spoonfed Suppers)

On my to-do list ... send off my old mobile phone (I am selling it on one of the used phone sites for exactly the amount I had to pay up front for my iPhone!); organise a visit to a different archive (have to do this as part of my course)

A picture from last week ...  Angel ready for her prom (I couldn't get the lighting right due to low bright sun and impatient daughter!)

Train Update

Thank you to eveyone who commented on my Train or Car? post a week or two ago - lots of votes for the train. Well, I made a decision ...

Train. AND car.

I had decided on the train option, thinking that as a back-up if I was running late I could drive to another station which would cut out the need to change trains and so shave a bit off the travel time. That station doesn't have any station parking (expensive!), but I discovered there is a small free car park less than 100 yards away. I looked up ticket prices, and found that a season ticket from that station is half the price of a ticket from our local station - more than enough to compensate for the cost of petrol to drive there and back. Depending on traffic, it should take 10 to 15 minutes to drive there, which is about the same as the walk to our local station. This option will cut the journey time by 20 minutes each way, and I will still get an hour a day on the train to study. Best of both worlds.

Meanwhile, I still don't have a start date - the wheels of paperwork are churning slowly. I'm guessing another couple of weeks.

Random Quirkiness

There are days when I relish the quirkiness and randomness of family life, and others when I wonder how I ever manage to hold on to a thought for long enough to make it coherent. Then there are times when I just feel too OLD for all this, and long for a quiet, peaceful, predictable existence, particularly one without a constant background wail of "what can I EAT!!!!" (I knew teenage boys had big appetites. Nobody warned me about teenage girls.)

Sample randomness from yesterday morning:

• "Look! I drew a centipede with its make up."
• "Where's my PE kit?"
• "Don't put the bag on the dead moth!"
• "Where's my toothbrush?"
• "I wish I hadn't let Star use my toothbrush, it's all icky now"
• "Where is my flowery top?"
• "I'd feel safer if you put your unicorn down while we are in the car."

Most of this while I was trying to shower and dress. Is it surprising I have been known to take Cherub to school wearing items of clothing inside out? (Me, not her! Well, probably her as well, though I don't remember a specific instance - though there was the day she went to school knickerless because nobody thought to check she was wearing any.)

Then at night time, just as I was about to go to sleep ... screams from Star, who had spotted a daddy longlegs in her bedroom. Tevye caught it and flushed it. Cherub was roused by the commotion, just enough to decide that there was a spider in her bed (there wasn't!) and get hysterical. Star comforted Cherub then went back to her own room, where she spotted another daddy longlegs. Cherub howled because she had been abandoned. The daddy longlegs disappeared. Star refused to sleep in a room with a bug on the loose. Cherub refused to let go of Star. In the end I pulled a mattress out for Star in Cherub's room and she slept there. By which time, of course, I was wide awake and just about clinging on to sanity.

For your delectation and delight, the centipede with its make up - eye shadow and powder, I believe (drawn on Fingerpaint on the iPad):

More random quirkiness ... Cherub just spotted this picture and was inspired to add to it. The centipede now has chicken pox:

Vile November

From the archives last week ... a law suit that could have come straight out of Jane Austen or Dickens. I listed over one hundred documents last week, and suspect there are at least as many to go - a mix of reports of court proceedings, lawyers' notes and letters.

The gist of the case was that in 1811 a certain clergyman was accused of not being resident in his parishes, contrary to a recent Act of Parliament . Given that he had two - one in Yorkshire and one in Buckinghamshire - residing simultaneously in both would have been somewhat difficult. His reason for not living in either was that the rectories of both needed too much expensive work to make them habitable for his family. He claimed that he had permission from the bishop to live away from his parishes, and had paid a vicar to perform his duties in both - there didn't seem to be any question that his parishioners were provided for spiritually. He was also working as a clergyman in another Buckinghamshire parish, without pay other than the provision of a house.

The odd thing was that it seemed he was the victim of a vindictive prosecution. I don't know enough about legal processes at the time to be sure, but I think an accuser in a lawsuit at this time could claim financial compensation from the accused even if the accuser himself had not suffered any damages. Poor Reverend Archibald was accused by a local man known to be a money-grabber, who had recently incurred costs in an unrelated lawsuit of his own and apparently spotted an opportunity to make this back and more - the amount he claimed from the clergyman ran to several thousand pounds. One pathetic letter from the Reverend told his lawyer that in the past November had been a favourite month, but that this November he could call "nothing but vile". Things were so black he was tempted to hang himself. Several months later he had passed beyond anger with his accuser to resignation and pity.

Despite Reverend Archibald's best efforts he initially lost the case, then reopened it claiming that there were errors in the legal process. This is where I left it. Presumably further down in the box will be something that describes the ultimate outcome of the case. I hope the poor clergyman won in the end!

iPhone Ramblings

Well, that's a surprise! I had a sense that cell phones in the US are more expensive than in the UK, so I was curious about how the price of an iPhone compares. After a bit of googling, I discovered that not only are iPhone plans cheaper here, but massively cheaper. The cost of my plan is not only less than the cheapest American iPhone plan, but less than half the cost of an equivalent deal. Not only that, but I only had to pay about half as much for the actual phone - £69, or just over $100, which was conveniently almost the exact amount for which I could sell my old phone. Then for a little more than $50 a month (including tax - it looks as though US prices have to have taxes added?) I get the phone, 2000 minutes of call time, 5000 minutes of same network call time, 5000 texts and unlimited data. And I can even use the iPhone as a Wifi hotspot for my iPad, which will come in very handy for working on then train. It almost makes up for having to pay more than twice as much for petrol / gas!

My biggest success with the iPhone so far is to get my calendar synchronising wirelessly across iPhone, iPad and computers using Google Calendar and Google Sync. I have used Google Calendar off and on for years - lately it has been an off time, so I went through our paper calendar and updated my Google calendars (one for each member of the family so that I can see clearly who is doing what). I then followed the instructions from Google Sync, and ... ta da! All my Google Calendar details pull through into iCal on the iPhone and iPad, and entries I make on the phone miraculously appear on Google Calendar on the computer. So clever! I am now organised! I will never forget things - or children - again. I hope. We still need the paper calendar as the rest of the family haven't made it to the electronic calendar stage yet. For the last couple of years we have been using this Family Weekly Planner, which works beautifully for us - a week to a view, with a column for each family member plus one spare for reminders.

Oops! Here I am blogging when I should be showering and getting ready to take the girls to school! Time to go ...

Happy Father's Day

Yes, I should have posted this on Sunday, but Cherub's card is too cute not to share. All her own work!

 

(Yes, I know their real names are in there, but while on balance I opted to use pseudonyms on the blog I can live with the occasional blip!)

I hope you and the daddies in your life had a "nis fufos da"!

This Week: 20th June 2011

The weather ... joy! It is actually looks like summer this morning and may even reach 70 degrees. If we are lucky. Showers forecast for later in the day, though.

I am wearing ... black linen trousers, black and white floral tunic top.

I am reading ... back to chugging slowly through the book on 1970s political history (it is interesting, but not gripping), and browsing The Forever Young Diet and Lifestyle (I think I saw this mentioned on Willa's blog, and downloaded it as a Kindle freebie).

I am creating ... socks. One simple cotton pair and one colourwork pair. I am procrastinating over finishing off the cotton cardigan.  (Same as last week, though progress being made on both pairs!)

I am hearing ... Angel tapping away on the computer and the washing machine whirring.

I am watching ... still Upstairs, Downstairs (nearly at the end of Series 4), but really nothing else. I watched the last episode of the latest Doctor Who series last night. Genius! A twist that I didn't see coming at all.

I am enjoying ... my new iPhone! It turned out I only had one month left on my old contract and could upgrade straight away. I now have an iPhone package with more texts and minutes a month than I could use in a year and unlimited data (much the best value deal - cost very little more than a much more restrictive package - and I like not having to worry about how much data I use). After spending some time at the weekend messing around with Google Sync and experimenting with apps I think I now have everything I need synchronising seamlessly between laptop, iPad and iPhone. Working on the train is going to be so easy! I love technology
 
I am planning ... can't think of anything I am planning! That doesn't happen often.

Learning notes ... Angel's GCSE's are all finished (yay!). Star has exams this week, for which she has done minimal preparation (fortunately they don't have any long term importance). Cherub's topic this half term is jungles.

Cherub ... is back in a drawing mood. I love the way small people binge on one aspect of development for a while, then move on to something else. Last spring and summer Cherub did loads of drawing, then by late summer it fizzled out. Now drawing and colouring are big again.

On the calendar ...

Today: Two orthodontist's appointments for Angel (one to have her braces removed and be measured for retainers, the second to collect the retainers)
Tuesday: An activity day for Star (kayaking and caving); silver jubilee Mass and celebration for our parish priest in the evening.
Friday: Going out for a meal with an old friend I haven't seen in a while.
Saturday: Cherub is going to a birthday party in the morning; band concert in the evening.
Sunday: Angel and I are going away for a two day spa break to celebrated her 16th birthday (belatedly!) and the end of her exams; Cherub has yet another birthday party in the afternoon (lots of her school friends have June and July birthdays).

On the menu ...
 

I am loving Spoonfed Suppers. Everything I have made so far has gone down well. Asterisked items are from their plan:

Monday - * sesame beef and tagliatelle
Tuesday - lazy chicken and potatoes
Wednesday - * honey mustard chicken
Thursday - lamb burgers and chips
Friday - ??
Saturday - * sun-dried tomato and olive chicken
Sunday - roast chicken

On my to-do list ... buy birthday presents for Cherub's friends; return a pair of shoes I ordered online that are too small.

A picture from last week ... playing with my phone while eating cheese and drinking wine with our neighbours on Friday

Birthday Books

I am enjoying buying picture books while Cherub is still at an age to enjoy them, so a few found their way into her birthday presents:

Dogger (Shirley Hughes) - one of my favourite picture books, but with Angel and Star we borrowed from the library so never had our own copy. Dave's favourite toy, Dogger, gets accidentally mixed up with toys left for sale at the school fair. A little girl buys it and refuses to sell it back to Dave, but thanks to a generous big sister it all works out in the end. As it turned out, Cherub had come across Dogger at story time at school and was able to narrate the plot before we even opened the book, so this had the pull of the familiar. 

 

Library Lion (Michelle Knudsen) - I browsed through this in the bookshop of the British Library and it went onto my "must buy" list. What to do when there is a lion in the library? Let him stay, so long as he doesn't break the rules. But what happens when there is an accident and the lion roars, and roaring is against the rules? One of the nicest new(ish) picture books I've seen recently.

Diary of a Princess (Heather Maisner) - I bought this because Cherub loves princesses and I thought she might enjoy something a bit different. So far, it looks a bit too different to her, so it went to the bottom of the pile and we haven't read it yet.

Stone Girl, Bone Girl (Laurence Anholt) - Cherub likes fossils and I though she would enjoy this story of Mary Anning, the girl who discovered dinosaur fossils in the Dorset cliffs. So far the jury is out - we read some of the book last night, but she was in distractable mood and a bit reluctant. We ended up looking at the periodic table on the Book Depository bookmark we were using instead. Apparently hunting for the letters representing various elements was far more interesting.

The Hard to Swallow Tale of Jonah and the Whale (Joyce Denham) - a retelling of the story of Jonah (duh!) using quite complex language, with an emphasis on God's loves for everyone, even our enemies.

This Week: 13th June 2011

The weather ... cold and damp again. So much for flaming June!

I am wearing ... blue jeans, black and purple floral top, purple cardigan

I am reading ... my reading has stalled again.

I am creating ... socks. One simple cotton pair and one colourwork pair. I am procrastinating over finishing off the cotton cardigan.

I am hearing ... Star in the shower and Chuggington on the TV.

I am watching ... Doctor Who. I caught up on two episodes, and just have the last episode of the latest series to go.

I am enjoying ... salt and vinegar flavour Hula Hoops (potato rings). I need to get out of the snacking habit!

I am planning ... logistics once I start my job. It all seems to work out in theory. Let's hope it works in practice!

Learning notes ... I just spent a week bogged down in the details of data protection, freedom of information and copyright. Not my favourite part of the course! Moving on to something more interesting this week.

Cherub ... What I interpreted as tears before bedtime brought on by over excitement on her birthday turned out to be her going down with a virus. She woke up with a high temperature on Thursday, and is only now coming out the other end.

On the calendar ...

Tuesday: School sports day for Star
Thursday: Angel's last GCSE exam. Yay!!!!
Friday: Routine vision test for Cherub in the afternoon; Sociable evening with our lovely neighbours.
Saturday: First Communions
Sunday: Helping to organise a celebration for the First Communicants

On the menu ...

Spoonfed Suppers. I decided my menu planning was in a rut and needed some variety. The three menu items marked with an asterisk are from the Spoonfed Suppers. We have only tried one new recipe so far - inside out chicken Kiev, which everyone liked.

Monday - * lime and thyme chicken with sweet potato mash
Tuesday - * beef ragu with fusilli
Wednesday - eating out (to celebrate my new job)
Thursday - fishcakes and chips
Friday - ??
Saturday - * dill salmon and new potatoes
Sunday - roast beef or lamb

On my to-do list ... studying and catching up on housework. Time to get back on track with Motivated Moms again. Also my phone contract expires next month, so I want to check out upgrading to an iPhone. Swoon.

A picture from last week ... another bouncy castle picture

Train or Car?

When I first thought about applying for the archive job I did a bit of homework and came to the conclusion it would work best to travel by train rather than car. Then I started second-guessing myself before coming full circle back to the train option.  I think. Here are the pros and cons of each option:

Train

For ...

• I would be able to study for about 1.5 hours a day in total on the train, using my iPad.
• More relaxing than driving - remember the old "let the train take the strain" advert?
• Built in daily exercise walking to and from the station (about 30-40 minutes walking each day)
• The timing of the trains would make it quite easy to build up extra time (and therefore extra days off!).
• The train line I would use for most of the journey is a tiny, low traffic rural line, not a nasty, crowded commuter train. 
• The cost of the train would be about the same as the cost of petrol at current prices. As petrol is likely to go up and the train cost would be fixed for a year that should make it cheaper in the long run, even without allowing for wear and tear on the car. 
• I can get an interest free loan for an annual train ticket (cheaper than buying weekly or monthly) as one of the perks of the job.
• I like trains!

Against ...

• Walking back uphill on the way home everyday. (Yes, call me lazy...)
• Walking in the rain / cold / dark in the winter.
• It takes two trains each way, though I would only travel one stop on the first train. 
• Takes longer than the car - probably just over an hour a day more, total. 
• The rural train only runs once an hour. Miss it and I will have a long wait.
• I have a long track record of cutting it too fine and missing trains.
• I would have to get up half an hour earlier, or stay at work later if I didn't catch the early train.

Car

For ...

• More flexible. A lot more flexible.
• Quicker, especially coming home in the early afternoon.
• I could leave a bit later in the morning, and would get home about half an hour earlier. 
• There is a free office car park. 

Against ...

• More expensive overall.
• Even though the journey is shorter, I think I would find it more tiring.
• Rush hour driving in the morning = stress.
• Driving time would be dead time. 
• I would have to try to cram in studying between getting home and collecting Cherub from school.
• No incentive to get moving quickly in the morning.

So, pros and cons both ways. I think the train would work better, mainly because although the journey would be longer quite a chunk of it would be productive time.  Switching between train and car isn't really an option because if I use the train it would be more economical to buy an annual ticket.

What would you choose? Train? Or car?

Liam the Lion

Like Angel at the same age - though possibly even more so? - Cherub likes to make things. She always  has scissors, sellotape and a glue stick readily available, and will ask for PVA glue if she needs it. For materials she usually just uses paper or whatever she can find rifling through the recycling bag. Sometimes she remembers she has a plastic jar full of collage stuff and uses that. Today she asked for four clothes pegs from the washing line, added paper and sellotape, and after a bit of colouring, cutting and sticking ... ta-da!

Liam the Lion.

I asked her if she meant Leo the Lion, but no ... definitely Liam.

Yikes!

I GOT THE JOB!

Which is ... I think! I hope! ... a very good thing. The oddest part is that I wasn't even looking for paid work. Full time isn't an option - I know my limits, and combining full time work, studying and caring for a family is beyond them - and part time jobs for unqualified archivists are very, very few and far between, so I had assumed that I would just work through my course, carry on volunteering in an archive and then start job hunting once I had qualified. Then I stumbled across this opportunity and it looked too good not to apply. And now, gulp, it seems I have rather unexpectedly acquired a job.

So, this is the deal ... I will be working five mornings a week at a county record office (not the one I volunteer at now, but the next nearest), cataloguing 19th century court records. From the point of view of whatever future career I have in archives it is ideal, as many jobs for qualified archivists want applicants to have some experience of cataloguing. And it is an interesting project - the documents give a good insight into the social history of Victorian England, so will be intriguing to work with. I will be job sharing with another cataloguer, and working alongside volunteers who are cleaning, sorting and packaging the documents. (This is a big plus - I have looked at the equivalent records at my current archive, and they are a mess. Filthy dirty and hard to flatten out enough to read after a century or so rolled up.)  The project lasts for two years, which is perfect timing. The job will end in June/July 2013 and I am aiming to finish my course in April 2013, so will then be in a good position to look for a job as a qualified archivist with cataloguing experience.

The working arrangements are about as good as they can get, with 26 days holiday leave each year and flexible working hours which mean I can bank extra hours and trade them for days off. I will get home in time to collect Cherub from school every day, and will be able to be home quite a lot during school holidays. Tevye and Angel between them can mostly manage getting Cherub to school in the mornings, or I can drop her at the school breakfast club on my way to work if necessary. On the days I have to work during school holidays, Tevye or Angel will be at home with her. Overall the impact on her should be minimal. The pay isn't great, but is at least a lot better than nothing!

Five

Birthday princess

Demure party girl


... Or not!

This Week: 6th June 2011

The weather ... lots in the media about predictions of a long hot summer. This morning? Grey, wet, miserable and cold. Should have expected that.

I am wearing ... blue jeans, black and purple floral top, purple cardigan, blue hand-knitted cotton socks.

I am reading ... When the Lights Went Out. Political history of the seventies - back to reading this after a three week break.

I am creating ... cotton cardigan done apart from turning up the hem and sewing in the ends. Have started a pair of charade socks as I need something simpler than the colourwork socks to knit while I read.

I am hearing ... the washing machine in the kitchen, and Cherub and Little Friend N scuffling around upstairs.

I am watching ... So You Think You Can Dance, and Upstairs, Downstairs Series 4 on iTunes. Have now got behind with both Doctor Who and The Apprentice.

I am enjoying ... the knowledge that I do not have to organise a small person's birthday party for another year. Mostly I do enjoy them, but I always breathe a deep sigh of relief once they are successfully over. Particularly when I make the mistake of assuming that a summer birthday means I can organise something outdoors, then have the stress of wondering if, when, and how much it will rain.  You would think I would know better by now. Yesterday the rain started at 4pm, which meant they got an hour of playing outside on the bouncy castle.

I am planning ... not planning, mostly, as things are up in the air while I wait to find out whether I get the part time job I have applied for, and if so, what hours I will be working.

Learning notes ... back to school for Star this morning, maths and graphics exams for Angel this week, and an extra day off for Cherub, who doesn't go back to school until tomorrow. Star has various day trips to look forward to before the end of term, organised for the Year 8s who are leaving to move up to Upper School next year. This week she is going to an indoor climbing centre.

Cherub ... has been quite literally quivering with excitement about her birthday party, which fortunately lived up to her (quite modest) expectations. Now quivering about her actual birthday on Wednesday.

On the calendar ...

Monday: Little Friend N over for the day to play with Cherub
Tuesday: rock climbing for Angel
Wednesday: job interview. Yikes!
Thursday: archive day
Weekend looks quite free at the moment.

On the menu ...

Monday: Cottage pie and sweetcorn
Tuesday: Cauliflower cheese
Wednesday: Birthday tea for Cherub
Thursday: Chicken and chips
Friday: Stir fry
Saturday: Pasta bake
Sunday: Roast chicken

On my to-do list ... studying and some paperwork I need to catch up on (if I don't get it done, Angel and Star will not have transport to school next year!).

A picture from last week ... collecting pebbles on Brighton beach

A Brief Foray into Cute and Funny Animals

This may be the only cute, funny animal post you ever see on my blog - mostly I stick to cute, funny humans - but these three videos have entertained me over the last few days.

First, shamelessly copied from Karen, some surprisingly durable ducklings:

Then two more that appeared on Facebook ... a pair of puzzled penguins (try saying that fast a few times!):

And finally, a feline "aaahhh!" moment:

This Week: 31st May 2011

This Week ...

The weather ... the week started badly with a nasty, cold, damp bank holiday, but it has warmed up, dried out and long range forecast is predicting a warm, dry June.

I am wearing ... blue jeans, pink t-shirt and purple cardigan. Colour blocking!

I am reading ... about data protection. Ugh! Seems I can't manage both studying and pleasure reading.

I am creating ... almost at the end of the second sleeve of my cardigan. Finished my cotton socks, and have started a colourwork pair. Will post a picture when I have more time.

I am listening ... Tevye reading Ramona the Brave to Cherub.

I am watching ... Britain's Got Talent,  The Apprentice, So You Think You Can Dance, and Upstairs, Downstairs Series 4 on iTunes. Have got behind with Doctor Who.

I am enjoying ... knitting something challenging (the new socks). Mostly I knit stuff that I can knit while reading.

I am planning ... Cherub's birthday party for Sunday (her birthday isn't until next Wednesday, but the weekend before works best for her party). A dozen small girls and a bouncy castle in the garden.

Learning notes ... Angel's science exams went rather better than she was expecting (phew!). Only maths, graphic products, ICT and one RE exam left to go.

Cherub ... is in a state of high excitement about the whole birthday thing. Five, in her estimation, is BIG.

On the calendar ... a busy week, which is why I am so late posting this.

Tuesday: a family day trip to the seaside (Brighton, on the south coast)
Wednesday: a play date for Cherub with her best school friend
Thursday: archive day
Friday: a day at the zoo with Little Friend N and his mum
Saturday: a trip to a nearby town for a free kite festival. Cherub is hoping to take her own kite to fly, but there isn't much wind forecast, so she may be disappointed.
Sunday: Cherub's birthday party

On the menu ...

Monday: Sweet chili beef kebabs and potato wedges
Tuesday: We ate out in Brighton (taking advantage of Tesco Clubcard coupons to visit Cafe Rouge) Wednesday: Pizza for assorted girls; sausage and mash for Tevye and myself
Thursday: Chicken in breadcrumbs and chips
Friday: Baked potatoes with tuna mayonnaise and / or coleslaw
Saturday: Burgers? Maybe?
Sunday: Whatever we can fit in around Cherub's party

On my to-do list ... mostly party organising! Also tidying, cleaning and maybe trying to put flowers into pots in the garden before the party.

A picture from last week ... or rather, from Brighton yesterday. A sign spotted on the door of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Or Krispy Kreme No Doughnuts. Duh!

 

Learning Styles

Angel is now over half way through her GCSE exams (yay!), with the worst - biology, chemistry and physics - behind her. I have been fascinated by her revision style. I had never realised how much of an auditory learner she is. Apparently when it comes to Angel and revision, podcasts and audio are the way to go. For English Literature and the sciences (the most memory intensive subjects) she downloaded a mix of literature guides and  podcasts, recorded herself reading Of Mice and Men aloud, and has been studying by iPod.

For me, this is like watching a Martian at large - a completely alien way of studying. I am the most un-auditory person going. I find focusing on something I have to listen to very difficult indeed, and choosing to listen to something in order to learn it would be torturous for me. I learn best from books, and always have. I remember once having a conversation about lectures with some students. Some of us were frantic note takers because it the only way we could process a lecture was by converting it into text. Others needed to listen and would only make notes after the lecture once they had processed it aurally. Both groups were amazed that anyone could study the other way.

What is your learning style?

Party Planner

Cherub is getting very excited about her upcoming fifth birthday party. Invitations have been distributed to various little girls at school, and this morning I found this stuck to her bedroom door:

A list of invitees, then separate "yes", "no" and "maybe" lists. Tidy minded, that child. And I love the pen sticky-tacked to the door ready for future updates.

[Picture quality not great, as taken on my phone. My camera has gone missing, thanks to a certain child who shall remain nameless. I am assured it is "somewhere in the house". Wonderful! That narrows it down beautifully. The case, minus camera, is in her room.]

This Week: 23rd May 2011

This Week ...

The weather ... grey and windy. I hope the wind is coming from the right direction. There is another erupting volcano in Iceland, which threatens a repeat of last year's air chaos when UK planes were grounded due to volcanic ash.

I am wearing ... purple t-shirt and cardigan, jeans, blue nail varnish on toes

I am reading ... When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies, by Andy Beckett, and North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, though I haven't done any reading in the last week - or rather, all my reading has been for my course rather than pleasure reading.

I am creating ... cotton socks (just need to kitchener stitch the toe of the second sock) and cotton cardigan.

I am listening ... to builders drilling outside.

I am watching ... the new series of The Apprentice, So You Think You Can Dance, Doctor Who (still have to catch up with Saturday's episode) on TV, and Upstairs, Downstairs Series 4 on iTunes.

I am enjoying ... life!

I am planning ... to book a spa break for Angel and myself to celebrate her finishing her exams (and also as a belated 16th birthday treat).

Learning notes ... last week's GCSE exams apparently went well, apart from one biology paper. This week is the worst - English literature, PE theory, chemistry and physics, all of which are revision heavy. She is taking separate biology, chemistry and physics GCSE's (as opposed to combined science), which means that for each she has to take two papers - one is the same as the combined science paper for that subject, the second is an extra separate subject "triple science" paper. Due to a combination of poor teaching, disruptive classes and being put in the wrong science group she hasn't actually been taught most of the extra stuff for triple science and is having to try to learn it herself from the revision book. Biology she managed to muddle through, but physics and chemistry don't look good. Fortunately, she doesn't need good science results for anything she wants to do in the future, but she is a bit aggrieved that is likely to end up with a couple of poor results through no fault of her own. There will be a huge sigh of relief once this week is over. After that there are just maths, graphics, ICT and a final RE paper to go, which she thinks should all be fine.

Cherub ... slept in this morning, and I had to wake her at 8 o'clock. "That's funny!" she said, "it's usually me that wakes you up!"  Indeed it is. Sometimes I forget that there was a time in my life when a lie-in didn't just mean being able to sleep later than 7am.

On the calendar ... 

Wednesday: Cherub's first sports day
Saturday: Round the world meal with neighbours (our turn to make the starters) 

On the menu ...

Today: Marinated lamb and beef steaks (eating up oddments from the freezer) with sweet potatoes
Tuesday: Chicken and mushroom casserole
Wednesday: Lamb kebabs with potato wedges
Thursday: Burgers
Friday: Pasta with pesto and creme fraiche
Saturday: Meal with neighbours
Sunday: Roast beef

On my to-do list ... getting as much studying as possible done this week so that I don't have much to do next week when the girls are on their half-term break from school.

Growing, But Not Much!

Towards the end of their Reception year, children at school get weighed and measured. Cherub, at almost five, is 101.5 cm (40 inches) tall and weighs 14.1 kg (31 pounds). That puts her a little below the 9th centile line for height, and bang on the 2nd centile for weight, and means she is exactly the average height for a girl one year younger and the average weight for a just turned three year old. She isn't quite the shortest child in the entire school - a couple of other little girls in her class are a centimetre or two shorter - but she may well be the lightest! Given that she was on the 2nd centile for weight when she was born, she is clearly sticking happily to her own petite little growth curve. She is currently at the taller end of her own normal height curve, which fluctuates a bit above and below the 5th centile. That figures as she has grown lately. She also has quite small feet - she has been wearing size 8 shoes (size 9 US?) since September and is showing no sign of growing out of them. And yes, we do feed her! She likes her food and eats more than you would expect for such a little dot.

While I am writing about Cherub, I'll throw in some recent Facebook updates (apologies for duplication, but putting them here means I get to keep them):

• Cherub is busy re-labelling the globe ... Fishland (Honduras), Letterland (Iceland), Walrus Colony (???), Bossyland (Antarctica), and of course, Naomiland (Australia) ... Oops! I forgot Princessland (India).
•  Cherub and Little Friend N are being Rapunzel and her prince using "hair" she made out of three fabric belts sellotaped to a hairband. They have done the dangling hair out of the window bit. I think she is now using it to tie him to a chair. Seems a shame to break up the game to take them to school.
• Am now an expert at translating Cherub's phonetic writing. I can turn "ishreembonutfootsatlet" into "ice cream, doughnut, fruit salad" without a second thought. Dessert menu, apparently. 
• The sight of a small girl dressed as a snowflake, wearing a dagger tucked into her skirt and shooting everyone with a very noisy, psychedelic flashing gun, is highly entertaining. Having one side of her hair loose and the other still in a plait kind of adds to the Princess Leia Gone Mad effect.

Life with Cherub is never boring!

And finally, a gratuitous Cherub photo ... here she is with Star and a guinea pig at the farm last month:

This Week: 16th May 2011

This Week ...

The weather ... a cloudy, could-do-anything sort of morning.

I am wearing ... mismatched pyjamas. Blue bottom half and pink top half.

I am reading ... When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies, by Andy Beckett, and North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

I am creating ... the first sleeve of my cotton cardigan. Front trim and neckband are done.

I am listening ... to Star showering. Oops! She has just discovered she has no towel.

I am watching ... Upstairs, Downstairs Series 4. I watched North and South last week (now I have to read the book!) and I am looking for something else to download. I think maybe it will be Brideshead Revisited. I have read the book but never seen the TV version, and I know it earned rave reviews both at the time and since.

I am enjoying ... reading to Cherub. We have a nice routine of a picture book, her school reading book, and a chapter from a longer book before bed every night. She is very into Beverley Cleary's Ramona, and we have just started Ramona the Brave, the third book in the series.

I am planning ...  how to fit 13 weeks of archive course into 10. It will probably take me the whole day, but by the end I should hopefully have a complete checklist of tasks for each week set up on Evernote. I need to get ahead as we will be on holiday in Spain during the two weeks meant for working on final assignments, and also know I will not be able to get as much done once the girls finish school for the summer.

Learning notes ... the first of Angel's GCSE exams is this morning - English Language. Tomorrow she has RE, on Wednesday the second English Language paper, and on Thursday biology. On Friday she and I are going to the school she is moving to in September to meet the deputy head of Sixth Form, so she can get to know us and explain more about how Sixth Form will work to Angel.

Cherub ... has had a rotten cold for the past few days. Not so bad during the day, but she has been waking up during the night with a nasty cough. Now she has kindly passed it on to me.

On the calendar ... 

Today: First day of GCSEs for Angel, first day of second archive course module for me.

Wednesday: Lunch at my mother's and a chance to catch up with an old friend who is staying with her.

Saturday: Attending the funeral of the pastor of our neighbours' old church, who died too soon due to an aggressive and untreatable brain tumour. Band concert in the evening.

On the menu ...

Today: Baked potatoes and chilli

Tuesday: Lamb steaks and potato wedges

Wednesday: Marinated chicken

Thursday: Fish and chips

Friday: Pasta with pesto and creme fraiche

Saturday: Burgers

Sunday: Roast chicken

On my to-do list ...  The book decluttering that didn't happen last week. Also, I have a job application to finish off and submit. Yikes! It is for a part time cataloguing job in another local archive, which sounds pretty much ideal - the sort of job that rarely comes up, yet alone part time and in such a convenient location.

Zdob si Zdub

In case you feel your life is not complete without pointy hatted Moldovans:

The United Kingdom came 11th put of 25, three points ahead Moldova in 12th (yes, they made it into the top half!). The winners? Azerbaijan, which is not actually in Europe.

Eurovision

I am on a TV binge tonight, So You Think You Can Dance (dancing talent show), Doctor Who, and now the Eurovision Song Contest. Eurovision is one of the stranger cultural manifestations of life in Europe. Held annually since 1956, singers and groups from across the continent (loosely speaking - quite how they manage to include Israel in Europe baffles me!) compete in a televised song-a-thon. An extraordinarily strange song-a-thon.

Back in the sixties and seventies Eurovision attracted high quality entries and produced some classic songs and acts. For example, Abba first hit the big time after winning Eurovision with Waterloo. Since then the quality has declined and the weirdness level increased. Most people in the UK now watch because it has a fascination of the horrible rather than in any expectation of hearing good music. At its best, it produces catchy, jingly songs and the occasional tuneful ballad. As for the rest ... well! Right now I am watching a Greek singer who started with something sort of rappish before morphing into a ballad ... ooh! now back to the rap bit again, with a group of male dancers / acrobats in the background ... and more ballad, with the dancers in statuesque poses ... morphed again to Greek folk music with Greek dancing. Phew! Finished. I think he was running out of genres. It has been worse. The group from Bosnia-Herzegovina included a triangle playing double bassist. Indescribable. Believe it or not, there has already been a semi-final stage, and only the "best" 25 have made it to the final.

Equally strange is the voting system, which merges national phone votes with the votes of professional juries into a dogs dinner of national prejudice. Countries cannot vote for themselves but tend to vote by blocks, so the Scandinavians vote for each other, as do the Balkans and the former USSR block. The UK and Ireland vote for each other, but as very few other European countries will vote for the British, the chance of the UK ever winning again is more or less zero. Ireland this year has thoroughly entered into the spirit of the thing by fielding teenage twins Jedward (a conflation of James and Edward) who reached the final stages of the British X Factor competition a couple of years ago, whose limited talent and lack of ability to sing in tune was somehow outweighed by their bouncy enthusiasm and over the top routines. For their Eurovision entry they were wearing giant shoulder pads, with blonde, vertical, Troll-style hair and singing almost in tune.

To add to the overall effect, the contest is being held in Dusseldorf, Germany, with presenters whose humour is heavy handedly Germanic (and I mean heavy handed - one presenter thumped another in the face, which was apparently meant to be funny). I could say it can only get better, but I carry on watching in the full knowledge that it won't!

Oh my! Moldovans wearing pointy hats, playing trumpets, complete with a pointy hatted fairy on a unicycle. You couldn't make it up.

This Week: 9th May 2011

I enjoy doing these weekly daybooks - they are my online diary, and one day I will print them all out and scrapbook them - but I always struggle with certain prompts. I have been thinking for a while of tweaking it into a format of my own, with a few prompts deleted and others added.  Let's see how this version works.

This Week ...

The weather ... a mix of blue sky and clouds this morning. Forecast is for pleasantly warm with some sun today and tomorrow, but colder and wetter later in the week.

I am wearing ... black linen trousers, black and white floral tunic top.

I am reading ... When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies, by Andy Beckett.

I am creating ... the body for the latest cotton cardigan attempt is finished. Just the sleeves and trim to go.

I am listening ... to Truly, Madly, Deeply (Savage Garden) playing on Spotify. I love my Spotify Premium subscription, which lets me listen to pretty much anything, anytime, anywhere.

I am watching ... Upstairs, Downstairs (up to Series 4 and the First World War now), and I have just downloaded North and South to watch this week.

I am enjoying ... Marmite. Marmite crisps, Marmite flavoured cashews, Marmite snack bars, and Marmite on toast.

I am planning ...  to Aqua Aerobics. I used to go several years ago, but have long got out of the habit. Angel wants to try it now she is sixteen (the minimum age for adult classes at our local leisure centre) so has nagged me to book us into a class tonight.

Learning notes ... Angel's last week of school before she starts her GCSE exams next week. Cherub's topic this term is Jack and the Beanstalk (growing). Nothing notable from Star.

Cherub ... is being Rapunzel. She has taken fabric belts from various dresses and skirts, taped them together and attached them to a hair clip to make Rapunzel hair. It is now long enough to dangle from her upstairs bedroom window all the way to the patio below. I don't think it would quite take the weight of a Prince though! 

On the calendar ... 

Today: Taking Mum to a doctor's appointment, then Aqua Aerobics this evening.

Tomorrow: Spending the day in London with an old friend.

Thursday: Carpets getting a long overdue steam clean.

Saturday: Playing at a village fete with the brass band.

Sunday: Star is dancing at a festival, but is getting a lift with a friend.

On the menu ...

Today: Chicken stir fry

Tuesday: Chicken pie

Wednesday: Sweet potato cottage pie

Thursday: Slow cooker chicken in bbq sauce

Friday: Pasta with pesto and creme fraiche

Saturday: Salmon salad

Sunday: Roast beef or lamb

On my to-do list ...  some deep hoovering (vacuuming right up to the edge rather than just the easy bits in the middle!). I also want to clear out at least five more bags of books to add to last week's six. I am trying to seriously thin out my book collection. I am increasingly enjoying eBooks, and I know a lot of the paper ones are never going to get read again, particularly as I have reached the point where I will dismiss a book purely on the grounds of print size. If it is small print, I'm not going there! I would rather pay to buy the book again as an eBook and be able to read it comfortably. Also I have a lot of reference books that have effectively been supplanted by Google.

Inspired by The Simple Woman

3 Quick Takes: 7th May 2011

I started seven quick takes yesterday, but never finished them ... so here are a late three instead!

1. Smokey the British Shorthair cat has broken the world record for the loudest purr. As a former owner of British Shorthairs this does not surprise me in the least. Our British Shorthair Tom had the a purr that got him banned from our bedroom after a single night of sharing our bed with happy cat noises.




2. Cherub and Little Friend N were clearly inspired by the Royal Wedding. They have got married at least twice this week. On Tuesday I overheard Cherub say to him: "We got married yesterday ... that means we are King and Queen now ... [pause for thought] .... Soon I will have a baby ...  it will be a little Princess!". On Wednesday they got married again, with Star coaching them through the vows. Apparently there was a slight hiccup at the rehearsal, when N took Cherub to be his "awfully wedded wife".

3. What is it with phone chargers? Star and I have got through three in the last couple of months - one lost and two dead. I just bought two cheap replacements from ebay. Will they do any better than the branded ones, I wonder?

Simple Woman's Daybook: 2nd May 2011

Outside my window ... yet another bright, sunny morning, but with a chilly breeze. Lovely spring weather after the warmest April on record.

I am thinking ... how much I love spring and summer - more so as I get older. Autumn used to be my favourite season, but now, not so much.

From the learning rooms ... everyone has gone back to school in a half-hearted sort of way - the girls had two days back last week, Wednesday and Thursday, then a four day weekend thanks to the Royal Wedding and the early May bank holiday. I have one of my two final assignments for the first module of my course left to wrap up next week, then a free week before starting the next module.

I am thankful ... Angel's hayfever medication is kicking in. I was afraid she was going to end up sneezing her way through her GCSEs. (Note to self: must remember to get her another prescription.)

From the kitchen ... baked potatoes and chilli tonight.

I am wearing ... pink pyjamas, blue dressing gown, and black and white striped socks.

I am creating ... another attempt at a summer cotton cardigan. I ran out of yarn for the last version, couldn't buy more as it is discontinued, and in any case, it had come out too large - so I took the plunge, unravelled, and have started another pattern. Fortunately, when it comes to knitting, I enjoy the process almost more than the product.

I am going ... into town for the annual May Fayre. Playing with the band this morning, then will go back with Tevye and Cherub this afternoon. Angel and Star are going with their friends.

I am reading ... The Warmth of the Heart Prevents Your Body From Rusting by Marie de Hennezel - a book about ageing I saw an enthusiastic reference to somewhere, but which I am utterly hating. I ploughed on as I had paid for it on Kindle and hoped it would get better. It hasn't.

I am hoping ... that the fairytale wedding on Friday will lead to a happy and lasting marriage.

I am hearing ... Cherub watching TV and Tevye in the kitchen.

Around the house ... Cherubic creativity. She has taken to arming herself with scissors and a glue stick, diving into the recycling bag and making random stuff - a camera made with an empty snack bar box and toilet roll tube, which she then later re-recycled by dismantling it and turning it into a house with the addition of an empty After Eight box. Then there are paper crowns, a cardboard hat (doll sized?), a "photograph" album, and who knows what else.

One of my favourite things ... my new black wedge heeled sandals for summer

A few plans for the rest of the week ... May Fayre today; polling day on Thursday (local elections and a referendum on changing the voting system); meal with neighbours on Friday; lots of work at the gym for Angel over the weekend. Otherwise back to normal routine, with dance classes for Star and Cherub, and band, orchestra and archive work for me.

A picture thought I am sharing ... This is our flower pot and our front door step - this is not, however, our cat, for all she looks thoroughly at home there! Puss lives several doors away, but is the most sociable cat I've ever met. She considers the whole street, all its inhabitants, and if she gets the chance, every house, hers.

Find instructions and links to other daybooks at The Simple Woman