Early Reading Memories Meme

Yes! Another meme! And a nice bookwormish one at that. Thank you to Faith at Dumb Ox Acadamy for tagging me.

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?

Apparently I had started reading by the time I was two, and was reading fluently at three. Mostly I taught myself. My mother taught me the alphabet, then I insisted that she must follow along with her finger as she read to me from the Ladybird Keywords books - familiar early reading fare for my generation in the UK, and the same books I used to teach Angel (Star preferred their newer, Read With Me books). From there on I just picked it up by osmosis.

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?

Many, many books. My dad was not a reader, but my mother was so there were always a lot of books around (scaling down her library is our current decluttering task - mother dear, just how many commentaries on Matthew's Gospel can one person need?). One book I still have is a Faber Book of Children's Stories, which the inscription says was given to me for my fourth birthday. Other early books I remember are Enid Blyton's Noddy books and Winnie the Pooh. My mother has old leather bound copies of the Pooh books and A.A.Milne's children's poems including a couple of first editions that used to belong to her aunt and uncle, and I remember Auntie reading to me from them.

3. What’s the first book that you bought with your own money?

I don't remember any specific books I bought, but I can remember when I was six or seven saving all my pocket money to buy books. At sixpence a week (pre-decimal coinage) it took me four or five weeks to save enough for a Puffin paperback, which in those days cost either two shillings or half a crown (two shillings and sixpence).

4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often?

Oh yes, a constant re-reader! Favourites were C.S.Lewis's Narnia books (though I disliked The Last Battle so never re-read that one), Elinor Brent Dyer's Chalet School series, historical fiction by Geoffrey Trease and Henry Treece, E Nesbit, and Noel Streatfeild, the Little House books and Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle.

5. What’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?

I can't remember! I know I read The Lord of the Rings when I was fifteen and loved it, but was certainly reading adult books before that. Another book that caught my imagination was Tolstoy's War and Peace. My interest was piqued by the BBC's 1972 serialisation, so I think I must have read that before LOTR.

6. Are there children’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?

I never enjoyed The Wind in the Willows as a child, but grew to appreciate it through reading to Angel. Although I read - and loved - Anne of Green Gables, I only discovered there were sequels a few years ago, which led to a fun reading binge.

Now for the tagging bit ... Mary G, Karen, Jenn, Jennifer and Elizabeth/Doris. Over to you!

47 out of 100

As a Bookworm, how could I resist Mary G’s challenge. Turns out I have only read a rather pathetic 47 books from this list of 100 children’s literature greats. I blame the number of American picture books that are not either well known or readily available (specifically, in the library!) here for tripping me up! Now it has me thinking … what would be the top 100 books of children’s fiction I would want to read to my children?

1. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White +
2. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
3. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss +
4. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss +
5. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak –
6. Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
7. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
8. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle +
9. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
10. The Mitten by Jan Brett +
11. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
12. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
13. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis +
14. Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawing of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein
15. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
16. Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
17. Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss +
18. Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola +
19. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst +
20. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.
21. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl +
22. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams +
23. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle +
24. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
25. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss +
26. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
27. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault -
28. Little House on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder +
29. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett +
30. The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne +
31. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner +
32. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
33. Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks +
34. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
35. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
36. The BFG by Roald Dahl +
37. The Giver by Lois Lowry
38. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
39. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl +
40. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder +
41. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
42. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien +
43. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
44. Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
45. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
46. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
47. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott +
48. The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
49. Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman +
50. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
51. Corduroy by Don Freeman
52. Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
53. Math Curse by Jon Scieszka -
54. Matilda by Roald Dahl +
55. Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
56. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary +
58. The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White +
59. Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman
60. The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis +
61. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey +
62. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss +
63. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
64. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
65. The Napping House by Audrey Wood
66. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
67. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter +
68. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
69. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum +
70. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery +
71. Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
72. Basil of Baker Street, by Eve Titus
73. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
74. The Cay by Theodore Taylor
75. Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey +
76. Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
77. Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown
78. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
79. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
80. Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder +
81. The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
82. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
83. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
84. Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish +
85. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
86. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
87. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater +
88. My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett +
89. Stuart Little by E. B. White
90. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech +
91. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare +
92. The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola
93. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
94. Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell -
95. Heidi by Johanna Spyri +
96. Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
97. The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare +
98. The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
99. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney +
100. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch

Fun idea, Mary!

Book Review: Daughter of the Wind

Title: Daughter of the Wind
Author: Suzanne Fisher Staples
Age Suitability: Young adult

I borrowed this book from the library in my quest to find "living" geography books and skimmed through to see whether it would be suitable to read to Angel. It isn't. It is too mature in content, both in certain specifics and overall. There are references to childbirth, miscarriage, physical changes at puberty and attempted abduction, all of which are "older" than I would choose to read to her. The book is set among the nomads of the Cholistan Desert in Pakistan, and the plot hinges on the arranged marriages of the main character Shabanu and her sister, Phulan. Gloria Whelan's Homeless Bird also tackled arranged marriage, but in a much gentler way. This book is quite gritty. Although I didn't read it in its entirety I was gripped by what I read - enough so to go back and read sections to fill in bits of the plot. The author is a former press correspondent in Asia who writes of what she knows and writes well. It isn't a comfortable culture, particularly for girls, and the book is not a comfortable read. Worth considering for young adults, but not suitable for younger children.

There are 56 of me

How many people with your name are there in the USA?

Angel, Star and Little Cherub are all quite select, at 98, 18 and 29 respectively. Tevye, on the other hand has no less than 1069 namesakes.

Hat tip to Lapaz Farm Home Learning.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursdays are making me count my blessings! I've been adding things I am thankful for as I have become aware of them through the week ...

1. Brass band ... for providing my girls with free music lessons and great playing experience in a family atmosphere. It is a community band ranging in age from 6 (a little boy who has just started learning cornet) to over 70, and everyone gets on well, with lots of laughing and joking along the way.

2. Hot showers ... how could I ever get going in the morning without them?

3. News that a good friend is expecting a baby next year after a long wait. Yay!!!!!!!

4. A pile of baby toys passed on to Little Cherub by another friend whose children have outgrown them.

5. Tuesday mornings ... Mass followed by a trip for a drink and snack with Angel or Star alternately. We don't manage it every week, but I'm so pleased I started this. This week was Angel's turn, and we both enjoyed hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream at a proper "grown up" coffee bar. Mass and hot chocolate with my growing girl ... that's quality time!

6. Tesco's Creamy Caramella ice cream.

7. Tevye, who took it on himself to give the cooker a long overdue clean. Greater love hath no man! (Of course, I'm thankful for him in many, many other ways, but that cooker was a reproach to me every time I used it. And still I hadn't got round to cleaning it.)

8. Autumn leaves. The colours and the wonderful crunchy feeling.

9. My digital camera. I take so many more pictures than I used to with our old camera, and they come out so much better (thanks to the delete button!)

10. Books. Can't imagine life without them.

Baby feet

These little pinkies are walking their way over to Rebecca's lovely Babylove blog where she is holding a carnival of little feet. Do pay her a visit!

The ballet dancers in the family tell me Little Cherub is practicing first position.

Like my hairstyle?

What's going on?

Do I have to have these in my hair?


Maybe it's OK ...


Hey! I look good!


Yep. That big sister got her hands on me again!

Peter Pan in Scarlet

Another book for our future reading list ... the official sequel to Peter Pan, commissioned by the trustees of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children to which the copyright of the original was gifted by J.M.Barrie.Peter Pan in Scarlet has been written by Geraldine McCaughrean, an author who specialises in retellings of classic stories but is also a fiction writer in her own right. I enjoy her retellings, but haven't read any of her original fiction. We definitely have to test this one out.

Profits from the book go to Great Ormond Street Hospital - a cause dear to us as the cardiac surgeons there saved the lives of both J-next-door and her brother D, who were both born with massive heart defects.

I love this

... marvellous slide show of November Feasts by Katherine at A Living Education.

I think Angel and I could have fun with this. I wonder if slide shows can be posted on Blogger?

Book Review: War Game

Title: War Game
Author: Michael Foreman
Age Suitability: 7 to 11

I picked this picture book up from our library's book sale a couple of weeks ago, thinking it would fit nicely with our twentieth century history focus. I pulled it out today - neatly timed after Remembrance Day - to help bridge the gap between Angel on the Square and its sequel, The Impossible Journey, which is still working its way through Amazon's order system.

The book describes how four young men from a Suffolk village enlist in the British army in 1914 and are sent to serve in the trenches. When Christmas comes, the British and Germans stop fighting and join together for a game of football in No Man's Land. After this brief respite hostilities resume and only a few days later one of the young men pays the ultimate price.

Foreman is a well known illustrator whose own pictures are mixed with some photographic images of items. There are no graphic photos of the horrors of war, though they are apparent from the text. It is a very unusual book, tackling a subject that is not normally dealt with in picture books, and in an almost poetic way. Good books on World War I are few and far between, and as a suitable introduction to the subject for younger children this one may be unique.

Book Review: Angel on the Square

Title: Angel on the Square
Author: Gloria Whelan
Age Suitability: 8 and up (as a read aloud for younger ages). I would have put a higher age on this, but Star loved it.

Our Gloria Whelan season continues. I do like her books! They are well written and enjoyable, and they cover topics for which good fiction is hard to find. Angel on the Square is the first of a quartet of books set in twentieth century Russia. It tells the story of the Russian Revolution from the inside - the main character, Katya, is the teenage daughter of a countess who becomes lady-in-waiting to the Empress Alexandra. Living at the imperial palace, she shares the lives of the Tsar's four daughters and is companion to the youngest, Anastasia. Thanks to her student cousin Misha, she also sees something of the hardship endured by ordinary Russians.

There is a fair amount of historical information woven into the story. It gives a glimpse of the causes of the Revolution, and distinguishes between its two phases - the initial, moderate Revolution led by Kerensky, and Lenin's October Revolution. The Tsar and his family become real people to the reader, as does the Queen's evil genius, Rasputin (you may want to be aware that the book includes a brief episode in which Rasputin tries to assault a servant girl).

If this book whets your appetite for reading about the Russian Revolution, another I would recommend is The White Nights of St.Petersburg by Geoffrey Trease. Better for an older audience - say 12 and up? Not because of any inappropriate content, but just because it is more complex. This one has a young man as the leading character, so may be a better choice for older boys. Sadly, it is out of print (as are many of Trease's books - a shame as he wrote some great historical fiction).

Remembrance Day

Yesterday was Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War (at the 11th hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month). In the UK the Sunday nearest to Armistice Day is Remembrance Day, and services are held throughout the country to remember those who lost their lives in the two World Wars and other conflicts. Angel was booked to play with the brass band for the Remembrance Day service in a nearby village, so we all trotted off to Mass last night to leave this morning free. It is many years since I attended one of these services, which are very much a part of the Church of England's role as the established (state) Church. I found it both moving and sad, in a number of ways.

The service began in the parish Church, which in size and splendour outdoes all but a few of this country's Catholic Churches. And this is a village Church, remember. Admittedly it has the advantage of being the local Church of the Dukes of Bedford, who had it built in splendid Gothic style to replace the original medieval building in the nineteenth century. It would make a perfect setting for traditional Catholic liturgy, with the altar set against the East end in front of a magnificent gilded reredos, approached by a long, stepped chancel. Add soaring stone pillars and a canopied pulpit and you get the idea. But how empty it felt. No tabernacle. No Real Presence. No candles (apart from two in front of the altar). No sense that it was a place of prayer at any time other than during formal services. Yet the Church of England does tradition and language magnificently, and even in a short, austere service I felt that. Hymns accompanied by the brass band, echoing in the high building; an old man in uniform and medals marching with the flag of the Royal British Legion; collects with lots of "thy" and "thine"; the vicar asking the congregation to be "quiet, discreet, orderly, and fairly quick" in processing to the war memorial, and being obeyed to the letter (in my experience Catholic processions have an inevitable tendency towards disorganisation). It left me feeling a double sense of loss, for the Presence that would fill the emptiness, and despite that a sadness that English society is losing (or has already lost) something central as people abandon the Church of England in droves.

From the Church on to the war memorial, and another sense of loss that moves me deeply even ninety years after the First World War. I find those lists of names of young men who went to war and never returned, carved on stone memorials like this one in villages and towns across the country, utterly haunting. In this village alone, the count was thirty-nine dead in the First War and five more in the Second. The British War Memorial project is trying to identify as many of these names as possible. The partially completed online Roll of Honour gives a sense of the scale of the catastrophe by putting flesh on the bones of all those who died for king and country.

Wreaths of poppies were placed on the memorial, including two by old soldiers wearing rows of medals. The old soldiers are few and far between now, with veterans of the Second World War now in their eighties. In a very few years there will be no survivors of the Great War at all - the tiny handful that remain are already well past one hundred. A minute's silence to remember, followed by the Last Post played by a solo cornet.

Lest we forget ...

Prizewinner Star!

Star's prize from the Halloween quiz draw at the children's farm arrived today ... gift vouchers for two annual passes, one for her, one for an adult. She is thrilled. So am I! This farm has a magnificent new indoor play area - three serious slides and lots of scope for climbing, swinging and generally having fun, plus separate areas for toddlers and under 5s - and lots of outdoor play equipment as well as the farm animals and activities. It is only 15 minutes away, so passes mean we can go just for an hour or so to run off energy in the winter as well as for whole days in the school holidays. Under 2s are free, so all I need to add is a pass for Angel and we are set.

Wish blogger had big smileys I could add :).

Menu: Week 2

On the menu for next week (Week 2 of my four week rotation) ...

Sunday
Lunch: Turkey joint, roast potatoes and vegetables
Dinner: Sandwiches

Monday
Lunch: Pitta bread and houmous
Dinner: Crockpot beef and mushrooms, peas

Tuesday
Lunch: Poached eggs on toast
Dinner: Pasta with chicken, red pesto and creme fraiche (very easy, Star ate this with green pesto when visiting a friend and nagged until I asked for the recipe)

Wednesday
Lunch: Cheese bagels
Dinner: Shepherd's pie, carrots

Thursday
Lunch: Tuna and cucumber sandwiches
Dinner: Grilled chicken, potato wedges, green veg

Friday
Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Salmon, rice or potato, sweetcorn

Saturday
Lunch: Vegetable soup and crusty bread (homemade soup with carrot, swede - rutabaga? - and potato)
Dinner: Homemade scones and cake (more of an afternoon tea than a dinner!)

Most days we have fruit for dessert after dinner, depending on what is on offer at any given time. This week it has been mainly pineapple and satsuma. Occasionally I will cook something, but not often. A friend gave me surplus apples from her tree, so I ought to make something with them - probably an apple crumble on Sunday.

Thankful Thursday

I am too late for the thankfulness carnival organised by Lisa at Joyful Chaos, but I'm going to join in anyway! For the big things, see Elizabeth's list at Frabjous Days. Saves me typing a pretty much identical one. Beyond those, here are ten things I am thankful for today ...

1. My mother has found a house at a price she can afford (just!) only five minutes safe and easy walk from ours. This is after her house sold last week within seven days of being put on the market, and for a better price than we expected. (Thank you God! Prayers that everything will go smoothly appreciated - there is no guarantee here that property transactions will go through until all legal formalities are completed, which could take two or three months.)

2. Our new car, which means I can transport the items liberated from the clutter monster (all the more important now her house move is looking imminent), assorted children, baby stuff, musical instruments and the ridiculous amounts of paraphernalia our life seems to involve ... and there are no puddles in the footwell. Joy!

3. Breastfeeding. It means I get to spend loads of time sitting down snuggling my Cherub. And she is getting the best possible nutrition. Double whammy :)

4. Mars Bars. Better still, Mars Bars on special offer so that I can justify keeping a stash of them. And thanks to 3, I have an excuse for eating them ;).

5. Star found the missing king from our Playmobil nativity set - before Christmas, not after - and the missing base from the Playmobil swing set.

6. Central heating, especially now that autumn has finally arrived and it is turning chilly.

7. My laptop, which brings the world not just to my living room, but right to my sofa.

8. National Health Service dentistry, which means we will not have to pay a penny for Angel's orthodontic treatment.

9. Star received an email to say that her entry in a Halloween quiz competition at a nearby children's farm had won a prize. It didn't say what the prize was, but we think we remember the leaflet mentioning a free pass for a year (we didn't take much notice as we never, ever win these things!)

10. The nice chilled glass of white wine Tevye is about to bring me ...

PS. Glass has arrived!

Latin Prep

Love it! This is one of the books from Galore Park we are using this year, and so far I am thoroughly impressed. I am also delighted with the way Star is taking to Latin. Will it last, I wonder?

Why do I like Latin Prep?

• Clear, lively explanations
• Solid grammar
  
• Gives a sense of achievement by including "real" Latin translations from the beginning.
• Short exercises
• Includes English to Latin translation as well as Latin to English

This is only our sixth week using the book, and Star is already able to translate simple paragraphs. She was also able to grasp the concept of subject and object very quickly thanks to the explanation in Latin Prep.

It is a secular book, but my own experience is that it is easy to follow Church Latin if you have a classical Latin background. As someone who does know a reasonable amount of Latin it is hard to say for sure how easy it would be for someone with no Latin to teach from, but I think it would be do-able, particularly as there is an answer key available.

The biggest downside I have found so far is that the book is not very robust and is already falling apart under the strain of Star's carelessness (Oops! Dropped the book ... Oops! Crumpled pages while flicking back to look at vocabulary ... Oops! A page fell out ...) My fault for failing to train my daughter in the art of caring for books, I'm afraid - but nothing I can't fix with book tape.

Cool baby!

Angel and J-next-door got their hands on Little Cherub and the camera this afternoon ... and this was the result!

Yorkshire pudding

While I'm on a roll with menus and recipes ...

Yorkshire pudding is a batter pudding usually eaten with roast beef. In Yorkshire it was traditionally served in large slabs with gravy before the beef itself - the idea being that the stodgy pudding would fill up empty stomachs if poverty made the main course meagre. It can be made either as one large pudding, or as individual muffin sized puddings (my preference).

Ingredients (makes 12)
4 oz (1 cup) flour
½ pint (1¼ cups) milk
1 egg
Pinch of salt

Method
Mix ingredients and whisk. Leave to stand for 30 minutes.
Heat oven to Gas Mark 7 (425 deg). Brush muffin tins with oil and heat.
Whisk batter again.
Half fill muffin tins with batter.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until risen and golden.
Serve immediately.

If you want one large pudding, bake in an 8 x 11 inch roasting tin or 9 inch square cake tin for about 30 to 35 minutes.

Chicken, mushroom and potato bake

The chicken and potato bake on yesterday's dinner menu mutated from the recipe I planned to use and came out well enough to get positive votes all round. If I post the adapted recipe here, I have a fighting chance of being able to recreate it next time this week's menu comes round ...

Ingredients (Serves 4)
4 chicken portions, cooked (I actually used three large chicken breasts)
4 large or 6 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed with butter
1 can condensed mushroom soup
8oz mushrooms, sliced
Soy sauce (about 1/2 tablespoon)
Garlic salt (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Instructions
Mix can of soup with half a can of water (I used water in which I had simmered the chicken breasts), soy sauce and garlic salt.
Layer mushrooms, chicken and soup mix.
Spread potato over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes at Gas Mark 6 / 400 deg

Could easily be made in advance ready to bake, and would freeze well.

Fifth of November

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot ...

Yesterday was Bonfire Night, when bonfires and fireworks mark the anniversary of the failed attempt by Guido (Guy) Fawkes and his fellow Catholic plotters to blow up the Houses of Parliament and its occupants. Appalled by King James I's failure to reverse the policy of Queen Elizabeth I and at least tolerate Catholic worship, they decided to take action and blow up the king along with his government. The ins and outs of the plot, which may or may not have been partly fostered by King James' spymaster Robert Cecil, are still something of a mystery. From the point of view of the beleaguered English Catholic community, the Gunpowder Plot was a disaster. The leader of the English Jesuits, Father Henry Garnet, knew about the plot in advance and tried to prevent it. However, he was bound by the seal of confession and therefore unable to act against the plotters. After the plot was discovered, he was martyred. English Catholics were tarred with the brush of treason and suffered greater persecution than before. A national day of celebration was decreed to mark the failure of the plot.

So what did we do to mark the day. As Catholics, did we - should we? - avoid Bonfire Night celebrations? Er, no ... we went with friends to a firework display at the school in a nearby village, then back to their house for drinks, eats, and the opportunity to let off rockets in their garden. These days many people have no idea of the origins of Bonfire Night, and even those who know that Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament have no idea of the religious impetus behind the plot. With one or two rare exceptions (the town of Lewes in Sussex still burns an effigy of the pope on a bonfire) there is absolutely no anti-Catholic sentiment or Protestant triumphalism involved. We just enjoy the fireworks and the tradition of sharing the evening with friends - we have spent Bonfire Night with the same family for the last ten years, and it is one of the highlights of the girls' year. I take the view that it offers an opportunity to remember the tragic history of Catholicism in this country ... that done, we go along and have fun.