7 Very Quick Takes

1. The next three weeks are going to be hairy. I have a short piece of assessed work, an essay and a report to write for my course. That is on top of working 4.5 days a week, band stuff and an orchestra concert. And trying to at least feed and pay some attention to my family.

2. Once I hand in that work my current module is done and I am taking a break until February next year, partly because there is only so much I can pack into a week and partly because of the timetabling of the courses I want to take. Then six months more of hard work and the studying will be done.

3. Once this module is finished I will get back to reading. I'm still determined to get through 52 books in 52 weeks and I have some catching up to do.

4. I will also try to get on top of the housework. For now, Tevye is managing to stop us disappearing under a layer of dirt and clutter. Really, the number of hours in a week only stretch so far.

5. I have discovered it is possible to sleep less and survive. Sometimes downtime is more important than sleep. I yawn a lot, though!

6. Menu planning is my friend.

7. I may not blog again until the assignments are done. (Yes, I know I haven't been blogging much anyway!)

Now We Are Six!

Rose celebrated her 6th birthday on Friday. And then again on Sunday with a party for her school friends. We ended up with 13 small people altogether, who were perfectly happy playing old-fashioned party games and picnicking on blankets on the floor. (The weather thinks it is November, not June, making planning anything outdoors impossible). Marie produced beautifully decorated cupcakes for the occasion, and did a great job of helping a couple of small, shy little people. Most of the photos have other people's children in them so I won't share them here, but here is a picture of the cakes:

A few snippets about our new six year old:

1) She reads! Since she got her glasses her reading has improved rapidly (she can see the letters! Duh!) and she now curls up in bed and reads to herself before settling down for the night - a mix of picture books and short chapter books.

2) She is still petite - 108cm (42.5 inches) tall, and I think weighs about 36lbs. I don't have any scales so had to extrapolate from her last weigh in. She is still light enough to pick up and carry fairly easily, which I'm sure her sisters weren't at the same age.

3) She is a bit aggrieved that she is the only child in her school peer group who hasn't yet had a visit from the tooth fairy, and doesn't even have a wobbly tooth to suggest one is imminent.

4) She likes words.Numbers not so much!

5) She is a little homebody, often preferring to stay home and play rather than go places if given the choice.

6) She is still very timid, with a list of things she doesn't do and places she won't go. Sometimes she surprises me though. She has been invited to a horse-riding party next weekend and is full of excitement at the idea of getting to ride a horse, which I thought would worry her.

7) She adores her big sisters, and is particularly close to Marie who loves to spend time with her and lavish attention on her. They often have sleepovers together, usually involving a "midnight feast" - though as experience shows that once Rose is asleep she will not wake on demand, the midnight feasts usually happen around 8.30 before she settles down for the night.

8) She loves Sylvanian Families (Calico Critters in the US , I think) and Playmobil.

9) She is learning to swim, though it is a slow process. She started swimming lessons in September and is just beginning to swim a few yards independently.

10) She hates loud noises. Loud music has her sticking her fingers in her ears, though somehow a gaggle of squealing small girls seems to be tolerable!

Books 15, 16, 17 and 18

You see, I have been reading, just not blogging, so I'm going to shove all of the four books I have read recently into one catch up post. I'm still a little behind on my 52 books in 52 weeks, but not disastrously so.

Book 15: N is for Not Fade Away: the Life and Music of Buddy Holly (John Gribbin)

A Kindle offer which I picked up because I'm a long time fan of Buddy Holly's music but didn't know anything about him beyond the version of his story shown in the stage show. I like John Gribbin too, who usually writes very readable books about science and the history of science. Buddy Holly comes across in the book as a genuinely nice, likeable young man of enormous talent. Such a tragedy that he died so young.

Book 16: Bucks, Beds and Bricks (Jean Blane Flannery)

This one was a local history Kindle find. The title refers to the counties of Buckinghamshire (Bucks), Bedfordshire (Beds) and the brick making industry which has been a feature in this area from a very early date (villages named Brickhill were mentioned in Domesday Book in the 11th century). I was hoping to find out more about the brick industry but that turned out to be essentially incidental to a straightforward childhood memoir - the author's father worked for the London Brick Company during her 1940s and 50s childhood. The book was still an interesting read as many of the places she mentions are familiar to me and it brought back many childhood memories. Life was easier by the 1960s but there was also much that hadn't changed, at least in the homes of older relatives if not our own.

Book 17: O is for Our Man in Orlando (Hugh Hunter) 

I found this searching Amazon's Kindle store rather randomly for a book with O in the title! I think I was looking under a "travel" heading and this one turned up. Hugh Hunter spent a number of years as the British Consul in Florida, dealing with the various crises suffered by Britons abroad, ranging from lost passports to imprisonment on death row for murder - apparently more British subjects get arrested in Florida than anywhere else in the world outside the UK. It was generally and interesting and entertaining read, though the author's style grated at times and I wasn't at all impressed with his casual treatment of his girlfriend!

Book 18: Cockney Girl (Gilda Moss Haber)

Like Bucks, Beds and Bricks this book turned out not to be what I expected. I downloaded it because I am interested in the Jewish East End where Tevye lived as a child and thought this biography of a Jewish Girl growing up in Bethnal Green in the 1930s and 40s would give me an insight into Jewish life at that time. In fact, for most of her childhood the author had little contact with the Jewish community, except through her religiously observant but distant maternal grandparents. Her parents were Jewish but non-practicing, and her family was acutely disfunctional with a mother whose own parents had shown her no affection and who was herself unable to show any affection for her child. Gilda was frequently sent away from home and at one time was abandoned in an orphanage for months with nothing more than occasional letters from her mother. She spent the entire war as a refugee in East Anglia, again with little contact with her family, until she finally found a measure of love and acceptance in a home for displaced Jewish children (all the others were refugees from Hitler's Europe). Overall it was a rather sad book. I read to the end but was left with a sense of unfinished business as there was no real explanation of why the relationships within her family were so cold, or whether they were ever resolved.

Wrest Park

We are having a cold, wet and miserable spring here, but it finally stopped raining at the weekend and Tevye, Rose and myself went on a trip to Wrest Park in Bedfordshire. I had been learning quite a bit about the Wrest Park archives at work which whetted my appetite for a visit. The last time I went there - maybe 15 years ago? - was to an open air classical music concert. Since then English Heritage have done a lot of work restoring the gardens. Now it is a relatively undiscovered gem - one of the most important examples of an early 18th century landscape in the UK. Photos are from my phone, and something has gone peculiar with the sky and clouds between phone, iPad and blogging app. I intended to sort this out, but as I have already been sitting on this post since the beginning of the week I am giving up and posting the pictures as they are.

The house - only a few rooms are open to the public. It has not been lived in as a stately home for several decades. During the war it was the headquarters of a life assurance company, then until quite recently it was used as an agricultural college.

The view from the pavilion to the house - the photo doesn't do it justice. After the long lake there is a huge lawn, part of which was taken up with croquet pitches. We guessed from the layout that they must hold some sort of championships there.




The pavilion. Somehow I didn't take any pictures inside. Narrow doors lead to narrow, steep spiral stairs leading up to two tiny bedrooms and down to a "two seater" bathroom below.




Woodland garden. Grassy lanes lead to statues, follies and summer houses. There is also a cemetery for the family's dogs tucked into one corner.




Chinese bridge. Complete with nesting swan and her mate.




Rose had a lot of fun doing a children's activity trail. Lots of things to draw and to look for.




The orangery.




Rose playing a "help the housekeeper get dinner on the table" version of snakes and ladders. The house has an information area which includes some nice hands on activities for kids.




A view from the edge of the gardens across the Bedfordshire countryside.

Readjusting

Whew! Life is whizzing past at quite a rate! I am settling into working pretty much full time (I get Friday afternoons off at the moment) and after two weeks I'm pleasantly surprised by how well it is working out. Tevye and I are cooking dinner between us - I plan and leave instructions as he is either already home or gets home earlier than I do, or I put something in the crockpot and he cooks veggies. Cherub went to after school club for the first time today and liked it - one of the girls in her class goes on Mondays and they played together. The big girls pick her up on their way home from school, so she only needs to go for about 40 minutes. The rest of the week either Tevye or I can still collect her. And so far I am loving the new job. More about that another time.

I meant to post pictures after Tevye's nephew's wedding - I put some on Facebook but never got round to posting them here. They are only iPhone pictures but you get the idea!

This England: Anthems

I meant to do this neatly and post yesterday to coincide with St. George's day, but it didn't happen. Rather bizarrely for a country that has existed in more or less its present form for well over a thousand years, England does not have an official national anthem. At sporting events where the constituent parts of the United Kingdom field separate teams the English team usually plays God Save the Queen, which is the British national anthem, while the Welsh play Land of our Fathers and the Scottish Flower of Scotland. I was listening to a discussion about English anthems on the radio on the way to work yesterday. They were holding a public vote on the best choice, and there were three very clear front runners. All of them are well known and loved tunes. 

(1) Jerusalem - William Blake's poem based on the supposed visit of the boy Jesus to Glastonbury, set to music by Herbert Parry. This is now used as the English anthem at the Commonwealth Games.

(2) I Vow to Thee My Country - from Holst's Planets Suite (Jupiter)

(3) Land of Hope and Glory - one of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches. I already included this in my post about Elgar, but here is another version. Played before England rugby matches.

So which would you choose?

Marmite: Love It or Hate It

This pretty much sums up all you need to know about marmite.

I Went Clothes Shopping!

Fashion is not a topic that comes up often on this blog, but I went on a major clothes shopping expedition last Saturday and can't resist sharing the fruits of the most shopping fun I've had in a long while. The main purpose was to find a dress to wear for a wedding - Tevye's nephew S gets married tomorrow! - and it needed to be something that would double up for our special celebration holiday in the summer. I can't remember whether I mentioned it before, but we are going on a cruise in August to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary. We have never done anything like it before, and it will definitely require additions to my decidedly non-dressy wardrobe. That meant that as well as a dress for the wedding I was hoping I might find other dresses suitable for formal and semi-formal evenings on the ship.

I have never been a dressy, clothes oriented person, but I have found that a combination of getting older and having teenage daughters has led me to enjoy clothes more than I used to and to be a bit more confident in trying new things. I have also lost weight and being able to shop for smaller sizes was definitely fun! I have gone from a size 16/18 to a comfortable 14 (in US sizing I think that is a 10?), which made me feel a bit more adventurous. Also I was shopping alone, which meant I could take my time and experiment without anyone losing patience!

Here are the results of my successful shopping spree. First, for the wedding, a dress from Monsoon. (I had never bought anything in Monsoon before. They wrap the clothes in tissue paper before putting them into the bag. I felt very upmarket!)

Together with a matching shrug. The colour is called "peacock". I love that!


Then another shop where I have only ever looked, but not bought - it rarely seems to have much above a size 14 in stock. This was Jane Norman, which was very considerately having a 25% off day. This is my "wow" dress for formal evenings on the ship. I can't see any other occasion to wear it in my immediate future, but it was very reasonably priced, and I have never had a dress like this before. Yes. It is very pink. I like pink.



Then continuing the pink theme I found this shift dress in Marks and Spencer. Again it was reasonably priced, and I think I will be able to get quite a lot of wear out of this one. It has a scooped neckline at the back with a bow, and an all-over lacy pattern.




And last but not least, shoes ... Marks and Spencer again. These are surprisingly comfy, and I can wear them with any of the dresses.




Really, these are all very unlike my normal dressing style (casual or smart casual) but I'm actually looking forward to wearing them.

This England: Marmite

Marmite on hot buttered toast ...

Marmite sandwiches ...

Marmite flavoured crisps (potato chips) ...

Marmite flavoured cashew nuts ...

Mmmm!!!!!

Does that make you think "yum"? Or "yuck"? Or "huh????"

Marmite is a peculiarly British delicacy, which even here is definitely in the "love it or hate it" category - so much so that there have been adverts based on the "love it or hate it" theme and the official Marmite website has different entry portals for lovers and haters. In our family Helen and I are the lovers and Tevye, Marie and Rose the haters. In my experience Americans tend to be baffled by marmite (basing this on expat homeschooling friends!) as it doesn't come with instructions and they don't know what to do with it. Marmite is a very salty, yeast extract based ... can't think of the right word to describe it ... goo? The consistency is a little similar to chocolate spread, but trying to use it like chocolate spread would be a disaster as it is very strong tasting. The key to marmite is that a very little goes a long way. Marmite on buttered toast is particularly good as the marmite kind of melts into the butter. Marmite is even good for you (if you ignore the high salt content!) as it contains lots of B vitamins. According to Wikipedia marmite was used in the 1930s in experiments which identified folic acid for the first time. Last but not least, the jar shape and labelling is an instantly recognisable iconic design to anyone living in England.

So ... Marmite. Do you love it or hate it?

Book 14: M is for Marigold

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: A Novel by Deborah Moggach

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One advantage of a long weekend suffering from a cold and mostly spent sitting limply on the sofa is that I have had plenty of time to read!  Tevye and I saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at the cinema last month. We loved it and inspired by the film I added the book to my Kindle. The film was warm, colourful and life-affirming. The premise is that a group of English pensioners travel to India to spent their later years in a ramshackle retirement home known as the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The cast is magnificent, a roll call of some of the best of the older generation of British actors - Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, and Maggie Smith as a racist old Cockney sent to India for hip replacement surgery. Some adjust to their new surroundings better than others; one is able to rediscover his past; others find friendship and even romance. A sub-plot involves the young Indian hotel owner-manager and his relationships with his family and girlfriend. India itself forms a vibrant and colourful backdrop to the story.

The book - previously published as These Foolish Things - is very different. This is one of those films that is most definitely not faithful to the original. The book is grittier and more graphic. It is as much about the middle-aged children of the hotel residents and their relationships with their parents, wives, husbands and lovers as it is about the elderly characters themselves. The film writes the children out more or less completely, leaving the spotlight solely on the residents of the Marigold Hotel and the Indian characters. In the book the idea of the retirement home in India comes from the son-in-law of an old man who has been thrown out of several British homes for sexually harassing the staff; in the film it is the enterprising young Indian Sonny who thinks of marketing his hotel to an elderly clientele. In the book Sonny is 30 years older than he is in the film, and that is just for starters - relationships between the characters are quite different, plots have been transferred to different characters or just plain changed, one character who dies in the book survives in the film, and so it goes on. Beyond the basic premise and the names of the characters, the book and the film are really completely different animals. On the whole I enjoyed the book and found it a quick and easy read, though it was disconcerting in that it felt like entering a parallel universe, one where the world of the Marigold Hotel and its inmates was darker and more complex than the lighter, fluffier - and to me more enjoyable - world of the film. I wonder whether if I had read the book first I would have found the film disappointingly light and fluffy?

For more reviews visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks

This England: Edward Elgar

One of the pieces I played in my orchestra concert a couple of weeks ago was Elgar's Enigma Variations, which is one of the best loved pieces in the English classical repertoire. Here is the best of the best ... the ninth variation, Nimrod, played by a military band at the national commemoration of Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph in London.

Edward Elgar was born near Worcester in 1857, the son of a piano tuner and musician. He had little formal musical training and was a self-taught composer. After a short spell as a clerk he became a music teacher, conductor and musician. His reputation as a composer grew slowly during the 1890s until 1899 when the Enigma Variations was first performed to great acclaim. He was knighted in 1904, produced his last great work, his cello concerto, in 1919, and died in 1934. He was one of the first composers to make gramophone recordings of his own works. The house where Elgar was born is now a museum and the statue below stands near the cathedral in Worcester.

Elgar's other best known contribution to English music is the Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, which as "Land of Hope and Glory" has become one of the unofficial national anthems of England along with Blake's "Jerusalem". Here it is played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms (a post in itself!) and sung enthusiastically by the Promenaders (the music starts two and a half minutes into the clip).

Finally, here is a short extract from Elgar's Cello Concerto, performed by Jacqueline du Pré.

Book 13: L is for Letters

Letters From the Trenches: A Soldier of the Great War by Bill Lamin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A quick and easy read, this book is a spin off from a blog on which Bill Lamin posted a series of letters sent by his grandfather during World War I in "real time" 90 years after they were first sent. The book combines the letters with extracts from the war diary of Harry Lamin's regiment and biographical details of his grandfather and his family. The letters were written by Harry to his brother Jack and sister Kate and run from early in 1917 when Harry was conscripted through to his final demobilisation in January 1920. Harry fought at Ypres and Passchendaele before being sent to the Italian front where he remained through the end of the war and its aftermath. His letters were simple and often repetitive, but when set in the context of the regimental diary it becomes clear just how understated they were - he described the hell that was Passchendaele as "a bit rough". Overall, a fascinating insight into World War I as seen through the eyes of an ordinary soldier from a Nottinghamshire village.

For more reviews visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks

This England

Linds suggested in the comments to my England post that I set this series up with a Mister Linky so that other people can join in. I have never used Mister Linky before, but I gave it a go and it looks as though it works! So here is the meme:

• Write about anything you like that you consider typically English - of course some will be equally applicable to the rest of the United Kingdom, but the meme is intended to celebrate England and all things English.
• Come over here and add your post to the Mister Linky. I will aim to put up a new post every Saturday, but you can add yours at any time.
• Put a picture of the English flag either into your post or on your sidebar. I am posting large and small flags below that you can use (they are free clipart downloaded from Aspex Designs).
• The title of the meme is "This England" taken from this speech in Shakespeare's Richard II: 

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, 

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-paradise,

This fortress built by Nature for herself

Against infection and the hand of war, 

This happy breed of men, this little world,

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall, 

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands, 

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Book 12: K is for Knitting

Knitting Around the World: A Multistranded History of a Time-Honored Tradition by Lela Nargi

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I bought this book with a gift voucher because it looked beautiful. The illustrations of different styles of knitting, both modern and historical, are stunning. But the text! Never has a book been so sorely in need of a good editor. From about 30 pages in I admired the pictures and skimmed the rest.

For more reviews visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks

This England: Evenin' All

A combination of spring and the upcoming Diamond Jubilee made me think it would be nice to do a series of England themed posts about things, people or aspects of life here that make me happy and that I think of as particularly English.

First up ... we have a police force in which it is the exception not the norm for officers to carry firearms (this of course also applies to Wales and Scotland, not just England). While there are designated armed response units and certain specialist forces carry arms - police with machine guns at airports are now routine, for example - most policemen and women do not. Todays police force isn't in the Dixon of Dock Green era any more, but it is one of very, very few in the world that is not routinely armed. The only others I found in a quick search were Iceland, New Zealand and Norway.

Dixon of Dock Green, the lead character in a gentle British TV series which ran from 1955 to 1976. Dixon  fought petty crime in the East End of London armed only with his trusty truncheon! Each programme began with the catchphrase "evenin' all" - which police in certain forces are no longer supposed to say, as apparently the word "evening" is subjective. Huh?

A few English police facts:

• The first English police force was set up in London in 1829 by Robert Peel. The nickname "bobbies" for policemen came from his name.
• Police cars were traditionally black and white, so became known as "panda" cars.
• Some police patrol on bicycles. The Metropolitan (London) Police force has 1500 police bikes.
• The last policeman killed in the line of duty was PC Gary Toms of the Metropolitan Police in April 2009. 
• In 2010 there were 143,743 full time equivalent officers serving in 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Free clipart flag from Aspex Designs

Book 11: Jilted Generation

Jilted Generation: How Britain Has Bankrupted Its Youth by Ed Howker

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I felt like a break from my A to Z reading challenge and picked up (can you "pick up" a book on a Kindle?) this book which I bought recently as a Kindle Daily Deal. It looks at the ways in which those aged under 30 in Britain get a raw deal compared to their parents' generation. It is divided into chapters on housing, jobs, inheritance and politics. Some of the points made are interesting and thought provoking, but there were sections where I felt the authors were either misinterpreting the evidence or being over selective in their use of facts to support their points. Overall it left me with as many questions as answers.

For more reviews visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Book 10: J is for Jobs

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am an Apple geek - Windows makes me shudder! - and have been wanting to read this biography of Steve Jobs since it was published at the end of last year. I was intrigued to find out what made Jobs tick and just how he managed to come up with products that have, quite literally, changed the world - graphical user interfaces for computers (remember the DOS prompts that they replaced?), digital music players, smartphones and tablet computers. Apple was the first company to popularise all of those products because in each case it produced something simple, beautiful and user friendly.

So how did Jobs do it? By being a flawed genius. He knew when something was right, he knew good design, and his aim was always to make the best possible product rather than to maximize profits. He was a visionary who refused to do market research because he didn't care what customers thought they wanted - his aim was to make the things they didn't yet know that they would want. The flaws? He was a control freak, temperamental, self-centred and often utterly horrendous to deal with - yet that control freakery and his determination that the laws of the possible didn't apply to him or to Apple (people who knew him called it his reality distortion field) meant that time and again he was able to achieve the seemingly impossible. It may also ultimately have killed him, or at least shortened his life, because his refusal to accept that it was necessary led him to put off surgery on his pancreatic cancer for several months.

The book was written at Jobs' instigation and with his approval, though he knew that it would not always be flattering. It is well written, and so far as I can tell well researched and balanced. I found the insight into Jobs' personality and the history of the various Apple products fascinating. Goodreads marker for 5 stars is "absolutely amazing", so maybe not quite a 5 star but if I could I'd give it a 4 and a half.

All Change!

Another week that whizzed by at 100 miles per hour!

The good news ... after my interview on Thursday I was offered a part-time job as an archivist. This means that from the middle of April I will have TWO jobs in the same place - I will still be doing 2.5 days a week cataloguing and will also be working as an archivist for another 2 days a week. That adds up to pretty much full time, which is a bit scary! In September the hours will change to 2 days a week cataloguing and 3 days a week as an archivist, so will be truly full time. Fortunately that is only going to be a temporary thing. When my existing contract expires in July 2013 I will be left with the three days a week archivist's job, which is exactly what I was hoping for when I started out on this road. So, the next year or so is going to be pretty hectic.

Working full time isn't ideal but it is manageable, though I'm glad it is only going to be temporary. Fortunately Tevye works at home two days a week and will be able to get home early enough on one other day to collect Rose from school. I will be able to collect her on Fridays, and she will go to after school club for about three-quarters of an hour on Mondays until Helen can pick her up on her way home from school. Between my holidays from work (I get 26 days annual leave), Tevye's work at home days and some baby sitting help from Helen and Marie we can cover school holidays without it getting too stressful.

Oh, and I'm still going to be studying for my archive qualification. Eek! I'm looking forward to starting the job and getting the chance to put theory into practice though.

Muthers Day

Today is Mother's Day in the UK, or "Muthers Day" as Rose spells it. (If you are Catholic, note the liturgical connection - Mother's Day falls on Laetare Sunday, a day of celebration in the middle of Lent.) She presented me with a poem she wrote on the computer at school - all her own idea, done independently - which I just have to share:

My Mum

My mum kind
She is polite
Her voice is sweet

My mum is pretty
She is lovely

My mum is clever
She is always cuddling me
Her hair is byootfall

My mum is cute
She is lovable
Her vois is pretty and soft

Almost entirely inaccurate - for starters my hair is not byootfall, neither is my voice pretty and soft! - but super, super cute.

7 Quick Takes: 16th March 2012

It has been a while since I did one of these ...

1. Yesterday was Helen's 17th birthday. In the UK that is the magic age for DRIVING! She has her provisional licence ready to go and will be heading off for her first driving lesson after school today. Before she is allowed to drive solo she has to pass a theory test and a rigorous practical test. She has saved the money to pay for her lessons and we have said we will insure our small car for her to drive. Fortunately it is in a low insurance group - car insurance for teenagers is horrendously expensive.

2. Changes are happening at work and I have an internal job interview next Thursday. If all goes well things will be good but busy!

3. This week's most bizarre parenting moment ... Marie phoned just after she had left for school to say she had just remembered she urgently needed a pair of chopsticks painting black for that evening. Apparently she had promised her ballet teacher she would take them to use as wands (no, I don't know why!). And yes, I was very kind and found and painted a pair for her.

4. Odd question this morning from Rose ... is it earwigs or woodlice that bite? As far as I am aware neither of them do, but she is convinced she has been bitten by one or the other. We came to the conclusion that if she really had been bitten by one of them then it must be an earwig. So, I'll pass the question on ... do earwigs bite???

5. I am now driving instead of catching the train to work. Since I have been working longer hours it was getting more and more of a juggling act to fit in my hours around train times - there is only one train an hour which meant I was losing a lot of the benefit of flexible working hours. The drive takes me about 40 minutes, which isn't too bad.

6. J-next-door (age 17) is now an apprentice hairdresser and is here doing a job lot of hair cuts - Mum, Rose and myself. She has wanted to be a hairdresser since she was two (really!) and worked in hair salons as a Saturday girl for two and a half years before starting her apprenticeship last summer. She is very good!

7. Small siblings of teenage sisters tend to be precociously aware of social media. Marie told Rose that she would take a photo of her in her new glasses. "Yes," said Rose, full of enthusiasm, "and then you can put it on Facebook!"

Visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes