This Week: 19th November 2012

The weather ... alternating between dull late autumn weather and bright late autumn weather.

I am wearing ... Black trousers, dark red long sleeved t-shirt, black cardigan, black boots

I am reading ... almost finished To The Island by Meaghan Delahunt on the Kindle. I picked it up as a deal of the day because of the Greek setting and have found it well written and readable, though not the type of book I would normally choose.

I am creating ... socks and sweater. Still.

I am listening ... to Rose snoring. She climbed into my bed ten minutes ago, apparently awake. Not that awake, it seems!

I am watching watched ... Skyfall at the cinema, and Testament of Youth on DVD. This was a dramatisation of Vera Brittain's book about her life during the First World War which made a deep impression on me when I watched it as a teenager in the 70s. Well worth watching again

I am enjoying ... the Oxford English Dictionary word of the year for 2012, "omnishambles", meaning a situation which is so badly managed that every aspect of it is shambolic. Last week my life was an omnishambles, hence the lack of blogging. Nothing major, just a series of family issues (across three generations) and minor mishaps which accumulated into a state of overall chaos. I was delighted to find I could encompass the whole situation in a single word!

Learning notes ... Rose has just started violin lessons at school. She brought a letter home about it a few weeks ago, but by the time she had remembered to collect the letter and give it to me the teacher's list was full. She now has an extra slot so was able to take Rose, who is having a shared lesson with a friend in her class.

On the menu ...
Monday: chicken pie, butternut squash, sprouts, potato
Tuesday: fish and chips
Wednesday: chicken casserole with dumplings
Thursday: toad in the hole, carrots, cabbage
Friday: cod and mushroom bake
Saturday: Marie and I will be out, so leaving the rest of the family to fend for themselves!
Sunday: roast lamb

On the calendar ...
Friday: non-uniform day for Rose
Saturday: going to the Christmas market and fair at Birmingham with Marie
Sunday: taking Helen to see the Twilight movie (no, I'm not a Twilight fan, just a kind mother!)
Rest of the week normal routine I hope!

A picture from last week ... nothing on my iPad from last week, so here is a gratuitous butterfly picture, taken at the zoo in the summer.

The weather ... Chilly but at least it is dry after a miserable, wet day yesterday.

I am wearing ... Green skinny jeans, black long sleeved t-sort, old grey cardigans, soft spotty purple socks.

I am reading ... I'm not making any headway with The Happiness Equation. Time to move on to something else.

I am creating ... A scrapbook for my mother for Christmas. Still knitting the cream Bedford sweater and stripy socks.

I am listening ... To the news on TV.

I am watching ... Downton Abbey series 3 finished last night. At least there is a Christmas special to look forward to.

I am enjoying ... Path. This iPad / iPhone app seems to mix some of the best aspects of Facebook with Instagram. I have no friends using Path (yet?)so I'm playing all alone, using it as a way of keeping a pictorial diary. I think it is meant to be used as a smaller, more private social network than Facebook, ideal for families or small groups of friends, but it can also be used to post to Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites.

On the menu ...
Monday: turkey steaks, potato wedges, mushrooms, green veg
Tuesday: chicken, chips and sweetcorn
Wednesday: sole fillets, sweet potato, green beans
Thursday: pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs
Friday: vegetarian chilli
Saturday: soup
Sunday: roast chicken

On the calendar ...
Wednesday: band practice (assuming the flood outside the village hall where we practice has subsided. Sunday's rehearsal had to be cancelld)
Thursday: medical appointment for Tevye; parent-teacher consultation for Marie
Friday: going to the cinema with Tevye to see Skyfall (not sure yet whether this will be Friday or later in the weekend)
Sunday: playing at two Remembrance Day services with the band. Then going to Helen's boyfriend A's house to celebrate his 18th birthday.

A picture from last week ... Our miniature sized Rose still fits comfortably in an IKEA shopping trolley!

TUAR Picture Book Challenge: October

So much for posting earlier in October as I promised last month! Here is October's picture book list a day into November:

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle - at Rose's request. She knew this from school but we had never read it at home.

A is for Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu

- Rose asked for more of this series, so I obliged.

Prita Goes to India by Prodeepta Das

- continuing Rose's geographical theme. This is one of a short series which show life in a country through the eyes of a child visiting the country from which her family originated. Rose loved this and asked for more of the same for next month.

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

- Rose wanted something else to do with plants to go with The Tiny Seed.

Saint Francis by Brian Wildsmith

- one of my all time favourite picture books. Rose used to love this but it didn't grab her so much this time round.

Ahmed and the Feather Girl by Jane Ray

- beautifully illustrated tale of a boy rescued from life with a cruel circus owner by a beautiful feathered girl who hatched from an egg. Unfortunately it was rather lost on Rose as I read it to her when she was in a fury because bedtime had come too early and she wanted to watch something on TV!

Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden by Jane Ray

- I love her illustrations.

M is for Mexico by Flor de Maria Cordero

- yes, another from the same series.

Katie Morag Delivers the Mail by Mairi Hedderwick

- the older girls enjoyed the Katie Morag series about a little girl growing up on a Scottish island but Rose hadn't clicked with them. I noticed that she has a Katie Morag unit coming up at school in the next few weeks so thought I'd introduce her again. Went down better this time!

Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook: an Adventure in Venice by ELISA Smalley and Claudia Mauner - I found this cheap ebook on Amazon and it was the first time I'd read a Kindle picture book (on the iPad - it really wouldn't work well on my black and white Kindle!). The ebook experience was fine, but somehow we got distracted in the middle of the book and never came back to it.

For next month Rose has requested more of the children of the World Series and books about insects and butterflies.