The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

Another book that I would not have picked up, let alone read had it not been on the Reading Group list. The book is described by Kingsley Amis as 'the most thrilling book I have ever read.' All I can say is he needs to get out more! The plot certainly had pace but was a little too fantastical for my tastes. The book did make me ask the question, who in authority can we trust, is everyone who they truly claim to be? Overall, glad I read it, but won't achieve my top 100.

Auntie Alices Runner Bean recipe!
2lb runner beans,
4-5 onions,
1.5lbs demerara sugar
1.5pints vinegar
1tablespoon tumeric
1tbls mustard
1-2tbls cornflour
Slice beans very small and finely chop onions.
Cover with salted water & boil until tender.
Strain water off,add the sugar & most of the vinegar.
Boil for 30 mins.
Mix spices with rest of the vinegar & boil for another 30 mins Enjoy!

God speaks

I am so glad that this time last week I had little idea what lay ahead. Little did I know that the OFSTED call would come on Tuesday morning and they would be in school on Thursday and Friday. That news puts you straight in the zone or what I like to call OFSTEDLAND. Not a small village in Belgium, but a place where only lesson plans, observations and assessment of pupil progress records seem to matter! My family have been wonderful having put up with my physical but not mental presence for the last four days.

Yet in the midst of my self centred worry, I am reminded of God's grace, presence and forgiveness. A couple of years ago a friend of our eldest daughter was having a difficult time, we helped her and her family where we could. Sadly, her mother died in the last few days and the pain for the family continues. I was reminded of the comfort and grace that God can provide as T wore her prayer shawl during the funeral. A lesson perhaps, to let God handle things, including me.

Cabbages for Kings

I guess that should be Queens really. Since June, we've been the guardians of some fine chucks. Daphne (Du Maurier) and Agatha (Christie) arrived on 30th June (my birthday). The coop arrived over the next few days, a finely build construction designed and made by DH and eldest DD. Yes Dad did let her use the power tools!.
A few weeks later they were joined by 4 more, Hillary (Clinton), Michelle (Obama), Janet & Latoya (Jackson), all topically named by DDs.
Daphne and Agatha started laying pretty much straight away and we now regularly have 2 eggs a day. The rest are younger and are due to start laying around the middle of September, can't wait. I get seriously excited by the little miracle I pick up when they have laid.
I tried hard to get all six chucks in the same photo, it was pretty tough. I have been puzzling why our egg yolks are pale yellow and would really like them to be that wonderful golden colour. DD1's boyfriend did some research and it seems it's all down to diet. Basically, give them some green stuff and the yolks should have a deeper colour. So, the trial begins, a cabbage was placed in the run today, which they promptly descended upon. Let's see if it has the desired effect.
BTW did you notice the Scottie taking particularly close interest in the chucks. Denver just loves her new 'playmates'.

Prayer

Prayer is tricky and I have more questions than answers about it. Telling someone that you will pray for them can sometimes seem a little too trite.
I was really glad to find out about something called the Prayer Shawl Ministry, (despite my reservations about anything that has to have ministry tagged on the end!). A shawl is knitted prayerfully, saying a prayer for the person who will receive it before you start, as you knit and before you give it to the recipient. What a wonderful and practical way of showing someone God's love and of helping me to pray for that situation. Of course, I immediately felt guilty, I 'enjoyed' it too much!
So here they are, my prayers for my friend whose husband died recently, too young and too suddenly, wrapped up in a shawl.
I'm also going to read Peter Grieg's book God on Mute. I recently heard him speak at the ECG conference and so much of what he said made sense.

To eyre is human

A double post, as I'm reading such a lot lately. Can't understand why because it feels like the only thing I've been reading is reports.

Anyho...Jane Eyre...was feeling pretty reluctant to begin with, classics have never been my strong point. BUT it was great, plenty of plot going on which I've always found a bit unusual for Victorian novels.

Have now moved on to Slam by Nick Hornby. Wonderfully written through the voice of a 16 year old boy. Every 15 year old should read this book! Only trouble was, in the book, the boy confides to a poster of his hero Tony Hawk. Couldn't work out why he would see this 40 something comedian as such a cool guy. Then, I had one of those Oprah AHA moments.

In actual fact he meant the other Tony Hawk....the cool skateboarder. Makes perfect sense now!

Indiana can still whip up a storm

We 4 went to see the new IJ movie earlier. I was excited enough about going to the movies in the a.m. (never done that before, and it was cheaper!). In addition I loved the film. Total escapism, real boys own adventure stuff, and I'm pleased to say that there were some great 'real' stunts from HF as well as the CGI stuff. This pensioner has still got it.

how much is that doggie in the window

A little finish as a present for my niece's birthday. Pictures of course do not do justice to the exceptional stitching quality.

Unexpected blessings on the funniest night in ages

It is one of the unexpected blessings from The Crossing build that we now have the Acorn theatre in the old URC building. I love a little bit of theatre - anything from Coward to comedy (I guess Coward is comedy but you know what I mean).

Last Wednesday, I spent the funniest night of the last decade (and probably longer) with Ian McMillan, aka the Barnsley poet. From the moment we entered the theatre, he was waiting on the door and we didn't stop laughing for the next 90 minutes.

Shadow of the wind

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

If enough people tell you that a book is good, you really ought to listen to what they are saying. I had tried and given up with this book a few months ago, and couldn't see what all the fuss was about.However, it was chosen for the May read at the reading group and so I started again and persisted this time.

For the first two thirds of the book I continued to feel confused. This book has a lot of characters, a lot of the names begin with F, and they are all Spanish! The book takes you down all sorts of little paths, that seem to lead nowhere. There are very specific details given about characters hwo are merely passing through. Now some people will see that as a delight, I find it perplexing because I am trying so hard to remember everything, just in case. The way the plot develops reminded me of The Da Vinci Code, or Labyrinth by Kate Mosse with all of its twists and turns.

The final third of the book is its redemption as the pace speeds up and all of the threads seem to get woven together. The story itself was original and thought-provoking. In my opinion, it could have done with some careful editing. All in all, worth it for the 150 pages.

Listen, do you want to know a secret?

Just finished The House at Riverton ready for Reading Group on Friday night. A delicious family saga which opens up like a Terry's chocolate orange at the end. Some of the 'secrets' contained in the plot are not so subtle, more like lumbering great elephants hurtling towards you over the hill, but that is OK, it helps the poor reader to think, "oh I saw that one coming." Reading the opening 30 or 40 pages I thought I had picked up Atonement again...set in a large country house, with a lake, in the early 20th century, a group of children rehearsing a play, a visitor who becomes pivotal to the story...heigh ho, the story soon picked up pace and overall was a pleasure to read.

Chocolate for the mind

Work is just crazy at the moment, as fast as I cross something off my 'to do' list, something else is added on to the bottom. That being the case I need a little bit of the chocolate for the mind. Something straightforward and soothing. The first of my little comfort books was strangely a murder mystery, the first in the Rebus series. 'Knots and Crosses' by Ian Rankin. I love murder mysterys especially TV ones, though I had never watched many Rebus. This was fairly straightforward and really picked up pace as the book went on. Rankin has made Rebus a complex enough character for there to be plenty of threads to unravel in later books.

The second book I've picked up is an Agatha Raisin. I'm so glad I found this series. They are just ripping good yarns that take a couple of hours to read. The heroine Agatha Raisin is acerbic but flawed and therefore likeable. Love 'em.

Suite Francais

Haven't blogged for so long, have been wondering where blooging fits in with the whole facebook idea. Facebook doesn't seem to cover any of the bases very well and can sometimes frankly be a little annoying!

I thought this space might be a good place to keep a reading journal. As part of The Crossing Reading Group I've enjoyed, tolerated and struggled over some wonderful books over the last year. The current book is Suite Francais by Irene Nemirovski. The book is set in 1942 as the Germans occupy Northern France. The book is written in three parts. The first, which I've now completed follows the lives of a number of characters as Paris is occupied. The characters are derived from across the spectrum of class, each approaching their flight in a different way. The second, which I am currently reading focuses on a small village and the way in which the Germans infiltrate the lives of it's inhabitants.

It started out as a challenging read, so many characters with what seem like very similar names to an unFrancophile, however, I seem to have turned the corner and the book is becoming more enjoyable. As a woman two generations removed from any direct war experience it has certainly created what seems a very lifelike presentation of the day to day challenges the Frence especially faced. The final portion of the book is a record of Nemirovsky's notes as she prepared to write the book. Sadly, she was removed to Auschwitz before she could complete it.

OFSTED are off the premises!

Had the dreaded phone call last Wednesday morning. Felt my stomach slip down to the pits where it stayed until this Wednesday morning. The news sends everyone into a dizzy spin. Didn't have much of a weekend stressing over lesson plans, none of which were observed in the end, and titivating my classroom displays.

Fortunately, the Ofsted team were real human beings and put us at our ease, as much as that is ever going to happen. Our reward to be 'good with many outstanding features'.

Living in a box

Had an inspirational weekend with Paul Field who shared some of his musical 'Cargo' with us. His intention is to highlight not only the abolition of the slave trade 200 years ago today, but also the plight of those involved in slavery today. The trade in people is the third largest trade in the world today. Next week around 18 of us are heading over to Hull for the opening night.

It has already been a busy time for theatre outings. Last Saturday saw the Importance of Being Earnest, Thursday was 'Humble Boy' ,Friday my DD2 was in her Theatre Group variety show called 'Soup'. Top quality production and DH and I very proud.

And it's good morning from me...

My favourite programme of the week is Saturday Kitchen, when I get the chance to watch it uninterrupted, which is seldom. Well, I have been left speechless by the guests over the last two weeks (and I mean that in a good way).
I often talk about my dinner party in heaven and who is on my guest list. Well in the last two weeks they have had two of my guests ( and they are fairly obscure).

1. Adriana Trigiani - my absolutely favourite author. A wonderful, sassy, Italian American. I am even more surprised because her books are not that well known over here.
2. Ronnie Corbett - (I know what you're thinking, but I just love the chap. I smile before he even opens his mouth. I used to love those stories he did sitting in the chair.

As DH pointed out, what if these folks don't make it to heaven? My reply, that's for the Big Guy to sort out! (but it's a real case for universalism)

Out with the old

Where did December go?

Well, I guess I know where it went. The school nativity play was at The Crossing this year. The children were fantastic. The year 3/4 classes sand a Spanish version of Silent Night. Not a dry eye in the place! The parents seemed to enjoy sitting on a comfy seat as well. My stresses about the Church Nativity play were not over until Christmas Eve, but all went as smoothly as Nativity plays do, the Grumpy Innkeeper just could have been a little grumpier!

It was just we 4 at home over Christmas and so we had a quiet Christmas day, with a trip to see Man City beat Sheffield Utd on Boxing Day.

The following day we travelled to Devon for a blustery but fun time, catching up with close family. Mark had to be back to preach on New Year's Eve so only a quick trip this time. Mark's Mum and Dad joined us on New Year's Day when we got out the family jigsaw. Just finished it. Only 4 pieces missing, does Denver know anything about that I wonder?

The celbrations finsihed yesterday when Grace turned 14, can't believe it. She is having s Salsa party next week, so yesterday after she had finished her cafe stint we went for tea at Frankie and Benny's and watched Deja Vu and watched Deja Vu (geddit)

New arrival

We now have a family of 5. Denver a nine week old Scottie arrived home with us today.

I can't believe it!

I can't believe it - that after 3 years and one month this project is finally over. It will be a while before I start anything so large again I think. Looking forward now to doing some small Christmas projects.
Had a lovely weekend with Jonathan visiting from Devon. Went to see the new Bond film last night. Was never a big fan, but Daniel Craig may have converted me.
Going to the theatre on Thursday and reading group on Friday, so a busy week for me. We're reading Michael J Fox autobiography Lucky Man. Very moving and thought provoking.

A curious incident...

Last Friday we had the second meeting of The Crossing Reading Group. We talked about 'The Cuirous Incident of the Dog in the Night time' by Mark Haddon. The central character is a boy with Aspberger's Syndrome and the book helps the reader to see the world through Christopher's eyes. His life is both simple and incredibly complicated, and he struggles to find his own way of dealing with it all.