Nicked from Lucy's blog
Look at the list of (100) books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicise the ones you want to read.
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
Movies don’t count.
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)
Tuesday 17 July 2007
Thursday 31 May 2007
white coat idolisation...
What is it that leads otherwise educated and sensible people to believe everything that someone says simply because they're wearing a white coat or a nametag that says 'qualified medical professional' on it? I can't wrap my head round it. I've been told in the past couple of days that reminding a pregnant person that she does not have to go to hospital appointments is irresponsible. Really? It's a simple statement of fact. And is it any more irresponsible than telling someone to go when you don't know whether the person they'll see will know their arse from their elbow?
Gosh, couldn't possibly suggest that a mother relies on her instincts over what some white-coated protocol peddler...
Gosh, couldn't possibly suggest that a mother relies on her instincts over what some white-coated protocol peddler...
Sunday 20 May 2007
Got photos now of the aforementioned tankini. here's the outside...
pretty, no?
And here's the inside...
Now obviously this is simply not designed for going swimming as such. Because people who go to swim don't want pretty cossies, it's only people who go to pose by the hotel pool or on the beach who want pretty. *sigh*
So now I'm going to take my scissors and cut all that unnecessary crap out and hope it still looks ok :|
pretty, no?
And here's the inside...
Now obviously this is simply not designed for going swimming as such. Because people who go to swim don't want pretty cossies, it's only people who go to pose by the hotel pool or on the beach who want pretty. *sigh*
So now I'm going to take my scissors and cut all that unnecessary crap out and hope it still looks ok :|
Did I say sane??
I blogged a couple of weeks ago about not being able to find a tankini without bra support. Well today I went to Meadowhall, to meet a friend and continue the hunt for the elusive support-less cossie. The plan, roughly speaking, was for us to meet there then go on to Decathlon, she'd looked when I ranted before and said there were several, and then we were going to go back to Meadowhall for coffee at Costa and a chat, both of us feeling the need for some RL conversation without children present (slung older babies notwithstanding :) ) J was going to text me with her phone number and I was going to ring when I set off, since she's in the neighbourhood, relatively speaking. So I kept checking my phone, no message. Looked on YahooIM and she's not online, so I pinged a mutual friend to ask if she had her number, which said friend duly gave. So I texted to say I was on my way...
When I arrived, 10 mins after I'd said, which I don't think is too bad for someone used to running on home-ed time, J wasn't there, so I looked round, no sign, I headed off to M&S to look at cossies and tried to ring. 'This number is temporarily unavailable...' hmmmm... Back to Costa, still no sign. I had a good look at the number, there's an extra digit :|
So I rang dh to ask him to check if I've saved the number to my phone properly, and yes... so then can he sign in to Trillian and see if anyone's online who would have had it, he pings a couple of people but no reply. So then can he find out where the Decathlon store is in Sheffield, which he does, and explains to me, and I know roughly where it is so I set off...
And here's where it gets fun...
I was going from Meadowhall (the black circle here) to Bramhall Lane (just about where the red circle is)
On leaving Meadowhall I saw signs for the ring road, so, naturally enough since I knew that I wanted to be on the ring road, I followed them. The thing is, Sheffield has an inner ring road and an outer ring road. You can see on the map of the outer ring road that it's not actually a ring, more like a quarter of an oval. So perhaps there's some explanation somewhere for me ending up in Derbyshire, turning round at the junction where I've drawn a circle on this pic:
Quite a long way away... There's obviously something wrong with stating 'Outer Ring Road' on a road sign when 'ring road' will suffice to confuse the incomers. It seems like Sheffield don't want the supporters of teams visiting Sheffield United to find Bramhall Lane either, going by the lack of signage when I found my way back towards Sheffield itself. Driving through Woodseats reminded me of Bishopston, where Born are based, so if there's anyone in that area, it might well be a good place for a natural/ethical baby products shop *grin*
I got to the *inner* ring road and spotted a sign saying Bramhall Lane, finally. So I made it to Decathlon, which is big, but there weren't any tankinis at all, only triangle and balconette tops and different styles of bottoms. It obviously shows though that people want tankinis without support, since they'd obviously sold out! I had a wander round while I was there, and bought a float belt to help dd3 when learning swimming strokes (she can swim, in as much as she can propel herself through the water, but I thought it would be good if she didn't have to worry about sinking when figuring out how the arms and legs go together for breaststroke...) I had a look at the bike seats while I was there too, but I still want a Wee Ride and while there was mention of front-mounted seats on the bike seat blurb, there wasn't a slot for one.
So from Decathlon back to Meadowhall then, back to M&S to buy the tankini I'd seen there and loved, even though it not only has a support shelf it has sculpted cups, eurgh! I got there and updated dh, who told me that he now had J's phone number, so I rang, and we met up. Turned out J had my number from before I swapped the shop number to my new phone, so when she texted me it was lost in the ether, along with mine to her. She'd been to M'hall and hung around, mooched about feeling bored and eventually left. We'd even hung around in the same bookshop and missed each other, doh! Anyway it was about 4pm, so she made arrangements and came and met me, we had coffee and cake and chatted, it was lovely :) Her son is a little charmer too.
Will blog about the cossie itself in a few when I've taken pics of it...
When I arrived, 10 mins after I'd said, which I don't think is too bad for someone used to running on home-ed time, J wasn't there, so I looked round, no sign, I headed off to M&S to look at cossies and tried to ring. 'This number is temporarily unavailable...' hmmmm... Back to Costa, still no sign. I had a good look at the number, there's an extra digit :|
So I rang dh to ask him to check if I've saved the number to my phone properly, and yes... so then can he sign in to Trillian and see if anyone's online who would have had it, he pings a couple of people but no reply. So then can he find out where the Decathlon store is in Sheffield, which he does, and explains to me, and I know roughly where it is so I set off...
And here's where it gets fun...
I was going from Meadowhall (the black circle here) to Bramhall Lane (just about where the red circle is)
On leaving Meadowhall I saw signs for the ring road, so, naturally enough since I knew that I wanted to be on the ring road, I followed them. The thing is, Sheffield has an inner ring road and an outer ring road. You can see on the map of the outer ring road that it's not actually a ring, more like a quarter of an oval. So perhaps there's some explanation somewhere for me ending up in Derbyshire, turning round at the junction where I've drawn a circle on this pic:
Quite a long way away... There's obviously something wrong with stating 'Outer Ring Road' on a road sign when 'ring road' will suffice to confuse the incomers. It seems like Sheffield don't want the supporters of teams visiting Sheffield United to find Bramhall Lane either, going by the lack of signage when I found my way back towards Sheffield itself. Driving through Woodseats reminded me of Bishopston, where Born are based, so if there's anyone in that area, it might well be a good place for a natural/ethical baby products shop *grin*
I got to the *inner* ring road and spotted a sign saying Bramhall Lane, finally. So I made it to Decathlon, which is big, but there weren't any tankinis at all, only triangle and balconette tops and different styles of bottoms. It obviously shows though that people want tankinis without support, since they'd obviously sold out! I had a wander round while I was there, and bought a float belt to help dd3 when learning swimming strokes (she can swim, in as much as she can propel herself through the water, but I thought it would be good if she didn't have to worry about sinking when figuring out how the arms and legs go together for breaststroke...) I had a look at the bike seats while I was there too, but I still want a Wee Ride and while there was mention of front-mounted seats on the bike seat blurb, there wasn't a slot for one.
So from Decathlon back to Meadowhall then, back to M&S to buy the tankini I'd seen there and loved, even though it not only has a support shelf it has sculpted cups, eurgh! I got there and updated dh, who told me that he now had J's phone number, so I rang, and we met up. Turned out J had my number from before I swapped the shop number to my new phone, so when she texted me it was lost in the ether, along with mine to her. She'd been to M'hall and hung around, mooched about feeling bored and eventually left. We'd even hung around in the same bookshop and missed each other, doh! Anyway it was about 4pm, so she made arrangements and came and met me, we had coffee and cake and chatted, it was lovely :) Her son is a little charmer too.
Will blog about the cossie itself in a few when I've taken pics of it...
Thursday 17 May 2007
Monday 30 April 2007
the only sane woman in the country
Am I really the only sane woman left in Great Britain? Or can someone tell me where I can find two-piece swimwear that doesn't mean that I have to make special dispensation for the fact that *shock horror* I have breasts?
Seriously, I have spent my afternoon trawling my local town with my two older daughters looking for swimwear for all of us. There's some lovely stuff out there, funky patterns, fun details, all that. But we couldn't find a single adult-sized two-piece that didn't have either triangle tops (oh there are plenty of those in the girls' sizes too, and really don't get me started on that little piece of social engineering) or formed cups or halter necks or those really annoying support shelf things, have you tried to take one of those off when it's wet, and you're dealing with a small child? Ridiculous.
A few years ago the shops were filled with tankinis, I had one from River Island that was perfect, plain black long-length top and shorts, little silvery sewn-on badges, no fuss, no stupid 'look at my tits!' malarky. Easy to pull up or down for feeding babies, enough coverage for my ample backside, perfect. But trends change, don't they? Even long-length tops were in short supply today.
All I want is something comfortable, maybe a fun fabric, that doesn't shout 'look, I have breasts!!' and covers my arse. That's all. Oh except that I want something similar for my daughters that doesn't scream soft porn when they're only 10 and 11! Surely it's not too much to ask? Surely I can't be the only mother of pre-teen girls who don't fit the children's sizes any more? Answers on a postcard...
Seriously, I have spent my afternoon trawling my local town with my two older daughters looking for swimwear for all of us. There's some lovely stuff out there, funky patterns, fun details, all that. But we couldn't find a single adult-sized two-piece that didn't have either triangle tops (oh there are plenty of those in the girls' sizes too, and really don't get me started on that little piece of social engineering) or formed cups or halter necks or those really annoying support shelf things, have you tried to take one of those off when it's wet, and you're dealing with a small child? Ridiculous.
A few years ago the shops were filled with tankinis, I had one from River Island that was perfect, plain black long-length top and shorts, little silvery sewn-on badges, no fuss, no stupid 'look at my tits!' malarky. Easy to pull up or down for feeding babies, enough coverage for my ample backside, perfect. But trends change, don't they? Even long-length tops were in short supply today.
All I want is something comfortable, maybe a fun fabric, that doesn't shout 'look, I have breasts!!' and covers my arse. That's all. Oh except that I want something similar for my daughters that doesn't scream soft porn when they're only 10 and 11! Surely it's not too much to ask? Surely I can't be the only mother of pre-teen girls who don't fit the children's sizes any more? Answers on a postcard...
Saturday 28 April 2007
pop quiz - can you name this disease??
symptoms: general mardiness followed by high temp, which settles down to be followed about 36hrs later by vomming and rash. Rash is small spots that are red when child is hot or agitated, vanish when not and leave 'goosebump' type feeling on the skin??
And meanwhile if anyone would come and look after everyone else while I doggedly get k into doing the same thing at the same time each day for a fortnight, please form a queue here 4
And meanwhile if anyone would come and look after everyone else while I doggedly get k into doing the same thing at the same time each day for a fortnight, please form a queue here 4
Monday 16 April 2007
evidence for the LEA
Warning, bit of a jumping-about stream of consciousness ramble, this one. LMK if it's utterly intelligable and I'll see if I can clarify. But don't expect miracles ;)
Late last night, much later than I 'should' have done, cos I was sleepy at midnight, ahem, I was reading Gill's blog and came across the stuff about home-ed blogging = evidence for the LEA and the idea that it looked bad for those who don't blog. There's the obvious parallel here, for those who know home-ed politics, with the home visit issue. Except for a couple of things.
People blog because they want to. They provide evidence for the LEA because they are compelled to by law when the LEA make informal enquiries.
I'm not a fan of home visits, or, in fact, of any kind of regular monitoring. But if you're in a situation where you find yourself needing to meet the LEA's informal enquiries, and the most appropriate way for you is a home visit, then that's what you do, isn't it? The problems arise when LEA officials *insist* on home visits and don't accept other forms of evidence. I really can't see the day when blogging becomes the favoured form of evidence in that way!
So... why do home-edders blog?
For me it's because I like being on the 'net, and I have good friends who blog, and I'm trying to be in with the in-crowd, lol. And also because I like having a good old soapbox. But then I guess I can't be accused here of providing evidence for the LEA.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, nothing really. Just that I hoped it might provide a less-well-travelled space to generate a bit of clarity on the issue. kwim?
Late last night, much later than I 'should' have done, cos I was sleepy at midnight, ahem, I was reading Gill's blog and came across the stuff about home-ed blogging = evidence for the LEA and the idea that it looked bad for those who don't blog. There's the obvious parallel here, for those who know home-ed politics, with the home visit issue. Except for a couple of things.
People blog because they want to. They provide evidence for the LEA because they are compelled to by law when the LEA make informal enquiries.
I'm not a fan of home visits, or, in fact, of any kind of regular monitoring. But if you're in a situation where you find yourself needing to meet the LEA's informal enquiries, and the most appropriate way for you is a home visit, then that's what you do, isn't it? The problems arise when LEA officials *insist* on home visits and don't accept other forms of evidence. I really can't see the day when blogging becomes the favoured form of evidence in that way!
So... why do home-edders blog?
For me it's because I like being on the 'net, and I have good friends who blog, and I'm trying to be in with the in-crowd, lol. And also because I like having a good old soapbox. But then I guess I can't be accused here of providing evidence for the LEA.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, nothing really. Just that I hoped it might provide a less-well-travelled space to generate a bit of clarity on the issue. kwim?
Monday 9 April 2007
Sunday 8 April 2007
Happy Easter!
However and whatever you celebrate around now, I hope it brings Spring-like new beginnings :-) I've been really happy to hang out and be domestic this past week, but now I'll have to knuckle down and get a ton of shop work done. Tomorrow promises to be pleasantly warm and chocolate-laden for the children, and hopefully sleep-laden for me!
K took herself to bed at 7pm earlier. Which in other households might be fine, but seeing as she didn't wake up 'til around 11am, when I came back to bed (I'd booked myself in for a leg-waxing at 9am, I wanted to get it done with enough time for my legs to settle down in time for the show next Friday and Saturday and when the woman said '9am?' I thought it was alright because I'd be taking M to drama class at 9am, so I said 'well it will be a few minutes after nine,' which was fine, of course, but then dh said on Thursday evening 'but there isn't any drama class this weekend' and we were out at Cannon Hall and the farm park next door all day Friday so I didn't get chance to rearrange it. So I went to bed about 2.30, leaving dh watching baseball on the MLB website, set my alarm, and as is usual at the moment I don't seem to sleep well when I know I have to get up, though H said she woke up at the same time I did so perhaps there was something particularly noisy going on at 7am? Anyway, I got up, and had a bit of time, and decided to play Lego Star Wars II which is really good fun :-) until I had to go, but I didn't finish the bit of story I was playing and it doesn't save mid section, so naturally when I came back I had to carry on playing. Actually it was really nice to have a bit of daytime alone-time to just mong out and do my own thing, even if I did have to do it quietly! In the end it took me 'til just before 11am to finish the bit I was doing, so that was when I went back to bed. Are you still with me?? LOL) it's Not a Good Thing here. As the fact that she's still here at nearly 3am shows. *sigh* Goodness knows what time we'll be up tomorrow, but as long as she doesn't fall asleep on the way home from MIL's it'll be alright I guess.
Oh bother, what else was I going to blog? Hmmm. Must have been really important...
K took herself to bed at 7pm earlier. Which in other households might be fine, but seeing as she didn't wake up 'til around 11am, when I came back to bed (I'd booked myself in for a leg-waxing at 9am, I wanted to get it done with enough time for my legs to settle down in time for the show next Friday and Saturday and when the woman said '9am?' I thought it was alright because I'd be taking M to drama class at 9am, so I said 'well it will be a few minutes after nine,' which was fine, of course, but then dh said on Thursday evening 'but there isn't any drama class this weekend' and we were out at Cannon Hall and the farm park next door all day Friday so I didn't get chance to rearrange it. So I went to bed about 2.30, leaving dh watching baseball on the MLB website, set my alarm, and as is usual at the moment I don't seem to sleep well when I know I have to get up, though H said she woke up at the same time I did so perhaps there was something particularly noisy going on at 7am? Anyway, I got up, and had a bit of time, and decided to play Lego Star Wars II which is really good fun :-) until I had to go, but I didn't finish the bit of story I was playing and it doesn't save mid section, so naturally when I came back I had to carry on playing. Actually it was really nice to have a bit of daytime alone-time to just mong out and do my own thing, even if I did have to do it quietly! In the end it took me 'til just before 11am to finish the bit I was doing, so that was when I went back to bed. Are you still with me?? LOL) it's Not a Good Thing here. As the fact that she's still here at nearly 3am shows. *sigh* Goodness knows what time we'll be up tomorrow, but as long as she doesn't fall asleep on the way home from MIL's it'll be alright I guess.
Oh bother, what else was I going to blog? Hmmm. Must have been really important...
Sunday 25 March 2007
gordon ramsey...
say what you like about him but he writes a clear recipe that comes out pretty good :) Except the quantities were a bit off, no way was there enough rice for the 6 of us, lol. Malaysian chicken curry was tonight's offering... dd1 said that she expected it to be quicker but uhm that means *hurrying* at certain points...
Saturday 24 March 2007
autonomous living and mornings!
We don't do mornings well here. We seem to have a strong 'evening' meme that leads to people staying up later and later and then obviously not getting up in the morning. So we've imposed (it's been in place a long time) a suppertime so that ostensibly dd3 goes to bed. Not v autonomous at all and I'm a bit uncomfy about it but without it...
Last night was a case in point, my mum came round to look after the kids while we went out, and even though I had a fixed bedtime of 9pm myself when I was little, for some reason Mum doesn't think it's a good thing to continue when she's here. So I rang at 11 to find myself talking to A, and then my mum, and then M who was just about to have supper.
This morning, I got M up at 8.30 to go to drama class and she said she was too tired, so I said she needed to sleep and to go back to bed. And she really was too tired, even though after a few minutes she got up again and we dashed through getting dressed and she went, she's been really whiny and hard work all day, because she's tired.
So what to do? Forget about doing stuff in the morning? Hope it will all balance out? Just not have my mum to babysit in future???
How do bedtimes work in autonomous houses? Does it make a difference if people are sharing rooms and does it make a difference how many adults there are in the house?
Last night was a case in point, my mum came round to look after the kids while we went out, and even though I had a fixed bedtime of 9pm myself when I was little, for some reason Mum doesn't think it's a good thing to continue when she's here. So I rang at 11 to find myself talking to A, and then my mum, and then M who was just about to have supper.
This morning, I got M up at 8.30 to go to drama class and she said she was too tired, so I said she needed to sleep and to go back to bed. And she really was too tired, even though after a few minutes she got up again and we dashed through getting dressed and she went, she's been really whiny and hard work all day, because she's tired.
So what to do? Forget about doing stuff in the morning? Hope it will all balance out? Just not have my mum to babysit in future???
How do bedtimes work in autonomous houses? Does it make a difference if people are sharing rooms and does it make a difference how many adults there are in the house?
Tuesday 20 March 2007
I'm Luna Lovegood!
You scored as Luna Lovegood. You're an extreme introvert and because of this, are also a deep thinker. You ponder things others would never dream of pondering and stand with your beliefs without backing down. You find it more valuable to daydream than to socialize, because there's so much more going on in your head than others'. Most people don't understand it, but you seem to prefer it that way.
Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test created with QuizFarm.com |
Could have been worse I guess :-|
Sunday 11 March 2007
My ears are still ringing
went to a gig this afternoon to see a friend's band, they're called HD7 and they were playing at Marsden Band Club. They do 'classic rock,' the sets ranged from Pink Floyd through the Who to ACDC with a bit of Ocean Colour Scene and they're pretty good for hammer-chewers *grin* But I think I was sat a little too close as I can still hear whistling :S Dd1 enjoyed it but didn't recognise most of the music, I must dust off the albums and rescue the turntable from under the laundry...
snarky? moi?
| You're Totally Sarcastic |
 You sarcastic? Never! You're as sweet as a baby bunny. Seriously, though, you have a sharp tongue - and you aren't afraid to use it. And if people are too wimpy to deal with your attitutde, then too bad. So sad. |
Friday 9 March 2007
Lucy the Multipla's Adventures
Lucy the Multipla has many adventures. It comes of being an MPV I suppose, she gets used for various purposes other than your usual taxi-ing and shopping. Today she's carried doors. Interior house doors. This was acheived by folding the back seats forward, the middle front seat forward and the passenger-side front seat back as far as it would go. The doors were put in through the boot, shoved under the boot cover flap thingy and wedged in place by the headrest on the front passenger-side seat. Dh drove from the door shop in town to Brighouse to a meeting and back home again, with his very sore rib* and then we rang for chinese takeaway from our lovely local where they write down the order in sinography and know us because we order meals with beansprouts in place of the onions. Really who likes that much onion?? So a phone-call, a 'discussion' with dd4, I forget what about, a trip to the co-op to use the cash machine and buy essential supplies (milk, beer, viennese whirls...) while swearing at the sloppy parking in one of the village car-parks here meaning that I had to walk another 40 feet, lol, and then up to the lovely takeaway. Another lovely thing they do is pack big-ish orders in boxes. V handy. Except when the only place you have to put said box is on a flat door. From the takeaway to home it's 3 or 4 lefts and 3 or 4 rights, great fun stopping the box from sliding into the boot, heh. And she's back to being the family bus now, with the seats back up and the doors inside ready for the joiner to call tomorrow.
*Dh in his infinite wisdom was sawing up some bits of MDF that have been in our house for 2 and a half years waiting to be used for skirting and doorframing. Don't get me started on offgassing, really. He did one piece, then turned and somehow fell on the pile and we think he cracked a rib, or at least badly bruised it. I do keep shoving him where the arnica and symphytum tablets live...
*Dh in his infinite wisdom was sawing up some bits of MDF that have been in our house for 2 and a half years waiting to be used for skirting and doorframing. Don't get me started on offgassing, really. He did one piece, then turned and somehow fell on the pile and we think he cracked a rib, or at least badly bruised it. I do keep shoving him where the arnica and symphytum tablets live...
Happiest town in the North
Happiest town in the North
Not sure how long the link will stay active, they only used to stay for a day. BBC Dorset have their crow about Bournemouth.
Funny thing, happiness, and 6,000 people doesn't seem like there would be enough people in each town to make it representative. Still, I like it here :-)
Not sure how long the link will stay active, they only used to stay for a day. BBC Dorset have their crow about Bournemouth.
Funny thing, happiness, and 6,000 people doesn't seem like there would be enough people in each town to make it representative. Still, I like it here :-)
Please sign this petition
Independent Midwives Petition
Edited to clean up ramblings... I was a bit ill and rambly when I wrote what was here before!
We have all this public/private partnership stuff going on. Now fair enough this is all so much pocket-lining for cronies, but I think it's less pocket-lining than the old system of the public sector deciding to build something and some big company building it... there's more opportunity for profit with PPP but the companies have to get more involved... but that's entirely by the by.
Really the issue is this: what does this govt have against choice? And in particular, it seems, choice for parents. Home-ed, indy schools, indy midwives, anything else? Oh yes, childminding regulations mean that I would have to register if I was to do a child-swap with a friend on a regular basis, which would mean a whole load of unnecesary-to-us safety provision, so it's a non-starter. The people at the top are parents themselves, don't they see it?
Must get that shrug smiley sorted...
Edited to clean up ramblings... I was a bit ill and rambly when I wrote what was here before!
We have all this public/private partnership stuff going on. Now fair enough this is all so much pocket-lining for cronies, but I think it's less pocket-lining than the old system of the public sector deciding to build something and some big company building it... there's more opportunity for profit with PPP but the companies have to get more involved... but that's entirely by the by.
Really the issue is this: what does this govt have against choice? And in particular, it seems, choice for parents. Home-ed, indy schools, indy midwives, anything else? Oh yes, childminding regulations mean that I would have to register if I was to do a child-swap with a friend on a regular basis, which would mean a whole load of unnecesary-to-us safety provision, so it's a non-starter. The people at the top are parents themselves, don't they see it?
Must get that shrug smiley sorted...
Tuesday 6 March 2007
rude? moi?
Apparently the following statement is rude:
"I personally believe school is, in itself, coercive and damaging and only of benefit to children who would be more damaged at home, of which there are thankfully very few."
What do you think? Does it say 'I think parents who send their children to school have problems at home' as I've been told today, at length? Or do you think that perhaps the assumption that that is what I meant also assumes that I'm a judgemental person?
IOW is it me or is it them??
"I personally believe school is, in itself, coercive and damaging and only of benefit to children who would be more damaged at home, of which there are thankfully very few."
What do you think? Does it say 'I think parents who send their children to school have problems at home' as I've been told today, at length? Or do you think that perhaps the assumption that that is what I meant also assumes that I'm a judgemental person?
IOW is it me or is it them??
rock on South Ashford Priest!
The guy has got the point exactly.
Interesting stuff about Canon Law supporting the parental authority.
Interesting stuff about Canon Law supporting the parental authority.
Thursday 1 March 2007
interesting concept, the library...
while at the library, once we'd located dd1 (anyone who knows Huddersfield library will know it's a bit sprawly with lots of different bits to it so when she wasn't where we expected her to be the locating bit took some time... eventually found her tucked in a corner reading Jurassic Park...) we were looking at the sci-fi section and dd2 found a Doctor Who novel. Dd1 put it back saying 'ah I could just buy it from Waterstones' Now I understand the book collection thing but... well... I dunno. Just seems a bit of a waste to decide to buy it, or something, when it was right there to borrow. Maybe it's just from being skinter when I was growing up.
We did already have 7 books between us and only one ticket at the time though, lol. But not the book that I really wanted to borrow because they had nearly every other book in the series but not the one after the ones I read the other weekend when I was too ill to do anything else. Grr. I'll have to get the online thing sorted so I can find out where it is.
Stationery Box are closing down so we managed to spend £50. Funny how that happens... Legit business expenses too, mostly. But perhaps not the sweets.
We did already have 7 books between us and only one ticket at the time though, lol. But not the book that I really wanted to borrow because they had nearly every other book in the series but not the one after the ones I read the other weekend when I was too ill to do anything else. Grr. I'll have to get the online thing sorted so I can find out where it is.
Stationery Box are closing down so we managed to spend £50. Funny how that happens... Legit business expenses too, mostly. But perhaps not the sweets.
Wednesday 28 February 2007
oh the joys of working from home...
As I've posted on my business blog, one of my suppliers ceased trading on 31st december and I've found out, from another retailer, today. I'm soooooo naffed off it's untrue. And I'm posting here because I get really mixed messages from the Universe sometimes. Am I supposed to be in business at all? Am I supposed to be in business but not making any money? Why give myself this frustration? Argh!!!
We're suffering sleep-creep here atm. It's not good.
We're suffering sleep-creep here atm. It's not good.
Saturday 24 February 2007
the weekly cook-in and other inconsequential minutiae
the choosing a recipe thing is going pretty well, apart from the incredibly expensive tastes my two older daughters have and the disaster with the crabs (moral of the story, frozen crab is worthless and crabs need to be *big* to 'dress' at home successfully.) Tonight's choice was paella, v v tasty with the choriso and fresh thyme (next door neighbour's plant grows through our fence) and saffron, next time needs more saffron. But I must remember to have the liquid really really bubbling before I put seafood-y things in it.
Tomorrow (we missed a couple of weeks, with the crab and me being ill last week) we're having a Swedish lamb recipe from the Green and Black's recipe book I got for my birthday. Which will be really interesting, though I've had a meat recipe with chocolate in before, partridge in rich chocolate sauce for Christmas dinner pre-children.
Woohoo dd4's just fallen asleep!
There are rumblings that Virgin Media won't be able to show Sky One for much longer, which is a drag for us fans of Bones and Battlestar Galactica. Downloading and converting to wmf to play through the xbox or figuring out exactly why we can't get the sound through the tv from the pc is going to be the way to go apparently. Anyone with good links or info on how to sort that out please lmk!!
Tomorrow (we missed a couple of weeks, with the crab and me being ill last week) we're having a Swedish lamb recipe from the Green and Black's recipe book I got for my birthday. Which will be really interesting, though I've had a meat recipe with chocolate in before, partridge in rich chocolate sauce for Christmas dinner pre-children.
Woohoo dd4's just fallen asleep!
There are rumblings that Virgin Media won't be able to show Sky One for much longer, which is a drag for us fans of Bones and Battlestar Galactica. Downloading and converting to wmf to play through the xbox or figuring out exactly why we can't get the sound through the tv from the pc is going to be the way to go apparently. Anyone with good links or info on how to sort that out please lmk!!
Monday 19 February 2007
how babies are designed...
thanks for the challenge Gill :|
I suppose it's pretty simple though. Human babies are born a bit like kangaroo babies, in that they're not mature enough at birth to do stuff that most mammal babies can, like ape babies being able to hang on to mum's fur so she can get on with foraging and whatnot, or hooved herbivores being able to walk pdq so the herd can leg it away from the lions. In a cave-mum situation babies can't be left alone cos of the sabre toothed tiger and bears and shit, plus the hypothermia thing from lack of fur, so it's utterly counter-intuitive and counter-evolutionary to expect a baby to not call to mum in some way or other, and I'm big on psychic communication with mum/baby relationships, if cave-baby is on its own for any length of time. So that's the basic design thing with babies, they need human contact to feel safe and secure and they're programmed to communicate the need so that the bear doesn't get them. On a more esoteric level, there's aura-sharing and chakras over nipples and if you're into that kind of thing you'll kwim.
The bf stuff I can't separate here from my annoyance at the person on the forum I was talking about before, with her talk of mostly expressing and not being able to wait until she could unwrap the bottles in her cupboard and routines and dissing my suggestion of a co-sleeper (not actually sharing with her, but having an open-sided cot or crib thing next to her bed) because she doesn't believe babies should be in bed with Mum and Dad. Cos how is a baby going to be nurtured *energetically* with a bottle or while in a cot/pram/car-seat/bouncy-chair/moses basket and not in contact with anyone?
So to sum up: I reckon babies need human contact and regular doses of energetic nurturing, at whatever frequency they deem fit. Cave-mum didn't have a clock, or a baby monitor and we're not all that different now. Seems daft to expect babies to have caught up in evolution with society's changes in the last 200-300 years. And other such 'natural parenting' platitudes.
I suppose it's pretty simple though. Human babies are born a bit like kangaroo babies, in that they're not mature enough at birth to do stuff that most mammal babies can, like ape babies being able to hang on to mum's fur so she can get on with foraging and whatnot, or hooved herbivores being able to walk pdq so the herd can leg it away from the lions. In a cave-mum situation babies can't be left alone cos of the sabre toothed tiger and bears and shit, plus the hypothermia thing from lack of fur, so it's utterly counter-intuitive and counter-evolutionary to expect a baby to not call to mum in some way or other, and I'm big on psychic communication with mum/baby relationships, if cave-baby is on its own for any length of time. So that's the basic design thing with babies, they need human contact to feel safe and secure and they're programmed to communicate the need so that the bear doesn't get them. On a more esoteric level, there's aura-sharing and chakras over nipples and if you're into that kind of thing you'll kwim.
The bf stuff I can't separate here from my annoyance at the person on the forum I was talking about before, with her talk of mostly expressing and not being able to wait until she could unwrap the bottles in her cupboard and routines and dissing my suggestion of a co-sleeper (not actually sharing with her, but having an open-sided cot or crib thing next to her bed) because she doesn't believe babies should be in bed with Mum and Dad. Cos how is a baby going to be nurtured *energetically* with a bottle or while in a cot/pram/car-seat/bouncy-chair/moses basket and not in contact with anyone?
So to sum up: I reckon babies need human contact and regular doses of energetic nurturing, at whatever frequency they deem fit. Cave-mum didn't have a clock, or a baby monitor and we're not all that different now. Seems daft to expect babies to have caught up in evolution with society's changes in the last 200-300 years. And other such 'natural parenting' platitudes.
Saturday 17 February 2007
meaning to blog...
I do keep meaning to blog. But then I wonder what I'm going to say. I might get round to posting about what the kids are up to, sometime! I can't do the stream of consciousness stuff like some people and tbh I don't like looking like I'm soapboxing (yes really!) that much. OK maybe that's not entirely true, lol. I'll have to remember to use this space when I get frustrated with attitudes in other places, like people who say they're going to try to breastfeed but really either don't understand how bf works, and therefore how babies are really designed, iykwim, or actually don't want to but can't say so, for some reason. Either way it's grim and I should stay away, damn my inner spammer for keeping me posting...
hey ho. Will get back to being ill...
hey ho. Will get back to being ill...
Wednesday 24 January 2007
Backyardigans rock!
I love backyardigans, it's ace. The incongruous music (New Orleans blues and steel drums for and Ice Age 'cavepeople' story?!) the characters (Pablo... Pablo...... Pablo!!) and storylines (the River Nile has dried up because the princess is rude?!?!) are just brilliant. Got to see it.
Meanwhile, dd1 and 2 are currently clearing dd2's room out for NTL (or should that be Virgin Media??) to come and put the old cable box in there. Should have been done last week but some numpty didn't put the two jobs of fitting a new sky+-style HD tv box and moving the old box on the same work order. fab customer service and efficiency there. Hope Virgin do better :|
dd4 and I are poorly, we both have colds. dh has flu. real flu, not man-flu. honest. And that's reminded me I'm supposed to be going to get lemsips. Does anyone want to come round and do my washing up?
Meanwhile, dd1 and 2 are currently clearing dd2's room out for NTL (or should that be Virgin Media??) to come and put the old cable box in there. Should have been done last week but some numpty didn't put the two jobs of fitting a new sky+-style HD tv box and moving the old box on the same work order. fab customer service and efficiency there. Hope Virgin do better :|
dd4 and I are poorly, we both have colds. dh has flu. real flu, not man-flu. honest. And that's reminded me I'm supposed to be going to get lemsips. Does anyone want to come round and do my washing up?
Sunday 21 January 2007
Oh no, we're starting to look like a proper home-ed family...
Dd1 was talking about New Years Resolutions... I suggested that once a week she gets a recipe from one of our large collection of vastly underused cookbooks and cooks it herself, with help of course. Well dd2 wanted in on the act of course, so now we have each one doing alternate weeks, one day of the weekend and so far we've had home-made pizza, moules mariniere and roast chicken (which is of course something we would do, but actually using a recipe is a different matter... but then the recipe wasn't folowed because I wasn't supervising, I mean helping, ahem!) But coo, it looks like education!
As does the Happy Mais strewn over the table. I keep meaning to take photos of the elaborate creations but perfectionism means that they get scrapped before I get round to getting the camera out, lol.
And here's a quick 'squeee'. If you know why I'm squeeing then *grin* but if not I can't tell you cos it's seeeeecrit. Sorry!
As does the Happy Mais strewn over the table. I keep meaning to take photos of the elaborate creations but perfectionism means that they get scrapped before I get round to getting the camera out, lol.
And here's a quick 'squeee'. If you know why I'm squeeing then *grin* but if not I can't tell you cos it's seeeeecrit. Sorry!
Saturday 20 January 2007
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