Humouress hopes to scale the 75 book mountain in the second half of 2014 - but it's a slippery slope.

This was my view for breakfast over the last week.

(darn - I wish the TickerFactory tickers for the year didn't turn around and start counting down with 6 months to go; I wanted to compare my tickers for the whole year, so I could see how I was doing on the challenge. If anyone knows a way around it, please let me know)

2014

Review   Rating                Title & Author

November
32) Loving a Lost Lord by Mary Jo Putney

October
31) Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
30) Hairy MacLary from Donaldson's Dairy by Lynley Dodd

September
              29) Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

August
28) The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
27) Mr. Quiet by Roger Hargreaves
26) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
25) Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
24) Little Miss Trouble by Roger Hargreaves
              23) The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
✔                      22) Throne of Glass by SarahJ. Maas

July
              21) The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold
              20) Sing the Four Quarters by Tania Huff
              19) The Broken Crown by Michelle West

2014

Review   Rating                Title & Author

June
✔                      18)   The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
✔                  17)   Second Term at Trebizon by Anne Digby
              16)   Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
              15) Inda by Sherwood Smith

May
✔                  14)   City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
✔              13)   The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
✔                  12)   First Term at Trebizon by Anne Digby

April
✔                  11)   Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

March
              10)   Lhind the Thief by Sherwood Smith
              9)   Frederica by Georgette Heyer
✔              8)   The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
✔                  7)   City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
✔                  6)   Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling

February
✔              5)   Deep Wizadry by Diane Duane

January
              4)   Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
✔              3)   Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
✔              2)   Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold
✔                  1)   The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

                   

August23

Group reads
The Wheel of Time - year long
Vorkosigan Saga - year long
Harry Potter - year long
Frederica - February

Currently reading

  The Broken Crown by Michelle West, Sing the Four Quarters by Tanya Huff

  The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

 

  The Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas (due ) 11-08-2014;
          (due )

  Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

  Wolverine's Daughter by Dorann Durgin; Act One, Wish One by Mindy Klasky

{ Some topics for my personal reference :
Basic HTML
Basic HTML 2012
How to do fancy things in your posts

What we are reading threads:
Juvenile and Young Adult
Science Fiction and Fantasy
Green Dragon
Fantasyland July

My wikipage, to keep track of book bullets: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/User:Humouress
and the Location Wiki }

coloured stars :

I've noticed that a lot of people have listed their rating system. Well, mine is ... rather subjective; depends on my mood. I try not to let it be, but if it's a classic, or recommended by loads of people on LT, I sort of feel pressured into rating it high. Plus, I try to be positive (after all, someone has gone to the effort of writing the book. I've tried writing, and ... well, I can't do it, so all writers have my admiration), so it's rare for my rating to dip below 3 stars, unless I really don't like a book. (There is 1 half star in my catalogue - 'nuff said)

I'm also including books I read to my kids because they do take up my reading time - even the ones I read to my toddler, because he usually asks for them to be re-read five times in a row quite happily (I think I'm creating another book-monster!); and because I'm hoping it'll help me reach my 75 book mark this year.

(I'm also over on FictFact, as humouress.)

Welcome ...

Note to self:

Of 19 books read this year, so far reviewed 8 12.

Still to review:

26) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
25) Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
24) Little Miss Trouble by Roger Hargreaves
23) The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
21) The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold
20) Sing the Four Quarters by Tania Huff
19) The Broken Crown by Michelle West

18)   The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
17)   Second Term at Trebizon by Anne Digby
16)   Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
15)   Inda by Sherwood Smith
14)   City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
10)   Lhind the Thief by Sherwood Smith
9)   Frederica by Georgette Heyer
6)   Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
4)   Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
3)   Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold

Also have to review (from last year)

56) The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
57) Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
58) A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee

EEK!

(The easiest way to read my reviews, since they're so long overdue, is to go to my second post and then either click on the name of the book to go to the review page, or click on the number in my list, which will take you to the relevant post.)

Come on in. Have something to cool down with, and let's talk about books (and other stuff)!

 

Oh Nina, I love this view. Gorgeous! Happy New Thread.

>8 humouress: Ooh, yummy!

Happy new thread!

Thank you both, and welcome over!

Happy New Thread, Nina!

Oh, yum, the view and the delectables--I think I'll just camp out here!

>12 scaifea: Thanks, Amber.

>13 ronincats: Please do, Roni.

Further notes on Georgian / Regency periods (as per Wikipedia):

The Georgian period was 1714 - 1837, covering the reigns of Georges I to IV and the 7 years of William IV.

The Regency period was a sub-period of the Georgian era, 1811 - 1820, when the future George IV was regent for his father, George III. Apparently denied political power, he spent the nation's wealth on pleasure and frivolity.

Hi Nina, what a beautiful place to start the day! Just lovely.

Thanks for the link about the setting of Georgette Heyer's book, I am sometimes not quite sure of whether they are Georgian or Regency, this will help. :)

Hi Nina- I appreciated all the history notes at the end of your last thread. Thanks! And having seen your topper on this thread and the loverly food, I now have you starred. ; ) Congrats on your happy new thread.

>16 DeltaQueen50: >17 Berly: Thanks, Judy and Kim. Our holiday was great and having breakfast with that view was wonderful. The best part, though, was the people. The food was delicious, too - as my waistline will attest.

I've been trying to sort out Heyer's Georgian and Regency books myself, especially since I keep comparing them to Austen's works and trying to work out the rules of the society of the times. That would take a thesis, I suspect; any volunteers?

And speaking of Jane Austen, I was lucky enough to catch an episode of Pride and Prejudice today; the part with the arrivals of Wickham and Mr. Collins and the Netherfield ball. Yes, of course the one with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

18) The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer



Created for her sickly brother when she was 17 and published a couple of years later, this was Heyer's first novel which started her on her prolific career. A light adventure story, this is a Georgian romp with one of those heavy, lazy eye-lidded arrogant characters I dislike who - fortunately for me - turns out to be the villain instead of the hero.

Though the prologue and epilogue focus on 'Devil' Beaumanoir (the 'Black Moth' of the title; a phrase used only once within the entire text), the body of the story concerns the lifestyles and romantic interests of the Carstares brothers : John, known as Jack, who had forsaken society and gone into exile to prevent the disgrace of his younger brother, Richard, who has since given up his vices in remorse - despite the best efforts of his wife, Lavinia (who happens to be Beaumanoir's sister), to get him to live more of a high life.

Jack has recently returned to England to the life of a gentleman highwayman despite pleas from friends and family to return to his new position as Earl of Wyncham. His 'profession' does, however, put him in position to rescue two damsels in distress, thus introducing the requisite romance.

Though this was quite fun to read and much better than the usual 'Regency romance' genre (as much, I personally feel, as Jane Austen is out of Heyer's league), it does have its flaws for me. For instance, the prologue and epilogue felt like they were tacked on as an afterthoughts, only serving to show us the concern that the Honourable Frank Fortescue has for his friend, Devil, the basis for which neither I nor Devil, nor even Fortescue himself understand.

What really annoyed me, though, was the casual attitude of almost the entire cast (including the intended victim) to the attempted crimes, which would get some serious jail time in this day and age. And I was a bit disappointed that the villain of the piece doesn't get what I think is his just comeuppance.

3 stars

Hi Nina! Happy new thread!

I have the Colin Firth P&P on dvd - I pop it in as needed.

Georgette Heyer is such a pleasure to read, but I admit I been avoiding The Black Moth for ages.

Thanks, Dejah, and welcome.

At least it's the villain who is arrogant and sneering in The Black Moth; usually, it's the hero, and I just can't like him.

19) The Broken Crown by Michelle West

This is one to savour.

This is one that makes you think.

But how to review it without giving away the intricacies of the plot, which gradually unfurls, like a flower opening to the sun ...

In the Dominion of Annagar, a woman of the clan's best hope is to be grace and perfection personified, that she may become a wife and find a place within a harem with sister wives. We watch Serra Diora di'Marrano, daughter of Ser Sendari, grow up from a loved and loving child to one of the highest positions (for a woman) in the land - and what that means in reality - which position has been subtly engineered for her by her aunt, who views her possible futures through the frustrated lens of her own life.

We also catch glimpses of the alien demons of the Shining Court, who would return to the mortal realm, where they have their own agenda.

We watch as West builds layer after gossamer layer of the complicated Annagarian and contrasts it to that of, whom they consider to be their mortal enemies.

Deep, dense and rich. Liking it. :0)

Very well worth reading.

5*****

Happy new thread Nina!

>21 humouress: The Heyers with the 'bad boy' heroes are not my favourites either.

Happy new thread Nina!

Thank you and welcome, Heather and Rachel.

>19 humouress: I'm going to say it here, because really; and I want to take the spoiler out of the review, plus I think most people visiting here who read Heyer have already read The Black Moth. (Apologies if you haven't yet; if not, please skip this post.)

I don't know if it's an indictment of Heyer's times, the Georgian period or a reflection of my expectations based on our times, but about half an hour after a character comes within an ace (by which I mean 'seconds') of being ... er ... deflowered, everyone (including the victim, the rescuer and the perpetrator) is sitting down to dinner together, as calm as you please. Well, all I can say is there's innocence for you.

Lol! Good manners in public trump everything else.

Margaritas. Check! Deck. Check! Water view--no, not today, too much competition. Num-nums, Check! Book and jewelry making supplies. Check, Check! All set, Nina!

*sigh**rolls eyes*

Will this do you, Roni?

6)   Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling

Having not reviewed my books straight away, it makes it harder to review them now, because I can't remember what I wanted to say.

ETA
and also

18)   The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer

and this

14)   City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Nina, I wish you a fabulous weekend full of R&R.

Thank you Barbara. What gorgeous peonies!

I see them growing all over LT; keep up the good work!

Nina, those are Ranunculus in English buttercup. There are different kinds of them and yes some have a strong similarity to peonies.

Huh. I know I posted a response to you, Barbara; maybe I didn't click 'post'.

I meant to say that those are prettier than the Ranunculus (Ranunculi?) I'm used to.

Dear goodness; that Brazil - Germany football match was an absolute rout!

Germany eviscerated Brazil - it was painful to watch. Poor Brazil.....

That said, German played extraordinarily well. They have placed themselves as the favorites! I'm looking forward to today's Argentina - Netherlands game. Once again in hemispheric solidarity, I'm rooting for Argentina. Since the World Cup is in South America, I'd like to see one South American team in the final.

Who are you rooting for to win it all?

I know; 4 goals in 6 minutes! My reactions were, variously,

'Replay. It looks different ... oh, another goal'
'They're shooting already? They didn't even go back to the halfway line.'
'That's funny' because Kroos was laughing after he scored.
'This is just ridiculous'

I was hoping Brazil would go through, even though Germany were looking good before the semi-final. I was thankful they got through the Group stage, because I was worried there might be a backlash against the team otherwise. Mind you, with a result like last night's, I may have to start worrying again.

I'm hoping Netherlands come through tonight; we know a lot of Dutch people here, and after the hand-of-God incident against England, Argentina is on my blacklist (though my youngest has the Messi football shoes, so he's backing them).

I always hope England will win whenever the world cup rolls around; but that dream died oh, a while back this time. One by one, teams I'd have like to see do better (the Africans, the lesser known South Americans) have gone, so I've been pretty much on the fence for the last couple of rounds. And sometimes I change allegiance; I like Arjen Robben's playing style, but his admission of diving (nice style there, too) took the shine off a bit, plus I quite fancied Costa Rica (cute guys, too).

My husband backs Germany all the way, always.

Hmmm .... well, if Argentina goes through, I'll join him, but if the Dutch win, I'll be more on the fence, with a bias towards them.

I think. It could all change tomorrow. ;0)

Phooey!

Ah well, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. (The Dutch have been in 3 finals, but never won the cup.)

I thought the game was a little...lackluster. I think there was a bit too much of being careful and not enough aggressive, creative play. Now, of course, both teams will be exhausted for Saturday and Sunday.

There were so many teams I was excited to root for - oh well. I guess I'll stick with underdogs Argentina.

... er ... to be honest, I slept through most of the match. We rousted the kids out of their beds at 4 a.m. for the start of the match, but the youngest and I lasted about 15 minutes. I did wake up for the penalties. The Dutch looked nervous and their goalie tired, which was odd, given they got through the last round by winning the penalty shoot-out.

Oh, well; go Germany. ;0)

I'm working on that Barrayar review Roni, Morphy (what did you say about 'no pressure' again?) Unfortunately, I'm having to skim through it for specific details, and then it snags me ... hooks me ... drags me in ... ...

Nina, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Oh, beautiful! Thank you, Barbara. I wish you the same.

I'm watching Brazil - Netherlands as I type. I thought Netherlands might have some fatigue issues against what I assumed would be a very determined Brazilian team, but with Netherlands already up 2....What is wrong with Brazil??????

I think the mob's got to them and told them to lose. I mean, 7-1?

And that penalty Thiago gave away that gave the Dutch their first goal? Our commentator did point out that Robben fell outside the box, so it should have been a free kick, but he also thought Thiago should have got a red card.

What's wrong with the Brazilian captain? Barely into the game and he pulls a stunt like that; much like the one he pulled right at the end of the Colombian match (when Brazil had already won) which saw him miss the German match.

In related news, there are only two ads which show at half-time, both government sponsored; one is supposed to discourage illegal gambling (you may have seen it shown in the US) where a group of kids have just finished playing a game of football and are discussing whom they want to win the world cup, they all tell which team they support and why, when the last kid sadly says he wants Germany to win, because his father has bet all his (the kid's) saving on them. My husband's comment at half-time for the German-Brazil match (at which point Germany were, what? 4 nil ahead?) was "Smart father" Actually, I thought they might cancel the ad because it might encourage gambling instead, but it showed last night, too. ;0)

Yay, Germany!

Oh dear. I've just checked, and it's my Thingaversary next month; but I think I may have managed to get a bit ahead of myself. After a break for various things like overseas guests (well, in Singapore, 'out-of-town' necessarily means 'overseas') and school holidays, I've gone back to arranging my bookshelves. But I got itchy fingers, and decided to try and fill in some gaps in my series. Only, they're not quite gaps, but turned out to be whole series.

Ruby Red
Sapphire Blue
Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier

Arrows of the Queen
Arrows Flight
Arrows Fall by Mercedes Lackey

Added to which, I'm just discovering that - in trying to make sure I have enough space for the books I want to get to complete my series - I'm running into a new limitation, and maybe vertically challenged for bookshelf space. *sigh* Such trials and tribulations.

And, in further news, my eldest has gone off on school camp this morning. He was a bit nervous, but it was our youngest who got a bit upset this morning at the prospect of his brother being away for a few days. So now it's just waiting for his safe return and imagining the fun (hopefully) that he must be having.

You are turning six right? Did you see the suggested themes for LT Thingaversaries?

Year 6 is a Comic Book/Graphic Novel/Illustrated Book (richardderus) Doc Savage: Fortress of Solitude/The Devil Genghis.

Thanks, Berly, I'll have a look. I haven't tried those genres for a while.

>46 humouress: My baby's come home!!

(I'm a bit weird; I only miss people when they come back.)

Belated congratulations on Germany's win! I hope your youngest (at least I think that's the one with the Messi shoes) wasn't too disappointed.

Enjoy the return of your eldest!

Great book buys, btw!

Thanks, Dejah. Commiserations for South America. Poor Messi looked so dejected, even when he picked up the award for best footballer. I think Argentina did depend on him to carry them, though not as badly as Brazil and Neymar.

Yes, it's my youngest with the Messi shoes, but he's fairly mellow about it. My older one - now, he gets passionate about every goal or missed pass. He would have been heartbroken if his team lost. But he was inclined towards Germany (well, his dad was backing them from the beginning, and I was anti-Argentina, so we may have influenced him) though he did say that he'd also support Argentina for the sake of his brother, who was alone in their camp.

I picked up my eldest from school yesterday afternoon, once the coaches came back from Malaysia. This (in addition to being his first camp, since he wasn't in this school for the previous two years) was his first overseas trip without us. The school has done this for a few years for every year group from year 3 upwards, so I was fairly content about his safety; I think I was more worried about his possessions, especially his passport ;0)

Having said which, it does seem like he's missing one set of school uniform 80/

His uniforms are labelled anyway, but now it makes the night I sat up sewing labels on his 'civilian' clothes worthwhile.

Nina, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Thank you, Barbara. Your sunny pictures certainly help.

It was sweet of your older boy to support his little brother's team. The Argentinians did look dejected, didn't they? Oh well. At least it didn't go to PKs, which I hate.....

I can remember having name tags sewn into my clothes when I went off to camp and later to school. I know it helped me get home with more of my things than I would have - particularly from camp. My mom hated sewing those things in, as I recall.

I hope your weekend is going well. Enjoy!

It did look like it was going to run to penalties, didn't it? I was getting more tense about avoiding that possibility than about who won. ;0) The commentators talked a lot about the 'golden goal' that they brought in in recent tournaments, but that never materialised in this one. I suppose they've given up on that idea?

I don't mind sewing tags too much, but I usually do them while watching TV, so they end up taking twice as long as they should have. I've not manage to find a needle that's comfortable to work with, though; it's either too short or too thick, which makes it awkward to work with. And, of course, socks are a pain.

The weekend has been fine, thanks. I hope yours is going well.

My weekend has been quiet and rainy, which lends itself very nicely to reading. I'm trying to resist a nap at the moment, but there are some household things I should do.....

My weekend has been a bit busier. My parents flew in from overseas, as well as some of my husband's relatives, so we had a barbecue lunch for everyone. My husband (who fancies himself as something of a TV chef - by which I mean he watches all the foodie programmes and then concocts his own things) did all the planning and cooking - though he did get our eldest to help with marinading the meats because he claims his hands are the right size to massage the ingredients in - which left me to sort out the house and the kids.

Unfortunately our eldest picked up a virus in Malaysia, so he was rather out of sorts. I took him to the doctor on Monday, and when he came back with all his medicines and paraphernalia, our youngest declared "I'm not going to school tomorrow. I feel sick." and true to his word (I thought he was just imitating his brother, though it's not in character for him to feign illness) I took him to the doctor this morning. At least one of them will be off school tomorrow, too; but on the plus side, they do get to spend time with their grandparents that they wouldn't have, otherwise.

I've got a couple of books on the go at the moment (not to mention the kids' bedtime reading book which is going very slowly a. because with various after school activities, they don't get to bed with enough time for me to read to them and b. on the rare occasions that they do, at least one - if not both - fall asleep before I get to the end of the chapter). As for napping; I try not to switch on the air-conditioning unless I'm absolutely sweltering, but then the humidity gets to me, and I invariably nod off, to be woken (sometimes) by whatever's in my hand or lap crashing to the floor.

Well, the next couple of weeks might be more productive. With the kids banned from swimming for a couple of weeks and pretty much all their other classes on hiatus for the summer holidays (because the kids from the northern hemisphere international schools have all gone home), we'll have more time at home. Let's see what that's like.

In the meantime, let's see if we can convince the kids to have dinner. There is so much food left over from the barbecue - my husband tends to be over generous with portions. Can I offer you some?

Your husband sounds just like mine--watches the Food channel, check. Makes up his own concoctions, check. Cooks way too much amount wise, check!

I think - with 6 people getting a bit fed up of left-overs - we're finally getting to the end of the food.

The boys both stayed at home; I'll be packing both of them off to school tomorrow, I think.

LOL about your food. I hope you managed it by now, that there isn't any leftover.

I hope your boys feel much better.

Thanks Barbara. The boys have gone to school this morning. The little guy has a school excursion to World of Autos, for their term project on wheels, but I nearly had second thoughts about sending him, because he sounds a bit hoarse. But they're both looking forward to going back to school - which is a good sign.

Hope all goes well at school and everyone is healthy. Love the leftovers and then love them when they are gone! (My husband makes way too much too.)

Thanks, Kim. The kids are both on the nebuliser until the end of the week, but they're bouncing around and annoying the heck out of me, so they're well on the road to recovery. They're loving having their grandparents here to spoil them, too.

The excursion looks like it was a success with the whole class, so I'm glad I let him go. He sounded quite excited, and kindly initiated me into the mysteries of engine oils and dipsticks. Though he did tell me the oils come in 3 colours - yellow, red and dark blue, which I didn't know.

I think we've seen the last of the left-overs. I tried to come up with a way to turn them into something else, but I wasn't inspired. My mum used to chop everything up, throw it into individual clay dishes, pop a slice of processed cheese and a slice of tomato on top and bake them. Initially it was great, especially the novel presentation, but it palled eventually. I'm pathologically by-the-book when it comes to cooking - no creativity.

Well, one more day to the weekend; isn't the year flying by?

I've borrowed Throne of Glass from the library as an e-book, because I spotted a few books in the series on my last visit to the bookshop and it piqued my curiosity. Now, this is why I borrow first before risking investing in new-to-me series; I've slowed down several chapters in because of the writing. There are certainly some good ideas there, but they are somewhat strung together, and you sometimes have to extrapolate to jump from one to the other.

For example, the protagonist, who is effectively a criminal, has been riding through the wilderness as a prisoner. As the chapter (I'm currently reading) opened, the first sentence had her riding into the capital city primped and painted and dressed like a princess. How, why and when did that happen? One of these (male) soldiers guarding her suddenly came up with the necessary skills and equipment?

This is what is wrong with a lot of 'young adult' fiction published in the last several years. While I admire anyone who can write a book - not being able to come up with a plot or even a chapter myself - tighter editing would be a blessing. One would imagine it would be a necessity ... but we can't all have our 'druthers.

Compare the YA classics (and there's a reason they are classics) of yesteryear; or even so-called junior fiction. They are beautifully crafted and can be enjoyed by readers of any age, and so they endure through the years. These days, sadly, 'juvenile' fiction seems to apply as much to the writers' style as to the target audience.

Rant over. Sorry - I seem to be a bit of a grump today.

>64 humouress: I had the same issues with that book, plus I feel that the female assassin thing has been done so much better elsewhere (Poison Study, Graceling, Grave Mercy). I can see why people like it, but I didn't care enough to go on with the series.

I'm sorry your book was a dud! And if you can't rant about books here, where can you?

It's good to hear that the boys are on the mend - and that the visit is going well. I'm sorry I couldn't take you up on the leftovers, lol.

Well, I'm only on chapter 7, but the descriptive pearls were strung too far apart at that particular point, and the jumps kept throwing me out of the story, so I'll see how the rest of the book goes.

To be honest, foggi, Poison Study was another one that annoyed me with its discontinuities (not to mention its Stockholm syndrome theme).

Graceling I liked so well, I went out and bought the entire trilogy, but Grave Mercy I haven't read (yet).

Oh, hi Dejah; we cross-posted.

The boys have left for the morning. Our eldest got a lift in from his dad, as we didn't think he'd have enough time to get ready as well as do his stint on the nebuliser (it's a mad scramble on a normal day, as it is). So our youngest didn't seem to mind, because he got his brother to see him off on the school bus, as well as his grandparents and parents. Usually, his bus picks him up about 20 minutes later than his brother. Next year, he'll be joining him in the same school.

My, how they grow. That wistful melody of ABBA's 'Slipping Through My Fingers' that runs through my head after I've seen the second one off may swell to a thundering chorus with both of them leaving together :'/

>67 humouress: I grant you that, but I liked it better than Throne of Glass.

Oh, um. Not looking too promising, then. :0)

Well, it might just be because I read it first!

Ah.

But I've read Poison Study already.

No matter; I'll just persevere with Throne of Glass and decide later. Though you've probably influenced my subconscious now.

>68 humouress: You and Abba and me, too, Nina... *sigh*

>72 humouress: Sorry! If a differing opinion helps, one of my co-workers liked Throne of Glass so much that she stayed up late into the night reading it.

>73 scaifea: I know. *sniff, sniff* *wail*

>74 foggidawn: No problem; my subconscious (should that be 'subconscience'?) is easily swayed. But I've picked up Throne of Glass again today. As I said, there are some good ideas there, and though I'm still noticing the jumps, they're not throwing me out of the story - for now.

>46 humouress: Oh, the perils of being a completist.

So I went out looking for the Ruby Red series and grabbed the sole copy of each of the books in the trilogy; but now I'm rethinking. The second two books were available in hardback, and I love the dust jackets, with their embossed 'jewels', and the first one only in paperback, which was the same edition I had borrowed from the library (which made me decide to buy the series).

But now I'm looking at it and thinking that it doesn't match the rest of the series (which I've recently become finicky about) and thinking about getting it in hardback, too - I've located a copy on the internet. But it is about S$10 more. I've got any number of nieces I can give the paperback to, as a birthday present.

Decisions, decisions. It's a hard life ;0)

20) Sing the Four Quarters by Tanya Huff

Annice is a Bard who can Sing all four quarters (earth, fire, water, air; being strongest in air), which means she can use her voice to call the kigh (elemental spirits) and request their aid is small matters (as long as it isn't for gain). Bards keep the kingdom of Shkoder connected by Walking the land and reporting back to the king.

Somehow, I didn't fully connect to the characters. I thought the 5 year old child was realistically portrayed, without being too cute.

>51 humouress: KIDS! You may remember that back in January (which is the beginning of our school year) my eldest lost two brand new school hats within a week of starting school. Well, now it appears that along with, apparently, a full set of uniform, he's lost a third hat while on school camp. Which was named.

So this week, he bought the fourth hat; which is actually the fifth one within a year (and the sixth in total - I think; I'm losing count - could be 7. Or 8), because we returned to Singapore a year ago and bought a new set of uniforms including a hat (in spite of the fact that he already had one from his previous stint), but then the school changed uniforms about 3 months later, necessitating the purchase of a new hat, too, though we only bought it for the new school year.

This time, I'm tempted to sew his name tag onto the outside of the blessed thing. Which may at least have the benefit that no-one else will want to be seen in it.

>77 humouress: Don't see that one quite being my cup of tea, Nina but I love the title.

Hari raya is coming and a visit to Hani's relatives in Singapore is very much on the cards. Tuesday on the second day of raya we will probably be in the City State. Don't know if you would have any time to spare for a meet-up?

Enjoy your Sunday, when you awaken to it. xx

So sorry about the hats. That was also part of my kid's uniform here until they whittled it down to just for field trips away from school, which definitely helped cut down on the loss of hats in our household. Good luck!

>79 PaulCranswick: I knew it Paul! You couldn't come last year, when I was beautifully svelte. (Take my word for it.)

How is Tuesday evening for you? Would you like to hit Kinokuniya here, or Page One, or the second hand bookshops in Bras Basah?

>80 Berly: Thanks Kim. Well, I suppose if I'd had a hat as part of my uniform, I'd have kept losing it unless it was sewn onto my head. Hmm ... there's an idea ...

Finally - finished my review of Barrayar.

>81 humouress: I seem to have scared you off, Paul. I expeditioned (yes, I know it's not a real word, but hey!) to Page One by myself, only to find it wasn't there. Obviously I'm going to have to do some book-related research before (if) you get here,

*wanders off to write shopping list*

Ooh - it's my Thingaversary in 2 days; better make that list longer. Was that only 6+1 books?

And I have to tell you, the boys made dinner for themselves last night, while I was mainly superfluous, wandering in and out of the kitchen (apart from handling the hot pan for them). Probably since he was 4 or 5 years old, my eldest has helped me make a really simple pasta dish, based on a Jamie Oliver episode : chop up mini (cherry, grape, whatever) tomatoes any old how, pour them with all the juice into a large bowl, add olive oil and mixed herbs and then have fun stirring and smooshing it all, to get all the flavours melded. Meanwhile, cook stuffed, fresh pasta (tortellini, ravioli etc) in boiling water, and when that's ready, add it to the 'sauce' and then mix it through thoroughly but gently (making sure the tomatoes don't all end up underneath the pasta). Serve it, grate fresh Parmesan cheese over the top and Enjoy!

But I think this is the first (could be second) time my youngest has helped. I left them to it (they could have used a little less of my precious EVOO, I suppose) and it was great to see them working together, big brother showing his little brother what to do, and - more importantly, in the name of peace and harmony - letting him do as much of the work as he wanted to. I let the older one use a sharp kitchen knife for maybe the first time, and the little one got a table knife for the tomatoes (yes, I'm a control freak; and I'm holding tight to my babies).

Very nice review, Nina--well worth waiting for. How far in the series are you now?

Thank you Roni *bows modestly*

I have Young Miles sitting on my bedside table, but I didn't want to start it until I finished the reviews for the rest of the series (so far). We were looking longingly at each other - so I finally finished the Barrayar review (I had it done, for the most part, a couple of weeks ago, but there were a few words and phrases that weren't right). So tonight I may have an assignation ...

Happy almost Thingaversary!! And don't feel bad about protecting those cute kids. ; )

Oh, yay for dinner made by the wee ones! Charlie loves to help me cook, too, and is so proud when he makes dinner (like you, of course, I help with the hot and sharp stuff).

>88 Berly: Thanks, Kim. And, of course, there are those occasions when they decide they're old enough to do everything themselves, and don't want to be protected.

I see, over on your thread (I tend to lurk on LT a lot) that your knee is improving, which is good news.

>89 scaifea: I've been following Charlie's cooking exploits with interest, Amber, and I'm thinking of looking up some of the books you're using (but cook books are a weakness of mine. I'd like to use more of them before I go out and get some more).

Y'know, if we play our cards right and keep encouraging them, we should be able to stay out of the kitchen, and just put our feet up, have a glass of wine when it's time to get dinner on the table. ;0)

>91 humouress: I highly recommend the Sesame Street one, if you can find it - the recipes are easy, of course, and they're honestly really good! Charlie has a Disney Princess one that he really likes, too. And, yes, I'm definitely looking forward to the day I can sit back and let him take over in the kitchen! Ha!
Also, you can never have too many cookbooks.

Sounds delicious; but this is exactly my problem with cookbooks. I get them, but I don't make enough use of them. *guilty sigh*

I'm thinking pizza sometime next week, if I can get myself organised. The kids should have fun making dough.

22) Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

(First of 3 books : The Throne of Glass series. YA, fantasy)



I've been seeing this book a lot in bookshops recently but I hadn't come across this author before, so I decided to borrow Throne of Glass from the library.

Celaena Sardothien (an assumed name) had been an assassin in the land of Adarlan - whose king was busily engaged in conquering the neighbouring lands, including her homeland of Terrassen, and stamping out magic - until she was caught and sentenced to imprisonment in the salt mines of Endovier, usually a (brief) life-sentence. But then the king decided to pick a Champion to carry out his dirty work by holding a competition, and the crown prince chose to enter her. So Celaena, under a new name, was taken out of the salt mines to live in the glass castle at Rifthold that served as the king's home while she competed to become the Champion. But someone - or something - was killing the competitors one by one, eviscerating them in remote corners of the castle. Would Celaena suffer the same fate, or would she be able to discover and stop the killer in time?

Firstly, I would like to say that anyone who can write a book and get it published has my respect; I know writing is a lot of work, and certainly harder than reading. That said, I am finding that a lot of fantasy written for young adults these days doesn't flow smoothly and the writing is disjointed. Unfortunately, this book falls into that category. There are some good ideas there, but they are not connected very well. I found myself frequently thrown out of the story by the sudden jumps in events (for example, after more than two weeks hard travel, bound and with only soldiers for company, Celaena arrives in Rifthold and is suddenly and incongruously 'unchained, dressed and painted') and the apparent contradictions between things written just a couple of sentences apart. I also felt there was no real focus to the story; there are a lot of threads to it, but none of them coalesced to form a solid central core to build the story around. The book could really have done with tighter editing and more attention to detail; for instance, a character walking in a snowy garden should not be more visible because of her white cloak. Occasional use of a dictionary would have given the narrative a boost, too.

One would assume that the self-styled 'Adarlan's Assassin' would be more deadly, but Celaena doesn't seem to think for herself. Even when one of her sponsors tells her not to stand out too early in the competition, so she doesn't show her hand to the other competitors, she doesn't see the logic in it. She seems far more interested in the pretty dresses provided for her, which - to me - seems out of character for someone with a tough childhood trained from an early age to be an assassin.

I was intrigued by what magic there was in the story, and by Celaena's past, hidden from herself, but there wasn't very much of those elements, and since I struggled to finish the story to return it to the library in time, I doubt I will be rushing out to borrow the next in the series any time soon.

So I'm giving it 3 stars out of 5 for effort.

Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold

13)   The Warrior's Apprentice
(Fourth of 16 (chronological order), eighth of 16 (publication order) : Vorkosigan Saga. Sci-fi)
(Re-read)

Already read, review up thread.
The whole book is great; and that last chapter is so clever.

21) The Mountains of Mourning
(Novella after fourth of 16 (chronological order)(4a), after fifth of 16 (publication order)(5a) : Vorkosigan Saga. Sci-fi)
(Re-read)

Instead of Miles's glittering interstellar career, this novella focuses on his other heritage, as Lord Vorkosigan, heir to the district of Vorkosigan with all it's back country superstitions in the hard to access mountain ranges. attitudes, prejudices accepted, expected even, in his grandfather's time, that Miles himself has had to suffer through.

At home at Vorkosigan Surleau on precious home leave, having finally achieved his life's desire and qualified as Ensign - his feet on the first rung of the ladder - Miles is assigned by his father to assess a case of infanticide; a case that he is uniquely qualified to investigate and judge.

Miles delivers a verdict worthy of Cordelia and Aral's son.

Nicely thought out. A change of pace from Miles's usual frenetic adventures, but no less clever; he has to think his way through the attitudes and lifestyle of the people whose wellbeing will one day be his sole responsibility. Fits right into the rest of the Vorkosigan canon.



23) The Vor Game

Not as frenetic as previous Miles books; does that mean I give it 4.5 stars or 5? Dilemma.

Having qualified as an Ensign in the Barrayaran Imperial Military Service, Miles is finally on the first rung of the ladder to achieve his life's ambition, and eager to receive his first posting, hoping for ship-side. He is puzzled to be posted as Assistant Weatherman to Kyril Island, a frozen lump, not even terraformed, known as Camp Permafrost. ....but is promised bigger and better things if he can weather this out and curb his tendency to not be subordinate enough.

Will Miles last out the posting term and go into space?

He does get to go into space, but not as he had expected; investigating activities undercover at the Hegen Hub, where the Dendarii Free Mercenaries are currently contracted. And then Miles, in his persona as Admiral Naismith, really comes into his own, free falling from situation to crisis, juggling three identities, inventing solutions on the fly, preventing other characters (some of them former commanding officers) from terminating him, not to mention resolving a top secret, top priority Imperial crisis which makes itself known to him out of the blue.

Oh - and preventing or halting, in a race against time and one of Miles's spectacular (finesses), an intergalactic invasion.

Does he manage to cure his tendency to question his superior officers?

Hah! He can't help himself; Miles plays the Vor Game by his own rules.

The terrestrial part of the book does dovetail into the second part, but you can see the join.

Hi Nina, I see you are enjoying the Vokosigan series as am I. I loved The Mountains of Mourning for allowing us to see a more mature, thoughtful Miles than we usually get. My next read in this series will be Borders of Infinity followed by Brother in Arms. Such a great series.

Hi Nina. I'm enjoying my read through of hte Vorkosigan series too and The Mountains of Mourning was also one of my favourites.

Hi Judy, hi Heather. Thanks for coming by.

I'm certainly enjoying the Vorkosigan series, too; and it looks like there are a couple of the books I've never read before, so I've got those to look forward to - which means buying them to fill the gaps on my shelves ;0). Unfortunately, bookshops here seem to be getting fewer and further between, and I only spotted one Bujold book on my last visit to my usual bookshop. But I can always order them in - after all, this week was my Thingaversary, so a splurge is justified, don't you think?

Wait, your Thingaversary was a week ago!! On the 2nd. Happy Belated Thingaversary!! And I can think of no better splurges than one on Bujold books!! Yes, The Mountains of Mournig is one of her best.

Having difficulty getting to a bookshop for long enough for a decent browse (though I checked out my usual place thoroughly a few weeks ago); not enough time between school runs, and if I bring the kids, I have to bribe them with time in the kids' section.

But I've ditched them today, so let's see if I can find a bookshop to go to.

Hi Nina, I wish you a lovely Sunday.

So, did you find a bookshop?

Happy Monday!

Thanks Barbara, Judy and Kim.

I didn't actually find a bookshop. I treated myself to a manicure, partly because we were going out for dinner and partly to try and rescue my nails before they got too short to do anything with (they tend to break easily). But then their system was down when it was time to pay, and I had promised to deliver some books from my son to a classmate who was leaving the country over the weekend, so I ran out of time.

But I still have that to look forward to.

The other day, as I was about to rush off and get ready for my manicure appointment, I noticed a bird fluttering desperately on our neighbour's fence. I felt bad as I had noticed it the evening before, too. So I asked my husband to help me rescue it when I was leaving. As I was getting ready, my husband went out by himself to rescue the bird (my hero!).

But he returned shortly afterwards to tell me there was no bird there. I could still see it fluttering from my bedroom window, but when I went downstairs it had gone again.

It turns out that our neighbour has a sheet of metal on the side of their gatepost, and this daft bird(s?) was attacking or flirting with its reflection. You remember the bulbul that was trying to come through the glass of my window earlier this year? This was either that bird or a close relative (evidently) of it.

25) Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken

(reading)

Sylvia and Bonnie, of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase have come safely through their adventure, and now it is the turn of their friend, Simon the goose boy. Simon has journeyed to London in the hopes of joining an art school to be a painter. And here we also meet a bratty little scamp, one Dido Twite by name.

Though there are a heap of coincidences (though a lot of them could be explained by the ... but that would be telling), and it gets a little Gothic in places, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Much like The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, there are some unlikely events (Battersea Castle) but it's all good fun and the good guys do win out in the end, in spite of impending tragedy.

not forgetting the rose carbuncle.



4.5 / 5 ?*****

Well, look; I'm never going to get to 75 this year either, so I'm going to add in my 5 year old's reading, since he reads to me. So it qualifies as an audio book, right? Last night, he read me :

24) Little Miss Trouble by Roger Hargreaves

Little Miss Trouble deliberately and mischievously gets Mr. Small into trouble with the other Mr. Men. Will she get away with it?

The Little Miss and Mr. Men books are short and sweet, and many of them have some repetitive phrases, so they are easy for early readers or for a quick bedtime story or three. The characters are a variety of shapes and colours, and the illustrations are clean and simple. The stories and the writing are simple, too, but interesting, with a variety of punctuation marks so young readers get a good workout reading aloud. Characters from other books appear within each other's stories

My 5 year old is absolutely devouring them at the moment (I just found him giggling over another one, having come home from school); he's moved a whole pile from the bookshelf to beside his bed, to read at night.

He read Little Miss Trouble out loud to me with no trouble (haha). There were a couple of words that slowed him down, but he worked them out himself.

I used these books with my older son at a similar age, to practice reading; and yes, we have the whole collection. Both of them.

They may not be classics, and I was a little too old for them when I discovered them myself, but they are part of the fabric of childhood. Although, recently, I've spotted adults sporting Little Miss or Mr. Men T-shirts.

We had a Mr Bump audio tape (with songs) on a holiday when J was very small. We'd only taken two, that one and Bob the Builder, and by the end of the two weeks we were completely sick of both of them. (That is me and Mr SandDune were sick of them, J still wanted them on whenever we got in the car! I think I can still remember the words of the Mr Bump song over ten years later!

Nina, I wish you a fabulous weekend full of reading.

>108 SandDune: :0D I can imagine, Rhian! My personal bugbear is 'Felize Navidad'; which I actually quite like, but by the end of the Christmas season I'm quite sick of - even though I find myself singing it.

Thank you, Barbara. I'm enjoying revisiting Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken, and with more than a touch of nostalgia, since I first read it as a child.

I haven't been around LT much, because real life is quite busy at the moment. I'm on the volunteer committee for my younger son's school, and we're putting together items for their sports day this Friday, plus my parents came through Singapore, so we took them out for dinner to celebrate their wedding anniversary. And I'm still spring-cleaning; this time, I'm doing the boys' room, properly for the first time since we came back.

So I signed up my eldest for after-school rugby without his knowledge (but, in my defence, he did tell me to put him in for 'whatever') and there were the usual tears and tantrums (he's always reluctant to join in things, until he warms up a bit), until he realised after watching one session that he would have to get new boots with studs (which he's wanted for a long time) and a mouthguard (goodness knows why) which he's been chewing on all weekend.

Now he seems to be quite looking forward to playing (apart from a couple of minutes when a friend who dropped by today mentioned he broke his collar bone playing rugby, and he almost had second thoughts). Boys! I know football is called 'the beautiful game', but I love the co-ordination and choreography of rugby union.

Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

(reading) (Kindle)

I picked this up because I saw a BBC film or mini-series of this years ago and really liked it; it was enchanting, true to its name. But the book is really funny; I'm so glad I started it.

26) The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J. R. R. Tolkien

The kids and I have finally finished reading The Hobbit for their bedtime story; which is to say, I read it to them, on nights that one or the other didn't fall asleep, with gaps when they just got to bed too late for much more than a goodnight kiss. We all know that The Hobbit is a classic, but it was written as a children's story, and I'm writing this review from that perspective.

I thought that my 10 year old would be captivated, but I wasn't sure if Tolkien's use of the language would put my 5 year old off. It did take him a few nights to get into the swing of the narrative, but having watched and enjoyed the first two of Peter Jackson's film adaptations of the book, he soon became as avid a listener as his brother.

So. This is the story of how the displaced dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, Erebor, having seen by signs and portents that the time has come when they can reclaim their lost home from Smaug, the dragon who had driven their ancestors away, ask Gandalf the Grey, a white wizard, to help them find a burglar, to sneak back into the mountain. Gandalf remembers one Bilbo Baggins, of Bagend under hill, now a comfortably middle aged hobbit of about two hundred years or so, when he was a young, adventurous hobbit and the Took side of his heritage was more in evidence.

And so begins an adventure for the reluctant Bilbo; but he proves his worth many times over to the dwarves as he journeys with them to the Lonely Mountain, and then comes back home again.

Oh some lovely reading here. Both The Enchanted April and The Hobbit are five star reads for me. But don't get me started on the subject of the films which I didn't like at all ...

I hope you're not referring to Enchanted April as a film you didn't like. I remember it as very evocative and charming.

Of course, it's ages since I saw it (it must have been in the early 90s, when it was first made) and I have barely started the book, so I can't compare the story lines. I don't remember the film being funny so much as about gentle observation, though in (the first chapter of) the book, it's what the two ladies don't say that makes it humourous.

I suspect it is the Hobbit movies that Rhian didn't like. I don't mind their incorporating of other material that was happening concurrently but not in the book, and I do think they did a great job with Smaug.

Love the Hobbit, and that you are counting the books that your son reads to you! I played rugby in college and it is a great game, mouthguard and all. LOL.

Oh, it's good to know that your 5-year-old enjoyed The Hobbit; I've been wondering how much longer I need to wait before starting it with Charlie...

>117 ronincats: Roni, I suspect she means The Hobbit films, too, because they did add in quite a bit (orcs and elves that weren't so much in evidence in the book). They've stayed fairly true to the spirit of the original (unusual for Hollywood!), though they've made one novel into three films as long as the three thick books that make up LotR. Though I much preferred Legolas's eyes in the LotR films (for one thing, the change in the Hobbit film emphasises the fact Orlando Bloom's face has got broader); but I think brown eyes with blond hair is more exotic.

>118 Berly: Thanks Kim. I considered touch rugby at college, too, but I chickened out. Especially after another girl broke her ankle while playing. Plus, it's muddy! Actually, it was only after college that I fell in love with (watching) it.

My son went for his first session on Monday, and seems to enjoy it. We had to buy a celebratory dinner afterwards, because he scored his first try and survived his first tackle. And he got stomped on, which no rugby game is complete without, I suppose.

>119 scaifea: Hi, Amber. I don't think you have to wait too much longer to read The Hobbit with Charlie, though I did find I had to work a bit harder to emphasise the humour and keep the boys interested (and awake). Has he watched the films? I know the age range is a bit older than 5 for the films (because of the battle scenes, I assume), but my little guy likes to watch things that his big brother watches. (And since my husband pooh-poohs age ratings, I'm fighting a losing battle on 3 fronts.)

It took a while to finish reading The Hobbit because on at least 3 nights a week the kids have after-school activities, and by the time we've come home and I've managed to persuade them to go through some semblance of the bedtime routine, it's too late to attempt a long chapter. And this last week I've had a bad cold, with my voice almost on the edge of going for a few days, so I definitely didn't feel like reading (as it is, my voice starts to croak by the end of a long chapter, without any ailments). So the very last chapter, when Bilbo goes home, was delayed a few days. In fact, I told the boys they could read it, but that night it was too late to read, and I was fit enough to read it myself the next night.

But they were so disappointed at being denied the chance to read, that the night after, they read me a couple of chapters of How to Train Your Dragon, which I'd already started with my younger son on a couple of nights when he wanted a story but my older one was late getting to bed and we were already reading The Hobbit. (Don't worry, he didn't miss out; I'd already read it to him years ago before we went to see the first film, and I suspect he's read it himself since.)

It was so cute; they both wanted to read out loud, so I let them both get into the same bed and they cuddled up together to read. (Unfortunately, it ended with my younger one storming off to his bed and pretending not to listen because he felt his brother had encroached on his reading material. Kids!)

>116 humouress: Oh yes - I was talking about The Hobbit films! Just found it too videogamey: whatever happened none of the goodies were going to get killed! I enjoyed The Enchanted April film a lot!

Hello Nina, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

Thank you Barbara, I wish you the same. As usual, you've picked a beautiful photograph. I love seeing your pictures when I visit other threads. I see your theme at the moment are dreamy places; they'd make good settings for fantasy stories.

Nina, you're welcome. Indeed, I love hidden places, plants and fantastic gardens. Those are fabulous reading spots. :-)

27) Mr. Quiet by Roger Hargreaves

Poor Mr. Quiet lives in Loudland where everyone else is LOUD; so not only does he end up living as a recluse, to avoid being overcome by all the noise, but when he goes shopping, no one can hear him and he can never buy anything.

What is he to do?

Again, a typical Mr. Men story from Hargreaves's stable. The story is short and simple and has some kind of moral without being at all preachy. The illustrations are also clean and simple using a basic palette of colours, with the Mr. Men being based - for the most part - on geometric shapes. Mr. Quiet, for instance, is a small, beige oval.

My five year old is having thorough fun reading it to me with all the different voice levels - especially the loud ones! (Mice don't squeak; they roar).

Love that your kids get to read to you, too. That's the best! So, I have to tell you my rugby secret. The other team was always scared of me because before I put my mouth guard in I would flash a really big smile. Since I was missing two teeth at the time (congenitally missing and I have great fake ones now) everybody left me alone. It's nice to have some benefit from the mishaps of life!! But tell your little guy to keep his teeth and just use his big reading voice to scare 'em. ; )

Eek! I'd rather he keeps his teeth, thanks Kim. Especially since he's already dropped his baby teeth and grown his adult teeth (the ones at the front, but not the back ones yet; he's kind of in that cute in-between stage at the moment).

But speaking of congenital tooth defects, he's got one that came through a bit wonky (which he was thrilled about, because it's his ambition to have braces)(yes, I think it's odd, too) which I wasn't too happy about. But then we caught up with my husband's nieces, who are about the same age as him, and they have the same wonky tooth. Actually, I think one of them even has a matching one on the other side of her mouth.

>120 humouress: Oh, nononono. I'm *way* too over-protective when it comes to what Charlie watches for him to have seen anything so 'grown-up' as the Hobbit movies yet. Ha!

>129 scaifea: Ha! back at you; wait till he discovers that he can't survive another minute without such-and-such and begs and pleads and annoys you until you think 'Well, it can't hurt'.

My 5 year old will pick up something (anything, it seems like) when we walk into a shop. "Mamma can we get this? It's my favourite thing in the whole world.

"Sweetheart, do you know what it is / does?"

"No, but I need it. Please can we get it? PLEASE?"

Needless to say, I can manage to resist that, especially as it's usually something incongruous like, I don't know, headphones for a system we don't have. But then I'm softened up for things that could make sense getting.

So my new favourite numbe (not that I ever had one before) is 16. It's the number on my 10 year old's rugby jersey, and today (having attended a total of 1 training session), he played for his school for the under-12s. It seems to be the general way of thinking; I overheard the opposing team's pre-game talk, and a lot of their players were playing for the first time, too.

Anyhow, our team won, and now my son likes playing rugby again (he goes from loving it just after playing to debilitating illness which means he can't play on training days) ;0)

*lurk*

>120 humouress: When J was young I was very relaxed about the so-called scary stuff, like The Hobbit or Dr Who. He seemed to realise that it was make-believe. I was much more concerned about the every day stuff like soaps: I didn't want him to think that that reflected real life, and for a young child that is a much more difficult distinction to make. So when my Mum came to stay and wanted to watch her favourite soap I had real issues about the cocktail of arguments, violence, child abuse, teenage pregnancy and violent death that seems to be crammed into the half-hour of the average British soap.

I have to admit that there are now very few things now that I won't let J watch. And it's been a struggle deciding what he can watch since he grew out of things aimed at very young children. Between the ages of 8 and 12 I had a lot of difficulty in finding things that were rated 12 which he could watch (in the UK any age of child can see a 12 as long as they are with an adult - the next category up is 15, for which you do need to be 15). There were so many films rated 15 which he would have found interesting and so few rated 12 (he never enjoyed superheroes / transformers type of films which is what seems to be mainly aimed at that age group). I gave up the ghost with banning 15 rated films a couple of years ago (probably when he was about 12) when I discovered that several of his favourite TV programmes
(which it had never occurred to me to not let him watch) were rated 15.

I do find that I disagree with a lot of ratings as well. I would tend to rate harshly for violence and explicit sexual scenes (but not nudity), but I would be much more lax when it came to strong language or controversial topics By the time they go to secondary school I think there is very little that children haven't heard already even if their parents would like to think otherwise.

>132 ronincats: Eek! *lifting a book and discovering Roni lurking*

>133 SandDune: Well, soaps aren't an issue; the American ones irritate me, because they break for ads every 5 minutes or so, and when they come back, they repeat half of what they showed before the break. You could stop watching for a week and come back and not miss much. But if you leave it for a year, everyone's got married to someone else (usually their previously most-deadly enemy) or had plastic surgery or changed from brunette to blonde, and it's just too hard to work out the storyline to catch up. We don't get the UK ones here; in fact, I doubt we get any. I used to find East Enders depressing to watch. Wendy Richards, for example, was so much fun in Are You Being Served, but her character in EE looked rather haggard.

But scary stuff seems to affect my kids. I had to ban Scooby Doo when my eldest was 4 and watched it when we stayed with my parents in the holidays, because he kept waking up with nightmares. And I had to ban it again when my youngest hit 3, too. By then, I decided my older one was over being scared, at 9 years old, and my youngest isn't as sensitive; but then he had nightmares, too. As for language, I'm rather a prude, but a) fortunately for me, I live in Singapore, so the censors sort that out for me and b) unfortunately for me, they pick up that kind of language from their dad.

What is it with Scooby Doo?! Charlie's completely afraid of it, too (grandparents let him watch it once - go figure). I guess I was older when I watched it as a kid...

Nina, I wish you a relaxed weekend.

Thank you, Barbara. Just looking at that picture, with the bench in just the perfect spot, makes me feel more relaxed. Wishing you the same.

>136 scaifea: I don't know, Amber. I was a bit older when I watched Scooby Doo, too; plus a lot of it was outside my experience, not just the ghouls and ghosts, so it was probably easier to disbelieve. I never believed Shaggy was a teenager and I'd never seen a van like that. But they say kids need to be a bit older than 4 to distinguish reality from make-believe.

My five year old can still spin a yarn with apparently total belief in his own story. The other day, we were looking for something or other (I forget what exactly), so I asked everyone if they had seen it. He told me he had, and where he'd seen it, with such sincerity that I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. Finally I asked him what it looked like, and it was fairly clear from his description that he hadn't actually seen it.

>139 humouress: Ha! That can be frustrating, can't it? I've had some pretty incomprehensible discussions with Charlie like that before.

This week, my youngest is on a one week break between terms, so I signed him up for a skating course, since he's been quite keen on trying it. He's picked it up quite well, though he's not the most elegant skater yet :0)

The mall which the ice rink is in is right next to a public library, and he ended up borrowing 8 books. I confess that I haven't actually used my Singapore library card in ages, possibly since before the kids were born, so it's getting a good workout. Though he expects to return them all on Monday, for some reason.

Gosh; I completely forgot. A few weeks ago, my older son's school had a book fair, so I bought the boys a book each. My younger one picked The Gruffalo and my older one picked the first Skulduggery Pleasant book.

28) The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

(First of 2 : The Gruffalo series. Chidren's, picture book.)
(Smarties Book Prize gold award winner)

This Smarties Book Prize gold award winner was chosen by my 5 year old from his brother's school book fair. He thoroughly enjoyed reading it to me at bedtime, and it is currently a favourite which sits on his bedside shelf, and which he keeps re-reading to himself (both silently and out loud), and to anyone who will listen.

The story, told in rhyming couplets, is about a mouse walking through the woods and avoiding being eaten by the other denizens of the woods by telling them scary stories of his imaginary friend, the gruffalo ... until he meets a real gruffalo, who would also like to eat him!

'A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.
"Where are you going to, little brown mouse?
Come and have lunch in my underground house."
"It's terribly kind of you, Fox, but no -
I'm going to have lunch with a gruffalo." '

Our edition, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, has lots of pictures interspersed through the text, including lots of full page and double page illustrations. The illustrations are reasonably simple at first glance, but with lots of background information, in terms of plants and small woodland creatures.

The rhythm is catchy, and the rhymes form several repeating patterns that makes the story easy to read and - quite frankly - addictive for young readers. I have a suspicion that my son first came across the book in school, and liked it so much that he decided to get it for his own when he came across it at the book fair.

This was the first time I had read the story myself, and it's delightful. The mouse imagines all kinds of scary features for the gruffalo, and I wondered if the real gruffalo would look anything like his imagination - and whether the mouse would escape from such a scary creature.

It's funny and clever, and my five year old loves it.

Five stars.
5*****

For some reason, the Gruffalo just rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't care for it at all. *shrugs* Funny things, taste & opinion, no? *smiles*

Nina, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Hi Nina--Just checking up nothings here. Glad to hear rugby went well. Yay!

>141 humouress: I was in Terenganu last week on the East Coast of Malaysia and actually saw a pretty large Public library in Kuala Terengganu the state capital. Didn't have time to pop in but I certainly will do if the project mooted there takes off.

>144 scaifea: Huh; that is funny. Do you remember why you weren't keen, Amber?

Of course, we're all entitled to our own opinions - and mine is the right one, if we differ ;0)

>145 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. With a view like that, the weekend will be gorgeous. Of course, now we're into the next weekend (it's been a while since I was on LT!), so I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

>146 Berly: Hi, Kim. RL has taken over for a while, recently.

He's getting more and more into playing rugby, to the extent that he voluntarily told me he wants to sign up for next term (from 'Mum, how can you do this to me!' when he found out I'd signed him up initially, which continued for at least a week); and even his little brother has declared he wants to play, when he joins the school next year. The school played an inter-school tournament last week, which he was disappointed not to be included in, but apparently he's too young for the cut-off age. His school has enough under 12 players to field two teams, so he's in the second string team (they're the green team). On Thursday they played a school in their rugby league which their gold team beat a couple of weeks ago; but unfortunately, the green team lost to them.

He's going to be captain of the team in a couple of weeks, against what he tells me is one of the best teams in their league. In the interests of giving the kids as much experience as possible, they rotate the captaincy, I think, the same way they try to sub all the players on during any given game, sometimes in different positions. He tends to play left wing. I have to go and learn more about rugby (despite the fact that his playing is all my doing), but my husband and son tell me it's a defensive position.

So all that's been going on. The little club library where I volunteer has been busy, too. We're doing another stock-take, which is going unusually slowly, because whenever I settle down to try and get through a shelf or two, someone comes in who needs help. (You'd think they'd have more consideration in a library, wouldn't you? Actually, I do enjoy helping them.) Sometimes I do an extra stint during the week, while the boys have a tennis class or something, but even those days have been busy. Normally I get very few, or even no people coming in. And on Friday, the club had a Fair, and on those days we have a stall where we put out books for sale that have been weeded out or that we have duplicates of, etc. I did a short stint there, and then today my little guy helped me organise the leftovers back onto the library 'for sale' shelves (actually, a windowsill and a heap of baskets).

And ... I have mustered my courage and am continuing my spring clean of the boys' room. I'm doing a deep clean, pulling everything off the shelves and wiping them down and polishing them up ... The usual boys' mess is compounded by the fact that I let things slide a bit, because I was planning to do the big clean-up, so it's quite a large job. I've spent this afternoon trying to match up the sets of colour pencils, pens etc. and reserving any complete boxes, since we have so many. In fact, one of their schools was asking for some, for Children's Day gifts, and I might be able to give them one or two packs of colour pencils.

Somehow, life seems to be getting busier and busier, and I keep rushing from pillar to post. It's partly because my little guy finishes school before lunch-time, and then we have to pick up my older son a couple of hours after lunch. Next year, they'll finish at more similar times - but I'm not looking forward to giving up the extra time I get to spend with my 5 year old now.

>144 scaifea: Hm, I'm trying to remember what I didn't like about it... I think partly the illustrations, which weren't really to my taste, and then I thought the little mouse (it was a mouse, right?) was a bit of a smart-ass. There are many more picture book treatments of trickster stories that are much better, as far as I'm concerned. I know that I'm in the minority on this one, though, since so many people like this particular one. *shrugs*

Well, then Amber, you'll be pleased to know we've borrowed The Gruffalo's Child from the library :0)

Hi Nina,

I see you found your way to Axel Scheffler and his books. I still own most of the books as Alex absolutely adored them when he was younger. He loved the pictures and that the stories rhymed. However, for exact the same reason he loved most of the Dr Seuss books. Well, maybe I should mention that I also loved them.

I recently finished the trilogy by Mazarkis Williams which was quite enjoyable and thought that might would be something which could interest you.

Wish you a lovely week :)

Just dropping in to say hi! And send some support on the BIG cleanup.

>152 drachenbraut23: Thanks for the recommendation, Bianca. I'll certainly keep an eye out for that one. I'll get in touch soon - as soon as I get co-ordinated.

>153 ronincats: Thanks, Roni; much appreciated :0)

Nina, I wish you a lovely Sunday.

Thanks for the glimpse in to your life right now. I have been doing THE BIG CLEAN all over my house. Closets, drawers, the kitchen. I have my son's and daughter's rooms to go, but just couldn't muster the energy this weekend. Maybe later...

Yay rugby!! I thin I mention my position--I played scrum half. I am sure your son will enjoy his captaincy. ; )

Happy Monday.

>155 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. I had a great Sunday, thanks.

Since our eldest is on his 2 week term break (though our youngest is already back at school), we took the kids to Legoland in Malaysia for a couple of days. We drove in on Sunday morning after breakfast (probably less than an hour door to door, including the 'causeway jam' - immigration into Malaysia usually takes a while, though it took us only 15 minutes this time). We checked into the hotel at about 10:30 to pick up our park tickets (though we left the suitcases in the car, since we wouldn't get the room till 16:00) and then went straight into Legoland.

Our 5 year old thoroughly enjoyed himself, though at times our 10 year old pulled the 'I'm too far above this juvenile entertainment' face. Mind you, our 5 year old is fearless. He wanted to do the Dragon roller coaster ride, and since my husband and older son opted out, I was volunteered to accompany him. I'm usually fine with roller coasters, on the theory (please do NOT disabuse me) that big theme park rides have to be safe - but riding with this scrappy little thing (who could potentially slip out from under the safety bar - in his paranoid mother's eyes) pretty much leaning all the way out (on purpose) brings a new dimension to fear.

We stayed for two nights, because on Monday we went to the Legoland water park. That was loads of fun. There were the different water slides, but they also have more relaxing pools. We went on the playground first, where there's water everywhere, including buckets that fill up and tip water all over you unexpectedly, and then next to it a pool that goes around the playground which has a water current. You're supposed to build a raft out of the foam Lego bricks floating around, but they supply inflated rings too, so most people just sit on those and float around. Very relaxing - except that my husband was in a rush to try out the other rides, since that was only the second one we'd gone to.

We did have one issue. Our fearless 5 year old wanted to go on one of the slides by himself where we had the option of individual or double inflated rings. He just made the height requirement but he must have been too light, because just before the ring tipped over edge of the first drop, it flipped over and he came off. The ride is a closed tube, but it opens in the middle for a funnel, which usually whizzes you around a couple of times before you get to the middle and then drop through. We could see him come out there and calmly walk around. He went and examined the mouth of the tube going out, and I was worried that he'd decide to take a header down there without his ring. Despite the fact he was not far below us, he couldn't hear us yelling at the top of our voices, even my husband - who doesn't have the softest voice in the world. One of the staff went down, popped him back on the ring (which had apparently been stuck in the tube) and took him down the rest of the way.

I could see he wasn't scared, so I wasn't scared for him (this is the guy who, as a two year old locked himself into our bedroom -where all the spare keys are kept - and was so oblivious to the fact that he continued playing (what, I don't know) through all our yelling and entreaties to come to the door and try to unlock it, calling the handy man and waiting for him, the handy man drilling the lock out of the door, which didn't work, and finally having to climb through the window to unlock the door for us). But our older one was so worried, he couldn't wait to get off the ride and rush over to give his brother a hug and reassure himself he was fine.

And then we changed and went back to the main park for a few more rides, and to visit the main Lego shop. The boys were promised a toy each because on Saturday they helped me with stocktake in the library. We got through about 13 sections of book shelves in one go, whereas it had taken me about three sessions to get through 5 sections by myself, so I was very grateful.

And after we checked out on Tuesday morning, we went to the nearby outlet mall, which was an early birthday treat for me :0) Though we had to take the journey home a bit easy, because the car was losing brake fluid.

>147 PaulCranswick: Paul, I'm so sorry. I thought I replied to your post.

It's nice to see you around again. I hope you get to explore that library. Isn't it exciting when you spot one, especially if it looks large and full of unread books?

(excuse typos - I'm on the iPad)

>156 Berly: Hi, Kim. I must admit I've never been thanked for telling people about my cleaning exploits before ;0) I hope your big clean is going well. Of course, on my side, I now have two more boxes of Lego pieces to discover in odd parts of the house.

My son goes back to school on Tuesday, which is the day they have their match. We'd better start brushing up on rugby again. Actually, my husband's taken an extra day off, and the two of them have just bought more equipment.

And now they're almost home, I suppose I'd better get going on the big clean again, after my holiday :0)

How could they go get more equipment? Lol. There isn't much is there? There's the uniform and the ball. And shoes.

I made it through one drawer in my bedroom yesterday. Purging is definitely a weekend thing. Not enough time during the week. ; )

I know, that's what I said. It maybe because a lot of the kids are Australian, and I've certainly seen Aussie-rules football players with helmets. Apparently some kids also wear shin guards and shoulder pads. And it's recommended they wear 'skins' under their shorts. They're form-fitting shorts to protect their skin when they slide.

Wimps, I tell you! ;0) Though, as a protective parent, if he wants them, I'll let him have them.

ETA : Purging? I'm a hoarder. Though I did bookshelves last week, and I was looking at them sadly, because I can't justify keeping all the baby books any more much longer.

Helmets and shoulder pads? That's football! Shin guards and sliders (skins to you)? That's soccer! Wimps indeed. But I totally understand the protective Mama endorsement. ; )

I do have to weed out my books. They are spilling onto the floor everywhere!

>162 Berly: :0)

Apparently 'Skins' is a brand that the Aussie kids have from Down Under.

Actually, our books aren't currently spilling out because my husband weeded them out while we were away - I spotted a box with books in them hiding in a corner of the attic. I'm saving that for the end of the big clean.

I have a box of baby books for each kid. We went through the shelves and they each took turns choosing favorites and then we put them away in the attic. Which left me more bookshelf space!! Yay!

Hi Nina, your trip to Legoland sounds like a fun time. And wow, riding a rollar coaster - my hat's off to you! I don't do rides although when I was a kid I was crazy over them.

It looks like you had a splendid time, Nina.

Sounds like you've been busy, Nina!

We had a blast at the Legoland here in Florida this summer - glad to hear that you all had a good time, too!

>159 humouress: Just as long as you're not discovering those Legos with your bare feet, in the dark...

Ooh - treasure trove; 6 unread messages.

>164 Berly: There's an idea; get the boys to choose their favourites. Though my 5 year old keeps changing his mind about his birthday party every other day, so I'm not completely sure if it'd work with him ...

>165 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy, it was fun. There are limits to my riding, though - I'm not sure if I'd go upside down, for instance. As for riding with my 5 year old again .... well!

>166 Ameise1: We did have fun, thanks, Barbara.

>167 ronincats: I have indeed been busy, Roni. I've neglected LT, though I did manage to read a couple of pages of an ER e-book.

>168 scaifea: Thanks, Amber.

>169 foggidawn: *sigh* It's a distinct possibility, foggi, unfortunately.

>169 foggidawn: >170 humouress: Oho, that's a rite de passage as a parent, I think. *shudders* Nothing hurts like a bare foot on a Lego in the middle of the night. Well, maybe childbirth, but as a C-section momma, I wouldn't know... Ha!

I'm a double C, and given the recovery period (thank goodness for my husband being around!) I think I'd prefer natural childbirth. Though I don't have much to compare it to, I suppose.

29) Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

Falls between Newberry medallist and Newberry winner in series. Brings together the Drews of the first book with Will Stanton of the second. And Merriman

30) Hairy Maclary of Donaldson's Dairy by Lynley Dodd

First in series

It's a bit hard to review this one, because we've had it a while and read it quite a few times, so I no longer remember my first impressions. But I do think that we read some of the books in the series at the library, which is why I bought a couple for home.

I pulled it out now because we've got a school trip next week to see the 'Hairy Maclary' play.

Short and sweet. Each page has a two line rhyme, introducing different dogs, with an illustration on the facing page. Fun.

I was disappointed in Greenwitch the first time I read it, but it has moved steadily upwards in my esteem with each reread. The Dark is Rising is still my favorite, but Greenwitch is now second.

>174 humouress: Hairy Maclary of Donaldson's Dairy - I loved that one when J was small - I'm pretty sure I can recite bits of it by heart even now. 'Bottomley Potts all covered in spots' 'Muffin MacClay like a bundle of hay - is that right? And I definitely think our cat has taken lessons from Scarface Claw!

>175 ronincats: Roni, I read the first chapter or so one night, and it was like putting on old, comfortable clothes - I was really happy to be reading it. But then I whizzed through the rest of it some days later, and it wasn't as exciting, somehow. But I think I wasn't in the right reading mood. I'm not sure what to rate it; I'm thinking of giving it 4.5 stars instead of 5, and then maybe I'll re-review it the next time I read it.

>176 SandDune: Wow, Rhian - good memory! And 'Hercules Morse, as big as a horse' (I'd guess he's a boxer; no staffies, though, sorry.)

My 5 year old sometimes gets the names of people and things just slightly wrong, but he absolutely insists that he's right. Sometimes, though, the words he comes up which are - almost - appropriate. (ETA - maybe he gets it from me. Corrected typo 'appropriated')

For instance, when he was 3, he'd pronounce 'Wilson' (a train from the Chuggington TV series) as ' Wheelson'.



And beetroot has been known as 'beet-fruit' in our house for a while.

Folks, you may remember that a few months ago I got my hair coloured, but I wasn't absolutely thrilled with it; so yesterday I did a more thorough job. It's quite bright, I must say, but I like it. So do the kids (of course), but my husband is a bit meh about it :0)

Nina, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

Oh, wow, Barbara. That is beautiful, thank you.

>180 Ameise1: (My hair isn't quite that colour - but close!)

Well, today is the first day of the rest of my life. I had a decent night's sleep before the kids came bouncing in to wake me in the morning. Let's see if I can keep this good start going all day. Feelin' good!

Great to hear you're feeling good. I hope it lasts for a very long time.

Thank you, Barbara. It's my birthday.

My husband took the boys to get my present on the weekend, and they were so excited about it, they were absolutely fizzing for the week, until they could give it to me. My five year old said something a couple of times, but his big brother shushed him (he who used to be an absolutely terrible secret keeper at that age). Of course, it was the type of shushing that gives away more than it prevents, so I had to cover my ears and wander off, going 'La-la-la-la" so I wouldn't hear anything :0) But it got me excited and looking forward to my birthday, too. I love birthdays, anyway, but there's that special, magical excitement that children have (an unexpected present).

I got flowers the night before, so I could see them all day, and after the boys woke me with my present in the morning, I took it easy (not that I usually don't, but today was guilt-free). My husband finished work in time to join us for dinner, which was nice (nothing exotic, just at the club after the boys finished their classes. We were going to come home for left-overs, but this was a bit nicer, for the day). As it's mid-week, we'll go out for a special meal (probably high tea - we all love that) on Saturday. So, as you wished for me, it should last a long time!

Hi Nina, glad to see that you loved your trip to Legoland - why am I surprised that there should be one in Malaysia? I used to take Alex quite regular to the one in Windsor, because it wasn't that far from London and we used to love it there as well.

>172 humouress: double C and you rather would have had a normal delivery? Are you mad? Maybe I am traumatised because I get to go to deliveries on a regular basis and this screaming women just make me want to run out of the room, each single time.
I had a C-section myself for medical reasons and I even was so lucky to receive general anaesthetics "HOORAY" so when I woke up I had this beautiful baby boy to look at. Yes, it takes a little time to recover.... so what at least no screaming at birth. LOL

>179 humouress: if your Hair colour is like the colour in the picture of 180 then it looks to me that we have a similiar colour sheme going. this is the hair colour I had during the sommer, with some red, grey, turquise and purple tossed in my fringe part. Now, it looks about the same colour as the pic in 180 and my fringe is a mix of grey, dark red and an ashbrown. How cool, that you like to go on an adventure when it comes to colour :)

>184 humouress: Nina I just saw that we overlapped with our messages!

So, here a home made birthday cake for you. Happy Birthday Nina and many Happy Returns how my friends tend to say!

>186 drachenbraut23: Thank you so much, Bianca. That is thoughtful of you. It looks delicious and quite seasonal - did you bake it today?

No, that's a "Raw" cake I made some time ago. I am like Nathalie (Deern) and tend to experiment especially with raw desserts as they tend to be incredible moorish. So, what you see here is a raw vegan cheese cake. :)

So, what WAS your present? And, oh yes, Happy Birthday, Nina!!!

A bit late I guess but nevertheless a heartily

October is a great month to have a birthday! Hope you had a great day, Nina!

Thank you all!

Just whizzing out to pick up my eldest from school. Will catch up later tonight (hopefully ...)

Happy (slightly belated) birthday, lady!

>185 drachenbraut23: Hi, Bianca; the waterpark in the Legoland in Malaysia is the largest one in the world (for Legoland waterparks, that is). I took my eldest to the Windsor park when he was 4, so we walked around the mini-world Lego buildings since he was too young for most of the rides. He was quite keen to drive the cars (boys!), but he had to get a 'licence' from the junior Lego circuit, first, which I couldn't accompany him on, and for some reason, he wouldn't go on them, so he didn't get to drive that time. Of course, when we went to Malaysia, our youngest desperately wanted to drive, but our 10 year old felt he was too old for such things and he wouldn't drive, even though his brother was the only one on the circuit. The next day, though, when we went back, they both drove round.

Well, to be honest, I got as far as the baby crowning the first time, before we had to go for an emergency C. I opted for general anaesthesia as I'm petrified of needles. The second time around was an elective C, and I felt a bit guilty for sleeping through the first time, so I took a deep breath and had an epidural (I had a numb bum for 3 months afterwards, though; felt very weird). But I think my family tends towards comparatively easier deliveries.

This is the first time I've tried such vivid colours (I asked for red and purple ombré, but it's leaning towards pink - it's a little bright for conservative Singapore). It took a few weeks of going in to get my hair bleached to get it light enough to show the colour as my hair is so dark. My older son is a bit disappointed, because he wanted sky blue. Actually, I wanted electric blue or lilac initially, but the salon pointed out it would only last a few weeks, and then it would fade to grey.

But may I say you look hot in that picture ;0)

>188 drachenbraut23: Ah; that's why the cake looks so light. If it's moorish, I definitely want the recipe! Those berries look scrumptious.

>189 ronincats: Thank you, Roni. I got an iPad Air with an interactive keyboard built into the cover that I was gifted too.

>190 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara!

Isn't it just, Judy. I shall drop by your place - again - in a bit.

>193 scaifea: Thank you, Amber!

I wanted to try out a cake from The Whimsical Bakehouse book that I have, but my husband points out that we're going out for high tea on Saturday, plus we still have desserts in the fridge from having people over for dinner last weekend.

But if I do get around to experimenting, I'll try and post a picture (don't hold your breath).

ETA : I'm facing a few challenges with that book (I've already tried some recipes out). It's an American book, so I have to keep remembering to convert to metric, which is a bit of a pain, but the two real challenges are ingredients and their names and whether they're interchangeable or not. I'm still trying to work out what wafer chocolate is, and gel food colours. Part of the problem is that a) there are a lot of non-local ingredients and b) while it's a lot easier these days to find quite a few non-local ingredients, the market (Singapore being a cross-road of cultures) caters to a heap of nationalities - local, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Australian, European, British, American ... For instance, cream ; you'd think that'd be reasonably straightforward, wouldn't you? I went looking for heavy cream (USA) today. I thought I'd look for double cream (UK) as an alternative, if I couldn't find it, but there was only thickened cream (Oz) in the shop. But apparently, none of these things are the same, though heavy cream is closest to whipping cream (UK). I did find a recipe to create it, using milk and butter so I may attempt that.

And the other problem is the weather - the heat and the humidity. I may or may not have found wafer chocolate, but when I tried melting what I did find, it went gunky very quickly, when I was looking for a coating consistency. I tried chocolate from the cake decorating aisle of the supermarket, and chocolate from a specialist cake decorating store, and melting it in the microwave and melting it in a double boiler, all with pretty similar results.

I'll muster up my courage - sometime - and give it another go.

Um, I've never heard of either of those, Nina. Wafer chocolate OR gel food color.

*throws hands in the air* Well, then!

I suppose they must be specialist to the cake decorating industry? Thanks for letting me know; at least I won't get quite so distracted trying to get the exact ingredient now.

I think I have heard of wafer chocolate, but definitely never of gel food colour. Doesn't sound very natural.
I tend to dislike recipes the moment you can't replace ingredients for something you can't get. Very, very unflexible baking.

>194 humouress: the hair colour they use in my hair holds for ages. I had about 5 years back (the combination you were interested in) a blue and a lilac and it held for ages, we only needed to re-do the roots for month.
Well, definitely would love to look like this stunning girl LOL. However, found on fb two pics Darryl posted where you can see my colouring :)



The "Raw Cake" no problem can pm you the recipe sometimes in the next few days.

Happy belated Birthday!!!

Nina, I wish you a lovely weekend.

>204 drachenbraut23: Hi, Bianca. Once, when I was 10, I baked a surprise apple pie for my mum. I think that was the first time I tried cooking by myself, and I'm still quite impressed, given my track record. Unfortunately, we didn't have the right flour in the house, so I substituted whatever was available. My mum wasn't quite so impressed, especially as she served it to our new neighbours (actually, we had just moved in), and it was pretty inedible. It put me off cooking for a long time. Whether it's because of that, or because I focussed on sciences, now when I cook, everything has to be exact, down to the last millimetre.

I like the colours in your hair; that's a nice lilac you've got there. I must find out what brand you colourist used. I wash my hair pretty much everyday, especially because I get so hot and sweaty just sitting and waiting for the kids' classes to finish (and if I sit indoors with air-conditioning, my nose gets blocked. Such a hard life!). Every time I rinse my hair, the water turns pink. So I'm trying to use cold water (years of winter mean I like my showers hot, usually - despite the heat here. My husband has the air-conditioning going in the bedroom, anyway) and only rinse my hair enough to get the shampoo out and there does seem to be less pink flooding away. But I noticed a patch on my hair where it looks like the colour is starting to fade already :(

>205 Berly: Thanks, Kim! That's a nice cake, and a couple of glasses of wine to share, too.

>206 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara. I hope your weekend was wonderful, too. Your picture reminds me of September / October last year, when we stayed in London for a couple of weeks (how time flies!). It brings back nice memories.

We went out for high tea on Saturday, to celebrate my birthday (and now I think I've stretched it for as long as I can), which we all enjoyed, and then got a SIM card for my iPad, so I've been playing around with that.

On Sunday, my younger son had a classmate's birthday party to go to, and his brother was invited, too. It was a simple affair - the kids and the two dads who were there played football on their front lawn while the mums chatted. And everybody had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Some easy food (which the kids were barely interested in, of course) and birthday cake. Perfect! To think of all the hassle I go through trying to create the perfect party. And (I think) I've recruited more parents for the Kindy year end concert to perform a surprise song for our graduating class. Which reminds me - better go and get stuff together for that; we have a rehearsal in an hour's time ...

Oooh, please tell me more about the surprise song... it sounds like something our own PTO may want to try.

>207 humouress: I am always amused at kids who instead of starting slowly with baking simple goods like brownies, will jump right in and try something more complicated. Having never baked before, I decided to make a chocolate chiffon cake one day when my folks were out. The cake was a disaster and ended up in the garbage can!

>210 scaifea: Well, to cut a long story short, Amber, around the end of term one, I proposed that the parents of our graduating class sing 'I Hope You Dance' for our children, because I find it really meaningful. A couple of other mums got on board - or I would have given up there and then - and the school is quite happy for us to do it, too, but it's taken till term 3 / 4 for it to really start happening (well, most parents do work, so it's tough for them to rehearse as a group), but it's coming together now. Concert is on the 31st, so we have to be ready, get the kids ready for their part and keep our part a secret all at the same time.

Plus, as he finishes school in mid-November (14th?), we've got to organise our youngest's birthday party. We're going with the 15th of November, though his actual birthday is more than a month later.

AAAGGGGHHHH!!!

>212 humouress: or in other words

>211 DeltaQueen50: I don't know why I did decide to bake a pie, Judy; it's out of character for me to jump in at the deep end. Or maybe that pie is the reason I've been cautious ever since.

I remember that I used a tin of pie filling - I suppose it just called to me; siren call ...

>213 humouress: That sums up my week, right there. LOL.

>215 Berly: 'Morning Kim.

Actually, that's my year end, starting now. I've got both boys' birthdays, which fall just after the school year ends, so all the expats disappear to go home for the long holidays. And Christmas. And New Year. And all the associated shopping, avec CROWDS! And end of year stuff. And beginning of next year stuff.

etc. etc.

As you know, I'm not organised at the best of times.

This Christmas holiday we are traveling to see my folks in MN/WI, but we are under strict orders to be back in time for my daughter's birthday on the 30th so she can be with friends. Since when do kids dictate everything? Oh yeah, since the first one appeared 21 years ago!! LOL.

Good luck.

Your wishes are needed and much appreciated ;0)

I hope your holidays are wonderful - however curtailed. We are trying to get to Thailand to see an ex-classmate of our 10 year old's and try and coincide it with his birthday, but be back in time for our youngest's (four days later) - and Christmas, and New Year (since at least one of them will have to be celebrated away).

And the smaller the kids are, the more stuff they need (nappies, bottles ... spare clothes in case of accidents, toys to distract them ...)

I could always tell when my eldest was pulling a fast one and crying just for attention, but my youngest has had me hopping from day one. As a brand-newborn, when he woke up, about half a second later he'd be crying as though he hadn't been fed for hours and I'd abandoned him.

Now, he's a real charmer. (You know that wink, with the tilt of the head and the click of the tongue? Yeah - well, so does he.)

We try - we try to keep control of the house. My eldest (for 5 years the only child in the house) has a different approach; he thinks a thing is his, and gets affronted if it's taken away from him (TV time, for example).

>212 humouress: Oh, that's a neat idea! How will you manage to perform your surprise song and still see all of the students perform? Sorry for the demand for detail, but I'm really enamored of this idea and am toying with suggesting it here...

ah ... um ... ah ...

Well, going from what they did last year (they've tried various formats from the time my eldest was there, and they've moved premises in the intervening time; they've never had a hall or even a classroom big enough to hold all the parents / audience, though they did try, one year, moving all the way to the main branch in the city - wasn't popular), they put up a big awning over the car park and set up a stage (more of a dais, I suppose) at one end. We took mats and a picnic dinner, and my Kindergartener stayed with us for bits of it, except when he had to get ready to go up - each class did 2 stints, one in English and one in Mandarin.

So I'm expecting we'll stay in the audience, and I think the teachers are slotting us in after the K2s have graduated, and then we (the K2 parents) will go up and sing to them.

Better finalise that, now that the teachers have a better idea of the shape of the concert.

ETA - sorry; I'm rambling - too late at night. Hope you got that.

Nina, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

>220 humouress: Got it. Thanks! I think it's a lovely idea.

Hi Nina! Belated happy birthday wishes. It sounds like you and the boys have a lot on at the moment - hope you manage to find time for some reading too.

>207 humouress: LOL Nina, you sound exactly like my sister and my mom. They go strictly by recipes and I for some reason CAN NOT. However, here are the links to the raw cheesecake recipe. Ahem, again, I didn't go strictly with the recipes, but the cake turned out great :) You may like to try some other raw desserts, they are incredible easy to make and just delicious.

cheesecake01
cheesecake02
most lovely mix of healthy and fab recipes

BTW the hair colour is called elumen and is not widely used at hairdressers as they are apparently quite expensive. However, this colours are brilliant for people who have got problems with allergies. Most of the time I even don't need to highlight my hair but can use the colours as they are.

*lurk*

Hi everyone, bit busy this weekend (managed to get some parents coming over to rehearse. Will respond later. Thanks for coming by.

31? Cetaganda

Lieutenant Lord Miles Vorkosigan, 22, is on a diplomatic mission with his cousin, Lord Ivan Vorpatril (huh?), to Cetaganda (who, if you remember, invaded Barrayar in their grandparents' time, and Miles himself recently foiled another attempt - but that's need-to-know only, so I won't mention it here) to attend the funeral rites of the Emperor's mother. Being Miles, things are never that simple. Beforet they even land on the planet of Eta Ceta, there is a spanner in the works; as they attempt to dock at the orbital space station, they are routed to the wrong docking station and something odd happens. Paranoid Miles (assigned to ImpSec under Simon Ilyan) suspects a plot against Barrayar. Is it, though?

I love the haut-ladies; power to you, girls!

Miles falls hopelessly in love with a tall, inaccessible beauty. Again.

Hilarious, as usual.

A friend of mine keeps recommending the Vorkosigan books, but I've never gotten around to reading any. They sound like fun, though!

Also, apparently it is the time for purple hair? I finally dyed my hair a few weeks ago (which I've been wanting to do for ages, but couldn't when I had to worry about job interviews and such) and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out:

>228 bluesalamanders: Fun! I plan to dye my hair fun colors after it turns grey, but looking at the cool results other people are getting, I'm tempted to start sooner than that...

I say if you want to do it, do it! (As long as you can afford it and it won't interfere with work or whatever.) I love mine and it has - interestingly - opened up conversation avenues with people I otherwise might not have talked to.

>228 bluesalamanders: Astonishing! Did they decolour first before going on with the new colour and how often do you need refresh it?

>231 Ameise1: Yes, she bleached it first; I have very dark brown hair, so she had to or it wouldn't show up. I've never done this before, so I don't know how long I need to wait, but my next appointment is 6 weeks after the first one.

Thanks for those explanations. :-)

You're welcome! I am super excited about it, I've wanted to go purple for literally years and I love how it turned out.

It looks really gorgeous.

Thanks :D:D

>228 bluesalamanders: I love your hair, Blue! And I'm also a little bit envious; my hair is so dark that the bleaching has left it very frizzy (and it was already bad enough with the humid climate here), but yours looks nice and smooth.

My hair is at the pink end of purple. Actually, it's supposed to be red and purple ombre, though initially it looked more bright pink. Now (after only 3 weeks), the red seems to have faded to a strawberry blond and the purple has mellowed a bit. I wish I had thought to get a photo taken at the salon, when they blow dried it beautifully.

>237 humouress: Thanks! I have to be really careful about conditioning, or it does go frizzy, but generally it's good. It probably helps that it is not at all humid here right now. Summer would be a different story.

*waving* at Nina

Nina, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

>238 bluesalamanders: Well, it looks good!

>239 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! So nice to see you around again. Thanks for dropping by.

>240 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara! What cute mice; though I saw one at home yesterday that I wasn't quite so excited about. The weekend is nearly over, but it's been good.

Yesterday, after the usual classes etc., we went to a friend's place to rehearse our 'secret song'. My kids joined her kids (our youngest are classmates - hence the song - and our older ones were classmates upto 4 years ago), and another mum brought her little girl and toddler, so they all had fun. When we finished rehearsing and all the other mums went home, the 3 of us with kids went back to her place. My husband joined us a bit later, and we stayed for ages chatting. So long, in fact, that she threw together an impromptu dinner for us - sometimes the best kind. Eventually, we only broke up because we had offered to take the little girl home; her mum had had to take her baby brother home earlier.

And we've just come home from a nice brunch at place at the tip of Singapore, where there are still colonial buildings and lots of jungly areas, and then we took a relaxed drive back along the coast; quite rare here, especially now it's getting more built up.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, too. (And now, off to fight with the storage space on my laptop ...)

Wow, what a wonderful weekend you had.

Thanks, Barbara!

Bleugh. My nose is dripping (though, thankfully, it seems to be past the stuff-tissues-up stage as the only way to stop it) which makes my eyes itch, the tip of my nose is itching which makes me feel like sneezing and I'm feeling irritable. I'm guzzling down hot tea, which helps for the 5 seconds it's going down - so I'm now sloshing nicely when I walk.

I've even fired off a nasty e-mail to Apple about the storage space on my laptop - well, kind of nasty; I had to split it into 3 parts because I could only find a feedback form with limited character count and no e-mail address.

I'm not quite at the wallowing in self-pity stage, but close enough that I'm letting my husband dose me with tablets (I think he relies far to much on medication, and I prefer to sleep it off / ride it out).

sorry - just venting. It didn't stop me having a great weekend!

Don't you have an external hard disk where you can store everything? I work only with them because my faith in clouds etc. is absolutely minimal.

Actually, I have two external hard drives. But I've just replaced one because it was causing the laptop to hang - so I'm not sure how much faith to put in them :0) But the storage is a long-running problem, so I don't actually have many apps or documents on the laptop. I've deleted some already, and am gradually, selectively deleting photos, now that I've replaced the second HD.

The problem is that 60% of the storage is taken up by 'Other', so I don't know what it is, or how - or even if - I should delete it. And it seems to be quite a common problem.

Oh dear, I never had problems like you are dealing with and because I'm not an IT person, I'm not much of a help, sorry.

Hi Nina, sorry to hear about your cold. As you know I am someone to rely a lot on natural remedies. Try Sage and honey or vegetable broth with ginger usually works brilliantly for me.

Unfortunately, I am not good with technical stuff either. Therefore - not much of help!

>228 bluesalamanders: Love that colour bluesalamander. Mine which I have now is still a bit darker than yours and my hair didn't require highlighting, we just could put it into my dark hair.

*sigh* I'm not an IT person, either; or maybe it wouldn't be such a problem. I used to feel technologically superior to my parents ... but this year my 10 year old's class got their own iPads to use in school, and he just whizzes through stuff with barely a pause. I feel a bit slow on the technology side now.

But I appreciate your suggestions, thanks. :0)

Oh - I've been slowly deleting photos and videos I think I can do without (but not the cute ones of my babies when they were younger), and I just have to find another 0.1GB of memory. Apparently; we'll see. Sometimes I delete stuff, but when I check, the free space seems to have reduced instead. :0 o

Hi, Bianca; we cross-posted. Thanks for the sympathy (I was just wallowing a bit). I don't mind natural remedies so much, as long as they make sense. The sage and honey, or the broth sound delicious; but sometimes, local suggestions include ingredients I haven't heard of, or they start talking about 'heaty' foods, which bemuses me.

I suspect I just have an annoying cold, though, which will hopefully disappear in the next day or two. It had better be gone before Friday, which is when we sing for our kids!

But thanks for thinking of me on the techno side. I did try looking at the Apple support pages, and lots of people mention the same problem. Most of the solutions say to delete stuff. Or download an app (which I don't have space for, apparently) which will find stuff to delete. But I'm worried about deleting something essential to the running of the computer.

I think your natural hair colour isn't as dark as mine, or even Blue's. But I think I'll definitely look into your brand of colour :0)

(aaaagghhhhh! I've freed 4.91GB but I need 4.81GB to download the updated OSX. But I have 4.91GB.... Who invented computers, anyway.)

Can you run an optimization program on your hard disk? That organizes all your files and compacts them together, instead of being scattered all over the disk, so that your free 4.91 gb are all in one usable place. Try your disk utility program.

>248 drachenbraut23: Thanks! It's not quite that color anymore, sadly. It's faded to a sort of reddish-purple. Still a nice color, just not the vibrant purple it originally was. I'm not sure how much of that was what naturally happens and how much was me not knowing how to care for dyed hair. Hm.

(ETA: After some research, which I clearly should have done before, I think a lot of it was me not knowing how to care for dyed hair. I'll do better next time!)

I think your hair looks really great in those pictures, too!

Hope the sniffles go away and that the computer issue gets resolved soon. : )

Nina, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Found you! I knew I was missing someone. :)

Oh the tech woes. I know how you feel but I'm blessed that whenever I want to chuck my electronics against a wall, my tech hubby steps and rescues those doomed machines..haha

>252 ronincats: Roni, if I knew how to do that, it definitely sounds like something I should do. I suppose I'll have to get off my lazy bum and do some research. But the good news is that I did manage to find enough memory to download the new OS X. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to finish the photo montage I was putting together for my son's concert. One of the other mums had done a beautiful one, though, and now I've got time, I'll finish it properly and send it to everyone, anyway.

>253 bluesalamanders: Blue, I came home with the shampoo and the conditioner and the leave in conditioner; but most of the colour has faded / washed out already, except for a few streaks. It does look nice where it mingles with the bleached hair, but I think I might get it redone. My older son was disappointed; he wants me to colour my hair sky blue.

>254 Berly: Thanks, Kim. The sniffles disappeared, but I had to pamper my voice for the week, so I wouldn't lose it before Friday. Fortunately, it survived. The computer issue is resolved - for now; though the memory has filled up again, with photos I've downloaded from the school's website to select for the photo montage. But I can sort that out quite easeily once I've finished. (I hope!)

>255 Ameise1: Stunning, as usual, Barbara!

>256 jolerie: There you are, Valerie! You disappeared for a while; hope everything is fine with you. I suppose I shall have to depend on my up-and-coming tech son(s) to rescue my electronics :0)

Nina, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

>250 humouress: Actually, my natural hair colour is a dark ash brown :). It only looks lighter as my front part is almost completely gray by now :) For the pics I posted they needed to highlight my hair and I originally wanted to go a complete white, which we couldn't do as they were unable to highlight my hair enough.

They only didn't need to highlight for the purple and because some of my areas are grey by now, I have some interesting highlights.

I hope everything is well with you and your family :). Wish you a wonderful weekend!

>258 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. I hope your weekend was good, too.

>259 drachenbraut23: Everything is fine with us, thanks, Bianca. This time of year is hectic for me; my younger son's school finishes this week, with all the year end stuff that entails, plus (since he's a December baby), we have his party this weekend. Actually, both boys are December babies, and both boys' schools have their year end now (my older one finishes in mid-December), and my husband has just touched down from a 2 week trip to the States. Etc., etc., etc., so I haven't had much time for LT.

But I did go to a book signing by Jacqueline Harvey last weekend and one by Raymond Feist yesterday. And I've made an appointment to get my hair recoloured this week. I think I'll keep the same colours, but try to go a bit darker.

So now I'm a published author! Which is to say, I have a couple of articles in the club magazine. Well, I did volunteer to join the magazine committee, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm feeling like I'm accomplishing things this week. I signed up for a seniors (16 years and up) tap class yesterday, but today I switched to the adults' jazz class, where they also do tap; much more my type of group (thankfully, they don't start at 9am, considering I've got to get to the other end of the country. Literally) - the kids are more ... earnest, whereas the ladies have more fun, and are also closer to my ability (beginner).

You may remember that I did 'Nunsense' two (only?) years ago, for which I had to learn a tap routine. I found that a) I had to be a lot lighter on my feet and b) I had to work hard, and lost weight doing the show. So here I am with a pair of tap shoes gathering dust and my waist gently expanding - so I'm joining the class!

I blame my husband for my weight gain (it can't be my fault, can it?); he was away for 2 weeks and I actually went down a kilo without intending it - which is to say, I've been trying all this time, but haven't managed it all year, but didn't do anything different intentionally. The day he landed ... boom ... a kilo back on (we splurged on the food he's been missing).

I also joined Riding for the Disabled, but we've stoppped for the school holidays, and because they're doing some renovations, but that's fun, so (I hope) I'll be going back in January.

I also put my name down for riding lessons, which finally came through; but I've got to be halfway across the country in morning traffic by 7.15am, so I'll have to look at the logistics of that one before deciding if I'll go ahead. But it's something I've wanted to do since I was a little girl. But I'm not a morning person ...

And all this is to avoid the work that's piling up; I've got my 5 year old's birthday party to get ready for this weekend (though his birthday isn't for another month and a half, but this is the last week of the last year of Kindy, so we want to try and catch everyone).

OK - better go and have a look at cake ideas.

Sounds like you've been busy Nina!

It is a strange phenomenon that I too find it easier to not gain when the hubby isn't around. I think because it's just easier to eat simply when it's just you instead of cooking something big and lavish for the whole family... Maybe to lose the baby weight I need to go on a sabbatical from my family... ha ha ha. I don't think that idea will fly... :)

>263 humouress: Ceramic poppies fill the moat of the Tower of London, for Remembrance Day 2014.

http://poppies.hrp.org.uk

>264 jolerie: Hi Valerie. A holiday away from the family? *gazes dreamily into space*

Nope; can't see that happening. In addition, my husband's a foodie. He did suggest we leave the kids for a weekend, but since that would involve going with his family for a wedding, it would be rather counterproductive ;0)

How are Monkeys 1 & 2 doing? I'm hitting birthday season too.

Tomorrow is the last day of Kindergarten (boo hoo) for which they're having a Day of the Dead party, because they performed 'La Bamba' for their concert, which entailed learning about Mexico (I like the way their teacher thinks). In fact, a lady came in from the Mexican embassy to talk to them about Mexico, which was interesting.

Got to go ... So much to do!

Eta - will update you on the concert - when I get time!

I loved the shots of the poppies I saw on the news. What a stunning tribute!! It made me cry because it was so beautiful and so sad.

Nina, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Life just seems to be one endless cycle of appointments and activities with the 2 kids. I constantly try to remind myself to remember to slow down when I can and just enjoy being with them instead of worrying about this and that. Time is going by too fast for me! I can't believe the oldest one will start kindergarten next year. I feel like it was just yesterday I was pregnant with him... :(

>269 jolerie: Amen, sister friend. I can't believe how fast Charlie's growing up.

Hi, Nina!

Hi, Nina. Hope all is going well there.

Nina, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Hi folks; I've been absent from LT for a while because real life has got busy (it's that time of the year for us). Thanks for coming by and keeping my thread going in my absence.

Last week was my 5 year-old's last week at Kindergarten, with all the goodbyes and year end parties, and graduations. I took in a 'sugar skull' cake for their 'Day of the Dead' party, as well as cupcakes (using a Cars 2 kit) since his birthday is at the end of December. So that was an all-nighter on Wednesday night. Then I did it again on Friday night, to create a Ben 10 / football(soccer to you Yanks) cake for his birthday party. We had it early to try and catch his classmates before they left on holiday (though some did escape), since they'll all be moving on to different schools in January.

This week, the two of us have started a few classes, which seem to entail us driving from one side of the country to the other, but they are fun. I've started a jazz / tap class (you may remember I did Nunsense a couple of years ago, for which there was one tap routine, so I have the shoes lying around, anyway - plus I lost weight doing the show, so I'm hoping it will have a similar effect) and also a musical theatre class, for which I've already got a monologue for a character from A Chorus Line. While I've been memorising it, my 5 year old has been listening ... and he's memorised it, too! Always useful if I need prompting. And (prompted by Lunacat's enthusiasm) we've started riding classes, too.

So now things are relatively more relaxed, I can start to catch up on all the things that have been on hold ... if only I can remember what they are.

>267 Berly: Aren't those poppies amazing, Kim? I wish I could see them in person.

>268 Ameise1: >272 Ameise1: As ever, Barbara, gorgeous photographs.

>269 jolerie: >270 scaifea: I know, Valerie and Amber; as I said, my youngest has just finished Kindy, which is kind of the end of an era for us. His older brother went to the same Kindy, and there's that sense of community that we'll miss when he moves school. His new school (which also has a pre-school section) can see him through from Year 1 in primary all the way through to graduation, if we so desire. I'm planning to enjoy this holiday that I have with him. It's extra long this year because of the different school calendars; Kindy has already finished, but his brother doesn't finish for another month after him, and then they'll start the new year later, too. He's still a baby in many ways (I think that tends to happen to the youngest child in a family); his brother tended to be more mature (which tends to happen in some ways with only children, I find), and had to grow up fast, because my second was born 4 days after my eldest's 5th birthday. So we have lots of hugs and kisses, which I love; his older brother went through a patch where he was 'too old for that kind of nonsense'. Fortunately, he's mostly grown out of it now - mainly because I ignored it and got my kisses in, anyway ;0)

>271 ronincats: Hi, Roni; everything is well here, thanks, if a bit hectic. I popped into the club to catch up on some library work, and there was a fair on. I had a quick wander through, and thought of you.

ETA : speaking of library, I went in because I had bought some books for the library, and wanted to get them ready to put out on the shelves. I took a lot of recommendations from LT :0)

Better Nate Than Ever - Tim Federle
Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
Cinder - Marissa Meyer
Alice-Miranda at School - Jacqueline Harvey (autographed)
The Extraordinary Cases of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Kill Order (prequel to The Maze Runner) - James Dashner
The Scorch Trials (sequel to The Maze Runner) - James Dashner
My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell
Fantastic Mr Fox - Roald Dahl
James & the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl

Hi Nina,

your life is really busy, but as you say it is this time of the year. I am still stuck in London, due to some of my health issues, but hope to finally get home the second week in December. HOORAY! Can't wait to hug my big boy.

Brilliant book howl, especially the two books by Roald Dahl. Just absolutely love his stories.

Wish you and your family a great weekend and some wonderful weeks leading up to Christmas.

Hi Bianca! Lovely to see you here. I hope your health issues are not new or recurring, just resolving the old ones? I'd say give Alex a hug from me, but he might think it's a bit odd ;0) Hope you have a great reunion.

Thank you on the books. I thought I should include a few classics and hope that kids borrow them to read, too. I got a 20% discount on most of them, since Books Kinokuniya reopened a couple of weeks ago, having just shifted up a floor (sadly, with reduced floor space).

Wishing you and your family the best, also. Christmas season has already started, with decorations up in most places, though I don't think they've had the actual light-up on Orchard Road. I bet Oxford Circus looks stunning, though. Today, they had the arrival of Sinterklaas at the club. (I confess, I didn't go in to do my shift at the library, because it would have been very quiet there, but crowded around the rest of the club.)

Hi Nina--I can't believe how early Christmas stuff goes up now. And the radio stations are already playing the music! I get how retailers want to move product and make money, but why can't the radio stations hold off a little? It makes it less special (IMO). Okay, rant over. : )

I suppose that's one advantage of living in tropical, multicultural Singapore; although they're efficient and the decorations along Orchard Road have been up for a couple of weeks now, I don't think (actually, I don't know if they have) they've lit them yet. The various malls are gradually getting their trees up, but it's not too in-your-face here. Plus I listen to BBC World Service (much to the kids' chagrin), so not too much by way of Christmas jingles there, either.

I don't mind Christmas music, but I really hate the twee songs; sometimes, it's just an excuse to churn out rubbish. We have a system that stores songs, and I play them to keep me company while I'm decorating the boys' birthday cakes, and we have some truly cringeworthy ones. There's one which tells a sentimental story (which I can manage) of the creation of one of the famous carols, followed by a rendition of said carol by a chorus of Janice-clones (you remember Chandler's over-the-top-irritating girlfriend from 'Friends'?) Uggh.

Oh yes, I promised to tell you how the Kindy concert went.

It opened with the graduating ceremonies of the two K2 classes present (the school was split in two, with half the classes having their concert the previous day, so the third K2 class had their graduation then). And naturally my brand new phone camera froze just as my 5 year old sauntered on stage. No matter; there were other cameras around. After that, a photo op, and then the concert proper.

Every year, each class presents two items where they sing and dance to an English song and to a Mandarin song. This year, the school decided to present the concert as a 'musical' and as a link between the presentations, they used the projector to show a film, the story being that four friends discovered a time machine and went travelling through time to different countries and eras. So each time they stopped, they halted the film, and a class would perform on stage. Guess whose little boy was one of the four children on the film? *proud mamma blush* They picked a girl and a boy from each of the two morning K2 (i.e. graduating) classes. The single afternoon K2 class got a look in, too, with 2 kids from their class doing some introductions live on-stage. (The school has a morning and an afternoon session, and the K2s go for 4 hours. The younger classes go for shorter sessions)

It was great fun. I was impressed, because even the pre-Nursery class (2-3 year olds) performed without being prompted. In previous years, a teacher would stand in front of the stage to remind the kids of the choreography. Apparently, all the classes had input into their own segment. It's good to know they're being trained to be independent thinkers. All the tunes were catchy. My K2s performed 'La Bamba' (their era being 1980s Mexico) and both K2s combined for a pirate song in Mandarin, which was one of my favourites of the show - if only I knew the words, apart from 'Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho! Ho heigh-ho!' The other K2s performed an 'Egyptian' number in ancient Egyptian tunics? togas?

And then, at the end, the surprise item from the parents (actually, the mums) of the graduating K2 children. When I first proposed it way back at around Easter, I had some 'Oh, yes, good idea' noises, but no one would commit, except one mum was quite enthusiastic. I thought the teachers might think it was a bit presumptuous, but they were on board, so I got permission from the principle, and had a word with the music teacher. Of course, being me - not very organised, or driven - it took a while. But I still didn't get much enthusiasm from the parents, except for that one mum. Then I asked our teacher to send an e-mail round on my behalf, and see if the other K2 classes would join in. Our class, being a morning class, most of the mums work and didn't have time to commit to rehearsing. But then, one of the mums from the afternoon class got in touch, and she was quite keen. Plus, a lot of the afternoon mums don't work. So, finally, between the 3 of us, the project was off the ground. Of course, rehearsal was another issue, and some mums, despite promises, never made it to a rehearsal, due to various commitments and / or unexpected illness.

But on concert night, we had nearly a full turn-out. (It was such a mad rush, I'll have to go back and find the videos and count how many of us were up on stage, though.) Oh - and the week before, I caught a cold off my youngest (fortunately he recovered well in time for his concert) and I couldn't sing at rehearsals, in case I lost my voice completely. Which probably would have completely done for morale, since some of the mums were still a bit shy about singing on stage. I thought I'd save it for the night, and if I lost it after that, it wouldn't matter. In the end, I didn't lose my voice at all. Small mercies.

And, feeling sentimental as I do at these times, I was chuffed that the mums who could make it made the effort to come to rehearsals, and the working mums either tried to get to at least one, and even those that couldn't came up on stage with us on the night. So I thought it would be a nice gesture if each mum was given flowers by their child after their performance. Roses don't do so well in Singapore, so I bought a few bunches of orchids and got my kids to put each stem into the little tubes of water that help preserve them and took them to the concert in a very romantic bucket. My friend (who had helped push things along) did ask about them, but I told her they were for the teachers (also true). But then, I had to get the kids involved without giving away the surprise of their mums performing, and without letting the mums find out about their own surprise. So, when we were called backstage, I frantically asked my 5 year old to get all his friends to collect flowers, and then I roped in one of the dads. Whatever. By the time the singers were sorted out (with some quick backstage instructions to the mums joining us for the first time), the kids were sitting in front of the stage with their flowers.

So, we performed, and it all went smoothly - well, we kept everything simple; we wore white tops and blue jeans, and split into 2 groups and each sang 2 verses and then all sang the chorus, though we did have the groups crossing each other to the opposite side of the stage while one mum sang solo. Even that worked perfectly. Although, I told everyone to sing for their child, to give the song meaning. But when I looked at my little guy, he was waving his flowers around and looking everywhere but at the stage - I wasn't sure if he knew I was up there. So I glanced across at my ten year old, who does tend to be more sensitive and he gave me a big smile.

After we took our bows, I beckoned frantically to the kids - I was worried that they'd all stay sitting there with their flowers! but they came up on stage. Some of the mums, and even some of the kids, had tears in their eyes. I must confess I was just relieved that everything worked in the end. And my guy - not so sentimental. Well, in private, he's my baby and I love it, but in public he has THE biggest strut you've seen on a five year old. Though it's toned down from when he was two.

And then the teachers went on stage and we gave them the rest of the flowers, and then the finale with all the kids on stage, dancing.

Oh, the song we performed for our graduands was Lee Anne Womack's 'I Hope You Dance'

Thanks for sharing this fantastic evening. You have every right to be a proud mom. Congrats.

Popping by and I'm ashamed to say I've only caught up (backwards) to November 11th, but I'm so pleased to see you've started riding, and that you're doing stuff with the RDA. A very worthwhile cause, and something I should do more of.

Please keep us (ME!) updated with how the riding lessons go.

>279 humouress: Sounds like it was a wonderful success. Nicely done!!

YAY for the concert success, Nina!

Well done on the performance Nina - no video of the event for our delectation?
Have a wonderful Sunday.

I keep coming over to review my book but I keep getting distracted. I'll reply to posts later - right now I'm typing on the phone while I wait for my youngest to finish his drama class (soccer mum anyone?). So. What number am I up to? 75?

32) Loving a Lost Lord by Mary Jo Putney

I was installing Overdrive onto my new phone, so I had a look at the new books in my libraries and got sucked into borrowing a romance (to be fair, not my favourite genre). It had me rolling my eyes at points, which is better than my usual reaction of feeling like hurling the book across the room; not that it would have been a good idea, given that it was an e-book.

Let's see, what was the plot? An earl goes missing, and his old friends and schoolmates are determined to find him, even if it's only to bring his body home, and in the process discover evidence of foul play. In the meantime, he is washed ashore off Cumberland with no memory and discovered by a spinster who has recently come into a little bit of money after her father was killed journeying to London. She takes him in and, needing a protector, pretends they are married, and then - of course - they fall in love. But the course of true love never runs smooth.

Will they find their happily ever after through all the twists and turns of the plot and increasingly implausible coincidences?

To be honest, I didn't find it as cringeworthy as other romances I've picked up occasionally; maybe I was in a more receptive mood than usual. I found the descriptions superficial and the writing style a bit staccato, which made it easy to skim through the book, which suited me, and also made it easy to skim the ... um ... amorous scenes, of which, thankfully, there weren't many.

I did find it amusing that at one point the two protagonists have a conversation about said implausible coincidences - and decide that, while the timing was coincidental, the turn of events was completely logical! This for events that are highly unlikely to happen to one individual in real life, let alone two separate, though connected, people, and at the same time.

dithering between 3*** or two and a half **

Hi Nina, every once in awhile I pick up a romance just to lighten things up. Usually I regret it as a good (not silly) romance is hard to find. Actually I feel the same way about romantic comedies at the movies. Occasionally I will watch one, but again, a good one is hard to find!

Ha, a friend gave me Loving a Lost Lord a couple of years ago and it's been sitting on the tbr shelves ever since. Good to know it's bearable. Most of them are so bad in comparison with Heyer that one does end up throwing them across the room, so it's always good to have a few alternatives, given that I have most of the Heyers memorized.

Nina, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

33) Beyond the Deepwoods; the Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Well written. Very descriptive. Dense world-building.

Maybe too many different species thrown at you (in the first 6 chapters) to allow you to settle into the narrative properly.

>280 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! That was a bit more of an essay than I'd originally intended to write.

>281 lunacat: Hi Jenny. Nice to see you here! Unfortunately, I was a bit late for my riding lesson last week, so I did more of a theory class and didn't actually get on a horse. And at the moment, RDA is on holiday, since it's calendar is synchronised with the schools and they're taking the opportunity to do some renovations. But I'll go back when they start again next year.

>282 Berly: Thanks Kim. I must admit I was a bit tense anticipating the mums' item, so maybe I didnt relax and enjoy it as much as I could have, but it was fun nevertheless. The kids did a really good job this year (given that they're in the age range of 2 to 6 years old).

>283 ronincats: Thanks Roni. It was fun. Though our item went by in a bit of a blur, in the end - after all that hard work.

>284 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul. I'll see if I can find a video around on the net or something; you know I'm fairly bad at posting these things myself. Anything more than a one or two step process gets too complex for me.

Hi Nina, I am taking some time this morning to visit and wish you a happy first of December. Although I was just thinking, you are on the other side of the international dateline so it's a different date for you!

Hi Nina,
just stopping by to see what you have been up to and I see as usual you are an incredible busy bee.
Hooray for the great performance and riding lessons.
Well, I would love to see a video as well, if there is one :)

Hi Nina, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

>287 DeltaQueen50:, >288 ronincats: Judy, Roni; I think we're on the same page ;0)

>289 Ameise1: Barbara, how pretty that picture is.

>292 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy. Though you're right; your message came through at 3.03am on the second. But the sentiment is much appreciated.

>293 drachenbraut23: Hi, Bianca, thanks for dropping by. Somehow, life has become busy. On Friday my 10 year old had his graduation ceremony from upper elementary, with a disco to celebrate, in the evening. Plus he decided to join the school rugby match which was held in between the two events. And since his birthday party was on Saturday, I was trying to find time to make his cake, but it ended up being an all-nighter again (mainly because the cake refused to set. Too many chocolate chips, I suspect).

And on Wednesday he has his year end concert, and then his year end class party (for which I'm planning more cakes) on Thursday. Fortunately we have a holiday coming up soon. Not to mention that my parents flew in today; usuall they avoid peak holiday season, but I think they've been missing their grandchildren, and wanted to share their birthdays, too.

Videos, videos ... I'll see what I can do, but no promises.

>294 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara. That's an intriguing perspective.

34) Dragonskin Slippers by Jessica Day George

This children's book is a lighthearted romp about a farmgirl who befriends Dragons on her way to the capital city to look for work as a dressmaker. But then she runs afoul of a spoiled princess, which makes her life in the city rather awkward though she also makes some good friends.

To be honest, the story does try to make some serious points, such as the difference between working class characters living from wage day to wage day and those wealthy enough that they don't have to think about how they spend money, and the threat of war, but as the target audience is children, it doesn't dwell on them too heavily.

I enjoyed this book, with its interesting and lovable characters. There seem to be another two books in the same series, which I will look out for.

3.5****

Hi Nina, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

35) Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

still reading. book bullet courtesy of DeltaQueen (?)

Aims for, and achieves, a kind of frothiness - people nicknamed things like Fig or Whiffy for no discernible reason. Not getting a real sense of period. For seemingly clueless upper class twits, they do jump on clues quite quickly (vis a vis window cleaners - hope that's not a spoiler; I'm still reading)

Lightweight.

It may be ungenerous, but I'm considering 2.5***

ETA upon further consideration, it wasn't awful. I suspect I was subconsciously expecting it to live up to the likes of P. G. Wodehouse and school stories I grew up with (which, admittedly were written during the time period in which this mystery was set) or even the Phryne Fisher mysteries.

So maybe 3***

>297 Ameise1: Thank you so much, Barbara. I wish you the same.

And thank you for the Advent calendar, too.

>295 humouress: Nina - you are even more busy than I ever will be. Despite having a demanding job (which I love dearly as you know) your life appears so much more busy.
I wish you and your family a wonderful weekend and a happy third advent.

In other news, I had my first fall off a horse the other day. We can blame Jenny for encouraging my to try riding; good exercise, she said ;0)

It so happened that I had my hands off the reins and possible stuck out to the side, because my instructress was trying to instill good balance and posture in me (I do need to strengthen my core muscles, or even engage them once in a while), when the horse suddenly spooked and swerved, dumping me over the side. So the moral of the story, I suppose, is that I wasn't balanced :0)

But as the horse was moving slowly and I grabbed for the saddle, I was lucky enough not to get hurt at all. Though I am slightly stiff, a couple of days later, and there are a couple of points on the inside of each knee that are unaccountably sore. I suppose I must have caught them on the saddle.

But actually, riding is starting to be fun. That was only the second lesson that I was up on the horse. This being monsoon season, I had a couple of lessons inside the stable learning about the tack, when it was bucketing down outside.

I think this is the first year that I've actually found a discernible difference between monsoon and ... well, non-monsoon, other than the fact that rain is guaranteed every day instead of every other day at least. And in February, we went for more than 20 days without a single drop of rain, which is unheard of. The whole country turned brown. Who says global warming isn't real?

Oh, I am so glad to hear that you enjoy your riding lessons despite your fall. Well, I do believe that falls do belong to being a rider, ahem, I mean even experienced riders, such as Jenny, still do have falls. I hope you recover quickly from your bruises and aches.

When I passed my nursing exams I gave myself riding lessons as a reward :) I remember that I enjoyed it as much as you do.

Woah, 20 days without a single drop of rain. Well, a lot of people insist that global worming isn't real, but as you say monsoon season should be monsoon season.

Hand on, I'm being blamed for your fall Nina? I don't think that's fair. If I'd either a) been your instructor or b) leapt out and scared the horse then I'd take some responsibility, but this time I plead innocence.

I'm glad you weren't hurt by the fall and hopefully it won't dissuade you either. I assume you got back on? Alas, falls are all a part of riding. In fact, you can't call yourself a horse rider until you've fallen off seven times. I've no idea where that piece of folklore comes from but it's something we always tell our pupils.

Unfortunately, the more you push yourself, the higher the rate of falls as well. I think I could probably fall off a lot less if I wasn't so ambitious (and didn't have such a naughty horse) but I'm never happy so I'm always striving for better. So I get periods like last July, when I fell off 9 times in 5 days. It was not fun, and hopefully won't be replicated any time soon. It hurts at lot more than it did when I was a teenager!

Keep us (me) up to date anyway. I hope the monsoon means you don't miss too much of actual riding, although the on the ground stuff is nearly as important.

Hope things slow down before the holidays--or is everyone on holiday already there? Sorry about your fall but glad it wasn't serious. I'm in the middle of Her Royal Spyness too!

I hope you weren't too disappointed with Her Royal Spyness Nina, it is very light and frothy, I think how one feels about it very much depends on your mood when reading it.

Yay for trying to new things, but ouch for the fall! Glad to know you weren't too hurt by it. :)

Nina, I wish you a lovely weekend and Merry Christmas

Thank you all for coming by and keeping my thread warm; and of course, your concern about my fall. The soreness was forgotten by the day after I posted, so really no harm done (though my husband's colleague said her husband had cracked his tail bone falling of his horse a couple of weeks before). Well, this week, I managed to stay on my elephant, so I must be improving, and we can forgive Jenny.

We're on holiday in Thailand this week; one advantage of living in Singapore is that it's a short hop to all these exotic destinations in 'the Region'. I've been even less in evidence on LT this week because I'm never sure whether or not I'm actually still connected to the internet or not.

Ooh, holiday in Thailand? Sounds fantastic, I hope you're having a wonderful time. It's on my life bucket-list of things to do but I can't see it happening any time soon.

And I'm glad to hear you didn't fall off the elephant! I reckon that would hurt far more than a horse fall :)

Nina, hope your Thailand holiday is going well. It's Chrismas Eve's eve, and so I am starting the rounds of wishing my 75er friends the merriest of Christmases or whatever the solstice celebration of their choice is.

Doing the rounds with a festive Connie to wish you a very Merry Christmas full of joy, love and books.

Happy Christmas, Nina!

From our family to yours!

Nina - have a great Christmas and new year!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season, Nina.

Nina, I hope you and your family are enjoying the Christmas season. I wish you and yours a wonderful time and a very Happy New Year!

Oh, wow; so many Christmas greetings while I've been absent! Thank you all. And I'm now even further behind than usual; I don't know how I'll ever be able to catch up.

We returned from Thailand late on Monday. My parents have come over to spend time with their grandkids, and on Tuesday my youngest (finally) turned 6. As you know, it's busy season for me, but I'll spare you the gory details. It was rather a team effort, but I made Christmas lunch, possibly for the first time with me in charge of the whole thing (usually, we have a gathering of friends at our place, and everyone brings their share of the menu), and it turned out pretty well. I was thinking of coming on LT to wish everyone, but - feeling as stuffed as the proverbial turkey - I took a traditional Christmas nap :0) instead. Now I'm between still being busy with end of year stuff and go-slow holiday mode (plus still a bit disoriented coming back and trying to remember the usual schedules), but I'll get around to composing a ... seasonal (since I've missed Christmas) ... message & visiting everyone.

Meanwhile, thank you for your wishes, and wishing you all all the best for the season. 🎄🎁

I hope that 2015 finally sees us meeting up, Nina. Happy holidays, xx

Nina, I wish you a lovely weekend.

>319 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul. We did actually fly in to Penang for a day to visit friends, on Saturday, but not KL. Sad news about yet another Malaysian aircraft. I hope they find this one.

>320 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara.

Belated Christmas wishes and a happy New Year Nina. Well done on your Christmas meal - I still live in fear of the day I have to plan and cook one myself!

May all your wishes come true.

Nina,



Happy New Year from your friend in Kuala Lumpur

Oops. it's already the new year there! See you on the other side, Nina!

Happy new year Nina!

Nina, a Happy New Year to you and your family!

Come on - you haven't moved over to the 2015 group yet! Where are you?

Happy New Year!! May it be a happy, healthy year, filled with friends and books. : )

Happy weekend Nina.

Forgot to post these :

36) Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold

Possibly not quite as humourous as the foregoing books in the Vorkosigan Saga, but still fun and still clever.

Dr. Ethan Urquhart, a conscientious geneticist, finds himself on a secret mission for his planet to unsavoury Jackson's Whole, where life is very different from the sheltered agrarian community of Athos. There he meets Commander Elli Quinn of the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, last seen in The Warrior's Apprentice, and finds himself, bewilderingly, in the thick of an intergalactic plot that the Cetagandans are trying to keep under wraps.

When - if - he finally returns to Athos, he's going to have quite a different perspective on life.

37) Summer Term at Trebizon by Anne Digby

Hah! Just to the halfway point.

I would like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, the lifeguards of Gold Coast tower 39 for pulling my then-just-turned 9 year old and me out of the surf on Christmas Day 2 years ago. You guys do a brilliant job. Thank you.

Wow! Good job lifeguards! :) I'm glad you were pulled out safely!

Happy weekend Nina!

Thanks Rachel; I was glad, too.

It may have actually only lasted about 5 or 10 minutes, but at the time it felt endless. It was frustrating too, because we were caught in rollers between a sandbar and the beach and I was standing only chest high in the water when we were in the troughs, though I was lifted right off my feet by the peaks. I felt I might have been able to swim out, but my son wasn't a strong enough swimmer to do that, so I was constantly trying to throw him forward to calmer waters, but unable to. We had in fact started within the flags, way off on the left but the rip pulled us out to the right. I was starting to consider letting the waves take us out and trying to get back to shore further down, or hope we'd be picked up by the lifeguards patrolling further offshore.

I was so, so relieved to see the lifeguard at the tower come racing down to the water in response to my signal (as well, to be honest, a bit embarrassed to have got into that situation).

Absolutely. Heroes.

Nina--So glad you are both still here today!! Yay lifeguards! What's new with you? You must be swamped with RL--haven't seen much of you here lately. Good luck with whatever you are up to!

Thanks Kim. I'm so grateful to the lifeguards too. To be honest, we've never told anyone, especially our parents; even my parents (who are the more sensible, frankly - although super-protective of their grandkids) would have several fits. With, of course, periodic reminders. It was a bit surreal; once we were safely on the beach, I felt fine - not exhausted from battling waves, nor shaky with adrenaline, which is why I feel it must not have been very long in reality - and I felt able to go straight back in the water (always the best thing, if something scary has happened). Though of course I stayed in the shallows.

What's new with me? Well, the boys have just gone back to school; today is the first day of their second week. My 6 year old started year 1 at his brother's school, and is very excited. My 11 year old, though he stays in the same school, has gone into year 6, which is considered the first year of secondary in this school. So it's all a bit new. Plus, he's received his laptop. Since he got a Playstation handheld for his birthday / Christmas and an iPhone (well, one of our old ones), we're still negotiating on how much 'air-time' he should be allowed. So it's been quite busy here.

How are things with you? I am very gradually catching up with everyone in the 2015 group, though I haven't had a chance to, for a while. I do have a thread over there, though I've only been lurking on it for the past week or so. I keep coming to LT with the intention of writing my reviews, since I haven't done any this year yet, not to mention my backlog; but the longer I don't do it, the more I dread it, and the less likely I am to visit LT. And the more details I forget, too :0)

Now I should have more free time in my day, I should be able to start to catch up with everyone and everything.

ETA : here's the link to my 2015 thread; it doesn't tend to pop up to the top of the list very often :'(

http://www.librarything.com/topic/186024

;0)