If you are a 4 year old child and you are going to write on a leather dining room chair in biro – don’t write your own name…..
This is my entry for this week’s Wicked Wednesday over on BrummyMummyof2s blog – see what other people have posted!!
The theme over on The Sticky Fingers Blog this week for the photo gallery is ‘spectacular’. Which got me to thinking about what photo I could include that summed this up – stunning views, amazing fireworks, fabulous fancy dress – but then this photo popped into my head…..
This is Finlay – a friend of ours who’s 10 years old. Back in June he was admitted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital with a suspected abscess on his brain. Following brain biopsy surgery he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. He had surgery to remove the tumour and has had a course of radiotherapy treatment – which the photo itself shows. The webbing is a solid mask that holds him completely still on the bed whilst the treatment takes place. This is spectacular in terms of the amazing work the doctors are doing – and spectacular in terms of Fin being happy for this photo to be shown to people to see what he is going through. He’s now undergoing a series of chemotherapy and clinical trial treatments to prevent the tumour from coming back.
Whilst going through this the remarkable Fin and his amazing family have been raising funds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital with Fin doing a 2.5km run the other weekend (having taken his 5th day of chemo in the morning before setting off). I am sure he’d appreciate some sponsorship – and you can read about his journey here.
Not sure I can think of anything else that sums up spectacular more appropriately.
It appears my love of books has found another source of advanced copies, as I was sent a copy of Falling by Emma Kavanagh to review by the team at Mumsnet Bloggers and Arrow Publishing – ready for the release of the paperback on November 6th 2014.
Here is what Amazon has to say about it:
“A brilliant debut psychological thriller by a former police psychologist. Perfect for fans of Nicci French, Tana French and S. J. Watson.
A plane falls out of the sky. A woman is murdered. Four people all have something to hide.
Jim is a retired police officer, and worried father. His beloved daughter has disappeared and he knows something is wrong.
Tom has woken up to discover that his wife was on the plane and must break the news to their only son.
Cecilia had packed up and left her family. Now she has survived a tragedy, and sees no way out.
Freya is struggling to cope with the loss of her father. But as she delves into his past, she may not like what she finds.
‘Before the plane crash, after the plane crash, such a short amount of time for the world to turn on its head… ‘”
When it arrived I was already reading another book and so didn’t start it right away – so had a slight panic when I had a chasing email for the review with only 10 days left before the deadline – but the reviews of the book already on Amazon (the hardback and kindle versions) had it down as a real page turner – so I decided I’d just have to lock the children away for the rest of half term and start reading!!!
Initially I found it a bit confusing as there are lots of intertwined plots (although this could have been because I started reading it whilst trying to get small children to bed – so was interrupted for milk / wees etc!). I kept having to check with the blurb on the back (the same as the Amazon quote above) as to who was who! Once I got into it, I agree that it was a real page turner, and I did want to read ‘just one more chapter’ before lights out!
It was also a bit weird having a character that shared my name – you don’t get many Libbys about (Libby in Neighbours and Libby Purves being the exceptions! In fact many moons ago an audit partner signed me into a client as Libby Purves as he couldn’t remember my surname #randomfact)
I liked the factual-ness of the information in the book (being a fan of police dramas / Silent Witness) which I guess comes from the author’s background. I also like that there isn’t a set pattern to the chapters – they are seemingly random as to who comes next, not on a regular rotation basis – which is another element of keeping you guessing – but each is written from the viewpoint of one of the individuals involved. I think that because of this you don’t feel like you get to know – or are fighting for – any single individual and at the end I wasn’t desperate to know what the future held for each of the characters as I often have been with other books.
The final few chapters tie all of the strands of the plot lines together – so you feel like the book has concluded properly.
I think I would describe this as ‘psychological thriller – lite’. It’s fine, it’s an easy read, it keeps you interested – but it’s not way up there in terms of suspense / drama / ‘reading through your fingers’ that I’ve had with recent books in the same genre such as ‘I Am Pilgrim‘ by Terry Hayes and ‘Pop Goes The Weasel‘by M J Arlidge.
Now slightly concerned that my new source of books might not be quite so forthcoming after this review…………
For about 8 years (can’t be totally sure of how many as it pre-dates Facebook which is my usual point of reference for checking dates!) my husband and our kids (which have grown in number during the period!) and my niece and nephew who live in the UK have always got together for a Christmas cake baking – and subsequently decorating – session. Sometimes this has been done by gender lines, other times along familial lines – but it’s always been competitive.
Now – I am renowned for being a bit of a Grinch at Christmas (mostly to offset my husband who is a Christmas addict!)
But this year I got into the spirit of the cake baking with my sister and we accompanied them with some festive singing!!
So as our half terms conincided – Christmas cake off time was here.
4 hours later – the kids were all in bed – and the cakes smelt amazing! They are now safely stored to be ‘fed’ with more booze until we ice them closer to the big day. Obviously photos of the finished articles will be blogged!!
Given only our family and the brother in law of their family eat cake there will be plenty spare if anyone wants some?!?
I was lucky enough to be given an advanced copy of this to review by my wonderful book industry insider friend. As it was a debut book for Lucy Foley I had no expectations at all – which is often a more exciting way to start a book!
This is what Amazon had to say about it:
“In many ways, my life has been rather like a record of the lost and found. Perhaps all lives are like that.
It’s when life started in earnest.
Hertfordshire, 1928 – The paths of Tom and Alice collide against a haze of youthful, carefree exuberance. There’s champagne and excitement, but above all there’s the beginning of a love story that finds its feet by a lake one silvery moonlit evening . . .
It’s when love stories didn’t have happy endings.
Paris, 1939 – Alice is living in the city of light, but the pain of the last decade has already left its mark. Against the shadow that sweeps across Europe, she and Thomas Stafford – now a world famous artist – meet once more . . .
It’s when the story begins.
London, 1986 – Bestowed with an old portrait drawing from her grandmother, Kate Darling can’t possibly imagine the secrets that have been lost to time. Kate’s journey takes her to Corsica, Paris and beyond, and as time melts away she is catapulted into the heart of a love story that’s as epic as it is life changing . . .
Sweeping and heartrending – the perfect read for fans of Victoria Hislop and Kate Morton. ”
Now this book jumps between time periods – as you can see from the above – but it does it in a free flowing, telling of the story kind of way – it is not a regimented one chapter here, one there routine. Also – the chapters vary massively in length – which I love – and adds to the suspense. It is BEAUTIFULLY written, and really evokes the settings of the story – and makes me want to hop on a plane to Paris and Corsica very soon – and the bits in New York reminded me of our recent trip.
I really liked lots of the characters and wanted to see how their paths developed. There are lots of twists and turns but the whole story flows wonderfully – and I think it would make a fabulous film with some amazing backdrops to the story (although actually, maybe a film wouldn’t do it as much justice as the pictures in my own head from the thoughtful and descriptive words).
I have to confess to crying at the end – and the ending wasn’t what I expected – but in retrospect was just perfect. With about 4 chapters to go I did wonder how it would all get wrapped up – but it does.
I would definitely recommend pre-ordering this ready for its release in January 2015 – and look forward to more books by Lucy Foley in the future.
I am not a big lover of arts and crafts with or without the kids. I am an accountant – I don’t do creativity – paint by numbers would be my limit. Obviously, because of this, my kids ADORE anything arts and crafts – and my study has a whole cupboard allocated to craft supplies – but I try my hardest not to go into the cupboard……
‘Mummy, can we do painting?’ is surpassed in the nightmare stakes by possibly only ‘Mummy, can we get the Playdoh out?’ (My OCD can not cope with the Playdoh colours all being muddled up!!!)
Anyway, due to me and the husband gallivanting, followed by the nanny going on holiday to recover from her overtime, I haven’t been in the office much for the month of October. So on Tuesday morning, after a dentists trip with all 4 kids (thankfully for once this went remarkably smoothly and I didn’t leave feeling the need to open gin!) I bought 4 pumpkins and left the kids in the hands of the nanny to do Halloween crafts!! With my parting comment, as I whizzed off to the office to do some work (not t*t about on social media, honestly!),
‘Could you take some photos for my blog please?’
(I think perhaps this should be added to my wonderful nanny’s job description for whenever she does arts and crafts with the kids so I can blog vicariously and look a bit more yummy mummy?!?)
So here you have it – 4 Price children and their pumpkins!
And we also have pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup made with the insides – and happy, tired children #perfectcombo
This week’s theme for The Photo Gallery over on The Sticky Fingers blog is light.
Now I’m not a ‘proper’ photographer at all. We’ve bought a ‘bridge’ camera (I am using words I don’t understand at this point!!) but more often than not my photos are taken on my phone. My sister, however, is much more of an expert. So I have to confess to stealing one of her photos this week – and I’m also cheating even more as I’ve used it before.
However, a couple of friends who are into photography have commented on the wonderful light in this photo – so it had to be used! It’s my children and their cousins at a family party in early September – and I love it (so much so that it’s my Facebook cover photo).
This is my entry for this weeks ‘The Gallery’ – do pop across and see how other people have interpreted the theme ‘light’.
This is what happens when you try to take a photo of the 9 year old when he’s got his foot stuck in a tree – and he doesn’t appreciate the photo being taken prior to any assistance!!
The joy of being the child of a blogger………..
You can see better photos of our day trip to Blenheim Palace here!!!
Do pop across and see other people’s Wicked Wednesday photos – probably without sweary children………………..
A while ago one of my best friends lost loads of weight, had her first personal stylist session at John Lewis and now always looks FAB! (You know who you are!!!) So I promised myself that when I’d got back to pre baby weight (I managed it when the second baby was 3 years old – but have failed miserably after children 3 and 4!) that I would do the same. However, I realised a couple of months ago, that potentially it was more important to dress the chubby me appropriately – and so before our trip to New York, booked myself in for a 2 hour session at our local John Lewis store. (I know other stores offer the same service – Debenhams and Top Shop being two – but I like the wide variety of brands offered by John Lewis – and as my sisters think our house should be sponsored by John Lewis given how much we buy from there – may as well say the same about the contents of my wardrobe too!!)
The 2 hour slot is free (there are various other options available – but I thought this would suit me best) and I arrived quite nervous but excited! There is basically a room off the lingerie section (in the Solihull store) with some comfy chairs, and then individual changing rooms in there too. The lovely personal stylist lady chatted to me about what I was shopping for – and about my size – and then she headed off to the shopfloor. I sat chatting to two other ladies who were going through the same process. It seems there is a massive cross section of people who go in for this – and as a just 40 something – I was pretty much mid age range.
The stylist came back with armfuls of clothes and I started the trying on. For this I was in my own changing room – so wasn’t having to strip in front of other people (something I had been a bit nervous about beforehand). And the outfits were FABULOUS! It made me try things I would never have chosen myself – and from an eclectic mix of brands – Phase Eight trousers / Oasis top / Mint Velvet jacket – with John Lewis own brand scarf and necklace – perfect!
I tried on lots – and I have to say after 2 hours was exhausted of getting into and out of things – but I was delighted with the results. I managed to spend A LOT (although dwarfed by what my husband spent in Clements and Church the next day!!) and here are a couple of the outfits.
I am really chuffed with these (although the 9 year old just looked over my shoulder and asked if the second picture was his Nan – my Mum!……….)
I would really like to go back in the future – either for a new season’s wardrobe – or when I’ve FINALLY managed to shift some weight!!
This is definitely not a sponsored post – but I would be more than open to offers!! Hey – a free hot drink and cake with my ‘My John Lewis’ card and I’m happy!!
Back in July we went to Blenheim Palace for the day to meet up with some of my old Uni mates. Basically this involved sitting in the Pleasure Gardens drinking champagne all afternoon whilst the children had a ball in the maze and on the adventure playground! However, you can upgrade your one day pass for an annual pass, so we did this – planning to go again and see more of what the huge estate had to offer.
Today was the husband’s birthday (43 – although he was convinced yesterday he was only going to be 42!!) – and his destination of choice for the day was Blenheim Palace.
When we got there I immediately upgraded my annual pass to a ‘privilege pass’ for the grand total of £5. You are then entitled to 15% off in the various restaurants and shops – and with 4 kids, this has more than paid for itself in one visit!!
We hopped on the train (rebranded a ‘spooky train’ as it goes through a shed with some halloween gubbins draped around it!) from the Palace Station down to the Pleasure Gardens (it costs 50p for a single journey for over 5s). Again we did the maze – nothing quite instills fear like a 2 year old announcing ‘Mummy, I need a wee’ in the middle of the maze!! Thank goodness for the fold up potty. And the kids (and big kids!) all enjoyed the adventure playground. We also used the sundial today (typical in British weather terms that we could use it in October but not in July!!) and found out that it can’t cope with changing from British Summer Time yesterday – but would have been spot on last week!! We also went through the butterfly house (well, everyone else did – I looked after the pushchair and bags as I’m not a huge fan of flying things!!)
We tried to go for lunch in the cafe over at The Pleasure Gardens but it was RAMMED (sunny day for the first day of half term meant there were thousands of people there!)
There was quite a wait for the next train back so we walked – and I am so pleased that we did. There are some AMAZING trees in the grounds which all of the children really enjoyed climbing – we got some ace pictures too.
We tried to do an arty ‘everyone throw leaves in the air at the count of 3’ photos – but the 9 year old decided to chuck his leaves directly into the face of his 11 year old sister and so a HUGE strop ensued!!
We made it to the Palace and stopped for lunch there – which was pricey and there wasn’t much choice – but the kids coped with crisps and cake – they have been taught well!! But everyone was tired and bit a grumpy, so we headed home – and STILL haven’t done the palace itself! Oh well – the tickets are valid until July 2015 so plenty of time for a return visit.
It was a lovely Autumnal day out – and reminds us what a green and pleasant land we live in. Thanks for a lovely day Blenheim – we’ll be back!
This Price is Usually Right 