Still here....

We have sold our house, we have committed to buying another, but we are still waiting!!
We are waiting for the solicitors to earn their keep, the estate agent is gleefully rubbing his hands together but here we are in limbo!! The days are shortening ever faster towards the Big C and we are tentatively removing pictures, wrapping up the heirloom china, all the while knowing full well everything could fall through!

So I am still here but incredibly busy chasing my tail! Bear with me, I will be back! Hopefully with tales to tell.....

Phew weeee!

Well this week has been MANIC! I am so so glad it is now the weekend! I am even relishing the thought of cleaning the house!

I have decided to wrap myself in Patrick Ness's literary genius once again and am reading his debut novel, The Crash at Hennington.  It is a familiar read as themes like sexual politics, power and greed which were explored in his later trilogy are also investigated here, but in an entirely different style.

I am also investigating one of my favourite poets and era's, the Romantic Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I have borrowed from the trusty library, Richard Holmes (award winning) biographies of him. When I have a large amount of time, the time that is free to choose what I want to do rather than have something or someone dictate what I do with it, I will lose myself quite happily in that world. I may even report back my findings or musings.....

Tintern Abbey, one of Wordsworth's famous poems

But until that moment I really do need to blitz the house, make coffee and help daughter with homework! That looks like my Saturday wrapped up!

Hope yours is as productive and relaxing in equal measure!
Till the next time,

Done, finished it

I don't tend to be swayed by reviews, I try to refrain from Amazon's reviewers until I have finished a book completely. It avoids the spoilers. I really did enjoy this book. It was a bit of a beast at 833 pages long but it really didn't feel like it was that long. After I read it I realised that there really wasn't much of a storyline but Faber did such a fabulous job of entertaining me with his detailed descriptions - but they never once felt 'overdone', as sometimes Dickens makes it seem, and contrasting the lives of the rich and poor in Victorian London. I really do feel like I have experienced the story. For me the style with which he employed really did pull me in from the first line and he kept me in the palm of his hand throughout. I know (from Amazon reviewers) that some found it tediously boring, but for me I found it fascinating - I love the Victorian era. The ending was also a moot point for some but again for me I just knew that he wasn't going to conform; he left it very open. This didn't bother me at all - I know what happened to the characters, it's just that it is my version of the story and it becomes a talking point. I think that is the brilliance of this story is that you make it up for yourself. Use your imagination, surely that is what reading is all about.

I am a little bit undecided where my literary interest is going to fall next but what I do know is that I haven't finished with the Victorians - oh no! not by a long way!

September

Summer is now just memories

It is all back to normal - if there is such a thing. Got up early to ensure I had time to make special breakfast for my boy who returned to school today. Will have to do the same again tomorrow for when the girl goes back on her first day!

My first day was good, it went by in a flash of an eye.... Have to cook the tea and start with the ferrying of swimmer to the pool - ah the joys of parenthood. It's not all bad - I am nearly finished The Crimson Petal so this would give me the chance to catch up on some reading and possibly pondering the possibility of moving house!!

Till the next time,

It seems again that the summer holidays have flown by and we are all reluctantly facing the prospect of early mornings, homework and strict routines again very soon. Despite my renewed goals, I haven't found much time for blogging this summer - possibly because we had a PC malfunction and had to splash out on a new one! But also because I have been so busy trying to catch up with the things I planned to do like sort out the thousand photos into a scrapbooking album - only 5 years to go until I am up to date!! And I really wanted to finish my daughter's quilt which was for her 13th birthday but this autumn she will be 14 and sadly the quilt is still not finished! (I do dilly dally sometimes over simple decisions!!) I will have it finished!

We have also done some fun stuff too. The Olympics was a massive highlight for our family - we were glued for a fortnight to the action. We had tickets for the Millennium stadium and lucky for us we managed to see the Men's GB team, despite losing on penalties (AGAIN!!) we all had an enjoyable

time. Although trying to get out of Cardiff with 70,000 other people was a bit tricky!

We did our annual camping trip too, this time we decided on Cornwall. What a lovely part of the country that is. AND this time it didn't rain (much!) We were very lucky with the weather. 

We all came back with a hint of bronze about us and happy memories!

hmmm like I said, the Olympics had an effect!

Well our summer draws to an end, even though it hasn't felt like much of a summer again but I look forward to the new challenges that lie ahead of us. For it looks like there will be many!

Till the next time. 

BOOKS read and still reading

This summer has been quite successful in terms of getting through some of the contenders on my books to read list.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 

My boy and I are still reading together in the evenings, although admittedly we haven't been too religious with it during the holidays but nonetheless we have got through the third installment of Harry Potter. They are certainly growing on me with The Goblet of Fire being my favourite so far because of the way she started it. It's a mammoth book though - which does put me off slightly as I find reading aloud does seem to take an eternally long time compared with reading in your head. But it is fun to share. 

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke 

Perhaps not the best of Funke’s books I have read; I enjoyed Inkheart enormously as well as Inkspell, although couldn’t quite stomach reading the final instalment of the trilogy, Inkdeath. This book however contained some very interesting characters and a somewhat whacky storyline and despite the anti climatic ending was an enjoyable read. It carried me along quite nicely and was a light, easy read which plunged me in the depths of my favourite city : Venice. Funke is a German writer but I always find her style transfers very well to English. I particularily liked the portrayed relationships between the children and the adults, although the ‘wicked’ surrogate parents were a little contrived and far too stereotypical, but the close bond shared between strangers was intriguing.

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber 

I am now on to the adult section of my To Read List, and my oh my, how very adult it is. I have to be very careful of who is reading over my shoulder! Sometimes I have had to sneak into the bathroom to read in private in case my flushed face may give something away!! It always astounds me how some books can wrap me in their worlds so effortlessly, whilst others can be a real challenge. This book, The Crimson Petal and the White is one such book that can make me smell the filth of London’s streets whist I am tracking the poor  but then can elevate me to the grandeur of the Upper classes in their stately homes. Brilliant so far, and only half way through. I missed the BBC adaptation of this book and hopefully when I am finished I may be able to catch a re-run of it, just to compare. Although I would wager my house that the book is better - in my opinion it always is!! 

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

As a bit of a treat to myself, I bought a copy of Bring up the Bodies, I loved Mantel's prequel to this book - I wasn't disappointed at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this one too, but missed the very unique style with which the first one was written with. I know so many people who felt it was very confusing but I really liked it, once I got used to it. I do believe that this will be a trilogy and I can't wait to read how she handles the fall of Cromwell.

I am not sure what I will read next but at the moment I am completely enthralled in Victorian London so perhaps I will give Dickens a go and finish off the year with Clair Tomalin's biography of him, hmmmm that is an idea! Completely going off the list then - oh well as my daughter would say: YOLO!

Till the next time.  

New Focus - New beginning

I have been very preoccupied at the beginning of this year with my studies that I didn't have much time to think about blogging. However, over the last few weeks whilst adjusting to the fact that I don't have an essay to write or an article to read, I have been thinking about the purpose and direction of my life and blog. I have spent many a morning blog hopping, gathering ideas and inspiration from around the world! And I have decided to make this a record of achievements that we as a family as well as me myself, are working towards.

I have been undoubtedly affected by the enthusiasm and dedication of one particular blogger who made me realise and acknowledge my dream of travelling. Reading SFT's blog has rekindled my dreams and made me realise that with a little hard work I can too achieve not only mortgage freedom but the freedom to travel as well. My life's ambition was to travel the world ~ so I left school and went to work in a travel agency because this is how I thought I was going to be able to finance my dream! (How wrong was I??)  I fell in love and married him, we bought a house and soon filled it with two children. The stresses and strains of life overshadowed everything and before I even realised it, my dream was pushed onto the proverbial back burner. We would talk of life when the children grew up and the things we would do then - however, there is no guarantee that we will get that and besides, surely the children will benefit from seeing some of the world for themselves too.

Just after my second child, my son was born I embarked on a long journey and another dream of mine, to become a teacher! I decided to study part time so that I could also be there for my children whilst they were growing up. I have just finished my degree, and am planning on working for a year before applying for teacher training. I know that once I become an established teacher then we can seriously start reducing our mortgage and saving up for our travels. But I don't want to become too focused on the future and forget to live in the moment either, so I need to find the balance...

I have had immense fun putting together a list (I love lists!) of the places I would like to go and the things I would like to see. It is not exhaustive by any means and I am sure I will be adding to it more than I will be crossing off but I know that we are going to have even more fun achieving them... Have a look under 'Places to go and things to see'. 

Till the next time - enjoy the weather.