Life of Rigby

Latest Reads

2011-12-02T21:54:00.003Z

Room with A View by EM Forster
An entertaining tale of romance and mildly critical of English Edwardian society, this is the story of Lucy who in the first part is touring Italy with her overbearing spinster cousin when she falls in love with a slightly 'unsuitable' man. it was much easier to read than i expected and i shall follow up with some of Forster's other classic tales.
7/10

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
I really enjoyed this tale which takes place both in modern day and 13th century Carcassone on France. A thrilling adventure which despite its nearly 700 pages, i read within a few days because i didn't want to put it down. it has also had the unexpected effect of making me want to visit the places it mentions. with a backdrop of real events in the medieval sections, i was amazed that a crusade was fought within Europe to other 'christians', a fact i didn't know before.
fantastic 9/10

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The more of these classics i read the more i realise why they are called classic! despite being aware of the pivotal point of the book - that the two characters are one and the same person - i still found this gripping. its very short, just 54 pages in my edition, so its quite quick to read and beautifully written. 8/10

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
For a book written in the 1930s, this felt remarkably modern. it is a parody of the over dramatic novels that were popular at the time, but i found it hilarious and loved every minute. it is the story of orphaned Flora who descends on her quirky relatives at the farm of the title, and sets about putting things in order.
brilliant! 10/10

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
This is such a classic that I'm glad i was forced to read it by it being our book club pick of the month. its quite wordy and not particularly easy to read, Hardy assumes a high level of education in his readers and constantly quotes things in a slightly pretentious way. once you get down to the actual story of what happens to Tess, it is a sad tale of innocence ruined and love betrayed. Worth its title of classic. 8/10

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier
Burning bright takes its title from the poem Tyger Tyger by William Blake and features him as a character. it is supposed to be an imaged idea of how Blake wrote the poem, through watching a developing relationship between country boy Jem, and city girl Maggie. To be honest, i couldn't see how it was related. the book did a fabulous job at vividly describing 18th century London, but nothing really happened in it and it didn't really fulfill the blurb on the back. easy to read. 4/10

Brick Lane by Monica Ali
THis is the story of Nazneen, Bangladeshi by birth who moves to England at 18 to marry a man twice her age. this was nominated for the man booker prize, but i'm learning this doesn't seem to mean anything. I found it completely depressing and somewhat contrived. i didn't find the actions of the character believable. i really struglled to finish this, only bothered because it was our book club read again. miserable. 5/10

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Set in the trenches of WW1, this was gripping right until the end, which i found disappointing. Beautifully descriptive. 8/10

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
A tale of a dystopian future planet earth, where children are made in batches in labs, and raised to do specific jobs that they are designed and indoctrinated for, this was fascinating, although it did leave me somewhat afraid for Huxley's mental state when he wrote it. it portrays a very bleak future where stability is the utmost so people are only allowed to be 'happy' as sadness and extreme emotion cause problems. its somewhat depressing, but thankfully its so far from any reality that you can read it as an interesting idea. 8/10

Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
this is an autobiographical tale of Lee's childhood in rural England just after WW1, in a disappeared world. while it wasn't dramatic and eventful, i found it really interesting as a historical social study. 6/10

June -August Reads

2011-08-23T22:13:00.004+01:00

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

covering nearly 40 years of tumultuous Afghan history, this focus' on the interconnected lives of two women. I found it fascinating simply for understanding some of the conflict that Afghanistan is known for, but most satisfying as a story too. I felt deeply for Mariam and Laila, and it gave some insight into understanding such a different culture. An excellent read. 9/10

A Room With A View by EM Forster

I started ths book with absolutely no idea what it was about, simply that I had heard of it several times and thus it was probably worth looking at. It was delightful. I often find 'classics' to be somewhat dry and hard to read, but this was entertaining from the first. Romantic and gently mocking of the social order of the day, it was very enjoyable. 7/10

Live and Laughing by Michael McIntyre

This is his autobiography, and although there were several laugh-out-loud moments, it wasn't quite as funny as I thought it would be. i did find it interesting though, especially to see his rise to the top wasn't as straight forward as might have been expected. Easy and fun.

7/10

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Yet another classic that wasn't quite what I thought (perhaps I should shelve the pre-conceptions!). The main problem with this book is that it revolves around the idea that we don't know that Jekyll and Hyde are one and the same. Despite that, it is still a really interesting insight into the presence of good and bad in each of us, and how we respond to it. Definitely worth its classic status. 9/10

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

The story of twin brothers Marion and Shiva, born of the illicit union between an Indian nun and a British surgeon in Ethiopia. Effectively orphaned at birth by their mothers childbirth death and their father's disappearance, they grow up closely linked at a clinic until love for the same woman tears them apart. Marion flees Ethiopia for a hospital in New York, until the past catches up with him, leaving him in the hand of the brother who betrayed him and the father who abandoned him. I really enjoyed it. 8/10

City of Thieves by David Benioff

A writer visits his gandparents to talk of their experiences during the siege of Leningrad in WW2. Grandfather Lev tells of being too young for the army and working as a volunteer firefighter for his building when a German paratrooper falls dead at his feet one night. Arested for the looting the body, Lev is thrown in jail with deserter Kolya. Instead of the standard bullet in the back of the head, they are thrown a lifeline when the influential colonel sends them out on an impossible task: find a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake. Thesearch takes them around the lawlessness of Leningrad and the devastated surrounding countryside and creates an unlikely bomd between the two. As usual, I love the historical aspect of the story, but I couldn't put it down. 8/10

Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee

An autobiographical account of a childhood in rural England in the 1920s, I enjoyed this gentle tale. Not wildly exciting, it nevertheless grabbed my attention for capturing a lost way of life. It described the village and its inhabitants so vividly that I could see it all so easily. 6/10

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

Introducing private detective Jackson Brodie, this beautifully twisting story of three cases features such great, vivid characters that it was a joy to read. Having seen a TV adaptation already and knowing the outcomes still didn't ruin the book. 8/10

Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters

This is the story of homeless junkie and convict Stuart. Alex met him when they campaigned together over the wrong conviction of two drug counsellors. As Alex works back through Stuart's life to how he got to this point, we get to see how events and decisions have impacted on his life. I can't review this book without warning of the shocking language throughout, but it had a powerful impact on me, and a renewed desire to try and remember that we are all children of God in the end, and we can't see what brought a person to the place they are in. One of the best books I've read in a long time. 10/10

April - May books

2011-06-04T21:28:00.007+01:00

Its been a slow couple of months on the book front, so there are only a few:

March by Geraldine Brooks

The March in question is the missing Mr March from Little Women. Here his experiences away from his girls fighting in the civil war are vividly imagined. In stark constrast to the sweet and gentle Little Women of Louisa Alcott's story, March sees and experiences the worst that humanity has to offer during the bloody conflict. Based around letters and diaries of Louisa Alcotts father, this is at times unsettling, but very readable. 8/10

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Following the lives of four people as they live in London during WW2, this book tells the story backwards - starting in 1947 and working back to 1941. Whilst featuring intriguing characters and some clear insights into people's psyche, this didn't really work for me and I felt it ended very abruptly. I still read itquite quickly though, as once I started there were elements of the story I had to get to the bottom of. 5/10

The Mango Orchard by Robin Bayley

Robin's Great Grandfather lived and worked in Mexico around the turn of the 20th century. a hundred years later, Robin follows in his footsteps with a vague feeling there is something to find 'in a small town, near a small town near Guadalajara.' Undertaking a long and winding journey into the unknown, Robin encounters bandits, guerilla fighters and witches as he travels around South and Latin America eventually finding all he was looking for and more.

Witty, fascinating and very entertaining, this is deeply evocative of the sights and smells of Mexico, making me want to visit despite his brushes with bandits and the like. An excellent read. 9/10

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The more old classics I read, the more surprised I become at how many are not quite what I thought. There is more to this book than can possibly be put into any film and its definitely worth reading the original. It also provides some fascinating insights into how our perception has changed over time, particularly with regard to attitudes to the poor and needy. Well deserving of its classic status. 9/10

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

The story of the people who occupy three flats overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London, revolving around the twin girls who are bequeathed the middle floor after their aunt dies. Niffenegger writes in a truly beautiful way, and in both her books focus' on the relationships between people rather than the circumstance they find themselves in. She is extraordinarily good at putting feelings into words. This book has some absolutely beautiful passages, but while it started amazingly well, I didn't really like the ending. There were far too many unanswered questions for me. 7/10

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

I first read this when I was a teenager, and my first clue is that I didn't remember it at all. I re-read for my book club and as we discussed it we realised why its so popular in schools - there are so many themes that can be pulled out of it and turned into essays. However, for me, as a straight read, I wasn't that bothered and didn't really get that into it. 6/10

Girl with A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

The picture on the cover is a painting by Johannes Vermeer by the same name as the novel. The book is an imagined story of how that painting came into being, featuring a young girl who goes to work as a maid in the house of Vermeer. The actual origins of the painting remain a mystery, and this is informative on a period and country I knew nothing about. Interesting. 6/10

rest of march reads

2011-04-01T19:31:00.002+01:00

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Based on a true story, this story tells of the small Derbyshire village of Eyam, from 1665-1666. The village fell victim to the plague, which came to them in infected cloth from London. Under the direction of the young Reverend, the villagers took the extraordinary decision to quarantine themselves and seal off the village until the plague had gone. With some disturbing moments, this really brings to life the realities of the figures you see of the mortality rate. With all the panic, pain and grief brought vividly to life, this is a great read.

It prompted me to visit the real village and learn more about the real life heartache behind this story. A great book. 8/10

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Clare has known Henry almost her whole life, because Henry time travels. this story is about relationships and the effort to achieve normality in the face of overwhelming odds. Its beautiful and insightful, and totally let down by bad language which jumped off the page at me towards the end. Unnecessary and annoying, it ruined my enjoyment of an otherwise great novel. 2 points removed for that - 6/10.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Starting at the end of his life, this is the story of Eddie's death and the people he meets in heaven who explain what his life meant and how their lives inter-related, even if Eddie didn't know it. Beautiful idea, movingly written. 8/10

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Considered a classic, this is the story of Emma Bovary, wife of a small town doctor in rural France. She has adulterous affairs and lives extravagantly beyond her means to escape the boredom and emptiness of her life. Voted by contemporary authors as one of the most influential books ever written, I personally can't see the attraction. I felt no empathy or understanding for Emma or any other character, so it seemed vain and vacuous to me. 3/10

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

You should read this, its not the story you think it is. Profound, and insightful, this can be interpreted so many ways. It surprised me, I expected a horror story and this is far from that. I found it an intelligent work on responsibilities. Easy to read, and worth every moment. 9/10

February to March reads

2011-03-11T10:14:00.008Z

After I did this for January, I thought I should keep it up as a record of the books that I have read. Next time I won't leave it so long, cos this is just February to 10th March!

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Excellent for those interested in Tudor history, the protagonist of this is Thomas Cromwell, who rose to become Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor. It won the Man Booker prize, but don't let that put you off. Brilliantly descriptive and powerfully evocative of the sights, sounds and smells of Tudor England, it is only let down by a slightly bizarre writing style of referring to Cromwell as 'he' all the way through the book, despite the confusion this leads to on occasion. Provided the reader recognises this and assumes 'he' means the protagonist, you'll be fine. I would have rated it 8/10 but it loses a point for the awkward writing style. 7/10

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

A beautiful young man gazes upon a picture of himself and wishes he could always stay that beautiful. He receives his wish, and the picture ages and decays instead of him. He lives a debauched life and watches in horror as the picture progressively portrays his internal ugliness. This was a fascinating read, with some real insights on how we judge people on their appearance. There are some challenging passages too though. Definitely worth persevering with. 6/10

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

A blend of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Dan Brown's DaVinci Code, this uses historical writing and architecture (as in Dan Brown) to solve the mystery of the life and afterlife of Vlad 'The Impaler' Tepes - Dracula. Despite my complete lack of interest in vampires, this book was a strong enough story to keep my interest and wanting to turn the pages. Don't expect your Twilight style romantic hero vampire here though, Dracula is a real nasty piece of work, but with a peculiar penchant for librarians. Containing a few disturbing historical facts, this has some passages that made me wince, all the more for being real history. A good read. 7/10

Sister by Rosamund Lupton

Beatrice races home to London from New York when she hears her younger sister Tess is missing. Despite the thriller/mystery aspect what happened to her, this book really is about the relationship between the sisters. I read it within 24 hours, it was a real page turner. Beautifully insightful and honest, with a twist I didn't see coming despite guessing who was responsible about half way through. Compelling. 8/10

One Day by David Nicholls

Starting the day they graduate, this looks at Emma and Dexter on the same day for the next twenty years. A great premise, this didn't really deliver for me. I didn't relate to the characters, found them both quite cliched and stereotyped, and I didn't quite believe their story. 5/10

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Anne Barrows

I always forget that a part of the British Isles was occupied by the Germans during WW2, and this story vividly brought the experience to life. Written as a series of letters, it is by turns witty, charming, insightful, educational and heart-breakingly sad. An easy and quick read, I highly recommend it. 9/10

Holes by Louis Sachar

Aimed at the youth market, this delighful book is absolutely worth a couple of hours of anyone's time. A miscarriage of justice sends Stanley Yelnats to a young offenders place on a dry lake bed, where they spend all day every day digging holes. Beautifully written, with a neat wrap to the story. Fabulous. 9/10

Longitude by Dava Sobel

The true story of the man who effectively invented the pocket watch, plus a whole array of other devices we still use, to try and help ships with the problem of knowing longitude. Fascinating, and entertaining. 8/10

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

A fictional account of the life of geisha Sayuri, it nevertheless relies heavily on real accounts and accurate historical fact. Beautifully evocative of life in the pleasure distict of Gion in Kyoto, this book is gut-wrenchingly matter of fact of the worst elements of the life that a geisha had and shows the sometime ugliness behind the mask of beauty. It appeals greatly to my interest in Japan and Japanese history, and I loved it. 8/10

Goodreads.com

2011-02-01T22:17:00.000Z

Joanna's bookshelf: read

Joanna Rigby's favorite books »

book reviews

2011-01-23T21:31:00.005Z

the books i've read this year so

far:
The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Set in 1960s Mississippi, The Help is the story of the lives and friendship of three women in the midst of racism and segregation. Heartwarming and at times heart breaking, this is an excellent page-turner that cuts through some of the stereotypes surrounding relationships in the deep south. 9/10

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
A harsh story set in a dystopian future where women are deprived of all rights, the focus is on Offred, whose only function is to breed. The loneliness and hopelessness of her situation is marked by her memories of what she has lost. Somewhat disturbing, but definitely thought provoking this novel could serve as a warning. I'd like to think it could never happen, but you only have to look to existing countries to see that the author apparently had the gift of foresight. 8/10

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Narrated by death, this is the story of 13 year old Liesel in Germany during WW2. As she sees the death and destruction all around her, Liesel discovers the power of words and reading, and helps her adoptive family hide a Jew in the basement. We see all the shades of humanity, from the committed nazis to those who risk themselves standing up for what is right. Beautifully told, this insightful story is a must-read. 10/10

Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones
The wartorn island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea is the setting for Mister Pip. Jones, who covered the civil war in Bougainville, never shies from the brutal realities and violence of war as he tells the tale of a village that has never really seen civilisation. The only white man left in the village takes over running the school and introduces the children to Dickens' Great Expectations. there is great constrast between the solace and delight the central character of Matilda takes in the book, and the terrible events surrounding the village. Somewhat flawed, and slightly irritating in parts, this is nevertheless worth a read. 7/10

my cross-dressing baby!

2009-11-19T22:16:00.003Z

those who read this blog regularly may well remember this picture from earlier this year when our delightful boy put on a dress and twirled around the kitchen. unfortunately this has not been an isolated incident....

dressed as a fairy princess - this time in public!!

with proper make up on (admittedly on halloween and i didn't have any face paint so i used my industrial strength stuff)

but there is no excuse for this one! and there have been other occasions when i was not quick enough with the camera.

my baby is a cross dresser!!!!!!

english countryside

2009-11-19T22:00:00.004Z

we went for a walk one sunday afternoon in october near our house and these are some of the photos. i just think we are lucky to have such beautiful countryside so close to us.

even if it has a dirty great road stuck in the middle of it... the other side is fields and meadows and streams and is great for walking in.

see! told you it was gorgeous!

the house in the middle of this photo is ours! i love the view from the top of our street, with all the trees and the church on top of the hill. love it!!

Mind the gap

2009-09-29T22:15:00.003+01:00

i have spent this evening preparing and giving a seminary lesson, followed by watching the Relief Society general broadcast. i am filled with the love of the Lord and wanted to share my testimony that He lives! He guides us for our good and listens to our prayers. i am grateful for the many, many blessings i have and am mindful that they come from Him. i loved the idea in one of the talks from the RS broadcast to 'mind the gap'. i am suddenly aware of the gaps in my life and am determined to do better. i look forward to the day spoken of by Lucy Mack Smith and quoted by Henry B Eyring when after all we have done here to help one another, we will all sit down together in heaven. to that end i pledge myself anew to living the gospel with all my heart, might, mind and strength.
love you!

our family

2009-09-23T23:43:00.001+01:00

check this out:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_view_player?p=3e6f88dc4bb5e65132264f"

Eileen Webster, beloved Grandmother

2009-09-13T20:21:00.002+01:00

this is my gran, who died today age 87. she has been married to my grandad for 68 years and they have been together since they were 11. he fulfilled his promise to look after her all her life and he can rest assured that she knew she was loved greatly. i know she is at rest and free from any more pain, but she will be missed and it is hard to watch grandad suffer the loss of his lifelong companion. so this is in memorial to her, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
eileen webster 1921 - 2009.

blog candy from the stamp man

2009-09-09T16:37:00.003+01:00

doesn't this look yummy!!! if you want a chance to win it check out the blog at http://thestampmanuk.blogspot.com
good luck - but best luck saved for me cos i want it!!!

its finally finished!

2009-09-02T22:30:00.005+01:00

remember the circle journal i blogged about in january? well its finally made its round trip and arrived home. here is the finished article:

some poems i knew, others are new to me. long, short, funny and profound. its beautiful and will take pride of place on my bookshelf. thanks ladies, you've done me proud. i only hope my entries in your cjs are half as good!

robin hood festival

2009-09-02T21:26:00.003+01:00

we decided to go to sherwood forest with the skinners one day. we had seen that the annual robin hood festival was on but foolishly thought it wouldn't make much difference. how wrong we were! it was absolutely packed and we had to count kids every two minutes to make sure we hadn't lost any! but we did have lots of fun, there were so many things to see.

jugglers and musicians

this guy and his wife were experts on ways of living back then, especially how to deal with rats which ethan and josh were fascinated by!

dancers. obviously. not sure how authentic they were, but it was entertaining. the girls loved it and would have watched for hours. just goes to show the differences between them and the boys!

we saw the evil sheriff of nottingham. who was actually very obliging about posing for photos. thats obviously the side you don't normally get to see ;o)

he'd been fighting with the good guys here - but they didn't stick around to be photoed for long. much too butch and tough i suppose.

we got moved aside for these guys to pass. to be fair the man is doing quite a job pulling that thing single-handed and i'm not surprised he didn't want to hang around for long. she was just clearing the way for him with her flute.

one of the side attractions was this mutant woman with two heads and extra limbs. no, wait, its just linda and isaac. cute though!

liv couldn't resist the urge to climb a tree...

so of course ty has to copy.

there was loads going on- battles and story telling, falconry and archery. it was interesting and fun - all the more so because it was unexpected. worth another visit next year - but this time we'll go prepared!

busy summer

2009-09-01T21:17:00.007+01:00

we've had a busy month, so here are a few sneaky peaks:

walking in southport

at the beach in skegness (yes really!)

at the coolest birthday party ever - me with a tarantula

at the same party - liv with a snake

meeting peppa and george pig

at chatsworth in the cascade

beautiful gardens at chatsworth

markeaton park pools

like father like son at markeaton

milton keynes with the kings

paddling (!!) at dovedale

walking at dovedale with the skinners

climbing trees in sherwood forest

playing in the park

sure start fun days in the park

the Galleries of Justice

the caves under Nottingham

family time on the bank holiday weekend.

if i get my act together you'll get more detail of some of this soon! we've had fun this month while the kids have been off school, but obviously not enough fun cos liv has spent the whole time counting down until she goes back to school! but we've made lots of happy memories anyway.

don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

2009-08-06T20:35:00.003+01:00

last year i tried to grow veggies and they all got eaten by small critters before they had a chance. this year my talented hubby built a raised bed as i documented earlier in the year. here is the result!! there are carrots, onions and potatoes growing here and there is nothing better than picking and eating your own veggies!
close up of the bushy carrot tops. (and the onions)

our yummy carrots. the kids were so excited to pick them out and share them with our neighbours.

liv almost didn't wait to wash the mud off before she was ready to eat one.
we even got a mutant carrot!

growing our own veggies has proved rewarding and encouraged the kids to try new healthy foods. next year we plan to increase what we grow.

the fight

2009-07-21T21:50:00.004+01:00

squaring up

getting ready

left hook

back at ya, punk

you're mean

not talking to you anymore.

meet the two smallest rigby grandchildren - alfie and isaac.

Armed Forces Day

2009-06-27T21:20:00.004+01:00

today was armed forces day and there was a big celebration at Wollaton park in Nottingham.

there were lots of stands from the army, navy and RAF. we got to play with guns - carefully tied down as you can see.

tank - they are surprisingly small inside.

tyler was loving the gun at his level and tried to look through the sights, but just pressed his head into the end instead. cute.

there were displays all afternoon. this one was a 1940s style cavalry display.

the flying gunners - royal artillery motorcycle display team.
they were very impressive and very entertaining.

they were accompanied by cilla the gorilla who performed stunts and made everyone laugh.
by the end they were jumping four cars.

these were the winners of the artillery gun race. those guns are very loud!!!!

it was all too much for tyler, he managed to sleep through half the fun.
fly by of a ww2 plane.

the parachutists - or should i say dots - on their way down. they came down to a flare in the display field.

i didn't think they would make it cos they seemed all over the place and totally out of control, but all four landed in almost exactly the same place. impressive.
however, across in derby today in another display, a para landed on top of someone in the crowd, breaking his leg in the process. glad we got the good lot!!

we had a great day. but it did remind me of the impressive and courageous job our armed forces do. so i'll finish on a thank you to all armed forces past and present for allowing me to live in a free and privileged country because they are willing to sacrifice their lives defending us. good job.

2009-05-30T20:12:00.005+01:00

its been half term this week and we've had a busy few days. on thursday we went to ferry farm park.

liv got brave and held a few animals. i particularly liked the baby guinea pigs. i really wanted one...

liv even rode a pony, which was very brave for her, she normally freaks out at the sight of an animal. she was very proud of herself.

i'm still loving the guinea pigs

how cute is that?!! it fit into one hand. i want it!!!!!!

liv even plucked up the courage to hold a kitten.

there were piglets just running around, and calves and tiny kid goats - so cute!
ty got to ride a car with adz and loved every minute. he kept trying to push adz out the way to drive it himself.

making daddy work hard!

on friday morning we went to an event at sure start with the fire engine. liv went on a school trip to the fire station a few weeks ago and thought she knew it all. ty was too scared to get on.

friday afternoon we went to markeaton park to use the paddling pool. the weather has been beautiful the last few days and we decided to take advantage. we are lucky to have markeaton nearby. it has big adventure playgrounds, acres of green fields, the paddling pool, crazy golf, boat hire, and a train and its all free. good stuff. unsurprisingly, we go there to play a lot.

adz was brave and got in the water to supervise while i sat on the bank and took photos.
on saturday, we went to an advertised pond dipping at a nearby nature reserve. i've lived around here for nearly six years and never knew this idyll was so close until today. they do outdoor concerts in the summer - can't wait!!

there were an abundance of little stickleback fish to catch and soon liv was proficient at getting them. we spent about three hours on the edge of the pond, enjoying the sun and relaxing. if adam had been with us it would have been perfection.
our catch went into a tray so we could examine the findings. we caught water boatmen, tadpoles, beetles and water snails as well as fish.

ty showing a new talent.
we had a great few days. too bad its back to school next week. long live the good weather though!

the exploits of master destructo

2009-05-23T20:29:00.003+01:00

we have developed specific coping strategies to deal with the antics of our beloved son tyler. nothing and nowhere is safe in this house. to make matters slightly easier we have resorted to tying up, locking down and generally battening down the hatches in our house.

in the kitchen, the chairs have to be kept on the table, or he drags them around to climb up to anything he wants. previously to doing this i caught him trying to put my ipod in the microwave, (the ipod which is now broken thanks to his efforts throwing it on the floor) and tring to flood the kitchen playing at the sink. also the fridge has to be locked.....

with a velcro strap or he takes what he wants and leaves the doors open. his favourites in here include spreading the butter all over the sofa and taking one bite out of every piece of fruit.

all the cupboards have those fiddly annoying locks in them, but this one has to have double protection so again it is tied together.

still, all this effort does not stop master destructo!! here follows some of his recent exploits:

drawing in black pen on the dining chairs.

drawing in the same black pen all over the wall in the living room. i nearly blamed this one on destructo's big sister as it is too high for destructo, until i realised that he had stood on the chair he had just scribbled on. the sneaky genius.

we got a pattern in black pen on the bedroom carpet, at least on one side of the bed. the other side features an elaborate circular motif in gold pen.

also in the last week, destructo broke into the spare room and found scissors. these he proceeded to test out on our superking size duvet cover and duvet. they work quite well, i can report. this is while i was in the shower one morning. when i came running out on the warning of destructo's sister he snuck into the bathroom behind me (in my haste i had forgotten to close the door - a fatal error) and smeared toothpaste and soap around and dunked my contact lenses in the toilet. thankfully i found him there before he aadded the whole toilet roll and tried to flush (the toilet does not like this, we have discovered. it responds by starting to overflow)

needless to say, it is not a safe thing to do to leave destructo to his own devices for more than about 30 seconds. so i was really taking leave of my senses when i stayed in bed the other morning and left the kids to watch tv downstairs. when i did finally surface, i went down with my heart hammering, fearing the sight that would confront me there. and what did i see? well....

this. i got off so lightly for my negligence that the surprised kids got hugs and laughing rather than the shouting they obviously expected. true, i had lost two whole loaves of bread, all the bananas and a couple of oranges but it was easy to clean up and no permanent damage - wayhey!!!

there may be light at the end of the tunnel. but i'm not taking the chairs down yet.....

mountain climbing by mistake

2009-05-22T21:29:00.004+01:00

we decided one saturday to go exploring in the peak district with jess and mike. after going the very long way round we rolled up at dovedale. adam had been there as a child and remembered pretty scenery and some stepping stones across the river. so we parked up and set off. we strolled along the river, eating ice creams and watching the wildlife. the path to the river from the car was slightly downhill, so we knew we had to go back up at some point.
we found the stepping stones and i took photos while adam risked life and limb taking liv across....

...and then came back to carry ty across, who was hard to carry while he twisted and turned looking at the ducks.

adam had plonked liv in a tree for safe keeping while he came back for ty, under the supervision of jess and mike. jess, as you see, has her camera out too. for the alternative perspective of our day see her blog at britishcowgirl.livejournal.com.

adam tried to leave ty in the tree too, but liv didn't like sharing her spot.

she was much happier on her own. the dress sense is all her own idea - hat and gloves on a sunny day - but turned out to be very well planned with the strong winds on the mountain.
you can see some of the stepping stones in the middle of this picture. we decided to take the path leading to the bottom of the picture that started up the hill thinking we would go slightly up and round the back of it to get back to the car. however, it never went round, it just kept going up....and up.....

..and up! great scenery, and by the time i realised we were heading straight for the top, it seemed more sensible than going back down and round the front and up to the car. so we kept going. it was hard work for me. but adz skipped along happily, carrying one wriggling child and guiding the other (who, at 5, totally put me to shame)

they had to keep stopping to wait for me, so i used photography as an excuse to pause so i didn't have a heart attack.

we made it to the top of the mountain in relatively good time (relatively good for having a wheezing, lumbering half dead me there)

the little dots are the cars, which we now still had to get back to. at this point we discovered there was no path down the front, and we really should go back the way we came and round the front. we were too stubborn to do that and tyler was shaking with the cold in the strong winds, so we went down the front anyway, mostly on our bottoms!

a family shot on top of cloud thorpe.

again adam carried tyler, so his balance was more off and he spent the most time sliding on his bum to the obvious detriment of his trousers. (nice bum though!)

finally back at the car, i took a shot of where we had just come from, and at this point i had to admit it really was not a mountain, just a medium sized hill.

well, it FELT like a mountain, thats all i'm saying. we were all proud of ourselves, especially liv who had a great time and never complained once.

small and furry (well mostly)

2009-04-22T19:29:00.003+01:00

during the holidays, sure start childrens centre had animals from white post farm and other activities. the kids loved it. here is liv with the baby (!!!!) lion, no wait, its a rabbit. it was HUGE!

see, it looks like a dog here. it was a very big rabbit!

i love this photo. liv is so jumpy and scared round animals, and i love how proud of herself she looks here. she's gorgeous, if i do say so myself.

she even dared to touch a snake!

emily loved the mice. me, i'm not so keen! nasty horrible little critters.

not sure what ethan is doing here, but he looks like he needs the toilet!

tyler was not as brave as liv. he stood watching the animals for ages, but wouldn't touch any of them, not even with encourgement from daddy.
after seeing the live animals, we went next door to the activity room where ty found some animals he was confident enough to touch.
liv made this wind chime, and decorated a purse. her perfect day really. fun times.

candy floss tree

2009-04-21T21:31:00.003+01:00

this is the tree and the church on the top of the hill where i live. i love it. i see it often, and always think it would make great pictures. its only taken three years to get around to it.

i think the tree is at its best in spring, when it looks like candy floss on a stick with the thick pink blossom, but it looks great all the time, even when its bare in winter.

i recently did a course where i discovered that my primary learning technique is visual. this in turn, apparently makes me observant. well, i don't notice important stuff, but i like pretty things and like to appreciate the world around me. so now you know what a freak i am, to spend my time staring at trees and flowers. what an insight to the strange workings of my mind.

look what my talented husband made

2009-04-21T21:21:00.002+01:00

this is our new veggie patch, now raised and filled with good soil. so hopefully i'll be able to keep you posted on the progression of our vegetables as they grow. can't wait - yum!

sunday walks

2009-04-06T22:01:00.003+01:00

on Sunday morning we decided to go for a walk. it was conference, so we didn't have church until the afternoon. we used the time to explore.

we went to brinsley headstocks. we took collecting bags, to see what we could find.

with all the beautiful things around us, both the kids decided the best thing to find was rocks. and more rocks.

tyler took to dragging his bag along, as it was now full of heavy rocks. how i did laugh when he rubbed a hole in the bottom and started losing rocks. then he would spot a 'new' rock and put it in his bag, only for it to fall straight through again.

we saw a squirrel, butterflies, bees, birds, and a couple of dogs. tyler was very excited. he even tried to chase the dog, until it turned round and tried to chase him back. then he wasn't so impressed with the game.

we drove down into jacksdale, looking for a field of cows. we found horses instead. close enough.

things not to do in bed

2009-03-21T21:59:00.003Z

do not: mumble unintelligibly at your husband in the middle of the night, then shout at him for not understanding what you said.
also, do not turn on the alarm on the ipod dock in the kitchen for midnight, then freak out thinking you have burglars when it goes off.

check me out!

2009-03-17T21:24:00.003Z

evidence! i was gorgeous once....

does anyone read this?

2009-03-15T21:03:00.003Z

i'm thinking that the only person who reads this is me. if, by any chance, i am wrong, please do me a favour and let me know? just a little comment - even just one that says 'i read this', would be nice. if its just for my benefit, then at least i know not to bother anymore.
thank you lovely peeps.

2009-03-13T22:10:00.003Z

did you know that one child dies every thirty seconds of malaria? every thirty seconds! this is something that is completely preventable. its something we never even think about. but in africa, everybody knows someone who has died. babies and small children are most at risk. i have just sat and watched on tv as two babies died of this, and i can barely type for the tears. we are so blessed, but there are many who are not. what are we doing to help? in the time it has taken to write this, 10 children have died.

donate here: https://www.againstmalaria.com/donate.aspx

hair

2009-03-09T21:14:00.004Z

nothing for a month then two posts in one day - how lucky are you?! after our day at newstead abbey we went back to jess' house where she attempted to teach me how to french braid. this is her effort on liv's hair. it is yet to be repeated, as i am completely useless.

on reviewing the photos from our day out i could not believe the stupid haircut i had unwittingly given my son. it had to go. since it was quite short, there was only one option.....

buzz it!

obviously we drugged him to get him to stand still. (kidding!)

he was quite surprised when he looked in the mirror, he kept touching it and looking at me, silently asking what had i done to him?

he took comfort in his normal way - with his hand down my top. he'll grow out of it. probably.

newstead abbey

2009-03-09T20:17:00.004Z

small boy in a big place.

the first indication of jess' strange hand problem. it would get worse later.

peekaboo.

fabulous sculpture. it took several tries to get a decent pose out of liv. telling her to lie down just results in lying flat on her back. obviously.

jess is definitely bigger than liv. in case you didn't know.

peekaboo. there are lots of places to play this at newstead.

beautiful scenery and great company. what more could you ask for?

gorgeous, if i do say so myself!

its great taking a friend with you who doesn't have children - entertainment all day!

how's this for the stupidest haircut in the world? can you believe i actually paid for this? and the hairdresser cut it wonky. rubbish!

the hands had really become a problem now. one had grown to freakish giant proportions and the other had shrunk to match liv's hand. obviously it was affecting the photo taking, because despite the apparently easy shot, if you look close you'll see the jess had managed to miss herself out. for the result of this picture, and a few more of our day out see jess' blog http://britishcowgirl@livejournal.com

flashback friday

2009-02-13T18:42:00.004Z

i have officially left my twenties. yep, thats right folks, i am now 30 years old. and it feels old! anyway, having been given the idea by the lovely tennille, i decided to do a flashback today, because i have a good flashback for this day. this is my journal entry from 12 years ago today:

today i turned 18! i had a hard time remembering. yesterday we left prague, and travelled all the way to oswiecim in poland. i hardly feel being in the coach six hours now. after being in it 24 hours, it feels like a second home. last night we had a really good meal in the hotel, then we went for a walk to the main entrance of auschwitz. i couldn't picture it at all as it was dark and there is a road next to it now. then there was a gap in the traffic and i could hear a train in the distance. that was really spooky. in the hotel the bbc filmed us discussing what we were expecting today.

this morning i was first out of bed in our room. all eight girls were sharing for the first time. it was so cold, i put on extra clothes in the night and was still freezing. someone muttered happy birthday and i was like 'oh yeah'. i kept forgetting. it didn't seem very important compared to what we were doing. whe i did remember, i kept thinking about all the people who had their birthday in auschwitz for real.

when we got to auschwitz it wasn't at all what i expected. we had a guide and she took us around the buildings. the first building had all the living conditions still how they were. i didn't cry in that building even though it was almost beyond belief how they lived. the next building we went in had one huge room on one side that held two tons of human hair. it was all the same colour - cyclon B gas kills the pigment. all the hair was cut off after the people died. this got me the most. all the other things we saw - rooms of shoes, bowls, etc i could see being removed without the person dying. the hair hit home more. the other thing that got me was the baby clothes. the monsters that did this were inhuman. they cannot have had feelings. after that i did not cry. the rest was just too bad to comprehend. we saw block 11, where the first killings with cyclon B took place, and the punishment cells in the basement. we saw the wall of death where people were shot. we saw the crematorium and the gas chambers. you just cannot take in that where you are standing thousands of people died. after we had been round auschwitz, we got back on the coach and went two kilometers up the road to Birkenau. this is auschwitz II. it is one of the most isolated places i have ever been, which is why the nazis chose it for an extermination camp along with its rail connections. auschwitz itself was brick buildings, laid out properly, as it was a polish army barracks before ww2. auschwitz -birkenau was purpose built, and its huge. a lot of it is no longer there, as it was all wooden, but all the chimneys are there - they are brick. what you picture as auschwitz - the tower with the rail tracks through the bottom -is actually at birkenau. from the top of the tower the chimneys stretch almost as far as you can see. only a few of the buildings nearest the tower are still standing. these are exactly as they were. it was as if the SS had just left the day before.

sorry its kinda long.. after this we tried to travel to wroclaw, but our coach broke down in rural poland. it was an interesting day, one that i won't ever forget. and when i feel down, its something i try to think to put into perspective my tiny problems.

happy birthday me. xxx

snow much fun!

2009-02-05T14:27:00.007Z

we only had about three inches, but that is the most snow i have seen for years. we all dressed up like the michelin man and braved it out into the cold...

we had snow much fun!!! we went to the park with richard and ethan and a couple of sleds.

liv and daddy

tyler's turn.

liv got fed up of waiting for her turn on the sled.

tyler insisted on pulling the sled all the way home, very very VERY slowly!

then he sulked when we tried to hurry him up. he looked very upset when we all laughed at him doing this.

all three managed to fit on the sled for the last couple of hills. much to tyler's disgust, he seemed to think the sled was his, and his alone.

his attachment to the sled didn't extend to pulling it uphill - that was daddy's duty, while tyler got a nice ride.

he was much happier out the pushchair, even though it was much warmer in there. i wanted to get in, but adz refused to push.

finally, we went back to our garden to make a snowman - a very fine specimen i think you'll agree!

cross dressing?!

2009-02-05T14:11:00.003Z

ty screamed until we put it on him, then he twirled like a girl! do i think this will be shown at his wedding? too flippin' right!

average britain

2009-02-02T14:09:00.002Z

today britain has a snow problem. in some places it is up to a staggering 8 inches! wow. now everything comes a halt. we cannot cope with 8 inches of snow, or temperatures of -3. how pathetic are we? other countries function fully on temperatures of -30 and several FEET of snow. britain can only function when everything is average. we struggle with excess rain, excess heat (anything approaching 30 degrees) and even, unbelieveably, excess falling leaves in autumn. while we fall apart under 8 inches of snow, other countries are dealing with 42 inches of snow (usa) or temperatures above 40 degrees for days on end (australia). and they don't just deal with it, they get on as normal!
we are just rubbish!
rant over.

2009-01-29T18:59:00.002Z

is this rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, i hear you ask. no, its liv, with what happens when you put ice cream on your nose!

this girl can pose for England, but she always has to put her nose in the air to do it!

liv and i went on a mother-daughter date today. it was her choice of restaurant, and she wanted KFC 'so we don't take too long'. charming. still, we had a good time, and i learnt some new things. olivia loves school and her class there. she wants everyone to come to her birthday party. when i asked her about church, she went all quiet.

'do you like your new class at church?' i ask. she shakes her head.

'how about your teacher?' another shake.

now i'm worried. are the boys teasing her? is she intimidated? whats going on?

'so whats wrong?' i ask gently

'i have to learn things' she says sadly.

then she can't understand why i laugh and laugh. sorry teacher jess, she doesn't like your class cos you actually teach her!

we played while we ate and talked. towards the end, while she sitting there with ice cream on her nose, i look at her and wonder if she will ever understand just how great she is and how much i love her. so i try to tell her.

'hey, i love you' i say.

'i love you too ladybird' she says. i'm touched.

'i love you more, butterfly' i say.

'i love you most...(casting around for a word)..dinosuarus' she says.

enough said!

2009-01-27T17:33:00.003Z

so having seen the lovely jess's take on our day out in matlock bath (see britishcowgirl) last week, i thought i should add my own. its not as funny as hers though, partly because my camera ran out of battery, and partly because i have been there enough times that i simply look past some of the best stuff. i was laughing at jess at the time for taking so many photos of random stuff, but now i see she has her own unique view of the world! however, it was me who discovered the best name of a soldier on a war memorial ever - see if you can find better! perhaps we could start an international hunt for the best name, with all four people that read this. suggestions please....

2009-01-22T12:25:00.002Z

today we really started our journey to becoming foster carers. we met with a woman from the fostering team at social services. she seemed really nice. she asked lots of questions and made lots of notes. she tried to be honest about what fostering the age group we are looking at is really like. she told us to worst case scenarios, and some best case. it was a bit eye-opening, especially as she talked us through some of the common reactions that birth children have when foster children come onto the scene. apparently copying bad behaviour is not uncommon. i would be lying if i said that i'm not worried about some of the potential things that could happen. but i still feel quite positive about how we could help someone.
it was also quite strange to have to quantify how you are able to look after a child. 'what skills and abilities do you have to enable you to foster?' we had to think of words to describe how we parent, which is actually more difficult than it sounds. there will be a lot more of that to come too. we have long forms to fill in, which require evidence foreach point. it looks a bit daunting, and will take up to six months before we get final approval and are given a placement. keep your fingers crossed for me xxx

2009-01-21T20:51:00.004Z

while i'm on a roll, here are a few more photos from the last few days! on saturday, we went to castleton, in the peak district, where some of the scenes from the Princess Bride were filmed. we saw the 'as you wish' hill and the entrance to the fire swamp. it was VERY cold and tyler was not having much fun until he managed to persuade daddy to give him a ride. we had a great day.

2009-01-21T20:04:00.008Z

i have finally downloaded all my photos from the last month, so as promised, here they are. apologies that the video is all sideways, i cannot seem to change that. still they are quite funny.

note to self - video straight on next time!

here is james playing hula, peter and dad had a go too, but it took katrina to show how it should be done.

the hula was great unscheduled entertainment for our traditional family christmas dinner. after the floor show, we had a lovely dinner, followed by a slightly untraditional nativity. note the very funky shepherds, and mary with chocolate round her mouth!

2009-01-05T19:59:00.002Z

olivia started school full time today. i can't believe that i have a child old enough to be at school! she was very excited and has counted down the sleeps since christmas. she's so excited that she nodded and grinned happily when i told her that this was it - school every day for the next fourteen years! thankfully, she doesn't understand what that means. it sounds like a very long time even to me, and i've done it.
we had a great christmas. the rigby family dinner was very entertaining. the kids (and james) put on a nativity, which was funny and almost factually accurate. i will add evidence later of all the festivities.
happy new year all :o)

christmas tree

2008-12-13T21:51:00.003Z

our first christmas after we got married i bought decorations for our house, planning that the following year i would buy decorations in one more colour and so on each year until i could have any colour combination i wanted. well five years on and we are still on the original white and gold cos i can't find another i like as much! this is our tree for this year, which sadly is not real. this is the first time we have had a fake tree, and while i am quite sad about that, i still think it looks ok. it will look much better after santa has been and there are presents under it.......

how to get a mohican

2008-12-13T21:48:00.003Z

this week we discovered how to get the perfect mohican and it involved a vacuum cleaner....

my beautiful kids

2008-12-13T21:09:00.002Z

so we had some fun with the camera today and here are some of the results.

2008-12-05T22:14:00.002Z

i got woken up by adam at 2.30 this morning asking if i wanted the goodnews or the bad news first. well the good news is that he's off work until next thursday. the bad news is that he has broken his thumb and we have to fit in a hospital appointment on a really busy day. poor adz, its hurting him a lot, but on a completely selfish note, its a great injury to have. minimum damage, maximum impact. he can't work cos he can't grip anything or use his hand properly, but he's fine and we get to spend some time together. love it!!!
tomorrow is our primary christmas party, and after that we are nearly done with the stressful stuff. can't wait to relax!!!!!!

2008-12-04T18:54:00.002Z

so i was right, today has been a good day. i thought my heart would burst with pride as i watched liv at her christmas concert. she did really well, sang her heart out and knew all the words. it was adorable to watch all the little ones (liv is in the oldest group, she's not quite five yet) doing their bit. i love it, what a highlight of christmas.
this afternoon i did the card class. i did end up spending more time helping others than doing my own, but it was fun and i enjoyed myself immensely. tomorrow i have managed to get myself an invite to the sure start volunteer christmas party. we are going off by coach, having dancing lessons, yummy lunch and santa! so that should be fun too. of course, on saturday i am running the primary christmas party, so round all the fun stuff i am trying to fit in things like buying and preparing all the food, getting games ready, setting up the santas grotto etc. i think the party will be fun, but preparing for it is not, esecially when it comes only six days after the presentation. thankfully, after that it is mostly over for a while and i can turn my attention to finishing hand made presents, wrapping all the stupidly large boxes that the kids presents are in, writing christmas cards, the carol concert i'm singing in etc etc. still, after today i am feeling considerably more festive and ready for all the chaos of the next three weeks!

2008-12-02T19:14:00.002Z

the primary presentation is over!!! thank goodness. i think it went alright too. the kids did really well, although they still were not watching me when i was trying to get them stood up all co-ordinated so they looked like a ragtag band. but thats it now until next year, except for the christmas party on saturday, leadership next tuesday, the nativity on the 21st......
liv is in her school christmas concert on thursday, which i am greatly looking forward to. she is a star. she knows all the songs that everyone is singing and i think i do too, she has sung them that much. i can't wait to just sit back and enjoy the performance, playing proud mum.
thursday afternoon i have signed up to do a card making class at sure start, which sounds great except that somewhere along the line i have managed to get myself into running said class. the advantage of that is that i get to do my favourite pastime - craft shopping - with someone else's money! i'm actually quite looking forward to that too, so thursday should be a good day.
i'm finding it hard to feel christmassy this year. even though we had snow this morning, its felling more and more every year as though its just hard work. there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything that needs doing. i'm trying hard to feel the spirit of the real reason for the season. maybe we should cancel the commercial annoyance that christmas has become so we can return to celebrating the birth of our Saviour and Redeemer.

2008-11-22T20:52:00.002Z

yesterday i had a phone call from social services to kickstart our application to become foster parents. we now have to go through a process to ensure we are suitable people to place children in need with. it was adam's idea to do this, he regularly sees children in situations where he would like to help in the course of his job and thought we had something to offer. i have taken quite a while to decide whether i think i could do it. there are many things to think about. am i patient enough? have we got room? how will our kids react? could i love someone else child enough and could i say goodbye to someone i've cared for when it comes time for them to leave? i'm still not 100% sure, but i think with the number of blessings i have in my life, that i would be very ungrateful to not try to offer help to children who are not as fortunate. so i hope that within a few months we will be welcoming a new addition to our family.
last night adam came home form work and announced that he had taken today off work. his brother peter and his wife jenni were down to visit and he wanted to spend time with them. so today we have hung out with family. we have not done anything special. this morning we helped his sister get rid of her sofas inpreperation for her new ones arriving. then we all went to costco for a christmas shopping trip. i love hanging out with them and i'm eternally grateful that i married into such an amazing family.
i have spent this evening playing on the computer, which is bad because i have a huge to do list that i should be working on instead. there are not enough hours in the day....
so that is a day in the very boring life of me.

2008-11-16T22:18:00.002Z

our primary presentation is in two weeks, and i'm starting to get really worried. today we went through all the songs together and i think only the teachers were singing. now i've heard the kids sing them, so i know they can do it, but what if they don't sing on the day?! i haven't been involved in a presentation since i was last IN one - yes, about 18 years ago! this is so stressful! i have great teachers who will do all they can for the kids and seem to know what they are doing. at least someone does!
this is the time of year where the days all seem to run together and i find myself wondering if i really need sleep, i could really use those hours... of course, that has definitely not been helped by starting this, as it is using some of that precious time i do have. so on that note i'm off. now where's that to do list....

2008-11-15T18:54:00.002Z

last night i went to a stampin' up party. it was fun, i made a couple of nice cards. i could happily have bought half the catalogue, but decided i didn't need to start any new obsessions!
we've been doing the dreaded christmas shopping today. it was stupidly busy and i wondered within half an hour why i hadn't stayed at home and bought it all online, especially when we discovered it had cost £8.50 just to park for four hours!

todays prompts are: how many brothers and sisters do you have, where do you fit in?
and did you ever wish you had more brothers and sisters, and why?

i am the youngest in my family. i have three older sisters - Karen, Sara and Fiona. Fiona died within an hour of being born, so i have never known her. she was 14 months older than me, and i've often wondered what it would have been like to have a sister so close to me in age. my other sisters are 8 and 10 years older than me, so for most of my teenage years it often felt like i was an only child, as it was just me, mum and dad at home. it took until i was an adult to feel like my sisters were my friends and that i had something in common with them. before that i just had three mums!
i have never wanted more brothers or sisters, but i did spend most of my childhood wishing my oldest sister was my brother instead. it was only when i was old enough to be friends with her that i began to appreciate her as a girl!! this longing for an older brother was so strong that when i discovered i was expecting my first child, i wanted it to be a boy so that any future children could have the older brother i had always wanted! of course, olivia was not a boy but i still love her with all my heart. now it makes sense to me that it was her first, she is the perfect big sister.
now my family has grown considerably, and i have lots of brothers and sisters - 13 to be precise! thats if you include all the in-laws. i love it, and them, all! it feels natural, like it was always this way, and was meant to be. my kids have 7 uncles and 6 aunts, and its brilliant. i am extremely blessed to have both the family i was born into, and the family i married into. i love them all.

2008-11-14T16:08:00.000Z

right now i'm watching cbeebies in my living room surrounded by 7 children ages 1-9. its pretty cool. i would never have considered myself to be a children sort of person, but i'm slowly discovering that they are really not that scary after all, even when they are tired and grumpy. its a revelation! of course, i've always loved my own children, but other peoples? not so keen. i've had a slow warm up though, as i now have 17 nieces and nephews, with more on the way. then i got called as the primary president (shock, horror - and thats just what the kids think!) now i have realised kids are great!
if i get time before i go out (yes really!) i might do another prompt from my class later.

2008-11-13T18:58:00.000Z

i'm not sure why i'm doing a blog. i'm not sure anyone will read it. but never mind, i'm writing just for me. i'm doing a course online at the moment about writing your stories (thanks jessica sprague!) and i think this may become my forum for telling my tales. we have been given prompts on almost every part of our lives and history to tell the stories. so i'm going to start with them.

so here we go with the first prompt:
what colour was your hair as a child and then as an adult?
i have always had what i call poohy brown hair. i like to think it has natural red in it - my grandfather and cousins all have naturally red hair - and i've always wanted mine to be that way. so once i got old enough i started trying to make it that way, not so naturally! i have been ginger, red, plum and almost every shade of red you can think of. then i decided i'd had enough of that, so i let it grow out and went back to poohy brown. it was then i discovered, to my horror, that at the tender age of 19 i was going grey!!!!! suffice it to say, it has never been its natural colour since! i have been very blonde, and had blonde highlights. then i went red again. finally i got fed up and started dying it poohy brown, so you couldn't see the roots so bad. so now i actually pay to have it a colour i don't even partictularly like. and that is the saga of my hair - i'll keep you posted. ;o)

2008-11-07T21:51:00.000Z

everyone else is doing it.......
so i've decided to do a blog for posterity (?!!) since i'm starting you better know something about me. i am a stay at home mum of two children and i'm married to adam, a policeman. i love scrapbooking, reading, painting wood stuff, singing and family history.