A abrupt start to the day

The day started badly when I woke at 8.20am. We leave for school at 8.30am.

I was fortunate in that on a Wednesday my lovely friend takes the Princess to school  but even so. We had ten minutes to get up, look presentable, eat breakfast and I don't like that start to the day. Plus I was hoarse and raspy so couldn't shout my orders which was frustrating, especially as the princess took four minutes alone to put her socks on.

After that, things calmed down nicely. I managed to see a doctor about my tight chest and she confirmed I do indeed have asthma again, following a virus this week. So back onto the inhalers. Never mind, at least I will be able to breathe easily, I've had some moments this week where it's been a struggle and that's not nice.

Then I popped to a lovely lady who does great haircuts for a mere fraction of the price at a salon. She took two inches off my tresses and cut in some long layers and then blowdried it beautifully. I rarely get my hair done so it was a treat. I bounced out of her house and into Waitrose where I got some compliments about my hair. That is always welcome! My hair has changed so much since having the kids, it's drier, hormones have changed its density and texture but today it feels as lovely as it used to.



I am not getting it coloured at the moment as hair is too dry
and therefore I shall soon be grey...sob! But I love the Nigella flicks she gives me.

 Oh... I just noticed the sunlight is on my nose in the above pic and makes it look a bit peculiar. At least it detracts from the sole freckle on my shnoz, so maybe it's a good thing.

Then, ahem, the Prince drove me home

 It was pouring with rain when we got home, but as they say, it's good for the garden. It is NOT, however, good for freshly blowdried hair! But the flowers are looking fabulous.

Is this a fushia or a freesia?
Either way they have always reminded me of Pat Butcher's earrings

This lovely cherry tree book (below) was £2 from Oxfam. I love poetry and so does the Princess. My fave poem is featured too, and yes, purely because it features a gypsy wagon. My vehicle of choice!

Double click and read with delight

And now I must dash to dish up dinner, wash up (we have no dishwasher and currently no washing up liquid - as I just discovered - so that should be interesting) and then get on with some writing.

Feeling Bookish

Well, another Evil Tuesday is out of the way.  Work at the dental surgery was fine although hectic and then I got home and had a freelance writing job to do straight away. No rest for the wicked but despite being ill still, I seemed to manage today rather well so am hopefully on the mend.

I tried to pack both kids into bed at 7pm last night as also had a migraine kicking in, but whilst the Prince was zonked out within minutes, the Princess couldn't settle. This was despite the fact she read pages and pages of her book to me and then I read to her. She was still wide awake hours later and kept coming down to tell me so. By 10pm I was desperate for bed so decided to let her sleep in with me as the husband wasn't due home from work until 2am.

The Princess and I are currently reading the box set of Malory Towers together. I bought the complete set for £5.99 from Oxfam and was delighted because it's exactly the same book covers I had in my youth. In my youth...god I sound like a pensioner. But you know what I mean, the illustrations aren't the updated ones.

So every night, she reads a few pages of her latest book to me (currently Diary of a Wimpy Kid which we saw together at the cinema last week) and then I read a chapter of Malory Towers to her. We are now on the very last one. The Princess thinks she IS Darrell Rivers, the main character, and I think it's really helped with her excellent behaviour at school. I have a lot to thank Enid Blyton for!

I wish I'd gone to a school by the sea!

Before Malory Towers, we read the box set of Enid Blyton's The Naughtiest Girl and then before that it was My Naughty Little Sister books by Dorothy Edwards. I love all of these and read them all when I was young(there I go again).

One of our favourite books in the house is The Tiger Who Came to Tea. I bought this from Helen & Douglas House Hospice for £1.50 and it came with the CD. My siblings and I had it as kids but it probably ended up in a charity shop somewhere. It's such a great book. A very random idea but a story I wish I'd written and I love the illustrations.

I want little Sophie's tights. How cool.

Of course, completely normal for a wild cat to pop in for tea and cake

Onto other things, I am having my hair cut tomorrow. Only a trim but it's in desperate need. This means I can't go to my breastfeeding class which is right next to three fab cherry tree shops. But at least I will no longer have tresses like Worzel Gummidge. Which is a good thing.

Can I post a pic of Worzel Gummidge or is that a copyright issue?!

Here comes the sun (wishful thinking)

Oh today is just such a gross day that the Prince and I decided not to even bother going shopping. I was washing windows at 7am in my dressing gown (how very Dot Cotton) and by 9.30am I simply had no energy to venture out in the wet.

The Prince is asleep and I am writing my blog now so I don't end up having a late night writing. Which is what normally happens.

So what can I do today? I've washed as many windows as I can be bothered to and now this awaits me.

Yes I have ten books to get through. Most of them I have started too, so it gets a little bit stressful. So I have decided to see how many I can read until the end of the year, but one at a time. I've just started the book by Melissa Hill (third from the bottom) and its full of twists and I can't put it down. I love books like that. So I've made myself a huge mug of boiled water (good for the skin and that!) and am cosying down to read it. With a Cherry Bakewell, natch.

The husband is watching Curb Your Enthusiasm, which we Sky Plus. It is hilarious and I love Larry David. I knew the husband wouldn't get in the garden, it's pouring.
The pink wisteria is all coming down now. It's been spectacular and I feel sad that it is all vanishing from the pergola. Having said that, it has carpeted the patio and garden in pink petals, and looks so pretty. It keeps blowing into the house though and is starting to irk me, if I'm honest.



Confetti garden


The Cherry Tree item I would like to showcase today is the below black jersey top from Banana Republic (£2 Sue Ryder). It will look great with jeans and will hopefully be a staple part of my wardrobe.

Not terribly inspiring just hung up but
I do think I will get lots of wear out of it

I love Banana Republic, when I can afford it

 Right, it's time to crack on with the book, while I have peace from the boy. It's weird though, he sleeps for two hours and I actually start to miss him and wait impatiently for him to wake some days, just so I can see him. Such a lovely little boy. He is obsessed with his big sister and the whole house is very quiet until she gets back from school. She is my Pippi Longstocking!

Like a squealing piglet!

 

Childhood books

I get very nostalgic in my old age (36 in September, some days I feel more like 86) and nothing takes me back to my childhood more than the retro Ladybird books I have been collecting from charity shops.

My obsession started four years ago when a friend invited me and the Princess round for a playdate and I came across two old books which reminded me of growing up. The Magic Porridge Pot and The Enormous Turnip.

I will talk more about the books in my next post (and include pics as I bet you will regress too!) but in this post I wanted to celebrate the memories my charity shop books have given me.

I love the way they take me back to my youth. I loved my childhood, I loved the little safe cul-de-sac we lived in, built on the land of a farmhouse in Somerset (and I remember once unearthing a cow tooth which thrilled me. As much as digging up a dinosaur bone would thrill an archaeologist).

Our houses backed onto fields and I had a really happy time with my brother and sister. Actually that's not strictly true, we often fought like cats and dogs but now we all get on like a dream.

Here we are as youngsters (like butter wouldn't melt!)

 

This is my favourite family photo ever (below)

And here are the three of us kids more recently!

My dad converted the loft into a playroom when we were young. We used to climb up the ladder into the attic and I would do my homework, my brother would play with his Hornby train set and my little sister would play with her dolls and Speak 'n' Spell (remember that?!)

Sometimes when we were naughty, my brother and I would race down the ladder and remove it so my sister was stuck up there. Poor mite, she was only five or six at the time.

It's funny how a few charity shop books take me back to those times so easily.

Would love to hear from any of you who remember books from your childhood. I can't ever part with these  ones I have - they are worth so much to me. The Princess loves them and the Prince is already showing an interest.