Mini!

Having found some pictures of my previous mini and admiring how shiny it looked, here's a scan - having messed around with the Picassa options!

Curry (musings on the back of a takeaway menu)

Come, don't hurry or harry, for hurray, it's Curry night!
Karma is yours, in creamy Korma
But first the pappadums, prickly pickles and pakora

Selecting the sides, too much dhal makes it dull
Bhaji: Brindal or Bhindi, Okra or Aubergine?
Rice now, or nan, not too much now for I
may slump into sleep, pilau for my pillow,
Pad ghum or party?

(pad ghum: Bengali expression describing carb-induced sleepiness after too much rice!)


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2013: the first post is away!

I was surprised when looking back through last years' posts that there were only just over ten, I thought I'd been more regular in my witterings. I suspect there's posts I meant to write but didn't get round to doing so.

This first post probably falls into that category. Back in September I took up crochet. Since then I've been crocheting my little socks off (perhaps I need to make a new pair?)

My first creations were the little monster Amigurumi which I'd mentioned in a previous post.



Once I had the hang of following a pattern (the secret is to keep counting), I made a mascot for Boo's first Netball match:




Followed by some Hello Kitty Witches. These took me longer than Halloween but the girls liked them nonetheless.

By now, it was time to start making Christmas decorations, I'm not sure why these pictures have come out smaller.







Next mission is a blanket for my Nan's 93rd birthday. It's made up of 9 granny squares sewn together. I've nearly finished the second one, fortunately I've managed to speed up so it may yet happen by mid-February...

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Game of Thrones

So I've just finished the fifth book of George RR Martin's "Game of Thrones". There are now so many different viewpoints that you can go a whole book without a particular character appearing. I've also had one scene appear from two different narratives. It jarred at first because some of the aspects which, at the time of the scene, were unknown to two characters who appeared in that same scene when narrated from a different characters perspective. I probably need to re-read the two accounts side-by-side! Fortunately this doesn't happen too often otherwise I'd have to accuse Mr Martin of padding!

I am apparently going to have to wait a while before book six appears. With long epic series there is always the concern that the author will die before the book is complete. I might start going to medieval re-enactments in order to start researching ready to line myself up as a ghost-writer! Of course I'm being flippant :)

In all seriousness, the series falls squarely into medieval fantasy. It is clearly influenced by accounts of medieval Britain and the various plots, sub-plots, family feuds and invasions. The magic systems are more subtle than in other fantasy series. There are hints at them and hints at lost magic.

Religion plays a fairly key part in the series. It's a little confusing though. For the first book or two there are two religions: the old gods and the seven (probably inspired by shift in religions from paganism to Christianity. The Red god is introduced quite suddenly. Other religions are introduced as we are introduced to the people who follow them but Rhllor and the "red religion" appears from nowhere. Again, it is a part of the series I should re-read.

I say religion plays a key part but I don't think there is a single religious festival within the series. When I think back to Wheel of Time and how it opens with Beltane/ Beltain, this seems to be a glaring omission. It serves to mark the passage of time.

Overall, this is an impressive achievement and one I shall enjoy re-reading.


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Hooked on Crochet!

I've been learning to crochet. Inspiration struck when I bought Mr S a Star Wars craft book. Among the patchwork quilt made from Star Wars t-shirts and the Hans Solo in "soaponite" there was an R2D2 beanie hat. Not knowing the least bit about how to crochet but liking how it looks, I invested in a couple of books, dug out a crochet hook from the bottom of the sewing basket and a ball of wool.
Here are my first attempts.








I've found YouTube indispensable as I can see how it's meant to take shape and look and here are my latest attempts: squares for little blankets for the girls' bears.




And the finished blankets. They were originally going to be 9 squares but the girls thought that an extra 3 squares would guard against chilly toes.




Snuggly bears! The sewing together wasn't too bad either. Not sure how long a full sized blanket would take.
These are going to be my next project:
http://blog.bernat.com/2012/09/13/guest-blogger-craft-is-cools-allison-hoffman-monster-
http://craftyiscool.blogspot.co.uk/
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The Strangers Child - Alan Hollinghurst

I've just finished this. It was an impulse buy from the Amazon Kindle Store. Good but not great. One you want to continue to read to get it finished but like "In the Line of Beauty" no great affinity or sympathy with any of the characters.

It spans about a century and is divided into five parts. At first I thought it was going to be like Atonement but the first part is perhaps more akin to Maurice: gauche, upper middle class family, all of whom fall for the upper class boy. Set before the first world war.

Part two skips to the 1920s and the eve of the General Strike.
The next two parts are set in the late sixties and seventies respectively, topped off with a jump forwards to 2008ish.

It paints a picture of Britain during those times but the biographer's pursuit of the truth about his subject never quite takes off. It hints at the history of homosexuality and the law but doesn't quite get there. The speculation in later years over whether one of the characters had affairs with his male friends is of limited interest to the reader because we have already been told about them.

Somehow the book never quite takes off, I don't particularly warm to any of the characters and while I enjoy the gradually changing Britain he depicts, I don't take any great message away from the book.

Worth a read but not the best book I will read this year.

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The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

This was a Christmas present (thanks R!) but it's taken a while to sit down and read it. Overall, I would say it was worth waiting for. A fairly easy read, it follows a family in California from the perspective of the younger child, who is just turning 9 when the book starts.

The book opens with the narrator's and her mum has made a lemon cake. When the narrator bites into the cake she tastes sorrow [what else] to the extent that she can not eat the cake her mother has prepared.

It soon transpires that the narrator can taste the emotions of whoever it is who has prepared the food.

Ultimately this is an account of an all-American family and how it tenuously hangs together through the Son's brilliance and benign madness, the mother's affair with a co-worker at the carpentry co-operative where she takes up work and the constant un-changing father. There is also a slightly senile grandmother living some distance away and who repeatedly sends furniture/ the contents of her house to them.

The narrator's peculiar gift wavers between being at the forefront of the story and sometimes more of sub-point. At one point, the story is more about the son but I don't recall that we ever see the narrator taste anything he has prepared.


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Fever of the Bone, Val McDermid

This is the first of Val McDermid's books which I have read. A few years ago we watched the Wire in the Blood series and grew to like it it. I prefer my crime dramas to be gripping/ edge of the seat thrillers rather than something which serves as wallpaper viewing - i.e. it's there but it doesn't really engage brain.

Having seen several episodes and therefore having an appreciation of the characters, it didn't matter that I was not starting with the first book. I won't give too much away but the book follows a series of murders, some in Bradfield and a couple in neighbouring constabularies. The victims meet their killer in Internet chatrooms and lured to their end.

The book hints at various characters' past and refers back to previous stories. Enough information is given that you don't need to have read the books in sequence but enough is kept back that you want to go and read the previous books.

My only criticism is that the killer's ability to track down the targeted individuals is not explained. The killer is able to identify the victims' parents and this is accounted for in the narrative but there seems to be a missing connection in how the killer then pin points the specific victims while in the chatrooms. There is a geographic explanation but no more.

Other than that, and if anyone can point to the time within the story when that particular conundrum is breached, please let me know!


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Skagboys

So I have just finished Skagboys by Irvine Welsh. It's a precursor, I'm not sure I'd call it a prequel, to Trainspotting. I haven't read Trainspotting for years, probably not since before the film came out but it follows a similar narrative style and uses a Scottish dialect,although there was some language which reminded me of a Clockwork Orange. The characters all tend to tell their story which means that the jump from different characters between chapters can take a bit of working out to determine who is narrating the chapter.

One review I read commented on Welsh's tendency to to rework the same characters and the same story.

It charts Renton's descent into heroin addiction, from promising student at Aberdeen accompanying his father on Miner's Strike rallies, to it taking over his entire life, to the extent that he ditches his girlfriend to spend more time with it.

Familiar characters such as Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie are also introduced. Other characters are also brought into the picture and their lives all connect, all seemingly to ultimately connect to the two individuals who work in the pharmaceutical factory which is the source of all their woe.

Although the book is set within Thatcher's 80s, the story never quite goes so far to fully pin the blame for Scotland's heroin epidemic on Thatcherite Britain and the closing of the docks, mines and other sources of employment for the working class man. It's there as a theme and touched upon but it doesn't go so far as to say it outright.

Similarly, the story never quite deals with the question of individual responsibility. No-one forced Renton to have his first hit and his spiral into addiction takes time, there's a significant period during which he is not an addict.

Towards the end of the book a few of the characters are in Rehab and one of the people running the rehab programme observes that so long as he doesn't catch aids or overdose, Renton will grow out of his addiction. This basically indicates that Renton is an angry young man full of angst and hormones and he'll get over it all.

Sex, but not love, feature strongly in the book. It's a fine line Welsh treads and perhaps strays over, between gratuitous and simply reflecting that it is regarded as both commodity and means of escapism as much as it becomes a trap. I don't know that I would call the book misogynous but the female characters are really bit players, becoming victims of their own circumstances rather than taking control of their own destiny. Perhaps that is true of the male characters too.

So overall, worth a read. I plan to re-read it, once I've finished Trainspotting.

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Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Tuesday was a rainy day so an ideal day for hiding indoors, reading and playing on the Wii. I recently downloaded Irvine Welsh's "Skagboys" - precursor to Trainspotting so I've started that.

After lunch we headed onto the beach for a stroll, rewarded by views of a rainbow. The picture below shows the Harbour later in the day.




The evening saw a trip to the local curry house, girls enjoyed an egg curry, accompanied by the school bears :)

Wednesday was much more sunny so we decided to take the steam train to Dunster. On Wednesday there is a coach connection from the station to he castle so we took advantage of this. We arrived in Dunster just in time for lunch. There is no shortage of tea rooms and we headed for the Chocolatieria for sandwiches, milkshakes and hot chocolate. My hot chocolate comprised warm milk and a chunk of chocolate to mix in - delicious!




We spent the afternoon exploring the castle accompanied by Boo reading the guide, and enjoying the outdoor climbing and play area.

Thursday was another rainy day so we headed to Quince Honey Farm. The girls enjoyed the indoor play area there. Once we dragged them away, we could look around the beekeeping area: very impressive collection of hives which you could look at without any risk of agitating the bees of getting stung! Definitely worth a visit.


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Fossil Hunting

I mentioned in my earlier post that the tide goes out a long way to reveal rocks to clamber, pools to splash in and seaweed to soften your fall when you slip!

The Watchett area is known for its fossils, and we have been keeping eyes peeled looking out for ammonites. Boo and I went clambering over the rocks on our first day here and found a couple. On our next day all four of us went clambering, this time with shoes on: my toe shoes (aka Vibram fivefingers) have been v handy for climbing!

Our previous day's exploring meant we knew which types of rock to look on for the ammonites. We found lots of great examples:





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Our Jubilee Holiday

So here we are in Watchett on the North Somerset coast. After a very busy Friday helping out at the school Jubilee celebrations and packing, we drove down to the South West with much of the rest of the country.

Despite all the traffic, we still arrived on schedule, just in time for high tide and lots of clambering on the rocks.

Our cottage is upside down with the bedrooms on the ground floor and living area on the first floor so we can enjoy the views from the decking.




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Finished!

Since October, I have studying with the Open university, the Arts Past and Present (aka AA100). Yesterday saw the submission of my final assignment: a 2000 word essay on sacred space, tourism and pilgrimage. I'm now feeling a little Demob happy to say the least!

I've looked at OU courses now and again over the past few years and they came up again when I was looking at creative writing courses and distance learning. Anyway, on return from our holiday to the US, I decided to have another look and then book! The recommendation from the OU is to study a level 1 course first. Although I have studied at university level before, I decided to follow their recommendation and signed up for AA100.

I'm glad I did as its got me used to the OU way of doing things and the use of online and electronic resources. My previous degree was in the early 90s when the most technologically advanced students has electronic typewriters, most of which are probably now museum pieces! Referencing for those essays involved underlining all the cases and I don't think we ever had a word count to stick to.

AA100 has such a broad range of topics covered as well and you study subjects you might not otherwise consider reading about. We have covered the following:

Cleopatra
Cezanne
Faraday
The Dalai Llama
Stalin

Poetry
Shostakovich
The Reformation
Pugin's Architecture
Benin Bronzes
Cultural resources and exemptions

General overview of philosophy including philosophical conceptions of leisure
The Experience Machine
Sacred space and pilgrimage
Roman concepts of leisure
The seaside

There's been more of a social element than I was expecting. It didn't
really cross my mind when I signed up that 100s of other people would also be studying this course, from all walks of life and all stages of life. The online world has made this very accessible, augmented by tutorials, a day school and a trip to the British Museum organised by my tutor.

So with four months until my next course, A215 (creative writing), I can read all those books which have been piling up, finish Lego Batman and start Lego Harry Potter, oh and I expect there will be a holiday or two...

What's interesting looking back over this blog is that I've not blogged about the course that much. I suspect that the fear of plagiarism has reined me in. That and the fact that the blog would probably have ended up being a page of popplets...




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Benin Bronzes

So, this weekend saw us take a trip to the British Museum. This was to tie in with a trip which my OU tutor had organised to see the Benin Bronzes: the topic of the current assignment.

I've saved the 2012-02-11">photos in an online album which can be found here.

As is clear from the first few shots, I had mixed success to start with - trying to fiddle about with camera settings to get shots in focus, I'd have been better off using iPhone! Got there in the end...

We saw two styles of bronze: the plaques which went in the Oba's palace and the figures. The plaques were a form of decoration and when the British invaded, he was having his palace renovated/ decorated which is why the plaques were all found heaped in a room by the invaders. There are various designs on the plaques: some which record battles and successes in battle of the Oba and some which depict the interaction between Benin and the Portugese in the 15th/16th Century. It is quite clear from the style of dress and facial hair which figures are the Portugese.

Other points of note from the plaques: there were over 50, how many would have been in the palace? Probably more. Important people are larger in the plaques. There were one or two plaques which seem to depict priests providing offerings. Many plaques had a round pattern in the four corners, depicting what: the sun? Since posting this, I have re-read chapter 2 and the readings from O.J. Eboreime at the Horniman museum. These describe them as: "‘the sun never misses a day’ and water leaf motifs".

One of the most striking figure-heads was of the Oba's mother. She, apparently, went into battle with the Oba and with her own army. The head looked much more like it was a portrait of a real person than a stylized head, which is how many of the other figureheads looked. Heads and hands were important to the Bini. It was thought that all of a person's power (soul?) was in their head which is why bronzes of heads were made. As well as the scarification marks above the eyebrows, the central rectangular marks were made to indicate wisdom. These were originally outlined in iron.

There was also a "hand altar," a round, ornate cylinders. It was not clear whether a cast of a hand was intended to be placed in the top of this.
One of the other figures showed the Oba holding leopards and a type of river fish. This was to demonstrate his power, the Bini were apparently fearful/ in awe of water: they saw it as another kingdom.

There were figures of leopards: these were also quite stylized - rather like cats but simply with big canine teeth. One of the cats was also designed to be used as a water carrier. There was also a big cockerel - I wasn't sure whether these would have been indigenous animals or whether these would have been brought from Portugal.

As well as the bronzes, we saw examples of the ivory work, particularly the spice-cellars. The designs demonstrate that they were made for export, perhaps carrying the pepper which was a key export from that region.

A trip to the Horniman museum would also be beneficial, it depends whether I can fit it in between now and the first Friday in March...

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The four horsemen of the Apipplypse

This evening while getting read for bed, Pip asked "when will it end?"

I replied: "Tuesday."

Pip: "Tuesday."

Me: "yes, you've five more days of nursery school and then it's the end of term"

Pip: "No, when will the world end?"

Me: "err, I'm not sure, I think it's infinite."

Pip: "what's infinite?"

Me: "never ending."

Pip seemed slightly dismayed by this, I went on to say "well let's hope it's not before Christmas otherwise where will Father Christmas deliver his presents?"

And then, in the words of Zebedee, it was time for bed.

An anthology of poems

According to Paul Muldoon in the Faber Book of Beasts, anthologists tend towards the despotic. As part of the section on poetry in the AA100 textbook on tradition and dissent, we are asked to compile our own anthology from the poems set out in the Faber book of beasts. Here's mine.

1. The Butterfly by Joseph Brodsky

A poem about the ephemeral existence of a butterfly. 14 verses about the day in the life of a butterfly - the very hungry caterpillar for grown ups?

2. Jabberwocky - Lewis Carroll

The Gruffalo's great-grandfather. Pure nonsense verse at its best.

3. Ode on the death of a favourite cat, drowned in a tub of gold fishes - Thomas Gray

A cautionary tale - "Not all that tempts your wandering eyes and heedless hearts, is lawful prize; nor all that glisters, gold". The cat in this poem uses all her nine lives in an attempt to catch the goldfish. Thankfully my cats were more successful in their goldfish hunting adventure.

4. Of the Pythagorean Philosophy - John Dryden/ Ovid's Metamorphoses

I remember reading about the mythical Phoenix and its rise from the ashes. Probably over twenty years ago. Long before it was reborn as Dumbledore's bird.

5. An Otter - Ted Hughes

This caught my eye as I was skimming through the anthology. The description of the Otter as neither "fish nor beast" evokes a wonderful image of the Otter as it swims and wallops in an attempt to escape from the hunt. I'll let you read it and find out whether he does.

6. Our little kinsmen - Emily Dickinson

A poem about worms after the rain, at least it is until the third verse.

7. The Owl and the Pussycat - Edward Lear

More nonsense, never failing to charm

8. The Song of the Jellicles - TS Eliot

Somehow this appeals more when reading the printed word than when watching Lloyd-Webber's cats.

9. The Tyger - William Blake

William Blake addressing the Tyger, pondering on who made the Tyger. Was it the same hand as made the Lamb?

So that's nine, happy to receive suggestions for a tenth.

Why do stars have points?

This was Pip's question to me at bedtime this evening. Twinkle Twinkle is a regular feature of the bedtime routine and clearly set of a train of thought in the MOP (Mind of a Pip). Actually her question was:

"why can't we see the points"

"the points of the stars in the sky?"

"yes"

I thought for a moment as it was such a fabulous question. I explained that stars when we Draw them have points as the stars that we draw are representations of real stars. "Real stars are actually mini suns" I said. I said that the reason why we draw them with points is so that people recognise them as stars, the stars that we actually draw are not real stars but symbols.

She seemed happy with this explanation. Although as Mr S pointed out, the reason we draw them with points is to represent the twinkling. Whoops missed that bit.

Race times

A Duathlon wouldn't be complete without some post race stats - hopefully blogger won't mangle the layout...

2011. 2010. 2009

Run 10K. 56min 56s. 57min58s. 49min 7s (9K)
Pace/K 5.7. 5.8. 5.45

Cycle 20K. 1hr 12min. 1hr. 1hr 20min
Pace/K 3.6. 3. 4

Run 5K. 30min 53s. 32min 49s. 31min 37s
Pace/K 6.2. 6.6. 6.3

So my run times are faster than last year (marginally) but my cycle time was slower. Perhaps unsurprisingly as I hadn't done any focussed cycle training. Additionally conditions were different today - v windy and it rained during the second lap which probably resulted in me slowing up a bit.




Interestingly, I ran in a brand new pair of trainers - you see them in all their turquoise glory in the picture above. In the rush to get the girls over to a friend's (Mr S was away at a conference) and getting the bike on the back, I managed to leave my trainers at home. I had a pair of other shoes to drive in, you see. I realised as soon as I got to Richmond Park, when it was too late to go home and collect them. Initially I was just going to run round in the shoes I'd driven in but as I walked up to the racking area for the bikes, I noticed a stall selling trainers. One pair of trainers later and I was ready to go. It's not ideal but I've been meaning to buy a new pair of trainers since the half marathon in March.

So, a slower cycle ride this year, marginally faster runs and proper transitions - I rant between the sections rather than ambling. Slower ride was partly a reflection of the conditions but also that old chestnut, my lack of dedicated cycle training. For next year, and yes there will be a next year, I need to make my Sunday morning runs a Sunday morning run-cycle.

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Beat the Heat: playing catch up

Afraid to say that I have neglected the blog over the past couple of weeks so playing catch up on the last two weeks and then I will write a round up on Sunday evening.

1. What have you achieved towards your goals this week?

Past couple of weeks have seen usual mixture of circuit training, running (did a hill session with a few friends from work with Sweatshop running club) which was good. Went out on the bike as well - with Pip on back to sing along as I cycle.

2. What have you done to make yourself feel fabulous?

Had a cultural evening at the weekend and went to see Faustus at the Globe, very enjoyable. As I'm playing catch up, the previous weekend saw us in Amsterdam with the girls - lovely weekend had by all!

3. This is week 9 and the final week of the challenge! Is there anything you want to really push to achieve now?

Duathlon day on Sunday, will report back after the event!

4. How have you felt through the challenge? Has anything been more difficult than you thought? Anything easier?

I haven't done as much cycling as I would have liked, I will be relying on knowing the course and general fitness to get me round. I think I'm probably fitter than when I did the Duathlon last year. 10k doesn't feel like a long way to run for a start.

5. Would you rather be attacked by 20 duck sized horses or 20 horse sized ducks?

20 duck sized horses every time. The idea of even one horse sized duck terrifies me.


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Beat the Heat: Week 6

1. What have you done to help you achieve your goals?

Last week was an adjustment back to the working routine and timezone. I completed a session of circuits courtesy of Jillian Michaels, a session at the gym using my new shoes (Vibram five fingers) and a 10k run on Saturday morning.

2. What have you done to make you feel fabulous?

Going out for the run. I'd run out of contact lenses and was thinking about ditching run on the grounds of not wanting to run in my glasses. I decided that was a feeble excuse for not going running and went out. I was pleased a did.

3. If your house was on fire, and you could grab ONE thing (outside of people and your computer/laptop, they are all out) what would it be?

I think I'd be too busy worrying about getting out safely to grab anything. We had a fire alarm go off in our hotel when we were on holiday and all we took were keys to the car and hotel room, our passports and cardigans.

4. Tell us about your blog. Treat it like a book, what’s happened so far?

We were given a domain name as a wedding present. I never quite got to grips with the uploading etc although had great fun designing and planning it. Around the same time we discovered Blogger and this discovery coincided with our six month sojourn in Philadelphia.

There's not huge amounts from our Philly adventures looking back, it saw something of a revival when I was on maternity leave a second time and DH was in Mexico for five weeks. It's great fun looking back, I have used it as a record of various running events I've taken part in, and I've tried to revive it periodically. This is why doing this challenge has been great as it's provided an opportunity for revival!

I use Blogpress on the iPad which makes it easier to blog on the move, another means of keeping this up regularly.

5. Fun Question: Tell an embarrassing story about yourself. No dodging.

Dodging is an apt phrase. About five or six years ago, the Garfield Movie came out. I can't remember what we were going to see but there was a giant inflatable Garfield in our cinema foyer. I've always been a big Garfield fan so clearly had to run over to the Garfield and give him a big hug. He was quite bouncy and the force of my hug saw him rocking like a giant weeble and me laughing feebly!


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