yellow

A rare opportunity came our way and led to my husband and I spending last weekend alone, without children, in a posh hotel in Geneva.  This is the first night that we've spent without at least one of our children for nearly 8 years.  We did all sorts of things we had forgotten were possible.  We dined on curry after getting tipsy on fizzy wine before going out, we strolled around a flea market without buying a thing, we visited (but failed to understand) a modern art gallery, we drank hot chocolate in a posh Geneva chocolaterie and even managed to sneak in a beer at a pub in the afternoon.

But the highlight of my weekend was simply enjoying Channel 4's Sunday Brunch from the comfort of my bed while sipping a complimentary Nespresso or two.  I know technically I live in a hotel, but it doesn't quite compete somehow.

Anyhoo, yellow was my photographic theme of the week so here are some yellow things we came across as we tramped our way around the city.

spring

For those of you who don't know me, nearly four years ago my husband and I bought what we thought was the house of our dreams.  A big, old, rambling former hotel, it was a fixer-upper.  The roof leaked, the hot water boiler gave out on us during the first six months and half the house had neither heating nor electricity.  We soon discovered the windows let the rain in when the wind blew in a certain direction, which happened to be the direction that always brought rain.  

But something drew us to this old house.  There have been many moments over the past years when I have lost sight of what that something may have been.  These have included moments such as when we had to set the sprinkler up in the garden to have our first shower in a week, due to the inside shower leaking through the hall roof whenever it was used. Moments like the time I phoned the council in tears because for six weeks I had been bathing my children in a baby bath filled from the kettle and a national strike meant that our mains gas couldn't be connected.  Moments like the night the ancient and decrepit swimming pool burst and drained down the hill into the neighbours' garage.

It's nice to be reminded of the things we liked about the house because it is fair to say that this old house has caused us more infighting and stress than anything else we've gone through yet.  Bringing up small people, and doing up the inside of the house so that we have somewhere to do the bringing up of said small people is horribly time and energy consuming.  That's why the small insightful moments, when they come, are delightful. For instance, this week I was reminded how excited we were by the potential that the garden offered us.  

I spent a morning photographing what was going on in the garden and I think it's fair to say that spring is here.  But the best thing is that these signs of spring have not come from any kind of intentional gardening - they are things that have sprung up from what was here already, growing wild.  And they are beautiful.  Taking the time to seek them out has inspired me this week.  If my garden can contain such beautiful snippets without me trying, what can it be capable of showing us when I actually get round to getting it under control?  Maybe this year is the year for that.

Winter Colours

It was such a beautiful afternoon, I made the time to take a short walk (in between ballet lesson drop off and pick up) to record the winter colours in our village.

I should mention that my assistant posed for each and every one of these photos, even though she wasn't always in shot!  

The Year in Books: January

If you have happened to stumble on this little blog, you may have noticed that when I do get round to writing something (an infrequent occurrence I am sorry to say) that most recently it has been about books. If you have delved slightly further into my older posts you may have discovered that at one point in my life I loved to read. But then life kind of took over and I failed to find the time.

Last summer I came across a reading challenge and thought it looked like fun, so I signed up. And to cut a long story short, it seems to have given me back my reading mojo. And I also discovered that when I have a book on the go, I begin to feel a bit more like myself, like the genuine me and I am all the better for that.

Sadly, the reading challenge is having a bit of a break until summer. When I discovered this I panicked. Without some sort of goal would I still manage to make time for books? The answer is probably yes but to keep me from speculating I've decided to join in with The Year in Books over at Circle of Pine Trees, if Laura will be kind enough to have me. This means I will be posting my book choice at the start of each month, and aiming to read it before said month is out.

My January choice is Amy Sackville's Orkney chosen because it is about a couple who met at university honeymooning on one of the Orkney islands. Well, my husband and I met while both working for our university in Orkney and we returned to spend our honeymoon there a few years later. I can't let a good coincidence like that pass me by! I shall be back in February to let you know how I got on.

By the way, that's our new wood burner in the background.  It's been a dream to get one installed for quite some years and so far we are absolutely loving it.

More Challenging Reading

I've decided to launch myself straight into another of Megan's Reading Challenges.  My mum is visiting for a little while, and it's been great fun to discuss the potential books I might read for each category with her. She's a librarian and avid reader herself, and she has always helped me to choose my books, so much so that I often get a little bewildered if I have to choose a book all by myself from the huge selection that's out there.

Again, I've additionally challenged myself to limit myself to what's on my bookshelves at the minute. There are some categories I can't do this for so I'll be treating myself  (on my Kindle most likely!) Chocolat by Joanne Harris will be a reread.  I don't often do these but I'm already looking forward to sampling that lovely book again.

Here are my ideas, though I'm not always good to sticking to a plan, so these may well change as we go along.

5: Read a book that does not have "the," "a" or "an" in the title. — Confinement, Katherine McMahon (368 pages)
10: Read a book that has been featured in Oprah's Book Club. — The Book of Ruth, Jane Hamilton (328 pages)
10: Read a book that takes place in the country where you currently live. — The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery (322 pages) (France)
15: Read an epistolary novel. — The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank (352 pages)
15: Read a book first published in 2013. — Life After Life, Kate Atkinson (480 pages)
15: Read a book with something spooky in the title. — Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror, Chris Priestly (241 pages)
20: Read a book with "air," "water," "earth" or "fire" in the title. — Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay (276 pages)
20: Read a book on which a television series has been based. — Orange is the New Black, Piper Kerman (298 pages)
25: Read a fiction book that has someone’s first and last name in the title. — The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce, (338 pages)
30: Read two books by the same author. — White Nights and Red Bones, Ann Cleeves (412 and 406 pages)
35: Read a fiction and non-fiction book about the same topic. — Chocolat Joanne Harris (382 pages) and

The Chocolate Connoisseur: For Everyone with a Passion for Chocolate, Chloe Doutre-Roussel (224 pages)

This time there is the added incentive that if I am an early finisher, I get to choose a category for the next challenge.  Nothing spurs me on like a reward so I'm already reading every chance I get.  But in addition to this challenge, I'm attempting to knit my daughters a Christmas present, and trying to squeeze in some French lessons.  The hall is half stripped of wallpaper and I'm about to embark on an introductory course to landscape gardening.  My littlest is teething and not sleeping as a consequence.  Time is not something I feel I have to hand at the moment.  But reading is something I love to make time for so we'll see how I go.

I like big books and I cannot lie...

printable bookmarks available from I Should Be Mopping the Floor

That phrase always makes me titter.  I'm not sure why really.  Hmmn. Childish sense of humour maybe?  I'm still giggling out loud about the Agent Zoil joke in Paul which we watched a week ago.  Yup, a childish sense of humour probably explains it.

Anyways, I'm just popping in to say that I've finished the Semi-Charmed Summer 2013 Reading Challenge! Yay, me! In case you are wondering, the final books were:

15: Read a banned book. - The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky (244 pages)
20: Read a book that takes place in a state you have never been in. If you have been to all 50 states, choose a book that takes place in a country you have never been in. Also do the latter option if you are not American. - Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Book Store, Robin Sloan, (304 pages)
25: Read a book with a main character who shares your first name. - Pedigree Mum, Fiona Gibson (400 pages)

And boy, have I enjoyed it!  I honestly never thought I'd finish but it seems that having a goal in mind really spurred me on.  I'm very grateful for Megan at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life for her book challenge and for giving me back my reading mojo.  I am determined not to stop, so I've jumped straight into another book recommended by my dad (The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant).  And all that kindling I did made me realise how nice it is to get straight to the right page, saving me from my more normal three-minute-faff-around-while-I -search-for-my-place-each-and-every-night, so I've printed some lovely bookmarks as a reward to myself. You can have some too if you follow that link up there.

On Reading (and not taking photos...)

Poopity poop. I kind of lost track with the August Break (sorry, Susannah). I took a lot more photos, but some of the categories really stumped me.

I have been reading though and was surprised when I checked up this morning that I'd almost completed the Semi-Charmed Summer 2013 Reading Challenge. Woo hoo! Would you like to know what I've been reading?

5 points: Freebie! Read any book you'd like. - Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (448 pages)
5: Read a book that is less than 150 pages long. - A Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes (150 pages)
10: Read a book with a color in the title. - The Red Queen, Phillipa Gregory (432 pages)
10: Read a book that is not the first in its series. - Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins, (480 pages)
15: Read a book it seems everyone but you has read! - The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (484 pages)
15: Read a banned book.
20: Read a book written by a celebrity. - Is It Just Me?, Miranda Hart (336 pages)
20: Read a non-fiction book that is not a memoir. It can be pure non-fiction or narrative non-fiction. – Attention All Shipping (A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast), Charlie Connelly (373 pages).
20: Read a book that takes place in a state you have never been in. If you have been to all 50 states, choose a book that takes place in a country you have never been in. Also do the latter option if you are not American.
25: Read a book that is at least 400 pages long. Gillespie and I, Jane Harris (624 pages)
25: Read a book with a main character who shares your first name.
30: Read a book written by an author who was born in or died in your birth year. - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer (368 pages)

So, that gives me 140 points and three books to read by the end of the month.  I've started Pedigree Mum by Fiona Gibson which features a main character called Kerry and am thoroughly enjoying my divergence into 'chick lit'!  I've long been a fan of Fiona Gibson's musings in her columns about family life, which I used to read in The Herald of a Sunday.

Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Book Shop by Robin Sloan is set in San Francisco, so that will fit the 'country I've never been to' category.  It's downloaded onto my Kindle already.  (Did I mention that I am currently LOVING my Kindle?  We've not always been friends, but we're getting on well at the minute.)

I don't know what to read for my banned book. I was hoping to read The Great Gatsby but I've unpacked the final box of books from our house move (three years ago) and can't find it.  The Kite Runner is on my shelf, but I saw the film and don't relish the thought of reading it.  I suppose I could change the category for The Hunger Games, but I can't readily think of a book that everyone has read but me.

I won't worry about it at the minute since so many books have practically fallen at my feet to be included in this challenge. For example, I stumbled across Fiona Gibson's book with my name in it from a random non-book related Google search.  And I had planned to read Jonathan Safran Coer's novel, which I'd never heard of until I found it in a charity shop recently, only because it takes place in America.  It was as I was randomly flicking through the bits at the back (not true.  I'm actually stalker like in my search for information about authors...) that I realised he was the same age as me.  Like the character of Chloe in Sarah Addison Allen's The Sugar Queen, I'll trust that the right book will find me when I'm in need of it most.