Water under the bridge

A LOT has happened since this time last year.   Thankfully mostly good.  I've got a job I love at the Library.  Simon's working very hard and his job is going well.  Phoebe passed her entrance exams and is now attending the school she wanted to go to.  And Tom is your normal 6 yr old boy with the usual passions (Lego, Moshi Monsters, Monsuno etc).

I've learned a lot about myself.  Some good, some not so good.  Some emotional stuff, some personal stuff and some physical stuff.  I've cut out alcohol.  I'd been heading that way instinctively.  I'd stopped enjoying having a drink several years ago.  The taste didn't do it for me anymore, and the effect was to disrupt my sleep and wake me up with a dry mouth - even on one glass of wine... Whether it was the mix of stress and cortisone (stress hormone), or just my middle aged female hormones messing me around I don't know, but since I consciously gave up alcohol at the start of the year I've been feeling more centred, grounded, happier.  And sleeping better as well.

I've cut down on dairy.  Swopped milk on my breakfast cereal for soya milk.  Cut out cheese.  Cut down on yogurt.  This seems to have helped reduce my hot flushes immensely.  Or is it the improved stress levels now our employment issues are resolved?

In all the bother of the personal issues which resulted from the business going down last year, it transpired that I have high blood pressure.  The medication I'm now taking is working well and I'm feeling better, although the hbp was symptom free before diagnosis, so explain that!

Our dog is older and it shows.  He's smelly, as in dog smell and also fartier (is that a word?).  I've been telling other dog walkers that he's nine and a half for the last six months or so, so he must, by now, be ten.  We keep him light to avoid any flare up with his back problem, which is 3 yrs ago this Autumn.  Also if he's lighter it's easier on the joints, and he does seem creakier in himself, when he turns and turns to lie down, he's obviously stiff in places, morning and night.  I'll start giving him cod-liver oil capsules again (dog breath plus fish breath, ugh!).

Autumnal Berries in Ardington

So I'm still reading 'Blaming' by Elizabeth Taylor - will finish it although I don't care for any of the characters, her writing is good - easy and and well aimed, but I'll be glad to get to the end.  

I've actually read another book in the meantime.  'The Paperchase' by Louis Theroux.  This was a good read, although the denouement was actually a bit too clever and didn't satisfy entirely.  

I've finally started reading 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' by DH Lawrence.  Nothing happened yet, two chapters in, but it's obvious what it's building up to, and his descriptive passages of the town and the setting up of the characters and the scene are expertly done, and again, not at all heavy going. Will reserve judgement on the actual 'nitty gritty' so to speak, as haven't got that far yet!

I don't usually read two or more books at once, but the Elizabeth Taylor has me at once annoyed and held captive - I don't really care for the characters at all, but I want to see how it turns out.... which probably says more about me than the book.

On that I'm off to bed.

ttfn.

Kat

For the record...

I finished reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel sometime mid-August.  Phew.  It was a slog, 650 pages, only reading at bedtime, and when tired, so a few pages a night.  But it was worth it.  Absolutely deserves all the praise heaped upon it by so many.  I'll give it 10/10, but will wait a while before having a go at her next one, 'Bring up the bodies'...

Since then I've read 'On Chesil Beach' by Ian McEwan.  What a contrast! both in subject matter, and size.  It's a novella, and had been tempting me, and it was like a cream puff - rich and flaky, and a little guilt-ridden. Actually, a really good read, and I'm now inclined to try more of his work.  10/10.

I've also read 'The Case of the Missing Books' by Ian Sansom.  Very silly story about a Jewish librarian who ends up driving a mobile library in Ireland trying to find the missing books.  I'm looking forward to the next in the series... light-hearted and entertaining, but not one that's going to change the way you think about things.  7/10.

oops, image copied from Amazon, hope I'm not infringing any copyrights...

I'm now reading 'Blaming' by Elizabeth Taylor (the English novelist, not actress).  I heard her recommended on radio 4 (of course) and found a pristine copy of this book in a charity shop, so picked it up and have now started to read it.   It's well written and I do want to know what happens to the characters, but am only 50 pages in, so won't give review as yet.

Right, that's my say for tonight.  Next chapter of above, here I come!

ttfn. Keep it sweet, Kat

Back to life...

...  back to reality (Soul2Soul, 1980-something, or early 1990's)....

anyhoo.

Here we are again.  Routine changed slightly now that Phoebe's at secondary school - she gets the bus to Abingdon, so needs to be out of the house by 7.30am.  At the moment we're walking with her to the bus-stop.  When I say 'we're' I mean Roly and me.  Sometimes Simon takes her and Tom came once, but it's a rush when I get back to get Tom ready and off in time...

I bought a new car.  Just like that! Well. OK. Not 'just' like that.  It was obvious that the Honda CRV was starting to need a little attention here and there - it was 10 yrs old and coming up to 140K on the clock.  And it drank petrol like nobody's business.  I was spending £50 per week on petrol, and usually a £10 top up here and there.  Silly really looking back...

So I am now the proud owner of a Skoda Roomster 1.2ltr engine (the CRV was 1.8ltr) 2010 registration and only 20K on the clock.  It's half at much to tax, half as much to insure and first tank full cost £64 but lasted 2 weeks....  So I'm jolly pleased!!!

Had an odd dream last night.  The bit I remembered this morning was Simon had been to hospital with suspected kidney problems, only to be turned away.  However, problems persisted so we went back, but I had to explain to them that he was parking the car, and could I take his place in the queue/waiting room.. Whilst waiting for him to arrive, the rest of the waiting room became the tiered seating of a basketball arena and the patients waiting there became a 'flashmob'.  They all stood up and were just about to do their thing when an authority figure entered the room and they all sat down. Then I woke up and I'll never know what was going to happen...

Had to attend a lower school meeting at Tom's school this evening, on 'Read Write Inc.' to have the synthetic phonics system explained to us.  Would have been better if this had happened last year, but better late than never I suppose...I'll have a look at the website and try to catch up. Apparantly the letter 'm' isn't called  'em' but just the sound it makes as in 'mmmmmm'.  'Muh' is also wrong as that includes the 'uh' sound.  It'll take some getting used to I suppose.

Here's a photo of the wooden rabbit on Folly Hill (really!) when I took Roly round this morning.

Here's Roly and the Rabbit!

On that note I'll end it.  Synthetic phonics to research don't you know!

TTFN.  Kat. :)