Monthly Round Up (April '09)

Golly gosh ... how did April whizz by that fast? :-O Pull up a chair - I have loads about which to bore you yakker on.

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I did something new this month. For the first time ever - in my whole life - I bought a lawnmower. Really, of course, that is man's work, but since I had neither man nor lawnmower, I had to acquire the latter and assemble it myself. I don't think it's possible to acquire the former in a box, take it home, and assemble yourself with a screwdriver and some allen keys?

It was early on in my blogging life that I first admitted my hatred of lawn-mowing, but that garden was a LOT bigger, and so was the mower. My new dinky mower is altogether less of a weight to push around. Our garden at this house is approximately the size of half a postage stamp. Those two facts make the job less of a chore and more of a pleasure.

Now I have started to do 'something' in the garden, I should really also start to think about adding some pots, a border or two, and moving the washing line so the shed doesn't stop it whirligigging. Hmmm, maybe I'll think about it a bit more before I actually do anything? I don't want to strain myself, do I?

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No.2's 2008/09 football season is almost at an end now; there are no more League games to be played. Not that this is a 'real' league anyway, the Government insisting they are too young to be allowed to play in a competitive league. But at the end of the season, there are usually some tournaments, and last weekend saw the first of those this year.

No.2's team did really well, finishing joint runners up in their age group - this is the medal he received:

Guess with which other team they were joint runners up? Remember my post of last year on the whole saga of the ex Assistant Coach going to coach another team, and taking players with him? Yep ... they were the fellow joint runners up. Although they ended up with the same number of points overall, the two teams did have to play one another. No.2's team won it - by a single goal to nil. Needless to say, No.2 and his teammates were all very pleased about that, and their coach told me she'd been grinning ever since.

Speaking of No.2 and his sporting urges: He has just started to attend cricket coaching at a local club. He knew precisely zilch about the sport before he first went, and is enjoying the sessions enormously. My dad, had he been alive would have been SO proud; cricket being his absolute favourite sport, and one which he played for many years. He loved cricket so much that after he was a bit too old to play anymore, he trained to become a cricket coach for kids and coached them for a few years; and he and his friend Mr P were the groundsmen at their club. It was lovely to be at a cricket ground again - albeit one to which I've never been before. I spent many a summer's afternoon at cricket grounds as I was growing up ... I guess it felt a bit like coming home.

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Do you remember me saying, when we moved in here, that there was a chap living next door who played classical music soon after we got here? Over the past 8 months that we've been here, we've exchanged pleasantries, etc. At Christmas we got chatting out in the car park about 'stuff' and he was telling me that he is divorced, but still on good terms with his ex-wife (in fact he'd just spent Christmas with her and their child(ren). He's always warm and friendly and chats to the children too.

Fast forward a bit and one evening this month he sent me a text message inviting me round "for a glass of wine". My phone was under a pile of paperwork on the kitchen table, and I didn't see the message until I went to bed soon after 11pm. I should point out here that he is the 'organiser' of the general residents' thingy here and has a list of our phone numbers, mobile numbers, email addresses, etc. In fact we each have a copy in case we need to contact someone in any kind of emergency. The next morning I sent a text back saying I was terribly sorry but I hadn't got the message until very late and that I apologised for not answering.

The next evening the phone went. Guess who? Would I like to go round "for a glass of wine"? As it happened, I had a friend coming round that evening, so couldn't go, but Dear Reader ... the panic! I'm sure he is just being friendly, at least I hope he is, because I absolutely do not want to be anything other than neighbourly-friendly with him. *blush* He's very nice, but I'd feel a whole lot better if he'd just said 'pop in for a coffee' or something.

Please tell me I'm worrying about nothing!

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Many of you will have seen the stunning crocheting that goes on at Attic24 by the very talented Lucy. As the more observant of you may have noted, crochet isn't my 'thing'. I have tried, and there's no doubt I am improving, but it's not something which comes naturally to me. Nevertheless, I wanted to give her crocheted Jar Jackets a try. In the kitchen we keep an old jam jar full of pens and pencils:

The colours in that room are green, yellow and cream, so I went and rummaged through the old stash, and found some (admittedly grotty) yarn. A bit later, I had myself one of these:

Which looks better than a plain jam jar, doesn't it? No.1 was very impressed and announced it a 'funky pen pot'. No.2 would like me to do him a red and white one for his bedroom (which is a shrine to his love for Liverpool FC). It's not as nice as any of Lucy's but I think that's because it's not as colourful as any of Lucy's. I need to be less constrained with colour!

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Speaking of crochet, I found some bargain yarn at Hobbycraft over Easter: Sirdar's Just Soya was on a 'Sale' shelf at £1.49 a ball. I bought 4, with a view to trying something crochety:

Apologies for fuzzy photo

Also on sale at Hobbycraft that day, A4 sheets of felt for 27 pence each. At that price, I nabbed a few:

I'll use them as backing for appliqué pictures, or other appliqué work.

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I had a birthday during the second half of April. Thank you to all the friends and family who helped make it a special day and gave me some very lovely gifts and cards - xx. I made myself a little birthday '09 highlights collage (this is purely for me, so I always remember, and if I put it here, it will automatically upload to a blog book. Please forgive the self-indulgence):

That birthday will forever be remembered as 'the one with the tummy bug'. Although as a way to lose 4lbs in 24 hours, and half a stone so far, it was a corker. Apologies for not getting round to read and comment on as many blogs as usual this last week - I was kind of indisposed.

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Right, I'd better stop now, or you'll get bedsores from spending so long in one position. I'll end the post with a question No.2 asked me the other day - I'd be interested in your thoughts:

No.2: Muuu-um?

Me: Yes, lovely?

No.2: If girls had a willy, do you think they'd play with it all the time like boys do?

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TV for Kids

Do your smalls, if you have them, watch much TV? Mine watch less than they used to - largely because of the arrival in our home of pootas, Nintendo DS's, the Playstation and the Wii. No.1 has a fully-fledged addiction to the interweb (can't think from where she inherited that ;-) ) and her advancing age is reflected in the fact that she now enjoys watching such things as 'Friends' and 'The Vicar of Dibley' rather than kids' tv. (Which is your favourite 'Friend'? No.1 likes Joey because he's handsome - that's my girl! - and Phoebe because she's bonkers.)

No.2, however, does still watch the kids TV channels - largely CBBC and CITV. Just the other morning I joined him to watch an episode of 'Chuckle Vision' featuring The Chuckle Brothers. I doubt very much whether these buffoons are known to anyone further afield than the shores of the UK. For those of you unfamiliar with this pair, they are basically a couple of lovable idiots who regularly misunderstand and generally make a mess of the various situations in life in which they find themselves. If you're under 10, it's probably quite funny.

When I was a kiddywink, there wasn't as much TV specially for kids as there is now. I can remember Crackerjack! on Fridays at 4.55 ("It's Friday, it's five to five ... it's Crackerjack!") How many kids of today would be happy going home with a Crackerjack pencil?! I loved the teatime shows like The Clangers, Hector's House, and Magic Roundabout. There was Blue Peter of course - Blue Peter has been around for as long as I can remember. Valerie Singleton, Peter Purves and John Noakes were the presenters of my youth. What Val couldn't do with an old washing up liquid bottle, some pipe cleaners, and a roll of sticky-backed-plastic wasn't worth knowing.

I got all enthusiastic about this post and decided I'd make a nice collage of the childhood TV programmes I remember, but I got a bit carried away with remembering:

1. Camberwick Green, Roobarb & Custard, The Doubledeckers, Captain Pugwash
2. Hector's House, Blue Peter, Thunderbirds, Flipper
3. Take Hart, Crystal Tipps & Alastair, Worzel Gummidge
4. The Clangers, Play School (Humpty and Jemima), Skippy
5. Mr Benn, Tiswas, Wacky Races,
6. The Wombles, Magpie, Mary Mungo & Midge, The Magic Roundabout

When this gets edited into a blog book, I'm going to turn that collage into a whole page photo!

Saturday morning TV was quite good - were you a 'Multi-Coloured Swapshop/Saturday Superstore' person or a 'Tiswas' person? I used to watch both - flicking between the channels. Of course there were no remote controls back then, so one had to actually get up and WALK over to the TV, if you had a tv at all.

When I was very little we didn't have a tv, and I well remember 'Listen With Mother' on the radio. 'Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin ...' it began every single day - just after lunch if I remember rightly. Other radio specifically for children included the Saturday morning 'Junior Choice' hosted by Ed Stewart. I always disliked Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart with a venom which was unusual in a child (and especially unusual for me). I still don't know why he triggered that response. Who else can remember Bernard Cribbins singing 'Right Said Fred', or Charles Penrose singing 'The Laughing Policeman'? And what was that song 'Hello Mother, Hello Father' about a boy going to 'Camp Granada'?

The first TV we had was black and white, but my brother and I enjoyed watching it. I'll never forget when we got our first colour tv - it was a cast off belonging to my mum's uncle (he really was Uncle Ben, and as far as I know, he didn't cook rice). The first time my brother and I sat and watched Thunderbirds on it, the glorious colours in the flames of the explosions in the story both amazed and delighted me.

Kids of today are very lucky to have so much TV catered especially for them. I'll never forget reading that the creator of The Teletubbies did years of research before developing that programme. Her research was obviously excellent as both my children, and many millions more, adored it. Have you or did you used to watch it? It's a splendidly surreal world of bright colour, music, exaggerated sound, and a naughty Noo Noo. I won't hear a bad word against it: It gave me 20 mins of total peace and quiet every single day at a time in my life when that commodity was in extremely short supply. The sight of Tinky Winky in his tutu, and carrying his red handbag will happily live with me forever.

I'll leave you with a little video of that old favourite of vintage kids' tv - Rainbow. Only this is an episode that you'll never have seen aired on TV ;-).

WARNING: If you're not a fan of childish smut and innuendo, you probably won't enjoy this video.

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Family Photography (2)

OK ... you seemed to like the last post about the kids and their cameras, so here's another one. Over the Easter holidays, we went round to Mum's. We were going to go on from there to somewhere picturesque, but the kids said they didn't really want to, so they decided they'd just use their cameras around her place. I liked this idea - it got them to look at things with which they're quite familiar, in a totally new way. (As always, clicking on the individual pictures, allows you to see them 'embiggened'. Hold down CTRL and click at the same time to open the picture in a new tab. I'm sure there must be a tweak to the html to automatically open links in a new window ... I must try to find it).

No.1 decided she was going to try to get to grips with her Macro button. Her two favourite macro shots of the afternoon were these:

The top one is a flowering shrub Mum has in the garden, I think it's a Japonica - it grows quince fruit later on in the year. It's very pretty, and I think No.1 has captured it well. The second is of a small ceramic frog in the garden - it sits, very unobtrusively, under some plants. I think it looks slightly disturbing, it definitely has a menacing glint in its eyes. No.1 took lots more shots but these two are her favourites.

No.2 continues to surprise and impress me with the imagination he shows in snapping highly original shots:

The top one is 'just' of some shingle his Nanna has in her front garden, but I love the textures and colours he's managed to capture. The middle one is a close up of the badge on the back of his Uncle's car. The bottom one is of a Hellebore in the garden - one flower facing downwards so you can see the pattern on the back of the petals, another pink flower just fading from the height of its bloom, and then on the right a flower as it's aged and going to form seeds, but still showing lovely patterning on the petals.

I have to tell you, before they got these cameras, I'd have bet money on No.1 being the one who would get the arty shots ... but no. No.2, who has never shown a strong artistic streak before, spends time thinking about what he will photograph, and is so enthusiastic about his camera: it's wonderful to witness. We were driving past a wall last week and he commented about the texture, and how good it would look in a photo ... he is really looking at things in a whole new light and I couldn't be more pleased.

My favourite shots of mine of that afternoon were both taken in the garden:

The top one gets up close and personal with a Muscari (Grape Hyacinth). I have a 'thing' for blue flowers, and like the way I could see each individual little 'ball' of blue by getting this close to the flower. The second one is a single blossom from Mum's Camellia plant which she has in a pot by the front door. It's an absolutely stunning plant.

And finally, for all you quilty types - I took some pictures of the latest blocks on one of the quilts Mum's making at the moment. She's quilting it as she goes and will then join the blocks to one another with some sashing. I've made a collage here, but if you click on it, you'll see the blocks in much more detail:

I took the liberty of making the pictures all the same size, but the blocks aren't all the same size, and there are others which I haven't shown - a couple of 'house' blocks, some lovely wavy leaves and buds, one of flying geese 'trees', and others too. I'll be sure to take a photo of the finished quilt and show it to you.

There's bound to be another photo-y post brewing soon - watch this space!

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A Trio Of Girly Monkeys

Time for another 'catch up' on the latest monkeys to have been created around these parts, and rehomed with new families. This time they are all girly ones.

The first of the three is this one:

Fruity-coloured stripey cotton socks, a plain shift shaped dress in turquoise cotton (with a ribbon trim) and a felt flower in her hair. (With hindsight, I wish I'd made more of a shaped neckline, I'll certainly make sure I do next time).

She has been named Dilly by her new owner 'B' - one of No.1's closest friends. For B's birthday, her mum took the Gang of Four to The Milestones Museum in Hampshire. It was supposed to be just a day out, but when they got home, I had a call saying 'Can I stay for tea?' ... and then another 'Can I stay the night and can you please bring my night time stuff?' When I got there, 'B's big sister was so hacked off at this crew hijacking her home that she'd rung a friend and blagged a night on her bedroom floor - so I gave her a lift round there. It was lovely of B's mum to give the girls such a nice time. Dilly has been back here to visit since she went to live with B - she's a happy bunny monkey.

Next, is a little monkey made for a baby in the family of my mum's cousin 'W' who lives over in California. I originally made her, as I do all my 'baby' monkeys, as a plain monkey with no clothes.

But on seeing the photo, W felt she looked rather naked and wanted something to prettify her, so I added the lilac skirt and bow on its head. It is sewn on extremely securely, and with assurances from W that should it start to come off, she or someone else will re-secure it. The family have decided this monkey will be called Lily Monkey (that's the second Lily ... so in my mind she'll always be Lily the Pink!)

And finally here is a little lady who has been named Lottie Monkey:

(As always, click to embiggen)

Also made for mum's cousin 'W' - for the big sister of the baby who received the monkey above. Cotton socks in shades of pink, with a yellow gingham dress, and a felt butterfly on her head. The little girl who has received this monkey is only 2, so I used no buttons (the eyes are black felt), and all the decorative bits and pieces are very securely stitched. W told me that the little girl's eyes lit up and she hugged this monkey to her very excitedly when she first received the gift - I loved hearing that.

I am currently working on a very special pair of monkeys. I need to get them exactly *right* so it's taking me longer than I had anticipated. Once they are with their new owners, I'll post them here.

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Mid Month Mutterings (April '09)

Here we go again then ... the middle of another month, and I've got a few 'bits' about which to post. I hope you've enjoyed a very pleasant Bank Holiday weekend.

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In a post of last year I talked about finding old videos, and watching them again. One of the films I found was 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'. I didn't watch it at the time, I don't think I felt up to it. But last week I watched it again. It remains one of my favourite - if not my most favourite film of all time. Although it is undoubtedly a film I cannot just watch any time. I have to be 'in the mood'.

Can anyone think it anything other than a stunning piece of work? Jack Nicholson IS R P McMurphy so brilliantly, and Louise Fletcher IS Nurse Ratched so completely, that it was a surprise to me to discover neither of them were first choices for the roles for which they both won Oscars. The role of Ratched was turned down by six different (very famous) actresses before Fletcher was cast just a week before shooting. The moment where she (Nurse R) humiliates and mentally abuses poor Billy, whose stutter has left him after his night with Candy, is truly horrible. My favourite scene in the whole film is when McMurphy hands the Chief a piece of chewing gum ... those who know the film will know why.

Watching the film again not only reminded me of its brilliance, but also that those in the world with Nurse Ratched's characteristics are, surely, just as 'dangerous' to their fellow men (and women) as those with the criminal tendencies of Randall P McMurphy?

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My friend 'F' and her daughter came up from Devon for the first week of the Easter holidays. Her daughter is now the same height as me :-O Last time I saw her, which was approximately 7 weeks earlier, she was still smaller than me. How the heck does that happen? Little people who I cuddled when they were teeny, and who I have seen grow up have no business growing as tall as me when they are only 12!

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I need to thank Joanne over at Reasons To Be Cheerful 1, 2, 3 (I too was a fan of the late Ian Dury - such an inspiring character) for this lovely Blog Heart award. I recommend her blog to those of you who enjoy reading and relating around the issues of family and life; where the writing has honesty, humour and candour. Thank you Joanne - x - I appreciate the award.

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Don't you just love it when a local charity shop puts out a big basket with a sign on the side which reads 'Fabric Remnants - 50p each'? I had a good old rummage through and these two fabrics somehow climbed out of the basket and into my hands:

They both said 'bag' to me. I'll post pictures if and when they get made.

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The first half of April sees No.1's birthday, and this year was no exception: round it came, just like always. I'm not quite sure how that many years have whizzed by, but they have and she's so much taller and more grown-up looking than she was on her last birthday. She requested a chocolate brownie birthday cake (again):

Which was made even more gooey by the addition of some fudge icing on the top. (As you can see, I overcooked it a bit - hence it looking rather 'dry' along the base and at the side :-( ).

She had a sleepover party (translation: stay up really late being as noisy as possible, squealing, giggling and chatting) with the Gang of Four: No.1, S, B and J. They are a close knit foursome - all very different to each other, but somehow it 'works' when they're all together (or in any other combination, actually). They've been buddies for a few years now, and are comfortable enough with one another to bicker like siblings, but it's always done with affection and fun.

They all went up to bed at around 10.30pm. Much raucous laughter and loud bumps as people apparently fell off beds (that's what they told me, anyway). At 11.15pm I asked them to hush it up. They did ... for about 10 minutes. At midnight I said I would start getting grumpy from here on in as I was tired and needed to sleep. Shortly after 1am I decided I needed a different approach, so I sent a text to all their phones saying if there wasn't some quiet I would separate them and they'd have to sleep in different rooms. That worked reasonably well. At 2.15am one of them decided to sleep on No.2's bed (he was at his pal 'A's place), one of them decided to sleep in the bathroom, and two of them remained in No.1's room. They appeared, bright and bouncy at 8.30am, and feasted on a breakfast of bagels and pains au chocolat, whilst watching Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, on DVD.

I felt as knackered as a knackered thing the day after the night before, but they all seemed to have a good time, and that's the main thing.

This is a collage of some of No.1's birthday highlights (in case you were wondering, she has a 'thing' about ducks!):

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I'll leave you with a picture of Georgie-cat. She poked her head through the banisters on the landing, so I took a quick snap. That'll teach her.

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The (Fabulous) Bloggery Picnic

Wednesday, 8th April was the day that Mrs Locket chose for our first Bloggery Picnic, and what a lovely day it was too. The weather was sunny but breezy (making it a tad chilly when a cloud covered the sun) but picnicking bloggers are a hardy bunch, and the company was great.

We were a bit late getting there (we had to wait for No.1 to finish doing her hair. Tsk) but were soon alerted to the bloggy throng by an Australian voice shouting 'I think we have another arrival!' I looked up to see Trashalouny up on the terrace. (Given her bloggy meet-up history, I was waiting all day for her to climb on a table, but she didn't; the nearest to the sky she got was standing on a bench. Mind you, her daughter (Princess Curly-Wurly) did get stuck up a tree. A 'climbing up on things' gene is obviously imprinted on their DNA. ;-)) Apparently we weren't allowed to use the benches and tables at Millet's because we weren't buying their food to eat. So ... picnic blankets to the fore, we made a gathering on the ground and all sat down to eat lunch.

The view from our picnic spot.

Bloggers in attendance were: Locket, Moogsmum, Eve, Kate, Jane, Trashy, Ali, Julie, Penny, Ally, and Julia. Oh yes, and me. Many of us had offspring in attendance, and as the kids and I usually see Mum on a Wednesday in the holidays, we took her along too. The weird thing about meeting online friends you've never met before is that ... it's not at all weird. On a 'usual' first meeting one could never ask after Mrs Moog's husband's wellbeing after his motorbike accident; or ask Julia how her son is after his recent hospital visit. But this was different - we are all already friends (of a sort) so conversation was jovial and warm, and we made sure to remember those who were going to come, but in the event, couldn't make it.

After we'd all eaten, some people started showing off by getting out their sock knitting or their crocheting, and as a result I got to see a sock being made on at least a hundred needles. It's all way too scary for me. The socks that were being made are gorgeous though - I really wish I wasn't such a wuss about even attempting it, but you know, there are some times when you just know you won't be able to do something.

We had all taken Easter Eggs - one egg per child, so a large pile of eggs was made. I might have been teased a bit for wrapping up my eggs, but I say 'yah boo sucks' and blow a large raspberry to the teasers. Starting with the youngest, each child went up to the pile to choose an egg - a system that worked well, except we had an egg left over at the end. That shouldn't have happened. How did that happen Mrs Moogs? Anyway, my two were well chuffed with their Chocolate Buttons eggs, and then Eve gave them both a little extra very pretty packet of little eggs too. Thank you Eve - that was very kind - x.

Next it was time for the adults to do their swap: Locket decreed that we all take a handmade item and wrap it. I thought long and hard about what to make, but in the end ... well, it had to be a monkey didn't it? This is him:

He went home with the lovely Ally and her daughter Emma, who named him Billy Millet. In a strange quirk of fate, I was the winner of Ally's handmade item, which was a lovely basket of homemade preserves - Ginger and Rhubarb Jam, and Orange, Lemon & Grapefruit Marmalade:

Thank you Ally - x. I do hope Billy Millet behaves himself - he was one of the quieter monkeys I've 'hatched' and you know what they say about the quiet ones. ;-) (Quick note here ... people who see one of my monkeys for the first time are often surprised at how big they are. If I make a monkey with standard ladies socks (ie British Size 4-7) the resulting monkey is usually at least 15" (38 cm) long, and often the socks stretch to way more than that (anything up to 2 ft (61 cm). People often say they expected them to be quite a lot smaller). It was an absolute pleasure to see the work of the other bloggers there - to see and actually hold one of Julie's little cotton rabbit egg cosies was something I'll treasure (Eve won that). Locket was given two gorgeous little knitted animals by Eve - that chick you made was brilliant, Eve! The bag that Penny made (for Julia) was beautiful - sort of origami meets bag-making. Julia gave some of her gorgeous soaps as part of a pedicure kit (with fabric pouch/bag - Kate got those). Ali had a scrummy bag made by Kate - in beautifully rich colours. I was sitting on one edge of our 'clump' so didn't get to see all the other gifts up close, but from a distance, they looked wonderful.

During the afternoon, No.1 and I took a stroll round to take pictures of some of the animals:

A pig with curly ginger hair!

A handsome goat (posing!)

A black and white pig

A pretty Alpaca

A Canada Goose

I'm not quite sure how many children we had there between us, but it was surely a huge success that they played and chatted nicely amongst themselves. Nobody got in a fight, or had a tantrum, or threw up, or cried (nor did any of the kids). No.2 took one of his many footballs and was pleased to find that the other lads there were up for a kickabout.

The weather was very kind to us, and on returning home we found we were sunburned - I have a decidedly pink chest, which serves me right for letting it out in public. All in all, it was a lovely way to spend the day - in the company of others who understand about the need for, and pleasure of, crafting; as well as for blogging. Lots of little tips and information was shared ... Jane, I am SO going to check out that place for generating patterns for hats and bags ... when you've reminded me what it's called! I thought you'd said 'Wild Thing dot com' but it turns out that is a rather 'adult' site and nothing remotely crafty! :-O

A huge thank you to Locket for organising the whole thing - X - she is such a good organiser, I bet her house runs to military precision.

Just as we were packing up to leave, No.2 asked 'Can we do this again next year?' ... We certainly can my lovely.

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I Spent A Few Evenings With Gregory Peck

Do you, Dear Reader, tend to read a book only once? Or do you reread the ones you've most enjoyed? I must admit that until now, I'd mostly been a 'once only' kind of reader, but that changed a couple of weeks ago.

Back in January, I was reading a thread on the Books Forum at Digital Spy. The OP was asking what books fellow forum members remembered fondly from their childhood. After a spot of contemplation, I posted that I recall particularly enjoying the Mrs Pepperpot Stories by Alf Proyson, 'Thursday's Child' by Noel Streatfeild, and that 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee totally blew me away when I read it as a teenager.

Remembering how much I'd enjoyed To Kill A Mockingbird prompted me to track down an old copy to reread it. I wanted to know if, all these years later, I'd still find a book that was published before I was born, an amazingly good read. And do you know what? I did: I loved it all over again.

A week was spent with compulsive bedtime reading about Atticus Finch, his family, and the goings on in Maycomb, Alabama. As I neared the end of the book, I couldn't put it down ... just as had happened the first time I read it, and I eventually finished it at 1am one night/morning.

By lucky coincidence one of the ITV channels recently aired the film starring Gregory Peck. It was on just before I started reading the book, so I recorded it to watch after I'd finished. (I much prefer to read a book before seeing a movie - do you?) Could there ever have been a more fitting Atticus than Gregory Peck? Apparently when he got the call to ask whether he was interested in playing the role, he said yes immediately. Didn't even need to think about it. In later years, looking back over his entire working life, he said this was his favourite role of his whole career. Many who knew him have said that was because he got the chance to play himself in the film.

I have to say I prefer the book to the film, which of course takes only the main thrust of the story, and inevitably leaves out little nuances which are a pleasure to read. The message of the book is one of tolerance. Quiet strength in the face of prejudice and bigotry; as well as the knowledge that we are all equal; all deserving of respect and consideration no matter what the colour of our skin, our status and wealth, or state of health (mental or physical).

To Kill a Mockingbird was set in the 1930s in Alabama. It was obviously a time when racism was alive and kicking and attitudes towards people of different skin colour and race were marked. I'm not naive enough to think it has been totally eradicated even now: Indeed a boy in my daughter's form at school was recently excluded for using a racist term to another pupil . But to have gone from those attitudes of the 1930s, to - 70 years later - having a black President is a quite stunning turnaround for a Nation. The opinions expressed by some of the white people, towards the black characters in the book are quite shocking, being read against the backdrop of 21st century life. But that's how it was.

Gregory Peck is reported as saying that people would often tell him that seeing the film had changed their life. I think I can honestly say that reading the book for the first time changed mine - if only in a relatively small way. It was certainly the first time I'd read a book and thought 'wow'; until then books had been interesting, or a discipline set by the teacher of my English Literature lessons. But this book was shocking, amusing, thought-provoking and entertaining all in one tome, and it absorbed me totally. I can't imagine there is anyone reading this who hasn't read To Kill A Mockingbird, but if by any chance you haven't, I urge you to consider doing so. You won't regret it.

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Family Photography

Since I got my current camera just over a year ago I have been gradually learning about taking pictures. Most of the pictures I take are crubbish, but they are getting better as I discover new 'things' my camera can do, as well as the things I can and should do to help it take better pictures. I think at some point it would be sensible for me to take a photography course of some kind, but in the meantime, I'm having fun with it, even if I'm not getting the most out of the camera.

I used to let the kids 'have a go' with the camera when we were all out together, but it invariably became a bit of a nuisance with us all wanting 'a go' at the same time. So I decided to save some money towards getting both the Wrinklets a camera - they're old enough now to treat said camera(s) properly (well, the oldest one is, the youngest one will get shouted at if he doesn't take care of it!)

A couple of weeks ago, I presented them with their (cheap) new cameras (his is black, hers is pink) complete with cases, and 2GB memory cards. The cameras are an Easter Present, but also part of our '2009 Project' which will be to go out regularly and all take pictures of the same things, come back and see what we've got. No.1 is particularly keen - Art and ICT are her favourite subjects at school, so photography comes well within the remit of what she enjoys. She's pretty good with Photoshop too, so I'm hoping she'll enjoy working on her shots with that. No.2, whilst having a slightly more 'slapdash' approach, turns out to have an interesting 'eye', and has taken some surprisingly nice photos.

The same day they got their cameras, the sun was shining, so we headed for one of those picturesque villages which we seem to have in abundance fairly close to where we live. No.1's favourite shots (of hers) from that day are these:

The top one: A tree just beginning to blossom, viewed against the blue sky; the bottom one: A very old building with some spring-like greenery to the side. They're not bad, are they? Especially considering it was her first time with the camera.

No.2's favourite shots (of his) of that day are these two:

The top one: The back of the village duckpond, where a female goose was sitting on a nest. Every time someone walked along the pathway behind her she honked and hissed for all she was worth. The bottom one: A car he liked the look of (he insisted I include that one here!) This is a case in point of us all looking at things differently: Neither No.1 nor I remember even seeing that car. No.2 took a real liking for various signposts we saw, and has started a file in My Pictures entitled 'Signs' - he's hoping to build a collection, and I think that's a great project for him.

My favourite shots (of mine) of the afternoon? This one of a beautiful old door (decorated with horseshoes) on a small barn:

This one of Mr Goose looking all mean and moody (but totally ignoring the honking of his partner sitting on her nest):

This one of Mr Duck, who had the most beautiful colours, and was preening a lot at the side of the pond. He and his male friends behaved quite appallingly - it's clear that spring is in the air. 'Why are they trying to kill that other duck?' asked No.2 as three male ducks first chased, and then literally held a female down whilst one of them climbed on her back.

And finally, this one of the village pond from just up the road:

I think we'll go back there in mid-summer as I suspect it'll look even more lovely.

I'm afraid you're likely to see more posts like this over the coming months as the kids and I decided it was a really nice way to spend a day. I apologise if it bores the pants off you, but it'll be a nice thing to put in the Blog Books I am currently editing using software from Blurb. (I'm doing one volume for each 6 months of The Bloggy Bits - so the kids (and hopefully their own families eventually) have something to look back on in years and decades from now. Hopefully it'll help them remember this time in their lives.

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