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Lighter nights and resisting books

The nights are slowly slowly drawing out - I just about see the signs.  I am completely ready for this.  It has felt like a long winter.  I know it's not over yet and we're still due some very cold weather.  But that's good because I haven't finished my Alpaca scarf yet (which is quite slow going) and now I don't know if I'll have enough wool and all those other things that happen when you're making things and you're not sure where they are going.

I am reading The Letter for the King which came up on my radar a little while ago but I didn't buy it.  I have this thing where I like to put off reading books.  I do it particularly with very popular books that everyone is reading and raving about.  I deliberately won't buy them because I decide that I am different and I just won't like it and it won't be as good as everyone says.  Then years later I will read it and find out it was brilliant and wished I had read it at the time.  Anyway, this book wasn't like that.  It's been around for ages anyway but I somehow came across it in the bookshop months ago.  Then I made myself wait.  When it was my birthday I went back into the bookshop and decided that if I were to come across it I would buy it but I could not search it out.  Anyway - there it was, just sat on the table and it even had a different cover (this apparently is the Winter Edition?) to when I had first seen it.  So I took this as a sign and bought it.

I think The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton is going to be a book I will resist.  No, in fact I know I'm doing it already.  I saw it a while ago, nearly bought it (it's always the same routine) then resisted it because I knew people would love it and that annoys me.  Now people are talking about it and I want to read it (kind of) but at the same time I want to feel I am different and seek out books people have never heard of, little gems that are mind-blowingly wonderful and stay with you for a lifetime.

The thing is nobody knows I am playing this stupid game so I should probably just do myself a favour and buy it.

 

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This week has been soft and slow as we have succumbed to feeling poorly with days off school. It has enforced its own pace upon us which has been reminiscent of the pre-school days when you could just snuggle up for no reason in the mid afternoon and read books - complete with funny voices. I know when you are in those days they seem endless and sometimes frustrating. But when they are gone they are gone forever and school life takes over in such a powerful way. Everyone's life becomes about school not just those who have to go. Your working day, week and year is dictated by the school routine, the costumes they need, the trips to be paid for, the homework to be completed, the when and where of holidays. Knowing the next time you will get a cheap holiday is when they have left home! I think we will be seeing the week out at home as little improvement has been made on the health front. There will be more stories, more baking - cheese scones just cannot be beaten! And the newly discovered but non-photogenic butterscotch pudding - who knew, what a texture, it's just so puddingy! I decided on a project for my dusty pink alpaca - a chevron lace scarf. I am finding it slow going and the wool is tricky with the 2.5 mm hook but I am very happy with the look of it and the slow and soft nature of it suits my week entirely.

Dreaming of reading

 
When the children were small I used to daydream about sitting under a big tree reading for hours on end uninterrupted.  During the holidays I saw a window of opportunity to fulfil this dream!

 
The scene was set, the view was stunning, the weather perfect... surely this would be the day! 

Alas no, there were games that needed to be played and football to organise and snack administration and toilet trips and ice-creams to be purchased and all the other great stuff.  One day I will be able to sit under this tree and read all the day long, by then I'll probably wish I had someone to interrupt me!

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I've always been a fan of Topsy & Tim and still have some of the books that were read to me as a child.  Now I read them to my children and they love them just as much.  For me it's Topsy & Tim's Bonfire Night that will always be my favorite, but recently we've had a couple of Topsy & Tim moments ourselves.  Earlier in the year, when we had our brief but exciting 'Snowy Day', Sam worked hard to clear the path to earn his Snowshifter's Medal!  More recently, the better weather has allowed another classic reenactment!

Remember the stockings on sticks that their mother makes?  And jam jars with string?  And then there's the naughty donkey that pushes Tim in the river and it all ends in tears, going home without a stickleback.  Still, this is Topsy and Tim, so after a nice warm bath Dad saves the day by going out and getting them a goldfish each.  I mean who wouldn't enjoy a day like that?