The Time Traveler's Wife

I’m really enjoying this book. Dom acquired it while in Edinburgh and is letting me read it before she does. The condition was that I don’t talk to her about it.

 I’ve always been interested in time travel and this one is different to most books on the subject.

I looked at reviews of the film and it seems it could be very confusing to those who aren’t in the know. Has anyone seen it? What did you think?

Punch September 6th 1884

Looks as if people were suffering the effects of hot weather back in 1884… 

Mamma: “With this frightful hot weather, I think I must have that child’s hair cut!”

Tommy: “Oh yes Ma! – and look here – I should like to have it done by the same hairdresser that cuts Uncle Benjamin’s”

Just a thought

Do you think that Google get the numbers for their comment verification from the houses you see on Google Earth?

Punch July 12th 1884

It’s been a long time since I shared a cartoon from Punch’s Almanach for 1884. This one, entitled “Preventive Force” is from the July 12th edition:

“Hold hard! I’ve been vaccinated”

As a precautionary Measure, in some districts the Police have been Vaccinated

To see more cartoons click on the Punch label below

Eat Pray Love

Dom found me the book at a brocante/garage sale/boot sale. She only paid 1€ for it. I had asked for it for my birthday, so now I will be getting something else too!

Now that Rob doesn’t need therapy for his arm I’m not finding the time to read as much as I was. I’m still on the praying part. If you haven’t read it or seen the film, I recommend both.

Years ago I had a boyfriend who was seeking amongst many religions and a lot of what he taught me is coming back as I read. I’ve also decided that I’d like to learn Italian too.

 

Time for short stories

I’ve been reading a lot of short stories recently. As Rob spent about 15 hours having therapy for his fractured elbow and I had to drive him to his appointments for a while, I had a lot of time to sit and just read.

I got through The Penguin Book of English Short Stories which I really enjoyed. Then I was leant a copy of The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield. This was in French, but what was nice was that one of her Stories, The Voyage, was in the Penguin book too. I finished that one and then I moved onto The Second Book of English Short Stories. Rob has gone back to work so I’ve slowed down a lot.

Next up: Eat Pray Love. I asked Dom for it for my birthday in September, but she found one for me at a brocante/boot sale/garage sale for 1€. It’s a bit tatty, but as long as the words are all there I don’t care.

Town Mouse or Country Mouse?

I’ve lived in towns and the country, though the towns I lived in weren’t heavily populated and quite small in comparison to some. I prefer to live in the countryside with easy access to town if I feel the urge to go there.

During the long summer holidays when I was small, I spent time at both of my Grandmother’s houses, one in the country the other in the town.  I loved both.  My Grandmother in the country had an outside chemical toilet and if you wanted a bath it had to be dragged in, water heated in a boiler and the bath in front of the fire filled up.  Needless to say bath night was once a week.  You made do with a good wash everyday in between.  She cooked on a fire too, though she did have a stove for cooking the roast on a Sunday.  There were plenty of books or I went to play with the girls who lived on the farm across the road.  I later found out that they were my distant cousins.

Town Grandmother’s house was busier, there were more people to pop in for a cup of tea during the day and we went to the shops every day too, to buy groceries and bread.  There were also relatives nearby to visit.  On Friday we went on the bus to the market in the City to buy fish.  The buses seemed to run every ten minutes so you just went when you were ready.  Very strange for me coming from a place where there was a bus three times a week.  I played with the girl next door who took me to her friend’s houses so that there was quite a gang of us at times.  Sometimes I stayed and did huge jigsaw puzzles with my Grandmother; we used to cover the unfinished puzzle with a cloth at meal times.  My uncle, who was only 5 years older than me, read super hero comics, so I read them too.  I was also allowed to choose a couple of books from the library on the weekly visit.  I was also given something to do in the greenhouse.  I remember watering the passion flowers and learning what each part of the flower meant. 

The best part was bed time.  Every evening it was my Grandfather’s job to put me to bed.  First we would go into the dining room and talk about the picture that was hanging there.  It was a stage coach at an Inn collecting passengers.  Then I had a fireman’s lift up the stairs! Goodness knows how I settled down to sleep after all of the giggles that involved.

Probably the best part of being at either Grandparent’s house was that I was the only child; at home I had two sisters and a baby brother.  For a little while I got lots of attention.  I used to cry when I went home.

So which are you – Town Mouse or Country Mouse?

As a reward for reading this far you can now watch the theme song from Green Acres!

Here's part of the first episode too.