Too Many Books!

I never thought I’d say this, but I have too many books! Not in a general sense, because we all know there’s no such thing as too many books! Rather, these are review books, including a couple of proof copies.

In no particular order:

Unspoken by Sam Hayes – I loved Sam’s first book, Blood Ties, and so it’s very exciting to get an early proof copy to get read.

Dreams of Rivers and Seas by Tim Parks – This is for newBooks magazine, another proof.

In Search of Adam by Caroline Smailes – From the LibraryThing Early Reviewers programme.

A Difficult Boy by M P Barker – Direct from the author.

In Memory of Water by Karen White – Ready for the author’s blog tour during June.

Ok, time to read…..

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Simple Pleasures

There’s alot of depressing stuff in the news at the moment, a lot of people I know are very stressed at work and / or in their personal lives.. etc.

So, I’d like to know some of those little simple things that make you happy..

A few of mine:
Having a cuddle with my girls.
Seeing them smile.
Reading a really good book.
Sitting in the sun.. whenever it finally appears!
Spending time with friends.

C’mon.. you must all have loads to add to this list. Let’s see if we can make each other smile. 🙂

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Randomness again…

I haven’t blogged much for a while, mainly because whenever I sit to do so, I find I haven’t really got the energy to do so! So, here are a few random ramblings..

Sick!
My poor Amy hasn’t been at all well. On Sunday evening she was very sick.. and until this evening, she’s not been able to keep anything down. It’s woken her up at night, and she’s looked just miserable. I think that we’ve turned a corner this evening, so I have everything crossed!

Comment Etiquette
Out of interest, if someone new makes a comment on your blog, do you reply to it? I found an interesting new blog the other day, and left a few friendly comments. The blog author seems to respond to people, but hasn’t done so to me. Maybe it’s just me, but it doesn’t feel very welcoming. Is it just me?

Yet Another Stabbing
A few days ago was the sad news of yet another youngster stabbed to death on our streets (and this one was fairly close to where I live). What is it with our youngsters, that they feel the need to carry.. and use.. knives?! The trouble is, this isn’t just in gangs.. it’s ‘normal’ kids getting caught in the middle. I’m getting more and more worried about my young girls growing up, and going out by themselves. Sigh..

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Sewerage Woes!

On Saturday morning, our neighbours informed us that our drain was leaking, and was running into their property. They had a party that afternoon, so were obviously rather concerned.. as were we!

Hubby phoned Dyno Rod, and out they came. It turns out that the whole street share a sewer, so this wasn’t purely our problem. After 90 minutes, we were told that the blockage was a few houses down, and it full of nasty things! We were presented with a bill for £153, and off they went. (Sigh… thanks!)

After doing some research, and getting in touch with our local council, it would appear that everyone upstream from the blockage holds a joint responsibility. We’ve been told we’re entitled to claim a share of the costs from everyone affected, which is ten houses.

So this morning, I’ve written out what I hope is a friendly, informative letter, explaining what has happened.. I’ve also included the relevant info from the council leaflet. Of course, all I can do is ask.. I’m hardly going to take one of my neighbours to court for £15. I’m therefore not very hopeful. :o(

I was wondering how others would feel – if you received a similar letter from your neighbour, would you share the costs with them, or simply ignore it?

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Bad Day / Good Day

Yesterday was the bad day.. despite going to sleep pretty early the night before, I still woke up tired, which is never a good start. Work was pretty busy, I had people moaning at me, and all in all, a bad work day.

Then, to top it all, I got a parking ticket. It was my own stupid fault.. I had to park in a different car park than I usually do, which offers the first three hours free. As I was expecting to go out on a home visit in two hours time, I thought I’d be fine. Instead, that visit got cancelled, and I ended up rather busy at work.. and I simply forgot that I was in that specific carpark. So, there it was.. the lovely yellow sticker on my car, and a demand for £30!

Today, no work, which is always a plus! hehe However, in the middle of the morning, a parcel arrived. To give a little back ground, some years back, after my mum was diagnosed with the condition of IIH, I made a little website to share her story.. as well as a message board, for others affected by this condition to get together.

That forum has gone from strength to strength, and is now run by the amazing Rachel, and a great team of moderators. They are also working extremely hard to develop IIH UK, to provide yet more help and support.

Well, a group of these fantastic ladies got together, and sent both myself and my mum a thank you card, and a lovely ‘Angel of Hope’ figure. It was so touching to be thought of.. gestures like that mean more to me than I can say. :0)

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Spring Continues!

Not long ago, the monthly weather forecast made rather damp, depressing reading. Even this past bank holiday weekend was meant to be wet. However.. things have changed, and spring is most definitely with us! The rain has stayed away, the sun has tried it’s hardest to come out, and it’s been pretty warm.

So, hubby has been sent up in the attic, and the girls have tried on the summer clothes. The good news is that they have quite a few clothes that still fit. The bad news is that we had loads of ironing to do! Still, it’s done, and the cupboards have been reorganised.

The dry weather is meant to continue, and later in the week we’re predicted 75 degrees. Let’s hope it doesn’t switch round again!

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Spring Has Sprung!

Well, hopefully it has! The weather has been so changeable recently.. and wet.. but we’ve had a couple of nice days, and even today it’s warm, despite being overcast. Anyway, I’m determined it IS spring, so this morning all the winter coats went away, and the summer ones have been freshly washed. Amy has quite a collection, now that many of Beth’s old ones fit her!

In addition, the windows are open, and at the moment, even the patio doors! I feel the cold, so for me to do that, it’s gotta be warm! I’ve even got a skirt on! LOL

Glen has finished stripping wallpaper and paint, and has today started painting.. in his own unique way, of course. (For those who I haven’t moaned to before, he has a strange way of decorating.. I just leave him to it these days!) He must have been feeling brave when he started.. he even let the girls help! Amy soon got the roller taken off her, but I think Beth managed to do some.

Oh yea.. sort of connected to spring, I tend to get myself a little stressed over mess. It’s not that I’m particularly neat myself, but I have little phases of getting annoyed, and tidying every up.. then getting even more annoyed when it’s messy again within a matter of seconds!

I’ve had two very experienced mums tell me that with children running around, they gave up – other, more important things took priority, and they’re much happier for it. So, what’s your philosophy.. especially if you have kids.. do you keep things tidy, have you taught your children to be tidy, or have you given up, and left your house ‘lived in’? {grin}

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