March Tooth Fairy pays us a visit

I am the Spring fairy
I am the fairy of Daffodils
I am the fairy of Hyacinths
I am the Snowdrop fairy.

I am the new green Grass
I am the Frost and Sleet
I am the Rainbow and the New Moon
I am the fairy of Beginnings.

I am the fairy come to take
your tooth
I am the fairy to fly it home
Home through moonlight
Owlight, starlight
Grasping the tail of a comet
Plunging through the heart of a secret lake

You can call me Serelia.

Happy Lunar New Year or Rats! I seem to have missed January

Gosh I seem to have disappeared off the inner worlds of blogdom for some time - what happened? Well, xmas hols with the kiddies is always distracting, time with family...pretty sacred I guess, walls in the house being dismantled by builders, spraining my ankle for a few weeks - still hurts, and err...probably the real distraction, Facebook, and a bit of block in my writing funnybone which I hope to oil up again soon.

So how should I catch up? I better write up my Vagaries of Memory II -review about the Book of Chameleons and Inheritance of Loss, and a triple Gaiman I've been meaning to do. Then I should do Paris with Grace, and Barcelona travel log as I ate really well and I have some food pics which I took in a posh restaurant to the amusement of the very polite waiters, even mr G got a bit enthusiastic about the food blogging lark. The Bath Lit Fest will be on soon...must get some tickets. And the Bath Marathon, I'll be massaging our local school running team who will be raising money for TESFA, my favourite charity for educating pre-school children in Ethiopia (more on this soon).

Well that's a pretty long list, I'd better get to it tonight after I cook the family New Year Dinner of Noodles - the girls are very excited and insisted on having special CNY hairstyles of mum's special high ponytail and braid set-up; wound in a bun and wrapped in a felt flower tie: exotic! let's hope it doesn't unravel in PE :)

Teacher Cookie Baking Day

I rarely bake. In fact my 10 year old did most of these. I had fun decorating with the kids today but it took all day to package these up to the various teachers and best friends in the school. Phew! If wishes were cookies, I would send you some! Happy Holidays!

kiddie chatter

"Maaaaa ammmmm!"
Dad says," What do you need? Mum is blogging again."
"I want to come out of the bath."
D: "OK then, did you wash your face?"
"No, mum says I was to wash my bottom."

Happy Friday, off to Lorton House

There will be 5 families with small children - and no internet!!!! A football, BBQ and a billiards table. I probably want to lounge around and read my books, so far I have packed 5 but will that be enough?? Other people might want to go walking...and there will be plenty of food, of course. It's Bank Holiday Monday, here - so I don't think Mr G has ever spent so long away without a connection. I bet he is bringing his phone to connect! See you Tuesday.

Update: Here are some more pictures of Lorton House in Dorset once we got there. It sleeps 16 - it was a wonderful space and we would do it again. Here is a clearer picture of the house from the garden. The front garden is that wonderful large field in the bergamot post above. Pic number 2 is a picnic area in the garden and the two little photos are of the landing and the dining room.

Tooth Fairy is about!

Tooth number two:
Good for you!
The Fairy Queen’s
Favourite drink is dew,
Captured in the morning’s dawn,
In a goblet carved from –
Your milky tooth
That wiggled loose.

from Fairy SlumberSloth

Meg Cabot and Shannon Hale

Meg Cabot is chick lit, all right? But she's funny and clever and she knows her target audience well. So I let my 9 year old read the Princess Diaries, and she's a very emotionally intelligent 9 year old. But these last two books (7 & 8) are a lot about "Should one Do It with your boyfriend?" Fair enough questions, but the 9 year old seems to be taking it in stride. Should I be worried?

Shannon Hale has always written about strong, intelligent heroines who think out of the box, who find and gather community, and are not afraid to provide leadership. The heroes in her writing are simply heroes because they recognise and support this. Brilliant! My sister sent me Princess Academy on my birthday for one of the kids, but I admit I read this for myself (and I've read her other books!)

Right, just play catch up on my last four books: The Art of Undressing by Susan Lehmann, Innocent Mage by Karen Miller, Firewife by Tinling Choong and Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman - and then I can just do them as I read 'em.

Very small voice by my ear goes," Mummy, daddy says to come and have fish fingers and scrambled eggs."

I sit up in bed. "Are you sure that's what's for breakfast?"

Big grins, "Oh, oh. oh, I think so."

"Better go check, honey"

Little voice fading down the stairs," Daddy..."

Reappearance - "Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, mummy."

I am spoilt, aren't I? It came with fresh squeezed orange juice, capers and spring onions and crisp soldiers of toast.

Hurray for the gourmet!