May declutter, day 6: 6 items (21 total)

OK, here we have an empty handcream (nearly) and one which came as part of a set, but it's really runny and I don't like it. An unused lipgloss, a nail clipper which isn't really sharp anymore (it will get replaced), a couple of free samples of eye cream (I don't use it) and one of those little knitted hats which you get on Innocent smoothie bottles in the winter to raise money for a charity - it was on the lid of the mousse I got rid of yesterday. All going in the bin. (And we've moved on to the kitchen drawer...)

Dinner, 5/5/18: Jerk Chicken (Hairy Bikers), Sweet potato wedges, courgettes

May declutter, day 5: 5 items (15 total)

Some lipbalms which are either a bit dried up or which I don't like. A hair mousse I was given as a gift and which I never use; a body lotion which is nearly empty, and which has a really strong scent I always remember I don't like that much after I use it... (again, it was a gift). All going in the bin. 

Book 36: Boy 87 by Ele Fountain

Another possible book for my class - I was worried this might be too old for them, but actually, it's fine. It's not an easy read and it deals with some tough issues, but there's nothing too old for them, really. We read Elizabeth Laird's The Garbage King as a class book (which this has some similarities to, being set at least partly in Ethiopia or an unnamed country a bit like Ethiopia) and I felt that was a bit old for them in some of it's issues. This is a bit gentler in its approach to very tough issues and a hard life, but it's a lovely piece of writing. A super addition for my recommendation basket.

I did try (and then discard) an adult fiction book between these two children's books, but children's books are really exciting me at the moment. There's just so much good stuff out there!

Dinner, 4/5/18: Jacket Potatoes with toppings

May declutter, day 4: 4 items (10 total)

The rubber band ball is going to work; the two pencils are tiny, the pen is a freebie from something and is horrible and the sharpie doesn't work (I'm counting the pencils as one item).

May declutter, day 3: 3 items (6 total)

Some little bags which I don't use for anything. Off to the charity shop.

Book 35: Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne

John Boyne is probably most famous for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. This one is not as serious and heavy as that one (what is?) though it does deal with some quite serious issues. I read it to check suitability for my class and it's definitely going in the Mrs North Recommends basket. A lovely story.

Dinner, 2/5/18: Chorizo and Chickpeas braised in cider (John Whaite)

We didn't think you could really taste the cider here, though we liked the dish well enough. I probably needed to cook it a little longer to reduce the liquid but we were in a hurry, as usual. It would also be really nice with a crusty loaf, if you had one floating around...

May declutter, day 2: 2 items (3 total)

Usually when I start the declutter, I do it in the kitchen with the junk drawer and move around the house, ending upstairs, but this year I started in my bedroom, with my dresser and dresser drawer - not the clothes, though. I'll do those later. So this is a half-used hand cream that I don't really like that much and a pump lotion which is ok, but not my favourite. The one is going in the bin; the other will go to work for the sink there - pump lotions are nice by the sink and there's nothing wrong with it...

Dinner, 1/5/18: Spaghetti with Lemon & Olives

A quick pasta dish for a weeknight supper. It also has chili flakes and pine nuts in addition to the lemons and olives in the title. And grated cheese. If you were vegan, you could leave off the grated cheese and it would be almost as nice!

May declutter, day 1: 1 item (1 total)

For the past couple of years, I've done a spring decluttering in the house, using a technique I saw on the internet somewhere, which appealed to me - the idea is you choose a month, then get rid of one item the first day, two the second, three the third, and so on, until the end of the month. The total is pretty substantial at the end of the month. I'm not a hoarder by any means, but things do tend to get cluttered if you don't take the time to go through things and get rid of those things which no longer fit or aren't needed or whatever. So, to kick off this year, it's a wallet - it's new - nothing wrong with it except that after I bought it I decided it was too large for the person I wanted to give it to. It wasn't expensive, so I kept it in case I could think of someone else to give it to, but in the end, I think it will do better going into the bag for raffle prizes/tombolas next time I'm asked to donate something.

April Round Up

WHAT WAS  FOR DINNER, APRIL 2018

• 30th: Mexican Bake
• 29th: Thai Style mince with fragrant rice
• 28th: Vegetable Biryani
• 27th: Teriyaki Salmon Noodles
• 26th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 25th: Celery Soup with biscuits
• 24th: Potato & Lentil Salad, Green bean Salad
• 23rd: Spaghetti with pea and mint pesto
• 22nd: Paella style rice with chicken and black olives
• 21st: Courgette, refried bean and goat's cheese quesadillas
• 20th: Brussels sprout & blue cheese pizza
• 19th: Baked Aubergine, fennel & Chickpeas
• 18th: Santorini style spaghetti
• 17th: Cauliflower & Cheddar Soup
• 16th: Suriname style curry
• 15th: Chicken & Potato Stew
• 14th: Cauliflower "steaks" with chimichurri sauce
• 13th: Courgette & Feta Pancakes
• 12th: Chili (leftovers from freezer)
• 11th: Bombay Potato Frittata
• 10th: Chili Chicken Stir Fry
• 9th: Spicy sweet potato wraps
• 8th: Filled pasta bake (Alex)
• 7th: Carrot, potato & parsnip fritters (A&O - K&G away)
• 6th: Chicken escalopes, broccoli, potatoes (kids - K&G away)
• 5th: Jacket potatoes (kids - K&G away)
• 4th: Pasta carbonara (Alex - K&G away)
• 3rd: Roasted beans & chickpeas with tamarind (Olivia - K&G away)
• 2nd: Moroccan chicken wings, couscous
• 1st: Roast rack of lamb, potatoes, carrots

April book update

So, in 2018, I'm taking a slightly different approach to blogging about my reading - I'm not really worrying about the in/out balance or how many books I read each month versus how many have been removed from the list. My only goal in 2018 is to read at least 100 books (as usual), so I'll be counting towards that, and noting books I read, acquire, get rid of, etc, but only for interest. I'm tired of feeling guilty if I acquire new books!

In January:  books read: 7; books otherwise removed: 3; books in: 7; books on windowsill: 62
In February: books read: 6; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3;  books on windowsill: 61
In March: books read: 8; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 5;  books on windowsill: 60
In April: books read: 13; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 6; books on windowsill: 58

And here's the breakdown for this month: 

• I five books in charity shops when out with Sarah - technically I did this on the 31st of March, but I didn't have time to add them to my list until the next day, so I've counted them in with April.
• ...one of which, I read part of straight away and decided I didn't really like it that much, so sent it back to the charity shop (The Little Bookshop in Paris by Nina George)
• I read 8 books from my list (This Must be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell, The Muse by Jessie Burton, Our Endless Numbered Days by Clare Fuller, At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen, Dark Matter by Michelle Paver, The Dark Circle by Linda Grant, Pax by Sarah Pennypacker, Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank)
• ...and read about a third of another before deciding I didn't really care (The Ice by Laline Paull)
• I read one book to check it out for suitability for my class (The One and Only Ivan, Kathleen Applegate)
• I read one book which didn't seem to be on my list for some reason, even though it was on the windowsill (The Stone Sky, N K Jemisin)
• I read one book which my class was due to read this term (Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestly)
• ...and enjoyed it so much I promptly read the second in the series as well (Tales of Terror from the Black Ship)
• I read one book in a series I'm gradually reading my way back through - some are re-reads, and some I've skipped out before for whatever reason (Friends in High Places by Donna Leon)
• I bought one book in Lisbon when I was visiting (Blindness by Jose Saramago)
• I bought one book from Waterstones online to make up an order high enough for free postage, when I bought a book for Geoff and one for school (The Killing Moon by N K Jemisin)

Here's the updated list of Books to Read in 2018. These are the books hanging out on my windowsill upstairs, waiting to be read. Or discarded. But hopefully, read. I started the year with 60 books on this list - you can see how long the books have been knocking around by the dates in brackets.

1. Ford Maddox Ford, Parade's End (Nov 2012 - birthday present - bought after the BBC adaptation - but I knew I wouldn't read it straight away as I wanted to let time pass from the adaptation.  Enough time has probably passed now...)
2. Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (2014)
3. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (would be a re-read, bought shortly after his death - spring 2014 - as I was reminded how much I enjoyed it and I didn't seem to own a copy - think my old one fell apart, probably...) 
4. Philip Baruth, The Brothers Boswell (Waterstones Canterbury bargain bin, July 2015)
5. Daphne du Maurier, Frenchman's Creek (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
6. Daphne du Maurier, Jamaica Inn (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
7. Alice Munro, Runaway (Waterstones Piccadilly, March 2016)
8. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
9. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
10. Neil MacGregor, Germany: Memories of  a Nation (birthday present, Nov 2016) (This book isn't technically on my windowsill, it's downstairs because I keep thinking I might have a go at reading it, but haven't really got around to it yet...)
11. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
12. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
13. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
14. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
15. Lynn Knight, The Button Box  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017) (This book is actually not on the windowsill either, as I've started reading it, but as it's non-fiction, it may take me a while to get through it; I'm reading it in little bits...)
16. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
17. Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (charity shop, April 2017)
18. Rachel Ward, Numbers 2: The Chaos (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
19. Rachel Ward, Numbers 3: Infinity (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
20. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
21. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
22. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
23. Hella Haasse, The Tea Lords (Bookhandel von Rossum, Amsterdam, August 2017)
24. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
25. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
26. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
27. Bi Fieyu, Three Sisters (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
28. Ali Smith, Autumn (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
29. Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet (2nd Hand Shop, Brighton, October 2017)
30. Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
31. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
32. Samantha Shannon, The Bone Season  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
33. Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient (November 2017, book was in the house already, added after I read Divisadero and realised I'd never actually read this one.)
34. Grayson Perry, The Descent of Man (December 2017, RA Gift Shop)
35. Sarah J Maas, Court of Thorns and Roses (Christmas present, 2017)
36. Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale (Christmas present, 2017)
37. Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter (charity shop, December 2017)
38. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
39. Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders (W H Smith, January 2018)
40. Matt Haig, How to Stop Time (W H Smith, January 2018)
41. Bernie MacLaverty, Midwinter Break (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
42. Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
43. Clare Vanderpool, Moon over Manifest (was in the house, moved to my shelf Feb 2018)
44. Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
45. Mohsin Hamid, Exit West (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
46. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)
47. Alwyn Hamilton, Hero at the Fall (Waterstones online, March 2018)
48. Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer (Waterstones online, March 2018)
49. ed. Tracy Chevalier, Reader I Married Him (Waterstones online, March 2018)
50. Bella Pollen, Hunting Unicorns (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
51. Diana Rosie, Alberto's Lost Birthday (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
52. Jojo Moyes, The Last Letter from your Lover (Charity Shops, March 2018)
53. Jojo Moyes, Sheltering Rain (Charity Shops, March 2018)
54. Sebastian Faulkes, A Week in December (Charity Shops, March 2018)
55. Marcus Zusak, I am the Messenger (Charity Shops, March 2018)
56. Jose Saramago, Blindness (Lisbon, April 2018)
57. Margaret Atwodd, Oryx and Crake (passed on by Geoff, April 2018)
58. The Killing Moon, N K Jemisin (Waterstones online, April 2018)

Book 34: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

My trip to Amsterdam last summer reminded me I hadn't read this in many years (like since I was about 13 or 14 probably), so I picked up a new copy to revisit, not while in Amsterdam, but in conjunction with that visit (and a visit to the Anne Frank House Museum). Really glad I visited there before re-reading as it adds quite a lot to the diary to be able to really visualise the space (and makes it seem even smaller than just imagining it does). Still powerful and poignant despite many years and a number of film/telly adaptations. 

Dinner, 30/4/18: Mexican Bake

This is a popular dinner in our house (along with other Tex-Mex things) - it's kind of like a lasagne, only Mexican. And easier.

Dinner, 29/4/18: Thai style mince with fragrant rice (Ainsley Harriot)

This is fairly  simple, and can use pork or turkey mince, or indeed, probably something like quorn as it has quite a lot of flavour. I chucked some broccoli on top to steam for the last ten minutes or so, which worked well. 

Books in

I went into Waterstones while shopping today, mainly to look for books suitable for my class book corner, and did really well, only picking up one book in the young adult section (the one at the back left), which is a sequel to a book Sarah and I have both read (Ink by Alice Broadway). And then I got to the tills and started chatting with the sales guy about the books of the month. Sigh. 

Dinner, 28/4/16: Vegetable Biryani

A fairly regular dish in our house, especially when there are sweet potatoes to be used up, or half a butternut squash. That was not the case on this occasion, as it happens, but it might have been!

Dinner, 27/4/18: Teriyaki Salmon Noodles

Very simple dish, with pak choi in with the noodles, but incredibly yummy.