01. Not our usual opera venue but fabulous to see Tosca this week. It’s in my top three operas – will never tire of the music (especially act III); loved the sets; loved settling into the music again (we didn’t get any opera last year); and although the possibility of hot chips at interval was strangely appealing, we didn’t succumb!
(image) Continue reading
Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. Continue reading
Butter by Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton) Continue reading
01. First week of the German Film Festival – very much enjoyed Foreign Language (although the mix of German and French meant following what little I can in German was almost impossible). Continue reading
Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. Continue reading
Cathy at 746 Books is hosting the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge again this year. As Cathy explains, it’s the most relaxed reading challenge you’ll participate in (swap books out, change your target, do whatever). The challenge is straightforward – read the books between June 1st and September 1st. Continue reading
In August 2002, I won the lottery. No, not cash, but I think something better. I was allocated a mothers group (groups were formed on the basis of postcode and when your baby was born). And 22 years later, we are still close friends – we meet regularly for dinner, have weekends away, and attempt to get as many of the children as possible together for an annual photo. We have supported each other through highs and lows, and celebrated milestones. There’s always a lot of laughter.
To mark the occassion of our ‘babies’ turning 21, we took a belated trip to Wadandi Boodja Country / Margaret River in Western Australia. For seven days, we ate the best food, drank the best wine (and gin), swan at the best beaches, had the best coastal views, and did lots of sight-seeing. And saw the aurora!
Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. Continue reading
I recently reviewed a memoir by Hadley Freeman, who had been diagnosed with anorexia as a teenager, so it was interesting to read a fictional account of the illness, this time from the perspective of a family member.
Ravenous Girls by Rebecca Burton tells the story of 14-year-old Frankie, who is trying to understand her older sister Justine’s admission to hospital with anorexia. Justine, a talented pianist, was about to begin studying music at university when anorexia takes over her life. Continue reading
The 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicks off tomorrow. Here are my preliminary thoughts but, as we know from previous years, the live performance can change everything (my picks are at the very end). Continue reading