Book: The Awakening of Miss Prim

The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin

Book description: Prudencia Prim is a young woman of high ideals, intelligence and achievement, with an extensive knowledge of literature and several letters after her name. But when she accepts the post of private librarian to a wealthy bibliophile in the secluded village of San Ireneo de Arnois, she is unprepared for what she will encounter there. Her employer, a philosopher and intellectual, is dashing yet contrarian, always ready with a stinging critique of her beloved Austen and Alcott. And the neighbours are also capable of charm and eccentricity in equal measure, determined as they are to preserve their singular little community from the outside world.
Thoughtful, gentle Prudencia might have hoped for friendship in San Ireneo but she didn't expect to find romance - nor did she expect the course of her new life to run quite so rocky, to offer challenge and heartache as well as discovery, joy and delicious regional pastries. The Awakening of Miss Prim is a delightfully unusual and entertaining tale of literature, love and the search for happiness.


What I thought:

**

It took me a while to get through this book because I found it pretty boring. The concept of this little town that's still set in its old fashioned ways is kind of cool but the way they all talked about books all the time made parts of the story line bland, especially since those books are ones I haven't read so I knew nothing about them.

Book read September 29th 2014.

Newest Member of Our Family - Charlie

We'd been thinking of getting a pet this year. We were actually thinking we'd get a rabbit and it would be closer to the end of the year, probably around Christmas.
Then we got a project from Chloe's school, she only has to do it in a few months but basically it says to have a pet and have photo's, talk about their characteristics etc. We could have just got a small pet like a fish but I've never liked fish, a pointless pet in my opinion since you can't play or interact with them.
So we thought we'd just get the pet we'd been thinking of earlier than we'd said and went to a couple of pet shops to look around. There were some cute rabbits... but then we saw some tiny puppies and we do all love dogs. We decided that even with it being harder work we would all rather have a dog we could all play with and have fun with. He's a mix of something with Maltese so he's only going to stay really small.
So here is the newest member of our family - little Charlie:

He follows everyone around and doesn't ever want to be alone. He loves following Elliot but goodness knows why because Elliot thinks he's really funny but likes to grab him. Chloe was very wary of him at first, she loved him when he's just sat still and liked stroking him but when he was playing and walking around she didn't like it. She started getting used to him really fast though and loves him now.

Book: Larger Than Life

Larger Than Life by Jodi Picoult

Book description: A researcher studying memory in elephants, Alice is fascinated by the bonds between mother and calf—the mother’s powerful protective instincts and her newborn’s unwavering loyalty. Living on a game reserve in Botswana, Alice is able to view the animals in their natural habitat—while following an important rule: She must only observe and never interfere. Then she finds an orphaned young elephant in the bush and cannot bear to leave the helpless baby behind. Thinking back on her own childhood, and on her shifting relationship with her mother, Alice risks her career to care for the calf. Yet what she comes to understand is the depth of a parent’s love.


What I thought:

*****

A very moving story that shows just how similar animals and people can be and how great the attachment between them can be. I'm glad this story will be continued in some way in a few months when Jodi's new book will be released, I look forward to see what else happens with Alice.

Book read September 9th 2014.

Minnie and Mickey Mouse Party Decorations

This year Chloe and Elliot had a joint birthday party for Chloe's third birthday and Elliot's first. Since we don't really know anyone with kids and Chloe doesn't have any of her own friends yet we figured we could get away with them having a party together before either of them wants their own themes and own friends at the party.

So we did a joint Mickey/Minnie mouse theme. Every time we saw any little thing while we were out shopping we got it - months in advance. But I'm glad because everything worked out so well together.

We had the party at Armando's parents house since it's a lot bigger than our place and most of Armando's friends live in that same neighborhood so it was easier for most people to go there.

Here's the decorations:

This is the little hanging decoration I put on the front door, I made it just out of cardboard and cotton string. It isn't perfect by any means but I was proud of it none the less. 

Two piñata's, one Minnie and one Mickey. I actually thought they were just going to be black not with faces but oh well. It took us ages to add all the sweets to them!

All the wall decorations. Red and black balloons dotted around the whole room. There was a Mickey helium balloon, we did buy a Minnie one too but sadly it hit a fan and popped the day before the party. I made the banners, the same as the hanging decoration on the front door - just with cardboard (the string for these one's was actually from when we bought Chloe some clothes at the disney store last year so it had little Mickey heads and writing on it). 

We used two table cloths. A white one underneath and a red one over the top that I'd added holes to so it was like Minnie's dress. We got all red, white and yellow plates/napkins/bowls. Most of the food was just bought and laid out but I did make fruit on a kebab stick which seemed to go down pretty well so I was happy about that. 

Last but not least was the cake. I designed it and got the bakery to make it. It took some explaining and they said the black part of the cake would have a very bitter taste but I think it tasted just like the rest of the cake when we ate it.

Well that's all the decorations from the birthday party. Simple looking but a lot of work went in to it all. I'm glad it all looked good together in the end and we got complimented on our creativity too which is always nice.

Day Trip

Tuesday 5th August 2014

We went out with a big group of friends first to a big park that sells pupusas (which is the national food here but I never understood the fascination). After eating a late breakfast we all walked around the park which is pretty big. We were looking for the maze that's in there but when we eventually found it we found out it was locked that day for some reason. After our walk around, some playing on the slides and some more snacks we left for our next destination. 

Right near the park a bit further up the hill there's cliffs which are called 'Puerta del Diablo' which in a English gets called Devils Gate. I've only been there once the whole time I've been here and that was before both of the kids were even born. Our walk up the mountains was a lot harder this time carrying the kids but it's worth it for all the lovely views.

We were all really hot and pretty tired after the trek up the hills so our last stop of the day was to get ice cream, both kids had a power nap in the car on the way there.

Book: The Other Half

The Other Half by Sarah Rayner

Book description: In the internationally bestselling author Sarah Rayner's The Other Half, Chloe, bright, hip and single, is a feature writer with ambitions to launch a magazine of her own. When she meets James, her potential new boss, she knows she shouldn't mix business with pleasure, but finds it impossible to resist...
Maggie appears to have it all. She's beautiful, a talented writer, and has a gorgeous husband. But something's not quite right: his job as a magazine publisher is keeping him in the city until late most evenings, and some nights he doesn't come home at all...
Told in the alternating voices of the mistress and the wife, this story of an affair is a sharp, seductive take on modern love.
Who, if anyone, comes out unscathed?
In writing that is lively, sexy and sharp, the international bestselling author Sarah Rayner explores modern-day relationships and age-old moral dilemmas.

Picture and description taken from Goodreads.com


What I thought:

****

I liked this story. It's quite a difficult thing to get attached to a character then read along as they go on an emotional roller coaster. It was interesting to read about an affair from the prospective of the 'other woman' and it really makes you think about what you would do in the same situation from either side. I hated how indecisive James was and much as I liked Chloe I couldn't empathise with what she was doing. The end did have everyone put in their own places but it was still left a bit open.

Book read 17th July 2014.

My Tattoo's: Favourite Quote

Saturday 21st June 2014

I've been saying for a while that I've craved a new tattoo and I've also always loved this quote so it only goes that I went on Saturday to book it and since the artist had no appointments at the time I ended up getting the tattoo there and then. 

'The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return'
It's on my right forearm. I didn't really plan on getting it done this big but when the stencil was all drawn out I liked how it looked. It's quite a sensitive area but since it was only black lines it didn't take too long.