25th of the month - part 3

Here is part 3 of my 25th of the month scrapbook. Parts 1 and 2 are here and here.
October found us on our holiday in Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands. The weather was beautiful in comparison to wet and windy Britain. On the 25th we had arranged to go to Oasis Park for a day trip. It was a lovely day and we got to go on a camel ride, which was fabulous. Although the girls were not too keen as we had to climb up the side of a very steep mountain and the camels kept heavy breathing in their ears.
We also got to see a seal show, where the seals came out and kissed the audience. There was also a crocodile show and a parrot show. We had a fabulous day there.

November 25th was a school day and I went into the girl's classroom to help them with their painting lesson. They were making flags using wax resist, which was a really fun activity, even though it was a little bit dangerous with the hot wax.

The girls then had dancing in the evening, so I took them to that. I then came back to start preparing my Christmas journal, which I hold my hands up and admit, I haven't actually finished yet!

December 25th - the best 25th of the whole year. Christmas Day. You may notice that some of the pictures are covered over, this is because on that day we had friends come to dinner and I know they would not want their pictures on the Internet, so I kept them covered. We had a lovely day, opening our presents in the morning, then preparing the dinner over a couple of glasses of wine. Our dog, was a little impatient about how long we were taking to open presents, so he decided to help himself to his presents. I also had a little accident and dropped all the cabbage on the floor just before I served it. I will never live that one down.

After dinner we played lots of party games, which were very funny and entertaining.

I feel bad as I forgot to start my new 25th of the month this month, so after much thought I decided I would give it a couple of months before restarting it, so I won't be posting 25th pictures for a while.

I have one more part of my 25th to show you and at present it I still have some work to do on it, so I may not show it for a couple of weeks.

I hope you like this little glimpse into my life. Thanks for stopping by.

Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding

Pages - 401

Publisher - Oxford University Press - Published 2006

Book 1 in the The Companions Quartet.

Challenges - Once Upon A Time and 100+.

This story is a children's novel and follows the gripping tale of Connie upon the discovery that she is a universal companion.

What's that I hear you ask?

A universal companion is a person who can communicate telepathically and work with any mythical creature.

For most of Connie's life, she has had a strange effect on animals of all kinds. She had to be removed from quite a few schools because she caused so much commotion with the school pets. So in desperation, Connie's parents send Connie to live with her eccentric aunt who Connie really isn't sure about.

Whilst staying at her aunt's, Connie becomes aware of strange events occurring involving her aunt and her weird friends out at the rocks. She eventually discovers that her aunt is part of an ancient secret society who protect legendary mythical creatures. Each member is assigned to a mythical creature and can only communicate with that breed. Connie is found to be able to communicate with all mythical creatures, making her a legend in her own lifetime and also putting her in grave danger.

Kullervo, a very dangerous mythical creature is set to ruin the world and bring it back under the control of mythical creatures. He has turned the Sirens first, who are part women, part bird and known to lure sailors to their death by using an enchanting song. They are responsible for recent deaths in the area of workers at the new oil refinery in town. The Sirens are intent on causing as much damage as possible to the oil refinery and the society and their mythical companions need to stop them. Connie is thrown into a dangerous, gripping ride to save the town, the people, the Sirens and herself.

This book really gripped me from the beginning. The descriptions within are vivid and detailed, you could actually picture yourself in the scenes. Connie is a strong and interesting character and you are rooting for her from the very beginning. The mixture of fantasy with reality is of equal balance, so you could actually believe the story to be true. There is a little touch of the Dr Dolittle lifestyle going on, but she can talk to the animals, even if they are mythical ones at that.f

I would definitely recommend it and I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series of four.

This was Julia Golding's second book and she has gone on to write three more in the series and quite a few other books too. Her first book The Diamond of Drury Lane won both the Waterstones Children's Book of the Year and the Nestles Children's Book Prize in 2006. There is a website connected to the quartet of Companion books where children can take a test to see if they could be a companion, you will find it here.

I for one will definitely be searching out some other books by Julia Golding.

Have you read any books by Julia Golding?

On the trail of the lonesome lobster.

In 1936 an internationally known photographer and artist called L.Moholy-Nagey came and settled in a little town called Littlehampton, situated by the sea and stayed for two years. Whilst he was there, he took a keen interest in the local fisherman and their catches each day, especially the lobsters. He decided to make a film about it, which was to become the first of its kind. It was the first underwater film ever to be shot and up until recently no one knew where it had been filmed.

L. Monology Nagey was a Bauhaus artist and has art work exhibited all over the world. Pieces of his work can be found in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. There is even an institute named after him in Budapest. His family have set up a foundation in his name in order to study his life and his work.

The lobster film is a 15 minute documentary which looks at the lives of the lobster fisherman in a thriving lobster fishing industry and how the lobsters interact under water. During the Easter holidays, a campaign to make this little known film reach a wider audience was set up and the Littlehampton Museum set up a trail to show exactly where parts of this film were shot.

They were even lucky enough to find one surviving member of the stars of the film and that was Peter Burtenshaw, who happened to be the child in the film getting ready to go out fishing with his father who owned the Gwendoline.
After we watched the film, Peter talked to us about what life used to be like during the 1930's in Littlehampton and how it had been a very busy fishing port then. If you saw it now, you would not believe it, as it has become a fairly quiet tourist attraction now.

This is a replica of the Gwendoline, which was the boat from the film.

This is an article in the museum about Peter's grandfather and uncle, who were also featured in the film.

After watching the film and talking to Peter, we headed off around the town to see where parts of the film were shot. This picture shows where the Gwendoline used to be moored in the 1930's

This picture shows what remains of the historic boatyards where they used to make the lobster pots. This is also the where the first Blue Peter lifeboat was made. I was also told that the white building was where Arthur Ransome, author of Swallows and Amazons, had his boat, The Swallow built. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any information to corroborate this.

This is a modern replica of Gwendoline, but very similar to how the boat would have been then.

This wall was where they filmed the bait being added to all the lobster pots. Apparently they would normally fill them inside, but Moholy found the lighting to dark and they were moved to this spot for location shots.

This used to be the old Bait Hut during the filming. Unfortunately it no longer seems to be in use as apparently, at really high tides it will flood.

This used to be a famous ice cream shop at the time of the film, known as Crolla's Ice shop. Opposite the shop, the fisherman would weigh and stack the lobster pots, ready to take on board.

On the tour, our last stop was the coast guard tower, where we were given the opportunity to go up and talk to the coastguard and get some lovely pictures of the river flowing out to the sea.

We really enjoyed this tour and found it fascinating to find out lots of information about a town near us. There are plans for a major exhibition about this film through the museum in 2010,with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund and more tours are also planned for the coming months.

I hope you have enjoyed a little bit of local history and a tour thrown in too. Thanks for stopping by.

Bad Blood by Lorna Sage

Pages - 281
Challenges - Non Fiction Five, 100+, In Her Shoes Challenge
This book won the Whitbread Prize For Biography in 2001.
I am also a little wary of biographies that have titles like Bad Blood, because there has been such an influx of biographies dealing with children being abused, that I am always concerned it is going to be of the same vein and I just can't read books like that. Luckily this book is not like that at all. It is quite a tragic story but there is nothing in it that would have made me not read it.
This memoir looks at three different marriages within Lorna's family. She looks at how these relationships made her the person she became. By being an integral part of her family, you realise why she strived so hard in her later life, as if she was always trying to clear the family name.
The first part of the book looks at the very destructive marriage of Lorna's adored grandfather, the local vicar who introduced Lorna to her love of books and her grandmother who never really grew up and took charge of her family and responsibilities. Her grandfather became destroyed by this unhappy marriage in the end and moved on to having two affairs, the second affair with his daughters best friend which shocked the small village they lived in and ruined his reputation.
The second part of the book deals with the marriage of Lorna's mum and dad. Lorna's mum never really recovered from her father's affair with her best friend. She spent most of her marriage secluded in her own house, also unable to take responsibility for her home and her family. Her father kept up a front by covering for her mother and obviously loved her completely.
The third part looks at the early relationship and marriage between Lorna and her husband Vic. Lorna ruined the family name and was seen to follow in her grandfathers footsteps by causing scandal to the family. Lorna fell pregnant before she left school and had to deal with the affect it had on all the family. During that time, it was the worst thing a girl could do, to be pregnant out of wedlock and she had to fight very hard in order to keep her child and to carry on her education. She eventually went on to university and Vic and Lorna were featured in the Daily Mail as the first married couple to graduate in the same subject at the same time and both get Firsts.
All through Lorna's life, you read about her love of literature, which she grasped with both hands from a young age. She had never needed much sleep and her doctor prescribed her with a light and a set of books to keep her occupied through the hours she no longer need to sleep through.
I enjoyed this book, it was interesting to be able to compare the three different marriages, but I would have liked the section on Lorna to be a bit longer. From the book, it is very clear how much Lorna adored her grandfather and writes about him in a way to try and win his redemption from everything wrongdoing he committed. She often writes scornfully about his antics, but there is definitely a firm underlying love for him. From the first couple of sentences you are aware that her grandfather wasn't your run of mill vicar. I couldn't help but think of the drunken vicar in Father Ted. See what you think.
' Grandfather's skirts would flap in the wind along the churchyard path and I would hang on. he often found things to do in the vestry, excuses for getting out of the vicarage (kicking the swollen door, cursing ) and so long as he took me he couldn't get up to much. I was a sort of hobble; he was my minder and I was his'
The book is partly set in places that are familiar to me, such as Tonypandy is South Wales. My family come from there and my aunt still lives there. Lorna's grandmother owned the little shop up amongst the houses and I couldn't help but imagine my nan visiting the shop when she lived there as it would have been one of a few shops in the area.
It was an interesting biography and I am really glad I read it. I don't know if I would have picked it myself, so I thank Annie for lending it to me. I would definitely have liked to read more about Lorna, but she obviously felt that the story of her grandfather was more interesting than her own life story. Personally I found her own story gripped me more, as she defied the way teenage pregnancies were treated during that era and went onto pave the way for other young unmarried mothers to achieve an impressive education and further along the line have a really successful career.
Lorna Sage was a professor of English at the University of East Anglia and also wrote a couple of non fiction books. She passed away in January 2001 after witnessing the success of her memoirs.
Has anybody else read this book?Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday Salon- A thing for fantasy.

Good morning Sunday Saloners - I have found this week, that I am verging on a fantasy and Young Adult book obsession. Anyone else have the same obsessions as me?

When I walk into Waterstones these days, I am bypassing the books on the tables which are all in the bestseller list and heading straight to the fantasy books hidden at the back and then heading to the fantasy books in the Young Adult section. I have discussed this with a couple of my friends and we have come to the conclusion that we were deprived during our teen years. Books were very much segregated then and you went straight from children fantasy books to adult stories. I don't remember any books that fitted in between apart from The Lord Of The Rings series, which I admit I have never read. So I feel that I and many other 30 something women are making up for it now.

Anyway back to my reading week, this week I have been flitting between three books. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. I am desperate to finish this book as I seem to have been reading it for ever. Not that I am not enjoying it, as it is a beautiful story, I just keep getting distracted.

Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman - this is my first reading venture into Alice Hoffman books and so far, so good.

Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding is a lovely children's book dealing with people who have special powers to communicate with mythical creatures.

I finished reading Bad Blood by Lorna Sage which I will review tomorrow. I also read The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen and the second book in the Spooks series by Joseph Delany - The Spook's Curse.

These are the three books I hope to get started this week.

Beloved by Toni Morrison - my first Toni Morrison book and a book to put towards my 1% challenge. I have heard so much about Toni Morrison and this book, I hope it meets my expectations. This book is based loosely on the life and legal case of the slave Margaret Garner.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - another book for the 1% challenge. This book was a number one bestseller in Mexico for two years before the rest of the world found it and is a book set out in monthly installments about the life of Tita De La Garza and also features a recipe each month too.

The Seventh Tide by Joan Lennon - another fantasy fix. This is a book about teenage shape shifters crossing the time travel barrier.

So that is me set for the week, what will you be reading?

What is your favourite word?

I really try hard not to do more than one post a day, but I just had to today as I wanted to enter the Creative Therapy challenge. You can find Creative Therapy here. The challenge was to scrap your favourite word and I just couldn't resist as my favourite word is Serendipity. I just love the sound of the word and love what it means - a happy and unexpected discovery. It has been my favourite word since I discovered it in a dictionary as a teenager. I even bought the film Serendipity with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale in just because I liked the word. Luckily it is a fabulous film and has become one of my firm favourites. This is why I called my blog Serendipity.
I tried to make my LO look like my blog and I am really pleased with how it has turned out.

Whilst at Ally Pally I bought lots of fake paper brads which I have placed on the flowers. I am really pleased with them and they are so much easier to attach than brads and definitely so much cheaper at a pound a bag.

So after scrapping my favourite word, I wondered what your favourite words would be? So let me know what word do you love?

Pencil Lines challenge and other scrap Layouts.

Finally, with the kids back at school, I have had the opportunity to do some scrapping, so I though I would share these three LO's with you. Sorry this post is a bit picture heavy.
This first one was for the Pencil Lines challenge,where you had to use a sketch to design a LO. If you are interested in using a Pencil Lines design, you will find the blog here. I used one of my favourite pictures of the girls. I wanted to show how they are growing up so fast. The paper is a mixture of DCVW, Papermania and Dovecraft.
This is a tag from My Mind's Eye, a collection I bought at Ally Pally.

This LO is another favourite photo of hubby and me. I kept the picture black and white as I wanted to keep the colours in the LO simple. I had to stick the flower on as I marked the photo, luckily it matched the LO.

This last LO is one of hubby at Earnley Gardens last week, with his new bird. If he could have brought this bird home he would have! I can just see my cat licking his lips in anticipation.

The paper is the Penny Lane range by My Mind's Eye. I cut around the bird and put the photo behind it. This is quite a simple LO for me and I am fighting the urge to add more to it.

The tag is from Bo Bunny. So there are a few scrap pages that I have been busy creating this week. What creative things have you been doing this week?

Pop back tomorrow for Sunday Salon. Thanks for stopping by.

25th of the month - part 2

I have been a bit slow at putting these pictures up, so I do apologise. I started a couple of weeks ago, showing you my 25ths of the month and never got round to putting more on. This is the second installment, showing July, August and September of last year. If you wish to have a look at the first installment, they are here.
July found me elated. School had finished for the summer and I knew that I wouldn't not be teaching again in September as I had taken some time out to try something new. It was really hot and we all hoped the weather would be in for the summer, alas it was not to be.

The day was spent down by the beach and then we headed into town for the festival with a fair and fireworks. I did try to take pictures of the fireworks, but I am not very good at taking firework photos.

August 25th we were on holiday for a week in the Isle of Wight. I have never been there, so it was my first visit. On the 25th, we visited a lovely thatched village called Godstone. It was beautiful and very quaint.

There was a lovely shop there called The Christmas Cottage and it was run by an artist. She had painted all the caravans outside and had some beautiful paintings inside too. We also went to the Donkey Sanctuary,where we were surrounded by all the lovely rescued donkeys, happy to be petted and enjoying the attention.

September was not a good month for me and the 25th found me recovering from really bad food poisoning which made me lose half a stone in a couple of days. I was very lethargic and struggled to do anything.

Hubby was preparing to go on a week long fishing trip and I was looking forward to the Big Stamp and Scrapbook show in London. This was also when I read all of the Twilight books in one go. I can definitely say, those books changed my reading habits.

That is the 2nd installment for now, I will bring the third installment next week. Hope to put some other scrapping up tomorrow as this blog has been very book heavy this week.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Pages 276

Published by Hodder and Stoughton in 2008

Challenges - 100+ and Library.

This is one of those books I have been waiting to get my hands on for ages and when the library called to say it was in, I was so excited. I absolutely love Sarah Addison Allen and this is only her second book.

I read her first book Garden Spells last year and thought it was fantastic, a romantic book with a touch of Practical Magic, and an apple tree that keeps throwing apples, I was desperate to read her second book too.

The Sugar Queen did not disappoint and I actually read it in one sitting, to the point where I am seriously lacking sleep today because of it.

The Sugar Queen is about a young woman called Josie, who comes from a wealthy background and has got it into her head, that because she was such an awful child, she has to spend the rest of her life waiting on her invalid, haughty, widowed mother to make up for it. Josie takes her to all her clubs and lunches and beauty treatments without a thought for herself. Basically Josie has no life.

She wakes up one morning to find Della Lee, the local prostitute and minor offender camped out in her wardrobe, refusing to move and needing somewhere to stay and sort her life out. Josie is unable to get rid of her and is secretly scared that Della will tell her mother about her secret stash of sweets, cakes, romantic novels and travel brochures hidden in the false back of her cupboard.

So Josie is stuck with Della for the foreseeable future, keeping her secret from the rest of the household.

Della is on a mission to change Josie's dull life and sends her on various errands where she encounters news friends. She becomes friendly with Chloe a cafe owner who has split up with her boyfriend and also in need of a friend. Together they become good friends and help each other to change their lives.

I am not going to tell you any more because it really would spoil this book as their are lots of very magical things that happen. This is not your average chick lit book and would definitely appeal to Alice Hoffman fans.

The characters all have unusual qualities. Chloe is my favourite, as she attracts books. All through her life, books would just turn up and basically follow her around until she read them. During this book, Chloe is constantly followed by forgiveness books, which keep appearing to help her solve her relationship problems. I would love to be Chloe and have books just turn up begging to be read!

The book is set in Bald Slope Ski Resort just before the winter holiday makers arrive and takes you through a magical and food filled Thanksgiving. The book is packed full of scrumptious food references, from the sugary frost, to the lemon tart lotions and the peppermint oil house fragrance.

I absolutely loved this book and it will definitely be in my top ten by the end of the year.

I can't say there is anything I didn't like, only that I don't have a pile of Sarah Addison Allen books left to read.

Sarah Addison Allen's next book doesn't come out until 2010 and is called The Girl Who Chased the Moon and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

I have just noticed that Sugar Queen has only just come out in paperback in America this week, so go buy it and make me jealous that you have the thrill left of still having this book to read.

Here is Sarah's website which has some fun competitions on.

The Spooks Curse by Joseph Delaney

Pages 425

Published by Bodley Head in 2005

Challenges - 100+ and Once Upon A Time.


Last week I read and reviewed the first one of this series of books called The Spook's Apprentice and you will find the review here.

I loved this book, just as much as I did the first. The story is riveting and I found I couldn't put it down. The only difference with this book was that it was a lot darker than the first..

This book finds the Spook unwell and Thomas is sent off to save the Spook's brother from a rather nasty boggart, which is sucking all the blood from his body. Thomas works really hard to save him, but unfortunately he dies.

The Spook and Thomas then set out to Priestown for the funeral of the Spook's brother. Priestown is as it sounds, a town full of churches and priests. The Spook is concerned about the change in the town and reveals to Thomas that he has unfinished business there, dealing with the underlying evil that is slowly taking over the town. The evil comes in the form of the Bane, a really rather nasty creature who takes over people's minds and sucks their blood for strength. He lurks underground in the catacombs and the Spook knows he has to face him and finish him off once and for all, before the town suffers any more.

Whilst in Priestown, the Quisitor, arrives with a cart full of witches to kill. He is a nasty character of the Matthew Hopkirk type, accusing people of witchcraft, torturing them, taking their houses and their belongings and then killing them. One of the witches he has caught, is Alice, the witch who saved Thomas in the first book. Thomas must find a way to save her.
The Quisitor has always wanted to capture the Spook for a long time and manages to catch him in Priestown. Luckily Thomas escapes and then sets about the task of saving his master and Alice. He manages to get into the church where they are held, but runs into the Bane on his journey. The Bane tries to lure Thomas to the dark side, but fails and Thomas manages to rescue all the prisoners except the Spook. Alice is free, but falls again to the dark side and allows the Bane to help her in turn for the price of her life.

Eventually with Alice's and the Bane's help as he must do Alice's bidding three times before she belongs to him, they manage to rescue the Spook. However, the Quisitor follows in hot pursuit.

Also in this book, we learn more about Thomas's mother, who it becomes clear is a witch, who was originally quite evil, but was saved by Thomas's dad and is now a good witch.

The story then starts to get a lot darker, as the Bane gathers strength, he carries out some very wicked acts. It even had me cringing at his actions. The Spook then sets out on a mission to finally rid the world of the Bane.

I am so caught up in this series now, I can't wait to read the third one. It really is quite a dark book and I am beginning to wonder if the series will get darker as the books go on. The books definitely have the Harry Potter feel about them, as they start off nicely, but then get darker and more evil as the series progresses.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone enjoys the Harry Potter type fantasy. I am not sure of I would let any younger children read it, as there are some rather nasty scenes in it. Everyone else, read them, you will love them too.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Stamp and Scrapbook Show in Alexandra Palace

On Saturday, I went to London with some friends for the The Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show. This is where I go to get my scrapbooking fix, spend all my birthday money and buy everything in sight.
The show is held in Alexandra Palace and it normally takes us about 3 hours to get there, so we are usually tired before we start.
Here is the view of London from Alexandra Palace. You can just make out the Gherkin building on the lefthand side.

This is the entrance to Alexandra Palace, the building is absolutely beautiful and worth going to visit just to look at.

The entrance hall, full of avid scrapbookers eager to make their purchases.

One of the statues in the entrance hall.

The hall was a lot busier than normal and the stalls were jam packed with everyone trying to get the best bargains. At one point they had to announce they were opening all the doors as it was hot, people were nearly fainting.

This is all of the us, after we had finished buying lots of goodies. It really is an exhausting day, but we wouldn't miss it for the world.

Here are the some of the goodies I bought on the day. I had gone with the intention of not buying any paper and that disappeared second stall in. I actually came back with stacks of paper, as the packs of paper were being sold off so cheaply.

I bought lots of cardboard templates which allow me to draw and cut my scrap pages into interesting shapes. I also got a new bag, as it was also being sold so cheaply.

I bought lots and lots of stamps, which I love. So you can see I had a fabulous day and now I can't wait to get scrapping again. With the kids now back at school, I am hoping to have a scrap day by the end of the week.

My only disappointment about Saturday was that I couldn't get a new picture of Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter film. They have made a permanent reminder of the film at Kings Cross Station. However, on this visit, it was all cordoned off, so we couldn't have any pictures taken. So I am afraid you will have to make do with this old one.

Thanks for stopping by.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Just before I start this review, I just want to say well done to all the book bloggers who took part in the Dewey 24 Read-a-thon. You all did so well to complete so many hours and raise money. Also well done to the organisers too. I really hope to take part in the October one.

Back to my review.

Pages - 137



First published in Great Britain in 1956. This copy republished in 2000.


Challenges - 100+ authors, Library Books and A to Z Titles

Who remembers rushing home from school, changing out of your school uniform, grabbing some much needed snacks and turning on the television to watch Little House on the Prairie, desperate to see what trouble Laura had got into in this time. Am I on my own here?

Remember Melissa Gilbert playing Laura and the legendary Michael Landon as Pa.

I loved Little House on the Prairie and remember nagging my mother to buy the books for me to read. Twenty years later, I found myself wanting to read them again, so off I popped to the library and there sitting lonely on the book shelf, not wanted by all these modern children, was Little House in the Big Woods.

This is the first book by Laura Ingalls Wilder and deals with the first house Laura lived in which was completely alone in the middle of the woods. The story depicts a year in the life of the Ingalls family, beginning with their preparation for winter and taking us right through to the following years preparations.

When reading this book, you feel like you are living with them, desperate to help them bring in the harvests of pumpkins and squashs, cutting, curing and smoking the meat ready for winter, collecting the maple syrup from the trees and turning it into cakes and sweets. I felt hungry all the way through this book, everything made sounded so delicious.

The lives of the Ingalls sounded so simple and easy, yet in reality they would have found it hard. Everything they ate had to be grown or cooked by themselves. They worked long hours to keep food on the table. They very rarely saw anyone during winter, as it was too far to travel. They lived in fear of bears and panthers in the woods. All their clothing would be made by hand by Ma, toys were often made out of wood by Pa. Barely anything would be bought from the store. I found myself almost wishing for this hard but simplistic lifestyle. Imagine the reading I could get done with no television blaring in the background.

My favourite part has to be when they cooked the maple syrup and then all rushed out to get a plateful of snow to dribble the maple syrup into, thus making hard candy. Yum!

I loved rereading this book as I found it very nostalgic, taking me back to my childhood when time seemed endless and I could read to my hearts content.

If you have never read this book then I would highly recommend you do. If you don't want to read it, then attempt to drag your children away from the television, their DS's, their Hannah Montana books and get them to read this beautifully, flavoursome classic, just so they realise how easy life is for them now.