What I’m Into – September 2014

How long ago were the summer holidays again? Only one month? September has been busy, stressful and physically challenging, though thankfully we’ve also had some good news and great weather. Still I’m glad October is here and I can give Baked Pumpkin Cheese Fondue a try. It’s totally going to happen.

Anyway, I’m joining with Leigh Kramer and looking back at all the things that have been going on in my life in September.

What I’m Watching

Regular Shows: Dr Who, The Great British Bake-Off

I’ve lost interest in both The 100 and Under the Dome, which have been increasingly underwhelming and ludicrous as time went on.

I’m having the hardest time restarting Friends after my August hiatus, what’s up with that?

I’ve binge watched Outlander, season 3 of Once Upon A Time and last Sunday’s episode, and season 3 of Parks & Rec. Don’t ask how I’ve been able to watch these shows that are not currently showing in the UK. But basically, I loved every minute of every single one of them (especially Outlander, see below).

What I’m Reading

I finally found A Dance With Dragons: Part 1at the library and devoured it in a couple of days. Great book, can’t wait to read Part Two.

My blog Reader filled with reviews and Tumblrs about new show Outlander (Cross Stitch, UK), which was rewarding and frustrating in equal measures at the time (before I found a way to watch it). It is the TV version of my favourite book series but one which I tend to only recommend to a select few due to some of the content in the same way that I don’t recommend Game of Thrones the TV show to everyone either. It’s a matter of taste but some people find the violence and the naughty bits (even in a marital context) too graphic. Or maybe it’s because I remember I was 16 when I read the first book and my mum’s eyes popped a little when she tried it after me. I’ve genuinely enjoyed all the recaps and gif sets I found online despite all the spoilers but since I’ve read the (enormous) books about 10 times each, it was just a lot of fun. I am on the library waiting list to read the latest one (number 8 in the series!) Written in My Own Heart’s Blood. I’ll buy it for sure but due to lack of space on the bookshelves I’ll be waiting for the paperback.

What I’m Listening To

Let it goooooo, let it gooooo! Because Luciole is 15 months and can sing along to some of the chorus – minus most of the words but you can still make it out. Da da GO! Da da GO!

Favourite Picture

I know I shouldn’t like this one as much as I do. Badger beer is very tasty, I can’t begrudge her that.

What I’ve Been Doing

• I dove right back into the swing of things, also known as ‘I don’t remember what it’s like to be on holiday and it’s only been a day‘.
• I met up with friends in the famed town that is Romford, Essex and ate too much cheese, cake and Haribos.
• I started to clear stuff up at home. I promise, I did. I even bought a table at a baby stuff nearly-new sale for next Saturday.
• In completely unexpected news, I am now on Tumblr. I had zero intention of doing this, right to the second when I pressed the create button. Tumblr is a weird place full of very immersed fandom members and it scares me a little. I’m really only on the periphery and might never use it properly but I love commenting on things and it bugged me that the only way to do that on Tumblr is to have an account with them. So now I have one, for better or for worse.

At Home on the Blog

I finally wrote that post about our passport difficulties for Luciole, and how it really was a miracle that we got it in time for our holidays.

I’m going to get six parcels full of fresh spices in the post over the next six months and start my Beginner’s Journey into Indian Curries from scratch, all in honour of Badgerman’s 40th birthday. Between Luciole being ill, my cut finger and other things, I’ve not yet hosted the first one, which was due this month but you can expect a post in the next couple of weeks. That is, unless the roof caves in or something similarly disastrous.

And then of course, I cut my thumb, went to the emergency department and subsequently sang the praises of my super sharp knives…

Ah, yes, I discovered Washi tape and used it in some clever ways. If you’re into craft, it’s a handy little thing to have. If you’re not, well, it’s a bit weird but pretty.

In case you haven’t noticed, I updated my blog design! It was long overdue and it’s not perfect but it will do, don’t you think? I unveiled it with a post raving about this fab design website called canva, which I’m not linking to here because you should all totally check it out, but only once you’ve read the post.

Luciole was ill last week and I talked about how everyone in the UK (and probably the US and 75% of the rest of the world) gets freaked out when they hear the word suppository. It sure is a culture clash.

Last but not least, another post about cultural differences: you think you know how things work, and then preschool happens and it’s a whole new world of discomfort.

And that’s it folks! Check out all the other September entries over at:

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What I’m Into – August 2014 Edition

My artistic landscape gardener of a brother’s gorgeous garden

Ah, Summer. I loved you whilst you were here. But it looks like you’ve gone and aren’t coming back! We’ve had a great summer, full of parties and a long holiday feasting and sadly for August, not a lot of sun! So let’s join in with Leigh Kramer and recap this busy month.

What I’m Watching

Regular shows: I’ve caught up with The 100 and the Great British Bake-Off (oh the drama…) since coming back from holiday, and of course, Dr Who has just started again, yay!

Emma Approved concluded, and I have no plan to start watching another online show at present, and that’s it for tv and films. We watched a fair amount of Tinkerbell at my parents but little else.

I’ve also not watched any Friends over the last month however so I’ll be getting back on it in September.

What I’m Reading

To my astonishment, I won a couple of books at the end of July, and so whilst on holiday I had the pleasure of reading The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was an enjoyable read, and you can take a look at my short review on goodreads.

I spent a lot of time reading Tsh Oxenreiders’ Organized Simplicity: A Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living in order to get in the right frame of mind to tackle the bottomless pit of clutter that is my house. I’ve not finished it, but I’ve started putting its recommendations into action. (as an aside, I’m embarrassed to confess that I have no idea how to pronounce ‘Tsh’; is it like Tish? If anyone knows, please leave a comment, thanks!)

I also read What Type am I?: Discover Who You Really are by Renee Baron, which is an easy-to read MBTI Personality Types for Dummies – style book, and confirmed that I am indeed an ISTJ. Hello, me!

What I’m Listening To

I had the music video channel on a lot this month and it was an interesting experience. Whenever I visit France, there’s always a typically French wispy-voiced waif earnestly simpering a ballad in duet with an equally smarmy bloke; and there was certainly a bit of that going on. But there were also a few catchy offerings, like the number one from Black M ‘Sur Ma Route‘, and Cats On Trees ‘Siren Call‘.

Favourite Picture

What happens when you buy new shoes for your child? All the bling comes out!

Le Pont St Etienne, Limoges, France

What I’ve been doing (and notable feasts)

• We kicked off the month with Badgerman’s 40th birthday party, which was just a big excuse to eat lot of barbecued meat, including the delicious Moroccan merguez below. I was witness to some amazing physical prowess from one of the guests, who managed to take a bite out of an enormous sandwich comprising of skirt steak, a whole flat mushroom and blue cheese sauce. I was too busy doing the same to take a picture.

• Two days later, we left behind a rather large amount of trifle, banoffee pie and a freezer full of skirt steak to our lovely house-sitters, who helped us keep the flies at bay by eating all the leftovers and leaving the place way cleaner than we’d left it.
• I am officially not a fan of long car journeys with kids. But we survived the two days it took us to get to the middle of Nowheresville, France. After that it was all fun and frolics (minus the sun), mostly eating cheese and dry sausage and drinking Belgian beer.
• Badgerman ate this thing:

It’s salmon on a bed of cucumber and apple and 5 berry cream, served with a Piquillo pepper sorbet. I had a bite (I was only allowed one :-p ) and yeah, it was really quite amazing, especially that initially weird sorbet.

At Home on the Blog

• August was a light month. I had minimal interaction with the internet and focused on having fun with the girls and reading. I only gave in and posted after visiting a French doctor, which was an odd affair.
• Since I got back home last week, I shared my new-found resolution to keep my house tidy, and this time, I have a cunning plan.

And so that’s it for August! I should have plenty to report in September once I get back into the swing of things.

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What I’m Into – July 2014 Edition

July has been great! It has felt like a proper summer so far, with sun and heat galore, except when we held birthday parties and then it rained a bit. It has also been super busy, filled with parties and lots of cooking. And it’s not the end. Another birthday party on Saturday and then we’re off on holiday. I cannot wait!

What I’m Watching

I finished season 2 of Orphan Back, and I Did Not See That Ending Coming! What an awesome show.

I also finished season 2 of Parks & Rec with great excitement because Rob Lowe! and Adam Scott! But I’m now gutted that the BBC has unfathomably decided not to carry on with the next season, which leaves me confused, angry and, just whyyyy? Why would you do this to me? I’ve been fairly spoiled for the show thanks to Buzzfeed and other internet sites and I’m just really cross I won’t be able to get any more for the foreseeable future. Where can I go to watch the rest now?

I’ve also started to watch The 100, which looks fairly promising but I will hold off a bit before making a final judgement, as I can’t see how it’s going to keep going past one or two seasons.

Films: I watched One Day, which I enjoyed but according to RottenTomatoes.com, loads of people disliked it. Whatever, it’s made me really want to read the book. Pass me the tissues though, what a horrible ending.

I’m continuing my watch-all-of-Friends project, which has now taken me to Season 6. Season 5 is  my favourite by far, because of all the Monica & Chandler awesomeness.

Things to look forward to in August: the Great British Bake-Off. I always miss the first couple of weeks due to holidays, but there is no sweeter pleasure than to watch a handful of amateurs try their hand at making beautiful cakes, biscuits and breads in a really interesting and varied competition that leaves you wanting to eat everything. With extra sass by Mel and Sue.

What I’m Reading

Not a lot of reading done this month again, due to an awful lot of social things going on. I plan on catching up whilst on holiday in August.

I did win some books though! I entered three separate competitions on Mumsnet and won all three. I’m so excited! The first one to arrive was Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things, which sounds very good indeed… I am now awaiting the other two with baited breath, which are Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris and Ellie’s Magical Bakery: Best Cake for a Best Friend (Ellies Magical Bakery) by Ellie Simmonds (who won 2 gold medals at the Paralympic Games in London a couple of years ago).

What I’m Listening To

There’s been an awful lot of dancing to Pharrell’s Happy with the girls. It’s definitely been our song of the summer so far. But right now, for better or for worse, I’m totally addicted to Sia’s Chandelier, and I’m giving it a good go singing along as well. I might have to sing it next time I go to karaoke. On the other hand, I’m not quite sure what to make of the video; it is both beautiful and chaotic and the girl dancing is amazing but exhausting at the same time.

Favourite Pictures

 

My girls are so cute!

What I’ve Been Doing

– I made some party decorations (hence the butterfly in this post’s header) and cooked an inordinate amount of food for Little Girl’s 3rd birthday. Badgerman’s 40th birthday is on 31st July but his barbecue isn’t until August 2nd. Still, So Much Food.

– To my shame, we did nothing whatsoever on 14th July, the French National Day, or ‘Bastille Day’ as non-French people call it. I was still recovering from all the work from Luciole’s birthday and prepping for Little Girl’s, and felt all cooked-out.

– Badgerman made the cake on Little Girl’s birthday and it was gorgeous. Not bad for a man who had never baked before!

 

– We attended other lovely little people’s birthday parties.

– Sorting out Luciole’s passport was stressful and I haven’t blogged about it yet! Let’s just say that it is against all odds that we are in possession of a British passport for her considering the fact that just this week, the Passport Office went on a 2-day strike due to staff shortages. Two months ago, they also made the national news headlines because of the severe delays in producing passports. We were expecting at the very minimum for it to take 6 weeks, which would have brought its completion date to tomorrow (and we’re going on holiday Monday so STRESS). Well, it turned up a whole week ago. It is nothing short of a miracle, and I do mean ‘an actual miracle that we prayed for’. You may call it coincidence if you wish and I’ll accept that. Except it really was an impossible situation and there is no logical explanation for the early arrival apart from our application somehow appeared at the top of the pile.

As a consequence we now couldn’t be any more bi-national if we tried. Badgerman and Luciole both have British passports, whereas Little Girl and I have a French one. The only reason Luciole hasn’t got a French passport is, you guessed it, French Bureaucracy. More to come about that saga soon, once my nerves have recovered.

– The potty training with Little Girl has been another source of stress and yet we seem to have turned a corner.

– We’ve had a series of thunderstorms which culminated a couple of days ago when the storm stopped above our house, let out an almighty crack and broke our internet. I mean this literally, there was a crack and the smell of burning and a dead router. I am only online thanks to the wonders held within the mythical man-cupboard, where old routers go to die (or just to rest, as was the case this time, phew). The new router is due to arrive during our holidays in France, very handy.

My favourite new social media tools

– Unsplash: I was introduced to Unsplash last month through one of the What I’m Into contributions, and I’ve already made some good use of it. It hosts copyright-free photos which you can use, change and whatever else provided you properly link to the author. The photos are stunning and of superb quality and the website itself shows a lot of respect for the art of photography. The site is updated once a week with 10 new photos so I selected to subscribe to the email so I get the latest straight into my inbox. Simple and effective, and just what I was looking for.

– IFTTT: it’s the best thing ever, thank you Lynn from Salt & Caramel! It’s not just for bloggers but for anyone with a social media presence. IFTTT literally stands for If This Then That and allows you to set up recipes for your social media platforms to talk to each other. It works just like the Outlook email rules. For example, I have set it up so that If I create an Instagram picture Then it gets automatically posted to Twitter with a visible picture (rather than just the Instagram link). This is better than the share option within Instagram itself, and makes the photo more likely to get retweeted, which as us bloggers know is Really Really Important and What Social Media Really Is All About.

I also set it up so that my WordPress blog posts get posted automatically onto my personal Facebook page. I may live to regret this but as my blog is not self-hosted, I have some limitations and one of these is that I can only select one place where WordPress will publish directly onto Facebook when a new post comes out. I have chosen to post to the A Frog At Large Facebook Page (because, duh) but when I started to put the occasional post on my personal account I got a lot of interest from my friends (thanks, friends, I love you!!), and I want to continue in that vein (although, please leave comments on the blog itself, not just on Facebook!).

At Home On The Blog

• It’s been a good month, which I kicked off by reminiscing about the sitcom Friends as part of my watch-all-of-Friends project, because, would you believe it, it will be 20 years in September since it first appeared on TV. I don’t know about you, but it made me feel old.
• I was also invited to take part in #mywritingprocess Twitter party and I shared some tips on my writing process, which is something I didn’t know I had until I started to write the post.
• I made the controversial argument that French music isn’t all bad; you’re welcome to challenge me on that one…
• I mentioned above that we’re pretty much done on the potty training front. It hasn’t been without tears, loss of hair and other unmentionable things however.
• Then we’ve got all the birthday posts! I bemoaned the loss of my toddler as Little Girl has moved on to, well, little girl territory, and I shared the recipe for her delicious cherry birthday cake.
• And finally, I got new glasses for free, which is well worth celebrating if you ask me.

And this is all that happened in July! Check out Leigh Kramer’s blog for more links.

 

What I’m Into – June 2014 Edition

Late afternoon by the old Brighton pier

Good grief. It’s that time again and I feel like the month has only just begun. Where has June gone? What have I done with it? I haven’t got a clue and it’s an unsettling thought.

What I’m Watching

Regular shows: Orphan Black, Parks & Rec, Emma Approved (web-based).

I decided to start watching The Good Wife again despite the fact that I missed half a season, right before the devastating bit that everyone was spoiled for after it was leaked online. I love this show, and I am not sorry. But I will have to watch the missing episodes if there is a rerun in the future.

The most exciting thing I did this month was to start a complete re-watch of all 10 seasons of Friends. I’ve never done a sitcom marathon of this size before and I got a bit giddy at the thought, especially when I realised that there is a load of episodes I have never seen before in the latter seasons. I’ve already watched the first three seasons (in a week, eek!) and I have questions, which I’m sure were answered by everyone 10 years ago but there’s nothing like a re-watch to make you notice things you’d never seen before. Like, Ross, I hate you, you hideous Nice Guy.

What I’m Reading

I haven’t got a clue what I read this month. I’ve tried to continue the books I’d already started and just couldn’t get into it, again! Let’s call it The ‘Friends‘ Effect. I did read one book from start to finish, The Ocean At The End of The Lane, and I highly recommend it. You can always check out my Goodreads account to see all the books I didn’t finish this month.

What I’m Listening To

I’ve had the Spotify UK top list on a loop this month but I always start with the same song, West Coast by Lana Del Rey, because it’s gorgeous (although I haven’t got a clue what she is talking about, probably nothing good!).

 Favourite Picture

 

What I’ve Been Doing

• Mostly, I’ve been looking after the girls and it has felt just about enough to cope with.
• I did organise Luciole’s first birthday party, which was eventful in itself but turned out wonderfully. One down, two to go!

On The Blogosphere

• The scary ham is very scary indeed.
• You’d have thought there would be nothing left to say about The Lord of the Rings movie, especially after so many years, and then comes this thoughtful post about how in the book the Shire was actually very much touched by the war and why the fact that this aspect was missed in the movie is a real shame and makes it a poorer film even though the movie was really long enough already.
• Dads Aren’t Dumb – or useless or second-rate parents worthy only of ‘babysitting duties’.

At Home on the Blog

I kicked off with Naughty Children and Using Words Wisely, which is a challenging topic I need to remind myself of every day, because words mean things and it matters what we say to our children, and by extension how we speak to anyone.

Then I hit a dry run so I posted poetry because I was feeling bad about the blog being neglected – and also because I found a poem I’d attempted to write out in calligraphy and thought, what the heck, it’s not completely terrible so let’s post it (here’s my writing process for you, impressive, isn’t it?).

Finally, my baby girl turned one and we braved the elements to celebrate her life French-style, with a massive buffet.

 

Ad that’s it for June! As usual, I’m joining with Leigh Kramer for the What I’m Into link-up.

 

 

What I’m Into – May 2014 Edition

May flowers

After a good and busy start of the month, May turned cold and dreary, not least because the house was beset with colds and coughs. I was the last one to fall but by then I’d already lost quite a bit of sleep and in my weakened state, the cough has got hold of me and threatened not to leave me again. I have had a record number of tired and cranky days but I’m finally over it, yay!

What I’m Watching

My regular tv shows:  we finished Castle season 3 (what a cliffhanger, but of course she can’t die so let’s move on to season 4 already. Except not, because it’s Channel 5 and who knows whether we’ll get to see Castle again); Person of Interest, Parks & Rec (season 2) and Orphan Black (getting weirder by the minute – Allison is my favourite character and the most terrifying soccer mum ever).

Films:

The Artist: I loved it, even more so because I was already a fan of Jean Dujardin through his French comedy work on a sitcom called Un gars une fille in the early noughties (A Bloke A Girl – only available in French, which follows the daily tribulations of a couple); he was already a well-known figure in France prior to winning his Oscar.

I watched the 2007 BBC version of Jane Eyre. Pff, let me fan my face before I type this up! It’s taken me until now and this series to really ‘get’ Jane Eyre. The movie with Michael Fassbender failed to move me, as had the 1996 one with Charlotte Gainsbourgh. In film or book, I couldn’t warm to Jane, who seemed to have lots of thoughts and opinions and chose to keep them to herself, and Mr Rochester, who was just really rude and secretive. Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson at last enlightened me as to why Jane and Mr Rochester’s relationship is one of the best there is. Ruth’s Jane was pouty but passionate in nature and once she dared, unrestrained in expressing it. Toby Stephens’ Rochester really got under my skin, portraying a heart-broken man putting up as best a front as he can in the face of a bleak and lonely future. What puzzles me most is that Rochester is supposed to be this unattractive man whose rough appearance fits in with his frightsome demeanor but Stephens is anything but ugly (imho). Or maybe these days people think that unless a man has a pretty face then he cannot be attractive, which is a shame. Sure Stephens, and Fassbender for that matter, aren’t the ‘pretty’ men most favoured by the casting agents of today but they have strong and interesting features and well, also REALLY good acting that takes interesting to plain attractive. I am also in favour of more red-headed leading men. Just sayin’.

At last, I also watched Frozen; it was wonderful and I had stuff to say about it.

What I’m Reading

I finished Bread & Wine on May 1st and I loved it. Shauna Niequist is possibly my opposite personality-wise, which is probably why I loved her so much. I have a few friends who are extroverted feelers like her and they are so wonderful to be around; paradoxically I find their company relaxing and freeing and I can’t even begin to try and explain why.

For some reason it’s been a really slow reading month. I started a few books and I haven’t managed to focus on any of them. I blame my ill-health. So I am currently in the process of reading Organised Simplicity and Introverts In The Church. I did finish The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but I had to push through to the end with sheer determination, because good grief it was hard work. It contained all the tedious things I dislike about France, pompous intellectualism, apathetic superiority complexes, lack of plot. Just, gah. You can read my stellar review on Goodreads.

What I’m Listening To

I started this month with Sara Bareilles, who is mellow and deep and just makes me want to sing out loud, which I did a lot, in the early May days when I could still sing without choking. This song pretty much sums up where I’m at right now:

I’ve also been living with another, spiritual song

Favourite Picture

What I’ve Been Doing

• It’s been the busiest month of the year so far, not least because I’m back on musical duties at church after a long maternity leave and I’m getting stuck in behind the keyboard and the microphone again. I love it, especially singing, but it’s a major logistical adjustment nonetheless, especially as we hosted a conference mid-May and I left Luciole properly for a whole day for the first time.
• The rest of the month was spent surviving a bad cold with two children under three when all I wanted to do was crawl into a ball and sleep.

Notable Feasts

• For the first time in a few years, I missed the Eurovision Song Contest, which is a glorious display of bad taste and outrageous acts with a bit of singing thrown in (don’t let the ‘song contest’ part of the title distract you). I usually spend the night tweeting about things I find amusing with the song subtitles turned on, and I discover European countries I never knew existed (like Moldova, which is somewhere in Eastern Europe, but I couldn’t point it out on a map). Alas, I missed the ascension of the bearded lady who won the contest this year. Instead I attended our new neighbours’ house warming party and it was awesome. We had ribs; lots and lots of ribs. And also curried goat and rhubarb and ginger crumble. I found myself at half midnight dancing to TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’ and some Michael Jackson in the neighbours’ lounge whilst holding a gin and tonic and a glow stick with complete strangers.

a feast of ribs

• I made sticky chicken drumsticks and spicy wedges because I fancied barbecue and then I forgot to take a picture of that glorious dinner. Grrr. I did learn to make mayonnaise from scratch, which totally blew my mind when it actually worked. Then, inspired by a blog post from my favourite food blog FranglaiseCooking, I made a French potée (a piggy casserole, as they say), which was timely as the weather decided to turn cold again in synch with my menu planning.

On the Blogosphere

I nearly wet myself watching this sketch about Christian dating online.

‘Pinterest moms: I don’t get it but I support it. I totally know where the Bloggess is coming from.

At Home on the Blog

I was so ready to apologize for doing nothing on the blog this month, and then I was possessed by a writing frenzy and went all out on a variety of subjects. I managed to share some very special parenting fails and I watched Frozen.

I also finally did what I said I would do in March when I read Daring Greatly and I wrote what is possibly my most personal blog post to date about emotional capacity and good mental health. And finally, I also talked about personality types, MBTI and being labelled ‘argumentative’ in my early twenties and how that didn’t work very well for me.

 

I am linking with Leigh Kramer again, so go check out what other people are into this month!