Hello lovely weekend

I LOVE the weekend, don't get me wrong, I love my job too, it's not like I have a horrible week at work and from Monday count down the days till freedom. My weeks go by pretty quick, there's always something to be doing and Sept/Oct are our busiest times (lots and lots of new books published). But weekend's are special, even when we're not doing anything planned, I love spending the day with my boyfriend and doing the mundane. Today is Saturday, this evening we're visiting friends but the day time is ours. We need to go to the supermarket and the pet shop (our cat is booked into the vet on Friday and he can already escape from the plastic carrier we got 5 months ago, we're looking for something metal!). So we'll take a 25 min drive to the nearest pet superstore, listening to our favourite cds and singing along. We'll find the cage, argue about which type to get, come to an agreement and split the bill 50/50. We'll go onto the supermarket, split up and each get our own shopping, make mini deals for the stuff we share (you get the cat food and I'll get the washing powder), then drive home singing to those favourite songs and making up new lyrics. And I love it. This afternoon I'll maybe walk along the river to Battersea Park or bake something and that's it. One of my favourite ways to spend the weekend, doing nothing at all.

Jamie's America

I'm a real sucker for cookery books and really like Jamie's new one. Jamie's America ties in with the TV show and has some really yummy looking recipes. Only one TV show shown so far (L.A. concentrating on Mexican dishes) but it's much more gritty then his previous shows and I can't wait for the next one.

3 things to do in Norfolk

1. Go crabbing in beautiful Blakeney

2. Play on the beach

3. Have a barbeque

The Smithy

I've found a really cosy little cottage in a village in the heart of the Yorkshire wolds. It looks perfect.

Roll on October

I'm not getting a summer holiday this year. My boyfriend started a new job in July so can't take any time off until October. Instead we're going for a staycation in late Oct (just in time for my birthday). Last year we went to Paris:



This year we're staying in England. In March we fell in love with the Cotswolds:




So after a bit of thought - Northumberland, Wales, Scotland, Devon, Norfolk... we're looking at Yorkshire. I've only been their a couple of times and I don't think FB has ever. So I'm at one of the best stages of holidays - planning. I love it. Searching online for acommodation (I want to rent a little cottage) and hints and tips on where to visit. Definitely the seaside and the moors but where else??

The Last Station

I've just finished The Last Station by Jay Parini. It tells the life of Tolstoy's last days, how his family is at odds with the Tolstonian followers and how everyone around him is suspicious of everyone else. I read it because there's a film coming out later this year with James McAvoy and Helen Mirren, but I hope the film isn't as depressing as the book. Although it's fiction it's based on the actually diaries of his family and followers and it's really sad to think that such a great writer lived his last years trapped in a power struggle.

Time traveler

I really want the new film of Time Traveler's Wife to be good. Though looking at the trailer and the poster art, I have a sinking feeling that it won't. The book is one of my favourite books of all time, so I will go and watch it at some point in the next few weeks but fingers crossed I won't be disappointed.

Bono brilliance

Saw U2 at Wembley Stadium last night - they were amazing. So the start wasn't great as I don't know much from the new album, but listening to 'City of Blinding Lights', 'Beautiful Day' and 'Vertigo' on a hot summer night was bliss.

The stage was totally brilliant. It looked like something from War of the Worlds, and just before U2 were due on, 'Major Tom' was played full blast and smoke came out of all 4 legs. The Edge and Bono were, of course, the best and spent much of the concert running around the 360 stage - it had a ring around it with 2 movable bridges.

Best of all we found a sneaky way home that meant of the other 79,998 people in the stadium with us, only about 10 came that way - so seats and playing Book Worm on the iPhone - perfect end to an excellent night.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

This is another example of a book I wouldn't normally read but did for my book group. Again I absolutely loved it. Maus is a graphic novel telling the story of Art's father as a Jew in Poland during WWII. This is juxtaposed with the knowledge that he escaped to America and now has a very difficult and argumentative relationship with his son and second wife.

The story in itself is amazing, the amount of times this man and his wife nearly died and the amount of times he saw his family and friends taken away is heartbreaking. Art tells it through animals, so all the Jews are mice, the Nazis are cats, the Polish are pigs and the Americans are dogs.

If graphic novels aren't your thing, I completely recommend that you try this one as a way into the genre - it's brilliant.

Mishka's 2 pictures game

One of the blogs I follow, Oh, Mishka, has a great idea for a game:

Basically you take 2 pictures of the room you're in right now and say why you chose to photograph them. Here's mine:

The first one has to be my cat Oliver. He's always in whatever room I'm in because he follows me around like a shadow. He's currently staring out the back window, when he knows the front door is open so he could get out if he wanted to!

Second is my Grecian Girl, I got her on a holiday to Greece in 2005 and love her simplicity.

Scrumilicious Brownies

Today I made THE BEST brownies ever. Usually they are too gooey or overcooked but these beauties have the perfect crisp top, moist middle and ooey-gooey centre. Usually the chocolate chips melt away, today I used big big chunks of chocolate and they stayed. Yummy. Perfect practice for the ones I've promised to take to a housewarming at the end of the month.

Recipe? Who else would I use but the trusted Delia, she's got a great brownie recipe and as FB doesn't like nuts, I substituted these for plain and white chocolate chunks.

Triffids

I'm currently reading Day of the Triffids, it's for my book group and I can't believe I've never read it before. It's one of those books that I always thought I'd get round to reading but never did. I just have to say wow. If you've not read this book, get yourself a copy right now. I love love love it. I have a couple of chapters to go so will leave you now to finish this addictive little classic.

Delia vs. Nigella

My two most trusted cook book authors are Delia Smith and Nigella Lawson and this Christmas I'm going to put them to the test. Last year I bought Nigella Christmas which fast became my Xmas cookery bible - I made chestnut soup, gingerbread cake and peanut-butter cups. I still want to make Bourbon glazed ribs, choc chip chili and chili jam but ran out of Christmas time to make them. This year cookery queen Delia has a new Christmas recipe book coming out, Delia's Happy Christmas, and it's top of my list of books to buy. Whose the better recipe writer? I'll let you know in December.

Toad-in-the-Hole and Eton Mess

I had a craving today for Toad-in-the-Hole and found a great recipe in a book I got when I was a student Cheap as Chips, Better than Toast. This recipe was easy to make and the sausages were wrapped in bacon for extra yumminess.

Strawberries and raspberries were on offer at Sainsbury's, so I made Eton Mess for dessert. have made extra to take on our picnic at Hampton Court tomorrow.

Tapas mmm

Last night we had tapas for a friend's birthday. I've only got into tapas recently but am completely addicted. It's such a tasty, fun and companionable way to eat. There's something about sitting with friends in a restaurant sharing and swapping dishes that's cosy and familial.

Tapas now makes me think of Victoria Hislop's 'The Return'. I've never been to Spain, not learnt Spanish and didn't really know much about the country but that book takes you into the heart of Granada and feeds Spain to you piece by piece. The bull rings, cafes, tapas, flamenco and salsa sizzle off the pages and it's a great holiday read.

Little delights

At work we've been talking about the little things that delight us. These can be anything, from 'the last roast potato' to 'quietly malicious chairmanship' so here are some of mine.

A cat chirrup - anyone with a cat will know what this is, it's the little sound, half purr half meow, they make when they are truly happy. I love it when my cat trots into the room, sees me and chirrups.

Early morning coffee and book - I love getting up early on the weekend, before everyone else, and curling up on the sofa with a cup of coffee, a book and the cat. A good hour like this with the early morning sunshine brightening the room is the perfect start to the weekend.

A good glass of red - one of those really perfect dark, aromatic and heady red wines. Luxurious after a long day in the office.

Niffenegger vs. Jones

This October two of my favourite authors have new books and I'm finding it hard to choose between them. Audrey Niffenegger, author of the Time Traveler's Wife, hasn't written a novel for years, which means her new book is much awaited and some how this makes reading it all the more special. Sadie Jones is a relatively new author, The Outsider came out last year and got big sales because of the R&J book club.

I read Her Fearful Symmetry very quicky and enjoyed every page. Reading Niffenegger after such a long break feels like getting back in touch with an old friend, you immeditely remember her unique tone of voice and want to devour the whole thing in one sitting. Plus this book is bursting with twins, kittens and a Victorian grave yard - all perfectly intriguing.

Small Wars is completely different, nothing fantastical here, you're swept to 1950s Cyprus and follow the almost mundane life of Claire (prn. Clara - which annoyed me slightly because why didn't she spell it that way rather then rely on the reader to see the word Claire but think, oh she's actually Clara). It's beautifully written, army life is shown in miniscule detail and the island of Cyprus comes off the page hot and sticky. There are more twins (but not spooky mirror twins) these are little girls caught up in their parents army lifestyle.

I enjoyed both, but the more I think about it Niffenegger is my favourite. There's just something about waiting for a new book for a long time and being completely satisfied once you've finally read it.

Anna is my favourite

Anna Karenina is just wonderful. A bittersweet love story set in the cold, crisp backdrop of nineteenth century Russia. Anna's story is moving but its the secondary story of Kitty and Levin that keeps me coming back.