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Request: Fairy tales
I have always loved reading fairy tales. Lately, I've started reading them with my daughter. I'm finding it a bit difficult, because I'm not at all comfortable with many of the attitudes in them about social roles. I'm especially uncomfortable with the casual assumptions so many fairy tales make about women's lives being entirely centered around ( Read more... ) -
Cheese
My daughter and husband bought me a book on home cheesemaking for Mother's Day this year. Ada was most insistent that it was the best possible present for me, after my attempt to show her how rennet worked failed a few weeks back (I overheated the milk, judging by the cheese book's advice).
I now have 500 mL of mascarpone in the fridge, and I' ( Read more... ) -
Making it all up as I go along
Today was one of those days when I feel like I'm over- and under-parenting massively, at the same time ( Read more... ) -
Horrible nightmare last night
I dreamt that when I got home from a family event (possibly my sister's wedding), my family had clubbed together to get me a large white parrot.
Parrots live forever, are jealous, and I don't find them especially attractive as pets. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
It was awful. -
Ada's OLPC
After the Linux conference a while back, Rodger was lent an OLPC laptop for Ada to use. I was sceptical, because I'm mainly focused on making sure she can throw and catch balls, sing, swim, and enjoy stories ( Read more... ) -
Tired, but happy
This weekend, I tidied. A lot. The upstairs of my house is cleaner than it has been in six months, I feel, and much, much nicer ( Read more... ) -
Ada: first time at the theatre: 'Hansel and Gretel'
Today's trip to see 'Hansel and Gretel' was a pretty major success. I hadn't gotten around to reading the story, so Ada hid her face for a reasonable chunk of the play, variously in my shoulder, my arm, and my lap. She's hardly shut up about it since, though. The witch wasn't a good person. It was good of Gretel to take care of herself and extra- ( Read more... ) -
Reading: Diana Wynne Jones 'Enchanted Glass'
Every time I think Diana Wynne Jones has stopped writing her best books and is down to just very good YA and kids' fantasy books, she surprises me again.
I remember reading 'Eight Days of Luke' when I was a child and it's stayed with me ever since. I still don't know that she's written anything better, but 'Enchanted Glass' is right up on that sort ( Read more... ) -
Wedding dress
Just tried on my wedding dress, for the first time in nearly ten years. I forgot I removed the lace sleeves when I stored it, and I'm wondering about maybe using them on a different formal dress of some sort. It's nice that I fit the dress again, but I can't think when I could really use it.