Soop's special kitchen for like-minded folk and treasured pets

I agree Bellanonna but Christmas is a non event for us now so another GOW here.
At least I don't worry and mither about shopping, just hand over cash and cheques, job done.

“Is over” I personally would add to your last sentence, MawB but then I’m just a rather GOW.

Good morning oh sane kitchen residents!
Lovely sunny morning here so why am I on GN instead of leaping around being a domestic goddess?
Can’t imagine.
Well here we are just a couple of days until November - not the depressing month of the poet (George Herbert?) but DD3’s birthday and DGS2’s Birthday.
Then it is DOWNHILL UNTIL CHRISTMAS oo-er!

Hello the kitchen! We have always been Dr Seuss fans in this house. DD had them in the seventies and GS more recently. I know there is a bit of a hoo haa building around them these days, but the text has wonderful rhythms that children (and this adult) love.
N&G we have a copy of The Twits on GS’s bedside table here - in the absence of anything to read one evening at bedtime, he asked me to read it although he had read it a few times himself. I couldn’t read for laughing! A change from Percy Jackson! Glad Stevie and Laura enjoyed their day with you. Last time I bought a decent piece of rib of beef, I almost had to take out a second mortgage, but it was worth it and yes, it is lovely to see them clear their plates.
I was hoping to see GS yesterday but I was so ill in the early hours of Sunday morning that had to call it off in case it was a bug. It wasn’t - just something I appear to have eaten that disagreed with me (big style!). Hugely disappointing; I see little enough of him as it is these days. He sent me a text saying that he thought I should apply to go on Bake Off! . I knocked that on the head but said perhaps we should have our own Bake Off next time he comes round. Grandad can double for Paul Hollywood and make horrible remarks and have favourites (and we all know who that would be!). See you all later!

Morning all !

An air of calm here at The White House. We had our second lot of visitors yesterday and it was their first sight of our new home. They loved it ( they are the half of our family that love the countryside and the outdoors ( as opposed to the other half that are city fans !).

We spent a lovely day together ( including cooking the most expensive joint of beef I have ever bought - thank you Waitrose) BUT it was delicious so I guess it was money well spent.

Our little ones cleared their plates which is always gratifying.

Anyway , today we need to prioritise all the ongoing work here and get the most important things done.

I'm loving the tales of books from days gone by. Both kids brought their current reading books and I enjoyed a few pages with Stevie from 'The Twits' !

Hope you have come back from the alternative realm Maw , I have read some of the threads but prefer the friendship here in the kitchen to the strident conversation in some other threads.

Well, time to get on - Happy Monday one and all !!

Watched a film of a Dr Seuss book with my grandson last year; didn't expect to enjoy it bit I did. It was The Lorax.

Ours had a reading scheme based on the colour of a pirates hat. Can’t recall what it was called. Fairly repetitive. We had boxes of old books until the downsizing took them from us. Kept as many as we could, lovely memories attached.

maw, May I please share your parallel universe? It seems well, very, odd out there at the moment.

Going back to books. Not sure what the thinking is about them now but I loved the Dr Seuss books when I came across them while working in an American library back in the very early 70’s. Our children enjoyed them, got them interested in anything that rhymed. About to look for one for Littlest for Christmas. They make me smile.

Take care everyone.

I am suspicious of the "Tight Trouser" thread

I have laughed a lot this weekend, just what I needed. Sleep well everyone.

If I may digress(?) I am in a somewhat bemused state this weekend reading some of the threads. No this is not a thread about a thread but a general observation that I feel I am living in a parallel universe , either I find I fail to understand what some people are complaining about or I am left open mouthed at the sort of thing some people find worthy of comment.
I leave you to draw your own conclusions and hope that normal service will be resumed as soon as possible

£103 for a Janet and John book greyduster ! I could be sitting on a goldmine. Thank goodness that I never throw anything away.
It's so satisfying when you've hung onto some of your children's toys for years to be able to pass them on to the GCs. Sadly, they hardly ever play with the Action Men, Fisher-Price toys or Lego any more.

I learnt to read using Janet and John in the early 60s. My children had the Billy Blue Hat reading scheme - the Village with 3 Corners? I loved that but it was banned when I started teaching. Too middle class they said!

A couple of years ago, when GS started learning French at school, I was able to pass onto him Richard Scarry’s Le Grande Vocabulaire, which had belonged to his mummy at about the same age. A lovely, helpful book, but I’m not sure he will ever be the linguist his mother is.

Fennel Richard Scarry books were well loved and much read in our home. The illustrations were works of art. I gave one rather tatty one to Torben.

Have to dash. My son, Andrew, is on the phone.

Bye for now.

I was going to say, it was a great feather in your cap when you progressed to a book!

I remember Janet and John (you can buy book one on the internet for the princely sum of £103.43 !). We started off with reading cards when I started school and then progressed to the J and J books. I think my son started reading with Peter and Jane.

Soop - I also had that book, I loved it, read it over and over again. There was a shortage of books in those days.
The very first book I was given was Little Black Sambo - I expect that's been banned now.
As for school reading books - anyone remember Janet and John? I think they pre-dated the Ladybird books. I was a remedial reading teacher for a while and had to use the phonic version at one school - so boring!
And for my children's generation, they loved the Richard Scarry books.

Something I've never doubted is the value of books. I can go back to the 1940's and remember watching and listening to the school teacher - a Mr Hawkins - sitting down and slowly opening a book. The only time I stopped chattering (had the ruler over the outstretched hand almost daily) was when he continued with a story we were treated to for a short time each day. The very first book was, 'The Little Grey Men' by 'B.B' Anyone familiar with it?

The sun is shining from a clear blue sky. It's a beautiful day in Kintyre.

That's the bit I remember.......

Well, of course, I'm not going to be getting on with the sorting out because I've started reading 'A Country Child' now. The description of the child's fears walking alone through the woods was very real and scary. I think a lot of childrens' stories are very frightening. DD was terrified that wolves would get her when we were walking in the country and always had to go in the middle of the group (so somebody else would be taken instead).

I did a big clear out of the children's books a few years ago. I kept a few big favourites which I passed to the children (well grown ups). They were pleased with the ones I gave them and even more pleased with my continued efforts to de-clutter. I confess, I miss those Ladybird books.

Today I AM going to start sorting out all the children's books in the playroom. Just a chance that it might be finished by Christmas, then. How long can you justify keeping 94 tatty Ladybird books when the younger GC is already 10 and there are no little ones to follow?

My flipping phone now decides when to post as well as how to spell and punctuate!

..in their final year at junior school!

I even knew the chap who started the end (iyswim) and quite liked him.

Lovely photos n&g - I bet your new house seems more and more like home - have a super time today too.

Tegan, I loved those Peace books and still have them. DS2 learnt to read using Ladybird 'read it Yourself' books and we had a huge box of Ladybird Flash Cards! Happy Days!

Living in the home of Ladybird books (as it used to say on a huge sign on Loughborough Station), we were very blasé about them - hence my giving them to the childminder! We knew lots of people who worked there and a good friend was an illustrator. I think 4 out of 5 of our children did a'project' on them

Did you see the programme about Ladybird books that explained that they were made out of one large piece of paper as it saved paper after the war [or something like that]. DD did a work experience there when she was at school.