Day 30:woooooooooo!

Today was excellent for many reasons, but mostly because of the Year 11 music recital which featured several jawdroppingly good performances. Even if I wasn't completely biased I'd still think they were brilliant.
Plus there were also excellent cakes in the interval
Even more plus, got home to find we are dog sitting for one more night as the outlaws are getting back from their hols late. The dog was wild with joy to see me, mostly because he thought he'd get fed again. But still.

In a fit of daring I purchased some chocolate brownies for someone (without their knowledge) and managed to give them to them without eating any first. An unexpected triumph.

Day 29: even more muchos excitement

Yay! An excellent day today! Not only was it lovely and sunny and suchlike but 2 (two) parcels arrived today. One parcel contained 'Little Princes' by Conor Grennan, an account of how an initially casual volunteering experience in Nepal grew into a mission to an all consuming commitment to help some victims of child trafficking amidst the horrors of the civil war. I'm making it sound terribly serious and worthy, but so far it has been warm, funny and enlightening, though it doesn't shirk from the grittier side of life.

The second parcel contained the posters I ordered on Monday afternoon and they are so fabulous I had to do a bit of spontneous dancing. Really, they are great. You have no idea how great. I'm still really excited about them.

Got home and resisted the urge to sit in the gorious sun and read my new book. Instead, I set about baking some coconut and cherry shortbread. It was much like the cake baking episode of the other week but most of the chaos was caused by a localised fog of icing sugar and too many shoes in front of the fridge so the door wouldn't open properly and then there was a bit of a landslide of shortbreads. Only one made a proper bid for freedom (it got as far as the bin) the rest were juggled back on to the baking sheet and shoved into the newly excavated fridge.

If Mr Halford is reading this: this is why your shoes are all in a pile in the middle of the living room floor.

Day 28: a month without chocolate (if it was February)

(which it isn't, so I am cheating a bit) (never mind)

Had a great day playing at libraries, with only a few cataloguing related mishaps such as accidentally taping my hair to the books when putting the spine labels on. Could happen to anyone. Possibly not bald people though.

Still no sign of my reserved books in the public library which gives me a great excuse to read something else. Like Failbook.

Day 27:muchos excitement

So much excitement in fact, that I forgot to update the blog.
Today I ordered 27 posters to take to Nepal, hurray! They should be here early next week, which is lucky since we are leaving at the end of it.
Also, we are looking after the dog-in-law for a few days and he is all cheery and affectionate  - much the thing for lack of chocolate miseries.

Day 26: what I lack in chocolate, I make up for with treacle tart

Another lovely sunny day here, apart from the current downpour.
As it's Mother's Day I called my Mum at about 8.30 this morning only to discover that she had already opened all her presents from me. On to part two - making a treacle tart for the family gathering at the outlaws. Managed to get all the right ingredients in, in the right order this time, and get it cooked on time despite a detour out to buy some plants for the garden.
Raced over to the outlaws and had a curry fest so tasty that we all over indulged and had to go for a walk before we could manage pudding.
A large amount of chocolates appeared from somewhere so I had to hide in the kitchen moving things about in the oven so that I wouldn't fall prey to their cheeky advances.
Very snoozy now, and I would so much like a hot chocolate but it's all off-limits so Mr Halford has made a coffee version instead. Genius!

Day 25: Are we nearly there yet?

Why is there so long to go until Easter, why?
Possibly it's because I haven't yet learned to suffer my lack of chocolate with good grace.
A lovely sunny day today, sat out in the garden at my outlaws reading the rest of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - a fine example of steampunk, should you be in need of one.
And now on to A Hat Full of Sky.

Day 24: Look on the Carnegie shortlist, ye Mighty, and despair!

Fridays are the new Mondays. I now have conclusive proof.

Whiffled into work with a spring in my step and a tin of biscuits in my hand. All was well with the world.

Got to work, checked emails, all went wrong.

For lo, there lurking in my inbox like a roasting tin that you turn round and catch sight of just after you’ve drained all the washing up water, was an email from CILIP with the new Carnegie 2011 shortlist.

And what a list.

I’m still seething hours later. Admittedly there is always at least one howler on there. The type of book that has us all scratching our heads asking ‘how could they shortlist that? How could they? Did they even read it?’

This year that book is ‘Monsters of Men’. 300 pages too long, central characters with no development and a bleating tendency to cry each others names in agonised fashion, a plot the author couldn’t be bothered with, quite a good bit with a horse and the biggest cop-out ending to rival ‘it was all just a dream’.

Such is my loathing for this book – inexcusably bad when the two preceding it were so good – that it has instantly made me despise the rest of the shortlist. Quite unreasonably so, since I’ve only read one other book on it.

When I saw MoM on the longlist I did half jokingly say that I’d ditch Carnegie completely if it made the shortlist, since there was absolutely no reason for it to do so. Now it’s happened I find that I really do want nothing to do with it.

Oh dear, dear. Excuse me while I pick all my toys up and put them back in my pram.