? I am actually relieved to be taking a week off. My copy of part two has been in transit for awhile and I have no idea when it will arrive at the library. I was all worried about getting behind. I really enjoyed the third section and am looking forward to the next! My Mercyverse audio fest continues. I finished Iron Kissed, the third Mercy Thompson, yesterday and have my next book ready to go but am taking a break with the first in the Rivers of London series. It has been three years since I first read this series and I am enjoying another look at how things started......Peter just met Nightingale for the first time! For Brit Tripping I finished the first in Charles Todd’s Bess Crawford series and really enjoyed it. I have to admit I was was a bit afraid of theses because I find the Ian Rutledge series a bit disturbing but loved this. It’s creepy in places but I liked it. This book visited both Kent and Sussex....Rye, actually. ? I just started Heartstone by CJ Sansom which has scenes in Sussex so I am still on the bus and happy to be reading one of my new favorite series. i still can’t seem to finish Sayers The Five Red Herrings and plan to take it along with me tomorrow when I ride along with Dh on a business trip to Northumbria. I hope I can make myself finish it and hope no internet will help because I seem to be easily distractable when reading this one. Edit, I forgot to add that this weeks Autumn challenge is fun, thanks Robin. I actually grew up on a farm which grew apples and cherries so I am hoping to find a book with apples on the cover!?

I think you are a terrific mom who is listening to her kids interests and trying. I think listening and trying are pretty much everything! After lots of recent reflection on my parenting journey I think the key is being there to offer whatever exposure you can. Take advantage of whatever opportunities come your way. My kids have always loved rabbit trails and we followed many over the years! Pressure for a career at a young age is terrible. The sad thing is I suspect my daughter would love engineering but their rather messy saga of their adored grandpa not letting that career drop meant they didn’t want to ever consider being one. They actually wrote grandpa a letter explaining they did not want to be engineers at one point. If Grandpa was alive today he would be so proud even though he didn’t get a single engineer(yet), I do think HE was simply proud of the math but had learned..... My in laws raised Dh to be a Doctor which didn’t go well either. He went as far as being accepted to med schools but refused to go at the last minute with my total support.......mil never forgave me for that, but among other factors my husband hates blood. From the time we were first friends at 14 he was squeamish and hated things like dissecting in biology classes, good at it but did not enjoy it. There was a reason he got into med school via being a chemistry major and she just never grasped that. How could she not know????? In terms of daddy taking care of injuries he has had tons of advanced first aid and is awesome but it stresses him hugely, and obviously. I really hate the pressure to be something particular and think it is overall damaging. For my daughter I have been a bit more enthusiastic about the math then I really wanted to be because she kept meeting people who were negative.....math is “too tough” for girls is something we heard many times. I tried to support the interest not necessarily the major, if that makes sense. I have always pointed out women with careers in technical fields.....your dd is lucky to have an engineer for a mom. Mine got an accountant! Our kids do only have us which is the reality in the home ed world. I think everyone who is active on the Wtm boards is searching for the best path for their kids. My kid’s paths appear to be a bit more firm at this point but you never know. Somehow taking the GRE brought an inquiry from a med school dd’s way and she is intrigued. ? ? cannot figure out how?????? On a side note, Dh and I spent last night looking at a report reflecting the state of our borough, which essentially means the small section of England we actually live in with comparison charts to the rest of England and comparable areas. Our village (which seems to be filled with retired teachers) is not reflective of the borough and the schools are dreadful which we always knew. We were surprised that opportunities for careers in technical fields just do not exist without leaving this immediate area considering that we have a good University turning out technical degrees a half hour away in a different borough! It really made me glad we were able to home ed and glad for this board. Things like Coursera, which I discovered on this forum, gave my kids free exposure to areas of study that we never would have been able to provide. So very grateful we decided to home ed!

Math, both of mine loved numbers from a young age and said they were going to be math majors from the time they were about 4. My fil was an engineer and was ecstatic at the thought of not one but two engineers and pushed engineering really hard at ds age 5, made him cry and we had quite a scene over it. Neither kid has ever seriously considered any career with the word engineer in it. Both are going into cybersecurity.....yes, they do have a math major too. Did we do anything special? To some degree because math, codes, puzzle solving was an interest for both it was easy to gear our family life towards those interests. Lots of board games and puzzles. We made time for mathy competitions etc. but more because they enjoyed it together. If only one had been interested they couldn’t have competed in a team code breaking competition for instance because I needed at least two (never managed to get a full team)....we did that completion which is UK resident only for three years.

I just checked the blog yesterday. I am pretty sure it is OK with her to give a summary so.... I am happy to say she is doing really well. Her school has started and the treatments are wrapping up. She posted a picture and is looking great!

I was so happy to read your post! Compulsively readable is the perfect way to describe the third section of book 1! Wow, I couldn’t put it down. Lol I am still struggling through The Five Red Herrings....

My dog took allergy pills daily and had an allergy shot monthly. The treatment made a huge difference in his and our lives because he was pretty miserable without the pills daily. Like others he took them happily by hand.

Huge hugs! FWIW, You need to get copies and at a minimum save them. Someday you might be glad.

I dislike Erlend also. Honestly I don’t care for any of her suitors but Simon is the best of the bunch. I have always wanted to watch Dr. Who in order, at least the ones we own in order but I start the project and get outvoted by the guys. The Empty Child is one of my favorites....... I just applied for tickets to the red carpet premiere via BBC Audiences. We will never win the draw but are local so I tried, supposedly 50% of the tickets will be given to people in our post codes.

Hand shaking is pretty normal for me and I much prefer it to having my cheek kissed. I suspect I initiate it when I suspect I am going to be kissed at!

There used to be a calc class on Coursera from Ohio University that was wonderful. I think something about the format changed so you will need to research it but both my kids loved the original.

Someone here, perhaps @aggieamy, had the same experience with Miss Buncle in terms of not particularly liking the second book. Thanks to your recommendation I just checked Anna and Her Daughters out of the prime lending library. Looking forward to reading it. I read The Eight close to when it was first published and loved it. I did a reread a couple of years ago and just liked it. My intention had been to read The Fire at that time. I know I had it in the stack but appear to have no record of trying it. I must of read a few pages and returned, I didn’t always mark the ones I might want to try again as abandoned back then. Wishing your Dd good luck on her exam!

Kareni, Once again thank you for the entertaining links that I spend way too much time pursuing! A Slytherin wedding is quite a concept ....as you know my family was way too involved with the weddings at our village church for several years and have seen a few themes go by. Other than the wedding invitations I didn’t love any of it....well the dress is lovely but I can’t say it says bride to me. ? The Steampunk wedding was much more fun imo. Just a general update.....the tower is still closed because of some potential issues with the structure. No idea when it will reopen for ringing. On a positive note, it has been nice to have Saturday’s free......practice is currently at a different tower. I saw an adorable Folded Book Hedgehog the other day in a store window. I love the book crafts but just don’t seem to be able to hurt a book to try and make one of the crafts. The garland was beautiful and the headboard is really cool. The book lists were great. I may have picked out my new year’s Murakami thanks to one of the lists, After Dark looks intriguing. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17803.After_Dark

Not all the wildlife is dangerous. ? I used to know someone in an older home in Central Florida with a lovey pool that was not screened in. She was plagued by gopher tortoises. They loved to lay by her pool and sun themselves....they were messier than I would have expected. She was jokingly thinking about moving because they were driving her a bit nuts with the clean up. The size and positioning of the pool apparently made screening in very expensive. This is being said by someone who adores gopher tortoises. I actually got to know her because I used to take my kids to see the tortoises on a trail near her house.

I am all caught up in Kristin Lavrenstadder.......currently I don’t like her very much. Silly girl! How about the rest of you? I am reading Sayers The Five Red Herrings which I have never made it through. I don’t really expect it to appear on my favorites list but I do think I will finish it this time. Currently listening to Lauren Willig’s The Mischief of the Mistletoe for the Brit Trip’s bus stop in Bath. So far it’s a fun Austen spoof, quite enjoying Jane’s appearances in the book. Very fluffy but so far not overly connected to the other Pink Carnation series. Our Bus is finally pulling in to Kent which Dh and I have vacationed in since our honeymoon 30 years ago. Leeds Castle is possibly my favorite place to visit and I have dragged Dh there many times thanks to annual passes.....lately I have been able to pay for one visit and return free for a year. We visit for an hour every time we are nearby. I just clicked on the link and discovered they now have clamping.....it actually looks like fun says the person who hates camping because my back just can’t handle it. Thanks to the Maisie Dobson series I have visited Kent several times this year but I just checked the first Bess Crawford mystery out as an audiobook. Trying “the other” Charles Todd series was one of my must reads for the year and since I can start at the beginning with A Duty to the Dead I will. ? Robin, not sure if you have watched any of the Keys of Time Dr, Who series with Tom Baker or not but The Androids of Tara was filmed at least in part at Leeds Castle. Naturally it’s a favorite! It is actually recognizable because I figured it out watching the episode not from research.

I am not quite caught up with Kristin Lavransdatter but expect to be by the new thread tomorrow. Lots of time in the car tomorrow. I may have missed the why explained in the book but I have looked over the section pretty well .......I am trying to figure out the treatment of Kristin by her parents when her sister is injured? Is Kristin her mother’s step daughter? That’s the only explanation I can think of. It’s so odd.... I have moved beyond those scenes but am still puzzled......Maybe I do need the new translation. ?

Hugs

Even my kids would have to imagine the accent! ?

Sending hugs to anyone that is in or near the path of Florence. I hope your preparations are going well.......

My Overdrive does have these and I did put them on my wish list and am looking forward to them but probably in 2019! They probably need to wait until I finish my Mercyverse and Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London) rereads because I still need the finish Bingo and my A to Z challenges along with Brit Trip. Can not believe I am knocking books into 2019 in September but this looks like a back to back type series..... Before I forget I finished my Set on an Island for Bingo and don’t think I mentioned it here. It was #13 in a series that I bump into frequently but have never read a single one of, Aaron Elkin’s Unnatual Selection. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91844.Unnatural_Selection The setting was fairly unique and worked for Brit Tripping too, the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall. I loved the setting and really want to go! https://www.visitcornwall.com/places/isles-of-scilly This was the thirteenth book in the series and not too bad, I suspect earlier ones are probably quite good. I think most are set in the Seattle area but really don’t know. I would read more because the “detective” is a forensic anthropologist and I like that type of cozy hugely but not right now! I also finished the latest Faye Kellerman and really enjoyed it. ?

Beautiful!!!!!

Sounds great, definitely a step up from the purple sweats my mom wore to casual affairs! The hats were a pretty big mix, from straw to winter beanie type. My mom’s collection improved vastly with time. If there is something red in the baseball cap line in a kid bedroom I would borrow it for the meeting but otherwise no worries. Saying that because I think ds has one. ? I don’t think one of her real life friends that she joined with ever bought a hat but carried one of my mom’s to meetings. Drove my mom nuts but........

Pen, Don’t spend too much time or money worrying about proper attire before the first meeting. If you own something that vaguely works go for it. My mom’s groups had fashion shows and sales where members sold stuff they made, cute hats were what my mom bought at these. They were really sympathetic to new members wardrobes didn’t contain much purple so don’t feel it’s a fashion show.

I always wanted a Caroline Elizabeth..........Dh didn’t. ?

Hugs......My mom belonged to three different red hat groups which all had their own personalities. One group met for lunch in different local locations, fun lunches with extra to do like touring an iris bulb farm. These ladies were for the most part no longer working but really sweet, they took turns calling my mom even after she couldn’t be active in it anymore. Another group had many members working and was huge, like 100 with some overlap from other groups. They met monthly at the same place, Elk’s Club, and had a buffet dinner with door prizes etc. The third group was a tight knit little group that splintered off of another and died out with the members I think, they did an assortment of things including some trips that were fun. Met at houses, had beach party’s, quite creative. I think the best thing about the groups were the women all seemed to acknowledge the need to find friends and joining was the first move. Because everyone joined for the same purpose everyone seemed to make an effort and be friendly. My mom got to know women who she had known of for years because of the relatively small area. I wouldn’t hesitate to join a group, just wish I had one to join! Btw, before a certain age the woman wear lavender and pink I believe.

I have to say I agree. I have two newly licensed drivers who graduated from an intensive driving school and received their licenses. I wouldn’t put your children in the car with them to be honest and the instructor proudly claims ds as her best ever student. ;? Too distracting and frankly they are having to think too hard to drive. I have noticed they are actually better driver’s when they have traffic to contend with. Rural roads seem to be where to odd things happen. What will she do if an animal is near the road asks the mom who experienced an emergency stop recently? Yah, no other cars and the kid did know that but ..........the animal looked like it might enter the road apparently.