Attended Ellie's nursery concert. She's been singing the songs for weeks but on stage, faced with a bank of parents, she didn't utter a word. However, she did wave and blow a kiss to her grandma.
My faith in human nature has been restored when a bag containing a fair amount of money was left in Tesco by guess who (and it wasn't me) was handed in intact. Pity we cannot thank this anonymous good Samaritan.
The ice and snow has all but disappeared for now although the weather people warn there is more to come. I took the opportunity of a walk to the Canal Gardens. I felt quite sprightly even though my granddaughter observes that I have an old neck. I noticed that the water was frozen solid but there were signs of growth in the herbaceous border, if you looked closely. I could even detect the shoots of bulbs emerging in my own garden - not that I'm comparing it to the park. I read a saying "Live each day as if it were your last and garden as though you wil…
The snow remains with us as the freezing weather stops it from melting even from the treetops. Picturesque it may be but, as temperatures plummet in the night, the ice makes conditions hazardous on the roads. It is mostly too cold to play out in the snow.
The chanukah candles have brightened up the evenings and Louis and Ellie have lit them with us on most nights. On the 7th night we went to a chanukah party at shul where we were entertained with magic tricks and a Punch and Judy show (had forgotten how much violence portrayed) and ate latkes, vegie hot dogs and doughnuts - well you can indulge once a year!
I have sent an upright hoover and some steel tipped boots to new homes through the local freecycle group. It's great when people can find a use for what is on offer. I have received such items as kids bikes and travel cots from fellow freecyclers, although some of the items to give away make me laugh - and then someone takes them.
It has been snowing off and on, mainly on, since Friday 26 November with temperatures not exceeding zero. Got a lift there and back from work in the snow on Monday. The female pupils wore wellies in the examination; some pink, others black or patterned with animal prints, smarties, stripes and zigzags looking incongruous with their school uniforms.
On Tuesday some hardy folk braved the weather and attended an awareness raising evening put on by Jewish Women's Aid to support International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The two speakers were excellent. Domestic violence transcends race, religion, culture and social class and the work they do giving advice, running a refuge and counselling is commendable.
And still it snows and so no work today. Took the opportunity to speak to Sue, an ex-colleague also off school, and catch up with her news. The snow is really thick today as you can see from today's picture of the table on the patio compared to a few …
Leeds City Museum in Millennium Square hosted this interactive exhibition of all things Jewish including photos, artifacts, Klezmer music, courtesy of the Freylach Spielers and even a mock Jewish wedding under a chuppah where we, the audience, were the guests. A humourous explanation of the wedding service was given by a narrator and the Rabbi and Chazan were the very same who presided over Rochelle and David's Wedding in October.
It was great fun and aptly timed in Interfaith Week. My nephew Simon was filming and interviewing with kids from the Zone and my niece Rebecca had compiled a leaflet for the Jewish Genealogy Society's stand on my mother's Bobby (Grandma),Katie Goldberg, and her descendants. She gave it the title The Goldberg Chronicle and subtitle 'What Katy Did' and included her three marriages! I will give a link to the pdf document as soon as I work out how to do so. Hope this works: http://members.multimania.co.uk/questgenealogy/files/Gol…
Monday 15th: Had my hair done by Louise and we exchanged stories about our holiday homes (sounds bettter than statics) on the East coast. In the afternoon, the ladies I meet up with once a month assembled at the new home of one of the group. It is a beautiful bungalow and we were treated to a lovely spread. The stuffed monkeys or gewickelte biscuits were better than mine although the same pastry of 8oz flour, 4oz fat, 2 oz sugar and the cake with the meringue topping sandwiched together with a mixture of cream, marsacapone cheese and lemon juice, baked by her daughter was amazing.
On Tuesday I had to stay in as we were having two new double glazed windows at the front of the house. Beats cleaning them. Anyway, it gave me the opportunity to tackle those jobs that I so often put off such as cleaning the cooker. I can recommend the company MJM Windows.
As the brown bin was finally emptied and my neigbours were out, I set about cutting the hedges in the drive. The bin was soon fu…
Holidays over for this year. Undertook training to be an invigilator at a local comp. I've only been doing it for 30 years!
Collected tickets for the panto in Harewood Village Hall. This year it's Cinderella. We really enjoyed Aladdin last year and so did the kids. During the interval we found out that Emma was having the baby in the morning. The performance is put on by a travelling company and is professionally presented with plenty of interaction.
Bonfire Night held no interest for me whatsoever. Is that a sign of old age? It was Diwali too, so with those celebrations plus the community bonfire at Roundhay Park it resembled a war zone.
On Sunday morning I went to a coffee morning put on by Auntie Edith's Sharonah WIZO Group. The members of this group have been raising funds for projects in Israel for over 50 years. What an achievement - and they had provided home made cakes, pies and chopped herring for the produce stall.
Set off for our annual Autumn trip to Northumberland one week later than usual as we are no longer tied to half term holiday. We took the A19 rather than the A1 and stopped off at Hartlepool where we exchanged some clothes at their M&S in the city centre indoor shopping centre.
We arranged to stay in the Longhirst Hall Hotel (and of course Golf Club) near Morpeth, which is lower down than our usual visits. http://www.longhirst.co.uk/ which, apart from an initial smell of drains in the room, suited us very well.
Although cold and windy, we followed the Art Trail in Newbiggin on Sea, or at least half of it before it got dark.
Returned to the hotel for a rest and a read (me the second novel of the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson The Girl who played with Fire and Ronnie: Paul Auster The Book of Illusions) and, after a meal in the spacious Szoda Bar and Kitchen with its good food, friendly service and fair prices, we slept like logs.
With only a handful of days left in 2012, I am already looking forward to the movies I want to see in 2013. Here are the ones I don’t want to miss, in no particular order.
This list actually had to be narrowed down for me. 2013 is going to be a great year for comedy and action & adventure which are my two favorite genres. For a list of movies releasing in 2013, check out Movie Insider.