SandDune reads in 2023 - thread 1

Welcome to my first thread of 2023 and to my twelth year doing the 75 Book Challenge. I'm a 61 year old accountant and, after spending most of my career in the City of London, I was until recently the Finance Manager of a local charity which provides support to children and adults with learning disabilities. But at the beginning of 2021 I retired and my husband (aka Mr SandDune) also started working part-time. We live about thirty miles north of London although retirement may take us elsewhere in the U.K. Our 22 year old son Jacob is now at the University of Lancaster in the North of England studying History. There's also our 10 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Daisy, who tends to feature prominently in my threads.

I'm originally from Wales rather than England, so I do have an interest in all things Welsh and I tend to get huffy if people call me English rather than Welsh! I'm currently studying a second year Welsh course after passing my first year exams in the summer (I learnt it at school but had forgotten most of it). I read mainly literary fiction, classics, science-fiction and fantasy, but I have been trying (and enjoying) some crime fiction. As far as non-fiction goes I’m interested in a number of topics, in particular books about the environment and nature.

I used to reach 75 books a year without difficulty, but the number of books I'm reading is down these days, mainly as a result of no longer listening to audio books during my commute to work.

All my family are avid readers. Jacob has inherited a love of reading science-fiction and fantasy from me and a love of reading history from Mr SandDune so our books are frequently shared. I read hardbacks, paperbacks, on kindle and listen to audio books particularly when driving or walking the dog.

Apart from reading I love travelling, eating out, and going to the theatre. Over the last couple of years when going out has been less practical I've enjoyed craft activities and learnt to crochet . I'm also getting more and more concerned about environmental issues: I'm a member of the local Green Party and have been quite involved in campaigning on climate change. Recently, I've also become more involved in community activities: I'm treasurer of my local food bank and a trustee of my local Home Start group, a charity that provides support to families with children under five.

This year I'm returning to the idea of starting each thread with a piece of art. This month's picture is 'Young Hare' (1502) watercolour by Albrecht Dürer:



This work actually has sentimental value for me. As a child and a young teenager I was keen on drawing and painting, and when I was twelve or thirteen I did a charcoal copy of Dürer's hare. I'm still convinced that it was the best thing that I ever accomplished and would so love to still have it in my possession. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, it got lost. If there is one inanimate object that I could restore from my past life, that drawing would probably be it!

Books Read in 2023:

1. Am Ddiwrnod Margaret Johnson (Welsh) 2018
2. The Country of Men Hisham Matar 2006 ***1/2
3. Blacmêl Pegi Talfryn (Welsh) 2021
4. The Belton Estate Anthony Trollope 1866 ***1/2
5. The Eagle of the Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff 1954 ****1/2
6. The Five: the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Hallie Rubenhold ****
7. Secret Service Tom Bradby ***
8. The Silver Branch Rosemary Sutcliff ****
9. The Lantern Bearers Rosemary Sutcliff *****

Favourites from 2022:

Five star reads:
A Bear Called Paddington Michael Bond
Just William Richmal Compton
Arabella Georgette Heyer
Small Things Like These Claire Keegan
West Carys Davies

Four and a half star reads:
The High House Jessie Greengrass
The Island of Missing Trees Elif Shafak
Unsettled Ground Claire Fuller
The Pull of the Stars Emma Donoghue
The Hired Man Aminatta Forna
Miss Buncle's Book D.E. Stevenson
Komarr Lois McMaster Bujold
A Civil Campaign Lois McMaster Bujold

Reading Plans for 2023:

I belong to a RL book club which has been going for 22years and that meets monthly except for January & August. Our choices so far are as follows:

February: Persepolis Marjane Satrapi
March: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue V.E. Schwab
April:
May:
June:
July:
September:
October:
November:
December:

We are also reading the Women's prize shortlist:

Great Circle Maggie Shipstead
The Island of Missing Trees Elif Shafak
Sorrow and Bliss Meg Mason
The Bread the Devil Knead Lisa Allen-Agostini
The Sentence Louise Edrich
The Book of Form and Emptiness Ruth Ozeki

I have also recently joined another book club with the U3A which also meets monthly. Books are as follows:

February: Secret Service Tom Bradby
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
September:
October:
November:
December:

I hope to participate in the Africa book challenge for 2023, hopefully reading books that are in the house already:

January - North Africa - Libya The Country of Men Hisham Matar
February - LUSOPHONE LIT
March - CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE or Buchi Emecheta
April - THE HORN OF AFRICA
May - AFRICAN NOBEL WINNERS
June - EAST AFRICA
July - CHINUA ACHEBE or Ben Okri
August - FRANCOPHONE AFRICA
September - SOUTHERN AFRICA
October - SCHOLASTIQUE MUKASONGA / NGUGI WA THIONG'O
November - AFRICAN THRILLERS / CRIME WRITERS
December - WEST AFRICA

Books acquired in 2023:

1. The Book of Chameleons José Eduardo Agualusa
2. My Phantoms Gwendoline Riley
3. The Octopus Man by Jasper Gibson.

Wishing you a comfortable reading year in 2023, Rhian.

Pleased to see that Africa is calling to you in 23!

I'm glad you're back among the righteous, Rhian.

Happy new thread for the new year Rhian!
I've only seen some of Durer's woodcuts before from art history classes, but I really like the work you have featured of his. I was also into drawing in my younger years and there was a beautiful jaguar sketch I did that I'm still convinced was my best work but has been long lost, strange how that happens. I look forward to seeing your art picks and reads for the year.

Hi Rhian my dear, i am looking forward to visiting here in 2023 and see what you are reading and what you are up to.

Happy new thread!! I really enjoyed both The Sentence by Louise Edrich and The Book of Form and Emptiness Ruth Ozeki. You sound like a busy reader with all those bookclubs!! I am trying to cut back since I maxed out at 6 bookclubs during Covid. Down to 4...

>6 PaulCranswick: >7 richardderus: >8 WhiteRaven.17: >9 johnsimpson: >10 Berly: Welcome, everyone! Hope you all have a great New Year!

>8 WhiteRaven.17: When I retired I thought I would get more back into drawing – I bought all the equipment – but haven't done any as yet. Maybe in 2023 ...

>10 Berly: I need to start reading the Women's Prize books fairly promptly, although we haven't set a date for our discussion meeting as yet. I only read one book out of the six so far (The Island of Missing Trees).

Dropping a star, Rhian. I love the art featured in the topper.

Welcome back for another year, Rhian!

Hi Rhian,
I hope to visit your "LT home" more often this year.
Always love your travel photos and stories. Antwerp was intriguing.

I hope to learn more about the journey you and your mother are on. I think there's lots of insight in how you're managing. We've had these difficulties in our extended family, too and your posts have been a source of comfort to know we're not alone.

Whether I have the mental energy to actually babysit my own Talk thread is in the Land of Undecided.

Hi Rhian! Looking forward to seeing what you end up reading for your various challenges and books clubs.
Love the Dürer and am definitely looking forward to you posting more art. Sorry your own drawing went missing, and I completely understand you wishing it could be returned.

Hi Rhian, I love the hare and the story behind it. You got me thinking about what inanimate object I'd restore from my past life. When I was 5 or 6 I was given a sort of child-sized shop: a shelf/display made of wood that could be placed on a low table, with small grocery items for "sale". I absolutely loved running my shop.

>16 lauralkeet: Laura, that's so cute. And so familiar, too.
My Dad built me a little shop counter/shelf for the shop-play. My best friend and I spent hours setting up and trading who was the shop keeper.

We even had a plastic/metal (? forget now) old-fashioned cash register and we used plastic coins and monopoly money to "spend".
I have no idea where all those play things went. My mother was rather big on decluttering without first asking for input.

Hi, Rhian. Didn't mean to hijack your thread...

>1 SandDune: Great detail in 'The Young Hare". I look forward to seeing which other works of art grace the tops of your thread in the coming year, Rhian.

>12 Crazymamie: >13 drneutron: >18 Familyhistorian: Welcome!

>14 SandyAMcPherson: I'll try to provide some more holiday snaps this year. At the moment we're thinking of going to North Wales at Easter and the Czech Republic in the summer.

It does help to know that people have gone through the same thing to be honest. It can feel quite isolating to be making these decisions.

>15 PawsforThought: Welcome Paws! I've missed 75 books the last couple of years, so I'll make a big effort in 2023.

>16 lauralkeet: >17 SandyAMcPherson: As regards toys I had a really nice farm that I would like to have kept - but it went to my sister's children. My old doll's house is at my sister's house still, but I can't really complain about that as it was her's originally. But I was very proud of that dolls house - it had tiny working electric light bulbs in all the rooms.

>19 SandDune: I don’t think I’ve ever made it to 75 (maybe once?) and I’d be shocked if I managed in 2023. Good luck to you!

>20 PawsforThought: I think I nearly made it to 100 once ….

Dropping a star and wishing you a happy new year. What a lovely painting - I'm waiting for it to move.

I read 76 books in 22 - the first time to reach 75 since 2011/2012, I think. But I also had a two month sabbatical from work, so it helped a lot.

Took this photo back in 2018 when we went to see the New Year Fireworks in London.

>22 ctpress: I don't read quite as many now as I don't listen to so many audiobooks on my commute any more – being as I don't have a commute any more.

It's almost there in your timezone! *envious sigh*

Well, I did get one last review posted today and it was for a very good book indeed.

Happy New Year

>25 richardderus: >26 johnsimpson: Happy New Year Richard & John.

Happy new year, Rhian! It's lunchtime over here on the 1st.
I'm going to try harder to keep up on LT this year...it just didn't happen in 2022.

Great photo Rhian. Happy New Year.

Happy new year Rhian!

Happy new year, Rhian! I always enjoy your thread for the books (of course) but also reading about your travels and Daisy's antics.

>28 cushlareads: >29 Caroline_McElwee: >30 quondame: >31 lauralkeet: Happy New Year everyone!

A quiet New Year's Eve and Day for us. Didn't start very well yesterday with a visit to my Mum (to deliver some bits and pieces that she needed) to discover that the positivity of the day before had been replaced by extreme negativity. My sister says that my mother never complains to her, so I wonder if the day before was more positive purely because my sister was there? I ended up getting quite upset and needing to be made cups of tea! Got better in the afternoon when we came home and played Ticket to Ride - Asia with Jacob and Caroline, (Caroline's Christmas present to us).

They went off to parties in the evening but I haven't been sleeping too well the last few days so didn't make it past 11pm. We left the bedroom door open so Daisy could come in if there were any noisy fireworks at midnight but there didn't seem to be anything very close by (probably because it was a very wet evening) so she coped without us.

A nice walk with Daisy this morning, although along the pavement rather than in the countryside - it has been raining pretty constantly since the snow melted and it is so muddy. And time to start on Paul's Africa Challenge this afternoon with In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar.

>23 SandDune: Wow! Nice photo.

Happy New Year and happy new thread Rhian!

Happy New Year, Rhian. I look forward to following your reading again this year. You have great list of favorites for 2022; I'm already adding to my WL.

Hi Rhian! I have you starred.

Happy New Year, Rhian. I'm sorry your visit to your mum was stressful, but I'm glad that the tea and board games picked you back up.

I look forward to following you on your 2023 reading journey, as well as hanging about waiting for more pictures of Daisy. :-)

Hope you have a great year of reading!

>33 humouress: >34 BLBera: >35 kgodey: >36 rosalita: >37 thornton37814: Happy New Year everyone!

>36 rosalita: I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures of Daisy soon enough ...

Happy New Year, Rhian!

>39 ronincats: >40 Berly: Happy New Year to you too!

Happy New Year, Rhian. I hope to see you from time to time in 2023. Have a great reading year.

1. Am Ddiwrnod Margaret Johnson Meinir Wyn Edwards



In which Sophia Reynolds travels to Cardiff and finds out that film stars aren't all they are cracked up to be!

Am Ddiwrnod (translation 'What a Day!') is a short Welsh language book designed for adult learners of Welsh. I bought several of these graded books last year but hadn't got around to reading them. Although they are very short (this one is not really much longer than a short story) I've decided to include them in my yearly tallies, if for no other reason than to encourage myself to read more of them! I won't be grading them though.

Happy New Year, Rhian!

>1 SandDune: Love that picture of the young hare.

>43 SandDune: Welsh seems like a difficult language to learn! I’m doing some German an DuoLingo. Easy. But Welsh? Kudos to you.

>42 msf59: Hope to see you too Mark!

>43 SandDune: Welsh seems like a difficult language to learn! Everyone always says that! I think from an English speakers perspective it looks difficult to pronounce, although in reality it is much more phonetic than English. The grammar is quite different though from the Western European languages that most people learn, and there are some fiddly bits (lots and lots of different words for yes and no, and mutations all over the place). But I find spoken Welsh much easier to understand than, say, French, and in theory my French is much better than my Welsh.

Well, my feel good news story of the New Year was the arrival of Thor the Walrus in Scarborough (a small seaside resort in Yorkshire). Thor's decision to haul himself up in the harbour slipway caused great excitement and the council very kindly cancelled the planned New Year's Eve fireworks in case they disturbed him.

https://bdmlr.org.uk/the-return-of-thor?fbclid=IwAR3kHTnFuQTzvJnsm3UOq3h-C6-NLvD...

Thor demonstrating 'some natural male behaviour', as the article puts it, wasn't quite what I was expecting to see on my social media on New Year's Day!

>46 SandDune: I saw that story on Twitter, Rhian. What a sight that must have been, "natural male behavior" and all. :-) I gather that walruses aren't regular visitors to Yorkshire?

>47 rosalita: I don't think there has ever been a walrus in Yorkshire before. They are exceptionally rare visitors to the U.K. Apparently Thor has moved 90 miles up the coast now to Northumberland.

>46 SandDune: that is an amazing story, Rhian. I love the way that narrative is written, too.

>46 SandDune: I like that they cancelled out the fireworks out of consideration for your be-tusked visitor. Good on you!

>46 SandDune: Hi Rhian. I also saw a short clip of Thor, the walrus on my twitter feed.
Anyway hope you will have a good reading year ahead.

My husband is learning Danish via duolingo while one of my sons is getting along in Polish by watching films and listening to audiobooks.

Promising that they cancelled the fireworks for Thor. He looks to be a big guy from the photos.

Happy new year, Rhian! I too saw the walrus story. Very funny. And lovely that they cancelled the fireworks for him.

>49 lauralkeet: >50 magicians_nephew: >51 avatiakh: >52 Familyhistorian: >53 cushlareads: Apparently the walrus has now swum 100 miles further north to Northumberland. It's found a marina to rest in.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/02/walrus-swims-north-to-northumber...

2. In the Country of Men Hisham Matar ***1/2



Suleiman, a nine year old boy living in Colonel Gaddafi's Libya in 1979, struggles to understand the actions of the adults around him. Why does he see his father in the centre of Tripoli when he is supposedly abroad on a business trip. Why does his mother only become 'ill' when his father is away, and why does she act so oddly once she has taken her medicine:

When she was ill she would talk and talk and talk, but later hardly remembered any of what she had told me. It was as if her illness got the spirit of another woman in her.

In the morning, after I had fallen asleep exhausted from listening to her craziness and from guarding her – afraid she would burn herself, or leave the gas on in the kitchen or, God forbid, leave the house altogether and bring shame and talk down on us – she would come and sit beside me, comb my hair with her fingers and apologise and sometimes even cry a little. I would then be stung by her breath, heavy with medicine, unable to frown or turn my face because I wanted her to believe I was in a deep sleep.'

When the family's next door neighbour, Ustath Rashid, is arrested as a suspected traitor suspicion starts to fall on his friend, Suleiman's own father. But how can a young boy protect those he loves when he does not understand the rules of the 'country of men'? And how can a wife trapped in a marriage she didn't want escape the repercussions of her husband's actions?

A moving story considering the choices made by those living in a police state. Is acquiescence or rebellion the best course when each can have such dangerous consequences?

While most of the book deals with a period of a few weeks in Suleiman's childhood, it then continues on to summarise his later life. So many books do this, and in my opinion it rarely works well. This would have been a better book if it had focused entirely on the events of 1979. But a good read nevertheless, and I'd happily read more by this author.

>55 SandDune: Hi Rhian, I hope this year is rewarding and holds promise of some more enjoyable travel. Both reading and walking Daisy sound like good activities to decompress from life's worries. I read with great sympathy the care you give to your mother.

In the Country of Men is certainly not light reading material. Sounds very well-researched. I agree that skipping from the MC's childhood to later life is a poor way to develop a story.

I have rarely read something that was so disconnected in the narrative of the main character's life. Adroit backstories which hearken to the growing up years can be very engaging but this one sounds as if the author wrote a detailed childhood story and it wasn't enough (for a book or the editor, maybe).

>56 SandyAMcPherson: I think if it were an autobiographical book then the catching up to adult life would make more sense. But this is fiction and really doesn't need to do that.

Definitely back to normality today. Christmas decorations came down yesterday and Mr SandDune went back to school today. And my normal activities are starting up again with my first Welsh class after Christmas yesterday. I went for a facial this morning, a treat after the stress with my Mum over Christmas, which is my go-to activity if I'm feeling in need of a little extra TLC. Jacob will still be at home for another week, but he's working on his dissertation now so it's fairly quiet again.

3. Blacmêl Pegi Talfryn



In which private detective Elsa Bowen deals with blackmail, incriminating photos, shootings, gangsters and lap-dancing clubs on the mean streets of Caernarfon.

Another short Welsh language book designed for adult learners of Welsh. Translates as 'Blackmail' (but you probably worked that our for yourself).

Weekly summary of reading (and other stuff):

At the moment I've got three books on the go:

The Eagle of the Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff (my bedtime kindle book) - for the British authors challenge. I don't think I've read this one before but I've certainly seen film adaptations so the basic plot is familiar, but I'm loving this so far.

The Belton Estate Anthony Trollope (my hard copy book) - a group read with Lyzard. A good solid book that isn't one of his better known ones.

The Five: the Untold Stories of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Hallie Rubenhold (my audio book) - for the Non-fiction challenge. Not got very far with this yet but fascinating so far.

As regards TV watching we are currently enjoying 'Slow Horses' based on the book of the same name by Mick Herron and 'Stonehouse', a dramatisation of the real life disappearance of the Labour M.P. John Stonehouse who faked his own death off a Miami Beach in 1974.

And we've also watched 'Pinocchio', the Guillermo del Toro version, set in fascist Italy and a lot darker than the Disney version. Has anyone actually read the original The Adventures of Pinocchio? I remember having a Pinocchio book as a child (not the Disneyfied version) but I was pretty young so it was probably abridged. Apparently, in the original original version ends with Pinocchio being hanged and then chopped up for firewood, so even darker than the Guillermo del Toro version!

That's some good reading you're doing, Rhian! I have The Five on my TBR and hope to get to it this year.

I have a copy of the original Pinocchio but haven't read it. Now I'm intrigued!

>60 SandDune: Well, it's not *dull* at Teach Rhian.

The del Toro "Pinocchio" is fascinating. Maybe one day I'll gin up the interest to read Collodi's original but the saccharine wodge of stodge that Disney purveyed gets in my way every time. I hear the characters' voices as the Disney ones and that irritates me to no end.

>60 SandDune: You've intrigued me with the mention of the original Pinocchio, Rhian. I've checked and our library has it, so I may pop in this afternoon and give it a go.

>55 SandDune: Great comments on this one, Rhian. It sounds like one I would like. I agree with you regarding the summary at the end when a book focuses on a short period of time. It hardly ever works well, in my opinion.

>61 katiekrug: I wouldn't have got around to The Five as I have absolutely no interest in Jack the Ripper, but Mr SandDune read it for a book club last year and loved it, despite the fact that he has always tried to avoid the whole 'Jack the Ripper' industry as well. A few years ago we went on a guided walk of Whitechapel (where the murders took place) based on Charles Booth's poverty maps from Victorian times, and it was fascinating. So much absolute poverty but sometimes almost next door to prosperous houses.

>62 richardderus: >63 laytonwoman3rd: From what I can make out, the ending was changed pretty early on to something a little more palatable. But it sounds a whole lot darker than the Disney version. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure if I've ever seen the Disney version of Pinocchio. I've certainly seen bits, but I don't remember ever seeing the whole thing. Thinking about it, there are a lot of Disney films that I haven't actually seen all the way through.

>64 BLBera: It's a technique I see used a lot (now of course I can't think of an example) but I don't like it.

I share your thoughts on the whole "Jack the Ripper industry," and only read The Five because of recommendations here on LT. It's a fascinating book. That tour sounds really interesting, too.

>66 lauralkeet: Yes, usually anything which combines violence, true crime and conspiracy theories is a complete ‘no-no’ from me. And most ‘Jack the Ripper’ books seems to combine all three.

Read The Five last year and whilst it is good, the format can get a little bit heavy going at times.

I will be watching Leeds United's venture into Wales very shortly!

>62 richardderus:, >63 laytonwoman3rd: Just for fun, UChicago has an English translation of the original story (pdf). I didn't read the whole piece yet. So far, it certainly isn't Disney-esque!

>69 SandyAMcPherson: I did take a beautifully illustrated (by Robert Ingpen) copy out of the library yesterday. I will be reading it this week. AND, I see that there is a NYRB edition of it as well, which was on offer from LT's Early Reviewers program back in 2008!

>68 PaulCranswick: Mr SandDune wasn’t very happy with the result of that one, Paul, so I suppose that you aren’t as well.

>69 SandyAMcPherson: >70 laytonwoman3rd: I think that I will get around to Pinocchio at some stage in the near future. Be interesting to see what the actual source material is like.

Sunday lunch out yesterday in a local pub with Mr SandDune, Jacob and Caroline. We hadn’t been to that particular pub for a very long time: the food were great but the service was abysmal. When we arrived I started to order drinks at the bar - I wanted ginger beer but they gave me ginger ale. Anyway, I got that changed and then Jacob decided he would have ginger beer too. But they had none left! What kind of pub doesn’t have ginger beer - it’s a staple of the soft drinks that they usually carry. Anyway we went to our table and ordered our food and drinks for the meal. Both myself and Mr SandDune ordered a glass of red Shiraz Viognier. We were delivered two glasses of white Viognier. So that went back and the correct wine arrived but it was undrinkable. So that went back too, and we ended up with some Merlot. Then our food took ages to arrive and we had to ask where it was twice. We were asked if we wanted the pudding menu when we had finished and we said yes, but then no pudding menu was brought. And so we had to ask again for that which once more was only brought after a long time. Throughout it was so difficult to attract anyone’s attention. So I don’t think we’ll be going back there in a hurry.

>1 SandDune: I used to do art as a thread topper as well, and then that morphed into photos of me and the escapades of the family. Maybe we should all go back to art...that was fun.

>32 SandDune: we had a quiet New Years as well. We were all so tired from the setting up of camp, the fishing and swimming in the river, and the food prep, that we only lasted til 1140pm :) We jointly heard people in the holiday houses surrounding ours celebrating though, including a bugle player inexplicable playing the last post?!

>55 SandDune: this one looks really interesting. How did you come to be reading it (was it a recommendation?).

>72 SandDune: Sounds like an irritating experience one of my pet peeves recently is going to a restaurant you know is rarely if ever full and asking for a table - I did it last week and the chap, obviously new asked if I had a reservation and I told him no because you are never full - "we can only seat you outside Sir because inside is full" - I looked over his shoulder at an empty restaurant (a couple of tables with no reserved signs on any of the tables). "You don't look full"- I told him. "We have reservations, Sir''. I shook my head and told him that I didn't want sit outside and that I would go elsewhere. Just as I was walking away he called me back and told me that they had had a cancellation and a table inside could after all be found.
We had an admittedly very good dinner and as I paid I remarked that they must have had quite the spate of cancellations as they never got beyond half full. The waiter told me that it was their policy to try to seat customers outside as it gives the impression that the place is busier than it actually is!

>73 LovingLit: I'm doing the Africa Challenge this year, January is North Africa and The Country of Men is a book that we've had on the shelves for some time. To be honest I can't remember who bought it, me or Mr SandDune. I think it was short-listed for the Booker one year.

We don't usually do very much for New Year to be honest. Pre-Covid we went a few times to my sister's flat in London and watched the New Year's Eve fireworks from there, which was lovely, but we've apart from that it's usually pretty quiet.

>74 PaulCranswick: To be fair to the pub it was busy, but that doesn't explain the incorrect orders or the undrinkable wine. And if they couldn't cope with that many booking then they shouldn't have taken that many reservations. To be honest, if someone had come and apologised to us about the waiting times it would have made all the difference, but nobody did and even when we asked them about the wait they didn't get back to us.

Ah, I found your thread. I missed it last week somehow. Starred now so I don't lose it.

Happy new year and happy reading.

>60 SandDune: I read Pinocchio many years ago. It was the original story and not some abridged version. As I see on the rating I gave it I was only mildly amused, although I will watch the Del Torros version at some point.

Hi Rhian, I read In the Country of Men a few years ago and really liked it. Your excellent review brought it back for me.

>76 sirfurboy: Thanks Stephen!

>77 ctpress: I think I will read it. I still have a hankering to do an M.A. in Children’s Literature (although that looks increasingly unlikely because of the lack of a suitable course near to me) and it feels like something I should read.

>78 brenzi: We have another of Hisham Matar’s books as well – A Month in Siena – that I need to get around to.

Happy reading in 2023, Rhian!

Hi Rhian! Belated Happy New Year and happy first thread.

>4 SandDune: I gave The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue 4.5 stars and hope you like it as much as I did.

>60 SandDune: I haven’t read the original The Adventures of Pinocchio, but I have a lovely old copy inherited from my husband’s mother. I’ve tagged it for a 2023 read.

>72 SandDune: Yikes. What a horrible experience.

Well, we have come to some decisions about my Mum. Our preferred care home, which is nearer to us than the one that she is currently in, now has a space available. We have decided to move her there on a permanent basis from the 19th. It will cause some disruption and upset in the short term but I think it will be best in the long term. We had only ever booked her into current home for a limited period of time so this should not be a problem.

She is still very unhappy as she thinks she is not getting any visitors. Of course, she is getting visitors, but she is not remembering them. And in her own mind she is massively overestimating the number of visitors than she had at home. She has been complaining about a lack of visitors at home for months, but now in her mind she had visitors every day. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to regard the care staff (who all seem very nice) or the other residents as people that she could possibly talk to. I going to try and get my sister to come over on the move day to assist with the process.

I'm glad to see your mum's care arrangements have fallen into place, Rhian. I know it's really difficult to deal with her unfounded issues and sadly I suspect nothing you do will make that behavior go away. Your plan is the best course of action for her, as well as for you and your sister. I hope her move goes smoothly.

>82 SandDune: A belated happy new year, Rhian! I hope all goes well with your mum's move to the new care home.

>82 SandDune: I'm sure having your mum closer will make at least some things easier, though sadly there's not much to be done about her misunderstandings of the world around her. I hope the adjustment period to a new space goes as well as possible for her and for all of you.

Good luck with the move, Rhian. How hard it is to see the decline of loved ones. Best wishes.

>82 SandDune: Good luck with your mum's move Rhian.

Maybe if you introduce a guestbook and encourage folk to sign it as they leave, making a comment about something discussed perhaps, it might change her perception.

>83 lauralkeet: >84 Sakerfalcon: >85 rosalita: >86 BLBera: Thank you for all the support. I think we are making progress but it is difficult.

>87 Caroline_McElwee: We have had a similar idea. We going to get her a calendar and write on it when people have visited. I thought we might make a calendar of Daisy pictures. She's very fond of Daisy!

>88 SandDune: It was good to see some news of how your Mother's care issue have progressed. The calendar idea sounds brilliant.
And also useful to hear coping strategies - I'm passing that idea on.
A friend is struggling with an increasingly-muddled parent and has been asking for management suggestions.

With so many more people living alone in our mobile society these days, far from familiar communities with lots of family around, it is a challenge to get information and even harder to evaluate assisted living facilities. You're a faithful daughter, Rhian. I'm crossing fingers sister will be there, too.

>88 SandDune: Even better, and she'll enjoy seeing Daisy on it every day.

The Belton Estate Anthony Trollope ***1/2



By the time Clara Amedroz's brother shoots himself in his London lodgings, his debts have completely ruined his family's fortunes. As the only son, his death also means that when old Mr Amedroz dies the entailed estate will be inherited by a distant cousin and Clara Amedroz will be left without a penny.

And then, to think that Miss Clara would become a beggar when the old squire should die! All the neighbours around understood the whole business of the entail, and knew that the property was to go to Will Belton. Now Will Belton was not a gentleman ! So at least said the Belton folk, who had heard that the heir had been brought up as a farmer somewhere in Norfolk.

When the new heir visits Belton House his enthusiastic and energetic nature means that he quickly feels like part of the family, and equally quickly falls head over heels in love with Clara. But Clara is not so sure, after all there is a certain Captain Aylmer who she sees regularly at her aunts house ...

Of course the plot follows the question of which of these two young men (if either) should Clara Amedroz choose. Clara can be a slightly irritating heroine at times who almost seems to have a morbid desire to be left penniless, but it's an entertaining read for all that. And the book touches on some more serious topics as well. What should happen to women whose marriages have irretrievably broken down? Can a woman who has fallen far below the moral standards expected of a respectable woman in the nineteenth century ever be redeemed?

I pretty much always enjoy an Anthony Trollope book, and this is no exception.

Dropping off my star :) Hope 2023 is kind to you

>91 SandDune: I really like Anthony Trollope too, but have only read his series books (Barchester & Palliser). He was certainly prolific and every time I think about reading more I get sort of overwhelmed!

I'm glad you've been able to arrange for your mother to move into a facility near you. Extended travel makes dealing with the care issues so much tougher. It was one of the saddest things about both my uncle (whose end of life care I managed) and my mother, that they did not remember being visited regularly by many friends and family. People came from fairly far away to see both of them, and they'd say "I don't know WHEN I saw Mary last". Or they'd forget that someone no longer lived within easy distance, and couldn't understand why that person didn't just drop in on a Sunday afternoon. I defaulted to "Well, Mom, they come as often as they can", which wasn't contradicting her, and wasn't actually agreeing with her either. Strength to you all.

5. The Eagle of the Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff ****1/2

When Centurion Marcus Flavius Aquila is badly injured in an attack on his first command, Isca Dumnoniorum on the western frontier of Roman Britain, he is at a loss to know what to do with his life. All his plans so far have been focused on following his dead father's footsteps into the legions. But Marcus's father disappeared with the Ninth Legion over ten years previously, as they marched into the now abandoned frontier province of Valentia beyond the new wall built by Hadrian. But whether that disappearance was due to annihilation in battle or desertion nobody knew.

A chance encounter with a friend of his uncle, with whom he has been staying while convalescent, sends Marcus and his freed slave Esca on a dangerous journey to Caledonia, where the Roman Empire has never held sway. Rumours have told of the existence of the Eagle of the Ninth Legion, the missing legion of Marcus's father.

‘A Legion which went rogue would probably hide its Eagle or hack it to pieces, or simply topple it into the nearest river. It would be most unlikely to have either the wish or the chance to set it up in the temple of some local godling. But an Eagle taken in war is in a very different case. To the Outland Tribes it must seem that they have captured the god of the Legion: and so they carry it home in triumph, with many torches and perhaps the sacrifice of a black ram, and house it in the temple of their own god to make the young men strong in war and help the grain to ripen.

If the Eagle can be recovered perhaps the secret fate of the Ninth Legion can be discovered and the honour of the Legion be regained, and with it the reputation of Marcus's father.

A wonderful adventure story which at the same time paints a fascinating picture of Roman Britain. Highly recommended! There are several more books in this series and I will definitely be carrying on with it.

>92 ChelleBearss: Lovely to see you Chelle.

>93 lauralkeet: I've read the Barchester books and the first of the Palliser novels. And then I have read some of the stand alone books as well. Off the top of my head I think The Kelly's and the O'Kelly's, The MacDermots of Ballycloran, Rachel Ray.

>94 laytonwoman3rd: I am going to have to get more strategies for dealing with my mother's issues. She has deteriorated quite quickly and I don't think I have as yet developed strategies.

>97 SandDune: It's hard, Rhian. For me, at least, some of the recommendations go so strongly against my natural inclinations, even though I acknowledge that they are wise and useful.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dementia/behaviour/

>98 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you - there's some useful stuff there.

I'm glad I stopped by here, Rhian. I slithered through your thread from the beginning and read all sorts of interesting things. I downloaded the Pinocchio text you which you linked. I had noted that Linda had read it recently, and then she popped in here to talk about it. I've got your thread starred now so I can stop by from time to time.

I've never read anything by Sutcliffe. This sounds good.

I’ve found an interesting article on rereading The Eagle of the Ninth by Charlotte Higgins. Actually, reading this reminded me that I have her book Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain on my WL. Apparently, we do have it buried in the depths of Jacob’s bedroom somewhere.

A slightly busier day today than expected. I called in to see my Mum this morning (at the moment I am trying to go twice a week). I decided to take Daisy with me as she had been asking about Daisy and the home allows dogs. But I had not taken account of the fact the Daisy doesn't like shouting and I have to talk very loudly for my Mum to hear! Not a successful visit!

Then this afternoon Jacob was going back to Uni at Lancaster - unfortunately there are no trains in London from Bishop’s Stortford for several days as a bridge is being repaired. So we decided to drive him over to Watford, where he could pick up the train coming out of London, thus saving him from going into London at all. But it's over an hour to Watford and I could have done without it.

Then when we got home Daisy was clearly agitated about something. Then we discovered that she had had diarrhoea on our stair carpet. Then we also discovered that in her attempt to get outside (presumably) she had bashed the cat flap very hard and broken it. So now we have a small hole in the door. I think she has a vague memory of being able to fit through the cat flap when she was a small puppy, and if she gets frightened (usually if there's some sort of scary beeping noise in the house) she tries very hard to fit through again although she's far too big). So now we need a new cat flap. I know we don't actually have a cat, but once you've got a cat flap there's not much to be done about it unless you get a new door.

>99 SandDune: Welcome Bill! Nice to see you.

>101 BLBera: Mr SandDune says that Rosemary Sutcliffe was pretty much his favourite author when he was young. I don't recall if I read her myself but I have read Dawn Wind as an adult (in my early twenties) which I remember enjoying.

I find the subject of Britain in Roman times an interesting one. Most of Britain was part of the Roman Empire from 43AD to 410 AD and I do find it fascinating to think about what has continued from this time and what has been completely lost. In The Eagle of the Ninth there is a bustling town of Calleva which has disappeared entirely from modern day Britain, but the frontier settlement of Isca Dumnoniorum has developed into modern day Exeter.

We have had some excavations of Roman remains in Bishop’s Stortford recently. The Roman road Stane Street crosses the River Stort just north of the current town and there was an archeological dig when a new leisure centre was being built last year which found a fair number of Roman artefacts. The main road that I used to drive on to work pretty much follows the route of the old Roman road.

Hi Rhian! Repaying your visit to my thread. The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue is also on my list to hopefully get to this year, and I loved Persepolis when I read it. Looking forward to seeing what you read this year!

>95 SandDune: I agree with you completely with The Eagle of the Ninth it was a great yarn but also a very illuminating one. We have a few shared reads this month.

Have a great Sunday.

We still have a poorly dog! She was very lethargic yesterday and still had the diarrhoea. Yesterday afternoon we noticed it was bloody so phoned the vets and took her in first thing this morning. They think she has colitis (probably caused by eating something disgusting when she was out on a walk) and have given her antibiotics and a probiotic paste. The vet seemed pretty confident that that would solve the problem. They don't think there is any foreign body causing the problem and she isn't dehydrated so they didn't need to hospitalise her.

She hasn't been quite herself all week thinking about it, although I wouldn't have said she was actually 'ill' until Friday afternoon, just a little quiet. And a couple of mornings she hasn't been that interested in her food, although she's always eaten it by lunchtime and wanted her food (and as many snacks as possible) the rest of the time.

To be honest, the things she finds to eat when she's let off the lead it's quite surprising that she's not ill more often!

>105 curioussquared: The only thing I've read by V.E.Schwaab was A Darker Shade of Magic which I enjoyed but didn't love. I've not read the sequels as yet - might get around to them someday but not top of my list.

I have read Persepolis before but a long time ago. Mr SandDune has just finished reading it (he's in the same book group as me) and he was very impressed. It obviously never occurred to him previously that a graphic novel could be a good read!

>106 PaulCranswick: Hope you're having a nice Sunday too Paul.

Oh poor Daisy! I hope the meds work their magic quickly.

>103 SandDune: >107 SandDune: Oh, disappointing that taking Daisy to see your mum will be problematic for her. I hope Daisy feels better soon.

Hope you have a better day today Rhian.

6. The Five: the Untold Stories of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Hallie Rubenhold ****



Anybody coming to this book looking for theories on the identity of Jack the Ripper himself will be very disappointed as it focuses solely on the lives of the five women that he is believed to have killed. Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly have all been assumed in the Ripper literature to be prostitutes, but in most cases this assumption is not borne out by the evidence. Hallie Rubenhold's meticulous research looks at each woman's path to becoming a victim of the Ripper. Rather than prostitution, Rubenhold argues that it was extreme poverty that led most of the Ripper's victims to be on the streets of Whitechapel in 1888. They simply could not afford the price of a bed in even the most basic lodging house.

Above all, the book brings home how extremely difficult it was for a poor woman without a husband or other male partner to support themselves in Victorian Britain. They simply couldn't earn enough to provide the most basic necessities of life and purely as a result of their situation they would be seen as an immoral outcasts from society:

The confusion occasioned by a woman of Polly's age, living apart from her husband and family, would have caused people to have concluded one thing alone: she was an aberration, a failure, and invariably, where the character of the woman was compromised, sexual immorality was also assumed. Regardless of whether she could support herself with laundry work or charring, the concept of a woman of childbearing age living and enjoying a single life was an absolute anathema to the Victorian era, regardless of one's class. Without a man, a woman had no credibility, no protection against the schemes and violence of other men, and no purpose in life.

Overall, this book provides a fascinating insight into the lives of the poor in Victorian England and emphasises how even relatively prosperous working class families were only a step away from destitution. A death, an illness, or the arrival of too many children in an age where contraception was not well understood, would be all it took. It also sheds light on why there were so many adherents to the temperance movement as addiction to alcohol is a common theme in the downward spiral that these women took. But given the circumstances of the lives of the poor, it's also surprising that many Victorian women were able to deal with the realities of their day to day lives without it.

Recommended.

Excellent review, Rhian. I too was struck by themes in your last paragraph.

>11 SandDune: This one sounds good.

I hope Daisy feels better soon.

I will definitely check out Sutcliff; I do like historical novels, and that era is interesting.

>109 lauralkeet: >110 Caroline_McElwee: >113 BLBera: Daisy seems to be improving. She's gone from refusing to eat to being hungry again, which is a good sign. And while yesterday she didn't want to move from her bed, now she wants to come and sit with us, and is a bit disgruntled that she's not allowed to do that yet!

>91 SandDune: "Redeemed" is one of those 19th-century social constructs that Trollope absolutely excelled at delineating in the most exquisite detail. Today it's a what we do with a coupon offer.

I like today better, me.

>111 SandDune: This sounds quite interesting — very nice review, Rhian.

And sending my best wishes along to Daisy for a speedy recovery. My dog Odie, who is no longer with us, was a wizard at finding discarded food along our walks, and he was utterly indiscriminate about what he would eat in those circumstances (while being quite fussy about what he ate at home, go figure). Discarded McDonald's French fries, half-eaten hamburgers, and once part of a pizza in the middle of the road that had clearly been run over at least once! Thankfully, he never suffered any serious effects but it was nerve-wracking trying to get him to give up his "treasure".

>108 SandDune: I'm not a fan of A Darker Shade of Magic but loved The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue.

>112 lauralkeet: >113 BLBera: >115 richardderus: >116 rosalita:>117 quondame: Having just read The Belton Estate and The Five close together it’s interesting to consider the difference realities of ‘poverty’ encountered by the different classes. As an upper class woman Clara (in The Belton Estate) seems almost to have a determination to be left penniless, as she refuses opportunities to be not left penniless at her father’s death. But the reader does come away with a sense of her complete naïveté as to what truly being penniless might involve. If Mrs Askerton had not been effectively rescued by Mr Askerton would she have entered the downward spiral seen in the chapters of The Five? It’s certainly a possibility if her family had disowned her.

>117 quondame: That’s good to know. I’m

>115 richardderus: I like today better too. Hope you’re feeling better?

>116 rosalita: Given the opportunity, Daisy will eat pretty much anything (apart from salad). She is a very greedy dog altogether. Across the road we have a little alley way where about five years ago she found a half-eaten sandwich. She never fails to inspect the exact spot even now in case there are more goodies. Daisy does seems to be feeling better now. She ate properly yesterday afternoon and this morning without apparent ill effects.

I am afraid I was irritated with the entire American race this morning for deciding to have your dates in MMDDYY format! I can obviously translate it to DDMMYY in my head but every time I have to think about it slightly and it adds a lot of time when you are dealing with a lot of dates. And I also hate Google Docs (which is the format I'm using). If it was Excel I'd know how to change the dates to the format I want, but I can't work out how to do it in Google Docs at all! And I hate Google Docs saving itself constantly- I want to save when I want to save not when the machine decides to do it for me.

Anyway, apart from software issues the good news is that Daisy is much improved and has been allowed back on the sofa. She's had her last day of poached chicken and it will be back to the tinned food tomorrow.

Hi Rhian my dear, sorry to hear Daisy is not well and hope she has a speedy recovery.

>119 SandDune: - Er, sorry? LOL.

Did you try changing your location in Settings in the File menu? I think if you choose the UK, it will format the date how you want. You said Google Docs but then mentioned Excel, so I've checked in Google Sheets, and it will let me change my location...

ETA: And I just tried a spreadsheet with locaton set to UK and it did the dates the wrong European way.

>119 SandDune: For my own records I do dates YYMMDD. Sorts well.

I'm glad you are able to move your mom to the preferred location.

Glad to see Daisy is improving!

>119 SandDune:, >121 katiekrug: Here's a webpage describing the steps. I think this is what Katie did. It also notes that after making this change you might need to change some previously-entered dates.
How to Change the Default Date Format in Google Sheets.

I hope we've redeemed ourselves?!

>121 katiekrug: >122 quondame: >125 lauralkeet: Oh thank you. I will have a go with that tomorrow. I was just trying to sort it out with the formatting, but really I was just getting so annoyed with Google Sheets anyway that I probably wasn't at my most logical!

>120 johnsimpson: >124 ChelleBearss: She's still not 100% but the diarrhoea seems to have stopped, thank goodness. And she seems much brighter.

>123 thornton37814: I just wish I could convince my mother that she has visitors. But she is adamant that nobody is visiting her. And she is not really talking to anyone else in the home as far as I can see, whether carers or other residents.

7. Secret Service Tom Bradby ***



Senior MI6 agent Kate Henderson has a tip-off that senior figures in Russian intelligence will be meeting on the yacht of Russian oligarch Igor Borodin. But when her mission to bug the yacht is successful, the British intelligence team hears more than it had bargained for. According to the Russians the British Prime Minister is seriously ill and will very soon be announcing his retirement. But more worryingly, one of his potential successors is in the pay of the Russians, and they expect his or her path to Number 10 to be helped along by a mole in MI6 itself.

''What makes you so sure?' Igor asked.
'The Prime Minister has prostrate cancer. He will resign this week.'
They could hear Igor lighting the cigars. 'Who stands in our way? '
'The woman in education, perhaps. But there will be other candidates of course.'
'Viper can help'.'

But who is the Russian agent? Is it the Foreign Secretary James Ryan, clearly one of the two front runners to the Prime Minister's job together with the Education Secretary Imogen Conrad (who incidentally Kate's husband Stuart works for in a senior role)? And who is 'Viper'? Or is the whole thing a set-up by the Russians to confuse their British counterparts and undermine the British political system.

While Kate desperately tries to discover the truth, she has her own problems to deals with. A toxic mother suffering from dementia doesn't help, and neither does her teenage daughter, who is being ... well ... teenaged.

There are some problems with this book. Some of the research seems a little sloppy, in particular, the depiction of Kate's family life just didn't ring true. And the characterisation is a little lacking. However, I enjoyed the plot and may well go on to read the next one in this series.

>1 SandDune: Returning your visit to my page.

I love the Durer! I've got a thing for rabbits. I don't have much artistic talent myself, but my sister does. When we were in high school, my sister did a painting for an art class she was taking. It was a fantasy of some alien world. I remember that for some reason the paintings for that class were set out in a number of the classrooms in the school. My sister's painting was in one of my classes. Unfortunately, someone stole it, and my sister never got to keep it. Which was too bad, because it was really creative.

>119 SandDune: I always do my dates YYMMDD

Glad Daisy is improving!

>128 atozgrl: Welcome Irene. Nice to see you. I would like to have some of the paintings that I did in school as well. I’ve got a couple that I did at home, but very few.

>129 figsfromthistle: I frequently do that if I am using dates in file names as it gets it all sorted nicely. But this is a file that is referred to by other people so I just want to have it in a normal format.

Well, we moved my Mum to her (hopefully) permanent care home today. It all went as well as could be expected, thank goodness! For the first time in weeks she didn't start complaining to me as soon as I walked in the door! I'd arranged for my sister to come over both to encourage her and for a bit of moral support for me but in the end I managed to get her to the new care home all on my lonesome and met my sister and brother-in-law there.

The new care home was my preferred option from the start, the rooms are a little bit bigger and it's more spacious overall than the previous one. And more things are included as standard, such as chiropody and weekly hairdressing. And of course it is nearer to our house.

We managed to get my Mum settled by 12.30 and then went for lunch before my sister and brother-in-law had to head off home. I feel like a weight is off my mind now!

>131 SandDune: - I'm glad it went well, Rhian. I can understand the sense of relief to have some of that uncertainty gone.

>130 SandDune: I sympathise Rhian. I am very British when it comes to dates DDMMYY every time for me.

>132 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

>133 PaulCranswick: I thought it was only the U.S. that used MMDDYY but I looked it up and I can see that a few other countries do as well, or do at least partly, and Malaysia is one. But according to Wikipedia, DDMMYY is the most common format worldwide.

So glad you got your mum all safe and sound in her forever home. (Oh dear, that sounds like she's a pet. Do they say that in London?) I hope she enjoys her new home!

>135 The_Hibernator: We do say that!

>131 SandDune: Rhian, I am so sorry to hear that you are having to deal with so much regarding your mom, but I am very glad that moving her went so well. I know it's a relief for you. We dealt with similar issues with my mom back in 2015, so I know how stressful it can be. Sending you my best wishes!

I am so glad your mom's move went well, Rhian. I hope all continues to go well.

Excellent news about your mum's move, Rhian. I didn't realize (or maybe forgot) this home was your preferred one all along. That makes the news even better. I am sure it's a huge weight off your shoulders.

>131 SandDune: Glad to read your mother's move went better than you expected, Rhian.

>131 SandDune: Well that is great Rhian. And hopefully now there will be time for some self-care to reduce your stress levels.

Hopefully in a short time your mum will find some friendly neighbours that will make life interesting again, hearing new stories etc.

Glad your mum's move went well, Rhian.

>137 atozgrl: >138 BLBera: >139 lauralkeet: >140 FAMeulstee: >142 Caroline_McElwee: >143 curioussquared: Thank you all. The home fed back to me this morning on how she was getting on. Apparently she had a good night but wouldn't let them unpack her things as she told them she was going to be leaving today!

>144 SandDune: I'm glad you mother is doing somewhat well in her new situation and hopes she's willing to unpack and settle shortly.

>107 SandDune: That sounds a lot like my dog. I thought it was great when I got her, how "food motivated" she was; "easy to train" I said happily to myself. Well she's also a top notch expert on finding any kind of carrion - she regularly pulls dead rodents out of hedges - and will try to eat all kinds of things that are emphatically not good for her (acorns?! why?).

>119 SandDune: I'm Canadian, and I've now lived in the US for about half my life. Canada uses dd/mm/yyyy; the US uses mm/dd/yyyy. I get confused simply reading things I wrote myself many years ago. I now generally use dd mmm yyyy or mmm dd yyyy - I.e. it's neither 1/20/2023 today nor 20/1/2023 today - it's 20 Jan 2023 or Jan 20, 2023.

>131 SandDune: I'm also cheering for this satisfying end to the state of affairs in locating a good care facility. I hope you'll be able to find a way that helps your Mum recognize that she does have visitors.

Would she remember if she saw photos of herself with people visiting? I am not sure how well that would work, but maybe a visual cue might be useful?

Happy New Year, Rhian! I love the Durer up top - I am particularly fond of his Little Owl. I think the Young Hare is fitting for the Year of the Rabbit upcoming for the Lunar New Year.

How is Daisy doing? Poor dog.

And what a relief to have your mother settled in a place you like that is close by. I hope she settles in nicely and is very happy there.

Good for you for taking up Welsh again! I did my senior thesis on a linguistic phenomenon in Welsh... this feels like ages ago (I suppose it was) and I can hardly remember anything about it now. I dream of visiting Wales again very soon.

>145 quondame: >147 SandyAMcPherson: Thanks for the good wishes. I’m just hoping that they can persuade her to actually do something! They have activities every morning and afternoon. In the last place she was complaining that she was fed up but she wouldn’t participate in anything.

>147 SandyAMcPherson: She might remember if she could see the photos. Or she might interpret them as something different. I’m not sure. I might get her a pinboard to put that sort of thing on.

>146 ArlieS: I think ‘food motivated’ translates to ‘prone to fat’ in later life. Daisy has been on a diet! She’s gone down from 22.5kg to 18.6kg (although that last weight was when she wasn’t eating properly). She’s supposed to be about 19kg.

>148 AMQS: Daisy is feeling much better. She’s sitting here staring at me eating my toast as I type: she likes toast crusts.

>148 AMQS: And now of course I want to know what linguistic phenomenon you did your thesis on. The three things that I can think of that are different in Welsh compared to other languages that I am familar with are:

Mutations: The first letter of many Welsh words changes depending on what comes before it. So the word for Cardiff is Caerdydd but ‘to Cardiff’ becomes ‘i Nghaerdydd’.

Yes and No: There are words for yes and no in Welsh but they are used very rarely. Usually you say things like Ydw (Yes I am), Na Fydd (No he/she will not), O’ch (Yes you were), Na fasen (No we would not), Oes (yes there is). So it all depends on person and tense and definite/ indefinite article.

Numbers: There are also two ways of counting - one an earlier twenty based system (you can see vestiges of this in French as well). The older system is used for specific purposes, like telling the time.

Glad you got your mom settled in. Hopefully she lets them unpack and starts to enjoy her new home

>151 SandDune: OMG! I would be lost in a New York second** if I tried to learn Welsh. And 'they' say that English is one of the hardest languages to learn...

Edited because (even though I'm Canadian) we all know...
how to translate ** = The New York Second
This is "the shortest unit of time in the multiverse", defined as the period of time between the traffic lights turning green and the cab behind you honking.

A nice day out today. A trip into London to see 'Best of Enemies', a play by James Graham starring David Harewood and Zachary Quinto:



A dramatisation of the TV debates between William F. Buckley Jr. (played by David Harewood) and Gore Vidal (played by Zachary Quinto) during the 1968 Republican and Democrat conventions in the U.S., a piece of television history of which I was previously totally unaware. But it was an excellent and thought-provoking production, with impressive performances by the two leads, which had things to say about the quality of political debate (or perhaps rather the lack of it) in our own times.

Before that we had dim sum at Ping Pong and afterwards a trip to Foyles where I may possibly have bought a few books. To be precise: The Book of Chameleons by José Eduardo Agualusa (for next month's Africa challenge); My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley; and The Octopus Man by Jasper Gibson.

>152 ChelleBearss: Hopefully she will!

>153 SandyAMcPherson: Talking about units of time if I say that I will be somewhere 'in a minute' Mr SandDune frequently asks if it is a Welsh minute or an English minute. Welsh minutes are definitely longer. Sometimes I say I'll be there 'now, in a minute' which is a very South Welsh turn of phrase indeed and can be extended to include quite a long period of time.

>150 SandDune: Rhian, your comment reminded me of a T-shirt I saw recently. A dog was peering over a stack of words that read
"Every snack you make
Every meal you bake,
Every bite you take
I'll be watching you"

Maybe Daisy just loves The Police? ;-)

>111 SandDune: about time that murderers cease getting notoriety and the victims start being discussed. I've certainly had enough of sensationalist, media-created nicknames given to criminals. It's all a bit crass if you ask me.
In short, I like the sound of this book :)

>151 SandDune: And now of course I want to know what linguistic phenomenon you did your thesis on.
Me too!

>151 SandDune: Yes, it was initial consonant mutations, called lenition. But now I want to know more about the other Welsh particularities!

Hi Rhian!

>82 SandDune: Good decision although I know your mum will have difficulties with the change.

>103 SandDune: Ugh. Poor Daisy. The indignity of diarrhoea and the upset of trying to flee through something too small. We have a cat flap built into the wall of the house itself. Since we have 3 cats, this works out well for us. We open it in the morning and make sure everybody’s in at night and close it since we live in the country and there are predators out there. Sorry you have to replace something you don't even need/use.

>111 SandDune: Overall, this book provides a fascinating insight into the lives of the poor in Victorian England and emphasises how even relatively prosperous working class families were only a step away from destitution. A death, an illness, or the arrival of too many children in an age where contraception was not well understood, would be all it took. At least here in the US, not much has changed as regards the thin margin most people live on between housing/safety/food security/health and homelessness/victim of crime/food insecurity/no insurance – health problems causing dramatic bad change in economic status.

>131 SandDune: I’m glad the move went as well as could be expected. 🤞 that she settles in nicely.

>144 SandDune: *eye roll*

>154 SandDune: Glad the play was good Rhian. I think you said on my thread it was closing soon, so probably missed that. I've just booked a ticket for Orlando next month. I was miffed I couldn't use some theatre tokens recently received if I booked online.

Haha re your visit too Foyles. I really must try a Gwendolyn Riley novel.

>156 rosalita: Daisy has a definite pecking order of staring during mealtimes. First, she stares at Caroline, then Jacob, then me, then Mr SandDune. She doesn't usually bother with Mr SandDune at all during mealtimes, because she knows she's not going to get anything, but the chances of something "accidentally" falling on the floor from Jacob's or Caroline's plate is quite high. But Mr SandDune does eat a lot of apples and she does like apple cores ...

>157 LovingLit: I've certainly had enough of sensationalist, media-created nicknames given to criminals Me too!

>158 AMQS: I had to look up what lentition meant as I'd never heard the expression before. As far as I could tell soft and aspirate mutations in Welsh would be included. I looked it up and apparently in Europe it is only the Celtic languages that do this, and Welsh seems to do it most, but some other languages around the world do mutate as well. It is probably the most complicated thing about Welsh, certainly for a beginner, as you've got to dive right in and start doing it straight away. For instance, cat is 'cath' but the cat is 'y gath' (soft mutation), and you don't study a language very long before you need to be able to talk about things like 'the cat'!

Possessives are particularly difficult:
my cat is 'fy nghath' (nasal mutation)
your (singular) cat is 'dy gath' (soft mutation)
your (plural) cat is 'eich cath' (no mutation)
his cat is 'ei gath' (soft mutation again)
her cat is 'ei chath' (aspirate mutation)

>159 karenmarie: Luckily Daisy seems to be much better now, but it was a nasty bug that she had.

I think the safety net here is also getting smaller and smaller. House prices and energy prices are through the roof and a lot of people just can't afford what should be a basic standard of living.

>160 Caroline_McElwee: I think 'Best of Enemies' is on until mid February. What day are you going to see Orlando? We're also going to see that, the matinee performance on 25th February, which is the last day it's on I think. I got a bit carried a way with booking theatre tickets over Christmas so we are also going to Oklahoma in March and Guys and Dolls in May.

I'm seeing Orlando the evening of the 17 Feb Rhian.

Will go in search of 'Guys and Dolls', I saw the production in the 80s at the National 3 times it was so good, Bob Hoskins, Julia Mackenzie, Ian Charleson, Julie Covington.

>163 Caroline_McElwee: Guys and Dolls is my absolute favourite musical - I've seen it several times. Once at the National in the 1990s, then another production with Ewan MacGregor in 2005 and then most recently at the Savoy Theatre a few years ago. And I think I've seen it in Cambridge as well.

This production is at the Bridge Theatre.

I'm glad you liked The Five, Rhian. I thought it was well researched and showed how dire things were for women in Victorian Britain especially those in the East End. It gave me a better understanding of how my ancestors lived (a lot of them in the East End.)

I now have The Eagle of the Ninth on my hold list at the library. Sounds like a good one.

I hope your mum settles into her new place soon and starts to take advantage of what is on offer. Frustrating that you can only show them what is there and hope they take the bait.

Not sure how I missed your thread until now, Rhian. A very belated "Happy New Year" from me!

We went to see 'Corsage' yesterday - anyone else seen this - a film covering a year in the life of Elizabeth of Austria, the wife of the Emperor Franz Joseph. A complex woman struggling with her position as a woman in the stifling Hapsburg court of the nineteenth century, and struggling also with her obsession with maintaining her youthful appearance and her famously narrow waist.

Well worth watching, but I did come away feeling that I needed someone to explain it too me!

>165 Familyhistorian: The Five was certainly fascinating social history.

The home has a Facebook page where they show the activities that their residents are doing - I've yet to see my Mum doing anything but I live in hope.

>166 alcottacre: Welcome Stasia!

>131 SandDune: Glad the move went well! I am sure it will be an adjustment for everyone.

I'm currently reading Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins, and in the chapter on Silchester ( the Silleva of The Eagle of the Ninth for those who have read it) she has some interesting things to say about The Eagle of the Ninth (a book she clearly loves), and Rosemary Sutcliff in general.

I have read The Eagle of the Ninth dozens of times; and as the reading self changes, so does the book. When I last read the story it was the sheet quality of the prose that delighted, the utter rightness with which Sutcliff gave life to the visible world. She attended art college from the age of fourteen, and specialised in miniature painting. She told an interviewer: 'Fortunately, I have got a very good memory. And it's a visual memory. I was taught how to look at things. And I've found this really useful because I know ... how the colour of sunlight gleaming off a sword will change, depending on whether it's a warm sky or not.' A miniaturist's skill then, but deployed on a generous imaginative canvas: desperate moorland chases on horse-back; a fort subject to a vicious attack; strange and wild native rituals practised by night.

Sutcliff here, as in her later books on Roman Britain that spiral out of the Eagle, is greatly interested in questions of identity. What does it mean to be British? Where is home? Can friendship trump tribal loyalties? The Eagle of the Ninth speaks deeply of its time of writing, during Britain's post war era of decolonisation. Reading half a century on, when the imperial age is viewed in a more critical light, Sutcliff has Esca relate to his master in a way that we might now find troubling. A moment at which Cub is offered his freedom – but then comes trotting back home, humbly offering his muzzle to Marcus – is echoed by a parallel scene in which Marcus offers Esca his liberty, only for the Britain, just like the potentially savage wolf cub, to declare his continued allegiance and devotion to the Roman.

What Sutcliff achieves above all in The Eagle of the Ninth is a world that is entirely credible; a world that could trick you into believing it as historical truth. She once said: ' I think that I am happiest of all in Roman Britain. I feel very much at home there .... If I could do a time flip and land back in Roman Britain,I would take a deep breath, take perhaps a fortnight to get used to things, then be all right, for I would know what was making the people around me tick .... I have a special "Ah, here I am again, I know exactly what they are going to have for breakfast" feeling when I get back into Roman Britain.'

>170 SandDune: I read this several years ago and loved it; that time in history is fascinating. I will definitely look for the Sutcliff.

I know it's very hard to do, but sometimes we just have to let the older generation's grumbles roll off. They need to vent, just as we do. The staff will have lots of ways to encourage your mother to participate in activities. They won't get frustrated when she doesn't, they'll just try another way. It took my MIL about six months to get truly involved in things at the senior living home, but now her conversations are all about what's going on this week at "The Pines"...the shuffle board games, the Master Class episode at the mini-theater, the "happy hour" entertainment and so on. She isn't cognitively impaired, so that's made it both easier (no confusion about where she is and whether she's staying) and tougher (she knows exactly what she's given up).

We've had a busy weekend down in South Wales sorting out my Mum's flat. The primary objective of the weekend was to collect the remainder of my Mum's clothes (or at least the ones that she is likely to wear) and to also collect some family photos and mementoes so that she has something with which to decorate her room. Also a couple of my Dad's paintings (he took up painting after retirement) to put on her wall. After doing that, we started on the process of sorting out the rest of her possessions.

My mother has never been one to get rid of anything unnecessarily if 'it might come in handy one day'. She did move house in 2013, and so was relatively restricted in what she could fit in a fairly small flat but she certainly did her best. We sorted out her remaining clothes and divided them up between charity shop and textile recycling, and then we added a large pile of bedding to the textile recycling (some of which I remember from when I was a child). We've just bundled up all the paperwork we could find and brought it home to sort, along with some of the photos that I need to go through with my sister. And I can also take some of those over with me when I go to visit my Mum, so she has something to look at. Then there was piles of out of date medication to go back to the pharmacy and tins of food to go to the food bank. All in all we seem to have taken loads of stuff somewhere else, but if you looked at my Mum's flat having never seen it before, it wouldn't be immediately apparent!

Some interesting things that we did find: a photo of my great-grandfather (he was born in 1851 and died in 1905 and I'd never seen a photo of him before); my Mum's toy sewing machine that must date from the 1920s; my Welsh costume from when I was about five or six that had been made from the Welsh costumes of my great-grandmother and great aunts (falling apart now though); and the old very large leather bound bible in Welsh (literary Welsh - I have very little chance of being able to read it).

We'll have to go back with my sister to look at crockery, books and things that might be of sentimental value but at least we've made a start!

>169 figsfromthistle: >172 laytonwoman3rd: It certainly is an adjustment. I am trying to be more patient and let things flow over me more. It doesn't come naturally!

>171 BLBera: I am now reading the third book in the trilogy but I have unfortunately left my kindle behind in the B&B we were staying in! I've emailed them to ask it to post it, but it's a pain.

Wow, it sounds like you have a task ahead, cleaning out your mum's apartment.

I hope you get your kindle back.

>175 BLBera: Apparently the kindle has been located and the B&B owner says he will post tomorrow. It was a nice B&B we stayed at, obviously a very old building with the stone walls of our bedroom at least two feet thick! We had thought that it would empty this time of year, but apparently it was full, with two rooms taken up by people going surfing. Wouldn't be my ideal January activity....

Hi Rhian! I am glad your mum is settled in her new care home and that Daisy is doing better.

Thanks for sharing the excerpt from Under Another Sky. Not a BB since it was already on my TBR list, but I'm all the more eager to read it now thanks to your comments!

>177 cbl_tn: I'm very much in a Roman Britain phase right now, so it's very convenient that Mr SandDune and Jacob (particularly Jacob), have several books on the topic for me to dip into.

>161 SandDune: I love this stuff, Rhian, but I did have the luxury of looking at it from a linguistic phenomenon point of view rather than from one actually trying to learn a language!

>173 SandDune: that's quite the endeavor, Rhian, and you found a lot of interesting things!

>164 SandDune: I think my favourite musical is Blood Brothers which I saw three times in the West End. I also really liked Cats and Fiddler on the Roof.

>134 SandDune: Way back to the calendar classification wikipedia have it wrong about Malaysia as we follow the British DD/MM/YY here in general parlance.

>1 SandDune: What a lovely story of your artistic abilities. How sad, that it got lost. Durer's hare is so very detailed and beautiful. i share your love of art. I hope that some day, somehow your charcoal art work is found.

All good wishes.

>179 AMQS: In looking up literary Welsh (to see how different it was from colloquial Welsh) I found some more interesting linguistic facts for you!

Apparently Welsh is diglossic, in that it exists in a formal standardised literary form (which is not used in spoken speech) and colloquial forms (which exist in a number of dialects – North and South Welsh can be more different than British and American English, for example). Literary Welsh was standardised quite early, and is epitomised in the Welsh translation of the bible in 1588 (which would have been the translation in the bible we found). Literary Welsh apparently differs quite markedly, particularly in its use of verbs, with several different tenses used that are not used in spoken Welsh (which makes a lot of use of auxiliary verbs). Literary Welsh is still used in literary texts (although not all written texts) or very formal writing, but it’s not something a beginner learns. Apparently, once it has been learnt then medieval or Middle Welsh becomes much more accessible than Middle English would be to an English speaker.

Edited to add: I’ve realised that I do actually know some literary Welsh, as I can still recite the Lord’s Prayer in Welsh as a result of saying it every day in Primary school, and that would have been the 1588 translation.

>170 SandDune: I really must get to the Sutcliffe books, they have been on the shelf a while.

>173 SandDune: Necessary, but emotionally and physically tiring, but good to have got a big chunk of it behind you Rhian. It is lovely to make interesting finds. I look forward to hearing what your mum made of things you brought her she may have not seen herself in years.

>173 SandDune: Your clean out process sounds very systematic and organized. It sounds like it was smart to tackle types of "stuff" all in one go, like all the textiles, rather than say going room by room and dealing with all types of stuff in that room. Also a good idea to scoop up all the papers to deal with at home, in your own time. I'm sure she will enjoy seeing photos and other mementoes on her walls.

>180 PaulCranswick: I think my top three favourite musicals would be Guys and Dolls, Evita and Les Misérables. We don't usually see that many musicals as Mr SandDune says he isn't too keen (although he always enjoys them when he gets there).

>181 Whisper1: I'm afraid the hare is long gone, Linda, but thanks for the positive thoughts!

>183 Caroline_McElwee: oh you must get around to Sutcliff, Caroline. They are very good. I've just finished the third in the trilogy, The Lantern Bearers (review to follow), set at the time the Roman Legions left Britain in 410AD and it was wonderful.

This time period reminds me of a family story from when Jacob was small. They were doing the Romans at school and his teacher told them that the Roman Empire ended in 410AD. Jacob, aged about 7 at the time, was horrified at this flagrant inaccuracy and apparently informed her that it most definitely didn't, that the legions left Britain in 410AD, that the Western Roman Empire didn't fall until 476AD and that the Eastern Roman Empire (or Byzantium) didn't fall until 1453. She told him he was wrong. We didn't hear the last of it from an utterly indignant Jacob for a couple of weeks. Mr SandDune had to have a 'quiet word' with her in the end. I think he was more forgiving of her as a new teacher who didn't know how to deal with a child knowing more about the subject than she did.

Most of Jacob's primary teachers were very good but that that one was irritating for a number of reasons. She had a habit of calling mothers collecting their children "Mummy". Luckily she never did it to me - possibly she could pick up the vibes which I was giving out which went something like 'I'm a professional adult woman, and I'm not bloody well answering to 'Mummy' from my son's teacher!

>186 SandDune: I have the first two in the Sutcliff trilogy in Folio Society editions Rhian. Will have to track down a copy of the third.

Love the Jacob story. Hmmm re the 'mummy' thing.

>182 SandDune: Rhian, that is fascinating! I don't think it's all that uncommon, either. In fact, Greek was like that until the 1970s, with there being a widely spoken version (Dimotiki or Demotic Greek), and a literary version that is actually called Katharevousa, which translates to "clean" or "purifying' language (!). But there was a big gap between the languages, and finally Greece made Demotic Greek the national language in 1976. It is now called Standard Modern Greek. I know this was probably controversial among historical or literary circles, but it doesn't make sense to have a written language that native speakers do not speak, and languages change and evolve. They're supposed to! If they don't, they're dead languages, no matter what purists say. As for English, I struggle against my pedantic tendencies sometimes, for linguistics standards say that the language that is actually spoken and used is the "correct" one, even if it evolves to violate grammatical rules.

>186 SandDune: That made me smile. It is probably something I would have done in Jacob's place too. My history teacher in middle school was wonderful though I must say.

>184 lauralkeet: We've done the easy part really, the things that don't need too much thinking about!

>187 Caroline_McElwee: Folio Society editions! There's a thought....

>188 AMQS: I suppose the problem with Welsh is neither the North Welsh dialect or the South Welsh dialect is considered standard, both being considered equally correct, just different. So which one would be chosen?

>189 PaulCranswick: As an experienced teacher Mr SandDune said that what she should have done was ask Jacob to talk about it for a few moments, and then finish off with some sort of non-committal comment. And then go home and check her facts! It's not uncommon for a child to know more about their pet subject than a teacher (think, dinosaurs) and they need to learn how to deal with it.

>190 SandDune: Certainly to tell Jacob flat out that he was wrong (especially when he wasn't) is poor people skills, whatever the age of the person you are communicating with.

When I correct the letters of my staff at work, beyond typos and obvious grammar issues, I will always talk through the letter with them and explain my point of view and why I think we need to say something different. It is sometimes the case that the original point made by them needs to be retained - albeit couched slightly differently - because in the factual subject matter there is something they are aware of that I am not.

>186 SandDune: Oh and by the way, I wouldn't have dared call you mummy either, not unless you were swaddled head to toes in bandages and had Brendan Fraser chasing you around town!

10. The Silver Branch Rosemary Sutcliff ****

Towards the end of the 3rd Century A.D Justin, or Tiberius Lucius Justinianus to give him his full name, arrived at Rutapiae on the south-east corner of Britain (where his grandfather had been born and bred) to serve in the legions as a company surgeon. A chance meeting with a distant cousin, Marcelus Flavius Aquila (descendant of the Marcus of The Eagle of the Ninth) provides Justin with the companionship that he needs, and his posting seems at first to be going well. But Britain is now ruled by a breakaway emperor, Carausius, and while Justin and Flavius soon come to respect and admire him, the high taxes he has imposed to combat the growing Saxon threat means that he is not universally loved. When the two cousins find Allectus, Carausius's chief minister, meeting secretly with one of the Saxon raiders, they try to warn the emperor. But their warning is seemingly unheeded and the cousins are sent to the frontier of the Empire, to Hadrian's Wall. But even there they cannot escape the political machinations than are brewing ...

This is not the Roman Empire seen in The Eagle of the Ninth - confident and dominant and expected to last forever - this is a more uncertain time. Things are starting to go downhill and Rosemary Sutcliff portrays that beautifully. As Carausius says:

‘Oh, she is not finished yet. I shall not see her fall—my Purple will last my life-time—and nor, I think, will you. Nevertheless, Rome is hollow rotten at the heart, and one day she will come crashing down. A hundred years ago, it must have seemed that all this was for ever; a hundred years hence—only the gods know ... If I can make this one province strong—strong enough to stand alone when Rome goes down, then something may be saved from the darkness. If not, then Dubris light and Limanis light and Rutupiae light will go out. The lights will go out everywhere.’

This second book in the trilogy is not quite as good as The Eagle of the Ninth as the plot is a little more convoluted, but it's a good read nevertheless, and a very evocative depiction of what Britain might have been like during this period.

>191 PaulCranswick: to tell Jacob flat out that he was wrong is poor people skills It was one that always worked particularly badly with Jacob as well. He'd dig his heels in in that sort of situation and wouldn't back down.

>188 AMQS: I found it interesting how late some countries, including Norway and Romania were to have any written versions of their spoken languages.

I love the Jacob story.

>195 quondame: Hi Susan! I did not know about Norwegian or Romanian, but I am not surprised Makes me want to know more!

>190 SandDune: It is surprising that Greece was able to make a choice, given how many dialects there are. So many islands have been occupied by so many different occupiers... there are still remote Cypriot villages that speak a form of Greek that is close to Homeric! But there is Athens, so I am assuming Greece went with what was spoken there.

>196 BLBera: 😊

>195 quondame: >197 AMQS: I didn’t know that about Norwegian or Romanian either. For a minority language there has always been quite a lot of written Welsh. I think the first Welsh book was printed in 1546, but there was obviously manuscript writings before that.

>197 AMQS: I suppose with Greece, Athens is so very big compared with the rest of the country that what Athens says goes.

Glad to see you are enjoying Rosemary Sutcliff's books, Rhian.
I am a fan, and own all her books available in Dutch translation. The Eagle of the Ninth and The Mark of the Horse Lord are my favorites.

>193 SandDune: Should that be book #8? As it is in your list in >2 SandDune:

A bit late to this, but thought I'd chime in with love for the Jacob story. I hope that teacher has refined her methods over the years. And "mummy": yuck. I'm with you on that, Rhian.

I can't say that I have read anything by Rosemary Sutcliff. I will see if my library has any of these books.

A busy day yesterday morning. I picked up Daisy from the kennels and took her straight to the vets where she needed to have her monthly injection for her arthritis. She is now 19.0kg - we thought that was her target weight but the vet thought that losing another 0.5kg would be beneficial. So her diet continues. And then I went straight to my Mum’s home to deliver her clothes and some pictures, leaving Daisy in the car this time. And as I had to buy a book for our book club social this evening, I then decided to go straight into town to go to Waterstones and take Daisy on a walk around town instead of her normal walk. She always likes Waterstones and usually finds someone to fuss her, and yesterday was not exception. So then back to the car for Daisy and a quick trip to the library for me to pick up some book reservations. And a final trip to the supermarket to buy myself some sushi for lunch as a treat, and then back home.

>198 SandDune: I think it was printing that galvanized the use vernacular written languages over Latin, Greek, or in the case of Norway, Danish.

>186 SandDune: What a great story 💖. So similar to the experience of one of my grandchildren.

>199 FAMeulstee: You're right - don't know where the 10 came from.

>200 lauralkeet: >204 SandyAMcPherson: And of course Jacob has never got over his love of the Roman Empire. He's chosen to do a fair few topics on it over the years.

>199 FAMeulstee: >201 figsfromthistle: Rosemary Sutcliff is definitely now one of my favourite authors.

>203 quondame: I didn't know that either!

>186 SandDune: >191 PaulCranswick: Many many years ago, in Canada, I got marked wrong on a spelling test. I probably hadn't studied (I rarely did), and the book (if there was one), may well have spelled grey the same way the teacher preferred - gray. At any rate, I didn't mind having one wrong on the test, and would have duly memorized the teacher's spelling, except that my mom asked about my day, and when told I'd missed one word in a spelling test, asked for details. She then sent me to school the next day armed with entries for the word from both Webster and Oxford dictionaries.

There were many lasting consequences. I standardized on using British spelling almost exclusively thereafter. And I learnt two key lessons: the authority is not always right, and if you produce evidence, they are likely to back down.

Oddly, when I was in my first year of university in the US, I wound up having a somewhat surreal conversation with a classmate. No one there had given me, a foreigner, any grief about my British spelling. But she was an American, though educated abroad - in a school more influenced by Britain than the US. She had gotten all kinds of flak for her British spelling from her freshman English instructor. (Not the same one I had.)

>206 ArlieS: She then sent me to school the next day armed with entries for the word from both Webster and Oxford dictionaries. That actually sounds very like Jacob! I think he might have inherited it from me very very slightly ....

I have that very same Durer up where I can see it every day!

Must look and see if there are similar books for those learning Irish, I'm not sure I am quite there yet, but perhaps. Earlier Irish also had the written and the spoken form. Must have more common at one time as even French and Italian have some verb forms that no one ever speaks but they do write. I am aware of those, but never mastered being able to actually write them!

Ditto -- the controversy about exactly how to teach, spell, conjugate Irish is just as ferocious -- and the differences from north to south huge because of isolation of native speakers for so long. I think I am learning the 'smoothed' out semi-official version that the nouveau speakers (mostly educated, mostly live in cities) speak. Different teaching sites on line teach different things. Argh!

The Eagle of the Ninth was the first Sutcliffe I ran across umpteen years ago -- I regularly reread her works too.

Sorry I stop by so rarely, I always enjoy your threads and your reading and doings.

>208 sibylline: In Welsh, there isn't really an official 'spoken' language, just dialects, of high the main ones are north and south, but in practice it's a little bit more complicated than that. DuoLingo does a somewhat homogenised version, which is a little odd, but most courses teach either north or south.

I've signed up for the course next year, which is going to be pretty demanding I think, but I am really enjoying it.