Catching up day...friends, Romans, paperwork and books...

Woke up with a stonking headache this morning, which seems unfair after yesterday! But then I do forget that the day after CST is often like that - things hurt a bit more for a bit, before settling down properly... well, cross fingers it's only a day anyway. So I've ended up taking a sick-day from work (reading from a computer for hours on end would not be a good idea!) and am going to do tension-busting things like catching up with this that and the other. First off - back to my Roman adventure at Chedworth and my Celtic sojourn to Rollright... *g*

So, we were in the original west wing of the villa in my last post, which included a bathhouse and mosaics everywhere...

( If we walk this way to the nymphaeum... )

Books 2014 - Boys Don't Cry by Malorie Blackman

You've got it all planned out. A summer of freedom, university, a career as a journalist - your future looks bright. But then the doorbell rings. It's your ex-girlfriend, and she's carrying a baby. Your baby. You agree to look after it, just for an hour or two. Then she doesn't come back - and your life changes for ever.

It's been ages since I read any Malorie Blackman, but I've always liked her books very much, and so when I saw this in a bookshop, I thought it'd make a dependably readable story for one day when I felt like it - and it totally did. It's about Dante, who's struggling with suddenly being a dad; his brother Adam who isn't struggling with being gay, but other people are; and their dad who's generally working hard at being the single father of two teenage boys. They're all getting on pretty well, until their lives are skewed this summer.

Blackman's characters are excellent, the story itself is an excellent what-if where people react as real people might. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and recommend it! *g*

Books 2014 - That Eye, the Sky by Tim Winton

At twelve years old, Morton - Ort for short - is not quite a child, but not yet an adult;his isolated outback world is an intriguing combination of boyish innocence, adolescent confusion and burgeoning awareness. When his father is seriously injured in a car crash, however, that world is suddenly thrown into complete disarray and the whole family have to adjust. As Ort, his sister, mother and grandmother are struggling to come to terms with what has happened, a stranger appears in their midst. Preaching God's word, Henry Warburton's unexpected arrival seems eerily prescient, at a time when the family most needs a helping hand, and Henry quickly makes himself indispensible. In fact, for Ort in particular, it is Henry's presence, perhaps more even than his father's accident, that brings the greatest change to his world.

I bought this when I went to hear Tim Winton in Ely a few weeks ago, because it was described as his "supernatural" book. I'm not sure it's any more supernatural than alot of his other stories, and I suppose the point is the way you describe "supernatural" to start with - but like most of his stories it's a mixture of the beautiful and the real, grubby parts of life, and I always like seeing how other people deal with that... not my favourite of his books, but it's very Winton, and that's never a bad thing, if you ask me. *g*

Day Seventy Five - taking time...

Well, my headache still hasn't quite gone - and I took all day to do about three things, in the end (how does that happen?) but to keep away from the computer this evening one of them was watching Firefly and hookrugging. Okay, that's two, isn't it. *g* Hmmn - actually that's the first time I've seen it clearly, the sunflowers're a bit raggy looking. It was a kit, bought on impulse... Kind of fun to do though - I like having things to do with my hands when I'm watching telly. *g*

And now I'm really happy it's bedtime, because maybe I'll wake up and my headache will be gone.

Oh - and right now I'm very happy that what I thought was a moth fluttering at the window is turning out to be rain! Maybe it'll relieve some humidity and we can at least start tomorrow cooler...