We don't need no educashun...

I feel like a total nag at the moment. Parents, take note. My daughter is in her GCSE year and doesn't have time to draw breath. She's taking 10 subjects and, these days, the emphasis is on those elusive things: A star grades. I accompanied her to a sixth form open day in which tutors and students were available to talk through options.
"I don't know what I wanna do..." was the familiar cry. So my daughter took me through several departments and she doesn't know either. But one of the options she;s considering is medicine and that's extremely grown up/demanding. But the other thing she is good at is design and she quite likes the idea of commerce and smart offices. This is when parenting gets tough.

Is it in the Stars?

Is there something happening with the planets at the moment? I feel like everything I'm trying to make progress with is hitting snags.
The hubby and I keep bickering, in fact he's on a night out (best described as a p*** up) with a load of football fans as we speak. Shouldn't he be past all this at 42?

Ross and Brand (my thoughts)

I listened to the offending piece on You Tube and found it funny...at first. However, it simply went on too long and too far. Boys will be boys but the difference when you are a middle aged boy is that you know when to stop. Hopefully before you've shot yourself in the foot. I actually do find it offensive when people say crude things in front of my children.
But another point I have been pondering is that maybe this "row" is in fact not so much about these two but a shift in public taste.
Times are tough and maybe people are feeling less "frivolous" right now. A debate about public morality is interesting.

You wear it well

I was leafing through a glossy magazine the other day when I caught a whiff of perfume. It was an advert for a new perfume, Notorious. When I opened the sleeve and sniffed I was suddenly reminded of the perfume Opium and my student days. I used to always wear it when going out at night.
Isn't it funny how a scent can "belong" to someone? My mum's friend always had Chanel no. 5 soap, and I can always recognise Allure on anyone.
Ysatis is a walkway of shops in Singapore 20 years ago for me.
Yes, perfume is truly evocative.
My 13 year old son, on the other hand, has started spraying Lynx. There is such a thing as spraying too much...

Long project finished

My latest portrait has proved quite difficult. The sitter is really busy and is not available to come for sittings. So I managed to complete the whole thing in just two life sittings and the rest using photographs.
We haven't really discussed money but I expect I'll be lucky to cover costs.

To graze or not to graze?

We have a field at the back of the house and I've been thinking about getting two small cattle to graze.
Research tells me that the Dexter breed is small and friendly. And owning grazing animals gets over the problem of having overgrown grass.
The down side, of course, is that if you have beef cattle you will probably become attached to them and not want them to become meat when the time comes.
The alternative would be to have dairy cattle but I can't see me in wellingtons and a nightie out milking at 6am every day!
But since getting the rabbit and watching her graze her little patches of grass, I can see the sense in having grazing animals.
Only problem is, my hubby doesn't want to know. Anyone got any experience of smallholdings?

Getting to know you

My son and I were at the pet store buying dog food and I called him over to look at the budgies and rabbits. Wasn't really thinking about getting one but L almost persuaded me to buy a trio of quails. (apparently they come in threes, one male and two females. Typical huh?)
I had a canary as a teenager and I remember the process of cage cleaning and letting it fly then - the hard but, getting it back into the cage again.
I think if we're honest no-one likes to see animals in a cage but it's something we've bred over the years.
My son asked if he could have the little black and white rabbit that was looking fed up in the cage and - you guessed it - I ended up agreeing.
So now Flo is getting to know Zena the dog and I'm getting to know all about those little dry bunny rabbit pellet poos.
Great stuff. But the boy is happy.