A General Sunday {In my Life}

So! I posted 'A General Saturday {In my Life}' post a week or two ago, and asked you at the end of it if you would be interested in 'A General Sunday {In my Life}' post. (Don't ask me why I put the 'In my Life' in those squiggly brackets. I think it looks rather nice, that's all.)

Many of you applauded the idea, so voila. I am here again. :-)

As I said in my Saturday post, every day is different, and so is every Sunday. So again, this is just a general Sunday. The timings are kinda rough - we're a scheduled family, but not THAT routine-strict. Haha. :-P My Sundays are normally rather relaxed. (We like to make Sunday a day of rest.)

I love Sundays; and welcome into one of mine!

7:00 

We wake up. Duh. On Sundays I have a bit of extra fun with my outfit; I don't always doss and gloss up completely, but I try to look a bit fancier than usual. Last Sunday I wore my favourite (black skater) skirt and tucked my new plaid shirt into it. I always like a good excuse to dress up - it is my one weakness.

7:30

After all the morning stuff (which includes a quick comment-publishing-email-reading time, putting my contacts in, helping my little roomate get presentable, and doing my hair) I go down to have breakfast. Normally by the time I'm downstairs the table has a good amount of siblings around it already. On Sundays we have chocolate muesli. Nananana. :-P 

Oh, and after breakfast I do like a good cup of tea. It's a weekend thing. 

8:00

Brush-teeth time and general hubbub. I might sneak up to pin some pins. :-)

8:30

We have family prayers and then some 'nothing-really-happens' time (in which I read or whatever, you know; I always have something to do. ;-P) Oh yes, we always have some fruit around this time. I do like my apples - they are my one weakness.

9:15

We leave to go to Church. Eeeeeveryone in the cars (we have two cars), all the seatbelts on, all the packed lunches inside - we're experts at doing all this in five minutes, people. :-) Church is about twenty minutes away. Sometimes I take a book to read in the car, but normally I just talk with Mum or my sisters or whatever. Choir rehearsal starts at 9:45, so when we arrive the ones of us that sing in the choir (including me) go to rehearsal. (Basically what we do in choir rehearsal is sing over all the songs and make jokes.)

10:30

The Church service starts.

It's a disaster how accurate this is.

12:00

The service is usually around 1 hour and 20 minutes, so yeah, I'm being rough with timing here people. (I told you I would be rough with the timing. I tooold you.) After the service we get out of our choir robes (kind of red things. haha.) and we go downstairs into the "reception room" and talk to the peeps. Oh yeah, and eat our lunch. (I normally eat my lunch in the car.) I like to talk to my Church friends and perhaps play a game of table tennis. Sometimes we have brownies after Church. (*Puts chin in the air.*)

1:15

We go back. I eat my lunch in the car. (Which includes a nutella sandwich so YES TOLD YOU SUNDAYS WERE AWESOME.)

1:45

We arrive home and have ice-cream. It's Sunday; we're allowed some sugar over-dose. I take mine with a lot of whipped cream.

2:00-5:00

The following hours are relaxed ones. I read; I write; some might go for a walk. I like to reply emails on Sunday, too. Also often, on Sundays, we have visitors.

5:00

We have a hot dinner. Generally it's chips. (Or fries, as you American's like to call them. Fries, indeed.) Actually, it's always chips on Sunday, now I come to think of it.

6:00

After baths etc. we have family prayers (on Sundays we sing several extra songs than usual, and I take my guitar out; unfortunate as that may seem.)

7:00

On Sundays we generally have a family TALK rather than a TV-watching time. It's important to get THAT done too, you know. Last week we talked about whether or not it's a good idea that fox-hunting is going to be legal again in Britain. I said I liked the idea 'because they did it in Downton Abbey' and my older brother said that wasn't a good argument. BUT IT WAS. RIGHT?

8:00

I go to bed and read. I try to snap off the light early because tomorrow is Monday so yeah.

So there you go! Voilà! I hope you enjoyed this. 

Are your Sundays similar to mine? What are YOUR Sundays like?

Re-writing my novel.

For months I was working on this WW2 novel. I was typing on fast, almost with my eyes closed, leaving all the editing till later. I wanted to write something epic; something huge; something fussy. Something like GWTW. (Snort. I thought I could do that.) I made my heroine swoon and I made her do things that they made heroines do in those old movies. (You know, exclaiming 'oh's' and 'ah's'. I know. It's ridiculous.)

And then, when I was about half-way, I re-read it all.

And some bits were AWFUL.

Some bits were mighty good - I was still in love with my characters - I was still super proud of my plot. So I didn't want to quit it once and for all - t'was too precious to quit. So I left it at rest for quite a few weeks and then decided to start all afresh. I read some Lynn Austin treats of books and got inspired to write in a style which is slightly more pleasing to the ear than my attempt to make a Vintage-sounding novel.

And then - which was, heh, yesterday - I rewrote the first chapter. And now it's so much better; I flatter myself. I'm going to show you the before and after's.

These are some paragraphs in chapter one of the original version. CRINGE. I can't believe I'm showing you this. I can't believe I actually wrote it, hehh. (These aren't actually the absolute first paragraphs of the first chapter - just some of the worst ones. :-P)

Harper bit her dry, wind-blown lips so hard that they started to bleed. She wasn’t allowed to cry. She had to be like the ten-year-old girl and go around to cheer up all the little children. Harper felt so guilty again, thinking about not doing anything but complaining while a seven-year-old girl was smiling to everyone in a thin shackle dress. Harper felt guilty about her own dress – a beige dress; ugly, but warm – about just minding her own business, about sitting when there were about ten toddlers who didn’t have a place to sit, about everything! She was such a horrible person, and the war was making her realise it every day, more and more. Oh, if only there wasn’t a war!

Then suddenly an image came into Harper’s head, which promptly made her burst into tears. She thought of her mother, going back to their little house, alone, after standing on the quarry of Dover, gazing at the ship carrying her only child until it was only a dot on the horizontal sea-line in the far back. She was probably crying right now, about everything that had ever happened in her life – about her darling husband who had died one month after their marriage, about her daughter who hated her for sending her away, about being all alone on the tattered mustard sofa without her daughter under her arm. Oh, Harper couldn’t bear the thought of her mother being so unhappy, she just couldn’t bear it! 

Oh my goodness.

I apologise for that. :-P See why I thought it was awful? All the Oh's and the exclamation marks and the bursting into tears. It's so weird and... blehh. Also, it's not a relaxing read. The paragraphs are too long and wrong. Blehhhhhh. My first draft is driving me nuts. 

So I closed the file and re-wrote it. And these are the first few paragraphs of the re-written chapter:

I wasn’t scared, like some children; I was one hundred percent upset. 

Don’t cry, Harper. You’ll see me again. The words of my mother rang in my ears, but they were of no comfort to me. I was upset, and I had to cry. That was how it worked in my young fourteen-year-old emotional self, and I must have cried more than any of the other children on board, which made me even more miserable and ashamed because I was definitely one of the older ones. 

Think of it as an adventure, dear. Look at the ocean you’ll be travelling on and get excited. You’ve always wanted to travel, Harper; please be happy. I looked down at the waves stretching all around me, but the wind only stung deeper into my eyes, making my eyes water in pain. 

“Ma’am?” 

I turned around, sniffing like a horse. “Yes?” 

It was a girl – about ten years old. Her clothes were too small for her and skin-tight, and she wore a straw-hat that looked like it had been nibbled by mice. “Please don’t cry.” 

“What do you mean, Please don’t cry?" 

The girl shrugged. “I don’t like it when people cry.” 

“Well, do you think I enjoy crying?” I stared in unbelief. Then I realised that the girl must be scared or upset as well, and I sniffed resolutely. “Okay, I’ll try to stop.” 

“Why are you sad?” 

“Same reason as everyone.” I found a handkerchief and began to blow my nose and wipe my eyes like a mother on her daughter’s wedding day. I hoped the girl would leave – I felt very silly talking to her. 

“I suppose you mean you’re sad because you’re leaving your family?” 

I gave a sigh and a fake smile. “Yes, that’s the reason. I will miss my mother, and my friends, and loads of other things.” 

“I’m not sad about leaving my mum,” the girl said unexpectedly. “I’m really glad. My mum is always cross with me.” The girl held up her arm and peeled off the fabric off her sleeves. She showed a pink bruise that looked like it had once been nasty. “See? She did this to me. I’m glad I’m going to America. I’ve heard it’s absolutely gorgeous and beautiful.” 

My smile was more genuine the second time. “I hope you land in a lovely family. I’m so sorry about your mum.” 

“It’s okay. I hit her back.” 

I almost laughed aloud. “You did?”

What do you think?  

It still needs some tweaking - for example, the 'my mother's words rung in my ears, but they were of no comfort to me' is a bit cliché and over-done - but I think it's much better than the original style. I hope this is a more fresh and comfortable read. (Also, I've learnt that I'm better at first-person writing than third-person.)

I'd love your feedback.

Also, wish me luck on the complete re-write! It's gonna be a long journey.

Soundtrack Game - Answers!

So, here they are. Once again, sorry it was so hard. Next time I do a music game I promise to add longer snippets. :-)

Players Scores:

Cordy: 80

Abby P.: 80

Emma: 70

Melody: 70

Sadie: 70

Kerry: 60

Julia Ryan: 60

Kristalyn Huber: 60

Miss March: 50

Eva: 40

Livia Rachelle: 40

Miss Meg March: 40

Lucy Riess: 30

Lois: 20

Jessica: 10

Clara Stone: 10

Rosie:10

Eve's Daughters // Review

Yearning for love and dignity, four generations of women must come to grips with the choices they've made--and those their mothers made before them. But breaking the cycle that has ensnared them over the decades will prove more difficult than they had ever imagined....

Eighty-year-old Emma Bauer has carefully guarded a dark secret for more than fifty years. But when she sees her granddaughter's marriage beginning to unravel, Emma realizes that her lies about her own marriage have poisoned those she loves most. Can she help her granddaughter break free of a legacy of wrong choices? Or will she take her secret--and her broken heart--to the grave?

With honesty and compassion, author Lynn Austin weaves a compelling story of four unforgettable women--their struggles, their crises of faith, their triumphs.

Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Sometimes I read a book that just gets so inside me that I just... I just... CAN'T. Those books touch me in a very personal way; and they generally make my cry some place. Rilla of Ingleside is one of those, and so is Eve's Daughters. This book is the kind of book I just cannot describe. It is that good. But I'll try.

So. It's AMAZING and it's compelling and you get sucked in and you can't stop reading it and your life isn't the same if you haven't read it; so there. :-P Seriously, this is one of my favouritest books ever, and I wish everyone knew of it. Also, there MUST BE A MOVIE. Lynn Austin's novels all deserve their own good movies - and not cheap-ly made ones that have actors that don't look at all like the heros in the book (I'm looking at you, Hidden Places movie.) I mean real, book-accurate, amazing scenery, sweeping music kind-of-movies.

I read this book first when I was fourteen (or was it thirteen?) I found it amazing even then, but I wasn't as impressed with it as I am now. I probably was slightly to young for the book, anyway (I'll talk about Content later on.) and I was more charmed with Lynn Austin's less complex novels, like A Proper Persuit etc. Then I re-read it again the next years, and now I've re-read it again. And now I just can't stop talking about it IT'S SO GOOD.

(Yes, I realise I've only talked about 'how it's so good' so far. Hush. I promise this review will talk about other things rather than just gushing and swooning. Hush. I'm just filled-to-the-brim with feeeeels and jealously towards Lynn Austin for being able to create such an outstanding, each-time-I-end-it-bewilders-me book. This book is amazing, and don't you DARE tell me otherwise. Don't. You. Dare.)

The book follows four generations of women. I'll talk about each of the four stories (and yes, I'll warn you when the spoilery comments arrive.) I've made a collage for each generation, just because I'm obsessed with making collages (and also because I want people to see it and make the right kind of movie. Haha.)

Louise's Story

I loooove Louise's story.

It's my second-favourite of the four, and although some people might say that 'Louise's story is pointless to the story line', I disagree. I find her story fascinating - how a young German couple go to America to start a new life. I love that it's an unusual love story - they are already married in the beginning of the story, but it was an arranged marriage, so the love story is just starting. 

Frederick is such a sweet-heart - I just love love love him to bits. And I allllmost cry when Louise finally realises she loves her husband and then they hug, dripping wet, crying with happiness. (Read it, and you'll understand why they were dripping wet. It's pretty epic.)

Louise's story is one tucked deepest into history, and, as I said, it fascinates me. I think it's absolutely adorable and I LOVE IT. (Wow, we are all very much surprised.)

Emma's Story

Oh my word, Emma's story. :-)

Emma is the second of four girls - the story starts with her as a girl; and we see her discover a secret talent of playing the piano. Emma's story is different that what we first see. Her story unfolds - Emma doesn't tell us everything when she tells the story for the first time. I can't speak in more clearer terms than that, because hey, spoilers, but Emma's story is what makes the plot so thick.

I loved Emma, although she made some very big mistakes; and I felt so sorry for her when her sister Eva died because of her. Oh my goodness, when Eva dies - it's so sad and terrible. I can feel Emma's heart tearing to pieces - goodness, it's so vivid. And then she marries Karl. I don't like Karl or Markus - they're both creeps.

Anyhow. Emma's story is not one you want to miss. It's amazingly written.

SPOILER TALK I thought Patrick and Emma's romance - y'know the one which is explained by Emma later on, and where all secrets are unfolded - was also amazing. Of course, they made a very big mistake by spending the night together on the island, but they - especially Patrick (goodness, his reaction to his realisation of his mistake is so amazingly written; it makes me so sad) - feel sorry about it, and before that business, I thought their romance was absolutely adorable and I shipped them soooo hard. I do wish Emma was more 'sorry' about it all. I thought it was very sad that she lost her faith. SPOILER TALK ENDED

Grace's Story

GRACE'S STORY. Oh my goodness. This is my favourite; definitely.

Grace's Story is amazing. Especially when you re-read it, because you KNOW. You know who people really are and then the things they say and do just cut into your heart and make you cry. So I highly recommend you guys to re-read this book. It's the kind of book where re-reads are ten times better than first reads. When I read it this time, I cried and cried over Grace's story. It made me so emotional; gahhhh.

I LOVE Pastor O'Duggan. Can we just stand still a minute and appreciate him? Because he's totally the best guy EVER. I love so much about him - I wish he was real so badly. I love how he helped Grace and supported her and told her classmates not to tease her.

And then Stephen. He has his faults, but I love that he and Grace still love each other so much at the end of the book, when they are like, 50-something years old. Their love story was adorable, although I could have done we slightly few kisses, thanks.

SPOILER TALK Ohhh. When Grace asks him, 'Will you be my father?' and then he starts to cry and ohhh it's so sad. Oh, and when Grace asks him he he will walk her down the aisle without realising that he's actually really truly her father. Oh, I cried and cried and cried, folks. I was sitting there with tears in my eyes for about ten minutes after I finished the book. SPOILER TALK ENDED.

Suzanne's Story

Ahem.

I don't like Suzanne's story that much. (Therefore the unenthusiastic collage of three squares rather than six.) So many things bother me about Suzanne's story. Number one: Suzanne annoys me Quite a Lot. She's so rebellious and she could have done things in a much more... calmer way. Maybe it's just because she and I are so different that I can't enjoy her character that much. Number two: Jeff. Ugh, sorry, guys-who-love-Jeff, but he drives me CRAZY. He's a hippie with long hair and a beard and he wears necklaces and baggy trousers. Ughhh. It just makes me squirm. Also, he's a creep. Number three: Wayyyy. Too many kisses.

No, I don't really like Suzanne's Story. But it's not very long, and it's not an excuse not to buy this book. ;-P

SPOILER TALK I love that she was Irish all the way, though. Haha. SPOILER TALK ENDED.


Content Talk:
I would recommend this for mature readers - but I think that people who aren't mature enough also won't really appreciate or enjoy the book anyway, so. There are quite a few kisses - especially in Suzanne's story (seriously, you will roll your eyes, haha) - and a big part of the plot is envolved around a baby born out of the wedlock. (There are no graphic descriptions, however, and everything is so well written from a Christian point of view.) Emma divorces her husband because he wants to abort her baby.

But anyway.

This book is amazing and you must read it. PLEASE. And if you've read it, I'm ready to have a long conversation with you in the comment box. :-) Lynn Austin's books are all amazing, but I think this one is my favourite. I have so many feelings about this book - it's brilliant and yeah. I LOOOVE IT.

Seven Things that BOTHER me - in books

Now and then one must grumble and complain and let it allll go out. :-D I suppose you could call this my book-peeves-post. Some things a lot of people are bothered about - such as dog-earing books - I don't really mind. Also, many people, I've heard, don't like it when books about movie-covers, but I rather like it. Also, even love-triangles. I don't really hate THOSE. :-)

But there are other things which bother me. 

A lot.

Of course, there are obvious things I don't like - I don't like books which have tons of swearing in it - I don't like books in which witchery or other stuff are encouraged - I don't like books which make romance un-holy and un-special. So I'm not going to rant about that today. Today it's the other stuff. :-/ Yeahhh.

1. When there's no book blurb on the back.

Only quotes. No blurb. 

Sure, 'The New York Times' tells us it's 'thrilling and life-changing.' Sure, there's Markus Zusak with words of encouragement. But I STILL don't know what the story is about. This drives me flipping nuts. I need to know a BIT about the story, right? I need to have SOME kind of idea? Is it about zombies? Or princesses? What? Luckily, I have Goodreads which gives me a book blurb, but when I'm in a real book store, this peeve can pop up.

No thanks.

2. When the character pictured on the cover is different than s/he is (so clearly) described in the book.

For instance, I've read books where the character is blonde - this physical feature is so often mentioned in the book - and then bam, the front cover features a brunette. This is just weird. I hope they make a rule that all cover-designers MUST read the book. Or does the author not care that this is done? Must she not contact the cover-designer for approval?

Anyway. I find this very annoying.

3. When a book starts with a looooong description.

Don't get me wrong, I'm one of those literary spirits who actually enjoys reading description. (As long as it's not ten chapters in succession. I'm looking at you, Victor Hugo.) But when a book starts with a three-page elaborate detailed structure about a flower patch or a sunny atmosphere of a summer's day, I kind of get discouraged. That's why I quit reading Les Miserables. I had enough about the Bishop's bedroom. I didn't care a jot.

I like a story that starts good. Description is welcome, but not as the first thing on the doorstep. Thanks.

4. When a lot of the chapters end the same way.

Or, when authors try to use good page-turning-tricks at the end of chapters.

I haven't had this too much, but now and then I've encountered such books and it's starting to become a serious pet peeve. For instance, I just finished a book which was rather good, but - seriously, every chapter ended with two really short choppy sentences. It just became weird. I also don't like it when a lot of chapters end with several dots. Like this...

They think it's a good page-turn-trick. It's not.

5. When introverted heroines are clumsy.

Seriously? Why is this a thing? Introverted people aren't clumsy. I mean, SOME might be, but not fifty percent of them! Actually, it's not only introverted heroines that are clumsy, it's just heroines in general. Because when heroines are clumsy they accidentally bump into a handsome gentlemen. Or they fall in a puddle and a random potential future husband helps her up and gets reeeeaaal close to her. Or they drop their teacup on the toe of a prince. Love at first drop. 

Blehhhhhhhhhh.

6. When you can't take off those stickers on the cover (!!!!!)

THIS ANNOYS ME SOOO MUCH. Seriously, where to start my epic mini-rant.

In the first place, why do they put stickers on the cover? WHY. Sure, the book may be promoted. Sure, it's a best-seller. But WHY do you have to mention that via un-managable-to-get-off stickers? Why do you ruin entire beautiful covers by flashy yellow circled stickers?!!!

And fine, if I were able to take them off easily, like one is able to easily slide off some kinds of washi-tape, I wouldn't complain. But half of the time YOU CAN'T GET THEM OFF. Or you can start to peel them off, and the half of it kind of half remains and my whole cover is spooooilt. This can make me frustrated to TEARS. Arghhhhhh. (Seriously, once I used a wet hanky to rub all the sticker bits off. I was that desperate to remove the wretched objects.)

7. When the cover features a scene which isn't even in the book.

This one is pretty similar to number (*goes up to have a look which number it is*) two, but I've got to mention it anyway.

For example, I once read a book (yes, I actually DID. I know. I know. Amazing, right.) which had a couple in an embrace, standing in front of a flying machine. Areoplane, call it what you want. And in the book yes, they do embrace, and yes there are scenes with planes in them - but they don't actually embrace in front of a plane. And suddenly, on the cover, they do. 

It just annoys me. :-P

Okay. Those were seven of my book botherations. I have more, of course. :-) But I'll leave those others to other blog posts. I can't over-swamp you with complaints; that's a bit inconsiderate, you know. Anyway. 

Do these things annoy you? 

Do you have any particular book peeves?

A General Saturday {in my Life}

How-dee-doo, people!

First of all, before you start. Click here. Please. And have it open for the rest of this blog post.

(You clicked it, right. Right.) So. What's up here? I'm very tired, but I'm fine. It's Saturday tomorrow, and my room is tidy, and I'm having a good hair day, and I'm reading good books, and Pinterest exists. Sooo yes, people. Life is good.

My normal school days aren't very interesting - y'know, school isn't interesting. So I won't bother explaining what I do in a normal school day. (As I said, it's boring. And it's tiring.) So I thought I'd tell you how a General Saturday in my life goes. Of course, this is general - because (*everyone duh's*) no two days are the same. For example, tomorrow is going to be a very hectic Saturday. (But hopefully fun.)

So here, voilà, a 'normal' Saturday of mine. I love Saturdays, and welcome into one of mine. :-)

7:00 

I wake up. Normally because of one of my brothers making noise in some room, or because I just automatically wake up. I can't sleep in, and I don't want to sleep in. Mornings are glorious things - why would you want to miss it? There are things to do! Books to read! Wake up, peeps. :-P

When I wake up, I do my what-you-do-when-you-wake-up-stuff and help my little cute roomate-sister (a five-year-old adorability person called Tabitha - I call her Tabby, or Tibby, or Dorcas, or - don't ask - Prittstick. (No, I shan't explain that.)) with her clothes and so on. Then I go and check all my social media. I read and publish my comments, I delete all my hilariously annoying spam comments, and read e-mail and the-like. I smile at your sweet notes and whisper sentimental thank you's you never hear. :-)

7:15 

This normally takes about fifteen-minutes, sometimes a little longer/shorter: depending on the amount of emails/comments. After that I 'do' my hair and put in my contact-lenses, and eat breakfast.

7:30 

After breakfast I have a cuppa tea. Because it's Saturday and there's time to drink tea after breakfast. Yaysies. Then I go and brush my teeth, and I go and brush the teeth of my two little siblings in the blue bathroom. (We have two. The blue one is the Girl's bathroom, and the other bathroom (which has no particular colour) is the boy's bathroom.)

8:00

At eight o'clock we normally have Family Prayers. This consists of singing two or three songs around the piano, reading the Bible and praying together. Sometimes we do it a little later or earlier - it all depends on how late my other siblings or parents get out of bed. This normally takes around fifteen minutes, and my day ain't the same without it. :-)

8:15

Time for some 'Things-that-must-be-done.' I normally do these things all in the morning, so I have my afternoon free from chores. That's the way to do things, friends. Work first, play later.

First, I tidy and hover my room, 'cos I'm a good girl, I am. Then, I have my piano-lesson. Yes, my dad is my piano teacher. Then I go and play tennis with my dad. (I'm frightfully bad at it, but I need to do some sport, so I do a bit of tennis. It's rather cool. Also, my dad is a brick and doesn't snort at my stupid serving attempts.) Aaaand when I get home I take some fruit to my bedroom and do my French Evening Class Homework. I know, but it must be done.

10:00

I'm pretty tired of doing things-that-must-be-done by this time, so I forget all other chores ('Chores.' That word is so American.) and I grab my laptop and Pin some Pins. Also, I comment on blog posts and answer emails or write Goodreads reviews and so on. Then, if I'm a good girl, I write some. I also often write a blog post on Saturday mornings. I do this 1) either on my bed or 2) on the ground. Normally on my bed. :-D

12:00

Time for lunch. One of my siblings will shout this from downstairs. "FOOOOOOOD TIIIIIME!' (Like that. Yeah. Totally like that.)

12:15

After lunch, I go and check the mail-box. That's totally something I love doing. Although mostly it's just boring publication stuff. (No, Ikea, I don't want that black sofa. Yes, H&M, I like that pull-over, but I already have three in the same style, so don't tempt me to buy another.) And then I have ONE more thing-that-must-be-done. (I sometimes do this in the morning.) I hoover the down stairs floor - I'm rather good at it, seriously. I'm super good at hoovering floors. :-D

12:45

Now my day can really begin. I have no more things-that-must-be-done. I read books, I write, I sometimes go to some shops with my Mum, I nibble on biscuits and drink fizzy water, I just do my hobbies, and I love it. I might do some DIY's, re-arrange my books, or chat with Emma (who wakes up around this time, haha.) Last Saturday Emma and I did a video-call, which was seriously the most fun thing ever. (Emma's impression of 'Jane Austen' in Becoming Jane is SO impeccably spot on. I can't even.)

Needless to say, my Saturday afternoons flyyy. Time flies on Saturday afternoons - that is a truth universally acknowledged.

5:00

And suddenly it's time for supper. (This is also proclaimed in a loud voice by one of my siblings.) We almost always have a bread-meal in the evenings, and a hot meal in the afternoon. (Juuuust so you know. (Goodness. This post is unclassily self-absorbed.))

5:15

(The timings I set here in this post are rough, by the way. Our meals are often longer than just fifteen minutes. Rest assured.) After supper, I help my mum put the little ones in the bath and all that jazz. I'm rather a professional at making children ready for the night. (The hardest bit is finding ways to persuade them to come out of the bath. "Joseph, if you come out, um, you can play with the little cars." "No. Cars are boring." "Well, bath is boring too." "No, I LIKE it.")

I like to have a long evening in my pyjamas, so I make *my*self ready for the night too. And take a WAAARM bath. Baths are my *one* weakness. (Although my books are calling me. I must get out.)

6:00

I tidy my room + read + do social media for a quick half-hour.

6:30

We have our evening Family Prayers at roughly this time. Very similar to the one in the morning - about fifteen minutes. 

7:00

After that some of my younger siblings go to bed. Ah, it's seven o'clock, time for a good ol' movie. These last weeks/months it's been Lark Rise to Candleford. Ah, we all love our daily episodes. We're currently half-way through season three. Many of us snuggle on the sofas and watch good BBC drama. (And yes people, I've met Daniel Parish. He is very Cool. Um, no, that's not the best word I could think of. Hello. I love his exciting smile - it's so adorable.) Also MINNIE AND ALFIE CUTENESS ALORE.

8:00

The Lark Rise episode is over, and I go up into my bed. The room is dark, because my little sister is (supposed to be) sleeping. I'm in the yellow glow of my little bed-light, with cushions all around me. (Goodness, this sounds so nostalgic when I write it down.) I normally take my laptop in my bed and either chat with Emma or waste my time for a few minutes. And then I finish my day with a good book and the Bible.

9:30

I pray and snap the light off. Aaaand dream of all kinds of adorable stuff.

That's a bit of an average Saturday, guys! :-) Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to see a Sunday edition? And is my Saturday a little similar to yours? (Yes, that's quite a few questions. Wait, only three. It's answerable.)

Have a great daight! (That's a mixture of 'day' and 'night', by the way. Because for half of you it's morning, and for the other half of you it's growing towards the night. So daight is a good mixture. I thought. :-P)

Toodledoo!

Period Drama Soundtrack - Game!

So, I have a Game for you all! T'is been too long, and all that. :-D

I hope it's not too hard. I did realise after I made the video that the soundtrack snippets might be too short. Don't get discouraged - the first four are the four hardest (in my opinion.) Also, you SHOULD recognise the last one. It's VERY recognisable.

Answers coming next week!

Sooo. They're making this movie...

New Movie Alert!!!

My dear! Mr Bennet! WONDERFUL news! 

Are you ready for this? T'is exciting news.

As you all know of late, I'm a huge fan of Queen Elizabeth and I'm an ENORMOUS fan of Elizabeth and Philip's love story. I talked about it in a recent post of mine, for the celebration of Queen Elizabeth being the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, and all that jazz. SO.

WHEN I HEARD THEY ARE MAKING A MOVIE OF IT I SERIOUSLY FREAKED OUT. And it's going to be a 10-episode mini-series. I'm so freaking excited I can't stand it.

(*Cringes about the capital letters. Not classy, Naomi.*)

Of course, as soon as I heard, I googled it and saved all the pictures and read all the info. I'm still in such a shock and surprise, seriously! Because, after the movie A Royal Night Out, which has just gone out, I'm so surprised that BOOM, they're making another Queen Elizabeth movie! (Shows how amazing she is, I suppose.)

But then... I got some disappointments. My main disappointment is that it will be airing on Netflix, and we don't have a Netflix account in our family, sooo. I'm hoping they'll release it on DVD too, though. They MUST do that. Really.

My second disappointment is the casting of Prince Philip. Dr Who fans will be thrilled and excited to hear that it will be Matt Smith, but I don't think he looks like Prince Philip at allll and I'm a bit hesitant. And I'm prejudging. :-) It's just that Prince Philip was taller and blonder and - dare I say it? Dare I? With all the Dr Who fans around? - handsomer.

But maybe Matt Smith will surprise me. After all, make-up and dashing naval costumes do wonders. (There are no real pictures yet of Matt Smith in costumes. Only some snaps of him doodling around on set. We must all wait in anguish.)

I'm rather pleased about the casting choice of Elizabeth herself, though. It's no-one else than our own little Amy Dorrit! (Or, Claire Foy, for all you normal people out there.) Again, she doesn't look THAT much like Elizabeth, but I can see a little English resemblance. 

Also, she looks absolutely gorgeous in that wedding dress replica. (And I can already see her drawing a beard on the Prince Philip picture. Awwww.)

And look! Fanny Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility is playing Queen Mary! Apart from the fact that she's obviously wearing a wig in that picture and the fact that I can't imagine her in such a sweet, darling role, I'm excited for that part of the casting!

I also read that there might be three different actresses playing Queen Elizabeth, as the 10 episodes cover several years - starting from her love-story and ending somewhere in her reign. So maybe there will be other actors playing Prince Philip too. Mmm... that might end up weird. Anyway, there isn't a lot of further detail. I won't do too much prejudging. This could well be good. I just have some doubts, that's all. :-P

Ohhh! Look! Look! The gorgeous bridesmaids dresses!!!! Yes, t'is official. I AM EXCITED. This will be brilliant. Look at the khaki-clad men. And the blue dress. I love the 40's fashion, so I'm staying tuned for a lot of costume eye-candy. I bet the wedding will be stunning to watch.

We will have to wait some time, though - it's airing on Netflix next year! So I'm no way close to getting the dvd's, aren't I? (Life is hard. Oh la la.) The mini-series is called 'The Crown' and, while I have my doubts on some apartments, I'm super pumped. :-)

Are you excited about 'The Crown'?

Did you know of this before this post?

(And no, there aren't any trailers or sneak-peaks yet. We must bear the trial of patience together.)

My long book wish list

Yesterday my mum and I were laughing about how I have such a long Wish List. And yes, a large majority of the stuff on there are - guessitguessitguessit - books. Books are life. (Words are life, Liesl.) I love books, I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM. Seriously, I could not live without books.

They make me soooo happy.

So of course I need new ones. :-P At least, like ten. Because I have SO much room left in my bookcase. (That last sentance was sarcastic. But those other sentences about having ten new ones weren't. I totally need more than ten new books.)

So, are you ready?

Oh yeah, that's on my wishlist too. Time. (Wouldn't it be nice if you could buy that? I would love to be able to buy time. I'd buy a lot of free time. :-D)

__________________________________________________________________

1. Books I already have, but want to re-buy because of the beautiful new covers.

JUST LOOK AT THE BEAUTY OF THESE COVERS.

I just can't. (I mean, I can LOOK at them. Seriously, all I can do is look at them. They're so beautiful and ahhh, I want to buy them allll.) I'm especially considering to buy the Anne books. I have a copy of Anne of Green Gables, with Megan Fellows on the front, but it's so tattered and crumpled - I really need a new one. (Plus, I yesterday discovered that Emma has that beautiful Anne of Green Gables copy, so I'm freaking out with jealousy. Haha.) I also have a Rilla of Ingleside copy, but it's a rather cheap one - the cover seriously looks like some kind of ghost story.

And that Jane Eyre cover. OH OH OH. These are all so cryingly beautiful. I have such a weakness for covers.

This is me reading Rilla of Ingleside. :-( Yeah, I REALLY need that purple Rilla of Ingleside copy. Tell me I need it, peeps - you give me confidence, you know. I need someone to tell me rush over to Amazon and pop some things in 'The Basket.' :-P

I'll listen to you. :-P

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2. Books I have on kindle/ read but not own and wish to own for realsies.

Ah. The Sweetest Thing. I've read this book twice and I LOVE it, but I don't actually own a copy. I bought it last year, but not for myself - I sent it to America as a Christmas present for my very best of friends, Emma. Soooo. I need to buy it again. (If you're looking for a present for your friends - 'The Sweetest Thing' is a lovely book about friendship. Highly recommended.)

And the other books I have on my kindle - but I NEED to have them. Like, I hardly have any Montgomery books to hold and to turn pages of. 

Also, which classics-geek DOESN'T have To Kill a Mockingbird in their bookshelf? See? I need one.

Yeah, I also want a library. You're not alone.

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3. Books I haven't read and want to buy.

Sooo. I have MILLIONS of books I haven't read that I want to, so don't think I only have eight. In fact, my Goodreads page tells me I have 110 books on my To-Read list. (Which says a lot, because I'm very careful about quickly clicking on 'Want to Read'.)

But yeah, these here are some. 

1. I want to read Fly Away Home because I've heard so much about it and because I love Rachel Heffington's writing style from her blog and because HEY THE GORGEOUS COVER. (Let me die.) 

2. I want to read Jubilee Trail because I loved 'Celia Garth' and I simply NEED to read more of Gwen Bristow's books. 

3. Fifteen, I will probably never buy, because it's far to easy for me, plus it's about a teenage romantic relationship - but it looks so vintage and cute, and I want to read it. 

4. I've heard so much about Ain't we got Fun' and also, I loooove the cover. And the whole idea.

5. I want to read I will always write back sooo badly because it's about a LETTER RELATIONSHIP. I've decided I love letter relationship books so much. :-)

6. I NEED to read True Grit because.... Emma. :-)

7. Eva has always told me I really need to read Jack Cavanaugh's books - and I really need to, she's right. Dear Enemy looks like the one that I would enjoy the most.

8. Aaaaand of course. I have to read The book of The year, Go Set a Watchman.

.... For starters. :-P

ALSO.

I NEED THIS BOOKSHELF.

(Seriously, if you're a boy and you're interested in me - the way I'll maybe start being interested in you is by making these bookshelves for me.) :-P

Inkling Explorations - A funny story opening in Literature

What-ho!

You know Heidi's fun linky-up-thing? Well, it's time for that again. This month, it's SUCH a fun one. "A funny story opening in Literature." I knew immediately which one I would show you. Guess which author it's going to be. Yep. Wodehouse. You did guess him, didn't you? Well, you should've. Wodehouse is the king of comedy and that's all there is to say upon the matter.

So, if you want to paticipate in Heidi's Inkling Exploration clickez-vous ici, s'il vous plaît.

My snippet is...

From 'Jill the Reckless.' Lo and behold, people, a hilarious story opening. I dare you not to snicker.

Freddie Rooke gazed coldly at the breakfast-table. Through a gleaming eye-glass he inspected the revolting object which Barker, his faithful man, had placed on a plate before him.
"Barker!" His voice had a ring of pain.
"Sir?"
"What's this?"
"Poached egg, sir."
Freddie averted his eyes with a silent shudder.
"It looks just like an old aunt of mine," he said. "Remove it!"

*Goes away laughing*