Once, Then and Now

I have a 10 year old son who has an insatiable appetite for books.

It was his birthday.

I thought a new book would be good. It is in the 'I love kid's top 50', it has won 'The children's book council of Australia Honour Book' award and the main character is a boy. Terrific! Bought and wrapped.

It wasn't till he was half way through it that I read the blurb for 'Once' by Morris Gleitzman:

'Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad. Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house. Once I made a Nazi with a toothache laugh. My name is Felix. This is my story.'

Oh oh - Nazi.... 'Um, Sam is this book sad?' 'Yes Mum - you would probably cry'. So I thought I'd better read them to see what he was digesting and whether it was appropriate.

So by this point, he is onto the next book in the series called 'Then'.

'Once' is based on the views and experiences of a jewish boy called Felix who is around ten years old and living in an orphanage in Poland that his parents sent him to in 1939. Three years and eight months later, he receives a whole carrot in his soup, which he thinks is a sign from his Mum and Dad (jewish booksellers), and that they are finally coming back for him. This inspires him to escape from the orphanage, and journey across Poland in the hope of finding his parents.


Felix naivety and innocence means that he often assumes some of the most horrific things that he encounters are mistakes or accidents. These assumptions make some of the more harrowing scenes and themes less so (for children readers) but still gut wrenching for the poor adult readers that know exactly what is going on. I still can't believe these terrible things happened and to see the horror through the eyes of a child the same age as my son was almost unbearable.


The book was brilliant but terrible - very much like 'The boy in the striped pyjamas'. Of course, I then had to read 'Then' and 'Now' which were both equally harrowing but amazing.

If you feel like being moved and encouraged by what must have been amazing human spirit during the war, I highly recommend these books - but read them before your children!

Help!

A few amateur questions - please, please someone tell me what I am supposed to be doing.....

The lettuces have gone beserk! Do I just cut leaves off or do I need to pull the whole plant out (I've been cutting leaves off so far and don't seem to have killed anything yet)?

The Asian greens are also going crazy! A few caterpillars have already enjoyed these. Once again - do I cut leaves or pull whole plants? And when?

Some of the beetroots look ready - but how do you know unless you pull one out?

The celery is going well. I'm sure I will have questions soon.

And dear Heidi (or anyone else)- what are these again??

Last but not least - we have a baby cauliflower - I'm so happy - the boys are less than thrilled...

Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.

Fancy bubbles?

The Widow Clicquot written by Tilar J Mazzeo provides a fascinating history on the origination, creation and development of champagne and the champagne industry that Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin (the widow Cliquot) helped create. 


Barbe-Nicole, the daughter of a prosperous Reims merchant, married into the Cliquot family, who sold both cloth and wine. After her husband’s death, she chose to continue running the family’s wine business, concentrating on the fizzy wine we now call champagne. The book outlines her trials and tribulations in creating an export market for champagne and refining the drink so that it was the drink of choice of nobility across Europe.


Not much remains in the archives of what Barbe-Nicole was really like or what her innermost thoughts actually was so the book is a mixture of historical facts (which were fascinating) and surmised personal accounts (which I didn't enjoy as much). I felt that Barbe-Nicole as a character could have provided for a fabulous non-fiction story in her own account that could then have been embellished with historical facts - as opposed to the other way around. The book is repetitious in parts and perhaps even a bit long for a story that is mostly surmised.


Overall though I enjoyed the fiction side of the book a lot and have learnt a great deal about France's history and in particular the history of that lovely drink champagne. I would encourage you to read this if you have a passion for wine, champagne or are merely interested in how it became such a well recognised, hugely profitable product.

Book club reviews

Ok I can finally give my review of the books we read for the last book club.

Firstly, Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard. The book was a very light read about Elizabeth's new life in Paris after meeting a Parisian man (Gwendal) and moving in with him. The book was centered around her discovery of food, recipes and the French culture. The book actually has several recipes included between the chapters but I was mostly uninspired by the them - except for the 'Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes' but I'm a sucker for warm chocolate.

I didn't love this book and found Elizabeth very uneducated when it came to food (she's from America and makes it seem like she never ate anything non-processed) - she allegedly had never prepared a leek! As I said its a light read but I certainly won't be recommending it to anyone - unless they are about to go and live in Paris (we can but dream).

The other book we read was Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama.

Barack Obama is an amazingly beautiful writer. I would love to hear him speak.

The book covers his life from his childhood up to the point where he enters university to study law. It is a very candid exploration of his relationship with his family and predominantly his relationship with his absent father.

I really enjoyed this book - on the whole. There were certainly parts of it that were a bit tedious and over indulgent (I often find this in autobiographies - it may just be me?) but I was fascinated to read about how he encounters racial tensions in both America and Africa and his views on this. Being of South African origin, I always find books about racism compelling and confronting - and Barack has such a unique perspective.

One of the fascinating insights that a couple of book club girls had, was that the book was solely on Barack's need to understand and form a relationship with his father - whilst his mother, and all that she has done for him and sacrificed for his future, is virtually ignored. 

It was an interesting observation about motherhood and how it is often taken for granted by both men and less often women (especially if they are mothers too). 

I am really glad I read this book - I would not ordinarily pick it off the shelves so I am very grateful to book club for encouraging me to read books I wouldn't choose for myself.

The first salad

It was very simple.

It was very delicious.

It didn't involve going to a shop (OK I already had the balsamic in the fridge).

It went so quickly I forgot to take a photo of the finished product, but it involved my rocket leaves and the fancy Mizuna Japanese lettuce and a little balsamic vinegar. You can see the other great lettuces that are just waiting to be eaten but I think they need to grow a little bit more.

In the background you can see the snow peas have grown really well too and are slowly making their way up their trellis. Today however, I went to check on them and they aren't looking so happy - brown spots and a bit limp - must google this and see what is going on....