Nice people thread part 4 - sugar and spice and all things

Thrugelmir

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

I think there should be a split. Not a Chocolate Bananas Split but two forums. One, where the economy could be discussed with house prices and another, where the economy, and everything else that was not house prices were to be discussed.
J_B.

Pure house price posts are on the wane. (Thank goodness).

LydiaJ

lostinrates wrote: »

You can. BUT, whichever route back you take, and I'm guessing where you are from you'd take M5/M4 while its its not a huge detour, but makes the ultimate journey longer for kids....turns it into a day rather than an afternoon/morning....is it worth that? You'd do better with a children's farm tbh, where there is more happening!

I'm not so very far from LydiaJ. Bath is not far from her, or far from me and its an easy cross country run. In fact, its easy enough for us to meet somewhere like Dyrham Park for a handover if her kids get to know us/relax here, to solve the sitter issue on longer nights out with friends/colleagues. When we get a suitable bedroom for kids anyway (we have a spare ikea mini-double).

Will PM you later. Got to dash downstairs to stop my two killing each other. :eek:

lostinrates

Lydia, you are welcome anytime, but you might want to wait until the blackberries are out to take some home? Last year ours were a few weeks behind those at the nearest train station.....and we picked them there last weekend. Scary early, right?

lemonjelly

I meant to post on the last NPT a big thanks to doozer for posting the update on Daisy & the monkfish situation.

I miss the inspector. I hope he's back by the time the footy season starts.

I need to update peeps on what I've read recently, so will do so now as I have time. I will spare the detailed precis of each though:


Book about a gangster/racketeer in the late victorian period. Had a period of exposure in london/whitechapel in 1888 hence my interest. Regardless of that still a good book giving an insight into organised crime across 4 continents at the end of the 19th century.

Followed by:

A collection of essays from a ripper based periodical.
Followed by:

A great book. Shows that common sense isn't all it is cracked up to be, and also that what you expect to happen isn't always the case. Fantastic first section looking at reward culture and the (currently relevant issue) of bankers bonuses, & the assumption that it attracts the best & keeps them there. In fact, evidenced by this book, large banking bonuses detracts from performance. A must read.
Followed by:

The first book i think to put forward George Hutchinson as a suspect. Not bad, and the last 2-3 chapters are excellent & can be quite convincing. Hutchinson is a good suspect. He came from nowhere after the murder of Mary Jane Kelly with a statement so detailed that it beggars belief. He lived in the local area, & knew some of the victims. My criticism of the book relates to the author & style. The author writes as though it is amazing no-one has ever picked up on the stuff he is proposing, & has absolutely littered the start of the book with exclamation marks (I assume to highlight his surprise). However, this makes the book come across as arrogantly written, as shame, as the last 2-3 chapters are excellent.
Followed by:

Actually inspired by neverdespairgirl querying me never reading fiction. It is true, I don't read enough fiction, so have made an effort to. This is a great thought experiment of a book, & I liked it so much I read it in a day. Worth reading.
Followed by:

Another work of fiction. I recently read On Writing, & it referred to other works written by King. As a whipper-snapper I read a fair few of his books, but kinda grew out of them. On Writing is a great read & it inspired me to read this. Kings problem, is that the books are great up to the last 2-3 chapters. It is like he isn't sure how to end them & can't end it without anti-climaxing. As a whole, this was a good book, except for the usual ending bit (for me).

Followed by:

I posted on the last NPT that I was reading this. An amazing text - really affected my perception and view of the world. Massively recommended to anyone interested in language, art, and how they reflect the world.
Followed by:

Have to be honest, a pretty dry & unexciting read I'm afraid. Though the last 2-3 essays are interesting, especially the one highlighting that females read more fiction than males, and this may be how they are better at seeing alternate perspectives. I am severely paraphrasing there mind!
Followed by:

Decent book with information on Montague John Druitt - a favoured suspect for many ripperologists. Quite good, but as it went on the last sections started to a little clutching at straws in relation to alleging MJD was murdered by others as he was JTR, & then some other bloke was killed & thrown into the thames & buried as MJD to detract attention from MJD.

Followed by:

The diary of james maybrick, alleging that he was jack the ripper. Found in starnge circs in the early 90's, most regard it as a hoax. I am inclined to agree - though the story behind it is interesting. The diary hasn't been conclusively proven to be true or a hoax, so we have to keep an open(ish) mind...
followed by:

Another foray into fiction. Have to say, this surprised me, as the ending wasn't as dire, and the book held together pretty well imo.
followed by:

Yet another fiction! Recommended by a friend. Read on a short break - & perfectly suited as holiday style material. Accessible & easy to read, & in stages I was fairly engrossed. What miffed me a little was that when I got to the end there were way too many unanswered questions for me, & I felt the book could have gone on to do so much more. However, I have since learned that there have been 3 subsequent books, with 1 other yet to be published. I'm undecided whether to buy the others or not.

I have just started this:

I do like De Botton's work, & it is relevant to this board. Only just started though...

lemonjelly

By the way, can anyone recommend a decent book on the english civil war? I know nothing about it, & feel that I ought.

lemonjelly

My toms still are flowering, but not actual toms yet.

My beans are flowering, yet no actual beans yet.

I pulled up all the potato plants growing from all the composted peelings I'd buried. One or 2 had the starting of potatoes on them, but no major loss. I do fear the peas have been badly affected by that and as a result, my crop will suffer!:(

My onions are tiny (about as big as a spring onion!) I checked one out & replanted it in the hope I was too early.

Should I be worried about my lack of toms and/or beans yet?

geoffky

my toms are doing well but my m8 who we both bought at the same time(little seedlings) really put mine to shame,i have 5 toms and lots of flowers on each about 4ft tall but his are massive and 30 to 40 toms on each...he told me he feeds his far more than i do..(once a week for mine).

neverdespairgirl

lemonjelly wrote: »

By the way, can anyone recommend a decent book on the english civil war? I know nothing about it, & feel that I ought.

The King Stephen v Matilda one, the Wars of the Roses, or Charles I v Oliver Cromwell?

Alex Garland - not heard of the book you've just read, but I think he wrote "The Beach"?

SingleSue

I've not been reading any books just recently, just my crime magazines as I am on a major catch up after spending my time studying and just putting them unopened on the side (I have subscriptions as birthday and Christmas presents).

Middle son is being errr, difficult today...not sure if it is hormones or the fact we have arts weeks next week at school and it is all change despite the fact he is doing something he loves (music). He had a major meltdown at lunchtime over nothing (his deodorant cap broke) and then another one tonight (he asked for his drink to be thrown to him and it didn't land exactly where he wanted it to) where he ripped up a certificate youngest had received from school yesterday and pulled a unit over. We have to keep our distance when he has meltdowns or we will get hurt...and have done in the past.

Youngest was obviously upset over his certificate but was more distressed at the aggression and noise...so now I have two very unsettled ones!

Not a good day in the SS household.

vivatifosi

Sue your day sounds dreadful. I hope things are better tomorrow. You could do without another one like that. On the crime front do you like Peter James? He's very popular with my coworkers who tend to consider him as one of the better crime writers.

Jelly, no recommendations on the Civil War I'm afraid. I'm currently reading for work which isn't such fun: stuff about advanced internet searches, I try to read a book like that every couple of year to stay ahead of changes. My bedtime book is "The Queen and I" by Sue Townsend, which is ok but not great.