Wednesday 3 October 2012

August's Activities - a little late!

Welcome to my August Month in Numbers - in October!  Oops!
Check out Julie's blog here if you have no idea what I'm talking about :o)

4321 (approximately) = minutes spent watching the London 2012 Olympics  Having been hooked by the opening ceremony, we were captivated by cycling, beach volleyball, swimming, horse-riding, tae-kwon-do, diving, and all manner of athletics.   Olympic fever was not even interrupted by a visit to my Step-mother's, where we introduced her to the delights of rhythmic gymnastics (the arm-chair variety) and mountain biking (the sofa strain)

Photo - Border Collie & Ball
2 = number of afternoons spent (unsuccessfully) trying to teach
Step-mother's puppy to hand the ball back in a game of fetch
Books read = 7 (but a shorter and more varied set than last month): "Twisted Wing" by Ruth Newman was a thriller set in Cambridge with a confusing start because two murders have already been committed and it takes a while to sort out what has been going on.  Gradually things fall into place only to fall out again as you realise that the murderer is far cleverer than their pursuers.  Cambridge was also the setting for "Lasting Damage" by Sophie Hannah and, like her other psychological thrillers, had me guessing almost to the (slightly disappointing) ending.
"Full Dark, No Stars" was next - by Stephen King, the US master of spooky short stories.  Having seen the film I picked up "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen and was amazed how close it had kept to the book.
My reading group's choice was "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett which was an eye-opener because I hadn't realised how much discrimination and segregation had persisted in America in the 60s - I had thought that Rosa Parks had put a stop to it all in the 50s.  At the group, my friend lent me two books to read "The Evil Seed", the first novel by Joanne Harris and "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro.  The former is an atmospheric gothic horror about vampires in Cambridge (again) and the latter a beautiful study of life in service in the 30s - I must get around to catching the film on TV soon.

11 = the number of people we squeezed around our dining table during the weekend No.1 Son brought his friends to stay for the weekend.  They were visiting Chester Zoo - the weather was really kind and they enjoyed the picnic we provided.

There should be a PHOTO here of the happy hordes, but despite weeks of promises No.1 Son has failed to come up with the goods.  So I'll add a picture Child No.3 drew for him that weekend instead:

Drawing - Pen & Ink Doodle - Jimjams' Daughter Aug 2012
20 = minutes of interview which proved to be successful for No.3 Child in obtaining a pocket-money job so she is happily looking forward to some spending money after July's disappointment in her previous interviews.

0 = the number of A-grade GCSEs that she achieved - because the majority were A* and the rest were B; it seems there is no middle ground between the subjects she likes and those that she doesn't! 

6 = days spent away by No.2 Son attending a 3 day music festival ... maths never was his strong point!

Part of the reason why I have finally published my belated numbers is that I have a weekend scrappy retreat coming up and I'm hoping to get the scrapping of my months up-to-date!  I have February, April, May and June, August still to complete ... all I need to do is add the words to the pages from my MIN blog posts.  Oh and of course there's still September - eek!!

If you a) want to join in with your Month in Numbers and b) are as late as I am, then other Augusts can be found here.

17 comments:

alexa said...

Woah, hold a minute, I am right in understanding that child 3 produced that AMAZING illustration? If so, I am speechless in admiration! She could be having a career as a designer and illustrator right now...

Mary B said...

well done love the 6day away on a 3 day festival lol
Your DD is a very gifted design artist by the looks of that picture

scrappyjacky said...

I remember losing days at festivals many,many years ago!!!

Sian said...

That illustration is amazing! (and so are all those A*'s )

Tota; respect for going back and pulling it all together Jemma. Great stuff!

Lesley G said...

Can't quite believe that you calculated 4321 minutes whether approximately or not!!
LOVE that puppy dog z
x

K said...

Artistic skills AND a brain, pah, me, jealous, maybe a lil ;)

Sue Althouse said...

Hey, better late than never! Can't believe the Olympics were just 2 months ago, seems like it was a long time past.

Julie Kirk said...

Well child 3 had an amazing month! You must be so proud - and that drawing is fabulous!

I don't think it matters when you share your numbers, it's lovely to hear them any time. Chronology + blogging often seem to fight in people's heads - I sometimes have to stop myself saying 'oh, this is something I made a few months ago ...' because really, who would know?!

Thanks for another lovely account of your month. Whichever month it was!

I've pinned you to the board with the others now: http://pinterest.com/notesonpaper/my-month-in-numbers/

Happy October!

Julie :-)

Lou said...

wow that is an amazing piece of artwork! congratulations on those A* too for DD x

Sandie said...

Your daughters illustration is amazing!! I echo Alexa's comment, she could go far with that skill.
Wish I could read as many books in a month, I seem to be dipping & diving into a number at the same time right now. Not novels though, that would be daft! I've also read one or two books and been amazed at how discrimination & segregation have been rife during my life time. Not a nice thought.

Alison said...

Well done to your daughter on these results..and on that wonderful sketch!...glad you enjoyed 'The Help'- it made me think too!...I'm so pleased that I'm going to get to meet you next march!
Alison xx

Missus Wookie said...

Congratulations on the grades - hope they get her where she wants to go and what a cool doodle!

The Help was fascinating - then talking to my Mom and friend Susan (who had a maid when she was a child in the 50s and that maid didn't leave her grandmother's until the 70s!) about it whilst being in the South. Quite amazing.

Yeah for a scrappy retreat - hope you get lots done, I too don't think it matters, I'll share my LSNED album when it gets done, just haven't quite finished yet...

Paula - Buenos Aires said...

Fab month for child #3. Congratulations. Lol at math comment. I was not good at maths either but never went to a festival. I should have planned better. ;)

humel said...

That picture is truly amazing! And congrats to her for those grades :)

I have The Help on my 'to read' pile - if I have to spend much more time on this sofa with my foot up I'll be reading it sooner than I expected!!

happysnapper said...

what? E draw that? I'm totally blown away very talented.

Melissa said...

What a great list of books you read in August. I read The Help last year (& enjoyed the movie!) - I was actually born in Mississippi The book did a great job of portraying that time period in history (in fact, there's still a lot of racism there unfortunately). I read Water for Elephants a few years ago, but never got around to seeing the movie.

ComfyMom~Stacey said...

I loved reading remains of the day!