Wednesday

Dull and very wet.  That's the weather in a nutshell at the moment.  No wind yet although I gather there's some expected as the remains of some nasty weather could be heading this way.  Having said that, I have just checked the BBC weather page which is as reliable as any and wind is not expected to be an issue here, just rather a lot of rain.
So no hanging the washing out to dry today!

I had a very pleasant day in school yesterday.  In the afternoon the FS teachers were still out on their home visits and there were no children so Carly and I set to and sorted out a whole pile of books into book bands, stickered them and made a list of the books in each band for record keeping.  I hope we did it OK.  By the end, Carly had gone off to do marking as it was after three-fifteen and I did such a stupid thing - I over saved one of the lists and had to do it all over again.  Such an idiot!  I think I was getting tired by then and making silly mistakes but I'm glad I got it all finished.  It's one of those tasks that can hang around and hang around because teachers just don't have that much time to get it all done.  I felt useful which is always a good feeling!

After school I returned a few books to the library and found one that looks really interesting.  It is 'The Housekeeper's Tale' by Tessa Boase and it's all about the women who really ran the English country house.  It seems to be a brand new publication.
http://housekeepers-tale.com/
On the blurb it says:
"As a working class woman in the 19th century, you could do no better.  The housekeeper of a great English country house might manage a hundred servants, and a domestic budget on a par with a small bank.  She had no need for a home of her own - or, for that matter, a husband.  But for all her importance, she has been invisible to history."
This is just the sort of book I really enjoy.  I was not great cop at history when at school.  All those dates and battles and stuff.  As a teen I got into historical novels and really enjoyed the little details about how people really lived and this interest in social history, especially the minutiae of day to day living has stayed with me.  I love books like Lark Rise to Candleford, Parson Woodforde's diaries, Anne Hughes and her 'Boke in which I write', Molly Hughes' autobiographical books and the Miss Read village school stories for the same reason.  They tell of the little, everyday things.  Homely stuff.
I'm also quite excited (silly me) to see that there's a chapter about a housekeeper at Wrest Park which is one of my favourite places.  I can't wait to get stuck in.

I have digressed . . . sorry.

Once home, I'm afraid I went a bit bananas with food and am suffering from an upset tum this morning - serves me right for being such an idiot.  I might also be 'catching' something as I'm rather achey and hotty-cold.  No swimming today which is a shame as I could do with the exercise but never mind, there's always tomorrow and Friday and . . .

So what am I going to do today?  Well, that depends on how I feel.  Right now I intend to sit and read and, hopefully, sleep a bit more.  I want to make some bread - need to really as I am out of loaves - and I'd like to try Lorraine Pascale's recipe for burger baps.  Then maybe tomorrow I can have another tuna burger, in a bap this time.

I have some ironing to do which can be done sitting down and watching telly.  And speaking of telly, it is Bake Off this evening.  Excellent!

So that's me - a quiet day and a bit of rest and recovery.

Food: (depending on how things go)
Breakfast:  toast, apple
Lunch:  I have some passata so I might just heat that up and drink it.  It depends how the old tum is behaving really.
Dinner:  I didn't have the risotto so I must have it tonight.

How about you?  What are your food plans today?  And what sort of books do you enjoy?