The Farns: May 2013

Friday, 17 May 2013

Jousting Anyone?

The first Monday in May is a bank holiday here in England. So since my parents were here, we thought we would impress them with a favorite English sport from the past - jousting! We headed down to Blenheim Palace near Oxford for a jousting tournament. It was a lovely day. The tournament took place on the grounds of the palace. A great setting for such a historic sport.

It was very entertaining to watch.

Here are the girls getting ready to view the big event with the palace in the background...

Afterward, we went on a lakeside walk near the palace. The grounds of Blenheim Palace sure are beautiful!

Poser Abby near the lake

Two more goofy posers in front of the palace

Back to the tournament - Alex loved watching the horses and cheering for our team (the red side). Abby and Sammy both got a spot right up front so I never saw or heard from them during the entire tournament. They were certainly entertained.

King Henry VIII graced us with his presence and was the announcer for the tournament.

Alex loved watching all the horses get ready for the tournament. She kept dragging me back over there to watch them again and again. All in all, it was a great day. We all came home beet red from all the sun.

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Nice Weather Days

Alex fell asleep in Abby and Sammy's reading chair. So cute!

This is when Alex got to bring the special Frog Prince home from school for the weekend. We were supposed to take pictures of him going with us doing fun things. I forgot to take him so we hurried and snapped these pictures of her with him on her bike. She slept with him every night. We will miss you Frog Prince...

Abby learned to ride her bike recently and has only had a fall just about every day. She manages to scrape her knee in the exact same place each time. I have had to go out and buy loads of bandages and anti-septic cream to be more prepared. I have also had to make a rule that if she rides her bike, she has to wear jeans to protect her knees a bit more. But despite all of her falls, she keeps on riding and is getting better everyday! Way to go Abby!

Monday, 13 May 2013

Gangsta Granny


The girls and I have been reading this great book by David Walliams. He is an English comedian, actor, author and television presenter. He is best known for his show "Little Britain." He is also a judge on "Britain's Got Talent." So I guess you could say, he is quite a big celebrity here. Many times, books by celebrities are built up a lot because of their name when in reality the book stinks. But that is not the case with this book. The book is about a boy named Ben who is bored beyond belief after he is made to stay at his grandma’s house. She’s the boring-est grandma ever: all she wants to do is to play Scrabble, and eat cabbage soup. But there are two things Ben doesn’t know about his grandma - 1) She was once an international jewel thief. 2) All her life she has been plotting to steal the crown jewels, and now she needs Ben's help. The girls and I laughed out loud throughout this book. The girls are begging me to take them back to the Tower of London so they can get another look at how thick that bullet-proof glass is that the jewels are behind and examine those jewels more closely...It is great for the imagination and very entertaining. We WILL be reading his other books for sure!

Friday, 10 May 2013

Cakes, Cakes and More Cakes...

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the International Cake Show in London. It was very impressive! I was there all day with my friend Valeria. We walked around for hours admiring all the cakes. I couldn't believe some of them were actually cake! I took pictures of some of my favorites....

YES, that is a cake not a tin recipe box...even the recipe cards were out of sugar.

Yes! That is all sugar!

Those heels are made out of chocolate

This cake was incredible. If you could see the other side, you would look into the house and see all the tiny, little furniture etc. It was amazing!

The guy who did this amazing flower, David Leslie was there. My friend Valeria couldn't believe it. She was so excited to meet him. He is a celebrity of the cake world! I of course had never heard of him. Valeria took a two-hour truffle making class from him while I went to some workshop on how to make fondant hamburgers and hotdogs for a BBQ theme cake for Father's day. I don't think I will be doing it for Charles though. We also met Debbie Brown, again I had no idea who she was. Apparently, she is a famous cake decorating goddess who everyone worships. I think I worship her now too. These people are incredible artists...

This cake was a bit freaky because it was so realistic. The doll reminded me of that scary movie from the 80s called "Chuckie." (I saw 5 minutes of the movie and couldn't watch any more because it scared me so much.) Does anyone remember that? If you could see the doll's face up close, there were lines all through it as if it were really old, yet very shiny.

And last of all, we saw Mary Berry LIVE! I actually knew who she was...As impressed as I was with all the cakes, I just don't think it is my thing. I think I would drive myself to insanity if I got into this hobby. My only complaint about the whole day was that after looking at hundreds of cakes, I started to REALLY crave a piece of cake and there was not a slice anywhere to buy! Torture!

Books I Have Read Recently

(Let me know what books you have read recently or what your favorite book(s) is. I am always looking for a good book. Here are a few I have read.)

-The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

-Pope Joan by Donna Wolfolk Cross
(Definitely one of my favorites)

-Men to Match my Mountains by Irving Stone

-Life of Pi by Yann Martel

-The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

-Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor of Jordan

--Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
(This is one of my favorite books.)

-Those Who Love by Irving Stone
(This is a book about Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams. It was an enlightening read.)

-I Love You Ronnie by Nancy Reagan

--The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
(I didn't like this book.)

--The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
(I liked this book when I read it several years ago but when I recently re-read it, I did not like it. I guess my tastes have changed.)

-The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
(Begins in 1885, with the British invasion of Mandalay and the capture of the Burmese king and queen, and encompassing over 100 years to modern-day India and Burma (Myanmar). It was a great read.)

--The Peddler’s Grandson; Growing up Jewish in Mississippi by Edward Cohen

-Brick Lane by Monica Ali
(I liked this book a lot except for the middle part where you are reading a bunch of letters written in poor English. I could have done without that.)

-Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks

-Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
(I saw the movie and loved it. It stars Queen Latifah as August and she is great!)

--Power and Glory by Adam Nicolson

--How To Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg

-Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

-The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

-Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake

-The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
(This is a very thrilling read. I could not put it down. It may not be for everyone though.)

-Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior
by Kate Fox

-The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom and John Scherrill

-Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

-Atonement by Ian McEwan
(A very intriguing book and I loved the movie, even though Kiera Knightley was the star.)

-Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

--The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
(Great book about Katherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII's first wife)

--The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
(A book about Ann Boleyn - King Henry VIII's second wife)

-The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
(This one is about King Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives - Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard.)

-The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
(This book is about Queen Mary, Katherine of Aragon's daughter, and the Queen-to-be Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn's daughter. There is also a fictional character Hannah. I loved it!)

-Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

-The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
(A great overview of recent Afghan history. Check out the bookseller's rebuttal book published this year.)

-Virgins of Paradise by Barbara Wood
(I loved this book. It focuses on an Egyptian family from the 1940s to the present. It was a really good look at Egyptian culture and politics as they have changed through the years.)

-A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

-The Chosen by Chaim Potok
(This is a good look at Jewish life. I liked reading the history of the formation of the state of Israel and the different reactions of various Jews throughout the book.)

--The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

--The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

-Children: The Challenge by Rudolf Dreikurs, M.D.
(I am still in the process of reading this book)

-The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
(I admit, I skimmed this. It was long with too much political rhetoric for my taste.)

--The Hours by Michael Cunningham
(I didn't like this book, I wouldn't recommend it.)

-The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
(This was an amazing book. I could have read it in one night, easily. I could not put it down. It is about an innocent boy living outside the fence of a concentration camp.)

-David O. McKay and The Rise of Modern Mormonism by Gregory Prince and WM. Robert Wright

-The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
(I loved this book!)

-1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 by Thomas W. Phelan
(I have been doing this with Abby and it works like "magic!" I even went to a lecture and heard the author speak about the method and it is great!)

-Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

-They Dare to Speak Out by Paul Findley
(A book about an Illinois congressman who lost his seat to the Israeli Lobby.)

---“The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” by John J. Mearsheimer, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, and Stephen M. Walt, a professor of international affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
(This is an excellent paper.)

--A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
(I must admit, I did not finish this book. I found it very slow moving and a bit boring. I read about half and gave up.)

--The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

--Stasiland; Stories From Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder

--These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881 - 1901 Arizona Territories by Nancy E. Turner
(This was a great escape. I loved it!)

--Escape by Carolyn Jessop (This is a disturbing book but a good read. It's all about a girl who escapes from a radical FLDS polygamist cult.)

--Tall Grass by Sandra Dallas

--The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
(Doctors took her cells without asking; those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multimillion-dollar industry. More than twenty years later, her children found out. Their lives would never be the same.)

--FREE RANGE kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) by Lenore Skenazy

--Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam by Asra Q. Nomani
(I loved this book. It is a very detailed account of the hajj and her take on Islam.)

--The Year That Changed The World: The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall by Michael Meyer
(Meyer is a myth buster. The myth he tackles in this book is Americans' idea that communist regimes in the Cold War fell because of the United States' involvement. He is an excellent historian. I really enjoyed this book!)

--Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World's Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb
(This book is now on my list of all-time favorites. It was thrilling and so fascinating. I highly recommend it!)

--Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
(I loved this book. It was adventurous and inspiring!)

--Someone Knows My Name By Lawrence Hill

--The Great Fire of London in the Apocalyptic Year 1666 By Neil Hanson
(I knew of the great fire in London but nothing else. This was very informative and kept my interest. It did get a little too detailed in parts though.)

--Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue and Unthinkable Choices By Mosab Hassan Yousef
(I like this book)

--Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
(Excellent book on the history of China and how it has changed over the century.)

--Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine
(I would read this to my girls one day. It is a good look at the holocaust for children.)

--The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles by Hala Jaber

--Mengele: The Complete Story by Gerald Posner and John Ware

--Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

--In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

--The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

--The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

--Faith: Behind The Fences: A True Story of Survival In A Japanese Prison Camp by Kelly Dispirito Taylor

--Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

--We Were Not Alone: How an LDS Family Survived World War II Berlin by Patricia Reece Roper

--The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

--Pillar of the Earth by Ken Follett

--Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

--The Cultural Revolution: A People's History 1962 - 1976 by Frank Dikotter

Books I Want to Read

--Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill by Jessica Stern
--Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown by Paul Theroux
--Through a Glass Darkly: A Novel by Karleen Koen
--Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
--The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones
--Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
--The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter by Jason Kersten
--An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah - A Memoir by Farah Pahlavi
--Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West by Benazir Bhutto
--City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre
--East of Eden by John Steinbeck
-- The Agony and the Ecstacy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo by Irving Stone
--One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
--Year of Wonders, a novel of the plague by Geraldine Brooks
--Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali's autobiography "Infidel"
--Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke by Patty Duke and Kenneth Turan
-- The War against the Jews: 1933-1945 by Lucy S. Dawidowicz
-- Alicia: My Story by Alicia Appleman-Jurman
--Vintage Sacks by neurologist/author Oliver Sacks.
--Helen Keller's "The Story of My Life"
--I Thought my Father was God (a collection of peoples' stories from NPR's National Story Project)
--Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
--I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles