Katie Butcher

It was a nice change to get stuck into a psychological thriller, I don’t feel like I’ve read anything in that category for a while. This was a good one, it was disturbing in places, but very readable with a clever (although a touch far-fetched) twist at the end.

The story centres around Alice Fancourt who returns from a two-hour trip to the health club to find that her two-week old daughter (that has been looked after by her husband) has gone from her cot and replaced by strange baby. The only problem is that nobody believes her that the baby is a stranger, and that includes her husband. Alice has to try and convince the police that her claims about the strange baby are true, so they investigate where her own baby may have gone to, before it’s too late.

It’s a gripping book. I read it in a day because you’re compelled to keep turning those pages to find out how it’s all going to end.

On Sunday Mum and Dad took us out for a meal and some musical entertainment. The venue was ‘Salon El Canor’, an upmarket function room in Teulada. It was a dressy affair with a Cava reception then a five course meal (including wine, brandy, liqueurs and coffee). The food was delicious and the service very good.

After the meal, soprano singer Isobel Cooper (‘Izzy’) performed a show singing ‘Classical Meets Contempory’. She sang bits from the musicals like ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Sound of Music’ and also some traditional folk songs and light operatic pieces. After the show the band continued and the dance floor was opened up. It was a very enjoyable evening, certainly something different. Both Nigel and I drank far too much ‘vino tinto’ though. We really felt very sorry for ourselves on Monday.

MENU

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Aperitivos
Jamon Iberico De Guijelo con Foie De Pato
Seleccion De Ibericos con Queso Manchengo Semi Curado
Paquetito De Salmon Relleno de Marisco
Dos Cazuelitas (Sobrasada Y Tomate)
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Entrantes
Crema De Esparragos con Virutas de Jamon
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Sorbetes
Uva Moscaell Al Vino Espumosa
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Carnes
Tournedos De Solomillo De Iberico con Salsa De Frutos Secos
Berenjena Rellena y Patata
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Postres
Barquita de Chocolate con Fondo Marino y Fisalis
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Licores y Cafe

It’s taken me ages to read this book, not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because I’ve not been reading so much now that I no longer commute on the train every day. After I finished reading ‘Eve Green’ I was surprised (and very impressed) to find that the author was not 2 years older than I am. The writing is very poetic and mature, I had imagined it to be written by a much older person. The story is told by a 29 year old remembering her childhood, in particular a period when she was 8 and the sudden death of her mother leads her to move from inner-city Birmingham to her grandparent’s farm in rural Wales. There a lots of descriptions but they never get boring, they immerse you in the setting; the sights, the smells, the atmosphere. Even though the language is very lyrical, it is very easy to read. This book is not an action-packed page-turner but it’s very enjoyable and well-paced. It’s the type of book that’s good to snuggle up with on the sofa at this cold dark time of year.

One great thing about working in the centre of Bradford is that I can nip to the shops at lunchtime. I’ve started going to Oastler Shopping Centre Market to buy our meat. I really enjoy shopping at the market, the variety and selection is so much better that at the supermarket. I find the sellers are really helpful and friendly. Yesterday I wanted some lamb mince to make a Shepherd’s Pie, but none of the butcher’s stalls seemed to have any. All I had to do was ask and one of the butcher’s was happy to mince some lamb up specially for me. It made a very tasty Shepherd’s Pie. Now I intend to not buy any meat at Morrisons, but instead pop to the market a couple of times a week. What you can buy at the market better quality, generally cheaper, locally produced, and your custom seems to be appreciated.

Christmas decorations have been banned by almost three out of four UK employers, for fear of offending staff from other faiths, a survey says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6210532.stm

I don’t believe that for a second – 3 out of 4 firms banning decorations? No way. A small percentage maybe, but not 75%. I think this is yet another example of the media stirring the poo that’s surrounding race relations at the moment. Frankly, if I were a member of an ethnic minority, I would be deeply offended that someone (probably a middle class white jobsworth pen-pusher) would think that I’d be offended by Christmas decorations. Most ethnic minority people are not offended by Christmas decorations.

All stories like this do is enhance the ‘how dare they have the audacity to come to our country and demand change’ mentality of dimwitted Sun readers. Everybody knows that the VAST majority of people will think the idea of banning decorations as stupid, therefore all this story will do is put ethnic minorities in a bad light for a reason which probably has absolutely nothing to do with them – that someone somewhere said they may be offended.

As far as I’m aware:

• No ethnic minority groups are asking for a ban.
• No government departments are asking for a ban.

So it sounds like another blown out of all proportion page-filler to me.

I just realised that yesterday I accidently did something very stupid – I took cash out of machine using a credit card. My debit card and credit card look quite similiar, they’re both silver and I didn’t check properly which card I had in my hand. Now the £10 I took out is going to cost me an extra £2.50 plus an interest rate of 1.9something% per month until the direct debit for my December statement goes out, which will be mid-January. At least it’ll teach me to be more careful and watch what I’m doing next time.

On a positive note, that credit card has given me back lots of money since I took it out 4 months ago and I’ve never paid a penny in interest, so I suppose paying an extortionate fee and interest on a withdrawl isn’t terrible, just annoying. The credit card has a 3% cashback deal so I’ve been given nearly £150 back so far, on things that I have to buy like groceries and petrol. Who said credit cards are evil? They’re fab and can make you money if you use them right and don’t use them to withdraw cash!