Reading

I am so pleased that Vera is enjoying books and reading as I have such fond memories from my old childhood of reading, raiding the local library and dreaming away! I don't make enough time for reading myself these days, but I do make a point of reading with Vera as it is such a great pastime and such a great gift. Vera's favourites at the moment are Stick Man, Room on the Broom, Gruffalo and Gruffalo's Child, all written by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Vera is continuing to thrive at nursery, on Friday she did drama and miming (!) and over the weekend we were pretend throwing balls back and forth. They had their photos taken too and I have ordered some. She's really growing up now! And next week is our first parents evening! On Friday I went out for a wine tasting event with some women who I met through the website Meet Up. It was really nice and hosted by a really knowledgeble but unpretentious guy. Most of the women are older and heading out socialising again after divorces etc, but a nice bunch and nice to get out. Saturday was spent in the fantastic Millhouses Park, a short walk from the house. Vera played, ran around and we had coffee and a snack in the cafe before we headed home. On Sunday morning, it was another glorious day. Fresh air and sunshine is so good for the soul at this time of the year when darkness is creeping in. We drove towards Hathersage and stopped near a public walk way where we walked up a hill. We took it very slow, as Vera was busy saying hello to all the sheep and jumping of various stones and checking out a little bit of frost at the roadside. The last 100 metres were made on the promise of a small packet of raisins. We had a water and snack break, took in the view before heading back to the car. The rest of the Sunday was spent pottering, cooking and enjoying some nice music and family time.