Good evening, gosh late posting today.
I got stuck in a new book.
There are various book prizes awarded in the UK every year and I enjoy looking thorugh the shortlists to see if anything interesting has come up.

The Orange Prize is now called The Bailey's Women's Prize for fiction, find out more about it here:
http://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/

One of the books on the shortlist is called The Undertaking, by Audrey Magee.
Here's what the Website tells us about it:

Desperate to escape the Eastern front, Peter Faber, an ordinary German soldier, marries Katharina Spinell, a woman he has never met; it is a marriage of convenience that promises honeymoon leave for him and a pension for her should he die on the front. With ten days’ leave secured, Peter visits his new wife in Berlin; both are surprised by the attraction that develops between them.
When Peter returns to the horror of the front, it is only the dream of his wife that sustains him as he approaches Stalingrad. Back in Berlin, Katharina, goaded on by her desperate and delusional parents, ruthlessly works her way into the Nazi party hierarchy, wedding herself, her young husband and their unborn child to the regime. But when the tide of war turns and Berlin falls, Peter and Katharina, ordinary people stained with their small share of an extraordinary guilt, find their simple dream of family increasingly hard to hold on to.

So of course I had to order it.  And that is why I am late here today.

For some lighter practice, I've also been looking at material for our Crimean War lesson and have found the Horrible Histories series.
Here's one about the King Georges:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPtYmq5qFVA

And my favourite King Charles King of Bling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2kyNbZc7oc

And here's the Horrible Histories Website:

http://horrible-histories.co.uk/

with games,  a magazine and all sorts of history fun.

Enjoy!

Good morning and Happy Easter.

Back again from the UK where I had a Very Happy Moment.

As a little girl my best favourite TV Programme was The Avengers. It was on Fridays at 8pm and generally I was allowed to stay up to watch it. I thought Emma Peel was the best thing I had ever seen.
Here she is on YouTube, set to The Kinks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve9N9oaXU18

Ever since then I have had a secret wish for a leather Outfit.

So last week my Mum said she had always wanted to go to the Pittards outlet in Yeovil - Yeovil has been a centre for the leather industry for many years - the local Football Team is nicknamed the 'Glovers'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-356000-114000/page/12
http://www.ytfc.net/

- and so off we went.

http://www.pittards.com/

There was no-one else in the outlet and outlet or not it was not exactly cheap and  I am a one-handbag Girl so we walked through to their coffee shop. Past a rail of reduced leather dresses!
I thought I would die on the spot. They were. even reduced, more than I would normally pay. But I decided to try one on, just knowing it wouldn't fit or would look dreadful.
I asked the assistant where the Fitting room was - turned out there wasn't one - well the shop was empty anyway so I just put on that Dress... and knew I was Emma Peel.

I carried it home in my hand luggage, never trust KLM.

KerPOW!

Good morning, in a hurry this morning as I leave for the UK shortly. Off (again) to Yeovil:

http://www.yeoviltown.com/

where I will visit my family and catch up on Britishness.

Looking forward to some M&S ready food:


http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/food-and-wine

and will pick up my Engagement ring from Wells:


http://www.studleysjewellers.co.uk/


Wells is a lovely place anyway,
http://www.wellssomerset.com/

 famous for its cathedral:


http://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/

Off I whizz!
Happy Easter.

Good morning Penguinfriends,

What fun we have watching all the birds who come to feed in front of our French Windows.
This morning there were already pheasants, jays, various tits, greenfinches and of course our favourite, the Robin.
So here are some activities for you this morning to practise your bird vocabulary and knowledge.
Let's start with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/

Here's an online animal game introduced by Perry Penguin (Yes!)

http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/penguinA.htm

Here's an online Memory game topractise bird vocabulary:

And a Cartoon of an Aesop's Fable, with subtitles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q_POianzls

Have a great week!




Some Borneo chicks

What a beautiful morning! And what's more, it's Mothering Sunday.  Do not confuse this with 'Mother's Day' as celebrated in Germany.
Mothering Sunday is always the fourth Sunday in Lent and goes back at least to the 16th century, maybe further. It was a Sunday when the fasting rules of Lent were relaxed, and  servants were allowed home to visit their families, specifically their mothers. The Housekeeper of the Big House where they worked would give them some eggs,or maybe baked goods to take with them, and so that's how it all began.

This year I arranged for cupcakes to be delivered to my mother,

http://www.cakesbyshellyanne.co.uk/

who was duly delighted.

As always, BBC Radio 4 is booming out as I write and I have just been listening to a Special Service for Mothering Sunday. One hymn was "For the Beauty of the Earth."
As a little girl I really hated this hymn. It had such a boring tune. Then I heard a

version by John Rutter - a British Composer, mostly of Choral Music - and have been captivated by it ever since.

Here's a Version with subtitles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaMkj4_H8WM

And here it is sung by the choir of St Paul's Cathedral:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0qQyW0W0Rw

So appropriate for this beautiful morning.

Good morning Friends, near and far!

This week has seen lots of emails whizzing between Morsum and the USA, Diane to be precise. It started when she sent me a Quiz to find out which Downton Abbey character I was.
I'm sure you all know (and love) Downton. It's been on zdf in Germany (I think) and is an ITV production in the UK leading to empty streets on Sunday nights when it is being broadcast. We Brits love a bit of historical Drama, makes us feel really cosy.
Some of you will remember 'Upstairs Downstairs' which I think was called Das Haus am Eaton Place in German.
Check this out for a series on the real life upstairs and downstairs, (this episode is about the Brighton Pavillion).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viHMteyA7TM

Anyway, Diane reported she had done the quiz and was Lady Mary.
Lady Mary?
Here's my answer:

"I HATE Lady Mary you can't possibly be like her.

She is wooden, shallow, arrogant and selfish."

 

Which has led to all sorts of discussions about all sorts of things.

 

Try the quiz for yourself here:

 

http://www.zimbio.com/quiz/WLF_ky-a_03/Downton+Abbey+Character

 

I'm the Dowager, by the way, and am quite OK with that.

 

 

 

Good morning PenguinChums,

The world feels a bit wobbly today doesn't it, what with The Crimea and the (still) missing Malaysian plane. Those poor passengers, and their poor relatives.

So what can one do on a gloomy Sunday but bake a cake, and this is  a real Corker:

Lemon Poppyseed Sponge

225g butter
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
225g castor sugar
4 eggs
100g ground almonds
100g self-raising flour (or normal flour with 2 tsp baking powder)
2 tablespoons poppy seeds.

Mix together and then bake in 2 sandwich tins until risen and golden.
Sandwich together with whipped cream and Lemon curd.