Miss Write – Blog

I’ve written a blog post today for Lorna Riley, and both she and I would love it if you stopped by and “had a butchers”. I’ve been talking to her about having two blogs (travel and writing/books related). 

Have a great weekend all!

Lou x

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Born To be A Tourist

I’ve been reading a lot of new blogs this week and have discovered a lot of new writers, inspiration and ideas. Thanks to Wedding and Wedding Flowers, I have discovered all sorts of weird and wonderful wedding traditions from British and Irish history. 

Did you know…?

The phrase ‘tying the knot’ comes from the ancient Celtic wedding ritual of handfasting, where the bride’s and groom’s hands were tied together.

Unnerving… Start as you mean to go on?!

An old wives’ tale states that if the younger of two sisters marries first, the older sister must dance barefoot at the wedding or risk never getting married herself. 

Not a problem in my family, I’m the eldest!

Early wedding cakes didn’t sound too tasty: flat, round, contained fruit and nuts to symbolise fertility and it was often crumbled over the bride’s head.

How horrible! Not my idea of confetti!

It was said to be bad luck of the bride fell when entering the marital home for the first time, which is why being carried over the threshold is such a tradition. It may also derive from the bygone custom of the bride being ‘stolen’ and carried off by her groom.

Love this one, but the chances of us having our own place when we’re married are quite slim at the moment!

In Ireland, a laying hen was, in the past, tied to the bed on the first night of the honeymoon in the hope that some of its fertility would be passed on to the couple. 

Noisy night, anyone?

Finally, and perhaps the strangest one of all, prior to a change in the law (2012), a wedding was only legal in the UK if it took place between 8am – 6pm. Apparently this was due to a concern that the groom wouldn’t be able to see his bride’s face clearly after dark and could therefore be duped into marrying a stranger. 

What about the bride being duped?! We’re being wed at 4pm, so we’re both safe on that score!

Aside from the last one, I think my fiancé and I will leave those traditions in history’s arms. Sure, we’ve got some traditional stuff planned (I’m a reluctant traditionalist!), but the little things we do in our ceremony are more symbolic than most of the above, and some just aren’t practical. There will be a hen do, a night apart before the big day, and during the ceremony we plan to do a rose exchange in between our two mums to symbolise the joining of the two families. Also, I couldn’t walk down the aisle without my dad!

Will you, or did you, include any of these traditions in your ceremony?

Lou x

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Black and white image courtesy of Cartoon Stock

DISCLAIMER: I am a book lover to the core. This is just a bit of fun!!!

How many times have you read a book you’d say is unputdownable? My laptop spellchecker doesn’t like that word, but you know as well as I do it’s a word! There’s even a book festival named ‘Unputdownable‘. Case closed. 

We’ve all got a claim on a book so good we spend all morning engrossed in it. I’ve missed offers of tea reading ‘Room‘ in one sitting, for example. 

This can be quite detrimental to one’s life, so I am here to help. Here’s how to put down that utterly unputdownable book. 

1. Read until you fall asleep on it. Your wrist will go limp and you’ll put the novel down. 

2. Get a dog (responsibly). Your hound will need enough attention to enable you to keep your nose out of that book. 

3. Start reading something not worth finishing. You’ll lose interest fast. Huffington Post has some suggestions for awful books.  

4. Set a timer to limit your time spent reading. And don’t ignore that alarm!

5. Decide you’re going to become a quitter. You can make up your own version to how the story ends. 

6. Put Post-It notes through the pages to limit you to a certain number of pages per read. A great tip for those who forget to (or can’t…!) count. 

Want to test out my methods? Real Simple has recommended 17 books you won’t be able to put down. Go on, prove them wrong!

Lou x

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A week ago today, the literary world lost one of its greats. 

Sue Townsend 
(2 April 1946 – 10 April 2014)

Sue Townsend was an English writer, best known for creating Adrian Mole, the character which first introduced me to the comic and poignant genius of this woman. 

Did you know, the diaries of tortured teenager Adrian Mole sold more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during its decade? The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ was a gift from my mum when I was an angst-ridden teenage with a secret diary of my own. Mum opened a door to the world of Sue Townsend, and I hope I can encourage you to begin reading her books too. 

You might be forgiven in thinking that Mrs T was all about just one spotty teenager, but you’d be wrong. Sue’s work includes novels, plays and works of journalism. Her warm and touching writing opened up the world of books for me beyond Roald Dahl when I was a young teenager, and I have been a fan ever since. 

It made me wonder though, how many more of her books can I still look forward to reading? A quick look on Wikipedia revealed Sue’s full fiction bibliography. Gotta love the internet!

Adrian Mole series
I’ve still got a few Mr Mole books to read, then – I had no idea! Whoop, whoop!

Other novels
Which books have you especially enjoyed by the late Sue Townsend? I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Have a look at the lovely obituary Sue’s publisher posted, then get into your favourite online/local bookstore and grab one of her books. You won’t regret it!

Enjoy the long weekend, 

Lou x

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This week on MISS WRITE I’m featuring the charity “Beanstalk”.

Beanstalk is a British organisation who says their visions is “a nation of confident children who can read and grow up to lead successful lives.”

I grew up with having a bedtime story every night – and if I’m honest, I’d still take one before bed if I could! Every child should have this opportunity, for family bonding as well as education and teaching them how fun books can be. I hope you enjoy hearing about their valuable work, and that it inspires you to give a little more (books, time, your skills – anything!) this week. 

———————

What’s your earliest memory of reading? Did you read by torchlight after your parents strictly put you to bed? Which author makes you think of your childhood? These are the memories every child deserves.

About Beanstalk

Beanstalk is a national charity that recruits and trains local people to volunteer to go into a local primary school to support children who are struggling with their reading. Beanstalk has been
working with schools for almost 40 years to help raise literacy standards. 

Why are we needed?

 • Almost one in eight children leaves primary school behind in their reading in England.

• Research has shown that literacy leads to low employment prospects, disengagement and is
closely linked with poverty, educational under-achievement, crime and long term unemployment.

Beanstalk helps by providing sustained one-to-one literacy support to children who are falling behind the expected reading level for their age. By sharing dedicated reading time with a trusted adult on a weekly basis, a child can build their confidence around literacy.

In Northamptonshire we are currently supporting over 100 primary schools and nearly 400 children across the county but we currently have more schools and children waiting for reading helpers than we do have volunteers.

What’s the impact of the service?

Children are selected for a variety of reasons:

 • They may have low confidence in reading

 • They may have English as a second or third language

 • Their reading may be below the expected national curriculum level

 • They may have insufficient reading opportunities (e.g. no books at home, no one to help encourage them to pick up a book).

• They may be a “Looked After Child” who needs a bit of extra guidance.

 Who are our “reading helpers”?

Our reading helpers come from all walks of life. They are independent, committed individuals with a genuine interest in helping children achieve. Reading helpers spend 30 minutes with each child twice a week, chatting, reading and playing games. They will have the chance to build up a great rapport with the children and tailor the sessions to their individual needs.

We provide training to our reading helpers before they start and further development training in areas such as dyslexia awareness and phonics. We ensure they have resources for their sessions which are suited to the children they’re helping by providing them with Beanstalk book boxes. 

 ‘ The children give me immense joy and pride in seeing children develop during the course of the school year is amazing. I enjoy their smiles, the fun, the stories and their humour’.

                        ~ one of Beanstalk’s existing reading helpers

How can you help? 

At Beanstalk we look for people with a passion for reading who can give their time to help inspire the next generation of readers.

If you can spare a couple of mornings or afternoons a week during school term time this could be the ideal opportunity for you.

————–

Beanstalk needs reading helpers – badly. However, not everyone has this time to give. Please do check out Beanstalk on Twitter and Facebook  though, and see where it takes you. If you don’t feel you can give any of your time, get in touch with Beanstalk anyway – there may be other ways you can help (e.g. donating money or books, or helping to spread the word about their excellent and worthwhile work).

Thanks Greg – it’s wonderful to hear about such great charity work involving books and literacy here in Northamptonshire. I am all for this! Also, as a bonus, I think my readers will be pleased I’m back to writing and book themed topics after a couple of weeks of environmental issues and… bacon! 

See you next week!

Lou x

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Born To be A Tourist

Two international events have inspired me to write this week. 

1. The new film “Noah” is being promoted all over the place. It’s THE biblical Hollywood tale of the year, apparently!

2. The unusual air pollution levels we’re experiencing here in the UK.

So what?

We’ve all heard of Noah. He was a man, fictional or not, who faced a huge challenge when the God warned him of an epic flood. Realising the bigger picture, Noah took some on a whole lot of work and made some tough decisions, leading the way to save his family and neighbours, not to mention the animals who came onto his arc “two-by-two”. 

Now, I treat Bible stories with a pinch of salt. I believe they are picture stories constructed to teach us life lessons. Noah’s story is of someone who was strong enough to take on a huge challenge and who ended up saving the ‘world’. (I say ‘world’ because I think the flood in question didn’t affect the whole world, but a localised area. It may have seemed like the whole planet to Noah’s folk though!)

And what about air pollution? Why is this on my mind (and on the news)?

Air pollution has been a hot topic in the UK this week. These unusual levels of pollution are much more than the normal home-grown pollution a country like ours creates on a daily basis, and the emissions we import via European winds. This situation has been exacerbated this week by Saharan winds blowing particularly strong and effectively dropping part of the African desert into our atmosphere. Many people (mainly those with allergies, asthma, and the elderly) have had their health affected, but even on the smallest level, Brits are noticing the impact. Cars are filthy with a layer of the dirt, and visibility has been reduced due to the dust in the air. Take a look at how hazy Northamptonshire looked yesterday afternoon. These fields are normally a green and pleasant vista, but are now fogged in air pollutants. It’s not the resolution of the photo – this really is smog. 

I find it a bit scary that this might be the future of our air quality…

Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental issues our planet is facing, and has been facing, since the introduction of industry, transport and development. And it isn’t only the UK which is having problems. Only 1% of China’s 560 million city residents breathe air that is considered safe by the European Union. And, this severe air pollution problem, which has led to cancer becoming China’s leading cause of death, is no longer affecting the Chinese people alone – it’s spreading globally. 

So what does the advent of a new blockbuster and increased air pollution have in common?

The story of Noah and his arc was a tale of foreseen disaster and preparing for the ‘hit’. Noah was successful in saving humans and wildlife from the threat of extreme flood waters through planning, the support of his family, their understanding of the issue, and faith in his mission. 

You’ve probably worked out my point already: The situation Noah found himself in can be applied to tackling environmental issues – case in point, air pollution. Clean air is getting harder and harder to find as the years go on, and WE KNOW something has to be done.  We know there’s a problem, but it seems we’re sitting by and letting it get worse.

Like many environmentalists and scientists, Noah had his skeptics, but eventually everyone saw what was coming and pulled together. Sure, in this instance, all they did was jump on an arc when the hard work had already been done, but the point is made. When we all accept there is a problem and a serious threat to our environment, we can make a difference and fend off disaster. 

Question: Have you given some thought on how you can reduce the amount of air pollution you’re creating?

I dearly hope that enough can be said and done in the next months and years to help the powers that be recognise finally that if we lose our planet, we lose everything.

Working together, like Noah and his family, we as mere inhabitants of this Earth can overcome the issues of air pollution. Technology is out there which can help. Campaign groups have huge support for combating the problem. Ideas are forthcoming from our great minds. There’s certainly enough evidence to say something should be done!

CAUTION! We can’t stop at solving air pollution. It’s no secret that we humans have been causing damage to the planet for years. 

The world’s population is 7.2 billion, many of whom are intent on living unsustainable lives. 
Humans caused this. 

An area of rainforest the size of England, Scotland and Wales combined is being lost every year.
Humans caused this. 

538 million tonnes of waste is dumped globally every year. 
Humans caused this. 

African elephants will become extinct in 10 years time. In fact, 1 in 4 mammals is at risk of extinction. 
Humans caused this. 

We have borrowed time on disappearing land as sea levels rise – a result of climate change. 
Humans caused this. 

It’s not easy to find out who originally said this, but it makes a brilliant point, one of my favourite quotes ever. 

Get the picture? We’re destroying our own home, one leap at a time. And this is just the start. Treehugger has more if you want more gut wrenching facts about how human activities are damaging the planet. 

Like the story of Noah, I believe not all hope is lost. I believe with hard work, some investment and education, and some serious political barriers being broken, we can leave this planet in a better state than how we found it.

If the metaphorical flood comes, it won’t be just the third world who suffers. It won’t be a problem for descendants we will never meet. It is real; it is now. 

We’re all in this together – just like the animals and humans on Noah’s arc. 

I hope you enjoyed this post. If it’s made you think, please share it on Twitter, Facebook or send someone an email with a link in it. Last week’s post on bacon was a little bit informal, but I couldn’t be more serious about the issue I’ve written about today. 

Lou x 

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Born To be A Tourist

And here’s the news. It’s bacon flavoured.

As Taco Bell launches it’s breakfast menu this week, the world seems to have jumped on the band wagon and joined them in vamping up the appreciation for piggy strips. Taco Bell’s menu may look less than enticing, but it seems the worlds has gone even more mad for bacon than ever before. I heard BBC Radio DJ Chris Evans talking about the way he makes a bacon sandwich on his breakfast show this week. You should have heard it – you might have thought he was a Michelin Star chef! Everyone seems to have their own ‘perfect’ bacon butty recipe, be it complicated or simple, and no one else’s will ever touch it. Good grief… It’s just a hot meat sandwich.

Maybe I’m a bit biased here, as I can’t eat bread, but I don’t feel that way about other sandwich fillings. It’s the bacon which gripes me. It ain’t THAT tasty!

The madness continues in the news this week: Yesterday, The Telegraph reported bacon being found on a community litter pick. Eat it, or don’t buy it. Don’t throw it into the sea, people! 

On Wednesday, Ritz biscuits announced they’ll be making bacon flavoured crackers – what a way to ruin a classic snack! Note: There’s no actual bacon in the new cracker, just the essence of bacon using seasoning. 

Also on Wednesday, it was announced that Texas Rangers fans will be able to enjoy ‘bacon on a stick’ as a game snack. Sounds… delightful.

A ‘friend’ (kidding with the quote marks!) of mine highlighted this ‘delicious’ bacon soap and said it would make a great wedding present… 

And some nutjob from Utah, USA even used bacon in an arson attack, it was reported yesterday.  

The news is just FULL of bacon this week!

So. Where am I going with this? My blog is not a news channel… 

“Mmmmm, bacon.” Sound familiar?

Honestly, the wonder of bacon is a mystery to me. Of course, I know where it comes from, and I can imagine how it’s pimped and packaged for the shelves in the shop, but the real mystery is why does everyone seem to rave about it so much? Someone I had dinner with a while back thought a bacon butty was a treat, an appropriate main course for ‘dining’ with a dinner guest who’d come from out of town… I’m not fussy, and definitely not a food snob, but it’s just bacon in a bap. Why do people become so enamored with bacon? There’s even a collective on Facebook who openly ‘heart’ the stuff.  

I disagree with all this excitement. Bacon is ugly. It’s salty and fatty. There’s a fine balance in the cooking between too crispy and too floppy. Bacon is not especially cheap or luxurious, and those white streaks in it make me feel a little ill.

Again, in the news this week, Bloomberg TV announced that bacon is cheaper in Canada than it is in the USA. I lived in Canada for a while, studying, working, including almost a year solid, and I wonder how much this cheaper variation of the sliced pork has influenced my opinion? I remember Canadian friends almost celebrating their bacon butties, but I could never understand the fascination.

The smell of it is what bacon-lovers (the general population) seem to salivate over the most. The pungent, unmistakable smell which comes from the grill pan or frying pan screams breakfast for many people, especially in the UK and the USA. It’s an ‘essential’ element to a Full English Breakfast, apparently. I always drop my bacon on my boyfriend’s plate – and pinch his mushrooms!

I’ll stick to muesli, I think. I don’t care if that’s boring. Bacon reminds me of stinking hangovers accompanied by the stink of bacon coming from my student kitchen from my Uni days. Ick! You know how smell can bring back vivid memories? Well, the aggressive smell really reminds me of vodka induced headaches and a queasy stomach.

I hear bacon has been the temptation of many a would-be vegetarian. It was the reason they were “turned”. Bacon is often a glorious gateway into eating meat again for a lot of veggies.  “I’m a Veggie + Bacon.” Hah! At least it’s not Veggie + Battery Chickens / Unsustainable Fish.

If you’re looking for trouble-making or day-ruining with bacon, I can find little more than a clever insult from someEEcards (love ‘em!). It’s a little lower key than bacon arson!

Check out Chow who’s introduced me to a new word: FLEXITARIAN! I’m all for a varied diet, but why BACON, of all things, to turn you from a life philosophy and choice… Personally, the “turning” would be more likely the other way. Bacon could easily turn me off meat, if that was all that was on offer. 

And what about those poor, poor people named after the streaky meat? 

Richard Bacon: He ruined Blue Peter for me!

Francis Bacon: Long dead and hardly my cup of tea (1626). 

Poor old Francis Bacon would probably agree with me on my crisped confusion over bacon. He famously died by contracting pneumonia while studying the effects of freezing on the preservation of meat. Was it bacon, by any chance?

Kevin Bacon: Eurgh – when the EE adverts appear on the TV, I turn over… Although kudos for the remake of the ‘Footloose‘ dance on ‘The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon‘ on Monday night – that was kind of awesome. Reluctantly… “Happy 30th Birthday, Footloose”.

For all you bacon freaks, I don’t apologise for this blog post. I would simply signpost you and your bacon cravings to Bacon Today, a daily bacon newspaper. Please, someone make the bacon and walnut cake – it sounds good, but I couldn’t handle a bacon cake! 

Bacon is mainly fat and protein, so I guess over the stages of human evolution we have had it playing a larger role in our diets. In times if healthier choices of eating and what seems like weekly food scares, maybe bacon could be something you could cut back on. Especially if you share a house with me. Think of how happy my nostrils would be!

In the meantime, I’ve found the perfect place to hang out.. You might find me escaping in a certain South Natick, Massachusetts library…

Until next time, 

Lou x 

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Born To be A Tourist

This is my book shelf. 

I love books and just wanted to share my shelves with you this week. It’s nothing special, a fiver off a car boot sale, but these shelves are special to me. 

You can see it’s not all books… I don’t have a lot of storage in my current place and my DVDs need somewhere to go!

I have many more books than this – my windowsill is also piling up with books I want to read in the future. My elephants are kept company by books I love. 

I try to keep the books I know I will read again, but sometimes my list of books I want to read (and therefore have a copy stored somewhere) is an even bigger pile!

The ornaments are treasures from my life. I collect elephant figurines, so there’s a few here. I also have gifts from my boyfriend, a hardy plant (can’t believe it’s still alive!), and one of my favourite photos of me. I really feel like these three shelves reflect who I am!

I will always have a book shelf. I tried out the phenomenon of the ebook last week, and I still prefer paperbacks. Even if my living quarters get too small one day for an actual bookcase, I’ll probably pile my books on top of the toilet or something – somewhere!!

What does your bookshelf look like?

Lou x

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Born To be A Tourist

Yesterday was St Patrick’s Day, the saints day for Ireland (in case you didn’t know – unlikely!). I fancied a new challenge in the kitchen… A rare occurrence, so I grabbed the enthusiastic emotions and baked them into a cake. 

Guinness and Chocolate cake, to be exact. 

“Yuck, Guinness,” you’re probably thinking. Well, you know I like my ‘odd’ cakes, so had a go. 

Needless to say (from the photo), this was not my greatest triumph in baking. I managed to only put half the chocolate in that the recipe required, quite by accident, honest – it’s not been eaten! The missing 50g is still in my kitchen cupboard… I don’t know if this made much of an impact on the structure of the cake, but it remained decidedly soggy when I checked on it in the tin this morning. Look how lopsided a single slice is after a couple of hours in my lunchbox this morning!

To make it a bit more chocolately, I cut the cake in half when it had cooled and dabbed chocolate frosting in the middle to make a sandwich. “That should help!” I thought, triumphantly. 

So, how does it taste? Pretty ‘meh’, if I am honest. I understand the idea – Guinness is supposed to have a slight chocolate taste to it when it’s served cold, so the brown good stuff and the black nasty stuff should mix quite nicely. However, the distinct lack of chocolate in my cake made the cake taste a bit too beer-y. Maybe it needed a bit more time in the oven too…

Never mind! I’m still enjoying my ‘zumba day’ piece of cake treat. Maybe a 50% reduction in chocolate will emphasise the booze in the mixture? Here’s hoping!

——-

Have I made you hungry? Well, short of popping into my office this lunch time, if you’re in the Manchester area and want to try a real, PROFESSIONAL job, I am sure Kate’s Cakes will be happy to oblige! 

See you Friday for a writing themed blog. I am still writing, just!

Lou x

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I’ve been tagged in a Blog Tour. This one’s about how the writer in question’s writing process works. Thanks to Sarah Grace Logan for tagging me!


QUESTION 1: What am I working on?

Well, this week it’s a mixture of my normal writing themed blogging and travel blogging, and my monthly column for MK Pulse magazine. There’s no novel happening… I have minute hopes that it will surface again… Writing blogs and articles are so much more fun!

QUESTION 2: How is my work different from others in its genre?

The blogs are personal, no question about that. They are accounts of my own writing, travelling and personal life experiences, which I hope my readers will enjoy. This makes my entries completely fresh and original. I write with a conversational kind of tone, so it’s an easy, friendly read, on a wide range of subjects and issues (e.g. baking, environment, but mainly on writing).

QUESTION 3: Why do I write what I do?

First of all, the content has to be of interest to me. I have tried writing about things I don’t have any passion for or interest in, and it just doesn’t work as well. I write to entertain (me, mainly, but also for the 3500 ish readers I get every week), and I write to help. I enjoy the posts which spread a good, productive, outward-reaching message too (e.g. last week’s post on International Womens’ Day). 

QUESTION 4: How does your writing process work?

I need the idea first. Sometimes it’s a photo which inspires me, another piece of writing, a charity or campaign, an especially bad/good experience, or sometimes it’s something I’ve come across that day while driving, walking etc.

Then I sit down and just bash out the words. I know that a blank page doesn’t work for most people, and brainstorming what I want to say in short bullet points brings the article or blog post together very quickly. It’s also very easy to structure in that way. My English teacher at school would be proud!

When the writing’s done, I edit, then I allow myself to indulge the ‘fun’ part. I love discovering great images to go with my writing – a photo, something I found online, or a fab infographic I’ve come across (my favourite).

So who’s up next?

Suzie Hunt – Read Suzie’s blog – Check out her *free* latest short story

Sarah Becker – Check out her blog, GET THE LOOK YOU WANT!

Di Castle – She’s writing a book inspired by deafness in her family – also has a blog…

Take a look at their blogs – I know they’ll appreciate it!

Lou x

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Image from Differentiation Station