I can’t believe it’s May already – perhaps something to do with the snow and hail we’ve had lately.

WHAT I READ IN APRIL

I’ve been less motivated this month so it hasn’t been a lot:

• Ramona the Brave (Ramona Quimby #3) – Beverly Cleary
• Ramona and Her Father (Ramona Quimby #4) – Beverly Cleary
• Time Train to the Blitz – Sophie McKenzie (audiobook)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry
• The Treasure Hunters – reviewed here
• The Mystery of the Phantom Lights (Adventure Island #14) – Helen Moss, recommended here.
• My Not So Perfect Life – Sophie Kinsella

Most of what we’ve read to the baby is the same as last month (they say that repeated stories will be remembered after birth) with the exception of:

• Wanted, Ralphy Rabbit – Emily MacKenzie

And I do have a few things on the go currently as well:

• The Book of Fours (Buffy TV tie in) – Nancy Holder
• Hey, Seymour! – Walter Wick
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Other Stories – Roald Dahl (audiobook)

I am reading the whole cannon of Buffy books in order this time and am rather slogging through this one as I remember not really liking it the first time. The Harry Potter is my bed-time listening every night and the Roald Dahl I have been listening to while decorating the bathroom.

I’ve just borrowed a pile of books from the library as well, so at the very top of my very large to-read list are:

• Why Is This Night Different From all Other Nights? (All the Wrong Questions #4) – Lemony Snicket
• A Death in the Dales – (Kate Shackleton #7) – Frances Brody
• Death at the Seaside – (Kate Shackleton #8) – Frances Brody
• Blotto, Twinks and the dead Dowager Duchess – (Blotto & Twinks #2) – Simon Brett

I had better get reading then as that brings me up to 14 books on my card. (Mere mortals are restricted to ten but as a staff member I can have thirty!)

WHAT I’VE WATCHED

• One Born Every Minute is back and despite the number of people who have asked if it is wise, I’ve been watching.
• Hollyoaks of course.
• Masterchef – did you know that Greg and John aren’t friends in the real world? (Though John has backtracked on his comments a bit since!)
• Robot Wars which isn’t the same without Craig Charles
• Which leads me to Red Dwarf – we’re now on the later series which aren’t quite as good.
• The new series of Taskmaster has started, with new participants. Some of the attempts they made are hilarious and it’s so fun trying to second-guess the participants to come up with the best technique for whatever they’re trying to do.
• Matilda was trending on Netflix and was perfect for a Sunday evening after having been hard at work painting

WHAT I’VE DONE IN APRIL

• A lot of stripping paint in the bathroom. We had hoped to just chuck a fresh coat of paint on the wooden panelling but when we sanded it to give some grip a lot of the paint just chipped off… clearly the previous owners didn’t sand the very shiny (pale avocado!) paint before they painted! So we have been covering it with paint-remover and scraping it off for a few weeks now.
• Framed some Noddy pictures for the nursery. I have yet to paint the frames though – one each in red, yellow and blue.
• Repainted the walls of the nursery
• Celebrated Easter with cakes and pin the tail on the rabbit at my Aunt’s house on Easter Sunday

WHAT STEF HAS READ

• Five Go On a Strategy Away Day – Bruno Vincent, reviewed here
• Diamonds and Daggers (Marsh Road Mysteries #1) – Elen Caldecott, reviewed here
• Five Go Parenting – Bruno Vincent, reviewed here

  And her current reads:

• Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body – Sara Pascoe
• Everything, Everything – Nicola Yoon
• Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway – Susan Jeffers

WHAT STEF HAS WATCHED

• One Born Every Minute – Fiona’s encouraged me to watch this for the last couple of years as its one of her favourites and it was ‘good’ story research. She’s still watching as you know, and so am I. I am so glad I’m not the one having a baby.
• Death in Paradise –  I have just finished re-watching the most recent series on DVD I had reverted to older ones, enjoying the transition of characters.

I haven’t been watching much telly recently, been busy and running around.

WHAT STEF HAS DONE

• Helping to organise Dad’s birthday – My father turned 60 last month, so organising his birthday party, baking and tidying have all been essential.
• Golf –  I’ve come to an agreement with my other half. I’ll try his hobby of golf as long as I don’t have to go fishing. So we’ve done mini golf, crazy golf and the driving range. I think I’ve been a very dedicated girlfriend if you ask me.
• Picnic –  When we had that lovely weather at the beginning of the month, me and my other half took a picnic down to Bourne End, Blyton style. I did get a little burnt, but you know, it was worth it.