Lazy Sunday morning catch up on My Chestnut Reading Tree

Morning! And Happy Mothers Day to all the mums here in the UK! I’m spending the morning in my perfect location of my lovely cosy bed with a nice hot cup of tea while hubby makes some breakfast.

I’ve got no kids here for a change so I’m enjoying having a much needed lie in (even though the clocks have gone forward!). It’s been ages since I did a catch up but so much has happened recently I thought I’d better bring you all up to date. So if you’re here for a book review I don’t mind if you stop reading now!!

Work is still keeping me busy so my reading time is greatly reduced! But I absolutely love my job!! Every day I come home tired but happy as I feel I’ve found my niche in the workplace. I still have my gorgeous grandchildren sometimes as well, especially during the school holidays, so as I break up for Easter this coming Friday I’m hoping to get a bit of reading done inbetween nana duties!

This week I’ve had some fabulous bookpost (excuse fingermarks on mirror where DGD #1 decided to check if it really was lipstick 🙄) and some netgalley downloads that I couldn’t resist even though my optician has once again told me to not read in my kindle as much. Pics below!

Yesterday I went to the 5th TBC meet-up in Leeds and managed to get there without any problems this year after the disappointment of missing last years! I managed a quick trip to Waterstones first for a lovely cup of earl grey tea and, of course, I couldn’t leave without making a small purchase now, could I?!

The afternoon was great fun and the gin cocktails some of the best I’ve ever had! I had an amazing time meeting old friends and making new ones. I hadn’t seen my little “Choufleur” Claire Knight since Harrogate last year and so much has happened in her life since (including getting a fringe which I think looks AMAZING!!) that it was wonderful to give her the biggest of hugs again alongside my Harrogate partner in crime Sarah Hardy. I also caught up with my favourite author Louise Beech (and her buns) plus I met John Marrs!!! Coincidentally I had started his book on the train journey over to Leeds so was able to get him to sign my black edged proof of The Passengers (more about that later on!!)

If my journey to Leeds was a brilliant one, then the one home had to be full of drama didn’t it? It started with a delayed train at Leeds station and me having to call security because of a couple having a domestic on my platform. The Grumpy Scotsman told me off when I got home but he knows what I am like and I’m not one to stand back when I see something I’m concerned about!! A bloke had his little boy in his arms and was shouting at his partner then move away to sit down. Whenever she moved towards them, he grabbed the child again and walked off to a different seat. I watched them for a bit but when he spat in her face I decided I’d seen enough. I approached a member of staff who also said he’d been watching but wasn’t allowed to leave his post so could I go to Customer Services and ask them to call security. I did but he said “oh it’s just a domestic”!!! I’m probably very naive but I still think when there is a child involved that’s a serious matter!! So I went to the police who were there to keep the football crowds peaceful and told them. By this time the man was once again by the tracks with the child in his arms telling his girlfriend to “F*** Off!!” and moving away every time she went near them. The police approached her and asked if she needed help and she said no but they watched from a distance till they got on the train. So I did what I could but I worried about them all the way home…and I will still always intervene if I see something I’m not happy about even though it seemed like I was the only one to think it was unacceptable behaviour in a public place with a small child. My safeguarding training makes me hyper vigilant I think!

Once on the train my journey didn’t improve. After seeing that I wouldn’t now make my connection, I looked for another train but it became clear that most trains back home from Manchester had been cancelled!! So thankfully after a mad dash across the station and waving manically at the guard about to close the doors, I made my connection with a second to spare….UNFORTUNATELY!!!! Because now my evening went from bad to “OMG why me!?!?!” when I had to share a carriage with “Ian’s Stag Do”. Now Ian seemed like a lovely bloke. He’s getting married next week in Vegas but none of his mates are going as they can’t afford it. I found all this out within the first 10 seconds as they decided that I seemed a lovely friendly lady and they really wanted to know all about the book I was trying to read (hide behind). Conversation as follows…

Them “So you decide who dies?”

Me “No the people in the book do”

Them “Who do you want to die?”

Me “No one yet”

Them “Do you like reading? Isn’t it boring?”

Me “No”

Them “Can we read the last page to see who dies?”

Me “No!!”

Them “Can you read it and tell us who dies?”

Me “No!!!!!”

At which point one of them decided to make a grab for my book and spilt a can of beer over it!!!! My John Marrs book!!! That I had just had signed at the TBC meet up!!! They were very apologetic and I was like “It’s fiiiiiiiiine!!!” but inside I was crying and listening to that little voice in my head that told me “I told you never to read your signed books!!!”

So thankfully I had some battery left on my phone which meant I could call The Grumpy Scotsman to pick me up from a different station and I escaped a stop earlier. I do hope Ian has a fantastic wedding day though! But it looks like my love/hate relationship with the train continues so I’m going to have to drive everywhere in the future-watch out people of Harrogate in July!!!

Anyway that was my week! Today I’m cooking Sunday lunch for the three young Mothers in my life as my own mum/stepmom/mother-in-law live too far away to visit. So for all you mothers out there….RELAX!!! You are doing a fabulous job especially as the one book we have never been able to read is “How to cope with everything life throws at you when you’re a parent”! That parenting manual unfortunately doesn’t exist and even if it did, it would be too big to fit on your bookshelf lol. And I’m thinking about my friends who no longer have their mums with them this year, an extra special big hug for you my lovely’s.

Happy reading!

Jo xx