Most of last week looked like this for me. Actually, it was usually dark when I marked, except for Thursday and Saturday. I marked three essays in the evenings and as many as I could on my days at home so that I could finish by Saturday night. Needless to say, I slept in on Sunday - yay for children who are growing up!

Jossie took this photo of me marking while she worked hard on the other side of the table.

Now that she cooks, you see, she needs to go through my cookbooks and fill them with post-its marked with the letter J. We're going to be eating a lot of pasta, cake and biscuits by the looks of things.

During the school holidays there is no Kids' Church (Sunday School) which is a mixed blessing. Good because I get a break from teaching at Kids' Church, not so good because Bethany and Toby find each other distracting in the extreme and I would really love to send them out to class. I gave them my camera and they took some really classic (read fuzzy and unflattering) shots and this one that I rather like.

I made this cake to celebrate the return to the library of my great friend Chrissie. It has no refined sugar or gluten.

I balanced this out by making a Malakoff Torte for Kristy's birthday. All that cream must make it good for staving off osteoporosis.....

What I am eating: Rogan Josh for dinner, zucchini and roast veg slice for lunch and NQN's raw porridge for breakfast. The porridge is a little crunchy when you first make it but if left overnight, the oats soften and it is delicious.

What I am watching: Having finished the first four series of Spooks (how I love it!), the only series the library owns so far, we have had to move on. Now we're watching the three series of QI that Andrew bought me for Christmas.

What I am reading: I have just finished Colm Toibin's Brooklyn (I can't work out how to put the Irish accents on his name). I liked the ending but found the rest a little lacking. I didn't feel like I got to know the main character very well and, therefore, wasn't very attached to her. Now I have moved on to one of the RRL Book Club books as I am planning to have read them all (there are 94) by the end of the year. I have read more than half already. I am reading Ian Rankin's Exit Music which is not at all my usual thing. I like Edinburgh so I am giving it a good go but, on the whole, I prefer to watch crime (imagined of course) rather than read it.