One Person's Crap Is Another Person's . . . .

The beauty of a summer fair is the recycling - one person's junk becomes another person's luxury while we, the PTA, make a benefit. Madeleine takes full advantage of her freedom and £10 to buy three stuffed animals including a giraffe about as big as her, a "buddy back-pack" (self-explanatory), a miniature bowling set, a marbles game (most marbles lost by dad on the way home), a poster of the human body and, with Eitan, a fooz ball table. I tell them not to get too comfortable with this last item because "I am taking it straight to the dump" which nets horror from the Shakepeares. We also purchase some plants from the plant stall and I buy, like, ten classics from the book stand for 10p each. Bargain. This includes "Roots" by Alex Hailey, something by Stephen King, "Bonfire of the Vanities" (just to read the first, most awesome, first chapter), "Robinson Crusoe" (why not?"), Chinua Achebe's classic "Things Fall Apart" (to send to Tim) and something on Patagonia (to send to Sloan). I also buy a tombe en francais which, like the others, will probably stay at my bedside until I get bored (or finish O'Brien's The Master & Commander series, which has absorbed much of my free time since 2001 - thank you, Eric). The only downside is the news I must break to Eitan that another of his ManU heros leaving - this time Carlos Tevez (he cried bitter tears about Ronaldo). But, on average, everybody ahead.