Lumo

APA is the American Psychological Association, their publication manual sets out the guidelines for the correct formatting of text for publications in journals and books. The use of this manual has now spread from just US and psychological based publications to cover many more general science publications and even some UK universities recognise it as the correct formatting for the submission of written work. Some of the rules are useful and it keeps text consistent, but the rules now seem endless and some of them are ridiculously complicated for such a little detail. I normally just follow the basic ones then do what looks/reads like the best option ;-)

I've learned: Use numerals for all numbers that represent time; dates; ages; (APA, p. 124) but spell out numbers for approximate days, months, years. So: "It took 18 days" and "it will take about eighteen days" are both correct. Added to the list of different times when it is correct to spell the number rather than use the numeral - really can't one just decide what looks best rather than all these rules?

Twenty past one in the morning on New Year's Day Raven Black by Ann Cleeves

I nearly always find it cheaper to cook from scratch. Especially mead based dishes, I generally cook maybe three helpings worth, one goes in the freezer, one in the fridge for a couple of days time and one goes on the dinner table straight away. I used to make my own bread too, buying good quality flour (which, much to my surprise did taste better than the cheap stuff) meant I didn't save a vast amount of money per loaf, last time I worked it out it would have been less than 70p, but all prices have risen since then. As for pizza's - I gave up on them, not for the cost but for the time they take, if I want to spend that long cooking (and often I do) then there are many other things I would prefer, but that is just because I am not particularly keen on pizza.

I read this recently and have mixed thoughts on it. I liked the first third or so of it, however I then thought it rambled on excessively in parts, but came together again as it neared the end. I don't regret reading it but would be hesitant about recommending it to someone :-)