The Year in Books

I am a book lover, always have been. My shelves are full of them - fiction, non fiction, reference books, guide books, history books. If I see a book I like the look of, then I buy it and put it on the bookshelf ready to read when the mood takes me. Like many things in life you have to be in the right frame of mind.  Sometimes I'll start a book or two (that's my trouble I'm impatient) only to find that other things get in the way and so I'll put it in my bedside drawer with the idea that I'll pick it up again soon. But do I? There are times when I simply can't get into a book. I'll read a couple of chapters and realise that this isn't the book for me. Other times I only have to read the first line and I know I'm going to love it. But, books can be expensive especially if you aren't actually reading them, plus there are only so many you can store.

So I've decided to make more use of my local library. There are three within a two mile radius of where I live, two of which are walkable (good for the exercise I keep telling myself I'm going to do more of). So today I'm going to take a look at what books take my fancy and I figure that if I bring several books home, there's got to be one that will have staying power!

With this in mind I'm excited to be joining in The Year in Books challenge which is organised by Laura at Circle of Pine Trees which you can find here. The idea is to choose a book at the beginning of the month and post about your choice and then maybe write a little about the last month's book. A great idea that will ensure that we make a space for reading in our busy lives and hopefully discovering more lovely books - either novels, poetry, non fiction, biography - whatever takes your fancy.

I read a lot of historical novels, I mean lots and I'm trying to wean myself of them gradually - not forever but want to read more of a variety.  Everyone has their own particular favourites. I recently joined a crime fiction book club which I'm afraid is just not for me. I don't mind a good old 'whodunnit' kind of novel but am not into serial killers with lots of blood and gore. Needless to say I won't be going back.

So - I'm a little late joining the group but this a book I've read during January - historical I know, but things are a changing!

Dissolution by C.J.Sansom is set in 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry Vlll has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers it has ever seen. Under the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: Dissolution.

Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell into this atmosphere of treachery and death. Shardlake's investigation soon forces him to question everything he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes.......

A good 'whodunnit' novel where the sights, voices and the very smell of this turbulent age seem to rise from the page.

I've yet to choose my book for February but will be back - with what, I'm not sure?

See you soon

x

Our weekend

I've recently enrolled at a local watercolour class, so off I went on Friday afternoon with my half finished painting under my arm to join my colleagues for a fulfilling couple of hours painting, losing myself in the total relaxation that art brings me.

Then it was off for the food shopping - ingredients for a dessert I was making for Saturday evening - more about that later.

Saturday morning saw us over at the stables where we took our grand daughter A for her weekly horse-riding lessons.

Beautiful day but muddy wasn't the word - it was horrendous as we walked through the woods in our wellies following the group of riders. Back to our son's house for a lunch - Italian flatbread sandwiches and steaming cups of tea. We then went back home to start preparing the dessert for the Burn's night dinner we were going to at our friends' house that evening. We often have 'theme' evenings with these friends and enjoy pulling it together with typical music, clothes, food and props to complete the said theme.

Our starter was Scottish smoked salmon

Followed by Haggis, Neeps and Tatties with an Angus steak

which was sooooo tasty

Dessert was my contribution - Scottish Cranachan 

made with sweet raspberries folded into cream

flavoured with honey and whiskey and 

layered with  toasted almonds and oatmeal

It was delicious I have to say

Sunday - well what can I say - it rained from morning through 'till evening and in any case it was nice just to have a lazy, put-your-feet-up kind of afternoon in the knowledge that the evening's viewing in front of the fire -  Countryfile, Call the Midwife and Mr Selfridge would finish the day of very nicely.

How was your weekend?

I'd just like to say thank you all so much for your lovely comments on  my recent posts - all very much appreciated.

See you soon x

Spontaneous end to a lovely day

Sunday was such a gorgeous day that we took ourselves off to Kent to visit the place where John was born - Erith. We visited his father's old shop, the school, Sunday school and a plethora of memorable places. It was good for him to re-live his childhood and we both enjoyed it. Now many of you will know that I just love the work of Charles Dickens and have a fair collection of his books. One of my favourites is Great Expectations. With this in mind and as we weren't too far away we made our way to the tiny village of Cooling in the midst of the beautiful Kent countryside

                             

passing on our way many of the lovely old Oast Houses or Hop kilns with their distinctive cowls - designed for drying the hops as part of the process of brewing beer.

I particularly wanted to visit the medieval Church of St James 

Charles Dickens loved to walk here from his home at nearby Higham

Dickens used the churchyard of St James as his inspiration in the opening chapter of Great Expectations where the hero Pip meets the escaped convict, Magwitch. This site on the Hoo Peninsula is dramatically bleak in winter, recalling the opening scenes of the book.

It is here that we find what has come to be known as "Pip's Graves" the forlorn gravestones of thirteen children aged between 1-18 months old - that Dickens describes in the chapter as ...five little stone lozenges each about a foot and a half long which were arranged in a neat row.....and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine..." 

These graves belong to the children of just two families who died in the late18th century. Dickens reduced the number in the book to five to make it more believable.

These two sets of medieval benches at the rear of the church, complete with woodworm were probably installed in the 14th century

Loving the sun through these windows

As we entered the churchyard I spotted what I though were flowers on a tree stump but soon discovered it was fungi and oh so pretty.

Just along the lane stands Cooling Castle - which was a bonus as I didn't know this existed. Built in the 1380s the main part of the castle is in ruins with a private house inside and where the barn is licensed to hold marriage ceremonies.

A lovely spontaneous trip to a place I'd longed to go to one day.

Just out of interest, we drove a mile or two towards the coastline of the Thames Estuary and I was amazed to see (through the zoom lens on my camera )- that we were in fact exactly opposite Leigh on Sea where my son and his family now live. Probably as the crow flies about 3-4 miles across the river but because we had to travel to the QE2 bridge and then come back on ourselves a trip of 37 miles.

Have a great week

xx

De-cluttering and decisions

What a beautiful day today - cold but sunny here in Essex. Had a completely free day today and managed to get up to all sorts of malarkies - mainly of the de-cluttering kind. Well, I've actually been aiming to throw away, recycle, gift or donate something every day - just a little something, an empty lipstick here or a used notebook there and the feeling I'm getting is remarkable. So today was no different except that I ventured into honing in on some wardrobes, cupboards and drawers - I can't believe just how much I managed to clear out and have two bin liners to go to the charity shop tomorrow.

The kitchen is next - ugh (tomorrow) - especially under the sink. Am I the only person who has just about everything stuffed under the sink? There's only me and him indoors at home now but I astound myself at just how much of a muddle it can get into. The trouble is it's a corner cupboard which has a separate partition for all my cleaning stuff which is fine. But I tend to push stuff into the corner part that I don't use often - however because they never see the light of day then the items concerned NEVER get used. Now,  the question is do I throw them out with the idea that if I haven't used them for x amount of months/years I never will (but might regret it later) - or do I keep them and put them somewhere else? Which would mean of course that they would not fit in the new cupboard and therefore something else would have to take their place under the sink and not get used!  Decisions, decisions. I've decided that it doesn't matter how large or small my cupboard space is - I WILL FILL IT !

So - after exhausting myself with such dilemmas I decided that it was THAT time of day to put the kettle on, so armed with some of the fabulous Christmas pressie books  I received, I put my feet up in front of the fire, poured the tea and indulged in some spontaneous me-time. More decisions - these books were much wanted but as yet I haven't given some of them the benefit of any quality reading time.

In the end I chose the lovely hand-written book by Susan Branch  "A Fine Romance" where she journals her long-awaited trip to England - a fabulous book which I haven't been able to put down and which ticks all the boxes on a chilly afternoon.

Mmmmm - a piece of cake would have gone down well - still there's always tomorrow - after the kitchen cupboards of course !

Bye for now

Tiptree

The weather has been so up and down of late that when last Thursday the sun shone and the sky was blue, Emma and I took ourselves out with Leo in tow to the small town of Tiptree, a half hour's drive away, which gives it name to the products exported around the world, by the famous Wilkin & Sons Ltd, purveyors of jam, marmalade and lemon curd, to name but a few of their wonderful products.

We found the factory on the outskirts of town and entered the grounds of the Visitor Centre through huge black wrought  iron gates which led us to the Tiptree Tea Rooms and Jam Museum next door to the famous factory.

Although the Wilkin family had farmed the Essex lands for centuries it was during the mid Victorian times that they began growing fruit. In 1885 Arthur Wilkin (above with his wife) joined forces with two friends and started the Britannia Fruit Preserving Company. In 1905 the company was renamed Wilkin & Sons due to the fact that there were many companies trading under the name Britannia.


The museum had many artefacts from days gone by and gave the visitor an insight into the history of jam-making. Sorry but some of these photos are a bit blurred as only had my phone with me.

Arthur insisted that the Jams were made with no colour, glucose or preservatives which gave rise to the high quality of jam and preserves produced and enjoyed today.

The family has held a Royal warrant continuously since 1911, first awarded by King George V. HRH The Queen awarded a Royal warrant of appointment in 1954  shortly after her Coronation.  

Afternoon tea was perfect - a pot of Earl Grey, home made scones and of course a choice of preserve. Leo was able to pick himself a huge cupcake and bottle of fizzy drink which helped stave off the boredom that he was now showing signs of!!

The shop was very, very tempting but I managed to avoid most things except this - when in Rome and all that!

Have a great weekend and see you soon

xx

Jar of Reflections

Just wanted to let you know that I was overwhelmed with your kind responses to my turning the corner so to speak and becoming my own woman, the new not-so-crafty me. It was quite obvious that I'm not the only person who has got caught up with the roller coaster of finding/doing new crafts.

That being so - and I promise I'm NOT going back on my word (oh no here we go again I hear you say) BUT I have seen a lovely idea on a few blogs recently and was reminded of it yesterday when I popped over to  Amy at Love made my home, and that is making a note each time something lovely happened to you and then and popping it into a jar.  As I'd rather like to celebrate next Thanksgiving Day in my own home, here in the UK, thought it would be a great way of remembering at the end of the year all the little things in life such as Random Acts of Kindness, Gratitude and of course Thankfulness. I guess too that if you're feeling a little down in the dumps one day, what better than to get the jar down off the shelf and have a sift through - fantastic way of lifting the spirits maybe. I shall call mine "Reflections".

The other thing that people seem to be doing is thinking of a special word for the year. Instead of making resolutions of things that may or may not achieve, think about a word that you can live by. I thought about this a lot and decided yes this could work. I do not like resolutions - never keep them and very often if I've not written them down - forget them! So, I came up with the word ** SPONTANEITY **

noun: inspiration - improvisation, inclination, whim, ad-libbing, impulse, tendency 

and will

Apparently this might mean "bursting into song on the street, or throwing down your rake and jumping in a pile of leaves". Well of course that wouldn't be me, but it also means trusting your instincts, making better decisions and saying what you think as well as having fun along the way.

So - my Reflections Jar is twofold now - whenever I do something spontaneous I shall add that to the jar too - if I remember of course!!

New Year, New Look and....

......New me??

I've been looking back on my last two years of blogging (it's my blog birthday today) I did write several posts some months before on another blog which I transferred to this one.  It took a while for me to be 'found' by other bloggers and didn't think I had the wherewithal or the confidence to carry on. So it was January that it all kicked off so to speak. Anyway I digress. What I've realised is that in the early days I was so awe inspired with the loveliness of other bloggers' wonderful crafting projects that I leapt straight in at the deep end and tried to emulate them. You know me I cannot resist a glossy magazine with all those wonderful makes on the front and found plenty of ideas.

Bearing in mind that I've never really crafted in my life - in actual fact I really didn't enjoy it - I found myself quietly in the background crocheting granny squares (which quite often ended up in some very odd shapes indeed) although I did make a rather nice pram blanket for my newest grand daughter even though I do say so myself; quilting (didn't really get on with this at all), paper crafts and all manner of things. I was actually kitting myself out (at some expense I may add) with all the paraphernalia that goes with said crafts - quilting tools, cutting mats, jelly rolls, crochet hooks, yarn (although back in the day we called it wool and now I'm really showing my age). Then there was the fabric (material) for making bunting  and various knick knacks and of course the card and paper for the paper crafting, not forgetting the variety of embellishments needed to complete the cards,  decorations etc.

It didn't stop there!  OH NO - I was then on a mission to search out vintage (old) bone china tea sets and pieces of furniture to "do up" from the thrift (junk) shops and charity shops and looking out for books and bargains that I'd seen others doing. I mean just how many tea sets can a girl keep in her already jam packed, bulging cupboards?  I was on a roll. What was I doing?

Not any more though! I've decided to be just me. What you see is what you get. Don't get me wrong I LOVE seeing others' makes and am very envious of their patience and the hard work they put into their projects.  Quite frankly I did quite enjoy doing some of the things I made. BUT enough is enough. Apart from getting stressed out with all the crafting I was wasn't actually doing very well, I simply didn't have room to put my stash anywhere, let alone those magazines. John would see me looking at them in the supermarket and groan "what are you making now?" he'd say.

So, when I say its a new me - that's what I mean. I'm just going to stick to what I know best and continue with my love of photography, a bit of sketching, a bit of baking and maybe a couple of other things I have up my sleeve.

I'll leave you with a breath of Spring - these beautiful Hyacinths were given to me ten days ago and were just an inch high. I've had to tie them up with string now as they keep falling over!

See you all again soon  and have a great weekend 

xx