Silent Sunday.

Rosedale, North Yorkshire Moors.

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Books- September 2019

Still reading a lot, escaping and waiting….

Some were really good, some not so.

Susan Hill- From the Heart- Susan Hill is one of my favourite authors so when I spot one of hers I read it. I’ll be honest I was a bit disappointed by this one. Nothing wrong with it, don’t get me wrong, nicely written and plotted as usual, but covering well worn and hence predictable themes. 1950s/60s, young girl, college, pregnancy, life chances spoiled, then new older partner which progresses to the conclusion I expected.

Robert Edric- Sanctuary– A fictional account of Branwell Bronte’s  final years . It was ok. Nothing new was said, I don’t feel it helped me get a better understanding of his life at all. If you are Bronte fan and want to read everything about this remarkable family, then it is quite readable , just disappointing.

Louise Voss- The Last Stage-  An average psychological thriller- a bit of a clunky plot, but fairly ok, no real surprises. I read too much though for many surprises.

Lisa Jewel- The Family Upstairs- Top notch thriller. What happens when your parents take in an unpaying guest and her boyfriend. Who are they? Published this year, read it.

Tracy Chevalier- A Single Thread- Just published, I was lucky enough to be the first borrower, and have the pleasure of reading a brand new book. Set in the 1930s Violet Speedwell moves to Winchester. Her fiancee was killed during WW1, and she and her mother were not rubbing along well. Violet takes a job in an insurance company and is gradually drawn to the cathedral  where she becomes involved with the group of broiderers stitching kneelers and the cities bell ringers. The book reminded me of Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women.  It was a nice enough read, but it seems no book I pick up misses the chance to bring in forbidden love affairs, and why do characters all shrug on their coats instead of putting them on like normal folk.

Jodi Picoult- The Pact- Excellent read. A teenage suicide pact which goes wrong. I don’t want to say more than this for fear of spoiling it. Only draw back- several instances of coats being shrugged!

Ruth Hogan- Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel- I adored this book, just sublime. I’m not going to say anything else because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.

A.J.Finn- The Woman in the window- A house bound lady witnesses a murder in the house opposite. It was a jolly good thriller, not saying much again because I don’t want to spoil the twists- some of which I saw and some I didn’t.

Have you read any of these, if so what were your thoughts? Have you read anything good this month?

Love your comments.

Knitting in progress.

Thought I might share my current knitting, rather than wait for the TahDah moment. It’s only the front so far, but I am very pleased with the cables and I only had to frog it once.

The back and sleeves are just stocking stitch so progress might be swift.  Jumper for Master T. I was rather pleased as it is a new King cole party time pattern and it goes up to 30 inches chest, which Master T now needs. Why oh why are there so few patterns for this age group and boys?

I received a knitting yarn catalogue in the post, and there was not one pattern for a boy, and no pictures of boys, other than babies.

Another lovely September day here, maybe I shall go for a walk and enjoy the fresh air.

Love to know what project you are working on today.

Be Happy,

Cathyx

Scrap Happy September- 2019

Back in the Spring I happened upon a new stitching project run by Helen Birmigham of Untangled Threads. I joined the Stitchbook Collective and started work on the starter pack. My first love is embroidery, but it has taken a back seat for the last twelve years as grandchildren arrived and I started knitting, crochet and sewing for them. This blog moslty covers the things I make for them.

A few years ago I started a new blog for embroidery but it too went on the back burner. I have deleted all ( half dozen) posts and started it all over so I can write about my current embroidery journey.

I worked on the Untangled Threads starter pack, and if by any chance you are interested here is the link to my blog A voice through stitch ,  where you can see what I did!

The pack had lots of materials and there fabric scraps left over, so I made myself a little needle book.

Front cover,

Back cover

And the inside. The inside is wadding from my quilt, and the centre is stitched down and then I couched a random piece of wool left over I think from Monkey’s face that was just sat on my table.

I have since started on the Texture pack for the stitchbook collective, and I am loving every stitch and every minutes I spend on it. There may well be scraps leftover but we have already been told to hang onto them for future projects, not to fret though as I have lots of other scraps for future Scrap Happy Projects. Please do pop over to Kate’s for more ScrapHappy posts here

 

 

A Beautiful Butterfly.

My sons loved the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The caterpillar eats an array of highly odd foods for a caterpillar before becoming a chrysalis and then a Beautiful Butterfly.  A few years ago now I bought a quilt panel of the Hungry Caterpillar, and thanks to my quilting lessons I have now finally made a quilt for Toddler J as he progresses to his first size proper bed.

I sourced fabric for the back and some green for the binding.

Blood , sweat and a few bad words were heard, but the corners are mitred and I did manage the join ALL BY MYSELF. I’m just not giving you a close up!

Quilting was kept simple, the two box shapes and the butterfly and caterpillar.

I feel incredibly proud of myself!

September Windows- 2019

This month’s window comes from St Mary’s Church in Fairford.

My Mother’s family hailed from these parts several generations ago. I can imagine that this window may have scared them a little,

The glass is old and somehow escaped the distruction of many windows in the reformation.

Now that window doesn’t look scary , but it is, the devil being in the detail, in the bottom right hand corner.

It’s called a doom window! More information on these windows can be found here

Linking with Wild Daffodil for the photo challenge