Books November 23

And a garden update.

Only three books read this month. I started to go to a group playing cribbage in October and felt I needed practice, fortunately you can play cribbage with your computer. I have progressed from easy games to standard games which is a good thing, but it has eaten into reading time. Plus there has been some gadding about!

Here are the three books I read and mostly enjoyed a great deal:-

Alice McDermott- The Ninth Hour- this one came recommended by Tialys as an excellent book describing convent life. It didn’t disappoint. Set in the early 20th century Brooklyn it tells of kind godly Nuns who day in day out nurse those in need, support those who require help and aren’t afraid to bend the rules and turn the other way and do the right thing. Sally goes to the convent every day with her Mum who works in the laundry, and is beloved by the Nuns. But the shadow of her father’s suicide looms over her. A lovely novel, made a change from the misery of the Magdalene laundries.

Christabel Kent- The Crooked House- another terrific thriller from this author-a past tragedy, a new identity, a bridezilla, a derelict house, odd villagers..what more could be needed?

Elizabeth Strout- My Name is Lucy Barton- well I enjoyed it more than I did Olive Kitteridge, which isn’t saying much. Essentially the plot concerns Lucy’s poor relationship with her family and the reasons for it. To quote ” a story about love.. a man tortured…for things he did in the war…A wife who stayed with him..because wives in her generation did….visits her daughter in hospital and talks about everyone’s marriage gone bad”. Has it changed my life..No. Did you like it, what did I miss?

And there they are.

For those wondering about the garden and how it’s going. The answer is very well indeed. I have made so many mugs of tea and provided biscuits galore just to keep the chaps well fueled. The rose arch duly arrived and has been constructed. It’s placement decided, next jobsare to fix everything in place. Meantime I had a discussion about the feasibilty of a water butt attached to the downpipe by the side of the house. It was feasible and that has now been sourced, delivered and installed. Quite looking forward to some rain, but not yet.

Unraveled Wednesday

The weeks have flown past for me this month, by the time I realise Wednesday has been and gone it’s too late to post a knitting update. So I am making a big effort today. Now I may not yet have finished the back of my sleeveless jumper but knitting has occured.

I dug out a project I started in 2018 and finally managed to complete some Christmas bunting.

It’s very curly so its being straightened out now, but here’s a better look

Each design is knitted in both colourways, red on white, white on red.

Next I picked up

This kit from the Big Knit. I delivered

Mr Rabbit back to the group on Saturday. The yarn was a total swine to knit with. You know when you are in trouble when the instructions tell you to sew it up correctly the first time because you can’t undo the fluffy brown yarn at all.

Someone at the group mistook his ears for antlers! What can one say?

As to books, I have only read three this month and will do an update later on this week. Currently I am reading Two Strom Wood by Philip Gray. Just under 1/4 of the way through it. So far so good. Set in the immediate aftermath of WW1 two women travel to the battlefileds to find their relatives- one a fiancee, the other a brother. The grim reality of the task of finding the dead soldiers and identyfing them is heart breaking. The book is bringing to life the cemeteries, battlefields and trenches I visited in April with my son and grandsons. It’s incredibly moving. My Dad didn’t talk about his experience in WW2 but I do vaguely recall him saying Grandad was involved in recovering the dead and injured. What an horrific thing that must have been. Find my Past allowed free access over armistice day to their war records and I took the chance to look up Dad and my Grandad. I now know that my Grandad was a gunner with the Royal Artilliary Regiment and wasn’t discharged until 1919. Was he involved in the search for those that died but weren’t recovered at the time of death? I need to investigate more.

Anyway that’s me for today. There are four people working on the front garden today, and a neighbour is demolishing a shed. Think I’ll stop indoors with some knitting! Joining with Kate and other here-http://askatknits.com/2023/11/29/unraveled-wednesday-11-29-23/

Garden update #1

Things are being delivered..

Better than plastic grass

There’s more

Planning the layout

The skip has finally arrived, and I have remained calm all day!

Tomorrow, more deliveries and the work begins!

I had to get up at silly o’clock this morning and heard the birds in the wood the other side of the drive. I am so hoping to entice them from the wood to the garden, and maybe finally over the house to the back garden..all without encouraging rats!

Divest -November 23

Last Monday in the month and time to reflect on my progress re the divesting of stuff and negative thoughts and behaviours which cause stress. And I feel pretty good about progress this month.

Stuff leaving the house is continuing in a steady way. Christmas decorations and a jigsaw puzzle donated to a local school for their tree and a raffle prize- I hasten to add all were brand new. Unbelievably I am in the process of donating more clothes to a charity shop.. I accept that there are certain skirts and jumpers I just don’t wear anymore. And I finally moved the shelves from the utility room because I needed the space for the new recycling regime the town council have started. We have food waste collection! Plus and here’s a happy dance, the plastic grass is finally going

all rolled up and waiting to go in a skip tomorrow. I will keep you updated as best I can.

I am not even in a tizwaz about the workers as they were the ones who fettled the back garden for me.

Sometimes I feel quite proud of myself . It’s been hard work involving lots of introspection, but I am definitely happier this year than I was a year ago. I have even lagged the outside pipes from the boiler to help them not freeze up this year. Goodness knows if I’ll have been successful , only time will tell, but I actually don’t think I could have done a better job.

If I have learned one really important thing this year it’s the need for rest, give myself time to recover, reflect on what happened.. then take decisions.

Joining with Carolyn and the others using one word reflections- link here https://youronewordblog.wordpress.com/2023/11/27/checking-in-11-23/

Next month will be the time to decide on a new word. I have an idea…

PS The Gardener is taking an old wheelbarrow, a palet and the utility room shelves, all of which he can use. RESULT!

Books October 23

Another Good month for books. I was inspired to read a few of them having seen the TV adaptations and spotted the link to the book. Here we go then-

Richard Osman- The Last Devil to Die- being the fourth and latest of his Thursday Murder Club books. Not going to say much. I loved it and consider it the best ever. I laughed and cried! If you’ve not tried his books yet, then start with the first The Thursday Murder Club and keep going, in order. Fantastic.

Phil Rickman- Midwinter of the Spirit- I watched an ITV drama of the same name, enjoyed it and decided to read the book on which it wax based. Glad that I did it this way round or I might have got lost with the characters. That said it was an enjoyable read, with evil spirits, bad and good people, exorcism, beautiful cathedral and churches, and enough scary bits very suitable to this time of year. Bit silly of course!

Kate London- Post Mortem- another one which I found after watching the ITV drama – The Tower which was based on this novel. Mostly the same as the series, just a few tweaks for the TV. I enjoyed it very much indeed. You could describe it as integrity vs effectiveness and where is the thin blue line. It’s a crime novel written by an author who served as a police officer for eight years. A long term police officer and a teenage girl fall from the roof of a tower block, leaving behind a four year old boy wearing a bear suit and a new inexperienced police woman. DS Sarah Collins investigates the circumstances that led up to the tragedy. A good read.

Christabel Kent- The Widower- Oh my here’s a terrific thriller which just pulls you right in. Kate dies leaving behind her partner, baby son and stepdaughter. Evan her partner contacts her sister Rose in Rome to break the news. Rose immediately comes back to England to help with the children. There’s a wonderful old vicarage set in the middle of nowhere, the church long gone, surrounded by a tidal river..spooky and scary. It began to feel a bit familiar as I read.. I’d chosen it for the cover..turns out, you guessed it.. A TV programme had been made and I’d seen it, just didn’t connect the two. Highly recommended this one, stayed up way past my bedtime reading it with my heart pounding !

Technically speaking it was November when I finished the last one, but hey what does that matter.

Unbelievably I only have 1 book in my library stack now. Fortunately I found a random list of tbr library books, so I am looking forward to hearing they await me for collection very soon.

What are you reading today.. Doesn’t have to be a novel.. Maybe a recipe or gardening book..the cereal packet..yes I was one of those children! Were you? Do tell please. Right must go, it’s the annual Eye test day, not a fan, but needs must.

Unraveled Wednesday

I was in Wales last week, all my family under one roof. Heaven.

7 adults, 2 teenagers, and four children aged 2-12. Enormous fun. I took my knitting (not touched), my cross stitch (not touched) and three library books( few pages of one read). But I did give littlest boy his snail who not only stayed inside but was loved and went upstairs to bed.

Part of the family now. Since my return there has been limited time on my sleeveless jumper. I forget how big adult garments are compared to those for a babe.

As you can see it’s self patterning yarn so I’m not half as clever as you might be thinking, but 24 inches to knit, just goes on and on, and frequently hypnothises me into a nap, especially after lunch.

The book is just brilliant, pulled me right in, I was awake till 2am reading last night. Twit that I am! It’s good.

Once again linking with Kat and the others for some yarning. Link here-http://askatknits.com/2023/11/01/unraveled-wednesday-11-1-23/