Work for Idle Hands

Archive Entries for 2020

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Thursday December 31, 2020

Books in December

• The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke [read by Will Patton]
  I was fairly blown away (no pun intended) by the first Robicheaux novel I read so decided as ever to read the series. I'm guessing his first one was written with no intention of a series as it's nicely rounded off with a (fairly) happy ending - but I'm glad the author brought Robicheaux back for more.
  I am both astonished and touched by the author's descriptions of his homeland in these books. I have to say this type of descriptive prose constitutes the passages that a pleb like me will normally skip through when reading a thriller, but there is no temptation for me to do this here. If anything, I want to repeat the passages, rolling them around in my mind; they are so vivid and written with such love - it makes me want not only to visit "that" America but to be part of the landscape, being moved by the scenery as he is.


• The Burial of Ghosts by Ann Cleeves [read by Colleen Prendergast]
  This book dates from around the same time as the first Vera Stanhope novel and seems to have very mixed reviews from her fans. It made me feel that some of the dissatisfied readers may be viewing it in the light of the hugely popular Vera and Shetland series - and maybe even in the light of TV series rather than the books.
  It has a fairly thrilling plot with an unusual premise (not wholly plausible but I'm happy to suspend disbelief) and seemed overall a good read (or listen). Ann (may I call you Ann?) tends towards psychological thrillers, and has an objective way of writing about her characters; this is harder to achieve when writing in the first person so inevitably it seems like a departure from her other work. It did remind me slightly of the structure and story telling style of Chris Brookmyre (whose writing I also love) - maybe simply because it's written from a female perspective in the first person and with an unusual premise.


• The End of the Line by Gillian Galbraith [read by Gordon Griffin and Lesley Mackie ]
  As usual (!) I found this author while looking at another "Galbraith" (aka J K Rowling). There were several of her (Gillian's) books on offer from the library, but I decided to start with the one that was not part of a series - in case I did not feel inclined to read any more of her work. However, no problem there; I found the book compelling both in the storyline the theme explored in the book (relating to the Infected Blood Inquiry).
  The story is told by an antiquarian book dealer who is tasked with clearing out the mansion of an elderly doctor. He comes across the old man's diary and is led to question, investigate, and understand, the real circumstances leading up to the old man's death.


• Shifting Skin, and, Savage Moon by Chris Simms

  I've been catching up on the earlier DI Spicer novels in their written form. I may have said before that Spicer is not my favourite of Chris's characters but these made me warm to him a little more. [I would venture to suggest that the author is writing about a character more in an objective sense and one who is not like himself. I'm sure that is true of many writers since characters are made up and do not have to be autobiographical - and yet somehow I do not feel empathy or even sympathy with Spicer and I am not sure why.]

  

  
  

Posted on December 31, 2020 at 9:23 AM. Category: Books of the Month.

Wednesday December 30, 2020

3000 Things to Do at Home

Our Christmas project - a Waddingtons 3000 piece jigsaw purchased long ago for just such a time as this.
Mike Wilks stunningly detailed picture "Sleepy Shopkeeper" featuring all things starting with the letter "S". [Including his own signature "Wike Milks" - - no? - a spoonerism].

Posted on December 30, 2020 at 10:11 AM. Category: Staying at Home.

Tuesday December 29, 2020

Leftovers en Croûte

Posted on December 29, 2020 at 8:20 PM. Category: Staying at Home.

Friday December 25, 2020

A rather strange Christmas Day

But we kept up the traditions nonetheless... paper hats were donned after the cracker pulling...

[I notice I have this in the category "days out" but after this year's experiences I rather think "Days In" would be more apt.]

Posted on December 25, 2020 at 3:14 PM. Category: Staying at Home.

Wednesday December 2, 2020

Winter Pots

I "rescued" a tray of half dead (and half price) plants from a local DIY store. They seemed to recover quite well almost as soon as they hit the new compost.

I also bought a declining poinsettia - which continued to decline in parts barring one branch which has gone from strength to strength and to my surprise seems like it might make it through to the end of the month (* you can see its rather one sided appearance on the Christmas table 25th December). And a Christmas Cactus - which is well over but I plan to nurture it hopefully for winter colour next year (* also visible without flowers on the Christmas table 25th December).
And, finally in my bargain spree, a rather more peculiar choice ...
...a Venus Fly Trap - which is nothing like anything I have ever wanted but there were dozens of them all as dry as a bone and practically being given away - I'd have liked to take them all to be honest. Anyway, I read about what they like, and after watering (with rain water), and placing on a sunny windowsill (as much light as there is at this time of year), its little cups have turned red which apparently indicates health and happiness. Tiny fruit flies have been attracted but not - as far as I can tell - fallen victim.

My friend and gardener Jenny advised "not to poke it" - and I thought "what am I? 5?" - but it's ridiculously tempting.

Posted on December 2, 2020 at 11:08 PM. Category: The Garden.

Friday November 13, 2020

Books in November

• The Last Protector by Andrew Taylor [Read by Leighton Pugh]
  The is the latest in the Ashes of London series for which I've been impatiently waiting to be released in audio format. The Firecourt (second in the series) was the recommendation by a Guardian reviewer that drew this series to my attention and I have been a committed follower of Cat Lovett and James Marwood ever since. Our heroes have not seen each other for some good time. Cat is now married and relatively secure - but her husband is increasingly ill in mind as well as body, which makes things very hard for their business. James is seeing some success with his career but is constantly treading on eggshells to try to please (or at least not displease) two masters. Both are unwillingly drawn into Cromwellian family schemes which could easily see them branded as traitors in their world full of hopeless political intrigue - especially given their own family backgrounds.


• Mary Russell's War by Laurie R King
  [Readers: Susan Bennett, John Keating, Robert Ian Mackenzie, and Jenny Sterlin]
  A collection of 9 short stories, filling in gaps in the narrative of the full novels, starting with England's declaration of war in 1914. Narratives are in various voices - some first and some third person.
  Like many other readers (I discovered) I had a probem with the story set in 1992 where Holmes is apparently still living. When I say I had a "problem" with it - I like the idea that the author blazes away with her story without any reguard for a "real" time line, and on the whole I think prefer it to the concept that Holmes at any point leaves the history for good (given that this is all fiction); the problem I had was thinking that I must be making a fundamental error in my continual internal mental calculations. The author's only answer to the question "how is he still alive and kicking in 1992?" is "this is one of the Great Mysteries of the Russell memoirs" - a delightful answer I think.
  • "Appreciation" by noted Sherlockian Leslie S Klinger
  • Mary's Christmas - with Mary's Uncle Jake
  • Mary Russell's War
  • Beekeeping for Beginners
  • Mrs Hudson's Case
  • The Marriage of Mary Russell
  • Birth of a Green Man
  • A Venomous Death
  • My Story
  • A Case in Correspondence
  • Stately Holmes


• Killing with Confetti by Peter Lovesey [read by Peter Wickham]
  Entertaining enough Peter Diamond novel although I was not wild about the construction of the tale. There's a lengthy description of a wedding with all the detail of the endless waiting (to be fed) while the happy couple get the all important photos out of the way, plus the overexcited and bored bridesmaids - which is all so true to life that it's as tedious as the real thing. I think it's supposed to build tension but despite everything I never felt at any point that anyone was in danger.


• Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh
  Cleverly constructed crime/courtroom drama about two sisters both claiming to be innocent (and thereby by implication accusing each other) of murdering their Father.
  For me, this book is reminiscent of the 1946 film The Dark Mirror with Olivia de Havilland playing twin sisters, one of whom is known to have committed murder, and the other has an alibi. In that case neither sister is willing to turn on the other, so the police are unable to prosecute.
  In this book the DA prosecutes both sisters together knowing he will secure a conviction against one or other of the sisters, if not both acting together. But which is guilty?


• Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case by Francis Durbridge
  Just as Paul and Steve are about to go on holiday, Wilfred Stirling visits with a plea. His daughter Brenda was recently murdered, her body dumped on a bomb site. Her boyfriend Howard Gilbert, seen walking away from the site, has been convicted of the murder and sentenced to hang - but Brenda's father feels sure he didn't do it.. (despite having giving damnig evidence at the trial!).
  Stars (the best Paul and Steve), Peter Coke and Majorie Westbury, in an original 1950s recording.
  I thought I had hoovered up all the available Paul Temple dramas but I seem to have missed this one, although all the business with the shoes seemed vaguely familiar.
  >>Spoiler alert <<
  Each missing shoe on a murder victim is supposed to be due to the fact that something was hidden there - but I would question how the murderer knew which shoe to take? It might have been prudent to snag both while you were at it - no?


• A Reconstructed Corpse
  Bill Nighy once again as the dipsomaniac, philandering actor. Happy enough to take on a job as the "lookalike" in a crime reconstruction programme investigating a missing person case. An all expenses paid trip to Brighton as part of the deal seems an ideal opportunity to celebrate his wedding anniversary and reconcile with Frances. But Charles soon uncovers a grizzly murder - and not perhaps the corpse we were expecting...
  Based on Simon Brett's novel, once again brilliantly adapted by Jeremy Front.
  

Posted on November 13, 2020 at 3:43 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Thursday November 5, 2020

Vision Realised

This is another example of "because I can".
Above is a sewing-needle case I made for my Mother when I was about 6 years old. We were offered different ready-cut felt shapes to decorate and sew together with blanket stitch. It seems I even then had a leaning towards the "Grand Project" - and visualised something covered in gold and sequins - probably like the palace at Versaillle in my minds eye (or would have been if indeed I had ever heard of it). I seem to remember my teacher taking a dim view of (and preventing) my taking all the gold sequins I felt were essential.
Surprisingly, (to me), the case was much used, and I inherited it - and (again, surprisingly) have continued to use it. The last sequin fell off recently, much of the stitched edging had worn away, and it was in a very dirty and altogether sorry state. So I thought I would do my own "Repair Shop" renovation, (necessitating strong emotions and tearfulness, while showing myself the excessive appreciation I deserve - all in the privacy of my own house).

I carefully removed what was left of the worn stitching (some was still OK), washed and dried the outer felt, and replaced the crumbled inner cardboard, before carefully restitching it all together, following the pin holes of my original work. I had to buy sequins (not a stock item for me - and hard to obtain at a reasonable price in the right size, quantity, and colour), and replace the embroidery where it had worn away.
I can't say if the result is as it was: the overall size is slightly smaller (slight felt shrinkage with washing), but I did use all the evidence to put the decorations back where they were originally.

Of course, this entry would be more interesting with a "before" picture as well as the "after" but as it is you'll have to use your imagination.

Posted on November 5, 2020 at 9:12 AM. Category: Crafts.

Tuesday November 3, 2020

Inspiration

I was inspired by Kaffe's lecture - and truth be told, simply by Kaffe himself - to try and make something of, (or complete), a piece of patchwork I started when I was at college.

At that time, I did a great deal of sewing, making most of my own clothes. And being one for the "Grand Project" I decided to use remnants to start on a lifetime project of an English paper-pieced hexagon scrap quilt such as I had seen in museums. What you see above is as far as it got. By the time it hibernated I was thinking on a smaller scale and decided I might make it into a kind of mob cap shower hat - but it needed to be slightly bigger.

Roll forward half a century, and I ran across the little package above (complete with a reel of tacking cotton and a needle) and took a photo to chuckle over, and sent it to my friend in Canada - we had met in Cambridge in 2016 and subsequently joined forces at the NEC Quilt Show that summer.

This tiny work had originally lived with all my scraps from that era, but at some point in time I passed the bag of scraps (sans hexagons) on to my then teenage step-daughter as she had an interest in using them to make bags. I never realised until this year, when they emerged from deep cover, that they had clearly been passed back to me at some point. And this was enough to inspire me to take up the baton again for the Grand Project.

I completed the last round of the original shape and then planned out a quilt to cover a blanket - a loosely woven packing blanket, thus continuing the "recycle and re-use" concept. I need 18 roundels, which is pretty daunting, especially since - once complete - they each need to be surrounded by a common background colour. However, I have completed 10 of them in a relatively short time, so I am hopeful it might finally become a proper quilt.

You can see I have been able to find many of the original scraps to make the centres of each shape look the same, gradually getting more free format as I work outwards on each one. I have to say they are not colours I would choose in designing a quilt today, but it has been such a delight remembering each fabric, and what clothes I made from them when I was in my early 20s.

Posted on November 3, 2020 at 10:57 AM. Category: Quilting.

Saturday October 31, 2020

Books in October

• Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson [read by Peter Noble]
  I thought this was a fantastic book recommended in a Guardian book list. It was a completely unexpected gem, as I had no idea even of the genre before reading it. It has a terrific forward by Philip Pullman where he explains how it works so well as a thriller, how the author skillfully makes the unbelievable believable, and expresses his overall appreciation of the writing and construction. As I am not an author I will leave it with Pullman's praise: "The best thriller I've ever read, and I've read plenty. A solidly researched and bone-chilling adventure in a savage setting, with a superb hero."
  


• Conspiracy by S.J. Parris [read by Daniel Philpott]
  Having discovered that Giordano Bruno is a real historical figure - which was traumatic enough in itself - and since the author hangs her stories very much within the known historical facts of the character's whereabouts, I am approaching each new book with some trepidation. In this one, the action moves our hero away from the relative safety of a Protestant England, and back to France... and thus one step closer to his historical fate.
  [Still hoping she will reprieve our hero by some fictional trickery (lie) before the end of the series.]


• Bad Intentions by Karin Fossum [read by David Rintoul]
  Another interesting plot line from Fossum centring on falling out among "thieves" (not literally). Almost a Shakespearian tragedy as the friends move towards their inevitable destiny, apparently victims of circumstance, but really victims of their own characters. In fact, one of them considers "how can you tell if you are a good man if your life has been nothing but plain sailing?". Sejer's attitude while he played his waiting game throughout the investigation reminded me of Chaucer's "Mordre wol out, that se we day by day."
  It's a while since I last read any of this series so I was wondering if I had imagined that Sejer had had a burgeoning romantic friendship in the first few books - however it seems she was simply written out with little explanation after "Black Seconds". I think this is a shame - it leaves a rather old-fashioned, mild-mannered, and polite man who finds comfort in order and authority, with only the comfort of his faithful old dog. Although it might be refreshing to have a stable policeman without the usual issues of alcoholism, failed relationships, or a dysfunctional family, equally we have none of the interest that that those things bring with them. I find the books becoming more entrenched in the psychological make up of criminals and victims; this is very well portrayed but I think needs to be offset with more than the calm approach of our hero, and the philosophical discussions between him and his sidekick.


• The King's Justice, and The Monastery Murders
  by E. M. Powell
  Given my increasing interest in fictional historical murder mysteries, I acquired these as a special offer via Amazon. They were "good enough" in plot and general interest but not enough to tempt me to purchase the follow-on novels in the series. I'm not sure what is lacking but they compare unfavourably with the novels of CJ Samsom, SJ Parris, and Andrew Taylor, where I find myself "right there" in the action - my imagination totally caught up in time and place as well as the action and adventure. By contrast, these stories could almost be taking place in any time or place, and were more mystery than thriller.
  
  

Posted on October 31, 2020 at 2:06 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Friday October 30, 2020

Kaffe Lecture

Today I attended a Kaffe web lecture sponsored by the Cotton Patch - part of the remote delivery offerings "Beyond the Festival of Quilts".
I thought he was terrific, covering many of his design interests, (quilting, knitting, needlepoint, pottery, mosaic) exhibited through commissions, his own house, his collections from around the world - and perhaps more surprisingly: jigsaws.
Many thanks to him, and to the Cotton Patch for supporting this endeavour.

Posted on October 30, 2020 at 3:38 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Saturday October 24, 2020

Kaffe's Pyramid Quilt

Having started in earnest around mid-June, I finally completed the cot quilt (and we managed to deliver it before a second lockdown).
As I said, I had to substitute some of the fabrics required in the original design from 2002, but one splendid piece of luck was finding the Handarbeitshaus and Museum, who were able to supply enough of the original Ombre Stripe OS05 for the edge and backing which really sets it off I think, and would have been really hard to substitute.

I was then left with the final challenge (for me) of stitching the all-over "random" pattern, which was supposed to be done with free-motion machine quilting. I won't say how I achieved it in the end, but after a few pathetic attempts, I decided I had neither the time nor the inclination to perfect my skills in this area. After far-from-free-motion work on the machine, I was quite satisfied with the result.

As a final note, I had to laugh, as I managed to create another problem by quilting with some "Pale Pink" Coats Sylko cotton thread. I have a lot of threads, and rarely buy new ones except included with the fabric and pattern when starting a new sewing project. Quilting takes a lot of thread so inevitably the reel ran out. It was only at this point I realised that Sylko has not been available for donkeys years, and buying more was not a trivial exercise - most sellers charging a premium for "vintage" items.
A truely revealing experience.

Posted on October 24, 2020 at 10:51 AM. Category: Quilting.

Wednesday September 30, 2020

Books in September

• The Word is Murder, and The Sentence is Death
  by Anthony Horowitz [Read by Rory Kinnear]
  I almost can't exaggerate how much I love this author. One could say that with his inventive construction for these books and the Magpie Murders, that he is indulging in writing "gimmicks" but I think he executes all his work with such skill and brilliance that all I can say is "bring on some more".
  In this series we find the author (Anthony - not Tony) has written himself into the story, which then becomes something of a biography giving him free rein to include delightful anecdotes and episodes based around real events - as well as many episodes that I fervently hope and expect are far from real. It is woven together seamlessly, mixing fact and fiction so that you are easily able to suspend any disbelief. The book is excellently read by Rory Kinnear who sounds very similar to Horowitz which adds to the deception.
  His main character (if not himself) is a definitely fictional and not very likeable but also ... strange... and therefore very interesting. Ex-detective Daniel Hawthorne is "ex" of the Met and now a "consulting detective" - draw your own comparisons. Anthony describes himself in the narrative with his emotions and reactions exposed in a very appealing and apparently open way revealing all his flaws and sense of self-importance - which of course is a form of false modesty but nonetheless appealing...
  The final words of the second book are another sheer delight to one who is not an author and with no understanding of writing as a craft. He describes himself in his scene feeling low; Hawthorne then predicts how he'll describe the scene including the dismal weather; Hawthorne leaves, and Anthony proceeds to descibe the scene anew in way which we all now know to be "the pathetic fallacy".
  During the course of the book, opening up an author's life, we come to know the "three book deal". I hope this will be true to life with regard to these books - in fact I hope he can continue with this theme beyond 3 without spoiling the effect of the novelty of the idea. But I think this author is very good at the discipline of quitting while he is ahead.
  
  I have to add a note here that not all readers are as smitten as I and find Horowitz's descriptions of his life as a successful writer, and all the anecdotes, to be simply tedious smug self-aggrandisement. They would prefer just to stick to the murder story.
  I can see that point of view - you do have to have a pre-existing affection for the author - but overall I think they are missing the point.


• The Birdwatcher by William Shaw [read by Roger Davis]
  Another really excellent thriller recommended in the Guardian reviews. The book alternates between time lines, which is a structure that I find slightly irritating, because it acts as a kind punctuation mark in the pace of each separate plot line; however, this is intentional of course and is very effective. A couple of what must rate as my favourite books have employed this (not uncommon) technique.
  The policeman "hero" is our birdwatcher, and I particularly like that this is presented in a truly realistic way. It's his hobby, and he goes out whenever he can as part of his normal life - it does not become the major point of the drama, and is not presented as an exceptional thing depite being very much present throughout.
  Somewhat poignant though overall upbeat ending.


• The Birds Fall Down by Rebecca West
  A novel centred on Count Nikolai Diakonov, a Russian exile in Paris during the beginning of the Twentieth Century, who, as a senior minister in the Russian government had been suddenly stripped of his position and exiled to France, along with his family. However the story is told by his 18 year old privileged grand-daughter and is almost a coming of age story as she tries to understand love and the various relationships she sees around her. She is manipulated by her own intense emotions engendered by threats to her and her grandfather's life, which culminates in a rather critical and ultimately lethal misunderstanding of the double-agent's feelings and intentions towards her.
  I found it a pretty challenging read.
  West states it is founded on historical events but not very specifically it seems. She had a fascination with treason and traitors, as well as Russia, which is explored in a number of her books. I was interested to note that Anthony Horowitz reveals in his books above that he is reading A New Meaning of Treason as part of his research for the post-war episodes of Foyle's War.


• Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
  By contrast this was a sheer light hearted "romp" and very easy to read. I have not physically read many books on the page of late and had fogotten what a delight it is to do so. Fforde has created a whole new imaginary world, parallel to our own, and set plausibly into the England (or Wales) we know and (some of us - Wales that is) live in.
  Every Winter, the human population hibernates.
  During those bitterly cold four months, the nation is a snow-draped landscape of desolate loneliness, and devoid of human activity.
  But so long as you remember to wrap up warmly, you'll be fine.
  

Posted on September 30, 2020 at 10:54 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Monday September 28, 2020

I made Jam

Rob collected some mystery plums while out with his butterfly group, and finally managed to give them to me when we met up for his birthday. Not too many but they made three pots.

Posted on September 28, 2020 at 10:34 AM. Category: Kitchen and food.

Tuesday September 22, 2020

Sue's Garden

It's Open Gardens day, which has gone ahead - though not "as usual". To conform with the regulations, our local horticultural society have implemented an appointment scheme for visits, one way systems to walk around - and of course no tea and refreshments are on offer.

We chose Sue's garden as she is a well-known local horticulturalist and always has a lovely display on show. Over a period of many years she has taken her garden from a true wasteland to this wonderful garden retreat.

Posted on September 22, 2020 at 10:33 AM. Category: Days Out.

Monday August 31, 2020

Books in August

• The Bat by Jo Nesbo [read by Seán Barrett]
  I finally started on Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series, and - as everyone else already knows - it is gripping.
  I recently bought a film version of The Snowman starring Michael Fassbender (now that I actually know who he is) and I gather that alcoholism is a key feature of Harry's life. However, in listening to this first outing, I had hoped it was a tale of love and redemption - but for a series, where would be the fun in that? (I suppose).


• Fallen Angel by Christopher Brookmyre [read by Cathleen McCarron]
  This is a warm tale with a good mystery at its heart and packed with unlikely coincidences - so much so that (in combination with the ending) these days Chris Brookmyre books approach 18th century plays like Wild Oats or, the more contemporary satire, What the Butler Saw.... But don't get me wrong - I'm all for it.
  While this can't be regarded as one of the Jack Parlabane canon, he does make a cameo appearance.


• The Baby Snatcher by Ann Cleeves [read by Simon Mattacks]
  This is the final book in the Inspector Ramsay series from the 1990s, coming after The Healers. Had I realised it was a series I might have taken more trouble to listen to them in sequence. However Ramsay is not so dominant as a character as to overshadow the stories themselves, and there are many reflections and insights into the lives of the other participants in the tale. [This is also very much true of the Vera series, but I like her so much and she has such depth as a chracter that I do find myself holding my breath until she appears].
  This seems to me quite an unusual story line with each player having his/her own wholly plausible motivations and obsessions - some with relevance to the murder mystery and some red herrings, though every red herring is a neat little story line in its own right.
  

Posted on August 31, 2020 at 7:22 AM. Category: Books of the Month.

Friday July 31, 2020

Books in July

• Autumn by Ali Smith [read by Melody Grove ]
  This is a wonderful book. I did not rush into reading it as I expected it to be a work of mind-expanding well-written prose and thus a worthy but difficult read - well it was the former but not the latter. The writer wanted to explore how we experience time - which is wholly subjective and a topic that has often interested me. I'm a hopeless descriptive writer so read the Guardian review. In terms of its intellectual content - it raised my curiosity to go and find out more about sixties pop-artist Pauline Boty - and look at her work (on line); I had never heard of her, and, while I am not the world's greatest culture vulture, I think that underlines just one of the many points that Smith was making. [Her character's attempts to have a typically misogynistic art school lecturer accept Boty as a subject for a dissertation seem to me to hint at personal experience].
  As is often the case, I listened to this book and the language is so beautiful, it really lent itself to being spoken aloud and Melody Grove did so perfectly (melodically). There were many political views expressed which resonated with me and some reflective passages with lyrical repetitive almost poetry that I found both sharp and moving:
  All across the country, people felt it was the wrong thing. All across the country, people felt it was the right thing. All across the country, people felt they'd really lost. All across the country, people felt they'd really won. All across the country, people felt they'd done the right thing and other people had done the wrong thing.....
  ....All across the country, people felt legitimised. All across the country, people felt bereaved and shocked. All across the country, people felt righteous. All across the country, people felt sick. All across the country, people felt history at their shoulder. All across the country, people felt history meant nothing. All across the country, people felt like they counted for nothing. All across the country, people had pinned their hopes on it.


• Meet Me/Murder/Missing/Midnight (all) In Malmo
  by Torquil MacLeod [Read by Marguerite Gavin]
  I have considered before that it may be wrong of me to judge a book solely on the basis of its delivery in the spoken word. I have been aware that a good narrator can really alter the perception of a story from ordinary to outstanding, by almost acting quality narrators such as Christian Rodska, or Mark Billingham - and also, of course, some books are better suited to being read aloud than others, such as The Moonstone (which is written, and delivered, in different voices); a number of books have the benefit of being read by their authors, which means they are spoken in the way they were intended by the author, such as Helen Macdonald, or Rory McGrath. Sadly, this was not the case with these books and negatively influenced my whole perception of them.
  They are defnitely good mystery stories with a plausibly written heroine detective which realistically describes her home and working life and relationships, but any proper judgement of their worth was hindered in the extreme by the narration. Often, while listening through the peculiar pronunciations and incorrect stressing, I felt the language would have been much more natural and realistic if being read on the page. As it was, it sounded like it was being read by someone for whom English was not her first language, practicing for an elocution exam. On top of the issues with the straight reading of the English, the narrator was called upon to - or felt bound to - try and deliver both Scottish and Jordy acccents which is a tall order for any actor, and what she came up with would have been funny if not so annoying.
  Although this is very damning, I see (frankly, to my amazement) that Marguerite Gavin has won various awards for her narrations and "disappears as the narrator, letting the story take the limelight" - which I suppose is true in that she added nothing - especially in terms of delivering dialogue with any realistic intonation. However it seems my opinions are not shared by all in that she has a "devoted fan following". All I can say in her favour is that her voice is pleasant, ("sonorous" apparently), and her diction is very clear, so it might suit listeners for whom English is not their first language.
  
  



• A Doubtful Death
  Return of the loveably louche actor-cum-amateur detective: to his horror, Charles has landed a role, in a re-imagining of Hamlet in an immersive production by a high-concept theatre group in Oxford. When the actress playing Ophelia goes missing, in between rehearsals with puppeteers and mime artists, Charles decides to find out what has happened to her.
  Based on Simon Brett's novel, once again brilliantly adapted by Jeremy Front, and starring Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden, Jon Glover, Jessica Turner, Scarlett Courtney, Ian Conningham, Will Kirk, and Lucy Reynolds. Directed by Sally Avens.
  

Posted on July 31, 2020 at 11:04 AM. Category: Books of the Month.

Friday July 17, 2020

Kaffe's Baby Pyramid Quilt

With more time on my hands, I am slowly digging through all my "started but not finished" projects of the past 20 (and more) years, and thus rekindled an interest in patchwork. I have a couple of would-be quilts with a large part of the donkey work complete - more on that later - but because of a new baby in the family I decided to continue a cot quilt which, in my head at least, I started sewing in about 2002; the pattern is included in the second Rowan Westminster Quilting Book from that era.
My idea had been to work on it slowly with hand quilting (easily transportable while travelling to and from France) but in fact, I had done little more than collect the fabrics I needed, so I started from scratch with paper-piecing the tiny triangles. I was planning to use the small left-overs from other Rowan projects and I squeezed in as many as I could find in my box, but I was missing a few key fabric designs which are no longer available and had to substitute - a skill I am not good at, but needs must...

You can see the patchwork is firmly underway during lockdown on a sunny day in the garden.

Posted on July 17, 2020 at 11:48 AM. Category: Quilting.

A Walk on the Common

Rob came over for a walk - best described in pictures - it was a lovely day.

He was delighted by the nesting skylarks, though they proved tricky to capture from a distance on camera.

This was my highlight of a discovery - a plant I had neither noticed nor heard of before. It was pretty obvious among the other "dandelion" type plants as it had relatively huge clocks - and on close examination, any remaining flower heads were firmly closed up, illustrating its name "Jack Go to Bed at Noon" since they apparently only open in the morning sun. [I would say, I went out subsequently in early morning sun but the flowers never opened for me... but the clocks really are lovely - I tried to grow a seed at home but an enterprising bird plucked it out and ate it - I have my suspicions...].

Despite my ignorance, it's famous enough to have its own flower fairy.

I'll be asleep by noon!
Though bedtime comes so soon,
I'm busy too.
Twelve puffs!--and then from sight
I shut my flowers tight;
Only by morning light
They're seen by you.
Then, on some day of sun,
They'll open wide, each one,
As something new!
Shepherd, who minds his flock,
Calls it a Shepherd's Clock,
Though it can't say "tick-tock"
As others do!

Finally, we returned, and sat socially distanced in the garden eating lunch, and watching "the workers" painting the exterior of the house.

Posted on July 17, 2020 at 9:04 AM. Category: Staying at Home.

Sunday July 12, 2020

Rockery

I toured the local nurseries (limited opening) looking for rockery plants - but found virtually none. However, the few scruffy plants I did find were massively discounted and soon felt better when installed in their new homes.
Small beginnings.

[Lockdown has had a big impact on nurseries, even though they have been able to open to some degree (given that they are often outdoors), and despite there being a great domestic demand as "stay at home" people work on their gardens (if they are lucky enough to have them). However the supply chain has been totally disrupted; cancellations of the big RHS shows had led (frustratingly) to masses of plants available at the wrong time and unable to be sold.]

Posted on July 12, 2020 at 10:04 AM. Category: The Garden.

Tuesday June 30, 2020

Books in June

• The Broken Shore by Peter Temple [read by Peter Hosking]
  This was another great discovery from Michael Robotham's Desert Island book list at the Crime Vault website. A book that is really suited to the spoken word, though it needs to be - and was - excellently read in wonderful conversational style by Peter Hosking.
  This novel is from 2005, and won the CWA Gold Dagger in 2007. Robotham says of Temple:"he was truly one of Australia's great writers, who never sacrificed the nuances of character, setting, or back story for the sake of plot or pace, giving equal care and attention to even minor players..... a terrific story full of simmering corruption and prejudice, glorious observations, and some of the best writing in the genre"
  I felt I wanted to hear more about these characters, but sadly Peter Temple died in 2018 without revisiting them, but I shall certainly be looking out for more of his books, as well as more narrations from Peter Hosking.


• Sleeping Dogs by Chris Simms [read by Dean Williamson]
  The usual (how blase I am becoming about excellent writers!) exciting police story from Chris Simms. I'm not so fond of Spicer as a character - pugilistic rugger bugger - can't empathise much - but that makes no difference to the fast paced excitement of the stories in which he features.
  Fighting dogs are central to this story, along with illegal activities that go with it. I was very interested in the descriptions of the mystery killer dog, based on the thought-to-be-extinct Alano, and was driven to read about it further - comforting myself that it might be mostly a creation of Chris Simm's imagination...


• Agatha RaisinMysteries:
  Pushing Up Daisies, the Witches' Tree, the Dead Ringer, and, Beating about the Bush
  by M C Beaton [Read by Penelope Keith]

  I thought it was a long time since I had read any of these books and sure enough there were 4 waiting in the wings. As another one (Hot to Trot) came out in October, I was surprised and very sad to read that Marion Chesney had died in December 2019. I knew she was an older lady - in fact, as I had suspected, in her 50s when she started the Agatha Raisin series, since Agatha had retired from her high powered (1980s) job on her 50th birthday. But unlike Chesney, Agatha stayed forever in her 50s, pursuing the unattainable dream of true love to the last, with the author retaining a fresh style and keeping well up with modern life.
  On the latter theme, although the idyll of retiring to the Cotswolds was always a little tongue in cheek, I noticed in these last few books a much greater implicit criticism of the outsiders moving there expecting to step into some fantasy world of the past. I have to admit I enjoyed this aspect of the fictional village with its Ladies' Society, all addressing each other with formal titles rather than Christian names, and its fêtes and afternoon teas, and was disappointed to find it suddenly labelled anachronistic with the Ladies' Society disbanded. However, having lived in the Cotswolds herself for many years, and clearly no longer a naive incomer, I think she found such people wearing and did not want her now mainstream books to encourage them any further in their folly.
  So now it only remains for me to read Hot to Trot with suitable reverance and delight.

  

  
  

Posted on June 30, 2020 at 11:40 AM. Category: Books of the Month.

Thursday June 18, 2020

The day today...

Slight snag.
no "h" available at Hobbycraft.

Posted on June 18, 2020 at 10:41 AM. Category: Crafts.

Wednesday June 17, 2020

The day today...

Posted on June 17, 2020 at 10:40 AM. Category: Crafts.

Tuesday June 16, 2020

The day today...

Posted on June 16, 2020 at 10:40 AM. Category: Crafts.

Monday June 15, 2020

The day today...

Posted on June 15, 2020 at 10:39 AM. Category: Crafts.

Sunday June 14, 2020

The day today...

Posted on June 14, 2020 at 10:39 AM. Category: Crafts.

Saturday June 13, 2020

The day today...

Posted on June 13, 2020 at 10:37 AM. Category: Crafts.

Friday June 12, 2020

So what day IS it?

I'm making my own "days of the week" pin-up board.
[Because I can...]

Posted on June 12, 2020 at 10:54 AM. Category: Crafts.

Monday June 8, 2020

The Stone Age

We dug up all the elderly heathers (vandals I know - but over many years they had completely taken over the bed and got beyond merely leggy), and we found the original rocks.
Small beginnnings.

Posted on June 8, 2020 at 10:04 AM. Category: The Garden.

Thursday June 4, 2020

Beekeeping for beginners

A delightful and unexpected gift from Tony and Cathy - we have a Sherlock Holmes interest in common so he thought this was the best thing for retirement. (And he was right).

Posted on June 4, 2020 at 12:32 PM. Category: The Garden.

Day Three

What day is it again?

Posted on June 4, 2020 at 8:10 AM. Category: Oddments and stray thoughts.

Wednesday June 3, 2020

Day Two

Sandwich Sudoku from Saturday's Guardian completed.

Posted on June 3, 2020 at 8:42 AM. Category: Oddments and stray thoughts.

Tuesday June 2, 2020

Retirement: Day One

Dressed for Socially Distanced lunch with sister.
Champagne and ice cream.

Car gone; laptop gone; authorisations removed; phone line discontinued.

Posted on June 2, 2020 at 2:37 PM. Category: The Garden.

Sunday May 31, 2020

Books in May

• Shell Game by Sara Paretsky [read by Liza Ross]
  The shell game is one I know as "find the lady" - which, although the latter is the name for the playing card version, I had always heard it extended to the "cup and ball" version. Basically there are 3 inverted cups, under which a ball (or shell) is hidden - you see where the ball starts, the trickster moves the cups around, you bet on which cup contains the ball, you lose your money. You can always find confidence tricksters exhibiting their skills at this around central London, usually with "plants" in the audience who apparently get the better of the trickster when invited to place a bet. I might say, that since this game is so well known, to my mind you can hardly bestow the title "scammer" on these (skilled) individuals; you always "know" where the ball is, and (amazingly) it is never there.
  Paretsky uses the name in the American sense of "a deceptive and evasive action or ploy". The books starts with a stolen artefact, but then moves on to a missing niece and a financial scam. The book seems to have had mixed reviews - some people saying that the underlying financial scam was a bit tedious - and I have to say that I find Kathy Reichs' underlying "exposes" in her books a little wearing - but somehow not Parestsky's as they seem much less heavy handed - more factual and less opinionated, even though she makes no bones about where her heroine stands on the political spectrum.
  [That being the case, one commentator did amuse me by saying "always a fan of Paretsky, but not her politics" which seems to me to be an oxymoron since her books and heroine wholly reflect her politics.]


• The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish [read by Gabrielle Baker]
  I liked Our House so much that I chose some other books by the same author. This one has a lovely aura around it (if that's possible). This book uses the technique of "then and now" with 3 time lines very effectively intertwined, illustrating youthful guilt, endless summers, and the glossy middle-classes closing ranks.
  Again, mixed reviews - some finding the story wonderful and others, boring. I feel that the more critical readers had read her previous books and were more interested in a classic thriller/mystery with a surprise ending - rather than a book more of the psychological thriller genre. In fact, for me, it did have a rather surprise ending which I had not guessed, as well as some thrilling action. However, I guess you did have to "enjoy the journey" - which I most certainly did. I love swimming, open air pools, and glamorous bohemian lifestyles; so I was easily swept along with the narrator. Like her I was drawn in, but at the same time, all too aware of the underlying anxiety and threat of what might be to come.


• Treachery by S.J. Parris [read by Laurence Kennedy]
  We have reached the summer of 1585 and the action has moved to Plymouth, making for more wonderful opportunities to describe the old Tudor town and harbour. Sir Francis Drake is preparing to sail on an expedition to attack Spanish-held ports in the Americas, and "liberate" King Philip's treasures. Bruno's friend, Sir Philip Sidney, is gagging to join the voyage (and take Bruno with him) - but against the wishes of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Francis, and very much Bruno himself. Needless to say, the pair are soon drawn into investigating a mysterious death and a plot to foil Drake's mission before it begins.


• The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid [read by Cathleen McCarron]
  I'm not sure why but I never regarded Val McDermid as one of the "greats" of crime fiction although clearly she is - not only popular, and able to tell a great tale, but also, as far as I am able to judge, a good writer. So why did I never see her on a par with, say, Ian Rankin?
  Anyway, my bad, noting that McDermid appears in at least 3 of the Crime Vault's Desert Island book choices - although some have gone for the more predictable "Wire in the Blood" series. This one had more breadth about it covering a cold case starting in Scotland and moving through Yugoslavia. It is part of her Karen Pirie series, but seems to have had mixed reviews from her fans.


• The Vinyl Detective by Andrew Cartmel [Read by Ben Allen, and Finlay Robertson]
  

  Helen put me on to these books - and what a wonderful "find" they are. Again, probably the kind of thing that presses all the right buttons for me; they have a slightly retro feel of the amateur detective, the author appears to have put a lot of himself into the main character (true or not one can never really say), and the perspective of the true (in this case vinyl) collector is really well explained without being either boring or patronising
  Helen thought Rob would like these books and gave me the first one - which I duly passed on to him. In fact, although he liked it, I was more smitten than he, simply commenting that he "does not know much about jazz" - although to my mind that's not really important, so I guess the thriller mystery is of more importance than the music. [Although the Big Band novel did make me go to YouTube and listen to Annette Hanshaw (Blank Bottom) and her trademark "That's All" which was wonderful.]
  The unnamed hero is a specialist collector of vinyl jazz records - as in: he will track down a rare record for you for a fee - not an actual detective. In keeping with his geeky nature, he is also obsessive about coffee, and, rather more oddly, very keen on his cats. Through twists of fate, he is led to track down records of different types and genres and has to compete with others bent on murderous intent. The genres in order are: jazz, psychedelic rock, big band, and heavy metal. Can't wait to read Low Action. [I empathise with the comment of another reader: "I felt I wanted to hang out with most of the characters".]
  
  
  

Posted on May 31, 2020 at 8:39 AM. Category: Books of the Month.

Thursday April 30, 2020

Books in April

• The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
  [read by Cathleen McCarron, Laura Kirman, Clare Corbett, Ellie Heydon, and Joshua Manning]
  From the Guardian review of thrillers at the start of 2019, this is a locked room mystery; set in a snowed-in lodge in Scotland, the characters are gathered for a luxury few days away over New Year. Although this is a tradition for them, it seems that - very true to life - they have all changed from the band of University bright young things they once were, and another dimension has been introduced over the years with partners joining in. Obviously this would have been a gradual realisation for them all but there seems to be a final clarity after the death of one of their number. Dangerous lunatic outsider? or "one of us"?
  Each character (including dangerous lunatic outsiders) is given his/her own voice, so of course one of them is inevitably the unreliable narrator.
  I am always a sucker for a "happy" ending and without too much of a spoiler - this one is fairly satisfying.


• As I listened to this book, I felt the scenario was somewhat familiar, and I was sure it had been adapted as a radio play but can find no evidence of that. I can only think that I was confusing it with Mrs Sidhu's Deadly Highland Game - hard to believe, I know, as they are as different in style as they could be, but it's my only possible conclusion.


• Scratch Deeper by Chris Simms [read by Becky Hindley]
  This book, was another one that featured in a Guardian round-up of crime fiction (from as long ago as 2012). This was the first reference that alerted me to Chris Simms' books, and was introducing a new police character in the shape of DC Iona Khan ("feisty" DC Khan, apparently - interesting that the word feisty, while meant as a compliment, is almost exclusively applied to women ...or squirrels... But I digress...). In this first book of the series, she was a newly promoted DC in Manchester's counter-terrorism unit; her inexperience and junior status added to the tension as we worked towards a thrilling conclusion. It is not the first of Chris's books I read (listened to) - in fact I read the second in this particular series back 2018, so out of sequence - but both books were excellent, and I hope there will be more stories featuring DC Khan soon.


• Body and Soul by John Harvey [read by Gordon Griffin]
  This author is best known for his character Charlie Resnick, and I have always meant to read some of those well-loved books - I read that he retired Resnick in 2014, so I have the opportunity to read the complete canon... However, I started on the Frank Elder series (somewhat fewer books), perversely beginning with this one which is the last in the series. I thought it did would not much matter, but found at the end (spoiler alert) that it was rather a more definite end for Elder than for Resnick. I was not overly concerned with this as I had not become attached to the character over a series of novels, and I did not feel much empathy with Elder; I am thinking that Harvey wrote this as an older man himself and perhaps would be more appreciated by older men than by me. [I remember Hess being exasperated by the cult following for Steppenwolf among the young in the 1960s, and stating it could not be understood properly by anyone under the age of 50... I might add that I am not certain it can be properly understood by anyone - but I did read it in my 20s].
  Anyway this book is a good read, as you would expect, but throughout it seems to have a rather melancholy air of something ending.
  

Posted on April 30, 2020 at 3:16 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Tuesday March 31, 2020

Books in March

• The Sussex Murder (County Guides 5) by Ian Sansom [read by Mike Grady]
  This was the book I saw reviewed in the Guardian which set me off reading the County Guides in the first place. I was really looking forward to hearing about "my own" county (in 1937) as part of this series. In fact it centres in Lewes, so mainly East Sussex - and I'm a West Sussex girl - but I made the best of it - and they did visit the Bramber museum which holds defining memories of my childhood, being full of cases of deformed stuffed animals - all at toddler viewing height... (there were other rather more lovely Victorian scenes - but all stuffed animals I'm afraid - kittens, rabbits, rats, and even one of red squirrels....).
  Readers gave this book mixed reviews: "fun and very quirky, probably not for you if you're looking for traditional murder mysteries" (positive) and one, which made me laugh a lot and with which I totally agree, and yet I - unlike the commenter - still love the books: "...[I read on] in the hope that Sefton, after running around inner London during the early hours, in a naked state, would get washed, put on clean clothing, eat a meal and finally emerge from his seemingly permanent state of a hangover..." - and like the reviewer I have wondered what it would be like travelling in a car with Sefton in that state, as Morley and Miriam often seem happily to do.
  I guess if Sansom intends to carry on with his 44 book series (and I really hope he does), I guess he will have to find some content beyond the quirks of his travellers, as we are complacent about them now, and the books are not really mystery novels at their core.


• Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke [read by Will Patton]
  This is from the Desert Island Crime list of Michael Robotham who says he "could have chosen any one of a dozen books by James Lee Burke". It is a Dave Robicheaux novel (the 16th) and is set in 2005 New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The story follows various characters caught up in the tragedy - a junkie priest, street thugs, a mob boss, a sadistic psychopath - each with his own story.
  Having read other of Burke's novels since this one, I see he writes lyrically and lovingly of his home territory, which makes these descriptions of the lawless wasteland confronting Robicheaux even more stark and tragic.
  I think this is a very good novel on many levels and pretty educational for me. I never visited New Orleans - only ever saw it in films - so I really could not (and probably still can't) imagine how dreadful and catastrophic this was, despite the copious amount of news footage at the time. As well as a positive review of this book in the Guardian, there is also a strong critique which is well worth looking at for someone as generally ignorant of world events as I am.


• Ripper by Isabel Allende [read by Edoardo Ballerini]
  Helen recommended an Isabel Allende book which she was reading with her book group (In the Midst of Winter I think). So when I found that Ripper was Allende's venture into thriller territory, I had to read it - or listen to it.
  There are many adult characters, beautifully described, and each with long back stories, which may really give this book its real heart. However, the protagonist is a teenager, Amanda, who with her friends play a game on line called "Ripper", and who comes to decide that they can solve some rather bizarre and gruesome real-life murders. The initial murder is grim to say the least - and for Amanda it becomes an obsession. Exasperating though the teenagers are - especially for Amanda's Father who is the deputy chief of police - they do have a lot of help from the adults one way or another, as they inevitably move closer to the truth.
  This is a strange book, and was rather strangely read, but thrilling and tense to the last.


• Sacrilege by S.J. Parris [read by Laurence Kennedy]
  It's 1584, and the action moves to Canterbury. Against his better judgement (and the advice of anyone else) Bruno is drawn into helping an amour (who appeared in the first book) who is on the run. It demonstrates the dangers of the time (or even now) where moving to an autonomous strange city with no allies or sponsors means corrupt bullies can reign apparently unchecked by the law of the land.
  And then, funnily enough, after risking his life and having been subject to considerable ill treatment - all for love (of a woman and not to mention his beloved ancient book) - he is betrayed yet again.
  Let's hope he learns his lesson in the folly of both loves.


• The Healers by Ann Cleeves [read by Simon Mattacks ]
  Part of the Inspector Ramsay series written in the 1990s (just before Vera Stanhope made her first appearance). Had I realised this was a "series" I might have read them in order; however in this case, not having previously met the characters made absolutely no difference to the understanding and enjoyment of the story.
  It's an (apparently) straightforward murder case with some (apparently) ideal new-age traveller suspects readily to hand. Soon, however, there is a second murder which, on the surface, seems unlikely to be connected. Then, inevitably, as the plot evolves things seem to focus on the Alternative Therapy Centre - the Healers of the title - and Ramsey gradually puts the pieces together.
  

Posted on March 31, 2020 at 5:43 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Tuesday March 3, 2020

Inspiring buttons

After spending time coveting Textile Garden buttons at Unravel, I sent away for some that I need to complete the "Beach Baby" outfit for the baby expected in June. As usual, given the cost of postage, I made it more worthwhile by buying a number of sets that I found appealing, as well as the ones I really need...!

Posted on March 3, 2020 at 10:12 AM. Category: Crafts.

Saturday February 29, 2020

Books in February

• This Golden Fleece by Esther Rutter
  I heard Esther Rutter on Saturday Live publicising this book as I drove back from Scotland last December. She talked about her family life and growing up on a sheep farm in Suffolk, and how, after a degree in English, she managed to gain sponsorship to write this book, and the trials of her rather basic existence while she did it. Over 12 months (12 chapters and 12 pieces of knitting) she describes the histories of communities whose lives were shaped by wool. This is a meditation on the craft and history of knitting, rather than a book of patterns. I thought I might "knit along" with her painstaking pieces - but (luckily) that's not really the aim of the book.
  Note 1: If you go to the Saturday Live piece, do listen to Jason Manford as well as Esther - his amusing reminiscences of his childhood holiday at Butlins really struck a chord with me (and he is very funny).
  Note 2: Esther also appeared on Woman's Hour earlier in the year: 7 minutes on the "secret feminist history of knitting".


• The Last by Hanna Jameson [read by Anthony Starke]
  This is a story about the end of the world - or the world as we know it - or the Western world. The ensuing chaos is horribly realistic from the point of view of 20 people staying in a remote hotel in Switzerland. They pool their resources (good for some period in a hotel) but others covet their food, and it's pretty obvious to all that bullies will rule - and guns talk.
  Against this pretty devastating backdrop, there is some kind of murder mystery which the protagonist tried to solve. But of course he has no idea how the killer could be brought to justice even if he does.
  In my view the scenario is written so vividly that it is more interesting and has more tension than the mystery.


• The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves [read by John Telfer ]
  Just before the Shetland novels came into being, Ann wrote this - now, a stand-alone novel since she did not revisit the main characters (Detective Peter Porteous and Hannah Morton).
  The story revolves around a cold case (increasingly popular in fiction and "real crime"): a body is found in a lake, and finally deduced to be a teenager who went missing in 1972. Of course identifying the lad has repercussions for everyone who knew him all those years ago....
  

Posted on February 29, 2020 at 5:33 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Tuesday February 25, 2020

Conical People ... and Bread

Adrian demonstrates the personal protective equipment necessary for the correct handling of lardy bread.

Conical People and Bread - the Book - has arrived! You can read all about Felicity and the life Dada here.

And below explains (or validates) my interest in the book...

Posted on February 25, 2020 at 5:57 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Sunday February 23, 2020

Unravel 2020

Alison and I met up for our second year together at the Maltings, including cheese scones, and another yummy meal out in the evening at the Giggling Squid in Farnham (does this now count as a tradition?). As requested last year, we returned to Kettle Yarns to show off our matching sweaters (we only felt slightly silly...).
We spent some good time looking at buttons and, at Textile Garden, Alison finally found some suitable ones for Orkney, (which is in the closing stages of construction: many ends!). Inspired by their beautiful buttons, I bought some vintage buttons....

...and a couple of balls of sock yarn (always useful...).

Posted on February 23, 2020 at 9:46 PM. Category: Knitting and Crochet.

Saturday February 22, 2020

Fancy Brioche

I attended the follow-up to our original "Brioche" class in the summer of 2018, Yet again I turned to thinking that I should redraft my fisherman's rib hat in two colours.... but it never seems to get further than the thought.

Posted on February 22, 2020 at 5:45 PM. Category: Knitting and Crochet.

Friday February 21, 2020

Much Ado About Falstaff

Following our previous visit to the The Phoenix Theatre and Arts Centre in Bordon for Three Men in a Boat we went to see Simon Downing's new play about Sir John Falstaff...a rogue, a philanderer and a glutton, but also one of Shakespeare's greatest and enduring comic creations.
Falstaff, was played by Giles Shenton (Old Herbaceous & Three Men in a Boat) and we found him in his bedroom in the Boars Head being nursed by Mistress Quickly, (played by Suzanna Walters).

Posted on February 21, 2020 at 5:48 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Thursday February 20, 2020

A Number

"How might a son feel to discover that he is only one of a number of identical copies? What happens when a father is confronted by the results of an outrageous genetic experiment?"

For a change, George got these tickets for the Bridge (a theatre I really like, but with a fairly high price point - especially for such a short play), so all in all, it's turning out to be a week full of theatrical experiences.

Directed by Polly Findlay, the play is a Caryl Churchill (award-winning) drama, from 2002, and stars Roger Allam (a favourite of ours) as Salter, the father, and Colin Morgan as (all) his sons. It is always a joy to see excellent actors just doing their thing with such apparent ease. The set was interesting, with the same room viewed from different perspectives, and cleverly providing different focal points to play to each section of the audience.

Posted on February 20, 2020 at 5:52 PM. Category: Days Out.

Thursday February 6, 2020

My Cousin Rachel

George liked it - I thought it was entertaining. I couldn't quite cope with a bewigged Helen George as the Italian Rachel, although she is deemed to be the strongest cast member.
The only thing I think I would have really preferred was to have a more open verdict as to Rachel's guilt or innocence (or more likely somewhere in between). This play definitely made you think she was innocent of any wrong-doing and thus deeply misjudged and effectively murdered by Philip. From the book, we know that this is certainly how he felt at the end... but I am not sure that we were ever really sure.
I thought I might be over-influenced by Olivia de Havilland - who I thought was a perfect Rachel in the 1952 film- but the film again confirms what I believe the book does not (and also lacks a physical sexual encounter, which I think is quite important in the context of how Rachel is "judged" - settling for a more acceptable "passionate kiss").

Posted on February 6, 2020 at 5:55 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Tuesday February 4, 2020

The Personal History of David Copperfield

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, Link

This is an absolutely brilliant film. A completely new, comic, and charming version of the Dickens novel where the autobiographical aspect of the storyline has David writing the novel as we watch it performed - even to the extent of difficult characters fully engaged in writing themselves out (Dora) - in a surreal world full of words and imagination.
And Armando Iannucci - also brilliant - in everything he does (or so it seems to me).

Posted on February 4, 2020 at 11:14 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Friday January 31, 2020

Books in January

• Murder on Christmas Eve edited by Cecily Gayford
  A collection of 10 Christmas themed short stories by classic mystery writers
  • The Trinity Cat Ellis Peters
  • The Santa Claus Cat Julian Symons
  • The Four Seasons Michael Innes
  • No Sanity Claus Ian Rankin
  • The Footprint in the Sky John Dickson Carr
  • A Wife in a Million Val McDermid
  • The Dagger with Wings G K Chesterton
  • Cambric Tea Marjorie Bowen
  • As Dark as Christmas Gets Lawrence Block
  • On Christmas Day in the Morning Marjorie Allingham
  
  
• Prophecy by S.J. Parris [read by Laurence Kennedy]
  It's Autumn, 1583. Rumours and predictions abound. Mary Stuart's supporters, always scheming to usurp Elizabeth, take heart and advantage of the astrological year of the Great Conjunction (once in a thousand years), when the two most powerful planets, Jupiter and Saturn, align. Murders at the palace are dressed up with occult symbolism, but Bruno can see they may have a more political motivation.
  John Dee appears as a character in this book, in which we see his diminishing influence at court and his leanings towards the supernatural. This and his use of a crystal-gazer (charlatan), finally leads to his leaving England. [Bruno of course is delighted to know him and have use of his library during this period].


• The Waters Edge by Karin Fossum [read by David Rintoul]
  I realise this description may contain >>spoilers<< (but probably best not to read this author expecting a traditional whodunnit).
  A very sad tale (when are they not?) investigating the murder of a young boy. We see things from the perspective of the criminal (clearly bonkers), and the altogether weird behaviour of the male half of the couple that found the body. The death seems to be "natural causes" but clearly brought on by some kind of assault.
  Weeks go by with suspicions of a "man seen in the woods" but no arrest - then a second boy goes missing. The police finally move in on the man guilty of the assault - but it is Inspector Sejer who deduces the even sadder fate of the second child.
  

Posted on January 31, 2020 at 7:17 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Sunday January 26, 2020

..and Relax...

Alison took me to a spa for my birthday - we had beauty treatments - see how relaxed and beautiful we look.

Posted on January 26, 2020 at 10:55 PM. Category: Days Out.

Saturday January 25, 2020

Tutankhamun

Commemorating 100 years since the discovery of the now famous tomb, I got tickets for this much-publicised event long in advance. I wanted to go as a sort of commemoration of my sister and I going to the exhibition at the British Museum in 1972. At that time, (amazingly to me, practically half a century ago in itself), we waited in a queue miles down the road, for what seemed like ages; it was a bit like viewing the Crown Jewels, or the Bayeux Tapestry - filing past. I think for today's event at the Saatchi Gallery, it was more free format, with the queuing pretty well-managed using timed entries - however, it was, predictably, really crowded.
From memory, the exhibition was smaller than 1972 - and, as made clear beforehand, did not include the trademark "mask", since after the stresses of that tour in the seventies, the Egyptian Government wisely decided the major treasures were not to leave their home in Egypt ever again. However, there were so very many of the "wonderful things" on view as well as a lot of really good use of multimedia, providing additional interest and mitigating the negative effects of the crowding.

Once outside the gallery again, we found the food market, and ate interesting scotch eggs for lunch "on the hoof" in the open air. [I chose a never-before-experienced fishy one, and can only say I can't imagine why I ever thought it might be nice...].

I see there is a museum in Dorchester housing a recreation of Tutankhamun's tomb and treasures. I have not been there (yet) but it seems well worth a visit if you can't get to Egypt.
There is also an intriguing Griffith Institute project (part of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University), to make their many resources available on-line - including the records of Howard Carter.

(Harry Burton black and white photograph, digitally colourised.)

Posted on January 25, 2020 at 9:57 AM. Category: Days Out.

Thursday January 23, 2020

Tate Modern

Limbering up for a busy week ahead for me (I think I am busy when I do more than one outing a week.... there seems to be so much planning involved these days: packed lunches, flasks, tartan blanket....) we went to the Tate Modern. Given my supposed new-found interest black and white photography, I wanted particularly to see their exhibition of Dora Maar's work. She is well-known for her surreal photo montage work, (which coincidentally struck a chord with some of the current fiction books I have been reading). I found it interesting that she was a commercial artist creating arty photos for the fashion world and advertising. I think (I have read) that quite a lot of women artists in this period (which, post WW1, was an emancipation of sorts) took up photography to make a living, as it was a newer art form without the "rules" encompassing traditional art - rules which generally excluded women. I found her camera-less photographs she made in the darkroom in the 1980s very interesting - looking back, Rob had a phase of this kind of experimentation, probably in much the same time period.
Side-stepping emancipation - she is also the subject of in a number of her lover Picasso's paintings with whom she was notably involved for a number of years.

We then drifted into the Dóra Maurer exhibtion. She trained as a graphic artist in the fifties, and in her career of over 50 years, she has worked in almost every medium, from film and photography, to painting, performance, and sculpture. The exhibition has 5 rooms following her career, focusing on the themes of movement, displacement, perception and transformation. The breadth of her work - in colour geometry, and trempe l'oeuil - is fascinating.

Based on her idea to use vacant rooms in the Schloss Buchberg for permanent art installations, in 1982, Dóra Maurer provided a geometric colour installation as the first site-specific art work. Gertraud and Dieter Bogner now house a unique collection of such conceptual artworks.

Finally, we viewed exhibits by Yin Xiuzhen, a (female) Chinese experimental artist who explores issues of globalisation and cultural identity. This is called "weapons" - but at the time we viewed them we did not know what they were and interestingly Rob saw only "some kind of musical instrument perhaps". The "missiles" are made using fabric from second-hand clothing; the worn textiles are stretched over a frame of extendable curtain rods and metal hoops.

The exhibit in the Turbine Hall was the rather spectacular (and large) Kara Walker's Fons Americanus, inspired (in a negative context) by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.

Posted on January 23, 2020 at 9:37 AM. Category: Days Out.

Tuesday January 21, 2020

1917

An excellent film and definitely worth the awards and all the general hype.

"Inspired by his grandfather's experiences as a soldier in World War I, the writer-director Sam Mendes has made a harrowing combat picture by way of a suspenseful, beat-the-clock thriller about two British soldiers on a dangerous mission in northern France in April 1917."

Posted on January 21, 2020 at 5:40 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Friday January 17, 2020

Fleetwith

I'm making Fleetwith using some rather nifty little helpers that I want to share - one is an app from the web, and the other is a little invention of my own.

The App:
The Fleetwith pattern is made up of 5 panels, which each have different repeats, so I felt that for the first time ever that an app might be better than a piece of paper. The right app turned out to be Knit Counter Lite (for the iPhone in my case) - which does very simply exactly what I needed, and is, astonishingly, - free. It is so good that I would pay for the full product; however, one of the main differentials is that Lite is limited to only one project - but frankly I hope never to have more than one project as complex as this on the go at the same time...
Knit Counter is set up so that as you increment the rows it also rolls round the counters for the repeats, independently, so you always know where you are in each panel.

The Stitch Markers:

To separate the panels, I started by using a huge number from my collection of stitch markers, trying to match them in pairs for each panel. It gradually dawned on me that it would be quite useful to have the markers labelled according to the name of the panel. I looked for markers with letters - and found some but they were mostly in sets A-Z and rather expensive so I decided to make my own. I ordered beads from Spoilt Rotten Beads with exactly the letters I needed (6xE, 4xA, 4xB, 2xC, 2xD), and made the markers using Coats (vintage?) 0.5mm wire following a method I found on YouTube. It was not quite a simple as shown - I used Araldite glue and it was difficult on such a small scale, and I was nervous about the flimsiness of the fine wire needed to go through the holes in the beads.
Luckily, the result is better than I could have imagined. The markers are delicate and smooth, so don't get in the way of the knitting, and seem quite robust so far...

As a footnote: I wanted to knit this rather complicated and LARGE project (capacious sweater and cowl) and started with the best of intentions using some vintage stash wool in a lovely cherry colour. However, it turned out (don't ask about a swatch) that after I had completed a couple of inches I realised that Rowan Valley Tweed is not actually a 4 ply, so the tension was not right, but also that even though in theory I had plenty of the vintage (thinner) wool, it's yardage did not match that of Valley Tweed.

Fast forward: after loads of unravelling, moving to larger needles, adapting the pattern to be very slightly less capacious.... and using my nifty little helpers, it's all going swimmingly.

Posted on January 17, 2020 at 5:20 PM. Category: Knitting and Crochet.