catch up

A quiet few days it seems, but that usually means that there’s plenty going on, keeping me out of mischief.

I’ve been busy in the studio, making things which can’t be revealed just yet and yes, learning something new every day.  Yesterday’s lesson was that however many blue threads I possess, it doesn’t mean that I have the right blue to repair my sweater.  Oh well, I went for the right hue if not quite a dark enough tone and muttered the old “done is better than perfect” saying to myself.

Today, I’m preparing one or two bits for our WI competition tonight.  I’ve made a card, printed out a photo featuring a tree, the bread’s rising as I write and I’ve found a suitable item for Class 10.  It was no trouble at all to find my entry for Class 9! 

One of our members came up with this pattern for a knitted poppy which has been doing the rounds of a nearby village.  So, sample knit and pattern printed out to take along tonight for donations for the Poppy Appeal.  How quickly it comes around again.

Finally, in my spare time (!) I’m aiming to play along with Team Tolstoy.  I succumbed to the temptations of the new Kindle recently and have loaded it with 79p’s worth of War and Peace, ready for the off.  As you can see, I’ve been in training during the last few days.

Anyone else fancy the challenge?

Unpacking

It’s such a horrible job to unpack a suitcase following a road trip.  Fortunately there’s the added bonus of discovering a little treasure or two, acquired along the way.

The first little bundle of goodness was fairly near the top since I bought these dear little notebooks in Montreal, at L’Essence du Papier .  Perfect for my handbag notebook, I would have loved one in each colour.  As it is, I settled for four.  Each has a little removable frame on the cover and a moleskine-style pocket inside both back and front covers.

I also found a few KnockKnock goodies here and at Kate’s in New York.  The larger notebook will be perfect for my work meetings, allowing space for all kinds of doodling alongside the more serious stuff.  The post it notes will hopefully bring a smile from time to time.

Spending time with booky friends means that not only have the books which I left with been swapped and traded, but I’ve gathered some treasures along the way as well.  Jordi provided me with much reading material for the journey in the form of several Surface Design Journals which not only entertained me but have found a new home with Nadine.  She also added to my Keith Smith collection though, with the Text book which is a fascinating if slightly odd subject to appreciate.  Fortunately she knew it would be right up my street!

I found the Japanese book about creating travel journals in Kinokuniya in New York and couldn’t resist.  I did, however, resist this.  At more than $50 for a fairly small (but absolutely divine) paperback book it will have to stay on my wish list for a little longer!

Finally, the Personal Best book was a gift from a dear LA friend who has family connections with the author.  I shall enjoy reading that one, especially in the light of my coaching training!

The Kool-aid supplies are replenished and I’m looking forward to a flavor-filled, fun-packed session with friends soon.

Nadine brought treasure to share, including what looks like a great way to add a little maple goodness to our morning bowl of cereal.  She also brought maple syrup sweeties but you didn’t really expect those to last long enough for a photo, did you?

Mary, our travelling companion, gave me a great Couture Planet bag to put all my goodies in, sourced from our friend Elizabeth in LA (you might remember this)  Needless to say, my thoughtful honorary sister chose it especially because of the world traveller design which someone around here hasn’t examined closely yet.

Yes, that’s an imaginary world train map to work out.

I’ve already confessed to a few goodies in Purl (where I was rather restrained, I think) and magnetic bag clasps and things in M&J trimmings.

Finally, it would appear that we are amongst the last people to learn about cooking a chicken on a beer can.  Jordi, Mary and Nadine could all recommend this method and we came across a variety of gizmos to assist the process.  But this beauty was found in the smartest of kitchen shops and we succumbed.

We’ll give it a try tonight and report back soon.

Update on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 7:12PM by Gill Thomas

Moist, tasty and full of flavour, our chicken turned out beautifully and I can recommend this method of cooking.  The added (and surprising) bonus was the cup of jus which replaced the beer I'd poured into the lower part of the stand before cooking.  I used the basic rub recipe from the book I linked to above - click on "See inside" for a great deal of information and recipes...so much that I doubt if we need to buy the book itself.

Except Mark just found Root Beer Game Hens in the table of contents.  Had I not tried and loved Nigella's ham in Coca Cola I'd have written that one off immediately, but now, I'm not so sure.

Bon appetit!

Another book to start

But sadly, not at all as satisfying as the last.  To be fair, it possibly suffered from comparison with The Childrens Book and I don’t seem to be the only one in feeling that it was in a different league altogether.

The Very Thought of You was my book group’s choice for last night’s meeting and as usual, I feared that I would be there with my usual excuses of not having read the whole book before I got there.  Actually, I started it just the previous day and found it such an easy read that I’d finished it well beforehand.

Rosie Alison’s first novel was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, which seemed to be a good indicator of a quality read with plenty of “meat” for discussion.  That there was plenty to discuss was accurate, but most of us felt it was a slight, under-developed novel with little shape to the plot.  After the riches of AS Byatt’s fully formed and greatly detailed work, this seemed to be a dandelion puff in the wind, which was disappointing.  Reading around the blogs and review pages, it would appear that most agree that it’s outclassed by the other Orange Prize shortlisters, which we found hardly surprising.

Next choice is Before the Earthquake which looks quite promising.  Fingers crossed!

Generations

Isn’t this the most gorgeous cover for a book?  Better still in real life, with the hint of gold there in the rich blue.

I took Georgina’s advice about my holiday reading and was delighted I took AS Byatt’s The Children’s Book with me, for not only was it long enough for my ten day cruise, it was also thought provoking enough for an absorbing read.  I’ve linked to Dove Grey Reader’s review because it sums up my own thoughts rather better than some of the more carping comments on the Amazon.uk site.  I’ll admit that, at times, the laboured details and factual research findings got in the way a little, but such minor irritations are easily forgiven when a story is so beautifully constructed.

I loved reading about that golden generation, the promise of so many opportunities as the world opened up before them.  The way that small parallels were drawn between life events and artistic pursuits.  As I read further into the book I thought that there was not going to be enough time/space to include the horrors I knew would follow, but I was wrong.  The last part of the story has an inevitability to it and yet there are still surprises and it ends with a satisfying conclusion.

Definitely one of those books which is closed with a sigh and a feeling of slight sadness for having finished it.

It was still very much in my mind at the weekend, when old photographs and family stories were very much “on topic”.  My parents were part of the wartime generation and though they were both born and brought up in a city, their friends were country people. They socialised with the Young Farmers and a particular bunch usually referred to as “The Moore’s Boys”.

The Moores even had a cricket team who played matches in one of the pastures normally used for the dairy herd – there’s Daddy, front row, first from the left, because though there were quite a few “Boys”, clearly the team needed the support of a few friends as well.

I was used to hearing the familiar names of these friends, even though I really didn’t know many of them personally.  Occasionally, I would hear of a surprise meeting – on one occasion, they were delighted to find one of the Moores on the same package holiday as them.  But of course, as they got older, their numbers diminished and sadly, by the time Mummy died in 2008, there was just one remaining “boy” who was known to me.  Charlie.

The Children’s Book was still in my mind, as I was thinking about the generation of young men and women, including my parents at the Young Farmers dance in the photograph.  Fresh from the war, ready to make new lives for themselves, full of hope and energy.  As we gathered a few last things together, I was chatting to Auntie Jean about the cricket pitch on the farm and the photographs I’d been looking at.

“Oh, by the way”, she said, “did you know Charlie died?”

Another chapter finished.  I sighed and closed the book.

Nothing to read

Seeing this shelf of books reminds me of a game I played when I was small, when I would whinge to my Mum about having nothing to read.  Of course, it was no more true then as it is today.  I was a bookworm and devoured books from the library as well as those bought for me by my parents, who enjoyed nothing more than seeing me with my head in a book.  But I would go on whingeing until Mummy stopped what she was doing and went to the bookshelf to go through every book in turn with the same question:

“How about “The Chalet School Triplets”?”

“I’ve read it”

“How about “Upper Fourth at Malory Towers”?

“I’ve grown out of Enid Blyton”

“I don’t think you’ve read “Ballet Shoes” yet have you…?”   and so on.  Of course, I had an answer for them all and simply enjoyed the attention, the fact that we both knew it was a game and having reached the end of the bookshelf, I’d settle for one of the first ones she’d mentioned.  Bless her…she always played along, always had the patience to go through every book in turn, with full knowledge that we’d have to reach the end of the shelf before I was satisfied.

So, looking at my shelf today, thinking that I’d spend this a Sunday afternoon with a book, I find myself going through the same process myself.  The thing is, I begin with the certain knowledge that I’ve not read any of these, even if I have made a half-hearted start on a couple.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was my last book group choice, but I couldn’t make the meeting and though I took it to Suffolk with me, I didn’t get past the first twenty pages or so.  I have been dipping in and out of The Girl on the Wall for it’s an easy read in short bursts.  But the book itself is incredibly heavy, making it a difficult one to carry out in my bag or to read in bed.  The Very Thought of You is my next book group choice and so there’s pressure to read that one soon, but the Margaret Forster Isa and May is so very tempting.  As is the new Bill Bryson, which I dipped into in a few places before bringing it home with me, half price from Waterstones and even cheaper than that when I discovered I had more than £5 on my point card.

Then, my friend Olga was reading Alone in Berlin and, having read another Fallada classic “Kleiner Mann was nun?” auf Deutsch when I did that kind of thing, I added it to my pile.  That was before I read the review that ended “Alone in Berlin is an exhausting book, gruesome and harrowing, but as morally powerful as anything I’ve ever read.”  Hmm.  Perhaps not a Sunday afternoon read?

And so it goes.  Brooklyn came via my good friend Mary, having been highly recommended by  Jordi who somehow finds time to read erudite novels and knit the most amazing socks.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society found its way to my shelf by a similar transatlantic route and the Per Pettersens arrived as part of my Scandinavian jag last Summer.

But, true to type, having gone through the whole shelf, I remember that I’m actually quite enjoying the Kiran Desai right now and had forgotten all about it, having left it on the kitchen table where it became covered with the usual clutter of everyday life. 

Now, the next decision is what to take on holiday with me later this week?  Will it be two or three short, reliable, easy reads or a single weighty tome to get my teeth into?  I’m thinking AS Byatt, maybe?