Slowing down with a book or two

There’s no better way to slow life down than with a good book is there? After a busy few weeks, which has felt like it’s been at least a hundred miles per hour at times, it was nice to have some time over the Bank Holiday at home, with not much planned.

As is often the case though, when you slow down like this and the adrenaline stops, the bugs hit, and that’s just what happened. A week or so ago both MOH and I came home from work and headed straight to bed, which I said at the time was unusual. It seems we missed that warning, and after a slow and lovely, relaxing weekend, coupled with weather that’s a little bit too hot for me to function in properly, come Tuesday my body said slow down.

So I did, and I’ve had my nose in a book or two, well actually three.

Photo by James Tarbotton on Unsplash

1 Beneath the Surface, Fiona Neill

This is a story of a family, with two daughters and set in the Fens. The daughters are very different and there’s always something in the family, that’s beneath the surface, there always is, isn’t there? It was my first time reading Fiona Neill and I’m sure it won’t be my last. It’s about how the past informs the present, and a demonstration of how parents always want the best for the next generation. While I enjoyed the book, and I wanted to get to the end, the ending felt rushed and wasn’t satisfying - I kept flicking back, to see if there was something I’d missed, and flicking forward to check there wasn’t more to come, which was a shame really as otherwise I’d say read this one.

2 Rough Magic, Lara Prior-Palmer

This was an “out of my usual genre” book and one I’m still not sure about. It’s a first person account of Lara, a 19 year old on her experiences of a gruelling endurance horse race across Mongolia. I’m not into horses as you probably know if you read my blog, but I don’t think you need to be to read the book, at times though it all felt a bit distant.

The story explores her experiences of the race, comparing and contrasting them to growing up in England. There’s rivalry, obviously - it’s a race, and an unexpected outcome, even to the storyteller it seems, who seems to do things by chance, but then again she’s 19. The race is only seven days long, though that’s easy for me to say from my sunlounger, somehow though that’s lost as you’re caught up in the chase from station to station.

3 Ask Again, Yes, Mary Beth Keane

This is my must read recommendation. I read it in just over a day, which gives you an indication of how much it had me hooked. In fact, it was one of those books that when it ends, you have a smile on your face and a swell of pleasure in your chest, or I did anyway.

It’s a story of two generations of families, their tumultuous lives, which intertwine with twists and turns you wouldn’t expect. And importantly the ending is satisfying, I love it when a book ties up all the ends. It’s well written, and I cared for the main characters as their lives progress, and I wondered if they’ll repeat the mistakes or successes of their parents, and there’s a time when it could go either way.

There’s young love, a mother’s love, with hardship, heartbreak and devotion along the way too. It’s a book that satisfies, is true to life and I’ll be looking out for more titles from this author.

So there’s another three books, which adds to my reads from last month; two posts in two months, I really am spoiling myself with some good reads.

Reflecting on my week #96

Last week was a week for deliveries, and a week where I missed all of the deliveries for our recent purchases. Our new doormats arrived and were taken in by our neighbour, the bin arrived - more on that in a moment - and that was taken in by another neighbour, after a call from the delivery driver. He was perplexed as I was out, at work, it was Thursday and so was my neighbour. Outrageous, hey? But the ground floor flat saved the day by opening the door. Afterwards my colleagues were amused that the delivery driver knows the neighbour’s name, but then again, he does seem him, more than me! Then Friday another delivery, some shoes this time, and my neighbour was in. I am very lucky, he often works from home, so I hope when he says he doesn’t mind, he really doesn’t mind.

The mats came from Garden Trading, and I’d been eyeing them up for a while. I wanted a mat, that was narrow but long, and have struggled to find something that works. In the end I opted for two of these small star mats, and my plan is to gaffer tape them together (on the rubber back, obviously) so that they don’t become a slippy, slidey nightmare.

I was keen to have a mat (or mats) that were the width of one of our bi-fold doors, so that when we’re in and out there’s more mat to aim for. And less detritus brought inside. But I found that mats that were wide, were also deeper than I wanted. I found that I could get custom made mats, but they were just plain, and as you can see my penchant appears to be for patterned coir mats. Actually the made to measure, plain version will be useful for our porch, which is actually our smallest room in size and currently is ‘carpeted’ in coir, which could do with a bit of a refresh. It’s not square of course, so we’ll need to cut it to size, but I’m sure it’s do-able…

The bin, a new kitchen bin, arrived via a short sojourn in the ground floor flat, and again it’s another one we’ve been thinking about for a while. We saw it at Grand Designs in May, and now it’s here. It’s out of the box, but doesn’t have the batteries in yet - it’s one of those that you wave at to open, rather than the manual foot operated type. But six AA batteries, that’s a lot, they’d better last.

Both MOH and I were a bit under the weather last week, with different symptoms. Not bad enough to not go to work, but just lethargic enough that heading straight to bed for a snooze after a busy day was called for. It’s unusual for one of us to do that, let alone both of us on the same night. We’ve both recovered from/are recovering from our symptoms, but it’s a good reminder that we need to listen to our bodies more. I just wish mine wouldn’t feel the urge quite so often to talk to me at around 3:13am (and yes, I know that’s a precise time. I’ll happily not see it for a while)

I had planned to stay on track with this year’s #AugustBreak2019 over on my Instagram stories, but what with everything I’ve missed days here and there, and then been uninspired for other days. One of the prompts I did participate in though was numbers, which had me stumped for a while. Then I looked, and really saw, and even in the kitchen I was surrounded by them. And the hob made for an interesting picture too. Mindfulness, it seems to be working.

The rest of the week has been pretty mundane; two new pairs of the comfortable walking sandals arrived, and so I’ve bought in bulk (I really have, one pair the same as the ones I’ve been living in this summer, and another in a fuchsia pink colour, which I didn’t even know was an option before) I’ve started, and almost finished a new book - Beneath the Surface by Fiona Neill - well I need to do something in those early mornings, and I have new hair. Most of Saturday morning was spent being bleached and dyed, then dyed again and now I have significantly less greys and my ‘natural’ pink and orange highlights are showing again. This time the rest of my hair went a deeper brown than before, possibly darker than I thought, but it looks good and I’m loving the gloss that my hair has right now, as well as the unusual colour choice, for segments a layer or two down.

And I’ve finally finished tying in and untangling the plants just along from the patio. I’d paused work here as I wasn’t convinced the honeysuckle was still alive, but I’m happy to have been proved wrong. I’ve a feeling next year in the garden is going to be just a little more fragrant!

Reflecting on my week #95

It’s been another of those weeks where the work days fly past pretty much unmarked and almost unnoticed apart from the amount of time spent away from home, and where it feels like we’re living for the weekend. And in a way, we are, as without the confines of the office we can cram as much in as we can. Or we can choose to stop and chill.

Or do a bit of both. The end of last week saw both of those. A relaxing, but get things done kind of day at home, where I finally ordered a new kitchen bin (the one we saw at Grand Designs in May) and some doormats which I’d been pondering for a little while longer.

There was also a trip to Norfolk, in the wind, and after a short delay at the Blackwall Tunnel we were on our way. Only to be paused again a few miles further down the road, with a small fallen tree. Recognising that it could turn into one of those journeys, a loo stop was built in. Nearly four hours later we arrived armed with a fish and chip supper.

It’s often windy in Hunstanton, but even for there it was windy this weekend with its 50mph winds. So of course, what better than to go along the cliff tops for a walk?

It was hard work at times. Even the plants were struggling.

With the forecast proving to be correct, some indoor activity was needed. And that’s how we found ourselves in Setchey, close to Kings Lynn, wandering around a warehouse of antiques and collectibles. It was the sort of place that was displayed in a series of spaces, each with items belonging to a separate vendor.

The result was a visual assault on your senses, so much so that it was impossible to see everything on a single walk around the vast space. There were items along the way, like this Fab-licious sign, that seriously tempted me and challenged me to remember their exact locations, should temptation really bite and turn into a purchase.

There was a small decorative brass box, which I was so taken with somehow I didn’t even photograph, and now wish I had. But by then something else had caught my eye - a large basket of embroidery and crochet threads, which I immediately thought could work with the part-finished tablecloth, and project for the future, which I purchased in a similar kind of place in Suffolk a while back.

Looking back at that post I was pretty pleased with my colour matching memory. I was also pretty sure that I’d have fun just sorting through its contents, which turned out to be the case, I’m sharing more about what was in the basket in my next post, but no promises on exactly how I’ll use them!