What I've read lately

One of the things I hoped to do more of now that I have more time on my hands was to read more, and that’s starting to pick up pace. I know though, and it’s been proven again these past few weeks, is that once I get into a good book I want to devour it above anything else.

Earlier in the summer I signed up for a two month trial of Kindle Unlimited, and that is coming to a close so I also need to weigh up if I’ll continue with that. The non-trial price is £7.99 monthly (this isn’t an ad) and I’ve certainly downloaded and read a good number of books during the initial period so it’s something I’m giving serious consideration to.

But anyway, onto where I’ve been escaping to.

1 (to 3) The Raj Hotel Series, Janet Macleod Trotter

I’m starting with my most recent reads, and this series of three books had me hooked. These were the books that had me rationing the time I spent reading, or trying to. The three books are:

1. The Emerald Affair

2. The Sapphire Child

3. The Diamond Daughter.

The books are set in India, the first is set in the aftermath of the First World War and the last in 1946 post-war India. The stories tell of the main characters, Tom and Esmie and their families through this time. As you’d expect it’s not quite as simple as that - there’s marriages, adventures, plenty of emotion and all set against the historic backdrop in a way that makes you really care for the storyline. The first book focuses on Tom and Esmie, the second friends Stella and Andrew and the third Jeanie, a new character, who returns to her husband after being separated during the war. The stories are entwined throughout, and while not wanting to give the ending away, I didn’t see it all coming. Some of it, yes, but not all but that doesn’t lessen it in any way. I’m just sorry they ended, but I’m so glad I read them in the right order!

4 and 5 The Cove and The Creek, L J Ross

These books are billed as ‘a summer suspense mystery’ and they certainly were. Again the books are related but these could be read in any order, the story isn’t dependant on that. The Cove starts with Gabrielle learning that surviving is harder than being a victim. Her life is turned upside down by an incident and she struggles, so she makes a huge change moving to Cornwall and taking a new job. The book follows her journey has some romance, some suspense and some rugged Cornish scenery - again some of this one you see coming and it’s enjoyable for that.

The Creek starts with completely different main characters though gradually the links appear. There’s similarities in the storyline and I’m still wondering if they were comforting or just annoyed me. But overall I enjoyed both books, and I hope to read some more by this author to ascertain it’s not just a formulaic approach that’s been taken.

6 The Lake Palace, Ann Bennett

This one had me in tears. It’s set in both India in 1944 and then later in 1985 when Iris, a recent widow, returns to India on holiday and revisits the Lake Palace and other haunts from her earlier life. She uncovers long-buried truths from the war years when trying to discover what happened to her beau, Edward Stark. A truly emotional and heart-wrenching story, with a travelling companion who at times showed serious Hyacinth Bucket tendencies.

What’s next?

I have currently have two books on the started but not finished pile. I think I’ll finish both, but they’re taking me longer than the ones above, but I think that’s a reflection on me rather than the books themselves. They are:

• The Storyteller of Casablanca, Fiona Valpy - this one is written in a diary style that was quite similar to The Lake Palace above, and I picked it up immediately afterwards. I think I’ve not got into this one so quickly because of that, and because of how gripped I was with that.

• The Wilderness Cure, Mo Wilde - this one is a slow burn and one I want to savour, much like the author and her foraging. Again it’s another diary format, but this one documents the challenge the author set herself in 2020 to eat only wild food for a year. And as if that wasn’t challenging enough, to start that in November without overly stocking up in advance. It’s beautifully written but in a more factual and analytical way, and so isn’t one that I want to devour at the same speed - which given the subject matter seems only right.

So that’s it for now on what I’ve read and what I’m still reading, I’m hoping to make progress on the two above and with others already in my kindle library too. I’m still targeting 22 minutes a day for reading (it’s 2022 so I’ve upped my time this year), though sometimes as you can probably tell it goes way above this - and that’s perfectly fine by me most of the time!

My garden in July

It’ll be no surprise to anyone that the hot weather from last month continued into July, with a heatwave forecast including a red weather warning and temperatures of 40 degrees. Not something any of us really expected, nor enjoyed I’m sure. My garden definitely didn’t!

At the start of the month I was keen to add some more colour to the pots so headed off to our local garden centre. Thankfully most of these plants have survived the warm summer remarkably well, and I’m hopeful that the non-bedding plants will be able to recover even more once the temperatures cool (assuming that the temperatures will cool, that is).

Last month the long awaited tree work took place and it was glorious to have so much light and ‘head space’ in the garden. All of the trees that were cut have since sprouted new growth, and are looking much less bare than they were. One of the sycamores especially, but we’ll come onto that - for now, keep this image in your mind.

The acer which we brought back from my FIL’s garden has had a couple of spurts of new growth, and it’s the reddest of all the leaves - colour, which is most welcome and can be enjoyed every time we use the patio. Considering the plant needed to be temporarily repotted and pruned for transport, it’s picked up and is now thriving. So much so that I’ve needed to turn the pot so that it doesn’t become too one-sided.

Our grass is coping less well with the weather. But reassuringly lots of the grass in the gardens around ours now have a similar hue, as does the grass in Greenwich Park and on Blackheath, so that’s something. I’m sure it will recover once there is rain, and plenty of it, but that didn’t arrive in July. Storms and flash floods have been forecast for August, but it wasn’t until the day I posted this that we had what I’d call ‘proper’ rain.

Elsewhere in the garden, and in sight of the patio, the hydrangeas are flowering. They’ve grown flower heads bigger than your fist, which have turned from green to the loveliest white. I’m so glad I opted for the ‘Annabelle’ it’s definitely a variety I’d have in a future garden.

Despite heading to the garden centre for pops of colour, the antirrhinums I chose were a zesty yellowy-green, but even so they couldn’t help but make me smile. Alongside the rich cerise of the ‘everlasting’ sweet peas, it’s quite a contrast but one I’m keen on.

The pear tree at the rear of the garden is full of pears. Which sounds more exciting that it’s likely to be. In all the time we’ve been here, we’ve not had one edible pear - they’re rock hard, even the squirrels reject them. But not until they’ve taken at least one bite, of course. They’re probably cooking pears, but for me it’s just good to watch them grow.

The much forecast high temperatures arrived, with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees celsius. Whatever your views on the heatwave and/or climate change, here in the UK we’re just not built for those kinds of temperatures. MOH was very much of the ‘how hot can it be’ opinion to start with, and after a brief foray onto our north facing garden’s patio, quickly returned and declared it to be ‘hotter than Barbados out there’ and therefore unsuitable for al fresco dining!

For the warmest of those two days we followed the advice on opening doors and windows early, then closing them and curtains during the peak warm hours. Even much later in the evening, it was still very warm and while a few spots of rain did fall - and were briefly refreshing - they’d pretty much dried up before they hit the ground.

Our plants were also drooping, and they’ve continued to droop and scorch as the thankfully-not-quite-as-high temperatures have continued. Seeing our usually perky fatsia with scorched and droopy leaves is very much a first. Of all the plants, in those two days it looked very much as I felt!

Throughout July we’ve continued to water our pots and the shrubs which seem to be affected most, giving them a good drenching every few days for the pots, or when needed for the shrubs. We’ve adapted how we wash up, using a bowl so that the water can be used in the garden too. Every time rain is forecast the garden trugs are positioned around the garden to collect rainwater, but not all of the rain forecast has arrived so it’s not been successful at all.

Despite this, the plants continue to amaze us - with pops of colour from the roses, bedding plants and sweet peas appearing for a few days then retreating to replenish themselves.

But most of all, it’s been the pollarded sycamores that have been the most amazing and adaptable. Though they clearly have deeper root systems, the difference in the photo here and the one earlier in the post is almost unbelievable isn’t it? No rain to speak of, and already they’re putting on a good show of fresh growth. I’ve been taking photos of them every few days, and feel an Instagram reel may be coming on at some point, as throughout August they’ve continued their growth.

Isn’t nature amazing?

Drying bay leaves

It seems funny to be writing a post sharing drying bay leaves on the day when we have finally got some proper rain here, but it’s a good as time as any. And by proper rain, I mean that is actually collecting in the trugs and watering cans I’ve left out specifically to catch the drops. Up until today, we’ve had some drizzle and light showers, but nothing that even covers the bottom of the smallest garden trug. Like many areas, the rain is much needed so hearing it about 3am this morning it was good to know that the forecast had finally come true. One spell of rain won’t fix the current issues, or the drought, but it is a most welcome start. Ironically, our hosepipe ban came into place yesterday…

But anyway on a much sunnier day last month I took my pruning shears to our two bay trees. They used to be in a similar spot in the garden, but somehow had got split up with one finding itself under more tree cover than the other. As a result this one was much leggier, and the leaves less dense - and it was in need of a good trim.

And there were too many leaves to just compost. The less-nibbled and better leaves were saved and washed so they could be dried, and with a needle and some offcuts of embroidery thread I had a mindful morning threading leaves into the very simplest of garlands ready for drying.

Previously when I’ve done this the weather has been less than constant, but this year with heatwave following heatwave, I confidently hung each mini ring over the willow spokes on our fence. It was only when I stepped back that I realised together they had created a festooned effect.

And yes, that’s a lot of bay leaves. My plan is to share the small garlands with family and friends, though I need to get better at remembering to take a bunch or two with me when we go visiting!

They’ve dried really well - as you’d expect with the weather we’ve been having, but I didn’t want them to get too dry. So they’ve been brought inside and have hung briefly on the dresser before being stored in air tight containers. So now I’ll have to redouble my efforts to remember to distribute them!

Uses for bay leaves

As well as using dried bay leaves in stews, sauces and stocks to add earthy flavours, I also use bay leaves:

• when boiling or steaming vegetables or fish,

• in bags of flour to deter mites, and

• on the barbecue with new potatoes, alternating potatoes and bay leaves.

I’m sure there’s many other uses for this versatile plant, let me know if you have a favourite way of using bay leaves and if you dry herbs from your garden.