Post Comment Love 27 - 29 October 2017

Hello there and welcome to another #PoCoLo - if you were here last week it was great to see you, if you're new here then welcome - we had some great reads linked up last week, and I'm hoping for more of the same again, I know you won't disappoint me.

Once again I'm writing this post early as last night I was out in town at  Habitat on Tottenham Court Road, there's lights involved (and cocktails and some tunes) so look out for more on that soon. 

It struck me when starting out to write this post that I've taken very few photos this week, so I'm heading back to one from the greenhouse with this lovely yellow flower - a zinnia - that's looking cheery and vibrant, if not a little late flowering. 

After the drama of my car last Friday evening I have been running around to try and sort out a replacement. I was right to think it would be an expensive week - but hopefully that will calm down and I'll have wheels again.  I didn't think I was that reliant on my car, but of course it all happened when we had a busy few weekends.  I mean, when else would it happen?!

But back to the lovely yellow zinnia, and I can be calm again...

Blogger Showcase: Andolina from Lessons from a Student Mom

Andolina is a stay at home mom and a college student, hence the name of her blog - Lessons from a Student Mom - and she loves learning, which is just as well as she finds blogging a never-ending learning experience. I think she's right when she says there's unlikely to be another industry has a community that is more focused on community growth, rather than personal growth.

You can read Andolina's full answers over on Morgan's blog this week, so do pop over and take a look. And don't forget to connect with Andolina on social media:  Twitter  -  Facebook  -  Pinterest  -  Instagram

An InLinkz Link-up

Choosing a quirky apartment, instead of a hotel in Porto

Usually our holidays tend to be cottage-based rather than in a hotel, and that's how we like them. And so when we were in Portugal I was keen for part of our trip to follow our preferred approach. I struck lucky in Porto finding the Apartment Bomfim 234, and as you can see from the photos it positively shines.

Unbelievably I booked it on Expedia.  I know, that surprised me too.  From the outside though you'd never have known what was inside. This was the view that met us as we opened the door.

I wouldn't call myself a natural fan of mid-century modern furniture, it's a style of furniture that while I admire, I skip over when choosing items for our home. I'm not sure if that is due to growing up in a sea of teak and G-plan furniture in the seventies or because I'm pre-disposed to other styles, but in this apartment I started to see what I was missing out on.

This cabinet was the winner for me, not that we had the TV on (that's a rarity on our holidays too), and I think it's the added colour that won me over. For me, that takes this style of furniture to another level and I've found myself admiring similar projects since I've been home. It moves it away from those seventies memories, and into something more up to date, don't you think?

But there was more to the apartment than the furniture. There was the layout. On the mezzanine level there was the bedroom, on the ground floor the sitting area and a half floor below housed the kitchen and bathroom.  

All were accessed by open staircases, which were the feature. These above, which lead to the bedroom do have a look of "shelves" about them, and were much easier to navigate than perhaps you'd expect.  

Upstairs the bedroom area, although snug, was just as stylish.  

When I say snug, there was just room for a bed, and just about enough room to get in it. Just, it was a bit of a squeeze, but I forgave it; its stylishness one me over. 

And, oh... the bedside lights.  A feature we both liked and a design element we're storing for the future.

Heading downstairs to the kitchen area felt in some ways more precarious, but no less stylish. MOH kept marvelling at the building regs and such like that made this possible, ever the practical one...

Standing at the kitchen table gave a great view up to the living area and full length windows, complete with shutters.

Now you might be thinking Porto, fabulous tiles and wondering where they are in this apartment. Well it didn't disappoint there either. They were saved for a full wall of pattern in the bathroom. 

My first thought was wow, they're busy, but that quickly turned to wow, they're beautiful. Beautiful close up and from more of a distance, and they certainly made an impact. With another idea for the future banked, and another style feature I'd usually shy away from I was having quite an epiphany, and we'd only just arrived in Porto!

As we headed out of the apartment to explore Porto some more I noticed the first of many more walls of tiles. These were in the hallway, which somehow I'd completely overlooked as we arrived. 

Geometrics are big in the shops here at the moment aren't they, but it seems in some places they've never gone away.

What I've read lately: The Wideacre Trilogy, Philippa Gregory

Well that's not entirely true. I've just started the second book, and I'm hoping it will have me hooked as much as part one. That was simply titled, Wideacre, and was one of those books that kept my interest throughout; I was so keen to make progress that I'd dip into it even if I had five minutes to spare. That gave me comfort, which was odd really as after a short reading burst like this I'd often find myself re-reading a section. I was keen to make progress, but wanted to savour the story and not miss anything that would give me a clue to the ending. 

Photo credit: Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

I anticipated a bit of a reading fest while we were away, but it didn't quite work out that way. I did finish a book - The Pie Life - I'd been reading on my phone, and then Wideacre took over.  I thought the book that had me hooked was a long one at 646 pages, but I've just checked and it was only half the length of The Pie Life, so maybe that's why that one took me a while to get through. 

But back to Wideacre...

I like books with strong female characters, and Wideacre certainly has that with Miss Beatrice; she loves the Wideacre Estate and is devastated by her inability to inherit it, with it instead going to her younger brother. She knows the land and is heralded as the greatest farmer around. Set in Georgian England she fights and plots to ensure her bloodline inherits.  It's a gripping tale with plenty of well thought out characters, as you'd expect from one of Philippa Gregory's books. I've read her Tudor novels - and they get the same treatment from me - so I was pleased this also had me gripped.

There's dark secrets at Wideacre and as the first of the trilogy as you'd expect there are at least a couple of loose ends.  Beatrice does marry, and that adds further intrigue to the story, and my one criticism of the book is shortly after her marriage she celebrates her nineteenth birthday. I'd assumed by the time she married she was much older, and so I found myself skipping backwards to double-check it wasn't a mistake. It wasn't - of course - but I'd have liked a bit more of a clue to her age before that.

The second book starts, as you'd expect, with a piece that sets the scene and already I can't help but think there'll be similarities in the plot. I found myself reading this chapter hungrily, wanting to know whose voice it was.  I've learnt who, and I'm not going to share that, but I am going to recommend this series.

And to give you an idea of how much I wanted to continue the story, I've broken my own rule and paid £3.99 for the second book so I can continue the momentum!  I make no apology for getting my head stuck in a book, e-book or what, there's nothing like a good story, is there?