As we draw nearer to the Autumn and the weather cools, I am thinking about gaps in my wardrobe. I am trying to lose weight, but know that I may not be very successful, due to the side-effects from many of my medications. Because of this, quite a few of my clothes are getting rather tight. I believe that clothing looks better when it fits properly, neither too loose nor too tight. As my body shape is not ideal, it is difficult to find items that fit well and I am not wealthy enough to be able to afford tailored outfits! So, I have to do the best I can with online shopping and I tend to stick to brands that have worked for me in the past.
That’s why I buy a lot of clothing from Lands’ End. I like their quality: everything I have bought from them so far has been well made and has washed well. I like their colours: I have been able to find a range of items in my colour scheme. And I like their offers and sales: I hardly ever buy anything from them at the full price.
My trusty jeans are a little on the tight side and I have a range of very casual lounge wear/joggers in navy, but I thought there was room in my wardrobe for another pair of “bottoms”. When I saw a discount offer at 40% off trousers at Lands’ End, I bought these stretchy cords in navy. They aren’t the most elegant of items, but I know they will fit and will be comfortable for me as I already have them in brown (which I will soon be removing as I am no longer wearing this colour, apart from a very few items).
Here they are… (apologies for the small image)…
Navy cord trousers – Lands’ End
Another, smaller, parcel also arrived today. Back in December, I bought some solid shampoo – Rapunzel from Feel Great Soap – which I am still using as it hasn’t run out yet! I thought that I would try some from another company next and ordered these – Lavender & Geranium soap and Rosemary & Lavender shampoo bar – from Wild Sage & Co. At some point in the future I may write a post reviewing these shampoo and soap bars from different companies. At the moment, I will just say that the Rapunzel bar from Feel Geeat Soap has been a great success so far and I love the effect on my hair. Let’s wait and see what the new ones are like.
Here they are…
Soaps from Wild Sage & Co
Tomorrow I will post an updated Diet and Exercise post.
So we have arrived at the last Reading Roundup of the month – how the year is flying by! I have finished three books this week (76 in the year so far) and am about halfway through a fourth. Our local Library is now closed for three weeks, but I have a massive pile of print books waiting for me, plus a number of downloaded ebooks. Enough to keep me going for a long time, I hope.
Skin Deep by Liz Nugent
My first book of the week was Skin Deep by Liz Nugent. Here is the blurb:
‘Once I had cleared the bottles away and washed the blood off the floor, I needed to get out of the flat.’
Cordelia Russell has been living on the Côte d’Azur for ten years, posing as a posh English woman fallen on hard times. But her luck is running out. Desperate to escape her grotty flat and grim reality, Cordelia spends a night at a glittering party. Surrounded by the young, beautiful and privileged she feels her age and her poverty. As dawn breaks she stumbles home through the back streets. Even before she opens her door she can hear the flies buzzing. It hasn’t taken long for the corpse in her bedroom to commence decomposing …
Liz Nugent’s novel is the dark, twisted and shocking story of what takes Cordelia from an island childhood in Ireland to ruins in Nice.
I gave this book book four stars on Goodreads and wrote the following review:
This books is so very difficult to review. It is basically the story of an unpleasant, narcissistic and very damaged woman from her beginnings on a remote Irish island through her life in London and more exotic locations. She is a character that we can love to hate and her actions, whilst often nasty and horrible, become almost understood if the reader can twist themselves to see events from her point of view. The book is brilliant, though, and I found it impossible to put down until I had finished it. Highly recommended, if you like dark thrillers.
I will reserve more books by this author as soon as I have finished writing this post – thank goodness that I can do this so easily online 😀.
The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh
My second read of the week was also worth four stars: The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh. The blurb is a bit sparse:
A woman disappears
One moment, Selena Cole is in the playground with her children and the next, she has vanished without a trace.
A woman returns
Twenty hours later, Selena is found safe and well, but with no memory of where she has been.
What took place in those missing hours, and are they linked to the discovery of a nearby murder?
‘Is it a forgetting or a deception?’
I hope that my review review is a little more helpful:
I have immediately reserved some more books by this author at our local library. This was a very intriguing read, with a plot narrated by numerous different characters interspersed with chapters about kidnapping. I found the book exciting and gripping, and didn’t work out “who-done-it” until everything was revealed – very unusual for me! An excellent read.
Love You Dead by Peter James
The third book was Love You Dead by Peter James, #12 in his Roy Grace series. This is the blurb:
An ugly duckling as a child, Jodie Bentley had two dreams in life – to be beautiful and rich. She’s achieved the first, with a little help from a plastic surgeon, and now she’s working hard on the second. Her philosophy on money is simple: you can either earn it or marry it. Marrying is easy, it’s getting rid of the husband afterwards that’s harder, that takes real skill. But hey, practice makes perfect . . .
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is feeling the pressure from his superiors, his previous case is still giving him sleepless nights, there have been major developments with his missing wife Sandy, and an old adversary is back. But worse than all of this, he now believes a Black Widow is operating in his city. One with a venomous mind . . . and venomous skills. Soon Grace comes to the frightening realization that he may have underestimated just how dangerous this lady is.
As I read this, I was rather shocked to realise that I hadn’t read any of this series before, as this example was so good! So I will rectify this straight away. Here is my review, for four stars:
An excellent read. I liked how the author weaves several plot strands together into one coherent whole. Although I have never read any other books from this series, I could enjoy the main story of the “Black Widow”, but also not feel put off by the obviously longer term story arcs from previous books. These arcs will also be carried forward into later books too and I became so intrigued that I have already ordered more books from the Library. A very well-written and gripping read. Recommended.
Need You Dead by Peter James
As I wrote in the review, I am now reading the next book in the series, Need You Dead by Peter James, and will eventually start at the beginning, as soon as I can get my hands on either the print or ebook versions.
And then I had to sit down for ages until I stopped wheezing and my ankle stopped throbbing. So my Personal Trainer, a.k.a. Lovely Husband, has now banned me from taking exercise until he thinks I am well enough to resume.
So, I have been in bed ever since ☹️.
Anyway, I did wear a nice outfit for about half an hour. You have to laugh, really 🤣😂😅😂🤣.
Today’s outfit:
Purple sapphire cotton vest – Lands’ End.
Navy cotton mix cardigan – Lands’ End.
Indigo jeans – Cotton Traders.
Amethyst and silver stud earrings – Blue Nile.
Multi-colour enamel and rose gold Hera bangle – Liberty.
Silk scarf, 90cm, in purple, turquoise, red and grey – Hera – Liberty. Another purple scarf, whilst I am on my purple kick!
Outfit of the day 28/08/18 with Liberty’s purple Hera scarf
I think that I might change my colour scheme later on in the week. It is just that I am enjoying planning outfits that go with my new handbag, even if I am not going out of the house. Bit of a logic fail there!
I am sitting in bed today in my pyjamas, having had a huge coughing and choking fit last night. The weekend was also pretty tough. Lovely Husband and I had a mutual Black Cloud, worrying about our present state as a family and also feeling very negative about the future. We really dragged each other down and both ended up feeling pretty terrible. When I have recovered a bit, physically, I will have to try really hard to pull myself, and then LH, out of our pity pit!
And then try to go for a walk!
Anyway, for once it was LH who didn’t want to go out of the house. I dressed myself up a bit on Saturday and Sunday in an attempt to cheer up. Well, when I say “dressed up”, I mean put on a nice top half, including a scarf and earrings, but left on my pyjama trousers. I would have changed into jeans or chinos if we had left the house – just in case anyone was wondering about that!
So here are my weekend “Outfits of the Day”…
Saturday’s outfit:
Purple sapphire cotton vest – Land’s End. This colour matches exactly one of the shades on the scarf, which is nice 😍.
Silk scarf, 90cm, in lilac, aqua, purple, green – Dans un Jardin Anglais – Hermès. Necklace tie.
Outfit of the day 25/08/18 with Hermès Dans un Jardin Anglais scarf
Here is the necklace tie in full, using Escales Mediterranéenes. It is very easy to do – just put the scarf into a bias fold, then tie a simple knot in the centre, tie the two ends together and then place around the neck. MaiTai shows this with more knots around the scarf. It is a nice way of wearing a 90cm scarf on a warm day as most of the thickness is away from the neck.
Escales Mediterranéenes in a necklace tie
MaiTai’s tutorial from YouTube (the link to her main website is in the sidebar):
Sunday’s outfit: there was a real change in the weather as it was cold and very wet, so I wore my new cotton jumper from Lands’ End…
Radiant navy cotton cable jumper – Lands’ End.
Silver Celtic style earrings.
White enamel and silver bangle.
Silk scarf, 90cm, in navy, cobalt, grey and white – Owl in the City – Aspinal.
Outfit of the day 26/08/18 with Aspinal’s Owl in the City scarf
I used a bias fold and a very casual knot this time and even managed to get some of the owl’s wing on view 😍. As it was cold, I had to fluff out the part of the scarf around the back of my neck. Cold! After this hot Summer!
Every Friday I am hoping to be able to write out my exercise levels from the week before and perhaps any relevant comments about my diet. I will measure myself every four weeks and wait until my November hospital appointment to be weighed.
Outfit of the day 24/08/18 with Hermès Escales Mediterranéenes scarf
It was not a good week, as far as exercise was concerned. I had coughing attacks and was generally weak and ill, with my motivation at rock bottom. On a more positive note, I was able to get out of the house on three days and one of these “excursions” did involve me driving myself, instead of relying on family members. Also, I did keep to my diet with no relapses at all. I didn’t know that I had enough will power to avoid all “naughty” treats!
Exercise last week
Saturday 18/08/18:
Woke up extremely early and had to take Elder Son to catch train. Couldn’t get back to sleep when I returned.
Felt ill all day and stayed in bed.
Sunday 19/08/18:
Massive coughing attack in the night. Ill all day and spent most of it in bed.
Managed a few small tasks, but very little.
Monday 20/08/18:
Very weak and ill all day.
Tuesday 21/08/18:
Much better day. I drove myself to the hairdressers in the morning and also had a walk around the supermarket.
Organised a few tasks.
Wednesday 22/08/18
Went to doctor’s appointment in the morning. Felt very dizzy with low blood pressure.
Some household tasks.
Thursday 23/08/18:
Weak and ill all day again, although did help with some housework.
Friday 24/08/18:
Was taken to the Library today, so did walk a little. Very little sleep the night before, but did try to keep going.
My plan for next week is to try to regain some motivation for my walks around the block. Even doing those short walks made me feel better about myself in weeks one and two, so I hope I can be well enough to pick myself up again and get going. Wish me luck!
I am beginning to think about my colder weather wardrobe as the mornings get cooler and nights start to draw in. Earlier in the year I had a clear out of my old footwear, especially in colours that don’t work for me any more. Some of my ankle boots had definitely seen better days and others had heels that are far too high for me nowadays!
My thinking drew me back to the Duo Boots website (link in the sidebar), formerly known as Ted and Muffy, formerly known as Duo Boots! Their prices are quite high, but they do offer wide fitting boots, both in calf and foot size, which are great for me.
Anyway, here is the reveal…
The pretty shoe box, rather camouflaged against my duvet cover!
The open box…
Lovely navy suede ankle boots….
Here are the images of the boots from the Duo Boots website…
The heel height is perfect for me and the suede is a very good quality with a fine “grain”. The boots will look great with jeans and I will also wear them with my navy jersey skirts and, perhaps, my merino wool dresses later on in the year.
I have my eye on another pair of boots, but they will have to wait awhile until my money tree has been watered!
I have really enjoyed my reading this week, with a mixture of print and ebooks, and I will write about my choices further down this blog post.
When I last visited our local library, I was perturbed to see that it will be closed for three weeks from the Bank Holiday weekend onwards so that they can install some kind of automated admission system. As a retired librarian who passionately believes in the power of libraries to support communities, I am horrified to realise that this means fewer trained staff, fewer opportunities for visitors to interact with staff, shorter opening hours and also the prevention of younger children from visiting libraries without their parents or guardians. As a child, I regularly entered the library in Canterbury on my own and enjoyed browsing and reading for an afternoon. I didn’t need parental supervision and found the library a magical place to be. This massive dismantling of what Libraries mean to me is tragic for us all and, on a personal level, is having a terrible effect on my mental health. I think I am in a kind of mourning for all of the people who will never know the benefits of this wonderful community service.
Back to my books, after that short rant!
The Wolf by Alex Grecian
My first book of the week was The Wolf by Alex Grecian, in ebook format. Here is the blurb:
When State Trooper Skottie Foster moves back home to rural Kansas with her daughter, she’s hoping for a new start. But then a chance encounter on a snowy highway changes everything.
Travis Roan is a Nazi hunter, and he needs her help. Roan suspects this isolated region is home to one of the second world war’s most infamous killers, Rudolph Bormann – and he knows that if it’s true, Bormann isn’t one to give in without a fight.
As Roan encounters immediate resistance from the deeply suspicious community, it quickly becomes clear that Bormann’s new life in America is every bit as sinister as his awful past.
Neither Roan nor Foster imagines how dangerous – and how personal – their task will become…
I gave this book three stars on Goodreads and wrote the following review:
An interesting plot with well drawn characters. Dark, with touches of humour. Some parts were a little confusing, but, on the whole, I enjoyed this and would read more novels with Travis and Skottie and definitely Bear!
As as someone who has never owned a dog and is, in fact, quite frightened of them, it is possibly surprising that my favourite character in the book was the dog, Bear!
The Book of You by Claire Kendal
I am beginning to really dislike seeing books publicised as “perfect for fans of Gone Girl” or, indeed, perfect for fans of just about anything. This invariably ends up leading to disappointment and I tend to ignore such statements. I couldn’t see any echoes of Gone Girl in my next read: The Book Of You by Claire Kendal, apart from the fact that there were a number of twists in the plot. But then most books have plot twists. They add to the excitement! Anyway, this is the blurb:
Clarissa is becoming more and more frightened of her colleague, Rafe. He won’t leave her alone, and he refuses to take no for an answer. He is always there.
Being selected for jury service is a relief. The courtroom is a safe haven, a place where Rafe can’t be. But as a violent tale of kidnap and abuse unfolds, Clarissa begins to see parallels between her own situation and that of the young woman on the witness stand.
Realizing that she bears the burden of proof, Clarissa unravels the twisted, macabre fairytale that Rafe has spun around them – and discovers that the ending he envisions is more terrifying than she could have imagined.
And this is my review for four stars:
A very creepy psychological thriller. Two stories are woven together here: a courtroom battle and the tale of a highly unpleasant man stalking one of the jurors. One is told in the third person and the other in the first person. I thought that this was well done, when I got used to it. I also enjoyed the twists in the story, although not some of the more explicit scenes. I think that many women fear being the victim of stalking and wonder how this scenario should be handled. Whether Clarissa handles it well or not is debatable. In fact, there is a lot to think about in this book and it lingered in my mind long after I put it down.
Playing Dead by Julia Heaberlin
My third read of the week was Playing Dead by Julia Heaberlin. I also awarded this book four stars. This is the blurb:
‘Dear Tommie . . . I’ve spent most of my life searching for you. I believe you are my daughter.’
Just after her father’s death, Tommie receives a letter from a stranger. The woman claims that Tommie is her biological daughter, kidnapped as a baby over thirty years ago.
Then she is approached by a journalist who claims to know about her past. But can she trust him?
Unsure what to believe, Tommie sets out to discover the truth about her identity. As explosive secrets emerge, she realises it’s not just her life that’s in danger . . .
This was another gripping book and I read it in one sitting. Here is my review:
If you read the other reviews on here, this seems to be either loved or hated – a real marmite book. Those who dislike the book seem to criticise the author’s handling of the setting. As I don’t know anything about Texas, I can’t possibly argue with those who know more than me!
I read it in one sitting as I was gripped by the plot and found the characters interesting. Some parts were complex and I had to check back to earlier chapters, but that is the beauty of a print book as it is so easy to do this! All in all, an enjoyable read for me.
Skin Deep by Liz Nugent
So, my reading choices were much more successful this week than recently, I am happy to say. I have almost finished a fourth book, an ebook called Skin Deep by Liz Nugent, but I will postpone writing about it until next week.
I had a breakthrough today and am feeling very pleased with myself. My diet and exercise plan has been put aside for a few days as I have been very ill again with loads of really nasty coughing attacks with the full works. Today, however, I woke up feeling a lot stronger and was also energised by the fact that I had a hairdresser’s appointment. You all know how much I like getting my hair done!
Usually, Lovely Husband drops me off and picks me up afterwards but, now that I am not dyeing my hair any more, the appointment length is much shorter and not very predictable. My stubborn husband refuses to own a mobile phone, so it has been difficult to coordinate timings etc.
So, today I decided, against all advice, to actually drive myself into town. Parking for the hairdressers is very easy and quite close, so I was able to do everything myself, plus have a quick wandering around the nearest supermarket. That’s why I am feeling so pleased with myself!
Anyway, here is the result: this morning’s before photo, with the after photo…
Before, on the left, after, on the right!
I really do like my grey hair and bear in mind that it looks a lot nicer in real life than in my rather poor selfies 😊. The really silver parts of my hair somehow seem to disappear in photos, which is strange.
At first glance, the new designs for Hermès Autumn/Winter 2018 season didn’t really appeal to me and I believed that the colourways simply wouldn’t work with my wardrobe. I carried on following the season’s thread on The Purse Forum and, whilst some patterns started to grow on me a little, I remained convinced that I would avoid the whole season and save my money.
Then, I decided to purchase a new Massaccesi handbag, drawn in by a wonderful sale offer. I had been getting so many compliments for my clothes and accessories in shades of purple, especially since allowing my hair to turn fully grey, that I added in more items in those colours. A new handbag completed my purchases.
When it arrived, I thought about “dressing” it up a little and pondered various decorative items before settling on an Hermès twilly – Coup de Fouet au Bloc – and a cute gavroche – Baobab Cat. So here is my Scarf of the Moment post about this lovely design.
Baobab Cat gavroche by the Ardmore Artists for Hermès
Description
The Baobab Cat scarf was designed by the Ardmore Artists for Hermès Autumn/Winter 2018 season. I bought the gavroche size – 45×45 cm – in colourway #05 – which is described as “rose vif/prune/gris” on the website. It is indeed a very, very bright pink!
The design shows a luscious baobab flower, set off-centre, fully open with the lovely petals depicted with painterly swirls of rich colour. In my version, the tips of the pink petals are touched with purple. Rows of dots in white illuminate the shapes, which are picked out with black lines. In the centre of the flower there is a leopard’s head in grey, white and black – rather cute in this small scarf. Surrounding the scarf are long feathers in shades of grey, white and black and the contrast hem is a bright white.
When tied cowboy style, you can choose to highlight a corner showing more or fewer feathers, or the flower petals can come to the fore. The leopard tends to peep out however the scarf is tied! The larger 90cm version would, of course, give the wearer far more tying options than the little gavroche.
Colourways
First of all, here are the colourways of the Autumn/Winter 2018 45cm gavroche:
These are the colourways of the 90cm silk twill:
Design story
This is the design story for the scarf:
A mischievous leopard has slipped into the heart of a baobab flower. For the Zulu kings, this majestic big cat incarnated their noble status, while the baobab represented power and grace. The flowers of this colossal tree only open at dusk, just when the leopard ventures out in search of its prey. The play on composition blends the animal and the plant into a single being, haloed by a crown of white-speckled feathers. The Ardmore artists’ collective works to promote the style and traditional imagery of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, where it was founded by Fée Halsted in 1985.
Details
Here are some closeups of my scarf in a slideshow format:
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How I wear the scarf
I bought this cute scarf to wear, but also to dress up my newest handbag – Massaccesi’s Victoria in amethyst pebbled leather. The scarf looks lovely with most shades of purple and it could also be worn with pink (although that might overwhelm my colouring), grey and, perhaps, navy. I have very few grey clothes, but may start to use this as one of my base/neutral colours in the future to tone in with my grey hair, so the cat and feathers would look great and the strong pink would contrast beautifully.
As I have only worn this gavroche once so far, here is the outfit:
Outfit of the day 16/08/18 with Hermès Baobab Cat gavroche
And this is what the scarf looks like with my new handbag – wonderful, isn’t it? I am so pleased to see how the bag highlights the purple parts of the petals.
Victoria handbag in amethyst pebbled leather by Massaccesi with Hermès Baobab Cat gavroche
When I have worn Baobab Cat with a few more outfits, I will post the collages here for you to see.
Scarf ties
Here are a few scarf knots which work well with this gavroche:
Baobab Cat – scarf ties
1) Top L: necklace knot using the device which lengthens the scarf. I have mentioned this contraption several times before.
2) Bottom L: simple bias fold. Spot my OTT fuchsia flower earrings!
3) Centre: cowboy knot using the device.
4) Top R: cowboy knot.
5) Bottom R: necklace knot.
You can see that this colourway definitely needs lipstick!
Background information
1) Ardmore Artists
Ardmore Ceramics Origins
Timeline of the Ardmore Artists. Collaborations
Paragraph about collaboration with Hermès.
I hope readers have found this exploration of Baobab Cat both interesting and useful. Once again, if you find any errors or have any additional information that I could add, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Well, my latest parcel had another item inside which I am going to reveal and also model in this post. When I was thinking about how to dress up my new Massaccesi handbag, I also thought about how I would wear the “dressing up items” myself. So here goes:
This was inside the parcel…
Opening up to see the iconic orange box with its Bolduc ribbon nicely tied…
The box is on its own…
The bow is now untied. What is inside?
A nice peek at the contents. What gorgeous colours!
The folded scarf…
Hermès Baobab Cat gavroche, designed by the Ardmore Artists, unfolded…
I wore the scarf in a cowboy knot today with the following outfit:
Fresh lavender cotton vest – Lands’ End.
Blackberry cotton mix cardigan – Lands’ End.
Blue and white linen trousers – Isle Collection.
Lilac enamel and gold plain bangle – Halcyon Days.
Celtic style silver earrings.
Silk gavroche in bright pink, mauve, white and grey – Baobab Cat – Hermès.
Outfit of the day 16/08/18 with Hermès Baobab Cat gavroche
What do you think? Does it suit me? I don’t think that the 90cm version of this colourway would work for me as the colour would probably overwhelm me, but, just as with my bright Bibliothéque gavroche, it is fine as a small pop of colour. By the way, my hair doesn’t seem to photograph well since I went fully grey – please believe me, it looks loads better in real life! Honest 😊.
Anyway, here is the gavroche again, dressing up my Massaccesi Victoria handbag in amethyst pebbled leather…
Again, I think that this tones in very well and is a complete change from the Coup de Fouet au Bloc twilly that I showed you on Monday. So I have some nice options here.
Tomorrow, I will be catching up with the progress I have made towards my diet and exercise goals as it will be four weeks since I began the plan.
Former professional school librarian, now retired through chronic illness. Trying to keep cheerful by reading, drinking lots of tea, blogging my new life, and my love of bling!
The Librain
The Librain......retired 
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