The Librain......retired

Scarf of the moment: Appaloosa des Steppes

Posted on 25/08/2017 by The Librain

This cute gavroche is a very recent addition to my collection. Appaloosa des Steppes is yet another wonderful Alice Shirley design for Hermès and was introduced first as a 90cm silk twill and a cashmere/silk 140cm shawl for the Spring/Summer 2017 season. Alice Shirley is such an amazing designer and I find that I am drawn to her work!

Appaloosa des Steppes by Alice Shirley for Hermès

When I first saw the design I was interested but was not thrilled by any of the colourways for the 90cm size. I was also unsure about the effect that would be created by the Appaloosa “spots” when tied. The design was then reissued for the current season, Autumn/Winter 2017, as a gavroche and everything came together for me! Colourway #06 in turquoise, green and yellow is simply perfect for me in the small gavroche size.

The design shows an Appaloosa horse against textile patterns and motifs from Far Eastern countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The horse’s mane flows softly and stands out against the background as do the famous “spots”. There is a contrast rolled hem and a border of triangles.

Here are the colourways of the 90cm silk twill:

These colourways for the 140cm cashmere/silk shawl are so gorgeous and vibrant:

These are the colourways of the 45cm gavroche:

Appaloosa des Steppes gavroche by Alice Shirley for Hermès

The design story is so interesting:

This daring composition combines some of the traditional motifs of Kyrgyzstan, the mountainous country of Central Asia, with the spotted coat of an Appaloosa, the horse bred for centuries by the Nez Perce Native American tribe in the north-west of the United States. The motifs against which the silhouette of the animal stands out are inspired by shyrdaks, felt carpets made by Kyrgyz women according to ancestral techniques passed on from mother to daughter. Warm, solid, insulating, indispensable and beautiful, they form one of the great riches of nomadic life. The illustrator Alice Shirley took pains to faithfully reproduce the legacies of this little-known culture.

I have worn the scarf quite a few times since I bought it and I am sure that I will continue to reach for it throughout the year as the colours fit so well with my favourite clothes. Here you can see how nicely it goes with my recent twin-set purchase from Lands’ End.

Outfit of the day 25/07/17 with Hermès’ Appaloosa des Steppes gavroche

The collage below shows the gavroche with my teal linen jacket and jeans. It looks great with shades of turquoise, teal and blue and would also tone nicely with green, pink and yellow.

Outfit of the day 27/07/17 with Hermès’ Appaloosa des Steppes gavroche

I wear it in either a simple triangle/cowboy tie or in a bias fold tie. If you own an Hermès’ Mors scarf ring, you could use that beautifully with this gavroche.

Appaloosa des Steppes gavroche – scarf ties

I think this will work as an all-season scarf!

Background information

As I researched the background of this scarf, I found out that it illustrates a controversy surrounding the origins of the Appaloosa horse breed. So, I have put links and videos here about the horses and, further down, about the wonderful textile patterns from Kyrgyzstan.

Uzbek Journeys
Kyrgyzstan: The Hermès Scarf and the Appaloosa Horse
A fascinating recent article about the controversy.

Appaloosa horse breed:

Wikipedia
Appaloosa
Article about the horse breed. Detailed with many references.

Appaloosa Horse Club UK
Breed History

Appaloosa Museum
History of the Appaloosa

horsetalk.co.nz
New film explores theory around ancient origins of the appaloosa horse

Textiles of Kyrgyzstan:

Wikipedia
Shyrdak
Article about floor or wall coverings made in Kyrgyzstan.

Aizada Imports
Felted Shyrdaks
Selling page with lovely images showing the motifs.

Facts and Details
Kyrgyz Carpets
Detailed and informative page.

Shyrdak: Silk Road Textile
The Meaning of Patterns in Felt Rugs
Blog post explaining the meaning of the motifs and patterns.

I hope that readers have enjoyed this exploration of Hermès’ Appaloosa des Steppes. As usual, please let me know if I have made any mistakes or if you know further information that I could add to this post. I really want my Scarf of the Moment posts to be useful and interesting.

Best wishes

💜💚💛💙❤️

Posted in Scarf of the moment, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged Alice Shirley, Appaloosa des Steppes, gavroches, Hermès | 5 Comments

Outfit of the day 24/08/17

Posted on 24/08/2017 by The Librain

I managed to get out of bed and go downstairs for three hours today! That feels like an achievement as I am still struggling with my cough. My outfit today was not very exciting and I look pretty awful facially, but at least I tried.

Today’s outfit:

Navy cotton t-shirt – similar to the image below.
Hyacinth viscose wrap cardigan – Kettlewell Colours.
Beige cotton chinos – Lands’ End.
Blue crystal and silver tone earrings – Sainsbury’s Tu. Bought for me as a present by Elder Son who wanted to make amends for some very “challenging” behaviour earlier in the week.

Outfit of the day 24/08/17

Lovely Husband and I sat watching a recorded episode of Judge John Deed – a real blast from the past. I have had a weakness for the older Martin Shaw for many years, but don’t tell LH! For the rest of the day, I have been reading and fiddling with this blog. I am trying to get more organisation and consistency into the naming of my collages – so librarianish 😄.

Tomorrow’s post is a Scarf of the Moment about the cute Appaloosa des Steppes gavroche and the other colourways and sizes of this design by Alice Shirley for Hermès. I hope that I can manage to finish the post in time.

Appaloosa des Steppes gavroche by Alice Shirley for Hermès

Best wishes,

💜💚💛💙❤️

Posted in Clothes, Health, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged Appaloosa des Steppes, beige, blue, cardigans, chinos, earrings, gavroches, Hermès, hyacinth, Kettlewell Colours, Lands' End, navy, Sainsbury's Tu, t-shirts, wraps | Leave a comment

Reading roundup 23/08/17

Posted on 23/08/2017 by The Librain

I am still quite ill, having had a bad night with lots of coughing, so this will be a quick roundup of the week’s reading. Unless, that is, I get carried away as I write!

The week’s books had a focus on Anne Holt as I was looking on Goodreads to see which ones I had missed from her Hanne Wilhelmsen and her Vik and Stubo series. I then found quite a few of these on the library’s ebook service and so decided to work my way through the rest of Vik and Stubo, having already finished #3 and #4 a couple of years ago.

It will be difficult to write my reviews because I don’t want to give away spoilers. So I will copy across the Goodreads reviews here. Let me just say that my reading of Anne Holt has now come to an end. Lovely Husband just didn’t understand when I told him about this yesterday, but then he doesn’t read fiction and doesn’t get the relationship that you build with an author over years of reading their work. It is a question of trust, I suppose. I tend to trust that a writer, who draws me into a story, who keeps me reading because I am so engaged with their skills, will not let me down. I suppose I will have to be annoying, at this point, to any readers of this blog as I need to stop here before I give any more away! Sorry 😐.

What is Mine by Anne Holt

There seems to be some confusion about the Vik and Stubo series because the books appear to have different titles, according to which edition you are reading. I will give you the titles of the ebooks I read, with the number in the series. So, my first book this week was #1, What Is Mine, and here is my Goodreads review:

I wish I could give this 4.5! A really excellent start to a series. I love the main characters, particularly Vik with her chaotic home life and interesting daughter. I also loved how the two main plot strands developed throughout the book and I cannot say more about that without spoilers. As I also have part two downloaded onto my iPad, I am going to start that without delay.

As you can see, I really enjoyed this one! The next one I read was #2, What Never Happens.

What Never Happens by Anne Holt

And here is my review on Goodreads with another 4 star rating:

Judging by the reviews on Goodreads, this is another of those marmite books. Well, I like marmite and I also liked this book. I find the two main characters and their domestic and professional lives interesting and I enjoy the way that Holt introduces and describes her other characters. The plot was gripping enough to keep my attention as I read this pretty quickly.

As I have already read parts 3 and 4 of the series, a couple of years ago, I will now download and get on with the final part!

As I wrote above, I read books #3 and #4 two years ago and didn’t write reviews, although a I did rate them with 4 and 3 stars respectively. So I only had the last in the series, #5 What Dark Clouds Hide, left to read:

What Dark Clouds Hide by Anne Holt

I will paste the few words of my review here and then leave this. If any of you have also read this book, I would be interested to know what you think!

I cannot review this book without spoilers. Let me just say that I am highly disappointed with the author for ending her series in this way! I will not read any more books by her.

The Special Girls by Isabelle Grey

There is a silver lining in this dark cloud of a week in that I read The Special Girls, the third book in another series, Isabelle Grey’s DI Grace Fisher, and rated it as the best so far:

The best of the three, in my opinion, and almost worth five stars. With the theme of child abuse, parts of this story were horrific and very difficult to read. The plot is quite complex, but well handled and kept my interest to the extent that I read it in one sitting. I am not sure if the author will continue with the series, but will definitely read more if she does.

Since I wrote the review, I have found out that Isabelle Grey is writing a fourth episode – I am looking forward to reading it!

Dead Cold by Louise Penny

My current book, Louise Penny’s Dead Cold, is a very different read. It is still in the crime genre but set in Canada and with an interesting “feel” to it. I will let you know how I get on next week.

Best wishes,

💜💚💛💙❤️

Posted in Reading | Tagged book reviews, books, ebooks, Goodreads, public libraries | Leave a comment

Update 22/08/17

Posted on 22/08/2017 by The Librain

Still too ill to write a proper post, sadly. I tried to do a couple of household tasks this morning, but ended up having to sit down as I was wheezing so much. So, I have spent the afternoon reading. At least I will have something to write about in tomorrow’s Reading Roundup post!

An old photo to lighten the mood:

Here’s hoping that Elder Son is in a better frame of mind when he comes home than when he left this morning.

Best wishes,

❤️💙💚💜💛

Posted in Health, Lifestyle | Tagged illness | 1 Comment

Update 21/08/17

Posted on 21/08/2017 by The Librain

I had a huge coughing fit last night and have felt very unwell today, so I am not able to write my usual kind of post. Also, today would have been my Mum’s 86th birthday. I miss her so much and think about her every day, but this is her special day so I have copied this poem that I wrote and read at her two funeral events back in 2012. The poem is also permanently on this blog on this page.

For Margaret Davy – a tribute

Mum

21st August 1931 – 2nd November 2012

Without Your Song

Your glorious voice that threaded through my childhood is silenced forever.
But I can still hear you in my head
singing those old songs,
which I will never forget.

When you sang somewhere new your voice soared above all others.
People would turn to look,
shivers running down spines
at the sweet beauty of your gift.

Memories of childhood flicker like a filmstrip through my mind:
Soapy Joe, crisp new dresses,
shrimping nets and rockpool days,
floating on crystal notes.

Holding your hand in the last days and listening to your breathing,
I thought about happy times,
how you had loved us all,
and smiled through grateful tears.

The last thing you said to me was “I love you, don’t be sad”.
Well I am sad, but also joyful
to think how fortunate I have been
with you as my mother.

Written by me and read out at Mum’s Funeral in Peterborough and Service in Clevedon, November 2012.

I hope that normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

Best wishes,

💛💜💚💙❤️

Posted in Family, Special days | Tagged Mum, poem, poetry, tribute | Leave a comment

Update 18/08/17 and style rules

Posted on 18/08/2017 by The Librain

I am having one of those “stay in pyjamas and potter about” kind of days. The weather has been sunshine and showers, with a quick thunder storm, and Lovely Husband is watching the Test Match on and off.

So I thought that readers might enjoy this post: “24 Things Women Over 30 Should Wear” on the Warning: Curves Ahead site. It was written in response to a rather silly article “24 Things Women Should Stop Wearing After Age 30” by Kallie Provencher for RantNow.com. No leopard print, apparently, amongst other items…

I 💕LOVE💕 leopard print!!!

Scarves with leopard print by Halcyon Days, Roberto Cavalli and Ferragamo

There have been responses to similar articles online, such as this great reply from Alyson Walsh on her That’s Not My Age site: “Why there are no rules on what to do, say and wear over-40“.

I also hate arbitrary rules for women as we age, either for our clothing or our behaviour. One of the nastiest things is to be called “mutton dressed as lamb”. This may appear to be harmless or trivial on the surface, but I don’t think that it is. Women and girls are criticised enough for our appearance from childhood to old age.

Let us simply develop our own style!

Here’s mine…

Have a great weekend!

Best wishes,

❤️💙💛💚💜

Posted in Clothes, Lifestyle, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged fashion, Ferragamo, Halcyon Days, leopard print, over 30, over 40, Roberto Cavalli, style, style rules | Leave a comment

Update 17/08/17

Posted on 17/08/2017 by The Librain

I am keeping myself very busy today with work for my local food bank, as I wrote in a post the other day. When I visited them, I thought that I would be able to get on with things fairly quickly, but the usual family stuff got in the way and then, when I tried to force myself to start, I found that my mind kept sliding away. Concentration is such an issue for me these days. I have always been a terrible procrastinator, but now I think I am even worse.

So, I used my tried and trusted method:

Read any notes and paperwork through, whilst drinking tea, then put it down and leave it all for a ~~week~~ day or two.
Start writing, just write stuff down, keep writing and writing as ideas come. Shout at anyone who interrupts, lose your train of thought and ~~swear~~ grit your teeth.
Have a cup of tea to calm down.
Then, read everything through and begin to put the words and sentences into a better order.
Maybe leave it all to stew in your mind for ~~several days~~ a while.
Read the notes and paperwork you have been given again.
Perhaps a nice cup of tea is needed here?
Go back to the writing and add in anything new from your reading and thinking.
Leave it all again for an hour or two (tea time!).
Now do all of the tweaking and final editing.
Have another cup of tea whilst Lovely Husband or Younger Son read it all through.
Any final tweaking then finish it all off!

Well, that seems to have worked for me and I am now ready to email it all to our local food bank staff. It will be interesting to see what they think. I had better make some tea now that I have completed this first stage.

I am very excited about it all!

Oh, this isn’t an Outfit of the Day post because I stayed in my pyjamas all day working in bed on my iPad 😀…

….with the odd cup of tea…

Best wishes,

💜💚💛❤️💙

If you want to find out about the work of The Trussell Trust in supporting food banks, have a look at their website.

Posted in Lifestyle | Tagged food banks, tea, Trussell Trust, work, writing | 3 Comments

Reading roundup 16/08/17

Posted on 16/08/2017 by The Librain

I was quite shocked, when I checked on Goodreads, to see that I have only finished two books this week, as I am not sure what else I have been doing with my time. Writing this blog, perhaps? Anyway, I will use my Goodreads reviews to tell you what I thought about these two, then I will get back to my current book.

Just one more thing: as I have been unable to visit the library (until this afternoon – hooray!), I have been fulfilling my thirst for books by using the public library’s ebook service on my iPad. I am beginning to think that ebook reading has an affect on me – more about that later on in this post.

Dead Joker by Anne Holt

The first book was Anne Holt’s Dead Joker, one of her Hanne Wilhelmsen series. This is what I wrote on Goodreads:

An excellent read but very difficult to review without giving away vital elements. Good character development and a twisting plot. I will be reading more in the series.

OK, that doesn’t say very much, but please bear in mind that I gave it four stars! I have already read several in this series and, although the main character is not altogether likeable, she is very interesting and intriguing. Holt’s plots are also good in that they keep the reader guessing until close to the end.

Stormbird by Conn Iggulden

The second book is part one of a series about the Wars of the Roses – Stormbird by Conn Iggulden. I have read both fiction and non-fiction about this period and have watched several TV programmes too, so I do already have a little knowledge. Mind you, the story is very complicated and convoluted and I was very pleased that Iggulden had made such a good job of this first episode. Here is my Goodreads review:

I rate this as 3 1/2 stars really. An enjoyable read and it started very well, but I kind of lost interest a bit in the middle. I found that the technique of using different characters’ points of view got a bit annoying at times as the storyline was interrupted so often. I do like Iggulden’s writing and will continue to read more in the series. Perhaps some of my difficulty was reading this as an ebook as opposed to a print version. I find that my concentration slides with ebooks, especially as I read using my iPad. I get distracted by notifications, the sudden urge to read my emails or play a game – am I reverting back to my teens?!?

What is Mine by Anne Holt

Before I start my new library books, I am reading another book by Anne Holt, which I will write about next week: What is Mine, #01 in her Vik and Stubo series. Good stuff so far!

I will now organise the lovely book pile on my bedside table… 😍😍😍

Best wishes and happy reading,

💜💚💛❤️💙

Posted in Libraries, Reading | Tagged book reviews, books, ebooks, Goodreads, public libraries | Leave a comment

Outfit of the day 15/08/17

Posted on 15/08/2017 by The Librain

What a lovely day it has been so far. I managed to get up in time to go to the hairdresser and had a relaxing time being pampered. Her assistant gave me a wonderful head and scalp massage whilst washing my hair. The grey roots have now gone and I am nice and curly again. I am still considering growing out my colour and going completely grey, but have not decided when will be the right time to take such a drastic step.

Lovely Husband picked me up in town after my haircut and then we decided to go out for lunch. We have a favourite pub which we used to visit a couple of times per month, plus every Boxing Day, but recently we have not been very often. Well, since our last visit they have restyled the place and changed their menus. My meal was fab: a gorgeous steak cooked to perfection!

I am now lying in bed recovering!

Outfit of the day is virtually the same as yesterday as I only wore the t-shirt and trousers for a couple of hours:

Teal, navy, white, blue and purple silk scarf – Zebra Pegasus gavroche – Hermès.
Bright navy, cotton, sweetheart neck t-shirt – Kettlewell Colours.
Beige cotton chinos – Lands’ End.
Crystal and gold earrings.
White enamel and gold bangle – Halcyon Days.
Navy enamel and gold patterned bangle – Halcyon Days.
Navy leather sandals – Suave.

Outfit of the day 15/08/17 with Hermès’ Zebra Pegasus gavroche

Tomorrow’s post will be a Reading Roundup, assuming that everything is OK.

Best wishes,

💜💚💛❤️💙

Posted in Clothes, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Scarves, Uncategorized, Wardrobe | Tagged bangles, beige, blue, chinos, earrings, hairdresser, Halcyon Days, Hermès, Kettlewell Colours, Lands' End, navy, purple, sandals, Suave, t-shirts, teal, trousers, white | Leave a comment

Outfit of the day 14/08/17

Posted on 14/08/2017 by The Librain

I managed to do a few useful tasks over the weekend, which always helps my mental health. Also, the weather has been improving over the last few days. We haven’t gone out today, though, and I ended up back in bed after behaving rather stupidly. Next door are having their front garden paved and the workmen began to raise up quite a dust storm. Without thinking it through, I jumped up from the sofa and virtually ran upstairs to shut the windows in an attempt to stop dust billowing into our bedroom. As dust is one of my cough triggers, I was trying to make sure that my sanctuary would be safe.

Well, as anyone but me could have foreseen, that mad burst of activity gave me a coughing fit and I had to get into bed anyway. Silly me!

So, here’s what I wore today in anticipation of going out, but only managed a couple of hours before changing back into pyjamas. Perhaps I will put this outfit on again tomorrow when I go to the hairdresser, with just a change of gavroche.

Bright navy, cotton, sweetheart neck t-shirt – Kettlewell Colours.
Beige cotton chinos – Lands’ End.
Silver and crystal earrings.
White enamel and silver bangle.
Navy leather sandals – Suave.
Blue, white, grey and pink silk scarf – The Savana Dance gavroche – Hermès.

Outfit of the day 14/08/17 with Hermès’ The Savana Dance gavroche

Best wishes,

💜💚💛❤️💙

Posted in Clothes, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged bangles, beige, earrings, gavroches, Hermès, Kettlewell Colours, Lands' End, navy, sandals, Savana Dance, Suave, t-shirts, trousers, white | Leave a comment

The Librain……retired