Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you find something interesting! Today’s post is quite short. I have spent quite a lot of time updating my Scarf of the Moment posts for two Hermès designs: Tulipomanie and Sous le Charme d’Orphée (links in the sidebar). These two both have new formats in the Autumn/Winter 2024 season, Tulipomanie has a cashmere/silk giant triangle and Sous le Charme d’Orphée has a cashmere/silk 140cm shawl.
Now, because I have purchased one of the giant triangles, as revealed recently, I have spent ages adding a lot more detail into the post. As usual, please let me know if you have any more useful information that I could add, or if you find any errors. Here is a quick link to Scarf of the Moment: Tulipomanie.
Scarf of the Moment: Tulipomanie post
I wish I could afford one of the new Sous le Charme d’Orphée shawls as well! Ah, never mind.
Welcome to this week’s post! Over the last few weeks I have been suffering from severe depression and have, therefore, been really struggling to read books. So many have been started and then put aside. Well, I had a think about this as the worst black moods began to lift a little and decided to turn to my favourite author for comfort:
Guy Gavriel Kay writes so beautifully with such interesting characters and plots! Most are set in an alternative version of our history, which I find fascinating. Some of his books have been reread over and over: Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan and A Song for Arbonne, are those that I love the most and have now bought again as ebooks. I read some of the others a long time ago and have not picked them up again since. So, I thought it would be interesting to revisit some of these books. Over the last week I have been reading these two – I haven’t quite finished the second one in the series:
The Sarantine Mosaic series by Guy Gavriel Kay
I hadn’t noticed before how those two covers fit together! Anyway, I am really enjoying reading these two books again. I like them even more the second time. In fact it must be twenty years since I first read them!
The other series that I am intending to revisit is Kay’s first: The Fionavar Tapestry. Once again, I haven’t returned to these three books since I first read them back in the 1980s, thanks to a dear friend who introduced me to them…
The Fionavar Tapestry series by Guy Gavriel Kay
Those should keep me going for a while! When I have finished these five books, I might reread some more of my favourites, or I might take a break from Kay and read something new to me. We shall see.
Well, it has been a hot and humid week here in this part of the UK! I am so glad that I bought a better fan for our bedroom earlier in the year. The rest of the house is unbearable and so I am staying up here until everything cools down.
I am finding it too hot to concentrate, so my plans for updating the Tulipomanie Scarf of the Moment post to add in further information about my new giant triangle have been shelved for a few days. Hopefully, I will be able to update it all next week. I will try anyway.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to look through my scarf drawers and wardrobe to put together some different outfits. They were only worn around the house and for a quick walk to our local shop, but I have to make the most of any opportunity to wear my lovely things. I didn’t take a lot of photos, but here are the main items…
First a pic of me wearing an amazing electric blue dress from Marks & Spencer with this scarf by Camilla…
Outfit of the day 22/07/24 with Views of Vesuvius scarf by Camilla
I wrote a long post about the purchase of the scarf here. And this is a reminder of it with an image of the dress (note that they are not to scale!)…
Views of Vesuvius scarf by CamillaJersey V-Neck Midi T-Shirt Dress – Marks and Spencer
I have also worn a lovely throwover from One Hundred Stars that I purchased a few months ago. No modelling photo, but I wore it with a white sleeveless top and navy linen trousers. Here is a reminder of the throwover…
Jaipur Blue Throwover – One Hundred Stars
I would love more items in this pattern, but I had no money left for the July sales after buying the Hermès Tulipomanie giant triangle shawl! Well, you can’t have everything!
Welcome to my blog. On Wednesdays I usually write about the books that I have read during the previous week. Unfortunately, I haven’t finished a book in time for today’s post! Yet again I have been struggling with my mental and physical health and, therefore, have been unable to concentrate on reading. I have tried to get into a book recommended on a Facebook group, but have only got so far and set it aside a couple of times. I may return to it at a later date.
The book is this:
Black Sun Rising by Celia Friedman
What I have decided to do instead is turn to a favourite author and re-read some of their books that I haven’t picked up for a very long time (by this I mean decades!). The style of writing is so wonderful that I feel transported away from my worries and troubles into another world. Can you guess who the author is?
Well, you will have the answer in next week’s post!
Hello and welcome to my blog. Last Friday I posted a reveal of my new giant triangle cashmere/silk shawl, Tulipomanie. As it has been so warm and humid here, I haven’t been able to take many modelling photos, but I did manage a couple. When I feel better, I will edit the Scarf of the Moment post for this design to add information and more pics. All of the colourways and codes for this new version have been uploaded to the post already, but I need to write more details. I hope people find this useful!
Here is a reminder of my new shawl:
Tulipomanie giant triangle by Hermès
And these are two quick pics of me wearing the shawl. I could do with some tips on how to tie these triangles! Any ideas?
Also, I had to wear some lipstick, but I need a better colour…
Tulipomanie giant triangle by Hermès
I tried the shawl with a cobalt blue cotton sleeveless jumper by Lands’ End. I also think it will look great with my navy clothing and, perhaps grey although I am not so sure about the latter. Anyway, this is a collage of some possible items in cashmere, wool and cotton from my wardrobe. These are by John Lewis, Lands’ End and Marks and Spencer:
Clothing to go with Tulipomanie giant triangle
Thinking of suitable jewellery, I do have some bright blue earrings, but would love some tulip shaped ones! I have seen some online, but haven’t yet decided which would work with both the Tulipomanie 90cm silk scarf and my new shawl.
Welcome to this week’s post about the books I have been reading. I have finished one quite long book as you can see…
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
This book is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, #01 The Empyrean. I chose this because I needed a change from the kind of books I have been struggling with recently and I thought that a “Romantasy” and a Young Adult read might do the trick. Anyway, this is the blurb:
“Welcome to the brutal and elite world of Basgiath War College, where everyone has an agenda, and every night could be your last . . .
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general – also known as her tough-as-talons mother – has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away . . . because dragons don’t bond to ‘fragile’ humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter – like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Alliances will be forged. Lives will be lost. Traitors will become allies . . . or even lovers. But sleep with one eye open because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.”
Well, that seemed quite interesting and I love books and TV series with dragons, having read Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight and its sequels a long time ago. It took me a week to finish the book and in many ways I enjoyed it, awarding four stars on Goodreads. Then, I thought about it a bit more. Here is the review that I eventually wrote. It is really worth reading other opinions as they are very varied. Some of the longer and more negative ones are enlightening! Oh, and as I wrote my response I knocked it down to three stars!
I am in two minds about this book. In many ways it was an enjoyable and escapist fantasy adventure with some sex thrown in for entertainment value. In others it was a collection of plagiarism from well known fantasy authors with a nasty theme of killing off expendable young people in fairly inventive ways.
There were very few original ideas in the book. I immediately thought of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern, although the female characters in this book had, thankfully, some more up-to-date views!
So, it was good for escapism, but very derivative and I won’t bother to read the sequels.
I haven’t decided which book I am going to read next. There is one that I started and then put aside, or I might look at my Kindle list or browse the library’s ebook catalogue. How wonderful it is that there are so many books to choose from!
Friday is here and it’s going to be hot in this part of the UK later on today (I am writing this in the early morning). So, it’s time for a reveal! Some extremely expensive retail therapy has helped to lift my mood…
Ooh! One of those orange boxes and it’s a larger one than usual!
It’s cute inside!
Yes, I’m making you wait…
The ribbon is cute too…
Oh, I’ll stop teasing you. Here is the scarf…
Gorgeous colours!
Yes, it’s Tulipomanie designed by Aline Honoré for Hermès. This time it’s a cashmere/silk giant triangle. The purchasing code is H363964S 03, the dimensions are L 188 x H 94 cm, and the colours are Vermillon / Bleu Cobalt / Fuschia. Here are the images from the Hermès website…
Tulipomanie giant triangle by Hermès
Here are some closeups in a slideshow format…
I haven’t worn anything quite like this for years! Before my hair went grey, it was a mid-reddish brown and I sometimes wore shades of red and orange. Will this swamp me now that I am grey and ill? Do I care?
Well, I am not sure. I was intending to model the scarf today with some of my Autumn/Winter clothing, such as cashmere jumpers and a couple of wool dresses. However, it is far too hot to do that. The weather is due to cool down over the next week, so I will try to take some photos for next week’s post. I am also updating the Tulipomanie Scarf of the Moment post as many of you are aware. I have already uploaded the giant triangle colourways and I will add in some paragraphs and photos about my new purchase when I am able to.
Anyway, here is a taster: my new giant triangle with a cobalt cashmere v-neck from John Lewis…
Tulipomanie giant triangle with John Lewis cobalt cashmere v-neck
The colours in the image above are a little brighter than in real life, on this screen. The blue on the scarf is much closer to that of the jumper.
Phew! It’s really beginning to heat up now. Cue scorn from people who live in much hotter climates than I do! Our houses here are just not built for hot weather and we don’t get it often enough to justify air conditioning. I hope my fan does the trick today.
Welcome to this week’s post. I must apologise because this is going to be as unsatisfactory as last week’s! Unfortunately, I have been very ill and have really struggled to read books. In addition, I have made some poor choices. I don’t think that my low mood has affected my response to these books, but perhaps it has.
I managed to finish one, but the other has been put aside after I read a third of the book and I may return to it later. Here is the first cover:
To Make Them Pay by M A Comley
This is the book that I finished: To Make Them Pay by M A Comley, #03 DI Sam Cobbs series. The blurb seemed to be interesting enough…
“A Lake District thriller.
A twisted mind can be deadly…
When Brian Coltman is murdered after a night out with a friend, DI Sam Cobbs and her team need to find the motive behind the gruesome crime.
Intrigue and false starts threaten the investigation until a second body is found.
With her husband on the missing list, does Sam have what it takes to find the killer before they choose another victim, with one intention… to make them pay.”
I wrote a very short response on Goodreads. OK, I wasn’t feeling well!
This was an OK kind of read. I found the relationship between the main character and her sidekick irritating and the plot rather predictable. I don’t think I will return to the series.
After this, I was so pleased when I found a book by one of my favourite authors, Adrian Tchaikovsky:
Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This stand alone book, Cage of Souls, sounded really interesting…
“The sun is bloated, diseased, dying perhaps. Beneath its baneful light, Shadrapar, last of all cities, harbours fewer than 100,000 human souls. Built on the ruins of countless civilisations, Shadrapar is a museum, a midden, an asylum, a prison on a world that is ever more alien to humanity.
Bearing witness to the desperate struggle for existence between life old and new is Stefan Advani: rebel, outlaw, prisoner, survivor. This is his testament, an account of the journey that took him into the blazing desolation of the western deserts; that transported him east down the river and imprisoned him in the verdant hell of the jungle’s darkest heart; that led him deep into the labyrinths and caverns of the underworld. He will meet with monsters, madman, mutants.
The question is, which one of them will inherit this Earth?”
Just my kind of book, I thought. Well, I managed around 30%, but really struggled to even reach that point. Anyway, I have decided to set it aside for a while (perhaps forever) and look for something that will hold my interest whilst I am struggling so much. I haven’t written a response on Goodreads because I thought it would not be fair.
Hello to you all. I must apologise once again for the low level content this week. The reason is that I have been more ill than usual with very difficult mental issues. I am hoping that I will recover enough to write properly next week.
Here is a lovely new season Hermès scarf to keep you going:
Tulipomanie giant triangle by Hermès H363964S 08
Oh, go on then, I think I can just manage to post another one…
Sous le Charme d’Orphée cashmere/silk shawl by Hermès H244177S 04
Note: I have updated the following Scarf of the Moment posts with the new scarf formats which have become available in the Autumn/Winter 2024 collections:
I hope you find these posts useful and interesting. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you find any errors in these posts or have additional information. I try to keep them updated so that they can provide helpful information.
Apologies dear friends and visitors! I have been very unwell for most of last week and have been unable to concentrate on reading. Having made several false starts I have not finished a book, which is very unusual for me.
I am beginning to feel better so I hope that I can return to a book in the next few days.
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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