Hello and welcome to my blog. I am a former school librarian in the UK who retired early due to chronic illness. As I spend most of my days in bed, I cheer myself up by reading escapist fiction on my iPad, planning lovely outfits for those rare occasions when I do manage to go out, doing what I can to help with the running of the household and cultivating my love of bling (especially scarves).
Some years ago I succumbed to the incredible scarf designs of the Hermès collection. If you look down the right hand side of the blog, you will see a list of most of my H scarves. These are the ones that I have written detailed scarf profiles for, called “Scarf of the Moment”.
I wrote about my most recent purchase, a 140cm mousseline scarf called Roseraie, in last week’s post: Friday post 07/06/24: with a fabulous reveal. This week, I am going to show you some very quick modelling photos. When I have the energy, I will try to put the two posts together into a Scarf of the Moment. It will not be quite as detailed as my more recent efforts as the scarf was issued around 1990 and I cannot find a lot of information online. Please let me know if you have anything I could use in the post!
Roseraie mousseline by Hermès – various scarf ties
I made a bias fold and just played around with the scarf, draping it around my neck in various ways. The final two photos were attempts to show more of the design. I think it looks lovely with navy and perhaps a silvery grey would work too. If I were fit and glamorous, I would wear it out to dinner with Lovely Husband with a simple plain navy or silver silk dress!
I did wear these earrings (a present from Elder Son a year ago). They are gorgeous, glam and very heavy!
Earrings by Lovisa
So, that’s all from me this week: Happy Weekend to you all!
Welcome to this week’s post. Last week, I wrote about a short story series that I found on Amazon: The Far Reaches. Today I am showing you another, similar set: The Forward Collection. Both series are science fiction of various types and by terrific authors.
Again, like last week, I have been suffering from a nasty virus, so have been struggling to concentrate. Short stories were just the perfect answer for my reading dilemma! Here are the book covers:
Ark by Veronica Roth #01 Forward CollectionSummer Frost by Blake Crouch #02 Forward CollectionEmergency Skin by N K Jemisin #03 Forward CollectionYou Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles #04 Forward CollectionThe Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay #05 Forward CollectionRandomize by Andy Weir #06 Forward Collection
I will show you the blurb for each story. I am not reviewing the stories on Goodreads, really struggling with my memory and brainpower, but I have given each one a star rating.
Ark by Veronica Roth
“On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.
It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond.
Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.
As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.”
I awarded this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars, Goodreads gives this 3.6.
Summer Frost by Black Crouch
“A video game developer becomes obsessed with a willful character in her new project, in a mind-bending exploration of what it means to be human by the New York Times bestselling author of Recursion.
Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision—veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?”
I awarded this the full ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars, Goodreads gives this 4.1.
Emergency Skin by N K Jemisin
“What will become of our self-destructed planet? The answer shatters all expectations in this subversive speculation from the Hugo Award–winning author of the Broken Earth trilogy.
An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out eons ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.”
I awarded this the full ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars, Goodreads gives this 4.03.
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
“Nature or nurture? Neither. Discover a bold new way to raise a child in this unsettling story of the near future by the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow.
When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.”
I awarded this the lower mark of ⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars. Goodreads gives it 3.48.
The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
“What’s more frightening: Not knowing who you are? Or finding out? A Bram Stoker Award–winning author explores the answer in a chilling story about identity and human consciousness.
Imagine you’ve woken up in an unfamiliar room with no memory of who you are, how you got there, or where you were before. All you have is the disconnected voice of an attentive caretaker. Dr. Kuhn is there to help you—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. She’ll help you remember everything. She’ll make sure you reclaim your lost identity. Now answer one question: Are you sure you want to?”
I awarded this the full ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars, Goodreads gives this 3.76.
Randomize by Andy Weir
“In the near future, if Vegas games are ingeniously scam-proof, then the heists have to be too, in this imaginative and whip-smart story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Martian.
An IT whiz at the Babylon Casino is enlisted to upgrade security for the game of keno and its random-number generator. The new quantum computer system is foolproof. But someone on the inside is no fool. For once the odds may not favor the house—unless human ingenuity isn’t entirely a thing of the past.”
I awarded this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars. Goodreads gives this 3.53.
Thankfully, I am now starting to feel quite a lot better and, perhaps, ready for a full book. It will need to be really gripping, though. Fantasy this time? We shall see.
Well, I have staggered through the week with this horrible virus, but feel a bit stronger today, which is a good sign. So, today’s post is going to show you something lovely that floated my way last week!
Let’s have the reveal…
The packaging with a mysterious “chat”!
Here we have the famous Hermès Bolduc ribbonOoh! What can be seen through the tissue paper?Wow! Is this a mousseline?
The scarf is a gorgeous 140cm mousseline, designed by Christiane Vauzelle for Hermès, called Roseraie. It was produced around about 1990 and this example is in terrific condition. The background colour is a lovely pale blue with a slight greyish tone. Against this is a lattice in a darker shade, close to British air force blue, with a bouquet of gorgeous roses in pink, red, and peach. The roses are both full blown and buds just about to open. Loose petals, green leaves and a plaque with the scarf’s title finish off the design.
It’s difficult to take photos of this scarf, so I have done my best. As the silk fabric is so fine, it’s impossible to take a photo of the whole piece. Well, probably an expert photographer could, but not me! Here are a couple more snaps so you get the idea…
This is the photo from the source site. You can see why I fell in love with this beauty!
Roseraie mousseline scarf designed by Christiane Vauzelle for Hermès
Just to give you a better idea of the whole design, here are some examples of the 90cm silk twill scarves…
So, where did I find my first and, most probably, only H moussie? Well, on the Rennies Seaside Modern website. I have bought quite a few scarves from them over the years as they are based in Folkestone in the UK, and they are very responsive and helpful. This link takes you to the Hermès page of their site.
I don’t think that I will be able to write a Scarf of the Moment post about this design, as I can’t find enough information. Perhaps this post will have to do instead. I am trying to work out how to tie and wear the scarf and which colours in my wardrobe will work best with it, so I will write another post about this. As I am still very poorly, the modelling photos can wait until I am feeling stronger and don’t look so hideous!
Oh, I have just had an idea! If a second post as described above works, perhaps I could put the two together as a Scarf of the Moment? I will have to think on this. Also, if any of you have further information about this lovely design, please let me know.
Welcome to this week’s post. Unfortunately, I am very ill with a nasty virus which has lasted quite a few days. I think that I am just beginning to recover, but it has been really horrible. You can tell how bad I have been feeling because I haven’t managed to read my usual kind of book. However, instead, I have downloaded the rest of the Amazon Original Collection called The Far Reaches. It is an interesting collection of science fiction stories by some great authors. I wrote about one of short stories from this collection, John Scalzi’s Slow Time Between the Stars, a couple of weeks ago, so I thought I might manage to read the rest of the series.
As I am feeling so lousy, I can’t cope with writing proper reviews. I will just say that I enjoyed all of the series. Only one story was not quite as good as the others, but the rest were well worth reading and very thought provoking.
Here are the covers of the whole series:
How it Unfolds by James S A Corey, #01 The Far ReachesVoid by Veronica Roth, #02 The Far ReachesFalling Bodies by Rebecca Roanhorse, #03 The Far ReachesThe Long Game by Ann Leckie, #04 The Far ReachesJust Out of Jupiter’s Reach by Nnedi Okorafor, #05 The Far ReachesSlow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi, #06 The Far Reaches
There is another set of short stories, called the Forward Collection, that I will probably read soon if I don’t feel I can tackle a full book yet.
NOTE: if you accessed this post on Friday 31/05/24 you may have noticed a huge error! I mistakenly identified one of the scarves as De la Mer au Ciel, when it is Under the Waves. That has now been corrected.
It’s Friday once again! The weeks pass by so swiftly. Anyway, welcome to my blog where I write about the books I read and the scarves I wear. Oh, and a few other things, occasionally! Unfortunately, I also have a set of nasty chronic illnesses that mean I am stuck in bed most of the time. Hooray for my iPad and WiFi!
Over the past couple of weeks I have been making a real effort to get up and go downstairs to spend time with Lovely Husband and also to wear a nice outfit rather than stay in my pyjamas. I have been working my way through my scarf collection, choosing old favourites as well as more recent purchases.
Here are some examples:
Outfit of the day 20/05/24 with Hermès Dans un Jardin AnglaisOutfit of the day 24/05/24 with Hermès Sous le Charme d’OrphéeOutfit of the day 28/05/24 with Hermès Under the WavesOutfit of the day 29/05/24 with Hermès Escales Mediterranéenes
Let’s have some larger images of the scarves. Some of the images of the older scarves are smaller or of low resolution.
Dans un Jardin Anglais by Alice Shirley for Hermès
Sous le Charme d’Orphée by Alice Shirley for Hermès
Under the Waves by Alice Shirley for Hermès
Escales Mediterranéenes by Christine Henry for Hermès
It’s such fun choosing a scarf from my collection and then deciding on a suitable outfit to go with it (yes, that is the way that I dress).
LH is a bit exasperated with me because I had some scarf mail yesterday. “Do you really need yet another scarf?”, he said. Well, we scarfies know the answer to that! Which scarf did I purchase? Sorry, but you will have to wait a week to find out! Let’s just say that it is a rare format in my collection…
Happy weekend to you all.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
💕💗💖💗💕
PS. These are my detailed “Scarf of the Moment” posts for each design, if you would like to see the other colourways and get more information…
So it’s Wednesday again and time to write about the book I read since last week’s post. Yes, I have one book to tell you about…
Homecoming by Kate Morton
I chose this book from our library’s ebook service: Homecoming by Kate Morton. It sounded interesting and so it proved to be! Here is the blurb:
“Adelaide Hills, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, in the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most mystifying murder investigations in the history of Australia.
London, 2018. Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, a phone call summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, has suffered a fall and is seriously ill in hospital.
Seeking comfort in her past, Jess discovers a true crime book at Nora’s house chronicling a long-buried police case: the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. And within its pages she finds a shocking personal connection to this notorious event – a crime that has never truly been solved.
An epic novel that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love and how we protect the lies we tell.”
Well, that sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? You can see what I mean. Well, it took me all week to read the book, but it was worth it. This is my response on Goodreads:
I have taken off one star for the sheer length of this book! Otherwise, I really enjoyed this wonderful story, the scene setting was so atmospheric, both in London and also in Australia. I felt that I could see and walk around the two main houses and gardens, and drive around the area. I was also intrigued by the clever writing that pointed to one seemingly guilty party and then to another, before reaching a satisfying conclusion. The main characters are shown from different angles as if inside a mirrored room.
All in all, an excellent read! I will definitely seek out more books by Kate Morton.
Yes, it’s Friday already so welcome to this post. I have been looking through my wardrobe and sorting out clothing for warmer weather, to wear if it stops raining! Mind you, I seem to spend most days in pyjamas. I have also put on quite a lot of weight, which is disappointing and upsetting, but quite expected when I have such a sedentary life and have to take steroids.
Anyway, I realised that I could use a couple of new pairs of trousers. One pair needed to be in linen or cotton and navy blue, and the other in grey. It’s so difficult to find grey in the summer! However, I wanted that colour because I have some lovely grey items that I want to wear.
So, I spent quite a while hunting through my usual sites, M&S and Lands’ End, for example, and found some items I thought would be suitable. When the trousers arrived they just didn’t work for me at all. First the fabric was far too thick for the summer and, secondly, the legs were too long. Now, in the past I would have just shortened them for my little legs, but nowadays I just haven’t got the energy. These were sent back.
I had another look around and visited a company that I used to use quite a lot: Cotton Traders. I was pleased to find some linen blend trousers with a choice of leg lengths. Great! When these arrived, I was so pleased that they fit perfectly and are just right for my wardrobe. Here they are (I couldn’t find an image without the model):
Linen-Blend Relaxed Fit Trousers – Cotton Traders
Then I began my hunt for grey trousers. I had no luck finding anything suitable in linen, after all grey really isn’t a summer colour. So, I changed my focus and looked for something in a jersey fabric and I found these, again offered in a choice of leg lengths. OK, the whole Cotswold Collection site is obviously aimed at a certain age range, but I have to accept that I am in that range! Eek!
Plain jersey trousers – Cotswold Collection
Let me show you the outfit I am going to put together soon…
Outfit with grey and silver
Ooh, I had better show you a larger image of the kimono jacket which I bought last year but haven’t worn yet. It’s by One Hundred Stars.
Ancient Columns by One Hundred Stars
I have also considered that these trousers would work well with my grey cashmere jumpers (I have one in almost silver and another in dark grey) and this gorgeous Hermès scarf:
Sous le Charme d’Orphée by Alice Shirley for Hermès
Or this by Fetolia:
Olympian Gods scarf by Fetolia
I think I had better make a resolution to stop wearing pyjamas all day and shock Lovely Husband by wearing a nice outfit! After all, these gorgeous scarves are crying out to be worn and seen.
Happy Weekend to you all!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
💕💗💖💗💕
PS. The links for Fetolia, Hermès and One Hundred Stars are in the sidebar.
Hello fellow readers! Last week I read a great book by a favourite author and a great short story by another favourite author. Totally different genres but both really enjoyable.
Let’s have the book first…
The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves
My chosen book was The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves (#03 Two Rivers). I think I have probably read all of her books to date, although I might have missed a few. Anyway, here is the blurb:
“Fierce winds, dark secrets, deadly intentions.
When Jem Rosco―sailor, adventurer, and legend―blows into town in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone, Devon, are delighted to have a celebrity in their midst. But just as abruptly as he arrived, Rosco disappears again, and soon his lifeless body is discovered in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.
This is an uncomfortable case for Detective Inspector Matthew Venn. Greystone is a place he visited as a child, a community he parted ways with. Superstition and rumor mix with fact as another body is found, and Venn finds his judgment clouded.
As the winds howl, and Venn and his team investigate, he realizes that no one, including himself, is safe from Scully Cove’s storm of dark secrets.”
I have really enjoyed this series so far and this third instalment was excellent. Cleeves writes so well about the setting of her stories. I could smell and hear the sea, and also see and feel the raging storms. The characters were also very well written, although I did get a little confused by the large cast – but that is my issue.
Certainly, I didn’t work out “whodunnit” before the reveal and that is really unusual for me. I will definitely continue to read the series if Cleeves decides to write some more books!
Some time I must check Cleeves’ work, particularly the Vera Stanhope series, to make sure that I haven’t missed any of her books.
Now we have the short story…
Slow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi
Regular visitors to these Wednesday posts may remember that I am a huge fan of Scalzi’s work. When I came across this short story, Slow Time Between the Stars, I just had to read it and I wasn’t disappointed. This is the blurb…
“An artificial intelligence on a star-spanning mission explores the farthest horizons of human potential—and its own purpose—in a mind-bending short story by New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi.
Equipped with the entirety of human knowledge, a sentient ship is launched on a last-ditch journey to find a new home for civilization. Trillions of miles. Tens of thousands of years. In the space between, the AI has plenty of time to think about life, the vastness of the universe, everything it was meant to do, and—with a perspective created but not limited by humans—what it should do.”
This is such a beautifully written and thought provoking story. Basically, the idea is “what if a human made AI took its own decisions to break away from its human programming amongst the distant stars!” The timescales of the tale are mind boggling to the human brain: countless millennia. Just inconceivable to such short lived creatures.
Very touching and almost brought tears to my eyes! Now I must search out the rest of this series.
Hello and welcome to my blog. This Friday I am trying something a bit different. Every Spring, since I bought this wonderful Hermès scarf, I have taken it out of the box, admired the gorgeous colours and then worn it as a kind of tribute to the season. The scarf is: Dans un Jardin Anglais by Alice Shirley (and no that isn’t me in the pic below – I wish I were so young!).
Dans un Jardin Anglais by Alice Shirley for Hermès
Back at the end of April, I found a collage from 2018 with this scarf. It looks as if I had just been to the hairdresser!
Outfit of the day 25/08/18 with Hermès Dans un Jardin Anglais scarf
And here we have today’s version, nearly six years later:
Outfit of the day 17/05/24 with Hermès Dans un Jardin Anglais scarf
I had to tilt my head because I couldn’t get the pretty soutache earrings into my left ear! Also, it took me quite a while to find the same aspect of the scarf – 😂. I had a look back at the post from 2018 and this is the full 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.
It has been fun to deliberately recreate an outfit from the past and I might do this again, someday. If you are interested in the design, then here is the link to my Scarf of the Moment post with more details, including images of the 90cm size and the mousseline, gavroche and twilly versions.
Hello and welcome to my blog! Every Wednesday I write a post about the books I have read during the previous week. I list all of my books on the Goodreads website and use links from there when I am building the post.
Regulars to the blog will know that I have been a voracious reader for most of my life (I wasn’t born able to read although it feels like that sometimes!). Unfortunately, I had a stroke in September 2019 and, since then, I have recovered my ability to read but cannot manage quite as many books as I used to. My target for this year is 50 and I read ebooks on my iPad because the stroke left me with some vision issues.
So, what did I read this week and did I enjoy it? Well, there is more than one story to be told…
No Less the Devil by Stuart MacBride
Long term visitors will have realised that I am a huge fan of Stuart MacBride. I think that I have read most of his books, so I was really looking forward to this one: No Less The Devil. Let’s begin with the blurb:
“‘We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.’
It’s been seventeen months since the Bloodsmith butchered his first victim and Operation Maypole is still no nearer to catching him. The media is whipping up a storm, the top brass are demanding results, but the investigation is sinking fast.Now isn’t the time to get distracted with other cases, but Detective Sergeant Lucy McVeigh doesn’t have much choice. When Benedict Strachan was just eleven, he hunted down and killed a homeless man. No one’s ever figured out why Benedict did it, but now, after sixteen years, he’s back on the streets again – battered, frightened, convinced a shadowy ‘They’ are out to get him, and begging Lucy for help.It sounds like paranoia, but what if he’s right? What if he really is caught up in something bigger and darker than Lucy’s ever dealt with before? What if the Bloodsmith isn’t the only monster out there? And what’s going to happen when Lucy goes after them?”
This book appears to be a standalone and is not from one of the author’s brilliant series. Anyway, this is my response on Goodreads:
I am struggling to find the right words to describe this book. Usually, I love MacBride’s work. The dark humour and twisting plots are amongst my favourites. I don’t think I have ever struggled to finish one of his books or contemplated stopping reading one altogether!
I really enjoyed a large part of the book. MacBride’s storytelling, characters and amusing but grim plot was as gripping as ever. Then I got to about the 80% mark of this particular book. Having read many of the reviews on here, I am definitely not the only person who was shocked by the change of tone. It took a real effort to finish, something that has never happened to me when reading the work of a favourite author.
After getting through the – I’m not sure what to call it – obstacle, perhaps? The book did reach a quite satisfying ending. But I am now rather nervous about reading another book by MacBride!
As for the star rating. I could give it anything from none to almost four, so I haven’t a clue what to click!
Now, I was feeling very ill as I read the book, but my response was not affected by that as many others on Goodreads have reacted in a similar way. Anyway, I think I will choose something very different for my next book!
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 
Dear Lauren, thank you so much for this kind and lovely comment! Love & best wishes, Anne XXX