Friday post 31/05/24: wearing my scarves

Posted on 31/05/2024 by The Librain

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 Anglais
Outfit of the day 24/05/24 with Hermès Sous le Charme d’Orphée
Outfit of the day 28/05/24 with Hermès Under the Waves
Outfit 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

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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…

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Reading roundup 29/05/24

Posted on 29/05/2024 by The Librain

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:

HomecomingHomecoming by Kate Morton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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.

View all my reviews

I have already reserved another book by Kate Morton, but it looks like I will have a very long wait in the queue! Will it be worth it? I hope so.

My next book is completely different and is science fiction and I will write about it next week, all being well.

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 24/05/24: a couple of purchases

Posted on 24/05/2024 by The Librain

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

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PS. The links for Fetolia, Hermès and One Hundred Stars are in the sidebar.

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Reading roundup 22/05/24

Posted on 22/05/2024 by The Librain

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.”

And this was my short review on Goodreads:

The Raging Storm (Two Rivers #3)The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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!

View all my reviews

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.”

Here is my response:

Slow Time Between the Stars (The Far Reaches, #6)Slow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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.

View all my reviews

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this post and also had a great week of reading too.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 17/05/24: returning to a favourite scarf

Posted on 17/05/2024 by The Librain

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
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
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 😍.
  • Frosted lavender cotton mix cardigan – Lands’ End.
  • Purple and turquoise soutache earrings – Etsy.
  • 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.

Happy Weekend!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 15/05/24

Posted on 15/05/2024 by The Librain

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:

No Less The DevilNo Less The Devil by Stuart MacBride
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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!

View all my reviews

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!

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 10/05/24: was this a good buy, or not?

Posted on 10/05/2024 by The Librain

Hello and welcome to today’s post. This week a new scarf arrived. What a surprise! Well, no it isn’t really because, as regular visitors and friends know, I am a total scarf maniac!

Usually these days I buy scarves from brands that are familiar to me. This time, however, an advert caught my eye and I fell into a whirlpool of, well what should I call it, stupidity or foolishness?

Why? Because I didn’t research the company before I purchased the scarf! Luckily for me I still like it and my own experience with the company was without any issues, but do read on…

First we have the reveal:

The packing box – OK, not very exciting!
The opened box – this looks interesting!
The rather nice card inside the box
Why am I so obsessed with this box?

Here are the images from the website…

Views of Vesuvius scarf by Camilla

Aren’t the colours lovely? We have blues, aqua, turquoise, a golden brown and white. There are bronze silken tassels at the corners and tiny glittering multicoloured crystals. The whole scarf is very pretty and glamorous. Even the pretty labels match the scarf! By the way, there are other items available in this fabric: kaftans, dresses, blouses etc.

I took some quick photos and put them into a slideshow…

Then, I tried on the scarf with two of my cotton short sleeved jumpers from Lands’ End, one in cobalt blue and the other in turquoise. I also have summer dresses that would work too.

Cobalt blue top – Lands’ End
Turquoise top – Lands’ End
Views of Vesuvius with cobalt
Views of Vesuvius with turquoise
Views of Vesuvius with cobalt
Views of Vesuvius with turquoise

Here’s one of my summer t-shirt dresses from Marks and Spencer, which would work with this scarf…

Jersey V-Neck Midi T-Shirt Dress – Marks and Spencer

Right, so now you have seen the good things about this scarf and the company, Camilla (the link is to the UK site). Now to the rest of the story. Let me emphasise that the scarf arrived, well packaged, with no issues. I had explored the Camilla website, looking at all the gorgeous prints on scarves, clothing and accessories. The prices are very high, but I could afford a scarf. My first issue is that the fabric of the scarf doesn’t feel like silk, although the website says that it is. The material is crepe and feels like polyester!

The second issue is totally my fault for not reading properly. I thought that the company is based in Europe, but it turned out that my parcel was shipped from Australia! Not very Green of me!

Then we have the third issue. As I said above, I had no problems with Camilla’s service, but when I looked at the reviewing sites like Trustpilot I had quite a shock. There are loads of very negative reviews, mainly about customer service.

So, have I done something idiotic? Well, I will certainly learn something from this and retrieve my librarian instincts!

Now, is that silk or polyester or something else?

Happy Weekend to you all,

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 08/05/24

Posted on 08/05/2024 by The Librain

Wednesday’s Reading Roundup post has arrived again! In last week’s post I mentioned that a lovely friend had recommended an author who might help me during my gloomy moments. Fortunately, I found one of the books on our library’s ebook site and here it is…

Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon

The book was Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon. Here is the blurb:

“Breaking up is hard to do. Especially when he’s left his wife for you . . .

What to do if Matthew, your secret lover of the past four years, finally decides to leave his wife Sophie and their two daughters and move into your flat, just when you’re thinking that you might not want him anymore . . .

PLAN A: Stop shaving your armpits. And your bikini line. Tell him you have a moustache that you wax every six weeks. Stop having sex with him. Pick holes in the way he dresses. Don’t brush your teeth. Or your hair. Or pluck out the stray hag-whisker that grows out of your chin. Buy incontinence pads and leave them lying around.

PLAN B: Accidentally on purpose bump into his wife Sophie. Give yourself a fake name and identity. Befriend Sophie. Actually begin to really like Sophie. Snog Matthew’s son (who’s the same age as you by the way. You’re not a paedophile). Buy a cat and give it a fake name and identity. Befriend Matthew’s children. Unsuccessfully. Watch your whole plan go absolutely horribly wrong.”

Well, the book turned out to be just what I needed! A great way to dispel some of my dark thoughts! This is my response on the Goodreads website:

Getting Rid of MatthewGetting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was suggested by a kind friend as a way of lifting my mood. Whilst not condoning adultery, I found the book very amusing, especially the descriptions of the wayward husband. The group of nasty co-workers very also funny, although I am glad that I have never come across such a cabal in real life.

So, this served as a perfect pick-me-up! Many thanks!

View all my reviews

Some people on Goodreads feel very strongly about the adultery in the book and have written very negative reviews, by the way. I just found Helen’s predicament very funny indeed!

After that, I have returned to the work of a favourite author. One who writes with very dark humour! Who is this? Well, you will have to wait until next week’s Reading Roundup post to find out!

Happy Reading to you all.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Friday post 03/05/24: with peacock feathers

Posted on 03/05/2024 by The Librain

So, it is Friday again and time for a post. It has been a bit warmer in this part of the UK, although we have also had grey skies and far too much rain!

Over the last few years we have had bursts of higher than usual temperatures, lasting for a few days. When the Summer months come around, the sun shines into our bedroom during the latter part of the afternoon and it gets very hot in here. As I spend so much time in bed, I decided to buy a more powerful fan, just in case we have a repeat of those higher temperatures in the coming weeks/months. Anyway, it has just arrived and I put it together straight away. I think/hope it will do the trick!

I have worn a couple of nicer outfits this week, although not with any of my Hermès scarves. Here is the first one with a lovely small scarf by Bien Abayé and a navy cotton top by Lands’ End…

Peacock silk scarf by Bien Abayé

This is a larger image of the scarf. More information about the scarf, plus a slideshow with closer photos, can be found in this post.

Peacock silk scarf by Bien Abayé

In addition, I decided that the cute hummingbird earrings that I bought the other week from the John Franklin Jewellery sale would work well with the colours in the scarf…

Hummingbird earrings by John Franklin Jewellery

Another outfit this week incorporated some elements from Ancient Greek architecture: columns! I didn’t take a selfie, but here are the t-shirt and earrings.

Classical Order t-shirt by Identity Inventory
Ionic column earrings by Meg on Ko-fi.com

Last week I promised to wear my gorgeous Hermès scarf Dans un Jardin Anglais. I haven’t managed to do so this week but I will get it out of the box in anticipation!

Happy Weekend to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 01/05/24

Posted on 01/05/2024 by The Librain

Welcome to the first Reading Roundup of May 2024! Some of you might remember that I have been struggling to read books for a few weeks. I seem to have lost the ability to focus and concentrate on reading my usual type of ebooks – science fiction, thrillers, crime, fantasy – usually with a dark twist. Instead, my mind has been flitting from worries to fears to trivia found on social media to horrors in the news to card games on my iPad.

So I put out a call on here and Facebook last week for more soothing and easy books and had some helpful responses. I also had a look through my ebook collection and chose something that I thought would be a suitable distraction…

Realm of Dragons by Morgan Rice

The book was Realm of Dragons by Morgan Rice, #01 Age of the Sorcerers. After the previous week’s attempt to re-acquaint myself with Anne McCaffrey’s work, dragons must have been lurking in my mind! Anyway, the book appeared to be a fairly straightforward Young Adult fantasy. Here is the blurb:

“REALM OF DRAGONS (Age of the Sorcerers—Book One) tells the story of the epic coming of age of one very special 16 year old boy, a blacksmith’s son from a poor family who is offered no chance of proving his fighting skills and breaking into the ranks of the nobles. Yet he holds a power he cannot deny, and a fate he must follow.

It tells the story of a 17 year old princess on the eve of her wedding, destined for greatness—and of her younger sister, rejected by her family and dying of plague.

It tells the tale of their three brothers, three princes who could not be more different from each other—all of them vying for power.

It tells the story of a kingdom on the verge of change, of invasion, the story of the dying dragon race, falling daily from the sky.

It tells the tale of two rival kingdoms, of the rapids dividing them, of a landscape dotted with dormant volcanoes, and of a capital accessible only with the tides. It is a story of love, passion, of hate and sibling rivalry; of rogues and hidden treasure; of monks and secret warriors; of honor and glory, and of betrayal and deception.

It is the story of Dragonfell, a story of honor and valor, of sorcerers, magic, fate and destiny. It is a tale you will not put down until the early hours, one that will transport you to another world and have you fall in in love with characters you will never forget. It appeals to all ages and genders.”

This is my response on Goodreads:

Realm of Dragons (Age of the Sorcerers, #1)Realm of Dragons by Morgan Rice
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a very standard fantasy story aimed at the YA market. It was OK, but not an outstanding read. As the first book in a series, lots of characters were introduced and short chapters followed them in turn to advance the plot. I found this very confusing as it was difficult to remember so many characters. The main ones were the usual types: beautiful princess, brave prince, nasty prince, bookish prince, ill princess etc. Then some ordinary people. The plot was quite similar and certainly not anything outstanding or new.

I’m sure that some people will enjoy this author’s style, but it’s not for me and I won’t seek out the sequels.

View all my reviews

Well, after that I am now reading a book suggested by a kind friend after last week’s post. I will tell you how I get on in next week’s Reading Roundup.

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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