Welcome to a new week on the blog! I hope that you enjoyed the weekend of Jubilee frolics, if you are into that kind of thing. In the end, I read and watched a few bits and pieces and it all looked like fun, although rather too expensive in the current climate.
Anyway, talking of expenditure, I get my “allowance” at the beginning of the month and I had a bit of a spree on the Marks and Spencer website. Most of the items were staples – underwear and nightwear – but I did order two dresses. They haven’t arrived yet, so I will just show you the website images and post about them again on Friday, when I can model them. Mind you, that’s only if they look OK!
Here are the two dresses…
Summer dresses by Marks and Spencer
For some reason, the M & S website cuts off the bottom of images. These dresses are both cotton jersey and midi length. To be honest, I am such an awful shape these days that nothing will really fit. I am just hoping that these two items will be comfortable in warm weather and will not look too dreadful. Despite this, I don’t wish to fade into the background and the bright pink dress will at least ensure that doesn’t happen!
I suppose I should be writing something about the Platinum Jubilee in today’s post! To be honest, it is not really my thing. I avoid writing anything political on this blog, so I won’t bore you with my views. Let’s just say that buying my colourway of Hermès’ Regina was enough for me. Here is a modelling photo of Regina with a pink twinset from April, followed by an image of the full scarf:
Outfit of the day 13/04/22 with Hermès’ Regina scarf
Regina – Hermès
One scarf I have worn this week was Hermès’ Parures de Samouraïs. Well, by “worn” I mean tried on, then took off again. We had planned a shopping trip for me to stock up on some staples in the Sainsburys’ sale, but I felt too unwell and nervous to leave the house. Anyway, this was the photo of the outfit and a reminder (again) of the scarf:
Outfit of the day 02/06/22 with Hermès’ Parures de Samouraïs scarf
Parures de Samouraïs – Hermès
Whatever you may be doing today and over the weekend I hope you are well and happy!
Welcome to the first Reading Roundup post of the new month! I finished one book and am part-way through another (which I will write about next week).
A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E Feist
My book of the week was A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E Feist, #04 The Riftwar Saga. Here is the blurb:
“A Darkness at Sethanon is the stunning climax to Raymond E. Feist’s brilliant epic fantasy trilogy, the Riftwar Saga.
Here be dragons and sorcery, swordplay, quests, pursuits, intrigues, stratagems, journeys to the darkest realms of the dead and titanic battles between the forces of good and darkest evil.
Here is the final dramatic confrontation between Arutha and Murmandamus – and the perilous quest of Pug the magician and Tomas the warrior for Macros the Black. A Darkness at Sethanon is heroic fantasy of the highest excitement and on the grandest scale, a magnificent conclusion to one of the great fantasy sagas of our time.”
At this point, I usually post some clever html generated by the Goodreads site for displaying members’ book reviews and ratings. For some reason, this isn’t working and so I will have to use a screenshot instead…
The book I am currently reading is a collection of science fiction short stories. I shall enjoy returning to it when I have finished this post.
Hello and welcome to a new week on the blog! I spend most of my time in bed these days and amuse myself (in addition to reading ebooks, writing blog posts, following Twitter and watching TV) by wandering around the web. I find all kinds of stuff and end up going off at tangents tracking things that interest me.
I follow a range of accounts on Twitter, although I rarely post these days and try to stay anonymous. Some of the accounts are about archaeological finds, others show art, and I have come across a few which specialise in vintage costumes. This gorgeous dress caught my eye a few weeks ago. Of course it did – look at the colours!
Dress by Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon
I had the pictures from Twitter but knew nothing about them, so I did a reverse image search on Google and found out some incredible background information. The woman who designed the dress, Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon, was a survivor of the Titanic disaster. Not only that, but she narrowly escaped sailing on the Lusitania’s final voyage!
Anyway, if any of you are interested in this remarkable woman, here is the Wikipedia article and more information from the Encyclopedia Titanica. She is well worth some follow up reading!
Now, back to my book. Reading Roundup on Wednesday as usual!
Welcome to my final post of the week. Unfortunately, I have been too ill to get dressed properly and have stayed in my nightwear through the day. On good days, I have only been able to get up for about two hours over lunchtime, before going back to bed again. Actually planning an outfit and dressing myself in it has been far beyond me.
I recently bought some nice nighties from Lands’ End to wear during warmer weather. They are a bit “old lady” but the cotton fabric is substantial and very silky-smooth, so they are comfortable to wear. Here are the ones I bought…
Women’s Supima Nightdresses – Lands’ End
From my pile of orange boxes, I have retrieved the scarf that I am planning to wear next. Looking through my photos, I can see that I have only worn it with the same couple of jumpers/twinsets over the years and I am wondering whether it would look good with other items in my wardrobe.
This is Parures de Samouraïs:
Parures de Samouraïs – Hermès
Anyway, I will have a think and, hopefully, I can show you the final choice of outfit next week.
Until then, Happy Weekend to you all!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
💕💗💖💗💕
P.S. If you are interested in this wonderful scarf, please have a look at my Scarf of the Moment post about Parures de Samouraïs.
Welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup post. I finished two books and am part way through a very enjoyable third! This is the first one:
Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My first book was Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky, #02 The Final Architecture. Here is the blurb:
“The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us the second novel in an extraordinary space opera trilogy about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man’s discovery will save or destroy us all.
After earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, a group of enhanced human soldiers. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared. But after discovering an ancient alien artifact the Architects may be back. And they’re still angry.”
It took me quite a while to read this complex book. This is the review that I wrote on Goodreads:
First, let me say that I enjoyed this book. The plot was interesting and inventive; the cast of characters also. I did have some issues with it all. Some of the “sciency” stuff left me cold. Now, that is probably my fault as my science knowledge is pretty thin. So I have no idea which bits were pure imagination and which were real or possible. Well, maybe I can work out that some parts were amazingly imaginative!
I am glad that there were some descriptions of the characters, because I could only vaguely remember them from book #01. There was a huge cast of very colourful aliens, but their attributes were quite sketchy for me.
Anyway, I will look out for the next (final?) book in the series as I am sure it will be well worth reading. I can’t resist the women warriors of the Parthenon!
Apparently, Adrian Tchaikovsky has also written some Fantasy series, so I may investigate those while I wait for book three!
One for Sorrow by Helen Fields
I was really looking forward to reading this next book, One for Sorrow by Helen Fields, as I have worked my way through the DI Callanach series and this is #07! First, the blurb:
“One for sorrow, two for joy Edinburgh is gripped by the greatest terror it has ever known. A lone bomber is targeting victims across the city and no one is safe.
Three for a girl, four for a boy DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach face death every day – and not just the deaths of the people being taken hostage by the killer.
Five for silver, six for gold When it becomes clear that with every tip-off they are walking into a trap designed to kill them too, Ava and Luc know that finding the truth could mean paying the ultimate price.
Seven for a secret never to be told… But with the threat – and body count – rising daily, and no clue as to who’s behind it, neither Ava nor Luc know whether they will live long enough to tell the tale…“
Normally, I have given the books in this series a high number of stars. The plots and writing have been excellent and have kept me enthralled. There is no doubt that Helen Fields is an excellent crime novelist. But this book was a huge let down!
It is difficult to explain why I am so disappointed and, yes, annoyed with the book without giving too much away. Everyone who reads it will come to their own conclusions and many “Goodreaders” have awarded One for Sorrow the full five stars. I just can’t do that for three reasons. First of all, the body count was so huge that it felt gratuitous and over the top. Secondly, the eventual reveal of the killer did not work for me. Last of all, the finale and cliffhanger were simply horrible.
I am left wondering whether I will read the next book in the series!
To compensate, I am now reading a book from a tried and trusted author. Well, I hope he doesn’t decide to have an unexpected mass slaughter! I will let you know next week.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to a new week on the blog. My life is rather dull at the moment, which may be a good thing in some ways. At least I can keep myself amused with my iPad, although I don’t know what I would do if it stopped working. Probably rush to the laptop and order a new one!
There have been some funny posts on my Facebook with old adverts from the 50s, 60s and 70s. They make me cringe when I remember the times! Here is one that I saved…
Funny advert!
What were the designers/manufacturers/models/photographers thinking!?!?
To counter that image, here is something amazingly beautiful that I saw on Twitter…
Roman blue glass cup
Isn’t that gorgeous? The colour is wonderful and I would love to see it in real life.
During my daily wandering around the web, I come across all kinds of marvels. This really set me thinking…
Ancient shark
I wonder what that incredible creature thinks about as they wander the oceans?
Well, I thought that the shark was going to be my final image, but I have just been on Twitter, found this and rushed to edit the post…
I can’t really believe that I have posted this many times on the blog! It was started as a way to occupy myself during my early retirement due to illness and I never expected any kind of response, traffic or engagement. So, a big thank-you to all of you who visit and respond, either directly on here or in other places.
Today, I can show you one outfit from the week. Yet again, I had to go to a doctor’s appointment for a new issue with my health. This has resulted in another referral to a larger hospital and I will have to wait to see what comes of further investigations.
Anyway, here is the outfit:
Outfit of the day 17/05/22 with Hermès’ Au Pays des Oiseaux Fleurs scarf
I was very pleased with this outfit as I adore shades of turquoise and the yellows and blues of the scarf are so uplifting. The cotton top is part of a twinset from Lands’ End and I also wore my pewter lace-up shoes from Hotter. Yes, I do really need a haircut but I am so unwell at the moment and don’t want to make an appointment, but then have to cancel at the last minute. It’s not fair to my lovely and patient hairdresser!
OK, I think that is all I can manage to write today so I wish you all a very Happy Weekend!
Welcome back to my Reading Roundup. I have two books to tell you about today as I have been too ill to read on many of the days whilst I had a break from the blog! Although I have almost finished a third book, I am not going to rush the ending so that I can fit it into this week’s post. It can wait until next week!
Anyway, here is the first book…
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
I was so pleased to see that our Library Service’s ebook catalogue had added another book by John Scalzi: The Kaiju Preservation Society. Here is the blurb:
”They’re big, they’re bad and they’re about to become extinct . . .
Jamie’s dream was to hit the big time at a New York tech start-up. Jamie’s reality was a humiliating lay-off, then a lowwage job as a takeaway delivery driver. During a pandemic too. Things look beyond grim, until a chance delivery to an old acquaintance. Tom has an urgent vacancy on his team: the pay is great and Jamie has debts – it’s a no-brainer choice. Yet, once again, reality fails to match expectations. Only this time it could be fatal.
It seems Tom’s ‘animal rights organization’ is way more than it appears. The animals aren’t even on Earth – or not our Earth, anyway. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures roam a tropical, human-free world. And although Kaiju are their universe’s largest and most dangerous animal, they need support to survive.
Tom’s ‘Kaiju Preservation Society’ wants to help. However, others want to profit. Unless they’re stopped, the walls between our worlds could fall – and the consequences would be devastating.”
Oh, I absolutely loved this book – hence the full five stars on Goodreads! This is my review:
I tagged this book as humour as well as science fiction, because this was a brilliant uplifting read that raised my spirits during a really difficult time. I love Scalzi’s work and this was a great showcase for his talents of interesting and ingenious storytelling, clever plotting and sheer imagination. My hope is that I can read more of his work in the future.
My second book was also fantastic. This time I chose a very long read and really immersed myself to take my mind away from my illness. The book was John Gwynne’s The Hunger of the Gods (#02 Bloodsworn Saga). This is the blurb:
“The Hunger of the Gods continues John Gwynne’s acclaimed Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance.
Lik-Rifa, the dragon god of legend, has been freed from her eternal prison. Now she plots a new age of blood and conquest.
As Orka continues the hunt for her missing son, the Bloodsworn sweep south in a desperate race to save one of their own – and Varg takes the first steps on the path of vengeance.
Elvar has sworn to fulfil her blood oath and rescue a prisoner from the clutches of Lik-Rifa and her dragonborn followers, but first she must persuade the Battle-Grim to follow her.
Yet even the might of the Bloodsworn and Battle-Grim cannot stand alone against a dragon god.
Their hope lies within the mad writings of a chained god. A book of forbidden magic with the power to raise the wolf god Ulfrir from the dead . . . and bring about a battle that will shake the foundations of the earth.”
My memory issues caused a few small problems at the beginning of the book as I struggled to remember some of the characters and the plot of the previous episode, but I soon got into the swing!
Another great book from the amazing imagination of John Gwynne. I am really enjoying this fantasy series set in a Viking-like world with strong male and female characters, the revival of dead gods and interesting creatures. The story is told from different points of view, which can get rather confusing, and I had to stop several times to work out where we were and refer to the map.
Gwynne’s writing gives the reader a very fast-paced and exciting rollercoaster ride through his world. I can’t wait for the next instalment! Just one issue. Perhaps this book was a little rushed or the editor didn’t get enough time with it. I found several errors, mainly homonyms, which should not have been there! Hence four stars.
Hi everyone! It’s lovely to be back here again. I am so sorry that there was such a long break from the blog, but I was very ill and unable to write, or even read much, for that matter. The “bug” was not COVID, but was pretty nasty on top of all the other unpleasant conditions that I already have. Anyway, I am now back to my “normal” and hope to be able to resume writing here as before.
During the time away, the new scarves for Hermès’ Autumn/Winter 2022 season have begun to appear on various sites. Luckily for fans, the brilliant scarf detectives on The Purse Forum have started a new thread for the season: …… Hermès Fall/Winter 2022 Scarves …….. This will be worth following, if you are interested.
Some images of the new designs have already been posted on the thread:
Hermès Autumn/Winter 2022 scarf selection
To be honest, I haven’t seen anything so far that really grabs me. But, I seem to say that every season, don’t I? Then, as the weeks and months go by, something comes to the fore and I find myself falling for a pattern, or a combination of colours. We shall see…
Planning to be back on Wednesday for the Reading Roundup.
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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