So, it’s Friday again! I know that I promised to show you some modelling photos of my latest Hermès scarf, Hermès Story, but I have not been well enough to organise those. Instead, here are some photos of scarves that I have worn recently:
Outfit of the day 06/03/22 with Peacock scarf by Bien Abyé
I like this particular scarf tie as it works well with this smaller scarf. You simply make a bias fold, then wrap around the neck securing with a scarf ring. This one is by MaiTai and has navy enamel on the reverse, so it’s very versatile.
Here is a reminder of the whole scarf:
Peacock silk scarf by Bien Abyé
My second image of the week was taken in circumstances rather different to usual. When I model scarves or jewellery, I stand in front of the wardrobe so that I have a plain background and light from the window. For this photo, I was feeling too unwell to stand, so I took the photo whilst sitting in bed. Apologies! Anyway, here it is with one of my favourite non-Hermès scarves: She Was a Feminist at Heart by Karine Assaf.
Outfit of the day 08/03/22 with A Feminist at Heart by Karine Assaf
This lovely scarf in orange, white and blue was again tied using the same scarf ring, but using the navy blue side this time. BTW, the other corner says “She Was a Bookworm”, so this scarf could have been made for me!
Here it is so that you can see the details:
A Feminist at Heart by Karine Assaf
Well, that’s all for this week. I do hope that you all have a great weekend…
I must admit that something very strange and unusual has happened this week…
I haven’t finished a single book!!!
It appears that my long list of illnesses/conditions has really got the better of me and I have been unable to concentrate on my current book. As I really want to do it justice, I will have to wait until I feel a bit better before I try reading further.
Well, here it comes! I thought that I had finished with Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2022 season, but this amazing scarf continued to pop up regularly on The Purse Forum and I simply fell in love with it. I am not sure, however, whether it loves me back! I am going to reveal it today, then model it for you on Friday and then you can let me know what you think.
Here we go, from orange box to the scarf itself…
The light wasn’t very good when I took the photo of the whole scarf, so here is the image from the Hermès website. Please remember that the website images are not accurate with the colours to help prevent copying…
Hermès Story by Jonathan Burton
Yes, this is the beautiful and playful Hermès Story by Jonathan Burton, marron glacé, bleu nuit, pétrole. In real life, the colours are rich and amazing. The brown background glows like molten chocolate and the blues…
I can really see why this is such a hit this season. What do you think?
More of this scarf on Friday and I will begin to compile a full Scarf of the Moment scarf profile as soon as I can.
On Monday 28/02/22 I revealed a lovely new scarf called Peacock, by Bien Abyé. I also wrote that I would upload some outfit collages showcasing the scarf in today’s post. Unfortunately, I have only been able to make one because I have been too poorly to get dressed properly this week, but this collage will give you an idea of what the scarf looks like with suitable clothing and jewellery. I don’t wear dresses these days, but this scarf would also look great with a plain dress in navy, turquoise or teal.
Anyway, here is a reminder of the scarf:
Peacock silk scarf by Bien Abyé
And this is the outfit collage:
Outfit of the day 01/03/22 with Peacock scarf by Bien Abyé
Outfit details:
Navy wool mix cable cardigan – LL Bean.
Teal cotton top – Cotton Traders.
Navy cord trousers – Lands’ End.
London blue topaz and silver earrings – Blue Nile.
Teal suede Vara wrap bracelet – Ferragamo.
Silk scarf, 21in x 21in, in teal, navy, green, gold and red – Peacock by Bien Abyé. Folded into a triangle and tied around the neck.
The scarf is quite small – it comes between the Hermès sizes of 45cm x 45 cm (gavroche) and their 70cm x 70cm. This does make it easy to manage and I could also use my lovely double sided scarf ring from MaiTai, which is navy on one side and teal on the other. I had hoped to show you a tie with that ring today, but perhaps I can do that at another time.
Here is a photo with the ring as a reminder. The gold one might be too heavy for this size of scarf.
Scarf rings by MaiTai Collection
I hope you have enjoyed today’s post. All being well, I plan to have another reveal on Monday for you! In the meantime I wish you all a lovely weekend.
Apologies, but this is going to be a bare bones post this week as I am feeling very ill today and can hardly type. I managed to read one book this week:
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
The sharp eyed amongst you may spot that lighthouses are a part of another book, after Emma Stonex’s The Lamplighters from a couple of weeks ago! This one is The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley.
First we have the blurb:
“A time twisting alternative history that asks whether it’s worth changing the past to save the future, even if it costs you everyone you’ve ever loved.
Joe Tournier has a bad case of amnesia. His first memory is of stepping off a train in the nineteenth-century French colony of England. The only clue Joe has about his identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month he does. Written in illegal English—instead of French—the postcard is signed only with the letter “M,” but Joe is certain whoever wrote it knows him far better than he currently knows himself, and he’s determined to find the writer. The search for M, though, will drive Joe from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland and finally onto the battle ships of a lost empire’s Royal Navy. In the process, Joe will remake history, and himself.”
Then my response as written of the Goodreads website:
Oh goodness! I have no idea how to write a review of this weird, wonderful and confusing book. For anyone who has read any of my reviews: you must be tired of my mentioning the stroke that befell me in 2019, but that event is very pertinent here. The plot jumps across a range of timelines from the 18th century up to the 20th, with subtle and not-so-subtle changes to events, people and settings. Major historical events either didn’t happen or happened in a different way, battles lost or won, people died or did not die or were even not born. For most people the book is a wonderful and clever puzzle.
But for me? Since I struggle to remember a previous chapter when I return to a book the next day, this plot was a complete nightmare!!! I could see how amazing it was, after all I have awarded it four stars, but my brain now feels totally tangled. Perhaps I should have left it alone!
For all that, I feel that the book deserved at least four stars. After all, it’s not the author’s fault that my brain isn’t firing on all cylinders! Those of you who don’t have any comprehension issues might find the book well worth consideration. There are many five star responses on Goodreads that confirm this.
And now I will try to rest my brain. It is not up to reading today, which just goes to show just how ill I am feeling!
I do hope that you had a good weekend. Ours was fine and I was happy to have two deliveries to open. I will show you the first one this week and will hold the other over to next Monday. How awful of me!
Well, when I say “reveal” this first parcel had really minimal packaging, so I can’t do this in the “traditional” way. This is the image that I first saw on The Vivienne Files website:
Image from The Vivienne Files, post dated 14/02/22
I just loved this whole cluster of clothing and accessories! The colours of teal and navy fit beautifully into my wardrobe and I really like peacock feathers. So, I went to the Nordstrom website and ordered the scarf straight away. Now, that was rather impetuous, particularly because the site is in the US and I would have to pay a premium for delivery etc. But, scarf addiction is so difficult to shake off, isn’t it? It took a while for the scarf to arrive, but arrive it did. First of all, here is a better image of the whole thing:
Peacock silk scarf by Bien Abyé
The colours in the above image are very close to real life. I had a quick look through my wardrobe and, as I expected, I had several items that I knew would look great with the scarf. There were also lots of things in my jewellery boxes too! On Friday, I will upload some outfit collages to show you how I will wear the scarf.
Today, I am posting a slideshow so that you can see the colours and details:
Now, the silk isn’t as heavy and luxurious as Hermès’ silk twill, but this scarf has navy hand-rolled hems and it is nicely printed. As you can see, the colours are teal, navy, green, gold and red. The central pattern is cleverly shaded so that the colours glow. The size is 21in x 21in.
OK, I hope you have found this interesting! Modelling photos on Friday.
Well, I am feeling rather foolish. It is late afternoon and I am about to go downstairs to make my dinner, but I have something niggling at the back of my mind. Whatever could it be?
Oh! I have totally forgotten to write today’s blog post! Argh!
So, apologies for this hurried and very basic Friday post. I promise that something more interesting is coming next week!
Here is one of the outfits that I wore this week. It was on a really good day, when my health and brain function felt much better than usual and I managed to get quite a lot done…
Outfit of the day 23/02/22 with Hermès’ Bibliothéque gavroche
I love this cute scarf with its cheerful colours: bright pink, orange, blue, green and yellow. And, of course, the subject matter is very appropriate for me. I wore it with some earrings that I have had for 30 years, a navy cotton jumper from Lands’ End, one of my Liberty of London enamel bangles and my navy pyjama trousers.
Here is the bangle:
Liberty of London Hera enamel bangle
Aren’t the colours of the bangle lovely? I think they go with the scarf, quite well.
Anyway, that’s all for this week and I do hope that you have a great weekend.
In this week’s Reading Roundup I have two books to write about. The first was held over from last week and the second is one I have just finished. Here is the first:
Leviathan Falls by James S A Corey
I had been putting off reading this book. Why? Because Leviathan Falls by James S A Corey is the ninth and final book in the wonderful The Expanse series. I really didn’t want to read the end of the saga, but I suppose that I couldn’t leave it any longer! So, here is the blurb:
“The Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again.
In the dead system of Adro, Elvi Okoye leads a desperate scientific mission to understand what the gate builders were and what destroyed them, even if it means compromising herself and the half-alien children who bear the weight of her investigation. Through the wide-flung systems of humanity, Colonel Aliana Tanaka hunts for Duarte’s missing daughter. . . and the shattered emperor himself. And on the Rocinante, James Holden and his crew struggle to build a future for humanity out of the shards and ruins of all that has come before.
As nearly unimaginable forces prepare to annihilate all human life, Holden and a group of unlikely allies discover a last, desperate chance to unite all of humanity, with the promise of a vast galactic civilization free from wars, factions, lies, and secrets if they win.
But the price of victory may be worse than the cost of defeat.”
After reading all nine books and watching the excellent TV series (which didn’t cover all of the books, sadly), this is the five star review that I posted to the Goodreads website:
This review is really a collective set of comments on the whole series.
Wow! I have finally made it to the end of this fabulous nine book space adventure. I am not the same person who picked up the first book some years ago. At that time, January 2018, my health was poor and I had taken early retirement, but, as I read through the series, my illnesses grew worse, I had a stroke and my eyesight was badly affected. I went from paper books to ebooks. I went from rapid understanding to struggling with some concepts. But I kept on reading.
And it has been so rewarding to read the whole series. I was sad that the TV series did not cover all of the books, although I can understand why, but I really enjoyed watching each episode. I feel almost sad that the whole thing is over now!
This particular book was a fitting finale. New characters were introduced, for good reasons. Our favourite and well known characters reached suitable places for the whole “opera” to come to a satisfying conclusion. Brilliant stuff!
Once again, I will repeat my point that it is well worth reading some of the other reviews of this book and series. There are some really detailed and excellent ones available which are far better written than my quick reactions!
And now for my second book…
The Dirty South by John Connolly
As you can see my second book was the 16th in John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series: The Dirty South. Here is the blurb:
“It is 1999, and someone is slaughtering young black women in Burdon County, Arkansas.
But no one wants to admit it, not in the Dirty South.
In an Arkansas jail cell sits a former NYPD detective, stricken by grief. He is mourning the death of his wife and child, and searching in vain for their killer. He cares only for his own lost family.
But that is about to change . . .
Witness the becoming of Charlie Parker.”
This was a complete change in tone and genre from the previous read! It was, however, a great book to which I gave four stars. Here is my review:
I have read every book in the series up to this one, but was a little disappointed with the previous episode, #17, A Book of Bones. I felt that the author was becoming over fond of killing off people in overly sadistic ways and had also lost sight of his own main characters’ plot lines. In this book, yet again, there were too many names for me to follow, but that might be due to my own issues from my stroke.
That being said, this was a much more satisfying book for me. I feel that Connolly has found his mojo again and I enjoyed this journey back to an earlier stage in Charlie Parker’s story. I already have the following book queued up and will be interested to see how that fits into the series.
All in all, this was a very good read. As well as enjoying the interesting and absorbing plot, I loved the author’s beautiful use of language. I even looked up and learned a few new words!
Hello, on a stormy Monday! Windy weather always makes my cough worse. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because more dust is in the air, even in a house with double glazing? I’m not really sure. Anyway, the upshot is that I am really struggling to breathe, never mind get dressed or go downstairs. So I will probably remain in bed and try to entertain myself with the internet, ebooks and Netflix. At least I have my iPad!
My scarf addiction is still very active and I have two currently on order: one from France and the other from the US! All will be revealed when they arrive. I wonder if I should join Scarf Addicts Anonymous, if there were such a group, but then do I actually want to be cured? They give me such pleasure and I love the thought of, eventually, passing them down to relatives. I have a lovely scene in my head of my family looking through piles of orange boxes and exclaiming in delight as they discover my treasure trove of silk. This isn’t at all morbid as it makes me feel warm and happy that I might bring some joy to people, and some surprises, when I am no longer here!
On Twitter, I follow a lovely account that posts images of women’s art. Sometimes I save the ones that speak to me and this is one of them:
If you are on Twitter, that account is really worth a follow for gorgeous and often thought provoking art.
I thought that I would show you the lovely outfit that I put together to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Well, OK, I wore it the day after, but I would have worn it on the 14th if I had been well enough!
Outfit of the day 15/02/22 with Hermès’ Hermès Tea Time scarf
I wore the pretty orange and white Hermès Tea Time 70cm scarf with my navy v-neck cashmere/merino jumper from WoolOvers. More hearts may be seen on the pretty earrings from Etsy (a birthday gift from Younger Son) and on the orange enamel and gold friendship bracelet from Halcyon Days. Please excuse my awful hair. I desperately need to visit my hairdresser, but am having problems leaving the house.
Here is a larger picture of this cute scarf. Those of you with very sharp eyes may have noticed that I wore it reversed for the photo! The printing is so good that I didn’t realise in time 🤣😂🤣😂.
Hermès Tea Time by Jonathan Burton
As I write this post, the wind is howling outside in this powerful Storm Eunice. I keep reading updates on the BBC website and am so thankful that we persuaded Elder Son to come home from his holiday a day early. As he was in Bristol, we were concerned that he was too close to the red danger zone and that travel home would be disrupted. As it has turned out, we chose the correct option! I do hope that everyone is safe.
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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