I had planned to write a proper “Outfits of the Week” post for this evening. Unfortunately, I have been very weak and ill for a while and feel particularly bad today. So, I will postpone that post until next week and hope that I feel stronger on Monday.
I do hope that you all have a good weekend!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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Hello to all of you keen readers! I must admit that I have only finished one book this week – but what a book!!!
You may remember that Joe Abercrombie is one of my most favourite authors of all time. In fact, I believe that I have read just about all of his books to date and this one, The Wisdom of Crowds, is his latest…
The book is the final part of his The Age of Madness trilogy. Here is the blurb:
”Chaos. Fury. Destruction.
The Great Change is upon us . . .
Some say that to change the world you must first burn it down. Now that belief will be tested in the crucible of revolution: the Breakers and Burners have seized the levers of power, the smoke of riots has replaced the smog of industry, and all must submit to the wisdom of crowds.
With nothing left to lose, Citizen Brock is determined to become a new hero for the new age, while Citizeness Savine must turn her talents from profit to survival before she can claw her way to redemption. Orso will find that when the world is turned upside down, no one is lower than a monarch. And in the bloody North, Rikke and her fragile Protectorate are running out of allies . . . while Black Calder gathers his forces and plots his vengeance.
The banks have fallen, the sun of the Union has been torn down, and in the darkness behind the scenes, the threads of the Weaver’s ruthless plan are slowly being drawn together . . .”
I really took my time to read this as I love Abercrombie’s work so much. None of that “skipping through to get to the good bit” – all of the “bits” are good! This is my review as posted on Goodreads:
The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe AbercrombieI am so fortunate that there are so many other fantastic books to keep me busy! My life seems very dark and grim these days, so fantasy, thrillers and science fiction really help to take my mind away from my troubles. I have already started a new book and I will tell you which one next week (or you could just have a look at the Goodreads widget in the sidebar, which tells all!).
Happy Reading to you all!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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I do hope that you all had a good weekend. Lovely Husband and I are enjoying a few days of peace and quiet whilst Elder Son is away. I had hoped that we could take the opportunity to go out together, but, unfortunately, a very bad relapse has meant that I have had to stay in bed nearly all of the time. LH is being patient and kind, but is very worried about me. At least I have managed to keep myself entertained with my trusty (I hope) iPad!
Over a couple of days, I binge watched the brilliant BBC series Vigil which was amazing television. It nearly triggered my claustrophobia, but I managed to cope! I have also been reading a great book, which I will write about in Wednesday’s Reading Roundup post.
Now, I need to have another rest so I will leave you with the image below. Sometimes I find fashion totally baffling – perhaps this is intended!
And, no, this is not a new venture for my wardrobe!!! 😂🤣😂🤣😂
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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Apologies for the short post! I must admit that I was enjoying reading my latest book so much that I forgot that it is Friday. And Friday means an “Outfits of the Week post. I did actually manage to dress properly earlier in the week but, as I haven’t time to make a collage, I will show you the quick photo…
Yes, we had intended to go out and I had a lovely outfit planned around my gorgeous pink bordered Lazy Leopardesses scarf. Unfortunately, I was very ill at the last minute. So, what I have decided to do is wait until next week and wear the whole outfit again then. And I will take another photo and make a proper collage to show you all of the elements, as they include a particularly lovely handbag and a beautiful coloured jacket!
Phew! Well, that’s all for this week. I do hope that you have a good weekend. Lovely Husband and I will have a nice peaceful time as Elder Son is going away on a short holiday. We both badly need a break!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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I have really enjoyed reading this week. My first book was great and I can’t wait until I can get my hands on the next one in the series…
It took me quite a while to read Sarah J Maas’s second book in her A Court of Thorns and Roses series: A Court of Mist and Fury. It is a very long book, but I also took my time as I loved it so much! Here is the blurb:
”Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.
With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights”
This has been a very popular book on Goodreads and won their “Goodreads Choice 2016” badge. This is the review that I wrote on their website:
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. MaasWell, I think that shows what I thought of it!! 😁😁😁
My second book of the week was another by Kristin Hannah, the third that I have downloaded from the Library’s ebook platform. First, we have the blurb!
”In the rugged Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National Forest—nearly a million acres of impenetrable darkness and impossible beauty. From deep within this old growth forest, a six-year-old girl appears. Speechless and alone, she offers no clue as to her identity, no hint of her past.
Having retreated to her western Washington hometown after a scandal left her career in ruins, child psychiatrist Dr. Julia Cates is determined to free the extraordinary little girl she calls Alice from a prison of unimaginable fear and isolation. To reach her, Julia must discover the truth about Alice’s past—although doing so requires help from Julia’s estranged sister, a local police officer. The shocking facts of Alice’s life test the limits of Julia’s faith and strength, even as she struggles to make a home for Alice—and for herself.”
And here is my response. I gave the book three stars on Goodreads:
Wild by Kristin HannahAnyone who has been following either these posts or my Goodreads feed may have realised that one of my favourite fantasy authors is Joe Abercrombie. I am so pleased that I now have a new book of his to read next: The Wisdom of Crowds (The Age of Madness #03). As soon as I have finished this post, I am going to pick up this book!
And on that note, I will end this post and sign off until next week’s Reading Roundup!
Happy Reading to you all.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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The moment that I first heard of this scarf I knew that I would be buying it! Anyone who knows me will be aware that, apart from gorgeous scarves (and my friends and family, of course), my greatest love is tea drinking. So, when I saw this design, it immediately went on my list.
Early in the Autumn/Winter 2021 Hermès season, I saw all of the 70cm designs for the scarf on The Purse Forum site. By the time that I had saved up enough money to actually purchase, all of the colourways had disappeared from the UK Hermès website. I was lucky enough to spot the reappearance of the orange/gris/blanc, colourway #08, of Tea Time by Jonathan Burton and immediately bought it.
This scarf has a fun and whimsical design on a lighter, softer silk than its silk twill 90cm cousins. The smaller size has a more casual and playful vibe which matches perfectly with the subject matter.
First of all, we have a gorgeous shade of orange for the background. The rolled hem is in a slightly deeper shade with neatly placed white dots. Across the background, small white hearts are evenly spaced out. They must represent biscuits, as a few appear to have had a bite taken out! In addition, others are being “dunked” into pretty china teacups. Very familiar to British tastes!
In the centre of the scarf, there is a large heart shape. For this version of the scarf the heart is in white. We can see that behind the heart there is a horse, in grey, with a white plume on its head and a patterned bridle with even more hearts. The horse is rather strangely shaped because of the heart in front!
On the horse’s back ride the King and Queen of Hearts with their majestic crowns. He holds a steaming pink, orange and white teapot with “Hermès Paris” written on the side. She holds the matching teacup – the steam taking the form of a heart! Their hair is coloured in shades of pink and formed like stylised hearts. The Queen’s dress is in mustard yellow. The monarchs’ other clothing is depicted in shades of grey, with white, black, pink and a touch of red. Next to the Queen we can see a small pink and white butterfly.
To the left side of the central design there is a flagpole bearing a fluttering flag with name of the scarf “Hermès Tea Time”. Where the pole meets the ground line, the name of the designer, Jonathan Burton, appears. Amongst stylised orange clouds the Hermès copyright sign can be seen.
These are the colourways for the Autumn/Winter 2021 silk 70cm scarves. I have added in the codes to help those of you who wish to purchase this scarf. The red one at the bottom is a special Hermès Tea Time Medaillons version, which is more expensive.
Also, there is a set of two twillies and a cute twilly ring!
“What a surprising way to celebrate tea time! A prince takes his belle on a poetic walk through a field of hearts – a love affair, no doubt. In their wake, a discreet butterfly attracts the attention of some riders. What is their destination? Have they managed to escape from a card game or are they on a journey to the edge of their kingdom? Here, the English designer Jonathan Burton, famous for his fantasy universes often inspired by fairy tales, gives pride of place to dreams and romanticism.”
As you can see from this paragraph, I have interpreted the design slightly differently, bringing in aspects of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. I have a feeling that Burton, as an English designer, probably intended this! I could be wrong, of course.
Here are some closeups of my scarf in a slideshow format:
This is such a fun scarf that I have managed to wear it a couple of times since I purchased it. So far, I have mainly worn it with my grey clothing, but it would also look great with shades of blue and also white.
As this is a smaller scarf, I don’t think that I will choose the more complex scarf knots. Perhaps those wouldn’t work! Instead, I am planning to look around and see which scarf ties other people use for their 70cms. Anyway, here are a few quick and random attempts (I wish I could take better photos!):
I am not going to name them this time as most don’t have names! As you can see, I tried a couple with some of my MaiTai scarf rings and they seemed to work well. Funny how the horse’s legs keep on appearing!
Oh, I might as well log here that I bought a Halcyon Days bangle to go with this scarf, as I didn’t own any really suitable jewellery. I am also on the lookout for some gold or white heart-shaped earrings – perhaps I can persuade one of my chaps to buy me some for Christmas!
Here is the bangle:
This is not the kind of scarf with lots of useful background details, but I have found the following. If I come across any more information, I will add it here…
Jonathan Burton
jonathanburton.net
His official website with loads of wonderful designs, including this one.
Here is an short “unboxing” video from YouTube showing one of the twillies:
I hope readers have found this exploration of Hermès Tea Time both interesting and useful. Once again, if you find any errors or have any additional information that I could add, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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So, we have come to the end of the week and the beginning of a new month. The weather is very changeable here with bright sun, crisp and cold air, then drenching rain – all within a few minutes. But then, that’s the UK for you!
I have been really struggling with my health and have spent a lot of the week in bed fighting quite spectacular coughing fits, but I did manage to wear one nice outfit. This gorgeous scarf from Fetolia, that I bought earlier in the year, was just perfect for an Autumn day with grey items from my wardrobe…
The outfit:
I really like this combination of clothing, scarf and jewellery, although I think I would look a lot better with a haircut and a little makeup. I have no idea what colour lipstick I should wear! Any ideas?
Having just realised that I haven’t yet worn my new Hermès Lazy Leopardesses scarf, I must remedy that next week. We are definitely back to scarf wearing weather now – hooooooraaaaaaay!
Hoping that you all have a great weekend!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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Gosh, we have reached the final Reading Roundup post for September already! This last week, I only managed to finish one book. The was relatively short and I read it quite quickly. I have also started a second book, but it is much longer, so I haven’t reached the end yet. It’s not a race, after all!
This week, I tried another book by Kristin Hannah: The Great Alone. This is the (long) blurb:
”Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.
Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.
Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.
At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.
But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.”
I gave this book three stars on the Goodreads website and wrote the following review:
The Great Alone by Kristin HannahI am now about half way through this amazing book, so will give you my considered response next week.
Happy Reading to you all!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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“Oh, there she goes again!” “Spending money!” Some of you may say. OK, I know I must seem to be a spendaholic these days. But, this time I am planning ahead.
Lovely Husband never knows what to buy me when it comes to birthdays and Christmas. So I usually start to plan a few months before and get something suitable myself. My birthday is in November and I have already purchased that gorgeous cashmere stole from Johnstons of Elgin, that I showed you all a while ago. It has gone into storage and won’t be used until my birthday comes around, although it is hard to resist the temptation to get it out and stroke it!
When it come to Christmas presents, I sometimes spot something really early as has happened this time. As Autumn approaches, I begin to think about gaps in my wardrobe for the colder months. I had a look through my jumpers and saw that some of them either no longer fit, because of my weight gain, or were wearing out. My old John Lewis navy cashmere v-neck is now far too small and needs replacing and I also decided that something in a very dark grey would fill a gap. For cashmere, I usually go to Pure Collection, John Lewis or Marks and Spencer which seem to work well for me. This time, however, I was browsing the WoolOvers site (I have bought from them before) and looked at their cashmere/merino v-necks. As these are considerably cheaper than pure cashmere, and they were doing an offer, I decided to buy navy and dark grey v-neck jumpers.
They arrived this morning and look fine. I like the looser fit that a larger size gives me. They are good colours and quite soft, although, obviously, not as soft and cuddly as pure cashmere. I would post a nice photo of each, but they only have modelling pictures on their site! Instead, here are photos of them hanging on my wardrobe door…
I wonder if I can wait until Christmas to wear them! I may try to take some modelling photos with some of my scarves, if I have enough energy later in the week. I have lots of scarves and shawls that would look great with them as these are the base colours of my wardrobe, as outlined in last Monday’s post!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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I intended to write an Outfit post today. It was all planned. A nice top, jeans, my new scarf and a new item. But it was not to be. It seems to be all too frequent these days, feeling very weak and ill. Not strong enough to get dressed properly. Although, I did manage to put some jewellery on with my nightdress and slippers!
Here is the quick photo…
The jewellery above was a present from Elder Son and is by Sainsburys’: silver butterfly earrings and a blue crystal pendant.
I wandered around on eBay this week and was lucky enough to find a Halcyon Days enamel bangle in just the right shade of orange to go with my new Hermès scarf: Tea Time. I don’t intend to branch out further into orange clothing or accessories (I already have a necklace and earrings in amber which might work with this scarf), but I thought that this little friendship bracelet, especially as it is decorated with gold hearts, would look great with it.
Here is the scarf, as a reminder, with the bangle below:
OK, I think that is enough for today!
Happy Weekend to you all.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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