Outfits of the week 05/02/21

Posted on 05/02/2021 by The Librain

I had hoped to be able to show you three different outfits this week, but I am feeling very poorly today and have stayed in bed. That means that I am still in pyjamas and the scarf I had planned to wear (Tyger, Tyger) is hanging on my mirror as I write. Perhaps I will feel better tomorrow and then I can wear the outfit that I had planned.

Also, I will have to shorten this post and just write the basics, instead of listing all of the details of each outfit. Mind you, regulars to this blog will have seen all of the elements before, I suppose. Anyway, here they are. The first is with Hermès’ men’s scarf, Sweet Dreams, and the second with the sought-after, La Femme aux Semelles de Vent.

Outfit of the day 02/02/21 with Hermès’ Sweet Dreams

Outfit of the day 03/02/21 with Hermès’ La Femme aux Semelles de Vent

Did you notice that I tied both into a cowboy knot, one with and the other without a scarf ring?

I have been trying to improve my “life organisation” recently, because of my memory issues. On this iPad, I have been listing tasks in two files – one for the whole household, and another for my own private purposes. One huge task was to go through all of my photos and put the ones for each Hermès scarf into a separate folder. It took me over a week, but I finished yesterday. Next, I will look at each scarf folder and remove any poor photos, will which probably be quite a lot! I intend to organise a kind of evidence folder with printed sheets (including photos, receipts etc.) to use in case of an insurance claim or my death!

Right, on that note, let’s move on! I also want to print clear labels for each scarf box, so that it becomes easier to find the one I want to wear that day. Although I definitely don’t have any valuable jewellery, I will probably take similar actions for this too. Perhaps the Librarian in me is breaking out again with all of this organisation!

OK, I said this post would be short, but I have rambled on a bit more than I intended. I do hope that you all have a good weekend.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 03/02/21

Posted on 03/02/2021 by The Librain

I have to confess that I have been neglecting my books over the last couple of weeks! Naughty me. You see, I have become addicted to a series on Amazon Prime. I simply can’t stop watching The Shield!

Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan

So, I only have one book to write about, although I have nearly finished a second. Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan is the book and here is the blurb:

Liz Trenchard is an experienced pediatrician with a duty to protect all children admitted to her busy emergency room When Jess Curtis, an affluent, stay-at-home mother, turns up at the ER one night with her baby girl, she immediately prompts suspicion. The ten-month-old has a blow to the head her mother doesn’t seem to have noticed, and Jess has a story that doesn’t stack up.

Meanwhile, Liz is riddled with doubt as she confronts secrets held by her mother, whose neglect not only led to a childhood tragedy involving her brother but raises questions about another baby Liz half-remembers from thirty-five years ago.

And this is the review I posted on the Goodreads website:

Little DisastersLittle Disasters by Sarah Vaughan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t know how to categorise this book really. At the centre is a heartbreaking story of a young baby, struggling to recover from an injury, and the anguish of its mother, accused of injuring her child.

Even though it is now decades since I had my own babies, I still remember the way I struggled to cope at the beginning. To go from full-time work, in a validating career, to a life at home with crying babies and no adult interaction during the day, is incredibly hard. I know that I suffered from a mild form of postnatal depression and that was difficult enough. Many of the scenes in the book nearly drove me to tears.

The plot has also elements of a mystery novel, as it progresses. Our early conclusions are tested as new information is given to the reader. Other strands are also added to the story, which become more important as we read on.

The main female characters are well drawn, but the men are more shadowy.

Anyway, I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed the book exactly, but I definitely would read others by the author. After all, someone who can use the word “discombobulated” in a book, is worth following!

View all my reviews

As I said above, I am part-way through another book, Stonehill Downs by Sarah Remy, which I will write about next week. I am really enjoying it so far, so that’s a nice bonus!

Stonehill Downs by Sarah Remy

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Update 01/02/21 – vaccination day

Posted on 01/02/2021 by The Librain

First of all, I hope that you had as nice a weekend as possible in these difficult and stressful times. My weekend was rather unusual – a break from staying in bed all day!

If you visited this blog on Wednesday, you would have seen that I was contacted with the offer of having my COVID-19 vaccination on the Saturday. Instead of the local hub, I was invited to a much larger nearby city hospital. We tried to find out if I should wait until I had a place at the local hub, but, in the end, decided to make the journey. Lovely Husband was very worried that I wouldn’t be able to cope with the travel. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to cope with walking across the hospital to the vaccination centre!

Anyway, Saturday came along. To distract myself from my anxiety, I had planned a nice outfit based on one of my favourite Hermès scarves – bearing in mind that snow was forecast. I will show you the outfit in Friday’s post. LH and I packed a bag with snacks which proved essential!

The drive there was fine and I felt so pleased to be able to see the outside world for the first time in months. We also parked very easily and close to the hospital’s main entrance. The walk, or rather, trek through the hospital was difficult for me, but I did it without recourse to a wheelchair. The signposting in the car park was non-existent, although it was better inside the building. When we reached the entrance to the vaccination centre, LH went to find the beginning of the queue and I was able to sit down and wait by the entrance. After waiting for 1 hour 30 minutes, an exhausted LH appeared in the distance and then we were soon able to go in. My name was taken and we were asked to change to paper masks, which were provided.

Once inside, I had a coughing fit and was then fast-tracked to a table. Full details were taken and then the vaccination was given. It really was only a “sharp scratch”!

I was give a card to use for the follow-up vaccination and sent to sit down for 30 minutes. When we arrived at the chairs, LH was asked if he also wanted the vaccination, as he is my carer. This was such a relief! LH then went over to have his and eventually joined me back at the chairs.

When we were free to return home, I think that I had wings on my feet! It felt as if I flew back through the hospital corridors back to the car! During the journey home, we were laughing and joking, uplifted at last. OK, I know that there is such a long way to go, but we enjoyed feeling happy for a short while.

Since Saturday, we have both had some pain and stiffness in the injection site and arm, but that is fading very fast. I have been extremely tired and have slept a lot, but that is not really related to the vaccination.

I am sorry if this has been a very dry account, but I wanted to document the experience here for my readers and for myself. I do hope that you are all offered a vaccine as soon as possible, if you want it, and that the world can begin to return to “normal”. Of course, many have lost loved ones, so there are huge holes in the world where they should have been. It is all desperately sad.

I will sign off now and return on Wednesday with the usual Reading Roundup post.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Outfits of the week 29/01/21

Posted on 29/01/2021 by The Librain

Well, it’s only one outfit this week. I did try, but I have had to spend most of my time in bed with the usual set of issues. Anyway, I did manage to put together one nice set of clothing plus accessories…

Outfit of the day 26/02/21 with Hermès’ Daimyo

Outfit of the week:

  • Cobalt blue cashmere v-neck jumper – John Lewis.
  • Navy ribbed pyjama trousers – Lands’ End.
  • Gold tone and crystal Ginkgo necklace – Swarovski. The green crystal matches the green of the scarf.
  • Small and simple gold earrings.
  • Blue enamel and gold Agama bangle – Halcyon Days.
  • Gold tone scarf ring – MaiTai Collection.
  • Silk scarf, 90cm, in green, gold, silver, blue and pink – Daimyo Princes du Soleil Levant – Hermès. Tied in a simple bias fold and held with the scarf ring.

This scarf is particularly special as there is a pattern of ginkgo leaves and berries actually woven into the silk before the pattern is printed. I deliberately turned the scarf so that the bright blue areas would stand out against the cobalt of my jumper – you can just see this in the photo. I really had to stretch my arms out!

In addition, I realised very quickly that the chain on the necklace was very short so I ordered some necklace extenders. These have arrived today, so I am now wearing the necklace again as I write this post!

Right, that is all for this week. I will spend the rest of the day planning a suitable outfit for my first trip out in months – to the hospital for my COVID-19 vaccination! I have no idea how I will get from the car park to the right place as I cannot walk very far. Anyway, I will tell you how it went in Monday’s post.

Happy Weekend to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Update 27/01/21

Posted on 27/01/2021 by The Librain

Sorry that the usual Reading Roundup post has been postponed until next week, but I am too keyed up to write properly because…

Pandemic concept, close up of scientist injecitng vaccine into the earth

I have been offered my COVID-19 vaccination on Saturday!

Whoop!

I hope it isn’t too long until everyone who wants one gets theirs.

Bye for now,

Anne

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Image credits

Pandemic concept, close up of scientist injecitng vaccine into the earth by Jernej Furman on Flickr

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Update 25/01/21 with a final sale purchase

Posted on 25/01/2021 by The Librain

OK, it is now very clear that I simply cannot resist sales! In my defence, I see items that I like and will fit into my wardrobe plan and I stalk them for weeks until the price drops. I very rarely pay full price for anything (except Hermès scarves, ahem!!!). So, I saw a set of Swarovski jewellery that I thought would look great with one of the scarves that I rarely wear. I waited until the January sales and then looked again. Unfortunately, I missed the earrings, but this was still available at a reduced price…

Ginkgo necklace – Swarovski

Pretty, isn’t it? I would have loved the matching earrings, but perhaps they would have looked OTT. Anyway, I am planning to wear the whole ensemble during the week and I will show you what it all looks like in Friday’s post.

If you like this, there are several matching items (necklace, bracelets, brooch) that may be still available wherever you are.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Outfits of the week 22/01/21

Posted on 22/01/2021 by The Librain

Earlier in the week, I spent some time going through my Hermès scarf collection, looking at the ones I haven’t worn for a while and making a pile of those most suitable for winter wear. I intend to work my way through them all and wear them in turn over the next few weeks with nice outfits and jewellery. After all, I bought them to wear not just to look at!

So, my first outfit of the week was this one that I wore on Tuesday with Hermès’ 90cm silk twill, Cosmographia Universalis…

Outfit of the day 19/01/21 with Hermès’ Cosmographia Universalis

My second outfit of the week was based on the Hermès’ men’s cosy wool mix 100cm scarf, Sweet Dreams…

Outfit of the day 20/01/21 with Hermès’ Sweet Dreams

I wore my new loungewear from Marks and Spencer with the first outfit and kept my new pyjama trousers from Lands’ End on with the second. Appropriate knots were tied with each scarf and I found some lovely jewellery too.

As I intend to re-organise my records for the collection, I am spending quite a lot of time moving the 1000s of photos into folders for each scarf. I will then put some of these, plus the purchasing paperwork, into a file to be kept safe in case of disaster!

I think this might take me ages to do, but then I have a lot of free time these days!

Wishing you all a very Happy Weekend…

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 20/01/21

Posted on 20/01/2021 by The Librain

It’s Wednesday again, already! Even though I don’t feel that I am doing very much, time seems to be speeding along very quickly. Perhaps it’s because I have enjoyed reading so much in the last week? Anyway, here is my first book…

Keep Your Eyes on Me by Sam Blake

Keep Your Eyes on Me by Sam Blake was an intriguing book. Here is the blurb:

You won’t be able to look away

When Vittoria Devine and Lily Power find themselves sitting next to each other on a flight to New York, they discover they both have men in their lives whose impact has been devastating. Lily’s family life is in turmoil, her brother left on the brink of ruin by a con man. Vittoria’s philandering husband’s latest mistress is pregnant.

By the time they land, Vittoria and Lily have realised that they can help each other right the balance. But only one of them knows the real story…

I really enjoyed reading this book – it has a similar structure to the famous film “Strangers on a Train. This is the short review that I posted on Goodreads:

Keep Your Eyes On MeKeep Your Eyes On Me by Sam Blake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a highly entertaining book to read. Yes, I know that the theme has been done before, but this version was a quick and easy read with plenty of mayhem, mystery and murder. I really enjoyed seeing two despicable persons getting their comeuppance!

There were sections of the book which went on a bit too long and, for that reason, I can only give three stars rather than four. I would definitely, however, read more books by Blake as I am sure that I would enjoy them.

View all my reviews

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

My second book of the week was a surprise return to Young Adult fiction: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. First of all, here is the blurb:

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

I read this book pretty quickly as I really immersed myself in the story. Enjoying a YA book  in this way, really took me back to my days as a School Librarian! Anyway, this is my response on Goodreads:

An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven’t been in the world of Young Adult writing for such a long time. So, I am not one of the readers who have been swept up in any hype about this book and the series. In fact, I hadn’t heard about it at all and simply chose it from a serendipitous wandering around our Library Service’s ebook offer.

I found the mix of reviews, love or hate, about the book quite interesting. I myself really enjoyed it. The pace of the plot was swift and exciting, and the characters, in my opinion, were mainly varied. Some of the relationships were also quite nuanced too.

So, if you like a lot of action and excitement, intrigue and plots, you may find that you enjoy this book as an adult! I’m certainly going to try the sequel, when I get to the front of the long queue.

View all my reviews

OK, now we have got to the end of this week’s post and I will sign off, then turn to my ebook app so that I can decide on my next read! See you next week…

Until then… Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Update 18/01/21

Posted on 18/01/2021 by The Librain

I have made quite a few New Year’s resolutions for this year. I probably won’t disclose all of them, but one was to try to help out more with household tasks than I was able to last year. Lovely Husband and Elder Son do as much as they can, but there are some things that simply need me!

So, recently I have been making two To-Do lists, one household and the other personal. Today, I managed to complete a couple from the household list: finally packing up the artificial Christmas tree and changing the spent lightbulbs on the chandelier in the dining room. “Is that all?” you may ask. Yes, it was, but those two jobs have completely finished me off and I am now in bed again. I might manage another such task later, but it depends on whether I feel strong enough.

And whether my “Chaps” feel strong enough to help me balance on the step ladder!

Doing just two items on the list gives me a sense of satisfaction. For a short while, I don’t feel like a useless drag on my family but a fully contributing member.

Onto another New Year’s resolution…

Christmas presents 2020

You may remember that Younger Son gave me a gift of skincare for Christmas. As I am determined to improve the state of my complexion, I asked him for some Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. I used this for many years during my working days and found it really effective. So, I have now been using this at bedtime for a couple of weeks, together with a nighttime moisturiser and I can already see an improvement. OK, the wrinkles won’t disappear – I am 64! But my face feels much smoother and softer.

My plan is to use up all of the odds and ends from my moisturiser jars before choosing a new one for my skin type as it now is. That will take quite some time as I have so many small jars with little bits of cream left over!

When all that is underway, I will begin to work out a similar plan for the rest of my skin. As someone who had very greasy skin for most of my life (and cursed it regularly), having really dry ageing skin is quite a surprise. It must be tackled before it gets worse!

Right, I think that I have confessed enough for one post! I will now turn to my latest book as I want to finish it before Wednesday’s Reading Roundup post so that I can tell you all about it!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Outfit of the week 15/01/21

Posted on 15/01/2021 by The Librain

Oh dear! I have to confess that I have worn only one “proper” outfit this week and even that was based around loungewear/pyjamas. Yes, I have draped a scarf or a shawl over my shoulders on occasion, but I have spent so much time in bed and have been too weak to dress properly.

The other day, when discussing my scarf collection with Lovely Husband, I happened to mention my first ever Hermès scarf purchase: La Promenade de Platon. Looking through my posts on this blog, I realised that I haven’t worn it for ages! So I decided to wear it today.

This is today’s outfit…

Outfit of the day 15/01/21 with Hermès’ La Promenade de Platon

Putfit of the week:

  • Dark blue lounge rib sweatshirt – Marks and Spencer.
  • Dark blue wide leg lounge trousers – Marks and Spencer.
  • Bronze Art Nouveau style earrings.
  • Silk scarf, 90cm, in turquoise, beige, brick, and purple – La Promenade de Platon – Hermès. Tied in my favourite asymmetric knot. The colours are so bright and cheerful on this typical damp grey winter’s day.

I think that I am going to try to work my way through my Hermès scarf collection and try to wear as many of the winter season designs as I can over the next few weeks. Even if I can only find the strength to pair them with pyjamas or lounge wear, it may make a difference to my mood which can help the general feelings of my family. Too often, my thoughts turn very dark and I don’t want to impose these on my loved ones.

Now, what would be a suitable scarf to wear when I am eventually called for my vaccination. Ideas please for something very cheerful, because I will be celebrating! Well, maybe not until the rest of my family and friends have been vaccinated too.

I wish you all a happy and healthy weekend.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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