I’m sorry, but I am unable to post today. Will try again on Monday.
Love and best wishes to you all,
Anne
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I managed to finish my book in time for this week’s Reading Roundup post! It was a very long book and…
… hang on, I had better introduce this properly before I begin!
The Wych Elm by Tana French
The book was The Wych Elm by Tana French. Here is the blurb:
For me it all goes back to that night, the dark corroded hinge between before and after, the slipped-in sheet of trick glass that tints everything on one side in its own murky colours and leaves everything on the other luminous and untouchable.
One night changes everything for Toby. A brutal attack leaves him traumatised, unsure even of the person he used to be. He seeks refuge at the family’s ancestral home, the Ivy House, filled with cherished memories of wild-strawberry summers and teenage parties with his cousins.
But not long after Toby’s arrival, a discovery is made. A skull, tucked neatly inside the old wych elm in the garden.
As detectives begin to close in, Toby is forced to examine everything he thought he knew about his family, his past, and himself.
It has taken me almost two weeks to read it, so here is my review as written on Goodreads:
The Wych Elm by Tana French
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
If this book had been shorter, maybe about two thirds of the length. Or if it had been more tightly edited. Then, perhaps, I could have awarded more stars. You see, I was really enjoying the book, for the most part, until it began to drag. I had got through the beginning, which was a bit too long, but was setting the scene with lots of characters to remember. Then came a really gripping section, which held my attention (at this point I was thinking perhaps four or even five stars). Unfortunately, the author allowed the tale to become almost repetitive, with echoes of an old TV detective turning up with a killer point, just as we readers were getting comfortable.
So, this is far from being a bad book. It is so close to being a good one that I don’t want to put anyone off reading it! If you are young enough to have time to read 1000s of books in your life, then why not give it a go? If, like me, you have only a short reading life left, then…
I am feeling quite pleased that I have built up quite a pile, well a virtual one, of ebooks to read. I am not sure which one I will select next, but I feel that a lighter read might be a good idea, or something escapist. You will find out my choice in next week’s Reading Roundup post!
Happy Reading to you all!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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I must apologise to regular visitors. My posts are becoming shorter and as for the content…! Today’s is not very exciting as I am continuing to struggle with the current situation and my existing health issues. I had intended to write a post about my new Liberty of London Ianthe Star scarf today, but will try to do that during the week.
Over the weekend, I wore a nice outfit which combined newish grey items with my lovely mousseline “Feather” scarf by Leonard, in turquoise/tan/white/grey/black, which I have shown you many times before…
Outfit of the day with Feather mousseline scarf – Leonard
I think that grey has been a good choice for me and it is useful as a basic colour in my wardrobe. Far better than shades of brown which were fine with my former hair colour, but simply don’t work now that I have grown out my greys. I am sorry for the lack of a collage on this post.
Now, I will return to my book so that I have something to write about for Wednesday’s Reading Roundup!
Love and best wishes to you all,
Anne
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Well, it has arrived! The lovely Liberty of London Ianthe Star scarf, which I first mentioned in my March 30th post, is now in my scarf drawer. I had hoped to write a proper post, with a reveal and some modelling shots, and upload it today, but I have not been able to concentrate enough this week. My apologies.
So, if I perk up over the weekend, I will try to do the scarf justice and write something for Monday. Here is a reminder of the scarf…
Ianthe Star – Liberty of London
I do hope that you and yours are well and coping with this awful situation.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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I have a confession to make: I haven’t managed to read a book this week!!! Not even a chapter, a paragraph, or even more than a sentence!!!!
Shame on me…
In fact, I have been under a lot of stress for a variety of reasons, one being very obvious, and I have been unable to concentrate. I do hope that next week is better.
Happy Reading to you all!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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This is going to be a very short post this evening. I’m afraid that my existing conditions, together with fear of the Coronavirus, are overwhelming me at the moment. I am trying to blot out my terror by watching wall-to-wall frivolous TV via Amazon Prime rather than following harrowing news updates.
Today, I had a letter informing me that I am on the NHS Shielded Patients List. I did expect that this would happen, but it has still given us all a lot to consider.
I hope to be able to write a better post later in the week.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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The weather is continuing to be warm and sunny. In fact, it has been a bit too warm for scarves! So instead of wearing them, I have decided to remind myself about some of my nicer necklaces. I wore my pretty turquoise, aqua and white tassel necklace last Friday and today I am showing you the lovely lapis lazuli and gold pendant which was a birthday gift in November. I was also given the matching earrings, but those are very heavy for day wear and I think that the overall effect would have been rather over the top! I wore tiny crystal and gold earrings, so tiny that they wouldn’t detract from the impact of the pendant and bracelet.
Outfit of the day 03/04/20 with lapis lazuli pendant
Today’s outfit:
We continue to soldier on, which is all we can do in the present situation, and I am very proud of our sons who are still working.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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Well, I actually finished two books this week. I am really enjoying my reading, although I am having some issues with concentration. That isn’t very surprising in the current situation. My eyesight is continuing to improve slowly – I am so pleased about this, as you can imagine.
The Man Who Didn’t Call by Rosie Walsh
The first book of the week was The Man Who Didn’t Call by Rosie Walsh. Here is the blurb:
Imagine you meet a man, spend six glorious days together, and fall in love. And it’s mutual: you’ve never been so certain of anything.
So when he leaves for a long-booked holiday and promises to call from the airport, you have no cause to doubt him.
But he doesn’t call.Your friends tell you to forget him, but you know they’re wrong: something must have happened; there must be a reason for his silence.
What do you do when you finally discover you’re right? That there is a reason — and that reason is the one thing you didn’t share with each other?
The truth.
This is my review on Goodreads:
The Man Who Didn’t Call by Rosie Walsh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I will write this with my first reaction to reading this book in mind and not allow myself to be swayed by some of the very negative comments on here. Yes, it appears that this is another marmite read!
In my present condition, which I won’t go into here, I found the book thoroughly absorbing and enjoyable. This is a great thing when you have concentration issues! I thought that it was cleverly constructed to give the reader unexpected twists and surprises. Of course the author manipulated her readers’ emotions! It was this that kept me so interested right until the end.
I will definitely look out for another book by Rosie Walsh, and I think this is a suitable compliment.
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
My second book of the week was from the science fiction genre, so completely different. I had really enjoyed the first book in the series – Old Man’s War – so I turned to John Scalzi’s second book: The Ghost Brigades. This is the blurb:
The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF’s toughest operations. They’re young, they’re fast and strong, and they’re totally without normal human qualms.
The universe is a dangerous place for humanity—and it’s about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF’s biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did.
Jared Dirac is the only human who can provide answers — a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin’s DNA, Jared’s brain should be able to access Boutin’s electronic memories. But when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades.
At first, Jared is a perfect soldier, but as Boutin’s memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reason’s for Boutin’s betrayal. As Jared desperately hunts for his “father,” he must also come to grips with his own choices. Time is running out: The alliance is preparing its offensive, and some of them plan worse things than humanity’s mere military defeat…
And here is the review (for some reason, the review will not link here as usual, so I have taken a screenshot instead):
I have downloaded quite a few ebooks to enjoy during this enforced isolation, so I am not sure what I am going to try next.
So, until next week’s Reading Roundup…
Happy Reading to you all!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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I’m feeling a bit guilty as I write this post. Everything feels so grim at the moment and our household is not coping very well with the stress. Up until last night, we had been holding things together, but then we all had a horrible quarrel which has carried on today. We are all frightened and worried (I expect that everyone is) but these feelings, on top of ASD, became the touch paper that lit the flame.
I will not go into any further details. Let’s just say that I was in need of something frivolous to take my mind away from everything this morning. Part of the distraction plan has been watching Downton Abbey from the beginning via Amazon Prime. I hadn’t seen any of this series before and it is proving to be just the ticket!
The other distraction, however, is the source of some guilty feelings. Liberty of London are having an amazing sale until the end of today and I must admit that I succumbed! As you must know by now, I cannot resist scarves and a beautiful example in one of my favourite patterns, Ianthe (actually, an adapted version called Ianthe Star), came into view…
Ianthe Star – Liberty of London
Isn’t it simply gorgeous! Yes, I know I shouldn’t have bought it, but it will bring so much pleasure, even if I can only wear it indoors.
From a very bad and naughty Librain,
Anne
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We have had such gorgeous weather this week. It has been warm in the sun and the sky is so clear and blue. Frustrated with looking at burgeoning Spring flowers through my window, I have managed three walks outside! I am feeling very pleased as I haven’t been able to do anything like this for months. Social isolation has somehow made me more determined to try to regain some strength and fitness. I also thought that being outside in the sunshine would bring benefits and that has proved to be correct.
Now, after today’s walk around the block, I am back home in bed feeling very tired, but also pleased. On some days, Lovely Husband has come with me. Today, I went alone. Elder Son has also offered to accompany me, so I might take up his offer on his days off work. I have seen a few people whilst outside and we have greeted one another cheerfully. Well, it’s the only way to get through this!
This was today’s outfit on my walk…
Outfit of the day 27/03/20 with turquoise tassel necklace
Today’s outfit:
OK, it wasn’t one of my most exciting outfits, but I love wearing this jumper in the Spring and the colours really felt fresh and cheerful 😀.
I do hope that you and your loved ones are well and that you are also managing to remain optimistic.
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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Dear Lauren, you always write the loveliest comments! Thank you so much, love Anne X
Dear Lisa, thank you so much for your kindness, much love, Anne X
Thank you for posting your kind and helpful comment, but you are replying to a very old one! I hope…
I think I found it on Poshmark! Posting the link if you want it: https://posh.mk/6hQmUhPhB1b
The Librain
The Librain......retired 
Anne, Happy belated Mother's Day! That tea looks delicious and who does not love cakes! I'm glad you had a…