Update 09/03/20

Posted on 09/03/2020 by The Librain

I am sorry, but I just cannot write a full post today. We are really struggling in our household with a number of issues and my body has reacted very badly. To put it truthfully and bluntly: I am a nervous wreck! I can’t sleep properly, I can’t stop shaking, my stomach feels as if it is full of butterflies and I can’t stop coughing. We are all in turmoil.

So, instead I will post a link to this lovely set of images. Thinking about it, I would love to have this done with a picture of my younger self as a Librarian (just not wielding a date stamp!).

Elderly People Look At Their Younger Reflections In This Beautiful Photo Series By Tom Hussey


Aren’t these photos lovely?

Let’s hope everything improves during the week. I will now try to concentrate on a book to take my mind away from worries. Reading Roundup on Wednesday as usual…

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

Posted in Family, Lifestyle | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Outfit of the day 06/03/20

Posted on 06/03/2020 by The Librain

It has been a lovely sunny day here, but we haven’t gone out. My health has been very poor this week and it has taken a lot of mental, as well as physical, strength to even get out of bed for a few hours. I did manage to put on a reasonable outfit today, which is something. More about that later in the post.

Lovely Husband and I have also been struggling with the aftermath of Elder Son’s trip away last week. He is always difficult to manage when he comes back home and he has made family life very hard on several occasions this week. He can be so loving and kind (and he is most of the time), but his behaviour can also be overwhelming to us, as his parents.

Well, he is now back at work and I hope that he comes home in a good mood!

I have been trying to help LH with more household tasks this week. Early to mid-afternoon is usually when I feel strongest, so I have managed to do a few things then. Just little things, but they do add up. This week, we have been looking upwards at our rather battered lamp shades, of all things! Some of them had got rather old and tatty, others simply needed new bulbs. I wish we could have filmed the two of us struggling to balance – me on a ladder, LH trying to hold me steady. It must have looked so funny!

Oh, for the days of our youth! At least we still both have our sense of humour.

Here is today’s outfit:

Outfit of the day with Hermès’ Cosmographia Universalis scarf

Today’s outfit:

  • Navy cotton cable jumper – Lands’ End.
  • Navy joggers – Cotton Traders.
  • Blue resin earrings.
  • Silk scarf, 90 cm, in bright pink, sky blue, white and navy – Cosmographia Universalis – Hermès. Tied in a half-bow knot using a MaiTai mother-of-pearl scarf ring.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

Posted in Clothes, Family, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading roundup 04/03/20

Posted on 04/03/2020 by The Librain

I have really enjoyed my reading this week. It does feel rather strange to write that I “only” read one book, because who is counting? Only me! I shouldn’t be policing myself like this.

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

Anyway, I was lucky that the latest book by Ann Cleeves came up on our library’s ebook system. I reserved it some months ago and it became available to me last week: The Long Call. This is the first book in an entirely new series – Two Rivers – set in North Devon. I thoroughly enjoyed Cleeves’ Vera series and also her wonderful books set in Shetland. Such great TV has been made from her ideas. I wonder if we will see a new TV series set in North Devon in the future?

Here is the blurb:

In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father’s funeral takes place. Once loved and cherished, the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.

Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

The case calls Matthew back into the community he thought he had left behind, as deadly secrets hidden at its heart are revealed, and his past and present collide.

This is my review on Goodreads:

The Long Call (Two Rivers, #1)The Long Call by Ann Cleeves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really love Ann Cleeves’ writing. Her scene-setting is so clear that I have full-colour images in my mind as I read. Her characters are fully-rounded with all of their human quirks. Her stories are complex and satisfying. It’s no wonder that TV has picked up two of her series.

I have really enjoyed both the Vera and the Shetland books so I was very excited to begin this first book of a new series. As you would expect, there was quite a lot of time spent on the main characters, setting them up for several books. We need to understand their background and motivations. There are also some excellent descriptions of the landscape, the beaches, the sea and the small towns and villages of the area. Perhaps the future books will not have quite so much of that.

The actual plot was intriguing and I particularly liked the inclusion and description of women with Downs as an important part, rather than an add-on.

I am already looking forward to the next book in the series!

View all my reviews

If you are interested in this book, there are well-written reviews on Goodreads which go into far more detail than mine!

Dark Age by Pierce Brown

Now for some other news. Those of you who may follow me on Goodreads may have noticed that I have had a book sitting in my “Currently Reading” section for months. Since before my stroke, in fact. This is the book that I was reading at the time that the stroke hit in September 2019. I had been waiting until I could read print books again so that I could re-borrow it from the Library. Well, it has now been six months and I still cannot manage print books, so very sensibly I have actually bought it as an ebook! Whoo – yes, I have spent money on a book!

So, next week’s Reading Roundup post should include Pierce Brown’s Dark Age (Red Rising Saga #5). I think I will have to go back to the beginning as I can’t remember much of the plot, so I may need more than a week to finish it as it is a very long book!

Until next week: Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

📚📖📚📖📚

Posted in Reading | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Update 02/03/20

Posted on 02/03/2020 by The Librain

Oh, it’s a special day for Lovely Husband and me: it’s 33 years since I plucked up the courage to ring him up and ask him out on our first date!! What if he hadn’t picked up the phone? What if he had refused to go out with me?

I’m so glad that he agreed. We had a lovely evening at a couple of pubs and haven’t stopped talking to each other since!

I don’t have a lot to write about today, so I though that I would show you this amazing website. As you may know, my degrees are in Ancient History and Archaeology (as well as Librarianship) and the wonderful art and architecture of the ancient world still fascinates me. When I was studying the subject, all those years ago, I heard or read about the idea that Ancient Greek statues were originally painted in bright, vibrant colours. This incredible website shows you more about this with beautiful animated illustrations in rich colour. One of my favourite statues is there, the Peplos Kore – do you like her gorgeous clothes?

I have spent quite a lot of time reading and looking at this linked site and will, I am sure, return regularly…

Gods in Colour: Polychromy in Antiquity

Gods in Colour – screenshot

Just to give you an idea of the site: here is the statue of an archer from the pediment of an Ancient Greek temple of the 5th century BC:

Archer from the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, ca. 480 BC

And this is what it might have looked like in its original colours!

Archer from the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, ca. 480 BC

Breathtaking!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗

Posted in Ancient History, Family, Special days | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Outfit of the day 28/02/20

Posted on 28/02/2020 by The Librain

I had intended to write a nice long post about my week with Elder Son away. Lovely Husband and I have really enjoyed the time on our own in the peace and quiet! Unfortunately, we are having issues with our internet connection, so I had better make this short and sweet. I will also post it as soon as I have finished instead of waiting until 19.00 as I usually do.

LH and I managed to go out for lunch on Wednesday and this is the outfit that I wore (please excuse the awful hairdo – I was caught in the wind and rain!!!):

Outfit of the day 28/02/20 with Hermès’ Jaguar Quetzal scarf

Today’s outfit:

  • Lilac cashmere v-neck jumper – Marks and Spencer.
  • Imlay grey mid-rise jeans – Lands’ End.
  • Amethyst earrings – Blue Nile.
  • Cream enamel and gold Byzantine bangle – Halcyon Days.
  • Amethyst pebbled leather Victoria handbag – Massaccesi.
  • Silk scarf, 90cm, in mauve, violet, denim blue and yellow – Jaguar Quetzal – Hermès. Tied in a cowboy knot with my mother-of-Pearl scarf ring by MaiTai.

I also wore my dark navy suede ankle boots by Duo Boots and my new grey leopard print coat.

We are now gearing up for our son’s return tomorrow!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

Posted in Clothes, Handbags, Jewellery, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Scarves, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading roundup 26/02/20

Posted on 26/02/2020 by The Librain

I nearly didn’t get to write this post as I have been wrestling (metaphorically, of course!) with our WiFi and broadband all day. We eventually realised that we must have had a power cut in the night, which messed it all up. Anyway, it seems to be OK now – 🤞

The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald

This week I have read one book again – Patricia MacDonald’s The Girl in the Woods. Here is the blurb:

“I have to tell you something. I did something bad.”

Fifteen years ago, Blair’s best friend Molly was murdered.
Fifteen years ago, Adrian Jones went to prison for it.
Fifteen years ago, the real killer got away with it.

And now, Blair’s terminally ill sister has made a devastating deathbed confession, which could prove that the wrong man has been imprisoned for years – and that Molly’s killer is still out there. Blair’s determined to find him, but the story behind Molly’s death is more twisted than she could imagine. If she isn’t careful, the killer will ensnare her and bury Blair with his secret.

I enjoyed the book and read it quite quickly. This is my short review on Goodreads:

The Girl in the WoodsThe Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It has been interesting to read some of the other reviews first before writing my own. What a mixed bunch!

In my case, I found the book an easy and enjoyable read in terms of the writing style. Obviously the subject matter was neither of these things as it was about the murder of a child. In my present state (trying to read again after a stroke), I found the book gripping and it held my interest right until the end. There were some issues, such as the constant repetition of certain character flaws and some disjointed parts. Generally, however, the plot was interesting enough to keep me involved.

View all my reviews

I am sorry that my reviews have become so short! Writing them has never been one of my greatest skills and I am finding it even more difficult these days as I forget what I have read so quickly. At least there are other good book websites and blog available!

I am not sure what I am going to read next – if I finish a book before Wednesday, then I will write about it on the blog.

Until then – Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

📖📚📖📚📖

Posted in Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Update 24/02/20

Posted on 24/02/2020 by The Librain

I had planned to post my Outfit of the Day today, but I don’t think that visitors to this blog would be very interested in my old pyjamas! My health has been relatively OK for a few days, and we are both enjoying the peace and quiet of being on our own for a week. I managed to go downstairs for a while today and we watched TV together with our lunches – the last episode this series of Endeavour. Then I came back up to change our bed – it takes me a long time as I have to break off twice for a rest, but I am determined to do it on my own. After that I had the difficult task of taking a bath. Once I get in it is lovely, but getting in and out is very hard and tiring!

Oh, the things that I used to take for granted!

Over the weekend, I finally managed to answer a lot of the lovely comments I have had on the blog since about December. Visitors have been so supportive and I really do appreciate the kind things that you have said. I apologise for taking so long to answer and will try to respond more quickly in future.

We are planning to go out for lunch once or twice this week, if we both feel able (please keep your fingers crossed 🤞). There are a couple of places that we used to visit regularly, before I became so ill, so it would be lovely to go again. We will try to pick days with better weather as it is so windy and gloomy today. Anyway, I will write this up on the blog on Friday if we are successful.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

Posted in Blogging, Lifestyle | Tagged | Leave a comment

Outfit of the day 21/02/20

Posted on 21/02/2020 by The Librain

I have been getting very lazy during the past few weeks.  Because I haven’t been leaving the house very often, I haven’t been bothering to wear proper clothes most days, just slinging on a jumper over my pyjamas. Sometimes I have tied a scarf very casually around my neck for extra warmth. Basically, I have been rather low and depressed and I felt too tired to get dressed.

Probably, I will continue to have days like that when it all feels too much trouble, but I am going to try to make the most of my nicely coordinated wardrobe and accessories, even if I don’t go out! Anyway, today I am wearing a pretty jumper from Sainsbury’s Tu – it looks nice with my grey hair as the colours are white, pale blue and several shades of grey; grey Lands’ End jeans and the lovely silver earrings that my sister kindly gave me for my birthday back in November (by RR Designs on Etsy). Even my slippers work with these items as they are grey too!

Outfit of the day 21/02/20

I was going to make a collage but I don’t think I have an image of the jumper – never mind.

Next week should be peaceful (fingers crossed) as Elder Son will be away. Lovely Husband and I will enjoy the time on our own and try to come up with some kind of plan for how we are going to tackle all of the issues on our list. The list is very long! We are also going to attempt to go out for lunch a couple of times, which would be lovely.

I do hope that you all have a great weekend!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

Posted in Clothes, Lifestyle, Outfit of the day, Wardrobe | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Reading roundup 19/02/20

Posted on 19/02/2020 by The Librain

Well, I can actually write a proper post this week. OK, I only finished one ebook, but it was a very long one – more like two, or more, book lengths in one. In fact it was very satisfying to be able to read a complete story without having to wait for the next book!

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

You can already tell that I enjoyed The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Here is the blurb:

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

This appears to be a stand-alone book, although there are hints that the author might return to this world in the future. I must say that I hope she does as it was very well-realised with good characters. Anyway, before I say any more about the book, here is my review on Goodreads:

The Priory of the Orange TreeThe Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book – let me say that at the start. Yes, there were flaws, but the book held my attention from start to finish. The plot was exciting and moved along swiftly, the characters were mostly well-depicted and the setting was also interesting. There was also plenty of action. It’s so lovely to have strong female characters too.

Fantasy fiction has always been one of my favourite genres and this book, with its dragons, kings, queens, sorcery and intrigue is well worth consideration. If I were to find fault it would be with the rather short climax to the tale. It all happened far too quickly! Also, and this my be my own fault, I did find the switching between different points of view and the huge number of characters and place names hard to follow at first. This may be due to the impairment I still suffer with from my stroke. As the book progressed, I did find it much easier to make sense of it all.

Final comment: Samantha Shannon appears to have a love for unusual words, so I am glad that I read this as an ebook because it was so easy to look them up! I am grateful that she doesn’t overdo this, though or I might have to buy a larger dictionary!

View all my reviews

One last comment: whilst reading other reviews about the book on Goodreads, it seems that, once again, I seem to have missed a lot of hype about this book! I think that is quite a good thing as I started reading it without any preconceived ideas!

The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald

Today, I started reading my next book: The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald, which I will write about next week, assuming that I finish it! Until then…

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

📖📚📖📚📖

Posted in Reading | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Update 17/02/20 with a different kind of review!

Posted on 17/02/2020 by The Librain

I haven’t been well since Friday afternoon, really, so I will only manage a short post today about a new scarf app by MaiTai.

I have been following MaiTai’s wonderful blog, MaiTai’s Picture Book, for some years – it happened like this…

As I was finishing my working life and moving into retirement, I returned to one of my former loves: scarves. I started to purchase more and, after wandering around the web, came across MaiTai’s site. At first, I was only interested in her posts about scarf ties and I started to try them out with my small collection of cheap and cheerful scarves and stoles. I couldn’t help seeing her gorgeous Hermès scarves and was awe struck by their beauty. And, of course, MaiTai herself looks amazing wearing them. The fact that she uses them with mostly fairly casual outfits really inspired me and I saved up for my first ever Hermès scarf: La Promenade du Platon. It was only going to be the one!

Apart from her lovely blog, MaiTai also runs a small online shop and I have also purchased scarf rings and have admired her other wares: jewellery, handbag liners and so on.

Anyway, she has now taken her scarf knot tutorials to another level. For a small fee, you can download an app (iPhones and iPads only) to help you make a range of beautiful scarf knots. Some are very simple, others are more intricate, but all have clear instructions with videos, photos and tips. I am going to enjoy trying out and perfecting some new knots as they really lift scarf wearing above the ordinary.

The articles about each knot have lots of detailed instructions and alternative versions of the knot. MaiTai also helps you to work out how the knot would work with different scarf sizes. There is video and photographic support to really help both novices and those more expert at scarf tying. I think that there is something for everyone who is a scarf lover!

Well, I think that I need to finish writing now and go have a play. Once again, I will put a link to MaiTai’s blog post which gives you much more information about the app: Scarf Art App with ten new knots and 44 tutorials!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

💕💗💖💗💕

Posted in Scarves | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments