Outfit of the day 14/02/20 with a haircut!

Posted on 14/02/2020 by The Librain

Yes, you read that correctly. I actually went to the hairdresser’s today and had my hair done. It is about six months since I last went and my hair had grown quite a lot and was very messy. She gave it a good trim, but I decided to keep some of the length and not have it cut really short again. I might change my mind next time, but I like my curls. They seem to disappear when my hair is cut too short. So, she curled it up like mad! It will settle down a lot when I wash it as I don’t bother to use a hairdryer these days.

Before and after the hairdresser 14/02/20

Afterwards, I walked across the road to Sainsbury’s, through the store into the café and joined the queue. Elder Son was working at the counter and didn’t see me until I was almost in front of him. It was lovely to watch him “in action” as he had no idea that I was observing him working. I was really impressed at his manner with customers and his speed and efficiency! When he served me, he offered to take my food to the table as I was feeling very wobbly and, when he had returned to his work station, some of the customers around me spoke of how polite and well-spoken he was. I am so proud of him!

It was actually his birthday yesterday – 30!!! I can’t believe that we have reached that number. Yesterday I spent much of the day reminiscing about his younger days and when he came home he spent some time with me chatting about his boyhood and how far he has come since then. Ahhhh!

Today’s outfit was a blend of blues with grey:

Outfit of the day 14/02/20 with Hermès’ Sweet Dreams scarf

Today’s outfit:

  • Grey v-neck cashmere jumper – Marks and Spencer.
  • Navy stretch cord trousers – Lands’ End.
  • Navy suede ankle boots – Duo Boots.
  • Navy, blue, black and white enamel with rose gold hinged bangle – Ianthe – Liberty of London.
  • Wool and silk scarf, 100cm, in blue, grey and white – Sweet Dreams – Hermès. Tied very casually using a mother-of-pearl scarf ring by MaiTai.

I also wore my new grey leopard print coat by Masai Clothing and carried my lovely dark blue Africa Selene handbag by Massaccesi. This wardrobe planning lark certainly makes it easy to dress in a nice coordinating outfit!

Right, I am now very tired, but also pleased with the day so far, so I will settle down with tea and a treat. I do hope that you all have a lovely weekend.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 12/02/20

Posted on 12/02/2020 by The Librain

Oh, I am reading such a good book this week! So enjoyable!

Erm, the present tense in the first sentence is a big giveaway – I haven’t finished the book. In fact I am only about half way through. It is a very long book and I have been rather distracted by other matters, so any reviews/ratings/conclusions will have to wait until next week.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Sorry about that!

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Update 10/02/20

Posted on 10/02/2020 by The Librain

This is a very quick update. I have been very unwell with lots of coughing and dizzy spells over the weekend. I’m not sure about this, but perhaps the gales stirred up dust that somehow got into our house despite the double glazing? Anyway, it has been very tough.

Then, yesterday, we had one of the recurring incidents caused by Elder Son’s ASD. He is becoming extremely strong minded at the moment, not always a bad thing, but it can become too much to manage calmly. I won’t go into the details except to say that Lovely Husband and I are left feeling shattered and exhausted. Many thanks to friends who continue to give me support via Facebook 💗💗💗.

So, let’s hope that tomorrow is a better day and that the rest of the week improves.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Outfit of the day 07/02/20

Posted on 07/02/2020 by The Librain

The sunny weather has really cheered me up today after more than a week of daily severe coughing attacks. I suppose that I have to live with them and try not to be fearful of the next one. Anyway, I have tried not to let them get me down and I was pleased that Lovely Husband and I were able to go out together. He is well enough to go out on his own and I encourage him to do so daily. I don’t want to limit his life.

Yet again, we went to a garden centre. Not very exciting for you, my readers, but at least I am able to sit, have a cup of tea and chat with LH followed by a little bit of exercise. Even if I just potter around, I am walking!

Today was the first outing for my new coat and I went to town with toning greys and purples, with a small rectangular silk scarf in Spring colours – pink, orange and green against pearly white. I also carried my gorgeous grey and silver Massaccesi Diane handbag. My hair still needs a rather drastic cut, but I have now made an appointment for next Friday – hooray!

Outfit of the day 07/02/20 with small white silk scarf

Today’s outfit:

  • Lilac cashmere v-neck jumper – Marks and Spencer.
  • Harbour grey silk blend t-shirt – Lands’ End.
  • Mid grey cord trousers – Lands’ End.
  • Bright purple suede ankle boots – Duo Boots.
  • Cream and gold Byzantine bangle – Halcyon Days.
  • Bronze Art Nouveau earrings. I think that my pearl earrings would have been a better choice!
  • Small rectangular silk scarf in pink, orange, green and white. Tied loosely around the neck and finished with a bow.

I am now back in bed, eating bread with strawberry jam and with a large pot of tea – yum 😋.

Hoping that you all have a wonderful weekend,

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 05/02/20

Posted on 05/02/2020 by The Librain

So, we are now in the second month of 2020! I am pleased that I am still able to read ebooks and, looking back over my blog, it seems that I am finding it slightly easier to do so than a few weeks ago. There has also been a lot of progress since September, when I had the stroke. I am, however, struggling to find ebooks that I really enjoy. OK, I am far too stingy to pay for them, so I have to use the public library. Their ebook offer is improving rapidly, but the range is nowhere near as good as the county’s print book catalogue. I may actually have to divert some of my “scarf money” towards ebooks! (What an admission from a librarian).

A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell

Anyway, I did read one book this week: A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell. This is the blurb:

There is a stranger outside Caroline’s house.

Her spectacular new beach house, built for hosting expensive parties and vacationing with the family she thought she’d have. But her husband is lying to her and everything in her life is upside down, so when the stranger, Aiden, shows up as a bartender at the same party where Caroline and her husband have a very public fight, it doesn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary.

As her marriage collapses around her and the lavish lifestyle she’s built for herself starts to crumble, Caroline turns to Aiden for comfort…and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aiden’s obsession with Caroline, her family, and her house grows more and more disturbing. And when Caroline’s husband goes missing, her life descends into a nightmare that leaves her accused of her own husband’s murder.

This was a good thriller and kept my attention, even though it took me a long time to read it. Here is my review on Goodreads:

A Stranger on the BeachA Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a pretty good thriller, probably worth 3 1/2 stars but not quite four. The plot was very clever and the structure of the book took me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, first rooting for one character, then another. Because the story was written from different points of view, the writer plays with the reader’s sympathies. I will certainly look for more books by Michele Campbell.

Now I want to win the lottery so I can build a beautiful house by the beach, although I would nail a lucky horseshoe over the door!

View all my reviews

Now I have to decide which book I will read next! You will find out next week, so until then…

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Update 03/02/20 with more about my new coat

Posted on 03/02/2020 by The Librain

I hope that everyone had a good weekend. At the moment, I find it difficult to distinguish between the days of the week as they all seem to be the same for me!

Recently, I came to the conclusion that I haven’t had as many of the awful and frightening coughing attacks since I had the stroke, back in September. Well, last night changed that good run. I had a really scary attack in the middle of the night and have felt drained and fearful today. Then I managed to have an argument with Lovely Husband this morning and so I have come back up to bed to sulk watch TV and read on my iPad.

Tanya coat in grey by Masai Clothing Company

Oh yes, I said that I would explain about my new coat. There’s not that much to say really, but I must tell you that I actually found that it was too big for me! Now, that was rather amazing as I have put on loads of weight in recent years. The design of the coat, however, is very “roomy” and so I ordered the next size down. This turned out to be just right and I am very pleased with it.

I had hoped to be able to take some proper modelling photos with a range of accessories, but I have been too weak to organise this. Maybe I can do this on another day. Instead, I have made a collage to show some of the accessories I might wear with the coat – particularly the purple ankle boots!

Tanya coat with accessories

Accessories: top left and bottom right handbags by Massaccesi. Both scarves are by Hermès. The black boots are by Clarks and the purple suede boots are by Duo Boots. All links are in the sidebar.

Perhaps I could find a hat to go with the coat? Ideas please… 💗💗💗

Right, I don’t think that I can write any more today as it takes me ages to check over each post for spelling mistakes and to make sure that I am not repeating myself too much!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Outfit of the day 31/01/20 with some sale wins!

Posted on 31/01/2020 by The Librain

I have managed to squeeze quite a lot into the day so far, and I am pleased that I am able to write this last post of the month. By the way, I am really chuffed that this month the blog has received the highest number of hits ever! I wonder if it is something to do with a certain Scarf of the Moment post (Plumes en Fête) that I wrote and uploaded a few weeks ago?

Anyway, first of all I will show you three t-shirts which I bought last week from the Lands’ End sale. Now that I have firmly decided on grey for the second neutral colour in my wardrobe, I have been watching out for staple items of clothing in the sales. I now have jeans, trousers, leggings, a cashmere jumper, a cotton twin-set and other tops in shades of grey which I can put together with suitable jewellery, my new coat (more about that in a later post), handbags and scarves. I may look for some grey or silver footwear later on – grey ankle boots or silver sandals, perhaps?

Grey t-shirts from Lands’ End

Large image: Silk blend t-shirt in harbour grey.
Top right: jersey t-shirt in charcoal heather.
Bottom right: supima cotton long sleeve t-shirt in charcoal heather.

So, this afternoon Lovely Husband and I went out to run some errands and then drove to the nearest garden centre, where I managed quite a long walk (for me) and, of course, a pot of tea! I wore the charcoal heather long sleeved t-shirt under my pale grey cashmere v-neck jumper for extra warmth.

Outfit of the day 31/01/20 with Leonard’s feather scarf

Today’s outfit:

  • Pale grey cashmere v-neck jumper – Marks and Spencer.
  • Charcoal heather cotton long sleeved t-shirt – Lands’ End.
  • Imlay grey mid-rise jeans – Lands’ End.
  • Blue topaz earrings – Blue Nile.
  • Silver and titanium leather Diane handbag – Massaccesi.
  • Silk mousseline scarf, 140cm, in grey, turquoise, yellow, tan, black and white – feather design – Leonard. Tied in a simple criss-cross knot using a mother-of-pearl scarf ring by MaiTai.

As it was raining, I finished the outfit with my navy waterproof coat and navy shoes – well, more grey would have been too much!

Right, I think that I have written enough for now! I am feeling quite pleased with myself as I have managed this three posts per week pattern for the whole of January, which feels like an achievement. So, I will write again on Monday and tell you the very short tale of my new coat.

Until then – happy weekend to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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Reading roundup 29/01/20

Posted on 29/01/2020 by The Librain

I have enjoyed and finished two books since I last wrote a Roundup post. Luckily, I am still managing to find enough on our library’s ebook site to keep me going and, therefore, avoid buying my own (more money for scarves!).

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

My first completed book was The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, apparently the first book in a series. I appear to have missed all of the publicity about this book and was interested to read the variety of reviews on Goodreads. Anyway, here is the blurb:

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

I took my time to read the book, mainly because it was quite complex and there were lots of new-to-me words which I looked up on my e-reader app. I am not sure whether I will bother to make a big effort to track down the sequels, but, if I come across them, I would be happy to read them. This is my review on Goodreads:

The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1)The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have read some of the mixed reviews of this book and have realised that I stumbled across it very late. Anyway, I really enjoyed it with only a few reservations. The plot and main characters kept me engaged and the setting in an alternative England was intriguing. Some parts were a little confusing, especially at the beginning and I think that the author could have simplified quite a lot of the over-complicated clairvoyants. I am really glad that I read this as an ebook because I could easily look up some of the words I didn’t know! (In some parts the author was, perhaps, showing off her vocabulary!)

All in all this was an enjoyable read and I will look for the sequels.

View all my reviews

House of War by Scott Mariani

The next book was a complete change. Scott Mariani’s House of War (Ben Hope #20) is a pretty standard thriller, but it was entertaining enough to take my mind away from my troubles. This is the blurb:

Following a chance encounter with a terrified young woman in the streets of Paris, former SAS soldier Ben Hope finds himself hurled into a violent new mission involving murder, international terrorism and stolen historic artifacts. A mission made even more perilous by the reappearance of an old enemy from Ben’s military past. A man he knew and fought years ago. A man he thought was dead.

Teaming up with the enigmatic ex-Delta Force warrior Tyler Roth, Ben travels from the seedy underworld of Paris to the islands of the Caribbean in his quest to piece together the puzzle.

As the death toll quickly mounts, he unmasks a vicious terror plot that could bring about the slaughter of millions of innocent people. Mass destruction seems just a hair’s breadth away … and only Ben Hope can prevent the unthinkable.

And here is my review:

House of War (Ben Hope #20)House of War by Scott Mariani
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I occasionally dip into this series when I want an easy read that will take me out of myself. Although this is the 20th book, there is still plenty of action, the odd twist in the plot, and excitement with a satisfying resolution. I am not interested in the details of weaponry and I do get a little irritated by the fact that live female characters are few and far between, but I suppose that Mariani is not really writing for people like me. He does what he does well enough and I can see this series continuing for a long time!

View all my reviews

I haven’t quite decided what I am going to read next, so all will be revealed next week!

Happy Reading to you all!

Anne

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Outfit of the day 27/01/20

Posted on 27/01/2020 by The Librain

I am trying something new this week. Nothing amazing or Earth-shattering, but just a little experiment. Before I started purchasing expensive scarves, I developed quite a large collection of very cheap ones. Also, my sons would give me pretty scarves as presents because they knew that I love wearing them so much. I have worn scarves on and off since my teens and have always found them a useful and attractive way of finishing off, or even inspiring, an outfit. Anyway, this week I will be wearing some of my inexpensive scarves – I probably need to remind myself of my collection!

The first on is this dusky pink viscose stole…

Outfit of the day with dusky pink stole

Today’s outfit:

  • Pale grey cashmere v-neck jumper – Marks and Spencer.
  • Mid grey stretch cord trousers – Lands’ End.
  • Grey leather slippers – Lands’ End.
  • Silver Celtic style earrings.
  • Dusky pink viscose stole – market stall. I also have this in navy blue.

I find it quite enjoyable to hunt in my scarf drawers for these old favourites. Don’t worry, I will soon return to my gorgeous Hermès collection!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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PS. A friend posted the following on Facebook and I though it amusing: boredpanda – Here’s what Julius Caesar and others would look like today. Have fun!

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Update 24/01/20 with a sale purchase

Posted on 24/01/2020 by The Librain

I was trying to avoid the sales. Really, honestly…

Well, I simply couldn’t resist. In recent years I have put on a lot of weight, for a variety of reasons, and loads of my clothing staples don’t fit me any more. So, whilst I don’t often venture outside, I do need suitable clothing for those times when I must. I bought a navy casual warm jacket last year, so this year I went for a coat that is a bit more formal, but not too much. I will be able to wear this with jeans and a jumper, but also on those rare occasions when I smarten myself up and wear a dress. The coat also goes with a lot of my accessories too.

Here it is – Tanya coat in grey by Masai Clothing Company, Copenhagen:

Tanya coat in grey by Masai Clothing Company

There is one little issue: I bought it in a size too big for me! I have just ordered a smaller size and will choose the best of the two. I really like the style, fabric and colour so will take some photos with possible accessories next week.

I really think that this will fit nicely into my wardrobe and will work well for me.

Before I wish you all a happy weekend, I have just one more thing to say: many thanks to all of you who have commented on my blog, particularly since I had the stroke. I have been very bad mannered and have often not replied to these comments for ages, or even at all. I will try to sort this out over the weekend by going back through the posts. Apologies to you all xxx

Wishing everyone a very good weekend,

Love,

Anne

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