Sorry, I am struggling with a lot of issues and am also too ill to post today. I hope that all my visitors have a great weekend and I will try to write something more interesting on Monday.
Last night I had another bad asthma attack – that’s the third night in a row! So I have felt pretty poorly today as a result. I had planned to go for my flu vaccination this afternoon, but was far too ill to go. As it happens, Lovely Husband had to go into the surgery in the morning to pick up our huge bag of meds and he was told that the vaccinations had been cancelled due to a shortage. At least I didn’t waste my time in going.
Anyway, I have spent the day in bed again so have no outfit to show you. Yesterday, I wore my lovely peacock feather brooch with my teal twinset. Why does the iPad camera turn teal into blue? Does anyone know?
Here is a photo of the brooch, which I bought on eBay. The setting is a kind of vintage gold tone and the smaller crystals are teal, blue and violet with a large “sapphire” in the centre. Yes, I do love bling!
Peacock feather brooch
I do hope that I am stronger tomorrow as I want to actually do something! It would be nice to be able to write about going somewhere.
It has been an odd kind of week, reading-wise. I finished two books and had an unusual reaction to a third. Hopefully, you will see what I mean.
Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon
My first book was Diana Gabaldon’s collection of novellas and short stories set in the Outlander world: Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. Here is the blurb:
A collection of seven short stories set in the Outlander universe, never before published together, including two original stories.
This riveting, romantic collection includes: “Besieged” (original novella), “A Fugitive Green” (original novella), “Virgins,” “The Space Between,” “Lord John and the Plague of Zombies,” “A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows” and “The Custom of the Army.”
I gave the book four stars on Goodreads and wrote this short review:
I really enjoyed this collection of short stories and novellas set in the world of the Outlander series. It was nice to meet some of the characters again and find out some of the sub plots to the main story arcs. The tales vary in quality, but the book is worth reading if you are a fan of Gabaldon’s books.
It has been quite a while since I last read a book in the main series and I had forgotten some of the more minor characters, but the collection is a worthwhile read for Outlander fans.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
I then turned to a book that I had heard mentioned quite often. My librarian friends all seemed to rate it highly, so I reserved it on our library service’s ebook app. It took a while to become available to me, so I was really looking forward to reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Here is the blurb:
No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.
Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.
But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.
Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .
The only way to survive is to open your heart.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? At the very least interesting and intriguing. Especially when your friends all appear to be huge fans. Well, this is my review:
I must be a maverick amongst my friends as they all seem to have loved this book and I, on the other hand, was simply irritated with it. Perhaps it is my mood today, but I did try to read it and I got quite a way along, but have now given up entirely. My verdict is “annoying”. Sorry!
And I only gave it one star (runs away and hides).
Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman
My third book of the week was much more successful. Perhaps I just prefer crime novels and thrillers these days? Anyway, Becky Masterman’s Rage Against the Dying, #01 in her Brigid Quinn series, was much more my cup of tea. This is the blurb:
In her hey-day, ex FBI agent Brigid Quinn not only worked serial killer cases but became their prize. Small and blond, from a distance she looked vulnerable and slight. . . the perfect bait to catch a killer. But as Quinn got older, she realised she needed to find a protegee, a younger field agent to take her place. So Quinn trains a twenty-two year old and lets her loose in the field. The plan works. Until the Route 66 killer not only takes the bait, but kills the bait too.
Years on, Quinn is trying to move past the fact that she has a young woman’s death on her conscience. She’s now the perfect Stepford Wife – until she gets a knock on her door. The girl’s body has finally been discovered. Quinn is pulled back into the case and the more she learns about the killer the more she comes to believe, despite the overwhelming forensic evidence to hand, that they have the wrong man.
I gave this one four stars and wrote the following:
I really loved this book! As I have already read the second in the series, and loved that too, I was hoping that I would enjoy this one and I really, really did. As an older woman myself, it is so refreshing to have a strong older heroine. She makes mistakes, she is amazingly fit for her age (I am so jealous) and has such great black humour. The writing of these books is excellent with gripping and exciting plots and a real sense of place. I am about to start part 3 and I hope it is as good as the first two!
A Twist of the Knife by Becky Masterman
As I said in the review, I am now going to pick up part three, as soon as I have finished writing this post: A Twist of the Knife. I hope that it is as good as the previous two books!
As I have spent the whole day in bed, except for a few expeditions to the bathroom, I haven’t got a great deal to say today. Nor have I an outfit to show you as I have been wearing my oldest and comfiest pyjamas. I couldn’t even rustle up the energy to put on a scarf. Yes, I had a pretty nasty asthmatic coughing attack in the night and have felt pretty rough all day.
I haven’t lost my sense of humour, though. A few days ago, I saw this picture of a very “interesting” scarf, designed by Fendi (what were they thinking!!!), and then found out that the image went viral. Just in case you haven’t seen it already, I have posted it below…
I don’t think I need to say any more about it, do I?
Anyway, I have just finished a great book and will now go and write a review of it on Goodreads. Tomorrow I will write my weekly Reading Roundup post and you will be able to find out which book it was.
The weather has continued to be crisp and sunny for the last few days and I was able to go for a walk around the block this afternoon. I needed to post a birthday card, so decided to take it to the post box myself instead of relying on either of my chaps.
Elder Son’s outfit for the wedding on Saturday was a great success with his friends – they told him that he looked “dashing”! He looked absolutely wonderful as he left the house and he reported back that he had a great time. Although he was very nervous about attending this kind of event, he managed very well indeed. He wore a black jacket and trousers, new black leather shoes, a very nice white shirt and a lovely blue tie. Apparently, he kept telling everyone that the tie was made of silk! So proud of him 💗💕💖💕💗
My outfit today was based on my first ever expensive designer scarf purchase: this Ianthe design from Liberty of London. It goes well with a lot of autumnal colours, such as this bright teal twinset.
Outfit of the day 22/10/18 with Liberty’s Ianthe scarf
Today’s outfit:
Bright teal cotton mix short sleeved top – Lands’ End.
Bright teal cotton mix cardigan – Lands’ End.
Navy cotton joggers – Cotton Traders.
Bronze Art Nouveau style earrings. These echo the sinuous swirls of the scarf.
Peacock snake skin and pale gold bracelet – Aspinal.
Silk scarf, 90cm, in blue, burgundy, green, orange and pink – Ianthe – Liberty. I placed the scarf into a bias fold and then tied it like a conventional tie.
I don’t think I have ever shown this particular scarf properly on here before. It is a large silk stole by Roberto Cavalli in gorgeous shades of blue fading into brown animal print at the borders. The blues remind me of the colours of the Mediterranean Sea, which I haven’t seen for years.
Today, I wore the scarf with my cotton cable jumper in cobalt. The colours aren’t quite right together and I need to find something else in my wardrobe, maybe in navy? I am not really sure.
Anyway, here is the collage:
Outfit of the day 19/10/18 with a scarf by Roberto Cavalli
Today’s outfit:
Cobalt blue cotton cable jumper – Lands’ End.
Navy cotton joggers – Cotton Traders.
Mother of pearl and silver Art Deco style earrings.
Silk stole in blues and browns – Roberto Cavalli.
I hope that this lovely sunny weather continues over the weekend. Elder Son (who has ASD) is very excited because he has been invited to a friend’s wedding. We have had to sort out a “posh” outfit for him as he wants to look his best for all of his female colleagues who will also be there. I will have a little tear in my eye when he goes out as I am so pleased at his progress, particularly with his social skills.
It has been a very lazy day for me so far – too ill to do very much. I have been playing with my new “gadget”, though.
Years ago, my Mum bought one of those heated airers from Lakeland and recommended it to me. I felt that we didn’t really need any thing like that as we hang our wet washing outside as much as possible, then use our tumble dryer during the wetter and colder months. We did, however, remove our airing cupboard quite a while ago when we had a condensing boiler installed. This meant that I had to air off slightly damp items over radiators, unless I wanted to have the tumble dryer on for hours eating up electricity.
So, in the end I ordered an airer from Lakeland and it arrived yesterday. We don’t have room for the very largest one, but this fits well at the end of our kitchen. I have also bought the cover to go with it as that was recommended widely. So, at last our hallway is free from clothes horses and socks all over the radiator!
We will see how it goes.
Outfit of the day 18/10/18 with QueCraft blue horn pendant
Today I have been looking too awful for a selfie, but I did take a photo of my new horn pendant necklace with my cobalt blue cotton cable jumper from Lands’ End. The necklace, from Quecraft via Etsy, has two large ovals in shades of blue lacquer, with a smaller link between in natural horn. The whole pendant hangs on an adjustable leather thong. It is a nice piece for any time of year and would look great with a navy or white t-shirt or vest in the Summer.
I have just noticed that I am currently reading my 90th book of 2018. Not bad going really! I have only managed to finish one this week and am currently enjoying a collection of short stories and novellas based around Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Anyway, I had better tell you about the one book that I have completed.
Snare by Lilja Siggurdardottir
The book is called Snare, written by Lilja Siggurdardottir, part of her Reykjavik Noir series. Here is the blurb:
After a messy divorce, attractive young mother Sonia is struggling to provide for herself and keep custody of her son. With her back to the wall, she resorts to smuggling cocaine into Iceland, and finds herself caught up in a ruthless criminal world. As she desperately looks for a way out of trouble, she must pit her wits against her nemesis, Bragi, a customs officer, whose years of experience frustrate her new and evermore daring strategies. Things become even more complicated when Sonia embarks on a relationship with a woman, Agla. Once a high-level bank executive, Agla is currently being prosecuted in the aftermath of the Icelandic financial crash. Set in a Reykjavík still covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, and with a dark, fast-paced and chilling plot and intriguing characters, Snare is an outstandingly original and sexy Nordic crime thriller, from one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.
This is the review I wrote on Goodreads and I awarded the book four stars:
Let me start by saying I loathe the drugs trade and drug dealers in particular. So I was very surprised to find myself hoping that the main character in this book, a drug mule, would find her way out of the trap, the snare, that she is struggling to escape. The book blends three stories together and is told by three main protagonists. Despite that, it works very well and the blend of tension and double-dealing holds the reader. I will certainly look out for other books in the series, if they are purchased by our library service.
I have read a couple of other books set in Iceland but this one had a unique flavour, which I really enjoyed.
Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon
As I mentioned at the start of the post, I am currently relishing Diana Gabaldon’s Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. I have read all of the books in the main Outlander series so far and have watched the TV programmes, so I am really loving this set of tales based on some of the characters and settings. More about this book next week.
I am sorry that this has been such a short post, but I have been very distracted this week by a major political issue that has taken up a lot of my attention. I am not going to write about this any further on the blog as I want to keep my writing here away from politics.
I really enjoyed writing yesterday’s post – the scarf profile of La Femme aux Semelles de Vent. Researching the background to find links that may be of interest to visitors takes me right back to my days as a school librarian. I used to spend ages curating, compiling and developing resources for classes studying a huge range of topics, then I would work with the students and their teachers on their research. This was one of my favourite parts of the job.
I haven’t done very much today except a few housework tasks, but I did manage to wear my Zebra Pegasus gavroche with today’s outfit:
Outfit of the day 16/10/18 with Hermès’ Zebra Pegasus gavroche
Today’s outfit:
Purple cashmere short sleeved top – Pure Collection.
Lunar blue cashmere cardigan – Pure Collection. This is a true dark teal in real life and matches the gavroche’s background colour (canard in French).
Navy cotton stretch cord trousers – Lands’ End.
Amethyst and gold botanical style earrings – craft centre near Torquay.
Teal suede and pale gold Vara wrap bracelet – Ferragamo.
Silk scarf, 45cm, in teal, blue, purple and white – Zebra Pegasus – Hermès. Tied in a simple cowboy knot.
I have already told the story of how I came to own this amazing scarf. The real tale goes slightly further back in time. In 2014, I started down the slippery slope of Hermès scarf ownership and very soon started reading the scarfie threads on The Purse Forum. The expert members of the forum have such extensive knowledge of the designs, which go back to the 1930s, and I quickly became aware of so-called “grails”. These are scarves and shawls that have caught the attention of collectors and have remained special over time. La Femme aux Semelles de Vent is one of those grails.
Generally speaking, I don’t try to own these really expensive scarves. The ones considered grails are highly sought after all around the world and so command premium prices. Even the “ordinary” Hermès scarves are very expensive and out of the reach of most people. I see them as a special luxury that I can only afford because I am now retired and my monthly “pocket money” doesn’t get spent on going out!
So, I was very lucky to find a pristine scarf, complete with its box, at a very reasonable price.
La Femme aux Semelles de Vent by Aline Honoré for Hermès
Description
La Femme aux Semelles de Vent was designed by the amazing artist Aline Honoré for Hermès’ Autumn/Winter 2009 season. The design was available as a 90cm silk twill and a 140cm cashmere/silk shawl. I have the silk twill.
The scarf pays homage to Alexandra David-Néel (1868-1969), a French/Belgian explorer, spiritualist and writer, who was a true ‘femme aux semelles de vent’ (a woman with wind for her soles). The central image depicts Alexandra David-Néel and her companion, Lama Yongden, heading towards Lhasa, the forbidden capital of Tibet. She reached Lhasa in 1924, and this amazing feat made her famous throughout the world.
Around the centre are bands of decoration in Tibetan style, some floral and others geometric, surrounded on two sides by life-like animal print of leopard and tiger skins. There are also images of metal and gem stone jewels placed around the borders, with the largest and most striking examples on the four corners. The whole design has a depth and and 3D quality created by the glorious use of colour and shading.
I am not sure of the code number for the colourway on my scarf (perhaps a visitor will inform me!). The colours used are rich browns, sepia, purple, orange, yellow and grey. The jewellery appears to be real silver because the use of colour is so clever. The animal furs appear to be lifelike. In fact, the whole design is exquisite.
Colourways
Here are the colourways that I have found online. I am not sure which version of the design they are:
Design story
This is the design story for the scarf:
The carre borrows its title from the epithet “The man with wind for his soles” that Verlaine has used of his friend, the travel poet Rimbaud. It pays homage to Alexandra David-Neel (1868-1969), the explorer, versed in knowledge, who studied oriental philosophies and covered thousands of kilometers crossing Central Asia and the Far East. Like the rugs and clothing of these regions, the carre is bordered with fur bands, here printed on the silk, and embroidered braids, mixing ethnic, geometric or floral patterns, interspersed with pieces of gold-work, charms, and earrings of silver, coral and turquoise.
Details
Here are some closeups of my scarf in a slideshow format:
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How I wear the scarf
I have worn the scarf a couple of times so far, both with my Lands’ End cotton animal print top:
Outfit of the day 02/10/18 with Hermès’ La Femme aux Semelles de Vent scarf
Outfit of the day 07/09/18 with Hermès’ La Femme aux Semelles de Vent scarf
Yes, you can see that I adore animal print! I will find other ways to wear this wonderful scarf and perhaps tone the animal side down a bit in future. Or, perhaps not!
Scarf ties
Here are a few scarf knots which work well:
La Femme aux Semelles de Vent – scarf ties
1) Top row L-R: asymmetric wrap, bias fold with shawl ring
2) Centre row L-R: half-bow knot, loose fold over with bias fold
3) Bottom row L-R: bias fold, asymmetric wrap reversed
I think that the borders and corners of this scarf deserve to be highlighted as much as possible. With this colourway, I am planning to avoid wearing the central image, in sepia, next to my face so will not use knots which showcase this.
The Purse Forum Ode to La Femme aux Semelles de Vent
Long thread with masses of information and modelling photos. I found a lovely comment on the thread – #261 from SuiteSixteen – that says the following:
While gathering the pics, I had a closer look at the design and discovered some interesting facts. The ethnic and floral patterns are actually full of Chinese blessings!
The peonies -for peace.
The orchids – for beauty and prosperity.
The chrysanthemum – for good luck. It a symbol for powerful yang energy.
The lotus – for ultimate purity and perfection.
Butterflies – for power of love. (there are 2 butterflies among the chrysanthhemums)
There’s also a narrow strip with the Chinese symbol ‘Shou’ which is for longevity.
So for me, this scarf also carries positive energy and well wishes!
I hope readers have found this exploration of La Femme aux Semelles de Vent 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.
Former professional school librarian, now retired through chronic illness. Trying to keep cheerful by reading, drinking lots of tea, blogging my new life, and my love of bling!
The Librain
The Librain......retired 
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