miss marie's miscellany

Daily snapshot:6

Today I take you into my purple shed for a look at what's happening in there.

A bit of a pink and red theme going on in there on the desk today, with a shades of pink granny square being helped along by a lovely glass of rose with my red iPod playing some mellow tunes! Also a bit of magazine reading going on, a new to me publication Mollie Makes, which I'll save to talk about once I've read it from cover to cover.

New books

Quite a few lovely books have come my way recently, 2 lovely crochet pattern books and 2 books to sit and enjoy reading. 

 I thought this would be useful, a collection of edgings and trims which I hope to be able to put to good use in all my crochet creations this year. It's a Harmony guide; I have several of these and find them invaluable, in fact they probably helped me learn to crochet more than any other reference book I used.

I haven't made any garments other than mittens and scarves as yet, but there are a few things in this book which I'd like to try

 

although probably not the socks on the right of the cover! I fancy this jumper though

 Crochet Me is a great site for any crocheters with patterns, links to blogs, forums and tips and advice. Well worth a look if you're into a bit of hooking.

 

After my last read (for book group) turned out to be a big disappointment and hard going, I needed the next book I read to be witty, charming and a little different; my choice was Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill and is proving to have all of those wished for qualities. It tells of the author's endeavours to only read books already in her home, read and unread. As well as discussing the books, there are memories of family and home, thoughts about authors and well loved classic books along with anecdotes from Ms Hill's life as an author and publisher.  Very enjoyable so far!

I picked up this anthology, Modern Delight in Waterstones this weekend. It's a collection of essays by writers, TV and radio personalities, actors and musicians of what makes them happy, what brings delight to their lives. Very happy to see amongst those writing are William Boyd, Jo Brand and the cellist Steven Isserlis. A varied and humourous miscellany which looks like it will prove entertaining, and half the proceeds go to the Dyslexia Trust too.

 

2009 - Review of the year

Another year is almost over, and what have I done? 

I visited all these interesting and beautiful places

 

I've grown all these flowers and enjoyed their colour and beauty

 

I taught myself to crochet and started a new obsession! And I made all these,

 

I have read all the books in this list.

I took 3863 photographs!

And I watched the changing of the seasons

  Starting to write this blog was a big step for me, and it's been quite a journey, gaining the confidence to write and show my photos here. I wouldn't have missed it for anything! Many thanks to everyone who has visited and commented over the year. I really do appreciate you stopping by and all your encouraging words. I hope you'll be back to see what 2010 will bring. Happy New Year to you all :-)

 
 

  

Bits and pieces

An interesting piece at the BBC about the growing trend towards 'make do and mend' and the increase in sewing machine sales since the recession.

Continuing my William Boyd theme, I found this article written by him in the Guardian, an A-Z of A how parks have inspired novelists.

I went to see 'Julie and Julia' and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci who were superb (Oscar-winning performances maybe?). If, like me, you have a little touch of the autumn blues, this film will cheer you up, I can vouch for that!

My new shoes; I bought these in purple, my favourite colour at the moment. They look lovely, are comfortable too, they make me a good 2" taller and I feel like the bees knees when I wear them! What more can you ask for in footwear?

A trip to the theatre last night to see this powerful production of  'The House of Bernarda Alba'. I wasn't sure if moving the setting to present-day Glasgow would work, but it did, very dramatically with some great performances from the all-female cast.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

New book

I had time at my lunch break to pop into Waterstones and browse. My main objective was to get my hands on the latest William Boyd novel, Ordinary Thunderstorms.

 I am a big fan of this wonderful writer and have read almost all his books. I was totally gripped by Restless, his taut espionage thriller, which I read last year when on holiday, and Any Human Heart, his novel told in autobiographical form, is one of my all time favourite books; wonderfully crafted stories which keeps you enthralled from cover to cover. His collection of non-fiction writing,  Bamboo,  is an Aladdin's cave of glittering jewels to dip in and out of, essays,reviews and pieces of journalism on a fascinating  and diverse range of subjects. I can't recommend his books highly enough!  A few weeks ago I watched Mark Lawson interview William Boyd on BBC4, and enjoyed hearing his  thoughts and reflections on life as a writer, screenwriter and director, and listening to WB read from his books. (No longer available on BBC iPlayer, but if it's repeated,  it's well worth viewing).  William Boyd has his own website which is well worth a look, for a comprehensive overview of his books and films. I'm looking forward to getting lost in the pages of this new book, although strangely, I can't bring myself to start reading it yet, as once I do that, I'll have to finish it, and I don't want to! I love the feeling of great expectation, when you know you're really going to enjoy reading a book, and it will stay with you for ages. I'm going to prolong the suspense for a little while longer and then I'd better get reading!