A temporary hiatus...

It's finally the end of the summer - not something I really look forward to; much as I love Autumn - the smells, the light, the clothing, yet again I feel I haven't had my fill of summery weather. But it does mean that it is time for Cardigan Girl's Annual Fortnight Away From Work. Actually, last year I managed three and a half weeks, and this year it's two weeks and three and a half days, so I'm doing quite well and by the time you read this I will hopefully have left work. We're planning a Staycation for the first ten days - we have relatives to visit, shopping to do (Ikea for bits for our wedding reception), Reading for clothes to wear for our wedding - fiance needs a new suit, and I need a dress for the party), excursions that we want to make (a river trip to Abingdon, a venture to the Waterperry Gardens), and hope to do some swimming in the sunshine as final training for our Great North Swim.

We're then heading up to the Lake District for the Swim; it's a mile in the extremely cold water of Lake Winderemere which I am hoping to complete in around half an hour (it took me 40 minutes and 57 seconds last year). The picture above is from last year's swim; isn't it a fantastic setting? I'm raising money for the mental health charity Mind, and if you have any pennies to spare, please do consider using them to sponsor me - pop along to my Justgivingpage for more details. Mind is a charity extremely close to my heart and I'm hoping to raise £1000 with my swim, and I'm still quite a long way off!

We had a lovely weekend in the Lake District when we did the Swim last year, and it just wasn't long enough to visit all of the literary places. We "did" Beatrix Potter last year, and this year as we're staying in Coniston, I intend to concentrate on Arthur Ransome. I'll be rereading Swallows and Amazons, and probably Christina Hardyment's Captain Flint's Trunk and have the DVD of Swallows and Amazons to watch as well. I have a couple of E.J. Oxenham's children's books set in the Lake District to take with me, kindly given to me by Geraldine who reads this blog. In fact, there is a whole wealth of wonderful children's literature set in the region; I have a bibliography of them by James Mackensie, and need to look through it for some more ideas of things to read - I have ordered one of Geoffrey Trease's Bannermere books from the library. If anyone has any suggestions of adult books then I'd love to hear them!

I intend to pop into the blog with some pictures of where I've been, but bookish and domestic arts discussions will be resumed when I resume routine in mid-September.

A brief post on being back from Edinburgh

It's been a long day at work, getting ready to go on leave (more about that tomorrow), and I spent lunchtime busily rushing around doing the grocery shopping that usually gets done at the weekend, but I did want to write briefly post-Edinburgh-trip when so many people offered me suggestions of things to do and things to read.

To be honest, the highlight of my trip was being reunited with my fiance. As he and his brother were pretty busy with the play that they were putting on, time to explore the city was at a minimum. I was impressed with the way that the city fitted into the landscape - it seems a very tall city as buildings go up high to utilise the fact that the environment is very hilly. The castle and Arthur's seat looked absolutely stunning. I hadn't looked at a map, so was incredibly surprised when we ended up by the sea at one point. And I loved the drive back out of the city through the Highlands. Otherwise, I saw the Royal Mile, ate chips, and lots of noodles, and hobnobbed with a few minorly famous people who had shows at the fringe in the performers' bar.

The play, The door, was an incredibly gripping political black comedy, based on the interaction of a former army officer and one of his former squaddies who awaiting a tribunal, in a waiting room plagued by a constantly banging door. I don't know very much about drama or acting, but my attention was held by strong performances from the two men and I was intrigued to see where the story would go - there were surprising twists along the way. Obviously, my fiance's title-role was essential; he was very convincing making door-banging noises from being the scenes.

I didn't actually manage any reading, owing to catching up on work emails whilst on the bus to the airport and at the airport too, and then being in a camper van with very little lighting at night! But I am now intrigued to read some of the books suggested; I think I am certainly going to seek out some of Alexander McCall Smith's Scotland books and the first of the Kate Atkinson Brodie books to read.

I was also very kindly sent by The Heart of Midlothian by Walter Scott, by Kirsty from Oxford World Classics. It's a mighty tome of a book, which didn't quite make it into my hand luggage but I am looking forward to It's my first encounter with Oxford World Classics and I'm quite impressed- there is a lengthy introduction which I look forward to reading as I am completely unfamiliar with Scott's work and the book is beautifully designed.

Some more cross stitch

As you might know, my fiance has gone away for a while, and before I left I gave him this cross stitch which I'd been working on to remind him to call me (the bear is holding a mobile phone (I hope it *is* recognisable as a mobile phone but this had to be explained to the recipient)). I have a feeling that the cross stitch has been left buried in the car as calls have been somewhat sporadic, but I did think it was a lovely design and didn't take too long to complete. I have had this frame for some time, so we'll be able to have it on display when he brings it back.

I'm now working on a cross stitch for a friend's birthday - however, I didn't start it in time and as the birthday is on Saturday, I'm not sure it will be done, but I think she'll appreciate it when I do get it done. Could make her a matching decoupage birthday card!

As I mentioned on Monday, I'm off to Edinburgh for the weekend, so I won't be posting tomorrow or over the weekend. (And, I'll only be back for a couple of days before taking a longer, fortnight break, although I may pop in and out). Thanks to you all for your wonderful suggestions of books to read and things to do in Edinburgh. Many of the ideas were on loan from the library, but Kirsty from Oxford World Classics has kindly sent me a Walter Scott tome (which nearly took me over the limit for hand luggage!). Otherwise I have packed Juliet Naked, by Nick Hornby, Swimming by Nicola Keegan, and The house of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Should I run out of reading material, I know my fiance went to the Old Children's Bookshelf to pick up the two latest Greyladies titles for me, which I was planning to save for my holiday in the Lakes, but will provide emergency words. I'm intending to visit the Scottish National Gallery and maybe a National Trust property; the castle being extortionately expensive, and my fiance has got tickets for Morgan and West, the Time Travelling Magicians which sounds fun, as well as for two performances of his brother's play. I now just need to find out whether British Airways will let me take my cross stitch on board...

I covet...

I stumbled upon these on Amazon yesterday and haven't been able to resist pre-ordering them.

I loved the set of Penguin Postcards that came out last year, there seems to be a postcard for almost every occasion, and I loved flicking through the cards again and again before I started using them to look at the publishing history of Penguin. I think I am going to love these even more - I adored reading Puffin by Design and am regularly using my pink puffin book bag - and I am looking forward to finding more appropriate cards to send to people. They're not released until October though.

There are two books which I would love to pre-order, but won't, because I'm trying not to buy books at the moment (is August too early to start writing my Christmas list??), both in a similar theme featuring material from the Mass Observation Archive.

The first is the third installment of Nella Last's diaries. I came across Nella Last well before she had the big revival following the Victoria Wood TV Drama "Housewife 49" which led to the publication of a second volume of diaries, Nella Last's Peace, because she was one of the "set texts" for a module on my degree course. I was delighted to be able to meet her again in the second volume, which proved a fascinating insight into post-war life in Britain - there was certainly no immediate end to the hardship which the British had endured since 1939. This new volume, Nella Last in the 1950s, picks up where the last volume left off.

The second is another book providing a window into women's experiences during the Second World War. Domestic Soldiers by Jennifer Purcell describes the lives of six women (including Nella Last) and the effects that the war had on their circumstances. It sounds absolutely fascinating and one of my favourite sorts of books.

I do hope to get copies of these eventually, and will certainly write about them when I do!

Librarians in literature : Lewis Percy (Brookner)

The first of my librarian reads was Lewis Percy by Anita Brookner, which I selected in part because the author was familiar. I went through a bit of an Anita Brookner phase last year, until I started to find her novels a bit samey. But I had had sufficient break to enjoy this one, even if it wasn't exactly a "feel good" read.

The novel tells the story of the character Lewis Percy, an academic, who lives with his mother. We first meet him studying literature in Paris, which seems a promising start to his adult life. But on return home to his mother, and to finishing his thesis, he ends up establishing himself in a lonely, isolated existence, centring on his academic work and based in a library. His mother dies, and I think Lewis starts to feel the importance of having a woman in his life. From this somewhat depressed existence, he meets, and befriends one of the library workers, an agoraphobic girl who works in the library and lives with her mother. He decides to marry her but the marriage, which is happy to start with, soon falters. Lewis again feels lonely, and she starts struggling with being able to go out. They divorce . Lewis by now is working in the library himself; the routine is helpful but it is his nightly visits to his child which keep him going. This wouldn't make a hugely interesting story, but it is obvious that the book is being set up for something to happen - the arrival of another character who will transform his life.

As I said at the beginning, it wasn't a hugely warming read, but as usual, Brookner writes a novel that gives insight into the life of the characters that she describes; a book about people and their lives rather than anything more plot driven. And what of the librarian aspect? I have to confess I was more interested in Lewis' life and what would happen to him that I quite forgot why I was reading it in the first place!

I have my hands on several other librarian-featuring-novels now, so do look out for more posts on this theme, I think I will probably be reading the DE Stevenson, Young Clementina next, in celebration of my first ever visit to Scotland at the weekend.

Edinburgh!

I was intending to start my series of posts about books with librarians in today, Mondays are always about work so it seemed like a good time to begin. However, I reckoned without the prospect of an exciting adventure coming up very soon. My fiance has been away for a while, helping out his brother with a play at the Edinburgh Festival, and although I feel somewhat feeble about it, I have been missing him dreadfully. When he kept saying "I wish you were here" and telling me about how much fun he was having, I got out my credit card and booked a flight up. It means flying (something I don't do terribly well, not even in a plane), and sleeping with the guys in the camper van which is apparently parked on some residential street somewhere, so no prospect of a shower... But, I'd do almost anything to see him 24 hours sooner and see his performance in the festival (my fiance is providing the sound effect of the door, in a play named The door, a very crucial contribution).

Anyway, to get to the point, as this is in general a blog about books or cooking. What Edinburgh themed reading is there? Muriel Spark has already been suggested to me, but I think I've read most of hers. I think actually I am going to have to just choose the books with the smallest print as I'm intending not to check in any bags. Which means Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby from the TBR, and Swimming by Nicola Keegan which is on my library pile, both of which have offputtingly small type. But I'd love to read something Edinburgh related, perhaps even before I go to get me in the mood.

Also - suggestions of things to do in Edinburgh much appreciated. To be honest, I don't anticipate having much time as the men will be busy with the play, and I know they are keen to get around a lot of shows, but if I do find myself at a loose end - what should I see? I've been given this list of secondhand bookshops (I'd already dispatched my fiance to buy me the two latest Greyladies titles which sadly means I'm unlikely to make it down to the Old Children's Bookshelf on canongate).

...this is what I was doing yesterday.

Well, perhaps it's not hugely obvious from the second picture! The empty bag shows that I came back without the books that I set off with; the books on the floor are those I came back with. Yes - I managed to get rid of some books - I took them to the Books and Comics Exchange in Notting Hill! The best thing is they give you twice as much money if you take it in vouchers/credit for the shop, so I was able to have a guilt free look around, and, despite managing to amass quite a pile of goodies, I didn't spend all of the £14 I was given for my books and have £6.50 for a future visit!

I was pleased with the books I picked up, especially the beautiful green Elizabeth Taylor - I am particularly on the look out for these at the moment - I love the beautiful flower pictures on the covers. And this takes me up to 10 out of 16 of the collection. I LOVED Teddy Robinson as a child so was thrilled to see this ex library edition of three of the books - I need to do some research as the titles don't match up with my later puffin copies. I have been enjoying the Family stories by Enid Blyton in the last 12 hours - I read some of them as a child but not the whole series and they were perfectly unchallenging for a tired cardigan girl after quite a tiring day out! Anyway, I don't quite feel I have broken my run of not buying books for 4 weeks - I'm sure it doesn't count if you've sold and got rid of books beforehand.

The trip to the exchange was part of a day out meeting up with the lovely Claire from Paperback Reader (she also sold and bought books). We then went on to visit Carlyle's House, down in Chelsea - Thomas Carlyle was an eminent Victorian historian, although hugely unfashionable these days; he may be familiar to some of you if you've read the wonderful Persephone book The Carlyles at home. It was a lovely townshouse full of the original furniture - we were both very taken with the wallpaper which was in 19th century Cath Kidston style! Unfortunately we got very lost trying to find the house and walked absolutely miles, but it was definitely worth it. Another long walk back to the tube took us back past Slightly Foxed, a fantastic bookshop which we could have spent hours in. Cardigangirl's feet were quite weary at this stage and she was in need of iced coffee so we repaired to Starbucks to swap some books (Claire has kindly lent me the new Rosy Thornton, and gave me a VMC that I didn't have) before catching the tube to head home. Thank you Claire for entertaining an otherwise lonely booklover who is missing her fiance.

Who can guess...

...what I'm doing today? All will be revealed on Sunday or Monday. Happy weekend everyone!

Decoupage

As regular readers will know from my cross stitching, I have a real fondness for Forever Friends things and when, in Hobbycraft for the second time, I spotted some Forever Friends decoupage to make cards with, I just couldn't resist.

The bottom two cards were made very simply with readymade decoupage bits, which I literally just had to stick onto the cards that I had bought.

The top one was a little more complicated as I used the kit to build up my own decoupage bear and followed a "project sheet" to turn it into a rather nice card.

A great Sunday afternoon activity...

The wavewatcher's companion

I'm sure many of you will be familiar with the wonderful Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney which introduced us all to the concept of identifying different sorts of clouds in the sky. I was extremely excited to see that he had come up with a follow up book - The wavewatcher's companion, since I have always loved watching waves coming into a beach. And what a perfect book to take with me to read in the room with a view we had recently by the seaside.

I was particularly interested, being at the seaside, in his chapter on tidal waves and how these are governed by the earth and the moon, and the description of the wave that emanates from the Severn Bore. This phenomenon occurs because the tide from the sea is bunched up as it enters the estuary and progresses up the river, creating a wave that allows for a far longer "surf" than on any wave in the sea and it is from here that the longest continuous surfing record has been achieved. These sorts of tidal bores have been recorded on at least 67 rivers around the world.

What is especially good about the book is that it doesn't just look at waves of the beach variety, but also other sorts - sound, radio, light waves, electromagnetic waves, and those through our intestines. We learned about most of these at school, but I was hugely turned off by my physics lessons and never really got to grips with them - Pretor-Pinney makes these subjects accessible and most importantly interesting.

This is definitely a "dipping in" book, and definitely one to have to hand if you are lucky enough to be by the sea this summer. Many thanks to Bloomsbury who kindly supplied me with this book to read and write about.

In other news - it has been a beautiful day here, but definitely a hint of Autumn in the air. Whilst Autumn is certainly my favourite season, this displeases me somewhat as I don't feel that I have had my fill of warm and sunny weather this year. I am hoping that means it will be baking hot for our week in the Lake District in September, or if not then, absolutely glorious when we are in Austria next year for our weddingmoon (more on that in a future post!).