A little bit of this and that...

The Happy Little Stitchery had its first stitchers on Saturday, and they seemed to have a happy time!

In the morning I got into the swing of things with a select group of two, one of whom I had met at The Maltings Market, along with her friend.  I taught them a bit of simple embroidery so that they could either take home an embroidered hoop picture or a needlecase.  

It was good see which stitches different stitchers found easier and which they found harder, especially as I was having a group of six in the afternoon, and it allowed me to slightly alter the order in which I taught the stitches.

I did, of course, forget to get my camera out until the very end of the day, when two of my afternoon stitchers had already left, but at least I did remember in the end!

And here's some of the work produced!  I have already had two of my friends pop by for a little help getting started on their next, independent projects - one to get a water-soluble line drawn on her fabric (the local shop had run out of pens) and one for a suggestion of what to do next!  

Next came a bit of bunny making.  The sleeves from a beautifully soft but somewhat shrunken cashmere jumper, four 'Sarah Moore Home' bunny outlines, a bit of sewing, snipping and stuffing (plus a wee bit of embroidery, but that doesn't fit my alliterative theme)...

Et voila!

Spring bunnies..

Next, I decided to have a go at designing my own simple patchwork block.  I wanted something fairly straightforward that would be good for teaching to those who want to learn to use a sewing machine.  I used some scrap-booking papers and fiddled around till I got what I wanted...

Then selected some scraps of (mostly) vintage fabric and stitched away...

A bit of further embellishment and this is what I had...

Although it was originally intended as a cushion cover, I found an empty frame, not quite the right size, but rather like this framed!  Another one for my somewhat over-burdened walls!

Today I had an exciting little package in the post.  My Mum had this book when I was a child and I used to try hard to learn stitches from it.  

The one I could NEVER make work was the French Knot.  Try as I might, it always disappeared!  And so it would still be, were it not for the wonders of stitch demonstrations on YouTube!  I think YouTube justifies its presence in the world simply on account of being the place where I finally found out how to  get these little devils to work!  

I am pleased to say that all my stitchers on Saturday mastered No. 21!

Last night, me, Miss U-t-B and her cousin (who is staying with us this half-term week)  went to see 'Cuban Fury'.  It was a great laugh and I came away with the salsa beat so firmly embedded in my head, feet and hips that I had to have a cocoa to calm down before bed!  If you like a bit of fun (and don't mind a bit of fruity language!) do go and see it!

Lastly, I just finished reading this...

A sweet book, I really enjoyed it!

What's-on-my-bookshelf Wednesday

Ah! Bliss!  

Today I finished at school for the time being, and though I actually had so much fun that I will be missing it, I am enormously looking forward to my days of freedom before my next stint!

There will, most likely, be a few more books notched up as the days pass.  I haven't done too badly recently, as with Mr U-t-B away, I can read late into the night or early in the morning if I so choose. 

So I managed to get through 'The Misbegotten'...

Photo courtesy of Hachette.com

This was not at all the story I thought it would be from the atmospheric cover, and I was a bit disappointed with it. (Actually, quite a lot.  Sorry!) Serves me right for being charmed by the cover, my constant failing.

Luckily I then went on to 'The Book Thief' which I absolutely loved!

Definitely one of those books I didn't want to end, and now I am looking forward to the film which I believe is released at the end of the month.  I know some people think there are better books of this genre but I haven't yet read the ones that are mentioned in reviews as superior (on the list now though!) and I could not put this down.One very late night and one very long lie-in were needed once I'd fallen for these characters, but then I was bereft that it was over...

Next came another disappointment in the form of 'The Witch's Daughter' - just not my kind of tale, probably pretty good if you like that kind of thing.  And so horribly long...

Then came 'When God Was a Rabbit' which I really liked even if there were all sorts of things left unfinished at the end (I don't think intentionally).  

And now I'm really enjoying 'The Secret Life of Bees' which I have seen recommended on blogs written by people whose opinions I value!  Definitely a better reason for a choice that a front cover!  Maybe I'm learning! 

What book do you recommend I add to my increasingly long list of must reads?

What's-on-my-bookshelf-Wednesday

How do you choose a book to read, I wonder?

I know that I am a sucker for an appealing front cover, a point that was brought home to me with one of my last two 'finishes', Tracy Chevalier's 'The Last Runaway'.  As I am away from home at the moment and wanted to write a post, I googled images and found four different front covers.  So would I have selected this book?

Probably not...

Or this?

Perhaps - I like to be helped to imagine 
the main character, 
though she looks a little cold.

Or this?

Definitely - 
I like this cover best of all!

The one I did choose had the cover below, but I have to say, it was bought when I was desperate for something to read and I wasn't overly taken with the cover.  Luckily, I quite enjoyed the story about a Quaker girl who leaves 19th century Dorset for the United States of America, becoming involved in the Underground Railroad.  Although I didn't feel the characters had enough depth, there was enough to keep me reading.  

On my way to my little holiday, I chose three titles to keep me busy (vastly overestimating, as usual, how much I would be able to get through in a shortish space of time).  Once again, covers drew me in.

Image courtesy of Hachette.com

Funny that I never fancied reading The Book Thief when it had this cover...

Image courtesy of Woman and Home

So far I have only managed to finish reading Pomfret Towers which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Set in 1930s Barsetshire, it has a host of likeable characters to root for and it made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions.   I will be looking out for more of Angela Thirkell's books.  Good to know I won't be choosing these based solely on the attractiveness of the covers!

What's-Off-My-Bookshelf-Wednesday

At the start of the year I decided to try and read more books this year.  And I think I have managed quite successfully!  The late summer/autumn pile of books is sitting by the front dor awaiting a decision on what to do with them, and here it is...

I think when I last blogged about fiction, I was predicting more weeping (after 'Daughters of Mars' and 'Me Before You') with 'This Is How It Ends'.  And so it turned out!  I quite liked the book, though I remember feeling, as tear-jerkers go, that it wasn't as good as 'Me Before You'.  Both had the same level of 'I-know-what's-going-to-happen' but I warmed more to the characters in Jojo Moyes's story.

That leaves another nine books to write about, which seems like a tall order, especially as I am trying to make blogging achievable again by spending no more than an hour at the keyboard .  So I will simply rank them, in reverse order, with a tiny bit about them.

9.  The Great Gatsby - I read this because I always felt I had missed out by not reading it when all my friends were doing it for A level way-back-when, and because Miss U-t-B was raving about the film and I felt I should know what it was all about.  

I was charmed by the Barbier front cover, but not, alas, by the tale...Oops!  What a philistine!

8.The Glassblower of Murano - I began reading this many months ago, wanting to escape to Venice in my imagination, but soon gave up, so had to start all over again.  I still found it a bit of a chore but persevered as I had nothing else to read at the time!  Rather predictable, I thought. And it didn't make up for the fact that I have never been to Venice!

7.Tigers in Red Weather - Loved the front cover, disappointed by the tale. Dysfunctional, privileged family with a bit of 'whodunnit' thrown in, if I remember rightly. Which I may not...

6. The Moment - Based on the premise that one moment can change your life I found this one a very strange mix of tedious and page-turning. 

5. State of the Union - I have had this on my bookshelf for years and finally got round to reading it.  I found it slow to get into, but once it had hooked me it was a real page-turner.  

4.Instructions for a Heatwave - Another that took a while to get into, but once I did I really enjoyed it. Another story of a retired man who goes missing (I've done three of those this year!), I found the characters quite realistic.

3.In Her Shadow - A psychological drama, I found this gripping, even if rather unbelievable in the end.

2.Heartbreak Hotel - written by the author of 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' this was light and fluffy, but fun !

1.Wonder - A children's book, this is meant to be, but it was recommended to me by the lady in our local Waterstones.   The Observer described it as 'Incredibly charming, brutal and brilliant' and I would agree!  One of my top three of the nearly completed year!

Time to Empty the Bookshelf - Bookie Giveaway No 2

So this little pile was pulled off the bookshelf last week and put beside the computer to get 'reviewed'  before hopefully sending them off to new readers.  Then I went off at a tangent with other recent events and didn't get round to extolling the virtues of the books.

So, before I get sidetracked once again, I will plough straight on!

I'm pretty sure I already covered 'A Tiny Bit Marvellous' - suffice to say, it made me laugh to start with, but after a while I tired of it.  I still finished it, but you know, it didn't quite live up to expectations.

'My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You' is set in the Great War and deals with the wartime experiences of Riley and Peter, from different ends of the social scale, in the trenches; and Nadine, Julia and Rose, the women left behind in England.  It almost goes without saying that it was an emotional read, but it was also interesting to learn of the work of Dr Harold Gillies, a pioneer of plastic surgery.  I quite liked the book, though if I was at a Book Club and was pushed, I might say that I didn't really 'engage' with the characters to start with - maybe till the point where I'd go past the modern-sounding names of Riley and Nadine!   How shallow am I?

To be fair, when I read this, I had just wolfed down 'The Snow Child' and 'The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared', both of which I had adored. Tough acts to follow!

Next I read 'The Silver Linings Playbook'.  I had chosen this because the film had done well at the Oscars, but I hadn't seen it, and because we were on holiday and I thought it was a book both Mr U-t-B and I might read.   

I found this a real page turner - I was really drawn to the characters and wanted it all to turn out well for them.  It was both emotional and hilarious - but be warned, the plot of the book and the film do differ slightly!  I watched the film after, and felt a bit let down because some of the bits I found best in the book had been changed.  But maybe if I'd seen the film first, I'd have felt differently...

Jo of Fiddlesnips blog very kindly sent me 'The Sisters Brothers' as she thought I might like it - and she was right!  I'd probably never have chosen it myself  as I wouldn't have known that I would so enjoy a story of two assassins in the Wild West during the Gold Rush,  where death, despair and violence are part of every chapter. The black humour had me laughing out loud at times and the main character, Eli, is very likeable, especially for a psychopath...  

Here's the one I chose for the front cover!  I'm trying to stop myself from being drawn in by covers, but this one got me.  It is a story set on a remote island off the Australian coast in the years after the First World War, where Tom, the lighthousekeeper, and his wife, Isabel, live in almost complete isolation.  In some ways it was similar to 'My Dear I Wanted to Tell You' in that the story hinges on a deception and how that deception impacts lives.  

Well, finally, the one I'm close to finishing now.  This is another 'quirky' book.  It's funny  and moving (I seem to be reading a lot of those these days) though a weeny bit long-winded at times.  Oh dear, I am beoming awfully critical.  Not exactly giving these the hard sell am I?

Hard sell?  

Well, I am trying to give these away (all except The Silver Linings Playbook which I've already sent to someone who didn't get one last time and who I thought might enjoy it!)

If you are interested in reading any of the others, do tell me which one in a comment and I will send it winging its way to you.  This time I'm just going to do it on a 'first come, first served' basis, to make sure they disappear before I go on holiday! (Yay!  I've finished at school for the year and I'm hoping to get away for a few days soon!)

Playing Catch Up and What's-On-My-Bookshelf Wednesday

Still being a bit rubbish about this blogging business!

I think there might be a new complex called 'Blogging Guilt' which I have fallen prey to...

I have things I want to post (as the reason I started this blog was to have some something to look back at, a diary of sorts, but without the angst and self-searching) but as I don't seem to have enough time at the moment to post, read other blogs, comment AND reply to comments, I end up doing nothing.

Oh - there's the angst after all!

So, I apologise for my absences elsewhere and now I will get on a quick round up of recent days!

Missing from my record of events was a certain little somebody's second birthday!  Zosia and Dylan, Mr U-t-B's two grandchildren, share a birthday, Dylan having been born a year to the day after his cousin.  Sadly, I missed out on both birthday parties as I was at fairs, but handed over my camera in the hope of some decent photos.

This was about it on that front...

...my point-and-snap camera either being on the wrong setting or in the wrong hands for much other than blurry backs-of-heads and grimaces.

I had a fun outing a couple of weeks back to my old primary school, which is celebrating its centenary.  I managed to drag Miss U-t-B along with me (though the poor girl did regret it later!)  I was able to show her two of my childhood homes...

...my Infant School classroom (the one in which I remember telling my best friend Caroline that I was a real princess, stamped pictures in books to write a sentence about and falling asleep head resting on the table one day)

...the ledge in the playground on which I cut my forehead when a witch (aka Sally, the tall South African girl) pushed me (now a fairy, rather than a princess) in a playtime game, resulting in a trail of blood practically from there to the Doctors' Surgery where I gained 3 stitches and a scar which I thought everyone notices (but nobody does)...

...and the sunken quadrangle beyond the Infant hall, which I believed for some considerable time to be a swimming pool that we just needed to allow the rain to fill before the fun began...

I was delighted to be able to chat with four of my primary school teachers - Mrs Evans (with whom I shared this class photo, reminiscing about names and hearing what some had gone on to);

Me second row, second from left - Top Infant class

Mrs Arch, my inspirational 3rd year junior teacher, who kept a veritable zoo in her classroom and always came up with ways of enlivening our learning,  like sending us off for afternoons at the village hospital,  allowing us to make a lunch for some of the teachers or spending a morning in the school canteen, helping with school dinners; Mrs Twyman, one of my 4th year teachers, whose enthusiasm for Art and Craft I think I caught; and Mr Pitson, my other 4th year teacher, who I was pleased to find out had not been mentally scarred by me carelessly and dramatically allowing my arm to get broken in a PE lesson. (Actually, he didn't remember this at all!  My horribly bent arm - what's known as a fork fracture - I thought would have been unforgettable!)  He was also able to put me straight on the slightly disturbing record I have of our trip to Tregoyd in Wales...

(Please do not snigger at my 'hill...4ft high!)

The pub was mentioned on many occasions in the diary of the week, and also cider drinking!  (Though interestingly, the covering of glasses with cling film is more notable than the fact that the drink was 'cider' in my recount).  Turns out the landlord always told the children that the apple crush he served them was cider, knowing this would cause a bit of 'fun' for the teachers when they got the children back to Oxfordshire, and the children all nonchalantly (or otherwise) told their parents!

The other major event I need to include is Miss U-t-B's 'Prom'.  This took place on Monday (yes, strange choice, but there you go).  In the run up she wasn't very keen on the idea of going, but we convinced her she'd possibly regret it if she didn't go.  I was happy that by the day itself she was a wee bit excited and had great fun getting ready with a school friend, with the assistance of a friend from dancing for hair and make-up.  

So, here come the photos!

(You didn't expect to escape without, did you?)

Big AHHHHHH!

Finally, my bookshelf.  I have been continuing with my 'Read more books in 2013' campaign, though I have slowed up recently.  I've wittered on quite long enough for today, but here is the pile of fairly recently finisheds, along with the one I am currently reading (The Universe Versus Alex Woods).  I'll say more in another post  very soon and do my next book giveaway.