Wordless Wednesday

Barnard Castle.
More pics can be found
here.

Teaser Tuesdays

All you have to do to join in is the following ----

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

' No water, no electricity, no drains, no way of disposing of garbage,' Patrick continued.'Every once in a while , the police come along and bulldoze a hundred or so huts.'

page 127, 'A Change in Altitude.'by Anita Shreve.

More teasers can be found here.

Saint Peter's Fair.

'Saint Peter's Fair' by Ellis Peters.

This is the first book in the second Cadfael omnibus. (The other 2 books are --- 'The Leper of Saint Giles' and 'The Virgin in the Ice.')

The year is 1139 and the date 30th July. This is an important day in the calender for the people of Shrewsbury for this is the preparation day , the eve of the festival of Saint Peter ad Vincula. He being one of the patron saints of the nearby abbey.
Following on from this festival is the fair for all the folks of Shrewsbury and merchants from afar. At this there is selling and buying of goods and the people generally enjoy themselves with much drinking and joviality.

Certain amount of money from the fair is given to the townspeople , via the abbey for the upkeep of the town walls and tracks , this they find insufficient and are most distressed when the Abbot refuses to suppliment their needs. So the seemingly happy fair is not starting in a very convivial way.

Now as all fairs proceed, some men are only around to cause trouble and these quarrels are usually between merchants from different areas. When one merchant is involved in a riot and then appears missing his only relative at hand a young neice is forced to employ the skillful ways of Cadfael in the hope of finding him. When the uncle is eventually found floating in the river and then another murder is committed Cadfael feels that the Fair is in chaos and as he persues the suspects prays that the Fair will have a peaceful ending, both for Abbey and townsfolk.

A very good read as all 'Cadfaels' are in my opinion.

A lovely day...

spent in Whitby. That was how we passed the time yesterday. The weather couldn't have been better, sunny but not too hot and with a warm breeze.

Whenever we visit this charming little town a visit to the ruins of Ht. Hilda's abbey is always on the agenda. This is only achieved after climbing the 199 steps. A good way to walk off the excellent fish and chip lunch, well you can't visit Whitby without fish and chips to eat.
To reach the East cliff where the abbey is situated we normally walk across the metal bridge overlooking the harbour unfortuanately this was closed for maintenance work so a flotilla of ferries had been employed to take the visitors across. Not being a great lover of travelling on water I was relieved to find the journey took about 2 minutes at the most , no chance to look for my 'sea legs ' there. It was worth the wait in the ferry queue as the view from the Abbey is wonderful as the bottom photo shows.

The town itself was quite busy although it will probably get much busier as the local schools start their Summer holidays today. We parked on the West Cliff not far from the Captain Cook statue, I wonder if he would have approved of his headdress in the photo!These gulls and gannets were fearless; one couple lost part of their lunch to a hungry bird down by the harbour , what a hoot!

After spending a good few hours there we set off home after a very enjoyable day.

Wordless Wednesday

Raby Castle, Staindrop, Co. Durham.

More pics can be found here.

Teaser Tuesdays

Here are the 'rules',

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is my teaser for this week,

'He had been waiting , silent and motionless , in his shadowy corner, refraining even from setting foot in the chapel until her vigil was over, and the resoluton with which she had suddenly ended it flung her almost into his arms. She uttered a startled gasp, and he put out reassuring hands to steady her, and was in no haste to let her go.'

page 101 'Saint Peter's Fair' by Ellis Peters. A 'Cadfael' mystery.

More teasers can be found here.

The weekend..

Well this weekend has been fairly quiet. We did visit my husband's relatives yesterday and had a good chat and a few laughs with my sisters -in -law. Today , other than going to church it's been reading and dare I say it--- crocheting.
The latter is not going too well. I am supposed to be crocheting a waistcoat for my oldest daughter. Now this has been 'on the go' for a few weeks and this is my 4th attempt. For some reason previous attempts have failed due to my inability to crochet in a straight line(lol). This last try is from a 1970's pattern and hopefully it WILL work. I don't have any photos (I wouldn't dare ) if it does proceed well you will be the first to see it, but please don't 'hold your breath!!'

On the reading front I have started a Cadfael novel, 'St Peter's Fair' to be exact and this is proving a good read. Just by chance this evening I watched Channel 4's the TV Book Club.
Their next book is by Iain Pears , a murder mystery , namely 'Stone's Fall'. So tomorrow I'll visit the library for a copy.If successful I'll join in the discussion next week.
Hope you have all had a good weekend and the coming week pans out well.

'The Taste of Sorrow.'

'The Taste of Sorrow' by Jude Morgan.

As you may guess from the cover this novel follows the lives of the Bronte sisters. It begins in their childhood days and consequently the whole family is involved in the story. The author has taken the milestones of their lives and encompassed these into the novel. We are transported to Brussels with Charlotte , to London publishers with Charlotte and Anne . The passionate personality of Emily is seen in her sometimes abrupt and forthright remarks and Bramwell, poor deluded Bramwell is shown in his painful demise.
The story does begin at their mother's deathbed and the effect this naturally had on young children, five girls and one boy. Patrick, their father must decide on some sort of education for his family and so boarding school seems the appropriate answer but this brings it's tale of woe and so other means are explored. as the children grow their imaginations appear to be one step ahead of them and so imaginary worlds are both acted out and written about. And so their love of writing is borne and flourishes... but not all the family will live to see their rewards.

As you can see from the quote on the side bar I am a Bronte fan. This book brought the characters to life ,transporting me into their lives, their home. I could so easily see myself in the kitchen stroking Keeper's head, sitting beside Charlotte as she brings out her writing desk, watching Emily storm out of the house in a temper. And Anne, sweet, gentle Anne who sits so quietly in the corner.

An emotional, even spiritual book. I could include many quotes but this , seen on the last page sums up the book well for me ----

'Charlotte lets the sea take her thoughts. It is everything she hoped it might be, her sea --- and more. Most unexpected, and beautiful: yes, there they are, listen: she cocks her head and above the shriek of the wind and the thunder of the surf she can hear them, at last, the lost voices coming through.'

I can't recommend this book enough, it will stay with me for a long time. In my opinion Charlotte, Emily and Anne were, are and will always be TRULY WONDERFUL!

Booking through Thursday

Here is this week's topic ---

Well, folks, I don’t know about where you are, but right here, it’s HOT.

So … when you think about “hot reading,” what does that make you think of? Beach reading? Steamy romances? Books that take place in hot climates? Or cold ones?

Well if this question had been asked last week I might have been able to agree with the weather but today is miserable . We has a storm last night and the rain is continuing into today.
Anyhow the topic is about books and not weather as such.
The weather doesn't affect my reading a great deal if I am in the middle of a good book the climate does not attribute to the reading experience. However I have been known to dwell on books set in romantic places, eg, Rome or Paris in the middle of Winter as a form of escapism.
More book 'talk' can be found here.

Musing Mondays

This week’s musing asks…

Can you read amidst distractions? (tv, others talking, sporting events, etc)


This all depends on the book of the moment. At the moment I am reading
'The Taste of Sorrow'. This is an enthralling read, and I don't want to miss any of the story so I try to only read when the room is quiet. On many other occasions , if I feel as though I can zip through the pages of a book I will read whils tv is on or there is some chatter.
btw The Tast odf Sorrow is a fantastic book, do check it out.

More musings can be found

here.

Compendium of Quilting Techniques.

Compendium of Quilting Techniques by Susan Briscoe.

I received this book as a free gift from a quilting magazine subscription I have started. There was a choice of free gift --- this book or some material. This was definitely the right choice for me. A very easy book to get into , the author begins with the basics --- choosing equipment and what is actually necessary. She then moves onto fabric , including a colour wheel and gradually works through the process of working with patterns, cutting tools and techniques.

Every chapter helps with the quilting process in one way or another from applique to binding, it is all included. To conclude the book shows and exhibitions are covered and at the very end the care and storage of your treaured quilt.

Having received this book a few days ago I have read it all through and have returned to 'dip 'into sections that I'm not too sure about.
As a fairly beginner in quilting(only 2 completed up to now) I know this book will prove indispensible in years to come. Highly recommended.

Wordless Wednesday

The Bowes Museum , Barnard Castle.


More pics can be found here.

The Queen is crowned...

So Serena is the queen----
Who will be the King?
Have you bought your strawberries ready for tomorrow? A good weekend viewing is in store.

Recipes for strawberries can be found here.


It is a special weekend for another reason in our household for today it is my hubby's birthday, so it's wine and chocs all round.

Hope you all have a good weekend.