Two Herefordshire Visits and Recent Reading

 

I am sorry for lack of blog posts recently but annoyingly, I still keep getting bouts of cellulitis even after the 2 day hospital stay! Getting a trifle fed up with it and the constant taking of antibiotics and not being able to do much around the house or go out and about.

We have managed two 3 night trips to the caravan towards the end of August with E who was on holiday from work and last week with D - supposedly for the re-arranged boiler service. Don't ask about the boiler as, for various reasons, it all went haywire and we have had to re-arrange it yet again!

Last week we did pop up into Leominster to have a look at a rather excellent stationery shop there called the The Roundabout where D got two picture frames he needed and I treated myself to two notebooks.

The tree photos are from the visit toward the end of August

Herefordshire Oak

Octopus Tree

Constable Tree

We have seedheads on the Teasel :)  B spotted a Greenfinch on them one day - a new species for the garden at Hatfield.

Last week D made  pizzas for tea with homegrown courgettes. The larger uncooked one we brought home to have for tea the next night.

I didn't take a photo but B made an apple crumble with apples from the tree in the garden. We had a good crop this year but had to throw about half a way as they were affected by the dreaded "brown rot".

D finished a jigsaw but sadly there was a piece missing :(

Timothy happy to be back on his shelf even if he didn't go out!

The House Martins are still at Hatfield but they seem to be feeding in large flocks and I suspect they will be migrating soon. We also have a Pied Wagtail family there which are a joy to watch :) I am also still getting signals on the bat detector from bats in the evening. There still seem to be two species - one that emerges around sunset and one about an hour later.

Recent Reading

I enjoyed the Pauline Rowson book although it is not my favourite crime series if I am honest.

This was a particularly good Wesley Peterson novel from Kate Ellis. I love the way the books combine the crime Wesley is solving with notes from his friend's Neil archaeological digs. I will be sorry to finish this series.

This is Rosemary Grigg's second novel and I enjoyed both immensely.  The Dartington Bride is set during the Huguenot wars in France and Roberda, daughter of a Huguenot leader, comes to Devon to marry one of England's Protestant nobility.  A very well researched book.

I loved this Hillary Greene book set near Oxford. I am rationing this series now as there are not many books left to read :(

I discovered there was a new book in the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves. This was another brilliant mystery by this author.

I really enjoyed A Court of Betrayal. Set in the C14th it tells the story of Johanne de Geneville who was married to Roger Mortimer at just 15 years old.  (The Mortimer Connection attracted me to this book especially having visited Wigmore and Ludlow Castles where much of the story is set).  Later in the marriage Roger deposes Edward II after beginning an alleged affair with Queen Isabella and is later accused of treason by Edward's son.  I just could not put this book down - I read it over a couple of days!

I enjoyed the above book so much that I then read another book by the same author on the early life of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

All photos taken by me with the Pansonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).