Recent Reading

 

I realised recently I hadn't done a post for ages on "recent reading". So here are the books I have read since last September.

I always enjoy the DCI Banks series by the Peter Robinson.

I am enjoying re-reading some of the Agatha Christie books - I first read her books when I was a teenager a long long time ago! I particularly enjoy the Miss Marple books.

For some reason it took me months to read this book. It is a series of articles that the author wrote for the Independent Newspaper on gardening. I must admit I enjoyed some of the articles more than others!

 I read the Isle of Wight murders from this boxed set - an island I know well!  Very readable although this is not my favourite crime series if I am honest.

Who can resist an Elly Griffiths book?  I loved this book and just could not put it down. Highly recommended! :)

This was a book my son bought for his kindle.  I read it around the time of Halloween and really enjoyed it.  I think the author is writing a book about Christmas which I look forward to.

Back to Elly Griffiths - a collection of stories featuring some of the main characters from her books such as Max Mephisto, Detective Kaur and of course Ruth and Nelson!!!!  I do miss the Ruth Galloway books!

Elly Griffiths again - as always this was a great book.

I've attended many of James Wright's talks on zoom and have enjoyed them all so I just had to buy this book.  The author, who is a Building Archaeologist researches and examines some of the "myths" surrounding historic buildings to reveal the truth behind "Leper's" Squints, blocked North doors in churches, why staircases in castles were built in a certain direction, the use of ships' timbers in pubs and which is England's oldest public house etc.  A really well researched and well argued book which I found very interesting. If you like historic buildings I would recommend this book.

A new Nikki Galena book and just as enjoyable as the rest in the series. Another book I couldn't put down!

Two Almanacs which were Christmas presents in 2023 which I have been reading throughout the year. I particularly enjoyed the Tree Almanac and have treated myself to this year's.

This Ladybird book was a Christmas present and one I have wanted for ages.  You can learn a lot from these little books - I certainly did from this one! - even though they are meant for children.  I have What to Look for Outside the Church to read next :)

The Other Bennet Sister tells the story of Mary Bennet- the studious and only unmarried Bennet sister.  I really enjoyed this book - it seemed a bit slow to start with but once Mary had moved to stay with the Gardiners in London it was hard to put the book down! The writing style is very reminiscent of Jane Austen herself.

Finally, not a book but a dragon :) Made from a kit D had for Christmas.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic 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 appreciate an email first - thanks)

September Visit to Herefordshire - Part 1: Hatfield

 

We spent a few days in Herefordshire last week arriving Tuesday lunchtime and doing the usual click and collect from Morrisons in Leominster in the afternoon. We were lucky with the weather as it was warm, dry and sunny most days and we were able to go out a couple of times.

A few photos of my favourite trees - no sign yet of autumnal tints.

The Herefordshire Oak

The Octopus Tree

The Constable Tree

We were able to watch the  Super Full Moon rising on the Tuesday evening.  I am not sure why but the camera never seems to pick up the details of features on the moon's surface.  

Timothy back on his shelf.

In the past I've shown you a photo of a print of a British Rail poster for Herefordshire that I have in the living room.  This is a photo of the other one I bought which features the lovely village of Weobley. Apparently Weobley has been transformed at the moment as they are filming scenes there for an adaptation of the Hamnet book by Maggie O'Farrell.

I've been reading a couple of books during my visits to the caravan.

The book above comes from a boxed set of Penguin Classics entitled British Journeys which I keep at the caravan. The books are condensed versions of the full books and are ideal for dipping into when I feel like something different to read.

One evening for tea D made a Beetroot, Red Pepper, Feta and Thyme Tart using beetroot grown in the garden at home. D had already eaten half by the time I took this photo!  

A record shot of a female Greenfinch using the bird bath.  We have only recently started to see this species there.  A Green Woodpecker we saw one day was a new "tick" for the site.

The resident House Martins seem to have departed from the site now although one day I did see a large flock of the species passing through presumably on migration.  The family of Pied Wagtails are still around and we saw buzzards at the site but on this visit we didn't see any Red Kites.  There are also Tawny Owls at the site which you can hear in the evening.  We watched bats and listened to them on the bat detector on several of the evenings. I keep hoping to see a Barn Owl as the habitat looks ideal for them but I've had no luck so far.

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

Reading, Garden and Stuck at home

 

Recent Reading

Sadly, this seems to be the last book in the Mitchell and Markby series.  I will try and read some of Ann Granger's other series - I know there are the Inspector Ben Ross books and the Campbell and Carter books; has anyone read any of these and if so what did you think?

This book was good although for some reason I still can't warm to the chief characters in this series.

This was a lovely little booklet - I can really recommend Alex Woodcock's book "King of Dust" it is brilliant.

An interesting Shire book on Medieval Masons - I learnt a lot!

I checked on Amazon and two of my favourite series had new books - I loved both of them :)

I can't stop reading the Hillary Greene books - they are so good even now she is doing a different job.  It is yet another series I am going to finish soon!  I need to find some new authors!!

I really enjoyed this Inspector Banks book.  Another series I am going to miss as there aren't many more left to read!

Garden

The Blue Tit chicks finally fledged - 3 out of the original 6 that hatched. Not brilliant news but better than some attempts in recent years.

The following photos of the garden were all taken by D.

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Holly Blue

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A new beetle species for the garden. I thought I had identified it but D has since come up with an alternative id so now I am not sure. Will confirm in a future post if I get positive id - may put photo on Twitter and ask for help!

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Sage and chives are flowering - so pretty and the bees love them.

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Red Campion in the wildflower meadow.

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Yellow flag in the bog garden.

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In other news I haven't been very well and have had to stay at home to rest my leg. The week before last my ankle, lower leg and foot swelled up. I assumed at first it was due to a side effect of the blood pressure tablets I  take as it  has happened before but the foot got worse so I had to go and see the GP. She diagnosed cellulitis and gave me pencillin but I also had a blood test as a precaution!  To my horror early that evening I received a phone call from her saying that one of the tests was positive and could I go to the medical assessment unit at the local hospital.   Well I have a  phobia about hospitals and that particular one has bad memories for me for certain events re my family in the past so it was a nightmare.

We were there about 3 hours which I suppose wasn't too bad! Blood pressure taken (sky high no surprise there!), another blood test, ecg. Finally saw a doctor who thought it was cellulitis too but I had to have a blood thinning injection "in case" (they were worried about clots as cellulitis symptoms similar to another condition). I could then go home as I wasn't prepared to wait another 4 hours for more blood tests results! I have to say despite the waiting the staff there were excellent!

I had to go back next day for ultra sound scan of leg  - thankfully there were no signs of any clots and then up to what they called the Emergency Day Care Unit for the results to be confirmed by a Dr.  We were there over four hours.  Another blood test - finally saw a Dr who confirmed there were no clots and doubled my dose of pencillin and gave me 10 days supply - far more  than the GP gave me!

My leg is slowly recovering and is now almost back to normal. I had another blood test at the GP's and the only cause of concern is that  my sodium levels are borderline and I have to eat a bag of crisps a day! -you couldn't make it up! Another blood test next month to check on that and I have to go back at some stage for another scan of leg to check (I think)  that the lymph glands have gone down?

One  thing I have learnt is to be grateful for good health when you are well because things like this can strike out of nowhere.  I remember  B had cellulitis last year but nowhere near this fuss he was just given pencillin although he did see a different GP!

I hope everyone is staying safe and well. Take care.

Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 and those by my son with the Canon SX50HS.  (I don't particularly rate my photos but if any one wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would appreciate an email first  - thanks)

Recent Reading, an Unwanted Moth and an Exciting Caterpillar

 

Recent Reading

I loved this book and it was one of those non fiction books that really resonated with me.  If you like ancient landscapes, stone circles and long barrows etc I think you would enjoy this book.

The latest and probably last Ruth Galloway book finally came down in price.  Knowing it might be the last we read about Ruth I did put off reading it for a while.  I know others are reading the series so if you haven't yet read it I won't say too much.  I do hope Elly Griffiths writes another book with Nelson and Ruth at some stage in the future. Its been a brilliant series with  Ruth being such a lovely character and I suspect I may re-read them all again one day.

I can't stop reading the Faith Martin books. In this one Hillary Greene returns in a different role.  It took me a while to get used to her no longer being a DI but again it was a gripping book full of suspense especially the ending!

Having visited Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire  - home of the Mortimers - I have become fascinated by the family.  I've been reading this at the caravan for quite a while now but I finally finished it on the last visit.

I still can't stop reading these books!  The ending of the previous book was such a cliff hanger I had to read the next! I will have to slow down a bit because I don't think there are that many left in the series.

I am still not sleeping well and with that and the hot weather I've been reading a lot.  The trouble is that means the Kindle needs recharging every day so I re-read a story in a hardback book by Mary Wesley called The Vacillations of Poppy Carew.  I do like her books and they make easy unputdownable reading. The author was a remarkable woman - she had her first novel published at the age of 70!

Moths and Caterpillars

B spotted this rather pretty moth inside the back room a few days ago. In all my years of moth trapping I had never caught this species. A bit of research revealed its a Box Tree Moth which is regarded as an invasive species as its caterpillars can decimate box trees and shrubs.  B has box cuttings in the back room and outside on the patio!!!  Anyway I can't bring myself to kill it so it will be released well away from here.  Interestingly enough I heard of two other people on Twitter who had seen this species on the same day. One came from Yorkshire so the moths which only appeared in Kent, England in 2007 must be spreading north.  The species tends to peak around this time of year.

I was thrilled when B spotted this Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar on the patio a week or so back.  I used to trap Elephant Hawk Moths so I always thought we might have caterpillars on the fuschias or Rosebay Willow Herb but this was the first time one has been seen. I am not sure if it was looking for somewhere to pupate but I put it back on a fuschia. The caterpillar looks a bit like an elephant's trunk and the eyespots are to warn off predators.  I know Bovey Belle found one in her garden too recently.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would appreciate an email first - thanks).