lots of love

Realising that my last post was a bit gloomy, here are some things I love this week:

* Buying new pyjamas (in the sale) - even though it is the summer, and will be too hot to wear them for a few months.

* Choosing which books to take on holiday - this can keep me happy for days. The current front runners are Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman and Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor.

* Watching an entire series of a favourite programme in one go.

* Scones with strawberries and cream on my favourite plates.



And I will sneak in a couple of not-so-good things:
* Discovering that a favourite charity shop has closed.
* Car boot sale vendors that have an attitude when people try to haggle.
* Trying to work out how to spell pyjamas - it doesn't look right.

currently reading

Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor

currently reading

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

currently reading

Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg

a book of ducks

I'd been feeling a bit unsatisfied with the offerings in the charity shops recently, and hadn't found any amazing items for a while.
Then last week I was in a shop in town, and spied a box of old railway books. On digging through them I found this gem.



It was an impulse buy, and I did think it was pretty. It wasn't until I had a proper look at it later on that I realised just how beautiful it was. The cover is a dusty blue/green, and the ducks are fantastically regimented and stylised.



Inside the colour plates are perfect. This is, of course, a Mallard, which are described as 'birds of character'.

The book is a King Penguin, a range I have not come across before, and the dust jacket mentions other titles, including Life in an English Village and Tulipomania, by Wilfrid Blunt. They sound wonderful!

A bit of research has dug up these wonderful covers.

a cup of tea and a piece of cake

This is how I spent my afternoon, along with the latest episode of Pushing Daisies. Perfect.
The cake is a Lemon Syrup Cake (a Nigella recipe). It was a belated birthday cake for S. His birthday was back in October (!) and I didn't get a chance to make him a cake at the time. I have been feeling guilty about it - obviously not that guilty, though - and decided that today was the day.

Earlier I went in to town for a wander round the charity shops. Only bought this book - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson. I haven't seen the film yet, but keep hearing wonderful reviews of the book on various blogs, so thought I woul give it a try.



At £1.69 it was a bit above my self-imposed limit of £1 per book, but I got it anyway. I have bought so many books over the last couple of years (at one point it was about 4 a week!) that there is no way I will ever catch up with reading them. Hence the limit.
There are exceptions to the limit though - I have a list of books that I can spend a bit more on if I come across them. Thankfully, most of the charity shops round here are fairly cheap for books, so I'm not actually being too strict with myself!

currently reading

Currently reading The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates.

currently reading

Currently reading The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken.