Remember that book list? Harry Potter.

Firstly I must apologise for the poor quality of the photograph. It's the middle of the night; I can't sleep but my husband can, so I have the light on very dimly.

Secondly I must apologise that the photograph isn't even half the story - all the Harry Potter books are meant to be here. But I'm not at home; this is the only book I brought with me; the house I'm staying in has no Harry Potter books.  Imagine that!! 

Thirdly I must apologise that these books are at number 18. They belong higher up, but, as I said, I'm not at home, but I suddenly wanted to restart this blog and this list, and with only this book for middle-of-the-night company, what was I to do?

So ... Harry Potter.  I HAVE met a very few people who never understood what all the fuss was about.  Intelligent people with interests similar to mine, some I even class as friends.  But they don't understand the fascination for wizards and spells and good versus evil and the eventual destruction of that evil.  They don't understand the pure escapism of these adventures.  Oh well.  Their loss I suppose.  

I have read the books about half a dozen times.  They are the kind of books I can turn to when I really cannot settle to anything. (Like the way I use Middlemarch - I wonder what George Eliot would think!). And right now I can't keep away from Hogwarts ....

I am here

1. What happened to all those weeks?
2. And what has happened to my top twenty book list?
3. Have I been doing nothing?

1. Well, the question of time ... that could take a long time ... groan ...
2. I have lost my list and, in the nature of lists, it will have changed since I made it.  So I will have to make another one.
3. I have not been idle.  I've been drowning in a sea of thread and fabric and wool, making quilts and wall-hangings and pillows and cushions and trying to get on with my crochet blanket.

Now, where is a pencil and piece of paper ....

Side-tracked

I've started an online course.  A multi-media thing.  Inner Excavation by Liz Lamoreux.  Another side-track from finishing my book list, I hear you say.  Oh but wait until you see what fun I'm having!  

There's my camera.  There's glue.  And a journal.  And tissue paper.  And fabric.  And paints.  And pencils.  And stamps and ink. And of course my cat.

So...

There's a special Facebook page for this course, and I noticed how lots of my fellow 'students' were using photo-collage. I was going to ask how they'd done it, then I decided that I was perfectly capable of finding that out for myself.  And I did.

Another new toy 😃

More flowers instead of books

I've succumbed once more to the blood and gore and nastiness of Game of Thrones - the books, not the television series (I'm not THAT bloodthirsty!). As an antidote to that, I occasionally wander around the garden taking photographs of the flowers, especially the roses. You can see why ...

Isn't nature soothing? 

(Have I mentioned that gardening is hard work?!)

My garden today

I'm starting a new book today. One of my birthday presents from my baby son (he's thirty now!). 

But it's sunny and pleasantly warm outside, so I decided to search for the best place in the garden to sit and read. 

Here maybe?

Or here in the shade of a poplar tree, overlooking my meadow?

Or here in the shade of the apple trees (which incidentally are full of tiny, promising, apples)?

Or here on the verandah of my cabin?

Or here amongst the scent of roses?

In the words of Blackadder, "Oh, the agony of choice!"

Emerging

I'm still reading - it's not a book on my top 20 list, but it could be.  

Reading about someone's love of/obsession with food makes me want to pick up the cudgels again and be creative in the kitchen.  ... Maybe.  (This picture is pink because I took it in our bedroom and the closed curtains are red - I was too lazy to get up and open them)

I haven't been blogging even though my dizziness is gradually waning. I've been gardening instead.  I've been creating quiet corners in my garden.  Like this one.  

The idea is to have secret spots in the garden where I can escape from the everyday and read or contemplate or enjoy the plants.  As yet I haven't had time!  This gardening stuff is hard work and time-consuming but oh so satisfying.  

Perhaps I should spend some time here, finishing my book list blogs!

One day ...

One day I'll feel better and more able to compose more than a few sentences.

One day I'll find the list of my favourite twenty books.

One day I'll figure out how to  ...

You get the idea!

One day soon ...