Reading... September

I am a self confessed creature of habit, and although I try to always read things that I've never read before, I am always drawn back to the Harry Potter books. I read books five to seven earlier this year, in preparation for our visit to the Studio Tour, but I've started the series again. It's like coming home to visit old friends. I also read the short story "The Collectors" from Philip Pullman, and as much as I enjoyed "The Dark Materials" trilogy, I don't feel the same emotional attachment that I do to Harry Potter. 

I have followed "Fine Little Day" on Instagram for some time now, and was thrilled to find that Elisabeth's book has been translated to English. It's a lovely, lovely book, inspiring and filled with beautiful images and words. It's pure happiness.

So my September reads were...

• JK Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
• Elisabeth Dunker - "Fine Little Day"
• Philip Pullman - "The Collectors"
• JK Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"

My Week...

This week has been full of jolly adventures. We spent Sunday at a vintage fair, with rides on the Merry-Go-Round (my pony was called Tulip) and mermaid spotting, wandering around the shiny vintage cars and mooching around stalls full of curious things. We had a picnic and rubbed the noses of Shire Horses and chatted with a lovely lady spinning beautiful yarn. It was a splendid day. 

The other highlights of the week were pretty spotty cake (thanks to my lovely mother-in-law, it was delicious!), knitting a tiny gnome, making many, many badges for a fair I went along to, and cuddling up to a certain Norman who sneaked his fluffy way into bed to read some Harry Potter with me. The fair was lovely, there were lots of other stalls with pretty things, and lots of tasty vegetarian and vegan food which we've enjoyed all weekend, and there were owls. They were the best.

My Week...

What a week it has been. There have been so many adventures and happy days. We started the week with a visit to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour, and of all of our adventures it remains one of my favourite places. The highlight was seeing the Hogwarts Express, it was splendid. We ended our trip in London, mooching around Covent Garden and Soho in the rain, and it was like coming home. 

There have been visits to Shrewsbury, for shopping  and more mooching (and a delicious Vegan breakfast at Optimum Joy, a new favourite place!) and a trip to Chester with my lovely mum and dad for even more shopping and lots more mooching, and I've even managed some knitting time - a pair of chunky socks. 

Happy Easter lovely folks. 

Readings...March

My readings for March - a strange sort of mixed up month for books, I seemed to go from action-packed adventures to complicated reality... 

I read...

• JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Kim Gordon - Girl in a Band
• John Green - The Fault in Our Stars
• Ian McEwan - The Children Act
• Jon Ronson - So You've Been Publicly Shamed
• Pittacus Lore - The Power of Six

Have you read anything nice recently? Any recommendations?

Readings... January

With all the excitement of January coming to an end, I forgot to share my reading for the month.

I read...

• Joan Didion - Slouching Towards Bethlehem
• JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Richard Ayoade - Ayoade on Ayoade
• JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I always plan to read the Harry Potter series from start to finish, but find invariably that I get distracted by something else around "...Goblet of Fire", so this time I started at the end, with the last three books. I am halfway through "...the Deathly Hallows" now, and so pleased that I've done everything the wrong way around. 

I think I may have started in the wrong place with Joan Didion though. I hadn't read anything else she'd written, and although "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" is famous for being a good representation of the time, quite honestly it was too much of it's time - essentially before mine - for me to understand the context or some of the references. I will persevere though because I loved her style. 

"The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself." 

Joan Didion from "On Keeping a Notebook"

My Week...

Last week was one filled to the brim with adventures and crafty making! I visited Liverpool for the Tate and shopping, went to the theatre for date night, bought a vintage embroidered cushion from a lovely trader in the market, had cake with a dear friend, and got very excited at the arrival of Harry Potter tour tickets. I've been working hard on my granny square blanket, and finished the second full row of my year-long blanket, and tried to make progress with the three (!) pairs of socks that are on the needles. 

My Week...

A little bit late, but this was what last week looked like. It was full of small things, quiet moments. The winter-blues have done lots of coming and going, so I've been crafting my way through them. My proudest moment of the week was finally finishing my chevron blanket, which has been a Work-In-Progress threatening to be an Unfinished-Project for a jolly long time. But now it is done, and cosy on my sofa, with a selection of vintage florals and crochet cushions. It is a pretty happy feeling. 

My window-sill garden has been added to, there are new socks on the go, and there's been some new jewellery in the making. It's been a productive sort of week really. 

Off on an Adventure

London is one of my most favourite places to visit, and I'm lucky to spend so much time there. Our little adventure started on Saturday, here are some of my favourite moments...

Sunday at Tate Modern for Matisse and Malevich, followed by a visit to the Twinings shop and museum.

Monday at the London aquarium followed by the V&A Disobedient Objects exhibition, particularly liked the Guerilla Girls section, and the "Nike Blanket" petition. We had a mooch around Covent Garden too, it's a lovely place.

I love the aquarium, it's a curious and interesting environment, so different to the every day experience. 

And on Tuesday we had a second visit to the Harry Potter Studio Tour, and it is absolute happiness. 

It's back to normal today, in my stall chatting to lovely customers, and working on pompoms for Big Knit hats!