A few mince pies and a lot of library books

I wasn't going to make enough mince pies to feed an army, but look what happened. This is 1lb flour and the recipe for sweet shortcrust is on my separate recipe page about half way down. They are all in the freezer to be shared around various family over different festive days.

A large heap of library books  were collected on Friday, lots that had been ordered have turned up all at once, goodness knows when I'll have time to read all these. The trouble is I'm now following lots of bookish blogs, I spot a book that looks interesting, hop over to the library site to see if they have it then instead of making a note somewhere for the future I press the Reservation button and end up with a lot to read.

'Lake Wobegon Day's is one that was mentioned somewhere, no idea what it is. Angela Thirkell - 'The Headmistress' is another Vintage Modern Classic reprinted in November. 'Christmas Around the Village Green' by Dot May Dunn is a memoir. 'A poem for every night of the Year' is a children's poetry book I wanted to look through. 'Island on the Edge' by Anne Cholawo - about life on Soay. 'High Mortality of Doves' is a new crime novel by Kate Ellis.  'The English Year' another book just to look through and the small book in the middle is an old Local Interest book titled '........and over here' memories about the USAF airmen when they were here in 1944.
And Whoop! Whoop! On Friday I  found another Persephone for £1.50 in the Samaritans charity shop in town. 

 Persephone 50 - Hilda Bernstein - The World that was Ours. Not a nice grey one, but one of their cheaper Classics but as my mum used to say "beggars can't be choosers". At the same time I also picked up this little gem for 50p.

It was published in 1949 and has several black and white photo plates. What I like are lots of quotes from writings of each period. This may well have been a school reference book as Batsford did lots in this style right through to the 1970s.


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Sue

Ooops but no apologies!

We've been extending the walks day by day and yesterday did  2.07 miles, which is peanuts I know for most people but for someone who was in hospital until  the middle of September it's not too bad. This walk took us in a circle via the Emmaus charity shop where we knew he could sit down if he needed to.
Much to my surprise I spotted a Persephone on their book shelves, one I hadn't got. Oh dear, what a dilemma, a No Unnecessary  Spend month but there was a 50p book for my collection.

This wasn't sideways when I took the picture!

Actually it wasn't a dilemma at all!
Persephone number 35  "Greenery Street" by Denis Mackail is on my bookshelf.

Thanks for the comments last time and welcome to a new follower

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Sue

PS I don't do politics or religion on this blog but I'm praying for a sort-of safe result today!

Into the second half of April

Something no-one told me about in this Coping with Non Hodgkin Lymphoma thing is how weird it is to live with someone who is eating all the time. Col was  packing in as many calories as he could for the last 10 days because he knows that after chemo cycle 5 he will feel really ill again. He has lost over a stone in weight since January so he's trying not to lose more. He's been eating big meals and grazing in between.
Anyway, he was called in for the 5th cycle on Monday night, they were planning to give blood transfusions Tuesday but decided he didn't need any, then today they inserted a filter thingy into a vein (the thought makes me feel quite peculiar!) to prevent any movement of blood clots into the lungs(or worse), they will get on with chemo tomorrow and let him out Friday. This 5th lot is the short dose but with the nastier side effects.

Just finished this book, another mentioned somewhere (?) on a blog. The first 3/4 of the book was well written, but when the author gets towards the end, the story breaks in a gallop and gets a bit silly.

 

 This is what Amazon says about this debut novel

London, 1940. Winston Churchill has just been sworn in, war rages across the Channel, and the threat of a Blitz looms larger by the day. But none of this deters Maggie Hope. She graduated at the top of her college class and possesses all the skills of the finest minds in British intelligence, but her gender qualifies her only to be the newest typist at No. 10 Downing Street. Her indefatigable spirit and remarkable gifts for code-breaking, though, rival those of even the highest men in government, and Maggie finds that working for the prime minister affords her a level of clearance she could never have imagined-and opportunities she will not let pass. In troubled, deadly times, with air-raid sirens sending multitudes underground, access to the War Rooms also exposes Maggie to the machinations of a menacing faction determined to do whatever it takes to change the course of history.
Ensnared in a web of spies, murder, and intrigue, Maggie must work quickly to balance her duty to King and Country with her chances for survival. And when she unravels a mystery that points toward her own family's hidden secrets, she'll discover that her quick wits are all that stand between an assassin's murderous plan and Churchill himself.
In this thrilling debut, Susan Elia MacNeal blends meticulous research on the era, psychological insight into Winston Churchill, and the creation of a riveting main character, Maggie Hope, into a beautifully crafted mystery.

There are now 5 books featuring this character, with the 6th due later this year. Decided it was worth another go so I've ordered the 2nd from the library.

This morning after I'd huffed and puffed and shifted my paper storage drawers into the bedroom from the garage, I made a few cards for up-coming birthdays. I've had the paper flowers and leaves for years so it's good to see them used.

After lunch I went in to see Col and take him some more books. I've found I am the most hopeless hospital visitor because after 5 minutes in the ward I start yawning and after an hour I'm keen to get home again. I guess after nearly 37 years of marriage Col knows what I'm like and he never wants me to visit more than once a day - Thank heavens! ( I know that sounds awful- but I am nothing but honest!).
When I got home I was able to spend an hour sitting in the shed/summerhouse, out of the wind but in the sun, it's lovely to soak up a bit of warmth especially as the weather lady said we would be back to really cold weather by the weekend.

The latest Persephone Biannually arrived yesterday. I love to find out what out-of-print books they are planning to republish and was interested to read about one of the October books which is "Long Live Great Bardfield: The autobiography of Tirzah Garwood". I know absolutely nothing about this lady except it says she was married to the artist Eric Ravilious, but Great Bardfield is the next village to Finchingfield in Essex, where our friends live, so just for that reason I shall add it to my wish list.
One of the books our son gave me for my birthday was The Persephone Book of Short Stories, another to add to my Persephone collection -  wonder which box they are in?

Many thanks for the Happy Birthday wishes, although I said I groan about another birthday I don't really feel any older and I'm sure I'm still 25 inside!

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Sue

Re-Discovered, Re-Published and Re-jigged.

I love it when Persephone Biannually drops through the letterbox. If you love books and haven't discovered this small publishing company then have a look here. Persephone Books are not just about books, they always feature print of a fabric from the period and a book mark too.They have a shop, run literary lunches and other events and produce this small magazine with a couple of short stories in twice a year. The books they are re-publishing for Spring/Summer are London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes ( originally written for The New Yorker  and last published in book form in 1971 ) and Vain Shadow by Jane Hervey ( originally published in 1963).
I would love the Persephone edition of the first of these but - and here is perhaps the only time I've regretted buying a book - I already have a copy of the 1971 edition. I bought it from Amazon for under £5 several  years ago when Persephone published her other books. I don't think I can justify giving my old second-hand ex-library copy away just so I can buy a smart new grey covered, patterned end-papered Persephone to match my others !

The British Library are re-printing lots of old crime books from the 1940s and earlier. I've enjoyed 2 by John Bude, which, despite being written in the 1930's, hardly seem dated. Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay, on the other hand is more obviously written way back then. I've got others on order from the library.

I've been fiddling with this blog for several weeks, first I changed the header picture, then I went from Frugal in Suffolk to Our Quiet Life in Suffolk. I've now altered the name by which I comment from Simple Suffolk smallholder to Sue in Suffolk, re-written the profile info and my two loaves of bread and a quiche which were my profile picture have been changed to a jug of Alstromeria.  Col has asked me what the heck I'm doing and if it's not broken why change it? I have no proper answer - maybe a change is as good as a rest or I changed it because I could. It's a bit like moving the furniture! I shall stop fiddling now - probably :-) or like the furniture I might just put everything back how it was!

Many thanks for all the comments after my Monday post about blogs that vanish or stop.

 I hereby promise that if ever I decide to stop blogging I will say why and goodbye! ( and Gill at Frugal in Derbishire made me smile - look back and read her comment!)

It's good to be able to recommend new blogs for others to read, sharing the enjoyment is what it's all about.  Thank you also to everyone who said they enjoyed reading and now even more blogs have been added to my blogroll - I shall never get any work done at this rate!

Welcome to Barbara and Nanny Anny who are new followers in the Google pictures and Gwen  following by Bloglovin'. Hope you enjoy reading about our quiet life in Suffolk.
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Sue

The penultimate bookshelves - Thank heavens

Page views have dropped by several dozens with these book shelf pictures so I shall be glad to get to the end tomorrow and get back to normal.

My newest collection are my Persephone Books they are publishers who search out books that haven't been seen for years, usually written by women, and reprint about 4 a year. They then also do the most popular in a special coloured  jacket ( That's the 4 on the left) The coloured endpapers which always feature a fabric pattern from the period and always a book mark to match make them very popular. When I go in a charity shop I often scan the shelves looking for the grey cover. I've recently gained two more and had a shuffle of books on the other shelves to leave a space for any more I might acquire in the future. On the right are some old books which I actually had before Persephone re- printed them - 2 by D.E.Stevenson which are  dreadful 1970s paperbacks with covers that bear no relation to the content or the period of the original books. Also Saplings by Noel Streatfield.There are also two other older books housed with the WWII books that I had before I knew about Persephone.

Under the Persephone Books are 4 books that are the first I bought when I started work in 1971. They are childrens books - The history Of Everyday Things In England -  I had loved these books at primary school where we spent ages tracing all the different costumes.

The  owl was given to me by my Cub Scouts when we moved away from Bacton  in Mid Suffolk where I had been Cub Scout Leader for nearly 20 years.

Next are all sorts of classics, bibles, poetry and other books that I ought to read but never will.

 

On the right of the photo above are two Penguin paperbacks that I've had for many years, they are the books written FROM the TV series of The Good Life. Usually TV programmes come from books but these appeared afterwards - all the words exactly as spoken on TV. They really should be moved to a different place.

 

Right at the bottom are some odds and ends and Shakespeare!
That is 110 + 1136 = 1246


I think I have some new followers on Google who I haven't mentioned so Hello to Chris and Gerry and andy on Bloglovin'.

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Sue

Apple Dapple recipe, Book Review and todays news

This is the recipe I mentioned yesterday, it came from a leaflet picked up in the Co-op.

It is real winter stodge!
I hope you can see it, basically its flour, butter and sugar and milk( the recipe says cream) mixed together, rolled into an oblong. Grate apple allover and sprinkle demerara sugar over that, with the long side of the oblong facing you roll up carefully, cut into slices, put on parchment paper on a tray, sprinkle a bit more sugar over and bake at 220C/450F/Gas7 for 20-25 minutes.
My tips are DON'T make this too far in advance of cooking as the apple juice soaks into the pastry and the whole thing collapses! 100g flour makes a very small amount of pastry, 4 tbsp milk is FAR TOO MUCH. 1 grated apple looks mean so I used 2 .The slice in the middle didn't cook enough.
Otherwise it was quite tasty served up with some nice custard and another way to use windfall apples.

My book review is of the book received from Persephone publishers.

If anyone had told me how much I would enjoy a book written in the USA in 1924 I probably wouldn't have believed them.
This little treasure of a book ( I read it in a few hours over two evenings) looks at role reversal, with Father staying at home to look after the children and Mother going out to work. In 2014 this would perhaps sadly still raise an eyebrow but 90 years ago it was unheard of.
The story starts with Evangeline, the fanatically clean housewife and Lester the dreaming accountant as square pegs forced into round holes,both extremely unhappy but without either of them knowing why. We find the 3 children suffering, the eldest two are sickly children while the youngest shows his unhappiness by rebelling against everyone and everything.
Tragedy strikes and Eva is forced to go to work selling clothes for the department store in which her husband had failed as a hopeless accountant. Lester, now in a wheelchair, stays at home as the new Home Maker.
We see the family blossoming in their new roles while neighbours in small town America look on some kindly but others still unable to see beyond convention.
There are some beautifully written passages- just how do you crack an egg if you've not done it before? and the new relationship between Lester and Stephen is described in loving detail.
The twist at the end is good too - when is honesty NOT a good thing?
I would definitely recommend this ( and I normally read historical crime!)

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We had a horrible wet and windy morning here today. C decided to fire up the chainsaw for the first time since the "hardly a heart attack". I went and loaded the bits of wood onto the sawing horse to help. He just did 15 minutes cutting some small stuff and got on fine- no ill effects.

In 2012 I bought some Polyanthus plug plants and potted them up and put them out for sale, hardly any sold and most went into pots and into the garden. Then in 2013 someone told me they were disappointed I didn't have any for sale. So this year I got some more and have been carrying them in and out to the stall everyday for weeks and have sold just 6 plants, so I gave up and this morning they've gone in more pots out the front of the house. Remind me not to try them for selling again!

That's me done for today

Back Tomorrow

Sue