Stashdown - The Jigsaw Edition (2)

 

I'm not sure whether I have ever managed to complete that Jack Vettriano puzzle above before but whether it was the first or second time,  I'm very proud of myself for finishing it a couple of weeks ago. There's not much  detail in it and a lot of the colours are very similar. 

Anyway it and six others went off to the charity shop this morning, This would have brought my total number of puzzles down to 52 had it not been for the fact that I bought one while I was in the shop. So the total is now 53. Given that my overall aim is to get down to 50 by the end of the year I think I'm well on track - there are several others in the cupboard marked down for a final 'do' before they too get given to the charity shop, although I have to admit the one I bought this morning will be a keeper. 

Another Garden Visit

 I suspect garden visits will be a recurring theme throughout the summer blog posts: considering we are definitely not gardeners we're very keen on visiting other people's. 

When we were wondering a couple of weeks ago where to go to see lots of flowering azaleas and rhododendrons ( hence the abortive visit I wrote about to Gargunnock!) I can't imagine why we didn't immediately think of Branklyn,  where we went last August and said 'we must come back in the spring to look at the azaleas'. Somehow we didn't. 

However we did go there towards the end of April and it was beautiful. Naturally I took lots of photographs, but I've confined myself to  five. They grow so many of our favourites plants there.

acer canopy

deutzia

rhododendron

their famous blue poppies

and of course a magnolia.

We topped off our visit by having a light lunch in their excellent cafe and a quick visit to the small shop. The staff in both places were fabulous, which was true the last time we visited as well. Definitely a Good Day Out. 

Socks, Stripes and Stats

So I made  a pair of socks for the OH in the first instalment of the madrigal yarns self striping sock club. The colour was 'The Colours of Spring'. 

This was sadly the only project I finished in May as I spent most of my knitting time on my So Faded sweater which isn't finished. I'm hopeful that it will be finished in June; the body is done, one sleeve is about 2/3rd done and I've finished the first colour on the other one. So basically two sleeves to finish and then the neckband to do. I've tried it on a couple of times as best as I could and I'm happy to say that the fit is looking good and the neckline is not looking too low or wide. So fingers crossed. 

A few days before I finished these socks the second instalment of the club arrived. It's called Darling Buds and here it is

I'm itching to cast this on but forcing myself not to, as I have the sweater and another pair of just over half done socks to complete first. 

And so to the stats. Not as good as they would have been had I managed to finish my seater, obvs! but it was still an overall decrease. Wool in was 150g, out was 305g, net decrease for the month therefore  155,  and the running decrease total for the year is 2308. For a couple of reasons which will become clear as the month goes on, the numbers for June will not look nearly as good. Hey-ho!

Reading Round Up April

 

There's still lots to catch up on here and I'm very aware that come Wednesday life gets very busy indeed for a while so I need to get some subjects ticked off the list! That said, a reading round up wouldn't have been my number one choice today, but as it's almost time to draw the line under the books I read in May I thought I should really get April's done. 

I only managed nine books that month, probably because we were away. J D Kirk makes only one appearance with The Big Man Upstairs ( this one was very good). I listened to two more books by J M Dalglish and I still didn't like the passive aggressive girlfriend or the voice of the narrator who incidentally cannot pronounce Hunstanton correctly. This seems to upset some (presumably Norfolk dwelling ) Audible reviewers very much indeed - and I don't blame them. Anyway the two I listened to in April were Kill Our Sins and Tell No Tales. As before competent, but somehow very very dull. 

No Friend to This House wasn't exactly a re-read but I had already listened to it on Audible. I'm finding it quite interesting to compare the two experiences of listening and reading. I think I marginally preferred reading this one, but that's no reflection on Natalie's ability to read her own work. It just felt more cohesive to me reading it. Anyway it's very good. Up there with Stone Blind and a little way behind A Thousand Ships.

I listened to a couple of novellas while we were away, again re listens; Standing by the Wall by Mick Herron and When did you last see your father? by Jodi Taylor; short pieces adjacent to Slough House and St Mary's respectively. 

Next up is a bit of a curiosity. Becoming Mrs Darcy Volume 1 by Julie B Grantham. This was a gift, as it's not the sort of thing I would buy for myself, being a Pride and Prejudice sequel. It was an easy read although I am yet to get around to Vol 2 which came with it. Basically I think Julie B just wanted to write a book about being presented at court and Elizabeth Darcy was a hook to hang it on. Although it looms large, I note that at the end of Vol 1 said presentation is yet to take place, although I've learned a lot about the rules for presentation dresses. 

Also while I was away I re-read on my Kindle a book called Absolution by Caro Ramsay. It was the first in a detective series set in Glasgow and I had bought it because it was  a Saturday Slaughters pick back in Orkney ages ago and there weren't enough physical copies in the library to go around.   I have to  say I enjoyed it much more the second time around, and had a lot more sympathy with the main character - as in, I wasn't quite so devastatingly disappointed when he failed to kill himself by swimming out to sea or when he missed being killed in a car crash a bit later on. I think the change is a reflection of the fact that deep down I'm a lot happier these days and have a correspondingly larger capacity for empathy. 

Finally there was Madame Matisse by Sophie Haydock. I've no idea why I downloaded this on Borrowbox but I'm very glad I did. I loved it. It's the intertwined stories of three women who could be all be addressed at different times as Madame Matisse; the artist's wife, his  daughter and Lydia Delectorskaya, a Russian emigree ( well refugee really) who became his muse, assistant and eventually caregiver. Showing how  the lives of these three women unfolded was a great way to tell a story about some of the huge changes in Europe in the first half of the C20. Lydia's story really resonated with me as she originally came from Siberia and when she fled the Soviets she went initially  to Harbin in China. I had a lecturer at University who had followed this exact same path so it gave me an insight into what part of her early life had been like. No Fun, would sum it up ( accurate if a little glib). I already knew that Matisse's daughter had been arrested imprisoned and tortured by the Gestapo for her involvement in the Resistance, but hadn't known that his estranged wife was also active in the movement. Well researched, readable and, although a book like this must always be partly speculation, it read as credible  and was very well written. Definitely recommended. 

It looks like May's reads will only total eight, winch is good news or bad news depending on how much you like book posts I suppose! 

Rome

 So our last stop on the Italian holiday was Rome and I think I've probably already said that we Did Not Take to Rome. It's just too overwhelming; too much history, too much stuff to look at, too many places to visit ...

We were given a combined driving and walking tour on our first morning and saw the major sites either from a coach window or the middle of  mob of tourists. Forum, Pantheon , Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain...The last was truly hideous. *

*I know, it's  a matter of opinion, and for many years, after being pulled up by a member of my family I have trained myself to say things are 'not to my taste', rather than 'it's horrible'. I cannot bring myself to be so mealy mouthed in the matter of the Trevi Fountain. I have rarely seen anything so OTT ugly in my life.  

A couple of  photos from the walking bit of the tour - 

skyscape 

the Spanish steps

Obviously I was so traumatised by the Trevi Fountain that I didn't even take a photograph of it! 

and then from our own limited explorations the following day - 

we always feel better about a city once we've tracked down the Opera House

 

a view of the Forum, or one of them, there were several over the years. I didn't know that until I went to Rome. 

The outside of Santa Maria Maggiore - one of the four major basilicas of Rome. Also happily very close to our hotel. I say happily advisedly because a friend had told me it housed some very fine mosaics, so that was the one we wanted to visit. And it did have many many mosaics, mainly so high up you couldn't make out a thing. 

And here's the inside. You remember me saying that thing about Rome all being too much ....

We did have a half day excursion outside Rome when we went to Tivoli, where we had the choice of visiting either Hadrian's Villa or the Villa D'Este. We chose the Villa D'Este because I knew it had some spectacular gardens. We really enjoyed our visit there, but that's a (photo heavy) post for another day. 

One Year Anniversary

 It was exactly a year ago that we  moved in to the new house, although we'd been in and out a few times for service connections and things. We had had to wait a week before our furniture could be delivered and given the general mess that the firm made of that I won't dwell on it. 

To celebrate the anniversary  we went to somewhere we've enjoyed going before to have lunch; it was not a huge success food or service wise and next year if we go out again to mark the occasion we'll  go somewhere else. 

We spent some time going over all the tings we'd done since we moved and every time we thought we'd mentioned them all one of us thought of something else. And when we got home and I looked at my Facebook album I found several that we had forgotten. No wonder people say we are never at home - although we are! - and equally no wonder my blog falls behind events at times. 

Anyway it didn't seem to take all that long to get from this on moving day to a fairly sorted, boxes unpacked state

and, although the lunch wasn't all that brilliant here we are earlier today celebrating our oneiversary! 

We both look quite well on it I think. 

New Car

 

Yes, we have a new car which arrived last Friday. 

There's not much I can say about it as I'm not really all that interested in cars. I was told when we got our last one that it would see us out, but that proved not to be the case; thank you Orkney air and A9 salting. 

Apart from being too big (imo), it does at least fulfil my two criteria for a car.

1. It is Not A Citroem

2. It has heated seats. 

Beyond that I'm really not bothered as I don't drive. I will say that it is very comfortable and very quiet and apparently being an ev-hybrid it's  going to save us masses of money.