Winter Solstice

 What a week it has been... We started on Sunday with our annual (30th year, we think!) Open House when a huge selection of friends local and distant visit for drinks, a bite to eat and a lovely catch up!  It's such a lovely event I hope we can keep on doing this.  

Then - instead of a quiet build up to Christmas we have been to Belton House to see the Christmas lights - beautiful.  I took my newish camera and had a play around. 

Then had two lovely musical evenings - the first was The Albion Band at the Stables (MK) - a lovely gentle concert with lots of singing and joining in.  Then Raunds Community Music Festival had Jackie Oates and John Spiers at the Shared Church in Ringstead.  A lovely intimate venue that adds a perfect essence to the lovely fiddle and melodian playing we heard.  Then last night it was onto rehearsals for our DTs play next year.  Coming along nicely so far...

I decided to start a re-read of Lord of the Rings whilst I have some down time - the first time I have reopened it since I was blown away by it as a 17-18 year old.  Will it live up to my memories? I do so hope so...

Now I'm looking forward to a quiet-ish weekend - probably a mooch around somewhere we like and then off to eldest daughters for a family Christmas lunch!  Bliss. 

Seasons greetings to any readers... Back in 2024. 

Friends and music...

 A close friend has died - unexpectedly - and it is at times like these that you realise just how many things you did together, how you will miss them at other times and the person shaped hole they leave in your life. 

Sir Terry Pratchett was quite right - Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken (from Going Postal) and No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away…(from Reaper Man). Rest in peace my friend. 

With this friend we had a shared interest in music and the fact we have been to lots of things he would have enjoyed this last week means he has stayed front and centre in my thoughts. 

Lindisfarne at the Stables last week was amazing - a good solid set and completely sold out - we thoroughly enjoyed the evening, singing along to their hits.  The weekend we spent at the Malcolm Arnold Music Festival - a very underrated British composer.  The definite highlight of the festival was a brass band concert to kick off. Arnold was a trumpeter so knew very well how to write amazing pieces for a band.  The piece entitled Peterloo Overture with sounding brass and a myriad of percussion kept you front and centre of that violent overreaction by troops all those years ago. The Enderby Brass Band were fantastic and very talented. 

Now I'm looking forward to being transported to Northumberland tomorrow - Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening are at The Stables - always worth listening too. 

Murder, fantasy and a couple of fascinating events.

I read a huge number of children's and young people's books (sort of goes with the job) but since I have retired I have allowed myself a bit more of a free rein and actually pick up a number of books from our local book swap, charity shops and other secondhand outlets as well as buying new from independent booksellers.  Deanna Raybourn has a huge catalogue of books to her name - though they had completely by-passed me until I picked up Killers of a Certain Age ( Hodder & Stoughton 2022 ISBN 9781399713108).  Maybe the title appealed because I am 'a certain age' I'm not sure, but I found this a thoroughly enjoyable light read. Four retired assassins (all female) are on a luxury cruise when they discover someone is trying to assassinate them!  And the mayhem, killing and humour go from there - it may not be to everyone's taste but I spent a few enjoyable hours in its company. 

A night in the museum - well, the Natural History Museum in the Earth room - a spectacular setting for the launch of Katherine Rundell's Impossible Creatures. This is a fabulous read set in an archipelago where glorious but impossible creatures - like centaurs and griffins exist, but where they are fighting for their survival. Wonderful writing keeps you on the edge of your seats and makes you totally believe all these creatures do exist...  The launch was enhanced by Charles Dance reading from the first few chapters of the book - I would love to hear him read the whole book!  I can't wait for the next volume. 

The Klaus Flugge Award is a vital, high profile and thoroughly enjoyable annual event rewarding the most promising and exciting newcomer to children's picture book illustration.  This year Mariajo Illustrajo won for the innovative and empathetic book Flooded (Frances Lincoln Books).  Do get a copy if you haven't already seen it!

 

A bit of a hiatus...

Well, I have really ignored this for some time - apologies to anyone who was following it. I will most definitely try to do better - I still read a huge amount of both children's and adult books across many genres but with a definite leaning to fantasy, crime, illustrated books and some old favourites. 

I get lots of suggestions for new reading from other blogs, reviews etc. but especially from a delightful journal called Slightly Foxed which suggests titles I may never have considered.  The reviews in SF are many and varied, and the arrival of the quarterly issues are usually a time of anticipation and discovery!  See if you can get hold of a copy - it's stocked in larger branches of Waterstones and other independent bookshops. Or check out their blogs and podcasts. 

I also do short reviews and ratings of most of my reading on Goodreads - perhaps worth a look...

So - the sun is out, and I am away to find a shady spot in the garden to finish my latest read - perhaps I'll write about it here later.