Two lots of sock wool await me, but first I need to crochet some nets for large glass fishermen's balls ! Anyone got any good ideas for a pattern. Probably I will go for a pebble crochet pattern that I have seen and just adapt for the size.
Absolutely loved Patrick Barkham's Coastlines. It was much more reader friendly than I expected. Split into different sections that looked at the coast in different ways; childhood, war, faith, the future, love. His descriptions of Orford Ness and the Cold War installations was suitably chilling. He spent several nights alone with a variety of bunker like buildings; the stuff of nightmares.
His chapter on the future was exceedingly relevant in these days of rising sea levels. He explains natural and man made ways on controlling erosion. As always natural seemed to be the best option. Here is a small sample from the start of the book. If you love the sea it is a must read.
No cars glittered in the large tarmac car park. Seafront razzle dazzle was locked away inside boxy grey amusement arcades shuttered for the winter. The little shops on the stone-and-slate high street betrayed a seaside town’s weakness for punning: Born and Bread, Sophisticut and Cloud Nine. Opposite a derelict patch of weedy concrete, a tiny lane twisted upwards between dainty terraced homes, their chimneys pluming wood smoke from living-room fires. Five minutes and the old Welsh fishing village of Abermaw graciously gave way to gorse and bracken. A pause, breathless, where the slope softened, in golden sunshine, and the town of Barmouth was laid out like a miniature attraction below.
Stone cottages hugged the hill. Below them were dark, handsome houses with pointy gables that arrived with the Victorian holidaymakers. Behind them was a thin line of railway, its former goods yard filled with a supermarket; the ugliness of the amusement architecture and the deserted car park. Beyond them was a broad yellow beach and the strong blue Irish Sea filling the great expanse of Cardigan Bay. The Llŷn Peninsula stretched a hazy finger along the northern horizon; to the south, the swirly sand mouth of the River Mawddach met the sea; at its side was the old port, embracing boats with its stone arms.
This simple, easily earned view contained all the elements of the British coast. The fundamental ones – water, wind, rock and fire – of course, but their natural and human elaborations as well: mountain, river, harbour, beach, dune, seafront, bridge, car, boat. On one of those limpid days at the end of autumn, it also offered a vivid soundscape. Oystercatchers fussed on the mudflats. A corvid cackled. Beep-beep-beep went the warning sound of a lorry reversing towards a cargo bay in town. An amplified recording of ‘Hark The Herald Angels Sing’ wafted from the High Street, where Dolgellau Rotary Club were raising premature Christmas cheer. A jetski thudded on the sea. But none of these pinpricks of human bustle could detract from the mighty calm of a big sea view. Its peace quelled all dissonance.
The Camilla Läckberg 'The Ice Princess' has also been thoroughly readable. This author was recommended by Ritta. Slightly less gruesome compared to some Scandi crime novels I have read. Her character descriptions are quality and one of the main reasons I love Crime novels. Sense of place is also excellent. The story is set in the icy Swedish Winter and involves a woman who is found having supposedly committed suicide...needless to say it's murder! I will let you know my verdict next time but I'm well and truly hooked.
Also on my shelf is 'A Little History of British Gardening' by Jenny Uglow. With the gardening season upon us this feels like a very suitable next read.
Just as a postscript, anyone who would like to add to the Spring poem please click here. I will post it on Saturday with all your Springlike ideas plus a few suitable photos.
Barbara xxx
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